The Library 
 University of California, Los Angeles 
 
 From the Theodore E. Cummin 
 
 The gift of Mrs. Cummings, 1 963
 
 9 ** 
 
 * *v 
 
 
 
 *
 
 P,:
 
 T 
 
 H E 
 
 OF 
 
 Translated by 
 
 
 Professor-of J^atJtejTiatics tatheljTuveTsity of 6ombTiAge/ 
 
 -JERTTSA-AM' 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 EDINBURGH,

 
 Annex 
 
 T^ 
 
 U\o 
 
 EXTRACT FROM BISHOP PORTEUS'S WORKS. 
 
 * THIS History is spoken of in the highest terms by men of the greatest learning and 
 the soundest judgment, from its first publication to the present time. 
 
 " The fidelity, the veracity, and the probity of Josephus, are universally allowed ; 
 and Scaliger in particular declares that, not only in the affairs of the Jews, but even 
 of foreign nations, he deserves more credit than all the Greek and Roman writers put 
 together. Certain at least it is, that he had the most essential qualification for a 
 historian a perfect and accurate knowledge of all the transactions which he relates ; 
 that he had no prejudices to mislead him in the representation of them j and that, 
 above all, he meant no favour to the Christian cause. For even allowing the so 
 much controverted passage, in which he is supposed to bear testimony to Christ, to be 
 genuine, it does not appear that he ever became a convert to His religion, but con- 
 tinued probably a zealous Jew to the end of his life." 
 
 Vide Bishop Portends Lecture** voL ii. p. 284 
 
 2095314
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 THE LIFE OF FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS, ........ , . I 
 
 THE ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS.- 
 
 PREFACE, , . . . . . . , . 22 
 
 BOOK I. From the Creation to the Death of Isaac, . . . ... 25 
 
 II. From the Death of Isaac to the Exodus out of Egypt, . . . ' . 44 
 
 IH. From the Exodus out of Egypt to the Rejection of that Generation, . * 65 
 
 f IV. From the Rejection of that Generation to the Death of Moses, ... 84 
 V. From the Death of Moses to the Death of Eli, . . . . . .104 
 
 VL From the Death of Eli to the Death of Saul, 123 
 
 t) VIL From the Death of Saul to the Death of David, 147 
 
 Vm. From the Death of David to the Death of Ahab, 170 
 
 EL From the Death of Ahab to the Captivity of the Ten Tribes, ... 196 
 
 X. From the Captivity of the Ten Tribes to the First of Cyrus, . . . 212 
 
 ,, XL From the First of Cyrus to the Death of Alexander the Great, . . . 228 
 
 XTT. From the Death of Alexander the Great to the Death of Judas Maccabeus, 245 
 
 .XIII. From the Death of Judas Maccabeus to Queen Alexandra's Death, . . 266 
 
 XIV. From the Death of Queen Alexandra to the Death of Antigonus, . . 289 
 
 XV. From the Death of Antigonus to the Finishing of the Temple by Herod, . 314 
 XVI. From the Finishing of the Temple by Herod to the Death of Alexander 
 
 and Aristobulus, 336 
 
 XVIL From Alexander and Aristobulus's Death to the Banishment of Archelaus, 356 
 XVIH. From the Banishment of Archelaus to the Departure of the Jews from 
 
 Babylon, 376 
 
 yry T From the Jews' Departure out of Babylon to Fadus the Roman Procurator, 396 
 
 XX. From Fadus the Roman Procurator to Floras, ...... 414 
 
 THE WARS OF THE JEWS: 
 
 PREFACE, 427 
 
 Boos L From Antiochus Epiphanes taking Jerusalem to the Death of Herod the Great, 429 
 
 IL From the Death of Herod till Vespasian was sent to subdue the Jews by Nero, 470 
 
 ,, [L From Vespasian's coming to subdue the Jews to the taking of Gamala, . . 502 
 
 IV. From the siege of Gamala to the coming of Titus to besiege Jerusalem, . 522 
 M V. From the coming of Titus to besiege Jerusalem to the great extremity to 
 
 which the Jews were reduced, 547 
 
 VI. From the great extremity to which the Jews were reduced to the taking of 
 
 Jerusalem by Titus, . 570 
 
 VU. From the taking of Jerusalem by Titus to the sedition of the Jews at Cyrene, 589
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 ANTIQUITY OF THE JEWS. FLA VIUS JOSEPHUS AGAINST APION: 
 
 BOOK L, 607 
 
 II., 622 
 
 AN EXTRACT OUT OF JOSEPHUS'S DISCOURSE TO THE GREEKS CONCERN- 
 ING HADES, 637 
 
 APPENDIX :- 
 
 Dtstsga.iA.flox L The Testimonies of Josephus concerning Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, 
 
 and James the Just, vindicated, 539 
 
 M IL Concerning God's command to Abraham to offer up Isaac, his son, for 
 
 a sacrifice, 641 
 
 HI. Tacitus's account of the origin of the Jewish nation, and of the par- 
 
 ticulars of the last Jewish War ; that the former was probably written 
 in opposition to Josephus's Antiquities, and that the latter was cer- 
 tainly almost all directly taken from Josephns'B History of the Jewish 
 
 ** 65: 
 
 TABLE OF THE JBWi r SH WEIGHTS AND MEASURES, ...... 660 
 
 . G61
 
 rats 
 
 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 
 plendour of a family. Now, I am not only 
 sprung from a sacerdotal family in general, but 
 from the first of the twenty-four* 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 Asmoneus, 
 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 accord- 
 ingly 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 mariied the 
 daughter of Jonathan the high priest ; which 
 Jonathan was the first of the sons of Asmoneus, 
 who was high priest, and was the br( ther of 
 Simon the high priest also. This Matthias had 
 a son called Matthias Curtus, and that in the 
 first year of the government of Hyref.n.us : 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 Archelaus ; 
 as was I born to Matthias in the first year of the 
 reign of CaiusCaesar. 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 genealogy of my family as I have 
 found it described t ik tl*e public records, and 
 
 * We may hence correct xne 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, multi- 
 plied 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 ii. 36-39 : Neh. vii. 39-42; 1 Esd. v 24, 25 ; 
 with Ezra ii. 04; Neh. vii. 66; 1 Esd. v. 41) Nor 
 will this common reading or notion of but four courses 
 of priests agree with Joseplms's own further assertion 
 elsewhere, (Antiq. b. vii. ch. xiv. sect. 7,) that David's 
 partition of the priests into twf tty-four courses had 
 ooarnued to that day. 
 
 f An eminent example of the care or the Jews about 
 their genealogies, especially as to the priests, (See 
 Ag&iost Apion, b. i. sect. T.). 
 
 so bid adieu to those who calumniate me, [as of 
 a lower original.] 
 
 2. Now, my father Matthias was not only emi- 
 nent on account of his 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 four- 
 teen 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 trial of the 
 several sects that were among us. These sects 
 are three : The first is that of the Pharisees, 
 the second that of the Sadducees, and the third 
 that of the Essens, as we have f requen tly 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 night and day, in order to pre- 
 serve his chastity, I imitated him in those things, 
 and continued with him three years. + 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. 
 
 J When Josephus here says that from sixteen to nine- 
 teen, or for three years, he made trial of the three Jew- 
 ish 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, wap 
 J.VTU, 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 vap' oi/rw, with 
 him, the old reading might be vap avrois, 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 edi- 
 tion of Josephus, at all improbable, that this Banus, by 
 this his description, might well be a follower of John 
 the Baptist and thai from him Josephus might easily im- 
 bibe such notions as afterwards prepared him to have a 
 favourable opinion of Jesus Christ himself, who was 
 attested to by John the Baptist.
 
 THE LIFE OF FLA VI US JOSEPHUS. 
 
 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 pro- 
 curator 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 Home 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.* Accordingly, I came to 
 Eome, 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,t swam for our 
 lives all the night ; when, upon the first appear- 
 ance of the day, and upon our sight of a ship of 
 Gyrene, 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 Dicearchia, which 
 the Italians call Puteoli, I became acquainted 
 with Aliturius, an actor of plays, and much be- 
 loved 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 en- 
 treat her to procure that the priests might be 
 set at liberty ; and when, besides this favour, I 
 had obtained many presents from Poppea I re- 
 turned home again. 
 
 4. And now I perceived innovations were al- 
 ready begun, and that there were a great many 
 very much elevated in hopes of a revolt from the 
 Romans. I therefore endeavoured to put a stop 
 to these tumultuous persons, and persuaded 
 their 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 in- 
 ferior 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 mis- 
 chiefs 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 unfortu- 
 nate 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, aa 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 A ntonia, which was the citadel ; BO 
 I retired into tLe 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 peo- 
 ple in arms, while we ourselves knew not what 
 we should do, and were not able to restrain the 
 
 * We may note here that religious men among the 
 Jews, or at least those that were priests, were some- 
 times ascetics also, and, like Daniel and his companions 
 1ii liubylun, (Dan. i. 8-16,) ate no flesh, Imtfiggand nuts, 
 *c., only. This was like the ripo<t>a.yia, or austere 
 diet of the Christian ascetics in Passion-Week. Con- 
 titut. v. 18. 
 
 t It has been thought the number of Paul and his 
 companions on shipboard, (Acts xxvii. 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 6. in 
 
 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 pro- 
 ceedings. 
 
 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 neigh- 
 bouring cities of Syria seized upon such Jews as 
 dweltamongthem, 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 to wards theSyrians j 
 but what was done by the inhabitants of Scytho- 
 polis was the most impious and the most highly 
 criminal of all ; ^ for when the Jews, their ene- 
 mies, came upon them from without, they forced 
 the Jews that were among them to bear arms 
 against their own countrymen, which it is un- 
 lawful for us to do ; and when, by their assist- 
 ance, 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 thou- 
 sands, [13,000.] The like miseries were under- 
 gone 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 Jew- 
 ish 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 Jerusa- 
 lem, seeing that the robbers and innovators had 
 arms in great plenty, and fearing lest they, while 
 they were unprovided with amis, 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 Ro- 
 mans, 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 les- 
 son, 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 in- 
 structions, I came into Galilee, and found the 
 people of Sepphorio in no small agony about 
 
 } See Jewish War, b. li. ch. xviii. sect. 3. 
 
 The Jews might coHect this unlawfulness of fight- 
 ing against their brethren from that law of Moses, 
 (Lev. xix. 16,) " Thou shall cot stand against the 
 blood of thy neighbour;" and that, (ver. 17,) "Thou 
 shall not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the chil- 
 dren of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour 
 as thyself;" as well as from many other places in the 
 Pentateuch and Prophets, (See Antiq. b. viii. ch. viii. 
 sect. 8.)
 
 THE LIFE OF FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS. 
 
 their country, by reason that the Galileans had 
 resolved to plunder it, on account of the friend- 
 ship 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 
 Miarns, and Herod, the son of Gamalus, and 
 Compsus, the son of Compsus, (for as to Comp- 
 BUS'S brother Crispus, who had once been go- 
 vernor of the city under the great king* [Agrippa], 
 he was beyond Jordan in his own .possessions ;) 
 all these persons before named gave their advice 
 that the city should then continue in their alle- 
 giance to the Romans and to the king; but Pis- 
 tus, who was guided by his son Justus, did not 
 acquiesce in that resolution, otherwise he was 
 himself naturally of a good and virtuous charac- 
 ter : 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 ho 
 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 endeavoured to inform the 
 multitude that " the city Tiberias 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 
 -.hat the city Sepphoris should be subordinate to 
 the city Tiberias ; that they had not lost this 
 pre-eminence 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 Sep- 
 phoris's submission of itself to the Romans, that 
 was become the capital city of Galilee, and that 
 the royal treasury and the archives were now re- 
 moved from them.". When he had spoken these 
 things, and a grea% 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 
 Buch as opposed him, though they advised what 
 was more to their advantage, and this by his 
 craftiness and his fallacies, for he was not un- 
 ikilf ul in the learning of the Greeks ; and in de- 
 pendence 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 charac- 
 ter and conduct of life, and how he and his 
 
 * That this Herod Agrippa, the father, was of old 
 et^ed a Great King, as here appears by his coins still 
 remaining ; to which Havercaiuu refers us. 
 
 brother were, in great measure, the authors of 
 our destruction, I shall giv the reader an ac 
 count 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 be- 
 longed to Gadara and Hippos on fire ; which 
 villages were situate*.' on the borders of Tiberias, 
 and of the regi n of Seythopolis. 
 
 10. And this was the state Tiberias was now 
 in ; but as for Gischala, its affairs were thus : 
 When John, the sou of Levi, saw some of the 
 citizens much elevated upon their revolt from 
 the Romans, he laboured to restrain them ; and 
 entreated them that they would keep their alle- 
 giance to them ; but he could not gain his pur- 
 
 ! pose, although he did his endeavours to the 
 1 utmost ; for the neighbouring people of Gadara, 
 Gahara, and Sogana, with the Tynans, got to- 
 j gether a great army, and fell upon Gischala, and 
 i took Gischala by force, and set it on fire ; and 
 when they had entirely demolished it, they re- 
 turned home. Upon which John was so enraged, 
 i that he armed all his men, and joined battle with 
 I the people forementioned ; and rebuilt Gischala 
 aft r 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 pre- 
 served 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 stayed there four days, and fled away on 
 I the fifth, having disguised himself with fictitious 
 hair, that he might not be discovered ; and whei; 
 he was come to one of the villages to him be- 
 longing, 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 hindered that his inten- 
 tion, 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 freednien 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 be- 
 fore the multitude, and accused him of forging 
 the same ; and said, that he spake falsely when 
 he related that Philip was at Jerusalem fighting 
 amongst the Jews against the Romans. So he 
 slew him. And when this freedman 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 hrd been sent before, and why he 
 tarried so long. Varus accused this messenger 
 i' also, when he came, of telling a falsehood, and 
 slew him ; for he was puffed up by the Syrian! 
 that were at Csesarea, and had great expecta- 
 tions ; 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 LIFE OF FLAVIUS JOSEPHTJ8. 
 
 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 kin;? what had been done. 
 He moreover slew many 01 the Jews, in order to 
 gratify the Syrians of Caesarea. He had a mind 
 also to join with the Trachonites in Batanea, and 
 to take up arms and make an assault upon the 
 Babylonian Jisws that were at Ecbatana ; for that 
 was the name they went by. He therefore called 
 to him twelve of the Jews of Caesarea, of the 
 best character, and ordered them to go to Ecba- 
 tana, 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 defence 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 
 irith the twelve ambassadors ; where Varus mot 
 them with the king's forces, and slow them all 
 together, with the [twelve] ambassadors, and 
 made an expedition against the Jews of Ecba- 
 tana. 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 re- 
 sume the government, and to make an expedition 
 against Varus and the Syrians of Caesarea; 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 ac- 
 quainted with Varus's design, which was to cut 
 off the Jews of Caesarea, being many ten thou- 
 sands, 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 pos- 
 session of the citadel of Gamala, and of the 
 country adjoining to it, which thereby continued 
 in tkeir allegiance to the Romans. 
 
 12. Now, as soon as I was come into Galilee, 
 and had learned this state of things by the in- 
 formation 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 re- 
 turn to their own country. Yet when I desired 
 hem to stay so long, that we might first settlo 
 
 the public affairs, they complied with me. Bo 
 1 removed, together with them, from the city of 
 Sepphoris, and came to a certain village called 
 Bethmaus, four furlongs distant from Tiberias : 
 and thence I sent messengers to the senate of 
 Tiberias, 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 demo- 
 lish that house which Herod the tetrarch had built 
 there, and which had the figures of living crea- 
 tures 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 sedi- 
 tious tumult of mariners and poor people, pre- 
 vented 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, be- 
 cnuse he saw some of the roofs gilt with gold. 
 They also plundered a great deal of the furni- 
 ture, 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 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 furni- 
 ture, 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 
 Capelhis, 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 Gischala, to John, as desirous to know 
 his intentions, and soon saw that he was for in- 
 novations, 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 pre- 
 tended that he would expend what it came to in 
 building the walls of his own city. But when I 
 perceived what he endeavoured 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 in- 
 trusted 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 fel- 
 low-legates ; for they had no sagacity in provid- 
 ing for fut'.rity, 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 Caesarea 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 
 
 Erovide a sufficient quantity of such oil for them, 
 sst they should be forced to make use of oil tha*
 
 THE LIFE O* r-hATTUS JOSEPHUB. 
 
 ame trom 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 
 sectaries were sold with them of Caesarea for one 
 drachma; but that at Gischala fourscore sectaries 
 were sold for four sectaries : so he gave order 
 that all the oil which was there should be ear- 
 ned 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 forti- 
 fied; 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 per- 
 suaded 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 toj over- 
 look 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 
 neighbours 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. Accord- 
 ingly, I made them my fnends and companions 
 as I journeyed, and set them to judge causes; 
 and with their approbation it was that I gave 
 my sentences, while I endeavoured not to mis- 
 take 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 
 aga ; 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 hi 
 great authority. Yet did I preserve every i 
 woman free from injuries ; and as to what pre- > 
 sents 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 ad- 
 joined to us, when I had conquered them, and j 
 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 ' 
 fore-named, as the progress of this discourse 
 will shew. And on this account, I suppose, it 
 was that God,* 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 Ga'C-Tin* had 
 
 * Our Josephns shews, both here and everywhere, 
 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 danper, 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 
 1?w big brethren. 
 
 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 preser- 
 vation. 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 com- 
 mitted the administration of the affairs of 
 Tiberias by name, that they should provide a 
 lodging for John, and for such as should come 
 with him, and should procure him what neces- 
 saries soever he should stand in need of. Now 
 at this time my abode was in a village of Galilee, 
 which is named Cana. 
 
 17. But when John was come to the r : ty 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 mes- 
 senger had come to me from Silas, whom I had 
 made governor of Tiberias, as I have said al- 
 ready, 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 jurisdiction. Upon 
 the receipt of this letter of Silas, I took two 
 hundred men along with me, and travelled all 
 night, having sent before a messenger to let tha 
 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 lodg- 
 ing. 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 stand- 
 ing on a certain elevated place, I entreated them 
 not to be so hasty in their revolt ; for that such 
 a change in their behaviour would be to their 
 reproach, and that they would then justly be 
 suspected by those that should be their gover- 
 nors 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 
 
 ship, and got into it, and escaped my enemies 
 noxpectedf;* and came to Tarichese.
 
 THE LIFE OF FLAVIUS JOSEPH US. 
 
 19. Now, as soon as the inhabitants of that 
 eity 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 endeavoured 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 Tiberius, 
 gave him the same advice. Bat I did not com- 
 ply 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 apologise 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 wea- 
 pons, 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 destroy 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. How- 
 ever, 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 
 broubles without bloodshed; and when I had 
 prevailed with the multitude of the Galileans to 
 :et me do so, I came to Sepphoris. 
 
 22. But the inhabitants of this city having de- 
 termined 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 de- 
 sired, 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 de- 
 sired 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 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 admit- 
 tance 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 ex- 
 cluded, when they were informed that he waa 
 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 wws I ignorant by whom be 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, T would punish them suffi- 
 -iently. 
 
 23. At this time it was that two great jnen, 
 who were under the jurisdiction of the king 
 [Agrippa,] came to me out of the region of 
 Trachonitis, bringing their horses and their 
 arms, and carrying wjth them their money also ; 
 and when the Jews would force them to be cir- 
 cumcised, if they would stay among them, I 
 would not permit them to have any force put 
 upon them,* but said to them, "Every one 
 ought to worship God according to his own in- 
 clinations, and not to be constrained by force; 
 . nd that these men, who had fled to us for pro- 
 tection, ought not to be so treated as to repent 
 of their coming hither." And when I had paci- 
 fied the multitude, I provided for the men that 
 were come to us whatsoever it was they wanted, 
 according to their usual way oi 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 Equiculus Modius ; but the forces that 
 were sent were not enow to encompass the citadel 
 quite round, but lay before it in the open placs, 
 and besieged it. But when Ebutius the decu- 
 rion, who was intrusted with the government of 
 the great plain, heard that I was at Simouias, 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 hun- 
 dred, and brought the inhabitants of the city 
 
 * Josephus's opinion is here well worth noting . 
 That every one is to be permitted to worship God ac- 
 cording to his own conscience, and is not to be com- 
 pelled in matters of religion ; as one may here observe, 
 'ID the contrary, that the rest of the Jews were still for 
 obliging all those who married Jewesses to be circum- 
 cised, and become Jews ; and were ready to destroy aU 
 that would not submit to do so. See sect. 81, ard Luko 
 IT. 64.
 
 TTTT; LIFE or ITLAVIUS JOSEPHUS. 
 
 Qlhea slung with him aa auiili.ii its, and marched 
 In the night, and came to the village whew I 
 abode. Upon this I pitched my camp over 
 .tgainst 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 horse- 
 men; but we would not come down; for when 
 I was satisfied of the advantage that his horee 
 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 
 Ms party made a courageous opposition for some 
 time: but when he saw that his horse were use- 
 less 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 directly 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 car- 
 ried off the corn, a great quantity of which lay 
 there: it belonged to Bernice the queen, and 
 had been gathered together out of the neighbour- 
 ing villages into Besara: so I loaded my camelb 
 and asses, a great number of which I Lad 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 Neopoli- 
 tanus, 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 
 lib care by the enemy; and when I had hindered 
 him from doing any further mischief to Tiberias, 
 1 set myself to make provision for the affairs of 
 Galilee. 
 
 2&. But when John, the son of Levi, who as 
 we before told you, abode at Gischala. was in- 
 formed how all things had succeded to my mind, 
 and that I was much in favour 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 Sep- 
 phoris, (and for those of Gabara he supposed they 
 would be also of the same mind as the others,) 
 which were the greatest cities of Galilee, to re- 
 volt from their subjection to me, and to be of his 
 party; and told them that he would command 
 them better than I did. AJS for the people of 
 Sepphoris, who belonged to neither of us, because 
 they had chosen to be in subjection to the Ro- 
 mans, they did not comply with his proposal; 
 and for those of Tiberias, they did not indeed sc 
 far comply as to make a revolt from under me, 
 but they agreed to be his friends, while the in- 
 habitants 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 
 trillaire of Dabaritta, who observed that the wif 
 
 of Ptolemy, the king's procurator, was to make 
 a progress over the great plain with a mighty 
 attendance, and with some horsemen tliAt fol- 
 lowed as a guard to them, and this out of a coun- 
 try 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 Pto- 
 lemy to fly away, and plundered all the carriaeea 
 They also came to me to Taricheze, with four 
 mules' loading of garments, and other furniture- 
 ftnd 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 Ptt lemy, who was my countryman ; and 
 it is prohibited * by our laws even to spoil our 
 enemies; so 1 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 neighbourhood of Tiberias, and told the 
 people that I was going to betray their country 
 to the Romans, and that I used deceitful lan- 
 juage to them when I said that what had been 
 thus gotten by rapine shou'.d 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; 
 and when I had gotten clear of them, I sent for 
 two of the principal men, Dassion, and Janneua 
 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; ard I threatened that I 
 would order them to be put to death by way of 
 punishment, if they disc Tered uvis my command 
 to any other person. 
 
 27. Now, whei All Galilee was filled with thfe 
 rumour, that their country was about to be be- 
 tra ,-d by me to the Romans, and when all men 
 were exasperated against me, and ready to bring 
 me to punishment, the inhabitants of Tarichew 
 lid 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 com- 
 mander; 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 clamour, 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 Sap- 
 phias, who principally set them on. He was 
 ruler in Ti oerias, a wicked man, and naturally 
 disposed to make disturbances in matters of con- 
 sequence; a seditious person he was indeed, and 
 m innovator beyond everybody else. He then 
 took the laws of Moses into his hands, and came 
 
 * How Joseph us could say here that the Jewish laws 
 
 forbade them to "spoil even their enemies," while yet 
 
 ^ little before hii time our Saviour had mentioned it as 
 
 then a current maxim with them, " Thou shall love thy 
 
 aeiKhbour, and hate thine enemy," (Matt v. 43, ) Is worth 
 
 Dur inquiry. I lake it that Josephus, having been no* 
 
 for many years an Ebionite Christian, had learned tun 
 
 interpretation of the law of Moses from Christ, whom 
 
 , he owned for the true Messiah, as it follows in the suo- 
 
 i ceeding verses, which, though he might not read in 8t 
 
 ' Matthew's Gospel, yet he might have read much tbe 
 
 same exposition in their own Ebionite or Nazarene Ck- 
 
 pel iUelf ; of which improvements made by Josephofl, 
 
 after he was become a Christian, we h v '*!*'? ^ 
 
 geveral examples In this his Life sect ^ 13, IS. 19,21, 
 
 23, and shall have -many more therein before it 
 
 | elusion, as well as we have them elsewhere in ?.H 
 
 later writings.
 
 8 
 
 THE LIFE OF FLA'VIUS JOSEPH/US. 
 
 into the midst of the people, and said, " O iriy 
 fellow-citizens! if you are not disposed to hate 
 Josephus on your own account, have regard, 
 however, to these laws of yonr 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 insolt-itly 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 in- 
 trusted 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 ene- 
 mies 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 mj sword at my neck, and went by such 
 a different way to the hippodrome, wherein I 
 thought none of my adversaries would meet me; 
 BO 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 
 an object of compassion; and when I perceived 
 the change that was made in the multitude, 1 
 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 c^afession 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 
 i know that this city of yours [Tarichese] was a 
 city of great hospitality, and filled with abun- 
 dance of such men as have left their own coun- 
 tries, 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 ex- 
 pended hi building your own walls. " Upon my 
 saying this, the people of Tarichese 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 threat- 
 ened to kill me, and some bade aie not to regard 
 them : but when I promised them that I would 
 build them walls at Tiberias, aiid at other cities 
 that wanted them, they gave credit to what I 
 promised, and returned every one to his own 
 homef So I escaped the forementioned danger, 
 beyond all my hopes, and returned to my own 
 house, accompanied with my friends, and twenty 
 nrmed men also. 
 
 30. However, these robbers and other authors 
 of this tumult, who were afraid on their own ac- 
 count, 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 ine 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 de- 
 sired that they would send hi 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 hi one 
 of the boldest of them all, I hsd 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 
 stayed there; for they supposed that I had hi 
 the house more armed men than they had them- 
 selves : so they ran away immediately, while I, 
 by the use of tnis stratagem, escaped this t'Ueix 
 second treacherous design against me. 
 * 31. But there were still some that irma<ted 
 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 hi the Romans upon them. So 
 the multitude was soon deluded by such plausible 
 pretences as were agreeable to their own inclina- 
 tions, and were prevailed on by them : but when 
 
 was informed of this, I instructed the multitiide 
 again, that these who fled to them for refuge 
 ought not to be persecuted. I also laughed at 
 the allegation about witchcraft,* 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 re- 
 turned again afterwards, as instated by some ill 
 people against the great men; nay, they once 
 made an assault upon the house in which they 
 dwelt at Tarichese, in order to kill them; which, 
 when I was informed of, I was afraid lest so 
 horriJ a crime should take effect, and nobody 
 else wou'd 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 ear- 
 nestly that they would courageously bear this 
 distress which befell them. I was also myself 
 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 
 offences ; and this was the conclusion of what 
 concerned these men. 
 
 32. But as for the inhabitants of the city of 
 
 * Here we may observe the vulgar Jewish notion of 
 witchcraft, but that our Josephua was too wiie to give 
 iujf countenance to It.
 
 THE LIFE OF VL.\ . HJH JOSEPHUS. 
 
 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 Tari- 
 cheae were already built. I agreed to their pro- 
 posal accordingly ; and when I had made prepara- 
 tion for the entire building, I gave order to the 
 architects to go to work ; but on the third day, 
 when I was gone to Tarichese, 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 disposi- 
 tions 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 Taricheae to their own homes, 
 because the next day was our Sabbath ; for I 
 would not have the people of Taricheas disturbed 
 [on that day] by a multitude of soldiers ; and, in- 
 deed, 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 1 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 neces- 
 sity should be very great ; and if I should permit 
 the people of Taricheae, and the strangers with 
 them, to guard the city, I saw that they would 
 not be sufficent 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 Taricheae, on whom I could 
 beet 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 
 -very one of them seize upon a ship,* to go on 
 board it, and to take a master with them, and fol- 
 low 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 pe: 
 ceived that there were no forces come from tl.-. 
 king, and yet saw the whole lake full of ship.--. 
 they were in fear what would become of theii 
 city, and were greatly terrified, as supposing that 
 the ships were full of men on board; so thev then 
 changed their minds, and threw down their wea- 
 pons, and met me with their wives and chi dren, 
 and made acclamations to me with great com- 
 mendations; for they imagined that I did not 
 know their former inclinations [to have been 
 
 * In this section, as well as in the 18th and 33d, those 
 final! vessels that sailed on the sea of Galilee, are called 
 by Josephus N^ey, and IlXotn, and 2*a0ai ; i. ., 
 plainly ships ; so that we need not wonder at our evan- 
 gelists, who still call them ships ; nor ought we to ren- 
 der them boats, as some do. Their number was In all 
 230, ft we learn from our author elsewhere, (/e -}<, 
 war o. ii. cb, xxi. sect 8.) 
 
 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 
 Iiberias might not perceive that the ships bad 
 
 I no men on board; but I went nearer to the 
 people in one of the ships, and rebuked them 
 
 I for their folly, and that they were so fickle as 
 without any just occasion in the world to re- 
 volt from their fidelity to me. However I as- 
 sured 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, 1 put them 
 on board a ship, and sent them away to Tari- 
 cheae, and ordered them to be kept in prison. 
 
 34. And by this stratagem it was that I gradu- 
 ally 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 de- 
 
 I aired 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 Clltus's hands ; hut 
 as he that was ordered to do this was afraid to 
 go out of the ship alone among so great a multi- 
 tude, I was not willing that the timorousness of 
 the soldier should appear to the people of Tibe- 
 rias ; 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 wi.rse punishment." And when 
 he earnestly begged of me to spare him one ol 
 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 pu an end to tli" 
 sedition. 
 
 35. Now the men of Tiberias, after I was goae 
 t-o Taricheae, perceived what stratagem I hud 
 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, 
 *hat I knew the power of the Romans was supe- 
 rior 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 com- 
 mander; 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 befora 
 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 againct ; he 
 Babylonians, after the departure of Philip, skw 
 Chares, who was a kinsman of Philip, and withal 
 how they had wisely punished Jesus, his brother 
 Justus's 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, 
 "he son of Jacimus, went out of the citadel '
 
 10 
 
 THE LIFE OFi'l^A\ 1USJOSEFHU8. 
 
 Gamala upon the following occasion: When 
 Philip had been informed that Varus was pMt 
 out of his government by King Agrippa, and that 
 Equiculus Modius, a man that was of old hi 
 friend and companion, was come to succeed him 
 he wrote to him, and related what turns of foi 
 tune he had had, and desired him to forward tic 
 fetters 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 
 tLe 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 shewed him to the 
 Roman commanders, ai>d told them that thia 
 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, fie also gave 
 it him in charge to take all possible care that 
 none of his subjects should be guilty of making 
 (my innovation. Accordingly, upon these direc- 
 tions 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 sle T ' r 
 Chares, and with him Jesus, one of his kins- 
 men, and a brother of Justus of Tiberias, us we 
 have already said. Those of Gamala also wrots 
 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 buili 
 a wall about Seleucia and Soganni, which are 
 villages naturally of very great strength. More- 
 over, I, in like manner, walled several villages 
 of Upper Galilee, though they were very rocky 
 of themselves. Their names are Jainnia, and 
 Meroth, and Achabare. I also fortified, in the 
 Lower Galilee, the cities Tiiiicheas, Tiberia , 
 Sepphoris, and the villages, the cave of ArbeJa, 
 Bersobe, Selamin, Jotapata, Capharecho, arid 
 Sigo, and Japha, and Mount Tabor.* I also laid 
 up a great quantity of corn in these places, a", d 
 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 lit 
 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 Gis- 
 chala, 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 Giim?Jiel,-f 
 
 * Part of these fortifications on Mount Tabor may bt 
 those still remaining, and which were seen lately by Mr 
 Maundrel. See hi Travels, p. 112. 
 
 t This Gamaliel may be the very sam e that w EC itioned 
 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 
 L. who is mentioned in Acts v. 34; and at whose feet 
 
 in order to persuade him to induce the common- 
 alty of Jerusalem to take from me the govern- 
 ment over the Galileans, and to give their suff- 
 rages for conferring that authority upon him. 
 This Simon was of the city of Jerusalem, and ol 
 a very noble family, of the sect of the Pharisees, 
 which are supposed to excel others in the accu- 
 rate knowledge of the laws of their country. He 
 was a man of great wisdom and reason, and cap- 
 able 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 ditference with me. When 
 therefore he had received such an exhortation, 
 he pursuaded 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 aggrandising myself to the height of 
 glory ; and he said that it would bo for the ad- 
 vantage 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 sssault upon the city with a great army. 
 Tin's was the counsel of Simon : but Ananus the 
 high priest demonstrated to them that this waa 
 not an easy thing to be done, because many of 
 tho 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 th'ty had nothing tc 
 say. 
 
 39. When Simon heard .tuianus 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 Ananus, 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 re- 
 solved to send men of distinction as to their 
 families, and of distinction as to their learning 
 also. Two of these were of the populace, 
 J onathan J and Ananias, by sect Pharisees , 
 while the third, Jpzar, 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 Gali- 
 leans, 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 be- 
 cause 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 J"ved tne because I 
 was a priest, they should replv, 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 
 
 S> "aul was brought up, Acts xxii. 3. Bee Prid. at the 
 
 ._,dr449. 
 
 } Thia Jonathan is also taken notice of In the Latin 
 no^es, as the same that is mentioned by the rabbins in 
 Porta Mosis.
 
 THE LIFE OF FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS. 
 
 money : but when they heard that there was a 
 certain Galilean that then sojourned at Jerusa- 
 lem, 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 com- 
 panions, 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. 
 Thej also wrate to John to make all ready for 
 fighting me, and gave orders to the inhabitants 
 of Sepphoris, and Gabara, and Tiberias, to send 
 auxiliaries to John. 
 
 41. Now, as my father wrote me an account of 
 this, (for Jesus the son of Gamala, who was pre- 
 sent in that council, a friend and companion ot 
 :aine, told him of it,) I was very much troubled, 
 is 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 
 iiim, 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 de- 
 prived 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 
 cf 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 
 >i which was Asochis. 
 
 42. But wonderful it was what a dream I saw 
 chat 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,* 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 diiiiculties, but many others, with great 
 success. However, be not cast down, but re- 
 member 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. Raw 
 me, they threw themselves down upon oheir 
 
 This 1 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 tlie note on Antiq. b. iii. chap. viii. sect. 9 T^e 
 "*** IB in the War, b. iii. chap, \-iii. sect 8. 6. 
 
 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 in- 
 jured 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 compas- 
 sion to them, and thought it became me to un- 
 dergo 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 of them should come to me 
 armed, and with provisions for their mainten- 
 ance, 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 sol- 
 diers that were with me before, and eighty 
 horsemen, and marched to the village of Cba- 
 bolo, situated in the confines of Ptolemais, 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 Gal- 
 ias to burn those villages of Galilee that were 
 near Ptoleraais. 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 neighbourhood 
 of Ptolemais. 
 
 44. About this time it was that Jonathan and 
 nis 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 com- 
 mon 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 numi-er of soldiers." 
 Thus it was that they *rote, 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 
 great number, they should judge me to be a 
 public enemy. Kow 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, j 
 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 won- 
 der at the boldness of the soldier ; but I desired 
 him to sit down and sup with us ; but when ho 
 efused so. to do. I held the letter in my hand*
 
 THE LIFE OF FLAV1US JOSEFHU3. 
 
 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 understand- 
 ing thereby presently the purport of the writ- 
 ing, 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 to the soldier for the charges of his jour- 
 ney ; 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 shall have a drachma 
 for every glass thou drinkest." So he gladly 
 embraced this proposal, and drank a great deal 
 of wine, hi order to get the more money, and was 
 o 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 further, 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 
 (Jhabolo. Do you, therefore, en 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 tlu> 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, wj^om I esteemed most faithful to 
 me, to go along' with the others, every one with 
 him whom he was to guard, lest some conversa- 
 tion might pass between those whom I sent and 
 those who were with Jonathan. So those men 
 went [to Jonathan. 1 But, when Jonathan and 
 his partners had failed in this their first attempt, 
 they sent me another letter, the contents where- 
 of 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 inhabit- 
 ants in it. There the multitude of men, with 
 their wives and children, met them, and ex- 
 claimed loudly against them ; and desi -ed them 
 to be gone, and not to envy them the advan- 
 tage of an excellent commander. With these 
 clamours Jonathan and his partners w re greatly 
 provoked, although they durst not s jew their 
 anger openly ; so they made them no answer, 
 but went to other villages. But still the same 
 clamours met them from all the people, who 
 said, " Nobody should persuade them to have 
 any other commander besides Josephus." So 
 Jonathan :od his partners went, away from them 
 
 without success, and came to Sepphoris, the 
 greatest city of all Galilee. Now the men ol 
 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 clamour 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 clamour with their clubs; 
 and when they came to Gabara, John met them 
 with three thousand armed men ; but, as I un- 
 derstood 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 aie two hundred and forty cities and 
 villages in Galilee : I will come to any of them 
 which you please, excepting Gabara and Gis- 
 chala, the one of which is John's native city, 
 and the other in confederacy and friendship with 
 him." 
 
 46. When Jonathan and Ms partners La/J 
 received this letter, they wrote me no more 
 answers, but called a council of their friends to- 
 gether; 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 
 also confirm that determL ation. 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 in 
 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 be- 
 longed 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. Ac- 
 cordingly 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 Gabara 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 travelled 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 faith- 
 ful 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. 
 How, on the fifth day following, when I was a-f
 
 THJS 
 
 OF KiAVIUS JOSEPHUS. 
 
 Qabaroth, I found the entire plain that was be- 
 fore 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 
 saviour 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,* nor to spoil the country, 
 but to pitch thoir 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 cornnose 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 ap- 
 pointed 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 com- 
 panions 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 led 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 in- 
 deed they had given orders to the armed men, 
 that when I came they should let nobody bo- 
 sides me come in, but should exclude others; 
 as supcosing 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, au 
 Boon as I was got off my journey, I took up my 
 lodgings over against them, and pretended to bs 
 nsleep ; 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 clamour against 
 Jonathan and his partners for earning 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 com- 
 panions 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 Gali- 
 leans on my account ; so they contiived 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. E 
 
 * Josephus's directions to his soldiers here are much 
 the same that John the Baptist gave (Luke iii. 14 :) 
 ' Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely, 
 and be content with your wages." Whence Dr Hud- 
 son confirms this conjecture, that Josephus, in some 
 thin'-'s, was, even now, a follower of John the Baptist, 
 which IK DO way imiprobil/lft See the note on sect 2- 
 
 ordered, therefore, the multitude to restrain en- 
 tirely their acclamations, and placed the mort 
 faithful of my armed men upon the avenues, to 
 be a guard to us, lest John should unexpectedly 
 fall upon us ; and I encouraged the Galileans to 
 take their weapons, lest they should be dis- 
 turbed at their enemies, if any sudden assault 
 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 of 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 pub- 
 licly shewed 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 behaviour, compared with that of John's. 
 and had brought no more than two or three 
 witnesses, t good men and true, it is plain you 
 had been forced, upon the examination of their 
 characters beforehand, to discharge the accusa- 
 tioRs: that, wherefore, you may be informed 
 that I have acted well in the affairs of Galilee, 
 L 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 J 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 anything acted other- 
 wise than well." 
 
 50. While I was thus speaking, vile united 
 voices of all the people joined together, and called 
 me their benefactor and saviour, and attested 
 to my former behaviour, and exhorted me to con- 
 tinue 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 Gali- 
 leans two of those epistles which had been sent 
 by Jonathan and his colleagues, and which those 
 whom I hwl appointed to guard the road had 
 taken, and rent to me. These were full of re- 
 proaches 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 fal- 
 sities. 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 will- 
 ing that my enemies should know anything ol 
 the guardi 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 hia 
 colleagues that were with him, and were going tc 
 attack them, and kill them; and this tLsy had 
 certainly done, unless I had restrained the anger 
 of the Galileans, and said, that " I forgave Jona- 
 than and liis colleagues what was past, if they 
 
 t We here learn the rrato'ce of the Jews in the days 
 Of Josephus, M inquire tni f characters of witnesses 
 before they were admitted', and lhat their numLet 
 ought to be three, or two at the least, also exactly as i 
 the law of Moses, and in the Apostolical Constitutions, 
 b. ii. ch. xxxvii. See Iloreb Covenant Revived, pp 9 
 98. 
 
 t This appeal to the whole body of the Galileans by 
 Josephus, and the testimony they gave him of integrity 
 in h is conduct as their governor, is very like that ap- 
 peal and testimony in the case of the prophet Samuel, 
 (1 ?H mtiel xii. 1-5,) and perhaps was done by JosepnnS 
 in iu>i;a?.ionof him.
 
 THE LIFE U* tfL VI UM JUSEFHUS. 
 
 although I knew they would do nothing of what 
 ihey 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 im 
 mediately to the house in which Jonathan and 
 
 his colleagues abode. However, when I per ^ 
 
 ceived that their rage could not be restrained, I quiry in the city how matters went, and whether 
 
 I so managed myself as not to appear to begin a Bother, if they learned any news from those that 
 
 civil war amongst them. were left in the city. On the next day, there- 
 
 52. But when I was come near Sogane, I caused fore, they all r>ame into the Proseucha ;* it was 
 
 the multitude to make a halt, and exhorted them ' a large edifice, and capable of receiving a great 
 
 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 tre- 
 : aendous amongst us, and such as I did iiot think 
 1st to disbelieve. However, they desired me to 
 lodge somewhere 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 
 ; yet did withal leave some to make in- 
 
 not to be so easly provoked to anger, and to the 
 inflicting such punishments as could not be after- 
 
 number of people; thither Jonathan went in, and 
 though he durst not openly speak of a revolt, yet 
 
 wards recalled : I also gave order, that a hundred ^ did he say that their city stood in need of a better 
 men, who were already in years, and were prin- 1 governor than it then had. But Jesus, who was 
 cipal men among them, should get themselves i the ruler, made no scruple to speak out, and said 
 ready to go to the city of Jerusalem, and should | openly, "O fellow-citizens! it is better for you 
 make a complaint before the people, of such as to be in subjection to four than to one; and those 
 raised seditions hi the country. And I said to ' such as are of high birth, and not without repu- 
 them, tbat " in case they be moved with whac tation for their wisdom ;" and pointed to Jona- 
 you sav, you shall desire the community to write than and his colleagues Upon his saying this, 
 to me, and to enjoin me to continue in Galilee, Justus came in and commended him for what he 
 and to order Jonathan and his colleagues to de- \ had said, and persuaded some of the people to be 
 part out of it." When I had suggested these in- of his mind also. 15 ut the multitude were not 
 
 struct;ons 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 
 
 pleased with what was said, and had certainlv 
 gone into a tumult, unless the sixth hour, which 
 was now come, had not dissolved the assembly, 
 at which hour our laws require us to go to din- 
 ner on Sabbath-days ; so Jonathan and his col- 
 leagues put off their council till the next day, 
 
 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, ex- 
 pecting 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 com- 
 plied 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 per- 
 suaded 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 
 my self "so well in the government of Galilee; and 
 they congratulated me upon the honours that 
 were paid me: for they said that my glory was a 
 credit to them, since they had been mv teacher^ 
 
 safely pass through the country ; for Samaria an( j wen t off without success. "When I was in- 
 was already under the Romans, and it was abso- | f orme d of these affairs, I determined to go to 
 lutely necessary for those that go quickly [to | tne c jt y O f Tiberias in the morning. Accord- 
 
 ' ingly, on the next day, about the first hour of 
 the day, I came from Taricheae, 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 pretence of the want of ex- 
 traordinary 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 pro- 
 posed, 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, 
 
 * 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, ic 
 xsdien'-p tn thoir notions of the law of Moses also.
 
 THE LIFE 
 
 and the body of the people gotten together, and 
 Jonathan and his colleagues bringing vehement 
 accusations against me, as one who had co con- 
 cern to ease them of the burdens of war, and a;; 
 one that lived luxuriously \.nd as they were 
 discoursing thus, they produced four letters ar 
 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 ari 
 army of Romans, both bors.em<?n and footmen, 
 who would oome and lay waste the country on 
 the third <Liy; 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 clamour against me, 
 *nd said I ought not to sit still, but to go away 
 to the assistance of their countrymen. Her&- 
 ipon I said (for I understood the meaning of 
 Jonathan and his colleagues) that I was ready to 
 comply with what the> proposed, and without 
 delay to msn-ch to the war which they spake of. 
 yet did I auvise them, at the same tune, 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; fdr, 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 under- 
 takings. 
 
 50. Now there was one whose name was An 
 inias, (a wicked man he was, and very mischiev 
 ous;) he proposed that a general religious fast* 
 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 wliile 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, there- 
 fore, 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 the most 
 ! faithful, to hide daggers under their garments. 
 | tnd go along with me, that we might defend 
 j ourselves, if any attack should be made upon us 
 ! by our enemies. I also myself took my breast- 
 1 plate, and girded on my sword, so that it might 
 be, as far as it was possible, concealed, and caine 
 into the Proseucha. 
 
 57. Now Jesus, who was the ruler, commanded 
 that they should exclude all that came with me, 
 t'or he kept the door himself, and suffered none 
 but his friends to go in. And while we were 
 
 * One may observe here, that this lay-Pharisee, An- 
 inias, K9 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 
 soliey. 
 
 engaged in the duties of the day, and had be 
 taken 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 the uncoined 
 silver: and hi whose possession they now were? 
 This he said, hi 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 th>it 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 receivs 
 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 Jeru- 
 salem. So Jonathan and his colleagues said thai 
 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 per- 
 ceived the wickedness of the men, I understood 
 that a tumult was going to arise; and being de- 
 sirous 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 re- 
 pay the twenty pieces of gold my self. l: 
 
 58. When I had said this, Jonathan and hia 
 colleagues held their peace ; but the people wer 
 still more irritated against them, upon their 
 openly shewing their unjust ill-will to me. 
 When J esus saw this change in the 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 col- 
 leagues, 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 tyran- 
 nising, and by cheating the multitude of tha 
 Galileans with his speeches, in order to gain tha 
 dominion over them." When he had said this, 
 they presently laid hands upon me, and endea- 
 voured 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 peopla 
 also took up stones, and were about to throw 
 them at Jonathan; and so they snatched ma 
 from the violence of my enemies. 
 
 59. But as I was gone out a little way, I wus 
 jusi upon meeting John, who was marching with 
 hL 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 
 hi it, and sailed over to Taricheae. So, beyond 
 my expectation, I escaped this danger. Where- 
 upon I presently sent for the chief of the Gali- 
 leans, and told them after what manner, against 
 all faith given, I had been very near to destruc- 
 tion from Jonathan and his colleagues, and the 
 people of Tiberias. Upon which the multitude 
 of the Galileans were very angry, and encour- 
 aged me to delay no longer to make war upor 
 them, but to permit them to go against John, 
 and utterly to destroy him, as well as Jonathai 
 and his colleagues. However, I restrained them, 
 thougu they were in such a rage, and desirea 
 *^m to tarrv a while, till we should be irfonr"<1
 
 I HE LIFE OF FLA VI ITS JOaEPHTJS. 
 
 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 to act 
 Recording to their determination ; whereupon 
 they were prevailed on. At which time also, 
 John, when the snares he had laid (Ud not take 
 effect, returned back to Gischala. 
 
 60. Now, in a few days, those amoassadors 
 whom we had sent came back again, and in- 
 formed us that the people were greatly provoked 
 at Ananus, aud Simon the son of Gamaliel, and 
 their friends; that, without any public deter- 
 mination, they had sent to Galilee, and had 
 done their endeavours that I might be turned 
 out of the government. The ambassadors said 
 'urther, 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 col- 
 leagues 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 govern- 
 ment of their country, as also what related to 
 the order they had in writing for Jonathan and 
 his colleagues to return home. So I irnmedi- 
 ^tely 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 pro- 
 posed to hold a council, and desired them to 
 consider what was to be done by them. How- 
 ever, the governors of Tiberias were greatly dis- 
 posed 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 threat- 
 ened to do. Now John was not only of their 
 opinioii, 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 wo lid 
 easily persuade the people, because of their dig- 
 nity, 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 to [Simon nnd Joazar] should be 
 left behind to tarry at Tiberias. They also took 
 along with them a hundred soldiers for their 
 guard. 
 
 62. However, the governors of Tiberias took 
 care to have their city secureJ 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 
 bo occasion for them. Now John was at Gis- 
 cbala. Jonathan, therefore, and those that were 
 with him, when they were departed from Tibe- 
 rias, 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 com- 
 manded 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 tvfo 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 Jona- 
 than, and those that were with him, were al- 
 ready arrived at Jerusalem, they made reproach- 
 ful 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 everybody. 
 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 
 humour 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 mes- 
 sage 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 v and divide 
 the government of Galilee with them. Accord- 
 ingly Simon was deluded, on account of his im- 
 prudence, 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 after- 
 ward I walked along with him, as though I would 
 say something to him by himself ; but 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, ev.;ii 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 Tiberias thought that their city was 
 taken by force, and so threw down their arms for 
 fear ; and implored, they, their wives, and chil- 
 dren, 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 hi 
 journey thither. 
 
 64. But on the next day,I brought ten thousand 
 armed men with me, and came to Tiberias. J
 
 THE LIFE OF FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS. 
 
 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 Joasar, 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 re- 
 gard to me, by their fidelity for the time to come ; 
 and they besought me to preserve what spoils re- 
 mained 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 splen- 
 did than ordinary, I asked him whence he had it ; 
 ind 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 pro- 
 duced before us whatsoever they had plundered ; 
 and when a great many spoils were brought to- 
 gether, 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 con- 
 cerning these affairs; as also to others who pro- 
 fess 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, Jus- 
 tus 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 defence; and so I shall say what I 
 have concealed till now ; and let no one wonder 
 that I have not told the world these tilings a 
 great while ago; for although it be necessary for 
 a historian to write the truth, yet is such a one 
 not bound severely to animadvert on the wicked- 
 ness of certain men, not out of any favour 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 be- 
 fore 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 
 go it is written in the Commentaries of Vespasian, 
 the emperor; as also how the inhabitants of De- 
 cajiolis came clamouring to Vespasian at Ptole- 
 mais, and desired that thou, who wast the author, 
 [of that war.] mightst 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 Ber- 
 
 nice, changed tho punishment from death inte a 
 long impriscn-ment. Thy political administration 
 of affairs afterward doth also clearly discover 
 both thy other behaviour 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 ac- 
 count; 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 re- 
 solve 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 Cestius 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, Jeru- 
 salem, was besieged, and that temple of ours, 
 which belonged to us all, was hi 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 
 Genesareth, and distant from Hippos thirty fur- 
 longs, from Gadara sixty, and from Scythopolis, 
 which was under the king's jurisdiction, a hun- 
 dred 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 revolt;] 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 
 taken 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 yoi 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 "V es- 
 pasian had complied with the king's supplication 
 for you, and had excused yr.ur madness. It was 
 not'l, therefore, who was the author of this, but 
 your own inclinations to war. Do not you remem- 
 ber 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 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 ir 
 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 ii 
 
 P.
 
 18 
 
 THE LIFE OF FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS. 
 
 la I who am a wicked man. But then, for what 
 reason was it that King Agrippa, who procured 
 thee thy life when theu wast condemned to die 
 by Vespasian, 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 had 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 scan- 
 dal 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 bi ought 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 Csesar; of which we 
 have evident proof, because thou hast contra- 
 dicted those commentaries of Caesar in thy his- 
 tory. 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 
 Ids family, who were men very well skilled in 
 ohe learning of the Greeks, were all alive? for 
 thou hast had it written these twenty years, and 
 then mightst 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 con- 
 tradicted, thou venturest to publish it. Bat 
 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, his dear friend, sendeth 
 greeting. I have read over thy book with great 
 pleasure, and it appears to me that thou hast 
 .lone it much more accurately, and with greater 
 care, than have the other writers. Send me the 
 rest of these books. Farewell, my dear friend." 
 " King Agrippa to Josephus, his dear friend, 
 sendeth greeting. It seems by what thou hast 
 written, that thou standest in need of no instruc- 
 tion, in order to our information from the be- 
 ginning. However, when thou comest to me, I 
 will infoim thee of a great many things which 
 tnou dost not know." So when this history was 
 perfected, Agrippa, neither by way of flattery, 
 -rhich WM not aareeable 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,* which T 
 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 apprised 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 ad- 
 vantageous course for themselves. I also threat- 
 ened 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 con- 
 tinued afterward in his own country, and was in 
 en-eat fear of me. 
 
 67. But about this time it was that the people 
 c" Sepphoris grew insolent, and took up arms, 
 oat 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 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 33d 
 code of his Bibliotheca, and runs thus : " I have read" 
 (says Photius) "the chronology of Justus of Tiberias, 
 whose title is this, [The Chronology of] the Kings qj 
 Judah, which fucceeded 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 men- 
 tion of the appearance of Christ, or what things hap- 
 pened to Him, or of the wonderful works that He did. 
 He was the son of a certain Jew, whose name was Pis- 
 tus. He was a man, as he is described by Josephus, of 
 a most profligate character; a slave both to money ani 
 to pleasures. In public affairs he was opposite to Jose- 
 phus ; and it is related, that he laid many plots against 
 him ; but that Josephus, though he had his enemy fre- 
 quently under his power, did only reproach him in words, 
 and so let him go without further punishment. He sayg 
 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."
 
 THE LIFB OF FLAVIUS JOSEPHU8. 
 
 1.9 
 
 the city by force. The Galileans took this oppor- 
 tunity, as thinking they had now a proper time 
 for shewing 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 everything, 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 com- 
 manded them to do, (for the hatred they bore to 
 the people there was too hard for my exhorta- 
 tions to them,) I bade those my friends, who 
 were most faithful to me, and were about me, 
 to give out reports, as if the Romans were fall- 
 ing 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 pre- 
 tended to be in fear as well as they. Thus were 
 the inhabitants of Sepphoris unexpectedly pre- 
 served by this contrivance of mine. 
 
 68. Nay, indeed, Tiberias had like to 'nave 
 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 t* 
 their arms. So a great many of them got to 
 gether from all quarters the next day, and came 
 to the city Asochis, where I then lodged, and 
 made heavy clamours, 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 de- 
 liver Tiberias from the rage of the Galileans; for 
 I could not deny that those of Tiberias 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 
 Bur 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 
 onder your power, with all such as you shall 
 yourselves bring hi also." Upon my saying this, 
 I pacified 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 go 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 skilful management, and the 
 >.are that I had for its preservation. 
 
 70. About this time it was that Jnstus, the 
 son of Pistus, without my knowledgb, ran away 
 to the king ; the occasion of which I will here 
 relate. Upon the beginning of the war between 
 the Jews and the Romans, the people of Tiberias 
 resolved to submit to the king, and not to revolt 
 from the Romans; while Justus tried to per- 
 suade 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 be- 
 fore 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 dis- 
 position. He was therefore much afraid of me, 
 lest at length my passion should come to ex- 
 tremity; so he went to the king, as supposing 
 that he would dwell better and more safely with 
 him. 
 
 7L Now when the people of Sepphoris had, in 
 HO 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 
 *nd foot, which came hi 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 
 i bank, a good way off the citry 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 great- 
 est part of the city. But soon after, our unac- 
 quaintedness 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 tune, we were beaten; for upon the 
 Romans encompassing me about, my soldiers 
 were afraid, and fell back. There fell in thf;t 
 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 horse- 
 men and footmen, from the king, and Sylla their 
 commander, who was the captain of his guard; 
 this Sylla pitched his camp at five furlongs' dis- 
 tance from Julias, and set a guard upon the 
 roads, both that which led to Cana, and that 
 which led to the fortress Qamala. that he might
 
 2C 
 
 THE LIFE OF FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS. 
 
 hinder their inhabitants from getting provisions 
 out of Galilee. 
 
 72. As soon as I had got 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 sol- 
 diers myself, and came to them. But on the 
 next day, when I had laid an ambush hi a certain 
 valley, not far from the banks, I provoked those 
 that belonged to the king to come to a battle, 
 wid gave orders to my own soldiers to turn their 
 backs upon them, until they should have drawn 
 the enemy away from their cuinp, and brought 
 them out into the field, whicn was done accord- 
 ingly; 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 hindrance; 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 vil- 
 lage 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 re- 
 turned in very great concern for me. I there- 
 fore gent 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 Taricheae. 
 
 73. When Sylla and his pan,/ were informed 
 what happened to me, they took courage again; 
 and understanding that the watch was negli- 
 gently 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 dis- 
 order, 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 Julias, 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 lung 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 
 >f Syria made a clamour against Justus of Tibe- 
 rias, because he had set their villages on fire: so 
 Vespasian delivered him to the king, to be put 
 to death by those under the king's jurisdiction ; 
 jret 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 Sep- 
 rnoru 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 after- 
 ward loosed, with all that was done by me in 
 the Jewish war, and during the siege of Jeru- 
 salem, I have accurately related them in the 
 books concerning the war of the Jews. How- 
 ever, it will, I think, be 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 shewed me. Moreover, at his com- 
 mand, I married a virgin, who was from among 
 the captives of that country : * 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 have me 
 punished ; and the Romans also, whenever they 
 were beaten, supposed that it was occasioned by 
 my treachery, and made continual clamours 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 uncer- 
 tain fortune of war, and returned no answer to 
 the soldiers' vehement solicitations against me. 
 Moreover, when the city of Jerusalem was taken 
 by force, Titus Caesar persuaded me frequently 
 to take whatsoever I would of the ruins of my 
 country, and said 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 t 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 Cerealius, 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 ac- 
 quaintance. 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; 
 
 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 Mosea, (Antiq. b. iii. ch. xii. sect. 2.) I mean, 
 the taking a captive woman to wife. See also Against 
 Appion, 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. 
 
 Of this most remarkable clause, and its most im- 
 f*"" 1 ?"' consequences, see Essay on the Old Testament
 
 THE LTFB OF FLAVITJS JOSEPHUS. 
 
 21 
 
 yeb two of them died tinder 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 
 garrison to guard the country was afterward to 
 pitch there, he gave me another country in the 
 plains, 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 Ves- 
 pasian ; for he gave me an apartment in his own 
 house, which he lived in before he came to the 
 empire. He also honoured me with the privilege 
 of a Roman citizen, and gave me an annual pen- 
 sion ; 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 occa- 
 ion 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; acoor ling to which sen- 
 tence he was put to death Nay, after that, 
 when those that envied my good fortune did fre- 
 quently bring accusations against me, by God's 
 wrovidence 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 behaviour. 
 
 though not till she had been the mother of three 
 children ; two of whom are dead, und one, whom 
 I had 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 honour to him who hath it; 
 nay, Domitia, the wife of Caesar, continued to do 
 me kindnesses. And this is the account of my 
 whole life; and let others judge of my character 
 by them as they please ; but to thee, Epaphro- 
 ditus,* thou most excellent of men! do I dedi- 
 cate all this treatise of our Antiquities ; and so, 
 for the present, I here conclude the whole. 
 
 * Of this Epaphroditua, Bee the note on the Fief EMM 
 to the Antiquities
 
 THtf 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 { L THOSE who undertake to write uisturies, du 
 not, I perceive, take that trouble on one and 
 the same account, but for many reasons, and 
 those such as are very different one from an- 
 other; for gome of them apply themselves to 
 this part of learning to shew their skill in com 
 position, and that they may therein acquire a 
 reputation for speaking finely; others of tl'enj 
 there are who write histories, in order to gratify 
 those that happened to be concerned in them, 
 and on that account have spared no pains, but 
 rather gone beyond their own abilities in the 
 performance ; but others there are who, of 
 necessity and by force, are driven to write his- 
 tory, because they are concerned in the facts, 
 and so cannot excuse themselves from com- 
 mitting them to writing, for the advantage of 
 posterity : nay, there are not a few who are in- 
 duced to draw their historical facts out of dark- 
 ness into light, and to produce them for the 
 benefit of the public, on account of the great 
 importance of the facts themselves with which 
 they have been concerned. Now of these several 
 reasons for writing history, I must profess the 
 two last were my own reasons also ; for since I 
 was myself interested in that war which we 
 Jews had with the Romans, and knew myself 
 its particular actions, and what conclusion it 
 had, I was forced to give the history of it, be 
 cause I saw that others perverted the truth of 
 those actions in their writings. 
 
 2. Now I have undertaken the pieseiit work, 
 as thinking it will appear to all the Greeks f 
 worthy of their study; for it will contain all our 
 antiquities, and the constitution of our govern- 
 ment, as interpreted out of the Hebrew Scrip- 
 tures; and indeed I did formerly intend, when 
 I wrote of the war, to explain who the Jews 
 originally were, what fortunes they had been 
 subject to, and by what legislator they had 
 been instructed in piety, and the exercise oi 
 other virtues, what wars also they had made 
 in remote ages, till they were unwillingly en- 
 gaged in this last with the Romans ; bx.t because 
 this work would take up a great compass, 1 
 separated it into a set treatise by itself, with a 
 beginning of its own, and its own conclusion: 
 but in process of time, as usually happens t 
 
 * This preface of Josephus is excellent in its kind 
 and highly worthy the repeated perusal of the reader, 
 before he set about the perusal of the work itself, 
 f That is, all the Gentiles, both Greeks and Romans v 
 | We may seasonably note here, that Josephus wrott 
 nis Seven Books of the Jewish War long before lu 
 wrote these his Antiquities. Those books of the Wai 
 were published about A.D. 75; and thsse Antiquities, 
 \ n 98, alv/ut eighteen years later 
 
 >uch as undertake great things, 1 grew weary, 
 and went on slowly, it being a large subject, ant! 
 a difficult thing to translate our history into 
 a foreign, and to us unaccustomed language. 
 However, some persons there were who desired 
 to know our history, and so exhorted me to gc 
 ">n with it; and above all the rest, Epaphroditus, 
 i. man who is a lover of all kind of learning, but 
 is principally delighted with the knowledge of 
 history ; and this on account of his having been 
 himself concerned in great affairs, and man;, 
 turns of fortune, and having shewn a wonderful 
 rigour of an excellent nature, and an immovable 
 "irtuous resolution in them alL I yielded tc 
 this man's persuasions, who always excites such 
 as have abilities in what is useful and accept- 
 able, to join their endeavours with his. I was 
 also ashamed myself to permit any laziness of 
 disposition to have a greater influence upon me 
 than the delight of taking pains in such studie- 
 as were very useful : I thereupon stirred up 
 myself, and went on with my work more cheer- 
 fully. Besides the foregoing motives, I had 
 others which I greatly reflected on; and these 
 were, that our forefathers were willing to com- 
 municate such things to others ; and that some 
 of the Greeks took considerable pains to know 
 the affairs of our nation. 
 
 3. I found, therefore, that the second of the 
 Ptolemies was a king who was extraordinarily 
 diligent in what concerned learning and the 
 collection of books; that he was also peculiar! y 
 ambitious to procure a translation of our law, 
 and of the constitution of our government there- 
 in contained, into the Greek tongue. Now 
 Eleazar, the high priest, one not inferior, to any 
 other of that dignity among us, did not envy the 
 forenamed king the participation of that advan- 
 tage, which otherwise he would for certain have 
 denied him, but that ho knew the custom of our 
 nation was, to binder nothing of what we 
 ssteemed ourselves from being communicated to 
 others. Accordingly, I thought it became me 
 both to imitate the generosity of our high priest, 
 and to suppose there might even now be many 
 lovers of learning like the king; for he did not 
 obtain all our writings at that time ; but those 
 svho were sent to Alexandria as interpreters 
 gave him only the books of the law, while there 
 were a vast number of other matters in our 
 
 } This Epaphroditu was certainly alive in the third 
 rear of Trajan, A.D. 100. bee the note on the first book 
 Against Apion, sect. 1, Who he was we do not know ; 
 for as to Epaphroditus, the freed-man of Nero, and 
 afterwards Domitian's secretary, who wa put to death 
 by Domitian, in the 14th or 16th year ol his reign, h* 
 could not be alive in the third Of Tmian.
 
 24 
 
 wicred books. They indeed contain in them the 
 history of five thousand years ; in which time 
 happened many strange accidents, many chances 
 of war, and gieat actions of the commanders, 
 and mutations of the form of our government. 
 Upon the whole, a man that will peruse this 
 history may principally learn from it that all 
 eventa succeed well, even to an incredible degree, 
 and the reward of felicity in proposed by God ; 
 but then it is to those that follow His'will, and 
 do not venture to break His excellent laws ; 
 and that so far as men any way apostatise from 
 the accurate observation of them, what was 
 practicable before becomes impracticable ;* and 
 whatsoever they set about as a good thing is 
 converted into an incurable calamity. And now 
 I exhort all those that peruse these books to 
 apply their minds to God ; and to examine the 
 mind of our legislator, whether he hath not 
 understood his nature in a manner worthy of 
 him ; and hath not ever ascribed to him such 
 operations as become his power, and hath not 
 preserved his writings from those indecent fables 
 which others have framed, although, by the 
 great distance of time when he lived, he might 
 have securely forged such lies ; for he lived two 
 thousand years ago; at which vast distance of 
 ages the poets themselves have not been so 
 hardy as to fix even the generations of their 
 gods, much less the actions of their men, or 
 their own laws. As I proceed, therefore, I shall 
 accurately describe what is contained in our 
 records, in the order of time that belongs to 
 them ; for I have already promised so to do 
 throughout this undertaking, and this without 
 adding anything to what is therein contained, 
 or taking away anything therefrom. 
 
 4. But because almost all our constitution 
 depends on the wisdom of Moses, our legislator, 
 I cannot avoid saying somewhat concerning him 
 beforehand, though I shall do it briefly : I mean, 
 because otherwise those that read my book may 
 wonder how it comes to pass that my discourse, 
 which promises an account of laws and historical 
 facts, contains so much of philosophy. The 
 reader is therefore to know, that Moses deemed 
 it exceeding necessary that he who would con- 
 duct his own life well, and give laws to others, 
 in the first place should consider the divine 
 nature, and upon the contemplation of God's 
 operations should thereby imitate the best of 
 all patterns, so far as it is possible for human 
 nature to do, and to endeavour to follow after it ; 
 neither could the legislator himself have a right 
 mind without such a contemplation ; nor would 
 anything he should write tend to the promotion 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Josephvw here plainly alludes to the famous Greek 
 proyerb : If Uod be with u, svtry thin* that U impos- 
 sible oecojt ,Hfei iji<j. 
 
 of virtue in his readers : I mean, unless they b* 
 taught first of all, that God is the Father and 
 Lord of all things, and sees all things, and that 
 thence he bestows a happy life upon those that 
 follow him ; but plunges such as do not walk in 
 the paths of virtue into inevitable miseries. 
 Now when Moses was desirous to teach this 
 lesson to his countrymen, he did not begin the 
 establishment of his laws after the same manner 
 that other legislators did : I mean, upon con- 
 tracts and other rites between one man and 
 another, but by raising their minds upwards 
 to regard God, and his creation of the world ; 
 and by persuading them, that we men are the 
 most excellent of the creatures of God upon 
 earth. Now when once he had brought them 
 to submit to religion, he easily persuaded them 
 to submit in all other things ; for, as to other 
 legislators, they followed fables, and, by their 
 discourses, transferred the most reproachful of 
 human vices unto the gods, and so afforded 
 wicked men the most plausible excuses for their 
 crimes ; but, as for our legislator, when he had 
 once demonstrated that God was possessed of 
 perfect virtue, he supposed that men also ought 
 to strive after the participation of it ; and on 
 those who did not so think and so believe, he 
 inflicted the severest punishments. I exhort, 
 therefore, my readers to examine this whole 
 undertaking in that view; for thereby it will 
 appear to them that there is nothing therein 
 disagreeable either to the majesty of God, or to 
 his love to mankind ; for all things have here a 
 reference to the nature of the universe; while 
 our legislator speaks some things wisely, but 
 enigmatical^, and others under a decent allegory, 
 but still explains such things as required a direct 
 explication plainly and expressly. However, 
 those that have a mind to know the reasons of 
 everything, may find here a very curious philo- 
 sophical theory, which I now indeed shall wave 
 the explication of ; but if God afford me time 
 for it, I will set about writing it,t after I have 
 finished the present work. I shall now betake 
 myself to the history before me, after I have 
 first mentioned what Moses says of the creation 
 of the world, which I find described in the 
 sacred books after the manner following. 
 
 t Aa to this intended work of Josephus, concerning 
 the reasons of many of the Jewish laws, and what 
 philosophical or allegorical sense they would bear, the 
 loss of which work is by some of the learned not much 
 regretted, I am inclinable in part to Fabricius's opinion, 
 ap. Havercamp, pp. 63, 64, that "we need not doubt hut, 
 among some vain and frigid conjectures derived from 
 Jewish imaginations, Josephus would have taught us a 
 greater number of excellent and useful things, which 
 perhaps nobody, neither among the Jews nor among 
 the Christians, can now inform us of ; so that I would 
 five a great deal to find it still extant."
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 OOWTAINIWG THE ISTEBVAL OF THRBB THOUSAND MOHT HUNDHSD A1TD THIHTT-THBBB TEARS. 
 
 FROM THE CREATION TO THE DEATH OF ISAAC. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 THE CONSTITUTION OF THE WORLD, AND TH5 
 DISPOSITION OF THE ELEMENTS. 
 
 1. IN the beginning God created the heaven 
 and the earth ; but when the earth did not come 
 into sight, but was covered with thick darkness, 
 and a wind moved upon its surface, God com- 
 manded that there should be light ; and when 
 that was made he considered the whole mass, 
 and separated the light and the darkness ; and 
 the name he gave to one was Night, and the 
 other he called Day ; and he named the begin- 
 ning of light and the time of rest, The Evening 
 and The Morning; and this was indeed the first 
 day: but Moses said it was one day, the cause 
 of which I am able to give even now; but be- 
 cause I have promised to give such reasons for 
 all things in a treatise by itself, I shall put off 
 its exposition till that time. After this, on the 
 second day, he placed the heaven over the whole 
 world, and separated it from the other parts; 
 and he determined it should stand by itself. He 
 also placed a crystalline [firmament] round it, 
 and put together in a manner agreeable to the 
 earth, and fitted it for giving moisture and rain, 
 and for affording the advantage of dews. On 
 the third day he appointed the dry Luid to ap- 
 pear, with the sea itself round about it ; and on 
 the very same day he made the plants and the 
 seeds to spring out of the earth. On the fourth 
 day he adorned the heavens with the sun, the 
 moon, and the other stars ; and appointed them 
 their motions and courses, that the vicissitudes 
 of the seasons might be clearly signified. And 
 on the fifth day he produced the living creatures, 
 both those that swim and those that fiy; the 
 former in the sea, the latter in the air: he also 
 sorted them as to society and mixture, for pro- 
 creation, and that their kinds might increase 
 and multiply. On the sixth day he created the 
 four-footed beasts, and made them male and 
 female: on the same day he also formed man. 
 Accordingly Moses says that in just six days 
 the world and all that is therein was made ; and 
 that the seventh day was a rest, and a release 
 from the labour of such operations ; whence it 
 is that we celebrate a rest from our labours on 
 that day, and call it the Sabbath; which word 
 denotes rest in the Hebrew tongue. 
 
 2. Moreover, Moses, after the seventh day was 
 over,* begins to talk philosophically; and con- 
 
 * Since Josephus, in his Preface, sect. 4, says that 
 Moses wrote some things enigmatically, some allegori- 
 cally, and the rest in plain words, since in his account 
 of the first chapter of Genesis, and the first three verses 
 of the second, he gives us no hints of any mystery at all ; 
 but when he here comes to ver. 4, Ac., he says that Moses. 
 after the seventh day was over, began to talk philo 
 lophically, it is not very improbable that he understood 
 :lie rest of the second and the third chapters in some 
 
 cerning the formation of man, says thus : That 
 God took dust from the ground, and formed 
 man, and inserted in him a spirit and a souLf 
 This man was called Adam, which in the Hebrew 
 tongue signifies one that is red, because he was 
 formed out of red earth, compounded together ; 
 for of that kind is virgin and true earth. God 
 also presented the living creatures, when he had 
 made them, according to their kinds, both male 
 and female, to Adam, who gave them those 
 names by which they are still called. But when 
 he saw that Adam had no female companion, no 
 society, for there was no such created, and that 
 he wondered at the other animals which were 
 male and female, he laid him asleep, and took 
 away one of his ribs, and out of it formed the 
 woman ; whereupon Adam knew her when she 
 was brought to him, and acknowledged that she 
 was made out of himself. Now a woman is 
 called in the Hebrew tongue Issa; but the name 
 of this woman was Eve, which signifies the mother 
 of all living. 
 
 3. Moses says further, that God planted a para- 
 dise in the east, flourishing with all sorts of 
 trees ; and that among them was the tree of life, 
 and another of knowledge, whereby was to be 
 known what was good and evil ; and that when 
 he brought Adam and his wife into this garden, 
 he commanded them to take care of the plants. 
 Now the garden was watered by one river, J which 
 ran round about the whole earth, and was parted 
 into four parts. And Pfcison, which denotes a 
 multitude, running into India, makes its exit 
 into the sea, and is by the Greeks called Ganges. 
 Euphrates also, as well as Tigris, goes down into 
 
 enigmatical, or allegorical, or philosophical sense. The 
 change of the name of God, just at this place, from 
 Elohim to Jehovah Elohim, from God to Lord God in 
 the Hebrew, Samaritan, and Septuagint, does also not 
 a little favour some such change in the narration or 
 construction. 
 
 f We may observe here that Josephus supposed man 
 to be compounded of spirit, soul, and body, with St 
 Paul (1 Thess. v. 23) and the rest of the ancients : he 
 elsewhere says also, that the blood of animals was for- 
 bidden to be eaten, as having in it soul and spirit. 
 Antiq , b. iii. chap. xi. sect. 2. 
 
 t Whence this strange notion came, which yet is not 
 peculiar to Josephus, but, as Dr Hudson says here, ia 
 derived from older authors, as if four of the greatest 
 rivers in the world, running two of th<>Bi at vast dis- 
 tances from the other two, by some ir.enns or other 
 watered paradise, is hard to say. Only, since Josephus 
 has already appeared to allegorise this history, and take 
 notice that these four names had a particular significa- 
 tion : PhUon for Ganges, a. multitude ; Phrath for Eu- 
 phrates, either a dispersion or a flower ; Diglath for 
 Tigris, what it swift with narrownett ; and Geon for 
 Nile, what aritet from Ae east, we perhaps mistake 
 him when we suppose he literally means those for 
 rivers; especially as to Geon or Nile, which arises from 
 the east, while he very well knew the literal Nile arisen 
 from the south ; though what further allegorical sense 
 lie had in view is now, I fear, impossible to be <leter> 
 mined.
 
 26 
 
 ANTIQUITlEb uF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK i. 
 
 the Red Sea * Now the name Euphrates, 01 
 Phrath, denotes either a dispersion, or a flower: 
 by Tigris, or Diglath, is signified what is swift, 
 with narrowness; and Geon runs through Egypt, 
 Mid denotes what arises from t'>e east, wluct 
 the Greeks call Nile. 
 
 4 God therefore commanded ifaat Adam and 
 his 'wife should eat of all the rest of the plants, 
 but to abstain from the tree of knowledge; and 
 foretold to them that, if they t niched it, it 
 would prove their destruction. But while all 
 the living creatures had one language, t at that 
 time the serpent, which then lived together with 
 Adam and his wife, shewed an envious disposi 
 .tion, at his supposal of their living happily, and 
 in obedience to the commands of Gud ; and ima- 
 gining that, when they disobeyed them, they 
 would fall into calamities, he persuaded the 
 woman, out of a malicious intention, to taste of 
 the tree of knowledge, telling them that in that 
 tree was the knowledge of good and evil ; which 
 knowledge when they should obtain, they would 
 lead a happy life, nay, a life not inferior to that 
 >f a god : by which means he overcame the wo- 
 man, and persuaded her to despise the command 
 of God. Now when she had tasted of that tree, 
 and was pleased with its fruit, she persuaded 
 Adam to make use of it also. Upon this they 
 perceived that they were become naked to one 
 another; and being ashamed thus to appear 
 abroad, they invented somewhat to cover them ; 
 for the tree sharpened their understanding; and 
 they covered themselves with fig-leaves; and 
 tying these befare them, out of modesty, they 
 thought they were happier than they were before, 
 as they had discovered what they were in wani 
 of. But when God came into the garden, Adam, 
 who was wont before to come and converse with 
 him, being conscious of his wicked behaviour, 
 went out of the way. This behaviour surprised 
 God, and he asked what was the cause of this 
 his procedure, and why he, that before delighted 
 in that conversation, did no% fly from it, and 
 avoid it. When he made no reply, as conscious 
 to himself that he had transgressed the com- 
 mand of God, God said, " I had before deter- 
 mined about you both, how you might lead 8 
 happy life, without any affliction, and care, and 
 vexation of soul; and that all things which 
 might contribute to your enjoyment and plea- 
 sure should grow up by my providence, of their 
 own accord, without your own labour and pains- 
 taking; which state of labour and painstaking 
 v.-ould soon bring on old age, and death would 
 not be at any remote distance; but now thou 
 
 * By the Red Sea i* not here meant the Arabian 
 Gulf, which alone we now call by that name, but all 
 that South Sea, which included the Red Sea and the 
 Persian Gulf, as far as the East Indies ; as Reland an;' 
 Hudson here truly note, from the old geographers. 
 
 t Hence it appears that Josephus thought several, 
 
 at least, ol the brute animals, particularly the serpent! 
 
 could speak before the Fall. And I think few of the 
 
 more perfect kinds of those animals want the organs of 
 
 speech at this day Many inducements there are also 
 
 to a notion that *, present state they are in is not 
 
 their original otate ; and that their capacities have 
 
 been once much greater than we now see them, and 
 
 are capable of being restored to their former condition 
 
 But as to tl.is most ancient, and authentic, and proba 
 
 bly allegorical account of that grand affair of the fail 
 
 of our first parents, I have somewhat more to say in 
 
 way of conjecture, but, being only a conjecture, I omit 
 
 l: only thus far, that the imputation of the sin of our 
 
 st parents to their posterity, any further than as 
 
 ae way the cause or occasion of mpn's mortality 
 
 leenu almost entirely groundless ; and that both man' 
 
 other subordinate creatures, are hereafter to 
 
 lehvered from the curse then brought upon them, 
 
 an . % ^ be deliver l from that bondage of cw-' 
 niPtion. (Rom. riil. 19-22 1 
 
 hast abused this my good-will, and hast dis- 
 obeyed my commands ; for thy silence is not the 
 sign of thy virtue, but of thy evil conscience." 
 However, Adam excused his sin, and entreated 
 God not to be angry at him, and laid the blame of 
 what was done upon his wife, and said that he was 
 deceived by her, and thence became ac offender, 
 while she again accused the serpent But God 
 illotted him punishment, because he weakly 
 submitted to the counsel of his wife, and said, 
 the ground should not henceforth yield its fruits 
 of its own accord, but that when it should be 
 harassed by their labour it should bring forth 
 some of its fruits, and refuse to bring forth 
 others. He also made Eve Ijable to the incon- 
 veniency of breeding, and the sharp pains of 
 bringing forth children, and this because she 
 persuaded Adam with the same arguments 
 wherewith the serpent had persuaded her, and 
 had thereby brought him into a calamitous con- 
 dition. He also deprived the serpent of speech, 
 out of indignation at his malicious disposition 
 towards Adan i. Besides this, he inserted poison 
 tmder his tongue, and made him an enemy to 
 men ; and suggested to them that they should 
 iirect their strokes against his head, that being 
 ;he place wherein lay his mischievous designs 
 cowards men, and it being easiest to take ven- 
 geance on him that way ; and when he had de- 
 prived him of the use of his feet, he made him 
 to go rolling all along, and dragging himself upon 
 the ground. And when God had appointed these 
 penalties for them, he removed Adam and Eve 
 out of the garden into another place. 
 
 CHAPTER H. 
 
 roNCERNING THE POSTERITY OP ADAM, AND THB 
 TEN GENERATIONS FROM HIM TO THE DELUGE. 
 
 1. ADAM and Eve had two sons. The elder of 
 them was named Cain, which name, when it is 
 interpreted, signifies a possession; the younger 
 was Abel, which signifies sorrow. They had also 
 daughters. Now, the two brethren were pleased 
 with different courses of life; for Abel, the 
 younger, was a lover of righteousness, and, be- 
 lieving that God waa present at all his actions, 
 he excelled in virtue, and his employment was 
 that of a shepherd. But Cain was not only very 
 wicked in other respects, but was wholly intent 
 upon getting, and he first contrived to plough 
 I he ground. 2.e slew his brother on the occa- 
 sion following: They had resolved to sacrifice 
 to God. Now Cain brought the fruits of the 
 earth, and of his husbandry ; but Abel brought 
 milk, and the first-fruits of his flocks; but God 
 was more delighted with the latter oblation,^ 
 when he was honoured with what grew naturally 
 of its own accord, than he was with what waa 
 the invention of a covetous man, and gotten by 
 forcing the ground ; whence it was that Cain 
 was very angry that Abel was preferred by God 
 before bim; and be slew his brother, and hid 
 his dead body, thinking to escape discovery. 
 i But God, knowing what had been done, came to 
 i Uain, and asked him what was become of hi 
 
 J St John's account of the reason why God accepted 
 he sacrifice of Abel, and rejected that of Cain, as also 
 why Cain slew Abel, on account of that his acceptance 
 iith God, is much better than this of Josephus: I 
 nean, because "Cain was of the evil one, and slew hii 
 orother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his 
 oivn worts were evil, and his brother's righteous," (1 
 John iii. 12.) Josephus's reason seems to be no better 
 than a Pharisaical notion or tradition.
 
 2HAP. m.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 27 
 
 brother, because lie had not seen him of many 
 days, whereas he used to observe them convers- 
 ing together at other times. But Cain was in 
 doubt with himself, and knew not what answer 
 to give to God. At first he said that he was 
 himself at a loss about his brother's disappear- 
 ing; but when he was provoked by God, who 
 pressed him vehemently, as resolving to know 
 what the matter was, he replied he was not his 
 brother's guardian or keeper, nor was he an ob- 
 server of what he did. But in return, God con- 
 victed Cain as having been the murderer of his 
 brother; and said, " I wonder at thee, that thou 
 knowest not what h> become of a man whom thou 
 thyself hast destroyed." God therefore did not 
 inflict the punishment [of death] upon him, on 
 account of his offering sacrifice, and thereby I 
 making supplication to Him not to be extreme 
 in his wrath to him ; but He made him accursed, 
 and threatened his posterity in the seventh gene- 
 ration. He also cast him, together with his 
 wife, out of that land. And when he was afraid 
 that in wandering about he shouM fall among 
 wild beasts, and by that means perish, God bid 
 him not to entertain such a melancholy sus- 
 picion, and to go over all the earth without fear 
 of what mischief he might suffer from wild 
 beasts; and setting a mark upon him that he 
 might be known, he commanded him to depart. 
 2. And when Cain had travelled over many 
 countries, he, with his wife, built a city, named 
 Nod, which is a place so called, and there he set- 
 tled his abode ; where also he had children. How- 
 ever, he did not accept of his punishment in order 
 to amendment, but to increase his wickedness ; 
 for he only aimed to procure every thing that 
 was for his own bodily pleasure, though it 
 obliged him to be injurious to his neighbours. 
 He augmented his household substance with 
 much wealth, by rapine and violence; he ex- 
 cited his acquaintance to procure pleasures am! 
 spoils by rgbbery, and became a great leader of 
 men into wicked courses. He also introduced a 
 change in that way of simplicity wherein men 
 lived before; and was the author of measures 
 and weights. And whereas they lived innocently 
 and generously while they knew nothing of such 
 arts, he changed the world into cunning crafti- 
 ness. He first of all set boundaries about lands ; 
 he built a city, and fortified it with walls, and 
 he compelled his family to come together to it ; 
 and called that city Enoch, after the name of his 
 eldest son Enoch. Now Jared was the son of 
 Enoch ; whose son was ftlalaleel ; whose son was 
 Mathusela ; whose son was Lamech ; who had 
 seventy-seven children by two wives, Silla and 
 Ada. Of those children by Ada, one was Jabal; 
 he erected tents, and loved the life of a shep- 
 herd. But Jubal, who was born of the same 
 mother with him, exercised himself in music ;* 
 and invented the psaltery and the harp. But 
 Tubal, one of his children by the other wife, ex- 
 ceeded all men in strength, and was very expert 
 and famous in martial performances. He pro- 
 cured what tended to the pleasures of the body 
 by that method ; and first of all invented the art 
 of making brass- Lamech was also the father of a 
 daughter, whose name was Naamah ; and because 
 he was so skilful in matters of divine revelation, 
 that he knew he was to be punished for Gain's 
 murder of his brother, he made that known to 
 his wives. Nay, even while Adam was alive, it 
 came to pass that the posterity of Cain became 
 exceedingly wicked, every one successively dying 
 
 From this Jubal, not improbably, came Jobel, the 
 tromretof jobel or jubilee; that large and loud musical 
 Instrument used in proclaiming the liberty at the year 
 it Jubilee. 
 
 one after another, more wicked than the former. 
 They were intolerable in war, and vehement in 
 robberies ; and if any one were slow to murde: 
 people, yet was he bold in his profligate be- 
 haviour, in acting unjustly, and doing injury for 
 gain. 
 
 3. Now, Adam, who was the first man, and 
 made out of the earth, (for our discourse must 
 now be about him,) after Abel was slain, and 
 Cain fled away on account of his murder, was 
 solicitous for posterity, and had a vehement de- 
 sire of children, he being two hundred and thirty 
 years old ; after which time he lived other seven 
 hundred, and then died. He had indeed many 
 other children, t but Seth in particular. As for - 
 the rest, it would be tedious to name them; I 
 will therefore only endeavour to give an account 
 of those that proceeded from Seth. Now this 
 Seth, when he was brought up, and came to 
 those years in which he could discern what was 
 good, became a virtuous man; and as he was 
 himself of an excellent character, so did he leave 
 children behind him who imitated his virtues. + 
 All these proved to be of good dispositions. 
 They also inhabited the same country without 
 dissensions, and in a happy condition, without 
 any misfortunes falling upon them, till they died. 
 They also were the inventors of that peculiar 
 sort of wisdom which is concerned with the 
 heavenly bodies, and their order. And that 
 their inventions might not be lost before they 
 were sufficiently known, upon Adam's prediction 
 that the world was to be destroyed at one time 
 by the force of fire, and at another time by the 
 violence and quantity of water, they made two 
 pillars ; the one of brick, the other of stone : 
 they inscribed their discoveries oa them both, 
 that in case the pillar of brick should be de- 
 stroyed by the flood, the pillar of stone might 
 remain, and exhibit those discoveries to man- 
 kind; and also inform them that there was 
 another pillar of brick erected by them. Now 
 this remains in the land of Shiad to this day. 
 
 CHAPTER IIL 
 
 CONCEBNWG THE FLOOD ; AND AFTEB WHA1 
 MANNER NOAH WAS SAVED IN AN ABK, WITH 
 HIS KINDRED, AND AFTERWARDS DWELT IN 
 THK PLAIN OF SHINAB. 
 
 L Now thia posterity of Seth continued to 
 esteem God as the Lord of the universe, and to 
 
 t The numDer of Adam's children, as says the old 
 tradition, was thirty-three son* and twenty-three 
 daughters. 
 
 t What is here said of Seth and his posterity, that 
 they were very good and virtuous, and at the same time 
 very happy, without any considerable misfortunes, for 
 seven generations, [see ch. ii. sect. 1, before ; and en. 
 iii. sec. 1, hereafter,] is exactly agreeable to the state of 
 the world and the conduct of Providence in all the first 
 
 2 Of Josephus's mistake here, when he took Seth the 
 son of Adam for Seth or Sesostris, king of Egypt, the 
 erecter of this pillar in the land of Siriad, see Essay on 
 the Old Testament, Appendix, pp. 1S9, 160. Although 
 the main of this relation might be true, and Adam 
 might foretell a conflagration and a deluge, which all 
 antiquity witnesses to be an ancient tradition; nay, 
 Seth's posterity might engrave their inventions in as- 
 tronomy on two such pillars, yet it is no way credible 
 that they could survive the deluge, which has bunco, 
 all such pillars and edifices far under ground, in th 
 sediment of its waters ; especially since the like pillars 
 of the Egyptian Seth or Sesostris were extant after th 
 Slood in the land of Siriad, and perhaps in the days 01 
 Josephus also, as is shewn in the place here referred to
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK r. 
 
 have an entire regard to virtue, for seven gener- 
 ations; but in process of time they were per- 
 verted, and forsook the practices of their fore- 
 fathers, and did neither pay those honours to 
 God which were appointed them, nor had they 
 any concern to do justice towards men. But for 
 what degree of zeal they had formerly shewn for 
 virtue, they now shewed by their actions a 
 double degree of wickedness, whereby they 
 made God to be their enemy; for many angels* 
 of God accompanied with women, and begat 
 sons that proved unjust, and despisers of all 
 that was good, on account of the confidence they 
 had in their own strength, for the tradition is 
 .that these men did what resembled the acts of 
 those whom the Grecians call giants. But Noah 
 was very uneasy at what they did ; and, being 
 displeased at their conduct, persuaded them to 
 change their dispositions and their acts for the 
 better; but, seeing that they did not yield to 
 him, but were slaves to their wicked pleasures, 
 he was afraid they would kill him, together with 
 his wife and children, and those they had mar- 
 ried; so he departed out of that land. 
 
 2. Now God loved this man for his righteous- 
 ness; yet he not only condemned those other 
 men for their wickedness, but determined to de- 
 stroy the whole race of mankind, and to make 
 another race that should be pure from wicked- 
 ness; and cutting short their lives, and making 
 their years not so many as they formerly lived, 
 but one hundred and twenty only,t he turned 
 the dry land into sea; and thus were all these 
 men destroyed : but Noah alone was saved; for 
 God suggested to him the following contrivances 
 and way of escape: That he should make an 
 ark of four stories high, three hundred cubits^ 
 long, fifty cubits broad, and thirty cubits high. 
 Accordingly he entered into that ark, and his 
 wife and sons, and their wives ; and put into it 
 not only other provisions, to support their wants 
 there, but also sent in with the rest all sorts of 
 living creatures, the male and his female, for the 
 preservation of their kinds ; and others of them 
 by sevens. Now this ark had firm walls, and a 
 roof, and was braced with cross beams, so that it 
 could not be any way drowned or overborne by 
 the violence of the water; and thus was Noah, 
 with his family, preserved. Now he was the 
 tenth from Adam, as being the son of Lamech, 
 whose father was Mathusela. He was the son 
 of Enoch, the son of Jared ; and Jared was the 
 son of Malaleel, who, with many of his sisters, 
 were the children of Cainan, the son of Enos. 
 Now Enos was the son of Seth, the son of Adam. 
 
 3. This calamity happened in the six hun- 
 dredth year of Noah's government, [age,] in the 
 second month, called by the Macedonians Dius, 
 
 * This notion, that the fallen angels were, in some 
 sense, the fathers of the old giants, was the constant 
 opinion of antiquity. 
 
 t Josephus here supposes that the life of these giants, 
 for of them only do I understand him, was now reduced 
 to 120 years; which is confirmed by the fragment of 
 Enoch, sect. 10, in Authent. Rec., Part I. p. 268. For 
 as to the rest of mankind, Josephus himself confesses 
 their lives were much longer than 120 years, for many 
 generations after the Flood, as we shall see presently ; 
 and he says they were gradually shortened till the days 
 of Moses, and then fixed [for some time] at 120, (chap, 
 vi. sect. 6.) Nor indeed need we suppose that either 
 Enoch or Josephus meant to interpret these 120 years 
 for the life of men before the Flood, to be different from 
 the 120 years of God's patience [perhaps while the ark 
 was preparing] till the Deluge; which I take to be the 
 meaning of God when he threatened this wicked world, 
 r they 13 long continued impenitent, their days 
 should be no more than 120 years. 
 
 J A cubit is about twenty-one English inches. 
 
 J Joiephtu here truly determines, that the year at 
 
 but by the Hebrews Marchesuan; for so did 
 they order their year in Egypt; but Moses ap- 
 pointed that Nisan, which is the same with 
 Xanthicus, should be the first month for their 
 festivals, because he brought them out of Egypt 
 in that month: so that this month began the 
 year as to all the solemnities they observed to 
 the honour of God, although he preserved the 
 original order of the months as to selling and 
 buying, and other ordinary affairs. Now he 
 says that this flood began on the twenty-seventh 
 [seventeenth] day of the forementioned month ; 
 and this was two thousand six hundred and 
 fifty-six [one thousand six hundred and fifty-six] 
 years from Adam, the first man ; and the time 
 is written down in our sacred books, those who 
 then lived having noted down,l| with great ac- 
 curacy, both the births and deaths of illustrious 
 men. 
 
 4. For indeed Seth was born when Adam wa 
 in his two hundred and thirtieth year, who lived 
 nine hundred and thirty years. Seth begat 
 Enos in his two hundred and fifth year ; who, 
 when he had lived nine hundred and twelve 
 years, delivered the government to Cainan his 
 son, whom he had in his hundred and ninetieth 
 year; he lived nine hundred and five years. 
 Cainan, when he had lived nine hundred and 
 ten years, had his son Malaleel, who was born in 
 his hundred and seventieth year. This Mala- 
 leel, having lived eight hundred and ninety-five 
 years, died, leaving his son Jared, whom he 
 begat when he was in his hundred and sixty -fifth 
 year. He lived nine hundred and sixty-two 
 years ; and then his son Enoch succeeded him, 
 who was born when his father was one hundred 
 and sixty -two years old. Now he, when he had 
 lived three hundred and sixty -five years, de- 
 parted, and went to God ; whence it is that they 
 have not written down his death. Now Mathu- 
 sela, the son of Enoch, who was born to him 
 when he was one hundred and sixty-five years 
 old, had Lamech for his son when he was one 
 hundred and eighty-seven years of age, to whom 
 he delivered the government, when he had re- 
 tained it nine hundred and sixty-nine years. 
 Now Lamech, when he had governed seven hun- 
 dred and seventy-seven years, appointed Noah 
 his son to be ruler of the people, who was born 
 to Lamech when he was one hundred and eighty- 
 two years old, and retained the government 
 nine hundred and fifty years. These years col- 
 lected together make up the sum before set 
 down ; but let no one inquire into the deaths of 
 these men, for they extended their lives along 
 together with their children and grandchildren ; 
 but let him have regard to their births only. 
 
 5. "When God gave the signal, and it began to 
 rain, the water poured down forty entire days, 
 till it became fifteen cubits higher than the 
 earth, which was the reason why there was no 
 greater number preserved, since they had no 
 
 the Flood began aboat the autumnal equinox. As to 
 what day of the month the Flood began, our Hebrew 
 and Samaritan, and perhaps Josephus'sown copy, more 
 rightly placed it on the 17t i day, instead of the 27th, an 
 here ; for Josephus agrees with them as to the distance 
 of 150 days, to the 17th day of the 7th month ; as Gen. 
 vii. ult. with viii. 3. 
 
 | Josephus here takes notice, that these ancient 
 genealogies were first set down by those that then 
 lived, aad from them were transmitted down to pos- 
 terity; which I suppose to be the true account of that 
 matter. For there is no reason to imagine that men 
 were not taught to read and write soon after they were 
 taught to speak ; and perhaps all by the Messiah him 
 self, who, under the Father, was the Creator or Governoi 
 of mankind, and who frequently, in those early days, 
 appeared to them.
 
 UHAP. III.J 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 place to fly to. When the rain ceased, the water 
 did but just begin to abate, after one hundred 
 and fifty days (that is, on the seventeenth day of 
 the seventh month) it then ceasing to subside for 
 a little while. After this the ark rested on the 
 top of a certain mountain hi Armenia; which, 
 when Noah understood, he opened it ; and seeing 
 a small piece of land about it, he continued quiet, 
 and conceived some cheerful hopes of deliverance; 
 but a few days afterward, when the water was 
 decreased to a greater degree, he sent out a 
 raven, as desirous to learn whether any other part 
 of the earth were left dry by the water, and 
 whether he might go out of the ark with safety ; 
 but the raven, finding all the laiu* still over- 
 flowed, returned to Noah again. 4nd after 
 seven days he sent out a dove, to kn^w the state 
 of the ground ; which came back to him covered 
 with mud, and bringing an olive-branch. Here- 
 by Noah learned that the earth was become clear 
 of the flood. So after he had stayed seven more 
 days, he sent the living creatures out of the ark; 
 and both he and his family went out, when he 
 also sacrificed to God, and feasted with his com- 
 panions. However, the Armenians call this 
 place (A.nopaTT]piov*) The Place of Descent ; for 
 the ark being saved in that place, its remains are 
 shewn there by the inhabitants to this day. 
 
 6. Now all the writers of barbarian histories 
 make mention of this flood and of this ark; 
 among whom is Berosus the Chaldean ; for when 
 he is describing the circumstances of the flood, 
 he goes on thus : "It is said there is still some 
 part of this ship in Armenia, at the mountain of 
 the Cordyaeans; and that some people carry off 
 pieces of the bitumen, which they take away, 
 and use chiefly as amulets for the averting of 
 mischiefs.'' Hieronymus the Egyptian, also, 
 who wrote the Phoenician Antiquities, and Mna- 
 seas, and a great many more, make mention of 
 the same. Nay, Nicolaus of Damascus, in his 
 ninety-sixth book, hath a particular relation 
 about them, where he speaks thus: "There 
 is a great mountain in Armenia, over Minyas, 
 called Baris, upon which it is reported that 
 many who fled at the time of the Deluge were 
 saved; and that one who was carried in an ark 
 came on shore upon the top of it; and that the 
 remains of the timber were a great while pre- 
 served. This might be the man about whom 
 Moses, the legislator of the Jews wrote." 
 
 7. But as for Noah, he was afraid, since God 
 had determined to destroy mankind, lest he 
 .should drown the earth every year ; so he 
 offered burnt-offerings, and besought God that 
 Nature might hereafter go on in its former 
 orderly course, and that he would not bring 
 on so great a judgment any more, by which the 
 whole race of creatures might be in danger of 
 destruction; but that, having now punished the 
 wicked, he would of his goodness spare the re- 
 
 This ArrojSarijpioi', or Place of Descent, is the 
 proper rendertag of the Armenian name of this very 
 city. It is called in Ptolemy Naxuana, and by Moses 
 Chorenensis, the Armenian historian, Idsheuan; but 
 at the place itself, Nactiidsheuan, which signifies The 
 first place of descent, and is a lasting monument of the 
 preservation of Noah in the ark, upon the top of that 
 mountain, at whose foot it was built, as the first city or 
 town after the Flood. See Antiq. b. xx. ch. ii. sect 3; 
 and Moses Chorenensis, who also says elsewhere that 
 another town was related by tradition to have been 
 called Seron, or The Place of Dispersion, on account of 
 thedispersion of Xisuthrus's or Noah's sons, from thence 
 first made. Whether any remains of this ark be still 
 preserved, as the people if the country suppose, I can- 
 not certainly tell. Mons. Tourneforthad, not very long 
 since, a mind to seethe place himself, but met with too 
 (Treat dangers and difficulties to venture through them. 
 
 mainder, and such as he had hitherto judged fit 
 to be delivered from so severe a calamity ; for 
 that otherwise these last must be more miser- 
 able than the first, and that they must be con' 
 demned to a worse condition than the others, 
 unless they be suffered to escape entirely; that 
 is, if they be reserved for another deluge, while 
 they must be afflicted with the terror and sight 
 of the first deluge, and must also be destroyed 
 by a second. He also entreated God to accept 
 of his sacrifice, and to grant that the earth might 
 never again undergo the like effects of his wrath; 
 that men might be permitted to go on cheerfully 
 in cultivating the same to build cities, and live 
 happily in them; and that they might not be. 
 deprived of any of those good things which they 
 enjoyed before the Flood; but might attain to 
 the like length of days and old age which the 
 ancient people had arrived at before. 
 
 8. When Noah had made these supplications, 
 God, who loved the man for his righteousness, 
 granted entire success to his prayers, and said 
 that it v,-as not he who brought the destruction 
 on a polluted world, but that they underwent 
 that vengeance on account of their own wicked- 
 ness ; and that he had not brought men into the 
 world if he had himself determined to destroy 
 them, it being an instance of greater wisdom not 
 to have granted them life at all, than, after it 
 was granted, to procure their destruction; "but 
 the injuries," said he, "they offered to my holi- 
 ness and virtue, forced me to bring this punish- 
 ment upon them; but I will leave off for the 
 time to come to require such punishments, the 
 effects of so great wrath, for their future wicked 
 actions, and especially on account of thy prayers; 
 but if I shall at any time send tempests of ram 
 in an extraordinary manner, be not affrighted at 
 the largeness of the showers, for the waters shall 
 no more overspread the earth. However, I re- 
 quire you to abstain from shedding the blood of 
 men, and to keep yourselves pure from murder ; 
 and to punish those that commit any such thing. 
 I permit you to make use of all the other living 
 creatures at your pleasure, and as your appetites 
 lead you ; for I have made you lords of them all, 
 both of those that walk on the land, and those 
 that swim in the waters, and of those that fly in 
 the regions of the air on high excepting their 
 blood, for therein is the life : but I will give you 
 a sign that I have left off my anger, by my bow," 
 [whereby is meant the rainbow, for they deter- 
 mined that the rainbow was the bow of God;] 
 and when God had said and promised thus, he 
 went away. 
 
 9. Now when Noah had lived three hundred 
 and fifty years after the Flood, and that all that 
 tune happily, he died, having the number of 
 nine hundred and fifty years: but let no one, 
 upon comparing the lives of the ancients with 
 our lives, and with the few years which we now 
 live, think that what we have said of them is 
 false ; or make the shortness of our lives at pre- 
 sent an argument that neither did they attain to 
 so long a duration of life; for those ancients were 
 beloved of Gcd, and [lately] made by God him- 
 self; and because their food was then fitter for 
 the prolongation of life, might well live so great 
 a number of years; and besides, God afforded 
 them a longer time of life on account of their 
 virtue, and the good use they made of it in astro- 
 nomical and geometrical discoveries, which would 
 not have afforded the time of foretelling [the 
 periods of the stars] unless they had lived six 
 hundred years ; for the Great Year is completed 
 in that interval. Now I have for witnesses to 
 what I have said all those that have written 
 A ntiquities. both among the Greeks and barbar-
 
 so 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK i. 
 
 __j; for eren Manetho, who wrote the Egyp- 
 tian History, and Berosus, who collected the 
 Chaldean Monuments, an.l Mochus, and Hcs- 
 
 i;us and besides these, Hieronymus the Egyp- 
 tian and those who composed the Phoenician 
 History, agree to what I here say: Hesiod also, 
 and Hecatus, Hellanicus, and Acusilaus; and 
 besides, Ephorus and Nicolaus relate that the 
 ancients lived a thousand years: but as to these 
 matters, let every one look upon them as hP 
 
 hiulu fit. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CONCERNING THE TOWER OF BABYLON, AND THE 
 CONFUSION OF TONGUES. 
 
 1. Now the sons of Noah were three, Shem, 
 Japhet, and Ham, born one hundred years before 
 the Deluge. These first of all descended from 
 the mountains into the plains, and fixed their 
 habitation there ; and persuaded others who were 
 greatly afraid of the lower grounds on account of 
 the flood, and so were very loath to come down 
 from the higher places, to venture to follow 
 their examples. Now the plain in which they 
 first dwelt was called Shinar. God also com- 
 manded them to send colonies abroad, for the 
 thorough peopling of the earth, that they might 
 not raise seditions among themselves, but might 
 cultivate a great part of the earth, and enjoy its 
 fruits after a plentiful manner: but they were 
 so ill instructed, that they did not obey God; 
 for which reason they fell into calamities, and 
 were made sensible, by experience, of what sin 
 they had been guilty; for when they flourished 
 ith a numerous youth, God admonished them 
 again to send out colonies ; but they, imagining 
 the prosperity they enjoyed was not derived 
 from t.he favour of God, but supposing that 
 their ow.n power was the proper cause of the 
 plentiful condition they were in, did not obey 
 him. Nay, they added to this their disobedi- 
 ence to the D ; vine will, the suspicion that they 
 were therefore ordered to send out separate 
 Colonies, that, being divided asunder, they might 
 lie more easily be oppressed. 
 
 2. Now it was Nhnrod who excited them to 
 such an affront and contempt of God. He was 
 the grandson of Ham, he son of Noah, a bold 
 man, and of great stren^Hh of hand. He per- 
 suaded them not to ascribe it to God, as if it was 
 through his means they we re happy, but to be- 
 lieve that it was their own courage which pro- 
 cured that happiness. Heals gradually changed 
 the government into tyranny, seeing no other 
 way of turning men from the fear of God, but to 
 bring them into a constant dependence upon his 
 power. He also said he wouli be revenged on 
 God, if he should have a mind to drown the 
 world again; for that he would build a tower 
 too high for the waters to be able to reach! and 
 that he would avenge himself oa God for de- 
 stroying their forefathers ! 
 
 3. Now the multitude were ve~y ready to fol- 
 low the determination of Nirnrod, and to esteem 
 it a piece of cowardice to submit to God; and 
 they built a tower, neither sparing an y pains, 
 nor being in any degree negligent about the 
 work; and, by reason of the multitude Oi hands 
 employed in it, it grew very high, sooner than 
 any one could expect; but the thickness of it 
 was so great, and it was so strongly built, that 
 the reby its great height seemed, upon the view, 
 to be less than it really was. It was built of 
 burnt brick, cemented together with mortal 
 
 made of bitumen, that it might not be liable to 
 admit water. When God saw that they acted 
 so madly, he did not resolve to destroy them 
 utterly, since they were not grown wiser by the 
 destruction of the former sinners; but he caused 
 a tumult among them, by producing in them 
 divers languages; and causing that, through the 
 multitude of those languages, they should not 
 be able to understand one another. The place 
 wherein they built the tower is now called Baby- 
 lon; because of the confusion of that language 
 which they readily understood before; for the 
 Hebrews mean by the word Babel, Confusion. 
 The Sibyl also makes mention of this tower, and 
 j of the confusion of the language, when she says 
 I thus: "When all men were of one language, 
 ' some of them built a high tower, as if they would 
 I thereby ascend up to heaven ; but the gods sent 
 ) storms of wind and overthrew the tower, and 
 i gave every one his peculiar language; and for 
 this reason it was that the city was called Baby- 
 lon." But as to the plain of Shinar, in the coun- 
 try of Babylonia, Hestiaeus mentions it, when he 
 says thus: "Such of the priests as were saved, 
 took the sacred vessels of Jupiter Enyalius, and 
 ?ame to SMnar of Babylonia." 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 AFTER WHAT MANNER THE POSTERITY OF NOAH 
 SENT OUT COLONIES, AND INHABITED THX 
 WHOLE EAETH. 
 
 AJTER this they were dispersed abroad, on ac- 
 count of their languages, and went out by colo- 
 nies everywhere; and each colony took posses- 
 sion of that land which they light upon, and 
 unto which God led them; so that the whola 
 continent was filled with them, both the inland 
 and maritime countries. There were some also 
 who passed over the sea in ships, and inhabited 
 the islands : and some of those nations do still 
 retain the denominations which were given them 
 by their first founders ; but some have lost them 
 also ; and some have only admitted certain changes 
 in them, that they might be the more intelligible 
 to the inhabitants ; and they were the Greeks who 
 became the authors of such mutations ; for when, 
 in after ages, they grew potent, they claimed to 
 themselves the glory of antiquity, giving names 
 to the nations that sounded well (in Greek) that 
 they might be better understood among them- 
 selves; and setting agreeable forms of govern- 
 ment over them, as if they were a people derived 
 from themselves. 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 HOW EVERY NATION WAS DENOMINATED FROM 
 THEIR FIRST INHABITANTS. 
 
 1. Now they were the grand-children of Noah 
 in honour of whom names were imposed on th< 
 nations by those that first seized upon them 
 Japhet, the son of Noah, bad seven sons: the; 
 inhabited so, that, beginning at the mountain* 
 Taurus and Amanus, they proceeded along Asia, 
 as far as the river Tanais, and along Europe te 
 Cadiz; and settling themselves on the land 
 which they light upon, which none had inha 
 bited before, they called the nations by their 
 own names ; for Gomer founded those whom th 
 Greeks now call Galatians, [Galls,] but were then 
 Called Gomerites. Alagog founded those tha
 
 CHAP. VL] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 rom him were named Magogites, but who are 
 by the Greeks called Scythians. Now as to 
 
 avan and Madai, the sons of Japhet; from 
 Madai came the Madeans, who are called Medcs 
 by the G reeks; but from Javan, Ionia and all 
 the Grecians are derived. Thobel founded the 
 Thobelites, who are now called Iberes ; and the 
 Mosocheni were founded by Mosoch; now they 
 are Cappadocians. There is also a mark of their 
 ancient denomination still to be shewn ; for 
 there is even now among them a city called 
 Mazaca, which may inform those that are able 
 to understand, that so was the entire nation 
 once called. Thiras also called those whom he 
 ruled over, Thirasians ; but the Greeks changed 
 the name into Thracians. And so many were 
 the countries that had the children of Japhet 
 for their inhabitants. Of the three sons of 
 Gomer, Aschanax founded the Aschanaxians, 
 who are now called by the Greeks Rheginians. 
 So did Riphath found the Ripheans, now called 
 Paphlagonians ; and Thrugramma the Thrugram- 
 means, who, as the Greeks resolved, were named 
 Phrygians. Of the three sons of Javan also, the 
 son of Japhet, Elisa gave name to the Eliseans, 
 who were his subjects; they are now the .^Eol- 
 Lans. Tharsus to the Tharsians; for so was 
 Cilicia of old called ; the sign of which is this, 
 that the noblest city they have, and a metro- 
 polis also, is Tarsus, the tau being by change 
 put for the theta. Cethimus possessed the island 
 Cethima ; it is now called Cyprus : and from that 
 it is that all islands, and the greatest part of the 
 sea-coasts, are named Cethim by the Hebrews : 
 and one city there is iu Cyprus that has been 
 able to preserve its denomination ; it is called 
 Citius by those who use the language of the 
 Greeks, and has not, by the use of that dialect, 
 escaped the name of Cethim. And so many 
 nations have the children and grand-children 
 of Japhet possessed. Now when I have pre- 
 mised somewhat, which perhaps the Greeks do 
 not know, I will return and explain what I have 
 omitted; for such names are pronounced here 
 after the manner of the Greeks, to please my 
 readers ; for our own country language does not 
 so pronounce them : but the names in all cases 
 we of one and the same ending ; for the name 
 we here pronounce Noeas, is there Noah, and ir 
 every case retains the same termination. 
 
 2. The children of Ham possessed the land 
 from Syria and Amanus, and the mountains of 
 Libanus, seizing upon all that was on its sea- 
 coasts and as far as the ocean, and keeping it 
 as their own. Some, indeed, of its names are 
 utterly vanished away; others of them being 
 changed, and another sound given them, are 
 hardly to be discovered; yet a few there are 
 which have kept their denominations entire: 
 for of the four sons of Ham, time has not at all 
 hurt the name of Chus; for the Ethiopians, 
 over whom he reigned, are even at this day, 
 both by themselves and by all men in Asia, 
 called Chusites. The memory also of the Mes- 
 raites is preserved in their name; for all we who 
 inhabit this country [of Judea] call Egypt 
 Mestre, and the Egyptians Mestreans. Phut 
 also was the founder of Libyia, and called the 
 inhabitants Phutitcs, from himself: there is 
 also a river in the country of the Moors which 
 bears that name; whence it is that we may see 
 the greatest part of the Grecian historiographers 
 mention that river and the adjoining country by 
 the appellation of Phut: but the name it has 
 now has been by change given it from one of the 
 sons of Mesraim, who was called Lybyos. We 
 will inform you presently what has been the 
 occasion why it has been called Africa also. 
 
 Canaan, the fourth son of Ham, inhabited the 
 country now called Judea, and called it from 
 his own name Canaan. The children of these 
 [four] were these: Sabas, who founded the 
 Sabeans; Evilas, who founded the Evileans 
 who are called Getuli; Sabathes founded the 
 Sabathens; they are now called by the Greeks 
 Astaborans; Sabactas settled the Sabactens; 
 and Ragmus the Ragmeans ; and he had two 
 sons, the one of whom, Judadas, settled the 
 Judadeans, a nation of the western Ethiopians, 
 and left them his name; as did Sabas to the 
 Sabeans. But Nimrod, the son of Chus, stayed 
 and tyrannised at Babylon, as we have already 
 informed you. Now all the children of Mes- 
 raim, being eight in number, possessed the 
 country from Gaza to Egypt, though it retained 
 the name of one only, the Philistim; for the 
 Greeks call that part of that country Palestine. 
 As for the rest, Ludieim, and Enemim, and 
 Labim, who alone inhabited in Libya, and called 
 the country from himself, Nedim, and Phethro- 
 sim, and Chesloim, and Cepthorim, we know 
 nothing of them besides their names; for the 
 Ethiopia war,* which we shall describe here- 
 after, was the cause that those cities were over- 
 thrown. The sons of Canaan were these: 
 Sidonius, who also built a city of the same 
 name; it is called by the Greeks, Sidon; 
 Amathus inhabited in Amathine, which is even 
 now called Amathe by the inhabitants, although 
 the Macedonians named it Epiphania, from one 
 of his posterity ; Arudeus possessed the island 
 Aradus : Arucas possessed Arce, which is in 
 Libanus; but for the seven others, [Eueus,] 
 Chetteus, Jebuseus, Amorreus, Gergesus, Eu- 
 deus, Sineus, Samareus, we have nothing in the 
 sacred books but their names, for the Hebrews 
 overthrew their cities; and their calamities 
 came upon them on the occasion following: 
 
 3. Noah, when, after the Deluge, the earth 
 was re-settled in its former condition, set about 
 its cultivation ; and when he had planted it 
 with vines, and when the fruit was ripe, and he 
 had gathered the grapes in their season, and the 
 wine was ready for use, he offered sacrifice, and 
 feasted, and, being drunk, he fell asleep, and 
 lay naked in an unseemly manner. When hia 
 youngest son saw this, lie came laughing, and 
 shewed him to his brethren; but they covered 
 their father's nakedness. And when Noah waa 
 made sensible of what had been done, he prayed 
 for prosperity to his other sons; but for Ham, 
 he did not curse him, by reason of his nearness 
 in blood, but cursed his posterity. And when 
 the rest of them escaped that curse, God in- 
 flicted it on the children of Canaan. But as to 
 these matters, we shall speak more hereafter. 
 
 4. Shem, the third son of Noah, had five sons, 
 who inhabited the land that began at Euphrates, 
 and reached to the Indian Ocean; for Elam left 
 behind him the Elamites, the ancestors of the 
 Persians. Ashur lived at the city Nineve ; and 
 named his subjects Assyrians, who became the 
 most fortunate nation, beyond others, Ar- 
 phaxad named the Arphaxadites, who are now 
 called Chaldeans. Aram had the Aramites, 
 which the Greeks call Syrians; as Laud founded 
 
 * One observation ought not here to be neglected, 
 with regard to that Ethiopic war, which Moses, as 
 general of the Egyptians, put an end to, Antiq. b. ii. 
 chap, x., and about which our late writers seem very 
 much unconcerned viz., That it was a war of that con- 
 sequence, as to occasion the removal or destruction ol 
 six or seven nations of the posterity of Mitzraim, with 
 their cities : which Josephus would not have said, if he 
 had not had ancient records to justify those his asser- 
 tions, though those records be now all lost.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK L 
 
 the Laudites, which are now called Lydians. 
 Of the four sons of Aram, Uz founded Trach- 
 onitis and Damascus; this country lies between 
 Palestine and Celesyria. Ul founded Armenia; 
 and Gather the Bactrians; and Mesa the Mes- 
 juicans; it is now called Charax SnasinL Sala 
 was the son of Arpliaxad; and his son was 
 Heber, from whom they originally called the 
 Jews, Hebrews.* Heber begat Joctan and 
 Phaleg: he was called Phaleg, because he was 
 born at the dispersion of the nations to their 
 several countries; for Phaleg, among the He- 
 brews, signifies division. Now Joctan, one of 
 the sons of Heber, had these sons, Elmodad, 
 Saleph, Asermoth, Jera, Adoram, Aizel, Decla, 
 Ebal, Abimael, Sabeus, Ophir, Euilat, and 
 Jobab. These inhabited from Cophen, an 
 Indian river, and in part of Asia adjoining to 
 it. And this shall suffice concerning the sons of 
 Shem. 
 
 5. I will now treat of the Hebrews. The son 
 of Phaleg, whose father was Heber, was Ragau, 
 whose son was Serug, to whom was born Nahor ; 
 his son was Terah, who was the father of Abva- 
 ham, who accordingly was the tenth from Noah, 
 and was born in the two hundred and ninety- 
 second year after the Deluge; for Terah begat 
 Abram in his seventieth year. Mahor begat 
 Haran when he was one hundred and twenty 
 years old; Nahor was born to Serug in his 
 hundred and thirty -second year; Ragau had 
 Seru< at one hundred and thirty ; at the same 
 age also Phaleg had Ragau ; Heber begat Phaleg 
 hi his hundred and thirty -fourth year; he him- 
 self being begotten by Sala when he was an 
 hundred and thirty years old, whom Arphaxad 
 had for his son at the hundred and thirty-fifth 
 year of his age. Arphaxad was the son of 
 Shem, and born twelve years after the Deluge. 
 Now Abram had two brethren, Nahor and 
 Haran: of these Haran left a son, Lot; as rlso 
 Sarai and Milcha his daughters, and died among 
 the Chaldeans, in a city of the Chaldeans, called 
 Ur; and his monument is shewn to this day. 
 These married their nieces. Nahor married 
 Milcha, and Abram married Sarai. Now Terah, 
 hating Chaldea, on account of his mourning for 
 Haran, they all removed to Haran of Mesopo- 
 tamia, where Terah died, and was buried, when 
 he had lived to be two hundred and five years 
 old ; for the life of man was already by degrees 
 diminished, and became shorter than before, till 
 the birth of Moses ; after whom the term of 
 human life was one hundred and twenty years, 
 God determining it to the length that Moses 
 happened to live. Now Nahor had eight sons 
 by Milcha: Uz and Buz, Kemuel, Chesed, 
 Azau, Pheldas, Jadelph, and BethueL These 
 were all the genuine sons of Nahor; for Teba 
 and Gaam, and Tachas, and Maaca, were born of 
 Reuma his concubine; but Dethuel had a daugh- 
 ter, Rebecca, and a son, Laban. 
 
 CHAPTER VH. 
 
 HOW ABRAM, ODR FOREFATHER, WENT OUT OF 
 THE LAND OF THE CHALDEANS, AND LIVED IN 
 THE LAND THEN CALLED CANAAN, BDT NOW 
 JUDKA. 
 
 8 1. Now Abram, having no son of his own, 
 adopted Lot, his brother Haran's son, and his 
 wife Sarai's brother; and he left the land of 
 Chaldea when he was seventy-five years old, and 
 
 That the Jews were called Hebrews, from this their 
 progenitor Heber, our author Joephu here rightly 
 
 at the command of God went into Canaan, and 
 therein he dwelt himself, and left it to his pos- 
 terity. He was a person of great sagacity, both 
 for understanding all things and persuading his 
 hearers, and not mistaken in his opinions ; for 
 which reason he began to have higher notions of 
 virtue than others had, and he determined to 
 renew and to change the opinion all men hap- 
 pened then to have concerning God ; for he was 
 the first that ventured to publish this notion, 
 that there was but one God, the Creator of the 
 universe ; and that, as to other [gods,] if they 
 contributed anything to the happiness of men, 
 that each of them afforded it only according to 
 his appointment, and not by their own power. 
 This his opinion was derived from the irregu- 
 lar phenomena that were visible both at land 
 and sea, as well as those that happen to the 
 sun and moon, and all the heavenly bodies, 
 thus: " If [said he] these bodies had power of 
 their own, they would certainly take care of 
 their own regular motions; but since they do 
 not preserve such regularity, they make it plain, 
 that in so far as they co-operate to our advan- 
 tage, they do it not of their own abilities, but as 
 they are subservient to Him that commands 
 them ; to whom alone we ought justly to offer 
 our honour and thanksgiving. " For which doc- 
 trines, when the Chaldeans and other people of 
 Mesopotamia raised a tumult against him, he 
 thought fit to leave that country; and at the 
 command, and by the assistance of God, he 
 came and lived in the land of Canaan. And 
 when he was there settled, he built an altar, 
 and performed a sacrifice to God. 
 
 2. Berosus mentions our father Abram with- 
 out naming him, when he says thus: "In the 
 tenth generation after the Flood, there was 
 among the Chaldeans a man righteous and 
 great, and skilful hi the celestial science." But 
 Hecataeus does more than barely mention him; 
 for he composed and left behind him a book 
 concerning him. And Nicolaus of Damascus, in 
 the fourth book of his history, says thus: 
 " Abram reigned at Damascus, being a foreigner, 
 who came with an army out of the land above 
 Babylon, called the land of the Chaldeans. But 
 after a long time he got him up, and removed 
 from that country also with his people, and 
 went into the land then called the land of 
 Canaan, but now +he land of Judea, and this 
 when his posterity were become a multitude; as 
 to which posterity of his we relate their history 
 in another work." Now the name of Abram is 
 even still famous in the country of Damascus ; 
 and there is shewn a village named from him, 
 The Habitation of Abram, 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 THAT WHEN THERE WAS A FAMINE DJ CAKAAK, 
 ABRAM WENT THENCE INTO EGYPT; AND AFTEB 
 HE HAD CONTINUED THERE A WHILE, HE RE- 
 TURNED BACK AGAIN. 
 
 1. Now, after this, when a famine had in- 
 
 affirms; and not from Abram the Hebrew, or patscnger 
 over Euphrates, as many of the moderns suppose 
 Shem is also called the father of all the children of 
 Heber, or of all the Hebrews, in a history long before 
 Abram passed over Euphrates, (Gen. x. 21,) though it 
 must be confessed that (Gen. xiv. 13) where the ori- 
 ginal says they told Abram the Hebrew, the Septuagint 
 renders it the passenger, -ntpuT^. But this is spoken 
 only of Abram himself, who had then lately passed ovt < 
 Euphrates : and is another signification of the Hebrew 
 word, taken as an appellative and not as a prop, r 
 name.
 
 CHA?. X.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JETVS. 
 
 S3 
 
 vaded the land of Canaan, and Abram had dis- 
 covered that the Egyptians were in a flourishing 
 condition, he was disposed to go down to them, 
 both to partake of the plenty they enjoyed, and 
 to become an auditor of their priests, and to 
 know what they said concerning the gods ; de- 
 signing either to follow them, if they had better 
 notions than he, or to convert them into a better 
 way, if his own notions proved the truest. Now, 
 seeing he was to take Sarai with him, and was 
 afraid of the madness of the Egyptians with re- 
 gard to women, lest the king should kill him on 
 occasion of his wife's great beauty, he contrived 
 this device: he pretended to be her brother, 
 and directed her in a dissembling way to pre- 
 tend the same, for he said it would be for their 
 benefit. Now, as soon as he came into Egypt, 
 it happened to Abram as he supposed it would ; 
 for the fame of his wife's beauty was greatly 
 talked of ; for which reason Pharaoh, the king of 
 Egypt, would not be satisfied with what was re- 
 ported of her, but would needs see her himself, 
 and was preparing to enjoy her ; but God put a 
 stop to his unjust inclinations, by sending upon 
 him a distemper, and a sedition against his go- 
 vernment. And when he inquired of the priests 
 how he might be freed from these calamities, 
 they told him that this his miserable condition 
 was derived from the wrath of God, upon account 
 of his inclinations to abuse the stranger's wife. 
 He then out of fear asked Sarai who she was, and 
 who it was that she brought along with her. 
 And when he had found out the truth, he ex- 
 cused himself to Abram, that supposing the 
 woman to be his sister, and not his wife, he set 
 his affections on her, as desiring an affinity with 
 him by marrying her,' but not as incited by lust 
 to abuse her. He also made him a large present 
 in money, and gave him leave to enter into con- 
 versation with the most learned among the 
 Egyptians; from which conversation, his virtue 
 and hia reputation became more conspicuous than 
 they had been before. 
 
 2. For whereas the Egyptians were formerly 
 addicted to different customs, and despised one 
 another's sacred and accustomed rites, and were 
 very angry one with another ex that account, 
 Abram conferred with each of them, and con- 
 futing the reasonings they made use of every one 
 for their own practices, demonstrated that such 
 reasonings were vain and void of truth ; where- 
 upon he was admired by them in those confer- 
 ences as a very wise man, and one of great saga- 
 city, when he discoursed on any subject he un- 
 dertook ; and this not only in understanding it, 
 but in persuading other men also to assent to 
 him. He communicated to them arithmetic, 
 and delivered to them the science of astronomy ; 
 for. before Abram came into Egypt, they were 
 unacquainted with those parts of learning ; for 
 1,hat science came from the Chaldeans into Egypt, 
 and from thence to the Greeks also. 
 
 3. As soon as Abram was come back into 
 Canaan, he parted the land between him and 
 Lot, upon account of the tumultuous behaviour 
 of their shepherds, concerning the pastuits 
 wherein they should feed their flocks. Hew- 
 ever, he gave Lot his option, or leave, to choose 
 which lands he would take; and he took himself 
 what the other left, which were the lower 
 grounds at the foot of the mountains; and he 
 himself dwelt in Hebron, which is a city se ren 
 years more ancient than Tanis of Egypt. But 
 Lot possessed the land of the plain, and the 
 river Jordan, not far from the city of Sodom, 
 which was then a fine city ; but is now destroyed 
 by the will and wrath of God; the cause of 
 which I shall shew in its proper place hereafter. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE DESTRUCTION OF THE SODOMITES BT -fBX 
 ASSYRIAN WAR. 
 
 AT this time, when the Assyrians had the domi- 
 nion over Asia, the people of Sodom were in a 
 flourishing condition, both as to riches and the 
 number of their youth. There were five kings 
 that managed the affairs of this country : Bal- 
 las, Barsas, Senabar, and Sumobor, with the 
 king of Bela; and each king led on his own 
 troops; and the Assyrians made war upon them ; 
 and, dividing their army into four parts, fought 
 against them. Now every part of the army had 
 its own commander; and when the battle was 
 joined, the Assyrians were conquerors; and im- 
 posed a tribute on the kings of the Sodomites, 
 who submitted to this slavery twelve years ; and 
 so long they continued to pay their tribute: but on 
 the thirteenth year they rebelled, and then the 
 army of the Assyrians came upon them, under 
 their commanders Amraphel, Arioch, Cliodor- 
 laomer, and TidaL These kings had laid waste 
 all Syria, and overthrown the offspring of the 
 giants; and when they were come over against 
 Sodom, they pitched their camp at the vale 
 called the Slime Pits, for at that time there were 
 pits in that place ; but now, upon the destruc- 
 tion of the city of Sodom, that vale became the 
 Lake Asphaltites, as it is called. However, con- 
 cerning this lake we shall speak more presently. 
 Now when the Sodomites joined battle with the 
 Assyrians, and the fight was very obstinate, many 
 of them were killed, and the rest were carried 
 captive; among which captives was Lot, who hud 
 come to assist the Sodomites. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 DOW ABRAM FOUGHT WITH THE ASSYRIASW, AND 
 OVERCAME THEM, AND SAVED THE SODOMITE 
 PBISONERS, AND TOOK FROM THE ASSYRIANS 
 THE PBEY THEY HAD GOTTEN. 
 
 1. WHEN Abram heard of their calamity, he 
 was at once afraid for Lot his kinsman, and pitied 
 the Sodomites his friends and neighbours; and 
 thinking it proper to afford them assistance, he 
 did not delay it, but marched hastily, and the 
 fifth night fell upon the Assyrians, near Dan, for 
 that is the name of the other spring of Jordan ; 
 and before they could arm themselves, he slew 
 some as they were in their beds, before they 
 could suspect any harm ; and others, who were 
 not yet gone to sleep, hut were so drunk they 
 could not fight, ran away. Abram pursued after 
 them, till on the second day he drove them in a 
 body unto Hoba, a place belonging to Damascus ; 
 and thereby demonstrated that victory does not 
 depend on multitude and the number of hands, 
 but the alacrity and courage of soldiers over- 
 come the most numerous bodies of men, while he 
 got the victory over so great an army with no 
 more than three hundred and eighteen of his 
 servants, and three of his friends : but all those 
 that fled returned home ingloriously. 
 
 2. So Abram, when he had saved the captive 
 Sodomites who had been taken by the Assyrians, 
 and Lot also, his kinsman, returned home in 
 peace. Now the king of Sodom met him at a 
 certain place, which they called The King's 
 Dale, where Melchisedec, king of the city Salem, 
 received him. That name signifies the righteout 
 king; and such he was without dispute. Luso-
 
 u-F TEE Jli\VB. 
 
 [BOOS I. 
 
 much that, on this account, he was made the 
 priest of God: however, they afterward called 
 Salum Jerusalem. Xow this Melchisedec sup- 
 plied Abrain's army in an hospitable uianiier, 
 and gave them provisions in abundance; aa;l ub 
 they were feasting, he begun to praise him, iid 
 to bless God for subduing his enemies under 
 him. And when Abram gave him the tenth 
 part of his prey, he accepted of the gift: but the 
 king of Sodom desired Abram to take the prey 
 but entreated that he might have those men re 
 stored to bun whom Abram had saved from tb> 
 Assyrians, because they belong to him; but 
 Abram would not do so ; nor would make any 
 other advantage of that prey than what his scr 
 vauts had eaten; but still insisted that he should 
 afford a part to his friends that had assisted him 
 in the battle. The first of them was called 
 Esciiol, and then Euuer, and Mambre. 
 
 3. And God commended his virtue, and said 
 Thou shalt not, however, lose the rewards thou 
 hast deserved to receive by such thy glorious 
 actions. He answered, And what advantage will 
 it be to me to have such rewards, when I have 
 none to enjoy them after me? for he was 
 hitherto childless. And God promised that he 
 should have a son, and that his posterity should 
 be very numerous, insomuch that their numbei 
 should be like the stars. When he heard thai, 
 he offered a sacrifice to God, as he commanded 
 him. The manner of the sacrifice was this: 
 He took an heifer of three years old, and a sh<:- 
 goat of three years old, and a ram in like man- 
 ner of three years old, and a turtle dove and a 
 pigeon;* and as he was enjoined, he divided the 
 three former; but the birds he did not divide. 
 After which, before he built his altar, where the 
 birds of prey flew about, as desirous of blood, a 
 divine voice came to him, declaring that their 
 neighbours would be grievous to Ms posterity 
 when they should be in Egypt, for four hundred 
 years,t during which time they should be 
 littlicted ; but afterwards should overcome their 
 enemies, should conquer the Canaanites in war, 
 and possess themselves of their land, and of their 
 cities. 
 
 4. Now Abrarn dwelt near the oak called 
 Ogyges, the place belongs to Canaan, not fai 
 from the city of Hebron: but being uneasy al 
 his wife's barrenness, he entreated God to grant 
 that he might have male issue ; and God required 
 of him to be of good courage ; and said that he 
 would add to all the rest of the benefits that he 
 had bestowed on him ever since he led him out 
 of Mesopotamia, the gift of children. Accord 
 uigly Sarai, at God's command, brought to hi.' 
 bed one of her handmaidens, a woman of Egyp- 
 tian descent, in order to obtain children by her 
 and when this handmaid was with cluld she 
 triumphed, and ventured to affront Saiai, as if 
 the dominion were to come to a son to be born 
 
 ' of her : but when Abram resigned her into the 
 hand of Sarai, to punish her, she contrived to 
 fly away, as not able to bear the instances of 
 Sarai s seventy to her; and she entreated God to 
 have compassion on her. Now a divine anel 
 met her, as she was going forward in the wiJder- 
 ness, and bid her return to her master and mis- 
 tress; for, if she would submit to that wise ad- 
 vice, she would live better hereafter; for that 
 
 ^ U is .? ortl1 "Wing here, that God required no 
 
 pnT r ,1" UD ef U ' e law Of Moses ' than " hat were 
 
 rtTuTrertTf A.' 86 five x . kinds of ani mals which he here 
 
 of Abram. Nor did the J ews feed upon an, 
 
 r domestic animals than the three here named, u 
 
 ^ observe, on Antiq. b. iv. en. v. sect. 4 ^ 
 
 3 to this affliction of Abrain's posterity for 400 
 wtre. see Autiu. o. u. ch. ix. ? ct \ 
 
 the reason of her being in such a miserable cast 
 was this, that she had been ungrateful and arro- 
 gant towards her mistress. Ho also told her, 
 that if she disobeyed God, and went on still ic 
 her way, she should perish ; but if she would 
 return back, she should become the mother of a 
 sou who should reign over that country. These 
 admonitions she obeved, and returned to her 
 master and mistress, and obtained forgiveness. 
 A. little while afterwards, she bare Ismael, which 
 may be interpreted Heard of God, because God 
 had heard his mother's prayer. 
 
 5. The forementioned son was born to Abram 
 when he was eighty-six years old: but when he 
 ivas ninety-nine, God appeared to him, and pro- 
 mised him that he should have a son by Sarai, 
 and commanded that his name should be Isaac; 
 and shewed him, that from this son should spring 
 great nations and kings, and that they should 
 obtain all the hind of Canaan by war, from Sidon 
 to Egypt. But he charged him, in order to keep 
 Lis posterity unmixed with others, that they 
 should be circumcised in the flesh of their fore- 
 skin, and that this should be done on the eighth 
 day after they were born : the reason of which 
 circumcision I will explain in another place. 
 And Abram inquiring also concerning Ismael, 
 whether he should live or not, God signified to 
 him that he should live to be very old, and 
 .-hould be the father of great nations. Abram, 
 therefore, gave thanks to God for these bless- 
 ings; and then he, and all his family, and his 
 son Ismael were circumcised immediately, the 
 son being that day thirteen years of age, and hf 
 ninety-nine. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 i HOW OOD OVERTHREW THE NATION OF THB 
 SODOMITES, OUT OP HIS WBATH AGAINST THEM 
 
 FOB THEIR SINS. 
 I 
 
 { 1. ABOUT this time the Sodomites grew proud, 
 on account of their riches and great wealth : 
 they became unjust towards men, and impious 
 towards God, insomuch that they did not call tc 
 
 | mind the advantages they received from him: 
 they hated strangers, <tnd abused themselves 
 with Sodomitical practices. God was therefore 
 much displeased at them, and determined tc 
 
 ; punish them for their pride, and to overthrow 
 their city, and to lay waste their country, until 
 there should neither plant nor fruit grow out 
 of it. 
 
 2. When God had thus resolved concerning 
 the Sodomites, Abraham, as he sat by the oak 
 of Mambre, at the door of his tent, saw three 
 angels; and, thinking them to be strangers, he 
 rose up and saluted them, and desired they 
 would accept of an entertainment, and abide 
 with him; to which when they agreed, he 
 ordered cakes of meal to be made presently: 
 
 I and when he had slain a calf, he roasted it, and 
 brought it to them, as they sat under the oak. 
 Now they made a show of eating; and besides, 
 they asked him about his wife Sarah, where she 
 was; and when he said she was within, they 
 said they would come again hereafter, and find 
 her become a mother. Upon which the womar 
 laughed "and said that it was impossible she 
 should bear children, since she was ninety years 
 of age, and her husband was a hundred. Then 
 they concealed themselves no longer, but de- 
 clared that they were angels of God; and that 
 one of them was sent to inform them about the 
 "hild. am' two of the overthrow of Sodom.
 
 OHAP. X1L] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES Ji TUIL JEWS. 
 
 3. When Abraham heard thin, he was giieved 
 for the Sodomites; and he rose up, and besought 
 God for them, and entreated him that he would 
 Dot destroy the righteous with the wicked. And 
 when God had replied that there was no good 
 man among the Sodomites ; for if there were but 
 ten such men among them, he would not punish 
 any of them for their sins, Abraham held his 
 peace. And the angels came to the city of the 
 Sodomites, and Lot entreated them to accept of 
 a lodging with him; for he was a very generous 
 and hospitable man, and one that had learned to 
 imitate the goodness of Abraham. Now when 
 the Sodomites saw the young men to be of beau- | 
 biful countenances, and this to an extraordinary 
 degree, and that they took up their lodgings 
 with Lot, they resolved themselves to enjoy these 
 beautiful boys by force and violence ; and when 
 Lot exhorted them to sobriety, and not to offer j 
 iny thing immodest to the strangers, but to 
 have regard to their lodging in his house ; and 
 promised, that if their inclinations could not be 
 governed, he would expose his daughters to their 
 lust, instead of these strangers neither thus 
 were they made ashamed. 
 
 4 But God was much displeased at their im- 
 pudent behaviour, so that he both smote those 
 men with blindness, and condemned the Sodom- 
 ites to universal destruction. But Lot, upon 
 God's informing him of the future destruction 
 of the Sodomites, went away, taking with him 
 bis wife and daughters, who were two, and still 
 virgins ; for those that were betrothed * to them 
 were above the thoughts of going, and deemed 
 that Lot's words were trifling. God then caT 
 a thunderbolt upon the city, and set it on fire 
 *ith its inhabitants ; and laid waste the country 
 with the like burning as 1 formerly said when I 
 wrote the Jewish war.t But Lot's wife con- 
 tinually turning back to view the city as she 
 went from it, and being too nicely inquisitive 
 what would become of it, although God had for- 
 bidden her so to do, was changed into a pillar oi 
 salt ; + for I have seen it, and it remains at thia 
 day. Now he and his daughters fled to a cer- 
 bain small place, encompassed with the fire, and 
 settled in it. It is to this day called Zoar, fo; 
 that is the word which the Hebrews use for fc 
 small thing. There it was that he lived a miser 
 able life, on account of his havix.^ no company, 
 and his want of provisions. 
 5. But his daughters, thinking that all man- 
 
 kind were destroyed, approached to their father, 
 though taking care not to be perceived. ThM 
 they did, that human kind might not utterly 
 fail. And they bare sons : the son of the elder 
 was named Moab, which denotes one derived from 
 his father. The younger bare Arninon, which 
 name denotes one derived from a kinsman. The 
 former of whom was the father of the Moabites, 
 which is even still a great nation ; the latter was 
 the father of the Ammonites : and both of them 
 are inhabitants of Celesyria. And such wa 
 the departure of Lot f ruin among the Sodomites. 
 
 * These sons-in-law to Lot, as tney are called, (Gei 
 xix. 12-14,) might be so styled because they were bt 
 frothed to Lot's daughters, though not yet married to 
 them. See the note on Antiq. b. xiv. ch. xiii. sect, t 
 
 t Of the War, b. iv. ch. viii. sect. 4. 
 
 j This pillar of salt was, we see here, standing to the 
 days of Josephus ; and he had seen it. That it was 
 standing then,, is also attested by Clement of Rome, 
 contemporary with Josephus; as also that it was so 
 in the next century, is attested by Irenseus, with the 
 addition of an hypothesis, Low it came to last so long, 
 with all its members entire. Whether the account 
 that some modern travellers give be true, that it is 
 still standing, I do not know. Its remote situation, at 
 the utmost southern point of the Sea of Sodom, in the 
 i-ild and dangerous deserts of Arabia, makes it exceed- 
 ingly difficult for inquisitive travellers to examine the 
 place; and for common reports of country people, at a 
 listance, they are not very satisfactory, "in the mean- 
 time, I have no opinion of Le Clerc's dissertation or 
 hypothesis about thia question, which can only be 
 determined by eye-witnesses. When Christian princes, 
 so called, lay aside their foolish and unchristian wars 
 and quarrels, and send a body of fit persons to travel 
 over the East, and bring us faithful accounts of all an- 
 cient monuments, and procure us copies of all ancient 
 records, at present lost among us, we may hope lor 
 fuU satisfaction in such inquiries, bat hardly before 
 
 CHAPTER XH 
 
 COJJCEHNING ABQIKLEOH; AND CONCEKHIMO IB- 
 MAEL, THE SON Off ABRAHAM ; AND CONCERN- 
 ING THE ARABIANS, WHO WEBB HIS POS- 
 TERITY. 
 
 1. ABRAHAM now removed to Gerar of Pales- 
 tine, leading Sarah along with him, under the 
 notion of his sister, using the like dissimulation 
 that he had used before, and this out of fear; 
 for he was afraid of Abimelech, the king of that 
 country, who did also himself fall in love with 
 .Sarah, and was disposed to corrupt her ; but he 
 was restrained from satisfying his lust, by a 
 dangerous distemper which befell him from 
 God. Now when his physicians despaired o; 
 curing him, he fell asleep, and saw a dream, 
 warning him no t to abuse the stranger's wife ; 
 and when he recovered, he told his friends that 
 God had inflicted that disease upon Viim 1 by 
 way of punishment, for his injury to the 
 stranger, and in order to preserve the chastil ; 
 of his wife ; for that she did not accompany 
 'aim as his sister, but as his legitimate wife; 
 and that God had promised to be gracious to 
 him for the time to come, if this person be once 
 secure of his wife's chastity. When he had 
 said this, by the advice of hia friends, he sent 
 for Abraham, and bid him not be concerned 
 about hia wife, or fear the corruption of her 
 ihastity ; for that God took care of him, and 
 that it was by His providence that he received 
 hia wife again, without her suffering any abuse ; 
 and he appealed to God, and to his wife's con- 
 science, and said that he had not any inclination 
 at first to enjoy her, if he had known she was 
 ais wife: but since, said he, thou leddest her 
 about as thy sister, I was guilty of no offence. 
 Be also entreated him to be at peace with him, 
 and to make God propitious to him ; and that, 
 If he thought fit to continue with him, he 
 should have what he wanted in abundance ; but 
 that if he designed to go away, he should be 
 honourably conducted, and have whatsoeyei 
 supply he wanted when he came thither. UpoL 
 his saying this, Abraham told him that hia pre- 
 tence of kindred to his wife was no lie, because 
 she was his brother's daughter ; and that he did 
 not think himself safe in his travels abroad, 
 without this sort of dissimulation ; and that he 
 
 1 see ao proper wicked iutention in these daughter* 
 of Lot, when in a case which appeared to them of una- 
 voidable necessity, they procured themselves to be with 
 child by their father. Without such an unavoidable 
 necessity, incest is a horrid crime; but whether IB 
 such a case of necessity as they apprehended this to 
 be, according to Josephus, it was any such crime, 1 
 am not satisfied. In the meantime, their making 
 their father drunk, and their solicitous concealmei. 
 of what they did fram him, shews that they despair* l 
 of persuading him to an action which, at the be 
 could not but be very suspicious and shocking to H 1 
 vood a num.
 
 3d 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF TTTE 
 
 [BOOK 1 
 
 was not the cause of hia distemper, but was 
 only solicitous for his own safety. He said also, 
 that he was ready to stay with him. Where- 
 upon Abimelech assigned him land and money ; 
 and they covenanted to live together without 
 guile, and took an oath at a certain well called 
 Beersheba, which may be interpreted The Well 
 of the Oath. And so it is named by the people 
 of the country urxto this day. 
 
 2. Now in a little time Abraham had a son by 
 Sarah, as God had foretold to him, whom he 
 named Isaac, which signifies Laughter ; and in- 
 deed they so called him, because Sarah laughed 
 when God * said that she should bear a son, she 
 not expecting such a thing, as being past the 
 age of child-bearing, for she was ninety years 
 old, and Abraham an hundred ; so that this son 
 was born to them both in the last year of each 
 of those decimal numbers. And they circum- 
 cised him upon the eighth day. And from that 
 time the Jews continue the custom of circum- 
 cising their sons within that number of days. 
 But as for the Arabians, they circumcise after 
 the thirteenth year, because Ismacl, the founder 
 of their nation, who was born to Abraham of 
 the concubine, was circumcised at that age ; 
 concerning whom I will presently give a particu- 
 .VH- account, with great exactness. 
 
 ?. As for Sarah, she at first loved Ismael, 
 who was born of her own handmaid Hagar, with 
 &n affection not inferior to that of her own son, 
 for he was brought up in order to succeed in the 
 government; but when she herself had born 
 Isaac, she was not willing that Ismael should be 
 brought up with him, as being too old for him, 
 and able to do him injuries when their father 
 should be dead ; she therefore persuaded Abra- 
 ham to send him and his mother to some distant 
 country. Now, at the first he did not agree to 
 what Sarah was so zealous for, and thought it 
 an instance of the greatest bartarity to send 
 away a young child t and a woman unprovided 
 of necessaries; but at length he agreed to it, 
 because God was pleased with what Sarah had 
 determined ; so he delivered Ismael to his 
 mother, as not yet able to go by himself ; and 
 commanded her to take a bottle of water, and a 
 loaf of bread, and so to depart, and to take 
 Necessity for her guide. But as soon as her 
 necessary provisions failed, she found herself in 
 an evil case; and when the water was almost 
 spent, she laid the young child, who was ready 
 to expire, under a fig-tree, and went on further, 
 that so he might die while she was absent. 
 
 * It is well worth observation, that Josephus here 
 calls that principal angel, who appeared to Abraham 
 and foretold the birth of Isaac, directly God; which 
 language of Josephus here, prepares us to believe those 
 other expressions of his, that Jesus was a wise man, if 
 it be lawful to call him a man, Antiq. b. xviii. chap. iii. 
 sect 3 ; and of God the Word, in his homily concern- 
 ing Hades, may be both genuine. Nor is the other ex- 
 pression of divine angel, used presently, and before 
 also of any other signification. 
 
 t Josephus here calls Ismael a young child or in- 
 fant, though he was about 13 years of age ; as Judas 
 calls himself and his brethren young men when he 
 was 47, and had two children, Antiq. b. ii chap vi 
 ect 8, and they were of much the same age as is a 
 damsel of 12 years old called a little child Mark v 
 89-*2, five several times. Herod also is said by Jose- 
 phus to be a very young man at 25. See the note on 
 Antiq. b. xiv. chap. ix. sect. 2, and of the War b i 
 
 nap. x. And Aristobulus is styled a very little child 
 
 i ?i' 8 . Ti fe ' and Rutn i when 
 
 '' 'en, Antiq. b. T. chap. 
 
 were widows, are 
 ii. sect. 6, and chap. 
 
 But a divine angel came to her, and told her of 
 a fountain hard by, and bid her take care and 
 bring up the child, because she should be very 
 happy by the preservation of Ismael. She then 
 took courage, upon the prospect of what was 
 promised her, and, meeting with some shep- 
 herds, by their care she got clear of the dis- 
 tresses she had been in. 
 
 4. When the lad was grown up, he married a 
 wife, by birth an Egyptian, from whence the 
 mother was herself derived originally. Of this 
 wife were born to Ismael twelve sons : Na- 
 baioth, Kedar, Abdeel, Mabsam, Idumas, Mas- 
 maos, Masaos, Chodad, Theman, Jetur, Naphe- 
 sus, Cadmas. These inhabited all the country 
 from Euphrates to the Red Sea, and called it 
 Nabatene. They are an Arabian nation, and 
 name their tribes from these, both because of 
 their own virtue, and because of the dignity of 
 Abraham their father. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 OONCKSNIKG ISAAC, THE LEGITIMATE SON OT 
 ABRAHAM. 
 
 1. Now Abraham greatly loved Isaac, as 
 being his only begotten, J and given to him at 
 the borders of old dge by the favour of God. 
 The child also endeared himself to his parents 
 still more, by the exercise of every virtue, and 
 adhering to his duty to his parents, and being 
 zealous in the worship of God. Abraham also 
 placed his own happiness in this prospect, that, 
 when he should die, he should leave this his son 
 in a safe and secure condition ; which, accord- 
 ingly, he obtained by the will of God ; who, being 
 desirous to make an experiment of Abraham's 
 religious disposition towards himself, appeared 
 to him, and enumerated all the blessings he had 
 bestowed on him ; how he had made him 
 superior to his enemies ; and that his son Isaac, 
 who was the principal part of his present happi- 
 ness, was derived from him ; and he said that 
 he required this son of his as a sacrifice and holy 
 oblation. Accordingly, he commanded him to 
 carry him to the mountain Moriah, and to build 
 an altar, and offer him for a burnt-offering upon 
 it ; for that this would best manifest his religi- 
 ous disposition towards him, if he preferred 
 what was pleasing to God before the preserva- 
 tion of his own son. 
 
 2. Now Abraham thought that it was not 
 right to disobey God in anything, but that he 
 was obliged to serve him in every circumstance 
 of life, since all creatures that live enjoy their life 
 by his providence, and the kindness he bestows 
 on them. Accordingly, he concealed this com- 
 mand of God, and his own intentions about the 
 slaughter of his son, from his wife, as also from 
 every one of his servants, otherwise he should 
 have been hindered from his obedience to God ; 
 and he took Isaac, together with two of his 
 servants, and laying what things were necessary 
 for a sacrifice upon an ass, he went away to 
 the mountain. Now the two servants went 
 along with him two days ; but on the third day, 
 as soon as he saw the mountain, he left those 
 servants that were with him till then in the 
 plain, and, having his son alone with him, he 
 
 t Note that both here and Heb. xi. 17, Isaac is 
 called Abraham's only-begotton son, though he at the 
 same time had another son, Ismael. The Septuagint 
 expresses the true meaning, by rendering the tex< tht
 
 CHAP. XV.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 37 
 
 came to the mountain. It was that mountain 
 upon which long David afterwards huilt the 
 temple.* Now they had brought with them 
 every thing necessary for a sacrifice excepting 
 the animal that was to be offered only. Now 
 Isaac was twenty -five years old. And as he was 
 building the altar, he asked .his father what he 
 was about to offer, since ijhere was no animal 
 there for an oblation : to which it was an- 
 swered, "That God would provide himself an 
 oblation, he being able to make a plentiful pro- 
 vision for men out of what they have not, and 
 to deprive others of what they already have, 
 when they put too much trust therein; that 
 therefore, if God pleased to be present and pro- 
 pitious at this sacrifice, he would provide him- 
 self an oblation." 
 
 3. As eoon as the altar was prepared, and 
 Abraham had laid on the wood, and all things 
 were entirely ready, he said to his son, " O son ! 
 I poured out a vast number of prayers that I 
 might have thee for my son ; when thou wast 
 come into the world, there was nothing that 
 could contribute to thy support for which I was 
 not greatly solicitous, nor anything wherein I 
 thought myself happier than to see thee grown 
 up to man's estate, and that I might leave thee 
 at my death the successor to my dominion ; but 
 since it was by God's will that I became thy 
 father, and it is now his will that I relinquish 
 thee, bear this consecration to God with a gene- 
 rous mind ; for I resign thee up to God, who 
 has thought fit now to require this testimony of 
 honour to himself, on account of the favours he 
 hath conferred on me, in being to me a sup- 
 porter and defender. Accordingly thou, my 
 son, wilt now die, not in any common way of 
 going out of the world, but sent to God, the 
 Father of all men, beforehand, by thy own 
 father, in the nature of a sacrifice. I suppose 
 he thinks thee worthy to get clear of this world 
 neither by disease, neither by war, nor by any 
 other severe way, by which death usually comes 
 upon men, but so that he will receive thy soul 
 with prayers and holy offices of religion, and 
 will place thee near to himself, and thou wilt 
 there be to me a succourer and supporter in my 
 old age ; on which account I principally brought 
 thee up, and thou wilt thereby procure me God 
 for my Comforter instead of thyself." 
 
 4. Now Isaac was of such a generous disposi- 
 tion, as became the son of such a father, and was 
 pleased with this discourse, and said, " That he 
 was not worthy to be born at first, if he should 
 reject the determination of God and of his father, 
 and should not resign himself up readily to both 
 their pleasures ; since it would have been unjust 
 if he had not obeyed, even if his father alone 
 had so resolved." So he went immediately to 
 the altar to be sacrificed. And the deed had 
 been done if God had not opposed it; for he 
 called loudly to Abraham by his name, and for- 
 bade him to slay his son; and said, " It was not 
 out of a desire of human blood that he was com- 
 manded to slay his son, nor was he willing that 
 he should be taken away from him whom he had 
 made his father, but to try the temper of his 
 mind, whether he would be obedient to such a 
 command. Since, therefore, he now was satis- 
 fied as to that his alacrity, and the surprising 
 
 * Here is a plain error in the copies, which say that 
 King Lavid afterwards built the temple on this mount 
 Moriah, while it was certainly no other than King 
 Solomon who built that temple, as, indeed Procopius 
 cites it from Josephus. Por it was for certain David, 
 nd not Solomon, who built the first altar there, as we 
 learn, 2 Sam. xxiv. 18, &c., 1 Chron. xii. 22, if- and 
 ntiq. I) vii oh:i;i xlii. sect 4. 
 
 readiness he shewed in this his piety, he was de- 
 lighted in having bestowed such blessings upon 
 him ; and that he would not be wanting in all 
 sort of concern about him, and in bestowing other 
 children upon him ; and that his son should live 
 to a very great age ; that he should live a happy 
 life, and bequeath a large principality to his chil- 
 dren, who should be good and legitimate. " He 
 foretold also that his family should increase into 
 many natipns.t and that those patriarchs should 
 leave behind them an everlasting name, that 
 they should obtain the possession of the land of 
 Canaan, and be envied by all men. When God 
 had said this, he produced to them a ram, which 
 did not appear before, for the sacrifice. So 
 Abraham and Isaac, receiving each other unex- 
 pectedly, and having obtained the promises of 
 such great blessings, embraced one another ; and 
 when they had sacrificed, they returned to Sarah, 
 and lived happily together, God affording them 
 his assistance in all things they desired. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 CONCERNING! SARAH, ABRAHAM'S WIFE; AMD HOW 
 SHE ENDED HER DAYS. 
 
 Now Sarah died a little while after, having lived 
 one hundred and twenty-seven years. They 
 buried her in Hebron, the Canaanites publicly 
 allowing them a burying-place ; which piece of 
 ground Abraham bought, for four hundred 
 shekels, of Ephron, an inhabitant of Hebron; 
 and both Abraham and his descendants built 
 themselves sepulchres in that place. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 HOW THK NATION OF THE TROGLODYTES WEBB 
 DERIVED FBOM ABRAHAM HY KETORAH. 
 
 ABRAHAM after this married Keturah, by whom 
 six sons were born to him; men of courage and 
 of sagacious minds : Zambran, and Jazar, and 
 Madan, and Madian, and Joaabak, and Sous. 
 Now the sons of Sous were Subathan and Dadan : 
 the sons of Dadan were Latusim, and Assur, 
 and Luom : the sons of Madian were Ephas, and 
 Ophren, and Anoch, and Ebidas, and Eldac, 
 Now, for all these sons and grandsons, Abraham 
 
 t It seems both here and in God's parallel blessing 
 to Jacob, (chap. xix. sect. 1,) that Josephus had yet no 
 notion of the hidden meaning of that most important 
 acd most eminent promise, " In thy seed shall all the 
 families of the earth be blessed I He saith not, And to 
 seeds, as of many, but as of one ; and to thy seed, which 
 is Christ," (Gal. iii. 18.) Nor is it any wonder, he being, 
 I think, as yet not a Christian ; and had he been a 
 Christian, yet since he was, to be sure, till the latter 
 part of his life, no more than an Ebionite Christian, 
 who, above all the apostles, rejected and despised St 
 Paul, it would be no great wonder if he did not now 
 follow his interpretation. In the meantime, we have 
 in effect St Paul's exposition in the Testament of Reu- 
 ben, sect. 6, in Authent. Rec. Part i. p. 302, who charges 
 his sons "to worship the seed of Judah, who should die 
 for them in visible and invisible wars, and should be 
 among them an eternal king." Nor is that observation 
 of a learned foreigner of my acquaintance to be de- 
 spised, who takes notice that, as seeds, in the plural, 
 must signify potterity, so seed, in the singular, may sig- 
 nify either posterity, or a single person ; and that in this 
 promise of all nations being happy in the seed of Abra- 
 ham, or Isaac, or Jacob, &c., it is always used in the 
 singular. To which I shall add, that it is sometimes, 
 as it were, paraphrased by the son of Abraham, the SOB 
 of David, Ac., which is capable of no such ambiguity.
 
 ANTIQUITIFfs. OF THE JEWS. 
 
 .BOOK t 
 
 contrived to nettle them in colonies; and they 
 c* po^-k* of Troglodytis, and the county of 
 \rabia the Happy, as far as it reaches to the Red 
 Sea. It is related of this Ophren, that he made 
 war against Libya and took it; and that his 
 grandchildren, when they inhabited it, called it 
 (from his name) Africa: and, indeed, Alexander 
 Polyhistor gives his attestation to what I here 
 say, who speaks thus : " Cleodemus the pro- 
 phet, who was also called Malchus, who wrote a 
 history of the Jews, in agreement with the his- 
 tory of Moses, their legislator, relates that there 
 were many sons born to Abraham by Keturah; 
 nay, he names three of them, Apher, and Sunm, 
 and Japhran: that from Surim was the land of 
 Assyria denominated ; and that from the other 
 two (Apher and Japhran) the country of Africa 
 took its name, because these men were auxili- 
 aries to Hercules, when he fought against Libya 
 andAntieus; and that Hercules married Aphra's 
 daughter, and of her he begat a son, Diodorus ; 
 and that Sophon was his son; from whom that 
 barbarous people called Sophacians were denomi- 
 nated." 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 HOW ISAAC TOOK REBEKA TO WIFE. 
 
 1. Now when Abraham, the father of Isaac, 
 had resolved to take Rebeka, who was grand- 
 daughter to his brother Nahor, for a wife to his 
 on Isaac, who was then about forty years old, 
 he sent the ancientest of his servants to betroth 
 her, after he had obliged him to give him the 
 strongest assurances of his fidelity ; which assur- 
 ances were given after the manner following: 
 They put each other's hands under each other's 
 thighs ; then they called upon God as the wit- 
 ness of what was to be done. He also sent such 
 presents to those that were there as were in 
 esteem, on account that they either rarely or 
 never were seen in that country. The servant 
 got thither not under a considerable time ; for it 
 requires much time to pass through Mesopotamia, 
 in which it is tedious travelling, both in winter 
 for the depth of the clay, and in summer for 
 want of water; and, besides this, for the rob- 
 beries there committed, which are not to be 
 avoided by travellers but by caution beforehand. 
 However, the servant came to Haran ; and when 
 he was in the suburbs, he met a considerable 
 number of maidens going to the water ; he there 
 fore prayed to God that Rebeka might be found 
 among them, or her whom Abraham sent him as 
 his servant to espouse to his son, in case his will 
 were that this marriage should be consummated, 
 and that she might be made known to him by 
 the sign, That while others denied him water to 
 drink, she might give it him. 
 
 2. With this intention he went to the well, 
 and desired the maidens to give him some water 
 to drink : but while the others refused, on pre- 
 tence that they wanted it all at home, and could 
 spare none for him, one only of the company re- 
 buked them for their peevish behaviour towards 
 the stranger, and said, What is there that you 
 will ever communicate to any body, who have 
 not so much as given the man some water? She 
 then offered him water in an obliging manner ; 
 and now he began to hope that his grand affair 
 would succeed; but desiring still to know the 
 truth, he commended her for her generosity and 
 sood-nature, that she did not scruple to afford a 
 
 nmciency of water to those that wanted it, 
 though it cost her some pains to draw it; and 
 asked who were W wvrents. and wished them 
 
 joy of such a daughter. " And mayest thou b* 
 espoused," said he, " to their satisfaction, into 
 the family of an agreeable husband, and bring 
 him legitimate ciildren!" Nor did she disdain 
 to satisfy his inquiries, but told him her family. 
 "They," says she, "call me Rebeka; my father 
 was Bethuel, but he is dead; and Laban is my 
 brother; and, together with my mother, takes 
 care of all our ^xnily affairs, and is the guardian 
 of my virginity." When the servant heard this, 
 he was very glad at what had happened, and at 
 what was told hiin, as perceiving that God had 
 thus plainly directed his journey : and producing 
 his bracelets, and some other ornaments which it 
 was esteemed decent for virgins to wear, he gave 
 them to the dams 1, by way of acknowledgment, 
 and as a reward f< r her kindness in giving him 
 water to drink ; saying, it was but just that she 
 should have them, because she was so much 
 more obliging than any of the rest. She desired 
 also that he would come and lodge with them, 
 since the approach of the night gave him not 
 time to proceed further; and producing his pre- 
 cious ornaments for women, he said he desired 
 to trust them to none more safely than to such 
 as she had shewn herself to be ; and that he be- 
 lieved he might guess at the humanity of hei 
 mother and brother, that they would not be dis- 
 pleased, from the virtue he found in her ; for he 
 would not be burdensome, but would pay the 
 hire for his entertainment, and spend his own 
 money. To which she replied, that he guessed 
 right as to the humanity of her parents ; but 
 complained that he should think them so parsi- 
 monious as to take money, for that he should 
 have all on fre3 cost: but she said she would 
 first inform her brother Laban, and, if he gave 
 her leave, she would conduct him in. 
 
 3, As soon then as this was over, she intro- 
 duced the stranger ; and for the camels, th 
 servants of Laban brought them in, and took 
 care of them ; and he was himself brought into 
 supper by Laban. And, after supper, he says to 
 him. and to the mother of the damsel, addressing 
 himself to her, "Abraham is the son of Terah, 
 and a kinsman o yours ; for Nahor, the grand- 
 father of these children, was the brother of 
 Abraham, by both father and mother ; upon 
 which account he hath sent me to you, being 
 desirous to take this damsel for his son to wife. 
 He is his legitimate son, and is brought up as 
 his only heir. He could indeed have had the 
 most happy of all the women in that country for 
 him, but he would not have his son marry any 
 of them ; but. out of regard to his own relations, 
 he desired him to match here, whose affection 
 and inclination I would not have you despise, 
 for it was by the ood pleasure of God that other 
 accidents fell out in my journey, and that there- 
 by I lighted upon your daughter and your house ; 
 for when I was near to the city, I saw a great 
 many maidens coming to a well, and I prayed 
 that I might meet with this damsel, which has 
 come to pass accordingly. Do you, therefore, 
 confirm that marriage, whose espousals have been 
 already made by a divine appearance ; and shew 
 the respect you have for Abraham, who hath 
 sent me with so much solicitude, in giving your 
 consent to the marriage of this damsel." Upon 
 this they understood it to be the will of God, 
 and greatly approved of the offer, and sent their 
 daughter, as vras desired. Accordingly Isaac 
 married her, the inheritance being now come to 
 him; for the cJuldren by Keturah were gone to 
 their own remc ta habitations.
 
 3HAP. XVTII.1 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JTVV'S. 
 
 33 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 CONOKKNING THE DEATH OF ABRAHAM. 
 
 \ LITTLE while after this, Abraham dieo. He 
 wa% a man of incomparable virtue, and honoured 
 by God in a manner agreeable to his piety to- 
 wards him. The whole time of his life was on 
 lundred seventy and five years ; and he wa 
 ouried in Hebron, with his wife Sarah, by 
 tons Isaac and IsmaeL 
 
 CHAPTER XVIIT 
 
 CONCERNING THE SONS OF ISAAC, ESAU ANt 
 JACOB ; OF THEIR NATIVITY AND EDUCATION. 
 
 1. Now Isaac's wife proved with child, aftet 
 the death of Abraham;* and when her belly 
 was greatly burdened, Isaac was very anxious, 
 and inquired of God ; who answered that Rebeka | 
 should bear twins, and that two nations should ' 
 take the names of those sons ; and that he whc > 
 appeared the second should excel the elder. ! 
 Accordingly she, in a little time, as God had i 
 foretold, bare twins ; the elder cf whom, from ! 
 his head to his feet, was very rough and hairy, 
 but the younger took hold of his heel as they 
 were in the birth. Now the father loved the 
 elder, who was called Esau, a name agreeable 
 to his roughness, for the Hebrews call sucli a 
 hairy roughness [Esau,t or] Seir; but Jacob, 
 the younger, was best beloved by his mother. 
 
 2. When there was a famine in the land, Isaac 
 resolved to go into Egypt, the land there being 
 good; but he went to Gerar, as God commanded 
 him. Here Abimelech the king received him, 
 because Abraham had formerly lived with him, 
 and had been his friend; and as in the beginning 
 he treated him exceeding kindly, so he was hin- 
 dered from continuing in the same disposition to 
 the end, by his envy at him ; for when he saw 
 that God was with Isaac, and took such great 
 
 e of him, he drove him away from him. But 
 Isaac, when he saw how envy had changed the 
 temper of Abimelech, retired to a place called 
 the Valle, not far from Gerar; and as he wa* 
 digging ii we U, the shepherds fell upon him, and 
 began to fight, in order to hinder the work ; and 
 because he did ot desire to contend, the shep- 
 herds seemed to ge t the better of him ; so he sti'll 
 retired, and dug another well: and when certain 
 other :nepherds of Abimelech's began to offer 
 him violence, he left th t also, and still retired ; 
 thus purchasing security , + o himself by a rational 
 and prudent conduct. At length the king gave 
 him leave to dig a well withon disturbance. He 
 named this well Rehoboth, which denotes a large 
 space; but of the former wells, one was called 
 Escon, which denotes strife; tie other Sitenna, 
 which name signifies enmity. 
 
 3. It was now that Isaac's affairs increased, 
 ind his power was in a flourishing condition ; and 
 this from his great riches. But Abimelech, 
 thinking Isaac throve in opposition to him, while 
 their living together made them suspicious ol 
 each other, and Isaac's retiring shewing a secre* 
 
 The birth of Jacob and Esau is here said to he aflei 
 Abraham's death : it should have been after Sarah's 
 death. The order of the narration in Genesis, not 
 always exactly according to the order of time, seems to 
 have led Josephos into this error, as Dr Bernard ob- 
 serves here. 
 
 t For Seir in Josephns, the coherence requires tb 
 We read Esau or Stir, which signify t!u- same thin 
 
 enmity also, he was afraid that his former friend- 
 ship with Isaac would not secure him, if Isaac 
 should endeavour to revenge the injuries he had 
 formerly offered him ; he therefore renewed his 
 friendship with him, and brought with him 
 Philoc, one of his generals. And when he had 
 obtained every thing he desired, by reason of 
 Isaac's good nature, who preferred the earlier 
 friendship Abimelech had shewn to himself and 
 his father t bis later wrath against him, he 
 
 4. Now when Esau, one of the sons of Isaac, 
 ff-lic/n the father principally loved, was now 
 come to the age of forty years, he married Adah, 
 the daughter of Helon, and Aholibamah, the 
 daughter of Esebeon ; which Helon and Esebeon 
 were great lords among the Canaanites, thereby 
 taking upon himself the authority, and protending 
 to have dominion over his own marriages, without 
 BO much as asking the advice of his father; for 
 bad Isaac been the arbitrator, he had not given 
 bim ^ave to marry thus, for he was not pleased 
 with contracting any alliance with the people of 
 tK;tt country; but not caring to be uneasy to hia 
 Bon, by commanding him to put away these wives, 
 he resolved to be silent. 
 
 5. But when he was old, and could not see at 
 ill, he called Esau to him, and told him, that 
 besides his blindness and the disorder of his eyes, 
 his very old age hindered him from his worship 
 of God, [by sacrifice ;] he bid him therefore to go 
 out a hunting, and when he had caught as much 
 venison as he could, to prepare him a supper,J 
 that after this he might make supplication to 
 God, to be to him a supporter and an assister 
 during the whole time of his life ; saying, that it 
 was uncertain when be should die, and that he 
 was desirous, by prayers for him, to procure, 
 beforehand, God to be merciful to him. 
 
 6. Accordingly Esau went out a hunting; but 
 Rebeka thinking it proper to have the suppli- 
 cation made for obtaining the favour of God to 
 Jacob, and that without the consent of Isaac, bid 
 him kill kids of the goats, and prejxtre a supper. 
 So Jacob obeyed his mother, according to all her 
 instructions. Now when the supper was got 
 ready, he took a goat's skin, and put it about hia 
 arm, that by reason of its hairy roughness, he 
 might by his father be believed to be Esau ; for 
 they being twins, and ir all things else alike, 
 differed only in this thing. This was done out 
 
 {The supper of savoury meat, as we call it, (Gen. 
 ixvii. 4,) to be caught by hunting, was intended plainly 
 for a festival or a sacrifice ; and upon the prayers that 
 were frequent at sacrifices, Isaac expected, as was then 
 usual in such eminent cases, that a divine impulse 
 would come upon him, in order to the solemn blessing 
 of his son there present, and his foretelling his future 
 behaviour and fortune. Whence it must be, that when 
 Isaac had unwittingly blessed Jacob, and was afterwards 
 made sensible of his mistake, yei did he not attempt to 
 slter it, how earnestly soever his affection for Esau 
 might incline him to wish it might be altered, because 
 he knew that this blessing came not from himself, bat 
 from God, and that an alteration was out of his power. 
 A second afflatus then came upon him, and enabled him 
 to foretell Esau's future behaviour and fortune also. 
 
 | Whether Jacob or his mother Rebeka were most 
 biameable in this imposition upon Isaac in his old age, 
 I cannot determine. However, the blessing being de- 
 livered as a prediction of future events, by a divine ins- 
 pulse, and foretelling things to befall to the posterity of 
 Jacob and Esau in future ages, was for certain provi- 
 dential; and according to what Rebeka knew to be the 
 purpose of God, when he answered her inquiry, "before 
 the children were born," (Gen. xxv. 23,) "that one 
 people should be stronger than the other people ; and 
 the elder, Esau, should serve the younger, Jacob." 
 Whether Isaac knew or remembered this old oracle, 
 delivered in our copies only to Rebeka ; or whether, if 
 he !cnew a&A./emembered it. he did not endeavor"" *e
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 (BOOK 1 
 
 of his fear, that before his father had made his 
 implications, he should be caught in his evil 
 practice; and lest he should, on the contrary, 
 provoke his father to curse him. So he brought 
 in the supper to his father. Isaac perceiving, by 
 the peculiarity of his voice, who he was, called 
 his son to him, who gave him his hand, which 
 was covered with the goat's skin. When Isaac 
 felt that, he said, "Thy voice is like the voice 
 of Jacob, yet, because of the thickness of thy 
 hair, thou seemest to be Esau." So suspecting 
 no deceit, he ate the supper, and betook himself 
 to his prayers and intercessions with God : and 
 said, "O Lord of all ages, and Creator of all 
 substance; for it was thou that didst propose to 
 my father great plenty of good things, and hast 
 vouchsafed to bestow on me what I have ; and 
 hast promised to my posterity to be their kind 
 supporter, and to bestow on them still greater 
 blessings, do thou, therefore, confirm these thy 
 promises, and do not overlook me, because of my 
 present weak condition, on account of which I 
 most earnestly pray to thee. Be gracious to this 
 my son; and preserve him, and keep him from 
 every thing that is eviL Give him a happy life, 
 and the possession of as many good things as thy 
 power is able to bestow. Make him terrible to 
 his enemies, and honourable and beloved among 
 his friends ! " 
 
 7. Thus did Isaac pray to God, thinking his 
 prayers had been made for Esau. He had but 
 just finished them, when Esau came in from 
 hunting ; and when Isaac perceived his mistake, 
 he was silent : but Esau, required that he might 
 be made partaker of the like blessiug from his 
 father that his brother had partook of : but his 
 father refused it, because all his prayers had 
 been spent upon Jacob; so Esau lamented the 
 mistake. However, his father being grieved at 
 his weeping, said, that " he should excel in 
 hunting and strength of body, in arms, and all 
 such sorts of work ; and should obtain glory for 
 ever on those accounts, he and his posterity after 
 him; but still should serve his brother." 
 
 8. Now the mother delivered Jacob, when she 
 was afraid that his brother would inflict some 
 punishment upon him, because of the mistake 
 about the prayers of Isaac; for she persuaded 
 her husband to take a wife for Jacob out of 
 Mesopotamia, of her own kindred, Esau having 
 married already Basemmath, the daughter of 
 Ismael, without his father's consent; for Isaac 
 did not like the Canaanites, so that he disap- 
 proved of Esau's former marriages, which made 
 him take Basemmath to wife, in order to please 
 him; and indeed he had a great affection for 
 her. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 CONCERNING JACOB'S FLIGHT INTO MESOPOTAMIA, 
 BY REASON OF THE FKAB HE WA8 IN OF HIS 
 BROTHER. 
 
 1. Now Jacob was sent by his mother to Meso- 
 
 alter the divine determination, out of his fondness for 
 his elder and worser son Esau, to the damage of his 
 younger and better son Jacob ; as Josephus elsewhere 
 supposes, Antiq. b. ii. ch. vii. sect. 3, I cannot certainly 
 lay. If so, this might tempt Rebeka to contrive, and 
 Jacob to put this imposition upon him. However 
 Josephus says here, that it was Isaac, and not Rebeka' 
 who inquired of God at first, and received the foremen- 
 tioned oracle, (sect. 1 ;) which, if it be the true reading, 
 renders Isaac's procedure more inexcusable. Nor was 
 it probably any thing else that so much encouraged 
 Ksau formerly to marry two Canaanitish wives, without 
 iis parents' consent, ai Isaac's unhappy fondness for 
 
 potamia, in order to marry Laban her brother's 
 daughter, (which, marriage was permitted by 
 Isaac, on account of his obsequiousness to the 
 desires of hi* wife ;) and he accordingly journeyed 
 through the land of Canaan; and because he 
 hated the people of that country, he would not 
 lodge with any of them, but took up his lodging 
 in the open air, and laid his head on a heap of 
 stones that he had gathered together. At which 
 time he saw in his sleep such a vision standing 
 by him ; he seemed to see a ladder, that reached 
 from the earth unto heaven, and persons descend- 
 ing upon the ladder that seemed more excellent 
 than human; and at last God himself stood above j 
 it, and was plainly visible to him; who, calling 
 him by his name, spake to him these words : 
 
 2. " O Jacob, it is not fit for thee, who art the 
 son of a good father, and grandson of one who 
 had obtained a great reputation for his eminent 
 virtue, to be dejected at thy present circum- 
 stances, but to hope for better times, for Ihou 
 shalt have great abundance of all good things by 
 my assistance; for I brought Abraham hither, 
 out of Mesopotamia, when he was driven away 
 by his kinsmen, and I made thy father a happy 
 man; nor will I bestow a lesser degree of happi- 
 ness on thyself; be of good courage, therefore, 
 and under my conduct proceed on this thy jour- 
 ney, for the marriage thou goest so zealously 
 about shall be consummated ; and thou shalt 
 have children of good characters, but their mul- 
 titude shall be innumerable ; and they shall leave 
 what they have to a still more numerous pos- 
 terity, to whom, and to whose posterity, I give 
 the dominion of all the land, and their posterity 
 shall fill the entire earth and sea, so far as the 
 sun beholds them; but do not thou fear any 
 danger, nor be afraid of the many labours thou 
 must undergo, for by my providence I will direct 
 thee what thou art to do in the time present, 
 and still much more in the time to come." 
 
 3. Such were the predictions which God made 
 to Jacob ; whereupon he became very joyful at 
 what he had seen and heard ; and he poured oil 
 on the stones, because on them the prediction of 
 such great benefits was made. He also vowed 
 a vow, that he would offer sacrifices upon them, 
 if he lived and returned safe; and if he came 
 again in such a condition, he would give tha 
 tithe of what he had gotten to God. He also 
 judged the place to be honourable, and gave it 
 the name of Bethel, which, in the Greek, is 
 interpreted, The House of God. 
 
 4. So he proceeded on his journey to Mesopo- 
 tamia, and at length came to Haran ; and meeting 
 with shepherds in the suburbs, with boys grown 
 up, and maidens sitting about a certain well, he 
 stayed with them, as wanting water to drink ; and 
 beginning to discourse with them, he asked them 
 whether they knew such a one as Laban, and 
 whether he was still alive. Now they all said 
 they knew him, for he was not so inconsiderable 
 a person as to be unknown to any of them ; and 
 that his daughter fed her father's flock together 
 with them ; and that indeed they wondered that 
 she was not yet come, for by her means thou 
 mightest learn more exactly whatever thou de- 
 sirest to know about that family. While they 
 were saying this the damsel came, and the other 
 shepherds that came down along with her. Then 
 they shewed her Jacob, and told her that he was 
 a stranger, who came to inquire about her father's 
 affairs. But she, as pleased, after the custom of 
 children, with Jacob's coming, asked him who he 
 was, and whence he came to them, and what it 
 was he lacked that he came hither. She also 
 wished it m'ght be hi their power to supply the 
 wants he came about
 
 3HAP. MX.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 5. But Jacob was quite overcome, not so much 
 by their kindred, nor by that affection which 
 might arise thence, as by his love to the damsel, 
 and his surprise at her beauty, which was so 
 flourishing, as few of the women of that age 
 could vie with. He said then, " There is a rela- 
 tion between thee and me, elder than either thy 
 or my birth, if thou be the daughter of Laban ; 
 for Abraham was the son of Terah, as well as 
 Haran and Nahor. Of the last of whom (Nahor) 
 Bethuel thy grandfather was the son. Isaac my 
 father was the son of Abraham and of Sarah, 
 who was the daughter of Haran. But there is a 
 nearer and later cement of mutual kindred which 
 we bear to one another, for my mother Rebeka 
 was sister to Laban thy father, both by the same 
 father and mother; I therefore and thou are 
 cousin-germans ; and I am now come to salute 
 you, and to renew that affinity which is proper 
 between us. Upon this the damsel, at the men- 
 tion of Rebeka, as usually happens to young 
 persons, wept, and that out of the kindness she 
 had for her father, and embraced Jacob, she 
 having learned an account of Rebeka from her 
 father, and knew that her parents loved to hear 
 her named ; and when she had saluted him, she 
 said that "he brought the most desirable and 
 greatest pleasures to her father, with all their 
 family, who was always mentioning his mother, 
 and always thinking of her, and her alone ; and 
 that this will make thee equal in his eyes to any 
 advantageous circumstances whatsoever." Then 
 she bid him go to her father, and follow her 
 while she conducted him to him ; and not to de- 
 prive him of such a pleasure, by staying any 
 longer away from him. 
 
 6. "When she had said thus, she brought him 
 to Laban; and being owned by his uncle, he was 
 secure himself, as being among his friends; and 
 he brought a gseat deal of pleasure to them by 
 hia unexpected coming. But a little while after- 
 ward, Laban told him that he could not express 
 in words the joy he had at his coming; but still 
 he inquired of him the occasion of his coming, 
 and why he left his aged mother and father, 
 when they wanted to be taken care of by him ; 
 and that he would afford him all the assistance 
 he wanted. Then Jacob gave him an account of 
 the whole occasion of his journey, and told him, 
 " that Isaac had two sons that were twins, him- 
 self and Esau; who, because he failed of his 
 father's prayers, which by his mother's wisdom 
 were put up for him, sought to kill him, as de- 
 prived of the kingdom* which was to be given 
 him of God, and of the blessings for which their 
 father prayed ; and that this was the occasion of 
 his coining hither, as his mother had commanded 
 him to do : for we are all (says he) brethren one 
 to another; but our mother esteems an alliance 
 with your family more than she does ore with 
 the families of the country ; so I look upon your- 
 self and God to be the supporters of my travels, 
 and think myself safe in my present circum- 
 stances." 
 
 7. Now Laban promised to treat him vmh 
 great humanity, both on account of his ances- 
 tors, and particularly for the sake of his mother, 
 towards whom, he said, he would shew his kind- 
 
 * By this " deprivation of the kingdom that was to be 
 given Esau of God," as the first-born, it appears that 
 Josephus thought that a " kingdom to be derived from 
 God" was due to him whom Isaac should bless as his 
 first-born ; which I take to be that kingdom which was 
 exnected under the Messiah, who therefore was to be 
 born of his posterity whom Isaac should so bless. 
 Jacob, therefore, by obtaining this blessing of the first- 
 born, became the genuine heir of that kingdom, ia op- 
 position to Esau. 
 
 ness, even though she were absent, by taking 
 care of him; for he assured him he would make 
 him the head shepherd of his flock, and give, 
 him authority sufficient for that purpose; and 
 when he should have a mind to return to hii 
 parents, he would send him back with presents, 
 and this in as honourable a manner as the near- 
 ness of their relation should require. This Jacob 
 heard gladly ; and said he would willingly, and 
 with pleasure, undergo any sort of pains while 
 he tarried with him, but desired Rachel to wife, 
 as the reward of those pains, who was not only 
 on other accounts esteemed by him, but also be- 
 cause she was the means of his coming to him; 
 for he said he was forced by the love of the 
 damsel to make this proposal Laban was well 
 pleased with this agreement, and consented to 
 give the damsel to him, as not desirous to meet 
 with any better son-in-law ; and said he would 
 do this, if he would stay with him some time, 
 for he was not willing to send his daughter to be 
 among the Canaanites, for he repented of the 
 alliance he had made already by marrying his 
 sister there. And when Jacob had given his 
 consent to this, he agreed in stay seven years; 
 for so many years he had resolved to serve his 
 father-in-law, that, having given a specimen of 
 his virtue, it might be better known what sort 
 of a man he was: and Jacob accepting of his 
 terms, after the time was over, he made the 
 wedding-feast ; and when it was night, without 
 Jacob's perceiving it, he put his other daughter 
 into bed to him, who was both elder than Rachel, 
 and of no comely countenance: Jacob lay with 
 her that night, as being both in drink and in the 
 dark. However, when it was day he knew what 
 liad been done to him ; and he reproached Laban 
 for his unfair proceeding with him ; who asked 
 pardon for that necessity which forced him to do 
 what he did; for he did not give him Lea out of 
 any ill design, but as overcome by another greate: 
 necessity that, notwithstanding this, nothing 
 should hinder him from marrying Rachel; but 
 that when he had served another seven years, h 1 
 would give him her whom he loved. Jacob sub- 
 mitted to this condition, for his love to the 
 damsel did not permit him to do otherwise ; and 
 when another seven years were gone, he took 
 Rachel to wife. 
 
 8. Now each of these had handmaids, by theii 
 father's donation. Zilpha was handmaid to Lea, 
 and Bilha to Rachel; by no means slaves, f but, 
 however, subject to their mistresses. Now Lea 
 was sorely troubled at her husband's love to her 
 sister; and she expected she should be better 
 esteemed if she bare him children: so she en- 
 treated God perpetually ; and when she had 
 born a son, and her husband was on that ac- 
 count better reconciled to her, she named her 
 son Reubel, because Gcd had had mercy upon 
 her, in giving her a son,; for that is the signifi- 
 cation of this name. After some time she bare 
 
 t Here we have the difference between slaves for life 
 and servants, such as we now hire for a time agreed 
 upon on both sides, and dismiss again after the time 
 contracted for is over, which are no slaves, but free 
 men and free women. Accordingly, when the apos- 
 tolical constitutions forbid a clergyman to marry per- 
 petual servants or slaves, b. vi. ch. xvii., it is meant 
 only of the former sort; as we learn elsewhere from 
 the same constitutions, ch. xlvii. Can. Ixxxii. But 
 concerning these twelve sons of Jacob ; the reasons ol 
 their several names, and the times of their several 
 births in the intervals here assigned, their several 
 excellent characters, their several faults and repent- 
 ance, the several accidents of their lives, with their 
 several prophecies at their deaths, see the Testament* 
 of these twelve patriarchs, still preserved at large i 
 Autuent. Kec part i. rP- 294-443.
 
 ANTIQUITIES 0* TTfE JEWS. 
 
 [BCQEl, 
 
 three more sons; Simeon, which naaie s' 
 Hot God had hearkened to her prayer. Ther 
 he bare LeS the confirm* of their friendship. 
 After him was born Judah, which denotes thanks- 
 o&TBot Rachel, fearing lest the fruitfulness, 
 of her sister should make herself enjoy a lessei 
 share of Jacob's affections, put to bed to him 
 her handmaid Bilha; by whom Jacob had Dan. 
 one may interpret that name into the Greek 
 tongue, a divine judgment. And after him Nep- 
 thalim, as it were, unconquerable in stratagem; 
 since Rachel tried to conquer the fruitfulne; s 
 of her sister by this stratagem. According! ', 
 Lea took the same method, and used a counte : 
 stratagem to that of her sister; for she put o 
 bed to him her own handmaid. Jacob then 
 fore had by Zilpha a son whose name was Gad, 
 which may be interpreted fortune; and after 
 him Asher, which may be called a happy man 
 because he added glory to Lea. Now Reubel, 
 the eldest son of Lea, brought apples of man- 
 drakes* to his mother. When Rachel saw them, 
 she desired that she would give her the apples, 
 for she longed to eat them ; but when she re- 
 fused, and bid her be content that she had de- 
 prived her of the benevolence she ought to kave 
 had from her husband, Rachel, in order to miti- 
 gate her sister's anger, said she would yield 
 her husband to her; and he should lie with her 
 that evening. She accepted of the favour; and 
 Jacob slept with Lea by the favour of RacheL 
 She bare then these sons: Issachar, denoting 
 one born by hire; and Zabulon, one born as a 
 pledge of benevolence towards her : and a daugh- 
 ter, Dina. After some time Rachel had a son, 
 named Joseph, which signified there should bt 
 another added to him. 
 
 9. Now Jacob fed the flocks of Laban, hi* 
 father-in-law, all this time, being twenty years ; 
 after which he desired leave of his father-in-law, 
 to take his wives and go home; but when his 
 father-in-law would not give him leave, he con- 
 trived to do it secretly. He made trial, there- 
 fore, of the disposition of his wives, what they 
 thought of this journey; when they appeared 
 glad, and approved of it. Rachel took along 
 with her the images of the gods which, accord- 
 ing to their laws, they used to worship in their 
 own country, and ran away together with her 
 sister. The children also of them both, and the 
 handmaids, and what possessions they had, went 
 along with him. Jacob also drove away half the 
 cattle, without letting Laban know of it before- 
 hand; but the reason why Rachel took the 
 
 , 
 
 by her father, she might have recourse to these 
 images, in order to obtain his pardon. 
 
 10. But Laban, after one day's time, being 
 acquainted with Jacob's and his daughters' de- 
 parture, was much troubled, and pursued aftei 
 them, leading a hand of men with him ; and on 
 the seventh day overtook them, and found them 
 resting on a certain hill; and then indeed he did 
 not meddle with them, for it was even-tide ; but 
 God stood by him in a dream, and warned him 
 to receive his son-in-law and his daughters in a 
 peaceable manner; and not to venture upon any 
 
 * I formerly explained these mandrakes, as w- with 
 i Septuapint and Josephns, render the Hebrew word 
 
 R fTrtl ' e *E' a S V^* with T ">Pl"M, Anthent 
 . part i. p. 420 ; but have since seen such ? yer? 
 
 DP e T^T Unt , in v Ma Of m 7 Iearned frien <l, Mr 
 **?' K W at we 8ti11 ca!I *"*** and 
 4Z, H ^ ,' n by the ancient wrtw'ist and phvr;. 
 
 i ^nSii V T to think these here "MMifioSd 
 ere really mandrakes, and no other. 
 
 thing rashly, or in wrath to them, but to make 
 a league with Jacob ; and he told him, that if he 
 despised their small number, and attacked them 
 in a hostile manner, he would himself assist 
 them. When Laban had been thus forewarned 
 by God, he called Jacob to him the next day, in 
 order to treat with him, and shewed him what 
 dream h* had; in dependence whereupon he 
 came confidently to him, and began to accuse 
 him ; alleging him that he had entertained him 
 when he was poor, and in want of all things, and 
 had given him plenty of all things which he had ; 
 " For," said he, " I have joined my daughters to 
 thee in marriage, and supposed that thy kind- 
 ness to me would be greater than before ; but 
 thou hast had no regard to either thy mother's 
 relation to me, nor to the affinity now newly 
 contracted between us ; nor to those wives whom 
 ;hou hast married; nor to those children, of 
 whom I am the grandfather. Thou hast treated 
 me as an enemy, by driving away my cattle; and 
 by persuading my daughters to run away from 
 their father; and by carrying home those sacred 
 paternal images which were worshipped by my 
 forefathers, and have been honoured with the 
 like worship which they paid them, by myself. 
 In short, thou hast done this whilst thou art my 
 kinsman, and my sister's son, and the husband 
 of my daughters, and was hospitably treated bj 
 me, and didst eat at my table." When Laban 
 i had said this, Jacob made his defence : Thai 
 he was not the only person in whom God had 
 ' implanted the love of his native country, but 
 that he had mn4e it natural to all men; and 
 i that therefore it was but reasonable that, after 
 I so long time, he should go back to it. " But aa 
 , to the prey, of whose driving away thou ac- 
 cusest Tie, if any other person were the arbi- 
 trator, thou wouldst be found in the wrong ; 
 for, instead of those thanks I ought to have haJ 
 from thee, for both keeping thy cattle and in- 
 creasing them, how is it that thou art unjustly 
 ; angry at me because I have taken, and have with 
 rue a small portion of them? But then, as to 
 thy daughters, take notice, that it is not through 
 any evil practices of mine that they follow me 
 in my return home, but from that just affection 
 >vhich wives naturally have to their husbands. 
 They follow, therefore, not so properly myself 
 RS their own children." And thus far of his 
 apology was made, in order to clear himself of 
 having acted unjustly. To which he added his 
 own complaint and accusation of Laban ; saying, 
 " While I was thy sister's son, and thou hadst 
 given me thy daughters in marriage, thou hast 
 vorn me out with thy harsh commands, and de- 
 tained me twenty years under them. That, in- 
 deed, which was required in order to my marry- 
 ing thy daughters, hard as it was, I own to have 
 been tolerable; but as to those that were put 
 upon me after those marriages, they were worse, 
 and such indeed as an enemy would have 
 avoided." For certainly Laban had used Jacob 
 very ill; for when he saw that God was assist- 
 ing to Jacob in all that he desired, he promised 
 him, that of the young cattle which should be 
 born, he should have sometimes what was of a 
 white colour, and sometimes what should be of 
 a black colour; but when those that came to 
 Jacob's share proved numerous, he did not keep 
 his faith with him, but said he would give them 
 to him the next year, because of his envying him 
 the multitude of his possessions. He promised 
 him as before, because he thought such an in- 
 crease was not to be expected ; but when it ap- 
 peared to be fact, he deceived him. 
 
 11. But then, as to the sacred images, he bid 
 him search for them; and when Laban accepted
 
 CHAP, 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 of the offer, Rachel, being informed of it, put 
 those images into that camel's saddle on which 
 she rode, and sat upon it; and said, that her 
 natural purgation hindered her rising up: so 
 Laban left off searching any further, not sup- 
 posing that his daughter in such circumstances 
 would approach to those images. So he made a 
 league with Jacob, and bound it f>y oaths, that 
 he would not bear him any malice on account of 
 what had happened; and Jacob made the like 
 league, and promised to love Laban's daughters. 
 And these leagues they confirmed with oaths 
 also, which they made upon certain mountains, 
 whereon they erected a pillar, in the form of an 
 altar: whence that hill is called Gilead; and 
 from thence they call that land the Land of 
 Gilead at this day. Now when they had feasted 
 after the making of the league, Laban returned 
 home. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 CONCERNING THE MEETING OF JACOB AND B3AU. 
 
 1. Now as Jacob was proceeding on his jour- 
 ney to the land of Canaan, angels appeared to 
 him, and suggested to him good hope of his 
 future condition; and that place he named the 
 Camp of God. And being desirous of knowing 
 what his brother's intentions were to him, he 
 sent messengers to give him an exact account of 
 every thing, as being afraid, on account of the 
 enmities between them. He charged those that 
 were sent to say to Esau, " Jacob had thought 
 it wrong to live together with him, while he was 
 in anger against him, and so had gone out of the 
 country ; and that he now, thinking the length 
 sf time of hi absence must have made up their 
 differences, was returning; that he brought with 
 him his wives, and his children, with what pos- 
 sessions he had gotten, and delivered himself, 
 with what was most dear to him, into his hands ; 
 and should think it his greatest happiness to 
 partake together with his brother of what God 
 had bestowed upon him." So these messengers 
 told him this message. Upon which Esau was 
 very glad, and met his brother with four hun- 
 dred men. And Jacob, when he heard that he 
 was coming to meet him with such a number of 
 men, was greatly afraid ; however, he committed 
 his hope of deliverance to God ; and considered 
 how, in his present circumstances, he night pre- 
 serve himself and those that were with him, and 
 overcome his enemies if they attacked him in- 
 juriously. He therefore distributed his company 
 into parts; some he sent before the rest, and the 
 others he ordered to come close behind, that so, 
 if the first were overpowered when his brother 
 attacked them, they might have those that fol- 
 lowed as a refuge to fly unto. And when he had 
 put his company in this order, he sent some of 
 them to carry presents to his brother. The pre- 
 sents were made up of cattle, and a great num- 
 ber of four-footed beasts of many kinds, such as 
 would be very acceptable to those that received 
 them, on account of their rarity. Those who 
 were sent went at certain intervals of space 
 asunder, that by following thick, one after 
 another, they might appear to be more nume- 
 rous, that Esau might remit of his anger on ac- 
 count of these presents, if he were still in a 
 passion. Instructions were also given to those 
 that were sent to speak gently to him. * 
 
 2. When Jacob had made these appointments 
 all the day, and night came on, he moved on 
 with his company; and. as they were gone over 
 
 a certain river called Jabboc. Jacob was left be- 
 hind; and meeting with an angel, he wrestled 
 with him, the angel beginning the struggle ; but 
 he prevailed over the angel, who used a voice, 
 and spake to him in words, exhorting him to be 
 pleased with what had happened to him, and not 
 to suppose that his victory was a small one, but 
 that he had overcome a divine angel, and to 
 esteem the victory as a sign of great blessings 
 that should come to him ; and that his offspring 
 should never fail; and that no man should be 
 too hard for his power He also commanded 
 him to be called Israel, which in the Hebrew 
 tongue signifies one that struggled with, the divine 
 angel.* These promises were made at the prayer 
 of Jacob ; for when he perceived him to be the 
 angel of God, he desired he would signify to him 
 what should befall him hereafter. And when the 
 angel had said what is before related, he dis- 
 appeared ; but Jacob was pleased with these 
 things, and named the place Phanuel, which sig- 
 nifies the face of ^fod. Now when he felt pain by 
 this struggling upon his broad sinew, he abstained 
 from eating that sinew himself afterward; and 
 for his sake it is still not eaten by us. 
 
 3. "When Jacob understood that his brother 
 was near, he ordered his wives to go before, each 
 by herself, with the handmaids, that they might 
 see the actions of the men as they were fighting, 
 if Esau were so disposed. He then went up to 
 his brother Esau, and bowed down to him, who 
 had no evil design upon him, but saluted him, 
 and asked him about the company of the chil- 
 dren and of the women; and desired, when he 
 had understood all he wanted to know about 
 them, that he would go along with him to their 
 father ; but Jacob pretending that the cattle 
 were weary, Esau returned to Seir, for there was 
 his place of habitation; he having named the 
 place Roughness, from his own hairy roughness. 
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 
 CONCERNING THE VIOLATION OF DINA'8 CHASTTn 
 
 1. HEREUPON Jacob came to the place till this 
 day called Tents, (Succoth;) from whence he 
 went to Shechem, which is a city of the C.tnaan- 
 ites. Now as the Shechemites were keeping a 
 festival, Dina, who was the only daughter of 
 Jacob, went into the city to see the finery of the 
 women of that country. But when Shechem, 
 the son of Hamor the king, saw her, he defiled 
 her by violence ; wwl, being greatly in love with 
 her, desired of his father that he would procure 
 the damsel to him for a wife : to which desire 
 he condescended, and came to Jacob, desiring 
 him to give leave that his son Shechem might, 
 according to law, marry Dina. But Jacob, not 
 knowing how to deny the desire of one of such 
 great dignity, and yet not thinking it lawful to 
 marry his daughter to a stranger, entreated him 
 to give him leave to have a consultation about 
 what he desired him to do. So the king went 
 away, in hopes that Jacob wruld grant him this 
 marriage. But Jacob informed his sons of the 
 defilement of their sister, and of the address of 
 Hamor, and desired them to give their advice 
 what they should do. Upon this the greatest 
 part said nothing, not knowing what advice to 
 
 * Perhaps this may be the proper meaning of the 
 word Israel by the present pnd the old Jerusalem 
 analogy of the Hebrew tongue. In the meantime, it is 
 certain thaf the Hellenists of the first century, in Egypt 
 and elsewhere, interpreted Israel to be a man t'ting 
 God. is it erident from the argument fore cited.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK ii. 
 
 rire. But Simeon and Levi, the brethren of the 
 damsel by the same mother, agreed between 
 themselves upon the action following : It being 
 now the time of a festival, when the Shechemites 
 were employed in ease and feasting, they fell 
 upon the watch when they were asleep, and, 
 coming into the city, slew all the males,* as also 
 the king and his son with them, but spared the 
 women ; and when they had done this without 
 their father's consent, they brought away their 
 sister. 
 
 2. Now while Jacob was astonished at the 
 greatness of this act, and was severely blaming 
 his sons for it, God stood by him, and bid him 
 be of good courage; but to purify his tents, and 
 to offer those sacrifices which he had vowed to 
 offer when he went first iato Mesopotamia, and 
 saw his vision. As he was therefore purifying 
 his followers, he lighted upon the gods of Laban, 
 (for he did not before know they were stolen by 
 Rachel,) and he hid them in the earth, under an 
 oak, in Shechem; and departing thence, he 
 offered sacrifice at Bethel, the place where he 
 saw his dream, when he went first into Mesopo- 
 tamia. 
 
 3. And when he was gone thence, and was 
 come over against Ephrata, he there buried 
 Rachel, who died in child-bed : she was the only 
 one of Jacob's kindred that had not the honour 
 of burial at Hebron ; and when he had mourned 
 for her a great while, he called the son that was 
 born of her Benjamin,t because of the sorrow 
 
 * Of this slaughter of the Shechemites by Simeon and 
 Levi, see Authent. Bee., part I pp. 309, 418, 432-439. But 
 why Josephus has omitted the circumcision of these She- 
 chemites, as the occasion of their death ; and of Jacob's 
 great grief, as in the Testament of Levi, 6, 1 cannot 
 tell. 
 
 t Since Benoni signifies the son of my sorrow, and 
 Benjamin, the ton of dayt, or one born in the father's 
 old age, (Gen. xliv. 20,) I suspect Josephus'i present 
 
 the mother had with him. These are all the 
 children of Jacob, twelve males and one female ; 
 of them eight were legitimate viz., six of 
 Lea, and two of Rachel ; and four were of the 
 handmaids, two of each; all whose names have 
 been set down already. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 HOW ISAAC DIED, AND WAS BUKIED IN HEBRON. 
 
 FROM thence Jacob came to Hebron, a city situ- 
 ate among the Canaanites ; and there it was that 
 Isaac lived: and so they lived together for a 
 little while ; for as to Rebeka, Jacob did not find 
 her alive. Isaac also died not long after the 
 coming of his son, and was buried by his sons, 
 with his wife, in Hebron, where they had a 
 monument belonging to them from their fore- 
 fathers. Now Isaac was a man who was beloved 
 of God, and was vouchsafed great instances of 
 providence by God, after Abraham his father, 
 and lived to be exceeding old, for when he had 
 lived virtuously one hundred and eighty-five 
 years, he then died. 
 
 copies to be here imperfect ; and suppose that, in cor- 
 respondence to other copies, he wrote that Rachel 
 called her son's name Benoni ; but his father called 
 him Benjamin, (Gen. xxxv. 18.) As for Benjamin, as 
 commonly explained, the son of the right hand, it 
 makes no sense at all, and seems to be a gross modern 
 error only. The Samaritan always writes this name 
 truly Benjamin, which probably here is of the same 
 signification, only with the Chaldee termination in, 
 instead of im in the Hebrew, as we pronounce Cherubin 
 or Cherubim indifferently. Accordingly, both thi 
 Testament of Benjamin, (sect. 2, p. 401,) and Philo At 
 Ifominum Mutatione, (p. 1059.) write the name Ben- 
 jamin ; but explain it not the *on of the right hand, but 
 the son of days. 
 
 BOOK IL 
 
 CONTAINING THB INTERVAL TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY YEARS. 
 
 FROM THE DEATH OF ISAAC TO THE EXODUS OUT OF EGYPT. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 HOW ESAU AND JACOB, ISAAC'S SONS, DIVIDED 
 
 THEIR HABITATION; *yji ESAU POSSESSED 
 
 IDUMEA, AND JACOB CANAAN. 
 
 1. AFTER the death of Isaac, his sons divided 
 their habitations respectively, nor did they re- 
 tain what they had before ; but Esau departed 
 from the city of Hebron, and left it to his 
 brother, and dwelt in Seir, and ruled over 
 Idumea. He called the country by that name 
 from himself, for he was named Adorn ; which 
 appellation he got on the following occasion : 
 One day returning from the toil of huntino- very 
 hungry, (it was when he was a child in age ) he 
 lighted on his brother when he was getting ready 
 lentil-pottage for his dinner, which was of a 
 very red colour, on which account he the more 
 earnestly longed for it, and desired him to give 
 himsomeof itto eat; but he made advantage of his 
 
 brother's hunger, and forced him to resign up to 
 him his birthright; and he, being pinched with 
 famine, resigned it up to him, under an oath. 
 Whence it came that, on account of the redness 
 of this pottage, he was, in way of jest, by his 
 contemporaries, called Adorn, for the Hebrews 
 call what is red Adorn, and this was the name 
 given to this country; but the Greeks gave it a 
 more agreeable pronunciation, and named it 
 Idumea. 
 
 2. He became the father of five sons, of whom 
 Jaus, and Jalomus, and Coreus, were by one 
 wife, whose name was Alibama ; but of the rest, 
 Aliphaz was born to him by Ada, and Raguel by 
 Basemmath : and these were the sons of Esau. 
 Aliphaz had five legitimate sons Theman, Omer, 
 Saphus, ^Gotham, and Kanaz; for Amalek was 
 not legitimate, but by a concubine, wnose name 
 was Thamna. These dwelt in that part of 
 Idumea which is called Gebalitis, and that deno- 
 minated from Amalek, Amalekitis; for Idumes
 
 CHAP. m. 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 was a large country, and did then preserve the 
 name of the whole, while in its several parts it 
 kept the name* of its peculiar inhabitants. 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 flOW JOSEPH, THE YOUNGEST OF JACOB'S SONS, 
 WAS ENVIED BY HIS BRETHREN, WHEN CERTAIN 
 DREAMS HAD FORESHEWN HIS FUTURE HAPPI- 
 NESS. 
 
 fi 1. IT happened that Jacob came to so great 
 fjf.ppiness as rarely any other person had ar- 
 rircd at. He was richer than the rest of the 
 inhabitants of that country; and was at once 
 envied and admired for such virtuous sons, for 
 they were deficient in nothing, but were of great 
 Rils, both for labouring with their hands and 
 crwhiring of toil, and shrewd also in understand- 
 hg ; and God exercised such a providence over 
 oiro, and such a care of his happine;s, as to 
 bring him the greatest blessings, even out of 
 trhat appeared to be the most sorrowful con- 
 dition, and to make him the cause of our fore- 
 fathers' departure out of Egypt, him and his 
 posterity. The occasion was this : When Jacob 
 r.ad his son Joseph born to him by Rachel, his 
 father loved him above the rest of his sons, both 
 because of the beauty of his body, and the vir- 
 teies of his mind, for he excelled the rest in 
 prudence. This affection of his father excited 
 he envy and the hatred of his brethren ; as did 
 pJso his dreams which he saw, and related to his 
 SAther and to them, which foretold his future 
 lisppiness, it being usual with mankind to envy 
 !$ieir very nearest relations such their prosperity, 
 flow the visions which Joseph saw in his sleep 
 fere these : 
 
 2. When they were in the middle of harvest, 
 fcnd Joseph was sent by his father, with his 
 brethren, to gather the fruits of the earth, he 
 SRW a vision in a dream, but greatly exceeding 
 the accustomary appearances that come when 
 we are asleep; which, when he was got up, he 
 told his brethren, that they might judge what 
 It portended. He said, he saw the last night, 
 that his wheat-sheaf stood still in the place where 
 he set it, but that their sheaves ran to bow down 
 to it, as servants bow down to their masters; 
 hut as soon as they perceived the vision foretold 
 that he should obtain power and great wealth, 
 and that his power should be in opposition to 
 them, they gave no interpretation of it to Joseph, 
 fts if the dream were not by them understood : 
 but they prayed that no part of what they sus- 
 pected to be its meaning might come to pass; 
 and they bare a still greater hatred to him on 
 that account. 
 
 3. But God, in opposition to their envy, sent 
 a second vision to Joseph, which was much more 
 wonderful than the former ; for it seemed to him 
 that the sun took with him the moon and the 
 rost of the stars, and came down to the earth, 
 and bowed down to him. He told the vision to 
 his father, and that, as suspecting nothing of ill- 
 will from his brethren, when they were there 
 also, and desired him to interpret what it should 
 signify. Now Jacob was pleased with the dream ; 
 for, considering the prediction in his mind, and 
 shrewdly and wisely guessing at its meaning, he 
 rejoiced at the great things thereby signified, 
 because it declared the future happiness of his 
 :on ; and that, by the blessing of God, the time 
 would come when he should be honoured, and 
 thought worthy of worship by his parents and 
 
 -rethren. as guessing that the moon and sun 
 
 were like his mother and father; the former, aa 
 she that gave increase and nourishment to all 
 tilings, and the latter, he that gave form and 
 other powers to them ; and that the stars were 
 like his brethren, since they were eleven in num- 
 ber, as were the stars that receive their power 
 from the sun and moon. 
 
 4. And thus did Jacob make a judgment of 
 this vision, and that a shrewd one also; but 
 these interpretations caused very great grief to 
 Joseph's brethren; and they were affected to 
 him hereupon as if he were a certain stranger 
 that was to have those good things which were 
 signified by the dreams, and not as one that was 
 a brother, with whom it was probuble they should 
 be joint partakers ; and as they had been partners 
 in the same parentage, so should they be of the 
 same happiness. They also resolved to kill the 
 lad; and having fully ratified that intention of 
 theirs, as soon as their collection of the fruits 
 was over, they went to Shechem, which is a 
 country good for feeding of cattle, and for pas- 
 turage ; there they fed their flocks, without ac- 
 quainting their father with their removal thither; 
 whereupon he had melancholy suspicions about 
 them, as being ignorant of his sons' condition, 
 and receiving no messenger from the flocks that 
 could inform him of the true state they were in ; 
 so, because he was in great fear about them, he 
 sent Joseph to the flocks, to learn the circum- 
 stances his brethren were in, and to bring him 
 word how they did. 
 
 CHAPTER IIL 
 
 HOW JOSEPH WAS THUS SOLD BY HIS BRETHREN 
 INTO EGYPT, BY REASON OF THEIR HATRED TO 
 Hill; AND HOW HB THERE GREW FAMOUS AND 
 ILLUSTRIOUS, AND HAD HIS BRETHREN UNDER 
 HIS POWER. 
 
 L Now these brethren rejoiced as soon as 
 they saw their brother coming to them, not in- 
 deed as at the presence of a near relation, or as at 
 the presence of one sent by their father, but as 
 at the presence of an enemy, and one that by 
 divine providence was delivered into their hands ; 
 and they already resolved to kill him, and not 
 let slip the opportunity that lay before them; 
 but when ReubeL, the eldest of them, saw 
 them thus disposed, and that they had agreed 
 together to execute their purpose, he tried to 
 restrain them, shewing them the heinous enter- 
 prise they were going about, and the horrid na- 
 ture of it ; that this action would appear wicked 
 in the sight of God, and impious before men, 
 even though they should kill one not related to 
 them, but much more flagitious and detestable 
 to appear to have slain their own brother; by 
 which act the father must be treated unjustly 
 in the son's slaughter, and the mother* also be 
 in perplexity while she laments that her son is 
 taken away from her, and this not in a natural 
 way neither. So he entreated them to have a 
 regard to their own consciences, and wisely to 
 consider what mischief would betide them npor 
 the death of so good a child and their youngest 
 brother; that they would also fear God, who 
 was already both a spectator and a witness of 
 
 * We may here observe, that In correspondence to 
 Joseph's second dream, which implied that his mother, 
 who was then alive, as well as his father, should come 
 and bow down to him, Josephus represents her here aa 
 still alive after she was dead, for the decorum of the 
 dream that foretold it; as the interpretation of the 
 dream does also in all our copies, Gen. xxxvii. 10
 
 ANTIQUITIES OK U.HE JEWS. 
 
 jBOOK H. 
 
 the designs they had against their brother; that 
 he -would love them if they abstained from thi.- 
 act, and yielded to repentance and amendment ; 
 but in case they proceeded to do the fact, all 
 orts of punishment would overtake them from 
 God for this murder of their brother, since they 
 polluted his providence, which was everywhere 
 present, and which did not overlook what was 
 done, either iu deserts or in cities; for whereso- 
 ever a man is, there ought he to suppose that 
 God is also. He told them further, that their 
 consciences would be their enemies, if they_at- 
 tempted to go through so wicked an enterprise, 
 which they can never avoid, whether it be a good 
 conscience, or whether it be such a one as they 
 will have within them when once they have killed 
 their brother. He also added this besides to whai 
 he had before said, that it was not a righteous 
 thing to kill a brother, though he had injured 
 them ; that it is a good thing to forget the actions 
 of such near friends, even in things wherein they 
 might seem to have offended ; but that they were 
 going to kill Joseph, who had been guilty of no- 
 thing that was iu towards them, in whose case 
 the infirmity of his small age should rather pro- 
 cure him mercy, and move them to unite to- 
 gether in the care of his preservation : that the 
 eause of killing him made the act itself much 
 worse, while they determined to take him off 
 out of envy at his future prosperity, an equal 
 share of which they would naturally partake 
 while he enjoyed it, since they were to him not 
 strangers, but the nearest relations, for they 
 might reckon upon what God bestowed upon 
 Joseph as their own; and that it was fit for , 
 them to believe, that the anger of God would ' 
 for this cause be more severe upon them, if they 
 Blew him who was judged by God to be worthy 
 of that prosperity which he hoped for; and, 
 while by murdering him, they made it impos- 
 Bible for God to bestow it upon him. 
 
 2. lieuhel said these, and many oth^/ things 
 and used entreaties to them, and thereby endea 
 voured to divert them from the murder of their 
 brother; but when he saw that his discourse Lad 
 not mollified them at all, and that they made 
 haste to do the fact, he advised them to alleviate 
 the wickedness they were going about, in the 
 manner of taking Joseph off; for as he had ex- 
 honed them first, when they were going to re- 
 venge themselves, to be dissuaded from doing it, 
 BO, since the sentence for killing their brother 
 had prevailed, he said that they would not, how- 
 ever, be so grossly guilty, if they would be per- 
 suaded to follow his present advice, which would 
 include what they were so eager about, but was 
 not so very bad, but, in the distress they were 
 in, of a lighter nature. He begged of them 
 therefore, not to kill their brother with their 
 own hands, but to cast him into the pit that 
 was hard by, and so let him die; by which the\ 
 would gain so much, that they would not defil. 
 their own hands with his blood. To this the 
 young men readily agreed; so Reubol took the 
 lad, and tied him to a cord, and let him dowij 
 gently into the pit, for it had no water at all i 
 it; who, when he had done this, went his wav 
 his S flock f r 8UCh pasturage M was fit for feeding 
 
 3. But Judas, being one of Jacob's sons also 
 mg some Arabians, of the posterity of IsmaeL 
 
 carrying spices and Syrian wares out of the land 
 A- ^ ft 8 Egyptians, after Reubel was 
 RA 7** J" 8 r ? thren to draw Joseph out 
 he shoul!' .T 1 8eU him * the ^ians for if 
 1.1 1? ^ mon 8 8tran sers a great way off 
 ey should be freed from this barbarous action 
 therefore, was resolved on; so they drow 
 
 Joseph up out of the pit, und sold him to the 
 
 merchants for twenty pounds.* He was now 
 seventeen years old ; but Reubel, coming in the 
 night-time to the pit, resolved to save Joseph, 
 without the privity of his brethren ; and when, 
 upon his calling to him, he made no answer, he 
 was afraid that they had destroyed him after he 
 was gone; of which he complained to his breth- 
 
 an; but when they had told him what they had 
 
 lone, Reubel left off his mourning. 
 
 4. When Joseph's brethren had done thus to 
 
 aim, they considered what they should do to 
 
 cape the suspicions of their father. Now they 
 
 fvd taken away from Joseph the coat which he 
 liud on when he came to them at the time they 
 set him down into the pit; so they thought pro- 
 per to tear chat coat to pieces, and to dip it into 
 goat's blood, and then to carry it and shew it to 
 their father, that he might believe he was de- 
 stroyed by wild beasts ; and when they had so 
 done, they came to the old man, but this not till 
 what had happeuud to his son had already come 
 to his knowledge. Then they said that they had 
 not seen Joseph, nor knew what mishap had be- 
 fallen him; but that they had found his coat 
 bloody and torn to pieces, whence they had a 
 suspicion that he had fallen among wild beasts, 
 and so perished, if that was the coat he had on 
 when he came from home. Now Jacob had be- 
 fore some better hopes that his son was only 
 made a captive ; but now he laid aside that no- 
 tion, and supposed that this coat was an evident 
 argument that he was dead, for he well remem- 
 bered that this was the coat he had on when he 
 sent him to his brethren ; so he hereafter lamented 
 the lad as now dead, and as if he had been the 
 father of no more than one, without taking any 
 comfort in the rest; and so he was also affected 
 with his misfortune before he met with Joseph'* 
 brethren, when he also conjectured that Joseph 
 was destroyed by wild beasts. He sat down also 
 clothed in sackcloth and in heavy affliction, inso- 
 much that he found no ease when his sons com- 
 forted him, neither did his pains remit by length 
 of time. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 '^ THE SIGNAL CHASTITY OF JOSEPH. 
 
 1. Now Potiphar, an Egyptian, who was chief 
 cook to king Pharaoh, bought Joseph of the mer- 
 chants, who sold him to him. He had him in 
 the greatest honour, and taught him the learn- 
 ing that became a free man, and gave him leave 
 to make use of a diet better than was allotted tt 
 slaves. He intrusted also the care of his house 
 to him. So he enjoyed these advantages, yet did 
 not he leave that virtue which he had before, 
 upon such a change of his condition; but he de 
 monstrated that wisdom was able to govern the 
 uneasy passions of life, in such as have it in 
 reality, and do not only put it on for a show, 
 under a present state of prosperity. 
 
 2. For when his master's wife was fallen in 
 love with him, both on account of his beauty of 
 body and his dexterous management of affairs; 
 and supposed that, if she should make it known 
 to him, she could easily persuade him to come 
 and lie with her, and that he would look upon it 
 
 * The Septuapint hare twenty pieces of gold ; the 
 Testament of Gad thirty ; the Hebrew and Samaritan 
 twenty of silver ; and the vulgar Latin thirty. WhaJ 
 was the true number and true sum cannot, therefore, 
 now he known.
 
 CEAP. IV.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF 1HE JEWS. 
 
 &8 a piece of happy tort'.ne that his mistress 
 should entreat him, as regarding that state of 
 slavery he was in, and not his moral character, 
 which continued after his condition was changed ; 
 so she made known her naughty inclinations, 
 and spake to him about lying with her. IIuw- 
 ever, he rejected her entreaties, not thinking it 
 agreeable to religion to yield so far to her, as to 
 do what would tend to the affront and injury of 
 liim that purchased him, and had vouchsafed 
 him so great honours. "He, on the contrary, ex- 
 horted her to govern that passion ; and laid before 
 her the impossibility of her obtaining her desires, 
 which he thought might be conquered, if she had 
 no hope of succeeding : and he said, that as to 
 himself, he would endure anything whatever be- 
 fore he would be persuaded to it; for although 
 it was fit for a slave, as he was, to do nothing 
 contrary to his mistress, he might well be ex- 
 cused in a case where the contradiction was to 
 such sort of commands only. But this opposi- 
 tion of Joseph, when she did not expect it, made 
 her still more violent in her love to him ; and as 
 she was sorely beset with this naughty passion, 
 so phe resolved to compass her design by a secoud 
 attempt. 
 
 3. When, therefore, there was a public festival 
 coming on, in which it was the custom for women 
 to come te the public solemnity, she pretended 
 to her husband that she was sick, as contriving 
 an opportunity for solitude and leisure, that she 
 might entreat Joseph again ; which opportunif--. 
 being obtained, she used more kind words to hii 
 than before, and said that it had been good f 
 him to have yielded to her first solicitation, and 
 to have given her no repulse, both because of the 
 reverence he ought to bear to her dignity who 
 solicited him, and because of the vehemence oi 
 her passion by which she was forced, though she 
 were his mistress, to condescend beneath her 
 dignity; but thut he may now, by taking more 
 prudent advice, wipe off the imputation of his 
 former folly : for, whether it were that he ex^ 
 pected the repetition of her solicitations she bar} 
 now made, and that with greater earnestness thun 
 before, for that she had pretended sickness or 
 this very account, and had preferred his conve* 
 sation before the festival and its solemnity ; or 
 whether he opposed her former discourses, as 
 not believing she could be in earnest, she now 
 gave him sufficient security, by thus repeating 
 her application, that she meant not in the least 
 by fraud to impose upon him ; and assured hiiii 
 that, if he complied with her affections, he might 
 expect the enjoyment of the advantages he already 
 hud ; and if he were submissive to her, he should 
 have still greater advantages ; but that he must 
 look for revenge and hatred from her, in cast- 
 he rejected her desires, and preferred the repu- 
 tation of chastity before his mistress ; for that 
 he would gain nothing by such procedure, because 
 she would then become his accuser, and would 
 falsely pretend to her husband that he had at- 
 tempted her chastity ; and that Potiphar would 
 hearken to her words rather than to his, let hii- 
 oe ever so agreeable to the truth. 
 
 4. When the woman had said thus, and even 
 with tears in her eyes, neither did pity dissuade 
 Joseph from his chastity, nor did fear compel 
 him to a compliance with her ; but he opposed 
 tier solicitations, and did not yield to her threat- 
 enings, and was afraid to do an ill thing, and 
 chose to undergo the sharpest punishment rather 
 than to enjoy his present advantages by doing 
 what his own conscience knew would justly de- 
 serve that he should die for it. He also put her 
 In mind that she was a married woman, and that 
 uhe ought to cohabit with her husband only: &ni 
 
 47 
 
 desired her to suffer these considerations to haw 
 more weight with her than the short pleasure of 
 lustful dalliance, which would bring her to re- 
 pentance afterwards, would cause trouble to her 
 and yet would not amend what had been done 
 amiss. He also suggested to her the fear she 
 would be m lest they should be caught, and that 
 the advantage of concealment was uncertain, and 
 that only while the wickedness was not known 
 [would there be any quiet for them ;] but that 
 she might have the enjoyment of her husband's 
 company without any danger : and he told her 
 that in the company of her husband she might 
 have great boldness from a good conscience, both 
 before God and before men : nay, that she would 
 act better like his mistress, and a^ake use of her 
 authority over him better while she persisted hi 
 her chastity, than when they were both ashamed 
 foi what wickedness they had been guilty of ; 
 ant; that it is much better to depend on a good 
 life, well acted, and known to have been so, 
 than upon fc ^ e topes of the concealment ot evil 
 practices. 
 
 5. Joseph, by saying this, and more, tried to 
 restrain the violent passion of the woman, and to 
 reduce her affections within the rules of reason ; 
 but she grew more ungovernable and earnest in 
 the matter ; and since she despaired of persuad- 
 ing him, she laid her hands upon him, and had 
 a mind to force him. But as soon as Joseph had 
 got away from her anger, leaving also his gar- 
 ment with her, for he left that to her, and leaped 
 out of her chamber, she was greatly afraid lest 
 he should discover her lewdness to her husband, 
 and greatly troubled at the affront he had offered 
 her ; so she resolved to be beforehand with him, 
 and to accuse Joseph falsely to Potiphar, and by 
 that means to revenge herself on him for his 
 pride and contempt of her ; and she thought it a 
 wise thing in itself, and also becoming a woman, 
 thus to prevent his accusation. Accordingly she 
 sat sorrowful and in confusion, framing herself 
 so hypocritically and angrily, that the sorrow, 
 which was really for her being disappointed of 
 her lust, might appear to be for the attempt 
 upon her chastity; so that when her husband 
 came home, and was disturbed at the sight of her, 
 and inquired what was the cause of the disorder 
 ' she was in, she began to accuse Joseph: and, 
 1 " O husband," said she, "mayestthou not live 
 a day longer if thou dost not punish the wicked 
 slave who has desired to defile thy bed ; who has 
 neither minded who he was when he came to 
 our house, so as to behave himself with modesty ; 
 nor has he been mindful of what favours he had 
 received from thy bounty, (as he must be an un- 
 grateful man, indeed, unless he, in every respect, 
 carry himself in a manner agreeable to us :) this 
 man, I say, laid a private design to abuse thy 
 wife, and this at & time of a festival, observing 
 when thou wouldst be absent. So that it now is 
 clear that his modesty, as it appeared to be for- 
 merly, was only because of the restraint he was 
 in out of fear of thee, but that he was not really 
 of a good disposition. This has been occasioned 
 by his being advanced to honour beyond what he 
 deserved and what he hoped for ; insomuch thai 
 he concluded, that he who was deemed fit to be 
 trusted with thy estate and the government of 
 thy family, and was preferred above thy eldest 
 servants, might be allowed to touch thy wife 
 also." Thus, when she had ended her discourse, 
 she shewed him his garment, as if he had then 
 left it when he attempted to force her. But 
 Potiphar not being able to disbelieve what hia 
 wife s tears shewed, and what his wife said, and 
 what he saw himself, and being seduced by hi* 
 luvo to his wife, did not set himself about thf
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK n. 
 
 examination of the truth; but, taking it for 
 granted that his wife was a modest woman, and 
 condemning Joseph as a wicked man, he threw 
 him into the malefactors' prison, and had a still 
 higher opinion of his wife, and bare her witness 
 that she was a woman of a becoming taodesty 
 and chastity. 
 
 CHAPTEIT V. 
 
 WHAT THINGS BEFELL JOSEPH IN PRISON. 
 
 1. Now Joseph, commending all his affairs to 
 God, did not betake himself to make his defence, 
 nor to give an account of the exact circumstances 
 of the fact, but silently underwent the bonds and 
 the distress he was in, firmly believing that God, 
 who knew the cause of his affliction and the truth 
 of the fact, would be more powerful than those 
 that inflicted the punishments upon him: a 
 proof of whose providence he quickly received ; 
 for the keeper of the prison taking notice of his 
 care and fidelity in the affairs he had set him 
 about, and the dignity of his countenance, re- 
 laxed his bonds, and thereby made his heavy 
 calamity lighter and more supportable to him : 
 he also permitted him to make use of a diet 
 better than that of the rest of the prisoners. 
 Now, as his fellow-prisoners, when their hard 
 labours were over, fell to discoursing one among 
 another, as is usual in such as are equal sufferers, 
 and to inquire one of another what were the 
 occasions of their being condemned to a prison : 
 among them the king's cupbearer, and one that 
 had been respected by him, was put in bonds, 
 on the king's anger at him. This man was under 
 the same bonds with Joseph, and grew more 
 familiar with him ; and upon his observing that 
 Joseph had a better understanding than the rest 
 had, he told him of a dream he had, and desired 
 he would interpret its meaning, complaining 
 that, besides the afflictions he underwent from 
 the king, God did also add to him trouble from 
 his dreams. 
 
 2. He therefore said that in his sleep he saw 
 three clusters of grapes hanging upon three 
 branches of a vine, large already, and ripe for 
 gathering ; and that he squeezed them into a cup 
 which the king held in his hand ; and when he 
 had strained the wine, he gave it to the king to 
 drink, and that he received it from him with a 
 pleasant countenance. This, he said, was what 
 he saw ; and he desired Joseph, that if he had 
 any portion of understanding in such matters, he 
 would tell him what this vision foretold : who 
 bid him be of good cheer, and expect to be loosed 
 from his bonds in three days' time, because the 
 king desired his service, and was about to restore 
 him to it again ; for he let him know that God 
 bestows the fruit of the vine upon men for good ; 
 which wine is poured out to him, and is the 
 pledge of fidelity and mutual confidence among 
 men, and puts an end to their quarrels, takes 
 away passion and grief out of the minds of them 
 tnat use it, and makes them cheerful. " Thou 
 sayest that thou didst squeeze this wine from 
 three clusters of grapes with thine hands, and 
 chat the king received it : know, therefore, that 
 this vision is for thy good, and foretells a release 
 from thy present distress within the same num- 
 lier of days as the branches had whence thou 
 ^atheredst thy grapes in thy sleep. However, 
 remember what prosperity I have foretold thee 
 when thou hast found it true by experience; 
 *nd when thou art in authority, do not overlook 
 us in this prison, wherein thou wilt leave us 
 *hen thou art gone to the place we have fore- 
 
 told ; for we are not in prison for any crime, but 
 for the sake of our virtue and sobriety are ire 
 condemned to suffer the penalty of malefactors, 
 and because we are not willing to injure him 
 that has thus distressed us, though it were foi 
 our own pleasure." The cupbearer, therefore, 
 as was natural to do, rejoiced to hear such an 
 interpretation of his dream, and waited the com- 
 pletion of what had been, thus shewn him before- 
 hand. 
 
 3. But another servant there was of the king, 
 who had been chief baker, and was now bound 
 in prison with the cupbearer; he also was in 
 good hope, upon Joseph's interpretation of the 
 other's vision, for he had seen a dream also ; BO 
 he desired that Joseph would tell him what the 
 visions he had seen the night before might mean. 
 They were these that follow: "Methought," 
 says he, " I carried thrfe baskets upon my head ; 
 two were full of loaves, and the third full of 
 sweetmeats and other eatables, such as are pre- 
 pared for kings ; but that the fowls came flying, 
 and ate them all up, and had no regard to my 
 attempt to drive them away ; " and he expected 
 a prediction like to that of the cupbearer. Bui 
 Joseph, considering and reasoning about the 
 dream, said to Mm that he would willingly be 
 an interpreter of good events to him, and not of 
 such as his dream denounced to him; but he 
 xold him that he had only three days in all to 
 live, for that the [three] baskets signify that on 
 the third day he should be crucified, and de- 
 voured by fowls, while he was not able to help 
 himself. Now both these dreams had the same 
 several events that Joseph foretold they should 
 have, and this to both the parties ; for on the 
 third day before-mentioned, when the king solem- 
 nised his birthday, he crucified the chief baker, 
 but set the butler free from his bond*,, and re- 
 stored him to his former ministration. 
 
 4. But God freed Joseph from his confine- 
 ment, after he had endured his bonds two years, 
 and had received no assistance from the cup- 
 bearer, who did not remember what he had said 
 to him formerly ; and God contrived this method 
 of deliverance for him. Pharaoh the king had 
 seen in his sleep the same evening two visions : 
 and after them had the interpretations of them 
 both given him. He had forgotten the latter, 
 but retained the dreams themselves. Being 
 therefore troubled at what he had seen, for it 
 seemed to him to be all of a melancholy nature, 
 the next day he called together the wisest men 
 among the Egyptians, desiring to learn from them 
 the interpretation of his dreams. But when they 
 hesitated about them, the king was so much the 
 more disturbed. And now it was that the me- 
 mory of Joseph, and his skill in dreams, came 
 into the mind of the king's cupbearer, when he 
 saw the confusion that Pharaoh was in ; so he 
 came and mentioned Joseph to him, as also the 
 vision he had seen in prison, and how the event 
 proved as he had said; as also that the chief 
 baker was crucified on the very same day ; and 
 that this also happened to him according to the 
 interpretation of Joseph. That Joseph himself 
 was laid in bonds by Potiphar, who was his head 
 cook, as a slave ; but, he said, he was one of the 
 noblest of the stock of the Hebrews ; and said 
 further, his father lived in great splendour. "If, 
 therefore, thou wilt send for him, and not de- 
 spise him on the score of his misfortunes, thou 
 wilt learn what thy dreams signify." So the 
 king commanded that they should bring Joseph 
 into his presence ; and those who received the 
 command came and brought him with them, 
 having taken care ot his habit, that it might be 
 decent, as the king had enioined them to do.
 
 JUAF. VI. J 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JETTS. 
 
 5. But the king took him by the hand ; and, 
 " O young man," says he, " for my servant bears 
 witness that thou art at. present the best and 
 most skilful person I can consult with ; vouchsafe 
 me the same favours which thou bestowedst on 
 this servant of mine, and tell me what events 
 they are which the visions of my dreams fore- 
 ihew ; and I desire thee to suppress nothing out 
 of fear, nor to flatter me with lying words, or 
 with what may please me, although the truth 
 should be of a melancholy nature. For it seemed 
 to me that, as I walked by the river, I saw kine 
 fat and very large, seven in number, going from 
 the river to the marshes ; and other kine of the 
 game number like them, met them out of the 
 marshes, exceeding lean and ill-favoured, which 
 ate up the fat and the large kine, and yet were 
 no better than before, and not less miserably 
 pinched with famine. After I had seen this 
 vision, I awaked out ol .ay sleep ; and, being in 
 disorder, and considering with myself what this 
 appearance should be, I fell asleep again, and saw 
 another dream, much more wonderful than the 
 foregoing, which still did more affright and dis- 
 turb me : I saw seven ears of corn growing out 
 of one root, having their heads borne down by 
 the weight of the grains, and bending down with 
 the fruit, which was now ripe and fit for reajJnsj ; 
 and near these I saw seven other ears of corn, 
 meagre and weak for want of rain, which fell to 
 eating and consuming those that were fit for 
 reaping, and put me into great astonishment " 
 
 6. To which Joseph replied : " This dream," 
 said he, "O king, although seen under two forms, 
 signifies one and the same event of things ; for 
 when thou sawest the fat kine, which is an animal 
 made for the plough and for labour, devoured by 
 the worser kine, and the ears of corn eaten up by 
 the smaller ears, they foretell a famine, and want 
 of the fruits of the earth for the same number of 
 years, and equal with those when Egypt was in a 
 happy state ; and this so far that the plenty of 
 these years will be spant in the same number of 
 years of scarcity, and that scarcity of necessary 
 provisions will be very difficult to be corrected ; as 
 a sign whereof, the ill-favoured kine, when they 
 had devoured the better sort, could not be satis- 
 fied. But still God foreshows what is to come 
 upon men, not to grieve them, but that, when 
 they know it beforehand, they may by prudence 
 make the actual experience of what is foretold the 
 more tolerable. If thou, therefore, carefully dis- 
 pose of the plentiful crops which will come in the 
 former years, thou wilt procure that the future 
 calamity will not be felt by the Egyptians." 
 
 7. Hereupon the king wondered at the discre- 
 tion and wisdom of Joseph; and asked him by 
 what means he might so dispense the foregoing 
 plentiful crops, in the happy years, as to make the 
 miserable crops more tolerable. Joseph then 
 added this his advice : To spare the good crops, 
 and not permit the Egyptians to spend them 
 luxuriously; but to reserve what they would 
 have spent in luxury beyond their necessity, 
 against the time of want. He also exhorted him 
 to take the corn of the husbandmen, and give 
 them only so much as will be sufficient for their 
 food. Accordingly Pharaoh being surprised at 
 Joseph, not only for his interpretation of the 
 dream, but for the counsel he had given him, 
 intrusted him with dispensing the corn; with 
 power to do what he thought would be for the 
 benefit of the people of Egypt, and for the bene- 
 fit of the king, as believing that he who first dis- 
 covered this method of acting would prove the 
 besc uverseer of it. But Joseph having this power 
 given him by the king, with leave to mako use 
 t? hi? seal, and to war purple, drove in his cha- 
 
 riot through all the land of Egypt, and took the 
 corn of the husbandmen,* allotting as much to 
 every one as would be sufficient for seed and for 
 food, but without discovering to any one the 
 reason why he did so. 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 HOW JOSEPH, WHEN HE WAS BECOME FAMOUS IK 
 EGYPT, HAD HIS BRETHREN IN SUBJECTION. 
 
 1. JOSEPH was now grown up to thirty years 
 of age, and enjoyed great honours from the king, 
 who called him Psothom Phanech, out of regard 
 to his prodigious degree of wisdom ; for that name 
 denotes the revealer of secrets. He also married 
 a wife of very high quality ; for he married the 
 daughter of Petephres,t one of the priests of 
 Heliopolis : she was a virgin, and her name was 
 Asenath. By her he had children before the 
 scarcity came on ; Manasseh, the elder, which sig- 
 nifies forgetful, because his present happiness 
 made him forget his former misfortunes; and 
 Ephraim, the younger, which signifies restored, 
 because he was restored to the freedom of his 
 forefathers. Now after Egypt had happily passed 
 over seven years, according to Joseph's interpre- 
 tation of the dreams, the famine came upon them 
 in the eighth year ; and because this misfortune 
 fell upon them when they had no sense of it be* 
 forehand,: they were all sorely afflicted by it, 
 and came running to the king's gates; and he 
 called upon Joseph, who sold the corn to them, 
 being become confessedly a saviour to the whole 
 multitude of the Egyptians. Nor did he open 
 this market of corn for the people of that country 
 only, but strangers had liberty to buy also; 
 Joseph being willing that all men, who are natu- 
 rally akin to one another, should have assistance 
 from those that lived in happiness. 
 
 2. Now Jacob also, when he understood that 
 foreigner* might come, sent all his sons into Egypt 
 to buy corn ; for the land of Canaan was griev- 
 ously afflicted with the famine, and this great 
 misery touched the whole continent. He only 
 retained Benjamin, who was born to him by 
 Rachel, and was of the same mother with Joseph. 
 These sons of Jacob then came into Egypt, and 
 applied themselves to Joseph, wanting to buy 
 corn ; for nothing of this kind was done without 
 his approbation, since even then only was the 
 honour that was paid the king himself advan- 
 tageous to the persons that paid it, when they 
 took care to honour Joseph also. Now, when he 
 well knew his brethren, they thought nothing of 
 him; for he was but a youth when he left them, 
 and was now come to an age so much greater, 
 that the lineaments of his face were changed, and 
 he was not known by them : besides this, the 
 greatness of the dignity wherein he appeared, 
 suffered them not so much as to suspect it wai 
 he. He now made trial what sentiments they 
 
 * That i, bought it for Pharaoh at a very low price. 
 
 f This Petephres, who was now a priest of On, is the 
 same name with him who is before called head cook or 
 captain of the guard, and to whom Joseph was sola. 
 See Gen. xxxrii. 36, xxxix. 1, with xli. 50. They arf 
 also affirmed to be one and the same person in the 
 Testament of Joseph, (sect. 13,) for he is there said U 
 have married the daughter of his master and mistress. 
 Nor is this a notion peculiar to that testament, but, as 
 Dr Bernard confesses, (note on Antiq. b. ii. chap. iv. 
 sect. 1,) common to Josephus, to the Septuagint tater 
 preters. and to other learned Jews of old time. 
 
 J This entire ignorance of the Egyptians of these yean 
 of famine before they came, seems to me almost ic 
 credible. 
 
 D
 
 50 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OJf THE JEWS. 
 
 LBOOK n 
 
 had about affairs of the greatest consequence; 
 for he refused to sell them corn, and said .they 
 were come as spies of the king's affairs; and that 
 they came from several countries, and joined 
 themselves together, and pretended that tney 
 were of kin, it not being possible that a private 
 man should breed up so many sons, and those or 
 so great beauty of countenance as they were, such 
 an education of so many children being not easily 
 obtained by kings themselves Now, this he did 
 In order to discover what concerned his father, 
 and what happened to him after his own depar- 
 ture from him, and as desiring to know what was 
 become of Benjamin his brother ; for he was afraid 
 that they had ventured on the like wicked enter 
 prise against him that they had done l o himself, 
 and had taken him off also. 
 
 3 Now, these brethren of his were under dis- 
 traction and terror, and thought thuO very great 
 danger hung over them; yet not at all reflecting 
 upon their brother Joseph, and standing firm un- 
 ler the accusations laid against them, they made 
 their defence by Eeubel, the eldest of them, who 
 now became their spokesman : " We come not 
 hither," said he, " with any unjust design, nor in 
 order to bring any harm to the king's affairs ; we 
 only want to be preserved, as supposing your hu- 
 manity might be a refuge for us from the miseries 
 which our country labours under, we having 
 heard that you proposed to sell corn not only to 
 your own countrymen, but to strangers also, and 
 that you determined to allow that corn, hi order 
 to preserve all that want it; but that we are 
 brethren, and of the same common blood, the 
 peculiar lineaments of our faces, and those not so 
 much different from one another, plainly shew. 
 Our father's name is Jacob, a Hebrew man, who 
 had twelve of us for his sons by four wiveg; 
 which twelve of us, while we were all alive, were 
 a happy family; but when one of our brethren, 
 whose name was Joseph, died, our affairs changed 
 for the worse ; for our father could not forbear t<> 
 make a long lamentation for him ; and we are iii 
 affliction, both bythe calamity of the death of our 
 brother and the miserable state of our aged 
 father. We are now, therefore, come to buy corn, 
 having intrusted the care of our father, and tho 
 provision for our family to Benjamin, our youngest 
 brother ; and if thou sendest to pur house, thou 
 mayest learn whether we are guilty of the 'east 
 falsehoods in what we say." 
 
 4. And thus did Reubel endeavour to persuade 
 Joseph to have a better opinion of them. But 
 when he had learned from them that Jacob was 
 alive, and that bis brother was not destroyed by 
 them, he for the present put them in prison, as 
 intending to examine more into their affairs when 
 he should be at leisure. But on the third day he 
 brought them out, and said to them, " Since you 
 constantly affirm that you are not come to do any 
 harm to the king's affairs; that you are brethren, 
 and the sons of the father whom you named, you 
 will satisfy me of the truth of what you say, if 
 you leave one of your company with me, whc 
 shall suffer no injury here; and if, when ye have 
 carried com to your father, you will come to me 
 again, and bring your brother, whom you say you 
 left inre, along with you, for this shall be by me 
 esteemed an assurance of the truth of what yov, 
 have told me. ~" Hereupon they were in greater 
 grief than before; they wept, and perpetually 
 deplored one among r?nother the calamity of 
 Joseph; and said, "They were fallen into this 
 misery as a punishment indicted 'iy God for what 
 evil contrivances they ha I against him." And 
 Keubel was large in his reproaches of them foi 
 *-heir too late repentance, whence no profit arose 
 *n -oseph, and ea^estlv <ihnrted them to hear 
 
 with patience whatever they suffered, since it WM 
 done by God in way of punishment, on his ac- 
 count. Thus they spake to one another, not 
 imagining that Joseph understood their language. 
 A general sadness also seized on them at Keubel's 
 words, and a repentance for what they had done ; 
 ind they condemned the wickedness they had 
 perpetrated, for which they judged they were 
 justly punished by God. Now, when Joseph saw 
 that they were in this distress, he was so affected 
 at it that he fell into tears, and, not being willing 
 that they should take notice of him, he retired ; 
 and after a while came to them again, and taking 
 Kymeon,* in order to his being a pledge for hia 
 brethren's return, he bid them take the corn they 
 had bought, and go their way. He also com- 
 manded his steward privily to put the money 
 which they had brought with them for the pur- 
 chase of corn into their sacks, and to dismiss 
 them therewith; who did what he was com- 
 manded to do. 
 
 5. Now, when Jacob's sous were come into the 
 land of Canaan, they told their father what had 
 happened to them in Egypt, and that they were 
 taken to have come thither as spies upon the king; 
 and how they said they were brethren, and had 
 left their eleventh brother with their father, but 
 were not believed ; and how they had left Symeon 
 with the governor, until Benjamin should go thi- 
 ther, and be a testimonial of the truth of what they 
 had said : and they begged of their father to fear 
 nothing, butto send the hid alongwith them. But 
 Jacob was not pleased with anything his sous had 
 done ; and he took the detention of Symeon hein- 
 ously, and thence thought it a foolish thing to 
 give up Benjamin also. Neither did he yield to 
 Keubel's persuasion, though he begged it of him ; 
 and gave leave that the grandfather might, in way 
 of requital, kill his own sons, in case any harm 
 came to Benjamin in the journey. So they were 
 distressed, and knew not what to do : nay, there 
 was another accident that still disturbed them 
 more, the money that was found hidden in their 
 sacks of corn. Yet, when the corn they had 
 brought failed them, and when the famine still 
 afflicted them, and necessity forced them, Jacob 
 didt [not] still resolve to send Benjamin with 
 his brethren, although there was no returning 
 Into Egypt unless they came with what they had 
 promised. Now, the misery growing every day 
 worse, and his sons begging it of him, he had no 
 other course to take in his present circumstances. 
 And Judas, who was of a bold temper on olher 
 occasions, spake his mind very freely to him: 
 " That it did not become him to be afraid on ac- 
 count of his son, nor to suspect the worst, as he 
 did ; for nothing could be done to bis son but by 
 the appointment of God, which must also fo cer- 
 tain come to pass, though he were at home with 
 him ; that he ought not to condemn them to such 
 manifest destruction ; nor deprive them of that 
 plenty of food they might have from Pharao i, by 
 his unreasonable fear about his son Benjamin, but 
 ought to take care of the preservation of Syiueon, 
 lest, by attempting to hinder Benjamin's jou 'iiey, 
 Symeon should perish. He exhorted him to trust 
 God for him : and said he would either bring his 
 son back to him safe, or together with his, lose 
 his own life." So that Jacob was at length per- 
 
 * The reason why Bymeon might be selected out >f tlu 
 rest for Joseph's prisoner, ia plain in the Testam nt ol 
 Symeon viz., that he was one of the bitterest of au 
 Joseph's brethren against him, sect. 2 ; which ap :ears 
 also in part by the Testament of Zabulon, sect 3. 
 
 t The coherence seems to shew that the negative par- 
 ticle is here wanting, which I have supplied in bracket*; 
 and I wonder none have hitherto "suspected that II 
 iiisht to be supplied.
 
 011AP. VI.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS 
 
 uaded, and delivered Benjamin to them, with the 
 price of the corn doubled; he also sent presents 
 to Joseph of the fruits of the land of Canaan ; 
 balsam and rosin, as also turpentine and honey. * 
 Now, their father shed many tears at the de- 
 parture of his sens, as well as themselves. His 
 concern was, that he might receive them back 
 again safe after their journey ; and their concern 
 was, that they might find their fathev well, and 
 no way afflicted with grief for them. And this 
 Luueutation lasted a whole day ; so that the old 
 man was at last tired with grief, and stayed behind ; 
 but they went on their way for Egypt, endeavour- 
 ing to mitigate their grief for their present misfor- 
 tunes, with the bypea of better success hereafter. 
 
 6. As soon as they came into Egypt, they were 
 brought down to Joseph : but here no small fear 
 disturbed them, lest they should be accused 
 nbout th price of the corn, as if they had 
 cheated Joseph. They then made a long apo- 
 logy to Joseph's steward; and told him, that 
 when they came home they found the money in 
 their sacks, and that they had now brought it 
 along with them. He said he did not know 
 what they meant : so they were delivered from 
 that fear. And when he had loosed Symeon, 
 and put him into a handsome habit, he suffered 
 him to be with his brethren; at which time 
 Joseph came from his attendance on the king. 
 So thej offered him their presents ; and upon 
 his putting the question to them about their 
 father, they answered, that they found him 
 welL He also, upon his discovery that Ben- 
 jamin was alive, asked whether this was their 
 younger brother? for he had seen him. Where- 
 upon they said he was : he replied, that the God 
 over all was his protector. But when his affec- 
 tion to him made Inim shed tears, he retired, de- 
 giring he might not be seen in that plight by his 
 brethren. Then Joseph took them to supper, 
 and they were set down in the same order as 
 they used to sit at their father's table. And al- 
 though Joseph treated them all kindly, yet did 
 he send a mess to Benjamin that was double to 
 what the rest of the guests had for their shares. 
 
 7. Now, when after supper they had composed 
 themselves to sleep, Joseph commanded his 
 steward both to give them their measures of 
 corn, and to hide its price again in their sacks ; 
 and that withal they should put into Benjamin's 
 sack the golden cup, out of which he loved him- 
 self to drink : which things he did, in order to 
 make trial of his brethren, whether they would 
 stand by Benjamin when he should be accused of 
 having stolen the cup, and should appear to be in 
 danger ; or whether they would leave him, and, 
 depending on their own innocency, go to their 
 father without him. When the servant had 
 done as he was bidden, the sons of Jacob, know- 
 ing nothing of all this, went their way, and took 
 Sjaneon along with them, and had a double 
 cause of joy, both because they had received 
 him again, and because they took back Ben- 
 jamin to their father, as they had promised. 
 But presently a troop of horsemen encompassed 
 them, and brought with them Joseph's servant, 
 who had put the cup into Benjamin's sack. 
 Upon which unexpected attack of the horsemen 
 they were much disturbed, and asked what the 
 reason was that they came thus upon men, who 
 u little before had been by their lord thought 
 worthy of an honourable and hospitable recep- 
 tion ! They replied, by calling them wicked 
 wretches, who had forgot that very hospitable 
 and kind treatment which Joseph had given 
 
 * Of the precious balsam of Judea, and the turpentine, 
 use the note on Ai;' ; < l> viii. ch vi. sect. 6. 
 
 them, and did not scruple to be injti i< us to 
 him, and to carry off that cup out of v hi sh he 
 had, in so friendly a manner, drank fc) them, 
 and not regarding their friendship with Joseph, 
 no more than the danger they should oe in if 
 they were taken, in comparison of the unjust 
 gain. Hereupon he threatened that the j should 
 be punished; for though they had escaped the 
 knowledge of him who was but a serviint, yet 
 had they not escaped the knowledge of G'-od, nor 
 had gone off with what they had stolen; ai.d, after 
 all, asked why we come upon them? as if they 
 knew nothing of the matter : and he to' d them 
 that they should immediately know it by their 
 punishment. This, and more of the same nature, 
 did the servant say, in way of reproach to them : 
 but they being wholly ignorant of anything here 
 that concerned them, laughed at what Le said; 
 and wondered at the abusive language which 
 the servant gave them, when he was so Lardy as 
 to accuse those who did not before so much as 
 retain the price of their corn, which wail found 
 in their sacks, but brought it again, though 
 nobody else knew of any such thing, so far 
 were they from offering any injury to Joseph 
 voluntarily. But still, supposing that a search 
 would be a more sure justification of themoelves 
 than their own denial o_f the fact, they bid him 
 search them, and that if any of them hi id been 
 guilty of the theft, to punish them all; for being 
 no way conscious to themselves of any crime, 
 they spake with assurance, and, as they tlicught, 
 without any danger to themselves also. The 
 servants desired there might be a search raade ; 
 but they said the punishment should extend to 
 him alone who should be found guilty of the 
 theft. So they made the search; and, having 
 searched all the rest, they came last of afl 
 to Benjamin, as knowing it was Benjamin's 
 sack in which they had hidden the cap, they 
 having indeed searched the rest only for a show 
 of accuracy : so the rest were out of fetr for 
 themselves, and were now only concerned about 
 Benjamin, but still were well assured that ho 
 would also be found innocent; and they re- 
 proached those that came after them for their 
 hindering them, while they might, in the mean- 
 while, have gotten a good way on their journey. 
 But as soon as they had searched Benjamin's 
 sack, they found the cup, and took it from him; 
 and all was changed into mourning and fcur.enta- 
 tion. They rent their garments, and ve}>t for 
 the punishment which their brother WM to 
 undergo for his theft, and for the delusion they 
 had put on their father, when they pro:nised 
 they would bring Benjamin safe to him. What 
 added to their misery was, that this melancholy 
 accident came unfortunately at a time when 
 they thought they had been gotten off clear: but 
 they confessed that this misfortune of their 
 brother, as well as the grief of their fathw for 
 him, was owing to themselves, since it was they 
 that forced their father to send him with {hem, 
 when he was averse to it. 
 
 8. The horsemen therefore took Benjamia and 
 brought Viitn to Joseph, his brethren also follow- 
 ing him ; who, when he saw him in custody, and 
 them in the habit of mourners, said, "How 
 came you, vile wretches as you are, to have such 
 a strange notion of my kindness to you, and of 
 God's providence, as impudently to do thus to 
 your benefactor, Tvho in such an hospitable 
 manner had entertained you?" Whereupon 
 they gave up themselves to be punished, in 
 order to save Benjamin; and called to mind 
 what a wicked enterprise they had heen (;;uilty 
 of againat Joseph. They also pronounced him 
 more happy than themselves, if he were dead.
 
 52 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 In bein" freed from the miseries of this life; and 
 if he were alive, that he enjoyed the pleasure of 
 geein" God's vengeance upon them. They said 
 further, that they were the plague of their 
 father, since they should now add to his former 
 affliction for Joseph, this other affliction for 
 Benjamin. Reubel also was large in cutting 
 them upon this occasion. But Joseph dismissed 
 mem; for he Baid they had been guilty of no 
 offence, and that he would content himself with 
 the lad's punishment ; for he said it was not a 
 fit thing to let him go free for the sake of those 
 who had not offended ; nor was it a fit thing to 
 punish them together with him who had been 
 guilty of stealing. And when he had promised 
 bo give them leave to go away in safety, the rest 
 of them were under great consternation, and 
 were able to say nothing on this sad occasion. 
 But Judas, who had persuaded their father to 
 send the lad from him, being otherwise also a 
 very bold and active man, determined to hazard 
 liimself for the preservation of his brother. 
 "It is true,"* said he, "O governor, that we 
 [lave been very wicked with regard to thee, and 
 on that account deserve punishment ; even all 
 of us may justly be punished, although the theft 
 were not committed by all, but only by one of 
 us, and he the youngest also : but yet there re- 
 mains some hope for us, who otherwise must be 
 under despair on his account, and this from thy 
 goodness, which pronr v< 5s us a deliverance out 
 of our present danger. > And now I beg thou 
 wilt not look at us, or at that great criasa we 
 tiave been guilty of, but at thy own excellent 
 nature, and take advice of thine own virtue, in- 
 stead of that wrath thou hast against us ; which 
 passion those that otherwise are of lower charac- 
 ter indulge, as they do their strength, and that 
 not only on great, but also on very trifling occa- 
 sions. Overcome, Sir, that passion, and be not 
 subdued by it, nor suffer it to slay those that do 
 not otherwise presume upon their own safety, 
 but are desirous to accept of it from thee ; for this 
 is not the first time that thou wilt bestow it on 
 us, but before, when we came to buy corn, thou 
 affordedst us great plenty of food, and gavest us 
 leave to carry so much home to our family as 
 has preserved them from perishing by famine. 
 Nor is there any difference between not over- 
 looking men that were perishing for want of 
 necessaries, and not punishing those that seem 
 to be offenders, and have been so unfortunate as 
 to lose the advantage of that glorious benefac- 
 tion which they received from thee. This will 
 be an instance of equal favour, though bestowed 
 after a different manner; for thou wilt save 
 those this way whom thou didst feed the other; 
 and thou wilt hereby preserve alive, by thy own 
 bounty, those souls which thou didst not suffer 
 to be distressed by famine, it being indeed at 
 once a wonderful and a great thing to sustain 
 our lives by corn, and to bestow on ^:s that par- 
 don, whereby, now we are distressed, we may 
 continue those lives. And I am ready to sup- 
 pose, that God is willing to afford thee this 
 opportunity of shewing thy virtuous disposition, 
 by bringing us into this calamity, that it may 
 tppear thou canst forgive the injuries that are 
 done to thyself, and mayest be esteemed kind to 
 others, besides those who, on other accounts, 
 
 This oration seems to me too large, and too unusual 
 
 i digression, to have been composed by Judas on this 
 
 It seems to me a speech or declamation 
 
 omposed formerly, in the person of Judas, and in the 
 
 way of oratory, that lay by him, and which he thought 
 
 to insert on this occasion. See two more such 
 
 ipeeches or declamations, Antiq b. vi ch xiv 
 
 stand in need of thy assistance ; sine* it is in- 
 deed a right thing to do well to those who are in 
 distress for want of food, but still a more glori- 
 ous thing to save those who deserve to b 
 punished, when it is on account of heinoui 
 offences against thyself ; for if it be a thing de- 
 serving commendation to forgive such as have 
 been guilty of small offences, that tend to a per- 
 son's loss, arxl this be praiseworthy in him that 
 overlooks such offences, to restrain a man's pas- 
 sion as to crimes which are capital to the guilty, 
 is to be like the most excellent nature of God 
 himself: and truly, as for myself, had it not 
 been that we had a father, who had discovered, 
 on occasion of the death of Joseph, how miser- 
 ably he is always afflicted at the loss of his sons, 
 I had not made any words on account of the 
 saving of our own lives; I mean, any further 
 than as that would be an excellent character for 
 thyself, to preserve even those that would have 
 nobody to lament them when they were dead, 
 but we would have yielded ourselves up to suffer 
 whatsoever thou pleasedst; but now (for we do 
 not plead for mercy to ourselves, though indeed, 
 if we die, it will be while we are young, and be- 
 fore we have had the enjoyment of life) have re- 
 gard to our father, and take pity of his old age, 
 on whose account it is that we make these sup- 
 plications to thee. We beg thou wilt give us 
 those lives which this wickedness of ours ha* 
 rendered obnoxious to thy punishment; and 
 this for his sake who is not himself wicked, nor 
 does his being our father make us wicked. He 
 ia a good man, and not worthy to have such 
 trials of his patience ; and now we are absent, 
 he is afflicted with care for us : but if he hear of 
 our deaths, and what was the cause of it, he will 
 on that account die an immature death; and the 
 reproachful manner of our ruin will hasten hia 
 end, and will directly kill him, nay, will bring 
 him to a miserable death, while he will make 
 haste to rid himself out of the world, and bring 
 himself to a state of insensibility, before the sad 
 story of our end come abroad into the rest of the 
 world. Consider these things in this manner, 
 although our wickedness does now provoke thee 
 with a just desire of punishing that wickedness, 
 and forgive it for our father's sake ; and let thy 
 commiseration of him weigh more with thee 
 than our wickedness. Have regard to the old 
 age of our father, who, if we perish, will be very 
 lonely while he lives, and will soon die himself 
 also. Grant this boon to the name of Fathers, 
 for thereby thou wilt honour him that begat 
 thee, and will grant it to thyself also, who en- 
 joyest already that denomination ; thou wilt 
 then, by that denomination, be preserved of 
 God, the Father of all, by shewing a pious re- 
 gard to which, in the case of our father, thou 
 wilt appear to honour him who is styled by the 
 same name ; I mean, if thou wilt have this pity 
 on our father, upon this consideration, how 
 miserable he will be if he be deprived of his 
 sons,' li is thy part therefore to bestow on us 
 what God has given us, when it is in thy power 
 to take it away, and so to resemble him entirely 
 in charity; for it is good to use that power, 
 which can either give or take away, on the mer- 
 ciful side ; and when it is in thy power to de- 
 stroy, to forget that thou ever hadst that power, 
 and to look OD thyself as only allowed power for 
 preservation ; and that the more any one ex- 
 tends this power, the greater reputation does he 
 gain to himself. Now, by forgiving our brother 
 what he has unhappily committed, thou wilt 
 preserve us all ; for we cannot think of living if 
 he be put to death, since we dare not shew our- 
 solves alive to our father without r>vtr brother
 
 CHAP. VII.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 but here must we partake of one and the same 
 catastrophe of his life ; and so far we beg of 
 thee, O governor, that if thou condemnest our 
 brother to die, thou wilt punish us together with 
 him, as partners of his crime, for we shall not 
 think it reasonable to be reserved to kill our- 
 selves for grief of our brother's death, but so to 
 die rather as equally guilty with him of this 
 crime ! I will only leave with thee this one con- 
 sideration, and then will say no more viz., that 
 our brother committed his fault when he was 
 young, and not yet of confirmed wisdom in his 
 conduct; and that men naturally forgive such 
 young persons. I end here, without adding 
 what more I have to say, that iu case thou con- 
 demnest us, that omission may be supposed to 
 have hurt us, and permitted thee to tiike the 
 severer side; but in case thou settest us free, 
 that this may be ascribed to thy own goodness, 
 of which thou art inwardly conscious, that thou 
 freest us from condemnation : and that not by 
 barely preserving us, but by granting us such a 
 favour as will make us appear more righteous 
 than we really are, and by representing to thy- 
 self more motives for our deliverance than we 
 are able to produce ourselves. If, therefore, 
 thou resolvest to slay him, I desire thou wilt 
 slay me in his stead, and send him back to his 
 father; or if thou pleasest to retain him with 
 thee as a slave, I am fitter to labour for thy ad- 
 vantage in that capacity, and, as thou seest, am 
 better prepared for either of those sufferings." * 
 So Judas, being very willing to undergo anything 
 whatever for the deliverance of his brother, cast 
 himself down at Joseph's feet, and earnestly 
 laboured to assuage and pacify his anger. All 
 his brethren also fell down before him, weeping 
 and delivering themselves up to destruction for 
 the preservation of the life of Benjamin. 
 
 10. But Joseph, as overcome now with, his 
 affections, and no longer able to personate an 
 angry man, commanded all that were present to 
 depart, that he might make himself known to 
 his brethren when they were alone ; and when 
 the rest were gone out he made himself known 
 to his brethren, and said, " I commend yon for 
 your virtue, and your kindness to our brother : 
 I find you better men than I could have ex- 
 pected from what you contrived about me. In- 
 deed, I did all this to try your love to your bro- 
 ther ; so I believe you were 7iot wicked by nature 
 in what you did in my case, but that all has 
 happened according to God's will, who has hereby 
 procured our enjoyment of what good things we 
 have ; and, if he continue in a favourable dispo- 
 sition, of what we hope for hereafter. Since, 
 therefore, I know that our father is safe and 
 well, beyond expectation, and I see you so well 
 disposed to your brother, I will no longer re- 
 member what guilt you seem to have had about 
 me, but will leave off to hate you for that your 
 wickedness ; and do rather return you my thanks, 
 that you have concurred with the intentions of 
 God to bring things to their present state. I 
 would have you also rather to forget the same, 
 since that imprudence of yours is come to such 
 a happy conclusion, than to be uneasy and blush 
 at those your offences. Do not, therefore, let 
 your evil intentions, when you condemned me, 
 and that bitter remorse which might follow, be 
 a grief to you now, because those intentions 
 were frustrated. Go, therefore, your way, re- 
 joicing in what has happened by the Divine Pro- 
 vidence, and inform your father of it, lest he 
 
 In all this speech of Judas we may observe, that 
 Josephus still supposed that death was the punishment 
 of theft in Egypt, in the days of Joseph, though it 
 ever was so among- the Jews, by the lair of Moses. 
 
 should be spent with cares for you, and deprive 
 me of the most agreeable part of my felicity ; I 
 mean, lest he should die before he comes into 
 my sight, and enjoy the good things that w 
 now have. Bring, therefore, with you our father, 
 and your wives and children, and all your kin- 
 dred, and remove your habitations hither; for 
 it is not proper that the persons dearest to me 
 should live remote from me, now my affairs are 
 so prosperous, especially when they must endure 
 five more years of famine." When Joseph had 
 said this, he embraced his brethren, who were j 
 in tears and sorrow ; but the generous kindness 
 of their brother seemed to leave among them no 
 room for fear, lest they should be punished on 
 account of what they had consulted and acted 
 against him ; and they were then feasting. Now j 
 the king, as soon as he heard that Joseph's bre- 
 thren were come to him, was exceeding glad of 
 it, as if it had been a part of his own good for- 
 tune; and gave them waggons full of corn, and 
 gold and silver, to be conveyed to his father. 
 Now when they had received more of their bro- 
 ther, part to be carried to their father, and part 
 as free gifts to every one of themselves, Benjamin 
 having still more than the rest, they departed. 
 
 CHAPTER TIL 
 
 THE REMOVAL OP JOSEPH'S FATHER, WITH ALL HI3 
 FAMILY TO HIM, ON ACCOUNT OF THE FAMINE. 
 
 1. As soon as Jacob came to know, by his 
 sons returning home, in what state Joseph was, 
 that he had not only escaped death, for which 
 yet he lived all along in mourning, but that he 
 lived in splendour and happiness, and ruled over 
 Egypt, jointly with the king, and had intrusted 
 to his care almost all his affairs, he did not think 
 any thing he was told to be incredible, consider- 
 ing the greatness of the works of God, and his 
 kindness to him, although that kindness had, 
 for some late times, been intermitte.1; so he im- 
 mediately and zealously set out upoi. his journey 
 to him. 
 
 2. When he came to the Well of the Oath, 
 (Beersheba,) he offered sacrifice to God; and 
 being afraid that the happiness there was in 
 Egypt might tempt his posterity to fall in love 
 with it, and settle in it, and no more think of 
 removing into the land of Canaan, and possess- 
 ing it, as God had promised them ; as also being 
 afraid, lest, if this descent into Egypt were 
 made without the will of God, his family might 
 be destroyed there ; out of fear, withal, lest he 
 should depart this life before he came to the 
 sight of Joseph, he fell asleep, revolving these 
 doubts in his mind. 
 
 3. But God stood by him, and called to him 
 twice by his name ; and when he asked who he 
 was, God said, "No, sure; it is not just that 
 thou, Jacob, shouldst be unacquainted with that 
 God who has been ever a protector and a helper 
 to thy forefathers, and after them to thyself : 
 for when thy father would have deprived thee 
 of the dominion, I gave it thee; and by my 
 kindness it was that, when thou wast sent into 
 Mesopotamia all alone, thou obtainedst good 
 wives, and returnedst with many children, and 
 much wealth. Thy whole family also has been 
 preserved by my providence; and it was I who 
 conducted Joseph, thy son, whom thou gavest 
 up for lost, to the enjoyment of great prosperity. 
 I also made him lord of Egypt, so that he differ* 
 but little from a king. Accordingly, I come 
 now as a guide to thee in this journey: and for*-
 
 or THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK ;i 
 
 toll to thee, that them shalt die in the arms of 
 Joseph- and I inform thee that thy posterity 
 ihrflM many ages in uthority and glory, and 
 that I will settle them in the land which I have 
 promised them." 
 
 4. Jacob, encouraged oy this dream, went on 
 more cheerfully for Egypt with his sons, and 
 all belonging to them. Now they were in all 
 seventy. I once, indeed, thought it best not to 
 sot down the names of this family, especially 
 because of their difficult pronunciation, [by the 
 Greeks;] but, upon the whole, I think it neces 
 sary to mention those names, that I may. dis 
 prove such as believe that we came not origin- 
 ally from Mesopotamia, but are Egyptians. 
 Now Jacob had twelve sons; of thes Joseph 
 was come thither before. We still, the efore, 
 set down the names of Jacob's children and 
 grandchildren. Keuben had four sons An och, 
 I'hallu, Assaron, Charmi ; Simeon had six J& 
 muel, Jamin, Avod, Jachin, Soar, Saul; Levi 
 had three sons Gersom, Caath, Merari; Juciaa 
 had three sons Sala, Phares, Zerah; and by 
 Phares two grandchildren Esrom and Amar; 
 lusachar had four sons Thola, Phua, Jasob, Sa- 
 maron; Zabulon had with him three sons 
 Sarad, Helon, Jalel. So far is the posterity 
 of Lea, with whom went her daughter Dinah. 
 These are thirty-three. Rachel had two sons, 
 the one of whom, Joseph, had two sons also, 
 Manasses and Ephraim. The other, Benjamin, 
 had ten sons Bolau, Bacchar, Asabel, Geras, 
 Naaman, Jes, Ros, Memphis, Opphis, Arad. 
 These fourteen added to the thirty -three before 
 enumerated, amount to the number forty-seven ; 
 and this was the legitimate posterity of Jacob. 
 He had besides, by Bilhah, the handmaid of 
 Rachael, Dan and Nephthali; which last had 
 four sons that followed him Jesel, Guni, Issari, 
 and Sellim. Dan had an only-begotten son, Usi. 
 If these be added to those before-mentioned, 
 they complete the number fifty-four. Gad and 
 Aser were the sons of Zilpha, who was the hand 
 maid of Lea. These had with them, Gad seven 
 Saphoniah, Augis, Sunis, Azabon, Aerin, Ero- 
 ed, Ariel _Aser had a daughter, Sarah, am' 
 six male children, whose names were Jomne, 
 Isus, Isoui, Baris, Abar, and Melchiel. If we 
 add these, which are sixteen, to the fifty- four, 
 the forementioned number [70] is completed,* 
 Jacob not being himself included in that number. 
 
 5. When Joseph understood that his father 
 was coming, for Judas his brother was come be- 
 fore him, and informed him of his approach, he 
 went out to meet him, and they met together at 
 Heroopolis. But Jacob almost fainted away at 
 this unexpected and great joy ; however, Joseph 
 revived him, being yet not himself able to con- 
 tain from being affected in the same manner, at 
 the pleasure he now had; yet was he not wholly 
 overcome with his passion, as his father was. 
 After this he desired Jacob to travel on slowly 
 but he himself took five of his brethren with 
 him, and made haste to the king, to tell him 
 that Jacob and his family were come, which was 
 a joyful hearing to him He also bid Joseph 
 tell him what sort of life his brethren loved to 
 lead, that he might give them leave to follow 
 
 ie same; who told him they were good shep- 
 
 herds, and had been used to follow no other em- 
 ployment but this alone. Whereby he provided 
 for them, that they should not be separated, but 
 live in the same place, and take care of their 
 father; as also hereby he provided, that they 
 might be acceptable to the Egyptians, by doing 
 nothing that would be common to them with the 
 Egyptians ; for the Egyptians are prohibited to 
 meddle with feeding of sheep. T ^ 
 
 6. When Jacob was come to the king, and 
 saluted him, and wished all prosperity to his 
 government, Pharaoh asked him how old he now 
 was; upon whose answer, that he was an hun- 
 dred and thirty years old, he admired Jacob on 
 account of the length of his life. And when he 
 had added, that still he had not lived so long as 
 his forefathers, he gave him leave to live with 
 his children in Heliopolis ; for in that city the 
 king's shepherds had their pasturage. 
 
 7. However, the famine increased among the 
 Egyptians; and this heavy jiidgment grew more 
 oppressive to them, because neither did the river 
 overflow the ground, for it did not rise to its 
 furmer height, nor did God send rain upon it;J 
 nor did they indeed make the least provision 
 for themselves, so ignorant were they what was 
 to be done ; but Joseph sold them corn for their 
 money But when their money failed them, 
 they bought corn with their cattle and their 
 slaves ; and if any of. them had a small piece of 
 land, they gave up that to purchase them food, 
 by which means the king became the owner of 
 all their substance ; and they were removed, 
 some to one place and some to another, that so 
 tlje possession of their country might be firmly 
 assured to the king, excepting the lands of the 
 priests, for their country continued still in their 
 own possession. And indeed this sore famine 
 made their minds as well as their bodies slaves, 
 and at length compelled them to procure a suf- 
 ficiency of food by such dishonourable means. 
 But when this misery ceased, and the river over- 
 flowed the ground, and the ground brought 
 forth its fruits plentifully, Joseph came to 
 every city, and gathered the people thereto 
 belonging together, and gave them back entirely 
 the land which, by their own consent, the king 
 might have possessed alone, and alone enjoyed 
 the fruits of it. He also exhorted them to look 
 on it as every one's own possession, and to fall 
 to their husbandry with cheerfulness; and to 
 pay, as a tribute to the king, the fifth part of 
 the fruits for the land which the king, when it 
 was his own, restored to them. These men re- 
 joiced upon their becoming unexpectedly owners 
 
 t Josephus thought that the Egyptians hated or de- 
 spised the employment of a shepherd in the days of 
 Joseph ; whereas Bishop Cumberland has shewn that 
 they rather hated such Phoenician or Canaanite shep- 
 herds that had long enslaved the Egyptians of old time. 
 See his Sanchoniatho, pp. 361, 362. 
 
 t Iceland here puts the question, how Josephus could 
 complain of its not raining in Egypt during this famine, 
 while the ancients affirm that it never does naturally 
 rain there? His answer is, that when the ancients 
 deny that it rains in Egypt, they only mean the Upper 
 Egypt above the Delta, which is called Egypt in the 
 strictest sense; but that in the Delta, [and by conse- 
 quence in the Lower Egypt adjoining to it,] it did at 
 old, and still does, rain sometimes. See the Note on 
 Antiq. b. iii. ch. i. sect. 6. 
 
 : j Joseplius supposes that Joseph now restored the 
 Egyptians their lands again, upon the payment of a 
 8fth part as tribute. It seems to me rather that the 
 land was now considered as Pharaoh's land, and tbU 
 fifth part as its rent, to be paid to him, as he was their 
 landlord, and they his tenants; and that the landt 
 were not properly restored, and this fifth part reserved 
 as tribute only, till the days of Sesostris. See Kssay oz 
 he Old Testament. Append. 148, 149
 
 CHAP. IX. J 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF iHE JEWS. 
 
 56 
 
 of their lands, and diligently observed what was 
 enjoined them; and by this means Joseph pro- 
 cured to himself a greater authority among the 
 Egyptians, and a greater love to the king from 
 them. Now this law, that they should pay the 
 fifth part of their fruits as tribute, continued 
 Until their later kings. 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 Or THE DEATH OF JACOB AND JOSEPH. 
 
 1. Now when Jacob had lived seventeen years 
 in Egypt, he fell into a disease, and died in tl'o 
 presence of his sons; but not till he made h:s 
 prayers for their enjoying prosperity, and till he 
 had foretold to them prophetically how eve: , 
 one of them was to dwell in the land of Cauaar. 
 But this happened many years afterward. He 
 also enlarged upon the praises of Joseph ;* how 
 he had not remembered the evil doings of his 
 brethren to their disadvantage; nay, on the con- 
 trary, was kind to them, bestowing upon them 
 so many benefits, as seldom are bestowed on 
 men's own benefactors. He then commanded 
 his own sons that they should admit Joseph's 
 sons, Ephraim and Manasses, into their number, 
 and divide the land of Canaan in common with 
 them; concerning whom we shall treat here- 
 after. However, he made it his request that he 
 might be buried at Hebron. So he died, when 
 he had lived full a hundred and fifty years, three 
 only abated, having not been behind any of his 
 ancestors in piety towards God, and having such 
 a recompense for it, as it was fit those should 
 have who were so good as these were. But 
 Joseph, by the king's permission, carried his 
 father's dead body to Hebron, and there buried 
 it at a great expense. Now his brethren were at 
 first unwilling to return back with him, because 
 they were afraid lest, now their father was dead, 
 he should punish them for their secret practicp ; 
 against him ; since he was now gone, for whose 
 sake he had been so gracious to them. But he 
 persuaded them to fear no harm, and to enter- 
 tain no suspicions of him : so he brought them 
 along with him, and gave them great possessions, 
 and never left off his paHioular concern for 
 them. 
 
 2. Joseph also died when he had lived a hun- 
 dred and ten years; having been a man of ad- 
 mirable virtue, and conducting all his affairs by 
 the rules of reason; and used his authority with 
 moderation, which was the cause of his so great 
 felicity among the Egyptians, even when lie 
 came from another country, and that in such 
 ill circumstances also, as we have already de- 
 scribed. At length his brethren died, after they 
 had lived happily in Egypt. Now the posterity 
 and sons of these men, after some time, carried 
 their bodies, and buried them at Hebron: but 
 as to the bones of Joseph, they carried them 
 into the land of Canaan afterward, when the 
 Hebrews went out of Egypt, for so had Joseph 
 made them promise him upon oath; but what 
 became of every one of these men, and by what 
 toils they got the possession of the land of 
 Canaan, shall be shewn hereafter, when I have 
 first explained upon what account it was that 
 they left Egypt. 
 
 * As to this encomium upon Joseph, as preparatory 
 to Jacob's adopting Ephraim and Manasses into hi". 
 own family, and to be admitted for two tribes, which 
 Josephus here mentions, all car copies of Genesis omit 
 it, (ch. xlviii. ;) nor do we know whence he took it, or 
 rhether it be not his own embellishment only 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 CONCERNING THI AFFLICTIONS THAT BEFELL TH 
 HEBREWS IN EGYPT, DUBING tODB HUNDRED 
 YEARS t 
 
 1. Now it happened that the Egyptians grew 
 delicate and lazy, as to painstaking; and gave 
 themselves up to other pleasures, and in parti- 
 cular to the love of gain. They also became 
 very ill affected towards the Hebrews, as touched 
 with envy at their prosperity; for when they 
 saw how the nation of the Israelites flourished, 
 and were become eminent already in plenty of 
 wealth, which they had acquired by their virtue 
 and natural love of labour, they thought their 
 increase was to their own detriment ; and hav- 
 ing, in length of time, forgotten the benefits they 
 had received from Joseph, particularly the crown 
 being now come into another family, they became 
 very abusive to the Israelites, and contrived many 
 ways of afflicting them ; for they enjoined them 
 to cut a great number of channels for the river, 
 and to build walls for their cities and ramparts, 
 that they might restrain the river, and hinder 
 its waters from stagnating, upon its running ovei 
 its own banks : they set them also to build pyra- 
 mids,:}: and by all this wore them out ; and forced 
 them to learn all sorts of mechanical arts, and to 
 accustom themselves to hard labour. And foui 
 hundred years did they spend under these afflic- 
 tions; for they strove one against the other which 
 should get the mastery, the Egyptians desiring 
 to destroy the Israelites by these labours, and 
 the Israelites desiring to hold out to the end 
 under them. 
 
 2. While the affairs of the Hebrews were in 
 this condition, there was this occasion offered 
 itself to the Egyptians, which made them more 
 solicitous for the extinction of our nation. One 
 of those sacred scribes, who are very sagacious 
 in foretelling future events truly, told the king, 
 trmt p.bout this time there would be a child born 
 to the Israelites, who, if he were reared, would 
 bring the Egyptian dominion low, and would 
 raise the Israelites ; that he would excel all men 
 in virtue, and obtain a glory that would be re- 
 membered through all ages. Which thing was 
 so feared by the king, that, according to this 
 man's opinion, he commanded that they should 
 cast every male child, which was born to the 
 Israelites, into the river, and destroy it; that 
 besides this, the Egyptian mid wives';! should 
 
 t As to the affliction of Abraham's posterity for 400 
 years, see Antiq. book i. chap. x. sect. 3; and as tc 
 what cities they built in Egypt, under Pharaoh Sesostris, 
 and of Pharaoh Sesostris's drowning in the Red Sea, see 
 Essay on the Old Testament, Append, pp. 132-162. 
 
 t Of this building of the pyramids of Egypt by the 
 Israelites, see Perizoniug Orig. JSgyptiac. chap, xxi 
 Tt is not impossible they might build one cr more of the 
 smnll ones ; but the large onea seem much later. Only, 
 if they be all built of stone, this does not so well agree 
 with the Israelites' labours, which are said to have been 
 in brick, and not in stone, as Mr Sandys observes in 
 hia Travels, pp. 127, 128. 
 
 } Dr Bernard informs us here, that instead of thin 
 single priest or prophet of the Egyptians, without a 
 name in Josephus, the Targum of Jonathan names the 
 two famous antagonists of Moses, Jannes and Jambres. 
 Nor is it at all unlikely tnat it might be one of these 
 who foreboded so much misery to the Egyptians, and 
 so much happiness to tne Israelites, from the rearing 
 of Moses. 
 
 | Josephus is clear that these midwives were Egyp- 
 tians, and not Israelites, as In our other copies : which 
 is very probable it being nor easily to be suppose^ that 
 Pharaoh could trust the Israelite midwives to execute 
 so barbarous a command against their own nation 
 'Consult, therefore, and correct, hen'-*, our ordinary
 
 68 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 BOOK IT 
 
 watch the labours of the Hebrew women, and 
 observe what is born, for those were the women 
 who were enjoined to do the office of midwives 
 to them; and by reason of their relation to the 
 kin" would not transgress his commands. He 
 enjoined also, That if any parents should dis- 
 obey him, and venture to save their male chil- 
 dren alive,* they and their families should be 
 destroyed. This was a severe affliction indeed 
 to those that suffered it, not only as they were 
 deprived of their sons, and, while they were the 
 parents themselves, they were obliged to be sub- 
 servient to the destruction of their own children, 
 but as it was to be supposed to the extirpation 
 of their nation, while upon the destruction of 
 their children, and their own gradual dissolu- 
 tion, the calamity would become very hard and 
 inconsolable to them : and this was the ill state 
 they were in. But no one can be too hard for 
 the purpose of God, though he contrive ten 
 thousand subtle devices for that end; for this 
 child, whom the sacred scribe foretold, was 
 brought up and concealed from the observers 
 appointed by the king; and he that foretold him 
 did not mistake in the consequences of his pre- 
 servation, which were brought t* pass after the 
 manner following : 
 
 3. A man, whose name was Am:um, one of 
 the nobler sort of the Hebrews, was afraid for 
 his whole nation, lest it should fail, by the want 
 of young men to be brought up hereafter, and 
 was very uneasy at it, his wife being then with 
 child, and he knew not what to do. Hereupon 
 he betook himself to prayer to God; and en- 
 treated him to have compassion on those men 
 who had nowise transgressed the laws of his 
 worship, and to afford them deliverance from 
 the miseries they at that time endured, and to 
 render abortive their enemies' hopes of the de- 
 struction of their nation. Accordingly God had 
 mercy on him, and was moved by his suppliaa- 
 tion. He stood by him in his sleep, and exh 
 him not to despair of his future favours. 
 aid further, that he did not forget their p 
 towards him, and would always reward them 
 for it, as he had formerly granted his favour to 
 their forefathers, and made them increase from 
 a few to so great a multitude. He put him in 
 mind, that when Abraham was come alone out 
 of Mesopotamia into Canaan, he had been made 
 happy, not only in other respects, but that when 
 his wife was at first barren, she was afterwards 
 by him enabled to conceive seed, and bear him 
 sons. That he left to Ismael and to his posterity 
 the country of Arabia; as also to his sons by 
 Ketura, Troglodytis : and to Isaac, Canaan. 
 That by my assistance, said he, he did great 
 exploits in war, which, unless you be yourselves 
 impious, you must still remember. As for Jacob, 
 he became well known to strangers also, by the 
 greatness of that prosperity in which he lived, 
 and left to his sons, who came into Egypt with 
 no more than seventy souls, while you are now 
 become above six hundred thousand. Know, 
 therefore, that I shall provide for you all in 
 common what is for your good, and particularly 
 for thyself what shall make thee famous; for 
 
 copies, Kxod. i. 15, 22. And, indeed, Josephus seems 
 to have had much completer copies of the Pentateuch, 
 or other authentic records now lost, about the birth 
 and actions of Moses, than either our Hebrew, Samari- 
 tan, or Greek Bibles afford us, which enabled him to be 
 so large and particular about him. 
 
 * Of this grandfather of Sesostris, Ramestes the 
 Great, who slew the Israelite infants, and of the in- 
 icnption on his obelisk, containing, in my opinion, one 
 Df the oldest records of mankind, see Essay on the Old 
 et. Append, pp. 139. 146, 147, 217-220. 
 
 that child, out of dread of whose nativity the 
 Egyptians have doomed the Israelite children to 
 destruction, shall be this child of thine, and 
 shall be concealed from those who watch to de- 
 stroy him: and when he is brought up in a sur- 
 E rising way, he shall deliver the Hebrew nation 
 rom the distress they are under from the Egyp- 
 tians. His memory shall be famous while the 
 world lasts; and this not only among the He- 
 brews, but foreigners also: all which shall be 
 the effect of my favour to thce, and to thy pos- 
 terity. He shall also have such a brother, that 
 he shall himself obtain my priesthood, and his 
 posterity shall have it after him to the end of 
 the world. 
 
 4. When the vision had informed him of these 
 things, Amram awaked and told it to Jochebed, 
 who was his wife. And now the fear increased 
 upon them on account of the prediction in Am- 
 ram's dream ; for they were under concern, not 
 only for the child, but on account of the great 
 happiness that was to come to him also. How- 
 ever, the mother's labour was such as afforded a 
 confirmation to what was foretold by God; for 
 it was not known to those that watched her, by 
 the easiness of her pains, and because the throes 
 of her delivery did not fall upon her with vio- 
 lence. And now they nourished the child at 
 home privately for three months ; but after that 
 time Amram, fearing he should be discovered, 
 and by falling under the king's displeasure, both 
 he and his child should perish, and so he should 
 make the promise of God of none effect, he de- 
 termined rather to intrust the safety and care of 
 the child to God, than to depend on his own con- 
 csalment of him, which he looked upon as a thing 
 uncertain, and whereby both the child, so pri- 
 vately to be nourished, and himself, should be 
 in imminent danger; but he believed that God 
 would some way for certain procure the safety 
 of the child, in order to secure the truth of his 
 own predictions. When they had thus deter- 
 mined, they made an ark of bulrushes, after the 
 manner of a cradle, and of a bigness sufficient for 
 an infant to be laid in, without being too strait 
 ened : they then daubed it over with slime, which 
 would naturally keep out the water from enter- 
 ing between the bulrushes, and put the infant 
 into it, and setting it afloat upon the river, they 
 left its preservation to God ; so the river received 
 the child, and carried him along. But Miriam, 
 the child's sister, passed along upon the bank 
 over against him, as her mother had bid her, to 
 see whither the ark would be carried; where 
 God demonstrated that human wisdom was no- 
 thing, but that the Supreme Being is able to do 
 whatsoever he pleases : that those who, in order 
 to their own security, condemn others to destruc- 
 tion, and use great endeavours about it, fail of 
 their purpose ; but that others are in a surprising 
 manner preserved, and obtain a prosperous con- 
 dition almost from the very midst of their cala- 
 mities; those, I mean, whose dangers arise by 
 the appointment of God. And, indeed, such a 
 providence was exercised in the case of this 
 child, as shewed the power of God. 
 
 5. Thermuthis was the king's daughter. She 
 was now diverting herself by the banks of the 
 river; and seeing a cradle borne along by the 
 current, she sent some that could swim, and bid 
 tiem bring the cradle to her. When those that 
 were sent on this errand, came to her with the 
 cradle, and she saw the little child, she wa 
 greatly in love with it, on account of its large- 
 ness and beauty ; for God had taken such great 
 care in the formation of Moses, that he caused 
 him to be thought worthy of bringing up, and 
 providing for, by all those that had taken the
 
 CHAP. X.] 
 
 ANTIQOTTIF^ OF THE JEWS. 
 
 57 
 
 most fatal resolutions, on account of the dread of 
 his nativity, for the destruction of the rest of 
 the Hebrew nation. Thermuthis bid them bring 
 her a woman that might afford her breast to the 
 child ; yet would not the child admit of her 
 breast, but turned away from it, and did the like 
 to many_ other women. Now Miriam was by 
 when this happened, not to apptar to be there 
 on purpose, but only as staying to see the child ; 
 and she said, " It is in vain that thou, O queer., 
 callest for these women for the nourishing of the 
 child, who are no way of kin to it ; but still, if 
 thou wilt order one of the Hebrew women to be 
 brought, perhaps it may admit the breast of one 
 of its own nation." Now since she seemed to 
 speak well, Thermuthis bid her procure such a 
 one, and to bring one of those Hebrew women 
 that gave suck. So when she had such authority 
 given her, she came back and brought the mo- 
 ther, who was known to nobody there. And 
 now the child gladly admitted the breast, and 
 seemed to stick close to it; and so it was, that, 
 at the queen's desire, the nursing of the child 
 was entirely intrusted to the mother. 
 
 6. Hereupon it was that Thermuthis imposed 
 this name Mouses upon him, from what had 
 happened when he was put into the river; for 
 the Egyptians call water by the name of Mo, and 
 such as are saved out of it by the name of Uses; 
 so by putting these two words together, they 
 imposed this name upon him; and he was, by 
 the confession of all, according to God's predic- 
 tion, as well for his greatness of mind as for his 
 contempt of difficulties, the best of all the 
 Hebrews ; for Abraham was his ancestor, of the 
 seventh generation. For Moses was the son of 
 Amram, who was the son of Caath, whose father, 
 Levi, was the son of Jacob, who was the son of 
 Isaac, who was the son of Abraham. Now 
 Moses's understanding became superior to his 
 age, nay, far beyond that standard ; and when he 
 was taught, he discovered greater quickness of 
 apprehension than was usual at his age; and his 
 actions at that time promised greater, when he 
 should come to the age of a man. God did also 
 give him that tallness, when he was but three 
 years old, as was wonderful; and for his beauty, 
 there was nobody so unpolite as, when they saw 
 Moses, they were not greatly surprised at the 
 beauty of his countenance : nay, it happened fre- 
 quently, that those that met him as he was 
 carried along the road, were obliged to turn 
 again upon seeing the child, that they left what 
 they were about, and stood still a great while to 
 look on him ; for the beauty of the child was so 
 remarkable and natural to him on many accounts, 
 that it detained the spectators, and made them 
 stay longer to look upon him. 
 
 7. Thermuthis, therefore, perceiving him to be 
 BO remarkable a child, adopted him for her son, 
 having no child of her own. And when one time 
 she had carried Moses to her father, she shewed 
 nim to him, and said she thought to make him 
 her fathers successor, if it should please God 
 she should have no legitimate child of her own ; 
 and said to him, " I have brought up a child who 
 is of a divine form,* and of a generous mind; 
 and as I have received him from the bounty of 
 the river, in a wonderful manner, I thought pro- 
 per to adopt him for my son, and the heir of thy 
 kingdom. And when she had said this, she 
 put the infant into her father's hands : so he 
 took him, and hugged him close to his breast; 
 
 What Josephus here says of the beauty of Moses, 
 that he was of a fair form, is very like what St Stephen 
 says of the same beauty; that he was beautiful ic the 
 sight of Go-1, Acts vii. 20 
 
 and on his daughter's account, in a pleasant way 
 put his diadem upon his head; but Moses threw 
 it down to the ground, and, in a puerile mood, 
 he wreathed it round, and trod upon it with hia 
 feet; which seemed to bring along with it an 
 evil presage concerning the kingdom of Egypt. 
 But when the sacred scribe saw this, (he was the 
 same person who foretold that his nativity would 
 bring the dominion of that kingdom low,) he 
 made a violent attempt to kill him : and crying 
 out in a frightful manner, he said, "This, O 
 king ! this child is he of whom God foretold, 
 that if we kill him we shall be in no danger ; he 
 himself affords an attestation to the prediction 
 of the same thing, by his trampling upon thy 
 government, and treading upon thy diadem. 
 Take him, therefore, out of the way, and deliver 
 the Egyptians from the fear they are in about 
 him ; and deprive the Hebrews of the hope they 
 have of being encouraged by him." But Ther- 
 muthis prevented him, and snatched the child 
 away. _ And the king was not hasty to slay.bJin, 
 God himself, whose providence protected Moses, 
 inclining the king to spare him. He was, there- 
 fore, educated with great care. So the Hebrews 
 depended on hiin, and were of good hopes that 
 great things would be done by him; but the 
 Egyptians were suspicious of what would follow 
 such his education. Yet because, if Moses had 
 been slain, there was no one, either akin or 
 adopted, that had any oracle on his side for pre- 
 tending to the crown of Egypt, and likely to be 
 of greater advantage to them, they abstained 
 from killing him. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 HOW MOSES MADE WAB WITH THB ETHIOPIANS. 
 
 1. MOSES, therefore, when he was born, and 
 brought up in the foregoing manner, and came to 
 the age of maturity, made his virtue manifest to 
 the Egyptians ; and shewed that he was born for 
 the bringing them down, and raising the Israel- 
 ites ; and the occasion he laid hold of was this : 
 The Ethiopians, who are next neighbours to the 
 Egyptians, made an inroad into their country, 
 which they seized upon, and carried off the 
 effects of the Egyptians, who, in their rage, 
 fought against them, and revenged the affronts 
 they had received from them ; but, being over- 
 come in battle, some of them were slain, and the 
 rest ran away in a shameful manner, and by 
 that means saved themselves; whereupon the 
 Ethiopians followed after them in the pursuit ; 
 and thinking that it would be a mark of coward- 
 ice if they did not subdue all Egypt, they went 
 on to subdue the rest with greater vehemence ; 
 and when they had tasted the sweets of the 
 country, they never left off the prosecution of 
 the war ; and as the nearest parts had not courage 
 enough at first to fight with them, they pro- 
 ceeded as far as Memphis, and the sea itself ; 
 while not one of the cities was able to oppose 
 hem. The Egyptians, under this sad oppres- 
 f ion, betook themselves to their oracles and pro- 
 phecies: and when God had given them this 
 c ounsel, to make use of Moses the Hebrew and 
 take his assistance, the king commanded hia 
 r'aughter to produce him, that he might be the 
 general T" of their army. Upon which, when she 
 
 t This history of Moses, as general of the Egyptians 
 ;:jiainst the Ethiopians, is wholly omitted in our Bibles; 
 i at is thus cited by Irenaeus, from Josephus, and that
 
 58 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK H 
 
 had made him swaar he would do him no harm, 
 she delivered him to the king, and supposed his 
 assistance would be of great advantage to them' 
 She withal reproached the priest, who, when 
 they had before admonished the Egyptians to 
 kill him, was not ashamed "iow to own their 
 want of his help. 
 
 2. So Moses, at the persuasion both of 1 hermu- 
 this and the king himself, cheerfully undertook 
 the business: and the sacred scribes of both 
 nations were glad ; those of the Egyptians, that 
 they should at once overcome their enemies by 
 his valour, and that by the same piece of manage- 
 ment Moses would be slain; but those of the 
 Hebrews, that they should escape from the 
 Egyptians, because Moses was to be their gene- 
 ral; out Moses prevented the enemies, and took 
 and led his army before those enemies were ap- 
 prised of his attacking them; for he did not 
 march by the river, but by land, where he gave 
 a wonderful demonstration of his sagacity; for 
 when the ground was difficult to be passed over, 
 because of the multitude of serpents^ (which it 
 produces in vast numbers, and indeed is singular 
 in some of those productions, which other coun- 
 tries do not breed, and yet such as are worse than 
 others in power and mischief, and an unusual 
 fierceness of sight, some of which ascend out of 
 the ground unseen, and also fly in the air, and so 
 come upon men at unawares, and do them a 
 mischief,) Moses invented a wonderful stratagem 
 to preserve the army safe, and without hurt; 
 for he made baskets, like unto arks, of sedge, 
 and filled them with ibes,* and carried them 
 along with them ; which animal is the greatest 
 enemy to serpents imaginable, for they fly from 
 them when they come near them ; and as they 
 fly they are caught and devoured by them, as if 
 it were done by the harts ; but the ibes are tame 
 creatures, and only enemies to the serpentine 
 kind : but about these ibes I say no more at pre- 
 sent, since the Greeks themselves are not un- 
 acquainted with this sort of bird. As soon, 
 therefore, as Moses was come to the land which 
 was the breeder of these serpents, he let loose 
 the ibes, and by their means repelled the ser- 
 pentine kind, and used them for his assistants 
 before the army caine upon that ground. When 
 he had therefore proceeded thus on his journey, 
 he came upon the Ethiopians before they ex- 
 pected him ; and, joining battle with them, he 
 beat them, and deprived them of the hopes they 
 had of success against the Egyptians, and went 
 on in overthrowing their cities, and indeed made 
 a great slaughter of these Ethiopians. Now 
 when the Egyptian army had once tasted of this 
 prosperous success, by the means of Moses, they 
 did not slacken their diligence, insomuch that 
 the Ethiopians were in danger of being reduced 
 to slavery, and all sorts of destruction; and at 
 length they retired to Saba, which was a royal 
 city of Ethiopia, which Cambyses afterwards 
 named Meroe, after the name of his own sister. 
 
 woo after his own age: "Josephus says, that when 
 Moeee was nourished In the king's palace, he was ap- 
 pointed general of the army against the Ethiopians 
 and conquered them, when he married that king's 
 daughter: because out of her affection for him, she de- 
 Inrered the city up to him." See the fragments of 
 Irenseus, ap. edit. Grab. p. 472. Nor perhaps did 8t 
 Stephen refer to any thing else whs n he sid of Mosea 
 before he was sent by God to the Israelites, that he was, 
 not only learnt din all the wisdom of the Ejryptians but 
 wa also mighty in words and in deeds, (Acts vii. 22 ) ' 
 "Pliny speaks of these birds called Ibes- and says 
 The Egyptians invoked them against the serpents." 
 list. Nat. book x. chap. 28. Strabo speaks of this island 
 m, 01 7^ "SS^S Astapus and Aataboraa, book ivi 
 PP. 771, 786 ; and book xvii. p. 321. 
 
 The place was to be besieged with very great dif- 
 ficulty, since it was both encompassed by the 
 Nile quite round, and the other rivers, Astapa 
 and Astaboras, made it a very difficult thing for 
 such as attempted to pass over them; for the 
 city was situate in a retired place, and was in- 
 habited after the manner of an island, being en- 
 compassed with a strong wall, and haying the 
 rivers to guard them from their enemies, and 
 having great ramparts between the wall and the 
 rivers, insomuch, that when the waters come 
 with the greatest violence it can never be 
 drowned; which ramparts make it next to impos- 
 sible for even such as are gotten over the rivers 
 to take the city. However, while Moses was un- 
 easy at the army's lying idle, (for the enemies 
 durst not come to battle,) this accident hap- 
 pened : Tharbis was the daughter of the king of 
 the Ethiopians : she happened to see Moses as he 
 led the army near the walls, and fought with 
 great courage ; and admiring the subtlety of his 
 undertakings, and believing him to be the author 
 of the Egyptians' success, when they had before 
 despaired of recovering their liberty, and to be 
 the occasion of the great danger the Ethiopians 
 were in, when they had before boasted of their 
 great achievements, she fell deeply in love with 
 him ; and upon the prevalency of that passion, 
 sent to him the most faithful of all her servants 
 to discourse with him about their marriage. He 
 thereupon accepted the offer, on condition she 
 would procure the delivering up of the city ; and 
 gave her the assurance of an oath to take her to 
 his wife ; and that when he had once taken pos- 
 session of the city, he would not break his oath 
 to her. No sooner was the agreement made, but 
 it took effect immediately ; and when Moses had 
 cut off the Ethiopians, he gave thanks to God, 
 and consummated his marriage, and led the 
 Egyptians back to their own land. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 HOW MOSES FLED OUT OF EGYPT IKTO MIDIAK. 
 
 1. Now the Egyptians, after they had been 
 preserved by Moses, entertained a hatred to him, 
 and were very eager in compassing their designs 
 against him, as suspecting that he would take 
 occasion, from his good success, to raise a sedi- 
 tion, and bring innovations into Egypt ; and told 
 the king he ought to be slain. The king had 
 also some intentions of himself to the same pur- 
 pose, and this as well out of envy at his glorious 
 expedition at the head of his army, as out of fear 
 of being brought low by him; and being in- 
 stigated by the sacred scribes, he was ready to 
 undertake to kill Moses; but when he had 
 learned beforehand what plots there were against 
 him, he went away privately ; and because the 
 public roads were watched, he took his flight 
 through the deserts, and where his enemies could 
 not suspect he would travel, and, though he was 
 destitute of food, he went on, and despised that 
 difficulty courageously; and when he came to 
 the city Midian, which lay upon the Red Sea, 
 and was so denominated from one of Abraham's 
 sons by Keturah, he sat upon a certain well, and 
 rested himself there after his laborious journey, 
 and the affliction he. had been in. It was not f ai 
 from the city, and the time of the day was noon, 
 where he had an occasion offered him by the 
 custom of the country of doing what recom- 
 mended his virtue, and afforded him an oppor- 
 tunity of bettering his circumstances.
 
 0HAP. XII.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 2. For that country having but little water, the 
 shepherds used to seize on the wells before others 
 came, lest their flocks should want water, and 
 lest it should be spent by others before they 
 came. There were now come, therefore, to this 
 well seven sisters that were virgins, the daughters 
 of Raguel, a priest, and one thought worthy by 
 the people of the country of great honour. These 
 .nrgins, who took care of their father's flocks, 
 which sort of work it was customary and very 
 familiar for women to do in the country of the 
 Troglodytes, they came first of all, and drew 
 water out of the well in a quantity sufficient for 
 their flocks, into troughs, which were made for 
 the reception of that water ; but when the shep- 
 herds came upon the maidens, and drove them 
 away, that they might have the command of the 
 water themselves, Moses, thinking it woxild be a 
 terrible reproach upon him if he overlooked the 
 young women under unjust oppression, and should 
 suffer the violence of the men to prevail over the 
 tight of the maidens, he drove away the men, 
 who had a mind to more than their share, and 
 afforded a proper assistance to the women; who, 
 when they had received such a benefit from him, 
 came to their father, and told him how they had 
 been affronted by the shepherds, and assisted by 
 a stranger, and entreated that he would not let 
 this generous action be done in vain, nor go 
 without a reward. Now the father took it well 
 from his daughters that they were so desirous to 
 reward their benefactor ; and bid them bring 
 Moses into his presence, that he might be re- 
 warded as he deserved ; and when Moses came, 
 he told him what testimony his daughters bare 
 to him, that he had assisted them ; and that, as 
 he admired him for his virtue, he said that 
 Moses had bestowed snch his assistance on per- 
 sons not insensible of benefits, but where they 
 were both able and willing to return the kind- 
 ness, and even to exceed the measure of his 
 generosity. So he made him his son, and gave 
 him one of his daughters in marriage ; and ap- 
 pointed him to be the guardian and superinten- 
 dent over t^a cattle ; for of old, all the wealth of 
 the barbarians was in those cattle. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 CONOBBNIHQ THE BURNING BOSH, AND THE BOD 
 OF MOSES. 
 
 1. New Moses, when he had obtained the fa- 
 vour of Jethro, for that was one of the names of 
 Raguel, stayed there and fed his flock ; but some 
 time afterward, taking his station at the moun- 
 tain called Sinai, he drove his flocks thither to 
 feed them. *iow this is the highest of all thf 
 mountains thereabout, and the best for pastur 
 age, the herbage being there good; and it had 
 not been before fed upon, because of the opinion 
 men had that God dwelt there, the shepherds not 
 daring to ascend up to it ; and here it was that a 
 wonderful prodigy happened to Moses ; for a fire 
 foil upon a thorn-bush, yet did the green leaves 
 and the flowers continue untouched, and the fire 
 did not at all consume the fruit-branches, al- 
 though the flame was great and fierce. Moses 
 was affrighted at this strange sight, as it was to 
 him ; but he was_ still more astonished when the 
 fire uttered a voice, and called to him by name, 
 and spake words to him, by which it signified 
 how bold he had been in venturing to come into 
 a place whither no man had ever come before, 
 because the place was divine; and advised him 
 
 to remove a great way off from the flame, and fro 
 be contented with what he had seen ; and though 
 he were himself a good man, and the offspring of 
 great men, yet that he should not pry any fur- 
 ther: and he foretold to him, that he should 
 have glory and honour among men, by the bless- 
 ing of God upon him. He also commanded him 
 to go away thence with confidence to Egypt, in 
 order to his being the commander and conductor 
 of the body of the Hebrews, and to his delivering 
 his own people from the injuries they suffered 
 there: "For," said God, "they shall inhabit 
 this happy land which your forefather Abraham 
 inhabited, and shall have the enjoyment of all 
 sorts of good things; and thou, by thy prudence, 
 shalt guide them to those good things." But 
 still he enjoined him, when he had brought the 
 Hebrews out of the land of Egypt, to come to 
 that place, and to offer sacrifices of thanksgiving 
 there. Such were the divine oracles wnich were 
 delivered out of the fire. 
 
 2. But Moses was astonished at what he saw, 
 and much more at what he heard ; and he said, 
 " I think it would be an instance of too great 
 madness, O Lord, for one of that regard I bear 
 to thee, to distrust thy power, since I myself 
 adore it, and know that it has been made mani- 
 fest to my progenitors : but I am still in doubt 
 how I, who am a private man, and one of no 
 abilities, should either persuade my own conn* 
 trymen to leave the country they now inhabit, 
 and to follow me to a land whither I lead 
 them ; or, if they should be persuaded, how can 
 I force Pharaoh to permit them to depart, 
 since they augment their own wealth and pro- 
 sperity by the labours and works they put upon 
 them !" 
 
 3. But God persuaded him to be courageous on 
 all occasions, and promised to be with him, and 
 to assist him in his words, when he was to per- 
 suade men; and in his deeds, when he was t* 
 perform wonders. He bid him also to take a 
 signal of the truth of what he said, by throwing 
 his rod upon the ground ; which when he had 
 done, it crept along, and was become a serpent, 
 and rolled itself round in its folds, and erected 
 its head, as ready to revenge itself on such aa 
 should assault it; after which it became a rod 
 again as before. After this God bid Moses to 
 put his right hand into his bosom : he obeyed, 
 and when he took it out it was white, and in 
 colour like to chalk, but afterward it returned to 
 its wonted colour again. He also, upon God's 
 command, took some of the water that was near 
 him, and poured it upon the ground, and saw the 
 colour was that of blood. Upon the wonder that 
 Moses shewed at these signs, God exhorted him 
 to be of good courage, and to be assured that h 
 would be the greatest support to him ; and bid 
 him make use of those signs, in order to obtain 
 
 j belief among all men, that "thou art sent by 
 ' me, and dost all things according to my com- 
 mands. Accordingly I enjoin thee to make no 
 more delays, but to make haate to Egypt, and to 
 travel night and day, and not to draw out the 
 time, and so make the slavery of the Hebrews 
 and their sufferings to last the longer." 
 
 4. Moses having now seen and heard these 
 wonders that assured him of the truth of these 
 promises of God, had no room left him to dis- 
 believe them: he entreated him to grant him 
 that power when he should be in Egypt ; and be- 
 sought him to vouchsafe him the knowledge of 
 his own name ; and, since he had heard and seen 
 him, that he would also tell him his name, that 
 when he offered sacrifice he might invoke him by 
 such his name in his oblations. Whereupon 
 God declared to him his holy name, wh'ch had
 
 60 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK n. 
 
 never been discovered to men before; concerning 
 which it is not lawful for me to say any more. 
 Now these signs accompanied Moses, not then 
 only, but always when he prayed for them : of 
 all which signs he attributed the firmest assent 
 to the fire in the bush ; and believing that God 
 would be a gracious supporter to him, he hoped 
 he should be able to deliver his own nation, and 
 bring calamities on the Egyptians. 
 
 CHAPTER Xffl. 
 
 HOW MOSES AND AARON RETURNED INTO EGYPT 
 TO PHAEAOH. 
 
 1. So Moses, when he understood that the 
 Pharaoh, in whose reign he fled away, was dead, 
 asked leave of Raguel to go to Egypt, for the 
 benefit of his own people : and he took with him 
 Zipporah, the daughter of Raguel, whom he had 
 married, and the children he had by her, Ger- 
 som and Eleazer, and made haste into Egypt. 
 Now the former of those names, Gersom, in the 
 Hebrew tongue, signifies thai, he was in a strange 
 land ; and Eleazer, that, by the assistance of the 
 God of his fathers, he had escaped from the 
 Egyptians. Now when they were near the 
 borders, Aaron his brother, by the command of 
 God, met him, to whom he declared what had 
 befallen him at the mountain, and the commands 
 that God had given him. But as they were 
 going forward, the chief men among the He- 
 brews, having learned that they were coming, 
 met them ; to whom Moses declared the signs he 
 had seen ; and while they could not believe them, 
 he made them see them. So they took courage 
 at these surprising and unexpected sights, and 
 hoped well of their entire deliverance, as be- 
 lieving now that God took care of their pre- 
 servation. 
 
 2. Since then Moses found that the Hebrews 
 would be obedient to whatsoever he should di- 
 rect, as they promised to be, and were in love 
 with liberty, he came to the king, who had indeed 
 but lately received the government, and told him 
 how much he had done for the good of the Egyp- 
 tians, when they were despised by the Ethio- 
 pians, and their country laid waste by them; 
 and how he had been the commander of their 
 forces, and had laboured for them, as if they had 
 been his own people ; and he informed him in 
 what danger he had been during that expedition, 
 without having any proper returns made him as 
 he had deserved. He also informed him dis- 
 tinctly what things happened to him at mount 
 Sinai; and what God said to him; and the signs 
 that were done by God, in order to assure him 
 of the authority of those commands which he had 
 given him. He also exhorted him not to disbe- 
 lieve what he told him, nor to oppose the will of 
 God. 
 
 * This superstitious fear of discovering the name with 
 four letters, which of late we have been used falsely to 
 pronounce Jehovah, but seems to have been originally 
 pronounced Jahoh, or Jao, is never, I think, heard of 
 
 II this passage of Josephus ; and this superstition, in 
 not pronouncing that name, has continued among the 
 
 , 
 
 ch - T - Bect - *5 which superstitious silence, I 
 ink, has yet not been continued even by the Rabbins 
 is however no doubt but boih these cautious conceal- 
 ments were taught Josephus by the Pharisees; a body 
 n nun at once very wicked and very superstitious 
 
 3. But when the king derided Moses, he made 
 him in earnest see the signs that were done at 
 mount Sinai. Yet was the king very angry with 
 him, and called him an ill man, who had for- 
 merly run away from his Egyptian slavery, and 
 came now back with deceitful tricks, and won- 
 ders and magical arts, to astonish him. And 
 when he had said this, he commanded the priests 
 to let him see the same wonderful sights ; as 
 knowing that the Egyptians were skilful in this 
 kind of learning, and that he was not the only 
 person who knew them, and pretended them to 
 be divine ; as also he told him, that when he 
 brought such wonderful sights before him, he 
 would only be believed by the unlearned. Now 
 when the priests threw down their rods, they be- 
 came serpents. But Moses was not daunted at 
 it; and said, "O king, I do not myself despise 
 the wisdom of the Egyptians, but I say that 
 what I do is so much superior to what these do 
 by magic arts and tricks, as divine power exceeds 
 the power of man : but I will demonstrate that 
 what I do is not done by craft, or counterfeiting 
 what is not really true, but that they appear by 
 the providence and power of God. " And when 
 he had said this, he cast his rod down upon the 
 ground, and commanded it to turn itself into a 
 serpent. It obeyed him, and went all round, 
 and devoured the rods of the Egyptians, which 
 seemed to be dragons, until it had consumed 
 them all. It then returned to its ewn form, and 
 Moses took it into his hand again. 
 
 4. However, the king was no niore moved 
 when this was done than before ; and being very 
 angry, he said that ho should gain nothing by 
 this his cunning and shrewdness against the 
 Egyptians; and he commanded him that was 
 the chief taskmaster over the Hebrews, to give 
 them no relaxation from their labours, but to 
 compel them to submit to greater oppressions 
 than before ; and though he allowed them chaff 
 before for making their bricks, he would allow it 
 them no longer; but he made them to work hard 
 at brick-making in the daytime, and to gather 
 chaff in the night. Now when their labour was 
 thus doubled upon them, they laid the blame 
 upon MoJios, because their labour and their 
 misery were on his account become more severe 
 to them ; but Moses did not let his courage sink 
 for the king's threatenings ; nor did he abate of 
 his zeal on account of the Hebrews' complaints; 
 but he supported himself, and set his soul reso- ! 
 lutely against them both, and used his own ut- 
 most diligence to procure liberty to his country- 
 men. So he went to the king, and persuaded 
 him to let the Hebrews go to mount Sinai, and 
 there to sacrifice to God, because God had en- 
 joined them so to do. He persuaded him also 
 not to counterwork the designs of God, but to 
 esteem his favour above all things, and to per- 
 mit them to depart, lest, before he be aware, he 
 lay an obstruction in the way of the divine com- 
 mands, and so occasion his own suffering such 
 punishments as it was probable any one that 
 counterworked the divine commands should 
 undergo, since the severest afflictions arise from 
 every object to those that provoke the divine 
 wrath against them ; for such as these have 
 neither the earth nor the air for their friends ; 
 nor are the fruits of the womb according to na- 
 ture, but everything is unfriendly and adverse 
 towards them. He said further, that the Egyp- 
 tians should know this by sad experience; and 
 that besides, the Hebrew people should go out 
 of their country without tiieir consent.
 
 CHAP. XIV.] 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 CONCERNING THE TEN PLAGUES WHICH CAM* UPON 
 THE EGYPTIANS. 
 
 1. EOT when the king despised the words of 
 Moses, and had no regard at all to them, griev- 
 ous plagues seized the Egyptians ; every one of 
 which I will describe, both because no such 
 plagues did ever happen to any other nation as 
 the Egyptians now felt, and because I would 
 demonstrate that Moses did not fail in any one 
 thing that he foretold them; and because it is 
 for the good of mankind, that they may learn 
 this caution : Not to do any thing that may dis- 
 please God, lest he be provoked to wrath, and 
 avenge their iniquities upon them. For the 
 Egyptian river ran with bloody water at the 
 command of God, insomuch that it could not be 
 drunk, and they had no other spring of water 
 neither; for the water was not only of the 
 colour of blood, but it brought upon those that 
 ventured to drink of it, great pains and bitter 
 torment. Such was the river to the Egyptians; 
 but it was sweet and fit for drinking to the 
 Hebrews, and no way different from what it 
 naturally used to be. As the king therefore 
 knew not what to do in these surprising circum- 
 stances, and was in fear for the Egyptians, he 
 gave the Hebrews leave to go away ; but when 
 the plague ceased, he changed his mind again, 
 nd would not suffer them to go. 
 
 2. But when God saw that he was ungrateful, 
 and upon the ceasing of this calamity would not 
 grow wiser, he sent another plague upon the 
 Egyptians : An innumerable multitude of frogs 
 consumed the fruit of the ground ; the river was 
 also full of them, insomuch that those who drew 
 water had it spoiled by the blood of these ani- 
 mals, as they died in, and were destroyed by, 
 the water; and the country was full of filthy 
 glime, as they were borne and as they died : they 
 slso spoiled their vessels in their houses, which 
 they used, and were found among what they ate 
 and what they drank, and came in great num- 
 bers upon their beds. There was also an un- 
 grateful smell, and a stink arose from them, as 
 they were born, and as they died therein. Now, 
 when the Egyptians were under the oppression 
 of these miseries, the king ordered Moses to 
 take the Hebrews with him, and be gone. Upon 
 which the whole multitude of the frogs van- 
 ished away; and both the land and the river 
 returned to their former natures. But as soon 
 as Pharaoh saw the land freed from this plague, 
 he forgot the cause of it, and retained the He- 
 brews; and, as though he had a mind to try the 
 nature of more such judgments, he would not 
 yet suffer Moses and his people to depart, having 
 granted that liberty rather out of fear than any 
 good consideration.* 
 
 3. Accordingly God punished bis falseness 
 with another plague, added to the former; for 
 there arose out of the bodies of the Egyptians 
 an innumerable quantity of lice, by which, 
 wicked as they were, they miserably perished, 
 as not able to destroy this sort of vermin either 
 with washes or with ointments. At which ter- 
 rible judgment the king of Egypt was in dis- 
 order, upon the fear into which he reasoned 
 himself, lest his people should be destroyed, 
 and that the manner of this death was also re- 
 
 * Of this judicial hardening the hearts, and blinding 
 the eyes of wicked men, or infatuating them, as a just 
 punishment for their other wilful sins, to their own de- 
 itruction. seu the note on Antiq. b. rii. ch. ix. sect 6. 
 
 proachful, so that he was forced in part to re- 
 cover himself from his wicked temper to a 
 sounder mind, for he gave leave for the He- 
 brews themselves to depart. But when the 
 plague thereupon ceased, he thought it proper 
 to require that they should leave their children 
 and wives behind them, as pledges of their re- 
 return; whereby he provoked God to be more 
 vehemently angry at him, as if he thought to 
 impose on his providence, and as if it were only 
 Moses, and not God, who punished the Egyp- 
 tians for the sake of the Hebrews : for he filled 
 that country full of various sorts of pestilential 
 creatures, with their various properties, such 
 indeed, as had never come into the sight of men 
 before, by whose means the men perished them- 
 selves, and the land was destitute of husband' 
 men for its cultivation; but if any thing escaped 
 destruction from them, it was killed by a dis- 
 temper which the men underwent also. 
 
 4. But when Pharaoh did not even then yield 
 to the will of God, but, while he gave leave to 
 the husbands to take their wives with them, 
 yet insisted that the children should be left 
 behind, God presently resolved to punish his 
 wickedness with several sorts of calamities, and 
 those worse than the foregoing, which yet had 
 so generally afflicted them ; for their bodies had 
 terrible boils, breaking forth with blains, while 
 they were already inwardly consumed; and a 
 great part of the Egyptians perished in this man- 
 ner. But when the king was not brought to 
 reason by this plague, hail was sent down from 
 heaven ; and such hail it was, as the climate of 
 Egypt had never suffered before, nor was it like 
 to that which falls in other climates in winter 
 time,t but was larger than that which falls in 
 the middle of spriug to those that dwell in the 
 northern and north-western regions. This hail 
 broke down their boughs laden with fruit. After 
 this a tribe of locusts consumed the seed which 
 was not hurt by the hail : so that to the Egyp- 
 tians all hopes of the future fruits of the ground 
 were entirely lost. 
 
 5. One would think the forementioned cala- 
 mities might have been sufficient for one that 
 was only foolish, without wickedness, to make 
 him wise, and to make him sensible what was 
 for his advantage. But Pharaoh, led not so 
 much by his folly as by his wickedness, even 
 when he saw the cause of his miseries, he still 
 contested with God, and wilfully deserted the 
 cause of virtue ; so he bid Moses take the He- 
 brews away, with their wives and children, but 
 to leave their cattle behind, since their own 
 cattle were destroyed. But when Moses said 
 that what he desired was unjust, since they 
 were obliged to offer sacrifices to God of those 
 cattle; and the time being prolonged on this 
 account, a thick darkness, without the least 
 light, spread itself over the Egyptians, whereby 
 their sight being obstructed, and their breathing 
 hindered by the thickness of the air, they died 
 miserably, and under a terror lest they should be 
 swallowed up by the dark cloud. Besides this, 
 when the darkness, after three days and as many 
 nights, was dissipated, and when Pharaoh did 
 not still repent and let the Hebrews go, Moses 
 came to him and said, " How long wilt thou be 
 disobedient to the command of God? for he en- 
 joins thee to let the Hebrews go; nor is there 
 any other way of being freed from the calamities 
 you are under, unless you do so." But the king 
 was angry at what he said, and threatened to 
 
 t As to this winter or spring hail near Egypt and 
 Judea, see the like on thunder and lightning there, in 
 the note on Antiq. b. vi. ch. v. sect. 8.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK n. 
 
 out off his bead if he caine any more to trouble 
 him about these matters. Hereupon Moses said 
 he would uot speak to him any more about them, 
 for that he himself, together with the principal 
 men among the Egyptians, should desire the 
 Hebrews to go away. So when Moses h?d said 
 this, he went his way. 
 
 6. But when God had signified, that with one 
 more plague he would compel the Egyptians to 
 let the Hebrews go, he commanded Moses to_tell 
 the people that they should have a sacrifice 
 ready, and that they should prepare themselves 
 on the tenth day of the month Xauthicus, against 
 the fourteenth, (which month is called by the 
 Egyptians, Pharmuth, and Nisan by the He- 
 brews; but the Macedonians call it Xanthicus,) 
 and that he should carry away the Hebrews 
 with all they had. Accordingly, he having got 
 the Hebrews ready for their departure, and 
 having sorted the people into tribes, he kept 
 them together in one place : but when the four- 
 teenth day was come, and all were ready to de- 
 part, they offered the sacrifice, and purified their 
 nouses with the blood, using bunches of hyssop 
 for that purpose; and when they had supped, 
 they burnt the remainder of the flesh, as just 
 ready to depart. Wh ence it is that we do still 
 offer this sacrifice in like manner to this day, 
 and call this festival Pascha, which signifies the 
 feast of the passover; because on that day God 
 passed us over, and sent the plague upon the 
 Egyptians ; for the destruction of the first-born 
 came upon the Egyptians that night, so that 
 many of the Egyptians who lived near the king's 
 palace persuaded Pharaoh to let the Hebrews 
 go. Accordingly he called for Moses, and bid 
 them begone; as supposing, that if once the 
 Hebrews were gone out of the country, Egypt 
 should be freed from its miseries. They also 
 honoured the Hebrews with gifts;* some in 
 order to get them to depart quickly, and others 
 on account of their neighbourhood, and the 
 friendship they had with them. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 HOW THE HEBREWS, UNDER THE CONDUCT 
 MOSES, LEFT EGYPT 
 
 1. So the Hebrews went out of Egypt, while 
 the Egyptians wept, and repented that they had 
 treated them so hardly. Now they took their 
 journey by Letopolis, a place at that time de- 
 serted, but where Babylon was built afterwards, 
 when Cambyses laid Egypt waste; but as they 
 went away hastily, on the third day they caine 
 to a place called Beelzephon, on the Red Sea- 
 and when they had no food out of the land, be- 
 cause it was a desert, they eat of loaves kneaded 
 of flour, only warmed by a gentle heat; and this 
 
 e 
 
 as their pay and reward, during their long and bitter 
 .very m Egypt, as atonements for the lives of the 
 rS? 1 ! V' d as the con <lition of the Jews' departure, 
 f the Egyptians' deliverance from these terrible 
 1 n h '? h , had the y not now ceased ' ^ey had 
 ? v 6 ** 1 men ' " thfi y themselves confess, 
 V ^ r T WM there a y 8ense in borrowing or 
 
 food they made use of for thirty days ; for whai 
 they brought with them out of Egypt would not 
 suffice them any longer time ; and this only while 
 they dispensed it to each person, to use so much 
 only as would serve for necessity, but not for 
 satiety. Whence it is that, in memory of the 
 want we were then in, we keep a feast for eight 
 days, which is called the feast of unleavened bread. 
 Now the entire multitude of those that went 
 out, including the women and children, was not 
 easy to be numbered; but those that were of 
 an age fit for war, were six hundred thousand. 
 
 2. They left Egypt in the month Xanthicus, 
 on the fifteenth day of the lunar month; four 
 hundred and thirty years after our forefather 
 Abraham came into Canaan, but two hundred 
 and fifteen years only after Jacob removed into 
 Egypt, f It was the eightieth year of the age 
 of Moses, and of that of Aaron three more. They 
 also carried out the bones of Joseph with them, 
 as he had charged his sons to do. 
 
 3. But the Egyptians soon repented chat the 
 Hebrews were gone; and the king also was 
 mightily concerned that this had been procured 
 by the magic arts of Moses; so they resolved tc 
 go after them. Accordingly they took theii 
 weapons, and other warlike furniture, and pur- 
 sued after them, in order to bring them back, il 
 once they overtook them, because they would 
 now have no pretence to pray to God against 
 them, since they had already been permitted to 
 go out; and they thought they should easily 
 overcome them, as they had no armour, aud 
 would be weary with their journey; so they 
 made haste in their pursuit, and asked of every 
 one they met which way they were gone. And 
 indeed that land was difficult to be travelled 
 over, not only by armies, but by single persons. 
 Now Moses led the Hebrews this way, that in 
 case the Egyptians should repent and be desirous 
 to pursue after them, they might undergo the 
 punishment of their wickedness, and of the 
 breach of those promises they had made to them. 
 As also he led them this way on account ol 
 the Philistines, who had quarrelled with them, 
 and hated them of old, 1 hat by all means they 
 might not know of their departure, for their 
 country is near to that of Egypt; and thence it 
 was that Moses led them not along the road that 
 tended to the land of the Philistines, but he was 
 desirous that they should go through the deserjb, 
 that so after a long journey, and after many afflic- 
 tions, they might enter upon the land of Canaan. 
 Another reason of this was, that God commanded 
 him to bring the people to mount Sinai, that 
 there they might offer him sacrifices. Now 
 when the Egyptians had overtaken the Hebrews, 
 they prepared to tight them, and by their multi- 
 tude they drove them into a narrow place ; for 
 the number that pursued after them was six 
 hundred chariots, with fifty thousand horsemen, 
 and two hundred thousand footmen, all armed. 
 They also seized on the passages by which they 
 imagined the Hebrews might fly, shutting them 
 up J between inaccessible precipice* and the sea; 
 
 t Why our Masorete copy so groundlessly abridges 
 this account in Exod. xii. 40, as to ascribe 430 years to 
 the sole peregrination of the Israelites in Egypt, when 
 it is clear even by that Masorcte chronology elsewhere, 
 as well as from the express text itself, in the Samari- 
 tan, Septuagint, and Josephus, that they sojourned in 
 Egypt but half that time, and that by consequence, 
 the other half of their peregrination was in the land of 
 Canaan, before they came into Egypt, is hard to say 
 See Essay on the Old Testament, pp. 62, 63. 
 
 J Take the main part of lleland's excellent note here, 
 which greatly illustrates Josephus, and the Scripture, 
 in this history, as follows: " [A traveller, says Reland, 
 whose name was] Eneman, whe he returned out of
 
 CHAP. XVI.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 C3 
 
 for there was [on each side] a [ridge of] moun- 
 tains that terminated at the sea, which were 
 impassable by reason of their roughness, and 
 obstructed their flight; wherefore they there 
 pressed upon the Hebrews with their army, 
 where [the ridges of] the mountains were closed 
 with the sea; which army they placed at the 
 chops of the mountains, that so they might de- 
 prive them of any passage into the plain. 
 
 4. "When the Hebrews, therefore, were neither 
 able to bear up, being thus, as it were, besieged, 
 because they wanted provisions, nor saw any 
 possible way of escaping; and if they should 
 have thought of fighting, they had no weapons ; 
 they expected a universal destruction, unless 
 they delivered themselves up to the Egyptians. 
 So they Laid the blame on Moses, and forgot all 
 the signs that had been wrought by God for the 
 recovery of their freedom ; and this so far, that 
 their incredulity prompted them to throw stones 
 at the prophet, while he encouraged them and 
 promised them deliverance ; and they resolved 
 that they would deliver themselves up to the 
 Egyptians. So there was sorrow and lamenta- 
 tion among the women and children, who had 
 nothing but destruction before their eyes, while 
 they were encompassed with mountains, the sea, 
 and their enemies, and discerned no way of fly- 
 Ing from them. 
 
 5. But Moses, though, the multitude looked 
 fiercely at him, did not, however, give over the 
 care of them, but despised all dangers, out of his 
 trusb in God, who, as he had afforded them the 
 several steps already taken for the recovery of 
 their liberty, which he had foretold them, would 
 not now suffer them to be subdued by their ene- 
 mies, to be either made slaves or be slain by 
 them; and, standing in the midst of them, he 
 said, "It is not just of us to distrust even men, 
 when they have hitherto well managed our af- 
 fairs, as if they would not be the same men 
 hereafter; but it is no better than madness, at 
 this time, to despair of the providence of God, 
 by whose power all those tilings have been per- 
 formed which he promised, when you expected 
 no such things: I mean all that I have been con- 
 cerned in for your deliverance and escape from 
 shivery. Nay, when we are in the utmost dis- 
 tress, as you see we are, we ought rather to hope 
 that God will succour us, by whose operation it 
 is that we are now encompassed within this 
 narrow place, that he may deliver us out of such 
 difficulties as are otherwise insurmountable, and 
 out of which neither you nor your enemies ez 
 
 Egypt, told me that he went the same way from Egypt 
 to mount Sinai, which he supposed the Israelites of 
 old travelled ; and that he found several mountainous 
 tracks that ran down towards the Red Sea. He thought 
 the Israelites had proceeded as far as the desert of 
 Etham, (Exod. xiii. 20,) when they were commanded 
 by God to return back, (Exod. xiv. 2,) and to pitch 
 their camp between Migdol and the sea; and that 
 when they were not able to fly, unless by sea, they 
 were shut in on each side by mountains. lie also 
 thought we might evidently learn hence, how it might 
 be said that the Israelites were in Etham before they 
 went over the sea, and yet might be said to have come 
 into Etham after they had passed o\ er the sea also. 
 Besides, he gave me an account how he passed over a 
 river in a boat near the city Suez, which he says must 
 needs be the Heroopolis of the ancients, since that 
 city could not be situate anywhere else in that neigh- 
 bourhood." 
 
 As to the famous passage produced here by Dr Ber- 
 uard, out of Herodotus, as the most ancient heathen 
 testimony of the Israelites coming from the Red Sea 
 into Palestine, Bishop Cumberland has shewn that it 
 belongs to the old Canaanite or Phienician shepherds, 
 and their retiring oat of Ecypt into Canaan or Phoenicia.' 
 IPHJ; before the days of Mi^es. Saochoniatho, p. 374. Ac 
 
 pect you can be delivered, and may at once 
 demonstrate his own power and his providence 
 over us. Nor does God use to give his help in 
 small difficulties to those whom he favours, but 
 in such cases where no one can see how any hope 
 in man can better their condition. Depend, 
 therefore, upon such a protector as Is able to 
 make small things great, and to shew that this 
 mighty force against you is nothing but weak- 
 ness, and be not affrighted at the Egyptian army, 
 nor do you despair of being preserved, because 
 the sea before and the mountains behind afford 
 you no opportunity for flying ; for even these 
 mountains, if God so please, may be made plain 
 group 'I for you, and the sea become dry land." 
 
 CHAPTER XVL 
 
 HOW THE SEA WAS DIVIDED ASUNDER FOB THK 
 HEBREWS, WHEN THEY WERE PURSUED BT THB 
 EQ-PTIANS, AND SO GAVE THEM AN OPPOR- 
 TUNITY OF ESCAPING FROM THEM. 
 
 1. WHEN Moses had said this, he led them to 
 the sea^ while the Egyptians looked on, for they 
 were within sight. Now these were so distressed 
 by the toil of their pursuit that they thoughi 
 proper to put off fighting till the next day. But 
 when Moses was come to the sea-shore, he took 
 his rod, and made supplication to God, and 
 called upon him to be their helper and assistant ; 
 and said, ' ' Thou art not ignorant, O Lord, that 
 it is beyond human strength and human con- 
 trivance to avoid the difficulties we are now 
 under; but it must be thy work altogether to 
 
 E:ure deliverance to this army, which has left 
 pt at thy appointment. We despair of any 
 sr assistance or contrivance, and hare re- 
 course only to that hope we have in thee ; an<? 
 if there be any method that can promise us an 
 escape by thy providence, we look up to thee 
 for it. And let it come quickly, and manifest 
 thy power to us ; and do thou raise up this peo- 
 ple unto good courage and hope of deliverance, 
 who are deeply sunk into a disconsolate state of 
 mind. We are in a helpless place, but still it 
 is a place that thou possessest ; still the sea is 
 thine, the mountains also that enclose us are 
 thine; so that these mountains will open them- 
 selves if thou commandett them, and the sea 
 also, if thou commandest it, will become dry 
 land. Nay, we might escape by a flight through 
 the air, if thou shouldst determine we should 
 have that way of salvation." 
 
 2. When Moses had thus addressed himself 
 to God, he smote the sea with his rod, which 
 parted asunder at the stroke, and receiving those 
 waters into itself, left the ground dry, as a road 
 and a place of flight for the Hebrews. Now 
 when Moses saw this appearanc of God, anu 
 that the sea went out of its own place and left 
 dry land, he went first of all into it, and bid th 
 Hebrews to follow him along that divine road, 
 and to rejoice at the danger their enemies that 
 followed them were in : and gave thanks to God 
 for this so surprising a deliverance which ap- 
 peared from him. 
 
 3. Now, while these Hebrews made no stay, 
 but went on earnestly, as led by God's presence 
 with them, the Egyptians supposed at first that 
 they were distracted, and were going rashly upon 
 manifest destruction. But when they saw that 
 they were going a great way without any harm, 
 and that no obstacle or difficulty fell in thefa 
 journey, they made haste to pursue them, hop- 
 ing that the sea would be calm ' for them also.
 
 fil 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK IL 
 
 They put their horse foremost, and went down 
 themselves into the sea. Now the Hebrews, 
 while these were putting on their armour, and 
 therein spending their time, were beforehand 
 with them, and escaped them, and got first over 
 to the land on the other side without any hurt. 
 Whence the others were encouraged, and more 
 courageously pursued them, as hoping no harm 
 would come to them neither: but the Egyptians 
 were not aware that they went into a road made 
 for the Hebrews, and not for others ; that this 
 road was made for the deliverance of those in 
 danger, but not for those that were earnest to 
 make use of it for the others' destruction. As 
 oon, therefore, as ever the whole Egyptian army 
 was within it, the sea flowed to its own place, 
 and came down with a torrent raised by storms 
 of wind,* and encompassed the Egyptians. 
 Showers of rain also came down from the sky, 
 and dreadful thunders and lightning, with flashes 
 of fire. Thunderbolts also were darted upon 
 them; nor was there anything which used to be 
 sent by God upon men as indications of his wrath 
 which did not happen at this time, for a dark 
 and dismal night oppressed them. And thus 
 did all these men perish, so that there was not 
 one man left to be a messenger of this calamity 
 to the rest of the Egyptians. 
 
 4. But the Hebrews were not able to contain 
 themselves for joy at their wonderful deliverance, 
 and destruction of their enemies. Now, indeed, 
 supposing themselves ftrmly delivered, when 
 those that would have torced them into slavery 
 were destroyed, and when they found they had 
 God so evidently for their protector; and now 
 these Hebrews having escaped the danger they 
 were in, after this manner, and besides that, 
 seeing their enemies punished in such a way as 
 is never recorded of any other men whomsoever, 
 were all the night employed in singing of hymns, 
 and in mirth, f Moses also composed a song 
 
 * Of these storms of wind, thunder, and lightniiig, at 
 this drowning of Pharaoh's army, almost wanting in 
 Bur copies of Exodus, but fully extant in that 01 *>avid, 
 (Ps. Ixxvii. 16, 17, 18,) and in that of Josephus iere, 
 lee Essay on the Old Tugt., Append, pp. 154, 155. 
 
 f What some have here objected against this passage 
 of the Israelites over the Red Sea, in this one night, 
 from the common maps viz., that this sea being here 
 about thirty miles broad, so great an army could not 
 pass over it in so short a time, is a great mistake. 
 Mons. Thevenot, an authentic eye-witness, informs us 
 that this sea, for about five days' journey, is nowhere 
 more than about eight miles over-cross, and in one 
 place but four or five miles, according to De Lisle's 
 map, which is made from the best travellers themselves, 
 and not copied from others. What has been further 
 objected against this passage of the Israelites and 
 drowning of the Egyptians, being miraculous also viz., 
 that Moses might carry the Israelites over at a low tide 
 without any miracle, while yet the Egyptians, not know- 
 ing the tide so well as he, might be drowned upon the 
 return of the tide, is a strange story indeed I That 
 Moses, who never had lived here, should know the 
 quantity and time of the flux and reflux of the Red Sea 
 better than the Egyptians themselves in its neighbour- 
 hood ! Yet does Artapanus, an ancient heathen his- 
 torian, inform us that this was what the more ignorant 
 Memphites, who lived at a great distance, pretended, 
 though he confesses that the more learned Heliopoli- 
 tans, who lived much nearer, owned the destruction of 
 the Egyptians and the deliverance of the Israelites to 
 have been miraculous ; and De Castro, a mathematician 
 who surveyed this sea with great exactness, informs us 
 Jhiit there is no great flux or reflux in this part of the 
 Red Sea, to give a colour to this hypothesis; nay, that 
 it the elevation of the tide there is little above half the 
 height of a man. See Essay on the Old Test., Append, 
 pp. 239, 240. So vain and groundless are these and the 
 i evasions and subterfuges of our modern sceptics 
 and unbelievers, and so certainly do thorough inquiries 
 and authentic evidence disprove and confute such eva- 
 Mons and subterfuges upon all occasions! 
 
 unto God, containing his praises, and a thanks- 
 giving for his kindness, in hexameter verse. 
 
 5. As for myself, I have delivered every part 
 of this history as I found it in the sacred books ; 
 nor let any one wonder at the strangeness of the 
 narration, if a way were discovered to those men 
 of old time, who were free from the wickedness 
 of the modern ages, whether it happened by the 
 will of God, or whether it happened of its own 
 accord, while, for the sake of those that accom- 
 panied Alexander, king of Macedonia, who yet 
 lived, comparatively, but a little while ago, thb 
 Pamphylian Sea retired and afforded them a 
 passage through itself, when they had no othei 
 
 J What that hexameter verse in which Moses's tri- 
 nmphant song is here said to be written distinctly 
 means, our present ignorance of the old Hebrew metre 
 or measure will not let us determine. Nor does it 
 appear to me certain that even Josephus himself had a 
 distinct notion of it, though he speaks of several sorts 
 of that metre or measure both here and elsewhere. 
 Antiq. book iv. ch. viii. sect. 44, and book vii. ch. xii. 
 sect 3. 
 
 I Take here the original passages of the four old 
 authors that still remain as to this transit of Alexander 
 the Great over the Pamphylian Sea ; I mean, of Callis- 
 thenes, Strabo, Arrian, and Appian. As to Callisthenes, 
 who himself accompanied Alexander in this expedition, 
 Eustathius, in his Notes on the third Iliad of Homer, 
 (as Dr Bernard here informs us,) says, that "this Callis- 
 thenes wrote how the Pamphylian Sea did not only 
 open a passage for Alexander, but, by rising and ele- 
 vating its waters, did pay him homage as its king." 
 Strabo's account is this, (Geog. book xiv. p. 666:) "Now 
 about Phaselis is that narrow passage, by the sea-side, 
 through which Alexander led his army. There is a 
 mountain called Climax, which adjoins to the Sea of 
 Pamphylia, leaving a narrow passage on the shore, 
 which in calm weather is bare, so as to be passable by 
 travellers ; but when the sea overflows it is covered to 
 a great degree by the waves. Now then, the ascent by 
 the mountains being round about and steep, in still 
 weather they make use of the road along the coast ; but 
 Alexander fell into the winter season, and committing 
 himself chiefly to fortune, he marched on before the 
 waves retired; and so it happened that they were a 
 whole day in journeying over it, and were under water 
 up to the navel." Arrian's account is this, (book i. 
 pp. 72, 73 :) " When Alexander removed from PhaselU, 
 he sent some part of his army over the mountains to 
 Perga, which road the Thracians shewed him. A diffi- 
 cult way it was, but short. However, he himself con- 
 ducted those that were with him by the sea-shore. 
 This road is impassable at ny other time than when 
 the north wind blows; but if the south wind prevail 
 there is no passing by the shore. Now at this time, 
 after strong south winds, a north wind blew, and that 
 not without the Divine Providence, (as both he and they 
 that were with him supposed,) and afforded him an easy 
 and quick passage." Appian, when he compares Caesar 
 and Alexander together (De Bel. Civil, book ii. p. 522) 
 says, "That they both depended on their boldness and 
 fortune, as much as on their skill in war. As an in- 
 stance of which, Alexander journeyed over a country 
 without water, in the heat of summer, to the oracle of 
 [Jupiter] Hammon, and quickly passed over the Bay of 
 Pamphylia, when, by Divine Providence, the sea was 
 cut off thus Providence restraining the sea on his 
 account, as it had sent him rain when he travelled 
 [over the desert.]" 
 
 N.B. Since, in the days of Josephus, as he assures 
 us, all the more numerous original historians of Alex- 
 ander gave the account he has here set down as to the 
 providential going back of the waters of the Pamphylian 
 Sea, when he was going with his army to destroy the 
 Persian monarchy, which the forenamed authors now 
 remaining fully confirm, it is without all just founda- 
 tion that Josephus is here blamed by some late writers 
 for quoting those ancient authors upon the present 
 occasion; nor can the reflections of Plutarch, or any 
 other author later than Josephus, be in the least here 
 alleged to contradict him. Josephus went by all the 
 evidence he then had, and that evidence of the most 
 authentic sort also. So that, whatever the moderns 
 may think of the thin;* itself, there is hence not the 
 least colour for finding fault with Josephus : he would 
 rather have been much to blame had he omitted these 
 quotations.
 
 01LAP. I.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 65 
 
 way to go ; I mean, when it was the will of God 
 to destroy the monarchy of the Persians : and 
 this is confessed to be true by all that have 
 written about the actions of Alexander ; but as 
 to these events, let every one determine as he 
 pleases. 
 
 6. On the next day Moses gathered together 
 the weapons of the Egyptians, which were 
 brought to the camp of the Hebrews by the 
 
 current of the sea, and the force of the winda 
 assisting it; and he conjectured that this also 
 happened by Divine Providence, that so they 
 might not be destitute of weapons. So when he 
 had ordered tho Hebrews to arm themselves 
 with them, he led them to mount Sinai, in order 
 to offer sacrifice to God, and to render oblations 
 for the salvation of the multitude, as he was 
 charged to do beforehand. 
 
 BOOK ITT. 
 
 CONTAINING THE INTERVAL OP TWO TEARS, 
 
 FROM THE EXODUS OUT OF EGYPT TO THE REJECTION OF THAT 
 
 GENERATION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HOW K03ES, WHEN HE HAD BROUGHT THE PEOPLE 
 OUT OF EGYPT, LED THEM TO MOUNT SINAI ; BUT 
 NOT TILL THEY HAD SUFFERED MUCH IN THEIR 
 JOURNEY. 
 
 1. WHEN the Hebrews had obtained such a 
 wonderful deliverance, the country was a great 
 trouble to them, for it was entirely a desert, and 
 without all sustenance for them; and also had 
 exceeding little water, so that it not only was 
 not at all sufficient for the men, but not enough 
 to feed any of the cattle ; for it was parched up, 
 and had no moisture that might afford nutriment 
 to the vegetables ; so they were forced to travel 
 over this country, as having no other country 
 but this to travel in. They had indeed carried 
 water along with them, from the hind over which 
 they had travelled before, as their conductor had 
 bidden them: but when that was spent, they 
 were obliged to draw water out of wells, with 
 pain, by reason of the hardness of the soil. 
 Moreover, what water they found was bitter, 
 and not fit for drinking, and this in small quan- 
 tities also ; and as they thus travelled, they came 
 late in the evening to a place called Marah,* 
 which had that name from the badness of its 
 water, for Mar denotes bitterness. Thither they 
 came afflicted both by the tediousness of their 
 journey, and by their want of food, for it en- 
 tirely failed them at that time. Now here was 
 a well, which made them choose to stay in the 
 place, which, although it were not sufficient to 
 satisfy so great an army, did yet afford them 
 some comfort, as found in such desert places ; 
 for they heard from those who had been to 
 search that there was nothing to be found if 
 they travelled on further. Yet was this water 
 bitter, and not fit for men to drink; and not 
 only so, but it was intolerable even to the cattle 
 themselves. 
 2. When Moses saw how much the people were 
 
 * Dr Bernard takes notice here that this place Mar, 
 where the waters were bitter, is called by the Syrians 
 and Arabians Mariri, and by the Syrians sometimes 
 Morath, all derived from the Hebrew Mar. He also 
 takes notice that It is called The Bitter Fountain by 
 Pliny himself; which waters remain there to this day, 
 and are still bitter, as Thevenot assures as ; and that 
 there are also abundance of palm-trees. See his Travels, 
 part i. chap. xxvi. p. 166. 
 
 cast down, and that the occasion of it could not 
 be contradicted, for the people were not in the 
 natura of a complete army of men, who might 
 oppose a manly fortitude to the necessity that 
 distressed them ; the multitude of the children, 
 and of the women also, being of too weak capa- 
 cities to be persuaded by reason, blunted the 
 courage of the men themselves, he was there- 
 fore in great difficulties, and made everybody's 
 calamity his own; for they ran all of them to 
 him, and begged of him ; the women begged for 
 their infants, and the men for the women, that 
 he would not overlook them, but procure some 
 way or other for their deliverance. He therefore 
 betook himself to prayer to God that he would 
 change the water from its present badness and 
 make it fit for drinking. And when God had 
 granted him that favour, he took the top of a 
 stick that lay down at his feet, and divided it in 
 the middle, and made the section lengthways. 
 He then let it down into the well, and persuaded 
 the Hebrews that God had hearkened to his 
 prayers, and had promised to render the water 
 such as they desired it to be, in case they would 
 be subservient to him in what he should enjoin 
 them to do, and this not after a remiss or negli- 
 gent manner. And when they asked what they 
 were to do in order to have the water changed 
 for the better, he bid the strongest men among 
 them that stood there, to draw up water, f and 
 told them that, when the greatest part was 
 
 t The additions here to Moses's account of the 
 sweetening of the waters at Marah, seems derived from 
 some ancient profane author, and he such an author 
 also as looks less authentic than are usually followed by 
 Josephus. Philo has not a syllable of these additions, 
 nor any other ancienter writer that we know of. Had 
 Josephus written these his Antiquities for the use ot 
 Jews, he would hardly have given them these very 
 improbable circumstances; but writing to Gentiles, 
 that they might not complain of his omission of any 
 accounts of such miracles derived from Gentiles, he 
 did not think proper to conceal what he had met with 
 there about this matter; which procedure is perfectly 
 agreeable to the character and usage of Josephus upon 
 many occasions. This note is, I confess, barely conjec- 
 tural ; and since Josephus never tells us when his own 
 copy, taken out of the temple, had such additions, or 
 when any ancient notes supplied them ; or indeed when 
 they are derived from Jewish, and when from Gentile 
 antiquity, we can go no further than bare conjectures 
 in such cases ; only the notions of Jews were generally 
 so different from those of Gentiles, that we may sometimes 
 make no improbable conjectures to which sort snob ad-
 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK 
 
 drawn up, the remainder would be fit to drink : 
 so they laboured at it till the water was so agi- 
 tated and purged as to be fit to drink. 
 
 3. And now removing from thence, they came 
 to Elim; which place looked well at a distance, 
 for there was a grove of palm-tress ; but when 
 they came near to it, it appeared to" be a bad 
 place, for the palm-trees were no more than 
 seventy; and they were ill-grown and creeping 
 trees by the want of water, for the country 
 about was all parched, and no moisture sufficient 
 to water them, and make them hopeful and use- 
 ful, was derived to them from the fountains, 
 which were in number twelve : they were rather 
 a few moist places than springs, which not 
 breaking out of the ground, nor running over, 
 could not sufficiently water the trees. And 
 when they dug into the sand they met with no 
 water ; and if they took a few drops of it into 
 their hands, they found it to be useless, on ac- 
 count of its mud. The trees also were too weak 
 to bear fruit, for want of being sufficiently 
 cherished and enlivened by the water. So they 
 laid the blame on their conductor, and made 
 heavy complaints against him, and said that this 
 their miserable state, and the experience they 
 had of adversity, were owing to him ; for that 
 they had then journeyed an entire thirty days, 
 and had spent all the provisions they had brought 
 with them, and meeting with no relief, they were 
 in a very desponding condition. And by fixing 
 their attention upon nothing but their present 
 misfortunes, they were hindered from remem- 
 bering what deliverances they had received from 
 God, and those by the virtue and wisdom of 
 Moses also; so they were very angry at their 
 conductor, and were zealous in their attempt to 
 stone him, as the direct occasion of their present 
 miseries. 
 
 4. But as for Moses himself, while the multi- 
 tude were irritated and bitterly set against him, 
 he cheerfully relied upon God, and upon his 
 consciousness of the care he had taken of these 
 his own people : and he came into the midst of 
 them, even while they clamoured against him, 
 and had stones in their hands in order to de- 
 spatch him. Now he was of an agreeable pre- 
 sence, and very able to persuade the people by 
 his speeches ; accordingly he began to mitigate 
 their anger, and exhort them not to be over- 
 mindful of their present adversities, lest they 
 should thereby Buffer the benefits that had for- 
 merly been bestowed on them to slip out of their 
 memories., and he desired them by no means, on 
 account of their present uneasiness, to cast those 
 great and wonderful favours and gifts, which 
 they had obtained of God, out of their minds, 
 but to expect deliverance out of those their pre- 
 sent troubles which they could not free them- 
 selves from, and this by the means of that 
 Divine Providence which watched over them- 
 seeing it is probable that God tries their virtue, 
 and exercises their patience by these adversities' 
 tht it may appear what fortitude they have' 
 and what memory they retain of his former 
 wonderful works in their favour, and whether 
 they will not think of their upon occasion of the 
 miseries they now feel. He told them it ap- 
 peared they were not really good men, either in 
 patience, or in remembering what had been 
 successfully done for them, sometimes by con- 
 temning God and his commands, when by those 
 commands they left the land of Egypt ; and 
 
 ditiong belong. See also somewhat like these additions 
 -Ms'B^accoant of Elisha's making sweet the 
 ~u spring near Jericho, (War, b. iv. ch. 
 
 sometimes by behaving themselves ill towards 
 him who was the servant of God, and this when 
 he had never deceived them, either in what he 
 said, or had ordered them to do by God's com- 
 mand. He also put them in mind of all that had 
 passed : how the Egyptians were destroyed when 
 they attempted to detain them, contrary f x> the 
 command of God ; and after what manxir the 
 very same rivers was to the others bloody, and 
 not fit for drinking, but was to them sweet and 
 fit for drinking; and how they went a new road 
 through the sea, which fled a long way from 
 them, by which very means they were themselves 
 preserved, but saw their enemies destroyed ; and 
 that when they were in want of weapons, God 
 gave them plenty of then. : and so he recounted 
 all the particular instances, how when they were, 
 in appearance, just going to be destroyed, God 
 had saved them in a surprising manner; that he 
 had still the same power, and that they ought 
 not even now to despair of his providence over 
 them ; and accordingly he exhorted them to con- 
 tinue quiet, and to consider that help would not 
 come too late, though it come not immediately, 
 if it be present with them before they suffer any 
 great misfortune ; that they ought to reason thus : 
 that God delays to assist them, not because he 
 has no regard to them, but because he will first 
 try their fortitude, and the pleasure they take 
 in their freed im, that he may learn whether you 
 have souls great enough to bear want of food, 
 and scarcity or' water, on its account; or whether 
 you rather love to be slaves, as cattle are slaves 
 to such as own them, and feed them liberally, 
 but only in order to make them more useful in 
 their service. That as for himself, he shall not 
 be so much concerned for his own preservation ; 
 for if he die u njustly, he shall not reckon it any 
 affliction; but that he is concerned for them, 
 lest, by casting stones at him, they should be 
 thought to condemn God himself. 
 
 5. By this means Moses pacified the people, 
 and restrained them from stoning him, and 
 brought them to repent of what they were going 
 to do ; and because he thought the necessity they 
 were under m;ide their passion less unjustifiable, 
 he thought he ought to apply himself to God by 
 prayer and supplication; and going up to an 
 eminence, he requested of God for some succour 
 for the people, and some way of deliverance from 
 the want they were in, because in him, and in 
 him alone, was their hope of salvation ; and he 
 desired that he would forgive what necessity had 
 forced the people to do, since such was the 
 nature of mankind, hard to please, and very 
 complaining under adversities. Accordingly God 
 promised he would take care of them, aid afford 
 them the succour they were desirous of. Now 
 when Moses had heard this from God, he came 
 down to the multitude ; but as soon as they saw 
 him joyful at the promises he had received from 
 God, they changed their sad countenances into 
 gladness. So he placed himself in the midst of 
 them, and told them he came to bring them from 
 God a deliverance from their present distresses. 
 Accordingly a little after came a vast number of 
 quails, which is a bird more plentiful in this 
 Arabian gulf than anywhere else, flying over 
 the sea, and hovered over them, till wearied with 
 their laborious flight, and, indeed, as usual, flying 
 very near to the earth, they fell down upon the 
 Hebrews, who caught them and satisfied theii 
 hunger with them, and supposed that this was 
 the method whereby God meant to supply them 
 with food. Upon which Moses returned thanks 
 to God for affording them his assistance so sud- 
 denly, and sooner than he had promised them, 
 fi. But presently after this first supply of food.
 
 CHAP. II. J 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 he sent them a second ; for as Moses was lifting 
 up his hands in prayer, a dew fell down; and 
 Moses, when he found it stick to his hands, sup- 
 posed this was also come for food from God to 
 them; he tasted it, and perceiving that the 
 people knew not what it was, and thought it 
 snowed, and that it was what usually fell at that 
 time of the year, he informed them that this 
 dew did not fall from heaven after the manner 
 they imagined, but came for their preservation 
 and sustenance. So he tast-id it, and gave them 
 some of it, that they might be satisfied about 
 what he had told them. They also imitated 
 their conductor, and were pleased with the food, 
 for it was like honey in sweetness and pleasant 
 taste, but like in its body to bdellium, one of 
 the sweet spies, and in bigness equal to cori- 
 ander seed. And very earnest they were in 
 gathering it; but they were enjoined to gather 
 it equally* the measure of an omer for each one 
 every day because this food should not come in 
 too small a quantity, lest the weaker might not 
 be able to get their share, by reason of the over- 
 bearing of the strong in collecting it. However, 
 these strong men, when they had gathered more 
 than the measure appointed for them, had no 
 more than others, but only tired themselves 
 more in gathering it, for they found no more 
 than an omer a-piece; and the advantage they 
 got by what was superfluous was none at all, it 
 corrupting, both by the worms breeding in it, 
 and by its bitterness. So divine and wonderful 
 a food was this ! It also supplied the want of 
 other sorts of food to those that fed on it ; and 
 even now, in all that place, this manna comes 
 down in rain,f according to what Moses then ob- 
 tained of God, to send it to the people for their 
 sustenance. Now the Hebrews call this food 
 manna ; for the particle man, in our language, 
 it the asking of a question, What is this f So 
 the Hebrews were very joyful at what was sent 
 them from heaven. Now they made use of this 
 food for forty years, or as long as they were in 
 the wilderness. 
 
 7. As soon as they were removed thence, they 
 came to Rephidim, being distressed to the last 
 degree by thirst; and while in the foregoing days 
 they had lit on a few small fountains, but now 
 found the earth entirely destitute of water, they 
 were in an evil case. They again turned their 
 anger against Moses ; but he at first avoided the 
 fury of the multitude, and then betook himself 
 to prayer to God, beseeching him, that as he had 
 
 * It seems to me, from what Moses, (Ex. xvi. 18,) 
 8t Paul, (2 Cor. viii. 15,) and Josephus here say, com- 
 pared together, that the quantity of manna that fell 
 daily and did not putrify, was just so much as came to 
 an omer a-pice, through the whole host of Israel, and 
 no more. 
 
 f This supposal that the sweet honey-dew or manna, 
 go celebrated in ancient and modern authors, as falling 
 usually in Arabia, was of the very same sort with this 
 manna sent to the Israelites, savours more of Gentilism 
 than of Judaism or Christianity. It is not improbable 
 that some ancient Gentile author, read by Josephus, so 
 thought, nor would he here contradict him; though 
 just before, and (Antiq. b. iv. ch. iii. sect. 2) he seems 
 directlyto allow that it had not been seen before. How- 
 ever, this food from heaven is here described to be like 
 snow; and in Artapanus, a heathen writer, it is com- 
 pared to meal, " like to oatmeal, in colour like to 
 snow, rained down by God," (Essay on the Old Test 
 Append, p. 239 ;) but as to the derivation of the word 
 manna, whether from man, which Josephus says then 
 signified What is itt or from mannah, to divide, i.e., 
 a dividend or portion allotted to every one, it is un- 
 certain : I incline to the latter derivation. This manna 
 is called angels' food, (Ps. Ixxviii. 26,) and by our 
 Saviour, (John vi. 31, Ac.,) as well as by Josephus here 
 aad elsewhere, (Antiq. b. iii. ch. v. sect. 3,) said to be 
 sent the Jews from ha*Ttn. 
 
 given them food when they were in the greatest 
 want of it, so he would give them drink, since 
 the favour of giving them food was of no value 
 to them while they had nothing to drink : and 
 God did not long delay to give it them, but pro- 
 mised Moses that he would procure them a foun- 
 tain, and plenty of water from a place they did 
 not expect any ; so he commanded him to smite 
 the rock which they saw lying there,:}: with hi 
 rod, and out of it to receive plenty of what they 
 wanted; for he had taken care that drink should 
 come to them without any labour or painstaking. 
 When Moses had received this command from 
 God, he came to the people, who waited for him, 
 and looked upon him ; for they saw already that 
 he was coming apace from his eminence. As 
 soon as he was come, he told them that God 
 would deliver them from their present distress, 
 and had granted them an unexpected favour; 
 and informed them, that a river should run foi 
 their sakes out of the rock ; but they were amazed 
 at that hearing, supposing they were of necessity 
 to cut the rock in pieces, now they were dis- 
 tressed by their thirst, and by their journey 
 while Moses, only smiting the rock with his rod, 
 opened a passage, and out of it burst water, and 
 that in great abundance, and very clear; but 
 they were astonished at this wonderful effect, 
 and, as it were, quenched their thirst by the 
 very sight of it. So they drank this pleasant, 
 this sweet water; and such it seemed to be, as 
 might well be expected where God was the 
 donor. They were also in admiration how Moses 
 was honoured by God ; and they made grateful 
 returns of sacrifices to God for his providence 
 towards them. Now that Scripture which is 
 laid up in the temple, informs us, how God 
 foretold to Moses, that water should in this 
 manner be derived out of the rock. 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 30W THE AMALEKITES, AND THE NEIGHBOURING 
 NATIONS, MADE WAK WITH THE HEBREWS, AND 
 WERE BEATEN, AND LOST A GKEAT PART OF 
 THEIR ARMY. 
 
 fc 1. THE name of the Hebrews began already 
 to be everywhere renowned, and rumours about 
 them ran abroad. This made the inhabitants of 
 those countries to be in no small fear. Accord- 
 ingly they sent ambassadors to one another, and 
 exhorted one another to defend themselves, and 
 to endeavour to destroy these men. Those that 
 induced the rest to do so, were such as inhabited 
 Gobolitis and Petra. They were called Amale- 
 kites, and were the most warlike of the nations 
 that lived thereabout; and whose kings exhorted 
 one another and their neighbours to go to this 
 war against the Hebrews ; telling them that an 
 army of strangers, and such a one as had run 
 away from slavery under the Egyptians, lay in 
 wait to ruin them; which army they were not, 
 in common prudence and regard to their own 
 safety, to overlook, but to crush them before 
 they gather strength, and come to be in pros- 
 perity ; and perhaps attack them first in a hostile 
 
 I This rock is there at this day, as the travellers 
 agree, and must be the same that was there in the day 
 of Moses, as being too large to be brought thither by 
 our modern carriages. 
 
 } Note here that the small book of the principal lawa 
 of Moses is ever said to be laid up in the holy house 
 itself ; but the larger Pentateuch, as here, somewhere 
 within the limits of the temple and its courts only. 
 See Antiq. b. v. ch. i. sect 17.
 
 68 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK III, 
 
 manner, as presuming upon our indolence in not 
 attacking them before; and that we ought to 
 venge ourselves of them for what they have 
 done in the wilderness, but that this cannot be 
 BO well done when they have once laid their 
 hands on our cities and our goods: that those 
 who endeavour to crush a power in its first rise, 
 are wiser than those that endeavour to put a stop 
 to its progress when it is become formidable; for 
 these last seem to be angry only at the flourish- 
 ing of others, but the former do not leave any 
 room for their enemies to become troublesome 
 to them. After they had sent such embassages 
 to the neighbouring nations, and among one an- 
 other, they resolved to attack the Hebrews in 
 battle. 
 
 2. These proceedings of the people of those 
 countries occasioned perplexity and trouble to 
 Moses, who expected no such warlike prepara- 
 tions; and when these nations were ready to 
 fight, and the multitude of the Hebrews were 
 obliged to try the fortune of war, they were in 
 a mighty disorder, and in want of all necessaries, 
 and yet were to make war with men who were 
 thoroughly well prepared for it. Then, there- 
 fore, it was that Moses began to encourage them, 
 to exhort them to have a good heart, and rely 
 on God's assistance, by which they had been ad- 
 vanced into a state of freedom, and to hope for 
 victory over those who were ready to fight with 
 them, in order to deprive them of that blessing : 
 that they were to suppose their own army to be 
 numerous, wanting nothing, neither weapons, 
 nor money, nor provisions, nor such other con- 
 veniences as, when men are in possession of, they 
 fight undauntedly ; and that they are to judge 
 themselves to have all these advantages in the 
 divine assistance. They are also to suppose the 
 enemy's army to be small, unarmed, weak, and 
 such as want those conveniences which they know 
 must be wanted, when it is God's will that they 
 shall be beaten ; and how valuable God's assist- 
 ance is, they had experienced in abundance of 
 trials; and those such as were more terrible than 
 war, for that is only against men; but these were 
 against famine and thirst, things indeed that are 
 in their own nature insuperable ; as also against 
 mountains, and that sea which afforded them no 
 way for escaping; yet had all these difficulties 
 been conquered by God's gracious kindness to 
 them. So he exhorted them to be courageous 
 at this time, and to look upon their entire pros- 
 perity to depend on the present conquest of their 
 enemies. 
 
 3. And with these words did Moses encourage 
 the multitude, who then called together the 
 princes of their tribes and their chief men; both 
 separately and conjointly. The young men he 
 charged to obey their elders, and the elders to 
 hearken to their leader. So the people were ele- 
 vated in their minds, and ready to try their for- 
 tune in battle, and hoped to be thereby at length 
 delivered from all their miseries: nay, they de- 
 ired that Moses would immediately lead them 
 against their enemies without the least delay, 
 that no backwardness might be a hindrance to 
 their present resolution. So Moses sorted all 
 that were fit for war into different troops, and 
 set Joshua, the son of Nun, of the tribe of 
 fcphraim, over them,; one that was of great 
 :ourage, and patient to undergo labours; of 
 treat abilities to understand, and to speak what 
 wai proper; and very serious in the worship of 
 
 *>a ; and indeed made, like another Moses, a 
 acher of piety towards God. He also appointed 
 
 small party of the armed men to be near the 
 liter, and to take care of the children, and the 
 
 women, and of the entire camp. So that whole 
 
 night they prepared themselves for the battle , 
 they took their weapons, if any of them had sucb 
 as were well made, and attended to their com- 
 manders as ready to rush forth to the battle as 
 soon as Moses should give the word of command. 
 Moses also kept awake, teaching Joshua after 
 what manner he should order his camp. But 
 when the day began, Moses called for Joshua 
 again, and exhorted him to approve himself in 
 deeds such a one as his reputation made men 
 expect from him; and to gain glory by the pre- 
 sent expedition, in the opinion of those under 
 him, for his exploits in this battle. He also gave 
 a particular exhortation to the principal men of 
 the Hebrews, and encouraged the whole army as 
 it stood armed before him. And when he had 
 thus animated the army, both by his words and 
 works, and prepared everything, he retired to 
 a mountain, and committed the army to God 
 and to Joshua. 
 
 4. So the armies joined battle ; ana it came to 
 a close fight, hand to hand, both sides shewing 
 great alacrity, and encouraging one another . 
 And indeed, while Moses stretched out his hand 
 towards heaven,* the Hebrews were too hard for 
 the Amalekites; but Moses not being able to 
 sustain his hands, thus stretched out, (for as 
 often as he let down his hands, so often were his 
 own people worsted,) he bade his brother Aaron, 
 and Hur, their sister Miriam's husband, to stand 
 on each side of him, and take hold of his hands, 
 and not permit his weariness to prevent it, but 
 to assist him in the extension of his hands. 
 When this was done, the Hebrews conquered 
 the Amalekites by main force ; and indeed they 
 had all perished, unless the approach of the 
 night had not obliged the Hebrews to desist 
 from killing any more. So our forefathers ob- 
 tained a most signal and most seasonable victory; 
 for they not only overcame those that fought 
 against them, but terrified also the neighbouring 
 nations, and got great and splendid advantages, 
 which they obtained of their enemies by their 
 hard pains in this battle : for when they had 
 taken the enemy's camp, they got ready booty 
 for the public, and for their own private families, 
 whereas till then they had not any sort of plenty 
 of even necessary food. The forementioned 
 battle, when they had onct got it, was also the 
 occasion of their prosperity, not only for the pre- 
 sent, but for the future ages also; for they not 
 only made slaves of the bodies of their enemies, 
 but subdued their minds also, and after this 
 battle, became terrible to all that dwelt round 
 about them. Moreover, they acquired a vast 
 quantity of riches ; for a great deal of silver and 
 gold was left in the enemy's camp; as also 
 brazen vessels, which they made common use of 
 in their families ; many utensils also that were 
 embroidered, there were of both sorts, that is of 
 what were weaved, and what were the orna- 
 ments of their armour, and other things that 
 served for use in the family, and for the furni- 
 ture of their rooms ; they got also the prey of 
 their cattle, and of whatsoever uses to foflow 
 camps, when they remove from one place to 
 
 * This eminent circumstance seems to me the earliest 
 intimation we have of the proper posture used of old in 
 solemn prayer, which was the stretching out of the 
 hands [and eyes] towards heaven, as other passages 
 of the Old and New Testament inform us. Nay, by the 
 way, this posture seems to have continued in the Chris- 
 tian Church, till the clergy, instead of learning their 
 prayers by heart, read them out of a book, whlcn la in 
 a great measure inconsistent with such an elevated 
 posture, and which seems to me to have been only a 
 later practice, introduced under the corrupt state ol 
 Mie Church.
 
 3HAP. V.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 another So the Hebrews now valued them- 
 selves upon their courage, and claimed great 
 merit for their valour ; and they perpetually 
 inured themselves to take pains, by which they 
 deemed every difficulty might be surmounted. 
 Such were the consequences of this battle. 
 
 5. On the next day, Moses stripped the dead 
 bodies of their enemies, and gathered together 
 the armour of those that were fled, and gave re- 
 wards to such as had signalised themselves in 
 the action ; and highly commended Joshua, their 
 general, who was attested to by all the army, on 
 account of the great actions he had done. Nor 
 was any one of the Hebrews slain ; but the slain 
 of the enemy's army were too many to be enu- 
 merated, So Moses offered sacrifices of thanks- 
 giving to God, and built an altar, which he 
 named The Lord the Conqueror, He also fore- 
 told that the Amalekites should utterly be de- 
 stroyed, and that hereafter none of them should 
 remain, because they fought against the Hebrews, 
 and this when they were in the wilderness, and 
 in their distress also. Moreover, he refreshed 
 the army with feasting. And thus did they 
 fight this first battle with those that ventured to 
 oppose them, after they were gone out of Egypt. 
 But when Moses had celebrated this festival for 
 the victory, he permitted the Hebrews to rest 
 for a few days, and then he brought them out 
 after the fight, in order of battle ; for they 
 had now many soldiers in light armour. And 
 going gradually on, he came to mount Sinai, in 
 three months' time after they were removed out 
 of Egypt; at which mountain, as we have before 
 related, the vision of the Bush, and the other 
 wonderful appearances, had happened. 
 
 THAT MOSES KINDLY RECEIVED HIS FATHER-IN- 
 LAW, JETHRO, WHEN HE CAME TO HIM TO 
 MOUNT SINAI. 
 
 Now when Raguel, Moses's father-in-law, under- 
 stood in what a prosperous condition his affairs 
 were, he willingly came to meet him. And 
 Moses took Zipporah, his wife, and his children, 
 and pleased himself with his coming. And 
 when he had offered sacrifice, he made a. feast 
 for the multitude, near the Bush he had for- 
 merly seen ; which multitude, every one, accord- 
 ing to their families, partook of the feast. But 
 Aaron and his family took Raguel, and sung 
 hymns to God, as to him who had been the 
 author and procurer of their deliverance, and 
 their freedom. They also praised their conduc- 
 tor, as him by whose virtue it was that all 
 things had succeeded so well with them. Raguel 
 also, in his eucharistical oration to Moses, made 
 great encomiums upon the whole multitude : and 
 he could not but admire Moses for his fortitude, 
 and that humanity he had shevrn in the delivery 
 uf his friends. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 KOW RAGUEL SUGGESTED TO MOSES TO SET EI8 
 PEOPLE IN ORDER, UNDER THEIR RULERS OF 
 THOUSANDS, AND RULERS OF HUNDREDS, WHO 
 LIVED WITHOUT ORDER BEFORE; AND HOW 
 MOSES COMPLIED IN ALL THINGS WITH HIS 
 PATHER-IN-LAW'B ADMONITION. 
 
 1. THE next day, Raguel saw Moses in the 
 midst of a crowd of business, for he determined 
 the differences of those that referred them to 
 him, every one still going to him, and supposing 
 
 that they should then only obtain justice, if h 
 were the arbitrator; and those that lost their 
 causes thought it no harm while they thought 
 they lost them justly and not by partiality. 
 Raguel, however, said nothing to him at that 
 time, as not desirous to be any hindrance to 
 such as had a mind to make use of the virtue of 
 their conductor. But afterward he took him to 
 himself, and when he had him alone, he in- 
 structed him in what he ought to do ; and 
 advised him to leave the trouble of lesser causes 
 to others, but himself to take care of the greater, 
 and of the people's safety ; for that certain 
 others of the Hebrews might be found that 
 were fit to determine causes, but that nobody 
 but a Moses could take care of the safety of so 
 many ten thousands. "Be not, therefore," 
 says he, " insensible of thine own virtue, and 
 what thou hast done by ministering under God 
 to the people's preservation. Permit, therefore, 
 the determination of common causes to be done 
 by others, but do thou reserve thyself to the 
 attendance on God only, and look out for methods 
 of preserving the multitude from their present 
 distress. Make use of the method I suggest to 
 you, as to human affairs ; and take a review of 
 the army, and appoint chosen rulers over tens 
 of thousands, and then over thousands; then 
 divide them into five hundreds, and again into 
 hundreds, and into fifties ; and set rulers over 
 each of them, who may distinguish them into 
 thirties, and keep them in order; and at last 
 number them by twenties and by tens : and let 
 there be one commander over each number, to 
 be denominated from the number of those over 
 whom they are rulers, but such as the whole 
 multitude have tried, and do approve of, as 
 being good and righteous men ; * and let those 
 rulers decide the controversies they have one 
 with another. But if any great cause arise, let 
 them bring the cognisance of it before the rulers 
 of a higher dignity ; but if any great difficulty 
 arise that is too hard for even their determina- 
 tion, let them send it to thee. By these means 
 two advantages will be gained; the Hebrews 
 will have justice done them, and thou wilt be 
 able to attend constantly on God, and procure 
 him to be more favourable to the people. 
 
 2. This was the admonition of Raguel ; and 
 Moses received his advice very kindly, and acted 
 according to his suggestion. Nor did he conceal 
 the invention of this method, nor pretend to it 
 himself, but informed the multitude who it was 
 that invented it : nay, he has named Raguel in 
 the books he wrote, as the person who invented 
 this ordering of the people, as thinking it right 
 to give a true testimony to worthy persons, 
 although he might have gotten reputation by 
 ascribing to himself the inventions of other men; 
 whence we may learn the virtuous disposition of 
 Moses : but of such his disposition, we shall 
 have proper occasion to speak in other places of 
 these books. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 HOW MOSES ASCENDED UP TO MOUNT SINAI, AND 
 RECEIVED LAWS FROM GOD, AND DELIVERED 
 THEM TO THE HEBREWS. 
 
 L Now Moses called the- multitude together, 
 
 This manner of electing the judges and officers of 
 the Israelites by the testimonies and suffrages of the 
 people, before they were ordained by God, or by Moses, 
 deserves to be carefully noted, because it was the pat- 
 tern of the like manner of the choice and ordination 
 of Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons, in the Christian 
 Church.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK in. 
 
 and told them that he was going from them unto 
 mount Sinai to converse with God; to receive 
 from him, and to bring back with him, a certain 
 oracle ; but he enjoined them to pitch their tents 
 near the mountain, and prefer the habitation 
 that was nearest to God, before one more re- 
 mote. When he had said this, he ascended up 
 to mount Sinai, which is the highest of all the 
 mountains that are in that country,* and is not 
 only very difficult to be ascended by men, on 
 account of its vast altitude, but because of the 
 sharpness of its precipices also; nay, indeed, 
 it cannot be looked at without pain of the eyes : 
 and besides this, it was terrible and inaccessible, 
 on account of the rumour that passed about, that 
 God dwelt there. But the Hebrews removed 
 their tents as Moses had bidden them, and took 
 possession of the lowest parts of the mountain ; 
 and were elevated in their minds, in expectation 
 that Moses would return from God with promises 
 of the good things he had proposed to them. So 
 they feasted and waited for their conductor, and 
 kept themselves pure as in other respects, and 
 not accompanying with their wives for three 
 days, as he had before ordered them to do. 
 And they prayed to God that he would favour- 
 ably receive Moses in his conversing with him, 
 and bestow some such gift upon them by which 
 they might live well. They also lived more 
 plentifully as to their diet; and put on their 
 wives and children more ornamental and decent 
 clothing than they usually wore. 
 
 2. So they passed two days in this way of 
 feasting; but on the third day, before the sun 
 was up, a cloud spread itself over the whole 
 camp of the Hebrews, such a one as none had 
 before seen, and encompassed the place where 
 they had pitched their tents ; and while all the 
 rest of the air was clear, there came strong winds, 
 that raised up large showers of rain, which be- 
 came a mighty tempest. There was also such 
 lightning, as was terrible to those that saw it; 
 and thunder with its thunderbolts, were sent 
 down, and declared God to be there present in 
 a gracious way to such as Moses desired he 
 should be gracious. Now, as to these matters, 
 every one of my readers may think as he pleases; 
 but I am under a necessity of relating this his- 
 tory as it i described in the sacred books. This 
 sight, and the amazing sound that came to their 
 ears, disturbed the Hebrews to a prodigious de- 
 gree, for they were not such as they were accus- 
 tomed to ; and then the rumour that was spread 
 abroad, how God frequented that mountain, 
 greatly astonished their minds, so they sorrow- 
 fully contained themselves within their tents, 
 as both supposing Hoses to be destroyed by the 
 divine wrath, and expecting the like destruction 
 for themselves. 
 
 3. When they were under these apprehen- 
 sions, Moses appeared as joyful and greatly ex- 
 alted. When they saw him, they were freed 
 from their fear, and admitted of more com- 
 
 * Since this mountain, Sinai, is here said to be th 
 highest of all the mountains that are in that country 
 it must be that now called St Katherine's, which is on 
 third higher than that within a mile of it, now called 
 Sinai, as Mons. Thevenot informs us, Travels, part i. 
 ehap. xxiii. p. 168. The other name of it, Horeb, is 
 never used by Josephus, and perhaps was its name 
 among the Egyptians only, whence the Israelites were 
 lately come, as Sinai was its name amousr the Arabians, 
 Oanaanites, and other nations. Accordingly, when 
 Kings ix. 8) the Scripture gays that Elijah came to 
 Horeb, the mount of God, Josephus justly says, (Antiq 
 b. viu. chap. xiii. sect. 7,) that he came to the moun- 
 tain called Sinai : and Jerome, here cited by Dr Hud- 
 son, gays, that he took this mountain to have two 
 names. Sinai ;md Choreb. De Nomin. Web. i> 427 
 
 fortable hopes as to what was to come. The 
 air also was become clear and pure of its former 
 disorders, upon the appearance of Moses ; where- 
 upon he called together the people to a congre- 
 gation, in order to their hearing what God would 
 say to them : and when they were gathered to- 
 gether, he stood on an eminence whence they 
 might all hear him, and said, " God has received 
 me graciously, O Hebrews, as he has formerly 
 done, and has suggested a happy method of 
 living for you, and an order of political govern- 
 ment, and is now present in the camp : I there- 
 fore charge you, for his sake and the sake of his 
 works, and what we have done by his means, 
 that you do not put a low value on what I am 
 going to say, because the commands have beea 
 given by me that now deliver them to you, nor 
 because it is the tongue of a man that delivers 
 them to you ; but if you have a due regard to 
 the great importance of the things themselves, 
 you will understand the greatness of him whose 
 institutions they are, and who has not disdained 
 to communicate them to me for our common ad- 
 vantage; for it is not to be supposed that the 
 author of these institutions is barely Moses, the 
 son of Amram and Jochebed, but he who ob- 
 liged the Nile to run bloody for your sakes, 
 and tamed the haughtiness of the Egyptians by 
 various sorts of judgments ; he who provided a 
 way through the sea for us ; he who contrived a 
 method of sending us food from heaven, when 
 we were distressed for want of it ; he who made 
 the water to issue out of a rock, when we had 
 very little of it before ; he by whose means Adam 
 was made to partake of tbe fruits both of the 
 land and of the sea; he by whose means Noah 
 escaped the delude; he by whose means our 
 forefather Abraham, of a wandering pilgrim, 
 was made the heir of the land of Canaan ; he by 
 whose means Isaac was born of parents that were 
 very old; he by whose means Jacob was adorned 
 with twelve virtuous sons ; he by whose means 
 Joseph became a potent lord over the Egyptians : 
 he it is who conveys these instructions to you by 
 me as his interpreter. And let them be to you 
 venerable, and contended for more earnestly by 
 you than your own children and your own wives; 
 for if you will follow them, you will lead a kappy 
 life; you will enjoy the land fruitful, the sea 
 calm, and the fruit of the womb born complete, 
 as nature requires ; you will be also terrible to 
 your enemies : for I have been admitted into the 
 presence of God, and been made a hearer of his 
 incorruptible voice; so great ia his concern for 
 your nation, and its duration." 
 
 4. When he had said this, he brought the 
 people, with their wives and children, BO near 
 the mountain, that they might hear God himself 
 speaking to them about the precepts which they 
 were to practise ; that the energy of what should 
 be spoken might not be hurt by its utterance by 
 that tongue of a man, which could but imper- 
 fectly deliver it to their understanding. And 
 they all heard a voice that came to all of them 
 from above, insomuch that no one of these words 
 escaped them, which Moses wrote on two tables; 
 which it is not lawful for us to set down directly, 
 but their import we will declare. 1* 
 
 5. The first commandment teaches us, That 
 there is but one God, and that we ought to wor- 
 ship him only ; the second commands us not to 
 make the image of any living creature to wor- 
 ship it; the third, That we must not swear by* 
 God in a false matter; the fourth, That wt|' 
 
 t Of this and another like superstitious notion of th$ 
 Pharisees, which Josephus complied with, see the not* 
 on Antiq. b. ii. chap. xii. sect. 4
 
 UHAP. VL] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES O* 1HE JEWS. 
 
 71 
 
 must keep the seventh day, by resting from all 
 sorts of work ; the fifth, That we must honour 
 our parents; the sixth, That we must abstain 
 from murder; the seventh, That we must not 
 commit adultery ; the eighth, That we must not 
 be guilty of theft ; the ninth, That we must not 
 bear false witness; the tenth, That we must 
 not admit of the desire of any thing that is an- 
 other's. 
 
 6. Now when the multitude had heard God 
 himself giving those precepts which Moses had 
 discoursed of, they rejoiced at what was said; 
 and the congregation was dissolved: but on 
 the following days they came to his tent, and 
 desired him to bring them, besides, other laws 
 from God. Accordingly he appointed such laws, 
 and afterwards informed them in what manner 
 they should act in all cases; which laws I shall 
 make mention of in their proper time; but I 
 shall reserve most of those laws for another 
 work, and make there a distinct explication of 
 them. 
 
 7. When matters were brought to this state, 
 Moses went up again to mount Sinai, of which 
 he had told them beforehand. He made his 
 ascent in their sight ; and while he stayed there 
 so long a time, (for he was absent from them 
 forty days,) fear seized upon the Hebrews, lest 
 Moses should have come to any harm: nor was 
 there any thing else so sad, and that so much 
 troubled them, as this supposal that Moses was 
 perished. Now there was a variety in their 
 sentiments about it; some paying that he was 
 fallen among wild beasts ; and those that were 
 of this opinion were chiefly suoh as were ill-dis- 
 posed to him; but others said that he was de- 
 parted, and gone to God; but the wiser sort 
 were led by their reason to embrace neither of 
 those opinions, with any satisfaction, thinking, 
 that as it was a thing that sometimes happens to 
 men to fall among wild beasts, and perish that 
 way, so it was probable enough that he might 
 depart and go to God, on account of his virtue ; 
 they therefore were quiet, and expected the 
 event: yet were they exceeding sorry upon the 
 supposal that they were deprived of a governor 
 and a protector, such a one indeed as they could 
 never recover again; nor would this suspicion 
 give them leave to expect any comfortable event 
 about this man, nor could they prevent their 
 trouble and melancholy upon this occasion. 
 However, the camp durst not remove all this 
 while, because Moses had bidden them afore to 
 stay, there. 
 
 8. But when, the forty days, and as many 
 nights, were ovsr, Moses came down, having 
 tasted nothing of food usually appointed for the 
 nourishment of men. His appearance filled the 
 army with gladness, and he declared to them 
 what care God had of them, and by what man- 
 ner of conduct of their lives they might live 
 happily; telling them, that during these days 
 of his absence he had suggested to him also that 
 he would have a tabernacle built for him, into 
 which he would descend when he came to them ; 
 and how we should carry it about with us when 
 wo remove from this place ; and that there would 
 be no longer any occasion for going up to mount 
 Sinai, but that he would himself come and pitch 
 his tabernacle amongst us, and be present at our 
 prayers; as also, that the tabernacle should be 
 of such measures and construction as he had 
 shewn him ; and that yon are to fall to the work, 
 
 * This other work of Josephus, here referred to, 
 seems to be that which does not appear to have been 
 erer published, which yet he intended to publish, about 
 the reasons of many of the laws of Moses ; of which see 
 the rntr on the Preface, sect. 4. 
 
 and prosecute it diligently. When he had said 
 this, he shewed them the two tables, with the 
 ten commandments engraven upon them, five 
 upon each table: and the writing was by tb* 
 hand of God. 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 CONCERNING THS TABERNACLB WHICH MOSES 
 BUILT IN THE WILDERNESS FOR THE HONOUB 
 OF GOD, AND WHICH SEEMED TO BE A TEMPLE. 
 
 1. HEREUPON the Israelites rejoiced at what 
 they had seen and heard of their conductor, and 
 were not wanting in diligence according to their 
 ability; for they brought silver, and gold, and 
 brass, and of the best sorts of wood, and such as 
 would not at all decay by putrefaction ; camels' 
 hair also, and sheep-skins, some of them dyed of 
 a blue colour, and some of a scarlet ; some 
 brought the flower for the purple colour, and 
 others for white, with wool dyed by the flowers 
 aforementioned; and fine linen and precious 
 stones, which those that use costly ornaments 
 set in ouches of gold ; they brought also a great 
 quantity of spices; for of these materials did 
 Moses build the tabernacle, which did not at all 
 differ from a movable and ambulatory temple. 
 Now when these things were brought together 
 with great diligence, (for every one was ambi- 
 tious to further the work even beyond their 
 ability,) he set architects over the works, and 
 this by the command of God; and indeed tho 
 very same which the people themselves would 
 have chosen, had the election been allowed to 
 them. Now their names are set down in writing 
 in the sacred books ; and they were these : Besa- 
 leel the son of Uri, of the tribe of Judah, the 
 grandson of Miriam, the sister of their conduc- 
 tor; and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the 
 tribe of Dan. Now the people went on with 
 what they had undertaken with so great alacrity, 
 that Moses was obliged to restrain them, by mak- 
 ing proclamation, that what had been brought 
 was sufficient, as the artificers had informed 
 him ; so they fell to work upon the building of 
 the tabernacle. Moses also informed them, ac- 
 cording to the direction of God, both what the 
 measures were to be, and its largeness; and how 
 many vessels it ought to contain for the use of 
 the sacrifices. The women also were ambitious 
 to do their parts, about the garments of the 
 priests, and about other things that would be 
 wanted in this work, both for ornament and for 
 the divine service itself. 
 
 2. Now when all things were prepared, the 
 gold, and the silver, and the brass, and what was 
 woven, Moses, when he had appointed before- 
 hand that there should be a festival, and that 
 sacrifices should be offered according to every 
 one's ability, reared up the tabernacle ;t and 
 when he had measured the open court, fifty 
 cubits broad and a hundred long, he set up 
 brazen pillars, five cubits high, twenty on each 
 of the longer sides, and ten pillars for the breadth 
 behind ; every one of the pillars also had a ring. 
 Their chapiters were of silver, but their bases 
 were of brass : they resembled the sharp ends of 
 spears, and were of brass, fixed into the ground. 
 Cords were also put through the rings, and were 
 tied at their further ends to brass nails of a cubit 
 long, which, at every pillar, were driven into the 
 
 f Of this tabernacle of Moses, with its several parta 
 and furniture, see my description at large, (chap, vl, 
 Tii. viii.. ix., x., xi., xii., herein belonging.)
 
 72 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK in 
 
 floor, and would keep the tabernacle from being 
 shaken by the violence of winds; but a curtain 
 of fine soft linen went round all the pillars, and 
 hung down in a flowing and loose manner from 
 their chapiters, and enclosed the whole space, 
 and seemed not at all unlike to a wall about it. 
 And this was the structure of three of the sides 
 of this inclosure; but as for the fourth side, 
 which was fifty cubits in extent, and was the 
 front of the whole, twenty cubits of it were for 
 the opening of the gates, wherein stood two 
 pillars on each side, after the resemblance of 
 open gates. These were made wholly of silver, 
 and polished, and that all over, excepting the 
 basa, which were of brass. Now on each side 
 of the gates there stood three pillars, which were 
 inserted into the concave bases of the gates, and 
 were suited to them ; and round them was drawn 
 a curtain of fine linen ; but to the gates them- 
 selves, which were twenty cubits in extent, and 
 five in height, the curtain was composed of pur- 
 ple, and scarlet, and blue, and fine linen, and 
 embroidered with many and divers sorts of 
 figures, excepting the figures of animals. Within 
 these gates was the brazen laver for purification, 
 having a basin beneath of the like matter, whence 
 the priests might wash their hands and sprinkle 
 their feet; and this was the ornamental con- 
 struction of the inclosure about the court of the 
 tabernacle, which was exposed to the open air. 
 
 3. As to the tabernacle itself, Moses placed it 
 in the middle of that court, with its front to the 
 east, that, when the sun arose, it might send its 
 first rays upon it. Its length, when it was set 
 up, was thirty cubits, and its breadth was twelve 
 [ten] cubits. The one of its walls was on the 
 south, and the other was exposed to the north, 
 and on the back part of it remained the west. 
 It was necessary that its height should be equal 
 to its breadth, [ten cubits.] There were also 
 pillars made of wood, twenty on each side ; they 
 were wrought into a quadrangular figure, in 
 breadth a cubit and a half, but the thickness 
 was four fingers : they had thin plates of gold 
 affixed to them on bo+^i sides, inwardly and out- 
 wardly: they had each of them two tenons be- 
 longing to them, inserted into their bases, and 
 these were of silver, in eacL of which bases there 
 was a socket to receive the tenon ; but the pillars 
 on the west wall were six. Now all these tenons 
 and sockets accurately fitted one another, inso- 
 much that the joints were invisible, *nd both 
 seemed to ^e one entire and united walL It 
 was also covered with gold, both within and 
 without. The number of pillars was equal on 
 the opposite sides, and there were on each part 
 twenty, and every one of them had the third 
 part of a span in thickness; so that the number 
 of thirty cubits were fully made up between 
 them ; but as to the wall behind, where the six 
 pillars made up together only nine cubits, they 
 made two other pillars, and cut them out of one 
 cubit, which they placed in the corners, and 
 made them equally fine with the other. Now 
 every one of the pillars had rings of gold affixed 
 to their fronts outward, as if they had taken 
 root in the pillars, and stood one row over against 
 another round about, through which were in- 
 serted bars gilt over with gold, each of them five 
 cubits long, and these bound together the pillars, 
 the head of one bar running into another, after 
 the nature of one tenon inserted into another; 
 but for the wall behind, there was but one row 
 of bars that went through all the pillars, into 
 which row ran the ends of the bars on each side 
 of the longer walls; the male with its female 
 being so fastened in their joints, that they held 
 the whole firmly together; and for this reason 
 
 was all this joined so fast together, that the 
 tabernacle might not be shaken, either by the 
 winds, or by any other means, but that it might 
 preserve itself quiet and immovable continually. 
 
 4. As for the inside^Moses parted its length 
 into three partitions. 'At the distance of ten 
 cubits from the most secret end, Moses placed 
 four pillars, the workmanship of which was the 
 very same with that of the rest; and they stood 
 upon the like bases with them, each a small 
 matter distant from his fellow. Now the room 
 within those pillars was the most holy place; but 
 the rest of the room was the tabernacle, which 
 was open for the priests. However, this propor- 
 tion of the measures of the tabernacle proved to 
 be an imitation of the system of the world : for 
 that third part thereof which was within the four 
 pillars, to which the priests were not admitted, 
 is, as it were, a Heaven peculiar to God; but the 
 space of the twenty cubits, is, as it were, sea and 
 land, on which men live, and so this part is pecu- 
 liar to the priests only: but at the front, where 
 the entrance was made, they placed pillars of 
 gold, that stood on bases of brass, in number 
 seven ; but then they spread over the tabernacle 
 veils of fine linen and purple, and blue, and 
 scarlet colours, embroidered. The first veil wat 
 ten cubits every way, and this they spread over 
 the pillars which parted the temple, and kept 
 the most holy place concealed witnin ; and this 
 veil was that which made this part not visible to 
 any. Now the whole temple was called The Holy 
 Place ; but that part which was within the four 
 pillars, and to which none were admitted, was 
 called The Holy of Holies. This veil was very 
 ornamental, and embroidered with all sorts of 
 flowers which the earth produces ; and there 
 were interwoven into it all sorts of variety that 
 might be an ornament, excepting the forms of 
 animals. Another veil there was which covered 
 the five pillars that were at the entrance. It 
 was like the former in its magnitude, and tex- 
 ture, and colour; and at the corner of every 
 pillar a ring retained it from the top downwards 
 half the depth of the pillars, the other half 
 affording an entrance for the priests, who crept 
 under it. Over this there was a veil of linen, 
 of the same largeness with the former : it was to 
 be drawn this way or that way by cords, the 
 rings of which, fixed to the texture of the veil, 
 and to the cords also, were subservient to the 
 drawing and undrawing of the veil, and to the 
 fastening it at the corner, that then it might be 
 no hindrance to the view of the sanctuary, espe- 
 cially on solemn days; but that on other days, 
 and especially when the weather was inclined 
 to snow, it might be expanded, and afford a 
 covering to the veil of divers colours ; whence 
 that custom of ours is derived, of having a fine 
 linen veil, after the temple has been built, to be 
 drawn over the entrances ; but the ten other 
 curtains were four cubits in breadth, and twenty- 
 eight in length ; and had golden clasps, in order 
 to join the one curtain to the other, which was 
 done so exactly that they seemed to be one 
 entire curtain. These were spread over the 
 temple, and covered all the top and parts of the 
 walls, on the sides and behind, so far as within 
 one cubit of the ground. There were other cur- 
 tains of the same breadth with these, but one 
 more in number, and longer, for they were thirty 
 cubits long ; but these were woven with hair, 
 with the like subtlety as those of wool were 
 made, and were extended loosely down to the 
 ground, appearing like a triangular front and 
 elevation at the gates, the eleventh curtain being 
 used for this very purpose. There were also 
 other curtains made of skins above these, which
 
 UHAP. VII.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 73 
 
 afforded covering and protection to those that 
 were woven, both in hot weather, and when it 
 rained ; and great was the surprise of those who 
 viewed these curtains at a distance, for they 
 seemed not at all to differ from the colour of the 
 iky; bat those that were made of hair and of 
 skius, reached down in the same manner as did 
 the veil at the gates, and kept off the heat of the 
 sun, and what injury the rains might do ; and 
 after this manner was the tabernacle reared. 
 
 5. There was also an ark made, sacred to God, 
 of wood that was naturally strong, and could not 
 be corrupted. This was called Eron, in our own 
 language. Its construction was thus : Its length 
 was five spans, but its breadth and height was 
 each of them three spans. It was covered all 
 over with gold, both within and without, so that 
 the wooden part was not seen. It had also a 
 cover united to it, by golden hinges, after a won- 
 derful manner; which cover was every way 
 evenly fitted to it, and had no eminences to 
 hinder its exact conjunction. There were also 
 two golden rings belonging to each of the longer 
 boards, and passing through the entire wood, 
 and through them gilt bars passed along each 
 board, that it might thereby be moved and car- 
 ried about, as occasion should require ; for it was 
 not drawn in a cart by beasts of burden, but 
 borne on the shoulders of the priests. Upon 
 this its cover were two images, which the He- 
 brews call Cherubims; they are flying creatures, 
 but their form is not like to that of any of the 
 creatures which men have seen, though Moses 
 said he had seen such beings near the throne of 
 God. In this ark he put the two tables whereon 
 the ten commandments were written, five upon 
 each table, and two and a half upon each side of 
 them; and this ark he placed in the most holy 
 place. 
 
 6. But in the holy place he placed a table, like 
 those at Delphi : its length was two cubits, and 
 its breadth one cubit, and its height three spans. 
 It had feet also, the lower half of which were 
 complete feet, resembling those which the 
 Dorians put to their bedsteads; but the upper 
 parti towards the table were wrought into a 
 square form. The table had a hollow towards 
 every side, having a ledge of four fingers' depth, 
 that went round about like a spiral, both on the 
 upper and lower part of the body of the work. 
 Upon every one of the feet was there also in- 
 serted a ring, not far from the cover, through 
 which went bars of wood beneath, but gilded, to 
 be taken out upon occasion, there being a cavity 
 where it was joined to the rings; for they were 
 not entire rings; but before they came quite 
 round, they ended in acute points, the one of 
 which was inserted into the prominent part of 
 the table, and the other into the foot; and by 
 these it was carried when they journeyed. Upon 
 this table, which was placed on the north side of 
 the temple, not far from the most holy place, 
 were laid twelve unleavened loaves of bread, six 
 upon each heap, one above another: they were 
 made of two tenth-deals of the purest flour, 
 which tenth deal [an omer] is a measure of the 
 Hebrews, containing seven Athenian cotylce; and 
 *bove these J^aves were put two vials full of 
 frankincense, Xow after seven days .other loaves 
 were brought in their stead, on the day which is 
 by us called the Sabbath ; for we call the seventh 
 day the Sabbath. But for the occasion of this in- 
 vention of placing loaves here we will speak to in 
 another place. 
 
 7. Over against this table, near the southern 
 wall, was set a candlestick of cast gold, hollow 
 within, being of the weight of one hundred 
 pounds, which the Hebrews call Chinchares; if it 
 
 be turned into the Greek language, it denotes a 
 talent. It was made with its knops, and lilies, 
 and pomegranates, and bowls, (which ornaments 
 amounted to seventy in all ;) by which means the 
 shaft elevated itself on high from a single base, 
 and spread itself into as many branches as there 
 are planets, including the sun among them. It 
 terminated in seven heads, in one row, all stand- 
 ing parallel to one another; and these branches 
 carried seven lamps, one by one, in imitation of 
 the number of the planets. These lamps looked 
 to the east and to the south, the candlestick being 
 situate obliquely. 
 
 8. Now between this candlestick and the table, 
 which, as we said, were within the sanctuary, was 
 the altar of incense, made of wood indeed, but of 
 the same wood of which the foregoing vessels 
 were made, such as was not liable to corruption; 
 it was entirely crusted over with a golden plate. 
 Its breadth on each side was a cubit, but the alti- 
 tude double. Upon it was a grate of gold, that 
 was extant above the altar, which had a golden 
 crown encompassing it round about, whereto be- 
 longed rings and bars, by which the priests car- 
 ried it when they journeyed. Before this taber- 
 nacle there was reared a brazen altar, but it was 
 within made of wood, five cubits by measure on 
 each side, but its height was but three, in like 
 manner adorned with brass plates, as bright as 
 gold. It had also a brazen hearth of net-work ; 
 for the ground underneath received the fire from 
 the hearth, because it had no basis to receive it. 
 Hard by this altar lay the basins, and the vials, 
 and the censers, and the caldrons, made of gold ; 
 but the other vessels, made for the use of the 
 sacrifices, were all of brass. And such was the 
 construction of the tabernacle ; and these went 
 the vessels thereto belonging. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CONCERNING THE GARMENTS OP THE PRIESTS, AKD 
 OF THE HIGH PRIEST. 
 
 1. THERE were peculiar garments appointed 
 for the priests, and for all the rest, which they 
 call CohancEce [priestly] garments, as also for the 
 high priests, which they call Cahancece Rabbce, 
 and denote the high priest's garments. Such was 
 therefore the habit of the rest; but when the 
 priest approaches the sacrifices, he purifies him- 
 self with the purification which the law pre- 
 scribes ; and, in the first place, he puts on that 
 which is called Machanase, which means some- 
 what that is fast tied. It is a girdle, composed 
 of fine twined linen, and is put about the privy 
 parts, the feet being to be inserted into them, in 
 the nature of breeches ; but above half of it is 
 cut off, and it ends at the thighs and is there tied 
 fast. 
 
 2. Over tnis he wore a linen vestment, made 
 of fine flax doubled: it is called Chethone, and 
 denotes linen, for we call linen by the name of 
 Chethone. This vestment reaches down to the 
 feet, and sits close to the body; and has sleeves 
 that are tied fast to the arms : it is girded to the 
 breast a little above the elbows, by a girdle often 
 going round, four fingers broad, but so loosely 
 woven that you would think it were the skin of 
 a serpent. It is embroidered with flowers of 
 scarlet, and purple, and blue, and fine twined 
 linen ; but the warp was nothing but fine linen. 
 The beginning of its circumvolution is at the 
 breast ; and when it has gone often round, it if 
 there tied, and hangs loosely there down to the 
 i ankle*: I mean this all the time the prist is no 1
 
 74 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK iii 
 
 about any laborious service, for in this position it 
 appears in the most agreeable manner to the 
 spectators; but when he is obliged to assist at 
 the offering sacrifices, and to do the appointed 
 service, that he may not be hindered in his ope- 
 rations by its motion, he throws it to the left, 
 and bears it on his shoulder. Moses indeed calls 
 this belt Abaneth ; but we have learned from the 
 Babylonians to call it J$mia t for so it is by thorn 
 called. This vestment has no loose or hollow 
 parts anywhere in it, but only a narrow aperture 
 about the neck ; and it is tied with certain strings 
 hanging dowi*. from the edge over the breast and 
 back, and is fastened above each shoulder : it is 
 called Massabazanes. 
 
 3. Upon his head he wears a cap, not brought 
 to a conic form, nor encircling the whole head, 
 but still covering more than the half of it, which 
 is called Masnaemphthes ; and its make is such, 
 that it seems to be a crown, being made of thick 
 swathes, but the contexture is of linen; and it is 
 doubled round many times, and sewed together: 
 besides which, a piece of fine linen covers the 
 whole cap from the upper part, and reaches down 
 to the forehead, and hides the seams of the 
 swathes, which would otherwise appear inde- 
 cently : this adheres closely upon the solid part 
 of the head, and is thereto so firmly fixed, that it 
 may not fall off during the sacred service about 
 the sacrifices. So we have now shewn you what 
 is the habit of the generality of the priests. 
 
 4. The high priest is indeed adorned with the 
 ame garments that we have described, without 
 abating one ; only over this he puts on a vestment 
 of a blue colour. This also is a long robe, reach- 
 ing to his feet, [in our language it is called Meeir,] 
 and is tied round with a girdle, embroidered 
 with the same colours and flowers as the former, 
 with a mixture of gold interwoven. To the 
 bottom of which garment are hung fringes, in 
 colour like pomegranates, with golden bells,* by 
 a curious and beautiful contrivance ; so that be- 
 tween two bells hangs apomegranate, and between 
 two pomegranates a belL Now this vesture was 
 not composed of two pieces, nor was it sewed to- 
 gether upon the shoulders and the sides, but it 
 was one long vestment so woven as to have an 
 aperture for the neck; not an oblique one, but 
 parted all along the breast and the back. A border 
 also was sewed to it, lest the aperture should 
 look too indecently : it was also parted where the 
 hands were to come out. 
 
 5. Besides these the high priest put on a third 
 garment, which is called the Ephod, which resem- 
 bles the Epomis of the Greeks. Its make was 
 after this manner : it was woven to the depth of 
 a cubit, of several colours, with gold intermixed, 
 and embroidered, but it left the middle of the 
 breast uncovered : it was made with sleeves also ; 
 nor did it appear to be at all differently made 
 from a short coat. But in the "oid pkce of this 
 
 * The use of these golden hells at the bottom of the 
 high priest's long garment seems to have been this 
 That by shaking his garment at the time of his offerinK 
 incense in the temple, on the great day of expiation or 
 at other proper periods of his sacred ministrations 
 there, on the great festivals, the people might have 
 notice of it, and might fall to their own prayers at the 
 time of incense, or other proper periods; and so the 
 whole congregation might at once oflfer those common 
 prayers jointly with the high priest himself to the Al- 
 ilghty. See Luke i. 10 ; Kev. viii. 3, 4. Nor probably 
 the son of Sirach to be otherwise understood, when 
 .V/^ Aaroni the first high priest, Ecclus. xlv. 9. 
 God encompassed Aaron with pomegranates, and 
 nth many golden bells round about, that as he went 
 lere might be a sound, and a noise made that might be 
 EnTpeo 11 !! 2 tem P Ie ' for * memorial to the children of 
 
 garment there was inserted a piece of the bigness 
 of a span, embroidered with gold, and the other 
 colours of the ephod, and was called Essen, [the 
 breastplate,] which in the Greek language sig- 
 nifies the Oracle. This piece exactly filled up 
 the void space in the ephod. It was united to it 
 by golden rings at every comer, the like rings 
 being annexed to the ephod, and a blue riband 
 was made use of to tie them together by those 
 rings : and that the space between the rings 
 might not appear empty, they contrived to fill it 
 up with stitches of blue ribands. There were 
 also two sardonyxes upon the ephod, at the 
 shoulders to fasten it, in the nature of buttons, 
 having each end running to the sardonyxes of 
 gold, that they might be buttoned by them. On 
 these were engraven the names of the sons of 
 Jacob, in our own country letters, and in oui 
 own tongue, six on each of the stones, on either 
 side ; and the elder sons' names were on the right 
 shoulder. Twelve stones also there were upon 
 the breastplate, extraordinary in largeness and 
 beauty; and they were an ornament not to be 
 purchased by men, because of their immense 
 value. These stones, however, stood in three 
 rows, by four in a row, and were inserted into 
 the breastplate itself, and they were set in 
 ouches of gold, that were themselves inserted in 
 the breastplate, and were so made that they 
 might not fall out. Now the first three stone 
 were a sardonyx, a topaz, and an emerald. The 
 second row contained a carbuncle, a jasper, and 
 a sapphire. The first of the third row was a 
 ligure, then an amethyst, and the third an agate 
 being the ninth of the whole number. The first 
 of the fourth row was a chrysolite, the next was 
 an onyx, and then a beryl, which was the last of 
 all. Now the names of all those sons of Jacob 
 were engraven in these stones, whom we esteem 
 the heads of our tribes, each stone having the 
 honour of a name, in the order according to which 
 they were born. And whereas the rings were 
 too weak of themselves to bear the weight of the 
 stones, they made two other rings of a larger size, 
 at the edge of that part of the breastplate, which 
 reached to the neck, and inserted into the very 
 texture of the breastplate, to receive chains 
 finely wrought, which connected them with 
 golden bands to the tops of the shoulders, whose 
 extremity Burned backwards, and went into the 
 ring on the prominent back part of the ephod; 
 and this was for the security of the breastplate, 
 that it might not fall out of its place. There 
 was also a girdle sewed to the breastplate, which 
 was of the forementione_d colours, with gold in- 
 termixed, which, when it had gone once round, 
 was tied again upon the seam, and hung down. 
 There were also golden loops that admitted its 
 fringes at each extremity of the girdle, and in- 
 cluded them entirely. 
 
 6. The high priest's mitre was the same that 
 we described before, and was wrought like that 
 of all the other priests ; above which there was 
 another, with swathes of blue embroidered, and 
 round it was a golden crown polished, of three 
 rows, one above another; out of which arose a 
 cup of gold, which resembled the herb which we 
 call Saccharus; but those Greeks that are skilful 
 in botany call it Hyoscyamus. Now, lest any one 
 that has seen this herb, but has not been taught 
 its name, and is unacquainted with its nature, or, 
 having known its name, knows not the herb when 
 he sees it, I shall give such as these are a de- 
 scription of it. This h erb is oftentimes in tallness 
 above three spans, but its root is like that of a 
 turnip, (for he that should compare it thereto 
 would not be mistaken ;) but its leaves are like 
 the leaves of mint. Out of its branches it sends
 
 CHAP. vm.j 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 out a calyx, cleaving to the branch ; and a cofc 
 encompasses it, which it naturally puts off when 
 it is changing, in order to produce its fruit. This 
 calyx is of the bigness of the bone of the little 
 finger, but in the compass of its aperture is like 
 a cup. This I will further describe for the use 
 of those who are unacquainted with it. Suppose 
 a sphere be divided into two parts, round at the 
 bottom, but having another segment that grows 
 up to a circumference from that bottom ; suppose 
 It become narrower by degrees, and that the 
 cavity of that part grow decently smaller, and 
 then gradually grow wider again at the brim, 
 such as we see in the navel of a pomegranate, 
 with its notches. And indeed such a coat grows 
 over this plant as renders it a hemisphere, and 
 that, as one may say, turned accurately in a 
 lathe, and having its notches extant above it, 
 which, as I said, grow like a pomegranate, only 
 that they are sharp, and end in nothing but 
 prickles. Now the fruit is preserved by this 
 coat of the calyx, which fruit is like the seed of 
 the herb Sideritis : it sends out a flower that may 
 seem to resemble that of poppy. Of this was a 
 crown made, as far as from the hinder part of 
 the head to each of the temples ; but this Ephielijs, 
 for so this calyx may be called, did not cover the 
 forehead, but it was covered with a golden plate,* 
 which had inscribed upon it the name of God in 
 sacred characters. And uch were the ornaments 
 of the high priest. 
 
 7. Now here one may wonder at tne ill-will 
 which men bear to us, and which they profess to 
 bear on acccount of our despising that Deity 
 which they pretend to honour; for if any one do 
 but consider the fabric of the tabernacle, and 
 take a view of the garments of the high priest, 
 and of those vessels which we make use of in 
 our sacred ministration, he will find that our 
 legislator was a divine man, and that we are un- 
 justly reproached by others : for if any one do 
 without prejudice, and with judgment, look upon 
 these things, he will find they were every one 
 made in way of imitation and representation of 
 the universe. When Moses distinguished the 
 tabernacle into three parts, t and allowed two ol 
 them to the priests, as a place accessible and 
 common, he denoted the land and the sea, th :* 
 being of general access to all; but he set apar 
 the third division for God, because heaven is in 
 accessible to men. And when he ordered twelve 
 loaves to be set on the table, he denoted the 
 year, as distinguished into so many months. 
 By branching out the candlestick into seventy 
 parts, he secretly intimated the Decani, or 
 seventy divisions of the planets ; and as to the 
 seven lamps upon the candlesticks, they referred 
 to the course of the planets, of which that is 
 the number. The veils, too, which were com- 
 posed of four things, they declared the four ele- 
 ments , lor the fine linen was proper to signify 
 
 the earth, because the flax grow* out of the 
 aarth ; the purple signified the sea, because tha 
 olour is dyed by the blood of a sea sliell-nsh ; 
 h blue is to signify the air ; and the scarlet will 
 naturally be an indication of fire. Now the vest- 
 ment of the high priest being made of linen, sig- 
 nified the earth; the blue denoted the sky, being 
 like lightning in its pomegranates, aaci in the 
 noise of the bells resembling thunder. And for 
 the ephod, it shewed that God had made the 
 laniverse of four [elements;] and as for the gold 
 interwoven, I suppose it related to the splendour 
 by which all things are enlightened. He also ap- 
 pointed the breastplate to be placed in the mid- 
 dle of the ephod, to resemble the earth, for that 
 has the very middle place of the world. And 
 t :e girdle which encompassed the high priest 
 round, signified the ocean, for that goes round 
 about and includes the universe. Each of the 
 sardonyxes declares to us the sun and the moon ; 
 those, I mean, that were in the nature of but- 
 tons on the high priest's shoulders. And for the 
 twelve stones, whether we understand by them 
 the months, or whether we understand the like 
 number of the signs of that circle which the 
 Greeks call the Zodiac, we shall not be mistaken 
 In their meaning And for the mitre, which was 
 of a blue colour, it seems to me to mean heaven; 
 for how otherwise could the name of God be in- 
 scribed upon it? That it was also illustrated 
 '.vith a crown, and that of gold also, is because of 
 that splendour with which God is pleased. Let 
 this explication suffice at present, since the 
 course of my narration will often, and on many 
 occasions, afford me the opportunity of enlarging 
 , ui>on the virtue of our legislator. 
 
 CHAPTER Vm. 
 
 OT THE PRIESTHOOD OF AARON. 
 
 1. WHEN vhat has been described was brought 
 to & conclusion, gifts not being yet presented, 
 < od appeared to Moses, and enjoined him to 
 tteatow the high priesthood upon Aaron his bro- 
 ther, as upon him that best of them all deserved 
 to obtain that honour, on account of his virtue. 
 4.nd when he had gathered the multitude to- 
 gether, he gave them an account of Aaron's 
 virtues, and of his good-will to them, and of the 
 dangers he had undergone for their sakes. Upon 
 which, when they had given testimony to him in 
 all respects, and shewed their readiness to receive 
 him, Moses said to them, "O you Israelites, 
 this work is already brought to a coi 
 
 * The reader ought to take notice here, that the very 
 Mosaic Petalon, or golden plate, for the forehead of the 
 Jewish high priest, was itself preserved, not only till the 
 days of Josephus, but of Origen ; and that its inscrip- 
 tion. Holiness to the Lord, was in the Samaritan char- 
 acters. See Antiq. t. viii. ch. iii. sect. 8 ; Essay on 
 the Old Test. p. 164; and Eeland, De Bpol. Templi, 
 p. 132. 
 
 I When Josephus, both here and chap. vi. sect. 4, 
 supposes the tabernacle to ha^e been parted into three 
 parts, he seems to esteem tne bare entrance to be a 
 third division, distinct from the holy and the most 
 holy places ; and this the rather, because in the temple 
 afterward there was a real distinct third part, which 
 was called the Porch ; otherwise Josephus would con 
 tradict his own description of the tabernacle, whicl 
 gives us a particular account of no more than tw. 
 parts 
 
 I This explication of the mystical meaning of the 
 , Jewish tabernacle and its vessels, with the garments of 
 ' the high priest, is taken out of Philo, and fitted to Gen- 
 tile philosophical notions. This may possibly be for- 
 given in Jews greatly versed in heathen learning and 
 philosophy, as Philo had ever been, and as Josephus 
 had long been when he wrote these Antiquities. In 
 the meantime, it is not to be doubted, but in their edu- 
 cation they must Loth hive learned more Jewish inter- 
 pretations, such as we meet with in the epistle of 
 Barnabas, in that to the Hebrews, and elsewhere 
 among the old Jews. Accordingly, when Josephus 
 wrote his books of the Jewish War, for the use of the 
 Jews, at which time he was comparatively young, and 
 less used to Gentile books, we find one specimen of 
 such a Jewish interpretation ; for there (b. vii. ch. v. 
 sect. 5) he makes the seven branches of the temple 
 candlestick, with their seven lamps, an emblem of tha 
 seven days of creation and rest, which are here emblems 
 of the seven planets. Nor certainly ought ancient 
 Jewish emblems to be explained any other way than 
 according to ancient Jewish, and not Gentile, notions 
 See the Wnr. b i^ ch. xxiiii. sect. 2.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK in, 
 
 manner most acceptable to God, and according 
 to our abilities. And now since you see that ne 
 is received into this tabernacle, we shall first of 
 all stand in need of one that may officiate for us, 
 and may minister to the sacrifices and to the 
 prayers that are to be put up for us ; and, indeed, 
 had the inquiry after such a person been left to 
 me, I should have thought myself worthy of 
 this honour, both because men are naturally 
 fond of themselves, and because I am conscious 
 to myself that I have taken a great deal of pains 
 for your deliverance ; but now God himself has 
 determined that Aaron is worthy of this honour, 
 and has chosen him for his priest, as knowing 
 him to be the most righteous person among you. 
 So that he is to put on the vestments which are 
 consecrated to God; he is to have the care of 
 the altars, and to make provision for the sacri- 
 fices; and he it is that must put up prayers for 
 you to God, who will readily hear them, not 
 only because he is himself solicitous for your 
 nation, but also because he will receive them as 
 offered by one whom he hath himself chosen to 
 this office."* The Hebrews were pleased with 
 what was said, and they gave their approbation 
 to him whom God had ordained ; for Aaron was, 
 of them all, the most deserving of this honour, 
 on account of his own stock and gift of prophecy, 
 and his brother's virtue. He had at that time 
 four sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazer, and Ithamar. 
 
 2. Now Moses commanded them to make use 
 of all the utensils which were more than were 
 necessary to the structure of the tabernacle, for 
 covering the tabernacle itself, the candlestick, 
 and altar of incense, and the other vessels, that 
 they might not be at all hurt when they jour- 
 neyed, either by the rain or by the rising of the 
 dust. And when he had gathered the multi- 
 tude together again, he ordained that they should 
 offer half a shekel for every man, as an oblation 
 to God ; which shekel is a piece among the He- 
 brews, and is equal to four Athenian drachmae, t 
 Whereupon they readily obeyed what Moses had 
 commanded ; and the number of the offerers was 
 six hundred and five thousand five hundred and 
 fifty. Now this money that was brought by the 
 men that were free, was given by such as were 
 above twenty years old, but under fifty; and 
 what was collected was spenf in the uses of the 
 tabernacle. 
 
 3. Moses now purified the tabernacle and the 
 priests ; which purification was performed after 
 the following manner: He commanded them to 
 take five hundred shekels of choice myrrh, an 
 equal quantity of cassia, and half the foregoing 
 weight of cinnamon and calamus, (this last is a 
 sort of sweet spice;) to beat them small, and wet 
 them with a bin of oil of olives, (a hin is our 
 
 * It is well worth our observation that the two prin- 
 cipal qualifications required in this section for the 
 constitution of the first high priest, (yiz., that he should 
 have an excellent character for virtuous and good 
 actions, as also that he should have the approbation of 
 the people,) are here noted by Josephus, even where 
 the nomination belonged to God himself, which are the 
 rery same qualifications which the Christian religion 
 require! in the choice of Christian bishops, priests and 
 deacons : a* the Apostolical Constitutions inform us 
 b. ii. ch. iii. 
 
 t This weight and value of the Jewish shekel, in the 
 days of Josephus, equal to about 2s. lOd. sterling, is, by 
 the learned Jews, owned to be one-fifth larger than 
 were their old shekels ; which determination agrees 
 perfectly with the remaining shekels that have Samari- 
 tan inscriptions, coined generally by Simon the Macca- 
 bee, about 230 years before Josephus published his 
 Antiquities, which never weigh more than two shillings 
 na fourpence halfpenny, and commonly but two 
 
 ulhngs and fourpence farthing. See Ileland, De 
 Nummis Samaritanorum. p. 188. 
 
 own country measure, and contains two Athenian 
 choas, or congiuses ;) then mix them together 
 and boil them, and prepare them after the art 
 of the apothecary, and make them into a very 
 sweet ointment ; and afterward to take it to 
 anoint and purify the priests themselves, and all 
 the tabernacle, as also the sacrifices. There were 
 also many, and those of various kinds of sweet 
 spices that belonged to the tabernacle, and such 
 as were of very great price, and were brought to 
 the golden altar of incense, the nature of which 
 I do not now describe, lest it should be trouble- 
 some to my readers; but incense J was to be 
 offered twice a day, both before sun-rising ard 
 at sun-setting. They were also to keep oil already 
 purified for the lamps ; three of which were to 
 give light all day long, upon the sacred candle- 
 stick, before God, and the rest were to be lighted 
 at the evening. 
 
 4. Now all was finished. Besaleel and Aholiab 
 appeared to be the most skilful of the workmen, 
 for they invented finer works than what others 
 had done before them, and were of great abili- 
 ties to gain notions of what they were formerly 
 ignorant of ; and of these, Besaleel was judged 
 to be the best. Now the whole time they were 
 about this work, was the interval of seven 
 months ; and after this it was that was ended 
 the first year since their departure out of Egypt. 
 But at the beginning of the second year, on the 
 month Xanthicus, as the Macedonians call it, but 
 on the month Nisan, as the Hebrews call it^on 
 the new moon, they consecrated the tabernacle, 
 and all its vessels, which I have already described. 
 
 5. Now God shewed himself pleased with the 
 work of the Hebrews, and did not permit their 
 labours to be in vain; nor did he disdain to make 
 use of what they had made, but lie came and 
 sojourned with them, and pitched his tabernacle 
 in the holy house. And in the following manner 
 did he come to it : The sky was clear, but there 
 was a mist over the tabernacle only, encompass- 
 ing it, but not with such a very deep and thick 
 cloud as is seen in the winter season, nor yet in 
 so thin a one as men might be able to discern any 
 thing through it ; but from it there dropped a 
 sweet dew, and such a one as shewed the pre- 
 sence of God to those that desired and be- 
 lieved it. 
 
 6. Now when Moses had bestowed such hon- 
 orary presents on the workmen as it was fit they 
 should receive who had wrought so well, he 
 offered sacrifices in the open court of the taber- 
 nacle, as God commanded him, a bull, a ram, 
 and a kid of the goats for a sin-offering. Now I 
 shall speak of what we do in our sacred offices 
 in my discourse about sacrifices, and therein 
 shall inform men in what cases Moses bid us 
 offer a whole burnt-offering, and in what cases 
 the law permits us to partake of them as of food. 
 And when Moses had sprinkled Aaron's vest- 
 ments, himself and his sons, with the blood of 
 the beasts that were slain, and had purified 
 them with spring waters and ointment, they 
 became God's priests. After this manner did 
 he consecrate them and their garments for seven 
 days together. The same he did to the taber- 
 nacle, and the vessels thereto belonging, both 
 with oil first incensed, as I said, and with the 
 
 t The incense was here offered, according to Jose- 
 phus's opinion, before sun-rising, and at sun-setting; 
 but in the days of Pompey, according to the same 
 Josephus, the sacrifices were offered in the morning, 
 and at the ninth hour. Antiq. b xiv. ch. iv. sect 3. 
 
 Hence we may correct the opinions of the modern 
 Rabbins, who say that only one of the seven lamps 
 burned in the day-time ; whereas, our Josephus, an 
 eye-witness, says there were three.
 
 CHAP. VIII.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS, 
 
 n 
 
 blood of bulls and of rams, slain day by day one, 
 according to its kind. But on the eighth day he 
 appointed a feast for the people, and commanded 
 them to offer sacrifice according to their ability. 
 Accordingly they contended one with another, 
 and were ambitious to exceed each other in the 
 sacrifices which they brought, and so fulfilled 
 Moses's injunctions. But as the sacrifices lay 
 upon the altar, a sudden fire was kindled from 
 among them of its own accord, and appeared to 
 the sight like fire from a flash of lightning, and 
 consumed whatsoever was upon the altar. 
 
 7. Hereupon an affliction befell Aaron, con- 
 sidered as a man and a father, but was under- 
 gone by him with true fortitude for he had 
 indeed a firmness of soul in such accidents, and 
 he thought this calamity came upon him accord- 
 ing to God's will- for whereas he had four sons, 
 as I said before, the two eldest of them, Nadab 
 and Abihu, did not bring those sacrifices which 
 Moses bade them bring, but which they used to 
 offer formerly, and were burnt to death. Now 
 when the fire rushed upon them, and began to 
 burn them, nobody could quench it. Accord- 
 ingly they died in this manner. And Moses bid 
 their father and their brethren to take up their 
 bodies, to carry them out of the camp, and to 
 bury them magnificently. Now the multitude 
 lamented them, and were deeply affected at this 
 their death, which so unexpectedly befell them. 
 But Moses entreated their brethren and their 
 father not to be troubled for them, and to pre- 
 fer the honour of God before their grief about 
 them ; for Aaron had already put on his sacred 
 garments. 
 
 8. But Moses refused all that honour which 
 he saw the multitude ready to bestow upon him, 
 and attended to nothing else but the service of 
 God. He went no more up to Mount Sinai ; but 
 he went into the tabernacle, and brought back 
 answers from God for what he prayed for. His 
 habit was also that of a private man; and in all 
 other circumstances he behaved himself like one 
 of the common people, and was desirous to 
 appear without distinguishing himself from the 
 multitude, but would have it known that he did 
 nothing else but take care of them. He also set 
 down in writing the form of their government, 
 and those laws, by obedience whereto, they 
 would lead their lives so as to please God, and 
 o aa to have no quarrels one among another. 
 However, the laws he ordained were such as God 
 suggested to him ; so I shall now discourse con- 
 cerning that form of government, and those laws. 
 
 9. I will now treat of what I before omitted, 
 the garment of the high priest: for he [Moses] 
 left no room for the evil practices of [false] pro- 
 phets ; but if some of that sort should attempt 
 to abuse the divine authority, he left it to God 
 to be present at his sacrifices when he pleased, 
 and when he pleased to be absent.* And he 
 was wining this should be known, not to the 
 Hebrews only, but to those foreigners also who 
 were there. For as to those stones, t which we 
 
 * Of this strange expression, that Moses " left it to 
 God to be present at his sacrifices when he pleased, and 
 when he pleased to be absent," see the note on b. ii. 
 Against Apion, sect. 16. 
 
 f These answers by the oracle of TJrim and Thummim, 
 which words signify light and perfection, or, as the 
 Septuagint render them, revelation and truth, and de- 
 note nothing further, that I see, but the shining stones 
 themselves, which were used, in this method of illu- 
 mination, in revealing the will of God, after a perfect 
 and true manner, to his people Israel : I say, these 
 answers were not made by the shining of the precious 
 stones, after an awkward manner, in th high priest's 
 breastplate, as the modern Rabbins vainly suppose, 
 for certainly the shining of the stones might precede 
 
 told you before, the high priest bare on hi 
 shoulders, which were sardonyxes, (and I think 
 it needless to describe their nature, they being 
 known to everybody,) the one of them shined 
 out when God was present at their sacrifices; I 
 mean that which was in the nature of a button 
 on his right shoulder, bright rays darting out 
 thence, and being seen even by those that were 
 most remote ; which splendour yet was not be- 
 fore natural to the stone. This has appeared a 
 wonderful thing to such as have not so far in- 
 dulged themselves in philosophy, as to daspiae 
 Divine Revelation, Yet will I mention what is 
 still more wonderfflt than this : for God declared 
 beforehand, by those twelve stones which the 
 high priest bare on his breast, and which were 
 inserted into his breastplate, when they should 
 be victorious in battle ; for so great a splendour 
 shone forth from them before the army began 
 to march, that all the people were sensible of 
 God's being present for their assistance. Whence 
 it came to pass that those Greeks, who had a 
 veneration for our laws, because they could not 
 possibly contradict this, called that breastplate 
 the Oracle. Now this breastplate, and this sar- 
 donyx, left off shining two hundred years before 
 I composed this book, God having been dis- 
 pleased at the transgressions of his laws. Of 
 which things we shall further discourse on a 
 fitter opportunity; but I will now go on with 
 my proposed narration. 
 
 or accompany the oracle, without itself delivering that 
 oracle, (see Antiq. b. vi. chap. vi. sect 4,) but rather 
 by an audible voice from the mercy-seat between the 
 cherubims. See Prideaux's Connect, at the year 534. 
 This oracle had been silent, as Josephus here informs 
 us, two hundred years before he wrote his Antiquities, 
 or ever since the days of the last good high priest of 
 the family of the Maccabees, John Hyrcanus. Now it 
 is here very well worth our observation, that the oracle 
 before us was that 'by which God appeared to be pre- 
 sent with, and gave directions to, his people Israel aa 
 their king, all the while they submitted to him in that 
 capacity ; and did not set over them such independent 
 kings as governed according to their own wills and 
 political maxims, instead of divine directions. Ac- 
 cordingly, we meet with this oracle (besides angelic 
 and prophetic admonitions) all along from the days of 
 Moses and Joshua to the anointing of Saul, the first of 
 the succession of the kings, (Num. xxvii. 21 ; Josh. vi. 
 6, i-c. ; xix. 50 ; Judges i. 1 ; xviiL 4, 6, 6, SO, 31 ; xx. 
 18, 23, 26, 27, 28; xxi. 1, Ac. ; 1 Sam. i. 17, 18; ili. per 
 tot. iv. per tot.;) nay, till Saul's rejection of the divine 
 commands in the war with Amalek, when he took upon 
 him to act as he thought fit, H. Sam. xiv. 3, 18, 19, 36, 
 37 ;) then thig oracle left Saul entirely, (which indeed 
 he had seldom consulted before, 1 Sam. xiv. 85 ; 1 Chron. 
 x. 14; xiii. 3; Antiq. b. vii. chap. iv. sect. 2,) and ac- 
 companied David, who was anointed to succeed him, 
 and who consulted God by it frequently, and complied 
 with its directions constantly, (1 Sam. xiv. 37, 41 ; 
 xv. 26 ; xxii. 13, 15 ; xxiii. 9, 10 ; xxx. 7, 8, 18 ; 2 Sam. 
 ii. 1; v. 19, 23; xxi. 1; xxiii. 14; 1 Chron. xiv. 10, 14; 
 Antiq. b. vi. chap. xii. sect. 6.) Saul, indeed, long 
 after his rejection by God, and when God had given 
 him up to destruction for his disobedience, did once 
 afterwards endeavour to consult God when it was too 
 late; but God would not then answer him, neither by 
 dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets, (1 Sam. xxviii. 
 d.) Nor did any of David's successors, the kings of 
 Judah. that we know of, consult God by this oracle, 
 till the very Babylonish captivity itself, when those 
 kings were at an end ; they taking upon them, I sup- 
 pose, too much of despotic power and royalty, and too 
 little owning the God of Israel for the supreme King of 
 Israel, though a few of them consulted the prophets 
 sometimes, and were answered by them. At the re- 
 turn of the two tribes, without the return of the kingly 
 government, the restoration of this oracle was expected, 
 (Neh. vii. 83; 1 Esd. v. 40; 1 Mace. iv. 46; xiv. 41.) 
 And indeed it may seem to have been restored for some 
 time after the Babylonish captivity, at least in the days 
 of that excellent high priest, John Hyrcanus, whom 
 Josephns esteemed as a king, a priest, and a prophet ; 
 and who, he says, foretold several things that came to
 
 78 
 
 OF 
 
 JKU'S. 
 
 [BOOK m. 
 
 10 The tabernacle being now consecrated, and 
 a regular order being settled for the priests, the 
 multitude judged that God now dwelt among 
 them aud betook themselves to sacrifices and 
 praises to God, as being now delivered from all 
 expectation of evils, and as entertaining a hope- 
 ful prospect of better times hereafter. They 
 offered also gifts to God, some as common to the 
 whole nation, and others as peculiar to them- 
 selves, and these tribe by tribe; for the heads 
 of the tribes combined together, two by two, 
 and brought a waggon and a yoke of oxen. 
 These amounted to six, and they earned the 
 tabernacle when they journeyed. Besides which, 
 each head of a tribe brought a bowl, and a 
 charger, and a spoon, of ten darics, full of in- 
 ceuse Now the charger and the bowl were of 
 silver, and together they weighed two hundred 
 shekels, but the bowl cost no more than seventy 
 shekels'; and these were full of fine flour min- 
 gled with oil, such as they used on the altar 
 about the sacrifices. They brought also a young 
 bullock, and a ram, with a lamb of a year old, 
 for a whole burnt-offering; as also a goat for the 
 forgiveness of sins. Every one of the heads of 
 the tribes brought also other sacrifices, called 
 peace-offerings, for every day two bulls, and five 
 rams, with lambs of a year old, and kids of the 
 goats. These heads of tribes were twelve days 
 in sacrificing, one sacrificing every day. No^ 
 Moses went no longer up to mount Sinai, but 
 went into the tabernacle, and learned of GOO 
 what they were to do, and what laws should * 
 made; which laws were preferable to what ha,ve 
 been devised by human understanding, au 
 proved to be firmly observed for all time * f 
 come, as being believed to be the gift of God, 
 insomuch that the Hebrews did no^transgress 
 any of those laws, either as tempted in times ot 
 peace by luxury, or in times of war by distress 
 of affairs. But I say no more here concen mg 
 them, because I have resolved to compose au- 
 other work concerning our laws. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE MANNEB OF OCB OFFERING 8ACBIFICSB. 
 
 tL I WILL now, however, make mention of a 
 w of our laws which belong to purifications, 
 
 pass accordingly ; but about the time of his death, he 
 here implies, that this oracle quite ceased, and not be- 
 fore. The following high priests now putting diadems 
 on their heads, and ruling according to their own will, 
 and by their own authority, like the other kings of the 
 Pagan countries about them; so that while the God 
 of Israel was allowed to be the supreme King of Israel 
 and his directions to be their authentic guides, Goo 
 gave them such directions as their supreme king and 
 governor ; and they were properly under a theocracy, 
 by this oracle of Urim, but no longer, (see Dr Bernard's 
 notes here ;) though I confess I cannot but esteem the 
 high priest Jaddus's divine dream, (Antiq. b. xi. chap, 
 viii. sect. 4,) and the high priest Caiphast's most re- 
 markable prophecy, (John xi. 47-52,) as two small re- 
 mains or specimens of this ancient oracle, which pro- 
 perly belonged to the Jewish high priests : nor perhaps 
 ought we entirely to forget that eminent prophetic 
 dream of our Josephus himself, (one next to a high 
 priest, as of the family of the Asamoneans or Macca- 
 bees,) as to the succession of Vespasian and Titus to 
 the Roman empire, and that in the days of Nero, and 
 before either Galba, Otho, or Vitellius were thought of 
 to succeed him. (Of the War, b. iii. chap. viii. sect. 9.) 
 This, I think, may be well looked on as the very last 
 Instance of any thing like the prophetic TJrim among 
 the Jewish nation, and just preceded their fatal deso- 
 lation: but how could it possibly come to pass that 
 <ach irreat men as Sir John Marsham and Dr Spenser. 
 
 and the like sacred offices, since I am accident- 
 ally come to this matter of sacrifices. Thse 
 sacrifices were of two sorts ; of those sorts one 
 was offered for private persons, and the othei 
 for the people in general; and they are done in 
 two different ways : in the one case, what is 
 slain ia burnt, as a whole burnt-offering, whence 
 that name is given to it; but the other is a 
 thank-offering, and is designed for feasting those 
 that sacrifice. I will speak of the former. Sup- 
 pose a private man offer a burnt-offering, he 
 must slay either a bull, a lamb, or a kid of the 
 goats, and the two hitter of the first year, 
 though of bulls he is permitted to sacrifice those 
 of a greater age ; but all burnt-offerings are to 
 be of males. When they are slain, the priests 
 sprinkle the blood round about the altar : they 
 then cleanse the bodies, and divide them into 
 parts, and salt them with salt, and lay them 
 upon the altar, while the pieces of wood are 
 piled one upon another, and the fire is burning; 
 they next cleanse the feet of the sacrifices and 
 the inwards in an accurate manner, and so lay 
 them to the rest to be purged by the fire, while 
 the priests receive the hides. This is the way 
 of offering a burnt-offering. 
 
 2. But those that offer thank-otferings do in- 
 deed sacrifice the same creatures, but such as 
 are unblemished, and above a year old; how- 
 ever, they may take either males or females. 
 They also sprinkle the altar with their blood: 
 but they lay upon the altar the kidneys and the 
 caul, and all the fat, and the lobe of the liver, to- 
 gether with the rump of the lamb; then, giving 
 the breast and the right shoulder to the priests, 
 the offerers feast upon the remainder of the- 
 flesh for two days ; and what remains they burn. 
 
 3. The sacrifices for sins are offered in the same 
 manner as is the thank-offering. But those who 
 are unable to purchase complete sacrifices, offer 
 two pigeons, or turtle-doves ; the one of which is 
 made a burnt-offering to God, the other they 
 give as food to the priests. But we shall treat 
 more accurately about the oblation of these 
 creatures in our discourse concerning sacrifices. 
 But if a person fall into sin by ignorance, he 
 offers a ewe lamb, or a female kid of the goats, 
 of the same age; and the priests sprinkle the 
 blood at the altar, not after the former manner, 
 but at ihe corners of it. They also bring the 
 kidneys and the rest of the fat, together with 
 the lobe of he liver, to the altar, while the 
 priests bear away the hides and the flesh, and 
 spend it in the holy place, on the same day;* 
 
 should imagine that this oracle of Urim aad Thummim, 
 with other practices as old or older than the law of 
 Moses, should have been ordained in imitation of some- 
 what like them among the Egyptians, which we never 
 aear of till the days of Diotiorus SictUus, JSlian, and 
 Maimonides, or little earlier than the Christian era 
 at the highest, is almost unaccountable; while the 
 main business of the law of Moses was evidently to 
 preserve the Israelites from the idolatrous and super- 
 titious practices of the neighbouring Pagan nations ; 
 and while it is so undeniable, that the evidence for the 
 great antiquity of Moses's law is incomparably beyond 
 that for the like or greater antiquity of such customs in 
 Egypt or other nations, which indeed is generally none 
 at all, it is most absurd to derive any of Moses's laws 
 from the imitation of those heathen practices. Such 
 hypotheses demonstrate to us how far inclination can 
 prevail over evidence, in even some of tb most learned 
 part of mankind. 
 
 * Wh<u Reland well observes here, om, of Josephus, 
 as compared with the law of Moses, Lev. vii. 15, (that 
 the eating of the sacrifice the same day it was offered, 
 seems to mean only before the morning of the next, 
 although the latter part, i.e., the night, be in strictness 
 part of the next day, according to the Jewish reckoning,) 
 Is greatly to be observed upon other occasions also. The 
 maxim in such cases, it teems Is this : That
 
 7IIAP. X.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 for the law does not permit them to leave of it 
 until the morning. But if any one sin, and is 
 conscious of it himself, but hath nobody that 
 can prove it upon him, he offers a ram, the law 
 enjoining him so to do; the flesh of which the 
 priests eat, as before, in the holy place, on the 
 same day. And if the rulers offer sacrifices for 
 their sins, they bring the same oblations that 
 private men do; only they so far differ, that 
 they are to bring for sacrifices a bull or a kid of 
 the goats, both males. 
 
 4. Now the law requires, both in private and 
 public sacrifices, that the finest flour be also 
 brought; for a lamb the measure of one -tenth 
 deal, for a ram two, and for a bull three. 
 This they consecrate upon the altar, when it is 
 mingled with oil; for oil is also brought by 
 those that sacrifice; for a bull the half of a 
 hin, and for a ram the third part of the same 
 measure, and one quarter of it for a lamb. 
 This hin is an ancient Hebrew measure, and is 
 equivalent to two Athenian choas, (or congiuses. ) 
 They bring the same quantity of oil which they 
 do of wine, and they pour the wine about the 
 altar ; but if any one does not offer a complete 
 sacrifice of animals, but brings fine flour only 
 for a vow, he throws a handful upon the altar 
 as its first fruits, while the priests take the rest 
 for their food, either boiled or mingled with oil, 
 but made into cakes of bread. But whatsoever 
 it be that a priest himself offers, it must of 
 necessity be all hurnt. Now the law forbids us 
 to sacrifice any animal at the same time with its 
 dam : and, in other cases, not till the eighth day 
 after its birth. Other sacrifices there are also 
 appointed for escaping distempers, or for other 
 occasions, in which meat-offerings are consumed, 
 together with the animals that are sacrificed; 
 of which it is not lawful to leave any part till 
 the next day, only the priests are to take their 
 wu share. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 JOKCEKNINU THE FESTIVALS; AND HOW EACH DAT 
 OF 8DOH FESTIVAL IS TO BB OBSERVED. 
 
 1. THE law requires, that out of the public 
 expenses a lamb of the first year be killed every 
 tlay, at the beginning and at the ending of the 
 day; but on the seventh day, which is called 
 the Sabbath, they kill two, and sacrifice them in 
 the same manner. At the new moon, they both 
 perform the daily sacrifices, and slay two bulls, 
 with seven lambs of the first year, and a kid of 
 the goats also, for the expiation of sins ; that is, 
 if they have sinned through ignorance. 
 
 2. But on the seventh month, which the 
 Macedonians call Hyperberetutus, they make an 
 addition to those already mentioned, and sacri- 
 fice a bull, a ram, and seven lambs, and a kid of 
 the goaf*, for sins. 
 
 3. On the tenth day of tne same lunar month, 
 they fast till the evening; and this day they 
 sacrifice a bull, and two rams, and seven lambs, 
 and a kid of the goats for sins. And besides 
 these, they bring two kids of the goats ; the one 
 of which is sent alive out of the limits of the 
 camp into the wilderness for the scapegoat, 
 and to be an expiation for the sins of the whole 
 multitude ; but the other is brought into a place 
 of great cleanness within the limits of the camp, 
 
 the day goes before the night ; and this appears to me 
 to be the language both of the Old and New Testament. 
 See also the note on Antiq. b. iv. ch, iv. sect. 4, and 
 Relaud's note on b. iv. chap. viii. sect. 28. 
 
 and is there burnt, with its skin, without any 
 sort of cleansing. With this goat was burnt a 
 bull, not brought by the people, but by the 
 high priest, at his own charges ; which, when it 
 was slain, he brought of the blood into the holy 
 place, together with the blood of the kid of the 
 goats, and sprinkled the ceiling with his finger 
 seven times, as also its pavement, and again as 
 often toward the most holy place, and about the 
 golden altar: he also at last brings it into the 
 open court, and sprinkles it about the great 
 altar. Besides this, they set the extremities, 
 and the kidneys, and the. fat, with the lobe of 
 the liver, upon the altav The high priest like- 
 wise presents a ram to God as a burnt-offering. 
 
 4. Upon the fifteenth day of the same month, 
 when the season, of the year is changing for 
 winter, the law enjoins us to pitch tabernacles 
 in every one of our houses, so that we preserve 
 ourselves from the cold of that time of the 
 year ; as also that when we should arrive at our 
 own country, and come to that city which we 
 should have then for our metropolis, because of 
 the temple therein to be built, and keep a festi- 
 val for eight days, and offer burnt-offerings, and 
 sacrifice thank-offerings, that we should then 
 carry in our hands a branch of myrtle, and 
 willow, and a bough of the palm-tree, with the 
 addition of the pome citron. That the burnt- 
 offering on the first of those~days was to be a 
 sacrifice of thirteen bulls, and fourteen lambs, 
 and fifteen rams, with the addition of a kid of 
 the goats, as an expiation for sins : and on the 
 following days the same number of lambs, and 
 of rams, with the kids of the goats; but abating 
 one of the bulls every day till they amounted to 
 seven only. On the eighth day all work was 
 laid aside, and then, as we said before, they 
 sacrificed to God a bullock, a ram, and seven 
 lambs, with a kid of the goats, for an expiation 
 of sins. And this is the accustomed solemnity of 
 the Hebrews, when they pitch their tabernacles. 
 
 5. In the month of Xanthicus, which is by ui 
 called Nisan, and is the beginning of our year, 
 on the fourteenth day of the lunar month, when 
 the sun is in Aries, (for in this month it was that 
 we were delivered from bondage under the 
 Egyptians,) the law ordained that we should 
 every year slay that sacrifice which I before 
 told you we slew when we came out of Egypt, 
 and which was called the Passover; and so do 
 we celebrate this passover in companies, leaving 
 nothing of what we sacrifice till the day follow- 
 ing. The feast of unleavened bread succeeds 
 that of the passover, and falls on the fifteenth 
 day of the month, and continues seven days, 
 wherein they feed on unleavened bread; on 
 every one of which days two bulls are killed, 
 and one ram, and seven lambs. Now these 
 lambs are entirely burnt, beside the kid of the 
 goats which is added to all the rest, for sins ; 
 for it is intended as a feast for the priest on 
 every one of those days. But on the second 
 day of unleavened bread, which is the sixteenth 
 day of the month, they first partake of the 
 fruits of the earth, for before that day they do 
 not touch them. And while they suppose it 
 proper to honour God, from whom they obtain 
 this plentiful provision, in the first place, they 
 offer the first-fruits of their barley, and that in 
 the manner following: They take a handful of 
 the ears, and dry them, then beat them small, 
 and purge the barley from the bran ; they then 
 bring one tenth deal to the altar, to God : and, 
 casting one handful of it upon the fire, they 
 leave the rest for the use of the priest; and 
 after this it is that they may publicly or pri- 
 vately reap their harvest. They also at thu
 
 so 
 
 ANTIQUITIES Of THE JEWS. 
 
 (BOOK m. 
 
 anticipation of the firt-fruits of the earth, 
 sacrifice a lamb, as a burnt-offering to God. 
 
 6. When a week of weeks has passed over 
 after this sacrifice, (which weeks contain forty 
 aud nine days,) on the fiftieth day, which is 
 Pentecost, but is called by the Hebrews Asartha, 
 which signifies Pentecost, they bring to God a 
 loaf, made of wheat flour, of two tenth deals, 
 with leaven ; and for sacrifices, they bring two 
 lambs; and when they have only presented 
 them to God, they are made ready for supper 
 for the priests ; nor is it permitted to leave any- 
 thing of them till the day following. They also 
 slay three bullocks for a burnt-offering, and two 
 rams ; and fourteen lambs, with two kids of the 
 goats, for sins ; nor is there any one of the festi- 
 vals but in it they offer burnt-offerings; they 
 also allow themselves to rest on every one of 
 them. Accordingly, the law prescribes in them 
 all what kinds they are to sacrifice, and how 
 they are to rest entirely, and must slay sacri- 
 fices, in order to feast upon them. 
 
 7. However, out of the common charges, 
 baked bread, [was set on the table of shew- 
 bread,] without leaven, of twenty-four tenth 
 deals of flour, for so much is spent upon this 
 bread; two heaps of these were baked; they 
 were baked the day before the Sabbath, but 
 were brought into the holy place on the morn- 
 ing of the Sabbath, and set upon the holy table, 
 six on a heap, one loaf still standing over-against 
 another ; where two golden cups full of frank- 
 incense were also set upon them, and there they 
 remained till another Sabbath, and then other 
 loaves were brought in their stead, while the 
 loaves were given to the priests for their food, 
 and the frankincense was burnt in that sacred 
 fire wherein all their offerings were burnt also ; 
 and so other frankincense was set upon the 
 loaves instead of what was there before. The 
 [high] priest also, of his own charges, offered a 
 sacrifice, and that twice every day. It was 
 made of flour mingled with oil, and gently baked 
 by the fire ; the quantity was one tenth deal of 
 flour ; he brought the half of it to the fire in the 
 morning, and the other half at night. The 
 account of these sacrifices I shall give more 
 accurately hereafter; but I think I have pre- 
 mised what for the present may be sum'cie it 
 xmcerning them. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 OF THE PURIFICATIONS. 
 
 | 1. MOSES took out the tribe of Levi from 
 eommunicating with the rest of the people, and 
 jet them apart to be a holy tribe ; and purified 
 them by water taken from perpetual springs, 
 and with such sacrifices as were usually offered 
 to God on the like occasions. He delivered to 
 them also the tabernacle, and the sacred vessels, 
 and the other curtains, which were made for 
 covering the tabernacle, that they might minis- 
 ter under the conduct of the priests, who had 
 been already consecrated to God. 
 
 2. He also determined concerning animals ; 
 which of them might be used for food, and 
 which they were obliged to abstain from ; which 
 matters, when this work shall give me occasion,, 
 shall be further explained ; and the causes shall 
 be added, by which he was moved to allot some 
 of them to be our food, and enjoined us to 
 abstain from others. However, he entirely for- 
 bade us the use of blood for food, and esteemed 
 it to contain the soul and spirit. He also for 
 
 bade us to eat the flesh of an animal that dit^ 
 of itself, as also the caul, and the fat of goats, 
 and sheep, and bulls. 
 
 3. He alsd ordered, that those whose bodiei 
 were afflicted with leprosy, and who had a 
 gonorrhoea, should not come into the city ; * 
 nay, he removed the women, when they had 
 their natural purgations, till the seventh day ; 
 after which he looked on them as pure, and per- 
 mitted them to come in again. The law per- 
 mits those who have taken care of funerals to 
 come in after the same manner, when this num- 
 ber of days is over ; but if any continued longer 
 than that number of days in a state of pollution, 
 the law appointed the otfering two lambs for a 
 sacrifice ; the one of which they are to purge by 
 fire, and for the other, the priests take it for 
 themselves. In the same manner do those sa- 
 crifice who have had the gonorrhoea. But he 
 that sheds his seed in his sleep, if he go down 
 into cold water, has the same privilege with 
 those who have lawfully accompanied with their 
 wives. And for the lepers, he suffered them 
 not to come into the city at all, nor to live with 
 any others, as if they were in effect, dead 
 persons : but if any one had obtained, by prayer 
 to God, the recovery from that distemper, and 
 had gained a healthful complexion again, such a 
 one returned thanks to God, with several sorts 
 of sacrifices, concerning whieh we will apeak 
 hereafter. 
 
 4. Whence one cannot but jmile at those who 
 say that Moses was himself afflicted with the 
 leprosy when he fled out of Egypt, and that he 
 became the conductor of those who on that 
 account left that country, and led them into the 
 land of Canaan ; for, had this been true, Moses 
 would not have made these laws to his own dis- 
 honour, which indeed it was more likely he 
 would have opposed, if others had endeavoured 
 to introduce them ; and this the rather, be- 
 cause there are lepers in many nations, who are 
 yet in honour, and not only free from reproach 
 and avoidance, but who have been great captains 
 of armies, and been intrusted with high offices 
 in the commonwealth, and have had the privi- 
 lege of entering into holy places and temples ; so 
 that nothing hindered, but if either Moses him- 
 self, or the multitude that was with him, had 
 been liable to such a misfortune in the colour of 
 his skin, he might have made laws about them 
 for their credit and advantage, and have laid no 
 manner of difficulty upon them. Accordingly, 
 it is a plain case, that it is out of violent pre- 
 judice only, that they report these things about 
 us ; but Moses was pure from any such distem- 
 per, and lived with countrymen who were pure 
 of it also, and thence made the laws which con- 
 cerned others that had the distemper. Ue did 
 this for the honour of ..God ; but as to these 
 matters, let every one consider them after what 
 manner he pleases. 
 
 5. As to the women, when they have born a 
 child, Moses forbade them to come into the 
 temple, or touch the sacrifices, before forty days 
 were over, supposing it to be a boy ; but if she 
 has born a girl, the law is that she cannot be 
 admitted before twice that number of days be 
 over; and when after the before-mentioned 
 tune appointed for them, they perform their 
 sacrifices, the priests distribute them before 
 God. 
 
 * We may also here note, that Josephns frequently 
 calls the camp the city, and the court of the Mosaic 
 tabernacle 'a temple, and the tabernacle itself a holy 
 house, with allusion to the latter city, temple, and 
 holy house, which he knew so well long afterwards.
 
 CHAP, xrr.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 6. But if any one suspect that his wife has 
 been guilty of adultery, he was to bring a tenth 
 deal of barley flour ; they then cast one handful 
 to God, and gave the rest of it to the priests for 
 food. One of the priests set the woman at the 
 gates that are turned towards the temple, and 
 took the veil from her head, and wrote the 
 name of GOD on parchment, and enjoined her 
 to swear that she had not at all injured her 
 husband ; and to wish that, if she had violated 
 her chastity, her right thigh might be put out 
 of joint; that her belly might swell, and that 
 she might die thus : but that if her husband, by 
 the violence of his affection, and of the jealousy 
 which arose from it, had been rashly moved to 
 this suspicion, that she might bear a male child 
 in the tenth month. Now when these oaths 
 were over, the priest wiped the name of GOD out 
 of the parchment, and wrung the water into a 
 vial. He also took some dust out of the temple, 
 (if any happened to be there,) and put a little 
 of it into the vial, and gave it her to drink ; 
 whereupon the woman, if she were unjustly 
 accused, conceived with child, and brought 
 it to perfection in her womb : but if she had 
 broken her faith of wedlock to her husband, and 
 had sworn falsely before God, she died in a 
 reproachful manner : her thigh fell off from 
 her, and her belly swelled with a dropsy. And 
 these are the ceremonies about sacrifices, and 
 about the purifications thereto belonging, which 
 Moses provided for his countrymen. He also 
 prescribed the following laws to them : 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 SEVERAL LAWS. 
 
 i 1. As for adultery, Moses forbade it entirely, 
 as esteeming it a happy thing that men should 
 be wise in the affairs of wedlock ; and that it 
 was profitable both to cities and families that 
 children should be known to be genuine. He 
 also abhorred men's lying with their mothers, as 
 one of the greatest crimes; and the like for 
 lying with their father's wife, and with aunts, 
 and sisters, and sons' wives, as all instances of 
 abominable wickedness. He also forbade a man 
 to lie with his wife when she was defiled by her 
 natural purgation : and not to come near brute 
 beasts ; nor to approve of the lying with a male, 
 which was to hunt after unlawful pleasurea on 
 account of beauty. To those who were guilty of 
 such insolent behaviour, he ordained death for 
 their punishment. 
 
 2. As for the priests, he prescribed to them a 
 double degree of purity:* for he restrained 
 them in the instances above, and moreover for- 
 bade them to marry harlots. He also forbade 
 them to marry a slave, or a captive, and such as 
 got their living by cheating trades, and by keep- 
 ing inns : as also a woman parted from her hus- 
 band, on any account whatsoever. Nay, he did 
 not think it proper for the high priest to marry 
 even the widow of one that was dead, though 
 ne allowed that to the priestt ; but he permitted 
 him only to marry a virgin, and to retain her. 
 Whence it is that the high priest is not to come 
 
 * These words of Josephus are remarkable, that the 
 lawgiver of the Jews required of the priests a double 
 degree of purity, in comparison of that required of the 
 people, of which he gives several instances immedi- 
 ately. It was for certain the case also among the first 
 Christians, of the clergy, in comparison of the laity, as 
 the Apostolical Constitutions and Canons everywhere 
 Inform us. 
 
 near to one that is dead, although the rest 
 are not prohibited from coming near to their 
 brethren, or parents, or children, when they 
 are dead; but they are to be unblemished in 
 all respects. He ordered that the priest, who 
 had any blemish, should have his portion indeed 
 among the priests; but he forbade him to 
 ascend the altar, or to enter into the holy 
 house. He also enjoined them, not only to 
 observe purity in their sacred ministrations, 
 but in their daily conversation, that it might be 
 unblameable also ; and on this account it is that 
 those who wear the sacerdotal garments are 
 without spot, and eminent for their purity and 
 sobriety : nor are they permitted to drink wine 
 so long as they wear those garments, t Mora- 
 over, they offer sacrifices that are entire, and 
 have no defect whatsoever. 
 
 3. And truly Moses gave them all these pre- 
 cepts, being such as were observed during his 
 own lifetime ; but though he lived now in the 
 wilderness, yet did he make provision how thej 
 might observe the same laws when they should 
 have taken the land of Canaan. He gave them 
 rest to the land from ploughing and planting 
 every seventh year, as he had prescribed to them 
 to rest from working every seventh day; and 
 ordered, that then what grew of its own accord 
 out of the earth, should in common belong to all 
 that pleased to use it, making no distinction in 
 that respect between their own countrymen and 
 foreigners : and he ordained, that they should do 
 the same after seven times seven years, which in 
 all are fifty years ; and that fiftieth year is called 
 by the Hebrews The Jubilee, wherein debtors are 
 freed from their debts, and slaves are set at 
 liberty ; which slaves became such, though they 
 were of the same stock, by transgressing some 
 of those laws the punishment of which was not 
 capital, but they were punished by this method 
 of slavery. This year also restores the land to 
 its former possessors in the manner following : 
 When the Jubilee is come, which name denotes 
 liberty, he that sold the land, and he that bought 
 it, meet together, and make an estimate, on one 
 hand, of the fruits gathered ; and, on the other 
 hand, of the expenses laid out upon it. If the 
 fruits gathered come to more than the expenses 
 laid out, he that sold it takes the land again ; 
 but if the expenses prove more than the fruits, 
 the present possessor receives of the former 
 owner the difference that was wanting, and 
 leaves the land to him; and if the fruits re- 
 ceived, and the expenses laid out, prove equal to 
 one another, the present possessor relinquishes 
 it to the former owners. Moses would have the 
 same law obtain as to those houses also which 
 were sold in villages ; but he made a different 
 law for such as were sold in a city ; for if he that 
 sold it tendered the purchaser his money again 
 within a year, he was forced to restore it ; but in 
 case a whole year had intervened, the purchaser 
 was to enjoy what he had bought. This was the 
 constitution of the laws which Moses learned of 
 God when the camp lay under mount Sinai ; and 
 this he delivered in writing to the Hebrews. 
 
 4. Now when this settlement of laws seemed 
 to be well over, Moses thought fit at length to 
 take a review of the host, as thinking it proper 
 to settle the affairs of war. So he charged the 
 heads of the tribes, excepting the tribe of Levi, 
 
 t We must here note with Reland, that the precept 
 given to the priests of not drinking wine while they 
 wore the sacred garments, is equivalent to their absti 
 nence from it all the while they ministered in the 
 temple ; because they then always, and then only, 
 wore those sacred garments, which were laid up there 
 from one time of ministration to another.
 
 82 
 
 AOTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK a. 
 
 to take too. exact account of the number of those 
 that were able to go to war ; for as to the Levites, 
 they were holy, and free from all such burdens. 
 Now when the people had been numbered, there 
 were found six hundred thousand that were able 
 to go to war, from twenty to fifty years of age, 
 oesides three thousand six hundred and fifty. 
 Instead of Levi, Moses took Manasseh, the son 
 of Joseph, among the heads of tribes ; and Eph- 
 raim instead of Joseph, It was indeed the desire 
 of Jicpb himself to Joseph, that he would give 
 him his sons to be his own by adoption, as I have 
 before related. 
 
 5. When they set vp the tabernacle, they re- 
 ceived it into the midst of their camp, three cf 
 the tribes pitching their tents on each side of it; 
 and roads were cut through the midst of these 
 tents. It was like a well-appointed market; 
 and everything was there ready for sale in due 
 order; and all sorts of artificers were in the 
 shops ; and it resembled nothing so much as a 
 city that sometimes was movable, and some- 
 times fixed. The priests had the first places 
 about he tabernacle ; then the Levites, who, be- 
 cause their whole multitude was reckoned from 
 thirty days old, were twenty-three thousand 
 eight hundred and eighty males ; and, during the 
 time that the cloud stood over the tabernacle, they 
 thought proper to stay in the same place, as sup 
 posing that God there inhabited among them; 
 but when that removed, they journeyed also. 
 
 6. Moreover, Moses was the inventor of th 
 form of their trumpet, which was made of silver. 
 Its description is this : In length it was littl. 
 less than a cubit. It was composed of a narrov 
 tube, somewhat thicker than a flute, but with so 
 much breadth as was sufficient for admission o 
 the breath of a man's mouth: it ended in tL 
 form of a bell, like common trumpets. It. 
 sound was called in the Hebrew tongue Asosra. 
 Two of these being .made, one of them was; 
 sounded when they required the multitude to 
 come together to congregations When the first 
 of them gave a signal, the heads of the tribes 
 were to assemble, and consult about the affairs 
 to them properly belonging; but when they gave 
 the signal by both of them, they called the mul- 
 titude together. Whenever the tabernacle was 
 removed, it was done in this solemn order : At 
 the first alarm of the trumpet, those whose tents 
 were on tlie east quarter prepared to remove; 
 when the second signal was given, those that 
 were on the south quarter did the like; in the 
 next place, the tabernacle was taken to pieces, 
 and was carried in the midst of six tribes that 
 went before, and of six that followed, all the 
 Levites assisting about the tabernacle ; when the 
 third signal was given, that part which had their 
 tents towards the west, put themselves in motion 
 and at the fourth signal, those on the north did 
 BO likewise They also made use of these trum- 
 pets in their sacred ministrations, when they 
 were brmging their sacrifices to the altar, as well 
 on the Sabbaths as on the rest of the [festival! 
 days; and now it was that Moses offered that 
 sacrifice which was called the Passover in the 
 Wilderness, as the first he had offered after the 
 departure out of Egypt 
 
 several mansions, of which we trill speak anon, 
 he came to a place called Hazeroth, where the 
 multitude began again to be mutinous, and tc 
 blame Moses for the misfortunes they had suffered 
 in their travels; and that when he had persuaded 
 them to leave a good land, they at once had lost 
 that land, and instead of that happy state he had 
 promised them, thej vere still wandering in 
 their present miserable condition, being already 
 in want of water; and if the manna should hap- 
 pen to fail, they must then utterly perish. Yet 
 while they generally spake many and sore things 
 against the man, there was one of them who ex- 
 horted them not to be unmindful of Moses, and 
 of what great pains he had been at about their 
 common safety ; and not to despair of assistance 
 from God. The multitude thereupon became 
 still more unruly, and more mutinous against 
 Moses than before. Hereupon Moses, although 
 he was so basely abused by them, encouraged 
 them in their despairing condition, and promised 
 that he would procure them a great quantity of 
 flesh meat, and that not for a few days only but 
 for many days This they were not willin'g to 
 believe; and when one of them asked, whence he 
 could obtain such vast plenty of what he pro- 
 mised, he replied, "Neither God nor I, althni-h 
 we hear such opprobrious language from you, 
 will leave off our labours for you; and this hall 
 soon appear also. " As soon as ever he had said 
 this, the whole camp was filled with quails, and 
 they stood round about them, and gath red 
 them in great numbers. However, it was not 
 long ere God punished the Hebrews for their in- 
 solence, ^nd those reproaches they had used to- 
 wards him; for no small number of them died 
 and still to this day the place retains the me^ 
 mory of this destruction, and is named Kibroth- 
 lutilaavah. rhich is, The Graves of Luet 
 
 CHAPTER XHL 
 
 HOW MOSES REMOVED FROM MOUNT SINAI, AND 
 CONDUCTED THE PEOPLE TO THE BORDERS OF 
 THE OANAANITES. 
 
 A LITTLE while afterwards he rose up, and wr,1 
 TomTnount Simi: and havino nassed through 
 
 CHAPTER XIV, 
 
 HOW MOSES SENT SOME PERSONS TO SEARCH OUT 
 THE LAND OP THE CANAANITES, AND THB 
 LARGENESS OP THEIR CITIES; AND FURTHER, 
 THAT WHEN THOSE WHO WERE SENT WERE RE- 
 TURNED, AFTER FORTY DATS, AND REPORTED 
 THAT THEY SHOULD NOT BE A MATCH FOB 
 THEM, AND EXTOLLED THE STRENGTH OF THB 
 OANAANITES, THE MULTITUDE WERE DISTURBED, 
 AND FELL INTO DESPAIR; AND WERE RESOLVED 
 TO STONE MOSES, AND TO RETURN BACK AGAIH 
 INTO EGYPT, AND SERVE THE EGYPTIANS. 
 
 5 1. WHEN Moses had led the Hebrews away 
 rom thence to a place called Paran, which waa 
 near to the borders of the Canaanites, and a nlaca 
 difficult to be continued in, he gathered the 
 multitude together to a congregation ; and s and- 
 Ing in the midst of them, he said, "Of the two 
 things that God determined to bestow upo i us, 
 Liberty, and the Possession of a Happy Country, 
 the one of them ye already are partakers of, by 
 the gift of God, and the other you will qu'ckly 
 obtain ; for we now have our abode near the bor- 
 ders of the Canaanites, and nothing can hinder 
 the acquisition of it, when we now at las , are 
 fallen upon it : I say, not only no king nor city, 
 but neither the whole race of mankind, if they 
 were all gathered together, could do it. Let uj 
 therefore prepare ourselves for the work, for th 
 Canaanites will not resign up their land to ua 
 without fighting, but it must be wrested from 
 them by great struggles in war. Let us ther 
 send spies, who may tak ? a view ot the goodness 
 f the land. <md what strength it in of : but
 
 CHAT. XV.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES Oi THE JEWS. 
 
 S3 
 
 above all things, let us be of one mind, and let 
 us honour God, who above all is our helper and 
 assister." 
 
 2. When Moses had said thus, the multitude 
 requited him with marks of respect ; and chose 
 twelve spies, of the most eminent men, one out 
 of each tribe, who, passing over all the land of 
 Canaan, from the borders of Egypt, came to the 
 city Hamath, and to mount Lebanon ; andhaving 
 learned the nature of the land, and of its inhabit- 
 ants, they came home, having spent forty days 
 in the whole work. They also brought with 
 them of the fruits which the land bare ; tngj* 
 also shewed them the excellency of those fruits, 
 and gave an account of the great quantity of the 
 good things that land afforded, which were mo- 
 tives to the multitude to go to war. But then 
 they terrified them again with the great diffi- 
 culty there was in obtaining it ; that the rivers 
 were so large and deep that they could not be 
 passed over; and that the hills were so high that 
 they could not travel along for them ; that the 
 cities were strong with walls, and their firm 
 fortifications round about them. They told 
 them also, that they found at Hebron, the pos- 
 terity of the giants. Accordingly these spies, 
 who had seen the land of Canaan, when they 
 perceived that all these difficulties were greater 
 there than they had met with since they came 
 out of Egypt, they were affrighted at them 
 themselves, and endeavoured to affright the 
 multitude also. 
 
 3. So they supposed, from what they had 
 heard, that it was impossible to get the posses- 
 sion of the country. And when the congregation 
 was dissolved, they, their wives and children, 
 continued their lamentation, as if God would not 
 indeed assist them, but only promised them fair. 
 They also again blamed Moses, and made a 
 clamour against him and his brother Aaron, the 
 high priest. Accordingly they passed that night 
 very ill, and with contumelious language against 
 them ; but in the morning they ran to a congre- 
 gation, intending to stone Moses and Aaron, and 
 so to return back into Egypt. 
 
 4. But of the spies, there were Joshua, the son, 
 of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, and Caleb, of 
 the tribe of Judah, that were afraid of the con- 
 sequence, and came into the midst of them, and 
 stilled the multitude, and desired them to be of 
 good courage ; and neither to condemn God, as 
 having told them lies, nor to hearken to those 
 who had affrighted them, by telling them what 
 was not true concerning the Canaanites, but to 
 those that encouraged them to hope for good 
 success ; and that they should gain possession of 
 the happiness promised them, because neitherthe 
 height of mountains nor the depth of rivers could 
 hinder men of true courage from attempting 
 them, especially while God would take care of 
 them beforehand, and be assistant to them. 
 "Let us then go," said they, "against OUT 
 enemies, and have no suspicion of ill success, 
 trusting in God to conduct us, and following 
 those that are to be our leaders." Thus did 
 these two exhort them, and endeavour to pacify 
 the rage they were in. But Moses and Aaron 
 fell on the ground, and besought God, not for 
 their own deliverance, but that he would put a 
 stop to what the people were unwarily doing, 
 and would bring their minds to a quiet temper, 
 which were now disordered by their present 
 passion. The cloud also did now appear, and 
 stood over the tabernacle, and declared to them 
 the presence of God to be there. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 HOW MOSES WAS DISPLEASED AT THIS, AND POM- 
 TOLD THAT GOD WAS ANGRY, AND THAT THE! 
 SHOULD CONTINUE IN THE WILDERNESS FOB 
 .TORTY TEARS, AND NOT, DURING THAT TIMS, 
 EITHER RETURN INTO EGYPT, OR TAKE POSSES- 
 SION OF CANAAN. 
 
 1. MOSES came now boldly to the multitude, 
 and informed them that God was moved at their 
 abuse of him, and would inflict punishment upon 
 them, not indeed such as they deserved for their 
 sins, but such as parents inflicted on their chil- 
 dren, in order to their correction: For, he said, 
 that when he was in the tabernacle, and was 
 bewailing with tears that destruction which was 
 coming upon them, God put him in mind what 
 things he had done for them, and what benefits 
 they had received from him, and yet how un- 
 grateful they had been to him; that just now 
 they had been induced, through the timorous- 
 ness of the spies, to think that their words were 
 truer than his own promise to them; and that 
 on this account, though he would not indeed 
 destroy them all, nor utterly extirpate their 
 nation, which he had honoured more than any 
 other part of mankind, yet he would not permit 
 them to take possession of the land of Canaan, 
 nor enjoy its happiness ; but would make them 
 wander in the wilderness, and live without a 
 fixed habitation, and without a city, for forty 
 years together, as a punishment for this their 
 trangression ; but that he hath promised to give 
 that land to our children, and that he would 
 make them the possessors of these good things 
 which, by your ungovemed passions, you have 
 deprived yourselves of. 
 
 2. When Moses had discoursed thus to them, 
 according to the direction of God, the multitude 
 grieved, and were in affliction, and entreated 
 Moses to procure their reconciliation to God, and 
 co permit them no longer to wander in the wil- 
 lerness, but to bestow cities upon them ; but he 
 replied, that God would not permit of any such 
 trial, for that God was not moved to this deter- 
 mination from any human levity or anger, but 
 that he had judicially condemned them to that 
 punishment. Now we are not to disbelieve that 
 Moses, who was but a single person, pacified so 
 many ten thousands when they were in anger, 
 and converted them to a mildness of temper; foi 
 God was with him, and prepared the way to his 
 persuasions of the multitude; and as they had 
 often been disobedient, they were now sensible 
 that such disobedience was disadvantageous to 
 them, and that they had still thereby fallen into 
 calamities. 
 
 3. But this man was admirable for his virtue, 
 ind powerful in making men give credit to what 
 ne delivered, not only during the time of his 
 natural life, but even there is still no one of the 
 Hebrews, who does not act even now as if Moses 
 were present, and ready to punish him if he 
 should do any thing that is indecent ; nay, there 
 is 110 one but is obedient to what laws he ordained, 
 although they might be concealed in their trans- 
 gressions. There are also many other demonstra- 
 tions that his power was more than human, for 
 still some there have been, who have come from 
 the parts beyond Euphrates, a journey of four 
 months, through many dangers, and at great 
 expenses, in honour of our temple; and yet, 
 when they had offered their oblations, could not 
 partake of their own sacrifices, because Moses 
 nad forbidden it, by somewhat in the law that 
 4id not x>ermit them, or somewhat that bad be-
 
 84 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 fallen them, which our ancient customs made 
 inconsistent therewith ; some of these did not 
 acrifice at all, and others left their sacrifices in 
 n imperfect condition ; nay, many were not able, 
 even at first, so much as to enter into the tem- 
 ple but went their ways in this state, as prefer- 
 ring a submission to the laws of Moses before 
 the fulfilling of their own inclinations, even 
 when they had no fear upon them that anybody 
 could convict them, but only out of a reverence 
 to their own conscience. Thus this legislation, 
 which appeared to be divine, made this man to 
 be esteemed as one superior to his own nature. 
 Nay, further, a little before the beginning of this 
 war, when Claudius was emperor of the Romans, 
 and Ismael was our high priest, and when so 
 great a famine * was come upon us, that one 
 
 See Antiq. b. xx. chap. ii. sect 6 ; and Acts xi. 28. 
 
 tenth deal [of wheat] was sold for four drachma*, 
 and when no less than seventy cori of flour were 
 brought into the temple, at the feast of un- 
 leavened bread, (these cori are thirty-one Sicilian, 
 but forty-one Athenian medimni,) not one of 
 the priests was so hardy as to eat one crumb ot 
 it, even while so great a distress was upon the 
 land; and this out of a dread of the law, and 
 of that wrath which God retains against acts 
 of wickedness, even when no one can accuse 
 the actors. Whence we are not to wonder 
 at what was then done, while to this very day 
 the writings left by Moses have so great 
 a force, that even those that hate us do con- 
 fess, that he who established this settlement 
 was God, and that it was by the means of 
 Moses, and of his virtue: but as to these 
 matters, let every one take them as he thinki 
 fit. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 
 CONTAINING THE INTERVAL OF THIRTY-BIGHT TEARS, 
 
 FROM THE REJECTION OF THAT GENERATION TO THE 
 DEATH OF MOSES, 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 THE FIGHT OF THE HEBREWS WITH THE OANAAN- 
 ITES, WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF MOSES; AND 
 THEIR DEFEAT. 
 
 1. Now thi life of the Hebrews in the wilder- 
 ness was so disagreeable and troublesome to 
 them, and they were so uneasy at it, that 
 although God had forbidden them to meddle 
 with the Canaanites, yet could they not be per- 
 euaded to be obedient to the words of Moses, 
 and to be quiet ; but supposing they should be 
 able to beat their enemies, even without his ap- 
 probation, they accused him, and suspected that 
 he made it his business to keep them in a dis- 
 tressed condition, that thev might always stand 
 in need of his assistance. Accordingly they re- 
 solved to fight with the Canaanites, and said 
 that God gave them his assistance, not out of 
 regard to Moses's intercessions, but because he 
 took care of their entire nation, on account of 
 their forefathers, whose affairs he took under his 
 own conduct ; as also, that it was on account of 
 their own virtue, that he had formerly procured 
 them their liberty, and would be assisting to 
 them, now they were willing to take pains for it. 
 They also said that they were possessed of abili- 
 ties sufficient for the conquest of their enemies, 
 although Moses should have a mind to alienate 
 God from them ; that, however, it was for their 
 advantage to be their own masters, and not so 
 far to rejoice in their deliverance from the indig- 
 nities they endured under the Egyptians, as to 
 bear the tyranny of Moses over them, and to 
 suffer themselves to be deluded, and live ac- 
 cording to his pleasure, as though God did only 
 foretell what concerns us out of his kindness to 
 him, as if they were not all the posterity of Abra 
 ham ; that God made him alone the author of 
 11 the knowledge we have, and we mujt still 
 
 lea.m it from him ; that it would be a piece of 
 prudence to oppose his arrogant pretences, and 
 to put their confidence in God, and to resolve to 
 take possession of that land which he had pro- 
 mised them, and not to give ear to him, who, on 
 this account, and under the pretence of divine 
 authority, forbade them so to do. Considering, 
 therefore, the distressed state they were in at 
 present, and that in those desert places they 
 were still to expect things would be worse with 
 them, they resolved to fight with the Canaanites, 
 as submitting only to God, their supreme com- 
 mander, and not waiting for any assistance from 
 their legislator. 
 
 2. When, therefore, they had come to this re- 
 solution, as being best for them, they wenl 
 against their enemies ; but those enemies were 
 not dismayed, either at the attack itself, or ai 
 the great multitude that made it, and received 
 them with great courage. Many of the He- 
 brews were slain : and the remainder of the 
 army, upon the disorder of their troops, were 
 pursued, and fled, after a shameful manner, to 
 their camp. Whereupon this unexpected mis- 
 fortune made them quite despond ; and they 
 hoped for nothing that was good ; as gathering 
 from it, that this affliction came from the wrath 
 of God, because they rashly went out to war 
 without his approbation. 
 
 3. But when Moses saw how deeply they were 
 affected with this defeat, and being afraid lest 
 the enemies should grow insolent upon this vic- 
 tory, and should be desirous of gaining still 
 greater glory, and should attack them, he re- 
 solved that it was proper to withdraw the army 
 into the wilderness to a further distance from 
 the Canaanites : so the multitude gave them- 
 selves up again to his conduct; for they were 
 sensible that, without his care for them, their 
 affairs would not be in a good condition ; and he 
 caused the host to remove, and be went further
 
 HAP. II.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 85 
 
 into the wilderness, as intending there to let 
 them rest, and not to permit them to fight the 
 Canaanites before God should afford them a 
 more favourable opportunity. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE SEDITION OF CORAH AND OF TH MDI/TTTODE 
 AGAINST MOSES, AND AGAINST HIS BROTHER, 
 CONCERNING THE PRIESTHOOD. 
 
 1. THAT which is usually the case of great 
 armies, and especially upon ill success, to be 
 hard to be pleased, and governed with difficulty, 
 did now befall the Jews ; for they being in num- 
 ber six hundred thousand, and, by reason of 
 their great multitude, not readily subject to their 
 governors, even in prosperity, they at this time 
 were more than usually angry, both against one 
 another and against their leader, because of the 
 distress they were in, and the calamities they 
 then endured. Such a sedition overtook them, 
 as we have not the like example either among 
 the Greeks or the Barbarians, by which they 
 were in danger of being all destroyed, but were 
 notwithstanding saved by Moses, who would not 
 remember that he had been almost stoned to 
 death by them. Nor did God neglect to prevent 
 their ruin ; but, notwithstanding the indigni- 
 ties they had offered their legislator and the 
 laws, and their disobedience to the command- 
 ments which he had sent them by Moses, he de- 
 livered them from those terrible calamities, 
 which, without his providential care, had been 
 brought upon them by this sedition. So I will 
 first explain the cause whence this sedition arose, 
 and then will give an account of the sedition 
 itself ; as also of what settlements Moses made 
 for their government, after it was over. 
 
 2. Corah, a Hebrew of principal account, both 
 by his family and by his wealth, one that was 
 also able to speak well, and one that could easily 
 persuade the people by his speeches, saw that 
 Moses was in an exceeding great dignity, and was 
 uneasy at it, and envied him on that account, 
 (he was of the same tribe with Moses, and of kin 
 to him,) was particularly grieved, because he 
 thought he better deserved that honourable post 
 on account of his great riches, and not inferior to 
 him in his birth. So he raised a clamour against 
 him among the Levites, who were of the same 
 tribe, and especially among his kindred, saying, 
 " That it was a very sad thing that they should 
 overlook Moses, while he hunted after, and paved 
 the way to glory for himself, and by ill arta 
 should obtain it, under the pretence of God's 
 command, while, contrary to the laws, he had 
 given the priesthood to Aaron, not by the com- 
 mon suffrage of the multitude, but by his own 
 vote, as bestowing dignities in a tyrannical way 
 on whom he pleased. "* He added, " That this 
 concealed way of imposing on them was harder 
 to be borne than if it had been done by an open 
 force upon them, because he did now not only 
 take away their power without their consent, but 
 even while they were unapprised of his contri- 
 vances against them ; for whosoever is conscious 
 to himself that he deserves any dignity, aims to 
 get it by persuasion, and not by an arrogant 
 method of violence; but those that believe it 
 impossible to obtain those honours justly, make 
 a show of goodness, and do not introduce force, 
 but by cunning tricks grow wickedly powerful : 
 that it was proper for the multitude to punish 
 such men, even while they think themselves 
 
 concealed in their designs, and not suffer them 
 to gain strength, till they have them for their 
 open enemies. For what account," added he, 
 is Moses able to give, why he has bestowed 
 the priesthood on Aaron and his sons ? for if 
 God had determined to bestow that honour on 
 one of the tribe of Levi, I am more worthy of it 
 than he is ; I myself being equal to Moses by my 
 family, and superior to him both in riches and 
 in age : but if God had determined to bestow it 
 on the eldest tribe, that of Reuben might have 
 it most justly ; and then Dathan, and Abiram, 
 and [On, the son of] Peleth, would have it ; for 
 these are the oldest men of that tribe, and po- 
 tent on account of their great wealth also." 
 
 3. Now Corah, when he said this, had a mind 
 to appear to take care of the public welfare ; but 
 in reality he was endeavouring to procure to have 
 that dignity transferred by the multitude to him- 
 self. Thus did he, out of a malignant design, but 
 with plausible words, discourse to those of his 
 own tribe ; and when these words did gradually 
 spread to more of the people, and when the 
 hearers still added to what tended to the scan- 
 dals that were cast upon Aaron, the whole army 
 was full of them. Now of those that conspired 
 with Corah, there -were two hundred and fifty, 
 and those of the principal men also, who were 
 eager to have the priesthood taken away from 
 Moses's brother, and to bring him into disgrace i 
 nay, the multitude themselves were provoked to 
 be seditious, and attempted to stone Moses, and 
 gathered themselves together after an indecent 
 manner, with confusion and disorder. And now 
 they all were, in a tumultuous manner, raising a 
 clamour before the tabernacle of God, to prose- 
 cute the tyrant, and to relieve the multitude 
 from their slavery under him who, under colour 
 of the divine commands, laid violent injunctions 
 upon them ; for that had it been God who chose 
 one that was to perform the office of a priest, he 
 would have raised a worthy person to that dig- 
 nity, and would not have produced suoh a one 
 as was inferior to many others, nor have given 
 him that office ; and that in case he had judged 
 it fit to bestow it on Aaron, he would have per- 
 mitted it to the multitude to bestow it, and not 
 have left it to be bestowed by his own brother. 
 
 4. Now although Moses had a great while ago 
 foreseen this calumny of Corah, and had seen 
 that the people were irritated, yet was he not 
 affrighted at it ; but being of good courage, be- 
 cause he had given them right advice about their 
 affairs, and knowing that his brother had been 
 made partaker of the priesthood at the command 
 of Goa, and not by bis own favour to him, he 
 came to the assembly : and, as for the multitude, 
 he said not a word to them, but spake as loud to 
 Corah as he could; and being very skilful in 
 making speeches, and having this natural talent 
 among others, that he could greatly move the 
 multitude with his discourses, he said, " O Co- 
 rah, both thou and all these with thee (pointing 
 to the two hundred and fifty men) seem to be 
 worthy of this honour ; nor do I pretend 
 but that this whole company may be worthy 
 of the like dignity, although they may not be 
 so rich, or so great as you are : nor have I taken 
 and given this office to my brother, because he 
 excelled others in riches, for thou exceedest 
 us both in the greatness of thy wealth ; nor 
 indeed because he was of an eminent family, for 
 God, by giving us the same common ancestor, 
 
 * Reland here takes notice, that although our Bibles 
 say little or nothing of these riches of Corah, yet that 
 both the Jews and Mohammedans, as wel 
 are full of it.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THK JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK IV. 
 
 baa made oar families equal: nay, nor was it out 
 of brotherly affection, which another might yet 
 have justly done; for certainly unless I had be- 
 stowed this honour out of regard to God, and to 
 his laws, I had not passed by myself and given it 
 to another, as being nearer of kin to myself than 
 to my brother, and having a closer intimacy with 
 myself than I have with him; for surely it would 
 not be a wise thing for me to expose myself to 
 the dangers of offending, and to bestow the 
 happy employment on this account upon another. 
 But I am above such base practices : nor would 
 God have overlooked this matter, and seen him- 
 self thus despised; nor would he have suffered 
 you to be ignorant of what you were to do in order 
 to please him ; but he hath himself chosen one 
 that is to perform that sacred office to him, and 
 thereby freed us from that care. So that it was 
 not a thing that I pretend to give, but only ac- 
 cording to the determination of God ; I therefore 
 propose it still to be contended for by such as 
 please to put in for it, only desiring, that he who 
 has been already preferred, and has already ob- 
 tained it, may be allowed now also to offer him- 
 self for a candidate. He prefers your peace, and 
 your living without sedition, to this honourable 
 employment, although in truth it was with your 
 approbation that he obtained it : for though God 
 were the donor, yet do we not offend when we 
 think fit to accept it with your goodwill; yet 
 would it have been an instance of impiety not to 
 have taken that honourable employment when 
 he offered it ; nay, it had been exceedingly un- 
 reasonable, when God had thought fit any one 
 should have it for all time to come, and had 
 made it secure and firm to him, to have refused 
 it. However, he himself will judge again who 
 it shall be whom he would have to offer sacrifices 
 to him, and to have the direction of matters of 
 religion ; for it is absurd that Corah, who is am- 
 bitious of this honour, should deprive God of the 
 power of giving it to whom he pleases. Put an 
 end, therefore, to your sedition and disturbance 
 on this account ; and to-morrow morning do every 
 one of you that desire the priesthood bring a 
 censer from home, and come hither with incense 
 and fire : and do thou, O Corah, leave the judg- 
 ment to God, and await to see on which side he 
 will give his determination upon this occasion, 
 but do not thou make thyself greater than God. 
 Do thou also come, that this contest about this 
 honourable employment may receive determina- 
 tion. And I suppose we may admit Aaron with- 
 out offence to offer himself to this scrutiny, since 
 he is of the same lineage with thyself, and has 
 done nothing in his priesthood that can be liable 
 to exception. Come ye therefore together, and 
 offer your incense in public before all the people ; 
 and when you offer it, he whose sacrifice God 
 shall accept shall be ordained to the priesthood, 
 and shall be clear of the present calumny on 
 Aaron, as if I had granted him that favour be- 
 came he was my brother." 
 
 CHAPTER IIL 
 
 HOW THOSE THAT STIRRED UP THIS SEDITION WERE 
 DESTROYED, ACCORDING TO THE WILL OP GOD ; 
 AND HOW AAEON, MOSEa's BROTHER, BOTH HE 
 AND, HIS POSTERITY, RETAINED THE PRIEST- 
 HOOD. 
 
 1. WHEN Moses had said this, the multitude 
 left off the turbulent behaviour they had in- 
 dulged, and the suspicion they had of Moses, 
 wirt commended what he had said; for those 
 
 proposals were good, and were so esteemed ol 
 the people. At that time, therefore, they dis- 
 solved the assembly ; but on the next day they 
 came to the congregation, in order to be present 
 at the sacrifice, and at the determination that 
 was to be ii_ado between the candidates for tha 
 priesthood Now this congregation proved a 
 turbulent one, and the multitude were in great 
 suspense in expectation of what was to be done ; 
 for some of them would have been pleased if 
 Moses had been convicted of evil practices ; but 
 the wiser sort d&sired that they might be de 
 livered from the present disorder and disturb- 
 ance, for they were afraid that if this sedition 
 went on, the good order of their settlement would 
 rather be destroyed ; but the whole body of the 
 people do naturally delight in clamours against 
 their governors, and, by changing their opinions 
 upon the harangues of every speaker, disturb the 
 public tranquillity. And now Moses sent mes- 
 sengers for Abiram and Dathan, and ordered 
 them to come to the assembly, and wait there 
 for the holy offices that were to be performed. 
 But they answered the messenger that they 
 would not obey his summons; nay, would not 
 overlook Moses's behaviour, who was growing 
 too great for them by evil practices. Now when 
 Moses heard of this their answer, he desired the 
 heads of the people to follow him, and he went 
 to the faction of Dathan, not thinking it any 
 frightful thing at all to go to these insolent 
 people; so they made no opposition, but went 
 along with him. But Dathan and his associates, 
 when they understood that Moses and the prin- 
 cipal of the people were coming to them, came 
 out, with their wives and children, and stood 
 before their tents, and looked to see what Moses 
 would do. They had also their servants about 
 them to defend themselves, in case Moses should 
 use force against them. 
 
 2. But he came near, and lifted up his hands 
 to heaven, and cried out with a loud voice, in 
 order to be heard by the whole multitude, and 
 said, " O Lord of the creatures that are in 
 heaven, in the earth, and in the sea; for thou 
 art the most authentic witness to what I have 
 done, that it has all been done by thy appoint- 
 ment, and that it was thou that affordest us 
 assistance "when we attempted anything, and 
 shewedst mercy on the Hebrews in all their dis- 
 tresses, do thou come now, and hear all that I 
 say, for no action or thought escapes thy know- 
 ledge ; so that thou wilt not disdain to speak 
 what is true for my vindication without any re- 
 gard to the ungrateful imputations of these men. 
 As for what was done before I was born, thou 
 knowest best, as x>ot learning them by report, but 
 seeing them, and being present with them when 
 they were done; but for what has been done of 
 late, and which these men, although they know 
 them well enough, unjustly pretend to suspect, 
 be thou my witness. When I lived a private 
 quiet life, I left those good things, which by my 
 own diligence, and by thy counsel, I enjoyed 
 with Raguel my father-in-law; and I gave my- 
 self up to this people, and underwent many 
 miseries on their account. I also bore great 
 labours at first, in order to obtain liberty for 
 them, and now in order to their preservation; 
 and have always shewed myself ready to assist 
 them in every distress of theirs. Now, there- 
 fore, since I am suspected by those very men 
 whose being is owing to my labours, come thou, 
 as it is reasonable to hope thou wilt; thou, I 
 say, who shewedst me that fire at mount Sinai, 
 and madest me to hear its voice, and to see 
 the several wonders which that place afforded 
 me; thou who commandedst roe to go to Egypt.
 
 CHAP. IV.) 
 
 ANTIQUITIES O1T THE JKWa. 
 
 8? 
 
 and declare thy will to this people ; thou who 
 disturbedst the happy estate of the Egyptians, 
 and gavest ua the opportunity of flying away 
 from our slavery under them, and madest the 
 dominion of Pharaoh inferior to my dominion; 
 thou who didst make the sea dry land for us, 
 when we knew not whither to go, and didst 
 overwhelm the Egyptians with those destructive 
 waves which had been divided for us ; thou who 
 didst bestow upon us the security of weapons 
 when we were naked; thou who didst make the 
 fountains that were corrupted to flow, BO as to 
 be fit for drinking, and didst furnish s with 
 water that came out of the rocks, when w* were 
 in the greatest want of it ; thou who didst pre- 
 serve our lives with [quails, which was] food 
 from the sea, when the fruits of the ground 
 failed us; thou who didst send us such food 
 from heaven as had never been seen before ; 
 thou who didst suggest to us the knowledge of 
 thy laws, and appoint to us a form of govern- 
 ment, come thou, I say, O Lord of the whole 
 world, and that as such a Judge and a Witness to 
 me as cannot be bribed, and shew how I have 
 never admitted of any gift against justice, from 
 any of the Hebrews, and have never condemned 
 a poor man that ought to have been acquitted, 
 on account of one that was rich ; and have never 
 attempted to hurt this commonwealth. 1 am 
 now here present, and am suspected of a thing 
 the remotest from my intentions, as if I had 
 given the priesthood to Aaron, not at thy com- 
 mand, but out of my own favour to him; do 
 thou at this time demonstrate that all things are 
 administered by thy providence, and that nothing 
 happens by chance, but is governed by thy will, 
 and thereby attains its end : as also demonstrate 
 that thou takest care of those that have done 
 good to the Hebrews ; demonstrate this, I say, 
 by the punishment of Abiram and Dathan, who 
 condemn thee as an insensible Being, and one 
 overcome by my contrivances. This wilt thou 
 do by inflicting such an open punishment on 
 these men who so madly fly in th*e face of thy 
 glory, as will take them out of the world, not in an 
 ordinary manner, but so that it may appear they 
 do not die after the manner of other men : let 
 that ground which they tread upon, open about 
 them and consume them, with their families and 
 goods. This will be a demonstration of thy 
 power to all men : and this method of their 
 sufferings will be an instruction of wisdom for 
 those that entertain profane sentiments of thee. 
 By this means I shall be found a good servant in 
 the precepts thou hast given by me. But if the 
 calumnies they have raised against me be true, 
 mayest thou preserve these men from every evil 
 accident, and bring all that destruction on me 
 which I have imprecated upon them. And when 
 thou. hast inflicted punishment on those that 
 have endeavoured to deal unjustly with this 
 people, bestow upon them concord and peace. 
 Save this multitude that follow thy command- 
 ments, and preserve them free from harm, and 
 let them not partake of the punishment of those 
 that have sinned; for thou knowest thyself it is 
 not just, that for the wickedness of those men 
 the whole body of the Israelites should suffer 
 punishment" 
 
 3. When Moses had said this, with tears in his 
 eyes, the grouud was moved on a sudden ; and 
 the agitation that set it in motion was like that 
 which the wind produces in waves of the sea. 
 The people were all affrighted ; and the ground 
 thai was about their tents sunk down at the 
 great noise, with a terrible sound, and carried 
 whatsoever was dear to the seditious, into itself, 
 who so entirely perished, that there was not the 
 
 least appearance that any man had ever been 
 seen there, the earth that had opened itself about 
 them closing again, and becoming entire as it 
 was before, insomuch that such as saw it after- 
 ward did not perceive that any such accident 
 had happened to it. Thus did these men perish, 
 and become a demonstration of the power of 
 Go\_ And truly, any one would lament them, 
 not only on account of this calamity that befell 
 them, which yet deserves our commiseration, 
 but also because their kindred were pleased with 
 their sufferings ; for they forgot the relation they 
 bare to them, and at the sight of this sad accideut 
 approved of the judgment given against them ; 
 and because they looked upon the people about 
 Dathan as pestilent men, they thought they 
 perished as such, and did not grieve for them. 
 
 4. And now Moses called for those that con- 
 tended about the priesthood, that trial might be 
 made who should be priest, and that he whose 
 sacrifice God was best pleased with, might be 
 ordained to that function. There attended two 
 hundred and fifty men, who indeed were hon- 
 oured by the people, not only on account of the 
 power of their ancestors, but also on account of 
 their own, in which they excelled the others: 
 Aaron also and Corah came forth, and they all 
 offered incense, in those censers of theirs which 
 they brought with them before the tabernacle. 
 Hereupon so great a fire shone out as no one 
 ever saw in any that is made -by the hand of 
 man, neither in those eruptions out of the eartL 
 that are caused by subterraneous burnings, nor 
 in such fires as arise of their own accord in the 
 woods, when the agitation is caused by the trees 
 rubbing one against another: but this fire was 
 very bright, and had a terrible flame, such as is 
 kindled at the command of God; by whose 
 eruption on them, all the company, and Corah 
 himself, were destroyed,* and this so entirely, 
 that their very bodies left no remains behind 
 them. Aaron alone was preserved, and not at 
 all hurt by the fire, because it was God that sent 
 the fire, to burn those only who ought to be 
 burned. Hereupon Moses, after these men were 
 destroyed, was desirous that the memory of this 
 judgment might be delivered down to posterity, 
 and that future ages might be acquainted with 
 it; and so he commanded Eleazar, the son of 
 Aaron, to put their censers near the brazen altar, 
 that they might be a memorial to posterity of 
 what these men suffered, for supposing that the 
 power of God might be eluded. And thus Aaron 
 was now no longer esteemed to have the priest- 
 hood by the favour of Moses, but by the public 
 judgment of God ; and thus he and his children 
 peaceably enjoyed that honour afterward. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 WHAT HAPPENED TO THK HEBREWS DUBIKU 
 THIRTY-EIGHT TEARS IN THB WILDERNESS. 
 
 1. HOWEVER, this sedition was so far from 
 ceasing upon this destruction, that it grew much 
 stronger, and became more intolerable. And th 
 occasion of its growing worse was of that nature, 
 as made it likely the calamity would never cease, 
 
 * It appears here, and from the Samaritan Penta- 
 teuch, and in effect, from the psalmist, as also from ths 
 Apostolical Constitutions, from Clement's first epUUe 
 to the CorintHiang, from Ignatins's epistle to the Ma?- 
 nesians, and from Busebius, that Corah was not swal- 
 lowed up with the Reubenites, but burned with the 
 Levites of his own tribe. See Essay on the Old Testa- 
 ment, pp. 64, 06.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 LBOOR rv. 
 
 but last for a long time ; for the men, believing 
 already that nothing is done without the provi- 
 dence of God, would have it that these things 
 came thus to pass, not without God's favour to 
 Moses ; they therefore laid the blame upon him, 
 that God was so angry, and that this happened 
 not so much because of the wickedness of those 
 that were punished, as because Moses procured 
 the punishment ; and that these men had been 
 destroyed without any sin of theirs, only because 
 they were zealous about the divine worship; as 
 also, that he who had been the cause of this dimi- 
 nution of the people, by destroying so many men, 
 and those the most excellent of them all, besides 
 his escaping any punishment himself, had now 
 given the priesthood to his brother so firmly, that 
 nobody could any longer dispute it with _him ; 
 for no one else, to be sure, could now put in for 
 it, since he must have seen those that first did 
 so, to have miserably perished. Nay, besides 
 this, the kindred of those that were destroyed 
 made great entreaties to the multitude to abate 
 the arrogance of Moses, because it would be safest 
 for them so to do. 
 
 2. Now Moses, upon his hearing for a good 
 while that the people were tumultuous, was 
 afraid that they would attempt some other inno- 
 vation, and that some great and sad calamity 
 would be the consequence. He called the mul- 
 titude to a congregation, and patiently heard 
 what apology they had to make for themselves, 
 without opposing them, and this lest he should 
 imbitter the multitude : he only desired the 
 heads of the tribes to bring their rods,* with the 
 names of their tribes inscribed upon them, and that 
 he should receive the priesthood in whose rod 
 God should give a sign. This was agreed to. So 
 the rest brought their rods, as did Aaron also, 
 who had written the tribe of Levi on his rod. 
 These rods Moses laid up in the tabernacle of 
 God. On the next day he brought out the rods, 
 which were known from one another by those 
 who brought them, they having distinctly noted 
 them, as had the multitude also ; and as to the 
 rest, in the same form Moses had received them, 
 in that they saw them still ; but they also saw 
 buds and branches grown out of Aaron's rod, 
 with ripe fruits upon them : they were almonds, 
 the rod having been cut out of that tree. The 
 people were so amazed at this strange sight, that 
 though Moses and Aaron were before under some 
 degree of hatred, they now laid that hatred aside, 
 and began to admire the judgment of God con- 
 cerning them ; so that hereafter they applauded 
 what God had decreed, and permitted Aaron to 
 enjoy the priesthood peaceably. And thus God 
 ordained him priest, three several times, and he 
 retained that honour without further disturbance. 
 And hereby this sedition of the Hebrews, which 
 had been a great one, and had lasted a great 
 while, was at last composed. 
 
 3. And now Moses, because the tribe of Levi 
 was made free from war and warlike expeditions, 
 and was set apart for the divine worship, lest they 
 should want and seek after the necessaries of life, 
 and so neglect the temple, commanded the Heb- 
 rews, according to the will of God, that when 
 they should gain the possession of the land of 
 Canaan, they should assign forty-eight good and 
 fair cities to the Levites ; and permit them to en- 
 joy their suburbs, as far as the limit of two thou- 
 sand cubits would extend from the walls of the 
 city. And besides this, he appointed that the 
 
 Concerning these twelve rods of the twelve tribe* 
 Israel, see St Clement's account, much larger than 
 t in our Bibles, 1 Epist. sect. 45 ; as is Josephus's 
 present account in some measure larger also 
 
 people should pay the tithe of their annual fruits 
 of the earth, both to the Levites and to the 
 priests. And this is what that tribe receives of 
 the multitude ; but I think it necessary to set 
 down what is paid by all, peculiarly to the 
 priests. 
 
 4. Accordingly he commanded the Levites to 
 yield up to the priests thirteen of their forty- 
 eight cities, and to set apart for them the tenth 
 part of the tithes which they every year receive 
 of the people ; as also, that it was but just to 
 offer to God the first-fruits of the entire product 
 of the ground ; and that they should offer the 
 first-born of those four-footed beasts that are 
 appointed for sacrifices, if it be a male, to the 
 priests, to be slain, that they and their entire 
 families may eat them in the holy city ; but that 
 the owners of those first-born which are not ap- 
 pointed for sacrifices in the laws of our country, 
 should bring a shekel and a half in their stead : 
 but for the first-born of a man, five shekels : that 
 they should also have the first-fruits out of the 
 shearing of the sheep ; and that when any baked 
 bread-corn, and made loaves of it, they should 
 give somewhat of what they had baked to them. 
 Moreover, when any have made a sacred vow, I 
 mean those that are called Nazarites, that suffer 
 their hair to grow long, and use no wine, when 
 they consecrate their hair,t and offer it for a 
 sacrifice, they are to allot that hair for the priests, 
 [to be thrown into the fire.] Such also as dedi- 
 cate themselves to God, as a corban, which de- 
 notes what the Greeks call a gift, when they are 
 desirous of being freed from that ministration, 
 are to lay down money for the priests: thirty 
 shekels if it be a woman, and fifty if it be a man ; 
 but if any be too poor to pay the appointed sum, 
 it shall be lawful for the priests to determine that 
 sum as they think fit. And if any slay beasts at 
 home for a private festival, but not for a religious 
 one, they are obliged to bring the maw and the 
 cheek, [or breast,] and the right shoulder of the 
 sacrifice to the priests. With these, Moses con- 
 trived that tHe priests should be plentifully 
 maintained, besides what they had out of those 
 offerings for sins, which the people gave them, 
 as I have set it down in the foregoing book. He 
 also ordered, that out of every thing allotted for 
 the priests, their servants, [their sons,] their 
 daughters, and their wives, should partake, as 
 well as themselves, excepting what came to 
 them out of the sacrifices that were offered for 
 sins; for of those none but the males of the 
 family of the priests might eat, and this in the 
 temple also, and that the same day they were 
 offered. 
 
 5. When Moses had made these constitutions, 
 after the sedition was over, he removed, together 
 with the whole army, and came to the borders 
 of Idumea, He then sent ambassadors to the 
 king of the Idumeans, and desired him to give 
 him a passage through his country ; and agreed 
 to send him what hostages he should desire, to 
 secure him from an injury. He desired him also, 
 that he would allow his army liberty to buy pro- 
 visions ; and, if he insisted upon it, he would pay 
 down a price for the very water they should 
 drink. But the king was not pleased with this 
 embassage from Moses : nor did he allow a pas- 
 sage for the army, but brought his people armed 
 to meet Moses, and to hinder them, in case they 
 should endeavour to force their passage. Upon 
 which Moses consulted God by the oracle, who 
 would not have him begin the war first ; and so 
 
 t Crotius, on Numb. vi. 18, takes notice that the 
 Greeks also, as well as the Jews, sometimes cense 
 crated the hair of their heads to the gods.
 
 CHAP. Vj 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 he withdrew his forces, and travelled round 
 about through the wilderness. 
 
 6. Then it was that Miriam, the sister of 
 Moses, came to her end, having completed her 
 fortieth year* since she left Egypt, on the first t 
 day of the lunar month Xanthicus. They then 
 made a public funeral for her, at a great expense. 
 She was buried upon a certain mountain, which 
 they called Sin ; and when they had mourned 
 for her thirty days, Moses purified the people 
 after this manner : He brought a heifer that had 
 never been used to the plough or to husbandry, 
 that was complete in all its parts, and entirely of 
 a red colour, at a little distance from the camp, 
 into a place perfectly clean. This heifer was 
 slain by the high priest, and her blood sprinkled 
 with his finger seven times before the tabernacle 
 of God ; after this, the entire heifer was burnt 
 in that state, together with its skin and entrails ; 
 and they threw cedar-wood, and hyssop, and 
 scarlet wool, into the midst of the fire ; then a 
 clean man gathered all her ashes together, and 
 laid them in a place perfectly clean. When 
 therefore any persons were defiled by a dead body, 
 they put a little of these aahes into spring water, 
 with hyssop, and, dipping part of these ashes in 
 it, they sprinkled them with it, both on the 
 third day, and on the seventh, and after that they 
 were clean. This he enjoined them to do also 
 when the tribeg should come into their own 
 land. 
 
 7. Now when this purification, which their 
 leader made upon the mourning for his sister, 
 as it has been now described, was over, he caused 
 the army to remove, and to march through the 
 wilderness and through Arabia; and when he 
 came to a place which the Arabians esteem their 
 metropolis, which was formerly called Arce, but 
 has now the name of Petra, at this place, which 
 was encompassed with high mountains, Aaron 
 went up one of them in the sight of the whole 
 army, Moses having before told him that he was 
 to die, for this place was over against them. He 
 put off his pontifical garments, and delivered 
 them to Eleazar his son, to whom the high 
 priesthood belonged, because he was the elder 
 brother; and died while the multitude looked 
 upon him. He died in the same year wherein 
 he lost his sister, having lived in all a hundred 
 twenty and three years. He died on the first 
 day of thai lunar month which is called by the 
 Athenians Hecatombcton, by the Macedonians 
 Lous, but by the Hebrews Abba, 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 HOW MOSES CONQUERED SIHON AND OO, KINGS OF 
 THE AMORITES, AND DESTROYED THEIR WHOLE 
 AKMT, AND THEN DIVIDED THEIB LAND BY LOT 
 TO TWO TBIBES AND A HALF OF THE HEBREWS. 
 
 1. THE people mourned for Aaron thirty days, 
 and when this mourning was over, Moses re- 
 moved the army from that place, and came to 
 the river Arnon, which, issuing out of the moun- 
 
 * Josephus here uses this phrase ''when the fortieth 
 year was completed," for when it was begun ; as does 
 8t Luke, "when the day of Pentecost was completed," 
 Acts ii. 1. 
 
 f Whether Miriam died, as Josephus's Greek copies 
 imply, on the first day of the month, may be doubted, 
 because the Latin copies say it was on the tenth, and so 
 gay the Jewish calendars also, as Dr Bernard assures us. 
 It ii said her sepulchre is still extant near Petra, the 
 old capital city of Arabia Petrsea, at this day, as also 
 that of Aaron not far off. 
 
 tains of Arabia, and running through all that 
 wilderness, falls into the lake Asphaltitis, and 
 becomes the limit between the land of the Moa- 
 bites and the land of the Amorites. This land 
 is fruitful, and sufficient to maintain a great 
 number of men with the good things it produces. 
 Moses therefore sent messengers to Sihon, the 
 king of this country, desiring that he would 
 grant his army a passage, upon what security he 
 should please to require; he promised that he 
 should be in no way injured, neither as to that 
 country which Sihon governed, nor as to its in- 
 habitants; and that he would buy his provisions 
 at such a price as should be to their advantage, 
 even though he should desire to sell them their 
 very water. But Sihon refused his offer, and 
 put his army into battle array, and was prepar- 
 ing everything in order to hinder their pawing 
 over Arnon. 
 
 2. When Moses saw that the Amorite king 
 was disposed to enter upon hostilities with them, 
 he thought he ought not to bear that,, insult; 
 and, determining to wean the Hebrews from 
 their indolent temper, and prevent the disorders 
 which arose thence, which had been the occa 
 sion of their former sedition, (nor indeed wen. 
 they now thoroughly easy in their minds,) he in- 
 quired of God, whether he would give him leave 
 to fight? which, when he had done, and God also 
 promised him the victory, he was himself very 
 courageous, and ready to proceed to fighting. 
 Accordingly, he encouraged the soldiers ; and he 
 desired of them that they would take the plea- 
 sure of fighting, now God gave them leave so to 
 do. They then upon the receipt of this permis- 
 sion, which they so much longed for, put on 
 their whole armour, and set about the work 
 without delay. But the Amorite king was not 
 now like to himself, when the Hebrews were 
 ready to attack him ; but both he himself was 
 affrighted at the Hebrews, and his army, which 
 before had shewed themselves to be of good 
 courage, were then found to be timorous: so 
 they could not sustain the first onset, nor bear 
 up against the Hebrews, but fled away, as think- 
 ing this would afford them a more likely way for 
 their escape than fighting; for they depended 
 upon their cities, which were strong, from which 
 yet they reaped no advantage when they were 
 forced to fly to them ; for as soon as the Hebrews 
 saw them giving ground, they immediately pur- 
 sued them close; and when they had broken 
 their ranks, they greatly terrified them, and 
 some of them broke off from the rest, and ran 
 away to the cities. Now the Hebrews pursued 
 them briskly, and obstinately persevered in the 
 labours they had already undergone ; and being 
 very skilful in slinging, and very dexterous in 
 throwing of darts, or any thing else of that kind ; 
 and also having nothing but light armour, which 
 made them quick in the pursuit, they overtook 
 their enemies ; and for those that were most re- 
 mote, and could not be overtaken, they reached 
 them by their slings and their bows, so that 
 many were slain; and those that escaped the 
 slaughter were sorely woonded, and these were 
 more distressed with thirst than with any of 
 those that fought against them, for it was the 
 summer season; and when the greatest number 
 of them were brought down to the river out of a 
 desire to drink, as also when others fled away 
 by troops, the Hebrews came round them, and 
 shot at them ; so that, what with darts and what 
 with arrows, they made a slaughter of them all. 
 Sihon their king was also slain. So the He. 
 brews spoiled the dead bodies, and took their 
 prey. The land also which they took was full 
 of abundance of fruits, and the armv went all
 
 ANTIQUITIES Utf THE JEWS. 
 
 90 
 
 over it without fear, and fed fieir cattle upon it , 
 Mid they took the enemies prisoners, for they 
 could no way put a stop to them, since all the 
 fighting men were destroyed. Such was the 
 destruction which overtook the Aanorites, who 
 were neither sagacious in counsel nor courageous 
 in action. Hereupon the Hebrews took possea- 
 gion of their land, which is a country situate 
 oetween three rivers, and naturally resembling 
 an island : the river Arnon being its southern 
 limit; the river Jabbok detenniuin^its northern 
 side, which, running into Jordan, loses its o\v 
 name, and takes the other : while Jordan Hself 
 runs along by it, on its western coast. 
 
 3. When matters were come to this state, Og, 
 the king of Qilead and Gaulanitis, fell upon the 
 Israelites. He brought an army with him, and 
 came in haste to the assistance of his friend 
 Sihon ; but though he found him already slain, 
 yet did he resolve still to come and fight the He- 
 brews, supposing he should be too h ard for them, 
 and being desirous to try their valour; but tail- 
 ing of his hope, he was both himself slain in the 
 battle, and all his army was destroyed. So 
 Moses passed over the river Jabbok, and over- 
 ran the kingdom of Og. He overthrew thein 
 cities, and slew all their inhabitants, who yet 
 exceeded in riches all the men in that part of the 
 continent, on account of the goodness of the soil, 
 and the great quantity of their wealth. Now 
 Og had very few equals, either in the largeness ol 
 his body or handsomeness of his appearance. 
 He was also a man of great activity in the use of 
 bis hands, so that his actions were not unequal 
 to the vast largeness and handsome appearanot 
 of his body ; and men could easily guess at hia 
 strength and magnitude when they took his bpd 
 at Rabbath, the royal city of the Ar imonites ; ito 
 structure was of iron, its breadth four cubits, 
 and its length a cubit more than double thereto, 
 However, his fall did not only improve the ob- 
 cumstances of the Hebrews for the present, bub 
 by his death he was the occasion of further good 
 success to them; for they presently took those 
 sixty cities which were encompassed Tvith excel- 
 lent walls, and had been subject to him ; ,n d 
 all got both in general and isi particular a great 
 prey. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 OONOEBN1NO BALAAM THE PROPHET, AMD WHAT 
 KIND OF MAN HE WAS. 
 
 S 1. Now Moses, when he had brought his army 
 to Jordan, pitched his camp in the great plain 
 over against Jericho. This city is a very happy 
 situation, and very fit for producing palm-treea 
 and balsam; and now the Israelites began to be 
 very proud of themselves, and very eager for 
 fighting. Moses then, after he had offered for a 
 few days sacrifices of thanksgiving to God, and 
 feasted the people, sent a party of armed men to 
 lay waste the country of the Midianites, and to 
 take their cities. Now the occasion which he 
 took for making war upon them was this that 
 follows : 
 
 2. When Balak, the king of the Mutbites, who 
 had from his ancestors a friendship and league 
 with the Midianites, saw how great the Israel- 
 lies were grown, he was much affrighted on ac- 
 count of his own and iiia kingdom's danger; for 
 he was not acquainted with this, that the He- 
 brews would not meddle with any other country 
 but were to be contented with the possession of 
 the land of Canaan. God having forbidden them 
 
 [BOOK iv, 
 
 to go any further. * So he, with more haste than 
 wisdom, resolved to make an attempt upon them 
 by words : but he did not judge it prudent to 
 fight against them, after they had such pros- 
 perous successes, and even became out of ill 
 successes more happy than before ; but he 
 thought to hinder them, if he could, from grow- 
 ing greater, and so he resolved to send ambas- 
 sadors to the Midianites about them. Now 
 these Midianites, knowing there was one Balaam, 
 who lived by Euphrates, and was the greatest 
 of the prophets at that time, and one that was 
 in . friendship with them, sent some of their 
 honourable princes along with the ambassadors 
 of Balak, to entreat the prophet to come to them, 
 that he might imprecate curses to the destruction 
 of the Israelites. So Balaam received the am- 
 bassadors, and treated them very kindly; and 
 when he had supped, he inquired what was God's 
 will, and what this matter was for which the 
 Midianites entreated him to come to them. But 
 when God opposed his going, he came to the am- 
 bassadors, and told them that he was himself 
 very willing and desirous to comply with their 
 request, but informed them that God was op- 
 posite to his intentions, even that God who had 
 raised him to great reputation on account of the 
 truth of his predictions; for that this army, 
 which they entreated him to come and curse, 
 was in the favour of God ; on which account lit 
 advised them to go home again, and not to per- 
 sist in their enmity against the Israelites : and 
 when he had given them that nnswer, he dis- 
 missed the ambassadors. 
 
 3. Now the Midianites, at the earnest request 
 and fervent entreaties of BaliV, sent other am- 
 bassadors to Balaam, who, desiring to gratify the 
 men, inquired again of God; but he was dis- 
 pleased at this [second] trial, f and bid him by 
 no means to contradict the ambassadors. Now 
 Balaam did not imagine that God gave this in- 
 junction in order to deceive him, so he went 
 along with the ambassadors; but when the di- 
 vine angel met him in the way, when he was in 
 a narrow passage, and hedged in with a wall on 
 both sides, the ass on which Balaam rode under 
 
 * What Joaephus here remarks is well worth our re 
 ..ark in this place also viz., That the Israelites were 
 never to meddle with the Moabitee or Ammonites, ox 
 ir. 7 other people, but those belonging to the land of 
 Canaan, and the countries of Sihon and Og beyond Jor- 
 dan, as far as the desert and Euphrates ; and that there- 
 fore no other people had reason to fear the conquests of 
 the Israelites ; but that those countries given them by 
 God were their proper aud peculiar portion among, the 
 nations, and that all who endeavoured to dispossess 
 them might ever be justly destroyed by them. 
 
 f Note that Josephus never supposes Balaam to be 
 un idolater, nor to seek idolatrous enchantments, or to 
 prophesy falsely, but to be no other than an ill-disposed 
 prophet of the true God ; and intimates that God's an- 
 swer the second time, permitting him to go, was ironi- 
 cal, and on design that he should be deceived, (which 
 sort of deception, by way of punishment for former 
 crimes, Josephus never scruples to admit, as ever 
 esteeming such wicked men justly and providentially 
 deceived.) But perhaps we had better keep here close 
 to the text, which says (Numb, xxiii. 20, 21) that God 
 only permitted Balaam to go along with the ambassadors, 
 in case they came and called him, or positively insisted 
 on his going along with them on any terms ; whereas 
 Balaam seems out of impatience to have risen up in the 
 morning, and saddled his ass, and rather to have called 
 them, than stayed for their calling him ; so zealous does 
 he seem to have been foi his reward of divination, his 
 wages of unrighteousness, (Numb. xxii. 7, 17, 18, 37 ; 2 
 Pet. ii. 15; Jude 6,11;) which reward or wages the truly 
 religious prophets of God never required nor accepted, 
 as our Josephus justly takes notice in the cases ol 
 Samuel, (Antiq. b. v. chap. iv. sect. 1,) and Daniel, 
 (Antiq. b. x. chap. xi. sect. 8.) See also Gen. xiv. 22. 
 23; 2 Kings v. 15 16, 26. 27; and Acts viii. 17.
 
 CHAP. VI.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 91 
 
 stood that it was a divine spirit that met him, 
 >.nd thrust Balaam to one of the walls, without 
 regard to the stripes which Balaam, when he 
 was hurt by the wall, gave her ; but when the 
 ass, upon the angel's continuing to distress her, 
 and upon the stripes which were given her, fell 
 down, by the will of God, she made use of the 
 voice of a man, and complained of Balaam as 
 acting unjustly to her ; that whereas he had no 
 fault to find with her in her former service to 
 him, he now inflicted stripes upon her, as not 
 understanding that she was hindered from serv- 
 ing him in what he was now going about, by the 
 providence of God. And when he was disturbed 
 by reason of the voice of the ass, which was that 
 of a man, the angel plainly appeared to him, and 
 blamed him for the stripes he had given his ass ; 
 and informed him that the brute creature was 
 not in fault, but that he was himself come to 
 obstruct his journey, as being contrary to the 
 will of God. Upon which Balaam was afraid, 
 and was preparing to return back again : yet did 
 God excite him to go on his intended journey, 
 but added this injunction, that he should declare 
 nothing but what he himself should suggest to 
 his mind. 
 
 4. When God had given him this charge, he 
 came to Balak ; and when the king had enter- 
 tained him in a magnificent manner, he desired 
 him to go to one of the mountains to take a view 
 of the state of the camp of the Hebrews. Balak 
 himself also came to the mountain, and brought 
 the prophet along with him, with a royal attend- 
 ance. This mountain lay over their heads, and 
 was distant sixty furlongs from the camp. Now 
 when he saw them, he desired the king to build 
 him seven altars, and to bring him as many bulls 
 and rams ; to which desire the king did presently 
 conform. He then slew the sacrifices, and 
 offered them as burnt-offerings, that he might 
 observe some signal of the flight of the Hebrews. 
 Then said he, "Happy is this people, on whom 
 God bestows the possession of innumerable good 
 things, and grants them his own providence to 
 be their assistant and their guide ; so that there 
 is not any nation among mankind but you will 
 be esteemed superior to them in virtue, and in 
 the earnest prosecution of the best rules of life, 
 and of such as are pure from wickedness, and 
 will leave those rules to your excellent children, 
 and this out of the regard that God bears to you, 
 and the provision of such things for you as may 
 render you happier than any other people under 
 the sun. You shall retain that land to which he 
 hath sent you, and it shall ever be under the 
 command of your children; and both all the 
 earth, as well as the sea, shall be filled with your 
 glory : and you shall be sufficiently numerous to 
 supply the world in general, and every region of 
 it in particular, with inhabitants out of your 
 stock. However, O blessed army ! wonder that 
 you are become so many from one father: and 
 truly, the land of Canaan can now hold you, as 
 being yet comparatively few ; but know ye that 
 the whole world is proposed to be your place of 
 habitation for ever. The multitude of your pos- 
 terity also shall live as well in the islands as on 
 the continent, and that more in number than are 
 the stars of heaven. Ind when you are become 
 so many, God will not relinquish the care of you, 
 but will afford you an abundance of all good 
 things in times of peace, with victory and domi- 
 nion in tunes of war. May the children of your 
 enemies have an inclination to fight against you, 
 and may they be so hardy as to come to arms, 
 *nd to assault you in battle, for they will not 
 return with victory, nor will their return be 
 agreeable to their children and wives. To so 
 
 great a degree of valour will you be raised by th 
 providence of God, who is able to diminish the 
 affluence of some, and to supply the want* oi 
 others ." 
 
 5. Thus did Balaam speak by inspiration, aa 
 not being in his own power, but moved to say 
 what he did by the Divine Spirit. But then 
 Balak was displeased, and said he had broken 
 the contract he had made, whereby he was to 
 come, as he and his confederates had invited him, 
 by the promise of great presents : for whereas he 
 came to curse their enemies, he had made an 
 encomium upon them, and had declared that 
 they were the happiest of men. To which Balaam 
 replied, "O Balak, if thou rightly consideiest 
 this whole matter, canst thou suppose that it is 
 in our power to be silent, or to say anything, 
 when the Spirit of God seizes upon us? for he 
 puts such words as he pleases in our mouths, and 
 such discourses as we are not ourselves conscious 
 of. I well remember by what entreaties both 
 you and the Midiar.ites so joyfully brought me 
 hither, and on that account I took this journey. 
 It was my prayer, that I might not put any 
 affront upon you, as to what you desired of me ; 
 but God is more powerful than the purposes I 
 had made to serve you ; for those that take upon 
 them to foretell the affairs of mankind, as from 
 their own abilities, are entirely unable to do it, 
 or to forbear to utter what God suggests to them, 
 or to offer violence to his will; for when he 
 prevents us, and enters into us, nothing that we 
 say is our own. I then did not intend to praise 
 this army, nor to go over the several good things 
 which God intended to do to their race; but 
 since he was so favourable to them, and so ready 
 to bestow upon them a happy life and eternal 
 glory, he suggested the declaration of those 
 things to me : but now, because it is my desire 
 to oblige thee thyself, as well as the Midianites, 
 whose entreaties it is not decent for me to reject, 
 go to, let us again rear other altars, and offer 
 the like sacrifices that we did before, that I may 
 see whether I can persuade God to permit me 
 to bind these men with curses." Which, when 
 Balak had agreed to, God would not, even upon 
 second sacrifices, consent to his cursing the Israel- 
 ites.* Then fell Balaam upon his face, and 
 foretold what calamities would befall the several 
 kings of the nations, and the most eminent cities, 
 some of which of old were not so much as inha- 
 bited; which events have come to pass among 
 the several people concerned, both in the fore- 
 going ages, and in this, till my own memory, 
 both by sea and by land. From which comple- 
 tion of all these predictions that he made, one 
 may easily guess that the rest will have their 
 completion in time to come. 
 
 6. But Balak being very angry that the Israel- 
 ites were not cursed, sent away Balaam without 
 thinking him worthy of any honour. Where- 
 upon, when he was just upon his journey, in 
 order to pass the Euphrates, he sent for Balak, 
 and for the princes of the Midianites, and spake 
 thus to them: "O Balak, and you Midianites 
 that are here present, (for I am obliged even 
 without the will of God to gratify you,) it is true 
 no entire destruction can seize upon the nation 
 of the Hebrews, neither by war, nor by plague, 
 nor by scarcity of the fruits of the earth, nor c<ui 
 any other unexpected accident be their enure 
 
 * Whether Josephus had in his copy but two attempt! 
 of Balaam in all to curse Israel ; or whether by this hi 
 twice offering sacrifice, he meant twice besides that 
 first time already mentioned, which yet is not very pro- 
 bable, cannot now be certainly determined. In the 
 meantime, all other copies have three such attempts ol 
 Balaam to curse them in the present history.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK iv. 
 
 rain; for the providence of God is concerned to 
 preserve them from such a misfortune; nor will 
 it permit any such calamity to come upon them 
 whereby they may all perish; but some small 
 misfortunes, and those for a short time, whereby 
 they may appear to be brought low, may still 
 befall them; but after that they will flourish 
 again, to the terror of those that brought those 
 mischiefs upon them. So that if you have a 
 mind to gain a victory over them for a short 
 space of time, you will obtain it by following my 
 directions : Do you therefore set out the hand- 
 somest of such of your daughters as are most emi- 
 nent for beauty,* and proper to force and conquer 
 the modesty of those that behold them, and these 
 decked and trimmed to the highest degree you 
 are able. Then do you send them to be near the 
 Israelites' camp, and give them in charge, that 
 when the young men of the Hebrews desire their 
 company, they allow it them; and when they see 
 that they are enamoured of them, let them take 
 their leaves; and if they entreat them to stay, 
 let them not give their consent till they have 
 persuaded them to leave off their obedience to 
 their own laws and the worship of that God who 
 established them, and to worship the gods of the 
 Midianites and Moabites ; for by this means God 
 will be angry at them."t Accordingly, when 
 Balaam had suggested this counsel to them, he 
 went his way. 
 
 7. So when tk; illidianites had sent their 
 daughters, as Balaam had exhorted them, the 
 Hebrew young men were allured by their beauty, 
 and came to discourse with them, and besought 
 them not to grudge them the enjoyment of their 
 beauty, nor to deny them their conversation. 
 These daughters of the Midianites received their 
 words gladly, and consented to it, and stayed with 
 them; but when they had brought them to be 
 enamoured of them, and their inclinations to 
 them were grown to ripeness, they began to think 
 of departing from them : then it was that these 
 men became greatly disconsolate at the women's 
 departure, and they were urgent with them not 
 to leave them, but begged they would continue 
 there, and become their wives; and they pro- 
 mised them they should be owned as mistresses 
 of all they had. This they said with an oath, 
 and called God for the arbitrator of what they 
 promised; and this with tears in their eyes, and 
 all other such marks of concern, as might shew 
 how miserable they thought themselves without 
 them, and so might move their compassion for 
 them. So the women, as soon as they perceived 
 they had made them their slaves, and had caught 
 them with their conversation, began to speak 
 thu to them : 
 
 8. " O you illustrious young men ! we have 
 houses of our own at home, and great plenty of 
 good things there, together with the natural 
 affectionate love of our parents and friends ; nor 
 is it out of our want of any such things that we 
 came to discourse with you: nor did we admit of 
 your invitation with design to prostitute the 
 beauty of our bodies for gain; but taking yon 
 
 Such a large and distinct account of thig perversion 
 of the Israelites by the Midianite women, of which our 
 other copies give us but short intimations, (Numb xxxi 
 16; 2 Pet. ii. 15; Jude 11; Rev. ii. 14,) is preserved 
 is Reland informs us, in the Samaritan Chronicle, in 
 Philo; and in other writings of the Jews, as well as here 
 by Josephus. 
 
 t This grand maxim, That God's people of Israel 
 could never be hurt nor destroyed, but by dra-wing them 
 > sin against God, appears to be true, by the entire 
 history of that people, both in the Bible and in Jose- 
 phus; and is often taken notice of in them both. See 
 In particular a most remarkable Ammonite testimony 
 to this p irpoae, (Judith v. 5-21 ) 
 
 for brave and worthy men, we agreed to your 
 request, that we might treat you with such 
 honours as hospitality required: and now seeing 
 you say that you have a great affection for us, 
 and are troubled when you think we are depart- 
 ing, we are not averse to your entreaties ; and if 
 we may receive such assurance of your good-will 
 as we think can alone be sufficient, we will be 
 glad to lead our lives with you as your wives ; 
 but we are afraid that you will in time be weary 
 of our company, and will then abuse us, and 
 send us back to our parents, after an ignominious 
 manner." And they desired that they would 
 excuse them in their guarding against that dan- 
 ger. But the young men professed they would 
 give them any assurance they should desire ; nor 
 did they at all contradict what they requested, 
 so great was the passion they had for them. " If 
 then," said they, "this be your resolution ; since 
 you make use of such customs and conduct of 
 life as are entirely different from all other men,J 
 insomuch that your kinds of food are peculiar to 
 yourselves, and your kinds of drink not common 
 to others, it will be absolutely necessary, if you 
 would have us for your wives, that you do withal 
 worship our gods; nor can there be any other 
 demonstration of the kindness which you say 
 you already have, and promise to have hereafter 
 to us, than this, that you worship the same gods 
 that we do. For has any one reason to complain, 
 that now you are come into this country, you 
 should worship the proper gods of the same 
 country? especially while our gods are common 
 to all men, and yours such as belong to nobody 
 else but yourselves." So they said they must 
 either come into such methods of divine worship 
 as all others came into, or else they must look 
 out for another world, wherein they may li" by 
 themselves, according to their own laws. 
 
 9. Now the young men were induced by the 
 fondness they had for these women, to think 
 they spake very well ; so they gave themselves 
 up to what they persuaded them, and trans- 
 gressed their own laws ; and supposing there 
 were many gods, and resolving that they would 
 sacrifice to them according to the laws of thai 
 country which ordained them, they both were 
 delighted with their strange food, and went on 
 to do every thing that the women would have 
 them do, though in contradiction to their own 
 laws ; so far, indeed, that this transgression was 
 already gone through the whole army of the 
 young men, and they fell into a sedition that 
 was much worse than the former, and into danger 
 of the entire abolition of their own institutions ; 
 for when once the youth had tasted of these 
 strange customs, they went with insatiable incli- 
 nations into them ; and even where some of the 
 principal men were illustrious on account of the 
 virtues of their fathers, thf>7 also were corrupted 
 together with the rest. 
 
 10. Even Zimri, the head 01 the tribe of Simeon, 
 accompanied with Cozbi, a Midianitish woman, 
 who v/as the daughter of Sur, a man of authority 
 
 J What Josephus here puts into the mouths of these 
 Midianite women, who came to entice the Israelites to 
 lewdness and idolatry viz., that their worship of the 
 God of Israel, in opposition to their idol gods, implied 
 their living according to the holy laws which the true 
 God had given them by Moses, in opposition to those 
 impure laws which were observed under their false 
 gods, well deserves our consideration ; and gives us a 
 substantial reason for the great concern that was ever 
 shewn, under the law of Moses, to preserve the Irael- 
 ites from idolatry, and in the worship of the true God ; 
 it being of no less consequence than, Whether God's 
 people should be governed by the holy laws of the true 
 (rod, or by the impure laws derived from Demons, under 
 the Pagan idolatry.
 
 OHAP. VII.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 93 
 
 in that country; and being desired by her to 
 disregard the laws of Moses, and to follow those 
 she was used to, he complied with her; and this 
 both by sacrificing after a manner different from 
 his own, and by taking a stranger to wife. When 
 things were thus, Moses was afraid that matters 
 should grow worse, and called the people to a 
 congregation, but then accused nobody by name, 
 as unwilling to drive those into despair, who, by 
 lying concealed, might come to repentance ; but 
 he said that they did not do what was either 
 worthy of themselves, or of their fathers, by 
 preferring pleasure to God, and to the living 
 according to his will; that it was fit they should 
 change their courses while their affairs were still 
 in a good state : and think that to be true forti- 
 tude which offers not violence to their laws, but 
 that which resists their lusts. And besides that, 
 he said it was not a reasonable thing, when they 
 had lived soberly in the wilderness, to act madly 
 now when they were in prosperity; and that 
 they ought not to lose, now they have abundance, 
 what they had gained when they ha-i little : 
 and so did he endeavour, by saying this to cor- 
 rect the young men, and to bring them to re- 
 pentance for what they had done. 
 
 11. But Zimri arose up after him, and said, 
 "Yes, indeed, Moses, thou art at liberty to 
 make use of such laws as thou art so fond of, 
 and hast, by accustoming thyself to them, made 
 them firm; otherwise, if things had not been 
 thus, thou hadst often been punished before 
 now, and hadst known that the Hebrews are not 
 easily put upon ; but thou shalt not have me 
 one of thy followers in thy tyrannical commands, 
 for thou dost nothing else hitherto, but, under 
 pretence of laws, and of God, wickedly impose 
 on us slavery, and gain dominion to thyself, 
 while thou deprivest us of the sweetnes* of life, 
 which consists in acting according to our own 
 wills, and is the right of free men, and of those 
 that have no lord over them. Nay, indeed, this 
 man is harder upon the Hebrews than were the 
 Egyptians themselves, as pretending to punish, 
 according to his laws, every one's acting what 
 is most agreeable to himself; but thou thyself 
 better deservest to suffer punishment, who pre- 
 sumest to abolish what every one acknowledges 
 to be what is good for him, and aimest to make 
 thy single opinion to have more force than that 
 of all the rest: and what I now do, and think to 
 be right, I shall not hereafter deny to be accord- 
 hag to my own sentiments. I have married, as 
 thou sayest rightly, a strange woman, and thou 
 nearest what I do from myself as from one that 
 is free; for truly I did not intend to conceal 
 myself. I also own that I sacrificed to those 
 gods to whom you did not think it fit to sac- 
 rifice ; and I think it right to come at truth by 
 inquiring of many people, and not like one that 
 lives under tyranny, to suffer the whole hope of 
 my life to depend upon one man ; nor shall any 
 one find cause to rejoice who declares himself 
 to have more authority over my actions than 
 myself." 
 
 12. Now when Zimri had said these things, 
 about what he and some others had wickedly 
 done, the people held their peace, both out of 
 fear of what might come upon them, and be- 
 cause they saw that their legislator was not 
 willing to bring his insolence before the public 
 any further, or openly to contend with him ; for 
 he avoided that, lest many should imitate the 
 impudence of his language, and thereby disturb 
 the multitude. Upon this the assembly was 
 dissolved. However, the mischievous attempt 
 had proceeded further, if Zimri had not been 
 iirst shun, which came to pass on the following 
 
 occasion : Phineas, a man in other respect! 
 better than the rest of the young men, and also 
 one that surpassed his contemporaries in the 
 dignity of his father, (for he was the son of 
 Eleazar the high priest, and the grandson of 
 [Aaron] Moses's brother,) who was greatly trou- 
 bled at what was done by Zimri, he resolved in 
 earnest to inflict punishment on him, before bis 
 unworthy behaviour should grow stronger by 
 impunity, and in order to prevent this trans- 
 gression from proceeding further, which would 
 happen if , the ringleaders were not punished. 
 He was of Oo great magnanimity, both in strength, 
 of mind and body, that when he undertook any 
 very dangerous attempt, he did not leave it off 
 till he overcame it, and got an entire victory. 
 So he came into Zimri's tent, and slew him with 
 his javelin, and with it he slew Cozbi also. Upon 
 which, all those young men that had a regard to 
 virtue, and aimed to do a glorious action, imi- 
 tated Phineas's boldness, and slew those that 
 were found to be guilty of the same crime with 
 Zimri. Accordingly, many of those that had 
 transgressed, perished by the magnanimous 
 valour of these young men, and the rest a!3 
 perished by a plague, which distemper God 
 himself inflicted upon them. So that all those 
 their kindred, who, instead of hindering them 
 from such wicked actions, as they ought to have 
 done, had persuaded them to go on, were es- 
 teemed by God as partners in their wickedness, 
 and died. Accordingly, there perished out of 
 the army, no fewer than fourteen* [twenty- 
 four] thousand at this time. 
 
 13. This was the cause why Moses was provoked 
 to send an army to destroy the Midiamtes, con- 
 cerning which expedition we shall speak pre- 
 sently, when we have first related what we have 
 omitted; for it is but just not to pass over our 
 legislator's due encomium, on account of bis 
 conduct here, because, although this Balaam, 
 who was sent for by the Midianites to curse the 
 Hebrews, and when he was hindered from doing 
 it by divine providence, did still suggest that 
 advice to them, by making use of which, our 
 enemies had well-nigh corrupted the whole 
 multitude of the Hebrews with their wiles, till 
 some of them were deeply infected with their 
 opinions ; yet did he also do him great honour, 
 by setting down his prophecies in writing. And 
 while it was in his power to claim this glory to 
 himself, and make men believe they were his 
 own predictions, there being no one that could 
 be a witness against him, and accuse him for so 
 doing, he still gave his attestation to him, and 
 did him the honour to make mention of him on 
 this account. But let every one think of these 
 matters aa he pleases. 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 HOW THE HEBREWS FOUGHT WITH TH MJDIAH- 
 ITE3, AND OVEBCAME THEM. 
 
 1. Now Moses sent an army against the land 
 of Midian, for the causes forementioned, in all 
 twelve thousand, taking an equal number out of 
 every tribe, and appointed Phineas for their 
 commander; of which Phineas we made mention 
 a little before, as he that had guarded the laws 
 
 * The mistake in all Josephus's copies, Greek and 
 Latin, which have here fourteen thousand, instead of 
 twenty-four thousand, is so flagrant, that our very 
 learned editors, Bernard and Hudson, have put the 
 latter number directly in the text. I chooM rather to 
 put it in bracket*.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK rv. 
 
 of the Hebrews, and had inflicted punishment 
 on Zimri when he had transgressed them. Now 
 the Midianites perceived beforehand how the 
 Hebrews were coming, and would suddenly be 
 upon them: so they assembled their army to- 
 gether, and fortified the entrances into their 
 country, and there awaited tho enemy's coming. 
 When they were come, and they had joined 
 battle with them, an immense number of the 
 Midianites fell ; nor could they be numbered, 
 they were so very many : and among them fell 
 all their kings, five in number viz., Evi, Zur, 
 Eeba, Hur, and Rekem, who was of the same 
 name with a city, the chief and capital of all 
 Arabia, which is still now so called by the whole 
 Arabian nation, Arecem, from the name of the 
 king that built it ; but is by the Greeks called 
 Petra. Now when the enemies were discom- 
 fited, the Hebrews spoiled their country, and 
 took a great prey, and destroyed the men that 
 were its inhabitants, together with the women ; 
 only they let the virgins alone, as Moses had 
 commanded Phineas to do, who indeed came 
 back, bringing with him an army that had re- 
 ceived no harm, and a great deal of prey ; fifty- 
 two thousand beeves, seventy-five thousand six 
 hundred sheep, sixty thousand asses, with an 
 immense quantity of gold and silver furniture, 
 which the Midianites made use of in their houses ; 
 for they were so wealthy that they were very 
 luxurious There were also led captive about 
 thirty -two thousand virgins.* So Moses parted 
 the prey into parts, and gave one fiftieth part to 
 Eleazar and the two priests, and another fiftieth 
 part to the Levites ; and distributed the rest of 
 the prey among the people. After which they 
 lived happily, as having obtained an abundance 
 of good things by their valour, and there being 
 no misfortune that attended them or binderd 
 their enjoyment of that happiness. 
 
 2. But Moses was now grown old, and ap- 
 pointed Joshua for his successor, both to receive 
 directions from God as a prophet, and for a 
 commander of the army, if they should at any 
 time stand in need of such a one ; and this was 
 done by the command of God, that to him the 
 care of the public should be committed. Now 
 Joshua had been instructed in all those kinds of 
 
 * The slaughter of the Midianite women that had 
 prostituted themselves to the lewd Israelites, and the 
 preservation of those that had not been gui'ty therein ; 
 the last of which were no fewer than thirty-two thou- 
 aand, both here and Numb. xxxi. 15, 16, 17, 36, 40, 46, 
 and both by the particular command of God, are highly 
 remarkable, and shew that, even in nations otherwise 
 for their wickedness doomed to destruction, the inno- 
 cent were sometimes providentially taken care of, 
 and delivered from that destruction; which directly 
 implies, that it was the wickedness of the nations of 
 Canaan, and nothing else, thatoccasioned their excision. 
 See Gen. xv. 16 ; 1 Sam. xv. 18, 33. Apost. Constit. 
 b. viii. ch. xii. p. 402. In the first of which places, the 
 reason of the delay of the punishment of the Amorites 
 Is given, because " their iniquity was not yet full." In 
 the second, Saul is ordered to go and destroy the sinners, 
 "the Amalekites ;" plainly implying that they were there- 
 fore to be destroyed, because they were sinners, and not 
 otherwise. In the third, the reason is given why king 
 Agag was not to be spared viz., because of his former 
 cruelty : " As thy sword hath made the (Hebrew) wo- 
 men childless, so shall thy mother be made childless 
 among women by the Hebrews." In the last place, the 
 apostles, or their amanuensis Clement, gave this rea- 
 son for the necessity of the coming of Christ, that "men 
 had formerly perverted both the positive law and that 
 of nature ; and had cast out of their mind the memory 
 
 if the Flood, the burning of Sodom, the plagues of the 
 
 Egyptians, and the slaughter of the inhabitants of 
 
 Palestine," as signs of the most amazing impenitence 
 
 (1 insensibility under the punishments of horrid 
 
 wickedness. 
 
 learning which concerned the laws and God him- 
 self, and Moses had been his instructor. 
 
 3. At this time it was that the two tribes of 
 Gad and Reuben, and the half tribe of Manaaseh, 
 abounded in a multitude of cattle, as well as in 
 all other kinds of prosperity; whence they had 
 a meeting, and in a body cnie and besought 
 Moses to give them, as their peculiar portion, 
 that land of the Amorites which they had taken 
 by right of war, because it was fruitful and good 
 for feeding of cattle ; but Moses, supposing that 
 they were afraid of fighting with the Canaanites, 
 and invented this provision for their cattle as a 
 handsome excuse for avoiding that war, he called 
 them arrant cowards, and said they had only 
 contrived a decent excuse for that cowardice; 
 and that they had a mind to live in luxury and 
 ease, while all the rest were labouring with 
 great pains to obtain the land they were desirous 
 to have ; and that they were not willing to march 
 along and undergo the remaining hard service, 
 whereby they were, under the divine promise, 
 to pass over Jordan and overcome those our 
 enemies which God had shewn them, and so 
 obtain their land. But these tribes, when they 
 saw that Moses was angry with them, and when 
 they could not deny but he had a just cause to 
 be displeased at their petition, made an apology 
 for themselves, and said that it was not on ac- 
 count of their fear of dangers, nor on account of 
 their laziness, that they made this request to 
 him, but that they might leave the prey they 
 had gotten in places of safety, and thereby might 
 be more expedite, and ready to undergo diffi- 
 culties, and to fight battles. They added this 
 also, that when they had built cities, wherein 
 they might preserve their children, and wives, 
 and possessions, if he would bestow them upon 
 them, they would go along with the rest of the 
 army. Hereupon Moses was pleased with what 
 they said; so he called for Eleazar, the high 
 priest, and Joshua, and the chief of the tribes, 
 and permitted these tribes to possess the land of 
 the Amorites ; but upon this condition, that 
 they should join with their kinsmen in the war 
 until all things were settled. Upon which con- 
 dition they took possession of the country, and 
 built them strong cities, and put into them their 
 children, and their wives, and whatsoever else 
 they had that might be an impediment to the 
 labours of their future marches. 
 
 4. Moses also now built those ten cities which 
 were to be of the number of the forty .eight, [for 
 the Levites ;] three of which he allotted to those 
 that slew any person involuntarily, and fled to 
 them ; and he assigned the same time for their 
 banishment with that of the life of that high 
 priest under whom the slaughter and flight hap- 
 pened ; after which death of the high priest he 
 permitted the slayer to return home. During 
 the time of his exile, the relations of him that 
 was slain may, by this law, kill the manslayer if 
 they caught him without the bounds of the city 
 to which he fled, though this permission was not 
 granted to any other person. Now the cities 
 which were set apart for this flight were these : 
 Bezer, at the borders of Arabia, Ramoth, of the 
 land of Gilead ; and Golan, in the land of Bashan. 
 There were to be also, by Moses's command, 
 three other cities allotted for the habitation of 
 these fugitives out of the cities of the Levites, 
 but not till after they should be in possession of 
 the land of Canaan. 
 
 5. At this time the chief men of the tribe of 
 Manasseh came to Moses, and informed him 
 that there was an eminent man of their tribe 
 dead, whose name was Zelophehad, who left no 
 male children, but left daughters; and asked
 
 CHAP. vni.j 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 him whether these daughters might inherit his 
 land or not. He made this answer, that if they 
 shall marry into their own tribe, they shall carry 
 their estate along with them ; but if they dis- 
 pose of themselves in marriage to men of another 
 tribe, they shall leave their inheritance in their 
 father's tribe. And then it was that Moses 
 ordained that every one's inheritance should 
 continue in his own tribe. 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 THB POLITY SETTLED BY MOSES; AND HOW HE 
 DISAPPEARED FROM AMONG MANKIND. 
 
 1. WHEN forty years were completed, within 
 thirty days Moses gathered the congregation to- 
 gether near Jordan, where the city Abila now 
 stands, a place full of palm-trees ; and all the 
 people being come together, he spake thus to 
 them: 
 
 2. " O you Israelites and fellow-soldiers, who 
 have been partners with me in this long and un- 
 easy journey ; since it is now the will of God, 
 and the course of old age, at a hundred and 
 twenty, requires it that I should depart out of 
 this life ; and since God has forbidden me to be 
 a patron or an assistant to you in what remains 
 to be done beyond Jordan, I thought it reason- 
 able not to leave off my endeavours even now for 
 your happiness, but to do my utmost to procure 
 for you the eternal enjoyment of good things, 
 and a memorial for myself, when you shall be in 
 the fruition of great plenty and prosperity : 
 come, therefore, let me suggest to you by what 
 means you may be happy, and may leave an eternal 
 prosperous possession thereof to your children 
 after you, and then let me thus go out of the 
 world ; and I cannot but deserve to be beliei^d 
 by you, both on account of the great things I 
 have already done for you, and because, when 
 souls are about to leave the body, they speak 
 with the sincerest freedom. O children of Is- 
 rael ! there is but one source of happiness for all 
 mankind, the favour of God;* for he alone is 
 able to give good things to those that deserve 
 them, and to deprive those of them that sin 
 against him ; towards whom, if you behave your- 
 selves according to his will, and according to 
 what I, who well understand his mind, do ex- 
 hort you to, you will both be esteemed blessed, 
 and will be admired by all men ; and will never 
 come into misfortunes, nor cease to be happy : you 
 will then preserve the possession of the good 
 things you already have, and will quickly obtain 
 those that you are at present in want of, only 
 do you be obedient to those whom God would 
 have you to follow : nor do you prefer any other 
 constitution of government before the laws now 
 liven you; neither do you disregard that way of 
 divine worship which you now have, nor change' 
 it for any other form : and if you do this, you 
 will be the most courageous of all men, in under- 
 going the fatigues of war, and will not be easily 
 conquered by any of your enemies; for while 
 God is present with you to assist you, it is to be 
 expected that you will be able to despise the 
 opposition of all mankind ; and groat rewards of 
 virtue are proposed for you, if you preserve that 
 virtue through your whole lives. Virtue itself 
 is indeed the principal and the first reward, and 
 after that it bestows abundance of others; so 
 that your exercise of virtue towards other men 
 
 * These words of Josephus are so true, that they de- 
 serve to be had in constant remembrance. 
 
 will make your own lives happy, and render you 
 more glorious than foreigners can be, and pro- 
 cure you an undisputed reputation with posterity. 
 These blessings you will be able to obtain, in 
 case you hearken to and observe those laws which, 
 by divine revelation, I have ordained for you ; 
 that is, in case you withal meditate upon the 
 wisdom that is in them. I am going from you 
 myself, rejoicing in the good things you enjoy; 
 and I recommend you to the wise conduct of 
 your law, to the becoming order of your polity, 
 and to the virtues of your commanders, who will 
 take care of what is for your advantage ; and that 
 God, who has been till now your leader, and by 
 whose good-will I have myself been useful to 
 you, will not put a period now to his providence 
 over you, but, as long as you desire to have him 
 your Protector in your pursuits after virtue, so 
 long will you enjoy his care over you. Your 
 high priest also, Eleazar, as well as Joshua, with 
 the senate, and chief of your tribes, will go be- 
 fore you, and suggest the best advices to you; by 
 following which advices you will continue to be 
 happy : to whom do you give ear without reluc- 
 tance, as sensible that all such as know well how 
 to be governed, will also know how to govern, if 
 they be promoted to that authority themselves ; 
 and do not you esteem liberty to consist in oppos- 
 ing such directions as your governors think fit to 
 give you for your practice, as at present indeed 
 you place your liberty in nothing else but abusing 
 your benefactors ; which error, if you can avoid 
 for the time to come, your affairs will be in a 
 better condition than they have hitherto been ; 
 nor do you ever indulge such a degree of passion 
 in these matters as you have oftentimes done 
 when you have been very angry at me ; for you 
 know that I have been of tener in danger of death 
 from you than from our enemies. What I now 
 put you in mind of, is not done hi order to re- 
 proach you; for I do not think it proper, now I 
 am going out of the world, to bring this to your 
 remembrance, in order to leave you offended at 
 me, since, at the time I underwent those hard- 
 ships from you, I was not angry at you ; but I do 
 it in order to make you wiser hereafter, and to 
 teach you that this will be for your security: I 
 mean, that you never be injurious to those that 
 preside over you, even when you are become 
 rich, as you will be to a great degree when you 
 have passed over Jordan, and are in possession 
 of the land of Canaan. Since, when you shall 
 have once proceeded so far by your wealth, as to 
 a contempt and disregard of virtue, you will also 
 forfeit the favour of God; and when you have 
 made him your enemy, you will be beaten in 
 war, and wUl have the land which you possess 
 taken away again from you by your enemies, and 
 this with great reproaches upon your conduct. 
 You will be scattered over the whole world, and 
 will, as slaves, entirely fill both sea and land; 
 and when once you have had the experience of 
 what I now say, you will repent and remember 
 the laws you have broken when it is too late. 
 Whence I would advise you, if you intend to 
 preserve these laws, to leave none of your ene- 
 mies alive when you have conquered them, but 
 to look upon it as for your advantage to destroy 
 them all, lest, if you permit them to live, you 
 taste of their manners, and thereby corrupt your 
 own proper institutions. I also do further ex- 
 hort you to overthrow their altars, and their 
 groves, and whatsoever temples they have among 
 them, and to burn all such, their nation, and 
 their very memory with fire ; for by this means 
 alone the safety of your own happy constitution 
 can be firmly secured to you. And in order to 
 prevent your ignorance of virtue, and the de-
 
 96 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK rv. 
 
 generacy of your nature into vice, I have also 
 ordained you laws, by divine suggestion, and a 
 form of government, which are so good, that if 
 you regularly observe them you will be esteemed 
 of all men the most happy." 
 
 3. When he had spoken thus, he gave them the 
 laws and the constitution of government written 
 in a book. Upon which the people fell into 
 tears, and appeared already touched with the 
 sense that they should have a great want of their 
 conductor, because they remembered what a 
 number of dangers he had passed through, and 
 what care he had taken of their preservation: 
 they desponded about what would come upon 
 them after he was dead, and thought they should 
 never have another governor like him ; and feared 
 that God would then take less care of them when 
 Moses was gone, who used to intercede for them. 
 They also repented of what they had said to him 
 in the wilderness when they were angry ; and 
 were in grief on those accounts, insomuch that 
 the whole body of the people fell into tears with 
 such bitterness, that it was past the power of 
 words to comfort them in their affliction. How- 
 ever, Moses gave them some consolation; and by 
 calling them off the thought, how worthy he was 
 of their weeping for him, he exhorted them to 
 keep to that form of government he had given 
 them ; and then the congregation was dissolved 
 at this time. 
 
 4. Accordingly, I shall now first describe this 
 form of government which was agreeable to the 
 dignity and virtue of Moses ; and shall thereby 
 inform those that read these Antiquities, what 
 our original settlements were, and shall then 
 proceed to the remaining histories. Now those 
 settlements are all still in writing, as he left 
 them ; and we shall add nothing by way of orna- 
 rr-'.nt, nor anything besides what Moses left us ; 
 only we shall so far innovate as to digest the 
 several kinds of laws into a regular system : for 
 they were by him left in writing as they were 
 accidentally scattered in their delivery, and as he 
 upon inquiry had learned them of God. On 
 which account I have thought it necessary to 
 premise this observation beforehand, lest any of 
 my own countrymen should blame me, as having 
 been guilty of an offence herein. Now part of 
 our constitution will include the laws that belong 
 to our political state. As for those laws which 
 Moses left concerning our common conversation 
 and intercourse one with another, I have re- 
 served that for a discourse concerning our manner 
 of life, and the occasions of those laws ; which I 
 propose to myself, with God's assistance, to 
 write, after I have finished the work I am now 
 apon. 
 
 5. When you have possessed yourselves of the 
 land of Canaan, and have leisure to enjoy the 
 good things of it, and when you have afterward 
 determined to build cities, if you will do what is 
 pleasing to God, you will have a secure state of 
 happiness. Let there be then one city of the 
 land of Canaan, and this situate in the most 
 agreeable place for its goodness, and very emi- 
 nent in itself, and let it be that which God shall 
 choose for himself by prophetic revelation. Let 
 there also be one temple therein, and one altar, 
 not reared of hewn stones, but of such as you 
 gather together at random ; which stones, when 
 they are waited over with mortar, will have a 
 Handsome appearance, and be beautiful to the 
 sight. Let the ascent to it be not by steps,* but 
 
 * This law seems not to have belonged to the altar of 
 
 e tabernacle, (Exod. xxvii. 4,) nor to that of Ezekiel, 
 
 (chap, xliii. 17 ;) but rather to occasional altars of any 
 
 considerable altitude and largeness ; as also probably to 
 
 by an acclivity of raised earth. And let there be 
 neither an altar nor a temple in any other city ; 
 for God is but one, and the nation of the He- 
 brews ia but one. 
 
 6. He that blasphemeth God let him be stoned, 
 and let him hang upon a tree all that day, and 
 then let him be buried in an ignominious and 
 obscure manner. 
 
 7. Let those that live as remote as the bound* 
 of the land which the Hebrews shall possess, 
 come to that city where the temple shall be, and 
 this three times in a year, that they may give 
 thanks to God for his former benefits, and may 
 entreat him for those they shall want hereafter; 
 and let them, by this means, maintain a friendly 
 correspondence with one another by such meet- 
 ings and f eastings together for it is a good 
 thing for those that are of the same stock, and 
 under the same institution of laws, not to be 
 unacquainted with each other ; which acquaint- 
 ance will be maintained by thus conversing to- 
 gether, and by seeing and talking with one an- 
 other, and so renewing the memorials of this 
 union; for if they do not thus converse together 
 continually, they will appear like mere strangers 
 to one another. 
 
 8. Let there be taken out of your fruits a tenth, 
 besides that which you have allotted to give to 
 the priests and Levites. This you may indeed 
 sell in the country, but it is to be used in those 
 feasts and sacrifices that are to be celebrated in 
 the holy city : for it is fit you should enjoy those 
 fruits of the earth which God gives you to possess, 
 so as may be to the honour of the donor. 
 
 9. You are not to offer sacrifices out of the 
 hire of a woman who is a harlot, t for the Deity ia 
 not pleased with any thing that arises from such 
 abuses of nature; of which sort none can be 
 worse than this prostitution of the body. In 
 like manner no one may take the price of the 
 covering of a bitch, either of the one that is used 
 in hunting, or in keeping of sheep, and thence 
 sacrifice to God. 
 
 10. Let no one blaspheme those gods which 
 other cities esteem such ;J nor may any one steal 
 what belongs to strange temples ; nor take away 
 the gifts that are dedicated to any god. 
 
 11. Let not any one of you wear a garment 
 made of woollen and linen, for that is appointed 
 to be for the priests alone. 
 
 12. When the multitude are assembled to- 
 gether unto the holy city for sacrificing every 
 seventh y*str, it the Feast of Tabernacles, let the 
 high priest stand upon a high desk, whence he 
 may be heard, and let him read the laws to all 
 the people ; and let neither the women nor the 
 children be hindered from hearing, no, nor the 
 servants neither ; for it is a good thing that those 
 laws should be engraven in their souls, and pre- 
 served in their memories, that so it may not be 
 possible to hlot them out ; for by this means they 
 will not be guilty of sin, when they cannot plead 
 ignorance of what the laws have enjoined them. 
 The laws alo will have a greater authority among 
 them, as foretelling what they will suffer if they 
 break them : and imprinting in their souls by 
 this hearing what they command them to do, 
 that so there may always be within their minds 
 that intention of the laws which they have de- 
 Solomon's altar. The reason of the law is obvious : that 
 before the invention of stairs, decency could not ba 
 otherwise provided for in the loose garments which the 
 priests wore. 
 
 t The hire of harlots was given to Venus in Syria, and 
 against some such practice this law seems to have been 
 made. 
 
 t The Apostolical Constitutions expound this law of 
 Moses, of magistrates.
 
 CHAP. VHI.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 spised and broken, and have thereby been the 
 causes of their own mischief. Let the children 
 also learn the Laws, aa the first thing they are 
 taught, which -will be the best thing they can be 
 taught, and will be the cause of their future feli- 
 city. 
 
 13. Let every one commemorate before God 
 the benefits which he bestowed upon them at 
 their deliverance out of the land of Egypt, aud 
 this twice every day, both when the day begins 
 and when the hour of sleep comes on, gratitude 
 being in its own nature a just thing, and serving 
 not only by way of return for. past, but also by 
 way of invitation of future favours. They are 
 also to inscribe the principal blessings they have 
 received from God upon their doors, and shew 
 the same remembrance of them upon their arms ; 
 as also they are to bear on their forehead and 
 their arm those wonders which declare the power 
 of God, and his good-will towards them, that 
 God's readiness to bless them may appear every- 
 where conspicuous about them.* 
 
 14. Let there be seven men to judge in every 
 city,t and these such as have been before moat 
 zealous in the exercise of virtue and righteous- 
 ness. Let every judge have two officers allotted 
 him out of the tribe of LevL Let those that 
 are chosen to judge in the several cities be had 
 in great honour; and let none be permitted to 
 revile any others when these are present, nor to 
 carry themselves in an insolent manner to them ; 
 it being natural that reverence towards those in 
 high offices among men should procure men's 
 fear and reverence towards God. Let those that 
 judge be permitted to determine according as 
 they think to be right, unless any one can shew 
 that they have taken bribes, to the perversion 
 of justice, or can allege any other accusation 
 against them, whereby it may appear that they 
 have passed an unjust sentence; for it is not fit 
 that causes should be openly determined out of 
 regard to gain, or to the dignity if the sulton, 
 but that the judges should esteem what is right 
 before all other things, otherwise God will by 
 that means be despised, and esteemed inferior 
 to those, the dread of whose power has occa- 
 sioned the unjust sentence; for justice is the 
 power of God. He, therefore, that gratifies 
 those in great dignity, supposes them more 
 potent than God himself. But if these judges 
 be unable to give a just sentence about the 
 causes that come before them, (which case is not 
 unfrequent hi human affairs,) let them send the 
 causes undetermined to the holy city, and there 
 let the high priest, the prophet, and the san- 
 hedrim, determine as it shall seem good to 
 them. 
 
 15. But let not a single witness be credited; 
 but three, or two at the least, and those such 
 whose testimony is confirmed by their good 
 lives. But let not the testimony of women be 
 admitted, on account of the levity and boldness 
 of their sex::}: nor let servants be admitted to 
 give testimony, on account of the ignobility of 
 their soul ; since it is probable that they may 
 not speak truth, either out of hope of gain, or 
 
 * Wiethr these phylacteries, and other Jewish memo- 
 rials of the law here mentioned by Josephus, were lite- 
 rally meant by God I much question. The Karaites, 
 who keep close to the written law, think they were not 
 literally to be understood. 
 
 t Here, as well as elsewhere, are but seven judges ap- 
 pointed for small cities, instead of twenty-three in the 
 modern rabbins. 
 
 J The Pentateuch sys not a word about the exclu- 
 sion of women as witnesses in courts of justice. It is 
 very probable, however, that this was the practice of 
 the Jews in the days of Josephus. 
 
 fear of punishment. But if any one be believed 
 to have borne false witness, let him, when he ia 
 convicted, suffer all the very same punishments 
 which he against whom he bore witness was to 
 have suffered. 
 
 16. If a murder be committed in any place, 
 and he that did it be not found, nor is there any 
 suspicion upon one as if he had hated the man, 
 and so had killed him, let there be a very dili- 
 gent inquiry made after the man, and rewards 
 proposed to any one who will discover him : but 
 if still no information can be procured, let the 
 magistrates and senate of those cities that lie 
 near the place in which the murder was com- 
 mitted, assemble together, and measure the dis- 
 tance from the place where the dead body lies; 
 then let the magistrates of the nearest city 
 thereto purchase a heifer, and bring it to a 
 valley, and to a place therein where there 
 is no land ploughed or trees planted, and let 
 them cut the sinews of the heifer; then the 
 priests and Levites, and the senate of that city, 
 shall take water and wash their hands over the 
 head of the heifer; and they shall openly de- 
 clare that their hands are innocent of this mur- 
 der, and that they have neither done it them- 
 selves, nor been assisting to any that did it. 
 They shall also beseech God to be merciful to 
 them, that no such horrid act may any more 
 be done in that land. 
 
 17. Aristocracy, and the way of living under 
 it, is the best constitution : and may you never 
 have any inclination to any other form of govern- 
 ment ; and may you always love that form, and 
 have the laws for your governors, and govern all 
 your actions according to them; for you need no 
 supreme governor but God. But if you shall 
 desire a king, let him be one of your own nation ; 
 let him be always careful of justice and other 
 virtues perpetually; let him submit to the Laws, 
 and esteem God's commands to be his highest 
 wisdom; but let him do nothing without the 
 high priest and the votes of the senators; let 
 him not have a great number of wives, nor pur- 
 sue after abundance of riches, nor a multitude 
 of horses, whereby he may grow too proud to 
 submit to the laws. And if he affect any such 
 things, let him be restrained, lest he become so 
 potent that his state be inconsistent with your 
 welfare. 
 
 18. Let it not be esteemed lawful to remove 
 boundaries, neither our own, nor of those with 
 whom we are at peace. Have a care you do not 
 take those land-marks away which are, as it 
 were, a divine and unshaken limitation of rights 
 made by God himself, to last for ever; since 
 this going beyond limits and gaining ground 
 upon others, is the occasion of wars and sedi- 
 tions ; for those that remove boundaries are not 
 far off an attempt to subvert the laws. 
 
 19. He that plants a piece of Land, the trees 
 of which produce fruits before the fourth year, is 
 not to bring thence any first-fruits to God, nor 
 is he to make use of that fruit himself, for it is 
 not produced in its proper season; for when 
 nature has a force put upon her at an unseason- 
 able time, the fruit is not proper for God nor 
 for the master's use ; but let the owner gather 
 all that is grown on the fourth year, for then it 
 is in its proper season; and let him that has 
 gathered it carry it to the holy city, and spend 
 that, together with the tithe of his other fruits, 
 in feasting with his friends, with the orphans, 
 and the widows. But on the fifth year the fruit 
 u his own, and he may use it as he pleases. 
 
 20. You are not to sow with seed a piece of 
 land which is planted with vines ; for it is enough 
 that it supply nourishment to that plant, and be
 
 08 
 
 not harassed by ploughing aliso. You are : to 
 plough your 'and with oxen, and not to oblige 
 other animals to come under the same yoke 
 with them, but to till your land with those 
 beasts that are of the same kind with each other. 
 The seeds are also to be pure, and without mix- 
 ture, and not to be compounded of two or three 
 gorts, since Nature does not rejoice in the union 
 of things that are not in their own nature alike: 
 nor are you to permit beasts of different kinds 
 to gender together, for there is reason to feax 
 that this unnatural abuse may extend from 
 beasts of different kinds to men, though it takes 
 its first rise from evil practices about such 
 smaller things. Nor is any thing to be allowed, 
 by imitation whereof any degree of subversion 
 may creep into the constitution ; nor do the 
 laws neglect small matters, but provide that 
 even those may be managed after an unblamo- 
 able manner. 
 
 21. Let not those tnat reap anu gather in tha 
 corn that is reaped, gather in the gleanings also, 
 but let them rather leave some handfuls for 
 those that are in want of the necessaries of life, 
 that it may be a support and a supply to them, 
 In order to their subsistence. In like manner 
 when they gather their grapes, let them leave 
 jome smaller bunches for the poor, and let them 
 pass over some of the fruits of the olive trees, 
 when they gather them, and leave them to be 
 partaken of by those that have none of their 
 own ; for the advantage arising from the exact 
 collection of all, will not be so considerable to 
 the owners as will arise from the gratitude of 
 the poor; and God will provide that the land 
 hall more willingly produce what shall be for 
 the nourishment of its fruits, in case you do not 
 merely take care of your own advantage, but 
 have regard to the support of others also : nor 
 we you to muzzle the mouths of the oxen when 
 they tread the ears of corn in the thrashing- 
 floor; for it is not just to restrain our feliow- 
 labouring animals, and those that work in order 
 to its production, of this fruit of their labours : 
 nor are you to prohibit those that pass by at the 
 time when your fruits are ripe to touch them, 
 but to give them leave to fill themselves full of 
 what you have; and this whether they be of 
 four own country or strangers, as being glad 
 of the opportunity of giving them some part of 
 your fruits when they are ripe; but let it not be 
 esteemed lawful for them to carry any away, 
 nor let those that gather the grapes, and carry 
 them to the wine-presses, restrain those whom 
 they meet from eating of them; for it is unjust, 
 out of envy, to hinder those that desire it, to 
 partake of the good things that come into the 
 *orld according to God's will, and this while the 
 eason is at the height, and is hastening away as 
 b pleases God. Nay, if some, out of bashful- 
 icss, are unwilling to touch these fruits, let 
 them be encouraged to take of them (I mean, 
 those that are Israelites) as if they were them- 
 lelves the owners and lords, on account of the 
 kindred there is between them: nay, let them 
 desire men that come from other countries, to 
 partake of these tokens of friendship which God 
 has given in their proper season; for that is -not 
 to be deemed as idly spent, which any one out 
 of kindness communicates to another, since God 
 Destows plenty of good things on men, not only 
 for themselves to reap the advantage, but also 
 to give to others in a way of generosity; and he 
 is desirous, by this means, to make known tc 
 others his peculiar kindness to the people oi 
 Israel, and how freely he communicates happi- 
 s to them, while they abundantly communi 
 cate out of their great superfluities to even tho-.r, 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK IT. 
 
 foreigners also. But for him that acts contrary 
 to this law, let him be beaten with forty stripes, 
 save one,* by the public executioner ; let him 
 undergo this punishment, which is a most igno- 
 minious one for a free man, and this because he 
 was such a slave to gain as to lay a blot upon his 
 own dignity; for it is proper for you who have 
 had the experience of the afflictions in Egypt, 
 and of those in the wilderness, to make provi- 
 sion for those that are in the like circumstances ; 
 and while you have now obtained plenty your- 
 selves, through the mercy and providence of 
 God, to distribute of the same plenty, by the 
 like sympathy, to such as stand in need of it. 
 
 22. Besides those two tithes, which I have 
 already said you are to pay every year, the one 
 for the Levites, the other for the festivals, you 
 are to bring every third year a third tithe to be 
 distributed to those that want ;f to women also 
 that are widows, and to children that are or- 
 phans. But as to the ripe fruits, let them carry 
 that wnich is ripe first of all into the temple ; 
 and when they have blessed God for that land 
 which bare them, and which he had given them 
 for a possession, when they have also offered 
 those sacrifices which the law has commanded 
 them to bring, let them give the first-fruits to 
 the priests. But when any one hath done this, 
 and hath brought the tithe of all that he hath, 
 together with those first-fruits that are for the 
 Levites, and for the festivals, and when he is 
 about to go home, let him stand before the holy 
 house, and return thanks to God, that he hath 
 delivered them from the injurious treatment 
 they had in Egypt, and hath given them a 
 good laud and a large, and lets them enjoy the 
 fruit thereof; and when he hath openly testified 
 that he hath fully paid the tithes [and other 
 dues] according to the laws of Moses, let him 
 entreat God that he will be ever merciful and 
 
 Sacious to him ; and continue so to be to all the 
 ebrewy, both by preserving the good things 
 which Le hath already given them, and by 
 adding what it is still in his power to bestow 
 upon them. 
 
 23. Let the Hebrews marry, at the age fit for 
 it, virgins that are free, and born of good parents. 
 And he that does not marry a virgin, let him not 
 corrupt another man's wife, and marry her, nor 
 grieve her former husband : nor let free men 
 marry slaves, although their affections should 
 strongly bias any of them so to do : for it is 
 decent, and for the dignity of the persons them- 
 selves, to govern those their affections. And 
 further, no one ought to marry a harlot, whose 
 matrimonial oblations, arising from the prosti- 
 tution of her body, God will not receive ; for by 
 these means the dispositions of the children will 
 be liberal and virtuous ; I mean when they are 
 not born of base parents, and of the lustful con- 
 junction of such as marry women that are not 
 free. If any one has been espoused to a woman 
 as to a virgin, and does not afterward find her 
 so to be, let him bring his action, and accuse 
 her, and let him make use of such indications 
 
 * This penalty was five times inflicted on St Paul 
 himself by the Jews, (2 Cor. xi. 24.) 
 
 t Josephus's plain and express interpretation of this 
 law of Moses, that the Jews were bound every third 
 year to pay three tithes that to the Levites, that for 
 sacrifices at Jerusalem, and this for the indigent, the 
 widow, and the orphans is fully confirmed by the 
 practice of good old Tobit, against the opinions of the 
 rabbins, (Tobit. L 6, 7, 8.) 
 
 I Josephushere determines nothing what were these 
 .particular tokens of virginity or of corruption : per- 
 haps he thougbt he could not easily describe them to 
 the heathens, withrot saying what they might have
 
 DUAP. Till. I 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 to prove his accusation, as he is furnished 
 withal ; and let the father or the brother of the 
 damsel, or some one that is after them nearest 
 of kin to her, defend her. If the damsel obtain 
 a sentence in her favour, that she had not been 
 guilty, let her live with her husband that ac- 
 cused her: and let him not have any further 
 power at all to put her away, unless she give 
 him very great occasions of suspicion, and such 
 as can be no way contradicted : but for him that 
 brings an accusation and calumny against his 
 wife in an impudent and rash manner, let him be 
 punished by receiving forty stripes save one, and 
 let him pay fifty shekels to her father : but if the 
 damsel be convicted, as having been corrupted, 
 and is one of the common people, let her be 
 stoned, because she did not preserve her virgin- 
 ity till she were lawfully married; but if she 
 were the daughter of a priest, let her be burnt 
 alive. If any one has two wives, and if he 
 greatly respect and be kind to one of them, 
 either out of his affection to her, or for her 
 beauty, or for some other reason, while the 
 other is of less esteem with him ; and if the son 
 of her that ia beloved be the younger by birth 
 than another born of tte other wife, but endea- 
 vours to obtain the right of primogeniture from 
 his father's kindness to his mother, and would 
 thereby obtain a double portion of bis father's 
 substance, for that double portion is what I 
 have allotted him in the laws, let not this be 
 permitted; for it is unjust that he who is the 
 elder by birth should be deprived of what is due 
 to him, on the father's disposition of his estate, 
 because hia mother was not equally regarded by 
 him. He that hath corrupted a damsel espoused 
 to another man, in case he had her consent, let 
 both him and her be put to death, for they are 
 both equally guilty ; the man, because he per- 
 suaded the woman willingly to submit to a most 
 impure action, and to prefer it to lawful wed- 
 lock ; the woman, because she was persuaded to 
 yield herself to be corrupted, either for pleasure 
 or for gain. However, if a man light on a woman 
 when she is alone, and forces her, where nobody 
 was present to come to her assistance, let him 
 only be put to death. Let him that hath cor- 
 rupted a virgin not yet espoused, marry her; 
 but if the father of the damsel be not willing 
 that she should be his wife, let him_vay fifty 
 shekels as the price of her prostitution. He 
 that desires to be divorced from his wife for any 
 cause* whatsoever, (and many such causes happen 
 among men,) let him in writing give assurance 
 that he will never use her as his wife any more ; 
 for by this means she may be at liberty to marry 
 another husband, although before this bill of 
 divorce be given, she is not to be permitted so 
 to do: but if she be misused by him also, or if, 
 when he is dead, her first husband would many 
 her again, it shall not be lawful for her to 
 return to him. If a woman's husband die, 
 and leave her without children, let his brother 
 marry her; and let him call the son that is born 
 to him by his brother's name, and educate him 
 as the heir of his inheritance ; for this procedure 
 will be for the benefit of the public, because 
 thereby families will not fail, and the estate 
 will continue among the kindred : and this will 
 be for the solace of wives under their affliction, 
 that they are to be married to the next relation 
 of their former husbands ; but if the brother 
 will not marry her, let the woman come before 
 
 thought a breach of modesty ; which seeming breach 
 of modesty laws cannot always avoid. 
 
 * &3e our Saviour's words upon this very subject, 
 CMatt xix. 8.) 
 
 the senate, and protest openly that this brother 
 will not admit her for his wife, but will injure 
 the memory of his deceased brother, while she 
 is willing to continue in the family, and to bear 
 him children; and when the senate have in- 
 quired of him for what reason it is that he is 
 averse to this marriage, whether he gives a bad 
 or a good reason, the matter must come to this 
 issue, That the woman shall lose the sandals of 
 the brother, and shall spit in his face, and say. 
 He deserves this reproachful treatment from 
 her, as having injured the memory of the de- 
 ceased; and then let him go away out of the 
 senate, and bear this reproach upon him all his 
 life long; and let her marry to whom she 
 pleases, of such as seek her in marriage. But 
 now, if any man take captive, either a virgin, 
 or one that hath been married, t and has a mind 
 to marry her, let him not be allowed to bring 
 her to bed to him, or to live with her as his 
 wife, before she hath her head shaven, and hath 
 put on her mourning habit, and lamented her 
 relations and friends that were slain in the 
 battle, that by this means she may give vent to 
 her sorrow for them, and after that may betake 
 herself to feasting and matrimony ; for it is good 
 for him that takes a woman, in order to have 
 children by her, to be complaisant to her inclina- 
 tions, and not merely to pursue his own plea- 
 sure, while he hath no regard to what is agree- 
 able to her; but when thirty days are past, as 
 the time of mourning, for so many are sufficient 
 to prudent persons for lamenting the dearest 
 friends, then let them proceed to the marriage ; 
 but in case, when he hath satisfied his lust, he 
 be too proud to retain her for his wife, let him 
 not have it in his power to make her a slave, 
 but let her go away whither she pleases, and 
 have that privilege of a free woman. 
 
 24. As to those young men that despise their 
 parents, and do not pay them honour, but offer 
 them affronts, either because they are ashamed 
 of them, or think themselves wiser than they, 
 in the first place let their parents admonish 
 them in words, (for they are by nature of autho- 
 rity sufficient for becoming their judges,) aiid 
 let them say thus to them : That they coha- 
 bited together, not for the sake of pleasure, nor 
 for the augmentation of their riches, by joinii j 
 both their stocks together, but that they might 
 have children, to take care of them in their old 
 age, and might by them have what they then 
 should want ; and say further to him, " That 
 when thou wast born we took thee up with 
 gladness, and gave God the greatest thanks for 
 thee, and brought thee up with great care, and 
 spared for nothing that appeared useful for thy 
 preservation, and for thy instruction in what 
 was most excellent ; and now, since it is reason- 
 able to forgive the sins of those that are young, 
 let it suffice thee to have given so many indica- 
 tions of thy contempt of us; reform thyself, 
 and act more wisely for the time to ceme ; con- 
 sidering that God is displeased with those that 
 are insolent towards their parents, because he is 
 himself the Father of the whole race of man- 
 kind, and seems to bear part of that dishonour 
 which falls upon those that have the same 
 name, when they do not meet with due returns 
 from their children; and on such the law in- 
 flicts inexorable punishment ; of which punish- 
 ment mayest thou never have experience ! ' 
 Now if the insolence of young men be thui 
 
 + Here it is supposed that this captive's husband 
 was dead before, or rather was slain in this very battte, 
 otherwise it would have been adultery in him that mar- 
 ried her.
 
 iOO 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK IV. 
 
 uured, let them escape the reproach which their 
 former errors deserved ; for by this means the 
 lawgiver will appear to be good, and parents 
 happy, while they never behold either a son or 
 a daughter brought to punishment; but if it 
 happen that these words and instructions, con- 
 veyed by them in order to reclaim the man, 
 appear to be useless, then the offender renders 
 the laws implacable enemies to the insolence he 
 has offered his parents; let him therefore be 
 brought forth* by these very parents, out of the 
 city, with a multitude following him, and there 
 let him be atoned; and when he has continued 
 there for one whole day, that all the people may 
 see him, let him be buried in the night ; and 
 thus it is that we bury all whom the laws con- 
 demn to die, upon any account whatsoever. 
 Let our enemies that fall in battle be also 
 buried ; nor let any one dead body lie above the 
 ground, or suffer a punishment beyond what 
 justice requires. 
 
 25. Let no one lend to any one of the He- 
 brews upon usury, neither usury of what is 
 eaten or what is drunken ; for it is not just to 
 make advantage of the misfortunes of one of thy 
 own countrymen : but when thou hast been 
 assistant to his necessities, think it thy gain, 
 if thou obtainest their gratitude to thee ; and 
 withal that reward which will come to thee 
 from God, for thy humanity towards him. 
 
 26. Those who have borrowed either silver or 
 any sorts of fruits, whether dry or wet, (I mean 
 this when the Jewish affairs shall, by the bless- 
 ing of God, be to their own mind,) let the 
 borrowers bring them again, and restore them 
 with pleasure to those who lent them ; laying 
 them up, as it were, in their own treasuries, 
 and justly expecting to receive them thence, 
 if they shall want them again ; but if they 
 be without shame, and do not restore it, let 
 not the lender go to the borrower's house, 
 and take a pledge himself, before judgment be 
 given concerning it: but let him require the 
 pledge, and let the debtor bring it of himself, 
 without the least opposition to him that comes 
 upon him under the protection of the law ; and 
 if he that gave the pledge be rich, let the 
 creditor retain it till what he lent be paid him 
 again ; but if he be poor, let him that takes it 
 return it before the going down of the sun, 
 especially if the pledge be a garment, that the 
 debtor may have it for a covering in his sleep, 
 God himself naturally shewing mercy to the 
 poor. It is also not lawful to take a mill-stone, 
 nor any utensil thereto belonging, for a pledge, 
 that the debtors may not be deprived of instru- 
 ments to get their food withal, and lest they be 
 undone by their necessity. 
 
 27. Let death be the punishment for stealing 
 a man; but he that hath purloined gold or 
 silver, let him pay double. If any one kill a 
 man that is stealing something out of his house, 
 let him be esteemed guiltless, although the man 
 were only breaking in at the wall. Let him 
 that hath stolen cattle pay fourfold what is 
 lost, excepting the case of an ox, for which let 
 the thief pay fivefold. Let him that is so poor 
 that he cannot pay what mulct is laid upon 
 him, be bis servant to whom he was adjudged 
 to pay it. 
 
 28. If any one be sold to one of his own 
 f.ation, let Mm serve hfan six years, and on the 
 seventh let him go free. But if he have a son 
 by a woman-servant in his purchaser's house, 
 wid if, on account of his good-will to his master, 
 
 See Herod the Great insisting on the execution of 
 lni law, (Antiq. b. xvi. ch. xi. sect. 2^ 
 
 and his natural affection to his wife and chil- 
 dren, he will be his servant still, let him be set 
 free only at the coining of the year of jubilee, 
 which is the fiftieth year, and let him then take 
 away with him his children and wife, and let 
 them be free also. 
 
 29. If any one find gold or silver on the road, 
 let him inquire after him that lost it, and make 
 proclamation of the place where he found it, 
 and then restore it to him again, as not think- 
 ing it right to make his own profit by the loss of 
 another. And the same rule is to be observed 
 in cattle found to have wandered away into a 
 lonely place. If the owner be not presently 
 discovered, let him that is the finder keep it 
 with himself, and appeal to God that he has 
 not purloined what belongs to another. 
 
 30. It is not lawful to pass by any beast that 
 is in distress, when in a storm it is fallen down 
 in the mire, but to endeavour to preserve it, as 
 having a sympathy with it in its pain. 
 
 31. It is also a duty to shew the roads to 
 those who do not know them, and not to esteem 
 it a matter for sport, when we hinder others' 
 advantages, by setting them in a wrong way. 
 
 32. In like manner, let no one revile a person 
 blind or dumb. 
 
 33. If men strive together, and there be no 
 instrument of iron, let him that is smitten be 
 avenged immediately, by inflicting the same 
 punishment on him that smote him : but it 
 when he is carried home he lie sick many days, 
 and then die, let him that smote him escape 
 punishment; but if he that is smitten escape 
 death, and yet be at great expense for his cure, 
 the smiter shall pay for all that has been ex- 
 pended during the time of his sickness, and for 
 all that he has paid the physician. He that 
 kicks a woman with child, so that the woman 
 miscarry, + let Vn'rn pay a fine in money, as the 
 judges shall determine, as having diminished the 
 multitude by the destruction of what was in her 
 womb; and let money also be given to the 
 woman's husband by him that kicked her ; but 
 if she die of the stroke, let him also be put to 
 death, the law judging it equitable that life 
 should go for life. 
 
 34. Let no one of the Israelites keep any 
 poison J that may cause death, or any other 
 harm : but if he be caught with it, let him be 
 put to death, and suffer the very same mischief 
 that he would have brought upon them for 
 whom the poison was prepared. 
 
 35. He that maimeth any one, let him undergo 
 the like himself, and be deprived of the same 
 member of which he hath deprived the other, 
 unless he that is maimed will accept of money 
 instead of it ; for the law makes the sufferer 
 the judge of the value of what he hath suffered, 
 and permits him to estimate it, unless he will 
 be more severe. 
 
 36. Let him that is the owner of an ox which 
 pusheth with his horn, kill him : but if he 
 pushes and gores any one in the thrashing-floor, 
 let him be put to death by stoning, and let him 
 not be thought fit for food : but if his owner be 
 convicted as having known what his nature was, 
 and hath not kept him up, let him also be put 
 to death, as being the occasion of the ox's having 
 killed a man. But if the ox have killed a man- 
 
 f The law seems rather to mean, that if the infant 
 be killed, though the mother escape, the offender must 
 be put to death ; and not only when the mother is 
 killed, as Josephus understood it. 
 
 t What we render a witch, Philo and Josephus under- 
 stood of a poisoner. 
 
 This permission of redeeming this penalty with 
 money is not in our copies.
 
 CHAT, vm.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 101 
 
 servant, or a maid-servant, let him be stoned ; 
 and let the owner of the ox pay thirty shekels * 
 bo the master of him that was slain : but if it 
 be an ox that is thus smitten and killed, let 
 both the oxen, that which smote the other and 
 that which was killed, be sold, and let the 
 owners of them divide their price between 
 them. 
 
 37. Let those that dig a well or a pit, be care- 
 ful to lay planks over them, and so keep them 
 shut up, not in order to hinder any person 
 from drawing water, but that there may be no 
 danger of falling into them : but if any one's 
 beast fall into such a well or pit thus digged 
 and not shut up, and perish, let the owner pay 
 its price to the owner of the beast. Let there 
 be a battlement round the tops of your houses 
 instead of a wall, that may prevent any persons 
 from rolling down and perishing. 
 
 38. Let him that has received any thing in 
 trust for another, take care to keep it as a sacred 
 and divine thing ; and let no one invent any con- 
 trivance, whereby to deprive him that hath in- 
 trusted it with him of the same, and this whether 
 he be a man or a woman ; no, not although he 
 or she were to gain an immense sum of gold, and 
 this where he cannot be convicted of it by any 
 body; for it is fit that a man's own conscience, 
 which knows what he hath, should, in all cases, 
 oblige him to do well. Let this conscience be 
 his witness, and make him always act so as may 
 procure him commendation from others; but let 
 him chiefly have regard to God, from whom no 
 wicked man can lie concealed: but if he in whom 
 the trust was reposed, without any deceit of his 
 own, lose what he was intrusted withal, let him 
 come before the seven judges, and swear by God 
 that nothing hath been lost willingly, or with a 
 wicked intention, and that lie hath not made 
 use of any part thereof, and so let him depart 
 without blame ; but if he hath made use of the 
 least part of what was committed to him, and it 
 be lost, let him be condemned to repay all that 
 he had received. After the same manner as in 
 these trusts, it is to be, if any one defraud those 
 that undergo bodily labour for him. And let it 
 be always remembered, that we are not to de- 
 fraud a poor man of his wages ; as being sensible 
 that God has allotted these wages to him in- 
 stead of land and other possessions; nay, this 
 payment is not at all to be delayed, but to be 
 made that very day, since God is not willing to 
 deprive the labourer of the immediate use of 
 what he hath laboured for. 
 
 39. You are not to punis"h children for the 
 faults of their parents, but on account of their 
 own virtue rather to vouchsafe them commisera- 
 tion, because they were born of wicked parents, 
 than hatred, because they were born of bad 
 ones : nor indeed ought we to impute the sin of 
 children to their fathers, while young persons 
 indulge themselves in many practices different 
 from what they have been instructed in, and 
 this by their proud refusal of such instruction. 
 
 40. Let those that have made themselves 
 eunuchs be had in detestation; and do you 
 avoid any conversation with them who have de- 
 prived themselves of their manhood, and of that 
 fruit of generation which God has given to men 
 for the increase of their kind : let such be driven 
 away, as if they had killed their children, since 
 they beforehand have lost what should pro- 
 cure them; for evident it is, that while their 
 BOU! is become effeminate, they have withal 
 
 * Thirty shekels, the price our Saviour wu sold for, 
 was the old value of a bought servant or slave among 
 that people. 
 
 transfused that effeminacy to their body also. 
 In like manner do you treat all that is of a mon 
 strous nature when it is looked on; nor is it law- 
 ful to geld men or any other animals, t 
 
 41. Let this be the constitution of your poli- 
 tical laws in time of peace, and God will be so 
 merciful as to preserve this excellent settlement 
 free from disturbance : and may that time never 
 come which may innovate anything, and change 
 it for the contrary. But since it must needs 
 happen that mankind fall into troubles and 
 dangers, either undesignedly or intentionally, 
 come let us make a few constitutions concerning 
 them, that so being apprised beforehand what 
 ought to be done, you may have salutary coun- 
 sels ready when you want them, and may not 
 then be obliged to go to seek what is to be done, 
 and so be unprovided, and fall into dangerous 
 circumstances. May you be a laborious people, 
 and exercise your souls in virtuous actions, and 
 thereby possess and inherit the land without 
 wars; while neither any foreigners make war 
 upon it, and so afflict you, nor any internal se- 
 dition seize upon it, whereby you may do things 
 that are contrary to your fathers, and so lose 
 the laws which they have established : and may 
 you continue in the observation of those laws 
 which God hath approved of, and hath delivered 
 to you. Let all sort of warlike operations, whe- 
 ther they befall you now in your own time, or 
 hereafter in the times of your posterity, be done 
 out of your own borders; but when you are 
 about to go to war, send embassages and heralds 
 to those who are your voluntary enemies, for it 
 is a right thing to make use of words to them 
 before you come to your weapons of war ; and 
 assure them thereby, that although you have t, 
 numerous army, with horses and weapons, and, 
 above these, a God merciful to you, and ready 
 to assist you, you do however desire them not 
 compel you to fight against them, nor to take 
 from them what they have, which will indeed 
 be our gain, but what they will have no reason 
 to wish we should take to ourselves ; and if they 
 hearken to you, it will be proper for you to keep 
 peace with them ; but if they trust in their own 
 strength as superior to yours, and will not _ do 
 you justice, lead your army against them, making 
 use of God as your supreme commander, but or- 
 daining for a lieutenant under him, one that is 
 of the greatest courage among you; for these 
 different commanders, besides their being an 
 obstacle to actions that are to be done on the 
 sudden, are a disadvantage to those that make 
 use of them. Lead an army pure, and of chosen 
 men, composed of all such as nave extraordinary 
 strength of body and hardiness of soul ; but do 
 you send away the timorous part, lest they run 
 away in the time of action, and so afford an ad- 
 vantage to your enemies. Do you also give leave 
 to those that have lately built them houses, and 
 have not yet lived in them a year's time ; and 
 to those that have planted them vineyards, and 
 have not yet been partakers of their fruits, to 
 continue in their own country; as well as those 
 also who have betrothed, or lately married them 
 wives, lest they have such an affection for these 
 things that they be too sparing of their lives, 
 and, by reserving themselves for these enjoy- 
 ments, they become voluntary cowards, on ac- 
 count of their wives. 
 42. When you have pitched your camp, take 
 
 f This law is said to be so rigorous elsewhere, u to 
 inflict death on him that does it ; which seen>i only a 
 Pharisaical Interpretation : only we may hence observe, 
 that the Jews could then have no oxen, but only ball! 
 
 and cows.
 
 102 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK rv. 
 
 care that you do nothing that is cruel; and 
 when you are engaged in a siege, and want tim- 
 ber for the making of warlike engines, do not 
 you render the land naked by cutting down 
 trees that bear fruit, but spare them, as con- 
 sidering that they were made for the benefit of 
 men; and that if they could speak they would 
 have a just plea against you, because, though 
 they are not occasions of the war, they are un- 
 justly treated, and suffer in it; and would, if 
 they were able, remove themselves into another 
 land. When you have beaten your enemies in 
 battle, slay those that have fought against you; 
 but preserve the others alive, that they may pay 
 you tribute, excepting the nation of the Canaan* 
 ites; for as to that people, you must entirely 
 destroy them. 
 
 43. Take care, especially in your battles, that 
 no woman use the habit of a man, nor man the 
 garment of a woman. 
 
 44. This was the form of political government 
 which was left us by Moses. Moreover, he had 
 already delivered laws in writing,* in the for- 
 tieth year, [after they came out of Egypt,] con- 
 cerning which we will discourse in another book. 
 But now on the following days (for he called 
 them to assemble continually) he delivered bless- 
 ings to them, and curses upon those that should 
 not live according to the laws, but should trans- 
 gress the duties that were determined for them 
 to observe. After this, he read to them a poetic 
 song, which was composed in hexameter verse ; 
 and left it to them in the holy book : it con- 
 tained a prediction of what was to come to pass 
 afterward; agreeably whereto all things have 
 happened all along, and do still happen to us; 
 and wherein he has not at all deviated from the 
 truth. Accordingly, he delivered these books to 
 the priestsf with the ark : into which he also 
 put the Ten Commandments, written on two 
 tables. He delivered to them the tabernacle 
 also; and exhorted the people, that when they 
 had conquered the land, and were settled in 
 it, they should not forget the injuries of the 
 Amalekites, but make war against them, and in- 
 flict punishment upon, them for what mischief 
 they did them when they were in the wilder- 
 ness ; and that, when they had got possession 
 of the land of the Canaanites, and when they 
 had destroyed the whole multitude of its in- 
 habitants, as they ought to do, they should 
 erect an altar that should face the rising sun, 
 not far from the city of Shechem, between the 
 two mountains, that of Gerizzim, situate on .the 
 right hand, and that called Ebal, on the left; 
 and that the army should be so divided, that six 
 tribes should stand upon each of the two moun- 
 tains, and with them the Levites and the priest*. 
 And that first, those that were upon mount 
 Gerizzim should pray for the best blessings upon 
 those who were diligent about the worship of 
 God, and the observation of his laws, and who 
 did not reject what Moses had said to them; 
 while the other wished them all manner of hap- 
 piness also ; and when these last put up the like 
 prayers, the former praised them. After this, 
 curses were denounced upon those that should 
 transgress those law.,, they answering one an- 
 other alternately, by way of confirmation of 
 what had been said. >Ioses also wrote their 
 blessings and their curses, that they might learn 
 them so thoroughly, that they might never be 
 forgotten by length of time. And when he was 
 ready to die, he wrote these blessings and curses 
 
 * TTiese laws seem to b those above mentioned, sect 
 1 of this chapter, 
 t See the note on Antiq. b. iii. chap. i. sect. 7. 
 
 upon the altar, on each side of it; where he 
 says also the people stood, and then sacrificed 
 and offered burnt-offerings; though after that 
 day they never offered upon it any other sacrifice, 
 for it was not lawful so to do. These are the 
 constitutions of Moses ; and the Hebrew nation 
 still live according to them. 
 
 45. On the next day, Moses called the people 
 together, with the women and children, to a 
 congregation, so as the very slaves were present 
 also, that they might engage themselves to the 
 observation of these laws by oath ; and that, 
 duly considering the meaning of God in them, 
 they might not, either for favour of their kind- 
 red, or out of fear of any one, or indeed for any 
 motive whatsoever, think anything ought to be 
 preferred to these laws, and so might transgress 
 them ; that in case any one of their own blood, 
 or any city, should attempt to confound or dis- 
 solve their constitution of government, they 
 should take vengeance upon them, both all in 
 general, and each person in particular ; and 
 when they had conquered them, should over- 
 turn their city to the very foundations, and, if 
 possible, should not leave the least footsteps of 
 such madness : but that if they were not able 
 to take such vengeance, they nhould still de- 
 monstrate that what was done was contrary to 
 their wills. So the multitude bound themselves 
 by oath so to do. 
 
 46. Moses taught them alao by what means 
 their sacrifices might be the most acceptable to 
 God; and how they should go forth to war, 
 making use of the stones (in thai high priest's 
 breastplate) for their direction, J as I have be- 
 fore signified. Joshua also prophesied while 
 Moses was present. And when Moses had re< 
 capitulated whatsoever he had done for the pre- 
 servation of the people, both in their wars and 
 in peace, and had composed them a body of 
 laws, and procured them an excellent form of 
 government, he foretold, as God had declared 
 to him, " That if they transgressed that insti- 
 tution for the worship of God, they should ex- 
 perience the following miseries: Their land 
 should be full of weapons of war from their ene- 
 mies, and their cities should be overthrown, and 
 their temple should be burnt ; that they should 
 be sold for slaves, to such men as would have n 
 pity on them in their afflictions ; that they 
 would then repent, when that repentance would 
 no way profit them under their sufferings. 
 Yet," said he, "will that God who founded 
 your nation, restore your cities to your citizens, 
 with their temple also ; and you shall lose these 
 advantages, not once only, but often.' 
 
 47. Now when Moses had encouraged Joshua 
 to lead out the army against the Canaanites, by 
 telling him that God would assist him in all his 
 undertakings, and had blessed the whole multi 
 tude, he said, " Since I am going to my fore- 
 fathers, and God has determined that this should 
 be the day of my departure to them, I return 
 him thanks while I am still alive and present 
 with you, for that providence he hath exercised 
 over you, which hath not only delivered us 
 from the miseries we lay under, but hath be- 
 stowed a state of prosperity upon us; as also, 
 that he hath assisted me in the pains I took, 
 and in all the contrivances I had in my care 
 about you, in order to better your condition, and 
 hath on all occasions shewed himself favourable 
 
 t Dr Bernard well observes here, how unfortunate 
 this neglect of consulting the TJrim was to Joshua him- 
 self in the case of the Oibeonltes ; who put a trick upon 
 him and ensnared him, with a solemn oath to preserva 
 them, contrary to his commission to extirpate all the 
 Canaanites, root and branch.
 
 CHAP, vm.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEW3. 
 
 103 
 
 to us : or rather he it was who first conducted 
 our affairs, and brought them to a happy con- 
 clusion, by making use of me as a vicarious 
 general under him, and as a minister in those 
 matters wherein he was willing to do you good : 
 on which account I think it proper to bless that 
 Divine Power which will take care of you for 
 the tima to come, and this in order to repay 
 that debt which I owe him, and to leave behind 
 me a memorial that we are obliged to worsliip 
 and honour him, and to keep those laws which 
 are the most excellent gift of all those he hath 
 already bestowed upon us, or which, if he con- 
 tinue favourable to us, he will bestow upon us 
 hereafter. Certainly a human legislator is a 
 terrible enemy when his laws are affronted, and 
 are made to no purpose. And may you never 
 experience that displeasure of God which will 
 be the consequence of the neglect of these his 
 laws, which he, who is your Creator, hath given 
 yon ! " 
 
 48. When Moses had spoken thus at the end 
 of his life, and had foretold what would befall to 
 every one of their tribes* afterward, with the 
 addition of a blessing to them, the multitude 
 fell into tears, insomuch that even the women, 
 by beating their breasts, made manifest the deep 
 concern they had when he was about to die. 
 The children also lamented still more, as not 
 able to contain their grief ; and thereby de- 
 clared, that even at their age they were sensible 
 of his virtue and mighty deeds ; and truly there 
 seemed to be a strife betwixt the young and the 
 old, who should most grieve for him. The old 
 grieved, because they knew what a careful pro- 
 tector they were to be deprived of, and so la- 
 mented their future state ; but the young grieved, 
 not only for that, but also because it so happened 
 that they were to be left by him before they had 
 well tasted of his virtue. Now one may make a 
 guess at the excess of this sorrow and lamenta- 
 tion of the multitude, from what happened to 
 the legislator himself; for although he was 
 always persuaded that he ought not to be cast 
 down at the approach of death, since the under- 
 going it was agreeable to the will of Qod and 
 the law of nature, yet what the people did BO 
 overbore him that he wept himself. Now as he 
 went thence to the place where he was to vanish 
 out of their sight, they all followed after him 
 
 * Since Josephus assure* us here that Moses blessed 
 every one of the tribes of Israel, it is evident that 
 gimeon was not omitted in his copy, as it now ia, 
 both in oar Hebrew and HemarUA.n copies. 
 
 weeping ; but Moses beckoned with his hand to 
 those that were remote from him, and bade them 
 stay behind in quiet, while he exhorted those 
 that were near to him that they would not 
 render his departure so lamentable. Whereupon 
 they thought they ought to grant him that favour, 
 to let him depart according as he himself desired ; 
 so they restrained themselves, though weeping 
 still towards one another. All those who ac- 
 companied him were the senate, and Eleazar the 
 high priest, and Joshua their commander. Now 
 as soon as they were come to the mountain called 
 Abarim, (which is a very high mountain, situate 
 over against Jericho, and one that affords, to 
 such as are upon it, a prospect of the greatest 
 part of the excellent land of Canaan,) he dis- 
 missed the senate ; and as he was going to em- 
 brace Eleazar and Joshua, and was still discours- 
 ing with them, a cloud stood over him on the 
 sudden, and he disappeared in a certain valley, 
 although he wrote in the holy books that h* 
 died, which was done out of fear, lest they should 
 venture to say that, because of hi extraordinary 
 virtue, he went to God. 
 
 49. Now Moses lived in all one hundred and 
 twenty years ; a third part of which time, abat- 
 ing one month, he was the people's ruler; and he 
 died on the last month of the year, which is 
 called by the Macedonians Dystrus, but by us 
 Adar, on the first day of the month. He was 
 one that exceeded all men that ever were in 
 understanding, and made the best use of what 
 that understanding suggested to him. He had 
 a very graceful way of speaking and addressing 
 himself to the multitude : and as to his other 
 qualifications, he had such a full command of 
 his passions, as if he had hardly any such in hia 
 soul, and only knew them by their names, as 
 rather perceiving them in other men than in 
 himself. He was also such a general of an army 
 as is seldom seen, as well as such a prophet as 
 was never known, and this to such a degree, 
 that whatsoever he pronounced, you would think 
 you heard the voice of God himself. So the 
 people mourned for hini thirty days; nor did 
 any grief so deeply iffect the Hebrews as did 
 this upon the death of Moses; nor were those 
 that had experienced hifl conduct the only per- 
 sons that desired him, but those also that per- 
 used the laws he left behind him had a strong 
 desire after him, and by them gathered the ex- 
 traordinary virtue he was master of. And thie 
 shall suffice for the declaration of the naaDWMr at 
 the death at Moses.
 
 104 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK T 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 CONTAINING IBS INTERVAL 01 FOUR HUNDRED AND SBVBNTY-SIX YEAB8, 
 
 FROM THE DEATH OF MOSES TO THE DEATH OF ELI. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 HOW JO8H0A, THE COMMANDER OF THE HEBREWS, 
 MADE WAB WITH THE CANAANITES, AND OVER- 
 CAME THEM, AND DESTROYED THEM, AND DI- 
 VIDED THEIB LAND BY LOT TO THE TRIBES OF 
 ISRAEL. 
 
 1. WHEN Moses was taken away from among 
 men, in the manner already described, and when 
 all the solemnities belonging to the mourning for 
 him were finished, and the sorrow for him was 
 over, Joshua commanded the multitude to get 
 themselves ready for an expedition. He also 
 gent spies to Jericho to discover what forces 
 they had, and what were their intentions; but 
 he put his camp in order, as intending soon to 
 pass over Jordan at a proper season. And calling 
 to him the rulers of the tribe of Reuben, and the 
 governors of the tribe of Gad, and [the half tribe 
 of] Manasseh, (for half of this tribe had been per- 
 mitted to have their habitation in the country of 
 the Amorites, which was the seventh part of the 
 land of Canaan,*) he put them in mind what they 
 had promised Moses ; and he exhorted them that, 
 for the sake of the care that Moses had taken of 
 them, who had never been weary of taking pains 
 for them, no not when he was dying, and for the 
 sake of the public welfare, they would prepare 
 themselves, and readily perform what they had 
 promised; so he took fifty thousand of them who 
 followed him, and he marched from Abila to 
 Jordan, sixty furlongs. 
 
 2. Now when he had pitched his camp, the 
 spies came to him immediately, well acquainted 
 with the whole state of the Canaanites ; for at 
 first, before they were all discovered, they took 
 a full view of the city of Jericho without dis- 
 turbance, and saw which parts of the walls were 
 strong, and which parts were otherwise, and 
 indeed insecure, and which of the gates were so 
 weak as might afford an entrance to their army. 
 Now those that met them took no notice of them 
 when they saw them, and supposed they were 
 only strangers, who used to be very curious in 
 observing everything in the city, and did not 
 take them for enemies; but at even they retired 
 to a certain inn that was near to the wall, whither 
 they went to eat their supper; which supper, 
 when they had done, and were considering how 
 to get away, information was given to the king 
 as he was at supper that there were some persons 
 come from the Hebrews' camp to view the city 
 as spies, and that they were in the inn kept by 
 Rahab, and were very solicitous that they might 
 not be discovered. So he sent immediately some 
 to them, and commanded to catch them, and 
 bring them to him, that he might examine them by 
 torture, and learn what their business was there. 
 As soon as Rahab understood that these messen- 
 
 * The Amorites were one of the seven nations of 
 Canaan. Hence Reland is willing to suppose that 
 Josephus did not here mean that their land beyond 
 Jordan was a seventh part of the whole of Canaan, but 
 meant the Amorites as a seventh nation 
 
 gers were coming, she hid the spies under stalks 
 of flax, which were laid dried on the top of her 
 house; and said to the messengers that were 
 sent by the king, that certain unknown strangers 
 had supped with her a little before sunsetting, 
 and were gone away, who might easily be taken, 
 if they were any terror to the city, or likely to 
 bring any danger to the king. So these messen- 
 gers being thus deluded by the woman, ( and 
 suspecting no imposition, went their ways with- 
 out so much as searching the inn ; but they im- 
 mediately pursued them along those roads which 
 they most probably supposed them to have gone, 
 and those particularly which led to the river, 
 but could hear no tidings of them ; so they left 
 off the pains of any further pursuit. But when 
 the tumult was over, Rahab brought the men 
 down, and desired them as soon as they should 
 have obtained possession of the land of Canaan, 
 when it would be in their power to make her 
 amends for her preservation of them, to remem- 
 ber what danger she had undergone for their 
 sakes : for that if she had been caught concealing 
 them, she could not have escaped a terrible de- 
 struction, she and all her family with her, and 
 so she bid them go home ; and desired them to 
 swear to her to preserve her and her family when 
 they should take the city and destroy all its in- 
 habitants, as they had decreed to do ; for so far 
 she said she had been assured by those divine 
 miracles of which she had been informed. So 
 these spies acknowledged that they owed her 
 thanks for what she had done already, and 
 withal swore to requite her kindness, not only 
 in words, but in deeds ; but they gave her this 
 advice, that when she should perceive that the 
 city was about to be taken, she should put her 
 goods, and all her family, by way of security, in 
 her inn, and to hang out scarlet threads before 
 her doors [or windows] that the commander of 
 the Hebrews might know her house, and take 
 care to do her no harm ; for, said they, we win 
 inform him of this matter, because of the con- 
 cern thou hast had to preserve us ; but if any 
 one of thy family fall in the battle, do not thou 
 blame us ; and we beseech that God, by whom 
 we have sworn, not then to be displeased with 
 us, as though we had broken our oaths. So these 
 men, when they had made this agreement, went 
 away, letting themselves down lay a rope from 
 the wall, and escaped, and came and told their 
 own people whatsoever they had done in their 
 journey to this city. Joshua also told Eleazai 
 the high priest, and the senate, what the spies 
 had sworn to Ralub ; who confirmed what had 
 been sworn. 
 
 t It plainly appears, by the history of these spies 
 and the innkeeper Rahab'a deception of the king of 
 Jericho's messengers, and yet the great commendation 
 of her faith and good works in the New Testament, 
 (Ileb. xi. 31; James ii. 25,) that the best men did not 
 then scruple to deceive those public enemies who might 
 justly be destroyed, and this by telling direct false- 
 hoods ; I mean all this where no oath was demanded 
 of them, otherwise they never durst venture on such a 
 procedure
 
 CHAP. L] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 105 
 
 3. Now while Joshua, the commander, was in 
 fear about their passing over Jordan, for the 
 river ran with a strong current, and could not 
 be passed over with bridges, for there never had 
 been bridges laid over it hitherto ; and while he 
 suspected, that if he should attempt to make a 
 bridge, that their enemies would not afford him 
 time to perfect it, and for ferry-boats they had 
 none, God promised so to dispose of the rivei, 
 that they might pass over it, and that by taking 
 away the main part of its waters. So Joshua, 
 after two days, caused the army, and the whole 
 multitude, to pass over in the manner following: 
 The priests went first of all, having the ark 
 with them ; then went the Levites bearing the 
 tabernacle and the vessels which belonged to the 
 sacrifices ; after which the entire multitude fol- 
 lowed, according to their tribes, having their 
 children and their wives in the midst of them, 
 as being afraid for them, lest they should be 
 borne away by the stream. But as soon as the 
 priests had entered the river first, it appeared 
 fordable, the depth of the water being restrained, 
 and the sand appearing at the bottom, because 
 the current was neither so strong nor so swift as 
 to carry it away by its force ; so they all passed 
 over the river without fear, finding it to be in 
 the very same state as God had foretold he 
 would put it in; but the priests stood still in 
 the midst of the river till the multitude should 
 be passed over, and should get to the shore in 
 safety ; and when all were gone over, the priests 
 came out also, and permitted the current to run 
 freely as it used to do before. Accordingly the 
 river, as soon as the Hebrews were come out of 
 it, arose again presently, and came to its own 
 proper magnitude as before. 
 
 4. So the Hebrews went on further fifty fur- 
 longs, and pitched their camp at the distance of 
 ten furlongs from Jericho : but Joshua built an 
 altar of those stones which all the .heads of the 
 tribes, at the command of the prophets, had 
 taken out of the deep, to be afterwards a memo- 
 rial of the division of the stream of this river, 
 and upon it offered sacrifice to God ; and in that 
 place celebrated the passover, and had great 
 plenty of all the things which they wanted 
 hitherto ; for they reaped the corn of the Ca- 
 naanites, which was now ripe, and took other 
 things as prey ; for then it was that their for- 
 mer food, which was manna, and of which they 
 had eaten forty years, failed them. 
 
 5. Now while the Israelites did this, and the 
 Canaanites did not attack them, but kept them- 
 selves quiet within their own walla, Joshua re- 
 solved to besiege them ; so on the first day of 
 the feast [of the passover] the priests carried 
 the ark round about, with some part of the 
 armed men to be a guard to it. These priests 
 went forward, blowing with their seven trum- 
 pets, and exhorted the army to be of good 
 courage, and went round about the city, with 
 the senate following them ; and when the priests 
 had only blown with the trumpets, for they did 
 nothing more at all, they returned to the camp ; 
 and when theyJiad done this for six days, on 
 the seventh Joshua gathered the armed men, 
 and all people together, and told them these 
 good tidings, that the city should now be taken, 
 since God would on that day give it them, by 
 the falling down of the walls, and thin of their 
 own accord, and without their labour. However, 
 he charged them to kill every one they should 
 take, and not to abstain from the slaughter cf 
 their enemies, either for weariness or for pity, 
 and not to fall on the spoil, and be thereby di- 
 verted from pursuing their enemies as they ran 
 kway ; but to destroy all the animals, and to 
 
 take nothing for their peculiar advantage. He 
 commanded them also to bring together all the 
 silver and gold, that it might be set apart as 
 first-fruits unto God out of this glorious exploit, 
 as having gotten them from the city they first 
 took ; only that they should save Rahab and her 
 kindred alive, because of the oath which the 
 spies had sworn to her. 
 
 6. When he had said this, and had set his 
 army in order, he brought it against the city : 
 so they went round the city again, the ark going 
 before them, and the priests encouraging the 
 people to be zealous in the work ; and when 
 they had gone round it seven times, and had 
 stood still a little, the wall fell down, while no 
 instrument of war, nor any other force, was ap- 
 plied to it by the Hebrews. 
 
 7. So they entered into Jericho, and slew all 
 the men that were therein, while they were 
 affrighted at the surprising overthrow of the 
 walls, and their courage was become useless, 
 and they were not able to defend themselves; 
 so they were slain, and their throats cat, some 
 in the ways, and others as caught in their houses, 
 nothing afforded them assistance, but they all 
 perished, even to the women and the children ; 
 and the city was filled with dead bodies, and not 
 one person escaped. They also burnt the whole 
 city, and the country about it; but they saved 
 alive Rahab, with her family, who had fled to her 
 inn ; and when she was brought to him, Joshua 
 owned to her that he owed her thanks for her 
 preservation of the spies : so he said he would 
 not appear to be behind her in her benefaction 
 to her; whereupon he gave her certain lands 
 immediately, and had her in great esteem ever 
 afterwards. 
 
 8. And if any part of the city escaped the fire, 
 he overthrew it from the foundation ; and he de- 
 nounced a curse* against its inhabitants, if any 
 should desire to rebuild it : how, upon his laying 
 the foundation of the walls he should be deprived 
 of his eldest son ; and upon finishing it he should 
 lose his youngest son. But what happened here- 
 upon, we shall speak hereafter. 
 
 9. Now there was an immense quantity of sil- 
 ver and gold, and besides those of brass also, that 
 was heaped together out of the city when it was 
 taken, no one transgressing the decree, nor pur- 
 loining for their own peculiar advantage ; which 
 spoils Joshua delivered to the priests, to be laid 
 up among their treasures. And thus did Jericho 
 perish. 
 
 10. But there was one Achar, t the son [of 
 Charmi, the son] of Zebedias, of the tribe of 
 Judah, who, finding a royal garment woven 
 entirely of gold, and a piece of gold that 
 weighed two hundred shekels ; J and thinking it 
 a very hard case, that what spoils he, by run- 
 
 * Upon occasion of this devoting of Jericho to de- 
 struction, and the exemplary punishment of Achar, 
 and of the punishment of the future breaker of it, Hiel, 
 (1 Kings xvi. 34,) as also of the punishment of Saul, 
 (1 Sam. xv.,) we may observe what was the true mean- 
 Ing of that law, (Lev. xxvii. 28 :) "None devoted, which 
 shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed ; but shall 
 surely be put to death ;" i.e. whenever any of the Jews' 
 public enemies had been solemnly devoted to destruc- 
 tion, it was utterly unlawful to permit those enemiei 
 to be redeemed. 
 
 t That the name of this chief was not Achan, as in 
 the common copies, but Achar, is evident by the allu- 
 sion to that name in the curse of Joshua, " Why hast 
 thou troubled us ? the Lord shall trouble thee ;" where 
 the Hebrew word alludes only to the name Achar, but 
 not to Achan. Accordingly, this Valley of Achar, or 
 Achor, is a known place, a little north of Gilgal 
 
 1 This passage ought to be read thus : " A piece ol 
 gold that weighed fifty shekels, and one of silver thai 
 weighed two hundred shekels."
 
 100 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK \ 
 
 ning some hazard, had found, lie must give 
 swav and offer it to God, who stood in no need 
 of it, while he that wanted it must go without 
 It made a deep ditch in his own tent, and laid 
 them up therein, as supposing he should not 
 only be concealed from his fellow-soldiers, but 
 from God himself also. 
 
 11. Now the place where Joshua pitched his 
 camp was called Gilgal, which denotes liberty ; 
 for since now they had passed over Jordan, they 
 looked on themselves as freed from the miseries 
 which they had undergone from the Egyptians, 
 wid in the wilderness. 
 
 12. Now, a few days after the calamity that 
 befell Jericho, Joshua sent three thousand armed 
 men to take Ai, a city situate above Jericho ; 
 but, upon the sight of the people of Ai, with 
 them they were driven back, and lost thirty-six 
 of their men. When this was told the Israelites, 
 it made them very sad, and exceedingly discon- 
 solate, not so much because of the relation the 
 men that were destroyed bare to them, though 
 those that were destroyed were all good men, 
 and deserved their esteem, as by the despair it 
 occasioned ; for while they believed that they 
 were already, in effect, in possession of the land, 
 and should bring back the army out of the 
 battles without loss, as God had promised be- 
 forehand, they now saw unexpectedly their ene- 
 mies bold with success ; so they put sackcloth 
 on their garments, and continued in tears and 
 lamentation all the day, without the least in- 
 quiry after food, but laid what had happened 
 greatly to heart. 
 
 13. When Joshua saw the army so much 
 afflicted, and possessed with forebodings of evil 
 as to their whole expedition, he used freedom 
 with God, and said, "We are not come thus far 
 out of any rashness of our own, as though we 
 thought ourselves able to subdue this land with 
 our own weapons, but at the instigation of Moses, 
 thy servant, for this purpose, because thou hast 
 promised us, by many signs, that thou wouldst 
 give us this land for a possession, and that thou 
 wouldst make our army always superior in war 
 to our enemies, and accordingly some success 
 has already attended upon us agreeably to thy 
 promises ; but because we have now unexpect- 
 edly been foiled, and have lost some men out 
 of our army, we are grieved at it, as fearing what 
 thou hast promised us ; and what Moses foretold 
 us cannot be depended on by us ; and our future 
 expectation troubles us the more, because we 
 have met with such a disaster in this our first 
 attempt; but do thou, O Lord, free us from 
 these suspicions, for thou art able to find a cure 
 for these disorders, by giving us victory, which 
 will both take away the grief we are in at pre- 
 sent, and prevent our distrust as to what is to 
 come." 
 
 14. These intercessions Joshua put up to God, 
 as he lay prostrate on his face : whereupon God 
 answered him, That he should rise up, and 
 purify his host from the pollution that had got 
 into it; that "things consecrated to me have 
 been impudently stolen from me," and that 
 
 this has boen the occasion why this defeat had 
 happened to them;" and that when they should 
 search out and punish the offender, he would 
 ever take care they should have the victory over 
 their enemies. This Joshua told the people- 
 and calling for Eleazar the high priest and the 
 nenin authority, he cast lots, tribe by tribe; 
 and when the lot shewed that this wicked action 
 
 as done by one of the tribe of Judah, he then 
 
 again proposed the lot to the several families 
 
 reto belonging; so the truth of this wicked 
 
 .ion was found to belong to the family of 
 
 Zachar; and when the inquiry was made man 
 by man, they took Achar, who, upon God's re- 
 ducing him to a terrible extremity, could not 
 deny the fact : so he confessed the theft, and 
 produced what he had taken in the midst of 
 them, whereupon he was immediately put to 
 death ; and attained no more than to be buried 
 in the night in a disgraceful manner, and sucb 
 as was suitable to a condemned malefactor. 
 
 15. When Joshua had thus purified the host 
 he led them against Ai : and having by nigh*, 
 laid an ambush round about the city, he attacked 
 the enemies as soon as it was day ; but as they 
 advanced boldly against the Israelites, becaus- 
 of their former victory, he made them believe 
 he retired, and by that means drew them a great 
 way from the city, they still supposing that they 
 were pursuing their enemies, and despised them, 
 as though the case had been the same with that 
 in the former battle ; after which Joshua ordered 
 his forces to turn about, and placed them against 
 their front : he then made the signals agreed 
 upon to those that lay in ambush, and so ex- 
 cited them to fight ; so they ran suddenly into 
 the city, the inhabitants being upon the walls, 
 nay, others of them being in perplexity, and 
 coming to see those that were without the gates. 
 Accordingly, these men took the city, and slew 
 all that they met with ; but Joshua forced thosf 
 that came against him to come to a close fight, 
 and discomfited them, and made them run away ; 
 and when they were driven towards the city, 
 and thought it had not been touched, as soon as 
 they saw it was taken, and perceived it waf 
 burnt, with their wives and children, they wan- 
 dered about the fields in a scattered condition, 
 and were no way able to defend themselves, be- 
 cause they had none to support them. Now 
 when this calamity was come upon the men ol 
 Ai, there were a great number of children, and 
 women, and servants, and an immense quantity 
 of other furniture. The Hebrews also tool 
 herds of cattle, and a great deal of money, foi 
 this was a rich country. So when Joshua came 
 to Gilgal, he divided all these spoils among the 
 soldiers. 
 
 1C. But the Gibeonites, who inhabited very 
 near to Jerusalem, when they saw what miseries 
 had happened to the inhabitants of Jericho, and 
 to those of Ai, and suspected that the like sore 
 calamity would come as far as themselves, they 
 did not think fit to ask for mercy of Joshua ; for 
 they supposed they should find little mercy from 
 him, who made war that he might entirely de- 
 stroy the nation of the Canaanites ; but they in- 
 vited the people of Cephirah and Kiriathjearim, 
 who were their neighbours, to join in league with 
 them ; and told them, that neither could they 
 themselves avoid the danger they were all in, if 
 the Israelites should prevent them, and seize 
 upon them ; so when they had persuaded them, 
 they resolved to endeavour to escape the forces 
 of the Israelites. Accordingly, upon their agree- 
 ment to what they proposed, they sent ambas- 
 sadors to Joshua to make a league of friendship 
 with him, and those such of the citizens as were 
 best approved of, and most capable of doina what 
 was most advantageous to the multitude Now 
 these ambassadors thought it dangeroub to con- 
 fess themselves to be Canaanifces, but thought 
 they might, by this contrivance, avoid the dan- 
 ger, namely, by saying that they bare no rela- 
 tion to the ' Canaanites at all, but dwelt at 8 
 very great distance from them : and they said 
 further, that they came a long way, on account 
 of the reputation he had gained for his virtue ; 
 and as a mark of the truth of what they said 
 they shewed him the habit they were in, for that
 
 OHAP. t] 
 
 OiT THB JITW'S. 
 
 107 
 
 their clothes were nevr when they came out, but not come on too soon, and be an obstruction tc 
 
 were greatly worn bv the length of time they had the zeal of the Hebrews in pursuing their ene- 
 
 been on their journey ; for indeed they took torn | mies ; insomuch, that Joshua took the kings, 
 
 garments, on purpose that they might make him I who were hidden in a certain cave at Makkedah, 
 
 believe so. So they stood in the midst of the ! and put them to death. Now, that the day was 
 
 people, and said that they were sent by the | lengthened at this time, and was longer than 
 
 people of Gibeon, and of the circumjacent cities, ordinary, is expressed in the bookslaid up in the 
 
 temple, i 1 
 
 people , . 
 
 which were very remote from the land where 
 they now were, to make such a league of friend- 
 elup with them, and this on such conditions as 
 ware customary among their forefathers : foi 
 when they understood that, by the favour of 
 God, and his gift to them, they were to have th^ 
 possession of the land of Canaan bestowed upon 
 them, they said that they were very glad to hear 
 it, and desired to be admitted into the number 
 of their citizens. Thus did these ambassadors 
 speak ; and shewing them the marks of their 
 long jo irney, they entreated the Hebrews to 
 
 18. These kings which made war with, and 
 were ready to fight the Gibeonites, being thus 
 overthrown, Joshua returned again to the moun- 
 tainous parts of Canaan ; and vhen he had mads 
 a great slaughter of the people there, and took 
 their prey, he came to the camp at GilgaL And 
 now there went a great fame abroad among the 
 neighbouring people of the courage of the He- 
 brews ; and those that heard what a number of 
 men were destroyed were greatly affrighted at 
 it : so the kings that lived about mount Libanus, 
 who were Canaauites, and those Canaanites that 
 
 make "a league of friendship with them. Ac- 
 cordingly Joshua, believing what they said, that dwelt in the plain country, with auxiliari 
 they were not of the nation of the Canaanites, of the land of the Philistines, pitched theu 
 entered in o friendship with them ; and Eleazar 
 the high priest, with the senate, sware to them 
 that they would esteem them their friends and 
 associates, and would attempt nothing that 
 should be unfair 'against them, the multitude 
 also assenting to the oaths that were made to 
 them. So these men having obtained what they 
 desired, by deceiving the Israelites, went home : 
 but when Joshua led his army to the country a? 
 the bottom of the mountains of this part o, 
 Canaan, he understood that the Gibeonites dwell 
 not far from Jerusalem, and that they were ol 
 the stock of e Canaanites ; so he sent for theii 
 governors, and reproached them with the cheat 
 they had put upon him ; but they alleged, on 
 their own behalf, that they had no other way to 
 save themselves but that, and were therefore 
 forced to have recourse to it. So he called for 
 Eleazar the high priest, and for the senate, who 
 thought it right to make them public servants, 
 that they might not break the oath they had 
 made to them ; and they ordained them to be 
 so ; and this was the method by which these 
 men found safety and security under the caLv 
 mity that was ready to overtake them. 
 
 17. But the king of Jerusalem took it to hean 
 that the Gibe' nites had gone over to Joshua ; ac 
 he called upon the kings of the neighbouring 
 nations to join together, and make war agains' 
 them. Now when the Gibeonites sau - these 
 kings, which were four, besides the king of Jeru- 
 salem, and perceived that they had pitched their 
 camp at a certain fountain not far from their city, 
 and were getting ready for the siege of it, they 
 called upon Joshua to assist them ; for such was 
 their case, as to expect to be destroyed by the;:e 
 Canaanites, but to suppose they should be saved 
 by those that came for the destruction of the 
 
 es out 
 
 pitched their camp 
 
 at Beroth, a city of the Upper Galilee, not far 
 from Cadesh, which is itself also a place in 
 Galilee. Now the number of the whole army 
 was three hundred thousand armed footmen, and 
 ten thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand 
 chariots ; so that the multitude of the enemies 
 affrighted both Joshua himself and the Israel- 
 ites ; and they, instead of being full of hopes of 
 good success, were superstitiously timorous, with 
 the great terror with which they were stricken. 
 Whereupon God upbraided them with the fear 
 they were in, and asked them, whether they de- 
 fired a greater help than he could afford them ; 
 and promised them that they should overcome 
 their enemies ; and withal charged them to make 
 their enemies' horses useless, and to burn their 
 chariots. So Joshua became full of courage 
 upon these promises of God, and went out sud- 
 denly against the enemips; and after five days' 
 march he came upon them, and joined battle 
 with them, and there was a terrible fight, and 
 such a number were slain as could not be be- 
 lieved by those that heard it. He also went on 
 Ji the pursuit a great way, and destroyed the 
 entire army of the enemies, few only exceptcd, 
 and all the kings fell in the battle ; insomuch, 
 that when there wanted men to be killed, Joshua 
 slew their horses, and burnt their chariots, and 
 passed all over their country without opposition, 
 no one daring to meet him in battle ; but he still 
 tvcnt on, taking their cities by siege, and again 
 killing whatever he took, 
 
 19. The fifth year was now past, and there 
 was not one of the Canaanites remained any 
 longer, excepting some that had retired to places 
 of great strength. So Joshua removed his camp 
 to the mountainous country, and placed the 
 tabernacle in the city of Shiloh, for that seemed 
 
 Canaanites, because of th". league of friendship a fit place for it, because of the beauty of its 
 
 that was between them. Accordingly, Joshua ; situation, until such time as their affairs would 
 
 made haste with his whole army to assist them . | permit them to build a temple ; and from thence 
 
 and marching day and night, in the morning h . ne went to Shechem, together with all the people, 
 
 fell upon the enemies as they were fjoing up to and raised an altar where Moses had beforehand 
 
 the siege; and when he had discomfited them ho rUrectid ; then did he divide the army, and 
 
 followed them, and pursued them down th': placed one half of them on mount Gerizzim. ind 
 
 descent of the hills. The place is cuRed IlotJ - Vae other half on mount Ebal, on which moun- 
 
 horon; where he also understood tha\; God *~ >.r, ; n the altar was ; he also placed there the tribe 
 
 sisted him, which he declared by thunder er>.$ c t Levi, and the priests. And when they had 
 
 thunderbolts, as also by the falling of bal? .icrificed, and denounced the [blessings and the] 
 
 larger than usual Moreover, it happened ti..-.\ curses, and had left them engraven upon the 
 
 che day was lengthened,* that the night mi^liu altar, they returned to Shiloh. 
 
 * Whether this lengthening of the day were physical mentioned in the book of Jasher, now lost, (Josh. s. 13,) 
 
 ami real, or whether only apparent, cannot now bo and is confirmed by Isaiah, (xxviii. 21,) Habakuh, (Ui 
 letermined ; philosophers and astronomers will natc- H,) and by the son of Sirach, (Ecclus. xlvi, 4.) 
 
 rallr incline to thU latter oninion. Thn fact Itself w<t^ - i See the note on Antio. b. iii. chap. ii. fleet .T-
 
 108 _________ 
 
 20 And now Joshua was old, and saw that 
 the cities of the Caiiaanites were not easily to be 
 taken, not only because they were situate in 
 noh strong places, but because of the strength 
 of the walla themselves, which being built round 
 about the natural strength of the places on whicn 
 the cities stood seemed capable of repelling their 
 enemieg from besieging them, and of making 
 those enemies despair of taking them ; for when 
 the Canaanites had learned that the Israelite!) 
 came out of Egypt in order to destroy them, they 
 were busy all that time in making their cities 
 strong. So lie gathered the people together to a 
 congregation at Shiloh ; and when they, with 
 great zeal and haste, were come thither, he ob 
 served to them what prosperous successes they 
 had already had, and what glorious things had 
 been done, and those such as were worthy of 
 that God who enabled them to do those things, 
 and worthy of the virtue of those laws which 
 they followed. He took notice also, that thirty- 
 one of those kings that ventured to give them 
 battle were overcome, and every army, how great 
 soever it were, that confided in their own power, 
 and fought with them, was utterly destroyed ; 
 so that not so much as any of their posterity re- 
 mained ; and as for the cities, since some of them 
 were taken, but the others must be taken in 
 length of time, by long sieges, both on account 
 of the strength of the walls, and of the confidence 
 the inhabitants had in them thereby, he thought 
 it reasonable that those tribes that came along 
 with them from beyond Jordan, and had par 
 taken of the dangers they had undergone, being 
 their own kindred, should now be dismissed and 
 sent home, and should have thanks for the pains 
 they had taken together with them. As also, he 
 thought it reasonable that they should send one 
 man out of every tribe, and he such as had the 
 testimony of extraordinary virtue, who should 
 measure the land faithfully, and without any 
 fallacy or deceit should inform them of its real 
 magnitude. 
 
 21. Now Joshua, when he had thus spoken to 
 them, found that the multitude approved of his 
 proposal. So he sent men to measure their 
 country, and sent with them some geometricians, 
 who could not easily fail of knowing the truth, 
 on account of their skill in that art. He also 
 gave them a charge to estimate the measure of 
 chat part of the land that was most fruitful, and 
 what was not so good ; for such is the nature of 
 the land of Canaan, that one may see large plains, 
 and such as are exceeding fit to produce fruit, 
 which yet, if they were compared to other parts 
 of the country, might be reckoned exceedingly 
 fruitful ; yet if it be compared with the fields 
 about Jericho, and to those that belong to Jeru- 
 salem, will appear to be of no account at all 
 and although it so falls out that these people 
 have but a very little of this sort of knd, and 
 that it is, for the main, mountainous also, yet 
 does it not come behind other parts, on account 
 of its exceeding goodness and beauty; for which 
 reason Joshua thought the land for the tribes 
 hould be divided by estimation of its goodness, 
 rather than the largeness of its measure, it often 
 happening, that one acre of some sort of land 
 was equivalent to a thousand other acres. Now 
 the men that were sent, which were in number 
 ten, travelled all about, and made an estimation 
 )f the land, and in the seventh month came to 
 
 ttw tab!i dt;y f <4hilohl wbere thtv had Bet P 
 
 22. So Joshua took both Eleazar and the 
 Benate and with them the heads of the tribes, 
 and dutnbuted the land to the nine tribes, and 
 to the half-tnbe of Manasseh tppointin^ th 
 
 AOTTQUITIJiW OF THJK JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK v. 
 
 dimensions to be according to the largeness of 
 each tribe. So when he had cast lots, Judah 
 had assigned him by lot the upper part of Judea, 
 reaching as far as Jerusalem, and its breadth ex- 
 tended to the Lake of Sodom. Now in the lot 
 of this tribe there were the cities of Askelon and 
 Gaza. The lot of Simeon, which was the second, 
 included that part of Idurnea which bordered 
 upon Egypt and Arabia. As to the Benjamites, 
 their lot fell so, that its length reached from the 
 river Jordan to the sea ; but in breadth it was 
 bounded by Jerusalem and Bethel ; and this lot 
 was the narrowest of all, by reason of the good- 
 ness of the land ; for it included Jericho and the 
 city of Jerusalem. The tribe of Ephraim had 
 by lot the land that extended in length from the 
 river Jordan to Gezer ; but in breadth as far as 
 from Bethel, till it ended at the Great Plain. 
 The half -tribe of Manasseh had the land from 
 Jordan to the city Dora ; but its breadth was at 
 Bethshan, which is now called Scythopolis ; and 
 after these was Issachar, which had its limits in 
 length, mount Carmel and the river, but its 
 limit in breadth was mount Tabor. The tribe of 
 Zebulon's lot included the land which lay as far 
 as the Lake of Genesareth, and that which be- 
 longed to Carmel and the sea. The tribe of Aser 
 had that part which was called the Valley, for 
 such it was, and all that part which lay over 
 against Sidon. The city Arc* belonged to their 
 share, which is also named Actipus. The Naph- 
 thalites received the eastern parts, as far as the 
 city of Damascus and the Upper Galilee, unto 
 mount Libanus, and the Fountains of Jordan, 
 which rise oxyt of that mountain ; that is, out of 
 that part of it whose limits belong to the neigh- 
 bouring city of Arce. The Danites' lot included 
 all that part of the valley which respects tha 
 sun-setting, and were bounded by Azotus anc] 
 Dora; as also they had all Jamnia and Gath, 
 from Ekron to that mountain where the tribe of 
 Judah begins. 
 
 23. After this manner did Joshua divide the 
 BIX nations that bear the name of the Sons of 
 Canaan, with their land, to be possessed by the 
 nine tribes and a half ; for Moses had prevented 
 him, and had already distributed the land of the 
 Amorites, which itself was so called also from 
 one of the sons of Canaan, to the two tribes and 
 a half, as we have shewn already. But the parts 
 about Sidon, as also those that belonged to the 
 Arkites, and the Amathites, and the Aradians, 
 were not yet regularly disposed of. 
 
 24. But now was Joshua hindered by his age 
 from executing what he intended to do, (as did 
 those that succeeded him in the government, take 
 little care of what was for the advantage of the 
 public :) so he gave it in charge to every tribe to 
 leave no remainder of the race of the Canaanites 
 in the hind that had been divided to them by 
 lot; that Moses had assured them beforehand, 
 and they might rest fully satisfied about it, that 
 their own security and their observation of their 
 own laws depended wholly upon it. Moreover, ho 
 enjoined them to give thirty-eight cities to the 
 Levites, for they had already received ten in the 
 cotintry of the Amorites ; and three of these he 
 assigned to those that fled from the man-slayers, 
 who were to inhabit there ; for he was very soli- 
 citous that nothing should be neglected which 
 Moses had ordained. These cities were of the 
 tribe of Jndah, Hebron; of that of Ephraim, 
 Shechem; and of that of Naphthali, Cadesh, 
 which is a place of Upper Galilee. He also dis- 
 tributed among them the rest of the prey not yet 
 distributed, which was very great; whereby they 
 had an affluence of great riches, both all in 
 ''eneral and every one in warticular : and this of
 
 CHAP. I.J 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 109 
 
 gold and of vestments, and of other furniture, 
 Besides a multitude of cattle, whose number 
 could not be told. 
 
 25. After this was over, he gathered the army 
 together to a congregation, and spake thus to 
 those tribes that had their settlement in the land 
 of the Amorites, beyond Jordan, for fifty thou- 
 sand of them had armed themselves, and had 
 gone to the war along with them "Since that 
 God, who is the Father and Lord of the Hebrew 
 nation, has now given us this land for a possession, 
 and promised to preserve us in the enjoyment of 
 it as our own for ever ; and since you have with 
 alacrity offered yourselves to assist us when we 
 wanted that assistance on all occasions, according 
 to his command, it is but just, now all our diffi- 
 culties are over, that you should be permitted to 
 enjoy rest, and that we should trespass on your 
 alacrity to help us no longer; that BO, if we should 
 again stand in need of it, we may readily have it 
 on any future emergency, and not tire you out 
 so much now aa may make you slower in assist- 
 ing UB another time. We, therefore, return you 
 our thanks for the dangers you have undergone 
 with us, and we do it not at this time only, but 
 we shall alwayg be thus disposed ; and be so good 
 as to remember our friends, and to preserve in 
 mind what advantages we have had from them ; 
 and how you have put off the enjoyments of 
 your own happiness for our sakes, and have 
 laboured for what we have now, by the good-will 
 of God obtained, and resolved not to enjoy your 
 own prosperity till you have afforded us that 
 assistance. However, you have, by joining your 
 labour with ours, gotten great plenty of riches, 
 and will carry home with you much prey, with 
 gold and silver, and, what is more than all these, 
 our good-will towards you, and a mind willingly 
 disposed to make a requital of your kindness to 
 Us, in what case soever you shall desire it, for 
 you have not omitted anything which Moses 
 beforehand required of you, nor have you de- 
 spised him because he was dead and gone from 
 you, so that there is nothing to diminish that 
 gratitude which we owe to you. W'e therefore 
 dismiss you joyful to your own inheritances; and 
 we entreat you to suppose, that there is no limit 
 to be set to the intimate relation that is between 
 us ; and that you will not imagine, because this 
 river is interposed between us, that you are of a 
 different race from us, and not Hebrews ; for we 
 are all the posterity of Abraham, both we that 
 inhabit here, and you that inhabit there ; and it 
 is the same God that brought our forefathers and 
 yours into the world, whose worship and form of 
 government we are to take care of, which he has 
 ordained, and are most carefully to observe ; 
 because, while you continue in those laws, God 
 will also shew himself merciful and assisting to 
 you ; but if you imitate the other nations, and 
 forsake those laws, he will reject your nation." 
 When Joshua had spoken thus, and saluted them 
 all, both those in authority one by one, and the 
 whole multitude in common, he himself stayed 
 where he was ; but the people conducted those 
 tribes on their journey, and that not without 
 tears in their eyes ; and indeed they hardly knew 
 ftow to part one from the other. 
 
 26. Now when the tribe of Reuben, and that 
 of Gad, and as many of the Manasaites as fol- 
 lowed them, were passed over the river, they 
 built an altar on the banks of Jordan, as a monu- 
 ment to posterity, and a sign of their relation 
 to those that should inhabit on the other side. 
 But when those on the other side heard that 
 those who had been dismissed had built an altar, 
 but did not hear with what intention they built 
 it, but supposed it to be by way of innovation. 
 
 and for the introduction of strange gods, they 
 did not incline to disbelieve it ; but thinking this 
 defamatory report, as if it were built for divine 
 worship, was credible, they appeared in arms, as 
 though they would avenge themselves on those 
 that built the altar ; and they were about to pass 
 over the river, and to punish them for their sub- 
 version of the laws of their country ; for they 
 did not think it fit to regard them on account of 
 their kindred, or the dignity of those that had 
 given the occasion, but to regard the will of God, 
 and the manner wherein he desired to be wor- 
 shipped ; so these men put themselves in array 
 for war. But Joshua, and Eleazar the high 
 priest, and the senate, restrained them ; and 
 persuaded them first to make trial by words of 
 their intention, and afterwards, if they found 
 that their intention was evil, then only to pro- 
 ceed to make war upon them. Accordingly, 
 they sent as ambassadors to them Phineas the 
 son of Eleazar, and ten more persons that were 
 in esteem among the Hebrews, to learn of them 
 what was in their mind when, upon passing over 
 the river, they had built an altar upon it* banks ; 
 and as soon as these ambassadors were passed 
 over, and were come to them, and a congregation 
 was assembled, Phinsas stood up and said, That 
 the offence they had been guilty of was of too 
 heinous a nature to be punished by words alone, 
 or by them only to be amended for the future, 
 yet that they did not so look at the heinousness 
 of their transgression as to have recourse to arms, 
 and to a battle for their punishment immediately ; 
 but that, on account of their kindred, and the 
 probability there was that they might be re- 
 claimed, they took this method of sending an 
 embassage to them : ' ' That when we have learned 
 the true reasons by -which yon have been moved 
 to build this altar, we may neither seem to have 
 been too rash in assaulting you by our weapons 
 of war, if it prove that you made the altar for 
 justifiable reasons, and may then justly punish 
 you if the accusation prove true ; for we can 
 hardly suppose that you, who have been ac- 
 quainted with the will of God, and have been 
 hearers of those laws which he himself hath 
 given us, now you are separated from us, and 
 gone to that patrimony of yours, which you, 
 through the grace of God, and that providence 
 which he exercises over you, have obtained by 
 lot, can forget him, and can leave that ark and 
 that altar which is peculiar to us, and can intro- 
 duce strange gods and imitate the wicked prac- 
 tices of the Canaanites. Now this will appear to 
 have been a small crime if you repent now, and 
 proceed no further in your madness, but pay a 
 due reverence to, and keep in mind the laws of 
 your country ; but if you persist in your sins, 
 we will not grudge our pains to preserve our 
 laws ; but we will pass over Jordan and defend 
 them, and defend God also, and shall esteem of 
 yon as of men no way differing from the Canaan- 
 ites, but shall destroy you in the like manner aa 
 we destroyed them ; for do not you imagine that, 
 because you are got over the river, you are got 
 out of the reach of God's power ; you are every- 
 where in places that belong to him, and impos- 
 sible it is to overrun his power, and the punish- 
 ment he will bring on men thereby ; but if you 
 think that your settlement here will be any ob- 
 struction to your conversion to what is good, no- 
 thing need hinder us from dividing the land anew, 
 and leaving this old land to be for the feeding 
 of sheep ; but you will do well to return to your 
 duty, and to leave off theae new crimes ; andw 
 beseech you, by your children and wives, not to 
 force us to punish you. Take therefore such 
 measures in this assembly, as supposing that
 
 no 
 
 OrTTHE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK V. 
 
 your own safety, and the safety of those that are 
 2arest to you, is therein concerned, and believe 
 that it is better for you to be conquered by 
 words, than to continue in your purpose, and to 
 sxperience deeds and war therefore. ' 
 
 27 Vhen Phineas had discoursed thus, the 
 governors of the assembly, and the whole multi- 
 tude, began to make an apology for themselves, 
 concerning what they were accused of ; and they 
 aaid, That they neither would depart from the 
 :elation they bare to them, nor had they built 
 the altar by way of innovation ; that they owned 
 one and the same common God with all the 
 Hebrews, and that brazen altar which was before 
 the tabernacle, on which they would offer their 
 sacrifices ; that as to the altar they had raised, 
 in account of which they were thus suspected, 
 it was not built for worship, " but that it might 
 be a sign and a monument of our relation to you 
 for ever, and a necessary caution to us to act 
 wisely, and to continue in the laws of our coun- 
 try, but not a handle for transgressing them, _as 
 you suspect : and let God be our authentic wit- 
 ness, that this was the occasion of our building 
 this altar ; whence,we beg you will have a better 
 opinion of us, and do not impute such a thing 
 to us as would render any of the posterity of 
 Abraham well worthy of perdition, in case they 
 attempt to bring in new rites, and such as aro 
 different from our usual practices." 
 
 28. When they had made this answer, and 
 Phineas had commended them for it, he came to 
 Joshua and explained before the people what an- 
 wer they had received. Now Joshua was glad 
 that he was under no necessity of setting thein 
 in array, or of leading them to shed blood, and 
 make war against men of their own kindred : 
 and accordingly he offered sacrifices of thanks- 
 giving to God for the same. So Joshua after 
 that dissolved this great assembly of the people, 
 and sent them to their own inheritances, while he 
 himself lived in Shechem. But in the twentieth 
 year after this, when he was very old, he sent 
 for those of the greatest dignity in the several 
 cities, with those in authority, and the senate, 
 and as many of the common people as could be 
 present ; and when they were come he put then' ' 
 in mind of all the benefits God had bestowed on 
 them, which could not but be a great many, 
 since from a low estate they were advanced to so 
 great a degree of glory and plenty; and exhorted 
 them to take notice of the intentions of God, 
 which had been so gracious towards them ; and 
 told them that the Deity would continue their 
 friend by nothing else but their piety ; and that 
 it was proper for him, now that he was about to 
 depart out of this life, to leave such an admoni- 
 tion to them ; and he desired that they would 
 keep in memory this his exhortation to them. 
 
 29. So Joshua, when he had thus discoursed 
 ) them, died, having lived a hundred and ten 
 
 years ; forty of which he lived with Moses, in 
 order to learn what might be for his advantage 
 afterwards. He also became their commander 
 fter his death for twenty-five years. He was a 
 man that waated not wisdom nor eloquence to 
 declare Ids intentions to the people, but very 
 minent on both accounts. He was of great 
 aurage and magnanimity in action and in dan- 
 gers and very sagacious in procuring the peace 
 of the people, and of great virtue at all proper 
 Masons. He was buried in the city of Tmnah, 
 of the tnbe of Ephraim. * About the same time 
 
 died Eleazar the high priest, leaving the high 
 priesthood to his son Phineas. His monument 
 also, aud sepulchre, are in the city of Onbatha. 
 
 horenens i8 ste down the famous inscription 
 e 1 ,vT^ nm fv the old OMWMites driven out of 
 
 roverL Q /7J. n : " We ** those exiles "*' 
 governors of the Canaanites. but have been driven 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 HOW, AiTliii THE DEATH 07 JOSHUA THEIR COM- 
 MANDER, THE ISRAELITES TRANSGRESSED THS 
 LAWS OP THEIR COUNTRY, AND EXPERIENCED 
 GREAT AFFLICTIONS; AND WHEN THERE WAS 
 A SEDITION ARISEN, THE TRIBE OF BENJAMIN 
 WAS DESTROYED, EXCEPTING ONLY SIX HUN- 
 DRED MEN. 
 
 1. AFTER the death of Joshua and Eleazar, Phi- 
 neas prophesied,t that according to God's will 
 they should commit the government to the tribe 
 of Judah, and that this tribe should destroy the 
 race of the Caaaanites ; for then the people were 
 concerned to learn what was the will of .God. 
 They also took to their assistance the tribe of 
 Simeon : but upon this condition, that when 
 those that had been tributary to the tribe of 
 T udah should be slain, thev should do the like 
 for the tribe of Simeon. 
 
 2. But the affairs of the Canaanites were at 
 this time in a flourishing condition, and they 
 expected the Israelites with a great army at the 
 city Bezek, having put the government into the 
 hands of Adonibezek, which name denotes the 
 Lord of Bezek, for Adoni in the Hebrew tongue 
 signifies Lord. Now they hoped to have been 
 too hard for the Israelites because Joshua was 
 dead ; but when the Israelites had joined battle 
 with them, I mean the two tribes before men- 
 tioned, they fought gloriously, and slew above 
 ten thousand of them, and put the rest to night; 
 and in the pursuit they took Adonibezek, who, 
 when his fingers and toes were cut off by them, 
 said, "Nay, indeed, I was not always to lie con- 
 cealed from God, as I find by what I now en- 
 dure, while I have not been ashamed to do the 
 same to seventy-two kings. "J So they carried 
 him alive as far as Jerusalem ; and when he was 
 dead, they uried him in the earth, and went 
 on still in taking the cities ; and when they had 
 taken the lower city, which was not under a 
 considerable time, they slew all the inhabitants ; 
 but the upper city was not to be taken without 
 vfreat difficulty, through the strength of its 
 walls, and the nature of the place. 
 
 3. For which reason they removed their camp 
 to Hebron; and when they had taken it, they 
 slew all the inhabitants. There were till then 
 left the race of giants, who had bodies so large, 
 and countenances so entirely different from 
 
 away by Joshua the robber, and are come to inhabit 
 here." 
 
 t By p> ophesying, when, sponeD 01 a high priest, 
 Josephu? means no more than consulting God by tJrim. 
 If St John, who was contemporary with Josephus, made 
 use of this style, when he says that "Caiaphas being 
 high priest that year, prophesied that Jesus should die 
 for that nation, and not for that nation only, but that 
 also he should gather together in one the children ol 
 God that were scattered abroad," (xi. 51, 52,) he may 
 possibly mean, that this was revealed to the high priest 
 by an extraordinary voice from between the cherubims, 
 when he had his breastplate, or Uriel and Thummim, 
 on before. 
 
 t This great number of seventy-two reguli, or small 
 kings, as well as the thirty-one kings of Canaan sub 
 dued by Joshua, and thirty-two kings, or royal auxili 
 aries to Benhadad king of Syria, (1 Kings xx. 1,) ir 
 timate to us what was the ancient form of government 
 among several nations beforo the monarchies began 
 viz., that every city or large town, with its neighbour- 
 ing villages, wan a distinct government by itself.
 
 L'BAf. II. J 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 other men, that they were surprising to the 
 Mght, and terrible to the hearing. The bones of 
 these men are still shewn to this very day, un- 
 like to any credible relations of other men. Now 
 they gave this city to the Levites as an extraor- 
 dinary reward, with the suburbs of two thou- 
 sand cities ; but the land thereto belonging they 
 gave as a free gift to Caleb, according to the in- 
 junctions of Moses. This Caleb was one of the 
 spies which Moses sent into the land of Canaan. 
 They also gave land for habitation to the pos- 
 terity of Jethro, the Midiauite, who was the 
 father-in-law to Moses ; for they had left their 
 own country, and followed them, and accom- 
 panied them in the wilderness. 
 
 4. Now the tribes of Judah and Simeon took 
 the cities which were in the mountainous part 
 of Canaan, as also Askelon and Ashdod, of those 
 that lay near the sea; but Gaza and Ekron 
 ^scaped them, for they, lying in a flat country, 
 and having a great number of chariots, sorely 
 galled those that attacked them : so these tribes, 
 when they were grown very rich by this war, 
 retired to their own cities, and laid aside their 
 weapons of war. 
 
 5. But the Benjamites, to whom belonged 
 Jerusalem, permitted its inhabitants to pay 
 tribute. So they all left off, the one to kill, 
 and the other to expose themselves to danger, 
 and had time to cultivate the ground. The rest 
 of the tribes imitated that of Benjamin, and did 
 the same ; and, contenting themselves with the 
 tributes that were paid them, permitted the 
 Canaanites to live in peace. 
 
 6. However, the tribe of Ephraim, when they 
 besieged Bethel, made no advance, nor per- 
 formed anything worthy of the time they spent, 
 and of the pains they took about that siege ; yet 
 did they persist in it, still sitting down before 
 the city, though they endured great trouble 
 thereby : but, after some time, they caught one 
 of the citizens that came to them to get neces- 
 saries, and they gave him some assurances, that 
 if he would deliver up the city to them, they 
 would preserve him and his kindred ; so he 
 sware that, upon those terms, he would put the 
 city into their hands. Accordingly, he that 
 thus betrayed the city was preserved with his 
 family; and the Israelites slew all the in- 
 habitants, and retained the city for them- 
 selves. 
 
 7. After this, the Israelites grew effeminate 
 as to fighting any more against their enemies, 
 but applied themselves to the cultivation of the 
 land, which producing them great plenty and 
 riches, they neglected the regular disposition of 
 their settlement, and indulged themselves in 
 luxury am! pleasures; nor were they any 
 longer careful to hear the laws that belonged to 
 their political government : whereupon God was 
 provoked to anger, and put th^m in mind, first, 
 how, contrary to his directions, they had spared 
 Ihe Canaanites : and, after that, how those 
 Canaanites, as opportunity served, used them 
 very barbarously. But the Israelites, though 
 they were in heaviness at these admonitions from 
 God, yet were they still very unwilling to go to 
 war ; and since they got large tributes from the 
 Canaanites, and were indisposed for taking pains 
 by their luxury, they suffered their aristocracy 
 to be corrupted also, and did not ordain them- 
 selves a senate, nor any other such magistrates 
 as their laws had formerly required, but they 
 were very much given to cultivating their fields, 
 in order to get wealth ; which great indolence oJ[ 
 theirs brought a terrible sedition upon them, 
 and they proceeded so far as to fight one against 
 another, from the following occasion : 
 
 8. There was a Levite,* a man of a Ttdgar 
 family, that belonged to the tribe of Ephraim, 
 and dwelt therein : this man married a wife 
 from Bethlehem, which is a place belonging to 
 the tribe of Judah. Now he was very fond of 
 his wife, and overcome with her beauty ; but he 
 was unhappy in this, that he did not meet with 
 the like return of affection from her, for she waa 
 averse to him, which did more inflame his pas- 
 sion for her, so that they quarrelled one with 
 another perpetually ; and at hut the woman was 
 so disgusted at these quarrels, that she left hr 
 husband, and went to her parents in the fourth 
 month. The husband being ve,ry uneasy at thig 
 her departure, and that out of his fondness for 
 her, came to his father and mother-in-law, and 
 made up their quarrels, and was reconciled to 
 her, and lived with them there four days, as being 
 kindly treated by her parents. On the fifth 
 day he resolved to go home, and went away in 
 the evening ; for his wife's parents were loath to 
 part with their daughter, and delayed the time 
 till the day was gone. Now they had one ser- 
 vant that followed them, and an ass on which 
 the woman rode ; and when they were near Jeru- 
 salem, having gone already thirty furlongs, the 
 servant advised them to take up their lodgings 
 somewhere, lest some misfortune should befall 
 them if they travelled in the night, especially 
 since they were not far off enemies, that season 
 often giving reason for suspicion of dangers from 
 even such as are friends ; but the husband was 
 not pleased with this advice, nor was he willing 
 to take up his lodging among strangers, for the 
 city belonged to the Canaanites, but desired 
 rather to go twenty furlongs further, and so to 
 take their lodgings in some Israelite city. Ac- 
 cordingly, he obtained his purpose, and came to 
 Gibeah, a city of the tribe of Benjamin, when it 
 was just dark ; and while no one that lived in 
 the market-place invited him to lodge with him, 
 there came an old man out of the field, one that 
 was indeed of the tribe of Ephraim, but resided 
 in Gibeah, and met him, and asked him who he 
 was, and for what reason he came thither so 
 late, and why he was looking out for provisions 
 for supper when it was dark ? To which he re- 
 plied, that he was a Lesite, and was bringing 
 his wife from her parents, and was going home ; 
 but he told him his habitation was in the tribe 
 of Ephraim : so the old man, as well because of 
 their kindred as because they lived in the same 
 tribe, and also because they had thus acciden- 
 tally met together, took him in to lodge with 
 him. Now certain young men of the inhabit- 
 ants of Gibeah, having seen the woman in the 
 market-place, and admiring her beauty, when 
 they understood that she lodged with the old 
 man, came to the doors, as contemning the 
 weakness and fewness of the old man's family ; 
 and when the old man desired them to go away, 
 and not to offer any violence or abuse there, 
 they desired him to yield them up the strange 
 woman, and then he should have no harm done 
 to him : and when the old man alleged that the 
 Levite was of his kindred, and that they would 
 be guilty of horrid wickedness if they suffered 
 themselves to be overcome by their pleasures, 
 and so offend against their laws, they despised 
 his righteous admonition, and laughed him to 
 scorn. They also threatened to kill him if he 
 
 Joeephus's early date of this history, before the 
 beginning of the Judges, or when there was no king in 
 Israel, (Juiges xix. 1,) is strongly confirmed by th 
 large number of Benjamites, both in the days of Au 
 and Jehoshaphat, (2 Chron. xiv. 8, and rri. 17,) who 
 yet were here reduced to six hundred men.
 
 12 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK T. 
 
 cime an obstacle to their inclinations ; where- 
 l "when he found himself in great distress, 
 rd yet was not willing to overlook his guests, 
 lee them abused, he produced his own 
 lighter to them ; and told them that it was a 
 ir breach of the law to satisfy their lust 
 ,,,on her, than to abuse his guests, supposing 
 hat he himself should by this means prevent 
 any injury to be done to those guests. When 
 hoy no way abated of their earnestness for the 
 trange woman, but insisted absolutely on their 
 desires to have her, he entreated them not to 
 perpetrate any such act of injustice; but they 
 >roceeded to take her away by force, and mdulg- 
 nn still more the violence of their inclinations, 
 they took the woman away to their house, and 
 when they had satisfied their lust upon her the 
 whole night, they let her go about daybreak. 
 So she came to the place where she had been 
 entertained, under great affliction at what had 
 happened ; and was very sorrowful upon occa- 
 sion of what she had suffered, and durst not 
 ook her husband in the face for shame, for she 
 concluded that he would never forgive her for 
 what she had done ; so she fell down, and gave 
 up the ghost : but her husband supposed that 
 lis wife was only fast asleep, and, thinking 
 nothing of a more melancholy nature had hap- 
 pened, endeavoured to raise her up, resolving to 
 ipeak comfortably to her, since she did not vol- 
 untarily expose herself to these men's lust, but 
 was forced away to their house ; but as soon as 
 tie perceived she was dead, he acted as prudently 
 as the greatness of his misfortunes would ad- 
 mit, and laid his dead wife upon the beast, and 
 carried her home ; and cutting her, limb by 
 limb, into twelve pieces, he sent them to every 
 tribe, and gave it in charge to those that carried 
 them, to inform the tribes of those that were 
 the cause of his wife's death, and of the violence 
 they had offered to her. 
 
 9. Upon this the people were greatly Dis- 
 turbed at what they saw, and at what they 
 heard, as never having had the experience of 
 such a thing before; so they gathered them- 
 selves to Shiloh, out of a prodigious and a just 
 anger, and assembling in a great congregation 
 before the tabernacle, they immediately resolved 
 to take arms, and to treat the inhabitants of 
 Gibeah as enemies; but the senate restrained 
 them from doing so, and persuaded them, that 
 they ought not so nastily to make war upon 
 people of the same nation with them, before 
 they discoursed with them by words concern- 
 ing the accusation laid against them ; it being 
 part of their law, that they should not bring 
 an army against foreigners themselves, when 
 they appear to have been injurious, without 
 sending an embassage first, and trying whereby 
 whether they will repent or not : , and accord- 
 ingly they exhorted them to do what they ought 
 to do in obedience to their laws, that is, to send 
 to the inhabitants of Gibeah, to know whether 
 they would deliver up the offenders to them, 
 and, if they deliver them up, to rest satisfied 
 with the punishment of those offenders ; but if 
 they despised the message that was sent them, 
 to punish them, by taking up arms against them. 
 Accordingly they sent to the inhabitants of Gib- 
 eah, and accused the young men of the crimes 
 committed in the affair of the Levite's wife, and 
 required of them those that had done what was 
 contrary to the law, that they might be pun- 
 ished, as having justly deserved to die for what 
 they had done ; but the inhabitants of Gibeah 
 would not deliver up the young men, and 
 thought it too reproachful to them, out of fear 
 nf war, to submit to other men's demands upon 
 
 them ; vaunting themselves to be no way in- 
 ferior to any in war, neither in their number 
 nor in courage. The rest of their tribe were 
 also making great preparation for war for they 
 were so insolently mad as also to resolve to re- 
 pel force by force. 
 
 10 When it was related to the Israelites what 
 the inhabitants of Gibeah had resolved upon, 
 they took their oath that no one of them would 
 give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite, 
 but make war with greater fury against them 
 than we have learned our forefathers made war 
 against the Canaanites ; and sent out presently 
 an army of four hundred thousand against them, 
 while the Benjamites' army was twenty-five 
 thousand and six hundred; five hundred of 
 whom were excellent at slinging stones with their 
 left hands, insomuch that when the battle was 
 joined at Gibeah the Benjamites beat the Israel- 
 ites and of them there fell two thousand men ; 
 and probably more had been destroyed had not 
 the night come on and prevented it, and broken 
 off the fight ; so the Benjamites returned to the 
 city with joy, and the Israelites returned to their 
 camp in a great fright at what had happened. 
 On the next day, when they fought again, the 
 Benjamites beat them; and eighteen thousand 
 of the Israelites were slain, and the rest deserted 
 their camp out of fear of a greater slaughter. So 
 they came to Bethel, a city that was near their 
 camp, and fasted on the next day ; and besought 
 God, by Phineas the high priest, that his wrath 
 against them might cease, and that he would be 
 satisfied with these two defeats, and give them 
 the victory and power over their enemies. Ac- 
 cordingly God promised them so to do, by the 
 prophesying of Phineas. 
 
 11. When therefore they aad divided the 
 army into two parts, they laid the one half of 
 them in ambush about the city Gibeah, by night, 
 while the other half attacked the Benjamites, 
 who retiring upon the assault, the Benjamites 
 pursued them, while the Hebrews retired by 
 slow degrees, as very desirous to draw them en- 
 tirely from the city; and the other followed them 
 as they retired, till both the old men and the 
 young men that were left in the city, as too weak 
 to fight, came running out together with them, 
 as willing to bring their enemies under. How- 
 ever, when they were a great way from the city, 
 the Hebrews ran away no longer, but turned back 
 to fight them, and lifted up the signal they had 
 agreed on to those that lay in ambush, who rose 
 up, and with a great noise fell upon the enemy. 
 Now, as soon as ever they perceived themselves 
 to be deceived, they knew not what to do ; and 
 when they were driven into a certain hollow place 
 which was in a valley, they were shot at by 
 those that encompassed them, till they were afi 
 destroyed, excepting six hundred, which formed 
 themselves into a close body of men, and forced 
 their passage through the midst of their enemies, 
 and fled to the neighbouring mountains, and. 
 seizing upon them, remained there ; but the resi 
 of them, being about twenty -five thousand, wer 
 slain. Then did the Israelites burn Gibeah, an<j 
 slew the women, and the males that were under 
 age ; and did the same also to the other cities oi 
 the Benjamites ; and, indeed, they were enragec 
 to that degree, that they sent twelve thousanc 
 men out of the army, and gave them orders to 
 destroy Jab ash Gilead, because it did not join 
 with them in fighting against the Benjamites 
 Accordingly, those that were sent slew the men 
 of war, with their children and wives, except- 
 ing four hundred virgins. To such a degree 
 had they proceeded in their anger, because 
 they not only had the suffering of the Levite's
 
 OHAP. I1LJ 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF TUB JEWS. 
 
 wife to aronge, but the slaughter of their owu 
 soldiers. 
 
 12. However, they afterward were sorry for 
 the calamity they had brought upon the Benja- 
 mites, and appointed a fast on that account, 
 although they supposed those men had suffered 
 justly for their offence against the laws ; so they 
 recalled by their ambassadors those six hundred 
 which had escaped. These had seated themselves 
 on a certain rock called Rimmon, which was in 
 the wilderness. So the ambassadors lamented 
 not only the disaster that had befallen the Ben- 
 jamites, but themselves also, by this destruction 
 of their kindred ; and persuaded them to take it 
 patiently, and to come and unite with them, and 
 not, so far as in them lay, to give their suffrage 
 to the utter destruction of the tribe of Benjamin; 
 and said to them, "We give you leave to take 
 the whole land of Benjamin to yourselves, and 
 as much prey as you are able to carry away with 
 you. " So these men with sorrow confessed, that 
 what had been done was according to the decree 
 of God, and had happened for their own wicked- 
 ness ; and assented to those that invited them, 
 and came down to their own tribe. The Israel- 
 ites also gave them the four hundred virgins of 
 Jabesh Gilead for wives; but as to the remain- 
 ing two hundred, they deliberated about it how 
 they might compass wives enough for them, and 
 that they might have children by them; and 
 whereas ti y had, before the war began, taken 
 an oath, that no one would give his daughter to 
 wife to a Benjamite; some advised them to have 
 no regard to what they had sworn, because the 
 oath had not been taken advisedly and judi- 
 ciously, but in a passion, and thought that they 
 should do nothing against God, if they were able 
 to save a whole tribe which was in danger of 
 perishing; and that perjury was then a sad and 
 dangerous thing, not when it is done out of ne- 
 cessity, but when it is done with a wicked in- 
 tention. But when the senate were affrighted 
 at the very name of perjury, a certain person told 
 them that he could shew them a way whereby 
 they might procure the Benjamites wives enough, 
 and yet keep their oath. They asked him what 
 his proposal was. He said, " That three times in 
 a year, when we meet in Shiloh, our wives and pur 
 daughters accompany us : let then the Benjamites 
 be allowed to steal away, and many such women 
 as they can catch, while we will neither incite 
 them nor forbid them ; and when their parents 
 take it ill, and desire us to inflict punishment 
 upon them, we will tell them, that they were j 
 themselves the cause of what had happened, by 
 neglecting to guard their daughters, and that 
 they ought not to be over angry at the Benja- 
 mites, since that anger was permitted to rise too 
 high already." So the Israelites were persuaded 
 to follow this advice, and decreed, That the Ben- 
 jamites should be allowed thus to steal them- 
 selves wives. So when the festival was coming 
 on, these two hundred Benjamites lay in ambush 
 before the city, by two and three together, and 
 waited for the coming of the virgins, in the vine- 
 yards and other places where they could lie con- 
 cealed. Accordingly the virgins came along 
 playing, and suspected nothing of what was 
 coming upon them, and walked after an un- 
 guarded manner, so those that lay scattered in 
 the road rose up, and caught hold of them : by 
 this means these Benjamites got them wives, and 
 fell to agriculture, and took good care to recover 
 their former happy state. And thus was this 
 tribe of the Benjamites, after they had been in 
 danger of entirely perishing, saved in the manner 
 fore-mentioned, by the wisdom of the Israelites: 
 and accordingly it presently flourished, and soon 
 
 increased to be a multitude, and came to enjoy 
 all other degrees of happiness. And such was 
 the conclusion of this war. 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 HOW THE ISRAELITES AFTEK THIS MISFORTUNE, 
 GREW WICKED, AND SERVED THE ASSYRIANS; 
 AND HOW GOD DELIVERED THEM BY OTHNI8L, 
 WHO RULED OVER THEM FORTY YEARS. 
 
 1. Now it happened that the tribe of Dan 
 suffered in like manner with the tribe of Benja- 
 min ; and it came to do so on the occasion fol- 
 lowing: When the Israelites had already left 
 off the exercise of their arms for war, and were 
 intent upon their husbandry, the Canaanites de- 
 spised them, and brought together an army, not 
 because they expected to suffer by them, but 
 
 of treating the Hebrews ill when they pleased, 
 and might thereby for the time to come dwell in 
 their own cities the more securely; they pre- 
 pared therefore their chariots, and gathered their 
 soldiery together ; their cities also combined to- 
 gether, and drew over to them Askelon and 
 Ekron, which were within the tribe of Judah, 
 and many more of those that lay in the plain. 
 They also forced the Danites to fly into the 
 mountainous country, and left them not the 
 least portion of the plain country to set their foot 
 on. Since then these Danites were not able to 
 fight them, and had not land enough to sustain 
 them, they sent five of their men into the mid- 
 land country, to seek for a land to which they 
 might remove their habitation. So these men 
 went as far as the neighbourhood of mount Lib- 
 anus, and the fountains of the Lesser Jordan, at 
 the great plain of Sidon, a day's journey from the 
 city ; and when they had taken a view of tha 
 land, and found it to be good and exceeding 
 fruitful, they acquainted their tribe with it, 
 whereupon they made an expedition with the 
 army, and built there the city Dan, of the same 
 name with the son of Jacob, and of the same 
 name with their own tribe. 
 
 2. The Israelites grew so indolent, and unready 
 of taking pains, that misfortunes came heavier 
 upon them, which also proceeded in part from 
 their contempt of the divine worship ; for when 
 they had once fallen off from the regularity of 
 their political government, they indulged them- 
 selves further in living according to their own 
 pleasure, and according to their own will, till 
 they were full of the evil doings that were com- 
 mon among the Canaanites. God therefore was 
 angry with them, and they lost that their happy 
 state which they had obtained by innumerable 
 labours, by their luxury ; for when Chusan, king 
 of the Assyrians, had made war against them, 
 they lost many of their soldiers in the battle, and 
 when they were besieged, they were taken by 
 force ; nay, there was some, who, out of fear, 
 voluntarily submitted to him, and though the 
 tribute laid upon them was more than they could 
 bear, yet did they pay it, and underwent all sort 
 of oppression for eight years ; after which time 
 they were freed from them in the following 
 manner : 
 
 3. There was one whose name was Othniel, the 
 son of Kenaz, of the tribe of Judah, an active 
 man, and of great courage. He had an admoni- 
 tion from God, not to overlook the Israelites in 
 such a distress as they were now in, but to en- 
 deavour boldly to gain them their liberty; 
 so when he had procured some to assist him 
 in this dangerous undertaking, (and few they
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK v. 
 
 ..,.,... v.!,.., cither out of shame at their present 
 Srcu'mstances, or out of a desire of changing 
 them, could be prevailed on to assist him,) he 
 first of all destroyed that garrison which bnusan 
 had set over them; but when it was perceived 
 that he had not failed in his first attempt, more 
 of the people came to his assistance ; so they 
 joined battle with the Assyrians, and drove them 
 entirely before them, and compelled them to 
 pass over Euphrates. Hereupon Othmel, who 
 had given such proofs of his valour, received 
 from the multitude authority to judge the 
 people : and when he had ruled over them forty 
 years, he died. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HOW OUR PEOPLE SERVED THE MOABITES EIGHT- 
 TEEN YEARS, AND WERE THEN DELIVERED FROM 
 SLAVERY BY ONE EHUD, WHO RETAINED THE 
 DOMINION EIGHTY YEARS. 
 
 1. WHEN Othniel was dead, the affairs of 
 the Israelites fell again into disorder; and while 
 they neither paid to God the honour^ due to 
 him, nor were obedient to the laws, their afflic- 
 tions increased, till Eglon, king of the Moabites, 
 did so greatly despise them on account of the 
 disorders of their political government, that he 
 made war upon them, and overcame them in 
 several battles, and made the most courageous 
 to submit, and entirely subdued their army, and 
 ordered them to pay him tribute. And when 
 he had built him a royal palace at Jericho,* he 
 omitted no method whereby he might distress 
 them ; and indeed he reduced them to poverty 
 for eighteen years. But when God had once 
 taken pity of the Israelites, on account of their 
 afflictions, and was moved to compassion by 
 their supplications put up to him, he freed 
 them from the hard usage they had met with 
 tinder the Moabites. This liberty he procured 
 for them in the following manner : 
 
 2. There was a young man of the tribe of Ben- 
 jamin, whose name was Ehud, the son of Gera, 
 a man of very great courage in bold undertak- 
 ings, and of a very strong body, fit for hard 
 labour, but best skilled in using his left hand, in 
 which was his whole strength; and he also 
 dwelt at Jericho. Now this man became fami- 
 liar with_ Eglon, and that by means of pre- 
 sents, with which he obtained his favour, 
 and insinuated himself into his good opinion ; 
 whereby he was also beloved of those that were 
 about the king. Now, when on a time, he was 
 bringing presents to the king, and had two ser- 
 vants with him, he put a dagger on his right 
 thigh secretly, and went in to him : it was then 
 summer time, and the middle of the day, when 
 th guards were not strictly on their watch, 
 both because of the heat, and because they were 
 gone to dinner. So the young man, when he 
 had offered his presents to the king, who then 
 resided in a smallparlour that stood conveniently 
 to avoid the heat, fell into discourse with him 
 for they were now alone, the king having bid 
 Ilia servants that attended him to go their ways 
 because he had a mind to talk with Ehud He 
 was now sitting on his throne, and fear seized 
 upon Ehud lest he should miss his stroke and 
 
 i 
 
 T I 8 ' at r n - ear the demolished city. Ac- 
 J 8e 5 hus Ba >' 8 H was at Jericho, or near to 
 P ^ound on which Jericho had formerly 
 
 not give him a deadly wound ; so he raised him- 
 self up, and said he had a dream to impart to 
 him by the command of God ; upon which the 
 king leaped out of his throne for joy of the 
 dream ; so Ehud smote him to the heart, and, 
 leaving his dagger in his body, he went out, and 
 shut the door after him. Now the king's ser- 
 vants were very still, as supposing that the king 
 had composed himself to sleep. 
 
 3. Hereupon Ehud informed the people of 
 Jericho privately of what he had. done, and ex- 
 horted them to recover their liberty ; who heard 
 him gladly, and went to their arms, and sent 
 messengers over the country, that should sound 
 trumpets of rams' horns ; for it was our custom 
 to call the people together by them. Now the 
 attendants of Eglon were ignorant of what mis- 
 fortune had befallen him for a great while ; but, 
 towards the evening, fearing some uncommon 
 accident had happened,they entered into his par- 
 lour, and when they found him dead, they were 
 in great disorder, and knew not what to do ; 
 and before the guards could be got together, the 
 multitude of the Israelites came upon them, so 
 that some of them were slain immediately, and 
 some of them were put to flight, and ran away 
 toward the country of Moab, in order to save 
 themselves. Their number was above ten thou- 
 sand. The Israelites seized upon the ford of Jor- 
 dan, and pursued them, and slew them, and many 
 of them they killed at the ford, nor did one of 
 them escape out of their hands ; and by this 
 means it was that the Hebrews freed themselves 
 from slavery under the Moabites. Ehud was 
 also on this account dignified with the govern- 
 ment over all the multitude, and died after he 
 had held the government eighty _years.t He 
 was a man worthy of commendation, even be- 
 sides what he deserved for the forementioned 
 act of his. After him Shamgar, the son of 
 Anath, was elected for their governor, but died 
 in the first year of his government. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 HOW THE OANAANITES BROUGHT THE ISRAELITES 
 UNDER SLAVERY FOR TWENTY YEARS; AFTER, 
 WHICH THEY WERE DELIVERED BY BARAK AND 
 DEBORAH, WHO RULED OVER THEM FOR FORTY 
 YEABS. 
 
 1. AND now it was that the Israelites, taking 
 no warning by the former misfortunes to amend 
 their manners, and neither worshipping God nor 
 submitting to the laws, were brought under 
 slavery by Jabin, the king of the Canaanites, 
 and that before they had a short breathing time 
 after the slavery under the Moabites ; for this 
 Jabin came out of Hazor, a city that was situate 
 over the lake Semechonitis, and had in pay three 
 hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand 
 horsemen, with no fewer than three thousand 
 chariots. Sisera was the commander of all his 
 army, and was the principal person in the king's 
 favour. He so sorely beat the Israelites when 
 they fought with him, that he ordered them to 
 pay tribute. 
 
 2. So they continued to undergo that hardship 
 for twenty years, as not good enough of them- 
 selves to grow wise by their misfortunes. God 
 was willing also hereby the more to subdue their 
 
 t These eighty years are necessary to Josephus's 
 usual large numbers between the exodus and the build- 
 ing of the temple, of 692, or 612 years, but not to th 
 smallest number of 480 years, which lesser nuuilie 
 sephus seems sometimes to hav
 
 CHAP. VI.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 115 
 
 obstinacy and ingratitude towards himself : so 
 when at length.they were become penitent, and 
 were so wise as to learn that their calamities 
 arose from their contempt of the laws, they 
 besought Deborah, a certain prophetess among 
 them (which name in the Hebrew tongue signi- 
 fies a Bee) to pray to God to take pity on them, 
 and not to overlook them, now they were ruined 
 by the Canaanites So God granted them de- 
 liverance, and chose them a general, Barak, one 
 that was of the tribe of Naphtali. Now Barak, 
 in the Hebrew tongue, signifies Lightning. 
 
 3. So Deborah sent for Barak, and bade him 
 choose out ten thousand young men to go 
 against the enemy, because God had said that 
 number was sufficient, and promised them vic- 
 tory. But when Barak said that he would not 
 be the general unless she would also go as a 
 general with him, she had indignation at what 
 he said, and replied, " Thou, O Barak, deliverest 
 up meanly that authority which God had given 
 thee into the hand of a woman, and I do not re- 
 ject it!" So they collected ten thousand men, 
 and pitched their camp at mount Tabor, where, 
 at the king's command, Sisera met them, and 
 pitched his camp not far from the enemy ; 
 whereupon the Israelites, and Barak himself, 
 were so affrighted at the multitude of those 
 enemies, that they were resolved to march off, 
 had not Deborah retained them, and commanded 
 them to fight the enemy that very day, for that 
 they should conquer them, and God would be 
 their assistance. 
 
 4. So the battle began ; and when they were 
 come to close fight, there came down from 
 heaven a great storm, with a vast quantity of 
 rain and hail, and the wind blew the rain in the 
 face of the Canaanites, and so darkened their 
 eyes, that their arrows and slings were of no 
 advantage to them, nor would the coldness of 
 the air permit the soldiers to make use of their 
 Bwords; while this storm did not so much in- 
 commode the Israelites, because it came in their 
 backs. They also took such courage, upon the 
 apprehension that God was assisting them, that 
 they fell upon the very midst of their enemies, 
 and slew a great number of them; so that some 
 of them fell by the Israelites, some fell by their 
 own horses, which were put into disorder, and 
 not a few were killed by their own chariots. At 
 last Sisera, as soon as he saw himself beaten, 
 fled away, and came to a woman whose name 
 was Jael, a Kenite, who received him, when he 
 desired to be concealed ; and when he asked for 
 somewhat to drink, she gave him sour milk, of 
 which he drank so immeasurably that he fell 
 asleep; but when he was asleep, Jael took an 
 iron nail, and with a hammer drove it through 
 his temples into the floor; and when Barak 
 came a little afterward, she shewed Sisera nailed 
 to the ground : and thus was this victory gained 
 by a woman, as Deborah had foretold. Barak 
 also fought with Jabin at Hazor ; and when he 
 met with him, he slew him: and when the 
 general was fallen, Barak overthrew the city to 
 the foundation, and was the commander of the 
 Israelites for forty years. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 HCW THB MLDIANITE3 AND OTHEK NATIONS FOUGHT 
 AGAINST THB ISRAELITES, AND BEAT THEM, AND 
 AFFLICTED THEIR COUNTRY FOR SEVEN YEAES ; 
 HOW THEY WERE DELIVERED BY GIDEON, WHO 
 RULED OVER THE MULTITUDE FOR FORTY YEARS. 
 
 L Now whec Barak and Deborah were dead, 
 
 whose deaths happened about the same time, 
 afterwards the Midianites called the Amalekitea 
 and Arabians to their assistance, and made war 
 against the Israelites, and were too hard for 
 those that fought against them ; and when they 
 had burnt the fruits of the earth, they carried 
 off the prey. Now when they had done this for 
 three years, the multitude of the Israelites re- 
 tired to the mountains, and forsook the plain 
 country. They also made themselves hollows 
 under ground, and caverns, and preserved there- 
 in whatever had escaped their enemies ; for the 
 Midianites made expeditions in harvest-time, but 
 permitted them to plough the land in winter, 
 that BO, when the others had taken the pains, 
 they might have fruits for them to carry away. 
 Indeed, there ensued a famine and a scarcity of 
 food ; upon which they betook themselves to 
 their supplications to God, and besought him to 
 save them. 
 
 2. Gideon also, the son of Joash, one of the 
 principal persons of the tribe of Manasseh, 
 brought his sheaves of corn privately, and 
 thrashed them at the wine-press ; for he was too 
 fearful of their enemies to thrash them openly 
 in the thrashing-floor. At this time somewhat 
 appeared to him in the shape of a young man, 
 and told him that he was a happy man, and be- 
 loved of God. To which he immediately replied, 
 "A mighty indication of God's favour to me, 
 that I am forced to use this wine-press, instead 
 of a thrashing-floor ! " But the appearance ex- 
 horted him to be of good courage, and to make 
 an attempt for the recovery of their liberty. 
 He answered, that it was impossible for him to 
 recover it, because the tribe to which he be- 
 longed was by no means numerous ; and because 
 he was but young himself, and too inconsiderable 
 to think of such great actions; but the other 
 promised him that God would supply what he 
 was defective in, and would afford the Israelites 
 victory under his conduct. 
 
 3. Now, therefore, as Gideon was relating 
 this to some young men, they believed him, and 
 immediately there was an army of ten thousand 
 m en got ready for fighting. But God stood by 
 Gideon in his sleep, and told him, that mankind 
 were too fond of themselves, and were enemies 
 to such as excelled in virtue. Now, that they 
 might not pass God over, but ascribe the victory 
 to him, and might not fancy it obtained by 
 their own power, because they were a great 
 army, and able of themselves to fight their 
 enemies, but might confess that it was owing to 
 his assistance, he advised him to bring hia 
 
 1 army about noon, in the violence of the heat, to 
 I the river, and to esteem those that bent down 
 ; on their knees and so drank, to be men of 
 I courage ; but for all those that drank tumul- 
 | tuously, that he should esteem them to do it 
 out of fear, and as in dread of their enemies. 
 And when Gideon had done as God had sug- 
 gested to him, there were found three hundred 
 men that took water with their hands tumultu- 
 ously; so God bid him take these men, and 
 attack the enemy. Accordingly, they pitched 
 their camp at the river Jordan, as ready the next 
 day to pass over it. 
 
 4. But Gideon ws in great fear, for God had 
 told him beforehand that he should set upon his 
 enemies in the night-time ; but God, being will- 
 ing to free him from hia fear, bid him take one 
 of his soldiers, and go near to the Midianites' 
 tents, for that he should from that very place 
 have his courage raised, and grow bold. So he 
 obeyed, and went and took his servant Phurah 
 with him ; and as he came near to one of the 
 tents, he discovered that those that *ere in it
 
 Lie 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 were awake, and that one of them was telling to 
 his fellow-soldier a dream of his own, and that so 
 plainly, that Gideon could hear him. The dream 
 was this: He thought he saw a barley-cake, 
 such a one as could hardly be eaten by men, it 
 was so vile, rolling through the camp, and over- 
 throwing the royal tent, and the tents of all the 
 soldiers. Now the other soldier explained this 
 vision to mean the destruction of the army ; and 
 told him what his reason was which made him 
 so conjecture viz., That the seed called barley 
 was all of it allowed to be of the vilest sort of 
 seed, and that the Israelites were known to be 
 the vilest of all the people of Asia, agreeably to 
 the seed of barley, and that what seemed to look 
 big among the Israelites was this Gideon and the 
 army that was with him ; "and since thou sayest 
 thou didst see the cake overturning our tents, I 
 am afraid lest God hath granted the victory over 
 us to Gideon." 
 
 5. When Gideon had heard this dream, good 
 hope and courage cam? upon him ; and he com- 
 manded his soldiers to arm themselves, and told 
 them of this vision of their enemies. They also 
 took courage at what was told them, and were 
 ready to perform what he should enjoin them ; 
 so Gideon divided his army into three parts, and 
 brought it out about the fourth watch of the 
 night, each watch containing a hundred men : 
 they all bare empty pitchers and lighted lamps 
 in their hands, that their onset might not be 
 discovered by their enemies. They had also 
 each of them a ram's horn in his right hand, 
 which he used instead of a trumpet. The 
 enemy's camp took up a large space of ground, 
 for it happened that they had a great many 
 camels ; and as they were divided into different 
 nations, so they were all contained in one circle. 
 Now when the Hebrews did as they were ordered 
 beforehand, upon their approach to their ene- 
 mies, and, on the signal given, sounded with 
 their rams' horns, and brake their pitchers, and 
 set upon their enemies with their lamps, and a 
 great shout, and cried, "Victory to Gideon, by 
 God's assistance," a disorder and a fright seized 
 upon the other men while they were half asleep, 
 for it was night-time, as God would have it ; so 
 that a few of them were slain by their enemies, 
 but the greatest part by their own soldiers, on 
 account of the diversity of their language ; and 
 when they were once put into disorder, they 
 killed all that they met with, as thinking them 
 to be enemies also. Thus there was a great 
 slaughter made ; and as the report of Gideon's 
 victory came to the Israelites, they took their 
 weapons and pursued their enemies, and over- 
 took them in a certain valley encompassed with 
 torrents, in a place which these could not get 
 over ; so they encompassed them, and slew them 
 all, with their kings, Oreb and Zeeb ; but the 
 remaining captains led those soldiers that were 
 left, which were about eighteen thousand, and 
 pitched their camp a great way off the Israelites. 
 However, Gideon did not grudge his pains, but 
 pursued them with all his army, and ioininz 
 battle with them, cut off the whole enemies' 
 army, and took the other leaders, Zebah and 
 /ialmuna, and made them captives. Now there 
 (we slain in this battle of the Midianites, and 
 of their auxiliaries the Arabians, about a hundred 
 and twenty thousand ; and the Hebrews took a 
 
 1 PrCy '., gold ' and 8 ] lver ' and garments, and 
 camels, and asses ; and when Gideon was come 
 
 he siew the ki ^ 
 
 because he did not tell them of his expedition 
 against their enemies : but Gideon, as a man oi 
 temper, and that excelled in every virtue, 
 pleaded, that it was not the result of his own 
 authority or reasoning that made him attack the 
 enemy without them, but that it was the com- 
 mand of God, and still the victory belonged to 
 them as well as those in the army; and by this 
 method of cooling their passions he brought moi e 
 advantage to the Hebrews than by the success lie 
 had gained against these enemies, for he thereby 
 delivered them from a sedition which was arising 
 among them ; yet did this tribe afterwards suffer 
 the punishment of this their injurious treatment 
 of Gideon, of which we will give an account in 
 due time. 
 
 7. Hereupon Gideon would have laid down 
 the government, but was over-persuaded to fcike 
 it, which he enjoyed forty years, and distributed 
 justice to them, as the people came to him in 
 their differences ; and what he determined was 
 esteemed valid by all ; and when he died, he was 
 buried in his own country of Ophrah. 
 
 Dl5T7>? r> th S tribe of E P h - 
 
 edat the good success of Gideon, that they 
 
 resolved to make war against him, accusing him 
 
 CHAPTER, VII. 
 
 THAT THE JUDGES WHO SUCCEEDED GIDEON MADE 
 WAR WITH THE ADJOINING NATIONS FOB A LONG 
 TIME. 
 
 1. Now Gideon had seventy sons that were 
 legitimate, for he had many wives ; but he had 
 also one that was spurious, by his concubine 
 Drumah, whose name was Abimelech, who, after 
 his father's death, retired to Shecliem, to bis 
 mother's relations, for they were of that pLice ; 
 and when he had got money of such of them <%s 
 were eminent for many instances of injustice, he 
 came with them to his father's house, and slew 
 all his brethren, except Jotham, for he had the 
 good fortune to escape and be preserved; but 
 Abimelech made the government tyrannical, and 
 constituted himself a lord, to do what he pleased, 
 instead of obeying the laws ; and he acted more 
 rigidly against those that were the patrons of 
 justice. 
 
 2. Now when, on a certain time, there was a 
 public festival at Shechem, and all the multi- 
 tude was there gathered together, Jotham his 
 brother, whose escape we before related, went 
 up to mount Gerizzim, which hangs over the 
 city Shechem, and cried out so as to be heard by 
 the multitude, who were attentive to him. He 
 desired they would consider what he was going 
 to say to them ; so when silence was made, he 
 said, That when the trees had a human voice, 
 and there was an assembly of them gathered 
 together, they desired that the fig-tree would 
 rule over them ; but when that tree refused so 
 to do, because he was contented to enjoy that 
 honour which belonged peculiarly to the fruit it 
 bare, and not that which should be derived to it 
 from abroad, the trees did not leave off their in- 
 tentions to have a ruler, so they thought proper 
 to make the offer of that honour to the vine ; 
 but when the vine was chosen, it made use of 
 the same words which the fig-tree had used be* 
 fore, and excused itself from accepting the 
 government ; and when the olive-tree had done 
 the same, the brier, whom the trees had desired 
 to take the kingdom, (it is a sort of wood good 
 for firing,) it promised to take the government, 
 and to be zealous in the exercise of it ; but tbi 
 then they must sit down under its shadow, and 
 if they should plot against it to destroy it, th 
 principle of fire that was in it should destroy
 
 CHAP. VII. J 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 117 
 
 them. He told them that what he had said was 
 110 laughing mattei -, for that when they had 
 experienced many blessings from Gideon, they 
 overlooked Abimelech, when he overruled all, 
 and had joined with >iirn hi slaying his brethren; 
 and that he was no better than a fire himself. 
 So when he had said this, he went away, and 
 lived privately in the mountains for three years, 
 out of fear of Abimelech. 
 
 3. A little while after this festival, the 
 Shechemites, who had now repented themselves 
 of having slain the sons of Gideon, drove Abim- 
 elech away both from their city and their tribe ; 
 whereupon he contrived how he might distress 
 their city. Now at the season of vintage the 
 people were afraid to go out and gather their 
 fruits, for fear Abimelech should do them some 
 mischief. Now it happened that there had 
 come to them a man of authority, one Gaal, that 
 sojourned with them, having his armed men and 
 his kinsmen with him ; so the Shechemites de- 
 aired that he would allow them a guard during 
 their vintage ; whereupon he accepted of their 
 desires, and so the people went out, and Gaal 
 with them at the head of his soldiery ; so they 
 gathered their fruit with safety ; and when they 
 were at supper in several companies, they then 
 ventured to curse Abimelech openly ; and the 
 magistrates laid ambushes in places about the 
 city, and caught many of Abimelech's followers, 
 and destroyed them. 
 
 4. Now there was one Zebul, a magistrate of 
 the Shechemites, that had entertained Abime- 
 lech. He sent messengers, and informed him 
 how much Gaal had irritated the people against 
 him, and excited him to lay ambushes before 
 the city, for that he would persuade Gaal to go 
 out against him, which would leave it in his 
 power to be revenged on him ; and when that 
 was once done, he would bring him to be recon- 
 ciled to the city. So Abimelech laid ambushes, 
 and himself lay with them. Now Gaal abode in 
 the suburbs, taking little care of himself ; and 
 Zebul was with him. Now aa Gaal saw the 
 armed men coming on, he said to Zebul, That 
 some armed men were coming; but the other 
 replied, They were only shadows of huge stones : 
 and when they were come nearer, Gaal perceived 
 what was the reality, and said, They were not 
 shadows, but men lying in ambush. Then said 
 Zebul, " Didst not thou reproach Abimelech for 
 cowardice ? why dost thou not then shew how 
 very courageous thou art thyself, and go and 
 fight him?" So Gaal, being in disorder, joined 
 battle with Abimelech, and some of his men 
 fell ; whereupon he fled into the city, and took 
 his men with him. But Zebul managed his 
 matters so in the city, that he procured them to 
 expel Gaal out of the city, and this by accusing 
 him of cowardice in this action with the soldiers 
 of Abimelech. But Abimelech, when he had 
 learned that the Shechemites were again coming 
 out to gather their grapes, placed ambushes be- 
 fore the city, and when they were coming out, 
 the third part of his army took possession of the 
 gates, to hinder the citizens from returning hi 
 again, while the rest pursued those that were 
 scatteied abroad, and so there was slaughter 
 everywhere ; and when he had overthrown the 
 city to the very foundations, for it was not able 
 to bear a siege, and had sown its ruins with salt, 
 he proceeded on with his army till all the 
 Shechemites were slain. As for those that were 
 scattered about the country, and so escaped the 
 danger, they were gathered together unto a cer- 
 tain strong rock, and settled themselves upon it, 
 and prepared to build a wall about it : and when 
 Abimelech knew their intentions, he prevented 
 
 them, and came upon them with his forces, and 
 kid faggots of dry wood round the place, IK- 
 himself bringing some of them, and by his ex- 
 ample encouraging the soldiers to do the same. 
 And when the rock was encompassed round 
 about with these faggots, they set them on fire, 
 and threw in whatsoever by nature caught fire 
 the most easily : so a might}* flame was raised, 
 and nobody could fly away from the rock, but 
 every man perished, with their wives and chil- 
 dren, hi all about fifteen hundred men, and the 
 rest were a great number also. And such was 
 the calamity which fell upon the Shechemites ; 
 and men's grief on then* account had been greater 
 than it was, had they not brought so much mis- 
 chief on a person who had so well deserved of 
 them, and had they not themselves esteemed 
 this as a punishment for the same. 
 
 5. Now Abimelech, when he had affrighted 
 the Israelites with the miseries he had brought 
 upon the Shechemites, seemed openly to affect 
 greater authority than he now had, and appeared 
 to set no hounds to his violence, unless it were 
 with the destruction of alL Accordingly he 
 marched to Thebes, and took the city on the 
 sudden ; and there being a great tower therein, 
 whereunto the whole multitude fled, he made 
 preparation to besiege it. Now as he was rush- 
 ing with violence through the gates, a woman 
 threw a piece of a mill-stone upon his head, 
 upon which Abimelech fell down, and desired 
 his armour-bearer to kill him, lest his death 
 should be thought to be the work of a woman ; 
 -who did what he was bid to do. So he under- 
 went this death as a punishment for the wicked- 
 ness he had perpetrated against his brethren, 
 and his insolent barbarity to the Shechemites. 
 Now the calamity that happened to these 
 Shechemites was according to the prediction of 
 Jotham. However, the army that was with 
 Abimelech, upon his fall, was scattered abroad, 
 and went to their own homes. 
 
 6. Now it was that Jair the Gileadite,* of the 
 tribe of Manasseh, took the government. He 
 was a man happy in other respects also, but par- 
 ticularly i? his children, who were of a good 
 character. They were thirty in number, and 
 very skilful in riding on horses, and were in- 
 trusted with the government of the cities of 
 Gilead. He kept the government twenty-two 
 years, and died an old man- r\nd he was buried 
 in Camon, a city of Gilead. 
 
 7. And now all the affairs of the Hebrews 
 were managed uncertainly, and tended to dis- 
 order, and to the contempt of God and of the 
 laws. So the Ammonites and Philistines had 
 them in contempt, and laid waste the country 
 with a groat army ; and when they had taken all 
 Perea, they were so insolent as to attempt to gain 
 the possession of all the rest : but the Hebrews, 
 being now amended by the calamities they had 
 undergone, betook themselves to supplications 
 to God ; and brought sacrifices to him, beseech- 
 ing him not to be too severe upon them, but to 
 be moved by their prayers to le we off his anger 
 against them. So God became more merciful to 
 them, and was ready to assist them. 
 
 8. When the Ammonites had made an expedi- 
 tion into the hind of Gilead, the inhabitants of 
 the country met them at a certain mountain, but 
 wanted a commander. Now there was one whose 
 name was Jephtha, who, both on account of his 
 father's virtue, and on account of that army 
 which he maintained at his own expenses, was a 
 
 * Josephus omits Tola among the judges, jet all hia 
 commentators conclude, that in his sum of tne yean of 
 the judges, Tola's twenty-three years are included.
 
 7.8 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE .1 
 
 [BOOK V, 
 
 potent uian: the Israelites therefore sent to him, 
 wad entreated him to come to their assistance, 
 Mid promised him the dominion over them all 
 his lifetime. But he did not admit of their en- 
 treaty; and accused them, that they did not 
 come to his assistance when he was unjustly 
 treated, and this in an open manner by his 
 brethren ; for they cast him off, as not having 
 the same mother with the rest, but born of a 
 strange mother, that was introduced among them 
 by his father's fondness ; and this they did out 
 of a contempt of his inability [to vindicate him- 
 self.] So he dwelt in the country of Gilead, as 
 it is called, and received all that came to him, let 
 them come from what place soever, and paid them 
 wages. However, when they pressed him to ac- 
 cept the dominion, and sware they would grant 
 him the government over them all his life, he led 
 them to the war. 
 
 9. And when Jephtha had taken immediate 
 care of their affairs, he placed his army at the 
 city Miseph, and sent a message to the Ammon- 
 ite [king,] complaining of his unjust possession 
 of their land. But that king sent a contrary 
 message : and complained of the exodus of the 
 Israelites out of Egypt, and desired him to go out 
 of the land of the Amorites, and yield it up to 
 him, as at first his paternal inheritance. But 
 Jephtha returned this answer : That he did not 
 justly complain of his ancestors about the land 
 of the Amorites, and ought rather to thank them 
 that they left the land of the Ammonites to 
 them, since Moses could have taken it also ; and 
 that neither would he recede from that land of 
 their own, which God had obtained for them, 
 and they had now inhabited [above] three hun- 
 dred years, but would fight with them about it. 
 
 10. And when he had given the.m this answer, 
 he sent the ambassadors away. And when he 
 had prayed for victory and had vowed to perform 
 sacred offices, and if he came home in safety, to 
 offer in sacrifice what living creature soever 
 should first meet him : * he joined battle with the 
 enemy,and gained a great victory, and in his pur- 
 suit slew the enemies all along as far as the city 
 Minnith. He then passed over to the land of the 
 Ammonites, and overthrew many of their cities, 
 and took their prey, and freed his own people 
 from that slavery which they had undergone for 
 eighteen years. But as he came back, he fell 
 into a calamity no way correspondent to the 
 great actions he had done ; for it was his daugh- 
 ter that came to meet him ; she was also an only 
 child and a virgin : upon this Jephtha heavily 
 lamented the greatness of his affliction, and 
 blamed his daughter for being so forward in meet- 
 ing him, for he had vowed to sacrifice her to God. 
 However, this action that was to befall her was 
 not ungrateful to her, since she should die upon 
 occasion of her father's victory, and the liberty 
 of her fellow-citizens: she only desired her father 
 to give her leave, for two months, to bewail her 
 youth with her fellow-citizens; and then she 
 agreed, that at the fore-mentioned time he might 
 do with her according to his vow. Accordingly, 
 when that time was over, he sacrificed his daugh- 
 ter as a burnt-offering, offering such an oblation 
 as was neither conformable to the law, nor accept- 
 able to God, not weighing with himself what 
 opinion the hearers would have of such a prac- 
 tice. 
 
 , . 11 - Now the tribe of Ephraim fought against 
 nun, because he did not take them along with 
 
 * Josephna justly condemns Jephtha for his rash vow, 
 
 It were for sacrificing his daughter, or for de- 
 
 U1ng her to perpetual virginity. If he had vowed her 
 
 him in his expedition against the Ammonites, 
 but because he alone had the prey, and the glory 
 of what was done, to himself. As to which he 
 said, first, that they were not ignorant how his kin- 
 dred had fought against him, and that when they 
 were invited, they did not come to his assistance, 
 whereas they ought to hA"5 come quickly, even 
 before they were invited, And in the next place, 
 that they were going to act unjustly; for while 
 they had not coui*ge enough to fight their 
 enemies, they came hastily against their own 
 kindred : and he threatened them that, with 
 God's assistance, he would inflict a punishment 
 upon them, unless they would grow wiser. But 
 when he could not' persuade them, he fought 
 with them with those forces which he sent for 
 out of Gilead, and he made a great slaughter 
 among them; and when they were beaten, he 
 pursued them, and seized on the passages of Jor- 
 dan by a part of his army which he had sent 
 before, and slew about forty-two thousand of 
 them. 
 
 12. So when Jephtha had ruled six years, he 
 died, and was buried in his own country, Sebee, 
 which is a place in the land of Gilead. 
 
 13. Now, when Jephtha was dead, Ibzam took 
 the government, being of the tribe of Judah, and 
 of the city of Bethlehem. He had sixty child- 
 ren, thirty of them sons, and the rest daughters ; 
 all whom he ljft alive behind him, giving the 
 daughters in marriage to husbands, and taking 
 wives for his sons. He did nothing in the seven 
 years of his administration that was worth record- 
 ing, or deserved a memorial. So he died an old 
 man, and was buried in his own country. 
 
 14. When Ibzan was dead after this manner, 
 neither did Helon, who succeeded him in the 
 government, and kept it ten years, do anything 
 remarkable : he was of the tribe of Zebulon. 
 
 15. Abdon also, the son of Hilel, of the tribe 
 of Ephraim, and born at the city Pyrathon, was 
 ordained their supreme governor after Helon. 
 He is only recorded to have been happy in his 
 children; for the public affairs were then so 
 peaceable, and in such security, that neither did 
 he perform any glorious action. He had forty 
 sons, and by them left thirty grandchildren ; 
 and he marched in state with these seventy, who 
 were all very skilful in riding horses ; and he left 
 them all alive after him. He died an old 4 mau, 
 and obtained a magnificent burial in Pyrathon. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 CONCERNING THE FOHTTTUDB OF SAMSON, AND 
 WHAT MISCHIEFS HB BROUGHT UPON THE PHIL- 
 ISTINES. 
 
 1. AFTEB Abdon was dead, the Philistines 
 overcame the Israelites, and received tribute of 
 them for forty years ; from which distress they 
 were delivered after this manner : 
 
 2. There was one Manoah, a person of such 
 great virtue, that he had few men his equals, and 
 without dispute the principal person of his coun- 
 try. He had a wife celebrated for her beauty, 
 and excelling her contemporaries, He had no 
 children ; and, being uneasy at his want of pos- 
 terity, he entreated God to give them seed of 
 their own bodies to succeed them ; and with that 
 intent he came constantly into the suburbs, f 
 together with his wife ; which suburbs were in 
 the Great Plain. Now, he wa fond of his wife 
 
 t Prohably there was a synagogue or place of devo 
 tion in those suburbs.
 
 . vin.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 119 
 
 to a degree of madness, and on that account was 
 immeasurably jealous of her. Now, when hU 
 wife was one* alone, an apparition was seen by 
 her : it was an angel of God, and resembled a 
 young man, beautiful and tall, and brought her 
 the good news, that she should have a son, born 
 by God's providence, that should be a goodly 
 child, of great strength ; by whom, when he was 
 grown up to -"nan's estate, the Philistines should 
 be afflicted. He exhorted her also not to poll 
 his hair, and that he should avoid all other kinds 
 of drink, (for so had God commanded,) and be 
 entirely contented with water. So the angel, 
 when he had delivered that message, went his 
 way, his coming having been by the will of God. 
 
 3. Now the wife informed her husband when 
 he came home, of what the angel had said, who 
 shewed so great an admiration of the beauty and 
 tallness of the young man that had appeared to 
 her, that her husband was astonished, and out 
 of himself for jealousy, and such suspicions as 
 are excited by that passion ; but she was desirous 
 of having her husband's unreasonable sorrow 
 taken away; accordingly she entreated God to 
 send the angel again, that he might be seen by 
 her husband. So the angel came again by the 
 favour of God, while they were in the suburbs, 
 and appeared to her when she was alone without 
 her husband. She desired the angel to stay so 
 long till she might bring her husband ; and that 
 request being granted, she goes to call Manoah. 
 When he saw the angel iie was not yet free from 
 suspicion, and he desired him to inform him of 
 all that he had told his wife ; but when he said 
 it was sufficient that bhe alone knew what he 
 had said, he then requested of him to tell who he 
 was, that when the child was born, they might 
 return him thanks, and give him a present. He 
 replied that he did not want any present, for 
 that he did not bring them the good news of the 
 birth of a son out of the want of anything ; and 
 when Manoah had entreated him to stay, and 
 partake of his hospitality, he did not give his 
 consent. However, he was persuaded, at the 
 earnest request of Manoah, to stay so long as 
 while he brought him one mark of his hospital- 
 ity ; so he slew a kid of the goats, and bid his 
 wife boil it. "When all was ready, the angel en- 
 joined him to set the loaves and the flesh, but 
 without the vessels, upon the rock ; which when 
 they had done, he touched the flesh with the 
 rod which he had hi his hand, which, upon the 
 breaking out of a flame, was consumed, together 
 with the loaves ; and the angel ascended openly, 
 in their sight, up to heaven, by means of the 
 smoke, as by a vehicle. Now Manoah was afraid 
 that some danger would come to them from this 
 sight of God ; but his wife bade him be of good 
 courage, for that God anpeared to them for their 
 benefit. 
 
 4. So the woman proved with child, and was 
 careful to observe the injunctions that were given 
 her ; and they called the child, when he was 
 born, Samson, which name signifies one that is 
 itrong. So the child grew apace ; and it appeared 
 evidently that he would be a prophet,* both by 
 the moderation of his diet, and the permission of 
 his hair to grow. 
 
 5. Now wken he once came with his patents 
 to Timnath, a city of the Philistines, when there 
 wa a great festival, he fell in love with a maid 
 of that country, and he desired of his parents 
 
 * Here, by & prophet, Josephus seems only to mean 
 one that was born by a particular providence, lived 
 after th manner of a Nazarite, and was to bare an ex- 
 traordinary commission and strength from God for the 
 judging and avenging his people Israel, withop.t any 
 {vrophetic revelations at all. 
 
 that they would procure him the damsel for his 
 wife ; but they refused so to do, because she was 
 not of the stock of Israel ; yet because this mar- 
 riage was of God, who intended to convert it to 
 the benefit of the Hebrews, he over-persuaded 
 them to procure her to be espoused to him ; and 
 as he was continually coming to her parents, hr 
 met a lion, and, though he was naked, he re- 
 ceived his onset, and strangled him with hi:> 
 hands, and cast the wild beast into a wooiy piece 
 of ground on the inside of the road. 
 
 6. And when he was going another time to the 
 damsel, he lit upon a swarm of bees making 
 their combs in the breast of that lion ; and 
 taking three honeycombs away, he gave them, 
 together with the rest of his presents, to the 
 damsel. Now the people of Timnath, out of a 
 dread of the young man's strength, gave him 
 during the time of the wedding-feast (for he then 
 feasted them all) thirty of the most stout of their 
 youth, in pretence to be his companions, but in 
 reality to be a guard upon him, that he might not 
 attempt to give them any disturbance. Now as 
 they were drinking merrily and playing, Samsori 
 said, as was usual at such times, "Come, if I 
 propose you a riddle, and you can expound it in 
 these seven days' time, I will give you every one 
 a linen shirt and a garment, as the reward of your 
 wisdom." So they being very ambitious to ob- 
 tain the glory of wisdom, together with the gains, 
 desired him to propose his riddle : he said, 
 "That a devourer produced sweet food out of 
 itself, though itself were very disagreeable : " 
 and when they were not able, in three days' time, 
 to find out the meaning of the riddle, they de- 
 sired the damsel to discover it by the means of 
 her husband, and tell it them ; and they threat- 
 ened to burn her if she did not tell it them. So 
 when the damsel entreated Samson to tell it her, 
 he at first refused to do it ; but when she lay 
 hard at him, and fell into tears, and made his 
 refusal to tell it a sign of his uu kindness to her, 
 he informed her of his slaughter of a lion, and 
 how he found bees in his breast, and carried 
 away three honeycombs, and brought them to 
 her. Thus he, suspecting nothing of deceit, in- 
 formed her of all, and she revealed it to those 
 that desired to know it. Then on the seventh 
 day, whereon they were to expound the riddle 
 proposed to 'them, they met together before sun- 
 setting, and said, "Nothing is more disagreeable 
 than a lion to those that light on it ; and nothing 
 is sweeter than honey to those that make use of 
 it." To which Samson made this rejoinder: 
 " Nothing is more deceitful than a woman, for 
 such was the person that discovered my inter- 
 pretation to you." Accordingly he gave them 
 the presents he had promised them, making 
 such Askelonites as met him upon the road his 
 prey, who were themselves Philistines also. But 
 he divorced this his wife ; and the girl despised 
 his anger, and was married to his companion, 
 who had made the former match between them, 
 
 7. At this injurious treatment Samson was so 
 provoked, that he resolved to punish all the 
 Philistines, as well as her: so it being then 
 summer-time, and the fruits of the land being 
 almost ripe enough for reaping, he caught three 
 hundred foxes, and joining lighted torches to 
 their tails, he sent them into the fields of the 
 Philistines, by i hich means the fruits of the 
 fields perished Now when the Philistines 
 knew that this 'was Samson's doing, and knew 
 also for what cause he did it, they sent their 
 rulers to Timnath, and burnt his former wife, 
 and her relations, who had been the occasion of 
 their misfortunes. 
 
 8. Now when Samson had slain many of the
 
 Utt 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 PhiltoHncB in the plain country, he dwelt at 
 Kfeun, which is a strong rock of the tnbe o 
 Judah ; for the Philistines at that time made an 
 axpedition against that tribe : but the people of 
 Judah said that they did not act justly with 
 them, in inflicting punishments upon them while 
 they paid their tribute, and this only on account 
 of Samson's offences. They answered, that in 
 case they would not be blamed themselves, they 
 must deliver up Samson, and put him into their 
 power. So they being desirous not to be blamed 
 themselves, came to the rock with three thou- 
 sand armed men, and complained to Samson of 
 the bold insults he had made upon the Philis- 
 tines, who were men able to bring calamity upon 
 the whole nation of the Hebrews ; and they told 
 him they were come to take him, and to deliver 
 him up to them, and put him into their power ; 
 so they desired him to bear this willingly. Ac- 
 cordingly, when he had received assurance from 
 them upon oath, that they would do him no 
 other harm than only to deliver him into his 
 enemies' hands, he came down from the rock, 
 and put himself into the power of his country- 
 men. Then did they bind him with two cords, 
 ?.nd lead him on, in order to deliver him to the 
 Philistines; and when they came to a certain 
 place, which is now called the Jaw-bone, on 
 account of the great action there performed by 
 Samson, though of old it had no particular name 
 at all, the Philistines, who had pitched their 
 camp not fax off, came to meet them with joy 
 and shouting, as having done a great thing, and 
 gained what they desired; but Samson broke his 
 bonds asunder, and catching up the jaw-bone of 
 an ass that lay down at his feet, fell upon his 
 ejiemies, and smiting them with his jaw-bone, 
 slew a thousand of them, and put the rest to 
 flight, and into great disorder. 
 
 9. Upon this slaughter, Samson was too proud 
 of what he had performed, and said that this 
 did not come to pass by the assistance of God, 
 but that hut success was to be ascribed to his 
 own courage; and vaunted himself, that it was 
 out of a dread of him that some of his enemies 
 fell, and the rest ran away upon his use of the 
 jaw-bone; but when a great thirst came upon 
 him, he considered that human courage is 
 nothing, and bare his testimony that all is to be 
 ascribed to God, and besought him that he 
 would not be angry at anything he had said, 
 nor give him up into the hands of his enemies, 
 but afford him help under his affliction, and de- 
 liver him from the misfortune he was under. 
 Accordingly God was moved with his entreaties, 
 and raised him up a plentiful fountain of sweet 
 water at a certain rock; whence it was that 
 Samson called the place the Jaw-bone,* and so it 
 is called to this day. 
 
 10. After this fight Samson held the Philis- 
 tines in contempt, and came to Gaza, and took 
 up his lodgings in a certain inn. When the 
 rulers of Gaza were informed of his coming 
 hither, they seized upon the gates, and placed 
 men in ambush about them, that he might not 
 escape without being perceived; but Samson, 
 who was acquainted with their contrivances 
 against him, arose about midnight, and ran by 
 force upon the gates, with their posts and 
 beams, and the rest of their wooden furniture, 
 $nd carried them away on his shoulders, and 
 bare them to the mountain that is over Hebron, 
 and there laid them down. 
 
 IL However, he at length t transgressed the 
 
 Thi. fountain, called Lehi, or the Jaw-lone, is still 
 la being, travellers assure us. 
 
 this 
 
 laws of his country, and altered his own regular 
 way of living, and imitated the strange customs 
 of foreigners, which thing was the beginning of 
 his miseries ; for he fell in love with a woman 
 that was a harlot among the Philistines; her 
 name was Delilah, and he lived with her. So 
 those that administered the public affairs of the 
 Philistines came to her, and, with promises, in- 
 duced her to get out of Samson what was the 
 cause of that his strength, by which he became 
 unconquerable to his enemies. Accordingly, 
 when they were drinking, and had the like con- 
 versations together, she pretended to admire 
 the actions he had done, and contrived to get out 
 of him by subtlety, by what means he so much 
 excelled others in strength. Samson, in order 
 to delude Delilah, for he had not yet lost his 
 senses, replied, that if he were bound with seven 
 such green withs of a vine as might still be 
 wreathed, he should be weaker than any other 
 man. The woman said no more then, but told 
 this to the rulers of the Philistines, and hid 
 certain of the soldiers in ambush within the 
 house; and when he was disordered in drink 
 and asleep, she bound him as fast as possible 
 with the withs ; and then, upon her awakening 
 him, she told him some of the people were upon 
 him ; but he broke the withs, and endeavoured 
 to defend himself, as though some of the people 
 were upon him. Now this woman, in the con- 
 stant conversation Samson had with her, pre- 
 tended that she took it very ill that he had such 
 little confidence in her affections to him, that he 
 would not tell her what she had desired, as if 
 she would not conceal what she knew it was for 
 his interest to have concealed. However, he 
 deluded her again, and told her, that if they 
 bound him with seven cords, he should lose his 
 strength. And when upon doing this, she 
 gained nothing, he told her the third time, that 
 his hair should be woven into a web; but when, 
 upon doing this, the truth was not yet discovered, 
 at length Samson, upon Delilah's prayer, (for he 
 was doomed to fall into some affliction,) was de- 
 sirous to please her, and told her that God took 
 care of him, and that he was born by his provi- 
 dence, and that "thence it is that I suffer my 
 hair to grow, God having charged me never to 
 poll my head, and thence my strength is accord- 
 ing to the increase and continuance of my hair." 
 When she had learned thus much, and had de- 
 prived him of his hair, she delivered him up to 
 his enemies, when he was not strong enough to 
 defend himself from their attempts upon him; 
 so they put out his eyes, and bound him, and 
 had him led about among them. 
 
 12. But in process of time Samson's hair grew 
 again. And there was a public festival among 
 the Philistines, when the rulers and those of the 
 most eminent character were feasting together, 
 (now the room wherein they were, had its roof 
 supported by two pillars;) so they sent for Sam- 
 son, and he was brought to their fr' 1st, that they 
 might insult him in their cups, Hereupon he, 
 thinking it one of the greatest misfortunes, if he 
 should not be able to revenge himself when he 
 was thus insulted, persuaded the boy that led 
 him by the hand, that he was weary and wanted 
 to rest himself, and desired he would bring him 
 near the pillars ; and as soon as he came to them, 
 he rushed with force against them, and over- 
 threw the house, by overthrowing its pillars, 
 with three thousand men in it, who were all 
 slam, and Samson with them. And such was 
 the end of this man, when he had ruled over the 
 Israelites twenty years. And indeed, this man 
 deserves to be admired for his courage and 
 strength, and magnanimity at his death, and
 
 CHAP. IX.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 that his wrath against his enemies went so far 
 at) to die himself with them. But as for his 
 being ensnared by a woman, that is to be as- 
 cribed to human nature, which is too weak to 
 resist the temptations to that sin ; but we ought 
 to bear him witness, that in all other respects, 
 he was one of extraordinary virtue. But hia 
 kindred took away his body, and buried it in 
 Sarasat, bis own country, with the rest rf his 
 family. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 HOW ONDER ELl'S GOVERNMENT OF THE ISRAEL- 
 ITES, BOOZ MARRIED BDTH, FROM WHOM CAMB 
 OBED, THE GRANDFATHER OF DAVID. 
 
 1. Now after the death of Samson, Eli the 
 high priest was governor of the Israelites. Under 
 him, when the country was afflicted with a 
 famine, Elimelech of Bethlehem, which is a city 
 of the tribe of Judah, being not able to support 
 his family under so sore a distress, took with 
 him Naomi his wife, and the children that were 
 oorn to him by her, Chilion and Mahlon, and I 
 removed his habitation into the land of Moab; ! 
 and upon the happy prosperity of his affaire 
 there, he took for his sons wives of the Moabitee, 
 Orpah for Chilion, and Ruth for Mahlon. But j 
 In the compass of ten years both Elimelech, and | 
 a little while after him, the sons died ; and 
 Naomi being very uneasy at these accidents, and 
 not being able to bear her lonesome condition, 
 now those that were dearest to her were dead, 
 rm whose account it was that she had gone away 
 from her own country, she returned to it again, 
 for she had been informed it was now in a flour- 
 ishing condition. However, her daughters-in- 
 law were not able to think of parting with her; 
 and when they had a mind to go out of the 
 country with her, she could not dissuade them 
 from it; but when they insisted upon it, she 
 wished them a more happy wedlock than they 
 had with her sons, and that they might have 
 prosperity in other respects also ; and seeing her 
 own affairs were so low, she exhorted them to 
 stay where they were, and not to think of leav- 
 ing their own country, and partaking with her 
 of that uncertainty under which she must re- 
 turn. Accordingly, Orpah stayed behind; but 
 she took Ruth along with her, as not to be per- 
 suaded to stay behind her, but would take her 
 fortune with her, whatsoever it should prove. 
 
 2. When Ruth was come with her mother-in- 
 law to Bethlehem, Booz, who was near of kin to 
 Elimelech, entertained her ; and when Naomi 
 was so called by her fellow-citizens, according to 
 her true name, she said, " You might more truly 
 call me Mara.'' Now Naomi signifies in the 
 Hebrew tongue, happiness, and Mara, sorrow. 
 It was now reaping time ; and Ruth, by the 
 leave of her mother-in-law, went out to glean, 
 that they might get a stock of corn for their 
 food. Now it happened that she came into 
 Booz*s field ; and after some time Booz came 
 thither, and when he saw the damsel he inquired 
 of his servant that was set over the reapers con- 
 cerning the girL The servant had a little before 
 inquired about all her circumstances, and told 
 them to his master, who kindly embraced her, 
 both on account of her affection to her mother- 
 in-law, and her remembrance of that son of hers 
 M whom she had been married, and wished that 
 she might experience a prosperous condition ; 
 BO he desired her not to glean, but to reap what 
 he was able, and gave her leave to carry it 
 home. He also gave it in charwe to that servwn* 
 
 who was over the reapers, not to hinder he) 
 when_she took it away, and bade him give hei 
 her dinner, and make her drink when he did the 
 like to the reapers. Now what corn Ruth re- 
 ceived of him, she kept for her mother-in-law, 
 and came to her in the evening, and brought the 
 ears of corn with her ; and Naomi had kept for 
 her a part of such food as her neighbours had 
 plentifully bestowed upon her, Ruth also told 
 her mother-in-law what Booz had said to her ; 
 and when the other had informed her that he 
 was near of kin to them, and perhaps was so 
 pious a man as to make some provision for them, 
 she went out again on the days following, to 
 gather the gleanings with Booz's maid-servants. 
 
 3. It was not many days before Booz, after 
 the barley was winnowed, slept in his thrashing- 
 floor. When Naomi was informed of this cir- 
 cumstance, she contrived it so that Ruth should 
 lie down by him, for she thought it might be for 
 their advantage that he should discourse with 
 the girl. Accordingly, she sent the damsel t 
 sleep at his feet ; who went as she bade ' r, for 
 she did not think it consistent with her duty to 
 contradict any command of her mother-in-law. 
 And at first she lay concealed from Booz, as he 
 was fast asleep ; but when he awaked about 
 midnight, and perceived a woman lying by him, 
 he asked who she was ; and when she told him 
 her name, and desired that he whom she owned 
 for her lord would excuse her, he then said no 
 more; but in the morning, before the servants 
 began to set about their work, he awaked her, 
 and bid her take as much barley as she was able 
 to carry, and go to her mother-in-law before any 
 body there should see that she had lain down by 
 him, because it was but prudent to avoid any re- 
 proach that might arise on that account, especi- 
 ally when there had been nothing done that was 
 ill But as to the main point she aimed at, the 
 matter should rest here, " He that is nearer of 
 kin. than I am, shall be asked whether he wants 
 to take thee to wife : if he says he does, thou 
 shalt follow hJTin but if he refuse \ I will 
 marry thee, according to the law." 
 
 4. When she had informed her motner-in-law 
 of this, they \vere very glad of it, out of the 
 hope they had that Booz would make provision 
 for them. Now about noon Booz went down 
 into the city, and gathered the senate together, 
 and when he had sent for Ruth, he called for 
 her kinsman also ; and when he was come, he 
 said, "Dost thon not retain the inheritance of 
 Elimelech and his sons?" He confessed thai 
 he did retain it, and that he did as he wai 
 permitted to do by the laws, because he was 
 their nearest kinsman. Then said Booz, " Thou 
 must not remember the laws by halves, but do 
 everything according to them; for the wife of 
 Mahlon is come hither, whom thou most marry, 
 according to the law, in case thou wilt retain 
 their fields " oo the man yielded up both the 
 field and the rife to Booz, who was himself of 
 kin to those that were dead, as alleging that he 
 had a wife already, and children also ; so Booz 
 called the senate to witness, and bid the woman 
 to loose his shoe and spit in his face, according 
 to the law , and when this was done Booz mar- 
 ried Ruth, and they had a son within a year's 
 time. Naomi was herself a nurse to this child ; 
 and by the advice of the women called him Obed, 
 as being to be brought up in order to be subser- 
 vient to her in her old age, for Obed in the He- 
 brew dialect signifies a servant. The son of 
 Obed was Jesse, and David was his son, who 
 was king, and left his dominions to his sons for 
 one-and-twenty generations. I was therefore 
 obliged to relate this history of Ruth, because 1
 
 OF THT: .TTT^ 
 
 had a mind to demonstrate the power of God, 
 who, without difficulty, can raise those that are 
 
 f ordinary parentage to dignity and splendour, 
 to which he advanced David, though he were 
 
 orn of such mean parents. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 OSCERN1NG THE BIRTH OF SAMUEL ; AND HOW 
 HE FORETOLD THE CALAMITY THAT BEFKU, 
 HE SONS OF ELL 
 
 1. AND now upon the ill state of the affairs of 
 he Hebrews, they made war again upon the 
 j'hilistines. The occasion was this : Eh, the 
 ligh priest, had two sons, Hophni and Phineas. 
 These sons of Eli were guilty of injustice towards 
 men, and of impiety towards God, and abstained 
 ft cm uo sort of wickedness. Some of their gifts 
 hey carried off, as belonging to the honourable 
 jinployrnent they had; others of them they 
 took away by violence. They also were guilty 
 of impurity with the women that came to wor- 
 ship God, [at the tabernacle,] obliging some to 
 ubmit to their lust by force, and enticing others 
 >y bribes ; nay, the whole course of their lives 
 was no better than tyranny. Their father there- 
 "ore was angry at them for such their wickedness, 
 md expected that God would suddenly inflict 
 His punishments upon them for what they had 
 done. The multitude took it heinously also : 
 and as soon as God had foretold what calamity i 
 would befall Eli's sons, which He did both to ! 
 Eli himself, and to Samuel the prophet, who 
 was yet but a child, he openly shewed his sor- 
 row for his sons' destruction. 
 
 2. I will first despatch what I have to say 
 about the prophet Samuel, and after that will 
 proceed to speak of the sons of Eli, and the 
 miseries they brought on the whole people of 
 the Hebrews. Elcanah, a Levite, one of a mid- 
 dle condition among his fellow-citizens, and one ! 
 that dwelt at Ramathaim, a city of the tribe of 
 Ephraim, married two wives, Hannah andPenin- 
 nah. He had children by the latter; but he 
 loved the other best, although she was barren. 
 Now Elcanah came with his wives to the city 
 Shiloh to sacrifice, for there it was that tho 
 tabernacle of God was fixed, as we have formerly 
 said. Now when, after he had sacrificed, ho 
 distributed at that festival portions of the flesh 
 to his wives and children, and when Hannah 
 saw the other wife's children sitting round about 
 their mother, she fell into tears, and lamented 
 herself on account of her barrenness and lone- 
 aomeness; and suffering her grief to prevail 
 over her husband's consolations to her, she went 
 to the tabernacle to beseech God to give hei 
 leed, and to make her a mother ; and to vow tr 
 consecrate the first son she should bear to the 
 service of God, and this in such a way, that his 
 manner of living should not be like that of ordi- 
 nary men. And as she continued at her prayers 
 a long time, Eh', the high priest, for he sat there 
 before the tabernacle, bid her go away, thinking 
 she had been disordered with wine ; but when 
 she aid he had drank water, but was in sorrow 
 for want of children, and was beseeching Gcd 
 for them, he bid her be of good cheer, and 
 told her that God would send her children. 
 
 3. So she came to her husband full of hope, 
 *nd ate her meal with gladness. And when 
 they had returned to their own country, she 
 found herself with child, and they had a son 
 >orn to them, to whom they gave the name of 
 Samuel, which may be styled one that was asked 
 
 of God. They therefore came to the tabernacle 
 to offer sacrifice for the birth of the child, and 
 brought their tithes with them ; but the woman 
 remembered the vow she had made concerning 
 her son, and delivered him to Eli, dedicating 
 him to God, that he might become a prophet. 
 Accordingly his hair waa suffered to grow long, 
 and his drink was water. So Samuel dwelt and 
 was brought up in the temple. But Elcanah 
 had other sons by Hannah, and three daughters. 
 4. Now when Samuel was twelve years old, 
 he began to prophesy : and once when he was 
 asleep God called to him by his name ; and he, 
 supposing he had been called by the high priest, 
 came to him ; but when the high priest said he 
 did not call him, God did so thrice. "Eli was 
 then so far illuminated, that he said to him, 
 "Indeed, Samuel, I was silent now as well as 
 before : it is God that calls thee ; do thou there 
 fore signify it to him, and say, I am here ready." 
 So when he heard God speak again, he desired 
 him to speak, and to deliver what oracles he 
 pleased to him, for he would not fail to perfocm 
 any ministration whatsoever he should make use 
 of him in; to which God replied, "Since thou 
 art here ready, learn what miseries are coining 
 upon the Israelites, such indeed as words can- 
 not declare, nor faith believe; for the sons of 
 Eli shall die on one day, and the priesthood 
 shall be transferred into the family of Eleazai- ; 
 for Eli hath loved his sons more than he hath 
 loved my worship, and to such a degree as is not 
 for their advantage." "Which message Eli ob- 
 liged the prophet by oath to tell him, for other- 
 wise he had no inclination to afflict him by tell- 
 ing it. And now Eli had a far more sure expec- 
 tation of the perdition of his sons ; but the glory 
 of Samuel increased more and more, it being 
 found by experience that whatsoever he prophe- 
 sied came to pass accordingly.* 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 HKIUtIN 13 DECLARED WHAT BIFELL THB SONS O> 
 ELI, THB ABK, AND THE FEOPLJC; AND HOW ELI 
 HIMSELF DIED MISERABLY. 
 
 1. ABOUT this time it was that the Philistines 
 made war against the Israelites, and pitched 
 their camp at the city Aphek. Now when the 
 Israelites had expected them a little while, the 
 very next day they joined battle, and the PI 
 tines were conquerors, and slew above four thou- 
 sand of the Hebrews, and pursued the rest of 
 their multitude to their camp. 
 
 2. So the Hebrews being afraid of the worst, 
 sent to the senate, and to the high priest, and de- 
 sired that they would bring the ark of God, that 
 by putting themselves in array, when it was pre- 
 sent with them, they might be too hard for their 
 enemies, as not reflecting that he who had con- 
 demned them to endure these calamities was 
 jreater than the ark, and for whose sake it was 
 that this ark came to be honoured. So the ark 
 wne, and the sons of the high priest with it, 
 having received a charge from their father, that 
 vf they pretended to survive the taking of thfc 
 
 * Although there had been a few occasional pro- 
 phets before, yet waa Samuel the first of a constant 
 succession of prophets in the Jewish nation, (see Act* 
 iii. 24.) The others were rather sometimes called 
 righteous men, (Matt. x. 41 ; xiii. 170
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 123 
 
 of hit- great age. So the Hebrews were full of 
 courage, as supposing that, by the coining of the 
 ark, they should be too hard for their enemies : 
 their enemies also were greatly concerned, and 
 were afraid of the ark's coming to the Israelites ; 
 however, the upshot did not prove agreeable to 
 the expectation of both sides, but when the 
 battle WBS joined, that victory which the He- 
 brews expected, was gained by the Philistines, 
 and that defeat the Philistines were afraid of, 
 fell to the lot of the Israelites, and thereby they 
 found that they had put their trust in the ark in 
 vain, for they were presently beaten as soou as 
 they came to a close fight with their enemies, 
 and lost about thirty thousand men, among 
 whom were the sons of the high priest ; but the 
 ark wns carried away by their enemies. 
 
 3. When the news of this defeat came to 
 ShUoh, with that of the captivity of the ark, (for 
 a certain young man, a Benjamite, who was in 
 the action, came as a messenger thitHer,) the 
 whole city was full of lamentations. And Eli 
 the high priest, who sat upon a high xnrone at 
 one of the gates, heard their mournful cries, and 
 supposed that some strange thing had befallen 
 his family. So he sent for the young man ; and 
 when he understood what had happened in the 
 battle, he was not much uneasy as to his sons, 
 or what was told him withal about the army, as 
 having beforehand known by divine revelation 
 
 that those things would happen, and having 
 himself declared them beforehand, for what 
 sad things come unexpectedly, they distress men 
 the most ; but as soon as [he heard] the ark was 
 carried captive by their enemies, he was very 
 much grieved at it, because it fell out quite 
 differently from what he expected ; so he fell 
 down from his throne and died, having in all 
 lived ninety-eight years, and of them retained the 
 government forty. 
 
 4. On the same day his son Phineas's wife died 
 also, as not able to survive the misfortune of her 
 husband ; for they told her of her husband's 
 death as she was in labour. However, she bare 
 a son at seven months, who lived, and to whom 
 they gave the name of Icabod, which signifies 
 disgrace, and this because the army received a 
 disgrace at this time. 
 
 5. Now Eli was the first of the family of Itha- 
 mar, the other son of Aaron that had the govern- 
 ment ; for the family of Eleazar officiated as 
 high priest at first, the son still receiving that 
 honour from the father which Eleazar bequeathed 
 to his son Phineas ; after whom Abiezer his son 
 took the honour, and delivered it to his son, 
 whose name was Bukki, from whom hia son Ozi 
 received it ; after whom, Eli, of whom^we have 
 been speaking, had the priesthood, and so he and 
 hia posterity until the time of Solomon's reign ; 
 but then the posterity of Eleazar reassumed it. 
 
 BOOK VI. 
 
 CONTAINING THE INTERVAL OF THIBTT-TWO YEARS, 
 
 FROM THE DEATH OF ELI TO THE DEATH OF SAUL. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 rnB DESTRUCTION THAT CAMS UPON THE PHILIS- 
 TINES, AND UPON THEIR LAND, BY THE WRATH 
 OF GOD, ON ACCOUNT OF THEIR HAVING CARRIED 
 THE ARK AWAY CAPTIVE ; AND AFTER WHAT 
 MANNER THEY SENT IT BACK TO THE HEBREWS. 
 
 S 1. WHEN the Philistines had taken the ark of 
 the Hebrews captive, as I said a little before, 
 they carried it to the city of Ashdod, and put it 
 by their own god, who was called Dagon, * as one 
 of their spoils; but when they went into his 
 temple the next -morning to worship their god, 
 they found him paying the same worship to the 
 ark, for he lay along, as having fallen down from 
 the basis whereon he had stood : so they took 
 him up and set him on his basis again, and were 
 much troubled at what had happened; and as 
 they frequently came to Dagon and found him 
 still lying along, in a posture of adoration to the 
 ark, they were in very great distress and con- 
 fusion. At length God sent a very destructive 
 disease upon the city and country of Ashdod, for 
 they died of the dysentery and flux, a sore dis- 
 temper, that brought death upon them very 
 suddenly ; for before the soul could, as usual in 
 easy deaths, be well loosed from the body, they 
 brought up their entrails, and vomited up what 
 
 * Dagon is generally supposed to have been like a 
 man above the navel and !iic a fish beneath it. 
 
 they had eaten, and what was entirely corrupted 
 by the disease. And as to the fruits of their 
 country, a great multitude of mice arose out of 
 the earth, and hurt them, and spared neither the 
 plants nor the fruits. Now while the people of 
 Ashdod were under these misfortunes, and were 
 not able to support themselves undor their cala- 
 mities, they perceived that they suffered thus 
 because of the ark, and that the victory they 
 had gotten, and their having taken the ark cap- 
 tive, had not happened for their good ; they 
 therefore sent to the people of Askelon, and 
 desired that they would receive the ark among 
 them. This desire of the people of Ashdod was 
 not disagreeable to those of Askelon, so they 
 granted them that favour. But when they had 
 gotten the ark, they were in the same miserable 
 condition ; for the ark carried along with it the 
 disasters that the people of Ashdod had suffered, 
 to those who received it from them. Those of 
 Askelon also sent it away from themselves tc 
 others; nor did it stay among those otheri 
 neither ; for since they were pursued by the same 
 disasters, they still sent it to the neighbouring 
 cities; so that the ark went round, after this 
 manner, to the five cities of the Philistines, as 
 though it exacted these disasters as a tribute to 
 be paid it for its coming among them. 
 
 2. When those that had experienced these 
 miseries were tired out with them, and when 
 those that heard of them were taught thereby 
 not to admit the ark among them, since they
 
 124 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 paid BO dear a tribute for it, at length they 
 sought for some contrivance and method how 
 they might get free from it : so the governors of 
 the five cities, Gath, and Ekron, and Askelon, as 
 also of Gaza, and Ashdod, met together, and con- 
 sidered what was fit to be done ; and at first 
 they thought proper to send the ark back to its 
 own people, as allowing that God had avenged 
 its cause ; that the miseries they had undergone 
 came along with it, and that these -were sent on 
 their cities upon its account, and together with 
 it. However, there were those that said, they 
 should not do so, nor suffer themselves to be de- 
 luded, as ascribing the cause of their miseries to 
 it, because it could not have such power and 
 force upon them ; for, had God had such a re- 
 gard to it, it would not have been delivered into 
 the hands of men : so they exhorted them to oe 
 quiet, and to take patiently what had befallen 
 them, and to suppose there was no other cause 
 of it but nature, which, at certain revolutions of 
 time, produces such mutations in the bodies of 
 men, in the earth, in plants, and in all things 
 that grow out of the earth. But the counsel 
 that prevailed over those already described, was 
 that of certain men, who were believed to have 
 distinguished themselves in former times for 
 their understanding and prudence, and who, in 
 their present circumstances, seemed above all 
 thfl rest to speak properly. These men said, it 
 was not right either to send the ark away, or to 
 retain it, but to dedicate five golden images, one 
 for every city, as a thank-offering to God, on ac- 
 count of his having taken care of their preserva- 
 tion, and having kept them alive when their 
 lives were likely to be taken away by such dis- 
 tempers as they were not able to bear up against. 
 They also would have them make five golden 
 mice like to those that devoured and destroyed 
 their country,* to put them in a bag, and lay 
 them upon the ark ; to make them a new cart 
 also for it, and to yoke milch kine to it ; t but to 
 shut up their calves, and keep them from them, 
 lest, by following after them, they should prove 
 a hindrance to their dams, and that the dams 
 might return the faster out of a desire of those 
 calves ; then to drive these milch kine that 
 carried the ark, and leave it at a place where 
 three ways met, and to leave it to the kine to go 
 along which of those ways they pleased ; that in 
 case they went the way to the Hebrews, and 
 ascended to their country, they should suppose 
 that the ark was the cause of their misfortunes ; 
 but if they turned into another road, they said, 
 " We will pursue after it, and conclude that it 
 has no such force in it." 
 
 3. So they determined that these men spake 
 well; and they immediately confirmed their 
 opinion by doing accordingly. And when they 
 had done as has been already described, they 
 brought the cart to a place where three ways 
 met, and left it there, and went their ways but 
 the kine went the right way, and as if some 
 persons had driven them, while the rulers of the 
 Philistines followed after them, as desirous to 
 know where they would stand still, and to whom 
 
 * Upon the coins of Tenedos and other cities a fleld- 
 aouse a engraven, together with Apollo Smintheus, 
 or ^poHo, the driver away of field-mia-, on account of 
 being supposed to have freed certain tracts of 
 ground from those mice ; which coins shew how great 
 judgment such mice have sometimes been, and how 
 
 ' 
 
 f the Philistin e. illustrated by tl,, 
 5 "?' r A . gr te8 ' the ^bandman, ha,! 
 
 they would go. Now there was a certain village 
 of the tribe of Judah, the name of which was 
 Bethshemesh, and to that village did the kine 
 go ; and though there was a great a,nd good plain 
 before them to proceed in, they went no further, 
 but stopped the cart there. This was a sight to 
 those of that village, and they were very glad ; 
 for it being then summer-time, and all the inha- 
 bitants being then in the fields gathering in 
 their fruits, they left off the labours of theii 
 hands for joy, as soon as they saw the ark, and 
 ran to the cart, and taking the ark down, and 
 the vessel that had the images in it, and the 
 mice, they set them upon a certain rock which 
 was in the plain ; and when they had offered a 
 splendid sacrifice to God, and feasted, they of- 
 fered the cart and the kine as a burnt-offering 
 and when the lords of the Philistines saw this, 
 they returned back. 
 
 4. But now it was that the wrath of God over- 
 took them, and struck seventy persons J of thf 
 village of Bethshemesh dead, who, not being 
 priests, and so not worthy to touch the ark, nad 
 approached to it. Those of that village wept foi 
 these that had thus suffered, and made such 4 
 lamentation as was naturally to be expected on 
 so great a misfortune that was sent from God ; 
 and every one mourned for his own relations. 
 And since they acknowledged themselves un- 
 worthy of the ark's abode with them, they sent 
 to the public senate of the Israelites, and in- 
 formed them that the ark was restored by the 
 Philistines ; which when they_ knew, they brought 
 it away to Kirjathjearim, a city in the neighbour- 
 hood of Bethshemesh. In this city lived one 
 Abinadab, by birth a Levite, and who was 
 greatly commended for his righteous and reli- 
 gious course of life ; so they brought the ark to 
 his house, as to a place fit for God himself to 
 abide in, since therein did inhabit a righteou 
 man. His sons also ministered to the divine 
 service at the ark, and were the principal cura- 
 tors of it for twenty years ; for so many years it 
 continued in Kirjathiearim. having been but 
 four months with the Philistines. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE EXPEDITION OF THE PHILISTINES AGAINST 
 THE HEBREWS, AND THE HEBHEWS' VIOTOET 
 UNDER THE CONDUCT OF SAMUEL THE PEOPHET, 
 WHO WAS THEIR GENERAL. 
 
 1. Now while the city of Kirjathjearim had 
 the ark with them, the whole body of the people 
 betook themselves all that time to offer prayers 
 and sacrifices to God, and appeared greatly con- 
 cerned and zealous about his worship. So Samuel 
 the prophet, seeing how ready they were to do 
 their duty, thought this a proper time to speak 
 to them, while they were in this good disposi- 
 tion, about the recovery of their liberty, and of 
 the blessings that accompanied the same. Ac- 
 cordingly he used such words to them M ha 
 thought were most likely to excite that inclina- 
 tion, and to persuade them to attempt it : "0 
 you Israelites," said he, "to whom the Philis- 
 tines are still grievous enemies, but to whom 
 God begins to be gracious, it behoves you not 
 only to be desirous of liberty, but to take the 
 proper methods to obtain it. Nor are you to be 
 contented with an inclination to get clear oJ 
 
 t These seventy men, being not so much M Levites, 
 toucid the ark in a rash or profane manner, and wert 
 slaiB by the hand of God for their rashnesi and profane-
 
 CHAP, m.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 your lords and masters, while you still do what 
 will procure your continuance under them. Be 
 righteous, then, and cast wickedness out of your 
 souls, and by your worship supplicate ths Divine 
 Majesty with all your hearts, and persevere in 
 the honour you pay to him ; for if you act thus, 
 you will enjoy prosperity ; you will be freed from 
 your slavery, and will get the victory over your 
 enemies : which blessings it is not possible you 
 should attain, either by weapons of war, or by 
 the strength of your bodies, or by the multitude 
 of your assistants ; for God has not promised to 
 grant these blessings by those means, but by 
 being good and righteous men ; and if you will 
 be such, I will be security to you for the per- 
 formance of God's promises." When Samuel 
 had said thus, the multitude applauded his 
 discourse, and were pleased with his exhorta- 
 tion to them, and gave their consent to resign 
 themselves up to do what was pleasing to God. 
 So Samuel gathered them together to a certain 
 city called Mizpeh, which, in the Hebrew tongue, 
 signifies a watch-tower ; there they drew water, 
 and poured it out to God, and fasted all day, and 
 betook themselves to their prayers. 
 
 2. This their assembly did not escape the 
 notice of the Philistines: so when they had 
 learned that so large a company had met together, 
 they fell upon the Hebrews with a great army 
 and mighty forces, as hoping to assault them 
 when they did not expect it, nor were prepared 
 for it. This thing affrighted the Hebrews, and 
 put them into disorder and terror ; so they came 
 running to Samuel, and said that their souls 
 were sunk by their fears, and by the former de- 
 feat they had received, and " that thence it was 
 that we lay still, lest we should excite the power 
 of our enemies against us. Now while thou hast 
 brought us hither to offer up our prayers and 
 sacrifices, an d take oaths [to be obedient], our 
 enemies are making an expedition against us, 
 while we are naked and unarmed ; wherefore we 
 have no other hope of deliverance but that by 
 thy means, and by the assistance God shall afford 
 us upon thy prayers to him, we shall obtain de- 
 liverance from the Philistines." Hereupon 
 Samuel bade them be of good cheer, and pro- 
 mised them that God would assist them ; and 
 taking a sucking lamb, he sacrificed it for the 
 multitude, and besought God to hold His pro- 
 tecting hand over them when they should fight 
 with the Philistines, and not to overlook them, j 
 nor suffer them to come under a second misfor- 
 tune. Accordingly, God hearkened to his prayers, 
 and accepting their sacrifice with a gracious in- 
 tention, and such as was disposed to assist them, 
 he granted them victory and power over their 
 enemies. Now while the altar had the sacrifice 
 of God upon it, and had not yet consumed it 
 wholly by its sacred fire, the enemy's army 
 marched out of their camp, and was put in order 
 of battle, and tJiis in hope that they should be 
 conquerors, since the Jews * were caught in dis- 
 tressed circumstances, as neither having their 
 weapons with them, nor being assembled there in 
 order to fight. But things so fell out, that they 
 would hardly have been credited, though they 
 had been foretold by anybody : for, in the first 
 place, God disturbed their enemies with an earth- 
 quake, and moved the ground under them to 
 such a degree, that he caused it to tremble, and 
 made them to shake, insomuch that by its trem- 
 bling, he made some unable to keep their feet, 
 
 * This is the first place in these Antiquities, where 
 Jpcephus begins to call his nation Jews, he having 
 hitherto usually, if not constantly, called them either 
 Hebrews or Israelites. 
 
 and made them fall down, and, by opening ite 
 chasms, he caused that others should be hurried 
 down into them ; after which he caused such a, 
 noise of thunder to come among them, and made 
 fiery lightning shine so terribly round abour, 
 them, that it was ready to burn their faces ; and 
 he so suddenly shook their weapons out of their 
 hands, that he made them fly and return home 
 naked. So Samuel with the multitude pursued 
 them to Bethcar, a place so called; and there he 
 set up a stone as a boundary of their victory and 
 their enemy's flight, and called it the Stone oj 
 Power, as a signal of that power God had given 
 them against their enemies. 
 
 3. So the Philistines, after this stroke, made 
 no more expeditions against the Israelites, but 
 lay still out of fear, and out of remembrance of 
 what had befallen them : and what courage th'i 
 Philistines had formerly against the Hebrews, 
 that, after this victory, was transferred to the 
 Hebrews. Samuel also made an expedition 
 against the Philistines, and slew many of them, 
 and entirely humbled their proud hearts, and took 
 from them that country, which, when they were 
 formerly conquerors in battle, they had cut off 
 from the Jews, which was the country that ex- 
 tended from the borders of Gath to the city of 
 Ekrou : but the remains of the Oanaanites were 
 at this time in friendship with the Israelites. 
 
 CHAPTEE IIL 
 
 HOW SAMUEL, WHEN HE WAS SO INFIRM WITH 
 OLD AGE THAT HE COULD NOT TAKE CAKE OF 
 THE PUBLIC AFFAIRS, INTRUSTED THEM TO HIS 
 SONS ; AND HOW, UPON THE EVIL ADMINISTRA- 
 TION OF THE GOVERNMENT BY THEM, THE MUL- 
 TITUDE WERE SO ANGRY, THAT THEY REQUIRED 
 TO HAVE A KING TO GOVERN THEM, ALTHOUGH 
 SAMUEL WAS MUCH DISPLEASED THEREAT, 
 
 1. BUT Samuel the prophet, when he had 
 ordered the affairs of the people after a conveni- 
 ent manner, and had appointed a city for every 
 district of them, he commanded them to come to 
 such cities, to have the controversies that they 
 had one with another determined in them, ha 
 himself going over those cities twice in a year, 
 and doing them justice ; and by that means he 
 kept them in very good order for a long time. 
 
 2. But afterwards he found himself oppressed 
 with old age, and not able to do what he used to 
 do, so he committed the government and the care 
 of the multitude to hia sons, the elder of whom 
 was called Joel, 'and the name of the younger was 
 Abiah. He also enjoined them to reside and 
 judge the people, the one at the city of Bethel, 
 and the other at Beersheba, and divided the people 
 into districts that should be under the jurisdic- 
 tion of each of them. Now these man afford us 
 an evident example and demonstration how some 
 children are not of the like dispositions with their 
 parents ; but sometimes perhaps good and moder- 
 ate, though born of wicked parents ; and some- 
 times shewing themselves to be wicked, though 
 born of good parents : for these men, turning 
 aside from their father's good courses, and taking 
 a course that was contrary to them, perverted 
 justice for the filthy lucre of gifts and bribes, 
 and made their determinations not according to 
 truth, but according to bribery, and turned aside 
 to luxury, and a costly way of living ; so that as, 
 in the first place, they practised what was con- 
 trary to the will of God, so did they, in the second 
 place, what was contrary to the will of the pro- 
 phet their father, who had taken a great deal of 
 care, and made a very careful provision that 
 the multitude should be righteous.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 nc 
 
 ~~& BuUho people, upon these injuiies offered 
 to their former constitution and government by 
 the prophet's sons, were very uneasy at their 
 Detions, and came running to the prophet, who 
 then lived at the city Ramah, and informed 
 him of the transgressions of his sons ; and said, 
 that as he was himself old already, and too in- 
 firm hy that age of his to oversee their affairs in 
 the manner he used to do, so they begged of him, 
 and entreated him to appoint some person to be 
 king over them, who might rule over the nation, 
 and avenge them of the Philistines, who ought 
 to be punished for their former oppressions. 
 These words greatly afflicted Samuel, on account 
 of his innate love of justice, and his hatred to 
 kingly government, for he was very fond of an 
 aristocracy, as what made the men that used it 
 of a divine and happy disposition ; nor could he 
 either think of eating or sleeping, out of his con- 
 cern and torment of mind at what they had said, 
 but all the night long did he continue awake, and 
 revolved these notions in his mind. 
 
 4. While he was thus disposed, God appeared 
 to him, and comforted him, saying, that he 
 ought not to be uneasy at what the multitude 
 desired, because it was not he, but Himself 
 whom they so insolently despised, and would 
 not have to be alone their king : that they had 
 been contriving these things from the very day 
 that they came out of Egypt ; that, however, in 
 no long time they would sorely repent of what 
 they did, which repentance yet could not undo 
 what was thus done for futurity : that they 
 would be sufficiently rebuked for their con- 
 tempt, and the ungrateful conduct they have 
 used towards me, and towards thy prophetic 
 office. "So I command thee to ordain them 
 such a one as I shall name beforehand to be 
 their king, when thou hast first described what 
 mischiefs kingly government will bring upon 
 them, and openly testified before them into what 
 a great change of affairs they are hasting." 
 
 5. When Samuel had heard this, he called the 
 Jews early in the morning, and confessed to 
 them that he was to ordain them a king ; but he 
 said that he was first to describe to them what 
 would follow, what treatment they would re- 
 ceive from their kings, and with how many mis- 
 chiefs they must struggle. "For know ye,' 
 said he, "that, in the first place, they will take 
 your sons away from you, and they will com- 
 mand some of them to be drivers of their 
 chariots, and some to be their horsemen, and the 
 guards of their body, and others of them to be 
 runners before them, and captains of thousands, 
 and captains of hundreds ; they will also make 
 them their artificers, makers of armour, and of 
 chariots, and of instruments ; they will make 
 them their husbandmen also, and the curators of 
 their own fields, and the diggers of their own 
 vineyards; nor will there be anything which 
 they will not do at their commands, as if they 
 were slaves bought with money They will also 
 appoint your daughters to be confectioners, and 
 cooks, and bakers ; and these will be obliged to 
 do all sorts of work which women slaves that are 
 in fear of stripes and torments submit to. They 
 will, besides this, take away your possessions, 
 and bestow them upon their eunuchs, and the 
 guards of their bodies, and mil give the herds of 
 pour cattle to their own servants : and to say 
 briefly all at once, you, and all that is yours, 
 will be servants to youi king, ejid will become 
 no way superior to his slaves ; and when you 
 suffer thus, you will thereby be put in mind of 
 what I now say ; and when you repent of what 
 you have done, you will beseech God to have 
 merny upon you, and to grant you a auick d- 
 
 [B<xm vi. 
 
 liverance from your kings ; but he will not ac- 
 cept your prayers, but will neglect you, ant! 
 permit you to suffer the punishment your evil 
 conduct has deserved." 
 
 6. But the multitude was still so foolish as to 
 be deaf to these predictions of what would befall 
 them ; and too peevish to suffer a determination 
 which they had injudiciously onoe made, to be 
 taken out of their mind ; for they could not be 
 turned from their purpose, nor did they regard 
 the words of Samuel, but peremptorily insisted 
 on their resolution, and desired him to ordain 
 them a king immediately, and not to trouble 
 himself with fears of what would happen here- 
 after, for that it was necessary they should have 
 with them one to fight their battles, and to 
 avenge them of their enemies, and that it was 
 no way absurd, when their neighbours were 
 under kingly government, that they should have 
 the same form of government also. So when 
 Samuel saw that what he had said had not 
 diverted them from their purpose, but that they 
 continued resolute, he said, Go you every one 
 home for the present ; when it is fit I will send 
 for yon, as soon as I shall have learned from God 
 who it is that he will give you for your king." 
 
 | CHAPTER IV. 
 
 TUB APPOINTMENT OF A KING OVEE THE ISRAEL- 
 ITES, WHOSE NAME WAS SAUL; AND THIS BY 
 THE COMMAND OF GOD. 
 
 1. THEBE was one of the tribe of Benjamin, a 
 man of a good family, and of a virtuous disposi- 
 tion : his name was Kish. He had a son, a 
 young man of a comely countenance, and of a 
 tall body, but his understanding and his mind 
 were preferable to what was visible in him: 
 they called him SauL Now this Kish had some 
 fine she-asses that were wandered out of the 
 pasture wherein they fed, for he was more de- 
 lighted with these than with any other cattle he 
 had, so he sent out his son, and one servant with 
 him, to search for the beasts ; but when he had 
 gone over his own tribe in search after the asses, 
 he went to other tribes; and when he found 
 ,hem not there neither, he determined to go his 
 way home, lest he should occasion any concern 
 to his father about himself ; but when his ser- 
 vant that followed him told him, as they were 
 near the city Kamah, that there was a true pro- 
 phet in that city, and advised him to go to him, 
 for that by him they should know the upshot of 
 the affair of their asses, he replied, that if they 
 should go to him, they had nothing to give him 
 as a reward for his prophecy, for their subsist- 
 ence-money was spent The servant answered, 
 that he had still the fotuth part of a shekel, and 
 he would present him with that ; for they wer 
 mistaken out of ignorance, as not knowing that 
 the prophet received no such reward.* So they 
 went to him ; and when they were before the 
 gates, they lit upon certain maidens that were 
 going to fetch water; and ihey asked them 
 which was the prophet's hpusf_ They shewed 
 them which it was ; and bid em make haste 
 before he sat down to supper, for he had invited 
 many guests to a feast, and that he used to sit 
 down before those that were invited. Now 
 Samuel had then gathered many together to feast 
 with him on this very account; for while he 
 every day prayed to God to tell him beforehand 
 whom he would make king, he had informed 
 
 * See the not* on b. iv. ch. vi. sect, a
 
 CHAP. IV. J 
 
 ANTiUUiTJLKfi OF THE JEWS. 
 
 him of this man the day before, for that he 
 would send him a certain young man out of the 
 tribe of Benjamin about this hour of the day ; 
 ind he sat on the top of the house in expectation 
 of that time's being come. And when the time 
 was completed, he came down and went to 
 supper ; so he met with Saul, and God dis- 
 covered to him that this was he who should rule 
 over them. Then Saul went up to Samuel and 
 saluted him, and desired him to inform him 
 which was the prophet's house ; for he said he 
 was a stranger, and did not know it. When 
 Samuel had told him that he himself was the 
 person, he led him in to supper, and assured him 
 that the asses were found which he had been to 
 seek, and that the greatest of good things were 
 assured to him: he replied, "I am too incon- 
 siderable to hope for any such thing, and of a 
 tribe too small to have kings made out of it, and 
 of a family smaller than several other families ; 
 out thou tellest me this in jest, and makest me 
 an object of laughter, when thou discoursest 
 with me of greater matters than what I stand in 
 need of." However, the prophet led him in to 
 the feast, and made him sit down, him and his 
 servant that followed him, above the other 
 guests that were invited, which were seventy in 
 number ; * and he gave orders to the servants to 
 set the royal portion before SauL And when 
 the time of going to bed was come, the rest rose 
 up, and every one of them went home ; but Saul 
 stayed with the prophet, he and his servant, and 
 slept with him. 
 
 2. Now as soon as it was day, Samuel raised 
 up Saul out of his bed, and conducted him 
 homeward ; and when he was out of the city, he 
 desired him to cause his servant to go before, 
 but to stay behind himself, for that he had 
 somewhat to say to him, when nobody else was 
 present. Accordingly, Saul sent away his ser- 
 vant that followed him; then did the prophet 
 take a vessel of oil, and poured it upon the head 
 of the young man, and kissed him, and said, 
 " Be thou a king, by the ordination of God, 
 against the Philistines, and for avenging the 
 Hebrews for what they have suffered by them ; 
 of this thou shall have a sign, which I would 
 have thee take notice of : As soon as thou art 
 departed hence, thou wilt find three men upon 
 the road, going to worship God at Bethel ; the 
 first of whom thou wilt see carrying three loaves 
 of bread, the second carrying a Md of the goats, 
 and the third will follow them carrying a bottle 
 of wine. These three men will salute thee, and 
 speak kindly to thee, and will give thee two of 
 their loaves, which thou shalt accept of. And 
 thence thou shalt come to a place called Rachel's 
 Monument, where thou shalt meet with those 
 that will tell thee thy asses are found; after 
 this, when thou comest to Gabatha, thou shalt 
 overtake a company of prophets, and thou shalt 
 be seized with the divine spirit,+ and prophesy 
 along "with them, till every one that sees thee 
 shall be astonished, and wonder, and say, Whence 
 is it that the son of Kisli has arrived at this de- 
 gree of happiness? And when these signs have 
 happened to thee, know that God is with thee ; 
 then do thou salute thy father and thy kindred. 
 Thou shalt also come when I send for thee to 
 Gilgal, that we may offer thank-offerings to God 
 for these blessings." When Samuel had said 
 
 * it seems not improbable that these seventy guests 
 01 Samuel, with himself at the head of them, were a 
 Jewish sanhedrim, and that hereby Samuel intimated 
 to Saul that these seventy-one were to be his constant 
 counsellors. 
 
 t An instance of this divine fury we have after tbJe 
 D Paul, chap. v. sect 2, 3; 1 Sam. xi. 6 
 
 this, and foretold these things, he sent the 
 young man away. Now all things fell out tc 
 Saul according to the prophecy of SamueL 
 
 3. But as soon as Saul came into the house of 
 his kinsman Abner, whom indeed he' loved 
 better than the rest of hia relations, he was 
 asked by him concerning his journey, and what 
 accidents happened to him therein; and he con- 
 cealed none of the other things from him, no. 
 not his coming to Samuel the prophet, nor how 
 he told him the asses were found, but he said 
 nothing to him about the kingdom, and what 
 belonged thereto, which he thought would 
 
 Erocure him envy, and when such things are 
 card, they are not easily believed ; nor did he 
 think it prudent to tell those things to him, 
 although he appeared very friendly to him, and 
 one whom he loved above the rest of his rela- 
 tions, considering, I suppose, what human na- 
 ture really is, that no one is a firm friend, 
 neither among our intimates nor of our kindred ; 
 nor do they preserve that kind disposition when 
 God advances men to great prosperity, but they 
 are still ill-natured and envious at those that 
 are in eminent stations. 
 
 4. Then Samuel called t*e people together to 
 the city Mizpeh, and spake to them in the words 
 following, which he said he was to speak by the 
 command of God : That when he had granted 
 them a state of liberty, and brought their ene- 
 mies into subjection, they were become unmind- 
 ful of hia benefits, and rejected God that he 
 should not be their king, as not considering that 
 it would be most for their advantage to be pre- 
 sided over by the best of beings, for God is the 
 best of beings, and they chose to have a man 
 for their king, while kings will use their sub- 
 jects as beasts, according to the violence of their 
 own wills and inclinations, and other passions, 
 as wholly carried away with the lust of power, but 
 will not endeavour so to preserve the race of 
 mankind, as his own workmanship and creation, 
 which, for that very reason, God would take 
 care of. "But since you have come to a fixed 
 resolution, and this injurious treatment of God 
 has quite prevailed over you, dispose yourselves 
 by your tribes and sceptres, and cast lots." 
 
 5. Wh?n the Hebrews had so done, the lot 
 fell upon the tribe of Benjamin; and when the 
 lot was cast for the families of this tribe, that 
 which was called Matri was taken; and when 
 the lot was cast for the single persons of the 
 family, Saul, the son of Kish, was taken for 
 their king. When the young man knew this, 
 he prevented [their sending for him,] and im- 
 mediately went away and hid himself. I sup- 
 pose that it was because he would not have 
 it thought that he willingly took the govern- 
 ment upon him; nay, be shewed such a de- 
 gree of command over himself, and of modesty, 
 that while the greatest part are not able to 
 contain their joy, even in the gaining of small 
 advantages, but presently shew themselves pub- 
 licly to all men, this man did not only shew 
 nothing of that nature, when he waa appointed 
 to be the lord of so many and so great tribes, 
 but crept away and concealed himself out of the 
 sight of those he was to reign over, and made 
 them seek him, and that with a good deal of 
 trouble. So when the people were at a loss, and 
 solicitous, because Saul disappeared, the prophet 
 besought God to shew where the young mar. 
 was, and to produce him before them. So when 
 they had learned of God the place where Saul 
 was hidden, they sent a man to bring him ; and 
 when he was come, they set him in the midst of 
 the multitude. Now he was taller than any of 
 them, and his stature was very majestic.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OP THE JEWS. 
 
 6. Then said the prophet, "God gives you 
 this man to be your king: see how he is higher 
 than any of the people, and worthy of this do- 
 minion. So as soon as the people had made 
 acclamation, God save the king, the prophet 
 wrote down what would come to pass in a book, 
 and read it in the hearing of the king, and laid 
 up the book in the tabernacle of God, to be a 
 witness to future generations of what he had 
 foretold. So when Samuel had finished this 
 matter, he dismissed the multitude, and came 
 himself to the city Ramah, for it was Ms own 
 country. Saul also went away to Gibeah, where 
 he was born ; and many good men there were 
 who paid him the respect that was due to him ; 
 but the greater part were ill men, who despised 
 him and derided the others, who neither did 
 bring him presents, nor did they in affection, or 
 even in words, regard to please him. 
 
 CHAPTER T. 
 
 SAUL'S EXPEDITION AGAINST THE NATION Or THK 
 AMMONITES, AND TICTOBT OVER THEM, AND 
 THB SPOILS HE TOOK FEOM THEM. 
 
 1. ATTEB one month, the war which Saul had 
 with Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, ob- 
 tained him respect from all the people; for this 
 Nahash had done a great deal of mischief to the 
 Jews that lived beyond Jordan by the expedition 
 he had made against them with a great and 
 warlike army. He also reduced their cities into 
 slavery, and that not only by subduing them for 
 the present, which he did by force ana violence, 
 but by weakening them by subtlety and cunning, 
 that they might not be able afterward to get 
 dear of the slavery they were under to him : for 
 he put out the right eyes * of those that either 
 delivered themselves to him upon terms, or were 
 taken by him in war; and this he did, that when 
 their left eyes were covered by their shields, 
 they might be wholly useless in war. Now when 
 the king of the Ammonites had served those be- 
 yond Jordan in this manner, he led his army 
 against those that were called Gileadites; and 
 having pitched his camp at the metropolis of his 
 enemies, which was the city of Jabesh, he sent 
 ambassadors to them, commanding them either 
 to deliver themselves up, on condition to have 
 their right eyes plucked out, or to undergo a 
 siege, and to have their cities overthrown. He 
 gave them their choice, Whether they would 
 cut off a small member of their body, or univer- 
 sally perish. However, the Gileadites were so 
 affrighted at these offers, that they had not 
 courage to say anything to either of them, nei- 
 ther that they would deliver themselves up, nor 
 that they would fight him; but they desired 
 that he would give them seven days' respite, 
 that they might send ambassadors to their coun- 
 trymen, and entreat their assistance; and if 
 they came to assist them they would fight; but 
 if that assistance were impossible to be obtained 
 from them, they said they would deliver them- 
 selves up to suffer whatever he pleased to inflict 
 upon them. 
 
 2. So Nahash, contemning the multitude of 
 the Gileadites, and the answer they gave, al- 
 lowed them a respite, and gave them leave to 
 lend to whomsoever they pleased for assistance. 
 
 l h'2 *%* e *P gel! hi shi eW to the enemy with his 
 
 t w ! th l r - eby - h i des his left e ?*> and looks at the 
 emjr with his right eye: he, therefore, that plucks 
 iwt Uwt eve. makes men useless in war.-LT*>tord 
 
 So they immediately sent to the Israelites, citj 
 by city, and informed them what Nahaah had 
 threatened to do to them, and what great dis- 
 tress they were in. Now the people fell into 
 tears and grief at the hearing of what the am- 
 bassadors from Jabesh said ; and the terror they 
 were in permitted them to do nothing more; 
 but when the messengers were come to the city 
 of king Saul, and declared the danger in which 
 the inhabitants of Jabesh were, the people wer 
 in the same affliction as those in the other cities, 
 for they lamented the calamity of those related 
 to them ; and when Saul was returned from his 
 husbandry into the city, he found his fellow- 
 citizens weeping; and when, upon inquiry, he 
 had learned the cause of the confusion and sad- 
 ness they were in, he was seized with a divine 
 fury, and sent away the ambassadors from the 
 inhabitants of Jabesh, and promised them to 
 come to their assistance on the third day, and to 
 beat their enemies before sun-rising, that the 
 sun upon its rising might see that they had 
 already conquered, and were freed from the 
 fears they were under; but he bid some of them 
 stay to conduct them the right way to Jabesh. 
 
 3. So being desirous to turn the people to this 
 wai against the Ammonites by fear of the losses 
 they should otherwise undergo, and that they 
 might the more suddenly be gathered together, 
 he cut the sinews of his oxen, nd threatened to 
 do the same to all such as did not come with 
 their armour to Jordan the next day, and follow 
 him and Samuel the prophet whithersoever they 
 should lead them. So they came together, out 
 of fear of the losses they were threatened with, 
 at the appointed time; and the multitude were 
 numbered at the city Bezek; and he found the 
 number of those that were gathered together, 
 besides that of the tribe of Judah, to be seven 
 hundred thousand, while those of that tribe 
 were seventy thousand. So he passed over Jor- 
 dan, and proceeded in marching all that night, 
 thirty furlongs, and came to Jabesh before sun- 
 rising. So he divided the army into three com- 
 panies; and fell upon their enemies on every 
 side on the sudden, and when they expected no 
 such thing ; and joining battle with them, they 
 slew a ffreat many of the Ammonites, as also 
 their king Nahash. This glorious action was 
 done by Saul, and was related with great com- 
 mendation of him to all the Hebrews: and he 
 thence gained a wonderful reputation for his 
 valour ; for although there were some of them 
 that contemned him before, they now changed 
 their minds, and honoured him, and esteemed 
 him as the best of men : for he did not content 
 himself with having saved the inhabitants of 
 Jabesh only, but he made an expedition into the 
 country of the Ammonites, and laid it all waste, 
 and took a large prey, and so returned to hi 
 own country most gloriously : so the people were 
 greatly pleased at these excellent performances 
 of Saul, and rejoiced that they had constituted 
 him their king. They also made a clamour 
 against those that pretended he would be of no 
 advantage to their affairs; and they said, Where 
 now are these men? let them be brought to 
 punishment, with all the like things that multi- 
 tudes usually say when they are elevated with 
 prosperity, against those that lately had despised 
 the authors of it ; but Saul, although he took 
 the good-will and the affection of these men very 
 kindly, yet did he swear that he would not see 
 any of his countrymen slain that day, since it 
 was absurd to mix this victory, which God had 
 given them, with the blood and slaughter of 
 those that were of the same lineage with them- 
 selves ; and that it was more agreeable to b
 
 CHAP. VL] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 129 
 
 men of a friendly disposition, and so to betake 
 themselves to feasting. 
 
 4. And when Samuel had told them that hp 
 ought to confirm the kingdom to Saul by a second 
 ordination of him, they all came together to the 
 city of Gilgal, for thither did he command them 
 to come. So the prophet anointed Saul with the 
 holy oil in the sight of the multitude, and de- 
 clared him to be king the second time; and so 
 the government of the Hebrews was changed into 
 a regal government ; for in the days of Moses and 
 his disciple Joshua, who was their general, they 
 continued under an aristocracy; but after the 
 death of Joshua, for eighteen years in all, the 
 multitude had no settled form of government, 
 but were in an anarchy ; after which they 
 returned to their former government, they 
 then permitting themselves to be judged by 
 him who appeared to be the best warrior, and 
 most courageous, whence it was that they 
 called this interval of their government, the 
 Judges. 
 
 5. Then did Samuel the prophet call an- 
 ather assembly also, and said to them, "I so- 
 lemnly adjnre you, by God Almighty, who 
 brought those excellent brethren, I mean Moses 
 and Aaron, into the world, and delivered our 
 fathers from the Egyptians, and from the slavery 
 they endured under them, that you will not speak 
 what you say to gratify me, nor suppress any 
 thing out of fear of me, nor be overborne by any 
 other passion, but say, What have 1 ever done 
 that was cruel or unjust? or what have I done 
 nut of lucre or covetousness, or to gratify others? 
 Bear witness against me, if I have taken an ox or 
 a sheep, or any such thing, which yet when they 
 vre taken to support men it is esteemed blameless ; 
 or have I taken an ass for mine own use of any 
 one to his grief? lay some one such crime to my 
 charge, now we are in your king's presence. 
 But they cried out, that no such thing had been 
 done by him, but that he had presided over the 
 nation after a holy and righteous manner. 
 
 6. Hereupon Samuel, when such a testimony 
 had been given him by them all, said, "Since 
 you grant that you are not able to lay any ill 
 thing to my charge hitherto, come on now, and 
 do you hearken while I speak with great freedom 
 to you. You have been guilty of great impiety 
 against God, in asking you a king. It behoves 
 you to remember, that our grandfather Jacob 
 came down into Egypt, by reason of a famine, 
 with seventy souls only of our family, and that 
 their posterity multiplied there to many ten thou- 
 sands, whom the Egyptians brought into slavery 
 and hard oppression ; that God himself, upon the 
 prayers of our fathers, sent Moses and Aaron, 
 who were brethren, and gave them power to de- 
 liver the multitude out of their distress, and this 
 without a king. These brought us into this very 
 land which you now possess ; and when you en- 
 joyed these advantages from God, yon betrayed 
 his worship and religion ; nay, moreover, when 
 you Tiere brought under the hands of your 
 enemies, he delivered you, first by rendering you 
 superior to the Assyrians and their forces; he 
 then made you to overcome the Ammonites, and 
 the Moabites, and last of all the Philistines ; and 
 these things have been achieved under the con- 
 duct of Jephtha and Gideon. What madness 
 therefore possessed you to fly from God, and to 
 desire to be under a king? yet have I ordained 
 him for king whom he chose for you. However, 
 that I may make it plain to you that God is 
 angry and displeased at your choice of kingly 
 government, I will so dispose him that he shall 
 declare this very plainly to you by strange signals ; 
 for what none of you ever saw here before. .1 mean 
 
 a winter storm in the midst of harvest,* I will 
 entreat of God, and will make it visible to you." 
 Now, as soon as he had said this, God gave such 
 great signals by thunder and lightning, and the 
 descent of hail, as attested the truth of all that 
 the prophet had said, insomuch that they were 
 amazed and terrified, and confessed they had 
 sinned, and had fallen into that sin through 
 ignorance ; and besought the prophet, as onr that 
 was a tender and gentle father to them, to render 
 God so merciful as to forgive this their sin, which 
 they had added to those other offences whereby 
 they had affronted him and transgressed against 
 him. So he promised them that he would be- 
 seech God, and persuade him to forgive them 
 these th nr sins. However, he advised them to 
 be righteous, and to be good, and ever to remem- 
 ber the miseries that had befallen them on ac- 
 count of their departure from virtue : as also to 
 remember the strange signs God had shewn them, 
 and the body of laws that Moses had given them, 
 if they had any desire of being preserved and 
 made happy with their king ; but he said, that 
 if they should grow careless of these things, great 
 judgments would come from God upon them, and 
 upon their king: and when Samuel had thus 
 prophesied to the Hebrews, he dismissed them 
 to their own homes, having confirmed the king- 
 dom to Saul the second timo. 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 HOW THE PHILISTINES MADE ANOTHEK EXPEDI- 
 TION AGAINST THE HEBREWS, AND WEBB 
 BEATEN. 
 
 1. Now Saul chose out of the multitude 
 about three thousand men, and he took two 
 thousand of them to be the guards of his own 
 body, and abode in the city Bethel, but he gave 
 the rest of them to Jonathan his son, to be the 
 guards of his body; and sent him to Gibeah, 
 where he besieged and took a certain garrison of 
 the Philistines, not far from Gilgal; for the 
 Philistines of Gibeah had beaten the Jews, and 
 taken their weapons away, and had put garrisons 
 into the strongest places of the country, and had 
 forbidden them to carry any instrument of iron, 
 or at all to make use of any iron in any case what- 
 soever; and on account of this prohibition it was 
 that the husbandmen, if they had occasion to 
 sharpen any of their tools, whether it were the 
 coulter or the spade, or any instrument of hus- 
 bandry, they came to the Philistines to do it. 
 Now as soon as the Philistines heard of this 
 slaughter of their garrison, they were in a rage 
 about it, and, looking on this contempt as a ter- 
 rible affront offered them, they made war against 
 the Jews, with three hundred thousand footmen, 
 and thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand 
 horses ; and they pitched their camp at the city 
 Michmash. When Saul, the king of the He- 
 brews, was informed of this, he went down to the 
 city Gilgal, and made proclamation over all the 
 country, that they should try to regain their 
 liberty; and called them to the war against the 
 Philistines, diminishing their forces, and despis- 
 ing them as not very considerable, and as not so 
 great but they might hazard a battle with them. 
 But when the people about Saul observed how 
 numerous the Philistines were, they were under a 
 great consternation ; and some of them hid them- 
 
 * Beland observes, that although thunder and light- 
 ning with us usually happen in summer, yet in Pales- 
 tine and Syria they are chiefly confined to winter.
 
 130 
 
 selves in caves, and in dene under ground, but 
 the greater part tied into the land beyond Jordan, 
 which belonged to Gad and Reuben. 
 
 2. But Saul sent to the prophet, and called 
 him to consult with him about the war and the 
 public affairs ; so he commanded him to stay 
 there for him, and to prepare sacrifices, for he 
 would come to him within seven davs, that they 
 might offer sacrifices on the seventh day, and 
 might then join battle with their enemies. So 
 he waited,* as the prophet sent to him to do ; 
 yet did not he, however, observe the command 
 that was given him, but when he saw that the 
 prophet tarried longer than he expected, and 
 that he was deserted by the soldiers, he took the 
 sacrifices and offered them ; and when he heard 
 that Samuel was come, he went out to meet him. 
 ]?ut the prophet said he had not done well in 
 disobeying the injunctions he had sent to him, 
 and had not stayed till his coming, which being 
 appointed according to the will of God, he had 
 prevented him in offering up those prayers and 
 those sacrifices that he should have made for the 
 multitude, and that he therefore had performed 
 divine offices in an ill manner, and had been rash 
 in performing tliern. Hereupon Saul made an 
 apology for himself, and said that he had waited 
 as many days as Samuel had appointed him ; 
 that he had been so quick in offering his sacri- 
 fices, upon account of the necessity he was in, and 
 because his soldiers were departing from him, out 
 of their fear of the enemy's camp at Michmash, 
 the report being gone abroad that they were 
 coming down upon him to Gilgal. To which 
 Samuel replied, " Nay. certainly, if thou hadst 
 been a righteous man,T and hadst not disobeyed 
 me, nor slighted the commands which God sug- 
 gested to me concerning the present state of 
 affairs, and hadst not acted more hasily than the 
 present circumstances required, thou wouldst 
 have been permitted to reign a long time, and 
 thy posterity after thee." So Samuel being 
 grieved at what happened, returned home ; but 
 Saul came to the city Gibeah, with his son Jona- 
 than, having only six hundred men with him : 
 and of these the greater part had no weapons, 
 because of the scarcity of iron in that country, 
 as well as of those that could make such wea- 
 pons ; for, as we shewed a little before, the 
 Philistines had not suffered them to have such 
 
 * Saul seems to have stayed till near the time of the 
 evening sacrifice, on the seventh day, which Samuel 
 the prophet of Sod had appointed him, but not till the 
 end of that d*7, as he ought to have done ; and Samuel 
 appears, by delaying to come till the full time of the 
 evening sacrifice on that seventh day, to have tried him, 
 (who seems to have been already for some time declining 
 from his strict and bounden subordination to God aud 
 his prophet,) whether he would stay till the priest came, 
 who alone could lawfully offer the sacrifices, or would 
 boldly and profanely usurp the priest's office, which he 
 venturing upon, was justly rejected for his profaneness. 
 And, indeed, since Saul had accepted kingly power, 
 the divine settlement by Moses had soon been laid aside 
 under the kings, had not God restrained Saul and other 
 kings in some degree of obedience to himself ; nor was 
 even this severity sufficient to restrain most of the 
 future kings of Israel and Judah from the greatest 
 idolatry and impiety. 
 
 f By this answer of Samuel, and that from u divine 
 commission, which is fuller in 1 Sam. xiii. 14, concern- 
 ing the great wickedness of Saul in venturing, even 
 under a seeming necessity of affairs, to usurp the 
 priest's office, we are in some degree able to answer 
 the question, Whether, if there were a city or country 
 of lay Christians without any clergyman, it were lawful 
 for the laity alone to baptize, or celebrate the eucharist ; 
 >r whether they ought not rather, till they procure 
 clergymen 10 come amonR them, to confine themselves 
 ritnm those bounds of piety and Christianity which bo- 
 Ions alone U> the >itv. To l.ich latter opinion I incline 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK Vi 
 
 iron or such workmen. Now the Philistines di- 
 vided their army into three companies, and took 
 as many roads, and laid waste the country of the 
 Hebrews, while king Saul, and his son Jonathan 
 saw what was done, but were not able to defend 
 the land, having no more than six hundred men 
 with them ; but as he, and his son, and Abiah 
 the high priest, who was of the posterity of Eli 
 the high priest, were sitting upon a pretty high 
 hill, and seeing the land laid waste, they were 
 mightily disturbed at it. Now Saul's son agreed 
 with his armour-bearer, that they would go pri- 
 vately to the enemy's camp, and make a tumult 
 and a disturbance among them ; and when the 
 armour-bearer had readily promised to follow 
 him whithersoever he should lead him, though 
 he should be obliged to die in the attempt, Jona- 
 than made use of the young man's assistance, 
 and descended from the hill, and went to their 
 enemies. Now the enemy's camp was upon a 
 precipice which had three tops, that ended in a 
 small, but sharp and long extremity, while there 
 was a rock that surrounded them, like lines 
 made to prevent the attacks of an enemy. There 
 ifc so happened, that the out-guards of the camp 
 were neglected, oecause of the security that 
 here arose from the situation of the place, and 
 because they thought it altogether impossible, 
 not only to .ascend up to the camp on that quar- 
 ter, but so much as to come ueur it. As soon, 
 therefore, as they came to the camp, Jonathan 
 encouraged his armour-bearer, and said to him, 
 " Let us attack our enemies ; arid if, when they 
 see us, they bid us come up to them, take that 
 for a signal of victory ; but if they say nothing, 
 as not intending to invite us to come up, let us 
 return back again." So when they were ap- 
 proaching to the enemy's camp, just after break 
 of day, and the Philistines saw them, they said 
 one to another, " The Hebrews come out of their 
 dens and caves ;" and the)' said to Jonathan and 
 to his armour-bearer, " Come on, ascend up to 
 us, that we may inflict a just punishment upon 
 you, for your rash attempt upon us." So Saul's 
 son accepted of that invitation, as what signified 
 to him victory, aud he immediately came out of 
 the place whence they were seen by their ene- 
 mies : so he changed his place, and came to the 
 rock which had none to guard it, because of its 
 own strength ; from thence they crept up with 
 great labour and difficulty, and so far overcame 
 by force the nature of the place, till they were 
 able to fight with their enemies. So they fell 
 upon them as they were asleep, and slew about 
 twenty of them, and thereby filled them with 
 disorder arid surprise, insomuch that some of 
 them threw away their entire armour, and fled ; 
 but the greatest part, not knowing one another 
 because they were of different nations, suspected 
 one another to be enemies, (for they did not im- 
 agine there were only two of the Hebrews that 
 came up,) and so they fought one against an- 
 other ; and some of them died in the battle, and 
 some, as they were flying away, were thrown 
 down from the rock headlong. 
 
 3. Now Saul's watchmen told the king that 
 the camp of tBe Philistines was in confusion ; 
 then he inquired whether anybody was gone 
 away from the army; and when he heard that 
 his son, and with him his armour-bearer, were 
 absent, he bade the high priest take the garments 
 of his high priesthood, and prophesy to him what 
 success they should have; who said that they 
 should get the victory, and prevail against theii 
 enemies. So he went out after the Philistines, 
 and set upon them as they were slaying one 
 another. Those also who had fled to dens and 
 caves, upon hearing that Saul was .gaining a
 
 ANTIQUITIES UF THE 
 
 131 
 
 rictory, came running to him. When, therefore, 
 the number of the Hebrews that came to Saul 
 amounted to about ten thousand, he pursued the 
 enemy, who were scattered all o\ei the country ; 
 but then he fell into an action, which was a very 
 unhappy one, and liable to be very much blamed ; 
 for, whether out of ignorance, or whether out of 
 joy for a victory gained so strangely, (for it 
 frequently happens that persons so fortunate are 
 not then nble to use their reason consistently,) I 
 as he was desirous to avenge himself, and to I 
 exact a due punishment of the Philistines, he | 
 denounced a curse* upon the Hebrews : That j 
 if any one put a stop to his slaughter of the 
 enemy, and fell on eating, and left off the 
 slaughter or the pursuit before the night came 
 on, and obliged them so to do, he should be 
 accursed. Now after Saul had denounced this 
 curse, since they were now in a wood belonging 
 to the tribe of Ephraim, which was thick and 
 full of bees, Saul's son, who did not hear his 
 father denounce that curse, nor hear of the 
 approbation the multitude gave to it, broke off 
 a piece of a honeycomb, and ate part of it. But, 
 in the meantime, he was informed with what a 
 curse his father had forbidden them to taste any 
 thing before sun-setting : so he left off eating, 
 and said liis father had not done well in this 
 prohibition, because, had they taken some food, 
 they had pursued the enemy with greater vigour 
 and alacrity, and had both taken and slain many 
 more of their enemies. 
 
 4. When therefore they had slain many ten 
 thousands of the Philistines, they fell upon spoil- 
 ing the camp of the Philistines, but not till late 
 in the evening. They also took a great deal of 
 prey and cattle, and killed them, and ate them 
 with their blood. This was told to the king by 
 the scribes, that the multitude were sinning 
 against God as they sacrificed, and were eating 
 before the blood, was well washed away, and the 
 flesh was made clean. Then did Saul give order 
 that a great stone should be rolled into the midst 
 of them, and he made proclamation that they 
 should kill their sacrifices upon it, and not feed 
 upon the flesh with the blood, for that was not 
 acceptable to God. And when all the people did 
 as the king communded them, Saul erected an 
 altar there, and offered burnt-offerings upcu it 
 to God.+ This was the first altar that ftaui 
 built. 
 
 5. So when Saul was desirous of leading his 
 men to the enemy's camv before it waa day, in 
 order to plunder it, and when the soldiers 
 were not unwilling to follow him, but indeed 
 shewed great readiness to do as he commanded 
 them, the king called Ahitub the high priest, 
 and enjoined him to know of God whether he 
 would grant them the favour and permission to 
 go against the enemy's camp, in order to destroy 
 those that were in it ; and when the priest said 
 that God did not give any answer, Saul replied, 
 " And not without some cause does God refuse 
 to answer what we inquire of him, while yet a 
 little while ago he declared to us all that we de- 
 sired beforehand, and even prevented us in his 
 
 * This rash vow or curse of Saul, which -MS not 
 executed, I suppose, principally because Jonathan did 
 not know of it, is very remarkabre ; it being of the 
 essence of the obligation of all laws, that they be suffi- 
 ciently known and promulgated, otherwise the con- 
 duct of Providence, in God's refusing to answer by 
 Urim till this breach of Saul's vow or curse was under- 
 Stood and set right, is very remarkable. 
 
 t Here we have still more indications of Saul's affec- 
 tation of despotic power, and of his entrenching upon 
 the priesthood, and making and endeavouring to exe- 
 cute a rash vow or curse, without consulting Samuel 
 or the Banhedrm. 
 
 answer. To be sure, there is some sin against, 
 him that is concealed from us, which is the occa 
 sion of his silence. Now I swear by him him 
 self, that though he that hath committed thin 
 sin should prove to be my own son Jonathan, I 
 will slay him, and by that means will appease 
 the anger of Got', against us, and that in the very 
 same manner a if I were to punisli < stranger, 
 and one not at all related to ine, for the same 
 offence." So when the multitude cried out to 
 him so to do, he presently set all the rest on one 
 side, and he and his son stood on the other side, 
 and he sought to discover the offender by lot. 
 Now the lot appeared to fall upon Jonathan 
 himself. So when he was asked by his father 
 what sin he had been guilty of, and what he waa 
 conscious of in the course of his life that might 
 be esteemed instances of guilt or profaneness, 
 his answer waa thia : " O father, I have done 
 nothing more than that yesterday, without 
 knowing of the curse and oath thou hadst de. 
 nounced, while I was hi pursuit of the enemy, I 
 tasted of a honeycomb. But Saul sware that 
 he would slay him, and prefer the observation of 
 his oath, before all the ties of birth and nature ; 
 and Jonathan was not dismayed at this threaten- 
 ing of death, but, offering himself to it gene- 
 rously and undauntedly, he. said, w! Nor do 1 
 desire you, father, to spare me : death will be to 
 me very acceptable, when it proceeds from thy 
 piety, and after a glorious victory ; for it is the 
 greatest consolation to me that I leave the He- 
 brews victorious over the Philistines." Here- 
 upon all the people were very sorry, and greatly 
 afflicted for Jonathan ; and they sware that they 
 would not overlook Jonathan, and see bim die, 
 who was the author of their victory. By which 
 means they snatched him out of the danger he 
 was in from his father's curse, while they made 
 their prayers to God also for the young man, 
 that he would remit his sin. 
 
 6. So Saul, having slain about sixty thousand 
 of the enemy, returned home to his own city, 
 and reigned happily : and he also fought against 
 the neighbouring nations, and subdued the Am- 
 monites, and Moabites, and Philistines, and 
 Edomites, and AmaleMtes, as also the king of 
 Zobah. He had three male children, Jonathan, 
 :ind Isni. and Melchishua : with Merab and 
 Miclial his daughters. He had also Abner, his 
 uncle's son, for the captain of his 'host : that 
 uncle's name was Ner. Now Ner and Kish, the 
 father of Saul, were brothers. Saul had also a 
 great many chariots and horsemen, and against 
 whomsoever he made war he returned conqueror, 
 and advanced the affairs of the Hebrews to a 
 great degree of success and prosperitj', and made 
 them superior to other nations ; and he made 
 such of the young men as were remarkable for 
 tallness and comeliness, the guards of his body. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 HAUL'S WAR WITH THE AMALEKITES, AMD CON- 
 QUEST OP THEM. 
 
 1. Now Samuel came unto Saul, and said to 
 him, that he was sent by God to put him in 
 mind that God had preferred him before all 
 others, and ordained him king; that he there- 
 fore ought to be obedient to him, and to submit 
 to his authority, as considering, that though he 
 had the dominion over the other tribes, yet that 
 God had the dominion over him, and over all 
 things ; that accordingly God said to rifm, that 
 " because the Amalekites did the Hebrews a
 
 J32 
 
 ANTIQUITIES < F THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK vi. 
 
 pr deal of mischief whUe they were in the 
 wilderness, and when, upon their coming out of 
 Kzypt, they were making their way to that 
 country which is now their own, I enjoin thee 
 to punish the Amalekites, by making war upon 
 them, and when thou hast subdued them, to 
 leave none of them alive, but to pursue them 
 through every age, and to slay them, beginning 
 with the women and the infants, and to require 
 this as a punishment to be inflicted upon them 
 for the mischief they did to our forefathers : to 
 spare nothing, neither asses nor other beasts ; 
 nor to reserve any of them for your own advan- 
 tage and possession, but to devote them univer- 
 sally to God, and, in obedience to the commands 
 of Moses, to blot out the nan>3 of Amalek en- 
 tirely." * 
 
 2. So Saul promised to do what he was com- 
 manded ; and supposing that his obedience to 
 God would be shewn, not only in making war 
 against the Amalekites, but more fully in the 
 readiness and quickness of his proceedings, lie 
 made no delay, but immediately gathered to- 
 gether all his forces ; and when he had numbered 
 them in Gilgal, he found them to be about four 
 hundred thousand of the Israelites, besides the 
 tribe of Judah, for that tribe contained by itself 
 thirty thousand. Accordingly, Saul made an 
 irruption into the country of the Amalekites, 
 and set many men in several parties in ambush 
 at the river, that so he might not only do them 
 a mischief by open fighting, but might fall upon 
 them unexpectedly in the ways, and might 
 thereby compass them round aJ-out, and kiM 
 them. And when he had joined battle with the 
 enemy, he beat them ; aud pursuing them as 
 they fled, he destroyed them all. And when 
 that undertaking had succeeded, uccording as 
 God had foretold, he set upon the cities of the 
 Amalekites ; he besieged them, and took them 
 by force, partly by warlike machines, partly by 
 mines dug under ground, and partly by building 
 walls on the outsides. Some they starved out 
 with famine, and some they gained by other 
 methods; and after all, he betook himself to 
 slay the women and the children, and thought 
 he did not act therein either barbarously or in- 
 humanly ; first, because they were enemies 
 whom he thus treated, and, in the next place, 
 because it was done by the command of God, 
 whom it was dangerous not to obey. He also 
 took Agag, the enemy's king, captive ; the 
 beauty and tallness of whose body he admired 
 so much that he thought him worthy of preser- 
 vation ; yet was not this done, however, according 
 to the will of God, but by giving way to human 
 passions, and suffering himself to be moved with 
 an unseasonable commiseration, in a point where 
 it was not safe for him to indulge it ; for God 
 aated the nation of the Amalekites to such a 
 
 egree, that he commanded Saul to have no 
 pity on even those infants which we by nature 
 chiefly compassionate ; but Saul preserved their 
 king and governor from the miseries which the 
 Hebrews brought on the people, as if he pre- 
 ferred the fine appearance of the enemy to th*> 
 memory of what God had sent him about. The 
 multitude were also guilty, together with Saul; 
 for they spared the herds, and the flocks, and 
 took them for a prey, when God had commanded 
 they should not spare them They also carried 
 
 S^n T t e v r isT..^ thi8 sev erity is distinctly given, (1 
 thf AmaipL -; } $' and utterly destr y the nners, 
 , ?. s ; u nor ln(leed do we wer meet with 
 
 * the 
 
 off with them the rest of their wealth and 
 riches ; but if there were anything that was not 
 worthy of regard, that they destroyed. 
 
 3. But when Saul had conquered all these 
 Amalekites that reached from Pelusium of Egypt 
 to the Red Sea, he laid waste all the rest of the 
 enemy's country: but for the nation of the 
 Shechemites, he did not touch them, although 
 they dwelt in the very middle of the country of 
 Midian ; for, before the battle, Saul had sent to 
 them, and charged them to depart thence, lest 
 they should be partakers of the miseries of the 
 Amalekites; for he had a just occasion for 
 saving them, since they were of the kindred of 
 Raguel, Moses's father-in-law. 
 
 4. Hereupon Saul returned home with joy, for 
 the glorious things he had done, and for the con- 
 quest of his enemies, as though he had not ne- 
 glected anything which the prophet had enjoined 
 him to do when he was going to make war with 
 the Amalekites, and as though he had exactly 
 observed all that he ought to have done. But 
 God was grieved that the king of the Amalekites 
 was preserved alive, and that the multitude had 
 seized on the cattle for a prey, because these 
 things were done without his permission ; foi 
 he thought it an intolerable thing that they 
 should conquer and overcome their enemies by 
 that power which he gave them, and then that 
 he himself should be so grossly despised and 
 disobeyed by them, that a mere man that was a 
 king would not bear it. He therefore told 
 Samuel the prophet, that he repented that he 
 had made Saul king, while he did nothing that 
 he had commanded him, but indulged his own 
 inclinations. When Samuel heard that, he was 
 in confusion -, and began to beseech God all that 
 night to be reconciled to Saul, and not to be 
 angry with him ; but he did not grant that for- 
 giveness to Saul which the prophet asked for, as 
 not deeming it a fit thing to grant forgiveness of 
 [such] sins at his entreaties, since injuries do not 
 otherwise grow so great as by the easy tempers 
 of those that are injured; for while they hunt 
 after the glory of being thought gentle and 
 good-natured, before they are aware, they pro- 
 duce other sins. As soon, therefore, as God had 
 rejected the intercession of the prophet, and it 
 plainly appeared he would not change his mind. 
 at break of day Samuel came to Saul at GilgaL 
 When the king saw him, he ran to him, and 
 embraced him, and said, "I return 'thanks to 
 God, who hath given me the victory, for I have 
 performed everything that he hath commanded 
 me." To which Samuel replied, "How is it, 
 then, that I hear the bleating of the sheep, and 
 the lowing of the greater cattle in the camp ? " 
 Saul made answer that the people had reserved 
 them for sacrifices ; but that, as to the nation 
 of the Amalekites, it was entirely destroyed, as 
 he had received it in command to see done, and 
 that no man was left ; but that he had saved 
 alive the king alone, and brought him to him, 
 concerning whom, he said they would advise to- 
 gether what should be done with him. But the 
 prophet said^ "God is not delighted with sacri- 
 fices, but with good and with righteous men, 
 who are such as follow his will and his laws, and 
 never think that anything is well done by them 
 but when they do it as God had commanded 
 them : that he then looks upon himself as 
 affronted, not when any one does not sacrifice, 
 but when any one appears to be disobedient to 
 him. But that from those who do not obey him, 
 nor pay him that duty which is the alone true 
 and acceptable worship, he will not kindly ac- 
 cept their oblations, be those they offer ever so 
 mauy aixl so fat, and be the presents thev maV*-
 
 OHAP. VII!.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 133 
 
 him ever so ornamental, nay, though they were 
 made of gold and silver themselves ; but he will 
 reject them, and esteem them instances of 
 wickedness, and not of piety. And that he is 
 delighted with those that still bear in mind this 
 one thing, and this only, how to do that, what- 
 soever it be, which God pronounces or com- 
 mands for them to do, and to choose rather to 
 die than to transgress any of those commands ; 
 uor does he require so much as a sacrifice from 
 them. And when these do sacrifice, though it 
 be a mean oblation, he better accepts of it as the 
 honour of poverty, than such oblations as come 
 from the richest men that offer them to him. 
 Wherefore, take notice that thou art under the 
 wrath of God, for thou hast despised and ne- 
 glected what he commanded thee. How dost 
 thou then suppose that he will respect a sacrifice 
 out of such tilings as he hath doomed to destruc- 
 tion ? unless perhaps thou dost imagine that it is 
 almost all one to offer it in sacrifice to God as to 
 destroy it. Do thou therefore expect that thy 
 kingdom will be taken from thee, and that 
 authority which thou hast abused by such inso- 
 lent behaviour as to neglect that God who be- 
 stowed it upon thee. " Then did Saul confess that 
 he had acted unjustly, and did not deny that he 
 had sinned, because he had transgressed the in- 
 junctions of the prophet ; but he said that it was 
 out of a dread and fear of the soldiers that he 
 did not prohibit and restrain them when they 
 seized on tho prey. " But forgive me," said he, 
 " and be merciful to me, for I will be cautious 
 how I offend for the time to come." He also 
 entreated the prophet to go back with him, that 
 he might offer his thank-offerings to God ; but 
 Samuel went Jiome, because he saw that God 
 would not be reconciled to him. 
 
 5. But then Saul was so desirous to retain 
 Samuel, that he took hold of his cloak, and be- 
 cause the vehemence of Samuel's departure made 
 the motion to be violent, the cloak was rent. 
 Upon which the prophet said, that after the same 
 manner should the kingdom be rent from him, 
 and that a good and a just man shou'.d take it; 
 that Godperseveredin what he had decreed about 
 him ; that to be mutabla and changeable in what 
 is determined, is agreeable to human passions 
 only, but is not agreeable to the Divine Power. 
 Hereupon Saul said that he had been wicked; 
 but that what was done, could not be undone : 
 he therefore desired him to honour him so far 
 that the multitude might see that he would 
 accompany him in worshipping God. So Samuel 
 granted him that favour, and went with him a^d 
 worshipped God. Agag also, the king of the 
 Amalekites, was brought to him ; and when the 
 king asked, How bitter death was ? Samuel said, 
 "As thou hast made many of the Hebrew mothers 
 to lament and bewail the loss of their chi'dreu, 
 BO shalt thou, by thy death, cause thy mother to 
 lament thee also." Accordingly he gave order 
 to slay him immediately at Gilgal, and then went 
 away to the city Raman. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 HOW, UPON SAUL'S TRANSGRESSION or THE PRO- 
 PHET'S COMMANDS, SAMUEL ORDAINED ANOTHER 
 PERSON TO BE KING PRIVATELY, WHOSE NAME 
 WAS DAVID, AS GOD COMMANDED HIM. 
 
 1. Now Saul being sensible of the miserable 
 condition he had brought himself into, and that 
 he had made God to be his enemy, he went up 
 to his royal palace at Gibeah. which name de- 
 
 notes a hill, and after that day he came no more 
 into the presence of the prophet. And when 
 Samuel mourned for him, God bid him leave off 
 his concern for him, and to take the holy oil, and 
 go to Bethlehem to Jesse the son of Obed, and 
 to anoint such of his sons as he should shew him 
 for their future king. But Samuel said, he was 
 afraid lest Saul, when he came to know of it, 
 should kill him, either by some private method, 
 or even openly. But upon God s suggesting to 
 him a safe way of going thither, he came to the 
 forementioned city; and when they all saluted 
 him, and asked what was the occasion of bis 
 coming, he told them, he came to sacrifice to 
 God. When, therefore, he had gotten the sacri- 
 fice ready, he called Jesse and Ms sons to partake 
 of those sacrifices ; and when he saw "nis eldest 
 son to be a tall and handsome man, he guessed 
 by his comeliness that he was the person who was 
 to be their future king. 3ut ne was mistaken 
 in judging about God's providence; for when 
 Samuel inquired of God w'nether he should anoint 
 this youth whom he so admired, and esteemed 
 worthy of the kingdom, God said, " Men do not 
 see as God seeth. Thou indeed hast respect to 
 the fine appearance of this youth, and thence 
 esteemest him. worthy of the kingdom, while I 
 propose the kingdom as a reward, not of the 
 beauty of bodies, but of the virtue of souls, and 
 I inquire after one that is perfectly comely in 
 that r spect; I mean one who is beautiful in 
 piety,- and righteousness, and fortitude and obe- 
 dience; for in them consists the comeliness of the 
 sou ." When God had said this, Samuel bade Jesse 
 to shew him all his sons. So he made five others 
 f his sons to come to him : of all of whom, Eliab 
 was the eldest, Aminadab the second, Shammah 
 the third, Nathaniel the fourth, Rael the fifth, 
 and Asam the sixth. And when the prophet 
 saw that these were no way inferior to the eldest 
 in their countenances, he inquired of God which 
 of them it was that he chose for their king; and 
 when God said it was none of them, he asked 
 Jesse whether he had not some other sons be- 
 sides these; and when he said that he had one 
 more, named David, but that he was a shepherd, 
 and took care of the flocks, Samuel bade them 
 call him immediately, for that till he was come 
 they could not possibly sit down to the feast. 
 Now, as soon as his father had sent for David, 
 and he was come, he appeared to be of a yellow 
 complexion, of a sharp sight, and a comely per- 
 son in other respects also. This is he, said Sam- 
 uel privately to himself, whom it pleases God to 
 make our king. So he sat down to the feast, and 
 placed the youth under him, and Jesse also, with 
 his other sons; after which he took oil in the 
 presence of David, and anointed him, and whis- 
 pered him in the ear, and acquainted him that 
 God chose him to be their king ; and exhorted 
 him to be righteous, and obectient to his com- 
 mands, for that by this means his kingdom would 
 continue for a long time, and that his house 
 should be of great splendour, and celebrated iu 
 tho world ; that he should overthrow the Philis- 
 tines ; and that against what nations soever he 
 should make war, he should be the conqueror, 
 and survive the fight; and that while he lived 
 he should enjoy a glorious name, and leave such 
 a name to his posterity also. 
 
 2. So Samuel, when he had given him these 
 admonitions, went away. But the Divine Power 
 departed from Saul, and removed to David, who, 
 upon this removal of the Divine Spirit to him, 
 began to prophesy; but as for Saul, some^ strange 
 and demoniacal disorders came upon him, and 
 brought upon him such suffocations aa w^ere ready 
 to choke him; for which the physicians could
 
 134 
 
 find oo other remedy but this, That if any per- 
 3ia oould charm those passions by singing, and 
 playing upon the harp, they advised them to in- 
 quire for such a one, and to observe when these 
 demons came upon him and disturbed him, and 
 to take care that such a person might stand over 
 him, and play upon the harp, and recite hymns 
 to him.* Accordingly Saul did not delay, but 
 commanded them to seek out such a man ; and 
 when a oortain stander-by said he had seen in 
 the city of Bethlehem a son of Jesse, who was 
 yet no more than a child in age, but comely and 
 beautiful, and in other respects one that was de- 
 serving of great regard, who was skilful in play- 
 ing on the harp, and in singing of hymns, [and 
 an excellent soldier in war,] he sent to Jesse, 
 and desired him to take David away from the 
 flocks, and send him to him, for he had a mind 
 to see him, as having heard an advantageous char- 
 acter of his comeliness and his valour. So Jesse 
 sent his sou, and gave him presents to carry to 
 Saul ; and when he was come, Saul was pleased 
 with him, and made him his armour-bearer, and 
 had him in very great esteem ; for he charmed 
 his passion, and was the only physician against 
 the trouble he had from the demons, whensoever 
 it was that it came ujK>n him, and this bv recit- 
 iug of hymns, and playing upon ihe harp, and 
 bringing Saul to his right mind again. However, 
 he sent to Jesse, the father of the child, and de- 
 sired him to permit David to stay with him, for 
 that he was delighted with his sight and company, 
 which stay, that he might not contradict Saul, 
 lie granted. 
 
 CHAPTEPv IX. 
 
 HOW THE PHILISTINES MADE ANOTHER EXPEDI- 
 TION AGAINST THE HEBREWS, UNDER THE REIGN 
 OF SAUL : AND HOW THEY WERE OVERCOME BY 
 DAVID'S SLAYING GOLIATH IN SINGLE COMBAT. 
 
 1. Now the Philistines gathered themselves 
 together again, no very long time afterward : 
 and having gotten together a great army, they 
 made war against the Israelites; and having 
 seized a place between Shochoh and Azekah, 
 they there pitched their camp. Saul also drew 
 out his army to oppose them ; and by pitching 
 his own camp on a certain hill, he forced the 
 Pnihstines to leave their former camp, and to 
 encamp themselves upon such another hill, over 
 against that on which Saul's anny lay, so that 
 a valley, which was between the two hills on 
 which they lay, divided their camps asunder 
 Now there came down a man out of the camp of 
 the Philistines, whose name was Goliath, of the 
 city of Gath, a man of vast bulk, for he was of 
 tour cubits aud a span m tallncss, and had about 
 horn weapons suitable to the largeness of his 
 jody, for he had a breastplate on that weighed 
 five thousand shekels : he had also a helmet and 
 greaves of brass, as large as you would naturally 
 suppose might cover the limbs of so vast a body 
 tUfi spear was also such as was not carried like a 
 ught thing in his right hand, but he carried it as 
 lying on his shoulders. He had also a lance of 
 ^ shekels 5 ^d many followed him to 
 wto" this Goliath stood 
 , as they were in battle- 
 ^nt_out a bad voice, and said to 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK VI 
 
 Saul and tlie Hebrews, " I will free you from 
 fighting and from dangers ; for what necessity is 
 there that your army should fall and be afflicted ? 
 Give ine a man of you that will fight with me, 
 and he that conquers shall have the reward 
 of the conqueror, and determine the war; for 
 these shall serve those others to whom the con- 
 queror shall belong; and certainly it is much 
 better and more prudent to gain what you de- 
 sire 'by the hazard of one man than of all." 
 When he had said this, he retired to his own 
 camp ; but the next day he came again, and 
 used the same words, and did not leave off for 
 forty days together, to challenge the enemy in 
 the same words, till Saul and his army were 
 therewith terrified, while they put themselves 
 in array as if they would fight, but did not come 
 to a close battle. 
 
 2. Now while thin war between the Hebrews 
 ai.d the Philistines was going on, Saul sent away 
 David to his father Jecse, and contented himself 
 with those three sons of his whom he had sent 
 to his assistance, and to be partners in the dan- 
 gers of the war : and at first David returned to 
 feed his sheep and his flocks ; but after no long 
 time he came to the camp of the Hebrews, as 
 sent by his father, to carry provisions to his 
 brethren, and to know what they were doing; 
 while Goliath came again, and challenged them 
 and reproached them, that they had no man of 
 valour among them that durst come down to 
 fight him ; and as David was talking with his 
 brethren about the business for which his father 
 had sent him, he heard the Philistine reproach- 
 ing and abusing the army, and had indignation 
 at it, and said to his brethren, " I am ready to 
 fight a single combat with this adversary." 
 "\Vhereupon Eliab, liis eldest brother, reproved 
 him, and said that he spake too rashly and ini- 
 
 Eroperly for one of his age, and bid him go to 
 is flocks and to his father. So he was abashed 
 at his brother's words, and went away, but still 
 he spake to some of the soldiers that he was 
 willing to fight with him that challenged them. 
 And when they had informed Saul what was 
 the resolution of the young man, the king sent 
 for him to come to him : and when the king 
 asked what he had to say, he replied, "O king, 
 be not cast down, nor afraid, for I will depress 
 the insolence of this adversary, and will go down 
 and fight with him, and will bring him under 
 me, as tall and as great as he is, till he shall be 
 sufliciently laughed at, and thy army shall get 
 great glory when he shall be slain by one that is 
 not yet of man's estate, neither fit for fighting, 
 nor capable of being intrusted with the marshal- 
 ling an army, or ordering a battle, but by one 
 that looks like a child, said is really no older in 
 age than a child." 
 
 3. Now Saul wondered at the boldness and 
 alacrity of David, but durst not presume on his 
 ability, by reason of his age ; but said, he must 
 on that account be too weak to fight with one 
 
 perience already of hi* assistance; for I once 
 pursued after and caught a lion that assaulted 
 my flocks, and took away a lamb from them, 
 and I snatched the lamb from out of the wild 
 beast's mouth, and when he leaped upon me 
 with violence, I took him by the tail, and dashed 
 him against the ground. In the same manner 
 did I avenge myself on a bear also; and let this 
 adversary of ours be esteemed like one of these 
 wild beasts, since he has a long while reproached 
 our aruiy and blasphemed our God, who yet will 
 reduce him under my power."
 
 CHAP. X.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF IKK 
 
 4. However, Saul prayed that the end might 
 be, by God's assistance, not disagreeable to the 
 alacrity and boldness of the child ; and said, 
 "Go thy way to the fight." So he put about 
 him his breastplate, and girded on his sword, 
 and fitted the helmet to his head, and sent him 
 away. But David was burdened with his ar- 
 mour, for he had not been exercised to it, nor 
 had he learned to walk with it ; so he said, 
 
 ' Let this armour be thine, O king, who art 
 able to bear it; but give me leave to fight as 
 thy servant, and as I myself desire." Accord- 
 ingly he laid by the armour, and taking his staff 
 with him, and putting five stones out of the 
 brook into a shepherd's bag, and having a sling 
 in his right hand, he went towards Goliath. 
 But the adversary seeing him come in such a 
 manner, disdained him, and jested upon him, as 
 if he had not such weapons with him as are 
 usual when one man fights against another, but 
 such as are used in driving away and avoiding of 
 dogs ; and said, " Dost thou take me not for a 
 man, but a dog ? " To which he replied, " No, 
 not for a dog, but for a creature worse than a 
 dog." This provoked Goliath to anger, who 
 thereupon cursed him by the name of God, and 
 threatened to give his flesh to the beasts of the 
 earth, and to the fowls of the air, to be torn in 
 pieces by them. To whom David answered, 
 Thou coinest to me with a sword, and with a 
 spear, and with a breastplate ; but I have God 
 for my armour in coming against thee, who will 
 destroy thee and all thy army by my hands ; 
 for I will this day cut off thy head, and cast tha 
 other parts of thy body to the dogs; and all 
 men shall learn that God is the protector of the 
 Hebrews, and that our armour and our strength 
 is in hia providence ; and that without God'a 
 assistance, all other warlike preparations and 
 power are useless." So the Philistine being re- 
 tarded by the weight of his armour, wken he 
 attempted to meet David in haste, came on but 
 slowly, as despising him, and depending upon it 
 that he should slay him who was both unarmed 
 and a child also, without any trouble at all. 
 
 5. But the youth met his antagonist, being 
 accompanied with an invisible assistant, who 
 was no other than God himself. And taking 
 one of the stones that he had out of the brook, 
 and had put into his shepherd's bag, and fitting 
 it to his sling, he slang it against the Philistine. 
 This stone fell upon his forehead, and sank into 
 his brain, insomuch that Goliath was stunned, 
 and fell upon his face. So David ran, and stood 
 upon his adversary as he lay down, and cut off 
 his head with his own sword; for he had no 
 sword himself. And upon the fall of Goliath, 
 the Philistines were beaten r and fled ; for when 
 they saw their champion prostrate on the 
 ground, they were afraid of the entire issue of 
 their affairs, and resolved not to stay any longer, 
 but committed themselves to an ignominious 
 and indecent flight, and thereby endeavoured to 
 save themselves from the dangers they were in. 
 But Saul and the entire army of the Hebrews 
 made a shout and rushed upon them, and slew 
 a great number of them, and pursued the rest 
 to the borders of Gath, and to the gates of 
 Ekron ; so that there were slain of the Philis- 
 tines thirty thousand, and tw'ioe as many 
 wounded. But Saul returned to their camp, 
 and pulled their fortifications to pieces, and 
 burnt it; but David carried the head of Goliath 
 into hifi own tent, but dedicated his sword to 
 God, [at the tabernacle.] 
 
 CHAPTER . 
 
 SAUL ENVIES DAVID FOR HIS GLORIOUS SUCCESS, 
 AND TAKES AN OCCASION OF ENTRAPPING HIM, 
 FBOM THE PROMISE HE WADE HIM UF GIVING 
 HIM HIS DAUGHTER IN MARRIAGE; BUT THIS 
 UPON CONDITION OF BRINGING HIM SIX HUS- 
 DRED HEADS OF THE PHILISTINES. 
 
 1. Now the women were an occasion of Saul's 
 envy and hatred to David; for they came to 
 meet their victorious army with cymbals and 
 drums, and all demonstrations of joy, and sang 
 thus: the wives said, that "Saul had slaiu his 
 many thousands of the Philistines ." the virgins 
 replied, that "David has slain his ten thou- 
 sands." Now, when the king heard them sing- 
 ing thus, and that he had himself the smallest 
 share in their commendations, and the greater 
 number, the ten thousands, were ascribed to the 
 young man ; and when he considered with him- 
 self that there was nothing more wanting to 
 David, after such a mighty applause, but the 
 kingdom, he began to be afraid and suspicious 
 of David. Accordingly, he removed him from 
 the station he was in before, for he was his 
 armour-bearer, which, out of fear, seemed to 
 him much too near a station for him ; and so tui 
 made him captain over a thousand, and be- 
 stowed on him a post better indeed in itself, but, 
 as he thought, more for his own security ; for he 
 had a mind to send him against the enemy, and 
 into battles, as hoping he would be slain in such 
 dangerous conflicts. 
 
 2. But David had God going along with him 
 whithersoever he went, aud accordingly he 
 greatly prospered in his undertakings, and it 
 was visible that he had mighty success, insomuch 
 that Saul's daughter, who was still a virgin, fell 
 in love with him ; and her affection so far pre- 
 vailed over her, that it could not be concealed, 
 and her father became acquainted with it. Now 
 Saul heard this gladly, as intending to make use 
 of it for a snare against David, and he hoped 
 that it would prove the cause of desti-uction and 
 of hazard to him; so he told those that informed 
 him of his daughter's affection, that he would 
 willingly give David the virgin in marriage, and 
 said, " I engage myself to many my daughter to 
 him if he will bring me sis hundred heads of my 
 enemies,* supposing that when a reward so 
 ample was proposed to him, and when he should 
 aim to get him great glory, by undertaking a 
 thing so dangerous and incredible, he would im- 
 mediately set about it, and so perish by the 
 Philistines ; and my designs about him will suc- 
 ceed finely to my mind, for I shall be freed from 
 him, and get him slain, not by myself, but by 
 another man." So he gave order to his servants, 
 to try how David would relish this proposal of 
 marrying the damsel. Accordingly, they began 
 to speak thus to him : That king Saul loved him, 
 as well as did all the people, and that he was 
 desirous of bis affinity by the marriage of thia 
 damsel. To which he gave this answer: 
 " Seerneth it to you a light thing to be made the 
 king's son-in-law! It does not seem so to me, 
 especially when I am ono of a family that is low, 
 and, without any glory or honour." Now when 
 
 * Josephus says thrice in this chapter, and twice 
 afterwards, that Saul required not a bare hundred of 
 the foreskins of the PhHistines, but six hundred of 
 their heads. The Septuagint have 100 foreskins, bat 
 the Syriac and Arabic 200. Now that these were not 
 foreskins, with our other copies, but keads, with Jo- 
 eephus's copy, seems somewhat probable, from 1 SMB. 
 iisix. 4.
 
 136 
 
 Saul was informed by his servants what answer 
 David had made, he said, "Tell him that I do 
 not want any money or dowry from him, winch 
 would be rather to set my daughter to sale 
 than to give her in marriage; but I desire only 
 such a son-in-law as hath in him fortitude, and 
 all other kinds of virtue," of which he saw 
 David was possessed, and that his desire was to 
 receive of him, on account of marrying his 
 daughter, neither gold nor silver, nor that he 
 should bring such wealth out of his father's 
 house, but only some revenge on the Philistines, 
 and, indeed, six hundred of their heads, than 
 which a more desirable or a more glorious pre- 
 sent could not be brought him; and that ne had 
 much rather obtain this than any of the accus- 
 tomed dowries for his daughter viz., that she 
 should be married to a man of that character, 
 and to one who had a testimony as having con- 
 quered his enemies. 
 
 3. When these words of Saul were brought to 
 David, he was pleased with them, and supposed 
 that Saul was really desirous of this affinity with 
 him ; so that, without bearing to deliberate any 
 longer, or casting about in his mind whether 
 what was proposed was possible, or was difficult 
 or not, he and his companions immediately set 
 upon the enemy, and went about doing what 
 was proposed as the condition of the marriage. 
 Accordingly, becaus' it was God who made all 
 things easy and pof rfible to David, he slew r^any 
 [of the Philistine? J and cut off the heads of six 
 hundred of them , and came to the king, and by 
 shewing him thes_e heads of the Philistmes, re- 
 quired that he might have his daughter in mar- 
 riage. Accordingly Saul, having no way of 
 getting off his engagements, as thinking it a 
 base thing either to seem a liar when he pro- 
 mised him this marriage, or to appear to have 
 acted treacherously by him, in putting him upon 
 what was in a manner impossible, in order to 
 have him slain, he gave him bin daughter ia 
 marriage : her name was JlichaL 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK VI. 
 
 CHAPTEE XL 
 
 HOW DAVID, OPON SAUL'S LATINO SNAKES FOB 
 HIM, DID YET ESCAPE THE DANGERS HE WAS IN, 
 BY THE AFFECTION AND CARE OF "JONATHAN, 
 AND THE CONTRIVANCES OF HIS WIFE MICHAL; 
 AKD HOW HE CAMK TO SAMUEL THE PROPHET. 
 
 1. HOWEVER, Saul was not disposed to perse- 
 vere long in the state wherein he was ; for when 
 he saw that David was in great esteem both with 
 God and with the multitude, he was afraid- 
 and being not able to conceal his fear as concern- 
 ing great things, his kingdom and his life, to ue 
 deprived of either of which was a very great 
 calamity, he resolved to have David slain ; and 
 commanded his son Jonathan and his most faith- 
 ful servants to kill him : but Jonathan wondered 
 at his father's change with relation to David 
 that it should bo made to so great a decree 
 from shewing him no small goodwill, to contrive 
 flow to have him killed. Now, because he loved 
 the young man, and reverenced him for his 
 Tirtue, he informed him of the secret charge his 
 
 atner had given him, and what his intentions 
 were concerning him. However, he advised him 
 to take care and be absent the next day, for 
 
 bat he would salute his father, and, if he met 
 b a favourable opportunity, he would dis- 
 course with him about him, and learn the cause 
 of 1m dupst and shew how little ground there 
 was for it, and that for it he ought not to kill a 
 
 man that had done so many good things to th 
 multitude, and had been a benefactor to himself, 
 on account of which he ought in reason to ob- 
 tain pardon, had he been guilty of the greatest 
 crimes: and "I will then inform thee of my 
 father's resolution." Accordingly, David com- 
 plied with such an advantageous advice, and 
 kept himself then out of the king's sight. 
 
 2. On the next day Jonathan came to Saul, as 
 soon as he saw him in a cheerful and joyful dis- 
 position, and began to introduce a discourse 
 about David: "What unjust action, O father, 
 either little or great, hast thou found so excep- 
 tionable in David, as to induce thee to order us 
 to slay a man who hath been of great advantage 
 to thy own preservation, and of still greater to 
 the punishment of the Philistines ? A man who 
 hath delivered the people of the Hebrews from 
 reproach and derision, which they underwent for 
 forty days together, when he alone had courage 
 enough to sustain the challenge of the adversary, 
 and aftur that brought as many heads of our 
 enemies as he was appointed to bring, and had, 
 as a reward for the same, my sister in marriage : 
 insomuch that his death would be very sorrowful 
 to us, not only on account of his virtue, but on 
 account of the nearness of our relation ; for thy 
 daughter must be injured at the same time that 
 he ia slain, and must be obliged to experience 
 widowhood before she can come to enjoy any 
 advantage from their mutual conversation. Con- 
 sider these things, and change your mind to a 
 more merciful temper, and do no mischief to a 
 man who, in the first place, hath done us the 
 greatest kindness of preserving thee ; for when 
 an evil spirit and demons had seized upon theo, 
 he cast them out, and procured rest to thy sou] 
 from their incursions : and, in the second place, 
 hath avenged us of our enemies ; for it is a base 
 thing to forget such benefits." So Saul was pa- 
 cified with these words; and sware to his son 
 that he would do David no harm ; for a righteous 
 discourse proved too hard for the king's anger 
 and fear. So Jonathan sent for David, and 
 brought him good news from his father, that he 
 waa to be preserved. He also brought him to 
 his father ; and David continued with the king, 
 as formerly. 
 
 3. About this time it was that, upon the Phi- 
 listines making a new expedition against the 
 Hebrews, Saul sent David with an army to fight 
 with them ; and joining battle with them he slew 
 many of them, and after his victory he returned 
 to the king. But his reception by Saul was not 
 as he expected upon such success, for he was 
 grieved at his prosperity, because he thought he 
 would be more dangerous to him by having 
 acted so gloriously : but when the demoniacal 
 spirit came upon him, and put him into disorder, 
 and disturbed him, he called for David into hia 
 bed-chamber wherein he lay, and having a spear 
 in his hand, he ordered him to charm mm with 
 playing on his harp, and with singing hymns; 
 which when David did at his command, he with 
 great force threw the spear at him ; but David 
 was aware of it before it came, and avoided it, 
 and fled to hia house, and abode theie all that 
 day. 
 
 4. But at night the king sent officers, and 
 commanded that he should be watched till the 
 morning, lest he should get quite away, that he 
 iright come into the judgment-hall, and so might 
 be delivered up, and condemned and slain. But 
 when Michal, David's wife, the king's daughter- 
 understood what her father designed, she camo 
 to her husband, as having small hopes of his de- 
 liverance, and as greatly concerned about hei 
 own life also, for she could not bear to live i"
 
 CHAP. XI.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE 
 
 case slie were deprived of Lim ; and she said, 
 " Let not the sun find thee here when it rises, 
 for if it do, that will be the last time it will see 
 thee : fly away then while the night may afford 
 the opportunity, and may God lengthen it for 
 thy sake ! for know this, that if my father find 
 thee, thou art a dead man." So she let him 
 down by a cord out of the window, and saved 
 him : and after she had done so, she fitted up a 
 bed for him as if he were sick, and put under the 
 bed-dothes a goat's liver ;* and when her father, 
 as soon as it was day, sent to seize David, she 
 said to those that were there, that he had not 
 been well chat night, and shewed them the bed 
 covered, and made them believe, by the leaping 
 of the liver, which caused the bed-clothes to 
 move also, that David breathed like one that was 
 asthmatic. So when those that were sent told 
 Saul that David had not been well in the night, 
 he ordered him to be brought ia that condition, 
 for he intended to kill him. Now when they 
 came, and uncovered the bed, and found out the 
 woman's contrivance, they told it to the king ; 
 and when her father complained of her that she 
 had saved his enemy, and had put a trick upon 
 himself, she invented this plausible defence for 
 herself, and said, That when he threatened to 
 kill her, she lent him her assistance for his pre- 
 servation, out of fear ; for which her assistance 
 she ought to be forgiven, because it was not done 
 of her own free choice, but out of necessity : 
 " For," said she, " I do not suppose that thou 
 wast so zealous to kill thy enemy, as thou wast 
 that I should be saved. " Accordingly Saul for- 
 gave the damsel; but David, when he had escaped 
 this danger, came to the prophet Samuel to 
 Ramah, and told him what snare the king had 
 laid for him, and how he was very near to death 
 by Saul's throwing a spear at him, although he 
 had been no way guilty with relation to him, nor 
 had he been cowardly in his battles with his 
 enemies, but had succeeded well in them all, by 
 God's assistance ; which thing WHS indeed the 
 cause of Saul's hatred to David 
 
 5. When the prophet was made acquainted 
 with the unjust proceedings of the kin^j, he left 
 the city Eamah, and took David with Lim, to a 
 certain place called Naioth, and there he abode 
 with him. But when it was told Saul that David 
 was with the prophet, he sent soldiers to him, 
 and ordered them to take him and bring him to 
 him ; and when they came to Samuel, and found 
 there a congregation of prophets, they became 
 partakers of the Divine Spirit, and began to 
 prophesy, which when Saul heard of, he sent 
 others to David, who prophesying in like manner 
 aa did the first, he again sent others ; which 
 third sort prophesying also, at last he was angry, 
 and went thither in great haste himself ; and 
 when he was just by the place, Samuel, before 
 he saw him, made him prophesy also. And 
 when Saul came to him, he was disordered in 
 mind,+ and under the vehement agitation of a 
 pint; and, putting off his garments, he fell 
 
 * Since the Septuagint, as well as Josephus, render 
 the word here used the liver of Ihe goat ; and since this 
 rendering is so clear and probable, it is almost unac- 
 countable that our commentators should so much as 
 hesitate about its true interpretation. 
 
 f These agitations of Saul seem to me to have been 
 DO other than demoniacal ; and that the same demon 
 which used to seize him, since he was forsaken of Qod, 
 was now in a judicial way brought upon him not only 
 in order to disappoint his intentions against David, but 
 to expose him to the contempt of all that saw him. 
 
 t What is meant by Saul's lying down naked all that 
 .lay, and all that night, and whether any more than 
 laying aside his royal apparel, or upper garments, is by 
 no means certain. 
 
 down, and lay on the ground all that day and 
 night, in the pretence of Samuel and David. 
 
 6. And David went thence, and came to Jona- 
 than, the son of Saul, and kmented to him 
 what snares were laid for him by his father ; and 
 said, that though he had been guilty of no evil, 
 nor had offended against him, yet he was very 
 zealous to get him killed. Hereupon Jonathan 
 exhorted him not to give credit to such his own 
 suspicions, nor to the calumnies of those that 
 raised those reports, if there were any that did 
 so, but to depend on him, and take courage ; for 
 that his father had no such intentions, since he 
 would have acquainted him with that matter, 
 and have taken his advice, had it been so, as he 
 used to consult with him in common when he 
 acted in other affairs. But David sware to him 
 that so it was; and he desired him rather to 
 believe him, and to provide for his safety, than 
 to despise what he, with great sincerity, told 
 him : that he would believe what he said, when 
 he should either see him killed himself, or learn 
 it upon inquiry from others : and that the rea- 
 son why his father did not tell him of these 
 things was this, that he knew of the friendship 
 and affection that he bore towards him. 
 
 7. Hereupon, when Jonathan found that this 
 intention of Saul was so well attested, he asked 
 him what he would have him do for him ? To 
 which David replied, " I am sensible that thou 
 art willing to gratify me in everything, and pro- 
 cure me what I desire. Now, to-morrow is the 
 new moon, and I was accustomed to sit down 
 then with the king at suppei : now, if it seem 
 good to thee, I will go out of the city, and con- 
 ceal myself privately there ; and if Saul inquire 
 why I am absent, tell him that I am gone to my 
 own city Bethlehem, to keep a festival with my 
 own tribe; and add this also, that thou gavest 
 me leave so to do. And if he say, as is usually 
 said in the case of friends that are gone abroad. 
 It is well that he went, then assure thyself that 
 no latent mischief or enmity may be feared at 
 his hand ; but if he answer otherwise, that will 
 be sure sign that he has some designs against 
 me. Accordingly thou shalt inform me of thy 
 father's inclinations ; and that, out of pity to my 
 case and out of thy friendship for me, as instances 
 of which friendship thou hast vouchsafed to 
 accept of the assurances of my love to thee, and 
 to give the like assurances to me, that is, those 
 of a master to his servant; but if thou discover- 
 est any wickedness in me, do thou prevent thy 
 father, and kill ae thyself." 
 
 8. But Jonathan heard these last words with 
 indignation, and promised to do what he desired 
 of him, and to inform him if his father's answeri 
 implied any thing of a melancholy nature, and 
 any enmity against him. And that he might the 
 more firmly depend upon him, he took him out 
 into the open field, into the pure air, and sware 
 that he would neglect nothing that might tend 
 to the preservation of David; and he said, " I 
 appeal to that God, who, as thou seest, is diffused 
 everywhere, and knoweth this intention of mine, 
 before I explain it in words, as the witness of 
 this my covenant with thee, that I will not leave 
 off to make frequent trials of the purpose of my 
 father till I learn whether there be any lurking 
 distemper in the most secret parts of his soul ; 
 and when I have learnt it, I will not conceal it 
 from thee, but will discover it to thee, whether 
 he be gently or peevishly disposed ; for this God 
 himself knows, that I pray he may always be 
 with thee, for he is with thee now, and will not 
 forsake thee, and will make thee superior to 
 thine enemies, whether my father be one of them 
 or whether I myself be such. Do thou only r*-
 
 138 
 
 member what we now do ; and if it fall out tlmt 
 I die, preserve uiy children alive, and requite 
 what kindness thou hast now received to them. 
 When he had thus sworn, be dismissed David, 
 bidding him go to a certain place of that plain 
 wherein he used to perform his exercises ; for 
 that, as soon as he knew the mind of his father, 
 he would come thither to him with one servant 
 only; "and if," says he, "I shoot three darts 
 at the mark, and then bid my servant to carry 
 these three darts away, for they are before him, 
 know thou that there is no mischief to be 
 feared from my father ; but if thou hearest me 
 say the contrary, expect the contrary from the 
 king. However, thou shalt gain security by my 
 means, and shalt by no means suffer any harm ; 
 but see thou dost not forget what I have desired 
 of thee in the time of thy prosperity, and be 
 serviceable to my children. Now David, when 
 he had icceived these assurance* from Jonathan, 
 went his way to the place appointed. 
 
 9. But on the next day, which was the new 
 moon, the king, when he had purified himself, as 
 the custom was, came to supper ; and wlien there 
 sat by him his son Jonathan on his right hand, 
 and Abner, the captain of his host, on the other 
 hand, he saw David's seat was empty, but said 
 nothing, supposing that he had not purified him- 
 self since he had accompanied with his wife, and 
 so could not be present ; but when he saw that 
 he was not there the second day of the me nth 
 neither, he inquired of his son Jonathan why the 
 son of Jesse did not come to the supper and the 
 feast, neither the day before nor that day. So 
 Jonathan said that he was gone, according to the 
 agreement between them, to his own city, where 
 his tribe kept a festival, and that by his per- 
 mission : that he also invited him to come to 
 their sacrifice; "and," says Jonathan, "if thou 
 wilt give me leave, I will go thither, for thou 
 knowest the good-will that I bear him ; " and 
 then it was that Jonathan understood his father's 
 hatred to David, and plainly saw his entire dis- 
 position ; for Saul could not restrain his anger, 
 but reproached Jonathan, and called him the son 
 of a runagate, and an enemy ; and said he was a 
 partner with David, and his assistant, and that 
 by his behaviour he shewed he had no regard to 
 himself, or to his mother, and would not be per- 
 suaded of this that while David is alive, their 
 kingdom was not secure to them; yet did he 
 bid him send for him, that he might be punished : 
 and when Jonathan said, in answer, " What 
 hath he done that thou wilt punish him ? " Saul 
 no longer contented himself to express his anger 
 in bare words, but snatched up his spear, and 
 leaped upon him, and was desirous to kill him. 
 He did not indeed do what he intended, because 
 he was hindered by his friends ; but it appeared 
 plainly to hia son that he hated David, and 
 greatly desired to despatch him, insomuch tht 
 he had almost slain his son with his own hands 
 on his account 
 
 10. And then ix was that the king's son rose 
 rfastily from supper ; and being unable to admit ! 
 anything into his mouth for grief, he wept all 
 night, both because he had himself been neai 
 destruction, and because the death of David was ; 
 determined ; but as soon as it was day, he went 
 out into the plain that was before the city, as 
 going to perform his exercises, but in reality to 
 inform his friend what disposition his father was 
 to towards him, as he had agreed with him to 
 
 ; and when Jonathan had done what had been 
 thus agreed, he dismissed his servant that fol- 
 uwed him, to return to the city ; but he himself 
 
 t into the desert, and came into his presence, 
 communed with him. So David ai)r*ared. 
 
 OJE' THE JJiWS. 
 
 [BOOK vi, 
 
 and fell at Jonathan's feet, and bowed down to 
 him, and called him the preserver of his soul j 
 but he lifted him up from the earth, and they 
 mutually embraced one another, and made a 
 long greeting, and that not without tears. They 
 also lamented their age, and that familiarity 
 which envy would deprive them of, and thai 
 separation which must now be expected, which 
 named to them no better than death itself. So 
 recollecting themselves at length from their 
 lamentation, and exhorting one another to be 
 mindful of the oaths they had sworn to each 
 other, they parted asunder. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 HOW DAVID FLED TO AHIMELECn, AND AFTER- 
 WARDS TO THE KINGS OP THE 1'HILISTINKS 
 AND OF THE MOABITES ; AND HOW SAUL SLEW 
 AHIMELECH AND HIS FAMILY. 
 
 1. BUT David fled from the king, and that 
 death he was in danger of by him, and came tc 
 the city Nob, to Ahimelech the priest, who 
 when he saw him coming all alone, and neithei 
 friend nor a servant with him, he wondered at 
 it, and desired to learn of him the cause why 
 there was nobody with him. To which David 
 answered, That the king had commanded him 
 to do a certain thing that was to be kept secret, 
 to which, if he had a mind tc know so much, he 
 had no occasion for any one to accompany him ; 
 " however, I have ordered my servants to meet 
 me at such and such a place." So he desired 
 him to let him have somewhat to eat ; and thai 
 in case be would supply him, he would act the 
 part of a friend, and be assisting to the business 
 oie was now about : and when he had obtained 
 what he desired, he also asked him whether he 
 had any weapons with him, either sword 01 
 spear. Now there was at Nob a servant of Saul, 
 by birth a Syrian, whose name was Doeg, one 
 that kept the king's mules. The high priest 
 said hat he had no such weapons ; but lie added, 
 "Here is the sword of Goliath, which, when 
 thou hadst slain the Philistine, thou didst 
 dedicate to God." 
 
 2. When David had received the sword, he 
 fled out of the country of the Hebrews into that 
 of the Philistines, over which Achisli reigned ; 
 and when the king's servants, knew him, and he 
 was made known to the king himself, the ser- 
 vants informing him that he was that David who 
 had killed many ten thousands of the Phili- 
 tines, David was afraid lest the king should put 
 him to death, and that he should experience 
 that danger from him which he had escaped 
 from Saul ; so he pretended to be distracted and 
 mad, so that his spittle ran out of his mouth ; 
 and he did other the like actions before the lung 
 of Gath, which might make him believe that 
 they proceeded from such a distemper. Accord- 
 ugly the king was very angry at his servants 
 that they had brought him a madman, and he 
 gave orders that they should eject D-ivid imme- 
 diately [out of the city.] 
 
 3. So when David had escape din this mannei 
 out of Gath, he came to the tribe of Judah, and 
 abode in a cave by the city of Adullain. Then 
 it was that he sent to his brethren, and informed 
 them where he was, who then came to him with 
 all their kindred, and as many others as were 
 either in want or in fear cf king Saul, came and 
 made a body together, and told him they were 
 ready to obey his orders ; they were in all about 
 four hundred. Whereuoon he took courage.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 139 
 
 now such a lorcc and assistance wan come to 
 him; so he removed thence, and came to the 
 king of the Moabites, and desired him to enter- 
 tain his parents in his country while the issue of 
 his affairs were in such an uncertain condition. 
 The king granted him this favour, and paid great 
 respect to David's parents all the time they were 
 with him. 
 
 4. As for himself, up n the prophet's com- 
 manding him to leavo th desert, and to go into 
 the portion of the tribe of Judah, and abide 
 there, he complied therewith ; arid coming to 
 the city Hareth, which was in that tribe, he re- 
 mained there. Now when Saul heard that 
 David had been seen with a multitude about 
 him, he fell into no small disturbance and 
 trouble ; but as he knew that David was a bold 
 xnd courageous man, he suspected that some- 
 what extraordinary would appear from him, and 
 chat openly also, which would make him weep 
 -md put him into distress; so he called together 
 to him his friends, and his commanders, and tha 
 tribe from which he was himself derived, to tha 
 hill where his palace was ; and sitting upon a 
 place called Aroura, his courtiers that were in 
 dignities, and the guards of his body, being with 
 him, he spake thus to them : " You that are 
 men of my own tribe, I conclude that you re- 
 member the benefits that I have bestowed upon 
 you, and that I have made some of you owners 
 of land, and made you commanders, and be- 
 stowed posts of honour upon you, and set some 
 of you over the common people, and others 
 over the soldiers ; I ask you, therefore, "Whether 
 you expect greater and more donations from the 
 3on of Jesse? for I know that you are all inclin- 
 able to him, (even my own son Jonathan himself 
 is of that opinion, and persuades you to be of 
 the same ;) for I am not unacquainted with the 
 oaths and the covenants that are between him 
 and David, and that Jonathan is a counsellor 
 ind an assistant to those that conspire against 
 tne, and none of you are concerned about these 
 things, but you keep silence and watch, to see 
 what will be the upshot of these things." When 
 the king had made this speech, not one of the 
 rest of those that were present made any answer; 
 but Doeg the Syrian, who fed his mules, said, 
 that he saw David when he came to the city Nob 
 to Ahimelech the high priest, and that he learned 
 future events by his prophesying ; that he re- 
 ceived food from him, and the sword of Goliath, 
 and was conducted by him with security to such 
 as he desired to go to. 
 
 5. Saul, therefore, sent for the high priest, 
 and for all his kindred, and said to them, 
 " What terrible or ungrateful thing hast thou 
 suffered from me, that thou hast received the 
 son of Jesse, and hast bestowed on him both 
 food and weapons, when he was contriving to 
 get the kingdom? and further, Why didst thou 
 aeliver oracles to him concerning futurities? for 
 thou couldst not be unacquainted that he was 
 fled away from me, and that he hated my 
 family." But the high priest did not betake 
 himself to deny what he had done, but confessed 
 boldly that he had supplied him with these" 
 things not to gratify David, but Saul himself : 
 and he said, " 1 did not know that he was thy 
 adversary, but a servant of thine, who was very 
 faithful to thee. and a captain over a thousand 
 of thy soldiers, uu5. what is more than these, 
 thy eon-in-law, and kinsman. Men do not 
 choose to confer such favours on their adver- 
 saries, but on those who are esteemed to bear 
 the highest good-will and respect to them. Nor 
 is this the first thne that I prophesied for him, 
 but I have done it often, and at other times as 
 
 well as now. And when he toid me that he was 
 sent by thee in great haste to do somewhat, if I 
 had furnished him with nothing that he desired, 
 I should have thought that it was rather in con- 
 tradiction to thee than to him; wherefore do 
 not thou entertain any ill opinion of me, nor do 
 thou have a suspicion of what I then thought an 
 act of humanity, from what is now told thee of 
 David's attempts against thee, for I did then to 
 him as to thy friend and son-in-law, and captain 
 of a thousand, and not as to thine adversary." 
 
 6. When the high priest had spoken thus, he 
 did not persuade Saul, his fear was so prevalent, 
 that he could not give credit to an apology that 
 was very just. So he commanded his armed 
 men that stood about him to kill him, and all 
 his kindred ; hut as they durst not touch the 
 high priest, but were more afraid of disobeying 
 God than the king, he ordered Doeg the Syrian 
 to kill them. Accordingly, he took to his assist- 
 ance such wicked men as were like himself, and 
 slew Ahimelech and all his family, who were in 
 all three hundred aud eighty-five. Saul also 
 Bent to Nob, ' the city of the priests, and slew 
 all that were there, without sparing either, 
 women or children, or any other age, and burnt 
 it ; only there was one s"on of AhiuieJeoh, whose 
 name was Abiathar, who escaped. However, 
 these things came to pass as God had foretold 
 to Eli the high priest, when he said that his 
 posterity should be destroyed, on account of the 
 transgressions of his two sons. 
 
 7. T Now this king Saul, by perpetrating so bar- 
 barous a crime, and murdering the whole family 
 of the high priestly dignity, by having no pity of 
 the infants, nor reverence for the aged, and by 
 overthrowing the city which God had chosen for 
 the property, and for the support of the priests 
 end prophets which were there, and had ordained 
 as the only city allotted for the education of such 
 men, gives all to understand and consider the dis- 
 position of men, that while they are private per- 
 sons, and in a low condition, because it is not in 
 their power to indulge nature, nor to venture 
 upon what they wish for, they are equitable and 
 moderate, and pursue nothing but what is just, 
 and bend their whole minds and labours that 
 way ; then it is that they have this belief about 
 God, that he is present to all the actions of their 
 lives, and that he does not only see the actions 
 that are done, but clearly knows those their 
 thoughts also, whence those actions do arise; 
 but when once they are advanced into power and 
 authority, then they put off all such notice sand, 
 aa if they were no other than actors upon a 
 theatre, their disguised parts and manners, and 
 take up boldness, insolence, and a contempt of 
 both human and divine laws, and this at a time 
 when they especially stand in need of piety and 
 righteousness, because they are then most of all 
 exposed to envy, and all they think and all they 
 
 * Nob was not a city allotted to the priests, nor had 
 the prophets any ]> articular cities allotted them. It 
 ueems the tabernacle was now at Nob, and probably a 
 school of the prophets was here also. It was full two 
 days' journey on foot from Jerusalem, (1 Sam. xxi. 5.) 
 This city seems to have been the chief seatof the family 
 of Ithamar, which here perished, according to God's 
 former terrible threatenings to Eli, (i San . li. 27-3; 
 iii. 11-18.) 
 
 f This section contains an admirable reflection ol 
 Josephus concerning the wickedness of men in great 
 authority, and the danger they are in of rejecting that 
 regard to justice and humanity, to. Divine Pi evidence 
 and the fear of God, which they either really had, or 
 pretended to have, while the)' were in a lower condition. 
 It is to the like purport with one branch of Agur'r 
 prayer : ' Give me not riches, let I be full, and deny 
 ''ee. and sav. Who is the Lord?" CProv. xix. 8, P.)
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK VI 
 
 gay are in the view of all men ; then it is that they 
 become so insolent in their actions, as though God 
 a\v them no longer, or were afraid of them because 
 of their power: anil whatsoever it is that they 
 either are afraid of by the rumours they hear, or 
 they hate by inclination, or they love without 
 reason, these seem to them to be authentic, and 
 firm, and true, and pleasing both to men and to 
 God ; but as to what will come hereafter, they 
 have not the least regard to it. They raise those 
 to honour indeed who have been at a great deal 
 of pains for them, and after that honour they 
 envy them ; and when they have brought them 
 .nto high dignity, they do not only deprive them 
 of what they had obtained, but also on that very 
 account of their lives also, and that on wicked 
 accusations, and such as on account of their ex- 
 travagant nature are incredible. They also 
 punish men for their actions, not such as deserve 
 condemnation, but from calumnies and accusa- 
 tions without examination; and this extends not 
 only to such as deserve to be punished, but to as 
 many as they are able to kill. This reflection is 
 openly confirmed to us from the example of Saul, 
 the son of Kish, who was the first king who 
 reigned after our aristocracy and government 
 under the judges were over; and that by his 
 slaughter of three hundred priests and prophets, 
 on occasion of his suspicion about Ahimelech, 
 and by the additional wickedness of the over- 
 throw of their city, and this as if he were endea- 
 vouring in some sort to render the temple [taber- 
 nacle] destitute both of priests and prophets ; 
 which endeavour he shewed by slaying so many 
 of them, and not suffering the very city belong- 
 ing to them to remain, that so others might 
 succeed them. 
 
 8. But Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, who 
 alone could be saved out of the family of priests 
 slain by Saul, fled to David, and informed him 
 of the calamity that had befallen their family, 
 and of the slaughter of his father : who hereupon 
 said, He was not unapprised of what would follow 
 with relation to them when he saw Doeg there ; 
 for he had then a suspicion that the high priest 
 would be falsely accused by him to the king ; and 
 he blamed himself as having been the cause of 
 this misfortune. But he desired him to stay 
 there, and abide with him, as in a place where 
 he might be better concealed than anywhere 
 else. 
 
 CHAPTEJR XIIL 
 
 HOW DAVID, WHEN HE HAD TWICE THE OPPORTU- 
 NITY OP KILLING 8ADL, DID NOT KILL HIM; 
 ALSO, CONCERNING THE DEATH OP SAMUEL AND 
 NABAL. 
 
 L ABOUT this time it was that David heard 
 how the Philistines had made an inroad into the 
 country of Keilah, and robbed it; so he offered 
 himself to fight against them, if God, when he 
 should be consulted by the prophet, would grant 
 him the victory. And when the prophet said 
 that God gave a signal of victory, he made a 
 sudden onset upon the Philistines with his com- 
 panions, and he shed a great deal of their blood 
 and earned off their prey, and stayed with the in- 
 habitants of Keilah till they had securely gathered 
 to their corn and their fruits. However, it was 
 told baul the king that David was with the men 
 
 >l K-eilah; for what had been done, and the great 
 UOJCM that had attended him, were not con- 
 ^n THl th , e people where the thin S s were 
 
 , * ^t^ f ^ me of it; went a11 abr <>ad, and 
 ie to the hearing of others, and both the fart 
 
 as it stood and the author of the fact, were car- 
 ried to the king's ears. Then was Saul glad when 
 he heard David was in Keilah : and he said, " God 
 hath now put him into my hands, since he hath 
 obliged him to come into a city that hath walla, 
 and gates, and bars;" so he commanded all the 
 people suddenly, and when they had besieged 
 and taken it to kill David. But when David 
 perceivedthis, and learned of God that if he stayed 
 there the men of Keilah would deliver him up 
 to Saul, he took his four hundred men and re- 
 tired into a desert that was over-against a city 
 called Engedi. So that when the king heard that 
 he was fled away from the men of Keilah, he left 
 off his expedition against him. 
 
 2. Then David removed thence, and came to n 
 certain place called the New Place, belonging fr> 
 Ziph; where Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to 
 him, and saluted him, and exhorted him to be of 
 good courage, and to hope well as to his condition 
 hereafter, and not to despond at his present cir- 
 cumstances, for that he should be king, and have 
 all the forces of the Hebrews under him : he told 
 him that such happiness uses to come with great 
 labour and pains : they also took oaths that they 
 would, all their lives long, continue in good-will 
 and fidelity one to another ; and he called God to 
 witness as to what execrations he had made upon 
 himself if he should transgress his covenant, and 
 should change to a contrary behaviour. So Jona- 
 than left him there, having rendered his carea 
 and fears somewhat lighter, and returned home. 
 Now the men of Ziph, to gratify Saul, informed 
 him that David abode with them, and [assured 
 him] that if he would come to them, they would 
 deliver him up, for that if the king would seize 
 on the straits of Ziph, David would not escape 
 to any other people. So the king commended 
 them, and confessed that he had reason to thank 
 them, because they had given him information of 
 his enemy; and he promised them, that it should 
 not be long ere he would requite their kindness. 
 He also sent men to seek for David, and to search 
 the wilderness wherein he was ; and he promised 
 that he himself would follow them Accordingly 
 they went before the king, to hunt for and to 
 catch David, and used endeavours not only to 
 shew their good-will to Saul, by informing him 
 where his enemy was, but to evidence the same 
 more plainly by delivering him up into his power. 
 But these men failed of those their unjust and 
 wicked desires, who, while they underwent no 
 hazard by not discovering such an ambition of 
 revealing this to Saul, yet did they falsely accuse 
 and promised to deliver up a man beloved by 
 God, and one that was unjustly sought after to 
 be put to death, and one that might otherwise 
 have lain concealed, and this out of flattery, and 
 expectation of gain from the king; for when 
 David was apprised of the malignant intentions 
 of the men of Ziph, and the approach of Saul, he 
 left the Straits of that country and fled to the 
 great rock that was in the wilderuea3 of Maon. 
 
 3. Hereupon Saul made h.isto to piirsue him 
 thither; for, as he was marching:, he learned 
 that David was going away from the Straits of 
 Ziph, and Saul removed to the other side of the 
 rock. But the report that the Philistines had 
 again made an incursion into the country of tho 
 Hebrews, called Saul another way from the pur- 
 suit of David, when he was ready to be caught ; 
 for he returned back again to oppose those Phil- 
 istines who were naturally their enemies, as 
 judging it more necessary to avenge himself of 
 them than to take a great deal of pains to catch 
 an enemy of his own, and to overlook the rarage 
 that was made in the land. 
 
 4. And by this means David unexpectedly es
 
 CHAP. XIIL] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THi. JEVvb. 
 
 caped out of the danger he was in, and came to 
 the Straits of Engedi ; and when Saul had driven 
 the Philistines out of the land, there came some 
 messengers, who told him that David abode 
 within the bounds of Engedi ; so he took three 
 thousand chosen men that were armed, and 
 made haste to him ; and when he was not far 
 from those places, he saw a deep and hollow 
 cave by the wayside ; it was open to a great 
 length and breadth, and there it was that David 
 with his four hundred men were concealed. 
 When, therefore, he had occasion to ease nature, 
 he entered into it by himself alone ; and being 
 seen by one of David's companions, and he that 
 saw him saying to him that he had now, by 
 God's providence, an opportunity of avenging 
 himself of his adversary ; and advising him to 
 cut off his head, and so deliver himself out of 
 that tedious wandering condition, and the dis- 
 tress he was in, he rose up and only cut off the 
 skirt of that garment which Saul had on ; but 
 he soon repented of what he had done ; and said 
 it was not right to kill him that was his master, 
 and one whom God had thought worthy of the 
 kingdom : "for that although he were wickedly 
 disposed towards us, yet does it not behove me 
 to be so disposed towards him." But when Saul 
 had left the cave, David came near and cried out 
 aloud, and desired Saul to hear him ; whereupon 
 the king turned his face back, and David, ac- 
 cording to custom, fell down on his face before 
 the king, and bowed to him ; and said, " O king, 
 thou oughtest not to hearken to wicked men, 
 nor to such as forge calumnies, nor to gratify 
 them so far as to believe what they .say, nor to 
 entertain suspicions of such as are your best 
 friends, but to judge of the dispositions of all 
 men by their actions ; for calumny deludes men, 
 but men's own actions are a clear demonstration 
 of their kindness. "Words, indeed, in their own 
 nature, may be either true or false, but men's 
 notions expose their intentions nakedly to our 
 view. By these, therefore, it will be well for 
 thee to believe me, as to my regard to thee and 
 to thy house, and not to be&evo those that 
 frame such accusations against me as never came 
 into my mind, nor are possible to be executed, 
 and do this further by pursuing after my life, 
 and have no concern either day or night, but how 
 to compass my life and to murder me, which 
 thing I think thou dost unjustly prosecute ; for 
 how comes it about that thou hast embraced this 
 false opinion about me, as if I had a desire to kill 
 thee? or how canst thou escape the crime of 
 impiety towards God, when thou wishest thou 
 couldst kill, and deemest thine adversary a man 
 who had it in his power this day to avenge him- 
 self, and to punish thee, but would not do it ? 
 nor make use of such an opportunity, which, if it 
 had fallen out to thee against me, thou hadst not 
 let it slip, lor when I cut off the skirt of thy gar- 
 ment, I could have done the same to thy head." 
 So he shewed him the piece of his garment, and 
 thereby made him agree to what he had said to 
 be true; and added, "I, for certain, have ab- 
 ctained from taking a just revenge upon thee, yet 
 art thou not ashamed to prosecute me with un- 
 just hatred.* May God do justice and determine 
 about each of our dispositions ! " But SanlwHB 
 amazed at the strange delivery he had received ; 
 and, being greatly affected with the moderation 
 and the disposition of the young man, he groaned; 
 and when David had done the same, the king an- 
 
 * The phrase in David's speech, thathe had abstained 
 from just revenge, puts me in mind of the like words in 
 the Apostolical Constitutions, b. vii. ch. ii. : "That re- 
 venjre is nt evil, but that patience is more honourable." 
 
 swered that he had the justest occasion to groan, 
 " for thou hast been the author of good to me. 
 as I have been the author of calamity to thee; 
 and thou hast demonstrated this day, that thou 
 possessest the righteousness of the ancients, who 
 determined that men ought to save their enemies, 
 though they caught them in a desert place. 1 
 am now persuaded that God reserves the king- 
 dom for thee, and that thou wilt obtain the do- 
 minion over all the Hebrews. Give me then 
 assurances upon oath, That thou wilt not root 
 out my family, nor, out of remembrance of what 
 evil I have done thee, destroy my posterity, but 
 save and preserve my house." So David sware 
 as he desired, and sent back Sau) to his own 
 kingdom ; but he, and those that were *vith him. 
 went up the Straits of Mastheroth . 
 
 5. About this time Samuel the prophet died. 
 He was a man whom the Hebrews honoured in 
 an extraordinary degree; for that lamentation 
 which the people made for him, and this during 
 a long time, manifested his virtue, and the affec- 
 tion which the people bore for him ; as also did 
 the solemnity and concern that appeared about 
 his funeral, and about the complete observation 
 of all his funeral rites. They buried him in his 
 own city of Raman; and wept for him a very 
 great number of days, not looking on it as a sorrow 
 for the death of another man, but as that in 
 which they were every one themselves concerned. 
 He was a righteous man, and gentle in his nature ; 
 and on that account he was very dear to God. 
 Now he governed and presided over the people 
 alone, after the death of Eli the high priest, 
 twelve years, and eighteen years together with 
 Saul the king. And thus we have finished the 
 history of SamueL 
 
 6. There was a man that was a Ziphite, of the 
 city of Maon, who was rich, and had a vast num- 
 ber of cattle ; for he fed a flock of three thousand 
 sheep, and another flock of a thousand goats. 
 Now David had charged his associates to keep 
 these flocks without hurt and without damage, 
 and to do them no mischief, neither out of covet- 
 ousness, nor because they were in want, nor 
 because they were in the wilderness, and so 
 could not easily be discovered, but to esteem 
 freedom from injustice above all other motives, 
 and to look upon the touching of what belonged 
 to another man as a horrible crime, and contrary 
 to the will of God. These were the instructions 
 he gave, thinking that the favours he granted 
 this man were granted to a good man, and one 
 that deserved to have such care taken of his 
 affairs. This man was Nabal, for that was hia 
 name a harsh man, and of a very wicked life ; 
 being like a cynic in the course of his behaviour 
 but still had obtained for his wife a woman of a 
 good character, wise and handsome. To this 
 Nabal, therefore, David sent ten men of his at- 
 tendants at the time when he sheared his sheep, 
 and by them saluted him ; and also wished he 
 might do what he now did for many years to 
 come, but desired him to make him a present of 
 what he was able to give him, since he had, to be 
 sure, learned from his shepherds that we had 
 done them no injury, but had been their guard- 
 ians % long time together, while we_ continued in 
 the vrilderness ; and he assured him he should 
 never repent of giving anything to David. When 
 the messengers had carried this message to Nabal, 
 he accosted them after an inhuman and rough 
 manner; for he asked them who David was? and 
 when he heard that he was the eon of Jesse, he 
 said, "Now is the time that fugitives grow in- 
 solent, and make a figure, and leave their mas- 
 ters." When they told David this, he wa 
 wroth, and commanded four hundred armed men
 
 142 
 
 ANTIQUTTIKS OF 1HE JEWS. 
 
 IBOOK vi. 
 
 to follow him, and left two hundred to take care 
 of the stuff, (for he had already six hundred,) 
 and went against Nabal : he also swore that t 
 would that ni-ht utterly destroy the whole 
 
 also reproached them, and used ill language 
 them, when he had received 110 cause of disgust 
 from them. 
 
 7. Hereupon one of those that kept tne flocks 
 of Nabal, said to his mistress, Nabal * wife, that 
 when David sent to her husband he had received 
 no civil answer at all from him; but that her 
 husband had moreover added very reproachful 
 language, while yet David had taken extraordin- 
 ary care to kwp his flocks from harm, and that 
 what had passed would prove very pernicious to 
 his master. When the servant had said this, 
 Abigail, for that was his wife's name, saddled 
 her asses, and loaded them with all sorts of 
 presents ; and, without telling her husband any- 
 thing of what she was about (for he was not sen- 
 sible on account of his drunkenness) she went to 
 David. She was then met by David as she was 
 descending a hill, who was coming against Nabal 
 with four hundred met. When the woman saw 
 David, she leaped down from her ass, and fell on 
 her face, and bowed down to the ground ; and 
 entreated him not to bear in mind the words of 
 Nabal, since he knew that he resembled his 
 name. Now Nabal, in the Hebrew tongue, sig- 
 nifies folly. So she made her apology, that she 
 did not see the messengers whom he sent. ' ' For- 
 give me, therefore," said she, "and thank God, 
 who hath hindered thee from shedding human 
 blood ; for so long as thou keepest thyself inno- 
 cent, he will avenge thee of wicked men,* for 
 what miseries await Nabal, they will fall upon 
 the heads of thine enemies. Be thou gracious 
 to me, and think me so far worthy as to accept 
 of these presents from me ; and, out of regard to 
 me, remit that wrath and that anger which thou 
 hast against my husband and his house, for 
 mildness and humanity become thee, especially 
 as thou art to be our king." Accordingly David 
 accepted her presents, and said, "Nay, but, O 
 woman, it waa no other than God's mercy which 
 brought thee to us to-day ; for, otherwise, thoa 
 hadst never seen another day, I having sworn to 
 destroy Nabal's house thia very night, ) and to 
 leave alive not one of you who belonged to a 
 man that was wicked and ungrateful to me and 
 my companions; but now hast thou prevented 
 me, and seasonably mollified my anger, as being 
 thyself under the care of God's providence : but 
 as for Nabal, although for thy sake he now escape 
 punishment, he will not always avoid justice ; for 
 his evil conduct, on some other occasion, will be 
 his rain." 
 
 8. When David had said this, he dismissed the 
 woman. But when she came home and found 
 
 * In this and the two next sections, we may perceive 
 how Abigail would understand the "not avenging our- 
 selves, but heaping up coals of fire on the bead of I r e 
 injurious," (Prov. xxv. 22; Rom. xii. 20;) not as we 
 commonly do now, of melting them into kindness, but 
 of leaving them to the judgment of God, "to whom 
 vengeance] belongeth," (Deut. xxxii. 35 ; Ps. xciv. 1 ; 
 Ueb. x. 30,) and who will take vengeauce on the 
 wioked. 
 
 f How sacred soever an oath was esteemed among 
 the people of God in old times, they did not think it 
 obligatory where the action waa plainly unlawful. It 
 was so in this case of David, who, although he had sworn 
 to destroy Nabal and his family, yet does he bless God 
 for preventing his keeping his oath, and from shedding 
 blood, as lw had sworn to do. 
 
 her husband feasting with a great company, and 
 oppressed with wine, she said nothing to him 
 then about what had happened ; but on the- next 
 day, when he was sober, she told him all the 
 particulars, and made his whole body to appear 
 like that of a dead man by her words, and by 
 that grief which arose from them ; so Nabal sur- 
 vived ten days, and no more, and then died. 
 And when David heard of his death, he said that 
 God had justly avenged him of this man, for 
 that Nabal had died by his own wickedness, and 
 had suffered punishment on his account, while 
 he had kept his own hands clean. At which 
 time he understood that the wicked are prose- 
 cuted by God ; that he does not overlook any 
 man, but bestows on the good what is suitable to 
 them, and inflicts a deserved punishment on 
 the wicked. So he sent to Nabal's wife, and 
 invited her to come to him, to live with him, and 
 to be his wife. Whereupon she replied to those 
 that came, that she was not worthy to touch hia 
 feet ; however, she came, with all her servants, 
 and became his wife, having received that hon 
 our on account of her wise and righteous courst 
 of life. She also obtained the same honour 
 partly on account of her beauty. Now David 
 had a wife before, whom he married from the 
 city Abesar ; for as to Michal, the daughter of 
 king Saul, who had been David's wife, her father 
 had given her in marriage to Phalti, the sou of 
 Laish, who was of the city of Gallim. 
 
 9. After this came certain of the Ziphites, and 
 told Saul that David was come again into their 
 country, and, if he would afford them his assist- 
 ance, they could catch him. So he came to 
 them with three thousand armed men ; and 
 upon the approach of night, he pitched his 
 camp at a certain place called Hachilah. But 
 when David heard that Saul was coming against 
 him, he sent spies, and bid them let him know 
 to what place of the country Saul was already 
 come ; and when they told him that he was at 
 Hachilah, he concealed his going away from his 
 companions, and came to Saul's camp, having 
 taken with him Abishai, his sister Zerniah's son. 
 and Ahimelech the Hittite. Now Saul was 
 asleep, and the armed men, with Abner their 
 commander, lay round about him in a circle, 
 Hereupon David entered the king's tent ; but he 
 did neither kill Saul, though he knew where he 
 lay, by the spear that was stuck down by him, 
 nor did he give leave to Abishai, who would 
 have killed him, and was earnestly bent upon it 
 so to do ; for he said it was a horrid crime to 
 kill one that was ordained king by God, although 
 he was a wicked man ; for that he who gave him 
 the dominion would in time inflict punishment 
 upon him. So he restrained his eagerness ; but 
 that it might appear to have been in his power 
 to have killed him when he refrained from it, 
 he took his spear, and the cruse of water which 
 stood_ by Saul as he lay asleep, without being 
 perceived by any in the camp, who were all 
 asleep, and went securely away, having per- 
 formed everything among the king's attendants 
 that the opportunity afforded, and his boldness 
 encouraged him to do. So when lie had passed 
 over a brook, and was gotten up to the top of a 
 hill, whence he might be sufficiently heard, he 
 cried aloud to Saul's soldiers, and to Abner their 
 commander, and awaked them out of their sleep, 
 and called both to him and to the people. 
 Hereupon the commander heard him, ancf asked 
 who it was that called him. To whom David 
 replied, "It is I, the son of Jesse, whom you 
 make a vagabond. But what is the matter? 
 Dost thou, that art a man of so great dignity, 
 rid of the first rank in the king's court, take so
 
 CHAP. XIV.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES Oi< THE JEWS. 
 
 little care of thy master's body? aud is sleep of 
 more consequence to thee than his preservation 
 and thy care of him? This negligence of yours 
 deserves death, and punishment to be inflicted 
 on you, who never perceived when, a little while 
 ago, some of uo entered into your camp, nay, as 
 far as to the king himself, and to all the rest of 
 you. If thou look for the kind's spear and his 
 cruse ' ater, thou wilt learn what a mighty 
 misfortune was ready to overtake you in your 
 very camp without your knowing it." Now 
 when Saul knew David's voice, and understood 
 that when he had him in his power while he was 
 asleep, and his guards took no care of him, yet 
 did not he kill him, but spared him, when he 
 might have cut him off, he said that he owed 
 him thanks for his preservation ; and exhorted 
 him to be of good courage, and not be afraid of 
 suffering any mischief from him any more, and 
 to return to his own home, for he was now per- 
 suaded that he did not love himself so well as 
 he was loved by him : that he had driven away 
 him that could guard him, and had given many 
 demonstrations of his good-will to him : that he 
 had forced him to live so lung in a state of 
 banishment, aud in great fears of his life, desti- 
 tute of his friends and his kindred, while still 
 he was often saved by him, and frequently re- 
 ceived his life again when it was evidently in 
 danger of perishing. So David bade them send 
 for the spear and the cruse of water, and take 
 them back ; adding this withal, That God would 
 be the judge of both their dispositions, and of 
 the actions that flowed from th-j same, "who 
 knows that when it was this day in my pf^wer to 
 have killed thee, I abstained from it." 
 
 10. Thus Saul having escaped the hands of 
 David twice, he went bis way to his royal palace, 
 and his own city: but David was afraid, that if 
 he stayed there he should be caught by Saul ; so 
 he thought it better to go up into the land of 
 the Philistines and abide there. Accordingly, 
 he came with the six hundred men that were 
 with him to Achish, the king of Gath, which was 
 one of their five cities. Now the king received 
 both him and his men, and gave them a place to 
 inhabit in. He had with him also his two 
 wives, Ahinoam and Abigail; and he dwelt in 
 Gath. But when Saul heard this, he took no 
 further care about sending to him, or going after 
 him, because he had been twice in a manner 
 caught by him, while he was himself endeavour- 
 ing to catch him. However, David had no 
 mind to continue in the city of Gath, but de- 
 sired the king, that since he had received him 
 with such humanity, that he would grant him 
 another favour, and bestow upon him some 
 place of that country for his habitation, for he 
 was ashamed, by living in the city, to be griev- 
 ous aud burdensome to him. So Acliish gave 
 him a certain village called Zfklag ; which placs 
 David and his sons were fond of when he was 
 king, and reckoned it to be their peculiar in- 
 nre. But about those matters we shall 
 give the reader further information elsewhere. 
 Now the time that David dwelt in Ziklai;, in the 
 ..and of tL 1'hilistines, waa lour months and 
 twenty daya. And now he privately attacked 
 those GesLvirlies and Amalekites that were 
 neighbours to the Philistines, and Laid waste 
 their country, and took much prey of their 
 beasts and camels, and then returned home ; but 
 David abstained from the men, as fearing they 
 hould discover him to king Achish ; yet did he 
 send part of the prey to him as a free gift. And 
 Hrhfln the king inquired whom they had attacked 
 vhen they brought away the prey, he said, those 
 tht lay to the south of the JPWS. pr.<\ inhabited 
 
 in the plain ; whereby he persuaded Achisis to 
 approve of what he had done, for he hoped that 
 David had fought against his own nation, and 
 that now he should have him for his servant all 
 his life long, and that he would stay in his 
 country. 
 
 CHAPTER XTV. 
 
 HOW SAUL, UPON GOD'S NOT ANSWERING HIM CON- 
 CERNING THB SIGHT WITH THE PHILISTINES, 
 DESIRED A NECROMANTIC WOMAN TO RAISE UP 
 THE SOUL OF SAMDEL TO HIM ; AND HOW HE 
 DIED, WITH HIS SONS, UPON THE OVERTHROW 
 Of THB HEBREWS IN BATTLE. 
 
 1. ABOUT the same time the Philistines re- 
 solved to make war against the Israelites, and 
 sent to all their confederates that they would 
 go along with them to the war to Keggan, [near 
 the city Shuuem,] whence they might gather 
 themselves together and suddenly attack the 
 Hebrews. Then did Achish, the king of Gath, 
 desire David to assist them with his armed men 
 against the Hebrews. This he readily pro- 
 mised; and said that the time was now come 
 wherein he might requite him for his kindness 
 and hospitality ; so the king promised to make 
 him the keeper of his body after the victory, 
 supposing that the battle with the enemy suc- 
 ceeded to their mind ; which promise of honoui 
 and confidence he made on purpose to increase 
 his zeal for his service. 
 
 2. Now Saul, the king of the Hebrews, had 
 cast out of the country the fortune-tellers, and 
 the necromancers, and all such as exercised the 
 like arts, excepting the prophets ; but when he 
 heard that the Philistines were already come, 
 and had pitched their camp near the city 
 Shunem, situate in the plain, he made haste to 
 oppose them with his forces ; and when he was 
 come to a certain mountain called Gilboa, he 
 pitched his camp over against the enemy ; but 
 when he saw the enemy's army he was greatly 
 troubled, because it appeared to him to be 
 numerous, and superior to his own ; and he in- 
 quired of God by the prophets concerning the 
 battle, that he might, know beforehand what 
 would be the event of it ; and when God did not 
 answer him, Saul was under a still greater dread, 
 and his courage fell, foreseeing, as was but rea- 
 sonable to suppose, that mischief would befall 
 him, now God was not there to assist him ; yet 
 did he bid his servants to inquire out for him 
 some woman that was a necromancer, and called 
 up the souls of the dead, that so he might know 
 whether his affairs would succeed to his mind ; 
 for this sort of necromantic women that bring 
 up the souls of the dead, do by them foretell 
 future events to such as desire them. And one 
 of his servants told him that there was such a 
 woman in the city Endor, but was known to no- 
 body in the camp ; hereupon Saul put off his 
 royal apparel, and took two of those his servants 
 with him, whom he knew to be moat faithful to 
 him, and came to Endor to the woman, and 
 entreated her to act the part of a fortune-teller, 
 and to bring up such a soul to him as he should 
 name to her. But when the woman opposed his 
 motion, and said, She did not despise the king 
 who had banished this sort of fortune-tellers, 
 and that he did not do well himself, when she 
 had done him no harm, to endeavour to lay a 
 snare for her, and to discover that she exercised 
 a forbidden art, in order to procure her to be 
 punished, he sware that nobody should know 
 what she did and that he would not teP any
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 LBOOK n. 
 
 one elae what she foretold, but that she should 
 incur no danger. As soon as he had induced 
 her by this oath to fear no harm, he bade her 
 brin" up to him the soul of Samuel. She not 
 knowing who Samuel was, called him out of 
 Hades. When he appeared, and the woman 
 aw one that was venerable, and of a divine 
 form, she was hi disorder, and, being astonished 
 at the sight, she said, "Art not thou king 
 Saul?" for Samuel had informed her who he 
 was. When he had owned that to be true, and 
 had asked her whence her disorder arose, she 
 eaid, that she saw a certain person ascend, who 
 in his form was like to a god. And when he 
 bid her tell him what he resembled, in what 
 habit he appeared, and of what age he was, she 
 told him tie was an old man already, and of a 
 glorious personage, and had on a sacerdotal 
 mantle. So the king discovered by these signs 
 that he was Samuel; and he fell down upon the 
 ground and saluted and worshipped him. And 
 when the soul of Samuel asked him why he had 
 disturbed him, and caused him to be brought 
 up, he lamented the necessity he was under; 
 for he said, that his enemies pressed heavily 
 upon him ; that he was in distress what to do 
 in his present circum stances ; that he was for- 
 saken of God, and could obtain no prediction of 
 what was coming, neither by prophets nor by 
 dreams : and that "these were the reasons why 
 I have recourse to thee, who always tookest care 
 of me." But * Samuel, seeing that the end of 
 Saul's life was come, said, " It is in vain for 
 thee to desire to learn of me anything further, 
 when God has forsaken thee: however, hear 
 what I say, that David is to be king, and to 
 finish this war with good success : and thou art 
 to lose thy dominion and thy life, because thou 
 didst not obey God in the war with the Amale- 
 kites, and hast not kept his commandments, as 
 I foretold thee while I was alive. Know, there- 
 fore, that the people shall be made subject to 
 their enemies, and that thou, with thy sons, 
 shall fall in the battle to-morrow, and thon fhalfc 
 then be with me [in Hades.]" 
 
 3. When Saul heard this, he could not speak 
 for grief, and fell down on the floor, whether it 
 were from the sorrow that arose upon what 
 Samuel had said, or from his emptiness, for h e 
 had taken no food the foregoing day nor night, 
 he easily fell quite down : and when with diffi- 
 culty he had recovered himself, the woman 
 would force him to eat, begging this of him as a 
 favour on account of her concern in that danger- 
 ous instance of fortune-telling, which it was not 
 lawful for her to have done, because of the fear 
 she was under of the king, while she knew not 
 who he was, yet did she undertake it, and go 
 through with it ; on which account she entreated 
 him to admit that a table and food might be set 
 before him, that he might recover his strength, 
 and so get safe to his own camp. And when he 
 opposed her motion, and entirely rejected it, by 
 reason of his anxiety, she forced him, and at last 
 persuaded him to it. Now she had one calf that 
 she was very fond of, and one that she took a 
 great deal of care of, and fed it herself, for she 
 was a woman that got her living by the labour 
 of her own hands, and had no other possession 
 
 * Thig history of Saul's consultation with a necro- 
 mancer is easily understood, especially if we consult 
 Bcclus xlvi. 20. Samuel prophesied after his death, 
 shewed the king his end, and lift up his voice 
 na the earth in prophecy," to blot out "the wicked- 
 mnr*> e Pe . p1 ?- \ Nor does the exactness of the 
 " 1 f thi8 Faction, the very next day, 
 n * the 
 
 but that one calf ; this she killed, and made 
 ready its flesh, and set it before his servants and 
 himself. So Saul came to the camp while ii 
 was yet night. 
 
 4. Now it is but just to recommend the gene- 
 rosity of this woman,t because when the king 
 had forbidden her to use that art whence hei 
 circumstances were bettered and improved, and 
 when she had never seen the king before, she 
 still did not remember to his disadvantage that 
 he had condemned her sort of learning, and did 
 not refuse him as a stranger, and one that she 
 had had no acquaintance with ; but she had com- 
 passion upon him, and comforted him, and ex- 
 horted him to do what he was greatly averse to, 
 and offered him the only creature she had, as a 
 poor woman, and that earnestly, and with great 
 humanity, while she had no requital made her 
 for her kindness, nor hunted after any future 
 favour from him, for she knew he was to die ; 
 whereas men are naturally either ambitious to 
 please those that bestow benefits upon them, or 
 are very ready to serve those from whom they 
 may receive some advantage. It would be well 
 therefore to imitate the example of this woman, 
 and to do kindnesses to all suchasare in want; and 
 to think that nothing is better, nor more becom- 
 ing mankind, than such a general beneficence, 
 nor what sooner will render God favourable, and 
 ready to bestow good things upon us. And so 
 far may suffice to have spoken concerning this 
 woman. But I ehall speak further upon another 
 subject, which will afford me an opportunity ol 
 discoursing on what is for the advantage of cities, 
 and people, and nations, and suited to the taste 
 of good men, and will encoprage them all in the 
 prosecution of virtue, and is capable of shewing 
 them the method of acquiring glory, and an ever- 
 lasting fame; and of imprinting in the kings of 
 nations, and the rulers of cities, great inclination 
 and diligence of doing well; as also of encourag- 
 ing them to undergo dangers, and to die for their 
 countries, and of instructing them how to despise 
 all the most terrible adversities; and I have a 
 fair occasion offered me to enter on such a dis- 
 course by Saul king of the Hebrews ; for although 
 he knew what was coming upon him, and that 
 he was to die immediately by the prediction of 
 the prophet, he did not resolve to fly from death, 
 nor so far to indulge the love of life as to betray 
 his own people to the enemy, or to bring a dis- 
 grace on his royal dignity; but, exposing him- 
 self, as well as all his family and children to 
 dangers, he thought it a brave thing to fall to- 
 gether with them, as he was fighting for his sub- 
 jects, and that it was better his sons should die 
 thus, shewing their courage, than to leave them </" 
 their uncertain conduct afterward, while, instead 
 of succession and posterity, they gained com- 
 mendation and a lasting name. Such a one 
 alone seems to me to be a just, a courageous, and 
 a prudent man ; and when any one has arrived 
 at these dispositions, or shall hereafter arrive at 
 them, he is the man that ought to be by all hon- 
 oured with the testimony of a virtuous or cou- 
 rageous man ; for as to those who go out to war 
 with hopes of success, and that they shall return 
 safe, supposing they should have performed some 
 glorious action, I think those do not do well who 
 call those valiant men, as so many historians, and 
 other writers who treat of them are wont to do, 
 although I confess those do justly deserve some 
 
 t These commendations of this woman of Endor, and 
 of Saul's courage, when yet he knew he should die in the 
 battle, are somewhat unusual digressions in Josephus. 
 They seem extracted from some declamations composes) 
 formerly, in the way of oratory, that lay by him, and 
 which he thoe^t fit to insert upon this occasion.
 
 CUIAT. XIY.J 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 146 
 
 commendation also ; but those only may be styled 
 courageous and bold in great undertakings, and 
 despisersof adversities, who imitate Saul; for as 
 ! for those that do not know what the event of 
 war will be as to them selves, and though they do 
 not faint in it, but deliver themselves up to un- 
 certain futurity, and are tossed this way and that 
 way, this is not so very eminent an instance of a 
 generous mind, although they happen to perform 
 many great exploits : but when men's minds ex- 
 pect no good event, but they know beforehand 
 they must die, and that they must undergo that 
 death in the battle also, after this, neither to be 
 affrighted nor to be astonished at the terrible fate 
 that is coming, but to go directly upon it when 
 they know it beforehand, this it is that I esteem 
 the character of a man truly courageous. Ac- 
 cordingly this Saul did, and thereby demon- 
 strated, that all men who desire fame after they 
 are dead, are so to act as they may obtain the 
 same : this especially concerns kings, who ought 
 not to think it enough in their high stations that 
 they are not wicked in the government of their 
 subjects, but to be no more than moderately good 
 to them. I could say more than this about Saul 
 and his courage, the subject affording matter 
 sufficient; but that I may not appear to run out 
 improperly in his commendation, I return again 
 to that history from which I made this digres- 
 sion. 
 
 5. Now when the Philistines, as I said before, 
 had pitched their camp, and had taken an account 
 of their forces, according to their nations, and 
 kingdoms, and governments, king Achish came 
 last of all with his own army; after whom came 
 David with his six hundred armed men. And 
 when the commanders of the Philistines saw 
 him, they asked the king whence these Hebrews 
 came, and at whose invitation. He answered, 
 That it was David, who who was fled away from 
 his master Saul, and that he had entertained him 
 when he camo to him, and that now he was will- 
 ing to make him this requital for his favours, 
 and to avenge himself upon Saul, and so was be- 
 come his confederate. The commanders com- 
 plained of this, that he had taken him for a con- 
 federate who was an enemy ; and gave him coun- 
 sel to send him away, lest he should unawares do 
 his friends a great deal of mischief, by entertain- 
 ing him, for that he afforded him an opportunity 
 of being reconciled to his master, by doing a mis- 
 chief to our army. They thereupon desired him, 
 out of a prtident foresight of this, to send him 
 away with his six hundred armed men, to the place 
 he had given him for his habitation ; for that this 
 was that David whom the virgins celebrated in 
 their hymns, as having destroyed many ten thou- 
 sands of the Philistines. When the king of Gath 
 heard this, he thought they spake well ; so he 
 called David, and said to him, "As for myself, 
 I can bear witness that thou hast shewn great 
 diligence and kindness about me, and on that 
 account it was that I took thee for my confeder- 
 ate ; however, what I have done does not please 
 the commanders of the Philistines, go therefore 
 within a day's time to the place I have given 
 thee, without suspecting any harm, and there 
 keep my country, lest any of our enemies should 
 make an incursion upon it. which will be one part 
 of that assistance which I expect from thee." 
 So David came to Ziklag, as the king of Gath bade 
 him ; but it happened, that while he was gone to 
 the assistance of the Philistines, the Amalekites 
 had made an incursion, and taken Ziklag before, 
 and had burnt it ; and when they had taken a 
 great deal of other prey out of that place, and 
 out of the other parts of the Philistines' country, 
 they departed. 
 
 6. Now when David found that Ziklag was 
 laid waste, and that it was all spoiled, and that 
 as well as his own wives, who were two, as the 
 wives of his companions, with their children, 
 were made captives, he presently rent his clothes, 
 weeping and lamenting, together with his friends; 
 and indeed he was so cast down with these mis- 
 fortunes, that at length tears themselves failed 
 him. He was also in danger of being stoned to 
 death by his companions, who were greatly 
 afflicted at the captivity of their wives and chil- 
 dren, for they laid the blame upon him of what 
 had happened ; but when he had recovered him- 
 self out of his grief, and had raised up his mind 
 to God, he desired the high priest Abiathar to 
 put on his sacerdotal garments, and to inquire of 
 God, and to prophecy to him, Whether God 
 w_ould grant, that if he pursued after the Amale- 
 kites, he should overtake them, and save their 
 wives and their children, and avenge himself on 
 the enemies? and when the high priest bade 
 him to pursue after them, he marched apace, 
 with his four hundred men, after the enemy ; 
 and when he was come to a certain brook called 
 Besor, and had lighted upon one that was wan- 
 dering about, an Egyptian by birth, who was 
 almost dead with want and famine, (for he had 
 continued wandering about without food in the 
 wilderness three days,) he first of all gave him 
 sustenance, both meat and drink, and thereby 
 refreshed him. He then asked him to whom he 
 belonged, and whence he came. Whereupon 
 the man told him he was an Egyptian by birth, 
 and was left behind by his master, because he 
 was so sick and weak that he could not follow 
 him. He also informed him that he was one of 
 those who had burnt and plundered, not onlj 
 other parts of Judea, but Ziklag itself also. So 
 David made use of him as a guide to find out the 
 Amalekites ; and when he had overtaken them, 
 as they lay scattered about on the ground, some 
 at dinner, some disordered, and entirely drunk 
 with wine, and in the fruition of their spoils and 
 their prey, he fell upon them on the sudden, and 
 made a great slaughter among them, for they 
 were naked, and expected no such thing, but had 
 betaken themselves to drinking and feasting, and 
 so they were all easily destroyed. Now some of 
 them that were overtaken as they lay at th# 
 table, were slain in that posture ; and their blood 
 brought up with it their meat and their drink. 
 They slew others of them an they were drinking 
 to one another in their cups ; and some of them 
 when their full bellies had made them fall asleep; 
 and for so many as had time to put on their 
 armour, they slew them with the sword, with no 
 less ease than they did those that were naked ; 
 and for the partisans of David, they continued 
 also the slaughter from the first hour of the day 
 to the evening, so that there were not above four 
 hundred of the Amalekites left ; and they only 
 escaped by getting upon their droBeedaries and 
 camels. Accordingly David recovered not only 
 all the other spoils which the enemy had carried 
 away, but his wives also, and the wives of hi 
 companions ; but when they were come to the 
 place where they had left the two hundred men, 
 which were not able to follow them, but wew 
 left to take care of the stuff, the four hundred 
 men did not think fit to divide among them any 
 other parts of what they had gotten, or of the 
 prey, since they did not accompany them, but 
 pretended to be f.eble, and did not follow them 
 ra the pursuit of the enemy, but said they should 
 be contented to have safely recovered their 
 wives ; yet did David pronounce that this opinion 
 of theirs was evil and unjust, and that when Gofl 
 had granted them such a favoui, that they had
 
 I'Ki 
 
 ANTIQUITIES Uif THIS JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK VI 
 
 nvengod themselveti on their enemies, and had 
 recovered all that belonged to themselves they 
 ghouldmake an equal distribution of what they 
 had gotten to all, because the rest had tame* 
 behind to guard their stuff ; and from that tune 
 this law obtained among them, that those who 
 cuarded the stuff should receive an equal shove 
 with those that had fought in the battle. Now 
 when David was come to Ziklag, he sent portions 
 of the spoils to all that had been familiar with 
 liim, and to his friends in the tribe .of Judah ; 
 und thus ended the affairs of the plundering o 
 Zikla". and of the slaughter of the Araalekites. 
 
 7. Now upon the Philistines joining battle. , 
 there followed ft sharp engagement, and the Phil- 
 istines became the conquerors, and slew a great 
 number of their enemies ; but Saul the king of 
 Israel, and his sons, fought couiageously, and 
 with the utmost alacrity, as knowing that then 
 entire glory lay in nothing else but dying hon- 
 ourably, and exposing themselves to the utmost 
 danger from the enemy, (for they had nothing else 
 to hope for ;) so they' brought upon themselves 
 the whole power of the enemy, till they were 
 encompassed round and slain, but not before they 
 had killed many of the Philistines. Now 'he 
 sons of Saul were Jonathan, Abinadal), and 
 Malchisua ; and when these were slain, the mul- 
 titude of the Hebrews were put to flight, and all 
 was disorder and confusion, and slaughter, upon 
 the Philistines pressing in upon them. But Saul 
 himself fled, having a strong body of soldiers 
 about him ; and upon the Philistines sending 
 after him those that threw javelins and shot 
 arrows, he lost all his company except a few. 
 As for himself, he fought with great bravery 5 
 and when he had received so many wounds that 
 he was not able to bear up, nor to oppose any 
 longer, and yet was not able to kill himself, he 
 bid his armour-bearer to draw his sword and run 
 him through, before the enemy should take him 
 alivfc. But his armour-bearer not daring to 
 kill his master, he drew his own sword, and 
 placing himself over-against its point, he threw 
 himself upon it ; and when he could neither run 
 it through him, nor, by leaning against it, make 
 the sword pass through him, he turned him 
 round, and asked a certain young man that stood 
 by, who he was ; and when he understood that 
 he was an Amalekite, he desired him to forc the 
 gword through him, because he was not able to 
 do it with his own hands, and thereby to procure 
 
 , 
 
 crown that was on his head, and ran away. And 
 vhon SanTs armour-bearer wiw that b* was slain 
 
 he killed himself ; nor did wiy of the king's 
 guards escape, but they all fell upon the moun- 
 tain called Gilboa. But when those Hebrews 
 that dwelt in the valley beyond Jordan, and 
 those who had their cities in the plain, heard 
 that Saul and his sons were fallen, and that the 
 multitude about them were destroyed, they left 
 their own cities, and fled to such as were the beat 
 fortified and fenced; and the Philistines find- 
 ing those cities deoerted, came and dwelt in 
 them. 
 
 8. On the -nbi.i day, when the Philistines came 
 to strip their enemies ihf\ were slain, they got 
 the bodies of Saul and of his sons and stripped 
 them, and cut off their heads. And they sent 
 messengers all about their country to acquaint 
 them that their enemies were fallen ; and they 
 dedicated their armour in the temple of Astarte, 
 but hung their bodies on crosses at the walls of 
 the city Bethshan, which is now called Scytho- 
 polis. But when the inhabitants of Jabesh- 
 Gilead heard that they had dismembered the 
 dead bodies of Saul and of his sons, they deemed 
 it so horrid a thing to overlook this barbp~Lty, 
 and to suffer them to be without funeral rites, 
 that the most courageous and hard., among them 
 (and indeed that city had in it men that were 
 very stout both in body and mind) journeyed all 
 night, and came to Bethshan, and approached to 
 the enemy's wall, and taking down the bodies of 
 Saul and of his sons, they carried them to Jabesh, 
 while the enemy were not able enough, nor bo?d 
 enough, to hinder them, because of their great 
 courage ; so the people of Jabesh wept all iri 
 general, and buried their bodies in the best place 
 of their country, which was called Aroura ; and 
 they observed a public mourning for them seven 
 days, with their wives and children, heating their 
 breasts, and lamenting the king and his sons, 
 without tasting either meat or drink* [till the 
 evening.] 
 
 9. To this his sad end did Saul come, according 
 to the prophecy of Samuel, because he disobeyed 
 the commands of God about the Amalekites, and 
 on the account of his destroying the family of 
 Ahimelech, the high priest, with Ahimelecb. 
 himself, and the city of the high priests. Now 
 Saul, when he had reigned eighteen years whil-3 
 Samuel was alive, and after his death two [and 
 twenty,] ended his life in this manner. 
 
 * This way of speaking in JTosephaa is almost like 
 
 nature of the 
 ng so long; 
 only fasting 
 nd St Paul, tbt 
 >-y kept all those days entirely as feats till the eron- 
 
 :* Wit not lOttanr.
 
 aSAP. Lj 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 147 
 
 BOOK VII. 
 
 CONTAINING THE INTERVAL OF FOKTY YEAH9, 
 
 FBOM THE DEATH OE SAUL TO THE DEATH OF DAVID. 
 
 UAi'Ti^K, i. 
 
 HOW DAVID REIGNED OVER ONE TRIBE AT HEBRON. 
 WHILE THE SON OF SAUL REIGNED OVER THE 
 REST OF THE MULTITUDE ; AND HOW, IN THE 
 CIVIL WAR WHICH THEH AROSK, ASAHEL AND 
 ABNER WERE SLAIN. 
 
 1. THIS fight proved to be on the same day 
 whereon David was come back to Ziklag, after 
 he had overcome the Amalekites. Now when 
 In-) had been already two days at Ziklag, there 
 c.- me to him the man who slew Saul, which was 
 the third day after the fight. He had escaped 
 out of the battle which the Israelites had with 
 the Philistines, and had his clothes rent, and 
 ashes upon his head. And when he had made 
 his obeisance to David, he inquired of him 
 whence he came. He replied, from the battle of 
 the Israelites : and he informed him that the 
 end of it 'was unfortunate, many ten thousands 
 of the Israelites having been cut off, and Saul, 
 together with his sons, slain. He also said that 
 
 j he could well give him this information, because 
 he was present at the victory gained over the 
 
 j f 1 ebrews, and was with the king when, he fled. 
 Nor did he deny that he had himself slain the 
 king, when he was ready to be taken by the 
 enemy, and he himself exhorted him to do it, 
 because, when he was fallen on his sword, his 
 great wounds had made him so weak that he 
 was not able to kill himself. He also produced 
 demonstrations that the king was slain, which 
 were the golden bracelets that had been on the 
 king's arms, and his crown, which he had taken 
 away from Saul's dead body, and had brought 
 them to him. So David having no longer room 
 to call in question the truth of what he said, but 
 seeing most evident marks that Saul was dead, 
 he rent his garments, and continued all that 
 day, with his companions, in weeping and lamen- 
 tation. This grief was augmented by the consi- 
 deration of Jonathan, the son of Saul, who had 
 been his most faithful friend, and the occasion 
 of his own deliverance. He also demonstrated 
 himself to have such great virtue, and such great 
 kindness for Saul, as not only to take his death 
 to heart though he had been frequently in danger 
 of losing his life by his means, but to punish him 
 that slew him : for when David had said to him, 
 that he was become his own accuser, as the very 
 man who had slain the king, and when he under- 
 stood that he was the son of an Amalekite, he 
 commanded him to be slain. He also committed 
 to writing some lamentations and funeral com- 
 mendations of Saul and Jonathan, which have 
 continued to my own age. 
 
 2. Xow when David had pain these honours to 
 the king, he left off his mourning, and inquired 
 of God, by the prophet, which of the cities of 
 the tribe of Judah he would bestow upon him 
 to dwell in ; who answered that he bestowed 
 upon him Hebron. So he left Ziklag and came 
 to Hebron, and took with him his wives, who 
 were in number two, and his armed men : where- 
 
 all the people of the iorementioned tril>t 
 
 ! came to him, and ordained him their king. But 
 
 i when he heard that the inhabitants of Jabesh- 
 
 j Gilead had buried S aul and his sons [honourably, ] 
 
 i he sent to them and commended them, and took 
 
 ! what they had clone kindly, and promised to 
 
 I make them amends for their care of those that 
 
 i were dead ; and at the same time he informed 
 
 their that the tribe <\f -Tudah had chosen him for 
 
 their king. 
 
 3. But as soon as ix^ner, the son of Ner, who 
 was general of Saul's army, and a very active 
 man, and good-natured, knew that the king and 
 Jonathan, and his two other sons, were fallen in 
 the battle, he made haste into the camp ; and, 
 taking away with him the remaining son of Saul, 
 whose name was Ishiiosheth. he passed over to 
 the land beyond Jordan, and ordained him the 
 king of the whole multitude, excepting the tribe 
 of Judah ; and made his royal seat in a place 
 called in our language Mahanaim, but in the 
 language of the Grecians, The Camps ; from 
 whence Abner made haste with a select body of 
 soldiers, to fight with such of the tribe of Judah 
 as were disposed to it, for he was angry that 
 this tribe had set up David for their king ; but 
 Joab, whose father was Suri, and his mother 
 Zeruiah, David's sister, who was general of 
 David's army, met him, according to David's 
 appointment. He had with him his brethren, 
 Abishai and Asahel, as also all David's armed 
 men. Now when he met Abner at a certain 
 fountain, in the city of Gibeon, he prepared tc 
 fight; and when Abner said to him that he had 
 a mind to know which of them had the more 
 valiant soldiers, it was agreed between them 
 that twelve soldiers of each side should fight 
 together. So those that were chosen out by 
 both the generals for this fight came between 
 the two armies, and throwing their lances one 
 against the other, they drew their swords, and 
 catching one another by the head, they held one 
 another fast, and ran each other's swords into 
 their sides and groins, until they all, as it were 
 by mutual agreement, perished together. When 
 these were fallen down dead, the rest of the 
 army came to a sore battle, and Abner's men 
 were beaten ; and when they were beaten, Joab 
 did not leave off pursuing them, but he pressed 
 upon them, and excited the soldiers to follow 
 them close, and not to grow weary of killing 
 them. His brethren also pursued them with 
 great alacrity, especially the younger Asahel, 
 who was the most eminent of them. He was 
 very famous for his swiftness of foot, for he 
 could not only be too hard for men, but is re- 
 ported to have out-run a horse, when they had 
 a race together. This Asahel ran violently after 
 Abner, and would not turn in the least out of 
 the straight way, either to the one side or to the 
 other. Hereupon Abner turned back, and at- 
 tempted artfully to avoid his violence. Some- 
 times he bade him leave off the pursuit, and 
 take the armour of one of his soldiers ; and 
 sometimes, when he could not persuade him PI-
 
 148 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS, 
 
 [BOOK vm 
 
 to do, he exhorted him to restrain himself, and 
 not to pursue him any longer, lest he should 
 force him to kill him, and he should then not be 
 able to look his brother in the face; but when 
 Asahel would not admit of any persuasions, but 
 still continued to pursue him, Abner smote him 
 with his spear, as he held it in his flight, and 
 that by a back-stroke, and gave him a deadly 
 wound, so that he died immediately ; but those 
 that were with him pursuing Abner, when they 
 came to the place where Asahel lay, they stood 
 round about the dead body, and left off the pur- 
 guit of the enemy. However, both Joab * him- 
 self, and his brother Abishai, ran past the dead 
 corpse, and making their anger at the death of 
 Asahel an occasion of greater zeal against Abner, 
 they went on with incredible haste and alacrity, 
 and pursued Abner to a certain place called 
 Ammah : it was about sunset. Then did Joab 
 ascend a certain hill, as he stoou at that place, 
 having the tribe of Benjamin with him, whence 
 he took a view of them, and of Abner also. 
 Hereupon Abner cried aloud, and said that it 
 was not fit that they should irritate men of the 
 same nation to fight so bitterly one against an- 
 other; that as for Asahel his brother, he was 
 himself in the wrong, when he would not be ad- 
 vised by him not to pursue him any further, 
 which was the occasion of his wounding and 
 death. So Joab consented to what he said, and 
 accepted these words as n excuse, [about 
 Asahel,] and called the soldiers back with the 
 sound of the trumpet, as a signal for their re- 
 treat, and thereby put a stop to any further 
 pursuit. After which Joab pitched his camp 
 there that night ; but Abner marched all that 
 night, and passed over the river Jordan, and 
 came to Ishbosheth, Saul's son, to Mahanaim. 
 On the next day, Joab counted the dead men, 
 and took care of all their funerals. Now there 
 were slain of Abner's soldiers about three hun- 
 dred and sixty; but those of David nineteen, 
 and Asahel, whose body Joab and Abishai car- 
 ried to Bethlehem; and when they had buried 
 him in the sepulchre of their fathers, they came 
 to David to Hebron. From this time, there- 
 fore, they began an intestine war, which lasted 
 a great while, in which the followers of David 
 grew stronger in the dangers they underwent; 
 and the servants and subjects of Saul's sons did 
 almost every day become weaker. 
 
 4. About this time David was become the 
 father of six sons, born of as many mothers. 
 The eldest was by Ahinoam, and he was called 
 Ammon; the second was Daniel, by his wife 
 Abigail; the name of the third was Absalom, 
 by Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of 
 Geshur; the fourth he named Adonijah, by his 
 wife Haggith ; the fifth was Shephatiah, by 
 Abitail; the sixth he called Ithream, by Eglah. 
 Now while this intestine war went on, and the 
 subjects of the two kings came frequently to 
 action and to fighting, it was Abner, the general 
 of the host of Saul's son, who, by his prudence, 
 and the great interest he had among the multi- 
 tude, made them all continue with Ishbosheth ; 
 and indeed, it was a considerable time that they 
 continued of his party; but afterwards Abner 
 was blamed, and an accusation was laid against 
 liim, that he went in unto Saul's concubine : her 
 name was Rispah the daughter of Aiah. So 
 when he was complained of by Ishbosheth, he 
 was very uneasy and angry at it, because he had 
 
 Joab, Abishai, and Asahel, were David's nephews, 
 he song of his sister Zeruiah, as 1 Chron. ii. 16; and 
 Amasa was also his nephew by his other sister Abigail, 
 
 not justice done him by lahbosheth, to whom he 
 had shewn the greatest kindness; whereupon he 
 threatened to transfer the kingdom to David, 
 and demonstrate that he did not rule over the 
 people beyond Jordan by his own abilities and 
 wisdom, but by his warlike conduct and fidelity 
 in leading his army. So he sent ambassadors to 
 Hebron to David, and desired that he woulJ 
 give him security upon oath that he would es- 
 teem Ilia companion and his friend, upon condi 
 tion that he should persuade the people to leave 
 Saul's son, and choose him king of the whole 
 country ; and when David had made that league 
 with Abner, for he was pleased with his message 
 to him, he desired that he would give this aa 
 the first mark of performance of the present 
 league, that he might have his wife Michal re- 
 stored to him, as her whom he had purchased 
 with great hazards, and with those six hundred 
 heads of the Philistines which he had brought to 
 Saul her father. So Abner took Michal from 
 Phaltiel, who was then her husband, and sent 
 her to David, Ishbosheth himself affording him 
 his assistance; for David had written to him 
 that of right he ought to have this Ids wife re- 
 stored to him. Abner also called together the 
 elders of the multitude, the commanders and 
 captains of thousands, and spake thus to them : 
 That he had formerly dissuaded them from their 
 own resolution, when they were ready to forsake 
 Ishbosheth, and to join themselves to David; 
 that, however, he now gave them leave so to do, 
 if they had a mind to it, for they knew that God 
 had appointed David to be king of all the He- 
 brews, by Samuel the prophet ; and had foretold 
 that he should punish the Philistines, and over- 
 come them, and bring them under. Now, when 
 the elders and rulers heard this, and understood 
 that Abner was come over to those sentiments 
 about the public affairs which they were of be- 
 fore, they changed their measures, and came 
 into David. "Vhen these men had agreed, to 
 Abner's proposal, he called together the tribe of 
 Benjamin, for all of that tribe were the guards 
 of Ishbosheth's body, and he spake to them to 
 the game purpose; and when he saw that they 
 did not in the least oppose what he said, but 
 resigned themselves up to his opinion, he took 
 about twenty of lus friends and came to David, 
 in order to receive himself security upon oath 
 from him; for we may justly esteem those things 
 to be firmer which every one of us do by our- 
 selves, than those which we do by another. He 
 also gave him an account of what he had said to 
 the rulers, and to the whole tribe of Benjamin ; 
 and when David had received him in a courteous 
 manner, and had treated him with great hospi- 
 tality for many days, Abner, when he was dis- 
 missed, desired him to permit him to bring the 
 multitude with him, that he might deliver up 
 the government to him when David himself was 
 present, and a spectator of what was done. 
 
 5. When David had sent Abner away, Joab, 
 the general of his army, came immediately to 
 Hebron: and when he had understood that Abiier 
 had been with David, and had parted with him 
 a little before, under leagues and agreements that 
 the government should be delivered up to David, 
 he feared lest David should place Abner, who 
 had assisted him to gain the kingdom, in the first 
 rank of dignity, especially since Le was a shrewd 
 man in other respects, in understanding affairs, 
 and in managing them artf ully, as proper seasons 
 should require, and that he should himself be put 
 lower, and deprived of the command of the army ; 
 so he took a knavish and a wicked course. In the 
 first place, he endeavoured to calumniate Abner 
 to the kin;;, exhorting him to have a care of him,
 
 CHAP. IT.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 149 
 
 and not to give attention to what he had engaged 
 to do for him, because all he did tended to con- 
 firm the government to Saul's son : that he came 
 to him deceitfully, and with guile, and was gone 
 away in hopes of .gaining his purpose by this 
 management ; but when he could not thus per- 
 suade David, nor saw him at all exasperated, he 
 betook himself to a project bolder than the for- 
 mer: he determined to kill Abner; and in order 
 thereto, he sent some messengers after him, to 
 whom he gave in charge, that when they should 
 overtake him they should recall him ia David's 
 name, and tell him that he had somewhat to say 
 to him about his affairs, which he had not re- 
 membered to speak of when he was with him. 
 Now when Abner heard what the messenger said, 
 (for they overtook him in a certain place called 
 Besira, which was distant from Hebron twenty 
 furlongs,) he suspected none of the mischief 
 which was befalling him, and came back. Here- 
 upon Joab met him in the gate, and received 
 him in the kindest manner, as if he were Abner's 
 most benevolent acquaintance and friend ; for such 
 as undertake the vilest actions, in order to pre- 
 vent the suspicion of any private mischief in- 
 tended, do frequently make the greatest pre- 
 tences to what really good men sincerely do. So 
 he took him aside from his own followers, as if 
 he would speak with him in private, and brought 
 him into a void place of the gate, having himself 
 nobody with him but his brother Abishai; then 
 he drew his sword, and smote him in the groin; 
 upon which Abner died by this treachery of 
 Joab, which, as he said himself, waa in the way 
 of punishment for his brother Ao&hcl, whom 
 Abner smote and slew as he was pursuing after 
 him in the battle of Hebron, bxit as the truth 
 was, out of his fear of losing his command of the 
 army, and his dignity with the king, and lest he 
 should be deprived of those advantages, and 
 Abner should obtain the first rank in David's 
 court. By these examples any one may learn 
 how many and how great instances of wickedness 
 men will venture upon for the sake of getting 
 money and authority, and that they may not fail 
 of either of them ; for as when they are desirous 
 of obtaining the same, they acquire them by ten 
 thousand evil practices; so when they are afraid 
 of losing them, they get them confirmed to them 
 by practices much worse than the former, as if 
 [no] other calamity so terrible could befall them 
 as the failure of acquiring so exalted an author- 
 ity ; and when they have acquired it, and by long 
 custom found the sweetness of it, the losing it 
 again : and since this last would be the heaviest 
 of all afflictions, they all of them contrive and 
 venture upon the most difficult actions, out of 
 the fear of losing the same. But let it suffice, 
 that I have made these short reflections upon 
 that subject. 
 
 6. When David heard that Abner was slain, it 
 grieved his soul : and he called all men to witness, 
 with stretching out his hands to God, and crying 
 out that he was not a partaker in the murder of 
 Abner, and that his death wa? not procured by 
 his command or approbation. He also wished 
 the heaviest curses might light upon him that 
 slew him, and upon his whole house ; and he de- 
 voted those that had assisted him in this murder 
 to the same penalties on its account ; for he took 
 care not to appear to have had any hand in this 
 murder, contrary to the assurances he had given, 
 and the oaths he had taken to Abner. However, 
 he commanded all the people to weep and lament 
 this man, and to honour his dead body with the 
 usual solemnities; that is, by rending their gar- 
 ments, and putting on sackcloth, and that this 
 should be the habit in which they should go be- 
 
 fore the bier ; af ier which he followed it himself, 
 with the elders and those that were rulers, la- 
 menting Abner, and by his tears demonstrating 
 his good- will towards him while he was alive, and 
 his sorrow for him now he was dead, and that he 
 was not taken off with his consent. So he buried 
 him at Hebron in a magnificent manner, and in- 
 dited funeral elegies for him; he also stood first 
 over the monument weeping, and caused others 
 to do the same ; nay, so deeply did the death of 
 Abner disorder him, that his companions could 
 by no means force him to take any food, for he 
 affirmed with an oath that he would taste no- 
 thing till the sun was set. This procedure gained 
 him the good-will of the multitude ; for such as 
 had an affection for Abner were mightily satisfied 
 with the respect he paid him when he was dead, 
 and the observation of that faith he had plighted 
 to him, which was shewn in his vouchsafing him 
 all the usual ceremonies, as if he had been his 
 kinsman and his friend, and not suffering him to 
 be neglected and injured with a dishonourable 
 burial, as if he had been his enemy; insomuch 
 that the entire nation rejoiced at the king's gen- 
 tleness and mildness of disposition, every one 
 being ready to suppose that the king would have 
 taken the same care of them in the like circum- 
 stances, which they saw he shewed in the burial 
 of the dead body of Abner. And indeed David 
 principally intended to gain a good reputation, 
 and therefore he took care to do what was proper 
 in this case, whence none had any suspicion that 
 he was the author of Abner's death. He also 
 said this to the multitude, That he was greatly 
 troubled at the death of so good a man ; and that 
 the affairs of the Hebrews had suffered great 
 detriment by being deprived of him, who was of 
 so great abilities to preserve them by his excellent 
 advice, and by the strength of his hands in war. 
 But he added, that " God, who hath a regard to 
 all men's actions, will not suffer this man [Joab] 
 to go off unrevenged; but know ye, that I am 
 not able to do anything to these sons of Zeruiah, 
 Joab, and Abishai, who have more power than I 
 have ; but God will requite their insolent at- 
 tempts upon their own heads. " And this waa the 
 fatal conclusion of the life of Abner. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THAT DPQV THE SLAUGHTEB OF ISHBOSHBTH, BT 
 THE TREACHERY OP HIS FRIENDS, DAVID BE- 
 CEIVED THE WHOLE KIKGDOM. 
 
 1. WHEN Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, had 
 heard of the death of Abner, he took it to heart 
 to be deprived of a man that was of his kindred, 
 and had indeed given him the kingdom, but was 
 greatly afflicted, and Abner's death very much 
 troubled him ; nor did he himself outlive any 
 long time, but was treacherously set upon by the 
 sons of Rimmon, (Baanah and Kechab were their 
 names,) and was slain by them ; for these being 
 of a family of the Benjmnites, and of the first 
 rank among them, thought that if they should 
 slay Ishbosheth, they should obtain large pre- 
 sents from David, and be made commanders by 
 him, or, however, should have some other trust 
 committed to them. So wnen they once found 
 him alone, and asleep at noon, in an upper room, 
 when none of his guards were there, and when 
 the woman that kept the door was not watching, 
 but was fallen asleep also, partly on account of 
 the labour she had undergone, and partly on 
 account of the heat of the day, these men went 
 ' into the room in which Ishboshoth. Saul's son.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK VII. 
 
 lay asleep, and slew him ; they also cut off his 
 head, aud took their journey all that night and 
 the nsxt day, as supposiiig themselves flying 
 away from those they had injured, to one that 
 would accept of this action as a favour, and 
 would afford them security. So they came to 
 , Hebron, and shewed David the head of Ish- 
 bosheth, and presented themselves to him as his 
 i well-wishers, and such as had killed one that 
 i iras his enemy and antagonist. Yet David did 
 ' not relish what they had done as they expected, 
 but said to them, "You vile wretches, you 
 shall immediately receive the punishment you 
 deserve. Did not you know what vengeance I 
 executed on him thut murdered Saul,_ and 
 brought me his crown of gold, and this while he 
 who made this slaughter did it as a favour to 
 him, that he might not be caught by his ene- 
 mies? Or do you imagine that I am altered in 
 my disposition, and suppose that I am not the 
 same man I then was, but am pleased with men 
 that are wicked doers, and esteem your vile 
 actions, when you are become murderers of your 
 master, as grateful to me, when you have slain 
 a righteous man upon his bed, who never did 
 evil to anybody, and treated you with great 
 good-will and respect? Wherefore you shall 
 suffer the punishment due on his account, and 
 the vengeance I ought to inflict upon you for 
 killing Ishbosheth, and for supposing that I 
 should take his death kindly at your hands ; 
 for you could not lay a greater blot on my hon- 
 our than by making such a supposal." When 
 David had said this, he tormented them with 
 all sorts of torments, and then put them to 
 death : and he bestowed all accustomed rites on 
 She burial of the bead of Ishboshetb, and laid it 
 in the grave of Abuer. 
 
 2. When these things were brought to a con- 
 clusion, all the principal men of the Hebrew 
 people came to David to Hebron, with the heads 
 of thousands, aud other rulers, and delivered 
 themselves up to him, putting him in mind of 
 the good-will they had borne to him in Saul's 
 lifetime, and the respect they then had not 
 ceased to pay him when he was captain of a 
 thousand, as also that he was chosen of God by 
 Samuel the prophet, he and his sons : * and de- 
 claring besides, how God had given him power 
 to save the land of the Hebrews, and overcome 
 the Philistines. Whereupon he received kindly 
 this their alacrity on his account ; and exhorted 
 them to continue in it, for that they should have 
 no reason to repent of being thus disposed to 
 him. So when he had feasted them, and treated 
 them kindly, he sent them out to bring all the 
 people to him ; upon which there came to him 
 about sir thousand and eight hundred armed 
 men of the tribe of Judah, who bare shields and 
 gpears for their weapons, for those had [till now] 
 continued with Saul's son, when the rest of the 
 tribe of Judah had ordained David for their 
 king. There came also seven thousand and one 
 hundred out of the tribe of Simeon. Out of the 
 tribe of Levi came four thousand and seven 
 hundred, having Jehoiada for their leader. 
 After these came Zadok the high priest, with 
 tweuty-two captidiiB of his kindred. Out of the 
 tribe of Benjamin the armed men were four 
 thousand ; but the rest of the tribe continued, 
 till expecting that some one of the house of 
 Saul should reign over them. Those of the 
 
 Thi may be a true observation of Josephus, that 
 Samuel, by command from God, entailed the crown on 
 I>avid and his posterity ; for no further did that entail 
 ever reach, Solomon himself having never had any 
 promise made him that his posterity should alwavs 1 *ve 
 Uie rixht to it. 
 
 tribe of Ephraim were twenty thousand and 
 eight hundred ; and these mighty of valour, and 
 eminent for their strength. Out of the half- 
 tribe of Manasseh came eighteen thousand of the 
 most potent men. Out of the tribe of Issachar 
 came two hundred, who foreknew what was to 
 come hereafter, t but of armud men twenty 
 thousand, ^f the tribe of Zebulou fifty thou- 
 sand chosen men. This was the only tribe that 
 came universally in to D;ivid ; and all these had 
 the same weapons with the tribe of Gad. Out 
 of the tribe of Naphthali the eminent men and 
 rulers were one thousand, whose weapons were 
 shields arid spears; and the tribe itself followed 
 after, being (in a manner) innumerable [thirty- 
 seven thousand.] Out of the tribe of Dan there 
 were of chosen men twenty-seven thousand and 
 six hundred. Out of the tribe of Asher were 
 forty thousand. Out of the two tribes that 
 were beyond Jordan, and the rest of the tribe of 
 Manasseh, such as used shields, and speaxs, and 
 head-pieces, and swords, were an hundred and 
 twenty thousand. The rest of the tribes also 
 made use of swords. This multitude came to- 
 gether to Hebron to David, with a great quan- 
 tity of corn and wine, and all other sorts of food, 
 and established David in his kingdom witli one 
 consent ; and when the people had rejoiced for 
 three days in Hebron, David and all the people 
 removed and came to Jerusalem. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 HOW I>AV1D LAID SIEGE TX> JERUSALEM ; AND 
 WHEN HE HAD TAKEN THE CITY, HE OAST TH1 
 CANAANITES OUT OF IT, AND BROUGHT IN THS 
 JEWS TO INHABIT THEREIN, 
 
 1. Now the Jebusites, who were the inhabit- 
 ants of Jerusalem, and were by extraction 
 Canaanites, shut their gates, and placed the 
 blind, and the lame, and all their maimed per- 
 sons, upon the wall, in way of derision of the 
 king; and said, that -the very lame themselves 
 would hinder his entrance into it. This they 
 did out of contempt of his power, and as 
 depending on the strength of their walls. David 
 was hereby enraged, and began the siege of 
 Jerusalem, and employed his utmost diligence 
 and alacrity therein, as intending, by the taking 
 of this place, to demonstrate his power, and to 
 intimidate all others that might be of tho like 
 [evil] disposition towards him: so he took the 
 lower city by force, but the citadel held out 
 still ; t whence it was that the king, knowing 
 that the proposal of dignities and rewards would 
 encourage the soldiers to greater actions, pro- 
 mised that he who should first go over the 
 ditches that were beneath the citadel, and should 
 ascend to the citadel itself and take it, should 
 have the command of the entire people conferred 
 upon him. So they all were ambitious to as- 
 cend, and thought no pains too great in order to 
 ascend tliither, out of their desire of the chief 
 : 
 
 f These words of Josephus, "who foreknew what was ! 
 to come hereafter," are best paraphrased by the parallel | 
 text, (1 Chron. xii. 32,)" Who had understanding ol , 
 the times, to know what Israel ought to do ; " that is, 
 Who had so ranch knowledge in astrouomy as to make 
 calendars for the Israelites. 
 
 { What our other copies say of" Mount Sion, as alone 
 properly called the City of David, (2 Sam. v. 6-9,) and 
 of this its siege and conquest now by David, Josephui; 
 applies to the whole city Jerusalem ; perhaps, after 
 David had united them together, or joined the citadei 
 to toe lower city, Josephus esteemed them as one city
 
 OHAP. IV.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES THE JEWS. 
 
 151 
 
 command. However, Joab, the son of Zeruiah, 
 prevented the rest, and as soon as he was got up 
 to the citadel, cried out to the king, and claimed 
 the chief command. 
 
 2. When David had cast the Jebusites out of 
 the citadel, he also rebuilt Jerusalem, and ; 
 named it, The City of David, and abode there 
 all the time of his reign : but for the time that j 
 he reigned over the tribe of Judah only in Heb- i 
 ron, it was seven years and six months. Now | 
 when he had chosen Jerusalem to be his royal 
 city, his affairs did more and more prosper, by j 
 the providence of God, who took care that they 
 should improve and be augmented. Hiram, 
 also, the king of the Tynans, sent ambassadors 
 to him, and made a league of mutual friendship : 
 and assistance with him. He also st-iit him 
 presents, cedar-trees, and mechanics, and men 
 skilful in building and architecture, that they 
 might build him a royal palace at Jerusalem. 
 Now David made buildings round about the 
 lower city : he also joined the citadel to it, and 
 made it one body ; and when he had eucom- > 
 passed all with \Palls, he appointed Joab to take ] 
 care of them. It was David, therefore, whc j 
 first cast the Jebusites out of Jerusalem, anil 
 called it by its own name, The City of David ; 
 for under our forefather Abraham it was called ' 
 (Salem or) Solyma;* but after that time, sor.. 
 say that Homer mentions it by that name o. 
 Solyma, [for he named the temple Solyma, ac- 
 cording to the Hebrew language, which denotes 
 security.] Now the whole time from the ar- 
 fare under Joshua our general against the Ca- 
 naanites, and from that war in which he over- 
 came them, and distributed the laud among the 
 Hebrews, (nor could the Israelites ever cast the 
 Canaauites out of Jerusalem until this tiae, 
 when David took it by siege,) this whole tinit 
 was five hundred and fifteen years. 
 
 3. I shall now make mention of Araunan, whc 
 was a wealthy man among the Jebusites, but 
 was not slain by David in the siege of Jerusalem, 
 because of the good- will he bore to the Hebrews, 
 and a particular benignity and affection which 
 he had to the king himself ; which I shall take 
 a more seasonable opportunity to speak of a little 
 afterwards. Now David married other wives 
 over and above those wliich he had before : he 
 had also concubines. The sous whom he had 
 were in number eleven, whose names were Am- 
 nion, Emnos, Eban, N%thau, Solomon, Jeban, 
 Elien, Phalna, Ennaphen, Jenae, Eliphale ; and 
 a daughter, Tamar. Nine of these were bom of 
 legitimate wives, but the two last-named of con- 
 cubines ; and Tamar had the san.e mother with 
 Absalom. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THAT WHEN DAVID HAD COXQCKRED THE PHTT.TR- 
 TIMES, WHO MADE WAR AGAINST HIM AT JEBC- 
 SALEM, HE REMOVED THE ARK TO JERUSALEM, 
 ASD HAD A MIND TO BUILD A TEMPLE. 
 
 1. WHEN the Philistines understood that Da- 
 vid was made king of the Hebrews, they made 
 war against him at Jerusalem ; and when they 
 had seized upon that valley which is called The 
 Valley of the Gtiants, and is a place not far from 
 
 * Some copies of Josephus have here Solyma, or Sa- 
 lem ; and others Hierosolyma, or Jerusalem. The lat- 
 ter best agree to what Josephus says elsewhere, that 
 this city was called Solyma or Salem, before the days of 
 Mclchisedee ; but was by him called Hierosolyma or 
 Jerusalem. 1 rather suppose it to have been so called 
 after Abraham had received that oracle Jehoral, JtroA. 
 
 tiio city, they pitched their camp therein: but 
 the king of the Jews, who never permitted him- 
 self to do anything without prophecy, t and the 
 command of God, and without depending on 
 Him as a security for the time to come, bade the 
 high priest to foretell to him what was the will 
 of God. and what would be the event of this 
 battle. \nd when he foretold that he should 
 gain the victory and the dominion, he led out 
 Ids army against the Philistines ; and when the 
 battle was joined, he came himself behind, and 
 fell upon the enemy on the sudden, aud slew 
 some of them, and put the rest to flight. And 
 let no one suppose that it was a small army of 
 the Philistines that caine against the Hebrews, 
 as guessing so from the suddenness of their de- 
 feat, and from their Itaviug performed no great 
 action, or that was worth recording, from the 
 slowness of their march and want of courage ; 
 but let him know that all Syria and Phoenicia, 
 with many other nations besides them, and those 
 warlike nations also, came to their assistance, 
 and had a share in this war : which thing was 
 the only cause why, when they had been so often 
 conquered, and had lost so many ten thousands 
 of their men, they still came upon the Hebrews 
 with greater armies ; nay, indeed, when they 
 had so often failed of their purpose in these 
 battles, they came upon David with an army 
 three tunes as numerous as before, and pitched 
 their camp on the same spot of ground as before. 
 The king of Israel therefore inquired of God 
 again concerning the event of the battle ; and 
 the high priest prophesied to him, that he should 
 keep his army in the groves, called the Grovet 
 of Weeping, which were not far from the 
 enemy's camp, and that he should not move, 
 nor begin to fight, till the trees of the grove 
 should be in motion without the winds blowing ; 
 but as soon as these trees moved, and the time 
 foretold to him by God was come, he should 
 without delay go out to gain what was an al- 
 ready prepared and evident victory ; for the 
 several ranks of the enemy's army did not sus- 
 tain him, but retreated at the first onset, whom 
 he closely followed, and slew them as he went 
 along, and pursued them to the city of Gaza, 
 (which is the limit of their country :) after this 
 he spoiled their camp, in wliich he found great 
 riches ; and he destroyed their gods. 
 
 2. When this had proved the event of the 
 battle, David thought it proper, upon a consulta- 
 tion with the elders and rulers, and captains of 
 thousands, to send for those that were in the 
 flower of their age out of all his countrymen, and 
 out of the whole land, and withal for the priests 
 and the Levites, in order to their going to Kir- 
 jathjeariin, to bring up the ark of God out of 
 that city, and to carry it to Jerusalem, and there 
 to keep it, and offer before it those sacrifices and 
 those honours with which God used to be well 
 pleased ; for had they done thus ii the reign of 
 -Saul, they had not undergone any great misfor- 
 tunes at alL So when the whole body of the 
 people were come together, as they had resolved 
 to do, the king came to the ark, which the priest* 
 brought out of the house of Aniinadab, and laid 
 it upon a new cart, and permitted their brethren 
 and their children to draw it, together with the 
 
 t ^aul very rarely, but David very frequently, con- 
 sulted Ood by Urim ; and Dftrid aimed always to de- 
 pend, not on his own prudence or abilities, but on the 
 Pivine direction, contrary to Saal'n practice. When 
 Michal laughed at David's dancing before the ark, it it 
 probable she did so because her father Saul did not use 
 to pay such a regard to the ark, and because sh>- 
 thoughl it beneath the dignity of a king to be BO ic
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 IBOOK vii. 
 
 ozen. Before it went the king, and the whole 
 multitude of the people with him, singing hymns 
 to God, and making use of all sorts of songs 
 usual among them, with variety of the sounds 
 of musical instruments, and with dancing and 
 ginning of psalms, as also with the sounds of 
 trumpets and of cymbals, and so brought the ark 
 to Jerusalem. But as they were come to the 
 threshing-floor of Chidon, a place so called, Uzzah 
 was slain by the anger of God ; for as the oxen 
 shook the ark, Le stretched out his hand, and 
 would needs take hold of it Now because he 
 fvas not a priest,* and yet touched the ark, God 
 struck him dead. Hereupon both the king and 
 the people were displeased at the death of Uzzah ; 
 and the place where he died is still called the 
 Breach of Uzzah unto this day. So David was 
 afraid; and supposing that if he received the 
 iirk to himself into the city, he might suffer in 
 the like manner as Uzzah had suffered, who, 
 upon his bare putting out his hand to the ark, 
 iied in the manner already mentioned, he did 
 act receive it to himself Into the city, but he took 
 it aside unto a certain place belonging to a right- 
 eous man, whose name was Obededom, who was 
 by his family a Levite, und deposited the ark 
 with him; and it remained there three entire 
 months. This augmented the house of Obe- 
 dedom, and conferred many blessings upon it ; 
 and when the king heard what had befallen 
 Obededom, how he was become, of a poor man, 
 in a low estate, exceedingly happy, and the object 
 of envy to all those that saw or inquired after 
 his house, he took courage, and hoping that he 
 should meet with no misfortune thereby, he 
 transferred the ark to his own house, the priests 
 carrying it, while seven companies of singers, 
 ivho were set in that order by the king, went 
 before it, and while he himself played upon the 
 uarp, and joined in the music, insomuch that 
 when his wife Michal, the daughter of Saul, 
 who was our first king, saw him so doing, she 
 laughed at him ; but when they had brought in 
 the ark, they placed it under the tabernacle 
 which David had pitched for it, and he offered 
 costly sacrifices and peace-offerings, and treated 
 the whole multitude, and dealt both to the 
 women, and the men, and the infants, a loaf of 
 bread and a cake, and another cake baked in a 
 pan, with a portion of the sacrifice. So when he 
 had thus feasted the people, he sent them away, 
 and he himself returned to his own house. 
 
 3. But when Michal his wife, the daughter of 
 Saul, came and stood by him, she wished him all 
 other happiness ; and entreated that whatsoever 
 he should further desire, to the utmost possi- 
 bility, might be given him by God, and that he 
 might be favourable to him ; yet did she blame 
 him, that so great a king as he vas should dance 
 after an unseemly manner, and in his dancing 
 uncover himself among the servants and the 
 handmaidens : but he replied, that he was not 
 ashamed to do what was acceptable to God, who 
 had preferred him before her father, and before 
 all others ; that he would play fi equeiitly, and 
 dance, without any regard to what the hand- 
 maidens and she herself thought of it. So this 
 Michal had no children ; however, when she was 
 afterward married to him to whom Saul her 
 father had given her, (for at this time David had 
 takan her away from him, and had her himself,) 
 
 * Josepnus seems to be right, when he observes that 
 
 Eiah was no priest, and was therefore struck dead for 
 
 touching the ark, contrary to the law. It is not impro- 
 
 e that the putting this ark in a cart, when it ought 
 
 re been carried by the priests or Levites, might 
 
 of hta la*" CCa3i00 of the ^^ f God on tn t Breach 
 
 she bare five children. But concerning those 
 matters I shall discourse in a proper place. 
 
 4. Now when the king saw that his affairs 
 grew better almost every day, by the will of God, 
 he thought he should offend him, if, while he 
 himself continued in houses made of cedar, such 
 as were of a great height, and had the most 
 curious works of architecture in them, he should 
 overlook the ark while it was laid in a taber- 
 nacle, and was desirous to build a temple to God, 
 as Moses had predicted such a temple should be 
 built, f And when he had discoursed with Nathan 
 the prophet about these things, and had been 
 encouraged by him to do whatsoever he had a 
 mind to do, as having God with him and his 
 helper in all things, he was thereupon the more 
 ready to set about that building. But God 
 appeared to Nathan that very night, and com- 
 manded him to say to David, that he took his 
 purpose and his desires kindly, since nobody had 
 before now taken it into their head to build him 
 a temple, although upon his having such a notion 
 he would not permit him to build him that tem- 
 ple, because he had made many wars, and was 
 defiled with the slaughter of his enemies ; that, 
 however, after his death, in his old age, and 
 when he had lived a long life, there should be a 
 temple built by a son of his, who should take the 
 kingdom after him, and should be called Solo- 
 mon, whom he promised to provide for, as a 
 father provides for his son, by preserving the 
 kingdom for his son's posterity, and delivering it 
 to them ; but that he would still pimish him if 
 he sinned, with diseases and barrenness of land. 
 "When David understood this from tba prophet, 
 and was overjoyful at this knowledge of the sure 
 continuance of the dominion to his posterity, and 
 that his house should be splendid, and very 
 famous, he came to the ark, and fell down on 
 his face, and began to adore God, and to return 
 thanks to him for all his benefits, as well for 
 those that he had already bestowed upon him, 
 in raising him from a low state, and from the 
 employment of a shepherd, to so great dignity of 
 dominion and glory, as for those also which he 
 had promised to his posterity ; and, besides, for 
 that providence which he had exercised ovor the 
 Hebrews, in procuring *,hem the liberty they 
 enjoyed. And when he had said thus, and had 
 sung a hymn of praise to God, he went his way. 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 HOW DAVID BROUGHT UNDER THB PHILISTINES, 
 AND THB MOABITES, AND THE KINGS OP SOPHI3CB, 
 AND OF DAMASCUS, AND OF THB SYRIANS, AS 
 ALSO THB IDUMEANS, IN WAR; AND HOW HE 
 MADE A LEAGUE WITH THE KING OF HAMATH ; 
 AND WAS MINDFUL OF THE FRIENDSHIP THAT 
 JONATHAN, THE SON OF SAUL, HAD BORNE TO 
 
 sea. 
 
 1. A LITTLB while after this, he considered that 
 he ought to make war against the Philistines, 
 and not to see any idleness or laziness permitted 
 in his management, that so it might prove, as 
 God had foretold to him, that, when he hadover- 
 
 t Josephus here informs us, that, according to his 
 understanding of the sense of his copy of the Penta- 
 teuch, Moses had himself foretold the building of th 
 temple, which yet is nowhere in our present copies. 
 
 t Josephus seems to confound the two distinct pre- 
 dictions which God made to David and to Nathan, 
 concerning the building him a temple by one of David's 
 posterity : the one belongeth to g-olomou, the other to 
 the Messiah.
 
 CHAP. V.j 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 153 
 
 thrown his enemies, he should leave liis posterity 
 to reign in peace afterward : so he called together 
 his army again, and when he had charged them 
 to be ready and prepared for war, and when he 
 thought that all things in his army were in 
 a good state, he removed from Jerusalem, and 
 came against the Philistines ; and when he had 
 overcome them in battle, and had cut off a great 
 part of their country, and adjoined it to the 
 country of the Hebrews, he transferred the war 
 to the Moabites ; and when he had overcome two 
 parts of their army in battle, he took the remain- 
 ing part captive, and imposed tribute upon them, 
 to be paid annually. He then made war against 
 Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Sophene; 
 and when he had joined battle with him at the 
 river Euphrates, lie destroyed twenty thousand 
 of his footmen, and about seven thousand of his 
 horsemen; he also took a thousand of his chariots, 
 and destroyed the greatest part of them, and or- 
 dered that no more than one hundred should be 
 kept.* 
 
 2. Now when Hadad, king of Damascus and 
 of Syria, heard that David fought against Had- 
 adezer, who was his friend, became to his assist- 
 ance with a powerful army, in hopes to rescue 
 him ; and when he had joined battle with David 
 it the river Euphrates, he failed of his purpose, 
 And lost in the battle a great mimber of his 
 soldiers; for there were slain of the army of 
 Hadad twenty thousand, and all the rest fled. 
 Nicolaus [of Damascus] also makes mention of 
 this king in the fourth book of his histories; 
 where he speaks thus : " A great while after these 
 things had happened, there was one of thit 
 country whose name was Hadad, who was be- 
 come very potent: he reigned over Damascus 
 Mid the other parts of Syria, excepting Phoenicia, 
 He made war against David, the king of Judea, 
 and tried his fortune in many battles, and par- 
 ticularly in the last battle at Euphrates, wherein 
 he was beaten. He seemed to be the most ex- 
 cellent of all their kings in strength and man- 
 hood." Nay, besides this, he says of his posterity, 
 that " they succeeded one another in his king- 
 dom, and in his name ;" where he thus speaks : 
 " When Hadad was dead, his posterity reigned 
 for ten generations, each of his successors receiv- 
 ing from his father that his dominion, and this 
 his name: as did the Ptolemies in Egypt. But 
 the third was the most powerful of them all, and 
 was willing to avenge the defeat his forefather 
 had received : so he made an expedition against 
 the Jews, and laid waste the city which is now 
 called Samaria." Nor did he err from the truth ; 
 for this is that Hadad who made the expedition 
 against Samaria, in the reign of Ahab, king of 
 Israel; concerning whom we shall speak in due 
 place hereafter. 
 
 3. Now when David had mad.^ .iu expedition 
 against Damascus and the other parts of Syria, 
 and had brought it all into subjection, and had 
 placed garrisons in the country, and appointed 
 that they should pay tribute, he returned home. 
 He also dedicated to God at Jerusalem the golden 
 quivers, the entire armour which the guards of 
 Hadad used to wear: which Shishak, the king of 
 Egypt, took away when he fought with David's 
 grandson, Rehoboam, with a great deal of other 
 wealth which he carried out of Jerusalem. How- 
 ever, these things will come to be explained in 
 their proper places hereafter. Now as for the 
 king of the Hebrews, he was assisted by God, who 
 gave him great success in his wars ; and he made 
 
 * David's reserving only one hundred chariots for 
 himself, was most probably done in compliance with the 
 law of Moses, (Deut xvii. 16. 'I 
 
 an expedition against the best cities of Hadade- 
 zer, Eetah, and Machon; so he took them by 
 force, and laid them waste. Therein was fount'. 
 a very great quantity of gold and silver, besides 
 that sort of brass which is said to be more valu- 
 able than gold ; of which brass Solomon made that 
 large vessel which was called The [Brazen] Sea, 
 and those most curious lavers, when he built 
 the temple for God. 
 
 4. But when the king of Hamath was informed 
 of the ill success of Hadadezer, and had heard of 
 the ruin of his army, he was afraid on his own 
 account, and resolved to make a league of friend- 
 ship and fidelity with David, before he should 
 come against him; so he sent to him his son 
 Joram, and professed that he owed him thanks 
 for fighting against Hadadezer, who was his 
 enemy, and made a league with him of mutua] 
 assistance and friendship. He also sent him pre. 
 sents, vessels of ancient workmanship, both ol 
 gold, of silver, and of brass So when David 
 had made this league of mutual assistance with 
 Toi, (for that was the name of the king of Ham- 
 ath,) and had received the presents he sent him, 
 he dismissed his son with that respect which was 
 due on both sides; but then David brought those 
 presents that were sent him. as also the rest ol 
 the gold and silver which he had taken of the 
 cities which he had conquered, and dedicated 
 them to God. Nor did God give victory and 
 success to him only when he went to the battle 
 himself, and led his own army, but he gave vic- 
 tory to Abishai, the brother of Joab, general of 
 his forces, over the Idumeanjs,'f < and by him to 
 David, when he sent him with an army into 
 Idumea; for Abishai destroyed eighteen thou- 
 sand of them in the battle ; whereupon the king 
 [of Israel] placed garrisons through all Idumea, 
 and received the tribute of the country, and of 
 every head among them. Now David was in his 
 nature just, and made his determination with re- 
 gard to truth. He had for the general of his 
 whole army Joab; and he made Jehoshaphat, 
 the son of Ahilud, recorder: he also appointed 
 Zadok, of the family of Phineas, to be high priest, 
 together with Abiathar, for he was his friend : he 
 also made Seisan the scribe; and committed the 
 command over the guards of his body to Benaiah, 
 the son of, Jehoiada. His elder sons were near 
 his body, and had the care of it also. 
 
 5. He also called to mind the covenants and 
 the oaths he had made with Jonathan, the son 
 of Saul, Bd the friendship and affection Jona- 
 than had for him ; for besides all the rest of the 
 excellent qualities with which he was endowed, 
 he was also exceeding mindful of such as had at 
 other times bestowed benefits upon him. He 
 therefore gave order that inquiry should be made, 
 whether any of Jonathan's lineage were living, 
 to whom he might make return of that familiar 
 acquaintance which Jonathan had had with him, 
 and for which he was still debtor. And when 
 one of Saul's freed men was brought to him, who 
 was acquainted with those of his family that 
 were still living, he asked him whether he could 
 tell him of any one belonging to Jonathan that 
 was now alive, and capable of a requital of the 
 benefits which he had received from Jonathan. 
 And when he said that a son of his was remain- 
 ing, whose name was Mephibosheth, but that he 
 was lame of his feet ; for when his nurse heard 
 that the father and grandfather of the child 
 
 t By this great victory over the posterity of Esau, 
 and by the consequent tribute paid by them to the Jews, 
 were the prophecies delivered to Rebekah before Jacob 
 and Esau were born, and by old Isaac before his death, 
 that the elder should serve the younger, and that Jacob 
 bou!l he Esau's lord, remarkably fulElled.
 
 OF THE J.LWS. 
 
 [BOOK \ 11. 
 
 Jlen in the buttle, she snatched him up, 
 d aviv, uud let him fall from her shoulders, 
 d Sect were lamed. So when he had earned 
 and by whom he was brought up, he sent 
 iseii"ers to Machir, to the city of Lodebar, tor 
 
 3?Ssswtr?W-S 
 Stx^^~> ; 
 
 hu and bade him be of good cheer, and expect 
 otter times. So he gave him his f ather s house, 
 and all the estate wluch his grandfather haul 
 was in possession of, and bade him come and diet 
 with him at his own table, and never to be absent 
 one day from that tabfe tod when the youth 
 had worshipped him, on account of his words 
 I gifts given to him, he called for Ziba and 
 told him that he had given the youth his father s 
 house, and all Saul's estate He also ordered 
 that Ziba should cultivate his land, and take care 
 of it and bring him the profits of all to Jerusa- 
 lem. Accordingly David brought him to his 
 table every day ; and bestowed upon the youth, 
 Ziba and his sons, who were in number fifteen, 
 and his servants, who were in number twenty. 
 When the king had made these appointments, 
 and Ziba had worshipped him, and promised to 
 do all that he had bidden him, he went his way ; 
 so that this son of Jonathan dwelt at Jerusalem, 
 and dieted at the king's table, and had the same 
 care that a son could claim taken of him. He 
 also had himself a son, whom he named Micha. 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 HOW THE VVAB WAS WAGED AGAINST THE AMMON- 
 ITES, AKD HAPPILY CONCLUDED. 
 
 1. THESE were the honours that such as were 
 left of Saul's and Jonathan's lineage received 
 from David. About this time died Nahash, the 
 king of the Ammonites, who was a friend of 
 David's ; and when his son had succeeded his 
 father in the kingdom, David sent ambassadors 
 to him to comfort him ; and exhorted him to 
 take his father's death patiently, and to expect 
 that he would continue the same kindness to 
 himself which he had shewn to his father. But 
 the princes of the Ammonites took this message 
 in evil part, and not as David's kind dispositions 
 gave reason to take it ; and they excited the 
 king to resent it ; aud said that David had sent 
 men to spy out the country, and what strength 
 it had, under the pretence of humanity and 
 kindness. They further advised him to have a 
 care, and not to give heed to David's words, lest 
 he should be deluded by him, and so fall into an 
 inconsolable calamity. Accordingly, Nahash's 
 [son,] the kiug of the Ammonites, thought these 
 princes spake what was more probable than the 
 troth would admit, and so abused the ambas- 
 sadors after a very harsh manner ; for he shaved 
 the one half of then- beards, and cut off one half 
 of their garments, axJ sent his answer not in 
 words but in deeds. When the king of Israel 
 saw this, he had indignation at it, and shewed 
 openly that he would not overlook this injurious 
 and contumelious treatment, but would make 
 war with the Ammonites, and would avenge this 
 wicked treatment of his ambassadors on their 
 king. So tht the king's intimate friends and 
 commanders, understanding that thoy had vio- 
 lated their league, and were liable to be punished 
 for the same, uiude preparations for war ; they 
 t TL? nt a thousand talents to the Syrian Ving 
 <t Mesopotamia, and endeavoured to pro-: 
 
 with him to assist them for that pay, and She- 
 bach. Now these kings had twenty thousand 
 footmen. They also hired the king of the country 
 called Maacah, and a fourth king, by name Ish- 
 tob ; which lat had. twelve thousand armed 
 men. 
 
 2. But David \vos under no consternation at 
 ehis confederacy, nor at the forces of the Am- 
 monites ; and putting his trust in God, because 
 he was going to war in a just cause, out account 
 of the injurious treatment he had met with, he 
 immediately sent Joab, the captain of his host, 
 against them, and gave him the flower of hia 
 army, who pitched his camp by Rabbath, the 
 metropolis of the Ammonites ; whereupon the 
 enemy came out, and set themselves in array, 
 not all of them together, but in two bodies ; foi 
 the auxiliaries were set in array in the plain by 
 themselves, but the army of the Ammonites at 
 the gate over-against the Hebrews. When Joab 
 saw this, he opposed one stratagem against an- 
 other, and chose out the most hardy part of his 
 men, and set them in opposition to the king of 
 Syria, and the kings that were with him, and 
 gave the other part to his brother Abishai, and 
 bid him set them in opposition to the Ammon- 
 ites ; and said to him, That in case he should see 
 that the Syrians distressed him, and were too 
 hard for him, he should order his troops to turn 
 about, and assist him : and he said, That he 
 himself would do the same to him, if he saw him 
 In the like distress from the Ammonites. So he 
 sent his brother before, and encouraged him tc 
 do everything courageously and with alacrity, 
 which would teach them to be afraid of disgrace, 
 and to fight manfully ; and so he dismissed him 
 to fight with the Ammonites, while he fell upon 
 the Syrians. And though they made a strong 
 opposition for a while, Joab slew many of them, 
 but compelled the rest to betake themselves to 
 flight ; which, when the Ammonites saw, and 
 were withal afraid of Abishai and his army, they 
 stayed no longer, but imitated their auxiliaries, 
 and fled to the city. So Joab, who had thus 
 overcome the enemy, returned with great joy to 
 Jerusalem to the king. 
 
 3. This defeat did not still induce the Ammon- 
 ites to be quiet, nor to own those that were supe- 
 rior to them to be so, and be still, but they sent 
 to Chalaman, the king of the Syrians, beyond 
 Euphrates, and hired him for an auxiliary. He 
 had Shobach for the captain of his host, with 
 eighty thousand footmen, and ten thousand 
 horsemen. Now when the kiug of the Hebrews 
 understood that the Ammonites had again ga- 
 thered so great an army together, he determined 
 to make war with them no longer by his generals, 
 but he passed over the river Jordan himself with 
 all his army ; and when he met them he joined 
 battle with them, and overcame them, and slew 
 forty thousand of their f<x>tmen, aud seven thou- 
 sand of their horsemen. He also wounded Sho- 
 bach, the general of Chaiaman's forces, who died 
 of that stroke ; but the people of Mesopotamia, 
 upon such a conclusion of the battle, delivered 
 themselves up to David, and sent him presents, 
 who at winter-time returned to Jerusalem. But 
 at the beginning of the spring, he sent Joab, the 
 captain of his host, to fight against the Ammon- 
 ites, who overran all their country, and laid it 
 waste, and shut them up in their metropolis, 
 Itabbath, and besieged them therein.
 
 CHAP. VH.} 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 156 
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 BOW tAVID FELL IN LOVE WITH BATHSHEBA, AND 
 SLEW UEK HUSBAND URIAH, FOB WHICH HE IS 
 KEPBOVED BY NATHAN. 
 
 L BUT David fell now into a very grievous 
 sin, though he was otherwise naturally a right- 
 eous and a religious man, and one that firmly 
 observed the laws of our fathers; for when late 
 in an evening he took a view round him from 
 the roof of his royal palace, where he used to 
 walk at that hour, he saw a woman washing 
 herself in her own house: she was one of ex- 
 traordinary beauty, and therein surpassed all 
 other women j her name was Bathsheba. So he 
 was overcome by that woman's beauty, and was 
 not able to restrain his desires, but sent for her, 
 and lay with her. Hereupon she conceived with 
 child, and sent to the king, that he should con- 
 trivo some way of concealing her sin, (for, ac- 
 cording to the laws of their fathers, she who 
 had been guilty of adultery ought to be put to 
 death.) So the king sent for Joab's armour- 
 bearer from the siege, who was the woman's 
 husband, and his name was Uriah; and when 
 he was come, the king inquired of him about 
 the army, and about the siege; and when he 
 had made answer, that all their affairs went 
 according to their wishes, the king took some 
 portions of meat from hia supper, and gave them 
 to him, and bade him go home to his wife, and 
 take his rest with her. Uriah did not do so, 
 but slept near the king with the rest of his 
 armour-bearers. When the king was informed 
 of this, he asked him why he did not go home 
 to his house, and to his wife, after so long an 
 absence; which is the natural custom of all 
 men, when they come from a long journey. He 
 replied, that it was not right, while his fellow 
 soldiers, and the general of the army, slept upoii 
 the ground, in the camp, and in an enemy's 
 country, that he should go and take his rest. 
 and solace himself with his wife. So when he had 
 thus replied, the king ordered him b stay there 
 that night, that he might dismiss him the next 
 day to the general. So the king invited Uriah 
 to supper, and after a cunning and dexterous 
 manner plied him with drink at supper till he 
 was thereby disordered; yet did he nevertheless 
 sleep at the king's gates, without any inclination 
 to go to his wife. Upon this the king was very 
 angry at him; and wrote to Joab, and com- 
 manded him to punish Uriah, for he told him 
 that he had offended him ; and he suggested to 
 him the manner in which he would have him 
 punished, that it might not be discovered that 
 he was himself the author of this his punish- 
 ment; for he charged him to set him over 
 against that part of the enemy's army where the 
 attack would be most hazardous, and where he 
 might be deserted, and be in the greatest jeopar- 
 dy ; for he bade him ovder his fellow-soldiers to 
 retire out of the fight "When he had written 
 thus to him, and sealeu the letter with his own 
 seal, he gave it to Uriah to carry to Joab. When 
 Joab had received it, and upon reading it under- 
 stood the king's purpose, he set Uriah in that 
 place where he knew tiie enemy would be most 
 troublesome to them; and gave him for his 
 partners some of the best soldiers in the army ; 
 and said that he would also come to their as- 
 sistance with the whole army, that if possible 
 they might break down some piu-t of the wall, 
 and enter the city. And he desired bun to be 
 glad of the opportunity of exposing himself to 
 uch srreat pains, and not to be discleased at it. 
 
 since he was a valiant soldier, and had a great 
 reputation for his valour, both with the king 
 and with his countrymen. And when Uriah 
 undertook the work he was set upon with 
 alacrity, he gave private orders to those who 
 were to be his companions, that when they saw 
 the enemy make a sally, they should leave him, 
 When, therefore, the Hebrews made an attack 
 upon the city, the Ammonites were afraid that 
 the enemy might prevent them, and get up into 
 the city, and this at the very place whither 
 Uriah was ordered ; so they exposed their best 
 soldiers to be in the fore-front, and opened thou- 
 ght es suddenly, and fell upon the enemy with 
 great vehemence, and ran violently upon them 
 When those that were with Uriah saw this, they 
 all retreated backward, as Joab had directed 
 them beforehand ; but Uriah, as ashamed to run 
 , away and leave his post, sustained the enemy, 
 and receiving the violence of their onset, he slew 
 many of them; but being encompassed round, 
 and caught in the midst of them, he was slain, 
 and some other of his companions were slain 
 with him. 
 
 2. When this was done, Joab sent messengers 
 to the king, and ordered them to tell him that 
 be did what he could to take the city soon; but 
 that as they made an assault on the wall, 
 they had been forced to retire with great loss , 
 and bade them, if they saw the king was angry 
 at it, to add this, that Uriah was slain also. 
 When the king had heard this of the messengers. 
 ! he took it heinously, and said that they did 
 ! wrong when they assaulted the wall, whereas 
 ; they ought, by undermining and other strata- 
 gems of war, to endeavour the taking of the 
 city, especially when they had before their eyes 
 the example of Abimelech, the son of Gideon, 
 who would needs take the tower in Thebes by 
 force, and was killed by a large stone thrown at 
 him by an old woman; and, although he was a 
 man of great prowess, he died ignominiously by 
 the dangerous manner of liis assault. That they 
 should remember this accident, and not come 
 near the enemy's wall, for that the best method 
 of making war with success was to call to mind 
 the accidents of former wars, and what good or 
 bad success had attended them in the like dan- 
 gerous cases, that so they might imitate the one, 
 and avoid the other. But when the king was in 
 this disposition, the messengers told him that 
 Uriah was slain also; whereupon he was paci- 
 fied. So he bade the messengers go back to Joab 
 and tell him, that this misfortune is no other 
 than what is common among mankind; and that 
 such is the nature, and such the accidents of 
 war, insomuch that sometimes the enemy will 
 have success therein, and sometimes others ; but 
 i that he ordered bim to go on still in his care 
 i about the siege, that no ill accident might befall 
 I him in it hereafter : that they should raise bul- 
 warks and use machines in besieging the city; 
 and when they have gotten it, to overturn its 
 very foundations, and to destroy all those that 
 are in it. Accordingly, the messengers carried 
 the king's message with which they were 
 charged, and made haste to Joab. But Bath- 
 sheba, the wife of Uriah, when she was in- 
 formed of the death of her husband, mourned 
 for his death many days ; and when her mourn- 
 ing was over, and the tears which she shed for 
 Uriah were dried up, the king took her to wife 
 presently ; and a son was bom to him by her 
 
 3. With this marriage God was not weU 
 pleased, but was thereupon angry at David; 
 and he appeared to Nathan the prophet in hia 
 sleep, and complained of the king. Now Nathan 
 was a fair and prudent man ; and considering
 
 156 
 
 ANTIQUITIES O.F THE JEWS. 
 
 I BOOK VII. 
 
 that kings, when tlioy fall into a passion, are 
 (raided more by that passion than they are by 
 justice, he resolved to conceal the threatenmgs 
 that proceeded from Gnd, and made a good- 
 natured discourse to him, and this after the 
 manner following : He desired that the king 
 would give him his opinion in the following case : 
 "There were," said he, "two men inhabiting 
 the same city, the one of them was rich and [the 
 other poor.] The rich man had a great many 
 flocks of cattle, of sheep, and of kite : but the 
 poor man had but one ewe-lamb This he 
 brought up with bis children, and lot her eat 
 her food with them ; and he had the same natu- 
 ral affection for her which any one might have 
 for a daughter. Now upon the coming of a 
 stranger to the rich man, he would not vouch- 
 safe to kill any of his own flocks, and thence 
 feast his friend ; but he sent for the poor man's 
 lamb, and took her away from him, and made 
 her ready for food, and thence feasted the 
 stranger. This discourse troubled the king ex- 
 ceedingly; and he denounced to Nathan, that 
 " this man was a wicked man, who could dare 
 to do such a thing ; and that it was but just that 
 he should restore the lamb fourfold, and be pun- 
 ished with death for it also." Upon this, Nathan 
 immediately said, that he was himself the man 
 who ought to suffer those punishments, and that 
 by his own sentence ; and that it was he who 
 had perpetrated this great and horrid crime. 
 He also revealed to him, and laid before him, 
 the anger of God against him, who had made 
 him king over the army of the Hebrews, and 
 lord of all the nations, and those many and great 
 nations round about him ; who had formerly de- 
 livered him out of the hands of Saul, and had 
 given him such wives as he had justly and legally 
 married ; and now this God was despised by 
 him, and affronted by his impiety, when he had 
 married, and now had another man's wife ; and 
 by exposing her husband to the enemy, had 
 really slain him ; that God would inflict punish- 
 ments upon him on account of those instances 
 of wickedness ; that his own wives should he 
 forced by one of his sons ; and that he should 
 be treacherously supplanted by the same son ; 
 and that although he had perpetrated his wicked- 
 ness secretly, yet should that punishment which 
 he was to undergo be inflicted publicly upon 
 him ; " that, moreover," said he, " the child 
 who was born to thee of her, shall soon die." 
 When the king was troubled at these messages, 
 and sufficiently confounded, and said, with tears 
 and sorrow, that he had sinned, (for he was 
 without controversy a pious man, and guilty of 
 no sin at all in his whole life, excepting those in 
 the matter of Uriah,) God had compassion on 
 him, and was reconciled to him, and promised 
 that he would preserve to him both his life and 
 his kingdom ; for he said, that seeing he repented 
 of the things he h#d done, he was no longer dis- 
 pleased with him. So Nathan, when he had 
 delivered this prophecy to the king, returned 
 home. 
 
 4. However, God sent a dangerous distemper 
 upon the child that was born to David of the 
 wife of Uriah ; at which the king was troubled, 
 and did not take any food for seven days, al- 
 though his servants almost forced him to take 
 it ; but he clothed himself in a black garment, 
 nd fell down, and lay upon the ground hi sack- 
 
 oth, entreating God for the recovery of the 
 child, for he vehemently loved the child's 
 
 other; but when, on the seventh day, the 
 
 child was dead, the king's servants durst not tell 
 
 ft 'IWPPosing that when he knew it, 
 
 he would still less admit of food and other care 
 
 of himself, by reason of his grief at the death of 
 his son, since when the chiVl was only sick, he 
 so greatly afflicted himself, and grieved for him 
 but when the king perceived that his servants 
 were in disorder, and seemed to be affected as 
 those are who are very desirous to conceal some- 
 thing, he understood that the child was dead ; 
 and when he had called one of his servants to 
 him, and discovered that so it was, he arose up 
 and washed himself, and took a white garment, 
 and came into the tabernacle of God. He also 
 commanded them to set supper before him, and 
 thereby greatly surprised his kindred and ser- 
 vants, while he did nothing of this when the 
 child was sick, but did ib all when he was dead. 
 Whereupon, having first begged leave to ask him 
 a question, they besought him to tell them the 
 reason of this his conduct ; he then called them 
 unskilful people, and instructed them how he 
 had hopes of the recovery of the child while it 
 was alive, and accordingly did all that was pro- 
 per for him to do, as thinking by such means to 
 render God propitious to him ; but that when 
 the child was dead, there was no longer any 
 occasion for grief, which was then to no purpose. 
 When he had said this, they commended the 
 king's wisdom and understanding. He then 
 went in unto Bathsheba his wife, and she con- 
 ceived and bare a son ; and by the command of 
 Nathan the prophet, called his name Solomon. 
 
 5. But Joab sorely distressed the Ammonites 
 in the siege, by cutting off their water, and de- 
 priving them of other means of subsistence, till 
 they were in the greatest want of meat and 
 drink, for they depended only on one small well 
 of water, and this they durst not drink of too 
 freely, lest the fountain should entirely fail 
 them. So he wrote to the king, and informed 
 him thereof ; and persuaded him to come him- 
 self to take the city, that he might have the 
 honour of the victory. Upon this letter of 
 Joab's, the king accepted of his good-will and 
 fidelity, and took with him his army, and came 
 to the destruction of Rabbath ; and when he had 
 taken it by force, he gave it to his soldiers to 
 plunder it ; but he himself took the king of the 
 Ammonites' crown, the weight of which was a 
 talent of gold ; * and it had in its middle a pre- 
 cious stone called a sardonyx ; which crown 
 David ever after wore on his own head. He 
 also found many other vessels in the city, and 
 those both splendid and of great price ; but as 
 for the men, he tormented them,t and then de- 
 stroyed them : and when he had taken the other 
 cities of the Ammonites by force, he treated 
 them after the same manner. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 HOW ABSALOM MURDERED AMNON, WHO HAD 
 FORCED HI3 OWN SISTER ; AND HOW HE WAS 
 BANISHED, AND AFTERWARDS RECALLED BY 
 DAVID. 
 
 1. WHEN the king was returned to Jerusalem, 
 
 * A talent of gold was about seven pounds weight. 
 
 1 1 am inclined to think that the meaning of this pas- 
 sage, at least as the words are in Samuel, might only 
 be this : That they were made the lowest slaves, to 
 work in timber or stone, in harrowing the fields, in 
 hewing timber, in making and burning bricks, and tha 
 like hard services, but without taking away their livea. 
 We never elsewhere meet with such methods of cruelty 
 in putting men to death in all the Bible, nor do th 
 words in 8am uel seem naturally to refer to any such 
 thing.
 
 CHAP. vm.j 
 
 ANTIQUITIE3 OF THE JEWS. 
 
 a ud misfortune befell his house, on the occasion 
 following : He had a daughter who was yet a 
 virgin, and very handsome, insomuch that she 
 surpassed all the most beautiful women ; her 
 name was Tamar ; she had the same mother with 
 Absalom. Now Amnon, David's eldest son, fell 
 in love with her, and being not able to obtain his 
 desires, on account of her virginity, 'and the i 
 custody she was under, was so much out of order, ( 
 nay, his grief so ate up his body, that he grew : 
 lean, and his colour was changed Now there j 
 was one Jonadab, a kinsman and friend of his, 
 who discovered this his passion, for he was an \ 
 extraordinary wise man, and of great sagacity of I 
 mind. When, therefore, he saw that every [ 
 mornin. Ymnon was iiot in body as he ought to 
 be, he came to him, and desired him to toll him , 
 what was the cause of it : however, he said that 
 he guessed that it arose from the passion of love. 
 Amnon confessed his passion, that he was in love 
 with a sister of his, who had the same father 
 with himself. So Jonadab suggested to him by 
 what method and contrivance he might obtain 
 his desires ; for he persuaded him to pretend 
 sickness, and bade him, when his father should 
 come to him, to beg of him that his sister might 
 come and minister to him ; for, if that were done, 
 he should be better, and should quickly iscover 
 from his distemper. So Amnon lay down on his 
 bed, and pretended to be sick, as Jonudab had 
 suggested. When his father came, and inquired 
 how he did, he begged of him to send his sister 
 to him. Accordingly, he presently ordered her 
 to be brought to him ; and when she was come, 
 Amnon bade her make cakes for him, and fry 
 them in a pan, and do it all with her own hands, 
 because he should take them better from her 
 hand [than from any one's eke. ] So she kneaded 
 the flower in the sight of her brother, and made 
 him cakes, and baked them in a pan, and brought 
 them to him ; but at that time he would not 
 taste them, but gave order to his servants to 
 send all that were there out of his chamber, 
 because he had a mind to repose himself, free 
 from tumult and disturbance. As soon as what 
 he had commanded was done, he desired his 
 sister to bring his supper to him into the inner 
 parlour ; which, when the damsel had done, he 
 took hold of her, and endeavoured to persuade 
 her to lie with him. Whereupon the damsel 
 cried out, and said, " Nay, brother, do not force 
 me, nor be so wicked as to transgress the laws, 
 and bring upon thyself the utmost confusion. 
 Curb this thy unrighteous and impure lust, from 
 which our house will get nothing but reproach 
 and disgrace." She also advised him to speuk to 
 his father about this affair ; for he would permit 
 him [to marry her.] This she said, as desirous 
 to avoid her brother's violent passion at present. 
 But he would not yield to her ; but, inflamed 
 with love and blinded with the vehemency of his 
 passion, he forced his sister ; but as soon as 
 Amnon had satisfied his lust, he hated her 
 immediately, and giving her reproachful words, 
 bade her rise up and be gone. And when she 
 gaid that this was a more injurious treatment 
 than the former, if, now he had forced her, he 
 would not let her stay with him till the even- 
 ing, but bid her go away in the daytime, and 
 while it was light, that she might meet with 
 people that would be witness of her shame, he 
 commanded his servant to turn her out of his 
 house. Whereupon she was sorely grieved at 
 the injury and violence that had been offered to 
 her, and rent her loose coat, (for the virgins of 
 old time wore such loose coats tied at the hands. 
 and let down to the ankles, that the inner cout- 
 might not be seen,) and sprinkled ashes on he> 
 
 head ; and went up the middle of the city, cry- 
 ing out and lamenting for the violence that had 
 been offered her. Now Absalom, her brother, 
 happened to meet her, and asked her what sad 
 thing had befallen her, that she was in that 
 plight ; and when she had told him what injury 
 had been offered her, he comforted her, and 
 desired her to be quiet, and take all patiently, 
 and not to esteem her being corrupted by her 
 brother as an injury. So she yielded to his ad- 
 vice, and left off her crying out, and discovering 
 the force offered hefr to the multitude : and she 
 continued as a widow with her brother Absalom 
 a long time. 
 
 2. When David his father knew this, he was 
 grieved at the actions of Amnon; but because he 
 had an extraordinary affection for him, for he 
 was his eldest t>on, he was compelled not to 
 afflict him ; but Absalom watched for a fit 
 opportunity of revenging this crime upon him, 
 for he thoroughly hated him. Now the second 
 year after this wicked affair about his sister was 
 over, and Absalom was about to go to shear his 
 own sheep at Baalhazor, which is a city in the 
 portion of Ephraim, he besought his father, as 
 well as his brethren, to come and feast with him : 
 but when David excused himself, as not being 
 willing to be burdensome to him, Absalom de- 
 sired he would however send his brethren ; 
 whom he did send accordingly. Then Absalom 
 charged his own servants, that when they should 
 see Amnon disordered and drowsy with wine, 
 and he should give them a signal, they should 
 fear nobody, but kill him. 
 
 3. When they had done at> they were com- 
 manded, the rest of his brethren were astonished 
 and disturbed, and were afraid for themselves, 
 eo they immediately got on horseback, and rode 
 away to their father : but somebody there was 
 who prevented them, and told their father they 
 were all slain by Absalom ; whereupon he was 
 overcome with sorrow, as for so many of his sons 
 that were destroyed at once, and that by their 
 brother also; and by this consideration, that it 
 was their brother that appeared to have slam 
 them, he aggravated his sorrow for them. So he 
 neither inquired what was the cause of this 
 slaughter, nor stayed to hear any thing else, which 
 yet it was but reasonable to have done, when no 
 very great, and by that greatness so incredible a 
 misfortune was related to him, he rent his 
 clothes, and threw himself upon the ground, and 
 there lay lamenting the loss <jf all his sons, both 
 those who, as he was informed, were slain, and 
 of him who slew them. But Jonadab, the son 
 of his brother Shemeah, entreated him not to 
 indulge his sorrow so far, for as to the rest of 
 his sons he did not believe that they were slain, 
 for he found no cause for such a suspicion ; but 
 he said it might deserve inquiry as to Amnon, 
 for it was not unlikely that Absalom might 
 venture to kill him on account of the injury he 
 had offered to Tamar. In the meantime, a great 
 noise of horses, and a tumult of some people that 
 were coming, turned their attention to them ; 
 they were the king's sons, who were fled away 
 from the feast. So their father met them as 
 they were in their grief, and he himself grieved 
 with them ; but it was more than he expected 
 to see those his sons again, whom he had a little 
 before heard to have perished. However, there 
 were tears on both sides ; they lamenting theii 
 brother who was killed, and the king lamenting 
 his son, who was killed also ; but Absalom fled 
 to Geshur, to his grandfather by his mother's 
 side, who was king of that country, and he re- 
 mained with him three whole years. 
 
 4. Now David had a design to send to Absalom,
 
 [BOOK VII. 
 
 not to come that he should io be punished, but 
 that he might be with him, for the effects of his 
 jnger were abated by length of time. Tt was 
 Joab, the captain of his host, that chiefly per- 
 suaded him BO to do ; for he suborned an ordi- 
 nary woman, that was stricken in age, to go to 
 the king in mourning appare}, who said thus to 
 him : That two of her sons, in a coarse way, 
 bad some difference between them, and that in 
 the progress of that difference they came to an 
 open quarrel, and that one was smitten by the 
 other, and was dead ; and she desired him to 
 interpose in this case, and to do her the favour 
 to save this her son from her kindred, who were 
 very zealous "to have him that had slain his 
 brother put to death, that so she might not be 
 further deprived of the hopes she had of being 
 taken care of in her old age by him ; and that if 
 be would hinder this slaughter of her son by 
 those that wished for it, he would do her a 
 p-eat favour, because the kindred would not be 
 restrained from their purpose by anything else 
 than by the fear of him : and when the king 
 had given his consent to what the woman had 
 begged of him, she made this reply to him : " I 
 owe thee thanks for thy benignity to me in pity- 
 rag my old age, and preventing the loss of my 
 only remaining child ; but in order to assure me 
 of this thy kindness, be first reconciled to thine 
 own son, and cease to be angry with him ; for 
 how shall I persuade myself that thou hast really 
 bestowed this favour upon me, while thou thy- 
 elf continuest after che like manner in thy 
 wrath to thine own son ? for it is a foolish thing 
 X) add wilfully another to thy dead son, while 
 >he death of the other was brought about with- 
 jut thy consent : " and now the king perceived 
 that this pretended story was a subornation 
 derived from Joab, and was of his contrivance ; 
 and when, upon inquiry of the old woman, he 
 understood it to be so in reality, he called for 
 Joab, and told him he had obtained what he 
 requested according to his own mind; and he 
 bid him bring Absalom back, for he was now 
 displeased, but had already ceased to be angry 
 with him. So Joab bowed himself down to the 
 king, and took his words kindly, and went im- 
 mediately to Geshur, and took Absalom with 
 him, and came to Jerusalem. 
 
 5. However, the king sent a message to his 
 son beforehand, as he was coming, and com- 
 manded him to retire to his own house, for he 
 was not yet in such^ disposition as to think fit 
 at present to see him. Accordingly, upon the 
 father's command, he avoided coming into his 
 presence, and contented himself with the respects 
 paid him by his own family only. Now his 
 beauty was not impaired, either by the grief he 
 had been under, or by the want of such care as 
 was proper to be taken of a king's son, for he 
 still surpassed and excelled all men in the tall- 
 ness of his body, and was more eminent [in a 
 fine appearance] than those that dieted the most 
 luxuriously ; and indeed such was the thickness 
 of the hair of his head, that it was with difficulty 
 he was polled every eighth day ; and his hair 
 weighed two hundred shekels,* which are five 
 pounds. However, he dwelt in Jerusalem two 
 years, and became the father of three sons and 
 one daughter; which daughter was of very great 
 beauty, and which Rehoboam, the son of Solo- 
 mon, took to wife afterward, and had by her a 
 son named Abijah ; but Absalom sent to Joab, 
 
 I desired him to pacify his father entirely to- 
 la him ; and to beseech him to give him leave 
 
 to come to him to see him, ard speak -with him ; 
 but when Joab neglected so to do, he sent some 
 of his own servants, and set fire to the field ad- 
 joining to him; which, when Joab understood, 
 he came to Absalom, and accused him of what 
 he had done ; and asked him the reason why he 
 did so? To which Absalom replied, that "1 
 have found out this stratagem that might bring 
 thee to us, while thou hast taken no care to per- 
 form the injunction I laid upon thee, which was 
 this, to reconcile my father to me ; and I really 
 beg it of thee, now thou art here, to pacify my 
 father as to me, since I esteem my coming hither 
 to be more grievous than my banishment, while 
 my father's wrath against me continues." Here- 
 by Joab was persuaded, and pitied the distress 
 that Absalom was in, and became an intercessor 
 with the king for him; and when be had dis- 
 coursed with his father, he soon brought him to 
 that amicable disposition towards Absalom, that 
 he presently sent for him to come to him ; and 
 when he had cast himself down upon the ground, 
 and had begged for the forgiveness of his of- 
 fsnces, the king raised him up, and promised 
 him to forget what he had formerly done. 
 
 ut i inks that the L " 
 
 IUt Hi, value was twenty shekels 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 CONCERNING THE INSURRECTION OF ABSALOM 
 AGAINST DAVID ; AND CONCERNING AHITHOPHEL 
 AND HUSHAI; AND CONCERNING ZIBA AND 
 SHIMEI ; AND HOW AHITHOPHEL HANGED HIM- 
 SELF. 
 
 1. Now Absalom, upon this his success with 
 the king, procured to himself a great many 
 horses, and many chariots, and that in a little 
 time also. He had moreover fifty armour- 
 bearers that were about him, and he came early 
 every day to the king's palace, and spake what 
 was agreeable to such as came for justice and 
 lost their causes, as if that happened for want of 
 good counsellors about the king, or perhaps be- 
 cause the judges mistook in that unjust sentence 
 they gave ; whereby he gained the good-will of 
 them all. He told them, that had lie but such 
 authority committed to him, he would distribute 
 justice to them in a most equitable manner. 
 When he had made himself so popular among 
 the multitude, he thought he had already the 
 good-will of the people secured to him ; but 
 when four years* had passed since his father's 
 reconciliation to him, he came to him, and be- 
 sought him to give him leave to go to Hebron, 
 and pay a sacrifice to God, because he vowed it 
 to him when he fled out of the country. So 
 when David had granted his request, he went 
 thither, and great multitudes came running to- 
 gether to him, for he had sent to a great number 
 so to do. 
 
 2. Among them came Ahfthophel the Gilonite, 
 a counsellor of David's, and two hundred men 
 out of Jerusalem itself, who knew not his inten- 
 tions, but were sent for as to a sacrifice. So he 
 was appointed king by all of them, which he ob- 
 tained by this stratagem. As soon as this news 
 was brought to David, and he was informed of 
 what he did not expect from his son, he was 
 affrighted at this his impious and bold under- 
 
 * This is one of the best corrections that Josephus'i 
 copy affords us of a text that, in our ordinary copies, is 
 grossly corrupted. They say that this rebellion of 
 Absalom was forty years after what went before, (of his 
 reconciliation to his father,) whereas the series of the 
 history ahewg it could not be more thr-i four ydW 
 o.fti?" it.
 
 IJHAP. IX.] 
 
 THE JEWS. 
 
 151 
 
 taking, and wondered that he was so far from re 
 membering how his offence had been so lately 
 forgiven him, that he undertook much worse anu 
 more wicked enterprises; first, to deprive him of 
 that kingdom which was given him of God ; and, 
 secondly, to lake away his own father's life. He 
 therefore resolved to fiy to the parts beyond Jor- 
 dan ; so he called his most ultimate friends to- 
 gether, and communicated to th^m all that be 
 had heard of his son's madness He committed 
 himself to God, to judge between them about all j 
 their actions ; and left the care of his royal palace 
 to his ten concubines, and went away from Jerusa- 
 lem, being willingly accompanied by the rest of 
 the multitude, who went hastily away with him, 
 and particularly by those six hundred armed 
 men, who had been with him from his first flight 
 'in the days of Saul. But he persuaded Ahiathar 
 and Zadok, the high priests, who had determined 
 to go away with him, as also all the Levites, who 
 were with the ark, to stay behind, as hoping that 
 God would deliver him without its removal ; but 
 he charged them to let him know privately how 
 all things went on ; and he had their sons, 
 Ahimaaz the son of Zadok, and Jonathan the son 
 of Abiathar, for faithful ministers in all things ; 
 but Ittai the Gittite went out with him whether 
 David would let him or not, for he would have 
 persuaded him to stay, and on that account he 
 appeared the more friendly to him; but as he 
 was ascending the mount of Olives barefooted, 
 and all his company were in tears, it was told 
 him that Ahithophel was with Absalom, and 
 was of his side. This hearing augmented his 
 grief; and he besought God earnestly to alienate 
 the mind of Absalom from Ahithophel, for h 
 was afraid that he should persuade him to follow 
 his pernicious counsel, for he was a prudent man, 
 and very sharp in seeing what was advantageous. 
 When David was gotten upon the top of the 
 mountain, he took a view of the city; and prayed 
 to God with abundance of tears, as having already 
 lost his kingdom ; and here it was that a faithful 
 friend of his, whose name was Hushai, met him. 
 When David saw him with his clothes rent, and 
 having ashes all over his head, and in lamenta- 
 tion for the great change of affairs, he comforted 
 him, and exhorted him to leave off grieving ; nay, 
 at length he besought him to go back to Ab- 
 salom, and appear as one of his party, and to fish 
 out the secretest counsels of his mind, and to 
 contradict the counsels of Ahithophel, for that 
 he could not do him so much good by being with 
 him as he might by being with Absalom. So he 
 was prevailed on by David, and left him, and 
 tame to Jerusalem, whither Absalom himself 
 tame also a little while afterward. 
 
 3. When David was gone a little further, there 
 met him Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth 
 (whom l.o had sent to take care of the possessions 
 which had been given him, as the son of Jona- 
 than, the son of Saul) with a couple of asses, 
 loaden with provisions, and desired him to take 
 as much of them as he and his followers stood in 
 need of. And when the king asked him where 
 he had left Mephibosheth, he said he had left 
 him in Jerusalem, expecting to be chosen king 
 in the present confusions, in remembrance of the 
 benefits Saul had conferred upon them. At this 
 the king had great indignation, and gave to Ziba j 
 all that he had formerly bestowed on Mephibos- | 
 heth, for he determined that it was much fitter 
 that he should have them than the other; at 
 which Ziba greatly rejoiced. 
 
 4. When David was at Bahurim, a place 50 
 called, there came out a Kinsman of Saul's, whose 
 name was Shimei, and threw stones at him, and 
 zave him reoroacl ful words; and as his friends 
 
 stood about the king and protected him, he per- 
 severed still more in hi* reproaches, and caileo 
 him a bloody man, and the author of all sorts o! 
 mischief, He bade him also go out of the land 
 as an impure and accursed wretch; and hs 
 thanked God for depriving him of his kingdom, 
 and causing him to be punished for what injuries 
 he had done to his master [Saul], and this by the 
 means of his own son. Now when they were all 
 provoked against him, and angry at him, and 
 particularly Abishai, who had a mind to kill 
 Shimei, David restrained his anger. "Let us 
 not," said he, "bring upon ourselves another 
 fresh misfortune to those we have already, for 
 truly I have not the least regard nor concern for 
 this dog that ravest at me : I submit myself to 
 God, by whose permission this man treats me in 
 such a wild manner ; nor is it any wonder thp-t I 
 am obliged to undergo these abuses from him, 
 while I experience the like from an impious son 
 of my own ; but perhaps God will have some 
 commiseration upon us ; if it be his will we shall 
 overcome them." So he went on his way with- 
 out troubling himself with Shimei, who ran 
 along the other side of the mountain, and threw 
 out his abusive language plentifully. But when 
 David was come to Jordan, he allowed those that 
 were with him. to refresh themselves : <or they 
 were weary. 
 
 5. But when Absalom, and Ahithophel hia 
 counsellor, were come to Jerusalem, with all the 
 people, David's friend, Hushai, came to them ; 
 and when he had worshipped Absalom, he withal 
 wished that his kingdom might last a long tune, 
 and continue for all ages. But when Absalom 
 said to him, " How comes this, that he who was 
 so intimate a friend of my father's, and appeared 
 faithful to him in all things, is not with him now, 
 but hath left him, and is come over to me?" 
 Hushai's answer was very pertinent and prudent ; 
 for he said, " We ought to follow God and the 
 multitude of the people ; while these, therefore, 
 ray lord and master, are with thee, it is fit that 
 I should follow them, for thou hast received the 
 kingdom from God. I will, therefore, if thou be- 
 lievest me to be thy friend, shew the same 
 fidelity and kindness to thee which thou know- 
 est I have shewn to thy father : nor is there any 
 reason to be in the least dissatisfied with the 
 present state of affairs, for the kingdom is not 
 transferred into another, but remains still in the 
 same family, by the son's receiving it after his 
 father.",, This speech persuaded Absalom, who 
 before suspected Hushai. And now he called 
 Ahithophel, and consulted with him what he 
 ought to do ; he persuaded him to go in unto his 
 father's concubines ; for he said, that "by this 
 action the people would believe that thy differ- 
 ence with thy father is irreconcilable, and will 
 
 thence fight with great alacrity against thy father, 
 for hitherto they are afraid of taking up open 
 enmity against him, out of an expectation that 
 you will be reconciled again." Accordingly, 
 Absalom was prevailed on by this advice, and 
 commanded his servants to pitch him a tent upon 
 the top of the royal palace, in the sight of the 
 multitude ; and he went m an< i I a 7 'with his 
 father's concubines. Now this came to pass ac- 
 cording to the prediction of Nathan, when he 
 prophesied and signified to him that his son would 
 rise up in rebellion against him. 
 
 6. And when Absalom had done what he was 
 advised to by Ahithophel, he desired his advice, 
 in the second place, about the war against his 
 father. Now Ahithophel only asked him to let 
 him have ten thousand chosen men, and he 
 promised he would slay his father, and bring the 
 soldiers back again in safetv : and he said, that
 
 160 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK vii 
 
 then the kingdom would be firm to him when 
 David was dead, [but not otherwise.] Absalom 
 was pleased with this advice, and called for 
 Hushai, David's friend, (for so did he style him,) 
 and informed him of the opinion of Ahithophel : 
 he asked, further, what was his opinion concern- 
 ing that matter. Now he was sensible that if 
 Ahithophel's counsel were followed, David would 
 be in danger of being seized on, and slain; so 
 he attempted to introduce a contrary opinion, 
 and said, "Thou art not unacquainted, O king, 
 with the valour of thy father, and of those that 
 are now with him; that he hath made many 
 wars, and hath always come off with victory, 
 though probably he now abides in the camp, for 
 he is very skilful in stratagems, and in foreseeing 
 the deceitful tricks of his enemies ; yet will he 
 not leave his own soldiers in the evening, and 
 will either hide himself in some valley, or will 
 place an ambush at some rock ; so that, when 
 our army joins battle with him, his soldiers will 
 retire for a little while, but will come upon us 
 again, as encouraged by the king's being near 
 them; and in the meantime your father will 
 shew himself suddenly in the time of the battle, 
 and will infuse courage into his own people when 
 they are in danger, but bring consternation to 
 thine. Consider therefore, my advice, and rea- 
 son upon it, and if tliou canst not but acknow- 
 ledge it to be the best, reject the opinion of 
 Ahithophel. Send to the entire country of the 
 Hebrews, and order them to come and fight with 
 thy father ; and do thou thyself take the army, 
 and be thine own general in this war, and do not 
 trust its management to another ; then expect 
 to conquer him with ease, when thou overtakest 
 him openly with his few partizans, but hast 
 thyself many ten thousands, who will be desirous 
 to demonstrate to thee their diligence and alac- 
 rity. And if thy father shall shut himself up 
 in some city, and bear a siege, we will overthrow 
 that city_ with machines of war, and by under- 
 mining it." When Hushai had said this, he 
 obtained his point against Ahithophel, for his 
 opinion was preferred by Absalom before the 
 other's : however, it was no other than God * 
 who made the counsel of Hushai appear best to 
 the mind of Absalom. 
 
 7. So Hushai made haste ,to the high priests, 
 Zadok and Abiathar, and told them the opinion 
 of Ahithophel, and his own, and that the resolu- 
 tion was taken to follow this latter advice. He 
 therefore bade them send to David, and tell him 
 of it, and to inform him of the counsels that had 
 been taken; and to desire him further to pass 
 quickly over Jordan, lest his son should change 
 his mind, and make haste to pursue him, and so 
 prevent him, and seize upon him before he be in 
 slfety. Now the high priests had their sons 
 concealed in a proper place out of the city, that 
 they might carry news to David of what was 
 transacted. Accordingly, they sent a maid-ser- 
 vant, whom they could trust, to them, to carry 
 the news of Absalom's counsels, and ordered 
 them to signify the same to David with all speed. 
 
 * This reflection of Josephus's, that God brought to 
 naught the dangerous counsel of Ahithophel, and 
 directly infatuated wicked Absalom to reject it, is a very 
 just one, and in him not unfrequent Nor does Jose- 
 phus ever puzzle himself, or perplex his readers, with 
 subtle hypotheses as to the manner of such judicial 
 infatuations by God, while the justice of them is gene- 
 rally so obvious. That peculiar manner of the divine 
 operations, or permissions, or the means God makes 
 3e of in such cases, is often impenetrable by us 
 Secret things belong to the Lord our God ; but those 
 lungs that are revealed belong to us, and to our chil- 
 dwn for ever^hat we may do all the words of this law," 
 
 So they made no excuse nor delay, but taking 
 along with them their father's injunctions, be- 
 cause pious and faithful ministers ; and, judging 
 that quickness and suddenness was the best 
 mark of faithful service, they made haste to 
 meet with David. But certain horsemen saw 
 them when they were two furlongs from the 
 city, and informed Absalom of them, who im- 
 mediately sent some to take them ; but when the 
 sons of the high priests perceived this, they went 
 out of the road, and betook themselves to a cer- 
 tain village, (that village was called Bahurim ;} 
 there they desired a certain woman to hide them, 
 and afford them security. Accordingly she let 
 the young men down by a rope into a well, and 
 laid fleeces of wool over them ; and when those 
 that pursued them came to her, and asked her 
 whether she saw them, she did not deny that 
 she had seen them, for that they stayed with her 
 some time, but she said they then went their 
 ways ; and she foretold, that, however, if they 
 would follow them directly, they would catch 
 them ; but when, after a long pursuit, they 
 could not catch them, they came back again ; 
 and when the woman saw those men were re- 
 turned, and that there was no longer any fear of 
 the young men's being caught by them, she drew 
 them up by the rope, and bade them go on their 
 journey. Accordingly they used great diligence 
 in the prosecution of that journey, and came to 
 David and informed him accurately of all the coun- 
 sels of Absalom. So he commanded those that 
 were with him to pass over Jordan while it was 
 night, and not to delay at all on that account. 
 
 8. But Ahithophel, on rejection of his advice, 
 got upon his ass and rode away to his own coun- 
 try, Gilon; and calling his family together, he 
 told them distinctly what advice he had given 
 Absalom ; and since he had not been persuaded 
 by it, he said he would evidently perish, and 
 this in no long time, and that David would over- 
 come him, and return to his kingdom again ; so 
 he said it was better that he should take his 
 own life away with freedom and magnanimity, 
 than expose himself to be punished by David, in 
 opposition to whom he had acted entirely for 
 Absalom. When he had discoursed thus to 
 them, he went into the inmost room of his house, 
 and hanged himself ; and thus was the death of 
 Ahithophel, who was self -condemned ; and when 
 his relations had taken him down from the 
 halter, they took care of his funeral. Now, as 
 for David, he passed over Jordan, as we have 
 said already, and came to Mahanaim, a very fine 
 and very strong city ; and all the chief men of 
 the country received him with great pleasure, 
 both out of the shame they had that he should 
 be forced to flee away, [from Jerusalem,] and out 
 of the respect they bare him while he was in his 
 former prosperity. These were Barzillai the 
 Gileadite, and Siphar the ruler among the Am- 
 monites, and Machir the principal ''man of Gil- 
 ead; and these furnished him with plentiful 
 provisions for himself and his followers, inso- 
 much that they wanted no beds nor blankets for 
 them, nor loaves of bread, nor wine ; nay, they 
 brought them a great many cattle for slaughter, 
 and afforded them what furniture they wanted 
 for their refreshment when they were weary, 
 and for food, with plenty of other necessaries. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 HOW, WHBN ABSALOM WAS BEATEN, HE WAS 
 OAUQHT IN A TBEB BY HIS HAIB, AND WAS 
 SLAIN. 
 
 1. AND this was the state of David and his
 
 OHAP. X.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 161 
 
 followers: but Absalom got together a vast 
 army of the Hebrews to oppose his father, and 
 passed therewith over the river Jordan, and sat 
 down not far off Mahanaim, in the country of 
 Gilead. He appointed Amasa to be captain of 
 all his host, instead of Joab his kinsman : his 
 father was Ithra, and his mother Abigail : now 
 she and Zeruiah, the mother of Joab, were David's 
 sisters ; but when David had numbered his fol- 
 lowers, and found them to be about four thou- 
 sand, he resolved not to tarry till Absalom at- 
 tacked him, but set over his men captains of 
 thousands, and captains of hundreds, and divided 
 his army into three parts ; the one part he com- 
 mitted to Joab, the next to Abishai, Joab's 
 brother, and the third to Ittai, David's companion 
 and friend, but one that came from the city 
 Gath : and when he was desirous of fighting him- 
 self among them, his friends would not let him : 
 and this refusal of theirs was founded upon very 
 wise reasons: "For," said they, "if we be 
 conquered when he is with us, we have lost all 
 good hopes of recovering ourselves; but if we 
 should be beaten in one part of our army, the 
 other parts may retire to him, and may thereby 
 prepare a greater force, while the enemy will 
 naturally suppose that he hath another army 
 with him." So David was pleased with this 
 their advice, and resolved himself to tarry at 
 Mahanaim ; and as he sent his friends and com- 
 manders to the battle, he desired them to shew 
 all possible alacrity and fidelity, and to bear in 
 mind what advantages they had received from 
 him, which, though they had not been very 
 great, yet had they not been quite inconsiderable ; 
 And he begged of them to spare the young man 
 Absalom, lest some mischief should befall him- 
 self, if he should be killed ; and thus did he send 
 out his army to the battle, and wished them 
 victory therein. 
 
 2. Then did Joab put his army in battle 
 array over-against the enemy in the Great Plain, 
 where he had a wood behind him. Absalom 
 also brought his army into the field to oppose 
 him. Upon the joining of the battle, both 
 sides shewed great actions with their hands and 
 their boldness ; the one side exposing themselves 
 to the greatest hazards, and using their utmost 
 alacrity, that David might recover his kingdom ; 
 and the other being no way deficient, either in 
 doing or suffering, that Absalom might not be 
 deprived of that kingdom, and be brought to 
 punishment by his father, for his impudent at- 
 tempt against him. Those also that were the 
 most numerous were solicitous that they might 
 not be conquered by those few that were with 
 Joab, and with the other commanders, because 
 that would be the greatest disgrace to them; 
 while David's soldiers strove greatly to overcome 
 so many ten thousands as the enemy had with 
 them. Now David's men were conquerors, as 
 superior in strength and skill in war; so they 
 followed the others as they fled away through 
 the forests and valleys; some they took prisoners, 
 and many they slew, and more in the flight than 
 in the battle, for there fell about twenty thou- 
 sand that day. But all David's men ran vio- 
 lently upon Absalom, for he was easily known 
 by his beauty and tallness. He was himself 
 also afraid lest his enemies should seize on him, 
 BO he got upon the king's mule and fled ; but as 
 he 'was carried with violence, and noise, and a 
 great motion, as being himself light, he entan- 
 gled his hair greatly in the large boughs of a 
 knotty tree, that spread a great way, and there 
 he hung after a surprising manner; and as for 
 the beast, it went on further, and that swiftly, 
 as if his master had been still upon bis back; 
 
 but he hanging in the air upon the boughs, was 
 taken by his enemies. Now when one of David s 
 soldiers saw this, he informed Joab of it ; and 
 when the general said, That if he had shot at 
 and killed Absalom, he would have given him 
 fifty shekels, he replied, " I would not have 
 killed my master's son if thou wouldst have 
 given me a thousand shekels, especially when he 
 desired that the young man might be spared, in 
 the hearing of us all." But Joab bade liim 
 shew him where it was that he saw Absalom 
 hang; whereupon he shot him to the heart, and 
 slew him, and Joab's armour-bearers stood round 
 the tree, and pulled down his dead body, and 
 cast it into a great chasm that was out of sight, 
 and laid a heap of stones upon him, till the 
 cavity was filled up, and had both the appear- 
 ance and the bigness of a grave. Then Joab 
 sounded a retreat, and recalled his own soldiers 
 from pursuing the enemy's army, in order to 
 spare their countrymen. 
 
 3. Now Absalom had erected for himself a 
 marble pillar in the king's dale, two furlongs 
 distant from Jerusalem, which he named Absa- 
 lom's Hand, saying, that if his children were 
 killed, his name would remain by that pillar; 
 for he had three sons and one daughter, named 
 Tarnar, as we said before, who, when she was 
 married to David's grandson, Rehoboam, bare a 
 son, Abijah by name, who succeeded his father 
 in the kingdom ; but of these we shall speak in 
 a part of our history which will be more proper. 
 After the death of Absalom, they returned every 
 one to their own homes respectively. 
 
 4. But now Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok the 
 high priest, went to Joab, and desired he would 
 permit him to go and tell David of this victory, 
 and to bring him the good news that God had 
 afforded his assistance and his providence to 
 him. However, he did not grant his request, 
 but said to him, " Wilt thou, who hast alwayt 
 been the messenger of good news, now go and 
 acquaint the king that his son is dead? " So he 
 desired him to desist. He then called Cushi, 
 and committed the business to him, that he 
 should tell the king what he had seen. But 
 when Ahimaaz again desired him to let him go 
 as a messenger, and assured him that he would 
 only relate what concerned the victory, but not 
 concerning the death of Absalom, he gave him 
 leave to go to David. Now he took a nearer 
 road than the former did, for nobody knew it 
 but himself, and he came before CushL Now as 
 David was sitting between the gates,* and wait- 
 ing to see when somebody would come to him 
 from the battle, and tell him how it went, one 
 of the watchmen saw Ahimaaz running, and 
 before he could discern who he was, he tolc' 
 David that he saw somebody coming to him, 
 who said, he was a good messenger. A little 
 while after, he informed him, that another mes- 
 senger followed him ; whereupon the king said, 
 that he also was a good messenger: but when 
 the watchman saw Ahimaaz, and that he was 
 already very near, he gave the king notice, that 
 it was the son of Zadok the high priest, who 
 came running. So David was veiy glad, and 
 said he was a messenger of good tidings, and 
 brought him some such news from the battle aa 
 he desired to hear. 
 
 5. While the king was saying thus, AhhnaAy. 
 appeared, and worshipped the king. And when 
 
 * The reader need not be surprised at this account 
 of David's throne, that it was between two gates ; gates 
 being in cities, as well aa at the temple, large open 
 places, with a portal at the entrance, and another at 
 the exit, between which judicial causes were boArd, 
 and public consultations taken.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK vu. 
 
 the king inquired of him about the battle, he 
 gaid he brought Mm the good news of victory 
 and dominion. And when he inquired what he 
 had to say concerning his son, he said that he 
 came away on the sudden as soon as the enemy 
 was defeated, but that he heard a great noise of 
 those that pursued Absalom, and that he could 
 learn no more, because of the haste he made 
 when Joab sent him to inform him of the vic- 
 tory. But when Cushi was come, and had wor- 
 shipped him, and informed him of the victory, 
 he asked him about his son, who replied, " May 
 the like misfortune befall thine enemies as hath 
 befe'aen Absalom." That word did not permit 
 oither himself or his soldiers to rejoice at the 
 victory, though ii was a very great one ; but 
 David went up to the highest part of the city, 
 and wept for his son, and beat his breast, tearing 
 [the ha'ir of] his head, tormenting himself all 
 manner of ways, *nd crying out, " O my son ! I 
 wish that I had died myself, and ended my days 
 with thee!" for he was of a tender natural affec- 
 tion, and had extraordinary compassion for this 
 son in particular. But when the army and Joab 
 heard that the king mourned for his son, they 
 were ashamed to enter the city in the habit of 
 conquerors, but they all came in. as cast down, 
 and in tears, as if they had been beaten. Now 
 while the king covered himself, and grievously 
 lamented his son, Joab went in to him, and said, 
 " O my lord the king, thou art not aware that 
 thou layest a blot on thyself by what thou now 
 doest ; for thou now seemest to hate those that 
 love thee, and undergo dangers for thee ; nay, to 
 hate thyself and thy family, and to love those 
 that are thy bitter enemies, and to desire the 
 company of those that are no more, and who 
 havo ben justly slain ; for had Absalom gotten 
 the victory, and firmly settled himself in the 
 kingdom, there had been none of us left alive, 
 but all of us, beginning with thyself and thy 
 children, had miserably perished, while our 
 enemies had not wept for us, but rejoiced over 
 us, and punished even those that pitied us in 
 our misfortunes ; and thou art not ashamed to 
 do this in the case of one that has been thy bitter 
 enemy, who, while he was thine own son, hath 
 proved so wicked to thee. Leave off, therefore, 
 thy unreasonable grief, and come abroad, and be 
 seen by thy soldiers, and return them thanks for 
 the alacrity they shewed in the fight ; for I my- 
 self will this day persuade the people to leave 
 thee, and to give the kingdom to another, if 
 thou continuest to do thus : and then I shall 
 make thee to grieve bitterly and in earnest." 
 Upon Joab's speaking thus to him, he made the 
 king leave off his sorrow, and brought him to 
 the consideration of his affairs. So David 
 changed his habit, and exposed himself in a 
 manner fit to be seen by the multitude, and sat 
 in the gates ; whereupon all the people heard of 
 it, and ran together to him, and saluted him. 
 And this was the present state of David's affairs. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 HOW DAVID, WHEN HE HAD EECOVEBED HIS 
 KINGDOM, WAS RECONCILED TO SHIMEI, AND 
 
 * Since David was now in Mahanaim, and in the 
 open place of that city-gate, and since our other copies 
 gay he went up to the chamber over the gate, (2 Sam. 
 
 VIIL 83,) I think we ought to correct our present read- 
 ta in Josephus, and for city, should read gate. Ac- 
 cordingly we find David preseutly, (2 Sam xix 8 ) sit- 
 ting a before, in the gate of the city. 
 
 TO ZIBA ; AND SHEWED A GEEAT AFFECTION TO 
 BARZILLAI J AND HOW, UPON THE KI8E OP A 
 SEDITION, HE MADE AMASA CAPTAIN OF HIS 
 HOST, IN ORDEK TO PUKSUE SHEBA; WHICH 
 AMASA WAS SLAIN BY JOAB. 
 
 1. Now those Hebrews that had been with 
 Absalom, and had retired out of the battle, 
 when they were all returned home, sent mes- 
 sengers to every city t.> put them in mind of 
 what benefits David had bestowed upon them, 
 and of that liberty which he had procured them, 
 by delivering them from many and great wars. 
 But they complained, that whereas they had 
 ejected him out of his kingdom, and committed 
 it to another governor, which other governor, 
 whom they had set up, was already dead ; they 
 did now beseech David to leave off his anger at 
 them, and to become friends with them, and, as 
 he used to do, to resume the care of their affairs, 
 and to take the kingdom again. This was often 
 told to David. And, this notwithstanding, 
 David sent to Zadok and Abiathar the high 
 priests, that they should speak to the rulers of 
 the tribe of Judah after the manner following : 
 That it would be a reproach upon them to per- 
 mit the other tribes to choose David for their 
 king, before their tribe, and this, said he, while 
 you are akin to him, and of the same common 
 blood. He commended them also to say the 
 same to Amasa, the captain of their forces, That 
 whereas he was his sister's son, he had not per- 
 suaded the multitude to restore the kingdom of 
 David ; that he might eypect from him not only 
 a reconciliation, for that was already granted, but 
 that supreme command of the army also which 
 Absalom had bestowed upon him. Accordingly, 
 the high priests, when they had discoursed with 
 the rulers of the tribe, and said what the king 
 had ordered them, persuaded Amasa to under- 
 take the care of his affairs. So he persuaded 
 that tribe to send immediately ambassadors to 
 him, to beseech him to return to his own king- 
 dom. The same did all the Israelites, at the 
 like persuasion of Amasa. 
 
 2. When the ambassadors came to him, he 
 came to Jerusalem ; and the tribe of Judah was 
 the first that came to meet the king at the river 
 Jordan ; and Shimei, the son of Gera, came with 
 a thousand men, which he brought with him out 
 of the tribe of Benjamin ; and Ziba, the freed- 
 man of Saul, with his sons, fifteen in number, 
 and with his twenty servants. All these, as well 
 as the tribe of Judah, laid a bridge [of boats] 
 over the river, that the king, and those that were 
 with him, might with ease pass over it. Now as 
 soon as he was come to Jordan, the tribe of 
 Judah saluted him. Shimei also came upon the 
 bridge, took hold of his feet, and prayed him to 
 forgive him what he had offended, and not to be 
 too bitter against him, nor to think fit to make 
 him the first example of severity under his new 
 authority ; but to consider that he had repented 
 of his failure of duty, and had taken care to 
 come first of all to him. While he was thus en- 
 treating the king, and moving him to compassion, 
 Abishai, Joab's brother, said, And shall not this 
 man die for this, that he hath cursed that king 
 whom God hath appointed to reign over us ? But 
 David turned himself to him, and said, " Will 
 you never leave off, ye sons of Zeruiah ? Do not 
 you, I pray, raise new troubles and seditions 
 among us, now the former are over ; for I would 
 not have you ignorant, that I this day begin my 
 reign, and therefore swear to remit to all of- 
 fenders their punishments, and not to animad- 
 vert on any one that has sinned. Be thou, there- 
 fore." said he, " O Shimei, of good courage, anr*
 
 CHAP. XI. ] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JE"\V.S. 
 
 163 
 
 do not at all fear being put to death." So he 
 worshipped him, and went on before him. 
 
 3. Mephibosheth also, Saul's grandson, met 
 David, clothed in a sordid garment, and having 
 his hair thick and neglected ; for after David 
 was fled away, he was in such grief that he had 
 not polled his head, nor had he washed his 
 clothes, as dooming himself to undergo such 
 hardships upon occasion of the change of the 
 king's affairs. Now he had been unjustly calum- 
 niated to the king by Ziba, his steward. When 
 he had saluted the king, and worshipped him, 
 the king began to ask him why he did not go out 
 of Jerusalem with him, and accompany him 
 during his flight ? He replied, that this piece of 
 injustice was owing to Ziba ; because, when he 
 was ordered to get things ready for his going out 
 with him, he took no care of it, but regarded him 
 no more than if he had been a slave ; " and, in- 
 deed, had I had my feet sound and strong, I had 
 not deserted thee, for I could then have made 
 use of them in my flight : but this is not all the 
 injury that Ziba has done to me, as to my duty 
 to thee, my lord and master, but he hath calum- 
 niated me beside* rfi J told lies about me of his 
 own invention ; but I know thy mind will not 
 admit of such calumnies, but is righteously dis- 
 posed, and a lover of truth, which it is also the 
 will of God should prevail. For when thou wast 
 in the greatest danger of suffering by my grand- 
 father, and when, on that account, our whole 
 family might justly have been destroyed, thou 
 wast moderate and merciful, and didst then 
 especially forget all those injuries, when, if thou 
 hadst remembered them, thou hadst the power 
 of punishing us for them ; but thou hast judged 
 me to bo thy friend, and hast set me every day 
 at thine own table ; nor have I wanted anything 
 which one of thine own kinsmen, of greatest es- 
 teem with thee, could have expected.' When 
 he had said this, David resolved neither to 
 punish Mephibosheth, nor to condemn Ziba, as 
 Laving belied his master ; but said to him, that 
 as he had [before] granted all his estate to Ziba, 
 because he did not come along with him, so he 
 [now] promised to forgive him, and ordered that 
 the one half of his estate should be restored to 
 him.* Whereupon Mephibosheth said, "Nay, 
 let Ziba take all ; it suffices me that thou hast 
 recovered thy kingdom." 
 
 4. But David desired Barzillai the Gileadite, 
 that great and good man, and one that had made 
 a plentiful provision for him at Mahanaim, and 
 had. conducted him as far as Jordan, to accom- 
 pany him to Jerusalem, for he promised to treat 
 Lim in his old age with all manner of respect 
 to take care of him, and provide for him. But 
 Barzillai was so desirous to live at home, that he 
 entreated him to excuse him from attendance on 
 him ; and said, that his- age was too great to en- 
 joy the pleasures [of a court,] since he was four- 
 score years old, and was therefore making provi- 
 sion for his death and burial ; so he desired him 
 to gratify him in this request, and dismiss him ; 
 for he had no relish of his meat or his drink, by 
 reason of his age; and that his ears were too 
 much shut up to hear the sound of pipes, or the 
 melody of other musical instruments, such as all 
 those that live with kings delight in. When he 
 entreated for this so earnestly, the king said, " I 
 dismiss thee ; but thou shalt grant me thy son 
 Chimham, and upon him will I bestow all sorts 
 
 * By David's disposal of half Mephibosheth'* estate 
 to Ziba, one would imagine that he was doubtful whether 
 Mephibosheth's story were entirely true or not. Nor ii 
 this odd way of mourning that Mephibosheth made we 
 f here wholly free f rom suspicion of hypocrisy 
 
 of gixxi things." So Barzillai left his son with 
 him, and worshipped the king, and wished him 
 a prosperous conclusion of all his affairs accord- 
 ing to his own mind, and then returned home : 
 but David came to Gil ul, Laving about him 
 half the people [of Israel,] and the [whole] tribe 
 of Judah. 
 
 5. Now the principal men of the c< -n utry came 
 to Gilgal to him with a great multitude, and com- 
 plained of the tribe of Judah, tl,:,r they had 
 come to him in a private manner, whureas they 
 ought all conjointly, and with one and the same 
 intention, to have given him the meeting. But 
 the rulers of the tribe of Judah desired them not 
 to be displeased if they had been prevented by 
 them : for, said they, "We are David's kinsmen, 
 and on that account we the rather took care of 
 him, and loved him, and so came first to him ; " 
 yet had they not, by their early coming, received 
 any gifts from him, which might give them who 
 came last any uneasiness. When the rulers of 
 the tribe of Judah had said this, the rulers of 
 the other tribe were not quiet, but said further, 
 " O brethren, we cannot but wonder at you when 
 you call the king your kinsman alone, whereas 
 he that hath received from God the power over 
 all of us in common, ought to be esteemed a 
 kinsman to us all ; for which reason the whole 
 people have eleven parts in him, and you but one 
 part :f we are also elder than you ; wherefore 
 you have not done justly in coming to the king 
 in this private and concealed manner." 
 
 6. While these rulers were thus disputing one 
 with another, a certain wicked man, who took a 
 pleasure in seditious practices (his name was 
 Sheba, the son of Bichri, of the tribe of Benja- 
 min) stood up in the midst of the multitude, and 
 cried aloud, and spake thus to them : " We have 
 no part in David, nor inheritance in the son of 
 Jesse." And when he had used those words, he 
 blew with a trumpet, and declared war against 
 the king ; and they all left David, and followed 
 him ; the tribe of Judah alone stayed with him l 
 and settled him at his royal palace at Jerusalem. 
 But as for his concubines, with whom Absalom 
 his son had accompanied, truly he removed them 
 to another house; and ordered those that had 
 the care of them to make a plentiful provision 
 for them ; but he came not near them any more. 
 He also appointed Amasa for the captain of his 
 forces, and gave him the same high office which 
 Joab before had; and he commanded him to 
 gather together, out of the tribe of J-udah, as 
 great an army as he could, and come to him 
 within three days, that he might deliver to him 
 his entire army, and might send him to fight 
 against [Sheba] the son of Bichri. Now while 
 Amasa was gone out, and made some delay in 
 gathering the army together, and so was not yet 
 returned, on the third day the king said to Joab, 
 "It is not fit we should make any delay in 
 this affair of Sheba, lest he should get a numerous 
 army about him, and be the occasion of greater 
 mischief, and hurt our affairs more than did Ab- 
 salom himself; do not thou therefore wait any 
 longer, but take such forces as thou hast at hand* 
 and that [old] body of six hundred men &cd thy 
 brother Abishai with thee, and pursue after our 
 enemy, and endeavour to fight him wheresoever 
 thou canst overtake him. Make haste to pre 
 vent him, lest he seize upon some fenced cities, 
 and cause us great labour and pains before w 
 take him." 
 
 7. So Joab resolyed to make no delay, but tak- 
 
 t I prefer Josephus's reading here, when it rappOMl 
 eleven tribes, including Benjamin, to be oa the one aid*, 
 and the tribe of Judah alone on the other.
 
 164 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK vn. 
 
 liur with him his brother, and those six hundred 
 men and giving orders that the rest of the army 
 which was at Jerusalem should follow him, he 
 marched with great speed against Sheba; and 
 when he was come to Gibeon, which is a village 
 forty furlongs distant from Jerusalem, Amasa 
 brought a great army with him, and met Joab. 
 Now Joab was girded with a sword, and his 
 breastplate on; and when Amasa came near 
 him to salute him, he took particular care that 
 his sword should fall out, as it were, of its own 
 accord ; so he took it up from the ground, and 
 while he approached Amasa, who was then near 
 him, as though he would kiss him, he took hold 
 of Amasa's beard with his other hand, and he 
 smote him in his belly when he did not foresee 
 it, and slew him. This impious and altogether 
 profane action, Joab did to a young man, and his 
 kinsman, and one that had done him no injury, 
 and this out of jealousy that he would obtain the 
 cnief command of the army, and be in equal dig- 
 nity with himself about the king : and for the 
 same cause it was that he killed Abner ; but as 
 to that former wicked action, the death of his 
 brother Asahel, which he seemed to revenge, 
 afforded him a decent pretence, and made that 
 crime a pardonable one ; but in this murder of 
 Amasa there was no such covering for it. Now 
 when Joab had killed this general, he pursued 
 after Sheba, having left a man with the dead 
 body, who was ordered to proclaim aloud to the 
 army that Amasa was justly slain, and deservedly 
 punished. "But," said he, "if you be for the 
 king, follow Joab his general, andAbishai, Joab's 
 brother : " but because the body lay on the road, 
 and all the multitude came running to it, and, 
 as is usual with the multitude, stood wondering 
 a great while at it, he that guarded it removed it 
 thence, and carried it to a certain place that was 
 very remote from the road, and there laid it, and 
 covered it with his garment. "When this was 
 done, all the people followed Joab. Now as he 
 pursued Sheba through all the country of Israel, 
 one told him that he was in a strong city, called 
 Abelbethmaachali. Hereupon Joab went thither, 
 and set about it with his army, and cast up a 
 bank round it, and ordered his soldiers to under- 
 mine the walls, and to overthrow them; and 
 since the people in the city did not admit him, 
 he was greatly displeased at them. 
 
 8. Now there was a woman of small account, 
 and yet both wise and intelligent, who seeing 
 her native city lying at the last extremity, 
 ascended upon the wall, and, by means of the 
 armed men, called for Joab ; and when he came 
 to her, she began to say, that "God ordained 
 kings and generals of armies, that they might cut 
 off the enemies of the Hebrews, and introduce a 
 universal peace among them ; but thou art en- 
 deavouring to overthrow and depopulate a me- 
 tropolis of the Israelites, which hath been guilty 
 of no offence." But he replied, " God continue 
 to be merciful unto me : I am disposed to avoid 
 killing any one of the people, much less would I 
 destroy such a city as this; and if they will de- 
 liver me up Sheba, the son of Bichri, who hath 
 rebelled against the king, I will leave off the 
 siege, and withdraw the army from the place." 
 Now as soon as the woman heard what Joab said, 
 the desired him to intermit the siege for a little 
 while, for that he should have the head of his 
 enemy thrown out to him presently. So she 
 w< ?nt down to the citizens, and said to them, 
 Will ye be so wicked as to perish miserably, 
 with your children and wives, for the sake of a 
 ft A j w> ^ one wnom nobody knows who he 
 
 tr.-A ?r you have Mm for vour kiD S instead 
 i mvid, who hath been so great a benefactor to 
 
 you, and oppose your city alone to such a mighty 
 and strong army?" So she prevailed with them, 
 and they cut off the head of Sheba, and threw it 
 into Joab's army. When this was done, the 
 king's general sounded a retreat, and raised the 
 siege. And when he was come to Jerusalem, he 
 was again appointed to be general of all the 
 people. The king also constituted Benaiah 
 captain of the guards, and of the six hundred men. 
 He also set Adoram over the tribute, and Sabatheg 
 and Achilaus over the records. He made Sheva 
 the scribe; and appointed Zadok and Abiathar 
 the high priests. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 HOW THE HEBREWS WERE DELIVERED FROM A 
 FAMINE WHEN THE GIBEONITES HAD CAUSED 
 PUNISHMENT TO BE INFLICTED FOB THOSE OF 
 THEM THAT HAD BEEN SLAIN : AS ALSO WHAT 
 GREAT ACTIONS WERE PERFORMED AGAINST THB 
 PHILISTINES BY DAVID, AND THE MEN OF 
 VALOUR ABOUT HIM. 
 
 1. AFTER this, when the country was greatly 
 afflicted with a famine, David besought God to 
 have mercy on the people, and to discover to 
 him what was the cause of it, and how a remedy 
 might be found for that distemper. And when 
 the prophets answered, that God would have 
 the Gibeonites avenged, whom Saul the king 
 was so wicked as to betray to slaughter, and had 
 not observed the oath which Joshua the general 
 and the senate had sworn to them. If, there- 
 fore, said God, the king would permit such ven- 
 geance to be taken for those that were slain as 
 the Gibeonites should desire, he promised that 
 he would be reconciled to them, and free the 
 multitude from their miseries. As soon there- 
 fore as the king understood that this it was 
 which God sought, he sent for the Gibeonites, 
 and asked them what it was they would have ; 
 and when they desired to have seven sons of 
 Saul delivered to them to be punished, he de- 
 livered them up, but spared Mephibosheth, the 
 son of Jonathan. So when the Gibeonites had 
 received the men, they punished them as they 
 pleased; upon which God began to send rain, 
 and to recover the earth to bring forth its fruits 
 as usual, and to free it from the foregoing 
 drought; so that the country of the Hebrews 
 flourished again. A little afterward the king 
 made war against the Philistines ; and when he 
 had joined battle with them, and put them to 
 flight, he was left alone, as he was in pursuit of 
 them; and when he was quite tired down, he 
 was seen by one of the enemy, whose name wa 
 Achmon, the son of Araph ; he was one of the 
 sons of the giants. He had a spear, the handle 
 of which weighed three hundred shekels, and a 
 breastplate of chain-work, and a sword. He 
 turned back, and ran violently to slay [David] 
 their enemy's king, for he was quite tired out 
 with labour; but Abishai, Joab's brother, ap- 
 peared on the sudden, and protected the king 
 with his shield, as he lay down, and slew the 
 enemy. Now the multitude were very uneasy 
 at these dangers of the king, and that he was 
 very near to be skin; and the rulers made him 
 swear that he would no more go out with them 
 to_ battle, lest he should come to some great 
 misfortune by his courage and boldness, and 
 thereby deprive the people of the benefits they 
 now enjoyed by his means, and of those that 
 they might hereafter enjoy by his living a long 
 time among them. 
 2. When the king heard that the Philistine*
 
 . xn.]- 
 
 OP 
 
 165 
 
 were gathered together at the city Gazara, he 
 sent an army against them, when Sibbechai the 
 Hittite, one of David's most courageous men, 
 behaved himself so as to deserve great com- 
 mendation, for he slew many of those that 
 bragged, they were of the posterity of the giants, 
 and vaunted themselves highly on that account, 
 and thereby was the occasion of victory to the 
 Hebrews. After which defeat, the Philistines 
 made war again ; and when David had sent an 
 army against them, Nephan his kinsman fought 
 in a single combat with the stoutest of all the 
 Philistines, and slew him, and put the rest to 
 flight. Many of them also were slain in the 
 fight. Now a little while after this, the Philis- 
 tines pitched their camp at a city which lay not 
 far off the bounds of the country of the He- 
 brews. They had a man who was six cubits 
 tall, and had on each of his feet and hands one 
 more toe and finger than men naturally have. 
 Now the person who was sent against them by 
 David out of his army was Jonathan, the son of 
 Shimea, who fought this man in a single combat, 
 and slew him ; and as he was the person who 
 gave the turn to the battle, he gained the great- 
 est reputation for courage therein. This man 
 also vaunted himself to be of the sons of the 
 giants. But after this fight, the Philistines 
 made war no more against the Israelites. 
 
 3. And now David being freed from wars and 
 dangers, and enjoying for the future a profound 
 peace,* composed songs and hymns to God, of 
 several sorts of metre; some of those which he 
 made were trimeters, and some were pentameters. 
 He also made instruments of music, and taught 
 the Levites to sing hymns to God, both on that 
 called the Sabbath-day, and on other festivals. 
 Now the construction of the instruments was 
 thus : The viol was an instrument of ten strings ; 
 it was played upon with a bow; the psaltery 
 had twelve musical notes, and was played upon 
 by the fingers; the cymbals were broad and 
 large instruments, and were made of brass. 
 And so much shall suffice to be spoken by us 
 about these instruments, that the readers may 
 not be wholly unacquainted with their nature. 
 
 4. Now all the men that were about David 
 were men of courage. Those that were most 
 illustrious and famous of <hem for their actions, 
 
 * This section shews that, in the opinion of Josephus, 
 David composed the Book of Psalms, not at several 
 times before, as their present inscriptions frequently 
 imply, but generally at the latter end of his life. Nor 
 does Josephus seem to have ascribed any of them to 
 any other author than to David himself. However, we 
 must observe here, that as Josephus says that the song 
 at the Red Sea was composed by Moses in the hexameter 
 tune, or metre ; as also, that the Song of Moses was an 
 hexameter poem ; so does he say that the Psalms of 
 David were of various kinds of metre, and particularly 
 that they contained trimeters and pentameters; all 
 which implies that he thought these Hebrew poems 
 might be best described to the Greeks and Romans 
 under those names and characters of Hexameteri 
 Trimeters, and Pentameters. Now, it appears that th 
 instruments of music that were originally used, by the 
 command of king David and Solomon, and were carried 
 to Babylon at the captivity of the two tribes, were 
 brought back after that captivity; as also, that the 
 singers and musicians, who outlived that captivity, 
 came back with those instruments; and that this 
 music, and these instruments at the temple, could not 
 but be well known to Josephus, who accordingly gives 
 oa a short description of three of the instruments, and 
 gives us a distinct account, that such psalms and hymns 
 were sung in his days at that temple, so that Josephus's 
 authority is beyond exception in these matters.' That 
 the ancient music of the Hebrews was very complete 
 also, and had in it great variety of tunes, is evident by 
 the number of their musical instruments, and by the 
 testimony of Jesus, the son of Sirach, (Ecclns. i. 18.) 
 
 were thirty-eight; of five of whom I will only 
 relate the performances, for these will suffice to 
 make manifest the virtues of the others also; 
 for these were powerful enough to subdue 
 countries, and conquer great nations. First, 
 therefore, was Jessai, the son of Achimaas, who 
 frequently leaped upon the troops of the enemy, 
 and did not leave off fighting, till he overthrew 
 nine hundred of them. After him was Eleazar, the 
 son of Dodo, who was with the king at Arasam. 
 This man, when once the Israelites were under 
 a consternation at the multitude of the Philis- 
 tines, and were running away, stood alone, and 
 fell upon the enemy, and slew many of them, 
 till his sword clung to his hand by the blood he 
 had shed, and till the Israelites, seeing the 
 Philistines retire by his means, came down from 
 the mountains and pursued them, and at that 
 time won a surprising and a famous victory, 
 while Eleazar slew the men, and the multitude 
 followed and spoiled their dead bodies. The 
 third was Sheba, the son of Hus. Now this 
 man, when, in the wars against the Philistines, 
 they pitched their camp at a place called Lehi, 
 and when the Hebrews were again afraid of 
 their army, and did not stay, he stood still 
 alone, as an army and a body of men ; and some 
 of them he overthrew, and some who were not 
 able to abide his strength and force, he pursued. 
 These are the works of the hands, and of fight- 
 ing, which these three performed. Now at the 
 time when the king was once at Jerusalem, and 
 the army of the Philistines came upon him to 
 fight him, David went up to the top of the 
 citadel, as we have already said, to inquire of 
 God concerning the battle, while the enemy's 
 camp lay in the valley that extends to the city 
 Bethlehem, which is twenty furlongs distant 
 from Jerusalem. Now David said to his com- 
 panions, " We have excellent water in my own 
 city, especially that which is in the pit near the 
 gate," wondering if any one would bring him 
 some of it to drink ; but he said that he would 
 rather have it than a great deal of money. 
 When these three men heard what he said, they 
 ran away immediately, and burst through the 
 midst of their enemy's camp, and came to Beth- 
 lehem; and when they had drawn the water, 
 they returned again through the enemy's camp 
 to the king, insomuch that the Philistines were 
 so surprised at their boldness and alacrity, that 
 they were quiet, and did nothing against them, 
 as if they despised their small number. But 
 when the water was brought to the king, he 
 would not drink it, saying, that it was brought 
 by the danger and the blood of men, and that it 
 was not proper on that account to drink it. 
 But he poured it out to God, and gave him 
 thanks for the salvation of the men. Next to 
 these was Abishai, Joab's brother; for he in one 
 day slew six hundred. The fifth of these was 
 Benaiah, by lineage a priest; for being chal- 
 lenged by [two] eminent men in the country oi 
 Moab, he overcame them by bis valour. More- 
 over, there was a man, by nation an Egyptian, 
 who was of a vast bulk, and challenged him, yet 
 did he, when he was unarmed, kill him with hi? 
 own spear, which he threw at him, for he caught 
 him by force, and took away his weapons while 
 he was alive and fighting, and slew him with 
 his own weapons. One may also add this to 
 the forementioned actions of the same man, 
 either as the principal of them in alacrity, or ae 
 resembling the rest, When God sent a snow, 
 there was a lion who slipped and fell into a cer- 
 tain pit, and because the pit's mouth was narrow, 
 it was evident he would perish, being enclosed 
 <nih the snowi so when he saw no way to get
 
 m 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK Vll 
 
 out and save himself, he roared. When Benaiah 
 board the wild beast, he went towards him, and 
 coming at the noise he made, he went down into 
 tlv mouth of the pit, and smote him, as he 
 straggled, with a stake that lay there, and im- 
 r t >ly slew him. The other thirty-three 
 were like these in valour also. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THAT WHEN DAVID HAD NUMBERED THE PEOPLE, 
 THEY WEEK PUNISHED ; AND HOW THE DIVINE 
 COMPASSION RESTRAINED THAT PUNISHMENT. 
 
 1. Now king David was desirous to know how 
 many ten thousands there were of the people, 
 hut forgot the commands of Moses, * who told 
 f.liem beforehand, that if the multitude were 
 numbered, they should pay half a shekel to God 
 for every head. Accordingly the king com- 
 manded Joab, the captain of his host, to go and 
 number the whole multitude ; but when he said 
 there was no necessity for such a numeration, he 
 was not persuaded [to countermand it,] but he 
 enjoined him to make no delay, but to go about 
 the numbering of the Hebrews immediately. 
 So Joab took with him the heads of the tribes, 
 and the scribes, and went over the country of 
 the Israelites, and took notice how numerous 
 the multitude were, and returned to Jerusalem 
 to the king, after nine months and twenty days; 
 and he gave in to the king the number of the 
 people, without the tribe of Benjamin, for he 
 had not yet numbered that tribe, no more than 
 the tribe of Levi, for the king repented of his 
 having sinned against God. Now the number 
 of the rest of the Israelites was nine hundred 
 thousand men, who were able to bear arms and 
 go to war ; but the tribe of Judah, by itself, was 
 four hundred thousand men. 
 
 2. Now when the prophets had signified to 
 David that God was angry at him, he began to 
 entreat him, and to desire he would be merciful 
 to him, and forgive him his sin. But God sent 
 Nathan the prophet to him, to propose to him 
 the election of three things, that he might choose 
 which he liked best : Whether he would have a 
 famine come upon the country for seven years, 
 or would have a war, and be subdued three 
 months by his enemies ? or, whether God should 
 send a pestilence and a distemper upon the 
 Hebrews for three days ? But as he was fallen 
 to a fatal choice of great miseries, he was in 
 
 The words of God by Moses (Exod. xxx. 12) suffi- 
 ciently justify the reason here given by Josephus for 
 the great plague mentioned in this chapter. Nor in- 
 deed could David's neglect of executing this law excuse 
 the people, who ought still to have brought half a 
 shekel a-piece with them, when they came to be num- 
 bered. The great reason why nations are punished by 
 and with their wicked governors is this, that they al- 
 most constantly comply with them in their neglect of or 
 disobedience to the divine laws, and that they submit 
 to several wicked political laws and commands f ^ose 
 governors, instead of the righteous laws of God, : Ac- 
 cordingly Josephus well observes, that it was the duty 
 of the people of Israel to take care that their kings, 
 when they should have them, did not exceed their 
 proper limits of power, and prove ungovernable by the 
 laws of God. Nor do I think that negligence peculiar 
 to the Jews : those nationi which are called Christians 
 ire sometimes indeed solicitous to restrain their gover- 
 from breaking the human laws of their several 
 lorns, but without the like care for restraining 
 i from breaking the laws of God. " Whether it be 
 i the sifrnt of God, to hearken unto men more 
 m to God judge ye," (Acts v. 19.) "We ought to 
 nbei God rather than men," (v. 29.) 
 
 trouble, and sorely confounded ; and when the 
 
 Erophet had said that he must of necessity make 
 is choice, and had ordered him to answer 
 quickly, that he might declare what he had 
 chosen to God, the king reasoned with himself, 
 that in case he should ask for famine, he would 
 appear to do it for others, and without danger to 
 himself, since he had a great deal of corn hoarded 
 up, but to the harm of others ; that in case he 
 should choose to be overcome [by his enemies] 
 for three months, he would appear to have 
 chosen war because he had valiant men about 
 him, and strongholds, and that therefore he 
 feared nothing therefrom : so he chose that 
 affliction which is common to kings and to their 
 subjects, and in which the fear was equal on all 
 sides ; and said this beforehand, that it was 
 much better to fall into the hands of God, than 
 into those of his enemies. 
 
 3. When the prophet had heard tMs, he de- 
 clared it to God ; who thereupon sent a pesti- 
 lence and a mortality upon the Hebrews ; nor 
 did they die after one and the same manner, nor 
 so that it was easy to know what the distemper 
 was. Now, the miserable disease was one in. 
 deed, but it carried them off by ten thousand 
 causes and occasions, which those that were 
 afflicted could not understand ; for one died 
 upon the neck of another, and the terrible 
 malady seized them before they were aware, and 
 brought them to their end suddenly, some giving 
 up the ghost immediately with very great pains 
 and bitter grief ; and some were worn away by 
 their distempers, and had nothing remaining to 
 be buried, but as soon as ever they fell were en- 
 tirely macerated ; some were choked, and greatly 
 lamented their case, as being also stricken with 
 a sudden darkness ; some there were who, aa 
 they were burying a relation, fell down dead, 
 without finishing the rites of the funeral. Now 
 there perished of this disease, which began with 
 the morning, and lasted till the hour of dinner, 
 seveatv thousand. Nay, the angel stretched out 
 his hand over Jerusalem, as sending this terrible 
 judgment upon it ; but David had put on sack- 
 cloth, and lay upon the ground, entreating God, 
 and begging that the distemper might now 
 cease, and that he would be satisfied with those 
 that had already perished ; and when the king 
 looked up into the air, and saw the angel carried 
 along thereby into Jerusalem, with his sword 
 drawn, he said to God, that he might justly be 
 punished, who was their shepherd ; but that the 
 sheep ought to be preserved, as not having 
 sinned at all; and he implored God that he 
 would send his wrath upon him, and upon all 
 his family, but to spare the people. 
 
 4. When God heard bis supplication, he 
 caused the pestilence to cease ; and sent Gad 
 the prophet to him, and commanded him to go 
 up immediately to the thrashing-floor of Araunah 
 the Jebusite, and build an altar there to God, 
 and offer sacrifices. When David heard that, ha 
 did not neglect his duty, but made haste to the 
 place appointed him. Now Araunah was thrash- 
 ing wheat ; and when he saw the king and all 
 his servants coming to him, he ran before, and 
 came to him, and worshipped him : he was by 
 his lineage a Jebusite, but a particular friend of 
 David's ; and for that cause it was that, when 
 he overthrew the city, he did him no harm, aa 
 we informed the reader a little before. Now 
 Araunah inquired, wherefore is my lord come to 
 his servant ? He answered, to buy of him the 
 thrashing-floor, that he might therein build an 
 altar to God, and offer a sacrifice. He replied, 
 that lie freely gave him both the thrashing-floor, 
 and the ploughs and the oxen for a burnt-offer*
 
 OHAP. XIV.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OP THE JEWS. 
 
 167 
 
 lag ; and he besought God graciously to accept 
 hia sacrifice. But the king made answer, that 
 he took his generosity and magnanimity kindly, 
 and accepted bis good-will ; but he desired him 
 to take the price of them all, for that it was not 
 just to offer a sacrifice that cost nothing. And 
 when Araunah said he would do as he pleased, 
 he bought the thrashing-floor of him for fifty 
 shekels ; and when he had built an altar 
 he performed divine service, and brought & 
 burnt-offering, and offered peace-offerings also 
 With these God was pacified, and became gru 
 cious to them again. Now it happened thai 
 Abraham * came and offered his son Isaac for;* 
 burnt-offering at that very place ; and when the 
 youth was ready to have his throat cut, a mm 
 appeared on a sudden, standing by the altar, 
 which Abraham sacrificed in the stead of his 
 son, as we have before related. Now when king 
 David saw that God had heard his prayer, and 
 had graciously accepted of his sacrifice, he re- 
 solved to call that entire place The Altar of the 
 People, and to build a temple to God there; 
 which words he uttered very appositely to what 
 was to be done afterward ; for God sent the pro- 
 phet to him, and told him that there should his 
 son build him an altar, that son who wa to 
 take the kingdom after him. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THAT DAVID MADE GREAT PREPARATIONS FORTH2 
 HOUSE OF GOD; AND THAT UPON ADONIJAIl'S 
 ATTEMPT TO GAIN THE KINGDOM, HE APPOINTED 
 SOLOMON TO REIGN. 
 
 1. AFTEB the delivery of this prophecy, the 
 king commanded the strangers to be numbered, 
 and they were found to be one hundred and 
 eighty thousand; of these he appointed four- 
 score to be hewers of stone, and the rest of the 
 multitude to carry the stones, and of them he 
 set over the workmen three thousand and five 
 hundred. He also prepared a great quantity of 
 iron and brass for the work, with many (and 
 those exceedingly large) cedar-trees, the Tynans 
 and Sidonians sending them to him, for he had 
 sent to them for a supply of those trees ; and he 
 told his friends that these things were now pre- 
 pared, that he might leave materials ready for 
 the building of the temple to his son, who was 
 to reign after him, and that he might not have 
 them to seek then, when he was very young, and 
 by reason of his age, unskilful in such matters, 
 but might have them lying by him, and so might 
 the more readily complete the work. 
 
 2. So David called his son SolonVJQ, and 
 charged him, when he had received the kingdom, 
 to build a temple to God ; and said, " I am 
 willing to build God a temple myself, but he 
 prohibited me, because I was polluted with blood 
 and wars ; but he hath foretold that Solomon, 
 my youngest son, should build him a temple 
 and should be called by that name ; ovei v.Ljn. 
 he hath promised to take the like care as a father 
 takes over his son ; and that lie would make the 
 country of the Hebrews happy under him, and 
 that not only in other respects, but by giving it 
 peace, and freedom from wars, and from internal 
 seditions, which are the greatest of all blessings. 
 
 * 'What .Tosephus adds here is very remarkable, that 
 this mount Mo'riah was not only the very place where 
 Abraham offered up Isaac long ago, but that God had 
 foretold to David by a prophet, that here his son should 
 vuld hira a terrrole. 
 
 Since, therefore," says he, " thou wm-t ordained 
 king by God himself before thou wast born, 
 endeavour to render thyself worthy of this his 
 providence, as in other instances, so particularly 
 in being religious, and righteous, and courageous. 
 Keep thou also his commands, and his laws, 
 which he hath given us by Moses, and do not 
 permit others to break them. Be zealous also to 
 dedicate to God a temple which he hath chosen 
 to be built under thy reign; nor be thou af- 
 frighted by the vastness of the work, nor set 
 about it timorously, for I will make all things 
 ready before I die : and take notice, that there 
 are already ten thousand talents of gold, and a 
 hundred *hotisand talents of silver collected 
 together I have also laid together brass and 
 iron without number, and an immense quantity 
 if timber, and of stones. Moreover, thou hast 
 many ten thousand stone-cutters, and carpenters ; 
 and if thou shalt want anything further, do thou 
 add somewhat of thine own. Wherefore, if thou 
 performest this work, thou wilt be acceptable to 
 God, and have him for thy patron." David also 
 further exhorted the rulers of the people to as- 
 sist his son in this building, and to attend to 
 the divine service, when they should be free 
 from all their misfortunes, for that they by this 
 means should enjoy, instead of them, peace and 
 a happy settlement ; with which blessings God 
 rewards such men as are religious and righteous. 
 He also gave orders, that when the temple should 
 be once built, they should put the ark therein, 
 with the holy vessels; and he assured them, that 
 they ought to have had a temple long ago, if 
 their fathers had not been negligent of God's 
 commands, who had given it in charge, that when 
 they had got the possession of this land they 
 should build him a temple. Thus did David 
 discourse to the governors, and to his son. 
 
 3. David was now in years, and his body, by 
 length of time, was become cold and benumbed, 
 insomuch that he could get no heat by covering 
 himself with many clothes; and when the physi- 
 cians came together, they agreed to this advice, 
 that a beautiful virgin, chosen out of the whole 
 country, should sleep by the king's side, and that 
 this damsel would communicate heat to him, and 
 be a remedy against his numbness. Now there 
 was found in the city one woman, of a superior 
 beauty to all other women, (her name was Abi- 
 shag, ) who, sleeping with the king, did no more 
 than communicate warmth to him, for he was so 
 old that he could not know her as a husband 
 knows his wife; but of this woman we shall 
 know more presently. 
 
 4. Now the fourth son of David was a beauti- 
 ful young man, and tall, born to him of Haggith 
 his wife. He was named Adonijah, and was in 
 his disposition like to Absalom : and exalted 
 himself, as hoping to be king, and told his friends 
 that he ought to take the government upon him. 
 He also prepared many chariots and horses, and 
 fifty men to run before him. When his father 
 saw this, he did not reprove him, nor restrain 
 him from his purpose, nor did he go so far as to 
 ask wherefore he did so. Now Adonijab had for 
 his assistants, Joab, the captain of the army, and 
 Abiathar the high priest ; and the only persona 
 that opposed him were Zadok the high priest, 
 and the prophet Nathan, and Benaiah, who was 
 captain of the guards, and Shimei, David's friend, 
 and all the other most mighty men. Now 
 Adonijah had prepared a supper out of the city, 
 near the fountain that was in the king's paradise, 
 and had invited all his brethren, except Solomon, 
 and had taken with him Joab, the captain of the 
 army, and Abiathar, and the rulers of the tribe 
 o li-dab : but had not invited to this feast either
 
 108 
 
 ANTIQUITIES THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK ra. 
 
 Zadok the high priest, or Nathan the prophet, 
 or Benaiah, the captain of the guards, nor any of 
 those of the contrary party. This matter was 
 told by Nathan the prophet to Bathsheba, Solo- 
 mon's mother, that Adonijah was king, and that 
 David knew nothing of it ; and he advised her to 
 save herself and her son Solomon, and to go by 
 herself to David, and say to him, that he had 
 indeed sworn that Solomon should reign after 
 him ; but that, in the meantime, Adonijah had 
 already taken the kingdom. He said that he, the 
 prophet himself, would come after her, and when 
 she had spoken thus to the king, would confirm 
 what she had said. Accordingly Bathsheba 
 agreed with Nathan, and went into the king, and 
 worshipped him ; and when she had desired leave 
 to speak with him, she told him all things in the 
 manner that Nathan had suggested to her ; and 
 related what a supper Adonijah had made, and 
 who they were whom he had invited, Abiathar 
 the high priest, and Joab the general, and 
 David's sons, excepting Solomon and his intimate 
 friends. She also said that all the people had 
 their eyes upon him, to know whom he would 
 choose for their king. She desired him also to 
 consider, how, after his departure, Adonijah, 
 if he were king, would slay her, and her son 
 Solomon. 
 
 5. Now, as Bathsheba was speaking, the 
 keeper of the king's chambers told him that 
 Nathan desired to see him ; and when the king 
 had commanded that he should be admitted_, he 
 came in, and asked him whether he had ordained 
 Adonijah to be king, and delivered the govern- 
 ment to him, or not ; for that he had made a 
 splendid supper and invited all his sons, except 
 Solomon ; as also that he had invited Joab, the 
 captain of his host, [and Abiathar the high 
 priest,] who are feasting with applauses, and 
 many joyful sounds of instruments, and wish 
 that his kingdom may last for ever ; but he hath 
 not invited me, nor Zadok the high priest, nor 
 Benaiah the captain of the guards ; and it is but 
 fit that all should know whether this be done by 
 thy approbation or not. When Nathan had said 
 thus, the king commanded that they should call 
 Bathsheba to him, for she had gone out of the 
 room when the prophet came ; and when Bath- 
 sheba was come, David said, "I swear by Al- 
 mighty God, that thy son Solomon shall certainly 
 be king, as I formerly swore ; and that he shall 
 sit upon my throne, and that this very day also." 
 So Bathsheba worshipped him, and wished him a 
 long life ; and the king sent for Zadok the high 
 priest, and Benaiah the captain of the guards j 
 and when they were come, he ordered them to 
 take with them Nathan the prophet, and all the 
 armed, men about the palace, and to set his son 
 Solomon upon the king's mule, and to carry him 
 out of the city to the fountain called Gihon, and 
 to anoint him there with the holy oil, and to 
 make him king. This he charged Zadok the 
 high priest, and Nathan the prophet, to do ; and 
 commanded them to follow Solomon through 
 the midst of the city, and to sound the trumpets, 
 and to wish aloud that Solomon the king may sit 
 upon the royal throne for ever, that so all the 
 people may know that he is ordained king by his 
 father. He also gave Solomon a charge concern- 
 ing his government, to rule the whole nation of 
 the Hebrews, and particularly the tribe of Judah, 
 religiously and righteously. And when Ben- 
 akh had prayed to God to be favourable to 
 Solomon, without any delay they set Solomon 
 upon the mule, and brought him out of the city 
 to the fountain, and anointed him with oil, and 
 brought him into the city again, with acclama- 
 tions and wishes that his kingdom might con- 
 
 tinue a long time : and when they had introduced 
 him into the king's house, they set him upon 
 the throne : whereupon all the people betook 
 themselves to make merry, and to celebrate a 
 festival, dancing and delighting themselves with 
 musical pipes, till both the earth and the air 
 echoed with the multitude of the instruments oi 
 music. 
 
 6. Now when Adonijah and his guests per- 
 ceived this noise, they were in disorder : and 
 Joab, the captain of the host, said he was not 
 pleased with these echoes and the sound of 
 these trumpets. And when supper was set be- 
 fore them, nobody tasted of it ; but they were 
 all very thoughtful what would be the matter. 
 Then Jonathan the son of Abiatkar the high 
 priest, came running to them ; and when Adoni- 
 jah saw the young man gladly, and said to him 
 that he was a good messenger, he declared to 
 them the whole matter about Solomon, and the 
 determination of king David; hereupon both 
 Adonijah and all his guests rose hastily from the 
 feast, and every one fled to their own homes. 
 Adonijah also, as afraid of the king for what he 
 had done, became a supplicant to God, and took 
 hold of the horns of the altar, which were pro- 
 minent. It was also told Solomon that he had 
 so done ; and that he desired to receive assur- 
 ances from him that he would not remember 
 the injury he had done, and not inflict any 
 severe punishment for it. Solomon answered 
 very mildly and prudently that he forgave him 
 this his offence ; but said withal, that if he were 
 found out in any attempt for new innovations, 
 that he would be the author of his own punish- 
 ment. So he sent to him, and raised him up 
 from the place of his supplication. And when 
 he was come to the king, and had worshipped 
 him, the king bid him go away to his own house, 
 and have no suspicion of any harm ; and desired 
 him to shew himself a worthy man, as what 
 would tend to his own advantage. 
 
 7. But David being desirous of ordaining his 
 son king of all the people, called together theii 
 rulers to Jerusalem, with the priests and the 
 Levites ; and having first numbered the Levites, 
 he found them to be thirty-eight thousand, from 
 thirty years old to fifty ; out of which he ap- 
 pointed twenty-three thousand to take care of 
 the building of the temple, and out of the same, 
 
 ; six thousand to be judges of the people and 
 | scribes ; four thousand for porters to the house 
 ; of God, and as many for singers to sing to the 
 I instruments which David had prepared, as we 
 : havt said already. He divided them also into 
 courses ; and when he had separated the priests 
 i from them, he found of these priests twenty - 
 , four courses, sixteen of the house of Eleazar, 
 , and eight of that of Ithamar ; and he ordained 
 that one course should minister to God eight 
 days, from Sabbath to Sabbath. And thus 
 were the courses distributed by lot, in the pres- 
 ence of David, and Zadok, and Abiathar the 
 high priests, and of all the rulers: and that 
 course which came up first, was written down as 
 first, and accordingly the second, and so on to 
 ' the twenty -fourth ; and this partition hath re- 
 mained to this day. He also made twenty-four 
 parts of the tribe of Levi ; and when they cast 
 lots, they came up in the same manner for their 
 courses of eight days : he also honoured the pos- 
 terity of Moses, and made them the keepers of 
 the treasures of God, and of the donations which 
 the king dedicated : he also ordained, that all 
 the tribe of Levi, as well as the priests, should 
 serve God night and day, as Moses had enjoined 
 them. 
 
 8. After this he parted the entire army into
 
 CHAP. XV.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 169 
 
 twelve parts, with their leaders [and captains of 
 hundreds] and commanders. Now every part 
 had twenty-four thousand, which were ordered 
 to wait on Solomon, by thirty days at a time, 
 from the first day to the last, with the captains 
 of thousands and captains of hundreds : he also 
 set rulers over every part, such as he knew to 
 be good and courageous men ; he set others also 
 to take charge of the treasures, and of the vil- 
 lages, and of the fields, and of the beasts, whose 
 names I do not think it necessary to mention. 
 When David had ordered all these offices after 
 the manner before mentioned, he called the 
 rulers of the Hebrews, and their heads of tribes, 
 and the officers over the several divisions, and 
 those that were appointed over every work and 
 every possession ; and standing upon a high pul- 
 pit, he said to the multitude as follows : "My 
 brethren and my people, I would have you know 
 that I intended to build a house for God, and 
 prepared a large quantity of gold, and a hundred 
 thousand talents of silver; but God prohibited 
 me by the prophet Nathan, because of the wars 
 I had on your account, and because my right 
 hand was polluted with the slaughter of our 
 enemies ; but he commanded that my son, who 
 was to succeed me in the kingdom, should build 
 a temple for him. Now, therefore, since you 
 know that of the twelve sons whom Jacob our 
 forefather had, Judah was appointed to be king, 
 and that I was preferred before my six brethren, 
 and received the government from God, and that 
 none of them were uneasy at it, so do I also de- 
 sire that my sons be not seditious one against 
 another, now Solomon has received the kingdom, 
 but to bear him cheerfully for their lord, as 
 knowing that God hath chosen him ; for it is 
 not a grievous thing to obey even a foreigner as 
 a ruler if it be God's will, but it is fit to rejoice 
 when a brother hath obtained that dignity, since 
 the rest partake of it with him. And I pray 
 that the promises of God may be fulfilled ; 
 and that this happiness which he hath promised 
 to bestow upon king Solomon, over all the 
 country, may continue therein for all time to 
 come. And these promises, O son, will be firm, 
 and come to a happy end, if thou shewest thy- 
 self to be a religious and a righteous man, and 
 an observer of the laws of thy country ; but if 
 not, expect adversity upon thy disobedience to 
 them." 
 
 9. Now when the king had said this, he left 
 off ; but gave the description and pattern of the 
 building of the temple in the sight of them all, 
 to Solomon; of the foundations and of the 
 chambers, inferior and superior; how many 
 they were to be, and how large in height and in 
 breadth; as also he determined the weight of 
 the golden and silver vessels ; moreover he 
 earnestly excited them with his words, to use the 
 utmost alacrity about the work: he exhorted 
 the rulers also, and particularly the tribe of 
 Levi, to assist him, both because of his youth, 
 and because God had chosen him to take care of 
 the building of the temple, and of the govern- 
 ment of the kingdom. He also declared to them 
 that the work would be easy, and not very labo- 
 rious to them, because he had prepared for it 
 many talents of gold, and more of silver, with 
 timber, and a great many carpenters and stone- 
 cutters, and a large quantity of emeralds, and 
 all sorts of precious stones : and he said, that 
 even now he would give of the proper goods of 
 his own dominion, two hundred talents, and 
 three hundred other talents of pure gold, for the 
 most holy place ; and for the chariot of God, the 
 cherubim, which are to stand over and cover 
 the ark. Now, when David had done speaking, 
 
 there appeared great alacrity among the rulers, 
 and the priests, and the Levites, who now con- 
 tributed and made great and splendid promises 
 for a future contribution ; for they undertook 
 to bring of gold five thousand talents, and ten 
 thousand drachms, and of silver ten thousand 
 talents, and many ten thousand talents of iron : 
 and if any one had a precious stone he brought 
 it, and bequeathed it to be put among the trea- 
 sures ; of which Jaehiel, one of the posterity cf 
 Moses, had the care. 
 
 10. Upon this occasion all the people rejoiced, 
 as in particular did David, when he saw the 
 zeal and forward ambition of the rulers, and the 
 priests, and of all the rest; and he began to bless 
 God with a loud voice, calling him the Father 
 and Parent of the universe, and the Author of 
 human and divine things, with which he had 
 adorned Solomon, the patron and guardian of the 
 Hebrew nation, and of its happiness, and of that 
 kingdom which he hath given his Son. Besides 
 this, he prayed for happiness to all the people ; 
 and to Solomon his son, a sound and a righteous 
 mind, and confirmed in all sorts of virtue; and 
 then he commanded the multitude to bless God. 
 Upon which they all fell down upon the ground 
 and worshipped him. They also gave thanks to 
 David, on account of all the blessings which they 
 had received ever since he had taken the king- 
 dom. On the next day he presented sacrifices 
 to God, a thousand bullocks, and as many lambs, 
 which they offered for burnt-offerings. They 
 also offered peace-offerings; and slew many ten 
 thousand sacrifices ; and the king feasted all day, 
 together with all the people; and they anointed 
 Solomon a second time with the oil, and ap- 
 pointed him to be long ; and Zadok to be the high 
 priest of the whole multitude. And when they 
 had brought Solomon to the royal palace, and 
 had set him upon his father's throne, they were 
 obedient to him from that day. 
 
 CHAPTEK XV. 
 
 WHAT CHAKGE DAVID GAVE TO HIS SON SOLOMON 
 AT THE APPROACH OP HIS DEATH; AND HOW 
 MANY THINGS HB LEFT HIM FOE THB BUILDING 
 
 OF THE TEMPLE. 
 
 1. A LITTLE afterward, David also fell into a 
 distemper, by reason of his age ; and perceiving 
 that he was near to death, he called his son Solo- 
 mon, and discoursed to him thus: " I am now, 
 O my son, going to my grave, and to my fathers, 
 which is the common way which all men that 
 now are, or shall be hereafter, must go; from 
 which way it is no longer possible to return, and 
 to know anything that is done in this world. 
 On which account I exhort thee, while I am still 
 alive, though already very near to death, in the 
 same manner as I have formerly said in my advice 
 to thee, to be righteous towards thy subjects, 
 and religious towards God, that hath given thee 
 thy kingdom ; to observe his commands, and MB 
 laws, which he hath sent us by Moses; and 
 neither do thou, out of favour or flattery, allow 
 any lust or other passion to weigh with thee to 
 disregard them; for if thou transgresses! his laws, 
 thou wilt lose the favour of God, and thou wilt 
 turn away his providence from thee in all things ; 
 but if thou behave thyself so as it behoves thee, 
 and as I exhort thee, thou wilt preserve our king- 
 dom to our family, and no other house will bear 
 rule over the Hebrews, but we ourselves for all 
 ages. Be thou also mindful of the transgression*
 
 fro 
 
 ANTIQUITIES or THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK vin. 
 
 of Joab,* the captain of the host, who hath slain 
 two generals out of envy, and those righteous and 
 good men, Abner the son of Ner, and Amasathe 
 on of Jether; whose death do thou avenge as 
 shall seem good to thee, since Joab hath been too 
 hard for me, and more potent than myself, and 
 so hath escaped punishment hitherto. I also 
 commit to thee the son of Barzillai, the Gileadite, 
 whom, in order to gratify me, thou shalt have in 
 great honour, and take great care of ; for we have 
 not done good to him first, but we only repay that 
 debt which we owe to his father, for what he did 
 to me in my flight. There is also Shimei, the 
 gon of Gera, of the tribe of Benjamin, who, after 
 he had cast many reproaches upon me, when, in 
 my flight, I was going to Mahanaim, met me at 
 Jordan, and received assurances that he should 
 then suffer nothing. Do thou now seek out for 
 some just occasion, and punish him." 
 
 2. When David had given these admonitions 
 to his son about public affairs, and about his 
 friends, and about those whom he knew to de- 
 serve punishment, he died, having lived seventy 
 years, and reigned seven years and six months in 
 Hebron, over the tribe of Judah, and thirty- three 
 years in Jerusalem, over all the country. Thia 
 man was of an excellent character, and was en- 
 dowed with all the virtues that were desirable in 
 
 David is blamed by some for recommending Joab 
 and Shimei to be punished by Solomon, if he could find 
 a proper occasion, after he had borne with the first a 
 long while, and seemed to have pardoned the other en- 
 tirely ; yet I cannot discern any fault in David in these 
 cases. Joab's murder of Abner and Amasa was very 
 barbarous, and could not properly be forgiven, for a dis- 
 
 S easing power in kings for the crime of wilful murder 
 i warranted by no law of God, Shimei's cursing the 
 Lord's anointed, and this without any just cause, was 
 the highest act of treason against God and his anointed 
 king, and justly deserved death; and though David 
 could forgive treason against himself, yet he had done 
 no more in the case of Shimei than promised him that 
 he would not then, on the day of his return and re-in- 
 auguration, or upon that occasion, himself put him to 
 death. 
 
 a king, and in one that had the preservation of 
 so many tribes committed to him; for he wan 
 man of valour in a very extraordinary degree, an. 
 went readily and first of all into dangers, when 
 he was to fight for his subjects, as exciting th 
 soldiers to action by his own labours, and fightin L 
 for them, and not by commanding them in a de 
 spotic way. He was also of very great abilities in 
 understanding, and apprehension of present an< 
 future circumstances, when he was to manag 
 any affairs. He was prudent and moderate, am 
 kind to such as were under any calamities; h 
 was righteous and humane, which are good quali 
 ties peculiarly fit for kings ; nor was he guilty o 
 any offence in the exercise of so great an au 
 thority, but in the business of the wife of Uriah 
 He also left behind him greater wealth than an; 
 other king, either of the Hebrews or of othei 
 nations, ever did. 
 
 3. He was buried by his son Solomon, in Jar 
 usalem, with great magnificence, and with al 
 the other funeral pomp which kings use to be 
 buried with; moreover, he had great and im 
 mense wealth buried with him, the vastness o 
 which may be easily conjectured at by what ] 
 shall now say; for a thousand and three hun 
 dred years afterwards, Hyrcanus the high pries^ 
 when he was besieged by Antiochus, that was 
 called the Pious, the son of Demetrius, and w;is 
 desirous of giving him money to get him to raise 
 the siege, and draw off his army; and having no 
 other method of compassing the money, openec 
 one room of David's sepulchre, and took ou1 
 three thousand talents, and gave part of that sum 
 to Antiochus, and by this means caused the siege 
 to be raised, as we have informed the reader else- 
 where. Nay, after him, and that many years, 
 Herod the king opened another room, and took 
 away a great deal of money, and yet neither ol 
 them came at the coffins of the kings themselves, 
 for their bodies were buried under the earth sc 
 artfully, that they did not appear even to those 
 that entered into their monuments ; but so much 
 shall suffice us to have said concerning these 
 matters. 
 
 BOOK VIII. 
 
 CONTAINING THE INTERVAL O ONE HUNDRED AHD SIXTT-THKKE 7BAMS, 
 
 FROM THE DEATH OF DAVID TO THE DEATH OF AHAB. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HOW 8OLOMOIT, WHEN TIE M AD RECEIVED THE KING- 
 DOM, TOOK CtV HIS ENEMIES. 
 
 i 1. WE have alresdy tiuated of David and his 
 virtue, and of the benefits he was the author of 
 to his countrymen ; of bit wars also and battles, 
 which he managed with success, and then died 
 an old man, fc. the foregoing book. And when 
 
 Solomon his son, who was but a youth in age 
 ^ * aken ft? kingdom, and whom David had 
 
 sclared, while be was alive, the lord of that 
 
 nwmlo o^,,i._ ? to God , g ^.y 
 
 ,-yful acclamation to him, as is usual at 
 the btcnmhR of a reiirn . and ^^ 
 
 his affairs might come to a blessed conclusion 
 and that he might arrive at a great age, and at 
 the most happy state of affairs possible. 
 _ 2. But Adonijah, who, while his father wag 
 living, attempted to gain possession of the go- 
 vernment, came to the king's mother Bathsheba, 
 and saluted her with great civility ; and when 
 she asked him, whether he came to her as desir- 
 ing her assistonce in any thing or not ; and bade 
 him tell her if that were the case, for that she 
 would cheerfully afford it him ; he began to say, 
 that she knew herself that the kingdom was his, 
 both on account of his elder age, and of the dis- 
 position of the multitude ; and that yet it was 
 transferred to Solomon her son, according to the 
 will of God. He also snid that he was contented 
 to be a servant under him. and was oleasodwitb
 
 CHAP, rr.l 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 171 
 
 the present settlement ; but he desired her to be 
 a means of obtaining a favour from his brother 
 to him, and to persuade him to bestow on him in 
 marriage Abishag, who had indeed slept by his 
 father, but, because his father was too old, he 
 did not lie with her, and she was still a virgin. 
 So Bathsheba promised him to afford him her 
 assistance Yery earnestly, and to bring this mar- 
 riage about, because the king would be willing 
 to gratify him in such a thing, and because she 
 would press it to him very earnestly. Accord- 
 ingly he went away, in hopes of succeeding in this 
 match. So Solomon's mother went presently to 
 her son, to speak to him about what she had 
 promised, upon Adonijah's supplication to her. 
 And when her son came forward to meet her, 
 and embraced her, and when he had brought her 
 into the house where his royal throne was set, 
 he sat thereon, and bid them set another throne 
 on the right hand for his mother. When Bath- 
 sheba was sat down, she said, " O my son, grant 
 me one request that I make of thee, and do not 
 anything to me that is disagreeable or ungrate- 
 ful, which thou wilt do if thou deniest me." 
 And when Solomon bid her to lay her commands 
 upon him, because it was agreeable to his duty 
 to grant her everything she should ask, and 
 complained that she did not begin her discourse 
 with a firm expectation of obtaining what she 
 desired, but had some suspicion of a denial, 
 she entreated him to grant, that his brother 
 Adonijah might marry Abishag. 
 
 3. But the king was greatly offended at these 
 words, and sent away his mother, and said that 
 Adonijah aimed at great things ; and that he won- 
 dered that she did not desire him to yield up the 
 kingdom to him, as to his elder brother, since she 
 desired that he might marry Abishag ; and that he 
 had potent friends, Joab the captain of the host, 
 and Abiathar the priest. So he called for Bena- 
 iah, the captain of the guards, and ordered him 
 to slay his brother Adonijah ; he also called for 
 Abiathar, the priest, and said to him, " I will 
 not put thee to death, because of those other 
 hardships which thou hast endured with my 
 father, and because of the ark which thou hast 
 borne along with him ; but I inflict this follow- 
 ing punishment upon thee, because thou wast 
 among Adonijah's followers, and wast of his 
 party. Do not thou continue here, nor come 
 any more into my sight, but go to thine own 
 town, and live on thine own fields, and there 
 abide all thy life; for thou hast offended so 
 greatly, that it is not just that thou shouldest 
 retain thy dignity any longer. " For the f oremen- 
 tioned cause, therefore, that the house of Itha- 
 mar was deprived of the sacerdotal dignity, as 
 God had foretold to Eli, the grandfather of Abia- 
 thar. So it was transferred to the family of 
 Phineas, to Zadok. Now those that were of the 
 family of Phineas, but lived privately during the 
 time that the high priesthood was transferred to 
 the house of Ithamar (of which family Eli was 
 the first that received it) were these that fol- 
 low : Bukki, the son of Abishua the high priest ; 
 his son was Joatham ; Joatham's son was Mera- 
 ioth; Meraioth's son was Arophams ; Arophaeus's 
 son was Ahitnb ; and Ahitub's son was Zadok, 
 who was first made high priest in the reign of 
 David. 
 
 4. Now when Joab the captain of the host 
 heard of the slaughter of Adonijah, he was 
 greatly afraid, for he was a greater friend to him 
 than to Solomon ; and suspecting, not without 
 reason, that he was in danger, on account of his 
 favour to Adonijah, he fled to the altar, and sup- 
 posed he might procure safety thereby to him- 
 self, because of the king's piety towards God. 
 
 But when some told the king what Joab's sup- 
 posal was, he sent Benaiah, and commanded him 
 to raise him up from the altar, and bring him to 
 the judgment-seat, in order to make his defence. 
 However, Joab said he would not leave the altar, 
 but would die there rather than in another 
 place. And when Benaiah had reported his an- 
 swer to the king, Solomon commanded him to 
 cut off his head there,* and let him take that at 
 a punishment for those two captains of the host 
 whom he had wickedly slain, and to bury hia 
 body, that his sins might never leave his family, 
 but that himself and his father, by Joab's death, 
 might be guiltless ; and when Benaiah had done 
 what he was commanded to do, he was himself 
 appointed to be captain of the whole army. The 
 king aZao made Zadok to be alone the high priest, 
 in the room of Abiathar, whom he'had removed. 
 5. But as to Shimei, Solomon commanded that 
 he should build him a house, and stay at Jeru- 
 salem, and attend upon him, and should not 
 have authority to go over the brook Cedron : 
 and that if he disobeyed that command, death 
 should be his punishment. He also threatened 
 him so terribly, that he compelled him to take 
 an oath that he would obey. Accordingly, 
 Shimei said that he had reason to thank Solomon 
 for giving him such an injunction; and added 
 an oath, that he would do as he bade him ; and, 
 leaving his own country, he made his abode in 
 Jerusalem : but three years afterwards, when 
 he heard that two of his servants were run away 
 from him, and were in Gath, he went for his 
 servants in haste; and when he was come back 
 with them, the king perceived it, and was much 
 displeased that he had contemned his commands, 
 and, what was more, had no regard to the oaths 
 he had sworn to God; so he called him, and 
 said to him, " Didst not thou swear never to 
 leave me, nor to go out of this city to another? 
 Thou shalt not therefore escape punishment for 
 thy perjury; but I will punish thee, thou wicked 
 wretch, both for this crime, and for those where- 
 with thou didst abuse my father when he was in 
 his flight, that thou mayest know that wicked 
 men gain nothing at last, although they be not 
 punished immediately upon their unjust prac- 
 tices; but that in all the time wherein they 
 think themselves secure, because they have yet 
 suffered nothing, their punishment increases, 
 and is heavier upon them, and that to a greater 
 degree than if they had been punished immedi- 
 ately upon the commission of their crimes." So 
 Benaiah, on the king's command, slew Shimei. 
 
 CONCERNING THE WIFE OP SOLOMON; CONCERNING 
 HIS WISDOM AND RICHES; AND CONCERNING 
 WHAT HE OBTAINED OF HIRAM FOR THE BUILD- 
 ING OF THE TEMPLE. 
 
 1. SOLOMON having already settled himself 
 firmly in his kingdom, and having brought his 
 enemies to punishment, he married the daughter 
 of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and built the walls 
 of Jerusalem much larger and stronger than 
 those that had been before, "I" and thenceforward 
 
 * This execution upon Joab, as a murderer, even 
 when he had taken sanctuary at God's altar, is perfectly 
 agreeable to the law of Mosts, (Exod. xxl. 14.) 
 
 t This building of the walls of Jerusalem, soon after 
 David's death, illustrates the conclusion of the 61st 
 Psalm, where David prays, "Build thou the walls of 
 Jerusalem;" they being, it seems, unfinished or in) 
 perfect at that tine.
 
 172 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK vm. 
 
 he managed public affair* very peaceably : nor 
 was his youth any hindrance in the exercise of 
 justice, or in the observation of the laws, or in 
 the remembrance of what charges his father had 
 given him at his death ; but he discharged every 
 duty with great accuracy, that might have been 
 expected from such as are aged, and of the 
 greatest prudence. He now resolved to go to 
 Hebron, and sacrifice to God upon the brazen 
 altar that was built by Moses. Accordingly, he 
 offered there burnt-offerings, in number a thou- 
 sand; and when he had done this, he thought 
 be had paid great honour to God ; for, as he was 
 asleep that very night, God appeared to him, 
 and commanded him to ask of him some gifts 
 which he was ready to give him as a reward for 
 his piety. So Solomon asked of God what was 
 most excellent, and of the greatest worth in 
 itself, what God would bestow with the greatest 
 joy, and what it was most profitable for man to 
 receive; for he did not desire to have bestowed 
 upon him either gold or silver, or any other 
 riches, as a man and a youth might naturally 
 have done, for these are the things that generally 
 are esteemed by most men, as . alone of the 
 greatest worth, and the best gifts of God ; but, 
 iaid he, " Give me, O Lord, a sound mind and a 
 jood understanding, whereby I may speak and 
 judge the people according to truth and right- 
 jousness." With these petitions, God was well 
 pleased ; and promised to give him all those 
 things that he had not mentioned in his option, 
 riches, glory, victory over his enemies; and, in 
 the first place, understanding and wisdom, and 
 this in such a degree, as no other mortal man, 
 neither kings nor ordinary persons, ever had. 
 He also promised to preserve the kingdom to 
 bis posterity for a very long time, if he con- 
 tinued righteous and obedient to him, and imi- 
 tated his father in those things wherein he 
 excelled. When Solomon heard this from God, 
 he presently leaped put of his bed ; and when 
 he had worshipped him, he returned to Jerusa- 
 lem; and after he had offered great sacrifice* 
 before the tabernacle, he feasted all his own 
 family. 
 
 2. In these days a hard cause came before him 
 in judgment, which it was very difficult to find 
 any end of; and I think ifc necessary to explain 
 the fact about which the contest was, that such 
 as light upon my writings may know what a 
 difficult cause Solomon was to determine; and 
 those that are concerned in such matters may 
 take this sagacity of the king for a pattern, that 
 they may the more easily give sentence about 
 such questions. There were two women, who 
 were harlots in the course of their lives, that 
 came to him, of whom she that seemed to be 
 injured began to speak first, and said, "O king, 
 I and this other woman dwell together in one 
 room. Now it came to pass that we both bore 
 a Bon at the same hour of the day; and on the 
 third day this woman overlaid her son, and killed 
 it, and then took my son out of my bosom, and 
 removed him to herself; and as I was asleep she 
 laid her dead son in my arms. Now, when in 
 the morning I was desirous to give the breast to 
 the child, I did not find my own, but saw the 
 woman's dead child lying by me; for I considered 
 it exactly, and found it so to be. Hence it was 
 that I demanded my son, and when I could not 
 obtain him, I nave recourse, my lord, to thy 
 assistance; for since we were alone, and there 
 was nobody there that could convict hei v she 
 cares for nothing, but perseveres in the stout 
 denial of the fact." When this woman had told 
 this her story, the king asked the other woman 
 what she had to say in contradiction to that 
 
 story. Eut when she denied that she had dona 
 what was charged upon her, and said that it 
 was her child that was living, and that it waa 
 her antagonist's child that was dead, and when 
 no one could devise what judgment could ba 
 given, and the whole court were blind in their 
 understanding, and could not tell how to find 
 out this riddle, the king alone invented the fol- 
 lowing way how to discover it: He bade them 
 bring in both the dead child and the living 
 child; and sent one of his guards, and com- 
 manded him to fetch a sword, and draw it, and 
 to cut both the children into two pieces, that 
 each of the women might have half the living 
 and half the dead child. Hereupon all the 
 people privately laughed at the king, as no more 
 than a youth. But, in the meantime, she that 
 was the real mother of the living child cried 
 out, that he should not do so, but deliver that 
 child to the other woman, as her own, for she 
 would be satisfied with the life of the child, and 
 with the sight of it, although it were esteemed 
 the other's child; but the other woman was 
 ready to see the child divided, and was desirous, 
 moreover, that the first woman should bo tor- 
 mented. When the king understood that both 
 their words proceeded from the truth of their 
 passions, he adjudged the child to her that 
 cried out to save it, for that she was the real 
 mother of it ; and he condemned the other as a 
 wicked woman, who had not only killed her own 
 child, but was endeavouring to see her friend'i 
 child destroyed also. Now the multitude looked 
 on this determination as a great sign and demon- 
 stration of the king's sagacity and wisdom; and, 
 after that day, attended to him as to one that 
 had a divine mind. 
 
 3. Now the captains of his armies, and officers 
 appointed over the whole country, were these : 
 Over the lot of Ephraim was Ores; over the 
 toparchy of Bethlehem was Dioclerus; Abina- 
 dab, who married Solomon's daughter, had the 
 region of Dora and the sea-coast under him ; the 
 Great Plain was under Benaiah, the son of 
 Achilus ; he also governed all the country as far 
 as Jordan ; Gabaris ruled over GUead and 
 Gaulanitis, and had under him the sixty great 
 and fenced cities [of Og;] Achinadab managed 
 the affairs of all Galilee, as far as Sidon, and 
 had himself also married a daughter of Solomon's, 
 whose name was Basima; Banacates had the 
 sea-coast about Arce; as had Shaphot Mount 
 Tabor, and Carmel, and [the lower] Galilee as 
 far as the river Jordan ; one man was appointed 
 over all this country ; Shimei was intrusted with 
 the lot of Benjamin ; and Gabares had the coun- 
 try beyond Jordan, over whom there was again 
 one governor appointed. Now the people of the 
 Hebrews, and particularly the tribe of Judah, 
 received a wonderful increase when they betook 
 themselves to husbandry and the cultivation of 
 their grounds ; for as they enjoyed peace, and 
 were not distracted with wars and troubles, and 
 having besides an abundant fruition of the most 
 desirable liberty, every one was busy in aug- 
 menting the product of their own lands, and 
 making them worth more than they had for- 
 merly been. 
 
 4. The king had also other rulers, who were 
 over the land of Syria and the Philistines, which 
 reached from the_ river Euphrates to Egypt, and 
 these collected his tributes of the nations. Now 
 these contributed to the king's table, and to his 
 supper every day,* thirty cori of fine flour, and 
 
 * Compare the daily furniture of king Solomon's table, 
 here set down, and 1 Kings iv. 22, 23, with the like daily 
 furniture of Nehemiah the governor's table, after th
 
 CHAP. II.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 173 
 
 sixty of ineal ; as also ten fat oxen, and twenty 
 oxen out of the pastures, and a hundred fat 
 lambs ; all these were besides what were taken 
 by hunting harts and buffaloes, and birds and 
 nshes, which were brought to the king by 
 foreigners day by day. Solomon had also so 
 great a number of chariots, that the stalls of his 
 horses for those chariots were forty thousand ; 
 and besides these, he had twelve thousand horse- 
 men, the one half of whom waited upon the king 
 in Jerusalem, and the rest were dispersed 
 abroad, and dwelt in the royal villages ; but the 
 same officer who provided for the king's expenses 
 supplied also the fodder for the horses, and still 
 carried it to the place where the king abode at 
 that time. 
 
 5. Now the sagacity and wisdom which God 
 had bestowed upon Solomon was so great, that 
 he exceeded the ancients, insomuch that he was 
 no way inferior to the Egyptians, who are said 
 to have been beyond all men in understanding; 
 nay, indeed, it is evident that their sagacity was 
 very much inferior to that of the king's. He 
 also excelled and distinguished himself in wisdom 
 above those who were most eminent among the 
 Hebrews at that time for shrewdness : those I 
 mean were Ethan, and Heman, and Chalcol, and 
 Darda, the sons of MahoL He also composed 
 books of odes and songs, a thousand and five ; of 
 parables and similitudes, three thousand ; for he 
 spake a parable upon every sort of tree, from the 
 hyssop to the cedar; and in like manner also 
 about beasts, about all sorts of living creatures, 
 whether upon the earth, or in the seas, or in the 
 air ; for k he was not unacquainted with any of 
 their natures, nor omitted inquiries about them, 
 but described them all like a philosopher, and 
 demonstrated his exquisite knowledge of their 
 several properties. God also enabled him to 
 learn that skill which expels demons,* which is 
 a science useful and sanative to men. He com- 
 posed such incantations also by which distem- 
 pers are alleviated. And he left behind him the 
 manner of using exorcisms, by which they drive 
 away demons, so that they never return, and 
 this method of cure is of great force unto this 
 day ; for I have seen a certain man of my own 
 country whose name was Eleazar, releasing 
 people that were demoniacal in the presence of 
 Vespasian, and his sons, and his captains, and 
 the whole multitude of his soldiers. The man- 
 ner of the cure was this : He put a ring that 
 had a root of one of those sorts mentioned by 
 Solomon to the nostrils of the demoniac, after 
 which he drew out the demon through his 
 nostrils ; and when the man fell down imme- 
 diately, he abjured him to return into him no 
 more, making still mention of Solomon, and re- 
 citing the incantations which he composed. 
 And when Eleazar would persuade and demon- 
 strate to the spectators that he had such a 
 power, he set a little way off a cup or basin full 
 of water, and commanded the demon as he went 
 
 Jews were come back from Babylon ; and to remember 
 withal, .that Nehemiah was now building the walls of 
 Jerusalem, and maintained, more than usual, above 
 150 considerable men every day ; and that, because the 
 nation was then very poor, at his own charges also, 
 without laying any burden upon the people at all, 
 (Neh. v. 18, 19.) 
 
 * I entirely differ from Josephus in this, that such 
 books and arts of Solomon were parts of that wisdom 
 which was imparted to him by God in his younger 
 days ; they must rather have belonged to such profane 
 but curious arts as we find, mentioned, (Acts six. 13- 
 20,) and had been derived nrom his heathen wives and 
 concubines in his old age, when he had forsaken God, 
 and God had forsaken him, and given him up to demo- 
 niacal delusions. 
 
 out of the man to overturn it, and thereby to let 
 the spectators know that he had left the man ; 
 and when this was done, the skill and wisdom of 
 Solomon was shewn very manifestly : for which 
 reason it is, that all men may know the vastness 
 of Solomon's abilities, and how he was beloved 
 of God, and that the extraordinary virtues of 
 every kind with which this king was endowed, 
 may not be unknown to any people under the 
 sun ; for this reason, I say, it is that we have 
 proceeded to speak so largely of these matters. 
 
 6. Moreover Hiram, king of Tyre, when he 
 had heard that Solomon succeeded to his father's 
 kingdom, was very glad of it, for he was a friend 
 of David's. So he sent ambassadors to him, and 
 saluted him, and congratulated him on the pre- 
 sent happy state of his affairs. Upon which 
 Solomon sent him an epistle, the contents of 
 which here follow : 
 
 SOLOMON TO KING HIRAM. 
 
 "+Know thou that my father would have 
 built a temple to God, but was hindered by 
 wars, and continual expeditions ; for he did not 
 leave off to overthrow his enemies till he made 
 them all subject to tribute. But I give thanks 
 to God for the peace I at present enjoy, and on 
 that account I am at leisure, and design to build 
 a house to God, for God foretold to my father 
 that such a house should be built by me ; where- 
 fore I desire thee to send some of thy subjects 
 with mine to Mount Lebanon, to cut down 
 timber ; for the Sidonians are more skilful than 
 our people in cutting of wood. As for wages to 
 the hewers of wood, I will pay whatsoever price 
 thou shalt determine." 
 
 7. When Hiram had read this epistle, he was 
 pleased with it, and wrote back this answer to 
 Solomon : 
 
 HIEAM TO KING SOLOMON. 
 
 " It is fit to bless God that he hath committed 
 thy father's government to thee, who art a wise 
 man, and endowed with all virtues. As for my- 
 self, I rejoice at the condition thou art in, and 
 will be subservient to thee in all that thou send- 
 est to me about; for when by my subjects I have 
 cut down many and large trees of cedar and 
 cypress wood, I will send them to sea, and will 
 order my subjects to make floats of them, and to 
 sail to what place soever of thy country thou 
 shalt desire, and leave them there, after which 
 thy subjects may carry them to Jerusalem : but 
 do thou take care to procure us corn for this 
 timber, which we stand in need of, because we 
 inhabit an island. "J 
 
 The copies of these epistles remain at this day, 
 and are preserved not only in our books, but 
 among the Tyrians also ; insomuch that if any 
 one would know the certainty about them, he 
 may desire of the keepers of the public records 
 of Tyre to shew him them, and he will find what 
 is there set down to agree with what we have 
 said. I have said so much out of a desire that 
 my readers may know that we speak nothing but 
 the truth, and do not compose a history out of 
 some plausible relations, which deceive men and 
 please them at the same time, nor attempt to 
 avoid examination, nor desire men to believe us 
 immediately; nor are we at liberty to depart 
 
 t These epistles of Solomon and Hiram are those in 
 1 Kings v. 3-9, and, as enlarged, in 2 Chron. ii. 3-16 ; 
 but here given us by Josephus in his own words. 
 
 J What Josephus here puts into his copy of Hiram's 
 epistle to Solomon, that Tyre was now an island, is, I 
 suppose, his own conjectural paraphrase.
 
 174 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK vni 
 
 from speaking truth, which is the proper com- 
 mendation of a historian, and yet to be blame- 
 less. But we insist upon no admission of what 
 wo say, unless we be able to manifest its truth, 
 by demonstration and the strongest vouchers. 
 
 9. Now king Solomon, as soon as this epistle 
 of the king of Tyre was brought him, commended 
 the readiness and good-will he declared therein, 
 and repaid him in what he desired, and sent him 
 yearly twenty thousand cori of wheat, and as 
 many baths of oil : now the bath is able to con- 
 tain seventy-two sextaries. He also sent him 
 the same measure of wine. So the friendship 
 between Hiram and Solomon hereby increased 
 more and more ; and they swore to continue it 
 for ever. And the king appointed a tribute to 
 be laid on all the people, of thirty thousand 
 labourers, whose work he rendered easy to them, 
 by prudently dividing it among them; for he 
 made ten thousand cut timber in mount Lebanon 
 for 011 month, and then to come home ; and the 
 rest two months, until the time when the other 
 twenty thousand had finished their task at the 
 appointed time; and so afterward it came to 
 pass, that the first ten thousand returned to their 
 work every fourth month: and it was Adoram 
 who was over this tribute. There were also of 
 the strangers who were left by David, who were 
 to carry the stones and other materials, seventy 
 thousand; and of those that cut the stones, 
 eighty thousand. Of these three thousand and 
 three hundred were rulers over the rest. He 
 also enjoined them to cut out large stones for the 
 foundations of the temple, and that they should 
 fit them and unite them together in the moun- 
 tain, and so bring them to the city. This was 
 done, not only by our own country workmen, 
 but by those workmen whom Hiram sent also. 
 
 CHAPTEE IIL 
 
 OF THK BDILDINO OB 1 THE TBMMJB. 
 
 5 L SOLOMON began to build the temple in the 
 fourth year of his reign, on the second month, 
 which the Macedonians call Artemisius, and the 
 Hebrews Jur ; five hundred and ninety-two years 
 after the exodus out of Egypt, but one thousand 
 and twenty years from Abraham's coming out of 
 Mesopotamia into Canaan ; and after the Deluge 
 one thousand four hundred and forty years ; and 
 from Adam, the first man who was created, until 
 Solomon built the temple, there had passed in 
 all three thousand one hundred and two years. 
 Now that year on which the temple began to be 
 built, was already the eleventh year of the reign 
 of Hiram ; but from the building of Tyre to the 
 building of the temple, there had passed two hun- 
 dred and forty ye*rs. 
 
 2. Now, therefore, the king laid the founda- 
 tions of the temple very deep in the ground, and 
 the materials were strong stones, and such as 
 would resist the force of time: these were to 
 unite themselves with the earth, and become a 
 basis and a sure foundation for that super- 
 structure which was to be erected over it : they 
 were to be so strong, in order to miptwn -"nthtwe 
 those vast superstructures, ana nrecums orna- 
 ments, whose own weignt was to DC not less than 
 the weight of those other high and heavy build - 
 ings which the king designed to be very orna- 
 mental and magnificent. They erected its entire 
 body, quite up to the roof, of white stone: its 
 height was sixty cubits, and its length was the 
 name, and ita breadth twenty. There was an- 
 other building erected over it. eaual to it in its 
 
 measu es ; so that the entire altitude of the 
 temple woe a hundred and twenty cubits. Ita 
 front was to the east. As to the porch, they 
 built it before the temple : its length was twenty 
 cubit , and it was so ordered that it might agree 
 with the breadth of the house; and it had twelve 
 cubhsin latitude, and its height was raised afi 
 high as a hundred and twenty cubits. He also 
 built round about 'the temple, thirty small rooms, 
 which might include the whole temple, by their 
 closeness one to another, and by their number 
 and outward position round it. He also made 
 passages through them, that they might come 
 int one through another. Every one of these 
 rooms had five cubits in breadth, and the same 
 in length, but in height twenty. Above these 
 were other rooms, and others above them, equal, 
 bo*h in their measures and number ; o that these 
 re ched to a height equal to the lower part of 
 th* house ; for the upper part had no buildings 
 about it, The roof that was over the house was 
 of cedar ; arid truly every one of these roomshad 
 a roof of their own, that was connected with the 
 other rooms ; but for the other parts, there was a 
 covered roof common to them all, and built with 
 very long beams, that passed through the rest, and 
 through the whole building, that so the middle 
 walls, being strengthened by the same beams of 
 timber, might be thereby made firmer; but as 
 for that part of the roof that was under the 
 beams, it was made of the same materials, and 
 was all made smooth, and had ornaments proper 
 for roofs, and had plates of gold nailed upon 
 them ; and as he enclosed the walls with boards 
 of cedar, so he fixed on them plates of gold, 
 which had sculptures upon them; so that the 
 whole temple shined, and dazzled the eyes of 
 such as entered, by the splendour of the gold 
 that was on every side of them. Now the whole 
 structure of the temple was made, with great 
 skill, of polished stones, and those laid together 
 go very harmoniously and smoothly, that there 
 appeared to the spectators no signs of any 
 hammer, or other instrument of architecture, 
 but as if, without any use of them, the entire 
 materials had naturally united themselves to- 
 gether, that the agreement of one part with an- 
 other seemed rather to have been natural, than 
 to have arisen from the force of tools upon them. 
 The king also had a fine contrivance for an ascent 
 to the upper room over the temple, and that was 
 by steps in the thickness of its wall ; for it had 
 no large door on the east end, as the lower house 
 had, but the entrances were by the sides, through 
 very small doors. He also overlaid the temple, 
 both within and without, with boards of cedar, 
 that were kept close together by thick chains, so 
 that this contrivance was in the nature of a sup- 
 port and a strength to the building. 
 
 3. Now when the king had divided the temple 
 into two parts, he made the inner house of 
 twenty cubits, [every way,] to be the most secret 
 chamber, but he appointed that of forty cubits 
 to be the sanctuary; and when he had cut a 
 door-place out of the wall, he put therein doors 
 of cedar, a d over-laid them with a great deal of 
 gold, and had sculptures upon it. He also had 
 veils of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and the 
 brightest and softest of linen, with the most 
 onrious flowers wrought upon them, which were 
 to be drawn before those doors. He also dedi- 
 cated for the most secret place, whose breadth 
 
 * These small rooms seem to have been no less than 
 90 cubits high a piece, otherwise there must have beer 
 a large interval between one and the other that was ovei 
 it ; and this with double floors, the one of six cubits 
 distance from the floor beneath it.
 
 CHAP, in.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 175 
 
 was twenty cubits t and the length the same, two 
 cherubims of solid gold; the height of each of 
 them was five cubits :* they had each of them 
 two wings stretched out as far as five cubits ; 
 wherefore Solomon set them up not far from each 
 other, that with one wing they might touch the 
 southern wall of the secret place, and with an- 
 other the northern; their other wings, which 
 joined to each other, were a covering to the ark, 
 which was set between them : but nobody can 
 tell, or even conjecture, what was the shape of 
 these cherubims. He also laid the floor of the 
 temple with plates of gold ; and he added doors 
 to the gate of the temple, agreeable to the mea- 
 sure of the height of the wall, but in breadth 
 twenty cubits, and on them he glued gold plates ; 
 and, to say all in one word, he left no part of the 
 temple, neither internal nor external, but what 
 was covered with gold. He also had curtains 
 drawn over these doors, in like manner as they 
 were drawn over the inner doors of the most holy 
 place ; but the porch of th tample had nothing 
 of that sort. 
 
 4. Now Solomon sem; ipr an artificer out of 
 Tyre, whose name was Hirau- : he was by birth 
 of the tribe of Naphtali, on t.e mother's side, 
 (for she was of that tribe;) but his father was 
 TJr. of the stock of the Israelites. This man was 
 skilful in all sorts of work ; but his chief skill 
 lay in working in gold, in silver, and brass ; by 
 which were made all the mechanical works about 
 the temple, according to the will of Solomon. 
 Moreover, this Hiram made two [hollow] pillars, 
 whose outsides were of brass ; and the thickness 
 of the brass was four fingers' breadth, and the 
 height of the pillars was eighteen cubits, and 
 their circumference twelve cubits ; but there was 
 cast with each of their chapiters lily-work, that 
 stood upon the pillar, and it was elevated five 
 cubits, round about which there was net-work 
 interwoven with small palms, made of brass, and 
 covered the lily-work. To this also were hung 
 two hundred pomegranates, in two rows. The 
 one of these pillars he set at the entrance of the 
 porch on the right hand, and called it Jachinj 
 and the other on the left hand, and called it 
 Booz. 
 
 5. Solomon also cast a brazen sea. the figure of 
 which was of a hemisphere. This brazen vessel 
 was called a sea for its largeness, for the laver 
 was ten feet in diameter, and cast of the thick- 
 ness of a palm : its middle part rested on a short 
 pillar, that had ten spirals round it, and that 
 pillar was ten cubits in diameter. There stood 
 round about it twelve oxen, that looked to the 
 four winds of heaven, three to each wind, having 
 their hinder parts depressed, that so the hemis- 
 pherical vessel might rest upon them, which 
 itself was also depressed round about inwardly. 
 Now this sea contained three thousand baths. 
 
 6. He also made ten brazen bases for so many 
 quadrangular lavers : the length of every one of 
 these bases was five cubits, and the breadth four 
 cubits, and the height six cubits. This vessel 
 was partly turned, and was thus contrived : There 
 were four small quadrangular pillars, that stood 
 one at each corner; these had the sides of the 
 base fitted to them on each quarter; they were 
 parted into three parts ; every interval had a 
 border fitted to support [the laver ;] upon which 
 was engraven, in one place a lion, and in another 
 place a bull, and an eagle. The small pillars had 
 
 * Josephus aaya here that the cherubima were only 
 five cubits high ; while our HeVrew copies and the T.XX 
 both agree thy were ten cubits high. I suppose the 
 mtmbvr c. re is falaely transcribed, and that Josephua 
 note ten eubiw adto. 
 
 the same animals engraven that were engraven 
 on the sides. The whole worK was elevated, and 
 stood upon four wheels, which were also cast, 
 which had also naves and felloes, and were a 
 foot and a half in diameter. Any one who saw 
 the spokes of the wheels, how exactly they were 
 turned, and united to the sides of the bases, and 
 with what harmony they agreed to the felloes, 
 would wonder at them. However, their structure 
 was this : certain shoulders of hands stretched 
 out, held the corners above, upon which rested 
 a short spiral pillar, that lay under the hollow 
 part of the laver, resting upon the fore part of 
 the eagle and the lion, which were adapted to 
 them, insomuch, that those who viewed them 
 would think they were of one piece: between 
 these were engravings of palm trees. This was 
 the construction of the ten bases : he also made 
 ten large round brass vessels, which were the 
 lavers themselves, each of which contained forty 
 baths ;f for it had its height four cubits, and its 
 edges were as much distant from each other : he 
 also placed these lavers upon the ten bases that 
 were called Mechonoth : and he set five of the 
 lavers on the left side of the temple,+ which was 
 on that side towards the north wind, and as many 
 on the right side, towards the south, but looking 
 towards the east ; the same [eastern] way he also 
 set the sea. Now. he appointed the sea to be for 
 washing the hands and the feet of the priests 
 when they entered into the temple and were to 
 ascend the altar ; but the lavers to cleanse the 
 entrails of the beasts that were to be burnt- 
 offerings, with their feet also. 
 
 7. He also made a brazen altar, whose length 
 was t\yenty cubits, and its breadth the same, and 
 its height ten, for the burnt-offerings; he also 
 made all its vessels of brass ; the pots, and the 
 shovels, and the basins, and besides these, the 
 snuffers and the tongs, and all its other vessels 
 he made of brass, and such brass as was in splen- 
 dour and beauty like gold. The king also dedi- 
 cated a great number of tables, but one that was 
 large and made of gold, upon which they set the 
 loaves of God ; and he made ten thousand more 
 that resembled them, but were done after an- 
 other manner, upon which lay the vials and the 
 cups ; those of gold were twenty thousand, those 
 of silver were forty thousand. He also made ten 
 thousand candlesticks, according to the command 
 of Moses, one of which he dedicated for the 
 temple, that it might burn in the daytime, 
 according to the law ; and one table with loaves 
 upon it, on the north side of tie temple, over 
 against the candlestick ; for this he set on the 
 south side, but the golden altar stood between 
 them. All these vessels were contained in that 
 part of the holy house which was forty cubits 
 long, and were before the veil of that most secret 
 place wherein the ark was to be set. 
 
 8. The king also made pouring vessels, in 
 number eighty thousand, and a hundred thou- 
 sand golden vials, and twice as many silver 
 
 t The round or cylindrical lavera of four cubits in 
 diameter, and four in height, must have contained a 
 great deal more than these forty baths. Where the 
 error lies is hard to Bay. In the meantime, the forty 
 baths are probably the true quantity contained in each 
 laver, since they went upon wheels, and were to be 
 drawn by the Levites about the courts of toe priests; 
 had they held much more, they would have been too 
 heavy to have been so drawn. 
 
 J Josephus by the right hand means what is against 
 our left, when we suppose ourselves going up from the 
 east gates of the courts towards the tabernacle, and BO 
 vice versa; whence it fellows, that the pillar Jachin, on 
 the rieht hand of the temple, was on the south, against 
 our left hand ; and Boos on the north, against our right
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK vm. 
 
 rials of golden dishes, in order therein to offer 
 kneaded fine flour at the altar, there were eighty 
 thousand, and twice as many of silver. Of large 
 basins also, wherein they mixed fine flour with 
 nil, sixty thousand of gold, and twice as many 
 of silver. Of the measures like those which 
 Moses called the Hin, and the Assaron, (a tenth 
 deal,) there were twenty thousand of gold, and 
 twice as many of silver. The golden censers, 
 in which they carried the incense to the altar, 
 were twenty thousand: the other censers, in 
 which they carried fire from the great altar to 
 the little altar, within the temple, were fifty 
 thousand. The sacerdotal garments which be- 
 long to the high priest, with the long robes, and 
 the oracle, and the precious stones, were a thou- 
 sand ; but the crown upon which Moses wrote 
 [the name of God,] was only one, and hath re- 
 mained to this very day. He also made ten 
 thousand sacerdotal garments of fine linen, with 
 purple girdles, for every priest ; and two hun- 
 dred thousand trumpets, according to the com- 
 mand of Moses ; also t^ro hundred thousand 
 garments of fine linen, for the singers that were 
 Levites ; and he made musical instruments, and 
 such as were invented for singing of hymns, 
 called Nablce and Cinyrce, [psalteries and harps,] 
 which were made of electrum, [the finest brass,] 
 forty thousand. 
 
 9. Solomon made all these thiugs for the hon- 
 our of God, with great variety and magnificence, 
 paring no cost, but using all possible liberality 
 in adorning the temple; and these things he 
 dedicated to the treasures of God. He also 
 placed a partition round about the temple, which, 
 in our tongue, we call Gison, but it is called 
 Thrigcos by the Greeks, and he raised it up to 
 the height of three cubits ; and it was for the 
 exclusion of the multitude from coming into the 
 temple, and shewing that it was a place that 
 was free and open only for the priests. He also 
 built beyond this court a temple, the figure of 
 which was that of a quadrangle, and erected for 
 it great and broad cloisters; this was entered 
 into by very high gates, each of which had its 
 front exposed to one of the [four] winds, and 
 were shut by golden doors. Into this temple 
 all the people entered that were distinguished 
 from the rest by being pure, and observant of 
 the laws ; but he made that temple which was 
 beyond this a wonderful one indeed, and such 
 as exceeds all description in words ; nay, if I 
 may so say, is hardly believed upon sight ; for 
 when he had filled up great valleys with earth, 
 which, on account of their immense depth, could 
 not be looked on when you bended down to see 
 them, without pain, and had elevated the ground 
 four hundred cubits, he made it to be on a level 
 with the top of the mountain on which the tem- 
 ple was built, and by this means the outmost 
 temple which was exposed to the air, was even 
 with the temple itself.* He encompassed this 
 also with a building of a double row of clois- 
 ters, which stood on high upon pillars of native 
 stone, while the roofs were of cedar, and were 
 polished in a manner proper for such high roofs ; 
 but he made all the doors of this temple of 
 silver. 
 
 * When Josephus says that the floor of the outmoit 
 
 temple was with vast labour raised to be even, or of 
 
 equal height with the floor of the inner temple, he must 
 
 jean this in a gross estimation only ; for he and all 
 
 aers agree that the inner temple was a few cubits 
 
 e elevated than the middle court, and that much 
 
 >re was tne court of the priests elevated several cu- 
 
 5 the outmost court, since the middle was 
 
 lower than the one and higher than the other. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HOW SOLOMON REMOVED THE ARK INTO THE TEM- 
 PLE ; HOW HE MADE SUPPLICATION TO GOD, 
 AND OFFERED PUBLIC SACRIFICES TO HIM. 
 
 1. WHEN king Solomon had finished these 
 works, these large and beautiful buildings, and 
 had laid up his donations in the temple, and all 
 this in the interval of seven years, and had given 
 a demonstration of his riches and alacrity there- 
 in ; insomuch, that any one who saw it would 
 have thought it must have been an immense 
 time ere it could have been finished, and [would 
 be surprised] that so much should be finished in 
 so short a time ; short, I mean, if compared 
 with the greatness of the work : he also wrote 
 to the rulers and elders of the Hebrews, and 
 ordered all the people to gather themselves to- 
 gether to Jerusalem, both to see the temple 
 which he had built, and to remove the ark of 
 God into it ; and when this invitation of the 
 whole body of the people to come to Jerusalem 
 was everywhere carried abroad, it was the 
 seventh month before they came together; 
 which month is, by our countrymen, called 
 Thisri ; but by the Macedonians Hyperberetceus. 
 The Feast of Tabernacles happened to fall at the 
 same time, which was kept by the Hebrews a* 
 most holy and most eminent feast. So they 
 carried the ark and the tabernacle which Moses 
 had pitched, and all the vessels that were for 
 ministration to the sacrifices of God, and re- 
 moved them to the temple, t The king himself, 
 and all the people and the Levites, went before, 
 rendering the ground moist with sacrifices and 
 drink-offerings, and the blood of a great number 
 of oblations, and burning an immense quantity 
 of incense ; and this till the very air itself every- 
 where around was so full of these odours, that 
 it met, in a most agreeable manner, persons at 
 a great distance, and was an indication of God's 
 presence, and, as men's opinion was, of his habi- 
 tation with them in this newly-built and conse- 
 crated place, for they did not grow weary, either 
 of singing hymns, or of dancing, until they came 
 to the temple, and in this manner did they carry 
 the ark : but when they should transfer it into 
 the most secret places, the rest of the multitude 
 went away, and only those priests that carried 
 it set it between the two cherubims, which em- 
 bracing it with their wings, (for so they were 
 framed by the artificer,) they covered it, aa 
 under a tent or a cupola. Now the ark con- 
 tained nothing else but those two tables of stone 
 that preserved the ten commandments, which 
 God spake to Moses in mount Sinai, and which 
 were engraved upon them; but they set the 
 candlestick, and the table, and the golden altar, 
 in the temple, before the most secret place, in 
 the very same places wherein they stood till that 
 time in the tabernacle. So they offered up the 
 daily sacrifices ; but for the brazen altar, Solo- 
 mon set it before the temple, over against the 
 door, that when the door was opened, it might 
 be exposed to sight, and the sacred solemnities, 
 and the richness of the sacrifices, might be 
 thence seen ; and all the rest of the vessels they 
 gathered together, and put them within the 
 temple. 
 
 2. Now, as soon as the priests had put all 
 things in order about the ark, and were gone 
 out, there came down a thick cloud, and stood 
 
 t This solemn removal of the ark from mount Sion 
 to mount Moriah, confutes that notion of the modern 
 Jews, M if those two were one and the same mountain.
 
 CHAP. IT.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 177 
 
 there, and spread itself, after a gentle manner, 
 into the temple : such a cloud it was as was dif- 
 fused and temperate, not such a rough one as 
 we see full of rain in the winter season. This 
 cloud so darkened the place, that one prieet 
 could not discern another ; but it afforded to 
 the minds of all a visible image and glorious 
 appearance of God's having descended into this 
 temple, and of his having gladly pitched his 
 tabernacle therein. So these men were intent 
 upon this thought; but Solomon rose up, (for 
 he was sitting before,) and used such words to 
 God as he thought agreeable to the Divine na- 
 ture to receive, and fit for him to give ; for he 
 said, " Thou hast an eternal house, O Lord, and 
 uch as thou hast created for thyself out of thine 
 own works ; we know it to be the heaven, and 
 the air, and the earth, and the sea, which thou 
 pervadest, nor art thou contained within their 
 limits. I have indeed built this temple to thee, 
 and thy name that from thence, when we sacri- 
 fice, and perform sacred operations, we may 
 Bend our prayers up into the air, and may con- 
 stantly believe that thou art present, and art 
 not remote from what is thine own ; for neither 
 when thou seest all things, and hearest all things, 
 nor now, when it pleases thee to dwell here, 
 dost thou leave off the care of all men, but 
 rather thou art very near to them all, but es- 
 pecially thou art present to those that address 
 themselves to thee, whether by night or by day." 
 When he had thus solemnly addressed himself 
 to God, he converted his discourse to the multi- 
 tude, and strongly represented the power and 
 providence of God to them ; how he had shewn 
 all things that were to come to pass to David his 
 father, as many of those things had already 
 come to pass, and the rest would certainly come 
 to pass hereafter; and how he had given him 
 his name, and told to David what he should be 
 called before he was born; and foretold, that 
 when he should be king after his father's death, 
 he should build him a temple, which since they 
 saw accomplished, according to his prediction, 
 he required them to bless God, and by believing 
 him, from the sight of what they had seen ac- 
 complished, never to despair of anything that 
 he had promised for the future, in order to their 
 happiness, or suspect that it would not coine to 
 pass. 
 
 3. When the king had thus discoursed to the 
 multitude, he looked again towards the temple, 
 and lifting up his right hand to the multitude, 
 he said, " It is not possible by what men can do 
 to return sufficient thanks to God for his benefits 
 bestowed upon them, for the Deity stands in 
 need of nothing, and is above any such requital ; 
 but so far as we have been made superior, O 
 Lord, to other animals by thee, it becomes us to 
 bless thy Majesty, and it is necessary for us to 
 return thee thanks for what thou hast bestowed 
 upon our house, and on the Hebrew people ; for 
 with what other instrument can we better ap- 
 pease thee, when thou art angry at us, or more 
 properly preserve thy favour, than with our 
 voice ; which, as we have it from the air, so do 
 we know that by that air it ascends upwards 
 [towards thee.] I therefore ought myself to re- 
 turn thee thanks thereby, in the first place, con- 
 cerning my father, whom thou hast raised from 
 obscurity unto so great joy ; and, in the next 
 place, concerning myself, since thou hast per- 
 formed all that thou hast promised unto this 
 very day ; and I beseech thee, for the time to 
 come, to afford us whatsoever thou, .O God, hast 
 power to bestow on such as thou dost esteem ; 
 and to augment our house for all ages, as thou 
 bast promised to David my father to do both in 
 
 his lifetime and at his death, that our kingdom 
 shall continue, and that his posterity should 
 successively receive it to ten thousand genera- 
 tions. Do not thou therefore fail to give us these 
 blessings, and to bestow on my children that 
 virtue in which thou delightest ! and besides all 
 this, I humbly beseech thee, that thou wilt let 
 some portion of thy Spirit come down and in- 
 habit in this temple, that thou mayest appear to 
 be with us upon earth. As to thyself, the entire 
 heavens, and the immensity of the things that 
 are therein, are but a small habitation for thee ; 
 much more is this poor temple so ; but I entreat 
 thee to keep it as thine own house, from being 
 destroyed by our enemies for ever, and to take 
 care of it as thine own possession ; but if this 
 people be found to have sinned, and be there- 
 upon afflicted by thee with any plague, because 
 of their sin, as with dearth, or pestilence, or any 
 other affliction which thou usest to inflict on 
 those that transgress any of thy holy laws, and if 
 they fly all of them to this temple, beseeching 
 thee, and begging of thee to deliver them, then 
 do thou hear their prayers, as being within thine 
 own house, and have mercy upon them, and 
 deliver them from their afflictions ! nay, more- 
 over, this help is what I implore of thee, not for 
 the Hebrews only, when they are in distress, but 
 when any shall come hither from any ends of the 
 world whatsoever, and shall return from their 
 sins and implore thy pardon, do thou then par- 
 don them, and hear their prayer ! for hereby all 
 shall learn that thou thyself wast pleased with 
 the building of this house for thee ; and that we 
 are not ourselves of an unsociable nature, nor 
 behave ourselves like enemies to such as are not 
 of our own people, but are willing^ that thy 
 assistance should be communicated by thee 
 to all men in common, and that they may have 
 the enjoyment of thy benefits bestowed upon 
 them." 
 
 4. When Solomon had said this, and had cast 
 himself upon the ground, and worshipped a long 
 time, he rose up and brought sacrifices to the 
 altar ; and when he had filled it with unblem- 
 ished victims, he most evidently discovered that 
 God had with pleasure accepted of all that he 
 had sacrificed to him, for there came a fire 
 running out of the air, and rushed with violence 
 upon the altar, in the sight of all, and caught 
 hold of and consumed the sacrifices. Now. when 
 this divine appearance was seen, the people sup- 
 posed it to be a demonstration of God's abode in 
 the temple, and were pleased with it, and fell 
 down upon the ground, and worshipped. Upon 
 which the king began to bless God, and exhorted 
 the multitude to do the same, as now having 
 sufficient mdicatir.^s of God's favourable disposi- 
 tion to them ; and to pray that they might al- 
 ways have the like indications from him, and 
 that he would preserve in them a mind pure 
 from all wickedness, in righteousness and re- 
 ligious worship, and that they might continue in 
 fche observation of those precepts which God had 
 given them by Moses, because by that means the 
 Hebrew nation would be happy, and indeed thje 
 most blessed of all nations among all mankind. 
 He exhorted them also to be mindful, that by 
 what methods they had attained their present 
 good things, by the same they must preserve 
 them sure to themselves, and make them greater, 
 and more than they were at present ; for that it 
 was not sufficient for them to suppose they had 
 received them on account of their piety and 
 righteousness, but that they had no other way of 
 preserving them for the time to come ; for that 
 it is not so great a thing for men to acquire some- 
 what which they want, as to preserve what they
 
 178 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 have acquired, and to be guilty of no sin, whereby 
 it may be hurt. 
 
 5. So when the king had spoken thus to the 
 multitude, he dissolved the congregation, but 
 not till he had completed his oblations, both for 
 himself and for the Hebrews, insomuch that he 
 sacrificed twenty and two thousand oxen, and a 
 hundred and twenty thousand sheep ; for then 
 it was that the temple did first of all taste of 
 the victims; and all the Hebrews, with their 
 wives and children, feasted therein : nay, be- 
 -lidos this, the king then observed splendidly 
 and magnificently the feast which is called the 
 Feast of Tabernacles, before the temple, for 
 twice seven days, and he then fea-ted together 
 with all the people. 
 
 6. When all these solemnities were abun- 
 dantly satisfied, and nothing was omitted that 
 concerned the divine worship, the king dis- 
 missed them ; and every one went to their own 
 homes, giving thanks to the king for the care he 
 had taken of them, and the works he had done 
 for them ; and praying to God to preserve 
 Solomon to be their king for a long time. They 
 also took their journey home with rejoicing and 
 
 . making merry, and singing hymns to God : and 
 indeed the pleasure they enjoyed took away the 
 sense of the pains they all underwent in their 
 journey home. So when they had brought the 
 ark into the temple, and had seen its greatness, 
 and how fine it was, and had been partakers of 
 the many sacrifices that had been offered, and 
 of the festivals that had been solemnised, they 
 every one returned to their own cities. But a 
 dream that appeared to the king in his sleep, in- 
 formed him, that God had heard his prayers ; 
 and that he would not only preserve the temple, 
 but would always abide in it ; that is, in case his 
 posterity and the whole multitude would be 
 righteous. And for himself, it said, that if he 
 continued according to the admonitions of his 
 father, he would advance him to an immense 
 degree of dignity and happiness, and that then 
 his posterity should be kings of that country, of 
 the tribe of Judah, for ever ; but that still, if he 
 should be found a betrayer of the ordinances of 
 the law, and forget them, and turn away to the 
 worship of strange gods, he would cut him off 
 by the roots, and would neither suffer any re- 
 mainder of his family to continue, nor would 
 overlook the people of Israel, or preserve them 
 any longer from afflictions, but would utterly 
 destroy them with ten thousand wars and mis- 
 fortunes ; would cast them out of the land which 
 he had given their fathers, and make them so- 
 journers in strange lands; and deliver that 
 temple which was now built, to be burnt and 
 spoiled by their enemies ; and that city to be 
 utterly overthrown by the hands of their ene- 
 mies ; and make their miseries deserve to be a 
 proverb, and such as should very hardly be 
 credited for their stupendous magnitude, till 
 their neighbours, when they should hear of 
 them, should wonder at their calamities, and 
 very earnestly inquire for the occasion, why the 
 FTebrews, who had been so far advanced by God 
 to such glory and wealth, should be then so 
 hated by him? And that the answer that 
 should be made by the remainder of the people 
 should bi!, by confessing their sins, and the 
 transgression of the laws of their country. Ac- 
 cordingly, we have it transmitted to us m writ- 
 ing, and thus did- God speak to Solomon in his 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 HOW SOLOMON BUILT HIMSELF A. ROYAL PA LACK, 
 VKRY COSTLY AND SPLENDID ; AND HOW HE 
 SOLVED TUB RIDDLES WHICH WTZRE SENT HIM 
 BY HIRAM 
 
 1. AFTER the building of the temple, which, 
 as we have before said, was finished in seven 
 years, the king laid the foundation of his palace, 
 which he did not nnish under thirteen years ; 
 for he was not equally zealous hi the building 
 of this palace as he had been about the temple ; 
 for as to that, though it was a great work, and 
 required wonderful and surprising application, 
 yet God, for whom it was made, so far co-ope- 
 rated therewith, that it was finished in tbe fore- 
 mentioned number of years ; but tke palace, 
 which was a building much inferior in dignity to 
 the temple, both on account that its materials 
 had not been so long beforehand gotten ready, 
 nor had been so zealously prepared, and on ac- 
 count that this was only a habitation for kings, 
 and not for God, it was longer in finishing. 
 However, this building was raised so magnifi- 
 cently, as suited the happy state of the Hebrews, 
 and of the king thereof; but it is necessary that 
 I describe the entire structure and disposition of 
 the parts, that so those that light upon this 
 book may thereby make a conjecture, and. as it 
 were, have a prospect of its magnitude. 
 
 2. This house was a large and curious cmld- 
 ing, and was supported by many pillars, which 
 Solomon built to contain a multitude for hearing 
 causes, and taking cognizance of suits. It was 
 sufficiently capacious to contain a great body of 
 men, who would come together to have their 
 causes determined. It was a hundred cubits 
 long, and fifty broad, and thirty high, supported 
 bv quadrangular pillars, which were all of cedar ; 
 but its roof was according to the Corinthian 
 order, with folding doors, and their adjoining 
 pillars of equal magnitude, each fluted with 
 three cavities : which building was at once firm 
 and very ornamental. There was also another 
 house so ordered, that its entire breadth was 
 placed in the middle : it was quadrangular, and 
 its breadth was thirty cubits, having a temple 
 over against it, raised upon massy pillars ; in 
 which temple there was a large and very glori- 
 ous room, wherein the king sat in judgment. 
 To this was joined another house, that was built 
 for his queen. There were other smaller edi- 
 fices for diet, and for sleep, after public matters 
 were over ; and these were all floored with 
 boards of cedar, 3lome of these Solomon built 
 with stones of ten cubits, and wainscotted the 
 walls with other stones that were sawed, and 
 were of great value, such as are dug out of the 
 earth for the ornaments of temples, and to 
 make fine prospects in royal palaces, and whioh 
 make the mines whence they are dug famous. 
 Now the contexture of the curious workmanship 
 of these stones was in three rows, but the fourth 
 row would make one admire its sculptures, 
 whereby were represented trees, and all sorts of 
 plants, with the shades that arose from theii 
 branches, and leaves that hung down from them. 
 Those trees and plants covered the stone that 
 was beneath them, and their leaves were wrought 
 so prodigious thin and subtle that you would 
 think they were in motion ; but the otherpart, 
 up to the roof, was plastered over, and, as it 
 were, embroidered with colours and pictures. 
 He, moreover, built other edifices for pleasure ; 
 as also very long cloisters, and those situate in 
 an agreeable place of the palace ; and among
 
 OUAF. VI. J 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 179 
 
 them a most glorious dining-room, for feastings 
 and compotations, and full of gold, and such 
 other furniture as so fine a room ought to have 
 for the conveniency of the guests, and where all 
 the vessels were made of gold. Now it is very 
 hard to reckon up the magnitude and the variety 
 of the royal apartments ; how many rooms there 
 weiie of the largest sort, how many of a bigness 
 inferior to those, and how many that were sub- 
 terraneous and invisible ; the curiosity of those 
 that enjoyed the fresh air ; and the groves for 
 the most delightful prospect, for the avoiding 
 the heat, and covering of their bodies. And to 
 say all in brief, Solomon made the whole build- 
 ing entirely of white stone, and cedar-wood, and 
 gold, and silver. He also adorned the roofs and 
 walls with stones set in gold, and beautified 
 them thereby in the same manner as he had 
 beautified the temple of God with the like 
 stones. He also made himself a throne of pro- 
 digious bigness, of ivory, constructed as a seat of 
 justice, and having six steps to it ; on every one 
 of which stood, on each end of the step, two 
 lions, two other lions standing above also ; but 
 at the sitting place of the throne, hands came 
 out, and received the king ; and when he eat 
 backward, he rested on half a bullock, that 
 looked towards his back ; but still all was 
 fastened together with gold. 
 
 3. When Solomon had completed all this in 
 twenty years' time, because Hir.vm king of Tyre 
 had contributed a great deal of gold, and more 
 silver to these buildings, as also cedar-wood and 
 pine-wood, he also rewarded Hiram with rich 
 presents : corn he sent him also year by year, 
 and wine and oil, which were the principal things 
 that he stood in need of, because he inhabited an 
 island, as we have already said. And besides 
 these, he granted him certain cities of Galilee, 
 twenty in number, that lay not far from Tyre ; 
 which when Hiram went to, and viewed, and 
 did not like the gift, he sent word to Solomon 
 that he did not want such cities as they were ; 
 and after that time those cities were called the 
 land of Cabul ; which name, if it be interpreted 
 according to the language of the Phoenicians, de- 
 notes what does not please. Moreover, the king 
 of Tyre sent sophisms and enigmatical sayings to 
 Solomon, and desired he would solve them, and 
 free them from the ambiguity that was in them. 
 Now so sagacious and understanding was Solo- 
 mon, that none of these problems were too hard 
 for him ; but he conquered them all by his reason- 
 ings, and discovered their hidden meaning, and 
 brought it to light. Menander also, one who 
 translated the Tyrian archives out of the dialect 
 of the Phoenicians into the Greek language, 
 makes mention of these two kings, where he 
 says thus : "When Abibalus was dead, his son 
 Hiram received the kingdom from him, who, 
 when he had lived fifty-three years, reigned 
 thirty-four. He raised a bank in the large place, 
 and dedicated the golden pillar which is in Jupi- 
 ter's temple. He also went and cut down mate- 
 rials of timber out of the mountain called 
 Libanus, for the roof of temples ; and when 
 he had pulled down the ancient temples, he 
 both built the temple of Hercules and that of 
 Astarte ; and he first set up the temple of Her- 
 cules in the month Peritius ; he also made an 
 expedition against the Euchii [or Titii,] who did 
 not pay their tribute ; and when he had subdued 
 them to himself, he returned. Under this king 
 there was Abdemon, a very youth in age, who 
 always conquered the difficult problems which 
 Solomon, king of Jerusalem, commanded him to 
 explain." Dius also makes mention of him, 
 where he says thus : ' ' When Abibalus was 
 
 dead, his son Hiram reigned. He raised the 
 eastern parts of the city higher, and made the 
 city itself larger. He also joined the temple of 
 Jupiter, which before stood by itself, to the 
 city, by raising a bank in the middle between 
 them ; and he ordained it witli donations of gold. 
 Moreover, he went up to mount Libanus, and 
 cut down materials of wood for the building of 
 the temples." He says also, that "Solomon, 
 who was then king of Jerusalem, sent riddles to 
 Hiram, and desired to receive the like from him ; 
 but that he who could not solve them should 
 pay money to them that did solve them ; and 
 that Hiram accepted the conditions ; and whei 
 he was not able to solve the riddles [proposed by 
 Solomon,] he paid a great deal of money for his 
 fine ; but that he afterward did solve the pro- 
 posed riddles by means of Abdemon, a man of 
 Tyre ; and that Hiram proposed other riddles, 
 which, when Solomon could not solve, he paid 
 back a great deal of money to Hiram," This it 
 is which Dius wrote. 
 
 CHAPTER VT. 
 
 HOW SOLOMON FORTIFIED THE CITY OF JERUSA- 
 LEM, AND BUILT GREAT CITIES ; AND HOW HB 
 BROUGHT SOME OF THE CANAANITES INTO SUB- 
 JECTION, AND ENTERTAINED THE QUEEN OP 
 EGYPT, AND OF ETHIOPIA. 
 
 L Now when the king saw that the walls of 
 Jerusalem stood in need of being better secured, 
 and made stronger, (for he thought the walls that 
 encompassed Jerusalem ought to correspond to 
 the dignity of the city, ) he both repaired them 
 and made them higher, with great towers upon 
 them ; he also built cities which might be counted 
 among the strongest, Hazor and Megiddo, and 
 the third Gezer, which had indeed belonged to 
 the Philistines ; but Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, 
 had made an expedition against it, and besieged 
 it, and taken it by force ; and when he had slain 
 all its inhabitants, he utterly overthrew it, and 
 gave it as a present to his daughter, who had 
 been married to Solomon ; for which reason the 
 king rebuilt it, as a city that was naturally 
 strong, and might be useful in wars, and the 
 mutations of affairs that sometimes happen. 
 Moreover, he built two other cities not far from 
 it ; Beth-horon was the name of one of them, 
 and Balaath of the other. He also built other 
 cities that lay conveniently for these, in order to 
 the enjoymest of pleasures and delicacies in 
 them, such aa were naturally of a good tempera- 
 ture of the air, and agreeable for fruits ripe in 
 their proper seasons, and well watered with 
 springs. Nay, Solomon went as far as the desert 
 above Syria, and possessed himself of it, and 
 built there a very great city, which was distant 
 two days' journey from the Upper Syria, and one 
 day's journey from Euphrates, and six long days' 
 journey from Babylon the Great. Now the 
 reason why this city lay so remote from the 
 parts of Syria that are inhabited, is this : That 
 below there is no water to be had, and that it is 
 in that place only that there are springs and pits 
 of water. When he had therefore built this 
 city, and encompassed it with very strong walls, 
 he gave it the name of Tadmor, and that is the 
 name it b still called by at this day among the 
 Syrians ; but the Greeks name it Palmyra. 
 
 2. Now Solomon the king was at this time 
 engaged in building these cities. But if any in- 
 quire why all the kings of Egypt from Menes, 
 who built Memphis, and was many years earlier
 
 180 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK via 
 
 than our forefather Abraham, until Solomon, 
 where the interval was more than one thousand 
 three hundred years, were called Pharaohs, and 
 took it from one Pharaoh that lived after the 
 kings of that interval, I think it necessary to 
 inform them of it, and this in order to cure 
 their ignorance, and to make the occasion of 
 that name manifest. Pharaoh, in the Egyptian 
 tongue, signifies a king,* but I suppose they 
 made use of other names from their childhood ; 
 but when they were made kings, they changed 
 them into the name which, in their own tongue, 
 denoted their authority; for thus it was also 
 that the kings of Alexander, who were called 
 formerly by other names, when they took the 
 kingdom, were named Ptolemies, from their 
 first king. The Roman emperors also were, 
 from their nativity, called by other names, but 
 are styled Caesars, their empire and their dignity 
 imposing that name upon them, and not suffer- 
 ing them to continue in those names which their 
 fathers gave them. I suppose also that Herodo- 
 tus of Halicarnassus, when he said there were 
 three hundred and thirty kings of Egypt after 
 Menes, who built Memphis, did therefore not 
 tell us their names, because they were in com- 
 mon called Pharaohs; for when after their 
 death there was a queen reigned, he calls her by 
 her name Nicaule, as thereby declivring, that 
 while the kings were of the male line, and so 
 admitted of the same name, while & woman did 
 not admit the same, he did therefore set down 
 that her name, which she could not naturally 
 have. As for myself, I have discovered from 
 my own books, that after Pharaoh, the father- 
 in-law of Solomon, no other king of Egypt did 
 any longer use that name ; and that it was after 
 that time when the fore-named queen of Egypt 
 and Ethiopia came to Solomon, concerning whom 
 we hall inform the reader presently; but I have 
 now made mention of these things, that I .may 
 prove that our books and those of the Egyptians 
 agree together in many things. 
 
 3. But king Solomon subdued to nimself the 
 remnant of the Canaanites that had not before 
 submitted to him ; those I mean that dwelt in 
 mount Lebanon, and as far as the city Hamath ; 
 and ordered them to pay tribute. He also chose 
 out of them every year such as were to serve 
 him in the meanest offices, and to do his domestic 
 works, and to follow husbandry; for none of the 
 Hebrews were servants, [hi such low employ- 
 ments ;] nor was it reasonable that, when God 
 had brought so many nations under their power, 
 they should depress their own people to such 
 mean offices of life, rather than those nations; 
 but all the Israelites were concerned in warlike 
 affairs, and were in armour, and were set over 
 the chariots and the horses, rather than leading 
 the life of slaves. He appointed also five hun- 
 dred and fifty rulers over those Canaanites who 
 were reduced to such domestic slavery, who re- 
 ceived the entire care of them from the king, 
 and instructed them in those labours and opera- 
 tions wherein he wanted their assistance. 
 
 4. Moreover, the king built many ships in the 
 Egyptian Bay of the Red Sea, in a certain place 
 called Ezion-geber; it is now called Berenice, 
 and is not far from the city Eloth. This country 
 belonged formerly to the Jews, and became 
 
 * This signification of the name Pharaoh appears to 
 be true; but what Josephus adds presently, that no 
 king of Egypt was called Pharaoh after Solomon's 
 father-in-law, does hardly agree to our copies, which 
 have long afterwards the names of Pharaoh Nechoh 
 and Pharaoh Hophrah, (2 Kings xxiii. 29; Jer. xliv. 
 80,) besides the frequent mention of that name in the 
 urocheU. 
 
 useful for shipping, from the donations of 
 Hiram, king of Tyre; for he sent a sufficient 
 number cf men thither for pilots, and such as 
 were skilful in navigation; to whom Solomon 
 gave this command : That they should go along 
 with his own stewards to the land that was of 
 old called Ophir, but now the Aurea Chersonesus, 
 which belongs to India, to fetch him gold. And 
 when they had gathered four hundred talents 
 together, they returned to the king again. 
 
 5. There was then a woman, queen of Egypt 
 and Ethiopia ;t she was inquisitive into philo- 
 sophy, and one that on other accounts also waa 
 to be admired. When this queen heard of the 
 virtue and prudence of Solomon, she had a great 
 mind to see him, and the reports that went 
 every day abroad induced her to come to him, 
 she being desirous to be satisfied by her own 
 experience, and not by a bare hearing, (for 
 reports thus heard, are likely enough to comply 
 with a false opinion, while they wholly depend 
 on the credit of the relators;) so she resolved to 
 come to him, and that especially, in order to 
 have a trial of his wisdom, while she proposed 
 questions of very great difficulty, and entreated 
 that ha would solve their hidden meaning. Ac- 
 cordingly, she came to Jerusalem with great 
 splendour and rich furniture; for she brought 
 with her camels laden with gold, with several 
 sorts of sweet spices, and with precious stones. 
 Now, upon the king's kind reception of her, he 
 both shewed a great desire to please her ; and 
 easily comprehending in his mind the meaning 
 of the curious questions she propounded to him, 
 he resolved them sooner than anybody could 
 have expected. So she was amazed at the wis- 
 dom of Solomon, and discovered that it was more 
 excellent upon trial than what she had heard by 
 report beforehand; and especially she was sur- 
 prised at the fineness and largeness of hig royal 
 palace, and not less so at the good order of the 
 apartments, for she observed that the king had 
 therein shewn great wisdom-; but she was beyond 
 measure astonished at the house which was called 
 the Forest of Lebanon, aa also at the magnificence 
 of his daily table, and the circumstances of ite 
 preparation and ministration, with the appaitl 
 of his servants that waited, and the skilful and 
 decent management of their attendance : nor was 
 she less affected with those daily sacrifices which 
 were offered to God, and the careful manage- 
 ment which the priests and Levites used about 
 them. When she saw this done every day, she 
 was in the greatest admiration imaginable, inso- 
 much that she was not able to contain the sur- 
 prise she was in, but openly confessed how won- 
 derfully she was affected ; for she proceeded to 
 discourse with the king, and thereby owned that 
 she was overcome with admiration at the things 
 before related; and said, " All things, indeed, O 
 king, that came to our knowledge by report, 
 came with uncertainty as to our belief of them ; 
 but as to those good things that to thee apper- 
 tain, both such as thou thyself possessest, I 
 mean wisdom and prudence, and the happiness 
 thou hast from thy kingdom, certainly the same 
 that came to us was no falsity ; it was not only 
 a true report, but it related thy happiness after 
 a much lower manner than 1 now see it to be 
 before my eyes. For as for the report, it only 
 attempted to persuade our hearing, but did not 
 so make known the digtnity of the things them- 
 selves as does the sight ot tnein, and being pre- 
 sent among them. I, indeed, who did not believe 
 
 t That this queen of Sheba was a queen of Sabsea in 
 South Arabia, and not of Egypt and Ethiopia, as Jo- 
 sephus here asserts, is now jrenerally agree-J.
 
 CHAP. VII.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 181 
 
 what was reported, by reason of the multitude 
 and grandeur of the things I inquired about, do 
 see them to be much more numerous than they 
 were reported to be. Accordingly, I esteem the 
 Hebrew people, as well as thy servants and 
 friends, to be happy, who enjoy thy presence 
 and hear thy wisdom every day continually. 
 One would therefore bless God, who hath so 
 loved this country, and those that inherit there- 
 in, as to make thee king over them." 
 
 6. Now when, the queen had thus demonstrated 
 in words how deeply the king had affected her, 
 her disposition was known by certain presents, 
 for she gave him twenty talents of gold, and an 
 immense quantity of apices and precious stones. 
 (They say also that we possess the root of that 
 balsam which oar country still bears by this 
 woman's gift.) Solomon also repaid her with 
 many good things, and principally by bestowing 
 upon her what she chose of her own inclination, 
 for there was nothing that she desired which he 
 denied her; and as he was very generous and 
 liberal in his own temper, so did he shew the 
 greatness of his soul in bestowing on her what 
 she herself desired of him. So when this queen 
 of Ethiopia had obtained what we have already 
 given an account of, and had again communi- 
 cated to the king what she had brought with 
 her, she returned to her own kingdom. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 HOW SOLOMON GREW RICH, AND FELL DESPER- 
 ATELY IN LOVE WITH WOMEN, AND HOW GOD, 
 BEING INCENSED AT IT, RAISED UP ADER AND 
 JEROBOAM AGAINST HIM. CONCERNING THE 
 DEATH OF SOLOMON. 
 
 1. ABOUT the same time there were brought to 
 the king from the Aurea Chersonesus, a country 
 so called, precious stones and piae-trces, and 
 these trees he made use of for supporting the 
 temple and the palace, as also for the materials 
 of musical instruments, the harps and the psal- 
 teries, that the Levites might make use of them 
 in their hymns to God. The wood which was 
 brought to him at this time was larger and finer 
 than any that had ever been brought before ; out 
 let no one imagine that thes pine-trees were 
 like those which are now so named, and which 
 take that their determination from the mer- 
 chants, who so call them, that they may procure 
 them to be admired by those that purchase them ; 
 for those we speak of were to the sight like the 
 wood of the fig-tree, but were whiter and more 
 shining. Now we have said thus much, that 
 nobody may be ignorant of the difference between 
 these sorts of wood, nor unacquainted with the 
 nature of the genuine pine-tree ; and we thought 
 it both a seasonable and humane thing when we 
 mentioned it, and the uses the king made of it, 
 to explain this difference so far as we have done. 
 2. Now the weight of gold that was brought 
 him was six hundred and sixty-six talents, not 
 including in that sum what was brought by the 
 merchants, nor what the toparchs and kings of 
 Arabia gave him in presents. He also cast two 
 hundred targets of gold, each of them weighing 
 six hundred shekels : he also made three hundred 
 shields, every one weighing three pounds of gold, 
 and he had them carried and put into that house 
 which was called the Forest of Leban on. He also 
 made cups of gold, and of [precious] stones, for 
 the entertainment of his guests, and had them 
 adorned in the most artificial manner ; and he 
 contrived that all his other furniture of vessels 
 
 should be of gold, for there was nothing then to 
 be sold or bought for silver ; for the king had 
 many ships which lay upon the Sea of Tarsus ; 
 these he commanded to carry out all sorts of 
 merchandise into the remotest nations ; by the 
 sale of which, silver and gold were brought to 
 the king, and a great quantity of ivory, and 
 Ethiopians, and apes ; and they finished their 
 voyage, going and returning, in three years v 
 time. 
 
 3. Accordingly there went a great fame all 
 around the neighbouring countries, which pro- 
 claimed the virtue and wisdom of Solomon, inso- 
 much that all the kings everywhere were desirous 
 to see him, as not giving credit to what was 
 reported, on account of its being almost incredi- 
 ble : they also demonstrated the regard they 
 had for him by the presents they made to him ; 
 for they sent him vessels of gold and silver, and 
 purple garments, and many sorts of spices, and 
 horses, and chariots, and as many mules for his 
 carriages as they could find proper to please the 
 king's eyes, by their strength and beauty. This 
 addition that he made to those chariots and 
 horses which he had before from those that were 
 sent him, augmented the number of his chariots 
 by above four hundred, for he had a thousand 
 before, and augmented the number of his horses 
 by two thousand, for he had twenty thousand 
 before. These horses also were so much exer- 
 cised, hi order to their making a fine appearance, 
 and running swiftly, that no others could, upon 
 the comparison, appear either finer or swifter; 
 but they were at once the most beautiful of all 
 others, and their swiftness was incomparable 
 also. Their riders also were a further ornament 
 to them, being, in the first place, young men in 
 the most delightful flower of their age, and being 
 eminent for ^fcpir largeness, and far taller than 
 other men 'lliey had also very long heads of 
 hair hanging down, and were clothed in gar- 
 ments of Tynan purple. They had also dust of 
 gold every day sprinkled on their hair, so that 
 their heads sparkled with the reflection of the 
 sunbeams from the gold. The king himself rode 
 upon a chariot in the midst of these men, who 
 were still in armour, and had their bows fitted to 
 them. He had on a white garment, and used to 
 take his progress out of the city in the morning. 
 There was a certain place, about fifty furlongs 
 distant from Jerusalem, which is called Etham, 
 very pleasant ; it is in fine gardens, and abound- 
 ing in rivulets of water ;* thither did he use to 
 go out in the morning, sitting on high [in his 
 chariot.] 
 
 4. Now Solomon had a divine sagacity in all 
 things, and was very diligent and studious to have 
 things done after an elegant manner; so he did 
 not neglect the care of the ways, but he laid a 
 causeway of black stone along the roads that led 
 to Jerusalem, which was the royal city, both to 
 render them easy for travellers, and to manifest 
 the grandeur of his riches and government. He 
 also parted his chariots, and set them in a regular 
 order, that a certain number of them should be 
 in every city, still keeping a few about him; and 
 those cities he called the cities of his chariots; 
 and the king made silver as plentiful in Jerusa- 
 lem as the stones in the street ; and so multi- 
 plied cedar-trees in the plains of Judea, which 
 
 * Whether these fine gardani and rivulets of Etham, 
 whither Solomon rode BO often in state, be not those 
 alluded to, (Eccles. ii. 6, 0,) and to the finest part 
 whereof he seems to allude, when, in the Canticles, he 
 compares his spouse to a "garden enclosed," to i 
 "spring shut up," to a " fountain sealed," (chap. iv. 12,) 
 cannot now be certainly determined, but may very 
 probably be conjectured.
 
 182 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK VIIL 
 
 did not grow there before, that they were like to 
 the multitude of the common sycamore-trees. 
 He also ordained the Egyptian merchants that 
 brought him their merchandise, to sell him a 
 chariot, with a pair of horses, for six hundred 
 drachma of silver, and he sent them to the kings 
 of Syria, and to those kings that were beyond 
 Euphrates. 
 
 5. But although Solomon was become the most 
 glorious of kings, and the best beloved by God, 
 and exceeded in wisdom and riches those that 
 had been rulers of the Hebrews before him, yet 
 did not he persevere in this happy state till he 
 died. Nay, he forsook the observation of the 
 laws of his father, and came to an end no way 
 suitable to our foregoing history of him. He 
 grew mad in his love of women, and laid no re- 
 straint on himself in his lusts; nor was he satis- 
 fied with the women of his country alone, but he 
 married many wives out of foreign nations : Si- 
 donians, and Tynans, and Ammonites, and Edo- 
 mites; and he transgressed the laws of Moses, 
 which forbade Jews to marry any but those that 
 were of their own people, He also began to wor- 
 ship their gods, which he did in order to the 
 gratification of his wives, and out of his affection 
 for them. This very thing our legislator sus- 
 pected, and so admonished us beforehand, that 
 we should riot marry women of other countries, 
 lest we should be entangled with foreign cus- 
 toms, and apostatise from our own; lest we 
 should leave off to honour our own God, and 
 should worship their gods. But Solomon was 
 fallen headlong into unreasonable pleasures, and 
 regarded not those admonitions ; for when he had 
 married seven hundred wives,* the daughters 
 of princes, and of eminent persons, and three 
 hundred concubines, and these besides the king 
 of Egypt's daughter, he soon was governed by 
 them, till he came to imitate their practices. He 
 was forced to give them this demonstration of 
 his kindness and affection to them, to live ac- 
 cording to the laws of their countries. And as he 
 grew into years, and his reason became weaker 
 by length of time, it was not sufficient to recall 
 to his mind the institutions of his own country ; 
 BO he still more and more contemned his own 
 God, and continued to regard the gods that his 
 marriages had introduced : nay, before this hap- 
 pened, he sinned, and fell into an error about 
 the observation of the laws, when he made the 
 images of brazen oxen that supported the brazen 
 sea,T and the images of lions about his own 
 throne : for these he made, although it was not 
 agreeable to piety so to do ; and this he did, not- 
 withstanding that he had his father as a most 
 excellent and domestic pattern of virtue, and 
 knew what a glorious character he had left be- 
 hind him, because of his piety towards God; nor 
 did he imitate David, although God had twice 
 appeared to him in his sleep, and exhorted him 
 to imitate his father: so he died ingloriously. 
 
 * These 700 wives, and the 800 concubines, make 1000 
 in all ; and are, I suppose, those very 1000 women in- 
 timated elsewhere by Solomon himself, when he speaks 
 of his not naving found one [good] woman among that 
 very number, ^Kccles. vii. 28.) 
 
 t Josephus is here certainly too severe upon Solo- 
 mon, who, In making the cherubims and these twelve 
 brazen oxen, seems to have done no more than imitate 
 the patterns left him by David ; which were all given 
 David by divine inspiration ; and although God gave no 
 direction for the lions that adorned his throne, yet does 
 not Solomon seem therein to have broken any law of 
 Moses ; for although the Pharisees extended the second 
 ammandment to forbid the very making of any image, 
 'Ugh without any intention to have it \vursl.hm.M. vt 
 flo not 1 suppose that Solomon so understood it, nor that 
 It ought to be so understood 
 
 There came therefore a prophet to him, who was 
 sent by God, and told him that his wicked 
 actions were not concealed from God : and 
 threatened him that he should not long rejoice 
 in what he had done : that indeed the kingdom 
 should not be taken from him while he was 
 alive, because God had promised to his father 
 David that he would make bim his successor, 
 but thai he would take care that this should Be- 
 fall his son when he was dead; not that he would 
 withdraw all the people from him, but that he 
 would give ten tribes to a servant of his, and 
 leave only two tribes to David's grandson for his 
 sake, because he loved God, 'and for the sake ^* 
 the city of Jerusalem, wherein he should ha> - a 
 temple. 
 
 6. When Solomon heard this, he was grieved, 
 and greatly confounded, upon this change of al- 
 most all that happiness which had made him to 
 be admired, into so bad a state ; nor had there 
 much time passed after the prophet had fore- 
 told what was coming, before God raised up an 
 enemy against him, whose name was Ader, who 
 took the following occasion of his enmity to him : 
 He was a child of the stock of the Edomites, 
 and of the blood royal; and when Joab, tha 
 captain of David's host, laid waste the land of 
 Edom, and destroyed all that were men grown, 
 and able to bear amis, for six months' time, this 
 Hadad fled away, and came to Pharaoh, the king 
 of Egypt, who received him kindly, and assigned 
 him a house to dwell in, and a country to supply 
 him with food ; and whe_n he was grown up he 
 loved him exceedingly, insomuch that he gave 
 him his wife's sister, \vhose name was Taphenes, 
 to wife, by whom he had a son, who was brought 
 up with the king's children. When Hadad heard 
 in Egypt that both David and Joab were dead, 
 he came to Pharaoh, and desired that he would 
 permit him to go to his own country : upon which 
 the king asked what it was that he wanted, and 
 what hardship he had met with, that he was so 
 desirous to leave him; and when he was often 
 troublesome to him, and entreated him to dis- 
 miss him, he did not then do it. But at the 
 time when Solomon's affairs began to grow 
 worse, on account of his forementioned trans- 
 gressions,:}: and God's anger against him for the 
 same, Hadad, by Pharaoh's permission, came to 
 Edom ; and when he was not able to make the 
 people forsake Solomon, for it was kept under 
 by many garrisons, and an innovation was not to 
 be made with safety, he removed thence, and 
 came into Syria; there he lighted upon one 
 Rezou, who had run away from Hadadezer, king 
 of Zobah, his master, and was become a robber 
 in that country, and joined friendship with him, 
 who had already a band of robbers about him. 
 So he went up, and seized upon that part of 
 Syria, and was made king thereof. He also 
 made incursions into the land of Israel, and did 
 it no small mischief, and spoiled it, and that in 
 the lifetime of Solomon. And this was the cal- 
 amity which the Hebrews suffered by Hadad. 
 
 7. There was also one of Solomon's own na- 
 tion that made an attempt against him, Jerobo- 
 am, the son of Nebat, who had an expectation 
 of rising, from a prophecy that had been made 
 to him long before. He was left a child by hi 
 father, and brought up by his mother; and 
 when Solomon saw that he was of an active and 
 bold disposition, he made bim the curator-uf the 
 walls which he built round about Jerusalem; 
 
 t Since the beginning of Solomon : s evil life and ad- 
 versity'was the time when Hadad or Ader began to give 
 him disturbance, this implies that Solomon's evil life 
 began early.
 
 CHAP, vra.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 183 
 
 and he took such care of those works, and the 
 king approved of his behaviour, and gave him, 
 as a reward for the same, the charge of the tribe 
 of Joseph, ,-Vnd when about that time, Jerobo- 
 am was once going out of Jerusalem, a prophet 
 of the city Shllo, whose name was Ahijeh, met 
 him and saluted him ; and when he had taken 
 him a little aside, to a place out of the way, 
 where there was not one other person present, 
 he rent the garment he had on into twelve 
 pieces, and bid Jeroboam take ten of them ; and 
 told him beforehand, that "this is the will of 
 God; he will part the dominion of Sulornon, 
 and give one tribe, with that which is next it. 
 to his son, because of the promise made to Da- 
 vid for his succession, and will give ten tribes to 
 thee, because Solomon hath sinned against him, 
 and delivered up himsulf to women, and to their 
 gods. Seeing, therefore, thou knowest the 
 cause for which God hath changed his mind, 
 and is alienated from Solomon, be thou righteous 
 and keep the laws, because he hath proposed to 
 thee the greatest of all rewards for thy piety, 
 and the honour thou shalt pay to God, namely, 
 to be as greatly exalted as thou knowest David 
 to have been." 
 
 8. So Jeroboam was elevated by these words of 
 the prophet ; and being a young man,* of a warm 
 temper, and ambitious of greatness, he could not 
 be quiet ; and when he had so great a charge in 
 the government, and called to mind what had 
 been revealed to him by Ahijah, he endeavoured 
 to persuade the people to forsake Solomon, to 
 make a disturbance, and to bring the govern- 
 ment over to himself ; but when Solomon under- 
 stood his intention and treachery, he sought to 
 catch him and kill him ; but Jeroboam was in- 
 formed of it beforehand, and fled to Shishak, 
 the king of Egypt, and there abode till the death 
 of Solomon ; by which means he gained these 
 two advantages, to suffer no harm from Solo- 
 mon, and to be preserved for the kingdom. So 
 Solomon died when he was already an old man. 
 having reigned eighty years, and lived ninety- 
 four. He was buried in Jerusalem, having been 
 superior to all other kings in happiness, and 
 riches, and wisdom, excepting that when he 
 was growing into years he was deluded by 
 women, and transgressed the law ; concerning 
 which transgressions, and the miseries which 
 befell the Hebrews thereby, I think proper to 
 discourse at another opportunity. 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 HOW, UPON THE DEATH OP SOLOMON, THE PEOPLE 
 FOBSOOK HIS SOX BEHOBOAM, AND OBDAINKD 
 JEBOBOAM KING OVEB THE TEN TBIBKS. 
 
 1. Now when Solomon was dead, and his son 
 Eehoboam (who was born of an Ammonite wife, 
 whose name was Naamah) had succeeded him 
 in the kingdom, the rulers of the multitude sent 
 immediately into Egypt, and called back Jerobo- 
 am ; and when he was come to them to the city 
 Shechem, Rehoboam came to it also, for he had 
 resolved to declare himself king to the Israelites, 
 while they were there gathered together. So 
 the rulers of the people, as well as Jeroboam, 
 
 * This youth of Jeroboam, when Solomon built the 
 vails of Jerusalem, not very long after he had finished 
 tia twenty years' building of the temple and. his own 
 palace, or not very long after the twenty-fourth of his 
 reign, and his youth here still mentioned, when Solo- 
 mon's wickedness wa become intolerable, fully confirm 
 my former observation, that such his wickedness began 
 early and continued very lone. 
 
 came to him, ;u:d Lesuugbt him, ami s;iul that 
 he ought to relax, and to be gentler than his 
 father, in the servitude he had imposed on them, 
 because they had borne a heavy yoke, and that 
 then they should be better affected to him, and 
 \>e well contented to serve him under his moder- 
 ate government, and should do it more out oi 
 love than fear ; but Rehoboam told them the} 
 should come to him again in three days' time, 
 when he would give an answer to their request. 
 This delay gave occasion to a present suspicion, 
 since he had not given them a favourable an- 
 swer to their mind immediately, for they thought 
 that he should have given them a humane an- 
 swer off-hand, especially since hu was but young. 
 However, they thought that this consultation 
 about it, and that he did not presently give them 
 a denial, afforded them some good hope of suc- 
 oeis. 
 
 2. Rehoboam now called his father's friends, 
 and advised with them what sort of answer he 
 ought to give to the multitude : upon which 
 they gave him the advice which became friends, 
 and those that knew the temper of such a mul- 
 titude. They advised him to speak in a way 
 more popular than suited the grandeur of a king, 
 because he would thereby oblige them to submit 
 to him with good- will, it being most agreeable to 
 subjects that their kings should be almost upon 
 the level with them ; but Kehoboam rejected 
 this so good, and in general so profitable advice, 
 (it was such at least, at that time when he was 
 to be made king,) God himself, I suppose, caus- 
 ing what was most advantageous to be con- 
 demned by him. So he called for the young 
 men who were brought up with him, and told 
 them what advice the elders had given him, and 
 bade them speak what they thought he ought to 
 do. They advised birq to give the following 
 answer to the people, (for neither their youth 
 nor God himself suffered them to discern what 
 was best .) That his little finger should be 
 thicker than his father's loins ; and if they had 
 met with hard usage from his father, they should 
 experience much rougher treatment from him ; 
 and if his father had chastised them with whips, 
 they must expect that he would do it with scor- 
 pions, t The king was pleased with this advice, 
 and thought it agreeable to the dignity of hia 
 government to give them such an answer. Ac- 
 cordingly, when the multitude .was come to- 
 gether to hear Ids answer on the third day, all 
 the people were in great expectation, and very 
 intent to hear -what the king would say to them, 
 and supposed they should hear somewhat of a 
 kind nature ; but he passed by his friends, and 
 answered as the young men had given him coun- 
 sel. Now this was done according to the will of 
 God, that what Ahijah had foretold might come 
 to pass. 
 
 3. By these words the people were struck, a* 
 it were, by an iron hammer, and were so grieved 
 at the words, as if they had already felt the 
 effects of them; and they had great indignation 
 at the king ; and all cried out aloud, and said, 
 " We will have no longer any relation to I>avid 
 or his posterity after this day ; " and they said 
 further, "We only leave to Kehoboam the temple 
 which his father built ; " and they threatened to 
 forsake him. Nay, they were so bitter, and re- 
 tained their wrath so long, that when he sent 
 Adoram, who was over the tribute, that he 
 might pacify them, and render them milder, and 
 
 f By scorpions is not here meant that small animal 
 BO called, which was never used in corrections ; but 
 either a slirub with sharp prickles, like the stings of 
 scorpions, such as our furze-brush, or else some terriUs 
 sort of whip of the like nature.
 
 184 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 (.BOOK vm. 
 
 persuade them to forgive him, if he had said 
 anything that was rash or grievous to them, in 
 his youth, they would not hear it, but threw 
 stones at him and killed him. When Rehoboam 
 saw this, he thought himself aimed at by those 
 atones with which they had killed his servant, 
 and feared lest he should undergo the last of 
 punishments in earnest ; so he got immediately 
 into his chariot, and fled to Jerusalem, where 
 the tribe of Judah and that of Benjamin ordained 
 him king ; but the rest of the multitude forsook 
 the sons of David from that day, and appointed 
 Jeroboam to be the ruler of their public affairs. 
 Upon this Rehoboam, Solomon's son, assembled 
 a great congregation of those two tribes that 
 submitted to him, and was ready to take a 
 hundred and eighty thousand chosen men out of 
 the army, to make an expedition against Jero- 
 boam and his people, that he might force them 
 by war to be his servants ; but he was forbidden 
 of God by the prophet [Shemaiah] to go to war ; 
 for that it was not just that brethren of the same 
 country should fight one against another. He 
 also said, that this defection of the multitude 
 was according to the purpose of God. So he did 
 not proceed in this expedition : and now I will 
 relate first the actions of Jeroboam, the king of 
 Israel, after which we will relate what are there- 
 with connected, the actions of Rehoboam, the 
 king of the two tribes; by this means we shall 
 preserve the good order of the history entire. 
 
 4. When therefore Jeroboam had built a 
 palace in the city Shechem, he dwelt there. He 
 also built him another at Penuel, a- city so 
 called ; and now the Feast of Tabernacles was 
 approaching in a little time, Jeroboam considered, 
 if he should permit the multitude to go to wor- 
 hip God at Jerusalem, and there to celebrate 
 the festival, they would probably repent of what 
 they had done, and be enticed by the temple, 
 and by the worship of God there performed, and 
 would leave him, and return to their first king ; 
 and if so, he should run the risk of losing his own 
 life. So he invented this contrivance : he made 
 two golden heifers, and built two little temples 
 for them, the one in the city Bethel, and the 
 other in Dan, which last was at the fountains of 
 the Lesser Jordan, * and he put the heifers into 
 both the little temples, in the forementioned 
 cities. And whan he had called those ten tribes 
 together, over whom he ruled, he made a speech 
 to the people in these words. "I suppose my 
 countrymen, that you know this, that every 
 place hath God in it ; nor is there any one deter- 
 minate place in which he is, but he everywhere 
 hears and sees those that worship him ; on which 
 account I do not think it right for you to go so 
 "long a journey to Jerusalem, which is an enemy's 
 city, to worship him. It was a man that built 
 the temple : I have also made two golden heifers, 
 dedicated to the same God ; and one of them I 
 have consecrated in the city Bethel, and the 
 other in Dan, to the end that thoso of you that 
 dwell nearest those cities, may go to them, and 
 worship God there : and I will ordain for you 
 certain priests and Levites from among your- 
 elves, that you may have no want of the tribe 
 
 * Whether these "fountains of the Lesser Jordan" 
 were near a place called Dan, and the fountains of the 
 Greater near a place called Jor, before their conjunc- 
 tion ; or whether there was only one fountain, arising 
 at the lake Phiala, and running to the Sea of Galilee, 
 and so far called the Lesser Jordan, is hardly certain, 
 even in Josephus himself, though the latter account be 
 
 he most probable. However, the northern idolatrous 
 calf, get up by Jeroboam, was where Little Jordan fell 
 into Great Jordan, near a place called Daphnte. as 
 Josephug elsewhere informs u. 
 
 of Levi, or of the sons trf Aaron; but let hi m 
 that is desirous among you of being a prifist, 
 bring to God a bullock and a ram, whicn they 
 say Aaron the first priest brought also." When 
 Jeroboam had said this, he deluded the people, 
 and made them to revolt from the worship of 
 their forefathers, and to transgress their laws. 
 This was the beginning of miseries to the He- 
 brews, and the cause why they were overcome in 
 war by foreigners, and so fell into captivity. But 
 we shall relate those things in their proper places 
 hereafter. 
 
 5. When the Feast [of Tabernacles] was just 
 approaching, Jeroboam was desirous to celebrate 
 it himself in Bethel, as did the two tribes cele- 
 brate it in Jerusalem. Accordingly he built an 
 altar before the heifer, and undertook to be 
 high priest himself. So he went up to the altar, 
 with his own priests about him ; but when he 
 was going to offer the sacrifices and the burnt- 
 offerings in the sight of all the people, a prophet, 
 whose name was Jadon, was sent by God, and 
 came to him from Jerusalem, who stood in the 
 midst of the multitude, and in the hearing of the 
 king, and directing his discourse to the altar, 
 said thus : " God foretells that there shall be a 
 certain man of the family of David, Josiah by 
 name, who shall slay upon thee those false 
 priests that shall live at that time, and upon thee 
 shall burn the bones of those deceivers of the 
 people, those impostors and wicked wretches. 
 However, that this people may believe that these 
 things shall so come to pass, I foretell a sign to 
 them that shall also come to pass ! This altar 
 shall be broken to pieces immediately, and all 
 the fat of the sacrifices that is upon it shall be 
 
 Eoured upon the ground." When the prophet 
 ad said this, Jeroboam fell into a passion, and 
 stretched out his hand, and bid them lay hold of 
 Him : but the hand which he stretched out wa 
 enfeebled, and he was not able to pull it in again 
 to him, for it was become withered, and hung 
 down as if it were a dead hand. The altar also 
 was broken to pieces, and all that was upon it 
 was poured out, as the prophet had foretold 
 should come to pass. So the king understood 
 that he was a man of veracity, and had a divine 
 foreknowledge ; and entreated him to pray to 
 God that he would restore his right hand. 
 Accordingly the prophet dil pray to God to 
 grant him that request. So the king having his 
 hand recovered to its natural state, rejoiced at it, 
 and invited the prophet to sup with him ; but 
 Jadon said, that he could not endure to come 
 into his house, nor to taste of bread or water in 
 this city, for that was a thing God had forbidden 
 him to do : as also to go back by the same way 
 which he came ; but he said he was to return by 
 another way. So the king wondered at the absti- 
 nence of the man ; but was himself in fear, as 
 suspecting a change of his affairs, for the worse, 
 from what had been said to him. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 HOW JADON THE PROPHET WAS PERSUADED BT 
 ANOTHER LYING PROPHET, AND RETURNED [TO 
 BETHEL,] AND WAS AFTERWARDS SLAIN BY A 
 LION ; AS ALSO, WHAT WORDS THE WICKED 
 PROPHET MADE USE OF TO PERSUADE THB KINO, 
 AND THEREBY ALIENATED HIS MIND FROM GOD. 
 
 1. Now there was a certain wicked man in 
 that city, who was a false prophet, whom Jero- 
 boam had in great esteem, but was deceived 
 by him and his flattering words. This man was
 
 (HAP. X.J 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 185 
 
 hxlrid by reason of the infirmities of old age : 
 however, he was informed hy his sons concerning 
 the prophet that was come from Jerusalem, and 
 concerning the signs done by him; and how, 
 when Jeroboam's right hand had been enfeebled, 
 at the prophet's prayer he had revived it again. 
 Whereupon he was afraid that this stranger and 
 propbst should be in better esteem with the king 
 than himself, and obtain greater honour from 
 him ; and he gave order to his sons to saddle his 
 ass presently, and make all ready that he might 
 go out. Accordingly they made haste to do 
 what they were commanded, and he got upon 
 the ass, and followed after the prophet ; and 
 when he had overtaken him, as he was resting 
 himself under a very large oak-tree that was 
 thick and shady, he at first saluted him, but 
 presently he complained of him, because he had 
 not come into his house, and partaken of his hos- 
 pitality. And when the other said, that God 
 had forbidden him to taste of any one's provision 
 in that city, he replied, that " for certain God 
 had not forbidden that I should set food before 
 thee, for I am a prophet as thou art, and worship 
 God in the same manner that thou dost ; and I 
 am now come as sent by him, in order to bring 
 thee into my house, and make thee my guest." 
 Now Jadon gave credit to this lying prophet, 
 and returned back with hinx But when they 
 were at dinner, and merry together, God ap- 
 peared to Jadon, and said, that he should suffer 
 punishment for transgressing his commands, 
 and he told him what that punishment should 
 be ; for he said that he should meet with a lion 
 as he was going on his way, by which lion he 
 should be torn in pieces, and be deprived of 
 burial in the sepulchres of his fathers : which 
 things came to pass, as I suppose, according to 
 the will of God, that so Jeroboam might not 
 give heed to the words of Jadon, as of one that 
 had been convicted of lying. However, as Jadon 
 was again going to Jerusalem, a lion assaulted 
 him, and pulled him off the beast he rode on, 
 and slew him ; yet did he not at all hurt the 
 ass, but sat by him, and kept him, as also the 
 prophet's body. This continued till some travel- 
 lers that saw it, came and told it in the city to 
 the false prophet, who sent his sons and brought 
 the body into the city, and made a funeral for 
 him at great expense. He also charged his song 
 to bury himself with him ; and said, that all 
 which he had foretold against that city, and the 
 altar, and priests, and false prophets, would 
 prove true ; and that if he were buried with 
 him, he should receive no injurious treatment 
 after his death, the bones not being then to be 
 distinguished asunder. But now, when he had 
 performed those funeral rites to the prophet, 
 and had given that charge to his sons, as he was 
 a wicked and impious man, he goes to Jeroboam, 
 and says to him, " And wherefore is it now that 
 thou art disturbed at the words of this silly fel- 
 low ? " And when the king had related to him 
 what had happened about the altar, and about 
 his own hand, and gave him the names of divine 
 man, and an excellent prophet, he endeavoured, 
 by a wicked trick, to weaken that his opinion ; 
 and by using plausible words concerning what 
 had happened, he aimed to injure the truth that 
 was in them ; for he attempted to persuade him, 
 that his hand was enfeebled by the labour it had 
 undergone in supporting the sacrifices, and that 
 upon its resting awhile it returned to its former 
 nature again : and that as to the altar, it was 
 but new, and had borne abundance of sacrifices, 
 and those large ones too, and was accordingly 
 broken to pieces, and fallen down by the weight 
 of what had been laid upon it. He also in- 
 
 formed him of the death of him that had fore- 
 told those things, and how he perished ; [whence 
 he concluded that] he had not anything in him 
 of a prophet, nor spake anything like one. 
 When he had thus spoken, he persuaded the 
 king, and entirely alienated his mind from God, 
 and from doing works that were righteous and 
 holy, and encouraged him to go on in his impious 
 practices ; * and accordingly, he was to that de- 
 gree injurious to God, and so great a transgressor, 
 that he sought for nothing every day but how he 
 might be guilty of some new instances of wicked- 
 ness, and such as would be more detestable than 
 what he had been so insolent as to do before. 
 And so much shall at present suffice to have said 
 concerning Jeroboam. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CONCERNING BEHOBOAM, AND HOW GOD INFLICTED 
 PUNISHMENT UPON HIM FOE HIS IMPIETY, BT 
 SHISHAK, [KING OP EGYPT.] 
 
 L Now Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, who, 
 as we said before, was king of the two tribes, 
 built strong and large cities, Bethlehem, and 
 Etam, and Tekoa, and Bethzur, and Shoco, and 
 Adullam, and Ipan, and Maresha, and Ziph, and 
 Adoriam, and Lachish, and Azekah, and Zorah, 
 and Aijalon, and Hebron ; these he built first of 
 all in the tribe of Judah. He also built other 
 large cities in the tribe of Benjamin, and walled 
 them about, and put garrisons in them all, and 
 captains, and a great deal of corn, and wine, and 
 oil ; and he furnished every one of them plenti- 
 fully with other provisions that were necessary 
 for sustenance : moreover, he put therein shields 
 and spears for many ten thousand men. The 
 priests also that were in all Israel, and the 
 Levites, and if there were any of the multitude 
 that were good and righteous men, they gathered 
 themselves together to him, having left their 
 own cities, that they might worship God in 
 Jerusalem ; for they were not willing to be 
 forced to worship the heifers which Jeroboam 
 had made ; and they augmented the kingdom of 
 Rehoboam for three years. And after he had 
 married a woman of his own kindred, and had 
 by her three children born to him, he married 
 also another of his own kindred, who was 
 daughter of Absalom by Tamar, whose name was 
 Maachah ; and by her he had a son, whom he 
 named Abijah. He had moreover many other 
 children by other wives, but he loved Maachah 
 above them alL Now he had eighteen legiti- 
 mate wives, and thirty concubines, and he had 
 born to him twenty-eight sons and threescore 
 daughters ; but he appointed Abijah, whom he 
 had by Maachah, to be his successor in the king- 
 dom, and intrusted him already with the trea- 
 sures and the strongest cities. 
 
 2. Now I cannot but think that the greatness 
 of a kingdom, and its change into prosperity, 
 often become the occasion of mischief and of 
 trangression to men; for when Rehoboam saw 
 that his kingdom was so much increased, he 
 went out of the right way, unto unrighteous and 
 irreligious practices, and he despised the worship 
 
 * How much a better copy Josephua had in this re- 
 markable history of the true prophet of Judea, and his 
 concern with Jeroboam, and with the false prophet of 
 Bethel, than our other copies have, is evident at firat 
 sight. The prophet's very natae, Jadon, is wanting ia 
 our other copies ; and it is there said that God revealed 
 Jadon the true prophet's death, not to himself, as here, 
 but to the false prophet.
 
 186 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK vin. 
 
 of God, till the people themselves imitated his 
 wicked actions ; for so it usually happens, that 
 the manners of subjects are corrupted at the 
 game time with those of their governors; which 
 subjects then lay aside their own sober way of 
 living, as a reproof of their governors' intempe- 
 rate courses, and follow their wickedness as if it 
 were virtue ; for it is not possible to shew that 
 men approve of the actions of their kings, unless 
 they do the same actions with them. Agreeable 
 whereto it now happened to the subjects of 
 Rehoboam ; for when he was grown impious, 
 and a transgressor himself, they endeavoured 
 nut to offend him by resolving still to be right- 
 eous ; but God sent Shishak, king of Egypt, to 
 Eunish them for their unjust behaviour towards 
 im ; concerning whom Herodotus was mis- 
 taken, and applied his actions to Sesostris ; for 
 this Shishak,* in the fifth year of the reign of 
 Rehoboam, made an expedition [into Judea] 
 with many ten thousand men ; for he had one 
 thousand two hundred chariots in number that 
 followed him, and threescore thousand horse- 
 men, and four hundred thousand footmen. 
 These he brought with him, and they were the 
 greatest part of them Libyans and Ethiopians. 
 Now, therefore, when he fell upon the country 
 of the Hebrews, he took the strongest cities of 
 Rehoboain's kingdom without fighting; and 
 when he had put garrisons in them, he came last 
 of all to Jerusalem. 
 
 3. Now when Kehoboam, and the multitude 
 with him, were shut up in Jerusalem by the 
 means of the army of Shishak, and when they 
 besought God to give them the victory and de- 
 liverance, they could not persuade God to be on 
 their side ; but Shemaiah the prophet told them, 
 that God threatened to forsake them, as they 
 had forsaken his worship. When they heard 
 this, they were immediately in a consternation 
 of mind, and seeing no way of deliverance, they 
 all earnestly set themselves to confess that God 
 might justly overlook them, since they had been 
 guilty of impiety towards him, and had let his 
 laws lie in confusion. So when God saw them 
 in that disposition, and that they acknowledged 
 their sins, he told the prophet that he would 
 not destroy them, but that he would, however, 
 make them servants to the Egyptians, that they 
 may learn whether they will suffer less by serv- 
 ing men or God. So when Shishak had taken 
 the city without fighting, because llehoboam 
 was afraid, and received him into it, yet did not 
 Shishak stand to the covenants he had made, 
 but spoiled the temple, and emptied the trea- 
 sures of God and those of the king, and carried 
 off innumerable ten thousands of gold and silver, 
 and left nothing at all behind him. He also 
 took away the bucklers of gold, and the shields, 
 which Solomon the king had made ; nay, he did 
 not leave the golden quivers which David had 
 taken from the king of Zobah, and had dedi- 
 cated to God ; and when he had thus done, he 
 returned to his own kingdom. Now Herodotus 
 of Halioarnassus mentions this expedition, hav- 
 ing only mistaken the king's name ; and [in say- 
 ing that] he made war upon many other nations 
 also, and brought Syria and Palestine into sub- 
 jection, and took the men that were therein 
 prisoners without fighting. Now it is manifest 
 that he intended to declare that our nation was 
 subdued by him ; for he saith, that he left be- 
 hind him pillars in the bud of these that de- 
 livered themselves up to him without fighting, 
 
 * This Shighak was not the same person with the 
 .mous Sesostris, as some have, in contradiction to all 
 ar, supposed. 
 
 and engraved upon them the secret parts of 
 women. Now our king Rehoboaui delivered 
 up our city without fighting. He says withal, f 
 that the Ethiopians learned to circumcise their 
 privy parts from the Egyptians ; with this addi- 
 tion, that the Phoenicians and Syrians that live 
 in Palestine confess that they learned it of the 
 Egyptians ; yet it is evident that no other of the 
 Syrians that live in Palestine, besides us alone, 
 are circumcised. But as to such matters, let 
 every one speak what is agreeable to his own 
 opinion. 
 
 4. When Shishak wns gone away, king Reho- 
 boam made bucklers and shields of brass, in- 
 stead of those of gold, and delivered the same 
 number of them to the keepers of the king's 
 palace : so, instead of warlike expeditions, and 
 that glory which results from those public ac- 
 tions, he reigned in great quietness, though not 
 without fear, as being always an enemy to Jero- 
 boam ; and he died when he had lived fifty- 
 seven years, and reigned seventeen. He was in 
 his disposition a proud and a foolish man. and 
 lost [part of his] dominions by not hearkening to 
 liis father's friends. He was buried in Jerusa- 
 lem, in the sepulchres of the kkigs ; and his son 
 Abijah succeeded him in the kingdom, and this 
 in the eighteenth year of Jeroboam's reign over 
 the ten tribes ; and this was the conclusion of 
 these affairs. It must be now our business to 
 relate the affairs of Jeroboam, and how he ended 
 his life ; for he ceased not, nor rested to be in- 
 jurious to God, but every day raised up altars 
 upon high mountains, and went on making 
 priests out of the multitude. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 OOHCBBSING THE DEATH OF A SON OF JEROBOAM. 
 HOW JEBOBOAM WAS BEATEN BY ABIJAH, WHO 
 DIED A LITTLE AFTERWARDS, AND WAS SUC- 
 CEEDED IN HIS KINGDOM BY ASA ; AND ALSO 
 HOW, AFTER THE DEATH OF JEROBOAM, BAASHA 
 DESTROYED HIS SON NADAB, AND ALL THE 
 HOUSE OF JEBOBOAM. 
 
 1. HOWEVER, God was in no long time ready 
 to return Jeroboam's wicked actions, and the 
 punishment they deserved, upon his own head, 
 and upon the heads of all his house : and where- 
 as a son of his lay sick at that time, who was 
 called Abijah, he enjoined his wife to lay aside 
 her robes, and to take the garments belonging to 
 a private person, and to go to Ahijah the prophet, 
 for that he was a wonderful man in foretelling 
 futurities, it having been he who told Jeroboam 
 that he should be king. He also enjoined her, 
 when she came to him, to inquire concerning the 
 child, as if she were a stranger, whether he 
 should escape this distemper. So she did as her 
 husband bade her, and changed her habit, and 
 came to the city Shiloh, for there did Ahijah 
 live : and as she was going into his house, his 
 eyes being then dim with age, God appeared to 
 him, and informed him of two things ; that the 
 wife of Jeroboam was come to him, and what 
 answer he should make to her inquiry. Accord- 
 ingly, as the woman was coming into the house 
 
 t Herodotus, as here quoted by Josephus, affirms, 
 that "the Phoenicians and Syrians in Palestine [which 
 last are generally supposed to denote the Jews] owned 
 their receiving circumcision from the Egyptians;' 
 whereas it is abundantly evident that the Jews re- 
 ceived their circumcision from their patriarch Abra- 
 ham. (Gen. xvii.9-14 ; John vii. 22, 28,) as I conclude 
 the Egyptian priests did Kim
 
 JHAP. XL] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 187 
 
 dke a private person and a stranger, he cried out, 
 "Come in, O thou wife of Jeroboam! Why 
 concealest thou thyself ? Thou art not concealed 
 from God, who hath appeared to me, and in- 
 formed me that thou wast coming, and hath 
 given me in command what I shall say to thee." 
 So he said that she should go away to her hus- 
 band, and speak to him thus : " Since I made 
 thee a great man when thou wast little, or rather 
 wast nothing, and rent the kingdom from the 
 house of David, and gave it to thee, and thou 
 hast been unmindful of these benefits, hast left 
 off my worship, hast made thee molten gods, and 
 honoured them, I will in like manner cast thee 
 down again, and destroy all thy house, and 
 make them food for the dogs and the fowls ; for 
 a certain king is rising up, by appointment, over 
 all this people, who shall leave none of the family 
 of Jeroboam remaining. The multitude also 
 shall themselves partake of the same punish- 
 ment, and shall be cast out of this good land, and 
 shall be scattered into the places beyond Eu- 
 phrates, because they have followed the wicked 
 practices of their king, and have worshipped the 
 gods that he made, and forsaken my sacrifices. 
 But do thou, O woman, make haste back to thy 
 husband, and tell him this message ; but thou 
 shalt then find thy son dead, for as thou enterest 
 the city he shall depart this life ; yet shall he be 
 buried with the lamentation of all the multitude, 
 and honoured with a general mourning, for he 
 is the only person of goodness of Jeroboam's 
 f amily." When the prophet had foretold these 
 events, the woman went hastily away, with a 
 disordered mind, and greatly grieved at the 
 death of the forenamed child: so she was in 
 lamentation as she went along the road, and 
 mourned for the death of her son, that was just 
 at hand. She was indeed in a miserable condi- 
 tion, at the unavoidable misery of his death, and 
 went apace, but in circumstances very unfortun- 
 ate, because of her son; for the greater haste 
 she made, she would the sooner see her son dead, 
 yet was she forced to make such haste, on ac- 
 count of her husband. Accordingly, when she 
 was come back, she found that the child had 
 given up the ghost, as the prophet had suia ; and 
 she related all the circumstances to the king. 
 
 2. Yet did not Jeroboam lay any of these 
 things to heart, but he brought together a very 
 numerous army, and made warlike expedition 
 against Abijah the Km of Rehoboam, who had 
 succeeded his father in the kingdom of the two 
 tribes ; for he despised him because of his age. 
 But when he heard of the expedition of Jero- 
 boam, he was not affrighted at it, but proved of 
 a courageous temper of mind, superior both to 
 his youth and to the hopes of his enemy ; so lie 
 chose him an army out of the two tribes, and 
 met Jeroboam at a place called Mount Zemar- 
 aim, and pitched his camp near the other, and 
 prepared everything necessary foi the fight. His 
 army consisted of four hundred thousand, but 
 the army of Jeroboam was double to it. Now, as 
 the armies stood in array, ready for action and 
 dangers, and were just going to fight, Abijah 
 stood upon an elevated place, and, beckoning 
 with his hand, he desired the multitude and 
 Jeroboam himself to hear first with silence what 
 he had to say. And when silence was made, he 
 began to speak, and told them, " God had con- 
 sented that David and his posterity should be 
 their rulers for all time to come, and this you 
 yourselves are net unacquainted with; but I 
 cannot but wonder how you should forsake my 
 father, and join yourselves to his servant Jero- 
 boam, and are now here -with him to fight against 
 those who, by God's own determination, are to 
 
 reign, and to deprive them of that dominion 
 which they have still retained; for as to the 
 greater part of it, Jeroboam is unjustly in pos- 
 session of it. However, I do not suppose he will 
 enjoy it any longer ; but when he hath suffered 
 that punishment which God thinks due to him 
 for what is past, he will leave oif the transgres- 
 sions he hath been guilty of, and the injuries he 
 hath offered to him, and which he hath still 
 continued to offer, and hath persuaded you to do 
 the same ; yet when you were not any further 
 unjustly treated by my father, than that he did 
 not speak to you so as to please you, and this 
 only in compliance with the advice of wicked 
 men, y u in anger forsook him, as you pretended, 
 but, in reality, you withdrew yourselves from 
 God, and from his laws, although it had been 
 right for you to have forgiven a man that was 
 young in age, and not used to govern people, not 
 only some disagreeable words, but if his youth 
 and unskilfulness in affairs had led him into 
 some unfortunate actions, and that for the sake 
 of his father Solomon, and the benefits you re- 
 ceived from him ; for men ought to excuse the 
 sins of posterity on account of the benefaction of 
 parents ; but you considered nothing of all this 
 then, neither do you consider it now, but come 
 with so great an army against us. And what is 
 it you depend upon for victory? Is it upon these 
 golden heifers and the altar* that you have on 
 high places, which are demonstrations of your 
 impiety, and not of religious worship? Or is it 
 the exceeding multitude of your army which 
 gives you such good hopes? Yet certainly there 
 is no strength at all in an army of many ten 
 thousands, when the war is unjust; for we ought 
 to place our surest hope of success against our 
 enemies in righteousness alone, and in piety 
 towards God ; which hope we justly have, since 
 we have kept the laws from the beginning, and 
 have worshipped our own God, who was not 
 made by hands out of corruptible matter ; nor 
 was he formed by a wicked king, hi order to 
 deceive the multitude ; but who is his own work- 
 manship,* and the beginning and end of all 
 things. I therefore give you counsel even now 
 to repent, and to take better advice, and to leave 
 off the prosecution of the war ; to call to mind 
 the laws of your country, and to reflect what it 
 hath been that hath advanced you to so happy a 
 state as you are now in." 
 
 3. This was the speech wnich Abijah made to 
 the multitude. But while he was still speak- 
 ing, Jeroboam sent some of his soldiers privately 
 to encompass Abijah round about, on certain 
 parts of the camp that were not taken notice of; 
 and when he was thus within the compass of the 
 enemy, his army was affrighted, and their cour- 
 age failed them. But Abijah encouraged them, 
 and exhorted them to place their hopes on God, 
 for that he was not encompassed by the enemy. 
 So they all at once implored the Divine assist- 
 ance, while the priests sounded with the 
 trumpet, and they made a shout, and fell upon 
 their enemies, and God brake the courage, and 
 cast down the force of their enemies, and made 
 Abijah's army superior to them, for God vouch- 
 safed to grant them a wonderful and very famous 
 victory ; and such a slaughter was now made of 
 Jeroboam's army t as is never recorded to have 
 
 * This is a strange expression in Josephus. that God 
 is his own workmanship, or that he made himself; per- 
 haps he only means that he was not made by one, bat 
 was unoriginated. 
 
 t By this terrible slaughter God's indignation against 
 that idolatry and rebellion fully appeared; the re- 
 mainder were thereby seriously cautioned not to per- 
 sist in them, and a kind of balance or equilibrium was
 
 188 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK viii. 
 
 happened in any other war, whether it were of 
 the Greeks or of the Barbarians, for they over- 
 threw [and slew] five hundred thousand of their 
 enemies, and they took their strongest cities by 
 force, and spoiled them ; and besides those, they 
 did the same to Bethel and her towns, and 
 Ji-shanah and her towns. And after this defeat, 
 Jeroboam never recovered himself during the 
 life of Abijah, who yet did not long survive, for 
 he reigned but three years, and was buried in 
 Jerusalem in the sepulchres of his forefathers. 
 He left behind him twenty-two sons and sixteen 
 daughters, and he had also those children by 
 fourteen wives; and Asa his son succeeded in 
 the kingdom ; and the young man's mother was 
 Michaiah. Under his reign the country of the 
 Israelites enjoyed peace for ten years. 
 
 4. And so far concerning Abijah, the son of 
 Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, as his history 
 hath come down to us; but Jeroboam, the king 
 of the ten tribes, died when he had governed 
 them two-and-twenty years; whose son Nadab 
 succeeded him, in the second year of the reign 
 of Asa. Now Jeroboam's son governed two 
 years, and resembled his father in impiety and 
 wickedness. In these two years he made an ex- 
 pedition against Gibbethon, a city of the Philis- 
 iines, and continued the siege in order to take 
 t; but he was conspired against while he was 
 ihere, by a friend of his, whose name was Baasha, 
 ;he son of Ahijah, and was slain; which Baasha 
 ;ook the kingdom after the other's death, and 
 destroyed the whole house of Jeroboam. It also 
 came to pass, according as God had foretold, 
 iiat some of Jeroboam's kindred that died in 
 ;he city were torn to pieces and devoured by 
 dogs; and that others of them that died in the 
 ields were torn and devoured by the fowls. So 
 ;he house of Jeroboam suffered the just punish- 
 ment of his impiety and of his wicked actions. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 HOW ZEBAH, KING OF THE ETHIOPIANS, WAS 
 BEATEN BY ASA; AND HOW ASA, UPON BAASHA'S 
 MAKING WAS AGAINST HIM, INVITED THE KING 
 OF THE DAMA8CEN8 TO ASSIST HIM; AND HOW, 
 ON THE DESTRUCTION OF THE HOUSE OF BAASHA, 
 ZIMRI GOT THE KINGDOM, AS DID HIS SON AHAB 
 AFTER HIM. 
 
 1. Now Asa, the king of Jerusalem, was of an 
 xcellent character, and had a regard to God, 
 ind neither did nor designed anything but what 
 lad relation to the observation of the laws. He 
 made a reformation of his kingdom, and cut off 
 vhatsoever was wicked therein, and purified it 
 rom every impurity. Now he had an army of 
 ihosen men, that were armed with targets and 
 pears ; out of the tribe of Judah three hundred 
 housand ; and out of the tribe of Benjamin, that 
 sore shields and drew bows, two hundred and 
 ifty thousand ; but when he had already reigned 
 ten years, Zerah, king of Ethiopia,* made an 
 expedition against him, with a great army of 
 nine hundred thousand footmen, and one hun- 
 dred thousand horsemen, and three hundred 
 chariots, and came as far as Mareshah, a city 
 that belonged to the tribe of Judah. Now when 
 
 made between the ten and the two tribes for the time 
 to come; while otherwise, the perpetually idolatrous 
 and rebellious ten tribes would naturally have been too 
 powerful for the two tribes, which were pretty fre- 
 quently free both from such idolatry and rebellion. 
 opia b to to remember > that Cusk W not Ethi- 
 
 Zerah had passed so far with his own army, Asa 
 met him and put his army in array over against 
 him, in a valley called Zephathah, not far from 
 the city ; and when he saw the multitude of the 
 Ethiopians, he cried out, and besought God to 
 give him the victory, and that he might kill 
 many ten thousands of the enemy : " For," said 
 he, "I depend on nothing else but that assist- 
 ance which I expect from thee, which is able to 
 make the fewer superior to the more numerous, 
 and the weaker to the stronger ; and thence it is 
 alone that I venture to meet Zerah and fight 
 him." 
 
 2. While Asa was saying this, God gave him a 
 signal of victory, and joining battle cheerfully 
 on account of what God had foretold about it, 
 he slew a great many of the Ethiopians; and 
 when he had put them to flight, he pursued 
 them to the country of Gerar ; and when they 
 left off killing their enemies, they betook them- 
 selves to spoiling them, (for the city Gerar was 
 already taken,) and to spoiling their camp, so 
 that they carried off much gold, and much 
 silver, and a great deal of [other] prey, and 
 camels, and great cattle, and flocks of sheep. 
 Accordingly, when Asa and his army had ob- 
 tained such a victory, and such wealth from God, 
 they returned to Jerusalem. Now, as they were 
 coming, a prophet, whose name was Azariah, 
 met them on the road, and bade them stop theii 
 journey a little, and began to say to them thus: 
 That the reason why they had obtained this 
 victory from God was this, that they had shewed 
 themselves righteous and religious men, and had 
 done everything according to the will of God; 
 that therefore, he said, if they persevered therein, 
 God would grant that they should always over- 
 come their enemies, and live happily ; but that 
 if they left off his worship, all things shall fall 
 out on the contrary; and a time should come, 
 wherein no true prophet shall be left in your 
 whole multitude, nor a priest who shall deliver 
 you a true answer from the oracle; but your 
 cities shall be overthrown, and your nation 
 scattered over the whole earth, and live the life 
 of strangers and wanderers. So he advised 
 them, while they had time, to be good, and not 
 to deprive themselves of the favour of God. 
 When the king and the people heard this, they 
 rejoiced; and all in common, and every one in 
 particular, took great care to behave themselves 
 righteously. The king also sent some to take 
 care that those in the country should observe 
 the laws also. 
 
 3. And this was the state of Asa, king of the 
 two tribes. I now return to Baasha, the king of 
 the multitude of the Israelites who slew Nadab, 
 the son of Jeroboam, and retained the govern- 
 ment. He dwelt in the city Tirzah, having 
 made that his habitation, and reigned twenty-, 
 four years. He became more wicked and 
 impious than Jeroboam or his son. He did a 
 great deal of mischief to the multitude, and was 
 injurious to God, who sent the prophet Jehu, 
 and told him beforehand, that his whole family 
 should be destroyed, and that he would bring 
 the same miseries on his house which had brought 
 that of Jeroboam to ruin ; because when he had 
 been made king by him, he had not requited his 
 kindness, by governing the multitude righteously 
 and religiously; which things, in the first place, 
 tended to their own happiness ; and in the next 
 place, were pleasing to God: that he had imi- 
 tated this very wicked king Jeroboam ; and al- ', 
 though that man's soul had perished, yet did 
 he express to the life his wickedness ; and he 
 said that he should therefore justly experience ; 
 the like calamity with him, since he had been |
 
 CHAP. xra.J 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 189 
 
 guilty of the like wickedness. Bat Baasha, 
 though he heard beforehand what miseries 
 would befall him and his whole family for their 
 insolent behaviour, yet did not he leave off his 
 wicked practices for the time to come, nor did 
 he care to appear to be other than worse and 
 worse till he died ; nor did he then repent of his 
 past actions, nor endeavour to obtain pardon of 
 God for them, but did as those do who have re- 
 wards proposed to them, when they have once in 
 earnest set about their work, they do not leave 
 off their labours ; for thus did Baasha, when the 
 prophet foretold to him what would come to 
 pass, grow worse, as if what were threatened, 
 the perdition of his family and the destruction 
 of his house, (which are really among the greatest 
 of evils,) were good things ; and, as if he were a 
 combatant for wickedness, he every day took 
 more and more pains for it ; and at last he took 
 his army, and assaulted a certain considerable 
 city called Ramah, which was forty furlongs dis- 
 tant from Jerusalem ; and when he had taken it, 
 he fortified it, having determined beforehand to 
 leave a garrison in it, that they might thence 
 make excursions, and do mischief to the kingdom 
 of Asa. 
 
 4. Whereupon Asa was afraid of the attempts 
 the enemy might make upon him ; and consider- 
 ing with himself what mischiefs this army that 
 was left in Ramah might do to the country over 
 which he reigned, he sent ambassadors to the 
 king of the Damascens, with gold and silver, de- 
 siring his assistance, and putting him in mind that 
 we have had a friendship together from the times 
 of our forefathers. So he gladly received that 
 sum of money, and made a league with him, and 
 broke the friendship he had with Baasha, and 
 sent the commanders of his own forces unto the 
 cities that were under Baasha's dominion, and 
 ordered them to do them mischief. So they 
 went and burnt some of them, and spoiled 
 others : Ijon, and Dan, and Abelmain, and 
 many others. Now when the king of Israel 
 heard this, he left off building and fortifying 
 Ramah, and returned presently to assist his own 
 people under the distresses they were in ; but 
 Asa made use of the materials that were pre- 
 pared for building that city, for building in the 
 same place two strong cities, the one of which 
 was called Geba, and the other Mizpah ; so that 
 after this, Baasha had no leisure to make expe- 
 ditions against Asa, for he was prevented by 
 death, and was buried in the city Tirzah ; and 
 Elah, his son, took the kingdom, who, when he 
 
 had reigned two years, died, being treacherously 
 slain by Zimri, the captain of half his army ; for 
 when he was at Arza, his steward's house, he 
 persuaded gome of the horsemen that were 
 under him to assault Elah, and by that means 
 he slew him when he was without his armed 
 men, and his captains, for they were all busied 
 in the siege of Gibbethon, a city of the Philis- 
 tines. 
 
 5. When Zimri, the captain of the army, had 
 killed Elah, he took the kingdom himself, and 
 according to Jehu's prophecy, slew all the house 
 of Baasha ; for it came to pass that Baasha's 
 house utterly perished, on account of his im- 
 piety, in the same manner as we have already 
 described the destruction of the house of Jero- 
 
 * This Abelmain, or Abellane, is supposed to be the 
 same with Abel, or Abila, whence came Abilene. This 
 may be that city so denominated from Abel the right- 
 eous, there buried ; concerning the shedding of whose 
 blood within the compass of the land of Israel, I under- 
 stand our Saviour's words, about the fatal war and over- 
 throw of Judea by Titus and Ms Roman army, (Matt. 
 KxiiL 36, 36 ; Luke 11. 51.) 
 
 boam ; but the army that was besieging Gibbe- 
 thon, when they heard what had befallen the 
 king, and that when Zimri had killed him he 
 had gained the kingdom, they made Omri their 
 general king, who drew off his army from Gib- 
 bethon, and came to Tirzah, where the royal 
 palace was, and assaulted the city, and tcok it 
 by force. But when Zimri saw that the city 
 had none to defend it, he fled into the inmost 
 part of the palace, and set it on fire, and burnt 
 himself with it, when he had reigned only seven 
 days. Upon which the people of Israel were 
 presently divided, and part of them would have 
 Tibni to be king, and part Omri ; bet when 
 those that were for Omri's ruling had beaten 
 Tibni, Omri reigned over all the multitude. 
 Now it was in the thirtieth year of the reign of 
 Asa that Omri reigned for twelve years ; six of 
 these years he reigned in the city of Tirzah, and 
 the rest in the city called Semareon, but named 
 by the Greeks Samaria ; but he himself called it 
 Semareon, from Semer, who sold him the moun- 
 tain whereon he built it. Now Omri was no 
 way different from those kings that reigned be- 
 fore him, but that he grew worse than they, for 
 they all sought how they might turn the people 
 away from God, by their daily wicked practices ; 
 and on that account it was that God made one 
 of them to be slain by another, and that no one 
 person of their families should remain. This 
 Omri also died at Samaria, and Ahab his son 
 succeeded him. 
 
 6. Now by these events we may learn what 
 concern God hath for the affairs of mankind, 
 and how he loves good men, and hates the 
 wicked, and destroys them root and branch : 
 for many of these kings of Israel, they and theii 
 families, were miserably destroyed, and taken 
 away one by another, in a short time, for their 
 transgression and wickedness ; but Asa, who was 
 king of Jerusalem, and of the two tribes, at- 
 tained, by God's blessing, a long and a blessed 
 old age, for his piety and righteousness, and died 
 happily, when he had reigned forty and one 
 years ; and when he was dead, his son Jehosha- 
 phat succeeded him in the government. He was 
 born of Asa's wife Azubah. And all men al- 
 lowed that he followed the works of David his 
 forefather, and this both in courage and piety ; 
 but we are not obliged now to speak any more of 
 the affairs of this king. 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 HOW AHAB, WHEN HE HAD TAKEN JEZEBEL TO 
 WIFE, BECAME MORE WICKED THAN ALL THE 
 KINGS THAT HAD BEEN BEFOEE HIM J OF THE 
 ACTIONS OF THE PROPHET ELIJAH, AND WHAT 
 BEFEL NABOTH. 
 
 1. Now Ahab, the king of Israel, dwelt in Sa- 
 maria, and held the government for twenty-two 
 years ; and made no alteration in the conduct of 
 the kings that were his predecessors, but oily in 
 such things as were of his own invention for the 
 worse, and in his most gross wickedness. He 
 imitated them in their wicked courses, and in 
 their injurious behaviour towards God ; and 
 more especially he imitated the transgression of 
 Jeroboam ; for he worshipped the heifers that 
 he had made ; and he contrived othw absurd 
 objects of worship beside those heifers ; he also 
 took to wife the daughter of Ethbaal, king of 
 the Tyrians and Sidonians, whose name was 
 JezebeL of whom he learned to worship her own 
 gods. This woman was active and bold, and fell
 
 190 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK Till. 
 
 into so great a degree of impurity and wicked- 
 ness, that she built a temple to the god of the 
 Tyrians, which they called Belus, and planted a 
 erove of all sorts of trees ; she also appointed 
 priests and false prophets to this god. The Mug 
 also himself had many such about him ; and so 
 exceeded hi madness and wickedness all [the 
 kings] that went before him. 
 
 2. There was now a prophet of God Almighty, 
 of Thesbon, a country in Gilead, that came to 
 Ahab, and said to him, that God foretold he 
 would not send rain nor dew in those years upon 
 the country but when he should appear. And 
 when he had confirmed this by an oath, he de- 
 parted into the southern parts, and made his 
 abode by a brook, out of which he had water to 
 drink ; for as for his food, ravens brought it to 
 him every day ; but when that river was dried 
 up for want of rain, he came to Zarephath, a city 
 not far from Sidon and Tyre, for it lay between 
 them, and this at the command of God, for [God 
 told him] that he should there find a woman, 
 who was a widow, that should give him sus- 
 tenance : so when he was not far off the city, he 
 saw a woman that laboured with her own hands, 
 gathering of sticks : so God informed him that 
 this was the woman who was to give him sus- 
 tenance : so he came and saluted her, and 
 desired her to bring him some water to drink ; 
 but as she was going so to do, he called to her, 
 and would have her to bring him a loaf of bread 
 also; whereupon she affirmed upon oath, that 
 she had at home nothing more than one handful 
 of meal and a little oil, and that she was going 
 to gather some sticks, that she might knead it, 
 and make bread for herself and her son ; after 
 which, she said, they must perish, and be con- 
 sumed by the famine, for they had nothing for 
 themselves any longer. Hereupon he said, " Go 
 on with good courage, and hope for better 
 things; and first of all make me a little cake, 
 and bring it to me, for I fore tell to thee that this 
 vessel of meal and this cruse of oil shall not fail 
 until God send rain." When the prophet had 
 said this, she came to him, and made him the 
 before-named cake : of which she had part for 
 herself, and gave the rest to her son, and to the 
 prophet also ; nor did anything of this fail until 
 the drought ceased. Now Meuander mentions 
 this drought in his account of the acts of Eth- 
 baal, king of the Tyrians ; where he says thus : 
 " Under him, there was a want of rain from the 
 month Hyperberetseus till the month Hyper- 
 beretseus of the year following; but when he 
 made supplications, there came great thunders. 
 This Ethbaal built the city Botrys, in Phoenicia, 
 and the city Auza, in Libya." By these words 
 he designed the want of rain that was in the 
 days of Ahab ; for at that time it was that Eth- 
 baal also reigned over the Tyrians, as Menander 
 informs us. 
 
 3. Now this woman, of whom we spake before, 
 that sustained the prophet, when her son was 
 fallen into a distemper till he gave up the ghost, 
 and appeared to be dead, came to the prophet 
 weeping, and beating her breasts with her hands, 
 and sending out such expressions as her passions 
 dictated to her, and complained to him that he 
 had come to her to reproach he.r for her sins, and 
 that on this account it was that her son was 
 dead. But he bid her be of good cheer, and de- 
 liver her son to him, for that he would deliver 
 him again to her alive. So when she had de- 
 livered her son up to him, he carried him into 
 an upper room, where he himself lodged, and 
 said him down on the bed, and cried unto God, 
 and said, that God had not done weU in reward- 
 ing the woman who had entertained him ami 
 
 sustained him, by taking away her son ; and he 
 prayed that he would send again the soul of the 
 child into him, and bring him to life again. 
 Accordingly God took pity on the mother, and 
 was willing to gratify the prophet, that he might 
 not seem to have come to do her a mischief ; and 
 the child, beyond all expectation, came to life 
 again. So the mother returned the prophet 
 thanks, and said she was then clearly satisfied 
 that God did converse with him. 
 
 4. After a little while Elijah came to king 
 Ahab, according to God's will, to inform him 
 that rain was coming. Now the famine had 
 seized upon the whole country, and there was a 
 great want of what was necessary for sustenance, 
 insomuch that it was not only men that wanted 
 it, but the earth itself also, which did not pro- 
 duce enough for the horses and the other beasts, 
 of what was useful for them to feed on, by 
 reason of the drought. So the king called for 
 Obadiah, who was steward over his cattle, and 
 said to him, that he would have him go to the 
 fountains of water and to the brooks, that if any 
 herbs could be found for them, they might mow 
 it down, and reserve it for the beasts. And 
 when he had sent persons over all the habitable 
 earth,* to discover the prophet Elijah, and they 
 could not find him, he bade Obadiah accompany 
 him : so it was resolved they should make a pro- 
 gress, and divide the ways between them ; and 
 Obadiah took one road, and the king another. 
 Now it happened, that the same time when 
 queen Jezebel slew the prophets, this Obadiah 
 had hidden a hundred prophets, and had fed 
 them with nothing but bread and water. But 
 when Obadiah was alone, and absent from the 
 king, the prophet Elijah met him ; and Obadiah 
 asked him who he was ; and when he had learned 
 it from him, he worshipped him. Elijah then 
 bid him go to the king, and tell him that I am 
 here ready to wait on him. But Obadiah 
 replied, " What evil have I done to thee, that 
 thou sendest me to one who seeketh to kill thee, 
 and hath sought over all the earth for thee ? Ot 
 was he so ignorant as not to know that the king 
 had left no place untouched unto which he had 
 not sent persons to bring him back, in order, if 
 they could take him, to have him put to death ? " 
 For he told him he was afraid lest God should 
 appear to him again, and he should go away into 
 another place ; and that whan the king should 
 send him for Elijah, and he should miss of him, 
 and not be able to find him anywhere upon earth, 
 he should be put to death. He desired him 
 therefore to take care of his preservation ; and 
 told him how diligently he had provided for 
 those of his own profession, and had saved a 
 hundred prophets, when Jezebel slew the rest of 
 them, and had kept them concealed, and that 
 they had been sustained by him. But Elijah 
 bade him fear nothing, but go to the king ; 
 and he assured him upon oath, that he would 
 certainly shew himself to Ahab that very 
 day. 
 
 5. So when Obadiah had informed the king 
 that Elijah was there, Ahab met him, and asked 
 him in anger, if he were the man that afflicted 
 the people of the Hebrews, and was the occasion 
 of the drought they lay under? But Elijah, 
 without any flattery, said that he was himself 
 the man ; he and his house, which brought such 
 afflictions upon them ; and that by introducing 
 strange gods into their country, and worshipping 
 
 * Josephus here seems w mean, that this drought 
 affected all the habitable earth, and presently all the 
 earth, as our Saviour says it was upon all the earth, 
 (Luke iv. 260
 
 CHAP. xm.t 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 them, and by leaving their own, who was the 
 only true God, and having no manner of regard 
 to him. However, be bade him go his way, and 
 gather together all the people to him, to Mount 
 Carmel, with his own prophets, and those of his 
 .vif e, telling him how many there were of them, 
 as also the prophets of the groves, about four 
 hundred in number And as all the men whom 
 Ahab sent for, ran *" ay to the forenamed moun- 
 tain, the prophet Elijah stood in the midst of 
 them, and said, "How long will you live thus 
 in uncertainty of mind and opinion ? " He also 
 exhorted them, that in case they esteemed their 
 own countiy God to be the true and only God, 
 they would follow him and his commandments ; 
 but in case they esteemed bim to be nothing, but 
 had an opinion of the strange gods, and that they 
 -Might to worship them, his counsel was, that 
 they should follow them. And when the multi- 
 tude made no answer to what he said, Elijah de- 
 sired, that, for a trial of the power of the strange 
 gods and of their own God, he, who was his only 
 prophet, while they had four hundred, might 
 take a heifer and kill it as a sacrifice, and lay it 
 upon pieces of wood, and not kindle any fire, and 
 that they should do the same things, and call 
 upon their own gods to set the wood on fire, for 
 if that were done, they would thence learn the 
 nature of the true God. This proposal pleased 
 the people. So Elijah bade the prophets to 
 choose out a heifer first, and kill it, and to call 
 on their gods ; but when there appeared no 
 effect of the prayer or invocation, of the prophets 
 upon their sacrifice, Elijah derided them, and 
 bade them call upon their gods with a loud voice, 
 for they might either be on a journey or asleep ; 
 and when these prophets had done so from morn- 
 ing till noon, and cut themselves with swords 
 and lances,* according to the customs of their 
 country, and he was about to offer his sacrifice, 
 he bid [the prophets] go away ; but bade [the 
 people] come near and observe what he did, lest 
 he should privately hide fire among the pieces of 
 wood. So, upon the approach of the multitude, 
 he took twelve stones, one of each tribe of the 
 people of the Hebrews, and built an altar with 
 them, and dug a very deep trench ; and whet he 
 had laid the pieces of wood upon the altar, and 
 upon them had laid the pieces of the sacrifices, 
 he ordered them to fill four barrels, with water 
 of the fountain, and to pour it upon the altar, 
 till it ran over it, and till the trench was filled 
 with the water poured into it. "When he had 
 done this, he began to pray to God, and to invo- 
 cate him to make manifest his power to a people 
 that had already been in an error a long time ; 
 upon which words a fire came on a sudden from 
 heaven, in the sight of the muituutie, aiid fell 
 upon the altar, and consumed the sacrifice, till 
 the very water was set on fire, and the place was 
 become dry. 
 
 6. Now when the Israelites saw this, they fell 
 down upon the ground, and worshipped one 
 God, and called him The great and the only true 
 God ; but they called the others mere names, 
 framed by the evil and wild opinions of men. 
 So they caught their prophets, and, at the com- 
 mand of Elijah, slew them. Elijah also said to 
 the king, that he should go to dinner without any 
 further concern, for that in a little time he 
 would see God send them rain. Accordingly, 
 Ahab went his way ; but Elijah went up to the 
 oighest top of mount Carmel, and sat down upon 
 
 * Spanheim takes notice here, that in the worship of 
 Mithra (the god of the Persians) the priests cut them- 
 selves in the same manner as did these priests in the 
 Invocation of EaaL .'the god of the Phoenicians.) 
 
 the ground, and leaned his head upon his knees, 
 and bade his servant go up to a certain elevated 
 place, and look towards the sea, and when he 
 should see a cloud rising anywhere, he should 
 give notice of it, for till tbat time the air had 
 been clear. When the servant had gone up, and 
 had said many times that he saw nothing, at 
 the seventh time of his going up, he said he saw 
 a small black thing in the sky, not larger than a 
 man's foot. When Elijah heard that^ he sent to 
 Ahab, and desired him to go away to the city 
 before the rain came down. So he came to the 
 city Jezreel ; and in a little time the air was all 
 obscured, and covered with clouds, and a vehe- 
 ment storm of wind came upon the earth, and 
 with it a great deal of rain ; and the prophet 
 was under a divine fury, and ran along with the 
 king's chariot unto Jezr^pl, d. city of Izart [Issa- 
 char.] 
 
 7. When Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, under- 
 stood what signs Elijah had wrought, and how 
 he had shun her prophets, she was angry, and 
 sent messengers to him, and by them threatened 
 to kill him, as he had destroyed her prophets. 
 At this Elijah was affrighted, and fled to the 
 city called Beersheba, which is situate at the 
 utmost limits of the country belonging to the 
 tribe of Judah, towards the land of Edom ; and 
 there he left his servant, and went away into 
 the desert. He prayed also that he might die, 
 for that he was not better than his fathers, nor 
 need he be very desirous to live, when they 
 were dead ; and he lay and slept under a certain 
 tree ; and when somebody awakened him, and 
 he was risen up, he found food set by him and 
 water ; so when he had eaten, and recovered his 
 strength by that his food, he came to that moun- 
 tain which is called Sinai, where it is related 
 that Moses received his laws from God; and 
 finding there a certain hollow cave, he entered 
 into it, and continued to make his abode in it. 
 But when a certain voice came to him, but from 
 whence he knew not, and asked him, why be 
 was come thither, and had left the city? he said, 
 that because he had slain the prophets of the 
 foreign gods, and had persuaded the people that 
 he alone whom they had worshipped from the 
 beginning was God, he was sought for by the 
 king's wife to be punished for so doing. And 
 when he had heard another voice, telling him 
 that he should come out the next day into the 
 open air, and should thereby know what he was 
 to do, he came out of the cave the next day ac- 
 cordingly, when he both heard an earthquake, 
 and saw the bright splendour of & fire ; and after 
 a silence made, a divine voice exhorted him not 
 to be disturbed vith the circumstances he was 
 in, for that none of his enemies should have 
 power over him. The voice also commanded 
 him to return home, and to ordain Jehu, the son 
 of Nimshi, to be king over their own multitude ; 
 and Hazael, of Damascus, to be over the Syrians ; 
 and Elisha, of the city Abel, to be a prophet in 
 his stead : and that of the impious multitude, 
 some should be slain by Hazael, and others by 
 Jehu. So Elijah, upon hearing this charge, re- 
 turned into the land of the Hebrews. And 
 when he found Elisha, the son of Shaphat, 
 ploughing, and certain others with him, driving 
 twelve yoke of oxen, he came to him, and cast 
 his own garment upon him ; upon which Elisha 
 began to prophesy presently, and leaving his 
 oxen, he followed Elijah. And when he desired 
 leave to salute his parents, Elijah gave bjm leave 
 so to do : and when he had taken his leave of 
 
 t For Isar we may here read /tractor, i.e. of the trite 
 of Tssachar. for to that tribe did Jezreel belong.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 TBOOK vin. 
 
 theai, he followed him, and became the disciple 
 3ad the servant of Elijah all the days of his life. 
 And thus have I despatched the affairs in which 
 this prophet was concerned. 
 
 8. Now there was one Naboth, of the city Izar 
 [Jezreel,] who had a field adjoining to that of 
 vhe king : the king would have persuaded him 
 to sell him that his field, which lay so near his 
 own lands, at what price he pleased, that he 
 might join them together, and make them one 
 farm ; and if he would not accept of money for 
 it, he gave him leave to choose any of his other 
 fields in its stead. But Naboth said he would 
 juot do so, but would keep the possession of that 
 land of his own, which he had by inheritance 
 from his father. Upon this the king was grieved, 
 w if he had received an injury, when he could 
 not get another man's possession, and he would 
 neither wash himself, nor take any food: and 
 when Jezebel asked him what it was that 
 troubled him, and why he would neither wash 
 himself, nor eat either dinner nor supper, he re- 
 lated to her the perverseness of Naboth; and 
 how when he had made use of gentle words to 
 him, and such as were beneath the royal autho- 
 rity, he had been affronted, and had not obtained 
 what he desired. However, she persuaded him 
 not to be cast down at this accident, but to leave 
 off his grief, and return to the usual care of his 
 body, for that she would take care to have Na- 
 both punished : and she immediately sent letters 
 to the rulers of the Israelites [Jezreelites] in 
 Ahab's name, and commanded them to fast, and 
 to assemble a congregation, and to set Naboth 
 at the head of them, because he was of an illus- 
 trious family, and to have three bold men ready 
 to bear witness that he had blasphemed God and 
 the king, and then to stone him, and slay him 
 in that manner. Accordingly, when Naboth 
 had been thus testified against, as the queen had 
 written to them, that he had blasphemed against 
 God and Aliab the king, she desired him to take 
 possession of Naboth's vineyard on free cost. 
 So Ahab was glad at what had been done, and 
 rose up immediately from the bed wherein he 
 lay, to go to see Naboth's vineyard; but God 
 had great indignation at it, and sent Elijah the 
 prophet to the field of Naboth, to speak to Ahab, 
 and to say to him, that he had slain the true 
 cwner of that field unjustly. And as soon as he 
 came to Mm, and the king had said that lie 
 might do with him what he pleased, (for he 
 thought it a reproach to him to be thus caught 
 in his sin,) Elijah said, that in that very place 
 in which the dead body of Naboth was eaten by 
 dogs, both his own blood and that of his wife's 
 should be shed ; and that all his family should 
 perish, because he had been so insolently wicked, 
 and had slain a citizen unjustly and contrary 
 to the laws of his country. Hereupon Ahab 
 began to be sorry for the things he had done, 
 and to repent of them ; and he put on sack- 
 cloth, and went barefoot,* and would not touch 
 any food : he also confessed his sins, and endea- 
 voured thus to appease Gou. Put God said to 
 the prophet, that while Ahab was living, he 
 would put off the punishment of his family, 
 because he repented of those insolent crimes 
 he had been guilty of, but that still he 
 would fulfil his threatening under Ahab's son. 
 Which message the prophet delivered to the 
 king. 
 
 * "The Jews weep to this day," says Jerome, "and 
 
 1 themselves upon sackcloth, in ashes, barefoot 
 
 upon such occasions." Spanheim adds, " that after the 
 
 same manner Bernice, when his life was in danger, 
 
 itood at the tribunal of Floras barefoot " 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 HOW HADAD, KING OF DAMASCUS AND OF SYRIA, 
 MADE TWO EXPEDITIONS AGAINST AHAB, AND 
 WAS BBA.TEN. 
 
 1. "WHEN the affairs of Ah&b were thus, at 
 that very time the son of Hadad, [Benhadad,] 
 who was king of the Syrians and of Damascus, 
 got together an army out of all his country, and 
 procured thirty-two kings beyond Euphrates, to 
 be his auxiliaries : so he made an expedition 
 against Ahab ; but because Ahab's army was not 
 like that of Benhadad, he did not set it in array 
 to fight him, but having shut up everything that 
 was in the country, in the strongest cities he 
 had, he abode in Samaria himself, for the walls 
 about it were very strong, and it appeared to be 
 not easily to be taken in other respects also. So 
 the king of Syria took his army with him, and 
 came to Samaria, and placed his army round 
 about the city, and besieged it. He also sent a 
 herald to Ahab, and desired he would admit the 
 ambassadors he would send him, by whom he 
 would let him know his pleasure So upon the 
 king of Israel's permission for him to sand, those 
 ambassadors came, and by their king's command 
 spake thus : That Ahab's riches, and his child- 
 ren, and his wives, were Benhadad's, and if he 
 would make an agreement, and give him leave to 
 take as much of what he had as he pleased, he 
 would withdraw his army, and leave off the 
 siege. Upon this Ahab bade the ambassadors to 
 go back, and tell their king that both he him- 
 self, and all that he hath, were his possessions. 
 And when these ambassadors had told this to 
 Benhadad, he sent to him again, and desired, 
 since he confessed that all he had was his, that he 
 would admit those servants of his which he should 
 send the next day ; and he commanded him to 
 deliver to those whom he should send, what- 
 soever, upon their searching his palace and the 
 houses of his friends and kindred, they should find 
 to be excellent in its kind ; but that what did 
 not please them they should leave to him. At 
 this second embassage of the king of Syria, Ahab 
 was surprised, and gathered together the multi- 
 tude to a congregation, and told them, that for 
 himself he was ready, for their safety and peace, 
 to give up his own wives and children to the 
 enemy, and to yield to him all his possessions, 
 for that was what the Syrian king required at 
 his first embassage ; but that now he desires to 
 send his servants to search all their houses, and 
 in them to leave nothing that is excellent in its 
 kind, seeking an occasion of fighting against 
 him, "as knowing that I would not spare what 
 is mine own for your sakes, but taking a handle 
 from the disagreeable terms he offers concerning 
 you to bring a war ut>on us : however. I will do 
 what you shall resolve is fit to be done." But 
 the multitude advised him to hearken to none ol 
 his proposals, but to despise him, and be in readi- 
 ness to fight him. Accordingly, when he had 
 given the ambassadors this answer to be reported, 
 that he still continued in the mind to comply 
 with what terms he at first desired, for the safety 
 of the citizens ; but as for his second desires, he 
 cannot submit to them, he dismissed them. 
 
 2. Now when Benhadad heard this, he had 
 indignation, and sent ambassadors to Ahab the 
 third time, and threatened that his army would 
 raise a bank higher than those walls, in confi- 
 dence of whose strength he despised him, and 
 that by only each man of his army taking a 
 handful of earth ; hereby making a show of tha 
 great number of his army, and aiming to affrierbt
 
 CHAP. XIV.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 198 
 
 him." Ahab answered, that he ought not to 
 vaunt himself when he had only put on his 
 armour, but when he should have conquered his 
 enemies in th battle. So the ambassadors came 
 back, and found the king at supper with his 
 thirty-two kings, and informed him of Ahab's 
 answer ; who then immediately gave orders for 
 proceeding thus : To make lines round the city, 
 and raise a bulwark, and to prosecute the siege 
 all manner of ways. Now, as this was doing, 
 Ahab was in a great agony, and all his people 
 with him ; but he took courage, and was freed 
 from his fears, upon a certain prophet coming to 
 him, and saying to him, that God had promised 
 to subdue so many ten thousands of his enemies 
 under him ; and whet, he inquired by whose 
 means the victory was to be obtained, he said, 
 " By the sons of the princes ; but under thy con- 
 duct as their leader, by reason of their unskilful- 
 ness [in war. "] Upon which he called for the sons 
 of the princes, and found them to be two hundred 
 and thirty-two persons. So when he was in- 
 formed that the king of Syria had betaken him- 
 self to feasting and repose, he opened the gates, 
 and sent out the princes' sons. Now when the 
 sentinels told Benhadad of it, he sent some to 
 meet them, and commanded them, that if these 
 men were come out for fighting, they should bind 
 them, and bring them to him ; and that if they 
 came out peaceably they should do the same. 
 Now Ahab had another army ready within the 
 walls, but the sons of the princes fell upon the 
 out-guard, and slew many of them, and pursued 
 the rest of them to the camp ; and when the 
 king of Israel saw that these had the upper hand, 
 he sent out all the rest of his army, which, fall- 
 ing suddenly upon the Syrians, beat them, for 
 they did not think they would have come out ; 
 on which account it was that they assaulted 
 them when they were naked * and drunk, inso- 
 much that they left all their armour behind 
 them when they fled out of the camp, and the 
 king himself escaped with difficulty, by flying 
 away on horseback. But Ahab went a great way 
 in pursuit of the Syrians ; and when he had 
 spoiled their camp, which contained a great deal 
 of wealth, and moreover a large quantity of gold 
 and silver, he took Benhadad's chariots and 
 horses, and returned to the city : but as the 
 prophet told him he ought to have his army 
 ready, because the Syrian king would make an- 
 other expedition against him the next year, 
 Ahab was busy in making provision for it accord- 
 ingly. 
 
 3. Now Benhadad when he had saved him- 
 self, and as much of his army as he could, out of 
 the battle, he consulted with his friends how he 
 might make another expedition against the 
 Israelites. Now those friends advised him not 
 to fight with them on the hills, because their 
 God was potent in such places, and thence it had 
 come to pass that they had very lately been 
 beaten; but they said, that if they joined battle 
 with them in the plain they should beat them. 
 They also gave him this further advice, to send 
 home those kings whom he had brought as his 
 auxiliaries, but to retain their army, and to set 
 captains over it instead of kings, and to raise an 
 army out of their country, and let them be in 
 the place of the former who perished in the 
 battle, together with horses and chariots. So 
 he judged their counsel to be good, and acted 
 according to it in the management of the army. 
 
 * Reland notes here that the word naked does not 
 always signify entirely naked; but sometimes without 
 men's usual armour, without their usual robes or upper 
 
 4. At the beginning of the spring, Benhadad 
 took his army with him, and led it against the 
 Hebrewrj; and when he was come to a certain 
 city which was called Aphek, he pitched his 
 camp in the Great Plain. Ahab also went to meet 
 him with his army, and pitched his camp orer 
 against him, although his army was a very small 
 one, if it were compared with the enemy's ; but 
 the prophet came again to him, and told him, 
 that God would give him the victory, that h 
 might demonstrate his own power to be not only 
 on the mountains, but on the plains also ; which 
 it seems was quite contrary to the opinion of th 
 Syrians. So they lay quiet in their camp seven 
 days; but on the last of those days, when the 
 enemies came out of their camp, and put them- s 
 selves in array in order to fight, Ahab also 
 brought out his own army ; and when the battle 
 was joined, and they fought valiantly, he put the 
 enemy to flight, and pursued them, and pressed 
 upon them, and slew them ; nay, they were de- 
 stroyed by their own chariots, and by one an- 
 other; nor could any more than a few of them 
 escape to their own city Aphek, who were also 
 killed by the walls falling upon them, being in 
 number twenty-seven thousand. Now there 
 were slain in this battle a hundred thousand 
 more; but Benhadad, the king of the Syrians, 
 fled away, with certain others of his most faith- 
 ful servants, and hid himself in a cellar under 
 ground ; and when these told him that the kings 
 of Israel were humane and merciful men, and 
 that they might make use of the usual manner 
 of supplication, and obtain deliverance from 
 Ahab, in case he would give them leave to go 
 to him: he gave them leave accordingly. So 
 they came to Ahab, clothed in sackcloth, with 
 ropes about their heads, (for this was the ancient 
 manner of supplication among the Syrians,) t 
 and said that Benhadad desired he would save 
 him ; and that he would ever be a servant to him 
 for that favour. Ahab replied he was glad that 
 he was alive, and not hurt in the battle; and he 
 f urthei promised him the same honour and kind- 
 ness that a man would shew to his brother. So 
 they received assurances upon oath from him, 
 that when he came to him he should receive no 
 harm from him, and then went and brought him 
 out of the cellar wherein he was hid, and brought 
 him to Ahab as he sat in his chariot. So Ben- 
 hadad worshipped him; and Ahab gave him his 
 hand, and made him come up to him into his 
 chariot, and kissed him, and bade him be of good 
 cheer, and not to expect that any mischief should 
 be done to him. So Benhadad returned him 
 tBanks, and professed that he would remember 
 his kindness to him all the days of his life ; and 
 promised he would restore those cities of the Is- 
 raelites which the former kings had taken from 
 them, and grant that he should have leave to 
 come to Damascus, as his forefathers had to come 
 to Samaria. So they confirmed their covenant 
 by oaths; and Ahab made him many presents, 
 and sent him back to his own kingdom. And 
 this was the conclusion of the war that Benhadad 
 made against Ahab and the Israelites. 
 
 5. But a certain prophet, whose name was 
 Micaiah,J came to one of the Israelites, and bade 
 
 t This manner of supplication for men's lives among 
 the Syrians, with ropes or halters about their heads or 
 necks, is, I suppose, no strange thing in later ages, 
 even in our own country. 
 
 J It is here remarkable that in Josephus's copy, thta 
 prophet, whose severe denunciation of a disobedient 
 person's slaughter by a lion had lately come to pass, was 
 no other than Micaiah, the son of Imlah, who, as he 
 now denounced God's judgment on disobedient Ahab, 
 seems directly to have been that rery prophet whose
 
 .94 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK Till. 
 
 him smite him on the head, for by BO doing he 
 would please God; but when he would not do o, 
 he foretold to him, that since he disobeyed th 
 commands of God, he should meet with a lion 
 and be destroyed by him. When this sad acci- 
 dent had befallen the man, the prophet came 
 again to another, and gave him the same in- 
 junction; so he smote "him, and wounded his 
 skull : upon which he hound up his head, and 
 came to the king, and told him that he had been 
 a soldier of his, and had the custody of one of 
 the prisoners committed to him by an officer, and 
 that the prisoner being run away, he was in 
 danger of losing his own life by the means of 
 that officer, who had threatened him, that if the 
 prisoner escaped he would kill him; and when 
 Ahab had said that he would justly die, he took 
 off the binding that was about his head, and was 
 known by the king to be Micaiah the prophet, 
 who made use of this artifice as a prelude to the 
 following words; for he said that God would 
 punish him who had suffered Benhadad, a blas- 
 phemer against him, to escape punishment ; and 
 that he would so bring it about, that he should 
 die by the other's means,* and his people by the 
 other's army. Upon which Ahab was very swigry 
 at the prophet, and gave commandment that he 
 should be put in prison, and there kept ; but for 
 himself, he was in confusion at the words of Mi- 
 caiah, and returned to his own house. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 CONCERNING JEHOSHAPHAT, THE KINO OF JBK- 
 USALEM; AND HOW AHAB MADE AN EXPEDITION 
 AGAINST THE SYRIANS, AND WAS ASSISTED 
 THEREIN BY JEHOSHAPHAT, BUT WAS HIMSELF 
 OVERCOME IN BATTLE, AND PERISHED THEREIN. 
 
 1. AHD these were the circumstances in which 
 Ahab was. But I now return to Jehoshaphat, 
 the king of Jerusalem, who, when he had aug- 
 mented his kingdom, and had set garrisons in the 
 cities of the countries belonging to his subjects, 
 and had put such garrisons no less into these 
 cities which were taken out of the tribe of 
 Ephraim, by his grandfather Abijah, when Jero- 
 boam reigned over the ten tribes [than he did into 
 the other.] But then he had God favourable 
 and assisting to him, as being both righteous and 
 religious, and seeking to do somewhat every day 
 that should be agreeable and acceptable to God. 
 The kings also that were round about him 
 honoured him with the presents they made him, 
 till the riches he had acquired were immensely 
 great, and the glory he had gained was of a most 
 exalted nature. 
 
 2. Now, in the third year of his reign, he 
 called together the rulers of the country, and 
 the priests, and commanded them to go round 
 the land, and teach all the people that were 
 under him, city by city, the laws of Moses, and 
 to keep them, and to be diligent in the worship 
 of God. With this the whole multitude was so 
 
 the same Ahab, in 1 Kings, xxii. 8, 18, complains of 
 "as one whom he hated, because he did not prophesy 
 good concerning him, but evil;" and who, in that 
 chapter, openly repeats his denunciations against him 
 all winch came to pass accordingly. 
 
 What is most remarkable in this history is this 
 -bat, dunng the Jewish theocracy, God acted entirely 
 M the Supreme King of Israel, and the Supreme General 
 .heu- armies ; and always expected that the Israelites 
 JMU *nrt 6 l V UCh absolute Bub J^tion to him, as sub- 
 jects and soldiers are to their earthly kings and gene- 
 
 1 USUa "- V Wlthout X" ^ 3E particular 
 eir injunctions. 
 
 ple&sed, that they were not so eagerly set upon 
 or affected with anything so much as the obser- 
 vation of the laws. The neighbouring nations 
 also continued to love Jehoshaphat, and to be at 
 peace with him. The Philistines paid their ap- 
 pointed tribute, and the Arabians supplied him 
 every year with three hundred and sixty lambs, 
 and as many kids of the goats. He also fortified 
 the great cities, which were many in number, 
 and of great consequence. He prepared also a 
 mighty army of soldiers and weapons against 
 their enemies. Now the army of men that wore 
 their armour was three hundred thousand of the 
 tribe of Judah, of whom Adnah was the chief ; 
 but John was chief of two hundred thousand. 
 The same man was chief of the tribe of Benja- 
 min, and had two hundred thousand archers 
 under him. There was another chief, whose 
 name was Jehozabad, who had a hundred and 
 fourscore thousand armed men. This multitude 
 was distributed to be ready for the king's ser- 
 vice, besides those whom he sent to the best 
 fortified cities. 
 
 3. Jelioshapliat took for his son Jehoram to 
 wife, the daughter of Ahab, the king of the ten 
 tribes, whose name was Athaliah. And when, 
 after some time, he went to Samaria, Ahab re- 
 ceived him courteously, and treated the army 
 that followed him in a splendid manner, with 
 great plenty of corn and wine, and of skin 
 beasts ; and desired that he would join with bim 
 in his war against the king of Syria, that he 
 might recover from him the city Rajnoth, in 
 Gilead ; for though it had belonged to his father, 
 yet had the king of Syria's father taken it away 
 from him ; and upon Jehoshaphat's promise to 
 afford him his assistance, (for indeed his army 
 was not inferior to the other, ) and his sending 
 for his army from Jerusalem to Samaria, the 
 two kings went out of the city, and each of 
 them sat on his own throne, and each gave then- 
 orders to their several armies. Now Jehosha- 
 phat bade them call some of the prophets, if 
 there were any there, and inquire of them con- 
 cerning this expedition against the king of Syria, 
 whether they would give them counsel to make 
 that expedition at this time, for there was peace 
 at that time between Ahab and the king of 
 Syria, which had lasted three years, from the 
 time he had taken him captive till that day. 
 
 4. So Ahab called his own prophets, being in 
 number about four hundred, and bade them in- 
 quire of God whether he would grant him the 
 victory, if he made an expedition against Ben- 
 hadad, and enable him to overthrow that city, 
 for whose sake it was that he was going to war. 
 Now these prophets gave their counsel for mak- 
 ing this expedition ; and said, that he would 
 beat the king of Syria, and, as formerly, would 
 reduce him under his power. But Jehoshaphat, 
 understanding by their words that they were 
 false prophets, asked Ahab whether there were 
 not some other prophet, and he belonging to the 
 true God, that we may have surer information 
 concerning futurities. Hereupon Ahab said, 
 there was indeed such a one, but that he hated 
 him, as having prophesied evil to him, and hay- 
 ing foretold that he should be overcome and slain 
 by the king of Syria, and that for this cause he 
 had him now in prison, and that his name was 
 Micaiah, the son of Imlah. But upon Jehosha- 
 phat's desire that he might be produced, Ahab 
 sent a eunuch, who brought Micaiah to him. 
 Now the eunuch had informed him by the way, 
 that all the other prophets had foretold that the 
 king should gain the victory ; but he said, that 
 it was not lawful for him to lie against God ; but 
 that he must speak what he should say to him
 
 CHAP. XV.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 about the king, whatsoever it were. When he 
 came to Ahab, and he had adjured him upon 
 oath to speak the truth to him, he said that God 
 had shewn to him the Israelites running away, 
 and pursued by the Syrians, and dispersed upon 
 the mountains by them, as flocks of sheep are 
 dispersed when their shepherd is slain. He said 
 further, that God signified to him that those 
 Israelites should return in peace to their own 
 home, and that he only should fall in the battle. 
 When Micaiah had thus spoken, Ahab said to 
 Jehoshaphat " I told thee a little while ago the 
 disposition of the man with regard to me, and 
 that he uses to prophesy evil to me." Upon 
 which Micaiah replied, that he ought to hear 
 all, whatsoever it be, that God foretells ; and 
 that in particular, they were false prophets that 
 encouraged him to make this war in hope of 
 victory, whereas he must fight and be killed. 
 Whereupon the king was in suspense with him- 
 self : but Zedekiah, one of those false prophets, 
 came near, and exhorted him not to hearken to 
 Micaiah, for he did not at all speak truth ; as a 
 demonstration of which he instanced in what 
 Elijah had said, who was a better prophet in 
 foretelling futurities than Micaiah ; * for he fore- 
 told that the dogs should lick his blood in the 
 city of Jezreel, in the field of Naboth, as they 
 licked the blood of Naboth, who, by his means, 
 was there stoned to death by the multitude; 
 that therefore it was plain that this Micaiah wag 
 a liar, as contradicting a greater prophet than 
 himself, and saying that he should be slain at 
 three days' journey distance: "and [said he] 
 you shall soon know whether he be a true pro- 
 phet, and hath the power of the Divine Spirit ; 
 for I will smite him, and let him then hurt my 
 hand, as Jadon caused the hand of Jeroboam 
 the king to wither when he would have caught 
 him ; for I suppose thou hast certainly heard of 
 that accident. >: So when, upon his smiting 
 Micaiah, no harm happened to him, Aliab took 
 courage, and readily led his army against the 
 king of Syria ; for, as I suppose, fate was too 
 hard for him, and made him believe that the 
 false prophets spake truer than the true one, 
 that it might take an occasion of bringing him 
 to his end. However, Zedekiah made horns of 
 iron, and said to Ahab, that God made those 
 horns signals, that by them he should overthrow 
 all Syria. But Micaiah replied, that Zedekiah, 
 in a few days, should go from one secret chamber 
 to another, to hide himself, that he might escape 
 the punishment of his lying. Then did the king 
 give orders that they should take Micaiah away, 
 and guard him to Amon, the governor of the 
 city, and to give him nothing but bread and 
 water. 
 
 5. Then did Ahab and Jehoshaphat the king 
 of Jerusalem, take their forces, and marched to 
 Ramoth, a city of Gilead ; and when the king of 
 Syria heard of this expedition, he brought out 
 his army to oppose them, and pitched his camp 
 not far from Ramoth. Now Ahab and Jehosha- 
 phat had agreed that Ahab should lay aside his 
 royal robes, but that the king of Jerusalem 
 should put on his [Ahab's] proper habit, and 
 stand before the army, in order to disprove, by 
 this artifice, what Micaiali had fore told. + But 
 
 * These reasonings of Zedekiah the false prophet, in 
 order to persuade Ahab not to believe Micaiah the true 
 prophet, are plausible ; and that some such objection 
 was now raised against Micaiah is very likely, otherwise 
 Jehoshaphat could never have been induced to accom- 
 pany Ahab in those desperate circumstances. 
 
 f This reading of Josephus, that Jehoshaphat put on 
 lot his own but Ahab's robes, while Ahab was without 
 
 Ahab's fate found him out without his robes; 
 for Benhadad the king of Assyria had charged 
 his army, by means of their commanders, to fall 
 nobody else but only the king of Israel. So 
 when the Syrians, upon their joining battle with 
 the Israelites, saw Jehoshaphat stand 1 >efore the 
 army, and conjectured that he was Ahab, they 
 fell violently upon him, and encompassed him 
 round; but when they were near, and knew 
 that it was not he, they all returned back ; and 
 while the fight lasted from the morniug light 
 till Lite in the evening, and the Syrians were 
 conquerors, they killed nobody, as llieir king 
 had commanded them ; and when they sought 
 to kill Ahab alone, but could not find him, there 
 was a young nobleman belonging to king Ben- 
 hadad, whose name was Naaman ; he drew his 
 bow against the enemy, and wounded the king 
 through his breastplate, in his lungs. Upon 
 this Ahab resolved not to make his mischance 
 known to his army, lest they should run away ; 
 but he bid the driver of his chariot to turn it 
 back, and carry him out of the battle, because 
 he was sorely and mortally woundei How- 
 ever, he sat in his chariot and endured the pain 
 till sunset, and then he fainted away and died. 
 
 6. And now the Syrian army, upon the com- 
 ing on of the night, retired to their camp ; and 
 when the herald belonging to the camp gave 
 notice that Ahab was dead, they returned home; 
 and they took the dead body of Ahab to Samaria, 
 and buried it there ; but when they had washed 
 his chariot in the fountain of Jezreel, which was 
 bloody with the dead body of the king, they 
 acknowledged that the prophecy of Elijah was 
 true, for the dogs licked his blood, and the 
 harlots continued afterwards to wash themselves 
 in that fountain; but still he died at Ramoth, 
 as Micaiah had foretold. And as what things 
 were foretold should happen to Ahab by.the two 
 prophets came to pass, we ought thence to have 
 high notions of God, and everywhere to honour 
 and worship him, and never to suppose that 
 what is pleasant and agreeable is worthy of be- 
 lief before what is true; and to esteem nothing 
 more advantageous than the gift of prophecy,}: 
 and that foreknowledge of future events which 
 is derived from it, since God shews men thereby 
 what we ought to avoid. \Vt> may also guess, 
 from what happened to this king, and have rea- 
 son to consider the power of fate, that there is 
 no way of avoiding it, even when we know it. 
 It creeps upon human souls, and flatters them 
 with pleasing hopes, till it leads them about to 
 the place where it will be too hard for them. 
 Accordingly, Ahab appears to have been de- 
 ceived thereby, till he disbelieved those that 
 foretold his defeat ; but by giving credit to 
 such as foretold what was grateful to him, waa 
 slain ; and his son Ahaziah succeeded him. 
 
 any robes at all, is exceeding probable. It gives great 
 light also to this whole history, and shews, that al- 
 though Ahab hoped Jehoshaphat would be mistaken 
 for him, and run the only risk of being slain in the 
 battle, yet was he entirely disappointed, while still the 
 escape of Jehoshaphat, and the slaughter of Ahab, 
 demonstrated the great distinction that Divine Provi- 
 dence, made betwixt them. 
 
 t We have here a very wise reflection of Josephus 
 about Divine Providence, and what is derived from it, 
 prophecy ; and that when wicked men think they take 
 proper methods to elude what is denounced against 
 them, and to escape the divine judgments thereby 
 threatened them, without repentance, they are ever by 
 Providence infatuated to bring about their own destruc- 
 tion, and thereby withal to demonstrate the perfect 
 veracity of that God whose predictions they in vain ea- 
 deavour to elude.
 
 196 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 LBOOKIZ. 
 
 BOOK IX. 
 
 CONTAINING THE INTERVAL OF ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SEVEN TKABS, 
 
 FROM THE DEATH OF AHAB TO THE CAPTIVITY OF THE TEN TRIBES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 CONCERNING JEHOSHAPHAT AGAIN ; HOW HE CON- 
 STITUTED JUDGES, AND, BY GOD'S ASSISTANCE, 
 OVERCAME HIS ENEMIES. 
 
 1. WHEN Jehoshaphat the king was come to 
 Jerusalem, from the assistance he had afforded 
 Ahab, the king of Israel, when he fought with 
 Benhadad, king of Syria, the prophet Jehu met 
 him, and accused him for assisting Ahab, a man 
 both impious and wicked ; and said to him, that 
 God was displeased with him for so doing, but 
 that he delivered him from the enemy, not- 
 withstanding he had sinned, because of his own 
 proper disposition, which was good. Whereupon 
 the king betook himself to thanksgivings and 
 sacrifices to God; after which he presently went 
 over all that country which he ruled round 
 about, and taught the people, as well the laws 
 which God gave them by Moses, as that religious 
 worship was due to him. He also constituted 
 judges in every one of the cities of his kingdom ; 
 and charged them to have regard to nothing so 
 much in judging the multitude as to do justice, 
 and not to be moved by bribes, nor by the dig- 
 nity of men eminent for either their riches or 
 their high birth, but to distribute justice equally 
 to all, as knowing that God is conscious of every 
 secret action of theirs. When he had himself 
 instructed them thus, and gone over every city 
 of the two tribes, he returned to Jerusalem. He 
 there also constituted judges out of the priests 
 and Levites, and principal persons of the multi- 
 tude, and admonished them to pass all their sen- 
 tences with care and justice.* And that if any 
 of the people of his country had differences of 
 great consequence, they should send them out of 
 the other cities to these judges, who would bo 
 obliged to give righteous sentences concerning 
 such causes ; and this with the greater care, be- 
 cause it is proper that the sentences which are 
 given in that city wherein the temple of God is, 
 and wherein the king dwells, be given with great 
 care and the utmost justice. Now he set over 
 them Amariah the priest, and Zebediah, [both] 
 of the tribe of Judah : and after this manner it 
 was that the king ordered these affairs. 
 
 2. About the same time the Moabites and 
 Ammonites made an expedition against Jeho- 
 shaphat, and took with them a great body of 
 Arabians, and pitched their camp at Engedi, a 
 city that is situate at the lake Asphaltitis, and 
 distant three hundred furlongs from Jerusalem. 
 In that place grows the best kind of palm-trees, 
 and the opobalsamum Now Jehoshaphat heard 
 that the enemies had passed over the lake, and 
 had made an irruption into that country which 
 belonged to his kingdom ; at which news he was 
 affrighted, and called the people of Jerusalem to 
 a congregation in the temple, and standing over- 
 
 * these judges were a kind of Jerusalem Sanhedrim, 
 of the priests, the Levites, nd the principal of the 
 
 D^OlC. 
 
 against the temple itself, he called upon God to 
 afford him power and strength, so as to inflict 
 punishment on those that made this expedition 
 against them, (for that those who built this his 
 temple had prayed that he would protect that 
 city, and take vengeance on those that were so 
 bold as to come against it ;) for they are come to 
 take from us that land which thou hast given us 
 for a possession. When he had prayed thus, he 
 fell into tears; and the whole multitude, to- 
 gether with their wives and children, made their 
 supplications also : upon which a certain prophet, 
 Jahaziel by name, came into the midst of the 
 assembly, and cried out, and spake both to the 
 multitude and to the king, that God heard their 
 prayers, and promised to fight against their ene- 
 mies. He also gave order that the king should 
 draw his forces out the next day, for that he 
 should find them between Jerusalem and the 
 ascent of Engedi, at a place called The Eminence, 
 and that he should not fight against them, but 
 only stand still and see how God would fight 
 against them. When the prophet had said this, 
 both the king and the multitude fell on their 
 faces, and gave thanks to God, and worshipped 
 him : and the Levites continued singing hymns j 
 to God with their instruments of music. 
 
 3. As soon as it was day, and the king was 
 come into that wilderness which is under the city 
 of Tekoa, he said to the multitude, " that they 
 ought to give credit to what the prophet had 
 said, and not to set themselves in array for fight- 
 ing ; but to set the priests with their trumpets, 
 and the Levites with the singers of hymns, to 
 give thanks to God, as having already delivered 
 our country from our enemies." This opinion 
 of the king pleased [the people,] and they did 
 what he advised them to do. So God caused a 
 terror and a commotion to arise among the Am- 
 monites, who thought one another to be enemies, 
 and slew one another, insomuch that not one 
 man oub of so great an army escaped ; and when 
 Jehoshaphat looked upon that valley wherein 
 their enemies had been encamped, and saw it 
 full of dead men, he rejoiced at so surprising an 
 event as was this assistance of God, while he 
 himself by his own power, and without their 
 labour, had given them the victory. He also 
 gave his army leave to take the prey of the ene- 
 my's camp, and to spoil their dead bodies ; and 
 indeed so they did for three days together, till 
 they were weary, so great was the number of the 
 slain ; and on the fourth day, all the people were 
 gathered together, unto a certain hollow place or 
 valley, and blessed God for his power and assist- 
 ance ; from which place had this name given it, 
 the Valley of [Berackah, or] Blessing, 
 
 4. And when the king had brought nis army 
 back to Jerusalem, he betook himself to celebrate 
 festivals, and offer sacrifices, and this for many 
 days ; and indeed, after this destruction of their 
 enemies, and when it came to the ears of the fo- 
 reign nations, they were all greatly affrighted, as 
 supposing that God would openly fight for him 
 hereafter. So Jehoshaphat from that time liveJ
 
 CHAP. HI.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 197 
 
 in great glory and splendour, on account of his 
 righteousness and his piety towards God. He 
 was also in friendship with Ahab's son, who was 
 king of Israel ; and he joined with him in the 
 building of ships that were to sail to Pontus and 
 the traffic cities of Thrace ; * but he failed of his 
 gains, for the ships were destroyed by being so 
 great [and unwieldy,] on which account he was 
 no longer concerned about shipping. And this 
 is the history of Jehoshaphat, the king of Jeru- 
 salem. 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 CONCERNING AHA2IAH, THE KING OF ISRAEL ; AND 
 AGAIN CONCERNING THE PROPHET ELIJAH. 
 
 1. AND now Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, reigned 
 over Israel, and made his abode in Samaria. He 
 was a wicked man, and in all respects like to 
 both his parents, and to Jeroboam, who first of 
 all transgressed, and began to deceive the peo- 
 ple. In the second year of his reign, the king of 
 Moab fell off from his obedience, and left off 
 paying those tributes which he before paid to 
 his father Ahab. Now it happened that Ahaz- 
 iah, as he was coming down from the top of his 
 house, fell down from it, and in his sickness sent 
 to the Fly, which was the god of Ekron, for that 
 was this god's name, to inquire about his re- 
 covery :( but the God of the Hebrews appeared 
 to Elijah the prophet, and commanded him to 
 go and meet the messengers that were sent, and 
 to ask them, whether the people of Israel had 
 not a god of their own, that the king sent to a 
 foreign god to inquire about his recovery ? and 
 to bid them return and tell the king that he 
 would not escape this disease. And when Eli- 
 jah had performed what God had commanded 
 him, and the messengers had heard what he said, 
 they returned to the king immediately ; and 
 when the king wondered how they could return 
 so soon, and asked them the reason of it, they 
 said, that a certain man met them, and forbade 
 them to go on any further ; but to return and 
 tell thee, from the command of the God of 
 Israel, that this disease will have a bad end. 
 And when the king bade them describe the man 
 that said this to them, they replied that he was 
 a hairy man, and was girt about with a girdle of 
 leather. So the king understood by this that 
 the man who was described by the messengers 
 was Elijah ; whereupon he sent a captain to 
 him, with fifty soldiers, and commanded them to 
 bring Elijah to him ; and when the captain that 
 was sent found Elijah sitting upon the top of a 
 hill, he commanded him to come down, and to 
 come to the king, for so had he enjoined ; but 
 that in case he refused, he would carry him by 
 force. Elijah said to him, " That you may have 
 a trial whether I be a true prophet, I will pray 
 that fire may fall from heaven, and destroy both 
 
 * What are here Pontus and Thrace are in our other 
 copies Ophir and Tarshish, and the place whence the 
 fleet sailed is in them Eziongeber, which lay on the Red 
 Sea, whence it was impossible for any ships to sail to 
 Pontus or Thrace. But we may conclude, that Josephus 
 thought one Ophir to be somewhere in the Mediterra- 
 nean, and not in the South Sea, though perhaps there 
 might be another Ophir in that South Sea also, and that 
 fleets might then sail both from Phoenicia and from the 
 Bed Sea, to fetch the gold of Ophir. 
 
 f This God of Flies seems to have been so called, as 
 was the like god among the Greeks, from his supposed 
 power over flies, in driving them away from the flesh of 
 their sacrifices. 
 
 the soldiers and yourself.":}: So he prayed, and 
 a whirlwind of fire fell [from heaven,] and de- 
 stroyed the captain and those that wore with him- 
 And when the king was informed of the destruc- 
 tion of these men, he was very angry, and sent 
 another captain with the like number of armed 
 men that were sent before. And when this cap- 
 tain also threatened the prophet, that unless he 
 came down of his own accord he would take him 
 and carry him away ; upon his prayer against 
 him, the fire [from heaven] slew this captain as 
 well as the other. And when upon inquiry, the 
 king was informed of what had happened to him, 
 he sent out a third captain. But when this cap- 
 tain, who was a wise man, and of a mild disposi- 
 tion, came to the place where Elijah happened 
 to be, and spake civilly to him, and said, that he 
 knew that it was without his own consent, and 
 only in submission to the king's command that he 
 came to him ; and that those that came before 
 did not come willingly, but on the same account, 
 he therefore desired him to have pity on those 
 armed men that were with him; and that he 
 would come down and follow him to the king. 
 So Elijah accepted of his discreet words and 
 courteous behaviour, and came down and fol- 
 lowed him. And when he came to the king he 
 prophesied to him, and told him, that God said, 
 "Since thou hast despised him as not being 
 God, and so unable to foretell the truth about 
 thy distemper, but hast sent to the god of Ekron 
 to inquire of him what will be the end of this 
 thy distemper, know this, that thou shalt die." 
 2. Accordingly the king in a very little time 
 died, as Elijah had foretold ; but Jehoram his 
 brother succeeded him in the kingdom, for he 
 died without children : but for this Jehoram, he 
 was like his father Ahab in wickedness, and 
 reigned twelve years, indulging himself in all 
 sorts of wickedness and impiety towards God, 
 for, leaving off his worship, he worshipped fo- 
 reign gods ; but in other respects he was an ac- 
 tive man. Now at this time it was that Elijah 
 disappeared from among men, and no one knows 
 of his death to this very day ; but he left behind 
 him his disciple Elisha, as we have formerly de- 
 clared. And indeed, as to Elijah, and as to 
 Enoch, who was before the Deluge, it is written 
 in the sacred books that they disappeared ; but 
 so that nobody knew that they died. 
 
 CHAPTEE ILL 
 
 HOW JORAM AND JEHOSHAPHAT MADE AN EXPEDI- 
 TION AGAINST THE MOABITES ; AS ALSO CON- 
 CERNING THE WONDERS OF ELISHA ; AND IHB 
 DEATH OF JEHOSHAPHAT. 
 
 1. "WHEN Joram had taken upon him the 
 kingdom, he determined to make an expedition 
 against the king of Moab, whose name was 
 Mesha ; for, as we told you before, he was de- 
 parted from his obedience to his brother [Ahaz- 
 iah,] while he paid to his father Ahab two hun- 
 dred thousand sheep, with their fleeces of wooL 
 When therefore he had gathered his own army 
 together, he sent also to Jehoshaphat, and en- 
 
 | This is esteemed a cruel action of Elijah, and it is 
 owned by our Saviour, that it was an instance of greater 
 severity than the spirit of the New Testament allows, 
 (Luke ix. 54) But then we must consider, that it is 
 not unlikely that these captains and soldiers believed 
 that they were sent to fetch the prophet, that he might 
 be put to death for foretelling the death of the king, 
 and this while they knew him to be the prophet of the 
 true God, the Supreme King of Israel.
 
 198 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK is. 
 
 treated him, that since he had from the begin- 
 ning been a friend to his father, he would assist 
 him in the war that he was entering into against 
 the Moabites, who had departed from their obe- 
 dience, who not only himself promised to assist 
 him, but would also oblige the king of Edom, 
 who was under his authority, to make the same 
 expedition also. When Joram had received 
 these assurances of assistance from Jehoshaphat, 
 he took his army with him, and came to Jerusa- 
 lem ; and when he had been sumptuously enter- 
 tained by the king of Jerusalem, it was resolved 
 upon by them to take their march against their 
 enemies through the wilderness of Edom : and 
 when they had taken a compass of seven days' 
 journey, they were in distress for want of water 
 for the cattle and for the army, from the mistake 
 of their roads by the guides that conducted 
 them, insomuch that they were all in an agony, 
 especially Joram ; and cried to God, by reason 
 of their sorrow, and [desired to know] what 
 wickedness had been committed by them that 
 induced him to deliver three kings together, 
 without fighting, unto the king of Moab. But 
 Jehoshaphat, who was a righteous man, encour- 
 aged him, and bade him send to the camp and 
 know whether any prophet of God was come 
 along with them, that we might by him learn 
 from God what we should do. And when one 
 of the servants of Joram said that he had seen 
 there Elisha, the son of Shaphat, the discip 1 * of 
 Elijah, the three kings went to him at the en- 
 treaty of Jehoshaphat : and when they were 
 come at the prophet's tent, which tent was 
 pitch id out of the camp, they asked him what 
 would become of the army? and Joram was par- 
 ticularly very pressing with him about it. And 
 when he replied to him, that he should not 
 trouble him, but go to his father's and his 
 mother's prophets, for they [to be sure] were 
 true prophets, he still desired him to prophesy, 
 and to save them. So he swore by God that he 
 would not answer him, unless it were on account 
 of Jehoshaphat, who was a holy and righteous 
 man : and when, at his desire, they brought him 
 * man that could play on the psaltery, the Di- 
 vine Spirit came upon him as the music played, 
 and he commanded them to dig many trenches 
 in the valley; for, said he, "though there ap- 
 pear neither cloud, nor wind, nor storm of rain, 
 ye shall see this river full of water, till the army 
 and the cattle be saved for you by drinking of it ; 
 nor will this be all the favour that you shall re- 
 ceive from God, but you shall also overcome 
 your enemies, and take the best and strongest 
 cities of the Moabites, and you shall cut down 
 their fruit-trees,* and lay waste their country, 
 and stop up their fountains and rivers." 
 
 2. When the prophet had said this, the next 
 day, before the sun-rising, a great torrent ran 
 strongly; for God had caused it to rain very 
 plentifully at the distance of three days' journey 
 into Edom, so that the army and the cattle found 
 water to drink in abundance. But when the 
 Moabites heard that the three kings were coming 
 upon them, and made their approach through 
 the wilderness, the king of Moab gathered his 
 army together presently, and commanded them 
 to pitch their camp upon the mountains, that 
 when the enemy should attempt to enter their 
 country, they might not be concealed from them. 
 But when, at the rising of the sun, they saw the 
 
 * This practice of cutting down the fruit-trees was 
 
 wdden, even in ordinary wars, by the law of Moses, 
 
 Deut. . 19, 20 ;) and only allowed by God in this 
 
 Articular case, when the Moabites were to be punished 
 
 id cot off in an extraordinary manner for their wicked- 
 
 water in the torrent, for it was not far from the 
 land of Moab, and that it was of the colour of 
 blood, for at such a time the water especially 
 looks red, by the shining of the sun upon it, they 
 formed a false notion of the state of their enemies, 
 as if they had slain one another for thirst ; and 
 that the river ran with their blood. However, 
 supposing that this was the case, they desired 
 their king would send them out to spoil their 
 enemies ; whereupon they all went in haste, as 
 to an advantage already gained, and came to the 
 enemy's camp, as supposing them destroyed 
 already; but their hope deceived them, for as 
 their enemies stood round about them, some of 
 them were cut to pieces, and others of them were 
 dispersed, and fled to their own country; and 
 when the kings fell into the land of Moab, they 
 overthrew the cities that were in it, and spoiled 
 their fields, and marred them, filling them with 
 stones out of the brooks, and cut down the best 
 of their trees, and stopped up their fountains of 
 water, and overthrew their walls to their foun- 
 dations; but the king of Moab, when he was 
 pursued, endured a siege, and seeing his city in 
 danger of being overthrown by a force, made a 
 sally, and went out with seven hundred men, in 
 order to break through the enemy's camp with 
 his horsemen, on that side where the watch 
 seemed to be kept most negligently; and when, 
 upon trial, he could not get away, for he lighted 
 upon a place that was carefully watched, he re- 
 turned into the city, and did a thing that shewed 
 despair, and the utmost distress; for he took his 
 eldest son, who was to reign after him, and lift- 
 ing him up upon the wall, that he might be visi- 
 ble to all the enemies, he offered him as a whole 
 burnt-offering to God, whom, when the kings 
 saw, they commiserated the distress that was the 
 occasion of it, and were so affected, in the way of 
 humanity and pity, that they raised the siege, 
 and every one returned to his own house. So 
 Jehoshaphat came to Jerusalem, and continued 
 in peace there, and outlived this expedition but 
 a little time, and then died, having lived in all 
 sixty years, and of them reigned twenty-five. 
 He was buried in a magnificent manner in Jeru- 
 salem, for he had imitated the actions of David 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 .TEHORAM aUCOESBS JEHOSHAPHAT : HOW JOBAM, 
 HIS NAMESAl^E, KING OF ISRAEL, FOUGHT WITH 
 THE SYRIANS ; AND WHAT WONDERS WERE DONK 
 BY THE PROPHET ELISHA. 
 
 1. JEHOSHAPHAT had a good number of chil- 
 dren ; but he appointed his eldest son, Jehoram, 
 to be his successor, who had the same name with 
 his mother's brother, that was king of Israel, 
 and the son of Ahab. Now when the king of 
 Israel was come out of the land of Moab to Sa- 
 maria, he hsd with him Elisha the prophet, 
 whose acts I kave a mind to go over particularly, 
 for they were illustrious, and worthy to be re- 
 lated, as we have them set down in the sacred 
 books. 
 2. For they say that the widow of Obadiah,f 
 
 t That this woman was no other than the widow of 
 Obadiah, is confirmed by the Chaldee paraphrast, and 
 by the Rabbins and others. Nor is it unlikely that these 
 debts were contracted by her husband for the support 
 of those " hundred of the Lord's prophets, whom he 
 maintained by fifty in a cave," in the days of Ahab and 
 Jezebel, (1 Kings xviii. 4;) which circumstance rendered 
 it highly fit that the prophet Elisha should provide her 
 a remedy, and enable her to redeem her**lf and hef
 
 CHAP. IV.J 
 
 ANTIQUITIES Qi THE 
 
 Ahab's steward, came to him, and said, that he 
 was not ignorant how her husband had preserved 
 the prophets that were to be slain by Jezebel, the 
 wife of Ahab ; for she said that he hid a hun- 
 dred of them, and had borrowed money for their 
 maintenance, and that, after her husband's death, 
 she and her children were carried away to be 
 made slaves by the creditors; and she desired of 
 him to have mercy upon her on account of what 
 her husband did, and afford her some assistance. 
 And when he asked her what she had in the 
 house, she said, "Nothing but a very small 
 quantity of oil in a cruse." So the prophet bid 
 her go away, and borrow a great many empty 
 vessels of her neighbours, and when she had shut 
 her chamber-door, to pour the oil into them all ; 
 for that God would fill them full. And when 
 the woman had done what she was commanded 
 to do, and bade her children bring every one of 
 the vessels, and all were filled, and not one left 
 empty, she came to the prophet, and told him 
 that they were all full ; upon which he advised 
 her to go away, and sell the oil, and pay the 
 creditors what was owing to them, for that there 
 would be some surplus of the price of the oil, 
 which she might make use of for the maintenance 
 of her children : and thus did Elisha discharge 
 the woman's debts, and free her from the vexa- 
 tion of her creditors. 
 
 3. Elisha also sent a hasty message to Joram, 
 and exhorted him to take care of that place, for 
 that therein were some Syrians lying in ambush 
 to kill him. So the king did as the prophet ex- 
 horted him, and avoided his going a-hunting ; 
 and when Benhadad missed of the success of his 
 lying in ambush, he was wroth with his own ser- 
 vants, as if they had betrayed his ambushment 
 to Joram ; and he sent for them, and said they 
 vrerethe betrayers of his secret counsels ;^and he 
 threatened that he would put them to* death," 
 since such their practice was evident, because he 
 had intrusted this secret to none but them, and 
 yet it was made known to his enemy: and 
 'when one that was present said, that he should 
 not mistake himself, nor suspect that they had 
 discovered to his enemy his sending men to kill 
 him, but that he ought to know that it was 
 Elisha the prophet who discovered all to him, 
 and laid open all his counsels. So he gave order 
 that they should send some to learn in what city 
 Elisha dwelt. Yccordingly, those that were sent 
 brought word that he wasinDothan; wherefore 
 Benhadad sent to that city a great army, with 
 horses and chariots, to take Elisha; so they en- 
 compassed the city round about by night, and 
 kept him therein confined; but when the pro- 
 phet's servant in the morning perceived this, and 
 that his enemies sought to take Elisha, he camo 
 running, and crying out after a disordered manner 
 to him, and told him of it; but he encouraged 
 him, and bade him not be afraid, and to despise 
 the enemy, and trust in the assistance of God, 
 and was himself without fear ; and he besought 
 God to make manifest to his servant his power 
 and presence, BO far as was possible, in order to 
 the inspiring him with hope and courage. Ac- 
 cordingly, God heard the prayer of the prophet, 
 and made the servant see a multitude of chariots 
 and horses encompassing Elisha, till he laid aside 
 his fear, and his courage revived at the sight of 
 what he supposed was come to their assistance. 
 After this Elisha did further entreat God, that 
 he would dim the eyes of their enemies, and cast 
 a mist before them, whereby they might not dis- 
 cern him. When this was done, he went into 
 
 sons trom the fear of that slavery which insolvent 
 debtors were liable to by the law of Mos"s. 
 
 the midst of his enemies, and asked them who it 
 was that they came to seek ; and when they re- 
 plied, "The prophet Elisha," he promised he 
 would deliver him to them, if they would follow 
 him to the city where he was. So these men 
 were so darkened by God in their sight and in 
 their mind, that they followed him very dili- 
 gently; and when Elisha had brought them to 
 Samaria, he ordered Joram the king to shut the 
 gates, and to place hisown army roundaboutthem ; 
 and pi-ay ed to God to clear the eyes of these their 
 enemies, and take the mist from before them. 
 Accordingly, when they were freed from the ob- 
 scurity they had been in, they saw themselves in 
 the midst of their enemies ; and as the Syrians 
 were strangely amazed and distressed, as was but 
 reasonable, at an action so divine and surprising ; 
 and as king Joram asked the prophet if he would 
 give him leave to shoot at them, Elisha forbade 
 him so to do; and said, that "it is just to kill 
 those that are taken in battle; but that these 
 men had done the country no harm, but, with- 
 out knowing it, were come thither by the Divine 
 Power;" so that his counsel was to treat them 
 in an hospitable manner at his table, and then 
 send them away without hurting them. * Where- 
 fore Joram obeyed the prophet; and when he 
 had feasted the Syrians in a splendid and magnifi- 
 cent manner, he let them go to Benhadad their 
 king. 
 
 4. Now when these men were come back, and 
 had shewed Benhadad how strange an accident 
 had befallen them, and what an appearance and 
 power they had experienced of the God of Is- 
 rael, he wondered at it, as also at that prophet 
 with whom God was so evidently present; so he 
 determined to make no more secret attempts 
 upon the king of Israel, out of fear of Elisha, 
 but resolved to make open war with them, as 
 supposing he could be too hard for his enemies 
 by the multitude of his army and power. So he 
 made an expedition with a great army against 
 Joram, who, not thinking himself a match for 
 him, shut himself up in Samaria, and depended 
 on the strength of its walls ; but Benhadad sup- 
 posed he should take the city, if not by his engines 
 of war, yet that he should overcome the Samari- 
 tans by famine, and the want of necessaries, and 
 brought his army upon them, and besieged the 
 city ; and the plenty of necessaries was brought 
 so low with Joram, that from the extremity of 
 want, an ass's head was sold in Samaria for four- 
 score pieces of silver ; and the Hebrews bought 
 a sextary of dove's dung, instead of salt, for five 
 pieces of silver. Now Joram was in fear lest 
 somebody should betray the city to the enemy, 
 by reason of the famine, and went every day 
 round the walls and the guards, to see whether 
 any such were concealed among them; and by 
 being thus seen, and taking such care, he de- 
 prived them of the opportunity of contriving any 
 such thing ; and if they had a mind to do it, he 
 by this means prevented them ; but upon a 
 certain woman's crying out, " Have pity on me, 
 my lord," while he thought that she was about 
 to ask for somewhat to eat, he imprecated God's 
 curse upon her, and said, he had neither thrash- 
 ing-floor nor wine-press, whence he might give 
 her anything at her petition. Upon which she 
 said, she did not desire his aid in any such thing, 
 nor trouble him about food, but desired that he 
 would do her justice as to another woman; and 
 
 * Upon occasion of this stratagem of Elisha, in Jo- 
 Bephus, we may take notice, that although Josephus 
 was one of the greatest lovers of truth in the world ; yet, 
 in a just war, he seems to have had no manner of scruple 
 upon him, by all such stratagems possible, to deceive 
 Duhlio enemies.
 
 200 
 
 t>i? THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK ix 
 
 when he bade her say on, and let him know what 
 he desired, she said, she had made an agree- 
 ment with the othei woman, who was her neigh- 
 bour and her friend, that because the famine and 
 the want was intolerable, they should kill their 
 children, jach of them having a son of their 
 own, "and we will live upon them ourselves 
 for two days the one day upon one son, and 
 the other day upon the other ; and," said she, 
 " I have killed my son the first day, and we 
 lived upon my son yesterday; but this other 
 woman will not do the same thing, but hath 
 broken her agreement, and hath hid her son." 
 This story mightily grieved Joram when he heard 
 it : so he rent his garment, and cried out with a 
 loud voice, and conceived great wrath against 
 Elisha the prophet, and set himself eagerly to 
 have him slain, because he did not pray to God 
 to provide them some exit and way of escape out 
 of the miseries with which they were surround- 
 ed; and sent one away immediately to cut off 
 his head, who made haste to kill the prophet ; 
 but Elisha was not unacquainted with the wrath 
 of the king against him ; for as he sat in his house 
 by himself, with none but his disciples about 
 him, he told them that Joram, who was the son 
 of a murderer, had sent one to take away his 
 head; "but," said he, "when he that is com- 
 manded to do this comes, take care that you do 
 not let him come in, but press the door against 
 him, and hold him fast there, for the king him- 
 self will follow him, and come to me, having 
 altered his mind." Accordingly, they did as they 
 were bidden, when he that was sent by the king 
 to kill Elisha came ; but Joram repented of his 
 wrath against the prophet ; and for fear he that 
 was commanded to kill him should have done it 
 before he came, he made haste to hinder hi' 
 slaughter, and to save the prophet : and when ht> 
 came to him, he accused him that he did not 
 pray to God for their deliverance from the mis- 
 eries they lay under, but saw them so sadly 
 destroyed by them. Hereupon Elisha promised, 
 that the very next day, at the very same hour in 
 which the king came to him, they should have 
 great plenty of food, and that two seahs of barley 
 should be sold in the market for a shekel, and a 
 seah of fine flour should be sold for a shekel. 
 This prediction made Joram, and those that were 
 present, very joyful, for they did not scruple 
 believing what the prophet said, on account of 
 the experience they had of the truth of his for- 
 mer predictions ; and the expectation of plenty 
 made the want they were in that day, with the 
 uneasiness that accompanied it, appear a light' 
 thing to them; but the captain of the third band 
 who was a friend of the king, and on whose hand 
 the king leaned, said, "Thou talkest of incredi- 
 ble things, O prophet ! for as it is impossible for 
 God to pour down torrents of barley, or fine flour 
 out of heaven, BO is it impossible that what thou 
 sayest should come to pass. " To which the pro- 
 phet made this reply "Thou shalt see these 
 things come to pass, but thou shalt not be in the 
 least a partaker of them." 
 
 5. Now what Elisha had thus foretold came 
 to pass in the manner following : There was a 
 law at Samaria,* that those that had the leprosy 
 and whose bodies were not cleansed from it 
 should abide without the city. And there were 
 ur men that on this account abode before the 
 tes while nobody gave them any food, by rea- 
 n of the extremity of the famine; and as they 
 re prohibited from entering into the city by 
 
 f rthe clM> of lepers out 
 Vn Wlld r ?<, >"i out of the cities in 
 known one. (Lev. xiii. 4; Humb, y 1-A.i 
 
 the law, and they considered that if they wern 
 permitted to enter, they would miserably perish 
 by the famine ; at also, that if they stayed where 
 they were, they should suffer in the same man- 
 ner, they resolved to deliver themselves up to 
 the enemy, that in case they should spare them, 
 they should live ; but if they should be killed, 
 that would be an easy death, So when they 
 had confirmed this their resolution, they came 
 by night to the enemy's camp. Now God had 
 begun to affright and disturb the Syrians, and 
 to bring the noise of chariots and armour to their 
 ears, as though an army were coming upon them, 
 and had made them suspect that it was coming 
 nearer and nearer to them. In short, they were 
 in such a dread of this army, that they left their 
 tents, and ran together to Benhadad, and said 
 that Joram, the king of Israel, had hired for 
 auxiliaries both the king of Egypt and the king 
 of the Islands, and led them against them ; for 
 they heard the noise of them as they were com- 
 ing; and Benhadad believed what they said, 
 (for there came the same noise to his ears as well 
 as it did to theirs ;) so they fell into a mighty 
 disorder and tumult, and left their horses and 
 beasts in their camp, with immense riches also, 
 and betook themselves to flight. And those 
 lepers who had departed from Samaria, and were 
 gone to the camp of the Syrians, of whom we 
 made mention a little before, when they were in 
 the camp, saw nothing but great quietness and 
 i silence; accordingly they entered into it, and 
 went hastily into one of their tents ; and when 
 they saw nobody there, they ate and drank, and 
 carried garments, and a great quantity of gold, 
 and hid it out of the camp; after which they 
 went into another tent, and carried off what was 
 in it, as they did at the former, and this did they 
 for several times, without the least interruption 
 from anybody; so they gathered thereby that 
 the enemies were departed ; whereupon they 
 reproached themselves that they did not inform 
 Joram and the citizens of it. So they came to 
 the walls of Samaria, and called aloud to the 
 watchmen, and told them in what state the ene- 
 mies were, as did these tell the king's guards, by 
 whose means Joram came to know of it; who 
 then sent for his friends, and the captains of his 
 host, and said to them, that he suspected that 
 this departure of the king of Syria was by way 
 of ambush and treachery ; " and that out of 
 despair of ruining you by famine, when you im- 
 agine them to be fled away, you may come out 
 of the city to spoil their camp, and he may then 
 fall upon you on a sudden, and may both kill 
 you, and take the city without fighting ; whence 
 it is that I exhort you to guard the city care- 
 fully, and by no means to go out of it, or proudly 
 to despise your enemies, as though they were 
 really gone away." And when a certain person 
 said that he did very well and wisely to admit 
 such a suspicion, but that he still advised him 
 to send a couple of horsemen to search all the 
 country as far as Jordan, that "if they were 
 seized by an ambush of the enemy, they might 
 be a security to your army, that they may not 
 go out as if they suspected nothing, nor undergo 
 the like misfortune; and," said he, "those horse- 
 men may be numbered among those that have 
 died by the famine, supposing they be caught 
 and destroyed by the enemy." So the king was 
 pleased with this opinion, and sent such as might 
 search out the truth, who performed their jour- 
 ney over a road that was without any enemies ; 
 but found it full of provisions, and of weapons, 
 that they had therefore thrown away, and left 
 behind them, in order to their being light and 
 sseditious in their ^iffht. Wheu the king
 
 CHAP. V.J 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 20] 
 
 heard this, he sent out the multitude to take the 
 spoils of the camp ; which gains of theirs were 
 not of things of small value; but they took a 
 great quantity of gold, and a great quantity of 
 silver, and flocks of all kinds of cattle. They 
 also possessed themselves of [so many] ten thou- 
 sand measures, of wheat and barley, as they 
 never in the least dreamed of; and were not only 
 freed from their former miseries, but had such 
 plenty, that two seahs of bailey were bought for 
 a shekel, and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, 
 according to the prophecy of Elisha. Now a 
 seah is equal to an Italian modius and a half. 
 The captain of the third band was the only man 
 that received no benefit by this plenty ; for as he 
 was appointed by the king to oversee the gate, 
 that he might prevent the too great crowd of the 
 multitude, and they might not endanger one 
 another to perish, by treading on one another 
 in the press, he suffered himself in that very 
 way, and died in that very manner, as Elisha had 
 foretold this his death, when he alone of them 
 all disbelieved what he said concerning that 
 plenty of provisions which they should soon 
 have. 
 
 6. Hereupon, when Benhadad, the king of 
 Syria, had escaped to Damascus, and under- 
 stood that it was God himself that cast all his 
 army into this fear and disorder, and that it did 
 not arise from the invasion of enemies, he was 
 mightily cast down at his having God so greatly 
 for his enemy, and fell into a distemper. Now 
 it happened that Elisha the prophet, at that 
 time, was gone out of his own country to 
 Damascus, of which Benhadad was informed ; 
 he sent Hazael, the most faithful of all his ser- 
 vants, to meet him, and to carry him presents ; 
 and bade him inquire of him about his distem- 
 per, and whether he should escape the danger 
 that it threatened. So Hazael came to Elisha 
 with forty camels, that carried the best and 
 most precious fruits that the country of Damas- 
 cus afforded, as well as those which the king's 
 palace supplied. He saluted him kindly, and 
 said that he was sent to him by king Benhadad, 
 and brought presents with him, in order to in- 
 quire concerning his distemper, whether he 
 should recover from it or not. Whereupon the 
 prophet bade him tell the king no melancholy 
 news ; but still he said he would die. So the 
 king's servant was troubled to hear it ; and 
 Elisha wept also, and his tears ran down plente- 
 ously at his foresight at what miseries his people 
 would undergo after the death of Benhadad; 
 and when Hazael asked him what was the occa- 
 sion of this confusion he was in, he said, that he 
 wept out of commiseration for the multitude of 
 the Israelites, and what terrible miseries they 
 will suffer by thee; "for thou wilt slay the 
 strongest of them, and wilt burn their strongest 
 cities, and wilt destroy their children, and dash 
 them against the stones, and wilt rip up their 
 women with child." And when Hazael said, 
 "How can it be that I should have power 
 enough to do such things ? " the prophet replied, 
 that God had informed him that he should be 
 king of Syria. So when Hazael was come to 
 Benhadad, he told him good news concerning 
 his distemper ;* but on the next day he spread a 
 wet cloth, in the nature of a net, over him, and 
 
 * Since Elijah aid not live to anoint Hazael king of 
 Syria himself, as he was empowered to do, (1 Kings 
 xix. 15,) it was most probably now done, in his name, 
 by his servant and successor Elisha ; nor does it seem 
 to me otherwise but that Benhadad immediately re- 
 covered of his disease, as the prophet foretold ; and 
 that Hazael, upon his being anointed to succeed him, 
 though he ought to have stayed till he died by the 
 
 strangled him, and took his dominion. He was 
 an active man, and had the good-will of the 
 Syrians, and of the people of Damascus, to a 
 great degree ; by whom both Benhadad himself, 
 and Hazael, who ruled after him, are honoured 
 to this day as gods, by reason of their benefac- 
 tions, and their building them temples, by which 
 they adorned the city of the Damascens. They 
 also every day do with great pomp pay theii 
 worship to these kings, and value themselves 
 upon their antiquity ; nor do they know that 
 these kings are much later than they imagine, 
 and that they are not yet eleven hundred yearg 
 old. Now when Joram, the king of Israel 
 heard that Benhadad was dead, he recovered, 
 out of the terror and dread he had been in on 
 his account, and was very glad to live in peace. 
 
 CHAPTER V, 
 
 OONCERSISQ MEE WICKEDNESS OP JEHORAM, JONG 
 OF JERUSALEM ; HIS DEFEAT, AND DEATH. 
 
 1. Now Jehoram, the king of Jerusalem, (for 
 we have said before that he had the same name 
 with the king of Israel,) as soon as he had taken 
 the government upon him, betook himself to the 
 slaughter of his brethren and. his father's friends, 
 who were governors under him, and thence made 
 a beginning and a demonstration of his wicked- 
 ness ; nor was he at all better than those kings 
 of Israel who at first transgressed against the 
 laws of their country, and of the Hebrews, and 
 against God's worship : and it was Athaliah, the 
 daughter of Ahab, whom he had married, who 
 taught him to be a bad man in other respects, 
 and also to worship foreign gods. Now God 
 would not quite root out this family, because ol 
 the promise he had made to David. However, 
 Jehoram did not leave off the introduction of 
 new sorts of customs to the propagation of im- 
 piety, and to the ruin of the customs of his own 
 country. And when the Edomites about that 
 time had revolted from him, and slain their 
 former king, who was in subjection to his father, 
 and had set up one of their own choosing, 
 Jehoram fell upon the land of Edom, with the 
 horsemen that were about him, and the chariots, 
 by night, and destroyed those that lay near to 
 his own kingdom ; but did not proceed further. 
 However, this expedition did him no service, for 
 they all revolted from him, with those that 
 dwelt in the country of Libnah. He was indeed 
 so mad as to compel the people to go up to the 
 high places of the mountains, and worship for* 
 eign gods. 
 
 2. As he was doing this, and had entirely cast 
 his own country laws out of his mind, there was 
 brought him an epistle from Elijah the prophet,t 
 which declared, that God would execute judg- 
 ments upon him, because he had not imitated 
 his own fathers, but had followed the wicked 
 courses of the kings of Israel ; and had com- 
 pelled the tribe of Judah and the citizens of 
 Jerusalem to leave the holy worship of their 
 own God, and to worship idols, as Ahab had 
 compelled the Israelites to do, and because he 
 
 course of nature, was too impatient, and the very next 
 day smothered or strangled him, in order to come 
 directly to the succession. 
 
 t Tins epistle, in some copies of Josephus, is said to 
 come to Joram from Elijah, with this addition, "for he 
 was yet upon earth ; " which could not be true ol 
 Elijah, who, as all agree, was gone from the eartt 
 above four years before. It is probable that the nm 
 of Elijah has erect into the text Instead of Slisha.
 
 202 
 
 had slain his brethren, and the men that were 
 good and righteous. And the prophet gave him 
 notice in this epistle what punishment he should 
 undergo for these crimes, namely, the destruc- 
 tion of his people, with the corruption of the I 
 king's own wives and children ; and that he 
 should himself die of a distemper in his bowels, 
 with long torments, those his bowels falling out 
 by the violence of the inward rottenness of the 
 parts, insomuch that, though he see his own 
 misery, he shall not be able at all to help him- 
 self, but shall die in that manner. This it was 
 which Elijah denounced to him in that epistle. 
 
 3. It was not long after this that an army of 
 those Arabians that lived near to Ethiopia, and 
 of the Philistines, fell upon the kingdom of 
 Jehoram, and spoiled the country and the king's 
 house ; moreover, they slew his sons and his 
 wives ; one only of his sons was left him, who 
 escaped the enemy ; his name was Ahaziah ; 
 after which calamity, he himself fell into that 
 disease which was foretold by the prophet, and 
 lasted a great while, (for God inflicted this pun- 
 ishment upon him in his belly, out of his wrath 
 against him,) and so he died miserably, and saw 
 his own bowels fall out. The people also abused 
 his dead body ; I suppose it was because they 
 thought that such his death came upon him by 
 the wrath of God, and that therefore he was not 
 worthy to partake of such a funeral as became 
 kings. Accordingly, they neither buried him in 
 the sepulchres of his fathers, nor vouchsafed 
 him any honours, but buried him like a private 
 man, and this when he had lived forty years, and 
 reigned eight ; and the people of Jerusalem de- 
 livered the government to his son Ahaziah. 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK IX. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 HOW JEHU WAS ANOINTED KING, AND SLEW BOTH 
 JORAM AND AHAZIAH ; AS ALSO WHAT HE DID 
 FOB THE PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED. 
 
 1. Now Joram, the king of Israel, after the 
 death of Benhadad, hoped that he might now 
 take Ramoth, a city of Gilead, from the Syrians. 
 Accordingly, he made an expedition against it, 
 with a great army ; but as he was besieging it, 
 an arrow was shot at him by one of the Syrians, 
 but the wound was not mortal : so he returned 
 to have his wound healed in J"zreel, but left his 
 whole army in Ramoth, and Jehu, the son of 
 Nimshi, for their general, for ho had already 
 taken the city by force; and he proposed, after 
 he was healed, to make war with the Syrians ; 
 but Elisha the prophet sent one of his disciples 
 to Ramoth, and gave him holy oil to anoint 
 Jehu, and to tell him that God had chosen him 
 to be their king. He also sent him to say other 
 things to him, and bade him to take his journey 
 as if he fled, that when he came away he might 
 escape the knowledge of all men. So when he 
 was come to the city, he found Jehu sitting in 
 the midst of the captains of the army, as Elisha 
 had foretold he should find him. So he came up 
 to him, and said that hs desired to speak with 
 him about certain matters ; and when he was 
 arisen, and had followed him into an inward 
 chamber, the young man took the oil, and 
 poured it on his head, and said that God or- 
 dained him to be king, in order to his destroy- 
 ing the house of Ahab, and that he might re- 
 venge the blood of the prophets that were un- 
 justly slain by Jezebel, that so their house might 
 utterly perish, as those of Jeroboam the son of 
 Nebat and of Kaosha had perished for their 
 
 wickedness, and no seed might remain of Ahab's 
 family. So when he had said this, he went aw*y 
 hastily out of the chamber, and endeavoivred 
 not to be seen by any of the army. 
 
 2. But Jehu came out, and went to the place 
 where he before sat with the captains ; and when 
 they asked him, and desired him to tell them 
 wherefore it was that this young man came to 
 him, and added withal that lie was mad, he 
 replied, "You guess right; for the words he 
 spake were the words of a madman : " and when 
 they were eager about the matter, and desired 
 he would tell them, he_ answered, that God had 
 said he had chosen him to be king over the 
 multitude. When he had said this, every one 
 of them put off his garment,* and strewed it 
 under him, and blew with trumpets, and gave 
 notice that Jehu was king. So when he had 
 gotten the army together, he was preparing to 
 set out immediately against Joram, at the city 
 of Jezreel, in which city, as we said before, he 
 was healing of the wound which he had received 
 in the siege of Ramoth. It happened also that 
 Ahaziah, king of Jerusalem, was now come to 
 Joram, for he was his sister's son, as we have 
 said already, to see how he did after his wound, 
 and this upon account of their kindred : but as 
 Jehw was desirous to fall upon Joram and those 
 with him on the sudden, he desired that none of 
 the soldiers might run away and tell to Joram 
 what had happened, for that this would be an 
 evident demonstration of their kindness to him, 
 and woxild shew that their real inclinations were 
 to make him king. 
 
 3. So they were pleased with what he did, and 
 guarded the roads, lest somebody should privately 
 tell the thing to those that were at JezreeL Now 
 Jehu took his choice horsemen, and sat upon his 
 chariot, and went on for Jezreel ; and when he 
 was come near, the watchman whom Joram had 
 set there to spy_ out such as came to the city, 
 saw Jehu marching on, and told Joram that he 
 saw a troop of horsemen marching on. Upon 
 which he immediately gave orders, that one of 
 his horsemen should be sent out to meet them, 
 and to know who it was that was coming. So 
 when the horseman came up to Jehu, he asked 
 him in what condition the army was, for that the 
 king wanted to know it ; but Jehu bade him not 
 at all to meddle with such matters, but to follow 
 him. When the watchman saw this, he told 
 Joram that the horseman had mingled himself 
 among the company, and came along with them. 
 And when the king had sent a second messenger, 
 Jehu commanded him to do as the former did : 
 and as soon as the watchman told this also to 
 Joram, be at last got upon- his chariot himself, 
 together with Ahaziah, the king of Jerusalem ; 
 for, as we said before, he was there to see how 
 Joram did, after he had been wounded, as being 
 his relation. So he went out to meet Jehu, who 
 marched slowly, t and in good order ; and when 
 Joram met him in the field of Naboth, he askod 
 him if all things were well in the camp ; but 
 Jehu reproached him bitterly, and ^eutured to 
 call his mother a witch and a harlot. Upon this 
 the king fearing what he intended, a'ud suspect- 
 ing he had no good meaning, turned his chariot 
 about as soon as he could, and said to Ahaziah, 
 " We are fought against by deceit and treach- 
 ery." But Jehu drew his bow, and smote him, 
 the arrow going through his heart: so Joram 
 fell down immediately on his knee, and gave up 
 
 * Spanheim notes, that this was an Eastern custom. 
 
 t Our copies say that this "driving of the chariots 
 was like the driving of Jehu, the son of Nimshi ; for he 
 drivp.th f uriously," (2 Kings ix. 20.)
 
 :HAP. vi. 
 
 the ghost. Jehu also gave orders to Bidkar, the 
 captain of the third part of his army, to cast the 
 dead body of Joram into the field of Naboth, 
 putting him in mind of the prophecy which j 
 Elijah prophesied to Ahab his father, when he 
 had slain Naboth, that both he and his family 
 should perish in that place ; for that as they sat 
 behind Ahab's chariot, they heard the prophet 
 say so, and that it wa* now come to pass accord- 
 ing to his prophecy Upon the fall of Joram, 
 Ahaziah was afraid of his own life, and turned 
 his chariot into another road, supposing ho 
 should not be seen by Jehu ; but he followed 
 after him, and overtook him at a certain accli- 
 vity, and drew his bow, and wounded him ; so 
 he left his chariot, and got upon his horse, and 
 fled from Jehu to Megiddo ; and though he 
 was under care, in a little time he died of 
 that wound, and was carried to Jerusalem, 
 and buried there, after he had reigned one year, 
 and had proved a wicked man, and worse than 
 his father. 
 
 4. Now when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jeze- 
 bel adorned herself and stood upon a tower, and 
 said he was a fine servant that had killed his 
 master! And when he looked up to her, he 
 asked who she was, and commanded her to come 
 down to him. At last he ordered the eunuchs 
 to throw her down from the tower ; and being 
 thrown down, she besprinkled the wall with her 
 blood, and was trodden upon by the horses, and 
 so died. When this was done, Jehu came to the 
 palace with his friends, and took some refresh- 
 ment after his journey, both with otner things, 
 and by eating a meal. He also bade his servants 
 to take up Jezebel and bury her, because of the 
 nobility of her blood, for she was descended from 
 kings ; but those that were appointed to bury 
 iier found nothing else remaining but the extreme 
 parts of her body, for all the rest- were eaten bj 
 dogs. When Jehu heard this, he admired the 
 prophecy of Elijah, for he foretold that she 
 should perish in this manner at Jezreel. 
 
 5. Now Ahab had seventy sons brought up in 
 Samaria. So Jehu sent two epistles, the one to 
 them that brought up the children, the other to 
 the rulers of Samaria, which said, that they 
 should set up the most valiant of Ahab's sons foi 
 king, for that they had abundance of chariots, 
 and horses, and armour, and a great army, and 
 fenced cities, and that by <-} doing they might 
 avenge the murder of Ahab. This he wrote t< 
 try the intentions of those of Samaria. Now 
 when the rulers, and those that had brought up 
 the children, had read the letters, they were 
 afraid ; and considering that they were not at all 
 able to oppose him, who had already subdued 
 two very great kings, they returned him this 
 answer : That they owned him for their lord, 
 and would do whatsoever he bade them. So he 
 wrote back to them such a reply as enjoined them 
 to obey what he gave order for, and to cut off the 
 heads of Ahab's sons, and send them to him. 
 Accordingly the rulers sent for those that broughl 
 up the sons of Ahab, and commanded them to 
 slay them, to cut off their heads, and send them 
 to Jehu. So they did whatsoever they wers 
 commanded, without omitting any thing at all, 
 and put them up in wicker baskets, and sent 
 them to Jezreel. And when Jehu, as he was at 
 supper with his friends, was informed that the 
 heads of Ahab's sons were brought, he ordered 
 them to make two heaps of them, one before 
 aach of the gates; and in the morning he went 
 out to take a view of them, and when he saw 
 them, he began to say to the people that were 
 present, that he did himself make an expedition 
 against his master FJoranuJ and slew him % but 
 
 OF THE JEWS. ;03 
 
 that it was not he that slew all these : and he 
 desired them to take notice, that as to Ahab'e 
 family, all things had come to pass according to 
 God's prophecy, and his house was perished, 
 according as Elijah had foretold. And when he 
 had further destroyed all the kindred of Ahab 
 that were found in Jezreel, he went to Samaria ; 
 ind as he was upon the road, he met the rela- 
 tions of Ahaziah, king of Jerusalem, and asked 
 them, whither they were going? they replied, 
 that they came to salute Joram, and their own 
 king Ahaziah, for they knew not that he had 
 slain them both. So Jehu gave orders that they 
 should catch these, and kill them, being in num- 
 ber forty-two persons. 
 
 6. After these, there met him a good and a 
 righteous man, whose name was Jehonadab, and 
 ! who had been his friend of old. He saluted Je- 
 hu, and began to commend him, because he had 
 done everything according to the will of God, 
 in extirpating the house of Ahab. So Jehu de- 
 i sired him to come up into his chariot, and make 
 i his entry with him into Samaria ; and told him 
 I that he would not spare one wicked man, but 
 1 would punish the false prophets and false priests, 
 1 and those that deceived the multitude, and per- 
 suaded them to leave the worship of God Al- 
 mighty, and to worship foreign gods ; and that 
 it was a most excellent and a most pleasing sight 
 to a good and a righteous man to see the wicked 
 punished. So Jehonadab was persuaded by these 
 arguments, and came up into Jehu's chariot, and 
 ' came to Samaria. And Jehu sought out for all 
 ! Ahab's kindred, and slew them. And being de- 
 sirous that none of the false prophets, nor the 
 Eriests of Ahab's god, might escape punishment, 
 e caught them deceitfully by this wile : for he 
 gathered all the people together, and said, that 
 he would worship twice as many gods as Ahab 
 worshipped, and desired that his priests, and 
 prophets, and servants, might be present, be- 
 cause he would offer costly and great sacrifices 
 to Ahab's god ; and that if any of his priests 
 were wanting, they should be punished with 
 death. Now Ahab's god was called Baal : and 
 when he had appointed a day on which he would 
 offer these sacrifices, he sent messengers through 
 all the country of the Israelites, that they might 
 bring the priests of Baal to him. So Jehu con 
 raanded to give all the priests vestments ; and 
 when they had received them, he went Uito the 
 house [of Baal,] with his friend Jehonadab, and 
 gave orders to make search whether 'there were 
 uot any foreigner or stranger anvng them, for 
 he would have no one of a different religion to 
 mix among their sacred offices. And when they 
 aid that there was no stranger there, and they 
 were beginning their sacrifices, he set fourscore 
 men without, they being such of his soldiers as 
 he knew to be most faithful to him, and bade 
 them slay the prophets, and now vindicate the 
 laws of their country, which had been a long 
 jme in disesteem He also threatened, that il 
 my one of them escaped, their own lives should 
 (o for them. So they slew them all with the 
 iword; and burnt the house of Baal, and by 
 that means purged Samaria of foreign customs, 
 idolatrous worship.] Now this Baal was the 
 i god of the Tyrians ; and Ahab, in order to gra- 
 ' tify his father-in-law, Ethbaal, who was the 
 ':iug of Tyre and Sidon, built a temple for him 
 I n Samaria, and appointed him prophets, and 
 I worshipped him with all sorts of worship, al- 
 | though, when this god was demolished, Jehu 
 permitted the Israelites to worship the golden 
 heifen. However, because he had done thus, 
 and taken care to punish the wicked, God fore- 
 told by his uroohet that his sons should reigr
 
 804 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK ix. 
 
 over Israel tor four generations : and in this 
 condition was Jehu at this time. 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 HOW A1HALIAH REIGNED OVER JERUSALEM FOR 
 FIVE [SIX] YEARS, WHEN JEHOIADA THE HIGH 
 PRIEST SLEW HER, AND MADE JEHOASH, THE 
 SON OF AHAZIAH, KING. 
 
 1. Now when Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab, 
 heard of the death of her brother Joram, and 
 of her son Ahaziah, and of the royal family, she 
 endeavoured that none of the house of David 
 might be left alive, but that the whole family 
 might be exterminated, that no king might arise 
 out of it afterward; and, as she thought, she 
 had actually done it ; but one of Ahaziah's sons 
 was preserved, who escaped death after the 
 manner following : Ahaziah had a sister by the 
 same father, whose name was Jehosheba, and 
 she was married to the high priest Jehoiada. 
 She went into the king's palace, and found Je- 
 hoash, for that was the little child'skname, who 
 was not above a year old, among those that were 
 slain, but concealed with his nurse ; so she took 
 him with her into a secret bed-chamber, and 
 shut him up there ; and she and her husband 
 Jehoiada brought him up privately in the tem- 
 ple six years, during which time Athal ; *b reigned 
 over Jerusalem and the two tribes. 
 
 2. Now on the seventh year, Jehoiada com- 
 municated the matter to certain of the captains 
 of hundreds, five in number, and persuaded them 
 to be assisting to what attempts he was making 
 against Athaliah, and to join with him in assert- 
 ing the kingdom to the child. He also received 
 such oaths from them as are proper to secure 
 those that assist one another from the fear of 
 discovery ; and he was then of good hope that 
 they should depose Athaliah. Now those men 
 whom Jehoiada the priest had taken to be his 
 partners, went into all the country, and gathered 
 together the priests and the Levites, and the 
 beads of the tribes out of it, and came and 
 brought them to Jerusalem, to the high priest. 
 So he demanded the security of an oath of them, 
 to keep private whatsoever he should discover 
 to them, which required both their silence and 
 their assistance. So when they had taken the 
 oath, and had thereby made it safe for him to 
 speak, he produced the child that he had 
 brought up, of the family of David, and said to 
 them, " This is your king, of that house of which 
 you know God hath foretold should reign over 
 you for all time to come : I exhort you, there- 
 fore, that one-third part of you guard him in 
 the temple, and that a fourth part keep watch 
 at all the gates of the temple, and that the next 
 part of you keep guard at the gate which opens 
 and leads to the king's palace, and let the rest 
 of the multitude be unarmed in the temple, and 
 let no armed person go into the temple, but the 
 priest only." He also gave them this order be- 
 sides, " That a part of the priests and the Le- 
 vites should be about the king himself, and be 
 * guard to him, with their drawn swords, and 
 to kill that man immediately, whoever he be 
 that should be so bold as to enter armed into 
 the temple ; and bade them be afraid of nobody, 
 but persevere in guarding the king." So these 
 men obeyed what the high priest advised them 
 to, and declared the reality of their resolution 
 by their actions. Jehoiada also opened that ar- 
 moury which David had made in the temple 
 nd distributed to the captains of hundreds as 
 
 also to the priests and Levites, all the spears 
 and quivers, and what kind of weapons soever it 
 contained, and set them armed round about the 
 temple, so as to touch one another's hands, anc 
 by that means excluding those from entering 
 that ought not to enter. So they brought the 
 child into the midst of them, and put on him 
 the royal crown, and Jehoiada anointe-1 him 
 with the oil, and made him king ; and the mul- 
 titude rejoiced, and made a noise, and cried, 
 " God save the king ! " 
 
 3. When Athaliah unexpectedly heard the 
 tumult and the acclamations, she was greatly 
 disturbed in her mind, and suddenly issued out 
 of the royal palace with her own army: and 
 when she was come to the temple, the priests 
 received her ; but as for those that stood round 
 about the temple, as they were ordered by the 
 high priest to do, they hindered the armed men 
 that followed her from going in. But when 
 Athaliah saw the child standing upon a pillar 
 with the royal crown upon his head, she rent 
 her clothes, and cried out vehemently, and 
 commanded [her guards] to kill him that had 
 laid snares for her, and endeavoured to deprive 
 her of the government ; but Jehoiada called for 
 the captains of hundreds, and commanded them 
 to bring Athaliah to the valley of Cedron, and 
 slay her there, for he would not have the temple 
 defiled with the punishments of this pernicious 
 woman ; and he gave order, that if any one came 
 near to help her, he should be slain also ; where- 
 fore those that had the charge of her slaughter 
 took hold of her, and led her to the gate of the 
 king's mules, and slew her there. 
 
 4. Now as soon as what concerned Athaliah 
 was, by this stratagem, after this manner, de- 
 spatched, Jehoiada called together the people 
 and armed men into the temple, and made them 
 take an oath that they would be obedient to the 
 king, and take care of his safety, and of the 
 safety of his government; after which he obliged 
 the king to give security [upon oath] that he 
 would worship God, and not transgress the laws 
 of Moses. They then ran to the house of Baal, 
 which Athaliah and her husband Jehoram had 
 built, to the dishonour of the God of their 
 fathers, and to the honour of Ahab, and de- 
 molished it, and slew Mattan, that had his 
 priesthood. But Jehoiada intrusted the care 
 and custody of the temple to the priests and 
 Levites, according to the appointment of king 
 David, and enjoined them to bring their regular 
 bumt-pff erings twice a day, and to offer incense 
 according to the law. He also ordained some of 
 the Levites, with the porters, to be a guard to 
 the temple, that no one that was defiled might 
 come there. 
 
 5. And when Jehoiada had set these things in 
 order, he, with the captains of hundreds, and 
 the rulers, and all the people, took Jehoash out 
 of the temple into the king's palace, and when 
 he had set him upon the king's throne, the 
 people shouted for joy, and betook themselves 
 to feasting, and kept a festival for many days : 
 but the city was quiet upon the death of 
 Athaliah. Now Jehoash was seven years old 
 when he took the kingdom : his mother's name 
 was Zibiah, of the city Beersheba. And all the 
 time that Jehoiada lived, Jehoash was careful 
 that the laws should be kept, and very zealous 
 in the worship of Go<l; and when he was of age, 
 he married two wives, who were given to him by 
 the high priest, by whom were born to him both 
 sons and daughters. And thus much uhall suffice 
 to have related concerning king Jehoash, how he 
 escaped the treachery of Athaliah, and how Vs 
 received the kingdom.
 
 CHAP. vnr.J 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 205 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 HAZAEL MAKES AN EXPEDITION AaAUTST TH* 
 PEOPLE OF ISRAEL AND THE INHABITANTS OF 
 JERUSALEM ; JEHtJ DIES, AND JEHOAHAZ SUC- 
 CEEDS IN THE GOVERNMENT; JEHOASH, THE 
 
 KING OF JERUSALEM, AT FIRST IS CAREFUL 
 ABOUT THE WORSHIP OF GOD, BUT AFTERWARDS 
 
 BECOMES IMPIOUS, AND COMMANDS ZECHARIAH 
 TO BE STONED ; WHEN JEHOASR [KING OF 
 JUDAH] WAS DEAD, AMAZIAH SUCCEEDS HIM IN 
 THE KINGDOM. 
 
 1. Now Hazael, king of Syria, fought against 
 the Israelites and their king Jehu, and spoiled 
 the eastern parts of tho country beyond Jordan, 
 which belonged to the Reubenites and Gadites, 
 and to [the half tribe of] Manassites; as also 
 Gilead and Bashan, burning and spoiling, and 
 offering violence to all that he laid his hands on, 
 and this without impeachment from Jehu, who 
 made no haste to defend the country when it 
 was under this distress : nay, he was become a 
 contemner of religion, and a despiser of holiness, 
 and of the laws, and died when he had reigned 
 over the Israelites twenty-seven years. He was 
 buried in Samaria, and left Jehoahaz his son his 
 successor in the government. 
 
 2. Now Jehoash, king of Jerusalem, fmd an 
 inclination to repair the temple of God : HO he 
 called Jehoiada, and bade him send the Levites 
 and priests through all the country, to require 
 half a shekel of silver for every head, towards 
 the rebuilding and repairing of the temple, which 
 was brought to decay by Jehoram, and" Athaliah 
 Itud her sons. But the high priest did not do 
 this, as concluding that no one would willingly 
 pay that money; but in the twenty-third year of 
 Jehoash's reign, when the king sent for him and 
 the Levites, and complained that they had not 
 obeyed what he enjoined them, and still com- 
 manded them to take care of the rebuilding the 
 temple, he used this stratagem for collecting 
 the money, with which the multitude was 
 pleased. He made a wooden chest, and closed 
 it up fast on all sides, but opened one hole in it ; 
 he then set it in the temple beside the altar, and 
 desired every one to cast into it, through the 
 hole, what he pleased, for the repair of the tem- 
 ple. This contrivance was acceptable to the 
 people; and they strove one with another, and 
 brought in jointly large quantities of silver and 
 gold; and when the scribe and the priest that 
 were over the treasuries had emptied the chesi, 
 and counted the money in the king's presence, 
 they then set it in its former place, and thus 
 did they every dav. But when the multitude 
 appeared to have cast in as much as was wanted, 
 the high priest Jehoiada, and king Joash, sent 
 to hire masons and carpenters, and to buy large 
 pieces of timber, and of the most curious sort; 
 and when they had repaired the temple, they 
 made use of the remaining gold and silver, 
 which was not a little, for bowls, and basons, 
 and cups, and other vessels, and they went on 
 to make the altar every day fat with sacrifices of 
 great value. And these things were taken 
 suitable care of as long as Jehoiada lived. 
 
 3. But as soon as he was dead, (which was 
 when he had lived one hundred and thirty 
 years, having been a righteous, and in every 
 respect a very good man, and was buried in the 
 king's sepulchres at Jerusalem, because he had 
 recovered the kingdom to the family of David,) 
 king Joash betrayed his [want off care about 
 God. The principal men of the people were 
 corrupted also together with him, and offended 
 
 against their duty, and what their constitution 
 determined to be most for their good. Hereupon 
 God was displeased with the change that was 
 made on the king, and on the rest of the people, 
 and sent prophets to testify to them what their 
 actions were, and to bring them to leave off their 
 wickedness : but they had gotten such a strong 
 affection, and so violent an inclination to it, that 
 neither could the examples of those that had 
 offered affronts to the laws, and had been so 
 severely punished, they and their entire families ; 
 nor could the fear of what the prophets now 
 foretold bring them to repentance, and turn 
 them back from their course of transgression to 
 their former duty. But the king commanded 
 that Zechariah, the son of the high priest Je- 
 hoiada, should be stoned to death in the temple, 
 and forgot the kindnesses he had received from 
 his father ; for when God had appointed him to 
 prophesy, he stood in the midst of the multi- 
 tude, and gave this counsel to them and to the 
 king: That they should act righteously; and 
 foretold to them, that if they would not hearken 
 to his admonitions, they should suffer a heavy 
 punishment : but as Zechariah was ready to die, 
 he appealed to God as a witness of what he suf- 
 fered for the good counsel he had given them, 
 and how he perished, after a most severe and 
 violent manner, for the good deeds his father had 
 done to Joash. 
 
 4. However, it wag not long before the king 
 suffered punishment for his transgressions; for 
 when Hazael, king of Syria, made an irruption 
 into his country, and when he had overthrown 
 Gath, and spoiled it, he made an expedition 
 against Jerusalem; upon which Jehoash was 
 afraid, and emptied all the treasures of God, and 
 of the king [before him,] and took down the gifts 
 that had been dedicated [in the temple,] and sent 
 them to the king of Syria, and procured so much 
 by them, that he was not besieged, nor his king- 
 dom quite endangered; but Hazael was induced, 
 by the greatness of the sum of money, not to 
 bring bis army against Jerusalem ; yet Jehoash 
 fell into a severe distemper, and was set upon by 
 his friends, in order to revenge the death of 
 Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada. These laid 
 snares for the king, and slew him. He was in- 
 deed buried in Jerusalem, but not in the royal 
 sepulchres of his forefathers, because of his im- 
 piety. He lived forty-seven years; and Ama- 
 ziah hia son succeeded him in the kingdom. 
 
 5. In the one-and-twentieth year of the reign 
 of Jehoash, Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, took the 
 government of the Israelites in Samaria, and held 
 it seventeen years. He did not [properly] imi- 
 tate his father, but was guilty of as wicked 
 practices as those that first had God in contempt. 
 But the king of Syria brought him low, and, by 
 expeditions against him, did so greatly reduce his 
 forces, that there remained no more of so great 
 an army than ten thousand armed men, and fifty 
 horsemen. He also took away from him his 
 great cities, and many of them also, and de- 
 stroyed his army. And these were the things 
 that the people of Israel suffered, according to 
 the prophecy of Elisha, when he foretold that 
 Hazael should kill his master, and reign over the 
 Syrians and Damascens. But when Jehoahaz 
 was under such unavoidable miseries, he had re- 
 course to prayer and supplication to God, and 
 besought him to deliver him out of the hands of 
 Hazael, and not overlook him, and give him np 
 into his hands. Accordingly, God accepted ot 
 his repentance instead of virtue : and, being de- 
 sirous rather to admonish those that might re- 
 pent, and not to determine that they should be 
 utterly destroyed, he granted him deliverance
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK IE. 
 
 from war and dangurs. So the country having ob- 
 tained peace, returned again to its former con- 
 dition, and flourished as before. 
 
 6. Now after the death of Jehoahaz, his son 
 Joash took the kingdom, in the thirty-seventh 
 year of Jehoash, the king of the tribe of Judah. 
 This Joash then took the kingdom of Israel in 
 Samaria, for he had the same name with the king 
 of Jerusalem, and he retained the kingdom six- 
 teen years. He was a good man,* and in his dis- 
 position was not at all like his father. Now at 
 this tune it was that when Elisha the prophet, 
 who was already very old, and was now fallen 
 into a disease, the king of Israel came to visit 
 him ; and when he found him very near death, 
 he began to weep in his sight, and lament, to call 
 him his father, and his weapons, because it was 
 by his means that he never made use of his 
 weapons against his enemies, but that he over- 
 came his own adversaries by his prophecies, 
 without fighting ; and that he was now depart- 
 ing this life, and leaving him to the Syrians that 
 were already armed, and to other enemies of his 
 that were under their power ; so he said it was 
 not safe for him to live any longer, but that it 
 would be well for him to hasten to his end, and 
 depart out of this life with him. As the king 
 was thus bemoaning himself, Elisha comforted 
 him, and bade the king bend a bow that was 
 brought him ; and when the king had fitted the 
 bow for shooting, Elisha took hold of his hands 
 and bade him shoot; and when he had shot three 
 arrows, and then left off, Elisha said, " If thou 
 hadst shot more arrows, thou hadst cut the king- 
 dom of Syria up by the roots ; but since thou 
 hast been satisfied with shooting three times 
 only, thou shalt fight and beat the Syrians no 
 more times than three, that thou mayest recover 
 that country which they cut off from thy king- 
 dom in the reign of thy father." So when the 
 king had heard that, he departed ; and a little 
 while after the prophet died. He was a, man 
 celebrated for righteousness, and in eminent. 
 favour with God. He also performed wonder- 
 ful and surprising works by prophecy, and such 
 as were gloriously preserved in memory by the 
 Hebrews. He also obtained a magnificent 
 funeral, such a one indeed as it was fit a person 
 o beloved of God should have. It also hap- 
 pened, that at that time certain robbers cast a 
 man, whom they had slain, into Elisha's grave, 
 and upon his dead body coming close to Elisha's 
 body, it revived again. And thus far have we 
 enlarged about the actions of Elisha the pro- 
 phet, both such as he did while he was alive, 
 and how he had a divine xwwer after his death 
 also. 
 
 7. Now mxm the death ot Hazae., the king of 
 Syria, that kingdom came to Adad, his son, with 
 whom Joash, king of Israel, made war; and 
 when he had beaten him in three battles, he took 
 from him all that country, and all those cities 
 and villages, which his father Hazael had taken 
 from the kingdom of Israel, -which came to pass, 
 however, according to the prophecy of Elisha. 
 But when Joash happened to die, he was buried 
 in Samaria; and the government devolved upon 
 his son Jeroboam. 
 
 * This character of Joash given here seems a direct 
 contradiction to our copies, which say (2 Kines xiii. 11) 
 that "he did evil in the sight of the Lord ; Tud ttuu ric 
 departed not from all the sina of Jeroboam, the son of 
 J< ebat, who made Israel to sin : he walked therein " It 
 Is most likely that these different characters of Joash 
 suited the different parts of his reign, and that, accord- 
 to our copies, he was at first a wicked king, ana 
 urda was reclaimed, and became a good one, 
 according to Josephua. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 HOW AHAZIAH MADE AN EXPEDITION AGAINST THE 
 EDOMITES AND AMALEKITES, AND CONQUERED 
 THEM; BUT WHEN HE AFTERWARDS MADE WAB 
 AGAINST JOASH, HE WAS BEATEN, AND NOT LONG 
 AFTER, WAS SLAIN; AND UZZIAH SUCCEEDED IN 
 THE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 1. Now, in the second year of the reign of 
 Joash over Israel, Amaziah reigned over the tribe 
 of Judah in Jerusalem. His mother's name was 
 Jehoaddan, who was born at Jerusalem. He 
 was exceeding careful of doing what was right, 
 and this when he was very young; but when he 
 came to the management of affairs, and to the 
 government, he resolved that he ought first ot 
 all to avenge his father Jehoash, and to punish 
 those his friends that had laid violent hands upon 
 him ; so he seized upon them all, and put them 
 to death ; yet did he execute no severity on their 
 children, but acted therein according to the laws 
 of Moses, who did not think it just to punish 
 children for the sins of their fathers. After thia 
 he chose him an army out of the tribe of Judah 
 
 I and Benjamin, of such as were in the flower of 
 thair age, and about twenty years old; and when 
 he had collected about three hundred thousand 
 of them together, he set captains of hundreds 
 over them. He also sent to the king of Israel, 
 and hired a hundred thousand of his soldiers for 
 a hundred talents of silver, for he had resolved 
 to laake an expedition against the nations of the 
 Amalekites, and Edomites, and Gebalites : but as 
 he was preparing for his expedition, and ready 
 to go out to the war, a prophetgave him counsel to 
 dismiss the army of the Israelites, because they 
 were bad men, and because God foretold that he 
 should be beaten, if he made use of them as 
 auxiliaries; but that he should overcome his 
 enemies, though b>> had but a few soldiers, when 
 it so pleased God. And when the king grudged 
 at his having already paid the hire of the Israel- 
 ites, the prophet exhorted him to do what God 
 would have him, because he should thereby ob- 
 tain much wealth from God. So he dismissed 
 them, and said, that he still freely gave them 
 their pay, and went himself with his own army, 
 and made war with the nations before men- 
 tioned ; and when he had beaten them in battle, 
 he slew of them ten thousand, and took as many 
 prisoners alive, whom he brought to the great 
 rock which is in Arabia, and threw them down 
 from it headlong. He also brought away a great 
 deal of prey and vast riches from those nations ; 
 but while Amaziah was engaged in this expedi- 
 tion, thpse Israelites whom he had hired and 
 then dismissed, were very uneasy at it, and tak- 
 ing their dismission for an affront, (as supposing 
 that this would not have been done to them but 
 out of contempt,) they fell upon his kingdom, 
 and proceeded to spoil the country as far as 
 Beth-horon, and took much cattle, and slew 
 three thousand men. 
 
 2. Now upon the victory which Amaziah had 
 gotten, and the great acts he had done, he was 
 puffed up, and began to overlook God, who had 
 given him the victory, and proceeded to worship 
 
 I Tine gods he hail brought out of the country of 
 
 | the Amalekites. So a prophet came to him, and 
 oaiu, mat he wondered how he could esteem these 
 
 j to be gods, who had been of no advantage to their 
 own people who paid them honours, nor had de- 
 livered them from his hands, but had overlooked 
 the destruction of many of them, and had suf- 
 fered themselves to be carried captive, for that 
 they had been carried to Jerusalem in the same
 
 JHAP. X.j 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 207 
 
 manner as any one might have taken some of the 
 enemy alive, and led them thither. This reproof 
 provoked the king to anger, and he commanded 
 the prophet to hold his peace, and threatened to 
 punish him if he meddled with his conduct. So 
 he replied, that he should indeed hold his peace ; 
 but foretold withal, that God would not overlook 
 his attempts for innovation ; but Amaziah was 
 not able to contain himself under that prosperity 
 which God had given him, although he had af- 
 fronted God thereupon ; but in a vein of inso- 
 lence he wrote to Joash, the king of Israel, and 
 commanded that he and all his people should be 
 obedient to him, as they had formerly been obe- 
 dient to his progenitors, David and Solomon ; 
 and he let him know, that if he would not be so 
 wise as to do what he commanded him, he must 
 fight for his dominion. To which message Joash 
 returned this answer in writing : "King Joash 
 to king Ainaziah, There was a vastly tall cypress- 
 tree in mount Lebanon, as also a thistle ; this 
 thistle sent to the cypress-tree to give the cy- 
 press-tree's daughter in marriage to the thistle's 
 son ; but as the thistle was saying this, there 
 came a wild beast, and trode down the thistle : 
 and this may be a lesson to thee, not to be so am- 
 bitious, and to have a care, lest upon thy good 
 success in the fight against the Amalekites, thou 
 growest BO proud, as to bring dangers upon thy- 
 self, and upon thy kingdom." 
 
 3. When Amaziah had read this letter, he was 
 more eager upon this expedition : which, I sup- 
 pose, was by the impulse of God, that ho might 
 be punished for his offence against him. But aa 
 soon as he led out his army against Joash, and 
 they were going to join battle with him, there 
 came such a fear and consternation upon the 
 army of Amaziah, as God, when he is displeased, 
 sends upon men, and discomfited them, even be- 
 fore they came to a close fight. Now it hap- 
 pened, that as they were scattered about by the 
 terror that was upon them, Amaziah was left 
 alone, and was taken prisoner by the enemy : 
 whereupon Joash threatened to kill him, unless 
 he would persuade the children of Jerusalem to 
 open their gates to him, and receive him and his 
 army into the city. Accordingly Amaziah was 
 so distressed, and in such fear of his life, that he 
 made his enemy to be received into the city. So 
 Joash overthrew a part of the wall, of the length 
 of four hundred cubits, and drove his chariot 
 through the breach into Jerusalem, and led 
 Amaziah captive along with him ; by which 
 means he became master of Jerusalem, and took 
 away the treasures of God, and carried off all the 
 gold and silver that was in the king's palace, and 
 then freed the king from captivity, and returned 
 to Samaria. Now these things happened to the 
 people of Jerusalem in the fourteenth year of 
 the reign of Amaziah, who after this had a con- 
 spiracy made against him by his friends, and 
 fled to the city Laehish, and was there slain by 
 the conspirators, who sent men thither to kill 
 him. So they took up his dead body, and car- 
 ried it to Jerusalem, and made a royal funeral 
 for him. Tliis was the end of the life of Amaziah, 
 because of his innovations in religion, and his 
 contempt of God, when he had lived fifty-four 
 years, and had "reigned twenty-nine. He was 
 ucceeded by his son, whose name was Uzziah. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CONCERNING JEROBOAM, KING Of ISRAEL, AND 
 JONAH, THB PROPHET ; AND HOW, AFTEB THE 
 DEATH OF JEROBOAM, HIS SON ZECHARIAH 
 
 TOOK THE GOVERNMENT ; HOW UZ7JAH, KING 
 OF JERUSALEM, SUBDUED THE NATIONS THAT 
 WERE RODND ABOUT HIM ; AND WHAT BEFELL 
 HIM WHEN HE ATTEMPTED TO OFFKB INCENBH 
 TO GOD. 
 
 1. IN the fifteenth year of the reign of Amajnah, 
 Jeroboam the son of Joash reigned over Israel in 
 Samaria forty years. This king was guilty of 
 contumely against God,* and became very wicked 
 in worshipping of idols, and in many undertak- 
 ings that were absurd and foreign. He was also 
 the cause of ten thousand misfortunes to the 
 people of Israel. Now one Jonah, a prophet, 
 foretold to him that he should make war with 
 the Syrians, and conquer their army, and enlarge 
 the bounds of his kingdom on the northern parts, 
 to the city Hamath, and on the southern, to the 
 lake Asphaltitis ; for the bounds of the Canaan - 
 ites originally were these, as Joshua their general 
 had determined them. So Jeroboam made an 
 expedition against the Syrians, and overran all 
 their country, as Jonah had foretold. 
 
 2. Now I cannot but think it necessary for me, 
 who have promised to give an accurate account 
 of our affairs, to describe the actions of this pro- 
 phet, so far as I have found them written down 
 in the Hebrew books. Jonah had been com- 
 manded by God to go to the kingdom of Nine- 
 veh ; and, when he was there, to publish it in 
 that city, how it should lose the dominion it 
 had over the nations. But he went not, out of 
 fear : nay, he ran away from God to the city of 
 Joppa, and finding a ship there, he went into it, 
 and sailed to Tarsus, to Cilicia ; f and upon the 
 rise of a most terrible storm, which was so great 
 that the ship was in danger of sinking, the mari- 
 ners, the master, and the pilot himself, made 
 prayers and vows, in case they escaped the sea. 
 But Jonah lay still and covered [in the ship,] 
 without imitating anything that the others did ; 
 but as the waves grew greater, and the sea be- 
 came more violent by the winds, they suspected, 
 as' is usual in such cases, that some one of the 
 persons that sailed with them was the occasion 
 of this storm, and agreed to discover by lot 
 which of them it was. When they had cast 
 lots, the lot fell upon the prophet ; and when 
 they asked him whence he came, and what he 
 had done? he replied, that he was a Hebrew 
 by nation, and a prophet of Almighty God ; and 
 he persuaded them to cast him into the sea, if 
 they would escape the danger they were in, for 
 that he was the occasion of the storm which was 
 upon them. Now at the first they durst not do 
 so, as esteeming it a wicked thing to cast a man, 
 who was a stranger, and who had committed his 
 life to them, into such manifest perdition ; but 
 at last, when their misfortunes overbore them, 
 and the ship was just going to be drowned, and 
 when they were animated to da it by the prophet 
 
 * What I have above noted concerning Jehoash, 
 seems to me to have been true also concerning his son 
 Jeroboam IL viz., that although he began wickedly, 
 and " was the cause of a vast number of misfortunes to 
 the Israelites" in those his first years, so does it seem 
 to me that he was afterwards reclaimed, and became a 
 good king, and so wiis encouraged by the prophet 
 Jonah, and had great successes afterwards. 
 
 f When Jonah is said in our Bibles to have gone to 
 Tarshish, (Jonah i. 3,) Josephus understood it, that he 
 went to Tarsus in Cilicia, or to the Mediterranean 
 Sea, upon which Tarsus lay. 
 
 t This ancient piece of religion, of casting lots to 
 discover great sinners, seems a remarkable remnant of 
 the ancient tradition which prevailed of old over all 
 mankind, that Providence used to interpose visibly in 
 all human affairs, and never to bring notorious judg- 
 ments but for notorious stna.
 
 208 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK 12. 
 
 himself, and by the fear concerning their own 
 safflty, they cast him into the sea ; upon which 
 the sea became calm. It is also related that 
 Jonah was swallowed down by a whale, and that 
 when he had been there three days, and as many 
 nights, he was vomited out upon the Euxine Sea, 
 and this alive, and without any hurt upon Ms 
 body ; and there, on his prayer to God, he ob- 
 tained pardon for his sins, and went to the city 
 Nineveh, where he stood so as to be heard ; and 
 preached, that in a very little time they should 
 lose the dominion of Asia ; and when he had 
 published this, he returned. Now, I have given 
 this account about him, as I found it written [in 
 our books.] 
 
 3. When Jeroboam the king had passed his 
 life in great happiness, and had ruled forty 
 years, he died, and was buried in Samaria, and 
 his son Zechariah took the kingdom. After the 
 same manner did TJzziah, the son of Amaziah, 
 begin to reign over the two tribes in Jerusalem, 
 in the fourteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam. 
 He was born of Jecoliah, his mother, who was a 
 citizen of Jerusalem. He was a good man, and 
 by nature righteous and magnanimous, and very 
 laborious in taking care of the affairs of his king- 
 dom. He made an expedition also against the 
 Philistines, and overcame them in battle, and 
 took the cities of Gath and Jabneh, and brake 
 down their walls ; after which expedition, he 
 assaulted those Arabs that adjoined to Egypt. 
 He also built a city upon the Red Sea, and put 
 a garrison into it. He after this overthrew the 
 Ammonites, and appointed that they should pay 
 tribute. He also overcame all countries as far 
 as the bounds of Egypt, and then began to take 
 care of Jerusalem itself for the rest of his life ; 
 for he rebuilt and repaired all those parts of the 
 wall which had either fallen down by length of 
 time, or by the carelessness of the kings his pre- 
 decessors, as well as all that part which had been 
 thrown down by the king of Israel, when he took 
 his father Amaziah prisoner, and entered with 
 him into tiie city. Moreover, he built a great 
 many towers, of one hundred and fifty cubits 
 high, and built walled towns in desert places, 
 and put garrisons into them, and . dug many 
 channels for conveyance of water. He had also 
 many beasts for labour, and an immense num- 
 ber of cattle ; for his country was fit for pas- 
 turage. He was also given to husbandry, and 
 took care to cultivate the ground, and planted 
 it with all sorts of plants, and sowed it with all 
 sorts of seeds. He had also about him an army 
 composed of chosen men, in number three hun- 
 dred and seventy thousand, who were governed 
 by general officers and captains of thousands, 
 who were men of valour and of unconquerable 
 strength, in number two thousand. He also 
 divided his whole army into bands, and armed 
 them, giving every one a sword, with brazen 
 bucklers and breastplates, with bows and slings ; 
 and besides these, he made for them many engines 
 of war for besieging of cities, such as cast stones 
 and darts, with grapplers, and other instruments 
 of that sort. 
 
 4. While Uzziah was in this state, and making 
 preparations [for futurity,] he was corrupted in 
 his mind by pride, and became insolent, and this 
 on account of that abundance which he had of 
 things that will soon perish, and despised that 
 power which is of eternal duration, (which con- 
 sisted in piety towards God, and in the observa- 
 tion of his laws ;) so he fell by the occasion of 
 the good success of his affairs, and was carried 
 headlong into those sins of his father, which the 
 splendour of that prosperity he enjoyed, and 
 the glorious actions he had done, led him into. 
 
 while he was not able to govern himself well 
 about them. Accordingly, when a remarkable 
 day was come, and a general festival was to be 
 celebrated, he put on the holy garment, and 
 went into the temple to offer incense to God 
 upon the golden altar, which he was prohibited 
 to do by Azariah the high priest, who had four- 
 score priests with him, and who told him that it 
 was not lawful for him to offer sacrifice, and that 
 "none besides the posterity of Aaron were per- 
 mitted so to do." And when they cried out, 
 that he must go out of the temple, and not 
 transgress against God, he was wroth at them, 
 and threatened to kill them, unless they would 
 bold their peace. In the meantime, a great 
 earthquake shook the ground,* and a rent was 
 made in the temple, and the bright rays of the 
 sun shone through it, and fell upon the king's 
 face, insomuch that the leprosy seized upon 
 him immediately; and before the city, at a 
 place called Eroge, half the mountain broke off 
 from the rest on the west, and rolled itself four 
 furlongs, and stood still at the east mountain, 
 till the roads, as well as the king's gardens, were 
 spoiled by the obstruction. Now, as soon as the 
 priests saw that the king's face was infected with 
 the leprosy, they told him of the calamity he 
 was under, and commanded that he should go 
 out of the city as a polluted person. Hereupon 
 he was so confounded at the sad distemper, and 
 sensible that he was not at liberty to contradict, 
 that he did as he was commanded, and under- 
 went this miserable and terrible punishment for 
 an intention beyond what befitted a man to have, 
 and for that impiety against God which was im- 
 plied therein. So he abode out of the city for 
 some time, and lived a private life, while his 
 son Jotham took the government; after which 
 he died with grief and anxiety at what had hap- 
 pened to him, when he had lived sixty-eight 
 years, and reigned of them fifty -two; and wag 
 bulled by himself in hia own gardens. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 HOW ZECHARIAH, BHALLUM, MENAHEM, PEKA- 
 HIAH, AND PEKAH, TOOK THE GOVERNMENT 
 OVER THE ISRAELITES; AND HOW POL AND 
 TIGLATH PILESER MADE AN EXPEDITION 
 AGAINST THE ISRAELITES; HOW JOTHAM, THE 
 BON OP UZZIAH, REIGNED OVER THE TRIBE OF 
 JUDAH ; AND WHAT THINGS NAHUM PBOPHESD2D 
 AGAINST THE ASSYRIANS. 
 
 LI. Now when Zechariah, the son of Jero- 
 am, had reigned six months over Israel, he 
 was slain by the treachery of a certain friend of 
 his, whose name was Shaflum, the son of Jabesh, 
 who took the kingdom afterward, but kept it no 
 longer than thirty days ; for Menahem, the 
 general of his army, who was at that time in the 
 city of Tirzah, and heard of what had befallen 
 Zechariah, removed thereupo_n with all his 
 forces to Samaria, and joining battle with 
 Shallum, slew him: and when he had mad< 
 himself king, he went thence, and came to tne 
 city Tiphsah; but the citizens that were in it 
 shut their gates, and barred them against the 
 king, and would not admit him ; but in order to 
 be avenged on them, he burnt the country round 
 about it, and took the city by force, upon a 
 
 * This account of an earthquake at Jerusalem, and 
 of the consequences of the earthquake, is exceeding 
 like to a prophecy in Zech. xiv. 4, 5 ; in which mention 
 is made of "fleeing from that earthquake, as they fled 
 from this earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of 
 Judah."
 
 CHAP. XII. ] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 209 
 
 and being very much displeased at what 
 the inhabitants of Tiphsah had done, he slew 
 them all, and spared not so much as the infants, 
 without omitting the utmost instances of cruelty 
 and barbarity ; for he used such severity upon 
 his own countrymen, as would not be pardonable 
 with regard to -strangers who had been conquered 
 by him. And after this manner it was that this 
 Menahem continued to reign with cruelty and 
 barbarity for ten years ; but when Pul, king of 
 Assyria, had made an expedition against him, he 
 did not think meet to fight or engage in battle 
 with the Assyrians, but he persuaded him to 
 accept of a thousand talents of silver, and to go 
 away, and so put an end to the war. This sum 
 the multitude collected for Menahem, by exact- 
 _ fifty drachmae as poll-money for every head ;* 
 after which he died, and was buried in Samaria, 
 and left his son Pekahiah his successor in the 
 Itingdom, who followed the barbarity of his 
 father, and so ruled but two years only, after 
 which he was slain with his friends at a feast, 
 by the treachery of one Pekah, the general of 
 his horse, and the son of Remaliah, who bad 
 laid snares for him. Now this Pekah held the 
 government twenty years, and proved a wicked 
 man and a transgressor. But the king of As- 
 syria, whose name was Tiglath-Pileser, when he 
 had made an expedition against the Israelites, 
 and had overrun all the land of Gilead, and the 
 region beyond Jordan, and the adjoining country, 
 which is called Galilee, and Kadesh, and Hazor, 
 he made the inhabitants prisoners, and trans- 
 planted them into his own kingdom. And so 
 much shall suffice to have related here concern- 
 the king of Assyria. 
 
 , Now Jotham, the son of Uzziah, reigned 
 over the tribe of Judah in Jerusalem, being a 
 citizen thereof by his mother, whose name was 
 Jerusha. This king was not defective in any 
 virtue, but was religious towards God, and 
 righteous towards men, and careful of the good 
 of the city, (for what part soever wanted to be 
 repaired or adorned, he magnificently repaired 
 and adorned them. ) He also took care of the 
 foundations of the cloisters in the temple, and 
 repaired the walls that were fallen down, and 
 built very great towers, and such as were 
 almost impregnable ; and if anything else in his 
 kingdom had been neglected, he took great care 
 of it. He also made an expedition against the 
 Ammonites, and overcame them in battle, and 
 ordered them to pay tribute, a hundred talents, 
 and ten thousand cori of wheai, and as many of 
 barley, every year, and so augmented his king- 
 dom that his enemies could not despise it ; and 
 his own people lived happily. 
 
 3. Now there was at that tinw a prophet, 
 whose name was Nahum, who spaka after this 
 manner concerning the overthrow of the As- 
 syrians and of Nineveh: " Nineveh shall be a 
 pool of water in motion ;)* so shall all her people 
 
 * Dr Wall observes, "that when this Menahem is 
 said to have exacted of each man fifty shekels of silver, 
 to give Pul, the king of Assyria, a thousand talents, 
 this is the first public money raised by any [Israelite] 
 king by a tax on the people ; that they used before to 
 mise it out of the treasures of the house of the Lord, or 
 of their own house ; that it was a poll-money on the 
 rich men, at the rate of 8 or 7 per head ; and that 
 God;commanded, by Ezekiel, (ch. xlv. 8, and xlvi. 18,) 
 that no such thing should be done, but the king should 
 nave land of his own. 
 
 t This passage is taken out of the prophet Nahum, 
 (ch. ii. 8-13,) and is the only one that is given us almost 
 verbatim, but a little abridged, in all Josephus's known 
 writings : ky which quotation we learn that he made 
 use of the Hebrew original, as also we learn, that his 
 Hebrew copy considerably differed frm ours. 
 
 be troubled, and tossed, and go away by flight, 
 while they say one to another, Stand, stand still 
 seize their gold and silver, for there shall be no 
 one to wish them well, for they will rather sar 
 their lives than their money ; for a terrible con- 
 tention shall possess them one with another, and 
 lamentation, and loosing of the members, and 
 their countenances shall be perfectly black with 
 fear. And there will be the den of the lions, 
 and the mother of the young lions ! God says to 
 thee, Nineveh, that they shall deface thee, and 
 the lion shall no longer go out from thee to give 
 laws to the world." And, indeed, this prophet 
 prophesied many other things besides these con- 
 cerning Nineveh, which I do not think necessary 
 to repeat, and I here omit them, that I may not 
 appear troublesome to my readers; all which 
 things happened about Nineveh a hundred and 
 fifteen years afterward : so this may suffice to 
 have spoken of these matters. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 HOW, UPON THE DEATH OF JOTHAM, AHAZ REIGNED 
 IN HI3 STEAD ; AGAINST WHOM REZIN, KINO OF 
 SYBIA, AND PEKAH, KING OP ISRAEL, MADE 
 WAR ; AND HOW TIGLATH-PILESER. KING OF 
 ASSYRIA, CAME TO THE ASSISTANCE OF AHAZ, 
 AND LAID SYRIA WASTE, AND REMOVING THE 
 DAMASCENS INTO MEDIA, PLACED OTHER NA- 
 TIONS IN THEIR ROOM. 
 
 1. Now Jotham died when he had lived forty- 
 one years, and of them reigned sixteen, and was 
 buried in the sepulchres of the kings ; and the 
 kingdom came to his son Ahaz, who proved most 
 impious towards God, and a transgressor of the 
 laws of his country. He imitated the kings of 
 Israel, and reared altars in Jerusalem, and offered 
 sacrifices upon them to idols ; to which also 
 he offered his own son as a burnt-offering, accord- 
 ing to the prac bices of the Caananites. His other 
 actions were also of the same sort. Now as he 
 was going on in this mad course, Rezin, the king 
 of Syria and -Damascus, and Pekah, the king of 
 Israel, who were now at amity one with another, 
 made war with him ; and when they had driven 
 him into Jerusalem, they besieged that city a 
 long while, making but a small progress, on 
 account of the strength of its walls ; and when 
 the king of Syria had taken the city Elath, upon 
 the Red Sea, and had slain the inhabitants, he 
 peopled it with Syrians : and when he had slain 
 those in the [other] garrisons, and the Jews in 
 their neighbourhood, and had driven away much 
 prey, he returned with his army back to Damas- 
 cus. Now when the king of Jerusalem knew 
 that the Syrians were returned home, he, sup- 
 posing himself a match for the king of Israel, 
 drew out his army against him, and joining 
 battle with him was beaten ; and this happened 
 because God wao angry with him on account of 
 his many and great enormities. Accordingly, 
 there were slain by the Israelites one hundred 
 and twenty thousand of his men that day, whose 
 general, Amaziah by name, slew Zechariah the 
 king's son in his conflict with Ahaz, as well as 
 the governor of the kingdom, whose name was 
 Azricam. He also carried Elkanah, the general 
 of the troops of the tribe of Judah, into cap- 
 tivity. They also carried the women and chil- 
 dren of the tribe of Benjamin captives; and when 
 they had gotten a great deal of prey, they re- 
 turned to Samaria, 
 
 2. Now there was one Obed, who was a pro- 
 phet at that time in Samaria : he met the army
 
 210 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK nt. 
 
 before the city walls, and with a loud voice told 
 them that they had gotten the victory not by 
 their own strength, but by reason of the anger 
 God had against king Ahaz. And he complained 
 that they were not satisfied with the good suc- 
 cess they had had against him, but were so bold as 
 to make captives out of their kinsmen the tribes of 
 Judah and Benjamin. He also gave them coun- 
 sel to let them go home without doing them any 
 harm, for that if they did not obey God herein, 
 they should be punished. So the people of 
 Israel 3ame together to their assembly, and con 
 sidcred of these matters, when a man whose nara 
 was Berechiah, and who was one of chief repu- 
 tation in the government, stood up, and three 
 others with him, and said, " We will not suffer 
 the citizens to bring these prisoners into the city, 
 lest we be all destroyed by God : we have sins 
 enough of our own that we have committed 
 against him, as the prophets assure us ; nor 
 ought we therefore to introduce the practice 
 of new crimes. When the soldiers heard that, 
 they permitted them to do what they thought 
 best. So the forenamed men took the captives 
 and let them go, and took care of them, and gave 
 them provisions, and sent them to their own 
 country, without doing them any harm. How- 
 ever, thesf* four went along with them, and con- 
 ducted them as far as Jericho, which is not far 
 from Jerusalem, and returned to Samaria. 
 
 3. Hereupon king Ahaz, having been so tho- 
 roughly beaten by the Israelites, sent to Tiglath- 
 Pileser, king of the Assyrians, and sued for 
 assistance from him in this war against the Is- 
 raelites, and Syrians, and Damascens, with a 
 promise to send him much money ; he sent him 
 also great presents at the same time. Now this 
 king, upon the reception of those ambassadors, 
 came to assist Ahaz, and made war upon the 
 Syrians, and laid their country waste, and took 
 Damascus by force, and slew Rezin their king, 
 and transplanted the people of Damascus into 
 the Upper Media, and brought a colony of As- 
 syrians, and planted them in Damascus. He 
 also afflicted the land of Israel, and took many 
 captives out of it. While he was doing thus with 
 the Syrians, king Ahaz took all the gold that 
 was in the king's treasures, and the silver, and 
 what was in the temple of God, and what pre- 
 cious gifts were there, and he carried them with 
 him, and came to Damascus, and gave it to the 
 king of Assyria, according to his agreement. 
 So he confessed that he owed him thanks for all 
 that he had done for him, and returned to Jeru- 
 salem. Now this king was so sottish and 
 thoughtless of what was for his own good, that 
 he would not leave off worshipping the Syrian 
 gods when he was beaten by them, but he went 
 on in worshipping them, as though they would 
 procure him the victory ; and when he was 
 beaten again he began to honour the gods of the 
 Assyrians ; and he seemed more desirous to hon- 
 our any other gods than his own paternal and 
 true God, whose anger was the cause of his 
 defeat : nay, he proceeded to such a degree of 
 ic??ite and contempt [of God's worship,] that he 
 shut up the temple entirely, and forbade them 
 to bring in the appointed sacrifices, and took 
 way the gifts that had been given to it. And 
 when he had offered these indignities to God, 
 he died, having lived thirty-six years, and out of 
 them reigned sixteen ; and he left his non Heze- 
 kiah for hi* successor. 
 
 CHAPTER XIIL 
 
 HOW PEKAH DIED BY THE TREACHERY OF HO8HEA. 
 WHO WAS A LITTLE AFTER SUBDUED BY SHAI> 
 MANESER; AND HOW HEZEKIAH REIGNED IN- 
 STEAD OF AHAZ ; AND WHAT ACTIONS OF PIETY 
 AND JUSTICE HE DID. 
 
 1. ABOUT the same time Pekah the king of 
 Israel died, by the treachery of a friend of his, 
 whose name was Hoshea, who retained the king- 
 dom nine years' time ; but was a wicked man, 
 and a despiser of the divine worship : and Shal- 
 maneser, the king of Assyria, made an expedition 
 against him, and overcame him, (which must 
 have been because he had not God favourable 
 nor assistant to him,) and brought him to sub- 
 mission, and ordered him to pay an appointed 
 tribute. Now m the fourth year of the reign of 
 Hoshea, Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, began to 
 reign in Jerusalem ; and his mother's name was 
 Abijah, a citizen of Jerusalem. His nature was 
 good, and righteous, and religious ; for when he 
 came to the kingdom, he thought that nothing 
 was prior, or more necessary, or more advan- 
 tageous, to himself and to his subjects, than to 
 worship God. Accordingly, he called the people 
 together, and the priests, and the Levites, and 
 made a speech to them, and said, "You are 
 not ignorant how, by the sins of my father, who 
 transgressed that sacred honour which was due 
 to God, you have had experience of many and 
 great miseries, while you were corrupted in your 
 mind by him, and were induced to worship those 
 which he supposed to be gods : I exhort you, 
 therefore, who have learned, by sad experience 
 how dangerous a thing impiety is, to put that 
 immediately out of your memory, and to purify 
 yourselves from your former pollutions, and to 
 open the temple to these priests and Levites who 
 are here convened, and to cleanse it with the 
 accustomed sacrifices, and to recover all to the 
 ancient honour which our fathers paid to it: 
 for by this means we may render God favour- 
 able, and h6 will remit the anger he hath had 
 to us." 
 
 2. When the king ha<] .-aid this, the priests 
 opened the temple ; and when they had set in 
 order the vessels of God, and cast out what was 
 impure, they laid the accustomed sacrifices upon 
 the altar. The king also sent to the country 
 that was under him, and called the people to 
 Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of unleavened 
 bread, for it had been intermitted a long time, 
 on account of the wickedness of the foremen- 
 tioned kings. He also sent to the Israelites, and 
 exhorted them to leave off their present way of 
 living, and to return to their ancient practices, 
 and to worship God, for that he gave them leave 
 to come to Jerusalem, and to celebrate, all in 
 one body, the feast of unleavened bread ; and 
 this he said was by way of invitation only, and 
 to be done of their own good-will, and for their 
 own advantage, and not out of obedience to him, 
 because it would make them happy. But the 
 Israelites, upon the coming of the ambassadors, 
 and upon their laying before them what they 
 had in charge from their own king, were so fai 
 from complying therewith, that they laughed 
 the ambassadors to scorn, and mocked them as 
 fools : as also they affronted the prophets who 
 gave them the same exhortations, and foretold 
 what they would suffer if they did not return to 
 the worship of God, insomuch that at length 
 they caught them, and slew them ; nor did this 
 degree of transgressing suffice them, but thev 
 Had more wicked contrivances than what have
 
 CHAT. XIV.] 
 
 OF THE JEWS. 
 
 211 
 
 been described: nor did they leave off, before 
 God, as a punishment for their impiety, brought 
 them under their enemies : but of that more 
 hereafter. However, many there were of the 
 tribe of Manasseh, and of Zebulon, and of Issa- 
 char, who were obedient to what the prophets 
 exhorted them to do, and returned to the wor- 
 ship of God. Now all these came running to 
 Jerusalem, to Hezekiah, that they might wor- 
 ship God [there.] 
 
 3. When these men were come, king Hezekiah 
 went up into the temple, with the rulers and all 
 the people, and offered for himself seven bulls, 
 and as many rams, with seven lambs, and as 
 many kids oi the goats. The king also himself, 
 and the rulers, laid their hands on the heads of 
 the sacrifices, and permitted the priests to com- 
 plete the sacred offices about them. So they 
 both slew the sacrifices and burnt the burnt- 
 offerings, while the Levites stood round about 
 them, with their musical instruments, and sang 
 hymns to God, and played on their psalteries, 
 as they were instructed by David to do, and this 
 while the rest of the priests returned the music, 
 and sounded the trumpets which they had in 
 their hands : and when this was done, the king 
 and the multitude threw themselves down upon 
 their faces, and worshipped God. He also sac- 
 rificed seventy bulls, ore hundred rams, and 
 two hundred lambs. He also granted the mul- 
 titude sacrifices to feast upon six hundred oxen, 
 and three thousand other cattle ; and the priests 
 performed all things according to the law. 
 Now the king was so pleased therewith, that 
 he feasted with the people, and returned thanks 
 to God : but as the feast of unleavened bread 
 was now come, when they had offered that sacri- 
 fice which is called the Passover, they after that 
 offered other sacrifices for seven days. When 
 the king had bestowed on the multitude, besides 
 what they sanctified of themselves, two thou- 
 sand bulls, and seven thousand other cattle, the 
 same was done by the rulers ; for they gave them 
 a thousand bulls, and a thousand and forty other 
 cattle. Nor had this festival been so well ob- 
 served from the days of king Solomon, as it was 
 now first observed with great splendour and 
 magnificence ; and when the festival was ended, 
 they went out into the country, and purged it; 
 and cleansed the city of all the pollution of the 
 idols. The king also gave order that the daily 
 sacrifices should be offered, at his own charges, 
 and according to the law ; and appointed that 
 the tithes and first-fruits should be given by the 
 multitude to the priests and Levites, that they 
 might constantly attend upon divine service, 
 and never be taken off from the worship of God. 
 Accordingly, the multitude brought together all 
 sorts of their fruits to the priests and the Levites. 
 The king also made garners and receptacles for 
 these fruits, and distributed them to every one 
 of the priests and Levites, and to their children 
 and wives; and thus did they return to their 
 old form of divine worship. Now when the 
 king had settled these matters after the manner 
 already described, he made war upon the Philis- 
 tines, and beat them, and possessed himself of all 
 the enemy's cities, from Gaza to Gath : but the 
 king of Assyria sent to .him, and threatened to 
 overturn all his dominions, unless he would pay 
 him the tribute which his father paid him for- 
 merly; but king Hezekiah was not concerned 
 at his threatenings, but depended on his piety 
 towards God, and upon Isaiah the prophet, 
 byswhom he inquired, and accurately knew 
 all future events: and this much shall suf- 
 fice for the present concerning this king Heze- 
 kiah. 
 
 CHAPTEK XIV. 
 
 HOW SHALMANESER TOOK SAMARIA BY FORCB, 
 AND HOW HE TRANSPLANTED THE TEN TRIBES 
 INTO MEDIA, AND BROUGHT THE NATION OP THB 
 CDTHEANS INTO THEIR COUNTRY [iN THEIB 
 ROOM.] 
 
 1. WHEN Shalmaneser, the king of Assyria, 
 had it told him, that [Hoshea] the king of Is- 
 rael had sent privately to So, the king of Egypt, 
 desiring his assistance against him, he was very 
 angry, and made an expedition against Samaria, 
 in the seventh year of the reign of Hoshea; but 
 when he was not admitted [into the city] by the 
 king,* he besieged Samaria three years, and took 
 it by force in the ninth year of the reign of He- 
 shea, and in the seventh year of Hezekiah, king 
 of Jerusalem, and quite demolished the govern- 
 ment of the Israelites, and transplanted all the 
 people into Media and Persia, among whom he 
 took king Hoshea alive ; and when he had re- 
 moved these people out of this their land, he 
 transplanted other nations out of Cuthah, a 
 place so called (for there is [still] a river of that 
 name in Persia,) into Samaria, and into the 
 country of the Israelites. So the ten tribes of 
 the Israelites were removed out of Judea, nine 
 hundred and forty -seven years after their fore- 
 fathers were come out of the land of Egypt, and 
 possessed themselves of this country, but eight 
 hundredyears after Joshuahad been their leader, 
 and, as I have already observed, two hundred 
 and forty years, seven months, and seven days, 
 after they had revolted from Rehoboam, the 
 grandson of David, and had given the kingdom 
 to Jeroboam. And such a conclusion overtook 
 the Israelites, when they had transgressed the 
 laws, and would not hearken to the prophets, 
 who foretold that this calamity would come 
 upon them, if they would not leave off their evil 
 doings. What gave birth to these evil doings, 
 was that sedition which they raised against Re- 
 hoboam, the grandson of David, when they set 
 up Jeroboam, his servant, to be their king, who, 
 by sinning against God, and bringing them to 
 imitate his bad example, made God to be their 
 enemy, while Jeroboam underwent that punish- 
 ment which he justly deserved. 
 
 2. And now the king of Assyria invaded all 
 Syria and Phoenicia in a hostile manner. The 
 name of this king is also set down in the arch- 
 ives of Tyre, for he made an expedition against 
 Tyre in the reign of Eluleus ; and Menander at- 
 tests to it, who, when he wrote his Chronology, 
 and translated the Archives of Tyre into the 
 Greek language, gives us the following history : 
 " One whose name was Eluleus, reigned thirty- 
 six years : this king, upon the revolt of the Cit- 
 teans, sailed to them, and reduced them again 
 to a submission. Against these did the king of 
 Assyria send an army, and in a hostile manner 
 overrun all Phoenicia, but soon made peace with 
 them all, and returned back; but Sidon, and 
 Ace, and PaUetyrus, revolted; and many other 
 cities there were which delivered themselves up 
 to the king of Assyria. Accordingly, when the 
 Tyrians would not submit to him, the king re- 
 turned, and fell upon them again, while the 
 Phoenicians had furnished him with threescore 
 ships, and eight hundred men to row them ; and 
 
 This siege of Samaria was so very long, no less than 
 three year*, that it was no way improbable but that 
 parrnts, and particularly mttbere, might therein 
 reduced to eat their own chiiero, as the law of Moses 
 had threatened upon their diaobedlerce, (I/ev. rm. 
 29; eut. xxTiii. 63-57.)
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK, i- 
 
 when the Tynans had come upon them in twelve 
 ships, and the enemy's ships wer dispersed, they 
 took five hundred men prisoners ; and the repu- 
 tation of all the citizens of Tyre was thereby in- 
 creased ; but the king of Assyria returned, and 
 placed guards at their rivers and aqueducts, who 
 should hinder the Tyrians from drawing water. 
 This continued for five years ; and still the 
 Tyrians bore the siege, and drank of the water 
 they had out of the wells they dug." And this 
 a what is written in the Tyrian archives con- 
 cerning Shalmaneser, the king of Assyria. 
 
 3. But now the Cutheans, who removed into 
 Samaria, (for that is the name they have been 
 called by to this time, because they were brought 
 out of the country called Cuthah, which is a 
 country of Persia, and there is a river of the same 
 name in it,) each of them, according to their 
 nations, which were in number five, brought their 
 own gods into Samaria, and by worshipping 
 ;hem, as was the custom of their own countries, 
 they provoked Almighty God to be angry and 
 displeased at them, for a plague seized upon 
 them, by which they were destroyed ; and when 
 they found no cure for their miseries, they 
 
 learned by the oracle that they ought to worship 
 Almighty God, as the method for their deliver- 
 ance. So they sent ambassadors to the king of 
 Assyria, and desired him to send them some of 
 those priests of the Israelites whom he had taken 
 captive. And when he thereupon sent them, 
 and the people were by them taught the laws, 
 and the holy worship of God, they worshipped 
 him in a respectful manner, and the plague 
 ceased immediately; and indeed they continue 
 to make use of the very same customs to this 
 very time, and are called in the Hebrew tongue 
 Cutheans; but in the Greek Samaritans. And 
 when they see the Jews in prosperity, they pre- 
 tend that they are changed, and allied to them, 
 and call them kinsmen, as though they were de- 
 rived from Joseph, and had by that means an 
 original alliance with them : but when they see 
 them falling into a low condition, they say they 
 are no way related to them, and that the Jews 
 have no right to expect any kindness or marks of 
 kindred from them, but they declare that they 
 are sojourners that come from other countries. 
 But * f'hese we shall have a more seasonable op- 
 portunity to discourse hereafter. 
 
 BOOK X. 
 
 CONTAINING THE INTEBVAL OP ONE HUNDBED AND EIGHTY-TWO TEAB8 AND* A HALF, 
 
 FROM THE CAPTIVITY OF THE TEN TRIBES TO THE FIRST OF CYRUS. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 HOW SENNACHEBIB MADE AN EXPEDITION AOAINST 
 HEZEKIAH; WHAT THBEATENINGS KABSHAKEH 
 MADE TO HEZEKIAH WHEN SENNACHEBIB WAS 
 GONE AGAINST THE EGYPTIANS; HOW ISAIAH 
 THE PBOPHET ENCOUBAQED HIM; HOW SENNA- 
 CHEBIB, HAVING FAILED OP SUCCEUS IN ZGYPT, 
 RETURNED THENCE TO JEBUSALEM ; AND HOW, 
 UPON HIS FINDING HIS ARMY DESTROYED, HE 
 BETDRNED HOME; AND WHAT BEFELL HIM A 
 LITTLE AFTEBWABD. 
 
 1. IT was now the fourteenth year of the go- 
 vernment of Hezekiah, king of the two tribes, 
 when the king of Assyria, whose name was Sen- 
 nacherib, made an expedition against him wijh 
 a great army, and took all the cities of the tribes 
 of Judah and Benjamin by force; and when he 
 was ready to bring his army against Jerusalem, 
 Hezekiah sent ambassadors to him beforehand, 
 and promised to submit, and pay what tribute 
 he should appoint. Hereupon Sennacherib, 
 when he heard of what offers the ambassadors 
 made, resolved not to proceed in the war, but 
 to accept of the proposals that were made him : 
 and if he might receive three hundred talents of 
 silver and thirty talents of gold, he promised 
 that he would depart in a friendly manner ; and 
 he gave security upon oath to the ambassadors 
 that he would then do him no harm, but go vway 
 as he came. So Hezekiah submitted, and empHed 
 bis treasures, and sent the money, as supposing 
 he should be freed from his enemy, and from any 
 further distress about his kingdom. Accordingly, 
 the Assyrian king took it, and yet had no regard 
 to what he had promised; but while he himself 
 
 went to the war against the Egyptians and 
 Ethiopians, he left his general Rabshakeh, and 
 two other of his principal commanders, with 
 great forces, to destroy Jerusalem. The names 
 of the two other commanders were Tartan and 
 Rabsaris. 
 
 2. Now as soon as they were come before the 
 walls, they pitched their camp, and sent mes- 
 sengers to Hezekiah, and desired that they might 
 speak with him; but he did not himself come 
 out to them for fear, but he sent three of his 
 most intimate friends : the name of the one was 
 Eliakim, who was over the kingdom, and Shebna, 
 and Joah the recorder. So these men came 
 out, and stood over against the commanders of 
 the Assyrian army; and when Rabshakeh saw 
 them, he bade them go and speak to Heze- 
 kiah in the manner following : That Senna- i 
 cherib, the great king,* desires to know of him, 
 on whom it is that he relies and depends, in fly- 
 ing from his lord, and will not hear him, nor 
 admit his army into the city? Is it on account 
 of the Egyptians, and in hopes that his army 
 would be beaten by them? Whereupon he leti 
 him know, that if this be what he expects, he is 
 a foolish man, and like one who leans on a broken 
 reed; while such a one will not only fall down, 
 but will have his hand pierced and hurt by it. 
 That he ought to know he makes this expedition 
 against him by the will of God, who hath granted 
 this favour to him, that he shall overthrow the 
 kingdom of Israel, and that in the very same 
 manner he shall destroy those that are his sub- 
 
 * This title of Great King, both in our Bibles, (2 Kings 
 xviii. 19; Isa. xxxvi. 4,) and here in Josephus, is the 
 very same that Herodotus gives this Sennacherib.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 213 
 
 jects also. When Rabshakeh had made this 
 speech in the Hebrew tongue, for he was skilful 
 in that language, Eliakim was afraid lest the 
 multitude that heard him ihould be disturbed; 
 BO he desired him to speak in the Syrian tongue. 
 But the general understanding what he meant, 
 and perceiving the fear that he was in, he made 
 his answer with a greater and a louder voice, but 
 in the Hebrew tongue; and said, that "since 
 they all heard what were the king's commands, 
 they would consult their own advantage in de- 
 livering up themselves to us ; for it is plain that 
 both you and your king dissuade the people 
 from submitting by vain hopes, and so induce 
 them to resist; but if you be courageous, and 
 think to drive our forces away, I am ready to ie- 
 liver to you two thousand of these horses that 
 are with me for your use, if you can set as many 
 horsemen on their backs, and shew your strength ; 
 but what you have not, you cannot produce. 
 Why, therefore, do you delay to deliver up 
 yourselves to a superior force, who can take you 
 without your consent ? although it will be safer 
 for you to deliver yourselves up voluntarily, 
 while a forcible capture, when you are beaten, 
 must appear more dangerous, and will bring 
 further calamities upon you." 
 
 3. When the people, as well as ^iie ambas- 
 sadors, heard what the Assyrian commander 
 said, they related it to Hezekiah, who there- 
 upon put off his royal apparel, and clothed him- 
 self with sackcloth, and took the habit of a 
 mourner, and, after the manner of his country, 
 he fell upon his face, and besought God, and 
 entreated him to assist them, now they had no 
 other hope of relief. He also sent some of his 
 friends, and some of the priests, to the prophet 
 Isaiah, and desired that he would pray to God, 
 and offer sacrifices for their common deliverance, 
 and so put up supplications to him, that he 
 would have indignation at the expectations of 
 their enemies, and have mercy upon his people. 
 And when the prophet had done accordingly, an 
 oracle came from God to him, and encouraged 
 the king and his friends that were about him ; 
 and foretold, that their enemies should be beaten 
 without fighting, and should go cway in an igno- 
 minious manner, and not witl that insolence 
 which they now shew, for that (Sod would take 
 care that they should be destroyed. He also 
 foretold that Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, 
 should fail of his purpose against Egypt, and 
 that when he came home, he should perish by 
 the sword. 
 
 4. About the same time also the king of 
 Assyria wrote an epistle to Hezekiah, in which 
 he said he was a foolish man in supposing that 
 he should escape from being his servant, since 
 he had already brought under many and great 
 nations ; and he threatened, that, when he took 
 him, he would utterly destroy him, unless he 
 now opened the gates, and willingly received his 
 army into Jerusalem, When he had read this 
 epistle, he despised it, on account of tha trust 
 that he had in God ; but he rolled up the epistle, 
 and laid it up within the temple ; as he made 
 his further prayers to God for the city, and for 
 the preservation of all the people, the prophet 
 Isaiah said, that God had heard his prayer, and 
 that he should not at this time be besieged by 
 the king of Assyria ; * that, for the future, he 
 
 * What Josephus gays here is more distinct in our 
 Other copies, both of the Kings and of Isaiah, and 
 deserves very great consideration. The words are 
 these : " This shall be a sign unto thee : Ye shall eat 
 this year such as growethof itself; and the second year 
 that which gpringeth of the same ; and in the third 
 Fear sow ye, and renp, and plant vineyards, and eat 
 
 might be secure of not being at all disturbed by 
 him ; and that the people might go on peaceably, 
 and without fear, with their husbandry and 
 other affairs ; but after a little while, the king 
 of Assyria, when he had failed of his treacherous 
 designs against the Egyptians, returned home 
 without success on the following occasion : He 
 spent a long time in the siege of Pelusium ; and 
 when the banks that he had raised over against 
 the walls were of a great height, and when he 
 was ready to make an immediate assault upon 
 them, but heard that Tirhaka, king of the 
 Ethiopians, was coming, and bringing great 
 forces to aid the Egyptians, and was resolved to 
 march through the desert, and so to fall directly 
 upon the Assyrians, this king Sennacherib wa.5 
 disturbed of the news ; and, as I said before, 
 left Pelusium, and returned back without suc- 
 cess. Now, concerning this Sennacherib, Hero- 
 dotus also says, in the second book of his his- 
 tories, how " this king came against the Egyptian 
 king, who was the priest of Vulcan ; and that as 
 he was besieging Pelusium, he broke up the 
 siege on the following occasion : This Egyptian 
 priest prayed to God, and God heard his prayer, 
 and sent a judgment upon the Arabian king." 
 But in this Herodotus was mistaken when he 
 called this king not king of the Assyrians, but of 
 the Arabians ; for he saith, that " a multitude 
 of mice gnawed to pieces in one night both th 
 bows and the rest of the armour of the Assyrians ; 
 and that it was on that account that the king, 
 when he had no bows left, drew off his army 
 from Pelusium." And Herodotus does indeed 
 give us this history; nay, and Berosus, who 
 wrote of the affairs of Chaldea, makes mention 
 of this king Sennacherib, and that he ruled over 
 the Assyrians, and that he made an expedition 
 against all Asia and Egypt ; and says thus : 
 
 5. "Now when Sennacherib was returning 
 trom his Egyptian war to Jerusalem, he found 
 his army under Rabshakeh his general in danger 
 [by a plague,] for God had sent a pestilential 
 distemper upon his army ; and on the very first 
 night of the siege, a hundred fourscore and five 
 thousand, with their captains and generals, were 
 destroyed. So the king was in a great dread, 
 and in a terrible agony at this calamity; and 
 being in great fear for his whole army,_ he fled 
 with the rest of his forces to his own kingdom, 
 and to his city Nineveh ; and when he had abode 
 there a little while, he was treacherously as- 
 saulted, and died by the hands of his elder 
 sons,t Adrammelech and Seraser, and was slain 
 in his own temple, which was called Araske. 
 Now these sons of his were driven away, on 
 account of the murder of their father, by the 
 citizens, and went into Armenia, while Assara- 
 choddas took the kingdom of Sennacherib." 
 And this proved to be the conclusion of this 
 Assyrian expedition against the people of Jeru- 
 salem. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 HOW HEZEKIAH WAS SICK, AND BEADY TO PIE, 
 AND HOW GOD BESTOWED UPON HIM FIFTEEN 
 
 the fruit thereof," (2 Kings xix. 20 ; Isa. xxxvii. 30 ;) 
 which seem to me plainly to design a Sabbatic year, a 
 year of jubilee next after it, and the succeeding usual 
 labours and fruits of them on the third and following 
 
 t We are here to take notice, that these two sons of 
 Sennacherib that ran away into Armenia, became the 
 heads of two famous families there, the Arzerunii and 
 Genunii.
 
 214 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE J , 
 
 TEAKS LONGER LIFE, [AND SECURED THAT PRO- 
 MISE,] BY THB GOING BACK Off THi SHADOW 
 FEN DEGREES. 
 
 1. Now Hezekiah being thus delivered, after 
 a surprising manner, from the dread he wac in, 
 offered thank-offerings to God, with all his 
 people; because nothing else had destroyed 
 gome of their enemies, and made the rest so 
 fearful of undergoing the same fate, that they 
 departed from Jerusalem, but that divine assis- 
 tance : yet, while he was very zealous and dili- 
 gent about the worship oi God, did he soon 
 afterwards fall into a severo distemper, inso- 
 much that the physicians despaired of him, and 
 expected no good issue of his sickness, as neither 
 did his friends : and besides the distemper itself, 
 there was a very melancholy circumstance that 
 disordered the king, which was the consideration 
 that he was childless, and was going to die, and 
 leave his house and his government without a 
 successor of his own body : so he was troubled 
 at the thoughts of this his condition, and la- 
 mented himself, and entreated of God that he 
 would prolong his life for a little while till he 
 had some children, and not suffer him to depart 
 this life before he was become a father. Here- 
 upon God had mercy upon him, and accepted of 
 his supplication, because the trouble he was 
 under at his supposed death was not because he 
 was soon to leave the advantages he enjoyed in 
 the kingdom ; nor did he on that account pray 
 that he might have a longer life afforded him, 
 but in order to have sons, that might receive 
 the government after him. And XJod sent 
 Isaiah the prophet, and commanded him to in- 
 form Hezekiah, that within three days' time he 
 should get clear of hia distemper, and should 
 survive it fifteen years, and that he should have 
 children also. Now upon the prophet's saying 
 this, as God had commanded him, he could 
 hardly believe it, both on account of the dis- 
 temper he was under, which was very sore, and 
 by reason of the surprising nature of what was 
 told him ; so he desired that Isaiah would give 
 him some sign or wonder, that he might believe 
 him in what he had said, and be sensible that he 
 came from God : for tilings that are beyond ex- 
 pectation, and greater than our hopes, are made 
 credible by actions of the like nature. And 
 when Isaiah had asked him what sign he desired 
 to be exhibited, he desired that he would make 
 the shadow of the sun, which he had already 
 made to go down ten steps [or degrees] in his 
 house, to return again to the same place, * and 
 to make it as it was before. And when the pro- 
 phet prayed to God to exhibit this sign to the 
 king, he saw what he desired to see, and was 
 freed from his distemper, and went up to the 
 temple, where he worshipped God and made 
 vows to him. 
 
 2. At this time it was that the dominion of the 
 Assyrians was overthrown by th Medes ; f but 
 
 * As to this regress of the shadow, whether it were 
 physically done by the real miraculous revolution of 
 the earth in its diurnal motion backwards from east to 
 west for a while, and its return again to its old natural 
 revolution from west to east ; or whether it were not 
 apparent only, and performed by an aerial phosphorus, 
 which imitated the sun's motion backwards, while a 
 cloud hid the real sun, cannot now be determined. 
 Philosophers and astronomers will naturally incline to 
 the latter hypothesis. 
 
 t This expression of Josephus seems to be too 
 strong ; for although the Medes immediately cast of 
 the Assyrian yoke, and set up a king of their own. yet 
 it was some time before they overthrew Nineveh ; and 
 eome generations before they overthrew the Assyrian 
 W Babylonian empire and took Babylon. 
 
 of these things I shall trwat elsewhere. But the 
 king of Babylon, whose name was Baladan, sent 
 ambassadors to Hezekiah with presents, and de- 
 sired he would be his ally and his friend. So he 
 received the ambassadors gladly, and made them 
 a feast, and shewed them his treasures, and bis 
 armoury, and the other wealth he was possessed 
 of, in precious stones, and in gold, and gave 
 them presents to be carried to Baladan, and sent 
 them back to him. Upon which the prophet 
 Isaiah came to him, and inquired of him whence 
 those ambassadors came : to which he replied, 
 that they came from Babylon, from the king; 
 and that he had shewed them all he had, that 
 by the sight of his riches and forces he might 
 thereby guess at [the plenty he was in,] and be 
 able to inform the king of it. But the prophet 
 rejoined, and said, " Know thou, that, after a 
 little while, these riches of thine shall be carried 
 away to Babylon, and thy posterity shall be 
 made eunuchs there, and lose their manhood, 
 and be servants to the king of Babylon ; for that 
 God foretold such things would come to pass." 
 Upon which words Hezekiah was troubled, and 
 said, that he was himself unwilling that his na- 
 tion should fall into such calamities ; yet, since 
 it is not possible to alter what God had deter- 
 mined, he prayed that there might be peace 
 while he lived. Berosus also makes mention of 
 this Baladan, king of Babylon. Now as to this 
 prophet [Isaiah,] he was, by the confession ot 
 all, a divine and wonderful man in speaking 
 truth; and out of the assurance that he had 
 never written what was false, he wrote down 
 all his prophecies, and left them behind him in 
 books, that their accomplishment might be 
 judged of from the events by posterity. Nor 
 did this prophet do so alone ; but the others, 
 which were twelve in number, did the same. 
 And whatsoever is done among us, whether it be 
 good, or whether it be bad, ccmes to pass ac- 
 cording to their prophecies ; hts, of every one of 
 these we shall apeak hereafter. 
 
 IIL 
 
 HO"?/ MANA8SEH REIGNED AFTER HEZEKIAH ; AND 
 HOW, WHEN HE WAS IN CAPTIVITY, HE RB- 
 TDRNED TO GOD, AND WAS RESTORED TO HI8 
 KINGDOM, AND LEFT IT TO [HIS SON] AMON. 
 
 1. WHEN king Hezekiah had survived the in- 
 terval of time already mentioned, and had dwelt 
 all that time in peace, he died, having completed 
 fifty-four years of his life, and reigned twenty- 
 nine. But when his son Manasseh, whose 
 mother's name was Hephzibah, of Jerusalem, 
 had taken the kingdom, he departed from the 
 conduct of his father, and fell into a course of 
 life quite contrary thereto, and shewed himself 
 in his manners most wicked in all respects, and 
 omitted no sort of impiety, but imitated those 
 transgressions of the Israelites, by the commis- 
 sion of which against God, they had been de- 
 stroyed ; for he was so hardy as to defile the 
 temple of God, and the city, and the whole 
 country ; for by setting out from a contempt of 
 God, he barbarously slew all the righteous men 
 that were among the Hebrews ; nor would he 
 spare the prophets, for he every day slew some 
 of them, till Jerusalem was overflown with 
 blood. So God was angry at these proceedings, 
 and sent prophets to the king, and to the multi- 
 tude, by whom he threatened the very same 
 calamities to them which their brethren the 
 Israelites upon the like affronts offered to God.
 
 CHAP. IV. J 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEW8. 
 
 215 
 
 were now under. But these men would not be- 
 lieve their words, by which belief they might 
 have reaped the advantage of escaping all those 
 miseries ; yet did they in earnest learn that what 
 the prophets had told them was true. 
 
 2. And when they persevered in the same 
 course of life, God raised up war against them 
 from the king of Babylon and Chaldea, who 
 sent an army against Judea, and laid waste the 
 country ; and caught king Manasseh by treachery, 
 and ordered him to be brought to him, and had 
 him under his power to inflict what punishment 
 he pleased upon him. But then it was that 
 Manaiseh perceived what a miserable condition 
 he waj in, and esteeming himself the cause of 
 all, he besought God to render his enemy hu- 
 mane aad merciful to him. Accordingly, God 
 heard his prayer, and granted him what he 
 prayed for. So Manasseh was released by the 
 king of Babylon, and escaped the danger he was 
 in; and when he was come to Jerusalem, he 
 endeavoured, if it were possible, to cast out of 
 his memory those his former sins against God, 
 of which he now repented, and to apply himself 
 to a very religious life. He sanctified the tem- 
 ple, and purged the city, and for the remainder 
 of his days he was inteut on nothing but to re- 
 turn his thanks to God for his deliverance, and 
 to preserve him propitious to him all his life 
 long. He also instructed the multitude to do 
 the same, as having very nearly experienced 
 what a calamity he was fallen into by a contrary 
 conduct. He also rebuilt the altar, and offered 
 the legal sacrifices, as Moses commanded; and 
 when he had re-established what concerned the 
 divine worship, as it ought to be, he took care of 
 the security of Jerusalem : he did not only re- 
 pair the old walls with great diligence, but 
 added another wall to the former. He also 
 built very lofty towers, and the garrisoned 
 places before the city he strengthened, not only 
 in other respects, but with provisions of all sorts 
 that they wanted; and indeed, when he had 
 changed his former course, he sc led his life for 
 the time to come, that from the time of his re- 
 turn to piety towards God, he was deemed a 
 happy man, and a pattern for imitation. "When 
 therefore he had lived sixty-seven years, he 
 departed this life, haying reigned fifty-five 
 years, and was buried in his own garden ; and 
 the kingdom came to his son Amon, whose 
 mother's name was Meshalemeth, of the city of 
 Jotbath. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HOW AMON BEIGNED INSTEAD OF MAHAB8EH; AND 
 AJTEB AMON, BEIGNED JOSIAH ; HB WAS BOTH 
 BIGHTEODS AND BELIGIO0S. AS ALSO OON- 
 CBBNING HTJLDAH THE PKOPHKTESS. 
 
 1. THIS Amon imitated those works of his 
 father which he so insolently did when he was 
 young : so he had a conspiracy made against him 
 by his own servants, and was slain in his own 
 house, when he had lived twenty -four years, and 
 of them had reigned two; but the multitude 
 punished those that slew Amon, and buried him 
 with his father, and gave the kingdom to his son 
 Josiah, who was eight years old. His mother 
 was of the city of Boscath, and her name was 
 Jedidah. He was of a most excellent disposi- 
 tion, and naturally virtuous, and followed the 
 actions of king David, as a pattern and a rule to 
 him in the whole conduct of his life ; and when 
 ho was twelve years old, he gave demonstrations 
 of his religious and righteous behaviour; for he 
 
 brought the people to a sober way of living, and 
 exhorted them to leave off the opinion they had 
 of their idols, because they were not gods, but 
 to worship their own God ; and by reflecting on 
 the actions of his progenitors, he prudently cor- 
 rected what they did wrong, like a very elderly 
 man, and like one abundantly able to understand 
 what was fit to be done; and what he found 
 they had well done, he observed all the country 
 over, and imitated the same ; and thus he acted 
 in following the wisdom and sagacity of his own 
 nature, and in compliance with the advice and 
 instruction of the elders; for by following the 
 laws it was that he succeeded so well in the 
 order of his government, and in piety with re- 
 gard to the divine worship ; and this happened 
 because the transgressions of the former kings 
 were seen no more, but quite vanished away; 
 for the king went about the city, and the whole 
 country, and cut down the groves, which were 
 devoted to strange gods, and overthrew their 
 altars ; and if there were any gifts dedicated to 
 them by his forefathers, he made them igno- 
 minious, and plucked them down ; and by this 
 means he brought" the people back from their 
 opinion about them to the worship of God. He 
 also offered his accustomed sacrifices and burnt- 
 offerings upon the altar. Moreover, he ordained 
 certain judges and overseers, that they might 
 order the matters to them severally belonging, 
 and have regard to justice above all things, and 
 distribute it with the same concern they would 
 have about their own souL He also sent over 
 all the country, and desired such as pleased to 
 bring gold and silver for the repairs of the tem- 
 ple, according to every one's inclinations and abili- 
 ties ; and when the money was brought in, he 
 made one Maaseiah the governor of the city, and 
 Shaphan the scribe, and Joah the recorder, and 
 Eliakim the high priest, curators of the temple, 
 and of the charges contributed thereto; who 
 made no delay, nor put the work off at all, but 
 prepared architects, and whatsoever was proper 
 for those repairs, and set closely about the work. 
 So the temple was repaired by this means, and 
 became a public demonstration of the king's 
 piety. 
 
 2. But when he was now in the eighteenth 
 year of his reign, he sent to Eliakim the high 
 priest, and gave order, that out of what money 
 was overplus, he should cast cups, and dishes, 
 and vials, for ministration fin the temple ;] and 
 besides, that they should bring all the gold or 
 silver which was among the treasures, and ex- 
 pend that also in making cups and the like ves- 
 sels : but as the high priest was bringing out the 
 gold, he lighted upon the holy books of Moses 
 that were laid up in the temple ; and when he 
 had brought them out, he gave them to Shaphan 
 the scribe, who, when he had read them, came 
 to the king, and informed him that all was 
 finished which he had ordered to be done. He 
 also read over the books to him, who, when he 
 had heard them read, rent his garment, and 
 called for Eliakim, the high priest, and for 
 [Shaphan] the scribe, and for certain [other] of 
 his most particular friends, and sent them to 
 Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum, 
 (which Shallum was a man of dignity, and of an 
 eminent family,) and bade them go to her and 
 say that [he desired] she would appease God, 
 and endeavour to render him propitious to them, 
 for that there was cause to fear lest, upon the 
 transgression of the laws of Moses by their 
 forefathers, they should be in peril of going into 
 captivity, and of being cast out of their own 
 country; lest they should be in want of all 
 things, and so end their days miserably. When
 
 816 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK 
 
 the prophetess had heard this from the messen- 
 ger* that were scut to her by the king, she bade 
 them go back to tLe king, and say, that God had 
 already given sentence against them, to destroy 
 the people, and cast them out of their country, 
 and deprive them of all the happiness they en- 
 joyed ; which sentence none could set aside by 
 any prayers of theirs, since it was passed on ac- 
 count of their transgressions of the laws, and of 
 their not having repented in so long a time, 
 while the prophets had exhorted them to amend, 
 and had foretold the punishments that would 
 ensue on their impious practices ; which threat- 
 ening God would certainly execute upon them, 
 that they might be persuaded that he is God, 
 and had not deceived them in any respect as to 
 what he had denounced by has prophets ; that 
 yet, because Josiah was a righteous man, he 
 would at present delay those calamities, but 
 that, after his death, he would send on the 
 multitude what miseries he had determined for 
 them. 
 
 3. So these messengers, upon this prophecy of 
 the woman, came and told it to the king ; where- 
 upon he sent to the people everywhere, and 
 ordered that the priests and the Levites should 
 come together to Jerusalem; and commanded 
 that those of every age should be present also ; 
 and when they were gathered together, he first 
 read to them the holy books; after which he 
 stood upon a pulpit, in the midst of the multi- 
 tude, and obliged them to make a covenant, with 
 an oath, that they would worship God and keep 
 the laws of Moses. Accordingly, they gave their 
 assent willingly, and undertook to do what the 
 king had recommended to them. So they imme- 
 diately offered sacrifices, and that after an ac- 
 ceptable manner, and besought God to be gracious 
 and merciful to them. He also enjoined the 
 high priest, that if there remained in the temple 
 any vessel that was dedicated to idols, or to 
 foreign gods, they should cast it out ; so when a 
 great number of such vessels were got together, 
 he burnt them, and scattered their ashes abroad, 
 and slew the priests of the idols that were not of 
 the family of Aaron. 
 
 4. And when he had done thus in Jerusalem, 
 he came into the country, and utterly destroyed 
 what buildings had been made therein by king 
 Jeroboam, in honour of strange gods; and he 
 burnt the bones of the false prophets upon that 
 altar which Jeroboam first built; and, as the 
 prophet [Jadon,] who came to Jeroboam when he 
 was offering sacrifice, and when all the people 
 heard him, foretold what would come to pass 
 viz., that a certain man of the house of David, 
 Josiah by name, should do what is here men- 
 tioned. And it happened that those predictions 
 took effect after three hiuxdred and sixty-one 
 years. 
 
 5. Aftei these things, Josiah went also to such 
 other Israelites as had escaped captivity and sla- 
 Tery under the Assyrians, and persuaded them 
 to desist from their impious practices, and to 
 leave off the honours they paid to strange gods, 
 but to worship rightly their own Almighty God, 
 and adhere to him. He also searched the houses, 
 and the villages, and the cities, out of a suspicion 
 that somebody might have one idol or other in 
 private ; nay, indeed, he took away the chariots 
 [of the Sun] that were set up in his royal palace,* 
 which his predecessors had framed, and what 
 thing soever there was besides which they wor- 
 
 It is hard to reconcile the account in the second 
 book of Kings (ch. xxiii. 11) with this account in Jo- 
 Bephas, whose copi.-s are supposed to be here im- 
 perfect 
 
 shipped as a god. And when he had thus purged 
 all the country, he called the people to Jerusa- 
 lem, and there celebrated the feast of unleavened 
 bread, and that called the Passover. He also 
 gave the people for paschal sacrifices, young kids 
 of the goats, and lambs, thirty thousand, and 
 three thousand oxen for burnt-offerings. The 
 principal of the priests also gave to the priests 
 against the passover two thousand and six hun- 
 dred lambs ; the principal of the Levites also gave 
 to the Levites five thousand lambs, and five hun- 
 dred oxen, by which means there was great plenty 
 of sacrifices; and they offered these sacrifices 
 according to the laws of Moses, while every priest 
 explained the matter, and ministered to the mul- 
 titude. And indeed there had been no other fes- 
 tival thus celebrated by the Hebrews from tht 
 times of Samuel the prophet ; and the plenty of 
 sacrifices now was the occasion that all things 
 were performed according to the laws, and ac- 
 cording to thy custom of their forefathers. So 
 when Josiah had after this lived hi peace, nay, 
 in riches and reputation also, among all men, he 
 ended his life in the manner following. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ROW J08IAH FOUGHT WITH NECO [KING OF EGYPT, 
 AND WAS WOUNDED, AND DIED Df A LITTLE 
 7QIE AFTERWARDS ; AS ALSO HOW NECO CARRIED 
 JEHOAHAZ, WHO HAD BEEN MADE KING, INTO 
 EGYPT, AND DELIVERED THE KINGDOM TO JE- 
 HOIAKIM; AND [LASTLY,] CONCERNING JEBI 
 MIAH AND EZEKIEL. 
 
 1. Now Neco, king of Egypt, raised an army 
 and marched to the river Euphrates, in order ta 
 fight with the Medes and Babylonians, who had 
 overthrown the dominions of the Assy rians,'t' for 
 he had a desire to reign over Asia. Now when 
 he was come to the city Mendes, which belonged 
 to the kingdom of Josiah, he brought an army 
 to hinder him from passing through his own 
 country, in his expedition against the Medes. 
 Now Neco sent a herald to Josiah, and told him, 
 that he had not made his expedition against him, 
 but was making haste to Euphrates; and desired 
 that he would not provoke him to fight against 
 him, because he obstructed his march to the 
 place whither he had resolved to go. But Josiah 
 did not admit of this advice of Neco, but put 
 himself into a posture to hinder him from his in- 
 tended march. I suppose it was fate that pushed 
 him on to this conduct, that it might take an 
 occasion against him ; for as he was setting his 
 army in array,* and rode about in his chariot, 
 from one wing of his army to another, one of the 
 Egyptians shot an arrow at him, and put an end 
 to his eagerness for fighting; for, being sorely 
 wounded, he commanded a retreat to be sounded 
 for his army, and returned to Jerusalem, and died 
 of that wound ; and was magnificently buried in 
 the sepulchre of his fathers, when he had lived 
 thirty-nine years, and of them had reigned thirty- 
 one. But all the people mourned greatly for 
 him, lamenting and grieving on his account many 
 days; and Jeremiah the prophet composed an 
 elegy to lament him, which is extant till this 
 
 t This is a remarkable passage of chronology in Jo- 
 iephus, that about the latter end of the reign of Josiah, 
 the Medes and Babylonians overthrew the empire of 
 the Assyrians. 
 
 t This battle is esteemed the very same tu&c Hero- 
 dotus (b. ii. sect. 156) mentions, when he says, that 
 " Necao joined battle with the Syrians [or Jews] at 
 Magdolum [Megiddo,] and beat them." 
 
 I Whether Josephus here means the book of U
 
 CHAP. TL] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 217 
 
 time alo. Moreover, this prophet denounced 
 beforehand the sad calamities that were coming 
 Upon the city. He also left behind him in writ- 
 ing a description of that destruction of our nation 
 which has lately happened in our days, and the 
 taking of Babylon; nor was he the only pro- 
 phet who delivered such predictions beforehand 
 to the multitude; but so did Ezekiel also, who 
 was the first person that wrote, and left behind 
 him in writing two books, concerning these 
 events. Now these two prophets were priests by 
 birth, but of them Jeremiah dwelt in Jerusalem, 
 from the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah, 
 until the city and temple were utterly destroyed. 
 However, as to what befell this prophet, we will 
 relate it in its proper place. 
 
 2. Upon the death of Josiah, which we have 
 already mentioned, his son, Jehoahaz, by name, 
 took the kingdom, being about twenty-three 
 years old. He reigned in Jerusalem; and his 
 mother was Hamutal, of the city Libnah. He 
 was an impious man, and impure in his course 
 of life ; but as the king of Egypt returned from 
 the battle, he sent for Jehoahaz to come to him 
 to the city called Hamath,* which belongs to 
 Syria ; and when he was come, he put him in 
 bands, and delivered the kingdom to a brother 
 of his by the father's side, whose name was 
 Eliakim, and changed his name to Jehoiakim, 
 and laid a tribute upon the land of a hundred 
 talents of silver, and a talent of gold; and this 
 sum of money Jehoiakim paid by way of tribute ; 
 but Neco carried away Jehoahaz into Egypt, 
 where he died, when he had reigned three 
 months and ten days. Now Jehoiakim's mother 
 was called Zebudah, of the city Rumah. He 
 was of a wicked disposition, and ready to do mis- 
 chief; nor was he either religious towards God, 
 or good-natured towards men. 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 HOW NEBUCHADNEZZAR, WHEN HE HAD CON- 
 QUERED THE KING .OF EGYPT, MADE AN IX- 
 PEDITION AGAINST THE JEWS, AND SLEW JE- 
 HOIAKIM, AND MADE JEHOIACHIN, HI3 SON, 
 KING. 
 
 1. Xow in the fourth year of the reign of Je- 
 hoiakim, one whose name was Nebuchadnezzar 
 took the government over the Babylonians, who 
 at the same time went up with a great army to 
 the city Carchemish, which was at Euphrates, 
 upon a resolution he had taken to fight.with 
 Neco, king of Egypt, under whom all Syria then 
 was. And when Neco understood the intention 
 of the king of Babylon, and that this expedition 
 was made against him, he did not despise his 
 attempt, but made haste with a great band of 
 men to Euphrates to defend himself from Ne- 
 buchadnezzar; and when they had joined battle, 
 he was beaten, and lost many ten thousands [of 
 his soldiers] in the battle. So the king of Baby- 
 lon passed over Euphrates, and took all Syria, 
 as far as Pelusium, excepting Judea. But when 
 Nebuchadnezzar had already reigned four years, 
 which was the eighth of Jehoiakim'g government 
 over the Hebrews, the king of Babylon made an 
 
 Lamentations of Jeremiah, still extant, or to any other 
 like melancholy poem now lost, but extant in the days 
 of Joseph us, cannot now be determined. 
 
 * This ancient city Hamath, which is joined with 
 Arpad, or Aradus, and with Damascus, (2 Kings xviii. 
 14; Isa. xxxvi. 19; Jer. xlix. 23,) cities of Syria and 
 Phoenicia, near the borders of Judea, was also itself 
 evidently near the same borders. 
 
 expedition with mighty forces against the Jews 
 and required tribute of Jehoiakim, and threat^ 
 ened, on his refusal, to make war against him. 
 He was affrighted at his threatening, and bought 
 his peace with money, and brought the tribute 
 he was ordered to bring for three years. 
 
 2. But on the third year, upon hearing that 
 the king of the Babylonians made an expedition 
 against the Egyptians, he did not pay his tri- 
 bute ; yet was he disappointed of his hope, for 
 the Egyptians durst not fight at this time. And 
 indeed the prophet Jeremiah foretold every day 
 how vainly they relied on their hopes from 
 Egypt, and how the city would be overthrown 
 by the king of Babylon, and Jehoiakim the king 
 would be subdued by him. But what he thus 
 spake proved to be of no advantage to them, be- 
 cause there were none that should escape ; for 
 both the multitude, and the rulers, when they 
 heard him, had no concern about what they 
 heard ; but being displeased at what was said, 
 as if the prophet were a diviner against the 
 king, they accused Jeremiah ; and bringing him 
 before the court, they required that a sentence 
 and a punishment might be given against him. 
 Now all the rent gave their votes for his con- 
 demnation, but the elders refused, who prudently 
 sent away the prophet from the court [of the 
 prison,] and persuaded the rest to do Jeremiah 
 no harm ; for they said that he was not the only 
 person who foretold what would come to the 
 city, but that Micah signified the same before 
 him, as well as many others, none of whom suf- 
 fered anything of the kings that then reigned, 
 but were honoured as the prophets of God. So 
 they mollified the multitude with these worda, 
 and delivered Jeremiah from the punishment to 
 which he was condemned. Now when this 
 prophet had written all his prophecies, and the 
 people were fasting, and assembled at the tem- 
 ple, on the ninth month of the fifth year of Je- 
 hoiakim, he read the book he had composed of 
 foa predictions of what was to befall the city, 
 and the temple, and the multitude ; and when 
 the rulers heard of it, they took the book from 
 him, and bade him and Baruch the scribe to go 
 their ways, lest they should be discovered by 
 one or other ; but they carried the book, and 
 gave it to the king; so he gave order in the 
 presence of his friends, that his scribe should 
 take it and read it. When the king heard what 
 it contained, he was angry and tore it, and cast 
 it into the fire, where it was consumed. He 
 also commanded that they should seek for Jere 
 miah and Baruch the scribe, and bring them to 
 him, that they might be punished. However, 
 they escaped his anger. 
 
 3. Now a little time afterwards, the king of 
 Babylon made an expedition against Jehoiakim, 
 whom he received [into the city,] and this out 
 of fear of the foregoing predictions of this pro- 
 phet, as supposing that he should suffer nothing 
 that was terrible, because he neither shut the 
 gates, nor fought against him ; yet when he was 
 come into the city, he did not observe the cove- 
 nants he had made; but he slew such as were is 
 the flower of their age, and such as were of the 
 greatest dignity, together with their king Je- 
 hoiakim, whom he commanded to be thrown 
 before the walls, without any burial ; and made 
 his son Jehoiachin king of the country and of 
 the city: he also took the principal persons in 
 dignity for captives, three thousand in number, 
 and led them away to Babylon ; among whom 
 was the prophet Ezekiel, who was then but 
 young. And this was the end of king Jehoia- 
 kim, when he had lived thirty-six years, and of 
 them reigned eleven. But Jehoiachin succeeded
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JE\V8. 
 
 [BOOK X. 
 
 him in the kingdom, whose mother's name was 
 Nehushta; she was a citizen of Jerusalem. He 
 reigned three months and ten days. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THAT THE KING OF BABYLON REPENTED OF iiAK 
 ING JEHOIACHIN KING, AND TOOK HIM AWAY 
 TO BABYLON, AND DELIVERED THE KINGDOM TO 
 ZEDEKIAH. THIS KING WOULD NOT BELIEVE 
 WHAT WAS PREDICTED BY JEREMIAH AND EZE- 
 KIEL, BUT JOINED HIMSELF TO THE EGYPTIANS ; 
 WHO, WHEN THEY CAME INTO JUDEA, WERE 
 VANQUISHED BY THE KING OF BABYLON; AS 
 ALSO WHAT BBFELL JEREMIAH. 
 
 1. BUT a teiTor seized on the king of Babylon, 
 who had given the kingdom to Jehoiachin, and 
 that immediately ; he was afraid that he should 
 bear him a grudge, because of his killing his 
 father, and thereupon should make the country 
 revolt from him : wherefore he sent an army, 
 and besieged Jehoiachin in Jerusalem ; but be- 
 cause he was of a gentle and just disposition, he 
 did not desire to see the city endangered on his 
 account, but he cook his mother and kindred, 
 and delivered them to the commanders sent by 
 the king of Babylon, and accepted of their 
 oaths, that neither should they suffer any harm, 
 nor the city ; which agreement they did not ob- 
 serve for a single year, for the king of Babylon 
 did not keep it, but gave orders to his generals 
 to take all that were in the city captives, both 
 the youth and the handicraftsmen, and bring 
 them bound to him; their number was ten 
 thousand eight hundred and thirty-two ; as also 
 Jehoiachin, and his mother and friends; and 
 when these were brought to him, he kept them 
 in custody, and appointed Jehoiachin's uncle, 
 Zedekiah, to be king; and made liim take an 
 oath, that he would certainly keep the kingdom 
 for him, and make no innovation, nor ha^ anj 
 league of friendship with the Egyptians. 
 
 2. Now Zedekiah was twenty and one joars 
 old when he took the government ; and had the 
 same mother with his brother Jehoiakim, but 
 was a despiser of justice and of his duty, for 
 truly those of the same age with him were 
 wicked about him, and the whole multitude did 
 what unjust and insolent things they pleased ; 
 for which reason the prophet Jeremiah came 
 often to him, and protested to him, and insisted 
 that he must leave off his impieties and trans- 
 gressions, and take care of what was right, and 
 neither give ear to the rulers, (among whom 
 were wicked men, ) nor give credit to their false 
 prophets who deluded them, as if the king of 
 Babylon would make no more war against him, 
 and as if the Egyptians would make war against 
 hitrij and conquer him, since what they said was 
 not true ; and the events would not prove such 
 [as they expected. ] Now as to Zedekiah himself, 
 while he heard the prophet speak, he believed 
 him, and agreed to everything "as true, and sup- 
 posed it was for his advantage; but then his 
 friends perverted him, and dissuaded him from 
 what the prophet advised, and obliged him to do 
 what they pleasec' Ezekiel also foretold in 
 Babylon what calamities were coming upon the 
 people, which, when he heard, he sent accounts 
 of them unto Jerusalem ; but Zedekiah did not 
 believe their prophecies, for the reason follow- 
 ing : It happened that the two prophets agreed 
 with one another in what they said as in all 
 other things, that the city should be taken, and 
 Zedekiah himself should be taken captive ; but 
 Rzekiel disagreed with him, and said, that Ze- 
 
 dekiah should not see Babylon ; while Jeremiah 
 said to him, that the king of Babylon should 
 carry him away thither in bonds; and because 
 they did not both say the same thing as to this 
 circumstance, he disbelieved what they both ap- 
 peared to agree in, and condemned them as not 
 speaking truth therein, although all the things 
 foretold did come t pass according to theii 
 prophecies, as we shall shew upon a ft **er oppor- 
 tunity. 
 
 3. NowwhenZedekiahhadpreserveawe league 
 of mutual assistance he had made with the Baby- 
 lonians for eight years, he brake it, and revolted 
 to the Egyptians, in hopes, by their assistance, 
 of overcoming the Babylonians. When the king 
 of Babylon knew this, he made war against him 
 he laid his country waste, and took his fortified 
 towns, and came to the city Jerusalem itself to 
 besiege it : but when the king of Egypt heard 
 what circumstances Zedekiah his ally was in, he 
 took a great army with him, and came into 
 Judea, as if he would raise the siege ; upon 
 which the king of Babylon departed from Jeru- 
 salem, and met the Egyptians, and joined battle 
 with them, and beat them ; and when he had 
 put them to flight, he pursued them, and drove 
 them out of all Syria. Now as soon as the king 
 of Babylon was departed from Jerusalem, the 
 false prophets deceived Zedekiah, and said, that 
 the king of Babylon would not any more make 
 war against him or his people, nor remove them 
 out of their own country into Babylon ; and that 
 those then in captivity would return, with all 
 those vessels of the temple, of which the king of 
 Babylon had despoiled that temple. But Jere- 
 miah came among them, and prophesied what 
 contradicted those predictions, and what proved 
 to be true, that they did ill, and deluded the 
 king ; that the Egyptians would be of no advan- 
 tage to them, but that the king of Babylon 
 would renew the war against Jerusalem, and be- 
 siege it again, and would destroy the people by 
 famine, and carry away those that remained into 
 captivity, and would take away what they had 
 ^e spoils, and would carry off those riches that 
 vere iu the temple ; nay, that, besides this, he 
 would burn it, and utterly overthrow the city, 
 and that they should serve him and his posterity' 
 seventy years ; and then the Persians and the 
 Medes should put an end to their servitude, and 
 overthrow the Babylonians ; "and that we shall 
 be dismissed, and return to this land, and re- 
 build the temple, and restore Jerusalem."* 
 When Jeremiah said this, the greater part be- 
 lieved him ; but the rulers, and those that were 
 wicked, despised him, as one disordered in his 
 senses. Now he had resolved to go elsewhere, 
 to his own country, which was called Anathoth, 
 and was twenty furlongs distant from Jerusalem ; 
 and as he was going, one of the rulers met him, 
 and seized upon him, and accused him falsely, 
 as though he were going as a deserter to the 
 Babylonians ; but Jeremiah said that he accused 
 him falsely, and added, that he was only going 
 to his own country ; but the other would not 
 believe him, but seized upon him, and led him 
 away to the rulers, and laid an accusation against 
 him, under whom he endured all sorts of tor- 
 ments and tortures, and was reserved to be pun- 
 ished ; and this was the condition he was in for 
 some time, while he suffered what I have already 
 described unjustly. 
 
 4. Now, in the ninth year of the reign of Zede- 
 
 * Josephus says here, that Jeremiah prophesied not 
 only of the return of the Jews from the Babylonian cap. 
 tivity, and this under the Persians and Medes, but oi 
 their rebuilding the temple, and even the city Jerusa- 
 lem.
 
 OilAP. Vlii. j 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE J EWS. 
 
 219 
 
 Hah, on the tenth day of the tenth mouth, the 
 king of Babylon made a second expedition 
 against Jerusalem, and lay before it eighteen 
 months, and besieged it with the utmost appli- 
 cation. There came upon them also two of the 
 greatest calamities, at the same time that Jeru- 
 salem was besieged, a famine and a pestilential 
 distemper, and made ^i-eat havoc of them : and 
 though the prophet Jeremiah was in prison, he 
 did not rest, out cried out, and proclaimed aloud, 
 and exhorted the multitude to open their gates, 
 and admit the king of Babylon, for that, if they 
 did so, they should be preserved, and their whole 
 families; but if they did not so, they should 
 be destroyed; and he foretold, that if any one 
 stayed in the city, he should certainly perish by 
 one of these ways, either be consumed by the 
 famine, or slain by the enemy's sword ; but that 
 if he would fly to the enemy he should escape 
 death : yet did not these rulers who heard be- 
 lieve him, even when they were in the midst 
 of their sore calamities ; but they came to the 
 king, and, in their anger, informed him what 
 Jeremiah said, and accused him, and complained 
 of the prophet as of a madman, and one that 
 disheartened their minds, and, by the denuncia- 
 tion of miseries, weakened the alacrity of the 
 multitude, who were otherwise ready to expose 
 themselves to dangers for him and for their 
 country, while he, in a way of threatening, 
 warned them to fly to the enemy, and told them 
 that the city should certainly be taken, and be 
 utterly destroyed. 
 
 5. But for the king himself, he was not at all 
 irritated against Jeremiah, such was his gentle 
 and righteous disposition ; yet, that he might 
 not be engaged in a quarrel with those rulers at 
 such a time, by opposing what they intended, he 
 let them do with the prophet whatsoever they 
 would : whereupon, when the king had granted 
 them such a permission, they presently came 
 into the prison and took him, and let him down 
 with a cord into a pit full of mire, that he might 
 be suffocated, and die of himself. So he stood 
 up to the neck in the mire, which was all about 
 him, and so continued : but there was one of the 
 king's servants, who was in esteem with him, an 
 Ethiopian by descent, who told the king what a 
 state the prophet was in, and said that his 
 friends and his rulers had done evil in putting 
 the prophet into the mire, and "by that means 
 contriving against him that he should suffer u 
 death more bitter than that by his bonds only. 
 When the king heard this, he repented of his 
 having delivered up the prophet to the rulers, 
 and bade the Ethiopian take thirty men of the 
 king's guards, and cords with them, and what- 
 soever else they understood to be necessary for 
 the prophet's preservation, and to draw him up 
 immediately. So the Ethiopian took the men 
 that he was ordered to take, and drew up the 
 prophet out of the mire, and laft him at liberty 
 in the prison. 
 
 6. But when the king had sent to call him 
 privately, and inquired what he could say to 
 him from God, which might be suitable to his 
 present circumstances, and desired him to inform 
 aim of it, Jeremiah replied, that he had some- 
 what to say ; but he said withal, he should not 
 be believed, nor, if he admonished them, should 
 he be hearkened to ; " for," said he, " Thy 
 friends have determined to destroy me, as 
 though I had been guilty of some wickedness : 
 and where are now those men who deceived us, 
 and said that the king of Babylon would not 
 come and fight against us any more ? but I am 
 afraid now to speak the truth, lest thou shouldest 
 condemn me to die." And when the king had 
 
 assured him upon oath that he would neither 
 himself put him to death, nor deliver him up to 
 the rulers, he became bold upon that assurance 
 that was given him, and gave him this advice : 
 -That he should deliver the city up to the 
 Babylonians ; and he said, that it was God who 
 prophesied this by him, that [he must do so] if 
 he would be preserved, and escape out of the 
 danger he was in, and that then neither should 
 the city fall to the ground, nor should the temple 
 be burned ; but that [if he disobeyed,] he 
 would be the cause of these miseries coming 
 upon the citizens, and of the calamity that 
 would befall his whole house. When the king 
 heard this, he said that he would willingly do 
 what he persuaded him to, and what he declared 
 would be to his advantage, but that he was 
 afraid of those of his own country that had 
 fallen eway to the Babylonians, lest he should 
 be accusedi by them to the king of Babylon, and 
 be punished. But the prophet encouraged him, 
 and said he had no cause to fear such punish- 
 ment, for that he should not have the experience 
 of any misfortune, if he would deliver all up to 
 the Babylonians ; neither himself, nor his chil- 
 dren, nor his wives, and that the temple should 
 then continue unhurt. So when Jeremiah had 
 said this, the king let him go, and charged him 
 to betray what they had resolved on to none of 
 the citizens, nor to tell any of these matters to 
 any of the rulers, if they should have learned 
 that he had been sent for, and should inquire oi 
 him what it was that he was sent for, and what 
 he had said to him ; but to pretend to them 
 that he besought him that he might not be kept 
 in bonds and in prison. And indeed he said so 
 to them, for they came to the prophet, and 
 asked him what advice it was that he canie to 
 give the king relating to them : and thus I brn\ 
 finished what concerns this matter. 
 
 CHAPTEK V1IL 
 
 HOW THE KING OF BABYION TOOK JERUSALEM 
 AND BUBNT THE TEMPLE, AND BEHOVED THE 
 PEOPLE OF JEBUSALEM AND ZEDEKIAH TO BABY- 
 LON. AS ALSO, WHO THEY WEES THAT HAD 
 SUCCEEDED IN THE HIGH PRIESTHOOD UNDEB 
 THE KINGS. 
 
 1. Now the king of Babylon was very intent 
 and earnest upon the siege of Jerusalem ; and 
 he erected towers upon great banks of earth, 
 and from them repelled those that stood upon 
 the walls : he also made a great number of such 
 banks round about the whole city, the height of 
 which was equal to those walls. However, those 
 that were within bore the siege with courage 
 and alacrity, for they were not discouraged, 
 either by famine or by the pestilential distemper, 
 but were of cheerful minds hi the prosecution of 
 the war, although those miseries within op- 
 pressed them also ; and they did not suffer 
 themselves to be terrified, either by the contri- 
 vances of the enemy, or by their engines of war, 
 but contrived still different engines to oppose all 
 the other withal, till indeed there seemed to be 
 an entire struggle between the Babylonians and 
 the people of Jerusalem, who had the greater 
 sagacity and skill ; the former party supposing 
 they should be thereby too hard for the other, 
 for the destruction of the city ; the latter plac- 
 ing their hopes of deliverance in nothing else but 
 in persevering in such inventions, in opposition 
 to the other, as might demonstrate the enemy's 
 engines were useless to them- and this siege
 
 220 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 they endured for eighteen months, until they 
 were destroyed by the famine, and by the darts 
 which the enemy threw at them from the towers. 
 
 2. Now the city was taken on the ninth day 
 of the fourth month, in the eleventh year of the 
 reign of Zedekiab, They were indeed only 
 generals of the king of Babylon, to whom Ne- 
 buchadnezzar committed the care of the siege, 
 for he abode himself in the city of Biblah. The 
 names of these generals who ravaged and sub- 
 dued Jerusalem, if any one desire to know them, 
 were these: Nergal Sharezer, Samgar Nebo, 
 Rabsaris, Sarsechim, and Rabmag; and when 
 the city was taken about midnight, and the ene- 
 my's generals were entered into the temple, and 
 when Zedekiah was sensible of it, he took his 
 wives and his children, 'and his captains and 
 friends, and with them fled out of the city, 
 through the fortified ditch, and through the 
 desert ; and when certain of the deserters had 
 informed the Babylonians of this, at break of 
 day, they made haste to pursue after Zedekiah, 
 and overtook him not far from Jericho, and en- 
 compassed him about. But for those friends 
 and captains of Zedekiah who had fled out of 
 the city with him, when they saw their r.aemies 
 near them, they left him and dispersed them- 
 selves, some one way and some another, and 
 every one resolved to save himself ; so the ene- 
 my took Zedekiah alive, when he was deserted 
 by all but a few, with his children and his wives, 
 and brought him to the king. When he was 
 come, Nebuchadnezzar began to call him a 
 wicked wretch, and a covenant-breaker, and one 
 that had forgotten his former words, when he 
 promised to keep the country for him. He also 
 reproached him for his ingratitude, that when 
 he had received the kingdom from him, who had 
 taken it from Jehoiachin, and given it him, he 
 had made use of the power he gave him against 
 him that gave it : " but," said he, " God is great, 
 who hateth that conduct of thine, and hath 
 brought thee under us." And when he had 
 used these words to Zedekiah, he commanded 
 his sons and his friends to be slain, while Zede- 
 kiah and the rest of the captains looked on; 
 after which he put out the eyes of Zedekiah, 
 and bound him, and carried him to Babylon. 
 And these things happened to him,* as Jere- 
 miah and Ezekiel had foretold to him, that he 
 should be caught, and brought before the king 
 of Babylon, and should speak to him face to face, 
 and should see his eyes with his own eyes ; and 
 thus far did Jeremiah prophesy. But he was also 
 made blind, and brought to Babylon, but did 
 not see it, according to the prediction of Ezekiel. 
 
 3. We have said thus much, because it was 
 sufficient to shew the nature of God to such as 
 are ignorant of it, that it is various, and acts 
 many different ways, and that all events happen 
 after a regular manner, in their proper season, 
 and that it foretells what must come to pass. 
 It is also sufficient to shew the ignorance and in- 
 credulity of men, whereby they are not permitted 
 to foresee anything that is future, and are, with- 
 out any guard, exposed to calamities, so that it is 
 impossible for then? to avoid the experience of 
 those calamities. 
 
 4. And after this manner have the kings of 
 David's race ended their lives, being in number 
 twenty-one, until the last king, who altogether 
 reigned five hundred and fourteen years, and six 
 months, and ten days : of whom Saul, who was their 
 
 This observation of Josephus about the seeming 
 disagreement of Jeremiah, (ch. xxxii. 4 ; and xxxiv. 3 ; 
 and Ezek. xii. 13,) but real agreement at last, concern- 
 Ing the fate of Zedekiah is very true and very remark- 
 able. 
 
 first king,retained the government twenty years 
 though he was not of the same tribe with the rest. 
 5. And now it was that the king of Babylon 
 sent Nebuzaradan, the general of his army, to 
 Jerusalem, to pillage the temple ; who had it 
 also in command to burn it and the royal palace, 
 and to lay the city even with the ground, and to 
 transplant the people into Babylon. Accordingly, 
 he came to Jerusalem, in the eleventh year oi 
 king Zedekiah, pillaged the temple, and carried 
 out the vessels of God, both gold and silver, and 
 particularly that large laver which Solomon de- 
 dicated, as also the pillars of brass, and their 
 chapiters, with the golden tables and the candle- 
 sticks : and when he had carried these off, he 
 set nre to the temple in the fifth month, the 
 first day of the month, in the eleventh year of 
 the reign of Zedekiah, and in the eighteenth 
 year of Nebuchadnezzar ; he also burnt the 
 palace, and overthrew the city. Now the tem- 
 ple was burnt four hundred and seventy years, 
 six months, and ten days, after it was built. It 
 was then one thousand and sixty-two years, six 
 months, and ten days, from the departure out 
 of Egypt ; and from the Deluge to the destruc- 
 tion of the temple, the whole interval was one 
 thousand nine hundred and fifty-seven years, 
 six months, and ten days ; but from the genera- 
 tion of Adam, until this befell the temple, there 
 were three thousand five hundred and thirteen 
 years, six months, and ten days ; so great was 
 the number of years hereto belonging ; and what 
 actions were done during these years, we have 
 particularly related. But the general of the 
 Babylonian king now overthrew the city to the 
 very foundations, and removed all the people, 
 and took for prisoners the high priest Seraiah, 
 and Zephaniah the priest that was next to him, 
 and the rulers that guarded the temple, who 
 were three in number, and the eunuch who was 
 over the armed men, and seven friends of Zede- 
 kiah, and his scribe, and sixty other rulers ; all 
 whom, together with the vessels they had pil- 
 laged, he carried to the king of Babylon to Rib- 
 lah, a city of Syria. So the king commanded 
 the heads of the high priest and of the rulers 
 to be cut off there ; but he himself led all the 
 captives and Zedekiah to Babylon. He also led 
 Josedek the high priest away bound. He was 
 the son of Seraiah the high priest, whom the king 
 of Babylon had slain in Riblah, a city of Syria, 
 as we just now related. 
 
 6. And now, because we have enumerated the 
 succession of the kings, and who they were, and 
 how long they reigned, I think it necessary to 
 set down the names of the high priests, and who 
 they were that succeeded one another in the 
 high priesthood under the kings. The first high 
 priest then at the temple which Solomon built 
 was Zadok ; after him his son Achimas received 
 that dignity; after Achimas was Azarias ; his son 
 was Jorum, and Joram's son was Isus ; after hirn 
 was Axioramus ; his son was Phideas, and Phi- 
 deas' son was Sudeas, and Sudeas' son was Jue- 
 lus, and Juelus' son was Jotham, and Jotham's 
 son was Nerias, and Nerias' son was Odeas, and j 
 his son was Sallumus, and Sallumus' son was j 
 Elcias, and his son [was Azarias, and his son] was 
 Sareas^ and his son was Josedek, who was car- 
 ried captive to Babylon. All these received the 
 high priesthood by succession, the sons from 
 their father. 
 
 7. When the king was come to Babylon, he 
 kept Zedekiah in prison until he died, and buried 
 
 t I have here inserted in brackets this high priest 
 Azarias, though he be emitted in all Josephus's copies, j 
 out of the Jewish chronicle. Sedet Olam.
 
 CHAP. IX.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 221 
 
 him magnificently, and dedicated the vessels he 
 had pillaged out of the temple of Jerusalem to 
 his own gods, and planted the people in. the 
 country of Babylon, but freed the high priest 
 from his bonds. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 HOW NEBT3ZARADAN SET GEDALIAH OVER THE 
 JEWS THAT WERE LEFT IN JUDEA, WHICH GEDA- 
 LIAH WAS A LITTLE AFTERWARDS SLAIN BY 
 ISHMAEL ; AND HOW JOHANAN, AFTEB ISHMAEL 
 WAS DRIVEN AWAY, WENT DOWN INTO EGYPT 
 WITH THE PEOPLE ; WHICH PEOPLE NEBUCHAD- 
 NEZZAR, WHEN HE MADE ANlEXPEDITION AGAINST 
 THE EGYPTIANS, TOOK CAPTIVE AND BBOOOHT 
 THEM AWAY TO BABYLON. 
 
 1. Now the general of the army, Nebuzaradan, 
 when he had carried the people of the Jews into 
 captivity, left the poor, and those that had de- 
 serted, in the country ; and made one, whose 
 name was Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, a person 
 of a noble family, their governor ; which Gedaliah 
 waa of a gentle and righteous disposition. He 
 also commanded them that they should culti- 
 vate the ground, and pay an appointed tribute 
 to the king. He also took Jeremiah the prophet 
 out of prison, and would have persuaded him to 
 go along with him to Babylon, for that he had 
 been enjoined by the king to supply him with 
 whatsoever he wanted ; and if he did not like to 
 do so, he desired him to inform him where he 
 resolved to dwell, that he might signify the same 
 to the king. But the prophet had no mind to 
 follow him, nor to dwell anywhere else, but 
 would gladly live in the ruins of his country, 
 and in the miserable remains of it. When the 
 general understood what his purpose was, he 
 enjoined Gedaliah, whom he left behind, to take 
 all possible care of him, and to supply him with 
 whatsoever he wanted ; so when he had given 
 him rich presents, he dismissed him. Accord- 
 ingly, Jeremiah abode in a city of that country, 
 which was called Mispah ; and desired of Ne- 
 buzaradan that he would set at liberty his dis- 
 ciple Baruch, the son of Neriah, one of a very 
 eminent family, and exceeding skilful in the 
 language of his country. 
 
 2. When Nebuzaradan had done thus, he 
 jnade haste to Babylon; but as to those that fled 
 way during the siege of Jerusalem, and had 
 6een scattered over the country, when they heard 
 that the Babylonians were gone away, and had 
 left a remnant in the land of Jerusalem, and 
 those such as T*ere to cultivate the same, they 
 came together from all ports to Gedaliah to 
 Mispah. Now the rulers that were over them 
 were Johanan, the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah, 
 and Seraiah, and others beside them. Now there 
 was of the royal family one Ishmael, a wicked 
 man, and very crafty, who, during the siege of 
 Jerusalem, fled to Baalis, king of the Ammon- 
 ites, and abode with him during that time ; and 
 Gedaliah persuaded them, now they were there, 
 to stay with him, and to have no fear of the 
 Babylonians, for that if they would cultivate the 
 country, they should suffer no harm. This he 
 assured them of by oath; and said that they 
 should have him for their patror , and that if any 
 disturbance should arise, they should find him 
 ready to defend them. He also advised them to 
 dwell in any city, as every one of them pleased ; 
 and that they would send men along with his 
 own servants, and rebuild their houses upon the 
 old foundations, and dwell there; and he ad- 
 Monished them beforehand, that they should 
 make preparation, while the season lasted, cf 
 
 corn, and wine, and oil, that they might have 
 whereon to feed during the winter. When he 
 had thus discoursed to them, he dismissed them, 
 that every one might dwell in what part of the 
 country he pleased. 
 
 3. Now when this report was spread abroad a* 
 far as the nations that bordered on Judea, that 
 Gedaliah kindly entertained those that came to 
 him, after they had fled away, upon this [only] 
 condition, that they should pay tribute to the 
 king of Babylon, they also came readily to Geda- 
 liah, and inhabited the country. And when 
 Johanan, and the rulers that were with him, 
 observed the country, and the humanity of Geda- 
 liah, they were exceedingly in love with him, and 
 told him that Baalis, the king of the Ammon- 
 ites, had sent Ishmael to kill him by treachery, 
 and secretly that he might have the dominion 
 over the Israelites, as being of the royal family ; 
 and they said that he might deliver himself 
 from this treacherous design, if he would give 
 them leave to slay Ishmael, and nobody should 
 know it, for they told him they were afraid that 
 when he was killed by the other, the entire ruin 
 of the remaining strength of the Israelites would 
 ensue. But he professed that he did not believe 
 what they said, when they told him of such a 
 treacherous design, in a man that had been well 
 treated by him; because it was not probable that 
 one who, under such a want of all things, had 
 failed of nothing that was necessary for him, 
 should be found so wicked and ungrateful to- 
 wards his benefactor, that when it would be an 
 instance of wickedness in him not to save him 
 had he been treacherously assaulted by others, 
 to endeavour, and that earnestly, to kill him with 
 his own hand : that, however, if he ought to sup- 
 pose this information to be true, it was bettei 
 for himself to be slain by the other, than destroy 
 a man who fled to him for refuge, and intrusted 
 his own safety to him, and committed himself 
 to his disposal 
 
 4. So Johanan, and the rulers that were with 
 him, not being able to persuade Gedaliah, went 
 away : but after the interval of thirty days was 
 over, Ishmael came again to Gedaliah, to the 
 city of Mispah, and ten men came with him : 
 and when he had feasted Ishmael, and those 
 that were with him, in a splendid manner at his 
 table, and had given them presents, he became 
 disordered in drink, while he endeavoured to be 
 very merry with them : and when Ishmael saw 
 him in that case, and that he was drowned in 
 his cups to the degree of insensibility, and fallen 
 asleep, he rose up on a sudden, with his ten 
 friends, and slew Gedaliah and those that were 
 with him at the feast ; and when he had slain 
 them, he went out by night, and slew all the 
 Jews that were in the city, and those soldiers 
 also which were left therein by the Babylonians; 
 but the next day fourscore men came out of the 
 country with presents to Gedaliah, none of them 
 knowing what had befallen him ; when Ishmael 
 saw them, he invited them in to Gedaliah, and 
 when they were come in, he shut up the court 
 and slew them, and cast their dead bodies down 
 into a certain deep pit, that they might not be 
 seen ; but of these fourscore men Ishmael spared 
 those that entreated him not to kill them, till 
 they had delivered up to him what riches they 
 had concealed in the fields, consisting of their 
 furniture, and garments, and com : but he took 
 captive the people that were in Mispah, with 
 their wives and children ; among whom were the 
 daughters of king Zedekiah, whom Nebuzaradan, 
 the general of the army of Babylon, had left 
 with Gedaliah ; and when he had done thia, he 
 came to the king of the Ammonites.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK x. 
 
 6 But when Johanan and the rulers with him 
 heard of what was done at Mispah by Ishrnael, 
 and of the death of Gedaliah, they had indigna- 
 tion at it, and every one of them took his own 
 armed men, and came suddenly to fight with 
 Ishmael, and overtook him at the fountain in 
 Hebron : and when those that were carried away 
 captives by Ishmael saw Johanan and the rulers, 
 they were very glad, and looked upon them as 
 coming to their assistance, so they left him that 
 had carried them captives, and came over to 
 Johanan : then Ishmael, with eight men, fled to 
 the king of the Ammonites; but Johanan took 
 those whom he had rescued out of the hands of 
 Ishmael, and the eunuchs, and their wives and 
 children, and came to a certain place called 
 Mandara, and there they abode that day, for 
 they had determined to remove from thence and 
 go into Egypt, out of fear, lest the Babylonians 
 should slay them, in case they continued in the 
 country, and that out of anger at the slaughter 
 of Gedaliah, who had been by them set over it 
 for governor. 
 
 6. Now while they were under this delibera- 
 tion, Johanan, the son of Kareah, and the rulers 
 that were with him, came to Jeremiah the pro- 
 phet, and desired that he would pray to God, 
 that because they were at an utter loss what 
 they are to do, he would discover it to them, 
 and they sware that they would do whatsoever 
 Jeremiah should say to them : and when the 
 prophet said that he would be their intercessor 
 with God, it came to pass, that after ten days 
 God appeared to him, and said, that he should 
 inform Johanan and the other rulers and all the 
 people, that he would be with them while they 
 continued in that country, and take care of them, 
 and keep them from being hurt by the Baby- 
 lonians, of whom they were afraid ; but that he 
 would desert them if they went into Egypt ; and, 
 out of his wrath against them, would inflict the 
 same punishments upon them which they knew 
 their brethren had already endured. So when 
 the prophet had informed Johanan and the 
 people that God had foretold these things, he 
 was not believed, when he said that God com- 
 manded them to continue in that country ; but 
 they imagined that he said so to gratify Baruch, 
 his own disciple, and belied God, and that he 
 
 Eersuaded them to stay there, that they might 
 e destroyed by the Babylonians. Accordingly, 
 both the people and Johanan disobeyed the 
 council of God, which he gave them by the pro- 
 phet, and removed into Egypt, and carried J ere- 
 miah and Baruch along with them. 
 
 7. And when they were there. God signified 
 to the prophet that the king of Babylon was 
 about making an expedition against the Egyp- 
 tians, and commanded him to foretell to the 
 people that Egypt should be taken, and the king 
 of Babylon should slay some of them, and should 
 take others captive, and bring them to Babylon ; 
 which things came to pass accordingly ; for on 
 tbe^fifth year after the destruction of Jerusalem, 
 which was the twenty-third of the reign of 
 Nebuchadnezzar, he made an expedition against 
 Ccelesyria; and when he had possessed himself 
 of it, he made war against the Ammonites and 
 Moabites ; and when he had brought all those 
 nations under subjection, he fell upon Egypt, in 
 order to overthrow it ; and he blew the king that 
 then reigned,* and Bet up another: and he took 
 those Jews that were there captives, and led 
 
 * Herodotus says, this king of Egypt (Pharaoh Hophra, 
 . Apnea) waa , )aln by the Egyptians, as Jeremiah 
 wetoW his slaughter by kit enemies, (Jer. iliv. 29, 30 :) 
 ana that aa a sign ot the deitructloii of Egypt by Nebu- 
 
 them away to Babylon; and such was the end of 
 the nation of the Hebrews, as it hath been de- 
 livered down to us, it having twice gone beyond 
 Euphrates ; for the people of the ten tribes were 
 carried out of Samaria by the Assyrians in the 
 days of king Hoshea ; after which the people of 
 the two tribes that remained after Jerusalem 
 was taken [were carried away] by Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, the king of Babylon and Chaldea. Now 
 as to Shalmanezer, he removed the Israelites 
 out of their country, and placed therein the 
 nation of the Cutheans, who had formerly be- 
 longed to the inner parts of Persia and Media, 
 but were then called Samaritans, by taking the 
 name of the country to which they were re- 
 moved; but the king of Babylon, who brought 
 out the two tribes, f placed no other nation in 
 their country, by which means all Judea and 
 Jerusalem and the temple, continued to be a 
 desert for seventy years ; but the entire interval 
 of time which passed from the captivity of the 
 Israelites to the carrying away of the two tribes, 
 proved to be a hundred and thirty years, six 
 months, and ten days. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CONCERNING DANIEL, AND WHAT BEFEL HIM AT 
 BABYLON. 
 
 1. BCT now Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, 
 took some of the most noble of the Jews that 
 were children, and the kinsmen of Zedekiah 
 their king, such as were remarkable for the 
 beauty of their bodies and the comeliness of 
 their countenances, and delivered them into the 
 hands of tutors, and to the improvement to be 
 made by them. He also made some of them to 
 be eunuchs ; which course he took also with 
 those of other nations whom he had taken in the 
 flower of their age, and afforded them their diet 
 from his own table, and had them instructed in 
 the institutes of the country, and taught the 
 learning of the Chaldeans ; and they had now 
 exercised themselves sufficiently in that wisdom 
 which he had ordered they should apply them- 
 selves to. Now among these there were four of 
 the family of Zedekiah, of most excellent dis- 
 positions; the one of whom was called Daniel, 
 another Ananias, another Misael, and the fourth 
 Azarias : and the king of Babylon changed their 
 names, and commanded that they should make 
 use of other names. Daniel he called Baltasar : 
 Ananias, Shadrach; Misael, Meshach; and Aza- 
 rias, Abednego. These the king had in esteem, 
 and continued to love, because of the very ex- 
 cellent temper they were of, and because of 
 their application to learning, and the progress 
 they had made in wisdom. 
 
 2. Now Daniel and his kinsmen had resolved 
 to use a severe diet, and to abstain from those 
 kinds of food which came from the king's table, 
 and entirely to forbear to eat of all living 
 creatures: so he came to Ashpenaz, who was 
 that eunuch to whom the care of them was com- 
 mitted, J and desired him to take and spend 
 what was brought for them from the king ; but 
 to give them pulse and dates for their food, and 
 
 t We see here that Judea was left in a manner 
 desolate after the captivity of the two trib-s, and waa 
 not re-peopled with foreign colonies, perhaps as an In- 
 dication of Frovicence that the Jewa were to re-people 
 it without opposition themselves. 
 
 I Thikt DanHl was made one of there eunuchs ot 
 whom Isaiah prophesied, (Isa. irxix. 7,1 and the three 
 children hia companions also, seems to me plain, both 
 here in Jofephu*. and in our a pit a of Daniel (Dan. 
 i. 3. 6. 7. 11, 18.)
 
 CHAP. X.J 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OJ<' iHE JEWS. 
 
 1K3 
 
 anything else, besides the flesh of living cre% re. 
 that he pleased, for that their inclinations were 
 to that sort of food, and that they despised the 
 other. He replied, that he was ready to serve 
 them in what they desired, but he suspected 
 that they would be discovered by the king, from 
 their meagre bodies, and the alteration of -their 
 countenances; because it could not be avoided 
 but their bodies and colours must be changed 
 with their diet, especially while they would be 
 clearly discovered by the finer appearance of the 
 other children, who would fare better, and thus 
 they should bring him into danger, and occasion 
 him to be punished: yet did they persuade 
 Arioch, who was thus fearful to give them what 
 food they desired for ten days, by way of trial ; and 
 in case the habit of their bodies were not altered, 
 to go on in the same way, as expecting that they 
 should not be hurt thereby afterwards ; but if 
 he saw them look meagre, and worse than the 
 rest, he should reduce them to their former diet. 
 Now when it appeared that they were so far 
 from becoming worse by the use of this food, 
 that they grew plumper and fuller in body 
 than the rest, insomuch, that he thought those 
 who fed on what came from the king's table 
 seemed less plump and full, while those that 
 were with Daniel looked as if they had lived in 
 plenty, and in all sorts of luxury, Arioch, from 
 that time, securely took himself what the king 
 sent every day from hia supper, according to 
 custom, to the children, but gave them the fore- 
 mentioned diet, while they had their souls in 
 some measure more pure, and less burdened, and 
 so fitter for learning, and had their bodies in 
 better tune for hard labour; for they neither had 
 the former oppressed and heavy with variety of 
 meats, nor were the other effeminate on the 
 same account; so they readily understood all 
 the learning that was among the Hebrews, and 
 among the Chaldeans, as especially did Daniel, 
 who, being already skilled in wisdom, was very 
 busy about the interpretation o* dreams : and 
 God manifested himself to him. 
 
 3. Now two years after the destruction of 
 Egypt, king Nebuchadnezzar saw a wonderfuJ 
 dream, the accomplishment of which God shewed 
 him in his sleep; but when he arose out of hia 
 bed, he forgot the accomplishment: so he sent 
 for the Chaldeans and magicians, and the pro- 
 phets, and told them that he had seen a dream, 
 and informed them that he had forgotten the ac- 
 complishment of what he had seen, and he en- 
 joined them to tell him both what the dream was, 
 and what was its signification; and they saidthii', 
 this was a thing impossible to be discovered by 
 men ; but they promised him, that if he would ex- 
 plain to them what dream hehad seen, they would 
 tell him its signification. Hereupon ha threat- 
 ened to put them to death, unless they told him 
 his dream : and he gave command to have them 
 tdl put to death, since they confessed they could 
 not do what they were commanded to do. NOT* 
 when Daniel heard that the king had given a 
 commMid that all the wise men should be put to 
 death, And that among them himself and his 
 three kinsmen were in danger, he went to Arioch, 
 who was captain of the king's guards, and desired 
 to know of him what was the reason why the 
 King had given command that all the wise men, 
 and Chaldeans, and magicians, should be slain. So 
 when he had learned that the king had had a dream, 
 and he had forgotten it, and that when they 
 were enjoined to inform the lung of it, they had 
 said they could not do it, and had thereby pro- 
 voked him to anger, he desired of Arioch that he 
 would go in to the king, and desire respite for tho 
 magicians for one night, and to ut off their 
 
 slaughter so long, for that he hoped within that 
 time to obtain, by prayer to God, the knowledge 
 of the dream. Accordingly Arioch informed the 
 king of what Daniel desired : so the king bid 
 them delay the s^laughter of the magicians till he 
 knew what Daniel's promise would come to ; but 
 the young man retired to his own house, with 
 his kinsmen, and besought God that whole night 
 to discover the dream, and thereby deliver the 
 magicians and Chaldeans, with whom they were 
 themselves to perish, from the king's anger, by 
 enabling him to declare his vision, and to make 
 manifest what the king had seen the night before 
 in his sleep, bpt had forgotten it. Accordingly 
 God, out of pity to those that were in danger, 
 and out of regard to the wisdom of Daniel, made 
 known to him the dream and its interpretation, 
 that so the king might understand by him ita 
 signification also, When Daniel had obtained 
 this knowledge from God, he arose very joyful, 
 and told it his brethren, and made them glad, 
 and to hope well that they should now preserve 
 their lives, of which they despaired before, and 
 had their minds full of nothing but.the thoughts 
 of dying. So when he had with them returned 
 thanks to God, who had commiserated their 
 youth, when it was day he came to Arioch, and 
 desired him to bring him to the king, because he 
 would discover to him that dream which he had 
 .een the night before. 
 
 4. When Daniel was come in to the idng, he 
 excused himself first, that he did not pretend to 
 be wiser than the other Chaldeans and magicians, 
 when, upon their entire inability to discover his 
 dream, he was undertaking to inform him of it ; 
 for this was not by his own skill, or on account 
 of his having better cultivated his understanding 
 than the rest ; but he said, "God hath had pity 
 upon us, when we were in danger of death, and 
 wnen I prayed for the life of myself, and of 
 those of my own nation, hath made manifest to 
 me both the dream and the interpretation there- 
 of ; for I was not less concerned for thy glory 
 than for the sorrow that we were by thee con- 
 demned to die, while thou didst so unjustly com- 
 mand men, both good and excellent in them- 
 selves, to be put to death, when thou enjoinedst 
 them to do what was entirely above the reach of 
 human wisdom, and requiredst of them what 
 was only the work of Go? Wherefore, as thou 
 in thy sJeep wast solicitous concerning those that 
 should succeed thee in the government of the 
 whole world, God was desirous to shew thee all 
 those that should reign after thee, and to that 
 end exhibited to thee the following dream : 
 Thou seemedst to see a great image standing be- 
 fore thee. the head of which proved to be of gold, 
 the shoulders and arms of silver, and the belly 
 and the thighs of brass, but the legs and the feet 
 of iron; after which thou sawest a stone broken 
 off from a mountain, which fell upon the image, 
 and threw it down, and brake it to pieces, and 
 did not permit any part of it to remain wnole ; 
 but the gold, the silver, the brasSj and the iron, 
 became smaller than meal, which, upon the 
 blast of a violent wind, was by force carried 
 away, and scattered abroad ; but the stone did 
 increase to such a degree, that the whole earth 
 beneath it seemed to be filled therewith. ^ This 
 is the dream which thou sawest. and its inter- 
 pretation is as follows : The head of gold denotes 
 ' thee, and the kings of Babylon that have been 
 before thee ; but the two hands and arms signify 
 this, that your govwnment shall be dissolved by 
 | two kings ; but another king that shall come 
 ! from the west, armed with brass, shall destroy 
 ' that government; and another government, that 
 3.11 be like unto iron, shall put an end to the
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK X. 
 
 power of the former, and shall have dominion 
 over all the earth, on account of the nature of 
 iron, which is stronger than that of gold, of 
 silver, and of brass. Daniel did also declare 
 the meaning of the stone to the king;* but I 
 do not 'think proper to relate it, since I have only 
 undertaken to describe things past or present, 
 but not things that are future ; yet if any one be so 
 very desirous of knowing truth, as not to wave 
 such points of curiosity, and cannot curb his in- 
 clination for understanding the uncertainties of 
 futurity, and whether they will happen or not, 
 let him be diligent in reading the book of Daniel, 
 which he will find among the sacred writings. 
 
 5. "When Nebuchadnezzar heard this, and re- 
 collected his dream, he was astonished at the 
 nature of Daniel, and fell upon his face, and sal- 
 uted Daniel in the manner that men worship 
 God, and gave command that he should be sacri- 
 ficed to as a god. And this was not all, for he 
 also imposed the name of his own god upon him 
 [Baltasar,] and made him and his kinsmen rulers 
 of his whole kingdom; which kinsmen of his 
 happened to fall into great danger by the envy 
 and malice [of their enemies ;] for they offended 
 the king upon the occasion following : He made 
 an image of gold, the height of which was sixty 
 cubits, and its breadth six cubits, and set it in 
 the great plain of Babylon; and when he was 
 going to dedicate the image, he invited the 
 principal men out of all the earth that were under 
 his dominions, and commanded them, in the 
 first place, that when they should hear the sound 
 of the trumpet, they should then fall down and 
 worship the image; and he threatened, that 
 those who did not do so, should be cast into a 
 fiery fiurnace. When, therefore, all the rest, 
 upon the hearing of the sound of the trumpet, 
 worshipped the image, they relate that Daniel's 
 kinsmen did not do it, because they would not 
 transgress the laws of their country: so these 
 men were convicted, and cast immediately into 
 the fire, but were saved by Divine Providence, 
 and after a surprising manner escaped death ; for 
 the fire did not touch them : and I suppose that 
 it touched them not, as if it reasoned with itself 
 that they were cast into it without any fault of 
 .theirs, and that, therefore, it was too weak to 
 burn the young men when they were in it. This 
 was done by the power of God, who made their 
 bodies so far superior to the fire that it could not 
 consume them. This it was which recommended 
 them to the king as righteous men, and men be- 
 loved of God ; on which account they continued 
 in great esteem with him. 
 
 6. A little after this the king saw in his sleep 
 again another vision; how he should fall from 
 his dominion, and feed among the wild beasts ; 
 and that, when he had lived in this manner in 
 the desert for seven years, t he should recover 
 
 * Of this most remarkable passage in Josephus, 
 which he would not explain, but intimated to be a pro- 
 phecy of futurity, and probably not safe for him to ex- 
 plain, as belonging to the destruction of the Roman 
 empire by Jesus Christ, the true Messiah of tie Jews, 
 take the words of Havercamp: " Nor is this to be won- 
 dered at, that he would not now meddle with things 
 future, for he had no mind to provoke the Romans, by 
 speaking of the destruction of that city which they 
 called the Eternal City." 
 
 t Since Josephus here explains the seven prophetic 
 times which were to pass over Nebuchadnezzar to be 
 even years, we thence learn how he most probably 
 must have understood those other parallel phrases, of 
 "a time, times, and a half," of so many prophetic years 
 also, though he withal lets us know, by his hint at the 
 interpretation of the seventy weeks, as belonging to the 
 fourth monarchy, and the destruction of Jerusalem by 
 the Romans in the days of Joaephus, that he did not 
 Uiink those years to be bare years, but rather days for 
 
 his dominion again. When he had seen this 
 dream, he called the magicians together again, 
 and inquired of ftiem about it, and desired them 
 to tell Mm what it signified; but when none of 
 them could find out tli'e meaning of the dream, 
 nor discover it to the king, Daniel was the only 
 person that explained it ; and as he foretold, so 
 it came to pass ; for after he had continued in 
 the wilderness the forementioned interval of 
 time, while no one durst attempt to seize his 
 kingdom during those seven years, he prayed to 
 God that he might recover his kingdom, and he 
 returned to it. But let no one blame me for 
 writing down every thing of this nature, as I find 
 it in our ancient books ; for as to that matter, I 
 have plainly assured those that think me defec- 
 tive in any such point, or complain of my man- 
 agement, and have told them, in the beginning 
 of this history, that I intended to do no more 
 than translate the Hebrew books into the Greek 
 language, and promised them to explain those 
 facts, without adding anything to them of my 
 own, or taking anything away from them. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 CONCERNING NEBUCHADNEZZAR AND HI8 SUCCES- 
 SORS, AND HOW THEIR GOVERNMENT WAS DIS- 
 SOLVED BY THE PERSIANS; AND WHAT THINGS 
 
 BEFELL DANIEL IN MEDIA; AND WHAT PRO- 
 PHECIES HE DELIVERED THERE. 
 
 L Now when king Nebuchadnezzar had 
 reigned forty-three years, he ended his life. 
 He was an active man, and more fortunate than 
 the kings that were before him. Now Berosus 
 makes mention of his actions in the third book 
 of his Chaldaic History, where he says thus : 
 " When his father Nebuchodonosor [Nabopol- 
 lassar] heard that the governor whom he had 
 set over Egypt, and the places about Coslesyria 
 and Phoenicia, had revolted from him, while he 
 was not himself able any longer to undergo the 
 hardships [of war,] he committed to his son Ne- 
 buchadnezzar, who was still but a youth, some 
 parts of his army, and sent them against him. 
 So when Nebuchadnezzar had given battle, and 
 fought with the rebel, he beat him, and reduced 
 the country from under his subjection, and 
 made it a branch of his own kingdom; but about 
 that time it happened that his father Nebucho- 
 donosor [Nabopollassar] fell ill, and ended his 
 life in the city of Babylon, when he had reigned 
 twenty-one years ; and when he was made 
 sensible, as he was in a little time, that his 
 father, Nebuchodonosor [Nabopollassar,] was 
 dead, and having settled the affairs of Egypt, 
 and the other countries, as also those that con- 
 
 years ; by which reckoning, and by which aJone, could 
 seventy weeks, or four hundred and ninety days, reach to 
 the age of Josephus. But as to the truth of those seven 
 years' banishment of Nebuchadnezzar from men, and 
 his living so long among the beasts, the very small 
 remains we have anywhere else of this Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, preventour expectation of any other full account 
 of it. 
 
 t These forty-three years for the duration of the 
 reign of Nebuchadnezzar are the very same number in 
 Ptolemy's canon. 
 
 J These twenty-one years here ascribed to one Na- 
 boulassar, in the first book against Apion, or to Nabo- 
 pollassar, the father of the great ^Nebuchadnezzar, are 
 also the very same with those given in Ptolemy's canon. 
 And note here, that what some modern chronologers 
 say, that Nebuchadnezzar must have been a common 
 name of other kings of Babylon, besides the great 
 Nebuchadnezzar himself, is a groundless mistake, and 
 destitute of all proper original authority.
 
 CHAP. XI.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 cerned the captive Jews, and Phoenicians, and 
 Syrians, and those of the Egyptian nations, and 
 having committed the conveyance of them to 
 Babylon to certain of his friends, together with 
 the gross of his army, and the rest of their am- 
 munition and provisions, he went himself hastily, 
 accompanied with a few others, over the desert, 
 and came to Babylon. So he took upon him the 
 management of public affairs, and of the king- 
 dom which had been kept for him by one that 
 was the principal of the Chaldeans, and he re- 
 ceived the entire dominions of his father, and 
 appointed, that when the captives came, they 
 should be placed as colonies, in the most proper 
 places of Babylonia; but then he adorned the 
 temple of Belus, and the rest of the temples, in 
 a magnificent manner, with the spoils he had 
 taken in the war. He also added another city 
 to that which was there of old, and rebuilt it, 
 that such as would besiege it hereafter might no 
 more turn the course of the river, and thereby 
 attack the city itself; he therefore built three 
 walls round about the inner city, and three 
 others about that which was the outer, and this 
 he did with burnt brick. And after he had, 
 after a becoming manner, walled the city, and 
 adorned its gates gloriously, he built another 
 palace before his father's palace, but so that 
 they joined to it; to describe the vast height and 
 immense riches of which, it would perhaps be 
 too much for me to attempt; yet, as large and 
 lofty as they were, they were completed in fif- 
 teen days.* He also erected elevated places for 
 walking, of stone, and made it resemble moun- 
 tains, and built it so that it might be planted 
 with all sorts of trees, He also erected what 
 was called a pensile pntndise, becaune his wife 
 was desirous to have things like her own coun- 
 try, she having been bred up in the palaces of 
 Media." Megasthenes also, in his fourth book 
 of his accounts of India, makes mention of these 
 tilings, and thereby endeavours to shew that this 
 icing [Nebuchadnezzar] exceeded Hercules in 
 fortitude, and in the greatness of his actions , 
 for he saith, that he conquered a great part ol 
 Libya. Diocles also, in the second book of his 
 Accounts of Persia, mentions this king ; as does 
 Philostratus, in his Accounts both of India and 
 Phoenicia, say, that this king besieged Tyre thir- 
 teen years, while at the same time Ethbaal 
 reigned at Tyre. These are all the histories 
 that I have met with concerning this king. 
 
 2. But now, after the death of Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, Evil-Merodach his son succeeded in the 
 kingdom, who immediately set Jeconiah at 
 liberty, and esteemed him amongst his most 
 intimate friends. He also gave him many pre- 
 sents, and made him honourable above the rest 
 of the kings that were in Babylon ; for his 
 father had not kept his faith with Jeconiah, 
 when he voluntarily delivered up himself to 
 him, with his wives and children, and his whole 
 kindred, for the sake of his country, that it 
 might not be taken by siege, and utterly do- 
 strcyed, as nre said before. \\ lieu Evil-Mero- 
 dach was dead, after a reign of eighteen years, 
 Neglissar his son took the government, and re- 
 tained it forty years, and then ended his life ; 
 and after him the succession in the kingdom 
 came to his son Labosordacus, who continued in 
 
 * These fifteen days for finishing such vast buildings 
 at Babylon seem too absurd to be supposed to be the 
 true number. Josephus assures us, that the walls of 
 60 much a smaller city as Jerusalem were two years 
 icd four months in building by Nehemiah, who yet 
 hastened the work all that he could. I should think 
 one hundred and fifteen days, or a year and fifteen 
 days, much more proportionable to so great a work- 
 
 it in all but nine months; and when he was 
 dead, it came to Baltasar, t who by the Baby- 
 lonians was called Naboandelua; against him 
 did Cyrus, the king of Persia, and Darius, tho 
 king of Media, make war ; and when he was be- 
 sieged in Babylon, there happened a wonderful 
 and prodigious vision. He was Bat down at 
 supper in a large room, and there were a great 
 many vessels of silver, such as were made for 
 royal entertainments, and he had with him his 
 concubines and his friends ; whereupon he camo 
 to a resolution, and commanded that those 
 vessels of God which Nebuchadnezzar had plun- 
 dered out of Jerusalem, and had not made use 
 of, but had put them into his own temple, 
 should be brought out of that temple. He also 
 grew so haughty as to proceed to use them in 
 the midst of his cups, drinking out of them, and 
 blaspheming against God. In the meantime, he 
 saw a hand proceed put of the wall, and writing 
 upon the wall certain syllables ; at which sight, 
 being disturbed, he called the magicians and 
 Chaldeans together, and all that sort of men 
 that are among these barbarians, and were able 
 to interpret signs and dreams, that they might 
 explain the writing to him. But when the 
 magicians said they could discover nothing, nor 
 did understand it, the king was in great disorder 
 of mind, and under great trouble, at this sur- 
 prising accident; BO he caused it to be proclaimed 
 through all the country, and promised, that to 
 him who could explain the writing, and give the 
 signification couched therein, he would give him 
 a golden chain for his neck, and leave to wear a 
 purple garment, as did the kings of Chaldea, 
 and would bestow on him the third part of his 
 own dominions. When this proclamation was 
 made, the magicians ran together more earnestly, 
 and were very ambitious to find out the import- 
 ance of the writing ; but still hesitated about it 
 as much as before. Now when the king's grand- 
 mother saw him cast down at this accident, J 
 she began to encourage him, and to say, that 
 there was a certain captive who came from 
 Judea, a Jew by birth, but brought away thence 
 by Nebuchadnezzar when he had destroyed 
 Jerusalem, whose name was Daniel, a wise man, 
 and one of great sagacity in finding out what 
 was impossible for others to discover, and what 
 was known to God alone ; who brought to light 
 and answered such questions to Nebuchadnezzar 
 as no one else was able to answer when they 
 were consulted. She therefore desired that he 
 would send for him, and inquire of him concern- 
 ing the writing, and to condemn the unskilfnl- 
 ness of those that could not find their meaning, 
 and this, although what God signified thereby 
 should be of a melancholy nature. 
 
 3. When Baltasar heard this, he called for Da- 
 niel : and when he had discoursed to him what 
 he had learned concerning him and his wisdom, 
 
 t It is here remarkable that Josephus, without the 
 knowledge of Ptolemy's canon, should call the same 
 king, whom he himself here styles Baltasar, or Bel- 
 shazzar, from the Babylonian god Bel, Neboandelua 
 also ; and in the first book against Apion, from the 
 same citation out of Berosus, Nabonnedon, from^the 
 Babylonian god Nabo, or Nebp. This last is not re- 
 mote from the original pronunciation itself in Ptolemy's 
 canon, Nabonadius ; for both the place of this king in 
 that canon, as the last of the Assyrian or Babylonian 
 kings, and the number of years of his reign, seventeen, 
 the same in both, demonstrate that it is one and the 
 game king that is meant by them all. 
 
 { This grandmother, or mother of Baltasar, the 
 queen-dowager of Babylon, for she is distinguished 
 from his queen, seems to have been the famous Nito- 
 cris, who fortified Babylon again** the Medea and 
 Persians.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOKS. 
 
 and how a divine spirit was with him, and that 
 he alone was fully capable of finding out what 
 others would never have thought of, he desired 
 him to declare to him what this writing meant: 
 that if he did so, he would give him leave to 
 wear purple, and to put a chain of gold about 
 his neck, and would bestow on him tne third 
 part of his dominion, as an honorary reward for 
 his wisdom, that thereby he might become illus- 
 trious to those who saw him, and who inquired 
 upon what occasion he obtained such honours. 
 But Daniel desired that he would keep his gifts 
 to himself ; for what is the effect of wisdom and 
 of divine revelation admits of no gifts, and be- 
 gtows its advantages on petitioners freely ; but 
 that still he would explain the wilting to him ; 
 which denoted that he should soon die, and this 
 because he had not learnt to honour God, and 
 not to admit things above human nature, by 
 what punishmento his progenitor had undergone 
 for the injuries he had offered to God ; and be- 
 cause he had quite forgotten how Nebuchadnez- 
 zar was removed to feed among wild beasts for 
 his impieties, and did not recover his former 
 life among men and his kingdom, but upon 
 God's mercy to him, after many supplications 
 and prayers ; who did thereupon praise God fcll 
 the days of his life, as one of almighty powei, 
 and who takes care of mankind. [He also pui 
 him in mind] how he had greatly blasphemed 
 against God, and made use of his vessels amongst 
 his concubines : that therefore God saw this, 
 and was angry with him, and declared by his 
 writing beforehand what a sad conclusion of his 
 life he should come to. Aud he explained the 
 writing thus : " MANE&. This, if it be ex- 
 pounded in the Greek language, may signify a 
 Number, because G*i kath numbered so long a 
 time for thy life, and for thy government, and 
 that there remains but a small portion. THEKEL. 
 This signifies a Weight, and means that God hath 
 weighed thy kingdom in a balance, and finds it 
 going down already. PHARES. This also, in 
 the Greek tongue, denotes a Fragment; God 
 will therefore break thy kingdom in pieces, and 
 divide it among the Medes and Persians." 
 
 4. When Daniel had told the king that the 
 writing upon the wall signified these events, 
 Baltasor was in great sorrow and affliction, as 
 waa to be expected, when the interpretation was 
 so hea-ry upon him. However, he did not refuse 
 what he had promised Daniel, although he were 
 become a foreteller of misfortunes to him, but 
 bestowed it all upon him : as reasoning thus 
 that what he was to reward was peculiar to him- 
 self, and to fate, and did not belong to the pro- 
 phet, but that it was the part of a good and a 
 just man to give what he had promised, although 
 the events were of a melancholy nature. Ac- 
 cordingly, the king determined so to do. Now, 
 after a little while, both himself and the city 
 were taken by Cyrus, the king of Persia, who 
 fought against him ; for it was Baltasar, under 
 whom Babylon was taken, when he had reigned 
 seventeen years. And this is the end of the 
 posterity of king Nebuchadnezzar, as history in- 
 forms us; but when Babylon was taken by 
 Darius, and when he, with his kinsman Cyrus, 
 had put an end to the dominion of the Babylo- 
 nians, he was sixty-two years old. He was the 
 son of Astyages, and had another name among 
 the Greeks. Moreover, he took Daniel the pro- 
 phet, and carried him with him into Media, and 
 honoured him very greatly, and kept him with 
 mm ; tor he was one of the three presidents 
 a he set over his three hundred and sixty 
 'vinces; for into so many did Darius part 
 
 5. However, while Daniel was in so great dig- 
 nity, and in so great favour with Darius, and 
 was alone intrusted with everything by him, as 
 having somewhat divine in him, he was envied 
 by the rest : for those that see others in greater 
 honour than themselves with kings, envy them : 
 and when those that were grieved at the great 
 favour Daniel was in with Darius, sought for an 
 occasion against him, he afforded them no occa- 
 sion at all, for he was above all the temptations 
 of money, and despised bribery, and esteemed it 
 a very base thing to take anything by way of re- 
 ward, even when it might be justly given him, 
 he afforded those that envied him not the least 
 handle for an accusation. So when they could 
 find nothing for which they might calumniate 
 him to the king, nothing that was shameful or 
 reproachful, and thereby deprive him of the 
 honour he was in with him, they sought for 
 some other method whereby they might destroy 
 him. When therefore they saw that Daniel 
 prayed to God three times a day, they thought 
 they had gotten an occasion by which, they might 
 ruin him ; so they came to Darius, and told him, 
 that " the princes and governors had thought 
 proper to allow the multitude a relaxation for 
 thirty days, that no one might offer a petition or 
 prayer either to himself, or to the gods, but that 
 he who shall transgress this decree shall be cast 
 into a den of lions, and there perish." 
 
 6. Whereupon the king, not being acquainted 
 with their wicked design, nor suspecting that it 
 was a contrivance of theirs against Daniel, said 
 he was pleased with this decree of theirs, and he 
 promised to confirm what they desired ; he also 
 published an edict to promulgate to the people 
 that decree wliich the princes had made. Ac- 
 cordingly, all the rest took care not to transgress 
 those injunctions, and rested in quiet ; but Da- 
 niel had no regard to them, but, as he was wont, he 
 stood and prayed to God in the sight of them all : 
 but the princes having met with the occasion 
 they so earnestly sought to find against Daniel, 
 came presently to the king, and accused him, 
 that Daniel was the only person that trans- 
 gressed the decree, whilst not one of the rest 
 durst pray to their gods. This discovery they 
 made, not because of his impiety, but because 
 they had watched him, and observed him out of 
 envy ; for supposing that Darius did thus out of 
 a greater Kinoii*8 to him than f thoy expected, 
 and that he was ready to grant him a, r rdon for 
 this contempt of his injunctions, and envying 
 this very pardon to Daniel, they did not become 
 more favourable to him, but desired he might he 
 cast into the den of lions, according to the law. 
 So Darius, hoping that God would deliver hirn ( 
 and that he would undergo nothing that was ter- 
 rible by the wild beasts, bade him bear this ac- 
 cident cheerfully ; and when he was cast into 
 the den, he put his seal to the stone that lay 
 
 .upon the mouth of the den, and went his way. 
 but he passed all the night without food and 
 without sleep, being in great distress for Daniel ; 
 but when it was day, he got up, and came to 
 the den, and found the seal entire, which he had 
 left the stone sealed withal ; he also opened the 
 seal, and cried out, and called to Daniel, and 
 asked him if he were alive ; and as soon as he 
 heard the king's voice, and said that he had suf- 
 fered no harm, the king gave order that he should 
 be drawn up out of the den. Now when his 
 enemies saw that Daniel had suffered nothing 
 which was terrible, they would not own that he 
 was preserved by God, and by his providence ; 
 but they said, that the lions had been filled full 
 with food, and on that account it was, as they 
 supposed, that the lions would not touch Daniel.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 227 
 
 nor come to him ; and this they alleged to the 
 kin" ; but the king, out of an abhorrence of their 
 "ickedness, gave order that they should throw 
 in a great deal of flesh to the lions ; and when 
 they had filled themselves, he gave further order 
 that Daniel's enemies should be cast into the 
 den, that he might learn whether the lions, now 
 they were full, would touch them or not ; and it 
 appeared plain to Darin*, after the princes had 
 been cast to the wild beasts, that it was God who 
 preserved Daniel,* for the lions spared none of 
 them, but tore them all to pieces, as if they had 
 been very hungry, and wanted food. I suppose, 
 therefore, it was not their hunger, which had 
 been a little before satisfied with abundance of 
 fiesh. but the wickedness of these men that pro- 
 voked them [to destroy the princes : J for If ft 
 so please God, that wickedness might, by even 
 those irrational creatures, be esteemed a plain 
 foundation for their punishment. 
 
 7. When, therefore, those that had intended 
 thus to destroy Daniel by treachery were them- 
 selves destroyed, king Darius sent [letters] over 
 all the country, and praised that God whom 
 Daniel worshipped, and said that he was the only 
 true God, and had all power. He had also Daniel 
 in very great esteem, and made him the principal 
 of his friends. Now when Daniel was become so 
 illustrious and famous, on account of the opinion 
 men had that he was beloved of God, he built 
 a tower at Ecbatana, in Media: it was a most 
 elegant building, and wonderfully made, and it 
 is still remaining, and preserved to this day ; and 
 to such as see it, it appears to have been lately 
 built, and to have been no older than that very 
 day when any one looks upon it, it is so fresh, T 
 flourishing, and beautiful, and no way grown old 
 in so long a time ; for buildings suffer the same 
 as men do, they grow old as well as they, and by 
 numbers of years their strength is dissolved, and 
 their beauty withered. Now they bury the 
 kings of Media, of Persia, and Parthia, in this 
 tower, to this day; and he who was intrusted 
 with the care of it, was a Jewish priest ; which 
 thing is also observed to this day. But it is fit 
 to give an account of what this man did, which 
 is most admirable to hear ; for he was so happy 
 as to have strange revelations made to him, and 
 those as to one of the greatest of the prophets, 
 insomuch that while he was alive he had the 
 esteem and applause both of the kings and of the 
 multitude : and now he is dead, he retains re- 
 membrance that will never fail, for the several 
 books that he wrote and left behind him are 
 till read by us till this time; and from them 
 we believe that Daniel conversed with God ; for 
 he did not only prophecy of future events, as did 
 the other prophets, but he also determined the 
 time of their accomplishment; and while the 
 prophets used to foretell misfortunes, and on that 
 account were disagreeable both to the kings and 
 to the multitude, Daniel was to them a prophet 
 of good things, and this to such a degree, that, 
 by the agreeable nature of his predictions, he 
 
 * It Is no way improbable that Daniel's enemies 
 might suggest this reason to the king, why the lions 
 did not meddle with him, and that they might suspect 
 the king's kindness to Daniel had procured rhese lions 
 to be so filled beforehand, and that thence t was that 
 he encouraged Daniel to submit to this experiment, in 
 hopes of coming off safe ; and that this was the true 
 reason of making so terrible an experiment upon those 
 his enemies, and all their families, (Dan. vi. 24.) 
 
 t What Josephus here says, that the stones of the 
 sepulchres of the kings of Persia at this tower, or those 
 perhaps of the same .sort that are now commonly called 
 the Ruins of Persepolis, continued so entire a'nd un- 
 altered in his days, as if they were lately put there, i- 
 confirmed by Reland. 
 
 procured the good-will of all men ; and by the 
 accomplishment of them, he procured the belief 
 of their truth, and the opinion of [a sort of] 
 divinity for himself, among the multitude. He 
 also wrote and left behind him what made mani- 
 fest the accuracy and undeniable veracity of hia 
 predictions ; for he saith, that when he was in 
 Susa, the metropolis of Persia, and went oat 
 into the field with his companions, there was, on 
 the sudden, a motion and concussion of the earth, 
 and that he was left alone by himself, his friends 
 flying away from him, and that he was disturbed, 
 and fell on his face, and on his two hands, and 
 that a certain person touched him, and at the 
 same time bade him rise, and see what would 
 befall his countrymen after many generations. 
 He also related, that when he stood up, he was 
 shewn a great ram, with many horns growing 
 out of his head, and that the last was higher 
 than the rest : that after this he looked to the 
 west, and saw a he-goat carried through the air 
 from that quarter ; that he rushed upon the ram 
 with violence, and smote him twice with his 
 horns, and overthrew him to the ground, and 
 trampled upon him : that afterwards he saw a 
 very great horn growing out of the head of the 
 he-goat ; and that when it was broken off, four 
 horns grew up that were exposed to each of the 
 four winds, and he wrote that out of them arose 
 another lesser horn, which, as he said, waxed 
 great; and that God shewed to him, that it 
 should tight against his nation, and take their 
 city by force, and bring the temple-worship to 
 confusion, and forbid the sacrifices to be offered 
 for one thousand two hundred and ninety-six 
 days. Daniel wrote that he saw these visions in 
 the plain of Susa ; and he hath informed us that 
 God interpreted the appearance of this vision 
 after the following manner : He said that the 
 ram signified the kingdoms of the Hedes and 
 Persians, and the horns those kings that were to 
 reign in them ; and that the last horn signified 
 the last king, and that he should exceed all the 
 kings in riches and glory ; that the he-goat sig- 
 nified that one should come and reign from the 
 Greeks, who should twice fight with the Persian, 
 and overcome him in battle, and should receive 
 his entire dominion ; that by the great horn 
 which sprang out of the forehead of the he-goat 
 was meant the first king ; and that the springing 
 Tip of four horns upon its falling off, and the con- 
 version of every one of them to the four quarters 
 of the earth, signified the successors that should 
 arise after the death of the first king, and the 
 partition of the kingdom among then;, <ind that 
 they should be neither his children nor of hia 
 kindred that should reign over the habitable 
 jarth for many years ; and that from among 
 them there should arise a certain king that 
 should overcome our nation and their laws, and 
 should take away our political government, and 
 should spoil the temple, and forbid the sacrifices 
 to be offered for three years' time." Anil indeed 
 it so came to pass, that our nation suffered these 
 things under Antiochus Epiphanes, according to 
 Daniel's vision, and what he wrote many years 
 before they came to pass. In the very same 
 manner Daniel also wrote concerning the Roman 
 government, and that our country should be 
 made desolate by them. All these things did 
 this man leave in writing, as God had shewed 
 them to him, insomuch that such as read his 
 prophecies, and see how they have been fulfilled, 
 would wonder at the honour wherewith God 
 i honoured Daniel ; and may thence discover hois 
 the Epicureans are in an error, who cast provi 
 dence out of human life, and do not believe that 
 God takes care of the affairs of the world, no*
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK XI 
 
 that the universe is governed and continued in 
 being by that blessed and immortal nature, but 
 ay that the world is carried along of its own 
 accord, without a ruler and a curator ; which, 
 were it destitute of a guide to conduct, as they 
 imagine, it would be like ships without pilots, 
 which we see drowned by the winds, or like cha- 
 riot* without drivers, which are overturned ; so 
 would the world be dashed to pieces by its being 
 carried without a Providence, and so perish and 
 come to nought. So that, by the forementioned 
 
 predictions of Daniel, those men seem to me very 
 much to err from the truth, who determine that 
 God exercises no providence over human affairs ; 
 for if that were the case, that the world went on 
 by mechanical necessity, we should not see that 
 all things would come to pass according to hi 
 prophecy. Now, as to myself, I have so de- 
 scribed these matters as I have found them anc 
 read them ; but if any one is inclined to anothej 
 opinion about them, let him enjoy his 
 sentiments without any l^ame from me. 
 
 BOOK XL 
 
 COSTAININO THE INTERVAL OF TWO HONORED AND FIFTT-THREH YEARS FIVE MONTHS, 
 
 FROM THE FIRST OF CYRUS TO THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER 
 
 THE GREAT. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 BOW OTBDS, KINa OP THB PERSIANS, DELIVERED 
 THE JEWS OUT OP BABYLON, AND SUFFERED 
 THEM TO RETURN TO THEIR OWN COUNTRY, AND 
 TO BUILD THEIR TEMPLE ; FOB WHICH WORK HE 
 GAVE THEM MONEY. 
 
 1. IH the first year of the reign of Cyrus,* 
 which was the seventieth from the day that our 
 people were removed out of their own land into 
 Babylon, God commiserated the captivity and 
 calamity of these poor people, according as he 
 had foretold to them by Jeremiah the prophet, 
 before the destruction of the city, that after they 
 had served Nebuchadnezzar and his posterity, 
 and after they had undergone that servitude 
 seventy years, he would restore them again to 
 the land of their fathers, and they should build 
 their temple, and enjoy their ancient prosperity; 
 and these things God did afford them ; for he 
 stirred up the mind of Cyrus, and made him 
 write this throughout all Asia: "Thus saith 
 Cyrus the King: Since God Almighty hath 
 appointed me to be king of the habitable earth, 
 I believe that he is that God which the nation of 
 the Israelites worship; for indeed he foretold 
 my name by the prophets, and that I should 
 build him a house at Jerusalem, in the country 
 of Judea," 
 
 2, This was known to Cyrus by his reading 
 the book which Isaiah left behind him of his 
 prophecies ; for this prophet said that God had 
 spoken thus to him in a secret vision : " My 
 will is, that Cyrus, whom I have appointed to 
 be king over many and great nations, send back 
 my people to their own land, and build my 
 temple." This was foretold by Isaiah one hun- 
 dred and forty years before the temple was de- 
 molished. Accordingly, when Cyrus read this, 
 *nd admired xJie divine power, an earnest desire 
 and ambition seized upon him to fulfil what 
 was so written ; so he called for the most emi- 
 nent Jews that were in Babylon, and said to 
 them, that he gave them leave to go back to 
 their own country, and to rebuild their city 
 Jerusalem, t and the temple of God, for that he 
 
 * This Cyrus Is called God's Shepherd by Xenophon, 
 s well as by Isaiah, (Isa. xliv. 28.) 
 t This leave to build Jerusalem, and this eputle of 
 
 would be their assistant, and that he would 
 write to the rulers and governors that were in 
 the neighbourhood of their countiy of Judea, 
 that they should contribute to them gold and 
 silver for the building of the temple, and, be- 
 sides that, beasts for their sacrifices. 
 
 3. When Cyrus had said this to the Israelites, 
 the rulers of the two tribes of Judah and Benja- 
 min, with the Levites and priests, went in haste 
 to Jerusalem, yet did many of them stay at 
 Babylon, as not willing to leave their posses- 
 sions ; and when they were come thither, all the 
 king's friends assisted them, and brought in, for 
 the building of the temple, some gold, and some 
 silver, and some a great many cattle and horses. 
 So they performed their vows to God, and 
 offered the sacrifices that had been accustomed 
 of old time ; I mean this upon the rebuilding of 
 their city, and the revival of the ancient prac- 
 tices relating to their worship. Cyrus also sent 
 back to them the vessels of God which king 
 Nebuchadnezzar had pillaged out of the temple, 
 and carried to Babylon. So he committed these 
 things to Mithridates, the treasurer, to be sent 
 away, with an order to give them to Sanabasar, 
 that he might keep them till the temple wss 
 built ; and whn it was finished, he might de- 
 liver them to the priests and rulers of the multi- 
 tude, in order to their being restored to the 
 temple. Cyrus also sent an epistle to the gover- 
 nors that were in Syria, the contents whewof 
 here follow : 
 
 " KINa OYBUS TO SISINNES AND 8ATHBABUZANES, 
 8ENDETH GREETING. 
 
 "I have given leave to as many of the Jews 
 that dwell in my country as please to return to 
 their own country, and to rebuild their city, and 
 to build the temple of God at Jerusalem, on the 
 
 Cyrus to the same purpose, are most unfortunately 
 omitted in all our copies, but this best and completeel 
 copy of Josephus ; and by such omission the famous 
 prophecy of Isaiah, (Isa. xliv. 28,) could not hitherto 
 be demonstrated from the sacred history to have be 
 completely fulfilled, I mean as to that part of It vhidb 
 concerned his giving leave or commission for rebuild- 
 ing the city of Jerusalem as distinct from the temple, 
 the rebuilding of which is alone permitted or directed 
 in the decree of Cyrus, in all our copies.
 
 CHAP, m.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF x'HE JEWS. 
 
 229 
 
 game place where it was before. I have also 
 sent my treasurer, Mithridates, and Zorobabel, 
 the governor of the Jews, that they may lay the 
 foundations of the temple, and may build it 
 sixty cubits high, and of the same latitude, 
 making three edifices of polished stones, and 
 one of the wood of the coxmtry, and the same 
 order extends to the altar whereon they offer 
 sacrifices to God. I require also, that the ex- 
 penses for these things may be given out of my 
 revenues. Moreover, I have also sent the 
 vessels which king Nebuchadnezzar pillaged out 
 of the temple, and have given them to Mithri- 
 dates the treasurer, and to Zerobabel the gover- 
 nor of the Jews, that they may have them 
 carried to Jerusalem, and may restore them to 
 the temple of God. Now their number is as 
 follows: Fifty chargers of gold and five hun- 
 dred of silver ; forty Thericlean cups of gold, 
 and five hundred of silver ; fifty basons of gold, 
 and five hundred of silver ; thirty vessels for 
 pouring [the drink-offerings,] and three hundred 
 of silver, tlmty vials of gold, and two thousand 
 four hundred of silver ; with a thousand other 
 large vessels. I permit them to have the same 
 honour which they were used to have from their 
 forefathers, as also for their small cattle, and 
 for wine and oil, two hundred and five thousand 
 and five hundred drachmae ; and for wheat-flour 
 twenty thousand and five hundred artabae : and 
 I give order that these expenses shall be given 
 them out of the tributes due from Samaria. 
 T"he priests shall also offer these sacrifices ac- 
 cording to the laws of Moses in Jerusalem ; and 
 when they'offer them, they shall pray to God for 
 the preservation of the king and ot his family, i 
 that the kingdom of Persia may continue. But j 
 my will is, that those who disobey these injunc- j 
 tions, and make them void, shall be hung upon 
 a cross, and their substance brought into the 
 king's treasury." And such was the import of 
 this epistle. Now the number of those that 
 came out of captivity to Jerusalem, were forty- 
 two thousand four hundred and sixty-two. 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 HOW, DPON THE DEATH OF CYRUS, THE JEWS 
 WERE HINDERED IN BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE 
 3Y THE CUTHEANS AND THE NEIGHBOURING 
 GOVERNORS; AND HOW CAMBYSES ENTIRELY 
 FORBADB THE JEWS TO DO ANY SUCH THING. 
 
 1. WHEN the foundations of the temple were 
 laying, and when the Jews were very zealous 
 about building it, the neighbouring rations, and 
 especially the Cutheans, whom Shalmanezer, 
 king of Assyria, had brought out of Persia and 
 Mtdia, and had planted in Samaria, when he 
 carried the people of Israel captive, besought 
 the governors, and those that had the care of 
 such affairs, that they would interrupt the Jews, 
 both in the rebuilding of their city, and in the 
 building of their temple. Now as these men 
 were corrupted by them with money, they sold 
 the Cutheans their interest for rendering this 
 building a slow and a careless work, for Cyrus 
 who was busy about other wars, knew nothing 
 of all this ; and it so happened, that when he 
 had led his army against the Massagetae, he 
 ended his life.* But when Cambyses, the son 
 
 * Josephus here follows Herodotus, and those that 
 related how Cyrus made war with the Scythians and 
 Massagetes, near the Caspian Sea, and perished in it ; 
 While Xenophon's account, which appears never to 
 have been seen by Josephus, that Cyrus died in peace 
 
 of Cyrus, had taken the kingdom, the governors 
 in Syria, and Phoenicia, and in the countries of 
 Ammon, and Moab, and Samaria, wrote an 
 epistle to Cambyses; whose contents were as 
 follow : " To our Lord Cambyses. We thy 
 servants, Rathumus the historiographer, and 
 Semellius the scribe, and the rest that are thy 
 judges in Syria and Phoenicia, send greeting : 
 It is fit, O king, that thou shouldest know that 
 those Jews who were carried to Babylon, are 
 come into our country, and are building that 
 rebellious and wicked city, and its market- 
 places, and setting up its walls, and raising up 
 the temple : know, therefore, that when these 
 things are finished, they will not be willing to 
 pay tribute, nor will they submit to thy com- 
 mands, but will resist kings, and will choose 
 rather to rule over others, than be ruled over 
 themselves. We therefore thought it proper tc 
 write to thee, O king, while the works about the 
 temple are going on so fast, and not to overlook 
 this matter, that thou mayest search into the 
 books of thy fathers, for thon wilt find in them 
 that the Jews have been rebels, and enemies to 
 kings, as hath their city been also, which, for 
 that reason, hath been till now laid waste. We 
 thought proper also to inform thee of this matter, 
 because thou mayest otherwise perhaps be ignor- 
 ant of it, that if this city be once inhabited, and 
 be entirely encompassed with walls, thou wilt 
 be excluded from the passage to Goelesyria and 
 Phoenicia." 
 
 2. When Cambyses had read the epistle, being 
 naturally wicked, he was irritated at what they 
 told him ; and wrote back to them as follows : 
 "Cambyses, the king, to Rathumus, the his- 
 toriographer, to Beeltethemus, to Semellius the 
 scribe, and the rest that are in commission, and 
 dwelling in Samaria and Phoenicia, after this 
 manner : I have read the epistle that was sent 
 from you ; and I gave order that the books of 
 my forefathers should be searched into ; and it 
 is there found, that this city hath always been 
 an enemy to kings, and its inhabitants have 
 raised seditions and wars. We also are sensible 
 that their kings have been powerful and tyran- 
 nical, and have exacted tribute of Coelesyria and 
 Phoenicia : wherefore I give order, that the Jews 
 shall not be permitted to build that city, lest 
 such mischief as they used to bring upon kings 
 be greatly augmented." When this epistle was 
 read, Rathumus, and Semellius the scribe, and 
 their associates, got suddenly on horseback, and 
 made haste to Jerusalem ; they also brought a 
 great company with them, and forbade the Jews 
 to build the city and the temple. Accordingly, 
 these works were hindered from going on till the 
 second year of the reign of Darius, for cine years 
 more; for Cambyses reigned six years, and 
 within that time overthrew Egypt, and when he 
 was come back, he died at Damascus, 
 
 CHAPTER HL 
 
 HOW, AFTER THE DEATH OF CAMBYSES, AND THB 
 SLAUGHTER OF THE MAGI, BUT UNDER THB 
 REIGN OF DARIUS, ZOBOBABEL WAS SUPERIOR 
 TO THE REST IN THE SOLUTION OF PROBLEMS, 
 AND THEREBY OBTAINED THIS FAVOUR OF TH* 
 KING, THAT THE TEMPLE SHOULD BE BUILT. 
 
 L AFTEB the slaughter of the magi, who, 
 
 in his own country in Persia, is attested to by the 
 writers of the affairs of Alexander the Great, when 
 they agree that he found Cyrus's sepulchre at Paw 
 gadee, near PersepolU.
 
 550 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK XL 
 
 apan *b death of Cambyses, attained the go- 
 remment of the Persians for a year, those fa- 
 milies who were called the seven families of the 
 Persians, appointed Darius, the son of Hystaspes, 
 to be their king. Now he, while he was a pri- 
 vate man, had made a vow to God, that if he 
 came to be king, he would send all the vessels 
 of God that were in Babylon to the temple at 
 Jerusalem. Now ik so fell out, that about this 
 time Zorobabel, who had been made governor of 
 the Jews that had been in captivity, came to 
 Darius, from Jerusalem : for there had been an 
 old friendship between him and the king. He 
 was also, with two others, thought worthy to be 
 guard of the king's body ; and obtained that 
 honour which he hoped for. 
 
 2. Now, in the first year of the king's reign, 
 Darius feasted those that were about him, and 
 those born in his house, with the rulers of the 
 Medes, and princes of the Persians, and the top- 
 archs of India and Ethiopia, and the generals of 
 the armies of his hundred and twenty-seven pro- 
 vinces ; but when they had eaten and drunken 
 to satiety and abundantly, they every one de- 
 parted to go to bed at their own houses, and 
 Darius the king went to bed ; but after he had 
 rested a little part of the night, he awaked, and 
 not being able to sleep any more, he fell into 
 conversation with the three guards of his body, 
 and promised, that to him who should make an 
 oration about points that he should inquire of, 
 such as should be most agreeable to truth, and 
 to the dictates of wisdom, he would grant it ag 
 a reward for his victory, to put on a purple gar- 
 ment, and to drink in cups of gold, and to sleep 
 upon gold, and to have a chariot with bridles of 
 gold, and a head-tire of fine linen, and a chain 
 of gold about his neck, and to sit next to him- 
 self, on account of his wisdom: "And," says 
 he, "he shall be called my cousin." Now when 
 he had promised to give them these gifts, he 
 asked the first of them, " Whether wine was not 
 the strongest ?'' the second, "Whether kings 
 were not such?" and the third, "Whether 
 women were not such? or whether truth was 
 not the strongest of all?" When he had pro- 
 posed that tbey should make their inquiries 
 about these problems, he went to rest ; but in 
 the morning he sent for his great men, his 
 princes, and toparchs of Persia and Media, and 
 set himself down in the place where he used to 
 give audience, and bid each of the guards of his 
 body to declare what they thought proper con- 
 oerning the proposed questions, in the bearing 
 of them all 
 
 & Accordingly, the first of them began to 
 speak of the strength of wine ; and demon- 
 strated it thus : *' When," said he, " I am to give 
 my opinion of wijie, O you men, 1 find that it 
 exceeds everything by the following indications : 
 it deceives the mind of those that drink it, and 
 reduces that of the king to the same state with 
 that of the orphan, and he who stands in need 
 of a tutor ; and erects that of the slave to the 
 boldness of him that is free ; and that of the 
 needy becomes like that of the rich man, for it 
 changes and renews the souls of men when it 
 gets into them ; and it quenches t1:e sorrow of 
 those that are under calamities, and makes men 
 forget the debts they owe to others, and makes 
 them think themselves to be of all men the 
 richest ; it makes them talk of no small things, 
 but of talents, and such other things as become 
 wealthy men only ; nay more, it makes them 
 Insensible of their commanders and of their 
 kings, and takes away the remembrance of their 
 friends and companions, for it arms men even 
 thone that are dearest to them, nnd 
 
 makes them appear the greatest strangers to 
 them ; and when they are become sober, and 
 they have sle[it out their wine in the night, thej 
 arise without knowing anything they have done 
 in their cups. I take these for signs of power, 
 and by them discover that wine is the strongest 
 and most insuperable of all things. 
 
 4. As soon as the first had given the foremen- 
 tioned demonstrations of the strength of wine, 
 he left off ; and the next to him began to speak 
 about the strength of a king, and demonstrated 
 that it was the strongest of all, and more power- 
 ful than anything else that appears to have any 
 force or wisdom. He began his demonstration 
 after the following manner ; and said, "They are 
 men who govern all things : they force the earth 
 and the sea to become profitable to them in what 
 they desire, and over these men do kings rule, 
 and over them they bave authority. Now those 
 who rule over that animal which is of all the 
 strongest and most powerful, must needs de- 
 serve to be esteemed insuperable in power and 
 force. For example, when these kings command 
 their subjects to make wars, and undergo dan- 
 gers, they are hearkened to ; and when they send 
 them against their enemies, their power is so 
 great that they are obeyed. They command 
 men to level mountains, and to pull down walla 
 and towers ; nay, when they are commanded to 
 be killed and to kill, they submit to it, that they 
 may not appear to transgress the king's com. 
 mands ; and whei* they have conquered, tliey 
 bring what they have gained in war to the king. 
 Those also who are not soldiers, but cultivate 
 the ground, and plough it, after they have en- 
 dured the labour, and all the inconveniences of 
 such works of husbandry, when they have 
 reaped and gathered in their fruits, they bring 
 tributes to the king ; and whatsoever it is which 
 the king says or commands, it is done of neces- 
 sity, and that without any delay, while he in the 
 meantime is satiated with all sorts of food and 
 pleasures, and sleeps in quiet. He is guarded 
 by such as watch, and such as are, as it were, 
 fixed down to the place through fear ; for no one 
 dares leave him, even when he is asleep, nor 
 does any one go away and take care of his own 
 affairs, but he esteems this one thing the only 
 work of necessity, to guard the king; and ac- 
 cordingly to this he wholly addicts himself. 
 How then can it be otherwise, but that it mus( 
 .ippear that the king exceeds all in strength, 
 while so great a multitude obeys his injunc- 
 tions ? " 
 
 5. Now when this man had held his peace, 
 the third of them, who was Zorobabel, began to 
 instruct them about women, and about truth, 
 who said thus : " Wine is strong, as is the king 
 also, whom all men obey, bvt women are supe- 
 rior to them in power ; for it was a woman that 
 brought the king into the world ; and for those 
 that plant the vines and make the wine, they 
 are women who bear them, and bring them up ; 
 nor indeed is there anything which we do not 
 receive from them ; for these women weave gar- 
 ments for us, and our household affairs are by 
 their means taken care of, and preserved in 
 safety ; nor can we live separate from women ; 
 and when we have gotten a great deal of gold 
 and silver, and any other thing that is of great 
 value, and deserving regard, and see a beautiful 
 woman, we leave all these tilings, and with open 
 mouth fix our eyes upon her countenance, and 
 are willing to forsake what we have, that wo 
 may enjoy her beauty, and procure it to our- 
 Helves. We also leave father and mother, aad 
 the earth that nourishes us, and frequently for- 
 get our dearest friends, for the sake of women I
 
 CHAP. HI.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OFTKK JKWB. 
 
 231 
 
 nay, we are so hardy as to lay down our lives 
 for them ; but what will chiefly make you take 
 notice of the strength of women is this that fol- 
 lows : Do not we take pains, and endure a great 
 deal of trouble, and that both by land and sea, 
 and when we have procured somewhat as the 
 fruit of our labours, do not we bring them to 
 the women, as to our mistresses, and bestow 
 them upon them? Nay, I once saw the king, 
 who is lord of so many people, smitten on the 
 face by Apame, the daughter of Rabases The- 
 masius his concubine, and his diadem taken from 
 him, and put upon her own head, while he bore 
 it patiently; and when she smiled he smiled, 
 and when she was angry he was sad ; and ac- 
 cording to the change of her passions, he flat- 
 tered his wife, and drew her to reconciliation by 
 the great humiliation of himself to her, if at any 
 time he saw her displeased at him. " 
 
 6. And when the princes and rulers looked ono 
 upon another, he began to speak about truth ; 
 and he said, " I have already demonstrated how 
 powerful women are; but both these women 
 themselves, and the king himself, are weaker 
 than truth : for although the earth be large, and 
 the heaven high, and the course of the sun swift, 
 yet are all these moved according to the will of 
 God, who is true and righteous, for which cause 
 we also ought to esteem truth to be the strongest 
 of all things, and that what is unrighteous is of 
 no force against it. Moreover, all things else 
 that have any strength are mortal, and short- 
 lived, but truth is a thing that is immortal and 
 eternal It affords us not indeed such a beauty 
 as will wither away by time, nor such riches as 
 may be taken away by fortune, but righteous 
 rules and laws. It distinguishes them from 
 injustice, and puts what is unrighteous to re- 
 buke."* 
 
 7. So when Zorobabel had left off hia discourse 
 about truth, and the multitude had cried out 
 aloud that he had spoken the most wisely, and 
 that it was truth alone that had immutable 
 strength, and such as never would wax. old, the 
 king commanded that he should ask for some- 
 what over and above what he had promised, for 
 that he would give it him because of his wisdom, 
 and that prudence wherein he exceeded the 
 rest; "and thou shalt sit with me," said the 
 king, "and shalt be called my cousin." When 
 he had said this, Zorobabel put him in mind of 
 the vow he had made in case he should ever 
 have the kingdom. Now this vow was, " to re- 
 build Jerusalem, and to build therein the temple 
 of God, as also to restore the vessels which 
 Nebuchadnezzar had pillaged, and carried to 
 Babylon. And this," said he, " is that request 
 which thou now permittest me to make, on ac- 
 count that I have been judged to be wise and 
 understanding. " 
 
 8. So the king was pleased with what he had 
 said, and arose and kissed him ; and wrote to 
 the toparchs, and governors, and enjoined them 
 to conduct Zorobabel and those that were going 
 with him to build the temple. He also sent 
 
 ne reader is to note, that although the speeches 
 or papers of these three of the king's guard are much the 
 same in the third book of Esdras, chap. iii. andiv., as they 
 ire here in Josephus, yet that the introduc^onofthem is 
 entirely different, while in Esdras the wnole 's related 
 5s the contrivance of the three of the king's guards 
 themselves ; and even the mighty rewards are spoken 
 of as proposed by themselves, and the speeches are re- 
 lated to have been delivered by themselves to the king 
 'n writing, while all is contrary in Josephus. I need 
 uot say whose account is the most probable, the matters 
 ipeak for themselves ; and there can be no doubt but 
 Jos?phus's history is here to be very much preferred 
 twtnre the other. 
 
 letters to those rulers that were in Syria and 
 Phoenicia to cut down and carry cedar-trees from 
 Lebanon to Jerusalem, and to assist him in build- 
 ing the city. He also wrote to them, that all 
 the captives who should go to Judea should be 
 free; and he prohibited his deputies and gover- 
 nors to lay any king's taxes upon the Jews : he 
 also permitted that they should have all the land 
 which they could possess themselves of without 
 tributes. He also enjoined the Idumeans and 
 Samaritans, and the inhabitants of Coelesyria, to 
 restore those villages which they had taken from 
 the Jews ; and that, besides all this, fifty talents 
 should be given them for the building of the 
 temple. He also permitted them to offer their 
 appointed sacrifices, and that whatsoever the 
 high priest and the priests wanted, and those 
 sacred garments wherein they used to worship 
 God, should be made at his own charges; and 
 that the musical instruments which the Levites 
 used in singing hymns to God should be given 
 them. Moreover, he charged them, that por- 
 tions of land should be given to those that 
 guarded the city and the temple, as also a de- 
 terminate sum of money every year for their 
 maintenance : and withal he sent the vessels. 
 And all that Cyrus intended to do before him, 
 relating to the restoration of Jerusalem, Darius 
 also ordained should be done accordingly. 
 
 9. Now when Zorobabel had obtained these 
 grants from the king, he went out of the palace, 
 and looking up to heaven, he began to return 
 thanks to God for the wisdom he had given him, 
 and the victory he had gained thereby, even in 
 the presence of Darius himself : for, said he, 
 " I had not been thought worthy of these advan- 
 tages, O Lord, unless thou had been favourable 
 to me." When, therefore, he had returned 
 these thanks to God for the present circum- 
 stances he was in, and had prayed to him to 
 afford him the like favour for the time to come, 
 he came to Babylon, and brought the good news 
 to his countrymen of what grants he had pro- 
 cured for them from the king ; who, when they 
 heard the same, gave thanks also to God that he 
 restored the land of their forefathers to them 
 again. So they betook themselves to drinking 
 and eating, and for seven days they continued 
 feasting, and kept a festival, for the rebuilding 
 and restoration of their country : after this they 
 chose themselves rulers, who should go up to 
 Jerusalem, out of the tribes of their forefathers, 
 with their wives, and children, and cattle, who 
 travelled to Jerusalem with joy and pleasure, 
 under the conduct of those whom Darius sent 
 along with them, and making a noise with songs, 
 and pipes, and cymbals. The rest of the Jewish 
 multitude also besides accompanied them with 
 rejoicing. 
 
 10. And thus did these men go, a certain and 
 determinate number out of every family, though 
 I do not think it proper to recite particularly 
 the names of those families, that I may not take 
 off the minds of my readers from the connexion 
 of the historical facts, and make it hard for them 
 to follow the coherence of my narration : but the 
 sum of those that went up, above the age of 
 twelve years, of the tribes of Judah and Benja- 
 min, was four hundred and sixty-two myriads 
 and eight thousand ; f the Levites were seventy- 
 four; the number of the women and children 
 mixed together was forty thousand seven hun- 
 red and forty -two ; and besides these, there were 
 
 f This strange reading in Josephus of four millions 
 instead of forty thousand, is a gross error, and ought to 
 be corrected from Ezra ii. 64, 1 Esd. v. 40, and Neh. vii. 
 66, who all agree that the general sum was but about 
 forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty.
 
 232 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xi 
 
 singers of the Levites one hundred and twenty- 
 ei"ht, and porters one hundred and ten, and of 
 the sacred ministers three hundred and ninety- 
 two; there were also others besides these, who 
 said 'they were Israelites, but were not able to 
 shew their genealogies, six hundred and sixty- 
 two : some there were also who were expelled 
 out of the number and honour of the priests, as 
 having married wives whose genealogies they 
 could not produce, nor where they found in the 
 genealogies of the Levites and priests ; they were 
 about five hundred and twenty-five; the multi- 
 tude also of servants who followed those that 
 went up to Jerusalem seven thousand three hun- 
 dred and thirty-seven; singing men and singing 
 women were two hundred and forty-five; the 
 camels were four hundred and thirty-five ; the 
 beasts used to the yoke were five thousand five 
 hundred and twenty-five; and the governors of 
 all this multitude thus numbered were Zoro- 
 babel, the son of Salathiel, of the posterity of 
 David, and of the tribe of Judah ; and Jeshua, 
 the son of Josedek the high priest; and besides 
 these there were Mordecai and Serebeus, who 
 were distinguished from the multitude, and were 
 rulers, who also contributed a hundred pounds 
 of gold and five thousand of silver. By this 
 means, therefore, the priests and the Levites, 
 and a certain part of the entire people of the 
 Jews that were in Babylon, came and dwelt in 
 Jerusalem; but the rest of the multitude re- 
 turned every one to their own countries. 
 
 CHAPTER IT. 
 
 HOW THE TEMPLE WAS BUILT, WHILE THE 
 OUTHEANS ENDEAVOURED IN VAIN TO OB3TBDOT 
 THE WORK. 
 
 2 1. Now in the seventh month after they were 
 departed out of Babylon, both Jeshua the high 
 priest, and Zorobabel the governor, sent mes- 
 sengers every way round about, and gathered 
 those that were in the country together to Jeru- 
 salem universally, who came very gladly thither. 
 He then built the altar on the same place it had 
 formerly been built, that they might offer the 
 appointed sacrifices upon it to God, according to 
 the laws of Moses. But whiio ttey did this, 
 they did not please the neighbouring nations, 
 who all of them bare an ill will to them. They 
 also celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles at that 
 time, as the legislator had ordained concerning 
 it; and after that they offered sacrifices, and 
 what were called the daily sacrifices, and the 
 oblations proper for the Sabbaths, and for all the 
 holy festivals. Those also that had made vows 
 performed them, and offered their sacrifices from 
 the first day of the seventh month. They also 
 began to build the. temple, and gave a great deal 
 of money to the masons and to the carpenters, 
 and what was necessary for the maintenance of 
 the workmen. The Sidonians also were very 
 willing and ready to bring the cedar-trees from 
 Libanus, to bind them together, and to make a 
 united float of them, and to bring them to the 
 port of Joppa, for that was what Cyrus had com- 
 manded at first, and what was now done at the 
 command of Darius. 
 
 2. In the second year of their coming to Jeru- 
 salem, as the Jews were there, in the second 
 month, the building of the temple went on 
 apace; and when they had laid its foundations 
 on the first day of the second month of that 
 second year, they set, as overseers of the work, 
 each Levites as were full twenty years old; and 
 
 Jeshua and his sons and brethren, and Codmiel, 
 the brother of Judas, the son of Aminadab, with 
 his sons ; and the temple, by the great diligence 
 of those that hsd the care of it, was finished 
 sooner than any one would have expected. And 
 when the temple was finished, the priests, 
 adorned with their accustomed garments, stood 
 with their trumpets, while the Levites, and the 
 sons of Asaph, stood and sung hymns to God, 
 according as David first of all appointed them tt 
 bless God. Now the priests and Levites, and 
 the elder part of the families, recollecting with 
 themselves how much greater and more sump- 
 tuous the old temple had been, seeing that now 
 made how much inferior it was, on account of 
 their poverty, to that which had been built of 
 old, considered with themselves how much their 
 happy state was sunk below what it had been of 
 old, as well as their temple. Hereupon they 
 were disconsolate, and not able to contain their 
 grief, and proceeded so far as to lament and 
 shed tears on those accounts ; but the people in 
 general were contented with their present condi- 
 tion ; and because they were allowed to build 
 them a temple, they desired no more, and nei 
 ther regarded nor remembered, nor indeed at al! 
 tormented themselves with the comparison of 
 that and the former temple, as if this WCIM 
 below their expectations. But the wailing of 
 the old men, and of the priests, on account of 
 the deficiency of this temple, in their opinion, ij 
 compared with that which had been demolished, 
 overcame the sounds of the trumpets and the 
 rejoicing of the people. 
 
 3. But when the Samaritans, who were stil] 
 enemies to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, 
 heard the sound of the trumpets, they came 
 running together, and desired to know what was 
 the occasion of this tumult ; and when they per- 
 ceived that it was from the Jews who had beer, 
 carried captive to Babylon, and were rebuilding 
 their temple, they came to Zorobabel and to 
 Jeshua, and to the heads of the families, and 
 desired that they would give them leave to build 
 the temple with them, and to be partners with 
 them in building it; for they said, "We wor- 
 ship their God, and especially pray to him, and 
 are desirous of their religious settlement, and 
 this ever since Shalmanezer, the king of Assyria, 
 transplanted us out of Cuthah and Media to this 
 place." When they said thus, Zorobabel, and 
 Jeshua the high priest, and the heads of the 
 families of the Israelites, replied to them, that 
 it was impossible for them to permit them to be 
 their partners, whilst they [only] had been ap- 
 pointed to build that temple at first by Cyrus, 
 and now by Darius, although it was indeed law- 
 ful for them to come and worship there if thev 
 pleased, and that they could allow them nothing, 
 but in common with them, which was common 
 to them with all other men, to ccine to their 
 temple, and worship God there. 
 
 4. \Yhen the Cutheans heard this, for the 
 Samaritans have that appellation, they had in- 
 dignation at it, and persuaded the nations of 
 Syria to desire of the governors, in the same 
 manner as they had done formerly in the days 
 of Cyrus, and again in the days of Cambysses 
 afterwards, to put a stop to the temple, and to 
 endeavour to delay and protract the Jews in 
 their zeal about it. Now at this time Sisinnes, 
 the governor of Syria and Phoenicia, and Sathra- 
 buzanes, with certain others, came up to Jerusa- 
 lem, and asked the rulers of the Jews, by whose 
 grant it was that they built the temple in this 
 manner, since it was more like a citadel than ti 
 temple ? and for what reason it was that they buili 
 cloisters and walls, and those strong ones too.
 
 JHAP. IV. J 
 
 c OF THE JEWS. 
 
 233 
 
 about the city? To which Zorobabel and Jeshus 
 the high priest replied, that they were the ser- 
 vants of God Almighty : that this temple was 
 built for him hy a king of theirs that lived ui 
 great prosperity, and one that exceeded all men 
 in virtue; and that it continued a long time, but 
 that because of their fathers' impiety towards 
 God, Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Babylonians 
 and of the Chaldeans, took their city by force, 
 and destroyed it, and pillaged the temple, and 
 burnt it down, and transplanted the people 
 whom he had made captives, and removed them 
 to Babylon; that Cyrus, who, after him, was 
 king of Babylonia and Persia, wrote to them to 
 build the temple, and committed the gifts and 
 vessels, and whatsoever Nebuchadnezzar had 
 carried out of it, to Zorobabel and Mithridates 
 the treasurer ; and gave order to have them car- 
 ried to Jerusalem, and to have them restored to 
 their own temple when it was built ; for he had 
 sent to them to have it done speedily, and com- 
 manded Sanabassar to ero up. to Jerusalem, :m<J 
 to take care of the building of the temple ; who, 
 upon receiving that epistle from Cyrus, came 
 and immediately laid its foundations: "and 
 although it hath been in building from that time 
 to this, it hath not yet been finished, by reason 
 of the malignity of our enemies. If therefore 
 you have a mind, and think it proper, write tliia 
 account to Darius, that when he hath consulted 
 the records of the kings, he may find that we 
 have told you nothing that is false about this 
 matter." 
 
 5. When Zorobabel and the high priest Lad 
 made this answer, Sisiunes, and those that were 
 with him, did not resolve to hinder the building, 
 until they had informed king Darius of all this. 
 So they immediately wrote to him about these 
 affairs; but as the Jews were now under terror, 
 and afraid lest the king should change his reso- 
 lution as to the building of Jerusalem, and of 
 the temple, there were two prophets at that 
 time amongst them, Haggai and Zechariah, who 
 encouraged them, and bade them bo of good 
 cheer, and to suspect no discouragement from 
 the Persians, for that God foretold this to them. 
 So, in dependence on .hose prophets, they ap- 
 plied themselves earnestly to building, and did 
 not intermit one day. 
 
 6. Now Darius, when the Samaritans had 
 written to him, and in their epistle had accused 
 the Jews how they fortified the city, and built 
 the temple more like to a citadel than a temple ; 
 and said, {hat their doings were not expedient 
 for the king's affairs ; and besides, they shewed 
 the epistle of Cambyses, wherein he forbade 
 them to build the temple: and when Darius 
 thereby understood that the restoration of Je- 
 rusalem was not expedient for his affairs, and 
 when he had read the epistle that was brought 
 him from Sisinnes and those that were with him, 
 he gave order that what concerned these matters 
 should be sought for among the royal records. 
 Whereupon a book v.'os found at Ecbatana, in 
 the tower that was in Media, wherein was writ- 
 ten as follows : " Cyrus the king, in the first 
 year of his reign, commanded that the temple 
 should be built in Jerusalem ; and the altar in 
 height threescore cubits, and its breadth of the 
 same, with three edifices of polished stone, and 
 one edifice of stone of their own conntrj ; and 
 he ordained that the expenses "f it should be 
 paid out of the king's revenue. He also com- 
 manded that the vessels which Nebuchadnezzar 
 had pillaged, [out of tlie temple,] and had car- 
 ried to Babylon, should be restored to the people 
 of Jerusalem ; and that the care of these things 
 should belong to Sanabassar, the governor and 
 
 president of Syria and Phosnicia, and to his as- 
 sociates, that they may not meddle with that 
 place, but may permit the servants of God, the 
 Jews and their rulers, to build the temple. He 
 also ordained that they should assist them in 
 the work; and that they should pay to the 
 Jews, out of the tribute of the country where 
 they were governors, on account of the sacrifices, 
 bulls, and rams, and lambs, and kids of the 
 goats, and fine flour, and. oil, and wine, and all 
 other things that the priests should suggest to 
 them ; and that they should pray for the preser- 
 vation of the king, and of the Persians: and 
 that for such as transgressed any of these orders 
 thus sent to them, lie commanded that they 
 ahould be caught, and hung upon a cross, and 
 their substance confiscated to the king's use. 
 He also prayed to God against them, that if any 
 one attempted to hinder the building of the 
 temple, God would strike him dead, and thereby 
 restrain his wickedness." 
 
 7. When Darius had found this book among 
 the records of Cyrus, he wrote an answer to 
 Sisiimes and his associates, whose contents were 
 these : " King Darius to Sismnes the governor, 
 and to Sathrabuzanes, sendeth greeting. Having 
 found a copy of this epistle among the records of 
 Cyrus, I have sent it to you ; and I will that all 
 things be done as therein written. farewell." 
 rio when Sismnes, and those that were with him, 
 understood the intention of the king, they re- 
 solved to follow his directions entirely for the 
 time to come. So they forwarded the sacred 
 works, and assisted the elders of the Jews, and 
 the princes of the Sanhedrim ; and the structure 
 of the temple was with great diligence brought 
 to a conclusion, by the prophecies of Haggai and 
 Zechariah, according to God's commands, and 
 by the injunctions of Cyrus and Darius the kings. 
 Now the temple was built in seven years' tune : 
 and in the ninth year of the reign of Darius, on 
 the twenty-third day of the twelfth month, 
 whicli is by us called Adar, but by the Macedo- 
 nians Dystrus, the priests and the Levites, and 
 the other multitude of the Israelites, offered 
 sacrifices, as the renovation of their former pros- 
 perity after their captivity, and because they 
 had now the temple rebuilt, a hundred bulls, 
 two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and 
 twelve kids of the goats, according t the num- 
 ber of their tribes, (for so many are the tribes of 
 the Israelites ;) and this last for the sins of every 
 tribe. The priests also, and the Levites, set the 
 porters at every gate according to the laws of 
 .Moses. The Jews also built the cloisters of the 
 inner terr-cle that were round about the temple 
 itself. 
 
 8. Ana as the feast of unleavened bread was 
 at hand, in the first month, which according to 
 the Macedonians, is called Xanthicus, but ac- 
 cording to us Nisan, all the people ran together 
 out of the villages to the city, and celebrated the 
 festival, having purified themselves, with their 
 wives and children, according to the law of their 
 country; and they offered the sacrifice which 
 was called the Passover, on the fourteenth day 
 of the same mouth, and feasted seven days, and 
 spared for no cost, but offered whole burnt- 
 offerings to God, and performed sacrifices of 
 thanksgiving, because God had led them again to 
 the land of their fathers, and to the laws thereto 
 belonging, and had rendered the mind of the 
 Icing of Persia favourable to them. So these 
 men offered the largest sacrifices on these ac- 
 counts, and used great magnificence in the wor- 
 ship of God, and dwelt hi Jerusalem, and made 
 use of a form of government that was aristocra- 
 cical. but mixed with an oligarchy, for the high
 
 234 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 (.BOOK XI- 
 
 priests were at the head of their affairs, until the 
 posterity of the Asamoneans set up kingly go- 
 vernment ; for before their captivity, and the dis- 
 solution of their polity, they at first had kingly 
 government from Saul and David for five hundred 
 and thirty-two years, six months, and ten days : 
 but before those kings, such rulers governed 
 them as were called Judges and Monarchs. 
 Under this form of government, they continued 
 for more than five hundred years, after the death 
 of Moses, and of Joshua their commander. And 
 this is the account I had to give of the Jews who 
 had been carried into captivity, but were de- 
 livered from it in the times of Cyrus and Darius. 
 9.* But the Samaritans, being evil and envi- 
 ously disposed to the Jews, wrought them many 
 mischiefs, by reliance on their riches, and by 
 their pretence that they were allied to the Per- 
 sians, on account that thence they came; and 
 whatsoever it was that they were enjoined to 
 pay the Jews by the king's order out of their 
 tributes for the sacrifices, they would not pay it. 
 They had also the governors favourable to them, 
 and assisting them for that purpose ; nor did 
 they spare to hurt them, either by themselves or 
 by others, as far as they were able. So the Jews 
 determined to send an embassage to king Darius, 
 in favour of the people of Jerusalem, and in 
 order to accuse the Samaritans. The ambassa- 
 dors were Zorobabel, and four others of the 
 rulers ; and as soon as the king knew from the 
 ambassadors the accusations and complaints they 
 brought against the Samaritans, he gave them 
 an epistle to be carried to the governors and 
 council of Samaria ; the contents of which epistle 
 were these: "King Darius to Tanganas and 
 Sambabas, the governors of the Samaritans ; to 
 Sadraccs and Bobelo, and the rest of their fellow- 
 servants that are in Samaria: Zorobabel, Ana- 
 nias, and Mordecai, the ambassadors of the Jews, 
 complain of you, that you obstruct them in the 
 building of the temple, and do not supply them 
 with the expenses which I commanded you to 
 do for the offering of their sacrifices. My will 
 therefore is this : That upon the reading of this 
 epistle, you supply them with whatsoever they 
 want for their sacrifices, and that out of the 
 royal treasury, of the tributes of Samaria, as 
 the priests shall desire, that they may not leave 
 off their offering daily sacrifices, nor praying to 
 God for me and the Persians ;" and these were 
 the contents of that epistle. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 BOW XERXES, THE SON OP DARIUS, WAS WELL- 
 DISPOSED TO THE JEWS ; AS ALSO CONCERNING 
 ESDBAS AND KEHEMIAH. 
 
 1. UPON the death of Darius, Xerxes his sou 
 took the kingdom ; who, as he inherited his 
 father's kingdom, so did he inherit his piety to- 
 wards God, and honour of him ; for he did all 
 things suitably to his father relating to divine 
 worship, and he was exceeding friendly to the 
 Jews. Now about this time a son of Jeshua, 
 whose name was Joacim, was the high priest. 
 Moreover, there was now in Babylon a righteous 
 man, and one that enjoyed a great reputation 
 among the multitude; he was the principal 
 priest of the people, and his name was Esdras. 
 He was very skilful in the laws of Moses, and 
 was well acquainted with king Xerxes. He 
 had determined to go up to Jerusalem, and to 
 
 The history contained in this (section is entirely 
 wanting in all our copies, both of Ezra and Ksdras. 
 
 take with him some of those Jews that were in 
 Babylon ; and he desired that the king would 
 give him an epistle to the governors of Syria, by 
 which they might know who he was. Accord- 
 ingly, the king wrote the following epistle to 
 those governors :" Xerxes, king of kings, to 
 Esdras the priest, and reader of the divine law, 
 greeting. I think it agreeable to that love which 
 I bear to mankind, to permit those of the Jewish 
 nation who are so disposed, as well as those of 
 the priests and Levites that are in our kingdom, 
 to go together to Jerusalem. Accordingly, 1 
 have given command for that puqjose ; and let 
 every one that hath a mind go, according as it, 
 hath seemed good to me, and to my seven coun- 
 sellors, and this in order to their review of the 
 affairs of Judea, to see whether they be agreeable 
 to the law of God. Let them also take with 
 them those presents which I and my friends 
 have vowed, with all that silver and gold which 
 is found in the country of the Babylonians, as 
 dedicated to God, and let all this be carried to 
 Jerusalem, to God for sacrifices. Let it also be 
 lawful for thee and thy brethren to make as 
 many vessels of silver and gold as thou pleasest. 
 Thou shalt also dedicate those holy vessels which 
 have been given thee, and as many more as thou 
 hast a mind to make, and shalt take the expenses 
 out of the king's treasury. I have moreovej 
 written to the treasurers of Syria and Phrenicia, 
 that they take care of those affairs that Esdras 
 the priest, and reader of the laws of God, is sent 
 about ; and that God may not be at all angry 
 with me, or with my children, I grant all that is 
 necessary for sacrifices to God, according to the 
 law, as far as a hundred con of wheat ; and I 
 eujoin you not to lay any treacherous imposi- 
 tion, or any tributes, upon their priests 01 
 Levites, or sacred singers, or porters, or sacred 
 servants, or scribes of the temple ; and do thou, O 
 Esdras, appoint judges according to the wisdom 
 [given thee] of God, and those such as under- 
 stand the law, that they may judge in all Syria 
 and Phoenicia ; and do thou instruct those also 
 which are ignorant of it, that if any one of thy 
 countrymen transgress the law of God, or that of 
 the king, he may be punished, as not transgress- 
 ing it out of ignorance, but as one that knows it 
 indeed, but boldly despises and contemns it ; and 
 such may be punished by death, or by paying 
 fines. Farewell." 
 
 2. When Esdras had received this epistle, he 
 was very joyful, and began to worship God, and 
 confessed that he had been the cause of the king's 
 great favour to him, and that for the same reason 
 he gave all the thanks to God. So he read the 
 epistle at Babylon to those Jews that were there ; 
 but he kept the epistle itself, and sent a copy 
 of it to all those of his own nation that were in 
 Media; and when these Jews had understood 
 what piety the king had towards God, and what 
 kindness he had for Esdras, they were all greatly 
 pleased ; nay, many of them took their effects 
 with them, and came to Babylon, as very desir- 
 ous of going down to Jerusalem ; I- at then the 
 entire body of the people of Israel remained in 
 that country ; wherefore there are but two 
 tribes in Asia and Europe subject to the Komans. 
 while the ten tribes are beyond Euphrates till 
 now, and are an immense multitude, and not to 
 be estimated by numbers. Now there came a 
 great number of priests, and Levites, and porters, 
 and sacred singers, and sacred servants, to Esdras. 
 So he gathered those that were in the captivity 
 together beyond Euphrates, and stayed thers 
 three days, and ordained a fast for them, that 
 they might make their prayers to God for their 
 preservation, that they might suffer no misfor-
 
 OHAP. V.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES Ol THE JEWS. 
 
 tunea by the way, either from their enemies, or j 
 from any other ill accident ; for Esdras had said 
 beforehand, that he had told the king how God 
 would preserve them, and so he had not thought 
 fit to request that he would send horsemen to 
 conduct them. So when they had finished their 
 prayers, they removed from Euphrates, on the 
 twelfth day of the first month of the seventh 
 year of the reign of Xerxes, and they came to 
 Jerusalem on the fifth month of the same year. 
 Now Esdras presented the sacred money to the 
 treasurers, who were of the family of the priests, 
 of silver six hundred and fifty talents, vessels of 
 gold twenty talents, vessels of brsuss, that was 
 more precious gold,* twelve talents by weight; 
 for these presents had been made by the king 
 and his counsellors, and by all tlie Israelites that 
 stayed atBabylon. So when Esdras had delivered 
 these things to the priests, he gave to God, as 
 the appointed sacrifices of whole burnt-offer- 
 ings, twelve bulls on account of the common pre- 
 servation of the people, ninety rams, seventy- 
 two lambs, and twelve kids of the goats, for the 
 remission of sins. He also delivered the king's 
 epistle to the king's officers, and to the governors ' 
 of Coelesyria and Phoenicia ; and as they were 
 under the necessity of doing what was enjoined 
 by him, they honoured cur nation, and were 
 assistant to them in all their necessities. 
 
 3. Now these things were truly done under 
 the conduct of Esdras ; and he succeeded ic 
 them, because God esteemed him worthy of tht 
 success of his conduct, on account of his good- 
 ness and righteousness. But some time after- 
 ward there came some persons to him, and 
 brought an accusation against certah. of -fch? 
 multitude, and of the priests and Levites, \vht 
 had transgressed their settlement, and dissolved 
 the laws of their country, by marrying strange 
 wives, and had brought the family of the priests 
 into confusion. These persons desired him to 
 support the laws, lest God should take up a 
 general anger against them all, and reduce them 
 to a calamitous condition again. Hereupon ba 
 rent his garment immediately, out of grief, and 
 pulled off the hair of his head and beard, and 
 jast himself upon the ground, because this crime 
 had reached the principal men among the people ; 
 and considering that if he should enjoin them to 
 cast out their wives, and the children they had 
 by them, he should not be hearkened to, he con- 
 iinued lying upon the ground. However, all 
 the better sort came running to him, who also [ 
 themselves wept, and partook of the grief he 
 was under for what had been done. So Esdras 
 rose up from the ground, and stretched out his 
 hands towards heaven, and said that he was 
 ashamed to look towards it, because of the slna 
 which the people had committed,' while they had 
 east out of their memories what their fathers 
 had undergone on account of their wickedness; 
 and he besought God, who had saved a seed and 
 a remnant out of the calamity and captivity they 
 had been in, and had restored them again to 
 Jerusalem, and to their own laud, and had 
 obliged the king of Persia to have compassion on 
 them, that he would also forgive them their sins 
 they had now committed, which, though they 
 deserved death, yet was it agreeable to the 
 mercy of God to remit even to these the punish- . 
 ment due to them. 
 
 4. After Esdras had said this, he left off pray- 
 ing ; and when all those that came to him with 
 their wives and children were under lamentation, 
 
 * This kind of brass or copper, or rather mixture of 
 gold and brass or copper, was called attrichalcum, and 
 was of old esteemed the most precious^jf all lueUls- 
 
 oae, whose name was Jechonias, a principal mm 
 In Jerusalem, came to him, and said, that thej 
 had sinned in marrying strange wives ; and he 
 j.-ersuaded him to adjure them all to cast those 
 \vives out, and the children born of them ; and 
 that those should be punished who wculd not 
 obey the law. So Esdras hearkened to this 
 advice, and rnaae the heads of the priests, and 
 of the Levites, and of the Israelites, swear that 
 they would put away those wives and children . 
 according to the advice of Jechonias ; and when 
 he had received then- oaths, he went in haste 
 out of the temple into the chamber of Johanan, 
 the son of Eliasib, and as he had hitherto tasted 
 nothing at all for grief, so he abode there that 
 day ; and when proclamation was made, that all 
 those of the captivity should gather themselves 
 together to Jerusalem, and those that did not 
 meet there in two or three days should be ban- 
 ished from the multitude, and that their sub- 
 stance should be appropriated to the uses of the 
 temple, according to the sentence of the elders, 
 those that were of the tribes of Judah and Ben- 
 jamin came together in three days viz. , on the 
 twentieth day of the ninth month, which, ac- 
 cording to the Hebrews, is called Tebeth, and 
 according to the Macedonians, Apelleius. Now, 
 as they were sitting in the upper room of ihe 
 temple, where the elders also were present, but 
 were uneasy because of the cold, Esdra* stood 
 up and accused them, and told them that they 
 had sinned in marrying wives that were not of 
 their own nation ; but that now they would do a 
 thing both pleasing to God and advantageous to 
 themselves, if they would put those wives away. 
 Accordingly, they all cried out that they would 
 do so. That, however, the multitude was great, 
 and that the season of the year was winter, and 
 that this work would require more than one or 
 two days. "Let their rulers, therefore, [said 
 they,] and those that have married strange wives, 
 come hither at a proper time, while the elders 
 of every place, that are in common, to estimate 
 the number of those that have thus married, are 
 to be there also." Accordingly, this was re- 
 solved on by them ; and they began the inquiry 
 after those that had married strange wives or 
 the first day of the tenth month, and continued 
 the inquiry to the first day of the next month, 
 and found a great many of the posterity of 
 Jeshua the high priest, and of the priests and 
 Levites, and Israelites, who had a greater regard 
 to the observation of the law than to their na- 
 tural affection, t and immediately cast out their 
 wives, and the children which were born of 
 them ; and in order to appease God, they offered 
 sacrifices, and slew rams, as oblations to him ; 
 but it does not seem to me to be necessary to set 
 down the names of these men. So when Esdras 
 had reformed this sin about the marriages of the 
 forementioned persons, he reduced that practice 
 to purity, so that it continued in that state for 
 the time to come. 
 
 5. Now when they kept the feast of taber- 
 riaclea in the seventh mouth,:): and almost all 
 
 f This procedure of Esdras, after the Babylonish cap- 
 tivity.of reducing the Jewish marriages to the strictnesf 
 of the law of Moses, without any regard to the greatness 
 of those who had broken it, and without regard to na- 
 tural affection for their heathen wives, and their chil- 
 dren by them, deserves to be imitated in all attempts 
 for reformation among Christians, the contrary conduct 
 having ever been the bane of true religion, while 
 political motives are suffered to take the place of the 
 divine laws, and so the blessing of God is forfeited, and 
 the Church still suffered to continue corrupt from one 
 generation to another. 
 
 t This Jewish feast of tabernacles was Iriltatad \r\ 
 Bv^ral heathen solemnities.
 
 B38 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xi 
 
 the people were come together to it, they went 
 up to the open part of the temple, to the gate 
 which looked eastward, and desired Esdraa that 
 the laws of Moses might be read to them. Ac- 
 cordingly, he stood in the midst of the multitude 
 and read them ; and this he did from morning 
 to noon. Now, by hearing the laws read to 
 them, they were instructed to be righteous men 
 for the present and for the future ; but as for 
 their past offences, they were displeased at them- 
 selves, and proceeded to shed tears on their 
 account, as considering with themselves, that if 
 they had kept the law, they had endured none of 
 these miseries which they had experienced ; but 
 when Esdras saw them in that disposition, he 
 bade them go home and not weep, for that it 
 was a festival, and they ought not to weep there- 
 on, for that it was not lawful so to do. He 
 exhorted them rather to proceed immediately to 
 feasting, and to do what was suitable to a feast, 
 and what was agreeable to a day of joy ; but to 
 let their repentance and sorrow for their former 
 gins be a security and a guard to them, that they 
 fell no more into the like offences. So upon 
 Esdras' exhortation they began to feast : and 
 when they had so done for eight days, in their 
 tabernacles, they departed to their own homes, 
 singing hymns to God, and returning thanks to 
 Esdras for his reformation of what corruptions 
 had been introduced into their settlement. So 
 it came to pass, that after he had obtained this 
 reputation among the people, he died an old man, 
 and was buried in a magnificent manner at Jer- 
 usalem. About the same time it happened also 
 that Joacim, high priest, died; and hi** son 
 Eliasib succeeded in the high priesthood. 
 
 6. Now there was one of those Jews who had 
 been carried captive, who was cupbearer to king 
 Xerxes ; his name was Nehemiah. As this man 
 was walking before Susa, the metropolis of the 
 Persians, he heard some strangers that were 
 entering the city, after a long journey, speaking 
 to one another in the Hebrew tongue ; so he went 
 to them and asked from whence they came; and 
 when their answer was, that they came from 
 Judea, he began to inquire of them again in 
 what state the multitude was, And in what con- 
 dition Jerusalem was : and when they replied 
 that they were in a bad state,* for that their 
 walls were thrown down to the ground, and that 
 the neighbouring nations did a great deal of mis- 
 chief to the Jews, while in the daytime they 
 overran the country and pillaged it, and in the 
 night did them mischief, insomuch that not a 
 few were led away captive out of the country, 
 and out of Jerusalem itself, and that the roads 
 were in the daytime found full of dead men. 
 Hereupon Nehemiah shed tears, out of com- 
 miseration of the calamities of his countrymen ; 
 and, looking up to heaven, he said, "How long, 
 O Lord, wilt thou overlook our nation, while it 
 suffers so great miseries, and while we are made 
 the prey and the spoil of all men ?" And while he 
 stayed at the gate, and lamented thus, one told 
 him that the king was going to sit down to 
 supper ; so he made haste, and went as he was, 
 without washing himself, to minister to the king 
 in his office of cupbearer : but as the king was 
 very pleasant after supper, and more cheerful 
 than usual, he cast his eyes on Nehemiah, and 
 seeing him look sad, he asked bun why he 
 was sad. Whereupon he prayed to God to give 
 him favour, and afford the power of persuading 
 by his words; and said, "How can I, O king, 
 
 This miserable condition of the Jews rnuBt have 
 baen after the death of Esdras, and before Nehemiah 
 c&me commissioned to build the walls of Jerusalem 
 
 appear otherwise than thus, and not be in 
 trouble, while I hear that the walls of Jerusa- 
 lem, the city where are the sepulchres of my 
 fathers, are thrown down to the ground, and that 
 its gates are consumed by fire? But do thou 
 grant me the favour to go and build its wiill, and 
 to finish the building of the temple." Accord- 
 ingly the king gave him a signal, that he freely 
 granted him what he asked ; aud told him, that 
 he should cany an epistle to the governors, that 
 they might pay him due honour, and afford him 
 whatsoever assistance he wanted, and as he 
 pleased. " Leave off thy sorrow, then," said the 
 king, " and be cheerful in the performance of 
 thy office hereafter." So Nehemiah worshipped 
 God, and gave the king thanks for his promise, 
 and cleared up his sad and cloudy countenance, 
 by the pleasure he had from the king's promises. 
 Accordingly, the king called for him the next 
 day, and gave him an epistle to be carried to 
 Adeus, the governor of Syria, and Phoenicia, 
 and Samaria ; wherein he sent to him to pay due 
 honour to Nehemiah, and to supply him with 
 what he wanted for his building. 
 
 7. Now when he was come to Babylon, n<J 
 had taken with him many of his countrymen, 
 who voluntarily followed him, he came to Jerusa- 
 lem in the twenty and fifth year of the reign of 
 Xerxes; and when he had shewn the epistle to 
 God,f he gave them to Adeus, and to the other 
 governors. He also called together all the people 
 to Jerusalem, and stood in the midst of the 
 temple, and made the following speech to them : 
 " You know, O Jews, that God hath kept our 
 fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in mind 
 continually ; and for the sake of their righteous- 
 ness hath not left off the care of you. Indeed, 
 he hath assisted me in gaining this authority of 
 the king to raise up our wall, and finish what is 
 wanting of the temple. I desire you, therefore, 
 who well know the ill-will our neighbouring 
 nations bear to us, and that when once they are 
 made sensible that we are in earnest about build- 
 ing, they will come upon us, and contrive many 
 ways of obstructing our works, that you will, in 
 the first place, put your trust in God, as in him 
 that will assist us against their hatred, and to in- 
 termit building neither night nor day, but to use 
 all diligence, and to hasten on the work, now 
 we have this especial opportunity for it." When 
 he had said this, he gave order that the rulers 
 should measure the wall, and part the work of 
 it among the people, according to their villages 
 and cities, as every one's ability should require. 
 And when he had added this promise, that he 
 himself, with his servants, would assist them, 
 he dissolved the assembly. So the Jews pre- 
 pared for the work : that is the name they are 
 called by from the day that they came up from 
 Babylon, which is taken from the tribe of Judah, 
 which came first to these places, and thence both 
 they and the country gained that appellation. 
 
 8. But now when the Ammonites, and Moab- 
 ites, and Samaritans, and all that inhabited 
 Coelesyria, heard that the building went on 
 apace, they took it heinously, and proceeded to 
 lay snares for them, and to hinder their inten- 
 tions. They also slew many of the Jews, and 
 sought how they might destroy Nehemiah him- 
 self, by hiring some of the foreigners to kill him. 
 They also put the Jews in fear, and disturbed 
 
 t This shewing Xerxes' epistles to God, is very like 
 the laying open the epistles of Sennacherib before him 
 also by Hezekiah, (2 Kings xix. 14 ; Isa. xxxvii. 14 ; ) 
 although this last was for a memorial, to put hiai In 
 mind of the enemies, in order to move the divine com- 
 passion, and the present as a token of gratitude !c? 
 mercies already received.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JETVS. 
 
 237 
 
 them, and spread abroad rumours, as if many 
 nations were ready to make an expedition against 
 them, by which means they were harassed, and had 
 almost left off the building. But none of these 
 things could deter Nehemiah from being diligent 
 about the work ; he only set a number of men 
 about him as a guard to his body, and so un- 
 weariedly persevered therein, and was insensible 
 of any trouble, out of his desire to perfect this 
 work. .And thus did he attentively, and with 
 great forecast, take care of his own safety ; not 
 that he feared death, but of this persuasion, that 
 if he were dead, the walls for his citizens would 
 never be raised. He also gave orders that the 
 builders should keep their ranks, and have their 
 armour on while they were building. Accord- 
 ingly, the mason had his sword on, as well as he 
 that brought the materials for building. He also 
 appointed that their shields should lie very near 
 them ; and he placed trumpeters at every five 
 hundred feet, and charged them, that if their 
 enemies appeared, they should give notice of it to 
 the people, that they might fight in their armour, 
 and their enemies might not fall upon them 
 naked. He also went about the compass of the 
 city by night, being never discouraged, neither 
 about the work itself, nor about his own diet and 
 sleep, for he made no use of those things for his 
 pleasure, but of necessity. And this trouble he 
 underwent for two years and four months ; * for 
 in so long a time was the wall built, in the 
 twenty-eighth year of the reign of Xerxes, \n the 
 ninth month. Now when the walls were finished, 
 Nehemiah and the multitude offered sacrifices to 
 God for the building'of them ; and they continued 
 in . feasting eight days. However, when the 
 nations which dwelt in Syria heard that the 
 building of the wall was finished, they had indig- 
 nation at it; but when Nehemiah saw that the 
 city was thin of people, he exhorted the priests 
 and the Levites, that they would leave the 
 country, and remove themselves to the city, and 
 there continue; and he built them houses at his 
 own expense ; and he commanded that part of 
 the people who were employed in cultivating the 
 land, to bring the tithes of their fruits to Jer- 
 usalem, that the priests and Levites having 
 whereof they might live perpetually, might not 
 leave the divine worship; who willingly heark- 
 ened to the constitutions of Nehemiah, by which 
 means the city Jerusalem came to be fuller of 
 people than it was before. So when Nehemiah 
 Lad done many other excellent things, and 
 things worthy of commendation, in a glorious 
 manner, he came to a great age, and then died. 
 He was a man of a good and a righteous disposi- 
 tion, and very ambitious to make his own nation 
 happy; and he hath left the walls of Jerusalem 
 as an eternal monument for himself. Now this 
 was done in the days of Xerxes. 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 CONCERNING ESTHER, AND MOEDECAI, AND HA- 
 MAN; AND HOW, IN THE REIGN OF ARTAXERXES, 
 THE WHOLE NATION OP THE JEWS WAS IN DAN- 
 GER OF PERISHING. 
 
 1. AFTER the death of Xerxes, the kingdom 
 
 * It may not be improper to remark here, with what 
 an unusual accuracy Josephus determines these years of 
 Xerxes, in which the wall of Jerusalem were built viz., 
 that Nehemiah came with this commission in the 25th 
 of Xerxes; that the walls were two years and four 
 months in building; and that they were finished on the 
 28th of Xerxes. It may also be remarked further, that 
 Josephus hardly ever mentions more than one infallible 
 astronomical character, I mean an eclipse of the moon, 
 and tliii a little before the death of Herod the Great. 
 
 came to be transferred to his son Cyrus, whom 
 the Greeks called Artaxerxes. When this man 
 had obtained the government over the Persians, 
 the whole nation of the Jews,f with their wives 
 and children, were in danger of perishing ; the 
 occasion whereof we shall declare in a little time; 
 for it is proper, in the first place, to explain 
 somewhat relating to this king, and how he 
 came to marry a Jewish wife, who vas herself 
 of the royal family also, and who is related to 
 have saved our nation ; for when Artaxerxes had 
 taken the kingdom, and had set governors over 
 the hundred twenty and seven provinces, from 
 India even unto Ethiopia, in the third year of 
 his reign he made a costly feast for his friends, 
 and for the nations of Persia, and for their go- 
 vernors, such a one as was proper for a king to 
 make, when he had a mind to make a public de- 
 monstration of his riches, and this for a hundred 
 and fourscore days ; after which he made a feast 
 for other nations, and for their ambassadors, at 
 Shushan, for seven days. Now this feast was 
 ordered after the manner following : He caused 
 a tent to be pitched, which was supported by 
 pillars of gold and silver, with curtains of linen 
 and purple spread over them, that it might afford 
 room for many ten thousands to sit down. The 
 cups with which the waiters ministered were of 
 gold, and adorned with precious stones, for 
 pleasure and for sight. He also gave order to 
 the servants, that they should not force them to 
 drink, by bringing them wine continually, as is 
 the practice of the Persians, but to permit every 
 one of the guests to enjoy himself according to 
 his own inclination, Moreover, he sent messen- 
 gers through the country, and gave order that 
 they should have a remission of their labours, 
 and should keep a festival many days, on ac- 
 count of his kingdom. In like manner did 
 Vashti the queen gather her guests together, 
 and made them a feast in the palace. Now the 
 king was desirous to shew her, who exceeded all 
 other women in beauty, to those that feasted 
 with him, and he sent some to command her to 
 come to his feast. But she, out of regard to the 
 laws of the Persians, which forbid the wives to 
 be seen by strangers, did not go to the king ;J 
 and though he oftentimes sent the eunuchs to 
 her, she did nevertheless stay away, and refused 
 to come, till the king was so much irritated, that 
 he brake up the entertainment, and rose up, and 
 called for those seven who had the interpreta- 
 tion of the laws committed to them, and accused 
 his wife, and said, that he had been affronted 
 by her, because that when she was frequently 
 called by him to his feast, she did not obey him 
 once. He therefore gave order that they should 
 inform him what could be done by the law 
 against her. So one of them, whose name was 
 Memucan, said that this affront was offered not 
 to him alone, but to all the Persians, who were 
 in danger of leading their lives very ill with 
 their wives, if they must be thus despised by 
 them ; for that none of their wives would have 
 any reverence for their husbands, if they had 
 " such an example of arrogance in the queen to- 
 
 t Since some sceptical persons are willing to discard 
 this book of Esther as no true history, I shall venture 
 to say, that almost all the objections against this book 
 of Esther are gone at once, if we place this history 
 under Artaxerxes Longimanus, as do both the Septua- 
 gint interpreters and Josephus. 
 
 I If the Chaldee paraphrast be in the right, that AT- 
 taxerxes intended to shew Vashti to his guests naked, 
 it is no wonder at all that she would not submit to sucb 
 an indignity ; but s.till if it wore not so gross as that, 
 yet it might, in the king's cups, be done in a way go io 
 decent, as the Persian laws would not then bear, no 
 mo** than the common laws of modesty.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE 
 
 [BOOK XL 
 
 wards thee, who rulest over all" Accordingly, 
 he exhorted him to punish her, who had been 
 eruilty of BO great an affront to him, after a severe 
 manner ; and when he had so done, to publish 
 to the nations what had been decreed about the 
 queen. So the resolution was to put Vashti 
 away, and to give her dignity to another woman. 
 
 2. But the king having been fond of her, he 
 did not well bear a separation, and yet by the 
 law he could not admit of a reconciliation, so he 
 was under trouble, as not having it in his power 
 to do what he desired to do : but when his 
 friends saw him so uneasy, they advised him tc 
 cast the memory of his wife, and his love for her, 
 out of his mind, but to send abroad over all the 
 habitable earth, and to search out for comely 
 virgins, and to take her wLcm he should best 
 like for hia wife, because his passion for his for- 
 mer wife would be quenched l>y the introduction 
 of another, and the kindness he had for Yashti 
 would be withdrawn from her, and be placed on 
 her that was with him. Accordingly, he wea 
 persuaded to follow this advice, and gave order 
 to certain persons to chose out of the virgins that 
 were in his kingdom those that were esteemed 
 the most comely. So when a great number of 
 these virgins were gathered together, there waa 
 found a damsel in Babylon, whose parents were 
 both dead, tnd she was brought up with her 
 Uncle Mordecai, for that was her uncle's name, 
 this uncle was of the tribe of Benjamin, and was 
 Bne of the principal persons among the Jew a. 
 Now it proved that this damsel, whose name was 
 Esther, was the most beautiful of all the rest, 
 and that the grace of her countenance drew the 
 eyes of the spectators principally upon her : so 
 she was committed to one of the eunuchs to take 
 the care of her ; and she was very exactly pro- 
 vided with sweet odours, in great plenty, and 
 with costly ointments, such as her body required 
 to be anointed withal ; and this was used for six 
 months by the virgins, who were in number four 
 hundred; and when the eunuch thought they 
 had been sufficiently purified, in the foremen- 
 tioned time, and were now fit to go to the king's 
 bed, he sent one to be with the long every day. 
 So when he had accompanied with her, he sent 
 her back to the eunnch ; and when Esther had 
 come to him, he was pleased with her, and fell 
 in love with the damsel, and married her, and 
 made her his lawful wife, and kept a wedding- 
 feast for her on the twelfth month of the seventh 
 year of his reign, which was called Arlar. He 
 also sent angari, as they are called, or messen- 
 gers, nnto every nation, and gave orders that 
 they should keep a feast for his marriage, while 
 he himself treated the Persians and the Medes, 
 and the principal men of the nations, for a whole 
 month, on account of this his marriage. Ac- 
 cordingly, Esther came to his royal palace, and he 
 set a diadem on her head ; and thus was Esther 
 married, without making mention to the king 
 what nation she was derived from. Her uncle 
 also removed from Babylon to Shushan, and 
 dwelt there, being every day about the palace, 
 and inquiring how the damsel did, for he loved 
 aer as though she had been his own daughter. 
 
 3. Now the king had made a law,* that none 
 of his own people should approach him unless 
 they were called, when he sat upon his throne ; 
 and men, with axes in their hands, stood round 
 about his throne, in order to punish such as 
 approached to him without being called. How- 
 
 * Herodotus says that this law was first enacted by 
 Deioceg. Thus also stood guards, with their axes, about 
 the throne of Tenus, or Tenudus, that the offender 
 might by them be punished immediately. 
 
 ever, the king sat with a golden sceptre in his 
 hand, which he held out when he had a mind to 
 save any one of those that approached to him 
 without being called ; and he who touched it 
 was free from danger. But of this matter we 
 have discoursed sufficiently. 
 
 4. Some time after this [two eunuchs] Bigthan 
 and Teresh, plotted against the king ; and Bar- 
 nabazus, the servant of one of the eunuchs, being 
 by birth a Jew, was acquainted with their con- 
 spiracy, ar.f] discovered it to the queen's uncle ; 
 
 I and Mordecai, by means of Esther, made the 
 
 conspirators known to the kins*. This troubled 
 
 the king ; but he discovered the truth, and 
 
 ! hanged the eunuchs upon a cross, while at that 
 
 ! time he gave no reward to Mordecai, who had 
 
 oeen the occasion of his preservation. He only 
 
 bade the scribe to set down his name in the 
 
 records, and bade him stay in the palace, as an 
 
 intimate friend of the king. 
 
 5. Now there was one Haman, the son of Ame- 
 datha, by birth an Amalekite, that used to go in 
 to the king ; and the foreigners and Persians 
 worshipped him, as Artaxerxes had commanded 
 that such honour should be paid to him ; but 
 Mordecai was so wise, and so observant of hfc 
 own country's laws, that he would not worship 
 
 t the man.'f' When Haman observed this, he in- 
 quired whence he came ; and when he understood 
 that he was a Jew, he had indignation at him, 
 and said within himself, that whereas the Per- 
 sians, who were free men, worshipped him, this 
 man, who was no better than a slave, does not 
 vouchsafe to do so. And when he desired to 
 punish Mordecai, he thought it too small a thing 
 to request of the king that he alone might be 
 punished ; he rather determined to abolish the 
 whole nation, for he was naturally an enemy to 
 the Jews, because the nation of the Amalekites, 
 of which he was, had been destroyed by them. 
 Accordingly, he came to the king, and accused 
 them, saying, "There is a certain wicked nation, 
 and it is dispersed over all the habitable earth 
 that was under his dominion ; a nation separate 
 from others, unsociable, neither admitting the 
 same sort of divine worship that others do, nor 
 using laws like to the laws of others, at enmity 
 with thy people, and with all men, both in their 
 manners and practices. Now, if thou wilt be a 
 benefactor to thy subjects, thou wilt give order 
 to destroy them utterly, and not leave the least 
 remains of them, nor preserve any of them, 
 either for slaves or for captives. " But that the 
 king might not be damnified by the loss of the 
 tributes which the Jews paid him, Haman pro- 
 mised to give him out of his own estate forty 
 thousand talents whensoever he pleased ; and he 
 said he would pay this money verv willingly, 
 that the kingdom might be freed from such a 
 misfortune. 
 
 6. When Raman had made this petition, the 
 king both-forgave him the money, and granted 
 him the men, to do what he would with them. 
 So Haman, having gained what he desired, sent 
 out immediately a decree, as from the king, to 
 all nations, the contents whereof were these : 
 "Artaxerxes, the great king, to the rulers of 
 the hundred and twenty-seven provinces, from 
 India to Ethiopia, sends this writing. Whereas 
 I have governed many nations, and obtained the 
 
 t Whether this adoration required of Moroecai to 
 Hainan were by him deemed too like the adoration d\ne 
 only to God, or whether he thought he ought to pay no 
 sort of adoration to an Amalekite, which nation had 
 been such great sinners as to have been universally 
 devoted to destruction by God hiniself, or whether both 
 causes concurred, cannot now, I doubt, bf certainly 
 determined.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 239 
 
 dominions of all the habitable earth, according 
 ,o my desire, and have not been obliged to do 
 anything that is insolent or cruel to my subjects 
 by such my power, but have shewed myself mild 
 and gentle, by taking care of their peace and 
 good order, and have sought how they might 
 enjoy those blessings for all time to come ; and 
 whereas I have been kindly informed by Hainan, 
 A ho, on account of his prudence and justice, is 
 the first in my esteem, and in dignity, and only 
 second to myself, for his fidelity and constant 
 good-will to me, that there is an ill-natured 
 uation intermixed with all mankind, that is 
 averse to our laws, and not subject to kings, and 
 of a different conduct of life from others, that : 
 hateth monarchy, and of a disposition that ia 
 pernicious to our affairs ; I give order that these i 
 men, of whom Hainan, our second father, hatL 
 informed us, be destroyed, with their wives and 
 children, and that none of them be spared, and 
 *hat none prefer pity to them before obedience 
 iro this decree ; and this I will to be executed on 
 the fourteenth day of the twelfth month of this 
 present year, that so when all who have enmity 
 to us are destroyed, and this in one day, we may 
 !>e allowed to lead the rest of our lives in peace 
 hereafter." Now when this decree was brought 
 to the cities, and to the country, all were ready 
 for the destruction and entire abolishment of 
 the Jews, against the day before mentioned; 
 and they were very hasty about it at Shushan, 
 in particular. Accordingly, the king and Ha- 
 man spent their time in feasting together with 
 good cheer and wine ; but the city WHS in dis- 
 order. 
 
 7. Now when Morrfecai was informed of what 
 was done, he rent his clothes, and put on sack- 
 cloth, and sprinkled ashes upon his head, and 
 went about the city, crying out, that "a nation 
 j that had been injurious to no man was to be 
 destroyed." And he went on saying thus as far 
 as to the king's palace, and there he stood, for it 
 was not lawful for him to go into it in that habit. 
 The same thing was done by all the Jews that 
 were in the several cities wherein this decree 
 was published, with lamentation and mourning, 
 on account of the calamities denounced against 
 them. But as soon as certain persons had told 
 the queen that Mordecai stood before the court 
 in a mourning habit, she was disturbed at this 
 report, and sent out such as should change his 
 garments ; but when he could not be induced to 
 put off his sackcloth, because the sad occasion 
 that forced him to put it on was not yet ceased, 
 she called the eunuch Acratheus, for he was 
 then present, and sent him to Mordecai, in order 
 to know of him what sad accident had befallen 
 him, for which he was in mourning, and would 
 not put off the habit he had put on, at her de- 
 sire. Then did Mordecai inform the eunuch of 
 the occasion of his mourning, and of the deciee 
 which was sent by the king into all the country, 
 and of the promise of money whereby Haman 
 bought the destruction of their nation. He also 
 
 five him a copy of what was proclaimed at 
 hushan, to be carried to Esther ; and he 
 charged her to petition the king about this 
 matter, and not to think it a dishonourable 
 thing in her to put on a humble habit, for the 
 safety of her nation, wherein she might depre- 
 cate the ruin of the Jews, who were in danger 
 of it ; for that Haman, whose dignity was only 
 inferior to that of the king, had accused the 
 Jews, and had irritated the king against them. 
 When she was informed of this, she sent to 
 Mordecai again, and t./-d him that she was not 
 called by the king, and that he who goes in to 
 biin without being called is to bo slain, unless 
 
 when he is willing to save any one, he holds out 
 his golden sceptre to him ; but that to whomso 
 ever he does so, although he go in without being 
 called, that person is so far from being slain, 
 that he obtains pardon, and ia entirely pre- 
 served. Now when the eunuch carried this 
 message from Esther to Mordecai, he bade him 
 also tell her that she must not only provide for 
 ber own preservation, but for the common pre- 
 servation of her nation, for that if she now ne- 
 glected this opportunity, there would certainly 
 \rise help to them from God some other way ; 
 i>ut she and her father's house would be de- 
 stroyed by those whom she now despised. But 
 Esther sent the very same eunuch back to 
 Mordecai, [to desire him] to go to Shushan, and 
 to gather the Jews, that were there together to 
 a congregation, and to fast, and abstain from all 
 sorts of food, on her account, and [to let him 
 know that] she with her maidens would do the 
 same ; and then she promised that she would 
 go to the king, though it were against the law, 
 and that if she must die for it, she would not 
 refuse it. 
 
 & Accordingly, Moidecai did as Esther had 
 enjoined him, and made the people fast ; and he 
 besought God, together with them, not to over- 
 look his nation, particularly at this time, when 
 it was going to be destroyed ; but that, as he had 
 often before provided for them, and forgiven 
 when they had sinned, so he would now deliver 
 them from that destruction which was denounced 
 against them ; for although it was not all the 
 nation that had offended, yet must they so in- 
 gloriously be slain, and that he was himself the 
 occasion of the wratii of Haman, "Because," 
 said he, "I did not worship him, nor could I 
 endure to pay honour to him which I used to 
 pay to thee, O Lord ; for upon that his anger 
 hath he contrived this present mischief against 
 those that have not transgressed thy laws." The 
 same supplications did the multitude put up ; 
 and entreated that God would provide for their 
 deliverance, and free the Israelites that were in 
 all the earth from this calamity which was now 
 coming upon them, for they had it before their 
 eyes, and expected its coming. Accordingly, 
 Esther made supplication to God after the 
 manner of her country, by casting herself down 
 upon the earth, and putting on her mourning 
 garments, and bidding farewell to meat and 
 drink, and all delicacies, for three days' time ; 
 and she entreated God to have mercy upon her, 
 and make her words appear persuasive to the 
 king, and render her countenance more beauti- 
 ful than it was before, that both by her words 
 and beauty she might succeed, for the averting 
 of the king's anger, in case he were at all 
 irritated against her, and for the consolation of 
 those of her own country, now they were in the 
 utmost danger of perishing : as also that he 
 would excite a hatred in the king against the 
 enemies of the Jews, and those that had con- 
 trived their future destruction, if they proved 
 to be contemned by him. 
 
 9. When Esther had used this supplication 
 for three days, she put off those garments, and 
 changed her habit, and adorned herself as be- 
 came a queen, and took two of her handmaids 
 with her, the one of which supported her, as she 
 gently leaned upon her, and the other followed 
 after, aiid lifted up her large train (which swept 
 along the ground) with the extremities of her 
 fingers : and thus she came to the king, having 
 a blushing redness in her countenance, wr&h a 
 pleasant agreeableness in her behaviour, y^i 
 did she go in to him with fear ; and as soon aa 
 she was come over aaninst him, as re was sitting
 
 240 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK ii 
 
 on his throne, in his royal apparel, which was a 
 garment interwoven with gold and precious 
 etones, which made him seem to her more ter- 
 rible, especially when he looked at her some- 
 what severely, and with a countenance on fire 
 with anger, her joints failed her immediately, 
 out of the dread she was in, and she fell down 
 sideways in a swoon : but the king changed his 
 mind, which happened, as I suppose, by the will 
 of God, and was concerned for his wife, lest her 
 fear should bring some very evil thing upon her, 
 and he leaped from his throne, and took her in 
 his arms, and recovered her, by embracing her, 
 and speaking comfortably to her, and exhorting 
 her to be of good cheer, and not to suspect any- 
 thing that was sad on account of her coming to 
 him without being called, because that law was 
 made for subjects, but that she, who was a 
 queen, as well as he a king, might be entirely 
 eecure : and as he said this, he put the sceptre 
 into her hand, and laid his rod upon her neck, 
 on account of the law ; and so freed her from 
 fear. And after she had recovered herself by 
 these encouragements, she said, " My lord, it is 
 not easy for me, on the sudden, to say what 
 hath happened, for so soon as I saw thee to be 
 great, and comely, and terrible, my spirit de- 
 parted from me, and I had no soul left in me." 
 And while it was with difficulty, and in a low 
 voice, that she could say thus much, the king 
 was in great agony and disorder, and encouraged 
 Esther to be of good cheer, and to expect better 
 fortune, since he was ready, if occasion should 
 require it, to grant to her the half of his king- 
 dom. Accordingly, Esther desired that he and 
 his friend Haman would come to her to a ban- 
 quet, for she said she had prepared a supper for 
 him. He consented to it ; and when they were 
 there, as they were drinking, he bade Esther to 
 let him know what she had desired ; for that 
 she should not be disappointed, though she 
 should desire the half of his kingdom. But she 
 put off the discovery of her petition till the next 
 day, if he would come again, together with 
 Haman, to her banquet. 
 
 10. Now when the king had promised so to 
 do, Haman went away very glad, because he 
 alone had the honour of supping with *,he king 
 at Esther's banquet, and because no one else 
 partook of the same honour with kings but him- 
 self ; yet when he saw Mordecai in the court he 
 was very much displeased, for he paid him no 
 manner of respect when he oaw him. So he 
 went home and called for his wife Zercsh, and 
 his friends, and when they were come, he 
 shewed them what honour he enjoyed, not only 
 from the king, but from the queen also, for as 
 he alone had that day supped with her, together 
 with the king, so was he also invited again for 
 the next day; "Yet," said he, "am I not 
 pleased to see Mordecai the Jew in the court." 
 Hereupon his wife Zeresh advised him to give 
 order that a gallows should be made fifty cubits 
 high, and that in the monning he should ask it 
 of the king that Mordecai might be hanged 
 thereon. So he commended her advice, and 
 gave order to his servants to prepare the gal- 
 lows, and to place it in the court, for the pun- 
 ishment of Mordecai thereon, which was accord- 
 ingly prepared. But God laughed to scorn the 
 wicked expectations of Haman ; and as he knew 
 what the event would be, he was delighted at it, 
 for that night he took away tiie king's sleep : 
 and as the king was not willing to lose the time 
 ef his lying awake, but to spend it in something 
 that might be of advantage to his kingdom, he 
 commanded the scribe to bring him the chronicles 
 of the former kings, and the records of his own 
 
 actions ; and when he had brought them, and 
 was reading them, one was found to have re- 
 ceived a country on account of his excellent 
 management on a certain occasion, and the name 
 of the country was set down ; another was found 
 to have had a present made him on account of 
 his fidelity : then the scribe came to Bigthan and 
 Teresh, the eunuchs that had made a conspiracy 
 against the king, which Mordecai had dis- 
 covered ; and when the scribe said no more but 
 that, and was going on to another history, the 
 king stopped him, and inquired, " Whether it 
 was not added that Mordecai had a reward given 
 him?" and when he said there was no suoh 
 addition, he bade him leave off ; and he inquired 
 of those that were appointed for that purpose, 
 what hour of the night it was ; and when he was 
 informed that it was already day, he gave order 
 that, if they found any one of his friends already 
 come, and standing before the court, they should 
 tell him. Now it happened that Haman was 
 found there, for he was come sooner than ordi- 
 nary, to petition the king to have Mordecai put 
 to death : and when the servants said, that 
 Haman was before the court, he bade them call 
 him in; and when he was come in, he said, 
 "Because I know that thou art my only fast 
 friend, I desire thee to give me advice how I 
 may honour one that I greatly love, and that 
 after a manner suitable to my magnificence." 
 Now Haman reasoned with himself, that what 
 opinion he should give it would be for himself, 
 since it was he alone who was beloved by the 
 king ; BO he gave that advice which he thought 
 of all others the best ; for he said, " If thou 
 wouldst truly honour a man whom thou sayest 
 thou dost love, give order that he may ride on 
 horseback, with the same garment which thou 
 wearest, arid with a gold chain about his neck, 
 and let one of thy intimate friends go before 
 him, and proclaim through the whole city, that 
 whosoever the king honoureth obtaineth this 
 mark of his honour." This was the advice which 
 Haman gave, out of a supposal that such reward 
 would come to himself. Hereupon the king 
 was pleased witli the advice, and said, "Go 
 thou, therefore, for thou hast the horse, the 
 garment, and the chain, ask for Mordecai the 
 Jew, and give him those things, and go before 
 his horse and proclaim accordingly ; for thou 
 art," said he, "my intimate friend, and hast 
 given me good advice ; be thou then the minister 
 of what thou hast advised me to. This shall be 
 his reward from us, for preserving my life." 
 When he heard this order, which was entirely 
 unexpected, he was confounded in his mind, and 
 knew not what to do. However, he went out 
 and led the horse, and took the purple garment, 
 and the golden chain for the neck, and finding 
 Mordecai before the court, clothed in sackcloth, 
 he bade him put that garment off, and put the 
 purple garment on : but Mordecai not knowing 
 the truth of the matter, but thinking that it was 
 done in mockery, said, "O thou wretch, the 
 vilest of all mankind, dost thou thus laugh at 
 our calamities?" But when he was satisfied 
 that the king bestowed this honour upon him, 
 for the deliverance he had procured him when 
 he convicted the eunuchs who had conspired 
 against him, he put on that purple garment 
 which the king always wore, and put the chain 
 about his neck, and got on horseback, and went 
 round the city, while Haman went before,' and 
 proclaimed, "This shall be the reward which 
 the king will bestow on every one whom he 
 loves, and esteems worthy of honour." And 
 when they had gone round the city, Mordecai 
 went in to the kinjj ; but FT*"""-" went home,
 
 CHAP. VI.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 241 
 
 cut of shame, and informed his wife and friends 
 of what had happened, and this with tears : who 
 aid that he would never be able to be revenged 
 of Mordecai, for that God was with him. 
 
 11. Now while these men were thus talking ! 
 one to another, Esther's eunuchs hastened Ham an ! 
 away to come to supper : but one of the eunuchs j 
 named Sabuchadas, saw the gallows that was 
 fired in Hainan's house, and inquired of one of 
 hia servants for what purpose they had prepared 
 it. So he knew that it was for the queen's 
 uncle, because Hainan was about to petition the 
 king that he might be punished ; but at present 
 he held his peace. Now when the king, with 
 Haman, were at the banquet, he desired the king 
 to tell him what gifts she desired to obtain, and 
 assured her that she should have whatsoever she 
 had a mind to. She then lamented the danger 
 her people were in; and that "she and her 
 nation were given up to be destroyed, and that 
 she on that account made this her petition : that 
 she would not have troubled him if he had only 
 given order that they should be sold into bitter 
 servitude, for such a misfortune would not have 
 been intolerable ; but she desired that they 
 might be delivered from such destruction. " And 
 when the king inquired of her who was the 
 author of this misery to them, she then openly 
 accused Haman, and convicted him, that he had 
 been the wicked instrument of this, and had 
 formed this plot against them. "When the king 
 was hereupon in disorder, and was gone hastily 
 out of the banquet into the gardens, Haman be- 
 gan to intercede with Esther, and to beseech her 
 to forgive him, as to what he had offended, for 
 he perceived that he was in a very bad case. 
 And as he had fallen upon the queen's bed, and 
 was making supplication to her, the king came 
 in, and being still more provoked at what he 
 saw, " C '.hou wretch," said he, " thou vilest of 
 mankinn, dost thou aim to force my wife?" And 
 when Haman was astonished at this, and not 
 able to speak one word more, Sabuchadas the 
 eunuch came in, and accused Haman, and said, 
 
 " He found a gallows at his house, prepared for 
 Mordecai ; for that the servant told him so much, 
 upon his inquiry, when he was sent to him to 
 call him to supper:" he said further, that the 
 gallows was fifty cubits high : which, when the 
 king heard, he determined that Haman should 
 be punished after no other manner than that 
 which had been devised by him against Morde- 
 cai ; so he gave order immediately that he should 
 be hung upon those gallows, and be put to death 
 after the same manner. And from hence I can- 
 not forbear to admire God, and to learn hence 
 bis wisdom and justice, not only in punishing 
 the wickedness of Haman, but in so disposing it, 
 that he should undergo the very same punish- 
 ment which he had contrived for another; as 
 also, because thereby he teaches others this 
 lesson, that what mischiefs any one prepares 
 against another, he without knowing of it, first 
 contrives it against himself. 
 
 12. Wherefore Haman, who had immoder- 
 ately abused the honour he had from the king, 
 was destroyed after this manner ; and the king 
 granted his estate to the queen. He also called 
 for Mordecai, (for Esther had informed him that 
 she was akin to him,) and gave that ring to Mor- 
 decai; which he had before given to Haman 
 The queen also gave Haman 's estate to Mordecai; 
 and prayed the king to deliver the nation of the 
 Jews from the fear of death, and shewed bin. 
 what had been written over all the country by 
 Haman the son of Ammedatha; for that if her 
 country were destroyed, and her countrymen 
 w^re to perish, she could not bear to live herself 
 
 any longer. So the king promised her that he 
 would not do anything that was disagreeable to 
 her, nor contradict what she desired; but he bade 
 her write what she pleased about the Jews, in 
 the king's name, and seal it with his seal, and 
 send it to all his kingdom, for that those who read 
 epistles whose authority is secured by having the 
 king's seal to them, would no way contradict 
 what was written therein. So he commanded 
 the king's scribes to be sent for, and to write to 
 the nations, on the Jew's behalf, and to his lieu- 
 tenants and governors, that were over his hun- 
 dred and twenty-seven provinces, from India to 
 Ethiopia. Now the contents of this epistle were 
 these : " The great king Artaxerxes to our 
 rulers, and those that are our faithful subjects, 
 sendeth greeting.* Many men there are who, on 
 account of the greatness of the benefits bestowed 
 on them, and because of the honour which they 
 have obtained from the wonderful kind treat- 
 ment of those that bestowed it, are not only in- 
 jurious to their inferiors, but do not scruple to 
 do evil to those that have been their benefactors, 
 as if they would take away gratitude from among 
 men, and by their insolent abuse of such benefits 
 as they never expected, they turn the abundance 
 they have against those that are the authors of it, 
 and suppose that they shall lie concealed from 
 God in that case, and avoid that vengeance which 
 comes from him. Some of these men, when they 
 have had the management of affairs committed 
 to them by their friends, and bearing private 
 malice of their own against some others, by de- 
 ceiving those that have the power, persuade them 
 to be angry at such as have done them no harm, 
 till they are in danger of perishing, and this by 
 laying accusations and calumnies: nor is this 
 state of things to be discovered by ancient ex- 
 amples, or such as we have learned by report 
 only, but by some examples of such impudent 
 attempts under onr own eyes, so that it is not fit 
 to attend any longer to calumnies and accusa- 
 tions, nor to the persuasion of others, but to de- 
 termine what any one knows of himself to have 
 been really done, and to punish what justly de- 
 serves it. and to grant favours to such as are in- 
 nocent. This hath been the case of Haman, the 
 son of Ammedatha, by birth an Amalekite, and 
 alien from the blood of the Persians, who, when 
 he was hospitably entertained by us, and partook 
 of that kindness which we bear to all men to so 
 great a degree, as to be called my father, and to 
 be all along worshipped, and to have honour paid 
 him by all in the second rank after the royal 
 honour due to ourselves, he could not bear bis 
 good fortune, nor govern the magnitude of his 
 prosperity with sound reason; nay, he made a 
 conspiracy against me and my life, who g&ve him 
 his authority, by endeavouring to take away 
 Mordecai, my benefactor, and my saviour, and 
 baselyand treacherously requiring to haveEsther, 
 the partner of my life, and of my dominion, 
 brought to destruction ; for he contrived by this 
 means to deprive me of my faithful friends, and 
 transfer the government to others : t but uuua 
 
 * The reason why Artaxerxes did not here revoke hia 
 former barbarous decree for the universal slaughter of 
 C?~. Jews, but only empowered the Jews to fijrht fortheii 
 lives, and to kill their enemies, if they attempted their 
 destruction, seems to have been that lav of the Medee 
 and Persians, that whatever decree was signed both by 
 the king and hia lords, could not be changed, but re- 
 mained unalterable. 
 
 t These words, give an intimation as if Artaxerxes 
 suspected a deeper desipn in Haman than openly ap- 
 pearedviz., that knowing the Jews would be faithful 
 to him, and that he could never transfer the crown tc 
 his own family, who was an Agagite, (Esth. iii. 1, 10,) 
 or of the posterity of Afa. the old k ing of the Amale
 
 242 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 I perceive that these Jews, that were by this 
 pernicious fellow devoted to destruction, were 
 uot wicked men, but conducted their lives after 
 the best manner, and were men dedicated to the 
 worship of that God who hath preserved the 
 kingdom to me and to my ancestors, I do not 
 only free them from the punishment which the 
 former epistle, which was sent by Haman, ordered 
 to be inflicted on them, to which if you refuse 
 obedience you shall do well ; but I will that they 
 have all honour paid them. Accordingly, I have 
 hanged up the man that contrived such things 
 against them, with his family, before the gates 
 of Shushan; that punishment being sent upon 
 him by God, who seeth all things. And I give 
 you in charge, that you publicly propose a copy 
 of this epistle through all my kingdom, that the 
 Jews may be permitted peaceably to use their 
 own laws, and that you assist them, that at the 
 same season whereto their miserable estate did 
 belong, they may defend themselves the very 
 same day from jin just violence, the thirteenth 
 day of the twelfth month, which is Adar, for 
 God hath made that day a day of salvation, in- 
 stead of a day of destruction to them ; and may 
 it be a good day to those that wish us well, and 
 a memorial of the punishment of the conspirators 
 against us : and I will that you take notice, that 
 every city, and every nation, that shall disobey 
 anything that is contained in this epistle, shall 
 be destroyed by fire and sword. However, let 
 this epistle be published through all the country 
 that is under our obedience, and let all the Jews, 
 by all means be ready against the day before- 
 mentioned, that they may avenge themselves 
 upon their enemies." 
 
 13. Accordingly, the horsemen who carried 
 the epistles, proceeded on the ways which they 
 wore to go with speed ; but as for Mordecai, as 
 soon as he had assumed the royal garment, and 
 the crown of gold, and had put the chain about 
 his neck, he went forth in a pubHc procession ; 
 and when the Jews who were at Shushan saw 
 him in so great honour with the king, they 
 thought his good fortune was common to them- 
 selves also; and joy and a beam of salvation en- 
 compassed the Jews, both those that were in 
 the cities and those that were in the countries, 
 upon the publication of the king's letters, inso- 
 much that many of other nations circumcised 
 their foreskin for fear of the Jews, that they 
 might procure safety to themselves thereby; for 
 on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, 
 which according to the Hebrew, is called Adar, 
 but according to the Macedonians, Dystrus, 
 those that carried the king's epistle gave them 
 notice, that the same day wherein their danger 
 was to have been, on that very day should they 
 destroy their enemies. But now the rulers of 
 the provinces, and the tyrants, and the kings, 
 and the scribes, had the Jews in esteem; for 
 the fear they were in of Mordecai forced them 
 to act with discretion. Now when the royal 
 decree was come to all the country that was sub- 
 ject to the king, it fell out that the Jews at 
 Shushan slew five hundred of their enemies: 
 and when the king had told Esther the number 
 of those that were slain in that city, but did not 
 well know what had been done in the provinces, 
 he asked her whether she would have anything 
 further done against them, for that it should be 
 done accordingly : upon which she desired that 
 the Jews might be permitted to treat their re- 
 maining enemies in the same manner the next 
 
 <:ny ; as also, that they might hang the ten sons 
 Of Haman upon the gallows. So the king per- 
 mitted the Jews so to do, as desirous not to 
 contradict Esther. So they gathered themselvea 
 together again on the fourteenth day of the 
 month Dystrus, and slew about three hundred 
 of their enemies, but touched nothing of what 
 riches they had. Now there were slain by the 
 Jews that were in the country, and in the other 
 citieg, seventy-five thousand of their enemies, 
 and these were slain on the thirteenth day of the 
 month, and the next day they kept as a festival. 
 In like manner the Jews that were in Shushan 
 gathered themselves together, and feasted on 
 the fourteenth day, and that which followed it; 
 whence it is, that even now all the Jews that 
 are in the habitable earth keep these days festi- 
 vals, and send portions to one another. Morde- 
 cai also wrote to the Jews that lived in the 
 Kingdom of Artaxerxes to observe these days, 
 and to celebrate them as festivals, and to deliver 
 them down to posterity, that this festival might 
 continue for all time to come, and that it might 
 never be buried in oblivion ; for since they were 
 about to be destroyed on these days by Haman, 
 they would do a right thing, upon escaping the 
 danger in them, and on them inflicting punish- 
 ment on their enemies, to observe those days, 
 nd give thanks to God on them; for which 
 cause the Jews still keep the forementioned 
 days, and call them days of Phurim, [or Purim.] 
 And Mordecai becana a great and illustrious 
 person with the king, and assisted him in the 
 government of the people. He also lived with 
 the queen ; so that the affairs of the Jews were 
 by their means, better than they could ever 
 have hoped for. And this was the state of tht 
 Jews under the reign of Artaxerxes. 
 
 kJtea, (1 Sam. xv. 8, 32, 83,) while tctr *ere alive, and 
 spread over all his dominions, he therefore endeavoured 
 to deotroy them. 
 
 CHAPTER VH. 
 
 HOW JOHN SLEW HIS BROTHER JESUS IN THE TEM- 
 PLE; AND HOW BAGOSES OFFERED MANY IS' 
 JURIES TO THB JEWS; AND WHAT SANBALLAT 
 DID. 
 
 L WHEN Eliasib the high priest was dead, his 
 son Judas succeeded in the high priesthood : and 
 when he was dead, his son John took that dig- 
 nity; on whose account it was also that Bagoses, 
 the general of another Artaxerxes' army, pol- 
 luted the temple, and imposed tributes on the 
 Jews, that out of the public stock, before they 
 offered the daily sacrifices, they should pay for 
 uvery lamb fifty shekels. Now Jesus was the. 
 brother of John, and was a friend of Bagoses. 
 who had promised to procure him the high priest 
 hood. In confidence of whose support, Jesus 
 quarrelled with John in the temple, and so pro- 
 voked his brother, that in his anger his brothei 
 slew him. Now it was a horrible thing for John, 
 when he was high priest, to perpetrate so great 
 a crime, and so much the more horrible, that 
 there never was so cruel and impious a thing 
 doce, neither by the Greeks nor Barbarians. 
 However, God did not neglect its punishment ; 
 but the people were on that very account en- 
 slaved, and the temple was polluted by the 
 Persians. Now when Bagoses, the general of 
 Artaxerxes' army, knew that John, the high 
 priest of the Jews, had slain his own brother 
 Jesus in the temple, he came upon the Jews im- 
 mediately, and began in anger to say to them, 
 " Have you had the impudence to perpetrate a 
 murder in your temple ? " And as he was aiming 
 ' to go into the temple, they forbade him so to do.
 
 OBAP. VI1L] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 24; 
 
 but he said to them, " Am not I purer than he 
 that was slain in the temple?" And when he 
 had said these words, he went into the temple. 
 Accordingly, Bagoses made use of this pretence, 
 and punished the Jews seven years for the mur- 
 der of Jesus. 
 
 2. Now when John had departed this life, his 
 son Jaddua succeeded in the high priesthood. 
 He had a brother, whose name was Manasseh. 
 Now there was one Sanballat, who was sent by 
 Darius, the last king, [of Persia,] into Samaria. 
 He was a Cuthean by birth ; of which stock 
 were the Samaritans also. This man knew that 
 the city Jerusalem was a famous city, and that 
 their kings had given a great deal of trouble to 
 the Assyrians, and the people of (Jcelesyria; so 
 thafc he willingly gave his daughter, whose name 
 was Nicaso, in marriage to Manasseh, as think- 
 ing this alliance by marriage would be a pledge 
 and security that the nation of the Jews should 
 continue thoir good-will to him. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 vX)NOEBNING SANBALLAT AND MANASSEH, AND THE 
 TEMPLE WHICH THEY BUILT ON MOUNT GERIZ- 
 ZIM; AS ALSO HOW ALEXANDER MADE HIS ENTRY 
 INTO THE CITY JERUSALEM ; AND WHAT BENE- 
 FITS HE BESTOWED ON THE JEWS. 
 
 8 1. ABOUT this time it was that Philip, king of 
 Macedon, was treacherously assaulted and slain 
 t Eg* by Pausanias, the son of Ctr&stes, who 
 was derived from the family of Oreste. and 
 his son Alexander succeeded him in the king- 
 dom; who, passing over the Hellespont, over- 
 came the generals of Darius's army in a battle 
 fought at Granicum. So he marched over Lydia, 
 and subdued Ionia, and overran Caria, and fell 
 upon the places of Pamphylia, as has been ro- 
 tated elsewhere. 
 
 2. But the elders of Jerusalem being very un- 
 easy that the brother of Jaddua the high priest, 
 though married to a foreigner, should be a part- 
 ner with him in the high priesthood, quarrelled 
 with him; for they esteemed this man's mar- 
 riage a step to such as would be desirous of 
 transgressing about the marriage of [strange] 
 wives, and that this would be the beginning of a 
 mutual society with foreigners, although the 
 offence of some about marriages, and their hav- 
 ing married wives that were not of their own 
 country, has been an occasion of their former 
 captivity and of the miseries they then under- 
 went ; so they commanded Manasseh to divorce 
 his wife, or not to approach the altar, the high 
 priesfr himself joining with the people in their 
 indignation against his brother, and driving him 
 away from the altar. Whereupon Manasseh 
 came to his father-in-law, Sanballat, and told 
 him, that although he loved his daughter Nicaso, 
 yet was he not willing to be deprived of his 
 sacerdotal dignity on her account, which was the 
 principal dignity in their nation, and always 
 continued in the same family. And then San- 
 ballat promised him not only to preserve to 
 him the honour of his priesthood, but to pro- 
 cure for him the power and dignity of a high 
 priest, and would make him governor of all the 
 places he himself now ruled, if he would keep 
 his daughter for his wife. He also told him 
 further, that he would build him a temple like 
 that at Jerusalem, upon Mount Gerizzun, 
 which is the highest of all the mountains that 
 ire in Samaria; and he promised that be would 
 lo this with the approbation of Darius the kin?. 
 
 Manasseh was elevated with these promises, and 
 stayed with Sanballat, upon a supposal that he 
 should gain a high priesthood, as bestowed on 
 him by Darius, for it happened Sanballat was 
 then in years. But there was now a great dis- 
 turbance among the people of Jerusalem, be- 
 cause many of those priests and Levites were 
 entangled in such matches ; for they all revolted 
 to Manasseh, and Sanballat afforded them money, 
 and divided among them land for tillage, and 
 habitations also; and all this in o^ier every 
 way to gratify his son-in-law. 
 
 3k About this time it was that Darius heard 
 how Alexander had passed over the Hellespont, 
 and had beaten his lieutenants hi the battle of 
 Granicum, and was proceeding further ; where- 
 upon he gathered together at: army of horse and 
 foot, and determined that he would meet the 
 Macedonians before they should assault and con- 
 quer all Asia. So he passed over the river Eu- 
 phrates and came over Taurus, the Cilician 
 mountain ; and at Issus of Cilicia he waited for 
 the enemy ; as ready there to give him battle. 
 Upon which Sanballat was glad that Darius was 
 come down ; and told Manasseh that he would 
 suddenly perform his promises to him, and this 
 as soon as ever Darius should come back, after 
 he had beaten his enemies ; for not he only, but 
 all those that were in Asia also, were persuaded 
 that the Macedonians would not so much as come 
 to a battle with the Persians, on account of their 
 multitude ; but the event proved otherwise than 
 they expected, for the king joined battle with 
 the Macedonians, and was beaten, and lost a 
 great part of his army. His mother also, and 
 his wife and children, were taken captives, and 
 he fled into Persia. So Alexander came into 
 Syria, and took Damascus ; and when he had 
 obtained Sidon, he besieged Tyre, when he sent 
 an epistle to the Jewish high priest, to send him 
 some auxiliaries, and to supply his army with 
 provisions ; and that what presents he formerly 
 sent to Darius, he would now send to him, and 
 choose the friendship of the Macedonians, and 
 that he should never repent of so doing; but 
 the high priest answered the messengers, that 
 he had given his oath to Darius not to bear arms 
 against him ; and he said that he would not 
 transgress this while Darius was in the hind of 
 the living. Upon hearing this answer, Alexander 
 was very angry ; and though he determined not 
 to leave Tyre, which was just ready to be taken, 
 yet, as soon as he had taken it, he threatened 
 that he would make an expedition against the 
 Jewish high priest, and through him teach all 
 men to whom they must keep their oaths. So 
 when he had, with a good deal of pains during 
 the siege, taken Tyre, and had settled its affairs, 
 he came to the city of Gaza, and besieged botji 
 the city and him that was governor of the gar- 
 rison, whose name was Babemeses. 
 
 4. But Sanballat thought he had now gotten 
 a proper opportunity to make his attempt, so he 
 renounced Darius, and taking with him seven 
 thousand of his own subjects, he came to Alex- 
 ander ; and finding Him beginning the siege of 
 Tyre, he said to him, that he delivered up to 
 him these men, who came out of places under 
 his dominion, and did gladly accept of him for 
 their lord instead of Darius. So when Alexander 
 had received him kindly, Sanballat thereupon 
 took courage, and spake to him about his present 
 affair. He told him that he had a son-in-law, 
 Manasseh, who was brother to 'she high priest 
 Jaddua; and that there were many others of 
 his own nation now with him, that were desirous 
 to have a temple in the places subject to him ; 
 that it would be for the kind's advantage to l\ve
 
 244 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOO 
 
 the strength of the J-.JWS divided into two parts, 
 lent when the nation is of one mind and united, 
 upon any attempt for innovation, it prove 
 troublesome to kings, as it had formerly proved 
 to the kings of Assyria. Whereupon Alexander 
 gave Sanballat leave so to do ; who used the ut- 
 most diligence, and built the temple, and made 
 Manasseh the priest, and deemed it a great re- 
 ward that his daughter's children should have 
 that dignity ; but when the seven months of the 
 siege of Tyre were over, and the two months of 
 the siege of Ga/a, Sanballat died. Now Alex- 
 ander, when he had taken Gaza, made haste to 
 go up to Jerusalem ; and Jaddua the high priest, 
 when he heard that, was in an agony, and under 
 tenor, as not knowing how he should meet the 
 Macedonians, since the king was displeased at 
 his foregoing disobedience. He therefore or- 
 dained that the people should make supplica- 
 tions, and should join with him in offering sacri- 
 ftaes to God, whom he sought to protect that 
 nation, and to deliver them from the perils 
 that were coming upon them ; whereupon God 
 warned him in a dream, which came upon him 
 after he had offered sacrifice that he should 
 take courage, and adorn the city, and open the 
 gates ; that the rest should appear in white gar- 
 ments, but that he and the priests should meet 
 the king in the habits proper to their order, 
 without the dread of any ill consequences, which 
 the providence of God would prevent. Upon 
 which, when he rose from his sleep, he greatly 
 rejoiced ; and declared to all the warning he had 
 received from God. According to which dream 
 he acted entirely, and so waited for the coming 
 of the king. 
 
 5. And when he understood that he was not 
 far from the city, he went out in procession, 
 with the priests, and the multitude of citizens. 
 The procession was venerable, and the manner 
 of it different from that of other nations. It 
 reached to a place called Sapha ; which name, 
 translated into Greek, signifies a prospect, for 
 you have thence a prospect both of Jerusalem 
 and of the temple ; ana when the Phoenicians 
 and the Chaldeans that followed him, thought 
 they should have liberty to plunder the city, 
 and torment the high pri>st to death, which the 
 king's displeasure fairly promised them, the very 
 reverse of it happened ; for Alexander, when he 
 saw the multitude at a distance, in white gar- 
 ments, while the priests stood clothed with fine 
 linen, and the high priest in purple and scarlet 
 clothing, with his mitre on his head, having the 
 golden plate whereon the name of God was en- 
 graved, he approached by himself, and adored 
 that name, and first saluted the high priest. 
 The Jews also did all together, with one voice, 
 salute Alexander, and encompass him about ; 
 whereupon the kings of Syria and the rest were 
 surprised at what Alexander had done, and sup- 
 posed him disordered in his mind. However, 
 Pannenio alone went up to him, and asked him 
 how it came to pass that, when all others adored 
 him, he should adore the high priest of the Jews? 
 To whom he replied, " I did not adore him, but 
 that God who hath honoured him with his high 
 priesthood ; for I saw this very person in a 
 dream, in this very habit, when I was at Dios 
 in Macedonia, who, when I was considering with 
 myself how I might obtain the dominion of Asia, 
 exhorted me to make no delay, but boldly to 
 pass over the sea thither, for that he would con- 
 duct my army, and would give me the dominion 
 over the Persians ; whence it is, that having 
 een no other in that habit, and now seeing this 
 person in it, and remembering that vision, and 
 vie exhortation which I had in my dream, I be- 
 
 lieve that 1 bring this army under the divin 
 conduct, and shall therewith conquer Darius, 
 and destroy the power of the Persians, and that 
 all things will succeed according to what is in 
 my own mind. And when he had said this to 
 Parmenio, and had given the high priest his right 
 hand, the priests ran along by him, and he came 
 into the city ; and when he went up into the 
 temple, he offered sacrifice to God, &cc< rding to 
 the high priest's direction, and magnificently 
 treated both the high priest and the priests. 
 And when the book of Daniel was shewed him,* 
 wherein Daniel declared that one of the Greeks 
 should destroy the empire of the Persians, he 
 supposed that himself was the person intended ; 
 aud as he was then glad, he dismissed the mul- 
 titude for the present, but the next day he 
 called them to him. and bade them ask what 
 favours they pleased of him; whereupon the 
 high priest desired that they might enjoy the 
 laws of their forefathers, and might pay no tri- 
 bute on the seventh year. He granted all they 
 desired ; and when they entreated him that he 
 would permit the Jews in Babylon and Media 
 to enjoy their own laws also, he willingly pro- 
 mised to do hereafter what they desired : and 
 when he said to the multitude, that if any of 
 them would enlist themselves in his army on 
 this condition, that they should continue under 
 the laws of their forefathers, and live according 
 to them, he was willing to take them with him, 
 many were ready to accompany him in his wars. 
 6. So when Alexander had thus settled mat- 
 ters at Jerusalem, he led his army into the 
 neighbouring cities ; and when all the inhabi- 
 tants, to whom he came, received him with 
 great kindness, the Samaritans, who had then 
 Shechem for their metropolis, (a city situate at 
 Mount Gerizzim, and inhabited by apostates of 
 the Jewish nation,) seeing that Alexander had 
 so greatly honoured the Jews, determined to 
 profess themselves Jews ; for such is the dispo- 
 sition of the Samaritans, as we have already 
 elsewhere declared, that when the Jews are in 
 adversity they deny that they are of kin to 
 them, and then they confess the truth ; but 
 when they perceive that some good fortune hath 
 befallen them, they immediately pretend to have 
 communion with them, saying, that they belong 
 to them, and derive their genealogy from the 
 posterity of Joseph, Ephraim, and Manasseh. 
 Accordingly, they made their address to the king 
 with splendour, and shewed great alacrity ia 
 meeting him at a little distance from Jerusalem ; 
 and when Alexander had commended them, the 
 Shechemites approached to him, taking with 
 them the troops that Sanballat had sent him, 
 and they desired that he would come to their 
 city, and do honour to their temple also ; to 
 whom he promised, that when he returned he 
 would come to them ; and when they petitioned 
 that he would remit the tribute of the seventh 
 year to them, because they did not now sow 
 thereon, he asked who they were that made such 
 a petition ; and when they said that they were 
 Hebrews, but had the name of Sidonians, living 
 at Shechem, he asked them again whether they 
 were Jews ; and when they said they were not 
 Jews, "It was to the Jews," said he, "that I 
 granted that privilege ; however, when I return, 
 and am thoroughly informed by you of thia 
 matter, I will do what I shall think proper." 
 And in this manner he took leave of the Shee- 
 
 * The place shewed Alexander might be Dan. vil 
 8 ; viii. 3-8, 20. 21, 22 ; xi. 3 ; some or all of them vetj 
 plain predictions of Alexander's coorjessU and succes- 
 sors
 
 CHAP. II.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEW3. 
 
 hemites ; but ordered that tbe troops of San- 
 bailat should follow him int> Egypt, because 
 there he designed to give them lands, which he 
 (3d a little after in Thebais. when he ordered 
 Uwm to guard that country. 
 
 7. Now when Alexander was. dead, the govern- 
 ment was parted among his successors ; but the 
 templa upon Mount Gerizzin 1 . remained; and If 
 any one were accused by those of Jerusalem of 
 I having eaten things common,* or of having 
 
 * Here Josephus uses the word Koinophagia, " eat- 
 
 broken the Sabbath, or of any other crime ol 
 the like nature, he lied away to the Shechem- 
 ites, and said that he was accused unjustly ] 
 About this time it was that Jaddua the high ' 
 priest died, and Onias his son took the high 
 priesthood. This was the state of the afrairs of 
 the people of Jerusalem at this time. 
 
 Ing common things," for " eating things unclean ; " as 
 does the New Testament, in Acts x. 14, 16 28, and 
 xi. 8, 9 ; Bom. xiv. 14. 
 
 BOOK XII. 
 
 CONTAINING THE INTERVAL 0* A HUNDRED AND SEVENTY TEABS, 
 
 FROM THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT TO THE DEATH OF 
 JUDAS MACCABEUS. 
 
 CHAPTER i. 
 
 HOW PTOLEMY, THE SON OF LACUS, TOOK JERUSA- 
 LEM AND JUDEA BY DECEIT AND TREACHERY, 
 AND CARRIED MANY OF THE JEWS THENCE, AND 
 PLANTED THEM IN EGYPT. 
 
 , 1. Now when Alexander, king of Macedon, had 
 put an end to the dominion of the Persians, and 
 Lad settled the affairs of Judea after the fore- 
 mentioned manner, he ended his life ; and as his 
 government fell among many, Antigonus ob- 
 tained Asia ; Seleucus, Babylon ; and of the 
 other nations which were there, Lysimacb.ua 
 governed the Hellespont, and Cassauder pos- 
 sessed Macedonia ; as did Ptolemy, the son of 
 Lagus, seize upon Egypt : and while these princes 
 ambitiously strove one against another, every 
 one for his own principality, it came to pass that 
 there were continual wars, and those lasting wars 
 too ; and the cities were sufferers, and lost a 
 great many of their inhabitants in these times of 
 distress, insomuch that all Syria, by the means 
 of Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, underwent the re- 
 verse of that denomination of Saviour, which he 
 then had. He also seized upon Jerusalem, and 
 for that end made use of deceit and treachery ; 
 for as he came into the city on a Sabbath-day, as 
 if he would offer sacrifice, he, without any trouble, 
 gained the city, while the Jews did not oppose 
 him, for they did not suspect him to be their 
 enemy; and he gained it thus, because they 
 were free from suspicion of him, and because on 
 that day they were at rest and quietness ; and 
 when he had gamed it, he reigned over it in a 
 cruel manner. Nay, Agatharchides of Cnidus, 
 who wrote the acts of Alexander's successors, 
 reproaches us with superstition, as if we, by it, 
 had lost pur liberty ; where he says thus : "There 
 is a nation called the nation of the Jews, who 
 inhabit a city strong and great, named Jerusalem. 
 These men took no care, but let it come into the 
 hands of Ptolemy, as not willing to take arms, 
 and thereby they submitted to be under a hard 
 master, by reason of their unseasonable supersti- 
 tion." This is what Agatharchides relates of 
 our nation. But when Ptolemy had taken a 
 great many captives, both from the mountainous 
 parts of Judea and from the places about Jeru- 
 salem and Samaria, and the places near mount 
 
 Gerizzim, he led them all into Egypt,* and set- 
 tled them there. And as h<5 knew that the peo- 
 ple of Jerusalem were most faithful in the obser- 
 vation of oaths and covenants, and this from the 
 answer they made to Alexander, when he sent an 
 embassage to them, after he had beaten Darius 
 in battle, so he distributed many of them into 
 garrisons, and at Alexandria gave them equal 
 privileges of citizens with the Macedonians them- 
 selves ; and required of them to take their oathi 
 that they would keep their fidelity to the pos- 
 terity of those who committed these places to 
 their care. Nay, there were not a few other 
 Jews who, of their own accord, went into Egypt, 
 as invited by the goodness of the soil, and by the 
 liberality of Ptolemy. However, there were dis- 
 orders among their posterity, with relation to 
 the Samaritans, on account of their resolution to 
 preserve that conduct of life which was delivered 
 to them by their forefathers, and they thereupon 
 contended one with another, while those of Jeru- 
 salem said that their temple was holy, and re- 
 solved to send their sacrifices thither ; but the 
 Samaritans were resolved that they should be 
 sen*- to mount Gerizzim. 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 HOW PTOLEMY PHILADELPHUS PROCURED THE LAWS 
 OF THE JEWS TO BE TRANSLATED INTO THE QREKK 
 TONGUE ; AND SET MANY CAPTIVES FREE ; AND 
 DEDICATED MANY GUTS TO GOD. 
 
 1. WHEN Alexander had reigned twelve years, 
 and after him Ptolemy Soter forty years, Phila- 
 
 * The great number of these Jews and Samaritans that 
 were formerly carried into Egypt by Alexander, and 
 now by Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, appear afterwards, 
 in the vast multitude who were soon ransomed by Phila- 
 delphus, and by him made free, before he sent for the 
 seventy-two interpreters ; in the many garrisons, and 
 other soldiers of that nation in Egypt ; in the famou* 
 settlement of Jews, and the number of their synagogues 
 at Alexandria long afterward ; and in the vehement 
 contention between the Jews and Samaritans undei 
 Philometer, about the place appointed for public wor- 
 ship in the law of Moses, whether at the Jewish temple 
 of Jerusalem, or at the Samaritan temple of GerinUa ' 
 of all which our author fcreata hereafter.
 
 AJXTlyUITMES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 delphus then took the kingdom of Egypt, and 
 lield it forty years within one. He procured the j 
 law to be interpreted, and set free those that 
 were come from Jerusalem into Egypt, and were 
 in slavery there, who were a hundred and twenty 
 thousand. The occasion was this : Demetrius 
 Phalerius, -who was library -keeper to the king, 
 was now endeavouring, if it were possible, to 
 gather together all the books that were in the 
 habitable earth, and buying whatsoever ^ was 
 anywhere valuable, or agreeable to the king's in- 
 clination, (who was very earnestly set upon col- 
 lecting of books ;) to which inclination of his, 
 Demetrius was zealously subservient. And 
 when once Ptolemy asked him how many ten 
 thousands of books he had collected, he replied, 
 that he had already about twenty times ten 
 thousand ; but that, in a little time, he should 
 have fifty times ten thousand. But he said he 
 had been informed that there were many books 
 of laws among the Jews worthy of inquiring 
 after, and worthy of the king's library, but 
 which, being written in character* and in a dia- 
 lect of their own, will cause no small paina in 
 getting them translated into the Greek tongue : 
 that the character in which they are written 
 seems to be like to that which is the proper char- 
 acter of the Syrians, and that its sound, when 
 pronounced, is like to theirs also ; and that this 
 sound appears to be peculiar^ to themselves. 
 Wherefore, he said, that nothing hindered why 
 they might not get those books to be translated 
 also ; for while nothing is wanting that is ne- 
 cessary for that purpose, we may have their 
 books also in this library. So the king thought 
 that Demetrius was very zealous to procure him 
 abundance of books, and that he suggested what 
 was exceeding proper for him to do ; and there- 
 fore he wrote to the Jewish high priest that he 
 should act accordingly. 
 
 2. Now there was one Aristeus, who was 
 among the king's most intimate friends, and, on 
 account of his modesty, very acceptable to him. 
 This Aristeus resolved frequently, and that be- 
 Eore now, to petition the king that he would set 
 all the captive Jews in his kingdom free; and he 
 thought this to be a convenient opportunity for 
 the making that petition. So he discoursed, in 
 the first place, with the captains of the king's 
 guards, Sosibius of Tarentum, and Andreas, and 
 persuaded them to assist him in what he was 
 going to intercede with the king for. Accord- 
 ingly, Aristeus embraced the same opinion witli 
 those that have been before mentioned, and went 
 to the king and made the following speech to 
 him: " It is not fit for us, O king, to overlook 
 things hastily, or to deceive ourselves, but to lay 
 the truth open : for since we have determined 
 not only to get the laws of the Jews transcribed, 
 but interpreted also, for thy satisfaction, by what 
 means can we do this, while so many of the Jews 
 are now slaves in thy kingdom? Do thou then 
 what will be agreeable to thy magnanimity, and 
 to thy good-nature : free them from the miser- ' 
 able condition they are in, because that God, who ' 
 supporteth thy kingdom, was the author of theiv I 
 laws, as I have learned by particular inquiry ; ; 
 for both these people and we also worship the 
 same God, the framer of all things. We call 
 him, and that truly, by the name of Zr/va, [or life, 
 or Jupiter,] because he breathes life into all men. 
 Wherefore, do thou restore these men to their 
 own country ; and this to do the honour of God, 
 because these msn pay a peculiarly excellent 
 worship to him. And know this further, that 
 though 1 L not of kin to them by birth, nor one ; 
 of the same country with them, yet do I desire 
 hese favours to be done them since all JUOD a: o 
 
 the workmanship of God ; and I am sensible thai 
 he is well pleased with them that do good. I do : 
 therefore put up this petition to tbee, to do good 
 to them." 
 
 3. When Aristeus was saying thus, the king 
 looked upon him with a cheerful and joyful 
 countenance, and said, " How many ten thou- 
 sands dost thou suppose there are of such as want 
 to be made free?" To which Andreas replied, 
 as he stood by, and said, "A few more than ten 
 tinaos ten thousand." The king made answer, 
 " And is this a small gift that thou askest, 
 Aristeus?" But Sosibius, and the rest that 
 stood by, said that he ought to offer such a 
 thank-offering as was worthy of his greatness of 
 soul, to that God who had given him his king- 
 dom. With this answer he was much pleased ; 
 and gave order, that when they paid the sol- 
 diers their wages, they should lay down twenty 
 drachmas for every one of the slaves. Aod he 
 promised to publish a magnificent decree about 
 what they requested, which should confirm what 
 Aristeus had proposed, and especially what God 
 willed should be done; whereby, he said, he 
 would not only set those free who had been led 
 away captive by his father and his army, but 
 those who were in his kingdom before, and those 
 also, if any such there were, who had been 
 brought away since. And when they said that 
 their redemption-money would amount to above 
 four hundred talents, he granted it. A copy of 
 which decree I have determined to preserve, 
 that the magnanimity of this king may be made 
 known. Its contents were as follows : " Let all 
 those who were soldiers under our father, and 
 who, when they overran Syria and Phoenicia, and 
 laid waste Judea, took the Jews captives, and 
 made them slaves, and brought them into our 
 cities, and into this country, and then sold 
 them ; as also all those that were in my kingdom 
 before them, and if there be any that have lately 
 been brought thither, be made free by those that 
 possess them ; and let them accept of [a liundred 
 and] twenty drachma for every slave. And let 
 the soldiers receive this redemption-money with 
 their pay, but the rest out of the king's treasury : 
 for I suppose that they were made captives with- 
 out our father's consent, and agaiust equity; 
 ac<l that their country was harassed by the inso- 
 lence of the soldiers, and that, by removing them 
 into Egypt, the soldiers have made a great profit 
 by them. Out of regard, therefore, to justice, 
 and out of pity to those that have been tyran- 
 nised over contrary to equity, I enjoin those that 
 have such Jews in their service to set them at 
 liberty, upon the receipt of the before-mentioned 
 sum ; and that no one use any deceit about them, 
 but obey what is here commanded. And I will 
 that they give in their names within three dayp 
 after the publication of this edict, to such as are 
 appointed to execute the same, and to produce 
 the slaves before them also, for I think it will be 
 for the advantage of my affairs : and let every 
 one that will, inform against those that do not 
 obey this decree ; and I will that their estates 
 ke confiscated into the king's treasury." When 
 this decree was read to the king, it at first con- 
 tained the rest that is here inserted, and only 
 omitted those Jews that had formerly beer 
 brought, and those brought afterwards, which 
 had not been distinctly mentioned ; so he added 
 these clauses out of his humanity, and with great 
 generosity. He also gave order that the pay- 
 ment, which was likely to be done in a hurry, 
 should be divided among the king's ministers, 
 and among the officers of his treasury. When 
 this was over, what the king had decreed was 
 ickV brought to A conclusion i and this it
 
 UHAP. II.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 no more than seven days' time, the number 
 of the talents paid for the captives being above 
 four hundred and sixty, and this, because their 
 masters required the [hundred and] twenty 
 drachmae for the children also, the king hav- 
 ing, in effect, commanded that these should be 
 paid for, when he said, in his decree, that they 
 should receive the forementioned sum for every 
 slave. 
 
 4. Now when this had been done after so 
 magnificent a manner, according to the king's 
 inclinations, he gave order to Demetrius to give 
 him in writing his sentiments concerning the 
 transcribing of the Jewish books ; for no part of 
 the administration is done rashly by these kings, 
 but all things are managed with great circum- 
 spection. On which account I have subjoined 
 a copy of these epistles, and set down the multi - 
 tude of the vessels sent as gifts [to Jerusalem, ] 
 and the construction of every one, that the ex- 
 actness of the artificers' workmanship, as it ap- 
 peared to those that saw them, and which work- 
 men made every vessel, may be made manifest, 
 and this on account of the excellency of the vessels 
 themselves. Now the copy of the epistle was to 
 this purpose : " Demetrius to the great king. 
 When thou, O king, gavest me a change concern- 
 ng the collection of books that were wanting to 
 ill your library, and concerning the oare that 
 ought to be taken about such as we imperfect, 
 [ have used the utmost diligence about those 
 matters. And I let you know, that we want 
 ;he books of the Jewish legislation, with some 
 others; for they are written in the Hebrew 
 characters, and being in the language of that 
 nation, are to us unknown. It hath also hap- 
 pened to them, that they have been transcribed 
 inore carelessly than they should have been, be- 
 cause they have not had hitherto royal care 
 Laken about them. Now it is necessary that thou 
 shouldst have accurate copies of them. And in- 
 deed this legislation is full of hidden wisdom, 
 and entirely blameless, as being the legislation 
 of God : for which cause it is, as Hecate us of 
 Abdera says, that the poets and historians make 
 no mention of it, nor of those men who lead their 
 lives according to it, since it is a holy law, and 
 ought not to be published by profane mouths. 
 If then it please thee, O king, thou mayest 
 write to the high priest of the Jews, to send six 
 of the elders out of every tribe, and those such 
 as are most skilful of the laws, that by their 
 means we may learn the clear and agreeing sense 
 of those books, and may obtain an accurate in- 
 terpretation of their contents, and so may Lave 
 such a collection of these as may be suitable to 
 thy desire." 
 
 5. When this epistle was sent to the king, he 
 commanded that an epistle should be drawn up 
 for Eleazar, the Jewish high priest, concerning 
 these matters ; and that they should inform him 
 of the release of the Jews that had been in 
 slavery among them. He also sent fifty talents 
 of gold for the making of large basons, and vials, 
 and cups, and an immense quantity of precious 
 stones. He also gave order to those who had 
 the custody of the chests that contained those 
 stones, to give the artificers leave to choose out 
 what sorts of them they pleased. He withal 
 appointed, that a hundred talents in money 
 should be sent to the temple for sacrifices, and 
 for other uses. Now I will give a description of 
 these vessels, t^A the manner of their construc- 
 tion, but not till after I have set down a copy of 
 the epistle which was written to Eleazar the 
 high priest, who had obtained that dignity on 
 the occasion following : When Onias the high 
 dead, his son Simon became his suc- 
 
 cessor. He was called Simon the Just,* because 
 of both his piety towards God, and hi kind dis- 
 position to those of his own nation. When be 
 was dead, and had left a young son, who waa 
 called Onius, Simon's brother Eleazar, of whom 
 we are speaking, took the high priesthood ; and 
 he it was w> whom Ptolemy wrote, and that ia 
 the manner following : " King Ptolemy to Elt- 
 azar the high priest, sendeth greeting. There 
 are many Jews who now dwell in my kingdom, 
 whom the Persians, when they were in poorer, 
 carried captives. These were honoured by TE~ 
 father; some of whom he placed in the ara:v. 
 and gave them greater pay than ordinary ; t-., 
 others of them, when they came with him i^k; 
 Egypt, he committed his garrisons, and tiio 
 guarding of them, that they might be a terror to 
 the Egyptians ; and when I had taken the go- 
 vernment, I treated all men with humanity, at.<l 
 especially those that are thy fellow-citizens, ol 
 whom I have set free above a hundred thousand 
 that were slaves, and paid the price of their 
 redemption to their masters out of my own 
 revenues ; and those that are of a fit age, I have 
 admitted into the number of my soldiers ; aud 
 for such as are capable of being faithful to me, 
 and proper for my court, I have put them in 
 such a post, as thinking this [kindness done to 
 them] to be a very great and an acceptable gift, 
 which I devote to God for his providence over 
 me ; and as I an. desirous to do what will be 
 grateful to these, and to all the other Jews in 
 the habitable earth, I have determined to pro- 
 cure an interpretation of your law, and to have 
 it translated put of Hebrew into Greek, aud to 
 be deposited in my library. Thou wilt therefore 
 do well to choose out and send to me men of a 
 good character, who are now elders in age, and 
 six in number out of every tribe. These, by theii 
 age, must be skilful in the laws, and of abilities 
 to make an accurate interpretation of them ; and 
 when this shall be finished, I shall think that I 
 have done a work glorious to myself ; and I have 
 sent to thee Andreas, the captain of my guard, 
 and Aristeus, men whom I have in very great 
 esteem ; by whom I have sent those first-fruits 
 which I have dedicated to the temple, and to the 
 sacrifices, and to other uses, to the value of a 
 hundred talents ; and if thou wilt send to us, to 
 let us know what thou wouldst have further, 
 thou wilt do a thing acceptable to me." 
 
 6. When this epistle of the king was brought 
 to Eleazar, he wrote an answer to it with all the 
 respect possible: "Eleazar the high priest to 
 king Ptolemy, sendeth greeting. If thou and 
 thy queen Arsinoe,t and thy children, be well, 
 we are entirely satisfied. When we received thy 
 epistle, we greatly rejoiced at thy intentions ; 
 aud when the multitude were gathered together, 
 we read it to them, and thereby made them sen- 
 sible of the piety thou hast towards God. We 
 also shewed them the twenty vials of gold, and 
 thirty of silver, and the five laige basons, and the 
 table for the shew-bread; as also the hundred 
 talents for the sacrifices, and for the making 
 what shall be needful at the temple: which 
 things Andreas and Aristeus, those most hon- 
 oured friends of thine, have brought us; and 
 I truly they are persons of an excellent character, 
 and of great learning, and worthy of thy virtue,. 
 Knnw then that we will gratify thee in what is 
 
 * We have a very grett enoemium of this Simon th 
 Jnst, in the fiftieth chapter of the Eocleuiasticca, through 
 the whole chapter. 
 
 f We are to remember here that Arsinoe was both his 
 sister and his wife, according to the old custom of 
 Persia, and of Egypt at this very time ; nay, of the As 
 srrians long afterwards.
 
 248 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK. nr. 
 
 lor thy advantage, though we do what we used 
 not to do before ; for we ought to make a return 
 for tho numerous acts of kindness which thou 
 hast done to our countrymen. We immediately, 
 therefore, offered sacrifices for thee and thy sister, 
 with thy children and friends; and the multi- 
 tude made prayers, that thy affairs may be to 
 thy mind ; and that thy kingdom may be pre- 
 served in peace, and that the translation of our 
 law may come to the conclusion thou desirest, 
 and be for thy advantage. We have also chosen 
 six elders out of every tribe, whom we have 
 sent, and the law with them. It will be thy 
 part, out of thy piety and justice, to send back 
 the law when it hath been translated ; and 
 to return those to us that bring it in safety. 
 Farewell." 
 
 7. This was the reply which the high priest 
 , lade ; but it does not seem to me to be necessary 
 to set down the names of the seventy [two] elders 
 who were sent by Eleazar, and carried the law, 
 which yet were subjoined at the end of the 
 epistle. However, I thought it not improper to 
 give an account of those very valuable and arti- 
 ficially contrived vessels which the king sent to 
 God, that all may see how great a regard the 
 king had for God, for the king allowed a vast 
 deal of expenses for these vessels, and came 
 often to the workmen, and viewed their work, 
 and suffered nothing of carelessness or negli- 
 gence to be any damage to their operations; 
 and I will relate how rich they were as well as I 
 am able, although, perhaps, the nature of this 
 history may not require such a description ; but 
 I imagine I shall thereby recommend the elegant 
 taste and magnanimity of this king to those that 
 read this history. 
 
 8. And, first, I will describe what belongs to 
 the table. It was indeed in the king's mind to 
 make this table vastly large in its dimensions ; 
 but then he gave orders that they should learn 
 what was the magnitude of the table which was 
 already at Jerusalem, and how large it was, and 
 whether there were a possibility of making one 
 larger than it; and when lie was informed how 
 large that was which was already there, and that 
 nothing hindered but a larger might be made, he 
 laid that he was willing to have one made that 
 thould be five times as large as the present 
 table; but his fear was, that it might be then 
 useless in their sacred ministrations by its too 
 great largeness; for he desired that the gifts he 
 presented them should not only be there for 
 show, but should be useful also in their sacred 
 ministrations. According to which reasoning, 
 that the former table was made of BO moderate a 
 size for use, and not for want of gold, he resolved 
 that he would not exceed the foimer table in 
 largeness, but would make it exceed it in the 
 variety and elegancy of its materials ; and as he 
 was sagacious in observing the nature of all 
 things, and in having a just notion of what was 
 new and surprising, and where there were no 
 sculptures, he would invent such as were proper 
 by his own skill, and would shew them to the 
 workmen, he commanded that such sculptures 
 should now be made ; and that those which were 
 delineated should be most accurately formed, 
 by a constant regard to their delineation. 
 
 9. When therefore the workmen had under- 
 taken to make the table, they framed it in 
 length two cubits [and a half,] in breadth one 
 cubit, and in height one cubit and a. half ; and 
 the entire structure of the work was of gold. 
 They withal made a crown of a handbreadth 
 round_ it, with wave-work wreathed about it, 
 and with an engraving which imitated a cord, 
 and was admirably turned on its three carts for 
 
 as they were of a triangular figure, every angle 
 had the same disposition of its sculptures, that 
 when you turned them about, the very same 
 form of tl'. em was turned about without any 
 variation Now that part of the crown- work 
 that was enclosed under the table had its sculp- 
 tures very beautiful ; but that part which went 
 round on the outside was more elaborately 
 adorned with most beautiful ornaments, because 
 it was exposed to sight, and to the view of the 
 spectators; for which reason it was that both 
 those sides which were extant above the rest 
 were acute, and none of the angles, which we 
 before told you were three, appeared less than 
 another when the table was turned about. Now 
 into the cord-work thus turned were precious 
 stones inserted, in rows parallel one to the other, 
 enclosed in golden buttons, which had ouches in 
 them ; but the parts which were on the side of 
 the crown, and were exposed to the sight, were 
 adorned with a row of oval figures obliquely 
 placed, of the most excellent sort of precious 
 stones, which imitated rods laid close, and en- 
 compassed the table round about; but under 
 these oval figures thus engraven, the workmen 
 had put a crown all round it, where the nature 
 of all sorts of fruit was represented, insomuch 
 that the bunches of grapes hung up ; and when 
 they had made the stones to represent all the 
 kinds of fruit before mentioned, and that each 
 in its proper colour, they made them fast with 
 gold round the whole table. The like disposi- 
 tion of the oval figures, and of the engraved 
 rods, was framed under the crown, that the 
 table might on each side shew the same appear- 
 ance of variety and elegancy of its ornaments, so 
 i/hat neither the position of the wave- work nor of 
 the crown might be different, although the table 
 were turned on the other side, but that the 
 prospect of the same artificial contrivances might 
 be extended as far as the feet; for there was 
 made a plate of gold four fingers broad, through 
 the entire breadth of the table, into which they 
 inserted the feet, and then fastened them to the 
 table by buttons and button-holes, at the place 
 where the crown was situate, that so on what 
 side soever of the table one should stand, it 
 might exhibit the very same view of the exquis- 
 ite workmanship, and of the vast expenses be- 
 stowed upon it ; but upon the table itself they 
 engraved a meander, inserting into it very valu- 
 able stones in the middle like stars, of various 
 colours ; the carbuncle and the emerald, each of 
 which sent out agreeable rays of light to the 
 spectators; with such stones of other sorts also 
 as were most curious and best esteemed, as be 
 ing most precious in their kind Hard by thif 
 meander a texture of network ran round it, the 
 middle of which appeared like a rhombus, into 
 which were inserted rock-crystal and amber, 
 which, by the great resemblance of the appear- 
 ance they made, gave wonderful delight to those 
 that saw them. The chapiters of the feet imi- 
 tated tho first budding of lilies, while their 
 leaves were bent and laid under the table, but 
 so that the chives were seen standing upright 
 within them. Their bases were made of a car- 
 buncle; and the place at the bottom, which 
 rested on that carbuncle, was one palm deep, 
 and eight fingers in breadth. Now they had en- 
 graven upon it, with a very fine tool, and with a 
 great deal of pains, a branch of ivy, and tendrili 
 of the vine, sending forth clusters of grapes, that 
 you would guess they were nowise different from 
 real tendrils ; for they were so very thin, and BO 
 very far extended at their extremities, that thoy 
 were moved with the wind, and made one believe 
 that they were the pro~act of nnture. end not
 
 OHAP. IT.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 24V 
 
 ;he representation of ait. They also made the en- 
 ire workmanship of the table appear to be three- 
 'old, while the joints of the several parts were BO 
 united together as to be invisible, and the places 
 where they joined could not be distinguished. 
 Sow the thickness of the table was not less than 
 lalf a cubit. So that this gift by the king's 
 great generosity, by the great value cf the mate- 
 dais, and the variety of its exquisite structure, 
 and the artificer's skill in imitating nature with 
 graving tools, was at length brought to perfec- 
 tion, while the king was very desirous, that 
 though in largeness it were not to be different 
 irom that which was already dedicated to God, 
 yet that in exquisite workmanship, and the 
 aovelty of the contrivances, and in the splendour 
 of its construction, it should far exceed if and 
 be more illustrious than that was. 
 
 10. Now of the cisterns of gold there ^ere 
 two, whose sculpture was of scale-work, from its 
 basis to its belt-like circle, with various sorts of 
 stones enchased in the spiral circles. Next to 
 which there was upon it a meander of a cubit in 
 height : it was composed of stones of all sorts of 
 colo'urs ; and next to this was the rod-work en- 
 graven; and next to that was a rhombus in a 
 texture of network, drawn out to the brim of 
 the basin, while small shields, made of stones, 
 [Beautiful in their kind, and of four fingers' 
 Aepth, filled up the middle parts. About the 
 top of the basin were wreathed the leaves of 
 lilies, and of the convolvulus, and the tendrils of 
 vines in a circular manner ; and this was the 
 construction of the two cisterns of gold, each 
 containing two firkins; but those which were 
 of silver were much moro bright and splendid 
 than looking-glasses; and you might in them 
 see images that fell upon them more plainly 
 than in the other. The king also ordered thirty 
 vials; those of which the parts that were of 
 gold, and filled up with precious stones, were 
 shadowed over with the leaves of ivy and vines, 
 artificially engraven; and these were the ves- 
 sels that were, after an extraordinary manner, 
 brought to this perfection, partly by the skill of 
 the workmen, who were admirable in such fine 
 work, but mucli more by the diligence and gene- 
 rosity of the king, who not only supplied the 
 artificers abundantly, and with great generosity, 
 with what they wanted, but he forbade public 
 audiences for the time, and came and stood by 
 the workmen, and saw the whole operation; and 
 this was the cause why the workme i were so 
 accurate in their performance, because they had 
 regard to the king, and to his great concern 
 about the vessels, and so the more uy 1 sfatigably 
 kept close to the work. 
 
 1L And these were what gifts were sent by 
 Ptolemy to Jerusalem, and dedicated to God 
 there. But when Eleazar the high priest had 
 devoted them to God, and had paid due respect 
 to those that brought them, and had given them 
 presents to- be carried to the king, he dismissed 
 them. And when they were come to Alexandria, 
 and Ptolemy heard that they were come, and 
 that the seventy elders were come also, he pre- 
 sently sent for Andreas and Aristeus, his am- 
 bassadors, who came to him, and delivered him 
 the epistle which they brought him froia the 
 high priest, and made answer to all the ques- 
 tions he put to them by word of mouth. He 
 then made haste to meet the elders that came 
 from Jerusalem for the interpretation of the 
 laws ; and ho gave command, that everybody 
 who came on other occasions should be sent 
 away, which was a thing surprising, and what 
 he did not use to do ; for those that were drawn 
 thither upon such occasions used to come to him 
 
 on the fifth day, but ambassadors at the month't 
 end. But when he had sent those &way, he 
 waited for these that were sent by Eleazar ; bu< 
 as the old men camo in with the presents, which 
 the high priest had given them to bring to the 
 king, and with the membranes, upon which they 
 had their laws written in golden letters,* he put 
 questions to them concerning those books ; and 
 when they had taken off the covers wherein they 
 were wrapt up, they shewed him the membrane*. 
 So the king stood admiring the thinness of thoie 
 membranes, and the exactness of the juncture!, 
 which could not be perceived, (so exactly were 
 they connected one with another ;) and this he 
 did for a considerable time. He then said that 
 he returned them thanks for coming to him, and 
 still greater thanks to him that sent them ; and, 
 above all, to that God whose laws they appeared 
 to be. Then did the elders, and those that were 
 present with them, cry out with one voice, and 
 wished all happiness to the king. Upon which 
 he fell into tears by the violence of the pleasure 
 he had, it being natural to men to afford the 
 same indications in great joy that they do under 
 sorrow. And when he had bidden them deliver 
 the books to those that were appointed to receive 
 them, he saluted the men, and said that it was 
 but just to discourse, in the first place, of the 
 errand they were sent about, and then to address 
 himself to themselves. He promised, however, 
 that he would make this day on which they came 
 to him remarkable and eminent every year 
 through the whole course of his life ; for their 
 coming 5o him, and the victory which he gained 
 over Antigonus by sea, proved to be on the very 
 same day. He also gave orders that they should 
 sup with him ; and gave it in charge that they 
 should have excellent lodgings provided for 
 them in the upper part of the city. 
 
 12. Now he that was appointed to take care ol 
 the reception of strangers, Nicanor by name, 
 called for Dorotheus, whose duty it was to make 
 provision for them, and bade him prepare for 
 every one of them what should be requisite for 
 their diet and way of living ; which thing was 
 ordered by the king after this manner : he took 
 care that those that belonged to every city, 
 which did not use the same way of living, that 
 all things should be prepared for them according 
 to the custom of those that came to him, that 
 being feasted according to the usual method of 
 their own. way of living, they might bo the 
 better pleased, and might not be uneasy at 
 anything done to them from which they were 
 naturally averse. And this was now done in 
 the case of these men by Dorotheus, who was 
 put into this office because of his great ekill in 
 such matters belonging to common life : for he 
 took care of all such matters as concerned the 
 reception of strangers, and appointed them 
 double seats for them to sit on, according as the 
 king had commanded him to do ; for he had 
 commanded that half of their seats should be set 
 at his right hand, and the other half behind his 
 table, and took care that no respect should be 
 omitted that could be shewn them. And when 
 they were thus set down, he bid Dorotheus _to 
 minister to all those that were come to him 
 from Judea, after the manner they used to be 
 ministered to; for which cause he sent away 
 their sacred heralds, and those that slew the 
 sacrifices, and the rest that used to say grace : 
 but called to one of those that were come to him, 
 whose name was Eleazar, who was a priest, and 
 
 * The Talmudists say, that it is not lawful to wrib 
 the law in letters of gold, contrary to thi/ -.ertain ' 
 vety ancient example
 
 60 
 
 ANTIQUITIES 0* 1HE JEWS. 
 
 (BOOK Xli. 
 
 desired Lim to nay grace : who then stood in 
 the midst of them, and prayed that all pros- , 
 nerity might attend the king and those that 
 ,rere his subjects Upon which an acclamation 
 was made by the whole company, with joy and , 
 a (treat noise ; and when that was over, they fell 
 to eating their supper, and to the enjoyment of 
 what was set before them. And at a little in 
 terval afterward, when the king thought a suffi- i 
 eient time had been interposed, he began to talk , 
 philosophically to them, and he asked everyone , 
 of them a philosophical question.t and such a 
 one as might give light in tnose Inquiries ; and 
 when they had explained all the problem* thai 
 bad been proposed by the king about every 
 point, he was well pleased with their answers. 
 This took up the twelve days in which they were 
 treated ; and he that pleases may learn the par- 
 ticular questions in that book of Aristeus, which 
 he wrote on this very occasion. 
 
 13. And while not the king only, but the , 
 philosopher Menedus also, admired them, and 
 said, that all things were governed by Provi- 
 dence, and that it was probable that thence it 
 was that such force or beauty was discovered in 
 these men's words, they then left off asking 
 any more questions. But the king said that he 
 had gained very great advantages by their com- 
 ing, for that he had received this profit from 
 them, that he had learned how he ought to rule 
 hi.s subjects. And he gave order that they 
 should have every one three talents given them ; 
 and that those that were to conduct them to 
 their lodging should do it. Accordingly, wheii 
 three days were over, Demetrius took them, and 
 went over the causeway seven furlongs long : it 
 was a bank in the sea to an island. And when 
 they had gone over the bridge, he proceeded to 
 the northern parts, and shewed them where they 
 should meet, which was in a house which was 
 built near the shore, and was a quiet place, and 
 fit for their discoursing together about their 
 work. When he had brought them thither, he 
 entreated them, (now they had all things about 
 them which they wanted for the interpretation 
 of their law,) that they would suffer nothing to 
 interrupt them in their work. Accordingly, 
 they made an accurate interpretation, with great 
 zeal and great pains ; and this they continued to 
 do till the ninth hour of the day ; after which 
 time they relaxed and took care of their body, 
 while their food was provided for them in great 
 plenty : besides, Dorotheus, at the king's com- 
 mand, brought them a great deal of what was 
 provided for the king himself. But in the 
 morning they came to the court, and saluted 
 Ptolemy, and then went away to their former 
 place, where, when they had washed theii 
 hands, and purified themselves, they betook 
 themselves to the interpretation of the laws. 
 Now when the law was transcribed, and the 
 
 * This is the most ancient example I have met with 
 of a grace, or thanksgiving, before meat. The next 
 example I have met with is that of the Essenes, both 
 before and after it ; those of our Saviour before it. 
 (Mark viii. 6 ; John vi. 11, 23 ; and St Paal, Acts 
 Kxvii. 36,) and a form of such a grace or prayer foi 
 Christians, at the end of the lifth book of the Aposto 
 lical Constitutious, which seems to have been intended 
 for both times, both before and after meat. 
 
 t They were rather political questions and answers 
 tending to the good and rensuous government of man 
 kind. 
 
 | This purification of t^g interpiv-cerd, by washing 
 In the sea, before they prayed to God every morning, 
 and before they set about translating, may be com> 
 pared with the places of the Vroseuchas, or of prayer, 
 which were sometimes built near the sea, or rival* 
 
 Labour of interpretation was over, which came 
 to its conclusion in seventy-two days, Dernetriua 
 gathered all the Jews together to the place 
 where the laws were translated, and where the 
 interpreters were, and read them over. The 
 multitude did also approve of those elders that 
 were the interpreters of the law. They withal 
 commended Demetrius for his proposal, as the 
 inventor of what was greatly for their happi- 
 ness ; and they desired that he would give leave 
 to their rulers also to read the law. Moreover 
 they all, both the priests and the ancientest of 
 the elders, and the principal men of their com- 
 monwealth, made it their request, that since the 
 interpretation was happily finished, it might 
 continue in the state it now was, and might not 
 be altered. And when they all commended that 
 determination of theirs, they enjoined, that if 
 any one observed either anything superfluous, or 
 anything omitted, that he would take a view of 
 it again, and have it laid before them, and cor- 
 rected ; which was a wise action of theirs, that 
 when the thing was judged to have been well 
 done, it might continue for ever. 
 
 14 . So the king rej oiced when he saw that his de- 
 sign of this nature was brought to perfection, to so 
 great ad vantage: and he was chiefly delighted with 
 hearing the laws read to him ; and was astonished 
 at the deep meaning and wisdom of the legislator. 
 And he began to discourse with Demetrius, 
 " How it came to pass that, when this legislation 
 was so wonderful, no one, either of the poets or of 
 the historians, had made mention of it." Deme- 
 trius made answer, " that no one durst be so bold 
 as to touch upon the description of these laws, 
 because they were divine and venerable, and be- 
 cause some that had attempted it were afflicted 
 by God." He also told him, that " Theopompus 
 was desirous of writing somewhat about them, 
 but was' thereupon disturbed in his mind for 
 above thirty days' time ; and upon some inter- 
 mission of his distemper, he appeased God [by 
 prayer,] as suspecting that his madness proceeded 
 from that cause." Nay, indeed, he further saw 
 in a dream, that his distemper befell him while 
 he indulged too great a curiosity about divine 
 matters, and was desirous of publishing them 
 among common men ; but when he left off that 
 attempt, he recovered his understanding again. 
 Moreover, he informed him of Theodectes, the 
 tragic poet, concerning whom it was reported, 
 that when in a certain dramatic representation, 
 he was desirous to make mention of things that 
 were contained in the sacred books, he was 
 afflicted with a darkness in his eyes ; and that 
 upon his being conscious of the occasion of his 
 distemper, and appeasing God [bv prayer ] he 
 was freed from that affliction. 
 
 15. And when the king had received these 
 books from Demetrius, as we have said already, 
 he adored them ; and gave order, that great care 
 should be taken of them, that they might remain 
 uncorrupted. He also desired that the interpre- 
 ters would come often to him out of Judea, and 
 that both on account of the respect which he 
 would pay them, and on account of the presents 
 I he would make them ; for he said, it was now 
 | but just to send them away, although if, of their 
 own accord, they would come to Mm hereafter, 
 i they should obtain all that their own wisdom 
 I might justly require, and what his generosity 
 was able to give them. So he sent them away, 
 and gave to eveiy one of them three garments 
 of the best sort, and two talents of gold, and a 
 cup of the value of one talent, and the furniture 
 of the room wherein they were feasted. And 
 these were the things he presented to them. 
 Tfut bv thfuu Lu> sent to FJeazar the hiiih orieci
 
 OHAP. in.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OJ? THE JEWS. 
 
 261 
 
 ten beds, with feet of silver, and the furniture i 
 to them belonging, and a cup of the value of 
 thirty talents ; and besides these, ten garments, 
 and purple, and a very beautiful crown, and a 
 hundred pieces of the finest woven linen ; as also 
 vials and diahes, aud vessels for pouring, and 
 two golden cisterns, to be dedicated to God. 
 He also desired him, by an epistle, that he would 
 give these interpreters leave, if any of them were 
 desirous of coming to him ; because he highly 
 valued a conversation with men of such learning, 
 and should be very willing to lay out his wealth 
 upon such men. And this was what came to the 
 Jews, and was much to their glory and honcui , 
 from Ptolemy and Philadelphus, 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 SOW THE KINGS OP ASIA HONOURED THE NATION 
 OF THE JEWS, AND MADE THEM CITIZENS OF 
 THOSE CITIES WHICH THEY BUILT. 
 
 1. THE Jews also obtained honours from the 
 kings of Asia, when they became their auxili- 
 aries ; for Seleucus Nicator made them citizens of 
 those cities which he built in Asia, and in the 
 Lower Syria, and in the metropolis itself, An- 
 tioch ; and gave them privileges equal to those 
 of the Macedonians and Greeks, who were the 
 inhabitants, insomuch that those privileges con- 
 tinue to this very day : an argument for which 
 you have in this, that whereas the Jews do make 
 use of oil prepared by foreigners,* they receive a 
 certain sum of money from the proper officers be- 
 longing to their exercises as the value of that oil ; 
 which money, when the people of Antioch would 
 have deprived them of, in the last war, Muci- 
 anus, who was then president of Syria, preserved 
 it to them. And when the people of Alexandria 
 and of Antioch did after that, at the time that 
 Vespasian and Titus his son, governed the habit- 
 able earth, pray that these privileges of citizens 
 might be taken away, they did not obtaiii their 
 request. In which behaviour any one may dis- 
 cern the equity and generosity of the Romans, t 
 especially of Vespasian and Titus, who, although 
 they had been at a great deal of pains in the war 
 against the Jews, and were exasperated against 
 them, because they did not deliver up their 
 weapons to them, but continued the war to the 
 very last, yet did not they take away any of their 
 forementioned privileges belonging to them as 
 citizens, but restrained their anger, and over- 
 came the prayers of the Alexandrians and Antio- 
 chians, who were a very powerful people, inso- 
 much that they did not yield to them, neither 
 out of their favour to these people, nor out ot 
 their old grudge at those whose wicked opposition 
 they hadsubduedinthe war ; nor wouldthey alter 
 any of the ancient favours granted to the Jews, 
 but said, that those who had borne arms against 
 them, and fought them, hivd suffered punishment 
 already, and that it was not just to deprive those 
 
 * The use of oil was much greater in JuJea, and the 
 neighbouring countries, than it is amongst us. It was 
 also, in the days of Josephua, thought unlawful for Jews . 
 to make use of any oil that was prepared by heathens, j 
 perhaps on account of some superstitions intermixed j 
 with its preparation by those heathens. When, there- 
 fore, the heathens were to make them * present of oil, 
 they paid them money instead of it. 
 
 t The justice, and equity, and generosity of the old 
 Romans, both to the Jews and other conquered nation*, 
 affords us a very good reason why Almighty God, upon 
 the rejection of the Jews for their wickedness, chose 
 them for his people, and first established Christianity 
 la that empire. 
 
 that had not offended of the privileges they en- 
 joyed. 
 
 2. We also know that Marcus Agrippa was of 
 the like disposition towards the Jews : for when 
 the people of Ionia were very angry at them, 
 and besought Agrippa, that they, and they only, 
 might have those privileges of citizens which 
 Antioch us, the grandson of Seleucus, (who by the 
 Greeks was called The. God,) had bestowed on 
 them ; and desired that, if the Jews were to be 
 joint-partakers with them, they might be obliged 
 to worship the gods they themselves worshipped : 
 but when these matters were brought to trial, 
 the Jews prevailed, and obtained leave to make 
 use of their own customs, and this under the 
 patronage of Nicolaus of Damascus ; for Agrippa 
 gave sentence, that he could not innovate. And 
 if any one hath a mind to know this ma'tter ac- 
 curately, let him peruse the hundred and twenty- 
 third and hundred and twenty-fourth books of 
 the history of this Nicolaus. Now, as to thic 
 determination of Agrippa. it is not so much to 
 be admired ; for at that time our nation had not 
 made war against the Romans. But one may 
 well be astonished at the generosity of Vespasian 
 and Titus, that after so great wars and contests 
 which they had from us, they should use such 
 moderation. But I will now return to that part 
 of my history whence I made the present di- 
 gression. 
 
 3. Now it happened that in the reign of Antio- 
 chus the Great, who ruled over all Asia, thai 
 the Jews, as well as the inhabitants of Coelesyria, 
 suffered greatly, and their land was sorely har- 
 assed ; for while he was at war with Ptolemy 
 Philopater, and with his son, who was called 
 Epiphanes, it fell out that these nations were 
 equally sufferers, both when he was. beaten and 
 when he beat the others : so that they were very 
 like to a ship in a storm, which is tossed by the 
 wares on both sides : and just thus were they in 
 their situation in the middle between Antio- 
 chus's prosperity and its change to adversity. 
 But at length, when Antiochus had beaten 
 Ptolemy, he seized upon Judea : and when 
 Philopater was dead, his son sent out a great 
 army under Scopas, the general of his forces, 
 against the inhabitants of Ccelesyria, who took 
 many of their cities, and in particular our nation ; 
 which, when he fell upon them, went over to 
 him. Yet was it not long afterward when An- 
 tiochus overcame Scopas, in a battle fought at 
 the fountains of Jordan, and destroyed a great 
 part of his army. But afterward, when Aiitio- 
 chus subdued those cities of Coelesyria which 
 Scopas had gotten into his possession, and Sa- 
 maria with them, the Jews, of their own accord, 
 went crer to him, and received him into the city 
 [Jerusalem,] and gave plentiful provision to aU 
 his army, and to his elephants, and readily 
 assisted him when he besieged the garrison which 
 was in the citadel of Jerusalem. Wherefore 
 Antiochus thought it but just to requite the 
 Jews' diligence and zeal in his service: so he 
 wrote to the generals of his armies, and to his 
 friends, and gave testimony to the good behaviour 
 of the Jews towards bun, and informed them 
 what rewards he had resolved to bestow on them 
 for that their behaviour. I will set down pre- 
 sently the epistles themselves which he wrote to 
 the generals concerning them, but will first pro- 
 duce the testimony of Polybius of Megalopolis; 
 for thus does he speak, in the sixteenth book of 
 his history! "Now Scopag, the general of 
 Ptolemy's army, went in haste to the superior 
 parts of the country, and in the winter-time 
 overthrew the nation of the Jews." He also 
 aoith. in the same book, that " wheuScopaswaa
 
 ANTIQtrrntlH OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xii. 
 
 conquered by Antiochua, Antioclms received 
 l;,itanea and Samaria, and Abila and Gadara; 
 and that, a while afterwards, there came in to 
 him those Jews that inhabited near the temple 
 which was called Jerusalem ; concerning which, 
 although I have more to say, and particularly 
 concerning the presence of God about that 
 temple, yet do I put off that history till another 
 oj >portunity. " This it is which Polybius relates ; 
 but we will return to the series of the history, 
 when we have first produced the epistles of king 
 A -itiochus. 
 
 "KING ANTIOCHUS TO PTOLEMY, SENDETH 
 GREETING. 
 
 "Since the Jews, upon our first entrance on 
 their conntry, demonstrated their friendship to- 
 wards us ; and when we came to their city, 
 [Jerusalem,] received us in a splendid manner, 
 and came to meet us with their senate, and gave 
 abundance of provisions to our soldiers, and to 
 the elephants, and joined with us in ejecting the 
 garrison of the Egyptians that were in the cita- 
 del, we have thought fit to reward them, and to 
 retrieve the condition of their city, which hath 
 been greatly depopulated by such accidents as 
 have befallen its inhabitants, and to bring those 
 that have been scattered abroad back to the 
 city; and, in the first place, we have determined, 
 on account of their piety towards God, to bestow 
 on them, as a pension , for their sacrifices of animals 
 that are fit for sacrifice, for wine and oil, and 
 frankincense, the value of twenty thousand pieces 
 of silver, and [six] sacred artabrae of fine flour, 
 with one thousand four hundred and sixty me- 
 dimni of wheat, and three hundred and seventy- 
 five medimni of salt; and these payments I would 
 have fully paid them, as I have sent orders to 
 you. I would also have the work about the 
 temple finished, and the cloisters, and if there be 
 anything else that ought to be rebuilt ; and for 
 the materials of wood, let it be brought them 
 out of Judea itself, and out of the other coun- 
 tries, and out of Libanus, tax-free ; and the same 
 I would have observed as to those other materials 
 which will be necessary, in order to render the 
 temple more glorious ; and let all of that nation 
 live according to the laws of their own country ; 
 and let the senate and the priests, and the scribes 
 of the temple, and the sacred singers, be dis- 
 charged from poll-money and the crown-tax, and 
 other taxes also ; and that the city may the 
 sooner recover its inhabitants, I grant a discharge 
 from taxes for three years to its present inhabit- 
 ants, and to such as shall come to it, until the 
 month Hyperberetus. We also discharge them 
 for the future from a third part of their taxes, 
 that the losses they have sustained may be re- 
 paired; and all those citizens that have been 
 carried away, and are become slaves, we grant 
 them and their children their freedom ; and give 
 order that their substance be restored to them." 
 
 4. And these were the contents of this epistle. 
 He also published a decree, through all his king- 
 dom, in honour of the temple, which contained 
 what follows: "It shall be lawful for no for- 
 eigner to come within the limits of the temple 
 round about; which thing is forbidden also to 
 the Jews, unless to those who, according to their 
 own custom, have purified themselves. Nor let 
 any flesh ot horses, or of mules, or of asses, be 
 brought into the city, whether they be wild or 
 tame; nor that of leopards, or foxes, or hareo; 
 and, in general, that of any animal which is for- 
 bidden for the Jews to eat. Nor let their skins 
 bo brought into it ; nor let any such animal be 
 bred ap in the city. Let them only be permit- 
 led to use the sacrifices derived from their fore- 
 
 fathers, with which they have been obliged to 
 make acceptable atonements to God. And he 
 that transgresseth any of these orders, let him 
 pay to the priests three thousand drachmae of 
 silver." Moreover, this Antiochus bare testi- 
 
 ! mony to our piety and fidelity, in an epistle of 
 his, written when he was informed of a sedition 
 in Phrygia and Lydia, at which time he was in 
 
 I the superior provinces, wherein he commanded 
 Zeuxis, the general of his forces, and his most 
 
 intimate friend, to send some of our nation 
 
 I out of Babylon into Phrygia. The epistle war 
 
 ! this: 
 
 "KING ANTIOCHUS TO ZEUXIS, HIS FAIHBB, 
 SENDETH GREETING. 
 
 " If you are in health, it is well. I also am in 
 health. Having been informed that a sedition 
 is arisen in Lydia and Phrygia, I thought the 
 matter required great care ; and upon advising 
 with my friends what was fit to be done, it hath 
 been thought proper to remove two thousand 
 families of Jews, with their effects, out of Meso- 
 potamia and Babylon, unto the castles and 
 places that lie most convenient ; for I am per- 
 suaded that they will be well-disposed guardian? 
 of our possessions, because of their piety toward* 
 God, and because I know that my predecesson 
 have borne witness to them that they are faithful, 
 and with alacrity do what they are desired to do. i 
 I will, therefore, though it be a laborious work. ! 
 that thou remove these Jews ; under a promise 
 that they shall be permitted to use their own 
 laws : and when thou shalt have brought them 
 to the places forementioned, thou shalt give : 
 every one of their families a place for building 
 their houses, and a portion of land for their hus- 
 bandry, and for the plantation of their vines; 
 and thou shalt discharge them from paying , 
 taxes of the fruits of the earth for ten years ; 
 and let them have a proper quantity of wheat 
 for the maintenance of their servants, until they ', 
 receive bread-corn out of the earth ; also let a ! 
 sufficient share be given to such as minister to ' 
 them in the necessaries of life, that by enjoying ' 
 the effects of our humanity, they may shew 
 themselves the more willing and ready about : 
 our affairs. Take care likewise of that nation, 
 :ts far as thou art able, that they may not have 
 any disturbance given them by any one." 
 
 Now these testimonials, which I have produced. 
 are sufficient to declare the friendship that Anti- 
 ' he Great bare to the Jews. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HOW ANT100HU8 MADE A LEAGUE WITH PTOLEMY; 
 AND HOW ONIAS PROVOKED PTOLEMY EUER- 
 GETKS TO ANGER; AND HOW JOSEPH BROUGHT 
 ALL THINGS RIGHT AGAIN, AND ENTERED INTO 
 FRIENDSHIP WITH HIM; AND WHAT OTHER 
 THINGS WERE DONE BY JOSEPH, AND HIS BON 
 HYRCANUS. 
 
 1. AFTER this Antiochus made a friendship 
 and a league with Ptolemy, and gave him his 
 daughter Cleopatra to wife, and yielded up to 
 him Coelesyria, and Samaria, and Judea, and 
 Phoenicia, by way of dowry ; and upon the divi- 
 sion of the taxes between the two kings, all the 
 principal men framed the taxes of their several 
 countries, and collecting the sum that was set- 
 tled for them, paid the same to the [two] kings. 
 Now_ at this time the Samaritans were in a 
 flourishing condition, and much distressed the 
 Jews, cutting off parts of their land, a-nd carry-
 
 HAP. IV.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 253 
 
 !.ng off slaves. This happened when Onias was 
 high priest; for after Eleazar's death, his uncle 
 Manasseh took the priesthood, and after he had 
 ended his life, Onias received that dignity. He 
 was son of Simon, who was called The Just; 
 which Simon was the brother of Eleazar, as I 
 said before. This Onias was one of a little soul, 
 and a great lover of money; and for that reason, 
 because he did not pay that tax of twenty talents 
 of silver, which his forefathers paid to these 
 kings, out of their own estates, he provoked king 
 Ptolemy Euerpretes to anger, who was the father 
 of Philopater, Euergetes sent an ambassador to 
 Jerusalem, anu complained that Onias did not 
 pay his taxes, and threatened, that if he did not 
 receive them, he would seize upon their land, 
 and send soldiers to live upon it. When the 
 Jews heard this message of the king, they were 
 confounded ; but so sordidly covetous was Onias, 
 that nothing of this nature made him ashamed. 
 
 2. There was now one Joseph, young in age, 
 but of great reputation among the people of 
 Jerusalem, for gravity, prudence, and justice. 
 His father's name was Tobias ; and his mother 
 was the sister of Onias the high priest, wt.o in- 
 formed him of the coming of the ambassador ; 
 for he was then sojourning at a village named 
 Phicol,* where he was born. Hereupon he 
 came to the city [Jerusalem,] and reproved 
 Onias for not taking care of the preservation of 
 his countrymen, but bringing the nation into 
 dangers, by not paying this money. For which 
 preservation of them, he told him he had re- 
 1 ceived the authority over them, and had been 
 made high priest ; but that, in case he was so 
 great a lover of money, as to endure to see his 
 country in danger on that account, and his coun- 
 trymen suffer the greatest damages, he ddvised 
 him to go to the king, and petition him to remit 
 either the whole or a part of the sum demanded. 
 Onias's answer was this : That he did not care 
 for his authority, and that he was ready, if the 
 thing were practicable, to lay down his high 
 priesthood; and that he would not go to the 
 king, because he troubled not himself at all 
 about such matters. Joseph then asked him if 
 he would not give him leave to go ambassador 
 on behalf of the nation' he replied, that he 
 Vould give him leave. tTpon which Joseph 
 went up into the temple, and called the multi- 
 tude together to a congregation, and exhorted 
 them not to be disturbed nor affrighted, because 
 of his uncle Onias's carelessness, but desired 
 them to be at rest, and not terrify themselves 
 with fear about it; for he promised them that 
 he would be their ambassador to the king, and 
 persuade him that they had done him no wrong ; 
 and when the multitude heard this, they re- 
 urned thanks to Joseph. So he went down 
 from the temple, and treated Ptolemy's ambas- 
 sador in an hospitable manner. He also pre- 
 sented him with rich gifts, and feasted him 
 magnificently for many days, and then sent him 
 to the king before him, and told him that he 
 would soon follow him ; for he was now more 
 willing to go to the king, by the encouragement 
 of the ambassador, who earnestly persuaded him 
 to come into Egypt, and promised him that he 
 would take care that he should obtain every 
 thing that he desired of Ptolemy; for he was 
 highly pleased with his frank and liberal tem- 
 per, and with the gravity of his deportment. 
 3. "When Ptolemy's ambassador was come into 
 
 The name of this place is the very same with that 
 
 of the chief captain of Abimelech's host, in the days of 
 
 j Abraham, (Gen. xxi. 22.) and might possibly be the 
 
 i place of his nativity or abode ; for it seems to have been 
 
 i ua the south part of Palestine, as that wag. 
 
 Egypt, he told the king of the thoughtless tem- 
 per of Onias; and informed him of the goodness 
 of the disposition of Joseph; and that he was 
 coming to him, to excuse the multitude as not 
 having done him any harm, for that he was their 
 patron. In short, he was so very large in his 
 encomiums upon the young man, that he disposed 
 both the king and his wife Cleopatra to have a 
 kindness for him before he came So Joseph 
 sent to his friends at Samaria, and borrowed 
 money of them ; and got ready what was neces- 
 sary for his journey, garments and cups, and 
 beasts for burden, which amounted to about 
 twenty thousand drachmae, and went to Alexan- 
 dria. Now it happened that at this time all 
 the principal men and rulers went up out of 
 the cities of Syria and Phoenicia, to bid for their 
 taxes; for every year the king sold them to the 
 men of the greatest power in every city. So 
 these men saw Joseph journeying on the way, 
 and laughed at him for his poverty and mean- 
 ness; but when he came to Alexandria, and 
 heard that king Ptolemy was at Memphis, he 
 went up thither to meet with him; which hap- 
 pened as the king was sitting in his chariot, with 
 his wife, and with his friend Athenion, who was 
 the very person who had been ambassador at 
 Jerusalem, and had been entertained by Joseph. 
 As soon therefore as Athenion saw him, he 
 presently made him known to the king, how 
 good and generous a young man he was. So 
 Ptolemy saluted him first, and desired him to 
 come up into his chariot; and as Joseph sat 
 there he began to complain of the management 
 of Onias : to which he answered, " Forgive him, 
 on account of his age ; for thou canst not cer- 
 tainly be'unacquainted with this, that old men 
 and infants have their minds exactly alike ; but 
 thou shalt have from us, who are young men, 
 everything thou desirest, and shalt have no 
 cause to complain." With this good humour 
 and pleasantry of the young man, the king was 
 so delighted, that he began already, as though 
 he had had long experience of him, to have a 
 still greater affection for him, insomuch that he 
 bade him take his diet in the king's palace, and 
 be a guest at his own table every day; but when 
 the king was come to Alexandria, the principal 
 men of Syria saw him sitting with the king, and 
 were much offended at it. 
 
 4. And when the day came on which the king 
 was to let the taxes of the cities to farm, and 
 those that were the principal men of dignity in 
 their several countries were to bid for them, the 
 sum of the taxes together, of Ccelesyria and 
 Phoenicia, and Judea, with Samaria, [as they 
 were bidden for,] came to eight thousand talents. 
 Hereupon Joseph accused the bidders, as having 
 agreed together to estimate the value of the 
 taxes at too low a rate; and he promised that he 
 would himself give twice as much for them ; but 
 for those who did not pay, he would send the 
 king home their whole substance ; for this privi- 
 lege was sold together with the taxes themselves. 
 The king was pleased to hear that offer; and, 
 because it augmented his revenues, he said he 
 would confirm the sale of the taxes to him ; but 
 when he asked him this question, whether he 
 had any sureties that would be bound for the 
 payment of the money, he answered very plea- 
 santly, " I will give such security, and those of 
 persons good and responsible, and which you 
 shall have no reason to distrust : " and when he 
 bade him name them, who they were, he re- 
 plied, " I give thee no other persons, O king, for 
 my sureties, than thyself, and this thy wife; 
 and you shall be security for both parties." So 
 Ptolemy laughed at the proposal, and granted
 
 25-i 
 
 ajTTlQUITIES O* THE JEWS. 
 
 him the fanning of the taxes without any sure- 
 ties. This procedure was a sore grief to those 
 that came from the cities into Egypt, who were 
 utterly disappointed; and they returned every 
 one to their own country with shame. 
 
 5. But Joseph took with him two thousand 
 foot soldiers from the king, for he desired he 
 might have some assistance, in order to force 
 such as were refractory in the cities to pay. 
 And borrowing of the king's friends at Alexan- 
 dria five hundred talents, he made haste back 
 into Syria. And when he was at Askelon, and 
 demanded the taxes of the people of Askelon, 
 they refused to pay anything, and affronted him 
 also : upon which he seized upon about twenty 
 of the principal men, and slew them, and ga- 
 thered what they had together, and sent it all 
 to the king ; and informed him what he had 
 dono. Ptolemy admired the prudent conduct 
 of the man, and commended him for what he 
 had done ; and gave him leave to do as he 
 pleased. When the Syrians heard of this they 
 were astonished ; and having before them a sad 
 example in the men of Askelon that were slain, 
 they opened their gates, and willingly admitted 
 Joseph, and paid their taxes. And when the 
 inhabitants of Scythopolis attempted to affront 
 him, and would not pay him those taxes which 
 they formerly used to pay, without disputing 
 about them, he slew also the principal men of 
 that city, and sent their effects to the king. By 
 this means he gathered great wealth together, 
 and made vast gains by this farming of the taxes; 
 and he made use of what estate he had thus got- 
 ten, in order to support his authority, as think- 
 ing it a piece of prudence to keep what had been 
 the occasion and foundation of his present good 
 fortune ; and this he did by the assistance of 
 what he was already possessed of, for he pri- 
 vately sent many presents to the king, and to 
 Cleopatra, and to their friends, and to all that 
 were powerful about the court, and thereby pur- 
 chased their good-will to himself. 
 
 6. This good fortune he enjoyed for twenty- 
 kwo years ; and was become the father of seveu 
 Jons by one wife ; he had also another sou, 
 whose name was Hyrcanus, by his brother Soly- 
 mius's daughter, whom he married on the follow- 
 ing occasion. He once came to Alexandria with 
 his brother, who had along with him a daughter 
 already marriageable, in order to give her in 
 wedlock to some of the Jews of chief dignity 
 there. He then supped with the king, and fall- 
 ing in love with an actress that was of great 
 beauty, and came into the room where they 
 feasted, he told his brother of it, and entreated 
 him, because a Jew is forbidden by their law to 
 come near to a foreigner, to conceal his offence, 
 and to be kind and subservient to him, and to 
 give him an opportunity of fulfilling his desires. 
 Upon which his brother willingly entertained 
 the proposal of serving him, and adorned his 
 own daughter, and brought her to him by night, 
 and put her into his bed. And Joseph being 
 disordered with drink, knew not who she was, 
 and so lay with his brother's daughter ; and this 
 did he many times, and loved her exceedingly ; 
 and said to his brother, that he loved this act- 
 ress so well, that he should run the hazard of 
 his life [if he must part with her,] and yet pro- 
 bably the kins; would not give him leave [to take 
 Lor with. him.J But his brother bade him be in 
 no concern about that matter, and told him he 
 might enjoy her whom he loved without any 
 danger, and might have her for his wife ; and 
 opened the truth of the matter to him, and as- 
 sured him that he chose rather to have his own 
 daughter abused, than to overlook him. and see 
 
 him come to [public] disgrace. So Joseph com- 
 mended him for this his brotherly love, and 
 married his daughter ; and by her begat a BOB 
 whose name was Hyrcanus, as we said before. 
 And when this his youngest son shewed, at thir- 
 teen years old, a mind that was bath courageous 
 and wise, and was greatly envied by his brethren, 
 as being of a genius much above them, and such 
 a one as they might well envy, Joseph had once 
 a mind to know which of his sons had the best 
 disposition to virtue ; and when he sent them 
 severally to those that had then the best reputa- 
 tion for instructing youth, the rest of his chil- 
 dren, by reason of their sloth, and unwillingness 
 to take pains, returned to him foolish and un 
 learned. After them he sent out the youngest, 
 Hyrcanus, and gave him three hundred yoke oi 
 oxen, and bid him go two days' journey into the 
 wilderness, and sow the land there, and yet kept 
 back privately the yokes of the oxen that coup- 
 led them together. When Hyrcanus came to 
 the place, and found he had no" yokes with him, 
 he contemned the drivers of the oxen, who ad- 
 vised him to send some to his father, to bring 
 them some yokes ; but he thinking that he ought 
 not to lose his time while they should be sent to 
 bring him the yokes, he invented a kind of stra- 
 tagem, and what suited an age elder than his 
 own ; for he slew ten yoke of the oxen, and dis- 
 tributed their flesh among the labourers, and 
 cut their hides into several pieces, and made him 
 yokes, and yoked the oxen together with them , 
 by which meaus he sowed as much land as his 
 father had appointed him to sow, and returned 
 to him. And when he was come back, his father 
 was mightily pleased with his sagacity, and com- 
 mended the sharpness of his understanding, and 
 his boldness in what he did. And he still loved 
 him the more, as if he were his only genuine son, 
 while his brethren were much troubled at it. 
 
 7. But when one told him that Ptolemy had a 
 son just born, and that all the principal men of 
 Syria, and the other countries subject to him, 
 were to keep a festival on account of the child's 
 birthday, and went away in haste with great 
 retinues to Alexandria, he was himself indeed 
 hindered from going by old age ; hilt he made 
 trial of his sons, whether any of them would be 
 willing to go to the king. And when the elder 
 a ns excused themselves from going, and said 
 they were not courtiers good enough for such 
 conversation, and advised him to send their 
 br ther Hyrcanus, he gladly hearkened to that 
 advice, and called Hyrcanus, and asked him 
 whether he would go to the king ; and whether 
 it was agreeable to him to go or not. And upon 
 s promise that he would go, and his saying 
 that he should not want much money for his 
 journey, because he would live moderately, and 
 that ten thousand drachmae would be sufficient, 
 he was pleased with his son's prudence. After 
 a little while, the son advised his father not to 
 send his presents to the king from thence, but 
 to give him a letter to his steward at Alexandria, 
 that he might furnish him with money, for pur- 
 chasing what should be most excellent and most 
 precious. So he thinking that the expense of 
 ten talents would be enough for presents to be 
 made to the king, and commending his son, as 
 giving him good advice, wrote to Arion his stew- 
 ard, that managed all his money matters at 
 Alexandria ; which money was not less than 
 three thousand talents on his account, for Joseph 
 sent the money he received in Syria to Alexan- 
 dria. And when the day appointed for the pay- 
 ment of the taxes to the king came, he wrote to 
 Arion to pay them. So when the son had asked 
 his father for a letter to this steward, and had
 
 CHAP. rv.J 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 received it. he made haste to Alexandria. And 
 when he was gone, his brethren wrote to all the 
 king's friends, that they should destroy him. 
 
 8. But when he was come to Alexandria, he 
 delivered his letter to Arion, who asked him 
 how many talents he would have, (hoping he 
 would ask for no more than ten, or a little 
 more ;) he said, he wanted a thousand talents. 
 At which the steward was angry, and rebuked 
 him, as one that intended to live extravagantly ; 
 and he let him know how his father had gathered 
 together his estate by painstaking and resisting 
 his inclinations, and wished him to imitate the 
 example of his father : he assured him withal, 
 that he would give V"n but ten talents, and that 
 for a present to the king also "he son was 
 irritated at this, and threw Ario/i into prison. 
 But when Arion's wife had informed Cleopatra 
 of this, with her entreaty, that she would rebuke 
 the child for what he had done, (for Arion was 
 in great esteem with her,) Cleopatra informed 
 the king of it. And Ptolemy sent for Hyrcanus, 
 and told him that he wondered, when he was 
 sent to him by his father, that he had not yet 
 come into his presence, but had laid the steward 
 in prison. And he gave order, therefore, that 
 he should come to him, and give an account of 
 the reason of what he had done. And they re- 
 port, that the answer he made to the king's 
 messenger was this : That "there was a law of 
 ttis that forbade a child that was born to taste of 
 the sacrifice, before he had been at the temple, 
 and sacrificed to God. According to which 
 way of reasoning, he did not himself come to 
 him in expectation of the present he was to 
 make to him, as to one who had been his father's 
 benefactor ; and that he had punished the slave 
 for disobeying his commands, for that it mattered 
 not whether a master was little or great : so that 
 unless we punish such as these, thou thyself 
 mayest also expect to be despised by thy sub- 
 jects." Upon hearing this his answer, he fell 
 a-laughing, and wondered at the great soul of 
 the child. 
 
 9. When Arion wa apprised that this was the 
 king's disposition, and that he had no way to 
 aelp himself, he gave the child a thousand 
 talents, and was let out of prison. So after 
 three days were over, Hyrcanus came and 
 saluted the king and queen. They saw him 
 with pleasure, and feasted him in an obliging 
 manner, out of the respect they bare to his 
 father. So he came to the merchants privately, 
 and bought a hundred boys, that had learning, 
 and were in the flower of their ages, each at a 
 talent a-piece ; as also he bought a hundred 
 maidens, each at the same price as the other. 
 And when he was invited to feast with the king 
 n nong the principal men of the country, he sat 
 t own the lowest of them all, because he was 
 1 ttle regarded, as a child in age still ; and this 
 by those who placed every one according to their 
 dignity. Now when all those that sat with him 
 had laid the bones of the several parts in a heap 
 before Hyrcanus, (for they had themselves taken 
 away the flesh belonging to them,) till the table 
 where he sat was filled full with them, Trypho, 
 who wae the king's jester, and was appointed for 
 jokes and laughter at festivals, was now asked by 
 the guests that sat at the table [to expose him to 
 laughter.] So he stood by the king, and said, 
 " Dost thou not see, my lord, the bones that lie 
 by Hyrcanus? by this similitude thou mayest 
 conjecture that his father made all Syria as bare 
 as he hath made these bones.'" And the king 
 laughing at what Trypho said, and asking of 
 Hyrcanus, How he came to have so many bones 
 before him? he replied. " Very riahtfullv mv 
 
 lord ; for they are dogs that eat the flesh and 
 bones together, as these thy guests hare done, 
 (looking in the meantime at those guests,) for 
 there is nothing before them ; but they are men 
 that eat the flesh, and cast away the bones, as I, 
 who am also a man, have now done." Upon 
 which the king admired at his answer, jrhich 
 was so wisely made ; and bade them all make an 
 acclamation, as a mark cf their approbation of 
 his jest, which was truly a facetious one. On 
 the next day Hyrcanus went to every one of the 
 king's friends, and of the men powerful at court, 
 and saluted them ; but still inquired of the ser- 
 vants what present they would make the king 
 on his son's birthday ; and when some said that 
 they would give twelve talents, and that others 
 of greater dignity would every one give accord- 
 ing to the quantity of their riches, he pretended 
 to every one of them to be grieved that he was 
 not able to bring so large a present ; for that he 
 had no more than five talents, And when the 
 servants heard what he said they told their 
 masters ; and they rejoiced in the prospect that 
 Joseph would be disapproved, and would make 
 the king angry, by the smalluess of his present. 
 When the day came, the others, even those that 
 brought the most, offered the king not above 
 twenty talents ; but Hyrcanus gave to every one 
 of the hundred boys and hundred maidens that 
 he had bought a talent a-piece for them to carry, 
 and introduced them, the boys to the king, and 
 the maidens to Cleopatra : every body wonder- 
 ing at the unexpected richness of the presents, 
 even the king and queen themselves. He also 
 presented those that attended about the king 
 with gifts to the value of a great number of 
 talents, that he might escape the danger he was 
 in from them ; for to those it was that Hyrca- 
 nus's brethren had written to destroy him. 
 Now Ptolemy admired at the young man's 
 magnanimity, and commanded him to ask what 
 gift he pleased. But he desired nothing else to 
 be done for him by the king than to write to his 
 father and brethren about him. So when the 
 king had paid him very great respects, and had 
 given him very large gifts, and had written to 
 his father and his brethren, and all his com- 
 manders and officers, about him, he sent him 
 away. But when his brethren heard that 
 Hyrcanus had received such favours from the 
 king, and was returning home with great hon- 
 our, they went out to meet him, and to destroy 
 him, and that with the privity of their father : 
 for he was angry at him for the [large] sum of 
 money that he bestowed for presents, and so 
 had no concern for his preservation. However, 
 Joseph concealed the anger he had at his son, 
 out of fear of the king. And when Hyrcanus's 
 brethren came to fight him, he slew many others 
 of those that were with them, as also two of his 
 brethren themselves ; but the rest of them es- 
 caped to Jerusalem to their father. But when 
 Hyrcanus came to the city, where nobody would 
 receive him, he was afraid for himself, and 
 retired beyond the river Jordan, and there 
 abode ; bat obliging the Barbarians to pay their 
 te. 
 
 10. At this time, Seleucus, who was called 
 Soter, reigned over Asia, being the son of Anti- 
 ochus the Great. And [now] Hyrcanus's father, 
 Joseph, died. He was a good man, and of great 
 magnanimity ; and brought the Jews out of a 
 sta-te of poverty and meanness, to one that -was 
 more splendid. He retained the farm of the 
 taxes of Syria, and Phoenicia, and Samaria, 
 twenty-two years. His uncle also, Onias, died 
 [about this time,] and left the high priesthood 
 t,o his son Simon. And when be was dead. Oniae
 
 256 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK m. 
 
 his on succeeded him in that dignity. To him 
 M, was that Areus, king of the Lacedemonians, 
 out an embassage, with an epistle; the copy 
 whereof here follows : 
 
 "AREUS, KINO OF THE LACEDEMONIANS, TO ONIAB, 
 SENDETH GREETING. 
 
 "We have met with a certain writing, where- 
 by we have discovered that both the Jews and 
 the Lacedemonians are of one stock, and are 
 derived from the kindred of Abraham.* It is 
 but just, therefore, that you, who are our bre- 
 thren, should send to us about any of your 
 concerns as you please. We will also do the same 
 thing, and esteem your concerns as our own, and 
 will look upon our concerns as in common with 
 yours. Demotoles, who brings you this letter, 
 will bring your answer back to us. This letter 
 is four-square ; and the seal is an eagle, with a 
 dragon in his claws." 
 
 1L And these were the contents of the epistle 
 which was sent from the king of the Lacede- 
 monians. But upon the death of Joseph, the 
 people grew seditious, on account of his sons; for 
 whereas the elders made war against Hyrcanus, 
 who was the youngest of Joseph's sons, the mul- 
 titude was divided, but the greater part joined 
 with the elders in this war : as did Simon the 
 high priest, by reason he was of kin to them. 
 However, Hyrcanus determined not to return to 
 Jerusalem any more, but seated himself beyond 
 Jordan, and was at perpetual war with the 
 Arabians, and slew many of them, and took many 
 of them captives. He also erected a strong 
 castle, and built it entirely of white stone to the 
 very roof, and had animals of a prodigious mag- 
 nitude engraven upon it. He also drew around 
 it a great and deep canal of water. 3e also 
 made caves of many furlongs in lengtn, by hol- 
 lowing a rock that was over-against him ; and 
 then he made large rooms in it, some for feasting, 
 and some for sleeping, and living in. He intro- 
 duced also a vast quantity of waters which ran 
 along it, and which wero very delightful and 
 ornamental in the court. But still he made the 
 entrances at the mouth of the caves so narrow, 
 that no more than one person could enter by 
 them at once. And the reason why he built 
 them after that manner was a good one ; it was 
 for his own preservation, lest he should be be- 
 sieged by his brethren, and run the hazard of 
 being caught by them. Moreover, he built 
 courts of greater magnitude than ordinary, which 
 he adorned with vastly large gardens. And 
 when he had brought the place to this state, he 
 named it Tyre. This place is between Arabia 
 and Judea, beyond Jordan, not far from the 
 country of Heshbon. And he ruled over those 
 parts for seven years, even all the time that 
 Seleucus was king of Syria. But when he was 
 dead, his brother Antiochus, who was called 
 Epiphanes, took the kingdom. Ptolemy also, 
 the king of Egypt, died, who was besides called 
 Epiphanes. He left two sons, and both young 
 in age ; the elder of whom was called Philometer, 
 and the younger Physcon. As for Hyrcanus, 
 when he saw that Antiochus had a great army, 
 and feared lest he should be caught by him, and 
 
 These Lacedemonians, Grotius supposes, were de- 
 rived from the Dores, that came of the Pelasgi. These 
 re, by lleroilotus, called Barbarians ; and perhaps were 
 derived from the Syrians and Arabians, the posterity of 
 Abraham by Keturah. It may be further observed, 
 tliat Kliezer, of Damascus, the servant of Abraham, 
 (Gen. xv. 2, xxiv.,) was of old by some taken for his son. 
 bo that if the Lacedemon-ans were sprung from him, 
 they might themselves to be of the posterity of Abra- 
 ham, as well as the Jews, who were sprung from Isaac. 
 
 brought to punishment for what he had done to 
 the Arabians, he ended his life, and slew himself 
 with his own hand ; while Antiochus seized upon 
 all his substance. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 HOW, UPOfc THE QUARRELS OP THE JEWS ONk 
 AGAINST ANOTHER ABOUT THE HIGH PRIEST- 
 HOOD, ANTIOCHUS MADE AN EXPEDITION 
 AGAINST JERUSALEM, TOOK THE CITY, AND PIL- 
 LAGED THE TEMPLE, AND DISTRESSED THK 
 JEWS : AS ALSO, HOW MANY OF THE JEWS FOR- 
 SOOK THE LAWS OF THEIR COUNTRY; AND HOW 
 THE SAMARITANS FOLLOWED THE CUSTOMS OF 
 THE GREEKS, AND NAMED THEIR TEMPLE AT 
 MOUNT GERIZZHI THE TEMPLE OF JUPITEB 
 HELLENIUS. 
 
 1. ABOUT this time, upon the death of Onias 
 the high priest, they gave the high priesthood to 
 Jesus his brother ; for that son which Onias left 
 [or Onias IV.] was yet but an infant; and, in its 
 proper place, we will inform the reader of all 
 the circumstances that befell this child. But 
 this Jesus, who was the brother of Onias, was 
 deprived of the high priesthood by the king, who 
 was angry with him, and gave it to his younger 
 brother, whose name also was Onias ; for Simon 
 had these three sons, to each of Whom the priest- 
 hood came, as we have already informed the 
 reader. This Jesus changed his name to Jason ; 
 but Onias was called Menelaus. Now as the 
 former high priest, Jesus, raised a sedition 
 against Menelaus, who was ordained after him, 
 the multitude were divided between them both. 
 And the sons of Tobias took the part of Mene- 
 laus, but the greater part of the people assisted 
 Jason : and by that means Menelaus and the sons 
 of Tobias were distressed, and retired to Anti- 
 ochus, and informed him, that they were desirous 
 to leave the laws of their country, and the Jew- 
 ish way of living according to them, and to follow 
 the king's laws, and the Grecian way of living : 
 wherefore they desired his permission to build 
 them a gymnasium at Jerusalem, f And when 
 he had given them leave, they also hid the cir- 
 cumcision of their genitals, that even when they 
 were naked they might appear to be Greeks. 
 Accordingly, they left off all the customs that 
 belonged to their own country, and imitated the 
 practices of other nations. 
 
 2. Now Antiochus, upon the agreeable situa- 
 tion of the affairs of his kingdom, resolved to 
 make an expedition against Egypt, both because 
 he had a desire to gain it, and because he con- 
 temned the son of Ptolemy, as now weak, and 
 not yet of abilities to manage affairs of such con- 
 sequence ; so he came with great forces to Pel- 
 usium, and circumvented Ptolemy Philometer 
 by treachery, and seized upon Egypt. He then 
 came to the places about Memphis ; and when 
 he had taken them, he made haste to Alexandria, 
 in hopes of taking it by siege, and of subduing 
 Ptolemy, who reigned there. But he was driven 
 not only from Alexandria, but out of all Egypt, 
 by the declaration of the Romans, who charged 
 him to let that country alone. Accordingly, as 
 I have elsewhere formerly declared, I will now 
 give a particular account of what concerns tiis 
 king, how he subdued Judea and the temple ; 
 
 t This word, "gymnasium," properly denotes a plact 
 where the exercises were performed naked; which, be- 
 cause it would naturally distinguish circumcised Jcvt 
 from uncircumcised Gentiles, these Jewish apesU'*: 
 endeavoured to appear uncircumcised, by means ot 
 siugical operation, hinted at by St Paul, (1 Cor. vii. IN.)
 
 JHAP. V.I 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEAVS. 
 
 for in my former work I mentioned those things 
 very briefly, and have therefore now thought it 
 necessary to go over that history again, and that 
 with great accunicy. 
 
 3. King Antiochus returning out of Egypt,* 
 for fear of the Romans, made an expedition 
 against the city Jerusalem ; and when he wag 
 there, in tho hundred and forty-third year of the 
 kingdom of the Seleucidoe, he took the city 
 without fighting, those of his own party opening 
 the gates to him. And when he had gotten pos- 
 session of Jerusalem, and slew many of the 
 opposite party ; and when he had plundered it of 
 a great deal of money, he returned to Antioch. 
 
 4. Now it came to pass, after two years, in 
 the hundred and forty-fifth year, on the twenty- 
 fifth day of that month which is by us called 
 Chasleu, and by the Macedonians Appelus, In 
 the hundred and fifty-third olympiad, that the 
 king came up to Jerusalem, and, pretending 
 l>eace, he got possession of the city by treachery : 
 at which time he spared not so much as those 
 that admitted him into it, on account of the 
 riches that lay in the temple ; but, led by his 
 covetous inclination, (for he saw there was in it a 
 great deal of gold, and many ornaments that had 
 been dedicated to it of very great value, ) and in 
 order to plunder its wealth, he ventured to break 
 the league he had made. So he left the temple 
 
 ud took away the golden candlesticks, and 
 the golden altar [of incense,] and table [of shew- 
 bread,] and the altar [of burnt-offering ;] and did 
 not abstain from even the veils, which were 
 made of fine linen and scarlet. He also emptied 
 it of its secret treasures, and left nothing at all 
 remaining ; and by this means cast rhe Jews into 
 great lamentation, for he forbade them to offer 
 those daily sacrifices which they used to offer to 
 God, according to the law. And when he had 
 pillaged the whole city, some of the inhabitants 
 he slew, and some he carried captive, together 
 with their wives and children, so that the multi- 
 tude of those captives that were taken alive 
 amounted to about ten thousand. He also burnt 
 down the finest buildings ; and when he had 
 overthrown the city walls, lie built a citadel in 
 the lower part of the city,t for the place was 
 high, and overlooked the temple, on which ac- 
 count he fortified it with high walls and towers, 
 and put into it a garrison of Macedonians. How- 
 ever, in that citadel dwelt the impious and 
 wicked part of the [Jewish] multitude, from 
 whom it proved that the citizens suffered many 
 and sore calamities. And when the king had 
 built an idol altar upon God's altar, he slew 
 swine upon it, and so offered a sacrifice neither 
 according to the law, nor the Jewish religious 
 worship in that country. He also compelled 
 them to forsake the worship which they paid 
 their own God, and to adore those whom he 
 took to be gods ; and made them build temples, 
 nd raise idol altars, in every city and village, 
 and offer swine upon them every day. He 
 also commanded them not to circumcise their 
 sons, and threatened to punish any that should 
 be found to have transgressed his injunction. 
 
 * Hereahout Josephus begins to follow the first book 
 of the Maccabees. 
 
 t This citadel seems to have been a castle built on a 
 bill, lower than mount Zion, though upon its skirts, and 
 higher than mount Moriah, but between them botb ; 
 which hill the enemies of the Jews now get possession of, 
 and built on this citadel, and fortified it, till a good 
 while afterwards the Jews regained it, demolished it, 
 and levelled the hill itself with the common ground, 
 that their enemies might no more recover it, and 
 inight thence overlook the temple itself, and do them 
 luch mischief us they had long undergone from it. 
 
 He also appointed overseers, who should compel 
 them to do what he commanded. And indeed 
 many Jews there were who complied with the 
 king's commands, either voluntarily, or out ol 
 fear of the penalty that was denounced : but the 
 best men, and those of the noblest souls, did not 
 regard him, but did pay a greater respect to the 
 customs of their country than concern as to the 
 punishment which he threatened to the disobe- 
 dient ; on which account they every day under- 
 went great miseries and bitter torments ; foi 
 they were whipped with rods, and their bodies 
 were torn to pieces, and were crucified while 
 they wre still alive and breatned: they also 
 strangled those women and their sons whom 
 they had circumcised, as the king had appointed, 
 hanging their sons about their necks as they 
 were upon the crosses. And if there were any 
 sacred book of the law found, it was destroyed ; 
 and those with whom they were found, miserably 
 perished also. 
 
 5. When the Samaritans saw the Jews under 
 these sufferings, they no longer confessed they 
 were of their kindred, nor that the temple on 
 Mount Gerizzim belonged to Almighty God. 
 This was according to their nature, as we have 
 already shewn. And they now said that they 
 were a colony of Medes and P -sians : and in- 
 deed they were a colony of theirs So they sent 
 ambassadors to Antiochus, and an epistle, whose 
 contents are these : " To king Antiochus tbe 
 god Epiphanes, a memorial from the Sidonians, 
 who live at Shechem. Oar forefathers, upon 
 certain frequent plagues, and as following a cer- 
 tain ancient superstition, had a custom of observ- 
 ing that day which by the Jews is called the 
 Sabbath. J And when they had erected a temple 
 at the mountain called Gerizzim though without 
 a name, they offered upon it the proper sacrifices. 
 Now, upon the just treatment of these wicked 
 Jews, those that manage their affairs, supposing 
 that we were of kin to them, and practised as 
 they do, make us liable to the same accusations, 
 although we are originally Sidonians, as is evi- 
 dent from the public records. ' Ve therefore be- 
 seech thee, our benefactor and saviour, to give 
 order to Apollonius, the governor of this part of 
 the country, and to Nicanor, the procurator of 
 thy affairs, to give us no disturbance, nor to lay 
 to our charge what the Jews are accused for, 
 since we are aliens from their nation and from 
 their customs ; but let our temple, which at pre- 
 sent hath no name at all, be named the Temple 
 of Jupiter Hellenius. If this were once done, 
 we should be no longer disturbed, but should be 
 more intent on our own occupation with quiet- 
 ness, and so bring in a greater revenue to. thee." 
 When the Samaritans had petitioned for this, 
 the king sent them back the following answer in 
 an epistle : " King Antiochus to Nicanor. The 
 Sidonians, who live at Shechem, have sent me 
 the memorial inclosed. When therefore, we 
 were advising with our friends about it, the 
 messengers sent by them represented to us that 
 they are no way concerned with accusations 
 which belong to the Jews, but choose to live 
 after the customs of the Greeks. Accordingly 
 we declare them free from such accusations, and 
 order that, agreeable to their petition, their 
 temple be named the temple of Jupiter Helle- 
 nius. " He also sent the like epistle to Appolo- 
 nius, the governor of that part of the country, in 
 the forty-sixth year, and the eighteenth day of 
 the month Hecatombeon. 
 
 J This allegation of the Samaritans is remarkable, 
 that though they were not Jews, yet did they, from 
 ancient times, observe the Sabbath-day, and, M they 
 elsewhere pretend, the Sabbatic year also.
 
 258 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 I BOOK xn. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 HOW, UPON AWTTOCHUS'S PROHIBITION TO THE 
 JEWS TO MAKE USE OF THE LAWS OP THEIR 
 COUNTRY, MATTATHIAS, THE SON OP ASAMONEVS, 
 ALONE DESPISED THE KINO, AND OVERCAME THE 
 GENERALS OP ANTIOCHUS'S ARMY : AS ALSO CON- 
 CERNING THB DEATH OP MATT^THIAS. AND THE 
 SUCCESSION OF JUDAS. 
 
 L Now at this time there was one whose name 
 was Mattathias, who dwelt at Modin, the son of 
 John, the son of Simeon, the son of Asamoneus, 
 a priest of the order of Joarib, and a citizen of 
 Jerusalem. He had five sons ; John, who was 
 called Gaddis, and Simeon, who was called 
 Matthes, and Judas, who was called Maccabeus,* 
 and Eleazar, who was called Auran, and Jona- 
 than, who was called Apphus. Now this Matta- 
 thias lamented to his children the sad state of 
 their affairs, and the ravage made in the city, 
 and the plundering of the temple, and the cala- 
 mities the multitude were under; and he told 
 them that it was better for them to die for the 
 laws of their country, than live BO ingloriously as 
 they then did. 
 
 2. But when those that were appointed by the 
 king were come to Modin, that they might com- 
 pel the Jews to do what they were commanded, 
 and to enjoin those that were there to offer sac- 
 rifice, as the king had commanded, they desired 
 that Mattathias, a person of the greatest charac- 
 ter among them, both on other accounts, and 
 particularly on account of such a numerous and 
 so deserving a family of children, would begin 
 the sacrifice, because his fellow-citizens would 
 follow his example, and because such a proced- 
 ure would make him honoured by the king. But 
 Mattathias said that he would not do it ; and 
 that if all the other nations would obey the com- 
 mands of Antiochus, either out of fear, or to 
 please him, yet would not he nor his sous leave 
 the religious worship of their country ; but as 
 sott as he had ended his speech, there came one 
 of the Jews into the midst of them, and sacri- 
 ficed as Antiochus had commanded. At which 
 Mattathias had great indignation, and ran upon 
 him violently with his sons, who had swords 
 with them, and slew both the man himself that 
 sacrificed, and Apelles the king's general, who 
 compelled them to sacrifice, with a few of his 
 soldiers. He also overthrew the idol altar, and 
 cried out, " If," said he, "any one be zealous for 
 the laws of his country, and for the worship of 
 God, let him follow me ; " and when he had said 
 this, he made haste into the desert with his sons, 
 and left all his substance in the village. Many 
 others did the same also, and fled with their 
 children and wives into the desert and dwelt in 
 caves ; but when the king's generals heard this, 
 they took all the forces they then had in the 
 citadel at Jerusalem, and pursued the Jews into 
 the desert ; and when they had overtaken them, 
 they in the first place endeavoured to persuade 
 them to repent, and to chose what was most for 
 their advantage, and not put them to the neces- 
 sity of using them iiccording to the law of war ; 
 but when they would not comply with their per- 
 suasions, but continued to be of a different mind, 
 they fought against them on the Sabbath-day, 
 and they burnt them as they were in the caves, 
 without resistance, and without so much as stop- 
 
 Thia appellation of Maccabee was not first of all 
 
 'Ten to Judas Maccabeus, nor was derived from any 
 
 initial letters of the Hebrew words on bis banner, " Mi 
 
 aoka Be Elim Jehovah t" ("Who is like unio thee 
 
 2 K li e gods ' J ehovah ?" Exod. xv. 11 ) aa the 
 
 modern Rabbins vainly pr 
 
 ping up the en-trances of the caves. And they 
 avoided to defend themselves on that day, be- 
 cause they were not willing to break in upon the 
 honour they owed the Sabbath, even in such dis- 
 tresses ; for our law requires that we rest upon 
 that day. There were about a thousand, with 
 their wives and children, who were smothered 
 and died in these caves : but many of those that 
 escaped joined themselves to Mattathias, and ap- 
 pointed him to be their ruler, who taught them 
 to fight even on the Sabbath-day ; and told them 
 that unless they would do so, they would become 
 their own enemies, by observing the law [so rigor- 
 ously,] while their adversaries would still assault 
 them on this day, and they would not then defend 
 themselves ; and that nothing could then hinder 
 but they must all perish without fighting. This 
 speech persuaded them ; and this rule continues 
 among us to this day, that if there be a necessity, 
 we may fight on Sabbath-days. So Mattathias 
 got a great army about him, and overthrew their 
 idol altars, and slew those that broke the laws, 
 even all that he could get under his power ; for 
 many of them were dispersed among the nations 
 round about them for fear of him. He also com- 
 manded that those boys who were not yet cir- 
 cumcised should be circumcised now ; and he 
 drove those away that were appointed to hinder 
 such their circumcision. 
 
 3. But when he had ruled one year, and was 
 fallen into a distemper, he called for his sons, 
 and set them round about him, and said, " O my 
 sons, I am going the way of all the earth ; and I 
 recommend to you my resolution, and beseech 
 you not to be negligent in keeping it, but to be 
 mindful of the desires of him who begat you, and 
 brought you up, and to preserve the customs of 
 your country, and to recover your ancient form 
 of government, which is in danger of being over- 
 turned, and not to be carried away with those 
 that, either by their own inclination, or out of 
 necessity, betray it, but to become such sons as 
 are worthy of me ; to be above all force and ne- 
 cessity, and so to dispose your souls, as to be 
 ready, when it shall be necessary, to die for your 
 laws ; as sensible of this, by just reasoning, that 
 if God see that you are so disposed he will not 
 overlook you, but will have a great value for your 
 virtue, and will restore to you again what you 
 have lost, and will return to you that freedom 
 in which you shall live quietly, and enjoy your 
 own customs. Your bodies are mortal, and sub- 
 ject to fate ; but they receive a sort of immorta- 
 lity, by the remembrance of what actions they 
 have done ; and I would have you so in love with 
 this immortality, that you may pursue after glory, 
 and that, when you have undergone the greatest 
 difficulties, you may not scruple, for such things, 
 to lose your lives. I exhort you especially to 
 agree one with another ; and in what excellency 
 any one of you exceeds another, to yield to him 
 so far, and by th'at means to reap the advantage 
 of every one's own virtues. Do you then esteem 
 Simon as your father, because he is a man of ex- 
 traordinary prudence, and be governed by him 
 in what counsels he gives you. Take Maccabeus 
 for the general of your army, because of hia 
 courage and strength, for he will avenge your 
 nation, and will bring vengeance on your ene- 
 mies. Admit among you the righteous and reli- 
 gious, and augment their power. " 
 
 4. When Mattathias had thus discoursed to 
 tiis sons, and had prayed to God to be their as- 
 sistant, and to recover to the people their former 
 constitution, he died a little afterward, and wa 
 buried at Modin ; all the people making great 
 lamentation for him. Whereupon his son Judas 
 t,ot>k upon him the administration of public j
 
 '. VTL] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 350 
 
 affairs, in the hundred and forty-sixth year ; and 
 thus, by the ready assistance of his brethren and 
 of others, Judas cast their enemies out of the 
 country, and put those of their own country to ! 
 death who had transgressed its laws, and puri- 
 fied the land of all the pollutions that were in it. 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 HOW JUDAS OVEBTHBEW THE PORCX3 OP APOL- 
 LONTCS AND SEBON, AND KILLED THE GENERALS 
 OP THEEB ARMIE3 THEMSELVES ; AND HOW 
 WHIN, A LITTLE WHILE AFTERWARD, LTSIAS 
 AND GOBGIAS WEBJZ BEATEN, HE WENT OP TO 
 JERUSALEM, AND PCBIFTED THE TEMPLE, 
 
 g L WHEN Apollonius, the general of the Sa- 
 maritan forces, heard this, he took his army, 
 and made haste to go against Judas, who met 
 him, and joined battle with him, and beat him, 
 *nd slew many of his men, and among them 
 Apollonius himself, their general, whose sword, 
 being that which he happened then to wear, he 
 seized upon and kept for himself ; but he wound- 
 ed more than he slew, and took a great deal of 
 prey from the enemy's camp, and went hi* way ; 
 but when Seron, who was general of the army of 
 Coslesyria, heard that many had joined them- 
 selves to Judas, and that he had about him an 
 army sufficient for fighting and for making war, 
 he determined to make an expedition against 
 him, as thinking it became him to endeavour to 
 punish those that transgressed the king's injunc- 
 tions. He then got together an army, as large 
 as he was able, and joined to it the runagate atid 
 wicked Jews, and came against Judas. He then 
 came as far as Bethoron, a village of Judea, and 
 there pitched his camp ; upon which Judas met 
 him, and when he intended to give him battle, 
 he saw that his soldiers were backward to fight, 
 because their number were small, and because 
 they wanted food, for they were fasting, he en- 
 couraged them, and said to them, that victory 
 and conquest of enemies are not derived from 
 the multitude in armies, but in the exercise of 
 piety towards God ; and that they had the plain- 
 est instances in their forefathers, who, by their 
 righteousness, and exerting themselves on behalf 
 of their own laws, and their own children, had 
 frequently conquered many ten thousands, for 
 innocence is the strongest army. By this speech 
 he induced his men to contemn the multitude of 
 the enemy, and to fall upon Seron ; and upon 
 joining battle with him, he beat the Syrians ; and 
 when their general fell among the rest, they all 
 ran away with speed, as thinking that to be their 
 best way of escaping. So he pursued them unto 
 the plain, and slew about eight hundred of the 
 enemy ; but the rest escaped to the region which 
 lay near to the sea. 
 
 2. When king Antiochus heard of these things, 
 he was very angry at what had happened ; so he 
 got together all his own army, with many mer- 
 cenaries, whom he had hired from the islands, 
 and took them with him, and prepared to break 
 into Judea about the beginning of the spring ; 
 but when, upon his mustering his soldiers, he 
 perceived that his treasures were deficient, and 
 there was a want of money in them, for all the 
 taxes were not paid, by reason of the seditions 
 there had been among the nations, he having 
 been so magnanimous and so liberal that what 
 he had was not sufficient for him, he therefore re- 
 solved first to go into Persia, and collect the taxes 
 of that country. Hereupon he left one whose 
 name was Lysias, who was in great repute with 
 
 him, governor of the kingdom, M far as the 
 bounds of Egypt, and of the Lower Asia, and 
 reaching from the river Euphrates, and com- 
 mitted to him a certain part of his forces, and of Lii 
 elephants, and charged him to bring up his son 
 Antiochus with all possible care, until he came 
 back ; and that he should conquer Judea, and 
 take its inhabitants for slaves, and utterly destroy 
 Jerusalem, and abolish the whole nation ; and 
 when king Antiochus had given these things in 
 charge to Lysias, he went into Persia; and in 
 the hundred and forty-seventh year, he passed 
 over Euphrates, and went to the superior pro- 
 vinces. 
 
 3. Upon this Lysias chose Ptolemy, the ton of 
 Dorimenes, and Nicanor, and Gorgias, very po- 
 tent men among the king's friends, and delivered 
 to them forty thousand foot-soldiers and seven 
 thousand horsemen, and sent them against Ju- 
 dea, who came as far as the city Em ma us, and 
 pitched their camp in the plain country. There 
 came also to them auxiliaries out of Syria, and 
 the country round about ; as also many of the 
 runagate Jews ; and besides these came some 
 merchants to buy those that should be carried 
 captives, (having bonds with them to bind those 
 that should be made prisoners,) with that silver 
 and gold which they were to pay for their price; 
 and when Judas saw their camp, and how nu- 
 merous their enemies were, he persuaded his 
 own soldiers to be of good courage; and exhorted 
 them to place their hopes of victory in God, and 
 to make supplication to him, according to the 
 custom of their country, clothed in sackcloth ; 
 and to shew what was their usual habit of sup- 
 plication in the greatest dangers, and thereby to 
 prevail with God to grant them the victory over 
 their enemies. So he set them in their ancient 
 order of battle used by their forefathers, under 
 their captians of thousands, and other officers, 
 and dismissed such as were newly married, u 
 well as these that had newly gained possession*, 
 that they might not fight in a cowardly manner, 
 out of an inordinate love of life, in order to enjoy 
 those blessings. When he had thus disposed 
 his soldiers, he encouraged them to fight by the 
 following speech, which he made to them : '' 
 my fellow-soldiers, no other time remains more 
 opportune than the present for courage and con- 
 tempt of -dangers ; for if you now fight manfully 
 you may recover ys'ar liberty, which, as it is 
 a thing of itself agreeable to all men, so it 
 proves to be to us much more desirable, by its 
 affording us the liberty of worshipping God. 
 Since, therefore, you are in such circumstances 
 at present, you must either recover that liberty, 
 and so regain a happy and blessed way of living, 
 which is that according to our laws, and the cus- 
 toms of our country, or to submit to the most 
 opprobrious sufferings; nor will any seed of 
 your nation remain if you be beat in this battle. 
 Fight therefore manfully ; and suppose that you 
 must die, though you do not fight; but believe, 
 that besides such glorious rewards as those of 
 the liberty of your country, of your laws, of 
 your religion, you shall then obtain everlasting 
 glory. Prepare yourselves, therefore, and put 
 yourselves into such an agreeable posture, that 
 you may be ready to fight with the enemy M 
 soon as it is day to-morrow morning.* 
 
 4. And this was the speech which Judas made 
 to encourage them. But when the enemy sent 
 Gorgias, with five thousand foot and one thou- 
 sand horse, that he might fall ujx>n Judas by 
 night, and had for that purpose certain of the 
 runagate Jews as guides, the son of Mattathiai 
 perceived it, and resolved to fall upon those ene- 
 mies that were in their camp, now their force*
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 IBOOK xii. 
 
 ____ 
 
 Trere <fivid'-d. When they had therefore supped 
 /n good time, and had left many fires in their 
 amp, he marclied all night to those enemies 
 that were at Emmaus; so that when Gorgias 
 found no enemy in their camp, but suspected 
 that they were retired and hidden themselves 
 among the mountains, he resolved to go and 
 si-e.k them wheresoever they were. But, about 
 break of day, Judas appeared to those enemies 
 that were at Emmaus, with only three thousand 
 men, and those ill-armed, by reason of their 
 poverty; and when he saw the enemy very well 
 and skilfully fortified in their camp, he encour- 
 aged the Jews, and told them, that they ought 
 to fight, though it were with their naked bodies, 
 for that God had sometimes of old given such 
 men strength, and that against such as were 
 more in number, and were armed also, out of 
 regard to their great courage. So he commanded 
 the trumpeters to sound for the battle : and by 
 thus falling upon the enemy when they did not 
 expect it, and thereby astonishing and disturb- 
 ing their minds, he slew many of those that re- 
 sisted him, and went on pursuing the rest as far 
 as Gadara, and the plains of Idumea, and Ash- 
 dod, and Jamnia; and of these there fell about 
 three thousand. Yet did Judas exhort his sol- 
 diers not to be too desirous of the spoils, for 
 that still they must have a contest and battle 
 with Gorgias, and the forces that were with 
 him : but that, when they had once overcome 
 them, then they might securely plunder the 
 camp because they were the only enemies re- 
 maining, and they expected no others. And 
 just as he was speaking to his soldiers, Gorgias's 
 men looked down into that army which they 
 left in their camp, and saw that it was over- 
 thrown, and the camp burnt; for the smoke 
 that arose from it shewed them, even when they 
 were a great way off, what had happened. 
 When, therefore, those that were with Gorgias 
 understood that things were in this posture, and 
 perceived that those that were with Judas were 
 ready to fight them, they also were affrighted, 
 and put to flight ; but then Judas, as though he 
 had already beaten Gorgias's soldiers without 
 fighting, returned and seized on the spoils. He 
 took a great quantity of gold and silver, and 
 purple, and blue, and then returned home with 
 joy, and singing hymns to God for their good 
 success: for this victory greatly contributed to 
 the recovery of their liberty. 
 
 5. Hereupon Lysias was confounded at the 
 defeat of the army which he had sent, and the 
 next year he got together sixty thousand chosen 
 men. He also took five thousand horsemen, and 
 fell upon Judea; and he went up to the hill 
 country of Bethsur, a village of Judea, and 
 pitched his camp there, where Judas met him 
 with ten thousand men ; and when he saw the 
 great number of his enemies, he prayed to God 
 that he would assist him, and joined battle with 
 the first of the enemy that appeared, and beat 
 them, and slew about five thousand of them, 
 and thereby became terrible to the rest of them. 
 Nay, indeed, Lysias observing the great spirit of 
 the Jews, how they were prepared to die rather 
 than lose their liberty, and being afraid of their 
 desperate way of fighting, as if it were real 
 strength, he took the rest of the army back with 
 him, and returned to Antioch, where he enlisted 
 foreigners into the service, and prepared to fall 
 upon Judea with a greater army. 
 
 6. When, therefore, the generals of Antio- 
 chus's armies had been beaten so often, Judas 
 ssembled the people together, and told tiietu, 
 that after these many victories which God had 
 given them, they ought to go up to Jerusalem, 
 
 and purify the temple, and offer the appointed 
 sacrifices. But as soon as he, with the whole 
 multitude, was come to Jerusalem, and found 
 the temple deserted, and its gates burnt down, 
 and plants growing in the temple of their own 
 accord, on account of its desertion, he and those 
 that were with him began to lament, and were 
 quite confounded at the sight of the temple ; so 
 he chose out some of his soldiers, and gave them 
 order to fight against those guards that were in 
 the citadel, until he should have purified the 
 temple. When, therefore, he had carefully 
 purged it, am" had brought in new vessels, the 
 candlestick, the table [of shew-bread,] and the 
 altar [of incense,] which were made of gold, he 
 hung up the veils at the gates, and added doors 
 to them. He also took down the altar [of burnt 
 offering,] and built a new one of stones that he 
 gathered together, and not of such as were hewn 
 with iron tools. So on the five and twentieth 
 day of the month Casleu, which the Macedonians 
 call Appelleus, they lighted the lamps tkat were 
 on the candlestick, and offered incense upon the 
 altar [of incense,] and laid the loaves upon the 
 table [of shewbread,] and offered burnt offerings 
 upon the new altar [of burnt-offering.] Now it 
 so fell out, that these things were done on the 
 very same day on which their divine worship had 
 fallen off, and was reduced to a profane and 
 common use, after three years' time; for so it 
 was, that the temple was made desolate by An- 
 tiochus, and so continued for three years. This 
 desolation happened to the temple in the hun- 
 dred forty and fifth year, on the twenty-fifth 
 day of the month Appelleus, and on the hundred 
 and fifty -third olympiad; but it was dedicated 
 anew, on the same day, the twenty-fifth of the 
 month Appelleus, in the hundred and forty- 
 eighth year, and on the hundred and fifty- 
 fourth olympiad. And this desolation came to 
 pass according to the prophecy of Daniel, which 
 was given four hundred and eight years before ; 
 for he declared that the Macedonians would dis- 
 solve that worship [for some] time. 
 
 7. Now Judas celebrated the festival of the 
 restoration of the sacrifices of the temple for 
 eight days ; and omitted no sort of pleasures 
 thereon : but he feasted them upon very rich 
 and splendid sacrifices ; and he honoured God, 
 and delighted them, by hymns and psalms. 
 Nay, they were so very glad at the revival of 
 their customs, when after a long time of inter- 
 mission, they unexpectedly had regained the 
 freedom of their worship, that they made it law 
 for their posterity, that they should keep a 
 festival, on account of the restoration of their 
 temple worship, for eight days. And from that 
 time to this we celebrate this festival, and call it 
 Lights. I suppose the reason was, because this 
 liberty beyond our hopes appeared to us ; and 
 that thence was the name given to that festival. 
 Judas also rebuilt the walls round about the 
 city, and reared towers of great height against 
 the incursions of enemies, and set guards 
 therein. He also fortified the city Bethsura, 
 that it, might serve as a citadel against any dis- 
 tresses Chat might come from our enemies. 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 HOW TOD AS SUBDUED THE NATIONS ROUND ABOUT; 
 AND HOW SIMON BEAT THE PEOPLE OF TYKE AND 
 PTOLEMAIS ; AND HOW JUDAS OVERTHREW 
 TIMOTHEUS, AND FORCED HIM TO FLY AWAY, 
 AND DID MANY OTHER THINGS AFTER JOSEPH 
 AND AZARIAS HAD BEEN BEATEN. 
 
 1. WHEN these things were over, the nations
 
 CHAP. VIII. J 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JE77! 
 
 261 
 
 round about the Jews were very uneasy at the 
 revival of their power, and rose up together, and 
 destroyed many of them, as gaining advantage 
 over them by laying snares for them, and mak- 
 ing secret conspiracies against them. Judas 
 made perpetual expeditions against these men, 
 and endeavoured to restrain them from those 
 ncursions, and to prevent the mischiefs they 
 did to the Jews. So he fell upon the Idu means, 
 she posterity of Esau, at Acrabattene, and slew 
 a great many of them, and took their spoils. 
 Ele also shut up the sons of Bean, that laid wait 
 :or the Jews ; and he sat down about them, and 
 Besieged them, and burnt their towers, and de- 
 stroyed the men [that were in them.] After 
 ihis he went thence in haste against the Am- 
 monites, who had a great and a numerous army, 
 of which Timotheus was the commander. And 
 when he had subdued them, he seized on the 
 city Jazer, and took their wives and their chil- 
 dren captives, and burnt the city, and then re- 
 turned into Judea. But when the neighbouring 
 nations understood that he was returned, they 
 got together in great numbers in the land of 
 Gilead, and came against those Jews that were 
 at their borders, who then fled to the garrison of 
 Dathema; and sent to Judas, to inform him 
 that Timotheus was endeavouring to take the 
 place whither they were fled. And as these 
 epistles were reading, there came other mes- 
 sengers out of Galilee, who informed him that 
 the inhabitants of Ptolemais, and of Tyre and 
 Sidon, and strangers of Galilee, were gotten to- 
 gether. 
 
 2. Accordingly Judas, upon considering what 
 was fit to be done with relation to the necessity 
 both these cases required, gave order that Simon 
 his brother should take three thousand chosen 
 men. and go to the assistance of the Jews in 
 Galilee, while he and another of his brothers^ 
 Jonathan, made haste into the land of Gileaa 
 with eight thousand soldiers. And he left 
 Joseph, the son of Zacharias, and Azarias, to be 
 over the rest of the forces ; and charged them 
 to keep Judea very carefully, and to fight no 
 battles with any persons whomsoever until his 
 return. Accordingly, Siruon went into Galilee, 
 and fought the enemy, and put them to flight, 
 and pursued them to the very gates of Ptole- 
 mais, and slew about three thousand of them, 
 and took the spoils of those that were slain, 
 and those Jews whom they had made captives, 
 with their baggage, and then returned home. 
 
 3. Now as for Judas Maccabeus, and his 
 brother Jonathan, they passed over the river 
 Jordan; and when they had gone three days' 
 journey, they lighted upon the Nabateans, who 
 came to meet them peaceably, and who told 
 them how the affairs of those in the land of 
 Galilee stood, and how many of them were in 
 distress, and driven into garrisons, and into the 
 cities of Galilee ; and exhorted him to make 
 haste to go against the foreigners, and to endea- 
 vour to save his countrymen out of their hands. 
 To this exhortation Judas hearkened, and re- 
 turned into the wilderness ; and in the first 
 place fell upon the inhabitants of Bosor, and 
 took the city, and beat the inhabitants, and 
 destroyed all the males, and all that were able 
 to fight, and burnt the city. Nor did he stop 
 even when night came on, but he journeyed in 
 it to the garrison where the Jews happened to 
 be then hut up, and where Timotheus lay 
 round thfl place with his army : and Judas came 
 upon tho city in the morning; and when he 
 found that the enemy were making an assault 
 upon the walls, and that some of them brought 
 ladders, on which thev might get upon those 
 
 walls, and tha+ others brought engines [to battez 
 them,] he bid the trumpeter to souna me 
 trumpet, and he encouraged his soldiers cheer- 
 fully to undergo dangers for the sake of their 
 brethren and kindred ; he also parted his army 
 into three bodies, and fell upon the backs of 
 their enemies. But when Timotheus's men per- 
 ceived that it was Maccabeus that was upon 
 them, of both whose courage and good success 
 in war they had formerly had sufficient experi- 
 ence, they were put to flight ; but Judas fol- 
 lowed them with his army, and slew about eight 
 thousand of them. He then turned aside to a 
 city of the foreigners called Malle, and took it, 
 and slew all the males, and burnt the city itself. 
 He then removed from thence, and overthrew 
 Casphom and Bosor, and many other cities of 
 the land of Gilead. 
 
 4. But not long after this, Timotheus prepared 
 a great army, and took many others as auxili- 
 aries ; and induced some of 'the Arabians, by the 
 promise of rewards, to go with him in this ex- 
 pedition, and came with his army beyond the 
 brook, over against the city Raphon : and he en- 
 couraged his soldiers, if it came to a battle with 
 the Jews, to fight courageously, and to hinder 
 their passing over the brook ; for he said to them 
 beforehand, that, " if they come over it, we shall 
 be beaten." And when Judas heard that Timo- 
 theus prepared himself to fight, he took all his 
 own army, and went in haste against Timotheus 
 his enemy ; and when he had passed over the 
 brook, he fell upon his enemies, and some of 
 them met him, whom he slew, and others of 
 them he so terrified, that he compelled them to 
 throw down their arms and fly ; and some of 
 them escaped, but some of them fled to what 
 was called the Temple of Carnaim, and hoped 
 thereby to preserve themselves ; but Judas took 
 the city, and slew them, and burnt the temple, 
 and so used TOveral ways of destroying his 
 enemies. 
 
 5. When he had done this, he gathered the 
 Jews together, with their children, and wives, 
 and the substance tjiat belonged to them, and 
 was going to bring them back into Judea. But 
 as soon as he was. come to a certain city, the 
 name of which was Ephron, that lay upon the 
 road, (and as it was not possible for him to go 
 any other way, so he was not willing to go back 
 again,) he then sent to the inhabitants, and de- 
 sired that they would open their gates, and per- 
 mit them to go on their way through the city ; 
 for they had stopped up the gates with stones, 
 and cut off their passage through it. And when 
 the inhabitants of Ephron would not agree to 
 this proposal, he encouraged those that were with 
 him, and encompassed the city round, and be- 
 sieged it, and lying round it, by day and night, 
 took the city, and slew every male in it, and 
 burnt it all down, and so obtained a way through 
 it ; and the multitude of those that were slain 
 were so great, that they went over the dead 
 bodies. So they came over Jordan, and arrived 
 at the great plain, over against which is situate 
 the city Bethshan, which is called by the Greeks 
 Scythopolis. * And going away hastily from 
 thence, they came into Judea, singing psalms 
 and hymns as they went, and indulging such 
 tokens of mirth as are usual in triumphs upon 
 victory. They also offered thank-offerings, both 
 for their good success, and for the preservation of 
 
 * The reason why Bethshan was called Scythopolis U 
 well known from Herodotus viz., that the Scythians, 
 when they overran Asia, in the days of Josiah, seized 
 on this city, and kept it as long as they continued in 
 Asia ; from which time it retained the name of Scytbo- 
 polU, or the City of the Scythians.
 
 262 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK XIL 
 
 their army, for not one of the Jews was slain in 
 these battles.* 
 
 6. But as to Joseph, the son of Zacharias, and 
 Azarias, whom Judas left generals [of the rest of 
 his forces] at the same time when Simon was in 
 Galilee, fighting against the people of Ptolemais, 
 and Judas himself, and his brother Jonathan, 
 were in the land of Gilead, did these men also 
 affect the glory of being courageous geuerals in 
 war, in order whereto they took the army that 
 was under their command, and came to Jamnia. 
 There Gorgias, the general of the forces of 
 Jamnia, met them; and upon joining battle with 
 him, they lst two thousand of their army,t and 
 fled away, s ud were pursued to the very borders 
 of Judea. And this misfortune befell them by 
 their disobedience to what injunctions Judas had 
 given them, not to fight with any one before 
 his return. For besides the rest of Judas's 
 sagacious counsels, one may well wonder at this 
 concerning the misfortune that befell the forces 
 commanded by Joseph and Azarias, which he 
 understood would happen if they broke any of 
 the injunctions he had given them. But Judas 
 and his brethren did not leave off fighting with 
 the Idumeans, but pressed upon them on all 
 sides, and took from them the city of Hebron, and 
 demolished all its fortifications, and set all its 
 towers on fire, and burnt the country of the foreign- 
 ers, and the city Marissa. They came also to 
 Ashdod, and took it, and laid it waste, and took 
 away a great deal of the spoils and prey that 
 were in it, and returned to Judea. 
 
 CHAPTER EX. 
 
 OOSCERNING THE DEATH OP ANTIOCHUS EPI- 
 PHANES; HOW ANTIOOHUS EDPATOR FOUGHT 
 AGAINST JUDAS, AND BESIEGED HIM IS THE 
 TEMPLE, AND AFTERWARDS MADE PEACE WITH 
 HIM, AND DEPARTED ; OF ALCIMUS AND ONIAS. 
 
 1. ABOUT this time it was that king Antiochus, 
 as he was going over the upper countries, heard 
 that there was a very rich city in Persia, called 
 Elymais ; and therein a very rich temple of 
 Diana, and that it was full of- all sorts of dona- 
 tions dedicated to it ; as also weapons and breast- 
 plates, which, upon inquiry, he found had been 
 left there by Alexander, the son of Philip, king 
 of Macedonia; and being incited by the*? mo- 
 tives, he went hi haste to Elymais, and assaulted 
 it, and besieged it. But as those that were in it 
 were not terrified at his assault, nor at his siege, 
 but opposed him very courageously, he was beaten 
 off his hopes ; for they drove him away from the 
 city, and went out and pursued after him, inso- 
 much that he fled away as far as Babylon, and 
 lost a great many of his army ; and when he was 
 grieving for this disappointment, some persons 
 told him of the defeat of his commanders whom 
 he had left behind him to fight against Judea, 
 and what strength the Jews had already gotten. 
 When this concern about these affairs was 
 
 * This most providential preservation of all the reli- 
 gious Jews in this expedition, which was according 
 tc the will of God, is observable often among God's 
 people, the Jews. 
 
 t Here is another great instance of providence, that 
 when, even at the very time that Simon, and Judas, and 
 Jonathan, were so miraculously preserved and blessed, 
 In the jugt defence of their laws and religion, these 
 ther generals of the Jews, who went to fight for honour 
 in a vainglorious way, and without any commission 
 from God, or the family he had raised up to deliver 
 them, were miserably disappointed and defeated. 
 
 added to the former, he was confounded, and, 
 by the anxiety he was in, fell into a distemper, 
 which, as it lasted a great while, and as hii 
 pains increased upon him, so he at length per- 
 ceived he Khould die in a little time ; so he called 
 his friends to him, and told them that his dis- 
 temper was severe upon him, and confessed 
 withal, that this calamity was sent upon him for 
 the miseries he had brought upon the Jewish 
 nation, while he plundered their temple and 
 contemned their God; and when he had said 
 this, he gave up the ghost. Whence one may 
 wonder at Polybius of Megalopolis, who, though 
 otherwise a good man, yet saith that "Antiochus 
 died, because he had a purpose to plunder the 
 temple of Diana in Persia ; " for the purposing to 
 do a thing, J but not actually doing it, is not 
 worthy of punishment. But if Polybius could 
 think that Antiochus thus lost his life on that 
 account, it is much more probable that this king 
 died on account of his sacrilegious plundering of 
 the temple at Jerusalem. But we will not con- 
 tend about this matter with those who may think 
 that the ^ause assigned by this Polybius of Me- 
 galopolis is nearer the truth than that assigned 
 by us. 
 
 2. However, Antiochus, before he died, called 
 for Philip, who was one of his companions, and 
 made him the guardian of his kingdom, and gave 
 him his diadem, and his garment, and his ring, 
 and charged him to carry them, and deliver them 
 to his son Antiochus ; and desired him to take 
 care of his education, and to preserve the king- 
 dom for him. This Antiochus died hi the hun- 
 dred forty and ninth year: but it was Lysiaa 
 that declared his death to the multitude, and ap- 
 pointed his son Antiochus to be king, (of whom 
 at present he had the care,) and called him 
 Eupator. 
 
 3. At this time it was that the garrison in the 
 citadel at Jerusalem, with the Jewish runagates, 
 did a great deal of harm to the Jews : for the 
 soldiers that were in that garrison rushed out 
 upon the sudden, and destroyed such as were 
 going up to the temple in order to offer their 
 sacrifices, for this citadel adjoined to and over- 
 looked the temple. When these misfortunes 
 had often happened to them, Judas resolved 
 to destroy that garrison ; whereupon he got all 
 the people together, and vigorously besieged 
 those that were in the citadel. This was in the 
 hundred and fiftieth year of the dominion of 
 the Seleucidse. So he made engines of war, and 
 erected bulwarks, and very zealously pressed on 
 to take the citadel. But there were not a few of 
 the runagates who were in the place, that went 
 out by night into the country, and got together 
 some other wicked men like themselves, and 
 went to Antiochus the king, and desired of him 
 that he would not suffer them to be neglected, 
 under the great hardships that lay upon them 
 from those of their own nation ; and this because 
 their sufferings were occasioned on his father's 
 account, while they left the religious worship of 
 then- fathers, and preferred that which he had 
 commanded them to follow : that there was 
 danger lest the citadel, and those appointed to 
 garrison it by the king, should be taken by Judas 
 and those that were with him, unless he would 
 
 I Since St Paul, a Pharisee, confesses that he had 
 not known concupiscence to be sinful, had not the tenth 
 commandment said, "Thou shall not covet," (Rom. 
 vii. 7 ;) the case seems to have been much the same 
 with Josephus, who was of the same sect, that he had 
 not a deep sense of the greatness of any sins ttat pro- 
 ceeded no further than the intention. 
 
 } Antiochus Eupator, when he came to the orown, 
 Appian informs us, was but nine years old.
 
 CHAP. X.j 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 send them succours. When Antiochus, who 
 was but a child, heard this, he was angry, and 
 sent for his captains and his friends, and gave 
 order that they should get an army of mercen- 
 aries together, with such men also of his own 
 kingdom as were of an age fit for war. Accord- 
 ingly an army was collected of about a hundred 
 thousand footmen, and twenty thousand horse- 
 men, and thirty-two elephants. 
 
 4. So the king took this army, and marched 
 hastily out of Antioch, with Lysias, who had 
 the command of the whole, and came to Idumea, 
 and thence went up to the city Bethsura, a city 
 that was strong, and not to be taken without 
 great difficulty. He set about this city, and be- 
 sieged it ; and while the inhabitants of Bethsura 
 courageously opposed him, and sallied out upon 
 him, and burned his engines of war, a great deal 
 of time was spent in the siege ; but when Judas 
 heard of the king's coming, he raised the siege 
 of the citadel, and met the king, and pitched 
 his camp in certain straits, at a place called 
 Bethzachariah, at the distance of seventy furlongs 
 from the enemy ; but the king soon drew his 
 forces from Bethsura, and brought them to those 
 straits ; and as soon as it was day, lie put his 
 men in battle array, and made his elephants fol- 
 low one another through the narrow passes, be- 
 cause they could not be set sideways by one an- 
 other. Now round about every elephant there 
 were a thousand footmen and five hundred 
 horsemen. The elephants also had high towers 
 
 Eipon their backs,] and archers [in them ;] and 
 e also made the rest of his army to go up the 
 mountains, and put his friends before the rest ; 
 and gave orders for the army to shout aloud, 
 and so he attacked the enemy. He also exposed / 
 to sight their golden and brazen shields, so that 
 a glorious splendour was sent from them ; and 
 when they shouted, the mountains echoed again. 
 When Judas saw this, he wa* not terrified, but 
 received the enemy with great courage, and slew 
 about six hundred of the first ranks. But when 
 his brother Eleazar, whom they called Auran, 
 saw the tallest of all the elephants armed with 
 royal breastplates, and supposed that the king 
 was upon him, he attacked him with great quick- 
 ness and bravery. He also slew many of those 
 that were about the elephant, and scattered the 
 rest, and then went under the belly of the ele- 
 phant, and smote him and slew him ; so the ele- 
 phant fell upon Eleazar, and by his weight 
 crushed him to death. And thus did this man 
 come to his end, when he had first courageously 
 destroyed many of his enemies. 
 
 5. But Judas, seeing the strength of the ene- 
 my, retired to Jerusalem, and prepared to en- 
 dure a siege. As for Antiochus, he sent part of 
 his army to Bethsura, to besiege it, and with the 
 rest of his army he came against Jerusalem ; but 
 the inhabitants of Bethsura were terrified at his 
 strength ; and seeing that their provisions grew 
 scarce, they delivered themselves up on the se- 
 curity of oaths that they should sutfer no hard 
 treatment from the king. And when Antiochus 
 had thus taken the city, he did them no other 
 harm than sending them out naked. He also 
 placed a garrison of his own in the city : but as 
 for the temple of Jerusalem, he lay at its siege a 
 long time, while they within bravely defended 
 it ; for what engines soever the kings set against 
 them, they set other engines to oppose them. 
 But then their provisions failed them ; what 
 fruits of the ground they had laid up were spent, 
 and the land being not ploughed that year, con- 
 tinued unsowed, because it was the seventh year, 
 on which, by our laws, we are obliged to let it 
 lie uncultivated. Ami withal, so many of the 
 
 besieged ran away for want of necessaries that 
 but a few only were left in the temple. 
 
 6. And these happened to be the cu cumstancea 
 of such as were besieged in the temple. But 
 then, because Lysias, the general of the army, 
 and Antiochus the king, were informed that 
 Philip was coming upon them out of Persia, and 
 was endeavouring to get the management of 
 public affairs to himself, they came into these 
 sentiments, to leave the siege, and to make haste 
 to go against Philip ; yet did they resolve 
 not to let this be known to the soldiers or the 
 officers ; but the king commanded Lysias to 
 speak openly to the soldiers and the officers, 
 without saying a word about the business of 
 Philip ; and to intimate to them that the siege 
 would be very long ; that the place was very 
 strong ; that they were already in want of pro- 
 visions ; that many affairs of the kingdom wanted 
 regulation ; and that it was much better to make 
 a league with the besieged, and to become friends 
 to their whole nation, by permitting them to ob- 
 serve the laws of their fathers, while they broke 
 out into this war only because they were deprived 
 of them, and so to depart home. When Lysias 
 had discoursed thus with them, both the army 
 and the officers were pleased with this resolution. 
 
 7. Accordingly the king sent to Judas, and to 
 those that were besieged with him, and pro- 
 mised to give them peace, and permit them to 
 make use of and live according to the laws of 
 their fathers ; and they gladly received his pro- 
 posals ; and when they had gained security upon 
 oath for their performance, they went out of the 
 temple : but when Antiochus canie into it, and 
 saw how strong the place was, he broke his 
 oaths, and ordered his army that was there to 
 pluck down the walls to the ground ; and when 
 he had so done, he returned to Antioch. He 
 also carried with him Onias the high priest, who 
 was alo called Menelaus ; for Lysius advised 
 the king to slay Menelaus, if he would have the 
 Jews be quiet, and cause him no further dis- 
 turbance, for that this man was the origin of all 
 the mischief the Jews had done them, by per- 
 suading his father to compel the Jews to leave 
 the religion of their fathers ; so the king sent 
 Menelaus to Berea, a city of Syria, and had him 
 put to death, when he had been high priest ten 
 years. He had been a wicked and an impious 
 man; and, in order to get the government to 
 himself, had compelled his nation to transgress 
 their own laws. After the death of Menelaus, 
 Alcimus, who was also called Jacimus, was made 
 high priest. But when king Antiochus found 
 that Philip had already possessed himself of the 
 government, he made war against him, and sub- 
 dued him, and took him, and slew him. Now, 
 as to Onias, the son of the high priest, who, aa 
 we before informed you, was left a child when 
 his father died, when he saw that the king had 
 slain his uncle Menelaus, and given the high- 
 priesthood to Alcimus, who was not of the high 
 priest stock, but was induced by Lysias to tran- 
 slate that dignity from his family to another 
 house, he fled to Ptolemy, king of Egypt ; and 
 when he found he was in great esteem with him, 
 and with his wife Cleopatra, he desired and ob- 
 tained a place in the Nomus of Heliopolis, 
 wherein he built a temple like to that at Jeru 
 salem ; of which, therefore, we shall hereafter 
 give an account, in a place more proper for it. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 BOW BACCHIDES, THE GENERAL OF DEMETRICS'H 
 ARMY, MADE AN EXPEDITION AGAINST JCDKA,
 
 264 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK XI 
 
 AND BETUBNED WITHOUT SUCCESS; AND HOW 
 NICANOB WAS SENT A LITTLE AFTERWARD 
 AGAINST JUDAS, AND PERISHED, TOGETHER 
 WITH HI8 ARMY ; AS ALSO CONCERNING THE 
 DEATH OF ALCIMU3, AND THE SUCCESSION OF 
 JUDAS. 
 
 1. ABOUT the same time Demetrius, the son of 
 Seleucus, fled away from Rome, and took Tri- 
 poli, a city of Syria, and set the diadem on his 
 Dwn head. He also gathered certain mercenary 
 soldiers together, and entered into his kingdom, 
 and was joyfully received by all, who delivered 
 themselves up to him ; and when they had taken 
 Antiochus the king, and Lysias, they brought 
 them to him alive ; both of whom were immedi- 
 ately put to death by the command of Deme- 
 trius, when Antiochus had reigned two years, as 
 we have already elsewhere related ; but there 
 were now many of the wicked Jewish runagates 
 that came together to him, and with them Alci- 
 mus the high priest, who accused the whole 
 nation, and particularly Judas and his brethren ; 
 and said that they had slam all his friends ; and 
 that those in his kingdom that were of his party, 
 and waited for his return, were by them put to 
 death ; thai these men had ejected them out of 
 their own country, and caused them to be so- 
 journers in a foreign land ; and they desired that 
 he would send some one of his own friends, and 
 know from him what mischief Judas's party had 
 done. 
 
 2. At this Demetrius was very angry, and sent 
 Bacchides, a friend of Antiochus Epiphanes,* a 
 good man, and one that had been intrusted with 
 all Mesopotamia, and gave him an army, and 
 committed Alcimus the high priest to his care ; 
 and gave him charge to slay Judas, and those 
 that were with him. So Bacchides made haste, 
 and went out of Antioch with his army ; and 
 when he was come into Judea, he sent to Judas 
 and his brethren, to discourse with him about a 
 league of friendship and peace, for he had a mind 
 to take him by treachery ; but Judas did not 
 give credit to him, for he saw that he came with 
 so great an army as men do not bring when they 
 come to make peace, but to make war. How- 
 ever, some of the people acquiesced in what 
 Bacchides caused to be proclaimed ; and suppos- 
 ing they should undergo no considerable harm 
 from Alcimus, who was their countrymen, they 
 went over to them ; and when they had received 
 oaths from both of them, that neither they them- 
 selves nor those of the same sentiments should 
 come to any harm, they intrusted themselves 
 with them ; but Bacchides troubled not himself 
 about the oaths he had taken, but slew three- 
 score of them, although, by not keeping his faith 
 with those that first went over, he deterred all 
 the rest, who had intentions to go over to him, 
 from doing it ; but as he was gone out of Jerusa- 
 lem, and was at the village called Bethzetho, he 
 sen.t out, and caught many of the deserters, and 
 some of the people also, and slew them all : and 
 enjoined all that lived in the country to submit 
 to Alcimus. So he left them there, with some 
 part of the army, that he might have wherewith 
 to keep the country in obedience* and returned 
 to Antioch to king Demetrius. 
 
 3. But Alcimus was desirous to have the do- 
 minion more firmly assured to him ; and under- 
 standing that, if he could bring it about that the 
 multitude should be his friends, he should govern 
 
 * It ia no way probable that Josephus would call Bac- 
 chides, that bitter and bloody enemy of the Jews, as our 
 present copies have it, a good man. What Josephus 
 probably means is, that he was a great man in the king- 
 dom, and faithful to his king. 
 
 with greater security, he ipake kind words tc 
 them all, and discoursed to each of them aftei 
 an agreeable and pleasant manner ; by which 
 means he quickly had a great body of men and 
 an army about him, although the greater part of 
 them were of the wicked, and the deserters. 
 With these, whom he used as his servants and 
 soldiers, he went all over the country, and slew 
 all that he could find of Judas's party ; but wheii 
 Judas saw that Alcimus was already become 
 great, and had destroyed many of the good and 
 holy men of the country, he also went all over 
 the country and destroyed those that were of the 
 other party ; but when Alcimus saw that he was 
 not able to oppose Judas, nor was equal to him 
 in strength, he resolved to apply himself to king 
 Demetrius for_ his assistance ; so he came to 
 Antioch, and irritated him against Judas, and 
 accused him, alleging that he had undergone a 
 great many miseries by this means, and that he 
 would do more mischief unless he were prevented, 
 and brought to punishment, which must be done 
 by sending a powerful force against him. 
 
 4. So Demetrius, being already of opinion that 
 it would be a thing pernicious to his own affairs 
 to overlook Judas, now he was becoming so great, 
 sent against him Nicanor, the most kind and 
 most faithful of all his friends ; for he it was 
 who fled away with him from the city of Rome. 
 He also gave him as many forces as he thought 
 sufficient for him to conquer Judas withal, and 
 bade him not to spare the nation at alL When 
 Nicanor was come to Jerusalem, he did not re- 
 solve to fight Judas immediately, but judged it 
 better to get him into his power by treachery ; 
 so he sent him a message of peace, and said there 
 was no manner of necessity for them to fight and 
 hazard themselves ; and that he would give him 
 his oath that he would do him no harm, for that 
 he only came with some friends, in order to let 
 him know what king Demetrius's intentions were, 
 and what opinion he had of their nation. When 
 Nicanor had delivered this message, Judas and 
 his brethren complied with him, and suspecting 
 no deceit, they gave him assurances of friendship, 
 and received Nicanor and his army ; but while 
 he was saluting Judas, and they were talking to- 
 gether, he gave a certain signal to his own 
 soldiers, upon which they were to seize upon 
 Judas ; but he perceived the treachery, and ran 
 back to his own soldiers, and fled away with 
 them. So upon this discovery of his purpose, 
 and of the snares laid for Judas, Nicanor deter- 
 mined to make open war with him, and gathered 
 his army together, and prepared for fighting 
 him ; and upon joining battle with him at a cer- 
 tain village called Capharsalama, be beat Judas, t 
 and forced him to fly to that citadel which was 
 at Jerusalem. 
 
 5. And whwn Nicanor came down from the 
 citadel into tLe temple, some of the priests and 
 elders met him, and saluted him ; and shewed 
 him the sacrifices which they said they offered 
 to God for the king : upon which he blasphemed, 
 and threatened them, that unless the people 
 would deliver up Judas to him, upon his return 
 he would pull down the temple. And when he 
 had thus threatened them, he departed from 
 Jerusalem : but the priests fell into tears out of 
 grief at what he had said, and besought God to 
 deliver them from their enemies. But now 
 Nicanor, when he was gone out of Jerusalem, 
 
 t Josephus's copies must have been corrupted when 
 they here give victory to Nicanor, contrary to the worda 
 following, which imply, that he who was beaten fled 
 into the citadel, which for certain belonged to the city 
 of David or to mount Zion, and was in the posseasioB 
 of Nicanor's garrison, and not of J alias's.
 
 CHAP. XI.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 266 
 
 and waa at a certain village called Bethoron, he 
 there pitched his camp, another army out of 
 Syria having joined him. And Judas pitched 
 his camp at Adasa, another village, which was 
 thirty furlongs distant from Bethoron, having no 
 more than one thousand soldiers. And when 
 he had encouraged them not to be dismayed at 
 the multitude of their enemies, nor to regard 
 how many there were against whom they were 
 going to fight, but to consider who they them- 
 selves were, and for what great rewards they 
 hazarded themselves, and to attack the enemy 
 courageously, he led them out to fight, and join- 
 ing battle with Nicanor, which proved to be a 
 severe one, he overcame the enemy, and slew 
 many of them ; and at last Nicanor himself, as 
 he was fighting gloriously, fell: upon whose 
 fall the army did not stay ; but when they had 
 lost their general, they were put to flight, and 
 threw down their arms. Judas also pursued 
 them and slew them ; and gave notice by the 
 sound of his trumpets to the neighbouring vil- 
 lages that he had conquered the enemy ; which 
 when the inhabitants heard, they put on their 
 armour hastily, and met their enemies in the face 
 as they were running away, and slew them, inso- 
 much that not one of them escaped out of this 
 battle; who were in number nine thousand. 
 This victory happened to fall on the thirteenth 
 day of that month which by the Jews is called 
 Adar, and by the Macedonians Dystrus : and 
 the Jews therein celebrate this victory every 
 year, and esteem it as a festival day. After 
 which the Jewish nation were, for a while, free 
 from wars, and enjoyed peace ; but afterward 
 they returned into their former state of wars and 
 hazards. 
 
 6. But now as the high priest Alcimus was re- 
 solving to pull down the wall of the sanctuary, 
 which had been there of old time, and had been 
 built by the holy prophets,* he was smitten 
 suddenly by God, and fell down. This stroke 
 made him fall down speechless upon the ground ; 
 and undergoing torments for many days, he at 
 length died, when he had been high priest four 
 years. And when he was dead, the people be- 
 stowed the high priesthood on Judas ; who hear- 
 ing of the power of the Romans, and that they 
 had conquered in war Galatia, and Iberia, and 
 Carthage, and Lybia; and that, besides these, 
 they had subdued Greece, and their kings, Per- 
 seus, and Philip, and Antiochus the Great also, 
 he resolved to enter into a league of friendship 
 with them. He therefore sent to Rome some of 
 his friends, Eupolemus the son of John, and 
 Jason the son of Eleazar, and by them desired 
 the Romans that they would assist them, and be 
 their friends, and would write to Demetrius that 
 he would not fight against the Jews. So the 
 senate received the ambassadors that came from 
 Judas to Rome, and discoursed with them about 
 the errand on which they came, and then granted 
 them a league of assistance. They also made a 
 decree concerning it, and sent a copy of it into 
 Judea. It was also laid up in the capital, and 
 engraven in brass. The decree itself was this : 
 '.' The decree of the senate concerning a league of 
 assistance and friendship with the nation of the 
 Jews. It shall not be lawful for any that are 
 subject to the Romans to make war with the 
 nation of the Jews, nor to assist those that do so, 
 either by sending them corn, or ships, or money. 
 
 And if any attack be made upon the Jews, the 
 Romans shall assist them, as far as they are able ; 
 and again if any attack bo made upon the Ro- 
 mans, the Jews shall assist them. And if the 
 Jews have a mind to add to, or to take away any- 
 thing from, this league of assistance, that shall be 
 done with the common consent of the Romans. 
 And whatsoever addition shall thus be made, it 
 shall be of force." This decree was written by 
 Eupolemus the son of John, and by Jason the son 
 of Eleazar, t when Judas was high priest of the 
 nation, and Simon his brother was general of the 
 army. And this was the first league that the 
 Romans made with the Jews, and was managed 
 i.iter this manner. 
 
 * This account of the miserable death of Alcimus or 
 Jacimus, before the death of Judas, and of Judas's suc- 
 cession to him as high priest, directly contradicts 1 
 Mac. ix. 54-57, which places his death after the death 
 of Judas, and says not a syllable of the high priesthood 
 affaiu. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THAT BACOHIDES WAS AGAIN SENT OUT AGAINS* 
 JUDAS ; AND HOW JUDAS FELL AS HE WAS 
 COURAGEOUSLY FIGHTING. 
 
 1. BUT when Demetrius was informed of the 
 death of Nicanor, and of the destruction of the 
 army that was with him, he sent Bacchides 
 again with an army in Judea, who marched out 
 of Antioch, and came into Judea, and pitched 
 his camp at Arbela, a city of Galilee ; and having 
 besieged and taken those that were in caves, (for 
 many of the people fled into such places,) he re- 
 moved, and made all the haste he could to Jeru- 
 salem. And when he had learned thab Judas 
 had pitched his camp at a certain village whose 
 name was Bethzetho, he led his army against 
 him : they were twenty thousand footmen, and 
 two thousand horsemen. Now Judas had no 
 more soldiers than three thousand. When these 
 saw the multitude of Bacchides's men they were 
 afraid, and left their camp, and fled all away, 
 excepting eight hundred. Now when Judas was 
 deserted by his own soldiers, and the enemy 
 pressed upon him, and gave him no time to 
 gather, he was disposed to fight with Bjicchides's 
 army, though he had but eight hundred men 
 with him ; so he exhorted these men to undergo 
 the danger courageously, and encouraged them 
 to attack the enemy. And when they said they 
 were not a body sufficient to fight so great an 
 army, and advised that they sHould retire now 
 and save themselves, and that when he had 
 gathered his own men together, then he should 
 fall upon the enemy afterwards, his answer was 
 this : " Let not the sun ever see such a thing, 
 that I should shew my back to the enemy ; and 
 although this be the time that will bring me to 
 my end, and I must die in this battle, I will 
 rather stand to it courageously, and bear what- 
 soever comes upon me, than by now running 
 away, bring reproach upon my former great 
 actions, or tarnish their glory." This was the 
 speech he made to those that remained with 
 him, and whereby he encouraged them to attack 
 the enemy. 
 
 2. But Bacchides drew his army out of their 
 camp, and put them in array for the battle. He 
 set the horsemen on both the wings, and light 
 soldiers and the archers he placed before the 
 whole army, but was himself on the right wing. 
 And when he had thus put his army in order of 
 battle, and was going to join battle with the 
 enemy, he commanded the trumpeter to give a 
 
 t This subscription is wanting, (1 Mac. viii. 17, 29,) 
 and must be the words of Josephus, who, by mis- 
 take, thought that Judas was at this time high priest, 
 and accordingly then reckoned his brother Jonathan to 
 be the general of the army, which yet he seems not te 
 have been till after the death of Juuaa.
 
 206 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xin. 
 
 ignal of battle, and the army to make a shout, 
 and to fall on the enemy. And when Judas had 
 done the same, he joined battle with them ; and 
 as both sides fought valiantly, and the battle 
 continued till sunset, Judas saw that Bacchides 
 and the strongest part of the army was in the 
 right wing, and thereupon took the most cour- 
 ageous men with him, and ran upon that part of 
 ;he army, and fell upon those that were there, 
 and broke their ranks, and drove them into the 
 middle, and forced them to run away, and pur- 
 sued them as far as to a mountain called Aza : 
 rat when those of the left wing saw that the 
 right wing was put to flight, th-.^j encompassed 
 Judas, and pursued him, and came behind him, 
 and took him into the middle of their army ; so 
 not being able to fly, but encompassed round 
 about with enemies, he stood still, and he and 
 those that were with him fought ; and when ne 
 bad slain a great many of those that came 
 against him, he at last was himself wounded, 
 and fell, and gave up the ghost, and died in a 
 way like to his former famous actions. When 
 
 Judas was dead, those that were with him had 
 no one whom they could regard [as their com- 
 mander;] but when they saw themselves de- 
 prived of such a general, they fled^ But Simon 
 and Jonathan, Judas's brethren, received his 
 dead body by a treaty from the enemy, and 
 carried it to the village Modin, where their 
 father had been buried, and there buried him ; 
 while the multitude lamented him many days, 
 and performed the usual solemn rites of a 
 funeral to him. And this was the end that 
 Judas came to. He had been a man of valour 
 and a great warrior, and mindful of all the com- 
 mands of their father Mattathias ; and had 
 undergone all difficulties, both in doing and 
 suffering, for the liberty of his countrymen. 
 And when his character was so excellent, [while 
 he was alive,] he left behind him a glorious 
 reputation and memorial, by gaining freedom 
 for his nation, and delivering them from slavery 
 under the Macedonians. And when he had re 
 tained the high priesthood three years, he 
 died. 
 
 BOOK XIII. 
 
 CONTAIHTNG THK INTERVAL OP EIGHTY-TWO YEARS, 
 
 FEOM THE DEATH OF JUDAS MACCABEUS TO QUEEN ALEXANDRA'S 
 
 DEATH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HOW JONATHAN TOOK THE GOVERNMENT AFTER 
 HIS BROTHER JUDAS ; AND HOW HE, TOGETHER 
 WITH HIS BROTHER SIMON, WAGED WAR AGAINST 
 BACCHIDES. 
 
 1. BY what means the nation of the Jews re- 
 covered their freedom when they had been 
 brought into slavery by the Macedonians, and 
 what struggles, and how many great battles, 
 Judas, the general of their army, ran through 
 till he was slain as he was fighting for them, 
 hath been related in the foregoing book : but 
 after he was dead, all the wicked, and thc-^e that 
 transgressed the laws of their forefathers, sprang 
 up again in Judea, and grew upon them, and 
 distressed them on every side. A famine also 
 assisted their wickedness, and afflicted the 
 country, till not a few, who by reason of their 
 want of necessaries, and because they were not 
 able to bear up against the miseries that both 
 the famine and their enemies brought upon 
 them, deserted their country, and went to the 
 Macedonians. And now Bacchides gathered 
 those Jews together who had apostatised from 
 the accustomed way of living of their fore- 
 fathers, and chose to live like their neighbours, 
 and committed the care of the country to them ; 
 who also caught the friends of Judas, and those 
 of his party, and delivered them up to Bac- 
 chides, who, when he had, in the first place, 
 tortured and tormented them at his pleasure, 
 he by that means at length killed them. And 
 when this calamity of the Jews was become so 
 great, as they had never had experience of the 
 J* e 'since their return out of Babylon, those 
 that remained of the companions of Judas, see- 
 
 ing that the nation was about to be destroyed 
 after a miserable manner, came to his brother 
 Jonathan, and desired him that he would imi- 
 tate his brother, and that care which he took of 
 his countrymen, for whose liberty in general he 
 died also ; and that he would not permit the 
 nation to be without a governor, especially in 
 those destructive circumstances wherein it now 
 was. And when Jonathan said he was ready to 
 die for them, and was indeed esteemed no way 
 inferior to his brother, he was appointed to be 
 the general of the Jewish army. 
 
 2. When Bacchides heard this, and was afraid 
 that Jonathan might be very troublesome to the 
 king and the Macedonians, as Judas had been 
 before him, he sought how he might slay him by 
 treachery : but this intention of his was not un- 
 known to Jonathan, nor his brother Simon ; but 
 when these two were apprised of it, they took 
 all their companions, and presently fled into that 
 wilderness which was nearest to the city ; and 
 when they were co^e to a lake called Asphar 
 they abode there. But when Bacchides was 
 sensible that they were in a low state, and were 
 in that place, he hasted to fall upon them with 
 all his forces, and pitching his camp beyond 
 Jordan, he recruited his army : but when Jona- 
 than knew that Bacchides was coming upon him, 
 he sent his brother John, who was also called 
 Gaddis, to the Nabatean Arabs, that he might 
 lodge his baggage with them until the battle 
 with Bacchides should be over, for they were 
 the Jews' friends. And the sons of Ambri laid 
 au ambush for John, from the city Medaba, and 
 seized upon him, and upon those that were with 
 him, and plundered all that they had with them 
 they also slew John, and all his companions 
 However, they were sufficiently punished foi
 
 CHAP. 0.J 
 
 ANTIQUITIES o* THE JEWS. 
 
 287 
 
 what they now did by John's brethren, as we 
 shall relate presently. 
 
 3. But when Bacchides knew that Jonathan 
 had pitched his camp among the lakes of Jor- 
 dan, he observed when their Sabbath-Jay came, 
 vad then assaulted him, [as supposing that he 
 would not fight because of the law for resting on 
 that day :] but he exhorted his companions [to 
 fight;] and told them, that their lives were at 
 stake, since they were encompassed by the river, 
 and by their enemies, ann had noway to escape, 
 for that their enemies pressed upon them before, 
 and the river was behind them. So, after he 
 had prayed to God to give them the victory, he 
 joined battle with the enemy, of whom he over- 
 threw many : and as he saw Bacchides coming 
 up boldly to him, he stretched out his right 
 hand to smite him ; but the other foreseeing 
 and avoiding the stroke, Jonathan with his com- 
 panions leaped into the river, and swam over it, 
 and by that means escaped beyond Jordan, 
 while the enemy did not pass over that river; 
 but Bacchides returned presently to the citadel 
 at Jerusalem, having lost about two thousand of 
 his army. He also fortified many cities of 
 Judea, whose walls had been demolished: 
 Jericho, and Emmaus, and Bethoron, and 
 Bethel, and Timna, and Pharatho, and Tecoa, 
 and Gazara, and built towers in every one of 
 these cities, and encompassed them with strong 
 walls, that were very large also, and put garri- 
 sons into them, that they might issue out of 
 them, and do mischief to the Jews. He also 
 fortified the citadel at Jerusalem more than all 
 the rest. Moreover, he took the sons of the 
 principal Jews as pledges, and shut them up in 
 the citadel, and in that manner guarded it. 
 
 4. About the same time, one came to Jona- 
 than, and to his brother Simon, and told them 
 that the sons of Ambri were celebrating a mar- 
 riage, and bringing the bride from the city Oa- 
 batha, who was the daughter of one of the illus- 
 trious men among the Arabians, and that tho 
 damsel was to be conducted with pomp and 
 splendour, and much riches : so Jonathan and 
 Simon thinking this appeared to be the fittest 
 time for them to aveuge the death of their 
 brother, and that they had forces sufficient for 
 receiving satisfaction from them for his death, 
 they made haste to Medaba, and lay ; n wait 
 among the mountains for the coming of their 
 enemies; and as soon as they saw them con- 
 ducting the virgin and the bridegroom, and 
 such a great company of their friends with them, 
 as wau to be expected at this wedding, they 
 sallied out of their ambush and slew them all, 
 and took their ornaments, and all the prey that 
 then followed them, and so returned, and re- 
 ceived this satisfaction for their brother John 
 from the sons of Ambri ; for as well these sons 
 themselves as their friends, and wives, and chil- 
 dren, that followed them, perished, being in 
 number about four hundred. 
 
 5. However, Simon and Jonathan returned to 
 the lakes of the river, and abode there; bu* 
 Bacchides, when he had secured all Judea with 
 his garrisons, returned to the king; and then it 
 was that the affairs of Judea were quiet for two 
 years; but when the deserters and the wicked 
 saw that Jonathan and those that were with him 
 lived in the country very quietly, by reason oi 
 the peace, they sent to king Demetrius, and ex- 
 cited him to send Bacchidee to seize upon Jona- 
 than, which they said was to be done without 
 any trouble, and in one night's time ; and that 
 If they fell upon them before they were aware, 
 '-hey might slay them alL So the king sent 
 Bacchides, who. when he was come into Jndea. 
 
 wrote to all his friends, both Jews and a,uiil- 
 iaries, that they should seize upon Jonathan, 
 and bring him to him; and when, upon their 
 j endeavours, they were not able to seize upon 
 Jonathan, for he was sensible of the snares they 
 laid for him, and very carefully guarded against 
 them, Bacchides was angry at these deserters, as 
 having imposed upon him, and upon the king, 
 and slew fifty of their leaders; whereupon Jona- 
 than, with his brother, and those that were with 
 him, retired to Bethagla, a village that lay in 
 the wilderness, out of his fear of Bacchiiles. 
 He also built towers in it, and encompassed it 
 with walls, and took care that it should be 
 safely guarded. TTpon the hearing of which 
 Bacchides led his own army along with him, and 
 besides took his Jewish auxiliaries, and came 
 against Jonathan, and made an casault upon hia 
 fortifications, and broeged him many days, but 
 Jonathan did not abate of his courage at the 
 zeal Bacchides used in the siege, but courage- 
 ously opposed him ; and while he left his brother 
 Simon in the sity to fight with Bacchides, he 
 went privately out himself '".t.o the country, and 
 got a great body of men together of his own 
 party, and fell upon Bacchides's camp in the 
 night-time, and destroyed a great many of them. 
 His brother Simon knew also of this his falling 
 upon them, because he perceived that the ene- 
 mies were slain by him, so he sallied out upon 
 them, and burnt the engines which the Mace- 
 donians used, and made a great slaughter of 
 them ; and when Bacchides saw himself encom- 
 passed with enemies, and some of them before, 
 and some behind him, he fell into despair and 
 jrouble of mind, as confounded at the unex- 
 pected ill success of this siege. However, he 
 vented his displeasure at these misfortunes upon 
 those deserters who sent for him from the king, 
 as having deluded him. So he had a mind to put 
 an end to this siege after a decent manner, if 
 it were possible for him so to do, and then to 
 return home. 
 
 6. When Jonathan understood these his inten- 
 tions, he sent ambassadors to him a 1 ut a league 
 of friendship and mutual assistance, and that 
 they might restore those they had taken captive 
 on both sides. So Bacchides thought this a 
 pretty decent way of retiring home, and made a 
 league of friendship with Jonathan, when they 
 sware that they would not any more make war 
 against one another. Accordingly, he restored 
 the captives, and took his own men with him, 
 ' aod returned to the king at Antioch; and after 
 I this his departure, he never came into Judea 
 again. Then did Jonathan take the opportunity 
 I of this quiet state of things, and went and lived 
 in the city Michmash ; and there governed the 
 multitude, and punished the wicked and un- 
 godly, and by that means purged the nation of 
 them. 
 
 CHAPTEK IL 
 
 HOW ALEXANDEB [BALA,] IN HIS WAR W.TH DH- 
 METRIUS, GRANTED JONATHAN MANY ^VAN- 
 TAGES, AND APPOINTED HIM TO BE HIGH PRIEST, 
 AND PERSUADED HIM TO ASSIST HIM, ALTHOUGH 
 DEMETRIUS PROMISED HIM GREATER ADVAN- 
 TAGES ON THE OTHER SIDB- CONCERNING THB 
 DEATH OF DEMETRIUS. 
 
 g 1. NOW in the hundred and sixtieth year, it 
 fell out that Alexander, the son of Antiochus 
 Epiphanes,* came up into Syria, and took Ptole- 
 
 This Alexander Bala, who pretended to be the eon 
 of Antiochns Epiphanes, and was owned for such by the 
 Tews and Romans, and jet is bv several historians
 
 268 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xni 
 
 mais, the soldiers having betrayed it to him, fur 
 they were at enmity with Demetrius, on account 
 of hia insolence and difficulty of access : for he 
 ghut himself up in a palace of his that had four 
 towers, which he had built himself, not far from 
 Antioch, and admitted nobody. He was withal 
 slothful and negligent about the public affairs, 
 whereby the hatred of his subjects was the more 
 kindled against him, as we have elsewhere 
 already related. When, therefore, Demetrius 
 heard that Alexander was in Ptolemais, he took 
 his whole army, and led it against him ; he also 
 sent ambassadors to Jonathan, about a league of 
 mutual assistance and friendship, for he resolved 
 to be beforehand with Alexander, lest the other 
 should treat with him first, and gain assistance 
 from him ; and this he did out of the fear he had 
 lest Jonathan should remember how ill Deme- 
 trius had formerly treated him, and should join 
 with him in this war against him. He therefore 
 gave orders that Jonathan s'hould be allowed to 
 raise an army, and should get armour made, and 
 should receive back those hostages of the Jewish 
 nation whom Bacchides had shut up in the cita- 
 del of Jerusalem. When this good fortune had 
 befallen Jonathan, by the concession of Deme- 
 trius, he came to Jerusalem, and read the king's 
 letter in the audience of the people, and of those 
 that kept the citadel. When these were read, 
 these wicked men and deserters, who were in the 
 citadel, were greatly afraid, upon the king's 
 permission to Jonathan to raise an army, and to 
 receive back the hostages : so he delivered every 
 one of them to his own parents ; and thus did 
 Jonathan make his abode at Jerusalem, renew- 
 ing the city to a better state, and reforming the 
 buildings as he pleased ; for he gave orders that 
 the walls of the city should be rebuilt with 
 square stones, that it might be more secure from 
 their enemies; and when Miose that kept the 
 garrisons that were in Judea saw this, they all 
 left them, and fled to AntiocL, excepting those 
 that were in the city Bethsura, and those that 
 were in the citadel of Jerusalem, for the greater 
 part of these was of the wicked Jews and deser- 
 ters, and on that account these did not deliver 
 up their garrisons. 
 
 2. When Alexander knew what promises De- 
 metrius had made Jonathan, and withal knew 
 his courage, and what great things ha had done 
 when he fought the Macedonians, and besides 
 what hardships he had undergone by the means 
 of Demetrius, and of Bacchides, the general of 
 Demetrius's army, he told his friends that he 
 could not at present find any one else that might 
 afford him better assistance than Jonathan, who 
 was both courageous against his enemies, and 
 had a particular hatred against Demetrius, as 
 having both suffered many hard things from 
 him, and acted many hard things against him. 
 If, therefore, they were of opinion that they 
 should make Mm their friend against Demetrius, 
 it was more for their advantage to invite him to 
 assist them now than at another time. It being 
 therefore determined by him and his friends to 
 send to Jonathan, he wrote to him this epistle : 
 - King Alexander to his brother Jonathan, 
 
 deemed to be a counterfeit, is, by Jogenhus, believed to 
 have been the real son of that Antiochus, and by him 
 always spoken of accordingly ; and since the author of 
 e first book of Maccabees, (chap. x. 2,) calls him by 
 his father's name, Epiphanes, and says he was the son 
 ot Antiochus, I suppose the other writers are not to be 
 >wed against such evidence, though perhaps Epi- 
 phanes might have him by a woman of nofamily. The 
 gpt also Philometor, gave him his daughter 
 
 - 6 ' T K h lie would hardl y have done h ad he 
 im to be a counterfeit. 
 
 sendeth greeting. We have long ago heard of thy 
 courage and thy fidelity, and for that reason have 
 sent to thee, to make with thee a league of 
 friendship and mutual assistance. We therefore 
 do ordain thee this day the high priest of the 
 Jews, and that thou beest called my friend. I 
 have also sent thee, as presents, a purple robe 
 and a golden crown, and desire that, now thou 
 art by us honoured, thou wilt in like manner re- 
 spect as also. 
 
 3. When Jonathan had received this letter, he 
 put on the pontifical robe at the time of the feast 
 of tabernacles, eight years after the death of his 
 brother Judas, for at that time no high priest 
 had been made. So he raised great forces, and 
 had abundance of armour got ready. This 
 greatly grieved Demetrius when he heard of it, 
 and made him blame himself for his slowness, 
 that he had not prevented Alexander, and got 
 the good-will of Jonathan, but had given him 
 time so to do. However, he also himself wrote 
 a letter to Jonathan, and to the people, the con- 
 tents whereof are these : " King Demetrius to 
 Jonathan, and to the nation of the Jews, sendeth 
 greeting. Since you have preserved your friend- 
 ship for us, and when you have been tempted by 
 our enemies, you have not joined yourselves to 
 them ; I both commend you for this your fide- 
 lity, and exhort you to continue in the same dis-> 
 position ; for which you shall be repaid, and re- 
 ceive rewards from us : for I will free you from 
 the greatest part of the tributes and taxes which 
 you formerly paid to the kings my predecessor?, 
 and to myself ; and I do now set you free from 
 those tributes which you have ever paid ; and 
 besides, I forgive you the tax upon salt, and the 
 value of the crowns which you used to offer to 
 me : t and instead of the third part of the f ruitn 
 [cf the field,] and the half of the fruits of the 
 trees, I relinquish my part of them from this 
 day : and as to the poll-money, which ought to 
 be given me for every head of the inhabitants of 
 Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, and Perea, that I 
 relinquish to you for this time, and for all time 
 to come. I will also, that the city of Jerusalem 
 be holy and inviolable, and free from the tithe, 
 and from the taxes, unto its utmost bounds : and 
 I so far recede from my title to the citadel, as to 
 permit Jonathan your high priest to possess it, 
 that he may place such a garrison in it as he ap- 
 proves of for fidelity and good-will to himself, 
 that they may keep it for us. I also make free 
 all those Jews who have been made captives and 
 slaves in my kingdom. I also give order that 
 the beasts of the Jews be not pressed for our 
 service : and let their Sabbaths, and all their 
 festivals, and three days before each of them, be 
 free from any imposition. In the same manner, 
 I set free the Jews that are inhabitants in my 
 kingdom, and order that no injury be done them. 
 I also give leave to such of them as are willing 
 to enlist themselves in my army, that they may do 
 it, and those as far as thirty thousand ; which 
 Jewish soldiers, wheresoever they go, shall have 
 the same pay that my own army hath; and 
 some of them I will place in my garrisons, and 
 some as guards about mine own body, and at 
 rulers over those that are in my court. I give 
 them leave also to use the laws of their forefa- 
 thers, and to observe them ; and I will that they 
 have power over the three toparchies that are 
 added to Judea ; and it shall be in the power of 
 the high priest to take care that no one Jew shall 
 
 t "The Jews," says Grotius, " were wont to present 
 crowns to the kings [of Syria ;] afterwards that gold 
 which was paid instead of those crowns, or which was 
 expended in making them, was called the Crown-Gold 
 and Crown-Tax."
 
 CHAP. HI.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 269 
 
 have any other temple for worship but only that 
 at Jerusalem. I bequeath also, out of my own 
 revenues, yearly, for the expenses about the 
 sacrifices, one hundred and fifty thousand 
 ^drachmae ;] and what money is to spare, I will 
 that it shall be your own. I also release to you 
 those ten thousand drachmae which the kings 
 received from the temple, because they apper- 
 tain to the priests that minister in that temple. 
 And whosoever shall fly to the temple at Jerusa- 
 lem, or to the places thereto belonging, or who 
 owe the king money, or are there on any other 
 account, let them be set free, and let their goods 
 be in safety. I also give you leave to repair 
 and rebuild your temple, and that all be done at 
 my expenses. I also allow you to build the walls 
 of ^our city, and to erect high towers, and that 
 they be erected at my charge. And if there be 
 arsy fortified town that would be convenient for 
 the Jewish country to have very B*.rong, let it 
 be so built at my expenses." 
 
 4. This was what Demetrius promised and 
 granted to the Jews, by this letter. But king 
 Alexander raised a great army of mercenary sol- 
 diers, and of those thab deserted to him out of 
 Syria, and made an expedition against Deme- 
 trius. And when it was come to a battle, the 
 left wing of Demetrius put those who opposed 
 them to flight, and pursued them a great way, 
 and dew many of them, and spoiled their camp ; 
 but the right wing, where Demetrius happened 
 to be, was beaten ; and as for all the rest, they 
 ran away. But Demetrius fought courageous!}-, 
 and slew a great many of the enemy ; but as he 
 was in pursuit of the rest, his horse carried him 
 into a deep bog, where it was hard to get out, 
 and there it happened, that upon his horse's fall- 
 ing down, he could not escape being killed ; for 
 when his enemies saw what had befallen him, 
 they returned back, and encompassed Demetrius 
 round, and they all threw their darts at him ; 
 but he, being now on foot, fought bravely. But 
 afc length he received so many wounds, that he 
 w&e not able to bear up any longer, but felL 
 And this is the end that Demetrius came to, 
 when he had reigned eleven years, as we have 
 elsewhere related. 
 
 CHAPTER IIL 
 
 {RE FRIENDSHIP THAT WAS BETWEEN ONIAS AND 
 PTOLEMY PHILOMETOR ; AND HOW ONIAS BUILT 
 A TEMPLE IN EGYPT LIKE TO THAT AT JEBUSA- 
 LEM. 
 
 1. BUT then the son of Onias the high priest, 
 who was of the same name with his father, and 
 who fled to king Ptolemy, who was called Philo- 
 metor, lived now at Alexandria, as we have said 
 already. When this Onias saw that Judea was 
 oppressed by the Macedonians and their kings, 
 out of a desire to purchase to himself a memorial 
 and eternal fame, he resolved to send to king 
 Ptolemy and queen Cleopatra, to ask leave of 
 fJiem that he might build a temple in Egypt like 
 to that at Jerusalem, and might ordain Levites 
 and priests out of their own stock. The chief 
 reason why he was desirous so to do, was, that 
 he relied upon the prophet Isaiah, who lived 
 above six hundred years before, and foretold that 
 there certainly was to be a temple built to Al- 
 mighty God in Egypt by a man that was a Jew. 
 Onias was elevated with this prediction, and 
 wrote the following Epistle to Ptolemy and 
 Cleopatra : " Having done many and great 
 things for you in the affairs of the war, by the 
 assistance of God. and that in Ccelesyria and 
 
 Phoenicia, I came at length with the Jen's to 
 Leontopolis, and to other places of your nation, 
 where I found that the greatest part of your 
 people had temples in an improper manner, and 
 that on this account they bare ill will one against 
 another, which happens to the Egyptians by 
 reason of the multitude of their temples, and the 
 difference of opinion about divine worship. Now 
 I found a very fit place in a castle that hath its 
 name from the country Diana ; this place is full 
 of materials of several sorts, and replenished 
 with sacred animals : I desire, therefore, that 
 you will grant me leave to purge this holy place, 
 which belongs to no master, and is fallen down, 
 and to build there a temple to Almighty God, 
 after the pattern of that in Jerusalem, and of 
 the same dimensions, that may be for the benefit 
 of thyself, and thy wife and children, that those 
 Jews who dwell in Egypt may have a place 
 whither they may come and meet together in 
 mutual harmony one with another, and be sub- 
 servient to thy advantages ; for the prophet 
 Isaiah foretold, that ' there should be an altar in 
 Egypt to the Lord God : ' and many other such 
 things did he prophesy relating to that place." 
 
 2. And this was what Onias wrote to king 
 Ptolemy. Now any one may observe his piety, 
 and that of his sister and wife Cleopatra, by that 
 epistle which they wrote in answer to it ; for they 
 laid the blame and the transgression of the law 
 upon the head of Onias. And this was their 
 reply : " King Ptolemy and Queen Cleopatra to 
 Onias, send greeting. We have read thy peti- 
 tion, wherein thou desirest leave to be given to 
 thee to purge that temple which is fallen down 
 at Leontopolis, in the Nomus of Heliopolis, and 
 which is named from the country Bubastis ; on 
 which account we cannot but wonder that it 
 should be pleasing to God to have a temple 
 erected in a place so unclean, and so full of 
 sacred animals. But since thou sayest that 
 Isaiah the prophet foretold this long ago, we give 
 tliee leave to do it, if it may be done according 
 to your law, and so that we may not appear to 
 have at all offended God herein, 
 
 3. So Onias took the place, and built a temple, 
 and an altar to God, like indeed to that at Jeru- 
 salem, but smaller and poorer. I do not think rl 
 proper for me now to describe its dimensions, 01 
 its vessels, which have been already described in 
 my seventh book of the Wars of the Jews. How- 
 ever, Onias found other Jews like himself, to- 
 gether with priests and Levites, that there per- 
 formed divine service. But we have said enough 
 about this temple. 
 
 4. Now it came to pass that the Alexandrian 
 Jews, and those Samaritans who paid their wor- 
 ship to the temple that was built in the days of 
 Alexander at mount Gerizzim, did now make a 
 sedition one against another, and disputed about 
 their temples before Ptolemy himself, the Jews 
 saying that, according to the law of Moses, the 
 temple was to be built at Jerusalem ; and the 
 Samaritans saying that it was to be built at 
 Gerizzim. They desired therefore the king to 
 sit with his friends and hear the debates about 
 these matters, and punish those with death who 
 were baffled. Now Sabbeus and Theodosius 
 managed the argument for the Samaritans, and 
 Andronicus, the son of Messalamus, for the 
 people of Jerusalem ; and they took an oath by 
 God and the king, to make their demonstrations 
 according to the law ; and they desired of Pto- 
 lemy, that whomsoever he should find that 
 transgressed what they had sworn to, he would 
 put him to death. Accordingly, the king took 
 several of his friends into the council, and sal 
 down, in order to hear what the pleaders said.
 
 270 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xm. 
 
 Now the Jews that were at Alexandria were in 
 great concern for those men, whose lot it was to 
 contend for the temple at Jerusalem ; for they 
 took it very ill that any should take away the 
 reputation of that temple, which was so ancient 
 and so celebrated all over the habitable earth. 
 Now when Sabbeus and Theodosius had given 
 leave to Andrwnicus to speak first, he began to 
 demonstrate out of the law, and out of the 
 guccessions of the high priests, how they every 
 one in succession from his father had received 
 that dignity, and ruled over the temple ; and 
 how all the kings of Asia had honoured that 
 temple with their donations, and with the mosr 
 splendid gifts dedicated thereto : but as for that 
 at Gerizzim, he made no account of it, and re- 
 garded it, as if it had never had a being. By 
 this speech, and other arguments, Andronicus 
 persuaded the king to determine that the temple 
 at Jerusalem was built according to the laws of 
 Moses, and to put Sabbeus and Theodosius to 
 death. And these were the events that befell 
 the Jews at Alexandria in the days of Ptolemy 
 Philometor. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HOW ALEXANDEB HONOURED JONATHAN AFTER AN 
 EXTRAORDINARY MANNER; AND HOW DEME- 
 TRIUS, THE SON OF DEMETRIUS, OVERCAME 
 ALEXANDER, AND MADE A LEAGUE OF FRIEND- 
 SHIP WITH JONATHAN. 
 
 L DEMETRIUS being thus slain in battle, as we 
 have above related, Alexander took the kingdom 
 of Syria ; and wrote to Ptolemy Philometor, and 
 desired his daughter in marriage; and said it 
 was but just that he should be joined in affinity 
 to one that had now received the principality of 
 his forefathers, and had been promoted to it by 
 God's providence, and had conquered Deme- 
 trius ; and that was on other accounts not un- 
 worthy of being related to him. Ptolemy re- 
 ceived this proposal of marriage gladly ; and 
 wrote him an answer, saluting him on account of 
 his having received the principalitv of his fore- 
 fathers ; and promising him that he would give 
 him his daughter in marriage ; and assured him 
 that he was coining to meet him at Ptolemais, 
 and desired that he would there meet him, for 
 that he would accompany her from Egypt so far, 
 and would there marry his child to him. When 
 Ptolemy had written thus, he came suddenly to 
 Ptolemais, and brought his daughter Cleopatra 
 along with him; and as he found Alexander 
 there before him, as he desired him to come, he 
 gave him his child in marriage, and for her por- 
 tion gave her as much silver and gold as became 
 such a king to give. 
 
 2. When the wedding was over, Alexander 
 wrote to Jonathan, the high priest, and desired 
 him to come to Ptolemais. So when he came to 
 these kings, and had made them magnificent 
 presents, he was honoured by them both. Alex- 
 ander compelled him also to put off his own 
 garment, and to take a purple garment, and 
 made him sit with him on his throne ; and com- 
 manded his captains that they should go with 
 him into the middle of the city, and proclaim 
 that it was not permitted to any one to speak 
 gainst him, or to give him any disturbance. 
 And when the captains had thus done, those 
 that were prepared to accuse Jonathan, and who 
 bore him ill-will, when they saw the honour 
 that was done him by proclamation, and that by 
 the king's order, ran away, and were afraid lest 
 ome mischief should befall them. Nay, king 
 
 Alexander was so very kind to Jonathan, that 
 he aet him down as the principal of his friends. 
 
 3. But then, upon the hundred and sixty-fifth 
 year, Demetrius, the son of Demetrius, came 
 from Crete, with a great number of mercenary 
 soldiers, which Lasthenes, the Cretan, brought 
 him, and sailed to Cilicia. This thing cast Alex- 
 ander into great concern and disorder when he 
 heard it ; so he made haste immediately out of 
 Phosnicia, and came to Antioch, that he might 
 put matters hi a safe posture there before De- 
 metrius should come. He also left Apollonius 
 Daus* governor of Coelesyria, who, coming to 
 Jamnia with a great army, sent to Jonathan, the 
 high priest, and told him that it was not right 
 that he alone should live at rest, and with au- 
 thority, and not be subject to the king; that 
 this thing had made him a reproach among all 
 men, that he had not yet made him subject to 
 the king. ' 'Do not thou therefore deceive thyself, 
 and sit still among the mountains, and pretend 
 to have forces with thee ; but if thou hast any 
 dependence on thy strength, come down into the 
 plain, and let our armies be compared together, 
 and the event of the battle will demonstrate 
 which of us is the most courageous. However, 
 take notice, that the most valiant men of every 
 city are in my army, and that these are the very 
 men who have always beaten thy progenitors ; 
 but let us have the battle in such a place of the 
 country where we may fight with weapons, and 
 not with stones, and where there may be no 
 place whither those that are beaten may fly." 
 
 4. With this Jonathan was irritated; and 
 choosing himself out ten thousand of his sol- 
 diers, he went out of Jerusalem in haste, with 
 his brother Simon, and came to Joppa, and 
 pitched his camp on the outside of the city, be- 
 cause the people of Joppa had shut their gates 
 against him, for they had a garrison in the city 
 put there by Apollouius. But when Jonathan 
 was preparing to besiege them, they were afraid 
 he W9uld take them by force, and so they opened 
 the gates to him. But Apollonius when he 
 heard that Joppa was taken by Jonathan, took 
 three thousand horsemen, and eight thousand 
 footmen, and came to Ashdod ; and removing 
 thence, he made his journey silently and slowly, 
 and going up to Joppa, be made as if he was re- 
 tiring from the place, and so drew Jonathan into 
 the plain, as valuing himself highly upon hia 
 horsemen, and having his hopes of victory prin- 
 cipally in them. However, Jonathan sallied 
 out, and pursued Apolloniua to Ashdod ; but 
 as soon as Apollonius perceived that his enemy 
 was in the plain, he came back and gave him 
 battle. But Apollonius had laid a thousand 
 horsemen in ambush in a valley, that they might 
 be seen by their enemies as behind them ; which 
 when Jonathan perceived, he was under no con- 
 sternation, but ordering his army to stand in a 
 square battle array, he gave them a charge to 
 fall on the enemy on both sides, and set them to 
 face those that attacked them both before and 
 behind ; and while the fight lasted till the even- 
 ing, he gave part of his forces to his brother 
 Simon, and ordered him to attack the enemies ; 
 but for himself he charged those that were with 
 him to cover themselves with their armour, and 
 receive the darts of the horsemen, who did as 
 they were commanded ; so that the enemy's 
 horsemen, while they threw their darts till they 
 had no more left, did them no harm, for tho 
 darts that -were thrown did not enter into their 
 
 * According to Dean Prideaux, this Apollonius 
 Daus was the son of that Apollonius who had been 
 made governor of Coalesyria and Phoenicia by Seleucus 
 Philopater.
 
 MAP. TV. I 
 
 ANTIQUITIES / THii ,TEWb. 
 
 xxlies, being thrown upon the shields that were 
 united and conjoined together, the closeness of 
 which easily overcame the force of the darts, 
 and they flew about without any effect. But 
 when the enemy grew remiss in throwing their 
 darts from morning till late at night, Simon per- 
 ceived their weariness, and fell upon the body of 
 Tien before him ; and because his soldiers shewed 
 rreat alacrity, he put the enemy to flight : and 
 when the horsemen saw the footmen ran away , 
 leither did^hey stay themselves ; but they bs- 
 ng very weary, by the duration of^the fight till 
 the evening, and their hope from the footmen 
 oeing quite gone, they basely ran away, and in 
 jreat confusion also, till they were separated one 
 irom another, and scattered over all the plain. 
 Upon which Jonathan pursued them as far as 
 Ashdod, and slew a great many of them, and 
 sompelled the rest, in despair of escaping, to fly 
 to the temple of Dagon, which was at Ashdod : 
 but Jonathan took the city on the first onset, 
 and burnt it, and the villages about it ; nor did 
 he abstain from the temple of Dagon itself, but 
 burnt it also, and destroyed those that had fled 
 to it. Now the entire multitude of the enemies 
 that fell in the battle, and were consumed in the 
 temple, were eight thousand When Jonathan 
 therefore had overcome so great an army, he re- 
 moved from Ashdod, and came to Askelon : and 
 when he had pitched his camp without the city, 
 the people of Askelon came out and met him, 
 bringing him hospitable presents, and honouring 
 him ; so he accepted of their kind intentions, 
 ind returned thence to Jerusalem with a gre:;t 
 leal of prey, which he brought thence when he 
 conquered his enemies. But when Alexander 
 neard that Apollonius, the general of his army, 
 was beaten, he pretended to be glad of it, be- 
 cause he had fought with Jonathan his friend 
 and ally against his directions. Accordingly, 
 he sent to Jonathan, and gave testimony to his 
 worth ; and t^ve him honorary rewards, as a 
 golden button, * which it is the custom to give 
 the king's kinsmen, and allowed him Ekron and 
 its toparchy for his own inheritance. 
 
 5. About this time it was that king Ptolemy, 
 who was called Philometor, led an army, part 
 by sea and part by land, and came to Syria, to 
 the assistance of Alexander, who was his son-in- 
 law ; and accordingly all the cities received him 
 willingly, as'Alexander had commanded them to 
 do, and conducted him as far as Ashdod ; where 
 they all made loud complaints about the temple 
 of Dagon, which was burnt, and accused Jona- 
 tkan of having laid it waste, and destroyed the 
 country adjoining with fire, and slain a great 
 number of them. Ptolemy heard these accusa- 
 tions, but said nothing. Jonathan also went to 
 meet Ptolemy as far as Joppa, and btained from 
 him hospitable presents, and those glorious in 
 their kinds, with all the marks of h "nour ; and 
 when he had conducted him a? far as the river 
 called Eleutherus, he returned again, to Jeru- 
 salem. 
 
 6. But as Ptolemy was at Ptolemais, he wta 
 very n?^tr to a most unexpected destruction ; 
 fora t> -=auherous design was laid for his life by 
 Alexauuer, by the means of Animonius, who was 
 'tis friend : and as the treachery was very plain, 
 Ptolemy wrote to Alexander, and required of 
 aim that he should bring Animonius to condign 
 punishment, informing him what snares had been 
 laid for him by Ammonius, and desired that he 
 might be accordingly punished for it ; but when 
 
 * The Phoenicians and Romans wed to reward such 
 had deserved well of them, by presenting to them 8 
 button. 
 
 Alexander did not comply with his demands, Lt- 
 perceived that it was he himself who laid the 
 design, and was very angry at him. Alexandei 
 nad also formerly been on very ill terms with 
 the people of Antioch, for they had suffered very 
 much by this means; yet did Ammonius at 
 length undergo the punishment his insolent 
 crimes had deserved, for he was killed in an op- 
 probrious manner, like a woman, while he en- 
 deavoured to conceal himself in * feminine habit, 
 as we have elsewhere related. 
 
 7. Hereupon Ptolemy blamed nimself for hav- 
 ing given his daughter in marriage to Alexander, 
 and for the league he had made with him to assist 
 him against Demetrius ; so he dissolved his re- 
 lation to him, and took his daughter away from 
 him, and immediately sent to Demetrius, and 
 offered to make a league of mutual assistance 
 and friendship with him, and agreed with him to 
 give him his daughter in marriage, and to restore 
 him to the principality of his fathers. Demetrius 
 was well pleased with this embassage, and ac- 
 cepted of his assistance, and of the marriage of 
 his daughter; but Ptolemy had still one more 
 hard task to do, and that was to persuade the 
 people of Antioch to receive Demetrius, because 
 they were greatly displeased at him, on account 
 of the injuries his father Demetrius had done 
 them ; yet did he bring this about ; for as the 
 people of Antioch hated Alexander on Ammo- 
 nius's account, as we have shewn already, they 
 were easily prevailed with to cast him out 
 of Antioch ; who, thus expelled out of An- 
 tioch, came into Cilicia. Ptolemy came then to 
 Antioch, and was made king by its inhabitants, 
 and by the army ; so that he was forced to put on 
 his own two diadems, the one of Asia, the other 
 of Egypt ; but being naturally a good and right- 
 eous man, and not desirous of what belonged to 
 others, and besides these dispositions, being also 
 a wise man in reasoning about futurities, he de- 
 termined to avoid the envy of the Romans, so he 
 called the people of Antioch together to an as- 
 sembly, and persuaded them to receive Deme- 
 trius ; and assured them that he would not ha 
 mindful of wha they did to his iaiuier in case 
 he should be now obliged by them ; and he un- 
 dertook that he would himself be a good monitor 
 and governor to him ; and promised that he 
 would not permit him to attempt any bad 
 actions ; but that, for his own part, he was 
 contented with the kingdom of Egypt. By which 
 discourse he persuaded the people of Antioch to 
 receive Demetrius. 
 
 8. But now Alexander made haste, with a 
 numerous and great army, and came out of Cilick 
 into Syria, and burnt the country belonging to 
 Antioch, and pillaged it; whereupon Ptolemy, 
 and his son-in-law Demetrius, brought their 
 army against him, (for he had already given him 
 his daughter in marriage,) and beat Alexander, 
 arid put him to flight ; and accordingly he fled 
 Liitw Arabia. Now, it happened in the time of 
 the battle, that, Ptolemy's horse, upon hearing 
 the noise of an elephant, cast him off his back, 
 and threw him on the ground ; upon the sight 
 of which accident his enemies fell upon him, and 
 gave him many wounds upon his head, and 
 brought him into danger of death, for when his 
 guards caught him up he was so very ill, that for 
 four days' time he was not able either to under- 
 stand or to speak. However. Zabdiel, a prinoa 
 among the Arabians, cut off Alexander's head 
 and sent it to Ptolemy, who recovering of his 
 wounds, and returning to his understanding, on 
 the fifth day, heard at once a most agreeable 
 hearing, and saw a most agreeable sight, which 
 ^orf the death ."cl the head of Alexander : v?t *
 
 J72 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xrn. 
 
 little after this his joy for the death of Alex- 
 ander, with which he was so greatly satisfied, he 
 also departed this life. Now Alexander, who 
 was called Balas, reigned over Asia five year*, as 
 we have elsewhere related. 
 
 9. But when Demetrius, who was styled 
 Nicator,* had taken the kingdom, he was so 
 wicked as to treat Ptolemy's soldiers very hardly, 
 neither remembering the league of mutual assist- 
 ance that was between them, nor that he was 
 his son-in-law and kinsman, by Cleopatra's mar- 
 riage to him ; so the soldiers fled from his wicked 
 treatment to Alexandria; but Demetrius kept his 
 elephants. But Jonathan the high priest levied 
 an army out of all Judea, and attacked the citadel 
 at Jerusalem, and besieged it. It was held by a 
 garrison of Macedonians, and by some of those 
 men who had deserted the customs of their fore- 
 fathers. These men at first despised the at- 
 tempts of Jonathan for taking the place, as de- 
 pending on its strength; but some of those 
 wicked men went out by night, and came to 
 Demetrius, and informed him that the citadel 
 was besieged ; who was irritated with what he 
 heard, and took his army, and came from An- 
 tioch, against Jonathan. And when he was at 
 Antioch, he wrote to him, and commanded him 
 to come to him quickly to Ptolemais : upon 
 which Jonathan did not intermit the siege of the 
 citadel, but took with him the elders of the 
 people, and the priests, and carried with him 
 gold and silver, and garments, and a great 
 number of presents of friendship, and came to 
 Demetrius, and presented him with them, and 
 thereby pacified the king's anger. So he was 
 honoured by him, and received from him the 
 confirmation of his high priesthood, as he had 
 possessed it by the grants of the kings his pre- 
 decessors. And when the Jewish deserters 
 accused him, Demetrius was so far from giving 
 credit to them, that when he petitioned him that 
 he would demand no more than three hundred 
 talents for the tribute of all Judea, and the three 
 toparchies of Samaria, and Perea, and Galilee, he 
 complied with the proposal, and gave him a letter 
 Confirming those grants ; the contents of which 
 were as follows: " King Demetrius to Jonathan 
 his brother, and to the nation of the Jews, send- 
 eth greeting. "We have sent you a copy of that 
 epistle which we have written to Lasthenes our 
 kinsman, that you may know its contents. 
 ' King Demetrius to Lasthenes our father, send- 
 eth greeting. I havr determined to return 
 thanks, and to shew favour to the nation of the 
 Jews, who hath observed the rules of justiso in 
 our concerns. Accordingly, I remit to them the 
 three prefectures, Apherima, and Lydda, and 
 Ramatha, which have been added to Judea out 
 of Samaria, with their appurtenances : as also 
 what the kings my predecessors received from 
 those that offered sacrifices in Jerusalem, and 
 what are due from the fruits of the earth, and of 
 the trees, and what else belongs to us ; with the 
 salt-pits, and the crowns that used to be pre- 
 sented to us. Nor shall they be compelled to 
 pay any of those taxes from this time to all 
 futurity. Take care, therefore, that a copy of 
 this epistle be taken, and given to Jonathan, and 
 be set up in an eminent place of their holy 
 temple.' " And these were the contents of this 
 writing. And now when Demetrius saw that 
 there was peace everywhere, and that there was 
 no danger, nor fear of war, he disbanded the 
 greatest part of his army, and diminished their 
 pay, and even retained in pay no others than 
 
 * Thig name, Demetrius Nicator, or Demetrius the 
 eonuu :rcr. 'a so written on his coins itill extant. 
 
 such foreigners as came up with him from Crete, 
 and from the other islands. However, this pro- 
 cured him ill-will and hatred from the soldiers, 
 on whom he bestowed nothing from this time, 
 while the kings before him used to pay them in 
 time of peace, as they did before, that they might 
 have their good-will, and that they might be 
 very ready to undergo the difficulties of war, if 
 any occasion should require it. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 HOWTETPHO, AFTER HE HAD BEATEN DEMETRIUS, 
 DELIVERED THE KINGDOM TO ANTIOCH03, THH 
 SON OF ALEXANDER, AND GAINED JONATHAN FOB 
 HIS ASSISTANT; AND CONCERNING THE ACTIONS 
 AND EMBASSIES OF JONATHAN. 
 
 1. Now there was a certain commander of 
 Alexander'* forces, an Apanemian by birth, whose 
 name was Diodotus, and was also called Trypho, 
 took notice of the ill-will the soldiers bare to 
 Demetrius, and went to Malchus the Arabian, 
 who brought up Antiochus, the son of Alex- 
 ander, and told him what ill-will the army bare 
 Demetrius, and persuaded him to give him An- 
 tiochus, because he would make him king, and 
 recover to him the kingdom of his father. 
 Malchus at first opposed him in this attempt, 
 because he could not believe him ; but when 
 Trypho lay hard at him for a long time, he over- 
 persuaded him to comply with Trypho's inten 
 tions and entreaties. And this was the state 
 Trypho was now in. 
 
 2. But Jonathan the high priest, being desir- 
 ous to get -clear of those that were in the citadel 
 of Jerusalem, and of the Jewish deserters and 
 wicked men, as well as those in all the garrisons 
 in the country, sent presents and ambassadors to 
 Demetrius, and entreated him to take away his 
 soldiers out of the strongholds of Judea. De- 
 metrius made answer, that after the war, which 
 he was now deeply engaged in, was over, he 
 would not only grant him that, but greater 
 tilings than that also : and he desired he would 
 send him some assistance, and informed him that 
 his army had deserted him. So Jonathan chose 
 out three thousand of his soldiers, and sent them 
 to Demetrius. 
 
 3. Now the people of Antioch hated Deme- 
 trius, both on account of what mischief he had 
 himself done them, and because they were his 
 enemies also on account of his father Demetrius, 
 who had greatly abused them ; so they watched 
 some opportunity which they might lay hold on, 
 to fall upon him. And when they were informed 
 of the assistance that was coming to Demetrius 
 
 ' from Jonathan, and considered at the same time 
 that he would raise a numerous army, unless 
 they prevented him and seized upon him, they 
 took their weapons immediately, and encom- 
 passed his palace in the way of a siege, and seiz- 
 ing upon all the ways of getting out, they sought 
 to subdue their king. And when he sa^ f hat the 
 people of Antioch were become his bitter ) mies, 
 and that they were thus in arms, he took the 
 mercenary soldiers which he had with him, and 
 those Jews who were sent by Jonathan, and 
 assaulted the Antiochians; but he was over- 
 powered by them, for they were many ten thou- 
 sands, and was beaten. But when the Jews saw 
 that the Antiochians were superior, they went up 
 to the top of the palace, and shot at them from 
 thence ; and because they were so remote from 
 them by their height, that they suffered nothing 
 on their side, but did great execution on th
 
 3HAP. V.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OX THE JEWS. 
 
 27J 
 
 others as fighting from such an elevation, they ' 
 drove them out of the adjoining houses, and im- 
 mediately set them on fire, whereupon the flame 
 spread itself over the whole city, and burnt it 
 all down. This happened by reason of the close- 
 ness of the houses, and because they were gene- 
 rally built of wood : so the Antiocbians, when 
 they were not able to help themselves, nor to 
 stop the fire, were put to flight. And as the 
 Jews leaped from the top of one house to 
 another, and pursued them after that manner, 
 it thence happened that the pursuit was very 
 surprising. But when the king saw that the 
 Antiochians were very busy in saving their chil- 
 dren and their wives, and so did not fight any 
 longer, he fell upon them in the narrow passages, 
 and fought them, and slew a great number of 
 them, till at last they were forced to throw 
 down their arms, and to deliver themselves up 
 to Demetrius. So he forgave them this their 
 insolent behaviour, and put an end to the sedi- 
 tion : and when he had given rewards to the 
 Jews out of the rich spoils he had gotten, and 
 had returned them thanks, as the cause of his 
 victory, he sent them away to Jerusalem to 
 Jonathan, with an ample testimony of the assist- 
 ance they had afforded him. Yet did he prove 
 an ill man to Jonathan afterward, and broke the 
 promises he had made : and he threatened that 
 ne would make war upon him, unless he would 
 {.ay all that tribute which the Jewish nation 
 oived to the first kings [of Syria.] And this he 
 hi d done, if Trypho had not hindered him, and 
 di\ erted his preparations against Jonathan to a 
 concern for his own preservation ; for he now 
 returned out of Arabia into Syria, with the child 
 Antiochus, for he was yet in >. but a youth, 
 and put the diadem on his Lc<jJ ; and as the 
 wholt forces that had left Demetrius, because 
 they hid no pay, came to his assistance, he made 
 war upon Demetrius, and joining battle with 
 him, overcame him in the fight, and took from 
 him both his elephants and the city of Antioch. 
 
 4. Demetrius, upon this defeat, retired into 
 Cilicia : but the child Antiochus sent ambassa- 
 dors and an epistle to Jonathan, and made him 
 his friend and confederate, and confirmed to him 
 the high priesthood, and yielded up to him the 
 four prefectures which had been added to Judea. 
 Moreover, he sent him vessels and cups of gold, 
 and a purple garment, and gave him leave to use 
 them. He also presented him with a golden 
 button, and styled him one of his principal 
 friends ; and appointed his brother Simon to be 
 the general over the forces, from the Ladder of 
 Tyre unto Egypt. So Jonathan was so pleased 
 with these grants made him by Antiochus, that 
 he tent ambassadors to him and to Trypho, and 
 professed himself to be their friend and confede- 
 rate, and said he would join with him in a war 
 against Demetrius, informing him that he had 
 made no proper returns for the kindness he had 
 done him ; for that when he had received many 
 marks of kindness from him, when he stood in 
 great need of them, he, for such good turns, had 
 requited him with further injuries. 
 
 5. S^Q Antiochus gave Jonathan leave to raise 
 himself a numerous army out of Syria and Phce- 
 nicia, and to make war against Demetrius's 
 generals ; whereupon he went in haste to the 
 several cities, which received him splendidly 
 indeed, but put no forces into his hands. And 
 when he was come from thence to Askelon, the 
 inhabitants of Askelon came and brought him 
 presents, and met him in a splendid manner. He 
 exhorted them, and every one of the cities of 
 Coelesyria, to forsake Demetrius, and to join with 
 Antiochus, and in assisting him, to endeavour M 
 
 punish Demetrius for what offences he had been 
 guilty of against themselves ; and told them there 
 were many reasons for that their procedure, if 
 they had a mind so to do. And when he had 
 persuaded those cities to promise their assistance 
 to Antiochus, he came to Gaza, in order to in- 
 duce them also to be friends to Antiochus ; but 
 he found the inhabitants of Gaza much more 
 alienated from him than he expected, for they 
 had shut their gates against him ; and although 
 they had deserted Demetrius, they had not re- 
 solved to join themselves to Antiochus. Thia 
 provoked Jonathan to besiege them, and to 
 harass their country ; for as he set a part of his 
 army round about G aza itself, so with the rest he 
 overran their land, and spoiled it, and burdened 
 what was in it. When the inhabitants of Gaza 
 saw themselves in this state of affliction, and 
 that no assistance came to them from Demetrius, 
 that what distressed them was at hand, but what 
 should profit them was still at a great distance, 
 and it was uncertain whether it would come at 
 all or not, they thought it would be prudent 
 conduct to leave off any longer continuance with 
 him, and to cultivate friendship with the other; 
 so they sent to Jonathan, and professed they 
 would be his friends, and afford him assistance ; 
 for such is the temper of men, that before they 
 have had the trial of great afflictions, they do not 
 understand what is for their advantage ; but 
 when they find themselves under such afflictions, 
 they then change their minds, and what had 
 been better for them to have done before they 
 had been at all damaged, they choose to do, but 
 not till after they have suffered such damages. 
 However, he made a league of friendship with 
 them, and took from them hostages for their 
 performance of it, and sent these hostages to 
 Jerusalem, while he went himself over all the 
 country, as far as Damascus. 
 
 6. But when he heard that the generals of 
 Demetrius's forces were come to the city Cadesh 
 with a numerous army, (the place lies between 
 the land of the Tynans and Galilee,) for they 
 supposed they should hereby draw him out of 
 Syria, in order to preserve Galilee, and that he 
 would not overlook the Galileans, who were his 
 own people, when war was made upon them, he 
 went to meet them, having left Simon in Judea, 
 who raised as great an army as he was able out 
 of the country, and then sat down before Beth- 
 sura, and besieged it, that being the strongest 
 place in all Judea ; and a garrison of Deme- 
 trius's kept it, as we have already related. But 
 as Simon was raising banks, and bringing his 
 engines of war against Bethsura, and was very 
 earnest about the siege of it, the garrison waa 
 afraid lest the place should be taken of Simon 
 by force, and they put to the sword; so they 
 sent to Simon, and desired the security of hi 
 oath, that they should come to no harm from 
 him, and that they would leave the place, and 
 go away to Demetrius. Accordingly, he gavw 
 them his oath, and ejected them out of the city, 
 and he put therein a garrison of his own. 
 
 7. But Jonathan removed out of Galilee, and 
 from the waters which are called Gennesar, for 
 there he was before encamped, and came into 
 the plain that is called Asor, without knowing 
 that the enemy was there. When therefore 
 Demetrius's men knew a day beforehand thai 
 Jonathan was coming against them, they lay in 
 ambush hi the mountain, who were to assault 
 him on the sudden, while they themselves met 
 him with an army in the plain; which army 
 when Jonathan saw ready to engage him, he 
 alao got ready his own soldiers for the battle as 
 well as he was able. But those that were Lai. 5
 
 874 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 fBOOK XT11. 
 
 in ambush by Demetrius's generals being behind 
 them, the Jews were afraid lest they should be 
 caught in the midst between two bodies, and 
 perish; so they ran away in haste, and indeed 
 all the rest left Jonathan, but a few that were 
 in number about fifty, who stayed with him, 
 and with them Mattathias, the son of Absalom; 
 and Judas, the son of Chapseus, who were com- 
 manders of the whole army. These marched 
 boldly, and like men desperate, against the 
 enemy, and so pushed them, that by their cour- 
 age they daunted them, and with their weapons 
 in their hands, they put them to flight. And 
 when those soldiers of Jonathan that had re- 
 tired saw the enemy giving way, they got to- 
 gether after their flight, and pursued them with 
 great violence ; and this did they as far * 
 Cadesh, where the camp of the enemy lay. 
 
 8. Jonathan having thus gotten a glorjous 
 victory, and slain two thousand of the enemy, 
 returned to Jerusalem. So when he saw that 
 all his affairs prospered according to his mind, 
 by the providence of God, he sent ambassadors 
 to the Romans, being desirous of renewing that 
 friendship which their nation had with them 
 formerly. He enjoined the same ambassadors, 
 that, as they came back, they should go to the 
 Spartans, and put them in mind of their friend- 
 ship and kindred. So when the ambassadors 
 came to Rome, they went in to their senate, and 
 said what they were commanded by Jonathan 
 their high priest to say, how he had sent them 
 to confirm their friendship. The senate then 
 confirmed what had been formerly decreed con- 
 cerning their friendship with the Jews, and gave 
 them letters to carry to all the kings of Asia and 
 Europe, and to the governors of the cities, that 
 they might safely conduct them to their own 
 country. Accordingly, as they returned, they 
 came to Sparta, and delivered the epistle which 
 they had received of Jonathan to them ; a copy 
 of which here follows: "Jonathan the high 
 priest of the Jewish nation, and the senate, and 
 body of the people of the Jews, to the ephori 
 and senate, and body of the people of the Lace- 
 demonians, send greeting. If you be well, and 
 both your public and private affairs be agreeable 
 to your mind, it is according to our wishes. We 
 are well also. When in former times an epistle 
 was brought to Onias, who was then our high- 
 priest, from Areus, who at that time was your 
 king, by Demoteles, concerning the kindred that 
 was between us and you, a copy of which is here 
 subjoined, we both joyfully received the epistle, 
 and were well pleased with Demoteles and 
 Areus, although we did not need such o demon- 
 stration, because we were well satisfied about it 
 from the sacred writings,* yet did not we think 
 fit first to begin the claim of this relation to you, 
 lest we should seem too early in taking to our- 
 selves the glory which is now given us by you. 
 It is a long time since this relation of ours to 
 you hath been renewed ; and when we, upon 
 holy and festival days, offer sacrifices to God, 
 we pray to him for your preservation and vic- 
 tory. As to ourselves, although we have had 
 many wars that have compassed us around, by 
 reason of the covetousness of our 'neighbours, 
 yet did not we determine to be troublesome 
 either to you or to others that were related to 
 us ; but since we have now overcome our ene- 
 mies, and have occasion to send Numenius, the 
 
 * This clause is rendered in the first book of Mac- 
 cabees xii. 9: "For that we have the holy books of 
 Scriptures in our hands to comfort us." The Hebrew 
 
 ngmal being lost, we cannot certainly judge which 
 was Uie truest version, only the coherence favours 
 Jo 
 
 son of Antiochus, and Antipater, the son of 
 Jason, who are both honourable men belonging 
 to our senate, to the Romans, we gave them this 
 epistle to you also, that they might renew that 
 friendship which is between us. You will 
 therefore do well yourselves to write to us, and 
 send us an account of what you stand in need of 
 from us, since we are in all things disposed to 
 act according to your desires." So the Lacede- 
 monians received the ambassadors kindly, and 
 made a decree for friendship and mutual assis- 
 tance, and sent it to them. 
 
 9. At this time there were three sects among 
 the Jews, who had different opinions concerning 
 human actions ; the one was called the sect of 
 the Pharisees, another the sect of the Sadducees, 
 and the other the sect of the Essens. Now for 
 the Pharisees, f they say that some actions, but 
 not all, are the work of fate, and some of them 
 are in our own power, and that they are liable 
 to fate, but are uet caused by fate. But the 
 sect of the Esiens affirm, that fate governs all 
 things, and thtxt nothing befalls man but what 
 is according to its determination. And for the 
 Sadducees, they take away fate, and say there 
 is no such thing, and that the events of human 
 affairs are not at its disposal ; but they suppose 
 that all our actions are in our power, so that 
 we are ourselves the causes of what is good, 
 and receive what is evil from our own folly. 
 However, I have given a more exact account of 
 these opinions in the second book of the Jewish 
 War. 
 
 10. But now the generals of Demetrius being 
 willing to recover the defeat they had had, ga- 
 thered a greater army together than they had 
 before, and came against Jonathan ; but as soon 
 as he was informed of their coming, he went 
 suddenly to meet them, to the country of Ha- 
 math, for he resolved to give them no opportu- 
 nity of coming into Judea ; so he pitched his 
 camp at fifty furlongs' distance from the enemy, 
 and sent out spies to take a view of their camp, 
 and after what manner they were encamped. 
 When his spies had given him full information, 
 and had seized upon some of them by night, who 
 told him the enemy would soon attack him, he, 
 thus apprised beforehand, provided for his secu- 
 rity, and placed watchmen beyond his camp, and 
 kept all his forces armed all night ; and he gave 
 them a charge to be of good courage, and to have 
 their minds prepared to fight in the night-time, 
 if they should be obliged so to do, lest their 
 enemy's designs should seem concealed from 
 tliem. But when Demetrius's commanders 
 were informed that Jonathan knew what they 
 intended, their counsels were disordered, and it 
 alarmed them to find, that the enemy had dis- 
 covered those their intentions ; nor did they ex- 
 pect to overcome them any other way, now they 
 had failed in the snares they had laid for them ; 
 for should they hazard an open battle, they did 
 not think they should be a match for Jonathan's 
 army, so they resolved to fly : and having lighted 
 many fires, that when the enemy saw them they 
 might suppose they were there still, they retired. 
 But when Jonathan came to give them battle in 
 the morning in their camp, and found it deserted, 
 and understood they were fled, he pursued them ; 
 yet he could not overtake them, for they had 
 already passed over the river Eleutherus, and 
 were out of danger. So when Jonathan was re- 
 
 t Josephus, who in his heart was a great admirer o! 
 the piety of the Essens, was yet in practice a Pharisee. 
 And his account of this doctrine of the Pharisees U 
 agreeable to his own opinion, who both fully allowed 
 the freedom of human actions, and yet strongly be- 
 lieved the powerful interposition of Divine Providence
 
 CHAP. VL] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OK THE JEWS. 
 
 275 
 
 turned thence, he went into Arabia, and fought 
 against the Nabateans, and drove away a great 
 deal of their prey, and took [many] captives, and 
 came to Damascus, and there sold off what he 
 had taken. About the same time it was that 
 Simon his brother went over all Judea and Pales- 
 tine, as far as Askelon, and fortified the strong- 
 holds ; and when he had made them very strong, 
 both in the edifices erected, and in the garrisons 
 placed in them, he came to Joppa ; and when he 
 had taken it, he brought a great garrison into it, 
 for he heard that the people of Joppa were dis- 
 posed to deliver up the city to Demetrius's gene- 
 rals. 
 
 11. "When Shnon and Jonathan had finished 
 these affairs, they returned to Jerusalem, where 
 Jonathan gathered all the people together, and 
 took counsel to restore the walls of Jerusalem, 
 and to rebuild the wall that encompassed the 
 temple, which had been thrown down, and to 
 make the places adjoining stronger by very high 
 towers ; and besides that, to build another wall 
 in the midst of the city, in order to exclude the 
 market-place from the garrison, which was in the 
 citadel, and by that means to hinder them from 
 any plenty of provisions ; and moreover, to make 
 the fortresses that were in the country much 
 stronger, and more defensible than they were be- 
 fore. And when these things were approved of 
 by the multitude, as rightly proposed, Jonathan 
 himself took care of the building that belonged 
 to the city, and sent Simon away to make the 
 fortresses in the country more secure than for- 
 merly. But Demetrius passed over [Euphrates,] 
 and came into Mesopotamia, as desirous to retain 
 that country still, as well as Babylon ; and when 
 he should have obtained the dominion of the 
 upper provinces, to lay the foundation for re- 
 covering of his entire kingdom ; for these Greeks 
 and Macedonians that dwelt there, frequently 
 sent ambassadors to him, and promised that if he 
 would come to them, they would deliver them- 
 selves up to him, and assist him in fighting 
 against Arsaces,* the king of the Parthians. So 
 he was elevated with these hopes, and came hastily 
 to them, as having resolved that, if he had once 
 overthrown the Parthians, and gotten an army of 
 his own, he would make war against Trypho, 
 and eject him out of Syria ; and the people of 
 that country received him with great alacrity. 
 So he raised forces, with which he fought against 
 Arsaces, and lost all his army ; and was himself 
 taken alive, as we have elsewhere related. 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 HOW JONATHAN WAS SLAIN BY TREACHERY ; AHD 
 
 HOW THEREUPON THE JEWS MADE SIMON THEIR 
 GENERAL AND HIGH PRIEST : WHAT COURAGE- 
 OUS ACTIONS HE ALSO PERFORMED, ESPECIALLY 
 AGAINST TRYPHO. 
 
 1. Now when Trypho knew what had befallen 
 Demetrius, he was no longer firm to Antiochus, 
 but contrived by subtlety to kill him, and then 
 take possession of his kingdom ; but the fear that 
 he was in of Jonathan was an obstacle to this 
 his design, for Jonathan was a friend to Antio- 
 thus, for which cause he resolved first to take 
 
 * The king is both here and 1 Mac. xiv. 2, called by 
 the family name Arsaces ; but Appian says his proper 
 name was Phraates. He is here called by Josephus the 
 king of the Parthians, as the Greeks used to call them ; 
 but by the elder author of the First Maccabees, the king 
 of the Persians and Medes, according to the language of 
 the eastern nations. 
 
 Jonathan out of the way, and then to set about 
 his design relating to Antiochus ; but he judging 
 it best to take him off by deceit and treachery, 
 came from Antioch to Bethshan, which by the 
 Greeks is called Scympolis, at which place Jona- 
 than met him with forty thousand chosen men, 
 for he thought that he came to fight him ; but 
 when he perceived that Jonathan was ready to 
 fight, he attempted to gam him by presents and 
 kind treatment, tnd gave order to his captains 
 to obey him, and by these means was desirous 
 to give assurance of his good-will, and to take 
 away all suspicions out of his mind, that so he 
 might make him careless and inconsiderate, and 
 might take him when he was unguarded. He also 
 advised him to dismiss his army, because there 
 was no occasion for bringing it with him, when 
 there was no war, but all was in peace. How- 
 ever, he desired him to retain a few about him, 
 and go with him to Ptolemais, for that he would 
 deliver the city up to him, and would bring all 
 the fortresses that were in the country under his 
 dominion ; and he told him that he came with 
 those very designs. 
 
 2. Yet did not Jonathan suspect anything at all 
 by this his management, but believed that Try- 
 pho gave this advice out of kindness, and with a 
 sincere design. Accordingly, he dismissed his 
 army, and retained no more than three thousand 
 of them with him, and left two thousand in 
 Galilee ; and he himself, with one thousand, 
 came with Trypho to Ptolemais ; but when the 
 people of Ptolemais had shut their gates, as it 
 had been commanded by Trypho to do, he took 
 Jonathan alive, and slew all that were with him. 
 He also sent soldiers against those two thousand 
 that were left in Galilee, in order to destroy 
 them : but those men having heard the report 
 of what had happened to Jonathan, they pre- 
 vented the execution, and before those that were 
 sent by Trypho came, they covered themselves 
 with their armour, and went away out of the 
 country. Now whei those that were sent 
 against them saw that they were ready to fight 
 for their lives, they gave them no disturbance, 
 but returned back to Trypho. 
 
 3. But when the people of Jerusalem heard 
 that Jonathan was taken, and that the soldiers 
 who were with him were destroyed, they de- 
 plored his sad fate ; and there was earnest in- 
 quiry made about him by everybody, and a great 
 and just fear fell upon them, and made them 
 sad, lest, now they were deprived of the courage 
 and conduct of Jonathan, the nations about 
 them should bear them ill-will; and as they 
 were before quiet on account of Jonathan, they 
 should now rise up against them, and by making 
 war with them, should force them into the ut- 
 most dangers. And, indeed, what they suspected 
 really befell them; for when those nations 
 heard of the death of Jonathan, they began to 
 make war with the Jews as now destitute of a 
 governor ; Trypho himself got an army together, 
 and had an intention to go up to Judea, and 
 make war against its inhabitants. But when 
 Simon saw that the people of Jerusalem were 
 terrified at the circumstances they were in, he 
 desired to make a speech to them, and thereby 
 to render them more resolute in opposing Trypho 
 when he should come against them He then 
 called the people together into the temple, and 
 thence began thus to encourage them : " O my 
 countvymen, you are not ignorant that our fa- 
 ther, myself, and my brethren, have ventured to 
 hazard our lives, and that willingly, for the re 
 covery of your liberty; since I have therefor*' 
 such plenty of examples befoie me, and we ol 
 our family have determined with ourselves to
 
 576 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xiii. 
 
 die for our laws and our divine worship, there 
 shall no terror be so great as to banish this reso- 
 lution from our souls, nor to introduce in its 
 place a love of life and a contempt of glory. Do 
 you therefore follow me with alacrity whither- 
 soever I shall lead you, as not destitute of such 
 a captain as is willing to suffer, and to do the 
 greatest things for you ; for neither am I better 
 than my brethren that I should be sparing of my 
 own life, nor so far worse than they as to avoid 
 and refuse what they thought the most honour- 
 able of all things, I mean to undergo death for 
 your laws, and for that worship of God which is 
 peculiar to you; I will therefore give such 
 proper demonstrations as will shew that I am 
 their own brother; and I am so bold as to expect 
 that I shall avenge their blood upon our ene- 
 mies, and deliver you all, with your wives and 
 children, from the injuries they intend against 
 you, and, with God's assistance, to preserve your 
 temple from destruction by them ; for I see that 
 these nations have you in contempt, as being 
 without a governor, and that they thence are 
 encouraged to make war against you." 
 
 4. By this speech of Simon he inspired the 
 multitude with courage ; and as they had before 
 been dispirited through fear, they were now 
 raised to a good hope of better things, insomuch 
 that the whole multitude of the people cried out 
 all at once, that Simon should be leader; and 
 that instead of Judas and Jonathan his brethren, 
 he should have government over them : and they 
 promised that they would readily obey him in 
 whatsoever he should command them. So he 
 got together immediately all his own soldiers 
 tliat were fit for war, and made haste in rebuild- 
 ing the walls of the city, and strengthening them 
 by very high and strong towers, and sent a friend 
 of his, one Jonathan, the son of Absalom, to 
 Joppa, and gave him order to eject the inhabi- 
 tants out of the city, for he was afraid lest they 
 should deliver up the city to Trypho; but he 
 himself stayed to secure Jerusalem. 
 
 5. But Trypho removed from Ptolemais with 
 a great army, and came into Judea, and brought 
 Jonathan with him in bonds. Simon also met 
 him with his army at the city Adida, which is 
 upon a hill, and beneath it lie the plains of 
 Judea. And when Trypho knew that Simon 
 was by the Jews made their governor, he sent to 
 him, and would have imposed upon him by de- 
 ceit and treachery, and desired, if he would 
 have his brother Jonathan released, that he 
 would send him a hundred talents of silver, and 
 two of Jonathan's sons as hostages, that when 
 he shall be released, he may not make Judea re- 
 volt from the king ; for that at present he was 
 kept in bonds on account of the money he had 
 borrowed of the king, and now owed it to him. 
 But Simon was aware of the craft of Trypho ; 
 and although he knew that if he gave him the 
 money he should lose it, and that Trypho would 
 not set his brother free, and withal should de- 
 liver the sons of Jonathan to the enemy, yet 
 because he was afraid that he should ha^e a 
 calumny raised against him among the multitude 
 as the cause of his brother's death, if he neither 
 gave the money, nor sent Jonathan's sons, he 
 gathered his army together, and told them what 
 oif ers Tiypho had made ; and added this, that 
 the offers were ensnaring and treacherous, and 
 yet that it was more eligible to send the money 
 *nd Jonathan's sons, than to bo liable to the 
 Imputation of not complying with Trypho's 
 offers, and thereby refusing to save his brother. 
 Accordingly, Simon sent the sons of Jonathan 
 and the money ; but when Trypho had received 
 v>cm. lie ili.l not keep his promise, nor set Jona- 
 
 than free, but took his army, and went about all 
 the country, resolved to go afterwards to Jeru- 
 salem, by the way of Idumea, while Simon went 
 over against him with his army, and all along 
 pitched his camp over against his. 
 
 6. But when those that were in the citadel 
 had sent to Trypho, and besought him to make 
 haste and come to them, and to send them pro- 
 visions, he prepared his cavalry as though he 
 would be at Jerusalem that very night ; but so 
 great a quantity of snow fell in the night, that 
 it covered the roads, and made them so deep, 
 that there was no passing, especially for the ca- 
 valry. This hindered him from coming to Jeru- 
 salem ; whereupon Trypho removed thence, and 
 came into Ccelesyria, and falling vehemently 
 upon the land of Gilead, he slew Jonathan there; 
 and when he had given order for his burial, he 
 returned himself to Antioch. However, Simon 
 sent some to the city Basca to bring away his 
 brother's bones, and buried them in their own 
 city Modin ; and all the people made a great 
 lamentation over him. Simon also erected a 
 very large monument for his father and his 
 brethren, of white and polished stone, and raised 
 it a great height, and so as to be seen a long way 
 off, and made cloisters about it, and set up pil- 
 lars, which were of one stone apiece ; a work it 
 was wonderful to see. Moreover, he built seven 
 pyramids also for his parents and brethren, ona 
 for each of them, which were made very sur- 
 prising, both for their largeness and beauty, and 
 which have been preserved to this day ; and we 
 know that it was Simon who bestowed so much 
 zeal about the burial of Jonathan, and the build- 
 ing of these monuments for his relations. Now 
 Jonathan died when he had been high priest 
 fourteen years, and had been also the governor 
 of his nation. And these were the circumstances 
 that concerned his death. 
 
 7. But Simon, who was made high priest by 
 the multitude, on the very first year of his high 
 priesthood, set his people free from their slavery 
 under the Macedonians, and permitted them 
 to pay tribute to them no longer ; which liberty 
 and freedom from tribute they obtained, after a 
 hundred and seventy years* of the kingdom of 
 the Assyrians, which was after Seleucus, who 
 was called Nicator, got the dominion over Syria. 
 Now the affection of the multitude towards 
 Simon was so great, that in their contracts one 
 with another, and in their public records, they 
 wrote, "in the first year of Simon the benefac- 
 tor, and ethnarch of the Jews ;" for under him 
 they were very happy, and overcame the enemies 
 that were round about them; for Simon over- 
 threw the city Gazara, and Joppa, and Jamnia. 
 He also took the citadel of Jerusalem by siege 
 and cast it down to the ground, that it might 
 not be any more a place of refuge to their ene- 
 mies when they took it, to do them a mischief, 
 as it had been till now. And when he had done 
 this, he thought it their best way, and most for 
 their advantage, to level the very mountain itself 
 upon which the citadel happened to stand, that 
 so the temple might be higher than it. And in- 
 deed, when he had called the multitude to an 
 assembly, he persuaded them to have it so de- 
 molished, and this by putting them in mind what 
 miseries they had suffered by its garrison and 
 the Jewish deserters; and what miseries they 
 might hereafter suffer in case any foreigner 
 should obtain the kingdom, and pat a garrison into 
 
 * These 170 years of the Assyrians mean no more 
 than from the era of Seleucus. Dr Hudson truly ob- 
 serves, that the Syrians and Assyrians are sometime! 
 confounded in ancient authors
 
 OH&P. vn,] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 277 
 
 that citadel. This speech induced the multitude 
 to a compliance, because he exhorted them to 
 do nothing but what was for their own good : so 
 they all set themselves to the work, and levelled 
 the mountain, and in that work spent both day 
 and night without intermission, which cost them 
 three whole years before it was removed, and 
 brought to an entire level with the plain of the 
 rest of the city. After which the temple was 
 the highest of all the buildings, now the citadel, 
 as well as the mountain whereon it stood, were 
 demolished. And these actions were thus per- 
 formed under Simon. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 HOW SIMON CONFEDERATED HIMSELF WITH ANTIO- 
 CHUS PIUS, AND MADE WAR AGAINST TRYPHO, 
 AND, A LITTLE AFTERWARDS, AGAINST CENDE- 
 BEUS, THE GENERAL OF ANTIOCHDS'S ARMY; 
 AS ALSO HOW SIMON WAS MDRDERED BY HIS 
 SON-IN-LAW, PTOLEMY, AND THAT BY TREA- 
 CHERY. 
 
 1. * Now a little while af h<r Demetrius had 
 been carried into captivity, Trypho his governor 
 destroyed An tiochu s, f the son of Alexander, who 
 was also called The God,^. and this when he had 
 reigned four years, though he gave it out that he 
 died under the hands of the surgeons. He then 
 sent his friends, and those that were most inti- 
 mate with him, to the soldiers, and promised 
 that he would give them a great deaf of money 
 if they would make him king. He intimated to 
 them that Demetrius was made a captive by the 
 Parthians ; and that Demetrius's brother Antio- 
 chus, if he came to be king, would do them a 
 great deal of mischief, in way of revenge for re- 
 volting from his brother. So the soldiers, in 
 expectation of the wealth they should get by 
 bestowing the kingdom upon Trypho, made him 
 their ruler. However, when Trypbo had gained 
 the management of affairs, he demonstrated his 
 disposition to be wicked; for while he was a 
 private person, he cultivated a familiarity with 
 the multitude, and pretended to great modera- 
 tion, and so drew them on artfully to whatso- 
 ever he pleased ; but when he had once taken 
 the kingdom, he laid aside any further dissimu- 
 lation, and was the true Trypho; which beha- 
 viour made his enemies superior to him ; for the 
 
 * It must here be noted that Josephus's copy of the 
 first book of Maccabees, which he had so carefully fol- 
 lowed, and faithfully abridged, as far as chap. xiii. 60, 
 eems there to have ended. What few things there are 
 afterwards common to both, might probably be learned 
 by him from some other more imperfect records. How- 
 ever, we must observe here, what the remaining part 
 of that book of the Maccabees informs us of, and what 
 Joephus would never have omitted had his copy con- 
 tained so much, that this Simon the Great, the Mac- 
 cabee, made a league with Antiochus Soter, the son of 
 Demetrius Soter, and brother of the other Demetrius, 
 who was now a captive in Parthia ; that upon his com- 
 inp to the crown, about the 140th year before the Chris- 
 tian era, he granted great privileges to the Jewish 
 nation and to Simon their high priest and ethnarch : 
 which privileges Simon seems to have taken of his own 
 accord about three years before. 
 
 t How Trypho killed this Antiochus, the epitome of 
 Livy informs us, chap. liii. viz., that he corrupted his 
 physicians or surgeons, who falsely pretended to the 
 people that he was perishing with the stone, as they 
 cut him for it, and killed him ; which exactly agrees 
 with Josephus. 
 
 t That this Antiochus, the son of Alexander Balas, 
 was called "the God," is evident from his coins, which 
 Dear this inscription : " Kirg Antiochus the God ; 
 Epiphanes the Victorious." 
 
 soldiers hated him, and revolted from him to 
 Cleopatra, the wife of Demetrius, who was then 
 shut up in Seleucia with her children ; but an 
 Antiochus, the brother of Demetrius, who was 
 called Soter, was not admitted by any of the 
 cities, on account of Trypho, Cleopatra sent to 
 him, and invited him to marry her, and to take 
 the kingdom. The reasons why she made this 
 invitation were these: That her friends per- 
 suaded her to it, and that she was afraid for 
 herself, in case some of the people of Seleucia 
 should deliver up the city to Trypho. 
 
 2. As Antiochus was now come to Seleucia, 
 and his forces increased every day, he marched 
 to fight Trypho ; and having beaten him in the 
 battle, he ejected him out of the Upper Syria 
 into Phoenicia, and pursued him thither, and 
 besieged him in Dora, which was a fortress hard 
 to be taken, whither he had fled. He also sent 
 ambassadors to Simon the Jewish high priest, 
 about a league of friendship and mutual assist- 
 ance ; who readily accepted of the invitation, and 
 sent to Antiochus great sums of money and 
 provisions for those that besieged Dora, and 
 thereby supplied them very plentifully, so that 
 for a little while he was looked upon as one of 
 his most mtimate friends ; but still Trypho fled 
 from Dora to Apamia, where he was taken during 
 the siege, and put to death, when he had reigned 
 three years. 
 
 3. However, Antiochus forgot the kind assist- 
 ance that Simon had afforded him in his neces- 
 sity, by reason of his covetous and wicked dis- 
 position, and committed an army of soldiers to 
 his friend Cendebeus, and sent him at once to 
 ravage Judea, and to seize Simon. When Simon 
 heard of Antiochus's breaking his league with 
 him, although he were now in years, yet, pro- 
 voked with the unjust treatment he had met 
 with from Antiochus, and taking a resolution 
 brisker than his age could well bear, he went like 
 a young man to act as general of his army. He 
 also sent his sons before among the most- hardy 
 of his soldiers, and he himself marched on with 
 his army another way, and laid many of his men 
 in ambushes in the narrow valleys between the 
 mountains ; nor did he fail of success in any one 
 of his attempts, but was too hard for his enemies 
 in every one of them. So he led the rest of his 
 life in peace, and did also himself make a league 
 with the Romans. 
 
 4. Now he was ruler of ti e Jews in all eight 
 years ; but at a feast came to his end. It was 
 caused by the treachery of his son-in-law Ptolemy, 
 who caught also his wife, and two of his sons, 
 and kept them in bonds. He also sent some 
 to kill John the third son, whose name was 
 Hyrcanus : but the young man perceiving them 
 coming, he avoided the danger he was in from 
 them, and made haste into the city [Jerusalem,] 
 as reiving on the good-will of the multitude, 
 because of the benefits they had received from 
 his father, and because of the hatred the same 
 multitude bare to Ptolemy ; so that when 
 Ptolemy was endeavouring to enter the city by 
 another gate, they drove him away, as having 
 already admitted Hyrcanus. 
 
 2 Here JosepXus begins to follow and to abridge the 
 next sacred Hebrew book, styled in the end of the first 
 book of Maccabees, "The Chronicle of John's [Hy- 
 canus] High Priesthood ; " but in some of the Greek 
 copies, "the fourth book of Maccabees."
 
 S78 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEW& 
 
 (BOOK xin. 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 HYROANUS RECEIVES THE HIGH PRIESTHOOD, AND 
 EJECTS PTOLEMY OUT OF THE COUNTRY ; AN- 
 TIOCHUS MAKES WAR AOAIN8T HYKCANU8, AND 
 AFTERWARDS MAKES A LEAGUE WITH HIM. 
 
 1. So Ptolemy retired to one of the fortresses 
 that was above Jericho, which was called Dagon. 
 But Hyrcanus having taken the high priesthood 
 that had been his father's before, and in the first 
 place propitiated God by sacrifices, he then made 
 an expedition against Ptolemy ; and when he 
 made his attacks upon the place, in other points 
 he was too hard for him, but was rendered 
 weaker than he, by the commiseration he had for 
 his mother and his brethren, and by that only ; 
 for Ptolemy brought them upon the wall, and 
 tormented them in sight of all, and threatened 
 that he would throw them down headlong, unless 
 Hyrcanus would leave off the siege ; and as he 
 thought that, so far as he relaxed to the siege 
 and taking of the place, so much favour did he 
 shew to those that were dearest to him by pre- 
 venting their misery, his zeal about it was cooled. 
 However, his mother spread out her hands, and 
 begged of him that he would not grow remiss on 
 her account, but indulge his indignation so much 
 the more, and that he would do his utmost to 
 take the place quickly, in order to get their 
 enemy under his power, and then to avenge upon 
 him what he had done to those that were dearest 
 to himself ; for that death would be to her sweet, 
 though with torment, if that enemy of theirs 
 might but be brought to punishment for his 
 wicked dealings to them. Now when his mother 
 said so, he resolved to take the fortress im- 
 mediately; but when he saw her beaten and 
 torn to pieces, his courage failed him, and he 
 could not but sympathise with what bis mother 
 suffered, and was thereby overcome ; and as the 
 siege Was drawn out into length by this means, 
 that year on which the Jews use to rest came 
 on ; for the Jews observe this rest every seventh 
 year, as they do every seventh day ; so that 
 Ptolemy being for this cause released from the 
 war,* he slew the brethren of Hyrcanus and his 
 mother : and when he had so done, he fled to 
 Zeno, who was called Cotylas, who was then the 
 tyrant of the city Philadelphia. 
 
 2. But Antiochus being very uneasy at the 
 miseries that Simon had brought upon him, he 
 invaded Judea in the fourth year of his reign, 
 and the first year of the principality of Hyr- 
 canus. in the hundred and sixty-second Olym- 
 piad. T And when he had burnt the country, he 
 shut up Hyrcanus in the city, which he encom- 
 passed round with seven encampments ; but did 
 nothing at the first, because of the strength of 
 the walls, and because of the valour of the be- 
 
 * Hence we learn, that In the days of this excellent 
 high priest, John Hyrcanus, the observation of the 
 Sabbatic Year required a rest from war, as did that of 
 the weekly Sabbath from work ; unless in the case of 
 necessity, when the Jews were attacked by their ene- 
 mies, in which case, indeed, they then allowed defensive 
 fighting to be lawful even on the Sabbath-day. But 
 then tt must be noted, that this rest from war no way 
 appears in the first book of Maccabees, (ch. xvi.,) but 
 the direct contrary; though indeed the Jews, in the 
 days of Antiochus Epiphanes, did not venture upon 
 fighting on the Sabbath-day, even in the defence of 
 their own lives, till the Asamoneans or Maccabees 
 decreed so to do. 
 
 t Josephus's copies say that this first year of John 
 Uyrcanus, which we have just now seen to be a Sab- 
 batic Year, was in the 162d Olympiad, whereas it was 
 for certain the second year of the 181st 
 
 sieged, although they were once in want of 
 water, which yet they were delivered from by a 
 large shower of rain, which fell at the setting of 
 the Ple'ades. J However, about the north part 
 of the wall, where it happened the city was upon 
 a level with the outward ground, the king raised 
 a hundred towers of three stories high, and 
 placed bodies of soldiers upon them ; and as he 
 made his attacks every day, he cut a double 
 ditch, deep and broad, and confined the inhabi- 
 tants within it as within a wall ; but the be- 
 sieged contrived to make frequent sallies out ; 
 and if the enemy were not anywhere upon their 
 guard, they fell upon them, and did them a 
 great deal of mischief; and if they perceived 
 them, they then retired into the city with ease. 
 But because Hyrcanus discerned the inconveni- 
 ence of so great a number of men in the city, 
 while the provisions were the sooner spent by 
 them, and yet, as is natural to suppose, those 
 great numbers did nothing, he separated the 
 useless part, and excluded them out of the city, 
 and retained that part only who were in the 
 ttower of their age, and fit for war. However, 
 Antiochus would not let those that were ex- 
 cluded go away ; who, therefore, wandering 
 about between the walls, and consuming away 
 by famine, died miserably ; but when the feast 
 of tabernacles was at hand, those that were 
 within commiserated their condition, and re- 
 ceived them in again. And when Hyrcanus 
 sent to Antiochus, and desired there might be a 
 truce for seven days, because of the festival, he 
 gave way to this piety towards God, and made 
 that truce accordingly , and besides that, he 
 sent in a magnificent sacrifice, bulls with their 
 horns gilded,! with all sorts of sweet spices, and 
 with cups of gold and silver. So those that were 
 at the gates received the sacrifices from thosi 
 that brought them, and led them to the templu, 
 Antiochus the meanwhile feasting his army, 
 which was a quite different conduct from 
 Antiochus Epiphanes, who, when he had taken 
 the city, offered swine upon the altar, and 
 sprinkled the .temple with the broth of their 
 flesh, in order to violate the laws of the Jews, 
 and the religion they derived from their fore- 
 fathers ; for which reason our nation made war 
 with him, and would never be reconciled to 
 him ; but for this Antiochus, all men called him 
 Antiochus the Pious, for the great zeal he ha<J 
 about religion. 
 
 3. Accordingly, Hyroanus took this modera- 
 tion of his kindly ; and when he understood how 
 religious he was towards the Deity, he sent an 
 embassage to him, and desired that he would 
 restore the settlements they received from their 
 forefathers. So he rejected the counsel of those 
 that would have him utterly destroy the nation|| 
 by reason of their way of living, which was to 
 others unsociable, and did not regard what they 
 said. But being persuaded that all they did 
 was out of a religious mind, he answered the 
 ambassadors, that if the besieged would deliver 
 up their arms, and pay tribute for Joppa, and 
 the other cities which bordered upon Judea, and 
 
 J This helical setting of the Pleiades was, in the 
 days of Hyrcanus and Josephus, early in the spring, 
 about February, the time of the latter rain in Judea : 
 and this is the only astronomical character of time, 
 besides one eclipse of the moon in the reign of Herod, 
 that we meet with in all Josephus. 
 
 5 Dr Hudson tells us that this custom of gilding the 
 horns of those oxen that were to be sacrificed, is a 
 known thing both in the poets and orators. 
 
 II This account in Josephus, that the present Antio- 
 chus was persuaded, though in vain, not to make peace 
 with the Jews, but cut them off utterly, is fully con. 
 firmed by Diodorns Siculus.
 
 CHAP. IX.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 278 
 
 admit a garrison of his on these terms, he would 
 make war against them no longer. But the 
 Jews, although they were content with the other 
 conditions, did not agree to admit the garrison, 
 because they could not associate with other 
 people, nor converse with them; yet were they 
 willing, instead of the admission of the garrison, 
 to give him hostages, and five hundred talents 
 of silver ; of which they paid down three hun- 
 dred, and sent the hostages immediately, which 
 king Antiochus accepted. One of those host- 
 ages was Hyrcanus's brother. But still he broke 
 down the fortifications that encompassed the 
 city. And upon these conditions Antiochus 
 broke up the siege, and departed. 
 
 4. But Hyrcanus opened the sepulchre of 
 David, who "excelled all other kings in riches, 
 and took out of it three thousand talents. He 
 was also the first of the Jews that, relying on 
 this wealth, maintained foreign troops. There 
 was also a league of friendship and mutual assis- 
 tance made between them, upon which Hyr- 
 canus admitted him into the city, and furnished 
 him with whatsoever his army wanted in great 
 plenty, and with great generosity, and marched 
 along with him when he made an expedition 
 against the Parthians, of which Nicolaus of 
 Damascus is a witness for us ; who, in his his- 
 tory, writes thus : "When Antiochus had 
 erected a trophy at. the river Lycus, upon his 
 conquest of Indates, the general of the Par- 
 thians, he stayed there two days. It was the 
 desire of Hyrcanus the Jew, because it was such 
 a festival derived to them from their forefathers, 
 whereon the law of the Jews did not allow them 
 to travel. " And truly he did not speak falsely 
 in saying so; for that festival, which we call 
 Pentecost, did then fall out to be the next day to 
 the Sabbath : nor is it lawful for us to journey, 
 either on the Sabbath-day, or on a festival day.* 
 But when Antiochus joined battle with Arsaces, 
 the king of Parthia, he lost a great part of his 
 army, and was himself slain ; and his brother 
 Demetrius succeeded in the kingdom of Syria, 
 by the permission of Arsaces, who freed him 
 from his captivity at the same time that Antio- 
 ohus attacked Parthia, as we have formerly re- 
 lated elsewhere. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 HOW, AFTBB THE DEATH OF ANTIOCHUS, HYB- 
 OANUS MADE AN EXPEDITION AGAINST 3TEIA, 
 AND MADE A LEAGUE WITH THE BOMANS J CON- 
 CERNING THE DEATH OF KING DEMETKIUS AND 
 
 ALEXANDER. 
 
 L EOT when Hyrcanus heard of the death of 
 Antiochus, he presently made an expedition 
 against the cities of Syria, hoping to find them 
 destitute of fighting men, and of such as were 
 able to defend them. However, it was not till 
 the sixth month that he took Medaba, and that 
 not without the greatest distress of his army. 
 After this he took Samega, and the neighbour- 
 ing places, and, besides these, Shechem and 
 Gerizzim, and the nation of the Cutheans, who 
 dwelt at the temple which resembled that 
 temple which was at Jerusalem, and which 
 Alexander permitted Sanballat, the general of 
 bis army, to build for the sake of Manasseh, 
 
 * The Jews were not to march or journey on the 
 Sabbath, or on auch a great festival as was equivalent 
 to the Sabbath, any further than a Sabbath-day's jour- 
 ney, or two thousand cubits. 
 
 who was son-in-law to Jadua the high priest, as 
 we have formerly related ; which temple wan 
 now deserted two hundred years after it was 
 built. Hyrcanus took also Dora and Marissa, 
 cities of Iilumea, and subdued all the Idumeans ; 
 and permitted them to stay in that country, if 
 they would circumcise their genitals, and make 
 use of the laws of the Jews; and they were so 
 desirous of living in the country of their fore- 
 fathers, that they submitted to the use of cir- 
 cumcision, t and the rest of the Jewish ways of 
 living ; at which time therefore this befell them, 
 that they were hereafter no other than Jews. 
 
 2. But Hyrcanus the high priest was desirous 
 to renew the league of friendship they had with 
 the Romans : accordingly he sent an embassage 
 to them ; and when the senate had received their 
 epistle, they made a league of friendship with 
 them, after the manner following: "Fanius, 
 the son of Marcus, the praeter, gathered the 
 senate together on the eighth day before the 
 Ids of February, in the senate-house, when 
 Lucius Manlius, the son of Lucius, of the Men- 
 tine tribe, and Caius Sempronius, the son of 
 Caius, of the Falernian tribe, were present. Tha 
 occasion was, that the ambassadors sent by the 
 people of the Jews,J Simon the son of Dosi- 
 theus, and Apollonius the son of Alexander, 
 and Diodorus the son of Jason, who were good 
 and virtuous men, had somewhat to propose 
 about that league of friendship and mutual as- 
 sistance which subsisted between them and the 
 Romans, and about other public affairs, who de- 
 sired that Joppa, and the havens, and Gazara, 
 and the springs [of Jordan,] and the several 
 other cities and countries of theirs, which Antio- 
 chus had taken from them in the war, contrary 
 to the decree of the senate, might be restored to 
 them ; and that it might not be lawful for the 
 king's troops to pass through their country, and 
 the countries of those that are subject to them : 
 and that what attempts Antiochus had made 
 during that war, without the decree of the 
 senate, might be made void : and that they 
 would send ambassadors, who should take care 
 that restitution be made them of what Antio- 
 chus had taken from them, and that they should 
 make an estimate of the country that had been 
 laid waste in the war : and that they would grant 
 them letters of protection to the kings and free 
 people, in order to their quiet return home. It was 
 therefore decreed as to these points, to renew 
 their league of friendship and mutual assistance 
 with these good men, and who were sent by a 
 good and friendly people. " But as to the letters 
 desired, their answer was, that the senate would 
 consult about that matter when their own affairs 
 would give them leave ; and that they would en- 
 
 t This account of the Idumeans admitting circum- 
 cision, and the entire Jewish law, from this time, or 
 from the days of Hyrcanus, is confirmed by their entire 
 history afterwards. This, in the opinion of Josephus, 
 made them proselytes of justice, or entire Jews. How- 
 ever, Antigonus, the enemy of Herod, though Herod 
 were derived from such a proselyte of justice for seve- 
 ral generations, will allow him to be no more than a 
 half Jew. Ammoniua, a grammarian, says : " The 
 Jews are such by nature, and from the beginning, 
 whilst the Idumeans were not Jews from the begin- 
 ning, but Phoenicians and Syrians ; but being afterwards 
 subdued by the Jews and compelled to be circumcised, 
 and to unite into one nation, and be subject to the 
 same laws, they were called Jew." Dio also says : 
 "That country is also called Judea, and the people 
 Jews ; and this name is given also to as many as em- 
 brace their religion, though of other nations." 
 
 1 In this decree of the Roman senate, it seems that 
 these ambassadors were sent from the "people of the 
 Jews," as well as from their prince or high priest John.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xrn. 
 
 (leavoor, for the time to come, that no like injury 
 xhould be done them ; and that their prater Fa- 
 niusshouldgivethem moneyout of the public trea- 
 sury to bear their expenses home. And thus did 
 Fiinius dismiss the Jewish ambassadors, and gave 
 them money out of the public treasury ; and gave 
 the decree of the senate to those that were to con- 
 duct them, and to take care that they should re- 
 turn home in safety. 
 
 3. And thus stood the affairs of Hyrcanus the 
 high priest. But as for king Demetrius, who 
 had a mind to make war against Hyrcanus, there 
 was no opportunity nor room for it, while both 
 the Syrians and the soldiers bare ill-will to him, 
 because he was an ill man. But when they had 
 sent ambassadors to Ptolemy, who was called 
 Physcon, that he would send them one of the 
 family of Seleucus, in order to take the kingdom, 
 and he sent them Alexander, who was called 
 Zebina, with an army, and there had been a 
 battle between them, Demetrius was beaten in 
 the fight, and fled to Cleopatra his wife, to 
 Ptolemais ; but his wife would not receive him. 
 He went thence to Tyre, and was there caught ; 
 and when he had suffered much from his enemies 
 before his death, he was slain by them. So 
 Alexander took the kingdom, and made a league 
 with Hyrcanus. Yet, when he afterward fought 
 with Antiochus the son of Demetrius, who was 
 called Grypus, he was also beaten in the fight, 
 and slain. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 HOW, UPON THE QUARREL BETWEEN ANTIOCHUS 
 GRTPUS AND ANTIOCHUS CYZICENUS, ABOUT THE 
 KINGDOM, HYRCANUS TOOK SAMARIA, AND UT- 
 TERLY DEMOLISHED IT ; AND HOW HYRCANUS 
 JOINED HIMSELF TO THE SECT OP THE 8ADDU- 
 CEES, AND LEFT THAT OF THE PHARISEES. 
 
 1. WHEN Antiochus had taken the kingdom, 
 he was afraid to make war against Judea, be- 
 cause he heard that his brother by the same 
 mother, who _was called Antiochus, was raising 
 an army against him out of Cyzicum ; so he 
 stayed in his own land, and resolved to prepare 
 himself for the attack he expected from his bro- 
 ther, who was called Cyzicenus, because he had 
 been brought up in that city. He was the son 
 of Antiochus that was called Soter, who died in 
 Parthia. He was the brother of Demetrius, the 
 father of Grypus ; for it had so happened, that 
 one and the same Cleopatra was married to two 
 who were brethren, as we have related else- 
 where. But Antiochus Cyzicenus coming into 
 Syria, continued many years at war with his 
 brother. Now Hyrcanus lived all this while in 
 peace ; for after the death of Antiochus he re- 
 Tolted from the Macedonians,* nor did he any 
 longer pay them the least regard, either as their 
 subject or their friend, but his affairs were in a 
 very improving and flourishing condition in the 
 times of Alexander Zebina, and especially under 
 these brethren, for the war which they had with 
 one another gave Hyrcanus the opportunity of 
 enjoying himself in Judea quietly, insomuch 
 that he got an immense quantity of money 
 However, when Antiochus Cyzicenus distressed 
 is land, he then openly shewed what he meant 
 And when he saw that Antiochus was destitute 
 Egyptian auxiliaries, and that both he and his 
 
 Justin says, The power of the Jews was now 
 
 Th Pa 8 r/ re! V ha ? after this Ant i<*us, they would 
 any Macedonian king over them ; and that 
 
 61 * f thdr W "' d lnfested 
 
 brother were in an ill condition in the struggle* 
 they had one with another, he despised them 
 both. 
 
 2. So he made an expedition against Samaria, 
 which was a very strong city ; of whose present 
 name Sebaste, and its rebuilding by Herod, we 
 shall speak at a proper time ; but he made his 
 attack against it, and besieged it with a great 
 deal of pains ; for he was greatly displeased with 
 the Samaritans for the injuries they had done to 
 the people of Marissa, a colony of the Jews, and 
 confederate with them and this in compliance 
 to the kings of Syria When he had therefore 
 drawn a ditch, and built a double wall round the 
 city, which was fourscore furlongs long, he set 
 his sons Antigonus and Aristobulus over the 
 siege ; which brought the Samaritans to that 
 great distress by famine, that they were forced 
 to eat what used not be eaten, and to call for 
 Antiochus Cyzicenus to help them, who came 
 readily to their assistance, but was beaten by 
 Aristobulus ; and when he was pursued as far as 
 Scythopolis by the two brethren, he got away : 
 so they returned to Samaria, and shut them 
 again within the wall, till they were forced to 
 send for the same Antiochus a second time to 
 help them, who procured about six thousand 
 men from Ptolemy Lathyrus, which were sent 
 them without his mother's consent, who had 
 then in a manner turned him out of his govern- 
 ment. With these Egyptians Antiochus did at 
 first overrun and ravage the country of Hyrcanus 
 after the manner of a robber, for he durst not 
 meet him in the face to fight with him, as not 
 having an army sufficient for that purpose, but 
 only from this supposal, that by thus harassing 
 his land he should force Hyrcanus to raise the 
 siege of Samaria ; but because he fell into snares, 
 and lost many of his soldiers therein, he went 
 away to Tripoli, and committed the prosecution 
 of the war against the Jews to Callimander and 
 Epicrates. 
 
 3. But as to Callimander, he attacked the 
 enemy too rashly, and was put to flight, and de- 
 stroyed immediately; and as to Epicrates, he 
 was such a lover of money, that he openly be- 
 trayed Scythopolis, and other places near it, to 
 the Jews ; but was not able to make them raise 
 the siege of Samaria. And when Hyrcanus had 
 taken the city, which was not done till after a 
 year's siege, he was not contented with doing 
 that only, but he demolished it entirely, and 
 brought rivulets to it to drown it, for he dug 
 such hollows as might let the waters run under 
 it ; nay, he took away the very marks that there 
 had ever been such a city there. Now a very 
 surprising thing is related of this high priest 
 Hyrcanus, how God came to discourse with him : 
 for they say that on the very same day on which 
 his sons fought with Antiochus Cyzicenus, he 
 was alone in the temple, as high priest, offering 
 incense, and heard a voice, that his sons had 
 just then overcome Antiochus. And this he 
 openly declared before all the multitude on his 
 coming out of the temple ; and it accordingly 
 proved true ; and in this posture were the affairr 
 of Hyrcanus. 
 
 4. Now it happened at this time, that not only 
 those Jews who were at Jerusalem and in Judea 
 were in prosperity, but alsc those of them that 
 were at Alexandria, and in Egypt, and Cyprus, 
 for Cleopatra the queen was at variance with her 
 son Ptolemy, who was called Lathyrus, and ap- 
 pointed for her generals, Chelcias and Ananias, 
 the sons of that Onias who built the temple in 
 the prefecture of Heliopolis, like that at Jerusa- 
 lem, as we have elsewhere related. Cleopatra 
 intrusted these men with her army; and did
 
 CHAP. XT.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS 
 
 281 
 
 nothing without their advice, as Strabo of Cap- 
 padocia attests, when he saith thus: "Now 
 the greater part, both those that came to Cyprus 
 with us, and those that were sent afterward 
 thither, revolted to Ptolemy immediately ; only 
 those that were called Onias's party, being Jews, 
 continued faithful, because their countrymen 
 Chelcias and Ananias were in chief far with 
 the queen." These are the words of Strabo. 
 
 5. However, this prosperous state of affairs 
 moved the Jews to envy Hyrcanus ; but they 
 that were the worst disposed to him were the 
 Pharisees,* who are one of the sects of the Jews, 
 as we have informed you already. These have 
 so great a power over the multitude, that when 
 they say anything against the king or against 
 the high priest, they are presently believed. 
 Now Hyrcanus was a disciple of theirs, and 
 greatly beloved by them. And when he once 
 invited them to a feast, and entertained them 
 very kindly, when he saw them in a good 
 humour, he began to say to them, that they 
 knew he was desirous to be a righteous man, and 
 to do all things whereby he might please God, 
 which was the profession of the Pharisees also. 
 However, he desired, that if they observed him 
 offending in any point, and going out of the 
 right way, they would call him back and correct 
 him. On which occasion they attested to his 
 being entirely virtuous ; with which commenda- 
 tion he was well pleased ; but still there was 
 one of his guests there, whose name was Eleazar, 
 a man of an ill temper, and delighting in sedi- 
 tious practices. This man said, " Since thou 
 desirest to know the truth, if thou wilt be 
 righteous in earnest, lay down the high priest- 
 hood, and content thyself with the civil govern- 
 ment of the people." And when he desired to 
 know for what cause he ought to iay down the 
 high priesthood, the other re^'^-d, " We have 
 heard it from old men, that" thy mother had 
 been a captive under the reign of Antiochus 
 Epiphanes."")" This story was false, and Hyrca- 
 nus was provoked against him ; and all the 
 Pharisees had a very great indignation against 
 him. 
 
 6. Now there was one Jonathan, a very great 
 friend of Hyrcanus, but of the sect of the Sad- 
 ducees, whose notions are quite contrary to those 
 of the Pharisees. He told Hyrcanus that Ele- 
 azar had cast such a reproach upon him, accord- 
 ing to the common sentiments of all the Pharisees. 
 and that this would be made manifest if he 
 would but ask him the question, "What punish- 
 ment they thought this deserved? for that he 
 might depend upon it, that the reproach was not 
 laid BE ilim with their approbation, if they were 
 for punishing him as his crime deserved. So the 
 
 * Dan Prideaux upon this the first public appear- 
 mce of the Sadducees. says : " Hyrcanns went over 
 to the party of the Sadducees, that is, by embracing 
 their doctrine against the traditions of the elders, 
 added to the written law, and made of equal authority 
 with it, but not their doctrine against the resurrection 
 and a future state ; for this cannot be supposed against 
 go good and righteous a man as John Hyrcanus is said 
 to be. It is most probable, that at this time the Sad- 
 ducees had gone no further in the doctrines of that 
 Beet than to deny all their unwritten traditions, which 
 the Pharisees were so fond of ; for Josephus mentions 
 no other difference at this time between them ; neither 
 does he say that Hyrcanus went over to the Sadducees 
 in any other particular than in the abolishing of all the 
 traditionary constitutions of the Pharisees, which our 
 Saviour condemned as well as they." 
 
 f This slander, that arose from a Pharisee, has been 
 preserved by their successors the Rabbins to these later 
 ges ; for David Gantz, in his Chronology, relates that 
 Hyreanus's mother was taken captive in mount Mc- 
 4inth 
 
 Pharisees made answer, that he deserved stripes 
 and bonds ; but that it did not seem right to 
 punish reproaches with death ; and indeed the 
 Pharisees, even upon other occasions, are not apt 
 to be severe in punishments. At this gentle 
 sentence, Hyrcanus was very angry, and thought 
 that this man reproached him by their approba- 
 tion. It was this Jonathan who chiefly irritated 
 him, and influenced him so far, that he made 
 him leave the party of the Pharisees, and abolish 
 the decrees they had imposed on the people, and 
 punish those that observed them. From thia 
 source arose that hatred which he and his sons 
 met with from the multitude : but of these 
 matters we shall speak hereafter. What I would 
 now explain is this, that the Pharisees have 
 delivered to the people a great many observances 
 by succession from their fathers, which are not 
 written in the law of Moses ; and for that reason 
 it is that the Sadducees reject them, and say 
 that we are to esteem those observances to be 
 obligatory which are in the written word, but 
 are not to observe what are derived from the 
 tradition of our forefathers ; and concerning these 
 things it is that great disputes and differences 
 have arisen among them, while the Sadducees 
 are able to persuade none but the rich, and have 
 not the populace obsequious to them, but the 
 Pharisees have the multitude of their side : hut 
 about these two sects, and that of the Essens, 
 I have treated accurately in the second book of 
 Jewish affairs. 
 
 7. But when Hyrcanus had put an end to this 
 sedition, h after that lived happily, and admin- 
 istered the government in the best manner for 
 thirty -one years, and then died,J leaving behind 
 him five sons. He was esteemed by God worthy 
 of the three privileges, the government of his 
 nation, the dignity of the high priesthood, and 
 prophecy ; for God was with him, and enabled 
 him to know futurities ; and to foretell this in 
 particular, that, as to his two eldest sons, he 
 foretold that they would not long continue in the 
 government of public affairs ; whose unhappy 
 catastrophe will be worth our description, that 
 we may thence learn how very much they were 
 inferior to their father's happiness. 
 
 CHAPTEK XI. 
 
 HOW ARISTOBULUS, WHEN HE HAD TAKEN THE 
 GOVERNMENT, FIRST OF ALL PUT A DIADEM ON 
 HIS HEAD, AND WAS MOST BARBAROUSLY CRUEL 
 TO HIS MOTHER AND HIS BRETHREN ; AND HOW, 
 AFTER HE HAD SLAIN ANTIGONUS, HE HIMSELF 
 DIED. 
 
 1. Now when their father Hyrcanus was dead, 
 the eldest son Aristobulus, intending to change 
 the government into a kingdom, for so he re- 
 solved to do, first of all put a diadem on his 
 head, four hundred and eighty-one years and 
 three months after the people had been delivered 
 from the Babylonish slavery, and were returned 
 to their own country again. This Aristobulus 
 loved his next brother Antigonus, and treated 
 him as his equal; but the others he held in 
 bonds. He tJso cast his mother into prison, 
 because she disputed the government with him ; 
 
 J Here ends the life of this excellent person, and 
 together with him the holy theocracy, or divine go- 
 vernment of the Jewish nation, and its concomitant 
 oracle by TJrim. Now follows the profane and tyran- 
 nical Jewish monarchy, first, of the Asamoneans 01 
 Maccabees, and then of Herod the Great, the Idumeaa, 
 till the coming of the Messiah,
 
 182 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEW8. 
 
 [BOOK. xm. 
 
 for Hyrcanun had left her to be mistress of alL 
 He also proceeded to that degree of barbarity, 
 as to kill her in prison with hunger ; nay, he 
 was alienated from his brother Antigonus by 
 calumnies, and added him to the rest whom he 
 slew; yet he seemed to have an affection for 
 him, and made him above the rest a partner with 
 him in the kingdom. ^hose calumnies he at 
 first did not give credit to, partly because he 
 loved him, and so did not give heod to what was 
 said against him, and partly because he thought 
 the reproaches were derived from the envy of 
 the relaters. But when Antigonus was once 
 returned from the army, and that feast was then 
 at hand when they make tabernacles to [the 
 honour of] God, it happened that Aristobulus 
 was fallen sick, and that Antigonus went up 
 most splendidly adorned, and with his soldiers 
 about him in their armour to the temple to 
 celebrate the feast, and to put up many prayers 
 for the recovery of his brother, when some 
 wicked persons, who had a great mind to raise a 
 difference between the brethren, made use of this 
 opportunity of the pompous appearance of An- 
 tigonus, and of the great actions which he had 
 done, and went to the king, and spitefully 
 aggravated the pompous show of his at the feast, 
 and pretended that all these circumstances were 
 not like those of a private person ; that these 
 actions were indications of an affectation of 
 royal authority ; and that his coming with a 
 strong body of men must be with an intention to 
 kill him ; and that his way of reasoning was 
 this : That it was a silly thing in him, while it 
 was in his power to reign himself, to look upon 
 it as a great favour that he was honoured with a 
 lower dignity by his brother. 
 
 2. Aristobulus yielded to these imputations, 
 but took care both that his brother should not 
 suspect him, and that he himself might not run 
 the hazard of his own safety ; so he ordered his 
 guards to lie in a certain place that was under- 
 ground, and dark, (he himself then lying sick in 
 the tower which was called Antonia;) and he 
 commanded them, that in case Antigonus came 
 in to him unarmed, they should not touch any 
 body, but if armed, they should kill him ; yet 
 did he send to Antigonus, and desired that he 
 would come unarmed : but the queen, and those 
 that joined with her in the plot against Anti- 
 gonus, persuaded the messenger to tell him the 
 direct contrary: how his brother had heard that 
 he had made himself a fine suit of armour for 
 war, and desired him to come to him in that 
 armour, that he might see how fine it was. So 
 Antigonus, suspecting no treachery, but depend - 
 ing_ on the good-will of his brother, came to 
 Aristobulus armed as he used to be, with his 
 ntire armour, in order to shew it to him ; but 
 when he was come to a place which was called 
 Btrato's Tower, where the passages happened to 
 be exceeding dark, the guards slew him ; which 
 death demonstrates that nothing is stronger than 
 eavy and calumny, and that nothing does more 
 certainly divide the good-will and natural affec- 
 tions of men than those passions. But here one 
 may take occasion to wonder at one Judas, who 
 was of the sect of the Essens, and who never 
 missed the truth in his predictions; for this man, 
 when he saw Antigonus passing by the temple, 
 cried to his companions and friends who abode 
 with him as hia scholars, in order to learn the 
 art of foretelling things to come, "That it was 
 good for him to die now, since he had spoken 
 falsely about Antigonus, who is still alive, and I 
 see him passing by, although he had foretold 
 that he should die at the place called Strato's 
 Tower that very day, while yet the place is six 
 
 hundred furlongs off where he had foretold ha 
 should be slain ; and still this day is a great part 
 of it already past, so that he was in danger oi 
 proving a false prophet." As he was saying 
 this, and that in a melancholy mood, the new* 
 came that Antigonus was slain in a place under- 
 ground, which itself was called also Strato'g 
 Tower, or of the same name with that Cesarea 
 which is seated at the sea. This evnt jrat the 
 prophet into a great disorder. 
 
 3. But Aristobulus repented immediately oi 
 his slaughter of his brother ; on which account 
 his disease increased upon him, and he was dis- 
 turbed in his mind, upon the guilt of such wick- 
 edness, insomuch that his entrails were cor- 
 rupted by his intolerable pain, and he vomited 
 blood: at which time one of the servants that 
 attended upon him, and was carrying his blood 
 away, did, by divine providence, as I cannot but 
 suppose, slip down and shed part of his blood at 
 the very place where there were spots of Anti- 
 gonus's blood there slain, still remaining ; and 
 when there was a cry made by the spectators, as 
 if the servant had on purpose shed the blood on 
 that place, Aristobulus heard it, and inquired 
 what the matter was ; and as they did not an- 
 swer him, he was the more earnest to know 
 what it was, it being natural to men to suspect 
 that what is thus concealed is very bad : so upon 
 his threatening, and forcing them by terrors to 
 speak, they at length told him the truth ; where- 
 upon he shed many tears, in that disorder of 
 mind which arose from his consciousness of what 
 he had done, and gave a deep groan, and said, 
 " I am not, therefore, I perceive to be concealed 
 from God, in the impious and horrid crimes I 
 have been guilty of ; but a sudden punishment 
 is coming upon me for the shedding the blood of 
 my relations. And now, O thou most impudent 
 body of mine, how long wilt thou retain a soul 
 that ought to die, in order to appease the ghost 
 of my brother and my mother ? Why dost thou 
 not give it all up at once ? And why do I deliver 
 up my blood, drop by drop, to those whom I 
 have so wickedly murdered ? '' In saying which 
 last words he died, having reigned a year. He 
 was called a lover of the Grecians ; and had con- 
 ferred many benefits on his own country, and 
 made war against Iturea, and added a great part 
 of it to Judea, and compelled the inhabitants, 
 if they would continue in that country, to be cir- 
 cumcised, and to live according to the Jewish 
 laws. He was naturally a man of candour, and 
 of great modesty, as Strabo bears witness in the 
 name of Timagenes : who says thus: " This man 
 was a person of candour, and very serviceable to 
 the Jews, for he added a country to them, and 
 obtained a part of the nation of the Itureans for 
 them, and bound them to them by the bond of 
 the circumcision of their genitals." 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 HOW ALEXANDER, WHEN HE HAD TAKEN THE GO- 
 VERNMENT, MADE AN EXPEDITION AGAINST PTO- 
 LEMAIS, AND THEN RAISED THE SIEGE, OUT OF 
 FEAR OF PTOLEMY LATHYRDS ; AND HOW PTO- 
 LEMY MADE WAR AGAINST HIM, BECAUSE HB 
 flAD SENT TO CLEOPATRA TO PERSUADE HER TO 
 MAKE WAR AGAINST PTOLEMY, AND YET PRE- 
 TENDED TO BE IN FRIENDSHIP WTTH HIM, WHEN 
 HE WENT TO BEAT THE JEWS IN 6ATTLE. 
 
 1. WHEN Aristobulus was dead, his wife fa 
 lome, who, by the Greeks, was called Alexandra, 
 let hw brethren out of prison, (for AristobuIuB
 
 OHAP. XII.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 283 
 
 had kept them in bonds, as we have said already,) 
 and made Alexander Janneus king, who was the 
 superior in age and in moderation. This child 
 hap]>ened to be hated by his father as soon as ho 
 was born, and could never be permitted to come 
 into his father's sight till he died. The occasion 
 of which hatred is thus reported : when Hyrea- 
 QUS chiefly loved the two eldest of his sons, 
 Antigonus and Aristobulus, God appeared to 
 him in his sleep, of whom he inquired which of 
 his sons should be his successor. Upon God's 
 representing to him the countenance of Alexan- 
 der, he was grieved that he was to be the heir of 
 all bis goods, and suffered him to be brought up 
 in ( lalilee. However, God did not deceive Hyr- 
 canus, for after the death of Aristobulus, he cer- 
 tainly took the kingdom ; and one of his brethren 
 who affected the kingdom he slew ; and the other 
 who chose to live a private and quiet life, he had 
 in esteem. 
 
 2. When Alexander Janneus had settled the 
 government in the manner that he judged best, 
 he made an expedition against Ptolemais ; and 
 having overcome the men in battle, he shut them 
 up in the city, and sat round about it, and be- 
 sieged it ; for of the maritime cities there re- 
 mained only Ptolemais and Gaza to be conquered, 
 besides Strato's Tower and Dora, which were 
 held by the tyrant Zoilus. Now while Antio- 
 chus Philometor, and Antiochus who was called 
 Cyzicenus, were making war against one another, 
 and destroying one another's armies, the people 
 of Ptolemais could have no assistance from them ; 
 but when they were distressed with this siege, 
 Zoilus, who possessed Strato's Tower and Dora, 
 and maintained a legion of soldiers, and, on occa- 
 sion of the contest between the kings, affected 
 tyranny himself, came and brought some small 
 assistance to the people of Ptolemais ; nor in- 
 deed had the king such a friendship for them as 
 that they should hope for any advantage from 
 them. But both those kings were in the case of 
 wrestling, who finding themselves deficient in 
 strength, and yet being ashamed to yield, put 
 off the fight by laziness, and by lying still as 
 long as they can. The only hope they had re- 
 maining was from the kings of Egypt, and from 
 Ptolemy Lathyrus, who now held Cyprus, and 
 who came to Cyprus when he was driven from 
 the government of Egypt by Cleopatra his 
 mother : so the people of Ptolemais sent to this 
 Ptolemy Lathyrus and desired him to rome as a 
 confederate, to deliver them, now they were in 
 such danger, out of the hands of Alexander. 
 And as the ambassadors gave him hopes, that if 
 he would pass over into Syria, he would have 
 the people of Gaza on the side of those of Ptole- 
 mais ; as they also said that Zoilus, and besides 
 these the Sidonians and many others would as- 
 sist them, so he was elevated at this, and got his 
 fleet ready as soon as possible. 
 
 3. But in this interval Demetrius, one that 
 was of abilities to persuade men to do as he 
 would have them, and a leader of the populace, 
 made those of Ptolemais change their opinions ; 
 and said to them, that it was better to run the 
 hazard of being subject to the Jews than to 
 admit of evident slavery by delivering them- 
 selves up to a master ; and besides that, to have 
 not only a war at present, but to expect a much 
 greater war from Egypt; for that Cleopatra 
 would not overlook an army raised by Ptolemy 
 for himself out of the neighbourhood, but would 
 come against them with a great army of her own, 
 and this because she was labouring to eject her 
 son out of Cyprus also : that as for Ptolemy, if 
 he fail of his hopes, he can still retire to Cyprus ; 
 but that they will be left in the greatest danger 
 
 possible. Now Ptolemy, although he had heard 
 of the change that was made in the people of 
 Ptolemais, yet did he still go on with his voy- 
 age, and came to the country called Sycamine, 
 and there set his army on shore. This army of 
 his, in the whole horse and foot together, were 
 about thirty thousand, with which he marched 
 near to Ptolemais, and there pitched his camp : 
 but when the people of Ptolemais neither re- 
 ceived his ambassadors nor would hear what 
 they had to say, he was under a very great 
 concern. 
 
 4. But when Zoilus and the people of Gaza 
 came to him, and desired his assistance, because 
 their country was laid waste by the Jews, and 
 by Alexander Alexander raised the siege, for 
 fear of Ptolemy : and when he had drawn off 
 his army into his own country, he used a strata- 
 gem afterwards, by privately inviting Cleopatra 
 to come against Ptolemy, but publicly pretend- 
 ing to desire a league of friendship and mutual 
 assistance with him ; and promising to give him 
 four hundred talents of silver, he desired that, 
 by way of requital, he would take off Zoilus 
 the tyrant, and give his country to the Jews. 
 And then indeed Ptolemy with pleasure made 
 such a league of friendship with Alexander, and 
 subdued Zoilus : but when he afterwards heard 
 that he had privily sent to Cleopatra his mother, 
 he broke the league with him, which yet he 
 had confirmed with an oath, and fell upon him, 
 and besieged Ptolemais, because it would not 
 receive him. However, leaving his generals, 
 with some part of his forces, to go on with the 
 siege, he went himself immediately with the 
 rest to lay Judea waste : and when Alexander 
 understood this to be Ptolemy's intention, he 
 also got together about fifty thousand soldiers 
 out of his own country ; nay, as some writers 
 have aaid, eighty thousand. He then took his 
 army, and went to meet Ptolemy ; but Ptolemy 
 fell upon Asochis, a city of Galilee, and took .it 
 by force on the Sabbath-day, and there he took 
 about ten thousand slaves, and a great deal of 
 other prey. 
 
 5. He then tried to take Sepphoris, which 
 was a city not far from that which was de- 
 stroyed, but lost many of his men ; yet did he 
 then go to fight with Alexander. Alexander 
 met him at the river Jordan, near a certain 
 place called Saphoth, [not far from the river 
 Jordan,] and pitched hi* camp near to the 
 enemv. He had, however, eight thousand in 
 the first rank, which he styled Hecatontomachi, 
 having shields of brass. Those in the first rank 
 of Ptolemy's soldiers also had shields covered 
 with brass : but Ptolemy's soldiers in other 
 respects were inferior to those of Alexander, and 
 therefore were more fearful of running hazards ; 
 but Philostephanus, the camp-master, put great 
 courage into them, and ordered them to pass 
 the river, which was between their camps : nor 
 did Alexander think fit to hinder their passage 
 over it : for he thought that if the enemy had 
 once gotten the river on their back, that he 
 should the easier take them prisoners, when 
 they could not flee out of the battle: in the 
 beginning of which, the acts on both sides with 
 their hands, and with their alacrity, were alike, 
 and a great slaughter was made by both the 
 armies ; but Alexander was superior, till Philo- 
 stephanus opportunely brought up the auxili- 
 aries, to help those that were giving way; but as 
 there were no auxiliaries to afford help to that 
 part of the Jews that gave way, it fell out that 
 they fled, and those near them did not assist 
 them, but fled along with them. However, 
 Ptolemy's soldiers acted quite otherwise; for
 
 884 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE .TEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xm. 
 
 they followed the Jews, and killed them, till at 
 length those that slew them pursued after them 
 when they had made them all run away, and 
 slew them so long, that their weapons of iron 
 were blunted, and their hands quite tired with 
 the slaughter; for the report was, that thirty 
 thousand men were then slain. Timagenes 
 says, they were fifty thousand. As for the 
 rest, they were part of them taken captives ; 
 and the other part ran away to their own 
 country. 
 
 6. After this victory, Ptolemy overran all the 
 country ; and when night came on, he abode in 
 certain villages of Judea, which when he found 
 full of women and children, he commanded his 
 soldiers to strangle them, and to cut them in 
 pieces, and then to cast them into boiling 
 caldrons, and then to devour their limbs as 
 sacrifices. This commandment was given, that 
 such as fled from the battle, and came to them, 
 might suppose their enemies were cannibals, and 
 eat men's flesh, and might on that account be 
 still more terrified at them upon such a sight. 
 And both Strabo and Nicholaus [of Damascus] 
 affirm, that they used these people after this 
 manner, as I have already related. Ptolemy 
 also took Ptolemais by force, as we have de- 
 clared elsewhere. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 HOW ALEXANDER, CTON THE LEAGUE OP MUTUAL 
 DEFENCE WHICH CLEOPATRA HAD AGREED WITH 
 HIM, MADE AN EXPEDITION AGAINST C02LESYRIA, 
 AND UTTERLY OVERTHREW THE CITY OF GAZA ; 
 AND HOW HE SLEW MANY TEN THOUSANDS OF 
 JEWS THAT HAD REBELLED AGAINST HIM; 
 ALSO CONCERNING ANTIOCHUS GRYPUS, 8ELEU- 
 CUS, ANTIOCHUS CYZICENUS, AND ANTIOCHUS 
 PIUS, AND OTHERS. 
 
 1 1. WHEN Cleopatra sav that her son was 
 jjrown great, and laid Judea waste without dis- 
 turbance, and had gotten the city of Gaza under 
 his power, she resolved no longer to overlook 
 what he did, when he was almost at her gates ; 
 and she concluded that, now he was so much 
 Btronger than before, he would be very desirous 
 of the dominion over the Egyptians ; but she 
 immediately marched against him, with a fleet 
 at sea and an army of foot on land, and made 
 Chelcias and Ananias, the Jews, generals of her 
 whole army, while she sent the greatest part of 
 her riches, her grandchildren, and her testa- 
 ment, to the people of Cos. Cleopatra also 
 ordered her son Alexander to sail with a great 
 fleet to Phoenicia : and when that country had 
 revolted, she came to Ptolemais ; ' and because 
 the people of Ptolemais did not receive her, she 
 besieged the city; but Ptolemy went out of 
 Syria, and made haste unto Egypt, supposing 
 that he should find it destitute of an army, and 
 Boon take it, though he failed of his hopes. At 
 this time Chelcias, one of Cleopatra's generals, 
 happened to die in Ccelesyria, as he was in pur- 
 suit of Ptolemy. 
 
 2. When Cleopatra heard of her son's attempt, 
 and that his Egyptian expedition did not succeed 
 according to his expectations, she sent thither 
 part of her army, and drove him out of that 
 country; so when he was returned out of Egypt 
 
 * This Cos is not that remote island in the ^Egean 
 Bea, famous for the birth of the great Hippocrates, but 
 a city or island of the same name adjoin.ng to Egypt, 
 mentioned both by Stephanus and Ptolemy. 
 
 again, he abode during the winter at Gaza, in 
 which time Cleopatra took the garrison that wa, 
 in Ptolemais by siege, as well as the city ; and 
 when Alexander came to her, he gave her pres- 
 ents, and such marks of respect as were but 
 proper, since, under the miseries he endured by 
 Ptolemy, he had no other refuge but her. Now 
 there were some of her friends who persuaded 
 her to seize Alexander, and to overrun and take 
 possession of the country, not to sit still and see 
 such a multitude of brave Jews subject to one 
 man; but Ananias's counsel was contrary tc 
 theirs, who said that she would do an unjust 
 action if she deprived a man that was her ally of 
 that authority which belonged to him, and this 
 a man who is related to us; "for (said he) I 
 would not have thee ignorant of this, that what 
 injustice thou dost to him will make all us that 
 are Jews to be thine enemies." This desire of 
 Ananias, Cleopatra complied with ; and did no 
 injury to Alexander, but made a league of mu- 
 tual assistance with him at Scythopolis, a city of 
 Ccelesyria. 
 
 3. So when Alexander was delivered from the 
 fear he was in of Ptolemy, he presently made 
 an expedition against Coelesyria- He also took 
 Gadara, after a siege of ten months. He took 
 also Amathus, a very strong fortress belonging 
 to the inhabitants above Jordan, where Theo- 
 dorus, the son of Zeno, had his chief treasure, 
 and what he esteemed most precious. This Zeno 
 fell unexpectedly upon the Jews, and slew ten 
 thousand of them, and seized upon Alexander's 
 baggage: yet did not this misfortune terrify 
 Alexander ; bat he made an expedition upon the 
 maritime parts of the country, Raphia and An- 
 thedon, (the name of which king Herod after- 
 wards changed to Agrippias,) and took even that 
 by force. But when Alexander saw that Ptolemy 
 was retired from Gaza to Cyprus, and his mother 
 Cleopatra was returned to Egypt, he grew angry 
 at the people of Gaza, because they had invited 
 Ptolemy to assist them, and besieged their city, 
 and ravaged their country. But as Apollodotus, 
 the general of the army of Gaza, fell upon the 
 camp of the Jews by night, with two thousand 
 foreign, and ten thousand of his own forces, 
 while the night lasted, those of Gaza prevailed, 
 because the enemy was made to believe that it 
 was Ptolemy who attacked them; but when day 
 was come on, and that mistake was corrected, 
 and the Jews knew the truth of the matter, 
 they came back again, and fell upon those of 
 Gaza, and slew of them about a thousand. But 
 as those of Gaza stoutly resisted them, and would 
 not yield for either their want of anything, nor 
 for the great multitude that were slain, (for they 
 would rather suffer any hardship whatever, than 
 come under the power of their enemies,) Aretas, 
 king of the Arabians, a person then very illus- 
 trious, encouraged them to go on with alacrity, 
 and promised them that he would come to their 
 assistance; but it happened that, before he 
 came, Apollodotus was slain; for his brothei 
 Lysimachus, envying him for the great reputa- 
 tion he had gained among the citizens, slew him, 
 and got the army together, and delivered up the 
 city to Alexander; who, when he came in at 
 first, lay quiet, but afterwards set his army 
 upon the inhabitants of Gaza, and gave them 
 leave to punish them ; so some went one way, and 
 some went another, and slew the inhabitants of 
 Gaza ; yet were not they of cowardly hearts, but 
 opposed them that came to slay them, and slew 
 as many of the Jews ; and some of them, when 
 they saw themselves deserted, burnt their own 
 houses, that the enemy might get none of their 
 spoils ; nay, some of them, with their own hands,
 
 CHAP. XIV.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS* 
 
 286 
 
 slew their children and their wives, having no 
 other way but this of avoiding slavery for them ; 
 but the senators, who were in all five hundred, 
 fled to Apollo's temple, (for this attack happened 
 to be made as they were sitting,) whom Alex- 
 ander slew; and when he had utterly overthrown 
 their city he returned to Jerusalem, having 
 spent a year in that siege. 
 
 4. About this very time Antiochus, who was 
 called Grypus, died.* His death was caused by 
 Heracleon's treachery, when he had lived forty- 
 five years, and had reigned twenty-nine. + His 
 son Seleucus succeeded him in the kingdom, and 
 made war with Antiochus, his father's brother, 
 who was called Antiochus Cyzicenus, and beat 
 him, and took him prisoner, and slew him ; but 
 after a while Antiochus, the son of Cyzicenus, 
 who was called Pius, came to Aradus, and put 
 the diadem on his own head, and made war with 
 Seleucus, and beat him, and drove him out of all 
 Syria. But when he fled out of Syria, he came to 
 Mopsuestia again, and levied money upon them : 
 but the people of Mopsuestia had indignation at 
 what he did, and burnt down his palace, and slew 
 him, together with his friends. But when Antio- 
 chus, the son of Cyzicenus, was king of Syria, An- 
 tiochus, J the brother of Seleucus, made war upon 
 him, and was overcome, and destroyed, he and 
 his army. After him, his brother Philip put on 
 the diadem, and reigned over some part of 
 Syria; but Ptolemy Lathyrus sent for his fourth 
 
 1 brother Demetrius, who was called Eucerous, 
 from Cnidus, and made him king of Damascus. 
 Both these brothers did Antiochus vehemently 
 oppose, but presently died; for when he was 
 come as an auxiliary to Laodice, queen of the 
 Gileadites, when she was mak : "" war against the 
 Parthians, and he was fightiu^ x>urageously, he 
 fell, while Demetrius and Philip governed Syria, 
 as hath been elsewhere related. 
 
 5. As to Alexander, his own people were sedi- 
 tious against him; for at a festival *'hich was 
 then celebrated, when he stood upon the altar, 
 and was going to sacrifice, th nation rose upon 
 him and pelted him with citrons, [which they 
 then had in their hands, because] the law of the 
 Jews required, that at the feast of tabernacles 
 every one should have branches of palm-tree 
 and citron-tree : which thing we have elsewhere 
 related. They also reviled him, as derived from 
 a captive, and so unworthy of his dignity and 
 of sacrificing. At this he was in a rage, and 
 slew of them about six thousand. He also built 
 a partition- wall of wood round the altar and the 
 temple, as far as that partition within which it 
 was only lawful for the priests to enter ; and by 
 this means he obstructed the multitude from 
 coming at him. He also maintained foreigners 
 of Pisidiae and Cilicia ; for as to the Syrians, he 
 was at war with them, and so made no use of 
 them. He also overcame the Arabians ; such as 
 the Moabites and Gileadites, and made them 
 bring tribute. Moreover, he demolished Ama- 
 thus, while Theodoras || durst not fight with 
 him; but as he had joir jd battle with Obedas, 
 
 * Thi account of the d( >th of Antiochus Grjpus is 
 confirmed by Appian. 
 
 t Porphyry says that he reigned but twenty-six years. 
 
 j These two brothers, Antiochus and Philippus, are 
 called twint by Porphyry ; the fourth brother was king 
 of Damascus. 
 
 J Thig Laodicta was a city of Gilead, beyond Jordan. 
 However, Porphyry says, that this Antiochus Pius did 
 not die in this battle ; but, running away, was drowned 
 in the river routes. Appian says, that he was deprived 
 f the kingdom of Syria by Tigranes; but Porphyry 
 makes this Laodice queen of the Calamans. 
 
 | This Xheodorug was the on of Zeno, And was in 
 possession of Amathug. 
 
 king of the Arabians, and fell into an ambush in 
 the places that were rugged and difficult to be 
 travelled over, he was thrown down into a deep 
 valley, by the multitude of the camels at Gadara, 
 a village of Gilead, and hardly escaped with hii 
 life. From thence he fled to Jerusalem, where, 
 besides his other ill success, the nation insulted 
 him, and he fought against them for six years, 
 and slew no fewer than fifty thousand of them ; 
 and when he desired that they would desist from 
 their ill-will to him, they hated him so much 
 the more, on account of what had already hap- 
 pened ; and when he had asked them what he 
 ought to do, they all cried out, that he ought to 
 kill himself. They also sent to Demetrius Eu- 
 cerus, and desired him to make a league of mu- 
 tual defence with them. 
 
 CHAPTER XTV. 
 
 HOW DEMETRIUS EUCEBUS OVERCAME ALEXANDER, 
 AND YET, IN A LITTLE TIME, RETIRED ODT OF 
 THE COUNTRY FOR FEAR OF THE JEWS; A3 ALSO 
 HOW ALEXANDER SLEW MANY OF THE JEWS, 
 AND THEREBY GOT CLEAR OF ALL HIS TROU- 
 BLES. CONCERNING THE DEATH OF DEMETRIUS. 
 
 1. So Demetrius came with an army, and took 
 those that invited him, and pitched his camp 
 near the city Shechem ; upon which Alexander 
 with his six thousand two hundred mercenaries, 
 and about twenty thousand Jews, who were ot 
 his party, went against Demetrius, who had 
 three thousand horsemen, and forty thousand 
 footmen. Now there were great endeavours 
 used on both sides, Derrstrius trying to bring 
 off the mercenaries that were with Alexander, 
 because they were Greeks ; and Alexander tried 
 to bring off the Jews that were with Demetrius. 
 However, when neither of them could persuade 
 them so to do, they came to a battle, and Deme- 
 trius was the conqueror; hi which all Alexan- 
 der's mercenaries were killed, when they had 
 given demonstration of their fidelity and courage. 
 A great number of Demetrius's soldiers were 
 also slain. 
 
 2. Now as Alexander fled to the mountains, 
 six thousand of the Jews hereupon came together 
 [from Demetrius] to him out of pity at the 
 change of his fortune; upon which Demetrius 
 was afraid, and retired out of the country ; after 
 which the Jews fought against Alexander, and 
 being beaten, were slain in great numbers in the 
 several battles which they had; and when he 
 had shut up the most powerful of them in the 
 city Bethome, he besieged them therein; and 
 when he had taken the city, and gotten tne men 
 into his power, he brought them to Jerusalem, 
 and did one of the most barbarous actions in the 
 world to them ; for as he was feasting with his 
 concubines, in the sight of all the city, he or- 
 dered about eight hundred of them to be cruci- 
 fied ; and while they were living, he ordered the 
 throats of their children and wives to be cut 
 before their eyes. This was indeed by way of 
 revenge for the injuries they had done him; 
 which punishment yet was of an inhuman na- 
 ture, though we suppose that he had been ever 
 so much distressed, as indeed he had been, by 
 his wars with them, for he had by their means 
 come to the last degree of hazard, both of his 
 life and of his kingdom, while they were not sa- 
 tisfied by themselves only to fight against him, 
 but introduced foreigners also for the same pur- 
 pose ; nay, at length they reduced him to that 
 degree of necessity, that he was forced to deliver
 
 286 
 
 [BOOK xm. 
 
 back to the king of Arabia the land of Moab and 
 Gilead, which he had subdued, and the places 
 Uiat were in them, that they might not join with 
 them in the war against him, as they had done 
 teii thousand other things that tended to affront 
 and reproach him. However, this barbarity 
 seems to have been without any necessity, on 
 which account he bare the name of a Thracian 
 among the Jews ; * whereupon the soldiers that 
 had fought against him, being about eight thou- 
 sand in number, ran away by night, and con- 
 tinued fugitives all the time that Alexander 
 lived; who being now freed from any further 
 disturbance from them, reigned the rest of his 
 time in the utmost tranquillity. 
 
 3. But when Demetrius was departed out of 
 Judea, he went to Berea, and besieged his bro- 
 ther Philip, having with him ten thousand foot- 
 men, and a thousand horsemen. However, 
 Strato, the tyrant of Berea, the confederate of 
 Philip, called in Zizon the ruler of the Arabian 
 tribes, and Mithridates Sinax, the ruler of the 
 Parthians, who coming with a great number of 
 forces, and besieging Demetrius in his encamp- 
 ment, into which they had driven him with their 
 arrows, they compelled those that were with 
 him, by thirst, to deliver up themselves. So 
 they took a great many spoils out of that coun- 
 try, and Demetrius himself, whom they sent to 
 Mithridates, who was then king of Parthia ; but 
 as to those whom they took captives of the peo- 
 ple of Antioch, they restored him to the Antio- 
 chians without any reward. Now Mithridates, 
 the king of Parthia, had Demetrius in great 
 honour, till Demetrius ended his life by sick- 
 ness. So Philip, presently after the fight was 
 over, came to Aiitioch, and took it, and reigned 
 over Syria. 
 
 CHAPTEK JLV. 
 
 HOW ANTIOCHUS, WHO WAS CALLED BIONYSIU8, 
 AND AFTEB HIM ARETAS, MADE EXPEDITIONS 
 INTO JUDEA ; A3 ALSO HOW ALEXANDER TOOK 
 MANY CITIES, AND THEN RETURNED TO JERUSA- 
 LEM, AND AFTER A SICKNESS OF THREE TEARS 
 DIED ; AND WHAT COUNSEL HE GAVE TO ALEX- 
 ANDRA. 
 
 1. AFTER this, Antiochus, who was called 
 Dionysius,+ and was Philip's brother, aspired to 
 the dominion, and came to Damascus, and got 
 the power into his hands, and there he reigned j 
 but as he was making war against the Arabians, 
 bis brother Philip heard of it, and came to Da- 
 mascus, where Milesius, who hd been left gover- 
 nor of the citadel, and the Damascenes them- 
 selves, delivered up the city so him ; yet because 
 Philip was become ungrateful to him, and had 
 bestowed upon him nothing of that in hopes 
 whereof he had received him into the city, but 
 had a mind to have it believed that it was rather 
 deli vered up out of fear than by the kindness of 
 Milesius, and because he had not rewarded him 
 as he ought to have done, he became suspected 
 by him, and so he was obliged to leave Damascus 
 again ; for Milesius caught him marching out of 
 the Hippodrome, and shut him up in it, and 
 kept Damascus for Antiochus [Eucerus,] who, 
 hearing how Philip's affairs stood, came back 
 
 This name Thracida, which the Jews gave Alexan- 
 der, must, by the coherence, denote at la.rba.rout at a 
 Thracian, or somewhat like it 
 
 t This Antiochus Uionysius was the fifth son of An- 
 lochus Grypus ; and he is styled on the coins " Antio- 
 nnus. tpiphanes, Dionysius." 
 
 out of Arabia. He also came immediately, and 
 made an expedition against Judea, with eight 
 thousand srmed footmen, and eight hundred 
 horsemen. So Alexander, out of fear of his 
 coming, dug a deep ditch, beginning at Chabar- 
 zaba, which is now called Antipatris, to the Sea 
 of Joppu,, on which part only his army could be 
 brought against him. He also raised a wall, and 
 erected wooden towers, and intermediate redoubts, 
 for one hundred and fifty furlongs in length, and 
 there expected the coming of Antiochus ; but he 
 soon burnt them all, and made his army pass 
 by that way into Arabia. The Arabian king 
 [Aretas] at first retreated, but afterward ap- 
 peared on the sudden with ten thousand horse- 
 men. Antiochus gave them the meeting, arid 
 fought desperately ; and indeed when he had 
 gotten the victory, and was bringing some auxi- 
 liaries to that part of his army that was in dis- 
 tress, he was slain. When Antiochus was fallen, 
 his army fled to the village Cana, where the 
 greatest part of them perished by famine. 
 
 2. After him+ Aretas reigned over Ccelesyria, 
 being called to the government by those that 
 held Damascus, by reason of the hatred they 
 bare to Ptolemy Menneus. He also made thence 
 an expedition against Judea, and beat Alexander 
 in battle, near a place called Adida ; yet did he, 
 upon certain conditions agreed on between them, 
 retire out of Judea. 
 
 3. But Alexander marched again to the city 
 Dios, and took it, and then made an expedition 
 against Essa, where was the best part of Zeno's 
 treasures, and there he encompassed the place 
 with three walls ; and when he had taken the 
 city by fighting, he marched to Golar and Selu- 
 cia ; and when he had taken these cities, he, be- 
 sides them, took that valley which is called The 
 Valley of Antiochus, as also the fortress of 
 Gamala, He also accused Demetrius, who was 
 governor of those places, of many crimes, and 
 turned him out ; and after he had spent three 
 years in this war, he returned to his own country ; 
 when the Jews joyfully received him upon thui 
 his good success. 
 
 4. Now at this time the Jews were in posses- 
 sion of the following cities that had belonged to 
 the Syrians, and Idumeans, and Phoenicians : At 
 the sea-side, Strato's Tower, Apollonia, Joppa, 
 Jamnia, Ashdod, Gaza, Anthedon, Kaphia, and 
 Rhinocolura ; in the middle of the country, near 
 to Idumea, Adora, arid Marissa ; near the coun- 
 try of Samaria, mount Carmel, and mount Tabor, 
 Scythopolis, and Gadara ; of the country of the 
 Gaulouites, Seleucia, and Gabala ; in the country 
 of Moab, Heshbon, and Medaba, Lemba, and 
 Oronas, Gelithon, Zara, the valley of the Cilices, 
 and Pella; which last they utterly destroyed, 
 because its inhabitants would not bear to change 
 their religious rites for those peculiar to the 
 Jews. The Jews also possessed others of the 
 principal cities of Syria, which had been de- 
 stroyed. 
 
 J This Aretas was the first king of the Arabians who 
 took Damascus, and reigned there ; which name be- 
 came afterwards common to such Arabian kings, both 
 at Petra and at Damascus, as we learn from St Paul, 2 
 Cor. XL 32. 
 
 5 Whatever countries the Asamoneans conquered 
 from any of the neighbouring nations, they, after the 
 days of Hyrcanus, compelled the inhabitants to leave 
 their idolatry, and entirely to receive the law of Moses, 
 as proselytes of justice, or else banished them into 
 other lands. John Hyrcanus did it to the Idumeans, 
 who lived then in the promised land, and this I suppose 
 justly ; but by what right the rest did it, even to the 
 countries or cities that were no part of that land, I do 
 not at all know. This looks like unjust persecution foi 
 religion.
 
 JEAP. XVI. J 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 287 
 
 5. After this, king Alexander, although he 
 fell into a distemper by hard drinking, and had 
 a quartan ague which held him three years, yet 
 would not leave off going out with his army, till 
 he was quite spent with the labours he had 
 undergone, and died in the bounds of Hagaba, a 
 fortress beyond Jordan. But when his queen 
 saw that he was ready to die, and had no longer 
 any hopes of surviving, she came to him weep- 
 ing and lamenting, and bewailed herself and her 
 sons on the desolate condition they should be 
 left in ; and said to him, " To whom dost thou 
 thus leave me and my children, who are desti- 
 tute of all other supports, and this wb/\n thou 
 knowest how much ill-will thy nation bears 
 thee ? " But he gave her the following advice : 
 That she need but follow what he would 
 suggest to Lir in order to retain the kingdom 
 securely, with her children : that she should 
 conceal his death from the soldiers till she 
 should have taken that place ; after this, she 
 should go in triumph, as upon a victory, to 
 Jerusalem, and put some of her authority into 
 the hands of the Pharisees ; for that they would 
 commend her for the honour she had done them, 
 and would reconcile the nation to her; for he 
 told her they had great authority among the 
 Jews, both to do hurt to such as they hated, 
 and to bring advantages to those to whom they 
 were friendly disposed ; for that they are then 
 believed best of all by the multitude when they 
 speak any severe thing against others, though it 
 be only out of envy at them. And he said, that 
 it was by their means that he had incurred the 
 displeasure of the nation, whom indeed he had 
 injured, " Do thou therefore," said he, " when 
 thou art come to Jerusalem, send for the lead- 
 ing men among them, and shew ^hem my body, 
 and with great appearance of sincerity, give 
 them leave to use it as they themselves please, 
 whether they will dishonour the dead body by 
 refusing it burial, as having severely suffered by 
 my means, or whether in their anger they will 
 oiler any other injury to that body. Promise 
 them also, that thou wilt do nothing without 
 them in the affairs of the kingdom. If thou 
 dost but say this to them, I shall have the 
 honour of a more glorious funeral from them 
 than thou couldst have made for me : and when 
 it is in their power to abuse my dead body, they 
 will do it no injury at all, and thou wilt rule in 
 safety." * So when he had given his wife this 
 advice, he died, after he had reigned twenty- 
 seven years, and lived fifty years, within one. 
 
 * It seems, by this dying advice of Alexander Jan- 
 neus to his wife, that he had himself pursued the mea- 
 sures of his father Hyrcanus, and taken part with the 
 Sadducees, who kept close to the written law, against 
 the Pharisees, who had introduced their own traditions ; 
 and that he now saw a political necessity of submitting 
 to the Pharisees, and their traditions hereafter, if his 
 widow and family miaded to retain their monarchical 
 government over the Jewish nation ; which sect were 
 at last in a great measure the ruin of the Jews, and 
 brought them into so wicked a state, that the vengeance 
 of God came upon them to their utter excision. Just 
 thus did Caiaphas politically advise the Jewish san- 
 hedrim, (John xi. SO,) " that it was expedient for them 
 that one man should die for the people, and that the 
 whole nation perish not ;" and this in consequence of 
 their own political supposal, ver. 48, that, " if they let 
 Jesus alone," with his miracles, "all men would believe 
 on him ; and the Romans would come and take away 
 both their place and nation." Which political cruci- 
 fixion of Jesus of Nazareth brought down the ven- 
 peance of God upon them, and occasioned those very 
 Bomans, of whom they seemed so much afraid, that to 
 prevent it they put him to death, actually to "come 
 and take away both their place and nation," within 
 thirty-eight years afterwards. 
 
 CHAPTER XVL 
 
 HOW ALHXAHDRA, BY GAINING THE GOOD-WILL 
 OP THE PHARISEES, RETAINED THE KINGDOM 
 NINE TEARS, AND THEN, HAVING DONE MANY 
 GLORIOUS ACTIONS, DIED. 
 
 1. So Alexandra, when she had taken the fort- 
 ress, acted as her husband had suggested to her, 
 and spoke to the Pharisees, and put all things 
 into their power, both as to the dead body and 
 as to the affairs of the kingdom, and thereby 
 pacified their anger against Alexander, and made 
 them bear good- will and friendship to him; 
 who then came among the multitude, and made 
 speeches to them, and laid before them the 
 actions of Alexander, and told them that they 
 had lost a righteous king ; and by the commen- 
 dation they gave him, they brought them tc 
 grieve, and to be in heaviness for him, so that 
 he had a funeral more splendid than had any 
 of the kings before him. Alexander left behind 
 him two sons, Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, but 
 committed the kingdom to Alexandra. Now, as 
 to these two sons, Hyrcanus was indeed unable 
 to manage public affairs, and delighted rather in 
 a quiet life ; but the younger, Aristobulus, was 
 an active and a bold man ; and for this woman 
 herself, Alexandra, she was loved by the mul- 
 titude, because she seemed displeased at the 
 offences her husband had been guilty of. 
 
 2. So she made Hyrcanus high-priest because 
 he was the elder, but much more because he 
 cared not to meddle with politics, and permitted 
 the Pharisees to do everything; to whom also 
 she ordered the multitude to be obedient. She 
 also restored again those practices which the 
 Pharisees had introduced, according to the tra- 
 ditions of their forefathers, and which her 
 father-in-law, Hyrcanus, had abrogated. So she 
 had indeed the name of Regent ; but the Pha- 
 risees had the authority; for it was they who 
 restored such as had been banished, and set such 
 as were prisoners at liberty, and, to say all at 
 once, they differed in nothing from lords. How- 
 ever, the queen also took care of the affairs of 
 the kingdom, and got together a great body of 
 mercenary soldiers, and increased her own army 
 to such a degree, that she became terrible to the 
 neighbouring tyrants, and took hostages of them : 
 and the country was entirely at peace, excepting 
 the Pharisees ; for they disturbed the queen, 
 and desired that she would kill those that per- 
 suaded Alexander to slay the eight hundred 
 men ; after which they cut the throat of one of 
 them, Diogenes : and after him they did the 
 same to several, one after another, till the men 
 that were the most potent came into the palace, 
 and Aristobulus with them, for he seemed to be 
 displeased at what was done ; and it appeared 
 openly that, if he had an opportunity, he would 
 not permit hia mother to go on so. ""hese put 
 the queen in mind what great dangers they had 
 gone through, and great things they had done, 
 whereby they had demonstrated the firmness of 
 their fidelity to their master, insomuch that they 
 had received the greatest marks of favour from 
 him ; and they begged of her, that she would not 
 utterly blast their hopes, as it now happened, 
 that when they had escaped the hazards that 
 arose from their [open] enemies, they were to be 
 cut off at home, by their [private] enemies, like 
 brute beasts, without any help whatsoever. They 
 aid also, that if their adversaries would be satis- 
 fied with those that had been slain already, they 
 would take what had been done patiently, on 
 account of their natural love to their governors ;
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 IUOOK xiii. 
 
 but if they must expect the same for the future 
 also, they implored of her a dismission from her 
 service ; for they could not think of attempting 
 any method for their deliverance without her, 
 but would rather die willingly before the palace- 
 gate, in case she would not forgive them. And 
 that it was a great shame, both for themselves 
 and for the queen, that when they were neglected 
 by her, they should come under the lash of her 
 husband's enemies ; for that Aretas, the Arabian 
 king, and the monarchs, would give any reward, 
 if they could get such men as foreign auxiliaries, 
 to whom their very names, before their voices be 
 heard, may perhaps be terrible; but if they 
 could not obtain this their second request, and if 
 she had determined to prefer the Pharisees be- 
 fore them, they still insisted that she would 
 place them every one in her fortresses ; for if 
 some fatal demon hath a constant spite against 
 Alexander's house, they would be willing to bear 
 their part, and to live in a private station there. 
 
 3. As these men said thus, and called upon 
 Alexander's ghost for commiseration of those 
 already slain, and those in danger of it, all the 
 bystanders brake out into tears : but Aristobulus 
 chiefly made manifest what were his sentiments, 
 and used many reproachful expressions to his 
 mother, [saying,] " Nay, indeed, the case is this, 
 that they have been themselves the authors of 
 their own calamities, who have permitted a 
 woman who, against reason, was mad with am- 
 bition, to reign over them, when there were sons 
 in the flower of their age fitter for it." So Alex- 
 andra, not knowing what to do with any decency, 
 committed the fortresses to them, all but Hyr- 
 cania, and Alexandrium, and Macherus, where 
 her principal treasures were. After a little while 
 also, she sent her son Aristobulus with an army 
 t Damascus against Ptolemy, who was called 
 Meneus, who was such a bad neighbour to the 
 city ; but he did nothing considerable there, and 
 so returned home. 
 
 4. About this time newg was brought that 
 Tigranes, the king of Armenia, had made an 
 irruption into Syria with five hundred thousand 
 soldiers, * and was coming against Judea. This 
 news, as may well be supposed, terrified the 
 queen and the nation. Accordingly they sent 
 him many and very valuable presents, as also 
 ambassadors, and that as he was besieging 
 Ptolemais ; for Selene the queen, the same that 
 was also called Cleopatra, ruled then over Syria, 
 who had persuaded the inhabitants to exclude 
 Tigranes. So the Jewish ambassadors inter- 
 ceded with him, and entreated him that he would 
 determine nothing that was severe about their 
 queen or nation. He commended them for the 
 respects they paid him at so great a distance : 
 and gave them good hopes of his favour. But 
 as soon as Ptolemais was taken, news came to 
 Tigranes, that Lucullus, in his pursuit of Mith- 
 ridates, could not light upon him, who was fled 
 into Iberia, but was laying waste Armenia and 
 besieging its cities. Now, when Tigranes knew 
 tliis, he returned home. 
 
 5. After this, when the queen was fallen into 
 a dangerous distemper, Aristobulus resolved to 
 attempt the seizing of the government ; so he 
 stole away secretly by night, with only one of his 
 servants, and went to the fortresses wherein his 
 friends, that were such from the days of his 
 father, were settled ; for as he had been a great 
 while displeased at his mother's conduct, so he 
 
 The number of 600,000, or eren 300,000, for Ti- 
 granes's army, that came out of Armenia into Syria and 
 Juclea, seems much too large. Dr Hudson supposei 
 them bat 40,000. 
 
 was now much more afraid, lest, upon her death, 
 their whole family should be under the power of 
 the Pharisees; for he saw the inability of hi* 
 brother, who was to succeed in the government : 
 nor was any one conscious of what he was doing 
 but only his wife, whom he left at Jerusalem 
 with their children. He first of all came to 
 Agaba, where was Galestes, one of the potent 
 men before mentioned, and was received by him. 
 When it was day the queen perceived that Ari- 
 tobulus was fled ; and for some time she sup- 
 posed that his departure was not in order to make 
 any innovation ; but when messengers came one 
 after another with the news that he had secured 
 the first place, the second place, and all the 
 places, (for as soon as one had begun, they all 
 submitted to his disposal,) then it was that the 
 queen and the nation were in the greatest dis- 
 order, for they were aware that it would not be 
 long ere Aristobulus would be able to settle him- 
 self firmly in the government. What they were 
 principally afraid of was this, that he would 
 inflict punishment upon them for the mad treat- 
 ment his house had had from them : so they 
 resolved to take his wife and children into 
 custody, and keep them in the fortress that was 
 over the temple. + Now there was a mighty 
 conflux of people that came to Aristobulus from 
 all parts, insomuch that he had a kind of royal 
 attendants about him ; for in little more than 
 fifteen days, he got twenty-two strong places, 
 which gave him the opportunity of raising an 
 army from Libanus and Trachonitis, and the 
 monarchs ; for men are easily led by the greater 
 number, and easily submit to them. And be- 
 sides this, that by affording him their assistance, 
 when he could not expect it, they, as well as he, 
 should have the advantages that would come by 
 his being king, because they had beea the occa- 
 sion of his gaining the kingdom. Now the 
 elders of the Jews, and Hyrcaaus with them, 
 went in unto the queen, and desired that she 
 would give them her sentiments about the pre- 
 sent posture of affairs, for that Aristobulus was 
 in effect lord of almost all the kingdom by pos- 
 sessing of so many strongholds, and that it was 
 absurd for them to take any counsel by them- 
 selves, how ill soever she were, whilst she was 
 alive, and that the danger would be upon them 
 in no long time. But she bade them do what 
 they thought proper to be done : that they had 
 many circumstances in their favour still remain- 
 ing ; a nation in good heart, an army, and 
 money in their several treasuries ; for that she 
 had small concern about public affairs now, whea 
 the strength of her body already failed her. 
 
 6. Now a little while after she had said this 
 to them, she died, when she had reigned nine 
 years, and had in all lived seventy-three. A 
 woman she was who shewed no signs of the 
 weakness of her sex; for she was sagacious to the 
 greatest degree in her ambition of governing, and 
 demonstrated by her doings at once, that her 
 mind was fit for action, and that sometimes men 
 themselves shew the little understanding they 
 have by the frequent mistakes they make in 
 point of government ; for she always preferred 
 the present to futurity, and preferred the power 
 of an imperious dominion above all things, and 
 in comparison of that, had no regard to what was 
 good or what was right. However, she brought 
 the affairs of her house to such an unfortunate 
 
 t This fortress, whither the wife and children ol 
 Aristobulus were now sent, and which overlooked the 
 temple, could be no oiher than what Hyrcanus I. built, 
 and Herod the Oreat rebuilt, called the "Tower of An- 
 tonia."
 
 OHAF. L] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 289 
 
 condition, that she was the occasion of the taking 
 away that authority from it, and that in no long 
 time afterward, which she had obtained by a 
 vast number of hazards and misfortunes, and 
 this out of a desire of what does not belong to a 
 woman, and all by a compliance in her senti- 
 ments with those that bare ill-will to their 
 family, and by leaving the administration desti- 
 
 tute of a proper support of great men ; and, in- 
 deed, her management during her administra- 
 tion, while she was alive, was such as filled the 
 palace after her death with calamities and dis- 
 turbance. However, although this had been her 
 way of governing, she preserved the nation in 
 peace ; and this is the conclusion of the affairs 
 of Alexandra. 
 
 BOOK XIV. 
 
 CONTAINING THE INTERVAL OP THIBTT-TWO TEAB8, 
 
 7KOM THE DEATH OF QUEEN ALEXANDRA TO THE DEATH 
 
 OF ANTIGONUS. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 THE WAR BETWEEN ARISTOBULDS AND HYRCANUS 
 ABOUT THE KINGDOM ; AND HOW THEY MADE 
 AN AGREEMENT THAT ARISTOBULUS SHOULD BE 
 KING, AND HYRCANUS LIVE A PRIVATE LIFE : A3 
 ALSO, HOW HYRCANUS, A LITTLE AFTERWARDS, 
 WAS PERSUADED BY ANTIPATER TO FLY TO 
 ABETAS. 
 
 1. WE have related the affairs of queen Alex- 
 andra, and her death, in the foregoing book, and 
 will now speak of what followed, and was con- 
 nected with those histories ; declaring, before 
 we proceed, that we have nothing so much at 
 heart as this, that we may omit no facts either 
 through ignorance or laziness ; for we are upon 
 the history and explication of such things as the 
 greatest part are unacquainted withal, because 
 of their distance from our times ; and we aim to 
 do it with a proper beauty of style, so far as that 
 is derived from proper words harmonically dis- 
 posed, and from such ornaments of speech also 
 as may contribute to the pleasure of our readers, 
 that they may entertain the knowledge of what 
 we write with some agreeable satisfaction and 
 pleasure. But the principal scope that authors 
 ought to aim at, above all the rest, is to speak 
 accurately, and to speak tn Jy, for the satisfac- 
 tion of those that are otherwise unacquainted 
 with such transactions, and obliged to believe 
 what these writers inform them of. 
 
 2. Hyrcanus then began his high priesthood 
 on the third year of the hundred and seventh 
 Olympiad, when Quintus Hortensius and Quin- 
 tus Metellus, who was called Metellus of Crete, 
 were consuls at Rome ; when presently Aristo- 
 bulus began to make war against him, and as it 
 came to a battle with Hyrcanus at Jericho, many 
 of his soldiers deserted him, and went over to 
 his brother : upon which Hyrcanus fled into the 
 citadel, where Aristobulus's wife and children 
 were imprisoned by his mother, as we have said 
 already, and attacked and overcame those his 
 adversaries that had fled thither, and lay within 
 the walls of the temple. So when he had sent a 
 message to his brother about agreeing the mat- 
 ters between them, he laid aside his enmity to 
 him on these conditions, that Aristobulus should 
 be king, that he should live without intermed- 
 dling with public affairs, and quietly enjoy the 
 eatate he had acquired. When they had agreed 
 
 upon these terms in the temple, and had con- 
 firmed the agreement with oaths, and the giving 
 one another their right hands, and embracing 
 one another in the sight of the whole multitude, 
 they departed ; the one, Aristobulus, to the 
 palace, and Hyrcanus, as a private man, to the 
 former house of Aristobulus. 
 
 3. But there was a certain friend of Hyrcanus, 
 an Idumean, called Antipater, who was very 
 rich, and in his nature an active and a seditious 
 man ; who was at enmity with Aristobulus, and 
 had differences with him on account of his good- 
 will to Hyrcanus. It is true, that Nicolaus of 
 Damascus says, that Antipater was of the stock 
 of the principal Jews who came out of Babylon 
 into Judea; but that assertion of his was to 
 gratify Herod, who was his son, and who, by 
 certain revolutions of fortune came afterwards 
 to be king of the Jews, whose history we shall 
 give you in its proper place hereafter. However, 
 this Antipater was at first called Antipas,* and 
 that was his father's name also ; of whom they 
 relate this : That king Alexander and his wife 
 made him general of all Idumea, and that he 
 made a league of friendship with those Arabians, 
 and Gazites, and Ascalonites, that were of his 
 own party, and had, by many and large presents, 
 made them his fast friends; but now this 
 younger Antipater was suspicious of the power 
 of Anstobulus, and was afraid of some mischief 
 he might do him, because of his hatred to him ; 
 so he stirred up the most powerful of the Jews, 
 and talked against him to them privately ; and 
 said, that it was unjust to overlook the conduct 
 of Aristobulus, who had gotten the government 
 unrighteously, and ejected his brother out of it 
 who was the elder, and ought to retain what be- 
 longed to him by prerogative of his birth ; and 
 the same speeches he perpetually made to Hyr- 
 canufl ; and told him that his own life would be 
 in danger unless he guarded himself, and got 
 quit of Aristobulus ; for he said that the friends 
 of Aristobulus omitted no opportunity of advis- 
 ing him to 1H11 him, as being then, and not be- 
 fore, sure to retain his principality. Hyrcanus 
 gave no credit to these words of his, AS being of 
 a gentle disposition, and one that did not easily 
 admit of calumnies against other men. This 
 
 * That the famous Antipater's or Antipas's father wa 
 also Antipater or Antipas, Josephus here assure* us, 
 though Eusebius indeed says it was Herod.
 
 *) 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK XIV. 
 
 temper of his not disposing him to meddle with 
 public affairs, and want of spirit, occasioned him 
 to appear to spectators to be degenerated and 
 unmanly ; while Aristobulus was of a contrary 
 temper, an activw man, and one of a great and 
 generous souL 
 
 4. Sir>ee therefore Antipater saw that Hyr- 
 canus did not attend to what he said, he never 
 ceased, day by day, to charge feigned crimes 
 upon Aristobulus, and to calumniate him before 
 him, as if he had a mind to kill him ; and so, by 
 urging him perpetually, he advised him, acd 
 persuaded him to fly to Areta, the king of 
 Arabia ; and promised, that if he would comply 
 with his advice, he would also himself assist him, 
 [and go with him.] "When Hyrcanus heard this, 
 he said that it was for his advantage to fly away 
 to Are tan. Now Arabia is a country that borders 
 upon Judea. However, Hyrcanus sent Anti- 
 pater first to the king of Arabia, in order to re- 
 ceive assurances from him, that when he should 
 come in the manner of a supplicant to him, he 
 would not deliver him up to his enemies. So 
 Antipater having received such assurances, re- 
 turned to Hyrcanus to Jerusalem. A while 
 afterward he took Hyrcanus, and stole out of 
 the city by night, and went a great journey, and 
 came and brought him to the city called Petra, 
 where the palace of Aretas was ; and as he was 
 a very familiar friend of that king, he persuaded 
 him to bring back Hyrcanus into Judea ; and 
 this persuasion he continued every day without 
 any intermission. He also proposed to make 
 him presents on that account. At length he 
 prevailed with Aretas in hia suit. Moreover, 
 Hyrcanus promised him, that when he had been 
 brought thither, and had received his kingdom, 
 he would restore that country, and those twelve 
 cities which his father Alexander had taken 
 from the Arabians ; which war* these, Medaba, 
 Naballo, Libyas, Tharabasa, Agala, Athene, 
 Zoar, Orone, Marissa, Budda, Lussa, and 
 Oruba. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 HOW ABETAS AND HYEOANU8 MADE AN EXPEDI- 
 TION AGAINST ABISTOBULUS, AND BESIEGED 
 JERUSALEM ; AND HOW 80AOEUS, THE EOMAN 
 GENERAL, EAISED THB SIEGE. CONCERNING THE 
 DEATH OF ONIAS. 
 
 1. AFTEB these promises had been given to 
 Aretas, he made an expedition against Aristo- 
 bulus, with an army of fifty thousand horse and 
 foot, and beat him in the battle. And when 
 after that victory many went over to Hyrcanus 
 as deserters, Aristobulus was left desolate, and 
 fled to Jerusalem ; upon which the king of 
 
 1 Arabia took all his army and made an assault 
 upon the temple, and besieged Aristobulus 
 therein, the people still supporting Hyrcanus, 
 and assisting him in the siege, while none but 
 the priests continued with Aristobulus. So 
 
 : Aretas united the forces of the Arabians and of 
 the Jews together, and pressed on the siege 
 vigorously. As this happened at the time when 
 the feast of unleavened bread was celebrated, 
 which we call the Passover, the principal men 
 among the Jews left the country, and fled into 
 Egypt. Now there was one, whose name was 
 Onias, a righteous man he was, and beloved of 
 God, who, in n certain drought, had prayed to 
 God to put an end to the intense heat, and 
 whoaa prayers Gkxl had heard, and had sent them 
 ram. This max tad hid himself, because he saw 
 
 that this sedition would last a great while. Ho \v- 
 ever, they brought him to the Jewish camp, and 
 desired, that as by his prayers he had once put 
 an end to the drought, so he would in like 
 manner make imprecations on Aristobulus and 
 those of his faction. And when, upon his re- 
 fusal, and the excuses that he made, he was still 
 by the multitude compelled to speak, he stood 
 up in the midst of them, and said, " O God, the 
 King of the whole world ! since those that stand 
 now with me are thy people, and those that are 
 besieged are also thy priests, I beseech thee, that 
 thou wilt neither hearken to the prayers of 
 those against these, nor bring to effect what 
 these pray against those. Whereupon such 
 wicked Jews as stood about him, as soon as he 
 had made this prayer, stoned him to death. 
 
 2. But God punished them immediately for 
 this their barbarity, and took vengeance of them 
 for the murder of Onias, in the manner follow- 
 ing : While the priests and Aristobulus were 
 besieged, it happened that the feast called the 
 Passover was come, at which it is our custom to 
 offer a great number of sacrifices to God ; but 
 those that were with Aristobulus wanted sacri- 
 fices, and desired that their countrymen without 
 would furnish them with such sacrifices, and 
 assured them they should have as much money 
 for them as they should desire ; and when they 
 required them to pay a thousand drachma for 
 each head of cattle, Aristobulus and the priests 
 willingly undertook to pay for them accordingly ; 
 and those within let down the money over the 
 walls, and gave it them. But when the others 
 had received it, they did not deliver the sacri- 
 fices, but arrived at that height of wickedness as 
 to break the assurances they had given, and to be 
 guilty of impiety towards God, by not furnish- 
 ing those that wanted them with sacrifices. And 
 when the priests found they had been cheated, 
 and that the agreements they had made were 
 violated, they prayed to God that he would 
 avenge them on their countrymen. Nor did he 
 delay that their punishment, but sent a strong 
 and vehement storm of wind, that destroyed the 
 fruits of the whole country, till a modius of 
 wheat was then bought for eleven drachmas. 
 
 3. In the meantime Pompey sent Scaurus into 
 Syria, while he was himself in Armenia, and 
 making war with Tigranes ; but when Scaurus 
 was come to Damascus, and found that Lolliua 
 and Metellus had newly taken the city, he came 
 himself hastily into Judea. And when he was 
 come thither, ambassadors came to him, both 
 from Aristobulus and Hyrcanus, and both desired 
 he would assist them ; and when both of them 
 promised to give him money, Aristobulus four 
 hundred talents, and Hyrcauus no less, he 
 accepted of Aristobulus's promise, for he was 
 rich, and had a great soul, and desired to obtain 
 nothing but what was moderate ; whereas the 
 other was poor and tenacious, and made incre- 
 dible promises in hope of greater advantages ; for 
 it was not the same thing to take a city that was 
 exceeding strong and powerful, as it was to eject 
 out of the country some fugitives, with a great 
 dumber of Nabateans, who were no very warlike 
 people. He therefore made an agreement with 
 Aristobulus, for the reason before mentioned, 
 and took his money, and raised the siege, and 
 ordered Aretas to depart, or else he should be 
 declared an enemy to the Romans. So Scaurus 
 returned to Damascus again ; and Aristobulus, 
 with a great army, made war with Aretas and 
 Hyrcanus, and fought them at a place called 
 Papyron, and beat them in the battle, and slew 
 about six thousand of the enemy, with whom 
 fell Jf halion also, the brother of Antipater.
 
 CHAP. 11..] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 HOW ARI8TOBOLUS AND HYRCANUS CAME TO POM- 
 PEY, IN ORDER TO AKGDE WHO OUGHT TO HAVE 
 THE KINGDOM ; AND HOW, UPON THE FLIGHT OB 
 ARISTOBULUS TO THE FORTBESS ALEXANDRIUM, 
 POMPEY LED HI3 ARMY AGAINST HIM, AND OB- 
 DERED HIM TO DELIVER UP THE FORTRESS 
 WHEBEOF HJB WAS POSSESSED. 
 
 1. A LITTLE afterward Pompey came to Dam- 
 ascus, and marched over Ccelesyria ; at which 
 time there came ambassadors to him from all 
 Syria, and Egypt, and out of Judea also, for 
 Aristobulus had sent him a great present, which 
 was a golden vine, of the value of five hundred 
 talents. Now Strabo, of Cappadocia mentions 
 this present in these words: "There came also 
 an embassage out of Egypt, and a crown of the 
 value of four thousand pieces of gold ; and out of 
 Judea there came another, whether you call it 
 a vine or a garden ; they called the thing Terpole, 
 the Delight. However, we ourselves saw the 
 present reposited at Rome, in the temple of 
 Jupiter Capitolinus, with this inscription : ' The 
 Gift of Alexander, the King of the Jews.' It 
 was valued at five hundred talents ; and the re- 
 port is, that Aristobulus, the governor of the 
 Jews, sent it." 
 
 2. In a little time afterward came ambassadors 
 again to him, Antipater from Hyrcanus, and 
 Nicodemus from Aristobulus ; which last also 
 accused such as had taken bribes; first Gabinius, 
 and then Scaurus, the one three hundred 
 talents, and the other four hundred ; by which 
 procedure he made these two his enemies, be- 
 sides those he had before ; and when Pompey had 
 ordered those that had controversies one with 
 another to come to him in the beginning of the 
 spring, he brought his army out of their winter 
 quarters, and marched into the country of Dam- 
 ascus ; and as he went along he demolished the 
 citadel that was at Apamea, which Antiochus 
 Cyzicenus had built, and took cognizance of the 
 country of Ptolemy Menneus, a wicked man, and 
 not less so than Dionysius of Tripoli, who had 
 been beheaded, who was also his relation by mar- 
 riage ; yet did he buy off the punishment of his 
 crimes for a thousand talents, with which money 
 Pompey paid the soldiers their wages. He also 
 conquered the place called Lysias, of which Silas 
 a Jew was tyrant ; and when he had passed over 
 the cities of Heliopolis and Chalcis, and got over 
 the mountain which is on the limit of Ccelesyria, 
 he came from Pella to Damascus ; and there it 
 was that he heard the causes of the Jews, and of 
 their governors Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, who 
 were at difference one with another, as also of 
 the nation against them both, which did not 
 desire to be under kingly government, because 
 the form of government they received from their 
 forefathers was that of subjection to the priests 
 of that God whom they -worshipped ; and [they 
 complained,] that though these two were the 
 posterity of priests, yet did they seek to change 
 the government of their nation to another form, 
 in order to enslave them. Hyrcanus complained, 
 that although he were the elder brother, he was 
 deprived of the prerogative of his birth by Aris- 
 tobulus, and that he had but a small part of the 
 country under him, Aristobulus having taken 
 away the rest from him by force. He also ac- 
 cused him, that the incursions which had been 
 made in their neighbours' countries, and the 
 piracies that had been at sea, were owing to him ; 
 Mid that the nation would not have revolted 
 unless Aristobulus had been a man given to 
 
 violence and disorder ; and there were no fewer 
 than a thousand Jews, of the best esteem among 
 them, who confirmed this accusation ; which 
 confirmation was procured by Antipater ; but 
 Aristobulus alleged against him, that it was 
 Hyrcanus's own temper, which was inactive, and 
 on that account contemptible, which caused him 
 to be deprived of the government ; and that for 
 himself he was necessitated to take it upon him, 
 for fear lest it should be transferred to others ; 
 and that as to his title [of king,] it was no other 
 than what his father had taken [before him.] 
 He also called for witnesses of what he said, 
 some peroons who were both young and insolent ; 
 whose purple garments, fine heads of hair, and 
 other ornaments, were detested [by the court,] 
 and which they appeared in, not as though they 
 were to plead their cause in a court of justice, 
 but as if they were marching in a pompous pro- 
 cession. 
 
 3. "When Pompey had heard the causes of 
 these two, and had condemned Aristobulus for 
 his violent procedure, he then spake civilly to 
 them, and sent them away ; and told them, that 
 when he came again into their country ke would 
 settle all their affairs, after he had first taken a 
 view of the affairs of the Nabateans. In the 
 meantime, he ordered them to be quiet ; and 
 treated Aristobulus civilly, lest he should make 
 the nation revolt, and hinder his return ; which 
 yet Aristobulus did ; for without expecting any 
 further determination, which Pompey had pro- 
 mised them, he went to the cityDelius, and thence 
 marched into Judea. 
 
 4, At this behaviour Pompey was angry ; and 
 taking with him that army which he was leading 
 against the Nabateans, and the auxiliaries that 
 came from Damascus, and the other parts of 
 Syria, with the other Roman legions which he 
 had with him, he made an expedition against 
 Aristobulus ; but as he passed by Pella and Scy- 
 thopolis, he came to Corese, which is the first 
 entrance into Judea when one passes over the 
 midland countries, where lie came to a most beau- 
 tiful fortress that was built on the top of a moun- 
 tain called Alexandrium, whither Aristobulus 
 had fled ; and thence Pompey sent his commands 
 to him, that he should come to him. Accordingly, 
 at the persuasion of many that he would not 
 make war with the Romans, be came down; and 
 when \> f . had disputed with his brother about the 
 right o the government, he went up again to 
 tb* 1 citadel, as Pompey gave him leave to do ; and 
 thffl he did two or three times, as nattering 
 himself with the hopes of having the kingdom 
 granted him ; so that he still pretended he would 
 obey Pompey in whatsoever he commanded, 
 although at the same time he retired to the for- 
 tress, that he might not depress himself too low, 
 and that he might be prepared for a war, in 
 case it should prove, as he feared, that Pompey 
 would transfer the government to Hyrcanus : but 
 when Pompey enjoined Aristobulus to deliver up 
 the fortresses he held, and to send an injunction 
 to their governors under his own hand for that 
 purpose, for they had been forbidden to deliver 
 them up upon any other commands, he submit- 
 ted indeed to do so ; but still he retired in dis- 
 pleasure to Jerusalem, and made preparations 
 for war. A little after this, certain persons came 
 out of Pontus, and informed Pompey, as he was 
 on the way, and conducting his army against 
 Aristobulus, that Mithridates was dead, and WAS 
 slain bj his sen Pharmaces.
 
 292 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK JUT. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HOW POMPEY, WHEN THB CITIZENS OF JERUSALEM 
 SHUT THEIR GATES AGAINST HIM, BESIEGED THE 
 CITY, AND TOOK IT BY FORCE ; AND ALSO WHAT 
 OTHER THINGS HJB DID IN JUDEA. 
 
 1. Now when Pompey had pitched his camp 
 at Jericho, (where the palm-tree grows, and that 
 balsam which is an ointment of all the most pre- 
 cious, which, upon any iucision made in the 
 wood with a sharp stone, distils out thence like a 
 juice,) he marched in the morning to Jerusalem. 
 Hereupon Aristobulus repented of what he was 
 doing, and came to Pompey, and [promised to] 
 give him money, and received him into Jerusa- 
 lem, and desired that he would leave off the 
 war, and do what he pleased peaceably. So 
 Pompey, upon his entreaty, forgave him, and 
 sent Gabinius, and soldiers with him, to receive 
 the money and the city : yet was no part of this 
 performed ; but Gabinius came back, being both 
 excluded out of the city, and receiving none of 
 the money promised, because Aristobulus's sol- 
 diers would not permit the agreements to be 
 executed. At this Pompey was very angry, and 
 put Aristobulus into prison, and came himself 
 to the city, which was strong on every side, 
 excepting the north, which was not so well for- 
 tified, for there was a broad and deep ditch, that 
 encompassed the city,* and included within it 
 the temple, which was itself encompassed about 
 with a very strong stone wall. 
 
 2. Now there was a sedition of the men that 
 were within the city, who did not agree on what 
 was to be done in their present circumstances, 
 while some thought it best to deliver up the city 
 to Pompey ; but Aristobulus's party exhorted 
 them to shut the gates, because he was kept in 
 prison. Now these prevented the others, and 
 seized upon the temple, and cut off the bridge 
 which reached from it to the city, and prepared 
 themselves to abide a siege ; but the others 
 admitted Poinpey's army in, and delivered up 
 both the city and the king's palace to him. So 
 Pompey sent his lieutenant Piso with an army, 
 and placed garrisons both in the city and in the 
 palace, to secure them, and fortified the houses 
 that joined to the temple, and all those which 
 were more distant and without it. And, in the 
 first place, he offered terms of accommodation to 
 those that were within ; but when they would 
 not comply with what was desired, he encom- 
 passed all the places thereabout with a wall, 
 wherein Hyrcanus did gladly assist him on all 
 occasions ; but Pompey pitched his camp within 
 [the wall,] on the north part of the tempi", 
 where it was most practicable ; but even on that 
 side there were great towers, and a ditch had 
 been dug, and a deep valley begirt it round 
 about, for on the parts towards the city were 
 precipices, and the bridge on which Pompey had 
 gotten in was broken down. However, a bank 
 was raised, day by day, with a great deal of 
 labour, while the Romans cut down materials for 
 it from the places round about ; and when thii 
 bank was sufficiently raised, and the ditch filled 
 up, though but poorly, by reason of its immense 
 depth, he brought his mechanical engines and 
 battering-rams from Tyre, and placing them on 
 the bank, he battered the temple with the stones 
 that were thrown against it ; and had it not been 
 our practice, from the days of our forefathers, to 
 rest on the seventh day, this bank could never 
 
 * Prom Btrato we learn that this ditch wai 60 feet 
 d*p, and 250 feet broad. 
 
 have been perfected, by reason of the opposition 
 the Jews would have made ; for though our law 
 gives us leave then to defend ourselves against 
 those that begin to fight with us and assault us, 
 yet does it not permit us to meddle with our 
 enemies while they do anything else. 
 
 3. Which thing when the Romans understood, 
 on those days which we call Sabbaths, they 
 threw nothing at the Jews, nor came to any 
 pitched battle with them, bait raised up their 
 earthen banks, and brought their engines into 
 such forwardness, that they might do execution 
 the next days ; and any one may hence learn 
 how very great piety we exercise towards God, 
 and the observance of his laws, since the priests 
 were not at all hindered from their sacred minis- 
 trations, by their fear during this siege, but did 
 still twice each day, in the morning and about 
 the ninth hour, offer their sacrifices on the altar ; 
 nor did they omit those sacrifices, if any melan- 
 choly accident happened, by the stones that were 
 thrown among them ; for although the city was 
 taken on the third month, on the day of the 
 fast,1" upon the hundred and seventy-ninth 
 Olympiad, when Caius Antonius and Marcus 
 Tullius Cicero were consuls, and the enemy then 
 fell upon them, and cut the throats of those that 
 were in the temple, yet could not those that 
 offered the sacrifices be compelled to run away, 
 neither by the fear they were in of their own 
 lives, nor by the number that were already slain, 
 as thinking it better to suffer whatever came 
 upon them at their very altars, than to omit any- 
 thing that their laws required of them ; and that 
 this is not a mere brag, or an encomium to mani- 
 fest a degree of our piety that was false, but is 
 the real truth, I appeal to those that have writ- 
 ten of the acts of Pompey ; and among them, 
 to Strabo and Nicolaus [of Damascus ;] and be- 
 sides these, to Titus Livius, the writer of the Ro- 
 man History, who will bear witness of this thing. 
 
 4. But when the battering engine was brought 
 near, the greatest of the towers was shaken by 
 it, and fell down, and broke down a part of the 
 fortifications, so the enemy poured in apace ; 
 and Cornelius Faustus, the son of Sylla, with 
 his soldiers, first of all ascended the wall, and 
 next to him Furius the centurion, with those 
 that followed, on the other part ; while Fabius, 
 who was also a centurion, ascended it in the 
 middle, with a great body of men after him ; but 
 now all was full of slaughter ; some of the Jews 
 being slain by the Romans, and some by one 
 another ; nay, some there were who threw them- 
 selves down the precipices, or put fire to their 
 houses, and burnt them, a? not able to bear the 
 miseries they were under. Of the Jews there 
 fell twelve thousand ; but of the Romans very 
 few. Absalom, who was at once both uncle and 
 father-in-law to Aristobulus, was taken captive ; 
 and no small enormities \fere committed about 
 the temple itself, which, in former ages, had 
 been inaccessible, and seen by none ; for Pompey 
 went into it, and not a few of those that were 
 with him also, and saw all that which was un- 
 lawful for any other men to see, but only for the 
 
 t That is, on the twenty-third of Sivan, the annual 
 fast for the defection and idolatry of Jeroboam, "who 
 made Israel to sin." 
 
 t Of this Pharisaical superstitious notion, that offen- 
 sive fighting was unlawful to Jews, even under the ut- 
 most necessity, on the Sabbath-day, we hear nothing 
 before the times of the Maccabees. It was the occasion of 
 Jerusalem's being taken by Pompey, by Sossius, and by 
 Titus. Our Saviour always opposed it, when the Phari- 
 saical Jews insisted on It, as is evident in many places 
 in the New Testament, though he still intimated ho 
 pernicious that superstition might prove to them in 
 their flight from the Romans, (Matt. xxiv. 30.)
 
 JHAP. V.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 293 
 
 ngh priests. There were in that temple the 
 jolden table, the holy candlestick, and the pour- 
 jig vessels, and a great quantity of spices ; and 
 resides these there were among the treasures 
 ;wo thousand talents of sacred money ; yet did 
 Pompey touch nothing of all this,* on account of 
 ais regard to religion ; and in this point also be 
 acted in a manner that was worthy of his virtue. 
 he next day he gave order to those that had 
 ;he cnarge of the temple to cleanse it, and to 
 aring what offerings the law required to God ; 
 and restored the high priesthood to Hyrcanus, 
 both because he had been useful to him in other 
 respects, and because he had hindered the Jews 
 in the country from giving Aristobulus any as- 
 sistance in his war with him. He also cut off 
 nhose that had been the authors of that war ; 
 and bestowed proper rewards on Faustus, and 
 those others that mounted the wall with such 
 alacrity ; and he made Jerusalem tributary to the 
 Romans ; and took away those cities of Ccelesyria 
 which the inhabitants of Judea had subdued, and 
 put them under the government of the Roman 
 president, and confined the whole nation, which 
 bad elevated itself so high before, within its 
 own bounds. Moreover, he rebuilt Gadara, 
 which had been demolished a little before, to 
 gratify Demetrius of Gadara, who was his freed- 
 man, and restored the rest of the cities, Hippos 
 and Scythopolis, and Pella, and Dios, and Sa- 
 maria, as also Marissa and Ashdod, and Jamnia, 
 and Arethusa, to their own inhabitants : these 
 were in the inland parts. Besides those that 
 had been demolished, and also of the maritime 
 cities, Gaza, and Joppa, and Dora, and Strato's 
 Tower : which last Herod rebuilt after a glori- 
 ous manner, and adorned with havens and tem- 
 ples ; and changed its name to Caesarea. All 
 these Pompey left in a state of freedom, and 
 joined them to the province of Syria. 
 
 5. Now the occasions of this misery which 
 came upon Jerusalem were Hyrcanus and Aristo- 
 bulus, by raising a sedition one against the 
 other ; for now we lost our liberty, and became 
 subject to the Romans, and were deprived of 
 that country which we had gained by our arms 
 from the Syrians, and were compelled to restore 
 it to the Syrians. Moreover, the Romans ex- 
 acted of us, in a little time, above ten thousand 
 talents ; and the royal authority, which was a 
 dignity formerly bestowed on those that were 
 high priests, by the right of their family, be- 
 came the property of private men ; but of these 
 matters we shall treat in their proper places. 
 Now Pompey committed Coelesyria, as far as the 
 river Euphrates and Egypt, to Scaurus, with two 
 Roman legions, and then went away to Cilicia, 
 and made haste to Rome. He also carried 
 bound along with him Aristobulus and his chil- 
 dren ; for he had two daughters, and as many 
 sons ; the one of whom ran away ; but the 
 younger, Antigonius, wag carried to Borne, to- 
 gether with hiu sisters. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 HOW 80ADRD3 MADE A LEAGUE OP MUTUAL ASSIST- 
 ANCE WITH ABETAS ; AND WHAT GABINIUS DID 
 IN JUDEA, AFTEB HE HAD CONQUERED ALEXAN- 
 DER, THE SON OF AKISTOBULUS. 
 
 1. SCAURUS made now an expedition against 
 Petrea, in Arabia, and set on fire all the places 
 round about it, because of the great difficulty of 
 access to it ; and as his army was pinched by fa- 
 
 Biis is fully confirmed by the testimony of Cicero. 
 
 mine, Antipater furnished him with corn out of 
 Judea, and with whatever else he wanted, and this 
 at the command of Hyrcanus ; and when he waa 
 sent to Aretas as an ambassador, by Scaurus, be- 
 cause he had lived with him formerly, he persuaded 
 Aretas to give Scaurus a sum of monej, to pre- 
 vent the burning of his country ; and undertook 
 to be his surety for three hundred talents. So 
 Scflurus, upon these terms, ceased to make war 
 any longer : which was done as much at Scaurus's 
 desire, as at the desire of Aretas. 
 
 2. Some time after this, when Alexander, 
 the sen of Aristobulus, made an incarsion into 
 Judoa, Gabinius came from Rome to Syria, as 
 commander of the Roman forces. He did many 
 considerable actions ; and particularly made war 
 with Alexander, since Hyrcanus was not yet 
 able to oppose his power, but was already at- 
 tempting to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, which 
 Pompey had overthrown, although the Romans 
 who were there restrained him from his design. 
 However, Alexander went- over all the country 
 round about, and armed many of the Jews, and 
 suddenly got together ten thousand armed foot- 
 men, and fifteen hundred horsemen, and forti- 
 fied Alexandrium, a fortress near to Coreae, and 
 Macherus, near the mountains of Arabia. Ga- 
 binius therefore came upon him, having sent 
 Marcus Antonius, with other commanders, be- 
 fore. These armed such Romans as followed 
 them; and, together with them, such Jews as 
 were subject to them, whose leaders were Pi- 
 tholaus and Malichus ; and they took with them 
 also their friends that were with Antipater, and 
 met Alexander, while Gabinius himself followed 
 with his legions. Hereupon Alexander retired 
 to the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, where they 
 fell upon one another, and it came to a pitched 
 battle ; in which the Romans slew of their ene- 
 mies about three thousand, and took a like num- 
 ber alive. 
 
 3. At which time Gabinius came to Alexand- 
 rium, and invited those that were in it to deliver 
 it up on certain conditions, and promised that 
 then their former offences should be forgiven ; 
 but as a great number of the enemy had pitched 
 their camp before the fortress, whom the Ro- 
 mans attacked, Marcus Antonius fought bravely, 
 and slew a great number, and seemed to come 
 off with the greatest honour. So Gabinius left 
 part of his army there, in order to take the 
 place, and he himself went into other parts of 
 Judea, and gave order to rebuild all the cities 
 that he met with that had been demolished ; al 
 which time were rebuilt Samaria, Ashdod, Scy- 
 thopolis, Anthedon, Raphia, and Dora ; Marissa 
 also, and Gaza, and not a few others besides; 
 and aa the men acted according to Gabinius's 
 command, it came to pass, that at this time 
 these cities were securely inhabited, which had 
 been desolate for a long time. 
 
 4. When Gabinius had done thus in the coun- 
 try he returned to Alexandrium ; and when he 
 urged on the siege of the place, Alexander sent 
 an embassage to him, desiring that he would 
 pardon his former offences; he also delivered 
 up the fortresses Hyrcania and Macherus, and 
 at last Alexandrium itself, which fortressei 
 Gabinius demolished; but when Alexander's 
 mother, who was of the side of the Romans, as 
 having her husband and other children at Rome, 
 came to him, he granted her whatsoever she 
 asked; and whan he had settled matters with 
 her, he brought Hyrcanus to Jerusalem, and 
 committed the care of the temple to him ; al t 
 when he had ordained five councils, he distil 
 buted the nation into the same number of parts : 
 go these councils governed the people : the first
 
 294 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xiv 
 
 wa* at Jerusalem, the second at Gadara, the 
 third at Amathus, the fourth at Jericho, and 
 the fifth at Sepphora, in Galilee. So the Jews 
 were now freed from monarchic authority, and 
 were governed by an aristocracy. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 HOW GABINIUB CAUGHT ARISTOBULC8 AFTER HE 
 HAD FLED FROM ROME, AND SENT HIM BACK TO 
 ROME A3ALN; AND HOW THE SAME GABINIDS, 
 AS HE RETURNED OUT OF EGYPT, OVERCAME 
 ALEXANDER AND THE NABATEANS IN BATTLE. 
 
 1. Now Aristobulus ran away from Rome to 
 Judea, and set about the rebuilding of Alexand- 
 rium, which had been newly demolished : here- 
 upon Gabinius sent soldiers against him, and for 
 their commanders Sisenna, and Antonius, and 
 Servilius, in order to hinder him from getting 
 possession of the country, and to take him 
 again ; and indeed many of the Jews ran to 
 Aristobulus on account of his former glory, as 
 also because they should be glad of an innova- 
 tion. Now there was one Pitholaus, a lieutenant 
 at Jerusalem, who deserted to him with a thou- 
 sand men, although a great number of those that 
 came to him were unarmed ; and when Aristo- 
 bulus had resolved to go to Macherus, he dis- 
 missed those people, because they were un- 
 armed ; for they could not be useful to him in 
 what actions he was going about ; but he took 
 with him eight thousand that were armed, and 
 marched on ; and as the Romans fell upon them 
 severely, the J-^'s foucrht valiantly, but were 
 beaten in the battle ; and when they had fought 
 with alacrity, but were overborne by the enemy, 
 they were put to flight ; of whom were slain 
 about five thousand, and the rest being dis- 
 persed, tried, as well as they were able, to save 
 themselves. However, Aristobulus had with 
 him still above a thousand, and with them he 
 fled to Macherus, and fortified the place ; and 
 though he had an ill success, he still had good 
 hope of his affairs ; but when he had struggled 
 against the siege for two days' time, and had 
 received many wounds, he was brought as a 
 captive to Gabinius, with his son Antigonius, 
 who also fled with him from Rome ; and this 
 was the fortune of Aristobulus, who was sent 
 back again to Rome, and was there retained in 
 bonds, baving been both king and high priest 
 for three years and six months ; and was indeed 
 an eminent person, and one of a great soul. 
 However, the senate let big children go, upon 
 Gabinius's writing to them that he had promised 
 their mother so much when she delivered up the 
 fortresses to him ; and accordingly they then re- 
 turned to Jerusalem. 
 
 2. Now when Gabinios was making an expe- 
 dition against the Parthians, and had already 
 passed over Euphrates, he changed bis mind, 
 and resolved to return into Egypt, in order to 
 restore Ptolemy to his kingdom.* This hath 
 also been related elsewhere. However, Anti- 
 pater supplied his army, which he sent against 
 Archelaus, with corn, and weapons, and money. 
 He also made those Jews who were above Pelu- 
 sium his friends and confederates, and had been 
 the guardians of the passes that led into Egypt. 
 But when he came back out of Egypt, he found 
 
 * Ur Hudson out of Livy, says, "A. Gabinius, the 
 proconsul, restored Ptolemy to his kingdom of Egypt, 
 and ejected Archelaus, whom they had Ft up for a 
 king," Ac. 
 
 Syria in disorder with seditions and troubles ; 
 for Alexander, the son of Aristobulus, having 
 seized on the government a second time by force, 
 made many of the Jews revolt to him ; and so 
 he marched over the country with a great army, 
 and slew all the Romans lie could light upon, 
 and proceeded to besiege the mountain called 
 Gerizzim, whither they had retreated. 
 
 3. But when Gabinius found Syria in such a 
 state, he sent Antipater, who was a prudent 
 man, to those that were seditious, to try whether 
 he could cure them of their madness, and per- 
 suade them to return to a better mind; and 
 when he came to them, he brought many of them 
 to a sound mind, and induced them to do what 
 they ought to do. But he could not restrain 
 Alexander, for he had an army of thirty thou- 
 sand Jews, and met Gabinius, and, joining 
 battle with him, was beaten, and lost ten thou- 
 sand of his men about mount Tabor. 
 
 4. So Gabinius settled the affairs which be- 
 longed to the city Jerusalem, as was agreeable 
 to Antipater's inclination, and went against the 
 Xabateans, and overcame them in battle. He 
 also sent away in a friendly manner, Mithridates 
 and Orsanes, who were Parthian deserters, and 
 carne to him, though the report went abroad 
 that they had run away from him. And when 
 Gabinius had performed great and glorious ac- 
 tions, in his management of the affairs of the 
 war, he returned to Rome, and delivered the 
 government to Crassus. Now, Nicolaus of Da- 
 mascus, and Strabo, of Cappadocia, both describe 
 the expeditions of Pompey and Gabinius against 
 the Jews, while neither of them say anything 
 new which is not in the other. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 HOW CRASSUS CAME INTO JUDEA, AND PILLAGED 
 THE TEMPLE ; AND THEN MARCHED AGAINST 
 THE PARTHIANS, AND PERISHED, WITH HIS 
 ARMY. ALSO HOW CASSIUS OBTAINED SYRIA, 
 AND PUT A STOP TO THE PARTHIANS, AND THEN 
 .WENT UP TO JUDEA. 
 
 1. NOW Crassus, as he was going upon his ex- 
 pedition against the Parthians, came into Judea, 
 and carried off the money that was in the tem- 
 ple, which Pompey had left, being two thousand 
 talents, and was disposed to spoil it of all the 
 gold belonging to it, which was eight thousand 
 talents. He also took a beam, which was made 
 of solid beaten gold, of the weight of three hun- 
 dred minae, each of which weighed two pounds 
 and a half. It was the priest who was guardian 
 of the sacred treasures, and whose name was 
 Eleazar, that gave him this beam, not out of a 
 wicked design, for he was a good and a righteous 
 man ; but being intrusted with the custody of 
 the veils belonging to the temple, which were of 
 admirable beauty, and of very costly workman- 
 ship, and hung down from this beam, when he 
 saw that Crassus was busy in gathering money, 
 and was in fear of the entire ornaments of the 
 temple, he gave him this beam of gold as a ran- 
 som for the whole, but this not till he had given 
 his oath that he would remove nothing else out 
 of the temple, but be satisfied with this only, 
 which he should give him, being worth ten thou- 
 sand [shekels.] Now, this beam was contained 
 in a wooden beam that was hollow, but was 
 known to no others ; but Eleazar alone knew it ; 
 yet did Crassus take away this beam, upon the 
 condition of touching nothing else that be- 
 longed to the temple, and then brake his oath,
 
 CHAP. VIII.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF PHE JEWS. 
 
 555 
 
 and carried away all the gold that was in the 
 temple. 
 
 2. And let no one wonder that there was so 
 much wealth in our temple, since all the Jews 
 throughout the habitable earth, and those that 
 worshipped God, nay, even those of Asia and 
 Europe, sent their contributions to it, and this 
 from very ancient times. Nor is the largeness 
 of these sums without its attestation ; nor is 
 that greatness owing to our vanity, as raising it 
 without ground to so great a height : but there 
 are many witnesses to it, and particularly Strabo 
 of Cappadocia, who says thus: "Mithridates 
 sent to Cos, and took the money which queen 
 Cleopatra had deposited there : as also eight 
 hundred talents belonging to the Jews." Now we 
 have no public money but only what appertains 
 to God ; and it is evident that the Asian Jews 
 removed this money, out of fear of Mithridates ; 
 for it is not probable that those of Judea, who 
 had a strong city and temple, should send their 
 money to Cos ; nor is it likely that the Jews 
 who are inhabitants of Alexandria, should do so 
 neither, since they were in no fear of Mithri- 
 dates. And Strabo himself bears witness to the 
 same thing in another place ; that at the same 
 time that Sylla passed over into Greece, in order 
 to fight against Mithridates, he sent Lucullus 
 to put an end to a sedition that our nation, of 
 whom the habitable earth is full, had raised in 
 Cyrene; where he gpeaks thus: "There were 
 four classes of men among those of Cyrene ; that 
 of citizens, that of husbandmen, the third of 
 strangers, and the fourth of Jews. Now these 
 Jews are already gotten into all cities ; and it is 
 hard to find a place in the habitable earth that 
 hath not admitted this tribe of men, and is not 
 possessed by them ; and it hath come to pass that 
 Egypt and Cyrene, as having the same governors, 
 and a great number of other nations, imitate 
 their way of living, and maintain great bodies of 
 these Jews in a peculiar manner, and grow up 
 to greater prosperity with them, and make use 
 of the same laws with that nation also. Accord- 
 ingly, the Jews have places assigned them in 
 Egypt, wherein they inhabit, besides what is 
 peculiarly allotted to this nation at Alexandria, 
 which is a large part of that city. There is also 
 an ethnarch allowed them, who governs the na- 
 tion, and distributes justice to them, and takes 
 care of their contracts, and of the laws to them 
 belonging, as if he were the ruler of a free re- 
 public. In Egypt, therefore, this nation is 
 powerful, because the Jews were originally 
 Egyptians, and because the land wherein they 
 inhabit, since they went thence, is near to Egypt. 
 They also removed into Gyrene, because that 
 this land adjoined to the government of Egypt, 
 as well as does Judea, or rather was formerly 
 under the same government." And this is what 
 Strabo says. 
 
 3. So when Crassus nad settled all things as 
 he himself pleased, he marched into Parthia, 
 where both he himself and all his army perished, 
 as hath been related elsewhere. But Cassius, 
 as he fled from Rome to Syria, took possession 
 of it, and was an impediment to the Parthians, 
 who, by reason of their victory over Crassus, 
 made incursions upon it : and as he came btck 
 to Tyre, he went up into Judea also, and fell 
 apon Tarichese, and presently took it, and car- 
 ried about thirty thousand Jews captives ; and 
 slew Pitholaus, who succeeded Aristobulus in 
 his seditious practices, and that by the persuasion 
 of Antipater, who proved to have great interest 
 in him, and was at that time in great repute 
 with the Idumeans also : out of which nation 
 he married a wife, who was the daughter of one 
 
 of their eminent men, and her name was Cypros,* 
 by whom he had four sons, Phasael and HerocL 
 who was afterwards made king, and Joseph, ano 
 Pheroras ; and a daxighter named Salome. Thia 
 Antipater cultivated also a friendship and mu- 
 tual kindness with other potentates, but especi- 
 ally with the king of Arabia, to whom he com- 
 mitted his children, while he fought against 
 Aristobulus. So Cassius removed his camp, and 
 marched to Euphrates, to meet those that were 
 coming to attack him, as hath been related by 
 others. 
 
 4. But some time afterwards, Jaesar, when he 
 had taken Rome, and after Pompey and the 
 senate were fled beyond the Ionian Sea, freed 
 Aristobulus from his bonds, and resolved to send 
 him into Syria, and delivered two legions to him, 
 that he might set matters right, as being a po- 
 tent man in that country : but Aristobulus had 
 no enjoyment of what he hoped for from the 
 power that was given him by Caesar ; for those 
 of Pompey's party prevented it, and destroyed 
 him by poison ; and those of Caesar's party 
 buried him. His dead body also lay, for a good 
 while, embalmed in honey, till Antony after- 
 wards sent it to Judea, and caused him to be 
 buried in the royal sepulchre. But Scipio, upon 
 Pompey's sending to him to slay Alexander, the 
 son of Aristobulus, because the young man was 
 accused of what offences he had been guilt)- of at 
 first against the Romans, cut off his head ; and 
 thus did he die at Antioch. But Ptolemy, the 
 son of Menneus, who was the ruler of Chalcis, 
 under Mount Libanus, took his brethren to him, 
 and sent his son Philippion to Askelon to Aris- 
 tobulus's wife, and desired her to send back 
 with him her son Antigonus and her daughters : 
 the one of whom, whose name was Alexandra, 
 Philippion fell in love with, and married her; 
 though afterwards his father Ptolemy slew him, 
 and married Alexandra, and continued to take 
 care of her brethren. 
 
 CHAPTER Till. 
 
 THE JEWS BECOME CONFEDERATES WITH CJESAB 
 WHEN HE FOUGHT AGAINST EGYPT \ THB 
 GLOBIOUS ACTIONS OF ANTIPATEB, AND HIS 
 FRIENDSHIP WITH C^SAR ; THE HONOURS 
 WHICH THE JEWS RECEIVED FROM THB ROMANS 
 AND ATHENIANS. 
 
 1. Now after Pompey was dead, and after that 
 victory Caesar had gained over him, Antipater, 
 who managed the Jewish affairs, became very 
 useful to Caesar when he made war against 
 Egypt, and that by the order of Hyrcanus ; for 
 when Mithridates of Pergamus was bringing hia 
 auxiliaries, and was not able to continue his 
 march through Pelusium, but obliged to stay at 
 Askelon, Antipater came to him, conducting 
 three thousand of the Jews, armed men : he 
 had alao taken care the principal men of the 
 Arabians should come to his assistance ; and on 
 his account it was that all the Syrians assisted 
 him alpo, as not willing to appear behindhand in 
 their alacrity for Caesar viz., Jamblicus th 
 ruler, and Ptolemy his son, and Tholomy the 
 son of Sohemus, who dwelt at mount Libanus, 
 and almost all the cities. So Mithridates 
 marched out of Syria, and came to Pelusium ; 
 
 * Dr Hudson observes, that this name was Cypros, 
 as a Hebrew termination ; but not Cypris, the Greek 
 name for Venus, as some critics were ready to correct 
 it.
 
 296 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 I BOOK XIV. 
 
 and when its inhabitant* would not admit him, 
 he besieged the city. Now Antipater signalised 
 himself here, and was the first who plucked 
 down a part of the wall, and so opened a way to 
 the rest, whereby they might enter tfee city, 
 and by this means Pelusium was taken.' But it 
 happened that the Egyptian Jews, who dwelt 
 in the country called Onion, would not let 
 Antipater and Mithridates, with their soldiers, 
 pass to Caesar; but Antipater persuaded them 
 to come over to their party, because he was of 
 the same people with them, and that chiefly by 
 shewing them the epistles of Hyrcanus the high 
 priest, wherein he exhorted them to cultivate 
 friendship with Caesar ; and to supply his army 
 with money, and all sorts of provisions which 
 they wanted ; and accordingly, when they saw 
 Antipater and the high priest of the same senti- 
 ments, they did as they were desired. And 
 when the Jews about Memphis heard that these 
 Jews were come over to Caesar, they also invited 
 Mithridates to come to them ; so he came and 
 received them also into his army. 
 
 2. And when Mithridates had gone over all 
 Delta, as the place is called, he came to a 
 pitched battle with the enemy, near the place 
 called the Jewish Camp. Now Mithridates had 
 the right wing, and Antipater the left ; and 
 when it came to fight, that wing where Mithri- 
 dates was gave way, and was likely to suffer ex- 
 tremely, unless Antipater had come running to 
 him with his own soldiers along the shore, when 
 he had already beaten the enemy that opposed 
 him ; so he delivered Mithridates, and put those 
 Egyptians who had been too hard for him to 
 flight. He also took their camp, and continued 
 in the pursuit of them. He also recalled Mithri- 
 dates, who had been worsted, and was retired a 
 great way off, of whose soldiers eight hundred 
 fell; but of Antipater's fifty. So Mithridates 
 sent an account of this battle to Caesar, and 
 openly declared that Antipater was the author 
 of this victory, and of his own preservation ; 
 insomuch that Caesar commended Antipater 
 then, and made use of him all the rest of that 
 war in the most hazardous undertakings : he 
 also happened to be wounded in one of those 
 engagements. 
 
 3. However, when Caesar, after some time, 
 had finished that war, and was sailed away for 
 Syria, he honoured Antipater greatly, and con- 
 firmed Hyrcanus in the high priesthood; and 
 bestowed on Antipater the privilege of a citizen 
 of Rome, and a freedom from taxes everywhere ; 
 and it is reported by many, that Hyrcanus went 
 along with Antipater in this expedition, and 
 came himself into Egypt. And Strabo of Cap- 
 padocia bears witness to this, when he says thus, 
 in the name of Asinius : " After Mithridates 
 had invaded Egypt, and with him Hyrcanus the 
 high priest of the Jews." Nay, the same Strabo 
 says thus again, hi another place, in the name of 
 Hypsicrates, that " Mithridates at first went out 
 alone ; but that Antipater, who had the care of 
 the Jewish affairs, was called by him to Askelon, 
 and that he had gotten ready three thousand 
 Boldiers to go along with him, and encouraged 
 other governors of the country to go along with 
 him also; and that Hyrcanus the high priest 
 was also present in this expedition." This is 
 what Strabo says. 
 
 4. But Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus, 
 came at this time to Caesar, and lamented his 
 father's fate : and complained, that it was by 
 Antipater's means that Aristobulus was taken 
 off by poison, and his brother was beheaded by 
 Bcipio and desired that he would take pity of 
 niia -who had been ejected out of that princi- 
 
 pality which was due to him. He also accused 
 Hyrcanus and Antipater aa governing the nation 
 by violence, and offering injuries to himself. 
 Antipater was present, and made his defence as 
 to the accusations that were laid against him. 
 He demonstrated, that Antigonus and his party 
 were given to innovation, and were seditious 
 persons. He also put Caesar in mind what diffi- 
 cult services he had undergone when he assisted 
 him in his wars, and discoursed about what he 
 was a witness of himself. He added, that Aris- 
 tobulus was justly carried away to Rome, as one 
 that was an enemy to the Romans, and could 
 never be brought to be a friend to them, and 
 that his brother had no more than he deserved 
 from Scipio, as being seized in committing 
 robberies; and that this punishment was not 
 inflicted on him in a way of violence or injustice 
 by him that did it. 
 
 5. "When Antipater had made this speech, 
 Caesar appointed Hyrcanus to be high priest, 
 and gave Antipater what principality he himseli 
 should choose, leaving the determination to him- 
 self ; so he made him procurator of Judea. He 
 also gave Hyrcanus leave to raise up the walls of 
 his own city, upon his asking that favour of him, 
 for they had been demolished by Pompey. And 
 this grant he sent to the consuls of Rome, to be 
 engraven in the capitol. The decree of the sen- 
 ate was this that follows:* "Lucius Valerius, 
 the son of Lucius the praetor, referred this to the 
 senate, upon the Ides of December, in the temple 
 of Concord. There were present at the writing 
 of this decree Lucius Coponius, the son of 
 Lucius of the Colline tribe, and Papirius of the 
 Quirine tribe, concerning the affairs which Alex- 
 ander the son of Jason, and Numenius the 
 son of Antiochus, and Alexander the son of 
 Dositheus, ambassadors of the Jews, good and 
 worthy men, proposed, who came to renew that 
 league of good-will and friendship with the 
 Romans which was in being before. They also 
 brought a shield of gold, as a mark of confeder- 
 acy, valued at fifty thousand pieces of gold ; and 
 desired that letters might be given them, di- 
 rected both to the free cities and to the kings, 
 that their country and their havens might be 
 at peace, and that no one among them might 
 receive any injury. It therefore pleased [the 
 senate] to make a league of friendship and good- 
 will with them, and to bestow on them whatso- 
 ever they stood in need of, and to accept of the 
 shield which was brought by them. This was 
 done in the ninth year of Hyrcanus the high 
 priest and etlmarch, in the month Panemus." 
 Hyrcanus also received honours from the people 
 of Athens, as having been useful to them on 
 many occasions ; and when they wrote to him, 
 they sent him this decree, as it here follows : 
 "Under the pmtaneia and priesthood of Diony- 
 sius, the son of Esculapius, on the fifth day of 
 the latter part of the month Panemus, this decree 
 of the Athenians was given to their commanders, 
 when Agathocles was archon, and Eucles, the 
 
 * Dr Hudsca'B note upon this place : " Here is some 
 mistake in Josephus ; for when- he had promised us a 
 decree for the restoration of Jerusalem, he brings in a 
 decree of far greater antiquity, and that a league of 
 friendship and union only. One may easily believe that 
 Josephus gave order for one thing, and his amanuensis 
 performed another, by transposing decrees that con- 
 cerned the Hyrcani, and as deluded by the sameness of 
 their names ; for that belongs to the first high priest of 
 this name, [John Hyrcanus,] which Josephus here 
 ascribes to one that lived later, [Hyrcanus, the son of 
 Alexander Janneus.] However, the decree which he 
 proposes to set down follows a little lower, in the col- 
 lection of Roman decrees that concerned the Jews, and 
 is that dated when Ciosar was consul the fifth time."
 
 CHAP. IX.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWB. 
 
 297 
 
 on of Menander of Alimusia, was the scribe. In 
 the month Munychion, oa the eleventh day of 
 the Prutaneia, a council of the presidents was 
 held in the theatre. Dorotheas the high priest, 
 and the fellow-presidents with him, put it to the 
 vote of the people. Dionysius, the son of Diony- 
 sius, gave the sentence. Since Hyrcanus, the 
 son of Alexander, the high priest and ethnarch 
 of the Jews, continues to bear good-will to our 
 people in general, and to every one of our citi- 
 zens in particular, and treats them with all sorts 
 of kindness; and when any of the Athenians 
 come to him, either as ambassadors, or on auy 
 occasion of their own, he receives them in an 
 obliging manner, and sees that they are con- 
 ducted back in safety, of which we have had 
 several former testimonies : it is now also de- 
 sreed, at the report of Theodosius, the son of 
 Theodorus, and upon his putting the people in 
 mind of the virtue of this man, and that his 
 purpose is to do us all the good that ia in his 
 power, to honour him with a crown of gold, the 
 usual reward according to the law, and to erect 
 his statue in brass in the temple of Deruus and 
 of the Graces ; and that this present of a crown 
 shall be proclaimed publicly in the theatre, in 
 the Dionysian shows, while the new tragedies are 
 acting ; and in the Panathenean, and Eleusinian, 
 and Gymnical shows also ; and that the com- 
 manders shall take care, while he continues in 
 his friendship, and preserves his good-will to us, 
 to return all possible honour and favour to the 
 man for his affection and generosity ; that by 
 this treatment it may appear how our people 
 receive the good kindly, and repay them a suit- 
 able reward ; and he may be induced to proceed 
 in his affection towards us, by the honours we 
 have already paid him. That ambassadors be 
 also chosen out of all the Athenians, who shall 
 cany this decree to 1dm, and desire him to accept 
 the honours we do him, and to endeavour always 
 to be doing some good to our city." And this 
 shall suffice us to have spoken as to the honours 
 that were paid by the Romans and by the people 
 of Athens to Ilyrcaiius. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 HOW ANTIPATEK COMMITTED THE CAKE OF 'GALI- 
 LEE TO HEKOD, AND THAT OF JERUSALEM TO 
 PHASAELUS J AS ALSO, HOW HEROD, UPON THE 
 JEWS' ENVY AT ANTIPATER, WAS ACCUSED 
 BEFORE HTBCANOS. 
 
 1. Now when Caesar had settled the affairs of 
 Syria, he sailed away ; and as soon as Antipater 
 had conducted Caesar out of Syria, he returned to 
 Judea. He then immediately raised up the 
 wall which had been thrown down by Pompey ; 
 and, by coming thither, he pacified that tumult 
 which had been in the country, and this by both 
 threatening and advising them to be quiet ; foi 
 that, if they would be of Hyrcanus's side, they 
 would live happily, and lead their lives without 
 disturbance, in the enjoyment of their own pos- 
 sessions ; but if they were addicted to the hopes 
 of what might come by innovation, and aimed to 
 get wealth thereby, they should have him a 
 severe master, instead of a gentle governor, and 
 Hyrcanus a tyrant instead of a king, and the 
 Romans, together with Csesar, their bitter ene- 
 mies, instead of rulers, for that they would 
 never bear him to be set aside whom they had 
 appointed to govern. And when Antipater had 
 said this to them, he himself settled the affairs 
 of this country. 
 
 2. And seeing that E j ; canus was of a slow and 
 slothful temper, he made Phasaelus, his eldest 
 son, governor of Jerusalem, and of the places 
 that were about it, but committed Galilee to 
 Herod, his next son, who was then a very young 
 man, for he was but twenty -five years of age ; 
 but that youth of his was no impediment to 
 him ; but as he was a youth of great mind, he 
 presently met with an opportunity of signalising 
 his courage ; for, finding there was one Hezekias, 
 a captain of a baud of robbers, who overran the 
 neighbouring ports of Syria with a great troop of 
 them, he seized him and slew him, as well as a 
 great number of the other robbers that were with 
 him ; for which action he was greatly beloved by 
 the Syrians ; for when they were very desirous to 
 have their country freed from this nest of rob- 
 bers, he purged it of them : so they sung songs 
 in his commendation in their villages and cities, 
 as having procured them peace and the secure 
 enjoyment of their possessions : and on this ac- 
 count it was that he became known to Sextus 
 Caesar, who was a relation of the great Caesar, 
 and was now president of Syria. Now Phasae- 
 lus, Herod's brother, was moved with emula- 
 tion at his actions, and envied the fame he had 
 thereby gotten, and became ambitious not to be 
 behindhand with him in deserving it : so he 
 made the inhabitants of Jerusalem bear him the 
 greatest good-will while he held the city himself, 
 but did neither manage its affairs improperly, 
 nor abuse his authority therein. This conduct 
 procured from the nation to Antipater such re- 
 spect as is due to kings, and such honours as he 
 might partake of if he were an absolute lord of 
 the country. Yet did not this splendour of his, 
 as frequently happens, in the least diminish in 
 him that kindness and fidelity which he owed to 
 Hyrcanus. 
 
 3. But now the principal men among the Jews, 
 when they saw Antipater and his sons to grow so 
 much in the good-will the nation bare to them, 
 and in the revenues which they received out of 
 Judea, and out of Hyrcanus's own wealth, they 
 became ill-disposed to him ; for indeed Antipater 
 had contracted a friendship with the Roman em- 
 perors ; and when he had prevailed with Hyr- 
 canus to send them money, he took it to himself, 
 and purloined the present intended, and sent it 
 as if it were his own, and not Hyrcanus's gift to 
 them. Hyrcanus heard of this management, but 
 took no care about it ; nay, he rather was glad 
 of it : but the chief men of the Jews were there- 
 fore in fear, because they saw that Herod was a 
 violent and bold man, and very desirous of act- 
 ing tyrannically ; so they came to Hyrcanus, and 
 now accused Antipater openly, and said to him, 
 " How long wilt thou be quiet under such actions 
 as are now done ? Or dost thou not see that An- 
 tipater and his sons have already seized upon the 
 government, and that it is only the name of a 
 king which is given thee ? But do not thou suf- 
 fer these things to be hidden from thee ; nor do 
 thou think to escape danger by being so careless 
 of thyself and of thy kingdom; for Antipater 
 and ais sons are not now stewards of thine af- 
 fairs ; do not thou deceive thyself with such a 
 notion ; they are evidently absolute lords ; for 
 Herod, Antipater's sor, hath slain Hezekiah and 
 those that were with him, and hath thereby 
 transgresijed our law, which hath forbidden to 
 slay any man, even though he were a wicked 
 man, unless he had been first condemned to suf- 
 fer death by the Sanhedrim,* yet hath he been 
 
 * None could be put to death in Judea but by the 
 approbation of the Jewish Sanhedrim, there being an 
 excellent provision in the law of Moses, that even in
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xiv. 
 
 o insolent as to do^thw, and that without any 
 authority from thee." 
 
 4. Upon Ifyrcanus hearing this, he complied 
 with them. The mothers also of those who had 
 been slain by Herod raised his indignation ; for 
 those women continued every day in the temple, 
 persuading the king and the people that Herod 
 might undergo a trial before the Sanhedrim for 
 what he had done. Hyrcanus was so moved by 
 these complaints, that he summoned Herod to 
 come to his trial for what was charged upon 
 him. Accordingly he came ; but his father had 
 persuaded him to come not like a private man, 
 but with a guard, for the security of his person ; 
 and that when he had settled the affairs of Gali- 
 lee in the best manner he could for his own ad- 
 vantage, he should come to his trial, but still 
 with a body of men sufficient for his security on 
 his journey, yet so that he should not come with 
 so great a force as might look like terrifying 
 Hyrcanus, but still such a one as might not ex- 
 pose him naked and unguarded [to his enemies.] 
 However, Sextus Caesar, president cf Syria, 
 wrote to Hyrcanus, and desired him to clear 
 Herod, and dismiss him at his trial, and 'hreat- 
 ened him beforehand if he did not do it-. Which 
 epistle of his was the occasion of Hyrcanus deliver- 
 ing Herod from suffering any harm from the San- 
 hedrim, for he loved him as his own son ; but 
 when Herod stood before the Sanhedrim, with 
 his body of men about him, he affrighted them 
 all, and DO one of his former accusers durst after 
 that bring any charge against him, but there was 
 a deep silence, and nobody knew what was to be 
 done. When affairs stood thus, one whose name 
 was Sameas, * a righteous man he was, and for 
 that reason above all fear, rose up, and said, " O 
 you that are assessors with me, and O thou that 
 art our king, I neither have ever myself known 
 such a case, nor do I suppose that any one of you 
 can name its parallel, that one who is called to 
 take his trial by us ever stood in such a manner 
 before us ; but every one, whosoever he be, that 
 Gomes to be tried by this Sanhedrim, presents 
 himself in a submissive manner, and like one 
 that is in fear of himself, and that endeavours to 
 move our compassion, with his hair dishevelled, 
 and in a black and mourning garment ; but this 
 admirable man Herod, who is accused of murder, 
 and called to answer so heavy an accusation, 
 stands here clothed in purple, and with the hair 
 of his head finely trimmed, and with his armed 
 men about him, that if we shall condemn him 
 by our law, he may slay us, and by overbearing 
 justice may himself escape death ; yet do not I 
 make this complaint against Herod himself : he 
 is to be sure more concerned for himself than for 
 the laws ; but my complaint is against yourselves 
 and your king, who give him a licence so to do. 
 However, take you notice, that God is great, and 
 that this very man, whom you are going to ab- 
 solve and dismiss, for the sake of Hyrcanus, will 
 one day punish both you and your king himself 
 also." Nor did Sameas mistake in any part of 
 this prediction ; for when Herod had received 
 the kingdom, he slew all the members of this 
 Sanhedrim, and Hyrcanus himself also, excepting 
 Sameas, for he had a great honour for him on 
 
 criminal causes, and particularly where life was con- 
 cerned, an appeal should lie from the lesser councils of 
 seven in the other cities, to the supreme council of 
 seventy-one at Jerusalem ; and this is exactly accord- 
 ing to our Saviour's words, when he says, " It could not 
 be that a prophet should perish out of Jerusalem," 
 (Luke xiii. 33 ) 
 
 * This awunt, Reland observes, If confirmed by the 
 Talmudiste, who call this Sameas " Simeon the son of 
 Bhetach." 
 
 account of his righteousness, and because, when 
 the city was afterwards besieged by Herod and 
 Sosius, he persuaded the people to admit Herod 
 into it ; and told them, that for their sins they 
 would not be able to escape his hands : which 
 things will be related by us in their proper places. 
 5. But when Hyrcanus saw that the members 
 of the Sanhedrim were ready to pronounce the 
 sentence of death upon Herod, he put off the 
 trial to another day, and sent privately to Herod, 
 and advised him to fly out of the city ; foi 
 that by this means he might escape. So he re- 
 tired to Damascus, as though he fled from the 
 king ; and when he had been with Sextus Caesar, 
 and had put his own affairs in a sure posture, he 
 resolved to do thus : That in case he were again 
 summoned before the Sanhedrim to take his trial, 
 he would not obey that summons. Hereupon 
 the members of the Sanhedrim had great indig- 
 nation at this posture of affairs, and endeavoured 
 to persuade Hyrcanus that all these things were 
 against him ; which state of matters he was not 
 ignorant of; but his temper was so unmanlj 
 and so foolish, that he was able to do nothing at 
 all ; but when Sextus had made Herod general 
 of the army of Ccelesyria, for he sold him that 
 post for money, Hyrcanus was in fear lest Herod 
 should make war upon him ; nor was the effect 
 of what he feared long in coming upon him, 
 for Herod -came, and brought an army along 
 with him to fight with Hyrcanus, as being angry 
 at the trial he had been summoned to undergo 
 before the Sanhedrim ; but his father Antipater, 
 and his brother [Phasaelus] met him, and hin- 
 dered him from assaulting Jerusalem ; they also 
 pacified his vehement temper, and persuaded 
 him to do no overt action, but only to affright 
 them with threatenings, and to proceed no fur- 
 ther against one who had given him the dignity 
 he had : they also desired him not only_ to be 
 angry that he was summoned, and obliged to 
 come to his trial, but to remember withal how 
 he was dismissed without condemnation, and 
 how he ought to give Hyrcanus thanks for the 
 same ; and that he was not to regard only what 
 was disagreeable to him, and be unthankful for 
 his deliverance. So they desired him to con- 
 sider, that since it is God that turns the scales 
 of war, there is great uncertainty in the issue of 
 battles, and that therefore he ought not to ex- 
 pect the victory when he should fight with his 
 king, and him that had supported him, and be- 
 stowed many benefits upon him, and had done 
 nothing of itself very severe to him ; for that 
 his accusation, which was derived from evil 
 counsellors, and not from himself, had rather 
 the suspicion of some severity, than anything 
 really severe in it. Herod was persuaded by 
 these arguments, and believed that it was suffi- 
 cient for his future hopes to have made a show 
 of his strength before the nation, and done no 
 more to it ; and in this state were the affairs of 
 Judea at this time. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE HONOURS THAT WEUE PAID THE JEWS ; AND 
 THE LEAGUES THAT WERE MADE BY THE RO- 
 MANS, AND OTHER NATIONS, WITH TREM. 
 
 1. Now when Caesar was come to Rome, Tt 
 was ready to sail into Africa to fight agMnxt 
 Scipio and Cato, when Hyrcanus sent ambassa- 
 dors to him, and by them desired that he would 
 ratify that league of friendship and mutual alli- 
 ance which was between them ; and it seems to
 
 HAS. X.I 
 
 OF THE JEWS. 
 
 me to be necessary here to give an account of all 
 the honours that the Koreans and their emperors 
 paid to oar nation, and of the leagues of mutual 
 assistance they have made with it, that all the 
 rest of mankind may know what regard the 
 kings of Asia and Europe have had to us, and 
 that they have been abundantly satisfied of our 
 courage and fidelity ; for whereas many will not . 
 believe what hath been written about us by the 
 Persians and Macedonians, because those writ- 
 ings are not everywhere to be met with, nor do 
 lie in public places, but among us ourselves, and 
 certain other barbarous nations, while there is 
 no contradiction to be made against the decrees 
 of the Romans, for they are laid up in the pub- 
 lic places of the cities, and are extant still in the 
 capitol, and engraven upon pillars of brass ; nay, 
 besides this, Julius Caesar made a pillar of brass 
 for the Jews at Alexandria, and declared pub- 
 licly that they were citizens of Alexandria, Out 
 of these evidences will I demonstrate what I say; 
 and will now set down the decrees made both 
 by the senate and by Julius Caesar, which rAlate 
 to Hyrcanus and to our nation. 
 
 2. " Caius Julius Caesar, imperator and high 
 priest, and dictator the second time, to the 
 magistrates, senate, and people of Sidon, send- 
 eth greeting. If you be in health, it is welL I 
 also and the army are well. I have sent you a 
 copy of that decree, registered on the tables, 
 which concerns Hyrcanus, the son of lexauder, 
 the high priest and ethnarch of the Jews, that 
 it may be laid up among the public records ; 
 and I will that it be openly proposed in a table 
 of brass, both in Greek and in Latin. It is as 
 follows : I Julius Caesar, imperator the second 
 time, and high priest, have made this decree, 
 with the approbation of the senate : Whereas 
 Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander the Jew, hath 
 demonstrated his fidelity and diligence about 
 our affairs, and this both now and in former 
 times, both in peace and in war, as many of our 
 generals have borne witness, and came to our 
 assistance in the Alexandrian war, with fifteen 
 hundred soldiers ; and when he was sent up by 
 me to Mithridates, shewed himself superior in 
 valour to all the rest of that army ; for these 
 reasons I will that Hyrcanus, the son of Alex- 
 ander, and his children be ethnarchs of the Jews, 
 and have the high priesthood of the Jews for- 
 ever, according to the customs of their fore- 
 fathers, and that he and his son be our confede- 
 rates ; and that besides this, every one of them 
 be reckoned among our particular friends. I 
 also ordain, that he and his children retain what- 
 soever privileges belong to the office of high 
 priest, or whatsoever favours have been hither- 
 to granted them ; and if at any time hereafter 
 there arise any questions about the Jewish cus- 
 toms, I will that he determine the same ; and I 
 think it not proper that they should be obliged 
 to find us winter quarters, or that any money 
 should be required of them." 
 
 3. " The decrees of Caius Caesar, consul, con- 
 taining what hath been granted and determined, 
 are as follow : That Hyrcanus and his children 
 bear role over the nation of the Jews, and have 
 the profits of the places to them bequeathed ; 
 and that he, as himself the high priest and eth- 
 narch of the Jews, defend those that are injured ; 
 and that ambassadors be sent to Hyrcanus, th< 
 son of Alexander the high priest of the Jews, 
 that may discourse with him about a league of 
 friendship and mutual assistance ; and that a 
 table of brass, containing the premises, be openly 
 proposed in the capitol, and at Sidon, and Tyre, 
 9nd Askelon, and in the temple, engraven in 
 "Roman and Greek letters : that this decree inav 
 
 also be communicated to the quiestors and prae- 
 tors of the several cities, and to the friends of 
 the Jews : and that the ambassadors may have 
 presents made them, and that these decrees be 
 seat everywhere." 
 
 4. "Caius Caasar, imperator, dictator, consul, 
 hath granted, That out of regard to the honour, 
 and virtue, and kindness of the man, and for 
 the advantage of the senate, and of the people 
 of Rome, Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander, both 
 he and his children, be high priests and priests 
 of Jerusalem, and of the Jewish nation, by the 
 same right, and according to the same laws, by 
 wliich their progenitors have held the priest- 
 hood." 
 
 5. " Caius Caesar, consul the fifth time, hath 
 decreed, that the Jews shall possess Jerusalem, 
 and may encompass that cit}' with walls; ano 
 that Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander, the high 
 priest and ethnarch of the Jews, retain it, in the 
 manner he himself pleases ; and the Jews be 
 allowed to deduct out of their tribute, every 
 second year the land is let, [in the Sabbatic 
 period,] a corns of that tribute ; and that the 
 tribute they pay be not let to farm, nor that 
 they pay always the same tribute." 
 
 6. " Caius Caesar, imperator the second tune, 
 hath ordained, That all the country of the Jews, 
 excepting Joppa, do pay a tribute yearly for the 
 city of Jerusalem, excepting the seventh, which 
 they call the Sabbatical Year, because thereon 
 they neither receive the fruits of their trees, nor 
 do they sow their land ; and that they pay their 
 tribute to Sidon on the second year [of that Sab- 
 batic period,] the fourth part of what was sown : 
 and besides this, they are to pay the same tithes 
 to Hyrcanus and his sons which they paid to 
 their forefathers. And that no one, neither 
 president nor lieutenant, nor ambassador, raise 
 auxiliaries within the bounds of Judea, nor may 
 soldiers exact money of them for winter quar- 
 ters, or under any other pretence, but that they 
 be free from all sorts of injuries : and that 
 whatsoever they shall hereafter have, and are in 
 possession of, or have bought, they shall retain 
 them all It is also our pleasure that the city 
 Joppa, which the Jews had originally, when 
 they made a league of friendship with the 
 Romans, shall belong to them, as it formerly 
 did ; and that Hyrcanus, the son of Alexander, 
 and his sons, have as tribute of that city, from 
 those that occupy the land, for the country, and 
 for what they export every year to Sidon, 
 twenty thousand six hundred and seventy-five 
 modii every year, the seventh year, which they 
 call they Sabbatic Year, excepted; whereon 
 they neither plough, nor receive the product of 
 their trees. It is also the pleasure of the senate, 
 that as to the villages which are in the groat 
 plain, which Hyrcanus and his forefathers for- 
 merly possessed, Hyrcanus and the Jews have 
 them, with the same privileges with which thev 
 formerly had them also ; and that the same 
 original ordinances remain still in force which 
 concern the Jews with regard to their high 
 prieste ; aod that they enjoy the same benefit* 
 which they have had formerly by the concessior 
 of the people, and of the senate ; a r 3 let them 
 enjoy the like privileges in Lydda. It is the 
 pleasure also of the senate, that Hyrcanus the 
 ethnarch, and the Jews, retain those places, 
 
 | countries, and villages, which belonged to the 
 
 kings of Syria and Phoenicia, the confederates of 
 
 the Romans, and which they had bestowed on 
 
 them aji their free gifts. It is also granted to 
 
 Hyrcanus, and to his sons, and to the ambss- 
 
 sadors by them sent to ns, that in the fights be- 
 
 ' tween single Radiators, nd in those vrith beasts-
 
 800 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xi\. 
 
 ihey shall sit among the senators to see those 
 hows ; and that when they desire an audience, 
 hey shall be introduced into the senate by the 
 dictator, or by the general of the horse ; and 
 when they have introduced them, their answers 
 shall be returned them in ten days at the 
 urthest, after the decree of the senate is made 
 kbout their affairs." 
 
 7. " Cams Csesar, imperator, dictate, the 
 'ourth time, and consul the fifth time, declared 
 ;o be perpetual dictator, made this speech coii- 
 serning the rights and privileges of Hyrcanus, 
 ,he son of Alexander, the high priest and eth- 
 
 narch of the Jews. Since those imperators* 
 ;hat have been in the provinces before me have 
 :>orne witness to Hyrcanus the high priest of the 
 
 Jws. and to the Jews themselves, and this be- 
 :oj the senate and people of Rome, when the 
 people and senate returned their thanks to 
 them, it is good that we now also remember the 
 
 same, and provide that a requital be made to 
 Hyrcanus, to the nation of the Jews, and to the 
 
 sons of Hyrcanus, by the senate and people of 
 Rome, and that suitably to what good will they 
 have shewn us, and to the benefits they have 
 
 bestowed upon us." 
 
 8. "Julius Caius, praetor [consul] of Rome, to 
 the magistrates, senate, and people of the 
 Parians, sendeth greeting. The Jews of Deles, 
 and some other Jews that sojourn there, in the 
 presence of your ambassadors, signified to us, 
 that, by a decree of yours, you forbid them to 
 make use of the customs of their forefathers, 
 and their way of sacred worship. Now it does 
 not please me that such decrees should be made 
 against our friends and confederates, whereby 
 they are forbidden to live according to their 
 own customs, or to bring in contributions for 
 common suppers and holy festivals, while they 
 are not forbidden so to do even at Rome itself ; 
 for even Caius Caesar, our imperator and consul, 
 in that decree wherein he forbade the Bacchanal 
 rioters to meet in the city, did yet permit these 
 Jews, and these only, both to bring in their con- 
 tributions, and to make their common suppers. 
 Accordingly, when I forbid other Bacchanal 
 rioters, I permit these Jews to gather them- 
 selves together, according to the customs and 
 laws of their forefathers, and to persist therein. 
 It will be therefore good for you, that if you 
 have made any decree against these our friends 
 and confederates, to abrogate the same, by rea- 
 son of their virtue, and kind disposition towards 
 us." 
 
 9. Now after Caius was slain, when Marcus 
 Antonius and Publius Dolabella were consuls, 
 they both assembled the senate, and introduced 
 Hyrcanus's ambassadors into it, and discoursed 
 of what they desired, and made a league of 
 friendship with them. The senate also decreed 
 to grant them all they desired. I add the de- 
 cree itself, that those who read the present 
 work may have ready by them a demonstra- 
 tion of the truth of what we say. The decree 
 was this : 
 
 10. The decree of the senate, copied out of the 
 treasury, from the public tables belonging to the 
 quaestors, when Quintus Rutilius and Caius 
 Cornelius were quaestors, and taken out of the 
 second table of the first class, on the third day 
 before the ides of April, in the temple of Con- 
 cord. There were present at the writing of this 
 decree, Lucius Calpurnius Piso, of the Menenian 
 tribe ; Servius Papinias Potitus, of the Lemonian 
 
 Dr Hudson supposes that the Roman imperaton, 
 or generals of armies, here, were principally Pomper 
 Bcaurus, and Gabini-is. } 
 
 tribe ; Caius Caninius Rebilius, of the Terentine 
 tribe; Publius Tidetius, Lucius Apulinus, the 
 son of Lucius, of the Sergian tribe ; Flavius, the 
 son of Lucius, of the Lemonian tribe ; Publius 
 Platius, the son of Publius, of the Papyrian 
 tribe ; Marcus Acilius, the son of Marcus, of 
 the Mecian tribe ; Lucius Erucius, the son of 
 Lucius, of the Stellatine tribe ; Marcus Quintus 
 Plancillus, the son of Marcus, of the Pollian 
 tribe ; and Publius Serius. Publius Dolabella 
 and Marcus Antonius, the consuls, made thi* 
 reference to the senate, that as to those things 
 which, by the decree of the senate, Caius Caesar 
 had adjudged about the Jews, and yet had not 
 hitherto that decree been brought into the trea- 
 sury, it is our will, as it is also the desire of 
 Publius Dolabella and Marcus Antonius, our 
 consuls, to have these decrees put into the 
 public tables, and brought to the city quaestors, 
 that they may take care to have them put upon 
 the double tables. This was done before the 
 fifth of the ides of February, in the temple of 
 Concord. Now the ambassadors from Hyrcanus 
 the high priest were these : Lysimachus, the 
 son of Pausanias ; Alexander, the son of Theo- 
 dorus ; Patroclus, the son of Chereas ; and 
 Jonathan, the son of Onias. 
 
 1L Hyrcanus sent also one of these ambassa- 
 dors to Dolabella, who was then the prefect of 
 Asia, and desired him to dismiss the Jews from 
 military services, and to preserve to them the 
 customs of their forefathers, and to permit them 
 to live according to them. And when Dolabella 
 had received Hyrcanus's letter, without any fur- 
 ther deliberation, he sent an epistle to all the 
 Asiatics, and particularly to the city of the 
 Ephesians, the metropolis of Asia, about the 
 Jews ; a copy of which epistle here follows : 
 
 12. "When Artemon was prytanis, on the 
 first day of the month Leneon, Dolabella, imper- 
 ator, to the senate and magistrates, and people 
 of the Ephesians, sendeth greeting. Alexander, 
 the son of Theodoras, the ambassador of Hyr- 
 canus, the son of Alexander, the high priest and 
 ethnarch of the Jews, appeared before me, to 
 shew that his countrymen could not go into their 
 armies, because they are not allowed to bear 
 arms, or to travel on the Sabbath-da ys, nor there 
 to procure themselves those sorts of food which 
 they have been used to eat from the times of 
 their forefathers, I do therefore grant them a 
 freedom from going into the army, as the former 
 prefects have done, and permit them to use the 
 customs of their forefathers, in assembling toge- 
 ther for sacred and religious purposes, as their 
 law requires, and for collecting oblations neces- 
 sary for sacrifices ; and my will is, that you write 
 this to the several cities under your jurisdiction. " 
 
 13. And these were the concessions that Dola- 
 bella made to our nation when Hyrcanus sent 
 an embassage to him ; but Lucius the consul's 
 decree ran thus: " I have at my tribunal set 
 these Jews, who are citizens of Rome, and follow 
 the Jewish religious rites, and yet live at Ephe- 
 sus, free from going into the army, on account of 
 the superstition they are undei. This was done 
 before the twelfth of the calends of October, 
 when Lucius Lentulus and Caius Marcellug were 
 consuls, in the presence of Titus Appius Balgus, 
 the son of Titus and lieutenant of the Horatian 
 tribe ; of Titus Tongius, the son of Titus, of the 
 Crustumine tribe ; of Quintus Resins, the son of 
 Quintus ; of Titus Pompeius Longinus, the son 
 of Titus ; of Caius Servilius, the son of Caius, ol 
 the Terentine tribe; of Bracchus the military 
 tribune ; of Publius Lucius Gallus, the son of 
 Publius, of the Veturian tribe ; of Caius Sentius, 
 the son of Caius. of the Sabbatine tribe: of
 
 CHAP. 3L] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Titus Atilius Bulbua, the son of Titus, lieutenant 
 and vice-praetor to the magistrates, senate, and 
 people of the Ephesians, sendeth greeting. Lu- 
 cius Lentulus the consul freed the Jews that are 
 in Asia from going into the armies, at my inter- 
 cession for them ; and when I had made the 
 same petition some time afterward to PhaniuB 
 the imperator, and to Lucius Antonius the vice- 
 quaestor, I obtained the privilege of them also ; 
 and my will is, that you take care that no one 
 give them any disturbance." 
 
 14. The decree of the Delians. "The answer 
 of the praetors, when Beotus was archon, on the 
 twentieth day of the month Thargeleon. While 
 Marcus Piso the lieutenant lived in our city, who 
 was also appointed over the choice of the sol- 
 diers, he called us, and many other of the citizens, 
 and gave order, that if there be here any Jews 
 who are Eoman citizens, no one is to give them 
 any disturbance about going into the army, 
 because Cornelius Lentulus, the consul, freed 
 the Jews from going into the army, on account 
 of the superstition they are under, you are 
 therefore obliged to submit to the praetor : " and 
 the like decree was made by the Sardians about 
 us also. 
 
 15. "Caius Phanius, the son of Caius, impera- 
 tor and consul, to the magistrates of Cos, send- 
 eth greeting. I would have you know that the 
 ambassadors of the Jews have been with me, and 
 desired they might have those decrees which the 
 senate had made about them: which decrees are 
 here subjoined. My will is, that you have a 
 regard to and take care of these men, according 
 to the senate's decree, that they may be safely 
 conveyed home through your country." 
 
 16. The declaration of Lucius Lentulus the 
 consul : " I have dismissed those Jews who arc 
 Roman citizens, and who appear to me to have 
 their religious rites, and to observe the laws of 
 the Jews at Epbesus, on account of the super- 
 stition they arc under. This act was done 
 before the thirteenth of the calends of October." 
 
 17. "Lucius Antonius, the son of Marcus, 
 vice-quaestor, and vice-praetor, to the magistrates, 
 senate, and people of the Sardians, sendeth 
 greeting. Those Jews that are our fellow-citi- 
 zens of Rome, came to me, and demonstrated 
 that they had an assembly of their own, accord- 
 ing to the laws of their forefathers, and this from 
 the beginning, as also a place of their own, 
 wherein they determined their suits and contro- 
 versies with one another. Upon their petition 
 therefore to me, that these might be lawful for 
 them, I give order that these their privileges be 
 preserved, and they be permitted to do accord- 
 ingly." 
 
 18. The declaration of Marcus Publius, the 
 son of Spurius, and of Marcus, the son of Marcus, 
 and of Lucius, the son of Publius : " We went 
 to the proconsul, and informed him of what 
 Dositheus, the son of Cleopatrida of Alexandria, 
 desired, that, if he thought good, he would dis- 
 miss those Jews who were Roman citizens, and 
 were wont to observe the rites of the Jewish 
 religicn, on account of the superstition they ware 
 under. Accordingly he did dismiss them. This 
 was done before the thirteenth of the calends of 
 October." 
 
 19. "In the month Quintilis, when Lucius 
 Lentulus and Caius Marcellus were consuls ; and 
 there were present Titus Appius Balbus, the son 
 of Titus, lieutenant of the Horatian tribe ; Titus 
 Tongius of the Crustumine tribe ; Quintus Resius, 
 the son of Quintus, Titus Pompeius, the son 
 of Titus, Cornelius Longinus, Caius Servilius 
 Bracchus, the son of Caius, a military tribune, 
 of the Terentine tribe Publius Clusius Gallus, 
 
 the eon of Publius, of the Veturian tribe ; Caius 
 Tentius, the son of Caius, a military tribune, of 
 the Emilian tribe ; Sextus Atilius Serranus, the 
 sou of Sextus, of the Esquiline tribe ; Caius Pom- 
 peius, the son of Caius, of the Sabbatine tribe, 
 Titus Appius Menander, the son of Titus, Publiua 
 Servilius Strabo, the son of Publius, Lucius 
 Paccius Capito, the son of Lucius of the Colline 
 tribe ; Aulus'Furius Tertius, the son of Aulus, 
 and Appius Menas. In the presence of these it 
 was that Lentulus pronounced this decree : I 
 have before the tribunal dismissed those Jews 
 that are Roman citizens, and are accustomed to 
 observe the sacred rites of the Jews at Ephesus, 
 on account of the superstition they are under." 
 
 20. " The magistrates of the Laodiceans to 
 Caius Rubilius, the son of Caius, the consul, 
 sendeth greeting. Sopater, the ambassador of 
 Hyrcanus the high priest, hath delivered us an 
 epistle from thee, whereby he lets us know that 
 certain ambassadors were come from Hyrcanus, 
 the high priest of the Jews, and brought an 
 epistle written concerning their nation, wherein 
 they desire that the Jews may be allowed to 
 observe their Sabbaths and other sacred rites, 
 according to the laws of their forefathers, and 
 that they may be under no command, because 
 they are our friends and confederates ; and that 
 nobody may injure them in our province. Now 
 although the Trallians there present contradicted 
 them, and were not pleased with these decrees, 
 yet didst thou give order that they should be 
 observed, and informed us that thou hadst been 
 desired to write this to us about them. We 
 therefore, in obedience to the injunctions we 
 have received from thee, have received the epistle 
 which thou sentest us, and have laid it up by 
 itself among our public records ; and as to the 
 other things about which thou didst send to us, 
 we will take care that no complaint be made 
 against us." 
 
 21. " Publius Servilius, the son of Publius, of 
 the Galban tribe, the proconsul, to the magis- 
 trates, senate, and people of the Milesians, send- 
 eth greeting. Prytanes, the son of Hermes, a 
 citizen of yours, came to me when I was at 
 Tralles, and held a court there, and informed me 
 that you used the Jews in a way different from 
 my opinion, and forbade them to celebrate their 
 Sabbaths, and to perform the sacred rites re- 
 ceived from their forefathers, and to manage the 
 fruits of the earth according to their ancient cus- 
 tom ; and that he had himself been the promul- 
 ger of your decree, according as your laws require ; 
 I would therefore have you know, that upon 
 hearing the pleadings on both sides, I gave sen- 
 tence that the Jews should not be prohibited 
 to make use of their own customs." 
 
 22. The decree of those of Pergamus : ' ' When 
 Cratippus was prytanis, on the first day of the 
 month Desius, the decree of the praetors was 
 this : Since the Romans, following the conduct 
 of their ancestors, undertake dangers for the 
 common safety of all mankind, and are ambiti- 
 ous to settle their confederates and their friends 
 in happiness, and in firm peace, and since the 
 nation of the Jews, and their high priest Hyrca- 
 nus, sent as ambassadors to them, Strato, the 
 son of Theodatus, and Apollonius, the son of 
 Alexander, and Eneas, the son of Antipater, and 
 Aristobulus, the son of Amyntas, and Sosipater, 
 the son of Philip, worthy and good men, who 
 gave a particular account of their affairs, the se- 
 nate thereupon made a decree about what they 
 had desired of them, that Antiochus the king, 
 the son of Antiochus, should do no injury to the 
 Jews, the confederates of the Romans ; and thai 
 the fortresses and the havens, and the country,
 
 ANTIQUITIBb c-t TRE 
 
 \JBOOS. XIV. 
 
 and whatever else he had taken from them, 
 should be restored to them ; and that it may be 
 lawful for them to export their goods out of their 
 own havens ; and that no king nor people may 
 lave leave to export any goods, either out of the 
 country of Judea, or out of their havens, with- 
 out paying customs, but only Ptolemy, the king 
 of Alexandria, because he is our confederate and 
 ! riend : and that, according to their desire, the 
 jarrison that is in Joppa may be ejected. Now 
 Lucius Pettius, one of our senators, a worthy and 
 jood man, gave order that we should take care 
 ;hat these things should be done according to 
 the senate's decree ; and that we should take 
 care also that their ambassadors might return 
 home in safety Accordingly we admitted Theo 
 dorus into our senate and assembly, and took th? 
 epistle out of his hands, as well as the decree of I 
 the senate : and as he discoursed with great zeal ; 
 about the Jews, and described Hyrcaiius's virtue ! 
 and generosity, and how he was a benefactor to ! 
 *11 men in common, and particularly to every ' 
 body that comes to him, we laid up the epistle 
 in our public records ; and made a decree our- 
 selves, that since we also are in confederacy with j 
 the Romans, we would do everything we could j 
 for the Jews, according to the senate's decree, i 
 Theodorus also, who brought the epistle, desired 
 of our praetors, that they would send Hyrcanus a 
 copy of that decree, as also uiubassadors to sig- 
 nify to him the affection of our people to him, 
 and to exhort them to preserve and augment 
 their friendship for us, and be ready to bestow 
 other benefits upon us, as justly expecting to 
 receive proper requitals from us ; and desiring 
 them to remember that our ancestors* were 
 friendly to the Jews, even in the days of Abra- 
 ham, who was the father of all the Hebrews, as 
 we have [also] found it set down in our public 
 records. * 
 
 23. The decree of those o Halicarnassus : 
 " When Memnon, the son of Orestidas by descent, 
 but by adoption of Euonymus, was priest, on 
 the *** day of the month Aristerion, the decree 
 of the people, upon the representation of Marcus 
 Alexander, was this : Since we have ever a great 
 regard to piety towards God, and to holiness ; 
 and since we aim to follow the people of the Ro- 
 mans, who are the benefactors of all men, and 
 what they have written to us about a league of 
 friendship and mutual assistance between the 
 Jews and our city, and that their sacred offices 
 and accustomed festivals and assemblies may be 
 observed by them ; we have decreed, that ae 
 many men and women of the Jews as are willing 
 so to do, may celebrate their Sabbaths, and per- 
 form their holy offices, according to the Jewish 
 laws ; and may make their proseuchse at the 
 seaside, according to the customs of their fore- 
 fathers ; and if any one, whether he be a magis- 
 trate or a private person, hindereth them from 
 so doing, he shall be liable to a fine, to be applied 
 to the uses of the city." 
 
 24. The decree of the Sardians : " This de- 
 cree was made by the senate and people, upon 
 the representation of the praetors : Whereas 
 those Jews who are our fellow-citizens, and live 
 with us in this city, have ever had great benefits 
 heaped upon them by the people, and have come 
 
 * We have here a most remarkable and authentic 
 attestation of the citizens of Pergamus, that Abraham 
 was the father of all the Hebrews ; that their own an- 
 cestors were, in the oldest times, the friends of those 
 Hebrews ; and that the public acts of their city, then 
 extant, confirmed the same ; which evidence is too 
 Btroag to be evaded by our present ignorance of the 
 particular occasion of such ancient friendship and alli- 
 ance between thoue people. 
 
 now into the senate, and desired of the people, 
 that upon the restitution of their law and their 
 liberty, by the senate and people of Rome, they 
 may assemble together, according to their an- 
 cient legal custom, and that we will not bring 
 any suit against them about it ; and that a place 
 may be given them where they may have their 
 congregations, with their wives and children, and 
 may offer, as did their forefathers, their prayers 
 and sacrifices to God. Now the senate and peo- 
 ple have decreed to permit them to assemble to- 
 gether on the days formerly appointed, and to 
 net according to their own laws ; and that such 
 a place be set apart for them by the praetors, for 
 the building and inhabiting the same, as they 
 shall esteem fit for that purpose : and that those 
 that take care of the provisions for the city, 
 shall take care that such sorts of food as they 
 esteem fit for their eating, may be imported into 
 the city." 
 
 25. The decree of the Ephesians : " When 
 Meuophilus was prytanis, on the first day of the 
 month Artemisius, this decree was made by the 
 people : Nicanor, the son of Euphemus, pro- 
 nounced it, upon the representation of the prae- 
 tors. Since the Jews that dwell in this city 
 iiave petitioned Marcus Julius Pompeius, the 
 son of Brutus, the proconsul, that they might be 
 ullowed to observe their Sabbaths, and to act in 
 all things according to the customs of their fore- 
 fathers, without impediment from anybody, the 
 prastor hath granted their petition. Accordingly, 
 it was decreed by the senate and people, that in 
 this affair that concerned the Romiins, no one 
 of them should be hindered from keeping the 
 Sabbath-day, nor be fined for so doing ; but that 
 they may be allowed to do all tilings according 
 to their own laws." 
 
 26. Now there are many such decrees of the 
 senate and imperators of the Romans, t and those 
 different from these before us, which have been 
 made in favour of Hyrcanus, and of our nation ; 
 as also, there have been more decrees of the 
 cities, and rescripts of the praetors to such epistles 
 as concerned our rights and privileges : and cer- 
 tainly such as are not ill-disposed to what we 
 write, may believe that they are all to this pur- 
 pose, and that by the specimens which we have 
 inserted : for since we have produced evident 
 marks that rcay still be seen, of the friendship 
 we have had with the Romans, and demonstrated 
 that those marks are engraven upon columns and 
 tables of brass in the capitol, that are still in 
 being, and preserved to this day, we have omitted 
 to set them all down, as needless and disagree- 
 able ; for I cannot suppose any one so perverse 
 tvs not to believe the friendship we have had 
 with the Romans, while they have demonstrated 
 the same by such a great number of their decrees 
 relating to us ; nor will they doubt of our fide- 
 lity as to the rest of these decrees, since we have 
 ahewn the same in those we have produced. 
 And thus have we sufficiently explained that 
 friendship and confederacy we at those times 
 had with the Romans. 
 
 t If we compare Josephus's promise in sect. 4, to 
 produce all the public decrees of the Romans in favour 
 of the Jews, with his excuse here for omitting many 
 of them, we may observe, that when he came to tran- 
 scribe all those decrees he had collected, he found them 
 go numerous that he thought he should too much tire 
 his readers if he had attempted it, which he thought R 
 sufficient apology for his omitting the rest of them.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 HOW MORCCS SUCCEEDED 8EXTUS WHO. HE HAD 
 BEEN SLAIN BY BASUS'S TREACHERY ; AND HOW, 
 AFTER THE DEATH OF CABAR, CASSI08 CAME 
 INTO STRIA, AND DISTRESSED JUDEA ; AS ALSO, 
 HOW MALICHUS SLEW ANTIPATER, AND WAS 
 HIMSELF SLAIN BY HEROD. 
 
 1. Now it so fell out, that about this very 
 time the affairs of Syria were in great disorder, 
 and this on the occasion following: Cecilius 
 Bassus, one of Pompey's party, laid a treache- 
 rous design against Sextus Caesar, and slew him, 
 and then took his army, and got the manage- 
 ment of public affairs into his own hand ; so 
 there arose a great war about Apamia, while 
 Caesar's generals came against him with an army 
 of horsemen and footmen ; to these Antipater 
 sent also succours, and his sons with them, as 
 calling to mind the kindnesses they had received 
 from Caesar, and on that account he thought it 
 but just to require punishment for him, and to 
 take vengeance on the man that had murdered 
 him. And as the war was drawn out into a 
 great length, Murcus came from Rome to take 
 Sextus's government upon him : but Caesar was 
 alain by Cassius and Brutus in the senate-house, 
 after he had retained the government three 
 years and six months. This fact, however, ia 
 related elsewhere. 
 
 2. As the war that arose upon the death o 
 Caesar was now begun, and the principal men 
 were all gone, some one way, and some another, 
 to raise armies, Cassius came from Rome into 
 Syria, in order to receive the [army that lay in 
 the] .camp at Apamia ; and having raised the 
 siege, he brought over both Bassus and MUTCUB 
 to his party. He then went over the cities, and 
 got together weapons and soldiers, and laid 
 great taxes upon those cities ; and he chiefly 
 oppressed Judea, and exacted of it seven hun- 
 dred talents : but Antipater, when he saw the 
 state to be in so great consternation and dis- 
 order, he divided the collection of that sum, and 
 appointed his sons to gather it ; and so that part 
 of it was to be exacted by Malichus, who was 
 ill-disposed to him, and part by others. And 
 oecause Herod did exact what is required of 
 him from Galilee before others, he was in the 
 greatest favour with Cassius; for he thought it 
 a part of prudence to cultivate a friendship with 
 the Romans, and to gain their good-will at the 
 expense of others; whereas the curators of 
 other cities, with their citizens, were sold for 
 glaves ; and Cassius reduced four cities into a 
 state of slavery, the two most potent of which 
 were' Gophna and Emmaus; and, besides these, 
 Lydda and Thanina. Nay, Cassius was so very 
 angry at Maliehus, that he had killed him, (for 
 he assaulted him,) had not Hyrcanus, by the 
 means of Antipater, sent him a hundred talentt> 
 of his own, and thereby pacified his anger against 
 him. 
 
 3. But after Cassius was gone out of Judea, 
 Malichus laid snares for Antipater, as thinking 
 that his death would be the preservation of 
 Hyrcanus's government ; but his design was nut 
 unknown to Antipater, which, when he per- 
 ceived, he retired beyond Jordan, and got to- 
 gether an army, partly of Arabs, and partly of 
 his own countrymen. However, Malichus being 
 one of great cunning, denied that he had laid 
 any snares for him, and made his defence with 
 an oath, both to himself and his sous ; and ssid 
 that while Phasaelus had a garrison in Jeru- 
 iair.in, and Herod had the weapons of war iu 
 
 custody, he could never have thought of any 
 such thing. So Antipater, perceiving the dis- 
 tress that Malichus was in, was reconciled to 
 him, and made an agreement with him ; this 
 was when Murcus was president of Syria ; who 
 yet perceiving that this Malichus was making a 
 disturbance in Judea, proceeded so far that he 
 had almost killed him ; but still, a*- the inter- 
 cession of Antipater, he saved him. 
 
 4. However, Antipater little thought that by 
 saving Malichus, he had saved his own mur- 
 derer : for now Cassius and Murcus had got 
 together an army, and intrusted the entire care 
 of it with Herod, and made him general of the 
 forces of Coalesyria, and gave him a fleet of ships, 
 and an army of horsemen and footmen ; and 
 promised him, that after the war was over, they 
 would make him king of Judea ; for a war was 
 already begun between Antony and the younger 
 Caesar ; but as Malichus was most afraid of 
 Antipater, Le took him out of the way ; and by 
 the offer of monoy, persuaded the butler of 
 Hyrcanus, with whom they were both to feast, 
 to kill him by poison. This being done, and 
 he having armed men with him, settled the 
 affairs of the city. But when Antipater's sons, 
 Herod and Phasaelus, were acquainted with 
 this conspiracy against their father, and had in- 
 dignation at it, Malichus denied all, and utterly 
 renounced any knowledge of the murder. And 
 thus died Autipater, a man that had distin- 
 guished himself for piety and justice, and love 
 to his country. And whereas one of his sons, 
 Herod, resolved immediately to revenge their 
 father's death, and was coming upon Malichus 
 with an army for that purpose, the elder of his 
 sons, Phasaelus, thought it best rather to get 
 this man into their hands by policy, lest they 
 should appear to begin a civil war in the coun- 
 try ; so he accepted of Malichus's defence for 
 himself, and pretended to believe him, that ho 
 had had no hand in the violent death of Anti- 
 
 Eater his father, but erected a fine monument 
 ;>r him. Herod also went to Samaria : and 
 when he found them in great distress, he re- 
 vived their spirits, and composed their diffe- 
 rences. 
 
 5. However, a little after this, Herod, upon 
 the approach of a festival, came with his sol- 
 diers into the city ; whereupon Malichus was 
 affrighted, and persuaded Hyrcanus not to per- 
 mit him to come into the city. Hyrcanus com- 
 plied; and, for a pretence of excluding him, 
 alleged, that a rout of strangers ought not to be 
 admitted while the multitude were purifying 
 themselves. But Herod had little regard to the 
 messengers that were sent to him, and entered 
 the city in the night-time, and affrighted Ma- 
 lichus, yet did he remit nothing of his former 
 dissimulation, but wept for Antipater, and_be- 
 wailed him as a friend of his, with a loud voice ; 
 but Herod and his friends thought it proper not 
 openly to contradict Malichus's hypocrisy, but 
 to give him tokens of mutual friendship, in order 
 to prevent his suspicion of them. 
 
 6. However, Herod sent to Cassius, and in- 
 formed him of the murder of his father; who 
 knowing what sort of man Malichus was as to 
 his morals, sent him back word, that he should 
 revenge his father's death ; and also sent pri- 
 vately to the commanders of his army at Tyre, 
 with orders to assist Herod in the execution of a 
 very just design of his. Now when Cassius had 
 taken Laodicea, they all went together to him, 
 and carried him garlands and money : and 
 Herod thought that Malichus might be punished 
 while he was there ; but he was somewhat ap- 
 prehensive of the thing, and designed to mak*
 
 304 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK XIV. 
 
 gome great attempt, and because bis son was 
 then a hostage at Tyre, he went to that city, 
 and resolved to steal him away privately, and to 
 march thence into Judea; and as Cassius was in 
 haste to march against Antony, he thought to 
 bring the country to revolt, and to procure the 
 government for himself. But Providence op- 
 posed his counsels; and Herod being a shrewd 
 man, and perceiving what his intention was, he 
 sent thither beforehand a servant, in appearance 
 indeed to get a supper ready, for he had said 
 before, that he would feast them all there, but 
 in reality to the commanders of the army, whom 
 he persuaded to go out against Malichus with 
 their daggers. So they went out and met the 
 man near the city, upon the sea-shore, and 
 there stabbed him. Whereupon Hyrcanus was 
 so astonished at what had happened, that his 
 speech failed him ; and when, after some diffi- 
 culty, he had recovered himself, he asked Herod 
 what the matter could be, and who it was that 
 slew Malichus : and when he said that it was 
 done by the command of Cassius, he commended 
 the action ; for that Malichus was a very wicked 
 man, and one that conspired against his own 
 country. And this was the punishment that 
 was inflicted upon Malichus for what he wickedly 
 did to Antipater. 
 
 7. But when Cassius was marched out of 
 Syria, disturbances arose in Judea : for Felix, 
 who was left at Jerusalem with an army, made 
 a sudden attempt against Phasaelus, and the 
 people themselves rose in arms ; but Herod went 
 to Fabius, the prefect of Damascus, and was de- 
 sirous to run to his brother's assistance, but was 
 hindered by a distemper that seized upon him, 
 till Phasaelus himself had been too hard for 
 Felix, and had shut him up in the tower, and 
 there, on certain conditions, dismissed him. 
 Phasaelus also complained of Hyrcanus, that al- 
 though he had received a great many benefits 
 from them, yet did he support their enemies ; 
 for Malichus's brother had made many places to 
 revolt, and kept garrisons in them, and particu- 
 larly Masada, the strongest fortress of them all. 
 In the meantime, Herod was recovered of his 
 disease, and came and took from Felix all the 
 places he had gotten ; and, upon certain condi- 
 tions, dismissed him also. 
 
 CHAPTER XIL 
 
 HEKOD EJECTS ANTIGONUS, THE SON OF ABI8TOBU- 
 LUS, OUT OF JUDEA, AND GAINS THE FRIEND- 
 SHIP OF ANTONY, WHO WAS NOW COME INTO 
 STRIA, BY SENDING HIM MUCH MONEY; ON 
 WHICH ACCOUNT HE WOULD NOT ADMIT OF 
 THOSE THAT WOULD HAVE ACCUSED HEROD : 
 AND WHAT IT WAS THAT ANTONY WROTE TO 
 THE TYBIANS IN BEHALF OF THE JEWS. 
 
 1. Now* Ptolemy, the son of Menneus, 
 brought back into Judea Antigonus, the son of 
 Aristobulus, who had already raised an army, 
 and had, by money, made Fabius to be his 
 friend, and this because he was of kin to him. 
 Marion also gave him assistance. He had been 
 left by Cassius to tyrannise over Tyre ; for this 
 Cassius was a man that seized on Syria, and then 
 kept it under, in the way of a tyrant. Marion 
 
 * Gronovius truly observes, in his notes on the Ro- 
 man decrees in favour of the Jews, that their rights 
 and privileges were commonly purchased of the Ro- 
 mans with money. Accordingly, the chief captain 
 confesses to Bt Paul that, " with a great sun had he 
 obtained his freedom," (Acts xxii 28.) 
 
 also marched into Galilee, which lay in his 
 neighbourhood, and took three of its fortresses, 
 and put garrisons into them to keep them. But 
 when Herod came, he took all from him ; but 
 the Tyrian garrison he dismissed in a veiy civil 
 manner ; nay, to some of the soldiers he made 
 presents out of the good-will he bare to that 
 city. When he had despatched these affairs, 
 and -was gone to meet Antigonus, he joined 
 battle with him, and beat him, and drove him 
 out of Judea presently, when he was just come 
 into its borders ; but when he was come to Jeru- 
 salem, Hyrcanus and the people put garlands 
 about his head ; for he had already contracted 
 an affinity with the family of Hyrcanus by having 
 espoused a descendant of his, and for that reason 
 Herod took the greater care of him, as being to 
 marry the daughter of Alexander, the son of 
 Aristobulus, and the grand-daughter of Hyrca- 
 nus; by which wife he became the father of 
 three male and two female children. He had 
 also married before this another wife, out of a 
 lower family of his own nation, whose name was 
 Doris, by whom he had his eldest son Antipater. 
 
 2. Now Antonius and Caesar had beaten Cas- 
 sius near Philippi, as others have related ; but 
 after the victory, Caesar went into Gaul [Italy,] 
 and Antony marched into Asia, who when he 
 was arrived at Bithynia, he had ambassadors 
 that met him from all parts. The principal men 
 also of the Jews came thither, to accuse Phasae- 
 lus and Herod, and they said that Hyrcanus had 
 indeed the appearance of reigning, but that these 
 men had all the power ; but Antony paid great 
 respect to Herod, who was come to him to make 
 his defence against his accusers, on which ac- 
 count his adversaries could not so much as ob- 
 tain a hearing ; which favour Herod had gained 
 of Antony by money ; but still, when Antony 
 was come to Ephesus, Hyrcanus, the high priest, 
 and our nation, sent an embassage to him, 
 which carried a crown of gold with them, and 
 desired that he would write to the governors of 
 provinces, to set those Jews free who had been 
 carried captive by Cassius, and this without 
 their having fought against him, and to restore 
 them that country which, in the days of Cassius, 
 had been taken from them. Antony thought 
 the Jews' desires were just, and wrote immedi- 
 ately to Hyrcanus, and to the Jews. He also 
 sent, at the same time, a decree to the Tynans ; 
 the contents of which were to the same purpose. 
 
 3. "Murcus Antonius, imperator, to Hyrca- 
 nus the high priest and ethnarch of the Jews, 
 sendeth greeting. If you be in health, it is well; 
 I am also in health, with the army. Lysimachus 
 the son of Pausanias, and Josephus the son of 
 Menneus, and Alexander the son of Theodorus, 
 your ambassadors, met me at Ephesus, and have 
 renewed the embassage which they had formerly 
 been upon at Rome, and have diligently acquit- 
 ted themselves of the present embassage, which 
 thou and thy nation have intrusted to them, 
 and have fully declared the good will thou hast 
 for us. I am therefore satisfied, both by your 
 actions and your words, that you are well-dis- 
 posed to us ; and I understand that your con- 
 duct of life is constant and religious ; so I reckon 
 you as our own ; but when those that were ad- 
 versaries to you, and to the Roman people, ab- 
 stained neither from cities nor temples, and did 
 not observe the agreement they had confirmed 
 by oath, it was not only ofc account of our con- 
 test with them, but on account of all mankind 
 in common, that we have taken vengeance on 
 those who have been the authors of great in- 
 justice towards men, and of great wickedness 
 towards the gods ; for the sake of which we aup-
 
 CHAP. XIIL] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 305 
 
 pose that it was that the sun turned away his 
 light from us,* as unwilling to view the horrid 
 crime they were guilty of in the case of Caesar. 
 We have also overcome their conspiracies, which 
 threatened the gods themselves, which Macedo- 
 nia received, as it is a climate peculiarly proper 
 for impious and insolent attempts ; and we have 
 overcome that confused rout of men, half mad 
 with spite against us, which they got together 
 at Philippi, in Macedonia, when they seized on 
 the places that were proper for that purpose, 
 and, as it were, walled them round with moun- 
 tains to the very sea, and where the passage was 
 open only through a single gate. This victory 
 we gained, because the gods had condemned 
 those wicked enterprises. Now Brutus, when 
 he had fled as far as Philippi, was shut up by us, 
 and became a partaker of the same perdition with 
 Cassius ; and now these have received their pun- 
 ishment, we suppose that we may enjoy peace 
 for the time to come, and that Asia may be at 
 rest from war. We therefore make that peace 
 which God hath given us common to our con- 
 federates also, insomuch that the body of Asia is 
 now recovered out of that distemper it was 
 under by means of our victory. I, therefore, 
 bearing in mind both thee and your nation, shall 
 take care of what may be for your advantage. 
 I have also sent epistles in writing to the several 
 cities, that if any persons, whether freemen or 
 bondmen, have been sold under the spear by 
 Caius Cassius or his subordinate officers, they 
 may be set free ; and I will that you kindly 
 make use of the favours which I and Dolabella 
 have granted you. I also forbid the Tyrians to 
 IBS any violence with you ; and for what places 
 of the Jews they now possess, I order them to 
 restore them. I have withal accepted of the 
 crown which thou sentest me." 
 
 4. " Murcus Antonius, imperator, to the ma- 
 gistrates, senate, and people of Tyre, sendeth 
 greeting. The ambassadors of Hyrcanus, the 
 high priest and ethnarch [of the Jews,] appeared 
 before me at Ephesus, and told me that you are 
 in possession of part of their country, which you 
 entered upon under the government of our ad- 
 versaries. Since, therefore, we have undertaken 
 a war for the obtaining the government, and have 
 taken care to do what was agreeable to piety and 
 justice, and have brought to punishment those 
 that had neither any remembrance of the kind- 
 ness they had received, nor have kept their oaths, 
 I will that you be at peace with those that are 
 our confederates ; as also, that what you have 
 taken by the means of our adversaries shall not 
 be reckoned your own, but be returned to those 
 from whom you took them ; for none of them 
 took their provinces or their armies by the gift 
 of the senate, but they seized them by force, and 
 bestowed them by violence upon such as became 
 useful to them in their unjust proceedings. 
 Since, therefore, those men have received the 
 
 Eunishment due to them, we desire that our con- 
 jderates may retain whatsoever it was that they 
 formerly possessed without disturbance, and that 
 you restore all the places which belong to Hyr- 
 canus, the ethnarch of the Jews, which you have 
 had, though it were but one day before Caius 
 Cassius began an unjustifiable war against us, 
 and entered into our province ; nor do you use 
 any force against him, it order to weaken him, 
 that he may not be abl* to dispose of that which 
 is his own ; but if you have any contest with him 
 
 * This clause plainly alludes to that well-known but 
 unusual and very long darkness of the sun, which hap- 
 pened upon the murder of Julius Caesar by Brutus and 
 Cassius ; which is greatly taken notic* f by Virgil, 
 Pliny, and other Roman authors. 
 
 about your respective rights, it shall be lawful 
 for you to plead your cause when we come upon 
 the places concerned, for we shall alike preserve 
 the rights, and hear all the causes, of our con- 
 federates." 
 
 5. " Murcus Antonius, imperator, to the ma- 
 gistrates, senate, and people of Tyre, sendeth 
 greeting. I have sent you my decree, of which 
 I will that ye take care that it lie engraven on 
 the public tables, in Roman and Greek letters, 
 and that it stand engraven in the most illustrious 
 places, that it may be read by alL Murcus 
 Antonius, imperator, one of the triumvirate over 
 the public affairs, made this declaration : Since 
 Caius Cassius, hi this revolt he hath made, hath 
 pillaged that province which belonged not to 
 him, and was held by garrisons there encamped, 
 while they were our confederates, and hath 
 spoiled that nation of the Jews which was in 
 friendship with the Roman people, as in war ; and 
 since we have overcome his madness by arms, 
 we now correct, by our decrees and judicial 
 determinations, what he hath laid waste, that 
 those things may be restored to our confede- 
 rates ; and as for what hath been sold of the 
 Jewish possessions, whether they be bodies or 
 possessions, let them be released : the bodies 
 into that state of freedom they were originally 
 in, and the possessions to their former owners. 
 I also will, that he who shall not comply with 
 this decree of mine, shall be punished for his 
 disobedience ; and if such a one be caught, I will 
 take care that the offenders suffer condign pun- 
 ishment." 
 
 6. The same thing did Antony write to the 
 Sidonians, and the Antiochians, and the Arabi- 
 ans. We have produced these decrees, therefore, 
 as marks for futurity of the truth of what we 
 have said, that the Romans had a great concern 
 about our nation, 
 
 CHAPTER XHL 
 
 HOW ANTONY MADE HEEOD AND PHASAELUS TE- 
 TRAKOHS, AFTER THEY HAD BEEN ACCUSED TO 
 NO PURPOSE ; AND HOW THE PARTHIANS, WHEN 
 THEY BROUGHT ANTIGONUS INTO JUDEA, TOOK 
 HYRCANUS AND PHASAELUS CAPTIVES. HEROD'S 
 
 FLIGHT; AND WHAT AFFLICTIONS HYBCANUS 
 AND PHASAELUS ENDURED. 
 
 1. WHEN after this, Antony came into Syria, 
 Cleopatra met him in Cilici't, and brought him 
 to fall in love with her. And there came now 
 also a hundred of the most potent of the Jews to 
 accuse Herod and those about him, and set the 
 men of the greatest eloquence among them to 
 speak. But Messala contradicted them, on 
 behalf of the young men, and all this in the 
 presence of Hyrcanus, who was Herod's father- 
 in-lawf already. When Antony had heard both 
 sides at Daphne, he asked Hyrcanus who they 
 were that governed the nation best? He replied, 
 Herod and his friends. Hereupon Antony, by 
 reason of the old hospitable friendship he had 
 made with his father [Antipater,] at that time 
 when he was with Gabinius, he made both Herod 
 and Phasaelus tetrarchs, and committed the 
 public affairs of the Jews to them, and wrote 
 letters to that purpone. He also bound fifteen 
 
 f We may here take notice that espousals alone weie 
 of old esteemed a sufficient foundation for affinity, Hyr- 
 canus being here called father-in-law to Herod, beCMM 
 hii grand-daughter Mariamne was betrothed to him, 
 although the marriage was not completed tiUfour jean 
 aftenrards. See Matt. L 16. 
 
 U
 
 406 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xiv. 
 
 of their adversaries, and was going to kill them, 
 but that Herod obtained their pardon. 
 
 2. Yet did not these men continue quiet when 
 they were come back, but a thousand of the 
 Jews came to Tyre to meet him there, whither 
 the report was that he would come. But Antony 
 was corrupted by the money which Herod ana 
 his brother had given him ; and so he gave order 
 to the governor of the place to punish the Jewish 
 ambassadors, who were for making innovations, 
 and to settle the government upon Herod : but 
 Herod went out hastily to them, and Hyrcanus 
 was with him, (for they stood upon the shore 
 before the city ;) and he charged them to go 
 their ways, because great mischiefs would befall 
 them if they went on with their accusation. But 
 they did not acquiesce : whereupon the Romans 
 ran upon them with their daggers, and slew 
 some, and wounded more of them, and the rest 
 fled away, and went home, and lay still in great 
 consternation : and when the people made a 
 clamour against Herod, Antony was BO provoked 
 at it that he slew the prisoners. 
 
 3. Now, in the second year, Pacorus, the king 
 of Parthia's son, and Barzapharnes, a com- 
 mander of the Parthians, possessed themselvefl 
 of Syria. Ptolemy, the son of Menneus, also 
 was now dead, and Lysanias his son took his 
 government, and made a league of friendship 
 with Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus : and in 
 order to obtain it, made use of that commander, 
 who had a great interest in him. Now Anti- 
 gonus had promised to give the Parthians a thou- 
 sand talents, and five hundred women, upon 
 condition they would take the government away 
 from Hyrcanus, and bestow it upon him, and 
 withal kill Herod. And although he did not 
 give them what he had promised, yet did the 
 Parthians make an expedition into Judea on 
 that account, and carried Antigonus with them. 
 Pacorus went along the maritime parts ; but the 
 commander Barzapharnes through the midland. 
 Now the Tynans excluded Pacorus; but the 
 Sidonians, and those of Ptolemais, received 
 him. However, Pacorus sent a troop of horse- 
 men into Judea, to take a view of the state of 
 the country, and to assist Antigonus ; and sent 
 also the king's butler, of the same name with 
 himself. So when the Jews that dwelt about 
 mount Carmel came to Antigonus, and were 
 ready to march with him into Judea, Antigonus 
 hoped to get some part of the country by their 
 assistance. The place is called Drymi; and 
 when some others came and met them, the men 
 privately fell upon Jerusalem ; and when some 
 more were come to them, they got together in 
 great numbers, and came against the king's 
 palace, and besieged it. But as Phasaelus's and 
 Herod's party came to the other's assistance, 
 and a battle happened between them in the 
 market-place, the young men beat their ene- 
 mies, and pursued them into the temple, and 
 ent some armed men into the adjoining houses, 
 to keep them in, who yet being destitute of 
 such as should support them, were burnt, and 
 fche bouses with them, by the people who rose 
 up against them. But Herod was revenged on 
 these seditious adversaries of his a little after- 
 ward for this injury they had offered him, when 
 he fought with them, and slew a great numbei 
 of them, 
 
 4. But while there were daily skirmishes, the 
 enemy waited for the coming of the multitude 
 out of the country to Pentecost, a feast of ours 
 so called ; and when that day was come, many 
 ten thousands of the people were gathered to- 
 
 tner about the temple, some in armour, and 
 v>me without. Now those that came 
 
 both the temple and the city, -excepting what 
 bolouged to the palace, which. Herod guarded 
 with a few of his soldiers ; and Phasaelus had 
 the charge of the wall, while Herod, with a 
 body of his men, sallied out upon the enemy, 
 who lay in the suburbs, and fought courage- 
 ously, and put many ten thousands to flight, 
 some flying into the city, and some into the 
 temple, and some into the outer fortifications, 
 for some such fortifications there were in that 
 place. Phasaelus came also to his assistance; 
 yet was Pacorus the general of the Parthians, at 
 the desire of Antigonus, admitted into the city, 
 with a few of his horsemen, under pretence in- 
 deed as if he would still the sedition, but in 
 reality to assist Antigonus in obtaining the go- 
 vernment. And when Phasaelus met him, and 
 received him kindly, Pacorus persuaded him to 
 go himself as ambassador to Barzapharnes, which 
 was done fraudulently. Accordingly, Phasaelus, 
 suspecting no harm", complied with his proposal, 
 while Herod did not give his consent to what 
 was done, because of the perfidiousness of those 
 barbarians, but desired Phasaelus ratbr to fight 
 those that were come into the city. 
 
 5. So both Hyrca,nus and Phasaelus went on 
 the embassnge ; but Pacorus left with Herod 
 two hundred horsemen, and ten men, who were 
 called the freemen ; and conducted the others on 
 their journey ; and when they were in Galilee, 
 the governors of the cities there met them in 
 their arms. Barzapharnes also received them at 
 the first with cheerfulness, and made them pre- 
 sents, though he afterward conspired against 
 them ; and Phasaelus, with his horsemen, were 
 conducted to the sea-side ; but when they heard 
 that Antigonus had promised to give the Par- 
 thians a thousand talents, and five hundred 
 women, to assist him against them, they soon 
 had a suspicion of the barbarians. Moreover, 
 there was one who informed them that snares 
 were laid for them by night, while a guard came 
 about them secretly ; and they had then been 
 seized upon, had they not waited for the seizure 
 of Herod by the Parthians that were about 
 Jerusalem, lest, upon the slaughter of Hyrcanus 
 and Phasaelus, he should have an intimation of 
 it, and escape out of their hands. And these 
 were the circumstances they were now in ; and 
 they saw who they were that guarded them. 
 Some persons indeed would have persuaded 
 Phasaelus to fly away on horseback, and not to 
 stay any longer ; and there was one Ophellius, 
 who, above all the rest, was earnest with him to 
 do so, for he had heard of this treachery from 
 Saramalla, the richest of all the Syrians at that 
 time, who also promised to provide him ships tt 
 carry him off , for the sea was just by them . 
 but he had no mind to desert Hyrcanus, nor 
 bring his brother into danger; but he went to 
 Barzapharnes, and told him he did not act 
 justly when he made such a contrivance against 
 them, for that if he wanted money, he would 
 give him more than Antigonus; and besides, 
 that it was a horrible thing to slay those that 
 came to him upon the security of their oaths, 
 and that when they had done them no injury. 
 But the barbirian swore to him that there was 
 no truth in any of his suspicions, but that he 
 was troubled with nothing but false proposals 
 and then went away to Pacorus. 
 
 6. But as soon as he was gone away, som men 
 came and bound Hyrcanus and Phasaelus ; while 
 Phasaelus greatly reproached the Parthians for 
 their perjury. However, that butler who was 
 sent against Herod had it in command to get 
 him without the walls of the city, and seize 
 "pou him; but messengers had been sent h
 
 CHAF. X1O.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 307 
 
 Phasaelus to inform Herod of the perfidiousness 
 of the Parthians ; and when he knew that the 
 t-uemy had seized upon them, he went to 
 Pacorus, and to the most potent of the Par- 
 thians, as to the lords of the rest, who, although 
 they knew the whole matter, dissembled with 
 him in a deceitful way ; and said that he ought 
 to go out with them before the walls, and meet 
 those who were bringing him his letters, for that 
 they were not taken by his adversaries, but 
 were coming to give him an account of the good 
 success Phasaelus had had. Herod did not give 
 credit to what ibey said ; for he had heard that 
 his brother waa seized xipon by others also ; and 
 the daughter of Hyrcanus, whose daughter he 
 had espoused, was his monitor also [not to credit 
 them,] which made him still more suspicious of 
 the Parthians; for although other people did 
 not give heed to her, yet did he believe her as a 
 woman of very great wisdom. 
 
 7. Now while the Parthians were in consulta- 
 tion what was fit to be done ; for they did not 
 think it proper to make an open attempt upon a 
 person of his character ; and while they put off 
 the determination to the next day, Herod was 
 under great disturbance of mind ; and rather 
 inclining to believe the reports he heard about 
 his brother and the Parthians, than to give heed 
 to what was said on the other side, he deter- 
 mined, that when the evening came on, he would 
 make use of it for his flight, and not make any 
 longer delay, as if the dangers from the enemy 
 were not yet certain. He therefore removed 
 with the armed men whom he had with him ; 
 and set his wives upon the beasts, as also his 
 mother, and sister, and her whom lie was about 
 to marry [Mariamne,] the daughter of Alexander, 
 the son of Aristobulus, with her mother, the 
 daughter of Hyrcanus, and his youngest brother, 
 and all their servants, and the rest of the multi- 
 tude that was with him, and without the enemy's 
 privity pursued his way to Idumea : nor could 
 any enemy of his who then saw him in this case, 
 be so hard-hearted, but would have commiser- 
 ated his fortune, while the women drew along 
 their infant children, and left their own country, 
 and their friends in prison, with tears in their 
 eyes, and sad lamentations, and in expectation of 
 nothing but what was of a melancholy nature. 
 
 8. But for Herod himself, he raised his mind 
 above the miserable state he was in, and was of 
 good courage in the midst of his misfortunes ; 
 and, as he passed along, he bade them every one 
 be of good cheer, and not to give themselves up 
 to sorrow, because that would hinder them in 
 their flight, which was now the only hope of 
 af ety that they had. Accordingly they tried to 
 bear with patience the calamity they were under, 
 as he exhorted them to do ; yet was he once 
 ilmost going to kill himself, upon the overthrow 
 of a waggon, and the danger his mother was then 
 in of being killed ; and this on two accounts, 
 because of his great concern for her, and because 
 he was afraid lest, by this delay, the enemy 
 should overtake him in the pursuit ; but as he 
 was drawing his sword, and going to kill himself, 
 therewith, those that were present restrained 
 him, and being so many in number, were too 
 hard for him ; and told him that he ought not 
 to desert them, and leave them a prey to their 
 enemies, for that it was not the part of a brave 
 man to free himself from the distresses he was 
 in, and to overlook his friends that were in the 
 tame distress also. So he was compelled to let 
 that horrid attempt alone, partly out of shame at 
 what they said to him, and partly out of regard 
 to the great number of those that would not 
 permit him to do what be intended. So he en- 
 
 couraged his mother, and took all the care of he* 
 the time would allow, and proceeded on the way 
 he proposed to go with the utmost haste, and 
 that was to the fortress of Masada. And as he 
 had many skirmishes with such of the Parthian* 
 as attacked him and pursued him, he waa oon. 
 queror in them all. 
 
 9. Nor indeed was he free from the Jews all 
 along as he was in his flight : for by the time he 
 was gotten sixty furlongs out of the city, and 
 was upon the road, they fell upoa him, and 
 fought hand to hand with him, whom he also put 
 to flight, and overcame, not like one that waa in 
 distress and in necessity, but like one that was 
 excellently prepared for war, and had what he 
 wanted in great plenty. And in this very place 
 where he overcame the Jews, it was that he some 
 time afterwards built a most excellent palace, 
 and a city round about it, and called it Hero- 
 dinm. And when he was come to Idumea, at a 
 place called Thressa, his brother Joseph met 
 him, and he then held a council to take advice 
 about his affairs, and what was fit to be done in 
 his circumstances, since he had a great multitude 
 that followed him, besides his mercenary sol- 
 diers, and the place Masada, whither he proposed 
 to fly, was too small to contain so great a multi- 
 tude : so he sent away the greater part of his 
 company, being above nine thousand, and bade 
 them go, some one way, and some another, and 
 so i re themselves in Idumea, and gave them 
 what would buy them provisions in their jour- 
 ney. But he took with him those that were the 
 least encumbered, and were most intimate with 
 him, and came to the fortress, and placed there 
 his wiveg nd his followers, being eight hundred 
 in number, there being in the place a sufficient 
 quantity of corn and water, and other neces- 
 saries, and went directly for Petra, in Arabia. 
 But when it was day, the Parthians plundered all 
 Jerusalem, and the palace, and abstained from 
 nothing but Hyrcanus's money, which was three 
 hundred talents. A great deal of Herod's money 
 escaped, and principally all that the man had 
 been so provident as to send into Idumea before- 
 hand; nor indeed did what was in the city suffice 
 the Parthians ; but they went out into the 
 country, and plundered it, and demolished the 
 city Marissa, 
 
 10. And thus <ras Antigonua brought back 
 into Judea by the king of the Parthians, and 
 received Hyrcanus and Phasaelus for his prison- 
 ers ; but he was greatly cast down because the 
 women had escaped, whom he intended to have 
 given the enemy, as having promised they should 
 have them, with the money, for their reward : 
 but being afraid that Hyrcanus, who was under 
 the guard of the Parthians, might have his king- 
 dom restored to him by the multitude, he cut off 
 his ears, and thereby took care that the high 
 priesthood should never come to him any more, 
 because he was maimed, while the law required 
 that this dignity should belong to none but such 
 as had all their members entire. * But now one 
 cannot but here admire the fortitude of Phasae- 
 lus, who, perceiving that he was to be put to 
 death, did not think death any terrible thing at 
 all ; but to die thus by the means of his enemy, 
 this he thought a most pitiable and dishonour- 
 able thing, and therefore since he had not hia 
 hands at liberty, for the bonds he was in pre- 
 vented him from killing himself thereby, he 
 dashed his head against a great stone, and there- 
 by took away his own life, which he thought to 
 be the best thing he could do in such a distress 
 as he was in, and thereby put it out of the power 
 
 This law of Moses is in Lev. xxi. 17-34.
 
 SOS 
 
 of the enemy to bring him to any death he 
 pleased. It is also reported, that when he had 
 made a great wound in his head, Antigonus sent 
 physicians to cure it, and, by ordering them to 
 infuse poison into the wound, killed him. How- 
 ever, Phasaelus hearing, before he was quite 
 dead, by a certain woman, that his brother 
 Herod had escaped the enemy, underwent his 
 death cheerfully, since he now left behind him 
 one who would revenge his death, and who was 
 able to inflict punishment on his enemies. 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK XIV. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 HOW HEROD GOT AWAY FROM THE KING OF ARABIA, 
 AND MADE HASTE TO GO INTO EGYPT, AND THENCE 
 WENT IN HASTE ALSO TO ROME ; AND HOW, BY 
 PROMISING A GREAT DEAL OP MONEY TO ANTONY, 
 HE OBTAINED OF THE SENATE AND OF C-fiSAR TO 
 BE MADE KING OF THE JEWS. 
 
 1. As for Herod, the great miseries he was in 
 did not discourage him, but made him sharp in 
 discovering surprising undertakings ; for he went 
 x> Malchus, king of Arabia, whom he had for- 
 merly been very kind to, in order to receive 
 somewhat by way of requital, now he was in 
 more than ordinary want of it, and desired he 
 would let him have some money, either by way 
 of loan, or as his free gift, on account of the 
 nany benefits he had received from him ; for not 
 mowing what was become of his brother, he was 
 "n haste to redeem him out of the hand of his 
 jnemies, as willing to give three hundred talents 
 'or the price of his redemption. He also took 
 with him the son of Phasaelus, who was a child 
 of but seven years of age ; for this very reason, 
 that he might be a hostage for the repayment 
 of the money. But there came messengers from 
 Malchus to meet him, by whom he was desired 
 to be gone, for that the Parthians had laid a 
 charge upon him not to entertain Herod. This 
 was only a pretence which he made use of, that 
 he might not be obliged to repay him what he 
 owed him ; and this he was further induced to 
 do, by the principal men among the Arabians, 
 that they might cheat him of what sums they 
 had received from [his father] Antipater, and 
 which he had committed to their fidelity. He 
 made answer, that he did not intend to be trouble- 
 ome to them by his coming thither, but that he 
 desired only to discourse with them about certain 
 affairs that were to him of the greatest import- 
 ance. 
 
 2. Hereupon he resolved to go away, and did 
 fo very prudently the road to Egypt ; and then 
 it was that he lodged in a certain temple ; for he 
 had left a great many of his followers there. On 
 the next day he came to Rhinocolura, and there 
 it was that he heard what had befallen his bro- 
 ther. Though Malchus soon repented of what 
 he had done, and came running after Herod ; yet 
 with no manner of success, for he was gotten a 
 very great way off, and made haste into the road 
 to Pelusium; and when the stationary ships 
 that lay there hindered him from sailing to Alex- 
 andria, he went to their captains, by whose as- 
 sistance, and that out of much reverence of, and 
 great regard to him, he was conducted into the 
 city [Alexandria,] and was retained there by 
 Cleopatra, yet was she not able to prevail with 
 him to stay there, because he was making haste 
 to Home, even though the weather was stormy, 
 and he was informed that the affairs of Italy 
 were very tumultuous, and in great disorder. 
 
 3. So he set sail from thence to Pamphylia, 
 
 and falling into a violent storm, he had much ado 
 to escape to Rhodes, with the loss of the ship's 
 burden ; and there it was that two of his friends, 
 Sappinas and Ptolemeus, met with him : and as 
 he found that city very much damaged in the 
 war against Cassius, though he were in necessity 
 himself, he neglected not to do it a kindness, 
 but did what he could to recover it to its former 
 state. He also built there a three-decked ship, 
 and set sail thence with his friends for Italy, 
 and came to the port of Brundusium : and when 
 he was come from thence to Rome, he first re- 
 lated to Antony what had befallen him in Judea, 
 and how Phasaelus his brother was seized on by 
 the Parthians, and put to death by them ; and 
 how Hyrcanus was detained captive by them, 
 and how they had made Antigonus king, who 
 had promised them a sum of money, no less than 
 a thousand talents, with five hundred women, 
 who were to be of the principal families, and of 
 the Jewish stock ; and that he had carried off 
 the women by night ; and that, by undergoing 
 a great many hardships, he had escaped the 
 hands of his enemies ; as also that his own rela- 
 tions were in danger of being besieged and taken, 
 and that he had sailed through a storm, and con- 
 temned all these terrible dangers, in order to 
 come, as soon as possible, to him who was his 
 hope and only succour at this time. 
 
 4. This account made Antony commiserate the 
 change that had happened in Herod's condition ;* 
 and reasoning with himself that this was a com- 
 mon case among those that are placed in such 
 great dignities, and that they are liable to the mu- 
 tations that come from fortune, he was very ready 
 to give him the assistance that he desired ; and 
 this because he called to mind the friendship he 
 had had with Antipater, because Herod offered 
 him money to make him king, as he had for- 
 merly given it to him to make him tetrarch, and 
 chiefly because of his hatred to Antigonus, for 
 he took him to be a seditious person, and an 
 enemy to the Romans. Caesar was also the for- 
 warder to raise Herod's dignity, and to give him 
 his assistance in what he desired, on account of 
 the toils of war which he had himself undergone 
 with Antipater his father in Egypt, and of the 
 hospitality he had treated him withal, and the 
 kindness he had always shewn him ; as also to 
 gratify Antony, who was very zealous for Herod. 
 So a senate was convocated ; and Messala first, 
 and then Atratinus, introduced Herod into it, 
 and enlarged upon the benefits they had received 
 from his father, and put them in mind of the 
 good- will he had borne to the Romans. At the 
 same time, they accused Antigonus, and declared 
 him an enemy, not only because of his former op- 
 position to them, but that he had now overlooked 
 the Romans, and taken the government from the 
 Parthians. Upon this the senate was irritated ; 
 and Antony informed them further that it was 
 for their advantage in the Parthian war that 
 Herod should be king. This seemed good to all 
 the senators ; and so they made a decree accord- 
 ingly. 
 
 5. And this was the principal instance of An- 
 tony's affection for Herod, that he not only pro- 
 cured him a kingdom which he did not expect, 
 (for he did not come with an intention to ask 
 the kingdom for himself, which he did not sup- 
 pose the Romans would grant him, who used to 
 bestow it on some of the royal family, but in- 
 tended to desire it for his wife's brother, who 
 was grandson by his father to Aristobulus, and 
 
 * Concerning the chronology of Herod, both princi- 
 pally derived from this and the two next chapters IB 
 Joseuhus, gee the note on sect. 0, and chap. xv. sect. 10.
 
 CHAP. XV.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JETVS, 
 
 309 
 
 to Hyrcanus by his mother,) but that he pro- 
 cured it for him so suddenly, that he obtained 
 what he did not expect, and departed out of 
 Italy in so few days as seven in all. This 
 young man [the grandson] Herod afterward took 
 caie to have slain, as we shall shew in its proper 
 place. But when the senate was dissolved, An- 
 tony and Csesar went out of the senate-house, 
 with Herod between them, and with the consuls 
 and other magistrates before them, in order to 
 offer sacrifices, and to lay up their decrees in the 
 capitoL Antony also feasted Herod the first day 
 of his reigR And thus did this man receive the 
 kingdom, having obtained it on the hundred and 
 eighty-fourth Olympiad, when Caius Domitius 
 Calvinus was consul the second time, and Caius 
 Asinius Pollio [the first time.] 
 
 6. All this while Antigonus besieged those that 
 were in Masada, who had plenty of all other ne- 
 cessaries, but were only in want of water,* inso- 
 much that on this occasion Joseph, Herod's 
 brother, was contriving to run away from it, with 
 two hundred of his dependants, to the Arabians; 
 for he had heard that Malchus repented of the 
 offences he had, been guilty of with regard to 
 Herod; but God, by sending rain in the night- 
 time, prevented his going away, for their cisterns 
 were thereby filled, and so he was under no ne- 
 cessity of running away on that account : but 
 they were now of good courage, and the more so, 
 because the sending that plenty of water which 
 they had been in want of, seemed a mark of 
 Divine Providence ; so they made a sally, and 
 fought hand to hand with Antigonus's soldiers, 
 (with some openlv, with some privately,) and de- 
 stroyed a great i&mber of them. At the same 
 time. Ventidius, the general of the Romans, was 
 sent oat of Syria, to drive the Parthians out of 
 it, and marched after them into Judea, on pre- 
 tence indeed to succour Joseph ; but in reality, 
 the whole affair was no more than a stratagem, 
 in order to get money of Antigonus; so they 
 pitched their camp very near to Jerusalem, and 
 stripped Antigonus of a great deal of money, and 
 then he retired himself with the greater part of 
 the army ; but that the wickedness he had been 
 guilty of might not be found out, he left Silo 
 there, with a certain part of his soldiers, with 
 whom also Antigonus cultivated an acquaintance, 
 that he might cause him no disturbance, and was 
 still in hopes that the Parthians would come 
 again and defend him. 
 
 CHAPTER XV, 
 
 HOW HEBOD SAILED OCT OF ITALY TO JUDEA, AND 
 FOUGHT WITH ANTIGONUS ; AND WHAT OTHER 
 THINGS HAPPENED IN JUDEA ABOUT THAT TIME. 
 
 1. BY this time Herod had sailed out of Italy 
 to Ptolemais, and had gotten together no small 
 army, both of strangers and of his own country- 
 men, and marched through Galilee against Anti- 
 gonus. Silo also, and Ventidius, came and as- 
 sisted him, being persuaded by Dellius, who was 
 sent by Antony to assist in bringing back Herod. 
 Now, for Ventidius, he was employed in compos- 
 ing the disturbances that had been made in the 
 cities by the means of the Parthians ; and for 
 Silo, he was indeed in Judea, but corrupted by 
 Antigonus. However, as Herod went along, his 
 army increased every day, and all Galilee, with 
 Borne small exception, joined him ; but as he was 
 
 * This grievous want of water at Masada, till the 
 place had like to have been taken by the Parthiang, it 
 an indicator that it ws now summer-time. 
 
 marching to those that were in Masada, (for he 
 was obliged to endeavour to save those that were 
 in that fortress, now they were besieged, because 
 they were his relations,) Joppa was a hindrance 
 to him; for it was necessary for him to take that 
 place first, it being a city at variance with him, 
 that no stronghold might be left in his enemies' 
 hands behind him when he should go to Jerusa- 
 lem. And when Silo made this a pretence for 
 rising up from Jerusalem, and was thereupon 
 pursued by the Jews, Herod fell upon them with 
 a small body of men, and both put the Jews 
 to flight and saved Silo, when he was very 
 poorly able to defend himself ; but when Herod 
 had taken Joppa, he made haste to set free those 
 of his family that were in Masada. Now of the 
 people of the country, some joined him because 
 of the friendship they had had with his father, 
 and some because of the splendid appearance he 
 made, and others by way of requital for the bene- 
 fits they had received from both of them ; but 
 the greatest number came to him in hopes of 
 getting somewhat from him afterward, if he were 
 once firmly settled in the kingdom. 
 
 2. Herod had now a strong aimy ; and as he 
 marched on, Antigonus laid snares and ambushes 
 in the passes and places most proper for them , 
 but in truth he thereby did little or no damage 
 to the enemy : so Herod received those of his 
 family out of Masada, and the fortress Ressa, and 
 then went on for Jerusalem. The soldiery also 
 that was with Silo accompanied him all along, as 
 did many of the citizens, being afraid of his 
 power ; and as soon as he had pitched his camp 
 on the west side of the city, the soldiers that 
 were set to guard that part shot their arrows, 
 and threw their darts at him ; and when some 
 sallied out in a crowd, and came to fight hand to 
 hand with the first ranks of Herod's army, he 
 gave orders that they should, in the first place, 
 make proclamation about the wall, that he came 
 for the good of the people, and for the preserva- 
 tion of the city, and not to bear any old grudge 
 ai even his most open enemies, but ready to for- 
 get the offences which his greatest adversary had 
 done him ; but Antigonus, by way of reply to 
 what Herod had caused to be proclaimed, and 
 this before the Romans, and before Silo also, 
 said, that they would not do justly if they gave 
 the kingdom to Herod, who was no more than a 
 private man, and an Idumean, i.e. a half Jew,t 
 whereas they ought to bestow it on one of the 
 royal family, as their custom was ; for, that in 
 case they at present bear an ill-will to him, and 
 had resolved to deprive him of the kingdom, as 
 having received it from the Parthians, yet were 
 there many others of his family that might bv 
 their law take it, and these such as had no way 
 offended the Romans ; and being of the sacer 
 dotal family, it would be an unworthy thing to 
 put them by. Now while they said thus one to 
 another, and fell to reproaching one another on 
 both sides, Antigonus permitted his own men 
 that were upon the wall to defend themselves ; 
 who, using their bows, and shewing great alacrity 
 against their enemies, easily drove them away 
 from the towers. 
 
 3. And now it was that Sflo discovered that he 
 
 f This affirmation of Antigonus, spoken in the days 
 of Herod, and in a manner to his face, seems to me ol 
 much greater authority than that pretence of his favour- 
 ite and flatterer Nicolaus of Damascus, that he derived 
 his pedigree from Jews as far backward as the Baby- 
 lonish captivity. Accordingly Josephus always esteems 
 him an Idumean, though he says his father Antipater 
 was of the same people with the Jews, and a Jew by 
 birth, as indeed all such proselytes of justice as the 
 Idumeans, were in time esteemed the very same people 
 with the Jew*.
 
 310 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xrv 
 
 had taken bribes : for he set a great number of 
 his soldieis to complain aloud of the want of pro- 
 visions they were in, and to require money to 
 buy them food ; and that it was fit to let them go 
 into places proper for winter quarters, since the 
 places near the city were n desert, by reason that 
 Antigonus's soldiers had carried all away ; so he 
 set his army upon removing, and endeavoured to 
 march away ; but Herod pressed Silo not to de- 
 part, and exhorted Silo's captains and soldiers 
 not to desert him, when Caesar and Antony, and 
 the senate, had sent him thither, for that he 
 would provide them plenty of all the things they 
 wanted, and easily procure them a great abun- 
 dance of what they required ; after which en- 
 treaty, he immediately went into the country, 
 and left not the least pretence to Silo for his de- 
 parture, for he brought an unexpected quantity 
 of provisions, and sent to those friends of his 
 who inhabited about Samaria, to bring down corn, 
 and wine, and oil, and cattle, and all other pro- 
 visions, to Jericho, that there might be no want 
 of a supply for the soldiers for the time to come. 
 Antigonus was sensible of this, and sent pre- 
 sently over the country such as might restrain 
 and lie in ambush for those that went out for 
 provisions. So these men obeyed the orders of 
 Antigonus, and got together a great number of 
 armed men about Jericho, and sat upon the 
 mountains, and watched those that brought the 
 provisions. However, Herod was not idle in the 
 meantime, for he took ten bands of soldiers, of 
 whom five were of the Romans, and five of the 
 Jews, with some mercenaries among them, and 
 with some few horsemen, and came to Jericho ; 
 and as they found the city deserted, but that 
 five hundred of them had settled themselves on 
 the tops of the hills, with their wives and chil- 
 dren, those he took and sent away ; but the 
 Romans fell upon the city and plundered it, and 
 found the houses full of all sorts of good things. 
 So the king left a garrison at Jericho, and came 
 back again, and sent the Roman army to take 
 their winter quarters in the countries that were 
 come over to him, Judea, and Galilee, and Sa- 
 maria. And so much did Antigonus gain of 
 Silo for the bribes he gave him, that part of the 
 army should be quartered at Lydda, in order to 
 please Antony. So the Romans laid th-Jr wea- 
 pons aside and lived in i-' By o f al i tfefog* 
 
 but -' - " was not P leased wfo l y^s sta, 
 
 ..wiii; out his brother Joseph against Idumea 
 with two thousand armed footmen, and four 
 hundred horsemen, while he himself came to 
 Samaria, and left his mother and big other rela- 
 tions there, for they were already gone out of 
 Masada, and went into Galilee, and took certain 
 places which were held by the garrisons of An- 
 tigonus ; and he passed on to Sepphoris, as God 
 sent a snow, while Antigonus's garrisons with- 
 drew themselves, and had great plenty of pro- 
 visions. He also went thence and resolved to 
 destroy those robbers that dwelt in the caves, 
 and did much mischief in the country; so he 
 sent a troop of horsemen, and three companies 
 of armed footmen against them. They were 
 very near to a village called Arbela; and on 
 the fortieth day after, he cams himself with his 
 whole army : and as the enemy sallied out boldly 
 upon him, the left wing of his army gave way ; 
 but he appearing with a body of men, put those 
 to flight who were already conquerors, and re- 
 called his men that ran away. He also pressed 
 apon his enemies, and pursued them as far as 
 the river Jordan, though they ran away by dif- 
 ferent roads. So he brought over to him all 
 Ualilee, excepting those that dwelt in the caves, 
 aud distributed money to every one of hiR sol- 
 
 diers, giving them a hundred and fifty drachmae 
 apiece, and much more to their captains, and 
 sent them into winter quarters ; at which time 
 Silo came to him, and his commanders with 
 him, because Antigonus would not give them pro- 
 visions any longer ; for he supplied them for no 
 more than one month ; nay, he had sent to all 
 the country round about, and ordered them to 
 carry off the provisions that were there, and re- 
 tire to the mountains, that the Romans might 
 have no provisions to live upon, and so might 
 perish by famine ; but Herod committed the 
 care of that matter to Pheroras, his youngest 
 brother, and ordered him to repair Alexandrium 
 also. Accordingly, he quickly made the sol- 
 diers abound with great plenty of provisions, 
 and rebuilt Alexandrium, which had been before 
 desolate. 
 
 5. About this time it was that Antony con- 
 tinued some time at Athens, and that Ventidius, 
 who was now in Syria, sent for Silo, and com- 
 manded him to assist Herod, in the first place, 
 to finish the present war, and then to send for 
 their confederates for the war they were them- 
 selves engaged in ; but as for Herod, he went 
 in haste against the robbers that were in the 
 caves, and sent Silo away to Ventidius, while 
 he marched against them. These caves were in 
 mountains that were exceedingly abrupt, and in 
 their middle were no other than precipices, with 
 certain entrances into the caves, and those caves 
 were tsiccmpassed with sharp rocks, and in these 
 did th* jobbers lie concealed, with all their fa- 
 milies about them ; but the king caused certain 
 chests to be made, in order to destroy them, 
 and to be hung down, bouna about with iro 
 chains, by an engine, from the top of the moun- 
 tain, it being not possible to get up to them, by 
 reason of the sharp ascent of the mountains, nor 
 to creep down to them from above. Now these 
 chests were filled with armed men, who had 
 long hooks in their hands, by which they might 
 pull out such as resisted them, and then tumble 
 them down, and kill them by so doing ; but the 
 letting the chests down proved to be a matter of 
 great danger, because of the vast depth they 
 were to be let down, although they had their 
 provisions in the chests themselves ; but when 
 the chests were let down, and not one of those 
 in the mouths of the caves durst come near 
 them, but lay still out of fear, some of the 
 armed men girt on their armour, and by both 
 their hands took hold of the chain by which the 
 chests were let down, and went into the mouths 
 of the caves, because they fretted that such de- 
 lay was made by the robbers not daring to come 
 out of the caves ; and when they were at any of 
 those mouths, they first killed many of those 
 that were in the mouths with their darts, and 
 afterwuids pulled those to them that resisted 
 them with their hooks, and tumbled them down 
 the precipices, and afterwards went into the 
 caves, and killed many more, and then went in- 
 to the chests again, and lay still there ; but, 
 upon this, terror seized the rest, when they 
 heard the lamentations that were made, and 
 they despaired of escaping ; however, when the 
 night came on, that put an end to the whole 
 work ; and as the kiug proclaimed pardon by a 
 herald to such as delivered themselves up to 
 him, many accepted of the offer. The same 
 method of assault was made use of the next day; 
 and they went further, and got out in baskets to 
 fight them, and fought them at their doors, and 
 sent fire among them, and set their caves on fire, 
 for there was a great deal of combustible matter 
 within them. Now there was one old man who 
 wii caught within one of these caves, with seven
 
 '.GAP. XV.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES v>' THE JEWS. 
 
 311 
 
 children and a wife ; these prayed him to give 
 them leave to go out, and yield themselves up 
 to the enemy ; but he stood at the cave's mouth, 
 and always slew that child of his who went out, 
 till he had destroyed them every one, and after 
 that he slew his wife, and cast their dead bodies 
 down the precipice, and himself after them, and 
 so underwent death rather than slavery : but 
 before he did this, he greatly reproached Herod 
 with the meanness of his family, although he 
 was then king. Herod also saw what he was 
 doing, and stretched out his hand, and offered 
 him all manner of security for his life ; by 
 which means all these caves were at length sub- 
 iued entirely. 
 
 6. And when the jring had set Ptolemy over 
 these parts of the country as his general, he 
 Went to Samaria with six hundred horsemen and 
 three thousand armed footmen, as intending to 
 fight Antigonus ; but still this command of the 
 army did not succeed well with Ptolemy, but 
 those that had been troublesome to Galilee before 
 attacked him ; and when they had done this, 
 they fled among the lakes and places almost 
 inaccessible, laying waste and plundering what- 
 soever they could come at in those places ; but 
 Herod soon returned, and punished them for 
 what they had done ; for some of those rebels he 
 Blew, and others of them, who had fled to the 
 itrongholds, he besieged, and both slew them 
 and demolished their strong-holds ; and when he 
 had thus put an end to their rebellion, he laid a 
 fine upon the cities of a hundred talents. 
 
 7. In the meantime, Pacorus was fallen in a 
 battle, and the Parthians were defeated, when 
 Veutidius sent Macheras to the assistance of 
 Herod, with two legions and a thousand horse- 
 men, while Antony encouraged him to make 
 haste ; but Macheras, at the instigation of Anti- 
 gouus, without the approbation of Herod, a* 
 being corrupted by money, went about to take a 
 view of his affairs ; but Antigonus, suspecting 
 this intention of his coming, did not admit him 
 into the city, but kept him at a distance, with 
 throwing stones at him, and plainly shewed what 
 he himself meant ; but when Macheras was sen- 
 sible that Herod had given Viim good advice, 
 and that he had made a mistake himself in not 
 hearkening to that advice, he retired to the city 
 Einmaus ; and what Jews he met with he slew 
 them, whether they were enemies or friends, 
 out of the rage he was in at what hardships he 
 had undergone. The king was provoked at this 
 conduct of his, and went to Samaria, and re- 
 solved to go to Antony about these affairs, and 
 to inform him that he stood in no need of such 
 helpers, who did him more mischief than he did 
 his enemies ; and that he was able of himself to 
 beat Antigonus. But Macheras followed him, 
 and desired that he would not go to Antony ; or, 
 if he was resolved to go, that he woul'l join his 
 brother Joseph with them, and let them fight 
 against Antigonus. So he was reconciled t< 
 Macheras, upon his earnest entreaties. Accord- 
 ingly, he left Joseph there with his army, but 
 charged him to run no hazards, nor to quarrel 
 with Macheras. 
 
 8. But for his own part, he made haste to An- 
 tony (who was then at the siege of Samosata, a 
 place upon Euphrates) with his troops, both 
 horsemen and footmen, to be auxiliaries to him ; 
 and when he came to Antioch, and met there a 
 great number of men gotten together that were 
 very desirous to go to Antony, but durst not 
 venture to go, out of fear, because the barbarian^ 
 foil upon men on the road, and slew many, so he 
 Encouraged them, and became their conductor 
 upon the road. Now when they were witki" 
 
 two days' march of Samosata, the barbarians had 
 laid an ambush there to disturb those that came 
 to Antony, and where the woods made the passe* 
 narrow, as they led to the plains, there they laid 
 not a few of their horsemen, who were to lie 
 still until those passengers were gone by into the 
 wide place. Now as soon as the first ranks were 
 gone by, (for Herod brought on the rear,) those 
 that lay in ambush, who were about five hun 
 dred, fell upon them on the sudden, and wheu 
 they had put the foremost to flight, the king 
 came riding hard, with the forces that were about 
 him, and immediately drove back the enemy ; by 
 which means he made the minds of his own men 
 courageous, and emboldened them to go on, in- 
 somuch that those who ran away before, now 
 returned back, and the barbarians were slain on 
 all sides. The king also went on Trilling them, 
 and recovered all the baggage, among which 
 were a great number of beasts for burden, and ol 
 slaves, and proceeded on in his march ; and 
 whereas there were a great number of those in 
 the woods that attacked them, and were near 
 the passage that led into the plain, he made a 
 sally upon these also with a strong body of men, 
 and put them to flight, and slew many of them, 
 and thereby rendered the way safe for those 
 that came after ; and these called Herod theii 
 saviour and protector. 
 
 9. And when he was near to Samosata, An- 
 tony sent out his army in all their proper habili- 
 ments to meet him, in order to pay Herod this 
 respect, and because of the assistance he had 
 given him ; for he had heard what attacks the 
 barbarians had made upon him [in Judea.] He 
 also was very glad to see him there, as having 
 been made acquainted with the great actions he 
 had performed upon the road ; so he entertained 
 him very kindly, and could not but admire his 
 courage. Antony also embraced him as soon as 
 he saw him, and saluted him after a most affec- 
 tionate manner, and gave him the upper hand, 
 as having himself lately made him a king ; and 
 in a little time Antiochus delivered up the for- 
 tress, and on that account this war was at an 
 end ; then Antony committed the rest to Sossius, 
 and gave him orders to assist Herod, and went 
 himself to Egypt. Accordingly, Sossius sent two 
 legions before into Judea to the assistance of 
 Herod, and he followed himself with the body of 
 the army. 
 
 10. Now Joseph was already shun in Judea, m 
 the manner following : He forgot what charge 
 his brother Herod had given him when he went 
 to Antony ; and when he had pitched his camp 
 among the mountains, for Macheras had lent 
 him five regiments, with these he went hastily 
 to Jericho, in order to reap the corn thereto 
 belonging ; and as the Roman regiments were 
 but newly raised, and were unskilful in war, for 
 they were in great part collected out of Syria, he 
 was attacked by the enemy, and caught in those 
 places of difficulty, and was himself shun, as he 
 ,vas fighting bravely, and the whole army was 
 lost, for there were six. regiments shun. So 
 when Antigonus had got possession of the dead 
 bodies, he cut off Joseph's head, although Phe- 
 roras his brother would have redeemed it at the 
 price of fifty talents. After which defeat, the 
 Galileans revolted from their commanders, and 
 took those of Herod's party, and drowned them 
 in the lake; and a great part of Judea waa 
 
 I become seditious: but Macheraa fortified the 
 ! place Gitta [in Samaria.] 
 
 11. At this time messengers came to Herod, 
 
 ' and informed him of what had been done ; and 
 
 I when he was come to Daphne by Antioch, they 
 
 t/VM him of the ill fortune that had befallen hii
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 brother, which yet he expected, from certain 
 visions that appeared to him in his dreams, 
 which clearly foreshewed his brother's death. 
 So he hastened his march ; and when he came to 
 mount Libanus, lie received about eight hundred 
 men of that place, having already with him one 
 Eoman legion, and with these he came to Ptole- 
 mais. He also marched thence by night with 
 his army, and proceeded along Galilee. Here it 
 was that the enemy met him, and fought him, 
 and were beaten, and shut up in the same place 
 of strength whence they had sallied out the day 
 before. So he attacked the place in the morn- 
 ing ; but, by reason of a great storm that was 
 then very violent, he was able to do nothing, but 
 drew off his army into the neighbouring villages ; 
 yet as soon as the other legion that Antony sent 
 him was come to his assistance, those that were 
 in garrison in the place were afraid, and deserted 
 it in the night time. Then did the king march 
 hastily to Jericho, intending to avenge himself 
 on the enomy for the slaughter of his brother ; 
 and wheu he had pitched his tents, he made a 
 feast for the principal commanders, and after 
 this collation was over, and he had dismissed his 
 guests, he retired to his own chamber : and here 
 may one s-3e what kindness God had for the king, 
 for the upper part of the house fell down when 
 nobody was in it, and so killed none, insomuch 
 that all the people believed that Herod was 
 beloved of God, since he had escaped such a great 
 and surprising danger. 
 
 12. But the next day six thousand of the 
 enemy came down from the tops of the moun- 
 tains to f ght the Romans, which greatly terri- 
 fied them ; and the soldiers that were in light 
 armour came near, and pelted the king's guards 
 that weie come out with darts and stones, and 
 one of them hit him on the side with a dart. 
 Antigonus also sent a commander against Sa- 
 maria, whose name was Pappus, with some 
 forces, being desirous to shew the enemy how 
 potent he was, and that he had men to spare in 
 his war with them. He sat down to oppose 
 Macheras ; but Herod, when he had taken five 
 cities, took euch as were left in them, being 
 about two thousand, and slew them, and burnt 
 the citias themselves, and then returned to go 
 against Pappus, who was encamped at a village 
 called Isanas ; and there ran in to him many out 
 of Jericho and Jxidea, near to which places he 
 was, and the enemy fell upon his men, so stout 
 were they at this time, and joined battle with 
 them, but he beat them in the fight ; and in 
 order to be revenged on them for the slaughter 
 of his brother, he pursued them sharply, and 
 killed them as they ran away ; and as the 
 houses were full of aimed men,* and many of 
 them ran as far as the tops of the houses, he got 
 them under his power, and pulled down the 
 roofs of the houses, and avw the lower rooms 
 full of soldiers that were caught, and lay all on 
 a heap ; so they threw stones down upon them 
 as they lay piled one upon another, and thereby 
 killed them : nor was there a more frightful 
 spectacle in all the war than this, where, beyond 
 the walls, an immense multitude of dead men 
 lay heaped one upon another. This action it 
 was which chiefly brake the spirits of the enemy, 
 
 * It may be worth our observation here, that these 
 soldiers of Herod could not have gotten upon the tops 
 of these houses which were full of enemies, in order to 
 pull up the upper floors and destroy them beneath, but 
 by ladders from the outside ; which illustrates some 
 exts in the New Testament, by which it appears that 
 men used to ascend thither by ladders on the outside 
 See Matt. ixiv. 17 ; Marlr liii. 15 ; Luke v. 19 ; xvii. 
 
 who expected now what would come ; for there 
 appeared a mighty number of people that came 
 from places far distant, that were now about the 
 village, but then ran away ; and had it not been 
 for the depth of winter, which then restrained 
 them, the king's army had presently gone to 
 Jerusalem, as being very courageous at this 
 good success, and the whole work had been 
 done immediately ; for Antigonus was already 
 looking about how he might fly away and leave 
 the city. 
 
 13. At this time the king gave orders that the 
 soldiers should go to supper, for it was late at 
 night, while he went into a chamber to use the 
 bath, for he was very weary : and here it was 
 that he was in the greatest danger, which yet, 
 by God's providence, he escaped ; for as he was 
 naked, and had but one servant that followed 
 him, to be with him while he was bathing in an 
 inner room, certain of the enemy who were in 
 their armour, and had fled thither out of fear, 
 were then in the place ; and as he was bathing, 
 the first of them came out with his naked sword 
 drawn, and went out at the doors, and after him 
 a second, and a third, armed in like manner, 
 and were under such a consternation, that they 
 did no hurt to the king, and thought themselves 
 to have come off very well in suffering no harm 
 themselves in their getting out of the house. 
 However, on the next day, he cut off the head 
 of Pappus, for he was already slain, and sent it 
 to Phsroras, as a punishment of what their 
 brother had suffered by his means, for he was 
 the man that slew him with his own hand. 
 
 14. When the rigour of winter was over, 
 Herod removed his army, and came near to 
 Jerusalem, and pitched his camp hard by the 
 city. Now this was the third year since he had 
 been made king at Rome ; and as he removed 
 his camp, and came near that part of the wall 
 where it could be most easily assaulted, he 
 pitched that camp before the temple, intending 
 to make his attacks in the same manner as did 
 Pompey. So he encompassed the place with 
 three bulwarks, and erected towers, and em- 
 ployed a great many hands about the work, and 
 cut down the trees that were round about the 
 city ; and when he had appointed proper per- 
 sons to oversee the works, even while the army 
 lay before the city, he himself went to Samaria, 
 to complete his marriage, and to take to wife the 
 daughter of Alexander, the son of Aristobulus ; 
 for he had betrothed her already, as I have be- 
 fore related. 
 
 CHAPTER XVL 
 
 HOW HEROD, WHEN HE HAD MARRIED MARTAMNE, 
 TOOK JERUSALEM, WITH THE ASSISTANCE OS 
 SOSIUS, BT FORCE; AND HOW THE GOVERN- 
 MENT OF THE ASAMONEANS WAS PUT AN END 
 TO. 
 
 1. AFTER the wedding was over, came Soshui 
 through Phoenicia, having sent out his army be- 
 fore him over the midland parts. He also, who 
 was their commander, came himself, with a 
 great number of horsemen and footmen. The 
 king also came himself from Samaria, and 
 brought with him no small army, besides that 
 which was there before, for they were about 
 thirty thousand ; and they all met together at 
 the walls of Jerusalem, and encamped at the 
 north wall of the city, being now an army of 
 eleven legions, armed men on foot, and six thou- 
 sand horsemen, with other auxiliaries out of 
 Syria. The generals were two : Sosius, sent by
 
 CHAP. XVI.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 313 
 
 Antony to assist Herod, and Herod on his own 
 account, in order to take the government from 
 Antigonus, who was declared an enemy to Rome, 
 and that he might himself be king, according to 
 the decree of the senate. 
 
 2. Now the Jews that we*ts inclosed within 
 the walls of the city fought against Herod with 
 great alacrity and zeal, (for the whole nation 
 was gathered together;) they also gave out 
 many prophecies about the temple, and many 
 things agreeable to the people, as if God would 
 deliver them out of the danger they were in ; 
 they had also carried off what was out of the 
 city, that they might not leave anything to 
 afford sustenance either for men or for beasts ; 
 nd, by private robberies, they made the want 
 of necessaries greater. When Herod under- 
 stood this, he opposed ambushes in the fittest 
 places against their private robberies, and he 
 sent legions of armed men to bring in provisions, 
 and that from remote places, so that in a little 
 time they had great plenty of provisions. Now 
 tfie three bulwarks were easily erected, because 
 so many hands were continually at work upon 
 it; for it was summer-time, and there was no- 
 thing to hinder them 'in raising their works, 
 neither from the air nor from the workmen : so 
 they brought their engines to bear, and shook 
 the walls of the city, and tried all manner of 
 ways to get in : yet did not those within dis- 
 cover any fear, but they also contrived not a few 
 engines to oppose their engines withal. They 
 also sallied out, and burnt not only those engines 
 that were not yet perfected, but those that 
 were ; and when they came hand to hand, thoir 
 attempts were not less bold than those of the 
 Romans, though they were behind them in skill. 
 They also erected new works when the former 
 were ruined, and making mines under ground, 
 they met each other, and fought there ; and 
 making use of brutish courage rather than of 
 prudent valour, they persisted in this war to the 
 very last ; and this they did while a mighty 
 army lay round about them, and while *hey 
 were distressed by famine and the want of 
 necessaries, for this happened to be a Sabbatic 
 Year. The first that scaled the walls were 
 twenty chosen men ; the next were Sosius's 
 centurions ; for the first wall was taken in forty 
 days, and the second in fifteen more, when some 
 of the cloisters that were about the temple were 
 burnt, which Herod gave out to have been 
 burnt by Antigonus, in order to expose him to 
 the hatred of the Jews. And when the outer 
 court of the temple, and the lower city, were 
 taken, the Jews fled into the inner court of the 
 temple, and into the upper city ; but now, fear- 
 ing lest the Romans should hinder them from 
 offering their daily sacrifices to God, they sent 
 an embassage, and desired that they would only 
 permit them to bring in beasts for sacrifices, 
 which Herod granted, hoping they were going 
 to yield; but when he saw that they did nothing 
 of what he supposed, but bitterly opposed him, 
 in order to preserve the kingdom to Antigonus, 
 he made an assault upon the city, and took it by 
 storm ; and now all parts were full of those that 
 were slain, by the rage of the Romans at the 
 long duration of the siege, and by the zeal of the 
 Jews that were on Herod's side, who were not 
 willing to leave one of their adversaries alive ; 
 so they were murdered continually in the nar- 
 row streets and in the houses by crowds, and as 
 they were flying to the temple for shelter, and 
 there was no pity taken of either infants or the 
 aged, nor did they spare so much as the weaker 
 sex ; nay, although the king sent about, and 
 besought them to spare the people, yet nobodv 
 
 restrained their hands from slaughter, but, as ii 
 they were a company of madmen, they fell upon 
 persons of all ages, without distinction ; and 
 then Antigonus, without regard to either his 
 past or present circumstances, came down from 
 the citadel, and fell down at the feet of Sosius, 
 who took no pity of him, in the change of his 
 fortune, but insulted him beyond measure, and 
 called him Antigone, [i.e., a woman, and not a 
 man ;] yet did he not treat him as if he were a 
 woman, by letting him go at liberty, but put 
 him into bonds, and kept him in close custody. 
 
 3. And now Herod having overcome his ena- 
 mies, his care was to govern those foreigners who 
 had been his assistants, for the crowd of strang- 
 ers rushed to see the temple, and the sacred 
 things in the temple ; but the king thinking a 
 victory to be a more severe affliction than a de- 
 feat, if any of those things which it was not law- 
 ful to see should be seen by them, used entreaties 
 and threatenings, and even sometimes force itself, 
 to restrain them. He also prohibited the ravage 
 that was made in the city, and many times asked 
 Sosius, whether the Romans would empty the 
 city both of money and men, and leave him king 
 of a desert ; and told him, that he esteemed do- 
 minion over the whole habitable earth as by no 
 means an equivalent satisfaction for such a 
 murder of his citizens : and when he said that 
 this plunder was justly to be permitted the 
 soldiers for the siege they had undergone, he re- 
 plied, that he would give every one his reward 
 out of his own money ; and by this means he re- 
 deemed what remained of the city from destruc- 
 tion ; and he performed what he had promised 
 him, for he gave a noble present to every soldier, 
 and a proportionable present to their command 
 ers ; but a most royal present to Sosius himself, 
 till they all went away full of money. 
 
 4. This destruction befell the city of Jerusalem 
 when Marcus Agrippa and Caniniua Gallus were 
 consuls at Rome,* on the hundred and eighty- 
 fifth Olympiad, on the third month, on the solem- 
 nity of the fast, as if a periodical revolution of 
 calamities h>i returned since that which befell 
 the Jews under Pompey; for the Jews were 
 taken by him on the same day, and this was after 
 twenty-seven years' time. So when Sosius had 
 
 * Note here, that Josephus frequently assures us, 
 that there passed above three years between Herod's 
 first obtaining the kingdom at Rome and his second 
 obtaining it upon the taking of Jerusalem and death of 
 Antigonus. The present history of this interval twice 
 mentions the army going into winter quarters, which 
 
 rrhaps belonged to two several winters (chap. xv. sect. 
 4 ;) and though Josephus says nothing how long they 
 lay in those quarters, yet does he give such an account 
 of the long and studied delays of Ventidius, Silo, and 
 Macheras, who were to see Herod settled in his new king- 
 dom, and gives us such particular accounts of the many 
 great actions of Herod during the same interval, as 
 fairly imply that interval, before Herod went to Samo- 
 sata, to have been very considerable. However, what 
 is wanting in Josephus, is fully supplied by Moses 
 Chore-ensis, the Armenian historian, in his history of 
 that interval, who directly assures us that Tigranes, 
 then king of Armenia, and the principal manager of 
 this Parthian war, reigned two years after Herod was 
 made king at Rome, and yet Antony did not hear of his 
 death, in that very neighbourhood, at Samosata, till he 
 was come thither to besiege it ; after which Herod 
 brought him an army, which was three hundred and 
 forty miles'^march, and through a difficult country, full 
 of enemies'also, and joined with him in the siege of 
 Samosata till that city was taken; then Herod and 
 Sosius marched back with their large armies the same 
 number of three hundred and forty miles ; and when, 
 in a little time, they sat down to besiege Jerusalem, 
 they were not able to take it but by a siege of five 
 months. All which put together, fully supplies what ii 
 wanting in Josephus, and secures the entire chronology 
 of these tines beyond contradiction.
 
 S14 
 
 FBOOK xv 
 
 dedicated a crown of gold to God, lie inarched 
 away from Jerusalem, and carried Antigonus 
 with him in bonds to Antony ; but Herod was 
 afraid lest Antigonus should be kept in prison 
 only] by Antony, and that when he was carried 
 to Rome by him, he mightfget his cause to be 
 heard by the senate, and might demonstrate as 
 as he was himself of the royal blood, and Herod 
 out a private man, that therefore it belonged to 
 iis sons, however, to have the kingdom, on ac- 
 count of the family they were of, in case he had 
 limself offended the Romans by what he had 
 done. Out of Herod's fear of this it was that he, 
 [>y giving Antony a great deal of money, endea- 
 voured to persuade him to hv Antigonus slain, 
 
 which, if it were once done, he should be free 
 from that fear. And thus did the government 
 of the Asamoneans cease, a hundred and twenty- 
 six years after it was first set up. This family 
 was a splendid and an illustrious one, both on 
 account of tfri nobility of their stock, and of the 
 dignity of the high priesthood, as also for the 
 glorious actions their ancestors had performed 
 for our nation : but these men lost the govern- 
 ment by their dissensions one with another, and 
 it came to Herod, the son of Antipater, who 
 was of no more than a vulgar family, and of no 
 eminent extraction, but one that was subject to 
 other kings. And this is what history tells us 
 was the end of the Asamonean family. 
 
 BOOK XV. 
 
 CONTAINING THE INTEKVAL OF EIGHTEEN TEAKS, 
 
 FKOM THE DEATH OF ANTIGONUS TO THE FINISHING OF THE 
 TEMPLE BY HEROD. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 CONCERNING POLMO AND SAMEAS. HEROD SLAT 8 
 THE PRINCIPAL OF ANTIGONUS'S FRIENDS, AND 
 SPOILS THE CITY OF ITS WEALTH. ANTOHT BE- 
 HEADS ANTIGONUS. 
 
 i 1. How Sosius and Herod took Jerusalem by 
 'orce; and besides that, how they took Anti- 
 gonus captive, has been related by us in the 
 foregoing book. We will now proceed in the 
 narration. And since Herod had now the 
 government of all Judea put into his hands, he 
 promoted such of the private men of the city as 
 tad been of his party, but never left off avenging 
 and punishing every day those that had chosen 
 to be of the party of his enemies ; but Pollio the 
 Pharisee, and Sameas, a disciple of his, were 
 honoured by him above all the rest; for when 
 Jerusalem was besieged, they advised the citizens 
 to receive Herod; for which advice they were 
 well requited. But this Pollio, at the time when 
 Herod was once upon his trial of life and death, 
 foretold, in a way of reproach, to Hyrcanus and 
 the other judges, how this Herod, whom they 
 suffered now to escape, would afterward inflict 
 punishment on them all ; which had its comple- 
 tion in time, while God fulfilled the words he had 
 spoken. 
 
 2. At this time Herod, now he had got Jerusa- 
 lem under his power, carried off all the royal 
 ornaments, and spoiled the wealthy men of what 
 they had gotten ; and when, by these means, he 
 had heaped together a great quantity of silver 
 and gold, he gave it all to Antony, and his friends 
 that were about him. He also slew forty -five of 
 the principal men of Antigonus's party, and set 
 guards at the gates of the city, that nothing 
 might be carried out together with their dead 
 bodies. They also searched the dead, and what- 
 soever was found, either of silver or gold, or 
 other treasure, it was carried to the king ; nor 
 was there any end of the miseries he brought 
 upon them ; and this distress was in part occa- 
 sioned by the covetousness of the prince regent, 
 vho was still in want of more, and in part by the 
 
 Sabbatic Year, which was still going on, and 
 forced the country to lie still uncultivated, since 
 we are forbidden to sow the land in that year. 
 Now when Antony had received Antigonus as his 
 captive, he determined to keep him against his 
 triumph ; but when he heard that the nation 
 grew seditious, and that, out of their hatred to 
 Herod, they continued to bear good-will to Anti- 
 gonus, he resolved to behead him at Antioch, for 
 otherwise the Jews could no way be brought to 
 quiet. And Strabo of Cappadocia attests to what 
 I Iwje said, when he thus speaks: "Antony 
 ordered Antigonus the Jew to be brought to 
 Antioch, and there to be beheaded ; and this 
 Antony seems to me to have been the very first 
 man who beheaded a king, as supposing he could 
 no other way bend the minds of the Jews so as 
 to receive Herod, whom he had made king in his 
 stead ; for by no torments could they be forced 
 to call him king, so great a fondness they had for 
 their former king ; so he thought that this dis- 
 honourable death would dimmish the value they 
 had for Antigonus's memory, and at the same 
 time would diminish the hatred they bear to 
 Herod." Thus fai Strabo. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 HOW HTHOANUS WAS SET AT L1BEBTT BT THE PAH- 
 THIANS, AND RETURNED TO HEROD ; AND WHAT 
 ALEXAND2A DID WHEN SHE HEARD THAT ANA- 
 NELUS WAS MADE HIGH PRIEST. 
 
 1. Now after Herod was in possession of the 
 kingdom, Hyrcanus the high priest, who was 
 then a captive among the Parthians, came to him 
 again, and was set free from his captivity in the 
 manner following : Barzapharnes and Pacorus, 
 the generals of the Parthians, took Hyrcanus, 
 who was first made high priest and afterward 
 king, and Herod's brother, Phasaelus, captives, 
 and were carrying them away into Parthia. Pba- 
 saelus indeed could not bear the reproach of 
 being in boids ; and thinking that death v/i*t
 
 CHAP. IL] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES O* THE JtfWB, 
 
 315 
 
 glory was better than any life whatsoever, he 
 became his own execution*!^ as I have formerly 
 related. 
 
 2. But when Hyrcanus iraa brought into Par- 
 thia, the king of Phraates treated him after a 
 very gentle manner, as having already learned 
 of what an illustrious fapaily he was ; on which 
 account he set him free from his bonds, and gave 
 him a habitation at Babylon,* where there were 
 Jews in great numbers. These Jews honoured 
 Hyrcanus as their high priest and king, as did 
 all the Jewish nation that dwelt as far as Euph- 
 rates, which respect was very much to his satis- 
 faction. But when he was informed that Herod 
 had received the kingdom, new hopes came upon 
 him, as having been himself still of a kind dispo- 
 sition towards him ; and expecting that Herod 
 would bear in mind what favour he had received 
 from him, and when he was upon his trial, and 
 when he was in danger that a capital sentence 
 would be pronounced against him, he delivered 
 him from that danger, and from all punishment. 
 Accordingly, he talked of that matter with the 
 Jews that came often to him with great affec- 
 tion ; but they endeavoured to retain him among 
 them, and desired that he would stay with them, 
 putting him in mind of the kind offices and 
 honours they did him, and that those honours 
 they paid him were not at all inferior to what 
 they could pay to either their high priests or 
 their kings : and what was a greater motive to 
 determine him, they said, was this, that he could 
 not have those dignities [in Judea] because of 
 that maim in his body, which had been inflicted 
 on him by Antigonus ; and that kings do not use 
 to requite men for those kindnesses which they 
 received when they were private persons, the 
 height of their fortune making usually uo small 
 changes in them. 
 
 3. Now, although they suggested these argu- 
 ments to him for his own advantage, yet did Hyr- 
 canus still desire to depart. Herou mso wrote to 
 him, and persuaded liirn to desire of Phraates, and 
 the Jews that were there, that they should not 
 grudge him the royal authority, which he should 
 have jointly with himself, for that now was the 
 proper time for himself to make bim amends for 
 the favours he had received from bim, as having 
 been brought up by him, and saved by him also, 
 as well as for Hyrcanus to receive it. And as he 
 wrote thus to Hyrcanus, so did he send also Sa- 
 ramallas his ambassador to Phraates, and many 
 presents with him, and desired him in the most 
 obliging way, that he would be no hindrance to 
 his gratitude towards his benefactor. But this 
 zeal of Herod's did not flow from that principle, 
 but because he had been made governor of that 
 country without having any just claim to it, he 
 was afraid, and that upon reasons good enough, 
 of a change in his condition, and so made what 
 haste he could to get Hyrcanus into his power, 
 or indeed to put him quite out of the way ; which 
 last thing he effected afterwards. 
 
 4. Accordingly, when Hyrcanus came, full of 
 assurance, by the permission of the king of Par- 
 thia, and at the expense of the Jews, who slip- 
 plied him with money, Herod received him with 
 all possible respect, and gave him the upper place 
 at public meetings, and set him above all the rest 
 at feasts, and thereby deceived him. He called 
 him his father, and endeavoured, by all the ways 
 possible, that he might have no suspicion of any 
 
 * The city here called "Babylon" by Josephus, 
 seems to be one which was built by some of the Seleu- 
 cidse, upon the Tigris ; which, long after the utter deso- 
 lation of Old Babylon, was commonly so called, just as 
 UK later adjoining city Bagdat is often called by the 
 lame old name of Babylon. 
 
 treacherous design against him. He also did 
 other things, in order to secure his government, 
 which yet occasioned a sedition in his own fa- 
 mily ; for being cautious how he made any illus- 
 trious person the high priest of God,t he sent 
 for an obscure priest out of Babylon, whose 
 name was Ananelus, and bestowed the high 
 priesthood upon him. 
 
 5. However, Alexandra, the daughter of Hyr- 
 cauus, and wife of Alexander, the son of Aristo- 
 bulus the king, who had also brought Alexander 
 [two] children, could not bear this indignity. 
 Now this son was one of the greatest comeliness, 
 and was called Aristobulus ; and the daughter, 
 Mariamne, was married to Herod, and eminent 
 for her beauty also. This Alexandra was much 
 disturbed, and took this indignity offered to hei 
 son exceeding ill, that while he was alive, any 
 one else should be sent to have the dignity of 
 the high priesthood conferred upon him. Ac- 
 cordingly, she wrote to Cleopatra (a musician as- 
 sisting her in taking care to have her letters car- 
 ried) to desire her intercession with Antony, in 
 order to gain the high priesthood for her son. 
 
 6. But as Antony was slow in granting this 
 request, his friend Dellius came into Judea upon 
 some affairs, and when he saw Aristobulus, he 
 stood in admiration at the taUness and hand- 
 someness of the child, and no less at Mariamne, 
 the king's wife, and was open in his commenda- 
 tions of Alexandra, as the mother of most beau- 
 tiful children : and when she came to discourse 
 with bim, he persuaded her to get pictures draw i 
 of them both, and to send them to Antony, for 
 that when he saw them, he would deny her no- 
 thing that she would ask. Accordingly, Alex- 
 andra was elevated with these words of his, and 
 sent the pictures to Antony. Dellius also talked 
 extravagantly, and said that these children 
 seemed not derived from men, but from some 
 god or other. His design in doing so was to en- 
 tice Antony into lewd pleasures with them, who 
 was ashamed to send for the damsel, as being 
 the wife of Herod, and avoided it because of the 
 reproaches he should have from Cleopatra on 
 that account ; but he sent in the most decent 
 manner he could for the ycimg man ; but added 
 this withal, unless he thought it hard upon him 
 so to do. When this letter was brought to 
 Herod, he did not think it safe for him to send 
 one so handsome as was Aristobulus, in the 
 prime of his life, for he was sixteen years of age, 
 and of so noble a family, and particularly not to 
 Antony, the principal man among the Romans, 
 and one that would abuse him in his amours, and 
 besides, one that openly indulged himself in such 
 pleasures as his power allowed him, without con- 
 trol. He therefore wrote back to him, that if 
 this boy should only go out of the country, all 
 would be in a state of wai and uproar ; because 
 the Jews were in hopes of a change in the go- 
 vernment, and to have another king over them. 
 
 7. When Herod had thus excused himself to 
 Antony, he resolved that he would not entirely 
 permit the child of Alexandra to be treated 
 dishonourably : but his wife Mariamne lay vehe- 
 mently at him to restore the high priesthood to 
 her brother ; and he judged it was for his ad- 
 vantage so to do, because if he once had that 
 dignity, 'he could not go out of the country. 
 So he called all his friends together, and told 
 
 t Here we have an example of Herod's worldly and 
 profane politics, when, by the abuse of his unlawful and 
 usurped power, to make whom he pleased high priest. 
 in the person of Ananelus, he occasioned such dis- 
 turbances in his kingdom, and in his own family, aa 
 suffered him to enjoy no lasting peace o* tranquillity 
 ever afterward*.
 
 AJJTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK XV. 
 
 them that Alexandra privately conspired against 
 his royal authority, and endeavoured, by the 
 means of Cleopatra, so to bring it about, that he 
 might be deprived of the government, and that 
 by Antony's means this youth might have the 
 management of public affairs in his stead ; and 
 that this procedure of hers was unjust, since she 
 would at the same time deprive her daughter of 
 the dignity she now had, and would bring dis- 
 turbances upon the kingdom, for which he had 
 taken a great deal of pains, and had gotten it 
 with extraordinary hazards : that yet, while he 
 well remembered her wicked practices, he would 
 not leave off doing what was right himself, but 
 would even now give the youth the high priest- 
 hood ; and that he formerly set up Ananelus, 
 because Aristobulus was then so very young a 
 child. Now when he had said this, not at ran- 
 dom, but as he thought with the best discretion 
 he had, in order to deceive the women, and those 
 friends whom he had taken to consult withal, 
 Alexandra, out of the great joy she had at this 
 unexpected promise, and out of fear from the 
 suspicions she lay under, fell a weeping ; and 
 made the following apology for herself, and said, 
 that as to the [high] priesthood, she was very 
 much concerned for the disgrace her son was 
 under, and so did her utmost endeavours to pro- 
 cure it for him, but that as to the kingdom, she 
 had made no attempts, and that if it were of- 
 fered her [for her son,] she would not accept it ; 
 and that now she would be satisfied with her 
 eon's dignity, while he himself held the civil 
 government, and she had thereby the security 
 that arose from his peculiar ability in governing, 
 to all the remainder of her family : that she was 
 now overcome by his benefits, and thankfully 
 accepted of this honour shewn by him to her 
 son, and that she would hereafter be entirely 
 obedient ; and she desired him to excuse her, if 
 the nobility of her family, and that freedom of 
 acting which she thought that allowed her, had 
 made her act too precipitately and imprudently 
 in this matter. So when they had spoken thus 
 to one another, they came to an agreement ; 
 and all suspicions, so far as appeared, were van- 
 ished away. 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 HOW HSBOD, UPON HIS MAKING ABISTOBULDS 
 HIGH PKIEST, TOOK CARE THAT HE 8HODLD BE 
 MUBDERED IN A LITTLE TIME ; AND WHAT 
 APOLOGY HE MADE TO ANTONY ABOUT ARIS- 
 TOBULUS : AS ALTO CONOEBNING JOSEPH AND 
 MABIAMNE. 
 
 1. So king Herod immediately took the high 
 priesthood away from Ananelus, who, as we 
 said before, was not of this country, but one of 
 those Jews that had been carried captive beyond 
 Euphrates ; for there were not a few ten thou- 
 sands of this people that had been carried cap- 
 tives, and dwelt about Babylonia, whence Anan- 
 elus came. He was one of the stock of the high 
 priests,* and had been of old a particular friend 
 of Herod ; and when he was first made king, he 
 conferred that dignity upon him, and now put 
 him out of it again, in order to quiet the troubles 
 in his family, though what he did was plainly 
 unlawful, for at no other time [of old] was any 
 
 ( * When Josephus says here that this Ananelus was 
 of the stock of the high priests," it contradicts what 
 le had been just telling us that he was a priest of an 
 obs :ure family or character (chap. ii. sect. 4.) 
 
 one that had once been in that dignity deprived 
 of it. It was Antiochus Epiphanes who first 
 broke that law, and deprived Jesus, and made 
 his brother Onias high priest in his stead. Ar- 
 istobulus was the second that did so, and took 
 that dignity from his brother [Hyrcanus;] and 
 this Herod was the third who took that high 
 office away [from Ananelus,] and gave- it to this 
 young man, Aristobulus, in his stead. 
 
 2. And now Herod seemed to have headed the 
 divisions in his family ; yet was he not without 
 suspicion, as is frequently the case of people 
 seeming to be reconciled to one another, but 
 thought that, as Alexandra had already made 
 attempts tending to innovations, so did he fear 
 that she would go on therein, if she found a fit 
 opportunity for so doing ; so he gave a command 
 that she should dwell in the palace, and meddle 
 with no public affairs : her guards also were so 
 careful, that nothing she did in private lifft 
 every day was concealed. All these hardships 
 put her out of patience, by little and little, and 
 she began to hate Herod ; for as she had the 
 pride of a woman to the utmost degree, she had 
 great indignation at this suspicious guard that 
 was about her, as desirous rather to undergo 
 anything that could befall her than to be de- 
 prived of her liberty of speech, and, under the 
 notion of an honorary guard, to live in a state of 
 slavery and terror. She therefore sent to Cleo- 
 patra, and made a long complaint of the circum- 
 stances she was in, and entreated her to do her 
 utmost for her assistance. Cleopatra hereupon 
 advised her to take her son with her, and come 
 away immediately to her into Egypt. This ad- 
 vice pleased her ; and she had this contrivance 
 for getting away : She got two coffins made, as 
 if they were to carry away two dead bodies, and 
 put herself into one, and her son i"to the other, 
 and gave orders to such of her servants as knew 
 of her intentions, to carry them away in the 
 night-time. Now their road was to be thence 
 to the sea-side ; and there was a ship ready to 
 carry them into Egypt. Now _3sop, one of her 
 servants, happened to fall upon Sabion, one of 
 her friends, and spake of this matter to him, aa 
 thinking he had known of it before. When 
 Sabion knew this (who had formerly been an 
 enemy of Herod, and had been esteemed one of 
 those that laid snares for and gave poison to 
 [his father] Antipater,) he expected that this 
 discovery would change Herod's hatred into 
 kindness; so he told the king of this private 
 stratagem of Alexandra : whereupon he suffered 
 her to proceed to the execution of her project, 
 and caught her in the very fact ; but still he 
 passed by her offence : and though he had a 
 great mind to do it, he durst not inflict anything 
 that was severe upon her, for he knew that Cleo- 
 patra would not bear that he should have her 
 accused, on account of her hatred to him ; but 
 made a show as if it were rather the generosity 
 of his soul, and his great moderation, that made 
 him forgive them. However, he fully proposed 
 to himself to put this young man out of the way, 
 by one means or other ; but he thought he might 
 in all probability be better concealed in doing it, 
 if he did it not presently nor _-unediately after 
 what had lately happened. 
 
 3. And now, upon the approach of the feast 
 of tabernacles, which is a festival very much ob- 
 served among us, he let those days pass over, 
 and both he and the rest of the people were 
 therein very merry; yet did the envy which at 
 this time arose in him, cause him to make hasto 
 to do what he was about, and provoke him to 
 it; for when this youth, Aristobulus, who was 
 now in the seventeenth year <?f his age, went up
 
 r 
 
 CHAP. IIL] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 317 
 
 to the altar, according to the law, to offer the 
 sacrifices, and this with the ornaments of his 
 high priesthood, and when he performed the 
 sacred offices,* he seemed to be exceedingly 
 comely, and taller than men usually were at 
 that age, and to exhibit in his countenance a 
 great deal of that high family he was sprung 
 from, a warm zeal and affection towards him 
 appeared among the people, and the memory of 
 the actions of his grandfather Aristobulus was 
 fresh in their minds ; and their affections got 
 so far the mastery of them, that they could not 
 forbear to shew their inclinations to him. They 
 at once rejoiced and were confounded, and 
 mingled with good wishes their joyful acclama- 
 tions which they made to him, till the good- 
 will of the multitude was made too evident ; 
 and they more rashly proclaimed the happiness 
 they had received from his family than was fit 
 under a monarchy to have done. Upon all this, 
 Herod resolved to complete what he had in- 
 tended against this young man. When there- 
 fore the festival was over, and he was feasting 
 at Jericho with Alexandra, who entertained him 
 there, he was then very pleasant with the young 
 man, and drew him into a lonely place, and at 
 the same time played with him in a juvenile 
 and ludicrous manner. Now the nature of that 
 place was hotter than ordinary; so they went 
 out in a body, and of a sudden, and in a vein of 
 madness ; and as they stood by the fish ponds, 
 of which there were large ones about the house, 
 they went to cool themselves [by bathing,] 
 because it was in the midst of a hot day. At 
 first they were only spectators of Herod's ser- 
 vants and acquaintance as they were swimming ; 
 but after a while, the young man, at the insti- 
 gation of Herod, went into the water among 
 them, while such of Herod's acquaintance as he 
 had appointed to do it, dipped him as he was 
 swimming, and plunged him under water, in 
 thti dark of the evening, as if it had been done 
 in sport only ; nor did they desist till he was 
 entirely suffocated. And thus was Aristobulus 
 murdered, being not eighteen years old, and 
 having kept the high priesthood one year only ; 
 which high priesthood Ananelus now recovered 
 again. 
 
 4. "When this sad accident was told the women, 
 their joy was soon changed into lamentation, at 
 the sight of the dead body that lay before them, 
 and their sorrow was immoderate. The city 
 also [of Jerusalem,] upon the spreading of this 
 news, was in very great grief, every family look- 
 ing on this calamity as if it had not belonged to 
 another, but that one of themselves was slain : 
 but Alexandra was ' more deeply affected, upon 
 her knowledge that he had been destroyed [on 
 purpose.] Her sorrow waa greater than that of 
 others, by her knowing how the murder was 
 committed ; but she was under the necessity of 
 bearing up under it, out of her prospect of a 
 greater mischief that might otherwise follow; 
 and she sometimes came to an inclination to 
 destroy herself with her own hand, but still she 
 restrained herself, in hopes she might live long 
 enough to revenge the unjust murder thus pri- 
 vately committed ; nay, she further resolved to 
 endeavour to live longer, and to give no occasion 
 to think she suspected that her son was slain on 
 purpose, and supposed that she might thereby 
 be in a capacity of revenging it at a proper op- 
 portunity. Thus did she restrain herself, that 
 she might not be noted for entertaining any such 
 
 * This entirely confutes the Talmudists, who pre- 
 tend that no one under twenty years of age could of- 
 ficiate as high priest among the Jews. 
 
 suspicion. However, Herod endeavoured that 
 none abroad should believe that the child's 
 daath was caused by any design of bis ; and for 
 this purpose he did not only use the ordinary 
 signs of sorrow, but fell into tears also, and ex- 
 hibited a real confusion of soul ; and perhaps 
 his affections were overcome on this occasion, 
 when he saw the child's countenance so young 
 and so beautiful, although his death was sup 
 posed to tend to his own security. So far ai 
 least this grief served as to make some apology 
 for him ; and as for his funeral, that he took 
 care should be very magnificent, by making 
 great preparation for a sepulchre to lay his body 
 in, and providing a great quantity of spices, and 
 burying many ornaments together with him, till 
 the very women, who were in such deep sorrow, 
 were astonished at it, and received in this way 
 some consolation. 
 
 5. However, no such things could overcome 
 Alexandra's grief ; but the remembrance of this 
 miserable case made her sorrow both deep and 
 obstinate. Accordingly, she wrote an account 
 of this treacherous scene to Cleopatra, and how 
 her son was murdered ; but Cleopatra, as she 
 had formerly been desirous to give her what 
 satisfaction she could, and commiserating Alex- 
 andra's misfortunes, made the case her own, 
 and would not let Antony be quiet, but excited 
 him to punish the child's murder : for that it 
 was an unworthy thing that Herod, who had 
 by him been made a king of a kingdom that no 
 way belonged to him, should be guilty of such 
 horrid crimes against those that were of the 
 royal blood in reality. Antony was persuaded 
 by these arguments ; and when he came to Lao- 
 dicea, he sent and commanded Herod to come 
 and make his defence as to what he had done to 
 Aristobulus, for that such a treacherous design 
 was not well done, if he had any hand in it. 
 Herod was now in fear, both of the accusation 
 and of Cleopatra's ill-will to him, which was 
 such that she was ever endeavouring to make 
 Antony hate him. He therefore determined to 
 obey his summons, for he had no possible way 
 to avoid it : so he left his uncle Joseph prpcur- 
 ator for his government and for the public affairs, 
 and gave him a private charge, that if Antony 
 should kill him, he also should kill Mariamne 
 immediately ; for that he had a tender affection 
 for this his wife, and was afraid of the injury 
 that should be offered him, if, after his death, 
 she, for her beauty, should be engaged to some 
 o-her man : but bis intimation was nothing but 
 this at the bottom, that Antony had fallen in 
 love with her, when he formerly heard some- 
 what of her beauty. So when Herod had given 
 Joseph this charge, and had indeed no sure 
 hopes of escaping with his life, he went away 
 to Antony. 
 
 6. But ai Joseph was administering the public 
 affairs of the kingdom, and for that reason was 
 very frequently with Mariamne, both because 
 his business required it, and because of the 
 respects he ought to pay to the queen, he fre- 
 quently let himself into discourses about Herod's 
 kindness, and great affection towards her ; and 
 when the women, especially Alexandra, used to 
 turn his discourses into feminine raillery, Joseph 
 was so over-desirous to demonstrate the king's 
 inclinations, that he proceeded so far as to men- 
 tion the charge he had received, and thence drew 
 his demonstration, that Herod was not able to 
 live without her ; and that if he should come to 
 any ill end, he could not endure a separation 
 from her, even after he was dead. Thus spake 
 Joseph. But the women, as was natural, did 
 not take this to he an instance of Herod's strong
 
 318 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JE^Vo. 
 
 [BOOK xv. 
 
 affection for them, but of his severe usage of 
 them, that they could not escape destruction, 
 nor a tyrannical death, even when he was dead 
 himself: and this saying [of Joseph] was a foun- 
 dation for the women's severe suspicions about 
 liim afterwards. 
 
 7. At this time a report went about the city of 
 Jerusalem, among Herod's enemies, that Antony 
 aad tortured Herod, and put him to death. 
 This report, as is natural, disturbed those that 
 were about the palace, but chiefly the women : 
 upon which Alexandra endeavoured to persuade 
 Joseph to go out of the palace, and fly away with 
 them to the ensigns of the Roman legions which 
 then lay encamped about the city, as a guard to 
 the kingdom, under the command of Julius ; for 
 that by this means, if any disturbance should 
 happen about the palace, they should be in 
 (jreater security, as having the Romans favour- 
 ible to them ; and that besides, the}' hoped to 
 obtain the highest authority, if Antony did but 
 once see Mariamne, by whose means they should 
 recover the kingdom, and want nothing which 
 was reasonable for them to hope for, because of 
 their royal extraction. 
 
 8. But as they were in the midst of these de- 
 liberations, letters were brought from Herod 
 about all his affairs, and proved contrary to the 
 report, and of what they before expected ; for 
 when he was come to Antony, he soon recovered 
 his interest with him, by the presents he made 
 him, which he had brought with him from 
 Jerusalem; and he soon induced him, upon dis- 
 coursing with him, to leave off his indignation 
 srt him, so that Cleopatra's persuasions had less 
 force than the arguments and presents he brought 
 to regain his friendship : for Antony said, that it 
 was not good to require an account of a king, as 
 to the affairs of his government, for at this rate 
 he could be no king at all, but that those who 
 had given him that authority ought to permit 
 him to make use of it. He also said the same 
 things to Cleopatra, that it would be best for her 
 not busily to meddle with the acts of the king's 
 government. Herod wrote an account of these 
 things ; and enlarged upon the other honours 
 which he had received from Antony : how he sat 
 by him at his hearing causes, and took his diet 
 with him every day, and that he enjoyed those 
 favoursTf rom him, notwithstanding the reproaches 
 that Cleopatra so severely laid against him, 
 who having a great desire of his country, and 
 earnestly entreating Antony that the kingdom 
 might be given to her, laboured with her utmost 
 diligence to have him out of the way ; but that 
 he still found Antony just to him, and had no 
 longer any apprehensions of hard treatment from 
 him ; and that he was soon upon his return, with 
 a firmer additional assurance of his favour to 
 him, in his reigning and managing public affairs ; 
 and that there was no longer any hope for Cleo- 
 patra's covetous temper, since Antony had given 
 her Ccelesyria instead of what she desired ; by 
 which means he had at once pacified her, and got 
 clear of the entreaties which she made him to 
 have Judea bestowed upon her. 
 
 9. When these letters were brought, the 
 women left off their attempt for flying to the 
 Romans, which they thought of while Herod 
 was supposed to be dead ; yet was not that pur- 
 pose of theirs a secret ; but when the king had 
 conducted Antony on his way against the Par- 
 thians, he returned to Judea, whea both his 
 sister Salome, and his mother, informed him of 
 Alexandra's intentions. Salome also added some- 
 what further against Joseph, though it was no 
 more than a calumny, that he had often had 
 criminal conversation with Mariamne. The rea- 
 
 son of her saying so was this, that she for a long 
 time bare her ill-will ; for when they had differ- 
 ences with one another, Mariamne took great 
 freedoms, and reproached the rest for the mean- 
 ness of their birth, But Herod, whose affection 
 to Mariamne was always very warm, was pre- 
 sently disturbed at this, and could not bear the 
 torments of jealousy, but was still restrained 
 from doing any rash thing to her by the love he 
 had for her ; yet did his vehement affection and 
 jealousy together make him ask Mariamne by 
 herself about this matter of Joseph ; but she 
 denied it *upon her oath, and said all that an 
 innocent woman could possibly say in her own 
 defence ; so that by little and little the king was 
 prevailed upon to drop the suspicion, and left off 
 his anger at her ; and being overcome with his 
 passion for his wife, he made an apology to her 
 for having seemed to believe what he had heard 
 about her, and returned her a great many ac- 
 knowledgments of her modest behaviour, and 
 professed the extraordinary affection and kind- 
 ness he had for her, till at last, as is usual 
 between lovers, they both fell into tears, and 
 embraced one another with a most tender affec- 
 tion. But as the king gave more and more 
 assurances of his belief of her fidelity, and en- 
 deavoured to draw her to a like confidence in 
 hiu, Mariamne said, " Yet was not that com- 
 mand thou gavest, that if any harm came to thee 
 from Antony, I, who had been no occasion of it, 
 should perish with thee, a sign of thy love to 
 me?" When these words were fallen from her, 
 the king was shocked at them, and presently let 
 her go out of his arms, and cried out, and tore 
 his hair with his own hands, and said, that now 
 he had an evident demonstration that Joseph 
 had had criminal conversation with his wife ; 
 for that he would never have uttered what he 
 had told him alone by himself, unless there had 
 been such a great familiarity and firm confidence 
 between them. And while he was in this passion 
 he had liked to have killed his wife ; but being 
 still overborne by his love to her, he restrained 
 this his passion, though not without a lasting 
 grief and disquietness of mind. However, he 
 gave order to slay Joseph without permitting 
 him to come into bis sight ; and as for Alexandra, 
 he bound her, and kept her in custody, as the 
 cause of all this mischief. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HOW CLEOPATRA, WHEN SHE HAD GOTTEN FROM 
 ANTONY SOME PARTS OP JUDEA AND ABABIA, 
 CAME INTO JUDEA ; AND HOW HESOD GAVE HEB 
 MANY PRESENTS, AND CONDUCTED HER ON HER 
 WAY BACK TO EGYPT. 
 
 1. Now at this time the affairs of Syria were in 
 confusion by Cleopatra's constant persuasions to 
 Antony to make an attempt upon every body's 
 dominions ; for she persuaded him to take those 
 dominions away from their several princes, and 
 bestow them upon her ; and she had a mighty 
 influence upon him, by reason of his being en- 
 slaved to her by his affections. She was also by 
 nature very covetous, and stuck at no wicked- 
 ness. She had already poisoned her brother, be- 
 cause she knew that he was to be king of Egypt, 
 and this when he was but fifteen years old ; and 
 she got her sister Arsinoe to be slain, by the 
 means of Antony, when she was a supplicant at 
 Diana's temple at Ephesus; for if there were 
 but any hopes of getting money, she would vio- 
 late both temples and sepulchres. Nor wa 
 there any holy place that was esteemed the most
 
 CHAP. V.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 313 
 
 inviolable, from which she would not fetch the 
 ornaments it had in it ; nor any place so profane, 
 but was to suffer the moat flagitious treatment 
 possible from her, if it could but contribute 
 somewhat to the covetous humour of this wicked 
 creature ; yet did not all this suffice so extrava- 
 gant a woman, who was a slave to her lusts, but 
 she still imagined that she wanted everything 
 she could think of, and did her utmost to gain 
 it ; for which reason she hurried Antony on per- 
 petually to deprive others of their dominions, 
 and give them to her ; and as she went over 
 Syria with him, she contrived to get it into her 
 possession ; so he slew Lysanias the son of Pto- 
 lemy, accusing him of his bringing the Parthians 
 upon those countries. She also petitioned An- 
 tony to give her Judea and Arabia ; and, in order 
 thereto, desired him to take these countries away 
 from their present governors. AB for Antony, 
 he was so entirely overcome by tLi woman, that 
 one would not think her conversation only could 
 do it, but that he was some way or other be- 
 witched to do whatsoever she would have him ; 
 yet did the grossest parts of her injustice make 
 him so ashamed, that he would not always 
 hearken to her to do those flagrant enormities 
 she would have persuaded him to. That there- 
 fore he might not totally deny her, nor by doing 
 everything which she enjoined him, appear 
 openly to be an ill man, he took some parts of 
 each of those countries away from their former 
 governors, and gave them to her. Thus he gave 
 her the cities that were within the river Eleu- 
 therus, as far as Egypt, excepting Tyre and 
 Sidon, which he knew to have been free cities 
 from their anceutors, although she pressed him 
 very often to bestow those on her also. 
 
 2. When Cleopatra had obtained thus much, 
 and had accompanied Antony in MB expedition 
 to Armenia, as far as Euphrates, she returned 
 back, and came to Apamia and Damascus, and 
 passed on to Judea ; where Herod met her, and 
 farmed of her her parts of Arabia, and those re- 
 venues that came to her from those regions about 
 Jericho. This country bears that balsam, which 
 is the most precious drug that is there, and grows 
 there alone. The place bears also palm-trees, 
 both many in number, and those excellent in 
 their kini When she was there, and was. very 
 often with Herod, she endeavoured to have cri- 
 minal conversation with the king : nor did she 
 affect secresy in the indulgence of such sort of 
 pleasures ; and perhaps she had in some measure 
 \ passion of love to him, or rather, what is most 
 probable, she laid a treacherous snare for him, 
 by aiming to obtain such adulterous conversa- 
 tion from him; however, upon the whole, she 
 seemed overcome with love to him. Now Herod 
 had a great while borne no good-will to Cleo- 
 patra, as knowing that she w?s a woman irk- 
 some to all; and at that time he thought her 
 particularly worthy of his hatred, if this attempt 
 proceeded out of lust : he had also thought of 
 preventing her intrigues, by putting her to death, 
 if such were her endeavours^ 'However, he re- 
 fused to comply with her proposals, and called a 
 counsel of his friends to consult with them whe- 
 ther he should not' kill her, now he had her in 
 his power ; for that he should thereby deliver 
 all those from a multitude of evils to whom she 
 was already become irksome, and was expected 
 to be still so for the time to come ; and that this 
 very thing would be much for the advantage of 
 Antony himself, since she would certainly not 
 be faithful to him, in case any such season or ne- 
 cessity should come upon him a* that he should 
 stand in need of her fidelity. But when he 
 khoujjht to follow thia advice hi f viands would 
 
 not let him; and told him, that, in the first 
 place, it wag not right to attempt so great a 
 thing, and run himself thereby into the utmost 
 danger ; and they laid hard at him, and begged 
 him to undertake nothing rashly, for that An- 
 tony would never bear it, no, not though any 
 one should evidently lay before his eyes that it 
 was for his own advantage ; and that the appear- 
 ance of depriving him of her conversation, by 
 this violent and treacherous method, would pro- 
 bably set his affections more on a flame than be- 
 fore. Nor did it appear that he could offer any- 
 thing of tolerable weight in his defence, this at- 
 tempt being against such a woman as was of the 
 highest dignity of any of her sex at that time in 
 the world ; and as to any advantage to be ex- 
 pected from such an undertaking, if any such 
 could be supposed in this case, it would appear 
 to deserve condemnation on account of the inso- 
 lence he must take upon him in doing it : which 
 considerations mexle it very plain, that in so 
 doing he would Dad his government filled with 
 mischiefs, both great and lasting, both to himself 
 and his posterity, whereas it was still in his 
 power to reject that wickedness she would per- 
 suade him to, and to come off honourably at the 
 same time. So by thus affrighting Herod, and 
 representing to him the hazards he must, in all 
 probability, run by this undertaking, they re- 
 strained him from it. So he treated Cleopatra 
 kindly, and made her presents, and conducted 
 her on her way to Egypt. 
 
 3. But Antony subdued Armenia, and sent 
 Artabazes, the son of Tigranes, in bonds, with 
 his children and procurators, to Egypt, and made 
 a present of them, and of all the royal ornament* 
 which he had taken out of that kingdom, to 
 Cleopatra ; and Artaxias, the eldest of his sons, 
 who had escaped at that time, took the kingdom 
 of Armenia ; who yet was ejected by Archelaus 
 and Nero Caesar, when they restored Tigranes, 
 his younger brother, to that kingdom : but this 
 happened a good while afterward. 
 
 4. But then, as to the tributes which Herod 
 was to pay Cleopatra for that country which An- 
 tony had given her, he acted fairly with her, 
 as deeming it not safe for him to afford any 
 cause for Cleopatra to hate him. As for the 
 king of Arabia, whose tribute Herod had under- 
 taken to pay her, for some time indeed he paid 
 him as much as came to two hundred talents ; 
 but he afterward became very niggardly and 
 slow in his payments, and could hardly be 
 brought to pay some parts of it, and" was not 
 willing to pay even them without some deduc- 
 tions. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 HOW HBBOD MADE WAB WITH THK KING OF 
 ARABIA, AND AFTER THEY HAD FOUGHT MANY 
 BATTLES, AT LENGTH CONQUERED HIM, AND WAS 
 CHOSEN BY THE ARABS TO BE GOVERNOR Of 
 THAT NATION; AS ALSO CONCERNING A GREAT 
 EARTHQUAKE. 
 
 1. HEREUPON Herod held himself ready to go 
 against the king of Arabia, because of his ingrati- 
 tude to him, and because, after all, he would do 
 nothing that was just to him, although Herod 
 made the Roman war an occasion of delaying his 
 own ; for the battle of Actium was now expected, 
 which fell into the hundred and eighty-seventl 
 Olympiad, where Caesar and Anteny were to fighj 
 for the supreme power of the world ; but Heroc 
 hiving enjoyed a country that was very fruitful, 
 and that now for a long time, and having received
 
 320 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOB, xv, 
 
 great taxes, and raised great armies therewith, 
 got together a body of men, and carefully fur- 
 nished them with all necessaries, and designed 
 them as auxiliaries for Antony; but Antony said 
 he had no want of his assistance ; but he com- 
 manded him to punish the king of Arabia, for he 
 had heard, both from him and from Cleopatra, 
 how perfidious he was ; for this was what Cleo- 
 patra desired, who thought it for her own advan- 
 tage that these two kings should do one another 
 as great mischief as possible. Upon this message 
 from Antony, Herod returned back, but kept his 
 army with him, in order to invade Arabia imme- 
 diately. So when his army of horsemen and 
 footmen was ready, he marched to Diospolis, 
 whither the Arabians came also to meet them, 
 for they were not unapprised of this war that was 
 coming upon them ; and after a great battle had 
 been fought, the Jews had the victory; but 
 afterward there were gotten together another 
 numerous army of the Arabians, at Cana, which 
 is a place of Crelesyria. Herod was informed of 
 this beforehand: so he marched against them with 
 the greatest part of the forces he had ; and when 
 he was come near Cana, he resolved to encamp 
 himself ; and he cast up a bulwark, that he 
 might take a proper season for attacking the 
 enemy ; but as he was giving those orders, the 
 multitude of the Jews cried out that he should 
 make no delay, but lead them against the Ara- 
 bians. They went with great spirit, as believing 
 they were in very good order ; and those espe- 
 cially were so that had been in the former battle 
 and had been conquerors, and had not permitted 
 their enemies so much as to come to a close fight 
 with them ; and when they were so tumultuous, 
 and shewed such great alacrity, the king resolved 
 to make use of that zeal the multitude then ex- 
 hibited ; and when he had assured them he would 
 not be behindhand with them in courage, he led 
 them on, and stood before them in all his armour, 
 ill the regiments following him in their several 
 ranks ; whereupon a consternation fell upon the 
 Arabians ; for when they perceived that the Jews 
 were not to be conquered, and were full of spirit, 
 the greater part of them ran away, and avoided 
 fighting ; and they had been quite destroyed, had 
 not Athenio fallen upon the Jews, and distressed 
 them ; for this man was Cleopatra's general over 
 the soldiers she had there, and was at enmity 
 with Herod, and very wistfully looked on to see 
 what the event of the battle would be. He had 
 also resolved, that in case the Arabians did 
 anything that was brave and successful, he would 
 lie still ; but in case they were beaten, as it really 
 happened, he would attack the Jews with those 
 forces he had of his own, and with those that 
 the country had gotten together for him : so he 
 fell upon the Jews unexpectedly, when they were 
 fatigued, and thought they had already van- 
 quished the enemy, and made a great slaughter 
 of them ; for as the Jews had spent their courage 
 upon their known enemies, and were about to 
 enjoy themselves in quietness after their victory, 
 they were easily beaten by these that attacked 
 them afresh ; and in particular received a great 
 loss in places where the horses could not be of 
 any service, and which were very stony, and 
 where those that attacked them were better ac- 
 quainted with the places than themselves ; and 
 whp^ ne Jews had suffered this loss, the Ara- 
 bians raised their spirits after their defeat, and 
 returning back again, slew those that were al- 
 ready put to flight; and indeed all sorts of 
 aughter were now frequent, and of those that 
 escaped, a few only returned into the camp. So 
 Herod, when he despaired of the battle, 
 rode up to them to bring them assistance, yet 
 
 did he not come time enough to do them any 
 service, though he laboured hard to do it ; but 
 the Jewish camp was taken, so that the Arabiani 
 had unexpectedly a most glorious success, having 
 gained that victory which of themselves they 
 were no way likely to have gained, and slaying a 
 great part of the enemy's army ; whence afterward 
 Herod could only act like a private robber, and 
 make excursions upon many parts of Arabia, and 
 distress them by sudden incursions, while he en- 
 camped among the mountains, and avoided by 
 any means to come to a pitched battle ; yet did 
 he greatly harass the enemy by his assiduity, 
 and the hard labour he took in this matter. He 
 also took great care of his own forces, and used 
 all the means he could to restore his affairs to 
 their old state. 
 
 2. At this time it was that the fight happened 
 at Actium, between Octavius Caesar and Antony, 
 in the seventh year of tho reign of Herod ; * and 
 then it was also that there was an earthquake 
 in Judea, such a one as had not happened at any 
 other time, and which earthquake brought a 
 great destruction upon the cattle in that country. 
 About ten thousand men also perished by the 
 fall of houses ; but the army, which lodged in 
 the field, received no damage by this sad acci- 
 dent. When the Arabians were informed of 
 this, and when those that hated the Jews, and 
 pleased themselves with aggravating the reports, 
 told them of it, they raised their spirits, as if 
 their enemy's country was quite overthrown, 
 and the men were utterly destroyed, and thought 
 there now remained nothing that could oppose 
 them. Accordingly, they took the Jewish am- 
 bassadors, who came to them after all this had 
 happened, to make peace with them, and slew 
 them, and came with great alacrity against their 
 army ; but the Jews durst not withstand them, 
 and were so cast down by the calamities they 
 were under, that they took no care of their 
 affairs, but gave up themselves to despair, for 
 they had no nope that they should be so upon 
 a level agaii. irith them in battles, nor obtain 
 any assistance elsewhere, while their affairs at 
 home were in such great distress also. When 
 matters were in this condition, the king per- 
 suaded the commanders by his words, and tried 
 to raise their spirits, which were quite sunk : 
 and first he endeavoured to encourage and em- 
 bolden some of the better sort beforehand, and 
 then ventured to make a speech to the multitude, 
 which he had before avoided to do, lest he should 
 find them uneasy thereat, because of the misfor- 
 tunes which had happened : so he_ made a con- 
 solatory speech to the multitude, in the manner 
 following : 
 
 3. " You are not unacquainted, my fellow-sol- 
 diers, that we have had, not long since, many 
 accidents that have put a stop to what we are 
 about ; and it is probable, that even those that 
 are most distinguished above others for their 
 courage, can hardly keep up their spirits in such 
 circumstances ; but since we cannot avoid fight- 
 ing, and nothing that hath happened is of such 
 a nature but it may by ourselves be recovered 
 into a good state, and this by one brave action 
 only well performed, I have, proposed to myself 
 both to give you some encouragement, and, at 
 the same time, some information ; both which 
 parts of my design will tend to this point, that 
 you may still continue in your own proper forti- 
 titude. I will, then, in the first place, demon- 
 
 * It is here to be noticed, that this seventh year of 
 the reign of Herod, and all the other years of his reign, 
 in Josephus, are dated from the death of Antigonus, and 
 never from his first obtaining the kingdom at Rome, 
 above three years before.
 
 #. V.J 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 321 
 
 strate to you, that this war is a just one on our 
 side, and that on this account it is a war of ne- 
 cessity, and occasioned by the injustice of our 
 adversaries ; for, if you b* once satisfied of this, 
 it will be a real cause of alacrity to you ; after 
 which I will further demonstrate, that the mis- 
 fortunes we are under are of no great conse- 
 quence, and that we have the greatest reason to 
 hope for victory. I shall begin with the first, 
 and appeal to yourselves as witnesses to what I 
 shall say. You are not ignorant certainly of the 
 wickedness of the Arabians, which is to that de- 
 gree as to appear incredible to all other men, 
 ;uid to include somewhat that shews the gross- 
 est barbarity and ignorance of God. The chief 
 things wherein they have affronted us have arisen 
 from covetousness and envy ; and they have at- 
 tacked us in an insidious manner, and on the 
 sudden. And what occasion is there for me to 
 mention many instances of such their proced- 
 ure ? When they were in danger of losing their 
 own government of themselves, and of being 
 slaves to Cleopatra, what others were they that 
 freed them from that fear ? for it was the friend- 
 ship I had with Antony, and the kind disposi- 
 tion he was in towards us, that hath been the 
 occasion that even these Arabians have not been 
 utterly undone ; Antony being unwilling to 
 undertake anything which might be suspected 
 by us of unkindness : but when he had a mind 
 to hestow some parts of each of our dominions 
 on Cleopatra, I also managed that matter so, 
 that by giving him presents of my own, I might 
 obtain a security to both nations, whDe I under- 
 took myself to answer for the money,' and gave 
 him two hundred talents, and became surety for 
 those two hundred more which were imposed 
 upon the land which was subject to this tribute : 
 and this they have defrauded us of, although it 
 was not reasonable that Jev/s should pay tribute 
 to any man living, or allow part of their land to 
 be taxable ; but although that was to be, yet 
 ought we not to pay tribute for these Arabians, 
 whom we have ourselves preserved ; nor is it fit 
 that they who have professed (and that with 
 great integrity and sense of our kindness) that it 
 is by our means that they keep their principality, 
 should injure us, and deprive us of what is our 
 due, and this while we have been still not their 
 enemies but their friends. And whereas obser- 
 vation of covenants takes place among the bit- 
 terest enemies, but among friends is absolutely 
 necessary, this is not observed among these 
 men, who think gain to be the best of all things, 
 let it be by any means whatsoever, and that in- 
 justice is no harm, if they may but get money 
 by it : is it therefore a question with you, 
 whether the unjust are to be punished or not ? 
 when God himself hath declared his mind that 
 so it ought to be, and hath commanded that 
 we ever should hate injuries and injustice, 
 which is not only just but necessary in wars 
 between several nations ; for these Arabians 
 nave done what both the Greeks and Barbarians 
 own to be an instance of the grossest wickedness, 
 with regard to our ambassadors, whom they 
 have beheaded, while the Greeks declare that 
 such ambassadors are sacred and inviolable.* 
 And for ourselves, we have learned from God 
 the most excellent of our doctrines, and tlie 
 most h)y part of our law, by angels or ambas- 
 
 * Herod says here, that as ambassadors were sacred 
 when they carried messages to others, so did the laws 
 of the Jews derive a sacred authority by being de- 
 livered from God by angels [or divine ambassadors ;] 
 which is it Paul's expression about the same lawi, 
 'Gal. iii. 16 : Heb. ii. 2.) 
 
 sadors ; for this name brings God to the know- 
 ledge of mankind, and is sufficient to reconcile 
 enemies one to another. What wickedness, then, 
 can be greater than the slaughter of ambassadors, 
 who come to treat about doing what is right ? 
 And when such have been their actions, how Is 
 it possible they can either live securely in coic- 
 mon life, or be successful in war? In my 
 opinion, this is impossible. But perhaps some 
 will say, that what is holy, and what is right- 
 eous, is indeed on our side, but that the Arabians 
 are either more courageous or more numerous 
 than we are. Now, as to this, in the first place, 
 it is net fit for us to say so, for with whom is 
 what is righteous, with them is God himself ; 
 now, where God is, there is both multitude and 
 courage. But to examine our own circumstances 
 a little, we were conquerors in the first battle ; 
 and when we fought again, they were not 
 able to oppose us, but ran away, and could not 
 endure our attacks or our courage; but when 
 ire had conquered them, then came Athenio, 
 and made war against us without declaring it ; 
 and pray, is this an instance of their manhood, 
 or is it not a second instance of their wickedness 
 and treachery? Why are we therefore of less 
 courage, on account of that which ought to iu- 
 spire us with stronger hopes ? and why are we 
 terrified at these, who. when they fight upon a 
 level, are continually beaten, and when they 
 seem to be conquerors, they gain it by wicked- 
 ness? and if we suppose that any one should 
 deem them to be men of real courage, will he 
 not be excited by that very consideration to do 
 his utmost against them ? for true valour is not 
 shewn by fighting against weak persons, but in 
 being able to overcome the most hardy. But 
 then, if the distresses we ourselves are under, and 
 the miseries that have come by the earthquake, 
 have affrighted any one, let him consider, in the 
 first place, that this very thing will deceive the 
 Arabians, by their supposal that what hath be- 
 fallen us is greater than it really is. Moreover, 
 it is not right that the same thiig that embold- 
 ens them should discourage us ; for these men, 
 you see, do not derive their alacrity from any 
 advantageous virtue of their own, but from 
 their hope, as to us, that we are quite cast down 
 by our misfortunes ; but when we boldly march 
 against them, we shall soon pull down their in- 
 solent conceit of themselves, and shall gain this 
 by attacking them, that they will not be so in- 
 solent when we come to the battle ; for our dis- 
 tresses are not so great, nor is what hath hap- 
 pened an indication of the anger of God against 
 us, as some imagine ; for such things are acci- 
 dental, and adversities that come in the usual 
 course of things ; and if we allow that this was 
 done by the wUl of God, we must allow that it 
 is now over by his wiU also, and that he is satis- 
 fied with what hath already happened ; fpr had 
 he been willing to afflict us still more thereby, 
 he had not changed his mind so soon. And as 
 for the war we are engaged in, he hatn himself 
 demonstrated that he is willing it should go on, 
 nd that he knows it to be a just war; for 
 while some of the people in the country have 
 perished, all you who were in arms have suffered 
 nothing, but are all preserved alive; whereby 
 God makes it plain to us, that if you had univer- 
 sally, with your children and wives, been in the 
 army, it had come to pass that you had not 
 undergone anything that would have much hurt 
 you. Consider these things, and, what is more 
 than all the rest, that you have God at all times 1 
 for your protector; and prosecute these men with , 
 a just bravery, who in point of friendship, are ' 
 unjust, in their battles perfidious, towards am* i
 
 322 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK XV, 
 
 bassadors impious, and Always inferior to you in 
 valour." 
 
 4. When the Jews leard this speech, they 
 were much raised in their minds, and more dis- 
 posed to fight than before. So Herod when he 
 had offered the sacrifices appointed by the law,* 
 made haste, and took them, and led them against 
 the Arabians ; and in order to that, passed over 
 Jordan, and pitched his camp near to that of the 
 enemy. He also thought fit to seize upon a cer- 
 tain castle that lay in the midst of them, as 
 hoping it would be for his advantage, and would 
 the iooner produce a battle ; and that if there 
 were occasion for delay, he should by it have 
 his camp fortified ; and as the Arabians had the 
 same intentions upon that place, a contest arose 
 about it ; at first they were but skirmishes, 
 after which there came more soldiers, and it 
 proved a sort of fight, and some fell on both 
 sides, till those of the Arabian side were beaten, 
 and retreated. This was no small encouragement 
 to the Jews immediately ; and when Herod ob- 
 served that the enemy's army were disposed to 
 anything rather than to come to an engagement, 
 he ventured boldly to attempt the bulwark it- 
 self, and to pull it to pieces, and so to get nearer 
 to their camp, in order to fight them ; for when 
 they were forced out of their trenches, they went 
 out in disorder, and had not the least alacrity, 
 r hope of victory ; yet did they fight hand to 
 and, because they were no more in number 
 an the Jews, and because they were in such a 
 lisposition of war that they were under a neces- 
 sity of coming on boldly ; so they came on to a 
 lerrible battle, while not a few fell on each side. 
 However, at length the Arabians fled; and so 
 great a slaughter was made upon their being 
 routed, that they were not only killed by their 
 enemies, but became the authors of their own 
 deaths also, and were trodden down by the mul- 
 titude, and the great current of people in disor- 
 der, and were destroyed by their own armour ; 
 so five thousand men lay dead .upon the spot, 
 while the rest of the multitude soon ran within 
 the bulwark [for safety,] but had no firm hope 
 of safety, by reason of their want of necessaries, 
 and especially of water. The Jews pursued 
 them, but could not get in with them, but sat 
 round about the bulwark, and watched any ns- 
 sistance that would get into them, and prevented 
 any there that had a mind to it from running 
 away. 
 
 5. When the Arabians trere in these circum- 
 stances, they sent ambassadors to Herod, in the 
 first place, to propose terms of accommodation, 
 and after that to offer him, so pressing was their 
 thirst u^on them, to undergo whatsoever he 
 pleased, if he would free them from their present 
 distress ; but he would admit of no ambassadors, 
 of no price of redemption, nor of any other 
 moderate terms whatever, being very desirous to 
 revenge those unjust actions which they had 
 been guilty of towards his nation. So they were 
 necessitated by other motives, and particularly 
 by their thirst, to come out, and deliver them- 
 selves up to him, to be carried away captives ; 
 and in five days' time, the number of four thou- 
 sand were taken prisoners, while all the rest re- 
 solved to make a sally upon their enemies, and to 
 
 fight it out with them, choosing rather, if so It 
 must be, to die therein, than to perish gradually 
 and ingloriously. When they had taken thia 
 resolution, they came out of their trenches, but 
 could no way sustain the fight, being too much 
 disabled, both in mind and body, and having not 
 room to exert themselves, and thought it an ad- 
 vantage to be killed, and a misery to survive ; so 
 at the first onset there fell about seven thousand 
 of them, after which stroke, they let all the 
 courage they had put on before fall, and stood 
 amazed at Herod's warlike spirit under his own 
 calamities ; so for the future they yielded, and 
 made him ruler of their nation ; whereupon he 
 was greatly elevated at so seasonable a success, 
 and returned home, taking great authority upon 
 him, on account of so bold and glorious an expe- 
 dition as he had made. 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 HOW HEROD SLEW HYROANDS, AND THEN HASTED 
 AWAY TO C.ESAB, AND OBTAINED THE KINGDOM 
 FROM HIM ALSO ; AND HOW, A LITTLE TIME AF- 
 TERWARD, HE ENTERTAINED O.S3AR IN A MOST 
 HONOURABLE MANNER. 
 
 1. HEROD'S other affairs were now very pros- 
 perous, and he was not to be easily assaulted on 
 any side. Yet did there come upon him a dan- 
 ger that would hazard Ma entire dominions, af tei 
 Antony had been beaten at the oatuV of Actinic 
 by Caesar [Octavian ;] for st that time bo>:i 
 Herod's enemies and friends despaired of hi.- 
 affairs, for it was not probable that he would re- 
 main without punishment, who had shewn so 
 much friendship for Antony. So it happened 
 that his friends despaired, and had no hopes of 
 his escape ; but for his enemies, they all out- 
 wardly appeared troubled at Ms case, but were 
 privately very glad of it, as hoping to obtain a 
 change for the better. As for Herod Mmself, he 
 saw that there was no one of royal dignity left 
 hut Hyrcanus, and therefore he thought it would 
 be for his advantage not to suffer Mm to be an 
 obstacle in his way any longer ; for that in case 
 he himself survived, and escaped the danger he 
 was in, he thought it was the safest way to put 
 it out of the power of such a man to make any 
 attempt against him at such junctures of affairs, 
 as was more worthy of the kingdom than Mm- 
 self; and in case he should be slain by Caesar, 
 his envy prompted him to desire to slay him thai 
 would otherwise be king after him. 
 
 2. While Herod had these tMngs in his mind, 
 there was a certain occasion afforded him ; for 
 Hyrcanus was of so mild a temper, both then 
 and at other times, that he desired not to meddle 
 with public affairs, nor to concern himself with 
 innovations, but left all to fortune, and con- 
 tented himself with what that afforded him : 
 but Alexandra [his daughter] was a lover of 
 strife, and was exceeding desirous of a change of 
 the government ; and spoke to her father not to 
 bear for ever Herod's injurious treatment of 
 their family, but to anticipate their future hopes, 
 as he safely might; and desired Mm to write 
 about these matters to Malchus, who was then 
 governor of Arabia, to receive them, and to 
 secure them [from Herod,] for that if they went 
 away, and Herod's affairs proved to be, as it was 
 likely they would be by reason of Caesar's enmity 
 to him, they should then be the only persona 
 that could take the government ; and tMs, both 
 on account of the royal family they were of, and 
 on account of the good disposition of the multi-
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 323 
 
 tude to them. "While she used these persuasions, 
 Hyrcanus put off her suit ; but as she shewed 
 that she was a woman, and a contentious woman 
 too, and would not desist either night or clay, 
 but would always be speaking to him about these 
 matters, and about Herod's treacherous designs, 
 she at last prevailed with him to entrust Dosi- 
 theus, one of his friends, with a letter, wherein 
 his resolution was declared ; and he desired the 
 Arabian governor to send him some horsemen, 
 who should receive him, and conduct him to 
 the lake Asphaltites, which is from the bounds 
 of Jerusalem three hundred furlongs : and he 
 did therefore trust Dositheug with his letter, 
 because he was a careful attendant on him and 
 on Alexandra, and had no small occasion to bear 
 ill-will to Herod ; for he was a kinsman of one 
 Joseph, whom he had slain, and a brother of 
 those that were formerly slain at Tyre by Antony : 
 yet could not these motives induce Dositheus to 
 serve Hyrcanus in this affair ; for preferring the 
 hopes he had from the present king to those he 
 had from him, he gave Herod the letter. So he 
 took his kindness in good part, and bade him 
 besides do what he had already done, that is, go 
 on in serving him, by rolling up the epistle and 
 sealing it again, and delivering it to Malchus, 
 and then to bring back the letter hi answer to 
 it ; for it would be much better if he could know 
 Malchus's intentions also. And when Dositheus 
 was ready to serve him hi this point also, the 
 Arabian governor returned back for answer, that 
 he would receive Hyrcanus, and all that should 
 come with him, and even all the Jews that were 
 of hia party: that he would, moreover, send 
 forces sufficient to secure them in their journey ; 
 and that he should be in no want of anything he 
 should desire. Now_ as soon as Herod had re- 
 ceived this letter, he immediately sent for Hyr- 
 canus, and questioned him about the league he 
 had made with Malchus ; and when he denied 
 it, he shewed the letter to the Sanhedrim, and 
 put the man to death immediately. 
 
 3. And this account we give the reader, as it 
 is contained_ in the commentaries of king Herod : 
 but other historians do not agree with them, for 
 they suppose that Herod did not find, but rather 
 made this an occasion for thus putting him to 
 death, aad that by treacherously laying a snare 
 for him ; for thus do they write : That Herod 
 and he were once at a treat, and that Herod had 
 given no occasion to suspect [that he was dis- 
 pleased at him,] but put this question to Hyr- 
 canus, Whether he had received any letters from 
 Malchus? and when he answered that he had 
 received letters, but those of salutation only ; 
 and when he asked further, whether he had not 
 received any presents from him ? and when he 
 had replied, that he had received no more than 
 four horses to ride on, which Malchus had sent 
 him, they pretended that Herod charged these 
 upon him as the crimes of bribery and treason, 
 and gave orders that he should be led away and 
 slain. And in order to demonstrate that he had 
 been guilty of no offence, when he was thus 
 brought to his end, they allege how mild his 
 temper had been ; and that even in his youth he 
 had never given any demonstration of boldness 
 or rashness, and that the case was the same when 
 b.3 came to be king, but that he even then com- 
 mitted the management of the greatest part of 
 public affairs to Antipater : and thai he was now 
 above fourscore years old, and knew that Herod's 
 government was in a secure state. He also 
 came over Euphrates, and left those who greatly 
 honoured him beyond that river, though he were 
 to be entirely under Herod's government ; and 
 that it was a moat incredible thing that ha ahould 
 
 enterprise anything by way of innovation, and 
 not at all agreeable to his temper, but that thia 
 was a plot of Herod's own contrivance. 
 
 4. And this was the fate of Hyrcanua ; and 
 thus did he end his life, after he had endured 
 various and manifold turns of fortune in hi* 
 lifetime ; for he was made high priest of the 
 Jewish nation hi the beginning of his mother 
 Alexandra's reign, who held the government 
 nine years ; and when, after his mother's death, 
 he took the kingdom himself, and held it three 
 months, he lost it, by the means of his brother 
 Aristobulus. He was then restored by Pompey, 
 and received all sorts of honour from him, and 
 enjoyed them forty years ; but when he was 
 again deprived by Antigonus, and was maimed 
 in his body, he was made a captive by the Par- 
 thians, and thence returned home again after 
 some tune, on account of the hopes that Herod 
 had given him ; none ol which came to pass 
 according to his expectation ; but he still con- 
 flicted with many misfortunes through the whole 
 course of his life : and, what was the heaviest 
 calamity of all, as we have related already, he 
 came to an end which was undeserved by him. 
 His character appeared to be that of a man of a 
 mild and moderate disposition, who suffered the 
 administration of affairs to be generally done by 
 others under him. He was averse to much med- 
 dling with the public, nor had shrewdness enough 
 to govern a kingdom : and both Antipater and 
 Herod came to their greatness by reason of his 
 mildness ; and at last he met with such an end 
 from them as was not agreeable either to justice 
 or piety. 
 
 5. Now Herod, aa soon a h had put Hyr- 
 canus out of the way, made haste to Caesar ; and 
 because he could not have any hopes of kindness 
 from him, on account of the friendship he had 
 for Antony, he had a suspicion of Alexandra, 
 lest she should take this opportunity to bring the 
 multitude to a revolt, and introduce a sedition 
 into the affairs of the kingdom ; so he committed 
 the care of everything to his brother Pheroras, 
 and placed his mother Cyprus, and his sister 
 [Salome,] and the whole family, at Masada, and 
 gave him a charge, that if he should hear any sad 
 news about him, he should take care of the 
 government : but as to Mariamne his wife, 
 because of the misunderstanding between her 
 and his sister, and his sister's mother, which 
 made it impossible for them to live together, he 
 placed her at Alexandrium, with Alexandra her 
 mother, and left his treasurer Joseph and So- 
 hemus of Iturea, to take care of that fortress. 
 These two had been very faithful to him from 
 the beginning, and were now left as a guard to 
 the women. They also had it in charge, that it 
 they should hear any mischief had befallen him, 
 they should kill them both ; and, as far as they 
 were able, to preserve the kingdom for his sons, 
 and for MB brother Pheroras. 
 
 6. When he had given them this charge, he 
 made haste to Rhodes, to meet Caesar; and 
 when he had sailed to that city, he took off his 
 diadem, but remitted nothing else of his usual 
 dignity: and when, upon his meeting him, he 
 desired that he would let him speak to him, he 
 therein exhibited a much more noble specimen 
 of a great soul, for he did not betake himself to 
 supplications, as men usually do _ upon such 
 jccasions, nor offered him any petition, as if he 
 were an offender ; but, after an undaunted man- 
 ner, gave an account of what he had done ; for 
 he spake thus to Caesar : That he had the 
 greatest friendship for Antony, and did every- 
 thing that he could that he might attain the 
 government : that he was not indeed in the army
 
 JS4 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK XV. 
 
 witk him, because the Arabians had diverted 
 him, but that he had sent him both money and 
 corn, which was but too little in comparison of 
 what he ought to have done for him; "for if a 
 man owns himself to be another's friend and 
 knows him to be a benefactor, he is obliged to 
 hazard everything, to use every faculty of his 
 soul, every member of his body, and all the 
 wealth he hath, for him ; in which I confess I 
 have been too deficient. However, I am con- 
 scious to myself, that so far I have done right, 
 that I have not deserted him on his defeat at 
 Actium : nor upon the evident change of his for- 
 tune have I transferred my hopes from him to 
 another, but have preserved myself, though not 
 as a valuable fellow-soldier, yet certainly as a 
 faithful counsellor to Antony, when I demon- 
 strated to him that the only way he had to save 
 himself, and not lose all his authority, was to 
 slay Cleopatra; for when she was once dead, 
 there would be room for him to retain his 
 authority, and rather to bring thee to make a 
 composition with him, than to continue at en- 
 mity any longer. None of which advices would 
 he attend to, but preferred his own rash re- 
 solutions before them, which have happened 
 unprofitably for him, but profitably for thee. 
 Now, therefore, in case thou determinest about 
 me, and my alacrity in serving Antony, accord- 
 ing to thy anger at him, I own there is no room 
 for me to deny what I have done, nor will I be 
 ashamed to own, and that publicly too, that I 
 nad a great kindness for him ; but if thou wilt 
 put him out of the case, and only examine how 
 I behave myself to my benefactors in general, 
 and what sort of friend I am, thou wilt find by 
 experience that we shall do and be the same to 
 thyself, for it is but changing the names, and 
 the firmness of friendship that we shall bear 
 thee will not be disapproved by thee." 
 
 7. By this speech, and by his behaviour, 
 which shewed Caesar the frankness of his mind, 
 h greatly gained upon him, who was himself of 
 a generous and magnificent temper, insomuch 
 that those very actions, which were the founda- 
 tion of the accusation against him, procured 
 him Caesar's good-wilL Accordingly, he re- 
 stored him his diadem again ; and encouraged 
 him to exhibit himself as great a friend to him- 
 self as he had been to Antony, and then had him 
 in great esteem. Moreover, he added this, that 
 Quintus Didius had written to him that Herod 
 had very readily assisted him in the affair of the 
 gladiators. So when he had obtained such a 
 kind reception, and had, beyond all his hopes, 
 procured his crown to be more entirely and 
 firmly settled upon him than ever, by Caesar's 
 donation, as well as by that decree of the Ro- 
 mans, which Caesar took care to procure for his 
 greater security, he conducted Csesar on his way 
 to Egypt, and made him presents, even beyond 
 bis ability, to both him and his friends ; and in 
 general behaved himself with great magnanimity. 
 3e also desired that Caesar would not put to 
 death one Alexander, who had been a companion 
 of Antony ; but Caesar had sworn to put him to 
 death, and os he could not obtain that his peti- 
 tion : and now ho returned to Judea again with 
 greater honour and assurance than ever, and 
 affrighted those that had expectations to the 
 contrary, as still acquiring from his very dan- 
 gers greater splendour than before, by the 
 Savour of God to him. So he prepared for the 
 reception of Coesar as he was going out of Syria 
 to invade Egypt ; and when he came he enter- 
 :amed him at Ptolemais with all royal magnifi- 
 an , ce - *te also bestowed presents on the army, 
 a brought them provisions in abundance. He 
 
 also proved to be one of Caesar's most cordial 
 friends, and put the army in array, and rode 
 along with Caesar, and had a hundred and fifty 
 men, well appointed in all respects, after a rich 
 and sumptuous manner, for the better reception 
 of him and his friends. He also provided them 
 with what they should want, as they passed over 
 the dry desert, insomuch that they lacked neither 
 wine nor water, which last the soldiers stood in 
 the greatest need of ; and besides, he presented 
 Caesar with eight hundred talents, and procured 
 to himself the good-will of them all, because he 
 was assisting to them in a much greater and 
 more splendid degree than the kingdom he had 
 obtained could afford ; by which he more and 
 more demonstrated to Caesar the firmness of his 
 friendship, and his readiness to assist him : and 
 what was of the greatest advantage to him was 
 this, that his liberality came at a seasonable 
 time also ; and when they returned again put of 
 Egypt, his assistances were no way inferior to 
 the good offices he had formerly done them. 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 HOW HEROD SLEW SOHEMTJS AND MARIAMNE, AND 
 AFTERWARDS ALEXANDRA AND COSTOBARU8, 
 AND HIS MOST INTIMATE FRIENDS, AND, AT 
 LAST, THE SONS OF BABBAS ALSO. 
 
 1. HOWEVER, when he came into his kingdom 
 again, he found his house in disorder, and his 
 wife Mariamne and her mother Alexandra very 
 uneasy; for, as they supposed, (what was easy 
 to be supposed,) that they were not put into 
 that fortress [Alexandrium] for the security of 
 their persons, but as into a garrison for their 
 imprisonment, and that they had no power over 
 anything, either of others or of their own 
 affairs, they were very uneasy ; and Mariamne, 
 supposing that the king's love to her was but 
 hypocritical, and rather pretended (as advan- 
 tageous to himself) than real, she looked upon it 
 as fallacious. She also was grieved that he 
 would not allow her any hopes of surviving 
 him, if he should come to any harm himself. 
 She also recollected what commands he had 
 formerly given to Joseph, insomuch that she 
 endeavoured to please her keepers, and espe- 
 cially Sohemus, as well apprised how all was in 
 his power ; and at the first Sohemus was faith- 
 ful to Herod, and neglected none of the things 
 he had given him in charge. But when the 
 women, by kind words and liberal presents, had 
 gained his affections over to them, he was by 
 degrees overcome, and at length discovered to 
 them all the king's injunctions, and this on that 
 account principally, that he did not so mnch 
 as hope he would come back with the same 
 authority he had before, so that he thought he 
 should both escape any danger from him, and 
 supposed that he did hereby much gratify the 
 women, who were likely not to be overlooked in 
 the settling of the government, nay, that they 
 would be able to make him abundant recom- 
 pense, since they must either reign themselves, 
 or be veiy near to him that should reign. He 
 had a further ground of hope also, that though 
 Herod should have all the success he could wish 
 for, and shoxild return again, he could not con- 
 tradict his wife in what she desired, for he knew 
 that the king's fondness for his wife was inex- 
 pressible. These were the motives that drew 
 Sohemus to discover what injunctions had been 
 given him. So Mariamne was greatly displeased 
 to hear that there was no end of the dangers sb
 
 CHAP, vn.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 was under from Herod, and was greatly uneasy 
 fit it, and wished that he might obtain no favours 
 [from Cassar,] and esteemed it almost an insup- 
 portable task to live with him any longer ; and 
 this she afterwards openly declared, without 
 concealing her resentment. 
 
 2. And now Herod sailed home with Joy, at 
 the unexpected good success he had had ; and 
 went, first of all, as was proper, to this his wife, 
 and told her, and her only, the good news, as 
 preferring her before the rest, on account of his 
 fondness for her, and the intimacy there had 
 been between them, and saluted her ; but it so 
 happened, that as he told her of the good success 
 he had had, she was so far from rejoicing at it, 
 that she rather was sorry for it ; nor was she 
 able to conceal her resentments, but depending 
 on her dignity, and the nobility of her birth, in 
 return for his salutations, she gave a groan, and 
 declared evidently that she rather grieved than 
 rejoiced at his success, and this till Herod was 
 disturbed at her, as affording him, not only 
 marks of her suspicion, but evident signs of her 
 dissatisfaction. This much troubled him, to see 
 that this surprising hatred of his wife to him 
 was not concealed, but open ; and he took this 
 so ill, and yet was so unable to bear it, on ac- 
 count of the fondness he had for her, that he 
 could not continue long in any one mind, but 
 sometimes was angry at her, and sometimes re- 
 conciled himself to her ; but by always changing 
 one passion for another, he was still in great 
 uncertainty, and thus was entangled between 
 hatred and love, and was frequently disposed to 
 inflict punishment on her for her insolence to- 
 wards him ; but being deeply in love with her in 
 his soul, he was not able to get quit of this 
 woman. In short, as he would gladly have her 
 punished, so was he afraid lest, ere he were 
 aware, he should, by putting her to death, bring 
 a heavier punishment upon himself at the same 
 time. 
 
 3. When Herod's sister and mother perceived 
 that he was in this temper with regard to Mari- 
 amne, they thought they had now got an excel- 
 lent opportunity to exercise their hatred against 
 her, and provoked Herod to wrath by telling 
 him such long stories and calumnies about her 
 as might at once excite his hatred and his jeal- 
 ousy. Now, though he willingly enough heard 
 their words, yet had not he courage enough to do 
 anything to her as if he believed them, but still 
 he became worse and worse disposed to her, and 
 these ill passions were more and more inflamed 
 on both sides, while she did not hide her disposi- 
 tion towards him ; and he turned his love to her 
 into wrath against her ; but when he was just 
 going to put this matter past all remedy, he 
 heard the news that Caesar was the victor in the 
 war, and that Antony and Cleopatra were both 
 dead, and that he had conquered Egypt; where- 
 upon he made haste to go to meet Caesar, and 
 left the affairs of hia family in their present 
 state. However, Mariamne recommended Sohe- 
 mus to him, as he was setting out on his journey, 
 and professed that she owed him thanks for the 
 care he had taken of her, and asked of the king 
 for him a place in the government ; upon which 
 an honourable employment was bestowed upon 
 him accordingly Now, when Herod was come 
 into Egypt, he was introduced to Caesar with 
 great freedom, as already a friend of his, and 
 received very great favours from him ; for he 
 made him a present of those four hundred Gala- 
 tians who had been Cleopatra's guards, and re- 
 rtored that country to him again, which., by her 
 means, had been taken away from him. He 
 also added to his kingdom Gadara, Hippos, and 
 
 Samaria ; and, besides those, the maritime cities, 
 Gaza, Anthedon, Joppa, and Strato's Tower. 
 
 4. Upon these new acquisitions, he grew more 
 magnificent, and conducted Caesar as far as 
 Antioch ; but upon his return, as much as his 
 prosperity was augmented by the foreign ad- 
 ditions that had been made him, so much the 
 greater were the distresses that came upon him 
 in his own family, and chiefly in the affair of 
 his wife, wherein he formerly appeared to have 
 been most of all fortunate ; for the affection he 
 had for Mariamne was no way inferior to the 
 affections of such as are on that account cele- 
 brated in history, and this very justly. As for 
 her, she was in other respects a chaste woman, 
 and faithful to him ; yet had she somewhat of 
 a woman rough by nature, and treated her hus- 
 band imperiously enough, because she saw he 
 wasso fond of her as to be enslaved to her. She 
 did not also consider seasonably with herself 
 that she lived under a monarchy, and that she 
 was at another's disposal, and accordingly would 
 behave herself after a saucy manner to him, 
 which yet he usually put off in a jesting way, 
 and bore with moderation and good temper. 
 She would also expose his mother and his sister 
 openly, on account of the meanness of their 
 birth, and would speak unkindly of them, inso- 
 much that there was before this a disagreement 
 and unpardonable hatred among the women, 
 and it was now come to greater reproaches of 
 one another than formerly, which suspicions in- 
 creased, and lasted a whole year after Herod 
 returned from Caesar. However, these misfor- 
 tunes, which had been kept under some decency 
 for a great while, burst out all at once upon such 
 an occasion as was now offered ; for as the king 
 was one day about noon lain down on his bea 
 to rest him, he called for Mariamne, out of the 
 great affection he had always for her. She 
 came in accordingly, but would not lie dowu 
 by him ; and when he was very desirous of her 
 company, she shewed her contempt of him ; and 
 added, by way of reproach, that he had caused 
 her grandfather and her brother to be slain ; 
 and when he took this injury very unkindly, 
 and was ready to use violence to her, in a pre- 
 cipitate manner, the king's sister, Salome, ob- 
 serving that he was more than ordinarily dis- 
 turbed, sent into the king his cupbearer, who 
 had been prepared long beforehand for such a 
 design, and bade him tell the king how Mari- 
 amne had persuaded him to give his assistance 
 in preparing a love-potion for him ; and if he 
 appeared to be greatly concerned, and to ask 
 what that love-potion was, to tell him that she 
 had the potion, and that he was desired only 
 to give it him ; but in case he did not appear 
 to be much concerned at this potion, to let the 
 thing drop; and that if he did so, no harm 
 should thereby come to him. AVhen she had 
 given him these instructions, she sent him at this 
 time to make such a speech. So he went in 
 after a composed manner, to gain credit to what 
 he should say, and yet somewhat hastily ; and 
 said, that Mariamne had given him presents, 
 and persuaded him to give him a love-potion; 
 and when this moved the king, he said that this 
 love-potion was a composition that she had given 
 him, whose effects he did not know, which was 
 the reason of his resolving to giv him this in- 
 formation, as the safest course I - could take, 
 both for himself and for the king. W hen Herod 
 heard what he said, and was in an ill disposition 
 before, his indignation grew more violent ; and 
 he ordered that eunuch of Mariamne, who was 
 most faithful to her, to be brought to torture 
 about this potion, as well knowing it wa nof
 
 828 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK XV 
 
 possible that anything small or great could be 
 done without him ; and when the man was 
 under the utmost agonies, he could say nothing 
 concerning the thing he was tortured about, 
 but so far he knew, that Mariamne's hatred 
 against him was occasioned by somewhat that 
 Sohemus had said to her. Now, as he was say- 
 ing this, Herod cried out aloud, and said, that 
 ssohemus, who had been at all other times the 
 most faithful to him, and to his government, 
 would not have betrayed what injunctions he 
 had given him, unless he had had a nearer con- 
 versation than ordinary with Mariamne. _ So he 
 gave orders that Sohemus should be seized on 
 and slam immediately ; but he allowed his wife 
 to take her trial ; and got together those that 
 were most faithful to him, and laid an elaborate 
 accusation against her for this love-potion and 
 composition, which had been charged upon her 
 by way of calumny only. However, he kept no 
 temper in what he said, and was in too great a 
 passion for judging well about this matter. 
 Accordingly, when the court was at length 
 satisfied that he was so resolved, they passed 
 the sentence of death upon her ; but when the 
 sentence was passed upon her, this temper was 
 suggested by himself, and by some others of the 
 court, that she should not be thus hastily put to 
 death, but be laid in prison in one of the for- 
 tresses belonging to the kingdom ; but Salome 
 and her party laboured hard to have the woman 
 put to death ; and they prevailed with the king 
 to do so, and advised this out of caution, lest 
 the multitude should be tumultuous if she were 
 suffered to live ; and thus was Mariamne led to 
 execution. 
 
 5. When Alexandra observed how things went, 
 and that there were small hopes that she herself 
 should escape the like treatment from Herod, 
 she changed her behaviour to quite the reverse 
 of what might have been expected from her 
 former boldness, and this after a very indecent 
 manner ; for out of her desire to shew how en- 
 tirely ignorant she was of the crimes laid against 
 Mariamne, she leaped out of her place, and re- 
 proached her daughter, in the hearing of all the 
 people ; and cried out, that she had been an ill 
 woman, and ungrateful to her husband, and 
 that her punishment came justly upon her for 
 such her insolent behaviour, for that she had 
 not made proper returns to him who had been 
 their common benefactor. And when she had 
 for some time acted in this hypocritical manner, 
 and had been so outrageous as to tear her hair, 
 this indecent dissembling behaviour, as was to 
 be expected, was greatly condeinue_d by the rest 
 of the spectators, as it was principally by the 
 poor woman who was to suffer ; for at the first 
 she gave her not a word, nor was discomposed 
 at her peevishness, and only looked at her, yet 
 did she, out of a greatness of soul, discover her 
 concern for her mother's offence, and especially 
 for exposing herself in a manner so unbecoming 
 her: but as for herself, she went to her death 
 with an Unshaken firmness of mind, and without 
 changing the colour of her face, and thereby evi- 
 dently discovered the nobility of her descent to 
 the spectators, even in the last momenta of her 
 life. 
 
 6. And thus died Mariamne, a woman of an 
 excellent character, both for chastity and great- 
 ness of soul ; but she wanted moderation, and 
 had too much of contention iu her nature, yet 
 had she all that can be said in the beauty of her 
 body, and her majestic appearance in conversa- 
 tion ; and thence arose the greatest part of the 
 occasions why she did not prove so agreeable to 
 the king, nor live so oleasantly with him as she 
 
 might otherwise have done ; for while she wai 
 most indulgently used by the king, out of his 
 fondness for her, and did not expect that he 
 could do anything hard to her, she took too un- 
 bounded a liberty. Moreover, that which most 
 afflicted her, was what he had done to her rela- 
 tions ; and she ventured to speak of all they had 
 suffered by him, and at last greatly provoked 
 both the king's mother and sister, till they be- 
 came enemies to her ; and even he himself also 
 did the same, on whom alone she depended for her 
 expectations of escaping the last of punishments. 
 
 7. But when she was once dead, the king's 
 affections for her were kindled in a more out- 
 rageous manner than before, whose old passion 
 for her we have already described ; for his love 
 to her was not of a calm nature, nor such as we 
 usually meet with among other husbands ; for 
 at its commencement it was of *n enthusiastic 
 kind; nor was it, by their long cohabitation and 
 free conversation together, brought under his 
 power to manage ; but at this time his love to 
 Mariamne seemed to seize him in such a peculiar 
 manner, as looked like divine vengeance upon 
 him for taking away her life ; for he would fre- 
 quently call for her, and frequently lament for 
 her, in a most indecent manner. Moreover, he 
 bethought him of everything he eoald make use 
 of to divert his mind from thinking of her, and 
 contrived feasts and assemblies for that purpose, 
 but nothing would suffice; he therefore laid 
 aside the administration of public affairs, and 
 was so far conquered by his passion, that he 
 would Older his servants to call for Mariamne, 
 as if she were still alive, and could still hear 
 them ; and when he was in this way, there arose 
 a pestilential disease, and carried off the greatest 
 part of the multitude, and of his best and most 
 esteemed friends, and made all men suspect that 
 this was brought upon them by the anger of God, 
 for the injustice that had been done to Mariamne. 
 This circumstance affected the king still more, 
 till at length he forced himself to go into desert 
 
 E laces, and there, under pretence of going a 
 unting, bitterly afflicted himself; yet had he 
 not borne his grief there many days before he 
 fell into a most dangerous distemper himself ; he 
 had an inflammation upon him, and a pain in the 
 hinder part of his head, joined, with madness: 
 and for the remedies that were used, they did 
 him no good at all, but proved contrary to his 
 case, and so at length brought him to despair. 
 All the physicians also that were about him, 
 partly because the medicines they brought for 
 his recovery could not at all conquer the disease, 
 and partly because his diet could be no other 
 than what his disease inclined him to, desired 
 him to eat whatever he had a mind to, and so 
 left the small hopes they had of his recovery in 
 the power of that diet, and committed him to 
 fortune. And thus did his distemper go on, 
 while he was at Samaria, now called Sebaste. 
 
 8. Now Alexandra abode at this time at Jeru- 
 salem ; and being informed what condition 
 Herod was in, she endeavoured to get possession 
 of the fortified places that were about the city, 
 which were two, the one belonging to the city 
 itself, the other belonging to the temple; and 
 those that could get them into their hands had 
 the whole nation under their power, for without 
 the command of them it was not possible to 
 offer their sacrifices ; and to think of leaving off 
 those sacrifices, is to every Jew plainly impossi- 
 ble, who are still more ready to lose their lives 
 than to leave off that divine worship which they 
 have been wont to pay to God. Alexandra, 
 therefore, discoursed with those that had thu 
 keeping of those strongholds, that it was propel
 
 CHAP. VII. I 
 
 AJS T TIQUIT1S OF THE JEWS. 
 
 327 
 
 for them to deliver the same to her, and to 
 Herod's sons, lest, upon his death, any other 
 pei-son should seize upon the government ; and 
 that upon his recovery none could keep them 
 more safely for him than those of his own family. 
 These words were not by them at all taken in 
 good part ; and, as they had been in former 
 times faithful [to Herod,] they resolved to c(a- 
 tinue so more than ever, bpth because they hat ;d 
 Alexandra, and because they thought it a sort 
 of impiety to despair of Herod's recovery while 
 he was yet alive, for they had been his old 
 friends ; and one of them, whose name was 
 Achiabus, was his cousin-german. They sent 
 messengers, therefore, to acquaint him with 
 Alexandra's design ; so he made no longer delay, 
 but gave orders to have her slain ; yet was it 
 with difficulty, and after he had endured great 
 pain, that he got clear of his distemper. He 
 was still sorely afflicted, both in mind and body, 
 and made very uneasy, and readier than ever 
 upon all occasions to inflict punishment upon 
 those that fell under his hand. He also slew 
 the most intimate of his friends, Costobarus, and 
 Lysimachus, and Gadias, who was also called 
 Antipater ; as also Dositheus, and that upon the 
 following occasion. 
 
 9. Costobarus was an Idumean by birth, and 
 one of principal dignity among them, and one 
 whose ancestors had been priests to the Koze, 
 whom the Idumeans had [formerly] esteemed as 
 a god ; but after Hyrcanus had made a change 
 in their political government, and made them 
 receive the Jewish customs and law, Herod 
 made Costobarus governor of Idumea and Gaza, 
 and gave him his sister Salome to wife ; and this 
 was upon his slaughter of [his uncle] Joseph, 
 who had that government before, as we nave 
 related already. When Costobarus had gotten 
 to be so highly advanced, it pleased him, and 
 was more than he hoped for, and he was more 
 and more puffed up by his good success, and in 
 a little while he exceeded all bounds, and did 
 not think fit to obey what Herod, as their ruler, 
 commanded him, or that the Idumeans should 
 make use of the Jewish customs, or be subject 
 to them. He therefore sent to Cleopatra, and 
 informed her that the Idumeans had been always 
 under his progenitors, and that for the same 
 reason it was but just that she should desire 
 that country for him of Antony, for that he 
 was ready to transfer his friendship to her : and 
 this he did, not because he was better pleased to 
 be under Cleopatra's government, but because 
 he thought that, upon the diminution of Herod's 
 power, it would not be difficult for him to obtain 
 himself the entire government over the Idu- 
 means, and somewhat more also ; for he raSsed 
 his hopes still higher, as having no small pre- 
 tences, both by his birth and by these riches 
 which he had gotten by his constant attention to 
 filthy lucre ; and accordingly it was not a small 
 matter that he aimed at. So Cleopatra desired 
 this country of Antony, but failed of her pur- 
 pose. An account of this was brought to Herod, 
 who was thereupon ready to kill Costobarus ; 
 vet, upon the entreaties of his sister and mother, 
 he forgave him, and vouchsafed to pardon him 
 entirely, though he still had a suspicion of him 
 afterwards for this his attempt. 
 
 10. But some time afterward, when Salome 
 happened to quarrel with Costobarus, she sent 
 him a bill of divorce,* and dissolved her marriage 
 
 * Here is a plain example of a Jewish lady giving a 
 divorce to her husband, though in the days of Josephut 
 it was not esteemed lawful for a woman go to do. How- 
 ever, the Christian law, when it allowed divorce for 
 *'Jltery, (Matt. v. 32,) allowed the innocent wife to d;- 
 
 with him, though this was not according to the 
 Jewish laws ; for with us it is lawful for a hus- 
 band to do so ; but a wife if she departs from 
 her husband, cannot of herself be married to an- 
 other, unless her former husband put her away. 
 However, Salome chose not to follow the law of 
 her country, but the law of her authority, and 
 so renounced her wedlock ; and told her brother 
 Herod, that she left her husband out of her good- 
 will to him, because she perceived that he, with 
 Antipater, and Lysimachus, and Dositheus, were 
 raising a sedition against him ; as an evidence 
 whereof, she alleged the case of the sons of Babas, 
 that they had been by him preserved alive already 
 for the interval of twelve years, which proved to 
 be true. But when Herod thus unexpectedly 
 heard of it, he was greatly surprised at it, and 
 was the more surprised, h^ause the relation ap- 
 peared incredible to him. As for the fact relat- 
 ing to these sons of Babas, Herod had formerly 
 taken great pains to bring them to punishment, 
 as being enemies to his government ; but they 
 were now forgotten by Mm, on account of the 
 length of time [since fee had ordered them to be 
 slain.] Now the cause of his ill-will and hatred 
 to them arose hence : that while Antigonus was 
 king, Herod, with his army, besieged the city of 
 Jerusalem, where the distress and miseries which 
 the besieged endured were so pressing, that the 
 greater number of them invited Herod into the 
 city, and already placed their hopes on him. 
 Now, the sons of Babas were of great dignity, 
 and had power among the multitude, and were 
 faithful to Antigonus, and were always raising 
 calumnies against Herod, and encouraged the 
 people to preserve the government to that royal 
 family which held it by inheritance. So these 
 men acted thus politically, and, as they thought, 
 for their own advantage ; but when the city was 
 taken, and Herod had gotten the government 
 into his own hands, and Costobarus was ap- 
 pointed to hinder men from passing out at the 
 gates, and to guard the city, that those citizens 
 that were guilty, and of the party opposite to 
 the king, might not get out of it, Costobarus 
 being sensible that the sons of Babas were had in 
 respect and honour by the whole multitude, and 
 supposing that their preservation might be of 
 great advantage to him in the changes of govern- 
 ment afterward, he set them by themselves, and 
 concealed them in his own farms ; and when this 
 thing was suspected, he assured Herod upon oath 
 that he really knew nothing of that matter, and 
 BO overcame the suspicions that lay upon him ; 
 nay, after that, when the king had publicly pro- 
 posed a reward for the discovery, and had put in 
 practice all sorts of methods for searching out 
 this matter, he would not confess it ; but being 
 persuaded that when he had first denied it, if 
 the men were found, he should not escape un- 
 punished, he was forced to keep them secret, 
 not only out of his good-will to them, but out of 
 a necessary regard to his own preservation also. 
 But when the king knew this thing, by his 
 sister's information, he sent men to the places 
 where he had the intimation they were concealed, 
 and ordered both them and those that were ac- 
 cused as guilty with them, to be slain, insomuch 
 that there were now none at all left of the kin 
 dred of Hyrcanus ; and the kingdom was entirely 
 In Herod's power, and there was nobody remain- 
 ing of such dignity as could put a **x>p to what 
 he did against the Jewish laws. 
 
 vorce her guilty husband, as well as the innocent hus- 
 band to divorce his guilty wife, as we learn from the 
 Fhepherd of Hennas, and from the Second Apology rt 
 Justin Martyr, where a persecution was brought upon j 
 *>>n Christians upon such a divorce.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xv 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 HOW TEN MEN OP THE CITIZENS [OF JERUSALEM] 
 MADE A CONSPIRACY AGAINST HEEOD, FOR THE 
 FOREIGN PRACTICES HE HAD INTRODUCED, 
 WHICH WAS A TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAWS OF 
 THEIR COUNTRY. CONCERNING THE BUILDING 
 OF 8EBASTE AND CESAREA, AND OTHER EDI- 
 FICES OF HEROD. 
 
 1. ON this account it was that Herod revolted 
 from the laws of his country, and corrupted 
 their ancient constitution, by the ^introduction 
 of foreign practices, which constitution yet ought 
 to have been preserved inviolable; by which 
 means we became guilty of great wickedness 
 afterwards, while those religious observances 
 which used to lead the multitude to piety, were 
 now neglected : for, in the first place, he ap- 
 pointed solemn games to be celebrated every 
 fifth year, in honour of Caesar, and built a theatre 
 at Jerusalem, as also a very great amphitheatre 
 in the plain. Both of them were indeed costly 
 works, but opposite to the Jewish customs ; for 
 we have had no such shows delivered down to 
 us as fit to be used or exhibited by us, yet did he 
 celebrate these games every five years, in the 
 most solemn and splendid manner. He also 
 made proclamation to the neighbouring countries, 
 and called men together out of every nation. 
 The wrestlers, and the rest of those that strove 
 for the prizes in such games, were invited out of 
 every land, both by the hopes of the rewards 
 there to be bestowed, and by the glory of victory 
 to be there gained. So the principal persons 
 that were the most eminent in these sorts of ex- 
 ercises, were gotten together, for there were very 
 :;reat rewards for victory proposed, not only to 
 those that performed their exercises naked, but 
 to those that played the musicians also, and were 
 called Thymellci; and he spared no pains to in- 
 duce all persons, the most famous for such ex- 
 ercises, to come to this contest for victory. He 
 also proposed no small rewards to those who ran 
 for the prizes in chariot races, when they were 
 drawn by two, or three, or four pair of horses. 
 He also imitated everything, though ever so 
 costly and magnificent, in other nations, out of 
 an ambition that he might give most public de- 
 monstration of his grandeur. Inscriptions also 
 of the great actions of Caesar, and trophies of 
 those nations which he had conquered in his 
 wars, and all made of the purest gold and silver, 
 encompassed the theatre itself: nor was there 
 anything that could be subservient to his design, 
 whether it were precious garments, or precious 
 stones set in order, which was not also exposed 
 to sight in these games. He had also made a 
 great preparation of wild beasts, and of lions 
 themselves in great abundance, and of such other 
 beasts as were either of uncommon strength, or 
 of such a sort as were rarely seen. These were 
 prepared either to fight one with another, or that 
 men who were condemned to death were to fight 
 with them. And truly foreigners were greatly 
 surprised and delighted at the vastness of the 
 expenses here exhibited, and at the great dangers 
 that were here seen ; but to natural Jews this 
 was no better than a dissolution of these customs 
 for which they had so great a veneration.* It 
 
 * These grand plays and shows, and Thymelici, or 
 music-meetings, and chariot-races, &c., were still, as we 
 
 appeared also no better than an instance of bare- 
 faced impiety to throw men to the wild beasts, 
 for the affording delight to the spectators, and 
 it appeared an instance of no less impiety, to 
 change their own laws for such foreign exercises, 
 but, above all the rest, the trophies gave most 
 distaste to the Jews ; for, as they imagined them 
 to be images, included within the armour that 
 hung round about them, they were sorely dis- 
 pleased at them, because it was not the custom 
 of their country to pay honours to such images. 
 
 2. Nor was Herod unacquainted with the dis- 
 turbance they were under ; and, as he thought 
 it unseasonable to use violence with them, so he 
 spake to some of them by way of consolation ; 
 and in order to free them from that superstitious 
 fear they were under, yet could not he satisfy 
 them, but they cried out with one accord, out 
 of their great uneasiness at the offences they 
 thought he had been guilty of, that although 
 they should think of bearing all the rest, yet 
 would they never bear images of men in their 
 city, meaning the trophies, because this was dis- 
 agreeable to the laws of their country. Nov^ 
 when Herod saw them in such a disorder, and 
 that they would not easily change their resolu- 
 tion unless they received satisfaction in thib 
 point, he called to him the most eminent mei* 
 among them, and brought them upon the theatre, 
 and shewed them the trophies, and asked them, 
 what sort of things they took these trophies to 
 be ; and when they cried out that they were the 
 images of men, he gave order that they should 
 be stripped of these outward ornaments which 
 were about them, and shewed them the naked 
 pieces of wood ; which pieces of wood, now with- 
 out any ornaments, became matter of great sport 
 and laughter to them, because they had before 
 always had the ornaments of images themselves 
 in derision. 
 
 3. When therefore Herod had thus got cleai 
 of the multitude, and had dissipated tte vehe- 
 mency of passion under which they had been 
 the greatest part of the people were disposed to 
 change their conduct, and not to be displeased at 
 him any longer ; but still some of them continued 
 in their displeasure against him, for his intro- 
 duction of new customs, and esteemed the viola- 
 tion of the laws of their country as likely to be 
 the origin of very great mischiefs to them, so 
 that they deemed it an instance of piety rather 
 to hazard themselves [to be put to death,] than 
 to seem as if they took no notice of Herod, who, 
 upon the change he had made in their govern- 
 ment, introduced such customs, and that in a 
 violent manner, which they had never been used 
 to before, as indeed in pretence a king, but in 
 reality one that shewed himself an enemy to 
 their whole nation ; on which account ten men 
 that were citizens [of Jerusalem,] conspired to- 
 gether against him, and sware to one another to 
 undergo any dangers in the attempt, and took 
 daggers with them under their garments [for the 
 purpose of killing Herod.] Now there was a 
 certain blind man among those conspirators who 
 had thus sworn to one another, on account of 
 the indignation he had against what he heard to 
 have been done ; he was not indeed able to afford 
 the rest any assistance in the undertaking, but 
 was ready to undergo any suffering with them, 
 if so be they should come to any harm, inso- 
 much that he became a very great encourager 
 of the rest of the undertakers. 
 
 4. When they had taken this resolution, and 
 
 modern masquerades, plays, operas, and the like 
 "pomps and vanities of this wicked world," of ani 
 better tendency under Christianity.
 
 CHAP. IX.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 323 
 
 that by common consent, they went into the 
 theatre, hoping that, in the first place, Herod 
 should not escape them, as they should fall on 
 him so unexpectedly ; and supposing, however, 
 that if they missed him, they should kill a great 
 many of those that were about him ; and this re- 
 solution they took, though they should die for it, 
 in order to suggest to the king what injuries he 
 had done to the multitude. These conspirators 
 therefore, standing thus prepared beforehand, 
 went about their design with great alacrity ; but 
 there was one of those spies of Herod that were 
 appointed for such purposes, to fish out and in- 
 form him of any conspiracies that should be 
 made against him, who found out the whole 
 affair, and told the king of it, as he was about to 
 go into the theatre. So when he reflected on 
 the hitred which he knew the greatest part of 
 the people bore him, and on the disturbances 
 that arose upon every occasion, he thought this 
 plot against him not to be improbable. Accord- 
 ingly, he retired into his palace, and called those 
 that were accused of this conspiracy before him 
 by their several names ; and as, upon the guards 
 falling upon them, they were caught in the very 
 fact, and knew they could not escape, they pre- 
 pared themselves for their ends with all the de- 
 cency they could, and so as not at all to recede 
 from their resolute behaviour, for they shewed 
 no shame for what they were about, nor denied 
 it ; but when they were seized, they shewed 
 their daggers, and professed, that the conspiracy 
 they had sworn to was a holy and a pious action ; 
 fchat what they intended to do was not for gain, 
 or out of any indulgence to their passions, but 
 principally for those common customs of their 
 country, which all the Jews were obliged to ob- 
 serve, or to die for them. This was what these 
 men said, out of their undaunted courage in this 
 conspiracy. So they were led away to execution 
 by the king's guards that stood about them, and 
 patiently underwent all the torments inflicted on 
 them till they died. Nor was it long before that 
 spy who had discovered them, was seized on by 
 Borne of the people, out of the hatred they bore 
 to him ; and was not only slam by them, but 
 pulled to pieces, limb from limb, and given to 
 i the dogs. This execution was seen by many of 
 the citizens, yet would not one of them discover 
 the doers of it, till upon Herod's making a strict 
 scrutiny after them, by bitter and severe tor- 
 tures, certain women that were tortured con- 
 fessed what they had seen done ; the authors of 
 which fact were so terribly punished by the 
 king, that their entire families were destroyed 
 for this their rash attempt ; yet did not the ob- 
 stinacy of the people, and the undaunted con- 
 stancy they shewed in the defence of their laws, 
 make Herod any easier to them, but he still 
 strengthened himself after a more secure man- 
 ner, and resolved to encompass the multitude 
 every way, lest such innovations should end in 
 an open rebellion. 
 
 B. Since, therefore, he had now the city forti- 
 fied by the palace in which he lived, and by the 
 temple, which had a strong fortress by it, called 
 Antonia, and was rebuilt by himself, he con- 
 trived to make Samaria a fortress for himself 
 also against all the people, and called it Sebaste, 
 supposing that this place would be a stronghold 
 against the country, not inferior to the former. 
 Bo he fortified that place, which was a day's 
 journey distant from Jerusalem, and which 
 would be useful to liim in common, to keep both 
 the country and the city in awe. He also built 
 another fortress for the whole nation : it was of 
 old called Strato's Tower: but was by him 
 %amed Cesarea. Moreover, he chose out some 
 
 select horsemen, and placed them in the great 
 plain ; and built [for thorn] a place in Galilee, 
 called Gaba, with Hesebonitis, in Perea; and 
 these were the places which he particularly 
 built, while he always was inventing somewhat 
 further for his own security, and encompassing 
 the whole nation with guards, that they might 
 by no means get from under his power, nor fall 
 into tumults, which they did continually upon 
 any small commotion ; and that if they did make 
 any commotions, he might know of it, while 
 some of his spies might be upon them from the 
 neighbourhood, and might both be able to know 
 what they were attempting, and to prevent it ; 
 and wheu he went about building the wall of 
 Samaria, he contrived to bring thither many of 
 those that had been assisting him in his wars, 
 and many of the people in that neighbourhood 
 also, whom he made fellow-citizens with the rest. 
 This he did, out of an ambitious desire of build- 
 ing a temple, and out of a desire to make the 
 city more eminent than it had been before, but 
 principally because he contrived that it might at 
 once be for his own security, and a monumemt 
 of his magnificence. He also changed its name, 
 and called it Sebaste. Moreover, he parted the 
 adjoining country, which was excellent in its 
 kind, among the inhabitants of Samaria, that 
 they might be in a happy condition, upon their 
 first coming to inhabit. Besides all which, he 
 encompassed the city with a wall of great 
 strength, and made use of the aoclivity of the 
 place for making its fortifications stronger ; nor 
 was the compass of the place made now so small as 
 it had been before, but was such as rendered it 
 not inferior to the most famous cities, for it was 
 twenty furlongs in circumference. Now within, 
 and about the middle of it, he built a sacred 
 place, of a furlong and a half [in circuit,] and 
 adorned it with all sorts of decorations, and 
 therein erected a temple, which was illustrious, 
 on account of both its largeness and beauty ; and 
 as to the several parts of the city, he adorned 
 them with decorations of all sorts also ; and aa 
 to what was necessary to provide for his own e- 
 curity, he made the walls very strong for that 
 purpose, and made it for the greatest part a cita- 
 del ; and as to the elegance of the building, it 
 was taken care of also, that he might leave 
 monuments of the fineness of his taste, and of 
 his beneficence, to future ages. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 CONCEBNING THE FAMINE THAT HAD HAPPENED DJ 
 JDDEA AND BYKIA ; AND HOW HEROD, AFTEB 
 HE HAD MARRIED ANOTHER WIFE, REBUILT 
 CESAREA, AND OTHER GRECIAN CITIES. 
 
 1. Now on this very year, which was the thir- 
 teenth year of the reign of Herod, very great 
 calamities came upon the country; whether they 
 were derived from the anger of God, or whether 
 this misery returns again naturally in certain 
 periods of tune ;* for, in the first place, there 
 were perpetual droughts, and for that reason the 
 ground was barren, and did not bring forth the 
 same quantity of fruits that it used to produce ; 
 and after this barrenness of the soil, that change 
 
 * Here we have an eminent example of the language 
 of Josephus in his writing to Gentiles, different from 
 that when he wrote to Jews ; in his writing to whom he 
 derives all such judgments from the anger of God ; but 
 because he knew many of the Gentiles thought they 
 might naturally come in certain periods, he complies 
 with them in the following sentence.
 
 330 
 
 THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK IV. 
 
 of food which the want of com occasioned, 
 produced distempers in the bodies of men, and 
 a pestilential disease prevailed, one misery fol- 
 lowing upon the back of another ; and these 
 circumstances, that they were destitute both of 
 methods of cure and of food, made the pestilen- 
 tial distemper, which began after a violent man- 
 ner, the more lasting. The destruction of men 
 also, after such a manner, deprived those that 
 survived of all their courage, because they had 
 no way to provide remedies sufficient for the dis- 
 tresses they were in. When therefore the fruits 
 of that year were spoiled, and whatsoever they 
 had laid up beforehand was spent, there was no 
 foundation of hope for relief remaining, but the 
 misery, contrary to what they expected, still 
 increased upon them ; and this, not only on that 
 year, while they had nothing for themselves loft 
 [at the end of it,] but what seed they had sown 
 perished also, by reason of the ground not yield- 
 ing its fruits on the second year.* This distress 
 they were in made them also, out of necessity, to 
 eat many things that did not use to be eaten : nor 
 was the king himself free from this distress any 
 more than other men, as being deprived of that 
 tribute he used to have from the fruits of the 
 ground ; and having already expended what 
 money he had, in his liberality to those vihoae 
 cities he had built ; nor had he any people t-hat 
 were worthy of his assistance, since this nvker- 
 able state of things had procured him the hatred 
 3f his subjects ; for it is a constant rule, that 
 misfortunes are still Kid to the account of those 
 that govern. 
 
 2. In these circumstances he considered with 
 himself how to procure some seasonable help ; 
 but this was a hard thing to be done, while their 
 neighbours had no food to sell them ; and their 
 money also was gone, had it been possible to 
 purchase a little food at a great price. However, 
 he thought it his best way, by all means, not to 
 leave off his endeavours to assist his people ; so 
 he cut off the rich furniture that was in his 
 palace, both of silver and gold, insomuch that hf 
 did not spare the finest vessels he had, or those 
 that were made with the most elaborate skill of 
 the artificers, but sent the money to Petronius, 
 who had been made prefect of Egypt by Caesar ; 
 and as not a few had already fled to him under 
 their necessities, and as he was particularly a 
 friend to Herod, and desirous to have his sub- 
 jects preserved, he gave leave to them, in the 
 first place, to export corn, and assisted them 
 every way, both in purchasing and exporting the 
 same ; so that he was the principal, if not the 
 only person, who afforded them what help they 
 had. And Herod, taking care the people should 
 understand that this help came from himself , did 
 thereby not only remove the ill opinion of those 
 that formerly hated him, but gave them the 
 greatest demonstration possible of his good-will 
 to them, and care of them : for, in the first 
 place, as for those who were able to provide their 
 own food, he distributed to them their portioi 
 
 * Th!s famine for two years that affected Judea and 
 Syria seems to have been more terrible during this time 
 than was that in the days of Jacob, (Gen xli. xlii.) And 
 what makes the comparison the more remarkable is 
 this : That now, as well as then, the relief they had 
 was from Egypt also ; then from Joseph the governor of 
 Egypt, under Pharaoh king of Egypt, and now from 
 Petronius the prefect of Egypt, under Augustus, the 
 Roman Emperor. It is also well worth our observation 
 here, that these two years were a Sabbatic Year and a 
 year of jubilee, for which Providence, during the the- 
 ocracy, used to provide a triple crop beforehand ; but 
 which became now, when the Jews had forfeited that 
 blessing;, the greatest years of famine to them ever I 
 ince the days of Ahab. 
 
 of corn in the exactezt manner ; but for those 
 many that were not able, either by reason of 
 their old age, or any other infirmity, to provide 
 food for themselves, he made this provision for 
 them that the bakers should make their bread 
 ready for them. He also took care that they 
 might not be hurt by the danger of winter, since 
 they were in gveat want of clothing also, by 
 reason of the utter destruction and consumption 
 of their sheep and goats, till they had no wool to 
 make use of, "or anything else to cover them- 
 selves withal And when he had procured these 
 things for his own subjects, he went further, 
 in order to provide necessaries for their neigh- 
 bours ; and gave * seed to the Syrians ; which 
 things turned greatly to his own advantage also, 
 this charitable assistance being afforded most 
 seasonably to their fruitful soil, so that every 
 one had now a plentiful provision of food. Upon 
 the whole, when the harvest of the land was 
 approaching, he sent no fewer than fifty thousand 
 men, whom he had sustained, into the country ; 
 by which means he both repaired the afflicted 
 condition of his own kingdom with great gene- 
 rosity and diligence, and lightened the afflictions 
 of his neighbours, who were under the same 
 calamities ; for there was nobody who had been 
 in want, that was left destitute of a suitable 
 assistance by him ; nay, further, there were 
 neither any people, nor any cities, nor any pri- 
 vate men, who were to make provision for the 
 multitudes ; and on that account were in want of 
 support, and had recourse to him, but received 
 what they stood in need of, insomuch that it 
 appeared, upon a computation, that the number 
 of cori of wheat, of ten Attic medimni apiece, 
 that were given to foreigners, amounted to ten 
 thousand ; and the number that was given in his 
 own kingdom was fourscore thousand. Now it 
 happened that this care of his and this seasonable 
 benefaction, had such influence on the Jews, and 
 was so cried up among other nations, as to w^po 
 off that old hatred which his violation of some 
 of their customs, during his reign, had procured 
 him among all the nation, and that this liberality 
 of his assistance in this their greatest necessitj 
 was full satisfaction for all that he had done < >f 
 that nature, as also it procured him great fame 
 among foreigners; and it looked as if these cala- 
 mities that afflicted his land to a degree plainly 
 incredible, came in order to raise his glory, and 
 to be to his great advantage :. for the greatness 
 of his liberality in these distresses, which he 
 now demonstrated beyond all expectation, did so 
 change the disposition of the multitude towards 
 him, that they were ready to suppose he had 
 been from the beginning not such a one as they 
 had found him to be by experience, but such a 
 one as the care he had taken of them in supply - 
 ing their necessities proved him now to be. 
 
 3. About this time it was that he sent five 
 hundred chosen men out of the guards of hi 
 body as auxiliaries to Caesar, whom -5Slius Gal- 
 lus t led to the Red Sea, and who were of great 
 service to him there. When, therefore, his af- 
 fairs were thus improved, and were again in a 
 flourishing condition, he built himself a palace 
 in the upper city, raising the rooms to a very 
 great height, and adorning them with the most 
 costly furniture of gold, and marble seats, and 
 beds ; and these were so large that they could 
 contain very many companies of men. These 
 apartments were also of distinct magnitudes, 
 
 t This Mlius Gallus seems to be no other than that 
 JEMus Largus whom Dio speaks of as conducting an 
 expedition that was about this time made into Arabia 
 Feus
 
 'HAP. EL] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 331 
 
 and had particular names given them ; for one 
 apartment Wag called Caesars, another Agrippa's. 
 Ee also fell i n love again, and married another 
 wife, not Buffering his reason to hinder him from 
 living as he pleased. The occasion of this his 
 marriage was as follows : There was one Simon, 
 a citizen of Jerusalem, the son of one Boethus, a 
 citizen of Alexandria, and a priest of great note 
 there : this man had a daughter, who was es- 
 teemed the most beautiful woman of that time ; 
 and when the people of Jerusalem began to speak 
 much in her commendation, it happened that 
 Herod was m uc h affected with what was said of 
 her : and wh e n he saw the damsel, he was smit- 
 ten with her beauty, yet did he entirely reject 
 the thoughts o f using his authority to abuse her. 
 as believing, what was the truth, that by so 
 doing he should be stigmatised for violence and 
 tyranny : so he thought it best to take the dam- 
 sel to wife. And while Simon was of a dignity 
 too inferior to be allied to him, but still too con- 
 siderable to be despised, he governed his inclina- 
 tions after the most prudent manner, by aug- 
 menting the dignity of the family, and making 
 them more honourable; so he immediately de- 
 prived Jesus the son of Phabet of the high 
 priesthood, and conferred that dignity on Simon, 
 and so joined an affinity with him [by marrying 
 his daughter.] 
 
 4. When this wedding was over, he built an- 
 other citadel in that place where he had con- 
 quered the Jews, when he WES driven out of his 
 government, and Antigonus enjoyed it. This 
 citadel is distant from Jerusalem about three- 
 score furlongs. It was strong by nature, and 
 fit for such a building. It is a sort of moderate 
 hill, raised to a further height by the hand of 
 man, till it was of the shape of a woman's breast. 
 It is encompassed with circular towers, and hath 
 a straight ascent up to it, which ascent is com- 
 posed of steps of polished stones, in number two 
 hundred. Within it are royal and very rich 
 apartments, of a structure that provided both 
 for security and for beauty. About the bottom 
 there are habitations of such a structure as are 
 well worth seeing, both on other accounts, and 
 also on account of the water which is brought 
 thither from a great way off, and at vast ex- 
 penses ; for the place itself is destitute of water. 
 The plain that is about this citadel is full of edi- 
 fices, not inferior to any city hi largeness, and 
 having the hill above it in the nature of a 
 castle. 
 
 5. And now, when all Herod's designs had 
 succeeded according to his hopes, he had not the 
 least suspicion that any troubles could arise in 
 his kingdom, because he kept his people obedi- 
 ent, as well by the fear they stood in of him, 
 for he was implacable in the infliction of his pun- 
 ishments, as by the provident care he had shewn 
 towards them, after the most magnanimous 
 manner, when they were under their distresses; 
 but still he took care to have external security 
 for his government, as a fortress against his sub- 
 jects ; for the orations he made to the cities 
 were very fine, and full of kindness ; and he cul- 
 tivated a seasonable good understanding with 
 their governors, and bestowed presents on every 
 one of them, inducing them thereby to be more 
 friendly to him, and using his magnificent dispo- 
 sition so as his kingdom might be better secured 
 to him, and this till all his affairs were every 
 way more and more augmented But then, tin- 
 magnificent temper of his, and that submissive 
 behaviour and liberality which he exercised to- 
 wards Caesar, and the most powerful men of 
 Rome, obliged him to transgress the customs of 
 his nation, and to set aside many of their law* 
 
 by building cities after an extravagant manner, 
 and erecting temples, not in Judea indeed, foi 
 that would not have been borne, it being forbid- 
 den for us to pay any honour to images, or re- 
 presentations of animals, after the manner oi 
 the Greeks ; but still he did this in the country 
 [properly] out of our bounds, and hi the cities 
 thereof. The apology which he made to the 
 Jews for these things was this : That all was 
 done, not out of his own inclinations, but by the 
 commands and injunctions of others, in order to 
 please Caesar and the Romans ; as though he 
 had not the Jewish customs so much hi his eye 
 as he had the honour of those Romans, while 
 fet he had himself entirely in view all the while, 
 and indeed was very ambitious to leave great 
 tnonuments of his government to posterity ; 
 whence it was that he was so zealous in building 
 such fine cities, and spent si'ca vast sums of 
 money upon them. 
 
 6. Now upon his observation or a place near 
 the sea, which was very proper for containing a 
 city, and was before called Strato's Tower, he 
 set about getting a plan for a magnificent city 
 there, and erected many edifices all over it, and 
 this of white stone. He also adorned it with, 
 most sumptuous palaces, and large edifices for 
 containing the people ; and what was the great- 
 est and most laborious work of all, he adorned 
 it with a haven, that was always free from the 
 waves of the sea. Its largeness was not less 
 than the Pyreeum [at Athens ;] and had towards 
 the city a double station for ships. It was of 
 excellent workmanship ; and this was the more 
 remarkable for its being built in a place that of 
 itself was not suitable to such noble structures, 
 but was to be brought to perfection by materials 
 from other places, and at very great expense. 
 This city is situate in Phoenicia, in the passage 
 by sea to Egypt, between Joppa and Dora, which 
 are lesser maritime cities, and not fit for havens, 
 on account of the impetuous south winds that 
 beat upon them, which, rolling the sands that 
 come from the sea against the shores, do not 
 admit of ships lying in their station ; but the 
 merchants are generally there forced to ride at 
 their anchors in the sea itself. So Herod endea- 
 voured to rectify this inconvenience, and laid 
 out such a compass towards the land as might 
 be sufficient for a haven, wherein the great ships 
 might lie in safety ; and this he effected by let- 
 ting down vast stones of above fifty feet in 
 length, not less than eighteen in breadth, and 
 nine in depth, into twenty fathoms deep ; and 
 as some were lesser, so were others bigger, than 
 those dimensions. This mole which he built by 
 the seaside was two hundred feet wide, the half 
 of which was opposed to the current of the 
 waves, so as to keep off those waves which were 
 to break upon them, and so was called Procy- 
 matia, or the first breaker of the waves; but 
 the other half had upon it a wall, with several 
 towers, the largest of which was named Drusus, 
 and was a work of very great excellence, and 
 had its name from Drusus, the son-in-law of 
 Csesar, who died young. There were also a great 
 number of arches, where the mariners dwelt : 
 ! there was also before them a quay [or landing- 
 i place,] which ran round the entire haven, and 
 was a most agreeable walk to such as had a 
 i mind to that exercise but the entrance or 
 
 * It may here be noticed how tyrannical and extra- 
 vagant soever Herod were in himself, and in his Gre- 
 cian cities, as to those plays, and shows, and templet 
 for idolatry, yet durst even he introduce very few of 
 them into the cities of the Jews, who, ta Josephus here 
 notes, would not even then have borne them, o zeiuon' 
 -ere ther still for many of the laws of Moses.
 
 332 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK XT. 
 
 mouth of the port was made on the north quar- 
 ter, on which side was the stillest of the winds 
 of all in this place : and the basis of the whole 
 circuit on the left hand, as you enter the port, 
 supported a round turret, which was made very 
 stroug, in order to resist the greatest waves; 
 while, on the right hand, as you enter, stood 
 two vast stones, and those each of them larger 
 than the turret, which was over against them : 
 these stood upright, and were joined together. 
 Now there were edifices all along the circular 
 haven, made of the most polished stone, with a 
 certain elevation, whereon was erected a temple, 
 that was seen a great way off by those that were 
 sailing for that haven, and had in it two sta- 
 tues, the one of Borne, the other of Caesar. The 
 city itself was called Cesarea, which was also 
 itself built of fine materials, and was of a fine 
 structure ; nay, the very subterranean vaults 
 and cellars had no less of architecture bestowed 
 on them than had the buildings above ground. 
 Some of these vaults carried things at even 
 distances to the haven and to the sea ; but one 
 of them ran obliquely, and bound all the rest 
 together, that both the rain and the filth of the 
 citizens were together carried off with ease, and 
 the sea itself, upon the flux of the tide from 
 without, came into the city, and washed it all 
 clean. Herod also built therein a theatre of 
 stone ; and on the south quarter, behind the 
 port, an amphitheatre also, capable of holding a 
 vast number of men, and conveniently situated 
 for a prospect to the sea. So this city was thus 
 finished in twelve years ; during which time the 
 king did not fail to go on both with the work, 
 and to pay the charges that were necessary. 
 
 CHAPTEB X. 
 
 HOW HEROD SENT HIS SONS TO ROME ; HOW ALSO 
 HE WAS ACCUSED BY ZENODOEUS AND THE GADA- 
 BENS, BUT WAS CLEARED OP WHAT THEY AC- 
 CUSED HIM OF, AND WITHAL GAINED TO HIM- 
 SELF THE GOOD-WILL OF C^SAR. CONCERNING 
 THE PHARISEES, THE ESSENS, AND MANAHEM. 
 
 1. WHEN Herod was engaged in such matters, 
 and when he had already re-edified Sebaste [Sa- 
 maria,] he resolved to send his sons Alexander 
 and Aristobulus to Borne, to enjoy the company 
 of Caesar ; who, when they came thither, lodged 
 at the house of Pollio,* who was very fond of 
 Herod's friendship : and they had leave to lodge 
 in Caesar's own palace, for he received these sons 
 of Herod with all humanity, and gave Herod 
 leave to give his kingdom to which of his sons he 
 pleased; and, besides all this, he bestowed on 
 him Trachon, and Batanea, andAuranitis, which 
 he gave him on the occasion following: One 
 Zenodorus t had hired what was called the house 
 of Lysanias, who, as he was not satisfied with 
 his revenues, became a partner with the robbers 
 that inhabited the Trachonites, and so procured 
 him a larger income; for the inhabitants of 
 those places lived in a mad way, and pillaged 
 the country of the Damascenes, while Zenodorus 
 did not restrain them, but partook of the prey 
 they acquired. Now, as the neighbouring people 
 
 * This Pollio, with whom Herod's Bons lived at Rome, 
 was cot Pollio the Pharisee, already mentioned by Jo- 
 Bephns, but Asinius Pollio, the Roman. 
 
 t The character of this Zenodorua is fo like that of a 
 famous robber of the same name in Strabo, and that 
 about this Yery country, and about this very time also, 
 that there is little doubt they were the same 
 
 were hereby great sufferers, they complained to 
 Varro, who was the president [of Syria,] and 
 entreated him to write to Caesar about this in- 
 justice of Zenodorus. When these matters wer 
 laid before Caesar, he wrote back to Varro to de- 
 stroy those nests of robbers, and give the land to 
 Herod, that by his care the neighbouring coun- 
 tries might be no longer disturbed with these 
 doings of the Trachonites, for it was not an easy 
 thing to restrain them, since this way of robbery 
 had been their usual practice, and they had no 
 other way to get their living, because they had 
 neither any city of their own, nor lands in their 
 possession, but only some receptacles and dens 
 in the earth, and there they and their cattle 
 lived in common together: however, they had 
 made contrivances to get pools of water, and laid 
 up corn in granaries for themselves, and were 
 able to make great resistance, by issuing out on 
 the sudden against any that attacked them ; for 
 the entrances of their caves were narrow, in 
 which but one could come in at a time, and the 
 places within incredibly large, and made very 
 wide ; but the ground over their habitations was 
 not very high, but rather on a plain, while the 
 rocks are altogether hard and difficult to be 
 entered upon, unless any one gets into the plain 
 road by the guidance of another, for these roads 
 are not straight, but have several revolutions. 
 But when these men are hindered from their 
 wicked preying upon their neighbours, their 
 custom is to prey one upon another, insomuch 
 that no sort of injustice comes amiss to them. 
 But when Herod had received this grant from 
 Caesar, and was come into this country, he pro- 
 cured skilful guides, and put a stop to theii 
 wicked robberies, and procured peace and quiet- 
 ness to the neighbouring people. 
 
 2. Hereupon Zenodorus was grieved, in the 
 first place, because his principality was taken 
 away from him, and still more so, because he 
 envied Herod, who had gotten it ; so he went up 
 to Borne to accuse him, but returned back again 
 without success. Now Agrippa was [about this 
 time] sent to succeed Caesar in the government 
 of the countries beyond the Ionian Sea, upon 
 whom Herod lighted when he was wintering 
 about Mitylene, for he had been his particulai 
 friend and companion, and then returned into 
 Judea again. However, some of the Gadarens 
 came to Agrippa, and accused Herod, whom he 
 ent back bound to the king, without giving 
 them the hearing : but still the Arabians, who 
 of old bare ill-will to Herod's government, were 
 nettled, and at that time attempted to raise a 
 edition in his dominions, and, as they thought, 
 upon a more justifiable occasion ; for Zenodorus, 
 despairing already of success as to his own affairs, 
 prevented [his enemies,] by selling to those Ara- 
 bians a part of his principality, called Auranitis, 
 for the value of fifty talents; but as this was in- 
 cluded in the donations of Caesar, they contested 
 the point with Herod, as unjustly deprived of 
 what they had bought. Sometimes they did 
 this by making incursions upon him, and some- 
 times by attempting force against him, and 
 sometimes by going to law with him. More- 
 over they persuaded the poorer soldiers to help 
 them, and were troublesome to him, out of a 
 constant hope that they should reduce the people 
 to raise a sedition ; in which designs those that 
 are in the most miserable circumstances of life 
 are still the most earnest ; and although Herod 
 had been a great while apprized of these attempts, 
 vet did not he indulge any severity to them, but 
 by rational methods aimed to mitigate things, aa 
 not willing to give any handle for tumult. 
 
 3. Now wbn Herod had already reigned seven-
 
 JHAP. X.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 333 
 
 teen years, Csesar came into Syria; at which 
 time the greatest part of the inhabitants of 
 Gadara clamoured against Herod, as one that 
 was heavy in his injunctions, and tyrannical. 
 These reproaches they mainly ventured upon by 
 the encouragemant of Zenodorus, who took hi 
 oath that he would never leave Herod till he 
 had procured that they should be severed from 
 Herod's kingdom, and joined to Caesar's pro- 
 vince. The Gadarens were induced hereby, and 
 made no small cry against him ; and that the 
 more boldly, because those that had been de- 
 livered up by Agrippa were not punished by 
 Herod, who let them go, and did them no harm ; 
 for indeed he was the principal man in the world 
 who appeared almost inexorable in punishing 
 crimes in his own family ; but very generous in 
 remitting the offences that were committed else- 
 where. And while they accused Herod of in- 
 juries and plunderings, and subversion of temples, 
 he stood unconcerned, and was ready to make 
 his defence. However, Caesar gave him his right 
 hand, and remitted nothing of his kindness to 
 him, upon this disturbance of the multitude ; 
 and indeed these things were alleged the first 
 day, but the hearing proceeded no further ; for 
 as the Gadarens saw the inclination of Csesar and 
 of his assessors, and expected, as they had reason 
 to do, that they should be delivered up to the 
 king, some of them, out of a dread of the tor- 
 ments they might undergo, cut their own throats 
 in the night-time, and some of them threw them- 
 jelves down precipices, and others of them cast 
 themselves into the river, and destroyed 'them- 
 elves of their own accord; which accidents 
 seemed a sufficient condemnation of the rashness 
 and crimes they had been guilty of ; whereupon 
 Caesar made no longer delay, but cleared Herod 
 from the crimes he was accused of. Another 
 happy accident there was, which was a further 
 great advantage to Herod at this time; for Zeno- 
 dorus's belly burst, and a great quantity of blood 
 issued from him in his sickness, and he thereby 
 departed this life at Antioch in* Syria ; so Caesar 
 bestowed his country, which was no small one, 
 upon Herod; it lay between Trichon and Galileo, 
 nnd contained Ulatlia, and Faneas, and the 
 country round about. He also made him one 
 of the procurators of Syria, and commanded that 
 they should do everything with his approbation ; 
 and, in short, he arrived at that pitch of felicity, 
 that whereas there were but two men that 
 governed the vast Eoman empire, first Csesar and 
 then Agrippa, who was his principal favourite, 
 Caesar preferred no one to Herod besides Agrippa ; 
 and Agrippa made no one his greater friend than 
 Herod beside Caesar; and when he had acquired 
 such freedom, he begged of Caesar a tetrarchy * 
 for his brother Pheroras, while he did himself 
 bestow upon him a revenue of a hundred talents 
 out of his own kingdom, that in case he came to 
 any harm himself, his brother might be in safety, 
 and that his sons might not have dominion over 
 him. So when he had conducted Caesar to the 
 sea, and was returned home, he built him a 
 most beautiful temple, of the whitest stone in 
 Zenodorus's country, near the place called Pa- 
 nium. This is a very fine cave in a mountain, 
 under which there is a great cavity in the earth, 
 ind the cavern is abrupt, and prodigiously deep, 
 and full of a still water; over it hangs a vast 
 mountain ; and under the caverns arise the 
 springs of the river Jordan. Herod adorned 
 this place, which was already a very remarkable 
 
 A. tetrarchy properly and originally denoted the 
 fourth part of an entire kingdom or country, and a 
 tetrarck one that was ruler of such a fourth p*rt. 
 
 one, still further by the erection of this temple 
 which he dedicated to Csesar. 
 
 4. At which time Herod released to his rob- 
 jects the third part of their taxes, under pretence 
 indeed of relieving them after the dearth they 
 had had ; but the main reason was, to recover 
 their good-will, which he now wanted ; for they 
 were uneasy at him, because of the innovations 
 he had introduced in their practices of the disso- 
 lution of their religion, and of the disuse of their 
 own customs, and the people everywhere talked 
 against him, like those that were still more pro- 
 voked and disturbed at his procedure; against 
 which discontents he greatly guarded himself, 
 and took away the opportunities they might 
 have to disturb him, and enjoined them to be 
 always at work ; nor did he permit the citizens 
 either to meet together, or to walk, or eat to- 
 gether, but watched everything they did, and 
 when any were caught, they were severely 
 punished; and many there were who were 
 brought to the citadel Hyrcania, both openly 
 and secretly, and were there put to death; and 
 there were spies set everywhere, both in the city 
 and in the roads, who watched those that met 
 together; nay, it is reported that he did not 
 himself neglect this part of caution, but that he 
 would oftentimes himself take the habit of a 
 private man, and mix among the multitude in 
 the night-time, and make trial what opinion they 
 had of his government; and as for those that 
 could be no way reduced to acquiesce under hia 
 scheme of government, he persecuted them all 
 manner of ways; but for the rest of the multi- 
 tude, he required that they should be obliged to 
 take an oath of fidelity to him, and at the same 
 time compelled them to swear that they would 
 bear him good-will, and continue certainly so to 
 do, in his management of the government ; and 
 indeed a great part of them, either to please 
 him, or out of fear of him, yielded to what he 
 required of them; but for such as were of a 
 more open and generous disposition, and had in- 
 dignation at the force he used to them, he by 
 one means or other made away with them. He 
 endeavoured also to persuade Pollio the Phari- 
 see, and Sameas, and the greatest part of their 
 scholars, to take the oath; but these would 
 neither submit so to do, nor were they punished 
 together with the rest, out of the reverence he 
 bore to Pollio. The Essens also, as we call a 
 sect of ours, were excused from this imposition. 
 These men live the same kind of life as do those 
 whom the Greeks call Pythagoreans ; concerning 
 whom I shall discourse more fully elsewhere. 
 However, it is but fit to set down here the 
 reasons wherefore Herod had these Essens in 
 such honour, and thought higher of them than 
 their mortal nature required ; nor will this ac- 
 count be unsuitable to the nature of this history, 
 as it will shew the opinion men had of these 
 Essens. 
 
 5. Now there was one of these Essens, whose 
 name was Manahem, who had this testimony, 
 that he not only conducted his life after an excel- 
 lent manner, but had the foreknowledge of future 
 events given him by God also. This man once 
 saw Herod when he was a child, and going to 
 school, and saluted him as king of the Jews; 
 but he, thinking that either he did not know 
 him, or that he was in jest, put him in mind 
 that he was but a private man; but Manahem 
 smiled to himdelf, and clapped him on his back- 
 side with his hand, and said, " However that be, 
 thou wilt be king, and wilt begin thy reign hap- 
 pily, for God finds thee worthy of it ; and do 
 thou remember the blows that Manahem hath 
 "iven thee, aa being a signal of the change of
 
 334 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 {BOOK 
 
 thy fortune; and truly this will be the best rea- 
 sSfortb.ee, that thou love justice [towards I 
 mTf and piety towards God and clemency I 
 towards thy citizens; yet do I know how thy 
 whde conduct will be, that thou irilt not be 
 guch a one, for thou wilt excel all men in happi- 
 ness, and obtain an everlasting reputation, but 
 wilt forget piety and righteousness; and these 
 crimes will not be concealed from God at the 
 conclusion of thy life, when thou mlt find that 
 he will be mindful of them and punish thee for 
 them " Now at that time Herod did not at all 
 attend T what Manahem said, as having no 
 hopes of such advancement; but S, little after- 
 ward, when he was so fortunate as to be ad- 
 vanced to the dignity of king, ana was in the 
 height of his dominion, he sent for Manahem, 
 and asked him how long he should reign. Mana- 
 hem did not tell him the full length of his 
 rein; wherefore, upon that silence of his he 
 asked him further, whether he should reign tei 
 years or not? He replied, "Yes, twenty, nay. 
 thirty years ;" but did not assign the just deter 
 minate limit of his reign. Herod was satisfied 
 with these replies, and gave Manshem his hand, 
 and dismissed him, and from that time he con- 
 tinued to honour all the Esbbne. We have 
 thought it proper to relate these facts to our 
 readers, how strange soever thej- be, and to de- 
 clare what hath happened air.ong us, because 
 many of these Essens have, by their excellent 
 virtue, been thought worthy of this knowledge 
 of divine revelations. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 BOW HEEOD REBUILT THE TEMPLE, AND RAISED 
 IT HIGHER, AND MADE IT MORE MAGNIFICENT 
 THAN IT WAS BEFORE; AND ALSO CONCERNING 
 THAT TOWER WHICH HE CALLED ANTONIA. 
 
 1. AND now Herod, in the eighteenth year of 
 his reign, and after the acts already mentioned, 
 undertook a very great work, that is, to build 
 of himself the temple of God,* and make it 
 larger in compass, and to raise it ti> a most mag- 
 nificent altitude, as esteeming it to be the most 
 glorious of all his actions, as it really was, to brine 
 it to perfection, and this would be sufficient foi 
 an everlasting memorial of htm; but as he knew 
 the multitude were not ready nor willin" to 
 assist him in so vast a desigr, he thought to 
 prepare them first by making a speech to them, 
 and then set about the work itself: so he called 
 them together, and spake thus to them;"! 
 think I need not speak to you, my countrymen, 
 about such other works as I IIRTO done since I 
 Came to the kingdom, although I may say they 
 have been performed in such a manner as to 
 bring more security to yon than glory to myself; 
 V?L av . e neither been negligent in the most 
 difficult times about what tended to ease your 
 necessities, nor have the buildings I have madfc 
 been so proper to preserve me as yourselves froir 
 injuries ; and I imagine that, with God's assist 
 ance, I have advanced the nation of the Jews to 
 a degree of happiness which they never had be- 
 fore; and for the particular edifices belonging to 
 your own country, and to your own cities* as 
 also to those cities that we have lately acquired 
 which we have erected and greatly adorned, and 
 
 M* ""t? ncy of the modern Jews, in calling this tem- 
 ple, which was really the third of their temples, the 
 
 \ll ? t t! np1 ^ f Ilowed 80 lon * fc y later Christ ana? 
 eecia to be without any solid founiation. 
 
 thereby augmented the dignity of your nation, 
 it seems to me a needless task to enumerate 
 them to you, since you well know them yont- 
 selves ; but as to that undertaking which I have 
 a mind to set about at present, and which wili 
 be a work of the greatest piety and excellence 
 that can possibly be undertaken by us, I will now 
 declare it to you. Our fathers, indeed, when they 
 were returned from Babylon, built this temple 
 to God Almighty, yet does it want sixty cubits of 
 its largeness and altitude ; for so much did that 
 first temple which Solomon built exceed thia 
 temple: nor let any one condemn our fathers 
 for their negligence or want of piety herein, for 
 it was not their fault that the temple was no 
 higher; for they were Cyrus, and Darius the 
 son of Hystaspes, who determined the measures 
 for its rebuilding; and it hath been by reason of 
 the subjection of those fathers of ours to them 
 and to their posterity, and after them to the 
 Macedonians, that they had not the opportunity 
 to follow the original model of this pious edifice, 
 nor could raise it to its ancient altitude; but 
 since I am now, by God's will, your governor, 
 and I have had peace a long time, and have 
 gained great riches and large revenues, and, 
 what is the principal thing of all, I am at amity 
 .vith and well regarded by the Romans, who, it 
 L may so say, are the rulers of the whole world, 
 1 will do my endeavour to correct that imperfec- 
 tion which hath arisen from the necessity of our 
 affairs and the slavery we have been under for 
 merly, and to make a thankful return, after the 
 most pious manner to God, for what blessings I 
 have received from him, by giving me this king- 
 dom, and that by rendering his temple as com- 
 plete as I am able." 
 
 2. And this was the speech which Herod 
 made to them : but still this speech affrighted 
 many of the people, as being unexpected by 
 them, and because it seemed incredible, it did 
 not encourage them, for they were afraid that 
 he would pull down the whole edifice, and not 
 be able to bring his intentions to perfection for 
 its rebuilding ; and this danger appeared to 
 them to be very great, and the vastness of the 
 undertaking to be such as could hardly be ac- 
 complished. But while they were in this dis- 
 position, the king encouraged them, and told 
 them he would not pull down their temple till 
 all things were gotten ready for building it up 
 entirely again. And as he promised them this 
 beforehand, so he did not break his word with 
 them, but got ready a thousand waggons, tha* 
 were to bring stones for the building, and chose 
 out ten thousand of the most skilful workmen, 
 and bought a thousand sacerdotal garments for 
 the priests, and had some of them taught the 
 arts of stonecutters, and others of carpenters, 
 and then began to build ; but this not till every- 
 thing was well prepared for the work 
 
 3. So Herod took away the old foundations, 
 and laid others, and erected the temple upon 
 them, being in length a hundred cubits, and in 
 height twenty additional cubits, which [twenty,] 
 upon the sinking of their foundations, fell down : 
 and_ this part it was that we resolved to raise 
 again in the days of Nero. Now the temple was 
 built of stones that were white and strong, and 
 each of their length was twenty -five cubits, their 
 height was eight, and their breadth about 
 twelve ; and the whole structure, as also the 
 structure of the royal cloister, was on each side 
 much lower, but the middle was much higher, 
 till they were -visible to those that dwelt in the 
 country for a great many furlongs, but chiefly to 
 such as lived over against them, and those that 
 ntiproached to them. The temple had doors
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 335 
 
 also at the entrance, and lintels over them, of 
 the same height with the temple itself. They 
 were adorned with embroidered veils, with their 
 flowers of purple, and pillars interwoven : and 
 over these, but under the crown-work was 
 spread out a golden vine, with its brvoichea 
 hanging down from a great height, the largeness 
 and fine workmanship of which was a surprising 
 sight to the spectators, to see what vast mate- 
 rials there were, and with what great skill the 
 workmanship was done. He also encompassed 
 the entire temple with very large cloisters, con- 
 triving them to be in a due proportion thereto ; 
 and he laid out larger sums of money upon them 
 than had been done before him, till it seemed 
 that no one else had so greatly adorned the 
 temple as he had done. There was a large wall 
 to both the cloisters ; which wall was itself the 
 most prodigious work that was ever heard of by 
 man. The hill was a rocky ascent, that de- 
 clined by degrees towards the east parts of the 
 city, till it came to an elevated leveL This hill 
 it was which Solomon, who wa& the first of our 
 kings, by divine revelation, encompassed with a 
 wall ; it was of excellent workmanship upwards, 
 and round the top of it. He also built a wall 
 below, beginning at the bottom, which was en- 
 compassed by a deep valley ; and at the south 
 side he laid rocks together, and bound them one 
 to another with lead, and included some of the 
 inner parts, till it proceeded to a great height, 
 and till both the largeness of the square edifice 
 and its altitude were immense, and till the vast- 
 ness of the stones in the front were plainly 
 visible on the outside, yet so that the inward 
 parts were fastened with iron, and preserved the 
 joints immovable for all future times. When 
 this work [for the foundation] was done in this 
 manner, and joined together as a part of the 
 hill itself to the very top of it, he wrought it all 
 into one outward surface, and filled up the hol- 
 low places which were about the wall, and made 
 it a level on the external upper surface, and a 
 smooth level also. This hiU was walled all 
 round, and in compass four furlongs, [the dis- 
 tance of] each angle containing in length a fur- 
 long : but within this wall, and on the very top 
 of all, there ran another wall of stone also, hav- 
 ing, on the east quarter, a double cloister, of the 
 same length with the wall ; in the midst of 
 which was the temple itself. This cloister 
 looked to the gates of the temple ; and it had 
 been adorned by many kings in former times ; 
 and round about the entire temple were fixed 
 the spoils taken from barbarous nations; all 
 these had been dedicated to the temple by 
 Herod, with the addition of those he had taken 
 from the Arabians. 
 
 4. Now on the north side [of the temple] was 
 built a citadel, whose walls were square and 
 strong, and of extraordinary firmness. This 
 citadel was built by the kings of the Asamonean 
 race, who were also high priests before Herod, 
 and they called it the Tower, in which were 
 reposited the vestments of the high priest, which 
 the high priest only put on at the tune when he 
 was to offer sacrifice. These vestments king 
 Herod kept in that place ; and after his death 
 they were under the power of the Romans, until 
 the time of Tiberius Caesar ; under whose reigm 
 Vitellius, the president of Syria, when he once 
 came to Jerusalem, and had been most magnifi- 
 cently received by the multitude, he had a mind 
 to make them some requital for the kindness 
 they had shewn him ; so, upon their petition to 
 have those holy vestments in their own power, 
 He wrote about them to Tiberius Caesar, who 
 iraated his request : and this their power oWr 
 
 the sacerdotal vestments continued with the 
 Jews till the death of king Agrippa ; but after 
 that, Cassius Longinus, who was president of 
 Syria, and Cuspius Fadus, who was procurator 
 of Judea, enjoined the Jews to repoait those 
 vestments in the tower of Antonia, for that they 
 ought to have them in their power, as they for- 
 merly had. However, the Jews sent ambassa- 
 dors to Claudius Csesar, to intercede with him 
 for them ; upon whose coming, king Agrippa, 
 junior, being then at Rome, asked for and ob- 
 tained the power over them from the emperor ; 
 who gave command to Vitellius, who was then 
 commander in Syria, to give them it accordingly. 
 Before that time they were kept under the seal 
 of the high priest, and of the treasurers of the 
 temple; which treasurers, the day before a 
 festival, went up to the Roman captain of the 
 temple-guards, and viewed their own seal, and 
 received the vestments; and again when the 
 festival was over, they brought it to the same 
 place, and shewed the captain of the temple- 
 guards their seal, which corresponded with his 
 seal, and reposited them there. And that these 
 things were so, the afflictions that happened to 
 us afterward [about them] are sufficient evi- 
 dence : but for the tower itself, when Herod 
 the king of the Jews had fortified it more firmly 
 than before, in order to secure and guard the 
 temple, he gratified Antonius, who was his 
 friend, and the Roman ruler, and then gave it 
 the name of the Tower of Antonia. 
 
 5. Now, in the western quarter of the enclo- 
 sures of the temple there were four gates ; the 
 first led to the king's palace, and went to a 
 passage over the intermediate valley ; two more 
 led to the suburbs of the city ; and the last led 
 to the other city, where the road descended 
 down into the valley by a great number of steps, 
 and thence up again by the ascent ; for the city 
 lay over against the temple in the manner of a 
 I theatre, and was encompassed with a deep 
 I valley along the entire south quarter ; but the 
 i fourth front of the temple, which was south- 
 ! ward, had indeed itself gates in its middle, aa 
 : also it had the royal cloisters, with three walks, 
 : which reached in length from the east valley 
 unto that on the west, for it was impossible it 
 should reach any further : and this cloister de- 
 serves to be mentioned better than any other 
 under the sun ; for while the valley was very 
 deep, and its bottom could not be seen, if you 
 looked from above into the depth, this further 
 vastly high elevation of the cloister stood upon 
 that height, insomuch that if any one looked 
 down from the top of the battlements, or down 
 both these altitudes, he would be giddy, while 
 his sight could not reach to such an immense 
 I depth. This cloister had pillars that stood in 
 i four rows one ovnr against the other all along, 
 for the fourth row was interwoven into the 
 i wall, which [also was built of stone ;] and the 
 . thickness of each pillar was such, that three 
 I men might, with their arms extended, fathom 
 it round, and join their hands again, while its 
 | length was twenty-seven feet, with a double 
 i spiral at its basis ; and the number of all the 
 ! pillars [ir that court] was an hundred and 
 i sixty-two. Their chapiters were made with 
 sculptures after the Corinthian order, and 
 caused an amazement [to the spectators,] by 
 reason of the grandeur of the whole. These 
 four rows of pillars included three intervals for 
 walking in the middle of this cloister ; two of 
 which walks were made parallel to each other, 
 and* were contrived after the same manner; the 
 breadth of each of them was thirty feet, the 
 lenirth was a furlong* and the height fifty feet
 
 836 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xvt 
 
 but the breadth of the middle part of the cloister 
 was one and a half of the other, and the height 
 was double, for it was much higher than those 
 on each side ; but the roofs were adorned with 
 deep sculptures in wood, representing many 
 sorts of figures : the middle was much higher 
 than the rest, and the wall of the front was 
 adorned with beams, resting upon pillars, that 
 were interwoven into it, and that front was all 
 of polished stone, insomuch that its fineness, to 
 such as had not seen it, was incredible, and to 
 such as had seen it, was greatly amazing. Thus 
 was the first enclosure. In the midst of which, 
 and not far from it, was the second, to be gone 
 up to by a few steps : this was encompassed by 
 a stone wall for a partition, with an inscription, 
 which forbade any foreigner to go in under pain 
 of death. Now this inner inclosure had on its 
 southern and northern quarters three gates 
 [equally] distant from one another ; but on the 
 east quarter, towards the sun-rising, there was 
 one large gate through which such as were pure 
 came in, together with their wives; but the 
 temple further inward in that gate was not 
 allowed to the women ; but still more inward 
 was there a third [court of the] temple, where- 
 into it was not lawful for any but the priests 
 alone to enter. The temple itself was within 
 this; and before that temple was the altar, 
 upon which we offer our sacrifices and burnt- 
 offerings to God. Into none of these three did 
 king Herod enter,* for he was forbidden, be- 
 cause he was not a priest. However, he took 
 care of the cloisters and the outer enclosures ; 
 and these he built in eight years. 
 
 * " Into none of these three did king Herod enter," 
 i.e., 1. Not into the court of the priests ; 2. Nor into 
 the holy house itself; 3. Nor into the separate place 
 belonging to the altar, as the words following imply ; 
 for none but priests, or their attendants the Levites, 
 Blight come into any of them. 
 
 6. But the temple itself was built by the 
 priests in a year and six months, upon which 
 all the people were full of joy ; and presently 
 they returned thanks, in the first place, to God ; 
 and in the next place, for the alacrity the king 
 had shewn. They feasted and celebrated this 
 rebuilding of the temple : and for the king, he 
 sacrificed three hundred oxen to God ; as did 
 the rest, every one according to his ability : the 
 number of which sacrifices it is not possible to 
 set down ; for it cannot be that we should truly 
 relate it; for at the same time with this cele- 
 bration for the work about the temple, fell also 
 the day of the king's inauguration, which he 
 kept of an old custom as a festival, and it now 
 coincided with the other ; which coincidence of 
 them both made the festival most illustrious. 
 
 7. There was also an occult passage built for 
 the king : it led from Antonia to the inner 
 temple, at its eastern gate ; over which also he 
 erected for himself a tower, that he might have 
 the opportunity of a subterraneous ascant to the 
 temple, in order to guard against any sedition 
 which might be made by the people against 
 their kings. It is also reported, t that during 
 the time that the temple was building, it did 
 not rain in the day time, but that the showers 
 fell in the nights, so that the work was not 
 hindered. And this our fathers have delivered 
 to us ; nor is it incredible, if any have regard to 
 the manifestations of God. And thus was 
 performed the work of the rebuilding of the 
 temple. 
 
 t This tradition which Josephus here mentions, ol 
 this remarkable circumstance relating to the building 
 of Herod's temple, is a demonstration that its building 
 was a known thing hi Judea at this time. He was 
 born but forty-six years after it is related to have been 
 finished, and might himself have seen and spoken with 
 some of the builders themselves, and with a great num- 
 ber of those who had seen its building. 
 
 BOOK XVI. 
 
 CONTAINING THE INTEBVAL OP TWELVE YEARS, 
 
 FROM THE FINISHING OF THE TEMPLE BY HEROD TO THE DEATH 
 OF ALEXANDER AND ARISTOBULUS. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 A. LAW OF HEBOD'S ABOUT THIEVISH. SALOME 
 
 AND PHEROBAS CALUMNIATE ALEXANDEB AND 
 ARISTOBULUS, UPON THEIB BETURN FROM 
 BOME, FOB WHOM HEROD TKT PROVIDES 
 WIVES. 
 
 1 < As king Herod was very zealous in the 
 administration of his entire government, and 
 desirous to put a stop to particular acts of in- 
 justice which were done by criminals about the 
 city and country, he made a law, no way like 
 our original laws, and which he enacted him- 
 self, to expose housebreakers to be ejected out 
 of his kingdom ; which punishment was not only 
 nevous to be borne by the offenders, but 'con- 
 tained in it a dissolution of the customs of our 
 forefathers ; for this slavery to foreigners, and 
 
 such as did not live after the manner of Jews, 
 and this necessity that they were under to do 
 whatsoever such men should command, was an 
 offence against our religious settlement, rather 
 than a punishment to such as were found to 
 have offended, such a punishment being avoided 
 in our original laws ; for those laws ordain, that 
 the thief shall restore fourfold ; and that if he 
 have not so much, he shall be sold indeed, but 
 not to foreigners, nor so that he be under per- 
 petual slavery, for he must have been released 
 after six years. But this law, thus enacted in 
 order to introduce a severe and illegal punish- 
 ment, seemed to be a piece of insolence of 
 Herod, when he did not act as a king but as 
 a tyrant, and thus contemptuously, and without 
 any regard to his subjects, did he venture to 
 introduce such a punishment. Now this penalty 
 thus brought into practice, waa like Herod's
 
 CHAP. II.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 337 
 
 other actions, and became a part of his accu- 
 sation, and an occasion of the hatred he lay 
 under. 
 
 2. Now at this time it was that he sailed to 
 Italy, as very desirous to meet with Caesar, and 
 to see his sons who lived at Rome : and Caesar 
 was not only very obliging to him in other 
 respects, but delivered him his sons again, that 
 he might take them home with him, as having 
 already completed themselves in the sciences ; 
 but as soon as the young men were come from 
 Italy, the multitude were very desirous to see 
 them, and they became conspicuous among them 
 all, as adorned with great blessings of fortune, 
 and having the countenances of persons of royal 
 dignity. So they soon appeared to be the objects 
 of envy to Salome, the king's sister, and to such 
 as had raised calumnies against Mariamne ; for 
 they were suspicious, that when these came to 
 the government, they should be punished for 
 the wickedness they had been guilty of against 
 their mother; so they made this very fear of 
 theirs a motive to raise calumnies against them 
 also. They gave it out that they were not 
 pleased with their father's company, because he 
 had put their mother to death, as if it were not 
 agreeable to piety to appear to converse with 
 their mothers murderer. Now, by carrying 
 these stories, that had indeed a true foundation, 
 [in the fact,] but were only built on probabilities 
 as to the present accusation, they were able to 
 do them mischief, and to make Herod take away 
 that kindness from his sons which he had before 
 borne to them, for they did not say these things 
 to him openly, but scattered abroad such words 
 among the res*' of the multitude; from which 
 words, when Curried to Herod, he was induced 
 [at last] to hate them, and which natural affec- 
 tion itself, even in length of time, was not able 
 to overcome ; yet was the king at that time in 
 a condition to prefer the natural affection of a 
 father before all the suspicions and calumnies 
 his sons lay under : so he respected them as he 
 ought to do, and married them to wives, now 
 they were of an age suitable thereto. To Aris- 
 tobulus he gave for a wife Bernice, Salome's 
 daughter; and to Alexander, Glaphyru, the 
 daughter of Archelaus, king of Cappadocia, 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 HOW HEROD TWICE SAILED TO AGRIPPA; AND 
 HOW UFON THE COMPLAINT OF THE JEWS IN 
 IONIA AGAINST THE GREEKS, AGRIPPA CON- 
 FIRMED THE LAWS OF THE JEWS TO THEM. 
 
 1. WHEN Herod had despatched these affairs, 
 and he understood that Marcus Agrippa had 
 sailed again out of Italy into Asia, he made 
 haste to him, and besought him to come to him 
 into his kingdom, and to partake of what he 
 might justly expect from one that had been his 
 guest, and was his friend. This request he 
 greatly pressed, and to it Agrippa agreed,_and 
 came into Judea: whereupon Herod omitted 
 nothing that might please him. He entertained 
 him in his new-built cities, and shewed him the 
 edifices he had built, and provided all sorts of 
 the best and most costly dainties for him and 
 his friends, and that at Sebaste and Cesarea, 
 about that port that he had built, and at the 
 fortresses which he had erected at great ex- 
 penses, Alexandrium, and Herodium, and Hyr- 
 cania. He also conducted him to the city Jer- 
 usalem, where all the people met him in their 
 festival garments, and received him with accla- 
 
 mations. Agrippa also offered a hecatomb of 
 sacrifices to God ; and feasted the people, with- 
 out omitting any of the greatest dainties that 
 could be gotten. He also took so much pleasure 
 there, that he abode many days with them, and 
 would willingly have stayed longer, but that the 
 season of the year made him haste away ; for as 
 winter was coming on, he thought it not safe to 
 go to sea later, and yet he was of necessity to 
 return again to Ionia. 
 
 2. So Agrippa went away, when Herod had 
 bestowed on him, and on the principal of those 
 that were with him, many presents ; but king 
 Herod, when he had passed the winter in his 
 own dominions, made haste to get to him again 
 in the spring, when he knew he designed to go 
 to a campaign at the Bosphorus. So when he 
 had sailed by Rhodes and by Cos, he touched at 
 Lesbos, as thinking he should have overtaken 
 Agrippa there ; but he was taken short here by 
 a north wind, which hindered his ship from 
 going to the shore ; so he continued many days 
 at Chius, and there he kindly treated a great 
 many that came to him, and obliged them by 
 giving them royal gifts. And when he saw that 
 the portico of the city was fallen down, which 
 as it was overthrown in the Mithridatic war, 
 and was a very large and fine building, so was it 
 not so easy to rebuild that as it was the rest, 
 yet did he furnish a sum not only large enough 
 for that purpose, but what was more than suffi- 
 cient to finish the building ; and ordered them 
 not to overlook that portico, but to rebuild it 
 quickly, that so the city might recover its proper 
 ornaments. And when the high winds were 
 laid, he sailed to Mitylene, and thence to By- 
 zantium ; and when he heard that Agrippa was 
 sailed beyond the Cyanean rocks, he made all 
 the haste possible to overtake him, and came up 
 with him about Synppe, in Pontus. He was 
 seen sailing by the shipmen most unexpectedly, 
 but appeared to their great joy ; and many 
 friendly salutations there were between them, 
 insomuch that Agrippa thought he had received 
 the greatest marks of the king's kindness and 
 humanity towards him possible, since the king 
 had come so long a voyage, and at a very proper 
 season, for his assistance, and had left the 
 government of his own dominions, and thought 
 it more worth his while to come to him. Ac- 
 cordingly, Herod was all in all to Agrippa, in 
 the management of the war, and a great assist- 
 ant in civil affairs, and in giving him counsel as 
 to particular matters. He was also a pleasant 
 companion for him when he relaxed himself, 
 and a joint partaker with him in all things ; in 
 troubles because of his kindness ; and in pro- 
 sperity, because of the respect Agrippa had for 
 him. Now as soon as those affairs of Pontus 
 were finished, for whose sake Agrippa was sent 
 thither, they did not think fit to return by sea, 
 but passed through Paphlagonia and Cappadocia, 
 they then travelled thence over great Phrygia, 
 and came to Ephesus, and then they sailed from 
 Ephesus to Samos. And indeed the king be- 
 stowed a great many benefits on every city that 
 he came to, according as they stood in need of 
 them; for as for those that wanted either 
 money or kind treatment, he was not wanting 
 to them; but he supplied the former himself 
 out of his own expenses : he also became an in- 
 tercessor with Agrippa for all such as sought 
 after his favour, and he brought things so about, 
 that the petitioners failed in none of their suits 
 to him, Agrippa being himself of a good dis- 
 position, and of great generosity, and ready to 
 grant all such requests as might be adrantageoui 
 to the petitioners, provided they were not to th
 
 338 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWB. 
 
 [BOOK XVL 
 
 detriment of others. The inclination of the 
 long was of great weight also, and still excited 
 Agrippa, who was himself ready to do good ; for 
 he made a reconciliation between the people of 
 Ilium, at whom he was angry, and paid what 
 money the people of Chius owed to Caesar's pro- 
 curators, and discharged them of their tributes ; 
 and helped all others, according as their several 
 necessities required. 
 
 3. But now, when Agrippa and Herod were in 
 Ionia, a great multitude of Jews, who dwelt in 
 their cities, came to them, and laying hold of 
 the opportunity and the liberty now given them, 
 laid before them the injuries which they suf- 
 fered, while they were not permitted to use their 
 own laws, but were compelled to prosecute their 
 law suits, by the ill usage of the judges, upon 
 their holy days, and were deprived of the money 
 they used to lay up at Jerusalem, and were forced 
 into the army, and upon such other offices as 
 obliged them to spend their sacred money ; from 
 which burdens they always used to be freed by 
 the Romans, who had still permitted them to 
 live according to their own laws. When this 
 clamour was made, the king desired of Agrippa 
 that he would hear their cause, and assigned 
 Nicolaus, one of his friends, to plead for those 
 their privileges. Accordingly, when Agrippa 
 had called the principal of the Romans, and such 
 of the kings and rulers as were there, to be his 
 Assessors, Nicolaus stood up, and pleaded for the 
 Jews as follows : " It is of necessity incumbent 
 on such as are in distress to have recourse to 
 those that have it in their power to free them 
 from those injuries they lie under ; and for those 
 that now are complainants, they approach you 
 with great assurance ; for as they have formerly 
 often obtained your favour, so far as they have 
 even wished to have it, they now only entreat 
 that you, who have been the donors, will take 
 care that those favours you have already granted 
 them may not be taken away from them. "We 
 have received these favours from you, who alone 
 have power to grant them, but have them taken 
 from us by such as are no greater than ourselves, 
 and by such as we know are as much subjects 
 as we are j and certainly, if we have been vouch- 
 safed great favours, it is to our commendation 
 who have obtained, them, and having been found 
 deserving of such great favours ; and if those 
 favours be but small ones, it would be barbarous 
 for the donors not to confirm them to us : and 
 for those that are the hindrance of the Jews, 
 and use them reproachfully, it is evident that 
 they affront both the receivers, while they will 
 not allow those to be worthy men to whora their 
 excellent rulers themselves have borne their 
 testimony, and the donors, while they desire 
 those favours already granted may be abrogated. 
 Now if any one should ask these Gentiles them- 
 selves, which of the two things they should 
 choose to part with, their lives, or the customs 
 of their forefathers, their solemnities, their sac- 
 rifices, their festivals, which they celebrate in 
 honour of those they suppose to be gods ; I know 
 very well that they would choose to suffer any- 
 thing whatsoever rather than a dissolution of 
 any of the customs of their forefathers ; for a 
 great many of them have rather chosen to go to 
 war on that account, as very solicitous not to 
 transgress in those matters ; and indeed we take 
 an estimate of that happiness which all mankind 
 do now enjoy by your means from this very 
 thing, that we are allowed every one to worship 
 as our own institutions require, and yet live [in 
 peace;] and although they would not be thus 
 treated themselves, yet do they endeavour to 
 compel others to comply with them, as if it were 
 
 not as great an instance of impiety, profanely to 
 dissolve the religious solemnities of any others, 
 as to be negligent in the observation of their own 
 towards their gods. And let us now consider 
 the one of these practices : Is there any peo- 
 ple, or city, or community of men, to whom 
 your government and the Roman power does not 
 appear to be the greatest blessing? Is there any 
 one that can desire to make void the favours 
 they have granted ? No one is certainly so mad ; 
 for there are no men but such as have been 
 partakers of their favours, both in public and 
 private ; and indeed those that take away what 
 you have granted, can have no assurance, but 
 every one of their own grants made them by you 
 may be taken from them also ; which grants of 
 yours can yet never be sufficiently valued ; for if 
 they consider the old governments under kings, 
 together with your present government, besides 
 the great number of benefits which this govern- 
 ment hath bestowed on them in order to their 
 happiness, that is instead of all the rest, that 
 they appear to be no longer hi a state of slavery, 
 but of freedom. Now the privileges we desire, 
 even when we are in the best circumstances, are 
 not such as deserve to be envied, for we are in- 
 deed in a prosperous state by your means, but 
 this is only in common with others, and it is no 
 more than this which we desire, to preserve our 
 religion without any prohibition, which, as it 
 appears not in itself a privilege to be envied us, 
 so it is for the advantage of those that grant it 
 to us, for if the Divinity delights in being hon- 
 oured, he must delight in those that permit him 
 to be honoured. And there are none of our 
 customs which are inhuman, but all tending to 
 piety, and devoted to the preservation of justice; 
 nor do we conceal those injunctions of ours by 
 which we govern our lives, they being memorials 
 of piety, and of a friendly conversation among 
 men. And the seventh day we set apart from 
 labour; it is dedicated to the learning of our 
 customs and laws,* we thinking it proper to 
 reflect on them, as well as on 'any [good] thing 
 else, in order to our avoiding of sin. If any one 
 therefore examine into our observances, he will 
 find they are good in themselves, and that they 
 are ancient also, though some think otherwise, 
 insomuch that those who have received them 
 cannot easily be brought to depart from them, 
 out of that honour they pay to the length of 
 time they have religiously enjoyed them and ob- 
 served them. Now our adversaries take these 
 our privileges away in the way of injustice ; they 
 violently seize upon that money of ours which is 
 offered to God, and called sacred money, and 
 this openly, after a sacrilegious manner; and 
 they impose tributes upon us, and bring us 
 before tribunals on holy days, and then require 
 other like debts of us, not because the contracts 
 require it, and for their own advantage, but be- 
 cause they would put an affront on our religion, 
 of which they are conscious as well as we, and 
 have indulged themselves in an unjust, and to 
 them involuntary hatred ; for your government 
 over all is one, tending to the establishing of 
 benevolence, and abolishing of ill-will among 
 such as are disposed to it. This is therefore 
 what we implore from thee, most excellent 
 Agrippa, that we may not be ill-treated ; that 
 we may not be abused; that we may not be hin- 
 dered from making use of our own customs, nor 
 be despoiled of our goods; nor be forced by these 
 
 * Observe here the ancient practice of the Jews, of 
 dedicating the Sabbath-day, not to idleness, but to tha 
 learning their sacred rites and religious customs, and 
 to the meditation on the law of Moses.
 
 CEAF. III.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF TRE .TBWS. 
 
 
 men to do what we ourselves force nobody to do : 
 for these privileges of ours are not only according 
 to justice, but have formerly been granted us by 
 you: and we are able to read to you many 
 decrees of the senate, and the tables that contain 
 them, which are still extant in the capitol con- 
 cerning these things, which it is evident were 
 granted after you had experience of our fidelity 
 towards you, which ought to be valued, though 
 no such fidelity had been, for you have hitherto 
 preserved what people were in possession of, not 
 to us only, but almost to all men, and have 
 added greater advantages than they could have 
 hoped for, and thereby your government is be- 
 come a great advantage to them A nd if any one 
 were able to enumerate the prosperity you have 
 conferred on every nation, which they possess by 
 your means, he could never put an end to his 
 discourse ; but that we may demonstrate that we 
 are not unworthy of all those advantages we 
 have obtained, it will be sufficient for us to say 
 nothing of other things, but to speak freely of 
 this king who now governs us, and is now one of 
 thy assessors : and indeed in what instance of 
 good-will, as to your house, hath he been de- 
 ficient? What mark of fidelity to it hath he 
 omitted? What token of honour hath he not 
 devised? What occasion for his assistance of 
 you hath he not regarded at .the very first? 
 What hindereth, therefore, but that your kind- 
 ness may be as numerous as his so great benefits 
 to you have been ? It may also perhaps be fit 
 not here to pass over in silence the valour of his 
 father Antipater, who, when Caesar made an 
 expedition into Egypt, assisted him with two 
 thousand armed men, and proved inferior to 
 none, neither in the battles on land, nor in the 
 management of the navy ; and what need I say 
 anything of how great weight those soldiers 
 were at that juncture ? or how many, and how 
 great presents they were vouchsafed by Caesar ? 
 And truly I ought before now to have mentioned 
 the epistle which Caesar wrote to the senate ; 
 and how Antipater had honours, and the freedom 
 of the city of Rome, bestowed upon him ; for 
 these are demonstrations both that we have 
 received these favours by our own deserts, and 
 do on that account petition thee for thy confir- 
 mation of them, from whom we had reason to 
 hope for them, though they had not been given 
 us before, both out of regard to our king's dis- 
 position towards you, and your disposition to- 
 wards him ; and further, we have been informed 
 by those Jews that were there, with what kind- 
 ness thou earnest into our country, and how thou 
 offeredst the most perfect sacrifices to God, and 
 honouredst him with remarkable vows, and how 
 thou gavest the people a feast, and acceptedst 
 of their own hospitable presents to thee. We 
 ought to esteem all these kind entertainments 
 made by both our nation and our city, to a man 
 who is the ruler and manager of so much of the 
 public affairs, as indications of that friendship 
 which thou hast returned to the Jewish nation, 
 and which had been procured them by the family 
 of Herod, So we put thee in mind of these 
 things before the king, now sitting by thee, and 
 make our request for no more but this, that what 
 you have given us yourselves, you will not see 
 taken away by others from us." 
 
 4. When Nicolaus had made this speech, there 
 was no opposition made to it by the Greeks, for 
 this was not an inquiry made, as in a court of jus- 
 tice, but an intercession to prevent violence to 
 be offered to the Jews any longer ; nor did the 
 Greeks make any defence of themselves, or deny 
 what it was supposed they had done. Their pre- 
 tence was no more than this, that while the Jews 
 
 inhabited in their country, they were entirely 
 unjust to them [in not joining in their worship] 
 but they demonstrated their generosity in this, 
 that though they worshipped according to their 
 own institutions, thev did nothing that ought tu 
 grieve them, ^o when Agnppa perceived tbit 
 they had been oppressed by violence, he made 
 this answer : That, on account of Herod's good- 
 will and friendship, he was ready to grant the 
 Jews whatsoever they should ask him, and that 
 their requests seemed to him in themselves just ; 
 and that if they requested anything further, he 
 should not scruple to grant it them, provided 
 they were no way to the detriment of the Roman 
 government ; but that, while their request was 
 no more than this, that what privileges they had 
 already given them might not be abrogated, he 
 confirmed this to them, that they might continue 
 in the observation of their own customs, without 
 any one offering them the least injury ; and when 
 he had said thus, he dissolved the assembly : 
 upon which Herod stood up and saluted him, 
 and gave him thanks for the kind disposition he 
 shewed to them. Agrippa also took this in a 
 very obliging manner, and saluted him again, and 
 embraced him in his arms ; after which he went 
 away from Lesbos ; but the king determined to 
 sail from Samos to his own country ; and when 
 he had taken his leave of Agrippa, he pursued 
 his voyage, and landed at Cesarea in a few days' 
 time, as having favourable winds ; from whence 
 he went to Jerusalem, and there gathered all the 
 people together to an assembly, not a few being 
 there out of the country also. So when he came 
 to them, he gave them a particular account of 
 all his journey, and of the affairs of all the Jews 
 in Asia, how by his means they would live 
 without injurious treatment for the time to 
 come. He also told them of the entire good for- 
 tune he had met with, and how he had adminis- 
 tered the government, and had not neglected 
 anything which was for their advantage ; and as 
 he was very joyful, he now remitted to them 
 the fourth part of their taxes for the last year. 
 Accordingly, they were so pleased with his fa- 
 vour and speech to them, that they went their 
 ways with great gladness, and wished the king 
 all manner of happiness. 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 HOW GfcfiAT DISTURBANCES AROSE IK HEROD'S FA- 
 MILT ON HIS PREFERRING ANTIPATER, HIS ELD- 
 EST 40N, BEFORE THE REST, TILL ALEXANDER 
 TOOK THAT INJURY VERT HEINOUSLY. 
 
 L Bur now the affairs in Herod's family were 
 in more and more disorder, and became more se- 
 vere upon him, by the hatred of Salome to the 
 young men [Alexander and Aristobulus,] which 
 descended as it were by inheritance [from their 
 mother Mariamne :] and as she had fully suc- 
 ceeded against their mother, so she proceeded to 
 that degree of madness and insolence, as to en- 
 deavour tha*t none of her posterity might be left 
 alive, who might have it in their power to re- 
 venge her death. The young men had also some- 
 what of a bold and uneasy disposition towards 
 their father, occasioned by the remembrance of 
 what their mother had unjustly suffered, and by 
 their own affectation of dominion. The old 
 grudge was' also renewed ; and they cast re- 
 proaches on Salome and Pheroras, who requited 
 the young men with malicious designs, and actu- 
 ally Laid treacherous snares for them. Now, as 
 for this hatred, it was equal on both sides, bu<
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK XVI. 
 
 th manner of exerting that hatred was different ; 
 for as for the young men, they were rash, re- 
 proaching and affronting the others openly, and 
 were inexperienced enough to think it the most 
 generous to declare their minds in that undaunted 
 manner : but the others did not take that me- 
 thod, but made use of calumnies after a subtle 
 and spiteful manner, still provoking the young 
 men, and imagining that their boldness might in 
 time turn to the offering violence to their father, 
 for inasmuch as they were not ashamed of the 
 pretended crime of their mother, nor thought 
 she suffered justly, these supposed that might 
 at length exceed all bounds* and induce them to 
 think they ought to be avenged on their father, 
 though it were by despatching him with their 
 own hands. At length it came to this, that the 
 whole city *ras full of their discourses, as is 
 usual in such contests, the unskilfulness of the 
 young men was pitied; but the contrivance of 
 Salome was too hard for them, and what impu- 
 tations she laid upon them came to be believed, 
 bjr means of their own conduct ; for they were 
 30 deeply affected with the death of their mo- 
 ther, that while they said both she and them- 
 selves were in a miserable case, they vehemently 
 complained of her pitiable end, which indeed 
 was truly such, and said that they were them- 
 selves in a pitiable case also, because they were 
 forced to live with those that had been her mur- 
 derers, and to be partakers with them. 
 
 2. These disorders increased greatly, and the 
 icing's absence abroad had afforded a fit opportu- 
 nity for that increase ; but as soon as Herod was 
 returned, and had made the forementioned speed 1 , 
 to the multitude, Pheroras and Salome let fall 
 words immediately as if he were in great danger, 
 and as if the young men openly threatened that 
 they would not spare him any longer, but re- 
 venge their mother's death upon him. They also 
 added another circumstance, that their hopes 
 were fixed on Archelaus, the king of Cappa- 
 docia, that they should be able by his means to 
 come to Caesar, and accuse their father. Upon 
 hearing such things, Herod was immediately 
 disturbed ; and indeed was the more astonished 
 because the same things were related to him by 
 some others also. He then called to mind his 
 former calamity, and considered that the disor- 
 ders in his family had hindered him from enjoy- 
 ing any comfort from those that were dear- 
 est to him, or from his wife whom he loved so 
 well ; and suspecting that his future troubles 
 would soon be heavier and greater than those 
 that were past, he was in great confusion of 
 mind, for Divine Providence had in reality con- 
 ferred upon him a great many outward advan- 
 tages for his happiness, even beyond his hopes, 
 but the troubles he had at home were such as he 
 never expected to have met with, and rendered 
 him unfortunate ; nay, both sorts came upon 
 him to such a degree as no one could imagine, 
 and made it a doubtful question, whether, upon 
 the comparison of both, he ought to have ex- 
 changed so great a success of outward good things 
 for so great misfortunes at home, or whether he 
 ought not to have chosen to avoid the calamities 
 relating to his family, though he had, for a com- 
 pensation, never been possessed of the admired 
 grandeur of a kingdom. 
 
 3. As he was thus disturbed and afflicted, in 
 order to depress these young men, he brought to 
 court another of his sons, that was born to him 
 when he was a piivate man ; his name was Anti- 
 pater : yet did he not then indulge him as he did 
 afterwards, when he was quite overcome by him, 
 and let him do everything as he pleased, but 
 Bather with a design of depressing the insolence 
 
 of the sons of Mariamne, and managing this ele- 
 vation of his son, that it might be for a warning 
 to them ; for this bold behaviour of theirs [he 
 thought] would not be so great, if they were 
 once persuaded that the succession to the king- 
 dom did not appertain to them alone, or must 
 of necessity come to them. So he introduced 
 Antipater as their antagonist, and imagined 
 that he made a good provision for discouraging 
 their pride, and that after this was done to the 
 young men, there might be a proper season for 
 expecting these to be of a better disposition : but 
 the event proved otherwise than he intended, 
 for the young men thought he did them a very 
 great injury ; and as Antipater was a shrewd 
 man, when he had once obtained this degree of 
 freedom, and began to expect greater things than 
 he had before hoped for, he had but one single 
 design in his head, and that was to distress his 
 brethren, and not at all to yield to them the pre- 
 eminence, but to keep close to his father, who 
 was already alienated from them by the calum- 
 nies he heard about them, and ready to be 
 brought upon in any way his zeal against them 
 should advise him to pursue, that he might be 
 continually more and more severe against him. 
 Accordingly, all the reports that were spread 
 abroad came from him, while he avoided himself 
 the suspicion, as if those discoveries proceeded 
 from him ; but he rather chose to make use of 
 those persons for his assistants that were unsus- 
 pected, and such as might be believed to speak 
 truth by reason of the good-will they bore to 
 the king ; and indeed there were already not a 
 few who cultivated their friendship with Anti- 
 pater, in hopes of gaining somewhat by him, and 
 these were the men who most of all persuaded 
 Herod, because they appeared to speak thus out 
 of their good-will to him : and while these joint 
 accusations, which, from various foundations, 
 supported one another's veracity, the young 
 men themselves afforded further occasions to 
 Antipater also ; for they were observed to shed 
 tears often, on account of the injury that wa. 
 offered them, and had their mother in their 
 mouths ; and among their friends they ven- 
 tured to reproach their father, as not acting 
 justly by them ; all which things were with an 
 evil intention reserved in memory by Antipater 
 against a proper opportunity ; and when they 
 were told to Herod, with aggravations, increased 
 the disorder so much, that it brought a great tu- 
 mult into the family ; for while the king was 
 very angry at imputations that were laid upon 
 the sons of Mariamne, and was desirous to hum- 
 ble them, he still increased the honour that he 
 had bestowed on Antipater, and was at last so 
 overcome by his persuasions, that he brought 
 his mother to court also. He also wrote fre- 
 quently to Caesar in favo_ur of him, and more 
 earnestly recommending him to his care particu- 
 larly. And when Agrippa was returned to Rome, 
 aftej- be had finished his ten years' government 
 it Ask, Herod sailed from Judea ; and when he 
 met with him, he had none with him but Anti- 
 pater, whom he delivered to Agrippa, that he 
 might take him along with him, together with 
 many presents, that so he might become Caesar'a 
 friend, insomuch that things already looked as if 
 he had all his father's favour, and that the young 
 men were already entirely rejected from any 
 hopes of the kingdom.
 
 CHAP. IV.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 341 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HOW, DURING ANTIPATER'S ABODE AT SOME, 
 HEKOD BROUGHT ALEXANDER AND ARISTO- 
 BULUS BEFORE C-ESAR, AND ACCUSED THEM. 
 ALEXANDER'S DEFENCE OF HIMSELF BEFORE 
 C^SAR, AND RECONCILIATION TO HIS FATHER. 
 
 1. AND now what happened during Antipater's 
 absence augmented the honour to which he had 
 been promoted, and his apparent eminence above 
 his brethren, for he made a great figure at Rome, 
 because Herod had sent recommendations of 
 him to all his friends there ; only he was grieved 
 that he was not at home, nor had proper oppor- 
 tunities of perpetually calumniating his breth- 
 ren; and his chief fear was, lest his father should 
 alter his mind, and entertain a more favourable 
 opinion of the sons of Mariamne ; and as he had 
 this in his mind, he did not desist from his pur- 
 pose, but continually sent from Rome any such 
 stories as he hoped might grieve and irritate his 
 father against his brethren, under pretence in- 
 deed of a deep concern for his preservation, but 
 in truth, such as his malicious mind dictated, in 
 order to purchase a greater hope of the succession, 
 which yet was already great in itself : and thus 
 he did till he had excited such a degree of anger 
 in Herod, that he was already become very ill 
 disposed towards the young men ; but still while 
 he delayed to exercise so violent a disgust against 
 them, and that he might not either be too remiss 
 or too rash, and so offend, he thought it best to 
 sail to Rome, and there accuse his sons before 
 Caesar, and not indulge himself in any such crime 
 as might be heinous enough to be suspected of 
 impiety. But aa he was going up to Rome, it 
 happened that he made such haste as to meet 
 with Caesar at the city Aquilei:* so when he 
 came to the speech of Caesar, he asked for a time 
 for hearing this great cause, wherein he thought 
 himself very miserable, and presented his sons 
 there, and accused them of their mad actions, 
 and of their attempts against him : That they 
 were enemies to him ; and by all the means they 
 were able, did their endeavours to shew their 
 hatred to their own father, and would take away 
 his life, and so obtain his kingdom, after the 
 most barbarous manner: that he had power 
 from Caesar to dispose of it, not by necessity, 
 but by choice, to him who shall exercise the 
 greatest piety towards him; while these my 
 sons are not so desirous of ruling, as they are 
 upon a disappointment thereof, to expose their 
 own life, if so be they may but deprive their 
 father of his life ; so wild and polluted is their 
 mind by time become, out of their hatred to 
 him : that whereas he had a long time borne this 
 his misfortune, he was now compelled to lay it 
 before Caesar, and to pollute his ears with such 
 language, while he himself wants to know what 
 severity they have ever suffered from him, or 
 what hardships he had ever laid upon them to 
 make them complain of him ; and how they can 
 think it just that he should not be lord of that 
 kingdom which he in a long time, and with great 
 danger, had gained, and not allow him to keep 
 it, and dispose of it to him who should deserve 
 best; and this, with other advantages, he pro- 
 poses as a reward for the piety of such a one as 
 will hereafter imitate the care he hath taken of 
 it, and that such a one may gain so great a re- 
 quital as that is : and that it is an impious thing 
 
 * Although Herod met Augustus at Aquilei, yet was 
 Ihis accusation of his SOD* deferred till they came to 
 Oome- 
 
 for them to pretend to meddle with it before- 
 hand, for he who hath ever the kingdom in his 
 view, at the same time reckons upon procuring 
 the death of his father, because otherwise he 
 cannot come at the government; that as for 
 himself, he had hitherto given them all that he 
 was able, and what was agreeable to such aa are 
 subject to the royal authority, and the sons of a 
 king: what ornaments they wanted, with ser- 
 vants and delicate fare, and had married them 
 into the most illustrious families, the one [Aris- 
 tobulus] to his sister's daughter, but Alexander 
 to the daughter of king Archelaus; and, what 
 was the greatest favour of all, when their crimes 
 were so very bad, and he had authority to punish 
 them, yet had he not made use of it against 
 them, but had brought them before Caesar, their 
 common benefactor, and had not used the sever- 
 ity which either as a father who had been im- 
 piously abused, or as a king who had been as- 
 saulted treacherously, he might have done, but 
 made them stand upon the level with him in 
 judgment : that, however, it was necessary that 
 all this should not be passed over without pun- 
 ishment, nor himself live in the greatest fears ; 
 nay, that it was not for their own advantage to 
 aee the light of the sun after what they had 
 done, although they should escape at this time, 
 since they had done the vilest things, and would 
 certainly suffer the greatest punishments that 
 ever were known among mankind. 
 
 2. These were the accusations which Herod 
 iaid with great vehemency against his sons before 
 Cresar. Now the young men, both while he was 
 speaking, and chiefly at his concluding, wept, 
 and were in confusion. Now as to themselvea, 
 they knew in their own conscience they were 
 innocent, but because they were accused by their 
 father, they were sensible, as the truth was, that 
 it was hard for them to make their apology, 
 since though they were at liberty to speak their 
 minds freely as the occasion required, and might 
 with force and earnestness refute the accusation, 
 yet was it not now decent so to do. There was 
 therefore a difficulty how they should be able to 
 speak; and tears, and at length a deep groat 
 followed, while they were afraid, that if they 
 said nothing, they should seem to be in this diffi- 
 culty from a consciousness of guilt, nor had 
 they any defence ready, by reason of their 
 youth, and the disorder they were under; yet 
 was not Caesar unapprised, when he looked upon 
 them in the confusion they were in, that their 
 delay to make their defence did not arise from 
 any consciousness of great enormities, but from 
 their unskilfulness and modesty. They were 
 also commiserated by those that were there in 
 particular ; and they noved their father's affec- 
 tions in earnest, till i a had much ado to conceal 
 them. 
 
 3. Bat when they saw there was a kind disposi- 
 tion arisen both in him and in Caesar, and that 
 every one of the rest did either shed tears, or at 
 least did all grieve with them, the one of 
 them, whose name was Alexander, called to hia 
 father, and attempting to answer his accusation, 
 said, "O father, the benevolence thou haat 
 shewed to us is evident, even in this very judi- 
 cial procedure, for hadst thou any pernicious in- 
 tentions about us, thou hadst not produced us 
 here before the common saviour of all, for it was 
 in thy power, both as a king and as a father, to 
 punish the guilty; but by thus bringing us to 
 Rome, and making Caesar himself a witnesa to 
 what is done, thou intimatest that thou intend- 
 est to save us ; for no one that hath a design to 
 slay a man will bring him to the temples, and to 
 the altars; yet are our circuit .stances still wore
 
 342 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK XVI. 
 
 for we cannot endure to live ourselves any longer, 
 if it be believed that we have injured such a 
 father; nay, perhaps it would be worse for us to 
 live with this suspicion upon us, that we have 
 injured him., than to die without such guilt: and 
 if our open defence may be taken to be true, we 
 shall be happy, both in pacifying thee, and in 
 escaping the danger we are in ; but if this cal- 
 umny so prevails, it is more than enough for us 
 that we have seen the sun this day ; which why 
 should we see, if this suspicion be fixed upon us ? 
 Now it is easy to say of young men, that they 
 desired to reign : and to say further, that this 
 evil proceeds from the case of our unhappy 
 mother. This is abundantly sufficient to pro- 
 duce our present misfortune out of the former ; 
 but consider well, whether such an accusation 
 does not suit all such young men, an(? may not 
 be said of them all promiscuously ; for nothing 
 can hinder him that reigns, if he have children. 
 and their mother be dead, but the father niay 
 have a suspicion upon all his sons, as intending 
 some treachery to him : but a suspicion is not 
 sufficient to prove such an impious practice. 
 Now let any man say, whether we have actually 
 and insolently attempted any such thing, where- 
 by actions otherwise incredible used to be made 
 credible ? Can anybody prove that poison hath 
 been prepared? or prove a conspiracy of our 
 equals, or the corruption of servants, or letters 
 written against thee? though indeed there are 
 none of those things but have sometimes been 
 pretended by way of cs.lumny, when they were 
 never done ; for a royal family that is at vari- 
 ance with itself is a terrible thing; and that 
 which thou callest a reward of piety, often be- 
 epmes, among very wicked men, such a founda- 
 tion of hope, as makes them leave no sort of 
 mischief untried. Nor does any one lay any 
 wicked practices to our charge ; but as to cal- 
 umnies by hearsay, how can we put an end to 
 them, who will not hear what we have to say ? 
 Have we talked with too great freedom ? yes ; 
 but not against thee, for that would be unjust, 
 but against those that aever conceal anything 
 that is spoken to tlis^i. Hath either of us la- 
 mented our mother? yes; but not because she is 
 dead, but because she was evil spoken of by 
 those that had no reason so to do. Are we de- 
 sirous of that dominion which we know our 
 father is possessed of ? "For what reason can we 
 do so ? If we already have royal honours, M we 
 have, should not we labour in vain ? And if we 
 have them not, yet are not we in hopes of them ? 
 Or supposing that we had killed thee, could we 
 expect to obtain thy kingdom ? while neither the 
 earth would let us tread upon it, nor the sea let 
 us sail upon it, after sucl uu action as that: nay, 
 the religion of all your subjects, and the piety of 
 the whole nation, would have prohibited parri- 
 cides from assuming the government, and from 
 entering into that most holy temple which was 
 built by thee.* But suppose we had made light 
 of other dangers, can any murderer go off un- 
 punished while Caesar is alive? We are thy 
 
 * Since some men have indulged a suspicion that 
 Josephus's history of Herod's rebuilding the temple is 
 no better than a fable, it may not be amiss to take 
 notice of this clause in the speech of Alexander before 
 his father Herod, in his and his brother's vindication, 
 which mentions the temple as known by every body to 
 have been built by Herod. See John ii. 20. See also 
 another speech of Uerod's own to the young men that 
 pulled down his golden eagle from the front of the tem- 
 ple, where he takes notice how the building of the tem- 
 ple cost him a vast sum ; and that the Asamoneans, in 
 those one hundred and twenty-five years they held the 
 government, were not able to perform so great a work 
 o the honour of God as this was. 
 
 sons, and not so impious, or to thoughtless as 
 that comes to, though perhaps more unfortunate 
 than is convenient for thee. But in case thou 
 neither findest any causes of complaint, nor any 
 treacherous designs, what sufficient evidence hast 
 thou to make such a wickedness of ours credible! 
 Our mother is dead indeed, but then what befell 
 her might be an instruction to us to caution, and 
 not an incitement to wickedness. We are will- 
 ing to make a larger apology for ourselves ; but 
 ^actions never done do not admit of discourse : 
 nay, we will make this agreement with thee, 
 and that before Caesar, the lord of all, who is 
 now a mediator between us, if thou, O father, 
 canst bring thyself by the evidence of truth, to 
 have a mind free from suspicion concerning us, 
 let us live, though even then we shall live in an 
 unhappy way, for to be accused of great acts of 
 wickedness, though falsely, is a terrible thing; 
 but if thou hast any fear remaining, continue 
 thou on in thy pious life, we will give this reason 
 for our own conduct ; our life is not so desirable 
 to us as to desire to have it, if it tend to the 
 harm of our father who gave it us." 
 
 4. When Alexander had thus spoken, Caesar, 
 who did not before believe so gross a calumny, 
 was still more moved by it, and looked intently 
 upon Herod, and perceived he was a little con- 
 founded : the persons there present were under 
 an anxiety about the young men, and the fame 
 that was abroad made the king hated, for the 
 very incredibility of the calumny, and the com- 
 miseration of the flower of youth, the beauty of 
 body, which were in the young men, pleaded 
 strongly for assistance, and the more so on this 
 account, that Alexander had made their defence 
 with great dexterity and prudence ; nay, they 
 did not themselves any longer continue in their 
 former countenances, which had been bedewed 
 with tears, and cast downwards to the ground, 
 but now there arose in them hopes of the best : 
 and the king himself appeared not to have had 
 foundation enough to build such an accusation 
 upon, he having no real evidence wherewith to 
 convict them. Indeed he wanted some apology 
 for making the accusation; but Csesar, after 
 some delay, said, that although the young men 
 were thoroughly innocent of that for which they 
 were calumniated, yet had they been so far to 
 blame, that they had not demeaned themselves 
 towards their father so as to prevent that sus- 
 picion which was spread abroad concerning them. 
 He also exhorted Herod to lay all such suspicions 
 aside, and to be reconciled to his sons ; for that 
 it was not just to give credit to any such reports 
 concerning his own children ; and that this re- 
 pentance on both sides might heal those breached 
 that had happened between them, and might 
 improve that their good-will to one another, 
 whereby those on both sides, excusing the rash- 
 ness of their suspicions, might resolve to bear a 
 greater degree of affection towards each other 
 than they had before. After Caesar had given 
 them this admonition, he beckoned to the young 
 men. When, therefore, they were disposed to 
 fall down to make intercession to their father, he 
 took them up, and embraced them, as they were 
 in tears, and took each of them distinctly in his 
 arms, till not one of those that were present, 
 whether freeman or slave, but was deeply af 
 fected with what they saw. 
 
 5. Then did they return thanks to Caesar, and 
 went away together; and with them went Anti- 
 pater, with a hypocritical pretence that he re- 
 joiced at this reconciliation. And in the last 
 days they were with Caesar, Herod made him a 
 present of three hundred talents, as he was then 
 exhibiting shows and largesses to the people o/
 
 CHAP. V.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES UF THE JEWS. 
 
 343 
 
 Rome ; and Caesar made him a present of 'half 
 the revenue of the copper mines* in Cyprus, and 
 committed the care of the other half to him, and 
 honoured him with other gifts and incomes : and 
 as to his own kingdom, he left it in his power to 
 appoint which of his sons he pleased for his suc- 
 cessor, or to distribute it in parts to every cue, 
 that the dignity might thereby come to them 
 all ; and when Herod was disposed to make such 
 a settlement immediately, Caesar said he would 
 not give him leave to deprive himself, while he 
 was alive, of the power over his kingdom, or 
 over his sons. 
 
 6. After this, Herod returned to Judea again ; 
 but during his absence, no small part of his domi- 
 nions about Trachon had revolted, whom yet the 
 commanders he left there had vanquished, and 
 compelled to a submission again. Now, as Herod 
 was sailing with his sons, and was come over 
 against Cilicia, to [tho island] Eleusa, which hath 
 now changed its namo for Sebaste, he met with 
 Archelaus, king of Oappadocia, who received 
 him kindly, as rejoicing that he was reconciled 
 to his sons, and that the accusation against 
 Alexander who had married his daughter, was at 
 an end. They also made one another such pre- 
 sents as it became kings to make. From thence 
 Herod came to Judea and to the temple, where 
 he made a speech to the people concerning what 
 had been done in this his journey : he also dis- 
 coursed to them about Caesar's kindness to him, 
 and about as many of the particulars he had 
 done as he thought it for his advantage other 
 people should be acquainted with. At last he 
 turned his speech to the admonition of his sons ; 
 and exhorted those that lived at court, and the 
 multitude, to concord ; and informed them that 
 his sons were to reign after him; Antipater 
 first, and then Alexander and Axistobulus, the 
 sous of Mariamne ; but he desired that at pre- 
 sent they should all have regard to himself, and 
 esteem him king and lord of all, since he was not 
 yet hindered by old age, but was in that period 
 of life when he must be the most skilful in 
 governing; and that he was not deficient in 
 other arts of management that might enable 
 him to govern the kingdom well, and to rule 
 over his children also. He further told the 
 rulers under him, and the soldiery, that in case 
 they would look upon him alone, their life would 
 bo led in a peaceable manner, and they would 
 make one another happy ; and when he had said 
 this, he dismissed the assembly. Which speech 
 was acceptable V> the greatest part of the 
 audience, but not so to them all; for the con- 
 tention among his sons, and the hopes he had 
 given them, occasioned thought; and desires of 
 innovation* among them. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 HOW HEROD CELEBRATED THB GA3ES THAT 
 WERE TO RETURN EVERY FIFTH Y3AB, UPON 
 THB BUILDING OF OESAREA ; AND HOW HE 
 BUILT AND ADORNED MANY OTHER PLACES 
 AFTER A MAGNIFICENT MANNER ; AND DID 
 MANY OTHER ACTIONS GLORIOUSLY. 
 
 1 ABOUT this time it was that Cesarea Se- 
 baste, which he had built, was finished. The 
 entire building being accomplished in the tenth 
 year, the solemnity of it fell into the twenty- 
 eighth year of Herod's reign, and into the hun- 
 dred and ninety-second olympiad ; there was ac- 
 cordingly a great festival, and most sumptuous 
 preparations made presently, in order to its de- 
 dication ; for he had appointed a contention in 
 
 music, and games to be performed naked ; he 
 Lad also gotten ready a great number of those 
 that fight single combats, and of beasts for the 
 like purpose; horse races also, and the most 
 chargeable of such sports and shows as used to 
 be exhibited at Eome, and in other places. He 
 consecrated this combat to Caesar, and ordered 
 it to be celebrated every fifth year. He also 
 sent all sorts of ornaments for it out of his own 
 furniture, that it might want nothing to make 
 it decent ; nay, Julia, Caesar's wife, sent a great 
 part of her most valuable furniture [from Rome,] 
 insomuch that he had no want of anything ; the 
 sum of them all was estimated at five hundred 
 talents. Now when a great multitude was come 
 to that city to see the shows, as well as the am- 
 bassadors whom other people sent, on account 
 of the benefits they had received [from Herod,] 
 he entertained them all in the public inns, and 
 at public tables, and with perpetual feasts ; this 
 solemnity having in the daytime the diversions 
 of fights, and in the night-time such merry 
 meetings as cost vast sums of money, and pub- 
 licly demonstrated the generosity of his soul; 
 for iii all his undertakings he was ambitious to 
 exhibit what exceeded whatsoever had been 
 done before of the same kind ; and it is related 
 that Caesar and Agrippa often said, that the domi- 
 nions of Herod were too little for the greatness 
 of his soul ; for that he deserved to have both 
 all the kingdom of Syria, and that of Egypt also. 
 
 2. After this solemnity and these festivals 
 were over, Herod erected another city in the 
 plain called Capharsaba, where he chose out a 
 fit place, both for plenty of water and goodness 
 of soil, and proper for the production of what 
 was there planted, where a river encompassed 
 the city itself, and a grove of the best trees foi 
 magnitude was round about it : this he named 
 Antipatris, from his father Antipater. He also 
 built upon another spot of ground above Jericho, 
 of the same name with his mother, a place of 
 great security, and very pleasant for habitation, 
 and called it Cyprus. He also dedicated the 
 finest monuments to his brother Phasaelus, on 
 account of the great natural affection there had 
 been between them, by erecting a tower in the 
 city itself, not less than the tower of Pharos, 
 which he named Phasaelus, which was at once 
 a part of the strong defences of the city, and a 
 memorial for him that was deceased, because it 
 bare his name. He also built a city of the same 
 name in the valley of Jericho, as you go from it 
 northward, whereby he rendered the neighbour- 
 ing country more fruitful, by the cultivation its 
 inhabitants introduced, and this also b.e called 
 Phasaelus. 
 
 3. But as for his other benefits, it is impossible 
 to reckon them up, those which he bestowed on 
 cities, both in Syria and in Greece, and hi all 
 the places he came to in his voyages; for he 
 seems to have conferred, and that after a most 
 plentiful manner, what would minister to many 
 necessities, and the building of public works, 
 and gave them the money that was necessary to 
 such works as wanted it, to support them upon 
 the failure of their other revenues; but what 
 was the greatest and most illustrious of all his 
 works, he erected Apollo's temple at Rhodes, at 
 his own expense, and gave them a great num- 
 ber of talents of silver for the repair of their 
 fleet. He also built the greatest part of the 
 public edifices for the inhabitants of Nicopolis, 
 at Actium ; * and for the Antiochians, the in- 
 
 * Suetonius says concerning this Nicopolis, when 
 Augustus rebuilt it : " And that the memory of the 
 victory at Actium might be celebrated the more after
 
 344 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xvi 
 
 habitants of the principal city of Syria, where a 
 broad street cuts through the place lengthways, 
 be built cloisters along it on both sides, and laid 
 the open road with polished etone, which was of 
 very great advantage to the inhabitants ; and as 
 to the Olympic games, which were in a very lovr 
 condition, by reason of the failure of their re- 
 venues, he recovered their reputation, and ap- 
 pointed revenues for their maintenance, and 
 made that solemn meeting more venarable, as 
 to the sacrifices and other ornaments ; and by 
 reason of this vast liberality, he was generally 
 declared in their inscriptions to be one of the 
 perpetual managers of those games. 
 
 4. Now some there are who stand amazed at 
 the diversity of Herod's nature and purposes ; 
 for when we have respect to his magnificence, 
 and the benefits which he bestowed on all man- 
 kind, there is no possibility for even those that 
 had the least respect for him to deny, or not 
 openly to confess, that he had a nature vastly 
 beneficent ; but when any one looks upon the 
 punishments he inflicted, and the injuries he 
 did, not only to his subjects, but to his nearest 
 relations, and takes notice of his severe and un- 
 relenting disposition there, he will be forced to 
 allow that he was brutish, and a stranger to all 
 humanity ; insomuch that these men suppose his 
 nature to be different, and sometimes at contra- 
 diction with itself ; but I am myself of another 
 opinion, and imagine that the occasion of both 
 these sorts of actions was one and the same ; for 
 being a man ambitious of honour, and quite 
 overcome by that passion, he was induced to be 
 magnificent wherever there appeared any hopes 
 of future memorial, or of reputation at present ; 
 and as his expenses were beyond his abilities, he 
 was necessitated to be harsh with his subjects ; 
 for the persons on whom he expended his money 
 were so many, that they made him a very bad 
 procurer of it ; and because he was conscious that 
 he was hated by those under him, for the in- 
 juries he did them, he thought it not an easy 
 thing to amend his offences, for that was incon- 
 venient for his revenue ; he therefore strove on 
 the other side to make their ill-will an occasion 
 of his gains. As to his own court, therefore, if 
 any one was not very obsequious to him in his 
 language, and would not confess himself to be 
 his slave, or but seeming to think of any inno- 
 vation in his government, he was not able to 
 contain himself, but prosecuted his very kindred 
 and friends, and punished them as if they were 
 enemies ; and this wickedness he undertook out 
 of a desire that he might be himself alone hon- 
 oured. Now for this my assertion about that pas- 
 sion of his, we have the greatest evidence, by 
 what he did to honour Caesar and Agrippa, and 
 his other friends ; for with what honours he paid 
 his respects to them who were his superiors, the 
 same did he desire to be paid to himself; and 
 what he thought the most excellent present he 
 could make another, he discovered an inclina- 
 tion to have the like presented to himself ; but 
 now the Jewish nation is by their law a stranger 
 to all such things, and accustomed to prefer 
 righteousness to glory; for which reason that 
 nation was not agreeable to him, because it was 
 out of their power to flatter the king's ambition 
 with statues or temples, or any other such per- 
 formances ; and this seems to me to have been 
 at once the occasion of Herod's crimes as to his 
 own courtiers and counsellors, and of his bene- 
 factions as to foreigners and those that had no 
 relation to him. 
 
 wart, he built Nicopolig at Actium, and appointed 
 public ihows to be there exhibited every fifth year." 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 AN EMBASSAGE OF THE JEWS IN CYRENK AND 
 ASIA TO CLESAR, CONCERNING THE COMPLAINTS 
 THEY HAD TO MAKE AGAINST THE GREEKS ; 
 WITH COPIES OF THE EPISTLES WHICH C^SAB 
 AND AGRIPPA WROTE TO THE CITIES FOB THEM. 
 
 1. Now the cities ill-treated the Jews in Asia, 
 and all those also of the same nation which lived 
 at Libya, which joins to Cyrene, while the for- 
 mer kings had given them equal privileges with 
 the other citizens; but the Greeks affronted 
 them at this time, and that so far as to make 
 away their sacred money, and to do them mis- 
 chief on other particular occasions. When, there- 
 fore, they were thus afflicted, and found no end 
 of the barbarous treatment they met with among 
 the Greeks, they sent ambassadors to Caesar on 
 those accounts ; who gave them the same privi- 
 leges as they had before, and sent letters to the 
 same purpose to the governors of the provinces, 
 copies of which I subjoin here, as testimonials of 
 the ancient favourable disposition the Roman 
 emperors had towards us. 
 
 2. "Caesar Augustus, high priest and tribune 
 of the people, ordains thus : Since the nation 
 of the Jews have been found grateful to the 
 Roman people, not only at this time, but in 
 times past also, and chiefly Hyrcanus the high 
 priest, under my father,* Caesar the emperor, it 
 seemed good to me and my counsellors, accord- 
 ing to the sentence and oath of the people of 
 Rome, that the Jews have liberty to make use 
 of their own customs, according to the law of 
 their forefathers, as they made use of them 
 under Hyrcanus, the high priest of Almighty 
 God ; and that their sacred money be not 
 touched, but be sent to Jerusalem, and that it 
 be committed to the care of the receivers at 
 Jerusalem ; and that they be not obliged to go 
 before any judge on the Sabbath-day, nor on 
 the day of the preparation to it, after the ninth 
 hour;T but if any one be caught stealing their 
 holy books, or their sacred money, whether it be 
 out of the synagogue or public school, he shall be 
 deemed a sacrilegious person, and his goods shall 
 be brought into the public treasury of the Ro- 
 mans. And I give order, that the testimonial 
 which they have given me, on account of my 
 regard to that piety which I exercise toward all 
 mankind, and out of regard to Caius Marcus 
 Censorinus, together with the present decree, he 
 proposed in that most eminent place which hath 
 been consecrated to me by the community of 
 Asia at Ancyra. And if any one transgress 
 any part of what is above decreed, he shall be 
 severely punished." This was inscribed upon a 
 pillar in the temple of Caesar. 
 
 3. "Caesar to Norbanus Flaccus, sendeth greet- 
 ing. Let those Jews, how many soever they be, 
 who have been used, according to their ancient 
 customs, to send their sacred money to Jeru- 
 salem, do the same freely." These were the 
 decrees of Caesar. 
 
 4. Agrippa also did himself write, after the 
 manner following, on behalf of the Jews : 
 " Agrippa, to the magistrates, senate, and people 
 of the Ephesians, sendeth greeting. I will that 
 the care and custody of the sacred money that 
 is carried to the temple at Jerusalem be left 
 
 * Augustus here call* Julius Caesar his/atfker, though 
 by birth he was only his uncle, on account of his adop- 
 tion by him. 
 
 t This is authentic evidence that the Jews, in the 
 days of Augustus, began to prepare for thfi celebratior 
 of the Sabbath at the ninth hour on Friday.
 
 CHAP. VEL] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 345 
 
 to the Jews of Asia, to do with it according to 
 their ancient customs; and that such as steal 
 that sacred money of the Jews, and fly to a 
 sanctuary, shall be taken thence and delivered 
 to the Jews, by the same law that sacrilegious 
 persons are taken thence. I have also written 
 to Sylvanus the praetor, that no one compel the 
 Jews to come before a judge on the Sabbath- 
 day." 
 
 5. "Marcus Agrippa to the magistrates, senate, 
 and people of Gyrene, sendeth greeting. The 
 Jews of Cyrene have interceded with me" for the 
 performance of what Augustus sent orders about 
 to Flavius, the then praetor of Libya, and to the 
 other procurators of that province, that the 
 sacred money may be sent to Jerusalem freely, as 
 hath been their custom from their forefathers, 
 they complaining that they are abused by cer- 
 tain informers, and under pretence of taxes 
 which were not due, are hindered from sending 
 them ; which I command to be restored without 
 any diminution or disturbance given to them : 
 and if any of that sacred money in the cities be 
 taken from their proper receivers, I further en- 
 join that the same be exactly returned to the 
 Jews in that place. " 
 
 6. "Caius Norbanus Flaccus, proconsul, to 
 the magistrates of the Sardians, sendeth greeting. 
 Caesar hath written to me, and commanded me 
 not to forbid the Jews, how many soever they 
 be, from assembling together according to the 
 customs of their forefathers, nor from sending 
 their money to Jerusalem : I have therefore 
 written to you, that you may know that both 
 Caesar and I would have you act accordingly." 
 
 7. Nor did Julius Antonius, the proconsul, 
 write otherwise. " To the magistrates, senate, 
 and people of the Ephesians, sendeth greeting. 
 As I was dispensing justice at Ephesus, on the 
 ides of February, the Jews that dwell ii. Asia 
 demonstrated to me that Augustus and Agrippa 
 had permitted them to use their own laws and 
 customs, and to offer those their first fruits, 
 which every one of them freely offers to the 
 Deity on account of piety, and to carry them in 
 a company together to Jerusalem without dis- 
 turbance. They also petitioned me, that I 
 would confirm what had been granted by Au- 
 gustus and Agrippa by my own sanction. I 
 would therefore have you take notice, that ac- 
 cording to the will of Augustus and Agrippa, I 
 permit them to use and do according to the cus- 
 toms of their forefathers without disturbance." 
 
 8. I have been obliged to set down these de- 
 crees, because the present history of our own 
 acts will go generally among the Greeks ; and 
 I have hereby demonstrated to them, that we 
 have formerly been in great esteem, and have 
 not been prohibited by those governors we were 
 under from keeping any of the laws of our fore- 
 fathers ; nay, that we have been supported by 
 them, while we followed our own religion, and 
 the worship we paid to God: and I frequently 
 make mention of these decrees, in order to re- 
 concile other people to us, and to take away the 
 causes of that hatred which unreasonable men 
 bear to us. As for our customs,* there is no 
 nation which always makes use of the same, and 
 
 * The remaining part of this chapter is remarkable, 
 as justly distinguishing natural justice, religion, and 
 morality, from positive institutions, and evidently pre- 
 ferring the former before the latter, as did the true 
 prophets of God always under the Old Testament, and 
 Christ and his apostles always under the New; whence 
 Josephus seems to h&ve been at this time nearer 
 Christianity than were the Scribes and Pharisees of his 
 age ; who, as we know from the New Testament, were 
 entirely of a different opinion and practice. 
 
 in every city almost ir* meet with them differ- 
 ent from one another ; but natural justice ii 
 most agreeable to the advantage of all men 
 equally, both Greeks and barbarians, to which 
 our laws have the greatest regard, and thereby 
 render us, if we abide in them after a pure man- 
 ner, benevolent and friendly to all men, on 
 which account we have reason to expect the 
 like return from others, and to inform them 
 that they ought not to esteem difference of posi- 
 tive institutions a sufficient cause of alienation, 
 but [join with us in] the pursuit of virtue and 
 probity, for this belongs to all men in common, 
 and of itself alone is sufficient for the preserva- 
 tion of human life. I now return to the thread 
 of my history. 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 HOW, UPON HEROD'S GOING DOWN INTO DAVID'S 
 SEPULCHRE, THE SEDITION IN HIS FAMILY 
 GREATLY INCREASED. 
 
 1. As for Herod, he had spent vast sums about 
 the cities, both without and within his own 
 kingdom : and as he had before heard that 
 Hyrcanus, who had been king before him, had 
 opened David's sepulchre, and taken out of it 
 three thousand talents of silver, and that there 
 was a much greater number left behind, and 
 indeed enough to suffice all his wants, he had a 
 great while an intention to make the attempt ; 
 and at this time he opened that sepulchre by 
 night, and went into it, and endeavoured that it 
 should not be at all known in the city, but took 
 only his faithful friends with him. As for any 
 money, he found none, as Hyrcanus had done, 
 but that furniture of gold, and those precioui 
 goods that were laid up there; all which he 
 took away. However, he had a great desire to 
 make a more diligent search, and to go further 
 in, even as far as the very bodies of David and 
 oolomon ; where two of his guards were slain, 
 by a flame that burst out upon those that went 
 in, as the report was. So he was terribly 
 affrighted, and went out, and built a propitia- 
 tory monument of that fright he had been in ; 
 and this of white stone, at the mouth of the 
 sepulchre, and that at a great expense also. 
 And even Nicolaus his historiographer makes 
 mention of this monument built by Herod, 
 though he does not mention his going down into 
 the sepulchre, as knowing that action to be of 
 ill repute ; and many other things he treats of 
 in the same manner in his book ; for he wrote in 
 Herod's lifetime, and under his reign, and so as 
 to please him, and as a servant to him, touching 
 upon nothing but what tended to his glory, md 
 openly excusing many of his notorious crimes, 
 and very diligently concealing them. And as he 
 was desirous to put handsome colours on the 
 death of Mariamne and her sons, which were 
 barbarous actions in the king, he tells falsehoods 
 about the .incontinence of Mariamne, and the 
 treacherous designs of his sons upon him ; and 
 thus ho proceeded in his whole work, making a 
 pompous encomium upon what just actions he 
 had done, but earnestly apologising for his un- 
 just ones. Indeed, a man, as I said, may have a 
 great deal to say by way of excuse for Nicolaus, 
 for he did not so properly write this as a history 
 for others, as somewhat that might be subser- 
 vient to the king himself. As for ourselves, 
 who come of a family nearly allied to the 
 Asamonean kings, and on that account have wi 
 honourable place, which is the priesthood, w*
 
 346 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xvi. 
 
 chink it indecent to say anything that is false 
 about them, and accordingly we have described 
 their actions after an unblemished and upright 
 manner. And although we reverence many of 
 Herod's posterity, who still reign, yet do we pay 
 a greater regard to truth than to them, and this 
 though it sometimes happens that we incur their 
 displeasure by so doing. 
 
 2. And indeed Herod's troubles m his family 
 seemed to be augmented by reason of this at- 
 tempt he made upon David's sepulchre ; whether 
 divine vengeance increased the calamities he lay 
 under, in order to render them incurable, or 
 whether fortune made an assault upon him, in 
 those cases wherein the seasouableness of the 
 cause made it strongly believed that the cala- 
 mities came upon him for his impiety ; for the 
 tumult was like a civil war in his palace; and 
 their hatred to one another was like that where 
 each one strove to exceed another in calumnies. 
 However, Antipater used stratagems perpetually 
 against his brethren, and that verj- cunningly : 
 while abroad he loaded them with accusations, 
 but still took upon him frequently to apologise 
 for them, that this apparent benevolence to 
 them might make him be believed, and forward 
 his attempts against them ; by which means he, 
 after various manners, circumvented his father, 
 who believed that all he did was for his preser- 
 vation. Herod also recommended Ptolemy, who 
 was a great director of the affairs of his kingdom, 
 to Antipater ; and consulted with his mother 
 about the public affairs also. And indeed these 
 were all in all, and did what they pleased, and 
 made the king angry against any other persons, 
 as they thought it might be to their own advan- 
 tage ; but stUl the sons of Mariamne were in a 
 worse and worse condition perpetually; and 
 while they were thrust out, and set in a more 
 dishonourable rank, who yet by birth were the 
 most noble, they could not bear the dishonour. 
 And for the women, Glaphyra, Alexander's wife, 
 the daughter of Archelaus, hated Salome, both 
 because of her love to her husband, and because 
 Glaphyra seemed to behave herself somewhat 
 insolently towards Salome's daughter, who was 
 the wife of Aristobulus, which equality of hers 
 to herself Glaphyra took very impatiently. 
 
 3. Now, besides this second contention that 
 had fallen among them, neither did the king's 
 brother Pheroras keep himself out of trouble, 
 but had a particular foundation for suspicion 
 and hatred ; for he was overcome with the 
 charms of his wife to such a degree of madness, 
 that he despised the king's daughter, to whom 
 he had been betrothed, and wholly bent his 
 mind to the other, who had been but a servant. 
 Herod also was grieved by the dishonour that 
 was done him, because he had bestowed many 
 favours upon him, and had advanced him to that 
 height of power that he was almost a partner 
 with him in the kingdom ; and saw that he had 
 not made him a due return for his favours, and 
 esteemed himself unhappy on that account. So 
 upon Pheroras's unworthy refusal, he gave the 
 damsel to Phasaelus's son ; but after some time, 
 when he thought the heat of his brother's affec- 
 tions was over, he blamed him for his former 
 conduct, and desired him to take his second 
 daughter, whose name was Cyproa Ptolemy 
 also advised him to leave off affronting his 
 brother, and to forsake her whom he had loved, 
 for that it was a base thing to be so enamoured 
 of a servant, as to deprive himself of the knag's 
 good-wi) 1 to him, and become an occasion of his 
 trouble and make himself hated by him. 
 Pheroras knew that this advice would be for his 
 wu advantage, particularly because he had been 
 
 accused before, and forgiven ; so he put his wife 
 away, although he had already had a son by her, 
 and engaged to the king that he would take his 
 second daughter, and agreed that the thirtieth 
 day after should be the day of his marriage ; 
 and sware he would have no further conversa- 
 tion with her whom he had put away ; but when 
 the thirty days were over, he was such a slave 
 to his affections, that he no longer performed 
 anything he had promised, but continued still 
 with his former wife. This occasioned Herod 
 to grieve openly, and made him angry, while the 
 king dropped one word or other against Pheroras 
 perpetually ; and many made the king's anger 
 an opportunity for raising calumnies against 
 him. Nor had the king any longer a single 
 quiet day or hour, but occasions of one fresh 
 quarrel or another arose among his relations, and 
 those that were dearest to him ; for Salome was 
 of a harsh temper, and ill-natured to Mariamne's 
 sons ; nor would she suffer her own daughter, 
 who was the wife of Aristobulus, one of these 
 young men, to bear a good-will to her husband, 
 but persuaded her to tell her if he said anything 
 to her in private, and when any misunderstand- 
 ings happened, as is common, she raised a great 
 many suspicions out of it : by which means she 
 learned all their concerns, and made the damsel 
 ill-natured to the young mail. And in order to 
 gratify her mother, she often said that the young 
 men used to mention Mariamne when they were 
 by themselves; and that they hated their 
 father, and were continually threatening, that 
 if they had once got the kingdom, they would 
 make Herod's sons by his other wives country 
 schoolmasters, for that the present education 
 which was given them, and their diligence in 
 learning, fitted them for such an employment. 
 And as for the women, whenever they saw them 
 adorned with their mother's clothes, they 
 threatened, that instead of their present gaudy 
 apparel, they should be clothed in sackcloth, 
 and confined so closely that they s*hould not see 
 the light of the sun. These stories were pre- 
 sently carried by Salome to the king, who was 
 troubled to hear them, and endeavoured to make 
 up matters : but these suspicions afflicted him, 
 and becoming more and more uneasy, he believed 
 everybody against everybody. However, upon 
 his rebuking his sons, and hearing the defence 
 they made for themselves, he was easier for a 
 while, though a little afterwards much worse 
 accidents came upon him. 
 
 4. For Pheroras came to Alexander, the hus- 
 band of Glaphyra, who was the daughter of 
 Archelaus, as we have already told you, and 
 said that he had heard from Salome, that Herod 
 was enamoured of Glaphyra, and that his passion 
 for her was incurable. When Alexander heard 
 that, he was all on fire, from his youth and jeal- 
 ousy; and he interpreted the instances of 
 Herod's obliging behaviour to her, which were 
 very frequent, for the worse, which came from 
 those suspicions he had on account of that word 
 which fell from Pheroras; nor could he conceal 
 his grief at the thing, but informed him what 
 words Pheroras had said. Upon which Herod 
 was in a greater disorder than ever; and not 
 bearing such a false calumny, which was to his 
 shame, was much disturbed at it : and often did 
 he lament the wickedness of his domestics, and 
 how good he had been to theca, and how ill re- 
 quitals they had made him. So he sent for 
 Pheroras, and reproached him, aid said, "Thou 
 vilest of all men ! art thou come to that un- 
 measurable and extravagant degree of ingrati- 
 tude, as not only to suppose such things of me, 
 bnt to speak of them ? I now indeed oerceive
 
 CHAP, vm.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 what thy intentions are : it u not thy only aim 
 to reproach me, when thou usest such words to 
 my son, but thereby to persuade him to plot 
 against me, and get me destroyed by poison; 
 and who is there, if he had not a good genius at 
 bis elbow, as hath my son, that would bear such 
 ft suspicion of his father, but would revenge 
 himself upon him? Dost thou suppose that thou 
 hast only dropped a word for him to think of, and 
 not rather hast put a sword into his hand to slay 
 his father? And what dost thou mean, when 
 thou really hatest both him and his brother, to 
 pretend kindness to them, only in order to raise 
 a reproach against me, and talk of such things 
 as no one but such an impious wretch as thou 
 art could either devise in their mind, or declare 
 in their words? Begone, thou that art such a 
 plague to thy benefactor and thy brother ; and 
 may that evil conscience of thine go along with 
 thee ; while I still overcome my relations by 
 kindness, and am so far from avenging myself of 
 them, as they deserve, that I bestow greater 
 benefits upon them than they are worthy of." 
 
 5. Thus did the king speak, Whereupon 
 Pheroras, who was caught in the very act of his 
 villany, said, that " it was Salome who was the 
 framer of this plot, and that the words came 
 from her;" but as soon as she heard that, for 
 she was at hand, she cried out, like one that 
 would be believed, that no such thing ever came 
 out of her mouth; that they all earnestly en- 
 deavoured to make the king hate her, and to 
 make her away, because of the good-will she 
 bore to Herod, and because she was always fore- 
 seeing the dangers that were coming upon him, 
 and that at present there were more plots against 
 Him than usual : for while she was the only per- 
 son who persuaded her brother to put away the 
 wife he now had, and to take the king's daugh- 
 ter, it was no wonder if she were hated by him. 
 As she said this, and often tore her hair, and 
 often beat her breast, her countenance made her 
 denial to be believed, but the perverseness of 
 her manners declared at the same time her dis- 
 simulation in these proceedings ; but Pheroras 
 was caught between them, and had nothing 
 plausible to offer in his own defence, while he 
 confessed that he had said what was charged 
 upon him, but was not believed when he said he 
 had heard it from Salome ; so the confusion 
 among them was increased, and their quarrelsome 
 words one to another. At last the king, out of 
 his hatred to MB brother and sister, sent them 
 both away; and when he had commended the 
 moderation of his son, and that he had himself 
 told him of the report, he went in the evening to 
 refresh himself. After such a contest as this 
 had fallen out among them, Salome's reputation 
 suffered greatly, since she was supposed to have 
 first raised the calumny ; and the king's wives 
 were grieved at her, as knowing that she was i 
 very ill-natured woman, and would sometimes 
 be a friend, and sometimes an enemy, at different 
 seasons; so they perpetually said one thing or 
 another against her ; and somewhat that now fell 
 out, made them the bolder in speaking against 
 her. 
 
 5. There was one Obodas, king of Arabia, an 
 inactive and slothful man in his nature ; but 
 Sy Ileus managed most of his affairs for him. 
 He was a shrewd man, although he was but 
 young, and was handsome withaL This Sy Ileus, 
 upon some occasion coming to Herod, and sup- 
 ping with him, saw Salome, and set his heart 
 upon her: and understanding that she was a 
 widow, he discoursed with her. Now because 
 Salome was at this time less in favour with her 
 brother, he looked upon Sylleua with some 
 
 passion, and was very earnest to be married U 
 him ; and on the days following there appeared 
 many, and those very great, indications of their 
 agreement together. Now the women carried 
 this news to the king, and laughed at the inde- 
 cency of it ; whereupon Herod inquired about it 
 further of Pheroras, and desired him to observe 
 them at supper, how their behaviour was one 
 towards another; who told him, that by the 
 signals which came from their heads and their 
 eyes, they both were evidently in love. After 
 this, Sylleus the Arabian being suspected, went 
 away, but came again in two or three months 
 afterwards, as it were on that very design, and 
 spake to Herod about it, and desired that Salome 
 might be given him to wife ; for that his affinity 
 might not be disadvantageous to his affairs, by a 
 union with Arabia, the government of which 
 country was already in effect under his power, 
 and more evidently would be his hereafter. Ac- 
 cordingly, when Herod discoursed with his sister 
 about it, and asked her whether she were dis- 
 posed to this match, she immediately agreed to 
 it ; but when Sylleus was desired to come over 
 to the Jewish religion, and then he should marry 
 her, and that it was impossible to do it on any 
 other terms, he could not bear that proposal, 
 and went away ; for he said, that if he should 
 do so, he should be stoned by the Arabs. Then 
 did Pheroras reproach Salome for her inconti- 
 nency, as did the women much more; and said 
 that Sylleus had debauched her. As for that 
 damsel which the king had betrothed to hia 
 brother Pheroras, but he had not taken her, as I 
 have before related, because he was enamoured 
 of his former wife, Salome desired Herod she 
 might be given to her son by Costobarus : which 
 match he was very willing to, but was dissuaded 
 from it by Pheroras, who pleaded, that this 
 young man would not be kind to her since her 
 father had been slain by him, and that it was 
 more just that his son, who was to be his suc- 
 cessor in the tetrarchy, should have her ; so he 
 begged his pardon, and persuaded him to do so. 
 Accordingly the damsel, upon this change of 
 her espousals, was disposed of to this young 
 man, the son of Pheroras, the king giving for 
 her portion a hundred talent*. 
 
 CHAPTER VTTL 
 
 HOW HEROD TOOK UP ALEXANDER, AND BOUND 
 HIM ; WHOM YET AECHELAU8, KING OF OAPPA- 
 DOCIA, RECONCILED TO HI8 FATHER HEROD 
 AGAIN. 
 
 1. EOT still the affairs of Herod's family were 
 no better, but perpetually more troublesome. 
 Now this accident happened, which arose from 
 no decent occasion, but proceeded so far as to 
 bring great difficulties upon him. There were 
 certain eunuchs which the king had, and on ac- 
 count of their beauty was very fond of them ; 
 and the care of bringing him drink was intrusted 
 to one of them ; of bringing him his supper, to 
 another ; and of putting him to bed to a third, 
 who also managed the principal affairs of the 
 government ; and there was one told the king 
 that these eunuchs were corrupted by Alexander 
 the king's son, by great sums of money : and 
 when they were asked whether Alexander had 
 had criminal conversation with them, they con- 
 fessed it, but said they knew of no further mis- 
 chief of his against his father ; but when they 
 were more severely tortured, and were in the 
 utmost extremity, and the tormentors, out of
 
 S48 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xvi, 
 
 compliance with Antipater, stretched the rack 
 to the very utmost, they said that Alexander 
 bare ill-will and innate hatred to his father; 
 and that he told them that Herod despaired to 
 live much longer ; and that, in order to cover 
 his great age, he coloured his hair black, and 
 endeavoured to conceal what would discover how 
 old he was ; but that if he would apply himself 
 to him, when he should attain the kingdom, 
 which in spite of his father, could come to no 
 one else, he should quickly have the first place 
 in that kingdom under him, for that he was now 
 ready to take the kingdom, not only as his birth- 
 right, but by the preparations he had made for 
 obtaining it, because a great many of the rulers, 
 and a great many of his friends, were of his side, 
 and those no ill men neither, ready both to do 
 and to suffer whatsoever should come on that 
 account. 
 
 2. When Herod heard this confession, he was 
 all over anger and fear, some parts seeming to 
 him reproachful, and some made him suspicious 
 of dangers that attended him, insomuch, that 
 on both accounts he was provoked, and bitterly 
 afraid lest some more heavy plot was laid against 
 him than he should be then able to escape from ; 
 whereupon he did not now make an open search, 
 but sent about spies to watch such as he sus- 
 pected, for he was now overrun with suspicion 
 and hatred against all about him ; and indulging 
 abundance of those suspicions, in order to his 
 preservation, he continued to suspect those that 
 were guiltless: nor did he set any bounds to 
 himself ; but supposing that those who stayed 
 with him had the most power to hurt him, they 
 were to him very frightful ; and for those that 
 did not use to come to him, it seemed enough 
 to name them [to make them suspected,] and 
 he thought himself safer when they were de- 
 stroyed : and at last his domestics were come to 
 that pass, that being no way secure of escaping 
 themselves, they fell to accusing one another, 
 and imagining that he who first accused another, 
 was most likely to save himself ; yet, when any 
 had overthrown others, they were hated ; and 
 they were thought to suffer justly, who unjustly 
 accused others ; and they only thereby prevented 
 their own accusation : nay, they now executed 
 their own private enmities by this means, and 
 when they were caught, they were punished in 
 the same way. Thus these men contrived to 
 make use of this opportunity as an instrument 
 and a snare against their enemies ; yet, when 
 they tried it, were themselves caught also in the 
 same snare which they laid for others : and the 
 king soon repented of what he had done, because 
 he had no clear evidence of the guilt of those 
 whom he had slain ; and yet what was still more 
 severe in him, he did not make use of his re- 
 pentance, in order to leave off doing the like 
 again, but in order to inflict the same punish- 
 ment upon their accusers. 
 
 3. And in this state of disorder were the af- 
 fairs of the palace ; and he had already told 
 many of his friends directly, that they ought 
 not to appear before him, nor come into the 
 palace ; and the reason of this injunction was, 
 that [when they were there] he had less free- 
 dom of acting, or a greater restraint on himself 
 on their account ; for at this time it was that 
 he expelled Andromachus and Gemellus, men 
 who had of old been his friends, and been very 
 useful to him in the affairs of his kingdom, and 
 been of advantage to his family by their embas- 
 sages and counsels ; and had been tutors to hig 
 sons, and had in a manner the first degree of 
 freedom with him. He expelled Andromachus, 
 because his son Demetrius was a companion to 
 
 Alexander ; and Gemellus, because he knew 
 that he wished him well, which arose from his 
 having been with him in his youth, when he was 
 at school, and absent at Home. These he ex- 
 pelled out of his palace, and was willing enough 
 to have done worse by them ; but that he might 
 not seem to take such liberty against men of so 
 great reputation, he contented himself with de- 
 priving them of their dignity, and of their power 
 to hinder his wicked proceedings. 
 
 4. Now it was Antipater who was the cause of 
 all this ; who when he knew what a mad and 
 licentious way of acting his father was in, and 
 had been a great while one of his counsellors, 
 he hurried him on, and then thought he should 
 bring him to do somewhat to purpose, when 
 every one that could oppose him was taken away. 
 When therefore Andromachus and his friends 
 were driven away, and had no discourse nor 
 freedom with the king any longer, the king in 
 the first place examined by torture all whom he 
 thought to be faithful to Alexander, whether 
 they knew of any of his attempts against him : 
 but these died without having anything to say to 
 that matter, which made the king more zealous 
 [after discoveries,] when he could not find out 
 what evil proceedings he suspected them of. As 
 for Antipater, he was very sagacious to raise a 
 calumny against those that were really innocent, 
 as if their denial was only their constancy and 
 fidelity [to Alexander,] and thereupon provoked 
 Herod to discover by the torture of great num- 
 bers what attempts were still concealed. Now 
 there was a certain person among the many that 
 was tortured, who said he knew that the young 
 man had often said, that when he was commended 
 as a tall man in his body, and a skilful marksman, 
 and that in his other commendable exercises, he 
 exceeded all men, these qualifications given him 
 by nature, though good in themselves, were not 
 advantageous to him, because his father was 
 grieved at them, and envied him for them ; and 
 that when he walked along with his father, he 
 endeavoured to depress and shorten himself, that 
 he might not appear too tall ; and that when he 
 shot at anything he was hunting, when his father 
 was by, he missed his mark on purpose ; for he 
 knew how ambitious his father was of being 
 superior in such exercises. So when the man 
 was tormented about this saying, and had ease 
 given his body after it, he added, that he had 
 his brother Aristobulus for his assistance, and 
 contrived to lie in wait for their father, as they 
 were hunting, and kill him; and when they had 
 done so, to fly to Rome, and desire to have the 
 kingdom given them. There were also letters of 
 the young man found, written to his brother ; 
 wherein he complained that his father did not 
 act justly in giving Antipater a country, whose 
 [yearly] revenues amounted to ten hundred 
 talents. Upon these confessions Herod present- 
 ly thoug it he had somewhat to depend on, in 
 his own opinion, as to his suspicion about his 
 sons : so he took up Alexander and bound him ; 
 yet did he still continue to be uneasy, and was 
 not quite satisfied of the truth of what he had 
 heard ; and when he came to recollect him- 
 self, he found that they had only made juvenile 
 complaints and contentions, and that it was an 
 incredible thing, that when his son should have 
 slain him, he should openly go to Rome [to beg 
 the kingdom ;] so he was desirous to have some 
 surer mark of his son's wickedness, and was very 
 solicitous about it, that he might not appear to 
 have condemned him to be put in prison too 
 rashly ; so he tortured the principal of Alex- 
 ander's friends, and put not a few of them to 
 death, without getting any of the things out of
 
 3HAF. IX.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEW& 
 
 them which he suspected. And while Herod 
 was very busy about this matter, and the palace 
 was full of terror and trouble, one of the younger 
 sort, when he was in the utmost agony, confessed 
 that Alexander had sent to his friends at Rome, 
 and desired that he might be quickly invited 
 thither by Cresar, and that he could discover a 
 plot against him ; that Mithridates, the king of 
 Parthia, was joined in friendship with his father 
 against the Romans, and that he had a poison- 
 ous potion ready prepared at Askelon. 
 
 5. To these accusations Herod gave credit, 
 and enjoyed hereby, in his miserable case, some 
 sort of consolation, in excuse of his rashness, as 
 flattering himself with finding things in so bad a 
 condition ; but as for the poisonous potion which 
 he laboured to find, he could find none. As for 
 Alexander, he was very desirous to aggravate the 
 vast misfortunes he was under, so he pretended 
 not to deny the accusations, but punished the 
 rashness of his father with a greater crime of his 
 own ; and perhaps he was willing to make his 
 father ashamed of his easy belief of such calum- 
 nies : he aimed especially, if he could gain belief 
 to bis story, to plague him and his whole king- 
 dom ; for he wrote four letters and sent them to 
 him, that " he did not need to torture any more 
 
 Eersons, for he had plotted against him ; and that 
 e had for his partners, Pheroras and the most 
 faithful of his friend j ; and that Salome came in 
 to him by night, and that she lay with him 
 whether he would or not; and that all men were 
 come to be of one mind to make away with him 
 as soon as they could, and so get clear of the con- 
 tinual fear they were in from him." Among 
 these were accused Ptolemy and Sapinnius, who 
 were the most faithful friends to the king. And 
 what more can be said, but that those who 
 before were the most intimate friends, were 
 become wild beasts to one another, as if a certain 
 madness had fallen upon them, while there was 
 no room for defence or refutation, in order to the 
 discovery of the truth, but all were at random 
 doomed to destruction ; so that some lamented 
 those that were in prison, some those that were 
 put to death, and others lamented that they were 
 in expectation of the same miseries ; and a melan- 
 choly solitude rendered the kingdom deformed, 
 and quite the reverse to that happy state it was 
 formerly in. Herod's own life also was entirely 
 disturbed ; and, because he could trust nobody, 
 ne was sorely punished by the expectation of 
 further misery ; for he often fancied in his im- 
 agination, that his son had fallen upon him, or 
 stood by him with a sword in his hand ; and 
 thus was his mind night and day intent upon 
 this thing, and revolved it over and over, and no 
 otherwise than if he were under a distraction. 
 And this was the sad condition Herod was now 
 in. 
 
 6. But when Archelaus, king of Cappadocia, 
 heard of the state that Herod was in, and being 
 in great distress about hjs daughter, and the 
 young man [her husband,] and grieving with 
 Herod as with a man that was his friend, on 
 account of so great a disturbance as he was under, 
 he came [to Jerusalem] on purpose to compose 
 their differences ; and, when he found Herod in 
 such a temper, he thought it wholly unseason- 
 able to reprove him, or to pretend that he had 
 done anything rashly, for that he should thereby 
 naturally bring him to dispute the poikt with 
 him, and by still more and more apologising for 
 himself to be the more irritated : he went, there- 
 fore, another way to work, in order to correct 
 the former misfortunes, and appeared angry at 
 the young man, and said that Herod had been 
 BO very mild a man that ne had not acted a rash 
 
 part at all He also said he would dissolve his 
 daughter's marriage with Alexander, nor could 
 in justice spare his own daughter, if she were 
 conscious of anything, and did not inform Herod 
 of it. When Archelaus appeared to be of this 
 temper, and otherwise than Herod expected or 
 imagined, and for the main took Herod's part, 
 and was angry on bis account, the king abated 
 of his harshness, and took occasion from his 
 appearing to have acted justly hitherto, to come 
 by degrees to put on the affection of a father, and 
 was on both sides to be pitied ; for when some 
 persons refuted the calumnies that were laid on 
 the young man, he was thrown into a passion ; 
 but when Archelaus joined in the accusation, he 
 was dissolved into tears and sorrow after an 
 affectionate manner. Accordingly, he desired 
 that he would not dissolve his son's marriage, 
 and became not so angry as before for his of- 
 fences. So when Archelaus had brought him to 
 a more moderate temper, he transferred the 
 calumnies upon his friends ; and said it must be 
 owing to them that so young a man, and one un- 
 acquainted with malice, was corrupted ; and he 
 supposed that there was more reason to suspect 
 the brother than the son. Upon which Herod 
 was very much displeased at Pheroras, who 
 indeed now had no one that could make a recon- 
 ciliation between him and his brother. So when 
 he saw that Archelaus had the greatest power 
 with Herod, he betook himself to him in the 
 habit of a mourner, and like one that had all the 
 signs upon him of an undone man. Upon this 
 Archelaus did not overlook the intercession he 
 made to him, nor yet did he undertake to change 
 the king's disposition towards him immediately ; 
 and he said that it was better for him to come 
 himself to the king, and confess himself the oc- 
 casion of all ; that this would make the king's 
 anger not to be extravagant towards him, and 
 that then he would be present to assist him. 
 When he had persuaded him to this, he gained 
 his point with both of them ; and the calumnies 
 raised against the young man were, beyond all 
 expectation, wiped off. And Archelaus, as soon 
 as he had made the reconciliation, went then 
 away to Cappadocia, having proved at this junc- 
 ture of time the most acceptable person to Herod 
 in the world ; on which account he gave him the 
 richest presents, as tokens of his respects to him, 
 and being on other occasions magnanimous, he 
 esteemed him one of his dearest friends. He 
 also made an agreement with him that he would 
 go to Rome, because he had written to Caesar 
 about these affairs ; so they went together as far 
 as Antioch, and there Herod made a reconcilia- 
 tion between Archelaus and Titus, the president 
 of Syria, who had been greatly at variance, and 
 so returned back to Judea. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 COH CERNIKG THE REVOLT OP THE TRACHONITES ; 
 HOW SYLLEUS ACCUSED HEROD BEFORE CJSAB ; 
 AND HOW HEROD, WHEN CAESAR WAS ANGRY AT 
 HIM, RESOLVED TO SEND NICOLAUS TO ROME. 
 
 1. WHEN Herod had been at Rome, and was 
 come back again, a war arose between him and 
 the Arabians, on the occasion following: The 
 inhabitants of Trachonitis, after Ca;s.ar had taken 
 the country away from Zenodorus, and added it 
 to Herod, had not now power to rob, but were 
 forced to plough the land, and to live quietly, 
 which was a thing they did not like ; and when 
 they did take that pains, the ground did not pro-
 
 860 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THlT JBTW8. 
 
 [BOOK xvj. 
 
 duce much fruit for them. However, at the 
 first the king would not permit them to rob ; and 
 BO they abstained from that unjust way of living 
 upon their neighbours, which procured Herod a 
 great reputation for his care. But when he was 
 sailing to Rome, it was at that time when he 
 went to accuse his son Alexander, and to commit 
 Antipater to Csesar's protection, the Trachonites 
 spread a report as if he were dead, and revolted 
 from his dominion, and betook themselves again 
 to their accustomed way of robbing their neigh- 
 bours ; at which time the king's commanders 
 subdued them during his absence ; but about 
 forty of the principal robbers, being terrified by 
 those that had been taken, left the country, and 
 retired into Arabia, Sylleus entertaining them, 
 after he had missed of marrying Salome, and 
 gave them a place of strength, in which they 
 dwelt. So they overran not only Judea, but all 
 Coelesyria also, and canied off the prey, while 
 Sylleus afforded them places of protection and 
 quietness during their wicked practices. But 
 when Herod came back from Rome, he perceived 
 that his dominions had greatly suffered by them, 
 and since hs could not reach the robbers them- 
 selves, because of the secure retreat they had in 
 that country, and which the Arabian govern- 
 ment afforded them, and yet being very uneasy 
 at the injuries they had done him, he went all 
 over Trachonitis, and slew their relations; 
 whereupon these robbers were more angry than 
 before, it being a law among them to be avenged 
 on the murderers of their relations by all possible 
 means; so they continued to tear and rend every- 
 thing under Herod's dominion with impunity ; 
 then did he discourse about the robberies to 
 Saturninus and Volumnius, and required that 
 they should be punished ; upon which occasion 
 they still the more confirmed themselves in their 
 robberies, and became more numerous, and made 
 very great disturbances, laying waste the coun- 
 tries and villages that belonged to Herod's king- 
 dom, and killing those men whom they caught, 
 till these unjust proceedings came to be like a 
 real war, for the robbers were now become about 
 a thousand ; at which Herod was sore dis- 
 pleased, and required the robbers, as well as the 
 money which he had lent Obodas, by Sylleus, 
 which was sixty talents, and since the time of 
 payment was now past, he desired to have it paid 
 him : but Sylleus, who had laid Obodas aside, 
 and managed all by himself, denied that the 
 robbers were in Arabia, and put off the payment 
 of the money ; about which there was a hearing 
 before Saturninus and .Volumnius, who were then 
 the presidents of Syria.* At last, he, by their 
 means, agreed, that within thirty days' time 
 Herod should be paid his money, and that each 
 of them should deliver up the other subjects 
 reciprocally. Now, as to Herod, there was not 
 one of the other's subjects found in his kingdom, 
 either as doing any injustice, or on any other ac- 
 count ; but it was proved that the Arabians had 
 the robbers amongst them. 
 
 2. When the day appointed for payment of 
 the money was past, without Sylleus's perform- 
 ing any part of his agreement, and he was gone 
 to Rome, Herod demanded the payment of the 
 money, and that the robbers that were in Arabia 
 should be deli vered up ; and, by the permission 
 of Saturninus and Volumnius, executed the 
 judgment himself upon those that were refrac- 
 tory. He took an army that he had, and led it 
 into Arabia, and in three days' time marched 
 
 * These joint presidents of Syria, Saturninns and 
 oiumnms, were not perhaps of equal authority, but 
 the latter like a procurator under the former 
 
 seven mansiones; and when he came to the garri- 
 son wherein the robbers were, he made an 
 assault upon them, and took them all, and de- 
 molished the place, which was called Raepta, 
 but did no harm to any others. But as tha 
 Arabians came to their assistance, under Naceh 
 their captain, there ensued a battle, wherein a 
 few of Herod's soldiers, and Naceb, the captain 
 of the Arabians, and about twenty of his soldiers 
 fell, while the rest betook themselves to flight. 
 So when he had brought these to punishment, 
 he placed three thousand Idumeans in Trachon- 
 itis, and thereby restrained the robbers that 
 were there. He also sent an account to the cap- 
 tains that were about Phoenicia, and demon- 
 strated that he had done nothing but what he 
 ought to do in punishing the refractory Arabi- 
 ans, which, upon an exact inquiry, they found to 
 be no more than what was true. 
 
 3. However, messengers were hasted away to 
 Sylleus to Rome, and informed him what had 
 been done, and, as is usual, aggravated every- 
 thing. Now Sylleus had already insinuated 
 himself into the knowledge of Caesar, and was 
 then about the palace ; and as soon as he heard 
 of those things, he changed his habit into black, 
 and went in, and told Csesar that Arabia was 
 afilicted with war, and that all his kingdom was 
 iu great confusion, upon Herod's laying it waste 
 with his army ; and he said, with tears in his 
 eyes, that two thousand five hundred of the 
 principal men among the Arabians had been de- 
 stroyed, and that their captain Nacebus, his 
 familiar friend and kinsman, was slain ; and 
 that the riches that were at Raepta were carried 
 off ; and that Obodas was despised, whose infirm 
 state of body rendered him unfit for war; on 
 which account neither he nor the Arabian army 
 were present. When Sylleus said so, and added 
 invidiously, that he would not himself have 
 come out of the country, unless he had believed 
 that Csesar would have provided that they should 
 all have peace one with another, and that, had 
 he been there, he would have taken care that 
 the war should not have been to Herod's advan- 
 tage. Caesar was provoked when this was said ; 
 and asked no more than this one question, both 
 of Herod's friends that were there, and of his 
 own friends who were come from Syria, Whether 
 Herod had led an army thither? And when 
 they were forced to confess so much, Csesar, 
 without staying to hear for what reason he did 
 it, and how it was done, grew very angry, and 
 wrote to Herod sharply. The sum of his epistle 
 was this, that whereas of old he had used him 
 as his friend, he should now use him as his sub- 
 ject. Sylleus also wrote an account of this to 
 the Arabians ; who were so elevated with it, 
 that they neither delivered up the robbers that 
 had fled to them, nor paid the money that wag 
 due : they retained those pastures also which they 
 had hired, and kept them without paying their 
 rent, nd all this because the king of tbe Jews 
 was now in a low condition, by reason of Caesar's 
 anger at him. Those of Trachqnitis also made 
 use of this opportunity, and rose up against the 
 Idumean garrison, and followed the same way of 
 robbing with the Arabians, who had pillaged 
 their country, and were more rigid in their un- 
 just proceedings, not only in order to get by it, 
 but by way of revenge also. 
 
 4. Now Herod was forced to Dear all this, that 
 confidence of his being quite gone with which 
 Caesar's favour used to inspire him ; for Caesai 
 would not admit so much as an embassage from 
 him, to make an apology for him ; and when 
 they came again, he sent them away without 
 success : BO he was cast into sadness and fear
 
 onxr. x.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 351 
 
 and Sylleus's circumstances grieved him exceed- 
 ingly, who was now believed by Caesar, and was 
 present at Rome, nay sometimes aspiring higher. 
 Now it came to pass that Obodas was dead : and 
 ^Eneas, whose name was Aretas, * took the govern- 
 ment, for Sylleus endeavoured by calumnies to 
 get him turned out of his principality, that he 
 might himself take it ; with which design he gave 
 much money to the courtiers, and promised 
 much money to Caesar, who indeed was angry 
 that Aretas had not sent to him first before he 
 took the kingdom, yet did JJneas send an epistle 
 to Caesar, and a crown of gold of the weight of 
 many talents. Now that epistle accused Sylleus 
 as having been a wicked servant, and having 
 killed Obodas by poison ; and that while he was 
 alive he had governed him as he pleased ; and 
 had also debauched the wives of the Arabians ; 
 and had borrowed money, in order to obtain the 
 dominion for himself : yet did not Caesar give 
 heed to these accusations, but sent his ambas- 
 sadors back without receiving any of his pre- 
 sents. But in the meantime the affairs of Judea 
 and Arabia became worse and worse, partly be- 
 cause of the anarchy they were under, and partly 
 because, bad as they were, nobody had power to 
 govern them ; for of the two kings, the one was 
 not yet confirmed in his kingdom, and so had not 
 authority sufficient to restrain the evil-doers; 
 and as for Herod, Caesar was immediately angry 
 at him'for having avenged himself, and so he was 
 compelled to bear all the injuries that were 
 offered him. At length, when he saw no end of 
 the mischief which surrounded him, he resolved 
 to send ambassadors to Rome again, and see 
 whether his friends had prevailed to mitigate 
 Caesar, and to address themselves to Caesar him- 
 self ; and the ambassador he sent thither was 
 Nicolaus of Damascus. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 BOW EUBYCLES FALSELY ACCUSED HEROD'S SONS ; 
 AND HOW THEIB FATHER BOUND THEM, AND 
 WBOTE TO OESAB ABOUT THEM. OF SYLLEUS ; 
 AND HOW HE WAS ACCUSED BY NICOLAUS. 
 
 1. THE disorders about Herod's family and 
 children about this time grew much worse ; for 
 it now appeared certain, nor was it unforeseen 
 beforehand, that fortune threatened the greatest 
 and most insupportable misfortunes possible to 
 his kingdom. Its progress and augmentation at 
 this time arose on the occasion following : One 
 Eurycles, a Lacedemonian (a person of note 
 there, but a man of a perverse mind, and so cun- 
 ning in his ways of voluptuousness and flattery, 
 as to indulge both, and yet seem to indulge 
 neither of them) came in his travels to Herod, 
 and made him presents, but so that he received 
 more presents from him. He also took such 
 
 ? roper seasons for insinuating himself into his 
 riendship, and he became one of the most inti- 
 mate of the king's friends. He had his lodging 
 in Antipater's house ; but he had not only access, 
 but free conversation, with Alexander, as pre- 
 tending to him that he was in great favour with 
 Archelaus, the king of Cappadocia ; whence he 
 pretended much respect to Glaphyra, and, in an 
 occult manner, cultivated a friendship with them 
 all, but always attending to what was said and 
 
 * This Aretas was now become so established a name 
 for the kings of Arabia [at Petra and Damascus,] that 
 when the crown came to this .Eneas, he changed his 
 uame to Aretas. 
 
 done, that he might be furnished with calumnies 
 to please them all In short, he behaved himself 
 so to everybody in his conversation, as to appear 
 to be his particular friend, and he made others 
 believe that his being anywhere was for that per- 
 son's advantage. So he won upon Alexander, 
 who was but young ; and persuaded him, that he 
 might open his grievances to him with issurance, 
 and with nobody else. So he declared his grief 
 to him, how his father was alienated from him. 
 He related to him also the affairs of liis mother, 
 and of Antipater ; that he had driven them from 
 their proper dignity, and had the power over 
 everything himself; that no part of this was 
 tolerable, since his father was already come to 
 hate them ; and he added, that he would neither 
 admit them to his table nor his conversation. 
 Such were the complaints, as was but natural, 
 of Alexander about the things that troubled 
 him : and these discourses Eurycles carried to 
 Antipater, and told him, he did not inform him 
 of this on his own account, but that being over- 
 come by his kindness, the great importance of 
 the thing obliged him to do it : and he warned 
 him to have a care of Alexander, for that what 
 he said was spoken with vehemency, and that, 
 in consequence of what he said, he would cer- 
 tainly kill him with his own hand. Whereupon 
 Antipater, thinking him to be his friend by this 
 advice, gave him presents upon all occasions, and 
 at length persuaded him to inform Herod of 
 what he had heard. So when he related to the 
 king Alexander's ill temper, as discovered by the 
 words he had heard him speak, he was easily 
 believed by him; and he thereby brought the 
 king to that pass, turning him about by his words, 
 and irritating him till he increased his hatred to 
 him, and made him implacable, which he shewed 
 at that very time, for he immediately gave Eury- 
 cles a present of fifty talents ; who, when he had 
 gotten them, went to Archelaus, king of Cappa- 
 docia, and commended Alexander before him, 
 and told him that he had been many ways of 
 advantage to him, in making a reconciliation 
 between him and his father. So he got money 
 from him also, and went away, before his perni- 
 cious practices were found out ; but when Eury- 
 cles was returned to Lacedemon, he did not leave 
 off doing mischief ; and so, for his many acts of 
 injustice, he was banished from his own country. 
 
 2. But as for the king of the Jews, he was not 
 now in the temper he was in formerly towards 
 Alexander and Aristobulus, when he had been 
 content with the hearing their calumnies when 
 others told him of them, but he was now come 
 to that pass as to hate them himself, and to urge 
 men to speak against them, though they did not 
 do it of themselves. He also observed all that 
 was said, and put questions, and gave ear to every 
 one that would but speak, if they could but say 
 anything against them, till at length he heard 
 that Euratus of Cos was a conspirator with Alex- 
 ander ; which thing to Herod was the most 
 agreeable and sweetest news imaginable. 
 
 3. But still a greater misfortune came upon 
 the young men; while the calumnies against 
 them were continually increased, and, as a man 
 may say, one would think it was every one's en- 
 deavour to lay some grievous thing to their 
 charge, which might appear to be for the king's 
 preservation- There were two guards of Herod's 
 body, who were in great esteem for their great 
 strength and tallness, Jucundus and Tyrannus ; 
 these men had been cast off by Herod, who wa 
 displeased at them ; these now used to ride along 
 with Alexander, and for their skill in their exer- 
 cises were in great esteem with him, and had 
 some gold and other gifts bestowed on them.
 
 S62 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xvi. 
 
 Now the king, having an immediate suspicion of 
 these men, had them tortured; who endured 
 the torture courageously for a long time ; but at 
 last confessed that Alexander would have per- 
 uaded them to kill Herod when he was in pur- 
 suit of the wild beasts, that it might be said he 
 fell from his horse, and was run through with a 
 spear, for that he had once such a misfortune 
 formerly. They also shewed where there was 
 money hidden in the stable, under ground ; and 
 these convicted the king's chief hunter, that he 
 had given the young men the royal hunting- 
 spears and weapons to Alexander's dependants, 
 and at Alexander's command. 
 
 4. After these, the commander of the garrison 
 of Alexandrium was caught and tortured ; for he 
 was accused to have promised to receive the 
 young men into his fortress, and to supply them 
 with that money of the king's which was laid up 
 in that fortress, yet did not he acknowledge any- 
 thing of it himself ; but his son came in, and 
 said it was so, and delivered up the writing, 
 which, so far as could be guessed, was in Alex- 
 ander's hand. Its contents were these : " "When 
 we have finished, by Cod's help, all that we have 
 proposed to do, we will come to you ; but do 
 your endeavours, as you have promised, to re- 
 ceive us into your fortress." After this writing 
 was produced, Herod had no doubt about the 
 treacherous designs of his sons against him; 
 but Alexander said that Diophantus, the scribe, 
 had imitated his hand, and that the paper was 
 maliciously drawn up by Antipater; for Dio- 
 phantus appeared to be very cunning in such 
 practices ; and as he was afterwards convicted of 
 forging other papers, he was put to death for it. 
 
 5. So the king produced those that had been 
 tortured before the multitude at Jericho, in 
 order to have them accuse the young men, 
 which accusers many of the people stoned to 
 death ; and when they were going to kill Alex- 
 ander and Aristobulus likewise, the king would 
 not permit them to do so, but restrained the 
 multitude, by means of Ptolemy and Pheroras. 
 However, the young men were put under a 
 guard, and kept in custody, that nobody might 
 come at them ; and all that they did or said was 
 watched, and the reproach and fear they were in 
 was little or nothing different from those of con- 
 demned criminals ; and one of them, who was 
 Aristobulus, was so deeply affected, that he 
 brought Salome, who was his aunt, and his 
 mother-in-law, to lament with him for his cala- 
 mities, and to hate him who had suffered things 
 to come to that pass ; when he said to her, " Art 
 thou not in danger of destruction also, while the 
 report goes that thou hadst disclosed beforehand 
 all our affairs to Sylleus, when thou wast in 
 hopes of being married to him ? " But she imme- 
 diately carried those words to her brother : upon 
 which he was out of patience, and gave command 
 to bind him ; and enjoined them both, now they 
 were kept separate one from the other, to write 
 Jown all the ill things they had done against their 
 father, and bring the writing to him. So when 
 this was enjoined them, they wrote this : that 
 they had laid no treacherous designs, nor made 
 any preparations against their father, but that 
 they had intended to fly away ; and that by the 
 distress they were in, their fives being now un- 
 certain and tedious to them. 
 
 6. About this time there came an ambassador 
 out of Cappadocia from Archelaus, whose name 
 was Melas ; he was one of the principal rulers 
 under him. So Herod being desirous to shew 
 Archelaus's ill-will to him, called for Alexander, 
 as he was in his bonds, and asked him again 
 concerning hia flight, whither and how they had 
 
 resolved to retire; Alexander replied, To Ar- 
 chelaus, who had promised to send them away 
 to Home ; but that they had no wicked or mis- 
 chievous designs against their father, and that 
 nothing of that nature which their adversaries 
 had charged upon them was true ; and that their 
 desire was, that he might have examined Tyr- 
 annus and Jucundus more strictly, but that 
 they had been suddenly slain by the means of 
 Antipater, who put his own friends among the 
 multitude [for that purpose.] 
 
 7. When this was said, Herod commanded 
 that both Alexander and Melas should be carried 
 to Glaphyra, Archelaus's daughter, and that she 
 should be asked, whether she did not know 
 somewhat of Alexander's treacherous designs 
 against Herod? Now as soon as they were come 
 to her, and she saw Alexander in bonds, she 
 beat her head, and in great consternation, gave 
 a deep and a moving groan. The young man 
 also fell into tears. This was so miserable a 
 spectacle to those present, that, for a great 
 while, they were not able to say or to do any 
 thing ; but at length Ptolemy, who was ordered 
 to bring Alexander, bade him say whether his 
 wife was conscious of his actions. He replied, 
 " How is it possible that she, whom I love better 
 than my own soul, and by whom I have had 
 children, should not know what I do?" Upon 
 which she cried out, that she knew of no wicked 
 designs of his ; but that yet, if her accusing her- 
 self falsely would tend to his preservation, she 
 would confess it all. Alexander replied, 
 " There is no such wickedness as those (who 
 ought the least of all so to do) suspect, which 
 either I have imagined, or thou knowest of, but 
 this only, that we had resolved to retire to Ar 
 chelaus, and from thence to Rome." Which 
 she also confessed. Upon which Herod, suppos- 
 ing that Archelaus's ill-will to him was fully 
 proved, sent a letter by Olympus and Volumnius ; 
 and bade them, as they sailed by, to touch at 
 Eleusa of Cilicia, and give Archelaus the letter. 
 And that when they had expostulated with him, 
 that he had a hand in his son's treacherous de- 
 signs against him, they should from thence sail 
 to Rome ; and that, in case they found Nicolaus 
 had gained any ground, and that Caesar was no 
 longer displeased at him, he should give him hia 
 letters, and the proof which he had ready to 
 shew against the young men. As to Archelaus, 
 he made his defence for himself, that he had 
 promised to receive the young men, because it 
 was both for their own and their father's advan- 
 tage so to do, lest some too severe proceduw 
 should be gone upon in that anger and disorder 
 they were in on occasion of the present sus- 
 picions; but that still he had not promised to 
 send them to Caesar ; and that he had not pro- 
 mised anything else to the young men that 
 could shew any ill-will to him. 
 
 8. When these ambassadors were come to 
 Rome, they had a fit opportunity to deliver 
 their letters to Caesar, because they found him 
 reconciled to Herod ; for the circumstances of 
 Nicolaus's embassage had been as follows : As 
 soon as he was come to Rome, and was about 
 the court, he did not first of all set about what 
 he was come for only, but he thought fit also to 
 accuse Sylleus. Now, the Arabians, even before 
 he came to talk with them, were quarrelling one 
 with another ; and some of them left Sylleus's 
 party, and joining themselves to Nicolaus, in- 
 formed him of all the wicked things that had 
 been done ; and produced to him evident de- 
 monstrations of the slaughter of a great number 
 of Obodas's friends by Sylleus ; for when these 
 men left Sylleus, they had carried off with them
 
 CHAP. XL] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES Of THE JEWS. 
 
 351 
 
 those letters whereby they could convict him. 
 When Nicolaus saw such an opportunity afforded 
 him, he made use of it, in order to gain his own 
 point afterward, and endeavoured immediately 
 to make a reconciliation between Caesar and 
 Herod ; for he was fully satisfied, that if he 
 should desire to make a defence for Herod di- 
 rectly, he should not be allowed that liberty ; 
 but that if he desired to accuse Sylleus, there 
 would an occasion present itself of speaking on 
 Herod's behalf. So when the cause was ready 
 for hearing, and the day was appointed, Nicolaus, 
 ivhile Aretas's ambassadors were present, ac- 
 cused Sylleus, and said that he imputed to him 
 the destruction of the king [Obodas,] and of 
 many others of the Arabians : that he had bor- 
 rowed money for no good design; and he proved 
 that he had been guilty of adultery, not only 
 with the Arabian, but Roman women also. And 
 he added, that above all the rest he had alien- 
 ated Caesar from Herod ; and that all that he 
 had said about the actions of Herod were fal- 
 sities. "When Nicolaua was come to this topic, 
 Caesar stopped him from going on, and desired 
 hJTn only to speak to this affair of Herod, and 
 to shew that he had not led an army into Arabia, 
 nor slain two thousand five hundred men there, 
 nor taken prisoners, nor pillaged the country. 
 To which Nicolaus made this answer : " I shall 
 principally demonstrate, that either nothing at 
 all, or but a very little, of those imputations 
 are true, of which thou hast been informed ; for 
 had they been true, thou mightest justly have 
 been still more angry at Herod." At this strange 
 assertion, Caesar was very attentive ; and Nico- 
 laus said, that there was a debt due to Herod of 
 five hundred talents, and a bond, wherein it was 
 written, that if the time appointed be elapsed, 
 it should be lawful to make a seizure out of any 
 part of his country. "As for the pretended 
 army," he said, "it was no army, but a party 
 sent out to require the just payment of the 
 money : that this was not sent immediately, nor 
 so as the bond allowed, but that Sylleus had fre- 
 quently come before Saturninus and Volumnius, 
 the presidents of Syria : and that at last he had 
 sworn at Beryt\s, by thy fortune,* that he 
 would certainly pay the money within thirty 
 days, and dfeliver up the fugitives that were un- 
 der his dominion. And that when Sylleus had 
 performed nothing of this, Herod came again 
 before the presidents ; and upon their permis- 
 sion to make a seizure for the money, he, with 
 difficulty, went out of his country with a party 
 of soldiers for that purpose. And this is aU the 
 war which these men so tragically describe ; and 
 this is the affair of the expedition into Arabia. 
 And how can this be called a war, when thy 
 presidents permitted it, the covenants allowed 
 it, and it was not executed till thy name, O Cse- 
 tor, as well as that of the other gods, had been 
 profaned? And now I must speak in order 
 t'uut the captives. There were robbers that 
 dwelt in Trachonitis: at first their number 
 was no more than forty, but they became more 
 afterwards, and they escaped the punishment 
 Herod would have inflicted on them, by making 
 Arabia their refuge. Sylleus received them, and 
 supported them with food, that they might be 
 mischievous to all mankind ; and gave them a 
 country to inhabit, and himself received the gains 
 they made by robbery ; yet did he promise that 
 he would deliver up these men, and that by the 
 
 * This oath, by the fortune of Caesar, was put to Poly- 
 earp, a bishop of Smyrna, by the Roman governor, to 
 try whether he were a Christian, as they were then es- 
 teemed who refused to (wear that oath. 
 
 same oaths and same time that he sware and 
 fixed for payment of his debt : nor can he by 
 any means shew that any other persons have at 
 this time been taken out of Arabia besides these, 
 and indeed not all these neither, but only so 
 many as could not conceal themselves/ And 
 thus does the calumny of the captives, which 
 hath been so odiously represented, appear to be 
 no better than a fiction and a lie, made on pur- 
 pose to provoke thy indignation ; for I venture 
 to affirm, that when the forces of the Arabians 
 came upon us, and one or two of Herod's party 
 fell, he then only defended himself, and there 
 fell Nacebus their general, and in all about 
 twenty-five others, and no more ; whence Syl- 
 leus, by multiplying every single soldier to a 
 hundred, he reckons the slain to have been two 
 thousand five hundred." 
 
 9. This provoked Caesar more than ever : so 
 he turned to Sylleus full of rage, and asked him 
 how many of the Arabians were slain. Here- 
 upon he hesitated, and said he had been imposed 
 upon. The covenants were also read about the 
 money he had borrowed, and the letters of the 
 presidents of Syria, and the complaints of the 
 several cities, so many as had been injured by 
 the robbers The conclusion was this, that 
 Sylleus was condemned to die, and that Caesar 
 was reconciled to Herod, and owned his repent- 
 ance for what severe things he had written to 
 him, occasioned by calumny, insomuch that he 
 told Sylleus, that he had compelled him, by his 
 lying account of things, to be guilty of ingrati- 
 tude against a man that was his friend. At the 
 last all came to this, Sylleus was sent away to 
 answer Herod's suit, and to repay the debt that 
 he owed, and after that to be punished [with 
 death ;] but still Caesar was offended with Aretas, 
 that he had taken upon himself the government, 
 without his consent first obtained, for he had 
 determined to bestow Arabia upon Herod ; but 
 that the letters he had sent hindered him from 
 so doing ; for Olympus and Volumnius, perceiv- 
 ing that Caesar was now become favourable to 
 Herod, thought fit immediately to deliver him 
 the letters they were commanded by Herod to 
 give him concerning his sons. When Caesar had 
 read them, he thought it would not be proper 
 to add another government to him, now he was 
 old, and in an ill state with relation to his sons, 
 so he admitted Aretas's ambassadors ; and after 
 he had just reproved him for his rashness, in 
 not tarrying till he received the kingdom from 
 him, he accepted of his presents, and confirmed 
 him in hi government. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 HOW HEROD, BY PERMISSION FROM CJESAB, AC- 
 CUSED HIS SONS BEFORE AN ASSEMBLY OP 
 JUDGES AT BERYTUS; AND WHAT TEBO SUF- 
 FERED, FOR USING A BOUNDLESS AND MILITARY 
 LIBERTY OF SPEECH. CONCERNING ALSO THB 
 DEATH OF THE YOUNG MEN, AND THEIR BURIAL 
 AT ALEXANDRIUM. 
 
 1. So Caesar was now reconciled to Herod, and 
 wrote thus to him : That he was grieved for 
 him on account of his sons; and that in case 
 they had been guilty of any profane and insolent 
 crimes against him, it would behove him to 
 punish them as parricides, for which he gave 
 him power accordingly; but if they had only 
 contrived to fly away, he would have him give 
 them an admonition, and not proceed to ex- 
 tremity with them. He also advised him to
 
 854 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK 
 
 get an assembly together, and to appoint some 
 place near Berytus,* which is a city belonging to 
 the Komans, and to take the presidents of Syria, 
 and Archelaus, king of Cappadocia, and as many 
 more as ho thought to be illustrious for their 
 friendship to him, and the dignities they were 
 in, and determine what should be done by their 
 approbation. These were the directions that 
 Caesar gave him. Accordingly Herod, when the 
 letter was brought to him, was immediately 
 very glad of Caesar's reconciliation to him, and 
 very glad also that he had a complete authority 
 given him over his sons. And it strangely came 
 about, that whereas before, in his adversity, 
 though he had indeed shewn himself severe, yet 
 had he not been very rash, nor hasty, in procur- 
 ing the destruction of his sons ; he now, in his 
 prosperity, took advantage of this change for 
 the better, and the freedom he now had, to 
 exercise his hatred against them, after an un- 
 heard-of manner; he therefore sent and called 
 as many as he thought fit to this assembly, ex- 
 cepting Archelaus ; for as for him, he either 
 hated him, so that he would not invite him, or 
 thought he would be an obstacle to his designs. 
 
 2. When the presidents, and the rest that 
 belonged to the cities, were come to Berytus, he 
 kept his sons in a certain village belonging to 
 Sidon, called Platana, but near to this city, 
 that if they were called he might produce them, 
 for he did not think fit to bring them before the 
 assembly : and when there were one hundred and 
 fifty assessors present, Herod came by himself 
 alone, and accused his sons, and in such a way 
 as if it were not a melancholy accusation, and 
 not made but out of necessity, and upon the 
 misfortunes he was under; indeed, in such a 
 way as was very indecent for a father to accuse 
 his sons, for he was very vehement and dis- 
 ordered when he came to the demonstration of 
 the crime they were accused of, and gave the 
 greatest signs of passion and barbarity : nor 
 would he suffer the assessors to consider of the 
 weight of the evidence, but asserted them to be 
 true by his own authority, after a manner most 
 indecent in a father against his sons, and read 
 himself what they themselves had written, 
 wherein there was no confession of any plots or 
 contrivances against him, but only how they 
 had contrived to fly away, and containing withal 
 certain reproaches against him, on account of 
 the ill-will he bare them ; and when he came to 
 those reproaches, he cried out most of all, and 
 exaggerated what they said, as if they had con- 
 fessed the design against him, and took his 
 oath that he had rather lose his life than hear 
 uch reproachful words. At last he said that 
 he had sufficient authority, both by nature and 
 by Caesar's grant to him, [to do what he thought 
 fit.] He also added an allegation of a law of 
 their country, which enjoined this: That if 
 parents laid their hands on the head of him that 
 was accused, the standers-by were obliged to 
 cast stones at him, and thereby slay him : which 
 though he were ready to do in his own country 
 and kingdom, yet did he wait for their deter- 
 mination; and yet they came thither not so 
 much as judges, to condemn them for such 
 manifest designs against him, whereby he had 
 almost perished by his sons' means, but as per- 
 
 * What Josephus relates Augustus to have here said, 
 that Borytus was a city belonging to the Romans, is 
 confirmed by Spanheim : "It was," says he, " a 
 colony placed there by Augustus. The colony of 
 Berytua was rendered famous by the benefits of Ctcsar ; 
 and thence it is, that among the coins of Augustus, we 
 meet with some having this inscription : ' The happy 
 colony of Augustus at Ek-.rvtus ' " 
 
 sons that had an opportunity of shewing their 
 detestation of such practices, and declaring how 
 unworthy a thing it must be in any, even tho 
 most remote, to pass over such treacherous de- 
 signs [without punishment.] 
 
 3. When the king had said this, and tho 
 young men had not been produced to make any 
 defence for themselves, the assessors perceived 
 there was no room for equity and reconciliation ; 
 so they confirmed his authority. And in the 
 first place, Saturninus, a person that had been 
 consul, and one of great dignity, pronounced 
 tis sentence, but with great moderation and 
 trouble ; and said, that he condemned HeroJ.'s 
 sons ; but did not think they should be put to 
 death. He had sons of his own ; and to put 
 one's son to death, is a greater misfortune than 
 any other that could befall him by their means. 
 After him Saturninus's sons, for he had three 
 sons that followed him, and were his legates, 
 pronounced the same sentence with their father. 
 On the contrary, Volumnius's sentence was to 
 inflict death on such as had been so impiously 
 undutif ul to their father ; and the greatest part 
 of the rest said the same, insomuch that the 
 conclusion seemed to be, that the young men 
 were condemned to die. Immediately after this 
 Herod came away from thence, and took his 
 sons to Tyre, where Nicolaus met him in his 
 voyage from Rome ; of whom he inquired, after 
 he had related to him what had passed at Bery- 
 tus, what his sentiments were about his sons, 
 and what his friends at Rome thought of the 
 matter. His answer was, "That what they had 
 determined to do to thee was impious, and that 
 thou oughtest to keep them in prison : and if 
 them thinkest anything further necessary, thou 
 mayest indeed so punish them, that thou mayest 
 not appear to indulge thy anger more than to 
 govern thyself by judgment; but if thou in- 
 clinest to the milder side, thou mayest absolve 
 them, lest perhaps thy misfortunes be rendered 
 incurable : and this is the opinion of the greater 
 part of thy friends at Rome also." Whereupon 
 Herod was silent, and in great thonghtfulness, 
 and bade Nicolaus sail along with him. 
 
 4. Now as they came to Cesarea, everybody 
 was there talking of Herod's sons; and the king- 
 dom was in suspense, and the people in great 
 expectation of what would become of them, for 
 a terrible fear seized upon all men, lest the 
 ancient disorders of the family should come to a 
 sad conclusion, and they were in great trouble 
 about their sufferings ; nor was it without danger 
 to say any rash thing about this matter, nor even 
 to hear another saying it, but men's pity was 
 forced to be shut up in themselves, which ren- 
 dered the excess of their sorrow very irksome, 
 but very silent ; yet was there an old soldier of 
 Herod's, whose name was Tero, who had a son 
 of the same age as Alexander, and his friend, 
 who was so very free as openly to speak out 
 what others thought about the matter ; and was 
 forced to cry out often among the multitude, 
 and said, in the moat unguarded manner, that 
 truth was perished, and justice taken away 
 from men, while lies and ill-will prevailed, and 
 brought such a mist before public affairs, that 
 the offenders were not able to see the greatest 
 mischiefs that can befall men. And as he wag 
 so bold, he seemed not to have kept himself 
 out of danger, by speaking so freely; but the 
 reasonableness of what he said moved men to 
 regard him as having behaved himself with great 
 manhood, and this at a proper time also, for 
 which reason every one heard what he said with 
 pleasure : and although they first took care of 
 their own safety by keeping silent themselves
 
 OBAP. XI. j 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THJS JEWS. 
 
 35c 
 
 ret did they kindly receive the great freedom 
 ie took ; for the expectation they were in of so 
 preat an affliction, put a force upon them to 
 ioeak of Tero whatsoever they pleased. 
 
 5. This man had thrust himself into the king's 
 presence with the greatest freedom, and desired 
 x) speak with liirn by himself alone, which the 
 ting permitted him to do ; where he said this : 
 "Since I am not able, O king, to bear up 
 under so great a concern as I am under, 1 have 
 preferred the use of this bold liberty that I now 
 take, which may be for thy advantage, if thou 
 mind to get any profit by it, before my own 
 safety. Whither is thy understanding gone, 
 and left thy soul empty? Whither is that 
 extraordinary sagacity of thine gone, whereby 
 thou hast performed BO many and such glorious 
 actions? Whence comes this solitude, and de- 
 sertion of thy friends and relations ? Of which 
 I cannot but determine that they are neither 
 thy friends nor relations, while they overlook 
 such horrid wickedness in thy once happy king- 
 dom. Dost not thou perceive what is doing? 
 Wilt thou slay these two young men, born of 
 thy queen, who are accomplished with every 
 virtue in the highest degree, and leave thyself 
 destitute in thy old age, but exposed to one son, 
 who hath very ill managed the hopes thou hast 
 given him, and to relations whose death thou 
 hast so often resolved on thyself? Dost not 
 thou take notice, that the very silence of the 
 multitude at once sees the crinie, and abhors the 
 fact? The whole army and tl\a officers have 
 commiseration on the poor unhappy youths, 
 and hatred to those that are the actors in this 
 matter." These words the king heard, and for 
 some time with good temper. But what can 
 one say ? When Tero plainly touched upon the 
 bad behaviour and perfidiousness of his domes- 
 tics, he was moved at it; but Tero went on 
 further, and by degrees used an unbounded 
 military freedom of speech, nor was he so well 
 disciplined as to accommodate himself to the 
 time : BO Herod was greatly disturbed, and 
 seemed to be rather reproached by thk speech, 
 than to be hearing what was for his advantage ; 
 while he learned thereby that both the soldiers 
 abhorred the thing he was about, and the 
 officers had indignation at it, he gave order that 
 all whom Tero had named, and Tero himself, 
 should be bound and kept in prison. 
 
 6. When this was over, one Trypho, who was 
 the king's barber, took the opportunity, and 
 came and told the king that Tero would often 
 have persuaded him, when he trimmed him with 
 a razor, to cut his throat, for that by this means 
 he should be among the chief of Alexander's 
 friends, and receive great rewards from him. 
 When he had said this, the king gave order that 
 Tero, and his son, and the barber, should be tor- 
 tured, which was done accordingly ; but while 
 Tero bore up himself, his son, seeing his father 
 already in a sad case, and with no hope of de- 
 liverance, and perceiving what would be the 
 consequence of his terrible sufferings, said, that 
 if the king would free him and his father from 
 these torments for what he should say, he would 
 tell the truth. And when the king had given 
 his word to do so, he said that there was an 
 agreement made, that Tero should lay violent 
 hands on the king, because it was easy for him 
 to come when he was alone ; and that if, when 
 he had done the thing, he should suffer death 
 for it, as was not unlikely, it would be an act of 
 generosity done in favour of Alexander. This 
 was what Tero's son said, and thereby freed his 
 father from the distress he was in ; but uncer- 
 tain it is whether he had been thus forced to 
 
 speak what was true, or whether it were a con- 
 trivance of his in order to procure his own and 
 his father's deliverance from then: miseries. 
 
 7. As for Herod, if he had before any doubt 
 about the slaughter of his sons, there was now 
 no longer any room left in his soul for it ; but 
 he had banished away whatsoever might afford 
 him the least suggestion of reasoning better 
 about this matter, so he already made haste to 
 bring his purpose to a conclusion. He also 
 brought out three hundred of the officers that 
 were under an accusation, as also Tero and his 
 son, and the barber that accused them, before 
 an assembly, and brought an accusation against 
 them all ; whom the multitude stoned with 
 whatsoever came to hand, and thereby slew 
 them. Alexander also and Aristobulus were 
 brought to Sebaste, by their father's command, 
 and there strangled ; but their dead bodies were 
 in the night time carried to Alexandrium, where 
 their uncle, by the mother's side, and the great- 
 est part of their ancestors, had been deposited. 
 
 8. * And now perhaps it may not seem unrea- 
 sonable to some, that such an inveterate hatred 
 might increase so much [on both sides,] as to 
 proceed further, and overcome nature ; but it 
 may justly deserve consideration, whether it be 
 to be laid to the charge of the young men, that 
 they gave such an occasion to their father's 
 anger, and led him to do what he did, and by 
 going on long in the same way, put things past 
 remedy, and brought him to use them so unmer- 
 cifully ; or whether it be to be laid to the fa- 
 ther's charge, that he was so hard-hearted, 
 and so very tender in the desire of government, 
 and of other things that would tend to his glory, 
 that he would take no one into a partnership 
 with him, that so whatsoever he would have 
 done himself might continue immovable; 01, 
 indeed, whether fortune has not greater power 
 than all prudent reasonings : whence we are per- 
 suaded that human actions are thereby deter- 
 mined beforehand by an inevitable necessity, 
 and we call her Fate, because there is nothing 
 which is not done by her ; wherefore I suppose 
 it will be sufficient to compare this notion with 
 that other, which attributes somewhat to our- 
 selves, and renders men not unaccountable for 
 the different conducts of their lives ; which 
 notion is no other than the philosophical deter- 
 mination of our ancient law. Accordingly, of 
 the two other causes of this sad event, anybody 
 may lay the blame on the young men, who acted 
 by youthful vanity, and pride of their royal 
 birth, that they should bear to hear the calum- 
 nies that were raised against their father, while 
 certainly they were not equitable judges of the 
 actions of his life, but ill-natured in suspecting, 
 and intemperate in speaking of it, and on both 
 accounts easily caugnt by those that observed 
 them, and revealed them to gam favour: yet 
 cannot their fatLer be thought worthy of excuse, 
 as to that horrid impiety whict he was guilty of 
 about them, while he ventured, without any 
 certain evidence of their treacherous designs 
 against him, and without any proofs that they 
 had made preparations for such an attempt, to 
 kill his own sons, who were of very comely 
 bodies, and the great darlings of other men, and 
 no way deficient in their conduct, whether it 
 were in hunting, or in warlike exercises, or in 
 speaking upon occasional topics of discourse; 
 for in all these they were skilful, and es- 
 pecially Alexander, who was the eldest; foi 
 
 This eighth section is entirely wanting in the old 
 Latin version, arising probably from the great difficult; 
 of an exact translation.
 
 36t 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xvn. 
 
 certainly it had been sufficient, even though he 
 had condemned them, to have kept them alive 
 in bonds, or to let them live at a distance from 
 his dominions in banishment, while he was sur- 
 rounded by the Roman forces, wiu.ch were a 
 gtrong security to him, whose htlp would pre- 
 vent his suffering anything by a sudden onset, 
 or by open force ; but for him to kill them on 
 the sudden, in order to gratify a passion that 
 governed him, was a demonstration of insuffer- 
 able impiety. He also was guilty of so great a 
 crime in his old age ; nor will the delays that 
 he made, and the length of time in which the 
 thing was done, plead at all for his excuse ; for 
 when a man is on a sudden amazed, and in com- 
 motion of mind, and then commits a wicked ac- 
 
 tion, although this be & heavy crime, yet it is a 
 thing that frequently happens ; but to do it 
 upon deliberation, and after frequent attempt*, 
 and as frequent puttings off, to undertake it at 
 last, and accomplish it, was the action of a mur- 
 derous mind, and such as was not easily moved 
 from that wmch was evil : and this temper he 
 shewed in what he did afterward, when he did 
 not spare those that seemed to be the best be- 
 loved of his friends that wero left, wherein, 
 though the justice of the punishment caused 
 those that perished to be the less pitied, yet was 
 the barbarity of the man here equal, in that he 
 did not abstain from their slaughter also. But 
 of those persons we shall have occasion to dis- 
 course more hereafter. 
 
 BOOK XVII. 
 
 CONTAINING THB INTERVAL OF FOURTEEN YEARS, 
 
 FROM ALEXANDER AND ARISTOBULUS'S DEATH TO THE BANISHMENT 
 
 OF ARCHELAUS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HOW ANTIPATER WAS HATED BY ALL THE NATION 
 [OF THE JEWS] FOR THE SLAUGHTER OF HIS 
 BRETHREN ; AND HOW, FOR THAT REASON, HE 
 GOT INTO PECULIAR FAVOUR WITH HIS FRIENDS 
 AT ROME, BY GIVING THEM MANY PRESENTS; 
 AS HE DID ALSO WITH SATURNINUS, THE PRESI- 
 DENT OF STRIA, AND THE GOVERNORS WHO 
 WERE UNDER HIM ; AND CONCERNING HEROD'S 
 WIVES AND CHILDREN. 
 
 1. WHEN Antipater had thus taken off his 
 brethren, and had brought his father into the 
 highest degree of impiety, till he was haunted 
 with furies for what he had done, his hopes did 
 not succeed to his mind, as to the rest of his 
 life; for although he was delivered from the 
 fear of his brethren being his rivals as to the 
 government, yet did he find it a very hard thing, 
 and almost impracticable, to come at the king- 
 dom, because the hatred of the nation against 
 him on that account was become very great ; 
 and, besides this very disagreeable circumstance, 
 the affairs of the soldiery grieved him still 
 more, who were alienated from him, from which 
 yet these kings derived all the safety which they 
 had, whenever they found the nation desirous of 
 innovation : and afi this danger was drawn upon 
 him by his destruction of his brethren. How- 
 ever, he governed the nation jointly with his 
 father, being indeed no other than a king al- 
 ready ; and he was for that very reason trusted, 
 and more firmly depended on, for which he 
 ought himself to have been put to death, as 
 appearing to have betrayed his brethren out of 
 his concern for the preservation of Herod, and 
 noi rather out of his ill-will to them, and before 
 them, to his father himself ; and this was the 
 accursed state he was in. Now, all Antipater's 
 contrivances tended to make his way to take off 
 Herod, that he might have nobody to accuse 
 him in the vila practices he was devising ; and 
 that Herod might have no refuge, nor any to 
 afford him tbeir assistance, since they must 
 
 thereby have Antipater for their open enemy ; 
 insomuch that the very plots he had laid against 
 his brethren, were occasioned by the hatred he 
 bore his father. But at this time he was more 
 than ever set upon the execution of his attempts 
 against Herod, because, if he were once dead, 
 the government would now be firmly secured to 
 him ; but if he were suffered to live any longer, 
 he should be in danger upon a discovery of thai 
 wickedness of which he had been the contriver, 
 and his father would then of necessity become 
 his enemy. And on this account it was that he 
 became very bountiful to his father's friends, 
 and bestowed great sums on several of them, ii 
 order to surprise men with his good deeds, anc 
 take off their hatred against them. And he sent 
 great presents to his friends at Rome, particu- 
 larly to gain their good-will ; and, above all, to 
 Saturninus, the president of Syria. He also 
 hoped to gain the favour of Saturninus's brother 
 with the large presents he bestowed on him ; as 
 also he used the same art to [Salome] the king's 
 sister, who had married one of Herod's chie 
 friends. And when he counterfeited friendship 
 to those with whom he conversed, he was veri 
 subtle in gaining their belief, and very cunninj 
 to hide his hatred against any that he really die 
 hate. But he could not impose upon his aunt 
 who understood him of a long time, and was t 
 woman not easily to be deluded, especially 
 while she had already used all possible caution 
 in preventing his pernicious designs. Although 
 Antipater's uncle by the mother's side was 
 married to her daughter, and this by his own 
 connivance and management, while she hac 
 before been married to Aristobulus, and whil 
 Salome's other daughter by that husband wa 
 married to the son of Calleas ; yet that marriage 
 was no obstacle to her, who knew how wickec 
 he was, hi her discovering his designs, as her 
 former kindred to him could not prevent hei 
 hatred of him. Now Herod had compellet 
 Salome, while she was in love with Sylleus the 
 Arabian, and had taken a fondness to him, to 
 marry Alexas ; which matdi was by her sub-
 
 CHAP. II.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 357 
 
 mitted to at the instance of Julia, who per- 
 suaded Salome not to refuse it, lest she should 
 herself be their open enemy, since Herod had 
 sworn that he would never be friends with 
 Salome if she would not accept of Alexius for her 
 husband; so she submitted to Julia, as being 
 Csesar's wife ; and besides that, she advised her 
 to nothing but what was very much for her own 
 advantage. At this time also it was that 
 Herod sent back king Archelaus's daughter, 
 who had been Alexander's wife, to her father, 
 returning the portion he had with her out of his 
 own estate, that there might be no dispCte be- 
 tween them about it. 
 
 2. Now Herod brought up his sons' children 
 with great care ; for Alexander had two sons by 
 Glaphyra; and Aristobulus had three sons by 
 Bernice, Salome's daughter, and two daughters ; 
 and as his friends were once with him, he pre- 
 sented the children before them ; and deploring 
 the hard fortune of his own sons, he prayed that 
 no such ill-fortune would befall these who were 
 their children, but that they might improve in 
 virtue, and obtain what they justly deserved, 
 and might make him amends for his care of their 
 education. He also caused them to be betrothed 
 against they should come to the proper age of mar- 
 riage ; the elder of Alexander's sons to Pheroras's 
 daughter, and Antipater's daughter to Aristo- 
 bulus's eldest son. He also allotted one of Aris- 
 tobulus's daughters to Antipater's son, and Aris- 
 tobulus's other daughter to Herod, a son of his 
 own, who was born to him by the high priest's 
 daughter : for it is the ancient practice among 
 us to have many wives at the same time. Now 
 the king made these espousals for the children, 
 out of commiseration of them now they were 
 fatherless, as endeavouring to render Antipater 
 kind to them by these intermarriages. But An- 
 tipater did not fail to bear the same temper of 
 mind to his brothers' children which he had 
 borne to his brothers themselves; and his fa- 
 ther's concern about them provoked his indigna- 
 tion against them upon his supposal, that they 
 would become greater than ever his brothers 
 had been; while Archelaus, a king, would sup- 
 port his daughter's sons, and Pheroras, a te- 
 trarch, would accept of one of the daughters as 
 a wife to his son. What provoked him also was 
 this, that all the multitude would so commiser- 
 ate these fatherless children, and so hate him, 
 [for making them fatherless,] that all would 
 come out, since they were no strangers to his 
 vile disposition towards his brethren. He con- 
 trived, therefore, to overturn his father's settle- 
 ments, as thinking it a terrible thing that they 
 should be so related to him, and be so powerful 
 withal. So Herod yielded to him, and changed 
 his resolution at his entreaty; and the determi- 
 nation now was, that Antipater himself should 
 marry Aristobulus's daughter, and Antipater's 
 son should marry Pheroras's daughter. So the 
 espousals for the marriages were changed sJtei 
 this manner, even without the king's real appro- 
 bation. 
 
 3. Now Herod the king had at this time nine 
 wives; one of them Antipater's mother, and 
 another the high priest's daughter, by whom he 
 had a son of his own name. He had also one 
 who was his brother's daughter, and another his 
 sister's daughter; which two had no children. 
 One of his wives also was of the Samaritan na- 
 tion, whose sons were Antipas and Archelaus, 
 and whose daughter was Olympias ; which daugh- 
 ter was afterwards married to Joseph, the king's 
 brother's son ; but Archelaus and Antipas were 
 brought up with a certain private man at Rome. 
 Herod had also to wife Cleopatra of Jerusalem. 
 
 and by her he had his sons Herod and Philip, 
 which last was also brought up at Rome : Pallas 
 was also one of his wives, who bare him his son 
 Phasaelus; and besides these, he had for his 
 wives Phedra and Elpis, by whom he had his 
 daughters Roxana and Salome. As for his elder 
 daughters by the same mother with Alexander 
 and Aristobulus, and whom Pheroras neglected 
 to marry, he gave the one in marriage to Anti- 
 pater, the king's sister's son, and the other to 
 Phasaelus, his brother's sou; and this was the 
 posterity of Herod. 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 CONCERNING ZAMARIS, THE BABYLONIAN JEW; 
 CONCERNING THE PLOTS LAID BY ANTIPATER 
 AGAINST HIS FATHEB; AND SOMEWHAT ABOUT 
 THE PHARISEES. 
 
 1. AND now it was that Herod, being desirous 
 to secure himself on the side of the Trachonitis, 
 resolved to build a village as large as a city for 
 the Jews, in the middle of that country, which 
 might make his own country difficult to be as- 
 saulted, and whence he might be at hand to 
 make sallies upon them, and do them a mischief. 
 Accordingly, when he understood that there was 
 a man who was a Jew come out of Babylon, with 
 five hundred horsemen, all of whom could shoot 
 their arrows as they rode on horseback, and, 
 with a hundred of his relations, had passed over 
 Euphrates, and now abode at Antioch by Daphne 
 tf Syria, where Saturninus, who was then presi- 
 dent, had given them a place for habitation 
 called Valatha, he sent for this man, with the 
 multitude that followed him, and promised to 
 give him land in the toparchy called Batanea, 
 which country is bounded with Trachonitis, as 
 desirous to make that his habitation a guard to 
 himself. He also engaged to let him hold the 
 country free from tribute, and that they should 
 dwell entirely without paying such customs as 
 used to be paid, and gave it him tax free. 
 
 2. The Babylonian was induced by these offers 
 to come hither ; so he took possession of the 
 land, and built in it fortresses and a village, and 
 named it Bathyra. Whereby this man became a 
 safeguard to the inhabitants against the Tra- 
 chonites, and preserved those Jews who came 
 out of Babylon, to offer their sacrifices at Jeru- 
 salem, from being hurt by the Trachonite rob- 
 bers ; so that a great number came to him from 
 all those parts where the ancient Jewish laws 
 were observed, and the country became full of 
 people, by reason of their universal freedom 
 from taxeSk This continued during the life of 
 Herod; but when Philip, who was [tetrarch] 
 after him, took the government, he made them 
 pay some small taxes, and that for a little while 
 
 I only ; and Agrippa the Great, and his son of the 
 ' same name, although they harassed them greatly, 
 yet would they not take their liberty away. 
 From whom, when the Romans have now taken 
 the government into their own hands, they still 
 gave them the privilege of their freedom, but 
 oppress them entirely with tha imposition of 
 taxes. Of which matter I shall treat more ac- 
 curately in the progress of this history.* 
 
 3. At length Zamaris the Babylonian, to whom 
 Herod had given that country for a possession, 
 died ; having lived virtuously, and left children 
 of a good character behind him ; one of whom 
 was Jacim, who was famous for his valour, and 
 
 * This it now wanting.
 
 358 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 OOOK xvn. 
 
 taught his Babylonians how to ride their horses ; 
 Mid a troop of them were guards to the fore- 
 mentioned kings ; and when Jacim was dead in 
 his old age, he left a son whose name was Philip, 
 one of great strength in his hands, and in other 
 respects also more eminent for his valour than 
 any of his contemporaries ; on which account 
 there was a confidence and firm friendship be- 
 tween him and king Agrippa. He had also an 
 army which he maintained, as great as that of a 
 king ; which he exercised and led wheresoever 
 he had occasion to march. 
 
 4. When the affairs of Herod were in the con- 
 dition I have described, all the public affairs de- 
 pended upon Antipater ; and his power was such, 
 that he could do good turns to as many as he 
 pleased, and this by his father's concession ; in 
 topes of his good-will and fidelity to him ; and 
 this till he ventured to use his power still further, 
 because his wicked designs were concealed from 
 his father, and he made him believe everything 
 he said. He was also formidable to all, not so 
 much on account of the power and authority ho 
 had, as for the shrewdness of his vile attempts 
 beforehand ; but he who principally cultivated n 
 friendship with him was Pheroras, who received 
 the like marks of his friendship ; while Antipater 
 had cunningly encompassed him about by a com- 
 pany of women, whom he placed as guards about 
 him ; for Pheroras was greatly enslaved to his 
 wife, and to her mother, and to her sister ; and 
 this notwithstanding the luitred he bare them, 
 for the indignities they had offered to his virgin 
 daughters. Yet did he bear them ; and nothing 
 was to be done without the women, who had got 
 this man into their circle, and continued still to 
 assist each other in all things, insomuch that 
 Antipater was entirely addicted to them both by 
 himself and by his mother . for these four 
 women * said all one and the same thing ; but 
 the opinions of Pheroras and Antipater were 
 different in some points of no consequence. But 
 the king's sister [Salome] was their antagonist, 
 who for a good while had looked about all their 
 affairs, and was apprised that this their friend- 
 ship was made, in order to do Herod some mis- 
 chief, and was disposed to inform the king of it; 
 and since these people knew that their friendship 
 was very disagreeable to Herod, as tending to do 
 him a mischief, they contrived that their meet- 
 ings should not be discovered ; so they pretended 
 to hate one another, and abuse one another when 
 time served, and especially when Herod was pre- 
 sent, or when any one was there that would tell 
 him; but still their intimacy was firmer than 
 ever, when they were private ; and this was the 
 course they took. But they could not conceal 
 from Salome neither their first contrivance, when 
 they set about these their intentions, nor when 
 they had made some progress in them ; but she 
 searched out everything, and, aggravating the 
 relations to her brother, declared to him, as well 
 their secret assemblies and compotations, as their 
 counsels taken in a clandestine manner, which, 
 if they were not in order to destroy him, they 
 might well enough have been open and public ; 
 but to appearance they are at variance, and 
 speak about one another as if they intended one 
 another a mischief, but agree so well together 
 when they are out of the sight of the multitude; 
 for when they are alone by themselves they act 
 in concert, and profess that they will never leave 
 off their friendship, but will fight against those 
 from whom they conceal their designs : and thus 
 did she searc>out these things, and get a perfect 
 
 * Pheroras's wife, and her rooth>r and sitter, and 
 Dons, Antipater's mother. 
 
 knowledge of them, and then told her brother of 
 them, who understood also of himself a great 
 deal of what she said, but still durst not depend 
 upon it, because of the suspicions he had of his 
 sister's calumnies ; for there was a certain sect 
 of men that were Jews, who valued themselves 
 highly upon the exact skill they had in the law 
 of their fathers, and made men believe they were 
 highly favoured by God, by whom this set of 
 women were inveigled. These are those that are 
 called the sect of the Pharisees, who were in a 
 capacity of greatly opposing kings. A cunning 
 sect they were, and soon elevated to a pitch ot 
 open fighting and doing mischief. Accordingly, 
 when all the people of the Jews gave assurance 
 of their good-will to Csesar, and to the king's 
 government, these very men did not swear, being 
 above six thousand ; and when the king imposed 
 a fine upon them, Pheroras's wife paid their fine 
 for them. In order to requite which kindness of 
 hers, since they were believed to have the fore- 
 knowledge of things to come by divine inspira- 
 tion, they foretold how God had decreed that 
 Herod's government should cease, and his pos- 
 terity should be deprived of it ; but that the 
 kingdom should come to her and Pheroras. 
 These predictions were not concealed from 
 Salome, but were told the king ; as also how 
 they had perverted some persons about the 
 palace itself. So the king slew such of the Phari- 
 sees as were principally accused, and Bagoas the 
 eunuch, and one Carus, who exceeded all men of 
 that time in comeliness, and one that was his 
 catamite. He slew also all those of his own 
 family who had consented to what the Pharisees 
 foretold ; and for Bagoas, he had been puffed up by 
 them, as though he should be named the father 
 and the benefactor of him who, by the predic- 
 tion, was foretold to be their appointed king ; for 
 that this king would have all things in his power, 
 and would enable Bagoas to marry, and to have 
 children of his own body begotten. 
 
 CHAPTER IH. 
 
 CONCERNIN0 THE ENMITY BETWEEN HEROD AND 
 PHERQHAS ; HOW HEROD SENT ANTIPATER TO 
 CAESAR ; AND OF THE DEATH OP PHERORAS. 
 
 1. WHEN Herod had punished those Pharisees 
 who had been convicted of the foregoing crimes, 
 he gathered an assembly together of his friends, 
 and accused Pheroras's wife ; and ascribing the 
 abuses of the virgins to the impudence of that 
 woman, brought an accusation against her for 
 the dishonour she had brought upon them : that 
 she had studiously introduced a quarrel between 
 him and hig brother; and, by her ill temper, had 
 brought them into a state of war, both by her 
 words and actions : that the fines which he had 
 laid had not been paid, and the offenders had 
 escaped punishment by her means ; and that no- 
 thing which had of late been done, had been 
 done without her : "for which reason Pheroras 
 would do well, if he would of his own accord, 
 and by his own command, and not at my en- 
 treaty, or as following my opinion, put this hia 
 wife away, as one that will still be the occasion 
 of war between thee and me. And now, Phe- 
 roras, if thou vainest thy relation to me, put this 
 wife of thine away ; for by this means thou wilt 
 continue to be a brother to me, and wilt 
 abide in thy love to me." Then said Pheroras, 
 (although he was pressed hard by the former 
 words,) that as he would not do so unjust a 
 thing as to renounce his brotherly relation to
 
 OHAP. IV.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE J"ETWS. 
 
 358 
 
 him, so would he not leave off his affection for 
 his wife ; that he would rather choose to die, 
 than to live and be deprived of a wife that was 
 so dear unto him. Hereupon Herod put off his 
 anger against Pheroras on these accounts, al- 
 though he himself thereby underwent a very 
 uneasy punishment. However, he forbade Anti- 
 pater and his mother to have any conversation 
 with Pheroras, and bade them to take care to 
 avoid the assemblies of the women : which they 
 promised to do, but still got together when 
 occasion served ; and both Pheroras and Anti- 
 pater had their own merry meetings. The re- 
 port went also, that Antipater had criminal con- 
 versation with Pheroras's wife, and that they 
 were brought together by Antipater's mother. 
 
 2. But Antipater had now a suspicion of his 
 father, and was afraid that the effects of his 
 hatred to him might increase ; so he wrote to his 
 friends at Rome, and bade them send to Herod, 
 that he would immediately send Antipater to 
 Caesar; which when it was done, Herod sent 
 Antipater thither, and sent most noble presents 
 along with him ; as also his testament, wherein 
 Antipater was appointed to be his successor : 
 and that if Antipater should die first, his son 
 [Herod Philip,] by the high priest's daughter, 
 should succeed. And, together with Antipater, 
 there went to Rome, Sylleus the Arabian, al- 
 though he had done nothing of all that Cfesar 
 had enjoined him. Antipater also accused him 
 of the same crimes of which he had been for- 
 merly accused by Herod. Sylleus was also ac- 
 cused by Ajetas, that without his consent he 
 had slain many of the chief Arabians at Petra ; 
 and particularly Soemus, a man that deserved 
 to be honoured by all men, and that he had slain 
 Fabatus, a servant of Csesar. These were the 
 things of which Sylleus was accused, and that on 
 the occasion following : There was one Corin- 
 thus, belonging to Herod, of the guards of the 
 king's body, and one who was greatly trusted by 
 him. Sylleus had persuaded this man with the 
 offer of a great sum of money to kill Herod ; 
 and he had promised to do it. When Fabatus 
 had been made acquainted with this, for Sylleus 
 had himself told him of it, he informed the king 
 of it ; who caught Corinthus, and put him to the 
 torture, and thereby got out of him the whole 
 conspiracy. He also caught two other Arabians, 
 who were discovered by Corinthus ; the one the 
 head of a tribe, and the other a friend to Sylleus, 
 who both were by the king brought to torture, 
 and confessed that they were to come to encour- 
 age Corinthus not to fail of doing what he had 
 undertaken to do ; and to assist him with their 
 own hands in the murder, if need should require 
 their assistance. So Saturninus, upon Herod's 
 discovering the whole to him, sent them to 
 Rome. 
 
 3. At this time Herod commanded Pheroras, 
 that since he was so obstinate in his affection for 
 his wife, he should retire into his own tetrarchy ; 
 which he did very willingly, and sware many oaths 
 that he would not come again till he heard that 
 Herod was dead. And indeed when upon a sick- 
 ness of the king, he was desired to come to him 
 before he died, that he might intrust him with 
 some of his injunctions, he had such a regard to 
 his oath, that he would not come to him ; yet 
 did not Herod so retain his hatred to Pheroras, 
 but remitted of his purpose [not to see him] 
 which he before had, and that for such great 
 causes as have been already mentioned : but as 
 soon as he began to be ill he came to him, and 
 this without being sent for ; and when he was 
 dead he took care of his funeral, and had his 
 body brought to Jerusalem, and buried there. 
 
 and appointed a solemn mourning for him. This 
 [death of Pheroras] became the origin of Anti- 
 pater's misfortunes, although he had already 
 sailed for Rome, God now being about to punish 
 him for the murder of his brethren. I will ex- 
 plain the history of this matter very distinctly, 
 that it may be for a warning to mankind, that 
 they take care of conducting their whole lives 
 by the rules of virtue. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PHZHORAS'S WIFE IS ACCUSED BY HIS FREEDMEH 
 AS GUILTY OF POISONING HIM; AND HOW HEROD, 
 UPON EXAMINING OF THE MATTER BY TORTURE, 
 FOUND THE POISON; BUT 80 THAT IT HAD BEEN 
 PREPARED FOR HIMSELF BY HIS SON ANTI- 
 PATER; AND UPON AN INQUIRY BY TORTURE, 
 HE DISCOVERED THE DANGEROUS DESIGNS Of 
 ANTIPATEB, 
 
 1. As soon as Pheroras was dead, and his 
 funeral was over, two of Pheroras's freedmen, 
 who were much esteemed by him, came to Herod, 
 and entreated him not to leave the murder of 
 his brother without avenging it, but to examine 
 into such an unreasonable and unhappy death. 
 When he was moved with these words, for they 
 seemed to him to be true, they said that Phe- 
 roras supped with his wife the day before he fell 
 sick, and that a certain potion was brought to 
 him in a sort of food as he was not used to eat 
 but that when he had eaten it he died of it : that 
 this potion was brought out of Arabia by a 
 woman, under pretence indeed as a love potion, 
 for that was its name, but in reality to kill Phe- 
 roras ; for that the Arabian women are skilful in 
 making such poisons : and the woman to whom 
 they ascribe this, was confessedly a most inti- 
 mate friend of one of Sylleus's mistresses ; and 
 that both the mother and the sister of Pheroras'g 
 wife had been at the place where she lived, and 
 had persuaded her to sell them this potion, and 
 had come back and brought it with them the day 
 before that of his supper. Hereupon the king 
 was provoked, and put the women slaves to the 
 torture, and some that were free with them ; 
 and as the fact did not yet appear, because none 
 of them would confess it, at length one of them, 
 under the utmost agonies, said no more but this, 
 that she prayed that God would send the like 
 agonies upon Antipater's mother who had been 
 the occasion of these miseries to all of them. 
 This prayer induced Herod to increase the wo 
 men's tortures, till thereby all was discovered : 
 their merry meetings, their secret assemblies, 
 and the disclosing of what he had said to his sort 
 alone unto Pheroras's* women. (Now what 
 Herod had charged Antipater to conceal, wai 
 the gift of a hundred talents to him, not to hare 
 any conversation with Pheroras.) And what 
 hatred he bore to his father ; and that he com- 
 plained to his mother how very long his father 
 lived ; and that he was himself almost an old 
 man, insomuch that if the kingdom should come 
 to him, it would not afford him any great plea- 
 sure ; and that there were a great many of his 
 brothers, or brothers' children, bringing up, that 
 might have hopes of the kingdom as well aa 
 himself ; all which made his own hopes of it un- 
 certain ; for that even now, if he should himself 
 not live, Herod had ordained that the govern- 
 ment should be conferred, not on his son, but 
 rather on a brother. He |ilso had accused tha 
 
 Hii wife, her mother, and sister.
 
 MO 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK XVIL 
 
 king of great barbarity, and of the slaughter of 
 his sons ; and that it was out of the fear he was 
 under, lest he should do the like to him, that 
 made him contrive this his journey to Rome, and 
 Pheroras contrive to go to his own tetrarchy. * 
 
 2. These confessions agreed with what his 
 sister had told him, and tending greatly to cor- 
 roborate her testimony, and to free her from the 
 suspicion of her unfaithfulness to him. So the 
 king having satified himself of the spite which 
 Doris, Antipater's mother, as well as himself, 
 bore to him, tdok away from her all her fine 
 ornaments, which were worth many talents, and 
 sent her away, and entered into friendship with 
 Pheroras's women. But he who most of all 
 irritated the king against his son, was one Anti- 
 pater, the procurator of Antipater the king's son, 
 who, when he was tortured, among other things, 
 aid that Antipater had prepared a deadly potion, 
 and given it to Pheroras, with his desire that he 
 would give it to his father during his absence, 
 and when he was too remote to have the least 
 suspicion cast upon him thereto relating ; that 
 Antiphilus, one of Antipater's friends, brought 
 that potion out of Egypt ; and that it was sent 
 to Pheroras by Theudion, the brother of the 
 mother of Antipater, the king's son, and by that 
 means came to PherorasV wife, her husband 
 having given it her to keep. And when the king 
 asked her about it, she confessed it ; and as she 
 was running to fetch it, she threw herself down 
 from the house top, yet did she not kill herself, 
 because she fell upon her feet : by which means, 
 when the king had comforted her, and promised 
 her and her domestics pardon, upon condition of 
 their concealing nothing of the truth from him, 
 but had threatened her with the utmost miseries 
 if she proved ungrateful [and concealed anything;] 
 BO she promised him, and swore that she would 
 apeak out everything, and tell after what manner 
 everything was done ; and said what many took 
 to be entirely true, that the potion was brought 
 out of Egypt by Antiphilus, and that his brother, 
 who was a physician, had procured it ; and that, 
 "when Theudion brought it us, she kept it upon 
 Pheroras's committing it to her ; and that it was 
 prepared by Antipater for thee. When, there- 
 fore, Pheroras was fallen sick, and thou earnest 
 to him and tookest care of him, and when he 
 saw the kindness thou hadst for him, his mind 
 was overborne thereby. So he called me to him, 
 and said to me, ' O woman : Antipater hath 
 circumvented me in this affair of his father and 
 my brother, by persuading me to have a murder- 
 ous intention to him, and procuring a potion to 
 be subservient thereto: do thou, therefore, go 
 and fetch my potion, (since my brother appears 
 to have still the same virtuous disposition to- 
 wards me which he had formerly, and I do not 
 expect to live long myself, and that I may not 
 defile my forefathers by the murder of a brother,) 
 and burn it before my face ; ' that accordingly 
 she immediately brought it, and did as her hus- 
 band bade her ; and that she burnt the greatest 
 part of the potion; but a little of it was left, that 
 if the king, after Pheroras's death, should treat 
 her ill, she might poison herself, and thereby get 
 
 * It seems to me, bj this whole story put together, 
 
 that Pheroras was not himself poisoned, as is commonly 
 
 supposed; for Antipater had persuaded him to poison 
 
 Herod, (ch. y. sect. 1,) which would fall to the ground 
 
 he were himself poisoned : nor could the poisoning 
 
 ef Pheroras serve any design that appears now going 
 
 forward ; it was only the supposal of two of his freed- 
 
 men, that this love-potion, or poison, which they knew 
 
 was brought to Pheroras's wife, was made use of for 
 
 oisoning him ; whereas* appears to have been brought 
 
 tier husband to poison Herod withal, as the future 
 
 lamination AoBMNMtnte. 
 
 clear of her miseries." Upon her saying thus, 
 she brought out the potion, and the box in which 
 it was, before them all. Nay, there was another 
 brother of Antiphilus, and his mother also, who, 
 by the extremity of pain and torture, confessed 
 the same things, and owned the box [to be that 
 which was brought out of Egypt.] The high 
 priest's daughter also, who was the king's wife, 
 was accused to have been conscious of all this, 
 and had resolved to conceal it ; for which reason 
 Herod divorced her, and blotted her son out of 
 his testament, wherein he had been mentioned 
 as one that was to reign after him ; and he took 
 the high priesthood away from his father-in-law, 
 Simeon the son of Boethus, and appointed Mat- 
 thias the son of Theophilus, who was born at 
 Jerusalem, to be high priest in his room. 
 
 3. "While this was doing, Bathyllus also, Anti- 
 pater's freedman, came from Rome, and upon 
 torture was found to have brought another po- 
 tion, to give it into the hands of Antipater's 
 mother, and of Pheroras, that if the former 
 potion did not operate upon the king, tiis at 
 least might carry him off. There came also 
 letters from his friends at Rome, by the appro- 
 bation and at the suggestion of Antipater, to 
 accuse Archelsvus and Philip, as if they calum- 
 niated their father on account of the slaughter 
 of Alexander and Aristobulus, and as if they 
 commiserated their deaths, and as if, because 
 they were sent for home, (for their father had 
 already recalled them,) they concluded they 
 yere themselves also to be destroyed. These 
 letters had been procured by great rewards, by 
 Antipater's friends ; but Antipater himself wrote 
 to his father about them, and laid the heaviest 
 things to their charge ; yet did he entirely excuse 
 them of any guilt, and said they were but young 
 men, and so imputed their words to their youth. 
 But he said, that he had himself been very busy 
 in the affair relating to Sylleus, and in getting 
 interest among the great men ; and on that ac- 
 count had bought splendid ornaments to present 
 them withal, which cost him two hundred talents. 
 Now, one may wonder how it came about, that 
 while so many accusations were laid against him 
 in Judea during seven months before this time, 
 he was not made acquainted with any of them. 
 The causes of which were, that the roads were 
 exactly guarded, and that men hated Antipater ; 
 for there was nobody who would run any hazards 
 himself to gain him any advantages. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ANTIPATEB'S KAVIGATION FROM ROME TO HIS 
 FATHER; AND HOW HE WAS ACCUSED BT 
 NICOLAUS OF DAMASCUS, AND CONDEMNED TO 
 DIE BT HIS FATHER, AND BT QUINTILIUS VAEUS, 
 WHO WAS THEN PRESIDENT OF STRIA; AND 
 HOW HE WAS THEN BOUND TILL C.ESAR SHOULD 
 BE INFORMED OF HIS CAUSE. 
 
 1. Now Herod, upon Antipater's writing to 
 him, that having done all that he was to do, 
 and this in the manner he was to do it, he would 
 suddenly come to him, concealed his anger 
 against him, and wrote back to him, and bade 
 him not delay his journey, lest any harm should 
 befall himself in his absence. At the same time 
 also he made some little complaint about his 
 mother, but promised that he would lay those 
 complaints aside when he should return. He 
 withal expressed his entire affection for him, 
 as fearing lest he should have some suspicion of 
 him, and defer bis journey to him; and lest.
 
 CHAP. V.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 SGI 
 
 while he lived at Rome, he should lay plots for 
 the kingdom, and moreover do somewhat against 
 himself. This letter Antipater met with in 
 Cilicia ; but had received an account of Phero- 
 ras's death before at Tarentum. The last news 
 affected him deeply ; not out of any affection for 
 Pheroras, but because he was dead without hav- 
 ing murdered his father, which he had promised 
 him to do. And when he was at Celendris in 
 Cilicia, he began to deliberate with himself 
 about his sailing home, as being much grieved 
 with the ejection of his mother. Now, some of 
 his friends advised him that he should tarry 
 awhile somewhere, in expectation of further in- 
 formation. But others advised him to sail home 
 without delay ; for that if he were once come 
 thither, he would soon put an end to all accusa- 
 tions, and that nothing afforded any weight to 
 his accusers at present but his absence. He was 
 
 Eersuaded by these last, and sailed on, and 
 inded at the haven called Sebastus, which 
 Herod had built at vast expenses in honour of 
 Caesar, and called Sebastus. And now was 
 Antipater evidently in a miserable condition, 
 while nobody came to him nor saluted him, as 
 they did at his going away, with good wishes or 
 joyful acclamations ; nor was there now any- 
 thing to hinder them from entertaining him, on 
 the contrary, with bitter curses, while they sup- 
 posed he was come to receive his punishment 
 for the murder of his bretliren. 
 
 2. Now Quintilius Varus was at this time at 
 Jerusalem, being sent to succeed Saturninus as 
 president of Syria, and was come as an assessor 
 to Herod, who had desired his advice in his pre- 
 sent affairs ; and as they were sitting together, 
 Antipater came upon them, without knowing 
 anything of the matter; so he came into the 
 palace clothed in purple. The porters indeed 
 received him in, but excluded his friends. And 
 aow he was in great disorder, and presently 
 understood the condition he was in, while, upon 
 his going to salute his father, he was repulsed by 
 him, who called him a murderer of his brethren, 
 and a plotter of destruction against himself, and 
 told him that Varus should be his auditor and 
 his judge the very next day , so he found, that 
 what misfortunes he now heard of was already 
 upon him, with the greatness of which he went 
 away in confusion ; upon which his mother and 
 his wife met him, (which wife was the daughter 
 of Antigonus, who was king of the Jews before 
 Herod,) from whom he learned all circumstances 
 which concerned him, and then prepared him- 
 self for his trial 
 
 3. On the next day Varus and the king sat 
 together in judgment, and both their friends 
 were also called in, as also the king's relations, 
 with his sister Salome, and as many as could 
 discover anything, and such as had been tor- 
 tured ; and besides these, some slaves of Anti- 
 pater's mother, who were taken up a little be- 
 fore Antipater's coming, and brought with them 
 a written letter, the sum of which was thii : 
 That he should not come back, because all was 
 come to his father's knowledge ; and that Caesar 
 was the only refuge he had left to prevent both 
 his and her delivery into his father's hands. 
 Then did Antipater fall down at his father's 
 feet, and besought him not to prejudge his case, 
 but that he might be first heard by his father, 
 and that his father would keep himself still un- 
 prejudiced. So Herod ordered him to be brought 
 into the midst, and then lamented himself about 
 his children, from whom he had suffered such 
 great misfortunes; and because Antipater fell 
 upon him in his old age. He also reckoned up 
 what maintenance, and what education he had 
 
 given them ; and what seasonable supplies of 
 wealth he had afforded them, awarding to their 
 own desires ; none of which favours had hin- 
 dered them from contriving against him, and 
 from bringing hi very life into danger in order 
 to gain his kingdom, after an impious manner, 
 by taking away his life before the course of na- 
 ture, their father's wishes, or justice, required 
 that that kingdom should come to them : and 
 that he wondered what hopes could elevate 
 Antipater to such a pass as to be hardy enough 
 to attempt such things ; that he had by his 
 testament in writing declared him his successor 
 in the government ; and while he was alive, he 
 was in no respect inferior to him ; either in his 
 illustrious dignity, or in power and authority, 
 he having no less than fifty talents for his yearly 
 income, and had received for his journey to 
 Rome no fewer than thirty talents. He also 
 objected to him the case of his brethren whom 
 he had accused ; and if they were guilty, he had 
 imitated their example ; and if not, he had 
 brought him groundless accusations against his 
 near relations ; for that he had been acquainted 
 with all those things by him, and by nobody 
 else, and had done what was done by his appro- 
 bation, and whom he now absolved from all that 
 was criminal, by becoming the inheritor of the 
 guilt of such their parricide. 
 
 4. When Herod had thus spoken, he fell a- 
 weeping, and was not able to say any more ; but 
 at his desire Nicolaus of Damascus, being the 
 king's friend, and always conversant with him, 
 and acquainted with whatsoever he did, and 
 with the circumstances of his affairs, proceeded 
 with what remained, and explained all that con- 
 cerned the demonstrations and evidences of the 
 facts. Upon which Antipater, in order to make 
 his legal defence, turned himself to his father, 
 and enlarged upon the many indications he had 
 given of his good-will to him ; and instanced in 
 the honours that had been done him, which yet 
 had not been done, had he not deserved them 
 by his virtuous concern about him ; for that he 
 had made provision for everything th&t was fit 
 to be foreseen beforehand, as to giving him his 
 wisest advice ; and whenever there was occasion 
 for the labour of his own hands, he had not 
 grudged any such pains for him. And that it 
 was almost impossible that he, who had de- 
 livered his father from so many treacherous con- 
 trivances laid against him, should be in a plot 
 against him, and so lose all the reputation he 
 had gained for his virtue, by his wickedness 
 which succeeded it; and this while he had 
 nothing to prohibit him, who was already ap- 
 pointed his successor, to enjoy the royal honour 
 with his father also at present ; and that there 
 was no likelihood that a person who had the one 
 half of that authority, without any danger, and 
 with a good character, should hunt after the 
 whole with infamy and dunge% and this when it 
 was doubtful whether he could obtain it or not , 
 and when he saw the sad example of his brethren 
 before him, and was both the informer and ac- 
 cuser against them, at a time when they might 
 not otherwise have been discovered ; nay, was 
 the author of the punishment inflicted upon 
 them, when it appeared evidently that they 
 were guilty of a wicked attempt against their 
 father ; and that even the contention* that wero 
 in the king's family, were indications that he 
 had ever managed affairs out of the sincerest 
 affection to his father. And as to what he had 
 done at Rome, Caesar was a witness thereto, 
 who was yet no more to be imposed upon than 
 God himself ; of whose opinions his letters sent 
 hither are sufficient evidence : and that it WM
 
 J62 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OP THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK XVII. 
 
 not reasonable to prefer the calumnies of such 
 M proposed to raise disturbances, before those 
 'etters ; the greatest part of which calumnies 
 had been raised during his absence, which gave 
 i to his enemies to forge them, which they 
 
 had not been able to do if he had been there. 
 Moreover, he shewed the weakness of the evl 
 dence obtained by torture, which was commonly 
 false; because the distress men are in under 
 such tortures naturally obliges them to say 
 many things in order to please those that govern 
 them. He also offered himself to the torture. 
 
 5. Hereupon there was a change observed in the 
 assembly, while they greatly pitied Antipater, 
 who, by weeping and putting on a countenance 
 suitable to his sad case, made them commiserate 
 the same ; insomuch that his very enemies were 
 moved to compassion ; and it appeared plainly 
 that Herod himself was affected in his own 
 mini, although he was not willing it should be 
 taken notice of. Then did Nicolaus begin to 
 prosecute what the king had begun, and that 
 with great bitterness ; and summed up all the 
 evidence which arose from the tortures, or from 
 the testimonies. He principally and largely 
 cried up the king's virtues, which he had ex- 
 hibited in the maintenance and education of his 
 sons ; while he never could gain any advantage 
 thereby, but still fell from one misfortune to 
 another. Although he owned that he was not 
 so much surprised with that thoughtless beha- 
 viour of his former sons, who were but young, 
 and were besides corrupted by wicked counsel- 
 lors, who were the occasion of tbeir wiping out 
 of their minds all the righteous dictates of na- 
 ture, and this out of a desire of coming to the 
 government sooner than they ought to do ; yet 
 that he could not but justly stand amazed at 
 the horrid wickedness of Actipater, who, al- 
 though he had not only had great benefits be- 
 stowed on him by his father, enough to tame 
 his reason, yet could not be more tamed than 
 the most envenomed serpents ; whereas even 
 those creatures admit of some mitigation, and 
 will not bite their benefactors, while Antipater 
 hath not let the misfortunes of his brethren be 
 any hindrance to him, but he hath gone on to 
 imitate their barbarity notwithstanding. " Yet 
 wast thou, O Antipater ! (as thou hast thyself 
 confessed) the informer as to what wicked ac- 
 tions they had done, and the searcher out of the 
 evidence against them, and the author of the 
 punishment they underwent upon their detec- 
 tion. Nor do we say this as accusing thee for 
 being so zealous in thy anger against them, but 
 are astonished at thy endeavours to imitate their 
 profligate behaviour ; and we discover thereby, 
 that thou didst not act thus for the safety of thy 
 father, but for the destruction of thy brethren, 
 that by such outside hatred of their impiety 
 thou mightest be believed a lover of thy father, 
 and mightest thereby get thee power enough to 
 do mischief with the greatest impunity ; which 
 design thy actions indeed demonstrate. It is 
 true, thou_tookest thy brethren off, because thou 
 didst convict them of their wicked designs ; but 
 thou didst not yield up to justice those who 
 were their partners ; and thereby didst make it 
 evident to all men that thou madest a covenant 
 with them against thy father, when thou chosest 
 to be the accuser of thy brethren, as desirous 
 to gain to thyself alone this advantage of laying 
 plots to kill thy father, and so to enjoy double 
 pleasure, which is truly worthy of thy evil dis- 
 position, which thou hast openly shewn against 
 thy brethren ; on which account thou didst re- 
 )oiee, as having done a most famous exploit: nor 
 TO* thi+ behaviour unworthy of thee ; but if 
 
 thy intention were otherwise, thou art worse 
 than they : while thou didst contrive to hide 
 thy treachery against thy father, thou didst 
 hate them ; not as plotters against thy father, 
 for in that case thou hadst not fallen upon the 
 like crime, but as successors of his dominions, 
 and more worthy of that succession than thyself. 
 Thou wouldest kill thy father after thy brethren, 
 lest thy lies raised against them might be detect- 
 ed ; and lest thou shouldst suffer what punish- 
 ment thou hadst deserved, thou hadst a mind 
 to exact that punishment of thy unhappy father, 
 and didst devise such a sort of uncommon parri- 
 cide as the world never yet saw ; for thou who 
 art his son didst not only lay a treacherous de- 
 sign against thy father, and didst it while he 
 loved thee, and had been thy benefactor, had 
 made thee in reality his partner in the kingdom, 
 and had openly declared thee his successor, 
 while thou wast not forbidden to taste the 
 sweetness of authority already, and hadst the 
 firm hope of what was future by thy father's 
 determination, and the security of a written tes- 
 tament ; but for certain thou didst not measure 
 these things according to thy father's various 
 disposition, but according to thy own thoughts 
 and inclinations ; and wast desirous to take the 
 part that remained away from thy too indulgent 
 father, and soughtest to destroy him with thy 
 deeds, whom thou in words pretendest to pre- 
 serve. Nor wast thou content to be wicked 
 thyself, but thou filledst thy mother's head with 
 thy devices, and raisedst disturbance among thy 
 brethren, and hadst the boldness to call thy 
 father a wild beast ; while thou hadst thyself a 
 mind more cruel than any serpent, whence thou 
 sentest out that poison among thy nearest kin- 
 dred and greatest benefactors, and invitedsi 
 them to assist thee and guard thee, and didst 
 hedge thyself in on all sides by the artifices of 
 both men and women agf.inst an old man, as 
 though that mind of thine was not sufficient ol 
 itself to support so gret,t a hatred as thou barest 
 to him ; and here thou appearest, after the tor- 
 tures of freemen, of domestics, of men and 
 women, which have been examined on thy ac- 
 count, and after the informations of thy fellow- 
 conspirators, as making haste to contradict the 
 truth ; and has thought on ways not only how 
 to take thy father out of the world, but to dis- 
 annul that written law which is against thee, 
 and the virtue of Varus, and the nature of jus- 
 tice ; nay, such is that impudence of thine on 
 which thou confidest, that thou desirest to be 
 put to the torture thyself, while thou allegest 
 that the tortures of those already examined 
 thereby have made them tell lies ; that those 
 that have been the deliverers of thy father may 
 not be allowed to have spoken the truth ; but 
 that thy tortures may be esteemed the discover- 
 ers of truth. Wilt not thou, O Varus ! deliver 
 the king frpm the injuries of his kindred ? Wilt 
 not thou destroy this wicked wild beast, which 
 hath pretended kindness to his father, in order 
 to destroy his brethren; while yet he is himself 
 alone ready to carry off the kingdom immedi- 
 ately, and appears to be the most bloody butcher 
 to him of them all? for thou art sensible that 
 parricide is a general injury both to nature and 
 to common life ; and that the intention of par- 
 ricide is not inferior to its preparation ; and he 
 who does not punish it, is injurious to nature 
 itself." 
 
 6. Nicolaus added further what belonged to 
 Antipater's mother, and whatsoever she had 
 prattled like a woman ; as also about the predic- 
 tions and the sacrifices relating to the king ; and 
 whatsoever Antipater had done lasciviously in
 
 OHAT. V.] 
 
 AiN J.TQUTTLES OF xHE JEWS. 
 
 3G3 
 
 his cups and his amours among Pheroras's wo- 
 men ; the examination upon torture ; and what- 
 soever concerned the testimonies of the witnesses, 
 which were many, and of various kinds : some 
 prepared beforehand, and others were sudden 
 answers, which further d blared and confirmed 
 the foregoing evidence. For those men who 
 were not acquainted with Antipater's practices, 
 but had concealed them out of fear, when they 
 saw that he was exposed to the accusations of 
 the former witnesses, and that his great good 
 fortune, which had supported him hitherto, had | 
 now evidently betrayed him into the hands of i 
 his enemies, who were now insatiable in their i 
 hatred to him, told all they knew of him ; and : 
 his ruin was now hastened, not so much by the 
 enmity of those who were his accusers, by his ; 
 gross, impudent, and wicked contrivances, and ! 
 by his ill-will to his father and his brethren; j 
 while he had filled their house with disturb- 
 ance, and caused them to murder one another ; 
 and was neither fair in his batred nor kind in 
 his friendship, but just BO far as served his own 
 turn. Now, there were a great number who foi 
 a long time beforehand had seen all this, and 
 especially such as were naturally disposed to 
 judge of matters by the rules of virtue, because 
 they were used to determine about affairs with- 
 out passion, but had been restrained from mak- 
 ing any open complaints before; these, upon the 
 leave now given them, produced all that they 
 knew before the public. The demonstrations 
 also of these wicked facts could no way be dis- 
 proved : because the many witnesses there were 
 did neither speak out of favour to Herod, nor 
 were they obliged to keep what they had to say 
 silent, out of suspicion of any danger they were 
 in ; but they spake what they knew, because 
 they thought such actions very wicked, and that 
 Antipater deserved the greatest punishment ; 
 and indeed not so much for Herod's safety, aa 
 on account of the man's own wickedness. Many 
 things were also said, and those by a great num- 
 ber of persons, who were no way obliged to say 
 them : insomuch that Antipater, who used gene- 
 rally to be very shrewd in his lies and impudence, 
 was not able to say one word to the contrary. 
 When Nicolaus had left off speaking, and had 
 produced the evidence, Varus bade Antipater 
 to betake himself to making his defence, if he 
 had prepared anything whereby it might appear 
 that he was not guilty of the crimes he was 
 accused of ; for that, as he was himself desirous, 
 so did he know that his father was in like man- 
 ner desirous also to have him found entirely 
 innocent ; but Antipater fell down on his face, 
 and appealed to God and to all men, for testimo- 
 nials of his innocency, desiring that God would 
 declare, by some evident signals, that he had not 
 laid any plots against his fathe? This being the 
 usual method of all men destitute of virtue, that, 
 when they set about any wicked undertakings, 
 they fall to work according to their own inclina- 
 tions, as if they believed that God was uncon- 
 cerned in human affairs ; but when once vhey 
 are found out, and are in danger of undergoing 
 the punishment due to their crimes, they endea- 
 vour to overthrow all the evidence against them, 
 by appealing to God ; which was the very thing 
 which Antipater now did ; for whereas he ba<5 
 done everything as if there were no God in the '. 
 world when he was on all sides distressed by 
 justice, <md when he had no other advantage to j 
 expect from any legal proofs, by which he might j 
 disprove the accusations laid against him. he 
 impudently abused the majesty of God, ami 
 ascribed it to ms power, that he hath been pre- 
 served hitl'erto ; and produced before them all 
 
 what difficulties he had ever undergone in his 
 bold acting for his father's preservation, 
 
 7. So when Varus, upon asking Antipater 
 what he had to say for himself, found that he 
 had nothing to say besides his appeal to God, 
 and saw that there was no end of that, he bade 
 them bring the potion before the court, thut he 
 irught see what virtue still remained in it ; and 
 U'Len it was brought, and one that was con- 
 dmned to die had drank it by Varus's com- 
 Uiand, he died presently. Then Varus got up 
 and departed out of the court, and went away 
 the day following to Antioch, where his usual 
 residence was, because that was the palace of 
 the Syrians ; upon which Herod kid his son in 
 bonds : but what were Varus's discourses to 
 Herod, was not known to the generality, and 
 upon what words it was that he went away; 
 though it was also generally supposed, that 
 vhatever Herod did afterward about his son, 
 TVas done with his approbation ; but when Herod 
 had bound his son, he sent letters to Rome to 
 Caesar about him, and such messengers withal 
 as should by word of mouth, inform Caesar of 
 Antipater's wickedness. Now, at this very time 
 there was seized a letter of Antiphilus, written 
 to Antipater out of Egypt, (for he lived there :) 
 Slid, when it was opened by the king, it was 
 found to contain as follows : " I have sent thee 
 Acme's letter, and hazarded my own life ; for 
 thou knowest that I am in danger from two 
 families, if I be discovered. I wish thee good 
 success in thy affair." These were the contents 
 of this letter ; but the king made inquiry about 
 the other letter also, for it did not appear ; but 
 Antiphilus's slave, who brought the letter which 
 bad been read, denied that he had received the 
 other : but while the king was in doubt about it, 
 :ne of Hercd's friends seeing a seam upon the 
 inner coat of the slave, and a doubling of the 
 cloth, (for he had two coats on,) he guessed that 
 the letter might be within that doubling ; which 
 accordingly proved to be true. So they took out 
 the letter ; and its contents were these : "Acme 
 to Antipater. I have written such a letter to 
 thy father as thou desiredest me. I have also 
 taken a copy and sent it, as if it came from 
 Salome to my Lady [Livia ;] which, when thou 
 readest, I know that Herod will punish Salome, 
 as plotting against him." Now, this pretended 
 letter of Salome to her lady was composed by 
 Antipater, and in the name of Salome, as to its 
 meaning, but in the words of Acme. The letter 
 was this : " Acme to king Herod. I have done 
 my endeavour that nothing that is done against 
 thee should be concealed from thee. So, upon 
 my finding a letter of Salome written to my lady 
 against thee, I have written out a copy and sent 
 h to thee ; with hazard to myself, but for thy 
 advantage. The reason why she wrote it was 
 this, that she had a mind to be married to 
 Sylleus. Do thou therefore tear this letter in 
 pieces, that I may not come into danger of my 
 life." Now Acme had written to Antipater him- 
 self, and informed him, that in compliance with 
 his command, she had both herself written to 
 Herod, as if Salome had laid a sadden plot 
 entirely against him, and had herself sent a 
 copy of an epistle, as coming from Salome to 
 her lady. Now Acme was a Jew by birth, and 
 a servant to Julia, Gaisar's wife : and did thu 
 out of her friendship for Antipater, as having 
 been corrupted by him with a large present oi 
 money, to assist in his pernicious design* against 
 his father and his aunt. 
 
 8. Hereupon Herod was so amazed at the pro- 
 digious wickedness of Antipater, that he was 
 'epdy to have ordered him to be slain imm*
 
 3G4 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xvn. 
 
 diately, as a turbulent person in the most im- 
 portant concerns, and as one that had laid a 
 plot not only against himself, but against his 
 sister also ; and even corrupted Caesar's own do- 
 mestics. Salome also provoked him to it, beat- 
 ing her breast, and bidding him kill her, if he 
 could produce any credible testimony that she 
 had acted in that manner. Herod also sent for 
 his son, and asked him about this matter, and 
 bade him contradict it if he could, and not sup- 
 press anything he had to say for himself ; and 
 when he had not one word to say, he asked 
 him, since he was every way caught in his vil- 
 lany, that he would make no further delay but 
 discover his associates in these his wicked de- 
 signs. So he laid all upon Antiphilus ; but dis- 
 covered nobody else. Hereupon Herod was in 
 such great grief, that he was ready to send his 
 son to Home to Csesar, there to give an account 
 of these his wicked contrivances. But he soon 
 became afraid, lest he might there, by the assist- 
 ance of his friends, escape the danger he was in : 
 so he kept him bound as before, and sent more 
 ambassadors and letters [to Rome] to accuse his 
 eon, and an account of what assistance Acme 
 had given him in his wicked designs, with copies 
 of the epistles before mentioned. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 CONCERNING THE DISEASE THAT HEROD FELL 
 INTO, AND THE SEDITION WHICH THE JEWS 
 BAISED THEREUPON; WITH THE PUNISHMENT 
 OF THE SEDITIOUS. 
 
 L Now Herod's ambassadors made haste to 
 Rome ; but sent, as instructed beforehand, what 
 answers they were to make to the questions put 
 to them. They also carried the epistles with 
 them. But Herod now fell into a distemper, 
 and made his will, and bequeathed his kingdom 
 to [Antipas] his youngest son ; and this out of 
 that hatred to Archelaus and Philip, which the 
 calumnies of Antipater had raised against them. 
 He also bequeathed a thousand talents to Casar, 
 and five hundred to Julia, Caeear's wife, to 
 Caesar's children, and friends and freedmen. He 
 also distributed among his sons and their sons 
 his money, his revenue, and his lands. He also 
 made Salome, his sister, very rich, because she 
 had continued faithful to him in all his circum- 
 stances, and was never so rash as to do him any 
 harm. And as he despaired of recovering, for 
 he was now about the seventieth year of his age, 
 he grew fierce, and indulged the bitterest anger 
 upon all occasions ; the cause whereof was this, 
 that he thought himself despised, and that the 
 nation was pleased with his misfortunes ; besides 
 which, he resented a sedition which some of the 
 lower sort of men excited against him, the occa- 
 sion of which was as follows : 
 
 2. There was one Judas, the son of Saripheus, 
 and Matthias, the son of Margalothus, two of 
 the most eloquent men among the Jews, and 
 most celebrated intrepreters of the Jewish laws, 
 and men well beloved by the people, because of 
 their education of their youth ; for all those that 
 were studious of virtue frequented their lectures 
 every day. These men, when they found that the 
 king's distemper was incurable, excited the young 
 men that they would pull down all those works 
 which the king had erected contrary to the law 
 of their fathers, and thereby obtain the reward 
 which the law will confer on them for such actions 
 of piety ; for that it was truly on account of 
 Herod's rashness in making such things as the 
 
 law had forbidden, that his other misfortunes, 
 and this distemper also, which was so unusual 
 among mankind, and with which he was now 
 afflicted, came upon him : for Herod had caused 
 such things to be made, which were contrary to 
 the law, of which he was accused by Judas and 
 Matthias ; for the king had erected over the 
 great gats of the temple a large golden eagle, of 
 great value, and had dedicated it' to the temple. 
 Now, the law forbids those that propose to live 
 according to it, to erect images,* or representa- 
 tions of any living creature. So these wise men 
 persuaded [their scholars] to pull down the 
 golden eagle : alleging, that although they should 
 incur any danger which might bring them to 
 their deaths, the virtue of the action now pro- 
 posed to them would appear much more advan- 
 tageous to them than the pleasures of life ; since 
 they would die for the preservation and observa- 
 tion of the law of their fathers ; since they 
 would also acquire an everlasting fame and com- 
 mendation ; since they would be both com- 
 mended by the present generation, and leave an 
 example of life that would never be forgotten to 
 posterity ; since that common calamity of dying 
 cannot be avoided by our living so as to escape 
 any such dangers : that therefore it is a right 
 thing for those who are in love with a virtuous 
 conduct, to wait for that fatal hour by such a 
 behaviour as may carry them out of the world 
 with praise and honour ; and that this will alle- 
 viate death to .such a degree, thus to come at 
 it by the performance of brave actions, which 
 bring us into danger of it ; and at the same time 
 to leave that reputation behind them to their 
 children, and to all their relations, whether they 
 be men or women, which will be of great advan- 
 tage to them afterward. 
 
 3. And with such discourses as this did these 
 men excite the young men to this action ; and a 
 report being come to them that the king was 
 dead, this was an addition to the wise men's 
 persuasions, so, in the very middle of the day 
 they got upon the place, they pulled down the 
 eagle, and cut it into pieces with axes, while 
 a great number of the people were in the temple. 
 And now the king's captain, upon hearing what 
 the undertaking was, and supposing it a thing of 
 higher nature than it proved to be, came up 
 thither, having a great band of soldiers with him, 
 such as was sufficient to put a stop to the multi- 
 tude of those who pulled down what was dedi- 
 cated to God : so he fell upon them unexpectedly, 
 and as they were upon this bold attempt, in a 
 foolish presumption rather than a cautious cir- 
 cumspection, as is usual with the multitude, and 
 while they were in disorder, and incautious of 
 what was for their advantage, so he caught no 
 fewer than forty of the young men, who had the 
 courage to stay behind when the rest ran away, 
 together with the authors of this bold attempt, 
 Judas and Matthias, who thought it an ignomini- 
 ous thing to retire upon his approach, and led 
 them to the king. And when they were come to 
 the king, and he had asked them if they had 
 been so bold as to pull down what he had dedi- 
 cated to God, " Yes," said they, "what was con- 
 trived we contrived, and what hath been per- 
 formed vre performed it ; and that with such a 
 virtous courage as become men ; for we have 
 given our assistance to those things which were 
 dedicated to the majesty of God, and we have 
 provided for what we have learned by hearing 
 the law : and it ought not to be wondered at, if 
 
 * That the making of images, without an Intention 
 to worship them, was not unlawful to the Jews, e 
 the note on Antiq. b. viii. chap. rii. sect. 6.
 
 OHAP. VI. ] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 385 
 
 we esteem those laws which Moses had suggested 
 to him, and were taught him by God, and which 
 he wrote and left behind him, more worthy of 
 observation than thy commands. Accordingly 
 we will undergo death, and all sorts of punish- 
 ments which thou canst inflict upon us, with 
 pleasure, since we are conscious to ourselves that 
 we shall die, not for any unrighteous actions, 
 but for our love to religion." And thus they all 
 said, and their courage was still equal to their 
 profession, and equal to that with which they 
 readily set about this undertaking. And when 
 the king had ordered them to be bound, he sent 
 them to Jericho, and called together the princi- 
 pal men among the Jews ; and when they were 
 come, he made them assemble in the theatre, 
 and because he could not himself stand, he lay 
 upon a couch, and enumerated the many labours 
 he had long endured on their account, and his 
 building of the temple, and what a vast charge 
 that was to him ; while the Asamoneans, during 
 the hundred and twenty-five years of their 
 government, had not been able to perform any 
 so great a work for the honour of God as that 
 was : that he had also adorned it with very valu- 
 able donations ; on which account he hoped that 
 he had left himself a memorial, and procured 
 himself a reputation after his death. He then 
 cried out, that these men had not abstained from 
 affronting him, even in his lifetime, but that, 
 in the very daytime, and in sight of the 
 multitude, they had abused him to that degree, 
 as to fall upon what he had dedicated, and in 
 that way of abuse, had pulled it down to the 
 ground. They pretended indeed, that they did 
 it to affront him ; but if any one consider the 
 thing truly, they will find that thev were guilty 
 of sacrilege against God therein. 
 
 4. But the people, on account of Herod's 
 barbarous temper, and for fear he should be so 
 cruel as to inflict punishment on them, said 
 what was done, was done without approbation, 
 and that it seemed to them that the actors 
 might well be punished for what they had done. 
 But as for Herod, he dealt more mildly with 
 others [of the assembly ;] but he deprived Mat- 
 thias of the high priesthood, as in part on occa- 
 sion of this action, and made Joazar, who was 
 Matthias's wife's brother, high priest in his 
 stead. Now it happened, that during the time 
 of the high priesthood of this Matthias, there 
 was another person made high priest for a single 
 day, that very day which the Jews observe as a 
 fast. The occasion was this : This Matthias the 
 high priest, on the night before that day when 
 the fast was to be celebrated, seemed, in a 
 dream,* to have conversation with his wife ; and 
 because he could not officiate himself on that ac- 
 count, Joseph, the son of Ellemus, his kinsman, 
 assisted him in that sacred office. But Herod 
 deprived this Matthias of the high priesthood, 
 and burnt the other Matthias, who had raised 
 the sedition, with his companions, alive. And 
 that very night there was an eclipse of the 
 moon.f 
 
 5. But now Herod's distemper greatly in- 
 creased upon him after a severe manner, and 
 this by God's judgment upon him for his sins : 
 for a fire glowed in him slowly, which did not 
 
 * This fact is attested both in the Mishna and Tal- 
 mud. 
 
 f This eclipse of the moon (which is the only eclipse 
 mentioned by Josephus) is of the greatest consequence 
 for the determination of the time for the death of Herod 
 and Antipater, and for the birth and entire chronology 
 of Jesus Christ. It happened March 13th, in the year 
 of the Julian period 4710, and the 4th year before the 
 Christian aera. 
 
 ' so much appear to the touch outwardly, as rf 
 augmented his pains inwardly ; for it brought 
 upon him a vehement appetite to eating, which 
 he could not avoid to supply with one sort of 
 food or other. His entrails were also erulcer* 
 ated, and the chief violence of his pain lay on 
 his colon ; an aqueous and transparent liquor 
 also had settled itself about his feet, and a like 
 matter afflicted him at the bottom of his belly. 
 Nay, further, his privy-member was putrified, 
 and produced worms ; and when he sat upright 
 he had a difficulty of breathing, which was very 
 loathsome, on account of the stench of his breath 
 and the quickness of its returns ; he had also 
 convulsions in all parts of his body, which in- 
 creased his strength to an insufferable degree. 
 It was said by those who pretended to divine, 
 and who were endued with wisdom to foretell 
 such things, that God inflicted this punishment 
 on the king on account of his great impiety; 
 yet was he still in hopes of recovering, though 
 his afflictions seemed greater than any one could 
 bear. He also sent for physicians, and did not 
 refuse to follow what they prescribed for his as- 
 sistance ; and went beyond the river Jordan, and 
 bathed himself in warm baths that were at Cal- 
 lirrhoe, which, besides their other general vir- 
 tues, were also fit to drink ; which water runs 
 into the lake called Asphaltitis. And when the 
 physicians once thought fit to have him bathed 
 in a vessel full of oil, it was supposed that he 
 was just dying ; but, upon the lamentable cries 
 of his domestics, he revived ; and having no 
 longer the least hopes of his recovering, he gave 
 order that every soldier should be paid fifty 
 drachmae ; and he also gave a great deal to their 
 commanders, and to his friends, and came again 
 to Jericho, where he grew so choleric, that it 
 brought him to do all things like a madman ; 
 and though he were near his death, he contrived 
 the following wicked designs. He commanded 
 that all the principal men of the entire Jewish 
 narion, wheresoever they lived, should be called 
 to him. Accordingly, there were a great number 
 that came, because the whole nation was called, 
 and all men heard of this call, and death was 
 the penalty of such as should despise the epistles 
 that were sent to call them. And now the king 
 was in a wild rage against them all, the innocent 
 as well as those that had afforded him ground 
 for accusations ; and when they were come, he 
 ordered them all to be shut up in the hippodrome, 
 and sent for his sister Salome, and her husband 
 Alexas, and spake thus to them : " I shall die 
 in a little time, so great are my pains ; which 
 death ought to be cheerfully borne, and to be 
 welcomed by all men ; but what principally 
 troubles me is this, that I shall die without be- 
 ing lamented, and without such mourning as 
 men usually expect at a king's death. " For that 
 he was not unacquainted with the temper of the 
 Jews, that his death would be a thing very de- 
 sirable, and exceedingly acceptable to them ; 
 because during his lifetime they were ready to 
 revolt from him, and to abuse the donations he 
 had dedicated to God: that it therefore was 
 their business to resolve to afford him some al- 
 leviation of his great sorrows on this occasion ; 
 for that if they do not refuse him their consent 
 in what he desires, he shall have a great mourn- 
 ing at his funeral, and such as never any kinc 
 had before him ; for then the whole nation woulc 
 mourn from their very soul, which otherwise 
 would be done in sport and mockery only. He 
 desired therefore that as soon as they sew he 
 bath given up the ghost, they shall place sol- 
 diers round the hippodrome, while they do not 
 know that he is dead ; and that they shall noi
 
 eclare his death to the multitude till this is 
 one but that they shall give orders to have 
 lose that are in custody shot with their darts ; 
 
 mid that this slaughter of them all will cause 
 iat he shall not miss to rejoice on a double ac- 
 ount ; that as he is dying, they will make him 
 
 secure that his will shall be executed in what 
 e charges them to do ; that he shall have the 
 onour of a memorable mourning at his funeral, 
 o he deplored his condition, with tears in his 
 yes, and obtested them by the kindness due 
 rom them, as of his kindred, and by the faith 
 ley owed to God, and begged of them that 
 ley would not hinder him of this honourable 
 aourning at his funeral So they promised him 
 ot to transgress his commands.^ 
 6. Now any one may easily discover the tem- 
 >er of this man's mind, which not only took 
 Measure in doing what he had done formerly 
 igainst his relations, out of the love of life, but 
 y those commands of his which savoured of no 
 lumanity ; since he took care, when he was de- 
 arting out of this life, that the whole nation 
 hould be put into mourning, and indeed made 
 esolate of their dearest kindred, when he gave 
 rder that one out of every family should be 
 lain, although they had done nothing that was 
 mjust, or against him, nor were they accused 
 f any other crimes ; while it ia usual for those 
 
 who have any regard to virtue, to lay aside their 
 latred at such a time, even with respect to those 
 ihey justly esteemed their enemies. 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK XVD. 
 
 CHAPTEK VIL 
 
 BEROD HAS THOUGHTS OF KILLING HIMSELF WITH 
 HIS OWN HAND; AND A LITTLE AFTEEWABDS 
 HE OEDERS ANTIPATEB TO BE SLAIN. 
 
 As he was giving these commands to his re 
 ations, there came letters from his ambassa- 
 dors, who had been sent to Borne unto Caesar, 
 which when they were read, their purport was 
 this : That Acme was slain by Caesar, out of 
 iis indignation at what hand she had in Antip- 
 ater's wicked practices ; and that as to Antipater 
 tiimself , Cfesar left it to Herod to act as became 
 a father and a king, and either to banish him or 
 to take away his life, which he please iL When 
 Herod heard this, he was somewhat better, out 
 of the pleasure he had from the contents of the 
 letters, and was elevated at the death of Acme, 
 and at the power that was given him over his 
 son ; but, as his pains were become very great, 
 he was now ready to faint for want of something 
 to eat ; so he called for an apple and a knife ; 
 for it was his custom formerly to pare the apple 
 himself, and soon afterwards to cut it, and eat 
 it. When he had got the knife, he looked about, 
 and had a mind to stab himself with it ; and he 
 had done it, had not his first cousin, Achiabus, 
 prevented him, and cried out loudly. Where- 
 upon a woful lamentation echoed through the 
 palace, and great tumult was made, as if the 
 king were dead. Upon which Antipater, who 
 venly believed his father was deceased, grew 
 bold in his discourse, as hoping to be immedi- 
 ately aiid entirely released from his bonds, and 
 to take the kingdom into his hands, without any 
 more ado; so he discoursed with the jailer about 
 letting him go, and in that case promised him 
 great things, both now and hereafter, as if that 
 were the only thing now in question ; but the 
 jailer did not only refuse to do what Antipater 
 would have him, but informed the king of his 
 Intention*, and how many solicitations he had 
 
 from him [of that nature.] Hereupon Herod, 
 who had formerly no affection nor good-will 
 towards his son to restrain him, when he heard 
 what the jailer said, he cried out, and beat hi* 
 head, although he was at death's door, and raised 
 himself upon his elbow, and sent for some of hia 
 guards, and commanded them to kill Antipater 
 without any further delay, and to do it pre- 
 sently, and to bury him in an ignoble manner 
 at Hyrcania. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 CONCERNING HEROD'S DEATH, AND TESTAMENT, 
 AND BURIAL. 
 
 L AND now Herod altered his testament upon 
 the alteration of his mind ; for he appointed 
 Antipas, to whom he had before left the king- 
 dom, to be tetrarch of Galilee and Berea, and 
 granted the kingdom to Archelaus. He also 
 gave Gaulonitis, and Trachonitis, and Paneas, to 
 Philip, who was his son, but own brother to 
 Archelaus,* by the name of a tetrarchy ; and 
 bequeathed Jamnia, and Ashdod, and Phasaelis, 
 to Salome his sister, with five hundred thousand 
 [drachmae] of silver that was coined. He also 
 made provision for all the rest of his kindred, 
 by giving them sums of money and annual 
 revenues, and so left them all in a wealthy con- 
 dition. He bequeathed also to Caesar ten 
 millions [of drachmae] of coined money ; besides 
 both vessels of gold and silver, and garments 
 exceeding costly, to Julia, Caesar's wife ; and to 
 certain others, five millions. When he had 
 done those things, he died, the fifth day after 
 he had caused Antipater to be slain ; having 
 reigned, since he had procured Antigonus to be 
 slain, thirty-four years ; but since he had been 
 declared king by the Romans, thirty-seven. A 
 man he was of great barbarity towards all men 
 equally, and a slave to his passions ; but abova 
 the consideration of what was right ; yet was he 
 favoured by fortune as much as any man ever 
 was, for from a private man he became a king ; 
 and though he were encompassed with ten thou- 
 sand dangers, he got clear of them all, and con- 
 tinued his life till a very old age ; but then, aa 
 to the affairs of his family and children, in 
 which, indeed, according to his own opinion, he 
 was also very fortunate, because he was able to 
 conquer his enemies ; yet, in my opinion, ht> was 
 herein very unfortunate. 
 
 2. But then Salome and Alexas, before the 
 king's death was made known, dismissed those 
 that were shut up in the hippodrome, and told 
 them that the king ordered them to go away to 
 their own lands, and take care of their own 
 affairs, which was esteemed by the nation a 
 great benefit ; and now the king's death was 
 made public, when Salome and Alexas gathered 
 the soldiery together in the amphitheatre at 
 Jericho ; and the first thing they did was, they 
 read Herod's letter, written to the soldiery, 
 thanking them for their fidelity and good-wil 
 to him, and exhorting them to afford his son 
 Archelaus, whom he had appointed for their 
 king, like fidelity and good-will. After which 
 Ptolemy, who had the king's seal intrusted to 
 
 * When it is said that Philip and Archelaus were 
 own brotkeri, or born of the same father and mother 
 there must be some mistake ; because they had indee< 
 the same father, Herod, but different mothers : th 
 former Cleopatra, and Archelaus, Malthace. They 
 ere inired brcujht up together at Rome like own 
 brothers, which intimacy is perhaps all that Josephui 
 intended by the words before us.
 
 AKTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 367 
 
 him, read the king's testament, which was to be 
 of foroe no otherwise than as it should stand 
 when Caesar had inspected it ; so there was 
 presently an acclamation made to Archelaus, as 
 king ; and the soldiers came hj- bands, and their 
 commanders with them, and promised the same 
 good- will to him, and readiness to serve him, 
 which they had exhibited to Herod; and they 
 prayed God to be assistant to him. 
 
 3. After this was over, they prepared for his 
 funeral, ft being Archelaus's care that the pro- 
 cession to h father's sepulchre should be very 
 sumptuous, Accordingly, he brought out all 
 his ornaments to adorn the pomp of the funeral. 
 The body was carried upon a golden bier, em- 
 broidered with very precious stones of great 
 variety, and it was covered over with purple, as 
 well as the body itself ; he had a diadem upon 
 his head, and above it a crown of gold ; he had 
 also a sceptre in his right hand. About the bier 
 were his sons and his numerous relations ; next 
 to these was the soldiery distinguished accord- 
 ing to their several countries and denomina- 
 tions; and they were put into the following 
 order : First of all went his guards ; then the 
 band of Thraciaus ; and after them the Ger- 
 mans ; and next the band of Galatians, every 
 one in their habiliments of war; and behind 
 these marched the whole army in the same 
 manner as they used to go out to war, and as 
 they used to be put in array by their muster- 
 masters and centurions : these were followed by 
 five hundred of his domestics, carrying ipices. 
 So they went eight furlongs,* to Herodium; for 
 there, by his own command, he was to be 
 buried ; and thus did Herod end his lif e. 
 
 4. Now Archelaus paid him so much respect, 
 as to continue his mourning till the seventh day ; 
 for so many days are appointed for it by the law 
 of our fathers ; and when he had given a treat 
 to the multitude, and left off his mourning, he 
 went up into the temple ; he had also acclama 
 tions and praises given him, which way soeve/ 
 he went, every one striving with the rest who 
 should appear to use the loudest acclamations. 
 So he ascended a high elevation made for him, 
 and took his seat, in a throne made of gold, and 
 spake kindly to the multitude, and declared 
 with what joy he received their acclamations, 
 and the marks of the good-will they shewed to 
 him ; and returned them thanks that they did 
 not remember the injuries his father had done 
 them, to his disadvantage ; and promised them 
 he would endeavour not to be behindhand with 
 them in rewarding their alacrity hi his service, 
 after a suitable manner ; but that he should ab- 
 stain at present from the name of King ; and 
 that he should have the honour of that dignity, 
 if Caesar should confirm and settle that testa- 
 ment which his father had made ; and that it 
 was on this account, that when the army would 
 have put the diadem on him at Jericho, he 
 would not accept of that honour, which is 
 usually so much desired, because it Vfas not yet 
 evident that he who was to be principally con- 
 cerned in bestowing it, would give it him ; al- 
 though, by his acceptance of the government, he 
 should not want the ability of rewarding their 
 kindness to him ; and that it should be his en- 
 deavour, as to all things wherein they were con- 
 cerned, to prove in every respect better than his 
 father. Whereupon the multitude, as it is 
 usual with them, supposed that the first days of 
 
 * At eight ttadia or furlongs a day, Herod's funeral, 
 conducted to Herodium, which lay at the distance from 
 Jericho, where he died, of 200 stadia or furlongs, must 
 have taken up no 18 than twenty-five days. 
 
 those that enter upon such ^overnmt/rits, declare 
 the intentions of those that accept them ; and 
 so by how much ArcheLius spake the more 
 gently and civilly to them, by so much did they 
 more highly commend him, and made applica- 
 tion to him for the grant of what they desired. 
 Some made a clamour ttat he would ease them 
 of some of their annuil payments; but others 
 desired him to release tJ.ose that were put into 
 prison by Herod, who ere many, and had been 
 put there at several times ; others of them re- 
 quired that he would take away those taxes 
 which had been severely laid upon what was 
 publicly sold and bovght So Archelaus con- 
 tradicted them in netting, since he pretended to 
 do all things BO as tj get the good-will of the 
 multitude to him, as looking upon that good-will 
 to be a great step towards his preservation of the 
 government. Hereupon he went and offered 
 sacrifice to God, and then betook himself to feast 
 with his friends. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 HOW THE PEOPLE RAISED A SEDITION AGAINST. 
 ABCHELAUS, AND HOW HE SAILED TO BOMB. 
 
 1. AT this time also it was that some of the 
 Jews got together out of a desire of innovation. 
 They lamented Matthias, and those that were 
 slain with him by Herod, who had not any respect 
 paid them by a funeral mourning, out of the fear 
 men were in of that man ; they were those who 
 had been condemned for pulling down the golden 
 eagle. The people made a great clamour and 
 lamentation hereupon, and cast out some re- 
 proaches against the king also, as if that tended 
 to alleviate the miseries of the deceased. The 
 people assembled together, and desired of Arche- 
 laus, that, in way of revenge on their account, 
 he would inflict punishment on those who had 
 been honoured by Herod ; and that, in the first 
 and principal place, he would deprive that high 
 priest whom Herod had made, and would choose 
 one more agreeable to the law, and of greater 
 purity, to officiate as high priest This was 
 granted by Archelaus, although he was mightily 
 offended at their importunity, because he pro- 
 posed to himself to go to Kome immediately, 
 to look after Csesar's determination about him. 
 However, he sent the general of his forces to 
 use persuasions, and to tell them that the death 
 which was inflicted on their friends, was accord- 
 ing to the law ; and to represent to them, that 
 their petitions about these things were carried 
 to a great height of injury to him ; that the 
 time was not now proper for such petitions, but 
 required their unanimity until such time as he 
 should be established in the government by the 
 consent of Ca*ar, and should then be come back 
 to them ; for chat he would then consult with 
 them hi common concerning the purport of their 
 petitions ; but that they ought at present to be 
 Quiet, lest they should aeem seditious persons. 
 
 2. So when the kii\ had suggested these 
 things, and instructed his general in what he 
 was to say, he sent him away to the people ; but 
 they made a clamour, and would not give him 
 leave to speak, and put bun in danger of his life, 
 and as many more as were desirous to venture 
 upon saying openly anything which might reduce 
 them to a sober mind, and prevent their going 
 on in their present courses, because they had 
 more concern to have all their own wills per- 
 formed than to yield obedience to their gover- 
 nors; thinking it to be a thing insufferable that, 
 while Herod was alive, they should lose thow
 
 968 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xvn. 
 
 that were tho most dear to them, and that when 
 he was dead, they could not get the actors to be 
 punished. So they went on with their designs 
 after a violent manner, and thought all to be 
 lawful and right which tended to please them, 
 and beiag unskilful in foreseeing what dangers 
 they incurred ; and when they had suspicion of 
 such a thing, yet did the present pleasure they 
 took in the punishment of those they deemed 
 their enemies overweigh all such considerations ; 
 and although Archelaus sent many to speak to 
 them, yet they treated them not as messengers 
 sent by him, but as persons that came of their 
 own accord to mitigate their anger, and would 
 not let one of them speak. The sedition, also, 
 was made by such as were in a great passion ; 
 and it was evident that they were proceeding 
 further in seditious practices, by the multitude 
 running so fast upon them. 
 
 3. Now, upon the approach of that feast of un- 
 leavened bread, which the law of their fathers 
 had appointed for the Jews at this time, which 
 feast is called the Passover,* and is a memorial 
 of their deliverance out of Egypt, (when they 
 offer sacrifices with great alacrity; and when 
 they are required to slay more sacrifices in num- 
 ber than at any other festival ; and when an 
 innumerable multitude came thither out of the 
 country, nay, from beyond its limits also, in 
 order to worship God,) the seditious lamented 
 Judas and Matthias, those teachers of the laws, 
 and kept together in the temple, and had plenty 
 of food, because these seditious persons were not 
 ashamed to beg it. And as Archelaus was afraid 
 lest some terrible thing should spring up by 
 means of these men's madness, he sent a regiment 
 of armed men, and with them a captain of a 
 thousand, to suppress the violent efforts of the 
 seditious, before the whole multitude should be 
 infected with the like madness ; and gave them 
 this charge, that if they found any much more 
 openly seditious than others, and more busy in 
 tumultuous practices, they should bring them to 
 him. But those that were seditious on account 
 of those teachers of the law, irritated the people 
 by the noise and clamours they used to encourage 
 the people in their designs ; so they made an 
 assault upon the soldiers, and came up to them, 
 and stoned the greatest part of them, although 
 some of them ran away wounded, and their cap- 
 tain among them ; and when they had thus done, 
 they returned to the sacrifices which were al- 
 ready in their hands. Now Archelaus thought 
 there was no way to preserve the entire govern- 
 ment, but by cutting off those who made this 
 attempt upon it ; so he sent out the whole army 
 upon them, and sent the horsemen to prevent 
 those that had their tents without the temple, 
 and to kill such as ran away from the footmen 
 when they thought themselves out of danger ; 
 which horsemen slew three thousand men, while 
 the rest went to the neighbouring mountains. 
 Then did Archelaus order proclamation to be 
 made to them all, that they should retire to 
 their own homes ; so they went away, and left 
 ;he festival, out of fear of somewhat worse which 
 would follow, although they had been so bold by 
 eaeon of their want of instruction. So Arche- 
 aus went down to the sea with his mother, and 
 ok with him Nicolaus and Ptolemy, and many 
 others of his friends, and left Philip his brother 
 as governor of all things belonging both to his 
 own family and to the public. There went out 
 
 This ptwover, when the sedition here mentioned 
 M moved against Archelaus, was not one, but thir- 
 teen months after the eclipse of the moon, already men- 
 tioned. 
 
 also with him Salome, Herod's sister, who took 
 with her her children, and many of her kindred 
 were with her ; which kindred of hers went, aa 
 they pretended, to assist Archelaus in gaining 
 the kingdom, but in reality to oppose him, and 
 chiefly to make loud complaints of what lie had 
 done in the temple. But Sabinus, Caesar's 
 steward for Syrian affairs, &s he was making 
 hasto into Judea, to preserve Herod's effects, 
 met with Archelaus at Coesarea ; but Varus, 
 (president of Syria, ) came at that time, and re- 
 strained him from meddling with them, for he 
 was there as sent for by Archelaus by means of 
 Ptolemy. And Sabinus, out ot regard to Varus, 
 did neither seize upon any of the castles that 
 were among the Jews, nor did he seal up the 
 treasures in them, but permitted Archelaus to 
 have them, until Caesar should declare his re- 
 solution about them ; so that, upon this his 
 promise, he tarried still at Csesarea. But after 
 Archelaus was sailed for Rome, and Varus was 
 removed to Antioch, Sabinus went to Jerusalem, 
 and seized on the king's palace. He also sent 
 for the keepers of the garrisons, and for all those 
 that had the charge of Herod's effects, and 
 declared publicly that he should require them 
 to give an account of what they had ; and he 
 disposed of the castles in the manner he pleased : 
 but those who kept them did not neglect what 
 Archelaus had given them in command, but con- 
 tinued to keep all things in the manner they had 
 been enjoined them ; and their pretence was, that 
 they kept them all for Csesar. 
 
 1, At the same time also did Antipas, another 
 of Herod's sons, sail to Rome, in order to gain 
 the government; being buoyed up by Salome 
 with promises that he should take that govern- 
 ment ; and that he was a much hones ter and 
 fitter man than Archelaus for that authority, 
 since Herod had, in his former testamentj 
 deemed him the worthiest to be made king ; 
 which ought to be esteemed more valid than hig 
 latter testament. Antipas also brought with 
 him his mother, and Ptolemy the brother of 
 Nicolaus, one that had been Herod's most hon- 
 oured friend, and was now zealous for Antipas : 
 but it was Irenaeus the orator, and one who, on 
 account of his reputation for sagacity, was in- 
 trusted with the affairs of the kingdom, who 
 most of all encouraged him to attempt to gain 
 the kingdom ; by whose means it was that, when 
 some advised him to yield to Archelaus, as to 
 his elder brother, and who had been declared 
 king by tneir father's last will, he would not 
 submit so to do. And when he was come to 
 Rome, all his relations revolted to him : not 
 out of their good-will to him, but out of their 
 hatred to Archelaus ; though indeed they were 
 most of all desirous of gaining their liberty, and 
 to be put under a Roman governor ; but, if there 
 were too great an opposition made to that, they 
 thought Antipas preferable to Archelaus, and so 
 joined with him, in order to procure the king- 
 dom for him. Sabinus also, by letters, accused 
 Archelaus to Caesar. 
 
 5. Now when Archelaus had sent in his papers 
 to Caesar, wherein he pleaded his right to tho 
 kingdom and his father's testament, with the 
 accounts of Herod's money, and with Ptolemy, 
 who brought Herod's seal, he so expected the 
 event ; but when Caesar had read these papers, 
 and Varus's and Sabinus's letters, with the ac- 
 counts of the money, and what were the annual 
 incomes of the kingdom, and understood that 
 Antipas had also sent letters to lay claim to the 
 kingdom, he summoned his friends together, to 
 know their opinions, and with them Caius, the 
 son of Agrippa, and of Julia his daughter, whcm
 
 CHAP. IX.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 36& 
 
 he had adopted, and took him, and made him 
 git first of all, and desired such as pleased to 
 speak their minds about the affairs now before 
 them. Now, Antipater, Salome's son, a very 
 subtle orator, and a bitter enemy to Archelaus, 
 spake first to this purpose : "That it was ridicu- 
 lous in Archelaus to plead now to have the Icing, 
 dom given him, since he had, in reality, taken 
 already the power over it to himself, before 
 Caesar had granted it to him ; and appealed to 
 those bold actions of his, in destroying so many 
 at the Jewish festival ; and, if the men had 
 acted unjustly, it was but fit the punishing of 
 them should have been reserved to those that 
 were out of the country, but had the power to 
 punish them, and not been executed by a man 
 that, if he pretended to be a king, he did an in- 
 jury to Caesar, by usurping that authority before 
 it was determined for him by Caesar ; but, if he 
 owned himself to be a private person, his case 
 was much worse, since he who was putting in 
 for the kingdom, could by no means expect to 
 have that power granted him, of which he had 
 already deprived Caesar [by taking it to himself.] 
 He also touched sharply upon him, and appealed 
 to his changing the commanders in the army, 
 and his sitting in the royal throne beforehand, 
 and his determination of law-suits ; all done as 
 if he were no other than a king, '"ie appealed 
 also to his concessions to those tua't petitioned 
 him on a public account, and indeed doing such 
 things, than which he could devise no greater if 
 he had been already settled in the kingdom by 
 Caesar. He also ascribed to him the releasing of 
 the prisoners that were in the Hippodrome, and 
 many other things, that either had been done 
 certainly by him, or were believed to be done, 
 and easily might be believed to have been done, 
 because they were of such a nature as to be usu- 
 ally done by young men, and by such as, out of 
 a desire of ruling, seize upon the government 
 too soon. He also charged him with his neglect 
 of the funeral mourning for his father, and with 
 having merry meetings the very night in which 
 he died; and that it was thence the multitude 
 took the handle of raising a tumult; and if 
 Archelaus could thus requite his dead father, 
 who had bestowed such benefits upon him, and 
 bequeathed such great things to him, by pre- 
 tending to shed tears for him in the daytime, 
 like an actor on the stage, but every night mak- 
 ing mirth for having got the government, he 
 would appear to be the same Archelaus with re- 
 gard to Cassar, if he granted him the kingdom, 
 which he hath been to his father ; since he had 
 then dancing and singing, as though an enemy 
 of his were fallen, and not as though a man were 
 carried to his funeral that was so nearly related, 
 and had been so great a benefactor to him. But 
 he said that the greatest crime of all was this, 
 that he came now before Caesar to obtain the 
 government by his grant, while he had before 
 acted in all things as he could have acted, if 
 Cassar himself, who ruled all, had fixed him 
 firmly in the government. And what he most 
 aggravated in his pleading, -"Fas the slaughter 
 of those about the temple, and the impiety of it, 
 as done at the festival; and they were shun like 
 sacrifices themselves, some of whom were for- 
 eigners, and others of their own country, till 
 the temple was full of dead bodies : and all this 
 was done, not by an alien, but by one who pre- 
 tended to the lawful title of a king, that he 
 might complete the wicked tyranny which his 
 nature prompted him to, and which is hated by 
 all men. On which account his father never so 
 much as dreamed of making him his successor 
 In the kingdom, when he was of a sound mind. 
 
 because he knew his disposition ; and, in his 
 former and more authentic testament, he ap- 
 pointed his antagonist Antipas to succeed ; but 
 that Archelaus was called by his father to that 
 dignity, when he was in a dying condition, both 
 of body and mind; while Antipas was called 
 when ripest in his judgment, and of such 
 strength of body as made him capable of manag- 
 ing his own affairs : and if his father had the 
 like notion of him formerly that he hath now 
 shewn, yet he hath given a sufficient specimen 
 what a king: he is likely to be when he hath [in 
 effect] deprived Caesar of that power of disposing 
 of the kingdom, which he justly hath, and hath 
 not abstained from making a terrible slaughtei 
 of his fellow-citizens m cue temple, while he was 
 but a private person." 
 
 6. So when Antipater had made this speech, 
 and had confirmed what he had said by produc- 
 ing many witnesses from among Archelaus's own 
 relations, he made an end of his pleading. 
 Upon which Nicolaus arose up to plead for 
 Archelaus, and said, " That what had been done 
 at the temple was rather to be attributed to the 
 mind of those that had been killed, than to the 
 authority of Archelaus; for that those who were 
 the authors of such things, are not only wicked 
 in the injuries they do of themselves, but in 
 forcing sober persons to avenge themselves upon 
 them. Now, it is evident that what these did 
 in way of opposition was done under pretence, 
 indeed against Archelaus, but in reality against 
 Caesar himself, for they, after an injurious man- 
 ner, attacked and slew those who were sent by 
 Archelaus, and who came only to put a stop to 
 their doings, rhey had no regard, either to 
 God or to the fsstival, whom Antipater yet is 
 n-j'i asnamed to patronise, whether it be out of 
 his indulgence of an enmity to Archelaus, or 
 out of his hatred of virtue and justice. For as 
 to those who begin such tumults, and first set 
 about such unrighteous actions, they are the 
 men who force those that punish them to betake 
 themselves to arms even against their wilL So 
 that Antipater in effect ascribes the rest of what 
 was done, to all those who were of counsel to 
 the accusers ; for nothing which is here accused 
 of injustice has been done, but what was derived 
 from them as its authors ; nor are those things 
 evil in themselves, but so represented only in 
 order to do harm to Archelaus. Such is these 
 men's inclination to do an injury to a man 
 that is of their kindred, their father's benefac- 
 tor, and familiarly acquainted with them, and 
 that hath ever lived in friendship with them ; 
 for that, as to this testament, it was made by 
 the king when he wag of a sound mind, and so 
 ought to be of more authority than his former 
 testament ; end that for this reason, because 
 Caesar is therein left to be the judge and dis- 
 poser of all therein contained ; and for Cassar, 
 lie will not, to be sure, at all imitate the unjust 
 proceedings of those men, who, during Herod's 
 whole life, had on all occasions been joint-par- 
 takers of power with him, and yet do zealously 
 endeavour to injure his determination, while 
 they have not themselves had the same regard 
 to their kinsman [which Archelaus had.] Caesar 
 will not therefore disannul the testament of a 
 man whom h had entirely supported, of his 
 friend and confederate, and that which is com- 
 mitted to him in trust to ratify ; nor will Caesar's 
 virtuous and upright disposition, which is known 
 and uncontested through all the habitable world, 
 imitate the wickedness of these men in condemn- 
 ing a king as a madman, and as having lost his 
 reason, while he hath bequeathed the succession 
 to good son of his, and to one who fiie* to
 
 370 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xvn. 
 
 Osar's upright determination for refuge. Nor 
 can Herod at any time have been mistaken in 
 his judgment about a successor, while he shewed 
 so much prudence as to submit all to Caesar's 
 determination." 
 
 7. Now when Nicolaus had laid these tilings 
 before C*sar, he ended his plea: whereupon 
 Caesar was so obliging to Archelaus, that he 
 raised him up when he had cast himself down at 
 his feet, and said, that he well deserved the 
 kingdom : and he soon let them know that he 
 wasso far moved in his favour, that he would 
 not act otherwise than his father's testament 
 directed, and that was for the advantage of 
 Archelaus. However, while he gave this en- 
 couragement to Archelaus to depend on him 
 securely, he made no full determination about 
 him ; and, when the assembly was broken up, 
 he considered by himself whether he should con- 
 firm the kingdom to Archelaus, or whether he 
 should part it among all Herod's posterity ; and 
 this, because they all stood in need of much as- 
 sistance to support them. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 A SEDITION OF THE JEWS AGAINST 8ABINUS ; AND 
 HOW VARUS BROUGHT THE AUTHORS OP IT TO 
 PUNISHMENT. 
 
 1. BUT before these things could bo brought 
 to a settlement, Malthace, Archelaus's mother, 
 fell into a distemper, and died of it ; and letters 
 came from Varus, the president of Syria, which 
 informed Caesar of the revolt of the Jews ' for, 
 after Archelaus was sailed, the whole nation was 
 in a tumult. So Varus, since he was there him- 
 self, brought the authors of the disturbance to 
 punishment ; and when he had restrained them 
 for the most part from this sedition, which was 
 a great one, he took his journey to Antioch, leav- 
 ing one legion of his army at Jerusalem to keep 
 the Jews quiet, who were now very fond of in- 
 novation. Yet did not this afc all avail to put an 
 end to that their sedition, for, after Varus was 
 gone away, Sabinus, Caesar's procurator, stayed 
 behind, and greatly distressed the Jews, relying 
 on the forces that were left there, that they 
 would by their multitude protect him ; for he 
 made use of them, and armed them as his guards, 
 thereby so oppressing the Jews, and giving them 
 so great disturbance, that at length they re- 
 belled ; for he used force in seizing the citadels, 
 and zealously pressed on the search after the 
 king's money, in order to seize upon it by force, 
 on account of his love of gain, and his extraor- 
 dinary covetousness. 
 
 2. But on the approach of Penlecost, which is 
 a festival of ours, so called from the days of our 
 forefathers, a great many ten thousands of men 
 got together ; nor did they come only to cele- 
 brate the festival, but out of their indignation 
 at the madness of Sabinus, and at the injuries he 
 offered them. A great number there was of 
 Galileans, and Idumeans, and many men from 
 Jericho, and others who had passed over the 
 river Jordan, and inhabited those parts. This 
 whole multitude joined themselves to all the 
 rest, and were more zealous than the others in 
 making an assault on Sabinus, in order to be 
 avenged on him ; so they parted themselves into 
 tt>ree bands, and encamped themselves in the 
 ] : i-ces following: some of them seized on the 
 H -,ppodrome ; and of the other two bands, one 
 p:tched themselves from the northern part of the 
 temple to the southern, on the east quarter ; 
 
 but the third band held the western part of the 
 city, where the king's palace was. Their work 
 tended entirely to besiege the Romans, and to 
 enclose them on all sides. Now Sabinus was 
 afraid of these men's number, and of their re- 
 solution, who had little regard to their lives, 
 but were very desirous not to be overcome, 
 while they thought it a point of puissance to 
 overcome their enemies ; so he sent immediately 
 a letter to Varus, and, as he used to do, was 
 very pressing with him, and entreated him to 
 come quickly to his assistance ; because the 
 forces he had left were in imminent danger, and 
 would probably, in no long time, be seized upon, 
 and cut to pieces ; while he did himself get up 
 to the highest tower of the fortress Phasaelus, 
 which had been built in honour of Phasaelus, 
 king Herod's brother, and called so when the 
 Parthians had brought him to his death. So 
 Sabinus gave thence a signal to the Romans to 
 fall upon the Jews, although he did not himself 
 venture so much as to come down to his friends, 
 and thought he might expect that the others 
 should expose themselves first to die on account 
 of his avarice. However, the Romans ventured 
 to make a sally out of their place, and a terrible 
 battle ensued; wherein, though it is true the 
 Romans beat their adversaries, yet were not the 
 Jews daunted in their resolutions, even when 
 they had the sight of that terrible slaughter that 
 was made of them ; but they wont round about, 
 aud got upon those cloisters which encompassed 
 the outer court of the temple, where a great 
 fight was still continued, and they cast stones at 
 the Romans, partly with their hands, and partly 
 with slings, as being much used to those exercises. 
 All the archers aluo in. array did the Romans a 
 great deal of mischief, because they used their 
 hands dexterously frora a place superior to the 
 others, and because the others were at an utter 
 loss what to do ; for when they tried to shoot 
 their arrows against the Jews upwards, these 
 arrows could not reach them, insomuch that the 
 Jews were easily too hard for their enemies. 
 And this sort of fight lasted a great while, till 
 at last the Romans, who were greatly distressed 
 by what was done, set fire to the cloisters so pri- 
 vately, that those who were gotten upon them 
 did not perceive it. This fire,* being fed by a 
 great deal of combustible matter, caught hold 
 immediately on the roof of the cloisters ; so the 
 wood, which was full of pitch and wax, and 
 whose gold was laid on it with wax, yielded to 
 the flame presently, and those vast works, which 
 were of the highest value and esteem, were de- 
 stroyed utterly, while those that were on the 
 roof, unexpectedly perished at the same time ; 
 for as the roof tumbled down, some of these men 
 tumbled down with it, and others of them were 
 killed by their enemies who encompassed them. 
 There was a great number more, who out of de- 
 spair of saving their lives, and out of astonish- 
 ment at the misery that surrounded them, did 
 either cast themselves into the firo, or threw 
 themselves upon their own swords, and so got 
 out of their misery. But as to those that re- 
 tired behind the same way by which they as- 
 cended, and thereby escaped, they were all killed 
 by the Romans, as being unarmed men, and their 
 courage failing them ; their wild fury being now 
 not able to help them, because they were desti- 
 tute of armour, insomuch that of those that 
 went up to the top of the roof, not one escaped. 
 
 * These great devastations made about the temple 
 seem not to have been fully re-edifled in the days of 
 Nero ; till whose time there were eighteen thousand 
 workmen continually employed in rebuilding and re- 
 pairing that temple.
 
 CHAP. X.J 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 371 
 
 The Romans also rushed through the fire, where 
 it gave them room so to do, and seized on that 
 treasure where the sacred money was reposited : 
 a great part of which was stolen by the soldiers ; 
 and Sabinua got openly four hundred talents. 
 
 3. But this calamity of the Jews' friends, who 
 fell in this battle, grieved them, as did also this 
 plundering of the money dedicated to God in 
 the temple. Accordingly, that body of them 
 which continued best together, and was the 
 most warlike, encompassed the palace, and 
 threatened to set fire to it, and kill all that were 
 in it. Yet still they commanded them to go 
 out presently, and promised that if they would 
 do so, they would not hurt them, nor Sabinus 
 neither ; at which time the greatest part of the 
 king's troops deserted to them, whfle Kufus and 
 Gratus, who had three thousand of the most 
 warlike of Herod's army with them, who were 
 men of active bodies, went over to the Romans. 
 There was also a band of horsemen under the 
 command of Rufus, which itself went over to 
 the Romans also. However, the Jews went on 
 with the siege, and dug mines under the palace- 
 walls, and besought those that were gone over 
 to the other side not to be their hindrance, now 
 they had such a proper opportunity for the re- 
 covery of their country's ancient liberty; and 
 for Sabinus, truly he was desirous of going away 
 with his soldiers, but was not able to trust him- 
 self with the enemy, on account of what mis- 
 chief he had already done them ; and he took 
 this great [pretended] lenity of theirs for an 
 argument why he should not comply with them ; 
 and so, because he expected that Varus was 
 coming, he still bore on the siege. 
 
 4. Now, at this time there were ten thousand 
 other disorders in Judea, which were like 
 tumults, because a great number put them- 
 selves into a warlike posture, either out of 
 hopes of gain to themselves, or out of enmity 
 to the Jews. In particular, two thousand of 
 Herod's old soldiers, who had been already dis- 
 banded, got together in Judea itself, and fought 
 against the king's troops, although Achiabus, 
 Herod's first cousin, opposed them : but as he 
 was driven out of the plains into the mountain- 
 ous parts by the military skill of those men, he 
 kept himself in the fastnesses that were there, 
 and saved what he could. 
 
 5. There was also Judas,* the son of that 
 Ezekias who had been head of the robbers ; 
 which Ezekias was a very strong man, and had 
 with great difficulty been caught by Herod. 
 This Judas having gotten together a multitude 
 of men of a profligate character about Sepphoris 
 in Galilee, and made an assault upon the palace 
 [there,] and seized upon all the weapons that 
 were laid up in it, and with them rmed every 
 one of those that were with him, and carrieil 
 away what money was left there ; and he be- 
 came terrible to all men, by tearing and rending 
 those that came near him ; and all this in order 
 to raise himself, and out of an ambitious desire 
 of the royal dignity ; and he hoped to obtain 
 that as the reward, not of his virtuous skill in 
 war, but of his extravagance in doing injuries. 
 
 6. There was also Simon, who had been a 
 glare of Herod the king, but in other respects a 
 comely person, of a tall and robust body ; he 
 was one that was much superior to others of his 
 
 Unless this Judas he the same with that Theudas 
 mentioned in Acts v. 36. Josephus must have omitted 
 him ; for that other Theudas, whom he afterwards 
 mentions under Fadus, the Roman governor, (b. ix. 
 ch. v. sect. 1,) is much too late to correspond to him 
 that is mentioned in the Acts. The names Theudas, 
 Thaddcus. and *ndas, differ hut little 
 
 order, and had had great things committed to 
 his care. This man was elevated at the dis- 
 orderly state of things, and was so bold as to put 
 a diadem on his head, while a certain number of 
 the people stood by him, and by them he was 
 declared to be a king, and thought himself more 
 worthy of that dignity than any one else. He 
 burnt down the royal palace at Jericho, and 
 plundered what was left in it He also set fire 
 to many others of the king's "houses in several 
 places of the country, and utterly destroyed 
 them, and permitted those that were with him 
 to take what was left in them for a prey ; and 
 he would have done greater things, unless care 
 had been taken to repress him immediately ; for 
 Gratus, when he had joined himself to some 
 Roman soldiers, took the forces he had with 
 him, and met Simon, and after a great and a 
 long fight, no small part of those that came from 
 Perea, who were a disordered body of men, and 
 fought rather in a bold than in a skilful manner, 
 were destroyed ; and although Simon had saved 
 himself by flying arway through a certain valley 
 yet Gratus overtook him, and cut off his head. 
 The royal palace, also, at Amathus, by the river 
 Jordan, was burnt down, by a party of men thai 
 were got together, as were those belonging to 
 Simon. And thus did a great and wild fury 
 spread itself over the nation, because they had 
 no king to keep the multitude in good order ; 
 and because those foreigners, who came to re- 
 duce the seditious to sobriety, did, on the con- 
 trary, set them more in a flame, because of the 
 injuries they offered tkem, and the avaricious 
 irianagement of their affairs. 
 
 7. But because Athronges, a person neither 
 eminent by the dignity of progenitors, nor fo t 
 any great wealth he was possessed of, but on>2 
 that had in all respects been a shepherd only, 
 and was not known by anybody ; yet because hi! 
 was a tall man, and excelled others in th2 
 strength of his hands, he was so bold as to set 
 up for king. This man thought it so sweet n 
 thing to do more than ordinary injuries to 
 others, that although he should be killed, he did 
 not RO much care, if he lost his life in so great 
 design. He had also four brethren, who wer>e 
 tall men themselves, and were believed to be 
 superior to others in the strength of their hanns, 
 and thereby were encouraged to aim at greai 
 things, and thought that strength of theirs 
 would support them in retaining the kingdorr . 
 Each of these ruled over a band of men of their 
 own ; for those they got together to them wer 3 
 very numerous. They were every one of them 
 also commanders ; but, when they came to fight, 
 they were subordinate to him, and fought for 
 him, while he put a diadem upon his head, an 1 
 assembled a council to debate about what things 
 should be done ; and all things were done ac- 
 cording to his pleasure. And this man retained 
 his power a great while ; he was also called king, 
 and had nothing to hinder him from doing what 
 he pleased. He also, as well as his brethren, 
 slew a great many both of the Romans and of 
 the king's forces, and managed matters with the 
 like hatred to each of them The king's forces 
 they fell upon, because of the licentious conduct 
 they had been allowed under Herod's govern- 
 ment ; and they fell upon the Romans, because 
 of the injuries they had so lately received frorr, 
 them. But in process of time they grew mort 
 cruel to all sorts of men ; nor could any one 
 escape from one or other of these seditions, since 
 they slew some out of the hopes of gam, and 
 others from a mere custom of slaving men. 
 They once attacked a company of Romans a 
 Emmaus, who were bringing com and weaporn
 
 472 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xvn. 
 
 to the army, and fell upon Arius, the centurion, 
 who commanded the company, and shot forty of 
 the best of his foot-soldiers ; but the rest of them 
 were affrighted at their slaughter, and left their 
 dead behind them, but saved themselves by the 
 means of Gratus, who came with the king's 
 troops that were about him to their assistance. 
 Now, these four brethren continued the war a 
 long while by such sort of expeditions, and much 
 grieved the Romans, (but did their own nation 
 also a great deal of mischief ;) yet were they 
 afterwards subdued; one of them in a fight 
 with Gratus, another with Ptolemy ; Archelaus 
 also took the eldest of them prisoner ; while the 
 last of them was so dejected at the others' mis- 
 fortune, and saw so plainly that he had no way 
 now left to save himself, his army being worn 
 away with sickness and continual labours, that 
 he also delivered himself up to Archelaus, upon 
 his promise and oath to God to [preserve his 
 life.] But these things came to pass a good 
 while afterward. 
 
 8. And now Judea was full of robberies ; and, 
 as the several companies of the seditious lighted 
 upon any one to head them, he was created a 
 king immediately, in order to do mischief to the 
 public. They were in some small measure, in- 
 deed, and in small matters, hurtful to the 
 Romans, but the murders they committed upon 
 their own people lasted a long while. 
 
 9. As soon as Varus was once informed of the 
 state of Judea, by Sabinus's writing to him, he 
 was afraid for the legion he had left there ; so 
 he took the two other legions, (for there were 
 three legions in all belonging to Syria,) and four 
 troops of horsemen, with the several auxiliary 
 forces which either the kings or certain of the 
 tetrarchs afforded him, and made what haste he 
 could to assist those that were then besieged in 
 Judea, He also gave order, that all that were 
 sent out for this expedition should make haste 
 to Ptolemais. The citizens of Beiytus also gave 
 him fifteen hundred auxiliaries, as he passed 
 through their city. Aretas also, the king of 
 Arabia Petrea, out of his hatred to Herod, and 
 in order to purchase the favour of the Romans, 
 sent him no small assistance, besides their foot- 
 men and horsemen : and, when he had now 
 collected all their forces together, he committed 
 part of them to his son, and to a friend of his, 
 and sent them upon an expedition into Galilee, 
 which lies in the neighbourhood of Ptolemais ; 
 who made an attack upon the enemy, and put 
 them to flight, and took Sepphoris, and made its 
 inhabitants slaves, and burnt the city. But 
 Varus himself pursued his march to Samaria 
 with his whole army : yet did not he meddle 
 with the city of that name, because it had not 
 at all joined with the seditious, but pitched his 
 camp at a certain village that belonged to 
 Ptolemy, whose name was Arus, which the 
 Arabians burnt, out of their hatred to Herod, 
 and out of the enmity they bore to his friends ; 
 whence they marched to another village, whose 
 name was Sampho, which the Arabians plun- 
 dered and burnt, although it was a fortified and 
 strong place ; and all along this march nothing 
 escaped them, but all places were full of fire and 
 of slaughter. Emmaus was also burnt by 
 Varus's order, after its inhabitants had deserted 
 it, that he might avenge those that had there 
 been destroyed. From thence he now marched 
 to Jerusalem ; whereupon the Jews, whose camp 
 lay there, and who had besieged the Roman 
 legion, not bearing the coming of this army, 
 left the siege imperfect : but as to the Jerusalem 
 Jew*, when Varug reproached them bitterly for 
 what had b*en uone. they cleared themselves of 
 
 the accusation ; and alleged that the conflux of 
 the people was occasioned by the feast ; that 
 the war was not made with their approbation, 
 but by the rashness of the strangers ; while they 
 were on the side of the Romans, and besieged 
 together with them, rather than having any in- 
 clination to besiege them. There also came 
 beforehand to meet Varus, Joseph, the cousin- 
 german of king Herod, as also Gratus and 
 Rufus, who brought their soldiers along with 
 them, together with those Romans who had been 
 besieged : but Sabinus did not come into Varus's 
 presence, but stole out of the city privately, and 
 went to the seaside. 
 
 10. Upon this, Varus sent a part of his army 
 into the country, to seek out those that had been 
 the authors of the revolt ; and when they were 
 discovered, he punished some of them that were 
 most guilty, and some he dismissed : now the 
 number of those that were crucified on this ac- 
 count were two thousand : after which he dis- 
 banded his army, which he found nowise useful 
 to him in the affairs he came about ; for they 
 behaved themselves very disorderly, and dis- 
 obeyed his orders, and what Varus desired them 
 to do ; and this out of regard to that gain which 
 they made by the mischief they did. As for 
 himself, when he was informed that ten thousand 
 Jews had gotten together, he made haste to catch 
 them ; but they did not proceed so far as to fight 
 him, but, by the advice of Achiabus, they came 
 together, and delivered themselves up to him : 
 hereupon Varus forgave the crime of revolting 
 to the multitude, but sent their several com- 
 manders to Csesar, many of whom Csesar dis- 
 missed ; but for the several relations of Herod 
 who had been among these men in this war, they 
 were the only persons whom he punished, who, 
 without the least regard to justice, fought 
 against their own kindred. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 AN EMBASSAGE OF THE JEWS TO C.ESAK; AND HOW 
 C.ESAR CONFIRMED HEROD'S TESTAMENT. 
 
 1. So when Varus had settled these affairs, 
 and had placed the former legion at Jerusalem, 
 he returned back to Antioch ; but as for Arche- 
 laus, he had new sources of trouble come upon 
 him at Rome, on the occasions following : for 
 an embassage of the Jews was come to Rome, 
 Varus having permitted the nation to send it, 
 that they might petition for the liberty of living 
 by their own laws. Now, the number of the 
 ambassadors that were sent by the authority of 
 the nation, were fifty, to which they joined above 
 eight thousand of the Jews that were at Rome 
 already. Hereupon Csesar assembled his friends, 
 and the chief men among the Romans, in the 
 temple of Apollo, which he had built at a vast 
 charge ; whither the ambassadors came, and a 
 multitude of the Jews that were there already, 
 came with them, as did also Archelaus and his 
 friends ; but as for the several kinsmen which 
 Archelaus had, they would not join themselve* 
 with him, out of their hatred to him : and yet 
 they thought it too gross a thing for them to 
 assist the ambassadors [against him,] as suppos- 
 ing it would be a disgrace to them in Caesar's 
 opinion to think of thus acting in opposition to a 
 man of their own kindred: Philip* also was come 
 hither out of Syria, by the persuasion of Varus, 
 with this principal intention to assist his brothei 
 
 * He was tetrerch afterward*
 
 ANTIQTnTIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 373 
 
 [Archelaus ;] for Varus was his great friend : but 
 still so, that if there should any change happen 
 in the form of government, (which Varus sus- 
 pected there would,) and if any distribution 
 should be made on account of the number that 
 desired the liberty of living by their own laws, 
 that he might not be disappointed, but might 
 have his share in it. 
 
 2. Now, upon the liberty that was given to the 
 Jewish ambassadors to speak, they who hoped 
 to obtain a dissolution of kingly government, 
 betook themselves to accuse Herod of his iniqui- 
 ties ; and they declared that he was indeed in 
 name a king, but that he had taken to himself an 
 uncontrollable authority, which tyrants exercise 
 over their subjects, and had made use of that 
 authority for the destruction of the Jews, and 
 did not abstain from making many innovations 
 among them besides, according to his own inclin- 
 ations ; and that whereas there were a great many 
 who perished by that destruction he brought 
 upon them, so many indeed as no other history 
 relates, they that survived were far more miser- 
 able than those that suffered under him, not only 
 by the anxiety they were under from his looks 
 and disposition towards them, but from the 
 danger their estates were in of being taken away 
 by him. That he did never leave off adorning 
 these cities that lay in their neighbourhood, but 
 were inhabited by foreigners ; but so that the 
 cities belonging to his own government were 
 ruined, and utterly destroyed ; that whereas, 
 when he took the kingdom, it was in an extraor- 
 dinary flourishing condition, he had filled the 
 nation with the utmost degree of poverty : and 
 when, upon unjust pretences, he had slain any 
 of the nobility, he took away their estates : and 
 when he permitted any of them to live, he con- 
 demned them to the forfeiture of what they pos- 
 sessed. And, besides the annual impositions 
 which he laid upon every one of them, they 
 were to make liberal presents to himself, to his 
 domestics and friends, and to such of his slaves 
 as were vouchsafed the favour of being his tax- 
 gatherers ; because there was no way of obtaining 
 a freedom from unjust violence, without giving 
 either gold or silver for it. That they would 
 say nothing of the corruption of the chastity of 
 their virgins, and the reproach laid on their 
 wives for incontinency, and those things acted 
 after an insolent and inhuman manner ; because 
 it was not a smaller pleasure to the sufferers to 
 have such things concealed, than it would have 
 been not to have suffered them. That Herod 
 had put such abuses upon them as a wild beast 
 would not have put on them, if he had power 
 given him to rule over us : and that, although 
 theut nation had passed through many subver- 
 sions and alterations of government, their history 
 gave no account of any calamity they had ever 
 been under, that could be compared with this 
 which Herod had brought upon their nation; 
 that it was for this reason that they thought 
 they might justly and gladly salute Archelaus 
 as icing, upon this supposition, that whosoever 
 should be set over their kingdom, he would ap- 
 pear more mild to them than Herod had been ; 
 anil that they had joined with him in the mourn- 
 ing for his father, in order to gratify him, and 
 were ready to oblige him in other points also, if 
 they could meet with any degree of moderation 
 from him ; but that he seemed to be afraid lest 
 he should not be deemed Herod's own son ; and 
 BO, without any delay f he immediately let the 
 nation understand his meaning, and this before 
 his dominion was well established, since the 
 power of disposing of it belonged to Caesar, who 
 could either give it to him or nt, aa he pleased. 
 
 That he had given a specimen of his future 
 virtue to his subjects, and with what kind of 
 moderation and good administration he would 
 govern them, by that his first action which con- 
 cerned them, his own citizens, and God himself 
 also, when he made the slaughter of three thou- 
 sand of his own countrymen at the temple. How, 
 then, could they avoid the just hatred of him, 
 who, to the rest of his barbarity, hath added this 
 as one of our crimes, that we have opposed and 
 contradicted him in the exercise of his authority? 
 Now, the main thing they desired, was this : 
 That they might be delivered from kingly and 
 the like forms of government,* and might be 
 added to Syria, and be put under the authority 
 of such presidents of theirs as should be sent to 
 them ; for that it would thereby be made evi- 
 dent, whether they be really a seditious people, 
 and. generally fond of innovations, or whether 
 they would live in an orderly manner, if they 
 might have governors of any sort of moderation 
 set over them. 
 
 3. Now when the Jews had said this, Nicolaus 
 vindicated the kings from these accusations, and 
 said, that as for Herod, since he had never been 
 thus accused all the time of his life, it was not 
 fit for those that might have accused him of 
 lesser crimes than those now mentioned, and 
 might have procured him to be punished during 
 his lifetime, to bring an accusation against him 
 now he is dead. He also attributed the actions 
 of Archelaus to the Jews' injuries to him, who, 
 affecting to govern contrary to the laws, and 
 going about to kill those that would have hin- 
 dered them from acting unjustly, when they 
 were by him punished for what they had done, 
 made their complaints against him ; so he accused 
 them of their attempts for innovation, and of the 
 pleasure they took in sedition, by reason of theif 
 not having learned to submit to justice and to the 
 laws, but still desiring to be superior hi all things. 
 This was the substance of what Nicolaus said. 
 
 4. When Caesar had heard these pleadings, he 
 dissolved the assembly ; but a few days after- 
 wards he appointed Archelaus, not indeed to be 
 king of the whole country, but ethnarch of one 
 half of that which had been subject to Herod, 
 and promised to give him the royal dignity here- 
 after, if he governed that part virtuously. But 
 as for the other half, he divided it into two 
 parts, and gave it to two other of Herod's sons, 
 to Philip and to Antipas, that Antipas who dis- 
 puted with Archelaus for the whole kingdom. 
 Now, to him it was that P*rea and Galilee paid 
 their tribute, which amounted annually to 200 
 talents,f while Batanea with Trachonitis, as well 
 as Auranitis, with a certain part of what was 
 called the House of Zenodorus, paid the tribute 
 of one hundred talents to Philip ; but Idumea, 
 and Judea, and the country of Samaria, paid 
 tribute to Archelaus, but had now a fourth part 
 of that tribute taken off by order of Caesar, who 
 
 * If any one compare the divine prediction concern- 
 ing the tyrannical power which the Jewish kings would 
 exercise, if the Israelites would be so foolish as to prefer 
 it before their ancient theocracy or aristocracy, (1 Sam. 
 viii 1-22.) he will soon find that it was fulfilled in the 
 days of Herod, and that to such a degree, that the na- 
 tion seemed to repent of their ancient choice, in opposi- 
 tion to God's better choice for them, and had much 
 rather be subject to even a pagan Roman government, 
 and their deputies, than to be any longer under the 
 oppression of the family of Herod. 
 
 t Since Archelaus had one half of the kingdom ol 
 Herod, and his annual income was 600 talents; we may 
 therefore gather what was Herod the Great's yearly in- 
 come I mean about 1600 tak-nts, which, at the value 
 of 3000 shekels to a talent, and about 2s. lOd. to a she- 
 kel, in the days of Josephus, amounts to 680,000 ster- 
 ling per annum.
 
 ANTIQUITIES Gif THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xvn. 
 
 decreed them that mitigation, because they did 
 uot ioin in this revolt with the rest of the multi- 
 tude, '"here were also certain of the cities whic h 
 paid tribute to Archelaus :-Strato's Tower and 
 Sebaste, with Joppa and Jerusalem ; for as to 
 Gaza, Gadara, and Hippos, they were Grecian 
 cities, which Caesar separated from his govern- 
 ment, and added them to the province of Syria. 
 Now the tribute money that came to Archelaus 
 every year from his own dominions amounted to 
 six hundred talents. 
 
 5. And so much came to Herod s sons iron. 
 their father's inheritance; but Salome, besides 
 what her brother left her by his testament, whicli 
 were Jamnia, Ashdod, and Phasaelis, and fivt 
 hundred thousand [drachmae] of coined silver, 
 Caesar made her a present of a royal habitation 
 at Askelon; in all, her revenues amounted to 
 sixty talents by the year, and her dwelling- 
 house was within Archelaus's government. The 
 rest also of the king's relations received what 
 his testament allotted them. Moreover, Caesar 
 made a present to each of Herod's two virgin 
 daughters, besides what their father left them, 
 of two hundred and fifty thousand [drachmae] of 
 silver, and married them to Pheroras's sons : ho 
 also granted all that was bequeathed unto him- 
 self to the king's sons, which was one thousand 
 five hundred talents, excepting a few of the ves- 
 sels, which he reserved for himself ; and they 
 were acceptable to him, not so much for the 
 great value they were of, as because they were 
 memorials of the king to him. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 CONCEBNING A SPURIOUS ALEXANDER. 
 
 1. "WHEN these affairs had been thus settled 
 by Caesar, a certain young man, by birth a Jew, 
 but brought up by a Roman freedman in the 
 city of Sidon, ingrafted himself into the kindred 
 of Herod, by the resemblance of his coun-tenance, 
 which those saw him attested to be that of 
 Alexander, the son of -Herod, whom he had 
 slain; and this was an incitement to him to 
 endeavour to obtain the government ; so he took 
 to him as an assistant, a man of his own coun- 
 try, (one that was well acquainted with the 
 affairs of the palace, but, on other accounts, an 
 ill man, and one whose nature made him capa- 
 ble of causing great disturbances to the public. 
 and one that became a teacher of such a mis- 
 chievous contrivance to the other,) and declared 
 himself to be Alexander, and the sou of Herod, 
 but stolen away by one of those that were sent 
 to slay him, who, in reality, slew other men, in 
 order to deceive the spectators, but saved both 
 him and his brother Aristobulus. Thus was tliit 
 man elated, and able to impose on those that 
 came to him ; and when he was come to Crete, 
 he made all the Jews that came to discourse 
 with him believe him to be [Alexander.] Ar<r : 
 when he had gotten much money which haG 
 been presented to him there, he passed over to 
 Melos, where he got much more money than he 
 had before, out of the belief they had that he 
 was of the royal family, and their hopes that he 
 would recover his father's principality, and re- 
 ward his benefactors ; so he made haste to Rome, 
 and was conducted thither by those strangers 
 who entertained him. He was also so fortunate 
 as, upon his landing at Dicearchia, to bring the 
 Jews that were there unto the same delusion- 
 and not only other people, but also all those 
 vho had been great with Herod, ox had i Wi, 
 
 nous for him, joined themselves to this man ae 
 to their lung. The cause of it was this, that 
 tmen were glad of his pretences, which were 
 seconded by the likeness of his countenance, 
 which made those that had been acquainted 
 with Alexander strongly to believe that he was 
 no other but the very same person, which they 
 ^Iso confirmed to others by oath ; insomuch that 
 when the report went about him that he was 
 aoiiiing to Rome, the whole multitude of Jews 
 that were there went out to meet him, ascribing 
 it to Divine Providence that he had so unex- 
 pectedly escaped, and being very joyful on ac- 
 count of his mother's family. And when he was 
 ;unie, he was carried in a royal litter through 
 the streets ; and all the ornaments about him 
 were such as kings are adorned withal ; and this 
 was at the expense of those that entertained 
 him. The multitude also flocked about him 
 greatly, and made mighty acclamations to him, 
 and nothing was omitted which could be thought 
 suitable to such as had been so unexpectedly 
 preserved. 
 
 2. When this thing was toid Caesar, he did 
 not believe it, because Herod was not easily to 
 be imposed upon in such affairs as were of great 
 concern to him ; yet, having some suspicion it 
 might be so, he sent one Celadus, a freedman 
 of his, and one that had conversed with the 
 young men themselves, and bade him bring 
 Alexander into his presence: BO he brought 
 him, being no more accurate in judging about 
 him than the rest of the multitude. Yet did 
 he not deceive Caesar ; for although there was a 
 resemblance between him and Alexander, yet it 
 was not so exact as to impose on such as were 
 prudent in discerning; for this spurious Alex- 
 ander had his hands rough, by the labours he 
 had been put to ; and instead of that softness of 
 body which the other had, and this as derived 
 from his delicate and generous education, this 
 man, for the contrary reason, had a rugged body. 
 When, therefore, Caesar saw how the master and 
 the scholar agreed in this lying story, and in a 
 bold way of talking, he inquired about Aristo- 
 bulus, and asked what became of him, who 
 (it seems) was stolen away together with him, 
 and for what reason it was that he did not 
 come along with him, and endeavour to recover 
 that dominion which was due to his high birth 
 also. And when he said that he had been left 
 in the isle of Crete, for fear of the dangers of 
 the sea, that, in case any accident should come 
 to himself, the posterity of Mariamne might not 
 utterly perish, but that Aristobulus might sur- 
 vive, and punish those that laid such treacherous 
 designs against them ; and when he perseyered 
 in his affirmations, and the author of the im- 
 posture agreed in supporting it, Caesar took the 
 young man by himself, and said to him, " If 
 thou wilt not impose upon me, thou shalt have 
 this for thy reward, that thou shalt escape with 
 thy life ; tell me, then, who thou art, and who 
 it was that had boldness enough to contrive such 
 it cheat as this. For this contrivance is too con- 
 dderable a piece of villaiiy to be undertaken by 
 me of thy age." Accordingly, because he had 
 10 other way to take, he told Caesar the contriv- 
 ance, and after wha*i manner, and by whom, it 
 was laid together, io Caesar, upon observing 
 the spurious Alexander to be a strong active 
 man, and fit to work with his hands, that he 
 might not break his promise to him, put him 
 among those that were to row among the mari- 
 ners, but slew him that induced him to do what 
 he had done ; for as for the people of Melos, he 
 thought them sufficiently punished, in having 
 tiuown away ao much of their montsr upon tint
 
 3HAP. XIII.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 375 
 
 parlous Alexander. And such, was the ignomi- 
 uious conclusion of this bold contrivance about 
 the spurioua Alexander. 
 
 CHAPTER XIIL 
 
 HOW AECHELAU8, UPON A SECOND ACOUSATIOK, 
 
 WAS BANISHED TO VIENNA. 
 
 1. WHEN Archelaus was entered on his ethnar- 
 chy, and was come into Judea, he accused Joazar 
 the son of Boethus, of assisting the seditious, 
 and took away the high priesthood from him, 
 and put Eleazar his brother in his place. He 
 also magnificently rebuilt the royal palace that 
 had been at Jericho, and he diverted half the 
 water with which the village of Neara used to be 
 watered, and drew off that water into the plain, 
 to water those palm-trees which he had there 
 planted : he also built a village, and put his own 
 name upon it, and called it Archelais. More- 
 over, he transgressed the law of our fathers,* 
 and married Glaphyra, the daughter of Arol e- 
 laus, who had been the wife of his brother 
 Alexander, which Alexander had three children 
 by her, while it was a thing detestable among 
 the Jews to marry the brother's wife. Nor did 
 this Eleazar abide long in the high priesthood, 
 Jesus, the son of Sie, being put in his room 
 while he was still living. 
 
 2. But in the tenth year of A. thelaua s gov- 
 ernment, both his brethren and the principal 
 men of Judea and Samaria, not being able to 
 bear his barbarous and tyrannical usage of 
 them, accused him before Caesar, and that espe- 
 cially because they knew he had broken the 
 commands of Caesar, which obliged him to be- 
 have himself with moderation among them. 
 Whereupon Caesar, when he heard it, was very 
 angry, and called for Archelaus's steward, who 
 took care of his affairs at Rome, and whose name 
 was Archelaus also ; and thinking it beneath 
 him to write to Archelaus, he bade him sail 
 away as soon as possible, and bring him to 
 Rome ; so the man made haste in his voyage, 
 and when he came into Judea he found Arche- 
 laus feasting his friends ; so he told him what 
 Caesar had sent him about, and hastened him 
 away. And when he was come [to Rome] to 
 Caesar, upon hearing what certain accusers of 
 his had to say, and what reply he could make, 
 both banished him, and appointed Vienna, & 
 city of Gaul, to be the place of his habitation, 
 and took his money away from him. 
 
 3. Now, before 'Archelaus was gone tip to 
 Rome upon this message, he related this dream 
 to his friends: That he saw ears of corn, in 
 number ten, full of wheat, perfectly ripe ; which 
 ears, as it seemed to him, were devoured by 
 oxen. And when he was awake and gotten up, 
 because the vision appeared to be of great im- 
 portance to him, he sent for the diviners, whose 
 study was employed about dreams. And while 
 
 * Spanheim observes here, that it waa forbidden the 
 Jews to marry their brother's wife when she had chil- 
 dren by her first husband ; and Zenonu interprets the 
 elausa before us accordingly. 
 
 some were of one opinion and some of another, 
 (for all their interpretations did not agree,) 
 Simon, a man of the sect of the Essens, desired 
 to speak his mind freely, and said, that the 
 vision denoted a change in the affairs of Arche- 
 laus, and that not for the better; that oxen, 
 because that animal takes uneasy pains In his 
 labours, denoted afflictions, and indeed denoted 
 further, a change of affairs ; because that land 
 which is ploughed by oxen cannot remain in its 
 former state; and that the ears of corn being 
 ten, determined the like number of years, be- 
 cause an ear of corn grows in one year ; and that 
 the time of Archelaus's government was over. 
 And thus did this man expound the dream. 
 Now, on the fifth day aftet this dream came 
 first to Archelaus, the other Archelaus, that 
 was sent to Judea by Caesar to call him away, 
 came hither also. 
 
 4. The like accident befell Glaphyra his wife, 
 who waa the daughter of king Archelaus, who, 
 as I said before, was married, while she was a 
 virgin, to Alexander, the son of Herod, and 
 brother of Archelaus; but since it fell out so 
 that Alexander was slain by his father, she was 
 married to Juba, the king of Libya ; and when 
 he was dead, and she lived in widowhood in 
 Cappadocia with her father, Archelaus divorced 
 his former wife Mariamne, and married her. so 
 great was his affection for her ; who, during her 
 marriage to him, saw the following dream : She 
 thought she saw Alexander standing by her ; at 
 which she rejoiced, and embraced him with great 
 affection; but that he complained of her, and 
 said, "O Glaphyra ; thou provest that saying to 
 be true, which assures us that women are not to 
 be trusted. Didst thou not pledge thy faith to 
 me? and wast thou not married to me when 
 thou wast a virgin ? and had we not children be- 
 tween us ? Yet hast thou forgotten the affection 
 I bare to thee, out of a desire of a second hus- 
 band. Nor hast thou been satisfied with that 
 injury thou didst me, but thou hast been so bold 
 as to procure thee a third husband to lie by thee, 
 and in an indecent and imprudent manner hast 
 entered into my house, and hast been married to 
 Archelaus, thy husband and my brother. How- 
 ever, I will not forget thy former kind affection 
 for me ; but will set thee free from every such 
 reproachful action, and cause thee to be mine 
 again, &s thou once wast." When she had re- 
 lated this to her female companions, in a few 
 days' time she departed this life. 
 
 5. Now, I did not tlr'nk these histories im- 
 proper for the present discourse, both because 
 my discourse now is concerning kings, and other- 
 wise also on account of the advantage hence to 
 be drawn, as well for the confirmation of the 
 immortality of the soul, as of the providence of 
 God over human affairs, I thought them fit to 
 be set down ; but if any one does not believe 
 such relations, let him indeed enjoy his own 
 opinion, but let him not hinder another that 
 would thereby encourage himself in virtue. So 
 Archelaus's country was laid to the province of 
 Syria ; and Cyrenius, one that had been consul, 
 was sent by Caesar t<> take account of people'i 
 effects in Syria, and to sell the house of AT> 
 ohehww.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 fBOOK XVin. 
 
 BOOK XVIIL 
 
 CONTAINING THE INTERVAL OF THIRTY-TWO TEARS, 
 
 FROM THE BANISHMENT OF ARCHELAUS TO THE DEPARTURE OF 
 THE JEWS FROM BABYLON. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 HOW OTRESrUS WAS SENT BY CAESAR TO MAKE A 
 TAXATION OF SYRIA AND JUDEA ; AND HOW 
 OOPONIUS WAS SENT TO BE PROCURATOR OF 
 JUDEA; CONCERNING JUDA8 OF GALILEE, AND 
 CONCERNING THE SECTS THAT WERE AMONG THE 
 JEWS. 
 
 1. Now Cyrenius, a Roman senator, and one 
 who had gone through other magistracies, and 
 had passed through them till he had been con- 
 sul, arid one who, on other accounts, was of 
 great dignity, came at this time into Syria, with 
 a few others, being sent by Caesar to be a judge 
 of that nation, and to take an account of their 
 substance : Coponius also, a man of the eques- 
 trian order, was sent together with him, to have 
 the supreme power over the Jews. Moreover, 
 Cyrenius came himself into Judea, which was 
 now added to the province of Syria, to take an 
 account of their substance, and to dispose of 
 Archelaus's money ; but the Jews, although at 
 the beginning they took the report of a taxation 
 heinously, yet did they leave off any further 
 opposition to it, by the persuasion of Joazar, 
 who was the son of Boethus, and high priest. 
 So they, being over-persuaded by Joazar's words, 
 gave an account of their estates, without any 
 dispute about it; yet there was one Judas, a 
 Gaulonite,* of a city whose name was Gamala, 
 who taking with him Sadduc, + a Pharisee, be- 
 came zealous to draw them to a revolt, who said 
 that this taxation was no better than an intro- 
 duction to slavery, and exhorted the nation to 
 assert their liberty; as if they could procure 
 them happiness and security for what they pos- 
 sessed, and an assured enjoyment of a still 
 greater good, which was that of the honour and 
 glory they would thereby acquire for magnan- 
 imity. They also said that God would not 
 otherwise be assisting to them, than upon their 
 joining with one another in such counsels as 
 might be successful, and for their own advan- 
 tage ; and this especially, if they would set about 
 great exploits, and not grow weary in executing 
 the same ; so men received what they said with 
 pleasure, and this bold attempt proceeded to a 
 great height. All sorts of misfortunes also 
 sprang from these men, and the nation was in- 
 fected with this doctrine to an incredible degree ; 
 one violent war came upon us after another, and 
 
 * Since St Luke once, (Acts v. 37,) and Joseph us 
 four several times previously, calls this Judas a Gali- 
 lean, but here a Gaulonite, of the city of Gamala ; it is 
 a great question where this Judas was born, whether 
 in Galilee on the west side, or in Gaulonitis on the 
 east side of the river Jordan. 
 
 t It seems not very improbable to me that this 
 Badduc, the Pharisee, was the very same man of whom 
 the Rabbins speak, as the unhappy but undesigning 
 occasion of the impiety or infidelity of the Padducees ; 
 nor perhaps had the men this name of Saddncees till 
 
 iis very time, though they wsr* a distinct sect long 
 
 we lost our friends, who used to alleviate our 
 pain ; there were also very great robberies and 
 murders of pur principal men. This was done 
 in pretence indeed for the public welfare, but in 
 reality for the hopes of gain to themselves ; 
 whence arose seditions, and from them murders 
 of men, which sometimes fell on those of their 
 own people, (by the madness of these men to- 
 wards one another, while their desire was that 
 none of the adverse party might be left,) and 
 sometimes on their enemies ; a famine also com- 
 ing upon us, reduced us to the last degree of 
 despair, as did also the taking and demolishing 
 of cities ; nay, the sedition at last increased so 
 high, that the very temple of God was burnt 
 down by their enemy's fire. Such were the con- 
 sequences of this, that the customs of our fathers 
 were altered, and such a change was made, as 
 added a mighty weight toward bringing all to 
 destruction, wiiich these men occasioned by 
 thus conspiring together ; for Judas and Sadduc, 
 who excited a fourth philosophic sect among us, 
 and had a great many followers therein, filled 
 our civil government with tumults at present, 
 and laid the foundation of our future miseries, 
 by this system of philosophy, which we were 
 before unacquainted withal ; concerning which I 
 shall discouraa a little, and this the rather, be- 
 cause the infection which spread thence among 
 the younger sort, who were zealous for it, brought 
 ' \e public to destruction. 
 
 2. The Jews had for a great while three sects 
 of philosophy peculiar to themselves ; the sect of 
 the Essens, and the sect of the Sadducees, and 
 the third sort cf opinions was that of those called 
 Pharisees; of which sects, although I have al- 
 ready spoken in the second book of the Jewish 
 War, yet will I a little touch upon them now. 
 
 3. Now, for the Pharisees, they live meanly, 
 and despise delicacies in diet ; and they follow 
 the conduct of reason ; and what that prescribes 
 to them as good for them, they do ; and they 
 think they ought earnestly to trive to observe 
 reason's dictates for practice*. They also pay a 
 respect to such as are in yeav ; nor are they so 
 bold as to contradict them in anything which 
 they have introduced ; and, when they deter- 
 mine that all things are done by fate, they do 
 not take away the freedom from men of acting 
 as they think fit ; since their notion is, that it 
 hath pleased God to make a temperament, 
 whereby what he wills is done, but so that the 
 will of men can act virtuously or viciously. 
 They also believe that souls have an immor- 
 tal vigour in them, and that under the earth 
 there will be rewards or punishments, according 
 as they have lived virtuously or viciously in 
 this life ; and the latter are to be detained in an 
 everlasting prison, but that the former shall 
 have power to revive and live again ; on account 
 of which doctrines they are able greatly to per- 
 suade the body pi the people ; and whatsoever 
 they do about divine worship, prayers, and sac-
 
 CHAP. II.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 rifices, they perform them according to 
 direction; insomuch that the cities gave great 
 attestations to them on account of their entire 
 virtuous conduct, both in the actions of their 
 lives and their discourses also. 
 
 4. But the doctrine of the Sadducees is this : 
 That souls die with the bodies; nor do they 
 regard the observation of anything besides what 
 the law enjoins them ; for they think it an in- 
 stance of virtue to dispute with those teachers 
 of philosophy whom they frequent; but this 
 doctrine is received but by a few, yet by those 
 still of the greatest dignity ; but they are able 
 to do almost nothing of themselves ; for when 
 they become magistrates, as they are unwillingly 
 and by force sometimes obliged to be, they addict 
 themselves to the notions of the Pharisees, be- 
 cause the multitude would not otherwise bear 
 them. 
 
 5. The doctrine of the Essens is this : That 
 all things are best ascribed to God. They teach 
 the immortality of souls, and esteem that the 
 rewards of righteousness are to be earnestly 
 striven for : and when they send what they have 
 dedicated to God into the temple, they do not 
 offer sacrifices,* because they have more pure 
 lustrations of their own ; on which account they 
 are excluded from the common court of the 
 temple, but offer their sacrifices themselves ; 
 yet is their course of life better than that of 
 other men ; and they entirely addict themselves 
 to husbandry. It also deserves our admiration, 
 how much they exceed all other men that addict 
 themselves to virtue, and this in righteousness : 
 and indeed to such a degree, that as it hath 
 never appeared among any other men, neither 
 Greeks nor barbarians, no, not for a little timej 
 so hath it endured a long while among them. 
 This is demonstrated by that institution of theirs, 
 which will not suffer anything to hinder them 
 from having all things in common ; so that a 
 rich man enjoys no more of his own wealth than 
 he who hath nothing at all. There are about 
 four thousand men that live in this way, and 
 neither marry wives, nor are desirous to keep 
 servants ; as thinking the latter tempts men to 
 be unjust, and the former gives the handle to 
 domestic quarrels ; but as they live by them- 
 selves, they minister one to another. They also 
 appoint certain stewards to receive the incomes 
 of their revenues, and of the fruits of the ground ; 
 such as are good men and priests, who are to get 
 their corn and their food ready for them. They 
 none of them differ from others of the Essens in 
 their way of living, but do the most resemble 
 those Dacae who are called PoJwtet [dwellers 
 in cities.] 
 
 6. But of the fourth sect of Jewish philoso- 
 phy, Judas the Galilean was the author. These 
 men agree in all other things with the Pharisaic 
 notions ; but they have an inviolable attachment 
 to liberty ; and they say that God is to be their 
 only Ruler and Lord. They also do not value 
 dying any kinds of death, nor indeed do they 
 heed the deaths of their relations and friends, 
 nor can any such fear make them call any man 
 Lord ; and since this immovable resolution of 
 
 * It seems by what Josephus says here, that these 
 Essens rl ul .iOri use w go to the Jewish festivals at Jeru- 
 salem, 'A offer sacrifices there, which may be one 
 great occ&on wfiy they are never mentioned in the 
 ordinary books of the New Testament* 
 
 t Who these Polista in Josephus, among the Pytha- 
 goric Dacse, were, it is not easy to determine. Scaliger 
 conjectures that some of those Dacae lived alone, like 
 monks, in tents or caves ; but that others of them lived 
 toge&to in built cities, and thence were called by such 
 names as implied the same. 
 
 theirs is well known to a groat many, I shal] 
 speak no further about that matter ; nor am I 
 afraid that anything I have said of them should 
 be disbelieved, but rather fear, that what I 
 have said is beneath the resolution they shew 
 when they undergo pain ; and it was in Gessiua 
 Florus's time that the nation began to grow mad 
 with this distemper, who was our procurator, 
 and who occasioned the Jews to go wild with it 
 by the abuse of his authority, and to make 
 them revolt from the Romans ; and these are 
 the sects of Jewish philosophy. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 HOW HEROD AND PHILIP BUILT SEVERAL CITIES 
 IN HONOUB OF C.ESAR. CONCERNING THE SUC- 
 CESSION OF PRIESTS AND PROCURATORS; AS 
 ALSO WHAT BEFELL PHRAATE8 AND THE PAR- 
 THIANS. 
 
 1. WHEN Cyrenius had now disposed of Arche- 
 laus's money, and when the taxings were come 
 to a conclusion, which were made in the thirty- 
 seventh year of Caesar's victory over Antony at 
 Actium, he deprived Joazar of the high priest- 
 hood, which dignity had been conferred on him 
 by the multitude, and he appointed Ananus, the 
 son of Seth, to be high priest ; while Herod and 
 Philip had each of them received their own 
 tetrarchy, and settled the affairs thereof. Herod 
 also built a wall about Sepphoris, (which is the 
 security of all Galilee,) and made it the metro- 
 polis of the country. He also built a wall round 
 Betharamphtha, which was itself a city also, 
 and called it Julias, from the name of the em- 
 peror's wife. When Philip, also, had built 
 Paneas, a city, at the fountains of Jordan, he 
 named it Cesarea. He also advanced the village 
 Bethsaida, situate at the lake of Gennesareth, 
 unto the dignity of *a city, both by the number 
 of inhabitants it contained, and its other gran- 
 deur, and called it by the name of Julias, the 
 same name with Caesar's daughter. 
 
 2. As Coponius, who we told you was sent 
 along with Cyrenius, was exercising his office of 
 procurator, and governing Judea, the following 
 accidents happened. As the Jews were cele- 
 brating the feast of unleavened bread, which 
 we call the Passover, it was customary for the 
 priests to open the temple -gates just after mid- 
 night. When, therefore, those gates were first 
 opened, some of the Samaritans came privately 
 into Jerusalem, and threw about dead mens 
 bodies in the cloisters ; on which account the 
 Jews afterwards excluded them out of the tem- 
 ple, which they had not used to do at such fes- 
 tivals ; and on other accounts also they watched 
 the temple more carefully than they had for- 
 merly done. A little after which accident, Co- 
 ponius returned to Rome, and Marcus Ambivius 
 came to be his successor in that government ; 
 under whom Salome, the sister of king Herod, 
 died, and left to Julia, [Caesar's wife,] Jamnia, 
 all its toparchy, and Phasaelis in the plain, and 
 Archelaus, where is a great plantation of palm- 
 trees, and their fruit is excellent in its kind. 
 After him came Annius Rufus, under whom 
 died Caesar, the second emperor of the Romans, 
 the duration of whose reign was fifty -seven 
 years, besides six months and two days, (of 
 which time Antonius ruled together with him 
 fourteen years ; but the duration of his life was 
 seventy-seven years;) upon whose death Tiberiui 
 Nero, his wife Julia's son, succeeded. He waa 
 now the third emperor; and he sent Valerius
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 IBOOK xvui 
 
 Gratus to be procurator of Judea, aiid to suc- 
 ceed Anuius Rufus. This man deprived Ananus 
 of the high priesthood, and appointed. Ismael, 
 the on of Phabi, to be high priest. He also 
 deprived him in a little time, and ordained 
 Eleazar, the son of Ananus, who had been high j 
 priest before, to be high priest : which office, ; 
 when he had held for a year, Gratus deprived I 
 hun of it, and gave the high priesthood to 
 Simon, the son of Camithus ; and, when he had 
 possessed that dignity no longer than a year, 
 Joseph Caiaphas was made his successor. When 
 Gratus had done those things, he went back tc 
 Rome, after he had tarried in Judea eleven yeans, 
 when Pontius Pilate came as his successor. 
 
 3. And now Herod the tetrarch, who wa* in 
 great favour with Tiberius, built a city of the 
 same name with him, and called it Tiberias. He 
 built it in the best part of Galilee, at the lake of 
 Gennesareth. There are warm baths at a little 
 distance from it, in a village named Emmaus 
 Strangers came and inhabited this city ; a great 
 number of the inhabitants were Galileans also ; 
 and many were necessitated by Herod to come 
 thither out of the country belonging to him, and 
 were by force compelled to be its inhabitants ; 
 some of them were persons of condition. He 
 also admitted poor people, such as those that 
 were collected from all parts, to dwell in it. 
 Nay, some of them were not quite freemen ; 
 aud these he was a benefactor to, and made 
 them free in great numbers ; but obliged them 
 not to forsake the city, by building them very- 
 good houses at his own expenses, and by giving 
 them land also ; for he was sensible, that tr 
 make this place a habitation was to transgress 
 the Jewish ancient laws, because many sepul- 
 chres were to be here taken away, in order to 
 make room for the city Tiberias : whereas our 
 law pronounces, that such inhabitants are un- 
 clean for seven days, (Num. xix. 11.) 
 
 4. About this time died Pkraates, king of the 
 Parthians, by the treachery of Phraataces his 
 son, upon the occasion following : When 
 Phraates had had legitimate sons of his own, he 
 had also an Italian maid-servant, whose name 
 was Thermusa, who had been formerly sent to 
 him by Julius Caesar, among other presents. He 
 first made her his concubine ; but he being a. 
 great admirer of her beauty, in process of time 
 having a son by her, whose name was Phraataces, 
 he made her his legitimate wife, and had a great ! 
 respect for her. Now, she was able to persuade | 
 him to do anything that she said, and was 
 earnest in procuring the government of Parthia 
 for her eon ; but still she saw that her endea- 
 vours would not succeed, unless she could con- 
 trive how to remove Phraates's legitimate sous 
 [out of the kingdom ;] so she persuaded him to 
 send those his sons as pledges of his fidelity to 
 Borne ; and they were sent to Home accordingly, 
 because it was not easy for him to contradict her 
 commands. Now, while Phraataces was alone 
 brought up in order to succeed in the govern- 
 ment, he thought it very tedious to expect that 
 government by his father's donation, [as his suc- 
 cessor ;] he therefore formed a treacherous de- 
 sign against his father, by his mother's assistance, 
 with whom, as the report went, he had criminal 
 conversation also. So he was hated for both 
 these vices, while nis subjects esteemed this 
 [wicked] love of his mother to be no way inferioi 
 to his parricida ; and ha was by them, in a sedi- 
 
 * We may here take notice, that after the death of 
 Herod the Great, and the succession of Archelaus, 
 Josephug in very brief in his accounts of Judea, till 
 own time. I suppose the reason is, that ha 
 few gwxl iuatorits ol lho*e times before him 
 
 i.on, expelled out of the country before he grew 
 too great, and died. But, as the best sort of 
 Parthians agreed together, that it was impossible 
 they should be governed without a king, while 
 also it was their constant practice to choose one 
 of the family of Arsaces [nor did their law allow 
 of any others ; and they thought this kingdom 
 had been sufficiently injured already by the mar- 
 riage with an Italian concubine, and by her 
 issue,] they sent ambassadors, and called Orodes 
 [to take the crown ;] for the multitude would 
 not otherwise have borne them ; and though he 
 was accused of very great cruelty, and was of an 
 untractable temper, and prone to wrath, yet 
 dtill he was one of the family of Arsaces. How- 
 over, they made a conspiracy against him, and 
 alew him, and that, as some say, at a festival, 
 *nd among their sacrifices (for it is the universal 
 custom there to carry their swords with them ;) 
 but, as the more general report is, they slew him 
 when they had drawn him out a hunting. So 
 they sent ambassadors to Home, and desired 
 they would send one of those that were there as 
 pledges, to be their king. Accordingly, Vouones 
 was preferred before the est, and sent to them, 
 (for he seemed capable of such great fortune, 
 which two of the greatest kingdoms under the 
 sun now offered him, his own and a foreign one.) 
 However, the barbarians soon changed their 
 minds, they being naturally of a mutable dis- 
 position, upon the supposal that this man was 
 not worthy to be their governor ; for they could 
 mot think of obeying the commands of one that 
 had been a slave, (for so they called those that 
 had been hostages,) nor could they bear the 
 ignominy of that name ; and this was the more 
 intolerable, because then the Parthians must 
 have such a king set over them, not by right of 
 war, but in time of peace. So they presently 
 invited Artabanus, king of Media, to be their 
 king, he being also of the race of Arsaces. 
 Artabanus complied with the offer that was 
 made him, and came to them with an army. So 
 Vonones met him ; and at first the multitude of 
 the Parthians stood on his side, and he put his 
 irmy in array ; but Artabanus was beaten, and 
 fled to the mountains of Media. Yet did he a 
 little after, gather a great army together, and 
 fought with Vononei, and beat him ; whereupon 
 Vonones fled away on horseback, with a few of 
 his attendants about him, to Selucia, [upon Ti- 
 gris.] So when Artabanus had slain a great num- 
 ber, and this after he had gotten the victory by 
 reason of the very great dismay the barbarians 
 were in, he retired to Ctesiphon with a great 
 number of his people ; and so he now reigned 
 over the Parthians. But Vonones fled away to 
 Armenia ; and as soon as he came thither, he 
 had an inclination to have the government of 
 the country given him, and sent ambassadors to 
 Rome [for that purpose.] But because Tiberius 
 refused it him, and because he wanted courage, 
 and because the Parthian king threatened him, 
 and sent ambassadors to him to denounce war 
 against him if he proceeded, and because he 
 had no way to take to regain any other kingdom, 
 (for the people of authority among the Arme- 
 nians about Niphatea joined themselves to Arta- 
 banus,) he delivered up himself to Silanus, the 
 president of Syria, who, out of regard to his edu- 
 cation at Rome, kept him in Syria, while Arta- 
 bauus gave Armenia to Orodes, one of his own 
 sons. 
 
 5. At this time died Antiociius, the king of 
 Commagene ; whereupon the multitude con- 
 tended with the nobility, and both sent ambassa- 
 dors [to Rome ;] for the men of power were de- 
 sirous that their form of government might be
 
 CHAP. m.j 
 
 O* THE JEWS. 
 
 changed into that of a Roman province ; as -were 
 the multitude desirous to be under kings, as 
 their fathers had been So the senate made a 
 decree, that Germanicus should be sent to settle 
 the affairs of the east, fortune hereby taking a 
 proper opportunity for depriving him of his life ; 
 for when he had been in the east, and settled all 
 affairs there, his life was taken away by the 
 poison which Fiso gave him. 
 
 CHAPTER IIL 
 
 SEDITION OF THE JEWS AGAINST PONTIUS PILATE ; ; 
 CONCERNING CHRIST, AND WHAT BEFELL PAUL- i 
 INA AND THE JEWS AT ROME. 
 
 L BUT now Pilate, the procurator of Judea, 
 removed the army from Cesarea to Jerusalem, 
 to take their winter-quarters there, in order to 
 abolish the Jewish laws. So he introduced Cae- 
 sar's effigies, which were upon the ensigns, and 
 brought them into the city; whereas our law 
 forbids us the very making of images ; on which 
 account the former procurators were wont to 
 make their entry into the city with such ensigns 
 as had not those ornaments. Pilate was the 
 first who brought these images to Jerusalem, 
 and set them up there ; which was done with- 
 out the knowledge of the people, because it was 
 done in the night-time ; but as soon as they 
 knew it, they came in multitudes to Cesarea, 
 and interceded with Pilate many days, that he 
 would remove the images ; and when he would 
 not grant their requests, because it would tend 
 to the injury of Casar, while yet they persevered 
 in their request, on the sixth day he ordered bis ' 
 soldiers to have their weapons privately, while 
 he came and sat upon his judgment-seat, which I 
 seat was so prepared in the open place of the ' 
 city, that it concealed the army that lay ready i 
 to oppress them ; and when the Jews petitioned 
 him again, he gave a signal to the soldiers to 
 encompass them round, and threatened that 
 their punishment should be no less than immedi- 
 ate death, unless they would leave off disturbii!^' 
 him, and go their ways home. But they tlm- 
 themselves upon the ground, and laid then 
 necks bare, and said they would take their 
 deaths very willingly, rather than the wisdom 
 of their laws should be transgressed ; upon which 
 Pilate was deeply affected with their firm resolu- 
 tion to keep their laws inviolable, and presently 
 commanded the images to be carried back from 
 Jerusalem to Cesarea. 
 
 2. But Pilate undertook to bring a current of 
 water to Jerusalem, and did it with the sacred 
 money, and derived the origin of the stream 
 fiom the distance of two hundred furlongs. 
 However, the Jews * were not pleased with 
 what had been done about this water ; and many 
 ten thousands of the people got together, and 
 made a clamour against him, and insisted that 
 he should leave off that design. Some of theiu 
 also used reproaches, and abused the man. as 
 crowds of such people usually di>. So he habited 
 a great number of his soldiers in their habit, 
 who carried daggers under their garments, and 
 sent them to a place where they might surround 
 
 * These 3 ews, as they are nere called, whose blood 
 Pilate shed on this occasion, may very well be those , 
 very Galilean Jews, "whose blood Pilate had mingled 
 with their sacrifices," (Luke xiii. 1, 2 :) these tumults , 
 being usually excited at some of the Jews' great feati- j 
 vals, when they slew abundance of sacrifices, and ;h; 
 Galileans being commonly much more busy in auc)t 
 tumults than those of Judea and Jerusalem. 
 
 them. So he bade the Jews himself go away ; 
 but they boldly casting reproaches upon him, he 
 gave the soldiers that signal which had been bo- 
 forehand agreed on; who laid upon them much 
 greater blows than Pilate had commanded thern^ 
 and equally punished those that were tumultu- 
 ous, and those that were not, nor did they spare 
 them in the least ; and since the people were 
 unarmed, and were caught by men prepared for 
 what they were about, there were a great num- 
 ber of them slain by this means, and others of 
 them ran away wounded ; and thus an end was 
 put to this sedition. 
 
 3. Now, there WM about this tune, Jesus, a 
 wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for 
 he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher 
 of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. 
 He drew over to him both many of the Jews, 
 and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ; 
 and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the princi- 
 pal men amongst us, had condemned him to the 
 cross,f those that loved him at the first did not 
 forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again 
 the third day, J as the divine prophets had fore- 
 told these and ten thousand other wonderful 
 things concerning him ; and the tribe of Chris- 
 tians, so named from him, are not extinct at this 
 day. 
 
 4. About the same time also another sad cal- 
 amity put the Jews into disorder ; and certain 
 shameful practices happened about the temple 
 of Isis that was at Rome. I mil now first take 
 notice of the wicked attempt about the temple 
 of Isis, and will then give an account of the 
 Jewish affairs. There was at Rome a woman 
 whose name was Paulina ; one who, on account 
 of the dignity of her ancestors, and by the regu- 
 lar conduct of a virtuous life, had a great repu- 
 tation : she was also very rich ; and although 
 she was of a beautiful countenance, and in that 
 Mower of her age wherein women are the most 
 _.;iy, yet did she lead a life of great modesty. 
 She was married to Saturninus, one that was 
 every way answerable to her in an excellent 
 character. Decius Muudus fell in love with 
 this woman, who was a man very high in the 
 equestrian order ; and as she was of too great 
 dignity to be caught by presents, and had already 
 rejected them, though they had been sent in 
 great abundance, he was still more inflamed 
 with love to her, insomuch that he promised 
 to give her two hundred thousand Attic drach- 
 mae for one night's lodging ; and when this 
 would not prevail upon her, and he was not able 
 to bear this misfortune in his amours, he thought 
 it the best way to famish himself to death for 
 want of food, on account of Paulina's sad refusal ; 
 and he determined with himself to die after such 
 a manner, and he went on with his purpose ac- 
 cordingly. Now, Mundus had a freed-woman, 
 who had been made free by his father, whose 
 name was Ide, one skilful in all sorts of mischief. 
 This woman wa very much grieved at the young 
 man's resolution to kill himself (for he did not 
 conceal his intentions to destroy himself from 
 others) and came to him, and encouraged him 
 by her discourse, and made him to hope, by 
 some promises she gave him, that he might ob- 
 tain a night's lodging with Paulina ; and when 
 he joyfully hearkened to her entreaty, she said 
 she wanted no more than fifty thousand drach- 
 mae for the entrapping of the woman. So when 
 she had encouraged the young man, and gotten 
 as much money as she required, she did not take 
 the same methods as had been taken before, 
 because she perceived that the woman was by 
 
 f A.D. 33. April 3.
 
 380 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xvm. 
 
 no means to be tempted by money ; but as she 
 knew that she was very much given to the wor- 
 ship of the goddess Isis, she devised the follow- 
 ing stratagem : She went to some of Isis's 
 priests, and upon the strongest assurances [of 
 concealment,] she persuaded them by words, but 
 chiefly by the offer of money, of twenty-five 
 thousand drachmae in hand, and as much more 
 when the thing had taken effect ; and told them 
 the passion of the young man, and persuaded 
 them to use all means possible, to beguile the 
 woman. So they were drawn in to promise so 
 to do, by that large sum of gold they were to 
 have. Accordingly the oldest of them went im- 
 mediately to Paulina ; and upon his admittance, 
 he desired to speak with her by herself. When 
 that was granted him, he told her that he was 
 sent by the god Anubis, who was fallen in love 
 with her, and enjoined her to come to him. 
 Upon this she took the message very kindly, 
 and valued herself greatly upon this condescen- 
 sion of Anubis ; and told her husband that she 
 had a message sent her, and was to sup and lie 
 with Anubis ; so he agreed to her acceptance of 
 the offer, as fully satisfied with the chastity of 
 his wife. Accordingly, she went to the temple ; 
 and after she had supped there, and it was the 
 hour to go to sleep, the priest shut the doors of 
 the temple; when, in the holy part of it, the 
 lights were also put out. Then did Mundus 
 leap out (for he was hidden therein) and did not 
 fail of enjoying her, who was at his service all 
 the night long, as supposing he was the god ; 
 and when he was gone away, which was before 
 those priests who knew nothing of this stratagem 
 were stirring, Paulina came early to her husband, 
 and told him how the god Anubis had appeared 
 to her. Among her friends also she declared 
 how great a value she put upon this favour, who 
 partly disbelieved the thing, when they reflected 
 on its nature, and partly were amazed at it, as 
 having no pretence for not believing it, when 
 they considered the modesty and the dignity of 
 the person ; but now, on the third day after 
 what had been done, Mundus met Paulina, and 
 said, " Nay, Paulina, thou hast saved me two 
 hundred thousand drachmse, which sum thou 
 mightest have added to thy family ; yet hast 
 thou not failed to be at my service in the man- 
 ner I invited thee. As for the reproaches thou 
 hast laid upon Mundus, I value not the busi- 
 ness of names ; but I rejoice in the pleasure I 
 reaped by what I did, while I took to myself 
 the name of Anubis." When he had said this, 
 he went his way : but now she began to come to 
 the sense of the grossness of what she had done, 
 and rent her garments, and told her husband 
 of the horrid nature of this wicked contrivance, 
 and prayed him not to neglect to assist her in 
 this case. So he discovered the fact to the em- 
 peror ; whereupon Tiberius inquired into the 
 matter thoroughly, by examining the priests 
 about it, and ordered them to be crucified, as 
 well as Ide, who was the occasion of their per- 
 dition, and who had contrived the whole matter, 
 which was so injurious to the woman. He also 
 demolished the temple of Isis, and gave order 
 that her statue should be thrown into the river 
 Tiber ; while he only banished Mundus, but did 
 no more to him, because he supposed that what 
 crime he had committed, was done out of the 
 passion of love ; and these were the circumstances 
 which concerned the temple of Isis, and the 
 injuries occasioned by her priests. I now return 
 to the relation of what happened about this time 
 to the Jews at Rome, as I formerly told you I 
 would. 
 5 There was a man who was a Jew, but had 
 
 been driven away from his own country by an 
 accusation laid against him for transgressing 
 their laws, and by the fear he was under of pun- 
 ishment for the same ; but in all respects a 
 wicked man : he then living at Rome, professed 
 to instruct men in the wisdom of the laws ol 
 Mose? He procured also three other men, en- 
 tirely oi the same character with himself, to be 
 his partners. These men persuaded Fulvia, a 
 woman of great dignity, and one that had em- 
 braced the Jewish religion, to send purple and 
 gold to the temple at Jerusalem; and, when 
 they had gotten them, they employed them for 
 their own uses, and spent the money themselves ; 
 on which account it was that they at first re- 
 quired it of her. Whereupon Tiberius, wlio had 
 been informed of the thing by Saturninus, the 
 husband of Fulvia, who desired inquiry might 
 be made about it, ordered all the Jews to be 
 banished out of Rome ; at which time the con- 
 suls enlisted four thousand men out of them, and 
 sent them to the island Sardinia ; but punished 
 a greater number of them, who were unwilling 
 to become soldiers on account of keeping the 
 laws of their forefathers. Thus were these Jews 
 banished out of the city by the wickedness of 
 four men. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HOW THE SAMARITANS MADE A TUMOI/T, AND 
 ?ILATE DESTROYED MANY OF THEM ; AND HOW 
 PILATE WAS ACCUSED, AND WHAT THINGS WERE 
 DONE BY VITELLIUS RELATING TO THB JEWS 
 AND THE PARTHIANS. 
 
 1. EOT the nation of the Samaritans did not 
 escape without tumults. The man who excited 
 them to it, was one who thought lying a thing 
 of little consequence, and who contrived every- 
 thing so, that the multitude might be pleased ; 
 so he bade them get together upon mount Ger- 
 izzim, which is by them looked upon as the most 
 holy of all mountains, and assured them that, 
 when they were come thither, he would shew 
 them those sacred vessels which were laid under 
 that place, because Moses put them there. * So 
 they came thither armed, and thought the dis- 
 course of the man probable ; and as they abode 
 at a certain village, which was called Tirathaba, 
 they got the rest together to them, and desired 
 to go up the mountain in a great multitude to- 
 gether. But Pilate prevented their going up, 
 by seizing upon the roads with a great band of 
 horsemen and footmen, who fell upon those that 
 were gotten together in the village ; and when 
 they came to an action, some of them they slew, 
 and others of them they put to flight, and took 
 a great many alive, the principal of whom, and 
 also the most potent of those that fled away, 
 Pilate ordered to be slain. 
 
 2. But when this tumult was appeased, the 
 Samaritan senate sent an embassy to Vitellius, 
 a man that had been consul, and who was now 
 president of Syria, and accused Pilate of the 
 murder of those that were killed ; for that they 
 did not go to Tirathaba in order to revolt from 
 the Romans, but to escape the violence of Pilate. 
 
 * Since Moses never came himself beyond Jordan, 
 nor particularly to mount Gerizzim, and since these 
 Samaritans have a tradition among them, that in ths 
 days of Uzzi or Ozis the high priest, (1 Chron. vi. 6,) 
 the ark and other sacred vessels were, by God's com- 
 mand, laid up or hidden in mount Gerizzim, it is highly 
 probable that this was the foolish foundation the pre- 
 sent Samaritans went upon, in the sedition here da- 
 scribed.
 
 CHAP. IV.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWa 
 
 381 
 
 So Vitellius sent Marcellus, a friend of his, to 
 take care of the affairs of Judea, and ordered 
 Pilate to go to Rome, to answer before the em- 
 peror to the accusation of the Jews. So Pilate, 
 when he had tarried ten years in Judea, made 
 haste to Rome, and this in obedience to the 
 orders of Vitellius, which he durst not contra- 
 dict ; but before he could get to Rome, Tiberius 
 was dead. 
 
 3. But Vitellius came into Judea, and went 
 up to Jerusalem ; it was at the time of that fes- 
 tival which is called the Passover. Vitellius 
 was there magnificently received, and released 
 the inhabitants of Jerusalem from all the taxes 
 upon the fruits that were bought and sold, and 
 gave them leave to have the care of the high 
 priest's vestments, with all their ornaments, 
 and to have them under the custody of the 
 priests in the temple; which power they used 
 to have formerly, although at this time they 
 were laid up in the tower of Antonia, the cita- 
 del so called, and that on the occasion following : 
 There was one of the [high] priests named 
 Hyrcanus, and as there were many of that name, 
 he was the first of them ; this man built a tower 
 near the temple, and when he had so done, he 
 generally dwelt in it, and had these vestments 
 with him ; because it was lawful for him alone 
 to put them on, and he had them there reposit- 
 ed when he went down into the city, and took 
 hia ordinary garments; the same things were 
 continued to be done by his sons, and by their 
 sons after them ; but when Herod came to be 
 king, he rebuilt this tower, which was very con- 
 veniently situated, in a magnificent manner ; 
 and because he was a friend to Antonius, he 
 called it by the name of Antonia; and as he 
 found these vestments lying there, he retained 
 them in the same place, as believing that, while 
 he had them in his custody, the people would 
 make no innovations against him. The like to 
 what Herod did was done by his son Archelaus, 
 who was made king after him ; after whom the 
 Romans, when they entered on the government, 
 took possession of these vestments of the high 
 priest, and had them reposited in a stone cham- 
 ber, under the seal of the priests, and of the 
 keepers of the temple, the captain of the guard 
 lighting a lamp there every day; and seven 
 days before a festival * they were delivered to 
 them by the captain of the guard, when the 
 high priest having purified them, and made use 
 of them, laid them up again in the same chamber 
 where they had been laid up before, and this 
 the very next day after the feast was over. This 
 was the practice at the three yearly festivals, 
 and on the fast-day ; but Vitellius put those gar- 
 ments into our own power, as in the days of our 
 forefathers, and ordered the captain of the guard 
 not to trouble himself to inquire where they 
 were lai<L or when they were to be used ; and 
 this he did as an act of kindness, to oblige the 
 nation to him. Besides which he also deprived 
 Joseph, who was called Caiphas, of the high 
 priesthood, and appointed Jonathan, the son of 
 Ananus, the former high priest, to succeed him. 
 After which he took his journey back to Antioch. 
 
 4. Moreover, Tiberius sent a letter to Vitel- 
 lius, and commanded him to make a league of 
 friendship with Artabanus, the king of Parthia ; 
 for while he was his enemy, he terrified him, 
 because he had taken Armenia away from him, 
 lest he should proceed further, and told him he 
 
 * This mention of the high priest's sacred garments 
 received seven days oefore a festival, and purified in 
 those days against a festival, as having been polluted 
 by being in the custody of heathens, in Josjphus. 
 aarops with the traditions of the Talmudista. 
 
 hould no otherwise trust him than upon hi 
 giving him hostages, and especially his son Arta- 
 banus. Upon Tiberius's writing thus to Vitel- 
 lius, by the offer of great presents of money, he 
 persuaded both the king of Iberia and the king 
 of Albania to make no delay, but to fight against 
 Artabanus ; and although they would not do it 
 themselves, yet did they give the Scythians a 
 passage through their country, and opened the 
 Caspian gates to them, and brought them upon 
 Artabanus. So Armenia was again taken from 
 the Parthians, and the country of Parthia was 
 filled with war, and the principal of their men 
 were slain, and all things were in disorder among 
 them : the king's son also himself fell in these 
 wars, together with many ten thousands of his 
 army. Vitellius had also sent such great sums 
 of money to Artabanus's father's kinsmen and 
 friends, that he had almost procured him to be 
 slain by the means of those bribes which they 
 had taken. And when Artabanus perceived 
 that the plot laid against him was not to ba 
 avoided, because it was laid by the principal 
 men, and those a great many in number, and 
 that it would certainly take effect, when he 
 had estimated the number of those that were 
 truly faithful to him, as also of those who were 
 already corrupted, but were deceitful in the 
 kindness they professed to him, and were likely 
 upon trial, to go over to his enemies, he made 
 hia escape to the upper provinces, where he 
 afterwards raised a great army out of the Dahse 
 a. J Sacie, and fought with his enemies, and re- 
 tained his principality. 
 
 *5. When Tiberius had heard of these things, 
 'ne desired to have a league of friendship made 
 between him and Artabanus ; and when, upon 
 this invitation, he received the proposal kindly, 
 Artabanus and Vitellius went to Euphrates, and 
 as a bridge was laid over the river, they each of 
 them came with their guards about them, and 
 met one another on the midst of the bridge. 
 And when they had agreed upon the terms of 
 peace, Herod the tetrarch erected a rich tent on 
 the midst of the passage, and made them a feast 
 there. Artabanus also, not long afterwards, 
 sent his son Darius as a hostage, with many 
 presents, among which there was a man seven 
 cubits tall, a Jew he was by birth, and his name 
 was Eleazar, who, for his tallness, was called a 
 giant. After which Vitellius went to Antioch, 
 and Artabanus to Babylon ; but Herod [the te- 
 trarch,] being desirous to give Caesar the first 
 information that they had obtained hostages, sent 
 posts with letters, wherein he had accurately 
 described all the particulars, and had left no- 
 thing for the consular Vitellius to inform him of. 
 But when Vitellius's letters were sent, and Caesar 
 had let him know that he was acquainted with 
 the affairs already, because Herod had given him 
 an account of them before, Vitellius was very 
 much troubled at it ; and supposing that he had 
 been thereby a greater sufferer than he really 
 was, he kept up a secret anger upon this occasion, 
 till he could be revenged upon him ; which he 
 was after Caius had taken the government. 
 
 6. About this time it was that Philip, Herod's 
 brother, departed this life, in the twentieth year 
 of the reign of Tiberius, t after he had been te- 
 trarch of Trachonitis, and Gaulonitis, and of the 
 
 t This calculation is exactly right ; for since Herou 
 died about September, in the fourth year before the 
 Christian era, and Tiberius began, as is well known, 
 Aug. 19, A.D. 14, it is evident that the 37th year ot 
 Philip, reckoned from his father's death, was the 20th 
 of Tiberius, or near the end of A.D. 33, (the very year of 
 our Saviour's death also,) or, however, in the beginning 
 of 'tn> next year. A D. 34
 
 382 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xvni. 
 
 Cation of the Bataneana also, thirty-seven years. 
 He had shewn himself a person of moderation 
 and quietness in the conduct of his life and 
 government ; he constantly lived in that country 
 which was subject to him ; he used to make his 
 progress with a few chosen friends ; his tribunal 
 also, on which he sat in judgment, followed him 
 in his progress ; and when any one met him who 
 wanted his assistance, he made no delay, but had 
 his tribunal set down immediately, wheresoever 
 he happened to be, and sat down upon it, and 
 heard his complaint : he there ordered the guilty 
 that were convicted to be punished, and absolved 
 those that had been accused unjustly. He died 
 at Julias ; and when he was carried to that monu- 
 ment which he had already erected for himself 
 beforehand, he was buried with great pomp. 
 His principality Tiberius took, (for he left no 
 sons behind him,) and added it to the province 
 of Syria, but gave order that the tributes which 
 arose from it should be collected, and laid up in 
 his tetrarchy. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 HKHOD THE TETRARCH MAKES WAR WITH AKETAS, 
 THE KING OF ARABIA, AND IS BEATEN BT HIM ; 
 AS ALSO CONCERNING! THE DEATH OP JOHN THE 
 BAPTIST. HOW VITELLIUS WENT UP TO JERU- 
 SALEM ; TOGETHER WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF 
 AGRIPPA, AND OF THE POSTERITY Off HEKOD 
 THE GREAT. 
 
 1. ABOUT this time Aretas (the king of Arabia 
 Petrca) and Herod had a quarrel, on the ac- 
 count following: Herod the tetrarch had married 
 the daughter of Aretas, and had lived with her a 
 great while ; but when he was once at Rome, he 
 lodged with Herod,* who was his brother in- 
 deed, but not by the same mother ; for this 
 Herod was the son of the high priest Simon's 
 daughter. However, he fell in love with Hero- 
 dias, this last Herod's wife, who was the daughter 
 of Aristobulus their brother, and the sister of 
 Agrippa the Great. This man ventured to talk 
 to her about a marriage between them ; which 
 address when she admitted, an agreement was 
 made for her to change her habitation, and come 
 to him as soon as he should return from Rome : 
 one article of this marriage also was this, that he 
 should divorce Aretas's daughter. So Antipas, 
 when he had made this agreement, sailed to 
 Rome ; but when he had done there the business 
 he went about, and was returned again, his wife 
 having discovered the agreement he had made 
 with Herodias, and having learned it before he 
 had notice of her knowledge of the whole design, 
 she desired him to send her to Macherus, which 
 is a place on the borders of the dominions of 
 Aretas and Herod, without informing him of any 
 of her intentions. Accordingly Herod sent her 
 thither, as thinking his wife had not perceived 
 anything ; now she had sent a good while before 
 to Macherus, which was subject to her father, 
 and so all things necessary for her journey were 
 made ready for her by the general of Aretas's 
 army, and by that means she soon came to 
 Arabia, under the conduct of the several gene- 
 rals, who carried her from one to another suc- 
 cessively ; and she soon came to her father, and 
 old him of Herod's intentions. So Aretas made 
 
 * This Herod seems to have had the additional name 
 of Philip, as Antipas was named Herod- Antipas : and 
 M Antipas and Antipater seem to be in a manner the 
 rery same name, yet were the tmmes of two sons of Herod 
 the Great, so might Philip the tetrarch and this Herod- 
 Fhilip be two different sons of the same father. 
 
 this the first occasion of hi* enmity between him 
 and Herod, who had also some quarrel with him 
 about their limits at the country of Gamalitis. 
 So they raised armies on both sides, and prepared 
 for war, and sent their generals to fight instead 
 of themselves ; and, when they had joined battle, 
 all Herod's army was destroyed by the treachery 
 of some fugitives, though they were of the te- 
 trarchy of Philip, joined with Aretas's army. 
 So Herod wrote about these affairs to Tiberius ; 
 who, being very angry at the attempt made by 
 Aretas, wrote to Vitellius, to make war upon 
 him, and either to take him alive, and bring 
 him to him in bonds, or to kill him, and send 
 him his head. This was the charge that 
 Tiberius gave to the president of Syria. 
 
 2. Now, some of the Jews thought that the 
 destruction of Herod's army came from God, and 
 that very justly, as a punishment of what he did 
 against John, that was called the Baptist ; for 
 Herod slew him, who was a good man, and com- 
 manded the Jews to exercise virtue, both as to 
 righteousness towards one another, and piety 
 towards God, and so to come to baptism ; for 
 that the washing [with water] would be accept- 
 able to him, if they made use of it, not in order 
 to the putting away, [or the remission] of some 
 sins [only,] but for the purification of the body : 
 supposing still that the soul was thoroughly 
 purified beforehand by righteousness. Now, 
 when [many] others came to crowd about him, 
 for they were greatly moved [or pleased] by 
 hearing his words, Herod, who feared lest the 
 great influence John had over the people might 
 put it into his power and inclination to raise a 
 rebellion, (for they seemed ready to do anything 
 he should advise,) thought it best, by putting 
 him to death, to prevent any mischief he might 
 cause, and not bring himself into difficulties, by 
 sparing a man who might make him repent of it 
 when it should be too late. Accordingly he waa 
 sent a prisoner, out of Herod's suspicious tem- 
 per, to Macherus, the castle I before mentioned, 
 and was there put to death. Now the Jews had 
 an opinion that the destruction of this army was 
 sent as a punishment upon Herod, and a mark f 
 God's displeasure against him. 
 
 3. So Vitellius prepared to make war with 
 Aretas, having with him two legions of armed 
 men; he also took with him all those of light 
 armature, and of the horsemen which belonged 
 to them, and were drawn out of the kingdoms 
 which were under the Romans, and made haste 
 for Petra, and came to Ptolemais. But as he 
 was marching very busily, and leading his army 
 through Judea, the principal men met him, and 
 desired that he would not thus march through 
 their land ; for that the laws of their country 
 would not permit them to overlook those images 
 which were brought into it, of which there were 
 a great many in their ensigns ; so he was per- 
 suaded by what they said, and changed that 
 resolution of his, which he had before taken in 
 this matter. Whereupon he ordered the army 
 to march along the great plain, while he him- 
 self, with Herod the tetrarch, and his friends, 
 went up to Jerusalem to offer sacrifice to God, 
 an ancient festival of the Jews being then just 
 approaching; and when he had been there, and 
 been honourably entertained by the multitude 
 of Jews, he made a stay there for three days, 
 within which time he deprived Jonathan of tho 
 high priesthood, and gave it to his brother 
 Theophilus ; but when on the fourth day letters 
 came to him, which informed him of the death 
 of Tiberius, he obliged the multitude to take an 
 oath of fidelity to Caius; he also recalled his 
 army, and made them every one go home, and
 
 CHAP. VI.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JETFS. 
 
 385 
 
 take their winter-quarters there, since, upon 
 the devolution of the empire upon Caius, he 
 had not the like authority of making this war 
 which he had before. It was also reported, that 
 when Aretas heard of the coming of Vitellius to 
 fight him, he said, upon his consulting with the 
 diviners, that it was impossible that this army 
 of Vitellius's could enter Petra ; for that one of 
 the rulers would die, either he that gave orders 
 for the war, or he that was marching at the 
 other's desire, in order to be subservient to his 
 will, or else he against whom this army is pre- 
 
 Eared. So Vitellius truly retired to Antioch ; 
 ut Agrippa, the son of Aristobulus, went up 
 to Rome, a year before the death of Tiberius, 
 in order to treat of some affairs with the em- 
 peror, if he might be permitted so to do. I 
 have now a mind to describe Herod and Bis 
 family, how it fared with them, partly because 
 it is suitable to this history to speak of that 
 matter, and partly because this thing is a de- 
 monstration of the interposition of Providence; 
 how a multitude of children is of no advantage, 
 no more than any other strength, that mankind 
 set their hearts upon, besides those acts of piety 
 which are done towards God ; for it happened, 
 that within the revolution of a hundred years, 
 that the posterity of Herod, who were a great 
 many in number, were, excepting a few, utterly 
 destroyed.* One may well apply this for the 
 instruction of mankind, and learn thence how 
 unhappy they were : it will also shew us the 
 history of Agrippa, who, as he was a person 
 most worthy of admiration, so was he from a 
 private man, beyond all the expectation of those 
 that knew him, advanced to great power and 
 authority. I have said something of them for- 
 merly; but I shall now also speak accurately 
 about them. 
 
 4. Herod the Great had two daughters by 
 Mariamne, the [grand] daughter of Hyrcanus ; 
 the one was Salampsio, who was married to 
 Phasaelus, her first cousin, who was himself the 
 son of Phasaelus, Herod's brother, her father 
 making the match : the other was Cypros, who 
 was herself married also to her first cousin 
 Antipater, the son of Salome, Herod's sister. 
 Phasaelus had five children by Salampsio ; Anti- 
 pater, Herod, and Alexander, and two daughters, 
 Alexandra and Cypros : which last, Agrippa, the 
 son of Aristobulus, married ; and Tiinius of 
 Cyprus married Alexandra ; he was a man of 
 note, but had by her no children. Agrippa had 
 by Cypros two sons and three daughters, which 
 daughters were named Bernice, Mariamne, and 
 Drusilla ; but the names of the sons were Agrippa 
 and Drusus, of which Drusus died before he 
 came to the years of puberty ; but their father 
 Agrippa, was brought up with his other brethren^ 
 Herod and Aristobulus, for these were also the 
 sons of the son of Herod the Great by Bernice : 
 but Bernice was the daughter of Costobarus and 
 of Salome, who was Herod's sister. Aristobulus 
 left these infants when he was slain by his father, 
 together with his brother Alexander, as we have 
 already related ; but when they were arrived at 
 the years of puberty, this Herod, the brother of 
 Agrippa, married Mariamne, the daughter of 
 OlympLis, who was the daughter of Herod the 
 king, and of Joseph, the son of Joseph, who 
 was brother to Herod the king, and had by her 
 a son, Aristobulus ; but Aristobulus, the third 
 
 * Whether this sudden extinction of almost the en- 
 tire lineage of Herod the Great, was not in part as a 
 punishment for the gross incests they were frequently 
 guilty of, in marrying their own nephews and nieces, 
 well deserves to be considered. See Lev. xviii , T, 
 xxi. 10. 
 
 brother of Agrippa, married Jotape, the daughter 
 of Sampsigeramus, king of Emesa ; they had a 
 daughter who was deaf, whose name also was 
 Jotape ; and these hitherto were the children of 
 the male line; but Herodias, their sister, was 
 married to Herod, [Philip,] the son of Herod 
 the Great, who was born of Mariamne, the 
 daughter of Simon the high priest, who had a 
 daughter Salome; after whose birth, Herodias 
 took upon her to confound the laws of out 
 country, and divorce herself from her husband, 
 while he was alive, and was married to Herod, 
 [Antipas,] her husband's brother by the father's 
 side ; he was tetrarch of Galilee ; but her daugh- 
 ter Salome was married to Philip, the son of 
 Herod, the tetrarch of Trachonitis : and, as he 
 died childless, Aristobulus, the son of Herod, 
 the brother of Agrippa, married her : they had 
 three sons, Herod, Agrippa, and Aristobulus; 
 and this was the posterity of Phasaelus and 
 Salampsio; but the daughter of Antipater by 
 Cyproa, was Cypros, whom Alexas Selcias, the 
 son of Alexas, married; they had a daughter, 
 Cypros ; but Herod and Alexander, who, as we 
 told you, were the brothers of Antipater, died 
 childless \s to Alexander, the son of Herod 
 the king, who was slam by his father, he had 
 two sons, Alexander and Tigranes, by the daugh- 
 ter of Archelaus, king of Cappadocia. Tigranes, 
 who was king of Armenia, was accused at Rome, 
 and died childless ; Alexander had a son of the 
 same name with his brother Tigranes, and was 
 sent to take possession of the kingdom of Ar- 
 menia by Nero ; he had a son, Alexander, who 
 married Jotape, the daughter of Antiochus, the 
 king of Commagena ; Vespasian made him king 
 of an island in Cilicia. But these descendants 
 of Alexander, soon after their birth, deserted 
 the Jewish religion, and went over to that of 
 the Greeks ; but for the rest of the daughters of 
 Herod the king, it happened that they died 
 childless; and as these descendants of Herod 
 whom we have enumerated were in being at 
 the same time that Agrippa the Great took the 
 kingdom, and I have now given an account of 
 them, it now remains that I relate the several 
 hard fortunes which befell Agrippa, and how he 
 got clear of them, and was advanced to the 
 greatest height of dignity and honour. 
 
 CHAPTER VT. 
 
 CF THE NAVIGATION 0* KINO AGRIPPA TO ROMS, 
 TO TIBERIUS OESAR; AND HOW, UPON HIS 
 BUNG ACCUSED BY HIS OWN FBJEEDMAN, HI 
 WAS BOUND; HOW ALSO HE WAS SET AT 
 LD3ERTY BY CAIUS, AJTEB TIBERIUS'S DEATH, 
 AND WAS HAD! KING THB TETRAROHY OF 
 PHILIP. 
 
 L A LITTLE before the death of Herod the king, 
 Agrippa lived at Rome, and was generally brought 
 up and conversed with Drusus, the emperor Tibe- 
 rius's son, and contracted a friendship with Antc- 
 nia, the wife of Drusus the Great, who had his 
 mother Bernice in great esteem, and was very 
 desirous of advancing her son. Now, as Agrippa 
 was by nature magnanimous and generous in the 
 presents he made while his mother was alive, 
 this inclination of his mind did not appear, that 
 he might be able to avoid her gnger for such hia 
 extravagance ; but when Bernice was dead, and 
 he was left to his own conduct, he spent a great 
 deal extravagantly in bis daily way of living, and 
 a great deal in the immoderate presents he made, 
 and those chiefly among Caesar's freedmen, in
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 884 
 
 order to gain their assistance, insomuch that ha 
 was in a little time reduced to poverty, and 
 could not live at Rome any longer. Tiberius 
 also forbade the friends of his deceased son to 
 come into his sight, because on seeing them he 
 should be put In mind of his son, and his grief 
 would thereby be revived. 
 
 2. For these reasons he went away from Rome, 
 and sailed to Judea, but in evil circumstances, 
 being dejected with the loss of that money which 
 ho once had, and because he had not wherewithal 
 to pay his creditors, who were many in number, 
 and such as gave no room for escaping them. 
 Whereupon he knew not what to do ; so for 
 shame of his present condition, he retired to a 
 certain tower at Malatha, in Idumea, and had 
 thoughts of killing himself ; but his wife Cyprus 
 perceived his intentions, and tried all sorts of 
 methods to divert him from his taking such 
 a course : so she sent a letter to his sister Hero- 
 dias, who was now the wife of Herod the te- 
 trarch, and let her know Agrippa's present 
 design, and what necessity it was which drove 
 him thereto, and desired her, as a kinswoman 
 of his, to give him her help, and to engage her 
 husband to do the same, since she saw how she 
 alleviated these her husband's troubles all she 
 could, although she had not the like wealth to 
 do it withal. So they sent for him and allotted 
 him Tiberias for his habitation, and appointed 
 him some income of money for his maintenance, 
 and made him a magistrate of that city, by way 
 of honour to him. Yet did not Herod long con- 
 tinue in that resolution of supporting him, 
 though even that support was not sufficient for 
 him ; for, as once they were at a feast at Tyre, 
 and in their cups, and reproaches were cast 
 upon one another, Agrippa thought that was not 
 to be borne, while Herod hit him hi the teeth 
 with his poverty, and with his owing his neces- 
 sary food to him. So he went to Flaccus, one 
 that had been consul, and had been a very great 
 friend to him at Rome formerly, and was now 
 president of Syria. 
 
 3. Hereupon Flaccus received him kindly, and 
 he lived with him. Flaccus had also with him 
 there, Aristobulus, who was indeed Agrippa's 
 brother, but was at variance with him ; yet did 
 not their enmity to one another hinder the 
 friendship of Flaccus to them both ; but still 
 they were honourably treated by him. How- 
 ever, Aristobulus did not abate of his ill-will to 
 Agrippa, till at length he brought him into ill 
 terms with Flaccus ; the occasion of bringing on 
 which estrangement was this : The Damascenes 
 were at difference with the Sidonians about their 
 limits, and when Flaccus was about to hear the 
 cause between them, they understood that 
 Agrippa had a mighty influence upon him ; so 
 they desired that he would be of their side, and 
 for that favour promised him a great deal of 
 money ; so he was zealous in assisting the Da- 
 mascenes as far as he was able. Now Aristobulus 
 had gotten intelligence of this promise of money 
 to him, and accused him to Flaccus of the same ; 
 and when, upon a thorough examination of the 
 matter, it appeared plainly so to be, he rejected 
 Agrippa out of the number of his friends. So 
 he was reduced to the utmost necessity, and 
 came to Ptolemais ; because he knew not where 
 else to get a livelihood, he thought to sail to 
 Italy ; but as he was restrained from so doing 
 by waut of money, he desired Marsyas, who was 
 his freed-man, to find some method for pro- 
 curing him BO much as he wanted for that pur- 
 pose, by borrowing such a sum of some person 
 or other. So Marsyas desired of Peter, who 
 was the freed-man of Bernice, Agrippa's mother. 
 
 [BOOK xvm. 
 
 and by the right of her testament was be- 
 queathed to Antonia, to lend so much upon 
 Agrippa's own bond and security : but he ac- 
 cused Agrippa of having defrauded him of cer- 
 tain sums of money, and so obliged Marsyas, 
 when he made the bond of twenty thousand 
 Attic drachmae, to accept of twenty-five hundred 
 drachmae less than what he desired ; which the 
 other allowed of, because he could not help it. 
 Upon the receipt of this money, Agiippa came 
 to Anthedon, and took shipping, and was going 
 to set sail ; but Herennius Capito, who was the 
 procurator of Jamnia, sent a band of soldiers to 
 demand of him three hundred thousand drachmae 
 of silver, which were by him owing to Caesar's 
 treasury while he was at Rome, and so forced 
 him to stay. He then pretended that he would 
 do as he bade him ; but when night came on, 
 ho cut his cables, and went off, and sailed to 
 Alexandria, where he desired Alexander the 
 alabarch to lend him two hundred thousand 
 drachmae ; but he said he would not refuse it to 
 Cypros, as greatly astonished at her affection 
 to her husband, and at the other instances of her 
 virtue ; go she undertook to repay it. Accord- 
 ingly, Alexander paid them five talents at 
 Alexandria, and promised to pay them the rest 
 of that sum at Dicearchia, [Puteoli ;] and this he 
 did out of the f ear he was in that Agrippa would 
 soon spend it. So this Cypros set her husband 
 free, and dismissed him to go on with his navi- 
 gation to Italy, while she and her children de- 
 parted for Judea. 
 
 4. And now Agrippa was come to Puteoli, 
 whence he wrote a letter to Tiberius Caesar, who 
 then lived at Capreae, and told him that he was 
 come so far in order to wait on him, and to pay 
 him a visit ; and desired that he would give him 
 leave to come over to Capreae : So Tiberius made 
 no difficulty, but wrote to him in an obliging way 
 in other respects ; and withal told him he was 
 glad of his safe return, and desired him to come 
 to Capreae ; and, when he was come, he did not 
 fail to treat him as kindly as he had promised 
 him in his letter to do. But the next day came 
 a letter to Caesar from Herennius Capito, to in- 
 form him that Agrippa had borrowed three 
 hundred thousand drachmae, and not paid it at 
 the time appointed ; but, when it was demanded 
 of him, he ran away like a fugitive, out of the 
 places under his government, and put it out of 
 his power to get the money of him. When 
 Caesar had read this letter, he was much trou- 
 bled at it, and gave orders that Agrippa should 
 be excluded from his presence until he had paid 
 that debt : upon which he was no way daunted 
 at Caesar's anger, but entreated Antonia, the 
 mother of Germanicus, and Claudius, who was 
 afterwards Caesar himself, to lend him those 
 three hundred thousand drachmas, that he 
 might not be deprived of Tiberius's friendship ; 
 BO, out of regard to the memory of Bernice his 
 mother, (for those two women were very familiar 
 with one another, ) and out of regard of his and 
 Claudius's education together, she lent him the 
 money; and, upon the payment of this debt, 
 there was nothing to hinder Tiberius's friendship 
 to him. After this, Tiberius Csesar recommend- 
 ed to him his grandson, and ordered that he 
 should always accompany him when he went 
 abroad. But, upon Agrippa's kind reception by 
 Antonia, he betook him to pay his respects to 
 Caius, who was her grandson, and in very high 
 reputation by reason of the good-will they bare 
 his father. Now there was one Thallus, a freed- 
 man of Caesar's of whom he borrowed a million 
 of drachmae, and thence repaid Antonia the 
 debt he owed her ; and bv spending the overruns
 
 OHAP. VI. J 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 385 
 
 in paying his court to Caius, became a person of 
 great authority with him. 
 
 5. Now, as the friendship which Agrippa had. 
 for Caius was come to a great height, there hap- 
 pened some words to pass between them, as they 
 were once in a chariot together, concerning Tibe- 
 rius ; Agrippa praying [to God] (for they two sat 
 by themselves) that Tiberius might soon go off 
 the stage, and leave the government to Caius, 
 who was in every respect more worthy of it. 
 Now, Eutychus, who was Agrippa's freed-man, 
 and drove his chariot, heard these words, and at 
 that time said nothing of them; but when 
 Agrippa accused him of stealing some garments 
 of his, (which was certainly true,) he ran away 
 from him ; but when he was caught, and brdught 
 before Piso, who was governor of the city, and 
 the man was asked why he ran away, he replied, 
 that he had somewhat to say to Caesar that 
 tended to his security and preservation : so Piso 
 bound him, and sent him to Capreae. But Tibe- 
 rius, according to his usual custom, kept him 
 still in bonds, being a delayer of affairs, if ever 
 there was any other king or tyrant that was so ; 
 for he did not admit ambassadors quickly, and no 
 successors were despatched away as governors or 
 procurators of the provinces that had been for- 
 j merly sent, unless they were dead ; whence it 
 was that he was so negligent in hearing the 
 causes of prisoners ; insomuch that when he was 
 asked by his friends what was the reason of his 
 delay in such cases, he said that he delayed to 
 hear ambassadors lest, upon their quick dismis- 
 sion, other ambassadors should be appointed, 
 and return upon him ; and so he should bring 
 trouble upon himself in their public reception 
 and dismission : that he permitted those gov- 
 ernors who had been sent once to their govern- 
 ments [to stay there a great while] out of regard 
 to the subjects that were under them ; for that 
 all governors are naturally disposed to get as 
 much as they can ; and that those who are not 
 to fix there, but to stay a short time, and that 
 at an uncertainty when they shall be turned out, 
 do the more severely hurry themselves on to 
 fleece the people ; but that, if their government 
 be long continued to them, they are at last 
 satiated with the spoils, as having gotten a vast 
 deal, and so become at length less sharp in their 
 pillaging ; but that, if successors are sent quickly, 
 the poor subjects, who are exposed to them as 
 a prey, will not be able to bear the new ones, 
 while they shall not have the same time allowed 
 them wherein their predecessors had filled them- 
 selves, and so grow more unconcerned about 
 getting more ; and this because they are re- 
 moved before they have had time [for their 
 oppressions.] He gave them an example to 
 shew his meaning : A great number of fliee 
 came about the sore places of a man that had 
 been wounded, upon which, one of the standers- 
 by pitied the man's misfortune, and thinking he 
 was not p.ble to drive away those flies himself, 
 was going to drive them away for him ; but he 
 prayed him to let them alone ; the other, by 
 way of reply, asked him the reason of such a 
 preposterous proceeding, in preventing relief 
 from his present misery ; to which he answered, 
 " If thou drivest these flies away, thou wilt hurt 
 me worse ; for as these are already full of my 
 blood, they do not crowd about me, nor pain me 
 so much as before, but are sometimes more re- 
 miss, while the fresh ones that come, almost 
 famished, and find me quite tired down already, 
 will be my destruction. For this cause, there- 
 fore, it is that I am myself careful not to send 
 such new governors perpetually to those my 
 subjects, who are already sufficiently harassed 
 
 by many oppressions, as may, like these flies, 
 further distress them; and so, besides their 
 natural desire of gain, may have this additional 
 incitement to it, that they expect to be suddenly 
 deprived of that pleasure which they take in it." 
 And as a further attestation to what I say of the 
 dilatory nature of Tiberius, I appeal to this his 
 practice itself; for although he was emperor 
 twenty-two years, he sent iu all but two procu- 
 rators to govern the nation of the Jews, Gratug, 
 and his successor in the government, Pilate. 
 Nor was he in one way of acting with respect to 
 the Jews, and in another with respect to the 
 rest of his subjects. He further informed them, 
 that even in the hearing of the causes of pri- 
 soners, he made such delays, because immediate 
 death to those that must be condemned to die, 
 would be an alleviation of their present miseries, 
 while those wicked wretches have not deserved 
 any favour ; " but I do it that, by being harassed 
 with the present calamity, they may undergo 
 greater misery." 
 
 6. On this account it was that Eutychus could 
 not obtain a hearing, but was kept still in prison. 
 However, some time afterward, Tiberius came 
 from Caprese to Tusculanum, which is about a 
 hundred furlongs from Home. Agrippa then de- 
 sired of Antonia that she would then procure a 
 hearing for Eutychus, let the matter whereof he 
 accused him prove what it would. Now, Au- 
 toma was greatly esteemed by Tiberius on all ac- 
 counts, from the dignity of her relation to him, 
 who had been his brother Drusus's wife, and 
 from her eminent chastity ;* for though she was 
 still a young woman, she continued in her widow- 
 hood, and refused all other matches, although 
 Augustus had enjoined her to be married to 
 somebody else ; yet did she all along preserve 
 her reputation free from reproach. She had also 
 been the greatest benefactress to Tiberius, when 
 there was a very dangerous plot laid against him 
 by Sejanus, a man who had been her husband's 
 friend, and who had the greatest authority, be- 
 cause he was general of the army, and when 
 many members of the senate, and many of the 
 freed-men, joined with him, and the soldiery 
 was corrupted, and the plot was come to a great 
 height Now Sejanus had certainly gamed his 
 point, had not Antonia's boldness been more 
 wisely conducted than Sejanus's malice ; for, 
 when she had discovered his designs against 
 Tiberius, she wrote him an exact account of the 
 whole, and gave the letter to Pallas, the most 
 faithful of her servants, and sent him to Caprea. 
 to Tiberius, who, when he understood it, ale'U 
 Sejanus and his confederates ; so that Tiberius, 
 who had her in great esteem before, now looked 
 upon her with still greater respect, and depended 
 upon her in all things. So, when Tiberius was 
 desired by this Antonia to examine Eutychus, he 
 answered, "If indeed Eutychus hath falsely ac- 
 cused Agrippa in what he hath said of him, he 
 hath had sufficient punishment by what I have 
 done to him already ; but if, upon examination, 
 the accusation appears to be true, let Agrippa 
 have a care, lest, out of desire of punishing his 
 freed-man, he do not rather bring a punishment 
 
 * This high commendation of Antonia for marrying 
 but once, and this notwithstanding the strongest temp- 
 tations, shews how honourable single marriages were 
 both among the Jews and Romans, in the days of Jose- 
 phus and of the apostles, and takes away much of that 
 surprise which the modern Protestants have at those 
 laws of the apostles, where no widows, but those who 
 had been the wives of one husband only, are taken into 
 the church list; and no bishops, priests, or deacons, 
 are allowed to marry more than once, without leaving 
 off to officiate aa clergymen any longer. See Luke ii 
 30 ; 1 Tim. v. 11. 12, iii. 2, 12 ; Tit. i. 10. 
 
 2 B
 
 536 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xvii 
 
 upon himself. " Now, when Antouia told Agri j > pa 
 of this, he was still much more pressing that the 
 matter might be examined into; so Antonia, 
 upon Agrippa's lying hard at her continually to 
 beg this favour, w>ok the following opportunity : 
 As Tiberius lay once at his ease upon bis sedan, 
 and was carried about, and Caius, her grandson, 
 and Agrippa, were before him after dinner, she 
 walked by the sedan, and desired him to call 
 Eutychus. and have him examined ; to which he 
 replied, O Antonia ! the gods are my witnesses 
 that I am induced to do what I am going to do, 
 not by my own inclination, but because I am 
 forced to it by thy prayers." When he had said 
 this, he ordered Macro, who succeeded Sejanus, 
 to bring Eutychus to him ; accordingly, without 
 any delay, he was brought. Then Tiberius asked 
 him what he had to say against a man who had 
 i iven him his liberty. Upon which he said, 
 O my lord ! this Caius, and Agrippa with him, 
 were once riding in a chariot, when I sat at their 
 feet, and, among other discourses that passed, 
 Agrippa said to Caius, Oh that the day would 
 once come when this old fellow will die, and 
 name thee for the governor of the habitable 
 earth! for then this Tiberius, his grandson. 
 would be no hindrance, but would be taken off 
 by thee, and that earth would be happy, and I 
 happy also." Now, Tiberius took these to be 
 truly Agrippa's words, and bearing a grudge 
 withal at Agrippa, because, when he had com- 
 manded him to pay his respects to Tiberius, his 
 grandson, and the son of Drusus, Agrippa had 
 not paid him that respect, but had disobeyed his 
 commands, and transferred all his regards to 
 Caius; he said to Macro, "Bind this man." But 
 Macro, not distinctly knowing which of them it 
 was whom he bade him bind, and not expecting 
 that he would have any such thing done to 
 Agrippa, he forbore, and came to ask more dis- 
 tinctly what it was that he said. But when 
 Cajsar had gone round the hippodrome, he fouud 
 Agrippa standing : " For certain," said ho, 
 "Macro, this is the man I meant to have 
 bound ;" and when he still asked, which of 
 these is to be bound ? he said, Agrippa. Upon 
 which Agrippa betook himself to make supplica- 
 tion for himself, putting him in mind of his son, 
 with whom he was brought up, and of Tiberius 
 [his grandson] whom he had educated, but all to 
 no purpose, for they led him about bound even 
 in his purple garments. It was also very hot 
 weather, and they had but little wine to their 
 meal, so that he was very thirsty ; he was also 
 in a sort of agony, and took this treatment of 
 him heinously : as he therefore saw one of 
 Caius's slaves, whose name was Thaumastus, 
 carrying some water in a vessel, he desired that 
 lie would let him drink : so the servant gave 
 him some water to drink ; and he drank heartily, 
 and said, " O thou boy ! this service of thine to 
 me will be for thy advantage ; for, if I ouce get 
 clear of these my bonds, I will soon procure 
 thee thy freedom from Caius, who has not been 
 wanting to minister to me now I am in bouds, 
 in the same manner as when I was in my former 
 state and dignity." Nor did he deceive him in 
 what he promised him, but made him amends 
 for what he had now done : for, when after- 
 wards Agrippa was come to the kingdom, he 
 took particular care of Thaumastus, and got him 
 his liberty from Caius, and made him the 
 steward over his own estate ; and when he died, 
 he left him to Agrippa his son, and to Bernice 
 bis daughter, to minister to them in the same 
 capacity. The man also grew old in that honour- 
 able post, and therein died. But all this hap- 
 pened a good while later. 
 
 7. Now Agrippa stood in his bonds before the 
 royal palace, and leaned on a certain tree for 
 grief, with many others, who were in bonde 
 also ; and as a certain bird sat upon the tree on 
 which Agrippa leaned (the Romans called thii 
 bird bubo,) [an owl,] one of those that were 
 bound, a German by nation, saw him, and asked 
 a soldier who that man in purple was ; and when 
 he was informed that his name was Agrippa, 
 and that he was by nation a Jew, and one of the 
 principal men in that nation, he asked leave of 
 the soldier to whom he was bound, to let him 
 come near to him, to speak with him ; for that 
 he had a mind to inquire of him about some 
 things relating to his country ; which liberty, 
 when he had obtained, as he stood near him, he 
 said thus to him by an interpreter, " This 
 sudden change of thy condition, O young man ! 
 is grievous to thee, as bringing on thee a mani- 
 fold and very great adversity; nor wilt thou 
 believe me, when I foretell how Uhou wilt get 
 . clear of this misery which thou art now under, 
 and how Divine Providence will provide for thee. 
 Know therefore (and I appeal to my own 
 country gods, as well as to the gods of this place, 
 who have awarded these bonds to us) that all I 
 am going to say about thy concerns, shall neither 
 be said for favour nor bribery, nor out of an en- 
 deavour to make thee cheerful without cause : 
 for such predictions, when they come to fail, 
 make the grief at last, and in earnest, more 
 bitter than if the party had never heard of any 
 such thing. However, though I run the hazard 
 of my own self, I think it fit to declare to thee 
 the prediction of the gods. It cannot be that 
 thou shouldst long continue in these bonds ; but 
 thou wilt soon be delivered from them, and wilt 
 be promoted to the highest dignity and power, 
 and thou wilt be envied by all those who now 
 pity thy hard fortune ; and thou wilt be happy 
 till thy death, and leave thy happiness to the 
 children whom thou shalt have. But, do thou 
 remember, when thou seest this bird again, that 
 thou wilt then live but five days longer. This 
 event will be brought to pass by that God who 
 hath sent this bird hither to be a sign unto thee. 
 And I cannot but think it unjust to conceal 
 from thee what I foreknow concerning thee, 
 that, by thy knowing beforehand what happiness 
 is coming upon thee, thou mayest not regard thy 
 present misfortunes. But, when this happiness 
 shall actually befall thee, do not forget what 
 misery I am in myself, but endeavour to deliver 
 me." So when the German had said this, he 
 made Agrippa laugh at him as much as he 
 afterwards appeared worthy of admiration. But 
 now Antonia took Agrippa's misfortune to 
 heart : however, to speak to Tiberius on his be- 
 half, she took to be a very difficult thing, and 
 indeed quite impracticable as to any hope of suc- 
 cess ; yet did she procure of Macro, that the sol- 
 diers that kept him should be of a gentle nature, 
 and that the centurion who was over them, and 
 was to diet with him, should be of the same dis- 
 position, and that he might have leave to bathe 
 himself every day, and that his freed-men and 
 friends might come to him, and that other 
 things that tended to ease him might be indulged 
 him. So his friend Silas came in to him, and 
 two of his freed-men, Marsyas and Stechus, who 
 brought him such sorts of food as he was fond of, 
 and indeed took great care of him ; they also 
 brought him garments under pretence of selling 
 them, and, when night came on, they laid them 
 under him ; and the soldiers assisted them, aa 
 Macro had given them order to do beforehand. 
 And this was Agrippa's condition for six months' 
 time ; ud in this case were his affairs.
 
 .ANTIQUITIES OS THE JEWS. 
 
 387 
 
 8. But as for Tiberius, upon his return to Oa- 
 prese, lie fell sick. At first his distemper was 
 but gentle ; but, as that distemper increased. 
 upon him, he had small or no hopes of recovery. 
 Hereupon he bade Euodus, who was the freed- | 
 man whom he most of all respected, to bring the | 
 children to hiui, for that he wanted to talk to 
 them before he died. Now he had at present no 
 sons of his own alive ; for Drusus's sou Tiberius 
 was still living, whose additional name was Co- 
 rnelius : there was also living Caius, the son of 
 Germanicus, who was the son of his brother j 
 [Drusus.] He was now grown up, and had had 
 a liberal education, and was well improved by 
 it, and was in esteem and favour with the people, 
 on account of the excellent character of his fa- 
 ther Germanicus, who had attained the highest 
 honour among the multitude, by the firmness of 
 his virtuous behaviour, by the easiness and 
 agreeableness of his conversing with the multi- 
 tude, and because the dignity he was in did not 
 hinder his familiarity with them all, as if they 
 were his equals ; by which behaviour he was not 
 only greatly esteemed by the people and the se- 
 nate, but by every one of those nations that 
 were subject to the Komaiis; some of whom 
 were affected when they came to him, with the 
 gracefulness of their reception by him ; and 
 others were affected in the same manner by the 
 report of the others that had been with him : 
 aud, upon his death, there was a lamentation 
 made by all men ; nut such a one as was to be 
 made in way of flattery to their rulers, while 
 they did but counterfeit sorrow, but such as was 
 real ; while everybody grieved at his death, as if 
 they had lost one that was near to them. And 
 truly such had b,eeu his easy conversation with 
 men, that it turned greatly to the advantage of 
 his son among all ; and, among others, the sol- 
 diery were so peculiarly affected to him, that 
 they reckoned it an eligible thing, if need were, 
 to die themselves, if he might but attain to the 
 government. 
 
 9. But when Tiberius had given order to Euo- 
 dus to bring the children to him the next day in 
 the morning, he prayed to his country gods to 
 shew him a manifest signal, which of those chil- 
 dren should come to the government ; being 
 very desirous to leave it to his sou's son, but 
 still depending upon what God would foreshew 
 concerning them, more than upon his own opi- 
 nion and inclination ; so he made this to be the 
 omen, that the government should be left to 
 him who should come to him first the next day. 
 When he had thus resolved within himself, he 
 sent to his grandson's tutor, and ordered him to 
 bring the child to him early hi the morning, as 
 supposing that God would permit him to be 
 made emperor. But God proved opposite to MB 
 designation ; for, while Tiborius was thus con- 
 triving matters, and as soon as it was all day, he 
 bid Euodus to call hi that child which should be 
 there ready. So he went out, and found Caius 
 before the door, for Tiberius was not yet come, 
 but staid waiting for his breakfast ; for Euodus 
 knew nothing of what his lord intended ; so he 
 said to Uaius, " Thy father calls thee," and then 
 brought him in. As soon as Tiberius saw Caius, 
 and not before, he reflected on the power of God, 
 and how the ability of bestowing the govern- 
 ment on whom he would was entirely taken from 
 him ; and thence he was not able to establish 
 what he had intended. So he gi'eatly lamented 
 that his power of establishing what he had before 
 contrived was taken from him, and that his 
 grandson Tiberius was not only to lose the Ro- 
 man empire by his fatality, but his own safety 
 also ; because his preservation would now de- 
 
 pend upon such as would be more potent thaii 
 himself, who would think it a thing not to be 
 borne, that a kinsman should live with them, 
 and so his relation would not be able to protect 
 him : but he would be feured and hated by him 
 who had the supreme authority, partly on ac- 
 cuunt of his being next to the empire, and 
 partly on account of his perpetually contriving 
 to get the government, both in order to preserve 
 himself, and to be at the head of affairs also. 
 Now Tiberius had been very much given to as- 
 trology, and the calculation of nativities ; and 
 had spent his life in the esteem of what predic- 
 tions had proved true more than those whose 
 profession it was. Accordingly, when he once 
 saw Galbu coming in to him, he said to his most 
 intimate friends, that there came in a man that 
 would one day have the dignity of the Roman 
 empire. So that this Tiberius was more addict- 
 ed to all such sorts of diviners than any other of 
 the Roman emperors, because he had found 
 them to have told the truth in his own affairs ; 
 and indeed he was now in great distress upon 
 this accident that had befallen him, aud was 
 very much grieved at the destruction of his son's 
 son, which he foresaw, and complained of him- 
 self, that he should have made use of such a 
 method of divination beforehand, while it was 
 in his power to have died without grief by his 
 knowledge of futurity; whereas he was now 
 tormented by his foreknowledge of the misfor- 
 tune of such as were dearest to him, and must 
 die under that torment. Now, although he was 
 disordered at this unexpected revolution of the 
 government to those for whom he did not intend 
 it, he spake thus to Caius, though unwillingly, 
 and against his own inclination : " O child, al- 
 though Tiberius be nearer related to me than 
 thou art, I, by my own determination, and the 
 conspiring suffrage of the gods, do give, and put 
 into thy hand, the Roman empire ; and I desire 
 thee never to be unmindful when thou comest 
 to it, either of my kindness to thee, who set 
 thee in so high a dignity, or of thy relation to 
 Tiberius : but as thou knowest that 1 am, to- 
 gether with and after the gods, the procurer of 
 so great a happiness to thee, so I desire that thou 
 wilt make me a return for my readiness to as- 
 sist thee, and wilt take care of Tiberius because 
 of his near relation to thee. Besides which, 
 thou art to know, that, while Tiberius is alive, 
 he will be a security to thee, both as to empire 
 and as to thy own preservation ; but, if he die, 
 that will be but a prelude to thy own misfor- 
 tunes ; for to be alone under the weight of such 
 vast affairs, is very dangerous ; nor will the gods 
 suffer those actions which are unjustly done, 
 contrary to that law which directs men to do 
 otherwise, to go off unpunished." This was the 
 speech which Tiberius made ; which did not per- 
 suade Caius to act accordingly, although he pro- 
 mised so to do ; but, when lie was settled in the 
 government, he took off this Tiberius, as was 
 predicted by the other Tiberius ; as he was also 
 himself, in no long time afterwards, slain by a 
 secret plot laid against him. 
 
 10. So when Tiberius had at this time ap- 
 pointed Caius to be iiis successor, he outlived 
 but a few days, and then died, after he had held 
 the government twenty-two years, five months 
 und three days. Now Caius was the fourth em- 
 peror: but when the Romans understood that 
 Tiberius was dead, they rejoiced at the good 
 news, but had not courage to believe it; not 
 because they were unwilling it should be true, 
 for they would have given large sums of money 
 that it might be so, but because they were afraid 
 that, if they had shewn then- joy, when the
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 news proved false, their joy should be openly 
 known, and they should be accused for it, and 
 be thereby undone ; for this Tiberius had 
 brought a vast number of miseries on the best 
 families of the Romans, since he was easily in- 
 flamed with passion in all cases, and was of such 
 a temper as rendered his anger irrevocable, till 
 he had executed the same, although he had 
 taken a hatred against men without reason ; for 
 he was by nature fierce in all the sentences ho 
 gave, and made death the penalty for the slight- 
 est offences j insomuch that when the Romans 
 heard the rumour about his death gladly, they 
 were restrained from the enjoyment of that 
 pleasure by the dread of such miseries as they 
 foresaw would follow, if their hopes proved ill- 
 grounded. Now Marsyas, Agrippa's freed-man, 
 as soon as he heard of Tiberius's death, came 
 running to tell Agrippa the news ; and finding 
 him going out to the bath, he gave him a nod, 
 and said, in the Hebrew tongue, " The lion* is 
 dead ; " who, understanding his meaning, and 
 being overjoyed at the news, "Nay," said he, 
 " but all sorts of thanks and happiness attend 
 thee for this news of thine ; only I wish that 
 what thou sayest may prove true." Now the 
 centurion who was set to keep Agrippa, when 
 he saw with what haste Marsyas came, and what 
 joy Agrippa had from what he said, he had a 
 suspicion that his words implied some great in- 
 novation of affairs, and he asked them about 
 what was said They at first diverted the dis- 
 course ; but upon his further pressing, Agrippa, 
 without more ado, told him, for he had already 
 become his friend ; so he joined with him in that 
 pleasure which this news occasioned, because it 
 would be fortunate for Agrippa, and made him 
 a supper : but, as they were feasting, and the 
 cups went about, there came one who said, that 
 Tiberius was still alive, and would return to the 
 city in a few days. At which news the centv- 
 rion was exceedingly troubled, because he had 
 done what might cost him his life, to have treat- 
 ed so joyfully a prisoner, and this upon the news 
 of the death of Caesar ; so he thrust Agrippa 
 from the couch whereon he lay, and said, " Dost 
 thou think to cheat me by a lie about the em- 
 peror without punishment? and shalt thou not 
 pay for this thy malicious report at the price of 
 thine head ? " When he had so said, he ordered 
 Agrippa to be bound again, (for he had loosed 
 him before,) and kept a severer guard over him 
 than formerly, and in that evil condition was 
 Agrippa that night; but the next day the 
 rumour increased_ in the city, and confirmed the 
 news that Tiberius was certainly dead; inso- 
 much that men durst now openly and freely talk 
 about it ; nay, some offered sacrifices on that 
 account. Several letters also came from Caius ; 
 one of them to the senate, which informed them 
 of the death of Tiberius, and of his own entrance 
 on the government ; another to Piso, the gover- 
 nor of the city, which told him the same thing. 
 He also gave order that Agrippa should be re- 
 moved out of the camp, and go to that house 
 where he lived before he was put in prison ; so 
 that he was now out of fear as to his own affairs; 
 for, although he was still in custody, yet it was 
 now with ease to his own affairs. Now, as soon 
 as Caius was come to Rome, and had brought 
 Tiberius's dead body with him, and had made a 
 sumptuous funeral for him, according to the 
 laws of his country, he was much disposed to set 
 Agrippa at liberty that very day ; but Antonia 
 
 * The name of a lion is often given to tyrants, es- 
 pecially by the Jews, such as Agrippa, and probably his 
 freed-man Marsyas, in effect, were, Ezek. xix I, 9 : 
 ir. lit; 2 Tim. iv IT 
 
 hindered him, not out of any ill-will to the 
 prisoner, but out of regard to decency in Caius, 
 lest that shou'd make men believe that he re- 
 ceived the death of Tiberius with pleasure, when 
 he loosed one whom he had bound, immediately. 
 However, there did not many days pass, ere he 
 sent for him to his house, and had him shaved, 
 and made him change his raiment ; after which 
 he put a diadem upon his head, and appointed 
 him to be king of the tetrarchy of Philip. He 
 also gave him the tetrarchy of Lysanias.t and 
 changed his iron chain for a golden one of equal 
 weight. He also sent MarulJus to be procurator 
 of Judea. 
 
 11. Now, in the second year of the reign of 
 Caius Caesar, Agrippa desired leave to be given 
 him to sail home, and settle the affairs of his 
 government ; and he promised to return again 
 when he had put the rest in order, as it ought 
 to be put. So, upon the emperor's permission, 
 he came into his own country, and appeared to 
 them all unexpectedly as a king, and thereby 
 demonstrated to the men that saw him, the 
 power of fortune, when they compared his for- 
 mer poverty with his present happy affluence ; 
 so some called him a happy man ; and others 
 could not well believe that things were so much 
 changed with him for the better. 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 HOW HEROD THE TETKAHCH WAS BANISHED. 
 
 1. BUT Herodias, Agrippa's sister, who now 
 lived as wife to that Herod who was tetrarch of 
 Galilee and Perea, took this ' authority of her 
 brother in an envious manner, particularly when 
 she saw that he had a greater dignity bestowed 
 on him than her husband had ; since, when he 
 ran away, he was not able to pay his debts ; and 
 now he was come back, it was because he was in 
 a way of dignity and of great fortune. She was 
 therefore grieved and much displeased at so great 
 a mutation of his affairs ; and chiefly when she 
 saw him marching among the multitude with 
 the usual ensigns of royal authority, she was not 
 able to conceal how miserable she was, by reason 
 of the envy she had towards him ; but she ex- 
 cited her husband, and desired him that he 
 would sail to Rome, to court honours equal to 
 his ; for she said, that she could not bear to live 
 any longer, while Agrippa, the son of that Aris- 
 tobulus, who was condemned to die by his father, 
 one that came to her husband in such extreme 
 poverty, that the necessaries of life were forced 
 to be entirely supplied him day by day; and 
 when he fled away from his creditor* by sea, he 
 now returned a king : while he was himself the 
 son of a king, and while the near relation he 
 bare to royal authority, called upon him to gain 
 the like dignity, he sat still, and was contented 
 with a private life. "But then, Herod, although 
 thou wast formerly not concerned to be in a 
 lower condition than thy father, from whom 
 thou wast derived, had been, yet do thou now 
 seek after the dignity which thy kinsman hath 
 attained to ; and do not thou bear this contempt, 
 that a man who admired thy riches should be in 
 greater honour than thyself, nor suffer his po- 
 verty to shew itself able to purchase greater 
 things than our abundance ; nor do thou esteem 
 it other than a shameful thing to be inferior to 
 one who, the other day, lived upon thy charity, 
 t Although Caius now promised to give Agrippa the 
 tetrarchy of Lysanias, yet was it not actually conferred 
 upon him till the reign of Claudius,
 
 CHA7. VIIL] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 389 
 
 But let us go to Borne, and let us spare no pains 
 nor expenses, either of silver or gold, since they 
 cannot be kept for any better use than for the 
 obtaining of a kingdom. 
 
 2. But for Herod, he opposed her request at 
 this time, out of the love of ease, and having a 
 suspicion of the trouble he should have at Rome ; 
 so he tried to instruct her better. But the more 
 she saw him draw back, the more she pressed 
 him to it, and desired him to leave no stone un- 
 turned in order to be king : and at last she left 
 not off till she engaged him, whether he would 
 or not, to be of her sentiments, because he could 
 no otherwise avoid her importunity. So he got 
 all things ready, after as sumptuous a manner 
 as he was able, and spared for nothing, and 
 went up to Rome, and took Herodias along with 
 him. But Agrippa, when he was made sensible 
 of their intentions and preparations, he also pre- 
 pared to go thither; and as soon as he heard 
 they set sail, be sent Fortunatus, one of his 
 freed-men, to Rome, to carry presents to the 
 emperor, and letters against Herod, and to give 
 Caius a particular account of those matters, if 
 he should have any opportunity. This man fol- 
 lowed Herod so quick, and had so prosperous a 
 voyage, and came so little after Herod, that 
 while Herod was with Caius, he came himself, 
 and delivered his letters ; for they both sailed to 
 Dicearchia, and found Caius at Baue, which is 
 itself a little city of Campania, at thp distance 
 of about five furlongs from Dicearchia. There 
 are in that place royal palaces, with sumptuous 
 apartments, every emperor still endeavouring to 
 outdo his predecessor's magnificence : the place 
 also affords warm baths, that spring out of the 
 ground of their own accord, which are of advan- 
 tage for the recovery of the health of those that 
 make use of them; and, besides, they minister 
 to men's luxury also. Now Cains saluted Herod, 
 for he first met with him, and thon looked upon 
 the letters which Agrippa had sent him, and 
 which were written in order to accuse Herod ; 
 wherein he accused him, that he had been in 
 confederacy with Sejanus, against Tiberius's 
 government, and that he was now confederate 
 with Artabanus, the king of Parthia, in opposi- 
 tion to the government of Caius ; as a demon- 
 stration of which, he allegedj that he had ar- 
 mour sufficient for seventy thousand men ready 
 in his armoury. Caius was moved at this infor- 
 mation, and asked Herod, whether what was 
 said about the armour was true ; and when he 
 confessed there was such armour there, for he 
 could not deny the same, the truth of it being 
 100 notorious, Caius took that to be a sufficient 
 proof of the accusation, that he intended to re- 
 volt. So he took away from him his tetrarchy, 
 aud gave it by way of addition to Agrippa's 
 kingdom ; he also gave Herod's money to Agrip- 
 pa, and, by way of punishment, awarded him a 
 perpetual banishment, and appointed Lyons, a 
 city of Gaul, to be his place of habitation. But 
 when he was informed that Herodias was Agrip- 
 pa's sister, he made her a present of what money 
 was her own, and told her that it was her bro- 
 ther who prevented her being put under the 
 same calamity with her husband. But she 
 made this reply : " Thou, indeed, O emperor ! 
 actest after a magnificent manner, and as becom- 
 est thyself, in what thou offerest me ; but the 
 kindness which I have for my husband, hinders 
 me from partaking of the favour of thy gift ; for 
 it is not just that I, who have been made a part- 
 ner in his prosperity, should forsake him in his 
 misfortunes." Hereupon Caius was angry at 
 her, and sent her with Herod into banishment, 
 wid gave her estate to Agrippa. And thus did 
 
 God punish Herodias for her envy at her brother, 
 and Herod also for giving ear to the vain dis- 
 courses of a woman. Now, Caius managed pub- 
 lic affairs with great magnanimity during the 
 first and second year of his reign, and behaved 
 himself with such moderation, that he gained 
 the good- will of the Romans themselves, aud of 
 his other subjects. But, in process of time, he 
 went beyond the bounds of human nature in his 
 conceit of himself, and, by reason of the vast- 
 ness of his dominions, made himself a god, and 
 took upon himself to act in all tilings to the re- 
 proach of the Deity itself. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 CONCERNING THE EMBASSAGE OP THE JEWS TO 
 CAIUS ;* AND HOW CAIUS SENT PETRONIUS INTO 
 SYRIA, TO MAKE WAR AGAINST THE JEWS, UN- 
 LESS THEY WOULD RECEIVE HIS STATUE. 
 
 1. THERE was now a tumult arisen at Alex- 
 andria, between the Jewish inhabitants and the 
 Greeks ; and three ambassadors were chosen out 
 of each party that were at variance, who came 
 to Caius. Now, one of these ambassadors from 
 the peopleof Alexandria was Apion, who uttered 
 many blasphemies against the Jews; and, among 
 ither things that he said, he charged them with 
 neglecting the honours that belonged to Csesar ; 
 for that while all who were subject to the Roman 
 empire built altars and temples to Caius, and in 
 other regards universally received him as they 
 received the gods, these Jews alone thought it a 
 dishonourable thing for them to erect statues in 
 honour of him, as well as to swear by his name. 
 Many of these severe things were said by Apion. 
 by which he hoped to provoke Caius to auger at 
 the Jews, as he was likely to be. But Philo, 
 the principal of the Jewish embassage, a man 
 eminent on all accounts, brother to Alexander 
 the alabarch,t and one not unskilful in philoso- 
 phy, was ready to betake himself to make his 
 defence against those accusations; but Caius 
 prohibited him, and bade him begone : he was 
 also in such a rage, that it openly appeared he 
 was about to do them some very great mischief. 
 So Philo, being thus affronted, went out, and 
 said to those Jews that were about him, that 
 they should be of good courage, since Caius's 
 words indeed shewed anger at them, but in 
 reality had already set God against himself. 
 
 2. Hereupon Caius, taking it very heinously 
 that he he should be thus despised by the Jews 
 alone, sent Petronius to be president of Syria, 
 and successor in the government to Vitellius, and 
 gave him order to make an invasion into Judea, 
 with a great body of troops, and, if they would 
 admit of his statue willingly, to erect it in the 
 temple of God ; but, if they were obstinate, to 
 conquer them by war, and then to do it. Ac- 
 cordingly Petronius took the government of 
 Syria, and made haste to obey Caesar's epistle. 
 He got together as great a number of auxiliaries 
 as he possibly could, and took with him two 
 legions of the Roman army, and came to Ptole- 
 
 * This is a most remarkable chapter, as containing 
 such instances of the interposition of Providence a* 
 have been always very rare among the other idolatrous 
 nations, but of old very many among the posterity of 
 Abraham, the worshippers of the true God. 
 
 t This Alexander, the alabarcli, or governor of the 
 Jews, at Alexandria, and brother to Philo, is supposed 
 to be the same with that Alexander who is mentioned 
 by fct Luke, as of the kindred of tbe high priests, (AeU 
 ir. fij
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK svin. 
 
 miie, and there wintered, as intending to set 
 pKout the -war in the spring. He also wrote 
 word to Caius what he had resolved to do ; who 
 commended him for his alacrity, and ordered 
 him to go on, and to make war with them, in 
 case they would not obey his commands. But 
 there came many ten thousands of the Jews to 
 Petronius, to Ptolemais, to offer their petitions 
 to him, that he would not compel them to trans- 
 aress and violate the law of their forefathers ; 
 'but if," said they, "thou art entirely resolved 
 to bring this statue, and erect it, do thou first 
 kill us, and then do what thou hast resolved on, 
 for while we are alive we cannot permit such 
 things as are forbidden us to be done by the 
 authority of our legislator, and by our fore- 
 fathers' determination that such prohibitions are 
 instances of virtue." But Petronius was angry 
 at them, and said, "If indeed I were myself 
 emperor, and were at liberty to follow my own 
 inclination, and then had designed to act thus, 
 these your words would be justly spoken to me ; 
 but now Csesar hath sent to me, I am under the 
 necessity of being subservient to his decrees, 
 because a disobedience to them will bring upon 
 me inevitable destruction." Then the Jews re- 
 plied, "Since, therefore, thou art so disposed, O 
 Petronius ! that thou wilt not disobey Cahis's 
 epistles, neither will we transgress the commands 
 of our law ; and as we depend upon the excellency 
 of our laws, and, by the labours of our ancestors, 
 have continued hitherto, without suffering them 
 to be transgressed, we dare not by any means 
 suffer ourselves to be so timorous as to transgress 
 those laws out of the fear of death, which God 
 hath determined are for our advantage ; and, if 
 we fall into misfortunes we will bear them, in 
 order to preserve our laws, as knowing that those 
 who expose themselves to dangers, have good 
 hope of escaping them : because God will stand 
 on our side when, out of regard to him, we 
 undergo afflictions, and sustain the uncertain 
 turns of fortune. But, if we should submit to 
 thee, we should be greatly reproached for our 
 cowardice, as thereby shewing ourselves ready to - 
 transgress our law ; and we should incur the 
 great anger of God also, who, even thyself being 
 judge, is superior to Caius." 
 
 3. When Petronius saw by their words, that 
 their determination was hard to be removed, and 
 that, without a war, he should not be able to 
 be subservient to Caius in the dedication of his 
 statue, and that there must be a great deal of 
 blood shed, he took his friends, and the servants 
 that were about him, and hasted to Tiberias, as 
 wanting to know in what posture the affairs of 
 the Jews were ; and many ten thousands of the 
 Jews met Petronius again, when he came to 
 Tiberias. These thought they must run a mighty 
 hazard if they should have a war with the 
 Romans, but judged that the transgression of 
 the law was of much greater consequence, and 
 made supplication to him, that he would by no 
 means reduce them to such distresses, nor defile 
 their city with the dedication of the statue. 
 Then Petronius said to them, "Will you then 
 make war with Csesar, without considering his 
 5reat preparations for war, and your own weak- 
 ness?" They replied, "We will not by any 
 means make war with h?m ; but still we will die 
 before we will see our laws transgressed." So 
 they threw themselves down upon their faces, 
 and stretched out their throats, and said they 
 were ready to be slain ; and this they did for 
 forty days together, and in the meantime left off 
 the tilling of their ground, and that while the sea- 
 x>n of the year required them to sow it. Thus 
 thny continued firm in their resolution, and 
 
 proposed to themselves to die willingly- rathei 
 than to see the dedication of the statue. 
 
 4. When matters were in this state, Aris- 
 tobulus, king Agrippa's brother, and Helcias the 
 Great, and the other principal men of that 
 family with them, went in unto Petronius. and 
 besought him, that, since he saw the resolu- 
 tion of the multitude, he would not make any 
 alteration, and thereby drive them to despair ; 
 but would write to Caius, that the Jews had an 
 insuperable aversion to the reception of the 
 statue, and how they continued with him, and 
 left off the tillage of their ground ; that they 
 were not willing to go to war with him, because 
 they were not able to do it, but were ready to die 
 with pleasure, rather than suffer their laws to be 
 transgressed : and how, upon the land's continu- 
 ing unsown, robberies would grow up, on the 
 inability they would be under of paving their 
 tributes; and that perhaps Caius might be there- 
 by moved to pity, and not ordor any barbarous 
 action to be done to them, nor think of destroy, 
 ing the nation : that if he continues inflexible in 
 his former opinion to bring a war upon them, he 
 may then set about it himself. And thus did 
 Aristobulus, and the rest with him, supplicate 
 Petronius. So Petronius,* partly on account of 
 the pressing instances which Aristobulus and the 
 rest with him made, and because of the great 
 consequence of what they desired, and the ear- 
 nestness wherewith they made their supplication, 
 partly on account of the firmness of the oppo- 
 sition made by the Jews, which he saw, while 
 ha thought it a horrible thing for him to be such 
 4 slave to the madness of Caius, as to slay so 
 many ten thousand men, only because of their 
 religious disposition towards God, and after that 
 to pass his life in expectation of punishment; 
 Petronius, I say, thought it much better to send 
 to Caius, and to let him know how intolerable it 
 was for him to bear the anger he might have 
 against him for not serving him sooner, in obedi- 
 ence to his epistle, for that perhaps he might 
 pemiade him ; and that, if this mad resolution 
 continued, he might then begin the war against 
 them ; nay, that in case he should turn his 
 hatred against himself, it was fit for virtuous 
 persons even to die for the sake of such vast 
 multitudes of men. Accordingly he determined 
 to hearken to the petitions in this matter. 
 
 5. He then called the Jews together to Tiberias, 
 who came many ten thousands in number ; he 
 also placed that army he now had with him 
 opposite to them : but did not discover his own 
 meaning, but the commands of the emperor, and 
 told them that his wrath would, without delay, 
 be executed on such as had the courage to disobey 
 what he had commanded, and this immediately; 
 and that it was fit for him who had received so 
 great a dignity by his grant, not to contradict 
 him in anything: "Yet," said he, "I do not 
 think it just to have such a regard to my own 
 safety and honour, as to refuse to sacrifice them 
 for your preservation, who are so many in num- 
 ber, and endeavour to preserve the regard that 
 is due to your law ; which, as it hath come down 
 to you from your forefathers, so do you esteem 
 it worthy of your utmost contention to preserve 
 it : nor, with the supreme assistance and power of 
 God, will I be so hardy as to suffer your temple 
 
 * This Publins Petronius was after this stifl president 
 of Syria, umler Claudius, and, at the desire of Agrippa, 
 published a severe decree against the inhabitants of 
 Dora, who. in a sort of imitation of Gains, h&d let up 
 a statue of Claudius in a Jewish synagogue there. This 
 decree \a extant, and greatly confirms the present 
 account of Josephus, as do the other decrees of 
 Claudius, relatinz to the other Jewish affairs.
 
 CHAP, vm.] 
 
 or THE 
 
 391 
 
 to fall into contempt by the means of the impe- 
 rial authority. I will, therefore, send to Caius, 
 and let him know what your resolutions are, 
 and will assist your suit as far as I am able, that 
 you may not be exposed to suffer on account of 
 the honest designs you have proposed to your- 
 selves ; and may God be your assistant, for his 
 authority is beyond all the contrivances and 
 power of men ; and may he procure you the pre- 
 servation of your ancient laws, and may not he 
 be deprived, though without your consent, of his 
 accustomed honours. But if Caius be irritated, 
 and turn the violence of his rage upon me, I will 
 rather undergo all that danger and that affliction 
 that may come either on my body or my soul, 
 than see so many of you perish, while you are 
 acting in so excellent a manner. Do you, there- 
 fore, every one of you, go your way about your 
 own occupations, and fall to the cultivation of 
 your ground ; I will myself send to Rome, and 
 will not refuse to serve you in all things, both by 
 myself and by my friends." 
 
 6. When Petronius had said this, and had dis- 
 missed the assembly of the Jews, he desired the 
 principal of them to take care of their husbandry, 
 and to speak kindly to the people, and encourage 
 them to have good hope of their affairs. Thus 
 did he readily bring the multitude to be cheer- 
 ful again. And now did God shew his presence 
 to Petronius, and signify to him, that he would 
 afford him his assistance in his frhole design ; 
 for he had no sooner finished the speech that lie 
 made to the Jews, but God sent down great 
 showers of rain, contrary to human expectation ; 
 for that day was a clear day, and gave no sign, 
 by the appearance of the sky, of any rain ; nay, 
 the whole year had been subject to a great 
 drought, and made men despair of any water 
 from above, even when at any time they saw 
 the heavens overcast with clouds ; insomuch, 
 that when such a great quantity of rain came, 
 and that in an unusual manner and without any 
 other expectation of it, the Jews hoped that 
 Petronius would by no means fail in his petition 
 for them. But as to Petronius, he was mightily 
 surprised when he perceived that God evidently 
 took care of the Jews, and gave very plain signs 
 of his appearance, and this to such a degree, 
 that those that were in earnest much inclined 
 to the contrary, had no power left to contradict 
 it. This was also among those other particulars 
 which he wrote to Caius, which all tended to 
 dissuade him, and by all means to entreat him 
 not to make so many ten thousands of these 
 men go distracted ; whom if he should slay (foe 
 without war they would by no means suffer the 
 laws of their worship to be set aside) he would 
 lose the revenue they paid him, and would be 
 publicly cursed by them for all future ages. 
 Moreover, that God, who was their governor, 
 had shewn his power most evidently on their 
 account, and that such a power of his as left no 
 room for doubt about it ; and this was the 
 business that Petronius was now engaged in. 
 
 7. But king Agrippa, who now lived at Rome, 
 was more and more in the favour of Caius ; and 
 when he had once made him a supper, and was 
 careful to exceed all others, both in expenses 
 and in such preparations as might contribute 
 most to his pleasxire ; nay, it was so far from 
 the ability of others, that Caius himself could 
 never equal, much less exceed it, (such care hud 
 he taken beforehand to exceed all men, and 
 particularly to make all agreeable to Csesar;) 
 Hereupon Caius admired his understanding and 
 magnfficence, that he should force himself to do 
 all to please him, even beyond such expenses as 
 he could bear, and was desirous not to be behind 
 
 Agrippa in that generosity which he exerted, in 
 order to please him. So Caius, when he had 
 drunk wine plentifully, and was merrier than 
 ordinary, and said thus during the feast, when 
 Agrippa had drunk to him : " I knew before 
 now how great a respect thou hast had for me, 
 and how great kindness thou hast shewn me, 
 though with those hazards to thyself, which thou 
 underwentest under Tiberius on that account; 
 nor hast thou omitted anything to shew thy 
 good-will towards us, even beyond thy ability ; 
 whence it would be a base thing for me to be 
 conquered by thy affection. I am therefore de- 
 sirous to make thee amends for everything in 
 which I have been formerly deficient; for all 
 that I have bestowed on thee, that may be called 
 my gifts, is but little. Everything that may 
 contribute to thy happiness shall be at thv 
 service, and that cheerfully, and so far as my 
 ability will reach ; " * and this was what Caius 
 said to Agrippa, thinking he would ask for some 
 large country, or the revenues of certain cities ; 
 but, although he had prepared beforehand what 
 he would ask, yet had he not discovered his in- 
 tentions, but made this answer to Caius imme- 
 diately, that it was not out of any expectation 
 of gain that he formerly paid his respects to 
 him, contrary to the commands of Tiberius, nor 
 did he now do anything relating to him out of 
 regard to his own advantage, and in order to 
 receive anything from him : that the gifts he 
 had already bestowed upon him were great, and 
 beyond the hopes of even a craving man ; for 
 although they may be beneath thy power, [who 
 art the donor,] yet are they greater than my 
 inclination and dignity, who am the receiver ; 
 and, as Caius was astonished at Agrippa's incli- 
 ik***; vnd "till the morn pressed him to make 
 his request for somewnat which he might gratify 
 him with, Agrippa replied, " Since thou, O my 
 Lord, declarest such is thy readiness to grant, 
 that I am worthy of thy gifts, I will ask nothing 
 relating to my own felicity ; for what thou hast 
 already bestowed upon me has made me excel 
 therein; but I desire somewhat which may make 
 thee glorious for piety, and render the Divinity 
 assistant to thy designs, and may be for an 
 honour to me among those that inquire about 
 it, as shewing that I never once fail of obtaining 
 what I desire of thee ; for my petition is this, 
 that thou wilt no longer think of the dedication 
 of that statue which thou hast ordered to be set 
 up in the Jewish temple by Petronius." 
 
 8. And thus did Agrippa venture to cast the 
 die upon this occasion, so great was the affair in 
 his opinion, and in reality, though he knew how 
 dangerous a thing it was so to speak ; for, had 
 not Caius approved it, it had tended to no less 
 than the loss of his life. So Caius, who was 
 mightily taken with Agrippa's obliging beha- 
 viour, and on other accounts thinking it a dis- 
 honourable thing to be guilty of falsehood before 
 so many witnesses, in points wherein he had with 
 such alacrity forced Agrippa to become a peti- 
 tioner, so that it would look as if he had already 
 repented of what he had said, and because he 
 greatly admired Agrippa's virtue, in not desiring 
 him at all to augment his own dominions, either 
 with larger revenues, or other authority, but 
 took care of the public tranquillity, of the laws, 
 and of the Divinity itself, he granted him what 
 he requested. He also wrote thus to Petronius, 
 commending him for his assembling his army, 
 and then consulting him about these affairs. 
 
 This behaviour of Cains to Agrippa is very like that 
 of Herod Antipas. his uncle, to Ilerodiag, Agrippa's 
 sister, about John the Baptist, (Matt. xiv. 8-11.}
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 "If, therefore," said he, "thou hast already 
 erected my statue, let it stand ; but if thou hast 
 not jet dedicated it, do not trouble thyself fur- 
 ther about it, but dismiss thy army, go back, 
 and take care of those affairs which I sent thee 
 about at first, for I have now no occasion for 
 the erection of that statue. This I have granted 
 as a favour to Agrippa, a man whom I honour 
 ao very greatly, that I am not able to contradict 
 what he would have, or what he desired me to 
 do for him.*' And this was what Caius wrote 
 to Petronius, which was before he received his 
 letter, informing him that the Jews were very 
 ready to revolt about this statue, and that they 
 seemed resolved to threaten war against the Ro- 
 mans, and notliing- else. When, therefore, Caius 
 was much displeased that any attempt should be 
 made against his government, as he was a slave 
 to base and vicious actions on all occasions, and 
 had no regard to what wa,s virtuous and honour- 
 able, and against whomsoever he resolved to 
 shew his anger, and that for any cause whatso- 
 ever, he suffered not himself te be restrained by 
 any admonition, but 'thought the indulging his 
 anger to be a real pleasure, he wrote thus to 
 Petronius: "Seeing thou esteemest the pre- 
 sents made thee by the Jews to be of greater 
 value than my commands, and art grown inso- 
 lent enough to be subservient to their pleasure, 
 I charge thee to become thy own judge, and to 
 consider what thou art to do, now thou art under 
 my displeasure; for I will make thee an example 
 to the present and to all future ages, that they 
 may not dare to contradict the commands of their 
 emperor." 
 
 9. This was the epistle which Caius wrote to 
 Petronius ; but Petronius did not receive it while 
 Caius was alive, that ship which carried it sailed 
 so slow, the other letters came to Petronius be- 
 fore this, by which he understood that Caius 
 was dead ; for God would not forget the dangers 
 Petronius had undertaken on account of the 
 Jews, and of his own honour. But when he 
 had taken Caius away, out of his indignation of 
 what he had so insolently attempted, in assum- 
 ing to himself divine worship, both Borne and 
 all that dominion conspired with Petronius, espe- 
 cially those that were of the senatorian order, to 
 give Caius his due reward, because he had been 
 unmercifully severe to them ; for he died not 
 long after he had written to Petronius that 
 epistle which threatened him with death. But 
 as for the occasion of his death, and the nature 
 of the plot against him, I shall relate them in 
 the progress of this narration. Now, that epistle 
 which informed Petronius of Caius's death came 
 first; and a little afterward came that which 
 commanded him to kill himself with his own 
 hands. Whereupon he rejoiced at this coinci- 
 dence as to the death of Caius, and admired 
 God's providence, who, without the least delay, 
 and immediately, -gave him a reward for the re- 
 gard he had to the temple, and the assistance he 
 afforded the Jews for avoiding the dangers they 
 were in. And by this means Petronius escaped 
 that danger of death which he could not foresee, 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 WHAT BEFELL THE JEWS THAT WERE IN BABYLON 
 OH OCCASION OF ASINEUS AND ANILEUS, TWO 
 BRETHREN. 
 
 1. A VERT sad calamity now befell the Jews 
 that were in Mesopotamia, and especially those 
 that dwelt in Babylonia. Inferior it was to none 
 
 of the calamities which had gone before, and 
 came together with a great slaughter of them, 
 and that greater than any upon record before ; 
 concerning all which I shall speak more accu- 
 rately, and shall explain the occasions whence 
 these miseries came upon them. There was a 
 city of Babylonia called Neerda ; not only a very 
 populous one, but one that had a good and large 
 territory about it ; and, besides its other advan- 
 tages, full of men also. It was, besides, not 
 easily to be assaulted by enemies, from the river 
 Euphrates encompassing it all round, and from 
 the walls that were built about it. There w?,s 
 also the city Nisibis, situate on the same cur- 
 rent of the river. For which reason the Jews, 
 depending on the natural strength of these 
 places, deposited in them that half shekel which 
 every one, by the custom of our country, offers 
 unto God, as well as they did other things 
 devoted to him ; for they made use of these 
 cities as a treasury, whence at a proper time 
 they were transmitted to Jerusalem ; and many 
 ten thousand men undertook the carnage of 
 those donations, out of fear of the ravages of 
 the Parthians, to whom the Babylonians were 
 then subject. Now, there were two men, Asineus 
 and Anileus, of the city Neerda by birth, and 
 brethren to one another. They were desti- 
 tute of a father ; and their mother put them to 
 learn the art of weaving curtains, it not being 
 esteemed a disgrace among them for men to be 
 weavers of cloth. Now, he that taught them 
 that art, and was set over them, complained 
 that they came too late to their work, and 
 punished them with stripes ; but they took this 
 just punishment as an affront, and carried off 
 all the weapons which were kept at that house, 
 which were not a few, and went into a certain 
 place where was a partition of the rivers, and 
 was a jjlace naturally very fit for the feeding of 
 cattle, and for preserving such fruits as were 
 usually laid up against winter. The poorest 
 sort of the young men also resorted to them, 
 whom they armed with the weapons they had 
 gotten, and became their captains ; and nothing 
 hindered them from being their leaders into 
 mischief; for, as soon as they were become 
 invincible, and had built them a citadel, they 
 sent to such as fed cattle, and ordered them to 
 pay them so much tribute out of them as might 
 be sufficient for their maintenance, proposing 
 also that they would be their friends, if they 
 would submit to them, and that they would de- 
 fend them from all their other enemies on every 
 side ; but that they would kill the cattle of those 
 that refused to obey them. So they hearkened 
 to their proposals, (for they could do nothing 
 else,) and sent them as many sheep as were 
 required of them; whereby their forces grew 
 greater, and they became lords over all they 
 pleased, because they marched suddenly and did 
 them mischief, insomuch that everybody who 
 had to do with them chose to pay them respect ; 
 and they became formidable to such as came to 
 assault them, till the report about them came to 
 the ears of the king of Parthia himself. 
 
 2. But when the governor of Babylonia under- 
 stood this, and had a mind to put a stop to 
 them before they grew greater, and before greater 
 mischiefs should arise from them he got toge- 
 ther as great an army as he could, both of Par- 
 thians and Babylonians, and marched against, 
 them, thinking to attack them and destroy 
 them before any one should carry them the 
 news that he had got an army together. Hv 
 then encamped at a lake, and lay still ; but on 
 the next day (it was the Sabbath, which h 
 among the Jewg a day of rest from all sorts o*
 
 OHAP. IX.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 393 
 
 work) he supposed that the enemy would not 
 dare to fight him thereon, but that he would 
 take them and carry them away prisoners, with- 
 out fighting. He therefore proceeded gradually, 
 and thought to fall upon them on the sudden. 
 Now Asineus was sitting with the rest, and 
 their weapons lay by them ; upon which he said, 
 "Sirs, I hear a neighing of horses ; not of such 
 as are feeding, but such as have men on their 
 backs ; I also hear such a noise of their bridles, 
 that I am afraid that some enemies are coming 
 upon us to encompass us round. However, let 
 somebody go to look about, and make report of 
 what reality there is in the present state of 
 things : and may what I have said prove a false 
 alarm ! " And when he had said this, some of 
 them went out to spy out what was the matter ; 
 and they came again immediately, and said to 
 him, that " neither hast thou been mistaken in 
 telling us what our enemies were doing, nor will 
 those enemies permit us to be injurious to peo- 
 ple any longer. We are caught by their in- 
 trigues like brute beasts, and there is a large 
 body of cavalry marching upon us, while we are 
 destitute of hands to defend ourselves withal, 
 because we are restrained from doing it by the 
 prohibition of our law, which obliges us to rest 
 [on this day."] But Asineus did not by any 
 means agree with the opinion of his spy as to 
 what was to be done, but thought it more 
 agreeable to the law to pluck up their spirits in 
 this necessity they were fallen into, and break 
 their law by avenging themselves, although they 
 should die in the action, than by doing nothing 
 to please their enemies in submitting to be slain 
 by them. Accordingly he took up his weapons, 
 and infused courage into those that were with 
 him, to act as courageously as himself. So they 
 fell upon their enemies, and slew a great many 
 of them, because they despised them, and came 
 aa to a certain victory, and put the rest to flight. 
 3. But when the news of this fight came to 
 the king of Parthia, he was surprised at the 
 boldness of these brethren, and was desirous to 
 see them, and speak with them. He therefore 
 sent the most trusty of all his guards to say 
 thus to them : " That king Artabanus, although 
 he has been unjustly treated by you, who have 
 made an attempt against his government, yet 
 hath he more regard to your courageous be- 
 haviour than to the anger he bears to you, and 
 hath sent me to give you his right hand* and 
 security ; and he permits you to come to him 
 safely, and without any violence upon the road, 
 and he wants to have you address yourselves to 
 him as friends, without meaning any guile or 
 deceit to you. He also promises to make you 
 presents, and to pay you those respects which 
 will make an addition of his power to your 
 courage, and thereby be of advantage to you." 
 Yet did Asineus himself put off his journey 
 thither, but sent his brother Anileus with all 
 such presents as he could procure. So he went, 
 and was admitted to the king's presence; and 
 when Artabanus saw Anileus coming alone, he 
 inquired into the reason why Asineus avoided 
 to come along with him ; aud when he under- 
 stood that he was afraid, and stayed by the lake, 
 he took an oath, by the gods of his country, that 
 he would do them no harm, if they came to him 
 upon the assurances he gave them, and gave 
 them his right hand. This is of the greatest 
 force there with all these barbarians, and affords 
 a firm security to those who converse with them ; 
 
 The joining of the right hands was esteemed among 
 the Persians and Parthiana, in particular, a most in- 
 violable obligation to fidelity. 
 
 for none of them will deceive you when once 
 they have given you their right hands, nor will 
 any one doubt their fidelity, when that is once 
 given, even though they were before suspected 
 of injustice. When Artabanus had done this, 
 he sent away Anileus to persuade his brother to 
 come to him. Now this the king did, because 
 he wanted to curb his own governors of provinces 
 by the courage of these Jewish brethren, lest 
 they should make a league with them ; for they 
 were ready for a revolt, and were disposed to 
 rebel, had they been sent on an expedition against 
 them. _ He was also afraid, lest when he was en- 
 gaged in a war, in order to subdue those gover- 
 nors of provinces that had revolted, the party 
 of Asineus and those in Babylonia should be 
 augmented, and either make war upon him when 
 they should hear of that revolt, or, if they should 
 be disappointed in that case, they would not 
 fail of doing further mischief to him. 
 
 4. When the king had these intentions, he 
 sent away Anileus ; and Anileus prevailed on his 
 brother [to come to the king,] when he had 
 related to him the king's good-will, and the oath 
 that he had taken. Accordingly they made 
 haste to go to Artabanus, who received them, 
 when they were come with pleasure, and admired 
 Asineus's courage in the actions he had done, 
 and this because he was a little man to see to, 
 and at first appeared contemptible also, and such 
 as one might deem a person of no value at alL 
 He also said to his friends, how, upon the com- 
 parison, he shewed his soul to be, in all respects, 
 superior to his body ; and when, as they were 
 drinking together, he once shewed Asineus to 
 A bdagases, one of the generals of his army, and 
 told him his name, and described the great 
 courage he was of in war, and Abdagases had 
 desired leave to kill him, and thereby to inflict 
 upon him a punishment for those injuries he had 
 done to the Parthian government, the king re- 
 plied, " I will never give thee leave to kill a man 
 who hath depended on my faith, especially not 
 after I have sent him my right hand, and en- 
 deavoured to gain his belief by oaths made by 
 the gods. But, if thou beest a truly warlike 
 man, thou standest not in need of my perjury. 
 Go thou then, and avenge the Parthian govern- 
 ment ; attack this man, when he is returned 
 back, and conquer him by the forces that are 
 under thy command, without my privity. " Here- 
 upon the king called for Asineus, and said to 
 him, " It is time for thee, O thou young man! to 
 return home, and not provoke the indignation of 
 my generals in this place any further, lest they 
 attempt to murder thee, and that without my 
 approbation. I commit to thee the country of 
 Babylonia in trust, that it may, by thy care, be 
 preserved free from robbers, and from other mis- 
 chiefs. I have kept my faith inviolable to thee, 
 and that not in trifling affairs, but in those that 
 concerned thy safety, and do therefore deserve 
 thou shouldst be land to me." When he had 
 said this, and given Asineus some present*, he 
 sent him away immediately ; who, when he was 
 come home, built fortresses, and became great 
 in a little time, and managed things with such 
 courage and success, as no other person, that had 
 no higher a beginning, ever did before him. 
 Those Parthian governors also, who were sent 
 that way, paid him great respect ; and the hon- 
 our that was paid him by the Babylonians seemed 
 to them too small, and beneath his deserts, al- 
 though he were in no small dignity and power 
 there : nay, indeed, all the affairs of Mesopotamia 
 depended upon him ; and he more and more 
 flourished in this happy condition of his foi 
 fifteen years.
 
 394 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK 
 
 5. But as their affairs were in so flourishing a 
 state, there sprang up a calamity among them on 
 the following occasion. When once they had 
 deviated from that course of virtue whereby 
 they had gained so great power, they affronted 
 and transgressed the laws of their forefathers, 
 and fell under the dominion of their lusts and 
 pleasures. A certain Parthian, who came as 
 general of nn army into these parts, had a wife 
 following him, who had a vast reputation for 
 other accomplishments, and particularly was 
 ailmired ahove all other women for her beauty. 
 A ii ileus, the brother of Asineus, either heard of 
 that her beauty from others, or perhaps saw her 
 himself also, and so became at once her lover and 
 her enemy ; partly because he could not hope to 
 enjoy this woman but by obtaining power over 
 her as a captive, and partly because he thought 
 he could not conquer his inclinations for her. 
 As soon, therefore, as her husband had been de- 
 clared an enemy to them, and was fallen in the 
 battle, the widow of the deceased was married 
 to this her lover. However, this woman did not 
 come into their house, without producing great 
 misfortunes, both to Anileus himself, and to 
 Asineus also ; but brought great mischiefs on 
 them on the occasion following. Since she was 
 led away captive, on the death of her husband, 
 she concealed the images of those gods which 
 were their country gods, common to her husband 
 and to herself: now it is the custom* of that 
 country for all to have the idols they worship in 
 their orrn houses, and to carry them along with 
 them when they go into a foreign land ; agree- 
 ably to which custom of theirs she carried her 
 idols with her. Now, at first, she performed her 
 worship to them privately, but when she was 
 become Anileus's married wife, she worshipped 
 them in her accustomed manner, and with the 
 same appointed ceremonies which she used in 
 her former husband's days ; upon which tl.i ir 
 most eeteened friends blamed him at first, tar.t 
 he did not act after the manner of the Hebrews, 
 nor perform what was agreeable to their laws, in 
 marrying a foreign wife, and one that trans- 
 gressed the accurate appointments of their nac- 
 rifices and religious ceremonies ; that he orght 
 to consider, lest by allowing himself in many 
 pleasures of the body, he might lose his princi- 
 pality, on account of the beauty of a wife, and 
 that high authority which, by God's blessing, he 
 had arrived at. But when they prevailed not at 
 all upon him, he slew one of them for whom he 
 had the greatest respect, because of the liberty 
 he took with him ; who, when he was dying, out 
 of regard to the laws, imprecated a punishment 
 upon his murderer Anileus, and upon Asineus 
 also, and that all their companions might come 
 to a like end from their enemies ; upon the two 
 first as the principal actors of this wickedness, 
 and upon the rest as those that would not assist 
 him when he suffered in the defence of their 
 tews. Now these latter were sorely grieved, yet 
 did they tolerate these doings, because they 
 remembered that they had arrived at their pre- 
 sent happy state by no other means than their 
 fortitude. But when they also heard of the 
 worship of those gods whom the Parthiafcs adore, 
 they thought the injury that Anileus offered to 
 their laws was to be borne no longer ; and a 
 greater number of them came to Asineus, and 
 loudly complained of Anileus, and told him, that 
 It had. been well that he had of himself seen 
 what was advantageous to them ; but that how- 
 
 * This custom of the Mesopotamians to carry their 
 household gods along with them wherever they tra- 
 velled, is as old as the days of Jacob, when Rachel his 
 ife did the same, (Gen. xxxi. 19, SO-SS.'t 
 
 ever, it was now high time to correct what had 
 been done amiss, before the crime that had been 
 committed proved the ruin of himself and all the 
 rest of them. They added, that the marriage 
 of this woman was made without their consent, 
 and without a regard to their old laws ; and that 
 the worship which this woman paid [to her gods] 
 was a reproach to the God whom they wor- 
 shipped. Now Asineus was sensible of his 
 brother's offence, that it had been already the 
 cause of great mischiefs, and would be so for the 
 time to come ; yet did he tolerate the same from 
 the good-will he had to so near a relation, and 
 forgiving it to him, on account that his brother 
 was quite overborne by his wicked inclinations. 
 But as more and more still came about him 
 every day, and the clamours about it became 
 greater, he at length spake to Anileus about 
 these clamours, reproving him for his former 
 actions, and desiring him for the future to leave 
 them off, and send the woman back to her rela- 
 tions. But nothing was gained by these reproofs ; 
 for, as the woman perceived what a tumult was 
 made among the people on her account, and was 
 afraid for Anileus, lest he should come to any 
 harm for his love to her, she infused poison into 
 Asineus's food, and thereby took him off, and 
 was now secure of prevailing, when her lover 
 was to be judge of what should be done about her. 
 6. So Anileus took the government upon him- 
 self alone, and led his army against the villages 
 of Mithridates, who was a man of principal 
 authority in Parthia, and had married king 
 Artabanus's daughter ; he also plundered them, 
 and among that prey was found nmch money, 
 and many slaves, as also a great number of sheep, 
 and many other things, which, when gained, 
 rnake men's condition happy. Now, when Mith- 
 ridates, who was there at this time, heard that 
 his villages were taken, he was very much dis- 
 pleased to find that Anileus had first begun to 
 injure him, and to affront him in his present 
 dignity, when he had not offered any injury to 
 him beforehand : and he got together the great- 
 est body of horsemen he was able, and those out 
 of that number which were of an age fit for war, 
 and came to fight Anileus : and when he was 
 arrived at a certain village of his own, he lay 
 still there, as intending to fight him on the day 
 following, because it was the Sabbath, the day 
 on which the Jews rest. And when Anileus 
 was informed of this, by a Syrian stranger of 
 another village, who not only gave him an exact 
 account of other circumstances, but told him 
 where Mithridates would have a feast, he took 
 his supper at a proper time, and marched by 
 night, with an intent of falling upon the Parthi- 
 ans while they were unapprised what they should 
 do ; so he fell upon them about the fourth 
 watch of the night ; and some of them he slew 
 while they were asleep, and others he put to 
 flight, and took Mithridates alive, and set him 
 naked upon an ass,t which, among the Parthians, 
 is esteemed the greatest reproach possible. And 
 when he had brought him into a wood with such 
 a resolution, and his friends desired him to kill 
 Mithridates, he soon told -them his own mind to 
 the contrary, and said, that it was not right to 
 kill a man who was of one of the principal 
 families amonj the Parthians, and greatly 
 honoured with matching into the royal family ; 
 that so far as the y had hitherto gone was toler- 
 able, for although they had injured Mithridates, 
 yet, if they preserved his life, this benefit would 
 
 t This custom U still kept up at Damascus in Syria, 
 where, in order to shew their despite against the Chris- 
 tians, the Turks will not suffer them to hire horses, 
 but asses only, when they go abroad to see Hie country
 
 <5HAP. rx.j 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF TUT 
 
 38* 
 
 be remembered by him to the advantage of those 
 that gave it him ; but that if he were once put 
 to death, the king would not be at rest till he 
 had made a great slaughter of the Jews that 
 dwelt at Babylon; "to whose safety we might 
 to have a regard, both on account of our relation 
 to them, and because, if any misfortune befall 
 us, we have no place to retire to, since he hath 
 gotten the flower of their youth under him. " By 
 this thought, and this speech of his made in 
 council, he persuaded thei" to act accordingly ; 
 so Mithridates was let go. But, when he was 
 got away, his wife reproached him, that although 
 he was son-in-law to the king, he neglected to 
 avenge himself on those that had injured him, 
 while he took no care about it, but was contented 
 to have been made a captive by the Jews, and to 
 have escaped them ; and she bade him either to 
 go back like a man of courage, or else she sware 
 by the gods of their royal family, that she would 
 certainly dissolve her marriage with him. Upon 
 which, partly because he could not bear the 
 daily trouble of her taunts, and partly because 
 he was afraid of her insolence, lest she should in 
 earnest dissolve their marriage, he unwillingly, 
 and against his inclinations, got together again 
 as great an army as he could, and marched 
 along with them, as himself thinking it a thing 
 not to be borne any longer, that he, a Parthian, 
 should owe his preservation to the Jews, when 
 they had been too hard for him in the war. 
 
 7. But as soon as Anileus understood that 
 Mithridates was marching with a great army 
 against him, he though it too ignominious a 
 thing to tarry about the lakes, and not to take 
 the first opportunity of meeting his enemies, 
 and he hoped to have the same success, and to 
 beat their enemies as they did before ; as also he 
 ventured boldly upon the like attempts. Ac- 
 cordingly he led out his army ; and a great 
 many more joined themselves to that army, in 
 order to betake themselves to plunder the 
 people, and in order to terrify the enemy again, 
 by their numbers. But when they had marched 
 ninety furlongs, while the road had been 
 through dry [and sandy] places, and about the 
 midst of the day, they were become very thirsty : 
 and Mithridates appeared, and fell upon them as 
 they were in distress for want of water, on which 
 account, and on account of the time of the day, 
 they were not able to bear their weapons. _ So 
 Anileus and his men were put to an ignominious 
 rout, while men in despair were to attack those 
 that were fresh, and in good plight ; so a great 
 slaughter was made, and many ten thousand 
 men fell. Now Anileus, and all that stood firm 
 about him, ran away, as fast as they were able, 
 into a wood, and afforded Mithridates the plea- 
 sure of having gained a great victory over them. 
 But there now came in to Anileus, a conflux of 
 bad men, who regarded their lives very little, if 
 they might but gain some present ease, inso- 
 much that they, by thus coming to him, com- 
 pensated the multitude of those that perished 
 in the fight. Yet were not these men like those 
 that fell, because they were rash, and unexer- 
 cised in war : however, with these he came 
 upon the villages of the Babylonians, and a 
 mighty devastation of all things was made there 
 Ky the injuries that Anileus did them. So the 
 Babylonians, and those that had already been 
 in the war, sent to NeerHa to the Jews there, 
 and demanded Anileus. But, although they 
 did not agree to their demands, (for if they had 
 been willing to deliver him up, it was not in 
 their power so to do;) yet did they desire to 
 make peace with them. To which the other re- 
 plied, that they also wanted to settle conditions 
 
 of peace with them, and sent men, together with 
 the Babylonians, who discoursed with AnileuB 
 about them. But the Babylonians, upon taking 
 a view of his situation, and having learned 
 where Anileus and his men lay, fell secretly 
 upon them as they were drunk and fallen asleep, 
 and slew all that they caught of them, without 
 any fear, and killed Anileus himself also. 
 
 8. The Babylonians were now freed from Ani- 
 leus's heavy incursions, which had been a great 
 restraint to the effects of that hatred they bore 
 to the Jews : for they were almost alwavs at 
 variance, by reason of the contrariety of "their 
 laws ; and which party soever grew boldest be- 
 fore the other, they assaulted the other : and at 
 this time in particular it was, that upon the ruin 
 of Anileus's party, the Babylonians attacked the 
 Jews, which made those Jews so vehemently to 
 resent the injuries they received from the Baby- 
 lonians, that, being neither able to fight them, 
 nor bearing to live with them, they went to 
 Seleucia, the principal city of those parts, which 
 was built by Seleucus Nicator. It was inhal>it>-<l 
 by many of the Macedonians, but by more of the 
 Grecians ; not a few of the Syrians also dwelt 
 there ; and thither did the Jews fly, and lived 
 there five years, without any misfortunes. But, 
 on the sixth year, a pestilence came upon these 
 at Babylon, which occasioned new removals of 
 men's habitations out of that city ; and because 
 they came to Seleucia, it happened that a still 
 heavier calamity came upon them on that ac- 
 count, which I am going to relate immediately. 
 
 9. Now the way of living of the people of Se- 
 iciula, who were Greeks and Syrians, was com- 
 monly quarrelsome, and full of discords, though 
 the Greeks were too hard for the Syrians. 
 When, therefore, the Jews were come thither, 
 and dwelt among them, there arose a sedition ; 
 and the Syrians were too hard for the other, by 
 the assistance of the Jews, who are men that 
 despise dangers, and very ready to fight upon 
 any occasion. Now, when the Greeks had the 
 worst in this sedition, and saw that they had 
 but one way of recovering their former authority, 
 and that was, if they could prevent the agree- 
 ment between the Jews and Syrians, they every 
 one discoursed with such of the Syrians as were 
 formerly their acquaintance, and promised they 
 would be at peace and friendship with them. 
 Accordingly, they gladly agreed so to do ; and 
 when this was done by the principal men of both 
 nations, they soon agreed to a reconciliation; 
 and when they were so agreed, they both knew 
 that the great design of such their union, would 
 be their common hatred to the Jews. Accord- 
 ingly they fell upon them, and slew about fifty 
 thousand of them ; nay, the Jews were all de- 
 stroyed, excepting a few who escaped, either by 
 the compassion which their friends or neigh 
 bours afforded them in order to let them fly 
 away. These retired to Ctesiphon, a Grecian 
 city, and situated near to Seleucia, where the 
 king [of Parthia] lives in winter every year, and 
 where the greatest part of his riches are de- 
 posited ; but the Jews had here no certain settle- 
 ment, those of Seleucia having little concern for 
 the king's honour. Now the whole nation of the 
 Jews were in fear both of the Babylonians and 
 of the Seleucians, because all the Syrians that 
 live in those places agreed with the Seleucians 
 in the war against the Jews; so the most of 
 them gathered themselves together, and went 
 to Neerda and Nisibis, and obtained security 
 there by the strength of those cities ; besides 
 which, their inhabitants, who were a great 
 many, were all warlike men. And this was th 
 state of the Jews at this time in Baliylonia,
 
 896 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK XIX. 
 
 BOOK XIX. 
 
 THB INTERVAL OF THBEE YEARS AKD A HALF, 
 
 FROM THE JEWS' DEPARTURE OUT OF BABYLON TO FADUS THE 
 ROMAN PROCURATOR. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 HOW CAIUS * WAS SLAIN BY OHBKEA. 
 
 1. Now this Caius t did not demonstrate hit 
 madness in offering injuries only to the Jews at 
 Jerusalem, or to those that dwelt in the neigh- 
 bourhood, but suffered it to extend itself through 
 all the earth and sea, so far as was in subjection 
 to the Romans, and filled it with ten thousand 
 mischiefs ; so many indeed in number as no for- 
 mer history relates. But Rome itself felt the 
 most dismal effects of what he did, while he 
 deemed that not to be any way more honourable 
 than the rest of the cities ; but he pulled and 
 hauled its other citizens, but especially the sen- 
 ate, and particularly the nobility, and such as 
 had been dignified by illustrious ancestors ; he 
 also had ten thousand devices against such of 
 the equestrian order, as it was styled, who were 
 esteemed by the citizens equal in dignity and 
 wealth with the senators, because out of them 
 the senators were themselves chosen ; these he 
 treated after an ignominious manner, and re- 
 moved them out of his way while they were at 
 once slain, and their wealth plundered ; because 
 he slev men generally in order to seize on their 
 riches. He also asserted his own divinity, and 
 insisted on greater honours to be paid him by 
 his subjects than are due to mankind. He also 
 frequented that temple of Jupiter which they 
 style the Capitol, which is with them the most 
 holy of all temples, and had boldness enough to 
 call himself the brother of Jupiter. And other 
 pranks he did like a madman ; as when he laid 
 a bridge from the city Dicearchia, which belongs 
 to Campania, to Misenum, another city upon the 
 sea-side, from one promontory to another, of the 
 length of thirty furlongs, as measured over the 
 sea. And this was done, because he esteemed 
 it to be a most tedious thing to row over in a 
 small ship, and thought withal that it became 
 him to make that bridge, as he was lord of the 
 sea, and might oblige it to give marks of obedi- 
 ence as well as the earth; so he enclosed the 
 whole bay within his bridge, and drove his char- 
 iot over it; and thought, that as he was a god, 
 it was fit for him to travel over such roads as 
 this was. Nor did he abstain from the plunder 
 of any of the Grecian temples, and gave order 
 that all the engravings and sculptures, and the 
 rest of the ornaments of the statues and do- 
 
 * In this and the next three chapters, we have, I 
 think, a more distinct account of the slaughter of 
 Caius, and the succession of Claudius, than we have of 
 any such ancient facts whatsoever elsewhere, caused 
 probably by Josephus's bitter hatred against tyranny ; 
 and the pleasure he took in giving the history of the 
 slaughter of such a barbarous tyrant as was this Caius 
 Caligula, as also the deliverance big own nation had by 
 that slaughter. 
 
 t CalJed Cnligula by the Romans. 
 
 nations therein dedicated, should oe brought to 
 him, saying that the best things ought to be set 
 nowhere but in the best place, and that the city 
 of Rome was the best place. He also adorned 
 his own house and his gardens with the curiosi- 
 ties brought from those temples, together with 
 the houses he lay at when he travelled all ovei 
 Italy ; whence he did not scruple to give a com- 
 mand that the statue of Jupiter Olympius, so 
 called because he was honoured at the Olympian 
 games by the Greeks, which was the work ol 
 Phidias the Athenian, should be brought to 
 Rome. Yet did not he compass his end, be- 
 cause the architect told Memmius Regulus, who 
 was commanded to remove the statue of Jupiter, 
 that the workmanship was such as would be 
 spoiled, and would not bear the removal. It 
 was alse reported that Memmius, both on that 
 account, and on account of some such mighty 
 prodigies as are of an incredible nature, put off 
 the taking it down, and wrote to Caius those ac- 
 counts, as his apology for not having done what 
 his epistle required of him; and that when he 
 was thence in danger of perishing, he was saved 
 by Caius being dead himself, before he had put 
 him to death. 
 
 2. Nay, Caius's madness came to this height, 
 that when he had a daughter born, he carried 
 her into the capitol, and put her upon the knees 
 of the statue, and said that the child was com- 
 mon to him and to Jupiter, and determined that 
 she had two fathers, but which of these fathers 
 were the greatest, he left undetermined ; and 
 yet mankind bore him in such his pranks. He 
 also gave leave to slaves to accuse their masters 
 of any crimes whatsoever they pleased ; for all 
 such accusations were terrible, because they 
 were in great part made to please him, and at 
 his suggestion, insomuch that Pollux, Claudius's 
 slave, had the boldness to lay an accusation 
 against Claudius himself; and Caius was not 
 ashamed to be present at his trial of life and 
 death, to hear the trial of his own uncle, in 
 ; hopes of being able to take him off, although he 
 I dirt not succeed to his mind : but when he had 
 ' filled the whole habitable world which he go- 
 verned, with false accusations and miseries, and 
 had occasioned the greatest insults of slaves 
 against their masters, who indeed, in a great mea- 
 sure, ruled them, there were many secret plots 
 now laid against him ; some in anger, and in or- 
 der for men to revenge themselves, on account 
 of the miseries they had already Smdergone 
 from him; and others made attempts upon him, 
 in order to take him off before they should fall 
 I into such great miseries, while his death came 
 | very fortunately for the preservation of the lives 
 j of all men, and had a great influence upon the 
 public welfare ; and this happened most happily 
 for our nation in particular, which had almost 
 utterly perished if he had not been suddenly 
 slain ; and I confess I have a mind to give a full
 
 CHAP. I.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 397 
 
 account of this matter particularly, because it 
 will afford great assurance of the power of God, 
 lad great comfort to those that are under afflic- 
 tion, and wise caution to those who think their 
 happiness will never end, nor bring them at 
 length to the most lasting miseries, if they do 
 not conduct their lives by the principles of vir- 
 tue. 
 
 3. Now there were three several conspiracies 
 inade, in order to take off Caius, and each of 
 these three was conducted by excellent per- 
 sona. Emilius Eegulus, born at Corduba in 
 Spain, got some men together, and was desirous 
 to take Caius off, either by them or by himself. 
 Another conspiracy there was laid by them, 
 under the conduct of Cherea Cassius, the tri- 
 bune [of the pretorian band;] Minucianus AB- 
 nius was also one of great consequence amcng 
 those that were prepared to oppose his tyranny. 
 Now the several occasions of these men's several 
 hatred and conspiracy against Caius were these : 
 Regulus had indignation and hatred against 
 all injustice, for he had a mind naturally angry, 
 and bold, and free, which made him not conceal 
 his counsels ; so he communicated them to many 
 of his friends, and to others who seemed to him 
 persons of activity and vigour; Minucianus 
 Entered into this conspiracy, because of the in- 
 just x-o done to Lepidus his particular friend, 
 End one of the best character of all the citizens, 
 whom Caius had slain, as also because he was 
 afraid of himself, since Caius'a wrath tended to 
 the slaughter of all alike : and for Cherea, he 
 came in, because he thought it a deed worthy of 
 a free ingenuous man to kill Caius, and was 
 ashamed of the reproach he lay under from Cai- 
 us, as though he were a coward ; as also because 
 he was himself in danger every day from his 
 friendship with him, and the observance he paid 
 him. These men proposed this attempt to all 
 the rest that were concer-ied, who saw the in- 
 juries that were offered them, and were desirous 
 that Caius's slaughter might succeed by their 
 mutual assistance of one another, that they 
 might themselves escape being killed by the 
 taking off Caius ; that perhaps they should gain 
 their point, and that it would be a happy thing 
 if they should gain it, to approve themselves to 
 so many excellent persons as earnestly wished to 
 be partakers with them in their design, for the 
 delivery of the city and of the government, even 
 at the hazard of their own lives ; but still Che- 
 rea was the most zealous of them all, both out 
 of a desire of getting himself the greatest name, 
 and also by reason of his access to Caius's pres- 
 ence with less daDger, because he was tribune, 
 and could therefore the more easily kill him. 
 
 4. Now, at this time came on the horse-raced 
 [Circensian games;] the view of which games 
 was eagerly desired by the p_eople of Rome, for 
 they come with great alacrity into the hippo- 
 drome [circus] at such times, and petition their 
 emperors, in great multitudes, for what they 
 stand in need of ; who usually did not think fit 
 to deny them their requests, but readily and 
 gratefully granted them. Accordingly they 
 most importunately desired that Caius would 
 now ease them in their tributes, and abate 
 somewhat of the rigour of the taxes imposed 
 upon them ; but he would not hear their peti- 
 tion ; and, when their clamours increased, he 
 sent soldiers, some one way and some another, 
 and gave order that they should lay hold on 
 those that made the clamours, and without any 
 more ado, bring them out and put them to 
 death. These were Caius's commands, and 
 those who were commanded executed the 
 same : and the number of those who were 
 
 slain on this occasion was very great. Now the 
 people saw this, and bore it so far, that they left 
 off clamouring, because they saw with their own 
 eyes that this petition to be relieved as to the 
 payment of their money brought immediate 
 death upon them. These things made Cherea 
 more resolute to go on with his plot in order to 
 put an end to this barbarity of Caius against 
 men. He then, at several times, thought to 
 fall upon Caius as he was feasting, yet did he 
 restrain himself by some considerations ; not that 
 he had any doubt on him a bo at killing him, but 
 as watching for a proper seasoa, tb.it the attempt 
 might not be frustrated, but that he might 
 give the blow so that he mi^ht certainly gain 
 bis purpose. 
 
 5. Cherea had been in the army a long time, 
 yet was he not pleased with conversing so much 
 with Caius ; but Caius had set him to require 
 the tributes, and other dues, which, when not 
 paid in due time, were forfeited to Csesar's trea- 
 sury ; and he had made some delays in requiring 
 i them, because those burdens had been doubled; 
 and had rather indulged his own mild disposition 
 than performed Caius's command ; nay, indeed, 
 he provoked Caius to anger by his sparing men, 
 and pitying the hard fortunes of those from 
 whom he demanded the taxes ; and Caius up- 
 braided him with his sloth and effeminacy in 
 being so long about collecting the taxes ; and 
 indeed he did not only affront him in other re- 
 spects, but when he gave him the watch-word 
 of the day, to whom it was to be given by his 
 place, he gave him feminine words, and those of 
 a nature very reproachful; and these watch- 
 words he gave out, as having been initiated in 
 the secrets of certain mysteries which he had 
 been himself the author of. Now, although he 
 had sometimes put on woman's clothes, and had 
 been wrapt in some embroidered garments to 
 them belonging, and done a great many other 
 things in order to make the company mistake 
 him for a woman ; yet did he, by way of re- 
 proach, object the like womanish behaviour to 
 Cherea. But when Cherea received the watch- 
 word from him, he had indignation at it, but 
 had greater indignation at the delivery of it to 
 others, as being laughed at by those that re- 
 ceived it; insomuch that his fellow-tribunes 
 made him the subject of their drollery ; for they 
 would foretell that he w >uld bring them some of 
 his usual watch-word? ivhen he was about to 
 take the watch-word .rom Caesar, and would 
 thereby make him ridiculous ; on which account 
 he took the courage of assuming certain partners 
 to him, as having just reasons for his indignation 
 against Caius. Now there was one Pompedius, 
 a senator, and one who had gone through almost 
 all posts in the government, but otherwise an 
 Epicurean, and for that reason loved to lead an 
 inactive life. Now Timidius, an enemy of his, 
 had informed Caius that he had used indecent 
 reproaches against him, and he made use of 
 Quintilia for a witness to them ; a woman she 
 was much beloved by many that frequented the 
 theatre, and particularly by Pompedius, on ac- 
 count of her great beauty. Now this woman 
 thought it a horrible thing to attest to an accu- 
 | sation that touched the life of her lover, which 
 | was also a lie. Timidius, however, wanted to 
 have her brought to the torture. Caius was ir- 
 ritated at this reproach upon him, and com- 
 manded Cherea, without any delay, to torture 
 Quintilia, as he used to employ Cherea in such 
 bloody matters, and those that required the tor- 
 ture, because he thought he would do it the 
 more barbarously, in order to avoid that imputa- 
 tion of effeminacy which he had laid upon him.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK XIX.. 
 
 But Quintilia, when she was brought to the rack 
 trod upon the foot of one of her associates, and 
 let him know that he might be of good courage, 
 and not be afraid of the consequence of her tor- 
 tures, for that she would bear them with mag- 
 nanimity. Cherea tortured this woman after a 
 cruel maniier ; unwillingly indeed, but because 
 he could not help it. He then brought her, 
 without being the least moved at what she had 
 suffered, into the presence of Caius, and that in 
 such a state as was sad to behold ; and Caius, 
 being somewhat affected with the sight of Quin- 
 tilia, who had her body miserably disordered by 
 the pains she had undergone, freed both her and 
 Pompedius of the crime laid to their charge. 
 He also gave her money to make her an honour- 
 able amends, and comfort her for that maimiug 
 of her body which she had suffered, and for her 
 glorious patience under such unsufferable tor- 
 ments. 
 
 6. This matter sorely grieved Cherea, as hav- 
 ing been the cause, as far as he could, or the iii- 
 strument, of those miseries to men, which 
 seemed worthy of consolation to Caius himself ; 
 on which account he said to Clement and to 
 Papinius, (of whom Clement was general of the 
 army, and Papinius was a tribuue :) " To be 
 sure, O Clement, we have no way failed in our 
 guarding the emperor ; for as to those that have 
 made conspiracies against his government, some 
 have been slain by our care and pains, and some 
 have been by us tortured, and this to such a de- 
 gree, that he hath himself pitied them. How 
 great then is our virtue in submitting to conduct 
 his armies ! " Clement held his peace, but 
 shewed the shame he was under in obeying Cai- 
 us's orders, both by his eyes and his blushing 
 countenance, while he thought it by no means 
 right to accuse the emperor in express words, 
 lest their own safety should be endangered there- 
 by. Upon which Cherea took courage, and spake 
 to him without fear of the dangers that were be- 
 fore him, and discoursed largely of the sore cala- 
 mities under which the city and the government 
 then laboured, and said, " We may indeed pre- 
 tend in words, that Caius is the person unto 
 whom the cause of such miseries ought to be 
 imputed ; but, in the opinion of such as are able 
 to judge uprightly, it is I, O Clement ! and this 
 Papinius, and before iiv thou thyself, Who bring 
 these tortures upon the Romans, and upon all 
 mankind. It is not done by our being subservi- 
 ent to the commands of Caius, but it is done by 
 our own consent ; for whereas it is in our power 
 to put an end to the life of this man, who hath 
 so terribly injured the citizens and his subjects, 
 we are his guard in mischief and his executioners, 
 instead of his soldiers, and are the instruments 
 of his cruelty. We bear these weapons, not for 
 our liberty, not for the Roman government, but 
 only for his preservation, who hath enslaved 
 both their bodies and their minds ; and we are 
 every day polluted with the blood that we shed, 
 and the torments we inflict upon others ; and 
 this we dp, till somebody becomes Caius's in- 
 strument in bringing the like miseries upon our- 
 selves. Nor does he thus employ us, because 
 he hath a kindness for us, but rather because he 
 hath a suspicion of us, as also because, when 
 abundance more have been killed, (for Caius will 
 set no bounds to his wrath, since he aims to do 
 all not out of regard to justice, but to his own 
 pleasure,) we shall also ourselves be exposed to 
 his cruelty ; whereas we ought to be the means 
 of confirming the security and liberty of all, and 
 at the same time to resolve to free ourselves 
 from dangers." 
 
 7. Hereupon Clement openly commended 
 
 Cherea' s intentions, bat bade him hold hie 
 tongue ; for that in case his words should get 
 out among many, and such things should be 
 spread abroad as were fit to be concealed, the 
 plot would come to be discovered before it was 
 executed, and they should be brought to punish- 
 ment ; but that they should leave all to f uturity, 
 and the hope which thence arose, that some for- 
 tunate event would come to their assistance: 
 that, as for himself, his age would not permit 
 him to make any attempt in that case. " How- 
 ever, although perhaps I could not suggest what 
 may be safer than what thou, Cherea, hast con- 
 trived and said, yet how is it possible for any 
 one to suggest what is more for thy reputation ? " 
 So Cleinent went his way home, with deep re- 
 flections on what he had heard, and what he had 
 himself said. Cherea also was under a concern, 
 and went quickly to Cornelius Sabinus, who was 
 himself one of the tribunes, and whom he other- 
 wise knew to be a worthy man, and a lover of 
 liberty, and on that account very uneasy at the 
 present managemant of public affairs, he being 
 desirous to come immediately to the execution of 
 what had been determined, and thinking it 
 right for him to propose it to the other, and 
 afraid lest Clement should discover them, and 
 Itsides looking upon delays and puttings-off to 
 bo the next to desisting from the enterprise. 
 
 8. But as all was agreeable to Sabinus, who 
 nad himself, equally with Cherea, the same de- 
 sign, but had been silent for want of a person to 
 whom he could safely communicate that design ; 
 so having now met with one, who not only pro- 
 mised to conceal what he heard, but who had 
 already opened his miud to him, he was much 
 more encouraged, and desired of Cherea that no 
 delay might be made therein. Accordingly the\ 
 went to Minucianus, who was as virtuous a man, 
 and as zealous to do glorious actions as them- 
 selves, and suspected by Caius on occasion oi 
 the slaughter of Lepidus ; for MinucianUK and 
 Lepidus were intimate friends, and both in fear 
 of the dangers that they were under ; for Caius 
 Was terrible to all the great men, as appearing 
 ready to act a mad part towards each of them in 
 particular, and towards all of them in genun.I , 
 a ad these men were afraid of one another, while 
 they were yet uneasy at the posture of affairs, 
 but avoided to declare their mind and their 
 hatred against Caius to one another, out of fear 
 of the dangers they might be in thereby, al- 
 though they perceived by other means thcii 
 mutual hatred against Caius, and on that account 
 were not averse to a mutual kindness cue towards 
 another. 
 
 9. When Minucianus and Cherea had met to- 
 gether, and saluted one another, (as they hail 
 been used in former conversations to give the 
 upper hand to Minucianus, both on account of 
 his eminent dignity, for he was the noblest ot all 
 the citizens, and highly commended by all men, 
 especially when he made speeches to them,; 
 Minuciauus, began first, and asked Chere;i 
 what was the watch-word he had received that 
 day from Caius; for the affront which wa- 
 offered Cherea in giving the watch-word Witt, 
 famous over the c;ty 'But Churea made no de- 
 lay so long as to reply to that question, out of 
 the joy he had that Minucianus would have such 
 confidence in him as to discourse with him. 
 "But do thou," said he, "give me the watch- 
 word of liberty. And I return thue my thanks, 
 that thou hast so greatly encouraged me to exert 
 myself after an extraordinary manner ; nor do I 
 stand in need of many words to encourage me, 
 since both thou and I are of the same mind, and 
 partakers of the same resolutions, and this I*
 
 JHAP. 1.J 
 
 THE JEWS. 
 
 fore we have conferred together. I have indeed 
 but one sword girt on, but this one will serve us 
 both. Come on, therefore, let'us set about the 
 work. Do thou go first, if thou hast a mind, 
 and bid me follow thee ; or else I will go first, 
 and thou shalt assist me, and we will assist one 
 another and trust one another. Nor is there a 
 necessity for even one sword to such as have a 
 mind disposed to such works, by which miud 
 the sword uses to be successful. I am zealous 
 ibout this action, nor am I solicitous what I 
 may myself undergo ; for I am not at leisure to 
 consider the danger that may come upon myself, 
 so deeply am I troubled at the slavery our once 
 free country is now under, and at the contempt 
 cast upon our excellent laws, and at the destruc- 
 tion which hangs over all men, Ly the means of 
 Gaius. I wish that I may be judged by thee, 
 and that thou mayest esteem me worthy of 
 credit in these matters, seeiug we are both of 
 the same opinion, and there is herein no differ- 
 ence between us." 
 
 10. When Hinucianus saw the vehemency 
 with which Cherea delivered himself, he gladly 
 embraced him, and encouraged him in his bold 
 attempt, commending him, and embracing him ; 
 so he let him go with his good wishes ; and some 
 affirm, that he thereby confirmed Minucianus in 
 the prosecution of what had been agreed among 
 them ; for, as Cherea entered into the court, the 
 report runs, that a voice came from among the 
 multitude to encourage him, which bid him 
 linish what he was about, and take the oppor- 
 tunity that Providence offered ; and that Cherea 
 at first suspected that some one of the conspira- 
 tors had betrayed him, and he was caught ; but 
 at length perceived that it was by way of exhor- 
 tation Whether somebody,* that was consci- 
 ous of what he was about, gave a signal for his 
 encouragement, or whether it was God himself, 
 who looks upon the actions of men, that en- 
 couraged him to go on boldly in his design, is 
 uncertain. The plot was now communicated ti 
 a great many, and they were all in their armour ; 
 some of the conspirators being senators, and 
 some of the equestrian order, and as many of the 
 soldiery as were made acquainted with it ; for 
 there was not one of them who would not reckon 
 it a part of his happiness to kill Caius ; and on 
 that account they were all very zealous in the 
 utfair, by what means soever any one could come 
 at it, that he might not be behindhand in these 
 v irtuous designs, but might be ready with all his 
 alacrity or power, both by words and actions, to 
 complete this slaughter of a tyrant. And be- 
 sides these, Callistus also, who was a freed-man 
 of Caiua's, feud was the only man that had arrived 
 at the greatest degree of power under him, 
 such a power, indeed, as was in a manner equal 
 to the power of the tyrant himself ; by the dread 
 that all men had of him, and by the great riches 
 he had acquired ; for he took bribes most plente- 
 ously, and committed injuries without bounds ; 
 and was more extravagant in the use of hi* 
 uower in unjust proceedings than any other 
 tie also knew the disposition of Caius to be im- 
 placable, and never to be turned from what he 
 nad resolved on. He had withal many other 
 masons why he thought himself in danger, and 
 the vastncss of his wealth was not one of the 
 least of them : on which account he privately 
 ingratiated himself with Cladius, and transferred 
 his courtship to him, out of this hope, that hi 
 ease, upon the removal of Caius, the government 
 
 * Just such a voice as this is related to be, came, anil 
 from an unknown original also, to the famous Polj- 
 ;arp, as he was going to martyrdom, bidding him 
 e man." 
 
 should come to him, his interest in such change;- 
 should lay a foundation for his preserving hit 
 dignity under him, since he kid in beforehand a 
 stock of merit, and did Claudius good offices in 
 his promotion. He also had the boldness to pre- 
 tend that he had been persuaded to make away 
 with Claudius, by poisoning him ; but had still 
 invented ten thousand excuses for delaying to do 
 it. But it seems probable to me that Callistas 
 only counterfeited this in order to ingratiate 
 himself with Claudius ; for if Caius had been in 
 earnest resolved to take oil' Claudius, he would 
 not have admitted of Callistus's excuses, nor 
 would Callistus, if he had been enjoined to do 
 such an act as was desired by Caius, have put it 
 oif, nor, if he had disobeyed those inj unctions of 
 his master, had he escaped immediate puniiih- 
 ment ; while Claudius was preserved from the 
 madness of Caius by a certain divine providence, 
 and Callistus pretended to such a piece of merit 
 as he no way deserved. 
 
 11. However, the execution of Chorea's de- 
 signs was put off from day to day, by the sloth 
 j of many therein concerned ; for, as to Cherea 
 himself , he would not willingly make any delay 
 ui that execution, thinking every time a fit time 
 for it, for frequent opportunities offered them- 
 selves ; as when Caius went up to the capitol to 
 sacrifice for his daughter, or when he stood upon 
 his royal palace, and threw gold and silver 
 pieces of money among the people, he might be 
 pushed down headlong, because the top of the 
 I'tdace that looks towards the market-place, \v;u 
 very high ; and also when he celebrated tho 
 mysteries, which he had appointed at that 
 tune; for he was then no way secluded from 
 the people, but solicitous to do everything care- 
 fully and decently ; and was free from all suspi- 
 cion that he should be then assaulted by any- 
 body ; and although the gods should afford hini 
 no divine assistance to enable him to take away 
 his life, yet had he strength himself sufficient to 
 clesoatch Caius even without a swori. Thus 
 was Cherea angry at his fellow-conspirators, for 
 fear they should suffer a projwr opportunity to 
 pass by ; and they were themselves sensible that 
 he had just cause to be angry at them, and that 
 his eagerness was for their advantage ; yet did 
 they desire he would have a li ttle longer patience, 
 lest, upon any disappointment they might meet 
 with, they should put the city in disorder, and 
 an inquisition should be made after the conspi- 
 racy, and should render the courage of those 
 that were to attack Caius without success, while 
 he would then secure himself more carefully 
 than ever against them ; that it would therefore 
 be the best to set about the work when the 
 shows were exhibited in the palace. These 
 shows were acted in honour of that Caesar who 
 rirst of all changed the popular government, and 
 transferred it to himself; galleries being fixed 
 before the palace, where the Komans that were 
 patriciana became spectators, together with 
 their children and their wives, and Ct;sar him- 
 self was to be also a spectator ; and the_y reckon- 
 ed among those many ten thousands who would 
 there be crowded into a narrow compass, they 
 should have a favourable opportunity to make 
 their attempt upon him as he came in ; because 
 his guards that should protect him, if any ol 
 them should have a mind to do it, would not 
 here be able to give him any assistance. 
 
 12. Cherea consented to this delay ; ana when 
 the shows were exhibited, it was resolved to do 
 the work the first day. But fortune, which 
 allowed a further delay to his slaughter, was 
 too hard for their foregoing resolution : and, as 
 three days of the regular time for thewi sho
 
 100 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 were now over, they had much ado to get the 
 business done on the last day. Then Cherea 
 jailed the conspirators together, and spake thus 
 to them : " So much time passed away without 
 effect is a reproach to us, as delaying to go 
 through such a virtuous design as we are en- 
 gaged in ; but more fatal will this delay prove 
 if we be discovered, and the design be frustra- 
 ted ; for Caius will then become more cruel in 
 his unjust proceedings. Do not we see hovr long 
 we deprive all oar friends of their liberty, and 
 give Caius leave still to tyrannise ovei them? 
 while we ought to have procured them security 
 for the future, and, by laying a foundation for 
 the happiness of others, gain to ourselves great 
 admiration and honour for all time to come." 
 Now, while the conspirators had nothing tole- 
 rable to say by way of contradiction, and yet 
 did not quite relish what they were doing, but 
 stood silent and astonished, he said further, 
 " O my brave comrades ! why do we make euch 
 delays? Do not you see that this is the last 
 day of these shows, and that Caius is about to 
 go to sea ! for he is preparing to sail to Alexan- 
 dria, in order to see Egypt. Is it therefore for 
 your honour to let a man go out of your hands 
 who is a reproach to mankind, and to permit 
 him to go after a pompous manner, triumphing 
 both at land and sea? shall not we be justly 
 ashamed of ourselves if we give leave to some 
 Egyptian or other, who shall think his injuries 
 insufferable to freemen, to kill him ; as for my- 
 elf, I will no longer bear your slow proceedings, 
 but will expose myself to the dangers of the 
 enterprise this very day, and bear cheerfully 
 whatsoever shall be the consequence of the 
 attempt ; nor, let them be ever so great, will I 
 put them off any longer : for, to a wise and 
 courageous man, what can be more miserable 
 than that, while I am alive, any one else should 
 kill Caius, and deprive me of the honour of BO 
 virtuous an action?" 
 
 13. When Cherea had spoken thus, he zeal- 
 ously set about the work, and inspired courage 
 into the rest to go on with it ; and they were all 
 eager to fall to it without further delay. So he 
 was at the palace in the morning, with his eques- 
 trian sword girt on him ; for it was the custom 
 that the tribunes should ask for the watch- word 
 with their swords on, and this was the day on 
 which Cherea was by custom to receive the 
 watch-word; and the multitude were already 
 come to the palace, to be soon enough for seeing 
 the shows, and that in great crowds, and one 
 tumultuously crushing another, while Caius was 
 delighted with this eagerness of the multitude ; 
 for which reason their was no order observed in 
 the seating men, nor was any peculiar place 
 appointed for the senators, or for the equestrian 
 order ; but they sat at random, men and women 
 together, and freemen were mixed with the 
 slaves. So Caius came out in a solemn manner, 
 and offered sacrifice to Augustus Caesar, hi 
 whose honour indeed these shows were cele- 
 brated. Now it happened, upon the fall of a 
 certain priest, that the garment of Asprenas, 
 a senator, was filled with blood, which made 
 Caius laugh, although this was an evident omen 
 to Asprenas, for he was slain at the same time 
 with Caius. It is also related, that Caius was 
 that day, contrary to his usual custom, so very 
 affable and good-natured in his conversation, 
 that every one of those that were present were 
 astonished at it. After the sacrifice was over, 
 Caiua betook himself to see the shows, and sat 
 down for that purpose, as did also the principal 
 af hig friends sit near him. Now the parts of 
 the theatre were so fastened together, as it used 
 
 to be every year, in the manner following : It 
 had two doors ; the one door led to the open air, 
 the other was for going into, or going out of, the 
 cloisters, that those within the theatre might 
 not be thereby disturbed ; but out of one gallery 
 tli ere went an inward passage, parted into par- 
 titions also, which led into another gallery, to 
 give room to the combatants, and to the musi- 
 cians, to go out as occasion server" When the 
 multitude were set down, and Cherea, with the 
 other tribunes were set down also, and the right 
 corner of the theatre was allotted to Caesar, one 
 Vatinius, a senator, commander of the Pretoriac 
 band, asked of Cluvius, o&e that sat by him, 
 and was of consular dignity also, Whether he 
 had heard anything of the news or not? but 
 took care that nobody should hear what he said ; 
 and when Cluvius replied, that he had heard no 
 news, "Know then," said Vatinius, "that the 
 game of the slaughter of tyrants is to be played 
 this day." But Cluvius replied, " O brave com- 
 rade ! hold thy peace, lest some one of the 
 Achaians hear thy tale." And as there was 
 abundance of autumnal fruit thrown among the 
 spectators, and a great number of birds, that 
 were of great value to such as possessed them, 
 on account of their rareness, Caius was pleased 
 with the birds fighting for the fruits, and with 
 the violence wherewith the spectators seized 
 upon them ; and here he perceived two prodi- 
 gies that happened there; for an actor was 
 introduced, by whom a leader of robbers was 
 crucified, and the pantomime brought in a play 
 called Cinyras, wherein he himself was to be 
 slain, as well as his daughter Myrrha, and 
 wherein a great deal of fictitious blood was shed, 
 both about him that was crucified and also about 
 Cinyras. It is also confessed that this was the 
 same day wherein Pausanias, a friend of Philip, 
 the son of Amyntas, who was king of Macedonia, 
 slew him as he was entering into the theatre. 
 And now Caius Was in doubt whether he should 
 tarry to the end of the shows, because it was the 
 last day, or whether he should not go first to 
 the bath, and to dinner, and then return and sit 
 down as before. Hereupon Minucianus, who 
 sat over Caius, and was afraid that the opportu- 
 nity should fail them, got up, because he saw 
 Cherea was already gone out, and made haste 
 out, to confirm him in his resolution ; but Caiua 
 took hold of his garment in an obliging way, and 
 said to him, " O brave man ! whither art thou 
 going?" Whereupon, out of reverence to Caesar, 
 as it seemed, he sat down again ; but his fear 
 prevailed over him, and in a little time he got 
 up again, and then Caius did no way oppose his 
 going out, as thinking that he went out to per- 
 form some necessities of nature. And Asprenas, 
 who was one of the confederates, persuaded 
 Caius to go out to the bath, and to dinner, and 
 then to come in again; as desirous that what 
 had been resolved on might be brought to a con- 
 clusion immediately. 
 
 14. So Cherea's associates placed themselves 
 in order, as the time would permit them, and 
 they were obliged to labour hard, that the place 
 which was appointed them should not be left by 
 them ; they had an indignation at the tedious- 
 ness of the delays, and that what they were 
 about should be put off any longer, for it was 
 already about the ninth* hour of the day ; and 
 Cherea, upon Caius 's tarrying so long, had a 
 great mind to go in, and fall upon him in his 
 seat, although he foresaw that this could not be 
 
 * Suetonius says Caius was slain about the seventh 
 hour of the day, Josephus about the ninth. The series 
 of the narration favours Josepliua.
 
 3HAP. I.j 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 401 
 
 done without much bloodshed, both of the sena- 
 tors and of those of the equestrian order that 
 wore present ; and although he knew this must 
 happen, yet had he a great mind to do so, as 
 thinking it a right thing to procure security and 
 freedom to all at the expense of such as might 
 perish at the same time And as they were just 
 going back into the entrance to the theatre, 
 word was brought them that Caius was arisen, 
 whereby a tumult was made ; hereupon the 
 conspirators thrust away the crowd, under pre- 
 tence as if Caius was angry at them, but in 
 reality as desirous to have a quiet place, that 
 should have none in it to defend him, while they 
 set about Caius's slaughter. Now Claudius, his 
 uncle, was gone out before, and Marcus Vinicius, 
 his sister's husband, as also Valerius of Asia ; 
 whom, though they had had such a mind to put 
 out of their places, the reverence to their dignity 
 hindered them so to do ; then followed Caius, 
 with Paulus Arruntius : and because Caius was 
 now gotten within the palace, he left the direct 
 road, along which those his servants stood that 
 were in waiting, and by which road Claudius 
 had gone out before, Caius turned aside into a 
 private narrow passage, in order to go to the 
 place for bathing, as also in order to take a view 
 of the boys that came out of Asia, who were sent 
 thence partly to sing hymns in these mysteries 
 which were now celebrated, and partly to dance 
 in the Pyrrhic way of dancing upon the theatres. 
 So Cherea met him, and asked him for the watch- 
 word; upon Caius's giving him one of his ridicu- 
 lous words he immediately reproached him, and 
 drew his sword and gave him a terrible stroke 
 with it, yet was not this stroke mortal. And 
 although there be those that say it was so con- 
 trived on purpose by Cherea that Caius should 
 not be killed at one blow, but should be punished 
 more severely by a multitude of wounds, yet 
 does this story appear to be incredible ; .because 
 the fear men are under in such actions does not 
 allow them to use their reason. And if Cherea 
 was of that mind, I esteem him the greatest of 
 all fools, in pleasing himself in his spite against 
 Caius, rather than immediately procuring safety 
 to himself and to his confederates from the 
 dangers they were in; because there might many 
 things still happen for helping Caius's escape, if 
 he had not already given up the ghost ; for cer- 
 tainly Cherea would have regard, not so much 
 to the punishment of Caius, as to the affliction 
 himself and his friends were in, while it was in 
 liis power, after such success, to keep silent, and 
 to escape the wrath of Caius's defenders, and not 
 leave it to uncertainty whether he should gam 
 the end he aimed at or not; and after an unreason- 
 able manner to act as if he had a mind to ruin 
 himself, and lose the opportunity that lay before 
 him. But everybody may guess as he pleases 
 about this matter. However, Caius was stag- 
 gered with the pain that the blow gave him ; 
 for the stroke of the sword falling in the middle, 
 between the shoulder and neck, was hindered by 
 the first bone of the breast from proceeding any 
 further. Nor did he either cry out, (in such 
 astonishment was he,) nor did he call out for 
 any of his friends ; whether it were that lie had 
 no confidence in them, or that his mind was 
 otherwise disordered, but he groaned under the 
 pain he endured, and presently went forward 
 and fled, when Cornelius Sabinus, who was 
 already prepared in mind so to do, thrust him 
 down upon his knee, where many of them stood 
 round about him, and struck him with their 
 swords, and they cried out, and encouraged one 
 another all at once to strike him again ; but all 
 M^rte that Aquila gave him the finishing stroke, 
 
 which directly killed him. But one may justly 
 ascribe this act to Cherea ; for although many 
 concurred in the act itself, yet was he the first 
 contriver of it, and began long before all the rest 
 to prepare for it; and was the first man that 
 boldly spake of it to the rest ; and upon their 
 admission of what he said about it, he got the 
 dispersed conspirators together : he prepared 
 everything after a prudent manner, and by sug- 
 gesting good advice, shewed himself far superior 
 to the rest, and made obliging speeches to them, 
 insomuch that he even compelled them to go on, 
 who otherwise had not courage enough for that 
 purpose ; and when opportunity served to use 
 his sword in hand, he appeared first of all ready 
 so to do, and gave the first blow in this virtuous 
 slaughter ; he also brought Caius easily into the 
 power of the rest, and almost killed him himself, 
 insomuch that it is but just to ascribe all that 
 the rest did to the advice, an bravery, and 
 labours of the hands of Cherea. 
 
 15. Thus did Caius come to his end, and lay 
 dead by the many wounds which ha^ been given 
 him. Now Cherea and his associates, upon 
 Caius's slaughter, saw that it was impossible for 
 them to save themselves, if they should all go the 
 same way, partly on account of the astonishment 
 they were under ; for it was no small danger 
 they had incurred by killing an emperor, who 
 was honoured and loved by the madness of the 
 people, especially when the soldiers were likely 
 to make a bloody inquiry after his murderers. 
 The passages also were narrow wherein the work 
 was done, which were also crowded with a great 
 multitude of Caius's attendants, and of such of 
 the soldiers as were of the emperor's guard that 
 day ; whence it was that they went by other 
 ways, and came to the house of Germanicus, 
 the father of Caius, whom they had now killed, 
 (which house adjoined to the palace ; for while 
 the edifice was one, it was built in its several 
 parts by those particular persons who had been 
 emperors, and those parts bare the names of 
 those that built them, or the name of him who 
 had begun to build any of its parts. ) So they 
 got away from the insults of the multitude, and 
 then were for the present out of danger, that is 
 so long as the misfortune which had overtaken 
 the emperor was not known. The Germans were 
 the first who perceived that Caius was slain. 
 These Germans were Caius's guard, and carried 
 the name of the country whence they were 
 chosen, and composed the Celtic legion. The 
 men of that country are naturally passionate, 
 which is commonly the temper of some other of 
 the barbarous nations also, as being not used to 
 consider much about what they do ; they are of 
 robust bodies, and fall upon their enemies as 
 soon as ever they are attacked by them ; and 
 which way soever they go, they perform great 
 exploits. When therefore, these German guards 
 understood that Caius was slain, they were very 
 sorry for it, because they did not use their rea- 
 son in judging about public affairs, but measured 
 all by the advantages themselves received, Caius 
 being beloved by them, because of the money he 
 gave them, by which he had purchased their 
 kindness to him : so tHey drew their swords, and 
 Sabinus led them on. He was one of the tri- 
 bunes, not by the means of the virtuous actions 
 of his progenitors, for he had been a gladiator, 
 but he had obtained that post in the army by 
 his having a robust body. So these Germang 
 marched along the houses in quest of Caesar's 
 murderers, and cut Asprenas to pieces, because 
 he was the first man they fell upon, and whose 
 garment it was that the blood of the sacrifices 
 stained, as I have said already, and which for" 
 
 2 C
 
 102 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JKWS. 
 
 TBOOX six 
 
 told that this his meeting the soldiers would not 
 be for his good. Then did Norbanus meet them, 
 who was one of the principal nobility of the city, 
 and could shew many generals of armies among 
 his ancestors - but they paid no regard to his 
 dignity : yet -;ras he of such great strength that 
 he wrested the sword of the first of those that 
 assaulted him out of his hands, and appeared 
 plainly not to bo willing to die without a struggle 
 for his life, until he was surrounded by a great 
 number of assailants, and died by thp multitude 
 of the wounds which they gave him. The third 
 man was Anteius, a senator, and a few others 
 with him. He did not meet with these Ger- 
 mans by chance, as the rest did before, but came 
 to shew his hatred to Caius, and because he loved 
 to see Caius lie dead with his own eyes, and took 
 a pleasure in that sight ; for Caius had banished 
 Anteius's father, who was of the same name 
 with himself, and, being not satisfied with that, 
 he sent out his soldiers, and slew him ; so he was 
 come to rejoice at the sight of him, now he was 
 dead. But as the house was now all in a tumult, 
 when he was aiming to hide himself, he could 
 not escape that accurate search which the Ger- 
 mans made, while they barbarously slew those 
 that were guilty and those that were not guilty, 
 and this equally also. And thus were these 
 [three] persons slain. 
 
 16. But when the rumour that Caius was 
 slain reached the theatre, they were astonished 
 at it, and could not believe it : even some that 
 entertained his destruction with great pleasure, 
 nnd were more desirous of its happening than 
 almost any other satisfaction that could come to 
 them, were under such a fear that they could 
 not believe it. There were also those who 
 greatly distrusted it, because they were unwill- 
 ing that any such thing should come to Caius, 
 nor could believe it, though it were ever so true, 
 because they thought that no man could pos- 
 sibly have so much power as to kill Caius. 
 These were the women, and the children, and 
 the slaves, and some of the soldiery. This last 
 sort had taken his pay, and in a manner tyran- 
 nised with him, and had abused the best of the 
 citizens, in being subservient to his unjust com- 
 mands, in order to gain honours and advantages 
 to themselves; but for the women and the 
 youth, they had been inveigled with shows, and 
 the fighting of the gladiators, and certain distri- 
 butions of flesh-meat among them, which things 
 in pretence were designed for the pleasing of the 
 multitude, but in reality to satiate the barbarous 
 cruelty and madness of Caius. The slaves also 
 were sorry, because they were by Caius allowed 
 to accuse and to despise their masters, and they 
 wild have recourse to his assistance when they 
 had unjustly affronted them ; for he was easy in 
 believing them against their masters, even when 
 they accused them falsely ; and, if they would 
 discover what money their masters had, they 
 might soon obtain both riches and liberty, as the 
 rewards of their accusation, because the reward 
 of these informers was the eighth * part of the 
 criminal's substance. As to the nobles, although 
 the report appeared credible to some of them, 
 either because they knew of the plot beforehand, 
 or because they wished it might be true ; how- 
 ever, they concealed not only the joy they had 
 at the relation of it, but that they had heard 
 anything at all about it. These last acted so, 
 out of the fear they had that if the report proved 
 false, they should be punished for having so 
 
 * This reward proposed by the Roman laws to in- 
 iners was sometimes an eighth part of the criminal's 
 iroodg, as here ; and sometimes a fourth part. 
 
 soon let men know their minds. But those that 
 knew Caius was dead, because they were part- 
 ners with the conspirators, they concealed all 
 still more cautiously, as not knowing one an- 
 other's minds; and fearing lest they should 
 speak of it to some of those to whom the con- 
 tinuance of tyranny was advantageous ; and, if 
 Caius should prove to be alive, they might be 
 informed against and punished And another 
 report went about, that although Caius had been 
 wounded indeed, yet was not he dead, but alive 
 still, and under the physician's hands. Nor was 
 any one looked upon by another as faithful 
 enough to be trusted, and to whom any one 
 would open his mind ; for he was either a friend 
 to Caius, and therefore suspected to favour his 
 tyranny, or he was one that hated him, who 
 therefore might be suspected to desire the less 
 credit because of his ill-will to him. Nay, it 
 was said by some (and this indeed it was that 
 deprived the nobility of their hopes, and made 
 them sad) that Caius was in a condition to 
 despise the dangers he had. been in, and took no 
 care of healing his wounds, but was gotten away 
 into the market-place, and, bloody as he was, 
 was making a harangue to the people. And 
 these were the conjectured reports of those that 
 were so unreasonable as to endeavour to raise 
 tumults, which they turned different ways, ac- 
 cording to the opinions of the bearers. Y?t did 
 they not leave their seats, for fear of being ac- 
 cused, if they should go out before the rest ; for 
 they should not be sentenced according to the 
 real intention with which they went out, but 
 according to the supposals of the accuser and of 
 the judges. 
 
 17. 15ut now a multitude of Geitnans had sur- 
 rounded the theatre with their swords drawn : 
 all the spectators looked for nothing but death ; 
 and at every one's coming in, a fear seized upon 
 them, as if they were to be cut in pieces immedi- 
 ately ; and in great distress they were, as neither 
 having courage enough to go out of the theatre, 
 nor believing themselves safe from dangers if 
 they tarried there. And when the Germans 
 came upon them, the cry was so great, that the 
 theatre rang again with the entreaties of the 
 spectators to the soldiers, pleading that they 
 were entirely ignorant of everything that related 
 to such seditious contrivances, and if there were 
 any sedition raised, they knew nothing of it ; 
 they therefore begged that they would spare 
 them, and not punish those that had not the 
 least hand in such bold crimes as belonged to 
 other persons, while they neglected to search 
 after such as had really done whatsoever it be 
 that hath been done. Thus did these people ap- 
 peal to God, and deplore their infelicity with 
 shedding of tears and beating their faces, and 
 said everything that the most imminent danger, 
 and the utmost concern for their lives, could 
 dictate to them. This brake the fury of the 
 soldiers, and made them repent of what they 
 minded to do to the spectators, which would 
 have been the greatest instance of cruelty. And 
 so it appeared to even these savages, when they 
 had once fixed the heads of those that were slain 
 with Asprenas upon the altar ; at which sight 
 the spectators were sorely afflicted, both upon 
 the consideration of the dignity of the persons, 
 and out of a commiseration of their sufferings ; 
 nay, indeed, they were almost in as great disor- 
 der at the prospect of the danger themselves 
 were in, seeing it was still uncertain whether 
 they should entirely escape the like calamity. 
 Whence it was that such as thoroughly and 
 justly hated Caius, could yet no way enjoy the 
 pleasure of his death, because they were tbem-
 
 CHAT. 11. J 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 elves in jeopardy of perishing together with 
 im ; nor had they hitherto any firm assurance 
 f surviving. 
 
 18. There was at this time one Euaristus Ar- 
 nintius, a public crier in the market, and there- 
 ore of a strong and audible voice, who vied in 
 wealth with the richest of the Romans, and was 
 able to do what he pleased in the city, both then 
 aud afterward. This man put himself into the 
 most mournful habit he could, although he had 
 a greater hatred against Caius than any one else ; 
 lis fear and his wise contrivance to gain his 
 afety, taught him BO to do, and prevailed over 
 lis present pleasure; so he put on such a mourn - 
 ul dress as he would have done had he lost his 
 icarest friends in the world ; this man came in- 
 o the theatre, and informed them of the death 
 f Caius, and by this means put an end to that 
 tate of ignorance that men had been in. Ar- 
 runtiua also went round about the pillars, and 
 ailed out to the Germans, as did the tribunes 
 with him, bidding them' put up their swords, 
 and telling them that Cuius was dead ; and this 
 )roclamation it was plainly which saved those 
 hat were collected together in the theatre, and 
 all the rest who any way met the Germans ; for 
 while they had hopes that Caius had still any 
 >reath in him, they abstained from no sort of 
 nischief ; and such an abundant kindness they 
 itill had for Caius, that they would willingly 
 lave prevented the plot against him, and pro- 
 :ured his escape from so gad a misfortune, at 
 ,he expense of their own lives; but they now 
 eft off the warm zeal they had to punish his 
 enemies, now they were fully satisfied that Caius 
 was dead, because it was now in vain for them to 
 shew their zeal and kindness to him, when he 
 who should reward them was perished. They 
 were also afraid that they should be punished 
 jy the senate, if they should go on in doing such 
 injuries, that is, in case the authority of the su- 
 preme governor should revert to them ; and 
 thus at length a stop was put, though not with- 
 out difficulty, to that rage which possessed the 
 Germans on account of Caius's death. 
 
 19. But Cherea was so much afraid for Minuci- 
 anus, lest he should light upon the Germans, 
 now they were in their fuiy, that he went and 
 spake to every one of the soldiers, and prayed 
 them to take care of his preservation, and made 
 himself great inquiry about him, lest he should 
 have been slain ; and for Clement, he let Minuci- 
 anus go, when he was brought to him, and, with 
 many other of the senators, affirmed the action 
 was right, and commended the virtue of those 
 that contrived it, and had courage enough to 
 execute it ; and said, that " tyrants do indeed 
 please themselves and look big for a while, upon 
 having the power to act unjustly ; but do not, 
 however, go happily out of the world, because 
 they are hated by the virtuous ; and that Caius, 
 together with all his unhappiness was become 
 a conspirator against himself, before these other 
 men who attacked him, did so ; and, by becom- 
 ing intolerable, in setting aside the wise provi- 
 sion the laws had made, taught his dearest 
 friends to treat him as an enemy; insomuch, 
 that although in common discourse these con- 
 spirators were those that slew Caius, yet that, 
 iu reality, he Lea now dead as perishing by his 
 own self." 
 
 20. Now by this xime the psople in the theatre 
 were arisen from their seats, and those that were 
 within made a very great disturbance: the cause 
 of which was this, that the spectators were too 
 hasty in getting away. There was also one Al- 
 cyon, a physician, who hurried away, as if to 
 cure those that were wounded, and, under that 
 
 pretence, he sent those that were with him to 
 fetch what things were necessary for the healing ! 
 of those wounded persons, but in reality to (jet 
 them clear of the present dangers they were in. 
 Now the senate, during this interval, had met, 
 and the people also assembled together in tha 
 accustomed form, and were both employed in 
 searching after the murderers of Caius. The 
 people did it very zealously, but the senate in 
 appearance only ; for there was present Valerius 
 of Asia, one that had been consul ;. this man 
 went to the people, as they were in disorder, 
 and very uneasy that they could not yet disco- 
 ver who they were that had murdered the em 
 peror ; he was then earnestly asked by them all 
 who it was that had done it. He replied, " I 
 wish I had been the man." The consuls also 
 published an edict, wherein they accused Caius, 
 and gave order to the people then got together, 
 and to the soldiers, to go home, and gave the 
 people hopes of the abatement of the oppressions 
 they lay under; and promised the soldiers, if 
 they lay quiet as they used to do, and would 
 not go abroad to do mischief unjustly, that they 
 would bestow rewards upon them ; for there was 
 reason to fear lest the city might suffer harm by 
 their wild and ungovernable behaviour, if they 
 should once betake themselves to spoil the citi- 
 zens, or plunder the temples. And now the 
 whole multitude of the senators were assembled 
 together, and especially those that had conspired 
 to take away the life of Caius, who put on at 
 this time an air of great assurance, and appeared 
 with great magnanimity, as if the administra- 
 tion of public affairs were already devolved upon 
 them. 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 HOW THE SENATORS DETERMINED TO BESTORK 
 THE DEMOCRACY; EOT THE SOLDIERS WER1 
 FOR PRESERVING THE MONARCHY. CONCERN- 
 ING THE SLAUGHTER OF CAIOS'S WIFE AND 
 DAUGHTER. A CHARACTER OF CAIUS'S MORALS. 
 
 L WHEN the public affairs were in this posture, 
 Claudius was on the sudden hurried away out of 
 his house ; for the soldiers had a meeting toge- 
 ther : and when they had debated about what 
 was to be done, they saw that a democracy was 
 incapable of managing such a vast weight of 
 public affairs : and that if it should be set up, it 
 would not be for their advantage; and in case 
 any one of those already in the government 
 should obtain the supreme power, it would in 
 all respects be to their grief, if they were no' 
 assistin<* to him in this advancement : that i1 
 would therefore be right for them, while the 
 public affairs were unsettled, to choose Claudius 
 emperor, who was uncle to the deceased Cams, 
 and of a superior dignity and worth to every 
 one of those who were assembled together in the 
 senate, both on account of the virtues of his 
 ancestors, and of the learning he had acquired 
 in his education ; and who, if once settled in the 
 empire, would reward them according to tnei 
 deserts, and bestow largesses upon them, Ihesa 
 were their consultations, and they executed the 
 same immediately. Claudius was therefore sem 
 upon suddenly by the soldiery. But Cneu. beu- 
 tius Saturninus, although he understood th 
 Claudius was seized, and that he intended to 
 claim the government, unwillingly indeed to ap- 
 pearance, but in reality by his own free. sonseut, 
 stood up in the senate, and, without being d] 
 mayed made an exhortatory oration to B
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK XIX. 
 
 and such a one indeed as was fit for men of free- 
 dom and gaasrosity, and spake thus : 
 
 2. " Although it be a thing incredible, O 
 Romans! because of the great length of time, 
 that so unexpected an event hath happened, yet 
 are we now in possession of liberty. How long 
 indeed this will last is uncertain, and lies at the 
 disposal of the gods, whose grant it is : yet such 
 it is as is sufficient to make us rejoice, and be 
 happy for the present, a] though we may soon be 
 deprived of it ; for one hour is sufficient to those 
 that are exercised in virtue, wherein we may 
 live with a mind accountable only to ourselves, 
 in our own country, now free, and governed by 
 such laws as this country once flourished under. 
 As for myself, I cannot remember our former 
 time of liberty, as being born after it was gone ; 
 but I am beyond measure filled with joy at the 
 thoughts of our present freedom. I also esteem 
 those that were born and brought up in that our 
 former liberty happy men, and that those men 
 are worthy of no less esteem than the gods them- 
 selves, who have given us a taste of it in this 
 age ; and I heartily wish that this quiet enjoy- 
 ment of it, which we have at present, might 
 continue to all ages. However, this single day 
 may suffice for our youth, as well as for us that 
 are in years. It will seem an age to our old 
 men, if they might die during its happy dura- 
 tion : it may also be for the instruction of the 
 younger sort, what kind of virtue those men, 
 from whie loins we are derived, were exer- 
 cised ip, As for ourselves, our business is, dur- 
 ing the space of time, to live virtuously, than 
 which nothing can be more to our advantage ; 
 which course of virtue it is alone that can pre- 
 serve our liberty ; for as to pur ancient state, I 
 have heard of it by the relations of others ; but 
 as to our late state, during my life-time, I have 
 known it by experience, and learned thereby 
 what mischief tyrannies have brought upon this 
 commonwealth, discouraging all virtue, and de- 
 priving persons of magnanimity of their liberty, 
 and proving the teachers of flattery and slavish 
 fear, because it leaves the public administration 
 not to be governed by wise laws, but by the 
 humour of those that govern, For, since Julius 
 Caesar took it into his head to dissolve our de- 
 mocracy, and, by overbearing the regular system 
 of our laws, to bring disorders into our adminis- 
 tration, and to get above right and justice, and 
 to be a slave to his own inclinations, there is no 
 kind of misery but what hath tended to the sub- 
 version of this city; while all those that have 
 succeeded him, haee striven one with another to 
 overthrow the ancient laws of their country, and 
 have left it destitute of such citizens as were of 
 generous principles; because they thought it 
 tended to their safety to have vicions men to 
 converse withal, and not only to break the spirits 
 of those that were best esteemed for their virtue, 
 but to resolve upon their utter destruction. Of 
 all which emperors, who have been many in 
 number, and who laid upon us insufferable hard- 
 ships during the times of their government, this 
 Caius, who hath been slain to-day, hath brought 
 more terrible calamities upon us than did all 
 the rest, not only by exercising his ungoverned 
 rage upon his fellow-citizens, but also upon his 
 kindred and friends, and alike upon all others, 
 and by inflicting still greater miseries upon them, 
 as punishments, which they never deserved, he 
 being equally furious against men and against 
 the^gods; for tyrants are not content to gain 
 their sweet pleasure, and this by acting inju- 
 riously, and in the vexation they bring both 
 upon men's estates and their wives, but they 
 look upon them to be their principal advantage. 
 
 when they can utterly overthrow the entire 
 families of their enemies ; while all lovers of 
 liberty are the enemies of tyranny. Nor can 
 those who patiently endure what miseries they 
 bring on them gain their friendship ; for as they 
 are conscious of the abundant mischiefs they 
 have brought on these men, and how magnani- 
 mously they have borne their hard fortunes, 
 they cannot but be sensible what evils they have 
 done, and thence only depend on security from 
 what they are suspicious of, if it may be in their 
 power to take them quite out of the world. 
 Since, then, we are now gotten clear of such 
 great misfortunes, and are only accountable to 
 one another, (which form of government affords 
 us the best assurance of our present concord, and 
 promises us the best security from all evil designs, 
 and will be most for our own glory in settling 
 the city in good order,) you ought, every one of 
 you in particular, to make provision for his own, 
 and in general, for the public utility : or, on the 
 contrary, they may declare their dissent to such 
 things as have been proposed, and this without 
 any hazard of danger to come upon them, be- 
 cause they have now no lord set over them, who, 
 without fear of punishment, could do mischief 
 to the city, and had an uncontrollable power to 
 take off those freely that declared their opinions. 
 Nor has anything so much contributed to this 
 increase of tyranny, of late, as sloth, and a timor- 
 ous forbearance of contradicting the emperor's 
 will ; while men had an over great inclination 
 to the sweetness of peace, and had learned to 
 live like slaves, and as many of us as either 
 heard of intolerable calamities that happened at 
 a distance from us, or saw the miiieries that were 
 near us, out of the dread of dying virtuously, 
 endured a death joined with the utmost infamy. 
 We ought then, in the first place, to decree 
 the greatest honours we are able to those that 
 have taken off the tyrant, especially to Cherea 
 Cassius ; for, this one man, with the assistance 
 of the gods, hath, by his counsel and by his 
 actions, been the procurer of our liberty. Nor 
 ought we to forget him now we have recovered 
 our liberty, who, under the foregoing tyranny, 
 took counsel beforehand, and beforehand haz- 
 arded himself for our liberties ; but ought to 
 decree him proper honours, and thereby freely 
 declare, that he from the beginning acted witn 
 our approbation. And certainly it is a very ex- 
 cellent thing, and what becomes freemen, to 
 requite their benefactors, as this man hath been 
 a benefactor to us all, though not at all like Cas- 
 sius and Brutus, who slew Caius Julius [Caesar ;] 
 for these men laid the foundations of sedition 
 and civil wars in our city ; but this man, toge- 
 ther with his slaughter of the tyrant, hath set 
 our city free from all those sad miseries which 
 arose from the tyranny." 
 
 3. And this was the purport of Sentius's ora- 
 tion, which was received with pleasure by the 
 senators, and by as many of the equestrian order 
 as were present. And now one Trebellius 
 Maximus rose up hastily, and took from Sentius's 
 finger a ring, which had a stone, with the image 
 pi Caius engraven upon it, and which, in his zeal 
 in speaking, and his earnestness in doing what he 
 was about, as it was supposed, he had forgotten 
 to take off himself. This sculpture was broken 
 immediately. But as it was now far in the night, 
 Cherea demanded of the consuls the watch- 
 word, who gave him this word, Liberty. These 
 facts were the subjects of admiration to them- 
 selves, and almost incredible ; for it was a hun- 
 dred years since the democracy had been laid 
 aside, when this giving the watch-word returned 
 to the consuls ; for. before the city was subject
 
 CHAP. II.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OY THE JEWS. 
 
 405 
 
 to tyrants, they were the commanders of the 
 soldiers. But when Cherea had received the 
 watch-word, he delivered it to those who were 
 on the senate's side, which were four regiments, 
 who esteemed the government without emper- 
 orSj to be preferable to tyranny. So these went 
 away with their tribunes. The people also now 
 departed very joyful, and full of hope and courage, 
 as having recovered their former democracy, and 
 no longer under an emperor : and Cherea was in 
 very great esteem with them. 
 
 4. And now Cherea was very uneasy that 
 Caius's daughter and wife were still alive, and 
 that all his family did not perish with him, since 
 whosoever was left of them must be left for the 
 ruin of the city and of the laws. Moreover, in 
 order to finish this matter with the utmost zeal, 
 and in order to satisfy his hatred of Caius, he 
 sent Julius Lupus, one of the tribunes, to kill 
 Caius's wife and daughter. They proposed this 
 office to Lupus, as to a kinsman of Clement, that 
 he might be so far a partaker of this murder of 
 the tyrant, and might rejoice in the virtue of 
 having assisted his fellow-citizens, and that he 
 might appear to have been a partaker with those 
 that were first in their designs against him ; yet 
 did this action appear to some of the conspirators 
 to be too cruel, as to this using such severity 
 to a woman, because Caius did more indulge his 
 own ill-nature than use her advice in all that he 
 did ; from which ill-nature it was'that the city was 
 in so desperate a condition with the miseries that 
 were brought on it, and the flower of the city 
 was destroyed ; but others accused her of giving 
 her consent to these things ; nay, they ascribed 
 all that Caius had done to her as the cause of it, 
 and said she had given a potion to Caius, 
 which had made him obnoxious to her, and had 
 tied him down to love her by such evil methods ; 
 insomuch that she, having rendered him dis- 
 tracted, was become the author of all the mis- 
 chiefs that had befallen the Romans, and that 
 habitable world which was subject to them. So 
 that at length it was determined that she must 
 die ; nor could those of the contrary opinion at 
 all prevail to havo her saved ; and Lupus was 
 sent accordingly. Nor wa there any delay 
 made in executing what he went about, but he 
 was subservient to those that sent him on the 
 first opportunity, &s dsairous to be no way blame- 
 able in what might be done for the advantage of 
 the people. So, when he was come into the 
 palace, he found Cesonia, who was Caius's wife, 
 lying by her husband's dead body, which also lay 
 down on the ground, and destitute of all such 
 things as the law allows to the dead, and all 
 over herself besmeared with the blood of her 
 husband's wounds, and bewailing the great afflic- 
 tion she was under, her daughter lying by her 
 IHO; and nothing else was heard in these her 
 circumstances, but her complaint of Caius, as if 
 ho had not regarded what she had often told 
 him of beforehand ; which words of hers were 
 taken in a different sense even at that time, and 
 are now esteemed equally ambiguous, by those 
 that hear of them, and are stili interpreted ac- 
 cording to the different inclinations of people. 
 Now some said that the words denoted, that she 
 had advised him to leave off his mad behaviour, 
 and his barbarous cruelty to the citizens, and to 
 govern the public with moderation and virtue, 
 lest he should perish by the same way, upon 
 their using him as he had used them. Butsome 
 said, that as certain words had passed concerning 
 the conspirators, she desired Caius to make no 
 delay, but immediately to put them all to death ; 
 and this whether they were guilty or not, and 
 ihat thereby he would be out of the fear of anv 
 
 danger; and that this .vas what she reproached 
 him for when she advised him so to do, but he 
 was too slow and tender in the matter. And 
 this was what Cesonia said* and what the opin- 
 ions of men were about it. But when she saw 
 Lupus approach, she shewed him Caius's dead 
 body, and persuaded him to come nearer, with 
 lamentation and tears ; and as she perceived 
 that Lupus was in disorder, and approached her 
 in order to execute some design 'disagreeable to 
 himself, she was well aware for what purpose he 
 came, and stretched out her naked throat, and 
 that very cheerfully to him, bewailing her case, 
 like one utterly despairing of her life, and bid- 
 ding him not to boggle at finishing the tragedy 
 they had resolved upon relating to her. So she 
 boldly received her death's wound at the hand of 
 Lupus, as did the daughter after her. So Lupus 
 made haste to inform Cherea of what he had 
 done. 
 
 5. This was the end of Caius, after he had 
 reigned four years, within four months. He was, 
 even before he came to be emperor, ill-natured, 
 and one that had arrived at the utmost pitch of 
 wickedness ; a slave to his pleasures, and a lover 
 of calumny; greatly affected by every terrible 
 accident, and on that account of a very murder- 
 ous disposition where he durst shew it. He en- 
 joyed his exorbitant power to this only purpose, 
 to injure those who least deserved it, with un- 
 reasonable insolence, and got his wealth by 
 murder and injustice. He laboured to appeal- 
 above regarding either what was divine or agree- 
 a.ble to the laws, but was a slave to the commen- 
 dations of the populace; and whatsoever the 
 laws determined to be shameful, and punished, 
 that he esteemed more honourable than what 
 waa virtuous. He was unmindful of his friends, 
 how intimate soever, and though they were per- 
 sons of the highest character ; and, if he was 
 once angry at any of them, he would inflict pun< 
 ishment upon them on the smallest occasions; 
 and esteemed every man that endeavoured to 
 lead a virtuous life his enemy ! And whatso- 
 ever he commanded, he would not admit of any 
 contradiction to his inclinations ; whence it was 
 that he had criminal conversation with his own 
 sister ; * from which occasion chiefly it was also 
 that a bitter hatred first sprang up against him 
 among the citizens, that sort of incest not having 
 been known of a longtime ; and so this provoked 
 men to distrust him, and to hate him that was 
 guilty of it. And for any great or royal work 
 that he ever did, which might be for the present 
 and future ages, nobody can name any such, but 
 only the haven that he made about Rhegium and 
 Sicily, for the reception of the ships that brought 
 corn from Egypt ; which was indeed a work with- 
 out dispute very great hi itself, and of very great 
 advantage to the navigation. Yet was not this 
 work brought to perfection by him, but was the 
 one half of it left imperfect by reason of his 
 want of application to it ; the cause of which was 
 this, that he employed his studies about useless 
 matters, and that by spending his money upon 
 such pleasures as concerned no one's benefit but 
 his own, he could not exert his liberality in 
 things tJiat were undeniably of great conse- 
 quence Otherwise he was an excellent orator, 
 and thoroughly acquainted with the Greek 
 tongue, as well as with his own country or 
 Roman language. He was also able, off-hand 
 and readily, to give answers to compositions 
 
 * Spanheim here notes, that the name of Caiw's 
 lister, with whom he was guilty of incest, was Drusilla; 
 and that Suetonius adds, he was guilty of the same 
 crime with all his sisters also.
 
 106 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xrx. 
 
 made by others, of considerable length and ac- 
 curacy. He was also more skilful in per- 
 suading others to very great things than any 
 one else, and this from a natural affability of 
 temper, which had been improved by much 
 exercise and painstaking ; for as he was the 
 grandson * of the brother of Tiberius, whose suc- 
 cessor he was, this was a strong inducement to 
 his acquiring of learning, because Tiberius as- 
 pired after the highest pitch of that sort of re- 
 putation : and Caius aspired after the like glory 
 for eloquence, being induced thereto by the 
 letters of his kinsman and his emperor. He was 
 also among the first rank of his own citizens. 
 But the advantages he received from his learn- 
 ! ing did not countervail the mischief he brought 
 upon himself in the exercise of his authority ; 
 so difficult it is for those to obtain the virtue 
 that is necessary for a wise man, who have the 
 absolute power to do what they please without 
 control. At the first he got himself such friends 
 as were in all respects the most worthy, and was 
 greatly beloved by them, while he imitated their 
 zealous application to the learning and to the 
 glorious actions of the best men ; but when he 
 became insolent towards them, they laid aside 
 the kindness they had for him, and began to 
 hate him; from which hatred came that plot 
 which they raised against him, an'd wherein he 
 perished. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 HOW CLAUDIUS WAS SEIZED UPON, AND BBOOGHT 
 OUT OF HIS HOUSE, AND BROUGHT TO THE 
 CAMP ; AND HOW THE SENATE SENT AS EMBAS- 
 SAGE TO HIM. 
 
 1. Now Claudius, as I said before, went out of 
 that way along which Caius was gone ; and as 
 the family was in a mighty disorder upon the 
 sad accident of the murder of Caius, he was in 
 great distress how to save himself, and was 
 found to have hidden himself in a certain nar- 
 row place,+ though he had uo other occasion for 
 suspicion of any danger, besides the dignity of 
 his birth ; for while he was a private man, he 
 behaved himself with moderation, and was con- 
 tented with his present fortune, applying him- 
 self to learning, and especially to that of the 
 Greeks, and keeping himself entirely clear from 
 everything that might bring on any disturbance. 
 But at this time the multitude were under a 
 consternation, and the whole palace was full of 
 the soldiers' madness, and the very emperor's 
 guards seemed under the like fear and disorder 
 with private persons, the band called pretorian, 
 which was the purest part of the army, was in 
 consultation what was to be done at this junc- 
 ture. Now all those that were at this consulta- 
 tion had little regard to the punishment Caius 
 had suffered, because he justly deserved such 
 his fortune ; but they were rather considering 
 their own circumstances, how they might take 
 the best care of themselves, especially while the 
 Germans were busy in punishing the murderers 
 of Caius ; which yet was rather done to gratify 
 their own savage temper, than for the good of 
 the public ; all which things disturbed Claudius, 
 who was afraid of his own safety, and this par- 
 ticularly because he saw the heads of Asprenas 
 
 * This Cains was the son of Germanicus, who was the 
 5on of Drusus the brother of Tiberius the emperor. 
 
 t The first place Claudius came to was inhabited, 
 tnd called Hermeum. 
 
 and hi; partners carried about. His station L:i'l 
 been on a certain elevated place, whither a few 
 steps led him, and whither he had retired in the 
 dark by himself. But when Gratus, who was 
 one of the soldiers that belonged to the palace, 
 saw him, but did not well know by his counte- 
 nance who he was, because it was dark, though 
 he could well judge that it was a man who was 
 private there on some design, he came nearer to 
 him ; and when Claudius desired that he would 
 retire, he discovered who he was, and owned 
 him to be Claudius. So he said to his followers, 
 " This is a Germanicus ; J come on, let us choose 
 him for our emperor." But when Claudius saw 
 they were making preparations for taking him 
 away by force, and was afraid they would kill 
 him as they had killed Caius, he besought them 
 to spare him, putting them in mind how quietly 
 he had demeaned himself, and that he was un- 
 acquainted with what had been done. Here- 
 upon Gratus smiled upon him, and took him by 
 the right hand, and said, "Leave off, sir, these 
 low thoughts of saving yourself, while you ought 
 to have greater thoughts, even of obtaining the 
 empire, which the gods, out of their concern for 
 the habitable world, by taking Caius out of the 
 way, commits to thy virtuous conduct. Go to, 
 therefore, and accept of the throne of thy 
 ancestors." So they took him up and carried 
 him, because he was not then able to go on foot, 
 such was his dread and his joy at what was told 
 him. 
 
 2. Now there was already gathered together 
 about Gratus, a great number of the guards ; 
 and when they saw Claudius carried off, they 
 looked with a sad countenance, as supposing 
 that he was carried to execution for the mis- 
 chiefs that had been lately done ; while yet 
 they thought him a man who never meddled 
 with public affairs all his life long, and one that 
 had met with no contemptible dangers under the 
 reign of Caius ; and some of them thought it 
 reasonable that the consuls should take cognis- 
 ance of these matters ; and, as still more and 
 more of the soldiery got together, the crowd 
 about him ran away, and Claudius could hardly 
 go on, his body was then so weak ; and those 
 who carried his sedan, upon an inquiry that was 
 made about his being carried off, ran away and 
 saved themselves, as despairing of their lord's 
 preservation. But, when they were come into 
 the large court of the palace, (which, as the 
 report goes about it, was inhabited first of all 
 the parts of the city of Eome,) and had just 
 reached the public treasury, many more soldiers 
 came about him, as glad to see Claudius's face, 
 and thought it exceeding right to make him 
 emperor on account of their kindness for Ger- 
 manicus, who was his brother, and had left be- 
 hind him a vast reputation among all that were 
 acquainted with him. They reflected also on 
 the covetous temper of the leading men of the 
 senate, and what great errors they had been 
 guilty of when the senate had the government 
 formerly ; they also considered the impossibility 
 of such an undertaking, as also what dangers 
 they should be in, if the government should 
 come to a single person, and that such a one 
 should possess it as they had no hand in advanc- 
 ing, and not to Claudius, who would take it as 
 their grant, and as gained by their good-will to 
 him, and would remember the favours they had 
 
 J How Claudius, another son of Drusua, which 
 Drusus was the father of Germanicus, could be here 
 hioasclf called Germanicus, Suetonius Informs us, when 
 he assures us that, by a decree of the senate, the sur- 
 name of Gerruaiiicus was bestowed upon Rrasus and 
 his posterity also.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 40? 
 
 done him, and would make them a sufficient re- 
 compense for tie same. 
 
 3. These were the discourses the soldiers had 
 one with another by themselves, and they com- 
 municated them to all such as came in to them. 
 Now those that inquired about this matter will- 
 ingly embraced the invitation that was made 
 them to join with the rest : so they carried 
 Claudius into the camp, crowding about him 
 as his guard, and encompassing him about, one 
 chairman still succeeding another, that their 
 vehement endeavours might not be hindered. 
 But as to the populace and senators, they dis- 
 agreed in their opinions. The latter were very 
 desirous to recover their former dignity, and 
 were zealous to get clear of the slavery that had 
 been brought on them by the injurious treat- 
 ment of the tyrants, which the present oppor- 
 tunity afforded them ; but for the people, who 
 were envious against them, and knew that the 
 emperors were capable of curbing their covetous 
 temper, and were a refuge from them, they were 
 very glad that Claudius had been seized upon, 
 and brought to them, and thought, that if 
 Claudius were made emperor, he would prevent 
 a civil war, such as there was in the days cf 
 Pompey. But when the senate knew that 
 Claudius was brought into the camp by the 
 soldiers, they sent to him those of their body 
 which had the best character for their virtues, 
 that they might inform him that he ought to do 
 
 i nothing by violence, in order to gain the govern- 
 1 ment ; that ue who was a single person, one 
 either already, or hereafter to be a member of 
 j their body, ought to yield to the senate, which 
 consisted of so great a number ; that he ought 
 to let the law take place in the disposal of all 
 that related to the public order, and to remem- 
 ber how greatly the former tyrants had afflicted 
 their city, and what dangers both he and they 
 had escaped under Caius ; and that he ought 
 not to hate the heavy burden of tyranny, when 
 the injury is done by others, while he did him- 
 self wilfully treat his country after a mad and 
 insolent manner ; that if he would comply with 
 them, and demonstrate that his firm resolution 
 was to live quietly and virtuously, he would 
 have the greatest honours decreed on him that 
 a free people could bestow ; and by subjecting 
 himself to the law, would obtain this branch of 
 commendation, that he acted like a man of 
 virtue, both as a ruler and a subject; but that 
 if he would act foolishly, and learn no wisdom 
 by Caius's death, they would not permit him to 
 go on ; that a great part of the army was got 
 together for them, with plenty of weapons, and 
 a great number of slaves, which they could 
 make use of : that good hope was a great 
 matter in such cases, as was also good fortune, 
 and that the gods would never assist any others, 
 but those that undertook to act with virtue and 
 goodness, who can be no other than such a* *ight 
 "or the liberty of their country. 
 
 4. Now the ambassadors, Veranius ad broc- 
 chus, who were both of them tribunes of the 
 people, made this speech to Claudius ; and, fall- 
 ing down upon their knees, they begged of him 
 that he would not throw the city into wars and 
 misfortunes ; but when they saw what a multi- 
 tude of soldiers encompassed and guarded Clau- 
 dius, and that the forces that were with the con- 
 suls were, in comparison of them, perfectly 
 inconsiderable, they added, that if he did desire 
 the government, he should accept of it as given 
 by the senate; that he would prosper better, 
 and be happier if he came to it, not by injustice, 
 but by the good-will of those that would bestow 
 It upon him. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 WHAT THINGS KING AGRIPPA DID FOB CLAUDIUS ; 
 AND HOW CLAUDIUS, WHEN HB HAD TAKEN THK 
 GOVERNMENT, COMMANDED THB MURDERERS OF 
 CAIUS TO BE SLAIN. 
 
 1. Now Claudius, though he was sensible after 
 what an insolent manner the senate had sent to 
 him, yet did he, according to their advice, be- 
 have himself for the present with moderation ; 
 but not so far that he could not recover himself 
 out of his fright : so he was encouraged [to claim 
 the government] partly by the boldness of the 
 soldiers, and partly by the persuasion of king 
 Agrippa, who exhorted him not to let such a 
 dominion slip out of his hands, when it came 
 thus to him of its own accord. Now this Ag- 
 rippa, with relation to Caius, did what became 
 one that had been so much honoured by him ; 
 for he embraced Caius's body after he was dead, 
 and laid it upon a bed, and covered it as well as 
 he could, and went out to the guards, and told 
 them Caius was still alive ; but he said that 
 they should call for physicians, since he was 
 very ill of his wounds. But when he had 
 learned that Claudius was carried away violently 
 by the soldiejs, he rushed through the crowd to 
 him, and when he found that he was in disorder, 
 and ready to resign up the government to the 
 senate, he encouraged him, and desired him to 
 keep the government ; but wken hr, had said this 
 to Claudius, he retired home. And, upon the 
 senate's sending for him, he anointed his head 
 with ointment, as if he had lately accompanied 
 with his wife, and had dismissed her, and then 
 came to them : he also asked of the senators 
 what Claudius did ; who told him the present 
 state of affairs, and then asked his opinion about 
 the settlement of the public. He told them in 
 words, that he was ready to lose his life for the 
 honour of the senate, but desired them to con- 
 sider what was for their advantage, without any 
 regard to what was most agreeable to them ; for 
 that those who grasp at government, will stand 
 in need of weapons and soldiers to guard them, 
 unless they will set up without any preparation 
 for it, and so fall into danger. And when the 
 senate replied, that they would bring in weapons 
 in abundance, and money, and that as to an 
 army, a part of it was already collected together 
 for them, and they would raise a larger one by 
 giving the slaves then- liberty, Agrippa made 
 answer, " O senators ! may you be able to com- 
 pass what you have a mind to ; yet will I imme- 
 diately tell you my thoughts, because they tend 
 to your preservation. Take notice, then, that 
 the army which will fight for Claudius hath been 
 long exercised in warlike affairs ; but our army 
 will be no better than a rude multitude of raw 
 men, and those such as have been unexpect- 
 edly made free from slavery, and ungovernable ; 
 we must then fight against those that are skilful 
 in war, with men who know not so much as how 
 to draw their swords. So that my opinion is, 
 that we should send some persons to Claudius, 
 to persuade him to lay down the government ; 
 and I am ready to be one of your ambassadors. 
 
 2. Upon this speech of Agrippa, the senate 
 complied with him, and he was sent among 
 others, and privately informed Claudius of the 
 disorder the senate was in, and gave him inrtruc- 
 tions to answer them in a somewhat commanding 
 strain, and as one invested with dignity and 
 authority. Accordingly, Claudius said to the 
 ambassadors, that he did not wonder the senate 
 had no mind to have an emperor ov#r them, be-
 
 108 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xrx. 
 
 cause they had been harassed by the barbarity 
 of those that had formerly been at the head of 
 their affairs ; but that they should taste of an 
 equitable government under him, and moderate 
 times, while he should only be their ruler in 
 name, but the authority should be equally com- 
 mon to them all ; and since he had passed 
 through many and various scenes of life before 
 their eyes, it would be good for them not to dis- 
 trust him. So the ambassadors, upon their 
 hearing this Aia answer, were dismissed. But 
 Claudius discoursed with, the army which was 
 there gathered together, who took oaths that 
 they would persist in their fidelity to him ; upon 
 which he gave the guards every man five thou- 
 sand* drachmze a-piece, and a proportionable 
 quantity to their captains, and promised to give 
 the same to the rest of the armies, wheresoever 
 they were. 
 
 3. And now the consuls called the senate to- 
 gether, into the temple of Jupiter the Conquer- 
 or, while it was still night ; but some of those 
 senators concealed themselves in the city, being 
 uncertain what to do, upon the hearing of this 
 summons ; and some of them went out of the 
 city to their own farms, as foreseeing whether 
 the public affairs were going, and despairing of 
 liberty ; nay, these supposed it much better for 
 them to be slaves without danger to themselves, 
 and to live a lazy and inactive "life, than by 
 claiming the dignity of their forefathers, to run 
 the hazard of their own safety. However, a 
 hundred, and no more, were gotten together; 
 and as they were in consultation about the pre- 
 sent posture of affairs, a sudden clamour was 
 made by the soldiers that were on their side, de- 
 siring that the senate would choose them an 
 emperor, and not bring the government into ruin 
 by setting up a multitude of rulers. So they 
 fully declared to be for the giving the govern- 
 ment not to all, but to one ; but they gave the 
 senate leave to look out for a person worthy to 
 be set over them, insomuch, that now the affairs 
 of the senate were much worse than before ; be- 
 cause they had not only failed in the recovery of 
 their liberty, which they boasted themselves of, 
 but were in dread of Claudius also. Yet there 
 were those that hankered after the government, 
 both on account of the dignity cf their families, 
 and that accruing to them by their marriages ; 
 for Marcus Minucianus was illustrious, both by 
 his own nobility and by his having married Julia, 
 the sister of Caius, who accordingly was very 
 ready to claim the government, although the 
 sousuls discouraged him, and made one delay 
 after another in proposing it : that Minucianus 
 also, who "was one of Caius's murderers, re- 
 strained Valerius of Asia from thinking of such 
 things ; and a prodigious slaughter there had 
 been, if leave had been given to these men to set 
 up for themselves, and oppose Claudius-. There 
 was also a considerable number of gladiators 
 besides, and of those soldiers who kept watch 
 by night in the city, and rowers of ships, who 
 all ran into the camp ; insomuch, that of those 
 who put in for the government, some left off 
 their pretensions, in order to spare the city, and 
 others out of fear of their own persons. 
 
 4. But as soon as ever it was day, Cherea, and 
 those that were with him, came into the senate, 
 and attempted to make speeches to the soldiers. 
 However, the multitude of those soldiers, when 
 they saw they were making signals for silence 
 with their hands, and were ready to begin to 
 
 * This number of drachmae to be distributed to each 
 vate soldier, equal to 161 sterling, seems much too 
 *re, and is perhaps a mistake of the transcriber's. 
 
 speak to them, grew tumultuous, and would not 
 let them speak at all, because they were zealous 
 to be under a monarchy ; and they demanded of 
 the senate one for their ruler, as not enduring 
 any longer delays. But the senate hesitated 
 about either their own governing, or how they 
 should be governed, while the soldiers would 
 not admit them to govern ; and the murderers 
 of Caius would not permit the soldiers to dictate 
 to them. When they were in these circum- 
 stances, Cherea was not able to contain the anger 
 he had, and promised, that if they desired an 
 emperor, he would give them one, if one would 
 bring him the watch-word from Eutychus. Now, 
 this Eutychus was charioteer of the green-band 
 faction, styled Prasine, and a great friend of 
 Caius, who used to harass the soldiery with 
 building stables for horses, and spent his time 
 in ignominious labours, which occasioned Cherea 
 to reproach them with him, and to abuse them 
 with much other scurrilous language ; and told 
 them he would bring them the head of Claudius ; 
 and that it was an amazing thing that, after 
 their former madness, they should commit their 
 government to a fooL Yet were they not moved 
 with his words, but drew their swords, and took 
 up their ensigns, and went to Claudius, to join 
 in taking the oath of fidelity to him. So the 
 senate were left without anybody to defend 
 them ; and the very consuls differed nothing 
 from private persons. They were also under 
 consternation and sorrow, men not knowing 
 what would become of them, because Claudius 
 was very angry at them ; so they fell a reproach- 
 ing one another, and repented of what they had 
 done. At which juncture Sabinus, one of Caius's 
 murderers, threatened that he would sooner 
 come into the midst of them and kill himself, 
 than consent to make Claudius emperor, and see 
 slavery returning upon them; he also abused 
 Cherea for loving his life too well, while he who 
 was the first in his contempt of Caius, could 
 think it a good thing to live, when, even by all 
 that they had done for the recovery of their 
 liberty, they had found it impossible to do it. But 
 Cherea said he had no manner of doubt upon him 
 about killing himself ; yet he would first sound 
 the intentions of Claudius before he did it. 
 
 5. These were the debates [about the senate ;] 
 but in the camp everybody was crowding on all 
 sides to pay their court to Claudius ; and the 
 other consul, Quintus Pomponius, was reproached 
 by the soldiery as having rather exhorted the 
 senate to recover their liberty ; whereupon they 
 drew their swords, and were going to assault 
 him, and they had done it, if Claudius had not 
 hindered them, who snatched the consul out of 
 the danger he was in, and set him by him. But 
 he did not receive that part of the senate which 
 was with Quintus in the like honourable man- 
 ner; nay, some of them received blows, and 
 were thrust away as they came to salute 
 Claudius ; nay, Aponius went away wounded, 
 and they were all in danger. However, king 
 Agrippa went up to Claudius, and desired he 
 would treat the senators more gently ; for if any 
 mischief should come to the senate, he would 
 have no others over whom to rule. Claudius 
 complied with him, and called the senate to- 
 gether into the palace, and was carried thither 
 himself through the city, while the soldiery con- 
 ducted him, though this was to the great vea.a 
 tion of the multitude ; for Cherea and Sabinus, 
 two of Caius's murderers, went in the fore-front 
 of them, in an open manner, while Pollio, whom 
 Claudius, a little before, had made captain of 
 his guards, had sent them an epistolary edict, to 
 forbid them to appear in public. Then did
 
 CHAP. V.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JFWTS. 
 
 40S 
 
 Claudius, upon his coming to the palace, get his 
 friends together, and desired their suffrages 
 about Cherea. They said that the work he had 
 done was a glorious one ; but they accused him 
 that he did it of perfidiousncss, and thought it 
 just to inflict the punishment [of death] upon 
 him, to discountenance such actions for the time 
 to come. So Cherea was led to his execution, 
 and Lupus and many other Romans with him. 
 Now it is reported that Cherea bore his calamity 
 courageously ; and this not only by the firmness 
 of his own behaviour under it, but by the re- 
 proaches he laid upon Lupus, who fell into 
 tears; for when Lupus had laid his garment 
 aside and complained of the cold,* he said, that 
 cold was never hurtful to Lupus [i.e., a wolf.] 
 And as a great many men went along with them 
 to see the sight, when Cherea came to the place, 
 he asked the soldier who was to be their execu- 
 tioner, whether this office was what he was used 
 to, or whether this was the first time of his using 
 his sword in that manner ; and desired him to 
 bring him that very sword with which he him- 
 self slew Caius. So he was happily killed at one 
 stroke. But Lupus did not meet with such 
 good fortune in going out of the world, since he 
 was timorous, and had many blows levelled at 
 his neck, because he did not stretch it out boldly 
 [as he ought to have done, j 
 
 6. Now a few days after this, as the Parental 
 Solemnities were just at hand, the Roman multi- 
 tude made their usual oblations to their several 
 ghosts, and put portions into the fire in honour 
 of Cherea, and besought him to be merciful to 
 them, and not continue his anger against them 
 for their ingratitude. And this was the end of 
 the life that Cherea came to. But for Sabinus, 
 although Claudius not only set him at liberty, 
 but gave him leave to retain his former com- 
 mand in the army, yet did he think it would be 
 unjust in him to fail of performing his obliga- 
 tions to his fellow-confederates ; so he fell upon 
 his sword, and killed himself, the wound reach- 
 ing up to the very hilt of the iword. 
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 HOW CLAUDIUS EESTORED TO AGBIPPA HISGRAND- 
 FATHEB'S KINGDOMS, AUGMENTED HIS DOMIN- 
 IONS ; AND HOW HE PUBLISHED AN EDICT IN 
 BEHALF OF THE JEWS. 
 
 1. Now, when Claudius had taken out of the 
 way all those soldiers whom he suspected, which 
 he did immediately, he published an edict, and 
 therein confirmed that kingdom to Agrippa 
 which Caius had given him, and therein com- 
 mended the king highly. He also made an 
 addition to it of all that country over which 
 Herod, who was his grandfather, had reigned, 
 that is, Judea and Samaria ; and this he restored 
 to him as due to his family. But for Abila t of 
 Lysanias, and all that lay at mount Libauus, he 
 
 * This piercing cold here complained of by Lupus. 
 agrees well with the time of the year when Claudius 
 began his reign ; it being for certain about the months 
 of November, December, or January, and most prob- 
 ably a few days after January 24, and a few days be- 
 fore the Roman Parentalia. 
 
 t Here St Luke is in some measure confirmed, when 
 he informs us, (chap. iii. 1,) that Lysanias was some 
 time before tetrarch of Abilene, whose capital was 
 Abila ; as he is further confirmed by Ptolemy, when he 
 calls that city Abila of Lysanias. This principality 
 seems to have belonged to the land of Canaan originally, 
 to have been the burying-place of Abel, and referred to 
 as iuch, (Matt, xxiii. 36: Luke xi. 61.) 
 
 bestowed them upon him, as out of his own 
 territories. He also made a league with this 
 Agrippa, confirmed by oatha, in the middle of 
 the forum, in the city of Rome : he also took 
 away from Antiochus that kingdom which he 
 was possessed of, but gave him a certain part of 
 Cilicia and Commagena: he also set Alexander 
 Lysimachus, the alabarch, at liberty, who had 
 been his old friend, and steward to his mother 
 Antonia, but had been imprisoned by Caius, 
 whose son [Marcus] married Bernice, the daughter 
 of Agrippa. But when Marcus, Alexander's son, 
 was dead, who had married her when she was a 
 virgin, Agrippa gave her in marriage to his 
 brother Herod, and begged for him of Claudius 
 the kingdom of Chalcis. 
 
 2. Now, about this time there was a sedition 
 tecAveen the Jews and the Greeks, at the city of 
 Alexandria ; for, when Caius was dead, the 
 nation of the Jews, which had been very much 
 mortified under the reign of Caius, and reduced 
 to very great distress by the people of Alexandria, 
 recovered itself, and immediately took up their 
 arms to fight for themselves. So Claudius sent 
 an order to the president of Egypt, to quiet that 
 tumult ; he also sent an edict, at the request of 
 king Agrippa and king Herod, both to Alex- 
 andria and to Syria, whose contents were as 
 follows : " Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus 
 Germanicus, high priest, and tribune of the 
 people, ordains thus : Since I am assured that 
 the Jews of Alexandria, called Alexandrians, 
 have been joint inhabitants in the earliest times 
 with the Alexandrians, and have obtained from 
 their kings equal privileges with them, as is evi- 
 dent by the public records that are in their pos- 
 session, and the edicts themselves; and that 
 after Alexandria had been subjected to our em- 
 
 Eire by Augustus, their rights and privileges 
 ave been preserved by those presidents who 
 have at divers times been sent thither ; and that 
 no dispute had been raised about those rights 
 and privileges, even when Aquila was governor 
 of Alexandria ; and that when the Jewish 
 ethnarch was dead, Augustus did not prohibit 
 the making such ethnarchs, as willing that all 
 men should be so subject [to the Romans] as to 
 continue in the observation of their own customs, 
 and not be forced to transgress the ancient rules 
 of their own country religion ; but that, in the 
 time of Caius, the Alexandrians became insolent 
 to the Jews that were among them, which Caius, 
 out of his great madness, and want of under- 
 standing, reduced the nation of the Jews very 
 low, because they would not transgress the re- 
 ligious worship of their country, and call him a 
 god : I will, therefore, that the nation of the 
 Jews be not deprived of their rights and privi- 
 leges on account of the madness of Caius ; but 
 that those rights and privileges, which they for- 
 merly enjoyed, be preserved to them, and that they 
 may continue in their own customs. And I charge 
 both parties to take very great care that no troubles 
 may arise after the promulgation of this edict." 
 
 3. And such were the contents of this edict on 
 oehalf of the Jews, that was sent to Alexandria. 
 But the edict that was sent into the other parts 
 of the habitable earth was this which follows : 
 "Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germani- 
 cus, high priest, tribune of the people, chosen 
 consul the second time, ordains thus : Upon 
 the petition of king Agrippa and king Herod, 
 who are persons very dear to me, that I would 
 grant the same rights and privileges should b 
 preserved to the Jewg which are in al] the 
 Roman empire, which I have granted to those 
 of Alexandria, I very willingly comply there- 
 with- and this grant I make not onlv for th
 
 au 
 
 ANTIQUITIES (>J? THE JEWb. 
 
 [BOOK XLi 
 
 i&ke of the petitioners, but as judging those 
 Jews for whom I have been petitioned, worthy 
 of such a favour, on account of their fidelity ami 
 friendship to the Romans. I think it also very 
 just that no Grecian city should be deprived of 
 such rights and privileges, since they were pre- 
 served to them under the great Augustus. It 
 will therefore be fit to permit the Jews, who 
 are in all the world under us, to keep their 
 ancient customs without being hindered so to 
 do. And I do charge them also to use this my 
 kindness to them with moderation, and not to 
 shew a contempt of the superstitious observances 
 of other nations, but to keep their own laws 
 only. And I will that this decree of mine be 
 engraven on tables by the magistrates of the 
 cities and colonies, and municipal places, both 
 those within Italy and those without it, both 
 kings and governors, by the means of the ambas- 
 sadors, and to have them exposed to the public 
 for full thirty days, in such a place, whence it 
 may plainly be read from the ground."* 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 
 
 WHAT THINGS WEBB DONE BY AGKIPPA AT JERU- 
 SALEM WHEN HE WAS BETURNED BACK INTO 
 JDDEA ; AND WHAT IT WAS THAT PETRONIUS 
 WROTE TO THE INHABITANTS OF DORIS, IN BK- 
 HALF OF THE JEWS. 
 
 1. Now Claudius Caesar, by these decrees of 
 his which were sent to Alexandria and to all the 
 habitable earth, made known what opinion he 
 had of the Jews. So he soon sent Agrippa away 
 to take his kingdom, now he was advanced to a 
 more illustrious dignity than before, and sent 
 letters to the presidents and procurators of the 
 provinces, tluit they should treat him very kindly. 
 Accordingly, he returned in haste, as was likely 
 he would, now he returned in much greater 
 prosperity than he had before. He also came 
 to Jerusalem and offered all the sacrifices that 
 ielonged to him, and omitted nothing which the 
 law required ; on which account he ordered that 
 many of the Nazarites should have their heads 
 shorn. And for the golden chain which had been 
 given him by Caius, of equal weight with that 
 iron chain wherewith his royal hands had been 
 bound, he hung it up within the limits of the 
 temple, over the treasury, f that it might be a 
 memorial of the severe fate he had lain under, 
 and a testimony of his change for the better; 
 that it might be a demonstration how the great- 
 est prosperity may have a fall, and that God 
 sometimes raises what is fallen down : for this 
 chain thus dedicated, afforded a document to 
 all men, that king Agrippa had been once bound 
 in a chain for a small cause, but recovered his 
 former dignity again ; and a little while after- 
 wards got out of his bonds, and was advanced to 
 be a more illustrious king than he was before. 
 Whence men may understand, that all that par- 
 take of human nature, how great soever they 
 are, may fall ; and that those that fall may gain 
 their former illustrious dignity again 
 
 * This form was so known and frequent among the 
 Romans, that it used to be thai represented at the bot- 
 tom of their edicts by the initial letters only, U. D. P. 
 R. L. P., TJnde De Piano Hecte Lege Possit: "Whence 
 it may be plainly read from the ground." 
 
 t This treasury-chamber seems to have been the very 
 same in which our Saviour taught, and where the peo- 
 ple offered their charity money, for the repairs or other 
 uses of the temple, (Mark xii. 41, Ac. : Lake xxii 1 ; 
 John via 20.} 
 
 2. And when Agrippa had entirely finished 
 all the duties of the divine worship, he removed 
 Theophilus, the son of Ananus, from the high 
 priesthood, and bestowed that honour of his on 
 Simon, the son of Boethus, whose name was also 
 Cautheras, whose daughter king Herod had mar- 
 ried, as I have related above. 3imon, therefore, 
 had the [high] priesthood with his brethren, and 
 with his father, hi like manner as the sons of 
 Simon, the son of Onias, who were three, had it 
 formerly under the government of the Mace- 
 donians, as we have related in a former book. 
 
 3. When the king had settled the high priest- 
 hood after this manner, he returned the kindness 
 which the inhabitants of Jerusalem had shewn 
 him ; for he released them from the tax upon 
 houses, every one of whom paid it before, think- 
 ing it a good thing to requite the tender affection 
 of those that loved him. He also made Silas the 
 general of his forces, as a man who had partaken 
 with him in many of his troubles. But after a 
 very little while, the young men of Doris, pre- 
 ferring a rash attempt before piety, and being 
 naturally bold and insolent, carried a statue of 
 Cassar into a synagogue of the Jews, and erected 
 it there. This procedure of theirs greatly pro- 
 voked Agrippa ; for it plainly tended to the dis- 
 solution of the laws of his country. So he came 
 without delay to Publius Petronius, who was 
 then president of Syria, and accused the people 
 of Doris. Nor did he less resent what was done 
 than did Agrippa; for he judged it a piece of 
 impiety to transgress the laws that regulate the 
 actions of men. So he wrote the following letter 
 to the people of Doris, in an angry strain : 
 "Publius Petronius, the president under Tiberius 
 Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, to the 
 magistrates of Doris, ordains as follows : Since 
 some of you have had the boldness, or madness 
 rather, after the edict of Claudius Caesar Augustus 
 Germanicus was published, for permitting the 
 Jews to observe the laws of their country, not 
 to obey the same, but have acted in entire oppo- 
 sition thereto, as forbidding the Jews to assemble 
 together in the synagogue, by removing Caesar's 
 statue, and setting it up therein, aud thereby 
 have offended not only the Jews, but the em- 
 peror himself, whose statue is more commodi- 
 ously placed in his own temple than in a foreign 
 one, where is the place of assembling together ; 
 while it is but a part of natural justice, that 
 every one should have the power over the place 
 belonging peculiarly to themselves, according to 
 the determination of Caesar, to say nothing of 
 my own determination, which it would be ridicu- 
 lous to mention after the emperor's edict, which 
 gives the Jews leave to make use of their own 
 customs, as also gives order that they enjoy 
 equally the rights of citizens with the Greeks 
 themselves, I therefore ordain, that Proculus 
 Vitellius, the centurion, bring those men to me, 
 who, contrary to Augustus's edict, have been so 
 insolent as to do this thing at which those very 
 men who appear to be of principal reputation 
 among them, have an indignation also, and 
 allege for themselves that it was not done with 
 their consent, but by the violence of the multi- 
 tude, that they might give an account of what 
 hath been done. I also exhort the principal 
 magistrates among them, unless they have a 
 mind to have this action esteemed to be don* 
 with their consent, to inform the centurion ol 
 those that were guilty of it, and take care thai 
 no handle be hence taken for raising a sedition 
 or quarrel among them, which those seem to me 
 to hunt after, who encourage such doings ; while 
 both I myself, and king Agrippa, for whom I 
 
 ve the highest honour, have nothing more
 
 HAP. VIZ.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEW.-. 
 
 411 
 
 under our care than that the nation of the Jew* 
 may have an occasion given them of getting 
 ogether, under the pretence of avenging them- 
 elves, and become tumultuous. And that it 
 nay be more publicly known what Augustus 
 lath resolved upon this whole matter, I have sub- 
 oined those edicts which he hath lately caused 
 
 be published at Alexandria, and which, al- 
 hough they may be well known to all, yet did 
 ting Agrippa, for whom I have the highest 
 lonour, read them at that time before my tri- 
 mnal, and pleaded that the Jews ought not to 
 >e deprived of those rights which Augustus 
 lath granted them. I therefore charge you, 
 hat you do not, for the time to come, seek for 
 
 any occasion of sedition or disturbance, but that 
 very one be allowed to follow their own religious 
 customs." 
 
 4. Thus did Petrouius take care of this matter, 
 .hat such a breach of the law might be corrected, 
 and that no such thing might be attempted 
 afterwards against the Jews. And now king 
 Agrippa took the [high] priesthood away from 
 Simon Cantheras, and put Jonathan, the sou of 
 Anaiius, into it again, and owned that he was 
 more worthy of that dignity than the other. But 
 :his was not a thing acceptable to him, to recover 
 ,hat his former dignity. So he refused it, and 
 said, "O king! I rejoice in the honour that 
 ,hou hast for me, and take it kindly that thou 
 wouldst give me such a dignity of thy own in- 
 clinations, although God hath judged that I am 
 not at all worthy of the high priesthood. I am 
 satisfied with having once put on the sacred gar- 
 ments ; for I then put them on after a more holy 
 manner than I should now receive them again. 
 But, if thou desirest that a person more worthy 
 ;han myself should have this honourable em- 
 ployment, give me leave to name thee such a 
 one. I have a brother that is pure from all sin 
 against God, and of all offences against thyself ; 
 
 1 recommend him to thee, as one that is fit for 
 this dignity." So the king was pleased with 
 these words of his, and passed by Jonathan, and 
 according to his brother's desire, bestowed the 
 high priesthood upon Matthias. Nor was it long 
 before Mareu* succeeded i'etroeiutt, ae president 
 of Syria. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CONCERNING SILAS, AND ON WHAT ACCOUNT IT 
 WAS THAT KING AGRIPPA WAS ANGRY AT HIM. 
 HOW AGRIPPA BEGAN TO ENCOMPASS JERUSA- 
 LEM WITH A WALL; AND WHAT BENEFITS HE 
 
 BESTOWED ON THE INHABITANTS OF BERYTUS. 
 
 1. Now Silas, the general of the king's horse, 
 because he had beeu faithful to him under all his 
 misfortunes, and had never refused to be a par- 
 taker with him in any of his dangers, but had 
 oftentimes undergone the most hazardous dan- 
 gers for him, was full of assurance, and thought 
 he might expect a sort of equality with the king, 
 on account of the firmness of the friendship he 
 had shewn to him. Accordingly, he would no- 
 where let the king sit as his superior, and took 
 the like liberty in speaking to him upon all occa- 
 sions, till ho became troublesome to the king, 
 when they were merry together, extolling him- 
 self beyond measure, and oft putting the king in 
 mind of the severity of fortune he had undergone, 
 that he might by way of ostentation demonstrate 
 what zeal he had shewn in his service ; and was 
 continually harping upon this string, what pains 
 be had taken for him, and much enlarged still 
 
 upon that subject. The repetition of this so fre- 
 quently seemed to reproach the king, insomuch 
 that he took this ungovernable liberty of talking 
 very ill at his hands. Tor the commemoration 
 of times when men have been under ignominy is 
 by no means agreeable to them ; and he is a very 
 silly man who is perpetually relating to a person 
 what kindness he had done him. At last there- 
 fore, Silas had so thoroughly provoked the king's 
 indignation, that he acted rather out of passion 
 than good consideration, and did not only turn 
 Silas out of his place, as general of his horse, but 
 seut him in bonds into his own country. But 
 the edge of his anger wore off by length of time, 
 and made room for more just reasonings as to 
 his judgment about this man; and he considered 
 how many labours he had undergone for his 
 sake. So when Agrippa was solemnising his 
 birthday, and he gave festival entertainments to 
 all his subjects, he sent for Silas on the sudden 
 to be his guest. But, as he was a very frank 
 man, he thought he had now a just handle given 
 him to be angry ; which he could not conceal 
 from those that came for him, but said to them, 
 " "WTiat honour is this the king invites me to, 
 which I conclude will soon be over? For the 
 king hath not let me keep those original marks 
 of the good-will I bore him, which I once had 
 from him ; but he hath plundered me, and that 
 unjustly also. Does he think that I can leave 
 off that liberty of speech, which, upon the con- 
 sciousness of my deserts, I shall use more loudly 
 than before, and shall relate how many misfor- 
 tunes I have delivered him from? how many 
 labours I have undergone for him, whereby I 
 procured bim deliverance and respect ? as a re- 
 ward for which I have borne the hardships of 
 bonds and a dark prison ! I shall never forget 
 this usage. Nay, perhaps, my very soul, when 
 it is departed out of the body, will net forget the 
 glorious actions I did on hia account." This 
 was the clamour he made ; and he ordered the 
 messengers to tell it to the king. So he per- 
 ceived that Silas was incurable in his folly, and 
 still suffered him to lie in prison. 
 
 2. As for the walls of Jerusalem, that were 
 adjoining to the new city [Bezetha,] he repaired 
 them at the expense of the public, and built 
 them wider in breadth and higher in altitude; 
 and he had made them too strong for all human 
 power to demolish, unless Marcus, the then presi- 
 dent of Syria, had by letter informed Claudius 
 Csesar of what he was doing. And when Clau- 
 dius had some suspicion of attempts for innova- 
 tion, he sent to Agrippa to leave off the building 
 of those walls presently. So he obeyed, as not 
 thinking it proper to contradict Claudius. 
 
 3. Now, this king was by nature very benefi- 
 cent and Liberal in his gifts, and very ambitious 
 to oblige people with such large donations ; and 
 he made himself very illustrious by the many 
 chargeable presents he made them. He took 
 delight in giving, and rejoiced in living with 
 good reputation. He was not at all like thai 
 Herod who reigned before him ; for that Herod 
 was ill-natured, and severe in his punishments, 
 and had no mercy on them that he hated ; and 
 every one perceived that he was more friendly 
 to the Greeks than to the Jews ; for he adoraeu 
 foreign cities with large presents in money ; with 
 building them baths and theatres besides ; nay, 
 in some of those places, he erected temples, am 
 porticoes in others ; but he did not vouchsafe to 
 raise one of the least edifices in any Jewish city, 
 or make-tiem any donation that was worth men 
 tionmg. But Agrippa's temper was mild, au 
 Equally liberal to all men. He was bWg 
 foreigner*, and made them sensible of his li
 
 412 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xix. 
 
 ality. He was in like manner rather of a gentle 
 and compassionate temper. Accordingly, he 
 loved to live continually at Jerusalem, and was 
 exactly careful in the observance of the laws of 
 his country. He therefore kept himself entirely 
 pure : nor did any day pass over his head with- 
 out its appointed sacrifice. 
 
 4. However, there was a certain man of the 
 Jewish nation at Jerusalem, who appeared to be 
 very accurate in the knowledge of the law. His 
 name was Simon. This man got together an 
 assembly, while the king was absent at Cesarea, 
 and had the insolence to accuse him as not living 
 holily, and that he might justly be excluded out 
 of the temple, since it belonged only to native 
 Jews. But the general of Agrippa's army in- 
 formed him that Simon had made such a speech 
 t'> the people. So the king sent for him ; and, 
 as he was then sitting in the theatre, he bade 
 him sit down by him, and said to him with 
 a low and gentle voice, " What is there done 
 in this place that is contrary to the law ? " But 
 he had nothing to say for himself, but begged 
 his pardon. So the king was more easily recon- 
 ciled to him than one could have imagined, as 
 esteeming mildness a better quality in a king 
 than anger ; and knowing that moderation is 
 more becoming in great men than passion. So 
 he made Simon a small present and dismissed 
 him. 
 
 5. Now, as Agrippa, was a great builder in 
 many places, he paid a peculiar regard to the 
 people of Berytus : for he erected a theatre for 
 them, superior to many others of that sort, both 
 in sumptuousness and elegance, as also an am- 
 phitheatre, built at vast expenses; and besides 
 these he built them baths and porticoes, and 
 spared for no costs in any of his edifices, to 
 render them both handsome and large. He also 
 spent a great deal upon their dedication, and ex- 
 hibited shows upon them, and brought thither 
 musicians of all orts, and such as made the 
 most delightful music of the greatest variety. 
 He also shewed his magnificence upon the 
 theatre, in his great number of gladiators ; and 
 there it was that he exhibited the several an- 
 tagonists, in order to please the spectators ; no 
 fewer indeed than seven hundred men to fight 
 with seven hundred other men ; and allotted all 
 the malefactors he had for this exercise, that 
 both the malefactors might receive their punish- 
 ment, and that this operation of war might be a 
 recreation in peace. And thus were these crimi- 
 nals all destroyed at once. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 WHAT OTHEB ACTS WERE DOSE BY AQEIPPA UNTIL 
 HIS DEATH; AND AFTER WHAT MANNER HE 
 
 DIED. 
 
 1. WHEN Agrippa had finished what I have 
 above related at Berytus, he removed to Tibe- 
 rias, a city of Galilee. Now he was in great es- 
 teem among other kings. Accordingly there 
 came to him Antiochus, king of Commagena, 
 Sampsigeramus, king of Emesa, and Cotys, who 
 was king of the lesser Armenia, and Polemo, 
 who was king of Pontus, as also Herod his bro- 
 ther, who was king of Chalcis. All these he 
 treated with agreeable entertainments, and after 
 an obliging manner, and so as to exhibit the 
 greatness of his mind, and so as to appear wor- 
 thy of those respects which the kings paid to 
 him, by coming thus to see him. However, 
 while these kings stayed with him, Marcus, the 
 
 president of Syria, came thither. So the king, 
 in order to preserve the respect that was due to 
 the Romans, went out of the city to meet him, 
 as far as seven furlongs. But this proved to be 
 the beginning of a difference between him and 
 Marcus ; for he took with him in his chariot 
 those other kings as his assessors. But Marcus 
 had a suspicion what the meaning could be of so 
 great a friendship of these kings one with ano- 
 ther, and did not think so close an agreement of 
 so many potentates to be for the interest of the 
 Romans. He therefore sent some of his domes- 
 tics to every one of them, and enjoined them to 
 go their ways home without further delay. 
 This was very ill taken by Agrippa, who afte* 
 that became his enemy. And now he took the 
 high-priesthood away from Matthias, and made 
 Elioneus, the son of Cantheras, high priest in 
 his stead. 
 
 2. Now, when Agrippa had reigned three 
 years over all Judea, he came to the city Ce- 
 sarea, which was formerly called Strato's Tower; 
 and there he exhibited shows in honour of Cae- 
 sar, upon his being informed that there was a 
 certain festival celebrated to make vows for his 
 safety. At which festival, a great multitude 
 was gotten together of the principal persons, 
 and such as were of dignity through his pro- 
 vince. On the second day of which shows he 
 put on a garment made wholly of silver, and of 
 a contexture truly wonderful, and came into the 
 theatre early in the morning; at which time the 
 silver of his garment being illuminated by the 
 fresh reflection of the sun's rays upon it, shone 
 out after a surprising manner, and was so re- 
 splendent as to spread a horror over those that 
 looked intently upon him : and presently his flat- 
 terers cried out, one from one place, and another 
 from another, (though not for his good,) that he 
 was a god: and they added, "Be thou merci- 
 ful to us ; for although we have hitherto rever- 
 enced thee only as a man, yet shall we hence- 
 forth own thee as superior to mortal nature." 
 Upon this the king did neither rebuke them, 
 nor reject their impious flattery. But, as he 
 presently afterwards looked up, he saw an ovrl 
 sitting on a certain rope over his head, and im- 
 mediately understood that this bird was the 
 messenger of ill tidings, as it had once been the 
 messenger of good tidings to him ; and fell into 
 the deepest sorrow. A severe pain also arose 
 in his belly, and began hi a most violent man- 
 ner. He therefore looked upon his friends, and 
 said, "I, whom you call a god, am commanded 
 presently to depart this life ; while Providence 
 thus reproves the lying words you just now said 
 to me ; and I, who was by you called immortal, 
 am immediately to be hurried away by death. 
 But I am bound to accept of what Providence 
 allots, as it pleases God; for we have by no 
 means lived ill, but in a splendid and happy 
 manner." When he had said this, his pain wai 
 become violent. Accordingly he was carried 
 into the palace ; and the rumour went abroad 
 everywnere, that he would certainly die in a 
 little time. But the multitude presently sat in 
 sackcloth, with their wives and children, after 
 the law of their country, and besought God for 
 the king's recovery. All places were also full 
 of mourning and lamentation. Now the king 
 rested in a high chamber, and as he saw them 
 below lying prostrate on the ground, he could 
 not himself forbear weeping. And when he had 
 been quite worn out by the pain in his belly for 
 five days, he departed this life, being in the fifty- 
 fourth year of his age, and the seventh year of 
 his reign; for he reigned four years under Caiua 
 Caesar, three of them were over Philip's tetrar-
 
 CHAP. IX.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 413 
 
 chy only, and on the fourth he Lad that of He- 
 rod added to it; and he reigned besides those, 
 ;hree years under the reign of Claudius Caesar : 
 n which time he reigned over the fore-men- 
 tioned countries, and also had Judea added to 
 [.hem, as also Samaria and Cesarea. The re- 
 venues that he received out of them were very 
 jreat, no less than twelve millions of drachmae.* 
 Yet did he borrow great sums from others ; for 
 tie was so very liberal, that his expenses exceed- 
 kl his income ; and his generosity was bound- 
 Less. 
 
 3. But before the multitude were made ac- 
 quainted with Agrippa's being expired, Herod 
 the king of Chalcis, and Helcias the master of 
 liis horse, and the king's friend, sent Aristo, 
 one of the king's most faithful servants, and 
 slaw Silas, who had been their enemy, as if it 
 bad been done by the king's own command 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 WHAT THINGS WERE DONE AFTER THE DEATH OF 
 AGRIPPA; AND HOW CLADDIDS, ON ACCOUNT 
 OF THE YOUTH AND UNSKILFULNESS OF AG- 
 BIPPA, JUNTOS, SENT CUSPIU8 FADU9 TO BE 
 PROCURATOR OF JUDEA, AND OF THE ENTIKE 
 
 KINGDOM. 
 
 1. AND thus did king Agrippa depart this life. 
 But he left behind him a son, Agrippa by name, 
 a youth in the seventeenth year of his age, and 
 three daughters, one of whom, Bernice was mar- 
 ried to Herod, his father's brother, and was six- 
 teen years old ; the other two, Mariamne and 
 Drusilla, were still virgins ; the former was ten 
 years old, and Drusilla six. Now these his 
 daughters were thus espoused by their father ; 
 Mariamne to Julius Archelaus Epiphanes, the 
 son of Antiochus, the son of Chelcias ; and Dru- 
 silla to the son of Commagena, But when it 
 was known that Agrippa was departed this life, 
 the inhabitants of Cesarea and of Sebaste forgot 
 the kindnesses he had bestowed on them, and 
 acted the part of the bitterest enemies ; for 
 they cast such reproaches upon the deceased as 
 are not fit to be spoken of : and so many of 
 them as were then soldiers, which were a great 
 number, went to his house, and hastily carried 
 off the statues t of this king's daughters, and 
 
 * This sum, which is equal to 425,000 sterling, was 
 Agrippa the Greaf'i yearly income, or about three 
 quarters of his grandfather Herod's income, he having 
 abated the tax upon houses at Jerusalem, and was not 
 so tyrannical as Herod had been to the Jews. 
 
 t Photius says, they were not the statues or issues, 
 but the ladies themselves, who were thus basely almsM 
 by the soldiers. 
 
 all at once carried them into the brothel-houMO, 
 and when they had set them on the tops of those 
 houses, they abused them to the utmost of their 
 power, and did such things to them as are too 
 indecent to be related. They also laid them- 
 selves down in the public places, and celebrated 
 general feastings, with garlands on their heads, 
 and with ointments and libations to Charon, 
 and drinking to one another for joy that the 
 king was expired. Nay, they were not only 
 unmindful of Agrippa, who had extended his 
 liberality to them in abundance, but of his 
 grandfather Herod also, who had himself re- 
 built their cities, and had raised them havens 
 and temples at vast expenses. 
 
 2. Now Agrippa, the son of the deceased, was 
 at Borne, and brought up with Claudius Caesar. 
 And when Caesar was informed that Agrippa 
 was dead, and that the inhabitants of Sebaste 
 and Cesarea had abused him, he was sorry for 
 the first news, and was displeased with the in- 
 gratitude of those cities. He was therefore dis- 
 posed to send Agrippa, junior, away presently 
 to succeed his father in the kingdom, and was 
 willing to confirm him in it by his oath. But 
 those freemen and friends of his who had the 
 greatest authority with him, dissuaded him from 
 it, and said that it was a dangerous experiment 
 to permit so large a kingdom to come under the 
 government of so very young a man, and one 
 hardly yet arrived at the years of discretion, 
 who would not be able to take sufficient care of 
 its administration ; while the weight of a king- 
 dom is heavy enough to a grown man. So Caesar 
 thought what they said to be reasonable. Ac- 
 cordingly he sent Cuspius Fadus to be procura- 
 tor of Judea, and of the entire kingdom, and 
 paid that respect to the deceased as not to intro- 
 duce Marcus, who had been at variance with 
 him, into his kingdoc. But he determined, in 
 the first place, to send orders to Fadus, that he 
 should chastise the inhabitants of Cesarea and 
 Sebaste for those abuses they had offered to him 
 that was deceased, and their madness towards 
 his daughters that were still alive ; and that he 
 should remove that body of soldiers that were at 
 Cesarea and Sebaste, with the five regiments, 
 into Pontus, that they might do their military 
 duty there, and that he should choose an equal 
 number of soldiers out of the Roman legions that 
 were in Syria, to supply their place. Yet were 
 not those that had such orders actually removed ; 
 for by sending ambassadors to Claudius, they 
 mollified him, and got leave to abide in Judea 
 still ; and these were the very men that became 
 the source of very great calamities to the Jews 
 in after-times, and sowed the seeds of that war 
 which began under Floras ; whence it was that, 
 when Vespasian had subdued the country, he re- 
 moved them out of his urovinee.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS 
 
 [BOOK XX., 
 
 BOOK XX. 
 
 COKTAININO THE INTERVAL OP TWENTY-TWO YHAH8, 
 
 IROM FADUS THE PROCURATOR TO FLO.RUS. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 1 SEDITION OP THE PHILADELPHIA^ AGAINST THE 
 JEWS J AND ALSO CONCERNING THE VESTMENTS 
 OP THE HIGH PRIEST. 
 
 I L UPON the death of king Agrippa, wliich we 
 have related in the foregoing book, Claudius 
 Csesar sent Cassius Longinus as successor to 
 Marcus, out of regard to the memory of king 
 Agrippa, who had often desired of him by 
 letters, while he was alive, that he would not 
 suffer Marcus to be any longer president of 
 Syria. But Fadus, as soon as he was come pro- 
 curator into Judea, found quarrelsome doings 
 between the Jews that dwelt in Perea and the 
 people of Philadelphia, about their borders, at 
 a village called Mia, that was filled with men of 
 a warlike temper; for the Jews of Perea had 
 taken up arms without the consent of their prin- 
 cipal men, and had destroyed many of the Phila- 
 delphians. When Fadus was informed of this 
 procedure, it provoked him very much that they 
 had not left the determination of the matter to 
 him, if they thought that the Philadelphians 
 had done them any wrong, but had rashly taken 
 up arms against them. So he seized upon three 
 of their principal men, who were also the causes 
 of this sedition, and ordered them to be bound, 
 and afterward had one of them slain, whose 
 name was Hannibal ; and he banished the other 
 two, Amram and Eleazar; Tholomy also, the 
 arch robber, was, after some time, brought to 
 him bound, and slain, but not till he had done a 
 world of mischief to Idumea and the Arabians. 
 And indeed, from that time, Judea was cleared 
 of robberies by the care and providence of Fadus. 
 He also at this time sent for the high priests 
 and the principal citizens of Jerusalem, and this 
 at the command of the emperor, and admonished 
 them that they should lay up the long garment 
 and the sacred vestment, which it is customary 
 for nobody but the high priest to wear, in the 
 tower of Antonia, that it might be under the 
 power of the Romans, as it had been formerly. 
 Now the Jews durst not contradict what he had 
 said, but desired Fadus, however, and Longinus, 
 (which last was come to Jerusalem, and had 
 brought a great army with him, out of a fear that 
 the [rigid] injunctions of Fadus should force the 
 Jews to rebel,) that they might, in the first 
 place, have leave to send ambassadors to Csesar, 
 to petition him that they might have the holy 
 vestments under their own power ; and that, in 
 the next place, they would tarry till they knew 
 what answer Claudius would give to that their 
 request. So they replied, that they would give 
 them leave to send their ambassadors, provided 
 they would give them their ; ens as pledges [for 
 their peaceable behaviour.] And when they had 
 agreed so to do, and had given them the pledges 
 they desired, the ambassadors were sent accord- 
 ingly. P.ut when, upon their coming to Rome. 
 
 Afrippa, junior, tne son of the deceased, under 
 stood the reason why they came, (for he dwelt 
 with Claudius C;esar, as we said before,) he be- 
 sought Caesar to grant the Jews their request 
 about the holy vestments, and to send a message 
 to Fadus accordingly. 
 
 2. Hereupon Claudius called for the ambassa- 
 dors, and told them that he granted their re- 
 quest ; and bade them to return their thanks to 
 Agrippa for this favour which had been bestowed 
 on them upon his entreaty. And, besides these 
 answers of his, he sent the following letter by 
 them : " Claudius Csesar Gennanicus, tribune 
 of the people the fifth time, and designed consul 
 the fourth time, and imperator the tenth time, 
 the father of his country, to the magistrates, 
 senate, and people, and the whole nation of the 
 Jews, sendeth greeting. Upon the representa- 
 tion of your ambassadoi a to me by Agrippa my 
 friend, whom I have brought up, and have now 
 with me, and who is a person of very great 
 piety, who are come to give me thanks for the 
 care I have taken of your nation, and to entreat 
 me, in an earnest and obliging manner, that they 
 may have the holy vestments, with the crown 
 belonging to them, under their power, I grant 
 their request, as that excellent person Vitellius, 
 who is very dear to me, had done before me. 
 And I have complied with your desire, in the 
 first place, out of regard to that piety which I 
 profess, and because I would have every one 
 worship God according to the laws of their own 
 country ; and this I do also, because I shall 
 hereby highly gratify king Herod and Agrippa, 
 junior, whose sacred regards to me, and earnest 
 good-will to you, I am well acquainted with, and 
 with whom T have the greatest friendship, and 
 whom 1 highly esteem, and look on as persons of 
 the best character. Now I have written about 
 these affairs to Cuspius Fadus, my procurator. 
 The names of those that brought me your letter 
 are Cornelius, the son of Cero, Trypho, the son 
 of Theudio, Dorotheus, the son of Nathaniel, 
 and John, the son of John. This is dated be- 
 fore the fourth of the calends of July, when 
 Rufus and Pompeius Sylvanus are consuls.' 
 
 3. Herod also, the brother of the deceased 
 Agrippa, who was then possessed of the royal au- 
 thority over Chalcis, petitioned Claudius Caesar 
 for the authority over the temple, and the 
 money of the sacred treasure, and the choice of 
 the high priests, and obtained all that he peti- 
 tioned for. So that after that time this autho- 
 rity continued among all his descendants till the 
 end of the war.* Accordingly Herod removed 
 the last high priest, called Cantheras, and be- 
 stowed that dignity on hifi successor Joseph, the 
 son of Camus. 
 
 * Here is some mistake of Josephus ; for the 
 of appointing high priests, after Herod king of Chalcis 
 was dead, and Agrippa junior was made king of Chalcis 
 in his room, belonged to him ; and he exercised the 
 same all alontt till Jerusalem was destroyed.
 
 CHAP, n.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 iio 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 HOW HELENA, THE QUEEN OF ADIABEXE, AND 
 HER SON IZATES, EMBRACED THE JLWI.SH RELI- 
 GION ; AND HOW HELENA SUPPLIED THE POOR 
 WITH CORN WHEN THERE WAS A GREAT FAMINE 
 AT JERUSALEM. 
 
 1. ABOUT this time it was that Helena, queen 
 of Adiabene, and her son Izates, changed their 
 course of life, and embraced the Jewish customs, 
 and this on the occasion following : Monobazus, 
 the king of Adiabene, who had also the name of 
 Eazeus, fell in love with his sister Helena, and 
 took her to be his wife, and begat her with 
 child. But as he was in bed with her one night, 
 he laid his hand upon his wife's belly, and fell 
 asleep, and seemed to hear a voice, which bade 
 him take his hand off his wife's belly, and not 
 to hurt the infant that was therein, which, by 
 God's providence, would be safely born, and 
 have a happy end. This voice put him into 
 disorder ; so he awaked immediately, and told 
 the story to his wife; and when his son was 
 born, he called him Izates. He had indeed 
 Monobazus, his elder brother, by Helena also, 
 as he had other sons by other wives besides. 
 Yet did he openly place all his affections on 
 this his only -begotten* son Izates, which was 
 the origin of that envy which his other breth- 
 ren, by the same father, bore to him; while 
 on this account they hated him more and more, 
 and were all under great affliction that their 
 father should prefer Izates before them alL 
 Now, although their father was very sensible of 
 these their passions, yet did he forgive them, a 
 not indulging those passions out of an ill disposi- 
 tion, but out of a desire each of them had to be 
 beloved by their father. However, he sent Izates, 
 with many presents, to Abennerig, the king of 
 Charax-Spasini, and that out of the great dread 
 he was in about him, lest he should come to 
 gome misfortunes by the hatred his brethren 
 bore him ; and he committed his son's preserva- 
 tion to him. Upon which Abennerig gladly re- 
 ceived the young man, and had a great affection 
 for him, and married him to his own daughtt r, 
 whose name was Sauiacha : he also bestowed a 
 country upon him, from which he received large 
 revenues. 
 
 2. But when Monobazus was grown old, and 
 saw that he had but a little time to live, he had 
 a mind to come to the sight of his son before he 
 died. So he sent for him, and embraced him 
 after the most affectionate manner, and be- 
 stowed on him the country called Carrse ; it was 
 a soil that bare amomum in great plenty : there 
 was also in it the remains of that ark, wherein 
 it is related that Noah escaped the deluge, and 
 where they are still shewn to such as are desir- 
 ous to see them.i Accordingly Izatea abode in 
 that country until nis fathers death. But the 
 very day that Monobazus died, queen Helena 
 sent for all the grandees and governors of the 
 kingdom, and for those that had the armies 
 committed to their command ; and when they 
 were come, she made the following speech to 
 them : " I believe you are not unacquainted 
 that my husband was desirous that Izates should 
 
 * Josephus here uses the word monogene, an only- 
 begotten son,for no other than one best-beloved, as does 
 both the Old and the New Testament ; I mean where 
 there were one or more sons besides, (Gen. xiii. 2 ; 
 Heb. xi. 7.) 
 
 f It is here very remarkable, that the remains of 
 Noah's ark were believed to be still in being in the 
 lays of Josephus. 
 
 lucceed him in the government, and thought 
 lim worthy BO to do. However, I wait your 
 determination; for, happy is he who receives 
 i kingdom, not from a single person only, but 
 Tom the willing suffrages of a great many." 
 This she said, in order to try those that were 
 invited, and to discover their sentiments. Upon 
 the hearing of which, they first of all paid their 
 homage to the queen, as their custom was, and 
 then they said that they confirmed the king's 
 determination, and would submit to it ; and 
 they rejoiced that Izates's father had preferred 
 him before the rest of his brethren, as being 
 agreeable to all their wishes : but that they were 
 desirous first of all to slay his brethren and 
 kinsmen, that so the government might come 
 securely to Izates; because if they were once 
 destroyed, all that fear would be over which 
 might arise from their envy and hatred to him. 
 Helena replied to this, that she returned them 
 her thanks for their kindness to herself and to 
 Izates ; hut desired that they would however 
 defer the execution of this slaughter of Izates's 
 brethren till he should be there himself, and 
 ive his approbation to it. So since these men 
 lad not prevailed with her when they advisee" 
 her to slay them, they exhorted her at least to 
 keep them in bonds till he should come, and 
 that for their own security ; they also gave her 
 counsel to set up some one whom she could put 
 the greatest trust in, as governor of the king- 
 dom in the meantime. So queen Helena com- 
 plied with this counsel of theirs, and set up 
 Monobazus, the eldest sou, to be king, and put 
 the diadem upon his head, and gave hi his 
 father's ring, with its signet; as also the orna- 
 ment which they called Sampser, and exhorted 
 him to administer the affairs of the kingdom till 
 his brother should come ; who came suddenly 
 upon hearing that his father fas dead, and suc- 
 ceeded his brother Monobazus who resigned up 
 the government to him. 
 
 3. Now, during the time Ia_;es abode at Cha- 
 rax-Spasini, a certain Jewish merchant, whose 
 name was Ananias, got among the women that 
 belonged to the king, and taught them to wor- 
 ship God according to the Jewish religion. He, 
 moreover, by their means became known to 
 Izates ; and persuaded him, in like manner, to 
 embrace that religion; he also, at the earnest 
 entreaty of Izates, accompanied him when he 
 was sent for by his father to come to Adiabene ; 
 it also happened that Helena, about the same 
 t'ime, was instructed by a certain other Jew, 
 and went over to them. But, when Izates had 
 taken the kingdom, and was come to Adiabene, 
 and there saw his brethren and other kinsmen 
 in bonds, he was displeased at it ; and as he 
 thought it was an instance of impiety either tc 
 slay or imprison them, but still thought it 
 hazardous thing for to let them have their 
 liberty, with the remembrance of the injuriei 
 that had been offered them, he sent some ol 
 them and their children for hostages to Home, 
 to Claudius Csesar, and sent the others to Arta- 
 banus, the king of Partbia, with the like inten- 
 tions. 
 
 4. And when he perceived that his mother 
 was highly pleased with the Jewish customs, he 
 made haste to change, and to embrace them en- 
 tirely ; and as he supposed that he could not be 
 thoroughly a Jew unless he were circumcised, 
 he was ready to have it done. But when his 
 mother understood what he was about, she en 
 deavoured to hinder him from doing it, and said 
 to him that this thing would bring him into dan 
 ger : and that as he was a king, he would thereby 
 bring himself into great odium among his sub
 
 116 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xx. 
 
 iect, when they should understand that he was 
 BO fond of rites that were to them strange and 
 foreign ; and that they would never bear to be 
 ruled over by a Jew. This it was that she said 
 to him, and for the present persuaded him to 
 forbear. And when he had related what she 
 said to Ananias, he confirmed what his mother 
 had said ; and when he had also threatened to 
 leave him, unless he complied with him, he went 
 away from him ; and said he was afraid lest such 
 an action being once become public to all, he 
 should himself be in danger of punishment for 
 having been the king's instructor in actions that 
 were of ill reputation ; and he said, that he 
 might worship God without being circumcised, 
 even though he did resolve to follow the Jewish 
 law entirely ; which worship of God was of a 
 superior nature to circumcision. He added, that 
 God would forgive him, though he did not per- 
 form the operation, while it was omitted out of 
 necessity, and for fear of his subjects. So the 
 king at that time complied with these persua- 
 sions of Ananias. But afterwards, as he had 
 not quite left off his desire of doing this thing, a 
 Certain other Jew that came out of Galilee, 
 whose name was Eleazar, and who was esteemed 
 rery skilful in the learning of his country, per- 
 suaded him to do the thing ; for as he entered 
 into his palace to salute him, and found him 
 reading the law of Moses, he said to him, " Thou 
 dost not consider, O king ! that thou unjustly 
 breakest the principal of those laws, and art in- 
 jurious to God himself, [by omitting to be cir- 
 cumcised ;] for thou oughtest not only to read 
 them, but chiefly to practice what they enjoin 
 thee. How long wilt thou continue uncircum- 
 cised? but, if thou hast not yet read the law 
 about circumcision, and dost not know how 
 great impiety thou art guilty of by neglecting it, 
 read it now. ' When the king had heard what 
 he said, he delayed no longer, but rt .ired to ano- 
 ther room, and sent for a surgeon, and did what 
 he was commanded to do. He then sent for his 
 mother, and Ananias his tutor, and informed 
 them that he had done the thing ; upon which 
 they were presently struck with astonishment 
 and fear, and that to a great degree, lest the 
 thing should be openly discovered and censured, 
 and the king should hazard the loss of his king- 
 dom, while his subjects would not bear to be go- 
 verned by a man who was so zealous in another 
 religion ; and lest they should themselves run 
 some hazard, because they would be supposed 
 the occasion of his so doing. But it was God 
 himself who hindered what they feared from 
 taking effect ; for he preserved both Izates him- 
 self and his sons when they fell into many dan- 
 gers, and procured their deliverance when it 
 seemed to be impossible, and demonstrated 
 thereby, that the fruit of piety does not perish 
 as to those that hare regard to him, and fix their 
 faith upon him only:* but these events we 
 shall relate hereafter. 
 
 5. But as to Helena, the king's mother, when 
 she saw that the affairs of Izates's kingdom yrere 
 in peace, and that her son was a happy man, and 
 admired among all men, and even among fo- 
 reigners, by the means of God's providence over 
 him, she had a mind to go to the city of Jerusa- 
 lem, in order to worship at that temple of God 
 which was so very famous among all men, and 
 to offer her thank-offerings there. So she de- 
 
 * Josephus is very full and express in these three 
 chapters (Hi. iv. and v.) in observing how carefully Di- 
 vine Providence preserved this Izates, king of Adiabene, 
 Ms sons, while he did what he thought was his 
 bounden duty, notwithstanding the strongest political 
 motives to the contrary. 
 
 sired her son to give her leave to go thither : 
 upon which he gave his consent to what she de- 
 sired very willingly, and made great preparation* 
 for her dismission, and gave her a great deal of 
 money, and she went down to the city Jerusa- 
 lem, her son conducting her on her journey a 
 great way. Now her coming was of very great 
 advantage to the people of Jerusalem ; for 
 whereas a famine did oppress them at that time, 
 and many people died for want of what was ne- 
 cessary to procure food withal, queen Helena 
 sent some of her servants to Alexandria with 
 money to buy a great quantity of corn, and 
 others of them to Cyprus, to bring a cargo of 
 dried figs ; and as soon as they were come back, 
 and had brought those provisions, which was 
 done very quickly, she distributed food to those 
 that were in want of it, and left a most excellent 
 memorial behiud her of this benefaction, which 
 she bestowed on our whole nation ; and when 
 her son Izates was informed of this famine, t he 
 sent a great sum of money to the principal men 
 in Jerusalem. 
 
 CHAPTER IIL 
 
 HOW AKTABANU8, THE KING OP PARTHIA, OUT Of 
 FEAR OF THE SECRET CONTRIVANCES OP HIS SUB- 
 JECTS AGAINST HIM, WENT TO IZATES, AND WAS 
 BY HIM REINSTATED IN HIS GOVERNMENT ; AS 
 ALSO HOW BARDANES, HIS SON, DENOUNCED 
 WAR AGAINST IZATES. 
 
 1. BUT now Artabanus, king of the Parthian s, 
 perceiving that the governors of the provinces 
 had framed a plot against him, did not think it 
 safe for him to continue among them ; but re- 
 solved to go to Izates, in hopes of finding some 
 way for his preservation by his means, and, if 
 possible, for his return to his own dominions. 
 So he came to Izates, and brought a thousand of 
 his kindred and servants with him, and met him 
 upon the road, while he well knew Izates, kut 
 Izates did not know him. When Artabanui 
 stood near him, and in the first place, wor- 
 shipped him according to the custom, he then 
 said to him, " O king ! do not thou overlook me 
 thy servant, nor do thou proudly reject the suit 
 I make thee ; for as I am reduced to a low es- 
 tate, by the change of fortune, and of a king am 
 become a private man, I stand in need of thy as- 
 sistance. Have regard, therefore, unto the un- 
 certainty of my fortune, and esteem the care 
 thou shalt take of me to be taken of thyself 
 also ; for if I be neglected, and my subjects go 
 off unpunished, many other subjects will be- 
 come more insolent towards other kings also." 
 And this speech Artabanus made with tears in 
 his eyes, and with a dejected countenance. 
 Now, as soon as Izates heard Artabanus's name, 
 and saw him stand as a supplicant before him, 
 he leaped down from his horse immediately, and 
 said to him, "Take courage, O king! nor be 
 disturbed at thy present calamity, as if it were 
 incurable ; for the change of thy sad condition 
 shall be sudden ; for thou shalt find me to be 
 more thy friend and thy assistant than thy 
 hopes can promise thee ; for I will either re-es- 
 tablish thee in the kingdom of Parthia, or lose 
 my own." 
 
 t Of this terrible famine itself in Judea, Dr Hudson 
 says : " This is that famine foretold by Agabus, Acts 
 xi. 28 ; which happened when Claudius was consul the 
 fourth time ; and not that other which happened when 
 Claudius was consul the second time, and Csesina was 
 bis colleague.
 
 3HAP. IV. J 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 417 
 
 2. 'When he had said this, he set Artabanus 
 upon his horse, and followed him on foot, in 
 honour of a king whom he owned as greater than 
 himself ; which when Artabanus saw, he was 
 very uneasy at it, and sware by bis present for- 
 tune and honour, that he would get down from 
 his horse, unless Izates would get upon his horse 
 again and go before him. So he complied with 
 liis desire, and leaped upon his horse ; and, when 
 lie had brought him to his royal palace, he 
 shewed him all sorts of respect when they sat 
 together, and he gave him the upper place at 
 festivals also, as regarding not his present for- 
 tune, but his former dignity ; and that upon this 
 consideration also, that the changes of fortune 
 are common to all men. He also wrote to the 
 Parthians, to persuade them to receive Arta- 
 bauus again ; and gave them his right hand and 
 his faith, that he should forget what was past 
 and done, and that he would undertake for this 
 as a mediator between them. Now the Parthi- 
 ans did not themselves refuse to receive him 
 again, but pleaded that it was not now in their 
 power so to do, because they had committed the 
 government to another person, who had accepted 
 of it, and whose name was Cinnamus ; and that 
 they were afraid lest a civil war should arise on 
 this account. When Cinnamus understood their 
 intentions, he wrote to Artabanus himself, for 
 he had been brought up by him, and was of a 
 nature good and gentle also, and desired him to 
 put confidence in him, and to come and take hit 
 own dominions again. Accordingly Artabanus 
 trusted him, and returned home ; when Cinna- 
 mus met him, worshipped him, and saluted him 
 as a king, and took the diadem off his own head, 
 and put it on the head of Artabanus. 
 
 3. And thus was Artabanus restored to his 
 kingdom again by the means of Izates, when he 
 had lost it by the means of the grandees ot the 
 kingdom. Nor was he unmindful of the benefits 
 he had conferred upon him, but rewarded him 
 with such honours as were of the greatest esteem 
 among them ; for he gave him leave to wear his 
 tiara upright,* and to sleep upon a golden bed, 
 which are privileges! and marks of honour 
 peculiar to the kings of Parthia. He also cut off 
 a large and fruitful country from the king of 
 Armenia, and bestowed it upon him. The name 
 of the country is Nisibis, wherein the Mace- 
 donians had formerly built that city which they 
 called Antioch of Mygodonia, And these were 
 the honours that were paid Izates ty the king of 
 the Parthians. 
 
 4. But in no long time Artabanus died, and 
 left his kingdom to his son Bardancs. Now this 
 Bardanes came to Izates, and would have per- 
 suaded him to join him with his army, and to 
 assist him in the war he was preparing to make 
 with the Romans ; but he could m>t prevail with 
 him. For Izates so well knew the strength and 
 good fortune of the Komans, that he took Bar- 
 daues to attempt what was impossible to be 
 done ; and having, besides, sent his sons, five in 
 number, and they but young also, to learn accu- 
 rately the_ language of our nation, together with 
 our learning, as well as he had set his mother to 
 worship at our temple, as I have said already, 
 was the more backward to a compliance ; and 
 restrained Bardanes, telling him perpetually of 
 the great armies and famous actions of the 
 Romans, and thought thereby to tenify him, and 
 desired thereby to hinder him from that expedi- 
 tion. But the Parthian king was provoked at 
 
 * This privilege of wearing the tiara upright, or 
 with the tip of the cone erect, is known to have been 
 of old peculiar to great kings, from Xenophon and 
 "there. 
 
 this his behaviour, and denounced war immedi- 
 I ately against Izates. Yet did he gain no advan- 
 i tage by this war, because God cut off all hii 
 hopes therein; for the Parthians, perceiving 
 Bardanes's intention, and how he had determined 
 to make war with the Romans, slew him, and 
 .rave his kingdom to his brother Gotarzes. He 
 also, in no long time, perished by a plot made 
 against him, and Vologases, his brother, suc- 
 ceeded him, who committed two of his provinces 
 to two of his brothers by the same father ; that 
 of the Medes to the elder, Parcorus ; and Ar- 
 menia to the younger, Tiridateg. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HOW IZATES WAS BETRAYED BY HIS OWN SUB- 
 JECTS, AND FOUGHT AGAINST BY THE ARABIANS ; 
 AND HOW IZATES, BY THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD, 
 WAS DELIVERED OUT OF THEIR HANDS. 
 
 1. Now when the king's brother, Monobazus, 
 and his other kindred, saw how Izates, by his 
 piety to God, was become greatly esteemed by 
 all men, they also had a desire to leave the re- 
 ligion of their country, and to embrace the cus- 
 toms of the Jews ; but that act of theirs was 
 discovered by Izates's subjects. Whereupon the 
 grandees were much displeased, and could not 
 contain their anger at them, but had an inten- 
 tion, when they should find a proper opportunity, 
 to inflict a punishment upon them. Accordingly, 
 they wrote to Abia, king of the Arabians, and 
 promised him great sums of money, if he would 
 make an expedition against their king : and they 
 further promised him, that, on the first onset, 
 they would desert their king, because they were 
 desirous to punish him, by reason of the hatred 
 he had to then* religious worship ; then they 
 obliged themselves by oaths to be faithful 
 to each other, and desired that he would make 
 haste in this design. The king of Arabia com- 
 plied with their desires, and brought a great 
 army into the field, and marched against Izates ; 
 and, in the beginning of the first onset, and be- 
 fore they came to a close fight, those grandees, 
 as if they had a panic terror upon them, all de- 
 serted Izates, as they had agreed to do, and, 
 turning their backs upon their enemies, ran 
 away. Yet was not Izates dismayed at this; 
 but when he understood that the grandees had 
 betrayed him, he also retired into his camp, and 
 made inquiry into the matter ; and as soon as he 
 knew who they were that had made this con- 
 spiracy with the king of Arabia, he cut off those 
 that were found guilty ; and renewing the fight 
 on the next day, he slew the greatest part of bin 
 enemies, and forced all the rest to betake them- 
 selves to flight. He also pursued their king, 
 and drove him into a fortress called Arsamus, 
 and, following on the siege vigorously, he took 
 that fortress. And, when he had plundered it 
 of all the prey that was in it, which was not 
 small, he returned to Adiabene ; yet did he not 
 take Abia alive ; because, when he found him- 
 self encompassed upon every side, he slew him- 
 self. 
 
 2. But although the grandees of Adiabene had 
 failed in their first attempt, as being delivered 
 up by God into their king's hands, yet would 
 they not even then be quiet, but wrote again to 
 Vologases, who was then king of Parthia, and 
 desired that he would kill Izates, and set over 
 them some other potentate, who should be of 
 a Parthian family ; for they said that they hated 
 their own king for abrogating the laws, of their 
 
 2 D
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK XX, 
 
 forefathers, and embracing foreign customs. 
 WTien the king of Parthia heard this, he boldly 
 made war upon Izates ; and, as he had no just 
 pretence for this war, he sent to him and de- 
 manded back those honourable privileges which 
 had been bestowed on him by his father, and 
 threatened, on his refusal, to make war upon 
 him. Upon hearing of this, Izates was under 
 no small trouble of mind, as thinking it would 
 be a reproach upon him to appear to resign those 
 privileges that had been bestowed upon him out 
 of cowardice ; yet, because he knew, that though 
 the king of Parthia should receive back those 
 honours, yet would he not be quiet, he resolved 
 to commit himself to God, his protector, in the 
 present danger he was in of his life ; and as he 
 esteemed him to be his principal assistant, he 
 intrusted his children and his wives to a very 
 strong fortress, and laid up his com in his cita- 
 dels, and set the hay and the grass on fire. And 
 when he had thus put things in order, as well as 
 he could, he awaited the coming of the enemy. 
 And when the king of Parthia was come, with a 
 great army of footmen and horsemen, which he 
 aid sooner than was expected, (for he marched 
 in great haste,) and had cast up a bank at the 
 river that parted Adiabene from Media, Izates 
 also pitched his camp not far off, having with 
 him six thousand horsemen. But there came a 
 messenger to Izates, sent by the king of Parthia, 
 who told him how large his dominions were, as 
 reaching from the river Euphrates to Bactria, 
 and enumerated that king's subjects : he also 
 threatened him that he should be punished, as a 
 person ungrateful to his lords ; and said that the 
 God whom he worshipped could not deliver him 
 out of the king's hands. When the messenger 
 had delivered this his message, Izates replied, 
 that he knew the king of Parthia's power was 
 much greater than his own ; but that he knew 
 also that God was much more powerful than all 
 men. And when he had returned him this 
 answer, he betook himself to make supplic-ation 
 to God, and threw himself on the ground, and 
 put ashes upon his head, in testimony of his con- 
 fusion, and fasted, together with his wives and 
 children.* Then he called upon God, and said, 
 "OLord and Governor, if I have not in vain 
 committed myself to thy goodness, but have 
 justly determined that thou only art the Lord 
 and principal of all beings, come now to my as- 
 sistance, and defend me from my enemies, not 
 only on my own account, but on account of their 
 insolent behaviour with regard to thy power, 
 while they have not feared to lift up their proud 
 and arrogant tongue against thee." Thus did 
 he lament and bemoan himself, with tears in his 
 eyes ; whereupon God heard his prayer. And 
 immediately that very night Vologases received 
 letters, the contents of which were these, that 
 * great band of Dalue and Sacae, despising him, 
 now he was gone so long a journey from home, 
 had made an expedition, and laid Parthia, waste ; 
 BO that he [was forced to] retire back, without 
 doing anything. And thus it was that Izates 
 escaped the threatenings of the Pa t jiians by the 
 providence of God. 
 
 3. It was not long ere Izates died, when he 
 had completed fifty-five years of his life, and 
 had ruled his kingdom twenty-four years. Ho 
 left behind him twenty-four sons and twenty- 
 four daughters. However, he gave order that 
 his brother Monobazus should succeed in the 
 
 government, thereby requiting him, because, 
 while he was himself absent, after their father's 
 death, he had faithfully preserved the govern- 
 ment for him. But when Helena, his mother, 
 heard of her son's death, she was in great heavi- 
 ness, as was but natural, upon her loss of such a 
 most dutiful son ; yet was it a comfort to her 
 that she heard the succession came to her eldest 
 son. Accordingly she went to him in haste; 
 and when she was come into Adiabene, she did 
 not long outlive her son Izates. But Monobazus 
 sent her bones, as well as those of Izates, his 
 brother, to Jerusalem, and gave orders that 
 they should be buried at the pyramids * which 
 their mother had erected ; they were three in 
 number, and distant no more than three furlongs 
 from the city of Jerusalem. 
 
 This conduct of Izates is a plain liffn that he WM 
 become eitln-r a Jew or tin KUmite Christian, who in- 
 deed differed not much from proper Jews. However, 
 his supplications were heard, and lie waspro\ -iik-ntiaUjr 
 dlivereil from that imminent daajjer he wa& in. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 CONCERNING THLODA8, AND THE SONS OF JUDA8 
 THE GALILEAN ; AS ALSO WHAT CALAMITY FELL 
 UPON THE JEWS ON THE DAI OF THE PASSOVER. 
 
 1. Now it came to pass, that while Fadus was 
 procurator of Judea, that a certain magician, 
 whose name was Theudas,t persuaded a great 
 part of the people to take their effects with 
 them, and follow him to the river Jordan ; for 
 he told them he was a prophet, and that he 
 would, by his own command, divide the river, 
 and afford them an easy passage over it; and 
 many were deluded by his words. However, 
 Fadus did not permit them to make any advan- 
 tage of his wild attempt, but sent a troop of 
 horsemen out against them; who falling upon 
 them unexpectedly, slew many of them, and 
 took many of them alive. They also took Theu- 
 das alive, and cut off his head, and carried it 
 to Jerusalem. This was what befell the Jews 
 in the time of Cuspius Fadus's government. 
 
 2. Then came Tiberius Alexander as successor 
 to Fadus ; he was the son of Alexander the ala- 
 barch of Alexandria; which Alexander was a 
 
 Erincipal person among all his contemporaries, 
 oth for his family and wealth : he was also 
 more eminent for his piety than this his son 
 Alexander, for he did not continue in the re- 
 ligion of his country. Under these procurators 
 that great famine happened in Judea, in which 
 queen Helena bought corn in Egypt at a great 
 expense, and distributed it to those that were 
 in want, as I have related already ; and besides 
 this, the sons of Judas of Galilee were now 
 slain ; I mean of that Judas who caused the 
 people to revolt, when Cyrenius came to take 
 an account of the estates of the Jews, as we have 
 shewn in a foregoing book. The names of those 
 sons were James and Simon, whom Alexander 
 commanded to be crucified ; but now Herod, 
 king of Chalcis, removed Joseph, the son of 
 Camydus, from the high priesthood, and made 
 Ananias, the son of Nebedeus, his successor; 
 and now it was that Cumanus came as successor 
 to Tiberius Alexander; as also that Herod, 
 brother of Agrippa the great king, departed this 
 life, in the eighth year of the reign of Claudius 
 Caesar. He left behind him three sons, Aristo- 
 
 * These pyramids or pillars, erected by Helena, queen 
 of Adiabene, near Jerusalem, three in number, are 
 meanoned by Eusebius. They are also mentioned by 
 Pausanias. Reland also guesses that that now called 
 Absalom's Pillar may be one of them. 
 
 f This Theudas, who arose under Fadus the procura- 
 tor, about AD. 46 or 46, could not be that Theudas who 
 arose in the days of the taxing under Cyrenius ; or 
 About A.D. 7. Acts v. 86, 37.
 
 3HAP. VI. J 
 
 AHTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 419 
 
 bulus, whom he had by his first wife, with Ber- 
 nicianus and Hyrcanus, both whom he had by 
 Bernice, his brother's daughter; but Claudius 
 Caesar bestowed his dominions on Agrippa, 
 junior. 
 
 3. Now, while the Jewish affairs were under 
 the administration of Cumanus, there happened 
 a great tumult at the city of Jerusalem, and 
 many of the Jews perished therein ; but I shall 
 first explain the occasion whence it was derived. 
 When that feast which is called the Passover 
 was at hand, at which time our custom is to use 
 unleavened bread, and a great multitude was 
 gathered together from all parts to that feast, 
 Cumanus was afraid lest some attempt of inno- 
 vation should then be made by them ; so he or- 
 dered that one regiment of the army should take 
 their arms, and stand in the temple cloisters, to 
 repress any attempts of innovation, if perchance 
 any such should begin ; and this was no more 
 than what the former procurators of Judea did 
 at such festivals ; but on the fourth day of the 
 feast, a certain soldier let down his breeches, 
 and exposed his privy members to the multitude, 
 which put those that saw him into a furious 
 rage, and made them cry out that this impious 
 action was not done to reproach them, but God 
 himself ; nay, some of them reproached Cuma- 
 nus, and pretended that the soldier was set on 
 by him ; which, when CumaDUS heard, he was 
 also himself not a little provoked at such re- 
 proaches laid upon him ; yet did he exhort 
 them to leave off such seditious attempts, and 
 not to raise a tumult at the festival ; but when 
 he could not induce them to be quiet, for they 
 still went on in their reproaches to him, he gave 
 order that the whole army should take their 
 antire armour, and come to Antonia, which was 
 a fortress, as we have said already, which over- 
 looked the temple ; but when the multitude 
 aw the soldiers there, they were affrighted at 
 them, and ran away hastily ; but as the passages 
 out were but narrow, and as they thought their 
 enemies followed them, they were crowded to- 
 gether in their flight, and a great number were 
 pressed to death in those narrow passages ; nor 
 indeed was the number fewer than twenty thou- 
 sand that perished in this tumult. So, instead 
 of a festival they had at List a mournful day of 
 it ; and they all of them forgot their prayers 
 and sacrifices, and betook themselves to lamen- 
 tation and weeping ; so great an affliction did 
 the impudent obsceneness of a single soldier 
 bring upon them.* 
 
 4. Now, before this their first mourning was 
 over, another mischief befell them also ; for 
 some of those that had raised the foregoing 
 tumult, when they were travelling along the 
 public road, about a hundred furlongs from the 
 city, robbed Stephanus, a servant of Caesar, as 
 he was journeying, and plundered him of all 
 that he had with him ; which things when 
 Cumanus beard of, he seut soldiers asuediately, 
 and ordered them to plunder the neighbouring 
 villages, and to bring the most eminent persona 
 among them in bonds to him. Now, as this 
 devastation was making, one of the soldiers 
 seized the Laws of Moses, that lay in one of 
 those villages, and brought them out before the 
 eyes of all present, and tore them to pieces ; 
 and this was doue with reproachful language, 
 and much scurrility ; which things when the 
 Jews heard of, they ran together, and that 
 
 * This and many more tumults and seditions, which 
 arose at the Jewish festivals, in Josephus, illustrate the 
 cautious procedure of the Jewish governors, when they 
 laid, Matt. xAvi. 5, "Let us not take Jesus on the 
 feast-day, leal there be an uproar among the people." 
 
 in great numbers, and came down to Cesarea, 
 where Cumanus then was, and besought him 
 that he would avenge, not themselves, but God 
 himself, whose laws had been affronted; for 
 that they could not bear to h've any longer, if 
 the laws of their forefathers must be affronted 
 after this manner. Accordingly Cumanus, out 
 of fear lest the multitude should go into a sedi- 
 tion, and by the advice of his friends also, took 
 care that the soldier who had offered the affront 
 to the laws should be beheaded; and thereby 
 put a stop to the sedition which was ready to 
 be kindled a second time. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 HOW THERE HAPPENED A QUARREL BETWEEN THE 
 JEWS AND THE SAMARITANS ; AND HOW CLAUDIUS 
 PUT AN END TO THEIR DIFFERENCES. 
 
 1. Now there arose a quarrel between the 
 Samaritans and the Jews on the occasion follow- 
 ing : It was the custom of the Galileans, when 
 they came to the holy city at the festivals, to 
 take their journeys through the country of the 
 Samaritans ;* and at this time there lay, in the 
 road they took, a village that was called Ginea, 
 which was situated in the limits of Samaria and 
 the great plain, where certain persons thereto 
 belonging, fought with the Galileans, and killed 
 a great many of them ; but, when the principal 
 of the Galileans were informed of what had been 
 done, they came to Cumanus, and desired him to 
 avenge the murder of those that were killed ; but 
 he was induced by the Samaritans, with money, 
 to do nothing in the matter ; upon which the 
 Galileans were much displeased, and persuaded 
 the multitude of the Jews to betake themselves 
 to arms, and to regain their liberty, saying, that 
 slavery was in itself a bitter thing, but that, 
 when it was joined witli direct injuries, it was 
 perfectly intolerable. And when their principal 
 men endeavoured to pacify them, and promised 
 to endeavour to persuade Cumanus to avenge 
 those that were killed, they would not hearken 
 to them, but took their weapons, and entreated 
 the assistance of Eleazar, the son of Dineus, a 
 robber, who had many years made his abode in 
 the mountains, with which assistance they plun- 
 dered many villages of the Samaritans. When 
 Cumanus heard of this action of theirs, he took 
 the baud of Sebaste, with four regiments of foot- 
 men, and armed the Samaritans, and marched 
 out against the Jews, and caught them, and slew 
 many of them, and took a great number of them 
 alive ; whereupon those that were the most emi- 
 nent persona at Jerusalem, and that both in 
 regard to the respect that was paid them, and 
 tbe families they were of, as soon as they saw to 
 what a height things were gone, put on sackcloth, 
 and heaped ashes upon their heads, and by all 
 possible means besought the seditious, and per- 
 suaded them that they would set before their 
 eyes the utter subversion of their country, the 
 conflagration of their temple, aud the slavery of 
 themselves, their wives, and children.t which 
 
 * This constant passage of the Galileans through the 
 country of Samaria, as they went to Judea and Jerusa- 
 lem, illustrates several passage* in the Gospels. (See 
 Luke xvii. ; 1 John iv. 4.) 
 
 f Our Saviour had foretold that the Jews' rejection 
 of his gospel would bring upon them, among other 
 miseries, these three, which they themselves here shew 
 they expected would be the consequence* of their pr*- 
 sent tumults and seditions Hie utter subversion or 
 their country, the conflagration of their temple, and the 
 slavery of themselvea, their wives, and children. (See 
 Luke xxi. 6-230
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xx. 
 
 would be the consequence of what they were 
 doing, and would alter their minds, would cast 
 away their weapons, and for the future be quiet, 
 and return to their own homes. These persua- 
 sions of theirs prevailed upon them. So the 
 people dispersed themselves, and the robbers 
 went away again to their places of strength ; and 
 after this time all Judea was overrun with rob- 
 beries. 
 
 2. But the principal of the Samaritans went to 
 Utnmidius Quadratus, the president of Syria, who 
 at that time was at Tyre, and accused the Jews 
 of setting their villages on fire, and plundering 
 them ; and said withal, that they were not so 
 much displeased at what they had suffered, as 
 they were at the contempt thereby shewn to the 
 Homans ; while, if they had received any injury, 
 they ought to have made them the judges of 
 what had been done, and not presently to make 
 such devastations as if they had not the Romans 
 for their governors; on which account they came 
 to him in order to obtain that vengeance they 
 wanted. This was the accusation which the 
 Samaritans brought agninst the Jews. But the 
 Jews affirmed that the Samaritans were the 
 authors of this tumult and fighting, and that, in 
 the first place, Cumanus had been corrupted by 
 their gifts, and passed over the murder of those 
 that were slain In silence ; which allegations 
 when Quadratus heard, he put off the hearing 
 of the cause, and promised that he would give 
 sentence when he should come into Judea, and 
 should have a more exact knowledgo of the truth 
 of that matter. So these men went away with- 
 out uccess. Yet was it not long ero Quadratus 
 came to Samaria ; where, upon hearing the 
 cause, he supposed that the Samaritans weie 
 the authors of that disturbance. But when he 
 Was informed that certain of the Jews we^e 
 making innovations, he ordered those to be cru- 
 cified whom Cumanus had taken captive. From 
 whence he came to a certain village called Lydda, 
 which was not less than a city in largeness, and 
 there heard the Samaritan cause a second time 
 before his tribunal, and there learned from a 
 certain Samaritan, that one of the chief of the 
 Jews, whose name was Dortus, and some other 
 innovators with him, four in number, persuaded 
 the multitude to a revolt from the Romans ; 
 whom Quadratus ordered to be put to death : but 
 still he sent away Ananias the high priest, and 
 Ananus the commander of [the temple,] in bonds 
 to Rome, to give an account of what they had 
 done to Claudius Caesar. He also ordered the 
 principal men, both of the Samaritans and Jews, 
 as also Cumanus the procurator, and Celer the 
 tribune, to go to Italy to the emperor, that he 
 might hear their cause, and determine their differ- 
 ences one with another. But he came again to 
 the city of Jerusalem, out of his fear that the 
 multitude of Jews should attempt some innova- 
 tion ; but he found the city in a peaceable state, 
 and celebrating one of the usual festivals of their 
 country to God. So he believed that they would 
 not attempt any innovations, and left them at 
 the celebration of the festival, and returned to 
 Antioch. 
 
 3. Now Cumanus and the principal of the Sa- 
 maritans, who were sent to Rome, had a day 
 appointed them by the emperor, whereupon they 
 were to have pleaded their cause about the 
 quarrels they had one with another. But now 
 Caesar's freed-men and his friends were very 
 zealous on the behalf of Cumanus and the Sama- 
 ritans; and they had prevailed over the Jews, 
 unless Agrippa, junior, who was then at Rome, 
 had seen the principal of the Jews hard set, and 
 had earnestly entreated Agrippina, the emperor's 
 
 wife, to persuade her husband to hear the cause, 
 so as was agreeable to his justice, and to con- 
 demn those to be punished who were really the 
 authors of this revolt from the Roman govern- 
 ment : whereupon Claudius was so well disposed 
 beforehand, that when he had heard the cause, 
 and found that the Samaritans had been tho 
 ringleaders in those mischievous doings, he gave 
 order that those who came up to him should be 
 slain, and that Cumanus should be banished. 
 He also gave order that Celer the tribune should 
 be carried back to Jerusalem, and should be 
 drawn through the city in the sight of all the 
 people, and then should be slain. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 FELIX IS MADE PROCURATOR OF JUDEA; AS 
 ALSO CONCERNIHG AGRIPPA, JUNIOR, AND HI9 
 
 SISTERS. 
 
 1. So Claudius sent Felix, the brother of Pal- 
 las, to take care of the affairs of Judea; and, 
 when he had already completed the twelfth year 
 of his reign, he bestowed upon Agrippa the te- 
 trarchy of Philip, and Batanea, and added there- 
 to Trachonites, with Abila ; which last had been 
 the tetrarchy of Lysanius ; but he took from 
 him Chalcis, when he had been governor there- 
 of four years. And when Agrippa had received 
 these countries as the gift of Csesar, he gave his 
 sister Drusdla in marriage to Azizus, king of 
 Emesa, upon his consent to be circumcised ; for 
 Epipbanes, the son of king Antiochus, had re- 
 f'.eed to marry her, because, after he had pro- 
 mised her father formerly to come over to the 
 Jewish religion, he would not now perform that 
 promise. He also gave Mariamme in marriage 
 to Archelaus, the son of Helcias, to whom she 
 had formerly been betrothed by Agrippa her 
 father; from which marriage was derived a 
 daughter, whose name was Bernice. 
 
 2. But for the marriage of Drusilla with 
 Aaizus, it was in no long time afterward dis- 
 solved, upon the following occasion : "While 
 Felix was procurator of Judea, he saw this 
 Brasilia, and fell in love with her ; for she did 
 indeed exceed all other women in beauty ; and 
 he sent to her a person whose name was Simon,* 
 one of his friends ; a Jew he was, and by birth 
 a Cypriot, and one who pretended to be a magi- 
 cian ; and endeavoured to persuade her to for- 
 sake her present husband, and marry him ; and 
 promised, that if she would not refuse him, he 
 would make her a happy woman. Accordingly 
 she acted ill, and because she was desirous to 
 
 "avoid her sister Bernice's envy, for she was very 
 ill-treated by her on account of her beauty, was 
 prevailed upon to transgress the laws of her 
 forefathers, and to marry Felix ; and when he 
 had had a son by her, he named him Agrippa. 
 But after what manner that young man, with 
 his wife, perished at the conflagration of the 
 mountain Vesuvius, in the days of Titus Caesar, 
 shall be related hereafter, f 
 
 3. But as for Bernice, she lived a widow a 
 long while after the death of ELerod [king of 
 
 * This Simon, a friend of Felix, a Jew, born in Cy- 
 prus, though he pretended to be a magician, and seems 
 to have been wicked enough, could hardly be that 
 famous Simon the magician, in the Acts of the Apostles 
 (viii. 9, Ac.,) as some are ready to suppose. The 
 Simon mentioned in tho Acts was not properly a Jew, 
 but a Samaritan, of the town of GitUe, in the country 
 Of Samaria. 
 
 t This is now wanting.
 
 CHAP. VIII.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 421 
 
 Ghalcis,] who was both her husband and her 
 uncle. But, when the report went that she had 
 criminal conversation with her brother [Agrippa, 
 junior] she persuaded Polemo, who was king of 
 Cilicia, to be circumcised, and to marry her, 
 as supposing, that by this means she should 
 prove those calumnies upon her to be false ; and 
 Polemo was prevailed upon, and that chiefly on 
 account of her riches. Yet did not this matri- 
 mony endure long; but Bernice left Polemo, 
 and, as was said, with impure intentions. So 
 she forsook at once this matrimony, and the 
 Jewish religion : and at the same time, Mari- 
 amme put away Archelaus, and was married to 
 Demetrius, the principal man among the Alex- 
 andrian Jews, both for his family and his wealth; 
 and indeed he was then their alabarch. So she 
 named her son whom she had by him Agrip- 
 piuua. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 AFTER WHAT MANNER, UPON THE DEATH OF CLAU- 
 DIUS, NERO SUCCEEDED IN THE GOVERNMENT ; 
 AS ALSO WHAT BARBAROUS THINGS HE DID. 
 CONCERNING THE ROBBERS, MURDERERS, AND 
 IMPOSTORS, THAT AROSE WHILE FELIX AND 
 FESTUS WERE PROCURATORS OF JUDEA. 
 
 1. Now Claudius Caesar died when he had 
 reigned thirteen years, eight months, and twenty 
 days;* and a report went about that he was 
 poisoned by his wife Agrippina. Her father 
 was Germanicus, the brother of Caesar. Her 
 husband was Domitius jnobarbus, one of the 
 most illustrious persons that was in the city of 
 Rome; after whose death, and her long con- 
 tinuance in widowhood, Claudius took her to 
 wife. She brought along with her a son, Domi- 
 tius, of the same name with his father. He had 
 before this slain his wife Messalina, out of jea- 
 lousy, by whom he had his children Britannicus 
 and Octavia; their eldest sister was Antonia, 
 whom he had by Pelina his first wife. He also 
 married Octavia to Nero ; for that was the name' 
 that Caesar gave him afterward, upon his adopt- 
 ing him for his son. 
 
 2. But now Agrippina was afraid, lest when 
 Britannicus should come to man's estate, he 
 should succeed his father in the government, 
 and desired to seize upon the principality be- 
 forehand for her own sou [Nero :] upon which 
 the report went, that she thenc'e compassed 
 the death of Claudius. Accordingly she sent 
 Burrhus, the general of the army, immediately, 
 and with him the tribunes and such also of the 
 freed-men as were of the greatest authority, to 
 bring Nero away into the camp, and to salute 
 him emperor. And when Nero had thus ob- 
 tained the government, he got Britannicus to be 
 so poisoned, that the multitude should not per- 
 ceive it ; although he publicly put his own 
 mother to death not long afterward, making her 
 this requital, not only for being born of her, but 
 for bringing it so about by her contrivances, that 
 he obtained the Roman empire. He also slew 
 Octavia his own wife, and many other illustrious 
 persons, under this pretence, that they plotted 
 against him. 
 
 3. But I omit any further discourse about 
 these affairs ; for there have been a great many 
 
 * This duration of the reign of Claudius agrees with 
 Dio, as he also remarks that Nero's name, which was 
 at first L. Domitius ^nobarbus, after Claudius had 
 adopted him was Nero Claudius Caesar Urns us Ger- 
 Mnicu. 
 
 who have composed the history oi Nero ; some 
 of whom have departed from the truth of facts, 
 out of favour, as having received benefits from 
 him ; while others, out of hatred to him, have 
 so impudently raved against him with their lies, 
 that they justly deserved to be condemned. 
 Nor do I wonder at such as have* told lies of 
 Nero, since they have not in their writings pre- 
 served the truth of history as to those facts that 
 were earlier than his time, even when the actors 
 could have no way incurred their hatred, since 
 those writers lived a long time after them ; but ! 
 as to those that have no regard to truth, they 
 may write as they please, for in that they take 
 delight; but as to ourselves, who have made 
 truth our direct aim, we shall briefly touch upon 
 what only belongs remotely to this undertaking, 
 but shall relate what hath happened to us Jews 
 with great accuracy, and shall not grudge our 
 pains in giving an account both of the calamities 
 we have suffered and of the crimes we have been 
 guilty of. I will now therefore return to the 
 relation of our own affairs. 
 
 4. For in the first year of the reign of Nero, 
 upon the death of Azizus, king of Emesa, Soe- 
 mus, his brother, succeeded in his kingdom, 
 and Aristobulus, the son of Herod, king of 
 Chalcis, was intrusted by Nero with the govern- 
 ment of the Lesser Armenia. Caesar also be- 
 stowed on Agrippa a certain part of Galilee, 
 Tiberias and Tarichese,* and ordered them to 
 submit to his jurisdiction. He gave him also 
 Julia*, a city of Perea, with fourteen villages 
 taat lay about it. 
 
 5. Now, as for the affairs of the Jews, they 
 grew worse and worse continually; for the 
 country was again rilled with robbers and im- 
 postors, who deluded the multitude. Yet did 
 Felix catch and put to death many of those 
 impostors every day, together with the robbers. 
 He also caught Eleazar, the son of Dineus, who 
 had gotten together a company of robbers ; and 
 this he did by treachery ; for he gave him as- 
 suraiice that he should suffer no harm, and 
 thereby persuaded him to come to him ; but 
 when he came, he bound him and sent him to 
 Rome. Felix also bore an ill-will to Jonathan, 
 the high priest, because he frequently gave him 
 admonitions about governing the Jewish affairs 
 better than he did, lest he should himself have 
 complaints made of him by the multitude, since 
 he it was who had desired Caesar to send him as 
 procurator of Judea. So Felix contrived a 
 method whereby he might get rid of him, now 
 he was become so continually troublesome to 
 him ; for such continual admonitions are griev- 
 ous to those who are disposed to act unjustly. 
 "Wherefore Felix persuaded one of Jonathan's 
 most faithful friends, a citizen of Jerusalem,, 
 whose name was Doras, to bring the robbers 
 upon Jonathan, in order to kill him ; and this he 
 did by promising to give him a great deal of 
 money for so doing. Doras complied with the 
 proposal, and contrived matters so, that the 
 robbers might murder him after the following 
 manner : Certain of those robbers went up to 
 the city, as if they were going to worship God, 
 while they had daggers under their garments; 
 and, by thus mingling themselves among the 
 multitude, they slew Jonathan ;t aud as this 
 
 * This agrees with Josephus's frequent accounts else- 
 where in his own Life, that Tiberias, and Taricheae, and 
 Gamala, were under this Agrippa, junior, till Justus, 
 the son of Pistus, seized upon them foV Mie Jews, upon 
 the breaking out of the war. 
 
 f This treacherous and barbarous murder, by the 
 contrivance of Felix, was the immediate occasion of 
 the ensuing murders by tha rtoarfi or ruffians, and
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xx. 
 
 murder was never avenged, the robbers went 
 up with the greatest security at the festivals 
 after this time ; and having weapons concealed 
 in like manner as before, and mingling them- 
 selves among the multitude, they slew certain 
 of their own enemies, and were subservient to 
 other men for money ; and slew others not only 
 in remote parts of the city, but in the temple 
 itself also ; for they had the boldness to murder 
 men there, without thinking of the impiety of 
 which they were guilty. And this seems to me 
 to have been the reason why God, out of his 
 hatred to these men's wickedness, rejected our 
 city; and as for the temple, he no longer 
 esteemed it sufficiently pure for him to inhabit 
 therein, but brought the Romans upon us, and 
 threw a fire upon the city to purge it ; and 
 brought upon us, our wives, and children, 
 slavery, as desirous to make us wiser by our 
 calamities. 
 
 6. These works that were done by the robbers, 
 filled the city with all sorts of impiety. And 
 now these impostors and deceivers persuaded 
 the multitude to follow them into the wilder- 
 ness, and pretended that they would exhibit 
 manifest wonders and signs, that should be per- 
 formed by the providence of God. And many 
 that were prevailed on by them suffered the 
 punishment of their folly; for Felix brought 
 them back, and then punished them. More- 
 over, there came out of Egypt* about this time 
 to Jerusalem, one that said he was a prophet, 
 and advised the multitude of the common peo- 
 ple to go along with him to the mount of Olives, 
 as it was called, which lay over against the city, 
 and at the distance of five furlongs. He said 
 further, that he would shew them from hence, 
 how, at his command, the walls of Jerusalem 
 would fall down ; and he promised them that 
 he would procure them an entrance into the 
 city through those walls, when they were fallen 
 down. Now when Felix was informed of these 
 things, he ordered his soldiers to take their 
 weapons, and came against them with a great 
 number of horsemen and footmen, from Jeru- 
 salem, and attacked the Egyptian and the peo- 
 ple that were with him. He also slew four 
 hundred of them, and took two hundred alive. 
 But the Egyptian himself escaped out of the 
 
 on great cause of the following horrid cruelties and 
 miseries of the Jewish nation, as Josephus here sup- 
 poses. And since we are soon coming to the catalogue 
 of Jewish high priests, it may not be amiss to insert 
 this Jonathan among them ; and to transcribe his par- 
 ticular catalogue of the last twenty-eight high-priests, 
 and begin with Ananelus, who was made by Herod the 
 Great. 1. Ananelus. 2. Aristobulus. 3. Jesus, the 
 son of Fabus. 4. Simon, the son of Boethus. 6. 
 Marthias, the son of Theophilus. 6. Joazar, the son 
 of Boethus. 7. Eleazar, the son of Boethus. 8. Jesus, 
 the son of Sic. 9. [Annas, or] Ananus, the son of Seth 
 10. Ismael, the son of Fabus. 11. Eleazar, the son of 
 Ananus. 12. Simon, the son of Camithus. 13. Josephus 
 Caiaphas, the son-in-law to Ananus. 14. Jonathan, the 
 son of Ananus. 15. Theophilus, his brother, and son 
 of Ananus. 16. Simon the son of Boethus. 17. Mat- 
 thias, the brother of Jonathan, and son of Ananus. 
 18. Aljoneus. 19. Josephus, the son of Camydus. 2o'. 
 Ananias, the son of Nehedeus. 21. Jonathas. 22. 
 Ismael, the son of FaK fc3. Joseph Cabi, the son of 
 Simon. 24. Ananus, the son of Ananus. 25. Jesus 
 the son of Damneus. 26. Jesus, the son of Gamaliel! 
 7. Matthias, the son of Theophilus. 28. Phanias, the 
 son of Samuel Ananus and Joseph Caiaphas, men- 
 tioned about the middle of this catalogue, are no other 
 than those Anas and Caiaphas so often mentioned in 
 the Four Gospels; and Ananias, the son of Nebedeus* 
 was that high priest before whom 8t Paul pleaded his 
 own cause, (Acts xxiv.) 
 
 if this Egyptian impostor, and the number of his 
 followers in Josephus, see Acts xxi. 38. 
 
 fight, but did not appear any more. And agaia 
 the robbers stirred up the people to make war 
 with the Romans, and said they ough* not to 
 obey them at all ; and when any persons would 
 not comply with them, they Bet fire to theit 
 villages, and plundered them. 
 
 7. And now it was that a great sedition arose 
 netween the Jews that inhabited Cesarea, and 
 the Syrians who dwelt there also, concerning 
 their equal right to the privileges belonging to 
 citizens; for the Jews claimed the pre-eminence, 
 because Herod their king was the builder of 
 Cesarea, and because he was by birth a Jew. 
 Now the Syrians did not deny what was alleged 
 about Herod ; but they said that Cesarea was 
 formerly called Strato's Tower, and that then 
 there was not one Jewish inhabitant. When 
 the presidents of that country heard of these 
 disorders, they caught the authors of them on 
 both sides, and tormented them with stripes, 
 and by that means put a stop to the disturbance 
 for a time. But the Jewish citizens depending 
 on their wealth, and on that account despising 
 the Syrians, reproached them again, and hoped 
 to provoke them by such reproaches. However, 
 the Syrians, though they were inferior in wealth, 
 yet valuing themselves highly on this account, 
 that the greatest part of the Roman soldiers 
 that were there, were either of Cesarea or Se- 
 baste, they also for some time used reproachful 
 language to the Jews also ; and thus it was, till 
 at length they came to throwing stones at one 
 another ; and several were wounded, and fell on 
 both sides, though still the Jews were the con- 
 querors. But when Felix saw that this quarrel 
 was become a kind of war, he came upon them 
 on the sudden, and desired the Jews to desist ; 
 and when they refused so to do, he armed his 
 soldiers, and sent them out upon them, and 
 slew many of them, and took more of them 
 alive, and permitted his soldiers to plunder 
 some of the houses of the citizens, which were 
 full of riches. Now those Jews that were more 
 moderate, and of principal dignity among them, 
 were afraid of themselves, and desired of Felix 
 that he would sound a retreat to his soldiers, 
 and spare them for the future, and afford them 
 room for repentance for what they had done ; 
 and Felix was prevailed upon to do so. 
 
 8. About this time king Agrippa gave the 
 high priesthood to Ismael, who was the son of 
 Fabi. And now arose a sedition between the 
 high priests and the principal men of the multi- 
 tude of Jerusalem ; each of whom got them a 
 company of the boldest sort of men, and of those 
 that loved innovations, about them, and became 
 leaders to them ; and when they struggled toge- 
 ther, they did it by casting reproachful words 
 against one another, and by throwing stones 
 also. And there was nobody to reprove them ; 
 but these disorders were after a licentious man- 
 ner in the city, as if it had no government over 
 it. And such was the impudence * and boldness 
 that had seized on the high priests, that they 
 had the hardness to send their servants into the 
 thrashing-floors, to take away those tithes that 
 were due to the priests, insomuch that it so fell 
 out that the poorer sort of the priests died for 
 want. To this degree did the violence of the 
 seditious prevail over all right and justice. 
 
 9. Now, when Porcius Festus was sent as suc- 
 cessor to Felix by Nero, the principal of the 
 Jewish inhabitants at Cesarea went up to Rome 
 to accuse Felix; and he had certainly been 
 
 * The wickedness here was very peculiar and extra- 
 ordinary, that the high priests should so oppress thenr 
 brethren the priests, as to starve the poorest of them 
 to death.
 
 CHAP. IX.] 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 423 
 
 brought to punishment, unless Nero had yielded ' 
 to the importunate solicitations of his brother i 
 Pallas, who was at that time had in the greatest j 
 honour by him. Two of the principal Syrians i 
 in Cesarea persuaded Burrhus, who was Nero's 
 tutor, and secretary for his Greek epistles, by 
 giving him a great sum of money, to disannul 
 that equality of the Jewish privileges of citizens 
 which they hitherto enjoyed. So Burrhus, by 
 his solicitations, obtained leave of the emperor, 
 that an epistle should be written to that pur- 
 pose. This epistle became the occasion of the 
 following miseries that befell our nation ; for, 
 when the Jews of Cesarea were informed of the 
 contents of this epistle to the Syrians, they 
 were more disorderly than before, till a war was 
 kindled. 
 
 10. Upon Festus's coming into Judea, it hap- 
 pened that Judea was afflicted by the robbers, 
 while all the -villages were set on fire, and plun- 
 dered by them. And then it was that the 
 gicarii, as they were called, who were robbers, 
 grew numerous. They made use of small swords, 
 not much different in length from the Persian 
 acinacce, but somewhat crooked, and like the 
 Roman sicce, [or sickles,] as they were called; 
 and from these weapons these robbers got their 
 denomination ; and with chese weapons they slew 
 a great many ; for they mingled themselves among 
 the multitude at their festivals, when they were 
 come up in crowds from all parts to the city to 
 worship God, as we said before, and easily slew 
 those that they had a mind to slay. They also 
 came frequently upon the villages belonging to 
 their enemies, with their weapons, and plun- 
 dered them, and set them on fire. So Festns 
 sent forces, both horsemen and footmen, to fall 
 upon those that had been seduced by a certain 
 impostor, who promised them deliverance and 
 freedom from the miseries they were under, if 
 they would but follow him as far as the wilder- 
 ness. Accordingly those forces that were sent 
 destroyed both him that had deluded them and 
 those that were his followers also. 
 
 11. About the same time king Agrippa built 
 himself a very large dining-room in the royal 
 palace at Jerusalem, near to the portico. Now 
 this palace had been erected of old by the chil- 
 dren of Asamoneus, and was situate upon an 
 elevation, and afforded a most delightful pros- 
 pect to those that had a mind to take a view of 
 the city* which prospect was desired by the king ; 
 and there he could Lie down, and eat, and thence 
 observe what was done in the temple ; which 
 thing, when the chief men at Jerusalem saw, 
 they were very much displeased at it; for it 
 was not agreeable to the institutions of our 
 country or law that what was done in the tem- 
 ple should be viewed by others, especially what 
 belonged to the sacrifices. They therefore erect- 
 ed a wall upon the uppermost building which 
 belonged to the inner court of the temple 
 towards the west ; which wall, when it was 
 built, did not only intercept the prospect of the 
 dining-room in the palace, but also of the 
 western cloisters that belonged to the outer 
 court of the temple also, where it was that the 
 Romans kept guards for the temple at the festi- 
 vals. At these doings both kiug Agrippa and 
 principally Festus the procurator, were much 
 displeased; and Festus ordered them to pull 
 the wall down again : but the Jews petitioned 
 him to give them leave to send an embassage 
 about this matter to Nero ; for they said they 
 could not endure to live if any part of the tem- 
 ple should be demolished ; and when Festus had 
 given them leave so to do, they sent ten of their 
 principal men to Nero, as also Ismael the high 
 
 priest, and Helcias, the keeper of the sacred 
 treasure. And when Nero had heard what they 
 had to say, he not only forgave* them what 
 they had already done, but also gave them leave 
 to let the wall they had built stand. This was 
 granted in order to gratify Poppea, Nero's wiie, 
 who was a religious woman, and had requested 
 these favours of Nero, and who gave orders to 
 the ten ambassadors to go their way home ; but 
 retained Helcias and Ismael as hostages with 
 herself. As soon as the king heard this news, 
 he gave the high priesthood to Joseph, who was 
 called Oabi, the sou of Simon, formerly high 
 priest. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 CONCERNING ALBESTJS, UNDER WHOSE PROCUH- 
 ATORSHIP JAMES WAS SLAIN; AS ALSO WHAT 
 EDIFICES WERE BUILT BY AGRIPPA. 
 
 1. AND now Caesar, upon hearing of the death 
 of Festus, sent Albinus into Judea as procurator; 
 but the king deprived Joseph of the high priest- 
 hood, and bestowed the succession to that dig- 
 nity on the son of Ananus, who was also him- 
 self called Ananus. Now the report goes, that 
 this elder Ananus proved a most fortunate man ; 
 for he had five sons, who had all performed the 
 office of a high priest to God, and he had him- 
 self enjoyed that dignity a long time formerly, 
 which had never happened to any other of our 
 high priests ; but this younger Ananus, who, as 
 we have told you already, took the high priest- 
 hood, was a bold man in his temper, and very 
 insolent; he was also of the sect of the Saddu- 
 cees,t who were very rigid in judging offenders, 
 above all the rest of the Jews, as we have al- 
 ready observed ; when, therefore, Ananus was 
 of this disposition, he thought he had now a 
 proper opportunity [to exercise his authority.] 
 Festus was now dead, and Albinus was but 
 upon the road ; so he assembled the sanhedrim 
 of the judges, and brought before them the bro- 
 ther of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose 
 name was James, and some others, [or some of 
 his companions ;] and when he had formed an 
 accusation against them as breakers of the law, 
 he delivered them to be stoned : but as for those 
 who seemed the most equitable of the citizens, 
 and such as were the most uneasy at the breach 
 of the laws, they disliked what was done ; they 
 also sent to the king [Agrippa,] desiring him to 
 send to Ananus that he should act so no more, 
 for that what he had already done was not to be 
 justified : nay, some of them went also to meet 
 Albinus, as he was upon his journey from Alex- 
 andria, and informed him that it was not lawful 
 for Ananus to assemble a sanhedrim without his 
 consent:* whereupon Albinus complied with 
 
 * We have here an eminent example of Nero's mild- 
 ness and goodness in his government towards the Jews, 
 during the first five years of his reign. However, this 
 generous act of kindness was obtained of Nero by his 
 queen Poppea, who was a religious lady, and perhaps 
 privately a Jewish proselyte, and so were not owing 
 entirely to Nero's own goodness. 
 
 t It hence evidently appears that Sadclucees might 
 be high priests in the days of Josephus, and that these 
 Sadducees were usually very severe and inexorable 
 judges, while the Pharisees were much milder, and 
 mere merciful. 
 
 { The sanhedrim condemned our Saviour, but could 
 not j>ut him to death without the approbation of the 
 Roman procurator; nor could therefore Ananias, and 
 his sanhedrim do more here, since they never had Al- 
 liinus'g approbation lor the putting of James to death.
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF Tlui JJiWS. 
 
 [BOOK xx. 
 
 what they had said, and wrote in anger to Aii- 
 inus, and threatened that he would bring him 
 fco punishment for what he had done ; on which 
 king Agrippa took the high priesthood from 
 him, when he had ruled but three months, and 
 made Jesus, the sou of Danmeus, high priesi 
 
 2. Now, as soon as Albinus was come to tl.d 
 city of Jerusalem, he used all his endeavours 
 and care that the country might be kept in peace, 
 and this by destroying many of the sicarii; but 
 as for the high priest Ananias,* he increased in 
 glory every day, and this to a great degree, and 
 had obtained the favour and esteem of the citi- 
 zens in a signal manner; for he was a great 
 hoarder up of money : he therefore cultivated 
 the friendship of Albinus, and of the high priest 
 [Jesus,] by making them presents ; he also had 
 servants who were very wicked, who joined 
 themselves to the boldest sort of the people, and 
 went to the thrashing-floors, and took away the 
 tithes that belonged to the priests by violence, 
 and did not refrain from beating such as would 
 not give these tithes to them. So the other 
 high priests acted in the like manner, as did 
 those his servants, without any one being able 
 to prohibit them ; so that [some of the] priests, 
 that of old were wont to be supported v.ith 
 those tithes, died for want of food. 
 
 3. But now the sicarii went into thfl cltj by 
 night, just before the festival, which ws now 
 at hand, and took the scribe belonging to the 
 governor of the temple, whose name was Elea- 
 zar, who was the son of Ananus (Ananias) the 
 high priest, and bound him, and carried him 
 away with them ; after which they sent to An- 
 anias, and said that they would send the scribe 
 to him, if he would persuade Albinus to release 
 ten of those prisoners which he had caught of 
 their party ; so Ananias was plainly forced to 
 persuade Albinus, and gained his request of him. 
 This was the beginning of greater calamities; for 
 the robbers perpetually contrived to catch some 
 of Ananias's servants ; and when they had taken 
 them alive,, they would not let them go till they 
 thereby recovered some ol their own sicarii ; 
 Mid as they were again become no small nuia- 
 ber, they grew bold, and were a great afflictioo 
 to the whole country. 
 
 4. About this time it was that Agrippa built 
 Cesarea Philippi larger than ib was before, and, 
 in honour of Nero, named it Neronias ; and 
 when he had built a theatre at Berytus, witb 
 vast expenses, he bestowed on them shows, to 
 be exhibited every year, and spent therein many 
 ten thousand [drachma ;] he also gave the people 
 a largess of corn, and distributed oil among them, 
 and adorned the entire city with statues of his 
 own donation, and with original images made by 
 ancient hands ; nay, he almost transferred all 
 that was most ornamental in his own kingdom 
 thither. This made him more than ordinarily 
 hated by his subjects ; because he took those 
 things away that belonged to them, to adorn a 
 foreign city ; and now Jesus the son of Gamaliel 
 became the successor of Jesus, the son of Dam- 
 neus, in the high priesthood, which the king had 
 taken from the other ; on which account a sedi- 
 tion arose between the high priests, with regard 
 to one another ; for they got together bodies of 
 the people, and frequently came, from reproaches, 
 to throwing of stones at each other ; but Ananias 
 was too hard for the rest, by his riches, which 
 enabled him to ain those that were the most 
 ready to receive. Costobarus, also, and Saulus, 
 
 * Thig Ananias was not the son of Nebedeus, aa I 
 take it, but he who was called Annas, or Ananms the 
 Flder, the ninth in the catalogue, and who hid been 
 tatoetiied high Driest lor a long time. 
 
 did themselves get together a multitude of 
 wicked wretches, and thia because they were of 
 the royal family ; and so they obtained favour 
 among them, because of their kindred to Agrip- 
 pa : but still they used violence with the people, 
 and were very ready to plunder those that were 
 weaker than themselves. And from that time 
 it principally came to pass, that our city was 
 trreatly disordered, and that all things grew 
 worse and worse among us. 
 
 5. But when Albinus heard that Gessius 
 Floras was coming to succeed him, he was de- 
 sirous to appear to do somewhat that might be 
 grateful to the people of Jerusalem : so he 
 brought out all those prisoners who seemed to 
 him to be the most plainly worthy of death, and 
 ordered them to be put to death accordingly. 
 But as to those who had been put into prison on 
 aome trifling occasion, he took money of them, 
 
 I and dismissed them ; by which means the pri- 
 : *ons were indeed emptied, but the country was 
 j iilled with robbers. 
 
 6. Now, as many of the Levites,t which is a 
 i tribe of ours, as were singers of hymns, per- 
 suaded the king to assemble a sanhedrim, and 
 to give them leave to wear linen garments as 
 well as the priests: for they said this would be 
 a work worthy the times of his government, 
 that he might have a memorial of such a novelty, 
 as being his doing. Nor did they fail of obtain- 
 ing their desire ; for the king, with the suffrages 
 of those that came into the sanhedrim, granted 
 the singers of hymns this privilege, that they 
 might lay aside their former garments, and wear 
 such a linen or.e as they desired ; and as a part 
 of this tribe ministered in the temple, he also 
 permitted them to learii those hymns as they 
 Iiad besought him for. Now all this was con- 
 trary to the laws of our country, which when- 
 ever they have been transgressed, we have nevei 
 been able to avoid the punishment of such trans- 
 gressions. 
 
 7. And now it was that the temple was fin- 
 ished. So, when the people saw taat the work- 
 men were unemployed, who were above eighteen 
 thousand, and that they, receiving no wages, 
 were in want, because they had earned their 
 Dread by their labours about the temple ; and 
 while they were unwilling to keep them by their 
 f-reasuries that were there deposited, out of fear 
 of [their being carried away by] the Romans ; 
 and while they had a regard to the making pro- 
 vision for the workmen, they had a mind to ex- 
 pend those treasures upon them ; for if any one 
 of them did but labour for a single hour, he re- 
 ceived his pay immediately ; so they persuaded 
 him to rebuild the eastern cloisters. These 
 cloisters belonged to the outer court, and were 
 situated in a deep valley, and had walls that 
 reached four hundred cubits [in length,] and 
 were built of square and very white stones, the 
 length of each of which stones was twenty cubits, 
 and their height six cubits. This was the work 
 of king Solomon, who first of all built the entire 
 temple. But king Agrippa, who had the care of 
 the temple committed to him by Claudius Caesar, 
 considered that it is easy to demolish any build- 
 ing, but hard to build it up again, and that it 
 was particularly hard to do it to ^hos* cloisters, 
 whicn would require a considerable \irne, and 
 great sums of money, he denied the petitioners 
 their request about that matter ; but he did not 
 obstruct them when they desired the city might 
 
 t This insolent petition of some of the Levites, tn 
 ffuir the sacerdotal garments when they sung hymna 
 jo God in the temple, was very probably owing to the 
 great depression and contempt the haughty high priest; 
 ...... brought their brethren the uriests into.
 
 CHAP. X.J 
 
 ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS. 
 
 425 
 
 be paved with white stone. He also deprived 
 Jesus, the son of Gamaliel, of the high priest- 
 hood, and gave it to Matthias, the son of Theo- 
 philus, under whom the Jews' war with the 
 Romans took its beginning. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 AN EMJMEBATION OF THE HIGH PRIESTS. 
 
 1. AND now I think it proper and agreeable 
 to history to give an account of our high priests ; 
 how they began, who those are which are ca- 
 pable of that dignity, and how many of them 
 there had been at the end of the war. In the 
 first place, therefore, history informs us that 
 Aaron, the brother of Moses, officiated to God 
 as a high priest ; and that, after his death, his 
 sons succeeded him immediately ; and that this 
 dignity hath been continued down from them 
 all to their posterity. "Whence it is a custom of 
 our country, that no one should take the high 
 priesthood of God but he who is of the blood of 
 Aaron, while every one that is of another stock, 
 though he were a king, can never obtain that 
 high priesthood. Accordingly, the number of 
 all the high priests from Aaron, of whom we 
 bave already spoken as the first of them, until 
 Phanas, who was made high priest during the 
 war by the seditious, was eighty -three ; of whom 
 thirteen officiated as high priests in the wilder- 
 ness, from the days of Moses, while the taber- 
 nacle was standing, until the people came into 
 Judea, when king Solomon erected the temple 
 to God ; for at first they held the high priesthood 
 till the end of their life, although afterward 
 they had successors while they were alive. Now 
 these thirteen, who were the descendants of two 
 of the sons of Aaron, received this dignity by 
 succession, one after another ; for their form of 
 government was an aristocracy, and after that a 
 monarchy, and in the third place the govern- 
 ment was regal. Now, the number of years dur- 
 ing the rule of these thirteen, from the days 
 when our fathers departed out of Egypt, under 
 Moses their leader, until the building of that 
 temple which king Solomon erected at Jerusa- 
 lem, was six hundred and twelve, After those 
 thirteen high priests, eighteen took the high 
 priesthood at Jerusalem, one in succession to 
 another, from the days of king Solomon until 
 Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, made an 
 expedition against that ciiy, and burnt the 
 temple, and removed our nation into Babylon, 
 and then took Josadek, the high priest, captive ; 
 the time of these high priests were four hundred 
 and sixty-six years, six months, and ten days, 
 while the Jews were still under the regal govern- 
 ment. But after the term of seventy years' 
 captivity under the Babylonians, Cyrus king of 
 Persia, sent the Jews from Babylon to their own 
 land again, and gave them leave to rebuild their 
 temple ; at which time Jeaus, the son of Josadek, 
 took the high priesthood over the captives when 
 they were returned home. Now he and his pos- 
 terity, who were in all fifteen, unto king Antio- 
 chus Eupator, were under a democratical govern- 
 ment for four hundred and fourteen years ; and 
 then the forementioned Antiochus and Lysias 
 the general of his army, deprived Onias, who 
 was cidled Menclaus, of the high priesthood, and 
 slew him at Berea ; and driving away the son [of 
 Onias the third,] put Jacimus into the high 
 oriest's place, one that was indeed of the stock 
 of Aaron, but not of the family of Onias. On 
 which account Onias, who waa the nephew of 
 
 Onias that was dead, and bore the same name 
 with his father, came into Egypt, and got into 
 the friendship of Ptoltmy I'hilometor, and Cleo- 
 patra his wife, and persuaded them to make him 
 the high priest of that temple which he built to 
 God in the prefecture of Heliopolis, and this in 
 imitation of that at Jerusalem ; but as for the 
 temple which was built in Egypt, we have spoken 
 of it frequently already. Now when Jacimus 
 had retained the priesthood three years, ho 
 died, and there was no one that succeeded him, 
 but the city continued seven years without a 
 high priest. But then the posterity of the sons 
 "f Asamoneus, who had the government of the 
 nation conferred upon them when they had 
 beaten the Macedonians in war, appointed Jona- 
 than to be their high priest, who ruled over 
 them seven years. And when he had been slain 
 by the treacherous contrivance of Trypho, as we 
 have related somewhere, Simon his brother took 
 the high priesthood ; and when he was destroyed 
 at a feast by the treachery of his son-in-law, his 
 own son, whose name was Hyrcanus, succeeded 
 him, after he had held the high priesthood one 
 year longer than his brother. This Hyrcanus 
 enjoyed that dignity thirty years, and died an 
 old man, leaving the succession to Judas, who 
 was also called Aristobulus, whose brother 
 Alexander was his heir ; which Judas died of a 
 sore distemper, after he had kept the priest- 
 hood, together with the royal authority ; for 
 this Judas was the first that put on his head a 
 diadem for one year. And when Alexander 
 had been both king and high priest twenty- 
 seven years, he departed this life, and permitted 
 his wife Alexandra to appoint him that should 
 be high priest ; so she gave the high priesthood 
 to Hyrcanus, but retained the kingdom herself 
 nine years, and then departed this life. The 
 like duration [and no longer] did her son Hyr- 
 canus enjoy the high priesthood ; for after her 
 death his brother Aristobulus fought against 
 him, and beat and deprived him of his princi- 
 pality ; and he did himself both reign and pe-- 
 form the office of high priest to God. But when 
 he had reigned three years, and as many months, 
 Pompey came upon him, and not only took the 
 city of Jerusalem by force, but put him and his 
 children in bonds, and sent them to Rome. He 
 also restored the high priesthood to Hyrcanus, 
 and made him governor of the nation, but for- 
 bade him to wear a diadem. This Hyrcanus 
 ruled, besides his first nine years, twenty-four 
 : years more, when Barzapharnes and Pacorus, 
 | the generals of the Parthians, passed over Euph- 
 rates, and fought with Hyrcanus, and took him 
 alive, and made Antigonus, the son of Aristo- 
 i lulus, king; and when he had reigned three 
 ! years and three months, Sosius and Herod be- 
 sieged him, and took him, when Antony had 
 him brought to Antioch, and slain there. Herod 
 was then made king by the Romans, but did no 
 longer appoint high priests out of the family of 
 Asamoneus ; but made certain men to be so 
 that were of no eminent families, but barely of 
 those that were priests, excepting that he gave 
 that dignity to Aristobulus ; for when he had 
 made this Aristobulus, the grandson of that 
 Hyrcanus who was then taken by the Parthians, 
 and had taken his sister Mariamme to wife, ha 
 thereby aimed to win the good-will of the 
 people, who had a kind remembrance of Hyr- 
 canus, [his grandfather.] Yet did he afterward, 
 out of his fear lest they should all bend their 
 inclinations to Aristobulus, put bun to death, 
 and that by contriving how to have him suffo- 
 cated, as he was swimming at Jericho, as we 
 have already related that matter ; but after this
 
 42G 
 
 ANTIQUITIES >j* THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK xx. 
 
 man, lie never intrusted the high priesthood to 
 the posterity of the sons of Asamoneus. Arche- 
 laus also, Herod's son, did like his father in the 
 appointment of the high priests, as did the 
 Romans algo, who took the government over the 
 Jews into their hands afterward. Accordingly, 
 the number of the high priests, from the days 
 of Herod until the day when Titus took the 
 temple and the city, and burnt them, were in 
 all twenty -eight ; the time also that belonged to 
 them was a hundred and seven years. Some of 
 these were the political governors of the people 
 under the reign of Herod, and under the reign 
 of Archelaus his son, although, after their death, 
 the government became an aristocracy, and the 
 high priests were intrusted with a dominion 
 over the nation. And thus much may suffice to 
 be said concerning our high priests. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 CONCERNING PLORU8 THE PHOCURATOh, WHO 
 NECESSITATED THE JEWS TO TAKE UP ARMS 
 AGAINST THE ROMANS. THE CONCLUSION. 
 
 L Now Gessius Florus, who was sent as suc- 
 cessor to Albinus by Nero, filled Judea with 
 abundance of miseries. He was by birth of the 
 city of Clazomense, and brought along with him 
 his wife Cleopatra, (by whose friendship with 
 Poppea, Nero's wife, he obtained this govern- 
 ment,) who was no way different from him in 
 wickedness. This Florus was so wicked, and so 
 violent in the use of his authority, that the Jews 
 took Albinus to have been [comparatively] their 
 benefactor ; so excessive were the mischiefs that 
 he brought upon them. For Albinus concealed 
 his wickedness, and was careful that it might 
 net be discovered to all men ; but Gessius 
 Florus, as though he had becij sent on purpose 
 to shew his crimes to everybody, made a pom- 
 pous ostentation of them to our nation, aa never 
 omitting any sort of violence, nor any unjust 
 sort of punishment ; for he was not to be moved 
 by pity> and never was satisfied with any degree 
 of gain that came in his way ; nor had he any 
 more regard to great than to small acquisitions, 
 but became a partner with the robbers them- 
 selves ; for a great many fell then into that 
 practice without fear, as having him for their 
 security, and depending on him, that he would 
 save them harmless in their particular robberies ; 
 so that there were no bounds set to the nation's 
 miseries; but the unhappy Jews, when they 
 were not able to bear the devastations which the 
 robbers made among them, were all under a 
 necessity of leaving their own habitations, and of 
 flying away, as hoping to dwell more easily any- 
 where else in the world among foreigners [than 
 in their own country.] And what need I say 
 any more upon this head? since it was this 
 Florus who necessitated us to take up arms 
 against the Romans, while we thought it better 
 to be destroyed at once, than by little and little. 
 Now this war began in the second year of the 
 government of Flor-is, and the twelfth year of 
 the reign of Naro. But then what actions we 
 were forced to do, or what miseries we were 
 enabled to suffer, may bo accurately known by 
 such as will peruse those books which I have 
 written about the Jewish war. 
 
 2. I shall now, therefore, make an end here of 
 my Antiquities ; after the conclusion of which 
 events, I began to write that account of the war ; 
 and these Antiquities contain what hath been 
 delivered down to us from the original creation 
 of man, until the twelfth year of the reign of 
 Nero, as to what hath befallen the Jews, aa well 
 in Egypt as in Syria, and in Palestine, and what 
 we have suffered from the Assyrians and Baby- 
 lonians, and what afflictions the Persians and 
 Macedonians, and after them the Romans, have 
 brought upon us ; for I think I may say that I 
 have composed this history with sufficient ac- 
 curacy in all things. I have attempted to 
 enumerate those high priests that we have had 
 daring the interval of two thousand years ; I 
 have also carried down the succession of our 
 kings, and related their actions, and political 
 administration, without [considerable] errors, as 
 also the power of our monarchs ; and all accord- 
 ing to what is written in our sacred books ; for 
 this it was that I promised to do in the begin- 
 ning of this history. And I am so bold as to say, 
 now I have so completely perfected the work 1 
 proposed to myself to do, that no other person, 
 whether he were a Jew or a foreigner, had he 
 ever so great an inclination to it, could so accur- 
 ately deliver these accounts to the Greeks as is 
 done in these books. For those of my own 
 nation freely acknowledge that I far exceed 
 them in the learning belonging to the Jews ; I 
 have also taken a great deal of pains to obtain 
 the learning of the Greeks, and understand the 
 elements of the Greek language, although I have 
 so long accustomed myself to speak our own 
 tongue, that I cannot pronounce Greek with 
 sufficient exactness : for our nation does not en- 
 courage those that learn the languages of many 
 nations, and so adorn their discourses with tho 
 smoothness of their periods ; because they look 
 upon this sort of accomplishment as common, 
 not only to all sorts of freemen, but to as many 
 of the servants as please to learn them. But 
 they give him the testimony of being a wise 
 man who is full}' acquainted with our laws, and 
 is able to interpret their meaning ; on which 
 account, as there have been many who have 
 done their endeavours with great patience to ob- 
 tain this learning, there have yet hardly been BO 
 many as two or three that have succeeded 
 therein, who were immediately well rewarded 
 for their pains. 
 
 3. And now it wiH not be perhaps an invidi- 
 ous thing if I treat briefly of my own family, 
 ] and of the actions of my own life,* while there 
 are still living such as can either prove what I 
 say to be false, or can attest that it is true ; with 
 which accounts I shall put an end to these Anti- 
 quities, which are contained in twenty books, 
 and sixty thousand verses. And if God permit 
 me, I will briefly run over this war again, with 
 what befell us therein to this very day, -which is 
 the thirteenth year of the reign of Caesar Domi- 
 tian, and the fifty-sixth of my own lifa. L have 
 also an intention to write three books concerning 
 our Jewish opinions about God and his essence, 
 and about our laws ; why, according to them, 
 
 some tilings are permitted us to do, and others 
 are prohibited. 
 
 * The Life here referred to, will be found Ot the bo 
 ginning of the Volume
 
 THE WARS OF THE JEWS; 
 
 OB. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE DESiRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 1 1. *WnEREA3 the war whicli the Jews made 
 with the Romans hath been the greatest of all 
 those, not only that have been in our times, but, 
 in a manner, of those that ever were heard of ; 
 both of \hose wherein cities have fought against 
 cities, or nations against nations ; while some 
 men who were not concerned in the affair them- 
 selves, have gotten together vain and contra- 
 dictory stories by hearsay, and have written 
 them down after a sophistical manner ; and 
 while those that were there present have given 
 false accounts of things, and this either out of a 
 humour of flattery to the Romans, or of hatred 
 to the Jews ; and while their writings contain 
 sometimes accusations, and sometimes encomi- 
 ums, but nowhere the accurate truth of the 
 facts, I have proposed to myself, for the sake of 
 such as live under the government of the Ro- 
 mans, to translate those books into the Greek 
 tongue, which I formerly composed in the Ian 
 guage of our own country, and sent to the Uppe; 
 Barbarians ;( I Joseph, the son of Matthias, by 
 birth a Hebrew, a priest also, and one who at 
 first fought against the Romans myself, and was 
 forced to be present at what was done afterwards, 
 [am the author of this work.] 
 
 2. Now at the time when this great concussion 
 of affairs happened, the affairs of the Romans 
 themselves were in great disorder. Those Jews 
 also, who were for innovations, then arose when 
 the times were disturbed ; they were also in a 
 flourishing condition for strength and riches, in- 
 somuch that the affairs of the east were exceed 
 ing tumultuous, while some hoped for gain, and 
 
 * I have already observed that this history of the 
 Jewibh War was Josephus's first work, and published 
 about A.D. 75, when he was but thirty-eight years of 
 age ; and that when he wrote it, he was not thoroughly 
 acquainted with several circumstances of history from 
 the days of Antiochus Epiphanes, with which it begins, 
 till near his own times, contained in the first and 
 former part of the second book, and so committed 
 many involuntary errors therein : that he published 
 his Antiquities eighteen years afterward, In the 13th 
 year of Domitian. A.B. 93, when he was much more 
 completely acquainted with those ancient times, and 
 after he had perused those most ancient histories, the 
 first book of Maccabees, and the Chronicles of the 
 Priesthood of John Hyrcanns, Ac. : that accordingly 
 he then reviewed those parts of this work, and gave 
 the public a more faithful, complete, and accurate 
 account of the facts therein related ; and honestly cor- 
 rected the errors he had before run into 
 
 t These Upper Barbarians were the farthians and 
 Babylonians, and remotest Arabians, [or the Jews 
 among them;] besides the Jew* beyond Euphrat and 
 the Adiobeni, or Assyrian;;. 
 
 others were afraid cf Ices it euch troubles ; for 
 the Jews hoped that all of their nation which 
 were beyond Euphrates would have raised an 
 insurrection together with them. The Gauls 
 also, in the neighbourhood of the Romans, were 
 in motion, and the Celt* were not quiet ; but 
 all was in disorder after the death of Nero. And 
 the opportunity now offered induced many to 
 nm at the royal power : and the soldiery affected 
 ihange, out of the hopes of getting money. I 
 thought it therefore an absurd thing to see the 
 truth falsified in affairs of such great conse- 
 }uence, and to take no notice of it ; but to suf- 
 fer those Greeks- and Romans that were not in 
 the wars to be ignorant of these things, and to 
 read either flatteries or fictions, while the Par- 
 tlmus, and the Babylonians, and the remotest 
 j Arabians, and of those our nation beyond Euphra- 
 I tes, with the Adiabeni, by my means, knew ac- 
 i curutely both when the war begun, what mise- 
 I ties it brought upon us, and after what manner 
 1 it ended. 
 
 3. It is true, these writers have the confidence 
 1 lt> call their accounts histories ; wherein yet 
 they seem to me to fail of their own purpose, as 
 : well as to relate nothing that is sound ; for they 
 have a mind to demonstrate the greatness of the 
 Romans, while they still dimmish and lessen 
 the actions of the Jews, as not discerning how 
 it cannot be that those must appear to be great 
 who have only conquered those that were little ; 
 nor are they ashamed to overlook the length of 
 the war, the multitude of the Roman forces which 
 so greatly suffered in it, or the might of the 
 commanders, whose great labours about Jeru- 
 salem will be deemed inglorious if what *--hey 
 achieved be reckoned but a small matter. 
 
 1. However, I will not go to the other ex- 
 treme, out of opposition to those men who extol 
 the Romans, nor will I determine to raise the 
 actions of my countrymen too high ; but I will 
 prosecute the actions of both parties with accu- 
 racy. Yet shall I suit my language to the pas- 
 sions I am under, as to the affairs I describe, 
 and must be allowed to indulge some lamenta- 
 tions upon the miseries undergone by my own 
 country ; for that it was a seditious temper of 
 our own that destroyed it ; and that they were 
 the tyrants among the Jews who brought the 
 Roman power upon ns, who unwillingly attacked 
 us, and occasioned the burning of our holy 
 temple ; Titus Csesar, who destroyed it, is him- 
 self a witness, who, during the entire war, pitied 
 the people who were kept under by the seditious, 
 uul did often voluntaiily delay the taking of
 
 128 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 the city, and allowed time to the siege, in order 
 to let the authors have opportunity for repent- 
 ance. But if any one makes an unjust accusa- 
 tion against us, when we speak so passionately 
 about the tyrants, or the robbers, or sorely be- 
 wail the misfortunes of our country, let him in- 
 dulge our affections herein, thoiigh it be con- 
 trary to the rules for writing history ; because 
 it had so come to pass, that our city Jerusalem 
 had arrived at a higher degree of felicity than 
 any other city under the Roman government, 
 and yet at last fell into the sorest calamities 
 again. Accordingly it appears to me, that the 
 misfortunes of all men, from the beginning of 
 the world, if they be compared to these of the 
 Jews,* are not so considerable as they were; 
 while the authors of them were not foreigners 
 neither. This makes it impossible for me to 
 contain my lamentations. But, if any one be 
 inflexible in his censures of me, let him attri- 
 bute the facts themselves to the historical part, 
 and the lamentations to the writer himself only. 
 
 5. However, I may justly blame the learned 
 men among the Greeks, who, when such great 
 actions have been done in their own times, 
 which, upon the comparison, quite eclipse the 
 old wars, do yet sit as judges of those affairs, 
 and pass bitter censures upon the labours of the 
 best writers of antiquity ; which moderns, al- 
 though they may be superior to the old writers 
 in eloquence, yet are they inferior to them ir 
 the execution of what they intended to do 
 While these also write new histories about the 
 Assyrians and Medes, as if the ancient writers 
 Lad not described their affairs as they ought to 
 have done ; although these be as far inferior to 
 them in abilities as they are different in their 
 notions from them ; for of old, every one took 
 upon them to write what happened in his own 
 time; where their immediate concern in the 
 actions made their promises of value ; and where 
 it must be reproachful to write lies, when they 
 must be known by the reader to be such. But 
 then, an undertaking to preserve the memory of 
 what hath net been before recorded, and to re- 
 present the affairs of one's own time to those 
 that come afterwards, is really worthy of praise 
 and commendation. Now, he is to be esteemed 
 to have taken good pains in earnest, not who 
 does no more than change the disposition and 
 order of other men's works, but he who not only 
 relates what had not been related before, but 
 composes an entire body of history of his own : 
 accordingly, I have been at great charges, and 
 have taken very great pains, [about this history,] 
 though I be a foreigner; and do dedicate this 
 work, as a memorial of great actions both to 
 the Greeks and to the Barbarians. But, for 
 some of our own principal men, their mouths 
 are wide open, and their tongues loosed pres- 
 ently, for gain and law-suits, but quite muzzled 
 up when they are to write history, where they 
 most speak truth and gather facts together with 
 a great deal of pains; and so they leave the 
 writing of such histories to weaker people, and 
 to such as are not acquainted with the actions 
 of princes. Yet shall the real truth of historical 
 facts be preferred by us, how much soever it be 
 neglected among the Greek historians. 
 
 6. To write concerning the Antiquities of the 
 Jews, who they were [originally,] and how they 
 revolted from the Egyptians, and what country 
 
 * That these calamities of the Jews, who were our 
 Saviour's murderers, were to be the greatest that had 
 ever been since the beginning of the world, our Saviour 
 had directly foretjld, (Matt. xxiv. 21; Mark xiii. 19; 
 Luke xxi. 23, 24 .) and that they proved to be such ac- 
 "ordingly, Josephus is here a most authentic witness. 
 
 they travelled over, and what countries they 
 seized upon afterward, and how they were re- 
 moved out of them, I think this not to be a fit 
 opportunity, and, on other accounts, also super- 
 fluous ; and this because many Jews before me 
 have composed the histories of our ancestors 
 very exactly ; as have some of the Greeks done 
 it also, and have translated our histories into 
 their own tongue, and have not much mistaken 
 the truth in their histories. But then, where 
 the writers of these affairs and our prophets 
 leave off, thence shall I take my rise, and begin 
 my history. Now, as to what concerns that war 
 which happened in my own time, I will go over 
 it very largely, and with all the diligence I am 
 able ; but for what preceded mine own age, 
 that I shall run over briefly. 
 
 7. [For example, I shall relate] how Antio- 
 chus, who was named Epiphanes, took Jerusa- 
 lem by force, and held it three years and three 
 months, and was then ejected out of the country 
 by the sons of Asamoneus : after that, how their 
 posterity quarrelled about the government, and 
 brought upon their settlement the Romans and 
 Pompey ; how Herod also, the son of Antipater, 
 dissolved their government, and brought Socius 
 upon them ; as also how our people made a se- 
 dition upon Herod's death, while Augustus was 
 tne iloman empepor, and Quintilius Varus was 
 a that country ; and how the war broke out in 
 the twelfth year of Nero, with what happened 
 to Cestius ; and what places the Jews assaulted 
 in a b'^tile manner in the first sallies of the 
 
 8. A* also [I shall relate] how they built walls 
 about the neighbouring cities ; and how Nero, 
 upon Cestius's defeat, was in fear of the entire 
 event of the war, and thereupon made Vespasian 
 general in this war ; and how this Vespasian, 
 with the elder of his sons, t made an expedition 
 into the country of Judea ; what was the num- 
 ber of the Roman army that he made use of; 
 and how many of his auxiliaries were cut off in 
 all Galilee ; and how he took some of its cities 
 entirely, and by force, and others of them by 
 treaty, and on terms. Now, when I am come 
 so far, I shall describe the good order of the 
 Romans in war, and the discipline of their 
 legions : the amplitude of both the Galilees, 
 with their nature, and the limits of Judea, And, 
 besides this, I shall particularly go over what is 
 peculiar to the country, the lakes and fountains 
 that are in them, and what miseries happened 
 to every city as they were taken ; and all this 
 with accuracy, as I saw the things done, or suf- 
 fered in them ; for I shall not conceal any of 
 the calamities I myself endured, since I shall 
 relate them to such as know the truth of them. 
 
 9. After this [I shall relate] how, when tne 
 Jews' affairs were become very bad, Nero died ; 
 and Vespasian, when he was going to attack Je 
 rusalem, was called back to take the govern- 
 ment upon him; what signs happened to him 
 relating to his gaining that government, and 
 what mutations of government then happened 
 at Rome, and how he was unwillingly made em- 
 peror by his soldiers ; and how, upon his depart- 
 ure to Egypt, to take upon him the government 
 of the empire, the affairs of the Jews became 
 very tumultuous ; as also how the tyrants rose 
 up against them, and fell into dissensions 
 amongst themselves. 
 
 10. Moreover [I shall relate] how Titus march- 
 ed out of Egypt into Judea the second time ; as 
 also how and where, and how macy torces he 
 got together ; and in what state tha city was, 
 
 t Titus.
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 429 
 
 by means of the seditious, at his coming ; what 
 attacks he made, and how many ramparts he 
 cast up ; of the three walls that encompassed 
 the city, and of their measures ; of the strength 
 of the city, and the structure of the temple and 
 holy house ; and hesides, the measures of those 
 edifices, and of the altar, and all accurately de- 
 termined. A description also of certain of thoir 
 festivals, and seven purifications or days of pu- 
 rity, and the sacred ministrations of the priests, 
 wiih the garments of the priests, and of the high 
 priests ; and of the nature of the most holy 
 place of the temple ; without concealing any- 
 thing, or adding anything to the known truth 
 of things. 
 
 1L After this, I shall relate the barbarity of 
 the tyrants towards the people of their own na- 
 tion, as well as the indulgence of the Romans 
 in sparing foreigners ; and how often Titus, out 
 of his desire to preserve the city and the temple, 
 invited the seditious to come to terms of ac- 
 commodation. I shall also distinguish the suffer- 
 ings of the people, and their calamities; how 
 far they were afflicted by the sedition, and how 
 far bv the famine, and at length were taken. 
 
 Nor shall I omit to mention the misfortunes of 
 the deserters, nor the punishments inflicted on 
 the captives ; as also how the temple was burnt 
 against the consent of Caesar; and how many 
 sacred things that had been laid up in the temple, 
 were snatched out of the fire ; the destruction 
 also of the entire city, with the signs and won- 
 ders that went before it ; and the taking the 
 tyrants captive, and the multitude of those 
 that were made slaves, and into what different 
 misfortunes they were every one distributed. 
 Moreover, what the Romans did to the remains 
 of the wall ; and how they demolished the 
 strong-holds that were in the country ; and how 
 Titus went over the whole country, and settled 
 its affairs ; together with his return into Italy, 
 and his triumph. 
 
 12. I have comprehended all these things in 
 seven books ; and have left no occasion for com- 
 plaint or accusation to such as have heen ac- 
 quainted with this war ; and I have written it 
 down for the sake of those that love truth, but 
 not for those that please themselves [with fic- 
 titious relations.] And I will begin my account 
 of these things with what I call my First Chapter. 
 
 BOOK L 
 
 CONTAINING THE INTERVAL OT ONE HCNDBKD AKD SIXTY-SEVEN TZARS, 
 
 FROM ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES TAKING JERUSALEM TO THE DEATH 
 OF HEROD THE GREAT. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 HOW THE CITY OF JERUSALEM WAS TAKEN, AND 
 THE TEMPLE PILLAGED [BY ANTIOCHUS EPI- 
 PHANES.] AS ALSO CONCERNING THE ACTIONS 
 OF THE MACCABEES, MATTHIAS. AND JUDAS; 
 AND CONCERNING THE DEATH OF JUDAS. 
 
 1. AT the same time that Antiochus, who was 
 called Epiphanes, had a quarrel with the sixth 
 Ptolemy about his right to the whole country 
 of Syria, a great sedition fell among the men of 
 power in Judea, and they had a contention 
 about obtaining the government ; while each 
 of those that were of dignity could not endure 
 to be subject to their equals. Howerer, Onias, 
 one of the high priests, got the better, and cast 
 the sons of Tobias out of the city; who fled to 
 Antiochus, and besought him to make use of 
 them for his leaders, and to make an expedition 
 into Judea. The king being thereto disposed 
 beforehand, complied with them, and came upon 
 the Jews with a great army, and took their city 
 by force, and slew a great multitude^ of those 
 that favoured Ptolemy, and sent out his soldiers 
 to plunder them without mercy. He also 
 spoiled the temple, and put a stop to the con- 
 stant practice of offering a daily sacrifice of ex- 
 piation for three years and six months. But 
 Onias, the high priest, fled to Ptolemy, and re- 
 ceived a pla<-e from him in the Nomus of Helio- 
 polis, where- he built a city resembling Jerusalem, 
 and a temple that was like its temple ; concern- 
 ing which we shall speak more in its proper 
 place hereafter. 
 
 2. Now Antiochus was not satisfied either 
 with his unexpected taking of the city, or with 
 its pillage, or with the great slaughter he had 
 made there ; but being overcome with his violent 
 passions, and rememl>ering what he had suffered 
 during the siege, he compelled the Jews to dis- 
 solve the laws of their country, and to keep their 
 infants uncircumcised, and to sacrifice swine's 
 flesh upon the altar ; against which they all op- 
 posed themselves, and the most approved among 
 them were put to death. Bacchides also, who 
 was sent to keep the fortresses, having these 
 wicked commands, joined to his own natural 
 barbarity, indulged all sorts of the extremest 
 wickedness, and tormented the worthiest of the 
 inhabitants, man by man, and threatened their 
 city every day with open destruction ; till at 
 length he provoked the poor sufferers, by the 
 extremity of his wicket doings, to avenge them- 
 selves. 
 
 3. Accordingly Matthias, the son of Asamo- 
 neus, one of the priests who lived in a village 
 called Moclin, armed himself, together with his 
 
 i own family, which had five sons of his hi it, and 
 slew Bacchides with daggers; and thereupon, 
 out of the fear of the many garrisons [of the 
 enemy] he fled to the mountains ; and so many 
 of the people followed him, that he was encou- 
 ra^ed to come down from the mountains, and to 
 give battle to Autioch-is's generals, when he beat 
 them, and drove them out of Judea. So he came 
 to the government by this his success, and be- 
 came the prince of his own people by their own 
 free consent, and then died, leaving the govern- 
 ment to Judas, his eldest son.
 
 WAT? OF THTC -TEWS. 
 
 (BOOCL 
 
 4. Now Judas, supposing that Antiochus would 
 not lie still, gathered an army out of bis own 
 countrymen, and was the first that made a league 
 of friendship with the Romans, and drove Epi- 
 phanes out of the country when he had made a 
 second expedition into it, and this by giving him 
 a great defeat there ; and when he was warmed 
 by this great success, he made an assault upon 
 the garrison that was in the city, for it had not 
 been cut off hitherto ; so he ejected them out ot 
 the upper city, and drove the soldiers into the 
 lower, which part of the city was called the 
 CitadeL He then got the temple under his 
 power, and cleansed the whole place, and walled 
 it round about, and made new vessels for sacred 
 ministrations, and brought them into the tem- 
 ple, because the former vessels had been pro- 
 faned. He also built another altar, and began 
 to offer the sacrifices ; and when the city had 
 already received its sacred constitution again, 
 Autiochus died; whose son Antiochus succeeded 
 him in the kingdom, and in his hatred <o tb* 
 Jews also. 
 
 5. So this Antiochus got together fifty thou- 
 sand footmen, and five thousand horsemen, and 
 four score elephants, and marched through Judea 
 into the mountainous parts. He then took Beth- 
 sura, which was a small city ; but at a place 
 called Bethzacharias, where the passage was 
 narrow, Judas met him with his army. How- 
 ever, before the forces joined battle, Judas's 
 brother, Eleazar, seeing the very highest of the 
 elephants adorned with a large tower, and with 
 military trappings of gold to guard him, and 
 supposing that Antiochus himself was upon him, 
 he ran a great way before his own army, and 
 cutting his way through the enemy's troops, he 
 got up to the elephant : yet could not reach 
 him who seemed to be the king, by reason of his 
 being so high ; but still he ran his weapon into 
 the belly of the beast, and brought him down 
 upon himself, and was crushed to death, having 
 done no more than attempted great things, and 
 shewed that he preferred glory before life. Now 
 he that governed the elephant was but a private 
 man ; but had he proved to be Antiochus, Elea- 
 zar had performed nothing more by tkis bold 
 stroke than that it might appear he chose to die, 
 when he had the bare hope of thereby doing a 
 glorious action ; nay, this disappointment proved 
 an omen to his brother [Judas] how the entire 
 battle would end. It is true that the Jews 
 fought it out bravely for a long time ; but the 
 king's forces, being superior in number, and 
 having fortune on their side, obtained the vic- 
 tory ; and when a great many of his men were 
 slain, Judas took the rest with him, and fled to 
 the toparchy of Gophnas. So Antiochus went to 
 Jerusalem, and stayed there but a few days, for 
 he wanted provisions, and so he went his way. 
 He left indeed a garrison behind him, such as 
 he thought sufficient to keep the place ; but 
 drew the rest of his army off, to take their 
 winter-quarters in Syria. 
 
 6. Now, after the king was departed, Judas 
 was not idle ; for as many of his own nation 
 came to him, so did he gather those that had 
 escaped out of the battle together, and gave 
 battle again to Antiochus's geueruls at a village 
 called Adasa ; and being too hard for his enemies 
 in the battle, and killing a great number of 
 them, he was at last himself slain also. Nor 
 was it many days afterward that his brother 
 John had a plot laid against him by Autiochus's 
 party, and was slain by them. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 CONCERNING TH2 SUCCESSORS OF JUDAS, WHO 
 WERE JONATHAN, SIMEON, AND JOHN HT 
 CAN US. 
 
 1. WHEN Jonathan who was Judas's brother, 
 succeeded him, he behaved with great circum- 
 spection in other respects, with relation to his 
 own people ; and he corroborated his authority 
 by preserving his friendship with the Komans. 
 lie also made a league with Antiochus the son. 
 Yet was not all this sufficient for his security ; 
 for the tyrant Trypho, who was guardian to 
 Antiochus's son, laid a plot against him ; and, 
 besides that, endeavoured to take off his friends, 
 and caught Jonathan by a wile, as he was going 
 to Ptolernais to Antiochus, with a few persona 
 in his company, and put them in bonds, and 
 then made an expedition against the Jews ; but 
 when he was afterward driven away by Simeon, 
 who was Jonathan's brother, and was enraged at 
 his defeat, he put Jonathan to death. 
 
 2. However, Simeon managed the public affairs 
 after a courageous manner, and took Gazaro, 
 and Joppa, and Jamnia, which were cities in the 
 neighbourhood. He also got the garrison under, 
 and demolished the citadeL He was afterwards 
 an auxiliary to Antiochus, against Trypho, whom 
 he besieged in Dora, before he went on his expe- 
 dition against the Medes; yet could not he make 
 the king ashamed of his ambition, though he had 
 assisted him in killing Trypho ; for it was not 
 long ere Antiochus sent Cendebeus his general 
 with an army to lay waste Judea, and to subdue 
 Simeon ; yet he, though he was now in years, 
 conducted the war as if he were a much younger 
 man. He also sent his sons with a band of strong 
 men against Antiochus, while he took part of 
 the army himself with him, and fell upon him 
 from another quarter : he also laid a great many 
 men in ambush in many places of the mountains, 
 and was superior in all his attacks upon them. 
 And when he had been conqueror after so glo- 
 rious a manner, he was made high priest, and 
 also freed the Jews from the dominion of the 
 Macedonians, after a hundred and seventy years 
 of the empire [of Seleucas.1 
 
 3. This Simeon had also t plot laid against 
 him, and was slain at a feast by his son-in-law 
 Ptolemy, who put his wife and two sons into 
 prison, and sent some persons to kill John, who 
 was also called Hyrcanus. But when the young 
 man was informed of their coming beforehand, 
 he made much haste to get to the city, as having 
 a very great confidence in the people there, both 
 on account of the memory of the glorious actions 
 of his father, and of the hatred they could not 
 but bear to the injustice of Ptolemy. Ptolemy 
 also made an attempt to get into the city by 
 another gate, but was repelled by the people, 
 who had just then admitted Hyrcanus; so he 
 retired presently to one of the fortresses that 
 were above Jericho, which was called Dagon. 
 Now, when Hyrcanus had received the high 
 priesthood, which his father had held before, 
 and had offered sacrifice to God, he made great 
 haste to attack Ptolemy, that he might afford 
 relief to his mother and brethren. 
 
 1. So he laid siege to the fortress, and was 
 superior to Ptolemy in other respects, but was 
 overcome by him as to the just affection [he had 
 for his relations ;] for when Ptolemy was dis- 
 tressed, he brought forth his mother and his 
 brethren, and set them upon the wall, and beat 
 them with rods in everybody's sight, and threat- 
 ejiad. that, unless he would go .w a y immedi-
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 .tely, he would throw them dawn headloug; 
 at which sight Hyrcanus's commiseration and 
 concern were too hard for his anger. But his 
 mother was not dismayed, neither at the stripes 
 she received, nor at the death with which she 
 was threatened, but stretched out her hands, 
 and prayed her son not to be moved with the 
 injuries that she suffered, to spare the wretch ; 
 since it was to her better to die by the means of 
 Ptolemy than to live evei so long, provided h 
 might be punished for the injuries he had done 
 to their family. Now John's case was this : 
 When he considered the courage of his mother, 
 and heard her entreaty, he set about his attacks; 
 but when he saw her beaten, and torn to pieces 
 with tiie stripes, he grew feeble, and was en- 
 tirely overcome by his affections. And as the 
 siege was delayed by this means, the year of 
 rest came on, upon which the Jews rest every 
 seventh year as they do on every seventh day. 
 On this year, therefore, Ptolemy was freed from 
 being besieged, and slew the brethren of John, 
 with their mother, and fled to Zeno, who waa 
 also called Cotylas, who was the tyrant of Phi- 
 ladelphia, 
 
 5. And now Antioclms was so ansry at what 
 lie had suffered from Simeon, that he made an 
 expedition into Judea, and sat down before 
 Jerusalem, and besieged Hyrcanus : but Hyrca- i 
 nus opened the sepulchre of David, who was the 
 richest of all kings, and took thence about three 
 thousand talents in money, and induced Antio- 
 chus, by the promise of three thousand talents, 
 to raise the siege. Moreover, he was the first j 
 of the Jews that had money enough, and begas | 
 to hire foreign auxiliaries also. 
 
 6. However, at another time, when Antiochus 
 was gone upon an expedition against the Medes, 
 and so gave Hyrcanus an opportunity of being 
 avenged upon him, he immediately made an 
 attack upon the cities of Syria, as thinking, 
 what proved to be the case with them, that he 
 should fiud them empty of good troops. So he 
 took Medaba and Samea, with the towns in their 
 neighbourhood, as also Shechem and Gerizzim ; 
 and besides these [he subdued] the nation of 
 the Cutheans, who dwelt round about that tem- 
 ple which was built in imitation of the temple 
 at Jerusalem : he also took a great many other 
 cities of Idumea, with Adoreon and Marissa. 
 
 7. He also proceeded as far as Samaria, where 
 is now the city Sebaste, which was built by 
 Herod the king, and encompassed it all round 
 with a wall, and set his sons, Aristobulus and 
 Antigonus, over the siege ; who pushed it on so 
 hard, that a famine so far prevailed with the 
 city, that they were forced to eat what never 
 was esteemed food. They also invited Antio- 
 chus, who was called Cyzicenus, to corne to 
 their assistance ; whereupon he got ready, and 
 complied with their invitation, but was beaten 
 by Aristobulus and Antigonus ; and indeed he 
 was pursued as far as Scythopolis by these breth- 
 ren, and fled away from them. So they returned 
 back to Samaria, and shut the multitude again 
 within the wall ; and when they had taken the 
 city they demolished it, and made slaves of its | 
 inhabitants. And, as they had still great sue- I 
 cess in their undertakings, they did not suffer 
 their zeal to cool, but marched with an army as 
 far as Scythopolis, and made an incursion upon 
 it, and laid waste all the country that lay within 
 mount CarmeL * 
 
 8. But then these successes of John and of 
 his sons made them be envied, and occasioned 
 a sedition in the country ; and many there were 
 who got together, and would not be at rest till 
 thev brake out Luto open war, in which war they 
 
 431 
 
 were beaten. So John lived the rest of his lift 
 very happily, and administered the government 
 alter a most extraordinaiy manner, and this for 
 thirty-three entire years together. He died 
 leaving five sons behind him. He was certainly 
 a very happy man, and afforded no occasion to 
 nave any complaint made of fortune on his ac- 
 count He it was who alone had three of the 
 most desirable things in the world, the govern- 
 ment of his nation, and the high priesthood, and 
 the gift of prophecy ; for the Deity conversed 
 with him, and he was not ignorant of anything 
 that was to come afterwards ; insomuch that he 
 foresaw and foretold that his two eldest sons 
 would not continue masters of the government : 
 and it will highly deserve our narration to de- 
 scribe their catastrophe, and how far inferior 
 these men were to their father in felicity. 
 
 CHAPTEK IIL 
 
 30W ARI8TOBCLC3 WAS THE FIBST THAT PUT A 
 .WAD EM ABOUT HIS HEAD ; AND, AFTER HE HAD 
 fUT HIS MOTHER AND BROTHER TO DEATH, DIED 
 HIMSELF, WHEN RE HAD REIGNED NO KOBE 
 THAN A YEAR. 
 
 1. FOB after the death of their father, the 
 elder of them, Aristobulus, changed the govern- 
 ment into a kingdom, and was the first that put 
 a diadem upon his head, four hundred and 
 seventy-one years and three months after our 
 people came down into this country, when they 
 were set free from the Babylonian slavery. Now, 
 of his brethren, he appeared to have an affection 
 for Antigonus, who was next to him, and made 
 him his equal ; but, for the rest, he bound them, 
 and put them in prison. He also put his mother 
 in bonds, for her contesting the government 
 with him ; for John had left her to be the 
 governess of public affairs. He also proceeded 
 to that degree of barbarity as to cause her to be 
 pined to death in prison. 
 
 2. But vengeance circumvented him in the 
 affair of his brother Antigonus, whom he loved, 
 and whom he made his partner in the kingdom ; 
 for he slew him by the means of the calumnies 
 which ill men about the palace contrived against 
 him. At first, indeed, Aristobulus would not 
 believe their reports, partly out of the affection 
 he had for his brother, and partly because he 
 thought that a great part of these tales were 
 owing to the envy of their relaters : however, as 
 Antigonus came once in a splendid manner from 
 the army to that festival, wherein our ancient 
 custom is to make tabernacles for God, it hap- 
 pened in those days that Aristobulus was sick, 
 and that, at the conclusion of the feast, Antigo- 
 nus came up to it, with his armed men about 
 him, and this when he was adorned in the finest 
 manner possible ; and that, in a great measure, 
 to pray to God on the behalf of his brother. 
 Now, at this very time it was that these ill men 
 came to the king, and told him in what a pompous 
 manner the armed men came, and with what in- 
 solence Antigonus marched, and that such his 
 insolence was too great for a private person, and 
 that accordingly he was come with a great band 
 of men to kill him ; for that he could not endure 
 this bare enjoyment of royal honour, when it 
 was in his power to take the kingdom himself. 
 
 3. Now Aristobulus, by degrees, and unwill- 
 ingly, gave credit to these accusations ; and 
 accordingly he took care not to discover his sus- 
 picion openly, though be provided to be secure 
 against any accidents ; so he placed the enards
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK T 
 
 of his body in a certain dark subterraneous 
 passage ; for he lay sick in a certain place called 
 formerly the Citadel, though afterwards its name 
 was changed to Antonia ; and he gave orders, 
 that if Antigonus came unarmed, they should let 
 him alone; but if he came to him in his armour, 
 they should kill him. He also sent some to let 
 him know beforehand, that he should come un- 
 armed. ' But, upon this occasion, the queen very 
 cunningly contrived the matter with those that 
 plotted his ruin, for she persuaded those that 
 were sent, to conceal the king's message ; but to 
 tell Antigonus how his brother had heard he had 
 got a very fine suit of armour, made with fine 
 martial ornaments, in Galilee ; and because his 
 present sickness hindered him from coming and 
 seeing all that finery, he very much desired to 
 see him now in his armour, because, said he, in a 
 little time thou art going away from me. 
 
 4. As soon as Antigonus heard this, the good 
 temper of his brother not allowing him to sus- 
 pect any harm from him, he came along with his 
 armour on, to shew it to his brother ; but when 
 he was going along that dark passage, which 
 was called Strato's Tower, he was slain by the 
 body guards, and became an eminent instance 
 how calumny destroys all good-will and natural 
 affection, and how none of our good affections 
 are strong enough to resist envy perpetually. 
 
 5. And truly any one would be surprised at 
 Judas upon this occasion. He was of the sect 
 of the Essenes, and had never failed or deceived 
 men in his predictions before. Now, this man 
 saw Antigonus as he was passing along by the 
 temple, and cried out to his acquaintance, (they 
 were not a few who attended upon him as his 
 scholars,) " Oh, strange ! " said he, " it is good for 
 me to die now, since truth is dead before me, 
 and somewhat that I have foretold hath proved 
 false ; for this Antigonus is this day alive, who 
 ought to have died this day ; and the place 
 where he ought to be slain, according to that 
 fatal decree, was Strato's Tower, which is at the 
 distance of six hundred furlongs from this place, 
 and yet four hours of this day are over already ; 
 which point of time renders the prediction im- 
 possible to be fulfilled." And when the old man 
 had said this he was dejected in hie mind, and 
 so continued. But in a little time news came 
 that Antigonus was slain in a subterraneous 
 place, which was itself also called Strato's Tower, 
 by the same name with that Cesarea which lay 
 by the sea-side; and this ambiguity it was which 
 caused the prophet's disorder. 
 
 6. Hereupon Aristobulus repented of the great 
 crime he had been guilty of, and this gave occa- 
 sion to the increase of the distemper. He also 
 grew worse and worse, and his soul was con- 
 stantly disturbed at the thought of what he had 
 done, till his very bowels being torn to pieces by 
 the intolerable grief he was under, he threw up 
 a great quantity of blood. And, as one of those 
 servants that attended him carried out that 
 blood, he, by some supernatural providence, 
 slipped and fell down in the very place where 
 Antigonus had been slain ; and so he spilt some 
 of the murderer's blood upon the spots of the 
 blood of him that had been murdered, which 
 still appeared. Hereupon a lamentable cry 
 arose among the spectators, as if the servant had 
 spilled the blood on purpose in that place ; and, 
 as the king heard that cry, he inquired what was 
 the cause of it ; and while nobody durst tell him, 
 he pressed them so much the more to let him 
 know what was the matter ; so, at ler.yrth, when 
 he had threatened them, and forced them to 
 speak out, they told ; whereupon he burst into 
 tears, and prroancd, and said. "So I perceive I 
 
 am not like to escape the all-seeing eye of God, 
 as to the great crimes I have committed ; but the 
 vengeance of the blood of my kinsman pursues 
 me hastily. O thou most impudent body ! how 
 long wilt thou retain a soul that ought to die, 
 on account of that punishment it ought to suffer 
 for a mother and a brother slain ! how long shall 
 I myself spend my blood drop by drop ! let them 
 take it all at once ; and let their ghosts no longer 
 be disappointed by a few parcels of my bowels 
 offered to them." As soon as he hsd said these 
 words, he presently died, when he had reigned 
 no longer than a year. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 WHAT ACTIONS WERE DONE BY ALEXANDER JAN- 
 NEDS, WHO BEIGNED TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS. 
 
 1. AND now the king's wife loosed the king's 
 brethren, and made Alexander king, who ap- 
 peared both elder in age and more moderate in 
 his temper than the rest ; who, when he came to 
 the government, slew one of his brethren, as 
 affecting to govern himself ; but had the other 
 of them in great esteem, as loving a quiet life, 
 without meddling with public affairs. 
 
 2. Now it happened that there was a battle 
 between him and Ptolemy, who was called 
 Lathyrus, who had taken the city Asochis. He 
 indeed slew a great many of his enemies ; but the 
 victory rather inclined to Ptolemy. But, when 
 this Ptolemy was pursued by his mother Cleo- 
 patra, and retired into Egypt, Alexander be- 
 sieged Gadara, and took it ; as also he did 
 Amathus, which was the strongest of all the for- 
 tresses that were about Jordan, and therein 
 were the most precious of all the possessions of 
 Theodoras the son of Zeno. Whereupon Theo- 
 dorus marched against him, and took what be- 
 longed to himself, as well as the king's baggage, 
 and slew ten thousand of the Jews. However, 
 Alexander recovered this blow, and turned his 
 face towards the maritime parts, and took 
 Raphia, and Gaza, with Anthedon also, which 
 was afterwards called Agrippias by king Herod. 
 
 3. But when he had made slaves of the citi- 
 zens of all these cities, the nation of the Jewi 
 made an insurrection against him at a festival ; 
 for at those feasts seditions are generally begun : 
 and it looked as if he should not be able to es- 
 cape the plot they had laid for him, had not his 
 foreign auxiliaries, the Pisidians and Cilicians, 
 assisted him ; for, as to the Syrians, he never 
 admitted them among his mercenary troops, on 
 account of their innate enmity against the Jew- 
 ish nation. And when he had slain more than 
 six thousand of the rebels, he made an incursion 
 into Arabia, and when he had taken that 
 country, together with the Gileaditcs and Moab- 
 ites, he enjoined them to pay him tribute, and 
 returned to Amathus ; and as Theodoras was 
 surprised at his great success, he took the for- 
 tress, and demolished it. 
 
 4. However, when he fought with Obodas. 
 king of the Arabians, who had laid an ambush 
 for him near Golan, and a plot against him, he 
 lost his entire army, which was crowded together 
 in a deep valley, and broken to pieces by the 
 multitude of camels ; and when he had made 
 his escape to Jerusalem, he provoked the multi- 
 tude, who hated him before, to make an insurrec- 
 tion against him, and this on account of the 
 greatness of the calamity that he was under. 
 However, he was then too hard for them : and.
 
 OHAP. V.] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 433 
 
 in the several battles that were fought on both 
 sides, he slew not fewer than fifty thousand of the 
 Jews, in the interval of six years. Yet had he 
 no reason to rejoice in these victories, since he 
 did but consume his own kingdom ; till at length 
 he left off fighting, and endeavoured to come to 
 a composition with them, by talking with his 
 subjects ; but this mutability and irregularity of 
 his conduct made them hate him still more ; and 
 when he asked them why they so hated him, and 
 what he should do, in order to appease them, 
 they said, by killing himself ; for that it would 
 be then all they could do, to be reconciled to him 
 who had done such tragical things to them, even 
 when he was dead. At the same time they in- 
 vited Demetrius, who was called Eucerus, to 
 assist them ; and as he readily complied with 
 their request, in hopes of great advantages, and 
 came with his army, the Jews joined with those 
 their auxiliaries about Shechem. 
 
 5. Yet did Alexander meet both these forces 
 with one thousand horsemen, and eight thou- 
 sand mercenaries that were on foot. He had 
 also with him that part of the Jews which 
 favoured him, to the number of ten thousand ; 
 while the adverse party had three thousand 
 horsemen, and fourteen thousand footmen. Now, 
 before they joined battle, the kings made pro- 
 clamation, and endeavoured to draw off each 
 other's soldiers, and make them revolt ; while 
 Demetrius hoped to induce Alexander's mer- 
 cenaries to leave him, and Alexander hoped to 
 induce the Jews that were with Demetrius to 
 leave him ; but, since neither the Jews would 
 leave off their rage, nor the Greeks prove un- 
 faithful, they came to an engagement, and to * 
 close tight with their weapons. In which battle 
 Demetrius was the conqueror, although Alexan- 
 ders mercenaries shewed the greatest exploits, 
 both in soul and body. Yet did the upshot of 
 this battle prove different from what was ex- 
 pected, as to both of them ; for neither did those 
 that invited Demetrius to come to them continue 
 firm to him, though he was conqueror ; and six. 
 thousand Jews, out of pity to the change of 
 Alexander's condition, when he was fled to the 
 mountains, came over to him. Yet could not 
 Demetrius bear this turn of affairs ; but, sup- 
 posing that Alexander was already become a 
 match for him again, and that all the nation 
 would [at length] run to him, he left the country, 
 and weut his way. 
 
 6. However, the rest of the [Jewish] multi- 
 tude did not lay aside their quarrels with him, 
 when the [foreign] auxiliaries were gone ; but 
 they had a perpetual war with Alexander, until 
 he had slain the greatest part of them, and 
 driven the rest into the city Bemeselis; and 
 when he had demolished that city, he carried 
 the captives to Jerusalem. Nay, his rage was 
 grown so extravagant, that his barbarity pro- 
 ceeded to a degree of impiety : for when he had 
 ordered eight hundred to be hung upon crosses 
 in the midst of the city, he had the throats of 
 their wives and children cut before their eyes ; 
 and these executions he saw as he was drinking 
 and lying down with his concubines. Upon 
 which, so deep a surprise seized on the people, 
 that eight thousand of his opposers fled away 
 the very next night, out of all Judea, whose 
 flight was only terminated by Alexander's 
 death ; so at last, though not till late, and with 
 great difficulty, he, by such actions, procured 
 quiet to his kingdom, and left off fighting any 
 more. 
 
 7. Yet did that Antiochus, who was also called 
 Dionysius, become an origin of troubles again. 
 This man was the brother of Demetrius and the 
 
 last of the race of the Skleucidse. * Alexander waa 
 afraid of him, when he was marching against 
 the Arabians ; so he cut a deep trench between 
 Antipatris, which was near the mountains, and 
 the shores of Joppa ; he also erected a high wall 
 before the trench, and built wooden towers in 
 order to hinder any sudden approaches; but 
 still he was not able to exclude Antiochus, for 
 he burnt the towers, and filled up the trenches, 
 and marched on with his army; and as he looked 
 upon taking his revenge on Alexander for en- 
 deavouring to stop him, as a thing of less conse- 
 quence, he marched directly against the Ara- 
 bians, whose king retired into such parts of the 
 country as were fittest for engaging the enemy, 
 and then on the sudden made his horse turn 
 back, which were in number ten thousand, and 
 fell upon Antiochus's army while they were in 
 disorder, and a terrible battle ensued. Antio- 
 chus's troops, so long as he was alive, fought it 
 out, although a mighty slaughter was made 
 among them by the Arabians ; but when he fell, 
 for he was in the fore-front, in the utmost 
 danger, in rallying his troops, they all gave 
 ground, and the greatest part of his army were 
 destroyed, either in the action or the flight ; and 
 for the rest, who fled to the village of Cana, it 
 happened that they were all consumed by want 
 of necessaries, a few only excepted. 
 
 8. About this time it was that the people of 
 Damascus, out of their hatred to Ptolemy, the 
 son of Menneus, invited Aretas [to take the 
 government,] and made him king of Cojlesyria. 
 This man also made an expedition against Judea, 
 and beat Alexander in battle ; but afterwards 
 retired by mutual agreement. But Alexander, 
 when he had taken Pella, marched to Gerasa 
 again, out of the covetous desire he had of Theo- 
 doms's possessions ; and when he had built a 
 triple wall about the garrison, he took the place 
 by force. He also demolished Golan, and Se- 
 leucia, and what was called the Valley of Antio- 
 chus ; besides which, he took the strong fortress 
 of Gamala, and stripped Demetrius, who was 
 governor therein, of what he had, on account of 
 the many crimes he laid to his charge, and then 
 returned into Judea, after he had been three 
 whole years in this expedition ; and now he was 
 kindly received of the nation, because of the 
 good success he had. So, when he was at rest 
 from war, he fell into a distemper; for he was 
 afflicted with a quartan ague, and supposed that, 
 by exercising himself again in martial affairs, he 
 should get rid of this distemper ; but, by mak- 
 ing such expeditions at unseasonable times, and 
 forcing his body to undergo greater hardships 
 than he was able to bear, he brought himself to 
 his end. He died, therefore, in the midst of his 
 troubles, after he had reigned seven-and-twenty 
 years. 
 
 CHAPTEB V. 
 
 ALEXANDRA REIGNS NINE TEARS; DDBISO WHICH 
 TIME THE PHARISEES WEEE THE REAL RCLERS 
 OF THE NATION. 
 
 1. Now Alexander left the kingdom to Alex- 
 andra his wife, and depended upon it that the 
 'Jews would now very readily submit to her; 
 because she had been very averse to such cruelty 
 
 * Josephus here calls this Antiochus the last of the 
 Seleucidaj although there remained still a shadow ol 
 another king of that family, Antiochus Asiaticus, 01 
 Commapenus, who reipned, or rather lay hid, till Vom 
 pey quite turned him out. 
 
 2 E
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOKL 
 
 SB he had treated them with, and had opposed 
 his violation of their laws, and had thereby got 
 the good-will of the people. Nor was he mis- 
 taken as to his expectations; for this .woman 
 kept the dominion, by the opinion that the 
 people had of her piety ; for she chiefly studied 
 the ancient customs of her country, and cast 
 those men out of the government that offended 
 against their holy laws. And as she had two 
 sons by Alexander, she made Hyrcanus, the 
 elder, high priest, on account of his age ; as also, 
 besides that, on account of his inactive temper 
 no way disposing him to disturb the public. 
 But she retained the younger, Aristobulus, with 
 her as a private person, by reason of the warmth 
 of his temper. 
 
 2. And now the Pharisees Joined themselves 
 to her to assist her in the government. These 
 are a certain sect of the Jews that appear more 
 religious than others, and seem to interpret the 
 laws more accurately. Now, Alexandra heark- 
 ened to them to an extraordinary degree, as 
 being herself a woman of great piety towards 
 God. But these Pharisees artfully insinuated 
 themselves into her favour by little and little, 
 and became themselves the real administrators 
 of the public affairs : they banished and reduced 
 whom they pleased ; they bound and loosed 
 [men] at their pleasure ;* and, to say all at once, 
 they had the enjoyment of the royal authority, 
 whilst the expenses and the difficulties of it be- 
 longed to Alexandra. She was a sagacious wo- 
 man in the management of great affairs, and in- 
 tent always upon gathering soldiers together ; so 
 that she increased the army the one half, and 
 procured a great body of foreign troops, till 
 her own nation became not only very powerful 
 at home, but terrible also to foreign potentates, 
 while she governed other people, and the Phari- 
 sees governed her. 
 
 3. Accordingly they themselves slew "Diogenes, 
 a person of figure, and one that had been a friend 
 to Alexander; and accused him as having assist- 
 ed the king with his advice, for crucifying tho 
 eight hundred men [before mentioned.] They 
 also prevailed with Alexandra to put to death 
 the rest of those who had irritated him against 
 them. Now, she was so superstitious as to com- 
 ply with their desires, and accordingly they slew 
 whom they pleased themselves. But the prin- 
 cipal of those that were in danger fled to Aris- 
 tobulus, who persuaded his mother to spare the 
 men on account of their dignity, but to expel 
 them out of the city, unless she took them to 
 be innocent ; so they were suffered to go un- 
 punished, and were dispersed all over the coun- 
 try. But when Alexandra sent out her army 
 to Damascus, under pretence that Ptolemy was 
 always oppressing that city, she got possession 
 of it ; nor did it make any considerable resist- 
 ance. She also prevailed with Tigranes, king 
 of Armenia, who lay with his troops about 
 Ptolemais and besieged Cleopatra, f by agree- 
 ments and presents, to go away. Accordingly, 
 Tigranes soon arose from the siege by reason of 
 ^hose domestic tumults which happened upon 
 Lucullus's expedition into Armenia. 
 
 4. In the meantime, Alexandra fell sick, and 
 Aristobulus, her younger son, took hold of this 
 
 * Matt. xvi. 19, xvn. 18. Here we have the oldest 
 nd most authentic Jewish exposition of binding and 
 loosing, for punishing or absolving men ; not for de- 
 claring actions lawful or unlawful. 
 
 , ._ icia, a citadel in Mesopo- 
 tamia, and adds, that when he had kept her a while in 
 prison, he put her to death. 
 
 opportunity, with his domestics, of which he 
 had a great many, who were all of them his 
 friends, on account of the warmth of their youth, 
 and got possession of all the fortresses. He also 
 used the sums of money he found in them to get 
 together a number of mercenary soldiers, and 
 made himself king ; and besides this, upon Hyr- 
 canus's complaint to his mother, she compas- 
 sionated his case, and put Aristobulus's wife 
 and his sons under restraint in Antonia, which 
 was a fortress that joined to the north part of 
 the temple. It was, as I have already said, of 
 old called the Citadel, but afterwards got the 
 name of Antonia, when Antony was lord [of the 
 east,] just as the other cities, Sebaste and Agrip- 
 pias, had their names changed, and these given 
 them from Sebastus, and Agrippa. But Alex- 
 andra died before she could punish Aristobulus, 
 for his disinheriting his brother, after she had 
 reigned nine years. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 WHEN HYROANUS, WHO WAS ALEXANDER'S HEIR, 
 RECEDED FROM HIS CLAIM TO THE CROWN, ARIS- 
 TOBULDS IS MADE KING ; AND AFTERWARDS THB 
 SAME HYRCANUS, BY THE MEANS OF ANTIPATER, 
 IS BROUGHT BACK BY ARETAS. AT LAST POK- 
 PEY IS MADE THE ARBITRATOR O? THE DISPUTE 
 BETWEEN THE BROTHERS. 
 
 1. Now Hyrcanus was heir to the kingdom 
 and to him did his mother commit it before she 
 died : but Aristobulus was superior to him in 
 power and magnanimity ; and when there was a 
 battle between them, to decide the dispute about 
 the kingdom, near Jericho, the greatest part de- 
 serted Hyrcanus, and went over to Aristobulus ; 
 but Hyrcanus, with those of his party who stayed 
 with him, fled to Antonia, and got into his 
 power the hostages which might be for his pre- 
 servation, (which were Aristobulus's wife, with 
 her children ;) but they came to an agreement 
 before things should come to extremities, that 
 Aristobulus should be king, and Hyrcanus 
 should resign that up, but retain all the rest of 
 his dignities, as being the king's brother. Here- 
 upon they were reconciled to each other in the 
 temple, and embraced one another in a very kind 
 manner, while the people stood round about 
 them : they also changed their houses ; while 
 Aristobulus went to the royal palace, and Hyr- 
 canus retired to the house of Aristobulus. 
 
 2. Now, those other people who were at va- 
 riance with Aristobulus were afraid, upon his 
 unexpectedly obtaining the government ; and 
 especially this concerned Antipater, whom Arii- 
 tobulus hated of old. He was by birth an Fdu- 
 mean, and one of the principal of that nation, 
 on account of his ancestors and riches, and other 
 authority to him belonging ; he also persuaded 
 Hyrcanus to fly to Aretas, the king of Arabia, 
 and to lay claim to the kingdom : as also he per- 
 suaded Aretas to receive Hyrcanus, and to bring 
 him back to his kingdom : he also cast reproaches 
 upon Aristobulus, as to his morals, and gave 
 great commendation to Hyrcanus, and exhorted 
 Aretas to receive him, and told him how becom- 
 ing a thing it would be for him, who ruled so 
 great a kingdom, to afford assistance to such as 
 are injured ; alleging that Hyrcanus was treated 
 unjustly, by being deprived of that dominion 
 which belonged to him by the prerogative of his 
 birth. And when he had predisposed them both 
 to do what he would have them, he took Hyr- 
 canus by night, and ran away from the city
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 435 
 
 and, continuing his flight with great swiftness, 
 he escaped to the place called Petra, which is 
 the royal seat of the king of Arabia, where he 
 put Hyrcanus into Aretas's hands ; and by dis- 
 coursing much with him, and gaining upon him 
 with many presents, he prevailed with him to 
 give him an army that might restore him to his 
 kingdom. This army consisted of fifty thousand 
 footmen and horsemen, against which Aristobu- 
 lus was not able to make resistance, but was de- 
 serted in the first onset, and was driven to Jeru- 
 salem : he also had been taken at first by force, 
 if Scaurus, the Roman general, had not come 
 and seasonably interposed himself, and raised 
 the siege. This Scaurus was sent into Syria 
 from Armenia by Pompey the Great, when he 
 fought against Tigranes ; so Scaurus came to 
 Damascus, which had been lately taken by Me- 
 tellus and Lollius, and caused them to leave the 
 place ; and, upon his hearing how the affairs of 
 Judea stood, he made haste thither as to a cer- 
 tain booty. 
 
 3. As soon, therefore, as he was come into the 
 country, there came ambassadors from both the 
 brothers, each of them desiring his assistance ; 
 but Aristobulus's three hundred talents had 
 more weight with him than the justice of the 
 cause ; which sum, when Scarus had received, 
 he sent a herald to Hyrcanus and the Arabians, 
 and threatened them with the resentment of the 
 Romans and of Pompey, unless they would raise 
 the siege. So Aretas was terrified, and retired 
 out of Judea to Philadelphia, as did Scaurus re- 
 turn to Damascus again : nor was Aristobulua 
 satisfied with escaping [out of his brother's 
 hands,] but gathered all his forces together and 
 pursued his enemies, and fought them at a place 
 called Papyron, and slew above six thousand of 
 them, and, together with them, Antfiater's 
 brother Phalion. 
 
 4. When Hyrcanus and Antipater were thus 
 deprived of their hopes from the Arabians, they 
 transferred the same to their adversaries ; and 
 because Pompey had passed through Syria, and 
 was come to Damascus, they fled to him for as- 
 sistance ; and, without any bribes, they made 
 the same equitable pleas that they had used to 
 Aretas, and besought him to hate the violent 
 behaviour of Aristobulus, and to bestow the 
 kingdom upon him to whom it justly belonged, ] 
 both on account of his good character, and on 
 account of his superiority in age. However, 
 neither was Aristobulus wanting to himself in 
 this case, as relying on the bribes that Scaurus 
 had received : he was also there himself, and 
 adorned himself after a manner the most agree- 
 able to royalty that he was able. But he soon 
 thought it beneath him to come in such a servile 
 manner, and could not endure to serve his own 
 ends in a way so much more abject than he was 
 used to ; so he departed from Diospolis. 
 
 5. At this his behaviour Pompey had great 
 indignation ; Hyrcanus also and his friends 
 made great intercession to Pompey ; so he took 
 not only his Roman forces, but many of bis 
 Syrian auxiliaries, and marched against Aristo- 
 bulus. But when he had passed by Pella and 
 Scythopolis, and was come to Corea, where yon 
 enter into the country of Judea, when you go 
 up to it through the Mediterranean parts, he 
 heard that Aristobulus was fled to Alexandrium, 
 which is a stronghold, fortified with the utmost 
 magnificence, and situated upon a high moun- 
 tain, and he sent to him, and commanded him 
 to come down. Now his inclination was to try 
 his fortune in a battle, since he was called in 
 such an imperious manner, rather than to com- 
 ply with that call. However, he saw the multi- 
 
 tude were in great fear, and his friends exhorted 
 him to consider what the power of the Romans 
 was, and how it was irresistible ; so he complied 
 with their advice, and came down to Pompey ; 
 and when he had made a long apology for him- 
 self, and for the justness of his cause in taking 
 the government, he returned to the fortress. 
 And when his brother invited him again [to 
 plead his cause,] he came down and spake about 
 the justice of it, and then went away without 
 any hindrance from Pompey ; so he was between 
 hope and fear. And when he came down, it 
 was to prevail with Pompey to allow him the 
 government entirely ; and when he went up to 
 the citadel, it was that he might not appear to 
 debase himself too low. However, Pompey 
 commanded him to give up his fortified places, 
 and forced him to write to every one of their 
 governors to yield them up ; they having had 
 this charge given them, to obey no letters but 
 what were of his own handwriting. Accord- 
 ingly he did what he was ordered to do ; but 
 had still an indignation at what was done, and 
 retired to Jerusalem, and prepared to fight with 
 Pompey. 
 
 6. But Pompey did not give him time to make 
 any preparations [for a siege,] but followed him 
 at his heels ; he was also obliged to make haste 
 in his attempt, by the death of Mithridates, of 
 which he was informed about Jericho. Now 
 here is the most fruitful country about Judea, 
 which bears a vast number of palm-trees, besides 
 the balsam-tree, whose sprouts they cut with 
 sharp stones, and at the incisions they gather the 
 juice, which drops down like tears. So Pompey 
 pitched his camp in that place one night, an<* 
 then hasted away next morning to Jerusalem 
 but Aristobulus was so affrighted at his approach, 
 that lie came and met him by way of supplication. 
 He also promised him money, and that he would 
 deliver up both himself and the city into his dis- 
 posal ; and thereby he mitigated the anger of 
 Pompey. Yet did not he perform any of the 
 conditions he had agreed to ; for Aristobulus's 
 party would not so much as admit Gabinius into 
 the city, who was sent to receive the money that 
 he had promised. 
 
 CHAPTER VTL 
 
 HOW POMPEY HAD THE CITY OF JERUSALEM DE- 
 LIVERED UP TO HIM, BUT TOOK THE TEMPLE [BY, 
 FORCE.] HOW HE WENT INTO THE HOLY OF 
 HOLIES ; AS ALSO WHAT WERE HIS OTHEB EX- 
 PLOITS IN JUDEA. 
 
 1. AT this treatment Pompey was very angry, 
 and took Aristobulus into custody; and when 
 he was come to the city he looked about where 
 he might make hia attack ; for he saw the walla 
 were so firm that it would be hard to overcome 
 them, and that the valley before the walls was 
 terrible ; and that the temple, which was within 
 that valley, was itself encompassed with a very 
 strong wall, insomuch that if the city were taken, 
 the temple would be a second place of refuge for 
 the enemy to retire to. 
 
 2. Now, as he was long in deliberating about 
 this matter, a sedition arose among the people 
 within the city ; Aristobulus's party being will- 
 ing to fight, and to set their king at liberty, 
 while the party of Hyrcanus were for opening 
 the ^ates to Pompey ; and the dread people were 
 in occasioned these last to be a very numerous 
 party, when they looked upon the excellent order 
 the Roman soldiers were in. So Aristobulu* *
 
 V/AJiS O* THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK i. 
 
 party was worsted, and retired into the temple, 
 Kid cut off the communication between the tem- 
 ple and the city, by breaking down the bridge 
 that joined them together, and prepared to make 
 an opposition to the utmost ; but as the others 
 had received the llomans into the city, and had 
 delivered up the palace to him, Pompey sent 
 Piso, one of his great officers, into that palace 
 with an army, who distributed a garrison about 
 the city, because he could not persuade any one 
 of those that had fled to the temple to come to 
 terms of accommodation ; he then disposed all 
 things that were round about them so as might 
 favour their attacks, as having Hyrcanus's party 
 very ready to afford them both counsel and assist- 
 ance. 
 
 3. But Pompey himself filled up the ditch 
 that was on the north side of the temple, and 
 the entire valley also, the army itself being 
 obliged to carry the materials for that purpose. 
 And indeed it was a hard thing to fill up that 
 valley, by reason of its immense depth, especially 
 as the Jews used all the means possible to repel 
 them from their superior station ; nor had the 
 Romans succeeded in their endeavours, had not 
 Pompey taken notice of the seventh days, on 
 which the Jews abstain from all sorts of work on 
 a religious account, and raised his bank, but re- 
 strained his soldiers from fighting on those days ; 
 for the Jews only acted defensively on Sabbath- 
 days. But as soon as Pompey had filled up the 
 valley, he erected high towers upon the bank, 
 and brought those engines which they had 
 fetched from Tyre near to the wall, and tried to 
 batter it down ; and the slingers of stones bea( 
 off those that stood above them, and drove then: 
 away : but the towers on this side of the citj 
 made very great resistance, and were indeed en 
 traordinary both for largeness and magnificence. 
 
 4. Now, here it was that, upon the many hard- 
 ships which the Romans underwent, Pompey 
 could not but admire not only at the other in- 
 stances of the Jews' fortitude, but especially 
 that they did not at all intermit their religious 
 services, even when they were encompassed with 
 darts on all sides ; for, as if the city were in full 
 peace, their daily sacrifices and purifications, and 
 every branch of their religious worship, were still 
 performed to God with the utmost exactness. 
 Nor, indeed, when the temple was actually taken, 
 and they were every day slain about the altar, 
 did they leave off the instances, of their divine 
 worship that were appointed by their law ; for 
 it was in the third month of the siege before the 
 Romans could even with great difficulty over- 
 throw one of the towers, and get into the temple. 
 Now he that first of all ventured to get over the 
 wall was Faustus Cornelius, the son of Sylla ; 
 and next after him were two centurions, Furius 
 and Fabius ; and every one of these was followed 
 by a cohort of his own, who encompassed the 
 Jews on all sides, and slew them ; some of them 
 as they were running for shelter to the temple, 
 and others as they, for a while, fought in their 
 own defence. 
 
 5. And now did mauy of the priests, even 
 when they saw their enemies assailing them with 
 swords in their hands, without any disturbance, 
 go on with their divine worship, and were slain 
 while they were offering their drink-offerings 
 and burning their incense, as preferring the 
 duties about their worship to God before their 
 own preservation. The greatest part of them 
 were slain by their own countrymen of the ad- 
 verse faction, and an innumerable multitude 
 threw themselves down precipices ; nay, some 
 there were who were so distracted among the in- 
 luperable difficulties they ware under, that they 
 
 set fire to the buildings that were near to the 
 wall, and were burnt together with them. Now 
 of the Jews were slain twelve thousand; but of 
 the Romans very few were slain, but a greater 
 number was woundedL 
 
 6. But there was nothing that affected the 
 nation so much, in the calamities they were then 
 under, as that their holy place, which had been 
 hitherto seen by none, should be laid open to 
 strangers ; for Pompey, and those that were about 
 him, went into the temple itself, whither it was 
 not lawful for any to enter but the high priest, 
 and saw what was reposited therein, the candle- 
 stick with its lamps, and the table, and the 
 pouring vessels, and the censers, all made en- 
 tirely of gold, as also a great quantity of spices 
 heaped together, with two thousand talents of 
 sacred money. Yet did not he touch the money, 
 nor anything else that was there reposited ; but 
 he commanded the ministers about the temple, 
 the very next day after he had taken it, to 
 cleanse it, and to perform their accustomed 
 sacrifices. Moreover, he made Hyrcanus high 
 priest, as one that not only in other respects had 
 shewn great alacrity, on his side, during the 
 siege, but as he had been the means of hindering 
 the multitude that was in the country from 
 fighting for Aristobulus, which they were other- 
 wise very ready to have done : by which means 
 he acted the part of a good general, and recon- 
 ciled the people to him more by benevolence 
 than by terror. Now among the captives, Aris- 
 tobulus's father-in-law was taken, who was also 
 his uncle : so those that were the most guilty he 
 punished with decollation ; but rewarded Faua- 
 tus, and those with him thathadfoughtso bravely, 
 with glorious presents; and laid a tribute upon 
 the country, and upon Jerusalem itself. 
 
 "*. He also took away from the nation all 
 those cities they had formerly taken, and that 
 belonged to Coelesyria, and made them subject 
 to him that was at that time appointed to be 
 the Roman president there, and reduced Judea 
 within its proper bounds. Ho also rebuilt* 
 Gadara, that had been demolished by the Jews, 
 in order to gratify one Demetrius, who was of 
 Gadara, and was one of his own freed-men. He 
 also made other cities free from their dominion, 
 that lay in the midst of the country, such, I 
 mean, as they had not demolished before that 
 time ; Hippos, and Scythopolis, as also Pella, 
 and Samaria, and Marissa : and besides these, 
 Ashdod, and Jamnia, and Arethusa ; and in like 
 manner dealt he with the maritime cities, Gaza, 
 and Joppa, and Dora, and that which was an- 
 ciently called Strato's Tower, but was after- 
 wards rebuilt with the most magnificent edifices, 
 and had its name changed to Cesarea, by king 
 Herod. All which he restored to their own 
 citizens, and put them under the province of 
 Syria; which province, together with Judea, 
 and the countries as far as Egypt, and Euph- 
 rates, he committed to Scaurus as their gover- 
 nor, and gave him two legions to support him ; 
 while he made all the haste he could himself to 
 go through Cilicia, in his way to Rome, having 
 Aristobulus and his children along with him, as 
 his captives. They were two daughters and 
 two sons; the one of which sons, Alexander, 
 ran away as he was going ; but the younger, 
 Antigonus, with his sisters, were carried to 
 Rome. 
 
 * The coin of this Gadara, still extant, with its date 
 from this era, is a certain evidence of iU rebuilding by 
 Pompey.
 
 CHAP. VH1.] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 437 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 ALEXANDER, THE SON OF ARISTOBULUS, WHO BAN 
 AWAY FROM POMPEY, MAKES AN EXPEDITION 
 AGAINST HTRCANUS ; BOT BEING OVERCOME BY 
 GABINIUS, HE DELIVERS UP THE FORTRESSES TO 
 HIM. AFTER THIS, ARISTOBULUS ESCAPES FROM 
 ROUE, AND GATHERS AN ARMY TOGETHER ; BUT 
 BEING BEATEN BY THE ROMANS, HE IS BROUGHT 
 BACK TO ROME ; WITH OTHER THINGS RELATING 
 TO GABINIUS, CRASSUS, AND CASSIU3. 
 
 1. IN the meantime Scaurus made an expedi- 
 tion into Arabia, but was stopped by the difficulty 
 of the places about Petra, . However, he laid 
 waste the country about Pella, though even 
 there he was under great hardship , for his army 
 was afflicted with famine. In order to supply 
 which want, Hyrcanus afforded him some assist- 
 ance, and sent him provisions by the means of 
 Antipater; whom also Scaurus sent to Aretas, as 
 one well acquainted with him, to induce him to 
 pay him money to buy his peace. The king of 
 Arabia complied with the proposal, and gave him 
 three hundred talents ; upon which Scaurus drew 
 his army out of Arabia. * 
 
 2. But as for Alexander, that son of Aristo- 
 bulus who ran away from Pompey, in some time 
 he got a considerable baud of men together, and 
 lay heavy upon Hyrcanus, and over-ran Judea, 
 and was likely to overturn him quickly ; and in- 
 deed he had come to Jerusalem, and had ven- 
 tured to rebuild its wall that was thrown down 
 by Pcmpey, had not Gabmius, who was sent as 
 successor to Scaurus i ito Syria, shewn hia 
 bravery, as in many othi r points, so in making 
 an expedition against Ale sander, who, as he wa? 
 afraid he would attack lira, so he got togethei 
 a large army, composed < f ten thousand armed 
 footmen, and fifteen hu adred horsemen. He 
 also built walls about p roper places ; Alexan- 
 drium, and Hyrcanium, a ad Macherus, that lay 
 upon the mountains of Ai sibia, 
 
 3. However, Gabinius a ;nt before him Marcus 
 Antonius, and followed hi niself with his whole 
 army ; but for the select body of soldiers that 
 were about Antipater, and another body of Jews 
 under the command of Mnfichus and Pitholaus, 
 these joined themselves to those captains that 
 were about Marcus Antonius, and met Alexan- 
 der; to which body came Gabinius with his 
 main army soon afterward ; and as Alexander 
 was not able to sustain the charge of the ene- 
 mies' forces, now they were joined, he retired. 
 But when he was come near to Jerusalem, he 
 was forced to fight, and lost six thousand men 
 in the battle ; three thousand of whom fell down 
 dead, and three thousand were taken alive ; so 
 he fled with the remainder to Alexandrium. 
 
 4. Now, when Gabinius was come to Alexan- 
 drium, because he found a great many there en- 
 camped, he tried, by promising them pardon for 
 their former offences, to induce them to come 
 
 j over to him before it came to a fight ; but when 
 I they would hearken to no terms of accommoda- 
 tion, he slew a great number of them, and shut 
 a great number of them in the citadel. Now 
 Marcus Antonius, their leader, signalised himself 
 
 * Aldrich says, regarding this submission of Aretas 
 to Scaurus : " Hence is derived that old and famous 
 denarius belonging to the Emilian family, wherein 
 Aretas appears in a posture of supplication, and taking 
 hold of a camel's bridle with his left hand, and with his 
 right hand presenting a branch of the frunkincense- 
 tree, with this inscription : M. SCAUEUS UX. 8. C. ; 
 nd beneath. REX ARETAS.'' 
 
 in tliis battle, who, as he always shewed great 
 courage, so did he never shew it so much as 
 now ; but Gabinius. leaving forces to take the 
 citadel, went away himself, and settled the cities 
 that had not been demolished, and rebuilt those 
 that had been destroyed. Accordingly, upon 
 his injunction, the following cities were re- 
 stored Scythopolis, Samaria, Anthedon, Apol- 
 louia, Jamnia, Rap hia, Marissa, Adoreus, Ga- 
 mala, Ashdod, and many others ; while a great 
 number of men readily ran to each of them, and 
 became their inhabitants. 
 
 5. When Gabinius had taken oare of these 
 cities, he returned to Alexandrium, and pressed 
 on the siege. So when Alexander despaired of 
 ever obtaining the government, he sent ambassa- 
 dors to him, and prayed him to forgive what he 
 bad offended him in, and gave up to him the re- 
 maining fortresses, Hyrcauium and Macherus, as 
 he put Alexandrium into his hands afterwards : 
 all which Gabinius demolished, at the persuasion 
 of Alexander's mother, that they might not be 
 receptacles of men in a second war. She was 
 now there, in order to mollify Gabmius, out of 
 her concern for her relations that were captives 
 at Rome, which were her husband and her other 
 children. After this, Gabinius brought Hyrca- 
 nus to Jerusalem, and committed the care of the 
 temple to him ; but ordained the political go- 
 vernment to be by an aristocracy. He also 
 parted the whole nation into five conventions, 
 assigning one portion to Jerusalem, another to 
 Gadara, that another should belong to Ama- 
 thus, a fourth to Jericho, and to the fifth divi- 
 sion was allotted Sepphoris, a city of Galilee. 
 So the people were glad to be thus freed from 
 monarchical government, and were governed for 
 the future by an aristocracy. 
 
 6. Yet did Aristobulus afford a new founda- 
 tion for other disturbances. He fled away from 
 Rome, and got together again many of the Jews 
 that were desirous of a change, such as had 
 borne an affection to him of old ; and when he 
 had taken Alexandrium in the first place, he at- 
 tempted to build a wall about it : but as soon as 
 Gabiuius had sent an arm) 7 against him under 
 Sisenna, Antonius, and Servilius, he was aware 
 of it, and retreated to Macherus. And as for 
 the unprofitable multitude, he dismissed them, 
 and only marched on with those that were 
 armed, being to the number of eight thousand, 
 among whom was Pitholaus, who had been the 
 lieutenant at Jerusalem, but deserted to Aristo- 
 bulus with a thousand of his men : so the Ro- 
 mans followed him, and when it came to a battle, 
 A ristobulus's party for a long time fought cour- 
 ageously ; but at length they were overborne by 
 the Romans, and of them five thousand fell 
 dead, and about two thousand fled to a certain 
 little hill, but the thousand that remained with 
 Aristobulus brake through the Roman army, 
 and marched together to Macherus ; and, when 
 the king had lodged the first night on its ruins, 
 he was in hopes of raising another army, if the 
 war would but cease a while; accordingly, he 
 fortified that stronghold, though it was done 
 after a poor manner. But the Romans falling 
 upon him, he resisted, even beyond his abilities, 
 for two days, and then was taken, and brought a 
 prisoner to Gabinius, with Antigonns his son, 
 who had fled away together with him from 
 Rome; and from Gabinius he was carried to 
 Rome again. Wherefore the senate put him 
 under confinement, but returned his children 
 back to Judea, because Gabinius informed them 
 by letters that he had promised Aristobulus's 
 mother to do so, for her delivering the fortresses 
 up to him.
 
 438 
 
 WARS Oi THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK L 
 
 7. But now as Gabinius was marching to the 
 irar against the Parthians, he was hindered by 
 Ptolemy, whom, upon his return from Euph- 
 rates, he brought back into Egypt, making use 
 of Hyrcanus and Antipatcr to provide everything 
 that was necessary for this expedition ; for An- 
 tipater furnished him with money, and weapons, 
 and corn, and auxiliaries ; he also prevailed with 
 the Jews that were there, and guarded the 
 avenues at Pelusium, to let them pass. But 
 now, upon Gabinius's absence, the other part of 
 Syria was in motion, and Alexander, the son of 
 Aristobulus, brought the Jews to revolt again. 
 Accordingly, he got together a very great army, 
 and set about killing all the Romans that were 
 in the country : hereupon Gabinius was afraid 
 (for he was come back already out of Egypt, and 
 obliged to come back quickly by these tumults,) 
 and sent Antipater, who prevailed with some of 
 the revolters to be quiet. However, thirty 
 thousand still continued with Alexander, who 
 was himself eager to fight also ; accordingly, 
 Gabinius went out to fight, when the Jews met 
 him ; and, as the battle was fought near Mount 
 Tabor, ten thousand of them were slain, and the 
 rest of the multitude dispersed themselves, and 
 fled away. So Gabinius came to Jerusalem, and 
 settled the government as Antipater would have 
 it ; thence he marched, and fought and beat the 
 Nabateans : as for Mithridates and Orsanes, who 
 fled out of Parthia, he sent them away privately, 
 but gave it out among the soldiers that they had 
 run away. 
 
 8. In the meantime, Crassus came as successor 
 to Gabinius in Syria. He took away' all the rest 
 of the gold belonging to the temple of Jerusalem, 
 in order to furnish himself for his expedition 
 against the Parthians. He also took away the 
 two thousand talents which Pompey had not 
 touched ; but when he had passed over Euphra- 
 tes, he perished himself, and his army witb him ; 
 concerning which affairs this is not a propei time 
 to speak [more largely.] 
 
 9. But now Cassius, after Crassus, put a stop 
 to the Parthians, who were marching in order to 
 enter Syria. Cassius had fled into that province, 
 and when he had taken possession of the same, 
 he made a hasty march into Judea ; and upon 
 his taking Tarichese, he carried thirty thousand 
 Jews into slavery. He also slew Pitholaus, who 
 had supported the seditious followers of Aristo- 
 bulus : and it was Antipater who advised him so 
 to do. Now this Antipater married a wife of an 
 eminent family among the Arabians, whose name 
 was Cypros, and had four sous born to him by 
 her, Phasaelus and Herod, who was afterwards 
 king, and besides, Joseph and Pheroras ; and he 
 had a daughter, whose name was Salome. Now, 
 as he made himself friends among the men of 
 power everywhere, by the kind offices he did 
 them, and the hospitable manner that he treated 
 them, so did he contract the greatest friendship 
 with the king of Arabia, by marrying his rela- 
 tion; insomuch tbat when he made war with 
 Aristobulus, he sent and intrusted his children 
 with him. So when Cassius had forced Alex- 
 ander to come to terms and to be quiet, he re- 
 turned to Euphrates, in order to prevent the 
 Parthians from repassing it. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A.B18TOBUHJ 8 IS TAKEN OFF BY POMPEY'B FRIENDS, 
 AS IS HIS SON ALEXANDER BY SCIPIO. ANTI- 
 PATER CULTIVATES A FRIENDSHIP WITH CASAR. 
 
 AFTER POMPEY'S DEATH ; HE ALSO PERFORMS 
 GREAT ACTIONS IN THAT WAR, WHEBEIN HE 
 ASSISTED MITHRIDATES. 
 
 1. Now, upon the flight of Pompey and of the 
 senate beyond the Ionian Sea, Cassar got Home 
 and the empire under his power, and released 
 Aristobulus from his bonds. He also committed 
 two legions to him, and sent him in haste into 
 Syria, as hoping that by his means he should 
 easily conquer that country, and the parts ad- 
 joining to Judea, But envy prevented any effect 
 of Aristobulus's alacrity and the hopes of Caesar; 
 for he was taken off by poison given him by those 
 of Pouipey's party ; and, for along while, he had 
 not so much as a burial vouchsafed him in his 
 own country ; but his dead body lay [above 
 ground,] preserved in honey, until it was sent to 
 the Jews by Antony, in order to be buried in 
 the royal sepulchres. 
 
 2. His son Alexander also was beheaded by 
 Scipio at Antioch, and that by the command of 
 Pompey, and upon an accusation laid against 
 him before. his tribunal, for the mischiefs he had 
 done to the Romans. But Ptolemy, the son of 
 Menneus, who was then ruler of Chalcis, under 
 Libanus, took his brethren to him, by sending 
 his son Philipio for them to Ascalon ; who took 
 Antigonus, as well as his sisters, away from 
 Aristobulus's wife, and brought them to his 
 father; and falling in lovo with the younger 
 daughter, he married her, and was afterward 
 slain by his father on her account ; for Ptolemy 
 himself, after he had slain his son, married her, 
 whose name was Alexandra ; on account of which 
 marriage he took the greater care of her brother 
 and sister. 
 
 3. Now, after Pompey was dead, Antipater 
 changed sides, and cultivated a friendship with 
 Caesar. And, since Mithridates of Pergamus, 
 with the forces he led against Egypt, was ex- 
 cluded from the avenues about Pelusium, and 
 was forced to stay at Ascalon, he persuaded the 
 Arabians among whom he had livd to assist 
 him, and came himself to him, at the head of 
 three thousand men. He also encouraged the 
 men of power in Syria to come to his assistance ; 
 as also of the inhabitants of Libauus, Ptolemy, 
 and Jamblicus, and another Ptolemy ; by which 
 means the cities of that country came readily 
 into this war ; insomuch that Mithridates ven- 
 tured now, in dependence upon the additional 
 strength that he had gotten by Antipator, to 
 march forward to Pelusium ; and when they re- 
 fused him a passage through it, he besieged the 
 city ; in the attack of which place Antipater 
 principally signalised himself, for he brought 
 down that part of the wall which was over 
 against him, and leaped first of all into the city, 
 with the men that were about him, 
 
 4. .Thus was Pelusium taken. But still, as 
 they were marching on, those Egyptian Jews 
 that inhabited the country, called the country of 
 Ouias, stopped them. Then did Antipater not 
 only peisuade them not to stop them, but to 
 afford provisions for their army ; on which ac- 
 count even the people about Memphis would not 
 fight against them, but, of their own accord, 
 joined Mithridates. Whereupon he went round 
 about Delta, and fought the rest of the Egyp- 
 tians at a place called the Jews' Camp : nay, 
 when he was in danger in the battle with all hia 
 right wing Antipater wheeled about, and came 
 along the bank of that river to him ; for he had 
 beaten those that opposed him as he led the left 
 wing. After which success he fell upon those 
 that pursued Mithridates, and slew a great many 
 of them, and pursued the remainder so far. that
 
 CHAT. X.] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 he took their camp, while he lost no more than 
 fourscore of his own men ; as Mithridates lost, 
 during the pursuit that was made after him, about 
 eight hundred. He was also himself saved un- 
 expectedly, and became an uureproachable wit- 
 ness to Cassar of the great actions of Antipater. 
 5. Whereupon Cassar encouraged Antipater to 
 undertake other hazardous enterprises for him, 
 and tliat by giving him great commendations and 
 hopes of reward. In all which enterprises he 
 readily exposed himself to many dangers, and 
 became a most courageous warrior; and had 
 many wounds all over his body, as demonstra- 
 tions of his valour. And when Cassar had set- 
 tled the affairs of Egypt, and was returning into 
 Syria again, he gave him the privilege of a 
 Roman citizen, and freedom from taxes, and 
 rendered him an object of admiration by the 
 honours and marks of friendship he bestowed 
 upon him. On this account it was that he also 
 confirmed Hyrcauus in the high priesthood. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 OJSSAB MAKES ANTIPATEB PROCURATOR OF JUDEA ; 
 A3 DOES AXT1PATER APPOINT PHASAtLoS TO BE 
 GOVERNOR OF JERUSALEM, AND HERO1) GOVER- 
 NOR OF GALILEE; WHO, IN SOME TIME, WAS 
 
 CALLED TO ANSWER FOR HIMSELF [BEFORE THE 
 SANHEDRIM,] WHERE HE IS ACQUITTED, SEXTUS 
 CJESAR IS TREACHEROUSLY KTT.I.Kn BY BASSUS, 
 AND IS SUCCEEDED BY MARCUi 
 
 1. ABOUT this time it was that Antigonus, the 
 son of Aristobulus, came to Caar, and became, 
 in a surprising manner, the occasion of Anti- 
 pater's further advancement; for, whereas he 
 ought to have lamented that his father appeared 
 to have been poisoned on account of his quarrels 
 with Pompey, and to have complained of Soipio's 
 barbarity towards his brother, and not to mix any 
 invidious passion when suing for mercy ; instead 
 of those things, he came before Csesar, and ac- 
 cused Hyrcauus and Antipater, how they had 
 driven him and his brethren entirely out of their 
 native country, and had acted in a great many 
 instances unjustly and extravagantly with regard 
 to their nation ; and that as to the assistance they 
 had sent him into Egypt, it was not done out of 
 good-will to him, but out of the fear they were 
 in from former quarrels, and in order to gain 
 pardon for their friendship to [his enemy] Pom- 
 pey. 
 
 2. Hereupon Antipater threw away his gar- 
 ments, and shewed the multitude of the wounds 
 he had, and said, that as to his good-will to 
 Caisar, he had no occasion to say a word, because 
 his body cried aloud, though he said nothing 
 himself : that he wondered at Antigouus's bold- 
 ness, while he was himself no other than the son 
 of an enemy to the Romans, and of fugitive, 
 and had it by inheritance from his father to be 
 fond of innovations and seditions, that he should 
 undertake to accuse other men before the Human 
 governor, and endeavour to gain some advantages 
 to himself, when he ought to be contented that 
 he was suffered to live ; for that the reaeou of 
 his desire of governing public affairs was not so 
 much because he was in want of it, but because, 
 if he could once obtain the same, he might stir 
 up a sedition among the Jews, and use what he 
 should gain for the lloinaui, to the disservice of 
 those that gave it him. 
 
 3. "When Csesar heard this, he declared Hyr- 
 camu to be the most worthy of the high priest- 
 hood, and gav& leave to Antipater to choose 
 
 what authority he pleased : but he left the de- 
 termination of such dignity to him that bestowed 
 the digmty upon him ; so he was constituted 
 procurator of all Judea, and obtained leave 
 moreover, to rebuild those walls of his count 
 that had been thrown down. These honorary 
 grants Ciesar sent orders to have engraved in 
 the Capitol, that they might stand there as in- 
 dications of his own justice, and of the virtue of 
 Autipater. 
 
 4. But as soon as Antipater had conducted 
 Csesar out of Syria he returned to Judea, and 
 the first thing he did was to rebuild that wall of 
 his own country [Jerusalem,] which Pompey had 
 overthrown, and then to go over the country, and 
 to quiet the tumults that were therein ; where 
 he partly threatened, and partly advised, every 
 one, and told him that, in case they would 
 submit to Hyrcanus, they would live happily 
 and peaceably, and enjoy what they possessed, 
 and that with universal peace and quietness; 
 but that in case they hearkened to such as had 
 some frigid hopes, by raising new troubles, to get 
 themselves some gain, they should then find him 
 to be their lord, instead of their procurator, and 
 find Hyicauus to be a tyrant, instead of a king, 
 and both the Romans and Cajsar to be their ene- 
 mies, instead of rulers ; for that they would not 
 suffer him to be removed from the government, 
 whom they had made their governor ; and, at 
 the same time that he said this, he settled the 
 affairs of the country by himself, because he 
 saw that Hyrcauus was inactive, and not fit to 
 mana e the affairs of the kingdom. So he con- 
 stituted his eldest son, Phasaelus, governor of 
 Jerusalem, and of the parts about it ; he alsc 
 sent his next son, Herod, who was very young, 
 [twenty-five years of age,] with equal authority 
 into Galilee. 
 
 5. Now Herod was an active man, and soon 
 found proper materials for his active spirit to 
 work upon. As therefore he found that Heze- 
 kias, the head of the robbers, ran over the 
 neighbouring parts of Syria with a great band of 
 men, he caught him and slew him, and many 
 
 | more of the robbers wjth him ; which exploit 
 I was chiefly grateful to the Syrians, insomuch 
 that hymns were sung in Herod's commendation, 
 both in the villages and in the cities, as having 
 procured their quietness, and having preserved 
 what they possessed to them ; on which occasion 
 he became acquainted with Sextus Cassar, a 
 kinsman of the great Ceesar, and president of 
 Syria. A just emulation of his glorious actions 
 excited Phasaelus also to imitate him. Accord- 
 ingly he procured the good-will of the inhabit- 
 ants of Jerusalem, by his own management of 
 the city affairs, and did not abuse his power in 
 any disagreeable manner ; whence it came to pass 
 that the nation paid Antipater the respects that 
 were due only to a king, and the honours due to 
 an absolute lord ; yet did he not abate any part 
 of that good-will or fidelity which he owed to 
 Hyrcanus. 
 
 6. However, be found it impossible to escape 
 envy in such his prosperity : for the glory of 
 these young men affected even Hyrcanus him- 
 self already privately, though he said nothing 
 of it to anybody ; but what he principally was 
 grieved at was the great actions of Herod, and 
 that so many messengers came one before an- 
 utLei, and informed him of the great reputation 
 he got in all his undertakings. There were 
 also many people in the royal palace itself who 
 inflamed his envy at him ; those, I mean, who 
 were obstructed in their designs by the ptudenoe 
 either of the young men or of Aiitipater. The* 
 men said that, by committing tho public affaVs
 
 440 
 
 WARS OF FHE JEWS. 
 
 TBOOKT. 
 
 to the management of Antipater and of his sons, 
 he sat with nothing but the bare name of a king, 
 without any of its authority ; and they asked 
 him how long he would so far mistake himself as 
 to breed up kings against his own interest ; for 
 that they did not now conceal their government 
 of affairs any longer, but were plainly lords of 
 the nation, and had thrust him out of his 
 authority ; that this was the case when Herod 
 slew so many men without his giving him any 
 command to do it, either by word of mouth or 
 by his letter, and this in contradiction to the law 
 of the Jews ; who therefore, in case he be not a 
 king, but a private man, still ought to come to 
 his trial, and answer it to him, and to the laws 
 of his country, which do not permit any one to 
 be killed till he had been condemned in judg- 
 ment. 
 
 7. Now Hyrcanus was by degrees inflamed 
 with these discourses, and at length could bear 
 no longer, but summoned Herod to take his trial. 
 Accordingly, by his father's advice, and as soon 
 as the affairs of Galilee would give him leave, 
 he came up [to Jerusalem,] when he had first 
 placed garrisons in Galilee : however, he came 
 with a sufficient body of soldiers, so many indeed 
 that he might not appear to have with him an 
 army able to overthrow Hyrcanus's government, 
 nor yet so few as to expose him to the insults 
 of those that envied him. However Sextus 
 Csesar was in fear for the young man, lest he 
 should be taken by his enemies, and brought to 
 punishment ; so he sent some to denounce ex- 
 pressly to Hyrcanus, that he should acquit 
 Herod of the capital charge against him ; who 
 acquitted him accordingly, as being otherwise 
 inclined also so to do, for he loved Herod. 
 
 8. Bui Herod, supposing that he had escaped 
 punishment without the consent of the king, re- 
 tired to Sextus, to Damascus, and got evoiy thing 
 ready, in order not to obey him if he should 
 summon him again ; whereupon those that were 
 evil-disposed irritated Hyrcanus, and told him 
 that Herod was gone away in anger, and was 
 prepared to make war upon him; and as the king 
 believed what they said, he knew not what to 
 do, since he saw his antagonist was stronger than 
 he was himself; and now, since Herod was 
 made general of Coelesyria and Samaria by Sextus 
 Caesar, he was formidable, not only from the 
 good-will which the nation bore him, but by the 
 power he himself had; insomuch that Hyrcanua 
 fell into the utmost degree of terror, and ex- 
 pected he would presently march egaiu<*i ^im 
 with his army. 
 
 9. Nor was he mistaken in the conjecture he 
 made ; for Herod got his army together, out of 
 the anger he bare him for his threatening him 
 with the accusation in a public court, and led it 
 to Jerusalem, in order to throw Hyrcanus down 
 from his kingdom ; and this he had soon done, 
 unless his father and brother had gone out to- 
 gether and broken the force of his fury, and this 
 by exhorting him to carry his revenge no farther 
 than to threatening and affrighting, but to spare 
 the king, under whom he had been advanced to 
 such a degree of power ; and that he ought not 
 to be so much provoked at his being tried, as to 
 forget to Le thankful that he was acquitted ; 
 nor so long to think upon what was of a melan- 
 choly nature, as to be ungrateful for his deliver- 
 ance ; and if we ought to reckon that God is the 
 arbitrator of success in war, an unjust cause is 
 of more disadvantage than an army can be of 
 advantage ; and that therefore he ought not to 
 be entirely confident of success in a case where 
 he is to fight against his king, his supporter, and 
 one that had often been his benefactor, and tl-at 
 
 had never been severe to him any otherwise 
 than as he had hearkened to evil counsellors, 
 and this no farther than by bringing a shadow of 
 injustice upon him. So Herod was prevailed 
 upon by these arguments, and supposed that 
 what he had already done was sufficient for his 
 future hopes, and that he had enough shewn his 
 power to the nation. 
 
 10. In the meantime, there was a disturbance 
 among the Romans about Apamia, and a civil 
 war occasioned by the treacherous slaughter of 
 Sextus Caesar, by Cecilius Bassus, which he 
 perpetrated out of his good-will to Pompey ; he 
 also took the authority over his forces ; but, ss 
 the rest of Caesar's commanders attacked Bassui 
 with their whole army, in order to punish him 
 for the murder of Caesar, Antipater also seni 
 them assistance by his sons, both on account ot 
 him that was murdered, and on account of that 
 Caesar who was still alive, both of whom were 
 their friends ; and as this war grew to be of a 
 considerable length, Marcus came out of Italy 
 as successor to Sextus. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 HEROD IS MADE PROCURATOR OP ALL SYRIA } 
 MALICHUS IS AFRAID OF HIM, AND TAKES ANTI- 
 PATER OFF BY POISON : WHEREUPON THE TRI- 
 BUNES OF THE SOLDIERS ARE PREVAILED WITH 
 TO KILL HIM. 
 
 1. THERE was at this time a mighty war raised 
 among the Romans, upon the sudden and 
 treacherous slaughter of Caesar by Cassius and 
 Brutus, after he had held the government for 
 three years and seven months.* Upon this 
 murder there were very great agitations, and the 
 great men were mightily at difference one with 
 another, and every one betook himself to that 
 party where they had the greatest hopes of ad- 
 vancing themselves. Accordingly, Cassius came 
 into Syria, in order to receive the forces that 
 were at Apamia, where he procured a reconcilia- 
 tion between Bassus and Marcus, and the legions 
 which were at difference with him : so he raised 
 the siege of Apamia, and took upon him the 
 command of the army, and went about exacting 
 tribute of the cities, and demanding their money 
 to such a degree as they were not able to bear. 
 
 2. So he gave command that the Jews should 
 bring in seven hundred talents : whereupon 
 Antipater, out of his dread of Cassius's threats, 
 parted the raising of this sum among his sons, 
 and among others of his acquaintance, and to be 
 done immediately ; and among them he required 
 one Malichus, who was at enmity with him, to 
 do his part also, which necessity forced him to 
 do. Now Herod, in the first place, mitigated 
 the passion of Cassius, by bringing his share out 
 of Galilee, which was a hundred talents, on 
 which account he was in the highest favour with 
 him ; and when he reproached the rest for being 
 tardy, he was angry at the cities themselves ; so 
 he made slaves of Gophna and Emmaus, and 
 two others of less note : nay, he proceeded as if 
 he would kill Malichus, because he had not 
 made greater haste in exacting his tribute ; but 
 Antipater prevented the ruin of this man, and of 
 
 * In the Antiquities, the duration of the reign ol 
 Julius Ciesar is three years six months ; but here three 
 years seven months. It is probable the real duration 
 might be three years and between six and seven 
 months.
 
 CHA.P. XII.] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS 
 
 441 
 
 the other cities, and got into Cassius's favour by 
 bringing in a hundred talents immediately.* 
 
 3. However, when Cassius was gone, Malichus 
 forgot the kindness that Antipater had done 
 him, and laid frequent plots against him that 
 had saved him, as making haste to get him out 
 of the way, who was an obstacle to his wicked 
 practices ; but Antipater was so much afraid of 
 the power and cunning of the man, that he went 
 beyond Jordan, in order to get an army to guard 
 himself against his treacherous designs; but 
 when Malichus was caught in this plot, he put 
 upon Antipater's sons by his impudence, for he 
 thoroughly deluded Phasaelus, who was the 
 guardian of Jerusalem, and Herod who was in- 
 trusted with the weapons of war, and this by a 
 great many excuses and oaths, and persuaded 
 them to procure his reconciliation to their father. 
 Thus was he preserved again by Antipater, who 
 dissuaded Marcus, the then president of Syria, 
 from his resolution of killing Malichus, on ac- 
 count of his attempts for innovation. 
 
 4. Upon the war between Cassius and Brutus 
 on one side, against the younger Caesar [Augustus] 
 and Antony on the other, Cassius and Marcus 
 got an army out of Syria ; and because Herod 
 was likely to have a great share in providing 
 necessaries, they then made him procurator of 
 all Syria, and gave him an army of foot and 
 horse. Cassius promised him also, that after 
 the war was over, he would make him king of 
 Judea ; but it so happened that the power and 
 hopes of his son became the cause of his perdi- 
 tion ; for, as Malichus was afraid of this, he cor- 
 rupted one of the king's cup-bearers with money, 
 to give a poisonous potion to Antipater ; so he 
 became a sacrifice to Malichus's wickedness, and 
 died at a feast. He was a man, in other re- 
 spects, active in the management of affairs, and 
 one that recovered the government to Hyrcanus, 
 and preserved it in his hands. 
 
 5. However, Malichus, when he was suspected 
 of poisoning Antipater, and when the multitude 
 was angry with him for it, denied it, and made 
 the people believe he was not guilty. He also 
 prepared to make a greater figure, and raised 
 soldiers; for he did not suppose that Herod 
 would be quiet, who indeed came upon him with 
 an army presently, in order to revenge his 
 father's death ; but upon hearing the advice of 
 his brother Phasaelus, not to punish him in an 
 open manner, lest the multitude should fall into 
 a sedition, he admitted of Malichus's apology, 
 and professed that he cleared him of his sus- 
 picion ; he also made ^ pompous funeral for his 
 father. 
 
 6. So Herod went to Samaria, which was then 
 in a tumult, and settled the city in peace ; after 
 which at the [Pentecost] festival, he returned to 
 Jerusalem, having his armed men with him ; 
 hereupon Hyrcanus, at the request of Malichas, 
 who feared his approach, forbade them to intro- 
 duce foreigners to mix themselves with the 
 people of the country, while they were purify- 
 ing themselves ; but Herod despised the pre- 
 tence, and him that gave that command, and 
 came in by night. Upon which Malichus came 
 to him, and bewailed Antipater ; Herod also 
 made him believe, [lie admitted of his lamenta- 
 tion as real,] although he had much ado to re- 
 strain his passion at him ; however, he did 
 himself bewail the murder of his father in his 
 letters to Cassius, who on other accounts also 
 
 * It appears evidently that this Cassius was a bitter 
 oppressor and exacter of tribute in Judea. These 700 
 talents amount to about 300,000 sterling, and are 
 about half the yearly revenue of king Herod after- 
 wards. 
 
 hated Malichus. Cassius sent him word back 
 that he should avenge his father's death upon 
 him, and privately gave order to the tribunes 
 that were under him that they should assist 
 Herod in a righteous action he was about. 
 
 7. And because, upon the taking of Laodicea 
 by Cassius, the men of power were gotten to- 
 gether from all quarters, with presents and 
 crowns in their hands, Herod allotted this time 
 for the punishment of Malichus. When Mali- 
 chus suspected that, and was at Tyre, he re- 
 solved to withdraw his son privately from 
 among the Tyrians, who was a hostage there, 
 while he got ready to fly away into Judea ; the 
 despair he was in of escaping excited him to 
 think of greater things ; for he hoped that lie 
 should raise the nation to a revolt from the 
 Romans, while Cassius was busy about the war 
 against Antony, and that he should easily de- 
 pose Hyrcanus, and get the crown for himself. 
 
 8. But fate laughed at the hopes he had, for 
 Herod foresaw what he was so zealous about, 
 and invited both Hyrcanus and him to supper ; 
 but calling one of the principal servants that 
 stood by him to him, he sent him out, as 
 though it were- to get things ready for supper, 
 but in reality to give notice beforehand about 
 the plot that was laid against him ; accordingly 
 they called to mind what orders Cassius had 
 given them, and went out of the city with their 
 swords in their hands upon the sea-shore, where 
 they encompassed Malichus round about, and 
 killed him with many wounds. Upon which 
 Hyrcanus was immediately affrighted, till he 
 swooned away, and fell down at the surprise he 
 was in ; and it was with difficulty that he was 
 recovered, when he asked who it was that had 
 killed Malichus. And when one of the tribunes 
 replied that it was done by the command of 
 Cassius, "Then," said he, "Cassius hath saved 
 both me and my country, by cutting off one that 
 was laying plots against them both." Whether 
 he spake according to his own sentiments, or 
 whether his fear was such that he was obliged 
 to commend the action by saying so, is uncertain; 
 however, by this method Herod inflicted punish- 
 ment upon Malichus. 
 
 CHAPTER XIL 
 
 PHASAELUS 18 TOO HARD FOK FELIX ; HEROD ALSO 
 OVERCOMES ANTIGONUS IN BATTLE: AND THE 
 JEWS ACCUSE BOTH HEROD AND PHASAELUS; 
 BUT ANTONIUS ACQUITS THEM, AND MAKES 
 THEM TETRARCHS. 
 
 1. WHEN Cassius was gone out of Syria, 
 another sedition arose at Jerusalem, whereia 
 Felix assaulted Phasaelus with an army, that 
 he might revenge the death of Malichus upon 
 Herod, by falling upon his brother. Now Herod 
 happened then to be with F.abius, the governor 
 of Damascus, and as he was going to his brother's 
 assistance, he was detained by sickness ; in the 
 meantime, Phasaelus was by himself too hard 
 for Felix, and reproached Hyrcanus on account 
 of his ingratitude, both for what assistance he 
 had afforded Malichus, and for overlooking 
 Malichus's brother, when he possessed himself 
 of the fortresses ; for he had gotten a great 
 many of them already, and among them the 
 strongest of them all, Masada, 
 
 2. However, nothing could be sufficient foi 
 him against the force of Herod, who, as soon &s 
 he was recovered, took the other fortresses again, 
 and di-ove him out of Masada in the pcsturo of
 
 fri- 
 
 VYAKS OK 1HE JE\VS. 
 
 [BOOK 1. 
 
 a supplicant ; he also drove away Marion, the 
 tyrant of the Tyrians, out of Galilee, wbeii he 
 had already possessed himself of three fortified 
 places ; but as to those Tyrians whom he had 
 caught he preserved them all alive ; nay, some 
 of them he gave presents to, and so sent their. 
 away, and thereby procured good-will to himself 
 from the city, and hatred to the tyrant. Marion 
 had indeed obtained this tyrannical power of 
 Cassius, who set tyrants over all Syria ; * and 
 out of hatred to Herod it was that he assisted 
 Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus, and princi- 
 pally on Fabius's account, whom Antigonus had 
 made his assistant by money, and had him ac- 
 cordingly on his side when he made his descent ; 
 but it was Ptolemy, the kinsman of Antigonus, 
 that supplied all that he wanted. 
 
 3. When Herod had fought against these in 
 the avenues of Judea, he was conqueror in the 
 battle, and drove away Antigonus, and returned 
 to Jerusalem, beloved by everybody for the glo- 
 rious action he had done ; for those who did 
 not before favour him did join themselves to 
 him now, because of his marriage into the family 
 of Hyrcanus ; for as he had formerly married a 
 wife out of his own country of no ignoble blood, 
 who was called Doris, of whom he begat Anti- 
 pater, so did he now marry Maiiamne, the 
 daughter of Alexander, the son of Aristobulus, 
 and the grand-daughter of Hyrcanus, and was 
 become thereby a relation of the king. 
 
 4. But when Caesar and Antony had slain Cas- 
 Bius near Philippi, and Caesar was gone to Italy, 
 and Antony to Asia, amongst the rest of the 
 cities which sent ambassadors 'to Antony unto 
 Bithynia, the great men of the Jews came also, 
 and accused Phasaelus and Herod, <-hat they 
 kept the government by force, and that Hyrcauus 
 had no more than an honourable name. Herod 
 appeared ready to answer this accusation ; and, 
 having made Antony his friend by the large 
 sums of money he gave him, he brought him to 
 such a temper as not to hear the others speak 
 against him; and thus did they part, at this 
 time. 
 
 5. However, after this there came a hundred 
 of the principal men among the Jews to Daphne 
 by Antioch, to Antony, who was already in love 
 with Cleopatra to the degree of slavery ; these 
 Jews put those men that were the most potent, 
 both in dignity and eloquence, foremost, and 
 incused the brethren, f But Messala opposed 
 tnein, and defended the brethren, and that 
 while Hyrcanus stood by him, on account of his 
 relation to them. When Antony had heard both 
 sides, he asked Hyrcanus which party was the 
 fittest to govern ; who replied, that Herod and 
 his party was fittest. Antony was glad of that 
 answer, for he had been formerly treated in an 
 hospitable and obliging manner by his father 
 Antipater, when he marched into Judea with 
 Gabinius; so he constituted the brethren, te- 
 trarchs, and committed to them the government 
 of Judea. 
 
 6. But when the ambassadors had indignation 
 at this procedure, Antony took fifteen of them 
 and put them into custody, whom lie was alsc 
 going to kill presently, and the rest he drove 
 away with disgrace; on which occasion a still 
 greater tumult arose at Jerusalem ; so they sent 
 again a thousand ambassadors to Tyre, where 
 Antony now abode, as he was marching to Jeru- 
 salem; upon these men who made a clamour, 
 
 * Here we see that Cassius set tyrants over all Syria 
 o that his assisting to destroy Ciesar does not seem tc 
 nave proceeded from his true zeal for public liberty 
 bat from a desire to be a tyrant himself 
 
 T Pliasaolus and Herod 
 
 he sent out the governor of Tyre, and ordered 
 I him to punish all that he could catch of them, 
 and to settle those in the administration whom 
 I he had made tetrarchs. 
 
 7. But before this, Herod and Hyrcanus went 
 out upon the sea-shore, and earnestly desired of 
 these ambassadors that they would neither bring 
 ruin upon themselves, nor war upon their native 
 country, by their rash contentions; and when 
 they grew still more outrageous, Antony sent 
 out armed men, and slew a great many, and 
 wounded more of them: of whom those that 
 were slain were buried by Hyrcanus, as were 
 the wounded put under the care of physicians 
 by him ; yet would not those that had escaped 
 be quiet still, but put the affairs of the city intc 
 such disorder, and so provoked Antony, that he 
 blow those whom he had put into bonds also. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THC J?AKTHIAN8 BRING ANTIGONDS BACK INTO 
 ;TJDEA, AND CAST HYRCANUS AND PHASAELUS 
 INTO PRISON. THE FLIGHT OF HEROD, AND 
 THE TAKING OF JERUSALEM, AND WHAT HYR- 
 CANUS AND FHASAELUS BUFFERED. 
 
 1. Now two years afterward, when Baraa- 
 pharnes, a governor among the Parthians, and 
 Pacorus, the king's son, had possessed themselves 
 of Syria, and when Lysanias had already suc- 
 ceeded upon the death of his father Ptolemy, 
 the ten of Menneus, in the government, [of 
 Chalcis,] he prevailed with the governor, by a 
 promise of a thousand talents, and five hundred 
 women, to bring back Antigonus to his kingdom, 
 and to turn Hyrcanus out of it. Pacorus was 
 by these means induced so to do, and marched 
 along the sea-coast, while he ordered Barza- 
 pharnes to fall upon the Jews as he went along 
 the Mediterranean part of the country ; but of 
 the maritime people, the Tyrians would not re- 
 ceive Pacorus, although those of Ptolemais and 
 Sidon had received him; so he committed a 
 troop of his horse to a certain cup-bearer be- 
 longing to the royal family, of his own name, 
 [Pacorus,] and gave him orders to march into 
 Judea, in order to learn the state of affairs 
 among their enemies, and to help Antigonus 
 when he should want his assistance. 
 
 2. Now, as these men were ravaging Ctjmel, 
 many of the Jews ran together to Antigonus, 
 and shewed themselves ready to make an incur- 
 sion into the country ; so he sent them before 
 into that place called Drymus, [the woodland, J] 
 to seize upon the place ; whereupon a battle 
 was fought between them ; and they drove the 
 eneaay away, and pursued them, and ran after 
 them as far as Jerusalem, and as their numbers 
 increased, they proceeded as far as the king's 
 palace ; but as Hyrcanus and Phasaelus received 
 them with a strong body of men, there happened 
 a battle iu the market-place, in which Herod's 
 party beat the enemy, and shut them up in the 
 temple, and set sixty men in the houses adjoin 
 ing as a guard on them. But the people that 
 were tumultuous against the brethren came in 
 and burnt those men ; while Herod, in his rage 
 for killing them, attacked and slew many of the 
 people, till one party made incursions on the 
 other by turns, day by day, in the way of am- 
 
 t This large and noted wood, or woodland, belonging 
 to Carmel, Is mentioned in the Old Testament, (2 Kings 
 vlx. 25 : and Isa xxxvL 24. i
 
 3HAP. X11L] 
 
 WARS Oi- fHE JE^VS. 
 
 443 
 
 bushes : ana slaughters were made continually 
 among them. 
 
 3. Now when that festival whicli we call Pen- 
 tecost was at hand, all the places about the tem- 
 ple, and the whole city, was full of a multitude 
 of people that were come out of the country, 
 and who v ere the greatest part of them armed 
 also, at wLiuh time Phasaelus guarded the wall, 
 Hid Herod, with a few, guarded the royal palace ; 
 and when he made an assault upon his enemies, 
 as they were out of their ranks, on the north 
 quarter of the city, he slew & great number of 
 them, and put them all to flight; and some of 
 them he shut up within the city, and others 
 within the outward rampart ui the meantime 
 Antigonus desired that Paco.ns might be ad- 
 mitted to be a reconciler between" them ; and 
 Phasaelus was prevailed upon to admit the Par- 
 thian into the city with five hundred horse, and 
 to treat him in an hospitable vaanner, who pre- 
 tended that he came to quell the tumult, but in 
 reality he came to assist Antigonus ; however, 
 he laid a plot for Phasaelus, and persuaded him 
 to go as an ambassador to Barzapharnes, in ordez 
 to put an end to the war, although Herod was 
 very earnest with him to the contrary, and ex 
 horted him to kill the plotter, but not expose 
 himself to the snares he had laid for him, be- 
 cause the barbarians are naturally perfidious. 
 However, Pacorus went out and took Hyrcauus 
 with him, that he might be the less suspected ; 
 be also * left some of the horsemen, called tht> 
 Freemen, with Herod, and conducted 1'ha ^elus 
 with the rest. 
 
 4. But now, when they were come to Galilee, 
 they found that the people of that country had 
 revolted, and were in arms, who came very 
 cunningly to their leader, and besought hirn t*. 
 ponceal his treacherous intentions by an oblig- 
 ing behaviour to them; accordingly, he at first 
 made them presents, and afterward, as they 
 went way, laid ambushes for them ; and, whezi 
 they were come to one of the maritime cities 
 called Ecdippon, they perceived that a plot was 
 laid for them : for they were there infozined of 
 a promise of a thousand talents, and how Anti- 
 gonus had devoted the greatest number of the 
 women that were there with them, among the 
 five hundred, to the Parthians ; they also per- 
 ceived that an ambush was always laid for thum 
 by the barbazians in the night-time; they had 
 also been seized on before this, unless they had 
 waited for the seizure of Herod first at Jeru- 
 salem, because, if he were once informed of this 
 treachery of theirs, he would take care of him- 
 self : nor was this a mere repoz-t, for they saw 
 the guards already not far off them. 
 
 5. Nor would Phasaelus think of forsaking 
 Hyrcanus and flying away, although Ophellius 
 earnestly pez-suaded him to it ; for this man had 
 learned the whole scheme of the plot from 
 Samaralla, the richest of all the Syrians. But 
 Phasaelus went up to the Parthian governor, 
 and reproached him to his face for laying this 
 treachezous plot against them, and chiefly be- 
 cause he had done it for money; and he pro- 
 mised him that he would give him more money 
 for their pz-eservation than Autippnus had pro- 
 mised to give for the kingdom. But the sly 
 Parthian endeavoured to remove all his suspi- 
 cion by apologies and by oaths, and then went 
 to [the other] Pacorus ; immediately after whicli 
 those Parthians who were left, and had it in 
 charge, seized upon Phasaelus and Hyrcanus. 
 
 These accounts, that the Parthians fought chiefly 
 on horseback, and that only some few of their soldiers 
 were freemen, perfectly agree with Trogus Pomveiu 
 
 who could do no more than curse their perfidious- 
 ness and their perjury. 
 
 6. In the meantime the cup-bearer \>HS sent, 
 [back,] and laid a plot how to seize upon Herod, 
 by deluding him, and getting him out of the 
 city, as he was commanded to do. But Herod 
 suspected the barbazians from the beginning; 
 and having then received intelligence that a 
 messenger, who was to bring him the letters 
 that informed him of the treachery intended, 
 had fallen among the enemy, he would not go 
 out of the city ; though Pacorus said, very posi- 
 tively, that he ought to go out, and meet the 
 messengers that brought the letters, for that 
 the enemy had not taken them, and that the 
 contents of them were not accounts of any plots 
 upon them, but of what Phasaelus had done; 
 yet Herod had heard from others that his bro- 
 ther was seized ; and Alexandra, t the shrewdest 
 woman in the world, Hyrcazius's daughter, 
 begged of him that he would not go out, nor 
 trust himself to those barbarians, who now wre 
 come to make an attempt upon him openly. 
 
 7. Now, as Pacorus and his friends were con- 
 sidering how they might bring their plot to bear 
 privately, because it was not possible to circuzu- 
 vezit a man of so great prudence by openly at- 
 tacking him, Herod prevented them, and went 
 utf with the persons that were the most nearly 
 related to him by night, and this without their 
 uuemies being apprised of it. But, as soon as 
 the 1'arthians perceived it, they pursued after 
 jhezu; and, as he gave orders for his mother, 
 And sister, and the young woman who was be- 
 trothed to him, with her mother, and his young- 
 3st brother, to make the best of their way, he 
 himself, with his servants, took all the care they 
 could to keep off the barbarians ; and when, at 
 every assault, he had slain a great many of them, 
 he came to the stronghold of Masada. 
 
 8. Nay, he found by experience that the Jews 
 fell more heavily upon him than did the Par- 
 thiazis, and created him troubles perpetually, 
 and this ever since he was gotten sixty furlongs 
 from the city ; these sometimes brought it to a 
 ort of regular battle. Now, in the place where 
 Herod beat them, and killed a great number of 
 them, there he afterward built a citadel, in 
 memory of the great actions he did there, and 
 adorned it with the most costly palaces, and 
 erected very strong fortifications, and called it, 
 from his own name, Hez-odium. Now, as they 
 were in their flight, many joined themselves to 
 him every day ; and at a place called Thressa 
 of Idumea, his brother Joseph met him, and ad- 
 vised him to ease himself of a great number of 
 his followers, because Masada would not contain 
 so great a multitude, which were above nine 
 thousand. Herod complied with this advice, 
 and sent away the most cumbersome part of his 
 retinue, that they might go into Idumea, and 
 gave them provisions for their journey; but he 
 got safe to the fortress with his nearest rela- 
 tions, and retained with him only the stoutest 
 of his followers ; and there it was that he left 
 tight hundred of his men as a guard for the wo- 
 men, and provisions sufficient for a siege: but 
 he made haste himself to Petra of Arabia. 
 
 9. As for the Parthians in Jezizsalem, they be- 
 took themselves to plundering, and fell upon 
 the houses of those that were fled, and upon the 
 king's palace, and spared nothing but Hyrcanus' 
 money, which waa not above three hundred 
 talents. They lighted on other men'i money also, 
 liut not so much as they hoped for ; for Herod, 
 having a long while had a suspicion of the pet* 
 
 i Maruuane here, in the copied
 
 44 
 
 WARS OF THE JETW& 
 
 [BOOK L 
 
 fidiousness of the barbarians, had taken c&re to 
 have what was most splendid among his trea- 
 sures conveyed into Idumea, as every one be- 
 longing to him had in like manner done also. 
 But the Parthians proceeded to that degree of 
 injustice, as to fill all the country with war 
 without denouncing it, and to demolish the city 
 Marissa, and not only set up Antigonus for 
 king, but to deliver Phasaolus and Hyrcanus 
 hoand into his hands, in order to their being 
 tormented by him. Antigonus himself also bit 
 off Hyrcanus's ears with his own teeth, as he 
 fell down upon his knees to him, that so he 
 might rever be able, upon any mutation of 
 affairs, to take the high priesthood again; for 
 the high priests that officiated were to be com- 
 plete, and without blemish. 
 
 10. However, he failed in his purpose of. 
 abusing Phasaelus, by reason of his courage, for 
 though he neither had the command of his 
 sword nor of his hands, he prevented all abuses 
 by dashing his head against a stone ; so he 
 demonstrated himself to be Herod's own brother, 
 and Hyrcanus a most degenerate relation, and 
 died with great bravery, and made the end of 
 his life agreeable to the actions of it. There is 
 also another report about his end viz. , that he 
 recovered of that stroke, and that a surgeon, 
 who was sent by Antigonus to heal him, filled 
 the wound with poisonous ingredients, and so 
 killed him. Whichsoever of these deaths he 
 came to, the beginning of it was glorious. It is 
 also reported, that before he expired, he was 
 informed by a certain poor woman how Herod 
 had escaped out of their hands, and that he said 
 thereupon, " I now die with comfort, since I 
 leave behind me one alive that will avenge me of 
 mine enemies. " 
 
 11. This was the death of Phasaelus ; but the 
 Parthians, although they had failed of the wo- 
 men they chiefly desired, yet did they put the 
 government of Jerusalem into the hands of 
 Antigonus, and took away Hyrcanus, and bound 
 him, and carried him to Parthia. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 WHEN HEROD 13 REJECTED IN ARABIA, HE MAKES 
 HASTE TO ROME, WHERE ANTONY AND OAtiAK 
 JOIN THETB INTEREST TO MAKE HIM KINC GF 
 THE JEWS. 
 
 1. Now Herod did the more -zealously pursue 
 his journey into Arabia, as making haste to get 
 money of the king, while his brother was yet 
 alive ; by which money alone it was that he 
 hoped to prevail upon the covetous temper of 
 the barbarians to spare Phasaelus ; for he rea- 
 soned thus with himself : That if the Arabian 
 king was too forgetful of his father's friendship 
 with him, and was too covetous to make him a 
 free gift, he would, however, borrow as much of 
 him as might redeem his brother, and put into 
 his hands, as a pledge, the son of him that was 
 to be redeemed. Accordingly, he led his 
 brother's son alon^ with him, who was of the 
 age of seven years. Now he was ready to give 
 three hundred talents for his brother, and in- 
 tended to desire the intercession of the Tynans, 
 to get them accepted ; however, fate had been 
 too quick for his diligence ; and since Phasaelus 
 was dead, Herod's brotherly love was now in 
 vain. Moreover, he was not able to find any 
 lasting friendship among the Arabians ; for the 
 king, Malichus, sent to him immediately, and 
 commanded him to return back out of his coun- 
 
 try, and used the name of the Parthians as a 
 pretence for so doing, as though these had de- 
 nounced to him by their ambassadors to cast 
 Herod out of Arabia ; while in reality they had 
 a mind to keep back what they owed to Anti- 
 pater, and not be obliged to make requital to his 
 sons for the free gifts the father had made 
 them. He also took the imprudent advice of 
 those who, equally with himself, were willing 
 to deprive Herod of what Antipater had de- 
 posited among them ; and these men were the 
 most potent of all whom he had in his kingdom. 
 
 2. So when Herod had found that the Arabians 
 were his enemies, and this for those very reasons 
 whence he hoped they would have been the 
 most friendly, and had given them such an 
 answer as his passion suggested, he returned 
 back and went for Egypt. Now he lodged the 
 first evening at one of the temples of that coun- 
 try, in order to meet with those whom lie left 
 behind ; but on the next day word was brought 
 him, as l' was going to Rhinocurura, that his 
 brothe^ "sras dead, and how he came by hi 
 death , and when he had lamented him as much 
 as his present circumstances could bear, he soon 
 laid aside such cares, and proceeded on his jour- 
 ney. But now, after some time, the king of 
 Arabia repented of what he had done, and sent 
 presently away messengers to call him back : 
 Herod had prevented them, and was come to 
 Pelusium, where he could not obtain a passage 
 from those that lay with the fleet, so he be- 
 sought their captains to let him go by them ; 
 accordingly, out of the reverence they bore to 
 the fame and dignity of the man, they conducted 
 him to Alexandria ; and when he came into the 
 city, he was received by Cleopatra with great 
 splendour, who hoped he might be persuaded 
 to be commander of her forces in the expedition 
 she was now about. But he rejected the queen's 
 solicitations, and being neither affrighted at the 
 height of that storm which then happened, nor 
 at the tumults that were now in Italy, he sailed 
 for Rome. 
 
 3. But as he was in peril about Pamphylia, 
 and obliged to cast out the greatest part of the 
 ship's lading, he, with difficulty got safe to 
 Rhodes, a place which had been grievously har- 
 assed in the war with Cassius. He was there 
 received by his friends, Ptolemy and Sappinius ; 
 and although he was then in want of money, he 
 fitted up a three-decked ship of very great 
 magnitude, wherein he and his friends sailed to 
 Brundusium,* and went to Rome with all speed; 
 where he first of all went to Antony, on account 
 of the friendship his father had with him, and 
 laid before him the calamities of himself and his 
 family ; and that he had left his nearest rela- 
 tions besieged in a fortress, and had sailed to 
 him through a storm, to make supplication to 
 him for assistance. 
 
 4. Hereupon Anton> was moved to compas- 
 sion at the change that had been made in 
 Herod's affairs, and this both upon his calling to 
 mind how hospitably he had been treated by 
 Antipater, but more especially on account of 
 Herod's own virtue ; so he then resolved to get 
 him made king of the Jews, whom he had him- 
 self formerly made tetrarch. The contest also 
 that he had with Antigonus was another induce- 
 ment, and that of no less weight than the great 
 regard he had for Herod; for he looked upon 
 Antigonus as a seditious person, and an enemy 
 of the Romans : and as for Caesar, Herod found 
 him better prepared than Antony, as remember. 
 
 * This Brentcsium or Brundusium baa coins (till 
 preserved.
 
 OflAP. XV.] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 ing very fresh the wars he had gone through to- 
 gether with his father, the hospitable treatment 
 he had met with from him, and the entire good- 
 will he had shewn to him ; besi-los the activity 
 which he saw in Herod hifnselt 'So he called 
 the senate together, wherein MessH/as, and after 
 him Atratinus, produced Horod before them, 
 and gave a full account of the merits of his 
 father, and his own good-will to the Romans. 
 At the same time they demonstrated that An- 
 tigonus was their enemy, not only because he 
 soon quarrelled with them, but because he now 
 overlooked the Romans, and took the govern- 
 ment by the means of the Purthians. These 
 reasons greatly moved the senate, at which junc- 
 ture Antony came in, and told them that it was 
 for their advantage in the Parthian war that 
 Herod should be king ; so they all gave their 
 votes for it. And when the senate was sepa- 
 rated, Antony and Czesar went out, .\ ith Herod 
 between them ; while the consul and the rest of 
 the magistrates went before them, in order to 
 offer sacrifices, and to lay the decree in the 
 capitol. Antony also made a feast for Herod 
 on the first day of his reign. 
 
 CHAPTER XV, 
 
 ANTIGONUS BESIEGES THOSE THAT WERE IN M 
 8ADA, WHOM HEROD FREES FROM CONFINEMENT 
 WHEN HE CAME BACK FROM ROME, AND PKB- 
 8ENTLY MARCHES TO JERUSALEM, WHERE UB 
 FINDS SILO CORRUPTED BY BRIBES. 
 
 1. Now during this time, Antigonus besieged 
 those tl'at were in Masada, who had all other 
 necessaries in sufficient quantity, but were 
 in want of water; on which account Joseph, 
 Herod's brother, was disposed to run away to 
 the Arabians, with two hundred of his own 
 friends, because he had heard that Malichus 
 repented of his offences with regard to Herod ; 
 and he had been so quick as to have been gone 
 out of the fortress already, unless, on that very 
 night when he was going away, there had fallen 
 a great deal of rain, insomuch that his reservoirs 
 were full of water, and so he was under no neces- 
 sity of running away. After which, therefore, 
 they made an irruption upon Antigonus's party, 
 and slew a great many of them, some in open 
 battles, and some in private ambush; nor had 
 they always success in their attempts, for ome- 
 times they were beaten, and ran away. 
 
 2. In the meantime Ventidius, the itoman 
 general, was sent out of Syria, to restrain the 
 incursions of the Parthians ; and after he had 
 done that, he came into Judea, in pretence in- 
 deed to assist Joseph and his party, but in reality 
 to get money of Antigouus ; and when h? had 
 pitched his camp very near to Jerusalem, as 
 soon as he had got money enough, he went away 
 with the greatest part of his forces ; yet still did 
 he leave Silo with some part of them, lest if he 
 had taken them all away, his taking of bribes 
 might have been too openly discovered. Now 
 Antigonus hoped that the Parthians would come 
 to his assistance, and therefore cultivated a good 
 understanding with Silo in the meantime, lest 
 any interruption should be given to his hopes. 
 
 3. Now by this time Herod had sailed out of 
 Italy, and had come to Pt'olemais : and as soon as 
 he had gotten together no small army of foreign- 
 ers, and of his own countrymen, he marched 
 through Galilee against Antigonus, wherein he 
 was assisted bv Ventidius and Silo both of whom 
 
 Delliug,* a person sent by Antony, persuaded 
 to bring Herod [into his kingdom.] Now Venti- 
 dius was at this time among the cities, and com- 
 posing the disturbances which had happened by 
 means of the Parthians, as was Silo in Judea 
 corrupted by the bribes that Antigonus had 
 given him ; yet was not Herod himself destitute 
 of power, but the number of his forces increased 
 every day as he went along, and all Galilee, with 
 few exceptions, joined themselves to him. So 
 he proposed to himself to set about his most 
 necessary enterprise, and that was Masada, ha 
 order to deliver his relations from the siege they 
 endured. But still Joppa stood in his way, and 
 hindered his going thither : for it was necessary 
 to take that city first, which was in the enemies' 
 hands, that when he should go to Jerusalem, no 
 fortress might be left in the enemies' power 
 behind him. Silo also willingly joined him, as 
 having now a plausible occasion of drawing off 
 his forces [from Jerusalem ;] and when the Jews 
 pursued him, and pressed upon him [in his re- 
 treat,] Herod made an excursion upon them 
 with a small body of his men, and soon put 
 them to flight, and saved Silo when he was in 
 distress. 
 
 4. Aftei this, Herod took Joppa, and then 
 made haste to Masada to free his relations. 
 Now, as he was marching, many came hi to 
 him ; some induced by their friendship to his 
 father, some by the reputation he had already 
 gained himself, and some in order to repay the 
 benefits they had received from both ; but still 
 what engaged the greatest number on his side, 
 was the hopes from him, when he should be 
 established in his kingdom ; so that he had got- 
 ten together an army hard to be conquered. 
 But Antigonus laid an ambush for him as he 
 inarched out, in which he did little or no harm 
 to lus enemies. However, he easily recovered 
 his relations again that were in Masada, as well 
 us the fortress llessa, and then marched to Jeru- 
 salem, where the soldiers that were with Silo 
 gained themselves to his own, as did many out 
 cf the city, from a dread of hia power. 
 
 5. Now, when he had pitched his camp on the 
 vest, side of the city, the guards who were there 
 shot their arrows and threw their darts at them, 
 while others ran out hi companies, and attacked 
 those in the fore-front ; but Herod commanded 
 proclamation to be made at the wall, that he 
 was come for the good of the people and the 
 preservation of the city, without any design to 
 be revenged on his open enemies, but to grant 
 oblivion to them, though they had been the 
 most obstinate against him. Now the soldiers 
 that were for Antigonus made a contrary cla- 
 mour, and did neither permit anybody to hear 
 that proclamation, nor to change their party; 
 so Ar t.igouus gave order to his forces to beat the 
 enemy from the walls: accordingly, they soon 
 threw their darts at them from the towers, and 
 put them to Sight. 
 
 6. And here it was that Silo discovered he had 
 taken bribes ; for he set many of the soldiers to 
 clamour about their want of necessaries, and t<J 
 require their pay, hi order to buy themselves 
 food, and to demand that he would lead them 
 into places convenient for their winter quarters ; 
 because all the parts about the city were laid 
 waste by the means of Autigonus's army, which 
 had taken all things away. By this he moved 
 the army, and attempted to get them off the 
 siege ; but Herod went to the captains that were 
 under Silo, and to a great many of the soldiers, 
 
 * This Dellius is famous, or rather infamous, in the 
 l.lstoij of Miurk Aatour.
 
 3 OF T taJB JfiWP. 
 
 1_B-JOK I. 
 
 nd begged of them not to leave him, who was 
 *,nt thither by Caesar and Antony, and the 
 senate- for that he would take care to have 
 their wants supplied that very day. After the 
 making of which entreaty, he went hastily into 
 the country, and brought hither so great an 
 abundance of necessaries, that he cut off all 
 Silo's pretences ; and, in order to provide that 
 for the following days they should not want sup- 
 plies, he sent to the people that were about 
 Samaria (which city had joined itself to him) to 
 bring corn, wine, and oil, and cattle to Jericho. 
 When Antigonus heard of this, he sent some of 
 his party with orders to hinder, and lay am- 
 bushes for these collectors of corn. This com- 
 mand was obeyed, and a great number of armed 
 men were gathered together about Jericho, and 
 lay upon the mountains to watch those that 
 brought the provisions. Yet was Herod not 
 idle, but took with him ten cohorts, five of them 
 were Romans, and five Jewish cohorts, together 
 with some mercenary troops intermixed among 
 them, and besides those a few horsemen, and 
 came to Jericho ; and when he came he found 
 the city deserted, but that there were five hun 
 dred men, with their wives and children, whc 
 had taken possession of the tops of the moun- 
 tains ; these he took and dismissed them, while 
 the Romans fell upon the rest of the city, and 
 plundered it, having found the houses full of 
 all sorts of good things. So the king left a gar- 
 rison at Jericho, and came back, and sent the 
 Roman army into those cities which were come 
 over to him, to take their winter quarters there, 
 viz., into Judea [or Idumea,] and Galilee, and 
 Samaria. Antigonus also, by bribes, obtained 
 of Silo to let a part of his army be received at 
 Lydda, as a compliment to Antonius, 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 HEROD TAKES 8EPPHORIS, AND SOBDUES THE 
 BOBBERS THAT WERE IN THE CAVES : HE AFTER 
 THAT AVENGES HIMSELF UPON MACHERAS, A3 
 UPON AN ENEMY OF HIS, AND GOES TO ANTONY, 
 AS HE WAS BESIEGING SAMOSATA. 
 
 1. So the Romans lived in plenty of all things, 
 and rested from war. However, Herod did not 
 lie at rest, but seized upon Idumea, and kept it, 
 with two thousand footmen, and four hundred 
 horsemen ; and this he did by sending his 
 brother Joseph thither, that no innovation might 
 be made by Antigonus. He also removed his 
 mother, and all his relations, who had been in 
 Masada, to Samaria ; and when he had settled 
 them securely, he marched to take the remain- 
 ing parts of Galilee, and to drive away the gar- 
 risons placed there by Antigonus. 
 
 2. But when Herod had reached Sepphoris,* 
 in a very great snow, he took the city without 
 any difficulty, the guards that should have 
 kept it flying away before it was assaulted ; 
 where he gave an opportunity to his followers 
 that had been in distress to refresh themselves, 
 there being in that city a great abundance of 
 necessaries. After which he hasted away to the 
 robbers that were in the caves, who overran a 
 ?reat part of the country, and did as great mis- 
 chief to its inhabitants as a war itself could have 
 done. Accordingly he sent beforehand three 
 cohorts of footmen, and one troop of horsemen, 
 to the village of Arbela, and came himself forty 
 
 This Sepphoris, the metropolis of Galilee, BO often 
 mentioned by Jogephus, '>a' coins still remaining. 
 
 days afterwards t with tho rest of his forces. 
 Yet w ere not the enemy affrighted at his assault, 
 but met him in arms ; for their skill was that of 
 warriors, but their boldness was that of robbers ; 
 when, therefore, it came to a pitched battle, 
 they put to flight Herod's left wing with their 
 right one : but Herod, wheeling about on the 
 sudden from his own right wing, came to their 
 assistance, and both made his own left wing re- 
 turn back from its flight, and fell upon the pur- 
 suers, and cooled their courage, till they could 
 not bear the attempts that were made directly 
 apon them, and so turned back and ran away. 
 
 3- But Herod followed them, and slew them 
 as he followed them, and destroyed a great part 
 of them, till those that remained were scattered 
 beyond the river [Jordan ;] and Galilee was 
 freed from the terrors they had been under, ex- 
 cepting from those that remained, and lay con- 
 cealed in caves, which required longer time ere 
 they could be conquered. In order to which, 
 Herod, in the first place, distributed the fruits 
 of their former labours to the soldiers, and gave 
 every one of them a hundred and fifty drachmae 
 of silver, and a great deal more to their com- 
 manders, and sent them into their winter quar- 
 ters. He also sent to his youngest brothei 
 Pheroras, to take care of a good market foi 
 them, where they might buy themselves provl 
 sions, and to build a wall about Alexandrium : 
 who took care of both those injunctions accord 
 tngly. 
 
 4* In the meantime Antony abode at Athens 
 while Ventidius called for Silo and Herod t< 
 come to the war against the Parthians, but 
 ordered them first to settle the affairs of Judea ; 
 so Herod willingly dismissed Silo to go to Ven- 
 tidius ; but he made an expedition himself 
 against those that lay in the caves. Now these 
 caves were in the precipices of craggy mountains, 
 and could not be come at from any side, since 
 they had only some winding pathways, very 
 narrow, by which they got up to them ; but the 
 rock that lay on their front had beneath it val- 
 leys of a vast depth, and of an almost perpen- 
 dicular declivity ; insomuch that the king was 
 doubtful for a long time what to do, by reason 
 of a kind of impossibility there was of attacking 
 the place. Yet did he at length make use of a 
 contrivance that was subject to the utmost 
 hazard ; for he let down the most hardy of his 
 men in chests, and set them at the mouths of 
 the dens. Now these men slew the robbers and 
 their families, and when they made resistance, 
 they sent in fire upon them, [and burnt them ;] 
 and as Herod was desirous of saving some of 
 them, he had proclamation made, that they 
 should come and deliver themselves up to him ; 
 but not one of them came willingly to him ; and 
 of those that were compelled to come, many 
 preferred death to captivity. And here a certain 
 old man, the father of seven children, whose 
 children, together with their mother, desired 
 him to give them leave to go out, upon the as- 
 surance and right hand that was offered them, 
 slew them after the following manner : He 
 ordered every one of them to go out, while he 
 stood himself at the cave's mouth, and glsw that 
 son of his perpetually who went out Herod 
 was near enough to see this sight, and his bowels 
 of compassion were moved at it, and he stretched 
 out his right hand to the old man, and besought 
 
 t This way of speaking, " after forty days,' 1 is inter- 
 preted by Josephus himself, "on the fortieth day." In 
 like manner, when Josephus sa/s that Herod lived 
 "after" he had ordered Antipater to be slain "five 
 days ;" this is by himself interpreted, that he died "on 
 the fifth day afterward."
 
 CHAP. XVTI.] 
 
 WAKS OF THF. JEAV- 
 
 him to spare his children ; jet did he not relent 
 at all upon what he said, but over and above 
 reproached Herod on the lowness of his descent, 
 and slew his wife as well as his children, and 
 when he had thrown their dead bodies down the 
 precipice, he at last threw himself down after 
 them. 
 
 5. By this means Herod subdued these cavea, 
 and the robbers that were in them. He then 
 left there a part of his army, as many as he 
 thought sufficient to prevent any sedition, and 
 made Ptolemy their general, and returned to 
 Samaria: he led also with him three thousand 
 armed footmen, and six hundred horsemen, 
 against Antigonus. Now here those that used 
 to raise tumults in Galilee, having liberty so to 
 do upon his departure, fell unexpectedly upon 
 Ptolemy, the general of his forces, and slew him : 
 they also laid the country waste, and then re- 
 tired to the bogs, and to places not easily to be 
 found ; but when Herod was informed of this 
 insurrection, he came to the assistance of the 
 country immediately, and destroyed a great 
 number of the seditious, and raised the sieges 
 of all those fortresses they had besieged ; he 
 also exacted the tribute of a hundred talents of 
 his enemies, as a penalty for the mutations they 
 tad made in the country. 
 
 6. By this time (the Parthians being already 
 driven out of the country, and Parcorus slain) 
 Ventidius, by Antony's command, sent a thou- 
 sand horsemen, and two legions, as auxiliaries to 
 Herod, against Antigonus. Now Antigonus be- 
 sought Macheras, who was their general, by 
 letter, to come to his assistance, and made a 
 great many mournful complaints about Herod's 
 violence, and about the injuries he did to the 
 kingdom ; and promised to give him money for 
 such his assistance : but he complied not with 
 his invitation to betray his trust, for he did not 
 contemn him that sent him, especially while 
 Herod gave him more money [than the other 
 offered.] So he pretended friendship to Antigo- 
 nus, but came as a spy to discover his affairs, 
 although he did not herein comply with Herod, 
 who dissuaded him from so doing ; but Antigo- 
 nus perceived what his intentions were before- 
 hand, and excluded him out of the city, and 
 defended himself against him as against an 
 enemy, from the walls ; till Macheras was 
 ashamed of what he had done, and retired to 
 Emmaus to Herod ; and, as he was in a rage at 
 his disappointment, he slew all the Jews whom 
 he met with, without sparing those that were for 
 Herod, but using them all as if they were for 
 Antigonus. 
 
 7. Hereupon Herod was very angry at him, 
 and was going to fight against Macheras as his 
 enemy ; but he restrained his indignation, and 
 marched to Antony to accuse Macheras of mal- 
 administration ; but Macheras was made sensible 
 of his offences, and followed after the king im- 
 mediately, and earnestly begged and obtained 
 that he would be reconciled to him. However, 
 Herod did not desist from his resolution of going 
 to Antony ; but when he heard that he was be- 
 sieging Samosata* with a great army, which is a 
 strong city near to the Euphrates, he made the 
 greater haste ; as observing that this was a pro- 
 per opportunity for shewing at once his courage, 
 and for doing what would greatly oblige Antony. 
 Indeed, when he came, he soon made an end of 
 that siege, and slew a great number of the bar- 
 barians, and took from them a large prey ; inso- 
 much that Antony, who admired his courage 
 
 * This Samosata, the metropolis of Commagena, is 
 ell kv.own from its coins. 
 
 44? 
 
 formerly, did now admire it still more. Accord- 
 ingly, he heaped many more honours upon him, 
 and gave him more assured hopes that he should 
 gain his kingdom : and now king Antiochus was 
 forced to deliver up Samosata. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE DEATH OF JOSEPH, [HEROD'S BROTHER,] 
 WHICH HAD BEEN SIGNIFIED TO HEROD IN 
 DREAMS. HOW HEROD WAS PRESERVED TWICE, 
 AFTER A WONDERFUL MANNER. HE CUTS OFF 
 THB HEAD OF PAPPDS, WHO WAS THE MURDERER 
 OF HIS BROTHER, AND SENDS THAT HEAD TO 
 [HIS OTHER BROTHER] PHERORAS. AND IN NO 
 LONG TIME HE BESIEGES JERUSALEM, AND MAR- 
 RIES MARIAMNE. 
 
 1. IN the meantime Herod's affairs in Judea 
 were in an ill state. He had left his brother 
 Joseph with full power, but had charged him to 
 make no attempts against Antigonus till his re- 
 turn ; for that Macheras would not be such an 
 assistant as he could depend on, as it appeared 
 by what he had done already; but as soon as 
 Joseph heard that his brother was at a very 
 great distance, he neglected the charge he had 
 received, and marched towards Jericho with five 
 cohorts, which Macheras sent with him. This 
 movement was intended for seizing on the corn, 
 as it was now in the midst of summer; but 
 when his enemies attacked him in the moun- 
 tains, and its places which were difficult to pass, 
 he was both killed himself, as he was very 
 bravely fighting in the battle, and the entire 
 Roman cohorts were destroyed; for these co- 
 horts were new raised men, gathered out of 
 Syria, and there was no mixture of those called 
 veteran soldiers among them, who might have 
 supported those that were unskilful in war. 
 
 2. This victory was not sufficient for Antigo- 
 nus; but he proceeded to that degree of rage, 
 as to treat the dead body of Joseph barbarously ; 
 for when he had gotten possession of the bodies 
 of those that were slain, he cut off his head, 
 although his brother Pheroras would have given 
 fifty talents as a price of redemption for it. 
 And now the affairs of Galilee were put into 
 such disorder after this victory of Antigonus, 
 that those of Antigonus's party brought the 
 principal men that were on Herod's side to the 
 lake, and there drowned them. There was a 
 great change made also in Idumea, where Ma- 
 cheras was building a wall about one of the for- 
 tresses, that was called Gittha, But Herod had 
 not yet been informed of these things ; for after 
 the taking of Samosata, and when Antony had 
 set Sosius over the affairs of Syria, and given 
 him orders to assist Herod against Antigonus, 
 he departed into Egypt. But Sosius sent two 
 legions before him in*o Judea, to assist Herod, 
 and followed himself soon after with the rest of 
 his army. 
 
 3. Now when Herod was at Daphne, by An- 
 tioch, he had some dreams which clearly fore- 
 boded his brothers death ; and as he leaped out 
 of his bed in a disturbed manner, there came 
 messengers thaf acquainted him with that cal- 
 amity. So when .he had lamented this misfor- 
 tune for a while, he put off the main part of hia 
 mourning, and made haste to march against hia 
 enemies ; and when he had performed a march 
 that was above his strength, and was gone as far 
 as Libanus, he got eight hundred men of those 
 that lived near to that mountain, as his assist- 
 ant* and joined with them one Roman legion.
 
 448 
 
 WARS Of THE JEW&. 
 
 [BOOK. i. 
 
 with which, betore it was day, lie made an ir- 
 ruption into Galilee, and met his enemies, and 
 drove them back to the place which they had 
 left. He also made an immediate and continued 
 attack upon the fortress. Yet was he forced, 
 by a most terrible storm, to pitch his camp in a 
 neighbouring village before he could take it. 
 But when, after a few days' time, the second 
 legion, that came from Antony, joined them- 
 selves to him, the enemy were affrighted at his 
 power, and left their fortifications in the night- 
 time. 
 
 4. After this he marched through Jericho, as 
 making what haste he could to be avenged on 
 his brother's murderers : where happened to him 
 a providential sign, out of which when he had 
 unexpectedly escaped, he had the reputation of 
 being very dear to God ; for that evening there 
 feasted with him many of the principal men ; 
 and after that feast was over, and all the guests 
 were gone out, the house fell down immediately. 
 And as he judged this to be a common signal of 
 what dangers he should undergo, and how he 
 should escape them in the war that he was going 
 about, he in the morning set forward with his 
 army, when about six thousand of his enemies 
 Dame running down from the mountains, and be- 
 gan to fight with those in his fore-front; yet 
 durst they not be so very bold as to engage the 
 Romans hand to hand, but threw stones and 
 darts at them at a distance, by which means 
 they wounded a considerable number ; in which 
 action Herod's own side was wounded with a dart. 
 
 5. Now as Antigonus had a mind to appear to 
 exceed Herod not only in the courage, but in the 
 number of his men, he sent Pappus, one of his 
 companions, with an army against Samaria, 
 whose fortune it was to oppose Macheras. But 
 Herod overran the enemy's country, and demo- 
 lished five little cities, and destroyed two thou- 
 sand men that were in them, and burned their 
 houses, and then returned to his camp ; but his 
 head-quarters were at the village called Cana. 
 
 6. Now a great multitude of Jews resorted to 
 him every day, both out of Jericho and the other 
 parts of the country. Some were moved so to 
 do out of their hatred to Antigonus, and some 
 out of regard to the glorious actions Herod had 
 done ; but others were led on by unreasonable 
 desire of change ; so he fell upon them immedi- 
 ately. As for Pappus and his party, they were 
 not terrified either at their number or at their 
 zeal, but marched out with great alacrity to fight 
 them ; and it came to a close fight. Now other 
 parts of their army made resistance for a while : 
 but Herod, running the utmost hazard, out of 
 the rage he was in at the murder of his brother, 
 that he might be avenged on those that had been 
 the authors of it, soon beat those that opposed 
 him ; and, after he had beaten them, he always 
 turned his force against those that stood to it 
 still, and pursued them all ; so that a great 
 slaughter was made, while some ware forced 
 back into that village whence they carce out ; he 
 also pressed hard upon the hindermost, and slew 
 a vast number of them ; he also fell into the vil- 
 lage with tbe enemy, where every house was 
 filled with armed men, and the upper rooms were 
 crowded above with soldiers for their defence ; 
 and when he had beaten those that were on the 
 outside, he pulled the houses to pieces, and 
 
 Clucked out those that were within ; upon many 
 e had the roofs shaken down, whereby they 
 perished by heaps ; and as for those that fled out 
 of the ruins, the soldiers received them with 
 their swords in their hands ; and the multitude 
 of those slain and lying in heaps was so great, 
 that the conquerors could not pass along the 
 
 roads. Now the enemy could not bear this blow, 
 so that when the multitude of them which WM 
 gathered together, saw that those in the villages 
 were slain, they dispersed themselves and fled 
 away ; upon the confidence of which victory, 
 Herod had marched immediately to Jerusalem, 
 unless he had been hindered by the depth ot j 
 winter's [coming on.] This was the impediment 
 that lay in the way of tliis his entire glorious 
 progress, and was what hindered Antigonus from 
 being now conquered, who was already disposed 
 to forsake the city. 
 
 7. Now when at the evening Herod had al- 
 ready dismissed his friends to refresh themselves 
 after their fatigue, and when he was gone him- 
 self, while he was still hot in his armour, like a 
 common soldier, to bathe himself, and had but 
 one servant that attended him, and before he 
 was gotten into the bath, one of the enemies met 
 him in the face with a sword in his hand, and 
 then a second, and a third, and after that more 
 of them ; these were men who had run away out 
 of the battle into the bath in their armour, arid 
 they had lain there for some time in great terror, 
 and in privacy; and when they saw the king, 
 they trembled for fear, and ran by him in a 
 fright, although he was naked, and endeavoured 
 to get off into the public road. Now there was 
 by chance nobody else at hand that might seize 
 upon these men; and for Herod, he was con- 
 tented to have come to no harm himself, so that 
 they all got away in safety. 
 
 8. But on the next day Herod had Pappus's 
 head cut off, who was the general of Antigonus, 
 and was slain in the battle, and sent it to his 
 brother Pheroras, by way of punishment for 
 their slain brother ; for he was the man that 
 slew Joseph. Now as winter was going off, 
 Herod marched to Jerusalem, and brought hia 
 army to the wall of it ; this was the third yeai 
 since he had been made king at Rome ; so ha 
 pitched his camp before the temple, for on that 
 side it might be besieged ; and there it was that 
 Pompey took the city. So he parted the work 
 among the army, and demolished the suburbs, 
 and raised three banks, and gave orders to have 
 towers built upon those banks, and left the most 
 laborious of his acquaintance at the works. But 
 he went himself to Samaria, to take the daughter 
 of Alexander, the son of Aristobulus, to wife, 
 who had been betrothed to him before, as we 
 have already said ; and thus he accomplished 
 this by the by, during the siege of the city, for 
 he had his enemies in great contempt already. 
 
 9. When he had thus married Mariamne, he 
 came back to Jerusalem with a greater army. 
 Sosius also joined him with a large army, both 
 of horsemen and footmen, which he sent before 
 him through the midland parts, while he marched 
 himself along Phoenicia ; and when the whole 
 army was gotten together, which were eleven 
 regiments" of footmen, and six thousand horse 
 men, besides the Syrian auxiliaries, which were 
 no small part of the army, they pitched their 
 camp near the north wall. Herod's dependence 
 was upon the decree of the senate, by which he 
 was made king ; and Sosius relied upon Antony, 
 who sent the army that was under him to 
 Herod's assistance. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIIL 
 
 HOW HEROD AND SOSIUS TOOK JERUSALEM BY 
 FORCE; AND WHAT DEATH ANTIGONUS CAMH 
 TO. ALSO, CONCERNING CLEOPATBA'S AVARI- 
 CIOUS TEMPER. 
 
 ? 1. Now the multitude of the Jews that were
 
 CHAP, XIX. j 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 449 
 
 in the city were divided into several factions, for 
 the people that crowded about the temple, being 
 the weaker part of them, gave it out that, as the 
 vimes were, he was the happiest and most re- 
 ligious man who should die first. But as to the 
 more bold and hardy men, they got together in 
 bodies, and fell a robbing others after various 
 manners, and these particularly plundered the 
 places that were about the city, and this because 
 there was no food left either for the horses or 
 the men ; yet some of the warlike men, who 
 were used to fight regularly, were appointed to 
 defend the city during the siege, and these drove 
 those that raised the banks away from the wall ; 
 and these were always inventing some engine or 
 another to be a hindrance to the engines of the 
 enemy ; nor had they so much success any way 
 as in the mines under ground. 
 
 2. Now, as for the robberies which were com- 
 mitted, the king contrived that ambushes should 
 be BO laid, that they might restrain their ex- 
 cursions; and as for the wnt of provisions, he 
 provided that they should be brought to them 
 from great distances. He was also too hard for 
 the Jews, by the Romans' skill in the art of 
 war: although they were bold to the utmost 
 degree, noTT they durst not come to a plain battle 
 with the Romans, which was certain death ; but 
 through their mines under ground they would 
 appear in the midst of them on the sudden, and 
 before they could batter down one wall, they 
 built them another in its stead ; and to sum up 
 all at once, they did not shew any want of either 
 painstaking or of contrivances, as having resolved 
 to hold out to the very last. Indeed, though 
 they had so great an army lying round about 
 them, they bore a siege of five months, till some 
 of Herod's chosen men ventured to get upon the 
 wall, and fell into the city, as did Sosius's cen- 
 turions after them ; and now the first of all 
 seized upon, what was about the temple; and 
 upon the pouring in of the army, there was 
 slaughter of vast multitudes everywhere, by 
 reason of the rage the Romans were in at the 
 length of the siege, and by reason that the Jews 
 that were about Herod earnestly endeavoured 
 that none of their adversaries might remain ; so 
 they were cut to pieces by great multitudes, and 
 as they were crowded together in narrow streets, 
 and in houses, or were running away to the tem- 
 ple ; nor was there any mercy shewn either to 
 infants or to the aged, or to the weaker sex ; inso- 
 much, that although the king sent about and 
 desired them to spare the people, nobody could 
 be persuaded to withhold their right hand from 
 slaughter, but they slew people of all ages like 
 madmen. Then it was that Antigonus, without 
 any regard to his former and present fortune, 
 came down from the citadel and fell down at 
 Sosius's feet, who, without pitying him at all, 
 upon the change of his condition, laughed at him 
 beyond measure, and called him Antigona.* Yet 
 did he not treat him like a woman, or let him go 
 free, but put him into bonds, and kept him in 
 custody. 
 
 3. But Herod's concern at present, now he 
 nad gotten h is enemies under his power, was to 
 restrain the zeal of his foreign auxiliaries ; for 
 the multitude of the strange people were very 
 eager to see the temple, and what was sacred in 
 the holy house itself ; but the king endeavoured 
 to restrain them, partly by his exhortations, 
 partly by his threatenings, nay, partly by force, 
 as thinking the victory worse than a defeat to 
 him, if anything that ought not to be seen were 
 seen by them. He also forbade, at the same 
 
 * This is a woman, not a man. 
 
 time, the spoiling of the city, asking Sosius in 
 the most earnest manner, whether the Romans, 
 by thus emptying the city ui iiaci^y and mejij 
 had a mind to leave him king of a desert, and 
 told him, that he judged the dominion of the 
 habitable earth too small a compensation for the 
 slaughter of so many citizens. And when Sosiua 
 said, that it was but just to allow the soldiers 
 this plunder, as a reward for what they had suf- 
 fered during the siege, Herod made answer, that 
 he would give every one pf the soldiers a reward 
 out of his own money So he purchased the 
 deliverance of his country, and performed his 
 promises to them, and made presents after a 
 magnificent manner to each soldier, and propor- 
 tionably to their commanders and with a most 
 royal bounty to Sosius himself, whereby nobody 
 went away but in a wealthy condition. Here- 
 upon Sosius dedicated a crown of gold to God, 
 and then went away from Jerusalem, leading 
 Antigonus away hi bonds to Antony ; then did 
 the axe bring him to his end, who still had a 
 fond desire of life, and some frigid hopes of it to 
 the last ; but by his cowardly behaviour well 
 deserved to die by it. 
 
 4. Hereupon king Herird distinguished the 
 multitude tliat was in the city ; and for those 
 that were of his side, he made them still more 
 his friends by the honours he conferred on 
 them; but for those of Antigonus's party, he 
 slew them : and as his money ran low, he turned 
 all the ornaments he had into money, and sent it 
 to Antony, and to those about' him. Yet could he 
 not hereby purchase an exemption from all suf- 
 ferings ; for Antony was now bewitched by hi* 
 love to Cleopatra, and was entirely conquered by 
 her charms. Now Cleopatra had put to death 
 all her kindred, till no one near her in blood re- 
 mained alive, and after that she fell a slaying 
 those no way related to her. So she calumni- 
 ated the principal men among the Syrians to 
 Antony, and persuaded him to have them shun, 
 that so she might easily gain to be mistress of 
 what they had; nay, she extended her avaricious 
 humour to the Jews and Arabians, and secretly 
 laboured to have Herod and ilalichus, the kings 
 of both those nations, slam by his order. 
 
 5. Now as to these her injunctions to Antony, 
 he complied in part ; for though he esteemed it 
 too abominable a thing to kill such good and 
 great kings, yet was he thereby alienated from 
 the friendship he had for them. He also took 
 away a great deal of their country ; nay even 
 the plantation of palm-trees at Jericho, where 
 also grows the balsam-tree, and bestowed them 
 upon her ; as also all the cities on this side the 
 river Eleutherus, Tyre and Sidon expected. And 
 when she was become mistress of these, and had 
 conducted Antony in his expedition against the 
 Parthians, as far as Euphrates, she came by 
 Apamia and Damascus into Judea; and there 
 did Herod pacify her indignation at him by large 
 presents. He also hired of her those places 
 which had been torn away from his kingdom, at 
 the yearly rent of two hundred talents. He 
 conducted her also as far as Pelu.sium, and paid 
 her all the respect possible. Now it was not 
 long after this that Antony was come back from 
 Parthia, and led with him Artabazes, Tigrane's 
 son, captive, as a present to Cleopatra ; for thif 
 Parthian was presently given her, with his money, 
 and all the prey that was taken with him. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 HOW ANTONY, AT THE PERSUASION OF CLEOPATRA, 
 BEMT HKBOD TO FIGHT AGAINST THE ARABIANS I
 
 WAltS 0? THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOB, i 
 
 AND HOW, AFTKH SEVERAL BATTLES, HE AT 
 LENGTH GOT THE VICTORY. AS ALSO CONCERN- 
 ING A GREAT EARTHQUAKE. 
 
 1. Now when the war about Actium was be- 
 gun, Herod prepared to come to the assistance 
 of Antony, as being already freed from his 
 troubles in Judea, and having gained Hyrcania, 
 which was a place that was held by Antigonus's 
 ister. However, he was cunningly hindered 
 from partaking of the hazards that Antony went 
 through by Clect>.tra ; for since, as we have al- 
 ready noted, she" had laid a plot against the kings 
 [of Judea and Arab!?,] she prevailed with Antony 
 to commit the war against the Arabians to 
 Herod ; that so, if he got the better, she might 
 become mistress of Arabia, or, if he were wor- 
 sted, of Judea ; and that she might destroy one 
 of those kings by the other. 
 
 2. However, this contrivance tended to the 
 advantage of Herod; for at the very first he took 
 hostages from the enemy, and got together a 
 great body of horse, and ordered them to march 
 against them about Diospolis ; and he conquered 
 that army, although it fought resolutely against 
 him. After which defeat, the Arabians were 
 in great motion, and assembled themselves to- 
 gether at Kanatha, a city of Coelesyria, in a vast 
 multitude, and waited for the Jews. And when 
 Herod was come thither, he tried to manage this 
 war with particular prudence, and gave orders 
 that they should build a wall about their camp ; 
 yet did not the multitude comply with those 
 orders, but were so emboldened by their fore- 
 going victory, that they presently attacked the 
 Arabians, and beat them at the first onset, and 
 then pursued them ; yet were there snares laid 
 for Herod in that pursuit ; while Athenio, who 
 was one of Cleopatra's generals, and always an 
 antagonist to Herod, sent out of Kanatha the 
 men of that country against him ; for upon this 
 fresh onset, the Arabians took courage, and re- 
 turned back, and both joined their numerous 
 forces about stony places, that were hard to be 
 gone over, and there put Herod's men to the 
 rout, and made a great slaughter of them ; but 
 those that escaped out of the battle fled to 
 Ormiza, where the Arabians surrounded their 
 camp and took it, with all the men in it. 
 
 3. In a little time after this calamity, Herod 
 came to bring them succours ; but he came too 
 late. Now the occasion of that blow was this, 
 that the officers would not obey his orders ; for 
 had not the fight begun so suddenly, Athenio 
 had not found a proper season for the snares he 
 laid for Herod ; however, he was even with the 
 Arabians afterward, and overran their country, 
 and did them more harm than their single vic- 
 tory could compensate. But as he was avenging 
 himself on his enemies there fell upon him an 
 other providential calamity ; for in the seventh 
 year of his reign, when the war about Actiun 
 was at the height, at the beginning of the spring, 
 the earth was shaken, and destroyed an immense 
 number of cattle, and thirty thousand men ; but 
 the army received no harm, because it lay in the 
 open air. In the meantime, the fame of this 
 earthquake elevated the Arabians to greater 
 courage, and this by augmenting it to a fabulous 
 height, as is constantly the case in melancholy 
 
 * This seventh year of the reign of Herod, with the 
 great earthquake in the beginning of the same spring, 
 which are here fully implied to be not much before the 
 fight at Actium, and which is known to have been in 
 the beginning of September, in the 31st year before the 
 Christian era, determines the chronology of Josephus 
 as to the re'gn of Herod viz.. that he began in the ye.v 
 R. 
 
 accidents, and pretending that all Judea was 
 overthrown. Upon this supposal, therefore, that 
 they could easily get a land that was destitute of 
 inhabitants into their power, they first sacrificed 
 those ambassadors who were come to them from 
 the Jews, and then marched into Judea immedi- 
 ately. Now the Jewish nation were affrighted 
 at this invasion, and quite dispirited at the 
 greatness of their calamities one after another ; 
 whom yet Herod got together, and endeavoured 
 to encourage to defend themselves by the follow- 
 ing speech which he made to them : 
 
 4. "The present dread you are under, seems 
 to me to have seized upon you very unseasonably. 
 It is true, you might be justly dismayed at the 
 providential chastisement which hath befallen 
 you ; but to suffer yourselves to be equally 
 terrified at the invasion of men, is unmanly. As 
 for myself, I am so far from being affrighted at 
 our enemies after this earthquake, that I imagine 
 that God hath thereby laid a bait for the Arabi- 
 ans, that we may be avenged on them ; for 
 their present invasion proceeds more from our 
 accidental misfortunes, than that they have any 
 great dependence on their weapons, or their own 
 fitness for action. Now that hope which depends 
 not on men's own power, but on other's ill suc- 
 cess, is a very ticklish thing ; for there is no 
 certainty among men, either in their bad or good 
 fortunes ; but we may easily observe, that for- 
 tune is mutable, and goes from one side to 
 another; and this you may readily learn from 
 examples among yourselves ; for when you were 
 once victors in the former fight, your enemies 
 overcame you at last ; and very likely it will 
 now happen so, that these who think themselves 
 sure of beating you, will themselves be beaten ; 
 for when men are very confident, they are not 
 upon their guard, while fear teaches men to act 
 with caution ; insomuch, that I venture to prove 
 from your very timorousuess, that you ought to 
 take courage ; for when you were more bold than 
 you ought to have been, and than I would have 
 lukd you, and marched on, Athenio's treachery 
 took place ; but your present slowness and seern- 
 ing dejection of mind, is to me a pledge and 
 assurance of victory ; and indeed it is proper 
 beforehand to be thus provident : but when we 
 come to action, we ought to erect our minds, and 
 to make our enemies, be they ever so wicked, 
 believe, that neither any human, no, nor any 
 providential misfortune can ever depress tlia 
 courage of the Jews while they are alive ; nor 
 will any of them ever overlook an Arabian, or 
 suffer such a one to become lord of his good 
 things, whom he has in a manner taken captive, 
 and that many times also : and do not disturb 
 fourselves at the quaking of inanimate creatures, 
 aor do not imagine that this earthquake is a sign 
 of another calamity ; for such affections of the 
 slements are according to the course of nature ; 
 aor does it import any thing further to men, than 
 what mischief it does immediately of itself. 
 Perhaps, there may come some short sign be- 
 forehand in the case of pestilences, and famines, 
 and earthquakes ; but these calamities them- 
 selves have their force limited by themselves, 
 [without foreboding any other calamity ;] and 
 indeed what greater mischief can the war, though 
 it should be a violent one, do to us, than the 
 earthquake hath done ? Nay, there is a signal 
 of your enemies' destruction visible, and that a 
 very great one also ; and this is not a natural 
 one, nor deprived from the hands of foreigners 
 neither, but it is this, that they have barbarously 
 murdered our ambassadors, contrary to the com- 
 mon law of mankind ; and they have destroyed 
 so many, as if they esteemed them sacrifices for
 
 CM A*. 3LX.J 
 
 -WAKS OF TLUi ,1-WS. 
 
 Goi, in relation to tliis war ; but they will not 
 avoid his great eye, nor his invincible right hand ; 
 and we shall be revenged on them presently in 
 case we still retain any of the courage of our 
 forefathers, and rise up boldly to punish these 
 covenant-breakers. Let every one therefore go 
 on and fight, not so much for his wife or bis 
 children, or for the danger his country is in, as 
 for these ambassadors of ours ; those dead am- 
 bassadors will conduct this war of ours better 
 than we ourselves who are alive ; and if you will 
 be ruled by me, I will myself go before you into 
 danger ; for you know this well enough, that 
 your courage is irresistible, unless you hurt 
 yourselves by acting rashly."* 
 
 5. When Herod had encouraged them by this 
 speech, and he saw with what alacrity they 
 went, he offered sacrifice to God ; and after 
 that sacrifice, he passed over the river Jordan 
 with his army, and pitched his camp about Phila- 
 delphia, near the enemy, and about a fortifica- 
 tion that lay between them. He then shot at 
 them at a distance, and was desirous to come to 
 an engagement presently ; for some of them had 
 been sent beforehand to seize upon that fortiJi 
 cation : but the king sent some who immediately 
 beat them out of the fortification, while he him- 
 self went in the fore-front of the army, whi L 
 he put in battle array every day, and invited tht 
 Arabians to fight ; but as none of them cuTDc 
 out of their camp, for they were in a terrible 
 fright, and their general, Elthernus, was not abk- 
 to say a word for fear, so Herod came upoi. 
 them, and pulled their fortification to pieces, 
 by which means they were compelled to come 
 out to fight, which they did in disorder, and so 
 that the horsemen and footmen were mixed to- 
 gether They were indeed superior to the Jews 
 iu nuiTioer, but inferior in their alacrity, a'- 
 though they were obliged to expose themselvt s 
 to danger by their very despair of victory. 
 
 6. Now while they made opposition, they had 
 not a great number slain ; but as soon as they 
 turned their backs, a great many were troddeu 
 to pieces by the Jews, and a great many by 
 themselves, and so perished, till five thousand 
 were fallen down dead in their flight, while the 
 rest of the multitude prevented their immediate 
 death by crowding into the fortification. Herod 
 encompassed these around, and besieged them 
 and while they were ready to be taken by theii 
 enemies in arms, they had another additional 
 distress upon them, which was thirst and want 
 of water ; for the king was above hearkening to 
 their ambassadors ; and when they offered five 
 hundred talents, as the price of their redemp- 
 tion, he pressed still harder upon them ; and as 
 they were burnt up by their thirst, they came 
 out and voluntarily delivered themselves up by 
 multitudes to the Jews, till in five days' tima 
 four thousand of them were put into bonds ; an J 
 on the sixth day the multitude that were left 
 despaired of saving themselves, and came out to 
 fight : with these Herod fought, and slew again 
 about seven thousand, insomuch that he pun- 
 ished Arabia so severely, and so far extinguished 
 the spirits of the men, that he was chosen by tLo 
 nation for their ruler. 
 
 This speech of Herod is set down twice oy Jose- ; 
 phus, to the very same purpose, but by no means In the 
 same words ; whence it appears that the sena* TII 
 licrod's, bat the composition Josephus's. 
 
 KEltOD IS CONFIRMED IH HIS KINGDOM BY C.ESAR, 
 AND CULTIVATES A FRIENDSHIP WITH THE EM- 
 PEBOR BY MAGNIFICENT PRESENTS ; WHILE CJi- 
 SAK RETURNS HIS KINDNESS BY BESTOWING ON 
 HIM THAT PART OF HIS KINGDOM WHICH HAD 
 BEEN TAKEN AWAY FROM IT BY CLEOPATRA, 
 WITH THE ADDITION OF ZENODORUS'8 COUNTRY 
 ALSO. 
 
 1. BUT now Herod was under immediate con- 
 cern about a most important affair, on account 
 ot his friendship with Antony, who was already 
 overcome at Actium by Caesar, yet he was more 
 afraid than hurt; for Caesar did not think he 
 had quite undone Antony, while Herod con- 
 tinued his assistance to him. However, the king 
 resolved to expose himself to dangers : accord- 
 ingly he sailed to Rhodes, where Caesar then 
 abode, and came to him without his diadem, 
 ind in the habit and appearance of a private 
 person, but in his behaviour as a king. So he 
 concealed nothing of the truth, but spake thus 
 before his face: "O Cassar, as I was made king 
 vf the Jews by Antony, so do I profess I have 
 used my royal authority in the best manner, and 
 entirely for his advantage ; nor will I conceal 
 this further, that thou hadst certainly found me 
 in arms, and an inseparable companion of hi*, 
 had not the Arabians hindered me. However, 
 I sent him as many auxiliaries as I was able, 
 and many ten thousand [con] of corn. Nay, in- 
 deed, I did not desert my benefactor after the 
 l)lov that was given him at Actium ; but I gave 
 him the best advice 1 was able, when I was no 
 longer able to assist him in the war ; and I told 
 him there was but one way of recovering his 
 affairs, and that was to kill Cleopatra ; and I pro- 
 mised hiu hat if she- were once dead, I would 
 afford him money and walk for his security, 
 with an army and myself to assist him in his war 
 against thee: but his affection for Cleopatra 
 stopped his ears, as did God himself also, who 
 hath bestowed the government on thee. I own 
 myself also to be overcome together with him ; 
 uint with his last fortune I have laid aside my 
 diadem, and am come hither to thee, having my 
 hopes of safety in thy virtue; and I desire that 
 tliuu wilt first consider how faithful a friend, 
 and not whose friend, I have been." 
 
 2. Caesar replied to him thus: "Nay, thou 
 shalt not only be in safety, but shalt be a king, 
 and that more firmly than thou wast before ; 
 for thou art worthy to reign over a great main' 
 subjects, by reason of the fastness of thy frieud"- 
 ship ; and do thou endeavour to be equally con- 
 stant in thy friendship to me upon my good suc- 
 cess, which is what I depend upon from the 
 generosity of thy disposition. However, Antony 
 hath done well in preferring Cleopatra to thee ; 
 for by this means we have gained thee by her 
 madness, and thus thou hast begun to be my 
 friend before I began to be thine ; >n which ac- 
 count Quintus Didius hath written to me that 
 thou sentest him assistance against the gladia- 
 tors. I do therefore assure thee that I wQl con- 
 firm the kingdom to thee by a decree ; I shall 
 ulso endeavour to do thee some further kindness 
 hereafter, that thou mayest find no loss in the 
 want of Antony." 
 
 3. When Caesar nad spoken such obliging 
 things to the king, and had put the diadem again 
 about his head, he proclaimed what he had be- 
 stowed on him by a decree, in which he enlarged 
 in the commendation of the man after a magni- 
 <ir*nt manner. Whereuuon Herod obliged hin>
 
 455! 
 
 to be kind to him by the presents he gave him, 
 and he desired him to forgive Alexander, one of 
 Antony's friends, who was become a supplicant 
 to him. But Caesar's anger against him pre- 
 vailed, and he complained of the many and very 
 great offences the man whom he petitioned for 
 had been guilty of ; and by that means he re- 
 jected his petition. After this, Caesar went for 
 Egypt through Syria, when Herod received him 
 with royal and rich entertainments ; and then 
 did he first of all ride along with Caesar, as he 
 was reviewing his army about Ptolemais, and 
 feasted him with all his friends, and then distri- 
 buted among the rest of the army what was ne- 
 cessary to feast them withal. He also made a 
 plentiful provision of water for them, when they 
 were to march as far as Pelusium, through a dry 
 country, which he did also in like manner on 
 their return thence ; nor were there any neces- 
 saries wanting to that army. It was therefore 
 the opinion, both of Caesar and of his soldiers, 
 that Herod's kingdom was too small for those 
 generous presents he made them; for which 
 reason, when Caesar was come into Egypt, and 
 Cleopatra and Antony were dead, he did not 
 only bestow other marks of honour upon him, 
 but made an addition to his kingdom, by giving 
 him not only the country which had been taken 
 from him by Cleopatra, but, besides that, Ga- 
 dara, and Hippos, and Samaria; and, moreover, 
 of the maritime cities, Gaza, and Anthedon, and 
 Joppa, and Strato's Tower. He also made a 
 present of four hundred Galls [Galatians] as a 
 guard for his body, which they had been to Cleo- 
 patra before. Nor did anything so strongly in- 
 duce Caesar to make these presents as the gener- 
 osity of him that received them. 
 
 4. Moreover, after the first games at Actium, 
 he added to his kingdom both the re ;ion called 
 Trachonitis, and what lay in its neighbourhood, 
 Batanea, and the country of Auranitis ; and that 
 on the following occasion : Zenodorus, who had 
 hired the house of Lysanias, had all along sent 
 robbers out of Trachonitis among the Damas- 
 cens ; who thereupon had recourse to Varro, the 
 president of Syria, and desired of him that he 
 would represent the calamity they were in to 
 Caesar. "VVhen Cajsar was acquainted with it, he 
 sent back orders that this nest of robbers should 
 be destroyed. Varro therefore made an expedi- 
 tion against them, and cleared the land of those 
 men, and took it away from Zenodorus. Caesar 
 did also afterward bestow it on Herod, that it 
 might not again become a receptacle for those 
 robbers that had come against Damascus. He 
 also made him a procurator of all Syria, and this 
 on the tenth year afterward, when he came 
 again into that province ; and this was so estab- 
 lished, that the other procurators could not do 
 anything in the administration without his ad- 
 vice : but when Zenodorus was dead, Caesar be- 
 stowed on him all that land which lay between 
 Trachonitis and Galilee. Yet, what was still of 
 more consequence to Herod, he was beloved by 
 Caesar next after Agrippa, and by Agrippa next 
 after Caesar ; whence he arrived at a very great 
 degree of felicity ; yet did the greatness of his 
 soul exceed it ; and the main part of his magna- 
 nimity was extended to the promotion of piety. 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK i. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 v THE [TEMPLE AND] CITIES THAT WERE BUILT 
 
 BY HEROD, AND ERECTED FROM THE VERT FOUN- 
 DATIONS ; A3 ALSO OF THOSE OTHER EDIFICES 
 
 THAT WERE ERECTED BY HIM : AND WHAT MAG- 
 NIFICENCE HE SHEWED TO FOREIGNERS; AND 
 HOW FORTUNE WAS IN ALL THINGS FAVOUHABLB 
 TO HIM. 
 
 1. ACCORDINGLY, in the fifteenth year of his 
 reign, Herod rebuilt the temple, and encom- 
 passed a piece of land about it with a wall; 
 which land was twee as large as that before en- 
 closed. The expenses he laid out upon it were 
 vastly large also, and the riches about it were 
 unspeakable. A sign of which you have in the 
 great cloisters that were erected about the tem- 
 ple and the citadel* which were on its north 
 side. The cloisters he built from the founda- 
 tion, but the citadel he repaired at a vast ex- 
 pense ; nor was it other than a royal palace, 
 which he called Antonia, in honour of Antony.. 
 He also built himself a palace in the upper city, 
 containing two very large and most beautiful apart- 
 ments ; to which the holy house itself could not 
 be compared [in largeness.] The one apartment 
 he named Csesareum, and the other Agrippium, 
 from his [two great] friends. 
 
 2. Yet did he not preserve their memory by 
 particular buildings only, with their names given 
 them, but his generosity went as far as entire 
 cities ; for when he had built a most beautiful 
 wall jxmnd a country in Samaria, twenty fur- 
 longs long, and had brought six thousand inhabi- 
 tants into it, and had allotted it a most fruitful 
 piece of land, and in the midst of this city, thus 
 built, had erected a very large temple to Caesar, 
 and had laid round about it a portion of sacred 
 laud of three furlongs and a half, he called the 
 city Sebaste, from Sebastus, or Augustus, and 
 settled the affairs of the city after a most regu- 
 lar manner. 
 
 3. And when Caesar had further bestowed upon 
 him another additional country, he built there 
 also a temple of white marble, hard by the foun- 
 tains of Jordan : the place is called Panium, 
 where is a top of a mountain that is raised to an 
 immense height, and at its side, beneath, or at 
 its bottom, a dark cave opens itself ; within 
 which there is a horrible precipice, that do- 
 cends abruptly to a vast depth : it contains a 
 mighty quantity of water, which is immovable ; 
 and when anybody lets down anything to mea- 
 sure the depth of the earth beneath the water, 
 no length of cord is sufficient to reach it. Now 
 the fountains of Jordan rise at the roots of this 
 cavity outwardly ; and, as some think, this is 
 the utmost origin of Jordan : but we shall speak 
 of that matter more accurately in our following 
 history. 
 
 4. But the king erected other places at Jericho 
 also, between the citadel Cypros and the former 
 palace, such as were better and more useful than 
 the former for travellers, and named them from 
 the same friends of his. To say all at once, 
 there was not any place of his kingdom fit for 
 the purpose, that was permitted to be without 
 somewhat that was for Caesar's honour ; and 
 when he had filled his own country with tem- 
 ples, he poured out the like plentiful marks of 
 his esteem into his province, and built many 
 cities which he called Cesareas. 
 
 5. And when he observed that there was a city 
 by the sc-a-side that was much decayed (its name 
 
 * This fort was built, as is supposed, by Johu Ilyrca- 
 nus, and called " Baris," the Tower or Citadel. It was 
 afterwards rebuilt, with great improvements, by Uerod, 
 under the government of Antonius, and was named 
 from him "the Tower of Antonia;" and about the 
 time when Herod rebuilt the temple, he seems to hava 
 put hU last hand to it. It lay on the north-west sid 
 of the temple, and was a quarter as large.
 
 CHAP. XXL] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 453 
 
 /vas Strata's Tower) but that the place, by the 
 lappiness of its situation, was capable of great 
 mprovements from his liberality, he rebuilt it 
 all with white stoue, and adorned it with several 
 most splendid palaces, wherein he especially de- 
 monstrated his magnanimity ; for the case was 
 .his, that all the sea-shore between Dora and 
 oppa, in the middle, between which this city 
 s situated, had no good haven, insomuch that 
 very one that sailed from Phoenicia for Egypt 
 was obliged to lie in the stormy sea, by reason of 
 he south winds that threatened them ; which 
 wind, if it blew but a little fresh, such vast 
 waves are raised, and dash upon the rocks, that 
 upon their retj*"t, the sea is in a great ferment 
 or a long way. lut the king, by the expenses 
 le was at, and the liberal disposal of them, over- 
 ame nature, and built a haven larger than was 
 he Pyrecum [at Athens ;] and in the inner re- 
 irements of the water he built another deep sta- 
 ion [for the ships also.] 
 
 6. Now, although the place where he built 
 was greatly opposite to his purposes, yet did he 
 
 o fully struggle with that difficulty, that the 
 Tmness of liis building could not easily be con- 
 uered by the sea ; and the beauty and the or- 
 ament of the works were such, as though he 
 lad not had any difficulty in the operation ; for 
 when he had measured out as large a space as we 
 lave before mentioned, he let down stones into 
 wenty-fathom water, the greatest part of which 
 vere fifty feet in length, and nine in depth, and 
 en in breadth, and some still larger. But when 
 he haven was filled up to that depth, he en- 
 ;irged tbat wall which was thus already extant 
 ibove the sea, till it was two hundred feet wide ; 
 one hundred of which had buildings before it, in 
 order to break the force of the waves, whence it 
 vas called Procumatia, or the first breaker of the 
 waves ; but the rest of the space was under a 
 stone wall that ran round it. On this wall were 
 arge towers, the principal and most beautiful of 
 which was called Drusium, from Drusus, who 
 was son-in-law to Caesar. 
 
 7. There were also a great number of arches, 
 where the mariners dwelt ; and all the places 
 Before them round about was a large valley, or 
 walk, for a quay [or landing-place] to those ilr.it 
 came on shore ; but the entrance was on the 
 north, because the north wind was the most 
 gentle of all the winds. At the mouth of the 
 baven were on each side three great Colossi, sup- 
 ported by pillars, where those Colossi that are 
 an your "left hand as you sail into the port, are 
 supported by a solid tower ; but those on the 
 right hand are supported by two upright stones 
 joined together, which stones were larger than 
 that tower which was on the other side of the 
 entrance. Now there were continual edifices 
 joined to the haven, which were also themselves 
 of white stone ; and to this haven did the narrow 
 streets of the city lead, and were built at equal 
 distances one from another. And over against 
 the mouth of the baven, upon an elevation, 
 there was a temple for Caesar, which was excel- 
 lent both for beauty and largeness ; and therein 
 was a Colossus of Caesar, not less than that of 
 Jupiter Olympius, which it was made to re- 
 semble. The other Colossus of Rome was equal 
 to that of Juno at Argos. So he dedicated the 
 city to the province, and the haven to the 
 sailors there ; but the honour of the building he 
 ascribed to Caesar,* Sad named it Ceearea accord- 
 ingly. 
 
 These buildings of cities by the name of CKsar 
 u,d institution of solemn games "> houour of Auffus u 
 :,... r T r':\'-t\ of Tlprod bv Joserhug. the Roman nis- 
 
 8. He also built the other edifices, the amphi- 
 theatre, and theatre, and market-place, in a 
 manner agreeable to that denomination ; and 
 appointed games every fifth year, and called 
 them in like manner, Caesar's Games ; and he 
 first himself proposed the largest prizes upon the 
 hundred and ninety-second Olympiad ; in which 
 not only the victors themselves, but these that 
 came next to them, and even those that came 
 in the third place, were partakers of his royal 
 bounty. He also rebuilt Anthedon, a city that 
 lay on the coast, and had been demolished in the 
 wars, and named it Agrippeum. Moreover, he 
 hud so very great a kindness for his friend 
 Agrippa, that he had his name engraved upon 
 that gate which he had himself erected in the 
 temple. 
 
 9. Herod was also a lover of his father, if any 
 other person ever was so ; for he made a monu- 
 ment for his father, even that city which he 
 built in the finest plain that was in his kingdom, 
 and which had rivers and trees in abundance, 
 and named it Antipatris. He also built a wall 
 about a citadel that lay above Jericho, and was 
 a very strong and very fine building, and dedi- 
 cated it to his mother, and called it Cypros. 
 Moreover, he dedicated a tower that was at 
 Jerusalem, and called it by the name of his 
 brother Phasaelus, whose structure, largeness, 
 and magnificence, we shall describe hereafter. 
 He also built another city in the valley that 
 leads northward from Jericho, and named it 
 Phasaelus. 
 
 10. And as he transmitted to eternity his 
 family and friends, so did he not neglect a 
 memorial for himself, but built a fortress upon 
 a mountain towards Arabia, and named it from 
 himself Herodium ;t and he called that hill that 
 was of the shape of a woman's breast, and was 
 sixty furlongs distant from Jerusalem, by the 
 same name. He also bestowed much curious art 
 upon it with great ambition, and built round 
 towers all about the top of it, and filled up the 
 remaining space with the most costly palaces 
 round about, insomuch that not only the sight of 
 the inner apartments was splendid, but great 
 wealth was laid out on the outward walls, and 
 partitions, and roofs also. Besides this, he 
 brought a mighty quantity of water from a great 
 distance, and at vast charges, and raised an 
 ascent to it of two hundred steps of the whitest 
 marble, for the hill was itself moderately high, 
 and entirely factitious. He also built other 
 palaces about the roots of the hill, sufficient to 
 receive the furniture that was put into them, 
 with his friends also, insomuch that on account 
 of its containing all necessaries, the fortress 
 might seem to be a city but, by the bounds it 
 had, a palace only. 
 
 11. And when he had built so much, he 
 shewed the greatness of his soul to no small 
 number of foreign cities. He built palaces for 
 ircise at Tripoli, and Damascus, and Ptole 
 is he built a wall about Byblus, as also large 
 
 exerc 
 mais 
 
 m 
 
 rooms, and cloisters, and temples, and market- 
 places, at Berytus and Tyre, with theatres : 
 Sidon and Damascus. He also built aqueducts 
 for those Laodiceans who lived by the sea-side 
 and for those of Ascalon he built baths t 
 costly fountains, as also cloisters round a court, 
 that were admirable both for their workmanship 
 and largeness. Moreover, he dedicated groves 
 
 torians attest to as things then frequent in the pro- 
 
 Vi r e re ^cities, or citadels, called Herodiam, 
 in Judea 'ne of them was 'JOO, and the other 60 fur- 
 longs distant from Jerusalem.
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 IBOOK i. 
 
 and meadows to some people ; nay, not a few 
 cities there were who had lands of his donation, 
 as if they were parts of his own kingdom. He 
 also bestowed annual revenues, and those for 
 ever also, on the settlements for exercises, and 
 appointed for them, as well as for the people of 
 Cos, that such rewards should never be wanting. 
 He also gave corn to all such as wonted it, and 
 conferred upon Rhodes large sums of money for 
 building ships ; and this he did in many places, 
 and frequently also. And when Apollo's temple 
 had been burnt down, he rebuilt it at his own 
 charges, after a better manner than it was be- 
 fore. What need I speak of the presents he 
 made to the Lycians and Samnians! or of his 
 great liberality through all Ionia ! and that 
 according to every body's wants of them. And 
 are not the Athenians, and Lacedemonians, and 
 Nicopolitans, and that Pergamus which is in ! 
 Mysia, full of donations that Herod presented 
 them withal ! And as for that large open place 
 belonging to Antioch in Syria, did not he pave it 
 with polished marble, though it were twenty 
 furlongs long ! and this when it was shunned by 
 all men before, because it was full of dirt and I 
 filthiness ; when he besides adorned the same > 
 place with a cloister of the same length. 
 
 12. It is true a man may say, these were 
 favours peculiar to those particular places on t 
 which he bestowed his benefits ; but then what 
 favours he bestowed on the Eleans was a dona- 
 tion not only in common to all Greece, but to 
 all the habitable earth, as far as the glory of the 
 Olympic games reached ; for when he perceived 
 that they were come to nothing, for want of 
 money, and that the only remains of ancient 
 Greece were in a manner gone, he not only be- 
 came one of the combatants in that return of 
 the fifth year games, which in his sailing to 
 Rome he happened to be present at, but he 
 settled upon them revenues of money for per- 
 petuity, insomuch that his memorial as a com- 
 batant there can never faiL It would be an 
 infinite task if I should go over his payments of 
 people's debts, or tributes, for them, as he eased 
 the people of Phasaelus, of Batanea, and of the 
 small cities about Cilicia, of those annual pen- 
 sions they before paid. However, the fear he 
 was in much disturbed the greatness of his soul, 
 lest he should be exposed to envy, or seem to 
 hunt after greater things than he ought, while 
 he bestowed more liberal gifts upon these cities 
 than did their owners themselves. 
 
 13. Now Herod had a body suited to his soul, 
 and was ever a most excellent hunter, where he 
 generally had good success, by means of his 
 great skill in riding horses ; for in one day he 
 caught forty wild beasts : * that country breeds 
 also bears ; and the greatest part of it is re- 
 plenished with stags and wild asses. He was 
 nlso such a warrior as could not be withstood : 
 many men therefore there are who have stood j 
 amazed at his readiness in his exercises, when 
 they saw him throw the javelin directly for- 
 ward, and shoot the arrow upon the mark ; and 
 then, besides those performances of his depend- 
 ing on his own strength of mind and body, for- 
 tune was also very favourable to him, for he 
 seldom failed of success in his wars ; and when 
 he failed, he was not himself the occasion of 
 such failings, but he either was betrayed by 
 some, or the rashness of his own soldiers pro- 
 cured his defeat 
 
 * Here seems to be a small defect in the copies, 
 which describe the wild beasts which were hunted in tt 
 certain country by Herod, without naming any sucb 
 country at all. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE MURDER OP ARISTOBULViS AND HTRCANTT3, 
 THE HIGH PRIESTS; AS ALSO 0V MARIAJINB 
 THE QUEEN. 
 
 1. HOWEVER, fortune was avenged on Herod 
 in his external great successes, by raising him 
 up domestic troubles ; and he began to have 
 wild disorders in his family, on account of his 
 wife, of whom he was so very fond ; for when 
 he came to the government, he sent away her 
 whom he had before married when he was % 
 private person, and who was born at Jerusalem, 
 whose name was Doris, and married Mariamne, 
 the daughter of Alexander, the son of Aristo- 
 bulus ; on whose account disturbances arose in 
 his family, and that in part very soon, but 
 chiefly after his return from Rome ; for, first of 
 all, he expelled Antipater the son of Doris, for 
 the sake of his sons by Mariamne, out of the 
 city, and permitted him to come thither at m. 
 other times than at the festivals. After this he 
 slew his wife's grandfather, Hyrcanus, when he 
 was returned out of Parthia to him, under this 
 pretence, that he suspected him of plotting 
 against him. Now this Hyrcanus had been 
 carried captive to Barzapharnes, when he over- 
 ran Syria ; but those of his own country beyond 
 Euphrates were desirous he would stay with 
 them, and this out of the commiseration they 
 had for his condition ; and had he complied 
 with their desires, when they exhorted him not 
 to go over the river to Herod, he had not 
 perished : but the marriage of his grand- 
 daughter [to Herod] was his temptation ; for as 
 he relied upon him, and was over-fond of his 
 own country, he came back to it. Herod's pro- 
 vocation was this : not that Hyrcanus made an 
 attempt to gain the kingdom, but that it was 
 fitter for him to be their king than for Herod. 
 
 2. Now of the five children which Herod had 
 by Mariamne, two of them were daughters, and 
 three were sons ; and the youngest of these 
 sons was educated at Rome, and there died; but 
 the two eldest he treated as those of royal 
 blood, on account of the nobility of their 
 mother, and because they were not born till he 
 was king ; but then what was stronger than all 
 this, was the love that he bare to Mariamne, 
 and which inflamed him every day to a great 
 degree, and so far conspired with the other 
 motives that he felt no other troubles, on ac- 
 count of her he loved so entirely ; but Mari- 
 amne's hatred to him was not inferior to his 
 love to her. She had indeed but too just a 
 cause of indignation, from what he had done, 
 while her boldness proceeded from his affection 
 t ) her ; so she openly reproached him with what 
 ho had done to her grandfather Hyrcanus, and 
 to her brother Aristobulus, for he had not 
 spared this Aristobulus, though he were but a 
 child ; for when he had given him the high 
 priesthood at the age of seventeen, he slew him 
 quickly ifter he had conferred that dignity 
 upon him ; but when Aristobulus had put OH 
 the holy vestments, and had approached to thfe 
 altar at a festival, the multitude, in great 
 crowds, fell into tears; whereupon the child 
 was sent by night to Jericho, and was there 
 dipped by the Galls, at Herod's command, in 
 pool till he was drowned. 
 
 3. For these reasons Mariamne reproached 
 Herod, and his sister and mother, after a most 
 contumelious manner, while he was dumb on, 
 account of his affection for her; yet had the 
 "omen ureat indignation at her, and raised a
 
 ' T?3 OF THE JEWS. 
 
 calumny against her, that she was false to his 
 bed : which thing they thought most likely to 
 move Herod to anger. They also contrived to 
 Lave many other circumstances believed, in 
 order to make the thing more credible, and ac- 
 cused her of having sent her picture into Egypt 
 to Antony, and that her lust was so extravagant, 
 as to have thus shewn herself, though she was 
 absent, to a man that ran mad after women, and 
 to a man that had it in his power to use vio- 
 lence to het. This charge fell like a thunder- 
 bolt upon Heiod, and put him into disorder ; 
 and that especially, because his love to her 
 occasioned him to be jealous, and because he 
 considered with himself that Cleopatra was a 
 shrewd woman, and that on her account 
 Lysanias the king was taken off as well as 
 Malichus the Arabian, for his fear did not only 
 extend to the dissolving of his marriage, but to 
 the danger of his life. 
 
 4. When therefore he was about to take P. 
 rfmrney abroad, he committed his wife to 
 Joseph, his sister Salome's husband, as to one 
 who would be faithful to him, and bare him 
 good-will on account of their kindred : he also 
 gave him a secret injunction, that if Antony 
 slew him, he should slay her ; but Joseph, with- 
 out any ill design, and only in order to demon- 
 strate the king's love to his wife, how he could 
 not bear to think of being separated from her, 
 even by death itself, discovered this grand secret 
 to her ; upon which, when Herod was come 
 back, and as they talked together, and he con- 
 firmed his love to her by many oaths, and as- 
 sured her that he had never such an affection 
 for any other woman as he had for her, " Yes," 
 says she, " thou didst, to be sure, demonstrate 
 thy love to me by the injunctions thou gavest 
 Joseph, when thou commandedst him to kill 
 Die.''* 
 
 5. When he heard that this grand secret wan 
 discovered, he was like a distracted man, and 
 eaid, that Joseph would never have disclosed 
 that injunction of his unless he had debauched 
 her. His passion also made him stark mad, and 
 leaping out of his bed, he ran about the palace 
 after a wild manner ; at which time his sister 
 Salome took the opportunity also to blast her 
 reputation, and confirmed his suspicion about 
 Joseph ; whereupon, out of his ungovernable 
 jealousy and rage, he commanded both of them 
 to be slain immediately ; but as soon as ever his 
 passion was over, he repented of what "he had 
 done, and as soon as his anger was worn off, 
 his affections were kindled again ; and indeed 
 the flniae of his desires for her was sc ardent, 
 that he could not think she was dead, br.t would 
 appear, under his disorders, to speak to her as 
 if she was still alive, till he were better in- 
 structed by time, when his grief and trouble, 
 now she was dead, appeared as great as his 
 nffection had been for her while she was living. 
 
 4S5 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 OALCMNTES AGAINST THE SON'S OF MARIAMN!.; 
 ANTIPATER IS PREFERRED BEFORE THEM ; 
 THEY ARE ACCUSED BEFORE OSAB, AJ<D 
 HEROD IS RECONCILED TO THEM. 
 
 1 1. Now Mariamne's sons were heirs to that 
 
 * Here Is either a defect or a preat mistake ; for 
 Bfariamne did not now reproach Herod with this hif 
 first injunction to Joseph to kill her, if he himself were 
 Blain by Antony, but that he had given the like com 
 mand a second time to Soemus also, when he wiis 
 ifraid of hpinir !" >w m"*<i 
 
 hatred which had been borne their mother; and 
 when they considered the greatness of Herod'e 
 crime towards her, they were suspicious of him 
 as of an enemy of theirs ; and this first while 
 they were educated at Rome, but still more 
 when they were returned to Judea, This tem- 
 ^ per of theirs increased upon them as they grew 
 up to be men ; and when they were come to an 
 n-e fit for marriage, the one of them married 
 their aunt Salome's daughter, which Salome 
 nd been the accuser of their mother- the 
 other married the daughter of Archelaus, king 
 of Cappadocia. And now they used boldness in 
 speaking, as well as bore hatred in their minds. 
 IS ow those that calumniated them took a handle 
 from such their boldness, and certain of them 
 spake now more plainly to the king, that there 
 were treacherous designs laid against him by 
 both his sons ; and he that was son-in-law to 
 Archelaus, relying upon his father-in-law, was 
 preparing to fly away, in order to accuse Herod 
 before Ctesar ; and when Herod's head had been 
 long enough filled with these calumnies, he 
 brought Antipater, whom he had by Doris, into 
 favour again, as a defence to him against his 
 other sons, and began all the ways he possibly 
 could to prefer him before them. 
 
 2. But these sons were not able to bear this 
 change in their affairs ; for when they saw him 
 that was born of a mother of no family, the nobi- 
 lity of their birth made them unable to contain 
 their indignation; but whensoever they were 
 uneasy, they shewed the anger they had at it ; 
 and as these sons did day after day improve in 
 that their anger, Antipater already exercised all 
 his own abilities, which were very great, in flat- 
 tering his father, and in contriving many sorts 
 of calumnies against his brethren, while he told 
 some stories of them himself, and put it upon 
 other proper persons to raise other stories against 
 them ; till at length he entirely cut his brethren 
 off from all hopes of succeeding to the kingdom ; 
 for he was already publicly put into his father's 
 will as his successor. Accordingly he was sent 
 with royal ornaments, and other marks of royalty, 
 to Caesar, excepting the diadem. He was also 
 able in time to introduce his mother again into 
 Mariamne's bed. The two sorts of weapons he 
 made use of against his brethren, were flattery 
 and calumny, whereby he brought matters pri- 
 vately to such a pass, that the king had thoughts 
 of putting his sons to death. 
 
 3. So the father drew Alexander as far as 
 Eome, and charged him with an attempt of 
 poisoning him, before Caesar. Alexander could 
 hardly speak for lamentation ; but having a judge 
 that was more skilful than Antipater, and more 
 wise than Herod, he modestly avoided laying 
 any imputation upon his father, but with great 
 strength of reason confuted the calumnies laid 
 against him; and when he had demonstrated 
 the innocency of his brother, who was in the 
 like danger with himself, he at last bewailed 
 the craft of Antipater, and the disgrace they 
 were under. He was enabled also to justify 
 himself, not oidy by a clear conscience, which 
 he carried with him, but by his eloquence ; for 
 he was a shrewd man in making speeches. And 
 upon his saying at last, that if his father objected 
 this crime to them, it was in his power to put 
 
 1 them to death, he made all the audience weep; 
 and he brought Caesar to that pass, as to reject 
 the accusations, and to reconcile their father to 
 them immediately. But the conditions of this 
 reconciliation were these, that they should in 
 ill things be obedient to their father, and that 
 he should have power to leave the kingdom to 
 ich of them he oleased
 
 466 
 
 WARS OF THE .TEWS. 
 
 [BOOK I 
 
 4. After this the king camo back from Rome, 
 and seemed to have forgiven his sons upon these 
 accusations ; but still so, that he was not with- 
 out his suspicions of them. They were fol- 
 lowed by Antipater, who was the fountain-head 
 of those accusations ; yet did not he openly dis- 
 cover his hatred to them, as revering him that 
 had reconciled them. But as Herod sailed by 
 Cilicia, he touched at Eleusa,* where Archelaus 
 treated them in the most obliging manner, and 
 gave him thanks for the deliverance of his son- 
 in-law, and was much pleased at their recon- 
 ciliation ; and this the more, because he had 
 formerly written to his friends at Rome that 
 they should be assisting to Alexander at his 
 trial. So he conducted Herod as far as Zaphy- 
 rium, and made him presents to the value of 
 thirty talents. 
 
 5. Now when Herod was come to Jerusalem, 
 he gathered the people together, and presented 
 to them his three sons, and gave them an apolo- 
 getic account of his absence, and thanked Gud 
 greatly, and thanked Caesar greatly also, for 
 settling his house when it was under disturb- 
 ances, and had procured concord among his sons, 
 which was of greater consequence than the king- 
 dom itself, " and which I will render still more 
 Srm ; for Caesar hath put into my power to dis- 
 pose of the government, and to appoint my suc- 
 cessor. Accordingly, in way of requital for his 
 kindness, and in order to provide for mine own 
 advantage, I do declare that these three sons of 
 mine shall be kings. And, in the first place, 1 
 pray for the approbation of God to what I am 
 about ; and, in the next place, I desire your 
 approbation also. The age of one of them, and 
 the nobility of the other two, shall procure them 
 the succession. Nay, indeed, my kingdom is so 
 large, that it may be sufficient for more kings. 
 Now do you keep those in their places whom 
 Caesar hath joined and their father hath ap- 
 pointed ; and do not you pay undue or unequal 
 respects to them, but to every one according to 
 the prerogative of their births ; for he that pays 
 such respects unduly, will thereby not make him 
 that is honoured beyond what his age requires, 
 so joyful as he will make him that is dishonoured 
 sorrowful As for the kindred and friends that 
 are to converse with them, I will appoint them 
 to each of them, and will so constitute them, 
 that they may be securities for their concord ; 
 as well knowing that the ill tempers of those 
 with whom they converse, will produce quarrels 
 and contentions among them ; but that, if these 
 with whom they converse be of good tempers, 
 they will preserve their natural affections for 
 one another. But still I desire, that not these 
 only, but all the captains of my army have for 
 the present their hopes placed on me alone ; for 
 I do not give away my kingdom to these my 
 ons, but give them royal honours only; whereby 
 it will come to pass that they will enjoy the 
 sweet parts of the government as rulers them- 
 selves, but that the burden of administration 
 will rest upon myself whether I will or not. 
 And let every one consider what age I am of ; 
 how I have conducted my life, and what piety I 
 have exercised ; for my age is not so great, that 
 men may soon expect the end of my life ; nor 
 have I indulged such a luxurious way of living 
 as cuts men off when they are young ; and we 
 have been so religious towards God, that we 
 [have reason to hope we] may arrive at a very 
 
 * That this island Eleusa, afterward called Sebaste, 
 near Cilicia, had in it the royal palace of this Arclie- 
 laua, king of Cappadocia, Strabo testifies. Stephanus 
 of Byzantium also calls it " an island in Cilicia, which 
 s ;iow BetMta." 
 
 great age. But for such as cultivate a friend- 
 ship with my sons, so as to aim at my destruc- 
 tion, they shall be punished by me on their 
 account. I am not one who envy my own chil- 
 dren, and therefore forbid men to pay them great 
 respect ; but 1 know that such [extravagant] re- 
 spects are the way to make them insolent. And 
 if every one that comes near them does but re- 
 volve this in his mind, that if he proves a good 
 man he shall receive a reward from me, but that 
 if he prove seditious, his ill-intended complais- 
 ance shall get him nothing from him to whom 
 it is shewn, I suppose they will all be of my 
 side, that is, of my sons' side ; for it will be for 
 their advantage that I reign, and that I be at 
 concord with them. But do you, O my good 
 children, reflect upon the holiness' of nature 
 itself, by whose means natural affection is pre- 
 served, even among wild beasts ; in the next 
 place, reflect upon Cassar, who hath made this 
 reconciliation among us ; and, in the third place, 
 reflect upon me, who entreat you to do what I 
 have power to command you, continue brethren, 
 I give you royal garments, and royal honours ; 
 and I pray to God to preserve what I have de- 
 termined, in case you be at concord one with 
 another." When the king had thus spoken, and 
 had saluted every one of his sons after an oblig- 
 ing manner, he dismissed the multitude ; some 
 of whom gave their assent to what he said, and 
 wished it might take effect accordingly; but for 
 those who wished for a change of affairs, they 
 pretended they did not so much as hear what 
 he said. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE MALICE OF ANTIPATER AND DORIS. ALEX- 
 ANDER. Id VERY UNEASY ON GLAPHYRA'8 AC- 
 COUNT. HEROD PARDONS PHERORAS, WHOM 
 HE SUSPECTED, AND SALOME, WHOM HE KNEW 
 TO MAKE MISCHIEF AMONG THEM. HEROD'S 
 EUNUCHS ARE TORTURED, AND ALEXANDER IS 
 BOUND. 
 
 1. Bur now the quarrel that was between 
 them still accompanied these brethren when 
 they parted, and the suspicions they had one of 
 the other grew worse. Alexander and Aristo- 
 bulus were much grieved that the privilege of 
 the first-born was confirmed to Antipater; as 
 was Antipater very angry at his brethren, that 
 they were to succeed him. But then the last 
 being of a disposition that was mutable and 
 politic, he knew how to hold his tongue, and 
 used a great deal of cunning, and thereby con- 
 cealed the hatred he bore to them ; while the 
 former, depending on the nobility of their births, 
 had everything upon their tongues which was in 
 their minds. Many also there were who pro- 
 voked them further, and many of their [seeming] 
 friends insinuated themselves into their acquaint- 
 ance, to spy out what they did. Now everything 
 that was said by Alexander was presently brought 
 to Antipater, and from Autipater it was brought 
 to Herod with additions. Nor could the young 
 man say anything in the simplicity of his heart, 
 without giving offence, but what he said was 
 still turned to calumny against him. And if he 
 had been at any time a little free in his conver- 
 sation, great imputations were forged from the 
 smallest occasions. Autipater also was perpe- 
 tually setting some to provoke him to speak, 
 that the lies he raised of him might seem to 
 have some foundation of truth ; and if, among 
 the many stories that were given out. but one
 
 . ixrv.] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 467 
 
 of them could be proved true, that was supposed 
 to imply the rest to be true also. And as to 
 Antipater's friends, they were all either natu- 
 rally so cautious in speaking, or had been so far 
 bribed to conceal their thoughts, that nothing 
 of these grand secrets got abroad by their means. 
 Nor should one be mistaken if he called the life 
 of Antipater a mystery of wickedness; for he 
 either corrupted Alexander's acquaintance with 
 m<7ney, or got into their favour by flatteries ; by 
 which two means he gained all his designs, and 
 brought them to betray their master, and to 
 steal away, and reveal what he either did or 
 said. Thus did he act a part very cunningly 
 in all points, and wrought himself a passage 
 by his calumnies with the greatest shrewdness ; 
 while he piit on a face as if he were a kind 
 brother to Alexander and Aristobulus, but sub- 
 orned other men to inform of what they did to 
 Herod. And when anything was told against 
 Alexander, he would come in and pretend, [to 
 DO of his side,] and would begin to contradict 
 what was said ; but would afterward contrive 
 matters so privately, that the king should have 
 an indignation at him. His general aim was 
 this : To lay a plot, and to make it be believed 
 that Alexander lay in wait to kill his father ; 
 for nothing afforded so great a confirmation of 
 those calumnies as did Antipater's apologier far 
 him. 
 
 2. By these methods Herod was inflamed, 
 and, as much as his natural affection to tlie 
 young men did every day diminish, so much did 
 it increase towards Antipater. The courtiers 
 also inclined to the same conduct ; some of their 
 own accord, and others by the king's injunction, 
 as particularly Ptolemy, the king's dearest 
 friend, as also the king's brethren, and all his 
 children ; for Antipater was all in all : and what 
 was the bitterest part of all to Alexander, Anti- 
 pater's mother was also all in all : she was one 
 that gave counsel against them, and was more 
 harsh than a step-mother, and one that hated the 
 queen's sons more than is usual to hate sons-in- 
 law. All men did therefore already pay their 
 respects to Antipater, in hopes of advantage ; 
 and it was the king's command which alienated 
 everybody [from the brethren,] he having given 
 this charge to his most intimate friends, that 
 they should not come near, nor pay any regard, 
 to Alexander, or to his friends. Herod was also 
 become terrible, not only to his domestics about 
 the court, but to his friends abroad ; for Caesar 
 had given such a privilege to no other king as he 
 had given to him, which was this : that he 
 might fetch back any one that fled from him, 
 even out of a city that was not under his own 
 jurisdiction. Now the young men were not ac- 
 quainted with the calumnies raised against 
 them ; for which reason they could not guard 
 themselves against them, but fell under them ; 
 for their father did not make any public com- 
 plaints against either of them ; though in a 
 little time they perceived how things were, by 
 his coldness to them, and by the great uneasi- 
 ness he shewed upon anything that troubled 
 him. Antipater had also made their uncle 
 Pheroras to be their eiiemy, as well as their 
 aunt Salome, while he was always talking with 
 her as with a wife, and irritating her against 
 them. Moreover, Alexander's wife, Glaphyra, 
 augmented this hatred against them, by deriving 
 her nobility and genealogy [from great persons,] 
 and pretending that she was a lady superior to 
 to all others in that kingdom, as being derived 
 by her father's side from Temenus, and by her 
 mother's side from Darius, the son of Hystaspes. 
 She also frequently reproached Herod's sister and 
 
 wives with the ignobility of their descent ; and 
 that they were every one chosen by him for 
 their beauty, but not for their family. Now 
 those wives of his were not a few ; it being of 
 old permitted to the Jews to marry many wives,* 
 and this king delighted in many; all whom 
 hated Alexander, on account of Glaphyra's 
 boasting and reproaches. 
 
 3. Nay, Aristobulus had raised a quarrel be- 
 tween himself and Salome, who was his mother- 
 in-law, besides the anger she had conceived at 
 Glaphyra'a reproaches; for he perpetually up- 
 braided his wife with the meanness of her family, 
 and complained, that as he had married a woman 
 of a low family, so had his brother Alexander 
 married one of royal blood. At this Salome's 
 daughter wept, and told it her with this addition, 
 that Alexander threatened the mothers of his 
 other brethren, that when he should come to the 
 crown, he would make them weave with their 
 maidens, and would make those brothers of his 
 country schoolmasters ; and break this jest upon 
 them, that they had been very carefully in- 
 structed, to fit them for such an employment. 
 Hereupon Salome could not contain her anger, 
 but told all to Herod ; nor could her testimony 
 be suspected, since it was against her own son-in- 
 law. There was also another calumny that ran 
 abroad, and inflamed the king's mind ; for he 
 heard that these sons of his were perpetually 
 speaking of their mother, and, among the lamen- 
 tations for her, did not abstain from cursing 
 him ; and that when he made presents of any of 
 Mariamne's garments to his later wives, these 
 threatened, that in a little time, instead of 
 royal garments, they would clothe them in no 
 better than haircloth. 
 
 4. Now upon these accounts, though Herod 
 waa somewhat afraid of the young men's high 
 spirit, yet did he not despair of reducing them 
 to a better mind ; but before he went to Rome, 
 whither he was now going by sea, he called 
 them to him, and partly threatened them a 
 little, as a king; but for the main, he admon- 
 ished them as a father, and exhorted them to 
 love their brethren ; and told them that he would 
 pardon their former offences, if they would 
 amend for the time to come. But they refuted 
 the calumnies that had been raised of them, and 
 said they were false, and alleged that their ac- 
 tions were sufficient for their vindication ; and 
 said withal, that he himself ought to shut his 
 ears against such tales, and not to be too easy 
 in believing them, for that there would never be 
 wanting those that would tell lies to their disad- 
 vantage, as long as any would give ear to them. 
 
 5. When they had thus soon pacified him, aa 
 being their father, they got clear of the present 
 fear they were in. Yet did they see occasion 
 for sorrow some time afterwards ; for they knew 
 that Salome, as well as their uncle Pheroras. 
 wore their enemies ; who were both of then) 
 heavy and severe persons, and especially Phero- 
 ras, who was a partner with Herod in all the 
 
 * That it was an immemorial custom among the Jew 
 and their forefathers, the patriarchs, to have some- 
 times more wives, or wives and concubites, than one 
 at the same time, and that this polygamy was not 
 directly forbidden in the law of Moses, is evident ; but 
 that polygamy was ever properly and distinctly per- 
 mitted in that law of Moses, fDeut. xvii. 16, 17, or 
 XXL 15,) or indeed any where else, does not appear to 
 me. And what our Saviour says about the common 
 Jewish divorces, which may lay much greater claim to 
 such a permission than polygamy, seems to me true in 
 this case also ; that Moses, " for the hardness of their 
 hearts," suffered them to have MTeral wives at the 
 game time ; but that " from the beginning it was not 
 BO," (Matt. xix. 8 ; Mark x. 6.)
 
 458 
 
 J1TWS. 
 
 [BOOK J. 
 
 \ffairs of the kingdom, excepting his diadem. 
 He had also a hundred talents of his own re- 
 venues, and enjoyed the advantage of all the 
 land beyond Jordan, which he hail received as a 
 gift from his brother, who had asked of Cassar 
 to make him a tetrarch, as he was made accord- 
 ingly. Herod had also given him a wife out of 
 the royal family, who was no other than his own 
 wife's sister ; and after her death, had solemnly 
 espoused to him his own eldest daughter, with 
 a dowry of three hundred talents ; but Pheroras 
 refused to consummate this royal marriage, out 
 of his affection to a maid-servant of his. Upon 
 which account Herod was very angry, and gave 
 that daughter in marriage to a brother's son of 
 his, [Joseph,] who was slain afterwards by the 
 Parthians ; but in some time he laid aside his 
 anger against Pheroras, and pardoned him, as 
 one not able to overcome his fool ish passion for 
 the maid-servant. 
 
 6. Nay, Pheroras had been accused long be- 
 fore, while the queen [Mariamue] was alive, as if 
 he were in a plot to poison Herod ; and there 
 came so great a number of informers, that Herod 
 himself, though he was an exceeding lover of his 
 brethren, was brought to believe what was said, f 
 and to be afraid of it also ; and when he had 
 brought many of those that were under suspicion i 
 to the torture, he came at last to Pheroras's ' 
 own friends ; none of whom did openly confers 
 the crime, but they owned that he had made 
 preparation to take her whom he loved, and run 
 away to the Parthians. Costobarus also, the 
 husband of Salome, to whom the king had given 
 her in marriage, after her former husband had 
 been put to death for adultery, was instrumental 
 in bringing about this contrivance and flight of 
 his. Nor did Salome escape all calumny upon 
 herself ; for her brother Pheroras accused her, 
 that she had made an agreement to marry 
 Syllt-us, the procurator cf Obodas, king of 
 Arabia, who was at bitter enmity with Herod ; 
 but when she was convicted of this, and of all 
 that Pheroras had accused her of, she obtained 
 her pardon. The king also pardoned Pheroras 
 himself the crimes he had been accused of. 
 
 7. But the storm of the whole family was re- 
 moved to Alexander ; and all of it rested upon 
 his head. There were three eunuchs who were 
 in the highest esteem with the king, as was plain 
 by the offices they were in about him ; for one 
 of them was appointed to be his butler, another 
 of them got his supper ready for him, and the 
 third put him to bed, and lay down by him. 
 N"ow Alexander had prevailed with these men, 
 by large gifts, to let him use them after an o? - 
 scene manner ; which when it was told the king, 
 they were tortured, and found guilty, and pre- 
 sent^ confessed the criminal conversation be 
 had with them. They also discovered the pro 
 raises by which they were induced so to do, and 
 how they were deluded by Alexander, who had 
 told them that they ought not to fix their hopes 
 upon Herod, an old man, and one so shameless 
 as to colour his hair, unless they thought that 
 would make him young again ; but that they 
 ought to fax their attentior. t,o him who was to 
 be his successor in the kingdom, whether he 
 would or not ; and who in no long time would 
 avenge himself on his enemies, and make his 
 friends happy and blessed, and themselves in 
 the first place ; and the men of power did already 
 pay respects to Alexander privately, and that 
 the captains of the soldiery, and the officer.-, did 
 secretly come to him. 
 
 8. These confessions did so terrify Herod that 
 he durst not immediately publish them ; but he 
 i *eut soiea abroad privately, by night and bv 
 
 i'.ay, who should make a close inquiry after aL 
 that was done and said ; and when any were but 
 suspected [of treason] he put them to death, 
 insomuch that the palace was full of horribly 
 unjust proceedings ; for everybody forged calum- 
 nies, as they were themselves in a state of enmity 
 or hatred against others ; and many there were 
 who abused the king's bloody passion to the 
 disadvantage of those with whom they had quar- 
 els, and lies were easily believed, and punish- 
 ments were inflicted sooner than the calumnies 
 were forged. He who had just then been accus- 
 ing another, was accused himself, and was led 
 away to execution together with nim whom he 
 had convicted ; for the danger the king was in 
 of his life made examinations be very short. He 
 also proceeded to such a degree of bitterness, 
 that he could not look on any one of those that 
 were not accused with a pleasant countenance, 
 but was in the most barbarous disposition to- 
 wards his friends. Accordingly, he forbade a 
 great many of them to come to the court, and to 
 those whom he had not power to punish actually, 
 he spake harshly ; but for Antipater, he insulted 
 Alexander, now he was under his misfortunes, 
 and got a stout company of his kindred together, 
 ind raised all sorts of calumny against him ; and 
 for the king, he was brought to such a degree of 
 terror by those prodigious slanders and contri- 
 vances, that he fancied he saw Alexander coming 
 to him with a drawn sword in his hand. So he 
 caused him to be seized upon immediately and 
 bound, and fell to examining his friends by tor- 
 ture, many of whom died [under the torture,} 
 but would discover nothing, nor say anything 
 against their consciences ; but some of them, 
 being forced to spak falsely by the pain they 
 endured, said that Alexander, and his brother 
 Aristobulus, plotted against him, and waited for 
 an opportunity l.o kill him as he was hunting, 
 and then fly away to Rome. These accusations, 
 though they were of an incredible nature, and 
 only framed upon the great distress they were 
 in, were readily believed by the king, who 
 thought it some comfort to him, after he had 
 bound his son, that it might appear he had not 
 done it uniustly. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 ROHELAUS PROCURES A RECONCILIATION BE- 
 TWEEN ALEXANDER, PHERORAS, AND HEUOD. 
 
 L Now as to Alexander, since he perceived it 
 mpossible to persuade his father [that he was 
 anocent,] he resolved to meet his calamities, 
 ow severe soever they were ; so he composed 
 our books against his enemies, and confessed 
 chat he had been in a plot ; but declared withal 
 that the greatest part [of the courtiers] were in 
 a plot with him, and chiefly Pheroras and 
 Salome : nay, that Salome once came and forced 
 him to lie with her in the night-time, whether 
 he would or no. These books were put into 
 Herod's hands, and made a great clamour against 
 the men of power. And now it was that Arche- 
 laus came hastily into Juxlea, as being affrighted 
 for his son-in-law and his daughter ; and he 
 came as a proper assistant, and in a very pru- 
 dent manner, and by a stratagem he obliged the 
 king not to execute what he had threatened ; foi 
 when he was come to him, he cried out, " Where 
 in the world is this wretched son-in-law of mine ? 
 Where shall I see the head of him who had con- 
 trived to murder his father, which I will tear to 
 pieces with my own hands ( I will do the same 
 <\lso to my daughter who hath such a fine bus
 
 CHAP. XXVI.] 
 
 WARS OF THE .Tin 
 
 band ; for although she be not a partner in the 
 plot, yet, by being the wife of such a creature, 
 she is polluted And I cannot hut admire at 
 thy patience, against whom this plot is laid, if 
 Alexander be still alive ; for as I came with 
 what haste I could from Cappadocia, I expected 
 to find him put to death for his crimes long ago ; 
 but still in order to make an examination with 
 thee about my daughter, whom, out of regard 
 to thee, and thy dignity, I had espoused to him 
 in marriage, but now we must take counsel about, 
 them both, and if thy paternal affection be so 
 j;reat, that thou canst not punish thy son, who 
 bath plotted against thee, let us change out 
 right hand*, and let us succeed one to the other 
 in expressing our rage upon this occasion." 
 
 2. When he had made this pompous declara 
 tion, he got Herod to remit of his anger, though 
 he was in disorder, who thereupon gave him the 
 books which Alexander had composed to be read 
 by him ; and as he came to every head, he con- 
 sidered of it, together with Herod. So Arche- 
 laus took hence the occasion for that stratagem 
 which he had made use of, and by degrees he 
 laid the blame on these men whose names were 
 in these books, and especially upon Pheroras ; 
 and when he saw that the king believed him 
 [to be earnest,] he said, " We must consider 
 whether the young man be not himself plotted 
 against by such a number of wicked wretches, 
 and not thou plotted against by the young man ; 
 for I cannot see any occasion for his falling iui-j 
 so horrid a crime, since he enjoys the advan- 
 tages of royalty already, and has the expectation 
 of being one of thy successors ; I mean this 
 unless there were some persons that persuade 
 him to it, and such persons as make an ill us* 
 of the facility they know there is to persuadt 
 young men : for by such persons, not only young 
 men are sometimes imposed upon, but old men 
 also ; and by them sometimes are the most illus- 
 trious families and kingdoms overturned." 
 
 3. Elerod assented to what he had said, and, 
 liy degrees, abated of his anger against Alex 
 ander; but was more angry at Pheroras, whc 
 perceived that the king's inclination changed oa 
 a sudden, and that Archelaus's friendship could 
 do everything with him, and that he had nc 
 honourable method of preserving himself, he 
 procured his safety by his impudence. So h~ 
 left Alexander, and had recourse to Archelaus ; 
 who told him that he did not see how he could 
 get him excused, now he was directly caught hi 
 so many crimes, whereby it was evidently de- 
 monstrated that he had plotted against the king, 
 and had been the cause of those misfortunes 
 which the young man was now under, unless he 
 would moreover leave off his cunning knavery 
 and his denials of what he was charged withal, 
 and confess the charge, and implore pardon o; 
 his brother, who still had a kindness for him ; 
 but that if he would do so, he wou^ afford hiiij 
 all the assistance he was able. 
 
 4. With this advice Pheroras complied, and, 
 putting himself into such a habit as might moac 
 move compassion, he came with black cloth upon 
 his body, and tears in his eyes, and threw him- 
 self down at Herod's feet, and begged his par- 
 don for what he had done, and confessed that 
 he had acted very wickedly, and was guilty of 
 everything that he had been accused of, ano 
 lamented that disorder of his mind and distra.c 
 tion which his love to a woman, lie said, had 
 brought him to. So when Archelaus had brought 
 Pheroras to accuse and bear witness against him- 
 self, he then made an excuse for him, and miti- 
 gated Herod's anger towards him. and this by 
 
 certain domestic examples ; for that wbri 
 
 he had suffered ranch greater mischiefs from 
 a brother of his own, he preferred the obliga- 
 tions of nature before the passion of revenge; 
 because it is in kingdoms as it is hi gross bodies, 
 where some member or other is ever swelled by 
 the body's weight ; in which case it is not pro- 
 per to cut off such member, but to heal it by 
 a gentle method of cure. 
 
 5. Upon Archelaus's saying this, and much 
 more to the same purpose, Herod's displeasure 
 against Pheroras was mollified ; yet did he per- 
 severe in his own indignation against Alexander, 
 and said he would have his daughter divorced 
 and taken away from him, and this till he had 
 brought Herod to that pass, that contrary to hia 
 former behaviour to him, he petitioned Arche- 
 laus for the young man, and that he would let 
 his daughter continue espoused to him : but 
 Archelaus made him strongly believe that he 
 would permit her to be married to any one else, 
 but not to Alexander ; because he looked upon 
 it as a very valuable advantage, that the relation 
 they had contracted by that affinity, and the 
 
 j privileges that went along with it, might be pre- 
 
 I served : and when the king said that his son 
 would take it for a great favour done to him if 
 he would not dissolve the marriage, especially 
 since they had already children between the 
 
 j young man and her, and since that wife of his 
 was so well beloved by him, and that as while 
 
 I she remains his wife she would be a great pre- 
 servative to him, and keep him from offending, 
 as he had formerly done ; so if she should be 
 torn away from him, she would be the cause of 
 his falling into despair ; because such men's at- 
 tempts are best mollified when they are diverted 
 from them by settling their affections at home. 
 So Archelaus complied with what Herod de- 
 sired, but not without difficulty, and was both 
 himself reconciled to the yirvng man and recon- 
 ciled his father to him also. However, he said 
 he must, by all means, be sent to Rome to dis- 
 course with Cwsar, because he had already writ- 
 ten a full account to him of this whole matter. 
 
 6. Thus a period was put to Archelaus's stra- 
 tagem, whereby he delivered his sou-Lu-law out 
 of the dangers he was in : but when these recon- 
 ciliations were over, they spent their time in 
 feastings and agreeable entertainments ; and 
 when Archelaus was going away, Herod made 
 him a present of seventy talents, with a golden, 
 throne set with precious stones, and gome eun- 
 uchs, and a concubine who was called Pannychia, 
 He also paid due honours to every one of his 
 c riends according to their dignity. In like man- 
 aer did all the king's kindred, by his command, 
 make glorious presents to Archelaus ; and so he 
 \vas conducted on his way by Herod and hia no- 
 bility as far as Antioch. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVL 
 
 HOW TOBTCLES* CALUMNIATED TDK BOSS 
 J1ARIAMNE ; AND HOW BDAFATUS'S APOLOGY 
 dAD NO EFFECT. 
 
 i. Now a little afterward there came into 
 
 This vile fellow seems to have been the same who 
 is mentioned by Plutarch, as a companion to Mark 
 AnZy and as living with Herod; whence he might 
 =lv nsinuate himself into the acquaintance of 
 Herod's sons, Antipater and Alexander. The reason 
 why his being a Spartan rendered him acceptable to 
 The Jews as we here see he was, is visibfe from the 
 public records of the Jews and Spartans owing thc.e 
 InartoM to be of kin to the Jews, and derived from 
 t/.eir common ancestor Abraham, the first patriarch o* 
 the Jewish nation.
 
 #50 
 
 WAPS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK i. 
 
 Judea a man that was much superior to Arche- 
 laus's stratagems, who did not only overturn 
 that reconciliation that had been so wisely made 
 with Alexander, but proved the occasion of his 
 ruin. He was a Lacedemonian, and his name 
 was Eurycles. He was so corrupt a man, that 
 out of the desire of getting money, he chose to 
 live under a king, for Greece could not suffice 
 his luxury. He presented Herod with splendid 
 gifts as a bait which he laid, in order to compass 
 his ends, and quickly received them back again 
 manifold ; yet did lie esteem bare gifts as no- 
 thing, unless he imbrued the kingdom in blood 
 by his purchases. Accordingly, he imposed upon 
 the king by flattering him, and by talking sub- 
 tlely to him, as also by the lying encomiums 
 which he made upon him : for as he soon per- 
 ceived Herod's blind side, so he said and did 
 everything that might please him, and thereby 
 became one of his most intimate friends ; for 
 both the king and all that were about him, had 
 a great regard for this Spartan, on account of 
 his country. 
 
 2. Now as oon as this fellow perceived the 
 rotten parts of the family, and what quairels the 
 brothers had one with another, and in what dis- 
 position the father was towards each of them, 
 he chose to take his lodging at the first in the 
 house of Antipater, but deluded Alexander with 
 a pretence of friendship to him, and falsely 
 claimed to be an old acquaintance of Archelaus ; 
 for which reason he was presently admitted into 
 Alexander's familiarity as a faithful friend. He 
 also soon recommended himself to his brother 
 Aristobulus ; and when he had thus made trial 
 of these several persons, he imposed upon one of 
 them by one method, and upon another by an- 
 other; but he was principally hired by Antipater, 
 and so betrayed Alexander, and this by reproach- 
 ing Antipater, because, while he was the eldest 
 son, he overlooked the intrigues of those who 
 stood in the way of his expectations ; and by re- 
 proaching Alexander, because he who was born 
 of a queen and was married to a king's daughter, 
 permitted one that was born of a mean woman 
 to lay claim to the succession, and this when he 
 had Archelaus to support him in the most com- 
 plete manner. Nor was his advice thought to 
 be other than faithful by the young man, because 
 of his pretended friendship with Archelaus : on 
 which account it was that Alexander lamented to 
 him Antipater's behaviour with regard to him- 
 self, and this without concealing anything from 
 him ; and how it was no wonder if Herod, after 
 he had killed their mother, should deprive them 
 of her kingdom. Upon this Eurycles pretended 
 to commiserate his condition, and to grieve with 
 him. He also, by a bait that he laid for him, 
 procured Aristobulus to say the same things. 
 Thus did he inveigle both the brothers to make 
 complaints of their father, and then went to An- 
 tipater, and carried these grand secrets to him. 
 He also added a fiction of his own, as if his 
 brothers had laid a plot against him, and were 
 almost ready to come upon him with their drawn 
 swords. For this intelligence he received a great 
 sum of money, and on that account he com- 
 mended Antipater before his father, and at 
 length undertook the work of bringing Alexander 
 and Aristobulus to their graves, and accused 
 them before their father. So he came to Herod 
 and told him that he would save his life, as a re- 
 quital for the favours he had received from him, 
 and would preserve his light [of life] by way of 
 retribution for his kind entertainment ; for that 
 a_ sword had been long whetted, and Alexander's 
 right hand had long been stretched out against 
 him ; but that he had laid impediments in his 
 
 way, prevented his speed, and that by pretending 
 to assist him in his design : how Alexander said, 
 that Herod was not contented to reign in a king- 
 dom that belonged to others, and to make dilapi- 
 dations in their mother's government after he 
 had killed her ; but besides all this, that he in- 
 troduced a spurious successor, and proposed to 
 give the kingdom of their ancestors to that pes- 
 tilent fellow Antipater : that he would now 
 appease the ghosts of Hyrcanus and Mariamne, 
 by taking vengeance on him ; for that it was not 
 fit for him to take the succession to the govern- 
 ment from such a father without bloodshed ; 
 that many things happen every day to provoke 
 him so to do, insomuch that he can say nothing 
 at all, but it affords occasion for calumny against 
 him ; for that, if any mention be made of no- 
 bility or birth, even in other cases, he is abused 
 unjustly, while his father would say that no- 
 body, to be sure, is of noble birth but Alex- 
 ander, and that his father was inglorious for 
 want of such nobility. If they be at any time 
 hunting, and he says nothing, he gives offence ; 
 and if he commends anybody, they take it in 
 way of jest: that they always find their father 
 unmercifully severe, and have no natural affec- 
 tion for any of them but for Antipater ; on 
 which accounts, if this plot does not take he is 
 very willing to die ; but that in case he kill his 
 father he hath sufficient opportunity for saving 
 himself. In the first place, he hath Archelaus 
 his father-in-law, to whom he can easily fly; 
 and, in the next place, he hath Caesar, who had 
 never known Herod's character to this day ; for 
 that he shall not appear then before him with 
 that dread he used to do when his father was 
 there to terrify him ; and that he will not then 
 produce the accusations that concerned himself 
 alone, but would, in the first place, openly in- 
 sist on the calamities of their nation, and how 
 they are taxed to death, and in what ways of 
 luxury and wicked practices that wealth is spent 
 which was gotten by bloodshed; what sort of 
 persons they are that get our riches, and to 
 whom those cities belong, upon whom he be- 
 stows his favours ; that he would have inquiry 
 made what became of his grandfather [Hyrca- 
 nus,] and his mother [Mariamne,] and would 
 openly proclaim the gross wickedness that was 
 in the kingdom; on which accounts he should 
 not be deemed a parricide. 
 
 3. "When Eurycles had made this portentous 
 speech, he greatly commended Antipater, as the 
 only child that had an affection for his father, 
 and on that account was an impediment to the 
 other's plot against him. Hereupon the king, 
 who had hardly repressed his anger upon the 
 former accusations, was exasperated to an incur- 
 able degree. At which Antipater took another 
 occasion to send in other persons to his father to 
 accuse his brethren, and to tell him that they 
 had privately discoursed with Jucundus and 
 Tyrannus, who had once been masters of the 
 horse to the king, but for some offences had been 
 put out of that honourable employment. Herod 
 was in a very great rage at these informations, 
 and presently ordered those men to be tortured : 
 yet did not they confess anything of what the 
 king had been informed ; but a certain letter was 
 produced, as written by Alexander to the gover- 
 nor of a castle, to desire him to receive him and 
 Aristobulus into the castle when he had killed 
 his father, and to give them weapons, and what 
 other assistance he could, upon that occasion. 
 Alexander said that this letter was a forgery of 
 Diophantus. This Diophantus was the king's 
 secretary, a bold man, cunning in counterfeiting 
 any one's hand ; and after he had counterfeited
 
 CHAP. XXVII.] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 461 
 
 a great number, he was at last put to death for it. 
 Herod did also order the governor of the castle 
 to be tortured ; but got nothing out of Hm o f 
 what the accusations suggested. 
 
 4. However, although Herod found the proofs 
 too weak, he gave order to have his sons kept in 
 custody ; for till now they had been at liberty. 
 He also called that pest of his family, and forger 
 of all this vile accusation, Eurycles, his saviour 
 and benefactor, and gave him a reward of fifty 
 talents. Upon which he prevented any accurate 
 accounts that could come of what he had done, 
 by going immediately into Cappadocia, and there 
 he got money of Archelaus, having the impu- 
 dence to pretend that he had reconciled Herod to 
 Alexander. He thence passed over into Greece, 
 and used what he had thus wickedly gotten to 
 the like wicked purposes. Accordingly, he was 
 twice accused before Caesar, that he had filled 
 Achaia with sedition, and had plundered its 
 cities ; so he was sent into banishment. And 
 thus was he punished for what wicked actions 
 he had been guilty of about Aristobulus and 
 Alexander. 
 
 5. But it will be now worth while to put 
 Euaratus of Cos in opposition to this Spartan ; 
 for as lie was one of Alexander's most intimate 
 friends, and came to him in his travels at the 
 same time that Eurycles came ; so the king put 
 the question to him, whether those things of 
 which Alexander was accused were true ? He 
 assured him upon oath that he had never heard 
 any such things from the young men ; yet did 
 this testimony avail nothing for the clearing 
 these miserable creatures ; for Herod was only 
 disposed the most readily to hearken to what 
 was made against them, and every one was most 
 agreeable to him that would believe they were 
 guilty, and shewed their indignation at them. 
 
 CHAPTEK XXVII. 
 
 HEROD, BY CJSAR'S DIRECTION, ACCUSES HIS 
 SONS AT BERYTUS. THEY ARE NOT PRODUCED 
 BEFORE THE COURT, BUT YET ARE CONDEMNED ; 
 AND IN A LITTLE TIME ARE SENT TO SEBASTE, 
 AND STRANGLED THERE. 
 
 1. MOREOVER, Salome exasperated Herod's 
 cruelty against his sons ; for Aristobulus was 
 desirous to bring her, who was his mother-in-law 
 and his aunt, into the like dangers with them- 
 selves : so he sent to her to take care of her own 
 safety, and told her that the king was preparing 
 to put her to death, on account of the accusation 
 that was laid against her, as if when she for- 
 merly endeavoured to marry herself to Sylleus 
 the Arabian, she had discovered the king's grand 
 secrets to him, who was the king's enemy ; and 
 this it was that came as the last storm, and 
 entirely sunk the young men who were hi great 
 danger before ; for Salome came running to the 
 king, and informed him of what admonition had 
 been given her ; whereupon he could bear no 
 longer, but commanded both the young men to 
 be bound, and kept the one asunder from the 
 other. He also sent Volumnius, the general of 
 his army, to Caesar immediately, as also his 
 friend Olympus with him, who carried the infor- 
 mations in writing along with them. Now, as 
 goon as they had sailed to Home and delivered 
 the king's letters to Caesar, Caesar was mightily 
 troubled at the case of the young men ; yet did 
 not he think he ought to take the power from 
 the father of condemning his sons ; so he wrote 
 back to him, and appointed him to have the 
 
 power over his sons ; but said withal, that h 
 would do well to make an examination into this 
 matter of the plot against him in a public court, 
 and to take for his assessors his own kindred, 
 and the governors of the province ; and if those 
 sons be found guilty, to put them to death ; but 
 if they appear to have thought of no more than 
 only flying away from him, that he should, in 
 that case, moderate their punishment. 
 
 2. With these directions Herod complied, and 
 came to Berytus, where Caesar had ordered the 
 court to be assembled, and got the judicature 
 together. The presidents sat first, as Caesar's 
 letters had appointed, who were Saturninus and 
 Pedanius, and their lieutenants that were with 
 them, with whom was the procurator Volum- 
 nius also ; next to them sat the king's kinsmen 
 and friends, with Salome also, and Pheroras; 
 after whom sat the principal men of all Syria, 
 excepting Archelaus ; for Herod had a suspicion 
 of him, because he was Alexander's father-in- 
 law. Yet did not he produce his sons in open 
 court ; and this was done very cunningly, for he 
 knew well enough that, had they but appeared 
 openly, they would certainly have been pitied ; 
 and if withal they had been suffered to speak, 
 Alexander would easily have answered what 
 they were accused of ; but they were in custody 
 at Platane, a village of the Sidonians. 
 
 3. So the king got up, and inveighed against 
 his sons as if they were present ; and as for that 
 part of the accusation that they had plotted 
 against him, he urged it but faintly, because he 
 was destitute of proofs ; but he insisted before 
 the assessors on the reproaches, and jests, and 
 injurious carriage, and ten thousand the like 
 offences against them, which were heavier than 
 death itself ; and when nobody contradicted him, 
 he moved them to pity his case, as though he 
 had been condemned himself, now he had gained 
 a bitter victory over his sons. So he asked every 
 one's sentence ; which sentence was first of all 
 given by Saturninus, and was this : That he 
 condemned the young men, but not to death ; 
 for that it was not fit for him, who had threi: 
 sons of his own now present, to give his vote for 
 the destruction of the sons of another. The two 
 lieutenants also gave the like vote ; some others 
 there were also who followed their example; 
 but Volumnius began to vote on the more mel- 
 ancholy side, and all those that came after him 
 condemned the young men to die ; some out of 
 flattery, and some out of hatred to Herod ; but 
 none out of indignation at their crimes. And 
 now all Syria and Judea was in great expecta- 
 tion, and waited for the last act of this tragedy ; 
 yet did nobody suppose that Herod would be so 
 barbarous as to murder his children : however, 
 he carried them away to Tyre, and thence sailed 
 to Cesarea, and then he deliberated with him- 
 self what sort of death the young men should 
 suffer. 
 
 4. Now there was a certain old soldier of the 
 king's, whose name was Tero, who had a son 
 tiiat was very familiar with, and a friend to 
 Alexander, and who himself particularly loved 
 the young men. This soldier was in a measure 
 distracted, out of the excess of the indignation 
 he had at what was doing ; and at first he cried 
 out aloud, as he went about, that justice waa 
 trampled underfoot; that truth was perished, 
 and nature confounded; and that the life of 
 man was full of iniquity, and everything else 
 that passion could suggest to a man who spared 
 not his own life ; and at last he ventured to go 
 to the king, and said, "Truly, I think, thou art 
 a most miserable man, when thou hearkenest to 
 most wicked wretches, against those that ought
 
 462 
 
 JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK i. 
 
 to be dearest to the* ; since thou hast frequently 
 resolved that Pheroras and Salome should be put 
 to death, and yet believest them against thy 
 sons ; while these, by cutting off the succession 
 of thine own sons, leave all wholly to Autipater, 
 and thereby choose to have thee such a king aa 
 may be thoroughly in their own power. How- 
 ever, consider whether this death of Antipater's 
 brethren will not make him hated by the 
 soldiers ; for there is nobody but commiserates 
 the young men ; and of the captains, a great 
 many shew their indignation at it openly." 
 Upon his saying this, he named those that had 
 such indignation ; but the king ordered those 
 men, with Tero himself, and his son, to be seized 
 upon immediately. 
 
 5. At which time there was a certain barber, 
 >-hose name was Trypho. This man leaped out 
 f oin among the people iu a kicd of madness, 
 and accused himself, and said, "this Tero en- 
 deavoured to persuade me also to cut thy throat 
 with my razor when I trimmed thee ; and pro- 
 mised that Alexander should give me large pre- 
 sents for so doing." When Herod heard this, he 
 examined Tero, with hia son and the barber, 
 by the torture; but as the others denied the 
 accusation, and he said nothing further, Herod 
 gave order that Tero should be racked more 
 severely : but his son, out of pity to his father, 
 promised to discover the whole to the king, if he 
 would grant [that his father should be no longer 
 tortured.] When he had agreed to this, he said, 
 that his father, at the persuasion of Alexander, 
 had an intention to kill him. Now some said 
 this was forged, in order to free his father from 
 his torments ; and some said it was true. 
 
 6. And now Herod accused the captains and 
 Tero in an assembly of the people, and brought 
 the people together in a body against them ; and 
 accordingly there were they put to death, to- 
 gether with [Trypho] the barber ; they were 
 killed by the pieces of wood and the stones that 
 were thrown at them. He also sent his sons to 
 Sebaste, a city not far from Cesarea, and ordered 
 them to be there strangled ; and as what he had 
 ordered was executed immediately, so he com- 
 manded that their dead bodies should be brought 
 to the fortress Alexandriuin, to be buried with 
 Alexander, their grandfather by the mother's 
 Bide. And this was the end of Alexander and 
 A-ristobulus. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIUU 
 
 OW ANTIPATER IS HATED OP AH HEN; ANt 
 HOW THE KING ESPOUSES THE SONS OF THOSiL 
 THAT HAD BEEN BLAIN TO HIS KINDRED ; BUT 
 THAT ANTIPATEB MADE HIM CHANGE THEM Full 
 OTHER WOMEN. OF HEROD'S MAKBIAGES AND 
 CHILDREN. 
 
 I. BUT an intolt-rable hatred fell upon Anti- 
 pater from the nation, though he had now an 
 indisputable title to the succession; because they 
 all knew that he was the person who contrived 
 ,\11 the calumnies against his brethren. How- 
 ever, he began to be in a terrible fear, as he saw 
 the posterity of those that had been slain grow- 
 ing up ; for Alexander had two sons by Gla- 
 phyra, Tigranes and Alexander ; and Aristobulus 
 had Herod, and Agrippa, and Aristobulus, his 
 sons, with Herodias and Mariamne, his daugh- 
 ters ; and all by Bernice, Salome's daughter. 
 As for Glaphyra, Herod, as soon as he had 
 killed Alexander, sent her back, together with 
 her portion* to Cappadocia. He married Ber 
 
 nice, Aristobalus's daughter, to Antiuater's 
 
 uncle by his mother, and it was Antipater who, 
 
 in order to reconcile her to him, when she had 
 
 been at variance with him, contrived tliis match ; 
 
 he also got into Pheroras's favour, and into the 
 
 favour of Caesar's friends, by presents, and other 
 
 ways of obsequiousness, and sent no small sums 
 
 of money to Rome ; Saturninus also, and Lis 
 
 friends in Syria, were all well replenished with 
 
 the presents he made them ; yet, the more 
 
 he gave the more he was hated, as not making 
 
 these presents out of generosity, but spending 
 
 Ids money out of fear. Accordingly it so fell 
 
 t.ut that the receivers bore him no more good- 
 
 ! will than before, but that those to whom he gave 
 
 | nothing were his most bitter enemies. How- 
 
 1 ever, he bestowed his money every day more 
 
 and more profusely, on observing that, contrary 
 
 to his expectations, the king was taking care 
 
 ; about the orphans, and discovering at the same 
 
 I time his repentance for killing their fathers, by 
 
 : his commiseration of those thM sprang from 
 
 ; them. 
 
 2. Accordingly, Herod got together his kiu- 
 tlred and friends, and set before them the chil- 
 dren, and with his eyes full of tears, said thus to 
 them : " It was an unlucky fate that took away 
 
 ; from me these children's fathers, which children 
 
 ; are recommended to me by that natural com- 
 miseration which their orphan condition re- 
 quires; however, I will endeavour, though I 
 have been a most unfortunate father, to appear 
 
 , u better grandfather, and to leave these children 
 such curators after myself as are dearest to me. 
 
 j I therefore betroth thy daughter, Pheroras, tc 
 the elder of these brethren, the children ol 
 Alexander, that thou mayest be obliged to take 
 care of them. I also betroth to thy son, Anti- 
 pater, the daughter of Aristobulus ; be thou 
 therefore a father to that orphan ; and my son 
 Herod [Philip] shall have her sister, whose 
 grandfather, by the mother's side, was high 
 priest. And let every one that loves me be of 
 
 1 my sentiments in these dispositions, whom none 
 that hath an affection for me will abrogate. 
 
 i And I pray God that he will join these children 
 together in marriage to the advantage of uij 
 kingdom, and of my posterity ; and may he look 
 down with eyes more serene upon them than he 
 looked upon their fathers ! " 
 
 3. While he spake these words, he wept, and 
 joined the children's right hands together : after 
 which he embraced them every one after an 
 affectionate manner, and dismissed the assembly. 
 Upon this Antipater was in great disorder im- 
 mediately, and lamented publicly at what was 
 done ; for he supposed that this dignity, which 
 was conferred on these orphans, was for his own 
 destruction, even in his father's lifetime, and 
 that he should run another risk of losing the 
 government if Alexander's sons should have both 
 Archelaus [a king,] and Pheroras a tetrarch, to 
 support them. He also considered how he was 
 himself hated by the nation, and how they pitied 
 these orphans : how great affection the Jews 
 bare to those brethren of his when they were 
 (dive, and how gladly they remembered them, 
 now they had perished by his means. So he 
 resolved by all the ways possible to get these 
 espousals dissolved. 
 
 4. Now he was afraid of going subtlely about 
 this matter with his father, who was hard to be 
 pleased, and was presently moved upon the least 
 suspicion : so he ventured to go to bim directly, 
 and to beg of him before his face, not to deprive 
 him of that dignity which he had been pleased 
 lo bestow upon him ; and that he might not have 
 Hie bare name of a kins, while the power was in
 
 OHAP. XXIX. 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 463 
 
 other persons ; for that he should never be atle 
 to keep the government, if Alexander's sou was 
 to have both his grandfather Archelaus and 
 Pheroras for his curators ; and he besought him 
 earnestly, since there were so many of the royai 
 family alive, that he would change those [in- 
 tended] marriages. Now the king had nine 
 wives,* and children by seven of them ; Anti- 
 pater was himself bom of Doris, and Herod 
 [Philip] of .tlariaume, the high priest's daughter ; 
 Antipas also anJ Archelaus were by Malthace, 
 the Samaritan, as was his daughter Olympias, 
 which his brother Joseph's t son had married. 
 By Cleopatra of Jerusalem he had Herod and 
 Philip ; and by Pallas, Phasaelus ; he had also 
 two daughters, Roxana and Salome, the one by 
 Phedra, and the other by Elpis : he had also t\w 
 wives who had no children, the one his fin : t 
 cousin, and the other his niece ; and beside, 
 these he had two daughters, the sisters of Alex- 
 ander and Aristobulus, by Mariamne. Since, 
 therefore, the royal family was so numerous, 
 Antipater prayed him to change these intended 
 marriages. 
 
 5. When the king perceived what disposition 
 he was in towards the orphans, he was angry at 
 it, and a suspicion came into his mind as to those 
 sons whom he had put to death, whether that 
 had not been brought about by the false tales oi 
 Antipater; so at that time he made Antipater a 
 loug and peevish answer, and bade him begone. 
 Yet was he afterwards prevailed upon cunningly 
 by his flatteries, and changed the marriages ; ho 
 married Aiistobulus's daughter to him, and his 
 son to Pheroras's daughter. 
 
 6. Now one may learn, in this instance, how 
 very much this flattering Antipater could do, 
 even what Salome in the like circumstances couKi 
 not do ; for when she, who was his sister, had 
 by the means of Julia, Caesar's wife, earnestly 
 desired leave to be married to Sylleus the Ara- 
 bian, Herod swore he would esteem her hia 
 bitter enemy, unless she would leave off thac 
 project : he also caused her, against her own con- 
 sent, to be married to Alexas, a fnend of his, and 
 that one of her daughters should be married to 
 Alexas's son, and the other to Antipater's uncle 
 by the mother's side. And for the daughters 
 that the king had by Mariamne, the one wve 
 married to Antipater, his sister's son, and tlta 
 other to his brother's sou, Phasaelus. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 ANTIPATER BECOMES INTOLERABLE; HB 18 BEST 
 TO BOMB, AND CARRIES HEROD'S TESTAMENT 
 WITH HIM ; PHERORAS LEAVES HIS BROTUEB, 
 THAT HE MAY KEEP HIS WIFE ; HE DIES AT 
 HOME. 
 
 1. Now when Antipater had cut off the hopes 
 of the orphans, and had contracted such afliui- 
 
 * Dean Aldrich takes notice here, that these nine 
 wives of Herod were alive at the same time, and that 
 if the celebrated Mariamne, who was now dtad, b 
 reckoned, those wives were in all ten. Yet tt io re- 
 markable that he had no more than fifteen children by 
 them all. 
 
 t To prevent confusion, it may not be amiss to dis- 
 tinguiih between four Josephs in the history of Herod. 
 1. Joseph, Herod's uncle, and the [second] husband of 
 his sister Salome, slain by Herod on account of Mari- 
 amne. 2. Joseph, lierod's qtuestor, or treasurer, slain 
 on the same account. 3. Joseph, Herod's brother, 
 slain in battle against Antigonus. 4. Joseph, Herod's 
 nephew, the husband of Olympias, mentioned ill tuis 
 place. 
 
 ties as would be most for his own advantage, he 
 proceeded briskly, as having a certain expecta- 
 tion of the kingdom ; and as he had now assur- 
 ances added to his wickedness, he became in- 
 tolerable ; for not being nble to avoid the hatred 
 of all people, he built his security upon the 
 teiTor he struck into them Pheroras also as- 
 sisted him in his designs, looking upon him as 
 already fixed in the kingdom. There was also a 
 company of women in the court, who excited 
 new disturbances ; for Pheroras's wife, together 
 with her mother and sister, as also Antipater's 
 mother, grew very impudent in the palace. She 
 also was so insolent as to affront the king's two 
 daughters,* on which account the king hated her 
 to a great degree ; yet although these women, 
 were hated by him, they domineered over 
 jtbers : there was only Salome who opposed 
 their good agreement, and informed the king 
 of their meetings, as not being for the advantage 
 of his affairs ; and when those women knew 
 what calumnies she had raised against them, 
 and how much Herod was displeased, they left 
 off their public meetings and friendly entertain- 
 ments of one another; nay, on the contrary, 
 they pretended to quarrel one with another 
 when the king was within hearing. The liko 
 dissimulation did Antipater make use of ; and 
 when matters were public, he opposed Pheroras : 
 but still they had private cabals, and merry- 
 meetings in the night-time ; nor did the obser- 
 vation of others do any more than confirm their 
 mutual agreement. However, Salome knew 
 everything they did. and told everything to 
 Herod. 
 
 2. But he was inflamed with anger at them, 
 and chiefly at Pheroras's wife ; for Salome had 
 principally accused her. So he got an assembly 
 of his friends and kindred together, and there 
 accused this woman of many things, and par- 
 ticularly of the affronts she had offered his 
 daughters ; and that she had supplied the 
 Pharisees with money, by way of rewards for 
 what they had done against him, and had pro- 
 cured his brother to become his enemy, by giv- 
 ing him love-potions. At length he turned his 
 speech to Pheroras, and told him that he would 
 give him his choice of these two things : 
 Whether he would keep in with his brother, or 
 with his wife ? And when Pheroras said that he 
 certainly would die rather than forsake his wife, 
 Herod, not knowing what to do further in 
 that matter, turned his speech to Antipater, and 
 charged him to have no intercourse either with 
 Pheroras's wife, or with Pheroras himself, or 
 with any one belonging to her. Now, though 
 Autipater did not transgress that his injunction 
 publicly, yet did he in secret come to their 
 night-meetings : and because he was afraid that 
 Salome observed what he did, he procured, by 
 the means of his Italian friends, that he might 
 go and live at Rome ; for when they wrote that 
 it was proper for Antipater to be -sent to Caesar 
 for some time, Herod made no delay, but sent 
 him, and that with a splendid attendance, and 
 a great deal of money, and gave him his testa- 
 ment to carry with him, wherein Antipater 
 had the kingdom bequeathed to him, and 
 wherein Herod was named for Antipater s suc- 
 cessor ; that Herod, I mean, who was the son of 
 Mariamne, the high priest's daughter. 
 
 3. Sylleus also, the Arabian, sailed to Rome, 
 without any regard to Cwsar's injunction*, and 
 this iu order to oppose Antipater with all his 
 
 * These daughters of Herod, whom Pheroras's wife 
 affronted, were Salome and Roxana, two virgins, wl.c 
 were bora to him of hi* two wives, Blpis and Phedra
 
 WABS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK i. 
 
 might, as to that law-suit which Nicolaus had 
 with him before. This Sylleus had also a great 
 contest with Aretas his own king ; for he had 
 slain many others of Aretas's friends, and parti- 
 cularly Sohcmus, the most potent man in the 
 city Petra. Moreover, he had prevailed with 
 Phabatus, who was Herod's steward, by giving 
 him a great sum of money, to assist him against 
 Herod ; but when Herod gave him more, he in- 
 duced him to leave Sylleus, and by his means he 
 demanded of him all that Caesar had required of 
 him to pay ; but when Sylleus paid nothing of 
 what he was to pay, and did also accuse Pha- 
 batus to Caesar, and said that he was not a 
 steward for Caesar's advantage, but for Herod's, 
 Phabatus was angry at him on that account, but 
 was still in very great esteem wilh Herod, and 
 discovered Sylleus's grand secrets, and told the 
 king that Sylleus had corrupted Corinthus, one 
 of the guards of his body, by bribing him, and 
 of whom he must therefore have a care. Ac- 
 cordingly the king complied ; for this Corin- 
 thus, though he was brought up in Herod's 
 kingdom, yet was by birth an Arabian ; so the 
 king ordered him to be taken up immediately, 
 and not only him, but two other Arabians, who 
 were caught with him ; the one of them was 
 Sylleus's friend, the other the head of a tribe. 
 These last, being put to the torture, confessed that 
 they had prevailed with Corinthus, for a large 
 sum of money, to kill Herod ; and when they 
 had been further examined befor-e Saturninus, 
 the president of Syria, they were sent to Rome. 
 4. However, Herod did not leave off impor- 
 tuning Pheroras, but proceeded to force him to 
 put away his wife ; yet could he not devise any 
 way by which he could bring the woman herself 
 to punishment, although he had many causes of 
 hatred to her ; till at length he was in such 
 great uneasiness at her, that he cast both her 
 and his brother out of his kingdom. Pheroras 
 took this injury very patiently, and went away 
 into his own tetrarchy, [Perea, beyond Jordan,] 
 and sware that there should be but one end put 
 to his flight, and that should be Herod's death ; 
 and that he would never return while he was 
 alive. Nor indeed would he return when his 
 brother was sick, although he earnestly sent for 
 him to come to him, because he had a mind to 
 leave some injunctions with him before he died : 
 but Herod unexpectedly recovered. A little 
 afterward Pheroras himself fell sick, when 
 Herod shewed great moderation ; for he came to 
 him and pitied his case, and took care of him ; 
 but his affection for him did him no good, for 
 Pheroras died a little afterward. Now, though 
 Herod had so great an affection for him to the 
 last day of his life, yet was a report spread 
 abroad that he had killed him by poison. How- 
 ever, he took care to have his dead body carried 
 to Jerusalem, and appointed a very great mourn- 
 ing to the whole nation for him, and bestowed a 
 a most pompous funeral upon him ; and this 
 was the end that one of Alexander's and 
 Aristobulus's murderers came to. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 WHEN HEROD MADE INQUIRY ABOUT PHERORAS'S 
 DEATH, A DISCOVERY WAS MADE THAT ANTI- 
 PATER HAD PREPARED A POISONOUS DRAUGHT 
 FOR HIM. HEROD CASTS DORIS AND HER AC- 
 COMPLICES, AS ALSO MARIAMNE, OUT OP THE 
 PALACK, AND BLOTS HER SON HEROD OUT OV HIS 
 TESTAMENT. 
 
 8 L BUT now the punishment was transferred 
 
 unto the original author, Antipater, and took its 
 rise from the death of Pheroras ; for certain of 
 his freedmen came with a sad countenance to 
 the king, and told him that his brother had been 
 destroyed by poison, and that his wife had 
 brought him somewhat that was prepared after 
 an unusual manner, and that upon his eating it, 
 he presently fell into his distemper ; that Anti- 
 pater's mother and sister, two days before, 
 brought a woman out of Arabia that was skilful 
 in mixing such drugs, that she might prepare a 
 love potion for Pheroras ; and that instead of a 
 love potion, she had given him deadly poison ; 
 and that this was done by the management of 
 Sylleus, who was acquainted with that woman. 
 
 2. The king was deeply affected with so many 
 suspicions, and had the maid-servants and some 
 of the free women also tortured ; one of whom 
 cried out in her agonies, "May that God that 
 governs the earth and the heaven, ptinish the 
 author of all these our miseries, Antipater's 
 mother!" The king took a handle from thia 
 confession, and proceeded to inquire further into 
 the truth of this matter. So this woman dis- 
 covered the friendship of Antipater's mother to 
 Pheroras and Antipater's women, as also their 
 secret meetings, and that Pheroras and Antipa- 
 ter had drunk with them for a whole night to- 
 gether as they returned from the king, and would 
 not suffer anybody, either man-servant or maid- 
 servant, to be there ; while one of the free wo- 
 men discovered the whole of the matter. 
 
 3. Upon this, Herod tortured the maid-ser- 
 vants, every one by themselves separately ; who 
 all unanimously agreed in the foregoing discov- 
 eries, and that accordingly by agreement they 
 went away, Antipater to Home, and Pheroras to 
 Perea ; for that they oftentimes talked to one 
 another thus : That after Herod had slain, 
 Alexander and Aristobulus, he would fall upon 
 them, and upon their wives, because, after he 
 had not spared Mariamne and her children, he 
 would spare nobody ; and that for this reason 
 it was best to get as far off the wild beast as 
 they were able : and that Antipater oftentimes 
 lamented his own case before his mother; and 
 said to her, that he had already gray hairs upon 
 his head, and that his father grew younger again 
 every day, and that perhaps death would over- 
 take him before he should begin to bo a king in 
 earnest ; and that in case Herod should die, 
 which yet nobody knew when it would be, the 
 enjoyment of the succession could certainly be 
 but for a little time; for that these heads of 
 Hydra, the sons of Alexander and Aristobulus, 
 were growing up : that he was deprived by hia 
 father of the hopes of being succeeded by his 
 children, for that his successor after his death 
 was not to be any one of his own sons, but Herod 
 the son of Mariamne : that in this point Herod 
 was plainly distracted, to think that his testa- 
 ment should therein take place; for he would 
 take care that none of his posterity should remain, 
 because he was, of all fathers, the greatest hater 
 of his children. Yet does he hate his brother 
 still worse; whence it was that he awhile ago 
 gave himself a hundred talents, that he should 
 not have any intercourse with Pheroras. And 
 when Pheroras said, wherein have we done him 
 any harm? Antipater replied, "I wish he 
 would but deprive us of all we have, and leave 
 us naked and alive only ; but it is indeed impos- 
 sible to escape this wild beast, who is thus given 
 to murder ; who will not permit us to love any 
 person openly, although we be together pri- 
 vately ; yet may we be so openly too, if we are 
 but endowed with the courage and the handi 
 of men."
 
 2HAP. XXXI.] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 46C 
 
 4. These things were said by the women upon 
 the torture: as also that Pheroras resolved to 
 fly with them to Perea. Now Herod gave credit 
 to all they said, on account of the affair of the 
 hundred talents ; for he had had no discourse 
 with any body about them, but only with Anti- 
 pater. So he vented his anger first of all against 
 Antipater's mother, and took away from her all 
 the ornaments which he had given her, whicli 
 cost a great many talents, and cast her out of 
 the palace a second time. He also took care of 
 Pheroras's women after their tortures, as being 
 now reconciled to them ; but he was in great con- 
 sternation himself, and inflamed upon every sus- 
 picion, and had many innocent persons led to 
 the torture, out of his fear, lest he should per- 
 haps leave any guilty person untortured. 
 
 5. And now it was that he betook himself to 
 examine Antipater of Samaria, who was the 
 steward of [his son] Antipater ; and upon tor- 
 turing him, he learnt that Antipater had sent 
 for a potion of deadly poison for him out of 
 Egypt, by Antiphilus, a companion of his ; that 
 Theudio, the uncle of Antipater, had it from 
 him, and delivered it to Pheroras; for that Anti- 
 pater had charged him to take his father off 
 while he was at Rome, and so free him from the 
 suspicion of doing it himself: that Pheroras also 
 committed this potion to his wife. Then did the 
 king send for her, and bade her bring to him 
 what she had received immediately. So she 
 came out of her house as if she would bring it 
 with her, but threw herself down from the top 
 of the house, in order to prevent any examin- 
 ation and torture from the king. However, it 
 came to pass, as it seems by the providence of 
 God when he intended to bring Antipater to pun- 
 ishment, that she fell not upon her head but 
 upon other parts of her body, and escaped. The 
 king, when she was brought to him, took care 
 of her (for she was at first quite senseless upon 
 her fall,) and asked her why she had thrown 
 herself down ; and gave her his oath, that if 
 she would speak the real truth, he would excuse 
 her from punishment ; but that if she concealed 
 anything, he would have her body torn to 
 
 Eieces by torments, and leave no part of it to be 
 uried. 
 
 6. Upon this the woman paused a little, and 
 thtn said, " Why do I spare to speak of these 
 grand secrets, now Pheroras is dead ! that 
 would only tend to save Antipater, who is all 
 our destruction. Hear, then, O king, and be 
 thou, and God himself, who cannot be deceived, 
 witnesses to the truth of what I am going to say. 
 When thou didst sit weeping by Pheroras as he 
 was dying, then it was that he called me to him, 
 and said, ' My clear wife, I have been greatly 
 mistaken as to the disposition of my brother to- 
 wards me, and have hated him that is so affec- 
 tionate to me, and have contrived to kill him 
 who is in such disorder for me before I am dead. 
 As for myself, I receive the recompense of my 
 impiety ; but do thou bring what poison was 
 left with us by Antipater, and which thou keep- 
 est, in order to destroy him, and consume it im- 
 mediately in the fire in my sight, that I may not 
 be liable to the avenger in the invisible world.' 
 This I brought as he bade me, and emptied the 
 greatest part of it into the fire, but reserved a 
 little of it for my own use against uncertain fu- 
 turity, and out of my fear of thee." 
 
 7. When she had said this, she brought the 
 box, which had a small quantity of this potion 
 In it : but the king let her alone, and transferred 
 the tortures to Antiphilus's mother and brother ; 
 who both confessed that Antiphilus brought the 
 box out of E^ypt, and that they had received the 
 
 potion from a brother of his, who was a physi- 
 cian at Alexandi-ia. Then did the ghosts of Alex- 
 ander and Aristobulus go round all the palace, 
 and became the inquisitors and discoverers of 
 what could not otherwise have been found out, 
 and brought such as were the freest from suspi- 
 cion to be examined ; whereby it was discovered 
 that Mariamne, the high priest's daughter, was con- 
 scious of this plot ; and her very brothers, when 
 they were tortured, declared it so to be. Where 
 upon the king avenged this insolent attempt of 
 the mother upon the son, and blotted Herod, 
 whom he had by her, out of his testament, who 
 had been before named therein as succeitor to 
 Antipater. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 AHTTPATER IS CONVICTED BY BATHYLLUS ; BUT HE 
 STILL RETURNS FROM ROME, WITHOUT KNOWING 
 IT. HEROD BRINGS HIM TO HIS TRIAL. 
 
 1. AFTER these things were over, Bathyllus 
 came under examination, in order to convict 
 Antipater, who proved the concluding attesta- 
 tion to Antipater's designs ; for indeed he was 
 no other than his freedman. This man came, 
 and brought another deadly potion, the poison 
 of asps and the juices of other serpents, that if 
 the first potion did not do the business, Pheroras 
 and his wife might be armed with this also to 
 destroy the king. He brought also an addition 
 to Antipater's insolent attempts against his fa- 
 ther, which was the letters which he wrote 
 against his brethren, Archelaus and Philip, who 
 were the king's sons, and educated at Rome, 
 being yet youths, but of generous dispositions. 
 Antipater set himself to get rid of these as soon 
 as he could, that, they might not be prejudicial 
 to his hopes ; and to that end he forged letters 
 against them, in the name of his friends at Rome. 
 Some of these he corrupted by bribes, to write 
 how they grossly reproached their father, and 
 did openly bewail Alexander and Aristobulus, 
 and were uneasy at their being recalled ; for 
 their father had already sent for them, which 
 was the very thing that troubled Antipater. 
 
 2. Nay indeed, while Antipater was in Judea, 
 and before he was upon his journey to Rome, be 
 gave money to have the like letters against 
 them sent from Rome, and then came to his fa- 
 ther, who as yet had no suspicion of him, apolo- 
 gised for his brethren, and alleged on their be- 
 half, that some of the things contained in those 
 letters were false, and others of them were only 
 youthful errors. Yet at the same time that he 
 expended a great deal of his money, by making 
 presents to such as wrote against his brethren, 
 did he aim to bring his accounts into confusion, 
 by buying costly garments, and carpets of vari- 
 ous contextures, with silver and gold cups, and 
 a great many more curious things, that so, 
 among the very great expenses laid out upon 
 such furniture, he might conceal the money he 
 had used in hiring men [to write the letters ;] 
 for he brought in an account of his expenses, 
 amounting to two hundred talents, his main 
 pretence for which, was the law-suit that he had 
 been in with Sylleus. So while all his rogue- 
 ries, even those of a lesser soi-t, were covered by 
 his great villany, while all the examinations by 
 torture proclaimed his attempt to murder hi* 
 father, and the letters proclaimed his second at 
 tempt to murder his brethren, yet did no one 
 of those that came to Rome inform him of hia 
 misfortunes in Judea, although seven month?' 
 
 2
 
 466 
 
 WAKS OJb' THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK n. 
 
 had intervened between his conviction and his 
 return, so great was the hatred which they all 
 bore to him. And perhaps they were the ghosts 
 of those brethren of his that had been mur- 
 dered, that stopped the mouths of those that 
 intended to have told him. He then wrote from 
 Rome, and informed his [friends] that he would 
 soon come to them, and how he was dismissed 
 with honour by Caesar. 
 
 3. Now the king being desirous to get this 
 plotter against him into his hands, and being 
 also afraid lest he should some way come to the 
 knowledge how his affairs stood, and be upon his 
 ?uard, he dissembled his anger in his epistle to 
 aim, as in other points he wrote kindly to him, 
 and desired him to make haste, because, if he 
 came quickly, he would then lay aside the com- 
 plaints he had against his mother ; for Antipater 
 was not ignorant that his mother had been ex- 
 pelled out of the palace. However he had be- 
 fore received a letter, which contained an account 
 of the death of Pheroras, at Tarentum,* and 
 made great lamentations at it ; for which some 
 commended him, as being for hia own uncle ; 
 though probably this confusion arose on account 
 of his having thereby failed in his plot [on his 
 father's life ;] and his tears were more for _the 
 loss of him that was to have been subservient 
 therein, than for [an unole] Pheroras ; moreover, 
 a sort of fear came upon him as to his designs, 
 lest the poison should have_ been discovered. 
 However, when he was in Cilicia he received the 
 torementioned epistle from his father, and made 
 great haste accordingly. But when he had 
 sailed to Celenderis ; a suspicion came into his 
 mind relating to his mother's misfortunes ; as 
 if his soul foreboded some mischief to itself. 
 Those therefore of his friends who were the 
 most considerate, advised him not rashly to go 
 to his father, till he had learned what were the 
 occasions why his mother had been ejected, be- 
 cause they were afraid that he might be involved 
 in the calumnies that had been cast upon his 
 mother; but those that were less considerate, 
 and had more regard to their own desires of see- 
 ing their native country than to Antipater's 
 safety, persuaded him to make haste home, and 
 not, by delaying his journey, afford his father 
 ground for an ill suspicion, and give a handle to 
 those that raised stories against him ; for that in 
 case anything had been moved to his disadvan- 
 tage, it was owing to his absence, which durst 
 not have been done had he been present; 
 and they said it was absurd to deprive himself 
 of certain happiness, for the sake of an uncertain 
 suspicion, and not rather to return to his father, 
 and take the royal authority upon him, which 
 was in a state of fluctuation on his account only. 
 Antipater complied with this last advice ; for 
 Providence hurried him on [to his destruction.] 
 So he passed over the sea, and lauded at Sebas- 
 tus, the haven of Cesarea. 
 
 4. And here he found a perfect and unex- 
 pected solitude, while everybody avoided him, 
 and nobody durst come at him ; for he was 
 equally hated by all men ; and now that hatred 
 had liberty to sliew itself, and the dread men 
 were in of the king's anger made men keep from 
 him ; for the whole city [of Jerusalem] was filled 
 with the rumours about Antipater, and Antipater 
 himself was the only person who was ignorant of 
 them ; for as no man was dismissed more mag- 
 nificently when he began his voyage to Rome, 
 so waa no man now received back with greater 
 ignominy. And indeed he began already to 
 TOspect what misfortunes there were in Herod's 
 
 * This Tarentnm has eoins still extant 
 
 family; yet did he cunningly conceal his sus- 
 picion ; and while he was inwardly ready to die 
 for fear, he put on a forced boldness of coun- 
 tenance. Nor could he now fly any whither, 
 nor had he any way of emerging out of the 
 difficulties which encompassed him ; nor indeed 
 had he there any certain intelligence of the 
 affairs of the royal family, by reason of the 
 threats the king had given out ; yet had he some 
 small hopes of better tidings, for perhaps nothing 
 had been discovered ; or, if any discovery had 
 been made, perhaps he should be able to clear 
 himself by impudence and artful tricks, which 
 were the only things he relied upon for his de- 
 liverance. 
 
 5. And with these hopes did he screen himself, 
 till he came to the palace, without any frienda 
 with him ; for these were affronted, and shut out 
 at the first gate. Now Varus, the president of 
 Syria, happened to be in the palace [at this 
 juncture;] so Antipater went in to his father, 
 and, putting on a bold face, he came near to 
 salute him. But Herod stretched out his hands, 
 and turned his head away from him, and cried 
 out, " Even this is an indication of a parricide, 
 to be desirous to get me into his arms, when he 
 is under such heinous accusations. God con- 
 found thee, thou vile wretch ; do not thou touch 
 me till thou hast cleared thyself of these crimes 
 that are charged upon thee. I appoint thee a 
 court where thou art to be judged: and this 
 Varus, wlio is very seasonably here, to be thy 
 judge ; and get thou thy defence ready against 
 to-morrow, for I give thee so much time to pre- 
 pare suitable excuses for thyself." And as 
 Antipater was so confounded that he was able 
 to make 110 answer to this charge, he went 
 away ; but his mother and wife came to him, 
 and told him of all the evidence they had gotten 
 against him. Hereupon he recollected himself, 
 and considered what defence he should make 
 against the accusations. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIL 
 
 ANTIPATER IS ACC'JSED BEFORE VARUS, AND 13 
 CONVICTED OP LATINO A PLOT [AGAINST HIS 
 FATHER] BY THE STRONGEST EVIDENCE. HEROD 
 PUTS OFF HIS PUNISHMENT TILL HE SHOULD BE 
 RECOVEEED, AND IN THE MEANTIME ALTERS HIS 
 
 TESTAMENT. 
 
 1. Now the day following, the king assembled 
 a court of his kinsmen and friends, and called in 
 Antipater's friends also. Herod himself, with 
 Varus, were the presidents ; and Herod called 
 for all the witnesses, and ordered them to be 
 brought in ; among whom some of the domestic 
 servants of Antipater's mother were brought in 
 also, who had but a little while before been 
 caught, as they were carrying the following let- 
 ter from her to her son : " Since all those things 
 have been already discovered to thy father, do 
 not thou come to him, unless thou canst procure 
 some assistance from Caesar." When this and 
 the other witnesses were introduced, Antipater 
 came in, and falling on his face before his 
 father's feet, he said, "Father, I beseech thee, 
 do not thou condemn me beforehand, but let thy 
 ears be unbiassed, and attend to my defence ; for 
 if thou wilt give me leave, I will demonstrate 
 that I am innocent. " 
 
 2. Hereupon Herod cried out to him to hold 
 his peace, and spake thus to Varus : " I cannot 
 but think that thou, Varus, and every other 
 upright judge, will determine that Antipater is
 
 CHAP. XXXII.J 
 
 WARS UK' i' 
 
 JEWS. 
 
 vile wretch. 1 am also afraid that thou wilt | 
 abhor my ill fortune, and judge me also myself i 
 worthy of all sorts of calamity for begetting such 
 children ; while yet I ought rather to be pitied, i 
 who have been BO affectionate" a father to such 
 wretched sons lor when I had settled the 
 kingdom on my former sons, even when they 
 were young, and when, besides the charges of 
 their education at Rome, I had made them the 
 friends of Caesar, and made them envied by 
 other kings, I found them plotting against me. \ 
 These have been put to death, and that, in a 
 great measure, for the sake of Amipater ; for as 
 he was then young, and appointed to be my 
 successor, I took care chiefly to secure him from 
 danger: but this profligate wild beast, when he 
 had been over and above satiated with that 
 patience which I shewed him, he made use of 
 that abundance I had given him against myself ; 
 for I seemed to him to live too long, and he was 
 very uneasy at the old age I had arrived at ; nor 
 eould he stay any longer, but would be a king 
 by parricide. And justly I am served by him 
 for bringing him back out of the country to 
 eourt, when he was of no esteem before, and for 
 thrusting out those sons of mine that were born 
 of the queen, and for making him a successor to 
 my dominions. I confess to thee, Varus. the 
 great folly I was guilty of ; for I provoked those 
 sons of mine to act against me, and cut off their 
 just expectations for the sake of Antipater; and 
 indeed what kindness did I do to them that 
 could equal what I have done to Antipater! to 
 whom I have, in a manner, yielded up my royal 
 authority while I am alive, and whom I have 
 openly named for the successor to my dominions 
 in my testament, and given him a yearly reveuut 
 of his own of fifty talents, and supplied him witli 
 money to an extravagant degree out of my OWL 
 revenue ; and when he was about to sail to Home. 
 I gave him three hundred talents, and recom- 
 mended him, and him alone of all my ch ildreii 
 to Caesar, as his father's deliverer. Now wha 
 crimes were these other sons of mine guilty o 
 like those of Antipater! and what evidence wa: 
 there brought against them so strong as there i.- 
 to demonstrate this son to have plotted agains 
 me ! Yet does this parricide presume to speal 
 for himself, and hopes to obscure the truth b; 
 his cunning tricks. Thou, Varus, must guan 
 thyself against him ; for I know the wild beast 
 and I foresee how plausibly he will talk, and hit 
 counterfeit lamentation, This was he who ex- 
 horted me to have a care of Alexander, when ht 
 was alive, and not to intrust my body with all 
 men! This was he who came to my very bed. 
 and looked about, lest any one should lay snares- 
 for me ! This was he who took care of my sleep, 
 and secured me from any fear of danger, wb 
 comforted me under the trouble I was in upoi. 
 the slaughter of my sons, and looked to see what 
 affection my surviving brethren bore me ! This 
 was my protector, and the guardian of my body ' 
 And when I call to mind, O Varus, his craftiness 
 upon every occasion, and his art of dissembling, 
 I can hardly believe that I am still alive, and ] 
 wonder how I have escaped such a deep plotter 
 of mischief ! However, since some fate or other 
 makes my house desolate, and perpetually raises 
 up those that are dearest to me against me, 
 will, with tears, lament my hard tortune, anc 
 privately groan under my lonesome condition ; 
 yet am I resolved that no one who thirsts after 
 my blood shall escape punishment, although the 
 evidence should extend itself to all my sons." 
 
 3. Upon Herod's saying this, he was inter- 
 rupted by the confusion he was in ; but ordered 
 Eicolaus, one of his friends, to produce the evi- 
 
 dence against Antipater. But in the meantime 
 Antipater lifted up his head (for he lay on the 
 ground before his father's feet) and cried out 
 aloud, " Thou, O father, hast made my apology 
 for me ; for how can I be a parricide, whom 
 thou thyself confessest to have always had for 
 thy guardian ' Thou callest my filial affection 
 prodigious lies and hypocrisy ! how then could 
 it be that I, who was so subtle in other matter*, 
 should here be so mad as not to understand that 
 it was not easy that he who committed so horrid 
 a crime should be concealed from men, but im- 
 possible that he should be concealed from the 
 Judge of Heaven, who sees all things, and is 
 present everywhere ? or did not I know what 
 end my brethren came to, on whom God inflicted 
 so great a punishment for their evil designs 
 against thee ? And indeed what was there that 
 could possibly provoke me against thee ? Could 
 the hope of being a king do it ? I was a king al- 
 ready. Could I suspect hatred from thee ? No : 
 was I not beloved by thee ? and what other fear 
 could I have ? Nay, by preserving thee safe, I 
 was a terror to others. Did I want money? 
 No : for who was able to expend so much as my- 
 self ? Indeed, father, had I been the most exe- 
 crable of mankind, and had I had the soul of the 
 most execrable wild beast, mtist I not have been 
 overcome with the benefits thou hadst bestowed 
 on me ? whom, as thou thyself sayest, thou 
 broughtest [into the palace ;] whom thou didst 
 prefer before so many of thy sons ; whom thou 
 madest a king in thine own lifetime, and, by 
 the vast magnitude of the other advantages thou 
 bestowedst on me, thou madest me an object of 
 envy. O miserable man ! that thou shouldest 
 undergo that bitter absence, and thereby afford 
 a great opportunity for envy to rise against thee, 
 and a long space for such as were laying designs 
 against thee ! V"et was I absent, father, on thy 
 affairs, that Sylleus might not treat thee with 
 contempt in thine old age. Rome is a witness 
 to my filial affection, and so is Caesar, the ruler 
 of the habitable earth, who oftentimes called me 
 Philopater.* Take here the letters he hath 
 sent thee, they are more to be believed than the 
 calumnies raised here; these letters are my only 
 apolo<ry; these I use as the demonstration of 
 that natural affection I have to thee. Remem- 
 ber, that it was against my own choice that i 
 sailed [to Rome,] as knowing that latent hatred 
 that was in the kingdom against me. It was 
 thou O father, however unwilling, who hast 
 been my ruin, by forcing me to allow tune for 
 the calumnies against me, and envy at me. How- 
 ever, I am come hither, and am ready to hear 
 the evidence there is against me. If I be a 
 parricide, I have passed by land and by sea, 
 without suffering any misfortunes on either of 
 them : but this method of trial is no advantage 
 to me ; for it seems, O father, that I am already 
 condemned, both before God and before thee; 
 and as I am already condemned, I beg that thou 
 wilt not believe the others that have been tor- 
 tured, but let fire be brought to torment me ; 
 let the racks march through my bowels ; have 
 no regard to any lamentations that this polluted 
 body can make ; for if I be a parricide, I ought 
 not to die without torture." Thus did Anti- 
 water cry out with lamentation and weeping, 
 and moved all the rest, and Varus in particular, 
 to commiserate his case. Herod was the only 
 person whose passion was too strong tc .permit 
 him to weep, as knowing that the testimonies 
 
 ad no* ft was' that, at the king's com- 
 A !oer of h : ,s father.
 
 463 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK i 
 
 mand, Nicolnus, when he had premised a great 
 deal aliout tlie craftiness of Antipater, and had 
 
 Erevented the effects of their commiseration to 
 im, afterwards brought in a bitter and large 
 accusation against him, ascribing all the wicked- 
 ness that had been in the kingdom to him, and 
 especially the murder of his brethren, and de- 
 monstrated that they had perished by th- 
 calumnies he had raised against them. He also 
 said that he had laid designs against them that 
 were still alive, as if they were laying plots for 
 the succession ; and (said he) how can it be sup- 
 posed that he who prepared poison for his father, 
 should abstain from mischief as to his brethren ? 
 He then proceeded to convict him of the attempt 
 to poison Herod, and gave an account, in order, 
 of the several discoveries that had been made ; 
 and had great indignation as to the affair of 
 Pheroras, because Antipater had been for mak- 
 ing him murder his brother, and had corrupted 
 those that were dearest to the king, and filled 
 the whole palace with wickedness ; and when he 
 had insisted on many other accusations, and the 
 proofs of them, he left off. 
 
 5. Then Varus bade Antipater make his de- 
 fence ; but he lay long in silence, and said no 
 more but this : " God is my witness that I am 
 entirely innocent." So Varus asked for the 
 potion, and gave it to be drunk by a condemned 
 malefactor, who was then in prison, who died 
 upon the spot. So Varus, when he had had a 
 very private discourse with Herod, and had 
 written an account of this assembly to Csesar, 
 went away, after a day's stay. The king also 
 bound Antipater, and sent away to inform Csesar 
 of his misfortunes. 
 
 6. Now after this, it was discovered that Anti- 
 pater had laid a plot against Salome also ; for 
 one of Antiphilus's domestic servants came, and 
 brought letters from Rome, from the maid- 
 servant of Julia, [Caesar's wife,] whose name 
 was A ome. By her a message was sent to the 
 king, that she had found a letter written by 
 Salome, among Julia's papers, and had sent it to 
 him privately, out of her good will to him. 
 This letter of Salome contained the most bitter 
 reproaches of the king, and the highest accusa- 
 tion against him. Antipater had forged this 
 letter, and had corrupted Acme, and persuaded 
 her to send it to Herod. This was proved by 
 her letter to Antipater, for thus did this woman 
 write to him : " As thou desirest, I have written 
 a letter to thy father, and have sent that letter ; 
 and am persuaded that the king will not spare 
 his sister when he reads it. Thou wilt do well 
 to remember what thou hast premised, when all 
 is accomplished." 
 
 7. When this epistle was discovered, and 
 what the epistle forged against Salome contained, 
 a suspicion came into the king's mind, that per- 
 haps the letters against Alexander were also 
 forged : he was moreover greatly disturbed, and 
 in a passion because he had almost slain his 
 sister on Antipater 's account. He did no longer 
 delay therefore to bring him to punishment for 
 all his crimes ; yet when he was eagerly pursu- 
 ing Antipater, he was restrained by a severe 
 distemper he fell into. However, he sent an 
 account to Caesar about Acme, and the contri- 
 vances against Salome : he sent also for his testa- 
 ment, and altered it, and therein made Antipas 
 king, as taking no care of Archelaus and Philip, 
 because Antipater had blasted their reputation 
 with him ; but he bequeathed to Caesar, besides 
 other presents that he gave him, a thousand 
 talents ; as also to his wife, and children, and 
 friends, and freedmen about five hundred : he 
 *lso bequeathed to all others a great quantity of 
 
 land, and of money, and shewed his respects ta 
 Salome his sister, by giving her most splendid 
 gifts. And this was what was contained in his 
 testament, as it was now altered. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII 1. 
 
 THE GOLDEN EAGLE IS C[JT TO PIECES. HEROD'S 
 BARBARITY WHEN HE WAS READY TO DIE. HE 
 ATTEMPTS TO KILL HIMSELF. HE COMMANDS 
 ANTIPATER TO BE SLAIN. HE SURVIVES HIM 
 FIVE DAYS, AND THEN DIES. 
 
 1. Now Herod's distemper became more and 
 more severe to him, and this because these his 
 disorders fell upon him in his old age, and when 
 he was in a melancholy condition ; for he was 
 already almost seventy years of age, and had 
 been brought low by the calamities that hap- 
 pened to him about his children, whereby he 
 had no pleasure in life, even when he was in 
 health ; the grief also that Antipater was still 
 alive aggravated his disease, whom he resolved 
 to put to death now, not at random, but as soon 
 as he should be well again, and resolved to have 
 him slain [in a public manner.] 
 
 2. There also now happened to him among 
 his other calamities, a certain popular sedition. 
 There were two men of learning in the city, 
 [Jerusalem,] who were thought the most skilful 
 in the laws of their country, and were on that 
 account had in very great esteem all over the 
 nation ; they were the one Judas, the son of 
 Sepphoris, and the other Matthias, the son of 
 Margalus. There was a great concourse of the 
 young men came to these men when they ex- 
 pounded the laws, and there got together every 
 day a kind of an army of such-as were growiiiy 
 up to be n?en. Now when these men were in- 
 formed that the king was wearing away with 
 melancholy, and with a distemper, they dropped 
 words to their acquaintance, how it was now a 
 very proper time to defend the cause of God. 
 and to pull down what had been erected con- 
 trary to the laws of their country; for it was 
 unlawful there should be any such thing in the 
 temple as images, or faces, or the like repre- 
 sentation of any animal whatsoever. Now the 
 king had put up a golden eagl' over the' great 
 gate of the temple, which these learned men 
 exhorted them to cut down : and told them that 
 if there should an y danger arise, it was a glorious 
 thing to die for the laws of their country ; be- 
 cause that the soul was immortal, and that an 
 eternal enjoyment of happiness did await such 
 as died on that account ; while the mean-spirited, 
 and those that were not wise enough to shew a 
 right love of their souls, preferred death by a 
 disease, before that which is the result of a 
 virtuous behaviour. 
 
 3. At the same time that these men made this 
 speech to their disciples, a rumour was spread 
 abroad that the king was dying, which made 
 the young men set about the work with greater 
 boldness ; they therefore let themselves down 
 from the top of the temple with thick cords, 
 and this at mid-day, and while a great number 
 of people were in the temple, and cut down that 
 golden eagle with axes. This was presently told 
 to the king's captain of the temple, who camo 
 running with a great body of soldiers, and caught 
 about forty of the young men, and brought them 
 to the king. And when he asked them, first of 
 all, whether they had been so hardy as to cut 
 down the golden eagle, they confessed they had 
 done so; and when he asked them by whose
 
 CHAP. XXXIIL] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS 
 
 46S 
 
 command they had done it, they replied at the 
 command of the law of their country ; and when 
 he further asked them how they could be so 
 joyful when they were to be put to death, they 
 replied, because they should enjoy greater hap- 
 piness after they were dead. 
 
 4. At this the king was in such an extravagant 
 passion, that he overcame his disease, [for the 
 time,] and went out, and spake to the people ; 
 wherein he made a terrible accusation against 
 those men, as being guilty of sacrilege, and as 
 making greater attempts under pretence of their 
 law ; and he thought they deserved to be pun- 
 ished as impious persons. Whereupon the people 
 were afraid lest a great number should be found 
 guilty, and desired that when he had first pun- 
 ished those thai put them upon this work, and 
 then those that were caught in it, he would 
 leave off his anger as to the rest. With this 
 the king complied, though not without diffi- 
 culty ; and ordered those that had let themselves 
 down, together with their rabbins, to be burnt 
 alive ; but delivered the rest that were caught 
 to the proper officers, to be put to death by them. 
 
 5. After this the distemper seized his whole 
 body, and greatly disordered all its parts with 
 various symptoms ; for there was a geutle fever 
 upon him, and an intolerable itching over all the 
 surface of his body, and continual pains in his 
 colon, and dropsical tumours about his feet, and 
 an inflammation of the abdomen, and a putre- 
 faction of his privy member, that produced 
 worms. Besides which he had a difficulty of 
 breathing upon him, and could not breathe but 
 when he sat upright, and had a convulsion of all 
 his members; insomuch that the diviners said 
 those diseases were a punishment upon him for 
 what he had done to the rabbins. Yet did he 
 struggle with his numerous disorders, and still 
 had a desire to live, and hoped for recovery, and 
 considered several methods of cure. Accord- 
 ingly, he went over Jordan, and made use of 
 those hot baths at Callirrhoe, which run into 
 the lake Asphaltitis, but are themselves sweet 
 enough to be drunk. And here the physicians 
 thought proper to bathe his whole body in warm 
 oil, by letting it down into a large vessel full of 
 oil ; whereupon his eyes failed him, and he came 
 and went as if he were dying ; and as a tumult 
 was then made by his servants, at their voice he 
 revived again. Yet did he after this despair of 
 recovery, and gave orders that each soldier 
 should have fifty drachmae a-piece, and that his 
 commanders and friends should have great sums 
 of money given them. 
 
 6. He then returned back and came to Jericho, 
 in such a melancholy state of body as almost 
 threatened him with present death, when he 
 
 Eroceeded to attempt a horrid wickedness ; for 
 e got together the most illustrious men of the 
 whole Jewish nation, out of every village, into a 
 place called the Hippodrome, and there shut 
 them in. He then called for his sister Salome, 
 and her husband Alexas, and made his speech to 
 them: "I know well enough that the Jews 
 will keep a festival upon my death ; however, it 
 is in my power to be mourned for on other ac- 
 counts, and to have a splendid funeral, if you 
 will but be subservient to my commands. Do 
 you but take care to send soldiers to encompass 
 these men that are now in custody, and slay 
 them immediately upon my death, and then all 
 Judea, and every family of them, will weep at 
 it whether they will or no." 
 
 7. These were the commands he gave them : 
 when there came letters from his ambassadors at 
 Rome, whereby information was given that 
 Aciuo was put to death at Caesar's command, 
 
 and that Antipater was condemned to die ; how- 
 ever, they write withal, that if Herod had 
 mind rather to banish him, Caesar permitted him 
 so to do. So he for a little while revived, and 
 had a desire to live ; but presently after he was 
 overborne by his pains, and was disordered by 
 want of food, and by a convulsive cough, and 
 endeavoured to prevent a natural death ; so he 
 took an apple, and asked for a knife, for he used 
 to pare apples and eat them ; he then looked 
 round about to see that there was nobody to 
 hinder him, and lifted up his right hand as if he 
 would stab himself ; but Acliiabus, his first 
 cousin, came running to him, and held his hand, 
 and hindered him from so doiny ,n which 
 occasion a very great lamentation *s made in 
 the palace as if the king were expiring. As 
 soon as ever Antipater heard that, he took 
 courage, and with joy in his looks, besought his 
 keepers, for a sum of money, to loose him and 
 let him go ; but the principal keeper of the 
 prison did not only obstruct him in that his 
 intention, but ran and told the king what his 
 design was ; hereupon the king cried out louder 
 than his distemper would well Lear, and immedi- 
 ately sent some of his guards and slew Antipater ; 
 he also gave order to have him buried at Hyr- 
 canium, and altered his testament again, and 
 therein made Archelaus, his eldest son, and the 
 brother of Antipas, his ruceessor; and made 
 Antipas tetrarch. 
 
 8. So Herod, having survived the slaughter of 
 his son five days, died, having reigned thirty- 
 four years, since he had caused Autigonus to be 
 slain, and obtained his kingdom ; but thirty- 
 seven years since he had been made king by the 
 Romans. Now, as for his fortune, it was pros- 
 perous in all other respects, if ever any other 
 man could be eo ; since, from a private man, he 
 obtained the kingdom, and kept it so long, and 
 left it to his own sons but still in his domestic 
 affairs, he was a most unfortunate man. Now 
 before the soldiers knew of his death, Salome 
 and her husband came out and dismissed those 
 that were in bonds, whom the king had com- 
 manded to be slain, and told them he had altered 
 his mind, and would have every one of them 
 sent to their own homes. When these men 
 were gone, Salome told the soldiers [the king 
 was dead,] and got them and the rest of the 
 multitude together to an assembly, in the am- 
 phitheatre at Jericho, where Ptolemy, who was 
 intrusted by the king with his signet-ring, came 
 before them, and spake of the happiness the king 
 had attained, and comforted the multitude, and 
 read the epistle which had been left for the sol- 
 diers, wherein he earnestly exhorted them to 
 bear good- will to his successor ; and after he had 
 read the epistle, he opened and read his testa- 
 ment, wherein Philip was to inherit Trachonitis, 
 and the neighbouring countries, and Antipai 
 was to be tetrarch, as we said before, and Arche- 
 laus was made king. He had also been com- 
 manded to carry Herod's ring to Caesar, and the 
 settlements he had made, sealed up, becaus* 
 Caesar was to be lord of all the settlements he 
 had made, and was to confirm his testament ; 
 and he ordered that the dispositions he had 
 made were to be kept as they were in his former 
 testament. 
 
 9. So there was an acclamation made to Arcne- 
 laus to congratulate him upon his advancement; 
 and the soldiers, with the multitude, went round 
 about in troops, and promised him their good- 
 will and besides, prayed God to bless his govern- 
 ment. After this, they betook themselves to 
 prepare for the king's funeral ; and Archelaus 
 omitted nothing of magnificence therein, but
 
 TV ASS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 n. 
 
 brought out all the royal ornaments to augment 
 the pomp of the deceased. There was a bier all of 
 gold, embroidered with precious stones, and a 
 purple bed of various contexture with the dead 
 body upon it, covered with purple ; and a dia- 
 tlem was put upon his head, and a crown of gold 
 above it, and a sceptre in his right hand ; and 
 near to the bier were Herod's sons, and a multi- 
 tude of his kindred; next to whom came his 
 guards, and the regiment of Thracians, the Ger- 
 
 mans also and Gauls, all accoutred as if they 
 were going to war ; but the rest of the army 
 went foremost, armed, and following their cap- 
 tains and officers in a regular manner: after 
 whom, five hundred of his domestic servants and 
 freedmen followed, with sweet spices in their 
 hands ; and the body was carried two hundred 
 furlongs, to Herodium, where he had given order 
 to be buried. And this shall suffice for the con- 
 clusion of the life of Herod. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 CONTAINING TUB INTERVAL OF SIXTY-NINE YEARS, 
 
 FROM THE DEATH OF HEROD TILL VESPASIAN WAS SENT TO SUBDUE 
 
 THE JEWS BY NERO. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 ABCHELAUS MAKES A FUNERAL FEAST FOR THE 
 PEOPLE, ON ACCOUNT OF HEROD. AFTER WHICH 
 A GREAT TUMULT IS RAISED BY THE MULTI- 
 TUDE, AND HE SENDS THE SOLDIERS OUT UPON 
 THEM, WHO DESTROY ABOUT THREE THOUSAND 
 OF THEM. 
 
 1. Now the necessity which Archelaus was 
 under of taking a journey to Rome was the 
 occasion of new disturbances ; for when he had 
 mourned for his father seven days, and had 
 given a very expensive funeral feast to the mul- 
 titude (which custom is the occasion of poverty 
 to many of the Jews, because they are forced to 
 feast the multitude ; for if any one omits it, he 
 is not esteemed a holy person,) he put on a white 
 garment, and went up to the temple, where the 
 people accosted him with various acclamations. 
 He also spake kindly to the multitude, from an 
 elevated seat and a throne of gold, and returned 
 them thanks for the zeal they had shewn about 
 his father's funeral, and the submission they had 
 made to him, as if he were already settled in 
 the kingdom ; but he told them withal, that he 
 would not at present take upon him either the 
 authority of a king, or the names thereto be- 
 longing, until Caesar, who is made lord of this 
 whole affair by the testament, confirms the suc- 
 cession ; for that when the soldiers would have 
 Bet the diadem on his head at Jericho, he would 
 not accept of it ; but that he would make abun- 
 dant requitals, not to the soldiers only, but to 
 the people, for their alacrity and good-will to 
 him, when the superior lords [the Romans] 
 should have given him a complete title to the 
 kingdom ; for that it should be his study to 
 appear in all things better than his father. 
 
 2. Upon this the multitude was pleased, and 
 presently made a trial of what he intended, by 
 asking great things of him ; for some made a 
 clamour that he would ease them in their taxes ; 
 others, that he would take off the duties upon 
 commodities ; and some, that he would loose 
 those that were in prison ; in all which cases he 
 answered readily to their satisfaction, in order 
 to get the good-will of the multitude ; after 
 which he offered [the proper] sacrifices, and 
 feiuited w!th his friends. And here it was that 
 
 a great many of those that desired innovations 
 came in crowds towards evening, and began then 
 to mourn on their own account, when the public 
 mourning for the king was over. These lamented 
 those that were put to death by Herod, because 
 they had cut down the golden eagle that had 
 been over the gate of the temple. Nor was this 
 mourning of a private nature, but the lamenta- 
 tions were very great, the mourning solemn, and 
 the weeping such as was loudly heard all over 
 the city, as being for those men who had perished 
 for the laws of their country, and for the temple. 
 They cried out, that a punishment ought to be 
 inflicted for these men upon those that were 
 honoured by Herod ; and that, in the first place, 
 the man whom he had made high-priest should 
 be deprived ; and that it was fit to choose a per- 
 son of greater piety and purity than he was. 
 
 3. At these clamours Archelaus was provoked ; 
 but restrained himself from taking vengeance on 
 the authors, on account of the haste he was in 
 of going to Rome, as fearing lest, upon his mak- 
 ing war on the multitude, such an action might 
 detain him at home. Accordingly, he made 
 trial to quiet the innovators by persuasion rather 
 than by force, and sent his general in a private 
 way to them, and by him exhorted them to be 
 quiet. But the seditious threw stones at him, 
 and drove him away, as he came into the temple, 
 and before he could say anything to them. The 
 like treatment they shewed to others, who came 
 ; to them after him, many of whom were sent by 
 j Archelaus, in order to reduce them to sobriety, 
 and these answered still on all occasions after a 
 ! passionate manner; and it openly appeared that 
 ' they would not be quiet, if their numbers were 
 but considerable. And indeed, at the feast of 
 unleavened bread, which was now at hand, and 
 is by the Jews called the passover, and used to 
 be celebrated with a great number of sacrifices, 
 and an innumerable multitude of people came 
 out of the country to worship : some of these 
 stood in the temple bewailing the rabbins [that 
 had been put to death], and procured their sus- 
 tenance by begging, in order to support their 
 sedition. At this Archelaus was affrighted, and 
 privately sent a tribune, with a cohort of sol- 
 diers, upon them, before the disease should 
 spread over the whole multitude, and gave 
 or-lors that they should cnnstrain those that
 
 OHAP. II. j 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 471 
 
 3egan the tumult, by force, to be quiet. At 
 these the whole multitude was irritated, and 
 ;hrew stones at many of the soldiers, and killed 
 them ; but the tribune fled away wounded, and 
 iad much ado to escape so. After which they 
 betook themselves to their sacrifices, as if they 
 !iad done no mischief ; nor did it appear to 
 Archelaus that the multitude could be restrained 
 without bloodshed ; so he sent his whole army 
 upon them, the footmen in great multitudes, by 
 the way of the city, and the horsemen by the 
 way of the plain, who, falling upon them on the 
 sudden, as they were offering their sacrifices, 
 destroyed about three thousand of them ; but 
 the rest of the multitude were dispersed upon 
 the adjoining mountains : these were followed 
 by Archelaua's heralds, who commanded every 
 one to retire to their own homes ; whither they 
 all went, and left the festival. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 AROHELAUS QOES TO ROME WITH A GREAT NUM- I 
 BER OF HIS KINDRED : HE IS THERE ACCUSED 
 BEFORE CAESAR BY ANTIPATER ; BUT IS SUPERIOR 
 TO HIS ACCUSERS IN JUDGMENT, BY THE MEANS 
 OF THAT DEFENCE WHICH NICOLAUS MADE FOB 
 HIM. 
 
 1. ARCHELAUS went down now to the sea-side, 
 with his mother and his friends, Poplas, and 
 Ptolemy, and Nicolaus, and left behind him 
 Philip, to be his steward in the palace, and to 
 take care of his domestic affairs. Salome went 
 also along with him with her sons, as did also 
 the king's brethren and sons-in-law. These, in 
 appearance, went to give him all the assistance 
 they were able, in order to secure his succession, 
 but in reality to accuse him for his breach of the 
 laws by what he had done at the temple. 
 
 2. But as they were come to Cesarea, Sabinus, 
 the procurator of Syria, met them ; he was going 
 up to Judea, to secure Herod's effects ; but Va- 
 rus, [president of Syria,] who was come thither, 
 restrained him from going any further. This 
 Varus, Archelaus had sent for, by the earnest 
 entreaty of Ptolemy. At this time, indeed, 
 Sabinus, to gratify Varus, neither went to the 
 citadels, nor did he shut up the treasuries where 
 his father's money was laid up, but promised 
 that he would lie still until Caesar should have 
 taken cognisance of the affair. So he abode _at 
 Cesarea ; but as soon as those that were his hin- 
 drance were gone, when Varus was gone to 
 Antioch, and Archelaus was sailed to Rome, he 
 immediately went on to Jerusalem, and seized 
 upon the palace ; and when he had called for 
 the governors of the citadels, and the stewards 
 [of the king's private affairs,] he tried to sift out 
 the accounts of the money, and to take posses- 
 sion of the citadels. But the governors of those 
 citadels were not unmindful of the commands 
 laid upon them by Archelaus, and continued 60 
 guard them, and said, the custody of them rathar 
 belonged to Caesar than to Archelaus. 
 
 3. In the meantime Antipas went also to 
 Rome, to strive for the kingdom, and to insist 
 that the former testament, wherein he was 
 named to be king, was valid before the latter 
 testament Salome had also promised to assist 
 him, as had many of Archelaus's kindred, who 
 sailed along with Archelaus himself also. He 
 also carried along with him his mother, and 
 Ptolemy, the brother of Nicolaus, who seemed 
 one of great weight, on account of the great 
 trust Herod put in him. he having been one of 
 
 his most honoured friends. However, Antipaa 
 depended chiefly upon Ireneus, the orator; upon 
 whose authority he had rejected such as advised 
 him to yield to Archelaus, because he was his 
 elder brother, and because the second testament 
 gave the kingdom to him. The inclinations also 
 of all Archelaus's kindred, who hated him, wero 
 removed to Antipas, when they came to Roma; 
 although, in the first place, every one rather de- 
 sired to live under their own laws [without a 
 king,] and to be under a Roman governor ; but 
 if they should fail in that point, these desired 
 that Antipas might be their king. 
 
 4. Sabinus did also afford these his assistance 
 to the same purpose by the letters he sent, 
 wherein he accused Archelaus before Caesar, and 
 highly commended Antipas. Salome also, and 
 those with her, put the crimes which they ac- 
 cused Archelaus of in order, and put them into 
 Caesar's hands; and after they had done that, 
 Archelaus wrote down the reasons of his claim, 
 and, by Ptolemy, sent in his father's ring, and 
 his father's accounts ; and when Caesar had ma- 
 turely weighed by himself what both had to 
 allege for themselves, as also had considered of 
 the great burden of the kingdom, the largeness 
 of the revenues, and withal the number of chil- 
 dren Herod had left behind him, and had more- 
 over read the letters he had received from Varua 
 and Sabinus on this occasion, he assembled the 
 principal persons among the Romans together 
 v in which assembly Caius, the son of Agrippa, 
 and his daughter Julias, but by himself adopted 
 for his own son, sat in the first seat) and gave 
 the pleaders leave to speak. 
 
 5. Then stood up Salome's son, Antipater 
 (who of all Archelaus's antagonists was the 
 shrewdest pleader,) and accused him in the fol- 
 lowing speech: That Archelaus did in words 
 contend for the kingdom, but that in deeds he 
 had long exercised royal authority, and so did 
 insult Caesar in desiring to be now heard on that 
 account, since he had not stayed for his deter- 
 mination about the succession, and since he had 
 suborned certain persons, after Herod's death, 
 to move for putting the diadem upon his head ; 
 since he had set himself down in the throne, and 
 given answers as a king, and altered the dispo- 
 sition of the army, and granted to some higher 
 dignities: that he had also complied in all 
 things with the people in the requests they had 
 made to him as to their king, and had also dis- 
 missed those that had been put into bonds by 
 his father, for most important reasons. Now, 
 after all this, he desires the shadow of that 
 royal authority, whose substance he had already 
 seized to himself, and so hath made Caesar lord, 
 not of things, but of words He also reproached 
 him further, that his mourning for his father 
 was only pretended, while he put on a sad coun- 
 tenance in the daytime, but drank to great 
 excess in the night ; from which behaviour, he 
 said, the late disturbances among the multitude 
 came, while they had an indignation thereat; 
 and indeed the purport of his whole discourse 
 was to aggravate Archelaus's crime in slaying 
 such a multitude about the temple, which multi- 
 tude came to the festival, but were barbarously 
 slain in the midst of their own sacrifices; and 
 he said there was such a vast number of dead 
 bodies heaped together in the temple, as even a 
 forei-m war, should that come upon them lud- 
 denly ] before it was denounced, could not have 
 heaped together; and he added, that it was the 
 foresight his father had of that his barbarity, 
 which made him never give him any hopes of 
 the kingdom; but when his mind was more 
 infirm than his body, and he was not able to
 
 172 
 
 reason soundly, and did not well know what 
 was the character of that son, whom in his 
 second testament he made his successor ; and 
 this was done by him at a time when he had no 
 complaints to make of him whom he had named 
 before, when he was sound in body, and when 
 his mind was free from all passion. That, how- 
 ever, if any one should suppose Herod's judg- 
 ment, when he was sick, was superior to that at 
 another time, yet had Archelaus forfeited his 
 kingdom by his own behaviour, and those his 
 actions, which were contrary to the law. and to 
 its disadvantage. Or what sort of a king will 
 this man be, when he hath obtained the govern- 
 ment from Caesar, who hath slain so many before 
 he hath obtained it! 
 
 6. When Antipater had spoken largely to this 
 purpose, and had produced a great number of 
 Archelaus's kindred as witnesses, to prove every 
 part of the accusation, he ended his discourse. 
 Then stood up Nicolaus to plead for Archelaus. 
 He alleged that the slaughter in the temple 
 could not be avoided ; that those that were slain 
 were become enemies not to Archelaus's king- 
 dom only, but to Caesar, who was to determine 
 about him. He also demonstrated, that Arche- 
 laus's accusers had advised him to perpetrate 
 other things of which he might have been ac- 
 cused ; but he insisted that the latter testament 
 
 nould, for this reason, above all others, be 
 esteemed valid, because Herod had therein ap- 
 pointed Caesar to be the person who should con- 
 firm the succession ; for he who shewed such 
 prudence as to recede from his own power, and 
 yield it up to the lord of the world, cannot be 
 supposed mistaken in his judgment about him 
 that was to be his heir; and he that so well 
 knew whom to choose for arbitrator of the 
 succession could not be unacquainted with him 
 whom he chose for his successor. 
 
 7. "When Nicolaus had gone through all he 
 had to say, Archelaus came, and fell down be- 
 fore Caesar's knees, without any noise ; upon 
 which he raised him up, after a very obliging 
 manner, and declared, that truly he was worthy 
 to succeed his father. However, he still made 
 no firm determination in his case ; but when he 
 had dismissed those assessors that had been with 
 him that day, he deliberated by himself about 
 the allegations which he had heard, whether it 
 were fit to constitute any of those named in the 
 testaments for Herod's successor, or whether 
 the government should be parted among all his 
 posterity ; and this because of the number of 
 those that seemed to stand in need of support 
 therefrom. 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 {BOOK n. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE JEWS FIGHT A GREAT BATTLE WITH SABINUS'S 
 SOLDIERS, AND A GREAT DESTRUCTION IS MADE 
 AT JERUSALEM. 
 
 1. Now before Csesar had determined any- 
 thing about these affairs, Malthace, Archelaus's 
 mother, fell sick and died. Letters also were 
 brought out of Syria from Varus, about a revolt 
 of the Jews. This was foreseen by Varus, who 
 accordingly, after Archelaus was sailed, went up 
 to Jerusalem to restrain the promoters of the 
 edition, since it was manifest that the nation 
 would not be at rest ; so he left one of those 
 legions which he brought with him out of Syria 
 m the city, and went himself to Antioch. But 
 babmus came, after he was gone, and gave them 
 *ii occasion of making innovations ; for he com- 
 
 i pelled the keeper of the citadels to deliver them 
 up to him, and made a bitter search after the 
 king's money, as depending not only on the sol- 
 diers who were left by Varus, but on the multi- 
 tude of his own servants, all whom he armed and 
 used as the instruments of his covetousness. 
 Now when that feast, which was observed after 
 seven weeks, and which the Jews called Pente- 
 cost (i.e., the 50th day) was at hand, its name 
 being taken from the number of the days [after 
 the Passover,] the people got together, but not 
 on account of the accustomed divine worship, 
 but of the indignation they had [at the present 
 state of affairs.] Wherefore an immense multi- 
 tude ran together, out of Galilee, and Idumea, 
 and Jericho, and Pereathat was beyond Jordan ; 
 but the people that naturally belonged to Jiulea 
 itself were above the rest both in number and in 
 the alacrity of the men. So they distributed 
 themselves into three parts, and pitched their 
 camps in three places ; one at the north side 
 of the temple, another at the south side, by 
 the Hippodrome, and the third part were at 
 the palace on the west. So they lay round 
 about the Romans on every side, and besieged 
 them. 
 
 2. Now Sabinus was affrighted, both at their 
 multitude and at their courage, arid sent mes- 
 sengers to Varus continually, and besought him 
 to come to his succour quickly, for that, if he 
 delayed, his legion would be cut to pieces. As 
 for Sabinus himself, he got up to the highest 
 tower of the fortress, which was called Phasae- 
 lus ; it is of the same name with Herod's brother, 
 who was destroyed by the Parthians ; and then 
 he made signs to the soldiers of that legion to 
 attack the enemy ; for his astonishment was so 
 great, that he durst not go down to his own men. 
 Hereupon the soldiers were prevailed upon, and 
 leaped out into the temple, and fought a terrible 
 battle with the Jews ; in which, while there 
 were none over their heads to distress them, 
 they were too hard for them, by their skill, and 
 the others' want of skill in war ; but when once 
 many of the Jews had gotten up to the top of 
 the cloisters and threw their darts downward 
 upon the heads of the Romans, there were a 
 great many of them destroyed. Nor was it easy 
 to avenge themselves upon those that threw 
 their weapons from on high, nor was it more 
 easy for them to sustain those who came to fight 
 them hand to hand. 
 
 3. Since therefore the Romans were sorely 
 afflicted by both these circumstances, they set 
 fire to the cloisters, which were works to be ad- 
 mired, both on account of their magnitude and 
 costliness. Whereupon those that were above 
 them were presently encompassed with the 
 flame, and many of them perished therein ; 
 as many of them also were destroyed by the 
 enemy, who came suddenly upon them ; some 
 of them also threw themselves down from the 
 walls backward, and some there were, who, 
 from the desperate condition they were in, pre- 
 vented the fire, by killing themselves with their 
 own swords ; but so many of them as crept out 
 from the walls, and came upon the Romans, were 
 easily mastered by them, by reason of the aston- 
 ishment they were under ; until at last some of 
 the Jews being destroyed, and others dispersed 
 by the terror they were in, the soldiers fell upon 
 the treasure of God, which was now deserted, 
 and plundered about four hundred talents, of 
 which sum Sabinus got together all thai was 
 not carried away by the soldiers. 
 
 4. However, this destruction of the works 
 [about the temple,] and of the men, occasioned 
 a much greater number, and those of a more
 
 CHAP. V.] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 478 
 
 warlike sort, to get together, to oppose the Ro- 
 mans. These encompassed the palace round, 
 and threatened to destroy all that were in it, 
 unless they went their ways quickly ; for they 
 promised that Sabinus should come to no harm 
 if he should go out with his legion. There were 
 also a great many of the king's party who de- 
 serted the Romans, and assisted the Jews ; yet 
 did the most warlike body of them all, who were 
 three thousand of the men of Sebaste, go over to 
 the Romans. Rufus also, and Gratus, their 
 captains, did the same, (Gratus having the foot 
 of the king's party under him, and Rufus the 
 horse ;) each of whom, even without the forces 
 under them, were of great weight, on account of 
 their strength and wisdom, which turns the 
 scales in war. Now the Jews persevered hi the 
 siege, and tried to break down the walls of the 
 fortress, and cried out to Sabinus and his party, 
 that they should go their ways, and not prove a 
 hindrance to them, now they hoped after a long 
 time to recover that ancient liberty which their 
 forefathers had enjoyed. Sabinus indeed was 
 well contented to go out of the danger he was 
 in; but he distrusted the assurances the Jews 
 gave him, and suspected sucli gentle treatment 
 was but a bait laid as a snare for them : this 
 consideration, together with the hopes he had 
 of succour from Varus, made him bear the siege 
 still longer. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HEBOD'S VETERAN SOLDIERS BECOME TUMULTUOUS. 
 THE BOBBERIES OF JUDAS. SIMON AND ATH- 
 BONGEUS TAKE THE NAME OF KING UPON 
 
 THEM. 
 
 1. AT this time there were great disturbances 
 in the country, and that in many places ; and 
 the opportunity that now offered itself induced 
 a great many to set up for kings ; and indeed in 
 Idumea two thousand of Herod's veteran sol- 
 diers got together, and armed themselves, and 
 fought against those of the king's party ; against 
 whom Achaibus, the king's first cousin, fought, 
 and that out of some of the places that were 
 the most strongly fortified ; but so as to avoid, 
 a direct conflict with them in the plains. In 
 Sepphoris also, a city of Galilee, there was one 
 Judas, (the son of the arch-robber Hezekias, 
 who formerly over-ran the country, and had 
 been subdued by king Herod ;) this man got no 
 small multitude together, and broke open the 
 place where the royal armour was laid up, and 
 armed those about him, and attacked those that 
 were so earnest to gain the dominion. 
 
 2. In Perea also, Simon, one of the sex fants 
 to the king, relying upon the handsome appear- 
 ance, and tallness of his body, put a diadem upon 
 his own head also ; he also went about with a 
 company of robbers that he had gotten together, 
 and burnt down the royal palace that was at 
 Jericho, and many other costly edifices besides, 
 and procured himself very easily spoils by ra- 
 pine, as snatching them out of the fire ; and he 
 had soon burnt down all the fi:.ie edifices, if 
 Gratus, the captain of the foot of the king's 
 party, had not taken the Trachonite archers, 
 and the most warlike of Sebaste, and met the 
 man. His footmen were slain in the battle in 
 abundance; Gratus also cut to pieces Simon 
 himself, as he was flying along a strait valley, 
 when he gave him an oblique stroke upon his 
 neck, as he ran away, and brake it. The royal 
 palaces that were near Jordan, at Betharamptha, 
 
 were also burnt down by some other of the sedi- 
 tious that came out of Perea. 
 
 3. At this time it was that a certain shepherd 
 ventured to set himself up for a king : he was 
 called Athrongeus It was his strength of body 
 that made him expect such a dignity, as well as 
 his soul, which despised death; and besides 
 these qualifications, he had four brethren like 
 himself. He put a troop of armed men under 
 each of these his brethren, and made use of 
 them as his generals and commanders, when he 
 made his incursions, while he did himself act 
 like a king, and meddled only with the more 
 important affairs ; and at this time he put a 
 diadem about his head, and continued after that 
 to over-run the country for no little time with 
 his brethren, and became their leader in killing 
 both the Romans and those of the king's party ; 
 nor did any Jew escape him, if any gain could 
 accrue to him thereby. He once ventured to 
 encompass a whole body of Romans at Emmaus, 
 who were carrying corn and weapons to their 
 legion : his men shot their arrows and darts, 
 and thereby slew their centurion Arius, and 
 forty of the stoutest of his men, while the rest 
 of them, who were in danger of the same fate, 
 upon the coming of Gratus, with those of Se- 
 baste, to their assistance, escaped; and when 
 these men had thus served both their own 
 countrymen and foreigners, and that through 
 this whole war, three of them were after some 
 time subdued ; the eldest by Archelaus, the two 
 next by falling into the hands of Gratus and 
 Ptolemeus ; but the fourth delivered himself up 
 to Archelaus, upon his giving him his right 
 hand for his security. However, this their end 
 was not till afterward, while at present they 
 filled all Judea with a piratic war. . 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 VABUS COMPOSES THE TUMULTS IN JUDEA, AND 
 CRUCIFIES ABOUT TWO THOUSAND Of THE SEDI- 
 TIOUS. 
 
 1. UPON Varus's reception of the letters that 
 were written by Sabinus and the captains, he 
 could not avoid being afraid for the whole legion 
 [he had left there.] So he made haste to their 
 relief, and took with him the other two legions, 
 witJi the four troops of horsemen to them be- 
 longing, and marched to Ptolemais having 
 given orders for the auxiliaries that were sent 
 by the kings and governors of cities to meet him 
 there. Moreover, he received from the people 
 of Berytus, as he passed through their city, 
 fifteen hundred armed men. Now as soon as 
 the other body of auxiliaries were come to Ptole- 
 mais, as well as Aretas the Arabian, (who out 
 of the hatred he bore to Herod, brought a great 
 army of horse and foot,) Varus sent a pail of his 
 army presently to Galilee, which lay near to 
 Ptolemais, and Caius, one of his friends, for 
 their captain. This Caius put those that met 
 him to flight, and took the city Sepphoris and 
 burnt it, and made slaves of its inhabitants. 
 But as for Varus himself, he marched to Sam- 
 aria with his whole army, where he did not 
 meddle with the city itself, because he found 
 that it had made no commotion during those 
 troubles, but pitched his camp about a certain 
 village which was called Arius. It belonged to 
 Ptolemy, and on that account was plundered by 
 the Arabians, who were very angry even at 
 Herod's friends also. He thenoe marched u to 
 the village Sampho, another fortified place,
 
 tit 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK IL 
 
 which they plundered, as they had done the 
 other. As they carried off all the money they 
 lighted upon belonging to the public revenues, 
 afl was now full of fire and bloodshed, and no- 
 thing could resist the plunders of the Arabians. 
 Emmaus was also burnt, upon the flight of its 
 inhabitants, and this at the command of Varus, 
 out of his rage at the slaughter of those that 
 were about Arius. 
 
 2. Thence he marched on to Jerusalem, and 
 as soon as he was but seen by the Jews, he made 
 their camps disperse themselves : they also went 
 away, and fled up and down the country. But 
 the citizens received him, and cleared them- 
 selves of having any hand in this revolt, and 
 said that they had raised no commotions, but 
 had only been forced to admit the multitude, 
 because of the festival, and that they were 
 rather besieged together with the Romans, than 
 assisted those that had revolted. There had 
 before this met him Joseph, the first cousin of 
 Archelaus, and Gratus, together with Rufus, 
 who led those of Sebaste, as well as the king's 
 army : there also met him those of the Roman 
 legion, armed after their accustomed manner ; 
 for as to Sabinus, he durst not come into Varus's 
 sight, but was gone out of the city before this, 
 to the sea-side. But Varus sent a part of his 
 army into the country, against tho'^e that had 
 been the authors of this commotion, and as they 
 caught great numbers of them, those that ap- 
 peared to have been the least concerned in these 
 tumults he put into custody, but such as were 
 the most guilty he crucified ; these were in num- 
 ber about two thousand. 
 
 3. He was also informed that there continued 
 in Idumea ten thousand men still in arms ; but 
 when he found that the Arabians did not act 
 like auxiliaries, but managed the war according 
 to their own passions, and did mischief to the 
 country otherwise than he intended, and this 
 out of their hatred to Herod, he sent them 
 away, but made haste, with his own legions, to 
 march against those that had revolted; but 
 these, by the advice of Achiabus, delivered 
 themselves up to him before it came to a battle. 
 Then did Varus forgive the multitude their 
 offences, but sent their captains to Caesar to be 
 examined by him. Now Caesar forgave the rest, 
 but gave orders that certain of the king's rela- 
 tions (for some of those that were among them 
 were Herod's kinsmen) should be put to death, 
 because they had engaged in a war against a 
 king of their own family. When, therefore, 
 Varus had settled matters at Jerusalem after 
 this manner, and had left the former legion 
 there as a garrison, he returned to Autioch. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THB JEWS GREATLY COMPLAIN OP ARCHELAUS, 
 AND DESIRE THAT THEY MAT BE MADE SUBJECT 
 TO ROMAN GOVERNORS. BDT WHEN OESAR HAD 
 HEARD WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY, HE DISTRI- 
 BUTED HEROD'S DOMINIONS AMONG HIS SONS, 
 
 ACCORDING TO HIS OWN PLEASURE. 
 
 1. BUT now came another accusation from the 
 Jews against Archelaus at Rome, which he was 
 to answer to. It was made by those ambas- 
 sadors who, before the revolt, had come, by 
 Varus's permission, to plead for the liberty of 
 their country; those that came were fifty in 
 number, but there were more than eight thou- 
 sand of the Jews at Rome who supported them ; 
 and when Caspar had assembled a council of the 
 
 principal Romans in Apollo's * temple, that was 
 in the palace, (this was what he had himself 
 built and adorned, at a vast expense, ) the mul- 
 titude of the Jews stood with the ambassadors, 
 and on the other side stood Archelaus, with his 
 friends : but as for the kindred of Archelaus, 
 they stood on neither side ; for to stand on Ar- 
 chelaus's side, their hatred to him, and envy at 
 him, would not give them leave ; while yet they 
 were afraid to be seen by Cassar with his accu- 
 sers. Besides these, there were present Arche- 
 laus's brother, Philip, being sen'; thither before- 
 hand, out of kindness, by Varus, for two rea- 
 sons : the one was this, that he might be assist- 
 ing to Archelaus ; and the other was this, that 
 in case Caesar should make a distribution of 
 what Herod possessed among b* posterity, he 
 might obtain some share of it. 
 
 2. And now, upon the permission that was 
 given the accusers to speak, they, in the first 
 place, went over Herod's breaches of their law, 
 and said that he was not a king, but the most 
 barbarous of all tyrants, and that they. had found 
 him to be such by the sufferings they underwent 
 from him : that when a very great number had 
 been slain by him, those that were left had en- 
 dured such miseries, that they called those that 
 were dead happy men; that he had not only tor- 
 tured the bodies of his subjects, but entire cities, 
 and had done much harm to the cities of his own 
 country, while he adorned those that belonged 
 to foreigners ; and he shed the blood of Jews in 
 order to dp kindness to those people who were 
 out of their bounds : that he had filled the na- 
 tion full of poverty, and of the greatest iniquity, 
 instead of that happiness and those laws which 
 they had anciently enjoyed ; that, in short, the 
 Jews had borne more calamities from Herod, in 
 a few years, than had their forefathers during 
 all that interval of time that had passed since 
 they had come out of Babylon, and returned 
 home in the reign of Xerxes :f that, however, 
 the nation was come to so low a condition, by 
 being inured to hardships, that they submitted 
 to his successor of their own accord, though he 
 brought them into bitter slavery ; that accord- 
 ingly they readily called Archelaus, though he 
 was the son of so great a tyrant, king, after the 
 decease of his father, and joined with him in 
 1 mourning for the death of Herod, and in wish- 
 ing him good success in that his succession ; 
 while yet this Archelaus, lest he should be in 
 danger of not being thought the genuine son of 
 Herod, began his reign with the murder of three 
 thousand citizens; as if he had a mind to offer 
 so many bloody sacrifices to God for his govern- 
 ment, and to fill the temple with the like num- 
 ber of dead bodies at that festival : that, how- 
 ever, those that were left after so many miseries, 
 had just reason to consider now at last the cal- 
 amities they had undergone, and to oppose them- 
 selves, like soldiers in war, to receive those 
 stripes upon their faces, [but not upon their 
 backs as hitherto.] Whereupon they prayed 
 that the Romans would have compassion upon 
 the [poor] remains of Judea, and not expose 
 what was left of them to such AS barbarously 
 tore them to pieces, and that they would join 
 their country to Syria, and administer the go- 
 
 * This holding of a council in the temple of Apollo, 
 in the emperor's palace at Rome, by Augustus, and 
 even the building of this temple magnificently by him- 
 self in that palace, are exactly agr&eable to Augustus 
 in his elder years. 
 
 t Here we have a strong continuation that it w* 
 Xerxes, and not Artaxerxes, under whom the main 
 part of the Jews returned out of the Babylonian cap 
 tivity ; i.e., in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah.
 
 -HAP. VI I. j 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 475 
 
 vernment by their own commanders, -whereby 
 t would [soon] be demonstrated that those who 
 ire now under the calumny of seditious persons, 
 and lovers of war, know how to bear governors 
 that are set over them, if they be but tolerable 
 ones. So the Jews concluded their accusations 
 with this request Then rose up Nicolaus, and 
 confuted the accusations that were brought 
 igainst the kings, and himself accused the Jew- 
 sh nation, as hard to be ruled, and as naturally 
 disobedient to kings. He also reproached all 
 /hose kinsmen of Archelaus who had left him, 
 and were gone over to his accusers. 
 
 3. So Caesar, after he had heard both sides, 
 lissolved the assembly for that time ; but a few 
 days afterward, he gave the one half of Herod's 
 dngdom to Archelaus, by the name of Ethnarch, 
 ,nd promised to make him king also afterward, 
 f he rendered himself worthy of that dignity ; 
 >ut as to the other half, he divided it into two 
 ;etrarchies, and gave them to two other sons of 
 lerod, the one of them to Philip, and the other 
 ;o that Antipas who contested the kingdom 
 with Archelaus. Under this last was Perea and 
 5alilee, with a revenue of two hundred talents : 
 )ut Batanea, and Trachonitis, and Auranitis, 
 and certain parts of Zi-no's house about Jamnia, 
 with a revenue of a hundred talents, were made 
 subject to Philip ; while Idumea, and all Judea, 
 and Samaria, were parts of the ethnarchy of 
 Archelaus, although Samaria was eased of one 
 quarter of its taxes, out of regard to their not 
 aaving revolted with the rest of the nation. 
 Be also made subject to him the following cities, 
 viz. Strato's Tower, and Sebaste, and Joppa, 
 and Jerusalem ; but as to the Grecian cities 
 Gaza and Gadara, and Hippos, he cut them off 
 From the kingdom, and added them to Syria, 
 Kow the revenue of the country that was given 
 to Archelaus, was four hundred talents. Salome 
 also, besides what the king had left her in his 
 testaments, was now made mistress of Jainnia, 
 and Ashdod, and Phasaelis. Caesar did more- 
 ever bestow upon her the royal palace of Asca- 
 lon ; by all which she got together a revenue of 
 sixty talents ; but he put her house under the 
 etbjiarchy of Archelaus ; and for the rest of He- 
 rod's offspring, they received what was be- 
 queathed to them in his testaments; but, be- 
 sides that, Caesar granted to Herod's two virgin 
 daughters five hundred thousand [drachmae] 
 of silver, and gave them in marriage to the 
 sons of Pheroras: but after this family distri- 
 bution, he gave between them what had been 
 bequeathed to him by Herod, which was a 
 thousand talents, reserving to himself only 
 some inconsiderable presents in honour of the 
 deceased. 
 
 CHAPTER V1L 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE SPURIOUS ALEXANDER. 
 AKCHELAUS IS BANISHED, AND GLAPHTKA 
 DIES, AFTER WHAT WAS TO HAPPEN TO BOTH 
 OF THEM HAD BEEN SHEWN THEM IN DBJLAMS. 
 
 1. IN the meantime there was a man, who was 
 by birth a Jew, but brought up at Sidon with 
 one of the Roman freedmen, who falsely pre- 
 tended, on account of the resemblance of their 
 countenances, that he was that Alexander who 
 was slain by Herod. This man came to Rome, 
 in hopes of not being detected. He had one 
 who was his assistant, of his own nation, and 
 who knew all the affairs of the kingdom, and 
 Instructed him to say how those that were sent 
 
 So kill him and Aristobulus had pity upon them, 
 and stole them away, by putting bodies that 
 were like theirs in their places. This man de- 
 ceived the Jews that were at Crete, and got a 
 jreat deal of money of them, for travelling in 
 splendour; and thence sailed to Melos, where 
 e was thought so certainly genuine, that he got 
 great deal more money, and prevailed with 
 ;hose who had treated him to sail along with 
 aim to Rome. So he landed at Dicearchia 
 Puteoli,] and got very large presents from the 
 Jews who dwelt there, and was conducted by 
 his father's friends as if he were a king ; nay, 
 the resemblance in his countenance procured 
 him so much credit, that those who had seen 
 Alexander, and had known him very well, 
 would take their oaths that he was the very 
 same person. Accordingly, the whole body of 
 the Jews that were at Rome ran out in crowds 
 to see him, and an innumerable multitude there 
 was who stood in the narrow places through 
 which he was carried ; for those of Melos weie 
 so far distracted, that they carried him in a 
 sedan, and maintained a royal attendance for 
 him at their own proper charges. 
 
 2. But Caesar, who knew perfectly well the 
 lineaments of Alexander's face, because he had 
 been accused by Herod before him, discerned 
 the fallacy in his countenance, even before he 
 saw the man. However, he suffered the agree- 
 able fame that went of him to have some weight 
 with him, and sent Celadus, one who well knew 
 Alexander, and ordered him to bring the young 
 man to him. But when Caesar saw him, he im- 
 mediately discerned a difference in his counte- 
 nance ; and when he had discovered that his 
 whole body was of a more robust texture and 
 like that of a slave, he understood the whole 
 was a contrivance. But the impudence of wha^ 
 he said greatly provoked him to be angry at him ; 
 for when he was asked about Aristobulus, he 
 said that he was also preserved alive, and was 
 left on purpose in Cyprus, for fear of treachery, 
 because it would be harder for plotters to get 
 them both into their power while they were 
 separate. Then did Caesar take him by himself 
 privately, and said to him," I will give thee 
 thy life, if thou'wilt discover who it was that 
 persuaded thee to forge such stories." So he 
 said that he would discover him, and followed 
 Caesar, and pointed to that Jew who abused the 
 resemblance of his face to get money ; for that 
 he had received more presents in every city than 
 ever Alexander did when he was alive. Caesar 
 laughed at the contrivance, and put this spurious 
 Alexander among his rowers, on account of 
 the strength of his body ; but ordered him that 
 persuaded him to be put to death. But for the 
 people of Melos, they had been sufficiently pun- 
 ished for their folly, by the expenses they had 
 been at on his account. 
 
 3. And now Archelaus took possession of his 
 ethnarchy, and used not the Jews only, but the 
 Samaritans also, barbarously ; and this out of 
 his resentment of their old quarrels with him. 
 Whereupon they both of them sent ambassadors 
 against him to Caesar ; and in the ninth year oi 
 his government he was banished to Vienna, a 
 city of Gaul, and his effects were put into 
 Caesar's treasury. But the report goes, that be- 
 fore he was sent tor by Casar, he seemed to see 
 nine ears of corn, full and large, but devoured 
 by oxen. When, therefore he had sent for th 
 diviners, and some of the Chaldeans, and m 
 quired of them what they thought it portended 
 and when one of them had one interpretatio 
 and another had another, Simon, one of the sec 
 of the Essens. said that he thought that the ears
 
 176 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK 
 
 of corn denoted years ; and the oxen denoted a 
 mutation of tilings, because by their ploughing 
 they made an alteration of the country. That 
 therefore he should reign as many years as there 
 were ears of corn ; and after he passed through 
 various alternations of fortune, should die. Now 
 five days after Archelaus had heard this inter- 
 pretation, he was called to his trial. 
 
 4. I cannot but think it worthy to be recorded 
 what dream Glaphyra, the daughter of Arche- 
 laus, king of Cappadocia, had, who had at first 
 been wife to Alexander, who was the brother of 
 Archelaus, concerning whom we have been dis- 
 coursing. This Alexander was the son of Herod 
 the king, by whom he was put to death, as we 
 have already related. This Glaphyra was 
 married, after his death, to Juba, king of Libya ; 
 and, after his death, was returned home, and 
 lived a widow with her father. Then it was that 
 Archelaus, the ethnarch, saw her, and fell so 
 deeply in love with her, that he divorced Mari- 
 amne, who was then his wife, and married her. 
 When, therefore, she was come into Judea, and 
 had been there for a little while, she thought 
 she saw Alexander stand by her, and that he 
 said to her, " Thy marriage with the king of 
 Libya might have been sufficient for thee ; but 
 thou wast not contented with him, but art re- 
 turned again to my family, to a third husband ; 
 and him, thou impudent woman, hast thou 
 chosen for thine husband, who is my brother. 
 However, I shall not overlook the injury thou 
 hast offered me ; I shall [soon] have thee again, 
 whether thou wilt or no." Now Glaphyra 
 hardly survived the narration of this dream of 
 hers two days. 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 AECHELATJS'S ETHNARCH Y IS REDUCED INTO A 
 [ROMAN] PROVINCE. THE SEDITION OP JUDAS 
 OF GALILEE. THE THREE SECTS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 1. AND now Archelaus's part of Judea was re- 
 duced into a province, and Coponius, one of the 
 equestrian order among the Romans, was sent as 
 a procurator, having the power of [life and] 
 death put into his hands by Caesar. Under his 
 administration it was that a certain Galilean, 
 whose name was Judas, prevailed with his 
 countrymen to revolt ; and said they were 
 cowards if they would endure to pay a tax to 
 the Romans, and would, after God, submit to 
 mortal men as their lords. This man was a 
 teacher of a peculiar sect of his own, and was 
 not at all like the rest of those their leaders. 
 
 2. For there are three philosophical sects 
 among the Jews. The followers of the first of 
 whom are the Pharisees ; of the second the Sad- 
 ducees ; and the third sect, who pretends to a 
 severer discipline, are called Essens. These last 
 are Jews by birth, and seem to have a greater 
 affection for one another than the other sects 
 have. These Essens reject pleasures as an evil, 
 but esteem continence, and the conquest over 
 our passions, to be virtue. They neglect wed- 
 lock, but choose out other persons' children, 
 while they are pliable, and fit for learning ; and 
 esteem them to be of their kindred, and form 
 them according to their own manners. They do 
 not absolutely deny the fitness of marriage, and 
 the succession of mankind thereby continued ; 
 but they guard against the lascivious behaviour 
 of women, and are persuaded that none of them 
 preserve their fidelity to one man. 
 
 &- These men are despisers of riches, and so 
 
 very communicative as raises our admiration. 
 Nor is there any one to be found among them 
 who hath more than another ; for it is a law 
 among them, that those who come to them must 
 let what they have be common to the whole 
 order, insomuch, that among them all there is 
 no appearance of poverty or excess of riches, but 
 every one's possessions axe intermingled with 
 every other's possessions ; and so there is, as it 
 were, one patrimony among all the brethren. 
 They think that oil is a defilement ; and if one 
 of them be anointed without his own approba- 
 tion, it is wiped off his body ; for they think to 
 be sweaty is a good thing, as they do also to be 
 clothed in white garments. They also have 
 stewards appointed to take care of their common 
 affairs, who every one ot them have no separate 
 business for any, but what is for the use of them 
 aU. 
 
 4. They have no certain city, but many of 
 them dwell in every city ; and if any of their 
 sect come from other places, what they have lies 
 open for them, just as if it were their own ; and 
 they go into such as they never knew before, as 
 if they had been ever so long acquainted with 
 them. For which reason they carry nothing 
 with them when they travel into remote parts, 
 though still they take their weapons with them, 
 for fear of thieves. Accordingly there is, in 
 every city where they live, one appointed par- 
 ticularly to take care of strangers, and providi 
 garments and other necessaries for them. Bui 
 the habit and management of their bodies are such 
 as children use who are in fear of their masters. 
 Nor do they allow of the change of garments, or 
 of shoes, till they be first entirely torn to pieces, 
 or worn out by time. Nor do they either buy 
 or sell anything to one another ; but every ona 
 of them gives what he hath to him that wanteth 
 it, and receives from him again in lieu of it what 
 may be convenient tor himself; and although 
 there be uo requital made, they are fully allowed 
 to take what they want of whomsoever they 
 please. 
 
 5. And as for their piety towards God, it is 
 very extraordinary ; for before sunrising they 
 speak not a word about profane matters, but 
 put up certain prayers which they have received 
 from their forefathers, as if they made a suppli- 
 cation for its rising. After this every one of 
 them are sent away by their curators, to exer- 
 cise some of those arts wherein they are skilled, 
 in which they labour with great diligence till the 
 fifth hour. After which they assemble them- 
 selves together again into one place ; and when 
 they have clothed themselves in white veils, 
 they then bathe their bodies in cold water. And 
 after this purification is over, they every one 
 meet together in an apartment of their own, into 
 which it is not permitted to any of another sect 
 to enter; while they go, after a pure manner, 
 into the dining-room, as into a certain holy 
 temple, and quietly set themselves down ; upon 
 which the baker lays them loaves in order ; the 
 cook also brings a single plate of one sort of 
 food, and sets it before every one of them ; but 
 a priest says grace before meat ; and it is unlaw- 
 ful for any one to taste of the food before grace 
 be said. The same priest when he hath dined, 
 says grace again after meat ; and when they 
 begin, and when they end, they praise God, as 
 he that bestows their food upon them ; after 
 which they lay aside their [white] garments, and 
 betake themselves to their labours again till the 
 evening ; then they return home to supper, after 
 the same manner ; and if there be any strangers 
 there, they sit down with them. Nor is there 
 ever any clamour or disturbance to pollute their
 
 CHAF. vra.1 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 house, but they give every one leave to speak in 
 their turn ; which silence thus kept in their 
 house appeals to foreigners like some tremend- 
 ous mystery ; the cause of which is that per- 
 petual sobriety they exercise, and some settled 
 measure of meat and drink that is allotted to 
 them, and that such as is abundantly sufficient 
 for them. 
 
 6. And truly, as for other things, they do 
 nothing but according to the injunctions of their 
 curators ; only these two things are done among 
 them at every one's own free will, which are, to 
 assist those that want it, and to shew mercy ; 
 for they are permitted of their own accord to 
 afford succour to such as deserve it, when they 
 stand in need of it, and to bestow food on those 
 that are in distress ; but they cannot give any- 
 thing to their kindred without the curators. 
 They dispense their anger after a just manner, 
 and restrain their passion. They are eminent 
 for fidelity, and are the ministers of peace ; 
 whatsoever they say also is firmer than an oath ; 
 but swearing is avoided by them, and they esteem 
 it worse than perjury ; * for they say, that he 
 who cannot be believed without [swearing by] 
 God, is already condemned. They also take 
 great pains in studying the writings of the 
 ancients, and choose out of them what is most 
 for the advantage of their soul and body ; and 
 they inquire after such roots and medicinal 
 stones as may cure their distempers. 
 
 1. But now, if any one hath a mind to come 
 over to their sect, he is not immediately ad- 
 mitted, but he is prescribed the same method of 
 living which they use, for a year, while he con- 
 tinues excluded ; and they give him a small 
 hatchet, and the forementioned girdle, and the 
 white garment. And when he hath given evi- 
 dence, during that time, that he can observe 
 their continence, he approaches nearer to their 
 way of* living, and is made a partaker of the 
 waters of purification ; yet is he not even now 
 admitted to live-with them ; for after this de- 
 monstration of his fortitude, his temper is tried 
 two more years, and if he appear to be worthy, 
 they then admit him into their society. And 
 before he is allowed to touch their common 
 food, he is obliged to take tremendous oaths ; 
 that, in the first place, he will exercise piety to- 
 wards God ; and then, that he will observe 
 justice towards all men ; and that he will do no 
 harm to any one, either of his own accord, or by 
 the command of others; that he will always 
 hate the wicked, and be assistant to the righte- 
 ous ; that he will ever shew fidelity to all men, 
 and especially to those in authority, he will at 
 no time whatever abuse his authority, nor en- 
 deavour to outshine his subjects, either in his 
 garments, or any other finery ; that he will be 
 perpetually a lover of truth, and propose to him- 
 self to reprove those that tell lies ; that he will 
 keep his hands clear from theft, and his soul 
 from unlawful gains ; and that he will neither 
 conceal anything from those of his own sect, 
 nor discover any of their doctrines to others, no, 
 not though any one should compel him so to do 
 at the hazard of his life. Moreover, he swears 
 to communicate their doctrines to no one any 
 otherwise than as he received them himself ; 
 that he will abstain from robbery, and will 
 equally preserve the books belonging to their 
 sect, and the names of the angelsf [or messen- 
 
 * This practice of the Essens is delivered here in 
 general words, as are the parallel injunctions of our 
 Saviour, Matt. vi. 34, xxiii. 16 ; and of St James v. 12; 
 but all admit of particular exceptions for solemn causes, 
 and on great aud necessary occasions. 
 
 t This mention of the " names of angels," so particu- 
 
 gers. ] These are the oaths by which they secure 
 their proselytes to themselves. 
 
 8. But for those that are caught in any hein- 
 ous sins, they cast them out of their society ; 
 and he who is thus separated from them, does 
 often die after a miserable manner; for as he 
 is bound by the oath he hath taken, and by the 
 customs hj hath been engaged in, he is not at 
 liberty to partake of that food that he meets 
 with elsewhere, but is forced to eat grass, and to 
 famish his body with hunger till he perish ; for 
 which reason they receive many of them again 
 when they are at their last gasp, out of com- 
 passion to them, as thinking the miseries they 
 have endured till they come to the very brink 
 of death to be a sufficient punishment for the 
 sins they had been guilty of. 
 
 9. But in the judgments they exercise they 
 are most accurate and just; nor do they pass 
 sentence by the votes of a court that is fewer 
 than a hundred. And as to what is once deter- 
 mined by that number, it is unalterable. What 
 they most of all honour, after God himself, is 
 the name of their legislator [Moses ;] whom, if 
 any one blaspheme, he is punished capitally. 
 They also think it a good thing to obey their 
 elders, and the major part. Accordingly, if ten 
 of them be sitting together, no one of them will 
 speak while the other nine are against it. They 
 also avoid spitting in the midst of them, or on 
 the right side. Moreover, they are stricter than 
 any other of the Jews in resting from their 
 labours on the seventh day ; for they not only 
 get their food ready the day before, that they 
 may not be obliged to kindle a fire on that day, 
 but they will not remove any vessel out of its 
 place, nor go to stool thereon. Nay, on the 
 other days they dig a small pit, a foot deep, with 
 a paddle (which kind of hatchet is given them 
 when they are first admitted among them ;) and 
 covering themselves round with their garment, 
 that they may not affront the divine rays of 
 light, they ease themselves into that pit, after 
 .yhich they put the earth that was dug out 
 again into the pit ; and even this they do only 
 in the more lonely places, which they choose out 
 for this purpose ; and although this easement of 
 the body be natural, yet it is a rule with them 
 to wash themselves after it, as if it were a defile- 
 ment to them. 
 
 10. Now after the time of their preparatory 
 trial is over, they are parted into four classes ; 
 and so far are the juniors inferior to the seniors, 
 that if the seniors should be touched by the 
 juniors, they must wash themselves, as if they 
 had intermixed themselves with the company 
 of a foreigner. They are long-lived also ; inso- 
 much that many of them live above a hundred 
 years, by means of the simplicity of their diet ; 
 nay, as I think, by means of the regular course 
 of life they observe also. They contemn the 
 miseries of life, and arc above pain, by the gene- 
 rosity of their mind. Ajid as for death, if it 
 will be for their glory, they esteem it better 
 than living always ; and indeed our war with the 
 .Romans gave abundant evidences what great souls 
 they had in their trials, wherein, although they 
 were tortured and distorted, burnt and torn to 
 pieces, and went through all kinds 'of instru- 
 ments of torment, that they might be forced 
 either to blaspheme their legislator or to eat 
 what was forbidden them, yet could they not be 
 made to do either of them, no, nor once to 
 flatter their tormentors, nor to shed a tear ; but 
 larly preserved by the Essens, looks like a prelude to 
 that "worshipping of angels," blamed by St Paul, as 
 superstitious and unlawful, in some such sort of people 
 as these Essen* were, (Cok>s8. ii. 8.)
 
 478 
 
 WA11S OF TIIK JEWS. 
 
 they smiled in their very pains, and laughed 
 thoaa to scorn who inflicted the torments upon 
 them, and resigned up their souls with great 
 alacrity, as expecting to receive them again. 
 
 11. For their doctrine is this : "That bodies 
 are corruptible, and that the matter they are 
 made of is not permanent ; but that the souls 
 are immortal, and continue for ever; and that 
 they come out of the most subtile air, and are 
 united to their bodies as in prisons, into which 
 they are drawn by a certain natural enticement ; 
 but that when they are set free from the bonds 
 of the flesh, they then, as released from a long 
 bondage, rejoice and mount upward. And this 
 is like the opinion of the Greeks, that good souls 
 have their habitations beyond the ocean, in a 
 region that is neither oppressed with storms of 
 rain or snow, nor with intense heat, but that this 
 place is such as is refreshed by the gentle breath- 
 ing of a west wind, that is perpetually blowing 
 from the ocean ; while they allot to bad souls a 
 dark and tempestuous den, full of never-ceasing 
 punishments. And indeed the Greeks seem to 
 me to have followed the same notion, when they 
 allot the islands of the blessed to their brave 
 men, whom they call heroes and demigods ; and 
 to the souls of the wicked, the region of the un- 
 godly, in Hades, where their fables relate that 
 certain persons, such as Sisyphus, and Tantalus, 
 and Ixion, and Tityus, are punished ; which is 
 built first on this supposition, that souls are im- 
 mortal ; and thence are those exhortations to 
 virtue, and dehortations from wickedness col- 
 lected ; whereby good men are bettered in the 
 conduct of their life, by the hope they have of 
 reward after their death, and whereby the vehe- 
 ment inclinations of bad men t,i> vice are re- 
 strained, by the fear and expectation they are 
 in, that although they should lie concealed in this 
 life, they should suffer immortal punishment 
 after death. These are the divine doctrines o. 
 the Essens about the soul, which lay an una- 
 voidable bait for such as have once had a taste 
 for their philosophy. 
 
 12. There are also among them who undertake 
 to foretell things to come, by reading the holy 
 books, and using several sorts of purifications, 
 and being perpetually conversant in the dis- 
 courses of the prophets ; and it is but seldom 
 that they miss in their predictions. 
 
 13. Moreover, there is another order of Essens, 
 who agree with the rest as to their way of living, 
 and customs, and laws, but differ from them in 
 the point of marriage, as thinking that by not 
 marrying they cut off the principal part of human 
 life, which is the prospect of succession ; nay 
 rather, that if all men should be of the same 
 opinion, the whole race of mankind would fail. 
 However, they try their spouses for three years : 
 and if they find that they have their natural 
 purgations thrice, as trials that they are likely 
 to be fruitful, they then actually marry them. 
 But they do not use to accompany with their 
 wives when they are with child, as a demonstra- 
 tion that they do not marry out of regard to 
 pleasure, but for the sake of posterity. Now 
 the women go into the baths with some of their 
 garments on, as the men do with somewhat 
 girded about them. And these are the customs 
 of this order of Essens. 
 
 14. But then as to the two other orders at 
 first mentioned ; the Pharisees are those who 
 ars esteemed most skilful in the exact explica- 
 tion of their laws, and introduce the first sect. 
 These ascribe all to fate [or providence,] and to 
 God, and yet allow, that to act what is right, or 
 the contrary, is principally in the power of men. 
 although fate does co-operate in even' action. 
 
 They say that all souls are incorruptible ; but 
 that the souls of good men are only removed 
 into other bodies, but that the souls of bad men 
 are subject to eternal punishment. But the 
 Sadducees are those that compose tne second 
 order, and take away fate entirely, and suppose 
 that God is not concerned in our doing or not 
 doing what is evil; and they say, that to act 
 whtxt is good, or what is evil, is at men's own 
 choice, and that the one or the other belongs so 
 to every one, that they may act as they please. 
 They also take away the belief of the immortal 
 duration of the soul, and the punishments and 
 rewards in Hades. Moreover, the Pharisees are 
 friendly to one another, and are for the exercise 
 of concord and regard for the public. But the 
 behaviour of the Sadducees one towards another 
 is in some degrees wild ; and their conversation 
 with those that are of their own party is as bar- 
 barous as if they were strangers to them. And 
 this is what I had to say concerning the philo- 
 sophic sects among the Jews. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 1HK DEATH OP SALOME. THE CITIES WHICH 
 HEROD AND PHILIP BUILT. PILATE OCCASIONS 
 DISTURBANCES. TIBERIUS PUTS AGRIPPA INTO 
 BONDS, BUT CAIUS FREES HIM FROM THEM AND 
 MAKES HIM KING. HEROD ANTIPAS IS BAN- 
 ISHED. 
 
 1. AND now, aa the ethnarchy of Archelaus 
 was fallen into a Roman province, the other sons 
 of Herod, Philip, and that Herod who was called 
 Antipas, each of them took upon them the ad- 
 ministration of their own tetrarchies ; for when 
 Salomd died, she bequeathed to Julia, the wife 
 of Augustus, both her toparchy, and Jamnia, 
 as also her plantation of palm-trees that were in 
 Phasaelis. But when the Roman empire wag 
 translated to Tiberius, the son of Julia, upon 
 the death of Augustus, who had reigned fifty- 
 seven years, six months, and two days, both He- 
 rod and Philip continued in their tetrarchies; 
 and the latter of them built the city Cesarea, at 
 the fountains of Jordan, and in the region of 
 Paneas; as also the city Julias, in the lower 
 Gaulonitis. Herod also built the city Tiberias 
 in Galilee, and in Perea [beyond Jordan] another 
 that was also called Julias. 
 
 2. Now Pilate, who was sent as procurator 
 into Judea by Tiberius, sent by night those 
 images of Ceesar that are called ensigns, into 
 Jerusalem. This excited a very great tumult 
 among the Jews when it was day ; for those that 
 were near them were astonished at the sight of 
 them, as indications that their laws were trod- 
 den under foot : for those laws do not permit 
 any sort of images to be brought into the city. 
 Nay, besides the indignation which the citizens 
 themselves had at this procedure, a vast num- 
 ber of people came running out of the country. 
 These come zealously to Pilate to Cesarea, and 
 besought him to carry those ensigns out of Je- 
 rusalem, and to preserve them their ancient 
 laws inviolable; but upon Pilate's denial of their 
 request, they fell down prostrate upon the 
 ground, and continued immovable in that pos- 
 ture for five days and as many nights. 
 
 3. On the next day Pilate sat upon his tribu- 
 nal, in the open market-place, and called to him 
 the multitude, as desirous to give them an an- 
 swer ; and then gave a signal to the soldiers that 
 they should all by agreement at once encompass 
 the Jews with their weapons; BO the band of
 
 WARS Oi< THE JEWS. 
 
 47S 
 
 soldiers stood round about the Jews in three 
 ranks. Pilate also said to them, that they 
 should be cut in pieces, unless they would admit 
 of Cassar's images ; and gave intimation to the 
 soldiers to draw their naked swords. Hereupon 
 the Jews, as it were at one signal, fell down in 
 vast numbers together, and exposed their necks 
 bare, and cried out that they were sooner ready 
 to be slain, than that their law should be trans- 
 gressed. Hereupon Pilate was greatly surprised 
 at their prodigious superstition, and gave orders 
 that the ensigns should be presently carried out 
 of Jerusalem. 
 
 4. After this he raised another disturbance, 
 by expending that sacred treasure which ia 
 called Corban* upon aqueducts, whereby he 
 brought water from the distance of four hun- 
 dred furlongs. At this the multitude had great 
 indignation; and when Pilate was come to Je- 
 rusalem, they came about his tribunal, and made 
 a clamour at it. Now when he was apprised 
 beforehand of this disturbance, he mixed his 
 own soldiers in their armour with the multitude, 
 and ordered them to conceal themselves under 
 the habits of private men, and not indeed to use 
 their swords, but with staves to beat those that 
 made the clamour. He then gave the signal from 
 his tribunal [to do as he had bidden them.] Now 
 the Jews were so sadly beaten, that many of 
 them perished by the stripes they received, and 
 many of them perished as trodden to death, by 
 which means the multitude was astonished at 
 the calamity of those tba,t were slain, and held 
 their peace. 
 
 5. In the meantime Agrippa, the son of that 
 Aristobulus who had been slain by his father 
 Herod, came to Tiberius to accuse Herod the 
 tetrarch ; who not admitting of his accusation, 
 he staid at Rome, and cultivated a friendship 
 with others of the men of note, but principally 
 with Caius the son of Germanicus, who was then 
 but a private person. Now this Agrippa, at a 
 certain time, feasted Caius ; and as he was very 
 complaisant to him on several other accounts, 
 he at length stretched out his hands, and openly 
 wished that Tiberius might die, and that he 
 might quickly see him emperor of the world. 
 This was told to Tiberius by one of Agrippa's 
 domestics; who thereupon was very angry, and 
 ordered Agrippa to be bound, and had him very 
 ill treated in the prison for six months, until 
 Tiberius died, after he had reigned twenty-two 
 years, and six months, and three days. 
 
 6. But when Caius was made Csesar, he re- 
 leased Agrippa from his bonds, and made him 
 king of Philip's tetrarchy, who was now dead ; 
 but when Agrippa had arrived at that degree of 
 dignity, be inflamed the ambitious desires of 
 Herod the tetrarch, who was chiefly induced to 
 hope for the royal authority by his wife Hero- 
 dias, who reproached him for his sloth, and told 
 him that it was only because he would not sail 
 to Csesar that he was destitute of that great dig- 
 nity ; for since Caesar had made Agrippa a king, 
 from a private person, much more would he ad- 
 vance him from a tetrarch to that dignity. 
 These arguments prevailed with Herod, so that 
 he canae to Caius, by whom he was punished 
 for his ambition, by being banished into Spain ; 
 for Agrippa followed him, in order to accuse 
 him ; to. whom also Caius gave his tetrarchy, 
 by way of addition. So Herod died in Spain, 
 whither his wife had followed him. 
 
 This use of corban or oblation, as here applied to 
 the sacred money dedicated to God in the treasury of 
 the temple, illustrates our Baviour'8 words, Mark vii. 
 U. 13. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 OAIUS COMMANDS THAT HI3 STATUE SHOULD BE 
 SET DP IN THE TEMPLE ITSELF; AUD WHAT 
 PBTEONIU8 DID THEREUPON. 
 
 L Now Caius Csesar did so grossly abuse the 
 fortune he had arrived at, as to take himself to 
 be a god, and to desire to be so called also, and 
 to cut off those of the greatest nobility out of 
 his country. He also extended his impiety as 
 far as the Jews. Accordingly, he sent Petronius 
 with an army to Jerusalem, to place his statues 
 in the temple,*! 1 and commanded him that, in 
 '' case the Jews would not admit of them, he 
 should slay those that opposed it, and carry all 
 ! the rest of the nation into captivity : but God 
 | concerned himself with these his commands. 
 However, Petronius marched out of Antioch 
 into Judea, with three legions, and many Syrian 
 auxiliaries. Now as to the Jews, some of them 
 could not believe the stories that spake of a war; 
 but those that did believe them were in the ut- 
 most distress how to defend themselves, and the 
 terror diffused itself presently through them 
 all : for the army was already come to Ptole- 
 mais. 
 
 2. This Ptolemais is a maritime city of Gali- 
 lee, built in the great plain. It is encompassed 
 with mountains : that on the east side, sixty 
 furlongs off, belongs to Galilee ; but that on the 
 south belongs to Carmel, which is distant from 
 it a hundred and twenty furlongs ; and that on 
 the north is the highest of them all, and is called 
 by the people of the country,*The Ladder of the 
 Tynans, which is at the distance of a hundred 
 furlongs. The very small river Belus J runs by 
 it, at the distance of two furlongs ; near which 
 there is Memnon's monument, and hath near it 
 a place no larger than a hundred cubits, which 
 
 I deserves admiration ; for the place is round and 
 hollow, and affords such sand as glass is made 
 f ; which place when it hath been emptied by 
 the many ships there loaded, it ia filled again by 
 the winds, which bring into it, as it were on 
 purpose, that sand which lay remote, and was 
 no more than bare common sand, while this 
 mine presently turns it into glassy sand; and 
 what is to me still more wonderful, that glassy 
 sand which ia superfluous, and is once removed 
 out of the place, becomes bare common sand 
 again ; and this is the nature of the place we are 
 speaking of. 
 
 3. But now the Jews got together in great 
 numbers, with their wives and children, into 
 that plain that was by Ptolemais, and made 
 supplication to Petronius, first for their lawi, 
 and, in the next place, for themselves. So he 
 -was prevailed upon by the multitude of the 
 supplicants, and by tleir supplications, and left 
 his army and statues at Ptolemais, and then 
 went forward into Galilee, and called together 
 tiie multitude and all the men of note to Tibe- 
 rias, and shewed them the power oi u he Romans, 
 and the threatenings of Caesar; and, beside* 
 this, proved that their petition was unreason- 
 able because while all the nations in subjection 
 
 t Tacitus owns that Caius commanded the Jews to 
 place his effigies in their temple, though he be mistaken 
 when he adds that the Jews thereupon took arms. 
 
 t This account of a place near the mouth of the rive 
 Belus in Phoenicia, whence came that sand out of which 
 the ancients made their glass, is a known thing ; in his- 
 tory ; particularly in Tacitus and Surabo, and mor, 
 largely in Pliny. 
 
 flfai Memnonhad several monuments; and one 
 of them appears to have been in Syria, and not improb 
 ably in this very place.
 
 480 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 to them had placed the images of Csesar in their 
 several cities, among the rest of their gods, for 
 them alone to oppose it, was almost like the be- 
 haviour of revolters, and was injurious to Caesar. 
 4. And when they insisted on their law, and 
 the custom of their country, and how it was not 
 only not permitted them to make either an im- 
 age of God, or indeed of a man, and to put it in 
 any despicable part of their country, much less 
 in the temple itself, Petronius replied, " And 
 am not I also," said he, " bound to keep the laws 
 of my own lord? For if I transgress it, and 
 spare you, it is but just that I perish ; while he 
 that sent me, and not I, will commence a war 
 against you ; for I am under command as well 
 as you." Hereupon the multitude cried out, 
 that they were ready to suffer for their law. 
 Petronius then quieted them, and said to them, 
 "Will you then make war against Caesar?" 
 The Jews said, " We offer sacrifices twice every 
 day for Caesar, and for the Roman people ; " but 
 that if he would place the images among them, 
 he must first sacrifice the whole Jewish nation ; 
 and that they were ready to expose themselves, 
 together with their children and wives, to be 
 slain. At this Petronius was astonished, and 
 pitied them on account of the inexpressible sense 
 of religion the men were under, and that courage 
 of theirs which made them ready to die for it ; 
 BO they were dismissed without success. 
 
 5. But on the following days, he got together 
 the men of power privately, and the multitude 
 publicly, and sometimes he used persuasions to 
 them, and sometimes he gave them his advice ; 
 but he chiefly made use of threatenings to them, 
 and insisted upon the power of the Romans, and 
 the anger of Caius ; and besides, upon the neces- 
 sity ha was himself under [to do as he was en- 
 joined.] But as they could no way be prevailed 
 upon, and he saw that the country was in danger 
 of lying without tillage (for it was about seed- 
 time that the multitude continued for fifty days 
 together idle,) so he at last got them together, 
 and told them that it was best for him to run 
 some hazard himself ; " for either, by the divine 
 assistance, I shall prevail with Caesar ; and shall 
 myself escape the danger as well as you, which 
 wdl be matter of joy to us both ; or, in case 
 Caesar continue in his rage, I will be ready to 
 expose my own life for such a great number as 
 you are. " Whereupon he dismissed the multi- 
 tude, who prayed greatly for his prosperity; 
 and he took the army out of Ptolemais, and re- 
 turned to Antioch ; from whence he presently 
 sent an epistle to Caesar, and informed him of 
 the irruption he had made into Judea, and of 
 the supplications of the nation ; and that unless 
 he had a mind to lose both the country and the 
 men in it, he must permit them to keep their 
 law, and must countermand his former injunc- 
 tion. Caius answered that epistle in a violent 
 way, and threatened to have Petronius put to 
 death for his being so tardy in the execution of 
 what he had commanded. But it happened that 
 those who brought Caius's epistle were tossed 
 by a storm, and were detained on the sea three 
 months, while others that brought the news of 
 Caius's death had a good voyage. Accordingly, 
 Petronius received the epistle concerning Caius, 
 Beven-and-twenty days before he received that 
 which was against himself. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 CONCERNING THE GOVERNMENT OP CLAUDIUS, 
 AMD TUB BEIGN OP AGEIPPA. CONCERNING THE 
 
 DEATH OF AGKIPPA AND OP HEROD, AND WHAT 
 CHILDREN THEY BOTH LEFT BEHIND THEM. 
 
 1. Now when Caius had reigned three years 
 and eight months, and had been slain by treach- 
 ery, Claudius was hurried away by the armies 
 that were at Rome to take the government upon 
 him ; but the senate, upon the reference of the 
 consuls, Sentius Saturninus, and Pomponius 
 Secundus, gave orders to the three regiments of 
 soldiers that stayed with them, to keep the city 
 quiet, and went up into the Capitol in great 
 numbers, and resolved to oppose Claudius bj 
 force, on account of the barbarous treatment 
 they had met with from Caius ; and they deter- 
 mined either to settle the nation under an aris- 
 tocracy, as they had of old been governed, or at 
 least to choose by vote .ucl> a one for emperor as 
 might be worthy of it. 
 
 2. Now it happened, that at this time Agrippa 
 sojourned at Rome, and that both the senate 
 called him to consult with them, and at the same 
 time Claudius sent for him out of the camp, that 
 he might be serviceable to him, as he should have 
 occasion for his service. So he, perceiving that 
 Claudius was in effect made Casar already, went 
 to him, who sent him, as an ambassador to the 
 senate, to let them know what his intentions 
 were : that, in the first place, it was without 
 his seeking, that he was hurried away by the 
 soldiers ; moreover, that he thought it was not 
 just to desert those soldiers in such their zeal 
 for him, and that if he should do so, his own 
 fortune would be in uncertainty; for that it was 
 a dangerous case to have been once called to 
 the empire. He added further, that he would 
 administer the government as a good prince, and 
 not like a tyrant ; for that he would be satisfied 
 with the honour of being called Emperor, but 
 would, in every one of his actions, permit them 
 all to give lira their advice ; for that although 
 he had not been by nature for moderation, yet 
 would the death of Caius afford him a sufficient 
 demonstration how soberly he ought to act in 
 that station. 
 
 3. This message was delivered by Agrippa ; to 
 which the senate replied, that since they had an 
 army, and the wisest counsels on their side, they 
 would not endure a voluntary slavery. When 
 Claudius heard what answer the senate had 
 made, he sent Agrippa to them again, with the 
 following message : That he could not bear the 
 thoughts of betraying them that had given their 
 oaths to be true to him ; and that he saw he 
 must fight, though unwillingly, against such as 
 he had no mind to fight ; that, however, [if it 
 must come to that,] it was proper to choose a 
 place without the city for the war : because it 
 was not agreeable to piety to pollute the temples 
 of their own city with the blood of their own 
 countrymen, and this only on occasion of their 
 imprudent conduct. And when Agrippa had 
 heard this message, he delivered it to the sen- 
 ators. 
 
 4. In the meantime, one of the soldiers belong- 
 ing to the senate drew his sword, and cried out, 
 " O my fellow-soldiers, what is the meaning of 
 this choice of ours, to kill our brethren, and 
 to use violence to our kindred that are with 
 Claudius ! while we may have him for our em- 
 peror whom no one can blame, and who hath so 
 many just reasons [to lay claim to the govern- 
 ment!] and this with regard to those against 
 whom we are going to tight!" When he had 
 said this, he inarched through the whole senate, 
 and canied all the soldiers along with him. 
 Upon which ali the patricians were immediately 
 in a great fright at their being thus deserted.
 
 OHAP. XII ] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 481 
 
 But still, because there appeared no other way 
 whither they could turn themselves for deliver- 
 ance, they made haste the same way with the 
 soldiers, and went to Claudius. But those that 
 had the greatest luck in flattering the good 
 fortune of Claudius betimes, met them before 
 the walls with theii naked swords, and there was 
 reason to fear that those that came first might 
 have been in danger, before Claudius could know 
 what violence the soldiers were going to offer 
 them, had not Agrippa run before, and told him 
 what a dangerous thing they were going about, 
 and that unless he restrained the violence of 
 these men, who were in a fit of madness against 
 the patricians, he would lose those on whose ac- 
 count it was most desirable to rule, and would 
 be emperor over a desert. 
 
 5. When Claudius heard this he restrained 
 the violence of the soldiery, and received the 
 senate into the camp, and treated them after 
 an obliging manner, and went out with them 
 presently, to offer their thank-offerings to God, 
 which were proper upon his first coming to the 
 empire. Moreover, he bestowed upon Agrippa 
 his whole paternal kingdom immediately, and 
 added to it, besides those countries that had 
 been given by Augustus to Herod, Trachonitis, 
 and Auranitis, and still beddes these, that king- 
 dom which was called the kingdom of Lysanias. 
 This gift he declared to the people by a decree, 
 but ordered the magistrates to have the donation 
 engraved on the tables of brass, and to be set 
 up in the CapitoL He bestowed on his brother 
 Herod, who was also his son-in law, by marrying 
 [his daughter] Bernice, the kingdom of Chalcis. 
 
 6. So now riches flowed in to Agrippa by his 
 enjoyment of so large a dominion ; nor did he 
 abuse the money he had on small matters, but 
 he began to encompass Jerusalem with such a 
 wall, which, had it been brought to perfection, 
 had made it impracticable for the Romans to 
 take it by siege ; but his death, which happened 
 at Cesarea, before he had raised the walls to 
 their due height, prevented him. He had then 
 reigned three years, as he had governed his 
 tetrarchies three other years. He left behind 
 him three daughters, born to him by Cypros, 
 Bernice, Mariamne, and Drusilla ; and a son 
 born of the same mother, whose name was 
 Agrippa : he was left a very young child, so that 
 Claudius made the country a Roman province, 
 and sent Cuspius Fadus to be its procurator, and 
 after him Tiberius Alexander, who, making no 
 alterations of the ancient laws, kept the nation 
 in tranquillity. Now after this, Herod the king 
 of Chalcis died, and left behind him two sons, 
 born to him of his brother's daughter Bernice ; 
 their names were Berniciaiius, and Hyrcanus. 
 [He also left behind him] Aristobulus, whom he 
 had by his former wife Mariamne. There was 
 besides, another brother of his that died a pri- 
 vate person, his name was also Aristobulus, who 
 left behind him a daughter, whose name was 
 Jotape : and these, as I have formerly said, were 
 the children of Aristobulus, the son of Herod ; 
 which Aristobulus and Alexander were born 
 to Herod by Hariamne, and were slain by him. 
 But as for Alexander's posterity, they reigned in 
 Armenia. 
 
 CHAPTEK XIL 
 
 MANY TUMULTS UNDER CUMANUS, WHICH WERE 
 COMPOSED BY QUADRATUS. FELIX IS PROCU- 
 RATOR OF JUDEA. AGRIPPA IS ADVANCED FROM 
 CHALCIS TO A GREATER KINGDOM. 
 
 1. Now after the death of Herod, king of Chal- 
 
 cis, Claudius set Agrippa, the son of Agrippa, 
 over his uncle's kingdom, while Cumanus took 
 upon him the office of procurator of the rest, 
 which was a Roman province, and therein he 
 succeeded Alexander ; under which Cumanus 
 began the troubles, and the Jews' ruin came on ; 
 for when the multitude were come together to 
 Jerusalem, to the feast of unleavened bread, and 
 a Roman cohort stood over the cloisters of the 
 temple, (for they always were armed and kept 
 guard at the festivals, to prevent any innovation 
 which the multitude thus gathered together 
 might make,) one of the soldiers pulled back his 
 garment, and cowering down after an indecent 
 manner, turned his breech to the Jews, and 
 spake such words as you might expect upon such 
 a posture. At this the whole multitude had in- 
 dignation, and made a clamour to Cumanus, th" t 
 he would punish the soldier ; while the rasher 
 part of the youth, and such as were naturally 
 the most tumultuous, fell to fighting, and caught 
 up stones, and threw them at the soldiers. Upon 
 which Cumanus was afraid lest all the people 
 should make an assault upon him, and sent to 
 call for more armed men, who, when they came 
 in great numbers into the cloisters, the Jews 
 were in a very great consternation; and being 
 beaten out of the temple, they ran into the city ; 
 and the violence with which they crowded to get 
 out was so great, that they trod upon each other, 
 and squeezed one another, till ten thousand of 
 them were killed, insomuch that this feast be- 
 came the cause of mourning to the whole nation, 
 and every family lamented [their own relations.] 
 
 2. Now there followed after this another cala- 
 mity, which arose from a tumult made by rob- 
 bers ; for at the public road of Beth-horen, one 
 Stephen, a servant of Caesar, carried some furni- 
 ture, which the robbers fell upon and seized. 
 Upon this Cumanus sent men to go round about 
 to the neighbouring villages, and to bring theii 
 inhabitants to him bound, as laying it to their 
 charge that they had not pursued after the 
 thieves, and caught them. Now here it was 
 that a certain soldier finding the sacred book of 
 the law, tore it to pieces, and threw it into the 
 fire.* Hereupon the Jews were in great dis- 
 order, as if their whole country were in a flame,, 
 and assembled themselves so many of them by 
 their zeal for their religion, as by an engine ; and 
 ran together with united clamour to Cesarea, tc 
 Cumanus, and made supplication to him that he 
 would not overlook this man, who had offered 
 such an affront to God, and to his law; but 
 punish him for what he had done. Accordingly, 
 he, perceiving that tho multitude would not be 
 quiet unless they had a comfortable answer from 
 him, gave order that the soldier should be 
 brought, and drawn through those that required 
 to have him punished, to execution ; which being 
 done, the Jews went their ways. 
 
 3. After this there happened a fight between 
 the Galileans and the Samaritans ; it happened 
 at a village called Geman, which is situate in the 
 great plain of Samaria ; where, as a great num- 
 ber of Jews were going up to Jerusalem to the 
 feast [of tabernacles,] a certain Galilean was 
 slain ; and besides, a vast number of people ran 
 together out of Galilee, in order to fight with 
 the Samaritans. But the principal men among 
 them came to Cumanus, and besought that, 
 before the evil became incurable, he would come 
 into Galilee and bring the authors of this murder 
 to punishment ; for that there was no other way 
 
 The Talmud, in recounting ten sad accidents fot 
 which the Jews ought to rend their garments, reckom 
 this for one : " When they hear that the law of God it 
 burnt." 
 
 a H
 
 482 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 | BOOK II. 
 
 to make the multitude separate, without comir.g 
 to blows. However, Cumanus postponed their 
 supplications to the other affairs he was then 
 about, aifcd sent the petitioners away without 
 success. 
 
 4. But when the affair of this murder came to 
 be told at Jerusalem, it put tho multitude into 
 disorder, and they left the feast ; and without 
 any generals to conduct them, they marched 
 with great violence to Samaria ; nor would they 
 be ruled by any of the magistrates that were set 
 over them ; but they were managed by one Elea- 
 zar, the son of Dineus, and by Alexander, in 
 these their thievish and seditious attempts. 
 These men fell upon those that were in the 
 neighbourhood of the Acrabatene toparchy, and 
 slew them, without sparing any age, and set the 
 villages on fire. 
 
 5. But Cumanus took one troop of horsemen, 
 called the troop of Sebaste, out of Cesarea, and 
 came to the assistance of those that were spoiled ; 
 he also seized upon a great number of those that 
 followed Eleazar, and slew more of them. And 
 as for the rest of the multitude of those that 
 went so zealously to fight with the Samaritans, 
 the rulers of Jerusalem ran out, clothed with 
 sackcloth, and having ashes on their heads, and 
 begged of them to- go their ways, lest by their 
 attempt to revenge themselves upon the Sama- 
 itaus, they should provoke tho Romans to come 
 .gainst Jerusalem ; to hava compassion upon 
 
 their country and temple, their children a.'d 
 their wives, and not bring the utmost dangers of 
 destruction upon them, in order to avenge- them- 
 selves upon one Galilean only. The Jews com- 
 plied with these persutsions of theirs, and dis- 
 persed themselves : bv b still there were a great 
 number who betook themselves to robbing, in 
 hopes of impunity; and rapines and insurrec- 
 tions of the bolder sort happened over the whole 
 country. And the men of power among the 
 Samaritans came to Tyre, to Ummidius Quad- 
 ratus,* the president of Syria, and desired that 
 they that had laid waste the country might be 
 punished : the great men also of the Jew 
 Jonathan the son of Aiianus, tho "nigh-priest, 
 came thither, and said that tho Samaritans were 
 the beginners of the disturbance, on account of 
 that murder they had committed ; and that 
 Cumanus had given occasion to what had hap- 
 pened by his un willingness to punish the ori- 
 ginal authors of that murder. 
 
 6. But Quadratus put both parties off for that 
 time, and told them, that when he should come 
 to those places he would make a diligent inquiry 
 after every circumstance. After which he went 
 to Cesarea, and crucified all those whom Cum- 
 anus had taken alive ; and when from thince he 
 was come to the city Lydda, he heard the affair 
 of the Samaritans, and sent for eighteen of the 
 Jews, whom he had learned to Lave been con- 
 cerned in that fight, and beheaded them ; but 
 he sent two others of those that were of the 
 greatest power among them, and both Jonathan 
 and Ananias, the high priests, as ulna Aminus 
 the son of this Ananias, and certain others that 
 were eminent among the Jews, to Caesar; as he 
 did in like manner by the most illustrious of the 
 Samaritans. He also ordered that Cumauus [the 
 procurator] and Celer the tribune should sail 
 to Rome, in order to give an account of what 
 Lad been done to Cimsar. When he had fl. 
 these matters, lie went up from Lydda to Jeru- 
 Balein, and finding the multitude celebrating the, 
 
 * This Ummidius, or Nuaidius" or, as Tacitus calls 
 him, Vinidius Quadratus, is mentioned in an ancient 
 Inscription, still preserved which calls him Ummidiiu 
 piMdrodu. 
 
 feast of unleavened bread without any tumult, 
 he returned to Antioch. 
 
 7. Now when Caesar at Rome had heard what 
 Cumanus and the Samaritans had to say, (where 
 it was done in the healing of Agrippa, who zeal- 
 ously espoused the cause of the Jews, as in like 
 manner many of the great men stood by Cum- 
 anus,) he condemned the Samaritans, and com- 
 manded that three of the most powerful men 
 among them should be put to death: he banished 
 Cumanus, and sent Celer bound to Jerusalem, 
 to be delivered over to the Jews to be tor- 
 mented ; that he should be drawn round the 
 city, and then beheaded. 
 
 8. After this, Caesur sent Felii,t the brother 
 of Pallas, to be procurator of Galilee, and Sam- 
 aria, and Perea, and removed Agrippa from 
 Chalcis into a greater kingdom ; for he gave bun 
 the tetrarchy which had belonged to Philip, 
 which contained Batauea, Trachonitis, and 
 Gaulonitis : he also added to it the kingdom of 
 Lysanias, and that province [Abilene] which 
 Varus had governed. But Claudius himself, 
 when he had administered the ggvernmeut thir- 
 teen years eight months and twenty days, died, 
 and left Nero to be his successor in the empire, 
 whom he had adopted by his wife Agrippina's 
 delusions, in order to be his successor, although 
 he had a son of his own whose name was Britan- 
 nicus, by Messalina his former wife, and a daugh- 
 ter whose name waa Octavia, whom he had 
 married to Nero ; he had also another daughter 
 by Petina, whose name was Antonia, 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 NERO ADB3 POUB CITIES TO AGKIPPA'S KINGDOM : 
 BUT THE OTHER PAKT OF JUJJEA WERE UNDEB 
 FELIX. THE DISTURBANCES WHICH WERE 
 BA1SED BY THE SICAKII, THE MAGICIANS, AND 
 AN EGYPTIAN FALSE PROPHET. THE JEWS AND 
 8YEJANS HAVE A CONTEST AT CESAREA. 
 
 1. Now as to the many things in which Nero 
 acted like a madman, out of the extravagant de- 
 gree of the felicity and riches which he enjoyed, 
 and by that means u.sed his good fortune to the 
 injury of others ; and after what manner he slew 
 his brother, and wife, and mother ; from whom 
 his barbarity spread itself to others that were 
 most nearly related to him ; and how, at laat, 
 he was so distracted that he became an actor in 
 the scenes, and upon the theatre, I omit to say 
 any more about them, because there are writers 
 enough upon those subjects eveiywhere ; but I 
 shall turn myself to tlio.se action** of his time in 
 which the Jews were concerned. 
 
 2. Nero therefore bestowed the Kingdom of 
 the lesser Armenia upon Aristobulus, Herod's 
 son,J and he added to Agrippa 's kingdom four 
 cities, witli the toparchies to them belonging : I 
 mean Abila, and that Julias which is in Perea, 
 Tarichea also, and Tiberias of Galilee ; but over 
 the rest of Judea he made Felix procurator. 
 This Felix took Eleazar the arch-robber, and 
 many that were with him, alive, when they had 
 
 t Take the character of this Felix (who is well knowi. 
 nrom the Acts of the Apostles, particularly from his 
 trembling when St Paul discoursed of "righteousness, 
 chastity, and judgment to come," (Acts xxiv. 25 ;) in 
 the words of Tacitus, produced here by Dean Aldrich : 
 "Felix exercised the authority of a king, with the dis- 
 position of a slave, and relying upon the great power 
 of his brother Pallas at court, thought he might sfel} 
 be guilty of all kinds of wicked practices." 
 
 I i. t. Herod, king of Chalcis.
 
 CHAP. XIV.J 
 
 WARS OP THE JEWS. 
 
 ravaged the country for twenty yeara together, 
 and sent them to Rome ; but as to the number 
 of the robbers whom he caused to be crucified, 
 uid of whom were caught among them, and 
 those he brought to punishment, they were a 
 multitude not to be enumerated. 
 
 3. When the country was purged of these, 
 there sprang up another sort of robbers in Je- 
 rusalem, which were called Sicarii, who slew 
 meu in the daytime, and in the midst of the 
 city ; this they did chiefly at the festivals, when 
 they mingled themselves among the multitude, 
 and concealed daggers under their garments, 
 with which they stabbed those that were their 
 enemies ; and when any fell down dead, the 
 murderers became a part of those that had in- 
 dignation against them ; by which means they 
 appeared persons of such reputation, that they 
 could by no means be discovered. The first 
 man who was slain by them was Jonathan the 
 high priest, after whose death many were slain 
 every day, while the fear men were in of being 
 so served" was more afflicting than the calamity 
 itself ; and while everybody expected death 
 every hour, as men do hi war, so men were ob- 
 liged to look before them, and to take notice of 
 their enemies at a great distance ; nor, if their 
 friends were coming to them, durst they trust 
 them any longer ; but, in the midst of their sus- 
 picions and guarding of themselves, they were 
 slain. Such was the celerity of the plotters 
 against them, and so cunning was their contri- 
 vance. 
 
 4. There was also another body of wicked men 
 gotten together, not so impure in their actions, 
 but more wicked in their intentions, who laid 
 waste the happy state of the city no less than 
 did these murderers. These were such men as 
 deceived and deluded the people under pretence 
 of divine inspiration, but were for procuring in- 
 novations and changes of the government ; and 
 these prevailed with the multitude to act like 
 madmen, and went before them into the wilder- 
 ness, as pretending that God would there shew 
 them the signal of liberty ; but Felix thought 
 this procedure was to be the beginning of a 
 revolt ; so he sent some horsemen and footmen, 
 both armed, who destroyed a great number of 
 them. 
 
 5. But there was an Egyptian false prophet 
 that did the Jews more mischief than the for- 
 mer ; for he was a cheat, and pretended to be a 
 prophet also, and got together thirty thousand 
 men that were deluded by him ; these he led 
 round about from the wilderness to the mount 
 which is called the Mount of Olives, and was 
 ready to break into Jerusalem by force from that 
 place ; and if he could but once conquer the Ro- 
 man garrison and the people, he,hitended to do- 
 mineer over them by the assistance of those 
 guards of his who were to break into the city 
 with him ; but Felix prevented his attempt, and 
 met him with his Roman soldiers, while all the 
 people assisted him in his attack upon him, inso- 
 much that when it came to a battle, the Egyp- 
 tian ran away with a few others, while the 
 greatest part of those that were with him were 
 either destroyed or taken alive ; but the rest of 
 the multitude were dispersed every one to their 
 own homes, and there concealed themselves. 
 
 6. Now when these were quieted, it hap- 
 pened, as it does in a diseased body, that another 
 part was subject to an inflammation ; for a com- 
 pany of deceivers and robbers got together, and 
 persuaded the Jews to revolt, and exhorted them 
 to assert their liberty, inflicting death on those 
 that continued in obedience to the Roman go- 
 vernment, and saying, that such as willingly 
 
 chose slavery ought to be forced from such their 
 desired inclinations ; for they parted themselves 
 into different bodies, and lay in wait up and 
 down the country, and plundered the houses of 
 the great men, and slew the men themselves, 
 and set the villages on fire ; and this till all Judea 
 was filled with the effects of their madness. 
 And thus the flame was every day more and 
 more blown up, till it came to a direct war. 
 
 7. There was also another disturbance at Ce- 
 sarea : those Jews who were mixed with the Sy- 
 rians that lived there, raising a tumult against 
 them. The Jews pretended that the city was 
 theirs, and said that he who built it was a Jew ; 
 meaning king Herod. The Syrians confessed 
 also that its builder was a Jew ; but they still 
 said, however, that the city was a Grecian city ; 
 for that he who set up statues and temples in it 
 could not design it for Jews. On which account 
 both parties had a contest with one another; 
 and this contest increased so much, that it came 
 at last to arms, and the bolder sort of them 
 marched out to fight ; for the elders of the Jews 
 were not able to put a stop to their own people 
 that were disposed to be tumultuous, and the 
 Greeks thought it a shame for them to be over- 
 come by the Jews. Now these Jews exceeded 
 the others in riches and strength of body ; but 
 the Grecian part had the advantage of assistance 
 from the soldiery ; for the greatest part of the 
 Roman garrison was raised out of Syria ; and be- 
 ing thus related to the Syrian part, they were 
 ready to assist it. However, the governors of 
 the city were concerned to keep all quiet, and 
 whenever they caught those that were most fo 
 fighting on either side, they punished them with 
 stripes and bonds. v et did not the sufferings of 
 those that were canght affright the remainder, 
 cr make them desist ; but they were still more 
 and more exasperated, and deeper engiged in the 
 sedition. And as Felix came once into the mar- 
 ket-place, and commanded the Jews, when they 
 had beaten the Syrians, to go then" ways, and 
 threatened them if they would not, and they 
 would not obey him, he sent his soldiers out upon 
 them, and slew a great many of them, upon 
 which it fell out that what they had was plun- 
 dered. And as the sedition still continued, he 
 chose out the most eminent men on both sides 
 as ambassadors to Nero, to argue about theii 
 several privileges. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 FESTU8 SUCCEEDS FELIX, WHO IS 8UCCEEDKD m 
 ALBINUS, AS HE IS BY FLORUS ; WHO, BY THK 
 BARBARITY OF HIS GOVERNMENT, FORCES THE 
 JEWS INTO THE WAR. 
 
 g 1. Now it was that Festus succeeded Felix as 
 procurator, and made it his business to correct 
 those that made disturbances in the country. 
 So he caught the greatest part of the robbeia, 
 and destroyed a great many of them. But thet 
 Albinus, who succeeded Festus, did not execute 
 his office as the other had done ; nor was there 
 sny sort of wickedness that could be named but 
 ha had a hand in it. Accordingly, he did not 
 only, in his political cajucity, steal and pluudei 
 every one's substance, nor did he only burden 
 the whole nation with taxes, but he permitted 
 the relations of such as were in prison for rob- 
 bery, and had been laid there, either by the so- 
 nata of every city, or by the former procurator, 
 to redeem them for money ; and nobody r..- 
 maiupd in the prisons as a malefactor but he wLc
 
 184 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK ii 
 
 gave iiim nothing. At this time it was that the 
 enterprises of the seditious at Jerusalem were 
 very formidable ; the principal m'jn among them 
 pui chasing leave of Albinus to go on with their 
 seditious practices ; while that part of the people 
 who delighted in disturbances joined themselves 
 to such as had fellowship with Albinus : and 
 every one of these wicked wretches were encom- 
 passed with his band of robbers, while he him- 
 self, like an arch-robber, or a tyrant, made a 
 figure among his company, and abused his autho- 
 rity over those about him, in order to plunder 
 those that lived quietly. The effect of which 
 was this, that those who lost their goods were 
 forced to hold their peace, when they had reason 
 to shew great indignation at what they had suf- 
 fered ; but those who had escaped were forced 
 to flatter him that deserved to be punished, out 
 of the fear they were in of suffering equally with 
 the others. Upon the whole, nobody durst 
 speak their minds, for tyranny was generally to- 
 lerated ; and at this time were those seeds sown 
 which brought the city to destruction. 
 
 2. And although such was the character of 
 Albinus, yet did Gessius Floras, who succeeded 
 him, demonstrate him to have been a most ex- 
 cellent person, upon the comparison : for the 
 former did the greatest part of his rogueries in 
 private, and with a sort of dissimulation; but 
 Gessius did his unjust actions to the harm of 
 the nation after a pompous manner ; and as 
 though he had been sent as an executioner to 
 punish condemned malefactors, he omitted no 
 sort of rapine, or of vexation : where the case 
 was really pitiable, he was most barbarous ; and 
 in things of the greatest turpitude, he was most 
 impudent ; nor could any one outdo him in dis- 
 guising the truth ; nor could any one contrive 
 more subtle ways of deceit than he did. He in- 
 deed thought it but a petty offence to get money 
 out of single persons ; so he spoiled whole cities, 
 and ruined entire bodies of men at once, and did 
 almost publicly proclaim it all the country over, 
 that they had liberty given them to turn rob- 
 bers, upon this condition, that he might go 
 shares with them in the spoils. Accordingly, 
 this his greediness of gain was the occasion that 
 entire toparchies were brought to desolation ; 
 and a great many of the people left their own 
 country, and fled into foreign provinces. 
 
 3. And truly, while Cestius Gallus was presi- 
 dent of the province of Syria, nobody durst do 
 BO much as send an embassage to him against 
 Floras ; but when he was come to Jerusalem, 
 upon the approach of the feast of unleavened 
 bread, the people came about him not fewer in 
 cumber thsm three millions : * these besought 
 him to cdmmiserate the calamities of their 
 nation, and cried out upon Floras as the bane of 
 their country. But as he was present, and stood 
 by Cestius, he laughed at their words. How- 
 ever, Cestius, when he had quieted the multi- 
 tude, and had assured them that he would take 
 care that Florus should hereafter treat them in 
 a more gentle manner, returned to Antioch; 
 Florus also conducted him as far as Cesarea, 
 and deluded him, though he had at that very 
 time the purpose of shewing his anger at the 
 nation, and procuring a war upon them, by 
 which means alone it was that he supposed he 
 might conceal his enormities ; for he expected 
 
 * Here we may note, that 3,000,000 of the Jews were 
 present at the passoyer, A.D. 65 ; which confirms what 
 
 calculation, come to 3,078,000. 
 Met. 3. 
 
 tiee b. vi. chap. ix. 
 
 that, if the peace continued, he should have the 
 Jews for his accusers before Caesar ; but that if 
 he could procure them to make a revolt, he 
 should divert their laying lesser crimes to his 
 charge, by a misery that was so much greater ; 
 he therefore did every day augment their calami- 
 ties, in order to induce them to a rebellion. 
 
 4. Now at this time it happened that the Gre- 
 cians at Cesarea had been too hard for the Jews, 
 and had obtained of Nero the government of the 
 city, and had brought the judicial determination : 
 at the same time began the war, in the twelfth 
 year of the reign of Nero, and the seventeenth of 
 the reign of Agrippa, in the month of Artemis- 
 sus [Jyar.] Now the occasion of this war was 
 by no means proportionable to those heavy cala- 
 mities which it brought upon us ; for the Jews 
 that dwelt at Cesarea had a synagogue near the 
 place, whose owner was a certain Cesarean 
 Greek : the Jews had endeavoured frequently 
 to have purchased the possession of the place, 
 and had offered many times its value for its 
 price ; but as the owner overlooked their offers, 
 so did he raise other buildings upon the place, 
 in way of affront to them, and made working- 
 shops of them, and left them but a narrow pas- 
 sage, and such as was very troublesome for them 
 to go along to their synagogue ; whereupon the 
 warmer part of the Jewish youth went hastily 
 to the workmen, and forbade them to build 
 there ; hut as Florus would not permit them to 
 use force, the great men of the Jews, with John 
 the publican, being in the utmost distress what 
 to do, persuaded Florus, with the offer of eight 
 talents, to hinder the work. He then, being in- 
 tent upon nothing but getting money, promised 
 he would do for them all they desired of him, 
 and then went away from Cesarea to Sebaste, 
 and left the sedition to take its full course, as if 
 he had sold a licence to the Jews to fight it 
 out. 
 
 5. Now on the next day, which was the seventh 
 day of the week, when the Jews were crowding 
 apace to their synagogue, a certain man of Cesa- 
 rea, of a seditious temper, got an earthen vessel, 
 and set it, with the bottom upward, at the en- 
 trance of that synagogue, and sacrificed birds. 
 This thing provoked the Jews to an incurable 
 degree, because their laws were affronted, and 
 the place was polluted; whereupon the sober 
 and moderate part of the Jews thought it proper 
 to have recourse to their governors again, while 
 the seditious part, and such as were in the fer- 
 vour of their youth, were vehemently inflamed 
 to fight. The seditious also among [the Gentiles 
 of] Cesarea stood ready for the same purpose ; 
 for they had, by agreement, sent the man to 
 sacrifice beforehand [as ready to support him ;] 
 so that it soon came to blows. Hereupon Ju- 
 cundus, the master of the horse, who was ordered 
 to prevent the fight, came thither, and took 
 away the earthen vessel, and endeavoured to put 
 a stop to the sedition, but when he was over- 
 come by the violence of the people of Cesarea, 
 the Jews caught up their book of the law, and 
 retired to Narbata, which is a place to them be- 
 longing, distant from Cesarea sixty furlongs. 
 But John, and twelve of the principal men with 
 him, went to Florus, to Sebaste, and made a 
 lamentable complaint of their case, andbesouglit 
 him to help them ; and with all possible decency, 
 put him in mind of the eight talents they had 
 given him ; but he had the men seized upon, and 
 put in prison, and accused them for carrying the 
 books of the law out of Cesarea, 
 
 6. Moreover, as to the citizens of Jerusalem, 
 although they took this matter very ill, yet did 
 they restrain their passion ; but Florus acted
 
 CHAP. XV.] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 480 
 
 herein as if he had been hired, and blew up the 
 war into a flame, and sent some to take seven- 
 teen talents out of the sacred treasure, and pre- 
 tended that Caesar wanted them. At this the 
 people were in confusion immediately, and ran 
 together to the temple, with prodigious clamours, 
 and called upon Caesar by name, and besought 
 lum to free them from the tyranny of Florus. 
 Some also of the seditious cried out upon Florus, 
 and cast the greatest reproaches upon him, and 
 earned a basket about, and begged some spells 
 of money for him, as for one that was destitute 
 of possessions, and in a miserable condition. 
 Yet was not he made ashamed hereby of his lovo 
 of money, but was more enraged and provoked 
 to get still more ; and instead of coming to 
 Cesarea, as he ought to have done, and quenched 
 the flame of war, which was beginning thence, 
 an^ so take away the occasion of any disturb- 
 ances, on which account it was that he had re- 
 ceived a reward [of eight talents,] he marched 
 hastily with an army of horsemen and footmen 
 against Jerusalem, that he mighb gain his will 
 by the arms of the Romans, and might, by bis 
 terror, and by his threatenings, bring the city 
 into subjection. 
 
 7. But the people were desirous of making 
 Florus ashamed of his attempt, and met his sol- 
 diers with acclamations, and put themselves in 
 order to receive him very submissively ; but ho 
 sent Capito, a centurion, beforehand, with fifty 
 soldiers, to bid them go back, and not now make 
 a show of receiving him in an obliging manner, 
 whom they had so foully reproached before ; and 
 said that it was incumbent on them, in case they 
 had generous souls, and free speakers, to jest 
 upon him to his face, and appear to be lovers of 
 liberty, not only in words but with their 
 weapons also. With this message was the mul- 
 titude amazed ; and upon the coming of Capito's 
 horsemen into the midst of them, they were dis- 
 persed before thry could salute Florus, or mani- 
 fest their submissive behaviour to him. Accord- 
 ingly they retired to their own houses, and 
 spent that night in ^f ear and confusion of face 
 
 8. Now at this* time Florus took Tip his 
 quarters at the palace ; and on the next euiy he 
 had his tribunal set before it, and sat upon it, 
 when the high priests, and the men of power, 
 and those of the greatest eminence in the city, 
 came all before that tribunal ; upon which 
 Florus commanded them to deliver up to him 
 those that had reproached him, and told them 
 that they should themselves partake of the 
 vengeance to them belonging, if they did not 
 produce the criminals ; but these demonstrated 
 that the people were peaceably disposed, and 
 they begged forgiveness for those that had 
 spoken amiss ; for that it was no wonder at all 
 that in so great a multitude there should be 
 some more daring than they ought to be, and by 
 reason of their younger age, foolish also ; and 
 that it was impossible to distinguish those that 
 offended from the rest, while every one was 
 sorry for what he had done, and denied it out of 
 fear of what would follow : that he ought, how- 
 ever, to provide for the peace of the nation, and 
 to take such counsels as might preserve the city 
 for the Romans, and rather, for the sake of a 
 great number of innocent people, to forgive a 
 few that were guilty, than for the sake of a few 
 of the wicked, to put so large and good a body of 
 men into disorder. 
 
 9. Florus was more provoked at this, and 
 called out aloud to the soldiers to plunder that 
 which was called the Upper Market Place, and 
 to slay such as they met with. So the soldiers, 
 taking this exhortation of their commander in a 
 
 sense agreeable to their desire of gain, did not 
 only plunder the place they were sent to, but 
 forcing themselves into every house, they slew 
 its inhabitants ; so the citizens fled along the 
 narrow lanes, and the soldiers slew those that 
 they caught, and no method of plunder was 
 omitted ; they also caught many of the quiet 
 people, and brought them before Florus, whom 
 he first chastised with stripes, and then cruci- 
 fied. Accordingly, the whole number of those 
 that were destroyed that day, with their wive* 
 and children (for they did not spare the infants 
 themselves,) was about three thousand six hun- 
 dred ; and what made this calamity the heavier, 
 was this new method of Roman barbarity ; for 
 Florus ventured then to do what no one had 
 done before, that is, to have men of the eques- 
 trian order whipped,* and nailed to the cross 
 before his tribunal ; who, although they were by 
 birth Jews, yet were they of Roman dignity not- 
 withstanding. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 CONCERNING BERNICE'S PETITION TO FLORUS, TO 
 SPARE THE JEWS, BUT IN VAIN ; AS ALSO HOW, 
 AFTER THE SEDITIOUS FLAME WAS QUENCHED, 
 IT WAS KINDLED AGAIN BY FLORUS. 
 
 1. ABOUT this very time king Agrippa WM 
 going to Alexandria, to congratulate Alexander 
 upon his having obtained the government of 
 Egypt from Nero ; but as his sister Bernice was 
 come to Jerusalem, and saw the wicked practices 
 of the soldiers, she was sorely affected at it, and 
 frequently sent the masters of her horse and her 
 guards to Florus, and begged of him to leave off 
 these slaughters ; but he would not comply with 
 her request nor have any regard either to the 
 multitude of those already slain, or to the no- 
 bility of her that interceded, but only to the ad- 
 vantage he should make by his plundering; nay, 
 this violence of the soldiers broke out to such a 
 degree of madness, that it spent itself on the 
 queen herself; for they did not only torment 
 and destroy those whom they had caught under 
 her very eyes, but indeed had killed herself also, 
 unless she had prevented them by flying to the 
 palace, and had stayed there all night with her 
 guards, which she had about her for fear of an 
 insult from the soldiers. Now she dwelt then 
 at Jerusalem, in order to perform a vowf which 
 she had made to God ; for it is usual with those 
 that had been either afflicted with a distemper, 
 or with any other distresses, to make vows ; and 
 for thirty days before they are to offer their 
 sacrifices, to abstain from wine, and to shave tha 
 hair of their head. Which things Bernice was 
 now performing, and stood barefoot before Flo- 
 nis's tribunal, and besought him [to spare the 
 Jews.] Yet could she neither have reverence 
 
 * Here we have examples of native Jews who wer 
 of the equestrian order among the Romans, and so 
 ou^ht never to have been whipped or crucified, accord- 
 ing to the Roman laws. See almost the like case in St 
 Paul himself. Acts xxii. 25-29. 
 
 t This vow which Bernice came now to accomplish 
 at Jerusalem, was not that of a Nazarite, but such a 
 one as religious Jews used to make, in hopes of any 
 deliverance from a disease, or other danger. However, 
 these thirty days' abode at Jerusalem seems to be too 
 Ion- unless it were wholly voluntary in this great lady. 
 It is'not required in the law of Moses relating to Na- 
 zarites Num. vi. ; and is very different from St Paul'i 
 time for such preparation, which ws but one day, Act* 
 xxi. 26.
 
 186 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK it 
 
 paid to her, nor could she escape without some 
 danger of being slain herself. 
 
 2. This happened upon the sixteenth day of 
 the month Artemissus, [Jyar.] Now on the 
 next day, the multitude, who were in a great 
 agony, ran together to the upper market-place, 
 and made the loudest lamentations for those 
 that had perished; and the greatest part of the 
 cries were such as reflected on Florus ; at which 
 the men of power were affrighted, together with 
 the high priests, and rent their garments, and 
 fell down before each of them, and besought 
 them to leave off, and not to provoke Florus to 
 some incurable procedure, besides what they 
 had already suffered. Accordingly, the multi- 
 tude complied immediately, out of reverence to 
 those that had desired it of them, and out of the 
 hope they had that Florus would do them no 
 more injuries. 
 
 3. So Florus was troubled that the disturb- 
 ances were over, and endeavoured to kindle the 
 flame again, and sent for the high priests, with 
 the other eminent persons, and said the only 
 demonstration that the people would not make 
 any other innovations should be this, that they 
 must go out and meet the soldiers that were 
 ascending from Cesarea, whence two cohorts 
 were coming ; and while these men were ex- 
 horting the multitude so to do, he sent before- 
 hand, and gave directions to the centurions of 
 the cohorts, that they should give notice to 
 those that were under them, not to return the 
 Jews' salutations ; and that if they made any 
 reply to his disadvantage, they should make 
 use of their weapons. Now the high priests 
 assembled the multitude in the temple, and 
 desired them to go and meet the Romans, and 
 to salute the cohorts very civilly, before their 
 miserable case should become incurable. Now 
 the seditious part would not comply with these 
 persuasions ; but the consideration of those that 
 had been destroyed made them incline to those 
 that were boldest for action. 
 
 4. At this time it was that every piiest, and 
 every servant of God, brought out the 'holy 
 vessels, and the ornamental garments wherein 
 they used to minister in sacred things. The 
 harpers also, and the singers of hymns, came 
 out with their instruments of music, and fell 
 down before- the multitude, and begged of them, 
 they would preserve those holy ornaments to 
 them, and not to provoke the Romans to carry 
 off those sacred treasures. You might also see 
 then the high priests themselves, with dust 
 sprinkled in great plenty upon their heads, with 
 bosoms deprived of any covering but what was 
 rent ; these besought every one of the eminent 
 men by name, and the multitude in common, 
 that they would not for a small offence betray 
 their country to those that were desirous to 
 nave it laid waste ; saying, " What benefit will 
 it bring to the soldiers to have a salutation from 
 the Jews ? or what amendment of affairs will it 
 tiring you, if you do not now go out to meet 
 them ? and that if they saluted them civilly, all 
 handle would be cut off from Florus to begin a 
 war ; that they should thereby gain their ecnn- 
 try, and freedom from all further sufferings ; 
 and that, besides, it would be a sign of great 
 want of command of themselves, if they should 
 yield to a few seditious persons, while it was 
 fitter for them who were so great a people to 
 force the others to act soberly. " 
 
 5. By these persuasions, which they used to 
 the multitude and te the seditious, they re- 
 strained some by threatenings, and others by 
 the reverence that was paid them. After this 
 they led them out, and they met the soldiers 
 
 quietly, and after a composed manner, and 
 when they were come up with them, they 
 saluted them ; but when they made no answer, 
 the seditious exclaimed against Florus, which 
 was the signal given for falling upon them. 
 The soldiers therefore encompassed them pre- 
 sently, and struck them with their clubs, and 
 as they fled away, the horsemen trampled them 
 down ; so that a great many fell down dead by 
 the strokes of the Romans, and more by their 
 own violence in crushing one another.. Now 
 there was a terrible crowding about the gates, 
 and while every body was making haste to get 
 before another, the flight of them all was re- 
 tarded, and a terrible destruction there was 
 among those that fell down, for they were suffo- 
 cated, and broken to pieces by the multitude of 
 those that were uppermost; nor could any of 
 them be distinguished by his relations, in order 
 to the care of his funeral : the soldiers also who 
 beat them, fell upon those whom they overtook, 
 without shewing them any merpy, and thrust 
 the multitude through the place called Bezetha, 
 as they forced their way, in order to get in and 
 seize upon the temple, and the tower Antonia. 
 Florus also, being desirous to get those places 
 into his possession, brought such as were with 
 him out of the king's palace, and would have 
 compelled them to get as far as the citadel 
 [Antonia ;] but his attempt failed, for the people 
 immediately turned back upon him, and stopped 
 the violence of his attempt ; and as they stood 
 upon the tops of their houses, they threw their 
 darts at the Romans, who, as they were sorely 
 galled thereby, because those weapons came 
 from above, and they were not able to make a 
 pfissage through the multitude, which stopped 
 up tne narrow passages, they retired to the 
 i iamp which was at the palace. 
 
 6. But for the seditious, they were afraid lest 
 Florus should come again, and get possession of 
 the temple, through Antonia ; so they got im- 
 mediately upon those cloisters of the temple 
 that joined to. Antonia, and cut them down. 
 This cooled the avarice of Florus ; for whereas 
 he was eager to obtain the tfeasiires of God [in 
 the temple,] and on that account was desirous of 
 getting -in to Antonia, as soon as the cloisters 
 were broken down he left off his attempt ; he 
 then sent for the high priests and the sanhedrim, 
 and told them that he was indeed himself going 
 out of the city, but that he would leave them 
 as large a garrison as they should desire. Here- 
 upon they promised that they would make no 
 innovations, in case he would leave them one 
 band ; but not that which had fought with the 
 Jews, because the multitude bore ill-will against 
 . that band on account of what they had- suffered 
 from it ; so he changed the band as they de- 
 sired, and with the rest of his forces returned to 
 Cesarea. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 CESTTOS SENDS NEOPOLITANU8 THE TRIBUNE TO 
 SEE IN WHAT CONDITION THE AFFAIRS OF THE 
 JEWS WERE. AGRIPPA MAKES A SPEECH TO 
 THE PEOPLE OF THE JEWS, THAT HE MAY 
 DIVERT THEM FROM THEIR INTENTIONS OF MAK- 
 ING WAR WITH THE ROMANS. 
 
 1. HOWEVER, Florus contrived another way to 
 oblige the Jews to begin the war, .and sent to 
 Cestius and accused the Jews falsely of revolting 
 [from the Roman government,] and imputed the 
 beginning of the former fight to them, and pre-
 
 OHAP. XVI.] 
 
 WAES OF THE JEWS, 
 
 tended Miey had been the authors of that dis- 
 turbance, wherein they were only the sufferers. 
 Yet were not the governors of Jerusalem silent 
 upon this occasion, but did themselves write to 
 Cestius, as did Bernice also, about the illegal 
 practices of which Floras had been guilty against 
 the city ; who upon reading both accounts, con- 
 sulted with his captains [what he should do.] 
 Now some of them thought it best for Cestius 
 to go up with hi* army, either to punish the 
 revolt, if it was real, or to settle the Roman 
 affairs on a surer foundation, if the Jews con- 
 tinued quiet under them ; but he thought it 
 best himself to send one of his intimate friends 
 beforehand, to see the state of affairs, and to give 
 him a faithful account of the intentions of the 
 Jews, Accordingly, he sent one of his tribunes, 
 whose name was Neopolitanus, who met with 
 king Agrippa as he was returning from Alex- 
 andria, at Jamnia, and told him who it was that 
 sent him, and on what errands he was sent. 
 
 2. And here it was that the high priests s.n^ 
 men of power among the Jews, as well as the 
 sanhedrim, came to congratulate the king [upon 
 'ais safe return ;] and after they had paid their 
 -espects, they lamented their own calamities, 
 and related to him what barbarous treatment 
 they had met with from Florus. At which 
 oarbarity Agrippa had great indignation, but 
 transferred, after a subtle manner, his anger 
 towards those Jews whom he really pitied, that 
 he might beat down their high thoughts of 
 themselves, and would have them believe that 
 they had not been so unjustly treated, in order 
 to dissuade them from avenging themselves. So 
 these great men, as of better understanding than 
 the rest, and desirous of peace, because of the 
 possessions they had, understood that this rebuke 
 which the king' gave them was intended for their 
 good; but as to the people, they came sixty fur- 
 longs out of Jerusalem, and congratulated both 
 Agrippa and Neopolitanus ; but the wives of 
 those that had been slain came running first of 
 all and lamenting. The people also when they 
 heard their mourning, fell into lamentations 
 also, and besought Agrippa to assist them: they 
 also cried out to Neopolitanus, and complained 
 of the many miseries they had endured under 
 Florus; and they shewed them, when they were 
 come into the city, how the market-place was 
 made desolate, and the houses plundered. They 
 then persuaded Neopolitanus, by the means of 
 Agrippa, that he would walk round the city, 
 with on'y one servant, as far as, Siloam, that he 
 might h form himself that the Jews submitted 
 to all the rest of the Romans, and were only 
 displeased at Florus, by reason of his exceeding 
 barbarity to them. So he walked round, and 
 had sufficient experience of the good temper the 
 people were in, and then went up to the temple, 
 where he called the multitude together, and 
 highly commended them for their fidelity to the 
 Romans, and earnestly exhorted them to keep 
 the peace ; and having performed su ih parts of 
 divine worship at the temple as he was allowed 
 to do, he returned to Cestius. 
 
 3. But as for the multitude of the Jews, they 
 addressed themselves to the king, and to the 
 high priests, and desired they might have leave 
 to send ambassadors to Nero against Florus, and 
 not by their silence afford a suspicion that they 
 had been the occasion of such great slaughters 
 as had been made, and were disposed to revolt, 
 alleging that they should seem to have been the 
 first beginners of the war, if they did not prevent 
 the report by shewing who it WM that began it ; 
 and it appeared openly that they would not be 
 quiet, if anybody should hinder them from send- 
 
 ing such an embassage. But Agrippa, althougi 
 he thought it too dangerous a thing for them to 
 appoint men to go as the accusers of Florus, yet 
 did he not think it fit for him to overlook them, 
 as they were in a disposition for war. He 
 '.'u'iX'fore called the multitude together into a 
 large gallery, and placed his sister Bernice in 
 the house of the Asarnoneans, that she might be 
 seen by them, (which house was over the gallery, 
 at the passage to the upper city, where the 
 bridge joined the temple to the gallery,) and 
 spake to them as follows : 
 
 4. * " Had I perceived that you were all zeal- 
 ously disposed to go to war with the Romans, 
 and that the purer and more sincere part of the 
 people did not propose to live in peace, I had nc4 
 come out to you, nor been so bold as to give you 
 counsel ; for all discourses that tend to persuade 
 men to do what they ought to do is superfluous, 
 when the hearers are agreed to do the contrary. 
 But because some are earnest to go to war 
 because they are young, and without experience 
 of the miseries it brings ; and because some are 
 for it, out of an unreasonable expectation of re- 
 gaining their liberty, and because others hope to 
 get by it, and are therefore earnestly bent upon 
 it ; that in the confusion of your affairs they may 
 gain what belongs to those that are too weak to 
 resist them, I have thought proper to get you all 
 together, and to say to you what I think to be 
 for your advantage ; that so the former may grow 
 wiser, and change their minds, and that the best 
 men may come to no harm by the ill conduct of 
 some others And let not any one be tumultu- 
 ous against me, in case what they hear me say 
 do not please them ; for as to those that admit 
 of no cure, but are resolved upon a revolt, it will 
 still be in their power to retain the same senti- 
 ments after my exhortation is over ; but still 
 my discourse will f<dl to the ground, even with 
 relation to those that have a mind to hear me, 
 unless you will all keep silence. I am well 
 aware that many make a tragical exclamation 
 concerning the injuries that have been offered 
 you by your procurators, and concerning the 
 glorious advantages of liberty ; but before I be- 
 gin the inquiry, who you are that must go to war, 
 and who they are against whom you must fight, 
 I shall first separate those pretences that are 
 by some connected together ; for if yoii aim at 
 avenging yourselves on those that have done you 
 injury^ why do you pretend this to be a war 
 for recovering your liberty ? but if you think all 
 servitude intolerable, to what purpose serve your 
 complaints to particular governors . for if they 
 treated you with moderation it would still be 
 equally an unworthy thing to be in servitude. 
 Consider now the several cases that may be sup- 
 posed, how little occasion there is for your going 
 to war. Your first occasion is, the accusations 
 you have to make against your procurators : 
 now here you ought to be submissive to those in 
 authority, and not give them any provocation: 
 but when you reproach men greatly for small 
 offences, you excite those whom you reproach 
 to be your adversaries ; for this will only make 
 them leare off hurting you prirately, and with 
 some degree of mod^ty, and to lay what you 
 have waste openly. Now nothing so much 
 damps the force of strokes as bearing them with 
 patience ; and the quietness of those who are in- 
 
 * In this speech of king Agrippa we have an authen- 
 tic account of the extent and strength of the Roman 
 empire when the Jewish war began. He is the same 
 Arippa who said to Paul, " Almost thou persuudest 
 me to be a Christian," Acts xxvi. 28 ; and of whom 9t 
 Paul said, " He was expert in all the customs and qn> 
 tions of the Jews," v. 3.
 
 tss 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK u. 
 
 !ured, diverts the injurious persons from afflict- 
 )>..,'. But let us take it for granted that the 
 Roman ministers are injurious to you, and are 
 incurably severe ; yet are they not all the Ro- 
 mans who thus injure you ; nor hath Casar, 
 against whom you are going to make war, in- 
 jured you : it is not by their command that any 
 wicked governor is sent to you ; for they who 
 are in the west cannot see those that are in the 
 east ; nor indeed is it easy for them there even 
 to hear what is done in these parts. Now it is 
 absurd to make war with a great many for the 
 sake of one ; to do so with such mighty people, 
 for a small cause ; and this when these people 
 are not able to know of what you complain : nay, 
 such crimes as we complain of may soon be cor- 
 rected, for the same procurator will not continue 
 for ever ; and probable it is that the successors 
 will come with more moderate inclinations. But 
 as for war, if it be once begun, it is not easily 
 laid down again, nor borne without calamities 
 coming therewith. However, as to the desire of 
 recovering your liberty, it is unseasonable to in- 
 dulge it so late ; whereas you ought to have la- 
 boured earnestly in old time that you might 
 never have lost it : for the first experience of 
 slavery was hard to be endured, and the struggle 
 that you might never have been subject to it 
 would have been just ; but that slave who hath 
 once been brought into subjection, and then runs 
 away, is rather a refractory slave than a lover of 
 liberty ; for it was then the proper time for 
 doing all things that was possible, that you 
 might have never admitted the Romans [into 
 your city] when Pompey first came into the 
 country. But so it was, that our ancestors and 
 their kings, who were in much better circum- 
 stances than we are, both as to money and 
 [strong] bodies, and [valiant] souls, did not bear 
 the onset of a small body of the Roman army. 
 And yet you who have not accustomed your- 
 selves to obedience from one generation to an- 
 other, and who are so much inferior to those who 
 first submitted in your circumstances, will ven- 
 ture to oppose the entire empire of the Romans ; 
 while those Athenians, who, in order to preserve 
 the liberty of Greece, did once set fire to their 
 own city ; who pursued Xerxes, that proud 
 prince, when he sailed upon the sea ; and could 
 not be contained by the seas, but conducted such 
 an army as was too broad for Europe ; and made 
 him run away like a fugitive in a single ship, 
 and brake so great a part of Asia at the lesser 
 Salamis, are yet at this time servants to the Ro- 
 mans ; and those injunctions which are sent 
 from Italy, become laws to the principal govern- 
 ing city of Greece. Those Lacedemonians also, 
 who got the great victories at Thermopylae and 
 Platea, and had Agesilaus, [for their king,] and 
 searched every corner of Asia, are content to ad- 
 mit the same lords. These Macedonians also, 
 who still fancy what great men their Philip and 
 Alexander were, and see that the latter had pro- 
 mised them the empire over the world, these 
 bear so great a change, and pay their obedience 
 to those whom fortune hath advanced in their 
 stead. Moreover, ten thousand other nations 
 there are, who had greater reason than we to 
 claim their entire liberty, and yet do submit. 
 You are the only people who think it a disgrace 
 to be servants to those to whom all the world 
 hnth submitted. What sort of an army do you 
 rely on ? What are the arms you depend on ? 
 Where is your fleet that may sieze upon the Ro- 
 man seas ? and where are those treasures that 
 may be sufficient for your undertakings ? Do 
 you suppose, I pray you, that you are to make 
 war with the Egyptians, and with the Arabians ? 
 
 Will you not carefully reflect upon the Roman 
 empire ? Will you not estimate your own weak- 
 ness ? Hath not your army been often beaten 
 even by your neighbouring nations, while the 
 power of the Romans is invincible in all parts 
 of the habitable earth ? nay, rather they seek for 
 somewhat still beyond that, for all Euphrates is 
 not a sufficient boundary for them on the east 
 side, nor the Danube on the north, and for their 
 southern limit, Lybia has been searched over by 
 them, as far as countries uninhabited, as is 
 Cadiz their limit on the west, nay, indeed, they 
 have sought for another habitable earth beyond 
 the ocean, and have carried their arms as far as 
 such British islands as were never known before. 
 What therefore do you pretend to do? Are you 
 richer than the Gauls, stronger than the Ger- 
 mans, wiser than the Greeks, more numerous 
 than all the men upon the habitable earth? 
 What confidence is it that elevates you to oppose 
 the Romans? Perhaps it will be said, it is hanl 
 to endure slavery. Yes; how much harder is io 
 to the Greeks, who were esteemed the noolust 
 of all people under the sun? These, although 
 they inhabit a large country, are in subjection 
 to six bundles of Roman rods. It is the same 
 case with the Macedonians, who have juster 
 reason to claim their liberty than you have. 
 What is the case of five hundred cities of Asia i 
 do they not submit to a single governor, and to 
 the consular bundle of rods? What need I 
 speak of the Henioclii, arid Colchi, and the na- 
 tion of Tauri, those that inhabit the Bosphorus, 
 and the nations about Pontus, and Meotis, who 
 formerly knew not so much as a lord of their 
 own, but are now subject to three thousand 
 armed men, and where forty long ships keep the 
 sea in peace, which before was not navigable, and 
 very tempestuous ? How strong a plea may 
 Bithynia, and Cappadocia, and the people of 
 Pamphylia, the Lycians, and Cilicians, put 
 in for liberty ! but they are made tributary 
 without an army. What are the circumstances 
 of the Thracians, whose country extends in 
 breadth five days' journey, and in length seven, 
 and is of a much more harsh constitution, and 
 much more defensible than yours, and, by the 
 rigour of its cold, sufficient to keep off armies 
 from attacking them? do not they submit 
 to two thousand men of the Roman garrisons ? 
 Are not the Illyrians, who inhabit the country 
 adjoining, as far as Dalmatia and the Danube, 
 governed by barely two legions ? by which also 
 they put a stop to the incursions of the Dacians ; 
 and for the Dalmatians, who have made such 
 frequent insurrections, in order to regain their 
 liberty, and who could never before be so 
 thoroughly subdued, but that they always ga- 
 thered their forces together again, and revolted, 
 yet are they now very quiet under one Roman 
 legion. Moreover, if great advantages might 
 provoke any people to revolt, the Gauls might 
 do it best of all, as being so thoroughly walled 
 round by nature ; on the east side of the Alps, 
 on the north by the river Rhine, on the south 
 by the Pyrenean mountains, and on the west by 
 the ocean. Now, although these Gauls have 
 such obstacles before them to prevent any at- 
 tack upon them, and have no fewer than three 
 hundred and five nations among them, nay, have, 
 as one may say, the fountains of domestic happi- 
 ness within themselves, and send out plentiful 
 streams of happiness over almost the whole 
 world, these bear to be tributary to the Romans, 
 and derive their prosperous condition from them; 
 and they undergo this, not because they are of 
 effeminate minds, or because they are of an ig- 
 noble itock, as having borne a war of eighty
 
 CHAP. XVI.] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 489 
 
 years, in order to preserve their liberty ; but bf 
 reason of the great regard they have to the 
 power of the Romans, and their good fortune, 
 which is of greater efficacy than their arms. 
 These Gauls, therefore, are kept in servitude by 
 twelve hundred soldiers, who are hardly so many 
 as are their cities ; nor hath the gold dug out of 
 the mines of Spain been sufficient for the support 
 of a war to preserve their liberty, nor could their 
 vast distance from the Romans by land and by 
 sea do it ; nor could the martial tribes of the 
 Lusitanians and Spaniards escape ; no more could 
 the ocean, with its tide, which yet was terrible 
 to the ancient inhabitants. Nay, the Romans 
 have extended their arms beyond the pillars of 
 Hercules, and have walked among the clouds, 
 upon the Pyrenean mountains, and have subdued 
 these nations ; and one legion is a sufficient guard 
 for these people, although they were so hard to 
 be conquered, and at a distance so remote from 
 Rome. Who is there among you that hath not 
 heard of the great number of the Germans ? 
 You have, to be sure, yourselves seen them to 
 be strong and tall, and that frequently, since 
 the Romans have them among their captives 
 everywhere ; yet these Germans, who dwell in 
 an immense* country, who have minds greater 
 than their bodies, and a soul that despises death, 
 and who are in rage more fierce than wild beasts, 
 have the Rhine for the boundary of their enter- 
 prises, and are tamed by eight Roman legions. 
 Such of them as were taken captives became 
 their servants ; and the rest of the entire nation 
 were obliged to save themselves by flight. Do 
 you also, who depend on the walls of Jerusalem, 
 consider what a wall the Britons had : for the 
 Romans sailed away to them, and subdued them 
 while they were encompassed by the ocean, and 
 inhabited an island that is not less than [the 
 continent of] this habitable earth, and four 
 legions are a sufficient guard to so large an 
 island : and why should I speak much more 
 about this matter, while the Parbhians, that 
 most warlike body of men, and lords of so many 
 nations, and encompassed with such mighty 
 forces, send hostages to the Romans ; whereby 
 you may see, if you please, even in Italy, the 
 noblest nation of the east, under the notion of 
 peace, submitting to serve them. Now, when 
 almost all people under the sun submit to the 
 Roman arms, will you be the only people that 
 make war against them? and this without re- 
 garding the fate of the Carthaginians, who, in 
 the midst of their brags of the great Hannibal, 
 and the nobility of their Phenician original, fell 
 by the hand of Scipio. Nor indeed have the 
 Cyrenians, derived from the Lacedemonians, nor 
 the Marmaridie, a nation extended as far as the 
 regions uninhabitable for want of water, nor 
 have the Syrtes, a place terrible to such as 
 barely hear it described, the Nasamons and 
 Moors, and the immense multitude of the Nu- 
 midians, been able to put a stop to the Roman 
 valour ; and as for the third i art of the habi- 
 table earth [Africa,] whose nations are so many, 
 that it is not easy to number them, and which 
 is bounded by the Atlantic Sea, and the Pillars 
 of Hercules, and feeds an innumerable multitude 
 of Ethiopians, as zar as the Red Sea, these have 
 the Romans subdued entirely. And besides the 
 annual fruits of the earth, which maintain the 
 multitude of the Romans for eight months in 
 the year, this, over and above, pays all sorts of 
 tribute, and affords revenues suitable to the ne- 
 cessities of tlie government. Nor do they, like 
 you, esteem such injunctions a disgrace to them, 
 although they have but one Roman legion that 
 abides among them ; and indeed what occasion 
 
 is there for shewing you the power of the Ro- 
 mans over remote countries, when it is so easy 
 to learn it from Egypt, in your neighbourhood 1 
 This country is extended as far as the Ethiopi- 
 ans, and Arabia the Happy, and borders upon 
 India ; it hath seven millions five hundred thou- 
 sand men, besides the inhabitants of Alexandria, 
 as may be learned from the revenue of the poll- 
 tax ; yet it is not ashamed to submit to the Ro- 
 man government, although it hath Alexandria 
 as a grand temptation to a revolt, by reason it is 
 so full of people and of riches, and is besides ex- 
 ceeding large, its length being thirty furlongs, 
 and its breadth no less than ten ; and it pays 
 more tribute to the Romans in one month than 
 you do in a year : p.ay, besides what it pays in 
 money, it sends com -do Rome that supports it 
 for four months [in the year :] it is also walled 
 round on all sides, either by almost impassable 
 deserts, or seas that have no havens, or by rivers, 
 or by lakes; yet have none of these things been 
 found too strong for the Roman good fortune ; 
 however, two legions that lie in that city are a 
 bridle both for the remoter parts of Egypt, and 
 for the parts inhabited by the more noble Mace- 
 donians. Where, then, are those people whom 
 you are to have for your auxiliaries ? Must they 
 come from parts of the world that are unin- 
 habited ? for all that are in the habitable earth 
 aie [under the] Romans. Unless any of you ex 
 tend his hopes as far as beyond the Euphrates, 
 and suppose that those of your own nation that 
 dwell in Adiabene will come to your assistance, 
 (but certainly these will not embarrass them- 
 selves with an unjustifiable war, nor if they 
 should follow such ill advice, will the Parthiana 
 permit them so to do ;) for it is their concern to 
 maintain the truce that is between them and the 
 Romans, and they will be supposed to break the 
 covenants between them, if any under their go- 
 vernment march against the Romans. What re- 
 mains therefore, is this, that yon have recourse 
 to divine assistance; but this is already on the 
 side of the Romans ; for it is impossible that so 
 vnst an empire should be settled without God's 
 providence. Reflect upon it, how impossible it 
 is your zealous observation of your religious cus- 
 toms to be here preserved, which are hard to be 
 observed, even when you fight with those whom 
 you are able to conquer ; and how can yon then 
 hope for God's assistance, when, by being forced 
 to transgress his law, you wiil make him turn his 
 face from you? and if you do observe the custom 
 of the Sabbath-days, and will not be prevailed 
 on to do anything thereon, you will easily be 
 taken, as was your forefathers by Pompey, who 
 was the busiest in his siege on those days on 
 which the besieged rested ; but if in time of war 
 you transgress the law of your country, I cannot 
 tell on whose account you will afterward go to 
 war ; for your concern is but one, that you do 
 nothing against any of your forefathers; and 
 how will you call upon God to assist you, when 
 you are voluntarily transgressing against his re- 
 ligion? Now, all men that go to war, do it 
 either as depending on divine or on human assist- 
 ance ; but since your going to war will cut off 
 both those assistances, those that are for going 
 to war choose evident destruction. What hin- 
 ders you from slaying your children and wives 
 with your own hands, and burning this most ex- 
 cellent native city of ycurs? for by this mad 
 prank you will, however, escape the reproach of 
 being beaten ; but it were best, O my friends, ifc 
 were, best, while the vessel is still in the haven, 
 to foresee the impending storm, and not to set 
 sail out of the port into the middle of the hurri- 
 canes; for we justly pity those who fall into
 
 s!90 
 
 VTARS 07 THE JEWS. 
 
 IBOOK 
 
 great misfortunes without foreseeing them; but 
 for him who rushes into manifest ruin, he gains 
 reproaches [instead of commiseration.] But cer- 
 tainly no one can imagine that you can enter into 
 a war as by an agreement, or that when the Ro- 
 mans have got you under their power, they will 
 use you with moderation, or will not rather, for 
 an example to other nations, burn your holy 
 city, and utterly destroy your whole nation ; for 
 those of you who shall survive the war will not 
 be able to find a place whither to flee, since all 
 men have the Romans for their lords already, or 
 are afraid they shall have hereafter Nay, in 
 deed, the danger concerns not those Jews that 
 dwell here only, but those of them who dwell 
 in other cities also ; for there is no people upon 
 the habitable earth which have not some portion 
 of you amorg them, whom your enemies will 
 slay, in case you go to war, and on that accour t 
 also ; and so every city that hath Jews in it wiU 
 be filled with slaughter for the sake only of a 
 few men, and they who slay them will be par- 
 doned ; but if that slaughter be not made by 
 them, consider how wicked a thing it is to tako 
 arms against those that are so kind to you. 
 Have pity, therefore, if not on your children 
 and wives, yet upon this your metropolis, and 
 its sacred walls ; spare the temple and preserve 
 the holy house, with its holy furniture, for your- 
 selves ; for if the Romans get you undei their 
 power, they will no longer abstain from them, 
 when their former abstinence shall have been so 
 ungratefully requited. I call to witness your 
 sanctuary, and the holy angels of God, and this 
 country common to us all, that I have iiot kept 
 back anything that is for your preservation ; and 
 if you will follow that advice which you ought 
 to do, you will have that peace which will be 
 common to you and to me ; but if you indulge 
 your passions, you will run those hazards which 
 I shall be free from. " 
 
 5. When Agrippa had spoken thus, both he 
 and his sister wept, and by their tears repressed 
 a great deal of the violence "of the people ; but 
 still they cried out, that they would not fight 
 against the Romans but against Floras, on ac- 
 count of what they had suffered by his means. 
 To which Agrippa replied, that what they had 
 already done was like such as make war against 
 the Romans; " for you have not paid the tribute 
 which is due to Caesar;* and you ha-ve cut off 
 the cloisters [of the temple] from joining to the 
 tower Antonia. You will therefore prevent any 
 occasion of revolt, if you will but join these to- 
 gether again, and if you will but pay your tri- 
 bute ; for the citadel does not now belong to 
 Florus, nor are you to, pay the tribute-money to 
 Florua." 
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 HOW THE WAR OP THE JEWS WITH THE ROMANS 
 BEGAN ; AND CONCERNING MANAHEM. 
 
 1. THIS advice the people hearkened to, and 
 went up into the temple with the king and Ber"- 
 nice, and began to rebuild the cloisters : the 
 rulers also and senators divided themselves into 
 the villages, and collected the tributes, and soon 
 got together forty talents, which was the sum 
 that was deficient. And thus did Agrippa then 
 put a stop to that war which was threatened, 
 
 B 
 
 * Julius Cajsar had decreed, that the Jews of Jeru- 
 salem FhouUl pny an annual tribute to the Romans, ex- 
 oertinp; the citv of Joppa, and for the Sabbatical year. 
 
 Moreover, he attempted to persuade the imilti 
 *ude to obey Florus, until Caesar should send one 
 to succeed him ; but they were hereby more 
 provoked, and cast reproaches upon the king, 
 and got him excluded out of the city; nay, some 
 of the seditious had the impudence to throw 
 stones at him. So when the king saw that the 
 violence of those that were for innovations was 
 not to be restrained, and being very angry at tli 
 contumelies he had received, he sent their rulers, 
 together with their men of power, to Florus, to 
 Cesarea, that he might appoint whom he thought 
 fit to collect the tribute in the country, while he 
 retired into his own kingdom. 
 
 2. And at this time it was that some of those 
 that principally excited the people to go to war, 
 made an assault upon a certain fortress called 
 Masada. They took it by treachery, and slew 
 the Romans that were there, and put others of 
 their own party to keep it. At the same time 
 Eleazar, the son of Ananias the high priest, a 
 very bold youth, who was at that time governor 
 of the temple, persuaded those that officiated 
 in the divine service to receive no gift or sacrifice 
 for any foreigner. And this was the true begin- 
 ning of our war with the Romans : for they re- 
 jected the sacrifice of Caesar on this account : and 
 when many of the high priests and principal men 
 besought them not to omit the sacrifice, which ii 
 was customary for them to offer for their princes, 
 they would not be prevailed upon. These reliei 1 
 much upon their multitude, for the most flout 
 i.shing part of the innovators assisted them ; bu I 
 they had the chief regard to Eleasar, the gover- 
 nor of the temple. 
 
 3. Hereupon the men of power got together, 
 nnd conferred with the high priests, as did alsc 
 the principal of the Pharisees ; and thinking all 
 was at stake, and that their calamities were be- 
 coming incurable, took counsel what was to b* 
 done. Accordingly, they determined to try what 
 they could do with the seditious by words, and 
 assembled trie people before the brazen gate, 
 which was that gate of the inner temple [court 
 of the priests] which looked towards the sun- 
 rising. And, in the first place, they shewed the 
 great indignation they had at this attempt for a 
 revolt, and for their bringing so great a war upon 
 their country: after which they confuted their 
 pretence as unjustifiable, and told them, that 
 their forefathers had adorned their temple in 
 great part with donations bestowed on them by 
 foreigners, and had always received what had 
 been presented to them from foreign nations ; 
 and that they had been so far from rejecting any 
 person's sacrifice, (which would be the highest 
 instance of impiety,) that they had themselves 
 placed those donations about the temple which 
 were still visible, and had remained there so 
 long a time : that they did now irritate the Ro- 
 mans to take arms against them, and invited 
 them to make war upon them, and brought up 
 novel rules of strange divine worship, and de- 
 termined to rur lie hazard of having their city 
 condemned for im; iety, while they would not 
 allow any foreigners but Jews only, either to 
 sacrifice or to worship therein, ^nd if such a 
 law should ever be introduced in the case of a 
 single person only, he would have indignation at 
 it, as an instance of inhumanity determined 
 against him ; while they have no regard to the 
 Romans or to Caesar, and forbade even their 
 oblations to be received also ; that however they 
 cannot but fear, lest, by thus rejecting their sac- 
 rifices, they shall not be allowed to offer theii 
 own; and that this city will lose its principality, 
 unless they grow wiser quickly, and restore the 
 sacrifices as formerly ; and indeed amend the in-
 
 HAP. XVII. | 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 491 
 
 jury [they have offered to foreigners,] before 
 the report of it comes to the ears of those that 
 have been injured. 
 
 4. And as they said these things, they pro- 
 duced those priests that were skilful in the cus- 
 toms of their country, who made the report, that 
 all their forefathers had received the sacrifices 
 from foreign nations. But still not one of the 
 innovators would hearken to what was said ; 
 nay, those that ministered about the temple 
 would not attend their divine service, but wei^ 
 preparing matters for beginning the war. S;> 
 the men of power, perceiving that the sedition 
 was too hard for them to subdue, and that the 
 danger which would arise from the Romans 
 would come upon them first of all, endeavoured 
 to save themselves, and sent ambassadors; some 
 to Florus, the chief of whom was Simon the son 
 of Ananias ; and others to Agrippa, among whom 
 the most eminent was Saul, and Antipas, and 
 Costobarus, who were of the king's kindred ; 
 and they desired of them both that they would 
 come with an army to the city, and cut off the 
 sedition before it should be too hard to be sub- 
 dued. Now this terrible message was good news 
 to Florus; and because his design was to have 
 a war kindled, lie gave the ambassadors no an- 
 swer at all. But Agrippa was equally solicitous 
 for those that were revolting, and for those 
 against whom the war was to be made, and was 
 desirous to preserve the Jews for the Romans, 
 and the temple and metropolis for the Jews ; he 
 was also sensible that it was not for his own ad- 
 vantage that the disturbances should proceed ; 
 so he sent' three thousand horsemen to the assist- 
 ance of the people out of Auranitis, and Batanea, 
 and Trachonitis, and these under Darius, the 
 master of his horse ; and Philip the son of Jaci- 
 inus, the general of his army. 
 
 5. Upon this the men of power, with the high 
 priest, as also all the part of the multitude that 
 were desirous of peace, took courage, and seized 
 upon the upper city [Mount Zion ;] for the se- 
 ditious part had the lower city and the temple 
 in their power : so they made use of stones and 
 slings perpetually against one another, and threw 
 darts continually on both sides ! and sometimes 
 it happened that they made excursions by troops, 
 and fought it out hand to hand, while the se- 
 ditious were superior in boldness, but the king's 
 soldiers in skill. These last strove chiefly to 
 gain the temple, and to drive those out of it who 
 profaned it ; as did the seditious, with Eleazar 
 (besides what they had already) labour to gain 
 the upper city. Thus were their perpetual 
 slaughters on both sides for seven days' time; 
 but neither side would yield up the parts they 
 nad seized upon. 
 
 6. Now the next day was the festival of Xylo- 
 phory ; upon which the custom was for evory 
 one to bring wood for the altar, (that their might 
 never be a want of fuel for that fire which wsa 
 unquenchable and always burning.) Upon that 
 day they excluded the opposite party from tha 
 observation of this part of religion. And whan 
 they had joined to themselves many of the S3Ic 
 arii, who crowdea in among the weaker people 
 'that was the name of such robbers as had undc 
 ;heir bosoms swords called Sicse,) they grcT- 
 colder, and carried their undertakings furtnct. 
 insomuch that the king s soldiers were over' 
 powered by their multitude and boldness ; an I 
 o they gave way, a*ui were driven out of the 
 upper city by force. The others then seV fir. 
 to the b<"ip of AnanJis the high priest, and to 
 che palaces of Agrippa and Bernice ; after 
 which they carried *be fire to the place where 
 the archives were w posited, and made haste 
 
 b-.rn the contracts belonging to their creditors, 
 i ml thereby dissolve their obligations for paying 
 their debts ; and this was done, in order to gain 
 the multitude of those who had been debtors, 
 raid that they might persuade the poorer sort to 
 join in their insurrection with safety against the 
 nore wealthy ; so the keepers of the records fled 
 vway, and the rest set fire to them. And when 
 rhey had thus burnt down the nerves of the city, 
 they fell upon their enemies; at which time 
 some of the men of power, and of the high 
 priests, went into the vaults under ground, and 
 concealed themselves, while others fled with the 
 king's^ soldiers to the upper palace, and shut the 
 gates immediately : among whom were Ananias 
 the high priest, and Mie ambassadors that had 
 been sent to Agrippa. And now the seditious 
 were contented with the victory they had gotten, 
 and the buildings they had burnt down, and pro- 
 ceeded no further. 
 
 7. But on the next day, which was the fif- 
 teenth of the month Lous [Ab,] they made an 
 i-?sault upon Antonia, and besieged the garrison 
 which was hi it two days, and then took the 
 garrison, and slew them, and set the citadel oa 
 fire ; after which they marched to the palace, 
 whither the king's soldiers were fled, and parted 
 themselves into four bodies, and made an attack 
 upon the walls. As for those that were within 
 it, no one had the courage to sally out, because 
 those that assaulted them were so numerous ; 
 but they distributed themselves into breast 
 works and turrets, and shot at the besiegers 
 whereby many of the robbers fell under tht 
 walls ; nor did they cease to fight one with an- 
 other either by night or by day ; -while the se- 
 ditious supposed that those within would grow 
 weary for want of food ; and those within sup- 
 posed the others would do the like by the 
 tediousness of the siege. 
 
 8. In the meantime one Manahem, the son of 
 Judas, that was called the Galilean (who was a 
 very cunning sophister, and had formerly re- 
 proached the Jews under Cyrenius, that after 
 <5od they were subject to the Romans) took some 
 f>f the men of note with him, and retired to Masa- 
 da, where he broke open king Herod's armoury, 
 Mid gave arms not only to his own people, 
 but to other robbers also. These he made use 
 of for a guard, and returned in the state of a 
 king to J erusalem ; and became the leader of 
 the sedition, and gave orders for continuing the 
 siege ; but they wanted proper instruments, and 
 It was act practicable to undermine the wall, 
 because the darts came down upon them from 
 above. But still they dug a mine, from a great 
 distance, under one of the towers, and made it 
 totter ; and having done that, they set on fire 
 nhat was combustible, and left it ; and when 
 the foundations were burnt below, the towe? 
 fell down suddenly. Yet did they meet with 
 another wall that had been built within, for the 
 bes eged were sensible beforehand of what they 
 were doing, and probably the tower shook as it 
 was undermining ; so they provided themselves 
 with another fortification ; which when the be- 
 siegers unexpectedly saw, while they thought 
 they had already gained tlv place, they were 
 under some consternation. However, those 
 that were within sent to Manahem, and to the 
 other leaders of the sedition, and desired that 
 they might go out upon a capitulation; this 
 was granted to the king's soldiers and their own 
 countrymen only, who went out accordingly; 
 but the Romans that were left alone were greatly 
 dejected, for they were not able to force their 
 way through such a multitude ; and to desire 
 them to Kive them their right hand for then
 
 192 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 LBOOK n. 
 
 security, they thought would be a reproach to 
 them ; and besides if they should give it them, 
 they durst not depend upon it ; so they deserted 
 their camp, as easily taken, and ran away to the 
 royal towers, that called Hippicus, that called 
 Phasaelus, and that called Mariamne. But 
 Manahem and his party fell upon the place 
 whence the soldiers were fled, and slew as many 
 of them as they could catch before they got up 
 to the towers, and plundered what they left be- 
 hind them, and set fire to the camp. This was 
 executed on the sixth day of the month Gor- 
 pieus [EluL] 
 
 9. But on the next day the high priest was 
 caught where he had concealed himself in an 
 aqueduct ; he was slain, together with Hezekiah 
 his brother, by the robbers : hereupon the sedi- 
 tious besieged the towers, and kept them guarded, 
 lest any one of the soldiers should escape. Now 
 the overthrow of the places of strength, and the 
 death of the high priest Ananias, so puffed up 
 Manahem, that he became barbarously cruel ; 
 and as he thought he had no antagonist to dis- 
 pute the management of affairs with him, he 
 was no better than an insupportable tyrant : but 
 Eleazar and his party, when words had passed 
 between them, how it was not proper when they 
 revolted from the Romans, out of the desire of 
 liberty, to betray that liberty to any of their 
 own people, and to bear a lord, who, though he 
 vhould be guilty of no violence, was yet meaner 
 uhan themselves ; as also, that, in case they 
 were obliged to set some one over their public 
 affairs, it was fitter they should give that privi- 
 lege to any one rather than to him, they made 
 an assault upon him in the temple ; for he went 
 up thither to worship in a pompous manner, and 
 adorned with royal garments, and had his fol- 
 lowers with him in their armour. But Eleazar 
 and his party fell violently upon him, as did also 
 the rest of the people, and taking up stones to 
 attack him withal, they threw them at the soph- 
 ister, and thought that if he were once ruined, 
 the entire sedition would fall to the ground. 
 Now Manahem and his party made resistance 
 for a while ; but when they perceived that the 
 whole multitude were falling upon them, they 
 fled which way every one was able ; those that 
 were caught were slain, and those that hid 
 themselves were searched for. A few there were 
 of them who privately escaped to Masada, 
 among whom was Eleazar, the son of Jarius, 
 who was of kin to Manahem, and acted the part 
 of a tyrant at Masada afterward. As for Mana- 
 hem himself, he ran away to the place called 
 Ophla, and there lay skulking in private ; but 
 they took him alive, and drew him out before 
 them all ; they then tortured him with many 
 sorts of torments, and after all slew him, as they 
 did by those that were captains under him also, 
 and particularly by the principal instrument of 
 his tyranny whose name was Apsalom. 
 
 10. And, as I said, so far truly the people as- 
 sisted them, while they hoped this might afford 
 some amendment to the seditious practices ; but 
 the others were not in haste to put an end to the 
 war, but hoped to prosecute it with less danger, 
 now they had slain Manahem. It is true, th;it 
 when the people earnestly desired that they 
 would leave off besieging the'soldiers, they were 
 the most earnest in pressing it forward, and this 
 till Metilius, who was the Roman general, sent 
 to Eleazar, and desired that they would give 
 them security to spare their lives only; but 
 agreed to deliver up their arms, and what else 
 they had with them. The others readily com- 
 plied with their petition, sent to them Gorion, 
 the son of Nicodemus, and Ananias, the son of 
 
 Sadduk, and Judas, the son of Jonathan, that 
 they might give them the security of their right 
 hands, and of their oaths : after which Metilius 
 brought down his soldiers ; which soldiers, while 
 they were in arms, were not meddled with by 
 any of the seditious, nor was there any appear- 
 ance of treachery : but as soon as, according to 
 the articles of capitulation, they had all laid 
 down their shields and their swords, and were 
 under no further suspicion of any harm, but 
 were going away, Eleazar's men attacked them 
 after a violent manner, and encompassed them 
 round, and slew them, while they neither de- 
 fended themselves nor entreated for mercy, but 
 only cried out upon the breach of their articles 
 of capitulation and their oaths. And thus were 
 all these men barbarously murdered, excepting 
 iuetilius ; for when he entreated for mercy, and 
 promised he would turn Jew, and be circumcised, 
 they saved him alive, but none else. This loss 
 to the Romans was but light, there being no 
 more than a few slain out of an immense army ; 
 but still it appeared to be a prelude to the Jews' 
 own destruction, while men made public lamen 
 tation when they saw that such occasions were 
 atforded for a war as were incurable ; that the 
 city was all over polluted with such abomina- 
 tions, from which it was but reasonable to ex- 
 pect some vengeance, even though they should 
 escape revenge from the Romans ; so that the 
 city was filled with sadness, and everyone of the 
 moderate men in it were under great disturbance, 
 as likely themselves to undergo punishment for 
 the wickedness of the seditious ; for indeed it so 
 happened that this murder was perpetrated on 
 the Sabbath day, on which day the Jews have a 
 respite from their works on account of divine 
 worship. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THB OALAMIT5E8 AND SLAUGHTERS THAT OA1C8 
 UPON THB JEWS. 
 
 1. Now the people of Cesarea had slain the 
 Jews that were among them on the very same 
 day and hour [when the soldiers were slain,] 
 which one would think must have come to pass 
 by the direction of Providence ; insomuch that 
 in one hour's time above twenty thousand Jews 
 were killed, and all Cesarea was emptied of its 
 Jewish inhabitants ; for Floras caught such as 
 ran away, and sent them in bonds to the galleys. 
 Upon which stroke that the Jews received at 
 Cesarea, the whole nation was greatly enraged ; 
 so they divided themselves into several parties, 
 and laid waste the villages of the Syrians, and 
 their neighbouring cities, Philadelphia, and Se- 
 bonitis, and Gerasa, and Pella, and Scythopolis, 
 and after them Gadara, and Hippos; and fall- 
 ing upon Gaulonitis, some cities they destroyed 
 there and some they set on fire, and then they 
 went to Kedasa, belonging to the Tyrians, and 
 to Ptolemais, and to Gaba, and to Cesarea ; nor 
 was either Sebaste (Samaria) or Askelon able to 
 oppose the violence with which they were at- 
 tacked ; and when they had burned these to the 
 ground, they entirely demolished Anthedon and 
 Gaza ; many also of the villages that were about 
 every one of those cities were plundered, and an 
 immense slaughter was made of the men who 
 were caught in them. 
 
 2. However, the Syrians were even with the 
 Jews in the multitude of the men whom they 
 slew ; for they killed those whom they caught 
 in their cities, and that not only out of the
 
 CHAP. XVUT.J 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 493 
 
 hatred they bare them, as formerly, but to pre- 
 vent the danger under which they were from 
 them ; so that the disorders in all Syria were 
 terrible, and every city was divided into two 
 armies encamped one against another, and the 
 preservation of the one party was in the destruc- 
 tion of the other ; so the daytime was spent in 
 shedding blood, and the night in fear, which 
 tvas of the two the more terrible ; for when the 
 Syrians thought they had ruined the Jews, they 
 had the Judaisers in suspicion also ; and as each 
 side did not care to slay those whom they only 
 suspected on the other, so did they greatly fear 
 them when they were mingled with the other, as 
 if they were certainly foreigners. Moreover, 
 greediness of gain was a provocation to kill the 
 opposite party, even to such as had of old ap- 
 peared very mild and gentle towards them ; for 
 they without fear plundered the effects of the 
 slain, and carried off the spoil of those whom 
 they slew to their own houses, as if they had 
 been gained in a set battle ; and he was esteemed 
 a man of honour who got the greatest share, as 
 having prevpiled over the greatest number of his 
 enemies It was then common to see cities 
 filled with dead bodies, still lying unburied, and 
 those of old men, mixed with infants all dead 
 and scattered about together; women also lay 
 amongst them, without any covering for their 
 nakedness : you might then see the whole pro- 
 vince full of inexpressible calamities, while the 
 dread of still more barbarous practices which 
 were threatened, was everywhere greater than 
 what had been already perpetrated. 
 
 3. And thus far the conflict had been between 
 Jews and foreigners ; but when they made ex- 
 cursions to Scythopolis, they found Jews that 
 acted as enemies ; for they stood in battle array 
 with those of Scythopolis, and preferred their 
 own safety before their relation to us, they 
 fought against their own countrymen ; nay, 
 their alacrity was so very great, that those of 
 Scythopolis suspected them. These were afraid, 
 therefore, lest they should make an assault upon 
 the city in the night-time, and to their great 
 misfortune, should thereby make an apology for 
 themselves to their own people- for their revolt 
 from them. So they commanded them, that in 
 case they would confirm their agreement and 
 demonstrate their fidelity to them, who were of 
 a different nation, they should go out of the 
 city, with their families, to a neighbouring 
 grove : and when they had done as they were 
 commanded, without suspecting anything, the 
 people of Scythopolis lay still for the interval of 
 two days, to tempt them to be secure ; but on 
 the third night they watched their opportunity, 
 and cut all their throats, some of them as they 
 lay unguarded, and some as they lay asleep. 
 The number that was slain was above thirteen 
 thousand, and then they plundered them of all 
 that they had. 
 
 4. It will deserve our relation what befell 
 Simon : he was the son of one Saul, a man of re- 
 putation among the Jews. This man was dis- 
 tinguished from the rest by the strength of his 
 body, and the boldness of his conduct, although 
 he abused them both to the mischieving of his 
 countrymen ; for he came every day and slew a 
 great many of the Jews of Scythopolis, and he 
 frequently put them to flight, and became him- 
 self alone the cause of his army's conquering. 
 But a just punishment overtook him for the 
 murders he had committed upon those of the 
 same nation with him ; for when the people of 
 Scythopolis threw their darts at them in the 
 grove, he drew his sword, but did not attack 
 iy of the enemy ; for be saw that he could do 
 
 nothing against such a multitude ; but he cried 
 out, after a very moving manner, and said, 
 " O you people of Scythopolis, I deservedly suf- 
 fer for what I have done with relation to yon, 
 when I gave you such security of my fidelity to 
 you, by slaying so many of those that were re- 
 lated to me. Wherefore we very justly experi- 
 ence the perfidiousness of foreigners, while we 
 acted after a most wicked manner against our 
 own nation. I will therefore die, polluted 
 wretch as I am, by mine own hands ; for it is 
 not fit I should die by the hand of our enemies ; 
 and let the same action be to me both a punish- 
 ment for my great crimes, and a testimony of 
 my courage to my commendation, that so no one 
 of our enemies may have it to brag of, that he it 
 was that slew me ; and no one may insult upon 
 me as I fall." Now when he had said this, he 
 looked round about him upon his family with 
 eyes of commiseration and of rage, (that family 
 consisted of a wife and children, and his aged 
 parents ;) so, in the first place, he caught his fa- 
 ther by his gray hairs and ran his sword through 
 him, and after him he did the same to his mo- 
 ther, who willingly received it ; and after them 
 he did the same to his wife and children, every 
 one almost offering themselves to his sword, as 
 desirous to prevent being slain by their enemies ; 
 so when he had gone over all his family, he 
 stood upon their bodies to be seen by all, and 
 stretching out his right hand, that his action 
 might be observed by all, he sheathed his entire 
 sword into his own bowels. This young man 
 was to be pitied, on account of the strength of 
 his body and the courage of his soul ; but since 
 he had assured foreigners of his fidelity [against 
 his own countrymen] he suffered deservedly. 
 
 5. Besides this murder at Scythopolis, the 
 other cities rose up against the Jews that were 
 among them : those of Askelon slew two thou- 
 sand five hundred, and those of Ptolemais two 
 thousand, and put not a few into bonds ; those of 
 Tyre also put a great number to death, but kept 
 a greater number in prison ; moreover, those of 
 Hippos and those of Gadara did the like, while 
 they put to death the boldest of the Jews, but 
 kept those of whom they were most afraid hi cus- 
 tody ; as did the rest of the cities of Syria, accord- 
 ing as they every one either hated them or were 
 afraid of them ; only the Antiochians, the Sido- 
 nians, and Apamians, spared those that dwelt 
 with them, and they would not endure either to 
 kill any of the Jews, or to put them hi bonds. 
 And perhaps they spared them because their 
 own number was so great that they despised 
 their attempts. But I think that the greatest 
 part of this favour was owing to their commiser- 
 ation of those whom they saw to make no inno- 
 vations. As for the Gerasens, they did no harm 
 to those that abode with them ; and for those 
 who had a mind to go away, they conducted 
 them as far as their borders reached. 
 
 6. There was also a plot laid against the Jews 
 in Agrippa's kingdom ; for he was himself gone 
 to Cestius Gallus, to Antioch, but had left one 
 of his companions, whose name was Noarus, to 
 take care of the public affairs ; which Noarus 
 was of kin to king Sohemus.* Now there came 
 certain men, seventy in number, out of Batanea, 
 who were the most considerable for their families 
 and prudence of the rest of the people ; these 
 desired to have an army put into their hands, 
 that if any tumult should happen, they might 
 have about them a guard sufficient to restrain 
 
 * Of this Sohemus we have mention made by Taci- 
 tus. We also learn from Dio, that his father was king 
 of the Arabians of Itures, which Iturea is mentioned 
 bj St Lake, iii. 1.
 
 494 
 
 WARS OF J.HE JEWS. 
 
 them. This 
 
 inch as might rise up against them. 
 Noarus sent out some of the king's armed men 
 by night, and slow all those [seventy] men ; 
 which bold action he ventured upon without the 
 consent of Agrippa, and was such a lover of 
 money, that he chose to be so wicked to his own 
 countrymen, although he brought ruin on the 
 kingdom thereby ; and thus cruelly did he treat 
 that nation, and tbis contrary to th laws also, 
 uutil Agrippa was informed of it, who did not 
 indeed dare to put him to death, out of regard 
 to Sohemus ; but still he rmt an end to his pro- 
 curatorship immediately But as to the sedi- 
 tious, they took the cit&ttel which was called 
 Cypros, and was above Jericho, and cut the 
 throats of the garrison, and utterly demolished 
 the fortifications. This was about the same time 
 that the multitude of the Jews that were at 
 Macherus persuaded the Romans who were in 
 garrison to leave the place, and deliver it up to 
 them. These Romans being in great fear, lest 
 the place should be taken by force, made au 
 agreement with them to depart upon certain 
 conditions ; and when they had obtained the se- 
 curity they desired, they delivered up the cita- 
 del, into which the people of Macherus put a 
 garrison for their own security, and held it in 
 their own power. 
 
 7. But for Alexandria, the sedition of the peo- 
 ple of the place against the Jews was perpetual, 
 and this from that very time when Alexander 
 r the Great,] upon finding the readiness of the 
 Jews in assisting him against the Egyp tians, and 
 as a reward for such their assistance, gave them 
 equal privileges in this city with the Grecians 
 themselves ; which honorary reward continued 
 among them under his successors, who also set 
 apart for them a particular place, that they 
 might live without being polluted [by the Gen- 
 tiles,] and were thereby not so much intermixed 
 with foreigners as before : they also gave them 
 this further privilege, that they should be called 
 Macedonians. Nay, when the Romans got pos- 
 session of Egypt, neither the first C*sar, nor 
 any one that came after him, thought of dimin- 
 ishing the honours which Alexander had be- 
 stowed on the Jews. But still conflicts perpetu- 
 ally arose with the Grecians ; and although the 
 governors did every day punish many of them, 
 yet did the sedition grow worse ; but at this 
 time especially, when there were tumults in 
 other places also, the disorders among them were 
 put into a greater flame ; for when the Alexan- 
 drians had once a public assembly, to deliberate 
 about an embassage they were sending to Nero, 
 a great number of Jews came flocking to the 
 theatre ; but when their adversaries saw them, 
 they immediately cried out, and called them 
 their enemies, and said they came as spies upon 
 them ; upon which they rushed out and laid vio- 
 lent hands upon them ; and as for the rest, they 
 were slain as they ran away ; but there were 
 three men whom they caught, and hauled them 
 along, in order to have them burnt alive; but 
 all the Jews came in a body to defend them, who 
 at first threw stones at the Grecians ; but after 
 that they took lamps, and rushed with violence 
 nto the theatre, and threatened that they would 
 oum the people to a man ; and this they had toon 
 done, unless Tiberius Alexander, the governor 
 of the city, had restrained their passions. How- 
 ever this man did not begin to teach them wis- 
 dom by arms, but sent among them privately 
 some of the principal men, and thereby ertreated 
 them to be quiet, and not provoke the Roman 
 army against them ; but the seditious made a 
 jest of the entreaties of Tiberius, and reproached 
 him for so doing. 
 
 8. Now wheu lie ppr?eiveu t.nst t.oosp tht 
 were for innovations would not be pacified till 
 some great calamity should overtake them, he 
 sent out upon them those two Roman legions 
 that wore in the city, and together with them 
 five thousand other soldiers, who, by chance, 
 were come together out of Lybia, to the ruin of 
 the Jew* They were also permitted not only 
 to kill then., but to plunder them of what they 
 had, and set fire to their houses. These soldiers 
 irished violently into that part of the city which 
 was called Delta, where the Jewish people lived 
 together, and did as they were bidden though 
 not without bloodshed on their own side also ; 
 for the Jews got together, and set those that 
 weie the best armed among them in the fore- 
 front, and made resistance for a great while ; but 
 when once they gave back, they were destroyed 
 unmercifully ; and this their destruction was 
 complete, some being caught in the open field, 
 and others forced into their houses, which houses 
 were iirst plundered of what was in them, and 
 then set on fire by the Romans ; wherein no 
 mercy was shewn to the infants, and no regard 
 had to the aged ; but they went on in the slaugh- 
 ter of pei sons of every age, till all the place was 
 overflowed with blood, and fifty thousand of 
 them lay dead upon heaps ; nor had the remain- 
 der been preserved, had they not betaken them- 
 selves to supplication* so Alexander commiser- 
 ated their condition, and gave orders to the Ro- 
 mans to retire : accordingly, these, being ac- 
 customed to obey orders, left of killing at the 
 first intimation ; but the populace of Alexandria 
 bare so very great hatred to the Jews, that it 
 was difficult to recall them; and it was a hard 
 thing to make them leave their dead bodies. 
 
 9. And this was the miserable calamity which 
 at this time befell the Jews at Alexandria. 
 Hereupon Cestius thought fit no longer to lie- 
 still, while the Jews were everywhere up in 
 arms; so he took out of Antioch the twelfth 
 legion entire, and out of each of the rest he se- 
 lected two thousand, with six cohorts of foot- 
 men, and four troops of horsemen, besides those 
 auxiliaries which were sent by the kings; of 
 which Antiochus sent two thousand horsemen, 
 and three thousand footmen, with so many arch- 
 ers ; and Agrippa sent the same number of foot- 
 men, and one thousand horsemen ; Sohemus also 
 full .wed with four thousand, a third part whereof 
 were horsemen, but most part were archers, and 
 thus did he march to Ptolenmis. There were 
 also great numbers of auxiliaries gathered to- 
 gethei from the [free] cities, who indeed had not 
 the same skill in martial affairs, but made up 
 in their alacrity and in their hatred to the Jews 
 what they wanted in skilL There came also 
 along with Cestius, Agrippa himself, both as a 
 guide in his march over the country, and a di- 
 rector of what was fit to be done ; so Cestius 
 took part of his forces, and marched hastily to 
 Zebulou, a strong city of Galilee, which was 
 called the City of Men, and divides the country 
 of Ptolei ais from our nation ; this he found de- 
 serted by its men, the multitude having fled to 
 the niouJi tains, but full of all sorts of good 
 things ; those he gave leave to the soldiers to 
 plunder, and set fire to the city, although it was 
 of iidmii able beauty, and had its houses built 
 like those in Tyre, and Sidon, 'and Berytus. 
 After this he overran all the country, and seized 
 upon whatsoever came in his way, and set fire 
 to the v llages that were round about them, and 
 then returned to Ptolemai*- But when the 
 Syrians, and especially those of Berytus, were 
 busy iu plundering, the Jews plucked up theii 
 courage again, for they knew that Cestius w
 
 OHAP. XIX. I 
 
 WABS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 retired, and fell upon those that were left behind 
 unexpectedly, and destroyed about two thou- 
 sand of them. 
 
 10. And now Cestius himself marched from 
 Ptolemais, and came to Cesarea ; but he sent. 
 part of his army before him to J oppa-, and gave 
 orders, that if they could take that city [by sur- 
 prise] they should keep it; but that in case the 
 citizens should perceive they were coming to 
 attack them, they then thould stay for him, and 
 for the re.-,t of the army. So some of them made 
 a brisk march by the sea-side, and some by land, 
 and so coming upon them on both sides, they 
 took the city with ease ; and as the inhabitants 
 had made no provision aforehand for a flight, 
 nor had gotten anything ready for fighting, the 
 soldiers fell upon them, and slew them all, with 
 their families, and then plundered and burnt the 
 city. The number of the slain was eight thou- 
 sand four hundred. In like manner Cestius sent 
 also a considerable body of horsemen to the top- 
 archy of Xarbatene, that adjoined to Cesarea, 
 who destroyed the country, and slew a great j 
 multitude of its people; they also plundered 
 what they had, and burnt their villages. 
 
 11. But Cestius sent Callus, the commander 
 of the twelfth legion, into Galilee, and delivered 
 to him as many of his forces as he supposed 
 sufficient to subdue that nation. He was re- 
 ceived by the strongest city of Galilee, which was 
 Sepphoris, with acclamations of joy: which wist/ 
 conduct of that city occasioned the rest of the 
 cities to be in quiet j while the seditious part 
 and the robbers ran away to that mountain which 
 lies in the very middle of Galilee, and is situated 
 over against Sepphoris ; it is called Asarnon. So 
 Gallu-s brought his forces against them ; but 
 while those men were in the superior parts, 
 above the Romans, they easily threw their darts 
 upon the Romans, as they made their approaches, 
 and slew about two hundred of them ; but when 
 the Romans had gone round the mountains, and 
 were gotten into the parts above their enemies, 
 the others were soon beaten ; nor could they 
 who had only light armour on, sustain the force 
 of them that fought them armed all over ; nor 
 when they were beaten could they escape the 
 enemy's horsemen; insomuch that only some 
 few concealed themselves in certain places hard 
 to be come at, among the mountains, while the 
 rest, above two thousand in number, were slain. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 WHAT CESTIUS DID AGAINST THE JEWS ; AND 
 HOW, UPON HIS BESIEGING JERUSALEM, HE RE- 
 TREATED FROM THE CITY, WITHOUT ANT JUST 
 OCCASION IN THE WORLD. AS ALSO WHAT SE- 
 VERE CALAMITIES HE UNDERWENT FROM THE 
 JEWS IN HIS RETREAT. 
 
 1. AND fluw Galluo seeing nothing more that 
 looked towards an innovation in Galilee, returned 
 with his army to Cesarea : but Cestius removed 
 with his whole army, and marched to Antrj>atris ; 
 and when he was informed that there was a groat 
 body of Jewish forces gotten together in 
 tain tower called Aphek, he sent a party before 
 to fi^htthem ; but this party dispersed the Jews 
 by affrighting them before it came to a battle : 
 BO they came, and finding their camp deserted, 
 they burnt it, as well as the villages that lay 
 siboul it But when Cestius had marched from 
 Antipatrts to Lydda, he found the city empty of 
 its men for the whole multitude were gone xvu 
 
 to Jerusalem to the feast of the tabernaoles ; yet 
 did he destroy fifty of those that shewed them- 
 selves, and burnt the city, and so marched for- 
 wards ; and ascending by Bethoron, he pitched 
 'us camp at a certain place called Gabao, fifty 
 furlongs distant from Jerusalem. 
 
 2. But as for the Jews, when they saw the 
 var approaching to their metropolis, they left 
 the feast, and betook themselves to their arms ; 
 and taking courage greatly from their multitude, 
 went in a sudden and disorderly manner to the 
 fight, with a great noise, and without any con- 
 sideration had of the rest of the seventh day, al- 
 though, the Sabbath was the day to which they 
 had the greatest regard ; but that rage which 
 m'ade them forget the religious observation [of 
 the Sabbath,] made them too hard for their ene- 
 mies in the fight : with such violence, therefore, 
 did they fall upon the Romans, as to break into 
 their ranks, and to march through the midst of 
 them, making a great slaughter as they went, 
 insomuch that unless the horsemen, and such 
 part of the footmen as were not yet tired in the 
 action, had wheeled round, and succoured that 
 part of the army which was not yet broken, Ces- 
 trus, with his whole army, had been in danger : 
 however, five hundred and fifteen of the Romans 
 were slain, of which number four hundred were 
 footmen, and the rest horsemen, while the Jews 
 lost only twenty-two, of whom the most valiant 
 were the kinsmen to Monobazus, king of Adia- 
 bene, and their names were Monobazus and 
 Kenfideus ; and next to them were Niger of 
 Perea. and Silas of Babylon, who had deserted 
 from King Agrippa to the Jews ; for he had for- 
 merly served in his army. When the front of 
 the Jewish army had been cut of, the Jews re- 
 tired into the city ; but still Simon, the son of 
 Giora, fell upon the backs of the Romans as 
 they were ascending Bethoron, and put the hind- 
 most of the army into disorder, and carried off 
 many of the beasts that carried the weapons of 
 war, and led them into the city ; but as Cestius 
 tarried there three daye, the Jews seized upon 
 the elevated parts of the city, and set watches 
 at the entrances into the city, and appeared 
 openly resolved not to rest when once the Ro- 
 mans should begin to march. 
 
 3. And now when Agrippa observed that even 
 the affairs of the Romans were likely to be in 
 danger, while such an immense, multitude _of 
 their enemies had seized upon the mountains 
 round about, he determined to try what the 
 Jews would agree to by words, as thinking that 
 he should either persuade them all to desist from 
 fighting, or, however, that he should cause the 
 sober part of them to separate themselves from 
 the opposite party. So he sent Borceus and 
 Phebus, the persons of his party that were tli 
 best known among them, and promised them 
 that Cestius should give them his right hand, to 
 secure them of the Romans' entire forgiveness 
 for what they had done amiss, if they won 
 throw away their aims, and come over to them : 
 but the seditious, fearing lest the whole multi- 
 tude, in hopes of security to themselves, should 
 go over to Agrippa, resolved immediately to fw 
 upon and kill-the ambassadors : accordingly they 
 slew Phebus before he said a word, but Borceus 
 was only wounded, and prevented his fate 6 
 nv-" away. And when the people were very 
 at this, they had the seditious beaten with 
 stones* nd club*/ and drove them before them 
 into the city. , ,. 
 
 4 But now Cestius, ooserving that t 
 turbances that were begun among the Jev 
 forded him a proper opportunity to attack them 
 took his whole army along with him, and pui
 
 496 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK EC. 
 
 the Jews to flight, and pursued them to Jeru- 
 salem. He then pitched his camp upon the 
 elevation called Scopus [or watch-tower,] which 
 was distant seven furlongs from the city ; yet 
 did he not assault them in three days' time, out 
 of expectation that those within might perhaps 
 yield a little ; and in the meantime he sent out 
 a great many of his soldiers into the neighbouring 
 villages, to seize upon their corn ; and on the 
 fourth day, which was the thirtieth of the 
 month Hyperberetus [Tisri,] when he put his 
 army in array, he brought it into the city. Now 
 as for the people, they were kept under by the 
 seditious; but the seditious themselves were 
 greatly affrighted at the good order of the Ro- 
 mans, and retired from the suburbs, and retreat- 
 ed into the inner part of the city, and into the 
 temple. But when Cestius was come into the 
 city, he set the part called Bezetha, which is also 
 called Cenopolis, [or the new city,] on fire ; as 
 he did also to the timber-market : after which 
 he came into the upper city, and pitched .his 
 camp over against the royal palace ; and had he 
 but at thia very time attempted to get within 
 the walls by force, he had won the city presently, 
 and the war had been put an end to at once ; 
 but Tyrannius Priscus, the muster-master of the 
 army, and a great number of the officers of the 
 horse, had been corrupted by Floras, and divert- 
 ed him from that his attempt ; and that was the 
 occasion that this war lasted so very long, and 
 thereby the Jews were involved in such incur- 
 able calamities. 
 
 5. In the meantime, many of the t>nncipal 
 men of the city were persuaded by Ananus, the 
 son of Jonathan, and invited Cestius into the 
 city, and were about to open the gates for him ; 
 but he overlooked this offer, partly out of his 
 anger at the Jews, and partly because he did not 
 thoroughly believe they were in earnest ; whence 
 it was that he delayed the matter so long, that 
 the seditious perceived the treachery, and threw 
 Ananus and those of his party down from the 
 wall, and pelting them with stones, drove them 
 into their houses ; but they stood themselves at 
 proper distances in the towers, and threw their 
 darts at those that were getting over the wall. 
 Thus did the Romans make their attack against 
 the wall for five days, but to no purpose. But 
 on the next day, Cestius took a great many of 
 his choicest men, and with them the archers, 
 and attempted "to break into the temple at the 
 northern quarter of it : but the Jews beat them 
 off from the cloisters, and repulsed them several 
 times when they were gotten near to the wall, 
 till at length the multitude of the dart* cut them 
 off, and made them retire ; but the first rank of 
 the Romans rested their shields upon the wall, 
 and so did those that were behind them, and the 
 like did those that were still more backward, 
 and guarded themselves with what they call 
 Testudo, [the back of] a tortoiae, upon which 
 the darts that were thrown fell, and glided off 
 without doing them any harm ; so the soldiers 
 undermined the wall, without being themselves 
 hurt, and got all things ready for setting fire to 
 the gate of the temple. 
 
 6. And now it was that a horrid fear seized 
 upon the seditious, insomuch that many of them 
 ran out of the city, as though it were to be taken 
 immediately; but the people upon this took 
 courage, and where the wicked part of the city 
 gave ground, thither did they come, in order to 
 set open the gates, and to admit Cestius as their 
 benefactor, who, had he but continued the siege 
 a little longer, had certainly taken the city ; but 
 it was, I suppose, owing to the aversion God had 
 already at the city and the sanctuary, that he 
 
 woe hindered from putting an end to the wat 
 that very day. 
 
 7. It then happened that Cestius was not con- 
 scious either how the besieged despaired of suc- 
 cess, nor how courageous the peopTo were for 
 him ; and so he recalled his soldiers from the 
 place, and by despairing of any expectation oi 
 taking it, without having received any disgrace, 
 he retired from the city, without any reason 
 in the world. When the robbers perceived 
 this unexpected retreat of his, they resumed 
 their courage, and ran after the hinder parts of 
 his army, and destroyed a considerable numbei 
 of both their horsemen and footmen ; and now 
 Cestius lay all night at the camp, which was at 
 Scopus ; and as he went off further next day, 
 he thereby invited tUe enemy to follow him, 
 who still fell upon the hindmost, and destroyed 
 them ; they also fell upon the flank on each side 
 of the army, and threw darts upon them ob- 
 liquely, nor durst those that were hindmost turn 
 back upon those who wounded them behind, as 
 imagining that the multitude of those that pur- 
 sued them was immense ; nor did they venture 
 to drive away those that pressed upon them on 
 each side, because they were heavy with their 
 arms, and were afraid of breaking their ranks to 
 pieces, and because they saw the Jews were 
 light and ready for making incursions upon them. 
 And this was the reason why the Romans 
 suffered greatly, without being able to reveng 
 themselves upon their enemies ; so they were 
 galled all the way, and their ranks were put into 
 disorder, and those that were thus put out of 
 their ranks were slain ; among whom were Pris- 
 cus the commander of the sixth legion, and 
 Longinus the tribune, and Emilius Secundus, 
 the commander of a troop of horsemen. So it 
 was not without difficulty that they got to 
 Gabao, their former camp, and that not without 
 the loss of a great part of their baggage. There 
 it was that Cestius stayed two days ; and was 
 in great distress to know what he should do in 
 these circumstances ; but when, on the third 
 day, he saw a still greater number of enemies, 
 and all the parts round about him full of Jews, 
 he understood that his delay was to his own 
 detriment, and that if he stayed the longer there, 
 he should have still more enemies upon him. 
 
 8. That therefore he might fly the faster, he 
 gave orders to cast away what might hinder his 
 army's march ; so they killed the mules and 
 other creatures, excepting those that carried 
 their darts and machines, which they retained 
 for their own use, and this principally because 
 they were afraid lest the Jews should seize upon 
 them. He then made his army march on as far 
 as Bethoron. Now the Jews did not so much 
 press upon them when they were in large open 
 places ; but when they were penned up in their 
 descemt through narrow passages, then did some 
 of them get before, and hindered them from 
 getting out of them ; and others of them thrust 
 the hindermost down into the lower places ; and 
 the whole multitude extended themselves over- 
 against the neck of the passage, and covered the 
 Roman army with their darts. In which circum- 
 stances, as the footmen knew not how to defend 
 themselves, so the danger pressed the horsemen 
 still more, for they were so pelted, that they 
 could not march along the road in their ranks, 
 and the ascents were so high, that the cavalry 
 were not able to march against the enemy ; the 
 precipices also, and valleys into which they 
 frequently fell, and tumbled down, were such 
 on each side of them, that there was neither 
 place for their flight, nor any contrivance could 
 be thought of for their defence ; till the distress
 
 CHAP. XX. J 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 492 
 
 they were at last in was so great, that they be- 
 took themselves to lamentations, and to such 
 mournful cries as men use in the utmost despair : 
 the joyful acclamations of the Jews also, as they 
 encouraged one another, echoed the sounds back 
 again, these last composing a noise of those that 
 at once rejoiced and were in a rage. Indeed 
 these things were come to such a pass, that the 
 Jews had almost taken Cestius's entire army 
 prisoners, had not the night come on, when the 
 Romans fled to Bethoron, and the Jews seized 
 upon all the places round about them, and 
 watched for their coming out [in the morning.] 
 
 9. And then it was that Ccstius, despairing of 
 obtaining room for a public march, contrived 
 how he might best run away ; and when he had 
 elected four hundred of the most courageous of 
 his soldiers, he placed them at the strongest of 
 their fortifications ; and gave order, that when 
 they went up to the morning guard, they should 
 erect their ensigns, that the Jews might be made 
 to believe that the entire army was there still, 
 while he himself took the rest of his forces with 
 him, and marched, without any noise, thirty 
 furlongs. But when the Jews perceived, in the 
 morning, that the camp was empty, they ran 
 upon those four hundred who had deluded them, 
 and immediately threw their darts at them, and 
 Blew them ; and then pursued after Cestius. 
 But he had already made use of a great part of 
 the night in his flight, and still marched quicker 
 when it was day ; insomuch, that the soldiers, 
 through the astonishment and fear they were in, 
 left behind them their engines for sieges, and for 
 throwing of stones, and a great part of the in- 
 struments of war. So the Jews went on pursu- 
 ing the Romans as far as Antipatris ; after which, 
 seeing they could not overtake them, they came 
 back and took the engines, and spoiled the dead 
 bodies; and gathered the prey together which 
 the Romans had left behind them, and came 
 back running and singing to their metropolis ; 
 while they had themselves lost a few only, but 
 had slain of the Romans five thousand and three 
 hundred footmen, and three hundred and eighty 
 horsemen. This defeat happened on the eighth 
 day of the month Dius [Marhesvan,] in the 
 twelfth year of the reign of Nero. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 OESTTUS SENDS AMBASSADORS TO NERO. THE PEO- 
 PLE OF DAMASCUS SLAY THOSE JEWS THAT 
 LIVED WITH THEM. THE PEOPLE OF JERUSA- 
 LEM, AFTER [THEY HAD LEFT OFF] PURSUING 
 
 CESTIUS, RETURN TO THE CITY, AND GET THINGS 
 READY FOR ITS DEFENCE, AND MAKE A GREAT 
 MANY GENERALS FOR THEIR ARMIES, AND PAR- 
 TICULARLY JOSEPHUS, THE WRITER OF THESE 
 BOOKS. SOME ACCOUNT OF HIS ADMINISTRA- 
 TION. 
 
 1. AFTER this calamity had befallen Cestius, 
 many of the most eminent of the Jews swam 
 away from the city, as from a ship when it was 
 going to sink ; Costobarus, therefore, and Saul, 
 whowere brethren, together with Philip, the 
 ?on of Jacimus, who was the commander of Kitg 
 P.grippa's forces, ran away from the city, and 
 went to Cestius. But then how Antipas, who 
 had been besieged with them in the kings 
 palace, but would not fly away with them, was 
 afterward slain by the seditious, we shall relate 
 hereafter. However, Cestius sent Saul and his 
 friends, at their own desire, to Achia, to Nero, 
 ' o inform him of the great distress they were in j 
 
 and lay the blame of their kindling the wai 
 upon Floras, as hoping to alleviate his own dan 
 per, by provoking his indignation against Florus. 
 
 2. In the meantime, the people of Damascus, 
 when they were informed of the destruction of 
 the Romans, set about the slaughter of those 
 Jews that were among them ; and as they had 
 them already cooped up together in the place oi 
 public exercises, which they had done out of 
 the suspicion they had of them, they thought 
 they should meet with no difficulty in the at- 
 tempt ; yet did they distrust their own wives, 
 which were almost all of them addicted to the 
 Jewish religion ; on which account it was that 
 their greatest concern was how they might con- 
 ceal these things from them ; so they came upon 
 the Jews, and cut their throats, as being in a 
 narrow place, in number ten thousand, and all 
 of them unarmed, and this in one hour's tune, 
 without anybody to disturb them. 
 
 3. But as to those who had pursued after Ces- 
 tius, when they were returned back to Jerusa- 
 lem, they overbore some of those that favoured 
 the Romans by violence, and some they per- 
 suaded [by entreaties] to join with them, and 
 got together in great numbers in the temple, and 
 appointed a great many generals for the war. 
 Joseph also, the son of Gorion, and Ananus the 
 high priest, were chosen as governors of all af- 
 fairs within the city, and with a particular charge 
 to repair the walls of the city ; for they did not 
 ordain Eleazar the son of Simon to that office, 
 although he had gotten into his possession the 
 prey they had taken from the Romans, and the 
 money they had taken from Cestius, together 
 with a great part of the public treasures, be- 
 cause they saw he was of a tyrannical temper ; 
 and that his followers were, in their behaviour, 
 like guards about him. However, the want 
 they were in of Eleazar's money, and the subtle 
 toicks used by him, brought all so about, that 
 'Ae people were circumvented, and submitted 
 themselves to his authority in all public affairs. 
 
 4. They also chose other generals for Idumea ; 
 Jesus the son of Sapphias, one of the high 
 priests ; and Eleazar, the son of Ananias, the 
 high priest ; they also enjoined Niger, the then 
 governor of Idumea,* who was of a family that 
 belonged to Perea, beyond Jordan, and was 
 thence called the Peraite, that he should be obe- 
 dient to those forenamed commanders. Nor 
 did they neglect the 'care of other parts of the 
 country ; but Joseph the son of Simon was sent 
 as general to Jericho, as was Manasseh to Perea, 
 and John, the Essene, to the toparchy of 
 Thamma ; Lydda was also added to his portion, 
 and Joppa and Emmaus. But John, the son of 
 Matthias, was made the governor of the topar- 
 chies of Gophnitica and Acrabastene ; as was 
 Josephus, th> son of Matthias, of both the Gali- 
 lees. Gamala also, which was the strongest 
 city in those parts, was put under his command. 
 
 5. So every one of the other commanders ad- 
 ministered the affairs of his portion with that 
 alacrity and prudence they were masters of ; but 
 as to Josephus, when he came into Galilee, his 
 first care was to gain the good-will of the people 
 of that country, as sensible that he should 
 thereby have in genera] good success, although 
 he should fail in other points. And being con- 
 scious to himself that if he eommunicated part 
 of his power to the great men, he should make 
 them his fast friends ; and that he should gain 
 the same favour from the multitude, if he eze 
 
 The Idumeans, as having been proselytes of jo* 
 tice since the days of John Hyrcanus, were now es 
 teemed as part of the Jewish nation, and are here pro 
 vided with a Jewish commander accordingly. 
 
 2 I
 
 (98 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK n, 
 
 cuted his commands by persons of their own 
 country, and with whom they were well ac- 
 quainted ; he chose out seventy* of the most 
 prudent men, and those elders in age, and ap- 
 pointed them to be rulers of all Galilee, as he 
 chose seven judges in every city to hear the lesser 
 quarrels ; for as to the greater causes, and those 
 wherein life and death were concerned, he en- 
 joined they should be brought to him and the 
 seventy elders. 
 
 6. Josephus also, when he had settled these 
 rules for determining causes by the law, with 
 regard to the people's dealings one with another, 
 betook himself to make provisions for their 
 safety against external violence ; and as he knew 
 the Romans would fall upon Galilee, he built 
 walls in proper places about Jotapata, and Ber- 
 sabee, and Salamis ; and besides these about Ca- 
 phareccho, and Japha, and Sigo, and what they 
 call mount Tabor, and Taricheae, and Tiberias. 
 Moreover, he built walls about the caves near 
 the lake of Gennessar, which places lay in the 
 Lower Galilee ; the same as he did to the places 
 of Upper Galilee, as well as to the rock called 
 the rock of Achabari, and to Seph, and Jamnith, 
 and Meroth ; and in Gaulanitis he fortified Seleu- 
 cia, and Spgane, and Gamala ; but as to those 
 of Sepphoris, they were the only people to whom 
 he gave leave to build their own walls, and this 
 because he perceived they were rich and wealthy, 
 and ready to go to war, without standing in need 
 of any injunctions for that purpose. The case 
 was the same with the Gischala, which had a 
 wall built about it by John the son of Levi him- 
 self, but with the consent of Josephus ; but for 
 the building of the rest of the fortresses, he la- 
 boured together with all the other builders, and 
 was present to give all the necessary orders for 
 that purpose. He also got together an army out 
 of Galilee, of more than a hundred thousand 
 young men, all of whom he armed with the old 
 weapons which he had collected together and 
 prepared for them. 
 
 7. And when he had considered that Roman 
 power became invincible, chiefly by their readi- 
 ness in obeying orders, and the constant exercise 
 of their arms, he despaired of teaching these his 
 men the use of their arms, which was to be ob- 
 tained by experience ; but observing that their 
 readiness in obeying orders was owing to the 
 multitude of their officers, he made his partitions 
 in his army more after the Roman manner, and 
 appointed a great many subalterns. He also 
 distributed the soldiers into various classes, 
 whom he put under captains of tens, and captains 
 of hundreds, and then under captains of thou- 
 sands ; and besides these he had commanders of 
 larger bodies of men. He also taught them to 
 give the signals one to another, and to call and 
 recall the soldiers by the trumpets, how to ex- 
 pand the wings of an army, and make them 
 wheel about ; and when one wing hath had suc- 
 cess, to turn again and assist those that were 
 hard set, and to ioin in the defence of what had 
 most suffered. He also continually instructed 
 them in what concerned the courage" of the soul 
 and the hardiness of the body ; and, above all, 
 he exercised them for war, by declaring to them 
 distinctly the good order of the Romans, and 
 that they were to fight with men who, both by 
 the strength of their bodies and courage of their 
 souls, had conquered in a manner the whole ha- 
 bitable earth. He told them that he should 
 make trial of the good order they would observe 
 
 * We see here how Josephus exactly imitated his 
 jtialator Moses, in appointing seven lesser judges for 
 smaller causes in particular cities 
 
 In war, even before it came to any battle, in case 
 they would abstain from the crimes they used to 
 ind-ulge themselves in, such as theft, and rob- 
 bery, and rapine, and from defrauding their 
 own countrymen, and never to esteem the harm 
 done to those that were so near of kin to them 
 to be any advantage to themselves ; for that 
 wars are then managed the best when the war- 
 riors preserve a good conscience ; but that such 
 as are ill men in private life will not only have 
 those for enemies which attack them, but God 
 himself also for their antagonist. 
 
 8. And thus did he continue to admonish them. 
 Now he chose for the war such an army as was 
 sxifficient, i.e., sixty thousand footmen, and two 
 hundred and fifty horsemen; and besides these, 
 on which he put the greatest trust, there were 
 about four thousand five hundred mercenaries : 
 he had also six hundred men as guards of his 
 body. Now the cities easily maintained the rest 
 of his army, excepting the mercenaries ; for one 
 of the cities enumerated before sent out half 
 their men to their army, and retained the other 
 half at home, in order to get provisions for 
 them ; insomuch that the one part went to the 
 war, and the other part to their work : and so 
 those that sent out their corn were paid for it by 
 those that were in arms, by that security which 
 they enjoyed from th7n. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 CONCERNING JOHN OF GISCHALA. JOSEPHUS USB3 
 STRATAGEMS AGAINST THE PLOTS JOHN LAID 
 AGAINST HIM, AND RECOVEKS CERTAIN CITIBS 
 WHICH HAD REVOLTED FROM HIM. 
 
 1. Now, as Josephus was thus engaged in the 
 administration of the affairs of Galilee, there 
 arose a treacherous person, a man of Gischala, 
 the son of Levi, whose name was John. His 
 character was that of a very cunning, and very 
 knavish person, beyond the ordinary rate of the 
 other men of eminence there ; and for wicked 
 practices he had not his fellow anywhere. Poor 
 he was at first, and for a long time his ants 
 were a hindrance to him in his wicked designs. 
 He was a ready liar, and yet very sharp in gain- 
 ing credit to his fictions : he thought it a point 
 of virtue to delude people, and would d lude 
 even such as were the dearest to him. He was 
 a hypocritical pretender to humanity, but when 
 he had hopes of gain he spared not the she ding 
 of blood : his desires were ever carried to great 
 things, and he encouraged his hopes from those 
 mean wicked tricks which he was the author of. 
 Ho hd a peculiar knack at thieving ; but in 
 some time he got certain companions in is im- 
 pudent practices : at first they were but few, 
 but as he proceeded on in his evil cours , they 
 became still more and more numerous. He took 
 care that none of his partners should be easily 
 caught in their rogueries, but chose such out of 
 the rest as had the strongest constitut ons of 
 body, and the greatest courage of soul, together 
 with great skill in martial affairs ; so he got to- 
 gether a band of four hundred men, who came 
 principally out of the country of Tyre, and were 
 vagabonds who had run away from its villages ; 
 and by the means of these he laid waste all Gali- 
 lee, and irritated a considerable number, who 
 were in great expectation of a war then sudden- 
 ly to arise among them. 
 
 2. However, John's want of money had hither- 
 to restrained him in his ambition after command, 
 and in his attempts to advance himself ; but
 
 CHAP. XXI. j 
 
 WAKS OF /HE JEWS. 
 
 49i? 
 
 when he saw that Josephus was highly pleased 
 vnth the activity of his temper, he porsuaded 
 him, in the first place, to intrust him with the re- 
 pairing of the walls of his native city [Gischala ;] 
 in which work he got a great deal of money 
 from the rich citizenr. He after that contrived 
 a very shrewd trick, and pretending that the 
 Jews who dwelt in Syria were obliged to make use 
 of oil that was made by others than those of their 
 own nation, he desired leave of Josephus to send 
 oil to their borders ; so he bought four amphorae 
 with such Tynan money as was of the value of four 
 Attic drachmae, and sold every half amphorae at 
 the same price ; and as Galilee was very fruit- 
 ful in oil, and was peculiarly so at that time, by 
 sending away great quantities, and having the sole 
 privilege so to do, he gathered an immense sum 
 
 prised at his being himself deserted, nor at the 
 peat multitude that came against him, but 
 leaped out to them with his clothes rent, and 
 ashes sprinkled on his head, with his hands be- 
 hind him, and his sword hanging at his neck. 
 At this sight his friends, especially those of 
 iaricheee, commiserated hip ondition ; but 
 those that came out of the country, and those 
 in their neighbourhood, to whom his govern- 
 ment seemed burdensome, reproached him, and 
 bade him produce the money which belonged to 
 them all immediately, and to confess the agree- 
 ment he had made to betray them ; for they 
 imagined, from the habit in which he appeared, 
 tli at he could deny nothing of what thy sus- 
 pected concerning him, and thnt it was in ordei 
 to obtain pardon, that he had put himself en- 
 
 of money together, which money he immediately . tirely into so pitiable a posture : but this humble 
 used to the disadvantage of him who gave him ! appearance was only designed as preparatory to 
 that privilege ; and as he supposed that if he a stratagem of his, who thereby contrived to set 
 could once overthrow Josephus, he should him- ; those that were so angry at him at variance one 
 self obtain the government of Galilee ; so he with another about the things they were angry 
 gave order to the robbers that were under his at. However, he promised he would confess all: 
 command to be more zealous in their thieving ' hereupon he was permitted to speak, when he 
 expeditions, that by the rise of many that de- said, "I did neither intend to send this money 
 sired innovations in the country, he might either 
 catch their general in his snares, as he came to 
 the country's assistance, and then kill him ; or il 
 he should overlook the robbers, he might accuse 
 him for his negligence to the people of the coun- 
 try. He also spread abroad a report far and 
 
 near that Josephus was delivering up the ad- 
 ministration of affairs to the Romans ; and 
 many such plots did he lay in order to ruin 
 him. 
 
 back to Agrippa, nor to gain it myself ; for I did 
 never esteem one that was your enemy to be my 
 friend, nor did I look upon what would tend to 
 your disadvantage to be my advantage. But, 
 O you people of Taricheae, I saw that your city 
 stood in more need than others of fortification 
 for your security, and that it wanted money in 
 order for the building it a wall. I was also 
 afraid lest the people of Tiberias and other cities 
 should lay a plot to seize upon these spoils, and 
 
 . . . . . . 
 
 3. Now at the mme time that certain yrmng , therefore it was that I intended to retain this 
 
 -noney privately, that I might encompass you 
 with a walL But if this does not please you, I 
 will produce -slhat was brought me, and leave it 
 to you to plunder it : but if I have conducted 
 myself so well as to please you^you may, if yon 
 please, punish your benefactor.' 
 
 4. Hereupon the people of Tarichese loudly 
 commended him ; but those of Tiberias, with 
 the rest of the company, gave him hard names, 
 and threatened what they would do to him ; so 
 both sides left off quarrelling with Josephus, 
 and fell to quarrelling with one another. So be 
 <zrew bold upon the dependence he had on his 
 triends, which were the people of Taricheae, and 
 about forty thousand in number, and spake more 
 freely to the whole multitude, and reproached 
 them greatly for their rashness ; and told them, 
 
 men of the village of Dabaritta, ho kept guiu --1 
 in the great Plain, laid snares for Ptolemy, w!ir 
 was Agrippa's and Beruice's steward, and took 
 from him all that he had with him: among 
 which tilings there were a great many costly 
 garments, and no small number of silver cups, 
 and six hundred pieces of gold ; yet they were 
 not able to conceal what they had stolen, but 
 brought it all to Josephus, to Tarichese. Here- 
 upon he blamed them for the violence they had 
 offered to the king and queen, and deposited 
 what they brought to him with Eneas, the most 
 potent man of Taricheae, . with an intention of 
 sending the things back to the owners at a 
 proper time ; which act of Josephus brought 
 him into the greatest danger ; for those that had 
 stolen the things had an indignation at him, 
 
 both because they gamed no "share of it for that with this money he would build walls 
 themselves, and because they perceived before- about Taricheae, and would put the other cities 
 
 WnOSo UcUCllU lb " W Ws iv*- vwj *". - - - 
 
 iTway by night" to theirseveral villages, and de uo t suffer themselves to be irritated against him 
 
 clared to all men that Josephus was going k who had procured it for them. 
 
 betray them ; they also raised great disorders in 1 5. Hereupon the rest of the multitude that 
 
 all the neighbouring cities, insomuch that in the 1 had been deluded retired ; but yet so that they 
 
 morning a hundred thousand armed men came we ut away angry, and two thousand 
 
 running together ; which multitude was crowded 
 
 together in the hippodrome at Taricheae, and 
 
 made a very peevish clamour against him ; 
 
 while some cried out that they should depose 
 
 made an assault upon him in their armour ; and 
 us he was already gone to his own bouse, they 
 stood without and threatened him. On which 
 occasion Josephus again used a second stratagem 
 
 wiine some cneu. ouu UUM moj ouvuin n,^.,- yuuaDwu ^w^" --e t -,. 
 
 the traitor, and others that they should burn to escape them ; for he got upon the top ot tno 
 him. Now John irritated a great many, as dicl house, and with his right hand desu-ed the* |to 
 
 be silent, and said to them, I cannot tell what 
 you would have, nor can hear what you sa^ for 
 the confused noise you make : but h 
 
 also one Jesus, the son of Sapphias, who was 
 then governor of Tiberias Then it was that 
 
 Joseplius's friends, and the guards of his body, 
 
 were so affrighted at this violent assault of the would comply with all tneir 
 
 multitude, that they all fled away but four; fchoy would but send some of their lumber ln to 
 
 and as he was asleep, they waked him, as the -- --* -** *-it w.th him at 
 
 people were going to set tire to the house ; and 
 
 although those four that remained with him 
 
 persuaded Mm to run away, he was neither sur 
 
 him that might talk with him about 
 when the principal of them, with their leader*, 
 aeard this, they came into the house. He then 
 r- w them to the most retired part of the IMSO,
 
 BOO 
 
 WA11S O* THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK u. 
 
 and shut the door of that hall where ho put 
 them, and then had them whipped till every one 
 of their inward parts appeared naked. In the 
 meantime the multitude stood round the house, 
 and supposed that he had a long discourse with 
 those that were gone in, about what they claimed 
 of him. He had then the doors set open imme- 
 diately, and sent the men out all bloody, which 
 BO terribly affrighted those that had before 
 threatened him, that they threw away their 
 arms and ran away. 
 
 6. But as for John, his envy grew greater 
 [upon this escape of Josephus,] and he framed a 
 new plot against him ; he pretended to be sick, 
 and by a letter desired that Josephus would give 
 him leave to use the hot baths that were at 
 Tiberias, for the recovery of his health. Here- 
 upon Josephus, who hitherto suspected nothing 
 of John's plots against him, wrote to the 
 governors of the city, that they would provide a 
 lodging and necessaries for John ; which favours, 
 when he had made use of, in two days' time he 
 did what he came about ; some he corrupted 
 with delusive frauds, and others with money, 
 and so persuaded them to revolt from Josephus. 
 This Silas, who was appointed guardian of the 
 city by Josephus, wrote to him immediately, 
 and informed him of the plot against him ; 
 which epistle, when Josephus had received, he 
 marched with great diligence all nigLt, and came 
 early in the morning to Tiberias ; a*- which time 
 the rest of the multitude met him. But John, 
 who suspected that his coming was not for his 
 advantage, sent, however, one of his friends, and 
 
 Eretended that he was sick, and that being con- 
 ned to his bed he could not come to pay him 
 his respects. But as soon as Josephus had got 
 the people of Tiberias together in the stadium, 
 and tried to discourse with them about the 
 letters that he had received, John privately sent 
 some armed men, and gave them orders to slay 
 him. But when the people saw that the armed 
 men were about to draw their swords, they cried 
 out; at which cry Josephus turned himself 
 about, and when he saw that the swords were 
 just at his throat, he marched away in great 
 haste to the sea-shore, and left off that speech 
 which he was going to make to the people, upon 
 an elevation of six cubits high. He then seized 
 on a ship which lay in the haven, and leaped 
 into it, with two of his guards, and fled away 
 into the midst of the lake. 
 
 7. But now the soldiers he had with him took 
 up their arms immediately, and marched against 
 the plotters, but Josephus was afraid lest a civil 
 war should be raised by the envy of a few men, 
 and bring the city to ruin ; so he sent some of 
 his party to tell them that they should do no 
 more than provide for their own safety; that 
 they should not kill anybody, nor accuse any for 
 the occasion they had afforded [of a disorder.] 
 Accordingly these men obeyed his orders, and 
 were quiet ; but the people of the neighbouring 
 countiy, when they were informed of this plot, 
 and of the plotter, got together in great multi- 
 tudes to oppose John. But he prevented their 
 attempt, and fled away to Gischala, his native 
 i-ity, while the Galileans came running out of 
 their several cities to Josephus; and as they 
 were now become many ten thousands of armed 
 men, they cried out, that they were come against 
 John, the common plotter against their interest, 
 und would at the same time burn him, and that 
 s.ity which had received him. Hereupon Jo- 
 bephus told them that he took their good-will 
 to him kindly, but still he restrained their fury, 
 and intended to subdue his enemies by prudent 
 conduct, lather than by slaying them ; so he ex- 
 
 cepted those of every city which had joined iu 
 this revolt with John, by name, who had readily 
 been shewn him by those that came from every 
 city, and caused public proclamation to be made, 
 that he would seize upon the effects of those 
 that did not forsake John within five days' time, 
 and would bum both their houses and their fami- 
 lies with fire. Whereupon three thousand of 
 John's party left him immediately, who came 
 to Josephus, and threw their arms down at his 
 feet. John then betook himself, together with 
 _ his two thousand Syrian runagates, from open 
 attempts, to more secret ways of treachery. Ac- 
 cordingly, he privately sent messengers to Jeru- 
 salem, to accuse Josephus, as having too great 
 power, and to let them know that he would soon 
 come as a tyrant to their metropolis, unless they 
 prevented him. This accusation the people were 
 aware of beforehand, but had no regard to it. 
 However, some of the grandees, out of envy, and 
 some of the rulers also, sent money to John pri- 
 vately, that he might be able to get together 
 mercenary soldiers, in order to fight Josephus ; 
 they also made a decree of themselves, and this 
 for recalling him from Lis government, yet did 
 they not think that decree sufficient; so they 
 sent withal two thousand five hundred armed 
 men, and four persons of the highest rank 
 amongst them ; Joazar the son of Nomicus, and 
 Ananias the son of Sadduk ; an also Simon and 
 Judas, the sons of Jonathan, (all very able men 
 in speaking,) that these persons might withdraw 
 the good-will of the people from Josephus. 
 These had it in charge, that if he would volun- 
 tarily come away, they should permit him to 
 [come and] give an account of his conduct ; but 
 if he obstinately insisted upon continuing in his 
 ! government, they should treat him as an enemy. 
 ' Now, Josephus's friends had sent him word that 
 an army was coming against him, but they gave 
 him no notice beforehand what the reason of 
 their coming was, that being only known among 
 some secret councils of his enemies ; and by this 
 means it was that four cines revolted from him 
 immediately, Sepphoris, and Gamala, and Gis- 
 chala, and Tiberias. Yet did he recover these 
 cities without war ; and when he had routed those 
 four comanders by stratagems, and had taken 
 the most potent of their warriors, he sent them 
 to Jerusalem ; and the people [of Galilee] had 
 great indignation at them, and were in a zeal- 
 ous disposition to slay, not only these forces, 
 but those that sent them also, had lot these 
 forces prevented it by running away. 
 
 8. Now John was detained afterward within 
 the walls of Gischala, by the fear he was in of 
 Josephus ; but within a few days Tiberias re- 
 volted again, and the people within it invited 
 king Agrippa [to return to the exercise of his 
 authority there ;] and when he did not come at 
 the time appointed, and when a few Roman 
 horsemen appeared that day, they expelled Jo- 
 sephus out of the city. JN"OW, tliis revolt of 
 theirs was presently known at Taricheae; and 
 as Josephus had sent out all the soldiers that 
 were with him to gather corn, he knew not how 
 either to march out alone against the revolters, 
 or to stay where he was, because he was afraid 
 the king's soldiers might prevent him if he tar- 
 ried, and might get into the city ; for he did not 
 intend to do anything on the next day, because 
 it was the Sabbath-day, and would hinder his 
 proceeding. So he contrived to circumvent the 
 revolters by a stratagem ; and in the first place, 
 he ordered the gates of Taricheae to be shut, 
 j that nobody might go out and inform [those of 
 I Tiberias,] for whom it was intended, what strata- 
 gem he was about : he then got together all tlir
 
 CHAP. XXII.] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 501 
 
 ships that were upon the lake, which were found 
 to be two hundred and thirty, and in each of 
 them he put no more than four mariners. So 
 he sailed to Tiberias with haste, and kept at such 
 a distance from the city, that it was not easy for 
 the people to see the vessels, and ordered that 
 the empty vessels should float up and down 
 there, while himself, who had but seven of hia 
 guards with him, and those unarmed also, went 
 so near as to be seen ; but when his adversaries, 
 who were still reproaching him, saw him from 
 the walls, they were so astonished that they 
 supposed all the ships were full of armed men, 
 and threw down their arms, and by signals of in- 
 tercession they besought him to spare the city. 
 
 9. Upon this, Josephus threatened them ter- 
 ribly, and reproached them, that when they 
 were the first that took up arms against the Ro- 
 mans, they should spend their forces beforehand 
 in civil dissensions and do what their enemies 
 desired above all things ; and that besides, they 
 should endeavour so hastily to seize upon him, 
 who took care of their safety, and had not been 
 ashamed to shut the gates of the city against 
 him that built their walls ; that, however, he 
 would admit of any intercessors from them that 
 might make some excuse for them, and with 
 whom he would make such agreements as might 
 be for the city's security. Hereupon ten of the 
 most potent men of Tiberias came down to him 
 presently, and when he had taken them into one 
 of his vessels, he ordered them to be earned a 
 great way off from the city. He then com- 
 manded that fifty others of their senate, such as 
 were men of the greatest eminence, should come 
 to him, that they also might give him some se- 
 curity on their behalf. After which, under one 
 new pretence or another, he called forth others, 
 one after another, to make the league between 
 them. He then gave order to the masters of 
 those vessels which he had thus filled, to sail 
 away immediately for Trmchcse, and to confine 
 those men in the prison there ; till at length he 
 took all their senate, consisting of six hundred 
 persons, and about two thousand of the populace, 
 and carried them away to Tarichese. 
 
 10. And when the rest of the people cried out, 
 that it was one Clitus that was the chief author 
 of this revolt, they desired him to spend his 
 anger upon him [only ;] but Josephus, whose in- 
 tention it was to slay nobody, commanded one 
 Levins, belonging to liis guards, to go out of the 
 vessel, in order to cut off both Clitus's hands ; 
 yet was Levins afraid to go out by himself alone, 
 to such a large body of enemies, and refused to 
 go. Now Clitus saw that Josephus wsisin a great 
 passion in the ship, and ready to leap out of it, 
 in order to execute the punishment himself ; he 
 begged therefore from the shore tli.it he would 
 leave him one of his hands, which Josephus 
 agreed to upon condition that he would himself 
 cut off the other hand ; accordingly he drew his 
 sword, and with his right hand cut off his left, 
 so great was the fear he was in of Josephus him- 
 self. And thus he took the people of Tiberias 
 prisoners, and recovered the city again with 
 empty ships and seven of his guard. Moreover. 
 a few days afterward he retook Gischala, which 
 
 had revolted with the people of Sepphoris, and 
 gave his soldiers leave to plunder it ; yet did he 
 get all the plunder together, and restored it to 
 the inhabitants ; and the like he did to the in- 
 habitants of Sepphoris and Tiberias : for when 
 he had subdued those cities, he had a mind, by 
 letting them be plundered, to give them some 
 good instruction, while at the same time he re- 
 gained their good-will by restoring them their 
 money again. 
 
 CHAPTER XXH. 
 
 THE JEWS MAKE ALL READY FOB THE WAR ; AND 
 SIMON, THE SON OF GIORAS, FALLS TO PLUNDER- 
 ING. 
 
 1. AND thus were the disturbances of Galilee 
 quieted, when, upon their ceasing to prosecute 
 their civil dissensions, they betook themselves to 
 make preparations for the war with the Romans. 
 Now in Jerusalem the high priest Ananus, and 
 as many of the men of power as were not in the 
 interest of the Romans, both repaired the walls, 
 and made a great many warlike instruments, in- 
 somuch that, in all parts of the city, darts and 
 all sorts of armour were upon the anvil. Al- 
 though the multitude of the young men were 
 engaged in exercises, without any regularity, 
 and all places were full of tumultuous doing : 
 yet the moderate sort were exceedingly sad ; and 
 a great many there were who, out of the pros- 
 pect they had of the calamities that were com- 
 ing upon them made great lamentations. There ! 
 were also such omens observed as were under- 
 stood to be forerunners of evils, by such as loved 
 peace, but were by those that kindled the war 
 interpreted so as to suit their own inclinations ; 
 and the very state of the city, even before the 
 Romans came against it, was that of a place 
 doomed to destruction. However, Ananus's 
 concern was this, to lay aside for a while the 
 preparations for the war, and to persuade the 
 seditious to consult their own interest, and to 
 restrain the madness of those that had the name 
 of zealots : but their violence was too hard for 
 him ; and what end he came to we shall relate 
 hereafter. 
 
 2. But as for the Acrabbene toparchy, Simon, 
 the son of Gioras, got a great number of those 
 that were fond of innovations together, and be- 
 took himself to ravage the country ; nor did he 
 only harass the rich men's houses, but tormented 
 their bodies, and appeared openly and before- 
 hand to affect tyranny in his government. And 
 when an army was sent against him by Ananus, 
 and the other rulers, he and his band retired to 
 the robbers that were at Masada, and stayed 
 there, and plundered the country of Idumea 
 with them, till both Ananus and his other ad- 
 versaries were slain ; and until the rulers of that 
 country were so afflicted with the multitude of 
 those that were slain, and with the continual 
 ravage of what they had, that they raised an 
 army, and put garrisons into the villages, to se- 
 cure them from these insults. And in this state 
 were the affairs of Judea at that time.
 
 502 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK III. 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 CONTAINING THE INTERVAL OF ABOUT ONB YXAX, 
 
 FROM VESPASIAN'S COMING TO SUBDUE THE JEWS TO THE TAKING 
 
 OF GAMALA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 VESPASIAN 13 BENT INTO SYRIA BY NERO TO HAKE 
 WAS WITH THE JEWS. 
 
 jj 1. WHEN Nero was informed of the Romans' 
 ill success in Judea, a concealed consternation 
 and terror, as is usual in such cases, fell upon 
 him; although he openly looked very big, aud 
 was very angry, and said, that what had hap- 
 pened was rather owing to the negligence of the 
 commander than to any valour of the enemy : 
 and as he thought it fit for him who bare the 
 burden of the whole empire to despise such mis- 
 fortunes, he now pretended so to do, and to have 
 a soul superior to all such sad accidents whatso- 
 ever. Yet did the disturbance that was hi his 
 soul plainly appear by the solicitude he was in 
 [how to recover his affairs again.] 
 
 2. And as he was deliberating to whom he 
 should commit the care of the East, now it was 
 in so great a commotion, and who might be best 
 able to punish the Jews for their rebellion, and 
 might prevent the same distemper from seizing 
 upon the neighbouring nations also, he found 
 no one but Vespasian equal to the task, and able 
 to undergo the great burden of so mighty a war, 
 seeing he was growing an old man already in the 
 camp, and from his youth had been exercised in 
 warlike exploits : he was also a man that had 
 long ago pacified the west, and made it subject 
 to the Romans, when it had been put into dis- 
 order by the Germans : he had also recovered 
 to them Britain by his arms, which tad been 
 little known before ; * whereby he procured to 
 his father Claudius to have a triumph bestowed 
 on him without aay sweat or labour of his own. 
 
 3. So Nero esteemed these circumstances as 
 favourable omens, and saw that Vespasian's age 
 gave him sure experience, and great skill, and 
 that he had his sons as hostages for his fidelity to 
 himself, and that the flourishing age they were in 
 would make them it instruments under their 
 father's prudence & Perhaps also there was some 
 interposition of Providence, which was paving 
 the way for Vespasian's being himself emperor 
 afterwards. Upon the- whole, he sent this man 
 to take upon him the command of the armies 
 that were in Syria ; but this not without great 
 encomiums and flattering compellations, such as 
 necessity required, aud such as might mollify 
 him into complaisance. So Vespasian sent his 
 Bon Titus from Achaia, where he had been with 
 Nero, to Alexandria, to bring back with him 
 from thence the fifth and tenth legions, while 
 he himself, when he had passed over the Helles- 
 pont, came by land into Syria, where he ga- 
 thered together the Roman forces, with a consi- 
 
 * Suetonius confirms this : " In the reign of Claudius, 
 Vespasian, for the sake of Narcissus, was sent as a lieu- 
 tenant of a legicu into Germany. Thence he removed 
 into Britain, and fought thirty battle* with the eseray." 
 In Veap. ct.4 
 
 dei able number of auxiliaries from the kings in 
 that neighbourhood. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A GREAT SLAUGHTER OF THE JEWS AT ASCALON. 
 VESPASIAN COMES TO PTOLEMAIS. 
 
 1. Now the Jews, after they had beaten Cestius, 
 were so much elevated with their unexpected 
 success, that they could not govern their zeal, 
 but, like people blown up into a flame by their 
 good fortune, carried the war to remoter places. 
 Accordingly they presently got together a great 
 multitude of all then- most hardy soldiers, aud 
 marched away for Ascalon. This is an ancient 
 city that is distant from Jerusalem five hundred 
 and twenty furlongs, and was always an enemy 
 to the Jews ; on which account they determined 
 to make their first effort against it, aud to make 
 their approaches to it as near as possible. This 
 excursion wna led on by three men, who were 
 the chief of them all, both for strength and sa- 
 gacity : Niger, called the Peraite, Silas of Baby- 
 lon, and besides them, John the Essene. Now 
 Asculon was strongly walled about, but had al- 
 most no assistance to be relied on [near them,] 
 for the garrison consisted of one cohort of foot- 
 men, and one troop of horsemen, whose captain 
 v\ as Antonius. 
 
 2. These Jews, therefore, out of their anger, 
 marched faster than ordinary, and, as if they 
 had come but a little way, approached very near 
 the city, and were come even to it ; but Anto- 
 nius, who was not unapprised of the attack they 
 were going to make upon the city, drew out his 
 horsemen beforehand, and being neither daunted 
 at the multitude nor at the courage of tho 
 enemy, received their first attacks with great 
 bravery; aud when they crowded to the very 
 walls, he beat them off. Now the Jews were un- 
 skilful in war, but were to fight with those who 
 were skilful therein; they were footmen to 
 fight with horsemen ; they were in disorder, to 
 fight with those that were united together ; they 
 were poorly armed, to fight those that were com- 
 pletely so ; they were to fight more by their rage 
 than by sober counsel, and wei'e exposed to sol- 
 diers that were exactly obedient, and did every- 
 thing they were bidden upon the least intima- 
 tion. So they were easily beaten ; for as soon 
 as ever their first ranks were once in disorder, 
 they were put to flight by the enemy's cavalry, 
 and those of them that came behind such as 
 crowded to the wall, fell upon their own party's 
 weapons, and became one another's enemies ; 
 and this so long till they were all forced to give 
 way to the attacks of the horsemen, and were 
 dispersed all the plain over, which plain was 
 wide, and all fit for the horsemen ; which cir- 
 cumstance was very commodious for the Ro
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 mans, and occasioned the slaughter of the great- 
 est number of the Jews ; for such as ran away, 
 they could overrun them, and make them turn 
 back ; and when they had brought them back 
 after their flight, and driven them together, 
 they ran them through, and slew a vast number 
 of them, insomuch that others encompassed 
 others of them, and drove them before them 
 whithersoever they turned themselves, and slew 
 them easily with their arrows ; and the -great 
 number there were of the Jews seemed a soli- 
 tude to themselves, by reason of the distress 
 they were in, while the Romans had such good 
 success with their small number, that they 
 seemed to themselves to be the greater multi- 
 tude ; and as the former strove zealously under 
 their misfortunes, out of the shame of a sudden 
 flight, and hopes of a change in their success, 
 so did the latter fear no weariness by reason of 
 their good fortune; insomuch that the fight 
 lasted till the evening, till ten thousand men of 
 the Jews' side lay dead, with two of their gene- 
 rals, John and Silas ; and the greater part of the 
 remainder were wounded, with Niger, their re- 
 maining general, who fled away together to a 
 small city of Idumea, called Sallis. Some few 
 also of the Romans were wouuded in this battle. 
 3. Yet were not the spirits of the Jews broken 
 by so great a calamity, but the losses they had 
 sustained rather quickened their resolution for 
 other attempts ; for, overlooking the dead bodies 
 which lay under their feet, they were enticed 
 by their former glorious actions to venture on a 
 second destruction ; so when they had lain still 
 30 little a while that their wounds were not yet 
 thoroughly cured, they got together all their 
 Forces, and came with greater fury, and in much 
 jreater numbers, to Asculon ; but their former 
 11 fortune followed them, as the consequence of 
 iheir unskilfulness, and other deficiencies in wai ; 
 or Antonius laid ambushes for them in the pus- 
 sages they were to go through, where they fell 
 uto snares unexpectedly, and where they were 
 encompassed about with horsemen before they 
 could form themselves into a regular body for 
 ighting, and were above eight thousand of them 
 ilain : so all the rest of them ran away, and with 
 hem Niger, who still did a great many bold ex- 
 ploits in his flight. jSowever, they were driven 
 along together by the enemy, who pressed hard 
 ipoii them, into a certain strong tower belonging 
 k> a village called BezedeL However, Antouius 
 and his party, that they might neither spend any 
 sonsiderable time about this tower, which was 
 lard to be taken, nor suffer their commander, 
 and the most courageous man of them all, to es- 
 ape from them, they set the wall on fire ; and 
 as the tower was burning, the Romans went 
 away rejoicing, as taking it for granted that 
 siger was destroyed ; but he leaped out of the 
 .ower into a subterraneous cave, in the inner- 
 uost part of it, and was preserved ; and on the 
 hird day afterward he spake out of the ground 
 those that with great lamentations were 
 earching for him, in order to give him a decent 
 uueral ; and when he was come out he filled all 
 he Jews with an unexpected joy, as though he 
 trere preserved by God's providence to be their 
 ommander for the time to come. 
 
 4. And now Vespasian took along with him 
 iis army from Autioch (which is the metropolis 
 f Syria, and, without dispute, deserves the 
 jlace of the third city in the habitable earth 
 hat was under the Roman empire,* both in mag- 
 
 60 
 
 * Bpanheim and Behind both agree, that the two 
 cities here esteemed greater than Antioch, the metro- 
 K>li of Syria, were Romp and Alexandria. 
 
 mtude and other marks of prosperity) where h 
 found King Agrippa with all h fo/ces, waiti* 
 for his coming and marched to Ptolemais. At 
 this city also the inhabitants of Sepphoris of Ga 
 ee met him, who were for peace with the Ro 
 mans. These citizens had beforehand taken care 
 their own safety, and being sensible of the 
 power of the Romans, they had been with Ces 
 tius Callus, before Vespasian came, and had 
 given their faith to him, and received the secu- 
 rity of his right hand ; and had received a Ro- 
 man garrison ; and at this time withal they re- 
 ceived Vespasian, the Roman general verv 
 kindly, and readily promised that they would 
 assist him against their own countrymen. Now 
 the general delivered them, at their desire as 
 many horsemen and footmen as he thought suf- 
 ficient to oppose the incursions of the Jews if 
 they should happen to come against them ; and 
 indeed the danger of losing Sepphoris would be 
 no small one, in this war that was now begin- 
 ning, seeing it was the largest city in Galilee, 
 and built in a place by nature very strong and 
 might be a security of the whole nation's [fide- 
 lity to the Romans.] 
 
 CHAPTER IIL 
 
 A DESCRIPTION OF GALILEE, SAMABIA, AND JODKA. 
 
 . 1. Now Phoenicia and Syria encompass about 
 the Galileos, which are two, and called the Up- 
 per Galilee and the Lower. They are bounded 
 towards the sun-setting, with the borders of the 
 territory belonging to Ptolemais, and by Carmel ; 
 which mountain had formerly belonged to the 
 Galileans, but now belonged to the Tyrians ; to 
 which mountain adjoins Gaba, which is called the 
 City of Horaemen, because those horsemen that 
 were dismissed by Herod the king, dwelt therein; 
 they are bounded on the south with Samaria and 
 Scythopolis, as far as the river Jordan; on the 
 east with Hippene and Gadaris, and also with 
 Gauliinitis, and the borders of the kingdom of 
 Agrippa; its northern parts are bounded by 
 Tyre, and the country of the Tyrians. As for 
 that Galilee which is called the Lower, it ex- 
 tends hi length from Tiberias to Zebulon, and 
 of the maritime places, Ptolemais is its neigh- 
 bour; its breadth is from the village called 
 Xaloth, which lies in the great plain, as far as 
 Bersabe, from which beginning also is taken the 
 breadth of the_ Upper Galilee, as far as the vil- 
 lage Baca, which divides the land of the Tynans 
 from it; its length is also from Meloth to Thella, 
 a village near to Jordan. 
 
 2. These two Galileos, of so great largene**, 
 and encompassed with so many nations of 
 foreigners, have always been able to make a 
 strong resistance on all occasions of war ; for 
 the Galileans are inured to war from their in- 
 fancy, and have been always very numerous; 
 nor hath the country been ever destitute of men 
 of courage, or wanted a numerous set of them ; 
 for their soil is universally rich aud fruitful, 
 and full of the plantations of trees of all sorts, 
 insomuch that it invites the most slothful to take 
 pains in its cultivation, by its fruitfulness : ac- 
 cordingly, it is all cultivated by its inhabitants, 
 and no part of it lies idle. Moracver, the cities 
 lie here very thick ; and the very many villages 
 there are here, are everywhere so full of people, 
 by the richness of their soil, that the very least 
 of them contain above fifteen thousand inhabit 
 ants. 
 
 3. In short, if any cue will suppose that Gab
 
 504 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK m. 
 
 lee is inferior to Perea in magnitude, he will be 
 obliged to prefer it before it in its strength : for 
 this ii all capable of cultivation, and is every- 
 where fruitful; but for Perea, which is indeed 
 much larger ha extent, the greater part of it is a 
 desert, and rough, and much less disposed for 
 the production of the milder kinds of fruits ; yet 
 hath it a moist soil [in other parts,] and produces 
 all kinds of fruits, and its plains are planted with 
 trees of all sorts, while yet the olive-tree, the 
 vine, and the palm-tree, are chiefly cultivated 
 there. It is also sufficiently watered with tor- 
 rents, which issue out of the mountains, and 
 with springs that never fail to run, even when 
 the torrents fail them, as they do in the clog-days. 
 Now the length of Perea is from Macherus to 
 Pella, and its breadth frem Philadelphia to Jor- 
 dan ; its northern parts are bounded by Pella, 
 as we have already said, as well as its western 
 with Jordan ; the land of Moab, is its southern 
 border, and its eastern limits reach to Arabia, 
 and Sibonitis, and besides to Philadelphene and 
 Gerasa. 
 
 4. Now, as to the country of Samaria, it lies 
 between Judea and Galilee ; it begins at a vil- 
 lage that is in the great plain called Ginea, and 
 ends at the Acrabbene toparchy, and is entirely 
 of the same nature with Judea ; for both coun- 
 tries are made up of hills and valleys, and are 
 moist for agriculture, and are very fruitful. 
 They have abundance of trees, and are full of 
 autumnal fruit, both that which grows wild, 
 and that which is the effect of cultivation. 
 They are not naturally watered with many 
 rivers, but derive their chief moisture from rain- 
 water, of which they have no want ; and for 
 those rivers which they have, all their waters 
 are exceeding sweet : by reason also of the ex- 
 cellent grass they have, their cattle yield more 
 milk than do those in other places ; and, what 
 is the greatest sitjn of excellency and abundance, 
 they each of them are very full of people 
 
 5. In the limits of Samaria and Judea lies 
 the village Anuath, which is also named Borceos. 
 This is the northern boundary of Judea. The 
 southern parts of Judea, if they be measured 
 lengthways, are bounded by a village adjoining 
 to the confines of Arabia ; the Jews that dwell 
 there call it Jordan. However, its breadth is 
 extended from the river Jordan to Joppa. The 
 city Jerusalem is situated in the very middle ; 
 on which account some have, with sagacity 
 enough, called that city the navel of the coun- 
 try. Nor indeed is Judea destitute of such de- 
 lights as come from the sea, since its maritime 
 places extend as far as Ptolemais ; it was parted 
 into eleven portions, of which the royal city Je- 
 rusalem was the supreme, and presided over all 
 the neighbouring country, as the head does over 
 the body. u.s to the other cities that were in- 
 ferior to i-- they presided over their several top- 
 archies ; Gophna was the second of those cities, 
 and next to that Acrabatta, after them Thamna, 
 and Lydda, and Emmaus, and Pella, and Idumea, 
 and Engaddi, and Herodium, and Jericho ; and 
 after them came Jamnia and Joppa, as presiding 
 over the neighbouring people ; and besides these 
 there was the region of Gamala, and Gaulanitis, 
 and Batanea, and Trachonitis, which are also 
 parts of the kingdom of Agrippa. This [last] 
 country begins at mount Libanus, and the foun- 
 tains of Jorcl, IB , and reaches breadthways to 
 the lake of Tiberias ; and in length is extended 
 from a village called Arpha, as far as Julias. 
 Its inhabitants are a mixture of Jews and Syri- 
 ans. -And thus have I, with all possible brevity, 
 described the country of Judea, and those that 
 lie round about it. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 JOSEPHUS MAKES AN ATTEMPT UPON SEPPHOBI8, 
 BUT IS REPELLED. TITUS COMES WITH A GREAT 
 ARMY TO PTOLEMAIS. 
 
 1. Now the auxiliaries who were gent to assist 
 the people of Sepphoris, being a thousand horse- 
 men, and six thousand footmen, under Placidus 
 the tribune, pitched their camp in two bodies 
 in the great plain. The foot were put into the 
 city to be a guard to it ; but the horse lodged 
 abroad in the camp. These last, by marching 
 continually one way or other, and overrunning 
 the parts of the adjoining country, were very 
 troublesome to Josephus and his men; they 
 also plundered all the places that were out of 
 the city's liberty, and intercepted such as durst 
 go abroad. On this account it was that Jose- 
 phus marched against the city, as hoping to take 
 what he had lately encompassed with so strong a 
 wall, before they revolted from the rest of the 
 Oalileans, that the Romans would have much 
 ado to take it : by which means he proved too 
 weak, and failed of his hopes, both as to forcing 
 the place, and to his prevailing with the people 
 of Sepphoris to deliver it up to him. By this 
 means he provoked the Roman* to treat the 
 country according to the law of war ; nor did 
 the Romans, out of the anger they bore at this 
 attempt, leave off either by night or by day, 
 burning the places in the plain, or stealing away 
 the cattle that was in the country, and killing 
 whatsoever appeared capable of fighting perpetu- 
 ally, and leading the weaker peoplp as slaves 
 into captivity ; so that Galilee was all over filled 
 with fire and blood, nor was it exempted from 
 any kind of misery or calamity ; for the only 
 refuge they had was this, that when they were 
 pursued, they could retire to the cities which 
 had walls built them by Josephus. 
 
 2. But as to Titus, he sailed over from Achaia 
 to Alexandria, and that soouer than the winter 
 season did usually permit ; so he took with him 
 those forces he was sent for, and marching with 
 great expedition, he came suddenly to Ptolemais, 
 and there finding his father, together with the 
 two legions, the fifth and tenth, which were the 
 most eminent legions of all, he joined them to 
 that fifteenth legion which was with his father : 
 eighteen cohorts followed these legions ; there 
 came also five cohorts from Cesarea, with one 
 troop of horsemen, and five other troops of 
 horsemen from Syria. Now these ten cohort! 
 had severally a thousand footmen, but the other 
 thirteen cohorts had no more than six hundred 
 footmen apiece, with a hundred and twenty 
 horsemen. There were also a considerable num- 
 ber of auxiliaries got together, tnat came from 
 the kings Antiochus and Agrippa, and Sohenms, 
 each of them contributing one thousand foot- 
 men that were archers, and a thousand horse- 
 men. Malchus also, the king of Arabia, sent a 
 thousand horsemen, besides five thousand foot- 
 men, the greatest part of whom were archers ; 
 so that the whole army, including the auxiliaries 
 sent by the kings, as well horsemen as footmen, 
 when all were united together, amounted to sixty 
 thousand, besides the servants, who, as they fol- 
 lowed in vast numbers, so because they had been 
 trained up in war with the rest, ought not to be 
 distinguished from the fighting men ; for as 
 they were in their masters' service in tunes of 
 peace, so did they undergo the like dangers with 
 them in times of war, insomuch that they -were 
 inferior to none, either in skill or in strength, 
 only they were subject to their masters.
 
 CHAP. V.] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 505 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 DESCRIPITON OF THE ROMAN ARMIES AND ROMAN 
 CAMPS; AND WHAT THE ROMANS ARK COM- 
 MENDED FOR. 
 
 1. Now here one cannot but admire at the pre- 
 caution of the Romans, in providing themselves 
 of such household servants, as might not only 
 serve at other times for the common offices of 
 ife, but might also be of advantage to them in 
 their wars ; and, indeed, if any one does but 
 attend to the other parts of their military dis- 
 ipline, he will be forced to confess that their 
 obtaining so large a dominion, hath been the ac- 
 quisition of their valour, and not the bare gift of 
 r ortune ; for they do not begin to use their 
 weapons first in time of war, nor do they then 
 jut their hands first into motion, while they 
 ivoided so to do in times of peace ; but as if 
 iheir weapons did always cling to them, they 
 jave never any truce from warlike exercises ; 
 nor do they stay till times of war admonish them 
 ;o use them ; for their military exercises differ 
 not at all from the real use of their arms, but 
 very soldier is every day exercised, and that 
 with great diligence, as if it were in time of war, 
 which is the reason why they bear the fatigue of 
 battle so easily ; for neither can any disorder 
 remove them from their usual regularity, nor 
 can fear affright them out of it, nor can labour 
 tire them ; which firmness of conduct makes 
 them to overcome those that have the same 
 firmness ; nor would he be mistaken that should 
 call those their exercises unbloody battles, and 
 their battles bloody exercises. Nor can their 
 enemies easily surprise them with the sudden- 
 ness of their incursions ; for as soon as they 
 have marched into an enemy's land, tliey do not 
 begin to fight till they have walled their camp 
 about ; nor is the fence they raise rashly mado, 
 or uneven ; nor do they all abide in it, nor do 
 those that are in it take their places at random ; 
 but if it happens that the ground is uneven, it 
 is first levelled : their camp is also four-square 
 by measure, and carpenters are ready, in great 
 numbers, with their tools, to erect their build- 
 ings for them.* 
 
 2. As for what is within the vamp, it is Bet 
 apart for tents, but the outward circumference 
 }-ath the resemblance of a wall, and is adorned 
 with towers at equal distances, where between 
 the towers stand the engines for throwing arrows 
 and darts, and for slinging stones, and where 
 they lay all other engines that can annoy the 
 enemy, all ready for their several operations. 
 They also erect four gates, one at every side of 
 the circumference, and those large enough for 
 the entrance of the beasts, and wide enough for 
 making excursions, if occasion should require. 
 They divide the camp within into two streets, 
 very conveniently, and place the tents of the 
 commanders in the middle ; but in the very 
 midst of all is the general's own tent in the 
 nature of a temple, insomuch that it appears to 
 be a city built on the sudden, with its market- 
 
 * This description of the exact symmetry and regu- 
 larity of the Roman army, and of the Roman encamp- 
 ments, with the sounding their trumpets, &c., and order 
 of war, described in this and the next chapter, is so 
 very like to the symmetry and regularity of the people 
 of Israel in the wilderness that one cannot well avoid 
 the supposal, that the one was the ultimate pattern of 
 the other, and that the tactics of the ancients were 
 taken from the rules given by God to Moses. And it 
 is thought by some skilful in these matters, that these 
 accounts of Josephus, as to the Roman camp and 
 armour, and conduct in war, are preferable to those in 
 Uie Roman *thors themselves. 
 
 place, and place for handicraft trades., and with 
 seats for the officers, superior and inferior ; 
 vhere, if any differences arise, their causes are 
 icard and determined. The camp, and all that 
 s in it, is encompassed with a wall all round 
 about, and that sooner than one would imagine, 
 and this by the multitude and the skill of the 
 abourers; and, if occasion require, a trench is 
 drawn round the whole, whose depth ia four 
 cubits, and its breadth equal 
 
 3. When they have thus secured themselves, 
 ;hey live together by companies with quietness 
 and decency, as are aU their other affairs managed 
 with good order and security. Each company 
 nath also their wood, and their corn, and their 
 water brought them, when they stand in need of 
 them; for they neither sup nor dine as they 
 please themselves singly, but all together. 
 Their times also for sleeping, and watching, and 
 rising, are notified beforehand by the sound of 
 trumpets, nor is anything done without such a 
 signal ; and in the morning the soldiery go every 
 one to their centurions, and these centurions to 
 their tribunes, to salute them ; with whom all 
 the superior officers go to the general of the 
 whole army, who then gives them of course the 
 watch-word and other orders, to be by them 
 carried to all that are under their command ; 
 which is also observed when they go to fight, 
 and thereby they turn themselves about on the 
 sudden, when there is occasion for making sal- 
 Lies, as they come back when they are recalled, 
 in crowds also. 
 
 i. When they are to go out of their camp, 
 the trumpet gives a sound, at which time no- 
 body lies still, but at the first intimation they 
 take down their tents, and all is made ready for 
 their going out ; then do the trumpets sound 
 again, to order them to get ready for the march ; 
 then do they lay their baggage suddenly upon 
 their mules and other beasts of burden, and 
 stand, at the place for starting, ready to march ; 
 when also they set fire to their camp, and this 
 they do because it will be easy for them to erect 
 another camp, and that it may not ever be of 
 use to their enemies. Then do the trumpets 
 give a sound the third tune, that they are to go 
 out in order to excite those that on any account 
 are a little tardy, that so no one may be out of 
 his rank when the army marches. Then does 
 the crier stand at the general's right hand, and 
 asks them thrice, in their own tongue, whether 
 they be ready to go out to war or not. To which 
 they reply as often, with a loud and cheerful 
 voice, saying, "We are ready." And this they 
 do almost before the question is asked them ; 
 they do this as filled with a kind of martial fury, 
 and at the time that they so cry out, they lift up 
 their right hands also. 
 
 5 When, after this, they are gone out of theu 
 camp, they all march without noise, and in a 
 decent manner, and every one keeps his own 
 rank, as if they were going to war. The foot 
 men are armed with breastplates and head 
 pieces, and have swords on each side ; but the 
 sword which is upon their left side is much long 
 er than the other ; for that on the right side is 
 not longer than a span. Those footmen also 
 that are chosen out from amongst the rest to be 
 about the general liimself, have a lance and a 
 buckler ; but the rest of the foot-soldiers have a 
 spear and a long buckler, besides a saw and a 
 basket, a pick-axe and an axe, a thong of leather 
 and a hook, with provisions for three days ; sc 
 that a footman hath no great need of a mule to 
 carry his burdens. The horsemen have a long 
 ewoi-d on their right sides, and a long pole in 
 tl-.eir hand : a shield also lies by them obliq
 
 DOG 
 
 WA11S OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK lit 
 
 on one side of their horses, with three or more 
 darts that are borne in their quiver, having broad 
 points, and no smaller than spears. They have 
 also head-pieces and breastplates, in like man- 
 ner as have all the footmen. And for those 
 that are chosen to be about the general, their ar- 
 mour no way differs from that of the horsemen 
 belonging to other troops ; and he always leads 
 the legions forth, to whom the lot assigns that 
 employment. 
 
 6. This is the manner of the marching and 
 resting of the Romans, as also these are the seve- 
 ral sorts of weapons they use. But when they 
 are to fight, they leave nothing without forecast, 
 nor to be done off-hand, but counsel is ever first 
 taken before any work is begun, and what hath 
 been there resolved upon is put in execution 
 presently ; for which reason they seldom commit, 
 any errors ; and if they have been mistaken at 
 any time, they easily correct those mistakes. 
 They also eSteem any errors they commit upon 
 taking counsel beforehand, to be better than 
 such rash success as is owing to fortune only ; 
 because such a fortuitous advantage tempts them 
 to be inconsiderate, while consultation, though 
 it may sometimes fail of success, hath this good 
 in it, that it makes men more careful hereafter; 
 but for the advantages that arise from chance, 
 they are not owing to him that gains them ; 
 and as to what melancholy accidents happen un- 
 expectedly, there is this comfort iu them, that 
 they had however taken the hest consultations 
 they could to prevent them. 
 
 7. Now they so manage their preparatory ex- 
 ercises of their weapons, that not the bodies of 
 the soldiers only, but their souls, may also become 
 stronger : they are moreover hardened for war 
 by fear ; for their laws inflict capital punish- 
 ments, not only for soldiers running away from 
 their ranks, but for slothfulness and inactivity, 
 though it be but in a lesser degree ; as are their 
 generals more severe than their laws, for they 
 prevent any imputation of cruelty towards those 
 under condemnation, by the great rewards they 
 bestow on the valiant soldiers ; and the readi- 
 ness of obeying their commanders is so great, 
 that it is very ornamental in peace ; but when 
 they come to a battle, the whole army is but one 
 body, so well coupled together are their ranks, 
 so sudden are their turnings about, so sharp their 
 hearing as to what orders are given them, so 
 quick their sight of the ensigns, and so nimble 
 are their hands when they set to work ; where- 
 by it comes to pass, that what they do is done 
 quickly, and what they suffer they bear with 
 the greatest patience. Nor can we find any ex- 
 amples whereby they have been conquered in 
 battle, when they came to a close fight, either 
 by the multitude of the enemies, or by their 
 stratagems, or by the difficulties in the places 
 they were in ; no, nor by fortune neither, for 
 their victories have been surer to them than for- 
 tune could have granted them. In a case, there- 
 fore, where counsel still goes before action, and 
 where, after taking the best advice, that advice 
 is followed by so active an army, what wonder is 
 it that Euphrates on the oast, the ocean 011 the 
 west, the most fertile regions of Lybia on the 
 south, and the Danube and the Rhine on the 
 north, are the limits of this empire ? One might 
 well say, that the Roman possessions are not in- 
 ferior to the Romans themselves. 
 
 8. This account I have given the reader, not 
 so much with the intention of commending the 
 Romans, as of comforting those that have been 
 conquered by them, and for deterring others 
 from attempting innovations under their govern- 
 ment. This discourse of the Roman military 
 
 conduct may also perhaps be of use to such 
 of the curious as are ignorant of it, and yet have 
 a mind to know it. I return now from this 
 digression. 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 PLACIDOS ATTEMPTS TO TAKE JOTAPATA,. AND Us 
 BEATEN OFF. VESPASIAN MARCUES INTO GALI- 
 LEE. 
 
 1. AND now Vespasian, with his son Titus, 
 had tarried some time at Ptolemais, and had put 
 his army in order. But when Placidus, who had 
 overrun Galilee, and had besides slain a number 
 of thuse whom he had caught, (which were only 
 the weaker part of the Galileans, an>l such as 
 were of timorous souls,) saw that the warriors 
 ran always to those cities whose walls had been 
 built by Josephus, he marched furiously against 
 Jotapata, which was of them all the strongest, 
 as supposing he should easily take it by a sudden 
 sui-pri.se, and that he should thereby obtain great 
 honour to himself among the commanders, and 
 bring a great advantage to them in their future 
 campaign ; because if this strongest place of them 
 all were once taken, the rest would be so af- 
 frighted as to surrender themselves. But he was 
 mightily mistaken in his undertaking ; for the 
 men of Jotapata were apprised of his coming to at- 
 tack them, and came out of the city, and expected 
 him there. So they fought the Romans briskly 
 when they least expected it, being both many in 
 number, and prepared for fighting, and of great 
 alacrity, as esteeming their country, their wives, 
 and their children, to be in danger, and easily 
 put the Romans to flight, and wounded many oi 
 them, and slew seven of them ; because their re- 
 treat was not made in a disoiderly manner, be- 
 cause the strokes only touched the surface of 
 their bodies, which were covered with their 
 armour in all parts, and because the Jews did ra- 
 ther throw their weapons upon them from a great 
 ilistance, than venture to come hand to hand 
 with them, and had only light armour on, while 
 the others were completely armed. However, 
 three men of the Jews' side were slain and a few 
 wounded ; so Placidus, finding himself unable to 
 assault the city, ran away. 
 
 2. But as Vespasian had a great mind to fall 
 upon Galilee, he marched out from Ptolemais, 
 having put his army into that order wherein the 
 Romans used to march. He ordered those aux- 
 iliaries which were lightly armed, and the arch- 
 ers, to march first, that they might prevent any 
 sudden assaults from the enemy, and might search 
 out the woods that looked suspiciously, and were 
 capable of ambuscades. Next to these followed 
 that part of the Romans who were most com- 
 pletely armed, both footmen and horsemen. 
 Next to these followed ten out of every hundred, 
 carrying along with them their arms, and what 
 was necessary to measure out a camp withal ; 
 and after them, such as were to make the road 
 even and straight, and if it were anywhere rough 
 and hard to be passed over, to plane it, and to 
 cut down the woods that hindered their march, 
 that the army might not be in distress, or tired 
 with their march. Behind these he set such 
 carriages of the army as belonged both to him- 
 self and to the other commanders, with a con- 
 siderable number of their horsemen for their se- 
 curity. After these he marched himself, having 
 with him a select body of footmen, and horse- 
 men, and pikemen. After these came the pecu- 
 liar cavalry of his own legion, for there were an 
 hundred and twenty horsemen that peculiarly
 
 CilAl'. V1I.J 
 
 WARS OP THE JEWS. 
 
 607 
 
 relonged to every legiou. Next to these came 
 lie mules that carried the engines for sieges, and 
 >he other warlike machines of that nan; re. 
 After these came the commanders of the co- 
 lorts, and tribunes, having about them soldiers 
 hoseu out of the rest. Then came the ensigns 
 iicompassing the eagle, which is at the head of 
 very Roman legion, the king, and the strongest 
 f all birds, which seems to them a signal of do- 
 minion, and an omen that they shall conquer all 
 igainst whom they march ; these sacred ensigns 
 are followed by the trumpeters. Then came 
 he main army in their squadrons and battalions, 
 vith six. men in depth, which were followed at 
 ast l>y a centurion, who, according to custom, 
 observed the rest. As for the servants of every 
 egion, they all followed the footmen, and led 
 ihe baggage of the soldiers, which was borne by 
 ;he mules and other beasts of burden. But be- 
 liud all the legions came the whole multitude of 
 ihe mercenaries ; and those that brought up the 
 ear came last of all for the security of the whole 
 army, being both footmen, and those in their 
 &rmour also, with a great number of horsemen. 
 
 o. And thus did Vespasian march with his 
 irrny, and came to the bounds of Galilee, where 
 ae pitched his camp and restrained his soldiers, 
 who were eager for war; he also shewed his 
 army to the enemy in order to affright them, 
 and to afford them a season for repentance, to 
 see whether they would change their minds be- 
 "ore it came to a battle, and at the same time he 
 jot things ready for besieging their strongholds. 
 And indeed this sight of the general brought 
 many to repent of their revolt, and put them all 
 into a consternation : for those that were in Jo- 
 sephus's camp, which was at the city called 
 Garis, not far from Sepphoris, when they heard 
 that the war was come near them, and that the 
 Romans would suddenly tight them hand to 
 baud, dispersed themselves and iled, not only 
 before they came to a battle, but before the 
 enemy ever came in sight, while Josephus and a 
 few others were left behind ; and as he saw that 
 he had not an army sufficient to engage the 
 enemy, that the spirits of the Jews were sunk, 
 and that the greater part would willingly come 
 to terms, if they might be credited, he already 
 despaired of the success of the whole war, and 
 determined to get as far as he possibly could, out 
 of danger ; so he took those that stayed along 
 with him, and fled to Tiburiac. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 VBSPASIAN, WHEN HE HAS TAKEN THE CITY 
 GADARA, MARCHES TO JOTAPATA. AFTEK A 
 LONG SIEGE, THE CITY IS BETRAYED BY A DE- 
 SERTER, AND TAKLX BY VESPASIAN. 
 
 3 L So Vespasian marched to the city Gadara, 
 und took it upon the first onset, because he found 
 it destitute of a considerable number of men 
 grown up and fit for war. He came then into it, 
 and slew all the youth, the Romans having no 
 mercy on any age whatsoever ; and this was done 
 out of the hatred they bore the nation, and be- 
 cause of the iniquity they had been guilty of in 
 th* affair of Cestius. He also set fire, not only 
 to the city itself, but to all the villas and small 
 cities that were round about it ; some of them 
 were quite destitute of inhabitants ; and ouj; of 
 some of them he carried the inhabitants as slaves 
 into captivity. 
 
 2. As to Josephus, his retiring into that city 
 which he chose as the most fit for his security, 
 
 put it into great fear ; for the people of Tiberias 
 did not imagine that he would have run away, 
 unless he had entirely despaired of the success 
 of the war ; and indeed, as to that point, they 
 were uot mistaken about his opinion ; for he saw 
 whither the affairs of the Jews would tend at 
 last, and was sensible that they had but one way 
 of escaping, and that was by repentance. How 
 ever, although he expected that the Romans 
 would forgive him, yet did he choose to die 
 many times over rather than to betray his coun- 
 try, and to dishonour that supreme command of 
 the army which had been intrusted to him, 
 or to live LappD" under those against whom he 
 was sent to tighv He determined, therefore, to 
 give an exact account ol affairs to the principal 
 men at Jerusalem by a letter, that he might not, 
 by too much aggrandising the power of the 
 enemy, make them too timorous ; nor by relat- 
 ing that their power beneath the truth, might 
 encourage them to stand out when they were 
 perhaps disposed to repentance. He also sent 
 them word, that if they thought of coming to 
 terms, they must suddenly write him an answer; 
 or if they resolve upon war, they must send him 
 an army sufficient to fight the Romans. Accord- 
 ingly he wrote these things, and sent messengers 
 immediately to carry his letter to Jerusalem. 
 
 3. Now Vespasian was very desirous of demo- 
 lishing Jotapata, for he had got intelligence that 
 the greatest part of the enemy had retired 
 thither ; and that it was, on other accounts, a 
 place of great security to them. Accordingly, 
 he sent both footmen and horsemen to level the 
 road, which was mountainous and rocky, not 
 without difficulty to be travelled over by foot- 
 men, but absolutely impracticable for horsemen. 
 Now these workmen accomplished what they 
 were about in four days' time, and opened a 
 broad way for the army. On the fifth day, 
 which was tue twenty-first of the month Artimi- 
 sius (Jyar) Josephus prevented him, and came 
 from Tiberias, and went into Jotapata, and 
 raised the drooping spirits of the Jews. And a 
 certain deserter told this good news to Vespasian, 
 that Josephus had removed himself thither, 
 which made him make haste to the city, as sup- 
 posing, that with taking that he should take all 
 Judea, in case he could but withal get Josephus 
 ' under his power. So he took this news to be of 
 1 the vastest advantage to him, and believed it, to 
 be brought about by the providence of God, that 
 he who appeared to be the most prudent man of 
 a!l their euemies had, of his own accord, shut 
 himself up in a place of sure custody. Accord- 
 ingly, he sent Placidus with a thousand horsemen, 
 and Ebutius, a decurion, a person that was of 
 emiuency both in council and in action, to en- 
 compass the city round, that Josephus might 
 not escape away privately. 
 
 4. Vespasian also, the very next day, took his 
 whole army and followed them, and by marching 
 till late in the evening, arrived then at Jotapata ; 
 and bringing his army to the northern side of 
 the city, he pitched his camp on a certain hill 
 which was seven furlongs from the city, and still 
 greatly endeavoured to be well seen by the 
 enemy, to put them into consternation, which 
 was indeed so terrible to the Jews immediately, 
 that no one of them durst go out beyond the 
 wall. Yet did the Romans put off the attack at 
 that time, because they had marched all the day, 
 although they placed a double row of battalions 
 round the city, with a third row beyond them 
 round the whole, which consisted of cavalry, in 
 order to stop up every way for an exit ; which 
 thing making the Jews despair of escaping, ex- 
 cited them to act more boldly; for nothing
 
 508 
 
 WAKS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK n. 
 
 makes men fight so desperately in war as neces- 
 sity. 
 
 6. Now when an assault was made the next 
 day by the Romans, ths Jews at first stayed out 
 of the walls, and opposed them ; and met them, 
 as having formed themselves a camp before the 
 city walls. But when Vespasian had set against 
 them the archers and slingers, and the whole 
 multitude that could throw to a great distance, 
 he permitted them to go to work, while he him- 
 self, with the footmen, got upon an acclivity, 
 whence the city might easily be taken. Jose- 
 phus was then in fear for the city, and leaped 
 out, and all the Jewish multitude with him; 
 these fell together upon the Romans in great 
 numbers, and drove them away from the wall, 
 and performed a great many glorious and bold 
 actions. Yet did they suffer as much as they 
 made the enemy surfer ; for as despair of de- 
 Everanc* encouraged the Jews, so did a sense of 
 shame equally encourage the Romans. These 
 last had skill as well as strength ; the other had 
 only courage, which armed them, and made 
 them fight furiously. And when the fight had 
 lasted all day, it was put an end to by the com- 
 ing on of night. They had wounded a great 
 many of the Romans, and killed of them thir- 
 teen men; of the Jews' side seventeen were 
 slain, and six hundred wounded. 
 
 6. On the next day the Jews made another 
 attack upon the Romans, and went out of the 
 walls, and fought a im ich more desperate battle 
 with them than before ; for they were now be- 
 come more courageous than formerly, and that 
 on account of the unexpected good opposition 
 they had made the day bofore, as they found 
 the Romans also to fight more desperately ; for 
 a sense of shame inflamed these into a passion, 
 as esteeming their failure of a sudden victory to 
 be a kind of defeat. Thus did the Romans try 
 to make an impression upon the Jews till the 
 fifth day continually, while the people of Jota- 
 pata made sallies out, and fouglit at the walls 
 most desperately ; nor were the Jews affrighted 
 at the strength of the enemy, nor were the 
 Romans discouraged at the difficulties they met 
 with in taking the city. 
 
 7. Now Jotapata is almost all of it built upon 
 ft precipice, having on all the other sides of it 
 every way valleys immensely deep and steep, 
 insomuch that those who would look down 
 would have their sight fail them before it reached 
 to the bottom. It is only to be come at on the 
 north side, where the utmost part of the city is 
 built on the mountain, as it ends obliquely at a 
 plain. This mountain Josephus had encom- 
 passed with a wall when he fortified the city, 
 that its top might not be capable of being seized 
 upon by the enemies. The city is covered all 
 round with other mountains, that can no way be 
 seen till a man comes just upon it. And this 
 was the strong situation of Jotapata. 
 
 8. Vespasian, therefore, in order to try how 
 he might overcome the natural strength of the 
 place, as well as the bold defence of the Jews, 
 made a resolution to prosecute the siege with 
 vigour. To that end he called the commanders 
 that were under him to a council of war, and 
 consulted with them which way the assault 
 might be managed to the best advantage ; and 
 when the resolution was there taken to raise a 
 bank against that part of the wall which was 
 practicable, he sent his whole army abroad to 
 get the materials togethei So when they had 
 cut down all the trees on the mountains that 
 adjoined to the city, and had gotten together a 
 vast heap of stones, besides the wood they had 
 oat down, some of them brought hurdles, in 
 
 order to avoid the effects of the darts that were 
 shot from above them. These hurdles they 
 spread over their banks, under cover whereof 
 they formed their bank, and so were little or 
 nothing hurt by the darts that were thrown 
 upon them from the wall, while others pulled 
 the neighbouring hillocks to pieces, and perpetu- 
 ally brought earth to them ; so that while they 
 were busy three sorts of ways, nobody was idle. 
 However, the Jews cast great stones from the 
 walls upon the hurdles which protected the 
 men, with all sorts of darts also ; and the noise 
 of what could not reach them was yet so terrible, 
 that it was some impediment to the workmen. 
 
 9. Vespasian then set the engines for throw- 
 ing stones and darts round about the city ; the 
 number of the engines was in all a hundred and 
 sixty ; and bade them fall to work, and dislodge 
 those that were upon the wall. At the same 
 time such engines as wereintended for thxt pur- 
 pose, threw at once lances upon them with 
 great noise, and stones of the weight of a talent 
 were thrown by the engines that were prepared 
 for that purpose, together with fire, and a vast 
 multitude of arrows, which made the wall so 
 dangerous, that the Jews durst not only not 
 come upon it, but durst not come to those parts 
 within the walls which were reached by the 
 engines , for the multitude of the Arabian 
 archers, as well also as all those that threw darts 
 and slung stones, fell to work at the same time 
 with the engine^ Yet did not the others lie 
 still when they could not throw at the Romans 
 from a higher place ; for they then made sallies 
 out of the city like private robbers, by parties, 
 and pulled away the hurdles that covered the 
 workmen, and killed them when they were thus 
 naked ; and when those workmen gave way, 
 these cast away the earth that composed the 
 bank, and burnt the wooden parts of it, together 
 with the hurdles, till at length Vespasian per- 
 ceived that the intervals there were between the 
 works were of disadvantage to him ; for those 
 spaces of ground afforded the Jews a place for 
 assaulting the Romans. So he united the hurd- 
 les, and at the same time joined one part of the 
 army to the other, which prevented the private 
 excuruions of the Jews. 
 
 10. And when the bank was now raised, and 
 brought nearer than ever to the battlements that 
 belonged to the walls, Josephus thought it 
 would be entirely wrong in him if he could 
 muke no contrivances in opposition to theirs, 
 and that might be for the city's preservation : BO 
 he got together his workmen, and ordered them 
 to build the wall higher ; and when they said 
 that this was impossible to be done while so 
 many darts were thrown at them, he invented 
 this sort of cover for them : He bade them 
 fix piles, and expand before them raw hides of 
 oxen newly killed, and these hides by yielding 
 and hollowing themselves when the stones were 
 thrown at them might receive them, for that the 
 other darts would slide off them, and the fire 
 that was thrown would be quenched by the mois- 
 ture that was in them ; and these he set before 
 the workmen ; and under them these workmen 
 went on with their works in safety, and raised the 
 wall higher, and that both by day and by night, > 
 till it was twenty cubits high. He then built a ! 
 good number of towers upon the wall, and fitted i 
 it to strong battlements. This greatly discour- 
 aged the Romans, who in their own opinions 
 were already gotten within the walls, while they 
 were now at once astonished at Josephus's con- 
 trivance, and at the fortitude of the citizens that 
 were in the city. 
 
 11. And now Vespasian was plainly irritated
 
 O* THE JEWS. 
 
 509 
 
 at the great subtlety of this stratagem, and at 
 the boldness of the citizens of Jotapata ; for tak- 
 ing heart again upon the building of this wall, 
 they made fresh sallies upon the Romans, and 
 had every day conflicts with them by parties, to- 
 gether with all such contrivances as robbers 
 make use of, and wi'h the plundering of all that 
 came to hand, as also with the setting fire to all 
 the other works ; and this till Vespasian made 
 his army leave off fighting them, and resolved to 
 lie round the city, and to starve them into a sur- 
 render, as supposing that either they would be 
 forced to petition him for mercy by the want of 
 provisions, or if they should have the courage to 
 hold out till the last they should perish by fa- 
 mine : and he concluded he should conquer them 
 the more easily in fighting, if he gave them an 
 interval, and then to fall upon them when they 
 were weakened by famine; but still he gave 
 orders that they should guard against their com- 
 ing out of the city. 
 
 12. Now the besieged had plenty of corn 
 within the city, and indeed of all other neces- 
 saries, but they wanted water, because there was 
 no fountain in the city, and the people being 
 there usually satisfied with rain-water ; yet it is 
 a rare thing in that country to have rain in sum- 
 mer, and at this season during the siege, they 
 were in great distress for some contrivance to 
 satisfy their thirst ; and they were very sad at 
 this time particularly, as if they were already in 
 want of water entirely, for Josephus seeing that 
 the city abounded with other necessaries, and 
 that the men were of good courage, and being 
 desirous to protract the siege to the Romans 
 longer than they expected, ordered their drink J 
 to be given them by measure : but this scanty 
 distribution of water by measure was deemed by 
 them as a thing more hard upon them than the 
 want of it ; and their not being able to drink as 
 much as they would, made them more desirous 
 of drinking than they otherwise had been ; nay, 
 they were so much disheartened thereby as if 
 they were come to the last degree of thirst. Nor 
 were the Romans unacquainted with the state 
 they were in, for when they stood over against 
 them beyond the wall, they could see them run- 
 ning together, and taking their water by mea- 
 sure, which made them throw their javelins 
 thither, the place being within *Jieir reach, and 
 kill a great many of them. 
 
 13. Hereupon Vespasian noped that theii re- 
 ceptacles of water would in no long time be 
 emptied, and that they would be forced to de- 
 liver up the city to him ; but Josephus being 
 minded to break such his hope, gave command 
 that they should wet a great many of thoir 
 clothes and hang them out about the battle- 
 ments, till the entire walls was of a sudden all 
 wet with the running down of water. At this 
 sight the Romans were discouraged, and unaer 
 consternation, when they saw them able to 
 throw away in sport so much water, when they 
 supposed them not to have enough to drink 
 themselves. This made the Roman general de- 
 spair of taking the city by their want of neces- 
 saries, and to betake himself again to arms, and 
 to try to force them to surrender, which was 
 what the Jews greatly desired ; for as they de- 
 spaired of either themselves or their city being 
 able to escape, they preferred a death in battle 
 before one by hunger and thirst. 
 
 14. However, Josephus contrived another stra- 
 tagem besides the foregoing, to get plenty of 
 what they wanted. There was a certain rough 
 and uneven place that could hardly be ascended, 
 and on that account was not guarded by the sol- 
 diers ; BO Josephus sent out certain Dersons 
 
 along the western parts of the valley, and by 
 them sent letters to whom he pleased of the 
 Jews that were out of the city, and procured 
 from them what necessaries soever they wanted 
 in the city in abundance ; he enjoined them also 
 to creep generally along by the watch as they 
 came into the city, and to cover their backs with 
 such sheep skins as had their wool upon them, 
 that if any one should spy them in the night- 
 time, they might be believed to be dogs. This 
 was done till the watch perceived their contriv- 
 ance, and encompassed that rough pLkce about 
 themselves. 
 
 15. And now it was that Josephus perceived 
 that the city could not hold out long, and that 
 his own life would be in doubt if he continued 
 in it ; so he consulted how he and the most 
 potent men of the city might fly out of it. 
 When the multitude understood this, they came 
 all round about him, and begged of him not to 
 overlook them while they entirely depended on 
 him, and him alone ; for that there was still hope 
 of the city's deliverance if he would stay with 
 them, because everybody would undertake any 
 pains with great cheerfulness on his account, and 
 in that case there would be some comfort for 
 them also, though they should be taken : that it 
 became him neither to fly from hi enemies, n-jr 
 to desert his friends, nor to leap otit of that city, 
 as out of a ship that was sinking in a storm, into 
 which he came when it was quiet and in a calm ; 
 for that by going away he would be the cause of 
 drowning the city, because nobody would then 
 venture to oppose the enemy when he was once 
 gone, upon whom they wholly confided. 
 
 16. Hereupon Josephu! avoided letting them 
 know that he was to go away to provide for his 
 own safety, but told them that he would go out 
 of the city for their sakes; for that if he stayed 
 with them, he should be able to do them little 
 good while they were in a safe condition ; and 
 that if they were once taken, he should only 
 perish with them to no purpose ; but that if ha 
 were once gotten free from this siege, he should 
 be able to bring them very great relief ; for that 
 no would then immediately get the Galileans to- 
 gether, out of the country, in great multitudes, 
 and draw the Romans off their city by another 
 war. That he did not see what advantage he 
 could bring to them now, by staying among 
 them, but only provoke the Romans to beside 
 them more closely, as esteeming it u most valu- 
 able tiling to take him ; but that if they were 
 once informed that he was fled out of the city, 
 they would greatly remit of their eagerness 
 against it. Yet did not this plea move the peo- 
 ple but inflamed them the more to hang about 
 him. Accordingly, both the children and the old 
 men, and the women with their infants, came 
 mourning to him and fell down before him, and 
 all of them caught hold of his feet, and held him 
 fast and besought him, with great lamentations, 
 that he would take his share with them in their 
 fortune ; and I ttinkthey did this, not that they 
 envied his deliverance, but that they hoped f 
 their own ; for they could not think they should 
 suffer any great misfortune, provided Josephui 
 would but stay with them. 
 
 17 Now, Josephus thought, that if he resolved 
 to stay, it would be ascribed to their entreaties ; 
 and if he resolved to go away by force, he shouM 
 be put into custody. His commiseration also of 
 the people under their lamentations, had mucU 
 broken that of his eagerness to leave them : so 
 he resolved to stay, and arming himself with the 
 common despair of the citizens he said to them 
 'Now is the time to begin to fight in earnest 
 when there is no hope of deliverance left. J
 
 610 
 
 WARS OI HEJVo. 
 
 [BOOK. iu 
 
 a brave thing to prefer glory before life, and to 
 get about some such noble undertaking as may 
 be remembered by late posterity." Having said 
 this he fell to work immediately, and made a 
 gaily, and dispersed the enemies' out-guards, and 
 ran as far as the Roman camp itself, and pulled 
 the coverings of their tents to pieces, that were 
 upon their banks, and set fire to their works. And 
 this was the manner in which he never left off 
 fighting, neither the next day nor the day after 
 it, but went on with it for a considerable num- 
 ber of both days and nights. 
 
 18. Upon this, Vespasian, when he saw the 
 Romans distressed by these sallies (although they 
 were ashamed to be made to run away by the 
 Jews ; and when at any time they made the 
 Jews ran away, their heavy armour would not 
 let them pursfue them far ; while the Jews, when 
 they had performed any action, and before they 
 could be hurt themselves, still retired into the 
 city,) ordered his armed men to avoid their on 
 set, and not to fight it out with men under desper- 
 ation, while nothing is more courageous than de- 
 spair ; but that their violence would be quenched 
 when they saw they failed of their purposes, as 
 fire is quenched when it wants fuel ; and that it 
 was most proper for the Romans to gain their 
 victories as cheap as they could, since they are 
 not forced to ight, but only to enlarge their own 
 dominions. So he repelled the Jews in great 
 measure by the Arabian archers, and the Syrian 
 slingers, and by those that threw stones at them, 
 nor was there any intermission of the great num- 
 ber of their offensive engines. Now, the Jews 
 suffered greatly by these engines, without being 
 able to escape from them ; and when these en- 
 gines threw their stones or javelins a great way, 
 and the Jews were within their reach, they 
 pressed hard upon the Romans, and fought des- 
 perately, without sparing either soul or body, 
 one part succouring another by turns, when it 
 was tired down. 
 
 19. When, therefore, Vespasian looked upon 
 himself as in a manner besieged by these sallies 
 of the Jews, and when his ranks were now net 
 far from the walls, he determined to make use 
 of bis battering ram. This battering ram is a 
 vast beam of wood like the mast of a ship ; its 
 fore-part is armed with a thick piece of iron at 
 the head of it. which is so carved as to be like 
 the head of u ram, whence its name is taken. 
 This ram is slung in the air by ropes passing over 
 its middle, and is hung like the balance in a pair 
 of scales from another beam, and braced by strong 
 beams that pass on both sides of it in the nature 
 of a cross. When this ram is pulled backward 
 by a great number of men with united force, and 
 then thrust forward by the same men, with 
 a mighty noise, it batters the walls with that 
 iron part which is prominent ; nor is there any j 
 tower so strong, or walls so broad, that can re- ) 
 silt any mote than its first Batteries, but all are 
 forced to yield to it at last^ This was the expe- 
 riment which the Roman general betook him- : 
 self to when he was eagerly bent upon taking the 
 city, and found lying in the field so long to be to 
 his disadvantage, because the Jews would never 
 let him be quiet. So these Romans brought the 
 several engines for galling an enemy nearer to 
 the walls, that they might reach such as were , 
 upon the wall, and endeavoured to frustrate ; 
 heir attempts ; these threw stones and javelins 
 
 it them ; in the like manner did the archers and 
 slingers come both together closer to the wall 
 This brought matters to such a pass that nonu 
 of the Jews dunt mount the wafis, and then it 
 was that the Romans brought the battering ram 
 tb.H was cased with hurdles all over, and in the ! 
 
 upper part was secured with skins that covered 
 it, and this both for the security of themselves 
 and of the engine. Now, at the very first stroke 
 of this eng ine, the wall was shaken, and a ter- 
 rible clam ur was raised by the people within 
 the city, as if they were already taken. 
 
 20. And now, wben Josephus saw this ram 
 still battering the same place, and that the wall 
 would quietly be thrown down by it, he resolved 
 to elude for a while the force of the engine. 
 With this design he gave orders to fill sacks with 
 chuff, and to hang them down before that place 
 where they saw the ram always battering, that 
 the stroke might be turned aside, or that the 
 place might feel less of the strokes by the yield- 
 ing natur.e of the chaff. This contrivance very 
 much delayed the attempts of the Romans, be- 
 cause let them remove their engine to what part 
 they pleased, those that were above it removed 
 their sacks, and placed them over-against the 
 strokes it made, insomuch that the wall was no 
 way hurt, and this by diversion of the strokes, 
 till the Romans made an opposite contrivance of 
 long po as, and by tying hooks at their ends, cut 
 off the sacks. Now, when the battering ram, 
 thus recovered its force, and the wall having 
 been bu newly built, was giving way, Josephus 
 and tho e about him, had afterward immediate 
 recourse to fire, to defend themselves withal ; 
 whereupon they took what materials soever they 
 had that were but dry, and made a sally three 
 ways, ?nd set fire to the machines and to the 
 hurdle , and the banks of the Romans them- 
 selves ; nor did the Romans well know how tn 
 come to their assistance, being at once under a 
 constei nation at the Jews' boldness, and being 
 prevented by the flames from coming to theit 
 assistance ; for the materials being dry with the 
 hitumen and pitch that were among them, as 
 was brimstone also, the fire caught hold of every 
 thing immediately ; and what cost the Romans 
 ft great deal of pains was in one hour consumed. 
 
 21. And here a certain Jew appeared worthy 
 of our relation and commendation ; he was the 
 son of Sameas, ar.d was called Eleazar, and was 
 born at Saab in Galilee. This man took up a 
 stone of vast bigness, and threw it down from 
 the wall upon the ram, and this with so great a 
 force that it broke off the head of the engine. 
 He also leaped down and took up the head of 
 the ram from the midst of them, without any 
 concern, carried it to the top of the wall, and 
 this while he stood as a fit mark to be pelted by 
 all his enemies. Accordingly, he received the 
 strokes upon his naked body, and was wounded 
 with five darts ; nor did he mind any of them 
 while he went up to the top of the wall, where 
 lie stood in sight of them all, as an instance of 
 the greatest boldness : after which he threw 
 himself on a heap with his wounds upon him, 
 and fell down, together with the head of the 
 ram. jSText to him, two brothers shewed their 
 courage ; their names were Netir and Philip, 
 both of them of the village Ruma, and both of 
 them Galileans also ; these men leaped upon the 
 soldiers of the tenth legion, and fell upon the 
 Romans with such a noise and fnce as to dis- 
 order their ranks, and put to flight all upon 
 whomsoever they made their assaults. 
 
 22. After these men's performances, Josephcu, 
 and the rest of the multitude with him, took a 
 great deal of fire, and burnt both the machines, 
 and their coverings, with the works belonging to 
 the fifth, and to the tenth legion, which they 
 put to flight ; when others followed them imme 
 diately, and buried those instruments and all 
 their materials under ground. However, about 
 Ml e evening the Romans erected the battering
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 ram again, against that part of the wall which 
 had suffered before ; where a certain Jew that 
 lefended the city from the Romans, hit Vespa- 
 sian with a dart in his foot, and wounded him a 
 .ittle, the distance being so great, that no mighty 
 impression could be made by the dart thrown so 
 far off. However, this caused the greatest dis- 
 order among the Romans ; for when those who 
 stood near him saw his blood, they were dis- 
 turbed at it, and a report went abroad, through 
 the whole army, that the general was wounded, 
 while the greatest part left the siege, and came 
 running together with surprise and fear to the 
 general ; and before them all came Titus, out of 
 the concern he had for his father, insomuch that 
 the multitude were in great confusion, and this 
 out of the regard they had for their general, and 
 by reason of the agony that the son was in. Yet 
 did the father soon put an end to the son's fear, 
 aud to the disorder the army was under, for be- 
 ing superior to his pains, and endeavouring soon 
 to be seen by all that had been in the fright 
 about him. he excited them to fight the Jews 
 more briskly ; for now everybody was willing to 
 expose himself to danger immediately in order 
 to avenge their general ; and then they encour- 
 Iged one another with loud voices, and ran has- 
 tily to the walls. 
 
 23. But still Josephus and those with him, 
 although they fell down dead one upon another, 
 by the darts and stones which the engines threw 
 upon them, yet did not they desert the wall, but 
 fell upon those who managed the ram, under the 
 protection of the hurdles, with fire, and iron 
 weapons, and stones ; and these could do little 
 or nothing, but fell themselves perpetually, 
 while they were seen by those whom they could 
 not see, for the light of their own flame shone 
 about them, and made them a most visible mark 
 to the enemy, as they were in the day-time, 
 while the engines could not be seen at a great 
 distance, and so what was thrown at them was 
 hard to be avoided : for the force with which 
 these engines threw stones and darts made them 
 hurt several at a time, and the violent noise of 
 the stones that were cast by the engines was so 
 great, that they carried away the pinnacles of 
 the wall, and broke off the corners of the towers ; 
 for no body of men could be so strong as not to 
 be overthrown to the last rank by the largeness 
 of the stones ; and any one may learn the force 
 of the engines by what happened this very night ; 
 for as one of those that stood round about Jose- 
 phus was near the wall, his head was carried 
 away by such a stone, and his skull was flung 
 as far as three furlongs. In the day-time also, a 
 woman with child had her belly so violently 
 struck, as she was just come out of her house, 
 that the infant was carried to the distance of 
 half a furlong ; so great was the force of that 
 engine, The noise of the instruments them- 
 selves W6S very terrible, the sound of the darts 
 and stones that were thrown by them was so 
 also ; of the same sort was that noise the dead 
 bodies made, when they were dashed against the 
 wall ; and incised dreadful was the clamour 
 which these things raised in the women within 
 the city, which was echoed back at the same 
 time by the cries of such as were slain ; while 
 the whole space of ground whereon they fought 
 ran with blood, and the wall might have been 
 ascended over by the bodies of the dead carcasses ; 
 the mountains also contributed to increase the 
 noise by their echoes ; nor was there on that 
 night anything of terror wanting that could 
 either affect the hearing or the sight : yet did 
 a great part of those that fought so hard for Jo- 
 tapata fall manfully, as were a great part of 
 
 them wounded. However the morning watch 
 was come ere the wall yielded to the machines 
 employed against it, though it had been battered 
 without intermission. However, those within 
 covered their bodies with their armour, ar-d 
 raised works over against that part which was 
 thrown down, before those machines were kid 
 by which the Romans were to ascend into the 
 city. 
 
 24. In the morning Vespasian got his army 
 together, in order to take the city [by storm,] 
 after a little recreation upon the hard pains they 
 had been at the night before ; and as he was de- 
 sirous to draw off those that opposed him from 
 the places where the wall had been thrown 
 down, he made the most courageous of the 
 horsemen get off their horses, and placed them 
 in three ranks over against those rains of the 
 walls, but covered with their armour on every 
 side, and with poles in their hands, that no these 
 might begin their ascent as soon as the instru- 
 ments for such ascent were laid ; behind them 
 he placed the flower of the footmen ; but for the 
 rest of the horse, he ordered them to extend 
 themselves over against the wall, upon the whole 
 hilly country, in order to prevent any from es- 
 caping out of the city when it should be taken ; 
 and behind these he placed the archers round 
 about, and commanded- them to have all their 
 darts ready to shoot Fhe same command he 
 gave to the slingers, and to those that managed 
 the engines, and bade them to take up other 
 ladders and have them ready to lay upon those 
 parts of the wall which were yet untouched, thaV 
 the besieged might be engaged in trying to hin- 
 der their ascent by them, and leave the guard 
 of the parts that were thrown down, while the 
 rest of them should be overborne by the darts 
 cast at them, and might afford his men an en- 
 trance into the city. 
 
 25. But Josephus, understanding the meaning 
 of Vespasian's contrivance, set the old men, to- 
 gether with those that were tired out, at the 
 sound parts of the wall as expecting no harm 
 from those quarters, hut set the strongest of his 
 men at the place where the wall was broken 
 down, and before them all, six. men by them- 
 selves, among whom he took his share of the 
 first and greatest danger. He also gave orders, 
 that when the legions made a shout they should 
 stop their ears, that they might not be affrighted 
 at it, and that, to avoid the multitude of the 
 enemies' darts, they should bend down on their 
 knees, and cover themselves with their shields, 
 and that they should retreat a little backward 
 for a while, till the archers should have emptied 
 their quivers ; but that, when the Komans 
 should lay their instruments for ascending the 
 walls, they should leap out on the sudden, and 
 with their own instruments should meet the 
 enemy, and that every one should strive _ to do 
 his best, in order not to defend his own city, a 
 if it were possible to be preserved, but in order 
 to revenge it, when it was already destroyed; 
 and that they should set before their eyes how 
 their old men were to be slain, and their children 
 and their wives to be killed immediately by the 
 enemy ; and that they would beforehand spend 
 all their fury, on account of the calamities just 
 coming upon them, and pour it out on the actors. 
 
 26. And thus did Josephns dispose of both 
 his bodies of men ; but then for the useless part 
 of the citizens, the women and children, when 
 they saw their city encompassed by a threefold 
 army, (for none of the usual guards that had been 
 fighting before were removed,) when they also 
 saw not only the walls thrown down, but their 
 enemies with swords in their hands, a also th
 
 512 
 
 AVARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK m. 
 
 hilly country above them shining with their 
 weapons, and the darts in the hands of the 
 Arabian archers, they made a final and lament- 
 able outcry of the destruction, as if the misery 
 were not only threatened, but actually come 
 upon them already. But Josephus ordered the 
 women to be shut up in their nouses, lest they 
 should render the warlike actions of the men too 
 effeminate, by making them commiserate their 
 condition, and commanded them to hold their 
 peace, and threatened them if they did not, 
 while he came himself before the breach, where 
 his allotment was ; for all those who brought 
 ladders to the other place, he took no notice of 
 them, but earnestly waited for the shower of 
 arrows that was coming, 
 
 27. And now the trumpeters of the several 
 Roman legions sounded together, and the army 
 made a terrible shout ; and the darts, as by 
 order, flew so fast that they intercepted the 
 light. However, Josephus's men remembered 
 the charges he had given them, they stopped 
 their ears at the sounds, and covered their 
 bodies against the darts ; and as to the engines 
 that were sot ready to go to work, the Jews ran 
 out upon them, before those that should have 
 used them were gotten upon them. And now, 
 on the ascending of the soldiers, there was a 
 great conflict, and many actions of the hands 
 and of the soul were exhibited, while the Jews 
 did earnestly endeavour, in the extreme danger 
 they were in, not to show less courage than 
 those who, without being in danger, fought so 
 stoutly against them ; nor did they leave strug- 
 gling with the Romans till they either fell down 
 dead themselves, or killed their antagonists. 
 But the Jews grew weary with defending them- 
 selves continually, and had not enow to come in 
 their places to succour them, while, on the 
 side of the Romans, fresh men still succeeded 
 those that were tired ; and still new men soon 
 got upon the machines for ascent, in the room of 
 those that were thrust down ; those encouraging 
 one another, and joining side to side with their 
 shields, which were a protection to them, they 
 became a body of men not to be broken ; and 
 as this band thrust away the Jews, as though 
 they were themselves but one body, they began 
 already to get upon the wall. 
 
 28. Then did Josephus take necessity for his 
 counsellor in this utmost distress, (which neces- 
 sity is very sagacious in invention, when it is 
 initated by despair,) and gave orders to pour 
 scalding oil upon those whose shields protected 
 them. Whereupon they soon got it ready, be- 
 ing many that brought it, and what they brought 
 being a great quantity also, and poured it on all 
 sides upon the Romans, and threw down upon 
 them their vessels as they were still hissing from 
 the heat of the* fire : this so burnt the Romans, 
 that it dispersed that united band, who now 
 tumbled down from the wall with horrid pains, 
 for the oil did easily run down the whole body 
 from head to foot, under their entire armour, 
 and fed upon their flesh like flame itself, its fat 
 and unctuous nature rendering it soon heated 
 and slowly cooled ; and as the men were cooped 
 up in their head-pieces and breast-plates they 
 could no way get free from this burning oil; 
 they could only leap and roll about in their 
 pains, as they fell down from the bridges they 
 had laid. And as they were thus beaten back, 
 and retired to their own party, who still pressed 
 them forward, they were easily wounded by 
 those that were behind them. 
 
 29. However, in this ill success of the Ro- 
 mans, their courage did not fail them, nor did 
 the Jews want prudence to oppose them ; for 
 
 the Romans, although they saw their own men 
 thrown down, and in a miserable condition, yet 
 were they vehemently bent against those that 
 poured the oil upon them, while every one re- 
 proached the man before him as a coward, and 
 one that hindered him from exerting himself ; 
 while the Jews made use of another stratagem 
 to prevent their ascent, and poured boiling fenu- 
 greek upon the boards, in order to make them 
 slip and fall down ; by which means neither 
 could those that were coming up, nor those that 
 were going down, stand upon their feet ; but 
 some of them fell backward upon the machines 
 on which they ascended, and were trodden upon; 
 many of them fell down upon the bank they had 
 raised, and when they were fallen upon it were 
 slain by the Jews ; for when the Romans could 
 not keep their feet, the Jews being freed from 
 fighting hand to hand, had leisure to throw their 
 darts at them. So the general called off his 
 soldiers in the evening that had suffered so 
 sorely, of whom the number of the slain was 
 not a few, while that of the wounded was still 
 greater ; but of the people of Jotapata no more 
 than six men were killed, although more than 
 three hundred were carried off wounded. This 
 fight happened on the twentieth day of the 
 month Desius, [Si van.] 
 
 30. Hereupon Vespasian comforted his army 
 on occasion of what had happened, and as he 
 found them angry indeed, but rather wanting 
 somewhat to do than any further exhortations, 
 he gave orders to raise the banks still higher, 
 and to erect three towers, each fifty feet high, 
 and that they should cover them with plates of 
 iron on every side, that they might be both firm 
 by their weight, and not easily liable to be set 
 on fire. These towers he set upon the banks, 
 and placed upon them such as could shoot darts 
 and arrows, with the lighter engines for throw- 
 ing stones and darts also ; and besides these, he 
 set upon them the stoutest men among the 
 slingers, who not being tc l-e seep by reason of 
 the height they stood upon, and the battlements 
 uhat protected them, might throw their weapons 
 at those that were upon the wall, and were 
 easily seen by them. Hereupon the Jews, not 
 being easily able to escape those darts that were 
 thrown down upon their heads, nor to avenge 
 themselves on those whom they could not see, 
 and perceiving that the height of the towers was 
 so ijreat, that a dart which they threw with 
 their hand could hardly reach it, and that the 
 iron plates about them made it very hard to 
 come at them by fire, they ran away from the 
 walls, and fled hastily out of the city, and fell 
 upon those that shot at them. And thus did 
 the people of Jotapata resist the Romans, while 
 a great number of them were every day killed, 
 without their being able to retort the evil upon 
 their enemies ; nor could they keep them out of 
 the city without danger to themselves. 
 
 31. About this time it was that Vespasian sent 
 out Trajan against a city called Japha, that lay 
 near to Jotapata, and that desired innovations ; 
 and was puffed up with the unexpected length of 
 the opposition of Jotapata. This Trajan was the 
 commander of the tenth legion, and to him Vespa- 
 sian committed one thousand horsemen and two 
 thousand footmen. When Trajan came to the 
 city, he found it hard to be taken, for besides the 
 natural strength of its situation, it was also se- 
 cured by a double wall ; but when he saw the 
 people of this city coming out of it, and ready to 
 fight him, he joined battle with them, and after 
 a short resistance which they made, he pursued 
 after them : and as they fled to their first wall, 
 the Romans followed them so closely, ttat they
 
 JHAP. VII.] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 513 
 
 fell in together with them : but when the Jews 
 were endeavouring to get again within their 
 second wall, their fellow-citizens shut them out, 
 s being afraid that the Romans would force 
 themselves in with them. It was certainly God, 
 therefore, who brought the Romans to punish 
 the Galileans, and did then expose the people of 
 the city every one of them manifestly to be de- 
 stroyed by their bloody enemies ; for they fell 
 upon the gates in great crowds, and earnestly 
 calling to those that kept them, and that by their 
 names also, yet had they their throats cut in the 
 very midst of their supplications; for the enemy 
 shut the gates of the first wall, and their own 
 citizens shut the gates of the second, so they 
 were enclosed between two walls, and were slain 
 in great numbers together ; many of them were 
 run through by the swords of their own men, 
 and many by their own swords, besides an im- 
 mense number that were slain by the Romans ; 
 nor had they any courage to revenge them- 
 selves ; for there was added to the consternation 
 they were in from the enemy, their being be- 
 trayed by their own friends, which quite broke 
 their spirits : and at last they died, cursing not 
 the Romans, but their own citizens, till they 
 were all destroyed, being in number twelve thou- 
 sand. So Trajan gathered that the city was 
 empty of people that could fight, and although 
 there should a few of them be therein, he sup- 
 posed that they would be too timorous to venture 
 upon any opposition ; so he reserved the taking 
 of the city to the general. Accordingly he sent 
 messengers to Vespasian, and desired him to send 
 his son Titus to finish the victory he had gained. 
 Vespasian hereupon imagining there might be 
 some pains still necessary, sent his son with an 
 army of five hundred horsemen, and one thousand 
 footmen. So he came quickly to the city, and 
 put his army in order, and set Trajan over the 
 left wing, while he had the right himself, and 
 led them to the siege : and when the soldiers 
 brought ladders to be laid against the wall on 
 every side, the Galileans opposed them from 
 above for a while ; but soon afterwards they left 
 the walls. Then did Titus's men leap into the 
 the city, and seized upon it presently ; but when 
 those that were in it were gotten together, there 
 was a fierce battle between them ; for the men 
 of power fell upon the Romans in the narrow 
 streets, and the women threw whatsoever came 
 next to hand at them, and sustained a fight with 
 them of six hours' time ; but when the fighting 
 men were spent, the rest of the multitude had 
 their throats cut, partly in the open air and partly 
 in their own houses, both young and old together. 
 So there were no males now remaining, besides 
 infants, who with the women were carried as 
 slaves into captivity ; so that the number of the 
 slain, both now in the city and at the former 
 fight, was fifteen thousand, and the captives 
 were two thousand one hundred and thirty. This 
 calamity befell the Galileans on the twenty-fifth 
 day of the month Desius [Sivan.] 
 
 32. Nor did the Samaritans escape their share 
 of misfortune at this time ; for they assembled 
 themselves together upon the mountain called 
 Gerizim, which is with them a holy mountain, 
 and there they remained; which collection of 
 theirs, as well as the courageous minds they 
 shewed, could not but threaten somewhat of 
 war ; nor were they rendered wiser by the mise- 
 ries that had come upon their neighbouring cities. 
 They also, notwithstanding the great success the 
 Romans had, marched on in an unreasonable 
 manner, depending on their own weakness, and 
 were disposed for any tumult upon its first ap- 
 pearance. Vespasian therefore thought it best 
 
 to prevent their motions, and to cut off the 
 foundation of their attempts ; for although all Sa- 
 maria had ever garrisons settled among them, yet 
 did the number of those that were come to mount 
 Gerizim, and their conspiracy together, give 
 ground to fear what they would be at ; he there- 
 fore sent thither Cerealis, the commander of the 
 fifth legion, with six hundred horsemen and 
 three thousand footmen, whc did not think it 
 safe to go up to the mountain and give them 
 battle, because many of the enemy were on the 
 higher part of the ground ; so he encompassed 
 all the lower part of the mountain with his army, 
 and watched them all that day. Now it hap- 
 pened that the Samaritans, who were now desti- 
 tute of water, were inflamed with a violent heat 
 (for it was summer-time, and the multitude had 
 not provided themselves with necessaries) inso- 
 much that some of them died that very day with 
 heat, while others of them preferred slavery be- 
 fore such a death as that was, and fled to the 
 Romans ; by whom Cerealis understood that those 
 who still stayed there were very much broken by 
 their misfortunes. So he went up to the moun- 
 tain, and having placed his forces round about 
 the enemy, he, in the first place, exhorted them 
 to take the security of his right hand, and come 
 to terms with him, and thereby save themselves; 
 and assured them, that if they would lay down 
 their arms, he would secure them from any harm ; 
 but .when he could not prevail with them, he fell 
 upon them and slew them all, being in number 
 eleven thousand and six hundred. This was 
 done on the twenty-seventh day of the month 
 Desius [Sivan.] And these were the calamities 
 that befell the Samaritans at this time. 
 
 33. But as the people of Jotapata still held 
 oat manfully, and bore up under their miseries 
 beyond all that could be hoped for, on the forty- 
 seventh day [of the siege] the banks cast up by 
 the .Romans were become higher than the wall ; 
 ow irhich day a certain deserter went to Ves- 
 pasian, and told him, how few were left in the 
 city, and how weak they were, and that they had 
 been so worn out with perpetual watching, and 
 also perpetual fighting, that they could not now 
 oppose any force that came against them, and 
 that they might be taken by stratagem, if any 
 one would attack them ; for that about the last 
 watch of the night, when they thought they 
 might have some rest from the hardships they 
 were under, and when a morning sleep used to 
 come upon them, as they were thoroughly weary, 
 he said the watch used to fall asleep : accord- 
 ingly his advice was, that they should make their 
 attack at that hour. But Vespasian had a sus- 
 picion about this deserter, as knowing how 
 faithful the Jews were to one another, and how 
 much they despised any punishments that could 
 be inflicted on them ; thi last because one of the 
 people of Jotapata had undergone all sorts of 
 torments, and though they made him pass 
 through a fiery trial of his enemies in his ex- 
 amination, yet would he inform them nothing of 
 the affairs within the city, and as he was cruci- 
 fied, smiled at them! However, the probability 
 there was in the relation itself did partly confirm 
 the truth of what the deserter told him, and they 
 thought he might probably speak the truth. 
 However, Vespasian thought they should be no 
 great sufferers if the report was a sham ; so he 
 commanded them to keep the man in custody, 
 and prepared the army for taking the city. 
 
 3 1. Accordingto which resolution they marched 
 without noise, at the hour that had been told 
 them, to the wall ; and it was Titus himself that 
 first got upon it, with one of his tribunes, Do- 
 miti'is Sabinus, and a few of the fifteenth legioD 
 
 2 K
 
 514 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK in, 
 
 along with him. So they cut the throats of the 
 watch, and entered the city very quietly. After 
 these came Cerealis the tribune, and Placidus, 
 and led on those that were under them. Now 
 when the citadel was taken, and the enemy were 
 in the very midst of the city, and when it wag 
 already day, yet was not the taking of the city 
 known by those that held it ; for a great many 
 of them were fast asleep, and a great mist, which 
 then by chance fell upon the city, hindered those 
 that got up from distinctly seeing the case they 
 were in, till the whole Roman army was gotten 
 in, and they were raised up only to find the 
 miseries they were under ; and as they were 
 slaying, they perceived the city was taken. And 
 for the Romans, they so well remembered what 
 they had suffered during the siege, that they 
 spared none, nor pitied any, but drove the people 
 down the precipice from the citadel, and slew 
 them as they drove them down ; at which time 
 the difficulties of tho place hindered those that 
 were still able to fight from defending them- 
 selves ; for as they were distressed in the narrow 
 streets, and could not keep their feet sure along 
 the precipice, they were overpowered with the 
 crowd of those that came fighting them down 
 from the citadel. This provoked a great many, 
 even of those chosen men that were about Jo- 
 ephus, to kill themselves with their own hands ; 
 for when they saw they could kill none of the Ro- 
 mans, they resolved to prevent being killed by the 
 Romans, and got together in great numbers, in the 
 utmost parts of the city, and killed themselves. 
 
 35. However, such of the watch as at the first 
 perceived they were taken, and ran away as fast aa 
 they could, went up into one of the towers on the 
 north side of the city, and for a while defended 
 themselves there ; but as they were encompassed 
 with a multitude of enemies, they tried to use 
 their right hands, when it was too late, and at 
 length they cheerfully offered their necks to be 
 cut off by those that stood over them. And the 
 Romans might have boasted that the conclusion 
 of that siege was without blood [on their side,] 
 If there had not been a centurion, Antonius, who 
 was slain at the taking of the city. His death 
 was occasioned by the following treachery : for 
 there was one of those that fled into the caverns, 
 which were a great number, who desired that 
 this Autonius would reach him his right hand 
 for his security, and would assure him that 
 he would preserve him, and give him his assist- 
 ance in getting up out of the cavern ; accord- 
 ingly, he incautiously reached him his right 
 hand, when the other man prevented him, and 
 stabbed him under his loins with a spear, and 
 killed him immediately. 
 
 36. And on this day, the Romans slew all the 
 multitude that appeared openly ; but on the fol- 
 lowing days they searched the hiding-places, and 
 fell upon those that were under ground, and in. 
 the caverns, and went thus through every age, 
 excepting the infants and the women, and of these 
 there were gathered together as captives twelve 
 hundred ; aud as for those that were slain at the 
 taking of the city, and in the former fights, they 
 were numbered to be forty thousand. So Ves- 
 pasian gave order that the city should be entirely 
 demolished, and all the fortifications burnt down. 
 And thus was Jutapata taken, in the thirteenth 
 year of the reign of Nero, on the first day of the 
 month Panemus [Tuiuuz.] 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 BOW JOSEPHUS WAS DISCOVERED BY A WOMAN, 
 AND WAS WILLING TO DKL1VEK HIMSELF OP TO 
 
 THE ROMANS ; AND WHAT DISCOURSE HE HAD 
 WITH HIS OWN MEN WHEN THEY ENDEAVOURED 
 TO HINDER HIM ; AND WHAT HE SAID TO 
 VESPASIAN, WHEN HE WAS BROUGHT TO HIM ; 
 AND ASTER WHAT MANNEB VKSPA8IAN USED 
 HIM AFTERWARDS. 
 
 1. AND now the Romans searched for Jose- 
 phus, both out of the hatred they bore him, and 
 because their general was very desirous to have 
 him taken ; for he reckoned that if he were once 
 taken, the greatest part of the war would be 
 over. They then searched among the dead, and 
 looked into the most concealed recesses of the 
 city ; but as the city was first taken, he was 
 assisted by a certain supernatural providence ; 
 for he withdrew himself from the enemy when 
 he was in the midst of them, and leaped into a 
 certain deep pit, whereto there adjoined a large 
 den at one side of it, which den could not be 
 seen by those that were above ground ; and here 
 he met with forty persons of eminence that had 
 concealed themselves, and with provisions enough 
 to satisfy them for not a few days. So in the 
 day-time he hid himself from the enemy, who 
 had seized upon all places ; and in the night- 
 time he got np out of the den, and looked about 
 for some way of escaping, and took exact notice 
 of the watch : bvit as all places were guarded 
 everywhere 02 his account, that there was no 
 way of getting off unseen, he went down again 
 into the den. Thus he concealed himself two 
 days : but on the third day, when they had 
 taken a woman who had been with them, he 
 was discovered. Whereupon Vespasian sent 
 immediately and zealously two tribunes, Pau- 
 linus and Gallicanus, and ordered them to give 
 Josephus their right hands as a security for hi* 
 life, and to exhort him to come up. 
 
 2. So they came nnd invited the man to come 
 up, and gave him assurances that his life should 
 be preserved; but they did not prevail with 
 him ; for he gathered suspicions from the prob- 
 ability there was that one who had done so 
 many things against the Romans must suffer for 
 it, though not from the mild temper of those 
 that invited him. However, he was afraid that 
 he was invited to come up in order to be pun- 
 ished, until Vespasian seat besides these a third 
 tribune, Nicanor, to him , he was one that was 
 well known to Josephus, and had been his 
 familiar acquaintance in old time. When he 
 was come, he enlarged upon the natural mild- 
 ness of the Romans towards those they have 
 once conquered; and told him, that he had 
 behaved himself so valiantly, that the com- 
 manders rather admired than hated him ; that 
 the general was very desirous to have him 
 brought to him, not in order to punish him, for 
 that he could do though he should not come 
 voluntarily, but that he was determined to pre- 
 serve a man of his courage. He moreover added 
 this, that Vespasian, had he been resolved to 
 impose upon him, would not have sent to him a 
 friend of his own, nor put the fairest colour upon 
 the vilest action, by pretending friendship and 
 meaning perfidiousness ; nor would he have him- 
 self acquiesced, or come to him, had it been to 
 deceive him. 
 
 3. \ow, as Josephus began to hesitate with 
 himself about Nicanor's proposal, the soldiery 
 were so angry, that they ran hastily to set fire 
 to the den ; but the tribune would not permit 
 them so to do, as being very desirous to take the 
 man alive. And now, as Nicauor lay hard at 
 Josephus to comply, and he understood how the 
 multitude of the enemy threatened him, he 
 called to mind the dreams which he had dreamed
 
 WAliS O* A HE JEWS. 
 
 5ir, 
 
 In the night-time, whsreby God had signified to 
 him beforehand both the future calamities of 
 the Jews, and the event that concerned the 
 Roman emperors. Now Josephus was able to 
 give shrewd conjectures about the interpreta- 
 tion of such dreams as have been ambiguously 
 delivered by God. Moreover, he was not un- 
 acquainted with the prophecies contained in the 
 sacred books, as being a priest himself, and of 
 the posterity of priests : and just then was he 
 in an ecstasy ; and setting before him the 
 tremendous images of the dreams he had lately 
 had, he put up a secret prayer to God, and said, 
 " Since it pleaseth thee, who hast created the 
 Jewish nation, to depress the same, and since 
 all their good fortune is gone over to the Ro- 
 mans, and since thou hast made choice of this 
 sou) of mine to foretell what is to come to pass 
 hereafter, I willingly give them my hands, and 
 am content to live. And I protest openly, that 
 1 do not go over to the Romans as a deserter of 
 the Jews, but as a minister from thee." 
 
 4. "When he had said this, he complied witii 
 Nicanor's invitation. But when those Jews 
 who had fled with him understood that he 
 yielded to those that invited him to come up, 
 they came about him in a body, and cried out, 
 " Is'ay, indeed, now may the laws of our fore- 
 fathers, which God ordained himself, well groan 
 to purpose ; that God we mean who hath created 
 the souls of the Jews of such a temper that thoy 
 despise death. O Josephus : art thou still fond 
 of life ; and canst thou bear to see the light in -, 
 state of slavery ? How soon hast thou forgotten 
 thyself ! How many hast thou persuaded to 
 lose their lives for liberty! Thou hast there- 
 fore had a false reputation for xuuihood, and a 
 like false reputation for wisdom, if thou canst 
 hope for preservation from those against whom 
 t'.iou hast fought so zealously, and art however 
 willing to be preserved by them, if they he ia 
 earnest. But although the good fortune of the 
 Romans hath made thee forget thyself, we ought 
 to take care that the glory of our forefathers 
 may not be tarnished. We will lend thee our 
 right hand and a sword ; and if thou wilt die 
 willingly, thou wilt die as general of the Jews; 
 but if unwillingly, thou wUt die as a traitor to 
 them." As soon as they said this, they began 
 to thrust their swords at him, and threatened 
 they would kill him, if he thought of yielding 
 himself to the Romans. 
 
 5. Upon this, Josephus was afraid of their 
 attacking him, and yet thought he should be a 
 betrayer of the commands of God if he died be- 
 fore they were delivered. So he began to talk 
 like a philosopher to them in the distress he was 
 then in, when he said thus to them : " O my 
 friends, why are we so earnest to kill ourselves? 
 and why do we set our soul and body, which 
 are such dear companions, at such variance? 
 Can any one pretend that I am not the man I 
 was formerly? Nay, the Romans are sensible 
 how that matter stands well enough. It is a 
 brave thing to die in war ; but so that it be 
 according to the law of war, by the hand of 
 conquerors. If, therefore, I avoid death from j 
 the sword of the Romans, 1 am truly worthy to 
 be killed by my own sword, and my own hand , 
 but if they admit of mercy, and would spare* 
 their enemy, how much more ought we to have 
 mercy upon ourselves, and to spare ourselves 
 for it is certainly a foolish thing to do that 
 to ourselves which we quarrel with them for 
 doing unto us. I confess freely that it is a 
 brave thing to dio for liberty ; but still so 
 that it be in war, and done by those who take 
 that liberty from us; but at present our enemies 
 
 do neither meet us in battle, nor do they kill us. 
 Now, he is equally a coward who will not dk 
 when he is obliged to die, and he who will dit 
 when he is not obliged so to do. What are we 
 afraid of, when we will not go up to the Ro- 
 mans ? Is it death 1 If so, what are we afraid 
 of, when we but suspect our enemies will inflict 
 it on us, shall we inflict it on ourselves for cer- 
 tain ? But it may be said, we must be slaves. 
 And are we, then, in a clear state of liberty at 
 present? It may also be said, that it is a manly 
 act for one to kill himself. No, certainly, but a 
 most unmanly one ; as I should esteem that 
 pilot to be an arrant coward who, out of fear of 
 a storm, should sink his ship of his own accord. 
 Now, self-murder is a crime most remote from 
 the common nature of all animals, and an in- 
 stance of impiety against God our Creator : nor 
 indeed is there an animal that dies by its own 
 x>utrivance, or by its own means ; for the desire 
 of life is a law engraven in them all ; on which 
 account we deem those that openly take it away 
 from us to be our enemies, and th^we that do it 
 by treachery, are punished for st. doing. And 
 do you not think that God is very angry when a 
 man does injury to what he hath bestowed on 
 him ? for from him it is that we have received 
 our being ; and we ought to leave it to his dis- 
 posal to take that being away from us. The 
 bodies of all men are indeed mortal, and are 
 created out of corruptible matter ; but the soul 
 is ever immortal, and is a portion of the Divinity 
 that inhabits our bodies. Besides, if any one 
 destroys or abuses a depontum he hath received 
 from a mere man, he is esteemed a wicked and 
 perfidious person ; but then if any one cast out 
 of his body this divine dcjwsitum, can we ima- 
 gine that he who is there affronted doth not 
 know of it? Moreover, our law justly ordains, 
 that slaves who run away from their masters 
 shall be punished, though the masters they ran 
 away from may have been wicked masters to 
 them. And shal'. we endeavour to run away 
 from God, who is the best of all masters, 
 and not think ourselves highly guilty of im- 
 piety? Do not you know that those who de- 
 part out of this life, according to the law of na- 
 ture, and pay that debt which was received from 
 God, when he that lent it us is pleased to re- 
 quire it back, enjoy eternal fame? that then- 
 houses and their posterity are sure, that their 
 souls are pure and obedient, and obtain a most 
 holy place iii heaven, from whence, in the revo- 
 lution of ages, they are again seut into pure 
 bodies ; while the souls of those whose hands have 
 acted madly against themselves, are received by 
 the darkest place in Hades, and while God, who 
 i: their father, punishes those that off end against 
 either of them in their posterity? for which rea- 
 0% >n God hates such doings, and the crime is 
 punished by our most wise legislator. Accord- 
 ingly our laws determine, that the bodies of such 
 as kill themselves should be exposed till the sun 
 be set, without burial, although at the same time 
 it be allowed them to be lawful to bury our ene- 
 mies [sooner. { The laws of other nations also 
 enjoin such meuV hands to be cut off when they 
 are dead, which had been made use of in destroy- 
 ing themselves when alive, while they reckoned 
 that as the body is alien from the soul, so u the 
 hand alien from the body. It is therefore, my 
 friends, a right thing to reason justly, and not 
 add to the calamities which men bring upon us, 
 impiety towards our Creator. If we have t 
 iniud to preserve ourselves, let us do it ; for tt 
 be preserved by those our enemies, to whom we 
 have given so many demonstrations of our cour- 
 jvre. is no way inglorious ; but il we have a mind
 
 516 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK 11. 
 
 to die, it is good to die by the hand of those that 
 have conquered us. For my part, I will not run 
 over to our enemies' quarters, in order to be a 
 traitor to myself ; for certainly I should then be 
 much more foolish than those that deserted to 
 the enemy, since they did it in order to save 
 themselves, and I should do it for my own de- 
 struction. However, I heartily wish the Ro- 
 mans may prove treacherous in this matter ; for 
 if, after tneir offer of their right hand for secu- 
 rity, I be slain by them, I shall die cheerfully, 
 and carry away with me the sense of their per- 
 fidiousness as a lonsolation greater than victory 
 itself." 
 
 6. Now the? 3 and many the like motives did 
 Josephus use to these men, to prevent their mur- 
 dering themselves ; but desperation had shut 
 their ears, as having long ago devoted themselves 
 to die, and they were irritated at Josephus. 
 They then ran upon him with their swords in 
 their hands, one from one quarter, and another 
 from another, and called him a coward, and 
 every one of them appeared openly as if he were 
 ready to smite him ; but he, calling to one of 
 them by name, and looking like a general to 
 another, and taking a third by the hand, and 
 making a fourth ashamed of himself, by praying 
 him to forbear, and being in this condition dis- 
 tracted with various passions (as he well might 
 hi the great distress he was then in,) he kept off 
 every one of their swords from killing him, and 
 was forced to do like such wild beasts as are en- 
 compassed about on every side, who always turn 
 themselves against those that last touched them. 
 Nay, some of their right hands were debilitated 
 by the reverence they bare to their general in 
 these fatal calamities, and their swords dropped 
 out of their hands ; and not a few of them were 
 there, who, when they aimed to smite him with 
 their swords, were not thoroughly either willing 
 or able to do it. 
 
 7. However, in this extreme distress, hs was 
 not destitute of his usual sagacity ; but trusting 
 himself to the providence of God, he put his life 
 into hazard [in the manner following] : "And 
 now," said he, " since it is resolved among you 
 that you will die, come on, let us commit our 
 mutual deaths to determination by lot. He 
 whom the lot falls to first, let him be killed by 
 him that hath the second lot, and thus fortune 
 shall make its progress through us all ; nor shall 
 any of us perish by his own right hand, for it 
 would be unfair if, when the rest are gone, some- 
 body should repent and save himself." This 
 proposal appeared to them to be very just ; and 
 when he had prevailed with them to determine 
 this matter by lots, he drew one of the lots for 
 himself also. He who had the first lot laid his 
 neck bare to him who had the next, as suppos- 
 ing that the general would die among them im- 
 mediately ; for they thought death, if Josephus 
 might die with them, was sweeter than life ; yet 
 was he with another left to the last, whether we 
 must say it happened so by chance, or whether 
 by the providence of God : and as he was very 
 desirous neither to be condemned by the lot, 
 nor, if he had been left to the last, to imbrue his 
 right hand in the blood of his countryman, he 
 persuaded him to trust his fidelity to him, and 
 to live as well as himself. 
 
 8. Thus Josephus escaped in the war with the 
 Romans, and in this his own war with his 
 friends, and was led by Nicanor to Vespasian ; 
 but now all the Romans ran together to see him, 
 and as the multitude pressed one upon another 
 
 i about their general, there was a tumult of a vari- 
 ous kind; while some rejoiced that Josephni 
 j was taken, and some threatened him, and some 
 
 crowded to see him very near; but those that 
 were more remote cried out to have this their 
 enemy put to death, while those that were near 
 called to mind the actions he had done, and a 
 deep concern appeared at the change of his for- 
 tune. Nor were there any of the Roman com- 
 manders, how much soever they had been en- 
 raged at him before, but relented when they 
 came to the sight of him. Above all the rest, 
 Titus's own valour, and Josephus's own pa- 
 tience under his afflictions, made him pity him, 
 as did also the commiseration of his age, when he 
 recalled to mind that but a little while ago he 
 was fighting, but lay now in the hands of his 
 enemies, which made him consider the power of 
 fortune, and how quick is the turn of affairs in 
 war, and how no state of men is sure ; for which 
 reason he then made a great many more to be of 
 the same pitiful temper with himself, and in- 
 duced them to commiserate Josephus. He was 
 also of great weight in persuading his father to 
 preserve him. However, Vespasian gave strict 
 orders that he should be kept with great cau- 
 tion, as though he would, in a very little time, 
 send him to Nero. 
 
 9. When Josephus heard him givethose orders, 
 he said that he had somewhat in his mind that 
 he would willingly say to himself alone. When 
 therefore they were all ordered to withdraw, ex- 
 cepting Titus, and two of their friends, he said, 
 " Thou, O Vespasian, thinkest no more than 
 that thou hast taken Josephus himself captive ; 
 but I come to thee as a messenger of greater tid- 
 ings ; for had not I been sent by God to thee, I 
 knew what was the law of the Jews in this case, 
 and how it becomes generals to die. Dost thou 
 send me to Nero ? For why ? Are Nero's suc- 
 cessors till they come to thee still alive Thou 
 O Vespasian, art Caesar and emperor, thoc, and 
 thy son. Bind me now still faster, and keep me 
 for thyself, for thou, O Csesar, art not only lord 
 over me, but over the land and sea, and all man- 
 kind ; and certainly I deserve to be kept in closer 
 custody than I am now in, in order to be pun- 
 ished, if I rashly affirm anything of God." When 
 he had said this, Vespasian at present did not 
 believe him, but supposed that Josephus said 
 this as a cunning trick, in order to his own pre- 
 servation ; but in a little time he was convinced, 
 and believed what he said to be true, God him- 
 self erecting his expectations, so as to think of 
 obtaining the empire, and by other signs fore- 
 shewing his advancement. He also found Jo- 
 sephus to have spoken the truth on other occa- 
 sions ; for one of those friends that were present 
 at that secret conference, said to Josephus, " I 
 cannot but wonder how thou couldst not foretell 
 to the people of Jotapata that they should be 
 tuken, nor couldst fortell this captivity which 
 hath happened to thyself, unless what thou now 
 sayest to be a vain tiling, in order to avoid the 
 rage that is risen against thyself." To which 
 Josephus replied, " I did foretell to the people of 
 Jotapata that they would be taken on the forty- 
 seventh day, and that I should be caught alive 
 by the Romans. " Now when Vespasian had in- 
 quired of the captives privately about these pre- 
 dictions, he found them to be true, and then he 
 began to believe those that concerned himself. 
 Yet did he not set Josephus at liberty from his 
 bonds, but bestowed on him suits of clothes, and 
 other precious gifts ; he treated him also in a 
 very obliging manner, and continued BO to do, 
 Titus still joining his interest in the honours thai 
 were done him.
 
 CHAP. IX.] 
 
 WAKS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 517 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 HOW JOPPA WAS TAKEN, AND TIBERIAS DEUVEBED 
 UP. 
 
 1. Now Vespasian returned to Ptolemais on 
 the fourth day of the month Panemus [Tamus,] 
 and from thence he came to Cesarea, which lay 
 by the seaside. This was a very great city of 
 Judea, and for the greatest part inhabited by 
 Greeks : the citizens here received both the Roman 
 army and its general with all sorts of acclama- 
 tions and rejoicings, and this partly out of the 
 goodwill they bore to the Romans, but princi- 
 pally out of the hatred they bore to those that 
 were conquered by them ; on which account they 
 came clamouring against Josephus in crowds, 
 and desired he might be put to death ; but Ves- 
 pasian passed over this petition concerning him, 
 as offered by the injudicious multitude, with a 
 bare silence. Two of the legions also he placed 
 at Cesarea, that they might there take their 
 winter-quarters, as perceiving the city very fit 
 for such a purpose ; but he placed the fifth and 
 tenth at Scvthopolis, that he might not distress 
 Cesarea with the entire army. This place was 
 warm, even in winter, as it was suffocating hot 
 in the summer-time, by reason of its situation in 
 a plain, and near to the sea [of Galilee.] 
 
 2. In the meantime there were gathered to- 
 gether, as well such as had seditiously got out from 
 amongtheir enemies, as those that had escaped out 
 of the demolished cities, which were in all a great 
 number, and repaired Joppa, which had been 
 left desolate by Cestius, that it might serve them 
 for a place of refuge ; and because the adjoining 
 region had been laid waste in the war, and was 
 not capable of supporting them, they determined 
 to go off to sea. They also built themselves a 
 great many piratical ships, and turned pirates 
 upon the seas near to Syria, and Phoenicia, and 
 Egypt, and made those seas unnavigable to all 
 men. Now, as soon as Vespasian knew of their 
 conspiracy, he sent both footmen and horsemen 
 to Joppa, which was unguarded in the night- 
 time ; however, those that were in it perceived 
 that they should be attacked, and were afraid of 
 it ; yet did they not endeavour to keep the 
 Romans out, but fled to their ships, and lay at 
 sea all night, out of the reach of their darts. 
 
 3. Now Joppa is not naturally a haven, for it 
 ends in a rough shore, where all the rest of it is 
 straight ; but the two ends bend towards each 
 other, where there are deep precipices, and great 
 stones that jut out into the sea, and where the 
 chains wherewith Andromeda was bound have left 
 their footsteps, which attest to the antiquity of 
 that fable ; but the north wind opposes and beats 
 upon the shore, and dashes mighty weves against 
 the rocks which receive them, and renders the 
 haven more dangerous than the country they had 
 deserted. Now as those people of Joppa were 
 floating about in this sea, in the morning there 
 fell a violent wind upon them ; it is called by 
 those that sail there "the black north wind,' 
 and there dashed their ships one against another, 
 and dashed some against the rocks, and carried 
 many of them by force, while they strove against 
 the opposite waves, into the main sea ; for the 
 shore was so rocky, and had so many of the 
 enemy upon it, that they were afraid to come to 
 land ; nay, the waves rose so very high, that 
 they drowned them ; nor was there any place 
 whither they could fly, nor any way to save them- 
 selves ; while they were thrust out of the sea, 
 by the violence of the wind, if they stayed 
 where they were, and out of the city by the vio- 
 lence of the Romans ; and much lamentation 
 
 there was when the ships were dashed om 
 against another, and a terrible noise when they 
 were broken to pieces ; and some of the multi 
 tude that- were in them were covered with the 
 waves, and so perished, and a great many were 
 embarrassed with shipwrecks ; but some of them 
 thought that to die by their own swords was 
 lighter than by the sea, and so they killed them- 
 selves before they were drowned ! although the 
 greatest part of them were carried by the waves 
 and dashed to pieces against the abrupt parts of 
 the rocks, insomuch that the sea was bloody a 
 long way, and the maritime parts were full of 
 dead bodies ; for the Romans came upon those 
 that were carried to the shore, and destroyed 
 them ; and the number of the bodies that were 
 thus thrown out of the sea was four thousand 
 and two hundred. The Romans also took the 
 city without opposition, and utterly destroyed it 
 
 4. And thus was Joppa taken twice by the 
 Romans in a little time ; but Vespasian, in order 
 to prevent these pirates from coming thither any 
 more, erected a camp there, where the citadel of 
 Joppa had been, and left a body of horse in it, 
 with a few footmen ; that these last might stay 
 there and guard the camp, and the horsemen 
 might spoil the country that lay round it, and 
 might destroy the neighbouring villages and 
 smaller cities. So these troops overran the 
 country, as they were ordered to do, and every 
 day cut to pieces and laid deaolate the whole 
 region. 
 
 5. But now, when the fate of Jotapata was 
 related at Jerusalem, a great many at the firit 
 disbelieved it, on account of the vastness of the 
 calamity, and because they had no eye-witness 
 to attest the truth of what was related about it ; 
 for not one person was saved to be a messenger 
 of that news, but a fame was spread abroad at 
 random that the city was taken, as such fame 
 usually spreads bad news about. However, the 
 truth was known by degrees, from the places 
 near Jotapata, and appeared to all to be too true. 
 Yet were there fictitious stories added to what 
 was really done; for it was reported that Jo- 
 sephus was slain at the taking of the city ; which 
 piece of news filled Jerusalem full of sorrow. In 
 every house also, and among all to whom any of 
 the slain were allied, there was a lamentation for 
 them ; but the mourning for the commander was 
 a public one ; and some mourned for those that 
 had lived with them, others for their kindred, 
 others for their friends, and others for their 
 brethren, but all mourned for Josephus ; inso- 
 much that the lamentation did not cease in the 
 city before the thirtieth day ; and a great many 
 hired mourners,* with their pipes, who should 
 begin the melancholy ditties for them. 
 
 6. Bat as the truth came out in time, it ap- 
 peared how the affairs of Jotapata really stood ; 
 yet it was found that the death of Josephus waa 
 a fiction ; and when they understood that he was 
 alive, and was among the Romans, and that the 
 commanders treated him at another rate than 
 they treated captives, they were as vehemently 
 angry at him now as they bad shewn their good- 
 will before, when he appeared to have been dead. 
 He was also abused by some as having been a 
 coward, and by others as a deserter; and the 
 city was full of indignation at him, and of re- 
 proaches cast upon him ; their rage was also 
 aggravated by their afflictions, and more inflamed 
 by their ill-success ; and what usually becomes 
 an occasion of caution to wise men, I mean 
 
 These public mourners, h'red upon the supposed 
 death of Josephus, and the real death of many more, 
 illustrate some passages in the Bible, which suppose th 
 same custom, as Matt. xii. 17.
 
 SIS 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK in. 
 
 affliction, became a spur to them to venture on 
 further calamities, ami the end of one misery be- 
 came still the beginning of another ; they there- 
 fore resolved to fall on the Romans the more 
 vehemently, as resolving to be revenged on him 
 in revenging themselves on the Romans. And 
 this was the state of Jerusalem as to the troubles 
 which now came upon it. 
 
 7. But Vespasian, in order to see the kingdom 
 of Agrippa, while the king persuaded himself so 
 to do, (partly, in order to his treating the gene- 
 ral and his army in the best and most splendid 
 manner his private affairs would enable him to 
 do, and partly that he might, by their means, 
 correct such things as were amiss in his govern- 
 ment,) he removed from that Cesarea which was 
 by the seaside, and went to that which is called 
 Cesarea Philippi ; * and there he refreshed his 
 army for twenty days, and was himself feasted 
 by king Agrippa, where he also returned public 
 thanks to God for the good success he had had 
 in his undertakings. But as soon as he was in- 
 formed that Tiberias was fond of innovations, 
 and that Tarichese had revolted, both which 
 cities were parts of the kingdom of Agrippa, 
 and was satisfied within himself that the Jews 
 were everywhere perverted [from their obedi- 
 ence to their governors,] he thought it season- 
 able to make an expedition against those cities, 
 and that for the sake of Agrippa, and in order 
 to bring his cities to reason. So he sent away 
 his son Titus to [the other] Cesarea, that he 
 might bring the army that lay there to Scytho- 
 pofis, which is the largest city of Decapolis, and 
 in the neighbourhood of Tiberias, whither he 
 came, and where he waited for his son. He 
 then came with three legions, and pitched his 
 oamp thirty furlongs off Tiberias, at a certain 
 station easily seen by the innovators ; it is 
 named Sennabris He also sent Valerian, a 
 ijecurion, with fifty horsemen, to speak peace- 
 ably to those that were in the city, and to ex- 
 hort them to give him assurances of their 
 fidelity ; for he had heard that the people were 
 desirous of peace, but were obliged by some of 
 the seditious part to join with them, and so 
 were forced to fight for them. When Valerian 
 had marched up to the place, and was near the 
 wall, he alighted off his horse, and made those 
 that were with him do the same, that they 
 might not be thought to come to skirmish with 
 them ; but before they could come to a discourse 
 one with another, the most potent men among 
 the seditious made a sally upon them armed ; 
 their leader was one whose name was Jesus, the 
 Son of Shaphat, the principal head of a band of 
 robbers. Now Valerian, neither thinking it safe 
 to fight contrary to the commands of the gene- 
 ral, though he were secure of a victory, and 
 knowing that it was a very hazardous under- 
 taking for a few to fight with many, for those 
 that were unprovided to fight those that were 
 ready, and being on other accounts surprised at 
 this unexpected onset of the Jews, he ran away 
 on foot, as did five of the rest in like manner, 
 and left their horses behind them ; which horses 
 Jesus led away into the city, and rejoiced as if 
 they had taken them in battle, and not by 
 treachery 
 
 8. Now the seniors of the people, and such as 
 were of principal authority among them, fearing 
 what would be the issue of this matter, fled to 
 the camp of the Romans ; they then took their 
 king along with them, and fell down before 
 
 * Of this Cesarea Philippi, twice mentioned in our 
 New Testament, (Matt. xvi. 13; Mark viii. 27,) there 
 we coins still extant. 
 
 Vespasian, to supplicate his favour, and be- 
 sought him not to overlook them, nor to impute 
 the madness of a few to the whole city, to spare 
 a people that had been ever civil and obliging to 
 the Romans ; but to bring the authors of this 
 revolt to due punishment, who had hitherto so 
 watched them, that though they were zealous to 
 give them the security of their right hands of a 
 long time, yet could they iot accomplish the 
 same. With those supplications ilia general 
 complied, although he was very angry at the 
 whole city about the carrying off his horses, and 
 this because he saw that Agrippa was under 
 great concern for them. So when Vespasian 
 and Agrippa had accepted of their right hands 
 by way of security, Jesus and his party thought 
 it not safe for them to continue at Tiberias, so 
 they ran away to Tarichese. The next day 
 Vespasian sent Trajan before, with some horse- 
 men to the citadel, to make trial of the multi- 
 tude, whether they were all disposed for peace ; 
 and as soon as he knew that the people were of 
 the same mind with the petitioners, he took his 
 army, and went to the city ; upon which the 
 citizens opened to him their gates, and met him 
 with acclamations of joy, and called him their 
 saviour and benefactor. But as the army was a 
 great while in getting in at the gates, they were 
 so narrow, Vespasian commanded the south 
 wall to be broken down, and so made a broad 
 passage for their entrance. However, he 
 charged them to abstain from rapine and injus- 
 tice, in order to gratify the king ; and on his 
 account spared the rest of the wall, while the 
 king undertook for them that they should con- 
 tinue [faithful to the Romans] for the time to 
 come. And thus did he restore this city to a 
 quiet state, after it had been grievously afflicted 
 by the sedition. 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 HOW TARICHEa: WAS TAKEN ; A DESCRIPTION Of 
 THE RIVER JORDAN, AND OF THS COUNTRY OI 
 GENNESARETH. 
 
 1. AND now Vespasian pitched hia camp be- 
 tween this city and Tarichese, but fortified his 
 camp more strongly, as suspecting that he 
 should be forced to stay there, and have a long 
 war ; for all the innovators had gotten together 
 at Taricheae, as relying upon the strength of the 
 city, and on the lake that lay by it. This lake 
 is called by the people of the country the Lake 
 of Gennesareth. The city itself is situated like 
 Tiberias, at the bottom of a mountain ; and on 
 those sides which are not washed by the sea, 
 had been strongly fortified by Josephus, though 
 not so strongly as Tiberias; for the wall o/ 
 Tiberias had been built at the beginning of the 
 Jews' revolt, when he had great plenty of 
 money, and great power, but Tarichese partook 
 only the remains of that liberality. Yet had 
 they a great number of ships gotten ready upon 
 the lake, that in case they were beaten at land, 
 they might retire to them ; and they were so 
 fitted up, that they might undertake a sea fight 
 aleo. But as the Romans were building a wall 
 about their camp, Jesus and his party were 
 neither affrighted at their number nor at the 
 good order they were in, but made a sally upon 
 them ; and at the very first onset the builders of 
 the wall were dispersed ; and these pulled what 
 little they had before built to pieces ; but as 
 soon as they saw the armed men getting to- 
 gether, and before they had suffered anything
 
 CHAP. X.J 
 
 OF THE .TEWS. 
 
 519 
 
 themselves, they retired to their own men. But 
 then the Romans pursued them, and drove them 
 into their ships, where they launched out as far 
 as might give them an opportunity of reaching 
 the Romans with what they threw at them, and 
 then cast anchor, and brought their ships close, 
 as in a line of battle, and thence fought the 
 enemy from the sea, who were themselves at 
 land. But Vespasian, hearing that a great 
 multitude of them were gotten together in the 
 plain that was befora the city, he thereupon 
 sent his son, with six hundred chosen horsemen, 
 to disperse them. 
 
 2. But when Titus perceived that the enemy 
 was very numerous, he sent to his father, and in- 
 formed him that he should want more forces. 
 But as he saw a great many of the horsemen 
 eager to fight, and that before any succours could 
 come to them, and that yet some of them were 
 privately under a sort of consternation at the 
 Jews, he stood in a place whence he might be 
 heard, and said to them, "My brave Romans! 
 for it is right for me to put you in mind what 
 nation you are, in the beginning of my speech, 
 that so you may not be ignorant who you are, 
 and who they are against whom we are going 
 to fight. For as to us, Romans, no part of 
 the habitable earth hath been able to escape our 
 hands hitherto ; but as for the Jews, that I may 
 speak of them too, though they have been al- 
 ready beaten, yet do they not give up the cause ; 
 and a sad thing it would be for us to grow weary 
 under good success, when they bear up under 
 their misfortunes. As to the alacrity which you 
 shew publicly, I see it, and rejoice at it ; yet am 
 I afraid lest the multitude of the enemy should 
 bring a concealed fright upon some of you ; let 
 such a one consider again, who we are that are 
 to fight ; and who those are against whom we are 
 to fight. Now these Jews, though they be very 
 bold and great despisers of death, are but a dis- 
 orderly body, and unskilful in war, and may 
 rather be called a rout than an army ; while I 
 need say nothing of our skill and our good order; 
 for this is the reason why we Romans alone are 
 exercised for war in time of peace, that we may 
 not think of number for number when we come 
 to fight with our enemies ; for what advantage 
 should we reap by our continual sort of warfare, 
 if we must still be equal in number to such as 
 have not been used to war ! Consider further, 
 t..ut you are to have a conflict with men in effect 
 unarmed, while you are well armed ; with foot- 
 men, while you are horsemen ; with those that 
 have no good general, while you have one, and as 
 these advantages make you in effect manifold 
 more than you are, so do their disadvantages 
 mightily diminish their number. Now it is not 
 the multitude of men, though they be soldiers, 
 that manage wars with success, but it is their 
 bravery that does it, though they be but a few ; 
 for a few are easily set in battle array, and can 
 easily assist one another, while over-numerous 
 armies are more hurt by themselves than by their 
 enemies. It is boldness and rashness, the effects 
 of madness, that conduct of the Jews. Those 
 passions indeed make a great figure when they 
 succeed, but are quite extinguished upon the 
 least ill success ; but we are led on by courage, 
 and obedience, and fortitude, which shews itself 
 indeed in our good fortune, but still does not for 
 ever desert us in our ill fortune, Nay, indeed, 
 your fighting is to be on greater motives than 
 those of thfc Jews; for although they ran the 
 hazard of war for liberty, and for their country, 
 yet what can be a greater motive to us than 
 glory ? and that it may never be said, that after 
 we have got dominion of the habitable arth the 
 
 Jews are able to confront us. We must also re- 
 fleet upon this, that there is no fe.-\r of our suf- 
 fering any incurable disaster in the present case ; 
 for those that are ready to assist us are many 
 and at hand also ; yet it is in our power to seize 
 upon this victory ourselves, and I think we ought 
 to prevent the coming of those my father is send- 
 ing to us for our assistance, that our success may 
 be peculiar to ourselves, and of greater reputation 
 to us; and I cannot but think this an oppor- 
 tunity wherein my father, and I, and you, shall 
 be all put to the trial, whether he be worthy of 
 his former glorious performances, whether 1 be 
 his son in reality, and whether you be really my 
 soldiers; for it is usual for my father to con- 
 quer; and for myself, I should not bear the 
 thoughts of Returning to him if I were once taken 
 by the enemy ; and how will you be able to avoid 
 being ashamed, if you do not shew equal courage 
 with your commander, when he goes before you 
 into danger ? For you know very well that I shall 
 go into danger first, aiid make the nr.st attack; 
 upon the enemy Do not you therefore desert 
 me, but persuade yourselves that God will be 
 assisting to my onset. Know this also before we 
 begin, that we shall now have better success 
 than we should have, if we were to fight at a 
 distance." 
 
 3. As Titus was saying this, an extraordinary 
 fury fell upon the men ; and as Trajan was al- 
 ready come before the fight began, with four 
 hundred horsemen, they were uneasy at it, be- 
 cause the reputation of the victory would be 
 diminished by being common to so many. Ves- 
 pasian had also sent both Antonius and isilo, with 
 two thousand archers, and had given them in 
 charge to seize upon the mountain that was over- 
 against the city, and repel those that were upon 
 the wall ; which archers did as they were com- 
 manded, and prevented those that attempted to 
 assist them that way ; and now Titus made his 
 own hcrse march first against the enemy, as did 
 the others with a great noise after him, and ex- 
 tended themselves upon the plain as wide as the 
 enemy who confronted them ; by which means 
 they appeared much more numerous than they 
 really were. Now the Jews, although they were 
 surprised at their onset, and at their good order, 
 made resistance against their attacks for a little 
 while ; but when they were pricked with their 
 long poles, and overborne by the violent noise oi 
 the horsemen, they came to be trampled uu.l.Tr 
 their feet; many also of them were slain on every 
 side, which made them disperse themselves and 
 run to the city, as fast as every one was able. 
 So Titus pressed upon the hindmost, and slew 
 them ; and of the rest, some he fell upon as they 
 stood on heaps, and some he prevented, aud met 
 them in the mouth, and run them through ; 
 many also he leaped upon as they fell one upon 
 another, and trod them down, and cut off all the 
 retreat they had to the wall, and turned them 
 back into the plain, till at last they forced a pas- 
 sage by their multitude, and s;ot away, and ran 
 into the city. 
 
 4. But now there fell out a terrible sedition 
 among them within the city ; for the inhabit- 
 ants themselves, who had possessions there, and 
 to whom the city belonged, were not disposed to 
 fight from the very beginning; and now the 
 less so, because they bad been beaten : but the 
 foreigners who were very numerous, would force 
 them to tight so much the more, insomuch that 
 there was a clamour and a tumult among them, 
 as all mutually angry at one another ; and when 
 Titus heard this tumult, for he was not far from 
 the wall, he cried out, " Fellow-soldiers, now in 
 the time ; and why do we make any delay, when
 
 520 
 
 WANS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK II) 
 
 God is giving up the Jews to us ? Take the vic- 
 tory which is given you : do not you hear what 
 noise they make? Those that have escaped 
 our hands are in an uproar against one another. 
 We have the city if we make haste ; but besides 
 haste, we must undergo some labour, and use 
 some courage ; for no great thing used to be ac- 
 complished without danger ; accordingly we 
 must not only prevent their uniting again, which 
 necessity will soon compel them to do, but we must 
 also prevent the coming of our own men to our 
 assistance, that as few as we are we may con- 
 quer so great a multitude, and may ourselves 
 alone take the city. 
 
 5. As soon as ever Titus had said this, he 
 leaped upon his horse, and rode apace down to 
 the lake ; by which lake he marciied, and en- 
 tered into the city the first of them all, as did 
 the others soon after him. Hereupon those that 
 were upon the walls were seized with a terror at 
 the boldness of the attempt, nor durst any one 
 venture to fight with him, or to hinder him ; so 
 they left guarding the city, and some of these 
 that were about Jesus fled over the country, 
 while others of them ran down to the lake, and 
 met the enemy in the teeth, and some were slain 
 as they were getting up into ships, but others of 
 them, as they attempted to overtake those that 
 were already gone aboard. There was also a 
 great slaughter made in the city, while those 
 foreigners that had not fled away already, made 
 opposition ; but the natural inhabitants were 
 killed without fighting ; for in hopes of Titus's 
 giving them his right hand for their security, and 
 out of the consciousness that they had not given 
 any consent to the war, they avoided fighting, 
 till Titus had slain the authors of this revolt, 
 and then put a stop to any further slaughters, 
 out of commiseration of these inhabitants of the 
 place ; but for those that had fled to the lake, 
 upon seeing the city taken, they sailed as far as 
 they possibly could from the enemy. 
 
 6. Hereupon Titus sent one of his horsemen to 
 his father, and let him know the good news of 
 what he had done ; at which, as was natural, he 
 was very joyful, both on account of the courage 
 and glorious actions of his son ; for he thought 
 that now the greatest part of the war was over. 
 He then came thither himself, and set men to 
 guard the city, and gave them command tc take 
 care that nobody got privately out of it, but to 
 kill such as attempted so to do ; and on the next 
 day he went down to the lake, and commanded 
 t\iat vessels should be fitted up, in order to pur- 
 sue those that had escaped in the ships. These 
 vessels were quickly gotten ready accordingly, 
 because there was great plenty of materials, and 
 a great number of artificers also. 
 
 7. Nowthislake of Gennesareth is socalledfrom 
 the country adjoining to it. Its breadth is forty 
 furlongs, and its length one hundred and forty ; 
 its waters are sweet, and very agreeable for 
 drinking, for they are finer than the thick waters 
 of other fens ; the lake is also pure, and on 
 every side ends directly at the shores and at the 
 sand ; it is also of a temperate nature when you 
 draw it up, and jf a more gentle nature than 
 river or fountain water, and yet always cooler 
 than one could expect in so diffuse a place as 
 this is. Now, when this water is kept in the 
 open air, it is as cold as that snow which the 
 country people are accustomed to make by night 
 in summer. There are several kinds of fish in 
 it, different both to the taste and the sight from 
 those elsewhere : it is divided into two parts by 
 the river Jordan. Now Panium is thought to 
 be the fountain of Jordan, but in reality it is 
 carrie i thither after an occult manner from the 
 
 place called Phiala : this place lies as you go uj 
 to Trachonitis, and is a hundred and twenty fur 
 longs from Cesarea, and is not far oul of th 
 road on the right hand ; and indeed it hath ite 
 name of Phiala [vial or bow] very justly, from 
 the roundness of its circumference, as being 
 round like a wheel ; its water continues always 
 up to its edges, without either sinking or runuing 
 over ; and as this origin of Jordan was formerly 
 not known, it was discovered so to be when 
 Philip was tetrarch of Trachonitis ; for he had 
 chaff thrown into Phiala, and it was found at 
 Panium, where the ancients thought the foun- 
 tain-head of the river was, whither it had been 
 therefore carried [by the waters.] As for Pa- 
 nium itself, its natural beauty hath been im- 
 proved by the royal liberality of Agrippa, and 
 adorned at his expenses. Now Jordan's visible 
 stream arises from this cavern, and divides the 
 marshes and fens of the lake Semechonitis : when 
 it hath run another hundred and twenty fur- 
 longs, it first passes by the city Julias, and then 
 passes through the middle of the lake Gennesa- 
 reth ; after which it runs a long way over a des- 
 ert, and then makes its exit into the lake As- 
 phaltitis. 
 
 8. The country also that lies over against this 
 lake hath the same name of Gennesareth ; its na- 
 ture is wonderful as well as its beauty ; its soil 
 is so fruitful that all sorts of trees can grow 
 upon it, and the inhabitants accordingly plant 
 all sorts of trees there ; for the temper of the air 
 is so well mixed, that it agrees very well with 
 those several sorts, particularly walnuts, which 
 require the coldest air, flourish there in vast 
 plenty ; there are palm-trees also, which grow 
 best in hot air ; fig-trees also and olives grow 
 near them, which yet require an air that is more 
 temperate. One may call this place the ambi- 
 tion of nature, where it forces those plants that 
 are naturally enemies to one another to agree to- 
 gether : it is a happy contention of the seasons, 
 as if every one of them laid claim to this coun- 
 try ; for it not only nourishes different sorts of 
 autumnal fruit beyond men's expectation, but 
 preserves them a great while ; it supplies men 
 with the principal fruits, with grapes and figs 
 continually, during ten months in the year,* and 
 the rest of the fruits as they become ripe to- 
 gether, through the whole year ; for besides the 
 good temperature of the air, it is also watered 
 from a most fertile fountain. The people of the 
 country call it Caphamaum. Some have thought 
 it to be a vein of the Nile, because it produces 
 the Coracin fish as well as that lake does which 
 is near to Alexandria. The length of this coun- 
 try extends itself along the banks of this lake 
 that bears the same name, for thirty furlongs, 
 and is in breadth twenty ; and this is the na- 
 ture of that place. 
 
 9. But now, when the vessels were gotten 
 ready, Vespasian put upon ship-board as many 
 of his forces as he thought sufficient to be too 
 hard for those that were upon the lake, and set 
 sail after them. Now these which were driven 
 into the lake could neither fly to the land, where 
 all was in their enemies' hand, and in war against 
 them, nor could they fight upon the level of the 
 sea, for their ships were small and fitted only for 
 piracy ; they were too weak to fight with Vespa- 
 sian's vessels, and the mariners that were in them 
 were so few, that they were afraid to come near 
 the Romans, who attacked them in great num- 
 bers. However, as they sailed round about the 
 
 * It may be worth our while to observe here, thai 
 near this lake of G-enneaareth grapes and figs bang o 
 the trees ten months of the .rear.
 
 CJH A*, t] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 521 
 
 vessels, and sometimes as they came near them, 
 they threw stones at the Romans when they 
 were a good way off, or came closer and fought 
 them ; yet did they receive the greatest harm 
 themselves in both cases. As for the stones 
 they threw at the Romans, they only made a 
 sound one after another, for they threw them 
 against such as were in their armour, while the 
 Roman darts could reach the Jews themselves ; 
 and when they ventured to come near the Ro- 
 mans, they became sufferers themselves before 
 they could do any harm to the other, and were 
 drowned, they and their ships together. As for 
 those that endeavoured to come to an actual 
 fight, the Romans ran many of them through 
 with their long poles. Sometimes the Romans 
 leaped into their ships, with swords in their 
 bands, and slew them ; but when some of them 
 met the vessels, the Romans caught them by the 
 middle, and destroyed at once their -ships and 
 themselves who were taken in them. And for 
 such as were drowning in the sea, if they lifted 
 their heads up above the water they were either 
 killed by the darts, or caught by the vessels ; 
 but if, in the desperate case they were in, they 
 attempted to swim to their enemies, the Romans 
 cut off either their heads or their hands : and 
 indeed they were destroyed after various man- 
 ners everywhere, till the rest, being put to flight, 
 were forced to get upon the land, while the ves- 
 sels encompassed them about [on the sea ;] but 
 as many of these were repulsed when they were 
 getting ashore as were killed by the darts 
 upon the lake ; and the Romans leaped out 
 of their vessels, and destroyed a great many 
 more \\pon the land : one might then see the 
 lake all bloody, and full of dead bodies, for tot 
 one of them escaped. And a terrible stink, and 
 a very sad sight there was on the following days 
 over that country ; for as for the shores, they 
 were full of shipwrecks, and of dead bodies all 
 swelled ; and as the dead bodies were inflamed 
 by the sun, and putrified, they corrupted the 
 air, insomueh that the misery was not only the 
 object of commiseration to the Jews, but to 
 those that hated them, and had been the authors 
 of that misery. This was the upshot of the sea- 
 fight. The number of the slain, including those 
 that were killed in the city before, was six thou- 
 sand and five hundred. 
 
 10. After this fight was over, Vespasian sat 
 upon his tribunal at Tarichese, in order to dis- 
 tinguish the foreigners from the old inhabitants ; 
 for those foreigners appeared to have begun the 
 war. So he deliberated with the other com- 
 manders, whether he ought to save those old in- 
 habitants or not. And when the commanders 
 illeged tbi-t the diwnission of them would be to 
 
 his own disadvantage, because when they were 
 once set at liberty, they would not be at rest, 
 since they would be people destitute of proper 
 habitations, and would be able to compel such as 
 they fled to, to fight against us. Vespasian ac- 
 knowledged that they did not deserve to be 
 saved, and that if they had leave given them to 
 fly away, they would make use use of it against 
 those that gave them that leave. But still he 
 considered with himself after what manner they 
 should he slain ; * for if he had then slain them, 
 he suspected the people of the country would 
 thereby become his enemies ; for that to be sure 
 they never would bear it, that so many that had 
 been supplicants to him should be killed ; and to 
 offer violence to them, after he had given them 
 assurance of their lives, he could not himself 
 bear to do it. However, his friends were too 
 hard for him, and pretended that nothing against 
 the Jews cx>uld be any impiety, and that he ought 
 to prefer what was profitable before what was 
 fit to be done, where both could not be made 
 consistent. So he gave them an ambiguous li- 
 berty to do as they advised, and permitted the 
 prisoners to go along no other road than that 
 which led to Tiberias only. So they readily be- 
 lieved what they desired to be true, and went 
 along securely, with their effects, the way which 
 was allowed them, while the Romans seized upon 
 all the road that led to Tiberias, that none of 
 them might go out of it, and shut them up in 
 the city. Then came Vespasian, and ordered 
 them all to stand in the stadium, and com- 
 manded them to kill the old men, together with 
 the others that were useless, who were in num- 
 ber a thousand and two hundred. Out of the 
 young men he chose six thousand of the strong- 
 est, and sent them to Nero, to dig through the 
 Isthmus, and sold the remainder for slaves, 
 being thirty thousand and four hundred, besides 
 such as he made a present of to Agrippa ; for as 
 to those that belonged to his kingdom, he gave 
 him leave to do what he pleased with them ; 
 however, the king sold these also for slaves ; but 
 for the rest of the multitude, who were Tra- 
 chonites, and Gaulanites, and of Hippos, and 
 some of Gadara, the greatest part of them were 
 seditious persons and fugitives, who were of such 
 shameful characters that they preferred war be- 
 fore peace. These prisoners were taken on the 
 eighth day of the month Gorpiteus [EluL ] 
 
 * This is the most cruel amd barbarous action that 
 Vespasian ever did in this whole war, as he did it with 
 great reluctance also. It was done both after public 
 assurance given of sparing the prisoners' lives, and 
 when all knew and confessed that these prisoner! 
 were no way puilty of my sedition against th *> 
 
 MM.
 
 522 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 IBOOK iv. 
 
 BOOK TV. 
 
 THIS INTEBVAL 0? ABOOT ONB TEAR, 
 
 FROM THE SIEGE OF GAMALA TO THE COMING OF TITUS TO BESIEGE 
 
 JERUSALEM. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 THE SIEGE AND TAKING OP GAMALA. 
 
 | 1. Now all those Galileans who, after the 
 taking of Jotapata, had revolted from the Ro- 
 mans, did, upon the conquest of Taricheae, 
 deliver themselves up to them again. And the 
 Romans received all the fortresses and the 
 cities, excepting Gischala and those that had 
 seized upon Mount Tabor ; Gamala also, which 
 is a city over against Tarichese, but on the other 
 side of the lake, conspired with them. This city 
 lay upon the borders of Agrippa's kingdom, as 
 also did Sogana and Seleucia. And these were 
 both parts of Gaulanitts ; for Sogana was a part 
 of that called the Upper Gaulariitis, as was 
 Gamala of the Lower ; while Seleucia was situ- 
 ated at the lake Semechonitis, which lake is 
 thirty furlongs in breadth, and sixty in length ; 
 its marshes reach as far as the place Daphne, 
 which, in other respects, is a delicious place, 
 and hath such fountains as supply water to what 
 is called Little Jordan, under the temple of the 
 golden calf, where it is sent into Great Jordan. 
 Now Agrippa had united Sogana and Seleucia by 
 leagues to himself, at the very beginning of the 
 revolt from the Romans ; yet did not Gamala 
 accede to them, but relied upon the difficulty of 
 the place, which was greater than that of 
 Jotapata, for it was situated upon a rough ridge 
 of a nigh mountain, with a kind of neck in the 
 middle : where it begins to ascend, it lengthens 
 itself, and declines as much downward before 
 as behind, insomuch that it is like a camel in 
 figure, from whence it is so named, although 
 the people of the country do not pronounce it 
 accurately. Both on the side and the face there 
 are abrupt parts divided from the rest, and end- 
 ing in vast deep valleys ; yet are the parts be- 
 hind, where they are joined to the mountain, 
 somewhat easier of ascent than the other ; but 
 then the people belonging to the place have cut 
 an oblique ditch there, and made that hard to 
 be ascended also. On its acclivity, which is 
 straight, houses are built, and those very thick 
 and close to one another. The city also hangs 
 so strangely, that it looks as if it would fcdl 
 down upon itself, so sharp is it at the top. .ft 
 is exposed to the south ; and its southern mount, 
 which reaches to an immense height, was in the 
 nature of a citadel to the city ; and above that 
 was a precipice, not walled about, but extend- 
 ing itself to an immense depth. There was also 
 a spring of water within the wall, at the utmost 
 limits of the city. 
 
 2. As this city was naturally bard to be taken, 
 BO had Josephus, by building a wall about it, 
 made it still stronger, as also by ditches and 
 mines under ground. The people that were in 
 it were made more bold by the nature of the 
 place than the people of Jotapata had been, but 
 
 it had much fewer fighting men in it ; and they 
 had such a confidence in the situation of the 
 place, that they thought the enemy could not 
 be too many for them ; for the city had been 
 filled with those that had fled to it for safety, 
 on account of its strength ; on which account 
 they had been able to resist those whom 
 Agrippa sent to besiege it for seven months to- 
 gether. 
 
 3. But Vespasian removed from Emmaus, 
 where he had last pitched his camp before the 
 city Tiberias, (now Emmaus, if it be inter- 
 preted, may be rendered "a warm bath," for 
 therein is a spring of warm water, useful for 
 healing,) and came to Gamala ; yet was its situa- 
 tion such that he was not able to encompass it 
 all round with soldiers to watch it ; but where 
 the places were practical, he set men to watch it, 
 and seized on the mountain which was over it. 
 And as the legions, according to their usual 
 custom, were fortifying their camp upon that 
 mountain, he began to cast up banks at the 
 bottom, at the part towards the east, where the 
 highest tower of the whole city was, and where 
 the fifteenth legion pitched their camp ; while 
 the fifth legion did duty over agaiust the midst 
 of the city, and whilst the tenth legion filled up 
 the ditches and valleys. Now at this time it 
 was that as king Agrippa was come nigh the 
 walls, and was endeavouring to speak to those 
 that were on the walls about a surrender, he was 
 hit with a stone on his right elbow by one of the 
 slingers; he was then immediately surrounded 
 with his own men. But the Romans were ex- 
 cited to set about the siege, by their indignation 
 on the king's account, and by their fear on their 
 own account, as concluding that those men 
 would omit no kinds of barbarity against fo- 
 reigners and enemies, who were so enraged 
 against one of their own nation, and one that 
 advised them to nothing but what was for their 
 own advantage. 
 
 4. Now when the banks were finished, which 
 was done on a sudden, both by the multitude of 
 hands and by their being accustomed to such 
 work, they brought the machines ; but Chares 
 and Joseph, who were the most potent men of 
 the city, set their armed men in order, though 
 already in a fright, because they did not suppose 
 that the city could hold out long, since they had 
 not a sufficient quantity either of water, or of 
 other necessaries. However, these their leaders 
 encouraged them, and brought them out upon 
 the wall, and for a while indeed they drove 
 away those that were bringing the machines ; 
 but when those machines threw darts and stones 
 at them, they retired into the city ; then did the 
 Romans bring battering rams to three several 
 places, and made the wall shake [and fall.] 
 They then poured in over the parts of the wall 
 that were thrown down, with a mighty sound of 
 trumpets and noise of armour, and with a shout
 
 HAP. L] 
 
 "WABS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 52: 
 
 >f the soli liecrs, and brake in by force upon those 
 :hat were in the city ; but these men fell upon 
 rhe Romr.ns for some time, at their first en- 
 trance, and prevented their going any farther, 
 and with great courage beat them back ; and 
 the Romans were so overpowered by the greater 
 multitude of the people, who beat them on 
 every side that they were obliged to run into 
 the upper parts of the city. Whereupon the 
 people turned about, and fell upon their ene- 
 mies, who had attacked them, and thrust them 
 down to the lower parts, and as they were dis- 
 tressed by the narrowness and difficulty of the 
 place, sle xv them ; and as these Romans could 
 neither bent those back that were above them, 
 nor escape the force of their own men that were 
 forcing^ their way forward, they were compelled 
 Co fly into their enemies' houses, which were 
 low ; but these houses being thus full of sol- 
 liers, whose weight they could not bear, fell 
 down suddenly ; and when one house fell, it 
 shook down a great many of those that were 
 under , as did those do to such as were under 
 them. By this means a vast number of the 
 Romans perijshed ; for they were so terribly dis- I 
 tressed, that although they saw the houses sub- 
 siding, they were compelled to leap upon the 
 tops of them ; so that a great many were ground 
 to powder by these ruins, and a great many of 
 those that got from under them lost some of 
 their limbs, but still a greater number were suf- 
 focated by the dust that arose from those ruins. 
 The people of Gamala supposed this to be an 
 assistance afforded them by God, and without 
 regarding what damage they suffered them- 
 selves, they pressed forward, and thrust the 
 enemy upon the tops of their houses ; and when 
 they stumbled in the sharp and narrow streets, 
 and were j>erpetually tumbling down, they threw 
 their stor es or darts at them, and slew them. 
 Now the very ruins afforded them stones enow ; 
 and for iron weapons, the dead men of the 
 enemy's side afforded them what they wanted ; 
 for draw ing the swords of those that were dead, 
 they made use of them to despatch such as were 
 only ha If dead ; nay, there were a great number 
 who, upon their falling down from the tops of 
 the h ouses, stabbed themselves, and died after 
 hat manner; nor indeed was it easy for those 
 Jb.t were beaten back to fly away; for they 
 were so unacquainted with the ways, and the 
 dust was so thick, that they wandered about 
 without knowing one another, and fell down 
 dead among the crowd. 
 
 5. Those therefore that were able to find the 
 ways out of the city retired. But now Vespa- 
 sian always stayed among those that were hard 
 set ; for he was deeply affected with seeing the 
 ruins of the city falling upon his army, and for- 
 got to take care of his own preservation. He 
 went up gradually towards the highest parts of 
 the city before he was aware, and was left in the 
 midst of dangers, having only a very few with 
 him ; for even his son Titus was not with him at 
 that time, having been sent into Syria to Mucia- 
 nus. However, he thought it not safe to fly, nor 
 did he esteem it a fit thing for him to do ; but 
 calling to mind the actiora he had done from his 
 youth, and recollecting ais courage, as if he had 
 been excited by a di/inefury, he covered himself ' 
 and those that were with him with their shields, 
 and formed a testudo over both Iheir bodies and 
 their armour, aad bore up the enemy's attacks, 
 who came running down from the top of the city ; 
 and without shewing any dread at the multitude 
 of the men or of their darts, he endured all, until 
 the enemy took notice of that divine courage that 
 was within him. and remitted of their attacks; 
 
 and when they pressed less zealously upon him, 
 he retired, though without showing his back to 
 them, till he was gotten out of the wails of the 
 city. Now a great number of the Romans fell 
 m this battle, among whom was Ebutius, the 
 decurion, a man who appeared not only in this 
 engagement, wherein he fell, but everywhere, 
 and in former engagements, to be of the trues* 
 courage, and one that had done very great mis- 
 chief to the Jews. But there was a centurion, 
 whose name was Gallus, who, during this dis- 
 order, being encompassed about, and ten other 
 soldiers, privately crept into the house of a cer- 
 tain person, where he heard them talking at 
 supper what the people intended to do against 
 the Romans, or about themselves (for both the 
 man himself and those with him were Syrians.) 
 So he got up in the night-time, and cut all their 
 throats, and escaped, together vith his soldiers, 
 to the Romans. 
 
 6. And now Vespasian comforted his army, 
 which was much dejected, by reflecting on their 
 ill success, and because they had never before 
 fallen into such a calamity, and besides this, be- 
 cause they were greatly ashamed that they had 
 left their general alone in great dangers. As to 
 what concerned himself, he avoided to say any 
 thing, that he might by no means seem to com- 
 plain of it ; but he said that " we ought to bear 
 manfully what usually fUls out in war, and this 
 by considering what the nature of war is, and 
 how it can never be that we must conquer with- 
 out bloodshed on our own side ; for there stands 
 about us that fortune which is of its own nature 
 mutable ; that while they had killed so many 
 ten thousands of the Jews, they had now paid 
 their small share of the reckoning to fate ; and 
 as it is the part of weak people to be too much 
 puffed up with good success, so is it the part of 
 cowards to be too much affrighted at that which 
 is ill ; for the change from the one to the other 
 is sudden on both sides ; and he is the best 
 warrior who is of a sober mind under misfortunes, 
 that he may continue in that temper, and cheer- 
 fully recover what hath been lost formerly ; and 
 as for what had now happened, it was neither 
 owing to their effeminacy nor to the valour of 
 the Jews, but the difficulty of the place was the 
 occasion of their advantage, and of our dis- 
 appointment. Upon reflecting on which matter 
 one might blame your zeal as perfectly ungovern- 
 able ; for when the enemy had retired to their 
 highest fastnesses, you ought to have restrained 
 yourselves, and not, by presenting yourselves at 
 the top of the city to be exposed to dangers ; but 
 upon your having obtained the lower parts of the 
 city, you ought to have provoked those that had 
 retired thither to a safe and settled battle ; 
 whereas, in rushing BO hastily upon victory, you 
 took no care of your own safety. But this in- 
 cautiousness in war, and this madness of zeal, is 
 not a Roman maxim. While we perform all 
 that we attempt by skill and good order, that 
 procedure is on the part of barbarians, and is 
 what the Jews chiefly support themselves by. 
 We ought therefore to return to our own virtue, 
 and to be rather angry than any longer dejected 
 at this unlucky misfortune ; and let every one 
 seek for his own consolation from his own hand ; 
 for by this means he will avenge those that have 
 been destroyed, and punish those that have 
 killed them. For myself, I will endeavour, as I 
 have now done, to go first before you against 
 your enemies in every engagement, and to be the 
 last that retires from it, 
 
 7. So Vespasian encouraged his army by this 
 speech ; but for the people of Gamala, it hap- 
 pened that they took courage for a little while.
 
 524 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK iv. 
 
 upon such great and unaccountable success as 
 khey had. But when they considered with 
 themselves that they had now no hopes of any 
 terms of accommodation, and reflecting upon it 
 that they could not get away, and that their 
 provisions began already to be short, they were 
 exceedingly cast down, and their courage failed 
 ;hem ; yet they did not neglect what might be 
 tor their preservation, so far as they were able, 
 aut the most courageous among them guarded 
 ihose parts of the wall which were beaten down, 
 while the more infirm did the same to the rest of 
 ;he wall that still remained round the city. And 
 as the Romans raised their banks, and attempted 
 to get into the city a second time, a great many 
 jf them fled out of the city through impracti- 
 cable valleys, where no guards were placed, as 
 also through subterranean caverns ; while those 
 that were afraid of being caught, and for that 
 reason stayed in "the city, perished for want of 
 Food ; for what food they had was brought to- 
 gether from all quarters, and reserved for the 
 fighting men. 
 
 8. And these were the hard circumstances the 
 people of Gamala were in. But now Vespasian 
 went about other work by the by, during this 
 siege, and that was to subdue those that had 
 seized upon Mount Tabor, a place that lies in the 
 middle between the great plain and Scythopolis, 
 whose top is elevated as high as three furlongs, 
 md is hardly to be ascended on its north side ; 
 is top is a plain of six furlongs, and all encom- 
 passed with a walL Now, Josephus erected this 
 10 long a wall in forty days' time, and furnished 
 .t with other materials, and with water from be- 
 .ow, for the inhabitants only made use of rain 
 water ; as therefore there was a great number 
 of people gotten together upon this mountain, 
 Vespasian sent Placidus, with six hundred horse- 
 men thither. Now, as it was impossible for him 
 to ascend the mountain, he invited many of them 
 to peace by the offer of his right hand for their 
 security, and of his intercession for them. Ac- 
 cordingly they came down, but with a treacher- 
 ous design, as well as he had the like treacherous 
 design upon them on the other side ; for Placi- 
 dus spoke mildly to them, as aiming to take them 
 when he got them into the plain ; they also came 
 down, as complying with his proposals, but it was 
 in order to fall upon him when he was not aware 
 of it ; however, Placidus's stratagem was too 
 hard for theirs ; for when the Jews began to 
 fight, he pretended to run away, and when they 
 were in pursuit of the Romans, he enticed them 
 a great way along the plain, and then made his 
 horsemen turn back ; whereupon he beat them, 
 and slew a great number of them, and cut off 
 the retreat of the rest of the multitude, and hin- 
 dered their return. So they left Tabor, and fled 
 to Jerusalem, while the people of the country 
 came to terms with him, for their water failed 
 them, and so they delivered up the mountain and 
 themselves to Placidus. 
 
 9. But of the people of Gamala, those that 
 were of the bolder sort fled away and hid tKem- 
 selves, while the more infirm perished by fam- 
 ine ; but the men of war sustained the siege till 
 the two-and-twentieth day of the month Hyper- 
 beretaeus [Tisri,] when three soldiers of the fif- 
 teenth legion, about the morning-watch, got 
 under a high tower that was near, and under- 
 mined it without making any noise ; nor when 
 they either came to it, which was in the night- 
 time, nor when they were under it, did those 
 that guarded it perceive them. These soldiers 
 then, upon their coming, avoided making a 
 noise, and when they had rolled away five of its 
 strongest stones, they went away hastily; where- 
 
 upon the tower fell down on a sudden, with a 
 great noise, and its guard fell headlong with it ; 
 so that those that kept guard at other places 
 were under such disturbance that they ran 
 away ; the Romans also slew majiy of those that 
 ventured to oppose them, among whom was Jo- 
 seph, who was slain by a dart, as he was running 
 away over that part of the wall that was broken 
 down : but as those that were in the city were 
 greatly affrighted at the noise, they ran hither 
 and thither, and a great consternation fell upon 
 them, as though all the enemy had fallen in at 
 once upon them. Then it was that Chares, who 
 was ill, and under the physicians' hands, gave up 
 the ghost, the fear he was in greatly contributing 
 to make his distemper fatal to him. But the 
 Romans so well remembered their former ill 
 success, that they did not enter the city till the 
 three-and-twentieth day of the forementioned 
 month. 
 
 10. At whicli time Titus, who was now re- 
 turned, out of the indignation he had at the de- 
 struction the Romans had undergone while he 
 was absent, took two hundred chosen horsemen, 
 and some footmen with him, and entered witL- 
 out noise into the city. Now, as the watch per- 
 ceived that he was coming, they made a noise, 
 and betook themselves to their arms ; and aa 
 thin his entrance was presently known to those 
 that were in the city, some of them caught hold 
 of their children and their wives, and drew them 
 after them, and fled away to the citadel, with 
 lamentations and cries, while others of them 
 went to meet Titus, and were killed presently ; 
 but so many of them as were hindered from run- 
 ning up to the citadel, not knowing what in the 
 world to do, fell among the Roman guards; 
 while the groans of those that were killed were 
 prodigiously great everywhere, and blood ran 
 down over all the lower parts of the city, from 
 the upper. But then Vespasian himself came 
 to his assistance against those that had fled to 
 the citadel, and brought his whole army with 
 him : now this upper part of the city was every 
 way rocky, and difficult of ascent, and elevated 
 to a vast altitude, and very full of people on all 
 sides, and encompassed with precipices, whereby 
 the Jews cut off those that came up to them, 
 and did much mischief to others by their darts 
 and the large stones which they rolled down 
 upon them, while they were themselves so high 
 that the enemy's darts could hardly reach them. 
 However, there arose such a divine storm against 
 them as was instrumental to their destruction ; 
 this carried the Roman darts upon them, and 
 made those which they threw return back, and 
 drove them obliquely away from them : nor 
 could the Jews indeed stand upon their preci- 
 pices, by reason of the violence of the wind, hav- 
 ing nothing that was stable to stand upon, nor 
 could they see those that were ascending up to 
 them ; so the Romans got up and surrounded 
 them, and some they slew before they could de- 
 fend themselves, and others as they were deliver- 
 ing up themselves ; and the remembrance of 
 those that were slain at their former entrance 
 into the city increased their rage against them 
 now; a great number also of those that were 
 surrounded on every side, and despaired of 
 escaping, threw their children and their wives, 
 and themselves, also down the precipices, into 
 the valley beneath, which, near the citadel, had 
 been dug hollow to a vast depth ; but so it hap- 
 pened, that the anger of the Romans appeared 
 not to be so extravagant as was the madness of 
 those that were now taken, while the Romans 
 slew but four thousand, whereas the number of 
 those that had thrown themselves down waf
 
 HAP. K.] 
 
 "WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 525 
 
 found to be five thousand : nor did any one i 
 escape except two women, who were the daugh- 
 ters of Pliilip, and Philip himself, who was the 
 son of a certain eminent man called Jacimus, 
 who had been general of king Agrippa's army ; 
 and these did therefore escape, because they lay 
 concealed from the sight of the Romans when 
 the city was taken ; for otherwise they spared 
 not so much as the infants, of whom many were 
 flung clown by them from the citadeL And thus 
 was Gamala taken on the three-and-twentieth 
 day of the month Hyperberetasus [Tisri,] where- 
 as the city had first revolted on the four-and- 
 twentieth day of the month Gorpiaeus [EluL] 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 tHS SURRENDER OF THE SMALL CITT OF GISCHALA; 
 JOHS FLIES FBOM IT TO JERUSALEM. 
 
 1. Now, no place of Galilee remained to be 
 taken but the small city of Gischala, whose in- 
 habitants were yet desirous of peace ; for they 
 were generally husbandmen, and always applied 
 themselves to cultivate the fruits of the earth. 
 However, there were a great number that be- 
 longed to a band of robbers, that were already 
 corrupted, and had crept in among them, and 
 some of the governing part of the citizens were 
 sick of the same distemper. It was John, the 
 son of a certain man whose name was Levi, that 
 drew them into this rebellion, and encouraged 
 them in it. He was a cunning knave, and of a 
 temper that could put on various shapes ; very 
 rash in expecting great things, and very saga- 
 cious in bringing about what he hoped for. It 
 was known to everybody that he was fond of 
 war, in order to thrust himself into authority ; 
 and the seditious part of the people of Gischala 
 were under his management, by whose means the 
 populace, who seemed ready to send ambassadors 
 in order to a surrender, waited for the coming of 
 the Romans in battle array. Vespasian sent 
 against them Titus, with a thousand hoi semen, 
 but withdrew the tenth legion to Scythopolis, 
 while he returned to Cesarea, with the other two 
 legions, that he might allow them to refresh them- 
 B2lvesafter their long and hard campaign, thinking 
 withal that the plenty which was in those cities 
 would improve their bodies and their spirits, 
 against the difficulties they were to go through 
 afterwards ; for he saw there would be occasion for 
 great pains about Jerusalem, which was not yet 
 taken, because it was the royal city, and the 
 principal city of the whole nation ; and because 
 those that had run away from the war in other 
 places got all together thither. It was also natu- 
 rally strong, and the walls that were built round it 
 made him not a little concerned about it. More- 
 over, he esteemed the men that were in it to be 
 BO courageous and bold, that even without the 
 consideration of the walls, it would be too hard 
 to subdue them ; for wlych reason he took care 
 of and exercised his soldiers beforehand for the 
 work, as they do wrestlers before they begin their 
 undertakings. 
 
 2. Now Titus, as he rode up to Gischala, 
 found it would be easy for him to take the city 
 upon the first onset : but knew withal, that if 
 he took it by force, the multitude would be de- 
 stroyed by the soldiers without mercy. (Now he 
 was already satiated with the shedding of blood, 
 nd pitied the major part, who would then perish, 
 without distinction, together with the guilty.) 
 3o be WP-J rather desirous the city might be sur- 
 rendered '!' to him on terms. Accordingly, when 
 
 he saw the wall full of those men that were of 
 the corrupted party, ho said to them, That he 
 could not but wonder what it was they depended 
 on, when they alone stayed to fight the Romans, 
 after every other city was taken by them ; espe- 
 cially when they have seen cities much better for- 
 tified than theirs is, overthrown by a single attack 
 upon them ; while as many as have intrusted them- 
 selves to the security of the Romans' right hand 
 which he now offers to them, without regarding 
 their former insolence, do enjoy their own pos- 
 sessions in safety ; for that while they had hopes 
 of recovering their liberty, they might be par- 
 doned; but their continuance still in their op- 
 position, when they saw that to be impossible, 
 was inexcusable ; for that, if they will not com- 
 
 Ely with such humane offers, and right hands 
 3r security, they have experience of such a war 
 as would spare nobody, and should soon be made 
 sensible that their wall would be but a trifle, 
 when battered by the Roman machines ; in de- 
 pending on which, they demonstrate themselves 
 to be the only Galileans that were no better than 
 arrogant slaves and captives. 
 
 3. Now none of the populace durst not only 
 make a reply, but durst not so much as get upon 
 the wall, for it was all taken up by the robbers, 
 who were also the guard at the gates, in order to 
 prevent any of the rest from going out, in order 
 to propose terms of submission, and from receiv- 
 ing any of the horsemen into the city. But 
 John returned Titus this answer, That for him- 
 self he was content to hearken to his proposals, 
 and that he would either persuade or force 
 those that pursued them. Yet he said, that 
 Titus ought to have such regard to the Jewish 
 law, as to grant them leave to celebrate that 
 day, which was the seventh day of the week, on 
 which it was unlawful not only to remove their 
 arms, but even to treat of peace also ; and that 
 even the Romans were not ignorant how the 
 period of the seventh day was among them a 
 cessation from all labours; and that he who 
 should compel them to transgress the law about 
 that day, would be equally guilty with those 
 that were compelled to transgress it : and that 
 this delay could be of no advantage to him ; for 
 why should anybody thiuk of doing anything in 
 the night, unless it was to fly away ? which he 
 might prevent by placing his camp round about 
 them : and that they should think it a great 
 point gained, if they might not be obliged to 
 transgress the laws of their country ; and that it 
 would be a right thing for him, who designed to 
 grant them peace, without their expectation of 
 such a favour, to preserve the laws of those they 
 saved inviolable. Thus did this man put a trick 
 upon Titus, not so much out of regard to the 
 seventh day, as to his own preservation, for he 
 was afraid lest he should be quite deserted if the 
 city should be taken, and had his hopes of life 
 in that night, and in his flight therein. Now 
 this was the work of God, who therefore pre- 
 served this John, that he might bring on the de- 
 struction of Jerusalem ; as also it was his work 
 that Titus was prevailed with by this pretence 
 for a delay, and that he pitched his camp further 
 off the city at Cydessa. This Cydesaa was a 
 strong Mediterranean village of the Tyrians, 
 which always hated and made war against the 
 Jews; it had also a great number of inhabitants, 
 and was well fortified ; which made it a proper 
 place for nuch as were enemies to the Jewish 
 nation. 
 
 4. Now, in the night-time, when John saw 
 that there was no Roman guard about the city, 
 he seized the opportunity directly, and, taking 
 wita him not only the armed men that were
 
 B26 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK rv. 
 
 about him, but a considerable number of those 
 that had little to do, together with their fa- 
 milies, he fled to Jerusalem. And indeed, though 
 the man was making haste to get away, and was 
 tormented with fours of being a captive, or of los- 
 ing his life, yet did he prevail with himself to 
 take out of the city along with him a multitude 
 of women and children, as far as twenty fur- 
 longs ; but there he left them as he proceeded 
 further on his journey, where those that were 
 left behind made sad lamentations ; for the far- 
 ther every one was come from his own people, 
 the nearer they thought themselves to be to their 
 enemies. They also affrighted themselves with 
 this thought, that those who would carry them 
 into captivity were just at hand, and still turned 
 themselves back at the mere noise they made 
 themselves in this their hasty flight, as if those 
 from whom they fled were just upon them. 
 Many also of them missed their ways ; and the 
 earnestness of such as aimed to outgo the rest, 
 threw down many of them. And indeed there 
 was a miserable destruction made of the women 
 and children ; while some of them took courage 
 to call their husbands and kinsmen back, and to 
 beseech them, with the bitterest lamentions, to 
 stay for them ; but John's exhortation, who 
 cried out to save themselves, and fly away, pre- 
 vailed. He said also, that if the Romans should 
 seize upon those whom they left behind, they 
 would be revenged on them for it. So this 
 multitude that ran thus away was dispersed 
 abroad, according as each of them was able to 
 run, one faster or slower than another. 
 
 5. Now on the next day Titus came to the 
 wall, to make the agreement ; whereupon the 
 people opened their gates to him, and came out 
 to him, with their children and wives, and made 
 acclamations of joy to him, as to one that had 
 been their benefactor, and had delivered the city 
 out of custody ; they also informed him of John's 
 flight, and besought him to spare them, and to 
 come in and bring the rest of those that were for 
 innovations to punishment ; but Titus, not so 
 much regarding the supplications of the people, 
 Bent part of his horsemen to pursue after John, 
 but they could not overtake him, for he was 
 gotten to Jerusalem before; they also slew six 
 thousand of the women and children who went 
 out with him, but returned back and brought 
 with them almost three thousand. However, 
 Titus was greatly displeased tnat he had not 
 been able to bring this John, who had deluded 
 him, to punishment.' yet he had captives 
 enough, as well as the corrupted part of the 
 city, to satisfy his anger, when it missed of 
 John. So he entered the city in the midst of 
 acclamations of joy ; and when he had given 
 orders to the soldiers to pull down a small part 
 of the wall, as of a city taken in war, he re- 
 pressed those that had disturbed the city rather 
 by threateuings than by executions ; for he 
 thought that many would accuse innocent per- 
 sons, out of their own animosities and quarrels, 
 if he should attempt to distinguish those that 
 were worthy of punishment from the rest ; and 
 that it was better to let a guilty person alone in 
 his fears than to destroy with him any one that 
 dil not deserve it ; for that probably such a one 
 might be taught prudence, by the fear of the 
 punishment he had deserved, and have a shame 
 upon him for his former offences, when he had 
 been forgiven ; but that the punishment of such 
 as have been once put to death could never be 
 retrieved. However, he placed a garrison in the 
 city for its security, by which means he should 
 restrain those that were for innovations, and 
 hould leave those that were neaceably disoosed 
 
 in greater security. And thus was all Galilee 
 taken ; but this not till after it had cost the 
 Romans much pains before it could be taken by 
 them. 
 
 CHAPTER IIL 
 
 CONCERNING JOHN CP GISCHALA ; CONCERNING 
 THE ZEALOTS, AND THE HIGH PRIEST ANANUS ; 
 A8 ALSO HOW THE JEWS RAISED SEDITIONS ONE 
 AGAINST ANOTHER [iN JERUSALEM.] 
 
 1. Now, upon John's entry into Jerusalem, 
 the whole body of the people were in an uproar, 
 and ten thousand of them crowded about every 
 one of the fugitives that were come to them, and 
 inquired of them what miseries had happened, 
 abroad, when their breath was so short, and hot, 
 and quick, that of itself it declared the great 
 distress they were in; yet did they talk big 
 under their misfortunes, and pretended to say 
 that they had not fled away from the Romans, 
 but came thither in order to fight them with 
 less hazard ; for that it would be an unreason- 
 able and a fruitless thing for them to expose 
 themselves to desperate hazards about Gischala, 
 and such weak cities, whereas they ought to lay 
 up their weapons and their zeal, and reserve it 
 for their metropolis. But when they related to 
 them the taking of Gischala, and their decent 
 departure, as they pretended, from that place, 
 many of the people understood it to be no better 
 than a flight ; and especially when the people 
 were told of those that were made captives, they 
 were in great confusion, and guessed those 
 things to be plain indications that they should 
 be taken also ; but for John, he was very little 
 concerned for those whom he had left behind 
 him, but went about among all the people, and 
 persuaded them to go to war, by the hopes he 
 gave them. He affirmed that the affairs of the 
 Romans were in a weak condition, and extolled 
 his own power. He also jested upon the ignor- 
 ance of the unskilful, as if those Romans, al- 
 though they should take to themselves wings, 
 could never fly over the walls of Jerusalem, who 
 found such great difficulties in taking the vil- 
 lages of Galilee, and had broken their engines of 
 war against their walls. 
 
 2. These harangues of John's corrupted a great 
 part of the young men, and puffed them up for 
 the war ; but as to the most prudent part, and 
 those in years, there was not a man of them but 
 foresaw what wus coming, and made lamentation 
 on that account, as if the city was already un- 
 done, and in this confusion were the people ; but 
 then it must be observed, that the multitude 
 that came out of the country were at discord 
 before the Jerusalem sedition began ; for Titus 
 went from Gischala to Cesarea ; and Vespasian 
 from Cesarea to Jamnia and Azotus, and took 
 them both ; and when he had put garrisons into 
 them, he came back with a great number of the 
 people, who were come^over to him, upon his 
 giving them his right hand for their preserva- 
 tion. There were, besides, disorders and civil 
 wars in every city ; and all those that were at 
 quiet from the Romans turned their hands one 
 against another. There was also a bitter contest 
 between those that were fond of war, and those 
 that were desirous of peace. At the first this 
 quarrelsome temper caught hold of private 
 families, who could not agree among them- 
 selves ; after which those people that were the 
 dearest to one another brake through all re- 
 straints with regard to each other, and every 
 one associated with those of his own opinion.
 
 SHAP. m.] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 527 
 
 and began already to stand in opposition one to 
 auother ; so that seditions arose everywhere, 
 while those that were for innovations, and were 
 desirous of war, by their youth and boldness, 
 were too hard for the aged and the prudent 
 men; and, in the first place, all the people of 
 every place betook themselves to rapine ; after 
 which they got together in bodies, in order to 
 rob the people of the country, iusomuch that 
 for barbarity and iniquity those of the same 
 nation did no way differ from the Romans ; 
 nay, it seemed to be a much lighter thing to be 
 ruined by the Romans than by themselves, 
 
 3. Now the Roman garrisons, which guarded 
 the cities, partly out of their uueasine< to take 
 such trouble upon them, and partly out of the 
 hatred they bare to the Jewish nation, did little 
 or nothiug towards relieving the miserable, till 
 the captains of these troops of robbers, being 
 satiated with rapines in the country, got all to- 
 gether from all parts, and became a band of 
 wickedness, and all together crept into Jeru- I 
 siilem, which was now become a city without a 
 governor, and, as the ancient custom was, re- ! 
 ceived without distinction all that belonged to 
 their nation; and these they then received, 
 because all men supposed that those who came 
 so fast into the city, came out of kindness, and 
 for their assistance, although these very men, 
 besides the seditions they raised, were otherwise 
 the direct cause of the city's destruction also ; 
 for as they were an unprofitable and a useless 
 multitude, they spent those provisions before- 
 hand, which might otherwise have been uffi- 
 cient for the fighting men. Moreover, besides 
 the bringing on of the war, they were the occa- 
 sion of sedition and famine therein. 
 
 4. There were, besides these, other robbers 
 that came out of the country, and came into the 
 city, and joining to them those that were worse 
 than themselves, omitted no kind of barbarity; 
 for they did not measure their courage by their 
 rapines and plundering only, but proceeded as 
 far as murdering men ; and this not in the 
 night-time or privately, or with regard to ordi- 
 nary men, but did it openly in the day-time, 
 and began with the most eminent persons in the 
 city ; for the first man they meddled with was 
 Antipas, one of the royal lineage, and the most 
 potent man in the whole city, insomuch that 
 the public treasures were committed to his care ; 
 him they took and confined, as they did in the 
 next place to Levias, a person of great note, 
 with Sophas, the son of Raguel : both of whom 
 were of royal lineage also. And besides these, 
 they did the same to the principal men of the 
 countiy. This caused a terrible consternation 
 among the people ; and every one contented 
 himself with taking care of his own safety, as 
 they would do if the city had been taken in 
 war. 
 
 5. But these were not satisfied with the bonds 
 into which they had put the men forementioned; 
 nor did they think it safe for them to keep them 
 thus in custody long, since they were men very 
 powerful, and had numerous families of their own 
 that were able to avenge them. Nay, they 
 thought the very people would perhaps be so 
 moved at these unjust proceedings, as to rise in 
 a body against them: it was therefore resolved 
 to have them slain. Accordingly, they sent one 
 John, who was the most bloody-minded of them 
 all, to do that execution: this man was also 
 called "the son of Dorcas," in the language of 
 the country. Ten more men went along with 
 him into the prison, with their swords drawn, 
 and so they cut the throats of those that were in 
 cnu&tody there. The grand lying pretence these 
 
 men made for so flagrant an enormity was this, 
 that these men had had conferences with the 
 Romans for a surrender of Jerusalem to them ; 
 and so they said they had slain only such as were 
 traitors to their common liberty. Upon the 
 whole, they grew the more insolent upon this 
 bold prank of theirs, as though they had been 
 the benefactors and saviours of the city. 
 
 6. Now the people were come to that degree 
 of meanness and fear, and these robbers to that 
 degree of madness, that these last took upon 
 upon them to appoiut high priests.* So when 
 they had disannulled the succession, according to 
 those families out of whom the high priests used 
 to be made, they ordained certain unknown and 
 ignoble persons for that office, that they might 
 have then: assistance in their wicked undertak- 
 ings ; for such as obtained this highest of all 
 honours, without any desert, were forced to com- 
 ply with those that bestowed it on them. They 
 also set the principal men at variance one with 
 another, by several sorts of contrivances and 
 tricks, and gained the opportunity of doing what 
 they pleased, by the mutual quarrels of those 
 who might have obstructed their measures ; till 
 at length, when they were satiated with the un- 
 just actions they had done towards men, they 
 transferred their contumelious behaviour to God 
 himself, and came into the sanctuary with pol- 
 luted feet. 
 
 7. And now the multitude were going to rise 
 against them already ; for Ananus, the ancientest 
 of the high priests, persuaded them to it. He 
 was a very prudent man, and had perhaps saved 
 the city if he could but have escaped the hands 
 of those that plotted against him. Those men 
 made the temple of God a stronghold for them, 
 and a place whither they might resort, hi order to 
 avoid the troubles they feared from the people ; 
 the sanctuary was now become a refuge, and a 
 shop of tyranny. They also mixed jesting among 
 the miseries they introduced, which was more 
 intolerable than what they did ; for, in order to 
 try what surprise the people would be under, and 
 how far their own power extended, they under- 
 took to dispose of the high priesthood by casting 
 lots for it, whereas, as we have said already, it 
 was to descend by succession in a family. The 
 pretence they made for this strange attempt was 
 an ancient practice, while they said that of old it 
 was determined by lot ; but in truth, it was no 
 better than a dissolution of an undeniable law, 
 and a cunning contrivance to seize upon the 
 government, derived from those that presumed 
 to appoint governors as they themselves pleased. 
 
 8. Hereupon they sent for one of the pontifical 
 tribes, which is called Eniachim.t and cast lots 
 which of it should be the high priest. By for- 
 tune, the lot so fell as to demonstrate their ini- 
 quity after the plainest manner, for it fell upon 
 one whose name was Hiannias, the son of Sa- 
 muel, of the village Aphtha He was a man not 
 only unworthy of the high priesthood, but that 
 
 Here we may discover the utter disgrace and rain 
 of the high priesthood among the Jews, when undeserv 
 ing iiruoble, and vile persons were advanced to that 
 office by the seditious; which sort of high priests were 
 thereupon obliged to comply with and assist thos< 
 that advanced them in their impious practices. The 
 nnmes of these high priests were Jesus the son ofDam- 
 ueus, Jesus the sou of OamHliel, Matthias the ion of 
 Theophiius, and I'baiin.as, the son of Samuel ; all 
 whom we shall meet wiih iu Jcwepuu*'* future history o 
 
 t* Thfs tribe or course of the high priests, here called 
 Eniaehim, seems to Mr Lowlh, to be that iu 1 Chron. 
 Txiv 12 "the course of Jakiu," where some copies 
 have " the course of Eliakim," and I think thU to be bj 
 no means an improbable conjecture
 
 528 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK ir 
 
 did not well know what the high priesthood 
 was ; such a mere rustic was he ! yet did they 
 hail this man, without his own consent out of 
 the country, as if they were acting a play upon 
 the stage, 'and adorned him with a counterfeit 
 face ; they also put upon him the sacred gar- 
 ments, and upon every occasion instructed him 
 what he was to do. This horrid piece of wicked- 
 ness was sport and pastime with them, but oc- 
 casioned the other priests, who at a distance saw 
 their law made a jest of, to shed tears, and 
 sorely lament the dissolution of such a sac.ed 
 dignity. 
 
 9. And now the people could no longer bear 
 the insolence of this procedure, but did altogether 
 run zealously in order to overthrow that tyranny ; 
 and indeed they were Gorian the eon of Jose- 
 phus, and Symeon the son of Gamaliel, who en- 
 couraged them, by going up and down when they 
 were assembled together in crowds, and as they 
 saw them alone, to bear no longer, but to inflict 
 punishment upon these pests and plagues of their 
 freedom, and to purge the temple ef these bloody 
 polluters of it. The best esteemed also of the 
 high priests, Jesus the son of Gamala, and Ananus 
 the son of Ananus, when they were at their as- 
 semblies, bitterly reproached the people for their 
 sloth, and excited them against the zealots ; for 
 that was the name they went by, as if they were 
 zealous in good undertakings, and were not rather 
 zealous in the worst actions, and extravagant in 
 them beyond the example of others. 
 
 10. And now, when the multitude were gotten 
 together to an assembly, and every one was in 
 indignation at these men's siezing upon the sanc- 
 tuary, at their rapine and murders, but had not 
 yet begun their attacks upon them (the reason of 
 which was this, that they imagined it to be a 
 difficult thing to suppress these zealots, as in- 
 deed the case was,) Ananus stood in the midst 
 of them, and casting his eyes frequently at the 
 bemple, and having a flood of tears in his eyes,, 
 be said, " Certainly it had been good for me to 
 die before I had seen the house of God full of 
 BO many abominations, or these sacred places 
 that ought not to be trodden on at random, filled 
 with the feet of these blood -shedding villains ; 
 y&t do I, who am clothed with the vestments of 
 the high priesthood, and am called by that most 
 venerable name [of high priest,] still live, and 
 am but too fond of living, and cannot endure to 
 undergo a death which would be the glory of my 
 old age ; and if I were the only person concerned 
 ind, as it were, in a desert, I would give up my 
 life, and that alone for God's sake ; for to what 
 purpose is it to live among a people insensible of 
 their calamities, and where there is no notion 
 remaining of any remedy for the miseries that 
 are upon them ? for when you are seized upon 
 you bear it! and when you are beaten, you are 
 silent ! and when the people are murdered, no- 
 body dare so much as send out a groan openly ! 
 O bitter tyranny that we are under ! But why 
 do I complain of the tyrants ? Was it not you, 
 and your sufferance of them, that have nourished 
 them? Was it not you that overlooked those 
 that first of all got together, for they were then 
 but a few, and by your silence made them grow 
 to be many ; and by conniving at them when 
 they took arms, in effect armed them against 
 yourselves? You ought to have then prevented 
 their first attempts, when they fell a reproaching 
 your relations ; but by neglecting that care in 
 time, you have encouraged these wretches to 
 plunder men. When houses were pillaged, no- 
 body said a word, which was the occasion why 
 they carried off the owners of those houses ; and 
 
 ien they were drawn through the midst of the 
 
 city, nobody came to their assistance. The; 
 then proceeded to put those whom you had be- 
 trayed into their hands, into bonds. I do not 
 say how many, and of what characters those mer 
 were whom they thus served, but certainly they 
 were such as were accused by none, and con- 
 demned by none ; and since nobody succoured 
 them when they were in bonds, the consequence 
 was, that you saw the same persons slain. We 
 have seen this also ; so that still the best of the 
 herd of brute animals, as it were, have been still 
 led to be sacrificed, when yet nobody said one 
 word, or moved his right hand for their preser- 
 vation. Will you bear, therefore, will you bear 
 to see your sanctuary trampled on ? and will you 
 lay steps for these profane wretches, upon which 
 they may mount to higher degrees of insolence ? 
 Will not you pluck them down from their ex- 
 altation ? for even by this time, they had pro- 
 ceeded to higher enormities, if they had been able 
 to overthrow anything greater than the sanctuary. 
 They have seized upon the strongest place of the 
 whole city ; you may call it the temple, if you 
 please, though it be like a citadel or fortress. 
 Now, while you have tyranny in so great a de- 
 gree walled in, and see your enemies over your 
 heads, to what purpose is it to take counsel? and 
 what have you to support your minds withal? 
 Perhaps you wait for the Romans, that they may 
 protect our holy places: are our matters then 
 brought to that pass ? and are we come to that 
 degree of misery, that our enemies themselves 
 are expected to pity us ? O wretched creatures 1 
 will not you rise up, and turn upon those that 
 strike you ? which you may observe in wild 
 beasts themselves, that they will avenge them- 
 selves on those that strike them. Will not you 
 call to mind, every one of you, the calamities you 
 yourselves have suffered? nor lay before your 
 eyes what afflictions you yourselves have under- 
 gone? and will not such things sharpen your 
 souls to revenge? Is therefore that most hon- 
 ourable and most natural of our passions utterly 
 lost, I mean the desire of liberty? Truly, we 
 are in love with slavery, and in love with those 
 that lord it over us, as if we had received that 
 principle of subjection from our ancestors ! yet 
 did they undergo many and great wars for the 
 sake of liberty, nor were they so far overcome 
 by the power of the Egyptians, or the Medes, 
 but that they still did what they thought fit, 
 notwithstanding their commands to the contrary. 
 And what occasion is their now for a war with 
 the Romans ? (I meddle not with determining 
 whether it be an advantageous and profitable 
 war or not.) What pretence is there for it? 
 Is it not that we may enjoy our liberty? Be- 
 sides, shall we not bear the lords of the habit- 
 able earth to be lords over us, and yet bear ty- 
 rants of our own country? Although I must 
 say that submission to foreigners may be borne, 
 because fortune hath already doomed us to it, 
 while submission to wicked people of our own 
 nation is too unmanly, and brought upon us by 
 our own consent. However, since I have had 
 occasion to mention the Romans, I will not con- 
 ceal a thing that, as I am speaking, comes into 
 my mind, and affects me considerably; it is 
 this, that though we should be taken by them 
 (God forbid the event should be so !) yet can we 
 undergo nothing that will be harder to be borne 
 than what these men have already brought upon 
 us. How, then, can we avoid shedding of tears, 
 when we see the Roman donations in our 
 temples, while we withal see those of our owu 
 nation taking our spoils, and plundering our glori- 
 ous metropolis, and slaughtering our men, frorr 
 which enormities those Romans themselves woul<
 
 CHAP. ILL I 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 have abstained ? to see those Romans never going 
 beyond the bounds allotted to profane persons, 
 nor venturing to break in upon any of our sacred 
 customs ; nay, having horror upon their minds 
 when they view at a distance those sacred walls, 
 while some have been born in this very country, 
 and brought up in our customs, and called Jews, 
 do walk about in the midst of the holy places, at 
 the very time when their hands are still warm 
 with the slaughter of their own countrymen. 
 Besides, can any one be afraid of a war abroad, 
 and that with such as will have comparatively 
 much greater moderation than our own people 
 have? For truly, if we may suit our words to 
 the things they represent, it is probable one may 
 hereafter find the Romans to be supporters of 
 our laws, and those within ourselves the sub- 
 verters of them. And now I am persuaded that 
 every one of you here comes satisfied before I 
 speak, that these overthrowers of our liberties 
 deserve to be destroyed, and that nobody can so 
 much as devise a punishment that they have not 
 deserved by what they have done, and that you 
 are all provoked against them by those their 
 wicked actions, whence you have suffered so 
 greatly. But perhaps many of you are affrighted 
 at the multitude of those zealots, and at their 
 audaciousness, as well as at the advantage they 
 have over us in their being higher in place 
 than we are; for these circumstances, as they 
 have been occasioned by your negligence, so 
 will they become still greater by being still 
 longer neglected ; for their multitude is every 
 day augmented, by every ill man's running away 
 to those that are like to themselves, and their 
 audaciousness is therefore inflamed because they 
 meet with no obstruction to their designs. And 
 for their higher place, they will make use of it 
 for engines also, if we give them time to do ao; 
 but be assured of this, that if we go up to fight 
 them, they will be made tamer by their own 
 consciences, and what advantages they have in 
 the height of their situation they will lose by 
 the opposition of their reason ; perhaps also God 
 himself, who hath been affronted by them, will 
 make what they throw at us return against 
 themselves, and these impious wretches will be 
 killed by their own darts : let us but make our 
 appearance before them, and they will come to 
 nothing. However, it is a right thing, if there 
 should be any danger in the attempt, to die be- 
 fore these holy gates, and to spend our very 
 lives, if not for the sake of our children and 
 wives, yet for God s sake, and for the sake of his 
 sanctuary. I will assist you, both with my 
 counsel and with my hand ; nor shall any saga- 
 city of ours be wanting for your support ; nor 
 shall you see * l at I will be sparing of my body 
 neither." 
 
 11. By these motives Ananus encouraged the 
 multitude to go against the zealots, although he 
 knew how difficult it would be to disperse them, 
 because of their multitude, and their youth, and 
 the cour.ige of their souls ; but chiefly because of 
 the consciousness of what they had done, since 
 they would not yield, as not so much as hoping 
 for pardon at the last for those their enormities. 
 However, Ananus resolved to undergo whatever 
 suffeiiugs might come upon him, rather than 
 overlook things, now they were in sucli great 
 confusion. So the multitude cried out to him to 
 lead them on against those whom he has de- 
 scribed in his exhoitations to them ; and every 
 one of them was most readily disposed to run any 
 hazard whatsoever on that account. 
 
 12. Now, while Ananus was cnoosing out his 
 men, and putting those that were proper for his 
 purpose in array for fighting, the zealoU got in- 
 
 2 L 
 
 formation of his undertaking (for there were 
 some who went to them, and told them all that 
 the people were doing) and were irritated at it ; 
 and leaping out of the temple in crowds, and by 
 parties, spared none whom they met with. Upea 
 this, Ananus got the populace together on the 
 sudden, who were more numerous indeed than 
 the zealots, but inferior to them in arms, because 
 they had not been regularly put into array for 
 fighting ; but the alacrity that everybody shewed, 
 supplied all their defects on both sides, the citi- 
 zens taking up so great a passion as was stronger 
 than arms, and deriving a degree of courage from 
 the temple, more forcible than any multitude 
 whatsoever ; and indeed these citizens thought it 
 was not possible for them to dwell in the city, 
 unless they cut off the robbers that were in it. 
 The zealots also thought that unless they pre- 
 vailed, there would be no punishment so bad, 
 but it would be inflicted on them. So their con- 
 flicts were conducted by their passions ; and at 
 the first they only cast stones at each other in the 
 city, and threw their javelins at a distance ; but 
 when either of them were too hard for the other, 
 they made use of their swords ; and great 
 slaughter was made on both sides, and a great 
 number were wounded. As for the dead bodies 
 of the people, their relations carried them out 
 to their own houses ; but when any of the zealots 
 were wounded, he went up into the temple and 
 defiled that sacred floor with his blood, insomuch 
 that one may say it was their blood alone that 
 polluted our sanctuary. Now in these conflicts 
 the robbers always sallied out of the temple, and 
 were too hard for their enemies ; but the popu- 
 lace grew very angry, and became more and more 
 numerous, and reproached those that gave back, 
 and those behind would not afford room te 
 those that were going off, but forced them on 
 again, till at length they made their whole body 
 to turn against then- adversaries, and the robbers 
 could no longer oppose them, but were forced 
 gradually to retire into the temple ; when Ananus 
 and his party fell into it at the same time to- 
 gether with them.* This horribly affrighted the 
 robbers, because it depiived them of the first 
 court ; so they fled into the inner court imme- 
 diately, and shut the gates. Now, Ananus did 
 not think fit to make any attack against the holy 
 gates, although the other threw their stones and 
 darts at them from above. He also deemed it un- 
 lawful to introduce the multitude into that court 
 before they were purified; he therefore chooff 
 out of them all by lot, six thousand armed meu. 
 and placed them as guards hi the cloisters ; so 
 there was a sucession of such guards one after 
 another, and every one was forced to attend in 
 his course ; although many of the chief of th 
 city were dismissed by those that then took on 
 them the government, upon their hiring some of 
 the poorer sort, and sending them to keep the 
 guard in their stead. 
 
 13. Now it was John who, as we told you. 
 ran away from Gischala, and was the occasion of 
 all these being destroyed. He was a man of 
 great craft, and bore about him in his soul a great 
 passion after tyranny, and at a distance was the 
 
 * It was worth noting here, that this Ananus, the 
 best of the Jews at ihis time, and the high priest who 
 wag so very uneasy at the profanation of the Jewish 
 courts of tlie temple by the zealots, did not, however, 
 scruple the profanation of the "court of the Gentiles;" 
 as in our Saviour's days it was very much profaned by 
 the Jews, and made a market-place, nay. "a dea ol 
 thieves," wilhout scruple, Matt. xxi. 12, 13; Mark xi. 
 15, 16, 17. Accordingly Josephus himself, when he 
 speaks of the two inner courts, calls them both hogio, 
 or holy j>Ioca; but, so far as I remember, never givei 
 that character to the court of the Qen(ils.
 
 330 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK r. 
 
 adviser in these actions ; and indeed at this time 
 he pretended to be of the people's opinion, and 
 went all about with Ananus when he consulted 
 the great every day, and in the night-time also 
 when he went round the watch ; but he divulged 
 their secrets to the zealots ; and everything that 
 the people deliberated about was by his means 
 known to their enemies, even before it had been 
 well agreed upon by themselves ; and by way of 
 contrivance how he might not be brought into 
 suspicion, he cultivated the greatest friendship 
 possible with Ananus, and with the chief of the 
 people ; yet did this overdoing of his turn against 
 him, for he flattered them so extravagantly, that 
 he was but the more suspected ; an J his constant 
 attendance everywhere, even when he was not 
 invited to be present, made him strongly sus- 
 pected of betraying their secrets to the enemy ; 
 for they plainly perceived that they understood 
 all the resolutions taken against them at their 
 consultations. Nor was there any one whom 
 they had so much reason to suspect of that dis- 
 covery as this John ; yet was it not easy to get 
 quit of him, so potent was he grown by his 
 \vicked practices. He was also supported by many 
 of those eminent men, who were to be consulted 
 upon all considerable affairs ; it was therefore 
 thought reasonable to oblige him to give them 
 assurance of his good-will upon oath ; accord- 
 ingly John took such an oath readily, that he 
 would be on the people's side, and would not be- 
 tray any of their counsels or practices to their 
 enemies, and would assist them in overthrowing 
 those that attacked them, and that both by his 
 hand and his advice. So Ananus and his party 
 believed his oath, and did now receive him to 
 their consultations without further suspicion; 
 nay, so far did they believe him, that they sent 
 him as their ambassador into the temple to the 
 zealots, with proposals of accommodation ; for 
 they were very desirous to avoid the pollution of 
 the temple as much as they possibly could, and 
 that no one of their nation should be slain 
 therein. 
 
 14. But now this John, as if his oath had been 
 made to the zealots, and for confirmation of his 
 good-will to them, and not against them, went 
 into the temple, and stood in the midst of them, 
 and spake as follows : that he had run many 
 hazards on their account, and in order to let 
 them know o< everything that was secretly con- 
 trived against them by Ananus and his party ; 
 but that both he and they should be cast into 
 the most inevitable danger, unless some provi- 
 dential assistance were afforded them ; for that 
 Ananus made no longer delay, but had prevailed 
 with the people to send ambassadors to Vespa- 
 sian to invite him to come presently and take 
 the city ; and that he had appointed a fast for 
 the next day against them, that they might ob- 
 tain admission into the temple on a religious ac- 
 count, or gain it by force, and fight with them 
 there ; that he did not see how long they could 
 either endure a siege, or bow they could fight 
 against so many enemies. He added farther, 
 that it was by the providence of God he was 
 himself sent as an ambassador to them for an ac- 
 commodation ; for that Ananus did therefore 
 offer them such proposals, that he might come 
 upon them when they were unarmed ; that they 
 ought to choose one of those two methods ; 
 either to intercede with those that guarded them, 
 to save their lives, or to provide some foreign as- 
 sistance for themselves ; that if they fostered 
 themselves with the hopes of pardon, in case 
 they were subdued, they had forgotten what des- 
 perate things they had done, or could suppose, 
 *t aa soon sa the actors repented, those that 
 
 had suffered by them must be presently recon- 
 ciled to them ; while those that have done inju- 
 ries, though they pretend to repent of them, are 
 frequently hated by the others for that sort of 
 repentance ; and that the sufferers, when they 
 get the power into their hands, are usually still 
 more severe upon the actors ; that the friends 
 and kindred of those that had been destroyed 
 would always be laying plots against them, and 
 that a large body of people were very angry on 
 account of their gross breaches of their laws and 
 [illegal] judicatures, insomuch that although 
 some part might commiserate them, those would 
 be quite overborne by the majority. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE IDUMEANS BEING SENT FOR BT THE ZEALOTS, 
 CAME IMMEDIATELY TO JERUSALEM : AND WHEN 
 THEY WERE EXCLUDED OUT OF THE CITY, THEY 
 LAY ALL NIGHT THERE. JESUS, ONE OP THK 
 HIGH PRIESTS, MAKES A SPEECH TO THEM ; AND 
 SIMON THE IDUMEAN MAKES A REPLY TO IT. 
 
 1. Now, by this crafty speech, John made the 
 zealots afraid ; yet durst he not directly name 
 what foreign assistance he meant, but in a covert 
 way only intimated at the Idumeans ; but now 
 that he might particularly irritate the leaders of 
 the zealots, he calumniated Ananus, that he was 
 about a piece of barbarity, and did in a special 
 manner threaten them. These leaders were 
 Eleazar, the son of Simon, who seemed the 
 most plausible man of them all, both in consider- 
 ing what was fit to be done, and in the execu- 
 tion of what he had determined upon, and Zecha- 
 rias, the son of Phalek ; both of whom derived 
 their families from the priests. Now, when 
 these two men had heard, not only the common 
 threatenings which belonged to them all, but 
 those peculiarly levelled against themselves ; and 
 besides, how Ananus and his party, in order to 
 secure their own dominion, had invited the Ro- 
 mans to come to them, for that also was part of 
 John's lie, they hesitated a great while what they 
 should do, considering the shortness of the time 
 by which they were straitened ; because the 
 people were prepared to attack them very soon, 
 and because the suddenness of the plot laid 
 against them had almost cut off their hopes of 
 getting any foreign assistance ; for they might 
 be under the height of their afflictions before any 
 of their confederates could be informed of it. 
 However, it was resolved to call in the Idume- 
 ans ; so they wrote a short letter to this effect : 
 That Ananus had imposed on the people, and 
 was betraying their metropolis to the Romans ; 
 that they themselves had revolted from the rest, 
 and were in custody in the temple, on account oi 
 the preservation of their liberty ; that there was 
 but a small time left, wherein they might hope 
 for their deliverance ; and that unless they would 
 come immediately to their assistance, they should 
 themselves be soon in the power of Ananus, and 
 the city would be in the power of the Romans 
 They also chargrd the messengers to tell many 
 more circumstances to the rulers of the Idume- 
 ans. Now, there were two active men propose< 
 for the carrying of this message, and such ai 
 were well able to speak, and to persuade them 
 that things were in this posture, and, what was 
 a qualification still more necessary than the for- 
 mer, they were very swift of foot ; for they 
 knew well enough that these would immediately 
 comply with their desires, as being ever a tu- 
 multuous and disorderly nation, always on the
 
 CHAT. IV.] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 631 
 
 watch upon every motion, delighting in muta- 
 tions ; and upon your flattering them ever so 
 little, and petitioning them, they soon take their 
 arms, and put themselves into motion, and make 
 haste to a battle, as if it were to a feast. There 
 was indeed occasion for quick despatch in the 
 carrying of this message ; in which point the 
 messengers were no way defective. Both their 
 names were Ananias ; and they soon came to the 
 rulers of the Idumeans. 
 
 2. Now, these rulers were greatly surprised at 
 the contents of the letter, and at what those that 
 came with it further told them ; whereupon they 
 ran about the nation like madmen, and made 
 proclamation that the people should come to 
 war ; so a multitude was suddenly got together, 
 sooner indeed than the time appointed in the 
 proclamation, and everybody caught up their 
 arms, in order to maintain the liberty of their 
 metropolis ; and twenty thousand of them were 
 put into battle array, and came to Jerusalem, 
 under four commander, John, and Jeoob the 
 son of Sosas ; and besides these were Simon, 
 the son of Cathlas, and Phineas, the son of Clu- 
 go thus. 
 
 3. Now this exit of the messengers was not 
 known either to Ananus. or to the guards ; but 
 the approach of the Idumeans was known to him ; 
 for as he knew of it before they came, he ordered 
 the gates to be shut against them, and that the 
 walls should be guarded. Yet did not he by any 
 means think of fighting against them, but, bVfore 
 they came to blows, to try what persuasions 
 would do. Accordingly, Jesus, the eldest ol the 
 high priests next to Ananus, stood upon the 
 tower that was over against them, and said thus : 
 " Many troubles indeed, and those of various 
 kinds, have fallen upon this city, yet in none of 
 them have I so much wondered at her fortune as 
 now, when you are come to assist wicked men, 
 and this after a manner very extraordinary ; for 
 I see that you are come to support the vilest of 
 men against us, and this with so great alacrity, 
 as you could hardly put on the like, in case our 
 metropolis had called you to her assistance 
 against barbarians ; and if I had perceived that 
 your army was composed of men like unto those 
 who invited them, I had not deemed your 
 attempt so absurd; for nothing does so much 
 cement the minds of men together as the alliance 
 there is between their manners ; but now for 
 these men who have invited you, if you were to 
 examine them one by one, every one of them 
 would be found to have deserved ten thousand 
 deaths ; for the very rascality and offscouring of 
 the whole country, who have spent in debauch- 
 ery their own substance and, by way of trial 
 beforehand, have madly plundered the neigh- 
 bouring villages and cities, in the upshot of all, 
 have privately run together into this holy city. 
 They are robbers, who by their prodigious 
 wickedness have profaned this most sacred floor, 
 and who are to be now seen drinking themselves 
 drunk in the sanctuary, and expending the 
 spoils of those whom they have slaughtered 
 upon their unsatiable bellies. As for the multi- 
 tude that is with you, one may see them so 
 decently adorned in theii irmour, as it would 
 become them to be, had their metropolis called 
 them to her assistance against foreigners. What 
 can a man call this procedure of yours but the 
 sport of fortune, when he sees a whole nation 
 coming to protect a sink of wicked wretches ? 
 have for a good while been in doubt what it 
 could possibly be that should move you to do 
 this so suddenly ; because certainly you would 
 not take on your armour on the behalf of robbers, 
 
 i Mid against a people of kin to you, without some 
 
 very great cause for your so doing ; but we 
 have an item that the Romans are pretended, 
 and that we are supposed to be going to betray 
 this city to them ; for some of your men have 
 lately made a clamour about those matters, and 
 have said they are come to set their metropolis 
 free. Now, we cannot but admire at these 
 wretches in their devising such a lie as this 
 against us ; for they knew there was no other 
 way to irritate against us men that were natur- 
 ally desirous of liberty, and on that account the 
 best disposed to fight against foreign enemies, 
 but by framing a tale as if we were going to 
 betray that most desirable thing, liberty But 
 you ought to consider what sort of people they 
 are that raise this calumny, and against what 
 sort of people that calumny is raised, and to 
 gather the truth of things, not by fictitious 
 speeches, but out of the actions of both parties ; 
 for what occasion is there for us to sell our- 
 selves to the Romans, while it was in our power 
 not to have revolted from them at the first, or, 
 when we had once revolted, to have returned 
 under their dominion again, and this while the 
 neighbouring countries were not yet laid waste ? 
 whereas it is not an easy thing to be reconciled 
 to the Romans, if we were desirous of it, now 
 they have subdued Galilee, and are thereby be- 
 come proud and insolent ; and to,endeavour to 
 ple;ise them at the time when they are so near 
 us, would bring such a reproach upon us as were 
 worse than death. As for myself, indeed I 
 should have preferred peace with them before 
 death ; but now we have once made war upon 
 them, and fought with them, I prefer death with 
 reputation, before living in captivity under 
 them. But farther, whether do they pretend 
 that we, who are tha rulers of the people, have 
 sent thus privately to the Romans, or hath it 
 been done by the common suffrages of the 
 people ? If it be ourselves only that have done 
 it, let them name those friends of ours that have 
 been sent as our servants to manage this 
 treachery. Hath any one been caught as he 
 went out in this errand, or seized upon as he 
 came back ? Are they in possession of our 
 letters ? How could we be concealed from such 
 a vast number of our fellow-citizens, among 
 whom we are conversant every hour, while what 
 is done privately in the country is, it seems, 
 known by the zealots, who are but few in num- 
 ber, and under confinement also, and are not 
 able to come out of the temple into the city ! 
 Is this the first time that they are become 
 sensible how they ought to be punished 
 for their insolent actions ! For while these 
 men were free from the fear they are now 
 under, there was no suspicion raised that any of 
 us were traitors. But if they lay this charge 
 against the people, this must have been done at 
 public consultation, and not one of the people 
 must have dissented from the rest of the as- 
 sembly : in which case the public fame of this 
 matter would have come to you sooner than any 
 particular indication. But how could that be ? 
 Must there not, then, have been ambassadors sent 
 to confirm the agreements ? And let them tell 
 us who this ambassador was, that was ordained 
 for that purpose. But this is no other than a 
 pretence of such men as are loath to die, and are 
 labouring to escape those punishments that hang 
 over them ; for if fate had determined that this 
 city was to be betrayed into its enemies' hands, 
 no other than these men that accuse us falsely 
 could have the impudence to do it, there ^being 
 no wickedness wanting to complete their impu- 
 dent practices, but this only that they become 
 traitors. And now, you Idumeans are come
 
 632 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK iv. 
 
 hither already with your arms, it ii your duty, 
 in the first place, to be assisting to your metro- 
 polis, and to join with us in cutting off those 
 tyrants that have infringed the rules of our 
 regular tribunals, that have trampled upon our 
 laws, and made their swords the arbitrators of 
 right and wrong; for they have seized upon men 
 of great eminence, and under no accusation, as 
 they stood in the midst of the market-place, and 
 tortured them with putting them into bonds, 
 and, without bearing to hear what they had to 
 gay, or what supplications they made, they de- 
 stroyed them You may, if you please, come 
 into this city, though not in the way of war, and 
 take a view of the marks still remaining of what 
 I now say, and may see the houses that have 
 been depopulated by their rapacious hands, with 
 those wives and families that are in black, 
 mourning for their slaughtered relations ; as 
 also you may hear their groans and lamenta- 
 tions all the city over ; for there is nobody but 
 hath tasted of the incursions of these profane 
 wretches, who have proceeded to that degree of 
 madness, as not only to have transferred their 
 impudent robberies out of the country, and the 
 remote cities, into this city, the very face and 
 head of the whole nation, but out of the city 
 into the temple also ; for that is now made their 
 receptacle and refuge, and the fountain-head 
 whence their preparations are mad* against us. 
 And this place, which is adored by the habitable 
 world, and honoured by such as only know it by 
 report, as far as the ends of the earth, is 
 trampled upon by these wild beasts born among 
 ourselves. They now triumph in the desperate 
 condition they are already in, when they hear 
 that one people is going to fight against another 
 people, and one city against another city, and 
 that your nation hath gotten an army together 
 against its own bowels. Instead of which pro- 
 cedure, it were highly fit and reasonable, as I 
 said before, for you to join with us in cutting oil 
 these wretches, and in particular to be revenged 
 on them for putting this very cheat upon you ; 
 I mean, for having the impudence to invite you 
 to assist them, of whom they ought to have 
 stood in fear, as ready to punish them.. But if 
 you have some regard to these men's invitation 
 of you, yet may you lay aside your arms, and 
 come into the city under the notion of our 
 kindred, and take upon you a middle name be- 
 tween that of auxiliaries and of enemies, and ao 
 become judges in this case. However, consider 
 what those men will gain by being called into 
 judgment before you, for such undeniable and 
 such flagrant crimes, who would not vouchsafe 
 to hear such as had no accusations laid against 
 them to speak a word for themselves. How- 
 ever, let them gain this advantage by your com- 
 ing. But still, if you will neither take our part 
 in that indignation we have at these men, nor 
 judge between us, the third thing I have to pro- 
 pose is this, that you let us both alone, and 
 aeither insult upon our calamities, nor abide 
 with these plotters against their metropolis ; for 
 though you should have ever so great a suspi- 
 cion that some of us have discoursed with the 
 Romans, it is in your power to watch the pas- 
 sages into the city ; and in case anything that 
 we have been accused of is brought to light, 
 then to dome and defend your metropolis, and 
 to inflict punishment on those that are found 
 guilty ; for the enemy cannot prevent you who 
 are so near to the city. But if, after all, none 
 of these proposals seem acceptable and mode- 
 rate, do not you wonder that the gates are shut 
 against you, while you bear your arms about 
 you." 
 
 4. Thus spake Jesus ; yet did not the multi- 
 tude of the Idumeans give any attention to what 
 he said, but were in a rage, because they did not 
 meet with a read}" entrance into the city. The 
 generals also had indignation at the offer of lay- 
 ing down their arms, and looked upon it as equal 
 to a captivity to throw them away at any man's 
 injunctions whomsoever. But Simon, the son of 
 Cathlas, one of their commanders, with much 
 ado quieted the tumult of his own men, and 
 stood so that the high priests might hear him, 
 and said as follows : " I can no longer wonder 
 that the patrons of liberty are under custody in 
 the temple, since there are those that shut the 
 gates of our common city * to their own nation, 
 and at .the same time are preparing to admit the 
 Romans into it ; nay, perhaps are disposed to 
 crown the gates with garlands at their coming, 
 while they speak to the Idumeans from their 
 own towers, and enjoin them to throw down 
 their arms which they have taken up for the 
 preservation of its liberty ; and while they will 
 not intrust the guard of our metropolis to their 
 kindred, profess to make them judges of the dif- 
 ferences that are among them ; 'nay, while they 
 accuse some men of having slain others without 
 a legal trial, they do themselves condemn a 
 whole nation, after an ignominious manner, and 
 have now walled up that city from their own 
 nation, which used to be open even to foreigners 
 that came to worship there. We have indeed 
 come in great haste to you, and to a war against 
 our own countryn.er. ; and the reason why we 
 have made such haste is this, that we may pre- 
 serve that freedom which you are so unhappy as 
 to betray. You have probably been guilty of 
 the like crimes against those whom you keep in 
 custody, and have, I suppose, collected toge- 
 ther the like plausible pretences against them 
 also that you make use of against us ; after 
 which you have gotten the mastery of those 
 within the temple, and keep them in custody, 
 while they are only taking care of the public af- 
 fairs. You have also shut the gates of the city 
 in general against nations that are the most 
 nearly related to you ; and while you give such 
 injurious commands to others, you complain that 
 you have been tyrannised over by them, and fix 
 the name of unjust governors upon such as are 
 tyrannised over by yourselves. Who can bear 
 this, your abuse of words, while they have a re- 
 gard to the contrariety of your actions, unless 
 you mean this that those Idumeans do now ex- 
 clude you out of your metropolis, whom you ex- 
 clude from the sacred offices of your own coun- 
 try ! One may indeed justly complain of those 
 that are besieged in the temple, that when they 
 had courage enough to punish those tyrants, 
 whom you call eminent men, and free from any 
 accusations, because of their being your compa- 
 nions in wickedness, they did not begin with 
 you, and thereby cut off beforehand the most 
 dangerous parts of this treason. But if these 
 men have been more merciful than the publio 
 necessity required, we that are Idumeans will 
 preserve this house of God, and will fight for our 
 common country, and will oppose by war as well 
 those that attack them from abroad, as those 
 that betray them from within. Here will we 
 abide before the walls in our armour, until 
 either the Romans grow weary in waiting for 
 
 * This appellation of Jerusalem, "the common city" 
 of the Idunu-ans, who were proselytes of justice, as well 
 as of the original native Jews, greatly confirm! that 
 maxim of the rabbins, that "Jerusalem was not as- 
 signed, or appropriated, to the tribe of Benjamin or 
 Judah, but every tribe had equal right to it [at their 
 comiugto worship there at the secret festivals."]
 
 CHAP. V.] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 533 
 
 you, or you become friends to liberty, and re- 
 pent of what you have done against it." 
 
 5. And now did the Idumeans make an accla- 
 mation to what Simon had said ; but Jesus went 
 away sorrowful, as seeing that the Idumeans were 
 against all moderate counsels, and that the city 
 was besieged on both sides ; nor indeed were the 
 minds of the Idumeans at rest ; for they were in 
 a rage at the injury that had been offered them 
 by their exclusion out of the city ; and when 
 they thought the zealots had been strong, but 
 saw nothing of theirs to support them, they were 
 in doubt about the matter, and many of them 
 repented that they had come thither. But the 
 shame that would attend them in case they 
 returned without doing anything at all, so far 
 overcame their repentance, that they lay all night 
 before the wall, though in a very bad encamp- 
 ment; for there broke out a prodigious storm in 
 the night, with the utmost violence, and very 
 strong winds, with the largest showers of rain, and 
 continual lightnings, terrible thunderings, and 
 amazing concussions and bellowings of the earth, 
 that was in an earthquake. These things were 
 a manifest indication that some destruction was 
 coming upon men, when the system of the world 
 was put into this disorder; and any one would 
 guess that these wonders foreshowed some grand 
 calamities that were coming. 
 
 6. Now the opinion of the Idumeans and of 
 the citizens was one and the same. The Idu- 
 means thought that God was angry at their taking 
 arms, and that they would not escape punish- 
 ment for their making war upon their metropolis. 
 Animus and his party thought that they had 
 conquered without fighting, and that God acted 
 as a' general for them ; but truly they proved 
 both ill conjectures at what was to come, and 
 made those events to be ominous to their enemies, 
 while they were themselves to undergo the ill 
 effects of them ; for the Idumeans fenced one 
 another by uniting their bodies into one band, 
 and thereby kept themselves warm, and connect- 
 ing their shields over their heads, were not so 
 much hurt by the rain. But the zealots were 
 more deeply concerned for the danger these men 
 were in than they were for themselves, and got 
 together, and looked about them, to see whether 
 they could devise any means of assisting them, 
 the hotter sort of them thought it best to force 
 their guards with their arms, and after that to 
 fall into the midst of the city, and publicly open 
 the gates to those that came to their assistance; 
 as supposing the guards would be in disorder, 
 and give way at such an unexpected attempt of 
 theirs, especially as the greater part of them 
 Were unarmed and unskilful in the affair of war; 
 und that besides, the multitude of the citizens 
 would not to be easily gathered together, but con- 
 fined to their houses by the storm ; and that if 
 there were any hazard in their undertaking, it 
 became them to suffer anything whatsoever 
 themselves, rather than to overlook so great a 
 multitude as were miserably perishing on their 
 nccount. But the more prudent part of them 
 disapproved of this forcible method, because they 
 saw not only the guards about them very numer- 
 ous, but the walls of the city itself carefully 
 watched, by reason of the Idumeans. They also 
 supposed that Ananus would be everywhere, and 
 visit the guards every hour ; which indeed was 
 done upon other nights, but was omitted that 
 ni-ht, not by reason of any slothfulness of 
 Ananus, but by the overbearing appointment of 
 fate that so both he himself might perish, 
 and the multitude of the guards might pensh 
 with him ; for truly, as the night was far gone, 
 and the storm very terrible, Ananus gave the 
 
 guards in the cloisters leave to go to sleep ; while 
 it came into the heads of the zealots to make use ' 
 of the saws belonging to the temple, and to cut 
 the bars of the gates to pieces. The noise of the 
 wind, and the not inferior sound of the thunder, 
 did here also conspire with their designs, that 
 the noise of the saws was not heard by the 
 others. 
 
 7. So they secrcify went out of the temple to 
 the wall of the city, and made use of their saws, 
 and opened that gate which was over-against the 
 Idumeans. Now at first there came a fear upon ' 
 the Idumeans themselves, which disturbed them, 
 as imagining that Ananus and his party were 
 coming to attack them, so that every one of them 
 had his right hand upon his sword, in order to 
 defend himself ; but they soon came to know 
 who they were that came to them, and were 
 entered the city. And had the Idumeans then 
 fallen upon the city, nothing could have hin- 
 dered them from destroying the people, every 
 man of them, such was the rage that were in 
 them at that time ; but they first of all made 
 haste to get the zealots out of custody, which 
 those that brought them in earnestly desired 
 them to do, and not overlook those for whose 
 sake they were come, in the midst of their dis- 
 tresses, nor to bring them into a still greater 
 danger ; for that when they had once seized upon 
 the guards, it would be easy for them to fidl upon 
 the city ; but that if the city were once alarmed, 
 they would not then be able to overcome those 
 guards, because as soon as they should perceive 
 they were there, they would put themselves in 
 order to fight them, and would hinder their 
 coming into the temple. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE CRUELTY OF THE IDUMEANS, WHJS3 THJH 
 WERE GOTTEN INTO THE TEMPLE, DURING THX 
 STORM ; AND OF THE ZEALOTS. CONCERNING 
 
 * THE SLAUGHTER OF ANANUS, AND JESUS, AND 
 ZACHARIAS ; AND HOW THE IDUMEANS REITfiED 
 HOME. 
 
 1. THIS advice pleased the Idumeans, and they 
 ascended through the city to the temple. The 
 zealots were also in great expectation of their 
 coming, and earnestly waited for them. "When 
 therefore these were entering, they also came 
 boldly out of the inner temple, and mixing them- 
 selves with the Idumeans, they attacked the 
 guards; and those that were upon the watch, 
 but were fallen asleep, they killed as they were 
 asleep ; but as those that were now awakened 
 made a cry, the whole multitude arose, and in 
 the amazement they were in caught hold of their 
 arms immediately, and betook themselves to 
 their own defence ; and so long as they thought 
 they were only the zealots that attacked them, 
 they went on boldly, as hoping to overpower 
 them by their number ; but when they saw 
 others pressing in upon them also, they perceived 
 the Idumeans were got in ; and the greater part 
 of them laid aside their arms, together with their 
 courage, and betook themselves to lamentations. 
 But some few of the younger sort covered them- 
 selves with their armour and valiantly received 
 the Idumeans, and for a while protected the 
 old men. Others, indeed, gave a signal to those 
 that were in the city of the calamities thev were 
 in ; but when these were also made sensible thi 
 the Idumeans were come in, none of them durst 
 come to their assistance ; only they returned th 
 terrible echo of wailing, and lamenting their mis-
 
 534 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK rv. 
 
 /ortunes. A great howling of the women was ex- 
 cited also, and every one of the guards were in 
 danger of being killed The zealots also joined 
 in the shouts raised by the Idumeans ; and the 
 storm itself rendered the cry more terrible ; nor 
 did the Idumeans spare anybody ; for as they 
 are naturally a barbarous and bloody nation, and 
 had been distressed by the tempest, they made 
 use of their weapons against those that had shut 
 the gates against them, and acted in the same 
 manner as to those that supplicated for their 
 lives, and to those that fought them, insomuch 
 that they ran those through with their swords 
 who desired them to remember the relation 
 there was between them, and begged of them to 
 have regard to their common temple. Now there 
 was at present neither any place for flight nor 
 any hope for preservation; but as they were 
 driven one upon another in heaps, so were they 
 slain. Thus the greater part were driven to- 
 gether by force, as there was now no place of re- 
 tirement, and the murderers were upon them ; 
 and, having no other way, threw themselves 
 down headlong into the city ; whereby, in my 
 opinion, they underwent a more miserable de- 
 struction than that which they avoided, because 
 that was a voluntary one. And now the outer 
 temple was all of it overflowed with blood ; and 
 that day, as it came on, saw eight thousand five 
 hundred dead bodies there. 
 
 2. But the rage of the Idumeans was not sa- 
 tiated by these slaughters ; but they now betook 
 themselves to the city, and plundered every 
 house, and slew every one they met ; and for the 
 multitude, they esteemed it needless to go on 
 with killing them, but they sought for the high 
 priests, and the generality went with the great- 
 est zeal against them ; and as soon as they 
 caught them they slew them, and then standing 
 upon their dead bodies, in way of jest upbraided 
 Ananus with his kindness to the people, and 
 Jesus with his speech made to them from the 
 walL Nay, they proceeded to that degree of 
 impiety, as to cast away their bodies without 
 burial, although the Jews used to take so much 
 care of the burial of men, that they took down 
 those that were condemned and crucified, and 
 buried them before the going down of the sun. 
 I should not mistake if I said that the death of 
 Ananus was the beginning of the destruction of 
 the city, and that from this very day may be 
 dated the overthrow of her wall, and the ruin of 
 her affairs, whereon they saw their high priest, 
 and the procurer of their preservation slain in 
 the midst of the city. He was on other accounts 
 a venerable, and very just man ; and besides 
 the grandeur of that nobility, and dignity, and 
 honour, of which he was possessed, he had been 
 a lover of a kind of parity 1 , even with regard to 
 the meanest of the people ; he was a prodigious 
 lover of liberty, and an admirer of democracy in 
 government; and did ever prefer the public 
 welfare before his own advantage, and preferred 
 peace above all things ; for he was thoroughly 
 sensible that the Romans were not to be con- 
 quered. He also foresaw that of necessity a war 
 should follow; and that unless the Jews made 
 up matters very dexterously, they would be de- 
 stroyed : to say all in a word, if Ananus had sur- 
 vived they had certainly compounded matters ; 
 for he was a shrewd man in speaking and per- 
 suading the people, and had already gotten the 
 mastery of those that opposed his designs, or 
 were for the war. A.nd the Jews had then put 
 abundance of delays in the way of the Romans, 
 If they had had such a general as he was. Jesus 
 was also joined with him ; and although he was 
 Inferior to him upon the comparison, he was 
 
 superior to the rest; and I cannot but think 
 that it was because God had doomed this city to 
 destruction, as a polluted city, and was resolved 
 to purge his sanctuary by fire, that he cut off 
 these its great defenders and well-wishers, while 
 those that a little before had worn the sacred 
 garments, and had presided over the public wor- 
 ship, and had been esteemed venerable by those 
 that dwelt on the whole habitable earth when 
 they came into our city, were cast out naked, 
 and seen to be the food of dogs and wild beasts. 
 And I cannot but imagine that virtue itself 
 groaned at these men's case, and lamented that 
 she was here so terribly conquered by wickedness. 
 And this at last was the end of Ananus and Jesus. 
 
 3. Now after these were slain, the zealots and 
 the multitude of the Idumeans fell upon the 
 people as upon a flock of profane animals, and 
 cut their throats ; and, for the ordinary sort, 
 they were destroyed in what place soever they 
 caught them. But for the noblemen and the 
 youth, they first caught them and bound them, 
 and shut them up in prison, and put off their 
 slaughters, in hopes that some of them would 
 turn over to their party ; but none of them would 
 comply with their desires, but all of them pre- 
 ferred death before being enrolled among such 
 wicked wretches as acted against their own 
 country. But this refusal of theirs brought 
 upon them terrible torments ; for they were so 
 scourged and tormented, that their bodies were 
 not able to sustain their torments, till at length, 
 and with difficulty, they had the favour to be 
 slain. These whom they caught in the day- 
 time, were slain in the night, and then their 
 bodies were carried out and thrown away, that 
 there might be room for other prisoners ; and 
 the terror that was upon all the people was se 
 great, that no one had courage enough either to 
 weep openly for the dead man that was related 
 to him, or bury him : but those that were shut 
 up in their own houses, could only shed tears in 
 secret, and durst not even groan without great 
 caution, lest any of their enemies should hear 
 them ; for if they did, those that mourned for 
 others soon underwent the same death with those 
 whom they mourned for. Only in the night- 
 time they would take up a little dust and throw 
 it upon their bodies ; and even some that were 
 the most ready to expose themselves to danger, 
 would do it in the day-time : and there were 
 twelve thousand of the better sort who perished 
 in this manner. 
 
 4. And now these zealots and Idumeans were 
 quite weary of barely killing men, so they had 
 the impudence of setting up fictitious tribunals 
 and judicatures for that purpose ; and as they 
 intended to have Zacharias,* the son of Baruch, 
 one of the most eminent of the citizens, slain, 
 so what provoked them against him was that 
 hatred of wickedness and love of liberty which 
 were so eminent in him : he was also a rich man, 
 so that by taking him off, they did not only hope 
 
 * Some commentators are ready to suppose that this 
 "Zacharias, the son of Baruch," was the very same 
 person with " Zacharias, the son of Barachias," Matt, 
 xxiii. 36. This is a somewhat strange exposition ; since 
 Zechariah the prophet was really " the son of Bara- 
 chiah," and " grandson of Iddo," (Zech. i. 1 ;) and how 
 he died, we have no other account^ than that before us 
 in St Matthew ; while this " Zacharias" was "the son 
 of Baruch:" since the slaughter was past when our 
 Saviour spake those words, the Jews then had already 
 slain him ; whereas the slaughter of " Zacharias, the 
 son of Baruch," was then about thirty-four years 
 future : and since that slaughter was " between the 
 temple and the altar," in the court of the priests, one 
 of the most sacred and remote parts of the whol 
 temple ; while this was in the middle of the temple.
 
 DHAP. VL] 
 
 WAKS OF TELE JEWS. 
 
 535 
 
 to seize his effects, but also to get rid of a man 
 that had great power to destroy them. So they 
 called together, by a public proclamation, seventy 
 of the principal men of the populace, for a show, 
 as if they were real judges, while they had no 
 proper authority. Before these was Zacharias 
 accused of a design to betray their polity to the 
 Romans, and having traitorously sent to Ves- 
 pasian for that purpose. Now there appeared 
 no proof or sign of what he was accused ; but 
 they affirmed themselves that they were well 
 persuaded that so it was, and desired that such 
 their affirmation might be taken for sufficient 
 evidence, Vow when Zacharias clearly saw that 
 there was no way remaining for his escape from 
 them, as having been treacherously called before 
 them, and then put in prison, but not with any 
 intention of a legal trial, he took great liberty of 
 speech, in that despair of life he was under. 
 Accordingly he stood up, and laughed at their 
 pretended accusation, and in a few words con- 
 futed the crimes laid to his charge ; after which 
 he turned his speech to his accusers, and went 
 over distinctly all their transgressions of the 
 law, and made heavy lamentations upon the con- 
 fusion they had brought public affairs into : in 
 the meantime the zealots grew tumultuous, and 
 had much ado to abstain from drawing their 
 swords, although they designed to preserve the 
 appearance and show of judicature to the end. 
 They were also desirous, on other accounts to 
 try the judges, whether they wcnld be mindful 
 of what was just at their own peril. Now the 
 seventy judges brought in their verdict, that the 
 person accused was not guilty, as choosing 
 rather to die themselves with him, than to have 
 his death laid at their doors ; hereupon there 
 arose a great clamour of the zealots upon hi 
 acquittal, and they all had indignation at the 
 judges, for not understanding that the authority 
 that was given them was but in jest. So two of 
 the boldest of them fell upon Zacharias in the 
 middle of the temple, and slew him ; and as he 
 fell down dead they bantered him, and said, 
 " Thou hast also our verdict, and this will prove 
 a more sure acquittal to thee than the other. 
 They also threw him down out of the temple 
 immediately in the valley beneath it. Moreover 
 they struck the judges with the backs of their 
 swords, by way of abuse, and thrust them out of 
 the court of the temple, and spared their lives 
 with no other design than that, when they were 
 dispersed among the people in the city, they 
 might become their messengers to let them know 
 they were no better than slaves. 
 
 5 But by this tune the Idumeans repented of 
 their coming, and were displeased at what had 
 been done ; and when they were assembled to- 
 other by one of the zealots, who had come 
 privately to them, he declared to them what a 
 number of wicked pranks they had themselves 
 done in conjunction with those that invited 
 them, and gave a particular account of what mis- 
 chiefs had been done against their metropolis. 
 He said, that they had taken arms, as though 
 the high priests were betraying their metropolis 
 to the Romans, but had found no indication of 
 any such treachery : but that they had succoured 
 those that had pretended to believe such a thing, 
 while they did themselves the works of war and 
 tyranny after an insolent manner. It had been 
 indeed their business to have hindered them 
 from such their proceedings at t^e first, but 
 seeing they had once been partners with them m 
 shedding the blood of their own countrymen, it 
 waThigS time to put a stop to such crimes, and 
 not continue to afford any more assistance to 
 are subverting the laws of then fore- 
 
 fathers ; for that if any had taken it ill that the 
 gates had been shut against them, and they had 
 not been permitted to come into the city, yet 
 that those who had excluded them have been 
 punished, and Ananus is dead, and that almost 
 all those people have been destroyed in one 
 night's time. That one may perceive many of 
 themselves now repenting for what they had 
 done, and might see the horrid barbarity of 
 those that had invited them, and that they had 
 no regard to such as had saved them ; that they 
 were so impudent as to perpetrate the vilest 
 things, under the eyes of those who had supported 
 them, and that their wicked actions would be 
 laid to the charge of the Idumeans, and would 
 be so laid to their charge, till somebody obstructs 
 their proceedings, or separates himself from the 
 same wicked action ; that they therefore ought 
 to retire home, since the imputation of treason 
 appears to be a calumny, and that there was no 
 expectation of the coming of the Romans at this 
 time, and that the government of the city was 
 secured by such walls as cannot easily be thrown 
 down ; and, by avoiding any other fellowship 
 with these bad men, to make some excuse for 
 themselves, as to what they had been so far 
 deluded, as to have been partners with them 
 hitherto. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 HOW THE ZEALOTS, WHEN THEY WERE FREKD 
 FROM THE IDUMEANS, SLEW A GREAT MAN! 
 MORE OF THE CITIZENS ; AND HOW VESPASIAN 
 DISSUADED THE ROMANS, WHEN THEY WERE 
 VERY EARNEST TO MARCH AGAINST THE JEWS, 
 FEOM PROCEEDING IN THE WAR AT THAT TDUC. 
 
 1. THE Idumeans complied with these per- 
 suasions ; and in the first place, they set those 
 that were in the prisons at liberty, being about 
 two thousand of the populace, who thereupon 
 fled away immediately to Simon, one whom we 
 shall speak of presently. After which these 
 Idumeans retired from Jerusalem, and went 
 home which departure of theirs was a great sur- 
 prise to both parties ; for the people, not knowing 
 of their repentance, pulled up their courage fora 
 while, as easec. of so many of their enemies, 
 while the zealots grew more insolent, not as d 
 serted by their confederates, but as freed from 
 such men as might hinder their designs, and put 
 some stop to their wickedness. Accordingly 
 they made no longer any delay, uor took any 
 deliberation in their enormous practises, but 
 made use of the shortest methods for all their 
 executions; and what they had once resolved 
 upon, they put in practice sooner than any one 
 could imagine ; but their thirst was chiefly after 
 the blood of valiant men, and men of goo. 
 families; the one sort of whom they destroyed 
 out of envy, the other out of fear; for they 
 thought their whole security lay in leaving no 
 potent men alive; on which account they slew 
 Gorion, a person eminent in dignity, and on ac- 
 count of his family also ; he was also for democ- 
 rat and of as gVeat boldness and freedom of 
 Si as were any of the Jews whosoever ; the 
 pr ncipal thing that ruined him, added to hi. 
 other advantages, was his free-speakmg. Nor 
 d Niger of Perea escape their hands; he had 
 been a man of great valour in their ^ with 
 the Ronwns, but was now drawn through the 
 Sidle of tfe city, and, as he went he frequently 
 Sd out, and shewed the scars of his wounds ; 
 and when he was drawn out of the gates, and 
 despaired of his preservation, he besought thea
 
 938 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK iv. 
 
 to grant him a burial ; but as they had threatened 
 him beforehand not to grant him any spot of 
 earth for a grave, which he chiefly desired of 
 them, so did they slay him [without permitting 
 him to be buried.] Now when they were slaying 
 him, he made this imprecation upon them, that 
 they might undergo both famine and pestilence 
 in this war, and bssides all that, they might 
 come to the .mutual slaughter of one another ; 
 all which imprecations God confirmed against 
 these impious men, and was what came most 
 justly upon them, when not long afterward they 
 tasted of their own madness in their mutual se- 
 ditions one against another. So when this Niger 
 was killed, their fears of being overturned were 
 diminished, and indeed there was no part of the 
 people but they found out some pretence to 
 destroy them ; for some were therefore slain 
 because they had had differences with some of 
 them ; and as to those that had not opposed 
 them in times of peace, they watched seasonable 
 opportunities to gain some accusation against 
 them ; and if any one did not come near them 
 at all, he was under their suspicion as a proud 
 man ; if any one came with boldness, he was 
 esteemed a contemner of them ; and if any one 
 came as aiming to oblige them, he was supposed 
 to have some treacherous plot against them ; 
 while the only punishment of crimes, whether 
 they were of the greatest or smallest sort, was 
 death. Nor could any one escape, unless he 
 were very inconsiderable, either on account of 
 the meanness of his birth, or on account of his 
 fortune. 
 
 2. And now all the rest of the commanders of 
 the Romans deemed this sedition among their 
 enemies to be of great advantage to them, and 
 were very earnest to march to the city; and 
 they urged Vespasian as their lord and general 
 in all cases, to make haste, and said to him, that 
 " the providence of God is on our side, by setting 
 our enemies at variance against one another ; that 
 still the change in such cases may be sudden, 
 and the Jews may quickly be at one again, either 
 because they may be tired out with their civil 
 miseries, or repent them of such doings." But 
 Vespasian replied, that they were greatly mis- 
 taken in what they thought fit to be done, as 
 those that, upon the theatre love to make a show 
 of their hands, and of their weapons, but do it 
 at their own hazard, without considering what 
 was for their advantage and for their security ; 
 for that if they now go and attack the city im- 
 mediately, they shall but occasion their enemies 
 to unite together, and shall convert their force, 
 now it is in its height, against themselves ; but if 
 they stay a while they shall have fewer enemies, 
 because they will be consumed in this sedition : 
 that God acta as general of the Romans better 
 than he can do, and is giving the Jews up to 
 them without any pains of their own, and grant- 
 ing their army a victory without any danger ; 
 that therefore it is their best way, while their 
 enemies are destroying each other with their own 
 hands, and falling into the greatest misfortunes, 
 which is that of sedition, to sit still as spectators 
 of the dangers they run into, rather than to fight 
 hand to hand with men that love murdering, 
 and are mad one against another. " But if any 
 one imagines that the glory of victory, when it is 
 gotten without fighting, will be more insipid, let 
 him know thus much, that a glorious success, 
 quietly obtained, is more profitable than the 
 dangers of a battle ; for we ought to esteem those 
 that do what is agreeable to temperance and pru- 
 dence, no less glorious than those that have 
 gained great reputation by their actions in war : 
 that he shall lead on hi* army with greater force 
 
 when their enemies are diminished, and his own 
 army refreshed after the continual labours they 
 had undergone. However, that this is not a 
 proper time to propose to ourselves the glory of 
 victory ; for that the Jew? are not now employed 
 in making of armour or building of walls, nor 
 indeed of getting together auxiliaries, while the 
 advantage will be on their side who gave them 
 such opportunity of delay ; but that the Jews 
 are vexed to pieces every day by their civil wars 
 and dissensions, and are under greater misfor- 
 tunes than, if they were once taken, could be 
 inflicted on them by us. Whether therefore, any 
 one has regard to what is for our safety, he ought 
 to suffer those Jews to destroy one another; or 
 whether he hath regard to <>he greater glory of 
 the action, we ought by no means to meddle with 
 these men, now they are afflicted with a dis- 
 temper at home ; for should we conquer them, 
 it would be said the conquest was uot owing to 
 our bravery, but to their sedition." 
 
 3. And now the commanders joined in their 
 approbation of what Vespasian had said, and it 
 was soon discovered how wise an opinion he had 
 given ; and indeed many there were of the Jews 
 that deserted every day, and fled away from the 
 zealots, although their flight was very difficult, 
 since they had guarded every passage out of the 
 city, and slew every one that was caught at 
 them, as taking it for granted they were going 
 over to the Romans ; yet did he that gave them 
 money get clear off, while he that gave them 
 none was voted a traitor. So the upshot was 
 this, that the rich purchased their flight by 
 money, while none but the poor were slain. 
 Along all the roads also vast numbers of dead 
 bodies lay in heaps, and even many of those that 
 were so zealous in deserting, at length chose 
 rather to perish within the city ; for the hopes of 
 burial made death in their own city appear of 
 the two less terrible to them. But these zealots 
 came at last to that degree of barbarity, as not 
 to bestow a burial either on those slain in the 
 city, or on those that lay along the roads ; but 
 as if they had made an agreement to cancel both 
 the laws of their country and the laws of nature, 
 and, at the same time that they defiled men with 
 their wicked actions, they would pollute the 
 Divinity itself also, they left the dead bodies to 
 putrify under the sun : and the same punish- 
 ment was allotted to such as buried any, as to 
 those that deserted, which was no other than 
 death ; while he that granted the favour of a 
 grave to another, would presently stand in need 
 of a grave himself. To say all in a word, no 
 other gentle passion was so entirely lost among 
 them as mercy ; for what were the greatest ob- 
 jects of pity did most of all irritate these 
 wretches, and they transferred their rage from 
 the living to those that had been slain, and from 
 the dead to the living. Nay, the terror was so 
 very great, that he who survived called them that 
 were first dead happy, as being at rest already ; 
 as did those that were under torture in the 
 prisons, declare, that, upon this comparison, 
 those that lay unburied were the happiest. 
 These men, therefore, trampled upon all the 
 laws of man, and laughed at the laws of God ; 
 and for the oracles of the prophets, they ridiculed 
 them as the tricks of jugglers; yet did these 
 prophets foretell many things concerning [the 
 rewards of] virtue, and [punishments of] vice, 
 which when these zealots violated, they occa- 
 sioned the fulfilling of those very prophecies be- 
 longing to their own country : for there was a 
 certain ancient oracle of those men, that the city 
 should then be taken and the sanctuary burnt, 
 by right of war, when a sedition should invade
 
 OHAP. vn.] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 537 
 
 the Jews, and their own hands should pollute 
 the temple of God. Now, while these zealots 
 did not [quite] disbelieve these predictions, they 
 made themselves the instruments of their ac- 
 complishment. 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 HOW JOHN TYRANNISED OVER THE REST ; AND 
 WHAT MISCHIEFS THE ZEALOTS DID AT MASADA. 
 HOW ALSO VESPASIAN TOOK GADARA ; AND 
 WHAT ACTIONS WERE PERFORMED BY PLACIDIUS. 
 
 1. BY this time John was beginning to tyran- 
 nise, and thought it beneath him to accept of 
 barely the same honours that others had ; and 
 joining to himself by degrees a party of the most 
 wicked of them all, he broke off from the rest of 
 the faction. This was brought about by his still 
 disagreeing with the opinions of others, and in 
 giving out injunctions of his own, in a very im- 
 perious manner ; so that it was evident he was 
 setting up a monarchical power. Now, some sub- 
 mitted to him out of their fear of him, and 
 others out of their good-will to him ; for he was 
 a shrewd man to entice men to him, both by de- 
 luding them and putting cheats upon them. 
 Nay, many there were that thought they should 
 be safer themselves, if the causes of their past 
 insolent actions should now be reduced to one 
 head, and not to a great many. His activity 
 was so great, and that both in action and conu- 
 sel, that he had not a few guards about him ; 
 yet was there a great party of his antagonists 
 that left him ; among whom envy at him weighed 
 a great deal, while they thought it a very heavy 
 thing to be in subjection to one that was for- 
 merly their equal. But the main reason that 
 moved men against him was the dread of mon- 
 archy, for they could not hope easily to put an 
 end to his power, if he had once obtained it ; and 
 yet they knew that he would have this pretence 
 always against them, that they had opposed him 
 when he was first advanced ; while every one 
 chose rather to suffer anything whatsoever in 
 war, than that, when they had been in a volun- 
 tary slavery for some time, they should after- 
 wards perish. So the sedition was divided into 
 two parts, and John reigned in opposition to his 
 adversaries over one of them : but for their 
 leaders, they watched one another, nor did they 
 at all, or at least very little, meddle with arms 
 in their quarrels ; but they fought earnestly 
 against the people, and contended one with an- 
 other which of them should bring home the 
 greatest prey. But because the- city had to 
 struggle with three of the greatest misfortunes, 
 war, and tyranny, and sedition, it appeared, 
 upon the comparison, that the war was the 
 least troublesome to the populace of them alL 
 Accordingly they ran away from their own 
 houses to foreigners, and obtained that preserva- 
 tion from the Romans which they despaired to 
 obtain among their own people. 
 
 2. And now a fourth misfortune arose, in 
 order to bring our nation to destruction. There 
 was a fortress of very great strength not far 
 from Jerusalem, which had been built by our 
 ancient kings, both as a repository for their effects 
 in the hazards of war, and for tho preservation 
 of their bodies at the same time. It is called 
 Masada. Those that were called Sicarii had 
 tsken possesaion of it formerly ; but at this 
 time they overran the neighbouring countries, 
 aimin" only to procure to themselves necessa- 
 ries for the fear they were then in prevented 
 
 their future ravages ; but when once they were 
 informed that the Roman army lay still, and 
 that the Jews were divided between sedition 
 and tyranny, they boldly undertook greater 
 matters ; and at the feast of unleavened bread, 
 which the Jews celebrate in memory of their 
 deliverance from their Egyptian bondage, when 
 they were sent back into the country of their 
 forefathers, they came down by night, without 
 being discovered by those that could have pre- 
 vented them, and overran a certain small city 
 called Engaddi : in which expedition they pre- 
 vented those citizens that could have stopped 
 them, before they could arm themselves and 
 fight them. They also dispersed them, and 
 cast them out of the city. As for such as could 
 not run away, being women and children, they 
 slew of them above seven hundred. Afterward, 
 when they had carried everything out of their 
 houses, and had seized upon all the fruits that 
 were in a flourishing condition, they brought 
 them into Masada, And indeed these men laid 
 all the villages that were about the fortress 
 waste, and made the whole country desolate ; 
 while there came to them every day from all 
 parts not a few men as corrupt as themselves. At 
 this time all the other regions of Judea that had 
 hitherto been at rest were in motion, by means 
 of the robbers. Now as it is in a human body, if 
 the principal part be inflamed, all the members 
 are subject to the same distemper, so by means 
 of the sedition and disorder that was in the 
 metropolis had the wicked men that were in the 
 country opportunity to ravage the same. Ac- 
 cordingly, when every one of them had plun- 
 dered their own villages, they then retired 
 into the desert ; yet were these men that now 
 got together and joined in the conspiracy by 
 parties, too small for an army, and too many for 
 a gang of thieves : and thus did they fall upon 
 the holy places * and the cities ; yet did it now 
 so hippen that they were sometimes very ill 
 treated by those upon whom they fell with such 
 violence, and were taken by them as men are 
 taken in war : bat still they prevented any far- 
 ther punishment as do robbers, who as soon as 
 their ravages [are discovered,] run their way. 
 Nor was there now any part of Judea that was 
 not in a miserable condition, as well as its most 
 eminent city also. 
 
 3. These things were told Vespasian by de- 
 serters ; for although the seditious watched all 
 the passages out of the city, and destroyed all, 
 whosoever they were, that came thither, yet 
 were there some who had concealed themselves, 
 and, when they had fled to the Romans, per- 
 suaded their general to come to their city's as- 
 sistance, and save the remainder of the people ; 
 informing him withal, that it was upon account 
 of the people's good-will to the Romans that 
 many of them were already slam, and the survi- 
 vors in danger of the same treatment. Vespasian 
 did indeed already pity the calamities these men 
 were in, and arose, in appearance, as though he 
 were going to besiege Jerusalem, but in reality 
 to deliver them from a [worse] siege they were 
 already under. However, he was obliged first 
 to overthrow what remained elsewhere, and to 
 leave nothing out of Jerusalem behind him that 
 might interrupt him in that siege. Accordingly, 
 he marched against Gadara, the metropolis of 
 Perea, which is a place of strength, and entered 
 that c'ityon the fourth day of the month D rstrui 
 
 By these Uera, or "holy place*," s distinct from 
 cities must be meant protatclut, or " houses of prayer 
 out of cities ; of which we fi.icl mention made in the 
 New Testament and other authors. See Lake vi. 11 ; 
 Acts xvi 13. 16.
 
 538 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK iv. 
 
 [Adar ;] for the men of power had sent an embas- 
 gage to' him, without the knowledge of the sedi- 
 tious, to treat about a surrender ; which they did 
 out of the desire they had of peace, and for sav- 
 ing their effects, because many of the citizens of 
 Gadara were rich men, This embassy the oppo- 
 site party knew nothing of, but discovered it as 
 Vespasian was approaching near the city. How- 
 ever, they despaired of keeping possession of the 
 city, as being inferior in number to their enemies 
 who were within the city, and seeing the Romans 
 very near to the city ; so they resolved to fly, 
 but thought it dishonourable to do it without 
 shedding some blood, and revenging themselves 
 on the authors of this surrender ; so they seized 
 upon Dolesus (a person not only the first in rank 
 and family in the city, but one that seemed the 
 occasion of sending such an embassy) and slew 
 him, and treated his dead body after a barbarous 
 manner, so very violent was their anger at him, 
 and then ran out of the city. And now as the 
 army was just upon them, the people of Gadara 
 admitted Vespasian with joyful acclamations, and 
 received from him the security of his right hand, 
 as also a garrison of horsemen and footmen, to 
 guard them against the excursions of the runa- 
 gates ; for as to their wall, they had pulled it 
 down before the Romans desired them so to do, 
 that they might thereby give them assurance 
 that they were lovers of peace, and that, if they 
 had & mind, they could not now make war against 
 them. 
 
 4. And now Vespasian sent I.^cidus against 
 those that had fled from Gadara, with five hun- 
 dred horsemen, and three thousand footmen, 
 while he returned himself to Cesarea, with the 
 rest of the army. But as soon as these fugitives 
 saw the horsemen that pursued them just at 
 their backs, and before they came to a close 
 
 fight, they ran together to a certain agc, 
 which was called Bethennabris, where, finding a 
 great multitude of young men, and arming 
 them, partly by their own consent and partly 
 by force, they rashly and suddenly assaulted 
 Placidus and the troops that were with him. 
 These horsemen at the Cj'st onset gave way a 
 little, as contriving to entice them farther off 
 the wall ; and when they had drawn them into 
 a place fit for their purpose, they made their 
 horse encompass them around, and threw their 
 darts at them. So the horsemen cut off the 
 flight of the fugitives, while the foot terribly 
 destroyed those that fought against them; for 
 those Jews did no more than shew their cour- 
 age, and then were destroyed ; for as they fell 
 upon the Romans when they were joined close 
 together, and, as it were, walled about with 
 their entire armour, they were not able to find 
 any place where the darts could enter, nor were 
 they any way able to break their ranks, while 
 they were themselves run through by the Ro- 
 man darts, and, like the wildest of wild beasts, 
 rushed upon the points of the others' swords ; 
 so some of them were destroyed as cut with 
 their enemies' swords upon their faces, and 
 others were dispersed by the horsemen. 
 
 5. Now Placidus's concern was to exclude 
 them in their flight from getting into the village ; 
 and causing his horsemen to march continually on 
 that side of them, he then turned short upon 
 them, and at the same time his men made use 
 of their darts, and easily took their aim at those 
 that were the nearest to them, as they made 
 those that were farther off turn back by the 
 terror they were in, till at last the most coura- 
 geous of them brake through those horsemen, 
 and fled to the wall of the village. And now 
 those that guarded the wall were in great doubt 
 
 what to do ; for though they could not bear the 
 thoughts of excluding these that came from 
 Gadara, because of their own people that were 
 among them; and yet if they should admit 
 them, they expected to perish with them, 
 which camo to pass accordingly ; for as they 
 were crowding together at the wall, the Roman 
 horsemen were just ready to fall in with them. 
 However, the guards prevented them, and shut 
 the gates, when Placidus made an assault upon 
 them, and, fighting courageously till it was 
 dark, he got possession of the wall, and of the 
 people that were in the city, when the useless 
 multitude were destroyed ; but those that were 
 more potent ran away ; and the soldiers plun- 
 dered the houses, and set the village on fire. 
 As for those that ran out of the village, they 
 stirred up such as were in the country, and 
 exaggerating their own calamities, and telling 
 them that the whole army of the Romans were 
 upon them, they put them into great fear on 
 every side ; so they got together in great num 
 bers, and fled to Jericho, for they knew nc 
 other place that could afford them any hope of 
 escaping, it being a city that had a strong wall, 
 and a great multitude of inhabitants. But 
 Placidus, relying much upon his horsemen and 
 his former good success, followed them, and 
 slew all that he overtook, as far as Jordan ; and 
 when he had driven the whole multitude to the 
 river side, where they were stopped by the cur- 
 rent, (for it had been augmented lately by rains, 
 and was not fordable,) he put his soldiers in 
 array over against them ; so the necessity the 
 others were in provoked them to hazard a 
 battle, because there was no place whither they 
 could flee. They then extended themselves a 
 very great way along the banks of the river, and 
 sustained the darts that were thrown at them as 
 well as the attacks of the horsemen, who beat 
 many of them, and pushed them into the cur- 
 rent. At which fight, hand to hand, fifteen 
 thousand of them were slain, while the number 
 of those that were unwillingly forced to leap 
 into Jordan was prodigious. There were be- 
 sides, two thousand and two hundred taken 
 prisoners. A mighty prey was taken also, 
 consisting of ase*s, and sheep, and camels, and 
 oxen. 
 
 6. Now this destruction that fell upon the 
 Jews, as it was not inferior to any of the rest in 
 itself, so did it still appear greater than it really 
 was ; and this, because not enly the whole of 
 the country through which they had fled was 
 filled with slaughter, and Jordan could not be 
 passed over, by reason of the dead bodies that 
 were in it, but because the lake Asphaltitis was 
 also full of dead bodies, that were carried down 
 into it by the river. And now Placidus, after 
 this good success that he had, fell violently 
 upon the neighbouring smaller cities and vil- 
 lages ; when he took Abila, and Julias, and 
 Bezemoth, and all those that lay as far as the 
 lake Asphaltitis, and put such of the deserters 
 into each of them as he thought proper. He 
 then put his soldiers on board the ships, and 
 slew such as had fled to the lake, insomuch that 
 all Perea had either surrendered themselves, or 
 were taken by the Romans, as far as Macherus. 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 HOW VESPASIAN, UPON HEARING OF SOME COMMO- 
 TIONS IN GALL,* MADE HASTE TO FINISH THB 
 
 * Or. Oalatia, and so everywhere.
 
 CHAP, vm.] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 JEWISH WAK ; A DESCRIPTION OF JERICHO, AMD 
 OP THE GREAT PLAIN; WITH AS ACCOUNT, BE- 
 SIDES, OP THE T.AKB ASPHALTITIS. 
 
 1. IN the meantime, an account came that 
 there were commotions ia Gall, and that Vin- 
 dex, together with the men of power ih. that 
 country, had revolted from Nero; which affair 
 is more accurately described elsewhere. This 
 report thus related to Vespasian, excited him to 
 go on briskly with the war; for he foresaw 
 already the civil wars which were coming upon 
 them, nay, that the very government was in 
 danger ; and he thought, if he could first reduce 
 the eastern parts of the empire to peace, he 
 should make the fears for Italy the lighter; 
 while therefore the winter was his hindrance 
 [frofti going into the field,] he put garrisons into 
 the villages and smaller cities for their security; 
 he put decurions also into the villages, and cen- 
 turions into the cities; he besides this rebuilt 
 many of the cities that had been laid waste ; but 
 at the beginning of the spring he took the great- 
 est part of his army, and led it from Cesarea to 
 Antipatris, where he spent two days hi settling 
 the affairs of that city, and then, on the third 
 day, he marched on, laying waste and burning 
 all the neighbouring villages. And when he had 
 laid waste all the places about the toparchy of 
 Thamnas, he passed on to Lydda and Jamnia; 
 and when both those cities had come over to 
 him, he placed a great many of those that had 
 come over to him [from other places] as inhabit- 
 ants therein, and then came to Emmaus, where 
 he seized upon the passages which led thence to 
 their metropolis, and fortified his camp, and 
 leaving the fifth legion therein, he came to the 
 toparchy of Bethletephon, He then destroyed 
 that place, and the neighbouring places, by fire, 
 and fortified, at proper places, the strongholds 
 all about Idumea ; and when he had seized upon 
 two villages, which were in the very midst of 
 Idumea, Betaris, and Caphartobas, he slew above 
 ten thousand of the people, and carried into cap- 
 tivity above a thousand, and drove away the rest 
 of the multitude, and placed no small part of 
 his own forces in them, who overran and laid 
 waste the whole mountainous country ; while he, 
 with the rest of his forces, returned to Emmaus, 
 whence he came down through the country of 
 Samaria, and hard by the city, by others called 
 Neapolis (or Sichem) but by the people of that 
 country Mabortha, to Corea, where he pitched 
 his camp, on the second day of the month Daesius 
 [Sivan ;J and on the day following he came to 
 Jericho ; on which day Trajan, one of his com- 
 manders, joined hioi with the forces he brought 
 out of Perea, all the places beyond Jordan being 
 subdued already. 
 
 2. Hereupon a great multitude prevented their 
 approach, and came out of Jericho, and fled to 
 those mountainous parts that lay over against 
 Jerusalem, while that part which was left be- 
 hind was in a great measure destroyed ; they 
 also found the city desolate. It is situated hi a 
 plain ; but a naked and barren mountain, of a 
 great length, hangs over it, which extends itself 
 to the land about Scythopolia northward, but as 
 far as the country of Sodom, and the utmost 
 limits of the lake Asphaltitis southward. This 
 mountain is all of it very uneven and uninha- 
 bited, by reason of its barrenness : there is an 
 opposite mountain that is situated over-against 
 it, on the other side of Jordan ; this last begins 
 at Julias and the northern quarters, and extends 
 itself southward as far as Somorrhon, which is 
 the bounds of Petra, in Arabia. In this ridge 
 of mountains there is one called the Iron Moun- 
 
 tain, that runs in length as far as Moab. Now 
 the region that lies in the middle between these 
 ridges of mountains, is called the Great Plain; 
 it reaches from the village Ginnabris, as far as 
 the lake Asphaltitis ; its length is two hundred 
 and thirty furlongs, and its breadth a hundred 
 and twenty, and it is divided in the midst by 
 Jordan. It hath two lakes in it; that of As- 
 phaltitis, ard that of Tiberias, whose natures 
 are opposite to each other ; for the former is salt 
 and unfruitful; but that of Tiberias is sweet and 
 fruitful. This plain is much burnt up iu sum- 
 mer-time, and, by reason of the extraordinary 
 heat, contains a very unwholesome air ; it is all 
 destitute of water excepting the river Jordan, 
 which water of Jordan is the occasion why those 
 plantations of palm-trees that are near its banks, 
 are more flourishing, and much more fruitful, 
 as those that are remote from it not so flourish- 
 ing and fruitful. 
 
 3. Notwithstanding which, there is a fountain 
 by Jericho, that runs plentifully, and is very fit 
 for watering the ground : it arises near the old 
 city, which Joshua, the son of Nun, the general 
 of the Hebrews, took the first of all the cities of 
 the land of Canaan, by right of war. The report 
 is, that this fountain, at the beginning, caused 
 not only the blasting of the earth and the trees, 
 but of the children born of women ; and that it 
 was entirely of a sickly and corruptive nature to 
 all things whatsoever, but that it was made 
 gentle, and very wholesome and fruitful, by the 
 prophet Elisha. This prophet was familiar with 
 Elijah, and was hi* successor, who wheu he onct 
 was the guest of the people of Jericho, tvnd the 
 men of ti>e vjia.ce had treated him very kindly, 
 he both made them amends as well as the 
 country, by a lasting favour ; for he -went out of 
 the city to this fountain, and threw into the 
 current an earthen vessel full of salt ; after 
 which he stretched out his righteous hand unto 
 heaven, and, pouring out a mild drink-offering, 
 he made this supplication, That the current 
 might be mollified, and that the veins of fresh 
 water might be opened : that God also would 
 bring into the place a more temperate and fertile 
 air for the current, and would bestow upon the 
 people of that country plenty of the fruits of the 
 earth, and a succession of children ; and that 
 this prolific water might never fail them, while 
 they continued to be righteous. To these 
 prayers Elisha joined proper operations of his 
 hands, after a skilful manner, and changed the 
 fountain ; and that water, which had been the 
 occasion of barrenness and famine before from 
 that time did supply a numerous posterity and 
 afforded great abundance to the country. Ac- 
 cordingly, the power of it is so great in watering 
 the ground, that if it do but once touch a country 
 it affords a sweeter nourishment than other 
 waters do, when they lie so long upon them, till 
 they are satiated with them. For which reason, 
 the advantage gained from other waters, when 
 they flow in great plenty, is but small, while 
 that of this water is great when it even flows in 
 little quantities. Accordingly it waters a larger 
 space of ground than any other waters do, and 
 passes along a plain of seventy furlongs long, and 
 twenty broad ; wherein it affords nourishment 
 to those most excellent gardens that are thick 
 set with trees. There are in it many sorU of 
 palm-trees that are watered by it, different from 
 each other in taste and name ; the better sort of 
 them, when they are pressed, yield an excellent 
 kind of hone;-, not much inferior in sweetness to 
 other honey. This country withal produce* 
 honey from bees : it also bears that balsam 
 which is the most precious of all the fruits in
 
 540 
 
 TPARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK iv. 
 
 that place, cypress-trees also, and those that 
 bear myrobalanum ; so that he who should pro- 
 nounce this place to be divine would not be mis- 
 taken, wherein is such plenty of trees produced 
 as are very rure, and of the most excellent sort. 
 And indeed, if we speak of those other fruits, it 
 will not be easy to light on any climate in the 
 habitable earth that can well be compared to it, 
 what is here sown comes up in such clusters : 
 the cause of which seems to me to be the 
 warmth of the air and the fertility of the waters ; 
 the warmth calling forth the sprouts, and mak- 
 ing them spread, and the moisture making every 
 one of them take root firmly, and supplying that 
 virtue which it stands in need of in summer time. 
 Now, this country is then so sadly burnt up, 
 that nobody cares to come at it ; and if the 
 water be drawn up before sun-rising, and after 
 that exposed to the air, it becomes exceeding 
 cold, and becomes of a nature quite contrary to 
 the ambient air :' as in winter again it becomes 
 warm ; and if you go into it, it appears very 
 gentle. The ambient air is here also of so good 
 a temperature, that the people of the country 
 are clothed in linen only, even when snow covers 
 the rest of Judea. This place is one hundred 
 and fifty furlongs from Jerusalem, and sixty 
 from Jordan. The country, as far as Jerusalem, 
 is desert and stony ; but that as far as Jordan 
 and the lake Asphaltitis lies lower indeed, 
 though it be equally desert and barren. But so 
 much shall suffice to have been said about 
 Jericho, and of the great happiness of its situa- 
 tion. 
 
 4. The nature of the lake Asphaltitis is also 
 worth describing. It is, as I have said already, 
 bitter and unfruitful. It is so light [or thick] 
 that it bears up the heaviest things that are 
 thrown into it; nor is it easy for any one to 
 make things sink therein to the bottom, if he 
 had a mind so to do. Accordingly when Ves- 
 pasian went to see it, he commanded that some 
 who could not swim, should have their hands 
 tied behind them, and be thrown into the deep, 
 when it so happened that they all swam as if a 
 wind had forced them upwards. Moreover, the 
 change of the colour of this lake is wonderful, 
 for it changes its appearance thrice every day ; 
 and as the rays of the sun fall differently upon 
 it, the light is variously reflected. However, it 
 casts up black clods of bitumen in many parts 
 of it ; these swim at the top of the water, and 
 resemble both in shape and bigness headless 
 bulls: and when the labourers that belong to 
 the lake come to it, and catch hold of it as it 
 hangs together, they draw it into their ships ; 
 but when the ship is full, it is not easy to cut off 
 the rest, for it is so tenacious as to make the 
 hip hang upon its clods till they set it loose 
 with the menstrual blood of women, and with 
 urine, to which alone it yields. This bitumen 
 in not only useful for the caulking of ships, but 
 for the cure of men's bodies: accordingly it is 
 mixed in a great many medicines. The length 
 of this lake is five hundred and eighty furlongs, 
 where it is extended as far as Zoar, in Arabia ; 
 and its breadth is a hundred and fifty. The 
 country of Sodom borders upon it. It was of 
 old a most happy land, both for the fruits it 
 bore and the riches of its cities, although it be 
 now all burnt up. It is related how for the im- 
 piety of its inhabitants, it was burnt by light- 
 ning ; in consequence of which there are still 
 the remainders of that divine fire ; and the 
 traces [or shadows] of the five cities are still to 
 be seen, as well as the ashes growing in their 
 fruits, which fruits have a colour as if they 
 were fit to be eaten ; but if you pluck them with 
 
 your hands, they dissolve into smoke and ashes. 
 And thus what is related of this land of Sodom 
 hath these marks of credibility which our very 
 sight affords us. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THAT VESPASIAN, AFTER HE HAD TAKEN OADARA, 
 MADE PREPARATION FOR THE SIEGE OF JE- 
 RUSALEM ; BUT THAT, UPON HIS HEARING OP 
 THE DEATH OF NERO, HE CHANGED HIS IN- 
 TENTIONS : AS ALSO, CONCERNING SIMON OF 
 GERASA. 
 
 1. AND now Vespahian had fortified all the 
 places round about Jerusalem, and erected cita- 
 dels at Jericho and Adida, and plard garrisons 
 in them both, partly out of his own Romans, 
 and partly out of the body of his auxiliaries. 
 He also sent Lucius Annius to Gerasa, and de- 
 livered to him a body of horsemen, and a con- 
 siderable number of footmen. So when he had 
 taken the city, which he did at the first onset, 
 he slew a thousand of those young men who had 
 not prevented him by flying away ; but he took 
 their families captive, and permitted his soldiers 
 to plunder them of their effects ; after which he 
 set fire to their houses, and went away to the 
 adjoining villages, while the men of power fled 
 away, and the weaker part were destroyed, and 
 what was remaining was all burnt down. And 
 now the war having gone through all the moun- 
 tainous country, and all the plain country also, 
 those that were at Jerusalem were deprived of 
 the liberty of going out of the city; for as to 
 stich as had a mind to desert, they were watched 
 by the zealots ; and as to such as were not yet 
 on the side of the Romans, their army kept them 
 in, by encompassing the city round about on all 
 sides. 
 
 2. Now as Vespasian was returned to Cesarea, 
 and was getting ready with all his army to march 
 directly to Jerusalem, he was informed that 
 Nero was dead, after he had reigned thirteen 
 years and eight days. But as to any narration 
 after what manner he abused his power in the 
 government, and committed the management of 
 affairs to those vile wretches, Nymphidius and 
 Tigellinus, his unworthy freed-men ; and how he 
 had a plot laid against him by them, and was de- 
 serted by all his guards, and ran away with four 
 of his most trusty freed-men, and slew himself 
 in the suburbs of Rome ; and how those that 
 occasioned his death were, in no long time, 
 brought themselves to punishment ; how also 
 the war in Gall ended; and how Galba was 
 made emperor,* and returned out of Spain to 
 Rome; and how he was accused by the sol- 
 diers as a pusillanimous person, and slain by 
 treachery in the middle of the market-place at 
 Rome, and Otho was made emperor; with his 
 expedition against the commanders of Vitellius, 
 and his destruction thereupon ; and besides what 
 troubles there were under Vitellius, and the 
 fight that was about the Capitol ; as also how 
 Antonius Primus and Mucianus slew Vitellius, 
 and his German legions, and thereby put an end 
 to that civil war, I have omitted to give an 
 exact account of them, because they are well 
 known by all, and they are described by a great 
 number of Greek and Roman authors ; yet for 
 the sake of the connection of matters, and that 
 
 * Of these Roman affairs and tumults under Galba, 
 Otho, and Vitellius, see Tacitus, Suetonius, and Dio. 
 However, we may observe that Josephus writei the 
 name of the second of them not Otto, but Otho.
 
 CHAP. IX. J 
 
 WAKS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 my history may not be incoherent, I have just 
 touched upon everything briefly. Wherefore 
 Vespasian put off at first his expedition against 
 Jerusalem, and stood waiting whither the empire 
 would be transferred after the death of Nero. 
 Moreover, when he heard that Galba was made 
 emperor, he attempted nothing till he also 
 should send him some directions about the war : 
 however, he sent his son Titus to him, to salute 
 him, and to receive his commands about the 
 Jews. "Vpon the very same errand did king 
 Agrippa sail along with Titus to Galba ; but as 
 they were sailing in their long ships by the 
 coasts of Achaia, for it was winter time, they 
 heard that Galba was slain, before they could 
 get to him, after he had reigned seven months 
 and as many days. After whom Otho took the 
 government, and undertook the management of 
 public affairs. So Agrippa resolved to go on to 
 Rome without any terror on account of the 
 change in the government ; but Titus, by a di- 
 vine impulse, sailed back from Greece to Syria, 
 and came in great haste to Cesarea, to his father. 
 And now they were both in suspense about the 
 public affairs, the Roman empire being then in 
 a fluctuating condition, and did not go on with 
 their expedition against the Jews, but thought 
 that to make any attack upon foreigners was 
 now unseasonable, on account of the solicitude 
 they were in for their own country. 
 
 3. And now there arose another war at Jerusa- 
 lem. There was a son of Giora, one Simon, by 
 birth of Gerasa, a young man, not so cunning in- 
 deed as John [of Gischala,] who had already 
 seized upon the city, but superior in strength of 
 body and courage ; on which account, when he 
 had been driven away from that Acrabattene 
 toparchy, which he once had, by Ananus the 
 high priest, he came to those robbers who had 
 eized upon Masada. At first they suspected 
 him, and only permitted him to come with the 
 women he brought with him into the lower part 
 of the fortress, while they dwelt in the upper 
 part of it themselves. However, his manner so 
 well agreed with theirs, and he seemed so trusty 
 a man, that he went out with them, and ravaged 
 and destroyed the country with them about 
 Masada ; yet when he persuaded them to under- 
 take greater things, he could not prevail with 
 them so to do ; for as they were accustomed to 
 dwell in that citadel, they were afraid of going 
 far from that which was their hiding-place ; but 
 he affecting to tyrannise, and being fond of great- 
 ness, when he had heard of the death of Ananus, 
 left them, and went into the mountainous part 
 of the country. So he proclaimed liberty to 
 those in slaveiy, and a reward to those already 
 free, and got together a set of wicked men from 
 all quarters. 
 
 4. And as he had now a strong body of men 
 about him, he over-ran the villages that lay in 
 the mountainous country, and when there were 
 still more and more that came to him, he ven- 
 tured to go down to the lower parts of the 
 country, and since he was now become formid- 
 able to the cities, many of the men of power 
 were corrupted by him ; so that his army was 
 no longer composed of slaves and robbers, but a 
 great many of the populace were obedient to him 
 as tc their king. He then over -ran the Acrabat- 
 tene toparchy, and the places that reached as far 
 as the Great Idumea ; for he built a wall at a 
 certain village called Nain, and made use of that 
 as a fortress for his own party's security ; and at 
 the valley called Paran, he enlarged many of the 
 oaves and many others he found ready for his 
 purpose ; these he made use of as repositories 
 for his treasure*, and receptacles for hi* prey, 
 
 and therein he laid up the fruits that he had 
 got by rapine ; and many of his partizans had 
 their dwelling in them ; and he made no secret 
 of it that he was ezercising his men beforehand, 
 and making preparation for the assault of Jeru- 
 salem. 
 
 5. Whereupon the zealots, out of the dread 
 they were in of his attacking them, and being 
 willing to prevent one tkat was growing up to 
 oppose them, went out against him with their 
 weapons. Simon met them, and joining battle 
 with them, slew a considerable number of them, 
 and drove the rest before him into tne city : but 
 durst not trust so much upon hit forces as to 
 make an assault upon the walls ; but he resolved 
 first to subdue Idumea, and as he had now 
 twenty thousand armed men, he marched to the 
 borders of their country. Hereupon the rulers 
 of the Idumeans got together on the sudden the 
 most warlike part of their people, about twenty- 
 five thousand in number, and permitted the 
 rest to be guard to their own country, by reason 
 of the incursions that were made by the Sicarii 
 that were at Masada. Thus they received 
 Simon at their borders, where they fought him, 
 and continued the battle all that day ; and the 
 dispute lay whether they had conquered him or 
 been conquered by him. So he went back to 
 Nain, as did the Idumeans return home. Not 
 was it long ere Simon came violently again upon 
 their country ; when he pitched his camp at a 
 certain village called Thecoe, and sent Eleazar, 
 one of his companions, to those that kept garri- 
 son at Herodium, and in order to persuade them 
 to surrender that fortress to him. The garrison 
 received this man readily, while they knew no- 
 thing of what he came about ; but as soon as he 
 talked of the surrender of the place, they fell 
 upon him with their drawn swords, till he found 
 he had no place for flight, when he threw him- 
 self down from the wall into the valley be- 
 neath ; so he died immediately : but the Idu- 
 means, who were already much afraid of Simon's 
 power, thought fit to take a view of the enemy's 
 army before they hazarded a battle with him. 
 
 6. Now, there was one of their commanders, 
 named Jacob, who offered to serve them readily 
 upon that occasion, but had it hi his mind to 
 betray them. He went therefore from the vil- 
 lage Alums, wherein the army of the Idume- 
 ans were gotten together, and came to Simon, 
 and at the very first lie agreed to betray his 
 country to him, and took assurances upon oath 
 from him that he should always have him in 
 esteem, and then promised him that he would 
 assist him in subduing all Idumea under him ; 
 upon which account he was feasted after an ob- 
 liging manner by Simon, and elevated by his 
 mighty promises ; and when he was returned to 
 his own men, he at first belied the army of Si- 
 mon, and said it was manifold more in number 
 than it was ; after which, he dexterously per- 
 suaded the commanders, and by degrees the 
 whole multitude, to receive Simon, and to sur- 
 render the whole government up to him without 
 fighting ; and as he was doing this, he invited 
 Simon by his messengers, and promised him to 
 disperse the Idumeans, which he performed 
 also ; for as soon as their army was nigh them, 
 he first of all got upon his horse, and tied, toge- 
 ther with those whom he had corrupted : here- 
 upon a terror fell upon the whole multitude ; 
 and before it came to a close fight, they broke 
 their ranks, and every one retired to hi* own 
 home. , . . 
 
 7. Thus did Simon unexpectedly march into 
 Idumea, without bloodshed, and made a sudden 
 attack upon the city Hebron, and took it;
 
 542 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK IT, 
 
 wherein he got possession of a great deal of prey, 
 and plundered it of a vast quantity of fruit. 
 Now, the people of the country say, that it is 
 an ancieuter city, not only than any in that 
 country, but than Memphis in Egypt, and ac- 
 cordingly its age is reckoned at two thousand and 
 three hundred years. They also relate that it 
 had been the habitation of Abraham, the pro- 
 genitor of the Jews, after he had removed out of 
 Mesopotamia ; and they say that his posterity 
 descended from thence into Egypt, whose monu- 
 ments are to this very time shewn in that 
 small city ; the fabric of which monuments are 
 of the most excellent marble, and wrought after 
 the most elegant manner. There is also there 
 shewn, at the distance of six furlongs from the 
 city, a very large turpentine-tree ; and the re- 
 port goes, that this tree has continued ever 
 since the creation of the world. Thence did 
 Simon make his progress over all Idumea, and 
 did not only ravage the cities and villages, but 
 laid waste the whole country ; for, besides those 
 that were completely armed, he had forty thou- 
 sand men that followed him, insomuch that he 
 had not provisions enough to suffice such a mul- 
 titude. Now, besides this want of provisions 
 that he was in, he was of a barbarous dispo- 
 sition, and bore great anger at this nation, by 
 which means it came to pass that Idumea was 
 greatly depopulated ; and as one may see all the 
 woods behind despoiled of their leaves by locusts, 
 after they have been there, so was there nothing 
 left behind Simon's army but a desert. Some 
 places they burnt down, some they utterly de- 
 molished, and whatever grew in the country, 
 they either trod it down or fed upon it, and 
 by their marches they made the ground that 
 was cultivated, harder and more untractable 
 than that which was barren. In short, there 
 was no sign remaining of those places that 
 had been laid waste, that ever they had had a 
 being. 
 
 8. This success of Simon excited the zealots 
 afresh ; and though they were afraid to fight 
 him openly in a fair battle, yet did they lay am- 
 bushes in the passes, and seized upoii his wife, 
 with a considerable number of her attendants ; 
 whereupon they came back to the city rejoicing, 
 as if they had taken Simon himself captive, and 
 were in present expectation that he would lay 
 down his arms, and make supplication to them 
 for his wife ; but instead of indulging any mer- 
 ciful affection, he grew very angry at them for 
 seizing his beloved wife ; so he came to the wall 
 of Jerusalam, and, like wild beasts when they 
 are wounded, and cannot overtake those that 
 wounded them, he vented his spleen upon all 
 persons that he met with. Accordingly, he 
 caught all those that were come out of the city- 
 gates, either to gather herbs or sticks, who were 
 unarmed and in years ; he then tormented them 
 and destroyed them, out of the immense rage 
 he was in, and was almost ready to taste the 
 very flesh of their dead bodies. He also cut off 
 the hands of a great many, and sent them into 
 the city to astonish his enemies, and in order to 
 make the people fall into a sedition, and desert 
 those that had been the authors of his wife's 
 seizure. He also enjoined them to tell the 
 people that Simon swore by the God of the uni- 
 verse, who sees all things, tb*t unless they will 
 restore him his wife, he will break down their 
 wall, and inflict the like punishment upon all 
 the citizens, without sparing any age, and with- 
 out making any distinction between the guilty 
 and the innocent. Those threatenings so greatly 
 affrighted, not the people only, but the zealots 
 themselves also, that they sent his wife back to 
 
 him, when he became a little milder, and left 
 off his perpetual blood-shedding. 
 
 9. But now sedition and civil war prevailed, 
 not only over Judea, but in Italy also ; for now 
 Galba was slain in the midst of the Roman 
 market-place ; then was Otho made emperor, 
 and fought against Vitellius, who set up for 
 emperor also ; for the legions in Germany had 
 chosen him ; but when he gave battle to Valens 
 and Cecinna, who were Vitellius's generals, at 
 Betriacum, in Gall, Otho gained the advantage 
 on the first day ; but on the second day Vitel- 
 lius's soldiers had the victory ; and after much 
 slaughter, Otho slew himself, when he had 
 heard of this defeat at Brixia, and after he had 
 managed the public affairs three months and two 
 days. Otho's army also came over to Vitellius's 
 generals, and he came himself down to Rome 
 with his arrny ; but in the meantime Vespasian 
 removed from Cesarea, on the fifth day of the 
 month Daesius [Si van,] and marched against 
 those places of Judea which were not yet over- 
 thrown. So he went up to the mountainous 
 country, and took those two toparchies that 
 were called the Gophnitick and Acrabattene 
 toparchies. After which he took Bethel and 
 Ephraim, two small cities ; and when he had 
 put garrisons into them, he rode as far as Jeru- 
 salem, in which march he took many prisoners, 
 and many captives. But Cerealis, one of his 
 commanders, took a body of horsemen and foot- 
 men, and laid waste that part of Idumea which 
 was called the Upper Idumea, and attacked 
 Caphethra, which pretended to be a small city, 
 and took it at the first onset, and burnt it down. 
 He also attacked Capharabim, and laid siege to 
 it, for it had a very strong wall ; and when he 
 expected to spend a very long time in that siege, 
 those that were within opened their gates on the 
 sudden, and came to beg pardon, and surrendered 
 themselves up to him. When Cerealis had con- 
 quered them he went to Hebron, another vwy 
 ancient city. I have told you already, that this 
 city is situated in a mountainous country not far 
 off Jerusalem ; and when he had broken into 
 the city by force, what multitude and young 
 men were left therein he slew, and burnt down 
 the city ; so that now all the places were taken, 
 excepting Herodium, and Masada, and Macherus, 
 which were in the possession of the robbers, so 
 Jerusalem was what the Romans at present 
 aimed at. 
 
 10. And now as soon as Simon had set his 
 wife free, and recovered her from the zealots, he 
 returned back to the remainder of Idumea, and 
 driving the nation all before him from all quar- 
 ters, he compelled a great number of them to 
 retire to Jerusalem ; he followed them himself 
 also to the city, and encompassed the wall all 
 round again ; and when he lighted upon any 
 labourers that were coming thither out of the 
 country, he slew them. Now this Simon, who 
 was without the wall, was a greater terror to the 
 people than the Romans themselves, as were the 
 zealots who were within it more heavy upon 
 them than both of the other ; and during this 
 time did the mischievous contrivances and 
 courage [of John] corrupt the body of the Gali- 
 leans ; for these Galileans had advanced this 
 John, and made him very potent, who made 
 them a suitable requital from the authority he 
 had obtained by their means ; for he permitted 
 them to do all things that any of them desired 
 to do, while their inclination to plunder was in- 
 satiable, as was their zeal in searching the houses 
 of the rich ; and for the murdering of the men, 
 and abusing of the women, it was sport to them. 
 They also devoured what spoils i\hey had taken
 
 CHAP. 3L] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 543 
 
 together with their blood, and indulged them- 
 selves in feminine wantonness, without any dis- 
 turbance, till they were satiated therewith : 
 while they decked their hair, and put on 
 women's garments, and were besmeared over 
 with ointments ; and that they might appear 
 very comely, they had paints under their eyes, 
 and imitated, not only the ornaments, but also 
 the lusts of women, and were guilty of such in- 
 tolerable uncleanness, that they invented un- 
 lawful pleasures of that sort. And thus did 
 they roll themselves up and down the city, as in 
 a brothel-house, and defiled it entirely with their 
 impure actions : nay, while their faces looked 
 like the faces of women, they killed with their 
 right hands ; and when their gait was effeminate, 
 they presently attacked men, and became war- 
 riors, and drew their swords from under their 
 finely-dyed cloaks, and ran everybody through 
 whom they alighted upon. However, Simon 
 waited for such as ran away from John, and 
 was the more bloody of the two : and he who 
 had escaped the tyrant within the wall, was de- 
 stroyed by the other that lay before the gates. 
 So that all attempts of flying and deserting 
 to the Romans were cut off, if any had a mind 
 so to do. 
 
 11. Yet did the army that was under John 
 raise a sedition against him ; and all the Idu- 
 means separated themselves from the tyrant, and 
 attempted to destroy him, and this out of their 
 envy at his power, and hatred of his cruelty ; so 
 
 ' they got together, and slew many of the zealots, 
 and drove the rest before them into that royal 
 palace that was built by Grapte, who was a rela- 
 tion of Izates, the king of Adiabene ; the Idu- 
 means fell in with them, and drove the zealots 
 out thence into the temple, and betook them- 
 selves to plunder John's effects ; for both he 
 himself was in that palace, and therein had he 
 laid up the spoils he had acquired by his tyranny. 
 In the meantime the multitude of those zealots 
 that were dispersed over the city ran together to 
 the temple unto those that had fled thither, and 
 John prepared to bring them down against the 
 people and the Idumeans, who were not so much 
 afraid of being attacked by them, (because they 
 were themselves better soldiers than they,) as at 
 their madness, lest they should privately sally 
 out of the temple and get among them, and not 
 only destroy them, but set the city on fire also. 
 So they assembled themselves together, and the 
 high priests with them, and took counsel after 
 what manner they should avoid their assault. 
 Now it was God who turned their opinions to 
 the worst advice, and thence they devised such 
 a remedy to get themselves free, as was worse 
 than the disease itself. Accordingly, in order 
 to overthrow John, they determined to admit 
 Simon, and earnestly to desire the introduction 
 of a second tyrant into the city ; which resolu- 
 tion they brought to perfection, and sent Mat- 
 thias, the high priest, to beseech this Simon to 
 come in to them, of whom they had so often 
 been afraid. Those also that had fled from the 
 zealots in Jerusalem joined in this request to 
 him, out of the desire they had of preserving 
 their houses and their effects. Accordingly he, 
 in an arrogant manner, granted them his lordly 
 
 1 protection, and came into the city, in order to 
 deliver it from the zealots. The people also 
 made joyful acclamations to him, as their saviour 
 and preserver ; but when he was come in, with 
 his army, he took care to secure his own autho- 
 rity, and looked upon those that had invited 
 him to be no less his enemies than those against 
 whom the invitation was intended. 
 1 2. And thus did Simon get possession of Jeru- 
 
 salem, in the third year of the war, in the 
 month Xanthicus [Nisan ;] whereupon John, 
 with his multitude of zealots, as being both pro- 
 hibited from coming out of the temple, and hav- 
 ing lost their power in the city (for Simon and 
 his party had plundered them of what they had) 
 were in despair of deliverance. Simon also made 
 an assault upon the temple, with the assistance 
 of the people, while the others stood upon the 
 cloisters and the battlements, and defended 
 themselves from their assaults. However, a 
 considerable number of Simon's party fell, and 
 many were carried off wounded ; for the zealots 
 threw their darts easily from a superior place, 
 and seldom failed of hitting their euemies ; but 
 having the advantage of situation, and having 
 withal erected four very large towers aforehand, 
 that their darts might come from higher places, 
 one at the north-east corner of the court, one 
 above the Xystus, the third at another corner 
 over against the lower city, and the last was 
 erected above the top of the Pastophoria, where 
 one of the priests stood of course, and gave a sig- 
 nal beforehand, with a trumpet, * at the begin- 
 ning of every seventh day, in the evening twi- 
 light, as also at the evening when the day was 
 finished, as giving notice to the people when they 
 were to leave off work, and when they were to 
 go to work again. These men also set their en- 
 gines to cast darts and stones withal, upon those 
 towers, with their archers and slingers. And 
 now Simon made his assault upon the temple 
 more faintly, by reason that the greatest part of 
 his men grew weary of that work ; yet did he not 
 leave off his opposition, because his army was 
 superior to the others, although the darts which 
 were thrown by the engines were carried a great 
 way, and slew many of those that fought for 
 
 him, 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 HOW THB SOLDIERS, BOTH IN JODEA AND EGYPT, 
 PROCLAIMED VESPASLiN EMPEROB ; AND HOW 
 VESPASIAN RELEASED JOSEPH US FBOH HIS 
 BONDS. 
 
 1. Now, about this time it was that heavy cala- 
 mities came about Rome on all sides ; for Vitel- 
 lius was come from Germany with his soldiery, 
 and drew along with him a great multitude of 
 other men besides. And when the spaces al- 
 lotted for soldiers could not contain them, he 
 made all Rome itself his camp, and filled all the 
 houses with armed men ; which men, when they 
 saw the riches of Rome with those eyes which 
 had never seen such riches before, and found 
 themselves shone round about on all sides with 
 silver and gold, they had much ado to contain 
 their covetous desires, and were ready to betake 
 themselves to plunder, and to the slaughter of 
 such as should stand in their way. And this 
 was the state of affairs in Italy at that time. 
 
 2. But when Vespasian had overthrown all the 
 places that were near to Jerusalem, he returned 
 to Cesarea, and heard of the troubles that were 
 at Rome, and that Vitellius was emperor. This 
 produced indignation in him, although he well 
 knew how to be governed, as well as to govern, 
 and could not with any satisfaction own him for 
 his lord who acted so madly, and seized upon the 
 government as if it were absolutely destitute _of 
 a governor. And as this sorrow of his was vio- 
 
 This beginning and ending the observation of the 
 Jewish Seventh Day, or Sabbath, with a priest's blowing 
 of a trumpet, is remarkable, and nowhere else men- 
 tioned, that I know of.
 
 M4 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK IT, 
 
 lent, he was not able to support the torments he 
 was under, nor to apply himself further in other 
 wars when his native country was laid waste ; 
 but then, as much as his passion excited him to 
 avenge bis country, so much was he restrained 
 by the consideration of his distance therefrom ; 
 because fortune might prevent him, and do a 
 world of mischief before he could himself sail 
 over the sea of Italy, especially as it was still the 
 winter season ; so he restrained his anger, how 
 vehement soever it was at this time. 
 
 3. But row his commanders and soldiers met 
 in several companies, and consulted openly about 
 changing the public affairs; and, out of their 
 indignation, cried out, how "at Rome there are 
 soldiers that live delicately, and when they have 
 not ventured so much as to hear the fame of war, 
 they ordain whom they please for our governors, 
 and in hopes of gain make them emperors ; while 
 you, \vho have gone through so many labours, and 
 are grown into years under your helmets, give 
 leave to others to use such a power, when yet 
 you have among yourselves one more worthy to 
 rule than any whom they have set up. Now, 
 what juster opportunity shall they ever have of 
 requiting their generals, if they do not make use 
 of this that is now before them ? while there is 
 so much juster reason for Vespasian's being em- 
 peror than for Vitellius ; as they are themselves 
 more deserving than those that made the other 
 emperors ; for that they have undergone as great 
 wars as have the troops that come from Ger- 
 many ; nor are they inferior in war to those that 
 have brought that tyrant to Rome, nor have they 
 undergone smaller labours than they ; for thai nei- 
 ther will the Roman senate, nor people, bear such 
 a lascivious emperor as Vitellius, if he be com- 
 pared with their chaste Vespasian ; nor will they 
 endure a most barbarous tyrant, instead of a good 
 governor, nor choose one that hath no child, to 
 preside over them, instead of him that is a father ; 
 because the advancement of men's own children 
 to dignities is certainly the greatest security 
 kings can have for themselves. Whether, there- 
 fore we estimate the capacity of governing from 
 the skill of a person in years, we ought to have 
 Vespasian, or whether from the strength of a 
 young man, we ought to have Titus ; for by this 
 means we shall have the advantage of both their 
 ages, for that they will afford strength to those 
 that shall be made emperors, they having already 
 three legions, besides other auxiliaries from the 
 neighbouring kings and will have further all the 
 armies in the east to support them, as also those 
 in Europe, so far as they are out of the distance 
 and dread of Vitellius, besides such auxiliaries 
 as they may have in Italy itself ; that is Vespas- 
 ian's brother, and his other son [Domitian ;] the 
 one of whom will bring in a great many of those 
 young men that are of dignity, while the other 
 is intrusted with the government of the city, 
 which office of his will be no small means of Ves- 
 pasian's obtaining the government. Upon the 
 whole the case may be such, that if we ourselves 
 make further delays, the senate may choose an 
 emperor, whom the soldiers, who are the saviours 
 of the empire, will have in contempt. 
 
 4. These were tho discourses the soldiers had 
 in their several companies ; after which they 
 got together in c, great body, and, encouraging 
 one ar.otlipr, they declared Vespasian emperor,* 
 and exhorted him to save the government which 
 was now in danger. Now Vespasian's concern 
 had been for a considerable time about the public, 
 
 * It is plain by the nature of the thing, as well as by 
 Josephus and Eutropius, that Vespasian was first of all 
 aluted emptror in Judea, and not till gome time after- 
 *rd in Egypt. 
 
 yet did not he intend to set up governor for him 
 self, though his actions shewed him to deserve it, 
 while he preferred that safety which is in a pri- 
 vate life before the dangers in a state of such 
 dignity ; but when he refused the empire, the 
 commanders insisted the nore earnestly upon 
 his acceptance; and the soldiers came about 
 him with their drawn swords in their hands, and 
 threatened to kill him, unless he would now 
 live according to his dignity. And when he had 
 shewn his reluctance a great while, and had en- 
 deavoured to thrust away this dominion from 
 him, he at length, being not able to persuade 
 them, yielded to their solicitations that would 
 salute him emperor. 
 
 5. So upon the exhortations of Mucianus and 
 the other commanders, that he would accept of 
 the empire, and upon that of the rest of the 
 army, who cried out that they were willing to 
 be led against all his opposers, he was in the 
 first place intent upon gaining the dominion over 
 Alexandria, as knowing that Egypt was of the 
 greatest consequence, in order to obtain the en- 
 tire government, because of its supplying com 
 [to Rome ;] which corn, if he could be master of, 
 he hoped to dethrone Vitellius, supposing he 
 should aim to keep the empire by force (for he 
 would not be able to support himself, if the mul- 
 titude at Rome should once be in want of food ;) 
 and because he was desirous to join the two 
 legions that were at Alexandria to the othei 
 legions that were with him. He also considered 
 with himself, that he should then have that 
 country for a defence to himself against the un- 
 certainty of fortune; for Egypt t is hard to be 
 entered by land, and hath no good havens by 
 sea. It hath on the west the dry deserts of 
 Libya ; and on the south Syene, that divides it 
 from Ethiopia, as well as the cataracts of the 
 Nile, that cannot be sailed over ; and on the 
 east the Red Sea, extending as far as Coptus ; 
 and it is fortified on the north by the land that 
 reaches to Syria, together with that called the 
 Egyptian Sea, having no haven in it for ships. 
 And thus is Egypt walled about on every side. 
 Its length between Pclusium and Syene is two 
 thousand furlongs, and the passage by sea from 
 Plinthine to Pelusium, is three thousand six 
 hundred furlongs. Its river Nile is navigable as 
 far as the city called Elephantine, the forenamed 
 cataracts hindering ships from going any farther. 
 The haven also of Alexandria is not entered by 
 the mariners without difficulty, even in times of 
 peace ; for the passage inward is narrow, and full 
 of rocks, that lie under the water, which oblige 
 manners to turn from a straight direction: its 
 left side is blocked up by works made by men's 
 hands on both sides ; on which right side lies 
 the island called Pharas, which is situated just 
 before the entrance, aud supports a very great 
 tower, that affords the sight of a fire to such a* 
 sail within three hundred furlongs of it, that 
 ships may cast anchor a great way off in the 
 night-time, by reason of the difficulty of sailing 
 nearer. Aoout this island are built very great 
 piers, the handiwork of men, against which 
 when the sea dashes itself, and its waves are 
 broken against those boundaries, the navigation 
 becomes very troublesome, and the entrance 
 through so narrow a passage is rendered very 
 dangerous : yet is the haven itself, when you are 
 got into it, a very safe one, and of thirty furlongs 
 in largeness ; into which is brought what the 
 country wants, in order to its happiness ; as also 
 
 t Here we have an authentic deicription of tho 
 bounds and circumstances of Egypt in the days ot 
 and Titus.
 
 CHAP. XI. 1 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 545 
 
 arhat abundance the country affords more than 
 it wants itself, is hence distributed into all the 
 habitable earth. 
 
 6. Justly therefore did Vespasian desire to ob- 
 tain that government, in order to corroborate his 
 attempts upon the whole of the empire : so he 
 immediately sent to Tiberius Alexander, who 
 was then governor of Egypt and of Alexandria, 
 and informed him what the army had put him 
 upon, and now he, being forced to accept of the 
 burden of the government, was desirous to have 
 him for his confederate and supporter. Now as 
 soon as ever Alexander had read this letter, he 
 readily obliged the legions and the multitude 
 to take the oath of fidelity to Vespasian, both of 
 whom willingly complied with him, as already 
 acquainted with the courage of the man, from 
 that his conduct in their neighbourhood. Ac- 
 cordingly Vespasian, looking upon himself as 
 already intrusted with the government, got all 
 things ready for his journey [to Rome.] Now 
 fame carried this news abroad more suddenly 
 than any one could have thought, that he was 
 emperor over the east, upon which every city 
 kept festivals, and celebrated sacrifices and obla- 
 tions for such good news; the legions also that 
 were in Mysia and Pannonia, who had been in 
 commotion a little before, on account of this in- 
 solent attempt of Vitellius, were very glad to 
 take the oath of fidelity to Vespasian, upon his 
 coming to the empire. Vespasian then removed 
 from Cesarea to Berytus, where many embasaages 
 came to him from Syria, and many from other 
 provinces, bringing with them from every city 
 crowns, and the congratulations of the people. 
 Mucianus came also, who was the president of 
 the province, and told him with what alacrity 
 the people [received the news of his advance- 
 ment,] and how the people of every city had 
 taken the oath of fidelity to him. 
 
 7. So Vespasian's good fortune succeeded to 
 his wishes everywhere, and the public affairs 
 were, for the greatest part, already in his hands; 
 upon which he considered that he had not ar- 
 rived at the government without Divine Provi- 
 dence, but that a righteous kind of fate had 
 brought the empire under his power ; for as he 
 called to mind the other signals, which had been 
 a great many everywhere, that foretold he should 
 obtain the government, so did he remember 
 what Josephus had said to him when he ventured 
 to foretell his coming to the empire while Nero 
 was alive ; so he was much concerned that this 
 man was still in bonds with him. He then called 
 for Mucianus, together with his other command- 
 ers and friends, and in the first place, he in- 
 formed them what a valiant man Josephus had 
 been, and what great hardships he had made 
 him undergo in the siege of Jotapata. After 
 that he related those predictions of his* which 
 he had then suspected as fictions, suggested out 
 of the fear he was in, but which had by time 
 been demonstrated to be divine. "It is a shame- 
 ful thing (said he) that this man who hath fore- 
 
 * As Daniel was preferred by Darius and Cyrus, on 
 account of his having foretold the destruction of the 
 Babylonian monarchy by their means, and the con- 
 sequent exaltation of the Medes and Persians, Dan. v. 
 vi. ; or lather, as Jeremiah was set at liberty and hon- 
 ourably treated by Nebuzaradan, at the command of 
 Nebuchadnezzar, on account of his having foretold the 
 destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, Jer. xl. 
 1-7 ; so was our Josephus set at liberty and honourably 
 treated, on account of his having foretold the advance- 
 ment of Vespasian and Titus to the Roman empire. 
 AH these are most eminent instances of the interpo- 
 sition of Divine Providence, and of the certainty of 
 divine predictions -a the great revolutions of the four 
 monarchies. 
 
 2 M 
 
 told my coming to the empire beforehand, and 
 ben the minister of a divine message to me, 
 should still be retained in the condition of a 
 captive or prisoner." So he called for Josephus, 
 and commanded that he should be set at liberty; 
 whereupon the commanders promised themselves 
 glorious things, from this requita' Vespasian 
 made to a perfect stranger. Titus wfcrt'then p re - 
 sent \rith his father, and said, "O father, it is 
 but just that the scandal [of a prisoner] should 
 be taken off Josephus, together with his iron 
 chain ; for if we do not barely loose his bonds, 
 but cut them to pieces, he will be like a man 
 that hath never been bound at all" For that is 
 the usual method as to such as have been bound 
 without cause. This advice was agreed to by 
 Vespasian also ; so there came a man in, and cut 
 the chain to pieces ; while Josephus received 
 this testimony of his integrity for a reward, and 
 was moreover esteemed a person of credit as to 
 futurities also. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THAT UPON THE CONQUEST AND SLAUGHTER OF 
 VITELLIUS, VESPASIAN HASTENED HIS JOURNEY 
 TO ROME ; BUT TITUS HIS SON RETURNED TO 
 JERUSALEM. 
 
 1. AND now, when Vespasian had given an- 
 swers to the embassages, and had disposed of the 
 places of power justly, t and according to every 
 one's deser f s, he came to Antioch, and consult- 
 ing which way he had best take, he preferred to 
 go to Rome rather than to march to Alexandria, 
 because he saw that Alexandria was sure to him 
 already, but that the affairs at Rome were put 
 into disorder by Vitellius ; so he sent Mucianus 
 to. Italy, and committed a considerable army 
 b<&h of horsemen and footmen to him ; yet was 
 Macianus afraid of going by sea, because it was 
 the middle of winter ; so he led his army on 
 foot through Cappadocia and Phrygia, 
 
 2. In the meantime Antonius Primus took the 
 third of the legions that were in Mysia, for he 
 was president of that province, and made haste, 
 in order to fight Vitellius ; whereupon Vitel- 
 lius sent away Cecinna, with a great army, hav- 
 ing a mighty confidence in him, because of his 
 having beaten Otho. This Cecinna marched out 
 of Rome in great haste, and found Antonim 
 about Cremona in Gall, which city is in the bor- 
 ders of Italy ; but when he saw there that the 
 enemy were numerous and in good order, he 
 durst not fight them ; and as he thought a re- 
 treat dangerous, so he began to think of betray- 
 ing his army to Antonius. Accordingly, he as- 
 sembled the centurions and tribunes that wera 
 under his command, and persuaded them to go 
 ovet to Antonius, and this by diminishing the 
 reputation of Vitellius, and by exaggerating the 
 power of Vespasian. He also told them, that 
 with the one there was no more than the bare 
 name of dominion ; but with the other was the 
 power of it ; and that it was better for them to 
 prevent necessity, and gain favour^ and, while 
 they were likely to be overcome in battle, to 
 avoid the danger beforehand, and go over to An- 
 tonius willingly; that Vespasian was able of 
 himself to subdue what had not yet submitted, 
 without their assistance, while Vitellius could 
 not preserve what he had already with it. 
 
 f This i well observed by Josephus, that Vespasian, 
 in order to secure his success, and establish his govern- 
 ment at first, distributed his offices and places upon the 
 foot of justice, and bestowed them on such as b*t da- 
 served them, and were best fit for them.
 
 54(i 
 
 WARS CF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK IV. 
 
 3. Ceeinna said this, and much more to the 
 tame pui-pose, and persuaded them to comply 
 with him ; and both he and his army deserted ; 
 but still the very same night the soldiers re- 
 
 ; pented of what they had done, and a fear seized 
 i on them, lest perhaps Vitellius who sent them 
 should get the better ; and drawing their swords 
 i they assaulted Cecinna, in order to kill him ; 
 i and the thing had been done by them, if the 
 | tribunes had not fallen upon their knees, and 
 ' besought them not to do it : so the soldiers did 
 not kill him, but put him in bonds, as a traitor, 
 and were about to send him to Vitellius. When 
 [Antonius] Primus heard of this, lie raised up 
 his men immediately, and made them put on 
 their armour, and led them against those that 
 had revolted ; hereupon they put themselves in 
 order of battle, and made resistance for a while, 
 but were soon beaten, and fled to Cremona ; then 
 did Primus take his horsemen, and cut off their 
 entrance into the city, and encompassed and 
 destroyed a great multitude of them before the 
 city, and fell into the city together with the 
 rest, and gave leave to his soldiers to plunder it. 
 And here it was that many strangers, who were 
 merchants, as well as many of the people of that 
 ; country, perished, and among them Vitellius'i 
 whole army, being thirty thousand and two hun- , 
 dred, while Antonius lost no more of those that 
 came with him from Mysia than four thousand 
 and five hundred ; he then loosed Cecinna, and 
 sent him to Vespasian, to tell him thegoodnews. 
 So he came, and was received by him ; and co- 
 vered the scandal of his treachery by the unex- 
 pected honours he received from Vespasian. 
 
 4. And now, upon the news that Antonius was 
 approaching, Sabiuus took courage at Rome, and 
 assembled those cohorts of -soldiers that kept 
 watch by night, and in the night-time (seized 
 npon the capitol ; and, as the day came on, many 
 men of character came over to him, with Domi- 
 tian, his brother's son, whose encouragement 
 was of very great weight for encompassing the 
 government. Now, Vitellius was not much con- 
 cerned at this Primus, but was very angry with 
 those that had revolted with Sabinus ; and 
 thirsting, out of his natural barbarity, after 
 noble blood, he sent out part of the army which 
 came along with him to fight against the capitol ; 
 and many bold actions were done on this side 
 and on the side of those that held the temple. 
 But at last, the soldiers that came from Ger- 
 many, being too numerous for the others, got 
 the hill in their possession, where Domitian, 
 any many other of the principal Romans, provi- 
 dentially escaped, while the rest of the multi- 
 tude were entirely cut to pieces, and Sabinus 
 himself was brought to Vitellius and then slain : 
 the soldiers also plundered the temple of its or- 
 naments, and set it on fire. But now within a 
 day's time came Antonius, with his army, and 
 was met by Vitellius and his army ; and having 
 had a battle in three several places, the lost 
 were all destroyed. Then did Vitellius come 
 out of his palace, in his cups, and satiated with 
 an extravagant and luxurious meal, as in the 
 last extremity, and being drawn along through- 
 
 the multitude, and abused with all sorts of tor- 
 ments, had his head cut off in the midst oi 
 Rome, having retained the government eight 
 mouths and five days ; and had he lived much 
 longer, I cannot but think the empire would not 
 have been sufficient for his lust. Of the others 
 tnat were slain, were numbered above fifty 
 thousand. This battle was fought on the third 
 day of the month Appelleus [Casleu ;] on the 
 next day Mucianus came into the city with his 
 army, and ordered Antonius and his men to 
 leave off killing ; for they were still searching 
 the houses, and killing many of Vitellius's sol- 
 diers and many of the populace, as supposing 
 them to be of his party, prevented by their rage 
 any accurate distinction between them and 
 others. He then produced Domitian, and re- 
 commended him to the multitude, until his fa- 
 ther should come himself : so the people being 
 now freed from their fears, made acclamations 
 of joy for Vespasian, as for their emperor, and 
 kept festival-days for his confirmation, and for 
 the destruction of Vitellius. 
 
 5. And now, as Vespasian was come to Alex- 
 andria, this good news came from Rome, and at 
 the same time came embassies from all his own 
 habitable earth, to congratulate him upon his 
 advancement ; and though this Alexandria wan 
 the greatest of all cities next to Rome, it proved 
 too narrow to contain the multitude that then 
 came to it. So upon this confirmation of Ves- 
 pasian's entire government, which was now 
 settled, and upon the unexpected deliverance of 
 the public affairs of the Romans from rum, Ves- 
 pasian turned his thoughts to what remained un- 
 subdued in Judea. However, he himself made 
 haste to go to Rome as the winter was now al- 
 most over, and soon set the affairs of Alexan- 
 dria in order, but sent his son Titus, with a se- 
 lect part of his army, to destroy Jerusalem. So 
 Titus marched on foot as far as Nicopolis, which 
 Is distant twenty furlongs from Alexandria ; 
 there he put his army on board some long ships, 
 and sailed upon the river along the Mendesian 
 Nomus, as far as the city Thmuis: there he got 
 out of the ships, and walked on foot, and 
 lodged all night at a small city called Tanis. 
 His second station was Heracleopolis, and his 
 third Pelusium ; he then refreshed his army at 
 that place for two days ; and on the third passed 
 over the mouths of the Nile at Pelusium ; he 
 then proceeded one station over the desert, and 
 pitched his camp at the temple of Casian Jupi- 
 ter,* and on the next day at Ostracine. This 
 station had no water ; but the people of the 
 country make use of water brought from other 
 places. After this he rested at Rhinocolura, 
 and from thence he went to Raphia, which was 
 his fourth station. This city is the beginning of 
 Syria. For his fifth station he pitched his camp 
 at Gaza ; after which he came to Ascalon, and 
 from thence to Janinia, and after that to Joppa, 
 and from Joppa to Cesarea, having taken a re- 
 solution to gather all his other forces together 
 at that place. 
 
 * There ar coins of this Casian Jupiter still ezUnt
 
 (HUP. 1. j 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 547 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 OONTAUJIUG THB INTERVAL 01 NEAB SIX MONTHS, 
 
 FROM THE COMING OF TITUS TO BESIEGE JERUSALEM TO THE GKEAT 
 EXTREMITY TO WHICH THE JEWS WERE REDUCED. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 CONCERNING THE SEDITIONS AT JERUSALEM, AND 
 WHAT TERRIBLE MISERIES AJTLICTED THE CITY 
 BY THEIR MEANS. 
 
 1. "WHEN therefore Titus had marched over 
 that desert which lies between Egypt and Syria, 
 in the manner forementioned, he came to Cesa- 
 rea, having resolved to set his forces in order at 
 that place, before he began the war. Nav, in- 
 deed, while he was assisting his father at Alex- 
 andria, in settling that government which had 
 been newly conferred upon them by God, it so 
 happened that the sedition at Jerusalem was 
 revived, and parted into three factions, and that 
 one faction fought against the other ; which 
 partition in such evil cases may be said to be a 
 good thing, and the effect of divine justice. 
 Now, as to the attack the zealots made upon the 
 people, and which I esteem the beginning of the 
 city's destruction, it hath been already explained 
 after an accurate manner ; as also wheuce it 
 arose, and to how great a mischief it was in- 
 creased ; but for the present sedition, one should 
 not mistake if he called it a sedition begotten by 
 another sedition, and to be like a wild beast 
 grown mad, which for the want of food from 
 abroad, fell now upon eating its own flesh. 
 
 2. For Eleazar, the son of Simon, who made 
 the first separation of the zealots from the people, 
 and made them retire into the temple, appeared 
 very angry at John's insolent attempts, which 
 he made every day upon the people ; for this 
 man never left off murdering : but the truth 
 was, that he could not bear to submit to a tyrant 
 who set up after him. So he being desirous of 
 gaining the entire power and dominion to him- 
 self, revolted from John, and took to his assist- 
 ance Judas the son of Chelcias, and Simon the 
 son of Ezron, who were among the men of 
 greatest power There was also with him Heze- 
 kiah the SOE of Chobar, a person of eminence. 
 Each of the<se were foDowed by a great many of 
 the zealots ; these seized upon the inner court of 
 the temple,* and laid their arms upon the holy 
 gates, and over the holy fronts of that court ; 
 and because they had plenty of provisions, they 
 were of good courage, for there was a great 
 abundance of what was consecrated to sacred 
 uses, and they scrupled not the making use of 
 them ; yet were they afraid, on account of their 
 small number ; and when they had laid up their 
 arms there, they did not stir from the place they 
 were in. Now as to John, what advantage he 
 
 * This appears to be the first time that the zealots 
 ventured to polute Ms most sacred court of the temple, 
 which was the court of the priests, wherein the temple 
 itself and the altar stood. So that the conjecture of 
 those that would interpret that Zacharias, who was 
 slain "between the temple and the altar" several 
 months befors, as if he were slain there by the zealots, 
 li groundless. 
 
 had above Eleazar in the multitude of his 
 followers, the like disadvantage he had in the 
 situation he was in, since he had his enemies 
 over his head ; and as he could not make any 
 assault upon them without terror, so was his 
 anger too great to let them be at rest ; nay, al- 
 though he suffered more mischief from Eleazar 
 and his party than he could inflict upon them, 
 yet would not he leave off assaulting them, inso- 
 much that there were continual sallies made oue 
 against another, as well as darts thrown at one 
 another, and the temple was denied everywhere 
 with murders. 
 
 3. But now the t}Tant Simon, the son of 
 Gioras, whom the people had invited in, out of 
 the hopes they had of his assistance in the great 
 distresses they were in, having in his power the 
 upper city, and a great part of the lower, did 
 now make more vehement assaults upon John 
 and his party, because they were fought against 
 from above also ; yet was he beneath their situa- 
 tion, when he attacked them, as they were be- 
 neath the attacks of the others above them. 
 Whereby it came to pass, that John did both re- 
 ceive and inflict great damage, and that easily, 
 as he was fought against on both sides ; and the 
 same advantage that Eleazar and his party had 
 over him, since he was beneath them, the same 
 advantage had he, by his higher situation, over 
 Simon. On which account he easily repelled the 
 attacks that were made from beneath, by the 
 weapons thrown from their hands only ; but was 
 obliged to repel those that threw darts from the 
 temple above him, by his engines of war ; for he 
 had such engines as threw darts, and javelins^ 
 and stones, and that in no small number, by 
 which he did not only defend himself from such 
 as fought against him, but slew moreover many 
 of the priests, as they were about their sacred 
 ministrations ; for notwithstanding these meu 
 were mad with all sorts of impiety, yet did they 
 still admit those that desired to offer their sacri- 
 fices, although they took care to search the peo- 
 ple of their own country beforehand, and both 
 suspected and watched them ; while they were 
 not so much afraid of strangers, who, although 
 they had gotten leave of them, to come into that 
 court, were yet often destroyed by this sedition : 
 for those darts that were thro\vn by the engines 
 came with that force, that they went over all 
 the buildings, and the temple itself, and fell 
 upon the priests, and thosef that were about the 
 sacred offices ; insomuch that many persons who 
 came thither with great zeal from the end* of 
 the earth, to offer sacrifices at this celebrated 
 place, which was esteemed holy by all mankind, 
 fell down before their own sacrifices themselves, 
 and sprinkled that altar, which was venerable 
 among all men, both Greeks and barbarians, 
 with their own blood ; till the dead bodies of 
 strangers were mingled together with those oi 
 
 t The Leritea.
 
 648 
 
 WAKS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 their own country, and those of profane persons 
 with those of the priests, and the blood of all 
 gorts of dead carcases stood in lakes in the holy 
 courts themselves. And now, "O most wretched 
 city, what misery so great as this didst thou 
 suffer from the Romans, when they came to 
 purify thee from thy intestine hatred! For 
 thou couldst be no longer a place fit for God, 
 nor couldst thou longer continue in being, after 
 thou hadst been a sepulchre for the bodies of 
 thine own people, and hadst made the holy house 
 itself a burying-place in this civil war of thine ! 
 Yet mayst thou again grow better, if perchance 
 thou wilt hereafter appease the anger of that 
 God who is the author of thy destruction." But 
 I must restrain myself from these passions by 
 the rules of history, since this is not a proper 
 time for domestic lamentation, but for historical 
 narrations ; I therefore return to the operations 
 that follow in this sedition. 
 
 4. And now there were three treacherous fac- 
 tions in the city, the one parted from the other. 
 Eleazar and his party, that kept the sacieJ first- 
 fruits, came against John in their cups. Those 
 that were with John plundered the populace, 
 and went out with zeal against Simon. This 
 Simon had his supply of provisions from the city, 
 in opposition to the seditious. When, therefore, 
 John was assaulted on both sides, he made his 
 men turn about, throwing his darts upon those 
 citizens that came up against him, from the 
 cloisters he had in his possession, while he op- 
 posed those that attacked him from the temple 
 by his engines of war; and if at any time he was 
 freed from those that were above him, which 
 happened frequently, from their being drunk 
 and tired, he sallied out with a great number 
 upon Simon and his party ; and this he did 
 always in such parts of the city as he could 
 come at, till he set on fire those houses that 
 were full of corn, and of all other provisions.* 
 The same thing was done by Simon, when, upon 
 the others' retreat, he attacked the city also ; as 
 if they had, on purpose done it to serve the Ro- 
 mans, by destroying what the city had laid up 
 against the siege, and by thus cutting off the 
 nerves of their own power. Accordingly, it so 
 came to pass, that all the places that were about 
 the temple were burnt down, and were become 
 
 -an intermediate desert space, ready for fighting 
 on both sides ; and that almost all the corn was 
 burnt, which would have been sufficient for a 
 siege of many years. So they were taken by the 
 means of famine, which it was impossible they 
 should have been, unless they had thus prepared 
 the way for it by this procedure. 
 
 5. And now, as the city was engaged ui a war 
 on all sides, from these treacherous crowds of 
 wicked men, the people of the city, between 
 them, were like a great body torn in pieces. 
 The aged men and women were in such distress 
 "by their internal calamities, that they wished for 
 the Romans, and earnestly hoped for an external 
 war, in order to their delivery from their domes- 
 tic miseries. The citizens themselves were under 
 a terrible consternation and fear ; nor had they 
 any opportunity of taking counsel, and of chang- 
 ing their conduct ; nor were their any hope of 
 coming to an agreement with their enemies ; nor 
 could such as had a mind flee away ; for guards 
 were set at all places, and the heads of the rob- 
 bers, although they were seditious one against 
 another in other respects, yet did they agree in 
 
 * This destruction of such a vast quantity of corn 
 id other provisions, as was sufficient for many years, 
 s the direct occasion of that terrible famine, which 
 
 consumed incredible numbers of Jews in Jerusalem 
 
 durmg its siege 
 
 killing those that were for peace with the 
 Romans, or were suspected of an inclination to 
 desert them, as their common enemies. They 
 agreed in nothing but this, to kill those that were 
 innocent. The noise also of those that were 
 fighting was incessant, both by day and by night 
 but the lamentations of those that mourned ex- 
 ceeded the other ; nor was there ever any occa- 
 sion for them to leave off their lamentations, be- 
 cause their calamities came perpetually one upon 
 another, although the deep consternation they 
 were in prevented their outward wailing ; but 
 being constrained by their fear to conceal their 
 inward passions, they were inwardly tormented, 
 without daring to open their lips in groans. Nor 
 was any regard paid to those that were still 
 alive, by their relations ; nor was there any care 
 taken of burial for those that were dead ; the 
 occasion of both which was this, that every one 
 despaired of himself ; for those that were not 
 among the seditious, had no great desire of any- 
 thing, as expecting for certain that they should 
 very soon be destroyed ; butfor the seditious them- 
 selves, they fought against each other, while they 
 trod upon the dead bodies as they lay heaped 
 one upon another, and taking up a mad rage from 
 those dead bodies that weie under their feet, 
 became the fiercer thereupon. They, moreover, 
 were still inventing somewhat or other that was 
 pernicious against themselves ; and when they 
 had resolved upon anything, they executed it 
 without mercy, and omitted no method of tor- 
 ment or of barbarity. Nay, John abused the 
 sacred materials, and employed them in the con- 
 struction of his engines of war ; for the people 
 and the priests had formerly determined to sup- 
 port the temple, and raise the holy house twenty 
 cubits higher; for king Agrippa had at a very 
 great expense, and with very great pains, brought 
 thither such materials as were proper for that 
 purpose, being pieces of timber very well worth 
 seeing, both for their straightness and their large- 
 ness : but the war coming on, and interrupting 
 the work, John had them cut, and prepared for 
 the building him towers, he finding them long 
 enough to oppose from them those his adversaries 
 that fought him from the temple that was above 
 him. He also had them brought and erected be- 
 hind the inner court over against the west end 
 of the cloisters, where alone he could erect them ; 
 whereas, the other sides of that court had so 
 many steps as would not let them come nigh 
 enough the cloisters. 
 
 6. Thus did John hope to be too hard for his 
 enemies by these engines constructed by his im- 
 piety; but God himself demonstrated that his 
 pains would prove of no use to him, by bringing 
 the Romans upon him before he had reared any 
 of his towers ; for Titus, when he had gotten to- 
 gether part of his forces about him, and had 
 ordered the rest to meet him at Jerusalem, 
 marched out of Cesarea, He had with him those 
 three legions that had accompanied his father, 
 when he laid Judea waste, together with that 
 twelfth legion which had been formerly beaten 
 with Cestius ; which legion, as it was otherwise 
 remarkable for its valour, so did it march on 
 now with greater alacrity to avenge themselves 
 on the Jews, as remembering what they had 
 formerly suffered from them. Of these legions, 
 he ordered the fifth to meet him, by going 
 through Emmaus, and the tenth to go up by 
 Jericho ; he also moved himself, together with 
 the rest ; besides whom marched those auxilia- 
 ries that came from the kings, being now more 
 in number than before, together with a consider- 
 able number that came to his assistance from 
 Syria. Those also that had been selected out of
 
 CHAP. III.] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 549 
 
 these four legions, aud sent with Mucianus to 
 Italy, had their places filled up out of these sol- 
 diers that came out of Egypt with Titus, who 
 were two thousand men, chosen out of the 
 armies at Alexandria. There followed him also 
 three thousand, drawn from those that guarded 
 the river Euphrates ; as also, there came Tibe- 
 rius Alexander, who was a friend of his, most 
 valuable, both for his good-wi 1 to him, and for 
 his prudence. He had formerly been governor 
 of Alexandria, but was now thought worthy to 
 be general of the army [under Titus.] The 
 reason of this was, that he had been the first 
 who encouraged Vespasian very lately to accept 
 this his new dominion, and joined himself to 
 him with great fidelity, when things were uncer- 
 tain, and fortune had not yet declared for him. 
 He also followed Titus as a counsellor, very use- 
 ful to him in this war, both by his age and sldll 
 in such affairs. 
 
 CHAFIER IL 
 
 HOW TITUS MARCHED TO JERUSALEM, AND HOW 
 HE WAS IN DANGER, AS HE WAS TAKING A 
 VIEW OF THE CITY. OF THE PLACE ALSO WHERE 
 HE PITCHED HIS CAMP. 
 
 1. Now, as Titus was upon his march into the 
 enemy's country, the auxiliaries that were sent 
 by the kings marched first, having all the other 
 auxiliaries with them ; after whom followed 
 those that were to prepare the roads, and 
 measure out the camp ; then came the com- 
 mander's baggage, and after that the other sol- 
 diers, who were completely armed to support 
 them ; then came Titus himself, having with 
 uim another select body ; and then came the 
 pikemen ; after whom came the horse belonging 
 to that legion. All these came before the 
 engines; and after these engines followed the 
 tribunes and the leaders of the cohorts, with 
 their select bodies ; after these came the en- 
 signs, with the eagle ; and before those ensigns, 
 came the trumpeters belonging to them ; next 
 these came the main body of the army in their 
 ranks, every rank being six deep ; the servants 
 belonging to every legion came after these ; and 
 before these hist their baggage ; the mercenaries 
 came last, and those that guarded them brought 
 up the rear. Now Titus, according in the 
 Roman usage, went in the front of the army 
 after a decent manner, and marched through 
 Samaria to Gophna, a city that had been formerly 
 taken by his father, and was then garrisoned by 
 Roman soldiers ; and when he had lodged there 
 one night, he marched on in the morning ; and 
 when he had gone as far as a day's march, he 
 pitched his camp at that valley which the Jews, 
 in their own tongue, call "the Valley of Thorns," 
 near a certain village called Gabaothsaul, which 
 signifies "the Hill of Saul," being distant from 
 Jerusalem about thirty furlongs. There it was 
 that he chose out six hundred select horsemen, 
 and went to take a view of the city, to observe 
 what strength it was of, and how courageous the 
 Jews were ; whether, when they saw him, and 
 before they came to a direct battle, they would 
 be affrighted and submit ; for he had been in- 
 formed, what was really true, that the people 
 who were fallen under the power of the sedi- 
 tious, and the robbers, were greatly desirous of 
 peace ; but being too weak to rise up against the 
 rest, they lay stilL 
 
 2. Now, so long as he rode along the straight 
 road which led to the wall of the city, nobody 
 appeared out of the gates ; but when he went 
 
 out of that road, and declined towards the tower 
 Psephiuus, and led the band of horsemen 
 obliquely, an immonse number of the Jews 
 leaped out suddenly at the towers called the 
 ' Women's Towers," through that gate which 
 was over against the monuments of queen 
 Helena, and intercepted his horse ; and stand- 
 ing directly opposite to those that still ran along 
 the road, hindered them from joining those that 
 had declined out of it. They iutercepted Titus i 
 also, with a few others. Now it was here im- i 
 possible for him to go forward, because all the I 
 places had trenches dug in them from the wall, 
 to preserve the gardens round about, and were 
 full of gardens obliquely situated, and of many 
 hedges ; and to return back to his own men, he 
 saw it was also impossible, by reason of the mul- 
 titude of the enemies that lay between them ; 
 many of whom did not so much as know that 
 f.he king was in any danger, but supposed him 
 etill among them. So he perceived, that his 
 preservation must be wholly owing to his own 
 courage, and turned his horse about, and cried 
 out aloud to those that were about him to follow 
 him, and ran with violence into the midst of his 
 enemies, in order to force his way through them 
 to his own men. And hence we may principally 
 learn, that both the success of war, and the 
 dangers that kings are in, are under the provi- 
 dence of God ; for while such a number of darts 
 were thrown at Titus, when he had neither his 
 Itead-piece on, nor his breast-plate, (for, as I 
 told ycu, he went out not to fight, but to view 
 the city,) none of them touched his body, but 
 went aside without hurting him ; as if all of 
 them missed him on purpose, and only made a 
 noise as they passed by him. So he diverted 
 those perpetually with his sword that came on 
 his side, and overturned many of those that 
 directly met him, and made his horse ride over 
 those that were overthrown. The enemy indeed 
 made a great shout at the boldness of Caesar, and 
 exhorted one another to rush upon him. Yet 
 did these against whom he marched, fly away, 
 and go off from him in great numbers ; while 
 those that were in the same danger with him, 
 kept up close to him, though they were wounded 
 both on their backs, and on their sides ; for they 
 had each of them but this one hope of escaping, 
 if they could assist Titus in opening himself a 
 way, that he might not be encompassed round 
 by his enemies before he got away from them. 
 Now, there were two of those that were with 
 him, but at some distance ; the one of whom the 
 enemy encompassed round, and slew him with 
 their darts, and his horse also; but the other 
 they slew, as he leaped down from his horse, 
 and carried off his horse with them. But Titua 
 escaped with the rest, and came safe to the 
 camp. So this success of the Jews' first attack, 
 raised their minds, and gave them an ill-grounded 
 hope ; and this short inclination of fortune on 
 their side, made them very courageous for the 
 future. 
 
 3. But now, as soon as that legion that had been 
 at Emmaus was joined to Caesar at night, he re- 
 moved thence, when it was day, and came to a 
 place called Scopus ; from whence the city began 
 already to be seen, and a plain view might be 
 taken of the great temple. Accordingly, this 
 place, on the north quarter of the city and ad- 
 joining thereto, was a pLiin, and very properly 
 named Scopus [the prospect ;] and was no more 
 than seven furlongs from it. And here it was 
 that Titus ordered * camp to be fortified for two 
 legions that were to be together; but ordered 
 another camp to be fortified, at three furlongs 
 farther distance behind them, for the fifth le-
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK <r 
 
 gjon ; for he thought that, by marching in the 
 night, they might be tired, and might deserve.to 
 be covered from the enemy, and with less foar 
 might fortify themselves : and. as these were 
 now beginning to build, the tenth legion, which 
 came through Jericho, was already come to 
 the place, where a certain part of armed men 
 had formerly lain, to guard that pass into the 
 city, and had been taken before by Vespasian. 
 These legions had orders to encamp at the dis- 
 tance of six furlongs from Jerusalem, at the 
 mount called the Mount of Olives, which lies 
 over against the city on the east side, and is 
 parted from it by a deep valley, interposed be- 
 tween them, which is named Cedron. 
 
 4. Now, when hitherto the several parties in 
 the city had been dashing one against another 
 perpetually, this foreign war, now suddenly 
 come upon them after a violent manner, put the 
 first stop to their contentions one against an- 
 other ; and, as the seditious now saw with aston- 
 ishment the Romans pitching three several 
 camps, they began to think of '..n awkward sort 
 of concord, and said one to another, "What 
 do we here, and what do we mean, when we 
 suffer three fortified walls to be built to coop us 
 in, that we shall not be able to breathe freely ? 
 while the enemy is securely building a kind of 
 city in opposition to us, and while we sit still 
 within our own walls, and become spectators 
 only of what they are doing, with our hands 
 idle, and our armour laid by, as if they were 
 about somewhat that was for our good and ad- 
 vantage. We are, it seemt;," so did they cry 
 out, " only courageous against ourselves, while 
 the Romans are likely to gain the city without 
 bloodshed by our sedition." Thus did they en- 
 courage one another when they were gotten to- 
 gether, and took their armour immediately, and 
 ran out upon the tenth legion, and fell upon the 
 Romans with great eagerness, and with a prodi- 
 gious shout, as they were fortifying their camp. 
 These Romans were caught in different parties, 
 and this in order to perform their several works, 
 and on that account had in great measure laid 
 aaide their arms ; for they thought the Jews 
 would not have ventured to make a sally upon 
 them ; and had they been disposed so to do they 
 supposed their sedition would have distracted 
 them. So they were put into disorder unex- 
 pectedly ; when some of them left their works 
 they were about, and immediately marched off, 
 while many ran to their arms, but were smitten 
 a.nd slain before they could turn back upon the 
 enemy. The Jews became still more and more 
 in number, as encouraged by the good success of 
 those that first made the attack ; and, while 
 they had such good fortune, they seemed, both 
 to themselves and to the enemy, to be many 
 more than they really were. The disorderly 
 way of their fighting at first put the Romans also 
 to a stand, who had been constantly used to fight- 
 ing skilfully in good order, and with keeping 
 their ranks, and obeying the orders that were 
 given them ; for which reason the Romans were 
 caught unexpectedly, and were obliged to give 
 way to the assaults that were made upon them. 
 Now when these Romans were overtaken, and 
 turned back upon the Jews, they put a stop to 
 their career ; yet, when they did not take care 
 enough of themselves through the vehemency of 
 their pursuit, they were wounded by them ; but, 
 *s still more and more Jews sallied out of the 
 city, the Romans were at length brought into 
 confusion, and put to flight, and ran away from 
 their camp. Nay, things looked as though the 
 entire legion would have been in danger, unless 
 Titus had been informed of the case thev wi>w 
 
 in, and had sent them succours immediately. 
 So he reproached them for their cowardice, and 
 brought those back that were running away, and 
 fell himself upon the Jews on their flank, with 
 those select troops that were with him, and slew 
 a considerable number, and wounded more of 
 them, and put them all to flight, and made them 
 run away hastily down the valley. Now as these 
 Jews suffered greatly in the declivity of the val- 
 ley, so, when they were gotten over it, they 
 turned about, and stood over against the Ro- 
 mans, having the valley between them, and 
 there fought with them. Thus did they con- 
 tinue the fight till noon ; but, when it was al- 
 ready a little after noon, Titus set those that 
 came to the assistance of the Romans with him, 
 and those that belonged to the cohorts, to pre- 
 vent the Jews from making any more sallies, 
 and then sent the rest of the legion to the upper 
 part of the mountain, to fortify their camp. 
 
 5. This march of the Romans seemed to the 
 Jews to be a flight ; and as the watchman, who 
 was placed upon the wall, gave a signal by shak- 
 ing his garment, there came out a fresh multi- 
 tude of Jews, and that with such mighty vio- 
 lence, that one might compare it to the running 
 of the most terrible wild beasts. To say the 
 truth, none of these that opposed them could 
 sustain the fury with which they made their 
 attacks ; but, as if they had been cast out of an 
 engine, they brake the enemies' ranks to pieces, 
 who were put to flight, and ran away to the 
 mountain ; none but Titus himself, and a few 
 others wi'h him, being left in the midst of the 
 acclivity. Now these others, who were his 
 friends, despised the danger they were in, and 
 were ashamed to leave their general, earnestly 
 exhorting him to give way to these Jews that 
 are fond of dying, and not to run into such dan- 
 gers before those that ought to stay before him ; 
 to consider what his fortune was, and not, by 
 supplying the place of a common soldier, to ven- 
 ture to turn back upon the enemy so suddenly ; 
 and this because he was general in the war, and 
 lord of the habitable earth, on whose preserva- 
 tion the public affairs do all depend. These per- 
 suasions Titus seemed not so much as to hear, 
 but opposed those that ran upon him, and smote 
 them on the face ; and, when he had forced 
 them to go back, he slew them : he also fell upon 
 great n ambers as they marched down the hill, 
 and thrust them forward ; while those men were 
 so amazed at his courage and his strength, that 
 they could not fly directly to the city, but declined 
 from him on both sides, and pressed after those 
 that fled up the hill ; yet did he. still fall upon 
 their fank, and put a stop to their fury. In the 
 meantime, a disorder and a terror fell again upon 
 those that were fortifying their camp at the top 
 of the hill, upon their seeing those beneath them 
 running away, insomuch that the whole legion 
 was dispersed, while they thought that the sal- 
 lies of the Jews upon them were plainly insup- 
 portable, and that Titus was himself put to 
 flight ; because they took it for granted that, if 
 he had stayed, the rest would never have fled for 
 it. Thus were they encompassed on every side 
 by a kind of panic fear, and some dispersed 
 themselves one way, and some another, till cer- 
 tain of them saw their general in the very midst 
 of an action, and, being under great concern for 
 him, they loudly proclaimed the danger he was 
 in to the entire legion ; and now shame made 
 them turn back, and they reproached one an- 
 other, that they did worse than run away, by de- 
 serting Caesar. So they used their utmost force 
 against the Jews, and declining from the straight 
 ieolivity. they drove them in heaps into the
 
 OKA?. m.J 
 
 WATW OF TTTF TEWS 
 
 bottom of the valley. Then did the Jews turn 
 about and fight them ; but as they were them- 
 u J e l retirin o' and now > because the Romans 
 had the advantage of the ground, and were above 
 the Jews, they drove them into the valley. 
 ntus also pressed upon those that were near 
 him, and sent the legion again to fortify their 
 camp ; while he, and those that were with him 
 before, opposed the enemy, and kept them from 
 doing further mischief ; insomuch that, if I 
 may be allowed neither to add anything out of 
 flattery, nor to diminish anything out of envy, 
 but to speak the plain truth, Cassar did twice 
 deliver that entire legion when it was in jeo- 
 pardy, and gave them a quiet opportunity of 
 fortifying their camp. 
 
 CHAPTER IIL 
 
 HOW THE SEDITION WAS AGAIN REVIVED WITHIN 
 JERUSALEM, AND TET THE JEWS CONTRIVED 
 SNARES FOR THE ROMANS. 30W TITUS ALSO 
 THREATENED HIS SOLDIERS FOB THEIR UNGO- 
 VERNABLE RASHNESS. 
 
 1. As now the war abroad ceased for a while, 
 the sedition within was revived ; and on the feast 
 of unleavened bread, which was now come, it be- 
 : ing the fourteenth day of the month Xanthicus 
 I [Nisan] when it is believed the Jews were first 
 freed from the Egyptians, Eleazar and his party 
 opened the gates of this [inmost court of the] 
 temple, and admitted such of the people as were 
 desirous to worship God into it.* But John made 
 use of this festival as a cloak for his treacherous 
 designs and armed the most inconsiderable of his 
 own party, the greater part of whom were not 
 purified, with weapons concealed under their gar- 
 ments, and sent them with great zeal into the 
 temple, in order to seize upon it ; which armed 
 men, when they were gotten in, threw their 
 garments away, and presently appeared in their 
 armour. Upon which their was a very great dis- 
 order and disturbance about the holy house : 
 while the people who had no concern in the sedi- 
 tion, supposed that this assault was made against 
 all without distinction, as the zealots thought it 
 was made against themselves only. So these left 
 j off guarding the gates any longer, and leaped 
 j down from their battlements before they came 
 j to an engagement, and fled away into the subter- 
 ranean caverns of the temple ; while the people 
 that stood trembling at the altar, and about the 
 holy house, were rolled on heaps together, and 
 trampled upon, and were beaten both with 
 wooden and with iron weapons without mercy. 
 Such, also, as had differences with others, slew 
 many persons that were quiet, out of their own 
 private enmity and hatred, as if they were oppo- 
 site to the seditious ; and all those that had for- 
 merly offended any of these plotters, were now 
 known, and were now led away to the slaughter ; 
 and, when they had done abundance of horrid 
 mischief to the guiltless, they granted a truce to 
 the guilty, and let these go off that came out of 
 the caverns. These followers of John also did 
 now seize upon this inner temple, and upon all 
 
 Here we see the true occasion of those vast num- 
 bers of Jews that were in Jerusalem during this siege 
 by Titus, and perished therein ; that the siege began at 
 the feast of the passover, when such prodigious multi- 
 tudes of Jews and proselytes of the gate were come 
 from all parts of Judea, and from other countries, in 
 order to celebrate tti;it gre.it fe-tival 
 
 _^ 551 
 
 the warlike engines theremTaad then v7ntu7ed 
 to oppose Simon. And thus that sedition, which 
 hod been divided into three factions, was now 
 reduced to two. 
 
 2. But Titus, intending to pitch his cami- 
 nearer to the city than Scopus, placed as many 
 of his choice horsemen and footmen as he thou-ht 
 sufficient, opposite to the Jews, to prevent their 
 sallying out upon them, while he gave orders for 
 
 ie whole army to level the distance, as far as 
 the wall of the city. So they threw down all the 
 hedges and walls which the inhabitants had made 
 about their gardens and groves of trees, and cut 
 down all the fruit-trees that lay between them 
 and the wall of the city, and filled up all the 
 hollow places and the chasms, and demolished 
 the rocky precipices with iron instruments ; and 
 thereby made all the places level from Scopus to 
 Herod's monuments, which adjoined to the pool 
 called the serpent's pooL 
 
 n. 3 " r N n W at this very time the Jew8 contrived 
 the following stratagem against the Romans. 
 The bolder sort of the seditious went out at the 
 towers, called the Women's Towers, as if they 
 had been ejected out of the city by those who 
 were for peace, and rambled about as if they 
 were afraid of being assaulted by the Romans, 
 and were in fear of one another ; while those 
 that stood upon the wall, and seemed to be of 
 the people's side, cried out aloud for peace, and 
 entreated they might have security for their 
 lives given them, and called for the Romans, 
 promising to open the gates to them ; and as they 
 cried out after that manner, they threw stones 
 at their own people, as though they would drive 
 them away from the gates. These also pretended 
 that they were excluded by force, and that they 
 petitioned those that were within to let them in ; 
 and rushing upon the Romans perpetually, with 
 violence, tiiey then came back, and seemed to be 
 in great disorder. Now the Roman soldiers 
 thought this cunning stratagem of theirs was to 
 be believed real, and thinking they had the one 
 party under their power, and could punish them 
 as they pleased, and hoping that the other party 
 would open their gates to them set to the execu- 
 tion of their designs accordingly. But for Titus 
 himself, he had this surprising conduct of the 
 Jews in suspicion ; for whereas he had invited 
 them to come to terms of accommodation, by 
 Josephus, but one day before, he could then re- 
 ceive no civil answer from them ; so he ordered 
 the soldiers to stay where they were. However, 
 some of them that were set in the front of the 
 works prevented him, and catching up their arms 
 ran to the gates ; whereupon those that seemed 
 to have. been ejected, at the first retired ; but as 
 soon as the soldiers were gotten between the 
 towers on each side of the gate, the Jews ran 
 out, and encompassed them round, and fell upon 
 them behind, while that multitude which stood 
 upon the wall, threw a heap of stones and darts 
 of all kinds at them, insomuch that they slew a 
 considerable number, and wounded many more ; 
 for it was not easy for the Romans to escape, by 
 reason those behind them pressed them forward ; 
 besides which the shame they were under f<u 
 being mistaken, and the fear they were in of 
 their commanders, engaged them to persevere iu 
 their mistake, wherefore they fought with their 
 spears a great while, and received many blows 
 from th'e Jews, though indeed they gave them 
 as many blows again, and at last repelled those 
 that bad encompassed them about, while' the 
 Jews pursued them as they retired, and followed 
 them, and threw darts at them as far as the 
 monuments of queen Helena. 
 4 After this, these Jews, without keeping any
 
 652 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK v. 
 
 decorum, grew insolent upon their good fortune, 
 and jested upon the Romans, for being deluded 
 by the trick they had put upon them, and mak- 
 ing a noise with beating their shields, leaped for 
 gladness, and made joyful exclamations : while 
 these soldiers were received with threateniugs 
 by their officers, and with indignation by Csesar 
 himself, [who spake to them thus :] These Jews, 
 who are only conducted by their madness, do 
 everything with care and circumspection ; they 
 contrive stratagems, and lay ambushes, and for- 
 tune gives success to their stratagems, because 
 they are obedient, and preserve their good-will 
 and fidelity to one another, while tke Romans, 
 to whom fortune uses to be ever subservient, by 
 reason of their good order, and ready submission 
 to their commanders, have now had ill success 
 by their contrary behaviour, and by not being 
 able to restrain their hands from action, they 
 have been caught ; and that which is the most 
 to their reproach, they have gone on without 
 their commanders, in the very presence of Caesar. 
 " Truly,'' says Titus, "the laws of war cannot 
 but groan heavily, as will my father also himself, 
 when he shall be informed of this wound that 
 hath been given us, since he, who is grown old 
 in wars, did never make so great a mistake. 
 Our laws of war do also ever inflict capitid 
 punishment on those that in the least break into 
 good order, while at this time they have seen an 
 entire army run into disorder. However, those 
 that have been so insolent, shall be made imme- 
 diately sensible, that even they who conquer, 
 among the Romans, without orders for fighting, 
 are to be under disgrace." When Titus had en- 
 larged upon this matter before the commanders, 
 it appeared evident that he would execute the 
 law against all those that were concerned ; so 
 these soldiers' minds sunk down in despair, as 
 expecting to be put to death, and that justly 
 and quickly. However, the other legions came 
 round about Titus, and entreated his favour to 
 these their fellow-soldiers, and made supplica- 
 tion to him, that he would pardon the rashness 
 of a few, on account of the better obedience of 
 all the rest ; and promised for them that they 
 should make amends for their present fault, by 
 their more virtuous behaviour for the time to 
 come. 
 
 5. So Caesar complied with their desires, and 
 with what prudence dictated to him also ; for he 
 esteemed it fit to punish single persons by real 
 executions, but that the punishment of great 
 multitudes should proceed no farther than re- 
 proofs ; so he was reconciled to the soldiers, but 
 gave them a special charge to act more wisely 
 for the future ; and he considered with himself 
 how he might be even with the Jews for their 
 stratagem. And now when the space between 
 the Romans and the wall had been levelled, 
 which was done in four days ; and as he was de- 
 sirous to bring the baggage of the army, with 
 the rest of the multitude that followed him, 
 safely to the camp, he set the strongest part of 
 his army over against that wall which lay on the 
 north quarter of the city, and over against the 
 western part of it, and made his army seven 
 deep, with the footmen placed before them, and 
 the horsemen behind them, each of the last in 
 their ranks, whilst the archers stood in the 
 midst in seven ranks. And now as the Jews 
 were prohibited, by so great a body of men, 
 from making sallies upon the Romans, both the 
 beasts that bare the burdens, and belonged to 
 the three legions, and the rest of the multitude, 
 marched on without any fear. But as for Titus 
 himself, he was but about two furlongs distant 
 from the wall, at that .part of it where was the 
 
 corner,* and over against that tower which was 
 called Psephinus, at which tower, the compass 
 of the wall belonging to the north bended, and 
 extended itself over against the west ; but the 
 other part of the army fortified themselves at 
 the tower called Hippicus, and was distant, in 
 like manner, but two furlongs from the city. 
 However, the tenth legion continued in its own 
 place, upon the Mount of Olives. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE DESCRIPTION OF JERUSALEM. 
 
 1. THE city of Jerusalem was fortified with 
 three walls, on such parts as were not encom- 
 passed with unpassable valleys ; for in such 
 places it had but one wall. The city was built 
 upon two hills which are opposite to one another, 
 and have a valley to divide them asunder; at 
 which valley the corresponding rows of houses 
 on both hills end. Of these hills, that which 
 contains the upper city is much higher, and in 
 length more direct. Accordingly, it was called 
 the " Citadel," by king David; he was the father 
 of that Solomon who built this temple at the 
 first ; but it is by us called the " Upper Market- 
 place." But the other hill, which was called 
 " Acra," and sustains the lower city, is of the 
 shape of a moon when she is horned ; over-against 
 this was a third hill, but naturally lower than 
 Acra, and parted formerly from the other by a 
 broad valley However, in those times when 
 the Asamoneans reigned, they filled up that val- 
 ley with earth, and had a mind to join the city 
 to the temple. They then took off part of the 
 height of Acra, and reduced it to be of less ele- 
 vation than it was before, that the temple might 
 be superior to it. Now the Valley of the Cheese- 
 mongers, as it was called, and was that which we 
 told you before, distinguished the hill of the 
 upper city from that of the lower, extended as 
 far as Siloam ; for that is the name of a fountain 
 which hath sweet waters in it, and this in great 
 plenty also. But on the outsides, these hills 
 are surrounded by deep valleys, and by reason 
 of the precipices to them belonging on both sides, 
 they are everywhere unpassable. 
 
 2. Now, of these three walls, the old one was 
 hard to be taken, both by reason of the valleys, 
 and of that hill on which it was built, and which 
 was above them. But besides that great advan- 
 tage, as to the place where they were situated, it 
 was also built very strong; because David and 
 Solomon, and the following kings, were very 
 zealous about this work. Now that wall began 
 on the north, at the tower called " Hippicus," 
 and extended as far as the " Xistus," a place so 
 called, and then joining at the council-house, 
 ended at the west cloister of the temple. But if 
 we go the other way westward, it began at the 
 same place, and extended through a place called 
 " Bethso," to the gate of the Essens ; and after 
 that it went southward, having its bending above 
 the fountain Siloam, where it also bends again 
 towards the east at Solomon's pool, and reaches 
 as far as a certain place which they called "Opli- 
 las," where it was joined to the eastern cloister 
 of the temple. The second wall took its begin- 
 ning from that gate which they called " Germain," 
 which belonged to the first wall ; it only encom- 
 passed the northern quarter of the city, and 
 
 'haps, says Dr Hudson, here was that gate, 
 ;he " Gate of the Corner," in 2 Chr. xxri. 9. 
 
 * Per 
 
 called th. 
 
 Bee cb. iv. sect. 2.
 
 5HAP. TV.] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 553 
 
 reached as far as the tower Antonia. The begin- 
 ning of the third wall was at the tower Hippicus, 
 whence it reached as far as the north quarter of 
 the city, and the tower Psephinus, and then was 
 o far extended till it came over against the 
 monuments of Helena, which Helena was queen 
 of Adiabene, the daughter of Izates ; it then ex- 
 tended further to a great length, and passed by 
 the sepulchral caverns of the kings, and bent 
 again at the tower of the corner, at the monu- 
 ment which is called the " Monument of the 
 Fuller," and joined to the old wall at the valley 
 called the " Valley of Cedron." It was Agrippa 
 who encompassed the parts added to the old city 
 with this wall, which had been all naked before ; 
 for as the city grew more populous, it gradually 
 crept beyond its old limits, and those parts of it 
 that stood northward of the temple, and joined 
 that hill to the city, made it considerably larger, 
 and occasioned that hill, which is in number the 
 fourth, and is called " Bezetha," to be inhabited 
 also. It lies over against the tower Antonia, but 
 is divided from it by a deep valley, which was 
 dug on purpose, and that in order to hinder the 
 foundations of the tower of Antonia from join- 
 ing to this hill, and thereby affording an oppor- 
 tunity for getting to it with ease, and hindering 
 the security that arose from its superior eleva- 
 tion ; for which reason also that depth of the 
 ditch made the elevation of the towers more re- 
 markable. This new-built part of the city was 
 called " Bezetha," in our language, which, if in- 
 terpreted in the Grecian language, may be called 
 the "New City." Since, therefore, its inhabit- 
 ants stood in need of a covering, the father of. 
 the present king, and of the same name with 
 him, Agrippa, began that wall we spoke of; but 
 he left off building it when he had only laid the 
 foundation, out of the fear he was in of Claudius 
 Caesar, lest he should suspect that so strong a 
 wall was built in order to make some innovation 
 in public affairs ; for the city could no way have 
 been taken if that wall had been finished in the 
 manner it was begun ; as its parts were connected 
 together by stones twenty cubits long, and ten 
 cubits broad, which could never have been easily 
 undermined by any iron tools, or shaken by any 
 engines. The wall was, however, ten cubits 
 wide, and it would probably have had a height 
 greater than that, had not his zeal who began it 
 been hindered from exerting itself. After this 
 it was erected with great diligence by the Jews, 
 as high as twenty cubits, above which it had 
 battlements of two cubits, and turrets of three 
 cubits altitude, insomuch that the entire alti- 
 tude extended as far as twenty-five cubits. 
 
 3. Now the towers that were upon it were 
 twenty cubits in breadth and twenty cubits in 
 height ; they were square and solid, as was the 
 wall itself, wherein the niceness of the joints and 
 the beauty of the stones were no way inferior to 
 those of the holy house itself. Above this solid 
 altitude of the towers, which was twenty cubits, 
 there were rooms of great magnificence, and over 
 them upper rooms, and cisterns to receive rain- 
 water. They were many in number, and the 
 steps by which you ascended up to them were 
 every one broad ; of these towers then the third 
 wall had ninety, and the spaces between them 
 were each two hundred cubits; but in the middle 
 wall were forty towers, and the old wall was 
 parted into sixty, while the whole compass of 
 the city was thirty-three furlongs. Now the 
 third wall was all of it wonderful ; yet was the 
 tower Psephinus elevated above it at the north- 
 west corner, and there Titus pitched hu own 
 tent ; for being seventy cubits high, it both af- 
 forded a liros^ect of Arabia at sun-rising, as well 
 
 as it did of the utmost limits of the Hebrew pos- 
 sessions at the sea westward. Moreover, it was 
 an octagon, and over against it was the tower 
 Hippicus ; and hard by two others weie erected 
 by king Herod, in the old wall These were for 
 largeness, beauty, and strength, beyond all that 
 were in the habitable earth : for besides the 
 magnanimity of his nature, and his munificence 
 towards the city on other occasions, he built 
 these after such an extraordinary manner, to 
 gratify his own private affections, and dedicated 
 these towers to the memory of those three per- 
 sons who had been the dearest to him, and from 
 whom he named them. They were his brother, 
 his friend, and his wife. This wife he had slain 
 out of his love [and jealousy,] as we have already 
 related ; the other two he lost in war, as they 
 were courageously fighting. Hippicus, so named 
 from his friend, was square ; its length and 
 breadth each twenty-five cubits, and its height 
 thirty, and it had no vacuity in it. Over this 
 solid building, which was composed of great 
 stones united together, there was a reservoir 
 twenty cubits deep, over which there was a 
 house of two stories, whose height was twenty- 
 five cubits, and divided into several parts ; over 
 which were battlements of two cubits, and tur- 
 rets all round of three cubits high, insomuch 
 that the entire height added together amounted 
 to fourscore cubits The second tower which 
 he named from his brother Phasaelus, had its 
 breadth and its height equal, each of them forty 
 cubits ; over which a cloister went round about, 
 whose height was ten cubits, and it was covered 
 from enemies by breast-works and bulwarks. 
 There was aiso built over that cloister another 
 tower, parted into magnificent rooms and a place 
 for bathing ; 10 that this tower wanted nothing 
 that might make it appear to be a royal palace. 
 It was also adorned with battlements and tur- 
 rets, more than was the foregoing, and the entire 
 altitude was about ninety cubits ; the appearance 
 of it resembled the tower of Pharus, which ex- 
 hibited a fire to such as sailed to Alexandria, but 
 was much larger than it in compass. This was 
 now converted to a house, wherein Simon exer- 
 cised his tyrannical authority. The third tower 
 was Mariamne, for that was his queen's name ; 
 it was solid as high as twenty cubits; its breadth 
 and its length were twenty cubits, and were 
 equal to each other ; its upper buildings were 
 more magnificent, and had greater variety than 
 the other towers had; for the king thought it 
 most proper for him to adorn that which waa 
 denominated from his wife, better than tho?a 
 denominated from men, as those were built 
 stronger than this that bore his wife's name. 
 The entire height of this tower was fifty cubits. 
 
 4. Now as these towers were so very tall, they 
 appeared much taller by the place on which they 
 stood ; for that very old wall wherein they wera 
 was built on a high hill, and was itself a kind of 
 elevation that was still thirty cubits taller ; over 
 which were the towers situated, and thereby 
 were made much higher to appearance. The 
 largeness also of the stones was wonderful, for 
 they were not made of common small stones, 
 nor of such large ones only as men could carry, 
 but they were of white marble, cut out of the 
 rock ; each stone was twenty cubits in length, 
 and ten in breadth, and five in depth. They 
 were so exactly united to one another, th::t 
 each tower looked like one entire rock of stone, 
 so growing naturally, and afterwards cut by the 
 hands of the artificers into present shape and 
 corners ; so little or not at all, did their joints or 
 connexion appear. Now as these towers wera 
 themselves on the north side of the wall, the
 
 OF THE JEWS. 
 
 sins; had palace inwardly thereto adjoined, 
 .-xceeds all my ability to describe it ; for 
 it v. us us to want no cost or skill 
 
 In its construction, but was entirely willed 
 about to the height, of thirty cubits, and was 
 adorned with towers at equal distances, and 
 with large bed-chambers, that would contain 
 beds for a hundred guest-; a-piece. in which the 
 \ of the Atones is not to be expressed; for 
 a i.irge quantity of those that were, rare of that 
 kind -I together. Their roofs were 
 
 al-o wonderful, both for the length of the beams 
 and the splendour of their ornaments. The 
 number of the rooms was also very great, and 
 the variety of the figures that were about them 
 was prodigious; their furniture was complete, 
 and the greatest part of the vessels that were 
 put in them was of silver and gold. There were 
 besides many porticoes, one in \ornl another, 
 round about, and in 0,1 ch of those porticoes curi- 
 ous pillars; yet were all the courts that were 
 exposed to the air everywhere green. There 
 were moreover several groves of trees, and long 
 walks through them, with deep canals, and cis- 
 terns, that in several parts were filled with 
 brazen statues, through which the water ran 
 out. There were withal many dove-coin t^ of 
 tame pigeons about the canals ; but, indeed, it 
 is not possible to give a complete description 
 of these palaces ; and the very remembrance of 
 them is a torment to one. as put ting one in mind 
 what vastly rich buildings that fire which was 
 kindled by the robbers hath consumed ; for 
 these were not burnt by the Romans, but by 
 these internal plot have already re- 
 
 lated, in the beginning of their rebellion. That 
 fire began at the tower of Antonia, and went on 
 to the palaces, and consumed the upper part* of 
 the three towers themselves. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 A DESCRIPTION OF THI TMPIX. 
 
 1. Now this temple, as I have already said, 
 was built upon a strong hill. At first the plain 
 at the top was hardly sufficient for the holy 
 house and the altar, for the ground about it was 
 very uneven, and like a precipice ; but when 
 king Solomon, who was tlie person that built 
 the temple, had built a wall to it on its east 
 side, there was then added one cloister found; d 
 on a bank cast up for it, and on the other parts 
 the holy house stood naked ; but in future age* 
 the people added new banks, and the hill be- 
 came a larger plain. They then broke down the 
 wall on the north side, and took in as much as 
 sufficed afterward for the compass of the entire 
 temple : and when they had built walls on three 
 sides of the temple round about, from t! 
 torn of the hill, and had performed a work that 
 was greater than could be Imped for (in which 
 work long ages were spent by them, as well as 
 all their sacred treasures were exhausted, which 
 were still replenished by those tributes which 
 were sent to God from the whole habitable 
 earth,) they then encompassed their upper 
 courts with cloisters, as well as they [afterward] 
 did the lowest [court of the] temple. The low- 
 est part of this was erected to the height of 
 three hundred cubits, and in some places i 
 yet did not the entire depth of the, foundations 
 appear, for they brought earth, and filled up 
 the valleys, as being desirous to make them on 
 level with the. narrow streets of -he 
 wherein thev made use of stones of forty < 
 
 in magnitude ; for the great plenty of money 
 they then had, and the liberality of the people, 
 made this attempt of theirs to succeed to an in- 
 credible degree : and what could not be so much 
 as hoped for as ever to be accomplished was, by 
 perseverance and length of time, brought to per- 
 fection. 
 
 '2. Now, for th<? works that were above these 
 foum: ' were not unworthy of such 
 
 foundations ; for all the cloi-. touble, 
 
 nnd the pillars to them belonging were twenty- 
 ti\e cubits in height, and supported the cloisters. 
 pillars wove of one entire stone each of 
 and that stone was white marble; and 
 the roofs were adorned with cedar, curiously 
 :;raven. T">e rhMiral magnificence, and 
 lent polish, und the harmony of the joints in 
 these cloisters, attorded a prospect that was 
 \ery remarkable; nor was it on the outside 
 adorned with any work of the painter or en- 
 graver. The cloisters [of the outmost court] 
 were in breadth thirty cubits, while the entire 
 compass of it was. by measure, six furlongs, in- 
 cluding the tower of Antonia; those entire 
 '.hat wore exposed to the air were laid 
 with stones of all MUMS. When you go through 
 ti.ose [first] cloisters, unto the second [court of 
 tiie] temple, there was a partition made of stone 
 all round, \\ :ioe height was three cub 
 construction s> '-er" elegant; upon tt, stood 
 pillars, at oqnai u;s:a:ve- bom on-- ;!.>. her. de- 
 claring the law of purity, sonv :. <ieek. and 
 some in Koman letters, that "no foreigner 
 should go within that sanctuary;" for that 
 second [court of the] temple was called "the 
 iary," and was ascended to by fourteen 
 steps from the first court. This court was four- 
 square, and had a wall about it peculiar to itself ; 
 f its buildings, although it was oil 
 the outside forty cubits, was hidden by the 
 :uid on the Inside that height was hut 
 twenty-five cubits; for it being built 
 against a higher part of the hill with steps, it 
 further to be entirely discerned within, 
 overed by the hill itcelf. I'.eyond these 
 fourteen s;.-ps there was the dis;: 
 cubits : this was all plain, whence there were 
 other steps, each of five cubits a-piece that leads 
 to the gates, which gates on the north and south 
 sides were ci :ht. on each of those sides four, 
 and of necessity two on the east ; for sine* 
 was a partition built for the women on tha 
 as the proper place \\ herein they were to wor- 
 ship, there was a necessity of a second gate for 
 them; this gate was cut out of its waU, over 
 against the first gate. There was also on the 
 
 sides one southern and one northon, 
 through which was a pMttgt into t ho court of 
 t'ie women ; for as to the oilier gates, the wo- 
 men were not allowed to pass through them ; 
 nor when they went through their own gate 
 could they go beyond their own wall. This 
 place was allotted to the women of our own 
 country, and of other countries, provided they 
 were of the same nation, and that equally ; the 
 -u part of this court had no gate at all, 
 but tho wall was b-,;i!;. entire on that side : but 
 'hen the cloisters which were betwixt tho 
 extended from the wall inward, before the cham- 
 bers ; for they were supported by very tine and 
 large pillars These cloisters were single, and, 
 excepting their multitude, were no way infe- 
 rior to those of the lower court. 
 
 li. Now uine of these gates were on every side 
 covered over with gold and silver, as were the 
 jambs of their doors and their lintels ; but there 
 was one gate that was without (the inward 
 court nfl the ho'v hoim--. -.i-hich \>
 
 WAR Or THE JEWS. 
 
 -.: .- -: 
 
 ad gold asm 1 
 
 7 -..-- -._-.* _-- - 1 - :- - -- '- 
 pooredapoa them hy Alenadex, the fa- 
 ofUhenas. Now there were fifteea steps, 
 which led away frasa the wall of the eowt of 
 the wosaea to this greater gate; whereas thawe 
 ::_: .. -.. : - -. -.. , -_- r '- - ; . -.-. 
 
 ---.r; IM 
 
 4. As to the 
 
 placed in the saidst fof ike 
 most sacred put f the temple, it 
 
 to by twelve steps; and im front its 
 
 Had its breadth were equal, and each a hundred 
 
 cubits, though it wag behind thirty cubits nar- 
 
 rower; for on its front it had what may be 
 styled shouMers on each side, that passed 
 twenty cnbits farther. Its first gate was 
 seventy cmbits high, and twenty-five cubits 
 broad ; but this gate had no doors ; for it re- 
 presented the universal visibility of heaven, 
 . -it it cannot be excluded from any place. 
 Its front was covered with gold all over, and 
 through it the first part of the house, that was 
 more inward did all of it appear; whi^h, *s it 
 was very large, so did all the parts b7jt the 
 Btotc inward gate appear to shine to those that 
 saw them ; but then, as the entire hor^e was 
 divided into two parts within, it was ot-y the 
 first part of it that was open to our view. Its 
 extended all along to ninety cubits in 
 height, and its length was fifty cubits, and its 
 breadth twenty ; but that gate which was at 
 this end of the first part of the house was, as we 
 have already observed, all over covered with 
 gold, as was its whole wall about it : it had also 
 golden vines above it, from which clusters of 
 grapes hung as tall as a man's height ; but then 
 this house, as it was divided into two parts, the 
 inner part was lower than the appearance of 
 the outer, and had golden doors of twenty-five 
 cnbits altitude, and sixteen in breath ; but before 
 these doors there was a veil of equal largeness 
 with the doors. It was a Babylonian curtain, 
 embroidered with blue and fine linen, and 
 scarlet, and purple, and of a contexture that 
 was truly wonderful. Nor was this mixture oi 
 Colours without its mystical interpretation, Vm1 
 was a kind of image of the universe ; for by the 
 scarlet, there seemed to be enigmatically signi- 
 fied fire, by the fine flax the earth, by the blue 
 the air, and by the purple the sea ; two of them 
 having tlieir colours this foundation of this re- 
 semblance ; but the fine flax and the purple 
 have their own origin for that foundation, the 
 >arth producing the one, and the sea the other. 
 This curtain had also embroidered upon it all 
 =hat was mystical in the heavens, excepting that 
 of the [twelve] signs, representing living crea- 
 tures. 
 
 5. \T!-.k.. RUT person entered into the temple, 
 its flooc re. . Ivpri them. This mrt of the temple 
 
 :-..' ;- ::.;.: .-; .-.'.:. 
 
 .:-.- i "..-- -.' 
 are afl to he dedicated to his aae. Bat the 
 Hal T : -: H e :-:: at Hi tw*J :v s*. 
 kite. This was ahw separated frasa the oatar 
 partbyavL la this there was aodiiag t all. 
 ;- -:-> - -; '.;- :-. . -..;..-.: "* 
 
 by say; aad was called the Holy of Holie*. 
 Now, about the sides of the lower part of the 
 
 :': ---: ::.: --:-- : -. . .- .: 
 many of tbm, sad they were three stonB 
 laA; there were *l*o entrances on e*ch side 
 iato them from the gate of the temple. Bat 
 the Mpericr put of the temple had no rack 
 fittle hones any farther, because the temple 
 was there narrower, and forty cubits higher, 
 H I [mSMlbi ..-.y :...:. thelvwflrpwtl f ::. 
 Thus w collect that the whole height, includiBg 
 the sixty cnbits from the floor, amounted to a 
 hundred cubits. 
 
 6. Now the outward face of the temple m its 
 front wanted nothing that was likely to surprise 
 either men's minds or their eyes : for it was co- 
 vered all over with plates of gold of great weight, 
 and, at the first rising of the sun, reflected back a 
 very fiery splendour, and made those who forcer 
 themselves to lcofc upon it to turn their eyes 
 away, just as they would bare done at the sun * 
 own rays. But this temple appeared to strangers, 
 when they were at a distance, like a mountain 
 covered with snow ; for, as to those parts of h 
 that were not gilt, they were exceeding white. 
 On its top it had spikes with sharp points, to 
 prevent any pollution of it by birds sitting upon 
 it. Of its stones, some of them were forty-five 
 cubits in lencrth, five in height, and six in breadth. 
 Before this temple stood the altar, fifteen cubits 
 high, and equal both in length and breadth ; 
 each of which dimensions was fifty cubits. The 
 figure it was built in was a square, and it had 
 corners like horns ; and the passage up to it was 
 by an insensible acclivity. It was formed with- 
 out any iron tool, nor did any such iron tool so 
 much as touch it at any time. There was a wall 
 of partition, about a cnbit in height, made of fine 
 stones, and so as to be grateful to the sight ; thi* 
 encompassed the holy house and the altar, and 
 kept the people that were on the outside off from 
 the piiests. M on-over those that had the gonor- 
 rhoea and the leprosy were excluded out oi 
 citr entirely ; women also, when their courses 
 were upon 'them, were shut out ot the temple; 
 nor when they were free from that imp"ty, 
 were they allowed to go beyond the limit before- 
 mentioned ; men also, that were not thorough^ 
 pure were prohibited to come into the 1 
 [court of the] temple; nay, the pnests them- 
 selves that were not pure, were prohibited to 
 
 "T'NOW all those of th< etock of the priertt 
 that could not minister by reason of wm* dete 
 in the!" vvii. csn* tV : '' uv
 
 556 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK v. 
 
 gether with those that had no such imperfection, 
 and had their share with them by reason of their 
 stock, but still made use of none except their 
 own private garments ; for nobody but he that 
 officiated had on his sacred garments ; but then 
 these priests that were without any blemish upon 
 them, went up to the altar clothed in fine linen. 
 They abstained chiefly from wins, out of this 
 fear, lest otherwise they should transgress some 
 rules of their ministration. The high priest did 
 also go up with them ; not always indeed, but on 
 the seventh days and new moons, and if any fes- 
 tival belonging to our nation, which we celebrate 
 every year, happened. When he officiated, he 
 had on a pair of breeches that reached beneath 
 his privy parts to his thighs, and had on an inner 
 garment of linen, together with a blue garment, 
 round, without seam, with fringe-work and reach- 
 ing to the feet. There were also golden bells 
 that hung upon the fringes, and pomegranates 
 intermixed among them. The bells signified 
 thunder, and the pomegranates lightning. But 
 that girdle that tied the garment to the breast 
 was embroidered with five rows of various colours 
 of gold, and purple, and scarlet, as also of fine 
 linen and blue ; with which colours, we told 
 you before, the veils of the temple were embroi- 
 dered also. The like embroidery was upon the 
 ephod; but the quantity of gold therein was 
 greater. Its figure was that of a stomacher for 
 the breast. There were upon it two golden but- 
 tons like small shields, which buttoned the ephod 
 to the garment : in these buttons were enclosed 
 two very large and very excellent sardonyxes, 
 having the names of the tribes of that nation en- 
 graved upon them : on the other part were hung 
 twelve stones, three in a row one way, and four 
 in the other ; a sardius, a topaz, and an emerald : 
 a carbuncle, a jasper, and a sapphire ; an agate, 
 an amethyst, and a ligure ; an onyx, a beryl, and 
 a chrysolite } upon every one of which was again 
 engraved one of the forementioned names of the 
 tribes. A mitre also of fine linen encompassed 
 his head, which was tied by a blue riband, about 
 which there was another golden crown, in which 
 was engraven the sacred name [of God :] it con- 
 sists of four vowels. However, the high-priest 
 did not wear these garments at other times, but 
 a more plain habit ; he only did it when he went 
 into the most sacred part of the temple, which he 
 did but once a year, on that day when our cus- 
 tom is for all of us to keep a fast to God. And 
 thus much concerning the city and the temple ; 
 but for the customs and laws hereto relating, we 
 shall speak more accurately another time ; for 
 there remain a great many things thereto relat- 
 ing which have not been here touched upon. 
 
 8. Now, as to the tower of Antonia, it was 
 situated at the corner of two cloisters of the 
 court of the temple ; of that on the west and 
 that on the north ; it was erected upon a rock of 
 fifty cubits in height, and was on a great preci- 
 pice ; it was the work of king Herod, wherein 
 he demonstrated his natural magnanimity. In 
 the first place, the rock itself was covered over 
 with smooth pieces of stone, from its foundation, 
 both for ornament, and that any one who would 
 either try to get up, or to go down it, might not 
 be able to hold his feet upon it. Next to this, 
 and before you come to the edifice of the tower 
 itself, there was a wall three cubits high ; but 
 within that wall all the space of the tower of 
 Antonia itself was built upon, to the height of 
 forty cubits. The inward parts had the large- 
 ness and form of a palace, it being parted into 
 
 U kinds of rooms and other conveniences, such 
 as courts, and places for bathing, and broad 
 spaces for camps ; insomuch that, \ v having all 
 
 conveniences that cities wanted, it might seem 
 to be composed of several cities, but by its 
 magnificence, it seemed a palace ; and as the en- 
 tire structure resembled that of a tower, it con- 
 tained also four other distinct towers at its four 
 corners ; whereof the others were but fifty 
 cubits high ; whereas that which lay upon the 
 south-east corner was seventy cubits high, that 
 from thence the whole temple might be viewed ; 
 but on the corner where it joined to the two 
 cloisters of the temple, it had passages down to 
 them both, through which the guard (for there 
 always lay in this tower a Roman legion) went 
 several ways among the cloisters, with their 
 arms, on the Jewish festivals, in order to watch 
 the people, that they might not there attempt 
 to mak} any innovations ; for the temple was a 
 fortress that guarded the city, as was the tower 
 of Antonia a guard to the temple ; and in that 
 to wer were the guards of those three. There 
 was also a peculiar fortress belonging to the 
 upper city, which was Herod's palace ; but for 
 the hill Bezetha, it was divided from the tower 
 of Antonia, as we have already told you ; and as 
 that hill on which the tower of Antonia stood, 
 was the highest of these three, so did it adjoin 
 to the new city, and was the only place that 
 hindered the sight of the temple on the north. 
 And this shall suffice at present to have spoken 
 about the city and the walls about it, because I 
 have proposed to myself to make a more accu- 
 rate description of it elsewhere. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 CONCERNING i'Sffi TYRANTS SIMON AND JOHN. 
 HOW ALSO, A3 TITUS WAS GOING ROUND THE 
 WALL OP THE CITY, NICANOR WAS WOUNDED BY 
 A DARJ 1 ; WHICH ACCIDENT PROVOKED TITUS TO 
 PRESS ON THE SIEGE. 
 
 1. Now the warlike men that were in the city. 
 and the multitude of the seditious that wer 
 with Simon, were ten thousand, besides the 
 Idumeans. Those ten thousand had fifty com- 
 manders, over whom this Simon was supreme. 
 The Idumeans that paid him homage were five 
 thousand, and had eight commanders, among 
 whom those of the greatest fame were Jacob, 
 the son of Sosas, and Simon, the son of Cathlas. 
 John, who had seized upon the temple, had six 
 thousand armed men, under twenty commanders ; 
 the zealots also that had come over to him, and 
 left off their opposition, were two thousand four 
 hundred, and had the same commander they 
 had formerly, Eleazar, together with Simon, the 
 son of Arinus. Now, while these factions 
 fought one against another, the people were 
 their prey on both sides, as we have said already ; 
 and that part of the people who would not join 
 with them in their wicked practices, were 
 plundered by both factions. Simon held the 
 upper city, a*id the great wall as far as Cedron, 
 and as much of the old wall as bent from Siloam 
 to the east, and which went down to the palace 
 of Monobazus, who was king of the Adiabeni, 
 beyond Euphrates ; he also held the fountain, 
 and the Acra, which was no other than the lower 
 city ; he also held all that reached to the palace 
 of queen Helena, the mother of Monobazus ; 
 but John held the temple, and the parts thereto 
 adjoining, for a great way, as also Ophla, and 
 the valley called the " Valley of Cedron ; " and 
 when the parts that were interposed between 
 their possessions were burnt by them, they left 
 a space wherein they might fight with pac>
 
 CHAP. VL J 
 
 "WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 557 
 
 other ; for this internal sedition did not cease, 
 even when the Romans were encamped near 
 their very walls. But although they had grown 
 wiser at the first onset the Romans made upon 
 them, this lasted but a while ; for they returned 
 to their former madness, and separated one from 
 another, and fought it out, and did everything 
 that the besiegers could desire them to do ; for 
 they never suffered anything that was worse 
 from the Romans than they made each other 
 suffer ; nor was there any misery endured by the 
 city after these men's actions that could be 
 esteemed new. But it was most of all unhappy 
 before it was overthrown, while those that took 
 it did it a greater kindness ; for I venture to 
 affirm, that the sedition destroyed the city, and 
 the Romans destroyed the sedition, which it was 
 a much harder thing to do than to destroy the 
 walls ; so that we may justly ascribe our misfor- 
 tunes to our own people, and the just vengeance 
 taken on them by the Romans; as to which 
 matter let every one determine by the actions on 
 both sides. 
 
 2. Now, when affairs within the city were in 
 this posture, Titus went round the city on the 
 outside with some chosen horsemen, and looked 
 about for a proper place where he might make 
 an impression upon the walls ; but as he was in 
 doubt where he could possibly make an attack 
 on any side, (for the place was no way accessible 
 where the valleys were, and on the other side 
 the first wall appeared too strong to be shaken 
 by the engines,) he therefore thought it best to 
 make his assault upon the monument of John 
 the high priest ; for there it was that the first 
 fortification was lower, and the second was not 
 joined to it, the builders neglecting to build the 
 wall strong where the new city was not much 
 inhabited ; here also was an easy passage to the 
 third wall, through which he thought to take 
 the upper city, and through the tower of 
 Antonia, the temple itself. But at this time, as 
 he was going round about the city, one of his 
 friends, whose name was Nicanor, was wounded 
 with a dart on his left shoulder, as he approached, 
 together with Josephus, too near the wall, and 
 attempted to discourse to those that were upon 
 the wall, about terms of peace ; for he was a 
 person known by them. On this account it was 
 that Caesar, as soon as he knew their vehemence 
 that they would not bear even such an approached 
 them to what tended to their own preservation, 
 was provoked to press on the siege. He also at 
 the same time gave his soldiers leave to set the 
 suburbs on fire, and ordered that they should 
 bring timber together, and raise banks against 
 the city ; and when he had parted his army into 
 three parts, in order to set about those works, 
 he placed those that shot darts and the archers 
 in the midst of the banks that were then raising ; 
 before whom he placed those engines that threw 
 javelins, and darts, and stones, that he might 
 prevent the enemy from sallying out upon their 
 works, and might hinder those that were upon 
 the wall from being able to obstruct them. So 
 the trees were now cut down immediately, and 
 the suburbs left naked, ^"t now while the 
 timber was carrying to rafto the banks, and the 
 whole army was earnestly engaged in then- works, 
 the Jews were not, however, quiet ; and it hap- 
 pened that the people of Jerusalem, who had 
 been hitherto plundered and murdered, were 
 now of good courage, and supposed they should 
 have a breathing-time, while the others were 
 very busy in opposing their enemies without the 
 city, and that they should now be avenged on 
 those tha* had been the authors of their mise- 
 ries, in case the Romans did but get the victory. 
 
 3. However, John stayed behind, out of his fear 
 of Simon, even while his own men were earnest 
 in making a sully upon their enemies without 
 Yet did not Simon lie still; for he lay near the 
 place of the siege : he brought his engines of war, 
 and disposed of them at due distances upon the 
 wall, both those which they took from Cestius 
 formerly, and those which they got when they 
 seized the garrison that lay in the tower of An- 
 tonia. But though they had these engines in 
 their possession, they had so little skill in using 
 them, that they were in a great measure useless 
 to them ; but a few there were who had been 
 taught by deserters how to use them, which they 
 did use, though after an awkward manner. So 
 they cast stones and arrows at those that were 
 making the banks ; they also ran out upon them 
 by companies, and fought with them. Now 
 those that were at work covered themselves with 
 hurdles spread over their banks, and their en- 
 gines were opposed to them when they made 
 their excursions. The engines, that all the legions 
 had ready prepared for them, were admirably 
 contrived ; but still more extraordinary ones be- 
 longed to the tenth legion : those that threw 
 darts and those that threw stones, were more 
 forcible and larger than the rest, by which they 
 not only repelled the excursions of the Jews, but 
 drove those away that were upon the walls also. 
 Now, the stones that were cast, were of the 
 weight of a talent, and were carried two furlongs 
 and further. The blow they gave was no way 
 to be sustained, not only by those that stood first 
 in the way, but by those that were beyond them 
 for a great space. As for the Jews, they at first 
 watched the coming of the stone, for it was of a 
 white colour, and could therefore not only be 
 perceived by the great noise it made, but could 
 be seen also before it came, by its brightness ; j 
 accordingly, the watchmen that sat upon the ' 
 towers gave them notice when the engine was 
 let go, and the stone came from it, and cried out 
 aloud, hi their own country language, " THE STON ?. 
 COMETH;" so those that were in its way stood 
 off, and threw themselves down upon the ground ; 
 by which means, and by their thus guarding 
 themselves, the stone fell down and did them no 
 harm. But the Romans contrived how to pre- 
 vent that, by blacking the stone, who then could 
 aim at them with success, when the stone was 
 not discerned beforehand, as it had been till 
 then ; and so they destroyed many of them at 
 one blow. Yet did not the Jews, under all this 
 distress, permit the Romans to raise their banks 
 in quiet ; but they shrewdly and boldly exerted 
 themselves, and repelled them both by night and 
 by day. 
 
 4. And now, upon the finishing the Roman 
 works, the workmen measured the distance there 
 was from the wall, and this by lead and line, 
 which they threw to it from their banks; for 
 they could not measure it any otherwise, because 
 the Jews would shoot at them, if they came to 
 measure it themselves ; and when they found 
 that the engines could reach the wall, they 
 brought them thithet Then did Titua set hi 
 engines at proper distances, so much nearer to 
 the wall, that thfc Jews might not be able to re- 
 pel them, aud gave orders that they should go 
 to work; and then thereupon a prodigious noise 
 echoed round about from three places, and on 
 the sudden there was a great noise made by 
 the citizens that were within the city, and no 
 less a terror fell upon the seditious themselves ; 
 whereupon both sorts, seeing the common danger 
 they were in, contrived to make a like defence.^ 
 So those of different factions cried out one to 
 another, that they acted entirely as in concert
 
 556 
 
 WAItS Oi 1 TiiE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK v. 
 
 with their enemies ; whereas, they ought, how- 
 ever, notwithstanding God did not grant them a 
 lasting concord, in their present circumstances, 
 to lay aside their enmities one against another, 
 and to unite together against the Romans. Ac- 
 cordingly, Simon gave those that came from the 
 temple leave, by proclamation, to go upon the 
 wall ; John also himself, though he could not 
 >elieve Simon was in earnest, gave them the 
 same leave. So on both sides they laid aside 
 iheir hatred and their peculiar quarrels, and 
 brmed themselves into one body ; they then ran 
 ound the walls, and having a vast number of 
 iorches with them, they threw them at the ma- 
 chines, and shot darts perpetually upon those 
 ,hat impelled those engines which battered the 
 wall ; nay, the bolder sort leaped out by troops 
 upon the hurdles that covered the machines, and 
 pulled them to pieces, and fell upon those that 
 belonged to them, and beat them, not so much 
 by any skill they had, as principally by the bold- 
 ness of their attacks. However, Titus himself 
 sent assistance to those that were the hardest 
 Bet, and placed both horsemen and archers on the 
 several sides of the engines, and thereby beat off 
 those that brought the fire to them ; he also 
 thereby repelled those that shot stones or darts 
 from the towers, and then set the engines to 
 work in good earnest ; yet did not the wall yield 
 to these blows, excepting where the battering- 
 ram of the fifteenth legion moved the corner of 
 a tower, while the wall itself continued unhurt ; 
 for the wall was not presently in the same danger 
 with the tower, which was extant far above it ; 
 nor could the fall of that part of the tower, easily 
 break down any part of the wall itself together 
 with it. 
 
 5. And now the Jews intermitted their sal- 
 lies for a while ; but when they observed the 
 Romans dispersed all abroad at then works, and 
 In their several camps (for they thought the 
 Jews had retired out of weariness and fear) 
 they all at once made a sally at the tower Hip- 
 picus, through an obscure gate, and at the sanio 
 time brought fire to burn the works, and went 
 boldly up to the Romans, and to their very for- 
 tifications themselves, where, at the cry they 
 made, those that were near them came pre- 
 sently to- their assistance, and those farther off 
 came running after them ; and here the boldness 
 of the Jews was too hard for the good order of 
 the Romans ; and as they beat those whom they 
 first fell upon, so they pressed upon those that 
 were now gotten together. So this fight, about 
 the machines was very hot, while the one side 
 tried hard to set them on fire, and the other side 
 to prevent it ; on both sides there was a confused 
 cry made, and many of those in the fore-front of 
 the battle were slain. However, the Jews were 
 now too hard for the Romans, by the furious as- 
 saults they made like madmen ; and the fire 
 caught hold of the works, and both all these 
 works and the engines themselves, had been in 
 danger of being burnt, had not many of those 
 select soldiers that came from Alexandria opposed 
 themselves to prevent it, and had they not be- 
 haved themselves with greater courage than they 
 themselves supposed they could have done ; for 
 they outdid those in this fight that had greater 
 reputation than themselves before. This was 
 the state of things till Cassar took tli stoutest 
 of his horsemen and attacked the enemy, while 
 he himself slew twelve of those that were in the 
 fore-front of the Jews ; which death of these 
 men, when the rest of the multitude saw, they 
 fave way, and he pursued them, and drove them 
 fcll into the city, and saved the works from the 
 fire. Now it happened at this fisht. that a cer. 
 
 tain Jew was taken alive, who, by Titus's orders, 
 was crucified before the wall, to see whether the 
 rest of them would be affrighted, and abate of 
 their obstinacy. But after the Jews were re- 
 tired, John, who was commander of the Idu- 
 means, and was talking to a certain soldier of hia 
 acquaintance before the wall, was wounded by a 
 dart shot at him by an Arabian, and died immedi- 
 ately, leaving the greatest lamentation to the 
 Jews, and sorrow to the seditious ; for he was a 
 man of great eminence, both for hia actions and 
 his conduct also. 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 HOW ONE OF THE TOWERS ERECTED BY THE ROMANS 
 FELL DOWN OF IT8 OWN ACCORD ; AND HOW 
 THE ROMANS, AFTER GREAT SLAUGHTER HAD 
 BEEN MADE, GOT POSSESSION OF THE FIRST 
 WALL. HOW ALSO TITUS MADE HIS ASSAULTS 
 UPON THE SECOND WALL; AS ALSO CONCERN- 
 ING LONGINUS THE ROMAN, AND CASTOR THB 
 JEW. 
 
 1. Now, on the next night, a most surprising 
 disturbance fell upon the Romans ; for whereas 
 Titus had given orders for the erection of three 
 towers of fifty cubits high, that by setting men 
 upon them at every bank, he might from thence 
 drive those away who were upon the wall, it so 
 happened that one of these towers fell down 
 about midnight ; and as its fall made a very 
 great noise, fear fell upon the army, and they, 
 supposing that the enemy was coming to attack 
 them, ran all to their arms. "Whereupon a dis- 
 turbance and a tumult arose among the legions, 
 and as nobody could tell what had happened, 
 they went on sifter a disconsolate manner ; and 
 seeing no enemy appear, they were afraid one of 
 another, and every one demanded of his neigh- 
 bour the watch-word with great earnestness, as 
 though the Jews had invaded their camp. And 
 now they were like people under a panic fear, 
 till Titus was informed of what had happened, 
 and gave orders that all should be acquainted 
 with it ; and then, though with some difficulty, 
 they got clear of the disturbance they had been 
 under. 
 
 2. Now, these towers were very troublesome 
 to the Jews, who otherwise opposed the Romans 
 very courageously ; for they shot at them out of 
 their lighter engines than those towers, as they 
 did also by those that threw darts, and the 
 archers, and those that slung stones. For neither 
 could the Jews reach those that were over them, 
 by reason of their height ; and it was not practi- 
 cable to take them, nor to overturn them, they 
 were so heavy, nor to set them on fire, because 
 they were covered with plates of iron. So they 
 retired out of the reach of the darts, and did no 
 longer endeavour to hinder the impression of 
 their rams, which, by continually beating upon 
 the wall, did gradually prevail against it; so 
 that the wall already gave way to the Nico, for 
 by that name did the Jews themselves call the 
 greatest of their engines, because it conquered 
 all things. And now, they were for a long while 
 grown weary of fighting, and of keeping guards, 
 and were retired to lodge in the night-time at a 
 distance from the wall. It was on other ac- 
 counts also thought by them to be superfluous 
 to guard the wall, there being, besides that, two 
 )ther fortifications still remaining, and they beiny 
 lothful, ami their counsels having been ill-con- 
 certed on all occasions; BO a great many grew 
 lazy, and retired. Then thf Romans mount o<l
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 559 
 
 the breach, where Nico hud made one, and all 
 the Jews left the guarding the wall, and retreat- 
 ed to the second wall ; BO those that had gotten 
 over the wall, opened the gates, and received all 
 the army within it. And thus did the llomans 
 get possession of this first wall, on the fifteenth 
 day of the siege, which was the seventh day of 
 the month Artemisius [Jyar,] when they demo- 
 lished a great part of it, as well as they did of 
 the northern parts of the city, which had be 
 demolished also by Cestius formerly. 
 
 3. And now Titus pitched his camp within the 
 city, at that place which was called " the camp 
 of the Assyrians," having seized upon all that lay 
 as far as Cedron, but took care to be out of the 
 reach of the Jews' darts. He then presently 
 began his attacks, upon which the Jews divided 
 themselves into several bodies, and courageously 
 defended that wall ; while John and his faction 
 did it from the tower of Antonia, and from the 
 northern cloister of the temple, and fought the 
 the Romans before the monument of king Alex- 
 ander ; and Simon's army also took for theii 
 share the s\,vt of ground that was near John's 
 monument, and fortified it as far as to that gate 
 where water was brought in to the tower Hippi- 
 cus. However, the Jews made violent sallies, 
 and that frequently also, and hi bodies together 
 uut of the gates, and there fought the Romans ; 
 and when they were pursued all together to the 
 wall, they were beaten in those tights, as wanting 
 the skill of the Romans. But when they fought 
 them from the walls, they were too hard for them, 
 the Romans being encouraged by their power, 
 joined to their skill, as were the Jews by their 
 boldness, which was nourished by the fear they 
 were in, and that hardiness which is natural to 
 our nation under calamities ; they were also en- 
 couraged still by the hope of deliverance, as 
 were the Romans by the hopes of subduing then) 
 in a little time. Nor did either side grow weary, 
 but attacks and fightings upon the walls and per- 
 petual sallies out in bodies were practised id! the 
 day long ; nor were there any sort of warlike en- 
 gagements that were not then put in use. Atid. 
 the night itself hud much ado to part them, 
 when they began to fight in the morning ; nay, 
 the night itself was passed without sleep on both 
 sides, and was more uneasy than the day to them, 
 while the one WHS afraid lest the wall should -be 
 taken, and the others lest the Jews should make 
 sallie.s upon their cainps ; both sides also lay in 
 their armour during the night-time, and thereby 
 were ready at the appearance of light to go to 
 the battle. Now, among the Jews the ambition 
 was who should undergo the first dangers, and 
 thereby gratify their commanders. Above all, 
 they had a great veneration and dread of Simon ; 
 and to that degree was he regarded by every one 
 of those that were under him, that at his com- 
 mand they were ready to kill themselves with 
 their own hands. What made the Romans so 
 courageous, was their usual custom of conquer- 
 ing and disuse of being defeated, their constant 
 wars, and perpetual warlike exercises, and the 
 grandeur of their dominion ; and what was now 
 the chief encouragement, Titus, who wad pre- 
 sent everywhere with them all ; for it appeared 
 a terrible thing to grow weary while C*sar was 
 there, and fought bravely as well as they did, 
 and was himself at once an eye-witness of such 
 as behaved themselves valiantly, and he who 
 was to reward them also. It was besides 
 esteemed an advantage at present to have any 
 one's valour known by Cajsar ; on which account 
 1 many of them appeared to have more alacrity than 
 strength to answer it. And now, as the Jews 
 i were about this time standing in array before 
 
 the wall, and that in a strong body, and whila 
 both parties were throwing their darts &t each 
 other, Louginus, one of the equestrian order, 
 leaped out of the army of the Romans, and leaped 
 into the very midst of the army of the Jews ; 
 and as they dispersed themselves upoh this at- 
 tack, he slew two of their men of the greatest 
 courage ; one of them he struck in his mouth, 
 as he was coming to meet him ; the other was 
 skin by that very dart that he drew out of the 
 body of the other, with which he ran this man 
 through his side as he was running away from 
 him ; and when he had done this, he first of all 
 ran out of the midst of his enemies to his own 
 side. So this man signalized himself for his 
 valour, and many there were who were ambitious 
 of gaining the like reputation. And now the 
 Jews were unconcerned at what they suffered 
 themselves from the Romans, and were only so- 
 Dcitous about what mischief they could do them ; 
 and death itself seemed a small matter to them, 
 if at the same time they could but kill any one 
 of their enemies. But Titus took care to secure 
 his own soldiers from harm, as well as to have 
 them overcome their enemies. He also said 
 that inconsiderate violence was madness ; and 
 that this alone was the true courage that was 
 joined with good conduct. He therefore com- 
 manded his men to take care, when they fought 
 their enemies, that they received no harm from 
 them at the same time ; and thereby shew them- 
 selves to be truly valiant men. 
 
 4. And now Titus brought one of his engines 
 to the middle tower of the north part of the 
 wall, in which a certain crafty Jew, whose name 
 was Castor, lay hi ambush, with ten others like 
 himself, the rest being fled away by reason of 
 the archers. These men lay still for a while, as 
 in great fear, under their breast-plates ; but 
 when the tower was shaken, they arose ; and 
 Castor did then stretch out his hand, as a peti- 
 tioner, and called for Cajsar, and by his voice 
 moved his compassion, and begged of him to 
 have mercy upon them : and Titus in the 
 innocency of his heart, believing him to be in 
 earnest, and hoping that the Jews did now re- 
 pent, stopped the working of the battering-ram, 
 and forbade them to shoot at the petitioners, and 
 bade Castor say what he had a mind to say to 
 him. He said that he would come down, if he 
 would give him'his right hand for his security. 
 To which Titus replied, that he was well pleased 
 with such his agreeable conduct, and would be 
 well pleased if all the Jews would be of hia 
 mind ; and that he was ready to give the like 
 security to the city. Now five of the ten dis- 
 sembled with him, and pretended to beg for 
 mercy ; while the rest cried out aloud, that they 
 would never be slaves to the Romans, while it 
 was in their power to die in a state of freedom. 
 Now while these men were quarrelling for a 
 long while, the attack was delayed ; Castor also 
 sent to Simon, and told him that they might 
 take some tune for consultation about what was 
 to be done, because he would elude the power 
 of the Romans for a considerable time. And at 
 the same time that he stnt thus to him, he ap- 
 peared openly to exhort those that were obsti- 
 nate to accept of Titus's hand for their security ; 
 but they seemed very angry t it. und brandished 
 their naked swords upon u.c in <.-.iat- works, and 
 I struck themselves upon their breast, and fell 
 ' down as if they had been slain. Hereupon 
 i Titus, and those with hnn were amazed at the 
 . courage of the men ; and as they were not able 
 to see exactly what was done, they admired at 
 their great fortitude, and pitied their calamity. 
 During this interval, a certain person shot a dart
 
 B60 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK v. 
 
 t Castor, and wounded him in his nose ; where- 
 upon he presently pulled out the dart, and 
 shewed it to Titus, and complained that this was 
 unfair treatment : so Csesar reproved him that 
 hot the dart, and sent Josephus, who then 
 stood by him, to give his right hand to Castor. 
 But Josephus said that he would not go to him, 
 because these pretended petitioners meant no- 
 thing that was good ; he also restrained those 
 friends of his who were zealous to go to him. 
 But still there was one jEneas, a deserter, who 
 said he would go to him. Castor also called to 
 them, that somebody should come and receive 
 the money which he had with him ; this made 
 .neas the more earnestly to run to him with 
 his bosom open. Then did Castor take up a 
 great stone, and threw it at him, which missed 
 him, because he guarded himself against it ; but 
 still it wounded another soldier that was coming 
 to him. When Csesar understood that this was 
 a delusion, he perceived that mercy in war is a 
 pernicious thing, because such cunning tricks 
 nave less place under the exercise of greater 
 severity. So he caused the engine to work more 
 strongly than before, on account of his anger at 
 the deceit put upon him. But Castor and his 
 companions set the tower on fire when it began 
 to give way, and leaped through the flame into 
 a hidden vault that was under it ; which made 
 the Romans further suppose that they were men 
 of great courage, as having cast themselves into 
 the fire. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 HOW THE ROMANS TOOK THE SECOND WALL TWICE, 
 ANE (JOT ALL READY FOR TAKING THE THIRD 
 WALL. 
 
 1. Now Caesar took this wall there on the fifth 
 day after he had taken the first ; and when the 
 Jews had fled from him, he entered into it with 
 a thousand armed men, and those of his choice 
 troops, and this at a place where were the mer- 
 chants of wool, the braziers, and the market for 
 cloth, and where the narrow streets led obliquely 
 to the walL Wherefore, if Titus had either de- 
 molished a larger part of the wall immediately, 
 or had come in, and according to the law of war, 
 had laid waste what was left, his victory would 
 not, I suppose, have been mixed with any loss to 
 himself ; but now, out of the hope he had that 
 he should make the Jews ashamed of their ob- 
 stinacy, by not being willing, when he was able 
 to afflict them more than ho needed to do, he did 
 not widen the breach of the wall in order to 
 make a safer retreat upon occasion ; for he did 
 not think they would lay snares for him that 
 did them such a kindness. When therefore he 
 came in, he did not permit of his soldiers to kill 
 any of those they caught, nor to set fire to their 
 houses neither ; nay, he gave leave to the sedi- 
 tious, if they had a mind, to fight without any 
 harm to the people, and promised to restore the 
 people's effects to them ; for he was very desir- 
 ous to preserve the city for his own sake, and the 
 temple for the sake of the city. As to the people, 
 he had them of a long time ready to comply with 
 his proposals ; but as to the fighting men, this 
 humanity of his seemed a mark of his weakness ; 
 and they imagined that he made these proposals 
 because he was not able to take the rest of the 
 "ty- They also threatened death to the people, 
 t they should any one of them say a word about 
 A surrender, They moreover cut the throats of 
 roch as talked of a peace, and then attacked 
 
 those Romans that were come within the wall 
 Some of them they met in the narrow streets, 
 and some they fought against from their houses, 
 while they made a sudden sally out at the upper 
 gates, and assaulted such Romans as were be- 
 yond the wall till those that guarded the wall 
 were so affrighted, that they leaped down from 
 their towers, and retired to their several camps ; 
 upon^ Vhich a great noise was made by the 
 Romans that were within, because they were 
 encompassed round on every side by their 
 enemies ; as also by them that were without, 
 because they were in fear for those that were left 
 in the city. Thus did the Jews grow more numer- 
 ous perpetually, and had great advantage over 
 the Romans, by their full knowledge of those 
 narrow lanes ; and they wounded a great many 
 of them, and fell upon them, and drove them 
 out of the city. Now these Romans were at 
 present forced to make the best resistance they 
 could ; for they were not able, in great num'bers, 
 to get out at the breach in the wall, it was so 
 narrow. It is also probable that all those that 
 were gotten within had been cut to pieces, if 
 Titus had not sent them succours ; for he ordered 
 the archers to stand at the upper ends of these 
 narrow lanes ; and he stood himself where was 
 the greatest multitude of his enemies, and with 
 his darts he put a stop to them ; as with him did 
 Domitius Sabinus also, a valiant man, and one 
 that in this battle appeared so to be. Thus did 
 Csesar continue to shoot darts at the Jews con- 
 tinually, and to hinder them from coming upon 
 his men, and this until all his soldiers had re- 
 treated out of the city. 
 
 2. And thus -were the Romans driven out, 
 after they had possessed themselves of the se- 
 cond wall Whereupon the fighting men that 
 were in the city were lifted up in their minds, 
 and were elevated upon this their good success, 
 and began to think that the Romans would 
 never venture to come into the city any more ; 
 and that, if they kept within it themselves, they 
 should not be any more conquered ; for God had 
 blinded their minds for the transgressions they 
 had been guilty of, nor could they see how much 
 greater forces the Romans had than those that 
 were now expelled, no more than they could 
 discern how a famine was creeping upon them ; 
 for hitherto they had fed themselves out of the 
 public miseries, and drank the blood of the city. 
 But now poverty had for a long time seized upon 
 the better part, and a great many had died al- 
 ready for want of necessaries ; although the se- 
 ditious indeed supposed the destruction of the 
 people to be an easement to themselves, for 
 they desired that none others might be pre- 
 served but such as were against a peace with the 
 Romans, and were resolved to live in opposition 
 to them, and they were pleased when the multi- 
 tude of those of a contrary opinion were con- 
 sumed, as being then freed from a heavy burden : 
 and this was their disposition of mind with re- 
 gard to those that were within the city, while 
 they covered themselves with their armour, and 
 prevented the Romans, when they were trying 
 to get into the city again, and made a wall of 
 their own bodies over against that part of the 
 wall that was cast down. Thus did they val- 
 iantly defend themselves for three days ; but on 
 the fourth day they could not support them- 
 selves against the vehement assaults of Titus, but 
 were compelled by force to fly whither they had 
 fled before ; so he quietly possessed himself 
 again of that wall, and demolished it entirely; 
 and when he had put a garrison into the towers 
 that were on the south parts of the city, he con- 
 trived how he might assault the third walL
 
 CHAP. IX.] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 661 
 
 TITUS, WHEN THE JEWS WEHE NOT AT ALL MOLLI- 
 FIED BY HIS LEAVING OFF THE SIEGE FOR A 
 WHILE, SET HIMSELF AGAIN TO PROSECUTE THE 
 SAME ; BUT SOON SENT JOSEPHUS TO DISCOURSE 
 WITH HIS OWN COUNTRYMEN ABOUT PEACE. 
 
 L A RESOLUTION was now taken by Titus, to 
 relax the siege for a little while, and to afford 
 the seditious an interval for consideration, and 
 ko see whether the demolishing of their second 
 wall would not make them a little more compli- 
 ant, or whether they were not somewhat afraid 
 of a famine, because the spoils they had gotten 
 by rapine would not be sufficient for them long ; 
 so he made use of this relaxation, in order to 
 compass his own designs. Accordingly, as the 
 usual appointed time when he must distribute 
 subsistence-money to *he soldiers, wag now come, 
 he gave orders that the commanders should put 
 the army into battle array, in the face of the 
 enemy, and then give every one of the soldiers 
 their pay. So the soldiers, according to cus- 
 tom, opened the cases wherein their arms before 
 lay covered, and marched with their breastplates 
 on ; as did the horsemen lead their horses in 
 their fine trappings. Then did the places that 
 were before the city, shine very splendidly for a 
 great way ; nor was there anything so grateful 
 to Titus's own men, or so terrible to the e leiny 
 as that sight ; for the whole old wall and the 
 north side of the temple were full of spectators, 
 and one might see the houses full of such as 
 looked at them ; nor was there any part of the 
 city which was not covered over with their mul- 
 titudes ; nay, a very great consternation seized 
 upon the hardiest of the Jews themselves, wlien 
 they saw all the army in the same place, together 
 with the fineness of their arms, and the good 
 order of their men ; and I cannot but think that 
 the seditious would have changed their minds at 
 that sight, unless the crimes they had com- 
 mitted against the people had been so horrid, 
 that they despaired of forgiveness from the Ro- 
 mans; but as they believed death with tor- 
 ments must be their punishment, if they did 
 not go on in the defence of the city, they thought 
 it much better to die in war. Fate also prevailed 
 so far over them, that the innocent were to perish 
 with the guilty, and the city was to be destroyed 
 with the seditious that were in it. 
 
 2. Thus did the Romans spend four days in 
 bringing this subsistence-money to the several 
 legions ; but, on the fifth day, when no signs of 
 peace appeared to come from the Jews, Titus di- 
 vided his legions, and began to raise banks, both 
 at the tower of Antonia, and at John's monu- 
 ment. Now, his designs were to take the upper 
 city at that monument, and the temple at the 
 tower of Antonia ; for if the temple were not 
 taken, it would be dangerous to keep the city 
 itself ; BO at each of these parts he raised him 
 banks, each legion raising one. As for those 
 that wrought at John's monument, the Idume- 
 ans, and those that were in arms with Simon, 
 made sallies upon them, and put some stop to 
 them ; while John's party and the multitude of 
 zealots with them, did the like to those that 
 were before the tower of Antonia, These Jews 
 were now too hard for the Romans, not only in 
 direct fighting, because they stood upon the 
 higher ground, but because they had now 
 learned to use their own engines ; for their con- 
 tinual use of them, one day after another, did 
 by degrees improve their skill about them ; for 
 of one sort of engines for darts they had three 
 
 hundred, and forty for stones ; by the means of 
 which they made it more tedious for the Ro- 
 mans to raise their banks ; but then Titus, 
 knowing that the city would be either saved or 
 destroyed for himself, did not only proceed ear- 
 nestly in the siege, but did not omit to have the 
 Jews exhorted to repentance ; BO he mixed good 
 counsel with his works for the siege ; and being 
 sensible that exhortations are frequently more 
 effectual than arms, he persuaded them to sur- 
 render the city, now in a manner already taken, 
 and thereby to save themselves, and sent Jose- 
 phus to speak to them in their own language ; 
 for he imagined they might yield to the persua- 
 sion of a countryman of their own. 
 
 '3. So Josephus went round about the wall, 
 and tried to find a place that was out of the 
 reach of their darts, and yet within their hear- 
 ing, and besought them, in many words, to spare 
 themselves, to spare their country and their 
 temple, and not to be more obdurate in these 
 cases than foreigners themselves ; for that the 
 Romans, who had no relation to those things, 
 had a reverence for their sacred rites and places, 
 although they belonged to their enemies, and 
 had till now kept their hands off from meddling 
 with them ; while such as were brought up 
 under them, and, if they be preserved, will be 
 the only people that will reap the benefit of 
 them, hurry on to have them destroyed. That 
 certainly they have seen their strongest walls 
 demolished, and that the wall still remaining, 
 was weaker than those that were already taken. 
 That they must know the Roman power was in- 
 vincible, and that they had been used to serve 
 them ; for, that in case it be allowed a right 
 thing to fight for liberty, that ought to have 
 been done at first ; but for them that have once 
 fallen under the power of the Romans, and have 
 now submitted to them for so many long years, 
 u> pretend to shake off that yoke afterward, 
 was the work of such as had a mind to die miser- 
 ably, not of such as were lovers of liberty. Be- 
 sides, men may well enough grudge at the dis- 
 honour of owning ignoble masters over them, 
 but ought not to do so to those who have all 
 things under their command ; for what part of 
 the world is there that hath escaped the Ro- 
 mans, unless it be such as are of no use, for vio- 
 lent heat or violent cold? And evident it Ls> 
 that fortune is on all hands gone over to them ; 
 and that God, when he had gone round the na 
 tions with this dominion, is now settled in Italy. 
 That, moreover, it is a strong and fixed law, 
 even among brute beasts, as well as among men, 
 to yield to those that are too strong for them ; 
 and to suffer those to have dominion who are 
 too hard for the rest in war ; for which reason it 
 was that their forefathers, who were far supe- 
 rior to them both in their souls and bodies, and 
 other advantages, did yet submit to the Romans ; 
 which they would not have suffered, had they 
 not known that God was with them. As foi 
 themselves, what can they depend on in _ th, 
 their opposition, when the greatest part of the 
 city is already taken ? and when those that are 
 within it are under greater miseries than if they 
 were taken, although their walls be still stand- 
 in" ? For that the Romans are not unacquainted 
 wfth that famine which is in the city, whereby 
 the people are already consumed, and the fight- 
 incr men will in a little time be so too; for 
 although the Romans should leave off the siege, 
 and not full upon the city with their swords in 
 their hands, yet was there an insuperable war 
 that beset them within, and was augmented 
 every hour, unless they were able to wage wa. 
 with famine, and fight against it. or could aloru 
 
 2 N
 
 50! 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK V. 
 
 conquer their natural appetite*. He added this 
 farther, How right a thing it was to change 
 their conduct, before their calamities were be- 
 come incurable, and to have recourse to such ad- 
 vice as might preserve them, while opportunity 
 was offered them for so doing ; for that the Ro- 
 mans would not be mindful of their past actions 
 to their disadvantage, unless they persevered in 
 their insolent behaviour to the end ; because 
 they were naturally mild in their conquests, and 
 preferred what was profitable, before what their 
 passions dictated to them ; which profit of theirs 
 lay not in leaving the city empty of inhabitants, 
 nor the country a desert ; on which account 
 Osesar did now offer them his right hand for 
 their security. Whereas, if he took the city by 
 force, he would not save any one of them, and 
 this especially, if they rejected his offers in these 
 their utmost distresses ; for the walls that were 
 already taken, could not but assure them that 
 the third wall would quickly be taken also ; 
 and though their fortifications should prove too 
 strong for the Romans to break through them, 
 yet would the famine fight for the Romans 
 ugainst them. 
 
 4. While Josephus was making this exhorta- 
 tion to the Jews, many of them jested upon him 
 from the wall, many reproached him ; nay, some 
 threw their darts at him ; but when he could 
 not himself persuade them by such open good 
 advice, he betook himself to the histories be- 
 longing to their own nations ; and cried outaloud, 
 " O miserable creatures ! Are you so unmindful 
 of those that used to assist you, that you will 
 fight by you. wapons and by your hands against 
 the Romata' ^When did we ever conquer any 
 other nation ^ such means ? and when was it 
 that God, wlio is the Creator of the Jewish 
 people, did not avenge them when they had 
 been injured? Will not you turn again, and 
 look back, and consider whence it is that you 
 fight with such violence, and how great a Sup- 
 porter you have profanely abused ? Will you 
 recall to mind the prodigious things done for 
 your forefathers and this holy place, and how 
 great enemies of yours were by him subdued 
 under you ? I even tremble myself in declaring 
 the works of God before your ears, that are un- 
 worthy to hear them : however, hearken to me 
 that you may be informed how you fight, not 
 only against the Romans but against God him- 
 self. In old times there was one Necao, king of 
 Egypt, who was also called Pharaoh : he came 
 with a prodigious army of soldiers, and seized 
 queen Sarah, the mother of our nation. What 
 did Abraham our progenitor then do ? Did he 
 defend himself from this injurious person by 
 war, although he had three hundred and eighteen 
 captains under him, and an immense army under 
 each of them? Indeed, he deemed them to be 
 no number at all without God's assistance, and 
 only spread out his hands towards this holy 
 place, which you have now polluted, and 
 reckoned upon him as upon his invincible sup- 
 porter, instead of his own army. Was' not our 
 queen sent back, without any defilement, to her 
 husband, the very next evening? while the 
 king of Egypt fled away, adoring this place 
 
 * Jogephus supposes, in this speech to the Jews, that 
 
 act Abraham only, but Pharaoh king of Egypt, prayed 
 
 towards a temple at Jerusalem, or towards Jerusalem 
 
 itself, in which were Mount Sion and Mount Moriah, 
 
 >n which the tabernacle and temple did afterwards 
 
 1 ; and this long before either the Jewish taber- 
 
 cle or temple was built ; nor is the famous command 
 
 n by God to Abraham, to go two or three days' 
 
 ourney, on purpose to offer up hi* son Igaac there, 
 
 infavourable to such a notion. 
 
 which you have defiled by shedding thereon the 
 blood of yoxir countrymen ; and he also trembled 
 at those visions which he saw in the night- 
 season, and bestowed both silver and gold on the 
 Hebrews, as on a people beloved of God. Shall 
 I say nothing, or shall I mention the removal of 
 our fathers into Egypt, who, when they were 
 used tyrannically, and were fallen under the 
 power of foreign kings for four hundred years 
 together, and might have defended themselves 
 by war and by fighting, did yet do nothing but 
 commit themselves to God " Who is there that 
 does not know that Egypt w over-run with all 
 sorts of wild beasts, and consumed by all sorts 
 of distempers? how their land did not bring 
 forth his fruit ? how the Nile failed of water ; 
 how the ten plagues of Egypt followed one upon 
 another? and how, by those means, pur fathers 
 were sent away, under a guard, without any 
 bloodshed, and without running any dangers, 
 because God conducted them as his peculiar 
 servants ? Moreover, did not Palestine groan 
 under the ravage the Assyrians made, when they 
 carried away our sacred ark ? as did their idol 
 Dagon, and as also did that entire nation of 
 those that earned it away, how they were 
 smitten with a loathsome distemper in the secret 
 parts of their bodies, when their very bowels 
 came down together with what they had eaten, 
 till those hands that stole it away were obliged 
 to bring it back again, and that with the sound 
 of cymbals and timbrels, and other oblations, in 
 order to appease the anger of God for their 
 violation of his holy ark. It was God who then 
 became our general, and accomplished these 
 great things for our fathers, and this because 
 they did not meddle with war and fighting, but 
 committed it to him to judge about their affairs. 
 When Sennacherib, king of Assyria, brought 
 along with him all Asia, and encompassed thia 
 city round with his army, did he fall by the 
 hands of men ? were not those hands lifted up 
 to God in prayers, without meddling with their 
 arms, when an angel of God destroyed that pro- 
 digious army in one night ? when the Assyrian 
 king, as he rose next day, found a hundred 
 fourscore and five thousand dead bodies, and 
 when he, with the remainder of his army, fled 
 away from the Hebrews, though they were un- 
 armed, and did not pursue them ! You are also 
 acquainted with the slavery we were under at 
 Babylon, where the people were captives for 
 seventy years ; yet were they not delivered into 
 freedom again before God made Cyrus his 
 gracious instrument in bringing it about ; ac- 
 cordingly they were set free by him, and did 
 again restore the worship of their Deliverer at 
 his temple. And, to speak in general, we can 
 produce no example wherein our fathers got any 
 success by war, or failed of success, when with- 
 out war they committed themselves to God. 
 When they stayed at home they conquered, as 
 pleased their Judge ; but when they went out 
 to fight they were always disappointed : for ex- 
 ample, when the king of Babylon besieged this 
 very city, and our king Zedekiah fought against 
 him, contrary to what predictions were made to 
 him by Jeremiah the prophet, he was at once 
 taken prisoner, and saw the city acd the temple 
 demolished. Yet how much greater was the 
 moderation of that king, than is that of your 
 present governors, and that of the people then 
 under him, than is that of you at this time ! for 
 when Jeremiah cried out aloud, how very angry 
 God was at them, because of their transgressions, 
 and told them that they should be taken prisoners, 
 unless they would surrender up their cityj 
 neither did the king nor the people put him to
 
 CHAP. IX. 1 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 death ; but for you (to pass over what you have 
 done within the city, which I ani not able to de- 
 scribe, as your wickedness deserves) you abuse 
 me, and throw darts at me, who only exhort you 
 to save yourselves, as being provoked when you 
 are put in mind of your sins, and cannot bear 
 the very mention of those crimes which you 
 every day perpetrate. For another example, 
 when Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes, lay 
 before this city, and had been guilty of mauy 
 indignities against God, and our forefathers met 
 him in arms, they then were slain in the battle, 
 this city was plundered by our enemies, and our 
 sanctuary made desolate for three years and six 
 months. And what need I bring any more 
 examples ! Indeed, what can it be that hath 
 stirred up an army of the Romans against our 
 nation ? Is it not the impiety of the inhabitants ? 
 Whence did our servitude commence ? Was it 
 not derived from the seditions that were among 
 our forefathers, when the madness of Aristo- 
 bulus and Hyrcanus, and our mutual quarrels, 
 brought Pompey upon this city, and when God 
 reduced those under subjection to the Romans, 
 who were unworthy of the liberty they had en- 
 oyed ? After a siege, therefore, of three months, 
 hey were forced to surrender themselves, al- 
 hough they had been guilty of such offences 
 with regard to our sanctuary and our laws, as 
 'ou have ; and this while they had much greater 
 advantages to go to war than you have. Do not 
 we know what end Antigonus, the ocn of Aris- 
 iobulus, came to, under whose reign God pro- 
 vided that this city should be taken again upon 
 account of the people's offences ? iVheii Herod, 
 ,he son of Attipater, brought upon us Sosius, 
 and Sosius brought upon us the Roman army, 
 ;'ney were then encompassed and besieged for 
 six months, till, as a punishment for their sins 
 they were taken, and the city was plundered by 
 the enemy. Thus it appears, that arms were 
 never given to our nation ; but that we are 
 always given up to be fought against, and to 
 be taken ; or I suppose, that such as inhabit 
 this holy place ought to commit the disposal 
 of all things to God, and then only to dis- 
 regard the assistance of men when they re- 
 sign themselves up to their arbitrator, who 
 Is above. As for you, what have you done of 
 those things that are recommended by our legis- 
 lator! and what have you not done of those 
 things that he hath condemned! How much 
 more impious are you than those who were so 
 quickly taken ! You have not avoided so much 
 as those sins which are usually done in secret ; 
 I mean thefts, and treacherous plots against 
 men, and adulteries. You are quarrelling about 
 rapines and murders, and invent strange ways of 
 wickedness. Nay, the temple itself is become 
 the receptacle of all, and this divine place is pol- 
 luted by the hands of those of our country; 
 which place hath yet been reverenced by the 
 Romans when it was at a distance from them, 
 when they have suffered many of their own cus- 
 toms to give place to our law. And, after all 
 this, do you expect Him whom you have so im- 
 piously abused to be your supporter? To be 
 sure then you have a right to be petitioners, and 
 to call on 'Him to assist you, so pure are your 
 hands ! Did your king [Hezekiah] lift up such 
 hands in prayer to God against the king of As- 
 syria, when he destroyed that great army in one 
 ni"ht ? And do the Romans commit such wick- 
 edness as did the king of Assyria, that you may 
 have reason to hope for the like vengeance upon 
 them ? Did not that king accept of money from 
 ' our kin upon this condition, that he should not 
 destroy the city, and yet, contrary to the oath 
 
 he had taken, he came down to burn the temple? 
 while the Romans do demand no more than that 
 accustomed tribute which our fathers paid to 
 their fathers ; and if they may but once obtain 
 that, they neither aim to destroy this city, nor 
 to touch this sanctuary; nay, they will grant 
 you besides, that your posterity shall be free, 
 and your possessions secxired to you, and will 
 preserve your holy laws inviolate to you. And it 
 is plain madness to expect that God should appear 
 as well disposed towards the wicked as towards 
 the righteous, since he knows when it is proper 
 to punish men for their sins immediately ; ac- 
 cordingly he brake the power of the Assyrians 
 the very 6rst night that they pitched their 
 camp. Wherefore, had he judged that our na- 
 tion wvut worthy of freedom, or the Romans of 
 punishment, he had immediately inflicted pun- 
 ishment upon those Romans, as he did upon the 
 Assyrians, when Pompey began to meddle .with 
 our nation, or when after him Sosius came up 
 against us, or when Vespasian laid waste Gali- 
 lee, or lastly, when Titus came first of all near 
 to this city : although Magnus and Sosius did 
 not only suffer nothing, but took the city by 
 force : as did Vespasian go from the war he made 
 against you to receive the empire; and as for 
 Titus, those springs that were formerly almost 
 dried up when they were under your power, 
 since he is come, run more plentifully than they 
 did before ; accordingly, you know that Siloam, 
 as well as all the other springs that were with- 
 out the city, did so far fail, that water was sold 
 by distinct measures; whereas they now have 
 such a great quantity of water for your enemies, 
 as is sufficient not only for drink both for them- 
 selves and their cattle, but for watering their 
 gardens also. The same wonderful sign you had 
 also experience of formerly, when the fore-men- 
 tioned king of Babylon made war against us, and 
 when he took the city and burnt the temple*; 
 while yet I believe the Jews of that age were 
 not so impious as you are. Wherefore I cannot 
 but suppose that God is fled out of his sanctuary, 
 and stands on the side of those against whom 
 you fight. Now, even a man, if he be but a 
 good man, will fly from an impure house, and 
 will hate those that are in it ; and do you per- 
 suade yourselves that God will abide with you 
 in your iniquities, who sees all secret things, 
 and hears what is kept most private! Now, 
 what crime is there, I pray you, that is so much 
 as kept secret among you, or is concealed by you ! 
 nay, what is there that is not open to your very 
 enemies ! for you shew your transgressions aftei 
 a pompous manner, and contend one with an- 
 other which of you shall be more wicked than 
 another ; and you make a public demoustratior 
 
 ^onciled to those that confess their faults, am 
 repent of them. O hard-hearted wretches as yoi 
 are ! cast away all your arms, and take pity o 
 your country already going to ruin ; return fron 
 your wicked ways, and have regard to the e: 
 cellency of that city which you are going to be 
 tray to that excellent temple with the donations 
 of so many countries in it. Vho couid bear to 
 be the first to set that temple on fire? who couli 
 be willing that these things should be no more 
 a-id what is there that can better deserve to be 
 preserved? O insensible creatures, fid iron 
 stupid than are the stones themselves! And il 
 you cannot look at these things with discerning 
 eves yet, however, have pity upon your families, 
 ami set before every one of your eyes your chil 
 dren and wives, and parents, who will be gradu
 
 564 
 
 WA.US OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK V. 
 
 ally consumed either by famine or by war. I 
 am sensible that this danger will extend to my 
 mother, and wife, and to that family of mire 
 who have been by no means ignoble, and indeed 
 to one that hath been very eminent in old time ; 
 and perhaps you may imagine that it is on their 
 account only that I give you this advice : if that 
 be all, kill them : nay, take my own blood as a 
 reward, if it may but procure your preservation ; 
 for I am ready to die in case you will but return 
 to a sound mind after my death." 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 HOW A GREAT MANY OF THE PEOPLE EARNESTLY 
 ENDEAVOURED TO DESERT TO THE ROMANS ; AS 
 ALSO WHAT INTOLERABLE THINGS THOSE THAT 
 STAYED BEHIND SUFFERED BY FAMINE, AND THB 
 SAD CONSEQUENCES THEREOF. 
 
 1. As Josephus was speaking thus with a loud 
 voice, the seditious would neither yield to what 
 he said, nor did they deem it safe for them to 
 alter their conduct ; but as for the people, they 
 had a great inclination to desert to the Romans ; 
 accordingly, some of them sold what they had, 
 and even the most precious things that had been 
 laid up as treasures by them, for a very small 
 matter, and swallowed down pieces of gold, that 
 they might not be found out by the robbers; and 
 when they had escaped to the Romans, went to 
 stool, and had wherewithal to provide plentifully 
 for themselves ; for Titus let a great number of 
 them go away into the country, whither they 
 pleased : and the main reasons why they were 
 so ready to desert were these : That now they 
 should be freed from those miseries which they 
 had endured in that city, and yet should not be 
 in slavery to the Romans : however, John and 
 Simon, with their factions, did more carefully 
 watch these men's going out than they did the 
 coming in of the Romans ; and, if any one did 
 but afford the least shadow of suspicion of such 
 an intention, his throat was cut immediately. 
 
 2. But as for the richer sort, it proved all one 
 to them whether they stayed in the city or at- 
 tempted to get out of it, for they were equally 
 destroyed in both cases ; for every such person 
 was put to death under this pretence, that they 
 were going to desert, but in reality that the 
 robbers might get what they had. The madness 
 of the seditious did also increase together with 
 their famine, and both those miseries were every 
 day inflamed more and more ; for their was no 
 corn which anywhere appeared publicly, but the 
 robbers came running into, and searched men's 
 private houses ; and if they found none, they 
 tormented them worse, because they supposed 
 they had more carefully concealed it. The indi- 
 cation they made use of whether they had any 
 or not, was taken from the bodies of these miser- 
 able wretches ; which, if they were in good case, 
 they supposed they were in no want at all of 
 food ; but if they were wastfed away, they walked 
 off without searching any further ; nor did they 
 tiling it proper to kill such as these, because 
 they saw they would very soon die of themselves 
 for want of food. Many there were indeed who 
 sold what they had for one measure ; it was of 
 wheat, if they were of the richer sort ; but of 
 bailey, if they were poorer. When these had so 
 done, they shut themselves up in the inmost 
 rooms of their houses, and ate the corn they had 
 gotten ; some did it without grinding it, by rea- 
 son of the extremity of the want they were in, 
 
 ml others. baked bread of it, according as ne- 
 
 cessity and fear dictated to them : a table was 
 nowhere laid for a distinct meal, but they 
 snatched the bread out of the fire, half baked, 
 and ate it very hastily. 
 
 3. It was now a miserable case, and a sight 
 that would justly bring tears into our eyes, how 
 men stood as to their food, while the more power- 
 ful had more than enough, and the weaker were 
 lamenting [for want of it.] But the famine 
 was too hard for all other passions, and it is de- 
 structive to nothing so much as to modesty ; for 
 what was otherwise worthy of reverence, was in 
 this case despised ; insomuch that children pulled 
 the very morsels that their fathers were eating, 
 out of their very mouths, and what was still 
 more to be pitied, so did the mothers do as to 
 their infants : and when those that were most 
 dear were perishing under their hands, they 
 were not ashamed to take from them the very 
 last drops that might preserve their lives ; and 
 while they ate after this manner, yet were they 
 not concealed in so doing; but the seditious 
 everywhere came upon them immediately, and 
 snatched away from them what they had gotten 
 from others ; for when they saw any house shut 
 up, this was to them a signal that the people 
 within had gotten some food ; whereupon they 
 broke open the doors, and ran in, and took pieces 
 of what they were eating, almost up out of their 
 very throats and this by force ; the old men, 
 who held their food fast, were beaten; and if 
 the women hid what they had within their 
 hands, their hair was torn for so doing ; nor was 
 there any commiseration shewn either to the 
 aged or to infants, but they lifted up children 
 from the ground as they hung upon the morsels 
 they had gotten, and shook them down upon the 
 floor ; but still were they more barbarously cruel 
 to those that had prevented their coming m, and 
 had actually swallowed down what they were 
 going to seize upon, as if they had been unjustly 
 defrauded of their right. They also invented 
 terrible methods o' torment to discover where 
 any food wna, *rd they were these : to stop up 
 the passage* of the privy parts of the miserable 
 wretchts, and to drive sharp stakes up their 
 fundaments ! and a man was forced to bear what 
 it is terrible even to hear, in order to make him 
 confess that he had but one loaf of bread, or that 
 he might discover a handful of barley-meal that 
 was concealed ; and this was done when these 
 tormentors were not themselves hungry ; for the 
 thiug had been less barbarous had necessity 
 forced them to it ; but this was done to keep 
 their madness in exercise, and as making pre- 
 parations of provisions for themselves on the fol- 
 lowing days. These men went also to meet those 
 that had crept out of the city by night, as far as 
 the Roman guards, to gather some plants and 
 herbs that grew wild ; and when those people 
 thought they had got clear of the enemy, these 
 snatched from them what they had brought 
 with them, even while they had frequently en- 
 treated them, and that by calling upon the tre- 
 mendous name of God, to give them back some 
 part of what they had brought ; though these 
 would not give them the least crumb ; and they 
 vere to be well contented that they were only 
 spoiled, and not slain at the same time. 
 
 4. These were the afflictions which the lower 
 ort, of people suffered from these tyrants' guards ; 
 but for the men that were in dignity, and withal 
 were rich, they were carried before the tyrants 
 themselves ; some of whom were falsely accused 
 of laying treacherous plots, and so were de- 
 stroyed ; others of them were charged with 
 designs of betraying the city to the Romans : but 
 the readiest way or all was this, to suborn some-
 
 CHAP. XL] 
 
 VARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 565 
 
 body to affirm that they were resolved to desert 
 to the enemy ; and he who was utterly despoiled 
 of what he had by Simon, was sent back again to 
 John, as of those who had been already plun- 
 dered by John, Simon got what remained ; inso- 
 much that they drank the blood of the populace 
 to one another, and divided the dead bodies of 
 the poor creatures between them ; so that al- 
 though, on account of their ambition after domin- 
 ion, they contended with each other, yet did they 
 very well agree in their wicked practices ; for he 
 that did not communicate what he had got by 
 the miseries of others to the other tyrant, seemed 
 to be too little guilty, and in one respect only ; 
 and he that did not partake of what was so com- 
 municated to him, grieved at this, as at the loss 
 of what was a valuable thing, that he had no 
 share in such barbarity. 
 
 5. It is therefore impossible to go distinctly over 
 every instance of these men's iniquity. I shall 
 therefore speak my mind here at once briefly : 
 That neither did any other city ever suffer such 
 miseries, nor did any age ever breed a generation 
 more fruitful in wickedness than this was, from 
 the beginning of the world. Finally, they brought 
 the Hebrew nation into contempt, that they might 
 themselves appear comparatively less impious 
 with regard to strangers. They confessed what 
 was true, that they were the slaves, the scum, 
 and the spurious abortive and offspring of our 
 nation, while they overthrew the city themselves, 
 and forced the Romans whether they would or 
 no, to gain a melancholy reputation, by acting 
 gloriously against them and did almost draw 
 that fire upon the temple, which they seemed 
 to think came too slowly ; and, indeed, when 
 they saw the temple burning, from the upper 
 city, they were neither troubled at it, nor did 
 they shed any tears on that account, while yet 
 these passions were discovered among the Ro- 
 mans themselves : which circumstances we shall 
 speak of hereafter in their proper place, when 
 we come to treat of such matters. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 HOW THE JEWS WERE CRUCIFIED BEFORE THE 
 WALLS OF THE CITY. CONCERNING ANTIOCHUS 
 EPIPHANES; AND HOW THE JEWS OVERTHREW 
 THE BANKS THAT HAD BEEN RAISED BT THE 
 ROMANS. 
 
 1. So now Titus's banks were a^7anced a great 
 way, notwithstanding his soldiers had been very 
 much distressed from the wall. He then sent a- 
 party of horsemen, and ordered they should lay 
 ambushes for those that went out into the val- 
 leys to gather food, Some of these were indeed, 
 fighting men, who were not contented with what 
 they got by rapine; but the greater part of them 
 were poor people, who were deterred from de- 
 serting, by the concern they were under for their 
 own relations : for they could not hope to escape 
 away, together with their wives and children, 
 without the knowledge of the seditious ; nor 
 could they think of leaving these relations to be 
 slain by the robbers on their account ; nay, the 
 severity of the famine made them bold in thus 
 going out : so nothing remained but that, when 
 they were concealed from the robbers, they 
 should be taken by the enemy ; and when they 
 were going to be taken, they were forced to de- 
 fend themselves, for fear of being punished : as, 
 after they had fought, they thought it too late to 
 make any supplications for mercy : so they were 
 first whipped, and then tormented with all sorts 
 
 of tortures before they died, and were then cruci- 
 fied before the wall of the city. This miseiabla 
 procedure made Titus greatly to pity them, 
 while they caught every day rive hundred Jews ; 
 nay, some days they caught more ; yet did it 
 not appear to be safe for him to let loose those 
 that were taken by force to go their way ; and 
 to set a guard over so many, he saw would be to 
 make such as guarded them useless to him. The 
 main reason way he did not forbid that cruelty, 
 was this, that he hoped the Jews might perhaps 
 yield at that sight, out of fear lest they might \ 
 themselves afterwards be liable to the same cruel 
 treatment. So the soldiers, out of the wrath 
 and hatred they bore the Jews, nailed those they 
 caught, one after one way, and another after 
 another, to the crosses, by way of jest ; when 
 their multitude was so great, that room was 
 wanting for the crosses, and crosses wanting for 
 the bodies.* 
 
 2. But so fer were tue ..<jditious from repent- 
 ing at this sad sight, that, on the contrary, they 
 made the rest of the multitude believe other- 
 wise ; for they brought the relations of those 
 that had deserted, upon the wall, with such of 
 the populace as were very eager to go over upon 
 the security offered them, and shewed them 
 what miseries those underwent, who fled to the 
 Romans ; and told them that those who were 
 caught, were supplicants to them, and not such 
 as were taken prisoners. This sight kept many 
 of those within the city who were so eager to 
 desert, till the truth was known ; yet did some 
 of them run away immediately, as unto certain 
 punishment, esteeming death from their enemies 
 to be a quiet departure, if compared with that 
 by famine. So Titus commanded that the hands 
 of many of those that were caught should be cut 
 off, that they might not be thought deserters, 
 and might be credited on account of the calamity 
 they were under, and sent them in to John and 
 Simon, with this exhortation, that they would 
 now at length leave off [their madness,] and not 
 force him to destroy the city, whereby they 
 would have those Advantages of repentance, even 
 in their utmost distress, that they would pre- 
 serve their own lives, and so fine a city of their 
 own, and that temple which was their peculiar. I 
 He then went round about the banks that were 
 cast up, and hastened them, in order to shew 
 that his words should in no long time be fol- 
 lowed by his deeds. In answer to which, the 
 seditious cast reproaches upon Caesar himself, 
 and upon his father also, and cried out with a 
 loud voice, that they contemned death, and did , 
 well to prefer it before slavery ; that they would I 
 do all the mischief to the Romans they could I 
 while they had breath in them; and that for 
 their own city, since they were, as he said, to be 1 
 destroyed, they had no concern about it, and j 
 that the world itself was a better temple to God I 
 than this. That yet this temple would be pre- 
 served by him that inhabited therein, whom 
 they still had for their assistant in this war, and 
 did therefore laugh at all his threatenings, which 
 would come to nothing ; because the conclusion 
 of the whole depended upon God only. These 
 words were mixed with reproaches, and with 
 them they made a mighty clamour. 
 
 3. In the meantime Antiochus Epiphanes 
 came to the city, having with him a considerable 
 number of other armed men, and a band called 
 the Macedonian Band about him, ad of the same 
 age, tall, and just past their childhood, armed, 
 
 Reland notices here how justly this Judgment came 
 upon the Jews, since they had brought it on themselves 
 by the crucifixion of their Messiah.
 
 WXi 
 
 V/AKfi OF THE JEWS. 
 
 IBOOU v 
 
 nd instructed after the Macedonian manner, 
 whence it was that they took that name. Yet 
 were many of them unworthy of so famous a 
 nation ; for it had so happened, that the king of 
 Commagene had flourished more than other 
 kings that were under the power of the Romans, 
 till a change happened in his condition ; and 
 when he was become an old man, he declared 
 plainly that we ought not to call any man happy 
 before he is dead. But this son of his, who was 
 then come hither before his father was decaying, 
 sr.id that he could not but wonder what made 
 the Romans so tardy in making their attacks 
 upon the walL Now he was a warlike man, and 
 naturally bold in exposing himself to dangers ; 
 he was also so strong a man, that his boldness 
 seldom failed of having success Upon this, 
 Titus smiled, and said he would share the pains 
 of afl attack with him. However, Antiochus 
 went as he then was, and with his Macedonians 
 made a sudden assault upon the wall ; and, in- 
 deed, for his own part, his strength and skill 
 were so great, that he guarded himself from the 
 Jewish darts, and yet shot his darts at them, 
 while yet the young men with him, were almost 
 nil sorely galled ; for they had so great a regard 
 to the promises that had been made of their 
 courage, that they would needs persevere in 
 their fighting, and at length many of them re- 
 tired, but not till they were wounded ; and then 
 they perceived that true Macedonians, if they 
 were to be conquerors, must have Alexander's 
 good fortune also. 
 
 4. Now, as the Romans began to raise their 
 banks on the twelfth day of the month Artemi- 
 sius [Jyar,] so had they much ado to finish them 
 by the twenty-ninth day of the same month, 
 after they had laboured hard for seventeen days 
 continually ; for there were now four great banks 
 raised, one of which was at the tower of Anto- 
 nia ; this was raised by the fifth legion, over 
 against the middle of that pool which is called 
 Struthius. Another was cast up by the twelfth 
 legion, at the distance of about twenty cubits 
 from" the other. But the labours of the tenth 
 legion, which lay a great way off these, were at the 
 north quarter, and at the pool called Amygda- 
 lon ; as was that of the fifteenth legion about 
 thirty cubits from it, and at the high piiest's 
 monument. And now, when the engines were 
 brought, John had from within undermined the 
 space that was over against the tower of Anto- 
 nia, as far as the banks themselves, and had sup- 
 ported the ground over the mine with beams 
 laid across one another, whereby the Roman 
 works stood upon an uncertain foundation. 
 Then did he order such materials to be brought 
 in, as were daubed over with pitch and bitumen, 
 and set them on fire ; and as the cross beams 
 that supported the banks were burning, the 
 ditch yielded on the sudden, and the banks 
 were shaken down, and fell into the ditch with 
 a prodigious noise. Now at the first there arose 
 a very thick smoke and dust, as the fire was 
 choked with the fall of the bank ; but as the 
 suffocated materials were now gradually con- 
 oumed, a plain flume brake out ; on which siid- 
 den appearance of the flame a consternation fell 
 upon the Romans, and the shrewdness of the 
 contrivance discouraged them : aud indeed, this 
 accident coming upon them at a time when they 
 thought they had already gained their point, 
 cooled their hopes for the time to come. They 
 also thought it would be to no purpose to 
 take the pains to extinguish the fire, since, 
 if it were extinguished, the banks were swal- 
 lowed up already [and become useless] to 
 them. 
 
 5. Two days after this, Simon and his 
 made an attempt to destroy the other banks ; 
 for the Romans had brought their engines to 
 bear there, and began already to make the wall 
 shake. And here one Tephtheus, of Garsis, a 
 city of Galilee, and Megassarus, one who waa 
 derived from some of queen Mariamne's servants, 
 and with them one from Adiabene, he was the 
 son of Nabateus, and called by the name of 
 Chagiras, from the ill fortune he had, the word 
 signifying " a lame man," snatched some torches, 
 and ran suddenly upon the engines. Nor were 
 there, during this war, any men who ever sal- 
 lied out of the city who were their superiors, 
 either in their own boldness, or in the terror they 
 struck into their enemies ; for they ran out 
 upon the Romans, not as if they were enemies, 
 but friends, without fear or delay ; nor did they 
 leave their enemies till they had rushed vio- 
 lently through the midst of them, and set their 
 machines on fire; and though they had darts 
 tlirown at them on every side, and were on 
 every side assaulted with their enemies' swords, 
 yet did they not withdraw themselves out of the 
 dangers they were in, till the fire had caught 
 hold of the instruments ; but when the flame 
 went up, the Romans came running from their 
 camp to save their engines. Then did the Jews 
 hinder their succours from the wall, and fought 
 with those that endeavoured to quench the tire, 
 without any regard to the danger their bodies 
 were in. So the Romans pulled the engines out 
 of the fire, while the hurdles that covered them 
 were on fire ; but the Jews caught hold of the 
 battering-rams through the flame itself, and 
 held them fast, although the iron upon them 
 was become red-hot ; and now the fire spread 
 itself from the engines to the banks, and pre- 
 vented those that came to defend them : and all 
 this while the Romans were encompassed round 
 about with the flame ; and, despairing of saving 
 their works from it, they retired to their camp. 
 Then did the J ews become still more and more 
 in number by the coming of those that were 
 within the city to their assistance ; and as they 
 were very bold upon the good success they had 
 had, their violent assaults were almost irresis- 
 tible ; nay, they proceeded as far as the fortifi- 
 cations of the enemy's camp, and fought with 
 their guards, Now there stood a body of sol- 
 diers in array Before that camp, which succeeded 
 one another by turns in their armour ; and as to 
 those, the law of the Romans was terrible, that 
 he who left his post there, let the occasion be 
 whatsoever it might, he was to die for it ; so 
 that body of soldiers, preferring rather to die 
 in fighting courageously, than as a punishment 
 for their own cowardice, stood firm ; and at the 
 necessity these men were in of standing to it, 
 many of the others that had run away, out of 
 shame, turned back again ; and when they had 
 set their engines against the wall, they kept the 
 multitude from coming more of them out of the 
 city ; [which they could the more easily do] 
 because they had made no provision for pre- 
 serving or guarding their bodies at this time ; 
 for the Jews fought now hand to hand with 
 all that came in their way, and, without 
 any caution, fell against the points of their 
 enemies' spears, and attacked them bodies 
 against bodies ; for they were now too hard 
 for the Romans, not so much by their other 
 wariko actions, as by these courageous assaults 
 they made upon them ; and the Romans gave 
 way more to their boldness than they did to 
 the sense of th harm they had received from 
 them. 
 6. And now Titus was come from the tourer of
 
 ! CHAP XII.] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 567 
 
 | Antonia, whither he was gone to look out for a 
 j place for raising other banks, and reproached the 
 soldiers greatly for permitting their own walls to 
 >e in danger, when they had taken the walls of 
 .heir enemies and sustained the fortune of men 
 >esieged, while the Jews were allowed to sally 
 out against them, though they were already in a 
 sort of prison* He then went round about the 
 enemy with some chosen troops, and fell upon 
 ,heir flank himself ; so the Jews, who had been 
 Before assaulted in their faces, wheeled about to 
 Titus, and continued the fight. The armies 
 ilso were now mixed one among another, and the 
 dust that was raised so far hindered them from 
 _;eeing one another, arid the noise that was made 
 so far hindered them from hearing one another, 
 that neither side could discern an enemy from a 
 friend. However, the Jews did not flinch, though 
 not so much from their real strength, as from 
 their despair of deliverance. The Romans 
 also would not yield, by reason of the regard 
 they had to glory, and to their reputation in 
 war, and because Ceesar himself went into the 
 danger before them ; insomuch that I cannot 
 but think the Romans would in the conclusion 
 have now taken the whole multitude of the 
 Jews, so very angry were they at them, had 
 these not prevented the upshot of the battle, 
 and retired into the city. However, seeing the 
 bauks of the Romans demolished, these Romans 
 were very much cast down upon the loss of 
 what had cost them so long pains, and this in 
 one hour's time ; and many indeed despaired of 
 taking the city with their usual engines of war 
 only. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 TITOS THOUGHT FIT TO ENCOMPASS THE OTTY 
 BOUND WITH A WALL; AFTER WHICH THE FA- 
 MINE CONSUMED THE PEOPL3 BY WHOLE HOUSES 
 AND FAMILIES TOGETHER. 
 
 S 1 AND now did Titus consult with bis com- 
 manders what was to be done. Those that were 
 of the warmest tempers thought he should 
 bring the whole army against the city and storm 
 the wall ; for that hitherto no more than a part 
 of their army had fought with the Jews ; but 
 that in case the entire army was to come at 
 once, they would not be able to sustain their 
 attacks, but would be overwhelmed by their 
 darts : but of those that were for a more cautious 
 management, some were for raising their banks 
 again ; and others advised to let the banks alone, 
 ! but to lie still before the city, to guard against 
 i the coming out of the Jews, and against their 
 I carrying provisions into the city, and so to leave 
 i the enemy to the famine, and this without di- 
 ' rect fighting with them; for that despair waa 
 not to be conquered, especially as to those who 
 are desirous to die by the sword, wMk a more 
 terrible misery is reserved for them. However, 
 Titua did not think it fit for so great an army to 
 1 lie entirely idle, and that yet it was in vam to 
 fi "ht with those that would be destroyed one by 
 another ; he also shewed them how impracticable 
 it was to cast up any more banks, for want at 
 materials, and to guard against the Jews coming 
 out, still more impracticable ; as also, to encom- 
 pass the whole city round with his army, was 
 not very easy, by reason of its magnitude and 
 the difficulty of the situation ; and &; 
 counts dangerous, upon the sallies _ the Jew* 
 might make out of the city; for although they 
 might guard the known passages out of tl 
 p&e, yet would they, when they found them- 
 
 selves under the greatest distress, contrive 
 secret passages out, as being well acquainted 
 with all such places ; and if any provisions were 
 carried in by stealth, the siege would thereby be 
 longer delayed. He also owned, that he was 
 afraid that the length of tioie thus to be spent, 
 would diminish the glory of his success ; for 
 though it be true, that length of time will per- 
 fect everything, yet, that to do what we do in a 
 little time, is still necessary to the gaining repu- 
 tation : that therefore his opinion was, that if 
 they aimed at quickness joined with security, 
 they must build a wall round about the whole 
 city ; which was, he thought, the only way to 
 prevent the Jews from coining out any way, and 
 that then they would either entirely despair of 
 saving the city, and so would surrender it up to 
 him, or be still the more easily conquered when 
 the famine had farther weakened them ; for 
 that besides this wall, he would not lie entirely 
 at rest afterward, but would take care then to 
 have banks raised again, when those that would 
 oppose them were become weaker : but that if 
 any one should think such a work to be too great 
 and to be finished without much difficulty, he 
 ought to consider that it is not fit for Romans to 
 undertake any small work, and that none but 
 God himself could with ease accomplish any 
 great think whatsoever. 
 
 2. These arguments prevailed with the com- 
 manders. So Titus gave orders that the army 
 should be distributed to their several shares of 
 this work ; and indeed there now came upon the 
 soldiers a certain divine fury, so that they did 
 not only part the whole wall that was to _be 
 built among them, nor did only one legion strive 
 with another, but the lesser divisions of the 
 army did the same ; insomuch that each soldier 
 was ambitious to please his decurion, each decu- 
 rion his centurion, each centurion his tribune, 
 and the ambition of the tribunes was to please 
 their superior commanders, while Caesar himself 
 took notice of and rewarded the like contention 
 in those commanders ; for he went round about 
 the works many times every day, and took a 
 view of what was done. Titus began the wall 
 from the Camp of the Assyrians, where his own 
 camp was pitched, and drew it down to the 
 lower parts of Cenepolis ; thence it went along 
 the valley of Cedron to the Mount of Olives ; it 
 then bent towards the south, and encompassed 
 the mountain as far as the rock called Periste- 
 reon and that other hill which lies next it, and 
 is over the valley which reaches to Siloam; 
 whence it bended again to the west, and went 
 down to the valley of the Fountain, beyond 
 which it went up again at the monument of 
 Aiianus the high priest, and encompassing that 
 mountain where Pompey had formerly pitched 
 his camp, it returned back to the north side of 
 the city, and was carried on as far as a certain 
 village called "The House of the Erebmthi ; 
 after" which it encompassed Herod's monument, 
 and there on the east, waa joined to Titus , owi 
 camp, where it began. Now the length of this 
 wall was forty furlongs, one only abated. Now 
 TtThlwaU without were erected thirteen places 
 to keep garrisons in, the circumference of which, 
 put together, amounted to ten furlongs; the 
 whole was completed in three days : so that 
 what would naturally have required som, 
 months was done in so short an interval as is 
 ScSle. When Titus had therefore enoom- 
 mssed the city with this wall, and put garrisons 
 Lto proper places, he went round the wall at 
 SSfeU watch of the night, and observed how 
 the guard was kept; the second watch he 
 lotted to Alexander ; the commanders of legion.
 
 568 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWB. 
 
 [BOOK v. 
 
 took the third watch. They also cast lots 
 among themselves who should be upon the 
 watch in the night-time, and who should go all 
 night long round the spaces that were inter- 
 posed between the garrisons. 
 
 3. So all hope of escaping was now cut off from 
 the Jews, together with their liberty of going out 
 of the city. Then did the famine widen its pro- 
 gress, and devoured the people by whole houses 
 and families ; the upper rooms were full of wo- 
 men and children that were dying by famine; 
 and the lanes of the city were full of the dead 
 bodies of the aged ; the children also and the 
 young men wandered about the market-places 
 like shadows, all swelled with famine, and fell 
 down dead wheresoever their misery seized them. 
 As for burying them, those that were sick them- 
 selves were not able to do it ; and those that 
 were hearty and well were deterred from doing 
 it by the great multitude of those dead bodies, 
 and by the uncertainty there was how soon they 
 should die themselves ; for many died as they 
 were burying others, and many went to their 
 coffins before that fatal hour was come! Nor 
 was there any lamentation made under these 
 calamities, nor were heard any mournful com- 
 plaints ; but the famine confounded all natural 
 passions ; for those who were just going to die, 
 looked upon those that were gone to their rest 
 before them with dry eyes and open mouths. A 
 deep silence also, and a kind of deadly night, 
 had seized upon the city ; while yet the robbers 
 were still more terrible than these miseries were 
 themselves; for they brake open those houses 
 which were no other than graves of dead bodies, 
 and plundered them of what they had ; and 
 carrying off the coverings of their bodies, went 
 out laughing, and tried the points of their swords 
 on their dead bodies; and, in order to prove 
 what mettle they were made of, they thrust 
 some of those through that still lay alive upon 
 the ground ; but for those that entreated them 
 to lend them their right hand, ami their aword 
 to despatch them, they were too proud to grant 
 their requests, and left them to be consumed by 
 the famine. Now every one of these died with 
 their eyes fixed upon the temple, and left the 
 seditious alive behind them. Now the seditious 
 at first gave orders that the dead should be 
 buried out of the public treasury, as not endur- 
 ing the stench of their dead bodies. But after- 
 wards, when they could not do that, they had 
 them cast down from the walls into the valleys 
 beneath. 
 
 4. However, when Titus, in going his rounds 
 along those valleys, saw them full of dead bodies, 
 and the thick putrefaction running about them, 
 he gave a groan ; and spreading out his hands to 
 heaven, called God to witness that this was not 
 his doing : and such was the sad case of the city 
 itself. But the Romans were very joyful, since 
 none of the seditious could now make sallies out 
 of the city, because they were themselves discon- 
 solate; and the famine already touched them 
 also. These Romans besides had great plenty of 
 corn and other necessaries out of Syria, and out 
 of the neighbouring provinces ; many of whom 
 would stand near to the wall of the city, and 
 shew the people what great quantities of pro- 
 visions they had, and so make the enemy more 
 sensible of their famine, by the great plenty, 
 even to satiety, which they had themselves. 
 However, when the seditious still shewed no 
 inclination of yielding, Titus, out of his commis- 
 eration of the people that remained, and out of 
 his earnest desire of rescuing what was still left 
 out of these miseries, began to raise his banks 
 again, although material* for them were hard to 
 
 be come at ; for all the trees that were about the 
 city had been already cut down for the making 
 of the former banks. Yet did the soldiers bring 
 with them other materials from the distance of 
 ninety furlongs, and thereby raised banks in 
 four parts, much greater than the former, though 
 this was done only at the tower of Antonia. So 
 Caesar went his rounds through the legions, and 
 hastened on the works, and shewed the robbers 
 that they were now in his hands. But these 
 men, and these only, were incapable of repent- 
 ing of the wickedness they had been guilty of ; 
 and separating their souls from their bodies, 
 they used them both, as if they belonged to 
 other folks, and not to themselves. For no 
 gentle affection could touch their souls, nor could 
 any pain affect their bodies, since they could still 
 tear the dead bodies of the people as dogs do, 
 and fill the prisons with those that were sick. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE GREAT SLAUGHTERS AND SACRILEGE THAT 
 WERE IN JERUSALEM. 
 
 1. ACCORDINGLY Simon would not suffer Mat- 
 thias, by whose means he got possession of the 
 city, to go off without torment. This Matthias 
 was the son of Bcethus, and was one of the high 
 priests, one that had been very faithful to the 
 people, and in great esteem with them : he, 
 when the multitude were distressed by the zeal- 
 ots, among whom John was numbered, persuaded 
 the people to admit this Simon to come in to 
 assist them, while he had made no terms with 
 him, nor expected anything that was evil from 
 him. But when Simon was come in, and had 
 gotten the city under his power, he esteemed 
 him that had advised them to admit him, as his 
 enemy equally with the rest, as looking upon 
 that advice as a piece of his simplicity only : 
 so he had him then brought before him, and 
 condemned to die for being oa the side of the 
 Roman* without giving him leave to make his 
 defence. He condemned also his three sons to 
 die with Aim ; for as to the fourth, he prevented 
 him by running away to Titus before. And 
 when he begged for this, that he might be slain 
 before his sons, and that as a favour, on account 
 that he had procured the gates of the city to be 
 opened to him, he gave orders that he should be 
 slain the last of them all ; so he was not slain 
 till he had seen his sons slain before his eyes, 
 and that by being produced over against the Ro- 
 mans; for such a charge had Simon given to 
 Ananus, the son of Bamadus, who was the most 
 barbarous of all his guards. He also jested upon 
 him, and told him that he might now see whether 
 those to whom he intended to go over, would 
 send him any succours or not ; but still he for- 
 bade their dead bodies should be buried. After 
 the slaughter of these, a certain priest, Ananias, 
 the son of Masambulus, a person of eminency, 
 as also Aristeus the scribe of the Sanhedrim, 
 and born at Emmaus, and with them fifteen 
 men of figure among the people were slain. 
 They also kept Josephus's father in prison, and 
 made public proclamation, that no citizen who- 
 soever should either speak to him himself, or 
 go into his company among others, for fear he 
 should betray them. They also slew such a 
 joined in lamenting these men, without any fur- 
 ther examination. 
 
 2. Now when Judas, the son of Judas, who 
 was one of Simon's under officers, and a person 
 intrusted bv him to keep one of the towers, saw
 
 OHAP. XIII. J 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 56S 
 
 this procedure of Simon, he called together ten 
 of those under him that were most faithful to 
 him (perhaps this was done, partly out of pity 
 to those that had so barbarously been put to 
 death ; but, principally, in order to provide for 
 his own safety) and spoke thus to them : "How 
 long shall we bear these miseries ; or, what hopes 
 have we of deliverance bj r thus continuing faith- 
 ful to such wicked wretches ? Is not the famine 
 already come against us ? Are not the Romans 
 in a manner gotten within the city ? Is not Si- 
 mon become unfaithful to his benefactors ? and 
 is there not reason to fear he will very soon bring 
 us to the like punishment, while the security the 
 Romans offer us is sure ? Come on, let us sur- 
 render up this wall, and save ourselves and the 
 city. Nor will Simon be very much hurt, if, 
 now he despairs of deliverance, he be brought to 
 justice a little sooner than he thinks on." Now 
 these ten were prevailed upon by those argu- 
 ments ; so he sent the rest of those that were 
 under him, some one way and some another, that 
 no discovery might be made of what they had 
 resolved upon. Accordingly he called to the 
 Romans from the tower, about the third hour ; 
 but they, some of them out of pride, despised 
 what he said, and others of them did not believe 
 him to be in earnest, though the greatest num- 
 ber delayed the matter, as believing they should 
 get possession of the city in a Little tune, with- 
 out any hazard : but when Titus was just com- 
 ing thither with his armed men, Simon was ac- 
 quainted with the matter before he came, and 
 presently took the tower into his own custody, 
 before it was surrendered, and seized upon these 
 men, and put them to death in the sighb of the 
 Romans themselves ; and when he had mangled 
 their dead bodies, he threw them down before 
 the wall of the city. 
 
 3. In the meantime, Josephus, as ut was going 
 round the city, had his head wounded by a stona 
 that was thrown at him ; upon which he fell 
 down as giddy. Upon which fall of his, the Jews 
 made a sally, and he had been hurried away into 
 the city, if Caesar had not sent men to protect 
 him immediately ; and, as these men were fight- 
 ing, Josephus was taken up, though he heard 
 little of what was done. So the seditious sup- 
 posed they had now slain the man whom they 
 were the most desirous of killing, and made there- 
 upon a great noise, by way of rejoicing. This 
 accident was told in the city ; and the multitude 
 that remained became very disconsolate at the 
 news, as being persuaded that he was really dead, 
 on whose account alone they could venture to 
 desert to the Romans ; but when Josephus's 
 mother heard in prison that her son was dead, 
 she said to those that watched about her, That 
 she had always been of opinion, since the siege 
 of Jotapata, [that he would be slain,] and she 
 would never enjoy him alive any more. She also 
 made great lamentation privately to the maid- 
 servants that were about her, and said, That this 
 was all the advantage she had of bringing so ex- 
 traordinary a person as this son hi to the world ; 
 that she should not be able even to bury that 
 son of hers, by whom she expected to have been 
 buried herself. However, this false report did 
 not put his mother to pain, nor afford merriment 
 to the robbers long ; for Josephus soon recovered 
 of his wound, and came out, and cried out aloud, 
 That it would not be long ere they should be 
 punished for this wound they had given him. He 
 also made a fresh exhortation to the people to 
 come out, upon the security that would be given 
 them. This sight of Josephus encouraged the 
 people greatly, and brought a great consternation 
 UDon the seditious. 
 
 4. Hereupon some of the deserters, having no 
 other way, leaped down from the wall imme- 
 diately, while others of them went out of the city 
 with stones, as if they would fight them; but 
 thereupon they fled away to the Romans : but 
 here a worse fate accompanied these than what 
 they had found within the city ; and they met 
 with a quicker despatch from the too great abun- 
 dance they had among the Romans, than they 
 could have done from the famine among the 
 Jews ; for when they came first to the Romans, 
 they were puffed up by the famine, and swelled 
 like men in a dropsy ; after which they all on 
 the sudden over-filled those bodies that were 
 before empty, and so burst asunder, excepting 
 such only as were skilful enough to restrain their 
 appetites, and, by degrees, took in their food into 
 bodies unaccustomed thereto. Yet did another 
 plague seize upon those that were thus pre- 
 served ; for there was found among the Syrian 
 deserters a certain person who was caught ga- 
 thering pieces of gold out of the excrements of 
 the Jews' bellies ; for the deserters used to swal- 
 low such pieces of gold, as we told you before, 
 when they came out ; and for these did the sedi- 
 tious search them all ; for there was a great 
 quantity of gold in the city, insomuch that as 
 much was now sold [in the Roman camp] for 
 twelve Attic [drams] as was sold before for 
 twenty -five ; but when this contrivance was dis- 
 covered in one instance, the fame of it filled 
 their several camps, that the deserters came to 
 them full of golcL So the multitude of the 
 Arabians, with the Syrians, cut up those that 
 came as supplicants, and searched their bellies. 
 Nor does it seem to me that any misery befell 
 the Jews that was more terrible than this, 
 since in one night about two thousand of these 
 deserters were thus dissected, 
 
 5. When Titus came to the knowledge of this 
 wicked practice, he had like to have surrounded 
 those that had been guilty of it with his horse, 
 and shot them dead ; and he had done it, had 
 not their number been so very great, and those 
 that were liable to this punishment would have 
 been manifold more than those whom they had 
 slain. However, he called together the com- 
 manders of the auxiliary troops he had with 
 him, as well as the commanders of the Roman 
 legions, (for some of his own soldiers had also 
 been guilty herein, as he had been informed,) 
 and had great indignation against both sorts ot' 
 them, and spoke to them as follows : " What ! 
 have any of my own soldiers done such things as 
 this, out of the uncertain hope of gain, without 
 regarding their own weapons, which are made of 
 silver and gold ? Moreover, do the Arabians and 
 Syrians now first of all begin to govern them- 
 selves as they please, and to indulge their appe- 
 tites in a foreign war, and then, out of their bar- 
 barity in murdering men, and out of their hatred 
 to the Jews, get it ascribed to the Romans? " 
 for this infamous practice was said to be spread 
 among some of his own soldiers also. Titus then 
 threatened that he would put such men to death, 
 if any of them were discovered to be so insolent 
 as to do so again ; moreover, be gave it in charge 
 to the legions that they should make a search 
 after such as were suspected, and should bring 
 them to him ; but it appeared that the love of 
 money was too hard for all their dread of punish- 
 ment, and a vehement desire of gain is natural 
 to men, and no passion is so venturesome as 
 covetousness ; otherwise such passions have cer- 
 tain bounds, and are subordinate to fear; but in 
 reality it was God who condemned the whole 
 nation, and turned every course that was taken 
 for their preservation to their destruction. This.
 
 S70 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK. VI. 
 
 therefore, which was forbidden by Caesar under 
 such a threatening, was ventured upon privately 
 against the deserters, and these barbarians 
 would go out still, and meet those that ran 
 vway, before any saw them, and looking about 
 them to see that no Romans spied them, they 
 lissected them, and pulled this polluted money 
 out of their bowels ; which money was still 
 found in a few of them, while yet a great many 
 were destroyed by the bare hope there was of 
 thus getting by them, which miserable treatment 
 made many that were deserting to return back 
 again into the city. 
 
 6. But as for John, when he -~ould no longer 
 plunder the people, he betook himself to sacri- 
 lege, and melted down many of the sacred uten- 
 sils, which had been given to the temple ; as also 
 many of ' those vessels which were necessary for 
 such as ministered about holy things, the cal- 
 drons, the dishes, and the table ; nay, he did not 
 abstain from those pouring-vessels that were 
 sent them by Augustus and his wife ; for the 
 Roman emperors did ever both honour and adorn 
 this temple : whereas this man, who was a 
 Jew, seized upon what were the donations of 
 foreigners ; and said to those tLat were with 
 him, that it waa proper for them to use divine 
 things while they were fighting for the Divinity, 
 without fear, and that such whose warfare is for 
 the temple should live of the temple ; on which 
 account he emptied the vessels of that sacred 
 wine and oil which the priests kept to be poured 
 on the burnt-offerings, and which lay in the 
 inner court of the temple, and distributed it 
 among the multitude, who, in their anointing 
 themselves and drinking, used [each of them] 
 above an hin of them ; and here I cannot but 
 speak my mind, and what the concern I am 
 under dictates to me, and it is this: I suppose 
 that had the Romans made any longer delay in 
 coming against these villains, the city would 
 either have been swallowed up by the ground 
 opening upon them, or been overflowed by 
 water, or else been destroyed by such thunder 
 as the country of Sodom perished by, for it had 
 brought forth a generation of men much more 
 
 atheistical than were those that suffered such 
 punishments ; for by their madness it was that 
 all the people came to be destroyed. 
 
 7. And indeed why do I. relate these particu- 
 lar calamities? while Mauneus, the son of 
 Lazarus, came running to Titus at this very time, 
 and told him that there had been carried out 
 through that one gate which was intrusted to 
 his care no fewer than a hundred and fifteen 
 thousand eight hundred and eighty dead bodies, 
 in the interval between the fourteenth day of 
 the month Xanthicus, [Nisan,] when the Romans 
 pitched their camp by the city, and the first 
 day of the month Panemus, [Tamuz.] This was 
 itself a prodigious multitude ; and though this 
 man was not himself set as a governor at that 
 gate, yet was he appointed to pay the public sti- 
 pend for carrying these bodies out, and so was 
 obliged of necessity to number them, while the 
 rest were buried by their relations, though all 
 their burial was but this, to bring them away, 
 and cast them out of the city After this man 
 there ran away to Titus many of the eminent 
 citizens, and told him the entire number of the 
 poor that were dead ; and that no fewer than six 
 hundred thousand were thrown out at the gates, 
 though still the number of the rest could not be 
 discovered ; and they told him farther, that 
 when they were no longer able to carry out tho 
 dead bodies of the poor, they laid their corpses 
 on heaps in very large houses, and shut them up 
 therein ; as also that a medimnus of wheat was 
 sold for a talent ; and that when, a while after- 
 ward, it waa not possible to gather herbs, by 
 reason all the city was walled about, some persons 
 were driven to that terrible distress as to search 
 the common sewers and old dung-hills of cattle, 
 and to eat the dung which they got there ; and 
 what they of old could not so much as endure tc 
 see they now used for food. When the Romans 
 barely heard all this, they commiserated their 
 case ; while the seditious, who saw it also, did 
 not repent, but suffered the same distress to 
 come upon themselves ; for they were blinded 
 by that fate, which was already coming upon the 
 city, and upon themselves also. 
 
 BOOK VI. 
 
 CONTAINING THE 1NTEKVAL 0V ABOUT ONE MOUTH, 
 
 FROM THE GREAT EXTREMITY TO WHICH THE JEWS WERE REDUCED, 
 TO THE TAKING OP JERUSALEM BY TITUS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THAT THB MISERIES OF THE JEWS STILL GREW 
 WORSE ; AND HOW THE ROMANS MADE AN AS- 
 SAULT UPON THE TOWER OF ANTONIA. 
 
 1. THUS did the miseries of Jerusalem grow 
 worse and worse every day, and the seditious 
 were still more irritated by the calamities they 
 were under, even while the famine preyed upon 
 themselves, after it had preyed upon the people. 
 And indeed the multitude of carcases that lay in 
 heaps one upon another was a horrible sight, 
 and produced a pestilential stench, which was a 
 
 hindrance to those that would make sallies out 
 of the city, and fight the enemy : but as those 
 were to go in battle array, who had been already 
 used to ten thousand murders, and must tread 
 upon those dead bodies as they marched along, 
 so were not they terrified, nor did they pity 
 men as they marched over them : nor did they 
 deem this affront offered to the deceased to be 
 any ill omen to themselves ; but as they had 
 their right hands already polluted with the mur- 
 ders of their own countrymen, and hi that con- 
 dition ran out to fight with foreigners, they seem 
 to me to have cast a reproach upon God himself, 
 as if he were too slow in punishing them ; for
 
 CHAP. I.] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 
 the war was not now gone on with AS if they 
 had any hope of victory, for they gloried after 
 a brutish manner in tJ>t despair of deliverance 
 they were already in And now the Romans, 
 although they were greatly distressed in getting 
 together their materials, raised their banks in 
 one-and-twenty days, after they had cut down 
 :dl the trees that were in the country that 
 adjoined to the city, and that for ninety furlongs 
 round about, as I have already related. And 
 truly the very view itself of the country was a 
 melancholy thing ; for those places which were 
 before adorned with trees and pleasant gardens 
 were now become a desolate country every way, 
 and its trees were all cut down : nor could any 
 foreigner that had formerly seen Judea, and the 
 most beautiful suburbs of the city, and now saw 
 it as a desert, but lament and mourn sadly at so 
 great a change : for the war had laid all signs of 
 beauty quite waste : nor, if any one that had 
 known the place before had come on a sudden 
 to it now, would he have known it again ; but 
 though he were at the city itself, yet would he 
 have inquired for it notwithstanding. 
 
 2. And now the banks were finished, they af- 
 forded a foundation for fear both to the Romans 
 and to the Jews ; for both the Jews expected 
 that the city would be taken, unless they could 
 burn those banks, as did the Romans expect 
 that, if these were once burnt down, they should 
 never be able to take it ; for there was a mighty 
 scarcity of materials, and the bodies of the sol- 
 diers began to fail with such hard labours, as 
 did their souls faint with so. many instances of 
 ill success ; nay, the very calamities themselves 
 that were in the city proved a greater discour- 
 agement to the Romans than to those within the 
 city ; for they found the fighting men of the 
 Jews to be not at all mollified among such their 
 sore afflictions, while they had themselves per- 
 petually less and less hopes of success, and their 
 banks were forced to yield to the stratagems of 
 the enemy, their engines to the firmness of their 
 wall, and their closest fights to the boldness of 
 their attack ; and, what was their greatest dis- 
 couragement of all, they found the Jews' cour- 
 ageous souls to be superior to the multitude of 
 the miseries they were under by their sedition, 
 their famine, and the war itself ; insomuch that 
 they were ready to imagine that the violence of 
 their attacks was invincible, and the alacrity 
 they shewed would not be discouraged by their 
 calamities ; for what would not those be able to 
 bear if they should be fortunate, who turned 
 their very misfortunes to the improvement of 
 their valour ! These considerations made the 
 Romans keep a stronger guard about their banks 
 than they formerly had done. 
 
 3. But now John and his party took care for 
 securing themselves afterward, even in case this 
 wall should be thrown down, and fell to their 
 work before the battering-rams were brought 
 against them. Yet did they not compass what 
 they endeavoured to do, but as they were gone 
 out with their torches, they came back under 
 great discouragement, before they came near to 
 the banks ; and the reasons were these : that in 
 the first place, their conduct did not seem unani- 
 mous, but they went out in distinct parties, and 
 at distinct intervals, and after a slow manner, 
 and timorously, and, to say all in a word, with- 
 out a Jewish courage ; for they were now defec- 
 tive in wL-at is peculiar to our nation, that is, in 
 boldness, in violence of assault, and in running 
 upon the *nemy altogether, and in persevering 
 In what they go about, though they do not at 
 first succeed in it ; but they now went out in a 
 more languid manner thsui usual and at the 
 
 same time found the Romans set in array, and 
 more courageous than ordinary, and that they 
 guarded their banks both with their bodies and 
 their entire Amour, and this to such a degree on 
 all sides, that they left no room for the fire to 
 get among; them, and that every one of I 
 souls was in such good courage, that they wouM 
 sooner die than desert their ranks ; for beside 
 their notion that all their hopes were cut off, 
 in case their works were once burnt, tl 
 diers were greatly ashamed that subtilty should 
 be quite top hard for courage, madness fur ar- 
 mour, multitude for skill, and Jews for Romans. 
 The Romans had now also another advantage, in 
 that their engines for sieges co-operated with 
 them in throwing darts and stones as far as the 
 Jews, when they were coming out of the city ; 
 whereby the man that fell became an impedi- 
 ment to him that was next to him, as did the 
 danger of going farther make them less zealous 
 in their attempts ; and for those that had run 
 under the darts, some of them were terrified by 
 the good order and closeness of the enemies' 
 ranks before they came to a close fight, and 
 others were pricked with their spears, and 
 turned back again ; at length they reproached 
 one another for their cowardice, and retired 
 without doing anything. This attack was upon 
 the first day of the month Panemus, [Tamuz.] 
 So, when the Jews were retreated, the Romans 
 brought their engines, although they had all the 
 while stones thrown at them from the tower of 
 Antonia, and were assaulted by fire and sword, 
 and by all sorts of darts, which necessity af- 
 forded the Jews to make use of ; for although 
 these had great dependence on their own wall, 
 and a contempt of the Roman engines, yet did 
 they endeavour to hinder the Romans from 
 bringing them. Now these Romans struggled 
 hard, on the contrary, to bring them, as deem- 
 ing that this zeal of the Jews was in order to 
 avoid any impression to be made on the tower 
 of Antonia, because its wall was but weak, 
 and its foundations rotten. However, that 
 tower did rot yield to the blows given it from 
 the engines ; yet did the Romans bear the im- 
 pressions made by the enemies' darts which were 
 perpetually cast at them, and did not give way 
 to any of those dangers that came upon them 
 from above, and so they brought their engines to 
 bear ; but then as they were beneath the other, 
 and were sadly wounded by the stones thrown 
 down upon them, some of them threw their 
 shields over their "bodies, and partly with their 
 hands, and partly with their bodies, and partly 
 with crows, they undermined its foundations, 
 and with great pains they removed four of its 
 stones. Then night came upon both sides, and 
 put an end to this struggle for the present ; 
 however, that night the wall was so shaken by 
 the battering-rams in that place where John 
 had used his stratagem before, and had under- 
 mined their banks, that the ground then gave 
 way, and the wall fell down suddenly. 
 
 4. When this accident had unexpectedly hap- 
 pened, the minds of both parties were variously 
 affected : for though one would expect that the 
 Jews would be discouraged, because this fall of 
 their wall was unexpected by them, and they 
 had made no provision in that case, yet did they 
 pull up their courage, because the tower of An- 
 tonia itself was still standing ; as was the unex- 
 pected joy of the Romans at this fall of the wall 
 soon quenched by the sight they had of anothei 
 wall, which John and his party bad built within 
 it. However, the attack of this second wall 
 appeared to be easier than that of the former, 
 because it seemed a thing of greater facility to
 
 572 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK vi. 
 
 get np to it through the parts of the former 
 wall that were now thrown down. This new 
 wall appeared also to be much weaker than 
 the tower of Antonia, and accordingly the Ro- 
 mans imagined that it had been erected so much 
 on the sudden, that they should soon overthrow 
 it : yet did not anybody venture now to go up 
 to this wall: for that such as first centured so 
 to do must certainly be killed. 
 
 5. And now Titus, upon consideration that th 3 
 alacrity of soldiers in war is chiefly excited by 
 hopes and good words, and that exhortations and 
 promises do frequently make men to forget the 
 hazards they run, nay, and sometimes to despise 
 death itself, got together the most courageous part 
 of his army, and tried what he could do with his 
 men by these methods: "O fellow-soldiers," 
 said he, " to make an exhortation to men to do 
 what hath no peril in it, is on that very account 
 inglorious to such to whom that exhortation is 
 made ; and indeed so it is in him that makes the 
 exhortation, an argument of his own cowardice 
 also. I therefore think, that such exhortations 
 ought then only to be made use of when affairs 
 are in a dangerons condition, and yet are worthy 
 of being attempted by every one themselves ; 
 accordingly, I am fully of the same opinion with 
 you, that it is a difficult task to go up this wall ; 
 but that it is proper for those that desire reputa- 
 tion for their valour to struggle with difficulties 
 in such cases, will then appear, when I have par- 
 ticularly shewn that it is a brave thing to die 
 with glory, and that the courage here necessary 
 shall not go unrewarded in those that first begin 
 the attempt ; and let my first argument to move 
 you to it be taken from what probably Borne 
 would think reasonable to dissuade you I mean 
 the constancy and patience of these Jews, even 
 under their ill successes; for it is unbecoming 
 you, who are Romans and my soldiers, who have 
 in peace been taught how to make wars, and who 
 have also been used to conquer in those wars, to 
 be inferior to Jews, either in action of the hand 
 or in courage of the soul, and this especially 
 when you are at the conclusion of your victory, 
 and are assisted by God himself ; for as to our 
 misfortunes, they have been owing to the mad- 
 ness of the Jews, while their sufferings have 
 been owing to your valour, and to the assistance 
 God hath afforded you ; for as to the seditions 
 they have been in, and the famine they are 
 under, and the siege they now endure, and the 
 fall of their walls without our engines, what 
 can they all be but demonstrations of God's anger 
 against them, and of his assistance afforded us ? 
 It will not therefore be proper for you, either to 
 shew yourselves inferior to those to whom you 
 are really superior, or to betray that divine as- 
 sistance which is afforded you ; and indeed, how 
 can it be esteemed otherwise than a base and 
 unworthy thing, that while the Jews, who need 
 not be much ashamed if they be deserted, because 
 they have long learned to be slaves to others, do 
 yet despise death, that they may be so no longer, 
 and do make sallies into the very midst of us 
 frequently, not in hopes of conquering us, but 
 merely for a demonstration of their courage ; we, 
 who have gotten possession of almost all the 
 world that belongs to either land or sea, to whom 
 it will be a great shame if we do not conquer 
 them, do not once undertake any attempt against 
 our enemies wherein there is much danger, but 
 sit still idle, with such brave arms as we have, 
 and only wait till the famine and fortune do our 
 business themselves, and this when we have it 
 in our power, with some small hazard, to gain all 
 that we desire ! For if we go up. to this tower 
 of Antonia, we gain the city ; for if there should 
 
 be any more occasion for fighting against those 
 within the city, which I do not suppose there 
 will, since we shall then be upon the top of the 
 hill,* and be upon our enemies before they can 
 have taken breath, these advantages promise 
 us no less than a certain and sudden victory. 
 As for myself, I shall at present wave any 
 commendations of those who die in war,f and 
 omit to speak of the immortality of those men 
 who are slain in the midst of their martial 
 bravery ; yet cannot I forbear to imprecate upon 
 those who are of a contrary disposition, that they 
 may die in time of peace, by some distemper or 
 other, since their souls are already condemned 
 to the grave, together with their bodies ; for 
 what man of virtue is there who does not know 
 that those souls which are severed from their 
 fleshy bodies in battles by the sword are received 
 by the ether, that purest of elements, and joined 
 to that company which are placed among the 
 stars ; that they become good demons, and propi- 
 tious heroes, and shew themselves as such to 
 their posterity afterwards? while upon those 
 souls that wear away in and with their distem- 
 pered bodies comes a subterranean night to dis- 
 solve them to nothing, and a deep oblivion to 
 take away all the remembrance of them, and 
 this notwithstanding they be clean from all spots 
 and defilements of this world; so that, in this 
 case, the soul at the same time comes to the ut- 
 most bounds of its life, and of its body, and of 
 its memorial also ; but since fate has determined 
 that death is to come of necessity upon all men, 
 a sword is a better instrument for that purpose 
 than any disease whatsoever. Why, is it not then 
 a very mean thing for us not to yield up that to 
 the public benefit which we must yield up to 
 fate ? And this discourse have I made, upon the 
 supposition that those who at first attempt to go 
 upon this wall must needs be killed in the at- 
 tempt, though still men of true courage have a 
 chance to escape even in the most hazardous un- 
 dertakings ; for, in the first place, that part of 
 the former wall that is thrown down is easily to 
 be ascended; ancJ for the new-built wall, it is 
 easily destroyed Do you, therefore, many of 
 you, pull up your courage, and set about this 
 work, and do you mutually encourage and assist 
 one another ; and this your bravery will soon 
 break the hearts of your enemies ; and perhaps 
 such a glorious undertaking as yours is may be 
 accomplished without bloodshed ; for although it 
 be justly to be supposed that the Jews will try 
 to hinder you at your first beginning to go up to 
 them, yet when you have once concealed your- 
 selves from them, and driven them away by 
 force, they will not be able to sustain your efforts 
 against them any longer, though but a few of 
 you prevent them, and get over the walL As 
 for that person who first mounts the wall, I 
 should blush for shame if I did not make him to 
 be envied of others, by those rewards I would 
 bestow upon him. If such a one escape with his 
 life, he shall have the command of others that 
 are now but his equals ; although it be true also, 
 that the greatest rewards will accrue to such as 
 die in the attempt." 
 
 6. Upon this speech of Titus, tne rest of the 
 multitude were affrighted at so great a danger. 
 
 * Kdand notes here that the tower of Antonia stood 
 higher than the floor of the temple or court adjoining 
 to it ; and that accordingly they descended thencS into 
 the temple. 
 
 f In this speech of Titus we may gee the notions 
 which the Romans then had of death, and of the happy 
 state of those who died bravely in war, and the contrary 
 estate of those who died ignobly in their b<iis bj sick- 
 MM
 
 CHAP. I.] 
 
 573 
 
 But there was one whose name was Sabinus, a 
 soldier that served among the cohorts, and a Sy- 
 rian by birth, who appeared to be of very great 
 fortitude, both in the actions, he had done, and 
 the courage of his soul he had shewn ; although 
 anybody would have thought, before he came 
 to hia work, that he was of such a weak constitu- 
 tion of body, that he was not fit to be a soldier ; 
 for his colour was black, his flesh was lean and 
 thin, and lay close together; but there was a 
 certain heroic soul that dwelt in this small body, 
 which body was indeed much top narrow for 
 that peculiar courage which was in him. Ac- 
 cordingly he was the first that rose up ; when he 
 thus s'pake : "I readily surrender myself to 
 thee, O Caesar: I first ascend ths wall, and I 
 heartily wish that my fortune may follow my 
 courage and my resolution. And it some ill- 
 fortune grudge me the success of my undertak- 
 ing, take notice that my ill-success will not be 
 unexpected, but that I choose death voluntarily 
 for thy sake. " When he had said this, and had 
 spread out his shield over his head with his left 
 hand, and had, with his right hand, drawn his 
 sword, he marched up to the wall just about the 
 sixth hour of the day. There followed him 
 eleven others, and no more, that resolved to 
 imitate his bravery; but still this was the princi- 
 pal person of them all, and went first, as excited 
 by a divine fury. Vow, those that guarded the 
 wall shot at their, from thence, and cast innu- 
 merable darts upon them from every side ; they 
 also rolled very large stones upon them, which 
 overthrew some of those eleven that were with 
 him. But as for Sabinus himself, he met the 
 darts that were cast at him, and though he was 
 overwhelmed with them, yet did he not leave 
 off the violence of his attack before he had got- 
 ten up on the top of the wall, and had put the 
 enemy to flight. For as the Jews were astonished 
 at his great strength, and the bravery of his 
 soul ; and as, withal, they imagined more of them 
 had got upon the wall than really had, they 
 were put to flight. And now one cannot but 
 complain here of fortune, as still envious of vir- 
 tue, and always hindering the performance of 
 glorious achievements ; this was the case of tha 
 man before us, when he had just obtained his 
 purpose ; for he then stumbled at a certain lar^o 
 stone, and fell down upon it headlong, with a 
 very great noise. Upon which the Jews turned 
 back, and when they saw him to be alone, and 
 fallen down also, they threw darts at him from 
 every side. However, he got upon his knee, and 
 covered himself with his shield, and at the first 
 defended himself against them, and wounded 
 many of those that came near him ; but he was 
 goon forced to relax his right hand, by the mul- 
 titude of the wounds that had been given him, 
 till at length he was quite covered over with 
 darts before he gave up the ghost. He was one 
 who deserved a better fate, by reason of his 
 bravery ; but, as might be expected, he fell 
 under so vast an attempt. As for the rest of his 
 partners, the Jews dashed three of them to 
 pieces with stones, and slew them as they were 
 gotten up to the top of the wall ; the other eight 
 being wounded, were pulled down and carried 
 back to the camp. These things were done 
 upon the third day of the month Panemus, 
 [Tamuz.] 
 
 7. Now two days afterward, twelve of these 
 men that were on the fore-front, and kept watch 
 upon the banks, got together, and called to 
 them the standard-bearer of the fifth legion, and 
 two others of a troop of horsemen, and one trum- 
 peter ; these went without noise about the ninth 
 hour of the night, through the ruins to the tower 
 
 of Antonia ; and when they had cut the throata 
 of the first guards of the place, as they were 
 asleep, they got possession of the wall, and or- 
 dered the trumpeter to sound his trumpet. Upon 
 which the rest of the guard got up on the sud- 
 den, and ran away before any body could see how 
 many they were that were gotten up; for partly 
 from the fear they were in, and partly from the 
 sound of the trumpet which they heard, they 
 imagined a great number of the enemy were 
 gotten up. But as soon as Caesar heard the sig- 
 nal, he ordered the army to put on their acniour 
 immediately, and came thither with his com- 
 manders, and first of all ascended, as did the 
 chosen men that were with him. And as the 
 Jews were flying away to the temple, they fell 
 into that mine which John had dug under tha 
 Roman banks. Then did the seditious of both 
 the bodies of the Jewish army, as well that be- 
 longing to John as that belonging to Simon, 
 drive them away; and indeed were no wav want- 
 ing as to the highest degree of force and alacrity; 
 for they esteemed themselves entirely ruined if 
 once tho Romans got into the temple, as did the 
 Romans look upon the same thing as the begin- 
 ning of their entire conquest. So a terrible 
 battle was fought at the entrance of the temple, 
 while the Romans were forcing their way, in 
 order to get possession of that temple, and the 
 Jews were driving them back to the tower of 
 Antonia ; in which battle the darts were on both 
 sides useless, as well as the spears, and both 
 sides drew their swords, and fought it out hand 
 to hand. Now during this struggle, the posi- 
 tions of the men were undistinguished on both 
 ides, and they fought at random, the men being 
 intermixed one with another, and confounded, 
 by reason of the narrowness of the place ; while 
 the noise that was made fell on the ear after an 
 indistinct manner, because it was so very loud. 
 Great slaughter was now made on both sides, 
 and the combatants trod upon the bodies and 
 the armour of those that were dead, and dashed 
 them to pieces. Accordingly, to which side so- 
 ever the battle inclined, those that had the 
 advantage exhorted one another to go on, as did 
 those thit were beaten make great lamentations. 
 But still there was no room for flight, nor for 
 pursuit, but disorderly revolutions and retreats, 
 while the armies were intermixed one with an- 
 other; but those that were in the first ranks 
 were under the necessity of killing or being 
 killed, without any way for escaping ; for those 
 on both sides that came behind forced those 
 before them to go on, without leaving any space 
 between the armies. At length the Jews' vio- 
 lent zeal was too hard for the Romans' skill, and 
 the battle already inclined entirely that way ; 
 for the fight had lasted from the ninth hour of 
 the night till the seventh hour of the day, while 
 the Jews came on in crowds, and had the danger 
 the temple was in for their motive ; the Romans 
 having no more here than a part of their army ; 
 for those legions, on which the soldiers on that 
 side depended, were not come up to them. Sf 
 it was at present thought sufficient by the Ro- 
 mans to take possession of the tower of Antonia, 
 8. But there was one Julian, a centurion, that 
 came from Bithynia ; a man he was of great 
 reputation, whom I had formerly seen in that 
 war, and one of the highest fame, both for his 
 skill in war, his strength of body, and the cour- 
 age of his soul This man, seeing the Romans 
 giving ground, and in a sad condition, (for he 
 stood by Titus at the tower of Antoni*,) leaped 
 out, and of himself alone put the Jews to fligM 
 when they were already conquerors, and made 
 them retire as far as the corner of the inner
 
 874 
 
 V/AKS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK. VI, 
 
 court of the temple : from him the multitude 
 fled away in crowds, as supposing that neither 
 his strength nor his violent attacks could be 
 those of a mere man. Accordingly he rushed 
 through the midst of the Jews, as they were dis- 
 persed all abroad, and killed those that he 
 caught. Nor, indeed, was there any sight that 
 appeared more wonderful in the eyes of Caesar, 
 or more terrible to others than this. However, 
 he was himself pursued by fate, which it was 
 not possible that he who was but a mortal man 
 should escape ; for as he had shoes all full of 
 sharp and thick nails, as had every one of the 
 other soldiers, so when he ran on the pavement 
 of the temple, he slipped, and fell down upon 
 his back with a very great noise, which was 
 made by his armour, "^his made those that 
 were running away to turn back ; whereupon 
 those Romans that were in the tower of Antonia 
 set up a great shout, as if they were in fear for the 
 man. But the Jews got about him in crowds, 
 and struck at him with their spears and with 
 their swords on all sides. Now he received a 
 great many of the strokes of theso iron weapons 
 upon his shield, and often attempted to get up 
 again, but was thrown down by those that struck 
 at him ; yet did he, as he lay alung, stab many 
 of them with his sword. Nor was he soon killed, 
 as being covered with his helmet and his breast- 
 plate in all those parts of his body where he 
 might be mortally wounded ; he also pulled his 
 neck close to his body, till all his other limbs 
 were shattered, and nobody durst come to defend 
 him, and then he yielded to his fate. Now 
 Caesar was deeply affected on account of this 
 man of so great fortitude, and especially as he 
 was killed in the sight of so many people ; he 
 was desirous himself to corce to his assistance, 
 but the place would not give him leave, while 
 such as could have done it were too much terri- 
 fied to attempt it. Thus, when Julian had 
 struggled with death a great while, and had let 
 but few of those that had given him his mortal 
 wound go off unhurt, he had at last his throat 
 cut, though not without some difficulty ; and 
 left behind him a great fame, not only among 
 the Romans and with Caesar himself, but among 
 his enemies also ; then did the Jews catch up 
 his dead body, and put the Romans to flight 
 again, and shut them up in the tower of Antonia, 
 Now those that most signalised themselves, and 
 fought most zealously in this battle of the Jew- 
 ish side, were one Alexas and Gyphtheus, of 
 John's party ; and of Simon's party were Mala- 
 chias, aud Judas the son of Merto, and James 
 the son of Sosas, the commander of the Idu- 
 means ; and of the zealots, two brethren, Simon 
 and Judas, the sous of JainiB. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 MOW TITUS GAVE ORDEKS TO DEMOLISH THE TOWER 
 OF ANTONIA, AND THEN PERSUADED JOSEPHUS 
 TO EXHORT THE JEWS AGAIN, [TO A SURRENDER.] 
 
 L AND now Titus gave orders to his soldiers 
 that were with him to dig up the foundations of 
 the tower of Antonia, and make him a ready 
 passage for his army to come up ; while he him- 
 self had Josephus brought to him (for he had 
 been informed that on that very dav, which was 
 the seventeenth day* of Pauemus, [Tainuz,] the 
 
 * This was a very remarkable day indeed, the seven- 
 teenth of Panemus, [Tamuz,] A.D. 70, when, according 
 to Daniel's prediction, 008 years before, the Romans 
 
 sacrifice called " the Daily Sacrifice" had failed, 
 and had not been offered to God for want of 
 men to offer it, and that the people were griev- 
 ously troubled at it) and commanded him to say 
 the same things to John that he had said before, 
 that if he had any malicious inclination for 
 fighting, he might come out with as many of 
 his men as he pleased, in order to fight, without 
 the danger of destroying either his city or 
 temple ; but that he desired he would not defile 
 the temple, nor thereby offend against God, 
 That he might, if he pleased, offer the sacrifices 
 which were now discontinued, by any of the 
 Jews whom he should pitch upon. Upon this, 
 Josephus stood in such a place where he might 
 be heard, not by John only, but by many more, 
 and then declared to them what Caesar had given 
 him in charge, and this in the Hebrew language. 
 So he earnestly prayed them to spare their own 
 city, and to prevent that fire which was just 
 ready to seize upon the temple, and to offer 
 their usual sacrifices to God therein. At these 
 words of his a great sadness and silence were 
 observed among the people. But the tyrant him- 
 self cast many reproaches upon Josephus, with 
 imprecations besides ; and at last added this 
 withal, that he did never fear the taking of the 
 city, because it was God's own city. In answer 
 to which, Josephus said thus, with a loud voice : 
 " To be sure, thou hast kept this city wonder- 
 fully pure -for God's sake ! the temple also con- 
 tinues entirely unpolluted ! Nor hast thou been 
 guilty of any impiety against him, for whose 
 assistance thou hopest ! He still receives his 
 accustomed sacrifices ! Vile wretch that thou 
 art ! if any one should deprive thee of thy daily 
 food, thou wouldst esteem him to be an enemy 
 to thee ; but thou hopest to have that God for 
 thy supporter in this war whom thou hast 
 deprived of his everlasting worship ! and thou 
 imputest those sins to the Romans, who to this 
 very time take care to have our laws observed, 
 and almost compel these sacrifices to be still 
 offered to Oid, which have by thy means been 
 intermittec 7 Who is there csji avoid groans 
 and lameutavions at the amazing change that is 
 made in this city ? since very foreigners and ene- 
 mies do now correct that impiety which thou hast 
 occasioned : while thou, who art a Jew, and was 
 educated in our laws, art become a greater 
 enemy to them than the others ! But still, 
 John, it is never dishonourable to repent, and 
 amend what hath been done amiss, even at the 
 last extremity. Thou hast an instance before 
 thee in Jechouiah, the king of the Jews, if thou 
 hast a mind to. save the city, who, when the 
 king of Babylon made war against him, did, of 
 his own accord, go out of this city before it was 
 taken, and did undergo a voluntary captivity 
 with his family, that the sanctuary might not 
 be delivered up to the enemy, and that he might 
 not see the house of God set on fire : on which 
 account he is celebrated among all the Jews, in 
 their sacred memorials, and his memory is be- 
 come immortal, and will be conveyed fresh down 
 to our posterity through all ages. This, John, 
 is an excellent example in such a time of dan- 
 ger ; and I dare venture to promise that the 
 Romans shall still forgive thee. And take notice, 
 that I, who make this exhortation to thee, am 
 one of thine own nation ; I, who am a Jew, do 
 make this promise to thee. And it will become 
 thee to consider who I am that give thee this 
 
 " In half o. week caused the sacrifice and oblation to 
 cease," Dan. ix. 27 ; for from the month of February, 
 I.D. 60, about which time Vespasian entered on this 
 war, to this very time, was just three years and a half.
 
 CHAf. 11.] 
 
 WAR3 OF THE JEWS. 
 
 578 
 
 oounsel, and whence I tan derived ; for while I 
 am alive I shall never be in such slavery as to 
 forego my own kindred, or forget the laws of 
 our forefathers. Thou hast indignation at me 
 again, and niakest a clamour at me, and re- 
 proachest me ; indeed, I cannot deny but I am 
 worthy of worse treatment than all this amounts 
 to, because, in opposition to fate, I make this 
 kind invitation to thee, and endeavour to force 
 deliverance upon those whom God hath con- 
 demned. And who is there that does not 
 know what the writings of the ancient prophets 
 contain in them, and particularly that oracle 
 which is just now going to be fulfilled upon 
 this miserable city ? for they foretold that this 
 city should be then taken when somebody shall 
 begin the slaughter of his own countrymen ! and 
 we not both the city and the entire temple now 
 full of the dead bodies of your countrymen? 
 It is God therefore, it is God himself who is 
 bringing on this fire, to purge that city and 
 temple by means of the Romans,* and is going 
 to pluck up this city, which is full of your pol- 
 lutions." 
 
 2. As Josephus spoke these ^rords with groans, 
 and tears in his eyes, his voice was intercepted 
 by sobs. However, the Romans could not but 
 pity the affliction he was under, and wonder at 
 his conduct. But for John, and those that were 
 with him, they were but the more exasperated 
 against the Romans on this account, and were 
 desirous to get Josephus also into their power : 
 vet did that discourse influence a great many of 
 the better sort ; and truly some of them were so 
 afraid of the guards set by the seditious, that 
 they tarried where they were, but still were 
 satisfied that both they and the city were 
 doomed to destruction. Some also there were 
 who, watching for a proper opportunity when 
 they might quietly get away, fled to the Ro- 
 mans, of whom were the high priests Joseph and 
 Jesus, and of the sons of high priests three, 
 whose father was Ishmael, who was beheaded in 
 Cyreue, and four sons of Matthias, as also one 
 son of the other Matthias, who ran away after 
 his father's death, and whose father was slain 
 by Simon, the son of Gioras, with three of his 
 sons, as I have already related: many also of 
 the other nobility went over to the Romans, to- 
 gether with the high priests. Now Caesar not 
 only received these men very kindly in other 
 respects, but, knowing they would not willingly 
 live after the customs of other nations, he sent 
 them to Gophna, and desired them to remain 
 there for the present, and told them, that when 
 he was gotten clear of this war, he would restore 
 each of them to their possessions again ; so they 
 cheerfully retired to that small city which was 
 allotted them, without fear of any danger. But 
 as they did not appear, the seditious gave out 
 again "that these deserters were slain by the 
 Romans, which was done in order to deter 
 the rest from running away by fear of the like 
 treatment. This trick of theirs succeeded now 
 for a whilfc, AS did the b'ke trick before ; for the 
 rest were hereby deterred from deserting, by 
 fear of the like treatment. 
 
 3. However, when Titus had recalled those 
 men from Gophna, he gave orders that they 
 should go round the. wall, together with Jose- 
 ,,hus and shew themselves to the people ; upon 
 which a great many fled to the Romans. These 
 
 Josephus speaks so, that it is most evident he was 
 fully satisfied thut God was on the Romans' side and 
 maile use of them now for the destruction of the Jews, 
 which was for certain the true stole of this matter as 
 the prophet Daniel first, and our Saviour himself after- 
 wards, had clearly foretold. 
 
 men also got in a great number together, and 
 stood before the Romans, and besought the sedi- 
 tious, with groans, and tears in their eyes, in the 
 irst place to receive the Romans entirely into 
 the city, and save that their own place of resi- 
 dence again ; but that if they would not agree to 
 such a proposal, they would at least depart out 
 of the temple, and save the holy house for 
 their own use ; for that the Romans would not 
 venture to set the sanctuary on fire, but under 
 the most pressing necessity. Yet did the sedi- 
 tious still more and more cptu.-adict them ; and 
 while they cast loud and bitter reproaches upon 
 these deserters, they also set their engines for 
 throwing of darts, and javelins, and stones 
 upon the sacred gates of the temple, at due dis- 
 tances from one another, insomuch that all the 
 space round about within the temple might be 
 compared to a burying-ground, so great was the 
 number of the dead bodies therein ; as might the 
 house itself be compared to a citadel Accord- 
 inglyj these men rushed upon these holy places 
 in their armour, that were otherwise unapproach- 
 able, and that while their hands were yet warm 
 with the blood of their own people which they 
 had shed ; nay, they proceeded to such great 
 transgressions, that the very same indignation 
 which Jews would naturally have against Ro- 
 mans, had they been guilty of such abuses against 
 them, the Romans now had against the Jews, 
 for their impiety in regard to their own religious 
 customs. Nay, indeed, there were none of the 
 Roman soldiers who did not look with a sacred 
 horror upon the holy house, and adored it, and 
 wished that the robbers would repent before 
 their miseries became incurable. 
 
 4. Now Titus was deeply affected with this 
 state of things, and reproached John and his 
 party, and said to them, "Have not you, vile 
 wretches that you are, by our permission, put 
 up this partition-wall t before your sanctuary ? 
 Have not you been allowed to put up the pillars 
 thereto belonging, at due distances, and on it to 
 engrave in Greek, and in your own letters, this 
 prohibition, that no foreigner should go beyond 
 that wall ? Have we not given you leave to kill 
 such as go beyond it, though he were a Roman ? 
 And what do you do now, you pernicious 
 villains? ^hy do you trample upon dead 
 bodies in this temple? and why do you pollute 
 this holy house with the blood both of foreigners 
 and Jews themselves? I appeal to the gods of 
 my own country, and to every god that ever had 
 any regard to this place, (for I do not suppose it 
 to be now regarded by any of them;) I also 
 appeal to my own army, and to those Jews that 
 are now with me, and even to you yourselves, 
 that I do not force you to defile this your sanc- 
 tuary ; and if you will but change the place 
 whereon you will fight, no Roman shall either 
 come near your sanctuary, or offer any affront to 
 it ; nay, I will endeavour to preserve you your 
 holy house, whether you will or not." 
 
 5 As Josephus explained these things from 
 the mouth of Caesar, both the robbers and the 
 tyrant thought that these exhortations proceeded 
 from Titus's fear, and not from his good-will to 
 them, and grew insolent upon it ; but when 
 Titus saw that these men were neither to be 
 moved by commiseration towards themselves, 
 
 t Of this partition-wall separating Jews and Gentile*, 
 with its pillars and inscription, see the description ol 
 
 tt l nSfe^SiS- Jews were the direct occasion, 
 of their own destruction, and of the conflagration of 
 their city and temple, and that Titus earnestly and 
 conVntlj laboured to save both, i* here aud every- 
 wnere most evident in Josephus.
 
 576 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOO* VL 
 
 nor had any concern upon them to have the holy 
 house spared, he proceeded, unwillingly, to go 
 on again with the war against them. He could 
 not indeed bring all his army against them, the 
 place was so narrow; but choosing thirty sol- 
 diers of the most valiant out of every hundred, 
 and committing a thousand to each tribune, and 
 making Cerealis their commander-in-chief, he 
 gave orders that they should attack the guards 
 of th< temple about the ninth hour of that night ; 
 but as he was now in his armour, and preparing 
 to go down with them, his friends would not let 
 him go, by reason of the greatness of the danger, 
 and what the commanders suggested to them ; 
 for they said that he would do more by sitting 
 above in the tower of Antonia, as a dispenser of 
 rewards to those that signalised themselves in 
 the fight, than by coming down and hazarding 
 his own person in the fore-front of them; for 
 that they would all fight stoutly while Caesar 
 looked upon them. With this advice Cassar 
 complied, and said, that the only reason he had 
 for such compliance with the soldiers was this, 
 that he might be able to judge of tb*ir courage- 
 ous actions, and that no valiant soldier might 
 lie concealed, and miss of his reward; and no 
 cowardly soldier might go unpunished ; but that 
 he might himself be an eye-witness, and able to 
 give evidence of all that was done, who was to 
 be the disposer of punishments and rewards to 
 them. So he sent the soldiers about their work, 
 at the hour forementioned, while he went out 
 himself to a higher place in the tower of Antonia, 
 whence he might see what was done, and there 
 waited with impatience to see the event. 
 
 6. However, the soldiers that were sear Jid 
 not find the guards of the temple asleep, as they 
 hoped to have done ; but were obliged to fight 
 with them immediately hand to hand, as they 
 rushed with violence upon them with a great 
 shout. Now, as soon as the rest within the tem- 
 ple heard that shout of those that were upon the 
 watch, they ran out in troops upon them. Then 
 did the Romans receive the onset of those that 
 came first upon them ; but those that followed 
 them fell upon their own troops, and many of 
 them treated their own soldiers as if they had 
 been enemies : for the great confused noise that 
 was made on both sides hindered them from 
 distinguishing one another's voices, as did the 
 darkness of the night hinder them from the like 
 distinction by the sight, besides that bUndness 
 which arose otherwise also from the passion and 
 the fear they were in at the same time ; for 
 which reason, it was all one to the soldiers who 
 it was they struck at. However, this ignorance 
 did less harm to the Romans than to the Jews, 
 because they were joined together under their 
 shields, and made their sallies more regularly 
 than the others did, and each of them remem- 
 bered their watchword; while the Jews were 
 perpetually dispersed abroad, and made their 
 attacks and retreats at random, and so did fre- 
 quently seem to one another to be enemies ; for 
 every one of them received those of their own 
 men that came back in the dark as Romans, and 
 made an assault upon them; so that more of 
 them were wounded by their own men than by 
 the enemy, till, upon the coming on of the day, 
 the nature of the fight was discerned by the eye 
 afterward, Then did they stand in battle-array 
 in distinct bodies, and cast their darts regular- 
 ly, and regularly defended themselves ; nor did 
 either side yield or grow weary. The Romans 
 contended with each other who should fight the 
 most strenuously, both single men and entire 
 regiments, as being under the eye of Titus ; and 
 every one concluded that this day would bring 
 
 his promotion if he fought bravely. The great 
 encouragements which the Jews had in view to 
 act vigorously were their fear for themselves 
 and for the temple," and the presence of their 
 tyrant, who exhorted some, and beat and threat- 
 ened others to act courageously. Now, it so 
 happened that this fight was for the most pi 
 a stationary one, wherein the soldiers went oit, 
 and came back in a short time, and suddenly ; 
 for there was no long space of ground for either 
 of their flights or pursuits ; but still there was 
 a tumultuous noise among the Romans from the 
 tower of Antonia, who loudly cried out upon all 
 occasions for their own men to press on courage- 
 ously, when they were too hard for the Jews, and 
 to stay when they were retiring backward ; so 
 that here was a kind of theatre of war; for what 
 was done in this fight could not be concealed 
 either from Titus or from those that were about 
 him. At length, it appeared that this fight, 
 which began at the ninth hour of the night, was 
 not over till past the fifth hour of the day ; and 
 that, in the same place where the battle began, 
 neither party could say they had made the other 
 *-o retire ; but both the armies left the victory 
 almost in uncertainty between them ; wherein 
 those that signalised themselves on the Roman 
 side were a great many : but on the Jewish side, 
 and of those that were with Simon, Judas the 
 son of Merto, and Simon the son of Josias ; of 
 ihe Idumeans, James and Simon, the latter of 
 whom was the son of Catlilas, and James was 
 the son of Sosas ; of those that were with John, 
 Gyphtheus and Alexas; and, of the zealots, 
 Sunon the son of Jairus. 
 
 7. In the meantime, the rest of the Roman 
 army had, in seven days' time, overthrown 
 [some] foundations of the tower of Antonia, and 
 had made a ready and broad way to the temple. 
 Then did the legions come near the first court,* 
 and began to raise their banks. The one bank 
 was over against the north-west corner of the 
 inner tern pie ;+ another was at that northern 
 edifice which was between the two gates ; and 
 of the other two, one was at the western cloister 
 of the outer court of the temple ; tha other 
 against its northern cloister. However, these 
 works were thus far advanced by the Romans, 
 not without great pains and difficulty, and par- 
 ticularly by being obliged to bring their materials 
 from the distance of a hundred furlongs. They 
 had further difficulties also upon them; some- 
 times, by the over great security they were in 
 that they should overcome the Jewish snares 
 laid for them, and by that boldness of the Jews 
 which their despair of escaping had inspired 
 them withal ; for some of their horsemen, when 
 they went out to gather wood or hay, let their 
 horaes feed, without having their bridles on 
 during the time, of foraging ; upon which horses 
 the Jews sallied out in whole bodies, and seized 
 them : and when this was continually done, and 
 Caesar believed, what the truth was, that the 
 horses were stolen more by the negligence of hii 
 own men than by the valour of the Jews, he 
 determined to use greater severity to ^oblige tho 
 rest to take care of their horses ; so he com- 
 manded that one of those soldiers who had lost 
 their horses should be capitally punished ; where- 
 by he so terrified the rest, that they preserved 
 their horses for the time to come ; for they did 
 not any longer let them go from them to feed 
 by themselves, but, as if they had grown to 
 them, they went always along with them when 
 they wanted necessaries. Thus did the Romans 
 
 1 * The Court of the Gentiles, t The Court of Israel.
 
 CHAP. DL] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 B77 
 
 still continue to make war against the temple, 
 tind to raise thcii banks against it. 
 
 8. Now, after one day had been interposed 
 since the Romans ascended the breach, many of 
 the seditious wero so pressed by the famine, 
 upon the present failure of their ravages, that 
 they got together, and made an attack on those 
 Roman guards that were upon the Mount of 
 Olives, and this about the eleventh hour of the 
 day, as supposing first, that they would not ex- 
 pect such an onset, and, in the next place, that 
 they were then taking care of their bodies, and 
 that therefore they should very easily beat them ; 
 but the Romans were apprised of their comiug to 
 attack them, beforehand, and running together 
 from the neighbouring camps ou the sudden, pre- 
 vented them from getting over their fortifica- 
 tion, or forcing the wall that was built about 
 them. Upon this came on a sharp fight, and 
 here many great actions were performed on both 
 sides ; while the Romans shewed both their 
 courage and their skill in war, as did the Jews 
 come on them with immoderate violence and in- 
 tolerable passion. The one party were urged on 
 by shame, and the other by necessity ; for it 
 seemed a very shameful thing to the Romans 
 to let the Jews go, now they were taken in a kind 
 of net ; while the Jews had but one hope of sav- 
 ing themselves, and that was, in case they could 
 by violence break through the Roman wall : 
 and one, whose name was Pedauius, belonging 
 to a party of horsemen, when the Jews were 
 already beaten and forced down into the valley 
 together, spurred his horse on their flank with 
 great vehemence, and caught up a certain young 
 man belonging to the enemy by his ankle, as he 
 was running away. The man was, however, of 
 a robust body, and in his armour ; so low did 
 Pedauius bend himself downward from his horse, 
 even as he was galloping away, and so great was 
 the strength of his right hand, and of the rest of 
 his body, as also such skill had he in horseman- 
 ship. So this man seized upon that his prey, as 
 upon a precious treasure, and earned him as his 
 captive to Csesar: whereupon Titus admired the 
 man that had seized the other, for his great 
 strength, and ordered the man that was caught 
 to be punished, [with death,] for his attempt 
 ^7<inst the Roman wall, but betook himself to 
 the siege of the temple, and to pressing on the 
 raising of the banks. 
 
 9. In the meantime the Jews were so dis- 
 tressed by the fights they had been in, as the 
 war advanced higher and higher, and creeping 
 up to the holy house itself, that they, as it were, 
 cut off those limbs of their body which were 
 infected, in order to prevent the distemper's 
 spreading farther ; for they set the north-west 
 cloister, which was joined to the tower of 
 Antocia, on fire, and after that brake off about 
 twenty cubits of that cloister, and thereby made 
 a beginning in burning the sanctuary : two days 
 after which, or on the twenty -fourth day of the 
 forenamed month, [Panemus, or Tamuz,] the 
 Romans set fire to the cloister that joined to the 
 other, when the fire went fifteen cubits farther. 
 The Jews, in like manner, cut off its roof ; nor 
 did they entirely leave off what they were about, 
 till the tower of Antonia was parted from the 
 temple, even when it was in their power to have 
 stopped the fire ; nay, they lay still while the 
 temple was first set on fire, and deemed this 
 spreading of the fire to be for their own advan- 
 tage. However, the armies were still fighting 
 one against another about the temple ; and the 
 war was managed by continual sallies of parti- 
 cular parties against one another. 
 
 10. Now there was at this time a man among 
 
 the Jews ; low of stature he was, and of a despi- 
 cable appearance ; of no character either as to 
 his family, or in other respects : his name was 
 Jonathan. He went out at the high priest 
 John's monument, and uttered many other in- 
 solent things to the Romans, and challenged the 
 best of them all to a single combat ; but many of 
 thoM that stood there in the army huffed him, 
 and many of them, (as they might well be,) were 
 afraid of him. Some of them also reasoned 
 thus, and that Justly enough : that it was not 
 fit to fight with a man that desired to die, be- 
 cause that those that utterly despaired of deli- 
 verance had, besides other passions, a violence 
 in attacking men that could not be opposed, 
 and had no regard to God himself ; and that to 
 hazard one's self with a person whom if you 
 overcome you do no great matter, and by whom 
 it is hazardous that you may be taken prisoner, 
 would be an instance, not of manly courage, but 
 of unmanly rashness. So there being nobody 
 that came out to accept the man's challenge, 
 and the Jew cutting them with a great number 
 of reproaches, as cowards, (for he was a very 
 haughty man in himself, and a great despiser of 
 the Romans,) one whose name was Pudens, of 
 the body of horsemen, out of liis abomination of 
 the other's words, and of his impudence withal, 
 and perhaps out of an inconsiderate arrogance, 
 on account of the other's lowness of stature, ran 
 out to him, and was too hard for him in other 
 respects, but was betrayed by his ill-fortune ; 
 for he fell down, and as he was down, Jonathan 
 came running to him, and cut his throat, and 
 then standing upon his dead body, he bran- 
 dished his sword, bloody as it was, and shook 
 his shield with his left hand, and made many 
 acclamations to the Roman army, and exulted 
 over the dead man, and jested upon the Ro- 
 mans ; till at length one Priscus, a centurion, 
 shot a dart at him as he was leaping and playing 
 the fool with himself, and thereby pierced him 
 through : upon which a shout was set up both 
 by the Jews and the Romans, though on differ- 
 ent accounts. So Jonathan grew giddy by the 
 pain of his wounds, and feU down upon the 
 body of his adversary a plain instance how 
 suddenly vengeance may come upon men that 
 hiive success in war, without any just deserving 
 of the same. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 CONCERNING A STRATAGEM THAT WAS DEVISED 
 BY THE JEWS, BY WHICH THEY BURNT MANY 
 OF THE ROMANS ; WITH ANOTHER DESCRIPTION 
 OP THE TERRIBLE FA1UNB THAT WAS IH tB.lt 
 CITY. 
 
 1 BUT now the seditions that were in the 
 temple did every day openly endeavour to beat 
 off the soldiers that were ui>on the banks, and on 
 the twenty -seventh day of the fore-named mouth, 
 fPanemus, or Tamuz,]contrivedsuch a stratagem 
 as this : They filled that part of the western 
 cloister" which was between tlie beams, and the 
 roof under them, with dry Tnaterials, as also 
 with bitumen and pitch, and then retired from 
 that place as though they were tired with the 
 pains they had taken ; at which procedure of 
 theirs many of the most inconsiderate among 
 the Romans, who were carried away with violent 
 pass-ions, followed hard after them as they were 
 retiring, and applied ladders to the cloister, and 
 
 Of the Court of the Gentile*. 
 
 a o
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK VI, 
 
 got up to it suddenly ; but the prudent part of 
 them, when they understood this unaccountable 
 retreat of the Jews, stood still where they were 
 before However, the cloister was full of those 
 that were gone up the ladders ; at which time 
 the Jews set it all on fire ; and as the flames 
 burst out everywhere on the sudden, the Ro- 
 mans that were out of the danger were seized 
 with a very great consternation, as were those 
 that were in the midst of the danger in the 
 utmost distress. So when they perceived them- 
 selves surrounded with the flames, some of them 
 threw themselves down backwards into the city, 
 and some among their enemies, [in the temple ;] 
 as did many leap down to their own men, and 
 broke their limbs to pieces : but a great number 
 of those that were going to take these violent 
 methods were prevented by the fire ; though 
 some prevented the fire by their own swords. 
 However, the fire was on the sudden carried so 
 far as to surround those who would have other- 
 wise perished. '-As for Giesar himself, he could 
 not, however, but commiserate those that thus 
 perished, although they got up thither without 
 any order for so doing, since there was no 'way 
 of giving them any relief. Yet was this some 
 comfort to those that were destroyed that every- 
 body might see that person grieve, for whose 
 sake they came to their end ; for he cried out 
 openly to them, and leaped up, and exhorted 
 those that were about him to do their utmost to 
 relieve them. So every one of them died cheer- 
 fully, as carrying along with him these words 
 and this intention of Caesar as a sepulchral 
 monument. Some there were, indeed, who re- 
 tired into the wall of the cloister, which was 
 broad, and were preserved out of the fire, but 
 were then surrounded by the Jews ; and al- 
 though they made resistance against the Jews 
 for a long time, yet were they wounded by 
 them, and at length they all fel! down dead. 
 
 2. At the last a young man among them, 
 whose name was Longus, became a decoration 
 to this sad affair, and while every one of them 
 that perished were worthy of a memorial, this 
 man appeared to deserve it beyond all the rest. 
 Now the Jews admired this man for his courage, 
 and were farther desirous of having him slain ; 
 so they persuaded him to come down to them, 
 upon security given him for his life. But Cor- 
 lielius, his brother, persuaded him, on the con- 
 trary, not to tarnish his own glory nor that of 
 the Roman army. He complied with this last 
 advice, and lifting up his sword before both 
 armies, he slew himself. Yet was there one Arto- 
 rius among those surrounded with the fire, who 
 escaped by his subtlety ; for when he had with 
 a loud voice called to him Lucius, one of his fel- 
 low-soldiers that lay with him in the same tent, 
 and said to him, " I do leave thee heir of .ill I 
 have, if thou wilt come and receive me." Upon 
 this he came running to receive him readily ; 
 Artorius then, threw himself down upon him, 
 and saved his own life, while he that received 
 him was dashed so vehemently against the stone 
 pavement by the^other's weight, that he died 
 immediately. This melancholy accident made 
 the Ron mns sad for a while, but still it made 
 them more upon their guard for the future, and 
 was of advantage to them against the delu- 
 sions of the J ews, by which they were greatly da- 
 maged, through their unacquaintedness with the 
 places, and with the nature of the inhabitants. 
 Now this cloister was burnt down as far as John's 
 tower which he built in the war he made against 
 Simon over the gates that led to the Xystus. 
 Ihe Jews also cut off the rest of that cloister 
 from the temple, after they had destroyed those 
 
 that got up to it. But the next day the Ro- 
 mans burnt down the northern cloister entirely, 
 as far as the east cloister, whose common angle 
 joined to the valley that was called Cedron, and 
 was built over it ; on which account the depth 
 was frightful. And this was the state of the 
 temple at that time. 
 
 3. Now of those that perished by famine in 
 the city, the number was prodigious, and the 
 miseries they undei-went were unspeakable ; for 
 if so much as the shadow of any kind of food did 
 anywhere appear, a war was commenced pre- 
 sently ; and the dearest friends fell a-fighting 
 one with another about it, snatching from each 
 other the most miserable supports of life. Nor 
 would men believe that those who were dying 
 had no food , but the robbers would search them 
 when they were expiring, lest any one should 
 have concealed food in their bosoms, and coun- 
 terfeited dying : nay, these robbers gaped for 
 want, and ran about stumbling and staggering 
 along like mad dogs, and reeling against the 
 doors of the houses like drunken men ; they 
 would also, in the great distress they were in, 
 rush into the very same houses two or three 
 times in one and the same day. Moreover, 
 their hunger was so intolerable, that it obliged 
 them to chew everything, while they gathered 
 such things as the most sordid animals would 
 not touch, and endured to eat them ; nor did 
 they at length abstain from girdles and shoes ; 
 and the very leather which belonged to their 
 shields they pulled off and gnawed : the very 
 wisps of old hay became food to some ; and 
 some gathered up nbres, and sold a very small 
 weight of them for four Attic, [drachmae.] But 
 \ 'by should I describe the shameless impudence 
 that the famine brought on men in their eating 
 inanimate things, while I am going to relate a 
 matter of fact, the like to which no history re- 
 lates, either among the Greeks or Barbarians ! 
 It is horrible to speak of it, and incredible when 
 heard. I had indeed willingly omitted this cala- 
 mity of ours, that I might not seem to delivei 
 what is so portentous to posterity, but that I 
 have innumerable witnesses to it in my own age ; 
 and besides, my country would have had little 
 reason to thank me for suppressing the miseries 
 that she underwent at this time. 
 
 4. Now there was a certain woman that dwelt 
 beyond Jordan, her name was Mary ; her father 
 was Eleazar, of the village Bethezub, which 
 signifies the House of Hyssop. She was emi- 
 nent for her family and her wealth, and had fled 
 away to Jerusalem with the rest of ihe multi- 
 tude, and was with them besieged therein c 
 this time. The other effects of this woman had 
 been already seized upon ; such I mean as she 
 had brought with her out of Perea, and removed 
 to the city. What she had treasured up be- 
 sides, as also what food she had contrived to 
 save, had also been carried off by the rapacious 
 guards, who came every day running into her 
 house for that purpose. This put the poor 
 woman into a very great passion, and by the 
 frequent reproaches and imprecations she cast at 
 these rapacious villains, she had provoked them 
 to anger against her ; but none of them, either 
 out of the indignation she had raised against 
 herself, or out of the commiseration of her case, 
 would take away her life ; and if she found any 
 food, she perceived her labours were for others, 
 and not for herself ; and it was now become im- 
 possible for her any way to find any more food, 
 while the famine pierced through her very 
 bowels and marrow, when also her passion was 
 fired to a degree beyond the fainiue itself: nor 
 < , ; id she consult with anything but with, her pas-
 
 CHAP. 1V.J 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 679 
 
 Hion and the necessity she was in. She then at- 
 tempted a most unnatural thing ; and snatching 
 ip her son, who was a child sucking at her 
 i>reost, she said, " O thou miserable infant ! for 
 whom shall I preserve thee in this war, this 
 famine, and this sedition? As to the war with 
 ihe Romans, if they preserve our lives, we must 
 ae slaves ! This famine also will destroy us, 
 sveii before that slavery comes upon us ; yet are 
 ihese seditious rogues more terrible than both 
 ihe other. Come on ; be thou my food, and be 
 ;hou a fury to these seditious varlets and a bye- 
 word to the world, which is all that is now 
 wanting to complete the calamities of us Jews." 
 As soon as she had said this, she slew her son ; 
 ind then roasted him, and ate the one half of 
 him, and kept the other half by her concealed. 
 Upon this the seditious came in presently, and 
 imelling the horrid scent of this food, they 
 threatened her that they would cut her throat 
 immediately if she did not shew them what 
 food she had gotten ready. She replied, that 
 she had saved a very tine portion of it for them ; 
 Mid withal uncovered what was left of her son. 
 Hereupon they were seized with a horror and 
 imazeineut of mind, and stood astonished at the 
 tight; when she said to them, "This is mine 
 own sou ; and what hath been done was mine 
 own doing ! Come, eat of this food ; for I have 
 eaten of it myself ! Do not you pretend to 
 be either more tender than a woman, or more 
 compiissionate than a mother ; but if you be 
 so scrupulous, and do abominate this my sac- 
 rifice, as I have eaten the one half , let the rest 
 be reserved for me also." After which, those 
 men went out trembling, being never so much 
 ilt'righted at anything as they were at this, and 
 with some difficulty they left the rest of that 
 meat to the mother. Upon which, the whole 
 city was full of horrid action immediately ; and 
 while everybody laid this miserable case be- 
 fore their own eyes, they trembled, as if this 
 unheard -of action had been done by themselves. 
 So those that were thus distressed by the famine 
 were very desirous to die ; and those already 
 dead were esteemed happy, because they had 
 not lived long enough either to hear or see such 
 miseries. . 
 
 5. This sad instance was quickly told to the 
 Romans, some of whom could not believe it, and 
 others pitied the distress which the Jews were 
 under ; but there were many of them who were 
 hereby induced to a more bitter hatred than 
 ordinary against our nation ; but for Csesar, he 
 excused himself before God as to this matter, 
 and said that he had proposed peace and liberty 
 to the Jews, as well as an oblivion of all their 
 former insolent practices ; but that they, instead 
 of concord, had chosen sedition ; instead of peace, 
 war ; and before satiety and abundance, a famine. 
 That they had begun with their own hands to 
 burn down that temple, which we have preserved 
 hitherto ; and that therefore they deserved to 
 eat such food as this was. That, however, this 
 horrid actio" of eating one's own child, ought to 
 be covered with the overthrow of their very coun- 
 try itself ; and men ought not to leave such a 
 city upon the habitable earth to be seen by the 
 BUU. wherein mothers are thus fed, although 
 such food be fitter for the fathers than for the 
 mothers to eat of, since it is they that continue 
 Btill in a state of war against us, after they have 
 Undergone such miseries as these. And at the 
 same time that he said this, he reflected on 
 the desperate condition these men must be 
 in nor could he expect that such men couhl be 
 recovered to sobriety of mind, after they had 
 endured those very sufferings, for the avoiding 
 
 whereof it only was probable they migut have 
 repented. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 WHEN THE BANKS WERE COMPLETED, AND THK 
 BATTEB1NG-RA1IS BROUGHT, AND COULD DO NO- 
 THING, TITUS GAVE ORDERS TO SET FIR! TO THB 
 GATES OF THE TEMPLE ; IN NO LONG TIME AFTEB 
 WHICH THE HOLY HOUSE ITSELF WAS BUKNT 
 DOWN, EVEN AGAINST HIS CONSENT. 
 
 1. AND now two of the legions had completed 
 their banks on the eighth day of the month Lous, 
 [Ab.] Whereupon Titus gave orders that the 
 battering-rams should be brought and set over 
 against the western edifice of the inner temple ; 
 for before these were brought, the liamest of all 
 the other engines had battered the wall for six 
 days together without ceasing, without making 
 any impression upon it ; but the vast largeness 
 and strong connexion of the stones were superior 
 to that engine, and to the other battering-rams 
 also. Other Romans did indeed undermine the 
 foundations of the northern gate, and, after a 
 world of pains, removed the outermost stones, yet 
 was the gate still upheld by the inner stones, and 
 stood still unhurt ; till the workmen, despairing of 
 all such attempts by engines and crows, brought 
 their ladders to the cloisters. Now the Jews did 
 not interrupt them in so doing ; but when they 
 were gotten up, they fell upon them and fought 
 with them ; some of them they thrust down and 
 threw them backwards headlong ; others of them 
 the$ met and slew ; they also beat many of those 
 that went down the ladders again and slew theiii 
 with their sworda before they could bring their 
 shields to protect them ; nay, eome of the ladders 
 they threw down from above when they were 
 full of armed men ; a great slaughter was made 
 of the Jews also at the same time, while those 
 that bare the ensigns fought hard for them, as 
 deeming it a terrible thing, and what would tend 
 to their great shame, if they permitted them to 
 be stolen away. Yet did the Jews at length get 
 possession of these engines, and destroyed those 
 that had gone up the ladders, while the rest were 
 so intimidated by what those suffered who were 
 slain, that they retired : although none of the 
 Romans died without having done good service 
 before his death. Of the seditious, those that 
 had fought bravely in the former battles, did the 
 like now ; as besides them did Eleazar, the bro- 
 ther's son jf Simon the. tyrant. But when Titus 
 perceived that his endeavours to spare a foreign 
 temvle turned to the damage of his soldiers and 
 made them to be killed, he gave orders to set tha 
 yutes on fire. 
 
 2. In the meantime there deserted to him Ana- 
 nus, who came from Emmaus, the most bloody 
 of all Simon's guards, and Archelaus, the son 
 of Magadatus, they hoping to be still forgiven, 
 because they left the Jews at a time when they 
 weretheconquerors. Titusohjected this to these 
 men as a cunning trick of theirs : ami as he had 
 Vx,_-u informed of their other barbarities towards 
 the Jews, he was going in all haste to have them 
 both slain. He told them that they were only 
 driven to this desertion because of the utmost 
 distress they were in, and did not come away of 
 their own good disposition ; and that those did 
 not deserve to be preserved by whom their own 
 city was set on fire, out of which fire they now 
 hurried themselves away, liowever, the security 
 he had promised deserters overcame his resent- 
 ments and he dismissed them accordingly,
 
 Gift) 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK VI. 
 
 though he did not give them the same privileges 
 that he had afforded to others ; and now the sol- 
 diers had already put fire to the gates, aii-l the 
 silver that was o\er them quickly carried ihe 
 flames to the wood that WHS within it, whence it 
 spread itself all ou the sudden, and caught hold 
 of the cloisters. Upon the Jews seeing this fire 
 all about them, their spirits sunk, together with 
 their bodies, and they were under such astonish- 
 ment that not one of them made any haste either 
 to defend himself or to quench the fire, but they 
 stood as mute spectators of i*-. only. However, 
 they did not so grieve at the loss of what was 
 now burning as to grow wiser thereby for the 
 time to come ; but ns though the holy house it- 
 self had been on fire already, they whetted their 
 passions against the Romans. This fire prevailed 
 during that day and the next also ; for the sol- 
 diers were not able to burn all the cloisters that 
 were round about together at one time, but only 
 by pieces. 
 
 3. But then on the next day, Titus commanded 
 part of his army to quench the fire, and to make 
 a road for the more easy marching up of the le- 
 gions, while he himself gathered the commanders 
 together. Of those there were asembled the six 
 principal persons : Tiberius Alexander, the com- 
 mander [under the general] of the whole army ; 
 with Sextus Cerealis, the commander of the fifth 
 legion ; and Larcius Lepidus, the commander of 
 the tenth legion ; and Titus Frigius, the com- 
 mander of the fifteenth legion : there was also 
 with them Eternius, the leader of the two legiona 
 that came from Alexandria ; and Marcus Anto- 
 nius Julianus, procurator of Judea: after these 
 came together all the rest of the procurators arid 
 tribunes. Titus proposed to these tlmt*they 
 should give him their advice what should be 
 done about the holy house. Now, some of these 
 thought it would be the best way to act accord- 
 ing to the rules of war, [and demolish it ;] because 
 the Jews would never leave off rebelling while 
 that house was standing; at which house it was 
 that they used to get all together. Others of 
 them were of opinion, that in case the Jews 
 would leave it. and none of them would lay thcu 
 jrme up in it, he might save it ; but that in csst 
 they got upon it, and fought any more, he might 
 burn it ; because it must then be looked upon 
 not as a holy house, but as a citadel : and that 
 the impiety of burning it would then belong to 
 those that forced this to be done, and not to 
 them. But Titus said, that " although the Jews 
 hould get upon that holy house, and fight us 
 thence, yet ought we not to revenge overselves on 
 things that are inanimate, instead of the men 
 themselves ;" and that he was not in any case 
 for burning down so vast a work as that was, be- 
 cause this would be a mischief to the Ronwms 
 themselves, as it would be an ornament to their 
 government while it continued. So Pronto, and 
 Alexander, and Cerealis, grew bold upon that de- 
 claration, and agreed to the opinion of Titus. 
 Then was this assembly dissolved, when Titus 
 had given orders to the commanders that the 
 rest of their forces should lie still ; but that they 
 should make use of such as were most courageous 
 in this attack. So he commanded that the chosen 
 men that were taken out of the cohorts should 
 make their way through the ruins and quench 
 the fire. 
 
 4. Now it ia true, that on this day the Jews 
 were so weary, and under such consternation, 
 that they refrained from any attacks ; but on 
 the next day they gathered their whole force 
 together, and ran upon those that guarded the 
 outwurd court of the temple, very boldly 
 through the eat gate, and Urn about the second 
 
 hour of the day. These guards received that 
 their attack with great braveiy, and by covering 
 themselves with their shields before, as if it were 
 with a wall, they drew their squadrons close to- 
 gether ; yet was it evident that they could not 
 abide there very long, but would be overborne 
 by the multitude of those that sallied out upon 
 them, and by the heat of their passion. How- 
 ever, Csesar seeing, from the tower of Antonia, 
 that this squadron was likely to give way, he 
 sent some chosen horsemen to support them. 
 Hereupon the Jews found themselves not able 
 to sustain their onset, and upon the slaughter of 
 those in the fore-front, many of the rest were 
 put to flight ; but as the Romans were going off, 
 the Jews turned upon them and fought them ; 
 and as those Romans came back upon them, they 
 retreated again, until about the fifth hour of the 
 day they were overborne, and shut themselves 
 up in the inner [court of the] temple. 
 
 5. So Titus retired into the tower of Antonia, 
 and resolved to storm the temple the next day, 
 early in the morning, with his whole army, and 
 to encamp round about the holy house ; but, as 
 for that house, God had for certain long ago 
 doomed it to the fire ; and now that fatal day 
 was come, according to the revolution of ages : 
 it was the tenth day of the month Lous, [Ab,] 
 upon which it was formerly burnt by the king of 
 Babylon ; although these flames took their rise 
 from the Jews themselves, and were occasioned 
 by them ; for upon Titus's retiring, the seditious 
 lay still for a little while, and then attacked the 
 Romans again, when those that guarded the 
 holy house fought with those that quenched the 
 fire that was burning in the inner [court of the] 
 temple; but these Romans put the Jews to 
 flight, and proceeded as far as the holy house 
 itself. At which time one of the soldiers, with- 
 out staying for any orders, and without any 
 concern or dread upon him at so great an under- 
 teking, and being humed on by a certain divine 
 fury, snatched somewhat out of the materials 
 that were on fire, and being lifted up by another 
 soldier, he set fire to a golden window, through 
 which there was a passage to the rooms that werft 
 round about the holy house, on the north side 
 of it. As the flames went upward the Jews 
 made a great clamour, such as so mighty an 
 affliction required, and ran together to prevent 
 it ; and now they spared not their lives any 
 longer, nor suffered anything to restrain their 
 force, since that holy house was perishing, for 
 whose sake it was that they kept such a guard 
 about it. 
 
 6. And now a certain person came running to 
 Titus, and told him of this fire, as he was resting 
 himself in his tent after the last battle ; where- 
 upon he rose up in great haste, and as he was, 
 ran to the holy house, in order to have a stop 
 put to the fire ; after him followed all his com- 
 manders, and after them followed the several 
 legions, in great astonishment ; so there was a 
 great clamour and tumult raised, as was natural 
 upon the disorderly motion of so great an army. 
 Then did Czesar, both by calling to the soldiers 
 that were fighting, with a loud voice, and by 
 giving a signal to them with his right hand, 
 order them to quench the fire ; but they did not 
 hear what he said, though he spake so loud, hav- 
 ing their ears already dinned by a great noise 
 another way ; nor did they attend to the signal 
 he made with his right hand neither, as still 
 some of them were distracted witli fighting, and 
 others with passion ; but as for the legions that 
 came running thither, neither any persuasions 
 nor any threatenings could restrain their violence, 
 but each one's own passion was his commander
 
 CHAP. V.J 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 581 
 
 at this tiino ; and as they were crowding into 
 the temple together, many of them were 
 tramplud on by one another, while a great 
 number fell among the ruins of the cloisters, 
 which were still hot and smoking, and were 
 destroyed in the same miserable way with those 
 whom they had conquered : and when they were 
 come near the holy house, they made as if they 
 did not so much as heiir Cissar's orders to the 
 contrary ; but they encouraged those that were 
 before them to set it on fire. As for the sedi- 
 tious they were in too great distress already to 
 afford their assistance, [toward quenching the 
 fire ;] they were everywhere slain, and every- 
 where beaten ; and as for a great part of the 
 people, they were weak and without arms, and 
 had their throats cut wherever they were caught. 
 Now, round about the altar lay dead bodies 
 heaped one upon another ; as at the steps* going 
 up to it ran a great quantity of their blood, 
 whither a'so the dead bodies that were slain 
 above [on the altar] fell down. 
 
 7. And now, since Cresar was no way able to 
 restrain the enthusiastic fury of the soldiers, and 
 the fire proceeded on more and more, he went 
 into the holy place of the temple, with his com- 
 manders, and saw it, with what was in it, which 
 he found to be far superior to what the relations 
 of foreigners contained, and not inferior to what 
 we ourselves boasted of and believed about it ; 
 but as the flame had not as yet reached to its 
 inward parts, but was still consuming the rooms 
 that were about the holy house, and Titus sup- 
 posing what the fact was, that the house itself 
 might yet be saved, he came in haste and endea- 
 voured to persuade the soldiers to quench the 
 fire, and gave order to Liberal ius the centurion, 
 and one of those spearmen that were about him, 
 to beat the soldiers that were refractory with 
 their staves, and to restrain them ! yet were 
 their passions too hard for the regard they had 
 for Caesar, and the dread they had for him who 
 forbade them, as was their hatred of the Jews, 
 and a certain vehement inclination to fight them, 
 too hard for them also. Moreover, the hope of 
 plunder induced many to go on, as having this 
 opinion, that all the places within were full of 
 money, and as seeing that all round about it was 
 made of gold; and besides, one of those that 
 went into the place prevented Caesar, when he 
 ran so hastily out to restrain the soldiers, and 
 threw the fire upon the hinges of the gate, hi 
 the dark ; whereby the flame burst out from 
 within the holy house itself immediately, when 
 the commanders retired, and Caesar with them, 
 and when nobody any longer forbade those that 
 irero without to set fire to it ; and thus was the 
 holy house burnt down, without Caesar's appro- 
 bation. 
 
 8. Now, although any one would justly lament 
 the destruction of such a work as this was, since 
 it was the most admirable of all the wciks that 
 we have seen or heard of, both for its curious 
 structure and its magnitude, and also for the 
 vast wealth bestowed upon it, as well as for the 
 glorious reputation it had for its holiness ; yet 
 might such a one comfort himself with this 
 thought, that it was fate that decreed it so 
 to be, which is inevitable, both as to living 
 creatures and as to works and places also. How- 
 
 * These steps to the altar of burnt-offering seem 
 either an improper and inaccurate expression of Jose- 
 phus, since it was unlawful to make ladder-steps, or 
 else those steps or stairs we now use were invented be- 
 fore the days of Herod the Great, and had been here 
 built by him ; thouph the latter Jews always deny it, 
 and say that even llerod'g altar was sacended to by an 
 acclirity only. 
 
 ever, one cannot but wonder at the accuracy of 
 this period thereto relating; for the same month 
 and day were now observed, as I said before, 
 wherein the holy house was burnt formerly by 
 the Babylonians. Now the number of years 
 that passed from its first foundation, which was 
 laid by king Solomon, till this its destruction, 
 which happened in the second year of the reign 
 of Vespasian, are collected to be one thousand 
 one hundred and thirty, besides seven months 
 and fifteen days ; and from the secoud building 
 of it, which was done by Haggai, in the second 
 year of Cyrus th* king, till its destruction under 
 Vespasian, there were six hundred and thirty- 
 nine years and forty -five days. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE GREAT DISTRESS THE JEW8 WERB TS UFOH 
 THE CONFLAGRATION OP THE HOLT HOUSE. 
 CONCERNING A FALSE PROPHET, AND THE SIGN3 
 THAT PRECEDED THIS DESTRUCTION. 
 
 1. "WHILE the holy house was on fire, every- 
 thing was plundered that came to hand, and ten 
 thousand ot those that were caught were slain ; 
 nor was there a commiseration of any age, or 
 any reverence of gravity; but children, and old 
 men, and profane persons, and priests, were all 
 slain in the same manner; so that this war went 
 roiJhd all sorts of men, and brought them to 
 destruction, and as well those that made suppli- 
 cation fur their lives, as those that defended 
 themselves by fighting. The flame was also 
 carried a long way, and made an echo, together 
 with the groans of those that were slain ; and 
 because this hill was high, and the works at the 
 temple were very great, one would have thought 
 that the whole city had been on fire. Nor can 
 one imagine anything either greater or more 
 terrible than this noise ; for there was at once a 
 shout of the Roman legions, who were marching 
 all together, and a sad clamour of the seditious, 
 who were now surrounded with fire and sword. 
 The people also that were left above were beaten 
 back upon the enemy, and under a great con- 
 sternation, and made sad moans at the calamity 
 they were under ; the multitude also that was 
 in the city joined hi this outcry with those that 
 were upon the hill ; and besides many of those 
 that were worn away by the famine, and their 
 mouths almost closed when they saw the fire 
 of the holy house, they exerted their utmost 
 strength, and brake out into groans and outcries 
 again : Perea did also return the echo, as well 
 as the mountains round about, [the city,] and 
 augmented the force of the entire noise. Yet 
 was the misery itself more terrible than this 
 disorder ; for one would have thought that the 
 hill itself, on which the temple stood, was seeth- 
 ing-hot, as full of fire on every part of it, that 
 the blood was larger in quantity than the fire, 
 and those that were skin more in number than 
 those that slew them ; for the ground did no- 
 where appear visible, for the dead bodies that 
 lay on it ; but the soldiers went over heaps of 
 these bodies, as they ran upon such as fled from 
 them. And now it was that the multitude of 
 the robbers were thrust out [of the inner court 
 of the temple] by the Romans, and had much ado 
 to get into the outer court, and from thence into 
 the city, while the remainder of the oopulace fled 
 into the cloister of that outer court. As for the 
 
 Eriests, some of them plucked up from the holy 
 ouse the spikes that were upon it, with their 
 bases which were made of lead, and shot them
 
 BS2 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK VI. 
 
 at the Romans instead of darts. But then as 
 they gained nothing by so doing, and as the fire 
 burst out upon them, they retired to the wall 
 that was eight cubits broad, and there they 
 tarried yet did two of these of eminence among 
 them w'ho might have saved themselves by 
 going over to the Romans, or have borne up with 
 courage, and taken their fortune with the others, 
 throw themselves into tha fire, and were burnt 
 together with the holy houro ; their names were 
 Meirus the son of Belgas, and Joseph the son of 
 Dalens. 
 
 2. And now the Romans, judging that it was 
 la vam to spare what was round about tho holy 
 
 use, burnt all those places, as also the remains 
 of the cloisters and the gates, two excepted ; the 
 one on the east side, and the other on the south ; 
 both which, however, they burnt afterward. 
 They also burnt down the treasury-chambers, in 
 which was an immense quantity of money, and 
 an immense number of garments, and other 
 precious goods, there reposited ; and, to speak 
 all hi a few words, there it was that the entire 
 riches of the Jews were heaped up together, 
 while the rich people had there built themselves 
 chambers, [to contain such furniture.] The sol- 
 diers also came to the rest of the cloisters that 
 were in the outer [court of the] temple, whither 
 the women and children and a great mixed 
 multitude of the people fled, in number about 
 six thousand. But before Csesar had determined 
 anything about these people, or given the com- 
 manders any orders relating to them, the sol- 
 diers were in such a rage, that they set the 
 cloister on fire ; by which means it came to pass 
 that some of these were destroyed by throwing 
 themselves down headlong, and some were burnt 
 ha the cloisters themselves. Nor did any one of 
 these escape with his life. A false prophet* was 
 the occasion of these people's destruction, who 
 had made a public proclamation in the city that 
 very day, that God commanded them to get up 
 upon the temple, and that there they should 
 receive miraculous signs of their deliverance. 
 Now, there was then a great number of false 
 prophets suborned by the tyrants to impose 
 upon the people, who denounced this to them, 
 that they should wait for deliverance from God ; 
 and this was in order to keep them from desert- 
 ing, and that they might be buoyed up above 
 fear and care by such hopes. Now, a man that 
 is in adversity does easily comply with such 
 promises ; for when such a seducer makes him 
 believe that he shall be delivered from those 
 miseries which oppress him, then it is that the 
 patient is full of hopes of such deliverance. 
 
 3. Thus were the miserable people persuaded 
 by these deceivers, and such as belied God him- 
 self ; while they did not attend, nor give credit, 
 to the signs that were so evident, and did so 
 plainly foretell their future desolation ; but, like 
 men infatuated, without either eyes to see or 
 minds to consider, did not regard the denuncia- 
 tions that God made to them. Thus there was 
 a star resembling a sword, which stood over the 
 city, and a comet, that continued a whole year. 
 Thus also, before the Jews' rebellion, and before 
 those commotions which preceded the war, 
 when the people were come in great crowds to 
 the feast of unleavened bread, on the eighth 
 day of the month Xanthicus,t [Nisan,] and at 
 
 * Reland here justly takes notice that these Jews 
 who had despised the true Prophet, were deervedly 
 abused and deluded by these false ones. 
 
 t Since Jeiephus still uses the Syro- Macedonian 
 month Xanthicus, for the Jewish month Nisan, this 
 eighth, or, as Nicephorus reads it, this ninth of 
 Xanthicus. or Nisan, was almost a week before the 
 
 the ninth hour of the night, so great a light 
 shone round the altar and the holy house, that 
 it appeared to be bright day-time ; which light 
 lasted for half an hour. This light seemed to 
 be a good sign to the unskilful, but was so 
 interpreted by the sacred scribes as to portend 
 those events that followed immediately upon 
 it. At the same festival also, a heifer, as she 
 was led by the high priest to be sacrificed, 
 brought forth a lamb in the midst of tha temple. 
 Moreover, the eastern gate of the inner, [court 
 of the temple,] which was of brass, and vastly 
 heavy, and had been with difficulty shut by 
 twenty men, and rested upon a basis armed 
 with iron, and had bolts fastened very deep 
 into the firm floor, which was there made oi 
 one entire stone, was seen to be opened of its 
 own accord about the sixth hour of the night. 
 Now, those that kept watch in the temple came 
 thereupon running to the captain of the temple, 
 and told him of it ; who then came up thither, 
 and not without great difficulty was able to shut 
 the gate again. This also appeared to the 
 vulgar to be a very happy prodigy, as if God 
 did thereby open them the gate of happiness. 
 But the men of learning understood it, that tha 
 security of their holy house was dissolved of 
 its own accord, and that the gate was opened 
 for the advantage of their enemies. So these 
 publicly declared, that this signal foreshewed 
 the desolation that was coming upon them. Be- 
 sides these, a few days after that feast, on the 
 one-and-twentieth day of the month Artemisius, 
 [Jyar,] a certain prodigious and incredible phe- 
 nomenon appeared ; I suppose the account of 
 it would seem to be a fable, were it not related 
 by those that saw it, and were not the events 
 that followed it of so considerable a nature a* 
 to deserve such signals ; for, before sun-setting, 
 chariots and troops of soldiers in their armour 
 were seen running about among the clouds, and 
 surrounding of cities. Moreover, at that feast 
 which we call Pentecost, as the priests were 
 going by night into the inner % [court of the] 
 temple, as their custom was, to .perform their 
 sacred ministrations, they said that, in the first 
 place, they felt a quaking, and heard a great 
 noise, and after that they heard a sound as of a 
 great multitude, saying, " Let us remove hence." 
 But, what is still more terrible, there was one 
 Jesus, the son of Ananus, a plebeian, and an hus- 
 bandman, who, four years before the war began, 
 a nd at a time when the city was in very great pence 
 and prosperity, came to that reast whereon it ia 
 our custom for every one to make tabernacles to 
 God in^the temple, began on a sudden to cry 
 aloud, ** A. voice from the east, a voice from the 
 west, voice from the four winds, a voice 
 against Jerusalem and the holy house, a voice 
 against the bridegrooms and the brides, and 
 & voice against this whole people ! " This was 
 his cry, as he went about by day and by night, 
 in all the lanes of the city. However, certain of 
 the most eminent among the populace had 
 great indignation at this dire cry of his, and 
 took up the man, and gave him a great number 
 of severe stripes ; yet did not he either say any- 
 thing for himself, or anything peculiar to those 
 that chastised him, but still he went on with 
 the same words which he cried before. Here- 
 upon our rulers supposing, as the case proved 
 to be, that this was a sort of divine fury in the 
 man, brought him to the Roman procurator 
 
 Passover, on the fourteenth : about which time we 
 learn from St John that many used to go "out of the 
 country to Jerusalem, to purify themselves," (John 
 xl. 55, with xii. 1.) 
 t This here seems to be the court of the priest*.
 
 WARS OF TH" .TEWS. 
 
 583 
 
 where he was whipped till his bones were laid 
 bare ; yet did he not make any supplication for 
 himself, nor shed any tears, but turning his 
 voice to the most lamentable tone possible, at 
 every stroke of the whip his answer was, " Woe, 
 woe to Jerusalem ! " And when Albinus (for 
 he was then our procurator) asked him, Who he 
 was ? and whence he came ? and why he uttered 
 such words ? he made no manner of reply to 
 what he said, but still did not leave off his 
 melancholy ditty, till Albinus took him to be a 
 madman, and dismissed him. Now, during all 
 the time that passed before the war began, this 
 man did not go near any of the citizens, nor 
 was seen by them while he said so ; but he every 
 day uttered these lamentable words, as if it 
 were his premeditated vow, " Woe, woe to 
 Jerusalem ! " Nor did he give ill words to 
 any of those that beat him every day, nor good 
 words to those that gave him food ; but this 
 was his reply to all men, and indeed no other 
 than a melancholy presage of what was to come. 
 This cry of his was the loudest at the festivals ; 
 and he continued this ditty for seven years and 
 five months, without growing hoarse, or being 
 tired therewith, until the very time that he saw 
 his presage in earnest fulfilled incur siege, when 
 it ceased ; for, as he was going round upon the 
 wall, he cried out with his utmost force, " Woe, 
 woe to the city again, and to the people, and to 
 the holy house !" And jnst as he added at the 
 last, " Woe, woe to myself also ! " there came a 
 stone out of one of the engines, and smote him, 
 and killed him immediately : and as he was utter- 
 ing the very same presages, he gave up the ghost. 
 4. Now, if any one consider these things, he 
 will find that God takes care of mankind, and 
 by all ways possible foreshews to our race what 
 is for their preservation ; but that men perish 
 by those miseries which they madly and volun- 
 tarily bring upon themselves ; for the Jews, by 
 demolishing the tower of Antonia, had made 
 their temple four-square, while at the same time 
 they had it written in their sacred oracles, 
 "That then should their city be taken, as well 
 as their holy house, when once their temple 
 should become four-square." But now, what 
 did most elevate them in undertaking this war 
 was an ambiguous oracle that was also found in 
 their sacred writings, how, "about that time, 
 one from their country should become governor 
 of the habitable earth." The Jews took this 
 prediction to belong to themselves in particular ; 
 and many of the wise men were thereby de- 
 ceived in their determination. Now, this oracle 
 certainly denoted the government of Vespasian, 
 who was appointed emperor in Judea. How- 
 ever, it is not possible for men to avoid fate, 
 although they see it beforehand. But these 
 men interpreted some of these signals according 
 to their own pleasure ; and some of them they 
 utterly despised, until tbeir madness was de- 
 monstrated, both by the taking of their city and 
 their own destruction. 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 ' SOW THE ROMANS CARRIED THEIR ENSIGNS TO THE 
 TEMPLE, AND MADE JOYFUL ACCLAMATIONS TO 
 TITUS. THE SPEECH THAT TITUS MADE TO THE 
 JEWS WHEN THEY MADE SUPPLICATION FOR 
 MERCY. WHAT REPLY THEY MADE THERETO; 
 AND HOW THAT REPLY MOVED TITUS'8 INDIGNA- 
 TION AGAINST THEM. 
 
 1 1. AND now the Romans, npon the flight of 
 
 the seditious into the city, and upon the burning 
 of the holy house itself, and of all the building* 
 lying round about it brought their ensigns to 
 the temple, and set them over against its 
 eastern gate ; and there did they offer sacrifices 
 to them, and there did they make Titus impera- 
 tor,f with the greatest acclamations of joy. And 
 now all the soldiers had such vast quantities of 
 the spoils which they had gotten by plunder, 
 that in Syria a pound weight of gold was sold 
 for half its former value. But as for those 
 priests that kept themselves still upon the wall 
 of the holy house,! there was a boy that, out of 
 the thirst he was in, desired some of the Roman 
 guards to give him their right hands as a se- 
 curity for his life, and confessed he was very 
 thirsty. These guards commiserated his age, 
 and the distress he was in, and gave him their 
 right hands accordingly. So he came down him- 
 self, and drank some water, and filled the vessel 
 he had with him when he came to them with 
 water, and then went off, and fled away to his own 
 friends ; nor could any of those guards overtake 
 him ; but still they reproached him for his per- 
 fidiousness. To which he made this answer : 
 " I have not broken the agreement; for the 
 security I had given me was not in order to my 
 staying with you, but only in order to my com- 
 ing down safely, and taking xip some water; 
 both which things I have performed, and there- 
 upon think myself to have been faithful to my 
 engagement." Hereupon those whom the child 
 had imposed upon admired at his cunning, and 
 that on account of his age. On the fifth day 
 afterward, the priests that were pined with the 
 famine came down, and when they were brought 
 to Titus by the guards, they begged for theii 
 lives : but he replied, that the time of pardon 
 was over as to them ; and that this very holy 
 house, on whose account alone they could justly 
 hope to be preserved, was destroyed ; and that 
 it was agreeable to their office that priests 
 should perish with the house itself to which 
 f^ e y belonged. So ha ordered them to be put 
 to death. 
 
 2. But as for the tyrants themselves, and those 
 th.it were with them, when they found that they 
 were encompassed on every side, and, as it were, 
 walled round, without any method of escaping, 
 they desired to treat with Titus by word of 
 mouth. Accordingly, such was the kindness _of 
 his nature, and his desire of preserving the city 
 from destruction, joined to the advice of his 
 friends, who now thought the robbers were come 
 to a temper, that he placed himself on the other 
 side of the outer [court of the] temple ; for there 
 were gatea on that side above the Xystus, and 
 a bridge that connected the upper city to the 
 temple. This bridge it was that lay between the 
 tyrants and Caesar, and parted them ; while .the 
 multitude stood on each side, those of the 
 Jewish nation about Simon and John, with great 
 hope of pardon ; and the Romans about Ciesar, 
 in great expectation how Titus would receive 
 their supplication. So Titus charged his soldiers 
 to restrain their rage, and to let their darts 
 
 Harercamp ssys hew : " This l a remarkable 
 place ; and Tertullian truly says that the entire reli- 
 crion of the Roman camp almost consisted in wore 
 pine the ensigns, in swearing by the ensigns, and in 
 preferring the ensigns before all the [other! pods ' 
 
 t This declaring Titus imperator by the soldiers, 
 upon such signal success, and the slaughter of such 
 vast number of enemies, was according to the usual 
 practice of the Romans in like cases 
 
 t The Jews of later times agree with Josephus that 
 there were hiding-places or secret chambers about the 
 holy house.
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK 
 
 alone, and appointed an interpreter between 
 them, which was a sign that he was the con- 
 queror, and first began the discourse, and said, 
 " I hope you, sirs, are now satisfied with the 
 miseries of your country, who have not had any 
 just notions either of our great power or of 
 your own great weakness ; but have, like mad- 
 men, after a violent and inconsiderate manner, 
 made such attempts as have brought your people, 
 your city, and your holy house to destruction. 
 You have been the men that have never left off 
 rebelling since Pompey first conquered you ; and 
 have, since that time, made open war with the 
 Romans. Have you depended on your multi- 
 tude, while a very small part of the Roman 
 oldiery have been strong enough for you ? Have 
 you relied on the fidelity of your confederates? 
 and what nations are there, out of the limits of 
 our dominion, that would choose to assist the 
 Jews before the Romans? Are your bodies 
 stronger than ours? nay, you know that the 
 [strong] Germans themselves are our servants. 
 Have you stronger walls than we have ? Pray, 
 what greater obstacle is there than the wall of 
 the ocean, with which the Britons are encom- 
 passed, and yet do adore the arms of the Ro- 
 mans? Do you exceed us in courage of soul, 
 and in the sagacity of your commanders ? Nay, 
 indeed, you cannot but know that the very Car- 
 thaginians have been conquered by us. It can 
 therefore be nothing certainly but the kindness 
 of us Romans which hath excited you against 
 as ; who, in the first place, have given you this 
 land to possess ; and, in the next place, have set 
 over you kings of your own nation ; and, in the 
 third place, have preserved the laws of your 
 forefathers to you, and have withal permitted 
 you to live, either by yourselves or among others, 
 as it should please you ; and, what is our chief 
 favour of all, we have given you leave to gather 
 up that tribute which is paid to God,* with such 
 other gifts that are dedicated to him ; nor have 
 we called those that carried these donations to 
 account, nor prohibited them ; till at length you 
 became richer than we ourselves, even when you 
 were our enemies ; and you made preparations 
 for war against us with our own money : nay, 
 after all, when you were in the enjoyment of all 
 these advantages, you turned your too great 
 plenty against those that gave it you, and, like 
 merciless serpents, have thrown out your poison 
 against those that treated you kindly. I sup- 
 pose, therefore, that you might despise the 
 slothfulness of Nero, and, like limbs of the body 
 that are broken or dislocated, you did then lie 
 quiet, waiting for some other time, though still 
 with a malicious intention, and have now shewn 
 vour distemper to be greater than ever, and 
 have extended your desires as far as your im- 
 pudent *nd immense hopes would enable you to 
 do it. At this time my father came into this 
 country, not with a design to punish you for 
 what you had done under Cestius, but to ad- 
 monish you ; for, had he come to overthrow your 
 nation, he had run directly to your fountain- 
 head, and had immediately laid this city waste ; 
 whereas, he went and burnt Galilee, and the 
 neighbouring parts, and thereby gave you time 
 for repentance ; which instance of humanity 
 you took for an argument of his weakness, and 
 nourished up your impudence by our mildness. 
 When Nero was gone out of the world, you did 
 as the wickedest wretches would have done, and 
 encouraged yourselves to act against us by our 
 
 * Bpanheim notes here, that the Romans used toper- 
 ait the Jews to collect their sacred tribute, and send it 
 to Jerusalem. 
 
 civil dissensions, and abused that time when both 
 I and my father were gone away to Egypt, to 
 make preparations for this war. Nor were you, 
 ashamed to raise disturbances against us when 
 we were made emperors, and this while you had 
 experienced how mild we had been, when we 
 were no more than generals of the army ; but 
 when the government was devolved upon us, 
 and all other people did thereupon lie quiet, and 
 even foreign nations sent embassies and congra- 
 tulated our access to the government, then did 
 you Jews shew yourselves to be our enemies. 
 You sent embassies to those of your nation that 
 are beyond Euphrates, to assist you in your rais- 
 ing disturbances ; new walls were built by you 
 round your city, seditions arose, and one tyrant 
 contended against another, and a civil war broke 
 out among you ; such, indeed, as became none 
 but so wicked a people as you are. I then came 
 to this city, as unwillingly sent by my father, 
 and received melancholy injunctions from him. 
 When I heard that the people were disposed to 
 peace, I rejoiced at it : I exhorted you to leave 
 off these proceedings before I began thi. rar; 
 I spared you even when you had fought against 
 me a great while; I gave my right hand aa 
 security to the deserters ; I observed what I 
 had promised faithfully. When they fled to me, 
 I had compassion of many of those that I had 
 taken captive ; I tortured those that were eager 
 for war, in order to restrain them. It was un- 
 willingly that I brought my engines of war 
 against your walls ; I always prohibited my sol- 
 diers, when they were set upon your slaughter, 
 from their seventy against you. After every 
 victory I persuaded you to peace, as though I 
 had been myself conquered. When I came near 
 your temple I again departed from the laws of 
 war, and exhorted you to spare your own sanctu- 
 ary, and to preserve your holy house to your- 
 selves allowed you a quiet exit out of it, and 
 security for your preservation : nay, if you had 
 a mind, I gave you leave to fight in another place. 
 Yet have you still despised every one of my pro- 
 posals, and have set fire to your holy house with 
 your own hands. And now, vile wretches, do 
 you desire to treat with me by word of mouth ? 
 To what purpose is it that you would save such 
 a holy house as this was, which is now destroyed? 
 What preservation can you now desire after the 
 destruction of your temple ? Yet do you stand 
 still at this very time in your armour; nor can 
 you bring yourselves so much as to pretend to 
 be supplicants even in this your utmost extrem- 
 ity ! O miserable creatures ! what is it you de- 
 pend on? Are not your people dead? is not 
 your holy house gone? is not your city in my 
 power ? and are not your own very lives in my 
 hands? And do you still deem it a part of val- 
 our to die? However, I will not imitate your 
 madness. If you throw down your arms, and 
 deliver up your bodies to me, I grant you your 
 lives; and I will act like a mUd master of a 
 family ; what cannot be healed shall be pun- 
 ished, and the rest I will preserve for my own 
 use." 
 
 3. To that offer of Titus they made this 
 reply : That they could not accept of it, be- 
 cause they had sworn never to do so ; but thy 
 desired they might have leave to go through the 
 wall that had been made about them, with their 
 wives and children ; for that they would go into 
 the desert, and leave the city to him. At this 
 Titus had great indignation ; that, when they 
 were in the case of men already taken oaptirea, 
 they should pretend to make their own terms 
 with him, as if they had been conquerors ! So he 
 ordered this proclamation to be made to them.
 
 via. | 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 588 
 
 That they should no more come out to him as 
 deserters, nor hope for auy further security ; for 
 that he would henceforth spare nobody, but tight 
 them with his whole army ; and that they must 
 save themselves as well as they could ; for that 
 he would from henceforth treat them according 
 to the laws of war. So he gave orders to the 
 soldiers both to burn and plunder the city ; who 
 did nothing indeed that day ; but on the next 
 day they set fire to the repository of the archives, 
 to Acra, to the council-house, and to the place 
 called Ophlas ; at which time the fire proceeded 
 as far as the palace of queen Helena, which was 
 in the middle of Acra : the lanes also were burnt 
 down, as were also those houses that were full 
 of the dead bodies of such as were destroyed by 
 famine. 
 
 4. On the same day it was that the sons and 
 brethren of Izates the king, together with many 
 others of the eminent men of the populace, got 
 together there, and besought Csesar to give them 
 his right hand for their security. Upon which, 
 though he was very angry at all that were now 
 remaining, yet did he not lay aside his old 
 moderation, but received these men. At that 
 time, indeed, he kept them all in custody, but 
 still bound the king's sons and kinsmen, and led 
 them with him to Rome, in order to make 
 them hostages for their country's fidelity to the 
 Romans. 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 WHAT AFTERWARDS BEFELL THE SEDITIOUS, WHEN 
 THEY HAD DONE A GREAT DEAL OF MISCHIEF, 
 AND SUFFERED MANY MISFORTUNES : AS ALSO 
 HOW C<SAB BECAME MASTEE OF THE UPPER 
 CITY. 
 
 1. AND now the seditious rushed into the 
 royal palace, into which many had put their 
 effects, because it was so strong, and drove the 
 Romans away from it. They also slew all the 
 people that had crowded into it, who were in 
 number about eight thousand four hundred, and 
 plundered them of what they had. They also 
 took two of the Romans alive ; the one was a 
 horseman, and the other a footman. They then 
 cut the throat of the footman, and immediately 
 had him drawn through the whole city, as re- 
 venging themselves upon the whole body of the 
 Romans by this one instance. But the horse- 
 man said he had somewhat to suggest to them, 
 in order to their preservation ; whereupon he 
 was brought before Simon ; but he having no- 
 thing to say when he was there, he was delivered 
 to Ardalas, one of his commanders, to be pun- 
 ished, who bound his hands behind him, and 
 put a riband over his eyes, and then brought 
 him out over against the Romans, as intending 
 V) cut off his head. But the man prevented 
 that execution, and ran away to the Romans, 
 and this while the Jewish executioner was draw- 
 ing out his sword. Now when he was gotten 
 away from the enemy, Titus could not think of 
 putting him to death ; but because he deemed 
 him unworthy of being a Roman soldier any 
 longer, on account that he had been taken alive 
 by the enemy, he took away his arms, and 
 ejected him out of the legion whereto he had 
 belonged ; which, to one that had a sense of 
 shame, was a penalty severer than death itself. 
 
 2 On the next day the Romans drove the 
 robbers out of the lower city, and set all on fire 
 as far as Siloam. These soldiers were indeed 
 glad to see the city destroyed. But they misled 
 
 the plunder, because the seditious had carried 
 off all their effects, and were retired into the 
 upper city ; for they did not yet at all repent of 
 the mischiefs they had done, but were insolent, 
 as if they had done well ; for, as they saw the 
 city on fire, they appeared cheerful, and put on 
 joyful countenances, in expectation, as they said, 
 of death to end their miseries. Accordingly, aa 
 the people were now slain, the holy house' wag 
 burnt down, and the city was on fire, there was 
 nothing further left for the enemy to do. Yet 
 did not Josephus grow weary, even in thia 
 utmost extremity, to beg of them to spare what 
 was left of the city ; he spake largely to them 
 about their barbarity and impiety, and gave 
 them his advice in order to their escape, though 
 he gained nothing thereby more than to be 
 laughed at by them; and as they could not 
 think of surrendering themselves up, because of 
 the oath they had taken, nor were strong enough 
 to fight with the Romans any longer upon the 
 square, as being surrounded on all sides, and a 
 kind of prisoners already, yet were they so 
 accustomed to kill people, that they could not 
 restrain their right hands from acting accord- 
 ingly. So they dispersed themselves before tha 
 city, and laid themselves in ambush among its 
 ruins, to catch those that attempted to desert to 
 the Romans ; accordingly, many such deserters 
 were caught by them, and were all slain ; for 
 these were too weak, by reason of their want of 
 food, to fly away from them ; so their dead 
 bodies were thrown to the dogs. Now every 
 sort of death was thought more tolerable than 
 the famine, insomuch that, though the Jews de- 
 spaired now of mercy, yet would they fly to the 
 Romans, and would themselves, even of their 
 own accord, fall among the murderous rebels 
 also. Nor was there any place in the city that 
 had no dead bodies in it, but what was entirely 
 covered with those that were either killed by 
 the famine or the rebellion ; and all was full of 
 the dead bodies of such as had perished, either 
 by that sedition or by that famine. 
 
 3. So now the last hcpe which supported the 
 tyrants, and the crew of robbers who were with 
 them, was in the caves and caverns under 
 ground; whither, if they could once fly, they 
 did not expect to be searched for ; but endea- 
 voured that, after the whole city should be de- 
 stroyed, and the Romans gone away, they might 
 come out again, and escape from them. This 
 was no better than a dream of theirs ; for they 
 were not able to lie hid either from God or from 
 the Romans. However, they depended on these 
 under-ground subterfuges, and set more places 
 on fire than did the Romans themselves ; and 
 those that fled out of their houses, thus set on 
 fire, into ditches they killed without mercy, 
 and pillaged them also ; and if they discovered 
 food belonging to any one, they seized upon it 
 and swallowed it down, together with .their 
 blood also ; nay, they were now come to fight 
 one with another about their plunder; and I 
 cannot but think that, had not their destruction 
 prevented it, their barbarity would have made 
 them taste of even the dead bodies themselves. 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 HOW OESAB RAISED BANKS BOUND ABOUT TB3 
 UPPER CITY, [MOUNT ZION,] AND WHEN THE 
 WERE COMPLETED, GAVE ORDERS FOB TH 
 MACHINES TO BE BROUGHT. HE THEN POS- 
 SESSED HIMSELF OF THE WHOLE CITY. 
 
 1. Now, when Caesar perceived that the upper
 
 666 
 
 city was BO steep, that it could not possibly be 
 taken without raising banks against it, he dis- 
 tributed the several parts of that work among 
 his array, and this on the twentieth day of the 
 month Lous, [Ab.] Now, the carriage of the 
 materials was a difficult task, since all the trees, 
 as I have already told you, that were about the 
 city, within the distance of a hundred furlongs, 
 had their branches cut off already, in order to 
 make the former banks. The works that be- 
 longed to the four legions were erected on the 
 west side of the city, over against the royal 
 palace; but the whole body of the auxiliary 
 troops, with the rest of the multitude that were 
 with them, [erected their banks] at the Xystus, 
 whence they reached to the bridge, and thai 
 tower of Simon, which he had built as a citadel 
 for himself against John, when they were at war 
 one with another. 
 
 2. It was at this time that tne commanders of 
 the Idumeans got privately together, ard toe k 
 counsel about surrendering themselves up to the 
 Romans. Accordingly, they sent five men to 
 Titus, and entreated him to give them his right 
 hand for their security. So Titus, thinking that 
 the tyrants would yield if the Idumeans, upon 
 whom a great part of the war depended, were 
 once withdrawn from them, after some reluc- 
 tance and delay, complied with them, and gave 
 them security for their lives, and sent the five 
 men back ; but as these Idumeans were preparing 
 to march out, Simon perceived it, and immedi- 
 ately slew the five men that had gone to Titus, 
 and took their commanders, and put them in 
 prison, of whom the most eminent was Jacob, 
 the son of Sosas ; but as for the multitude of 
 the Idumeans, who did not at all know what 
 to do, now their commanders were taken from 
 them, he had them watched, and secured the 
 walls by a more numerous garrison. Yet could 
 not that garrison resist those that were desert- 
 ing ; for although a great number of them were 
 nlain, yet were the deserters many more in 
 number. These were all received by the Ro- 
 mans, because Titus himself grew negligent as 
 to his former orders for killing them, and be- 
 cause the very soldiers grew weary of killing 
 them, and because they hoped to get some 
 money by sparing them ; for they left only the 
 populace, and sold the rest of the multitude,* 
 with their wives and children, and every one of 
 them at a very low price, and that because such 
 as were sold were very many, and the buyers 
 very few ; and although Titus had made procla- 
 mation beforehand that no deserter should come 
 alone by himself, that so they might bring out 
 their families with them, yet did he receive such 
 as these also. However, he set over them such 
 as were to distinguish some from others, in order 
 to see if any of them deserved to be punished ; 
 and indeed the number of those that were sold 
 was immense ; but of the populace above forty 
 thousand were saved, whom Csesar let go whither 
 every one of them pleased. 
 
 3. But now at this time it was that one of the 
 priests, the son of Thebuthus, whoso name was 
 
 * This was an eminent completion of God's ancient 
 threatening by Moses, that if they apostatised from 
 obedience to his laws, they should be " sold unto their 
 enemies for bondmen and bondwomen," (Deut. xxviii 
 68.) But one thing here is peculiarly remarkable, that 
 Moses adds, Though they should be " sold" for slaves, 
 yet "no man should buy them;" i.e. either they 
 should have none to redeem them from this sale into 
 slavery ; or rather that the slaves to be sold should be 
 -wore than were the purchasers for them, and so thejr 
 "hould be old for little or nothing; which is what 
 Josephus here affirms to have been the case at. t>><9 
 
 mft. 
 
 YVAltS Otf THE JEWS. 
 
 Jesus, upon his having security given him by the 
 oath of Csesar that he should be preserved upon 
 condition that he should deliver to him certain 
 of the precious things that had been reposited 
 in the temple, came out of it, and delivered him 
 from the wall of the holy house two candlesticks 
 like to those that lay in the holy house, with 
 tables, and cisterns, and vials, all made of solid 
 gold, and very heavy. He also delivered to him 
 the veils and the garments, with the precious 
 stones, and a great number of other precious 
 vessels that belonged to their sacred worship. 
 The treasurer of the temple also, whose name 
 was Phineas, was seized on, and shewed Titus 
 the coats and girdles of the priests, with a great, 
 quantity of purple and scarlet, which were there 
 reposited. for the use of the veil, as also a great 
 deal of cinnamon and cassia, with a large quan- 
 tity of other sweet spices, f wliich used to be 
 mixed together, and offered as incense to God 
 every day. A great many other treasures were 
 also delivered to him, with sacred ornaments 
 of the temple not a few ; which things thus 
 delivered to Titus, obtained of him for this man 
 the same pardon that he had allowed to sush as 
 deserted of their own accord. 
 
 4. And now were the banks finished on the 
 seventh day of the month Gorpieus, [Elul,] in 
 eighteen days' time, when the Romans brought 
 their machines against the wall ; but for the 
 seditious, some of them, as despairing of saving 
 the city, retired from the wall to the citadel ; 
 others of them went down into the subterranean 
 vaults, though still a great many of them de- 
 fended themselves against those that brought 
 the engines for the battery ; yet did the Romans 
 overcome them by their number and by their 
 strength ; and, what was the principal thing of 
 all, by going cheerfully about their-work, wliile 
 the Jews were quite dejected and become weak. 
 Now, as soon as a part of the wall was battered 
 down, and certain of the towers yielded to the 
 impression of the battering-rams, those that 
 opposed themselves fled away, and such 3 terror 
 fell upon the tyrants as was much greater than 
 the occasion required ; for befo*e the enemy got 
 over the breach they were quite stunned, and 
 were immediately for flying away ; and now one 
 might see these men, who had hitherto been so 
 insolent and arrogant in their wicked practices, 
 to be cast down and to tremble, insomuch that 
 it would pity one's heart to observe the change 
 that was made in those vile persons. Accordingly, 
 they ran with great violence upon the Roman 
 wall that encompassed them, in order to force 
 away those that guarded it, and to break through 
 it, and get away ; but when they saw that those 
 who had formerly been faithful to them had 
 gone away, (as indeed they were fled whitherso- 
 ever the great distress they were in persuaded 
 them to flee,) as also when those that came 
 running before the rest told them that the wes- 
 tern wall was entirely overthrown, while others 
 said the Romans were gotten in, and others that 
 they were near, and looking out for them, which 
 were only the dictates of their fear, which im- 
 posed upon their sight, they fell apon their 
 faces, and greatly lamented their own mad con 
 duct ; and their nerves were so terribly loosed, 
 that they could not flee away ; and hero one may 
 chiefly reflect on the power God exercised 
 upon these wicked wretches, and on the good 
 fortune of the Romans ; for these tyrants did 
 now wholly deprive themselves of the security 
 
 t These various sorts of spices, even more than those 
 lour which Moses prescribed, (Exod. xxxi. 34), w lee 
 were used in their public worship under Herod's tern 
 vie, particularly cinnamon and cassia.
 
 HAP. IX.] 
 
 -VARS OF THE 
 
 587 
 
 .hey had in their own power, and came dovn 
 from those very towers of their own acoonL, 
 wherein they could have never been taken ty 
 force, nor indeed by any other way than by 
 famine. And thus did the Romans, when thoy 
 had taken such great pains about weaker walls, 
 get by good fortune what they could never have 
 gotten by their engines ; for three of these tOTsrrB 
 were too strong for all mechanical engine* whr.'fe- 
 soever ; concerning which w have treated of 
 before. 
 
 5. So they now left these towers of themselv 3 , 
 or rather they were ejected out of them by God 
 himself, and fled immediately to that valley whisJh 
 was under Siloam, where they again recoverc/ 
 themselves out of the dread they were in for a 
 while, and ran violently against that part of thi 
 Roman wall which lay on that side ; but as their 
 courage was too much depressed to make their | 
 attacks with sufficient force, and their power wris | 
 now broken with fear and affliction, they wei i 
 repulsed by the guards, and dispersing these.- 
 selves at distances from each other, went doirn | 
 into the subterranean caverns^ So the Roman;; 
 being now become masters c " the walls, the> 
 txjth placed their ensigns upon the towers, and 
 made joyful acclamations for the victory they 
 had gained, as having found the end of this wax 
 much lighter than its beginning ; for when they 
 had gotten upon the last wall without any blood- 
 shed, they could hard'"' believe what they found 
 to be true ; but seeing nobody to oppose them, 
 they stood in doubt what such an unusual soli 
 tude could mean But when they went in 
 numbers into the lanes of the city with their 
 swords drawn, they slew those whom they over- 
 took without mercy, and set fire to the houses 
 whither the Jews were fled, and burnt every 
 soul in them, and laid waste a great many of the 
 rest ; and when they were come to the houses to 
 plunder them, they found in them entire families 
 of dead men, and the upper rooms full of dead 
 corpses, that is of such as died by the famine ; 
 they then stood in a horror at this sight, and 
 went out without touching any thing. But al- 
 though they had this commiseration for such as 
 were destroyed hi that manner, yet had they not 
 the same for those that were still alive, but they 
 ran every one through whom they met with, and 
 tbstructed the very lanes with their dead bodies, 
 and made the whole city nin down with blood, 
 to such a degree indeed that the fire of many of 
 the houses was qiienched with these men's blood. 
 And truly so it happened, that though the slayers 
 left off at the evening, yet did the fire greatly 
 prevail in the night; and as all was burning, 
 came that eighth day of the month Gorpieus 
 
 BElul] upon Jerusalem ; a city that had been 
 able to so many miseries during this siege, that, 
 had it always enjoyed as much happiness from 
 its first foundation, it would certainly have been 
 the envy of the world. Nor did it on any other 
 account so much deserve these sore misfortunes, 
 as by producing such a generation of men as were 
 the occasions of this its ovArthrow 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THAT IWJOHCTTOXS C.ESAR OAVB WHEN HB WAH 
 COME WITHIN THE CITY. THE NUMBER OF THE 
 CAPTIVES AND OF THOSE THAT PERISHED IN 
 THE SIEGE ; AS ALSO CONCERNING THOSE THAT 
 ESCAPED INTO THE SUBTERRANEAN CAVEBNS, 
 AMONG WHOM WERE THE TYRANTS SIMON AND 
 JOHN THEMSELVES. 
 
 ' i L Now, when Titus was come into this [upper] 
 
 city, he admired not only some other places ol 
 strength in it, but particularly those strong towers 
 which the tyrants, in their mad conduct, had re- 
 linquished ; for when he saw their solid altitude, 
 and the largeness of their several stones, and the 
 exactness of their joints, as also how great was 
 their breadth, and how extensive their length, he 
 expressed himself after the following manner : 
 " We have certainly had God for our assistant In 
 this war, and it was no other than God that 
 ejected the Jews out of these fortifications ; for 
 what could the hands of men, or any machines, 
 do towards overthrowing these tower* ! " A 
 which time he had many such discourses to his 
 friends ; he also let such go free as had been 
 bound by the tyrants, and were left in the pri- 
 sons. To conclude, when he entirely demolished 
 the rest of the city, and overthrew its walls, he 
 left these towers as a monument of his good for- 
 tune, which had proved his auxiliaries, and en- 
 abled him to take what could not otherwise have 
 been taken by him. 
 
 2. And now, since his soldiers were already 
 quite tired with killing men, and yet there ap- 
 peared to be a vast multitude still remaining 
 alive, Catsar gave orders that they should kill 
 none but those that were in arms, and opposed 
 them, but should take the rest alive. But, to- 
 gether with those whom they had orders to slay, 
 they slew the aged and the infirm; but for 
 those that were in their flourishing age, and who 
 might be useful to them, they drove them to- 
 gether into the temple, and shut them up 
 within the walls of the court of the women ; 
 over which Caesar set one of his freedmen, a.^ 
 also Fronto, one of his own friends ; which last 
 was to determine every one's fate, according to 
 his merits. So this Fronto slew all those that 
 had been seditious and robbers, who were im- 
 peached one by another ; but of the young men, 
 he chose out the tallest and most beautiful, and 
 reserved them for the triumph ; and as for the 
 rest of the multitude that were above seventeen 
 years old, he put them into bonds, and sent 
 them to the Egyptian mines. * Titus also sent a 
 great number into the provinces, as a present to 
 them, that they might be destroj'ed upon their 
 theatres, by the sword and by the wild beasts ; 
 but those that were under seventeen years of 
 age were sold for slaves. Now, during the days 
 wherein Fronto was distinguishing these men 
 khere perished, for want of food, eleven thou- 
 sand ; some of whom did not taste any food, 
 through the hatred their guards bore to them ; 
 and others would not take in any when it was 
 given them. The multitude also was so very 
 great, that they were in want even of corn for 
 their sustenance. 
 
 3. Now the number t of those that were car- 
 ried captive during this whole war was collected 
 to be ninety -seven thousand ; as was the number 
 of those that perished during the whole siege, 
 eleven hundred thousand, the greater part of 
 whom were indeed of the same nation, [with the 
 citizens of Jerusalem,] but not belonging to the 
 city itself ; for they were come up from all the 
 country to the feast of unleavened bread, and 
 were on a sudden shut up by an army, which, 
 at the very first, occasioned so great a straitness 
 among them, that there came a pestilential de- 
 
 * See the several predictions that the Jews, if they 
 became obstinate in their idolatry anJ wickedness, 
 should be sent again, or sold into Egypt, for their pun- 
 ishment, (Deal. xiTiii. 68 ; Jer. xliv. 7 ; Uos. nil. 13, 
 
 t The whole multitude of the Jews that were de- 
 stroyed during the entire seven years bf fore this tim* 
 Ri.i.Hinti to 1.337.490
 
 688 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK VI, 
 
 gtruction upon them, and soon afterward such a 
 famine as destroyed them more suddenly. And 
 that this city could contain so many people in 
 it is manifest by that number of them which 
 was taken under Cestius, who being desirous of 
 informing Nero of the power of the city, who 
 otherwise was disposed to contemn that nation, 
 entreated the high priests, if the thing were 
 possible, to take the number of their whole mul- 
 tude. So these high priests, upon the coming of 
 their feast which is called the Passover, when 
 they slay their sacrifices, from the ninth hour to 
 the eleventh, but so that a company not less 
 than ten belong to every sacrifice, (for it is not 
 lawful for them to feast singly by themselves, ) 
 and many of us are twenty in a company, found 
 the number of sacrifices wus two hundred and fifty- 
 six thousand five hundred ; which, upon the al- 
 lowance of no more than ten that feast together, 
 amounts to two millions seven hundred thou- 
 sand and two hundred persons that were pure 
 and holy ; for as to those that have the leprosy, 
 or the gonorrhoea, or women that have their 
 monthly courses, or such as are otherwise pol- 
 luted, it is not lawful for them to be partakers 
 of this sacrifice ; nor indeed for any foreigners 
 neither, who come hither to worship. 
 
 4. Now this vast multitude is indeed collected 
 out of the remote places, but the entire nation 
 was now shut up by fate as in a prison, and the 
 Roman army encompassed the city when it was 
 crowded with inhabitants. Accordingly, the 
 multitude of those that therein perished ex- 
 ceeded all the destructions that either men or 
 God ever brought upon the world ; for to speak 
 only of what was publicly known, the Romans 
 slew some of them, some they carried captives, 
 and others they made search for under ground, 
 and when they found where they were, they 
 broke up the ground and slew all they met 
 with. There were also found slain there above 
 two thousand persons, partly by their own 
 hands, and partly by one another, but chiefly 
 destroyed by the famine ; but then, the ill 
 savour of the dead bodies was most offensive to 
 those that lighted upon them, insomuch that 
 some were obliged to get away immediately, 
 while others were so greedy of gain, that they 
 would go in among the dead bodies that lay in 
 heaps, and tread upon them ; for a great deal of 
 treasure was found in these caverns, and the 
 hope of gain made every way of getting it to be 
 esteemed lawful Many also of those that had 
 been put in prison by the tyrants were now 
 brought out ; for they did not leave off their 
 barbarous cruelty at the very last : yet did God 
 avenge himself upon them both, in a manner 
 agreeabla to justice. As for John, he wanted 
 food, together with his brethren, in these ca- 
 verns, and begged that the Romans would now 
 
 give him their right hand for his security, which 
 he had often proudly rejected before ; but for 
 Simon, he struggled hard with the distress he 
 was in, till he was forced to surrender himself, 
 as we shall relate hereafter j so he was reserved 
 for the triumph, and to be then slain : as was 
 John condemned to perpetual imprisonment : 
 and now the Romans set fire to the extreme 
 parts of tLe city, and burnt them down, and en- 
 tirely demolished its walls. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THAT WHEREAS THE CITY OF JERUSALEM HAD 
 BEEN FIVE TIMES TAKEN FORMERLY, THIS WA3 
 THE SECOND TIME OF ITS DESOLATION. A BRIEF 
 ACCOUNT OF ITS HISTORY. 
 
 1. AND thus was Jerusalem taken, in the sec- 
 ond year of the reign of Vespasian, on the 
 eighth day of the month Gorpieus, [Elul.] It 
 had been taken five* times before, though this 
 was the second time of its desolation ; for Shi- 
 shak, the king of Egypt, and after him Antio- 
 clius, f id after him Pompey, and after him 
 Sosius and Herod took the city, but still pre- 
 served it ; but before all these, the king of Baby- 
 lon conquered it, and made it desolate, one thou- 
 sand four hundred and sixty -eight years and sii 
 months after it was built. But he who first 
 built it was a potent man among the Canaanites, 
 and is in our tongue called [Melchisedek] the 
 Righteous King, for such he really was ; on 
 which vccount he was [there] the first priest of 
 God, and first built a temple, [there,] and called 
 the city Jerusalem, which was formerly called 
 Salem. However, David, the king of the Jews, 
 ejected the Canaanites, and settled his OWD 
 people therein. It was demolished entirely by 
 the Babylonians, four hundred and seventy- 
 seven years and six months after him. And 
 from king David, who was the first of the Jews 
 who reigned therein, to this destruction under 
 Titus, were one thousand one hundred and 
 seventy-nine years ; but from its first building, 
 till this last destruction, were two thousand one 
 hundred and seventy-seven years ; yet hath not 
 its great antiquity, nor its vast riches, nor the 
 diffusion of its nation over all the habitable 
 earth, nor the greatness of the veneration paid 
 to it on a religious account, been sufficient to 
 preserve it from being destroyed. And thus 
 ended the siege of Jerusalem. 
 
 * Besides these five, who had taken Jerusalem ot 
 old, Jost-phus, upon further recollection, reckons a 
 sixth, (Antiq. b. ill. ch. i. sect 1,) who should have 
 been here Inserted in tbe second place Ptolemy, the 
 on of L vtu-
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 585 
 
 BOOK VII. 
 
 OOUTAINDIQ THE EJTEBVAL OF ABOUT THREE TKABS, 
 
 FEOM THE TAKING OP JERUSALEM BY TITUS, TO THE SEDITION OP 
 THE JEWS AT CYBENE. 
 
 DHAPTES I. 
 
 HOW TFTP! ENTTRE CITY OF JERUSALEM WAS DEMO- 
 LI3IIED EXCEPTING THREE TOWERS; AND HOW 
 TITUS COMMENDED HIS SOLDIERS, IN A SPEECH 
 MADE TO THEM, AND DISTRIBUTED REWARDS TO 
 TEEM, AND THEN DISMISSED MANY OF THEM. 
 
 1. Now, as soon as the army had no more 
 people to slay or to plunder, because there re- 
 maiued none to he tbe objects of their fury, (for 
 they would not have spared any, had there re- 
 mained any other such work to be done,) Caesar 
 gave orders that they should now demolish the 
 entire city and temple, but should leave as many 
 of the towers standing as were of the greatest 
 emiiiency ; that is, Phasaelus, and Hippicus, 
 and Mariamne, and so much of the wall as en- 
 closed the city on the west side. This wall was 
 spared, in order to afford a camp for such as 
 were to lie in garrison ; as were the towers also 
 spared, in order to demonstrate to posterity 
 wbat kind of city it was, and how well fortified, 
 which the Ronrnn valour had subdued ; but for 
 all the rest of the wall, it was so thoroughly laid 
 even with the ground by those that dug it up 
 to the foundation, that there was left nothing to 
 make those that came thither believe it had ever 
 been inhabited. This was the end which Jeru- 
 salem came to by the madness of those that 
 were for innovations ; a city other v."'se of great 
 magnificence, and of mighty famo among U 
 mankind. 
 
 2. But Caesar resolved to leave there a 
 guard the tenth legion, with certain troops of 
 horsemen, and companies of footmen. So, hav- 
 ing entirely completed this war, he was desirous 
 to commend his whole army, on account of the 
 great exploits they had performed, and to bestow 
 proper rewards on such as had signalised them- 
 selves therein. He had therefore a great tribunal 
 made for him in the midst of the place where he 
 had formerly accamped, and stood upon it with 
 his principal commanders about him, and spake 
 BO as to be heard by the whole army in the 
 manner following : That he returned them 
 ibundance of thanks for their good-will which 
 they had shewn to him ; he commended them 
 for that ready obedience they had exhibited in 
 this whole war ; which obedience had appeared 
 in the many and great dangers they had cour- 
 ageously undergone ; as also for that courage 
 they had shewn, and had thereby augmented of 
 themselves their country's power, and had made 
 it evident to all men that neither the multitude 
 
 - This Is the proper place for such as have closely 
 attended to these latter books of the War to peruse, 
 and that with equal attention, those distinct and plain 
 predictions of Jesus of Nazareth, in the Gospels thereto 
 relating, as compared with their exact completions in 
 Josepliu's's history ; upon which completions, Dr Whitby 
 well observes, no small part of the evidence for the 
 truth of the Christian religion does depend. 
 
 of their enemies, nor the strength of their places, 
 ( nor the largeness of their cities, nor the ra 
 boldness and brutish rage of their antagonists, 
 were sufficient at any time to get clear of the 
 Roman valour, although some of them may 
 have fortune in many nespects on their side. 
 He said further, that it was but reasonable for 
 them to put an end to this war, now it had 
 lasted so long, for they had nothing better to 
 wish for when they entered into it ; and that 
 this happened more favourably for them, and 
 more for their glory, that all the Romans had 
 willingly accepted of those for their governors, 
 and the curators of their dominions, whom they 
 had chosen for them, and had seat into their 
 own counti-y for that puq>ose, which still 
 continued under the management of those 
 whom they had pitched on, and were thankful 
 to them for pitching upon them. That accord- 
 ingly, although he did both admire and ten- 
 derly regard them all, because he knew that 
 every one of them had gone as cheerfully about 
 their work as their abilities and opportunities 
 would give them leave, yet, he said, that he 
 would immediately bestow rewards and digni- 
 ties on those that had fought the most bravely, 
 and with greater force, and had signalised their 
 conduct in the most glorious manner, and had 
 made his army more famous by their noble ex- 
 ploits : and that no one who had been willing to 
 take more pains than another should miss of a 
 just retribution for the same ; for that he had 
 been exceedingly careful about this matter, and 
 that the more, hecau.se he had much rather re- 
 ward the virtues of his fellow-soldiers than 
 punish such as had offended. 
 
 3, Hereupon Titus ordered those whose busi- 
 ness it was, to read the list of all that had per- 
 formed great exploits in this war, whom he 
 called to him by their names, and commended 
 them before the company, and rejoiced in them 
 in the same manner as a man would have rejoiced 
 in his own exploits. He also put on their heads 
 crowns of gold, and golden ornaments about their 
 necks, and gave them long sjiears of gold, and 
 ensigns that were made of silver, and removed 
 every one of them to a higher rank : and besides 
 this, he plentifully distributed among them, out 
 of the spoils and the other prey they had taken, 
 silver, and gold, and garments. So when they 
 had all these honours bestowed on them, accord- 
 ing to his own appointment made to every one, 
 and he had wished all sorts of happiness to the 
 whole army, he came down, among the great 
 acclamations which were made to him, and then 
 betook himself to offer thank-offerings, [to the 
 gods,] and at once sacrificed a vast number of 
 oxen, that stood ready at the alUirs, and distri- 
 buted them Hinong the army to feast on ; and 
 when he had stayed three d;.ys among the princi- 
 pal commanders, and .so long feasted with them, 
 he sent awa.y the rest of his army to the several 
 places wh*;e they would be every one best situ-
 
 WAKS OK THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK vu. 
 
 ated ; but permitted the tenth legion to Btay, 
 as a guard at Jerusalem, and did not send them 
 away beyond Euphrates, where they had been 
 before ; and as he remembered that the twelfth 
 legion had given way to the Jews, under Cestius 
 their general, he expelled them out of all Syria, 
 for they had lain formerly at Raphapea, and 
 seut them away to a place called Melesiue, near 
 Euphrates, which is in the limits of Armenia 
 and CappaJocia ; he also thought tit that two 
 of the legions should stay with him till he should 
 go to Egypt. He then went down with his 
 army to that Cesarea which lay by the sea-side, 
 and there laid up the rest of his spoils in great 
 quantities, and gave order that the captives 
 should l>e kept there ; for the winter season 
 hindered hip* then from sailing into Italy. 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 DOW TITOS EXHIBITED ALL SORTS OF SHOWS AT 
 CESAHEA PHILLIPPL CONCERNING SIMON THE 
 TYRANT, HOW HE WAS TAKEN, AND RESERVED 
 FOR THE TRIUMPH. 
 
 1. Now at the same time that Titus Csesar lay 
 at the siege of Jerusalem, did Vespasian go on 
 board a merchant-ship, and sailed from Alex- 
 andria to Rhodes ; whence he sailed away in 
 ships with three rows of oars; and as he touched 
 at several cities that lay in his road, he was joy- 
 fully received by them all, and so passed over 
 from Ionia into Greece ; whence he set sail from 
 Corcyra to the promontory of lapyx, whence he 
 took his journey by laud. But as for Titus, he 
 marched from that Cesarea which lay by the sea 
 side, and came to that which is named Cesarea 
 Phillip] >i. and stayed there a considerable time, 
 and exhibited all sorts of shows there ; and here 
 a great number of the captives were destroyed, 
 Boms being thrown to wild beasts, and others in 
 multitudes forced to kill one another, as if they 
 were enemies. And here it was that Titus was 
 informed of the seizure of Simon, the son of 
 Gioms, which was made after the manner fol- 
 lowing : This Simon, during the siege of Jeru- 
 salem, WHB in the upper city ; but when the 
 Roman army were gotten within the walls, and 
 were laying the city waste, he then took the 
 most faithful of his friends with him, and among 
 them some that were stone-cutters, with those 
 iron tools that belonged to their occupation, and 
 as great a quantity of provisions as would suffice 
 them for a long time, and let himself and them 
 sill down into a certain subterraneous cavern 
 that was not visible above ground. Now, so far 
 as had been digged of old, they went onward 
 along it without disturbance ; but where they 
 met with solid earth, they dug a mine under 
 ground, and this in hopes that they should be 
 able to proceed so far aa to rise from under 
 ground, in a safe place, and by that mean* 
 escape ; but when they came to make the ex- 
 periments, they were disappointed of their hope; 
 foi the miners could make but small progress, 
 and that with difficulty also: insomuch that 
 their provisions, though they distributed them 
 by measure, began to fail them. And now 
 Simon, thinking he might be able to astonish 
 and delude the Romans, put on a white frock, 
 und buttoned upon him a purple cloak, and ap- 
 peared out of the ground in the place where the 
 temple had formerly been. At the first, indeed, 
 those that saw him were greatly astonished, and 
 stood still where they were; but afterward they 
 same nearer to him, and asked him who he was. 
 
 Now Simon would not tell them, but bade them 
 call for their captain ; and when they ran to call 
 him, Tereutius Rufus,* who was left to command 
 the army there, came to Simon, and learned of 
 him the whole truth, and kept him in bonds, 
 and let Cifcsar know that he was taken. Thus 
 did God bring this man to be punished for what 
 bitter and savage tyranny he had exercised 
 against his countrymen, ,by those who were his 
 worst enemies ; and this while he was not sub- 
 dued by violence, but voluntarily delivered him- 
 self up to them to be punished, and that on the 
 very same account that he had laid false accusa- 
 tions against many Jews, as if they were falling 
 away to the Romans, and had barbarously slain 
 them ; for wicked actions do not escape the di- 
 vine auger, nor is justice too weak to punish 
 offenders, but in time overtakes those that trans- 
 gress its laws, and inflicts its punishments upon 
 the wicked in a manner so much more severe, 
 as they expected to escape it on account of their 
 not being punished immediately. t Simon waa 
 made sensible of this by falling under the indig- 
 nation of the Romans. This rise of his out of 
 the around did also occasion the discovery of a 
 great number of others of the seditious at that 
 time, who had hidden themselves underground; 
 but for Simon, he was brought to Cwsar in bonds, 
 when he was come back to that Cesarea which 
 was on the sea side ; who gave orders that he 
 should be kept against that triumph which he 
 was to celebrate at Rome upon this occasion. 
 
 CHAPTER IIL 
 
 HOW TITUS, UPON THE CELEBRATION OP HIS BRO- 
 THER'S AND FATHER'S BIRTHDAYS, HAD MANY 
 
 OF THE JEWS SLAIN. CONCERNING THE DANGER 
 THE JEWS WERE IN AT ANT1OCH, BY MEANS OF 
 THE TRANSGRESSION AND IMPIETY OF ONE AN- 
 TIOCHUS, A JEW. 
 
 1. WHILE Titus was at Cesarea, he solemnised 
 the birthday of his brother [Domitiau] after a 
 splendid manner, and inflicted a great deal of 
 the punishment intended for the Jews in honour 
 of him : for the number of those that were now 
 slain in fighting with the beasts, and were burnt, 
 and fought with one another, exceeded two 
 thousand five hundred. Yet did all this seem 
 to the Romans, when they were thus destroying 
 ten thousand several ways, to be a punishment 
 beneath their deserts. After this, Caesar came 
 to BerytuSjJ which is a city of Phoenicia, and a 
 Roman colony, and stayed there a longer time, 
 and exhibited a still more pompous solemnity 
 about his father's birthday, both in the magni- 
 ficence of the shows, and in the other vast 
 expenses he was at hi his devices thereto belong- 
 ing ; so that a great multitude of the captives 
 were hoie destroyed after the aine manner as 
 before. 
 
 2. It happened also about this time that the 
 Jews who remained at Antioch were under ac- 
 cusations, and in danger of perishing, from the 
 disturbances that were raised against them by 
 
 * This Tereutius Rufus is the same person whom the 
 Talmudists call Ttarntu Rujut; of whom they relate, 
 that "he ploughed up Siou as a field, ami made Jeru- 
 salem become as heaps, ami the mountain of the house 
 as the high places of a forest ;" which was long before 
 foretold by the prophet Jlicah, (iii. 12,) and quoted 
 from him iu the prophecies ol Jeremiah, (xxvi. 18.) 
 
 t See Eccles. viii. 11. 
 
 j This lierytus was certainly a Roman colony, and 
 has coins extaut that witness the game.
 
 IV.] 
 
 WAR? Or 
 
 JEWS. 
 
 591 
 
 the Antiochians, and this both on account of 
 the slanders spread abroad at this time against 
 them, and on account of what pranks they had 
 played not long before ; which I am obliged to 
 describe without fail, though briefly, that I may 
 the better connect my narration of f ut.ure actions 
 with those that weut before. 
 
 3. For as the Jewish nation is wilely dispersed 
 over all the habitable earth among its inhabit- 
 ants, so it is very much intermingled with Syria 
 by reason of its neighbourhood, and had the 
 greatest multitudes in Antioch by reason of the 
 largeness of the city, wherein the kings, after 
 Antiochus, had afforded them a habitation with 
 the most undisturbed tranquillity ; for though 
 Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes, laid Jeru- 
 salem waste, and spoiled the temple, yet did j 
 those that succeeded him in the kingdom restore 
 all the donations that were made of brass to the 
 Jews of Antioch, and dedicated them to their ; 
 synagogue ; and granted them the enjoyment of : 
 equal privileges of citizens with the Greeks | 
 themselves ; and as the succeeding kings treated i 
 them after the same manner, they both mul- 
 tiplied to a great number and adorned their 
 temple, [their synagogue,] gloriously by fine 
 ornaments, and with great magnificence, in the 
 use of what had been given them. They also 
 made proselytes of a great many of the Greeks 
 perpetually, and thereby, after a sort, brought | 
 them to be a portion of their own body. But 
 about this time when the present war began, 
 and Vespasian was newly sailed to Syria, and all 
 men had taken up a great hatred against the 
 Jews, then it was that a certain person, whose 
 name was Antiochus, being one of the Jewish 
 nation, and greatly respected on account of his | 
 father, who was governor of the Jews at Anti- 
 och,* came upon the theatre at a time when the 
 people of Antioch were assembled together, and 
 became an informer against his father ; and 
 accused both him and others that they had 
 resolved to burn the whole city in one night; 
 he tlso delivered up to them some Jews that 
 were foreigners, as partners in their resolutions. 
 When the people heard this they could not re- 
 frain their passion, but commanded that those 
 who were delivered up to them should hava fire 
 brought to burn them : who were accordingly all 
 burnt upon the theatre immediately. They did 
 also fall violently upon the multitxide of the 
 Jews, as supposing that -by punishing them 
 suddenly they should save their own city. As 
 for Autiochus, he aggravated the rage they were 
 in, and thought to give them a demonstration of 
 his own conversion, and his hatred of the Jewish 
 customs, by sacrificing after the manner of the 
 Greeks : he persuaded the rest also to compel 
 them to do the same, because they would by 
 that means discover who they were that had 
 plotted against them, since they would not do 
 so ; and when the people of Aiitioch tried the 
 experiment, some few complied ; but those that 
 would not do so were slain As for Antiochus 
 himself, he obtained soldiers from the Iloinau 
 comi'. ' "'"' became a severe master over 
 
 his o , - |,jrmitting them to rest on 
 
 the seventh day, but forcing them to do all that 
 they usually did on other days ; and to that 
 degree of distress did he reduce them in this 
 matter, that the rest of the seventh day w;m 
 
 * '1 tie Jews at Antioch and Alexandria had allowed 
 them, both by the Macedonians, and afterwards by the 
 Komans, a governor of their own. He was called 
 sometimes barely "governor," sometimes "ethnarch," 
 and [at Alexandria] "alabarch." They hail the like 
 governor or governors allowed them at Babylon under 
 their captivity there. 
 
 dissolved not only at Antioch, but the same 
 thing, which took thence its rise, was done in 
 other cities also, in like mauner, for some small 
 time. 
 
 4. Now, after these misfortunes had happened 
 to the Jews at Aiitioch, a second calamity befell 
 them, the description of which when we were 
 going about, we premised the account foregoing: 
 for upon this accident, whereby the four-square 
 market-place was burnt down, as well as the 
 archives, and the place where the public records 
 were preserved, and the royal palaces, (and it 
 was not without difficulty that the fire was then 
 put a stop to, which was likely, by the fury 
 wherewith it was carried along, to have gone 
 over the whole city,) Antiochus accused the Jews 
 as the occasion of all the mischief that was done. 
 Now this induced the people of Antioch, who 
 were now under the immediate persuasion, by 
 reason of the disorder they were in, that this 
 calumny was true ; and would have been under 
 the same persuasion, even thoi'gh they had not 
 borne an ill-will to the Jews bvi'ore, to believe 
 this man's accusation, especially when they con- 
 sidered what had been done before ; and this to 
 euch a degree, that they all fell violently ui>on 
 those that were accused ; and this, like madmen, 
 in a very furious rage also, even as if they had 
 seen the Jews in a manner setting fire them- 
 selves to the city ; nor was it without difficulty 
 that one Cueius Collegas, the legate, could 
 j. re vail with them to permit the affairs to be 
 laid before Casar ; for as to Cesennius 1'etus, the 
 president of Syria, Vespasian had already set 
 him away ; and so it happened, that he was not 
 yet come back thither. But when Collegas had 
 made a careful inquiry into the matter, he found 
 out the truth, and that not one of those Jews 
 that were accused by Antiochus had any hand hi 
 it ; but that all was done by some vile persons 
 greatly in debt, who supposed that if they 
 could once set tire to the market-place, and burn 
 the public records, they should have no further 
 demand* made upon them. So the Jews were 
 under great disorder and terror, in the uncertain 
 expectations of what would be the upshot of 
 those accusations against them. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HOW VESPASIAN WAS EECEIVED AT HOME; AH 
 ALSO HOW THE GERMANS REVOLTED FROM THJI 
 ROMANS, BUT WERE SUBDUED. THAT TBS 
 SAMAIUTANS OVERRAN MYSIA, BUT WERE COM- 
 PELLED TO RETURN TO THE1B OWN OOONTBT 
 AGAIN. 
 
 | 1. AND now Titus Caesar, upon the news that 
 was brought him concerning his father, that bis 
 coming was much desired by all the Italian 
 cities, and that Rome especially received him 
 with great alacrity and splendour, betook him- 
 self to rejoicing and pleasures to a great degree, 
 as now freed from the solicitude he hud been 
 under, after the most agreeable manner. For 
 all men that were in Italy shewed their respects 
 to him in their minds, before he came thither, 
 as if he were already come, as esteeming the 
 very expectation they had of him to be his real 
 pi-ebence on account of the great desires they 
 had to see him, and because the good -will they 
 bore him was entirely free and unconstrained ; 
 for it was a desirable tiling to the senate, who 
 well remembered the calamities they had under- 
 gone in the late changes of their governors, to 
 v<eive a governor who was adorned with the
 
 WARS O* THE 
 
 [BOOK VII. 
 
 gravity of old age, ; i,d with the higliest skill in 
 the actions of wars whose advancement would 
 be, as they knew, for nothing else but for the 
 preservation of those that were to be governed. 
 Moreover, the people had been so harassed by 
 their civil miseries, that they were still more 
 earnest for his coming immediately, as supposing 
 tiiey should then be firmly delivered from their 
 calamities, and believed they should then recover 
 their secure tranquillity and prosperity ; and for 
 the soldiery, they had the principal regard to 
 him, for they were chiefly apprised of his great 
 exploits in war ; and since they had experienced 
 the want of skill and want of courage in other 
 commanders, they were very desirous to be freed 
 from that great shame they had undergone by 
 their means, and heartily wished to receive such 
 a prince as might be a security and an ornament 
 to them ; and as this good-will to Vespasian was 
 universal, those that enjoyed any remarkable 
 dignities could not have patience enough to stay 
 at Home, but made haste to meet him at a very 
 great distance from it ; nay, indeed, none of the 
 rest could endure the delay of seeing him, but 
 did all pour out of the city in such crowds, and 
 were so universally possessed with the opinion 
 that it was easier and better for them to go out 
 than to stay there, that this was the veiy first 
 time that the city joyfully perceived itself almost 
 empty of its citizens ; for those that stayed with- 
 in were fewer than those that went out ; but as 
 soon as the news was come that he was hard by, 
 and those that had met him at first related with 
 what good humour he received every one that 
 came to him, then it was that the whole multi- 
 tude that had remained in the city, with their 
 wives and children, came into the road, and 
 waited for him there ; and for those whom he 
 passed by, they made all sorts of acclamations 
 on account of the joy they had to see him, and 
 the pleasantness of his countenance, and styled 
 him their Benefactor and Saviour, and the only 
 person who was worthy to be ruler of the city 
 of Rome ; and now the city was like a temple, 
 full of garlands and sweet odours ; nor was it 
 easy for him to come to the rpyiil palace for the 
 multitude of people that stood about him, where 
 yet at hist he performed his sacrifices of thanks- 
 giving to his household gods for his safe return 
 to the city. The multitude did also betake 
 themselves to feasting ; which feasts and drink- 
 offerings they celebrated by their tribes, and 
 their families, and their neighbourhoods, and 
 still prayed to God to grant that Vespasian, his 
 sons, and all their posterity, might continue in 
 the lloman government for a very long time, 
 and that his dominion might be preserved from 
 all opposition. And this was the manner in 
 which Home so joyfully received Vespasian, and 
 hence grew immediately into a state of great 
 prosperity. 
 
 2. But before this time, and while Vespasian 
 was about Alexandria, and Titus was lying at 
 the siege of Jerusalem, a. great multitude of the 
 Germans were in commotion, and tended to re- 
 bellion ; and as the Gauls iu their neighbourhood 
 joined with them, they conspired together, and 
 nad thereby great hopes of success, and that 
 fliey should free themselves from the dominion 
 of the Romans. The motives that induced tha 
 Germans to this attempt for a revolt, and fo." 
 beginning the war, were these : In the first 
 place, the nature, [of the people,] which was 
 destitute of just reasonings, and ready to throw 
 themselves rashly into danger upon small hopes; 
 Lu the next place, the hatred they bore to those 
 that were their governors, while their nation 
 had never been conscious of subjection to any 
 
 but to the Romans, and that by compulsion 
 only. Besides these motives, it was the oppor- 
 tunity that now offered itself which above all 
 the rest prevailed with them so to do ; for when 
 they saw the Roman government in a great in- 
 ternal disorder, by the continual changes of it* 
 rulers, and understood that every part of the 
 habitable earth under them was in an unsettled 
 and tottering condition, they thought this was 
 the best opportunity that could afford itself for 
 themselves to make a sedition, when the state 
 of the Romans was so ill. Classicus* also, and 
 Civilis, two of their commanders, puffed them 
 up with such hopes. These had for a long time 
 been openly desirous of such an innovation, and 
 were induced by the present opportunity to ven- 
 ture upon the declaration of their sentiments ; 
 the multitude was also ready ; and when these 
 men told them of what they intended to attempt, 
 that news was gladly received by them. So 
 when a great part of the Germans had agreed to 
 rebel, and the rest were no better disposed, Ves- 
 
 Easian, as guided by divine Providence, sent 
 itters to Petilius Cerealis, who had formerly 
 had the command of Germany, whereby he de- 
 clared him to have the dignity of consul, and 
 commanded him to take upon him the govern- 
 ment of Britain ; so he went whither he was 
 ordered to go, and when he was informed of the 
 revolt of the Germans, he fell upon them as 
 soon as they were gotten together, and put his 
 army in battle-army, and slew a great multitude 
 of them in the fight, and forced them to leave 
 off their madness, and to grow wiser ; nay, had 
 he not fallen thus suddenly upon them on the 
 place, it had not been long ere they would how- 
 ever have been brought to punishment ; for as 
 soon as ever th news of their revolt was come 
 to Rome, and Csesar Domitian was made ac- 
 quainted with it, he made no delay even at that 
 his age, when he was exceeding young, but un- 
 dertook this weighty affair. He had a courage- 
 ous mind, from his father, and had made greater 
 improvements than belonged to such an age: ac- 
 cordingly, he marched against the barbarians 
 immediately ; whereupon their hearts failed 
 them at the rumour of his approach, and they 
 submitted themselves to him with fear, and 
 thought it a happy thjng that they were brought 
 under their old yoke agnin without suffering any 
 further mischiefs. When, therefore, Domitian 
 had settled ull the affairs of Gaul in such good 
 order that it would not be easily put into dis- 
 order any more, he returned to Rome with hon- 
 our and glory, as having performed such exploits 
 as were above his own age, and worthy of such 
 a father. 
 
 3. At the very same time with the fore-men- 
 tioned revolt of the Germans did the bold at- 
 tempt of the Scythians against the Romans 
 occur ; for those Scythians who are called Sar- 
 matians, being a very numerous people, trans- 
 ported themselves over the Danube into Mysia, 
 without being pei ceived ; after which, by their 
 violence, and entirely unexpected assault, they 
 slew a great rnanv of the Romans that guarded 
 the frontiers; and as the consular legate Fonteius 
 Agrippa came to meet them, and iought courage- 
 ously against them, he was slain by them. They 
 then overran all the region that had been sub- 
 ject to him, tearing and rending everything that 
 fell in their way ; but when Vespasian was in- 
 
 * This Classicus, and Civilis, and Cerealis, are names 
 well known in Tacitus : the two former as moving se- 
 dition agiiinst the Romans, and the last as sent to re- 
 press them liy Vespisiiin, just us they are here de- 
 scribed by Josejihus ; which is the case also of Fonteiuf 
 Agrippa and Kubnus Gailus, in Beet 3.
 
 WARS OF THE JEV/8. 
 
 593 
 
 formed of what had happened, and how Mysia 
 was laid waste, he sent away Rubrius Gailus to 
 punish these Sarmatians ; by whose means 
 many of them perished in the battles he fought 
 against them, and that part which escaped fled 
 with fear to their own country. So when this 
 general had put an end to the war, he provided 
 for the future security of the country also ; for 
 he placed more and more numerous garrisons in 
 the place, till he made it altogether impossible 
 for the barbarians to pass over the river any 
 more ; and thus had this war in Mysia a sudden 
 conclusion. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 CONCERNING THE SABBATIC RIVER WHICH TTTCS 
 SAW AS HE WAS JOURNEYING THROUGH SYRIA ; 
 AND HOW THE PEOPLE OF ANTIOCH CAME WITH 
 A PETITION TO TITUS AGAINST THE JEWS, BUT 
 WERE REJECTED BY HIM ; AS ALSO CONCERNING 
 TITUS'S AND VESPASIAN'S TRIUMPH. 
 
 1. Now Titus Caesar tarried some time at 
 
 Berytus, as we told you before. He thence 
 
 ; removed, and exhibited magnificent shows in all 
 
 ' those cities of Syria through which he went, and 
 
 made use of the captive Jews as public instances 
 
 of the destruction of that nation. He then saw 
 
 a river as he went along, of such a nature as 
 
 deserves to be recorded in history ; it runs in the 
 
 middle between Arcea, belonging to Agrippa's 
 
 i kingdom, and Raphanea. It hath somewhat 
 
 I very peculiar in it ; for when it runs, its current 
 
 i is strong, and has plenty of water ; after which 
 
 ! its springs fail for sis. days together, and leave 
 
 | its channel dry, as any one may see ; after which 
 
 i days it runs on the seventh day as it did before, 
 
 and as though it had undergone no change at 
 
 all : it hath also been observed to keep this 
 
 order perpetually and exactly ; whence it is that 
 
 they call it the Sabbatic River, that name 
 
 being taken from the sacred seventh day among 
 
 the Jews. 
 
 2. But when the people of Antioch were in- 
 formed that Titus was approaching, they were so 
 glad at it, that they could not keep within their 
 walls, but hasted away to give him the meeting ; 
 nay, they proceeded as far as thirty furlongs, 
 and more, with that intention. These were not 
 the men only, but a multitude of women also 
 with their children did the same; and when 
 they saw him coming up to them they stood on 
 both sides of the way, and stretched out their 
 right hands, saluting him, and making all sorts 
 of acclamations to him, and turned back to- 
 gether with him. They also, among all the 
 acclamations they made to him, besought him, 
 ail the way they went, to eject the Jews out of 
 their city ; yet did not Titus at all yield to this 
 their petition, but gave them the bare hearing of 
 h; quietly. However, the Jews were in a great 
 deal of terrible fear, under the uncertainty they 
 were in what his opinion was, and what he 
 would do to them : for Titus did not stay aft 
 Antioch, but continued his progress immediately 
 to Zeugma, which lies upon the Euphrates, 
 whither came to him messengers from Vologeses, 
 king of Parthia, and brought him a crown of 
 gold upon the victory he had gained over the 
 Jews; which he accepted of, and feasted the 
 , king's messengers, and then came back to An- 
 tioch. And when the senate and people of 
 Antioch earnestly entreated him to come upon 
 their theatre, where their -whole multitude was 
 assembled, and expected him, he complied with 
 great humanity; but when they pressed him 
 
 with much earnestness, and continually begged 
 of him that he would eject the Jews out of their 
 city, he gave them this very pertinent answer: 
 " How can this be done, since that country of 
 theirs, whither the Jews must be obliged then 
 to retire, is destroyed, and no place will receive 
 them besides ? " Whereupon the people 08 
 Antioch, when they had failed of success in thia 
 their first request, made him a second ; for they 
 desired that lie would order those tables of brass 
 to be removed, on which the Jews' privileges 
 were engraven. However, Titus would not 
 grant that neither, but permitted the Jews of 
 Antioch to continue to eiijoy the very same 
 privileges in that city which they had before, 
 and then departed for Egypt ; and as he came 
 to Jerusalem in his progress, and compared the 
 melancholy condition he saw it then in with the 
 ancient glory of the city, and called to mind the 
 greatness of its present ruins, as well as its 
 ancient splendour, he could not but pity the 
 destruction of the city, so far was he from 
 boasting that so great and goodly a city as that 
 was had been by him taken by force ; nay, he 
 frequently cursed those that had been the au- 
 thors of their revolt, and had brought such a 
 punishment upon the city ; insomuch that it 
 only appeared that he did not desire that such a 
 calamity as this punishment of theirs amounted 
 to should be a demonstration of his courage. 
 Yet was there no small quantity of the riches 
 that had been in that city still found among its 
 ruins, a great deal of which the Romans dug up ; 
 but the greatest part was discovered by those 
 who were captives, and so they carried it away 
 I mean the gold and the silver, and the rest of 
 that most precious furniture which the Jews 
 had, and which the owners had treasured up 
 under ground, against the uncertain fortunes of 
 war. 
 
 3. So Titus took the journey he intended into 
 Egypt, and passed over the desert very suddenly, 
 and came to Alexandria, and took up a resolution 
 to go to Rome by sea. And as he was accompa- 
 nied by two legions, he sent each of them again 
 to the places whence they had before come ; the 
 fifth he sent to Mysia ; and the fifteenth to 
 Pannonia : as for the leaders of the capti-rs. 
 Simon and John, with the other seven hundred 
 men, whom he had selected out of the rest as 
 being eminently tall and handsome of body, ho 
 gave order that they should be soon carried to 
 Italy, ao resolving to produce them in his tri 
 umph. JSo when he had had a prosperous 
 voyage to his mind, the city of Rome behaved 
 itself in his reception, and their meeting him at 
 a distance, as it did in the case of his father. But 
 what made the most splendid appearance in 
 Titus's opinion was, when his father met him, 
 and received him ; but still the multitude of 
 the citizens conceived the greatest joy when they 
 saw them all three together,* as they did at this 
 time : nor were many days overpast when they 
 determined to have but one triumph, that should 
 be common to both of them, on account of the 
 glorious exploits they had performed, although 
 the sentte had decreed each of them a separate 
 triumph by himself. So when notice had been 
 given beforehand of the day appointed for this 
 pompous solemnity to be made, on account of 
 their victories, not one of the immense multi- 
 tude was left in the city, but everybody went 
 out so far as to gain only a station where they 
 mi^ht stand, and left only such a passage as wae 
 necessary for those that were to be seen to ge 
 along it. 
 
 Vespasian and his two sona, Titua and Domitian. 
 
 2 F
 
 594 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK vn. 
 
 4. Now, all the soldiery marched out before- 
 hand by companies, and in their several ranks, 
 under their several commanders, and in the night- 
 time, and were about the gates, not of the upper 
 palaces, but those near the temple of Isis ; for 
 there it was that the emperors had rested the 
 foregoing night And as soon a ever it was day, 
 Vespasian and Titus came out crowned with 
 laurel, and clothed in those ancient puqjle habits 
 whicli were proper to their family, and theii went 
 as far as Octavian's Walks ; for there it was that 
 the senate, and the principal rulers, and those 
 that had been recorded as of the equestrian order, 
 waited for them. Now a tribunal had been erected 
 before the cloisters, and ivory chairs had been set 
 upon it, when they came and sat down upon them. 
 Whereupon the soldiery made an acclamation of 
 joy to them immediately, and all gave them at- 
 testations of their valour ; while they were them- 
 selves without their arms, and only in their 
 silken garments, and crowned with laurel : then 
 Vespasian accepted of these shouts of theirs ; but 
 while they were still disposed to go on in such 
 acclamations, he gave them a signal of silence. 
 And when everybody entirely held their peace, 
 he stood up, and covering the greatest part of his 
 head with his cloak, he put up the accustomed 
 solemn prayers; the like prayers did Titus put 
 up also ; after which prayers Vespasian made a 
 short speech to all the people, and then sent away 
 the soldiers to a dinner prepared for them by the 
 emperors. Then did he retire to that gate which 
 was called the Gate of the Pomp, because pomp- 
 ous shows do always go through that gate, there 
 it was that they tasted some food, and when they 
 had put on their triumphal garments, and had 
 offered sacrifices to the gods that were placed at 
 the gate, they sent the triumph forward, and 
 marched through the theatres, that they might 
 )>e the more easily seen by the multitude. 
 
 5. Now, it is impossible to describe the multi- 
 tude of the shows as they deserve, and the mag- 
 nificence of them all ; such indeed as man could 
 not easily think of as performed either by the 
 labour of workmen, or the variety of riches, or 
 the rarities of nature ; for almost all such 
 curiosities as the most happy men ever get by 
 piece-meal were here heaped one upon another, 
 and those both admirable and costly in their 
 nature ; and all brought together on that day, 
 demonstrated the vastness of the dominions of 
 the Ramans ; for there was here to be seen a 
 mighty quantity of silver, and gold, and ivory, 
 contrived into all sorts of things, and did not 
 appear as carried along in pompous show only, 
 but, as a man may say, running along like a 
 river. Borne parts were composed of the rarest 
 purple hangings, and so carried along ; and 
 others accurately represented to the life what 
 * as embroidered by the arts of the Babylonians. 
 There were also precious stones that were trans- 
 parent, some set in crowns of gold, and some in 
 other ouches, as the workmen pleased ; and of 
 these such a vast number brought, that we 
 could not but thence learn how vainly we ima- 
 gined any of them to be rarities. The images of 
 the gods were also carried, being as well wonder- 
 ful for their largeness, as made very artificially, 
 and with great skill of the workmen ; nor were 
 any of these images of any other than very 
 costly materials; and many species of animals 
 were brought, every one in their own natural 
 ornaments. The men also who brought every 
 one of these shows were great multitudes, and 
 adorned with purple garments, all over inter- 
 woven with gold; those that were chosen for 
 carrying these pompous shows, having also about 
 *.hem such magnificent ornaments as were both 
 
 extraordinary and surprising. Besides these, 
 one might see that even the great number of the 
 captives was not unadorned, while the variety 
 that was in their garments, and their fine tex- 
 ture, concealed from the sight the deformity of 
 their bodies. But what afforded the greatest 
 surprise of all, was the structure of the pageants 
 that were borne along ; for indeed he that met 
 them could not but be afraid that the bearers 
 would not be able firmly enough to support 
 them, such was their magnitude ; for many of 
 them were so made, that they were on three or 
 even four stories, one above another. The mag- 
 nificence also of their structure afforded one 
 both pleasure and surprise ; for upon many of 
 them were laid carpets of gold. There was also 
 wrought gold and ivory fastened about them all ; 
 and many resemblances of the war, and those in 
 several ways, and variety of contrivances, afford- 
 ing a most lively portraiture of itself ; for there 
 was to be seen a happy country laid waste, and 
 entire squadrons of enemies slain ; while some 
 of them ran away, and some were carried into 
 captivity ; with walls of great altitude and mag- 
 nitude overthrown and ruined by machines; 
 with the strongest fortifications taken, and the 
 walls of most populous cities upon the tops of 
 hills seized on, and an army pouring itself 
 within the walls ; as also every place full of 
 slaughter, and supplications of the enemies, 
 when they were no longer able to lift up their 
 hands in way of opposition. Fire also sent upon 
 temples was here represented, and houses over- 
 thrown and falling upon their owners : rivers 
 also, after they came out of a large and melan- 
 choly desert, ran down, not into a land culti- 
 vated, nor as drink for men, or for cattle, but 
 through a land still on fire upon every side ; for 
 the Jews related that such a thing they had 
 undergone during this war. Now the work- 
 manship of these representations was so mag- 
 nificent and lively in the construction of the 
 things, that it exhibited what had been done to 
 such as did not see it, as if they had been there 
 really present. On the top of every one of these 
 pageants was placed the commander of the city 
 that was taken, and the manner wherein he was 
 taken. Moreover, there followed those pageants 
 a great number of ships ; and for the other 
 spoils, they were carried in great plenty. But 
 for those that were taken in the temple of Jeru- 
 salem, they made the greatest figure of them all ; 
 that is the golden table, of the weight of many 
 talents ; the candlestick also, that was made of 
 gold, though its construction were now changed 
 from that which we made use of ; for its middle 
 shaft was fixed upon a basis, and the small 
 branches were produced out of it to a great 
 length, having the likeness of a trident in their 
 position, and had every one a socket made of 
 brass for a lamp at the tops of them. These 
 lamps were in number seven, and represented 
 the dignity of the number seven among the 
 Jews ; and the last of all the spoils, was carried 
 tbe Law of the Jews. After these spoils passed 
 by a great many men, carrying the images of 
 Victory, whose structure was entirely either of 
 ivory or of gold. After which Vespasian 
 marched in the first place, and Titus followed 
 him ; Domitian also rode along with them, and 
 made a glorious appearance, and rode on a horse 
 that was worthy of admiration. 
 
 6. Now, the last part of this pompous show 
 was at the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, whi- 
 ther when they were come, they stood still ; for 
 it was the Romans' ancient custom to stay till 
 somebody brought the news that the general of 
 the enemy was slain. This general was Simon,
 
 CHAP. VI. J 
 
 WAKS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 598 
 
 the son of Gioras, who had then been led in this 
 triumph among the captives ; a rope had also 
 be un put upon his head, and he had been drawn 
 into a proper place in the forum, and had withal 
 bc-.j:n tormented by those that drew him along ; 
 and the law of the Romans required, that male- 
 factors condemned to die should be slain there. 
 Accordingly, when it was related that there 
 was an end of him, and all the people had set 
 up a shout for joy, they then began to offer 
 those sacrifices which they had consecrated, in 
 the prayers used in such solemnities ; which 
 when they had finished, they went away to the 
 palace. And as for some of the spectators, the 
 emperors entertained them at their own feast ; 
 and for all the rest there were noble prepara- 
 tions made for their feasting at home ; for this 
 was a festival-day to the city of Rome, as cele- 
 brated for the victory obtained by their army 
 over their enemies, for the end that was now 
 put to their civil miseries, and for the com- 
 mencement of their hopes of future prosperity 
 and happiness. 
 
 7. After these triumphs were over, and after 
 the affairs of the Romans were settled on the 
 surest foundations, Vespasian resolved to build 
 a temple to Peace, which he finished in so short 
 a time, and in so glorious a manner, as was be- 
 yond all human expectation and opinion : for he 
 having now by Providence a vast quantity of 
 wealth, besides what he had formerly gained in 
 his other exploits, he had this temple adorned 
 with pictures and statues ; for in this temple 
 were collected and deposited all such rarities 
 as men aforetime used to wander all over the 
 habitable world to see, when they had a desire 
 to see them one after another : he also laid up 
 therein, as ensigns of his glory, those golden 
 vessels and instruments that were taken out of 
 the Jewish temple. But still he gave order 
 that they should lay up their law, and the 
 purple veils of the holy place, IE the royal 
 oalace itself, and keep them there. 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 CONCERNING THE COT CALLED MACEEBTJB ; AHD 
 HOW LUCILIDS BASSU8 TOOK THE CITADEL, AND 
 OTHEB PLACES. 
 
 1. Now, Lucilius Bassus was sent as legate into 
 Judea, and there he received the army from 
 Cerealis Vitellius, and took that citadel which 
 was in Herodium, together with the garrison 
 that was in ^t ; after which he got together all 
 the soldiery that was there, (which was a large 
 body, but dispersed into several parties,) with 
 the tenth legion, and resolved to make war upon 
 Macherus ; for it was highly necessary that this 
 citadel should be demolished, lest it might be a 
 means of drawing away many into a rebellion, 
 by reason of its strength ; for the nature of the 
 place was very capable of affording the surest 
 hopes of safety to those who possessed it, as 
 well as delay and fear to those that should at- 
 tack it ; for what was walled in was itself a very 
 rocky hill, elevated to a very great height ; 
 which circumstance alone made it very hard to 
 be subdued. It was also so contrived by nature, 
 that it could not be easily ascended ; for it is, as 
 it were, ditched about with such valleys on all 
 sides, and to such a depth, that the eye cannot 
 reach their bottoms, and such as are not easily 
 to be passed over, and even such as it is impos- 
 sible to fill up with earth ; for that valley which 
 cuts it on the west, extends to threescore fur- 
 
 longs, and did not end till it came to the lake 
 Asphaltitis ; on the same side it was also that 
 Macherus had the tallest top of its hill elevated 
 above the rest. But then for the valleys that 
 lay on the north and south sides, although they 
 are not so large as that already described, yet ia 
 it in like manner an impracticable thing to think 
 of getting over them ; and for the valley that 
 lies on the east side, its depth is found to be no 
 less than a hundred cubits. It extends as far 
 as a mountain that lies over against Macherus, 
 with which it is bounded. 
 
 2. Now when Alexander [Janneus,] the king 
 of the Jews, observed the nature of this place, 
 he was the first to build a citadel here, which 
 afterwards was demolished by Gabinius, when 
 he made war against Aristobulus ; but when 
 Herod came to be king, he thought the place to 
 be worthy of the utmost regard, and of being 
 built upon in the firmest manner, and this 
 especially because it lay so near to Arabia ; for it 
 is seated in a convenient place on that account, 
 and hath a prospect toward that country; he 
 therefore surrounded a large space of ground 
 with walls and towers, and built a city there, 
 out of which city there was a way that led up to 
 the very citadel itself on the top of the moun- 
 tain ; nay, more than this, he built a wall round 
 that top of the hill, and erected towers at the 
 corners, of a hundred and sixty cubits high ; in 
 the middle of which place he built a palace, 
 after a magnificent manner, wherein were large 
 and beautiful edifices. He also made a great 
 many reservoirs for the reception ot water, that 
 there might be plenty of it ready for all uses, 
 and those in the properest places that were 
 afforded him there. Thus did he, as it were, 
 contend with the nature of the place, that ha 
 might exceed its natural strength and security 
 (which yet itself rendered it hard to be taken) by 
 those fortifications which were made by the 
 hands of men. Moreover, he put a large quantity 
 of darts and other machines of war into it, and 
 contrived to get everything thither that might 
 any way contribute to its inhabitants' security, 
 under the longest siege possible. 
 
 3. Now, within this place there grew a sort of 
 rue, that deserves our wonder on account of ita 
 largeness, for it was no way inferior to any fig- 
 tree whatsoever, either in height or in thickness ; 
 and the report is, that it had lasted ever since 
 the times of Herod, and would probably have 
 lasted much longer, had it not been cut down by 
 those Jews who took possession of the place 
 afterward : but still in that valley which encom- 
 passes the city on the north side, there is a cer- 
 tain place called Baaras, which produces a root 
 of the same name with itself ; its colour is like 
 to that of flame, and towards the evening it sends 
 out a certain ray like lightning : it is not easily 
 taken by such as would do it, but recedes from 
 their hands, nor will yield itself to be taken 
 quietly, until either the urine of a woman, or 
 her menstrual blood, be poured upon it ; nay, 
 even then it is certain death to those that touch 
 it, unless any one take and hang the root itself 
 down from his hand, and so carry it away. It 
 may also be taken another way, without danger, 
 which ia this : thev dig a trench quite round 
 about it, till the hidden part of the root be very 
 small, they then tie a dog to it, and when the 
 dog tries hard to follow him that tied him, this 
 root is easily plucked up, but the dog dies 
 immediately, as if it were instead of the man 
 that would take the plant away ; nor after this 
 need any one be afraid of taking it into their 
 hands. Yet, after all this pains in getting it, it 
 is only valuable on account of one virtue it hath.
 
 596 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK vii. 
 
 that if it only be brought to sick persons, it 
 quickly drives away those called Demons, which 
 are no other than the spirits of the wicked, 
 which enter into men that are alive, and kill 
 them, unless they can obtain some help against 
 them. Here are also fountains of hot water, 
 that flow out of this place, which have a very 
 different taste one from the other ; for some of 
 them are bitter, and others of them are plainly 
 sweet. Here are also many eruptions of cold 
 waters, and this not only in the places that lie 
 lower, and have their fountains near one 
 another, but, what is still more wonderful, here 
 is to be seen a certain cave hard by, whose 
 cavity is not deep, but it is covered ever by a 
 rock that ia prominent : ' above this rock there 
 stand up two [hills or] breasts, as it were, but a 
 little distant one from another, the one of which 
 sends out a fountain that is very cold, and the 
 other sends out one that is very hot; which 
 waters, when they are mingled together, com- 
 pose a most pleasant bath ; they are medicinal 
 indeed for other maladies, but especially good 
 for strengthening the nerves. This place has in 
 it also mines of sulphur and alum. 
 
 4. Now, when Bassus had taken a full view of 
 this place, he resolved to besiege it by filling up 
 the valley that lay on the east side ; so he fell 
 hard to work, and took great pains to raise his 
 banks as soon as possible, and by that means to 
 render the siege easy. As for the Jews that 
 were caught in this place, they separated them- 
 selves from the strangers that were with them, 
 <ind they forced those strangers, as an otherwise 
 useless multitude, to stay in the lower part of 
 the city, and undergo the principal dangers, 
 while they themselves seized on the upper 
 citadel, and held it, and this both on account of 
 its strength, and to provide for their own safety. 
 They also supposed they might obtain their 
 pardon, in case they should at last surrender the 
 citadel. However, they were willing to make 
 trial, in the first place, whether the hopes they 
 had of avoiding a siege would come to any- 
 thing ; with which intention they made sallies 
 every day, and fought with those that met 
 them ; in which conflicts they were many of 
 them slain, as they therein slew many of the 
 Romans ; but still it was the opportunities that 
 presented themselves which chiefly gained both 
 sides their victories ; these were gained by the 
 Jews, when they fell upon the Romans as they 
 were off their guard ; but by the Romans, when, 
 upon the others' sallies against their banks, they 
 foresaw their coming, and were upon their guard 
 when they received them ; but the conclusion of 
 the siege did not depend upon these bickerings, 
 but a certain surprising accident, relating to 
 what was done in this siege, forced the Jews to 
 surrender the citadel. There was a certain 
 young man among the Besieged, of great bold- 
 ness, and very active of his hand, his name was 
 Eleazar ; he greatly signalized himself in those 
 sallies, and encouraged the Jews to go out in 
 great numbers, in order to hinder the raising of 
 the banks, and did the Romans a vast deal of 
 mischief when they came to fighting: he so 
 managed matters, that those who sallied out, 
 mads their attacks easily, and returned back 
 without danger, and this by still bringing up 
 the rear himself. Now, it happened, that on a 
 certain time when the fight was over, and both 
 sides were parted, and retired home, he, in way 
 of contempt of the enemy, and thinking that 
 none of them would begin the fight again at that 
 time, stayed without the gates, and talked with 
 those that were upon the wall, and his mind was 
 wholly intent upon wLat they said. Now. a cer- 
 
 tain person belonging to the Roman camp, whose 
 name was Rufus, by birth an Egyptian, ran 
 upon him suddenly, when nobody expected such 
 a thing, and carried him off, with his armour 
 itself ; while, in the meantime, those that saw it 
 from the wall, were under such an amazement, 
 that Rufus prevented their assistance, and 
 carried Eleazar to the Roman camp. So the 
 general of the Romans ordered that he should 
 be taken up naked, set before the city to be seen, 
 and sorely whipped before their eyes. Upon 
 this sad accident that befell the young man, the 
 Jews were terribly confounded, and the city, 
 with one voice, sorely lamented him, and the 
 mourning proved greater than could well be sup- 
 posed, upon the calamity of a single person. 
 When Bassus perceived that, he began to think 
 of using a stratagem against the enemy, and was 
 desirous to aggravate their grief, in order to pre- 
 vail with them to surrender the city for the pre- 
 servation of that man. Nor did he fail of his 
 hope ; for he commanded them to set up a cross, 
 as if he were just going to hang Eleazar upon it 
 immediately : the sight of this occasioned a sore 
 grief among those that were in the citadel, and 
 they groaned vehemently, and cried out, th:U 
 they could not bear to see him thus destroyed. 
 Whereupon Eleazar besought them not to dis- 
 regard him now he was going to suffer a most 
 miserable death, and exhorted them to save 
 themselves, by yielding to the Roman power and 
 good fortune, since all other people were now 
 conquered by them. These men were greatly 
 moved with what he said, there being also many 
 within the city that interceded for him, because 
 he was of an eminent and very numerous family ; 
 so they now yielded to their passion of commise- 
 ration, contrary to their usual custom. Accord- 
 ingly they sent out immediately certain mes- 
 sengers, and treated with the Romans, in order 
 to a surrender of the citadel to them, and de- 
 sired that they might be permitted to go away, 
 and take Eleazar along with them. Then did 
 the Romans and their general accept of these 
 terms ; while the multitude of strangers that 
 were in the lower part of the city, hearing of 
 the agreement that was made by the Jews for 
 themselves alone, were resolved to fly away 
 privately in the night-time ; but as soon as they 
 had opened their gates, those that had come to 
 terms with Bassus told him of it ; whether it 
 were that they envied the others' deliverance, 
 or whether it were done out of fear, lest an 
 occasion should be taken against them upon their 
 escape, is uncertain. The most courageous, 
 therefore, of those men that went out, prevented 
 the enemy, and got away, and fled for it ; buk 
 for those men that were caught within, they 
 were slain, to the number of one thousand seven 
 hundred, as were the women and children mad 
 slaves ; but as Bassus thought he must perform 
 the covenant he had made with those that haj 
 surrendered the citadel, he let them go, and re- 
 stored Eleazar to them. 
 
 5. When Bassus had settled these affairs, ha 
 r -trched hastily to the forest of Jarden, as it ui 
 called ; for lie had heard that a great many of 
 those that had fled from Jerusalem and Macherus 
 formerly, were there gotten together. When he 
 was therefore come to the place, and understood 
 that the former news was no mistake, he, in the 
 first place, surrounded the whole place with his 
 horsemen, that such of the Jews as had boldness 
 enough to try to break through, might have no 
 way possible for escaping, by reason of the situa- 
 tion of these horsemen; and for the footmen, 
 he ordered them to cut down the trees that were 
 ia the wood whither they were fled. So the Jews
 
 CHAP. VII. j 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 597 
 
 were under a necessity of performing some glo- 
 rious exploit, and of greatly exposing themselves 
 in a battle, since they might perhaps thereby 
 escape. So they made a general attack, and with 
 a great shout fell upon those that surrounded 
 them, who received them with great courage ; 
 and so while the on ^de fought desperately, 
 and the ot tiers would not yield, the fight was 
 prolonged on that account. But the event of the 
 battle did not answer the expectation of the as- 
 sailants ; for so it happened, that no more than 
 twelve fell on the Roman side, with a few that 
 were wounded ; but not one of the Jews escaped 
 out of this battle for they were all killed, being 
 in the whole not fewer in number than three 
 thousand, together with Judas the son of Jairus, 
 their general ; concerning whom we have before 
 spoken, that he had been captain of a certain 
 band at the siege of Jerusalem, and by going 
 down into a certain vault under ground, had 
 privately made his escape. 
 
 6. About the same time it was that Caesar sent 
 a letter to Bassus, and -to Liberius Maximus, who 
 was the procurator [of Judea,] and gave order 
 that all Judea should be exposed to sale ; * for 
 he did not found any city there, but reserved 
 the country for himself. However he assigned a 
 place for eight hundred men only, whom he had 
 dismissed from his army, which he gave them 
 for their habitation ; it is called Emmaus^ and 
 is distant from Jerusalem threescore furlongs. 
 He also laid a tribute upon the Jews wheresoever 
 they were, and enjoined every one of them to 
 bring two drachmas every year into the Capitol, 
 as they used to pay the same to the temple at 
 Jerusalem. And this was the state of the Jewish 
 affairs at this time. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CONCERNING THE CALAMITY THAT BEFELL ANTIO- 
 CHUS, KING OF COMMAGENE. AS ALSO CONCERN- 
 ING THE ALANS, AND WHAT GREAT MISCHIEF 
 THET DID TO THE MEDE3 AND ARMENIANS. 
 
 1. AND now, in the fourth year of the reign of 
 Vespasian, it came to pass, that Antiochus, the 
 king of Commagene, with all his family, fell into 
 very great calamities. The occasion was this : 
 C'esennius Petus, who was president of Syria at 
 this time, whether it were done out of regard to 
 truth, or whether out of hatred to Antiochus 
 (for which was the real motive was never tho- 
 roughly discovered,) sent an epistle to Caesar, 
 and therein told him that Antiochus, with his 
 son Epiphanes, had resolved to rebel against the 
 Romans, and had made a league with the king of 
 Parthia to that purpose : that it was therefore 
 fit to prevent them, lest they prevent us, and 
 begin such a war as may cause a general disturb- 
 ance in the Roman empire. Now Caesar was 
 disposed to take some care about the matter, 
 since this discovery was made ; for the neigh- 
 bourhood of the kingdoms made the affair 
 worthy of greater regard ; for Samosata, the 
 capital of Commagene, lies upon Euphrates, and, 
 
 * It is very remarkable that Titus did not people this 
 now desolate country of Judea, but ordered it to be all 
 sold; nor indeed is it properly peopled at this day, but 
 lies ready for its old inhabitants the Jews, at their fu- 
 ture restoration. 
 
 f This city of Emmaus which was the place of the 
 government of Julius Africanus in the beginning of the 
 third century, and which he then procured to be rebuilt, 
 and after which rebuilding it was called Nicopolis, is 
 entirely different from that Emmaus which is mentioned 
 by St. Luke. 
 
 upon any such design, could afford an easy pas- 
 sage over it to the Parthians and could also 
 afford them a secure reception. Petus was 
 accordingly believed, and had authority given 
 him of doing what he should think proper in the 
 case ; so he set about it without delay, and fell 
 upon Commagene before Antiochus and hia 
 
 Eeople had the least expectation of his coming : 
 e had with him the tenth legion, as also some 
 cohorts and troops of horsemen. These kings 
 also came to his assistance : Aristobulus, king 
 of the country called Chalcidene, and Sohemus, 
 who was called king of Emesa : nor was there 
 any opposition made to his forces when they 
 entered the kingdom ; for no one of that country 
 would so much as lift up his hand against them. 
 When Antiochus heard this unexpected news, 
 he could not think in the least of making war 
 with the Romans, but determined to leave his 
 whole kingdom in the state wherein it now was, 
 and to retire privately, with his wife and child- 
 ren, as thinking thereby to demonstrate himself 
 to the Romans to be innocent as to the accusa- 
 tion laid against him. So he went away from 
 that city as far as a hundred and twenty 
 furlongs, into a plain, and there pitched his 
 tents. 
 
 2. Petus then sent some of his men to seize 
 upon Samosata, and by their means took posses- 
 sion of that city, while he went himself to attack 
 Antiochus with the rest of his army. However, 
 the king was not prevailed upon by the distress 
 he was in to do anything in the way of war 
 against the Romans, but bemoaned his own hard 
 fate, and endured with patience what he was not 
 able to prevent. But his sons, who were young 
 and unexperienced in war, but of strong bodies, 
 were not easily induced to bear this calamity 
 without fighting. Epiphanes, therefore, and 
 Callincius betook themselves to military force ; 
 and as the battle was a sore one, and lasted all 
 the day long, they shewed their own valour in 
 a, remarkable manner ; and nothing but the ap- 
 proach of night put a period thereto, and that 
 without any diminution of their forces ; yet 
 would not Antiochus, upon this conclusion of 
 the fight, continue there by any means, but took 
 his wife and his daughters, and fled away with 
 them to Cilicia; and, by so doing, quite dis- 
 couraged the minds of his own soldiers. Ac- 
 cordingly, they revolted, and went over to the 
 Romans, out of the despair they were in of his 
 keeping the kingdom, and his case was looked 
 upon by all as quite desperate. It was therefore 
 necessary that Epiphanes and his soldiers should 
 get clear of their enemies before they became 
 entirely destitute of any confederates ; nor were 
 there any more than ten horsemen with him, 
 who passed with him over Euphrates, whence 
 they went undisturbed to Vologoses, the king of 
 Parthia, where they were not disregarded, at 
 fugitives ; but had the same respect paid them 
 an if they had retained their ancient prosperity. 
 
 3. Now when Antiochus was come to Tarsus 
 in Cilicia, Petus ordered a centurion to go to 
 him, and send him in bonds to Rome. How- 
 ever, Vespasian could not endure to have a king 
 brought to him in that manner, but thought it 
 fit rather to have a regard to the ancient friend- 
 ship that had been between them, than to pre- 
 serve an inexorable anger upon pretence of this 
 war. Accordingly, he gave orders that they 
 should take off his bonds, while he was still upon 
 the road, and that he should not come to Rome, 
 but should now go and live at Lacedemon ; he 
 also gave him large revenues, that he might not 
 only live in plenty, but like a king also. When 
 who was before in great fear for hi*
 
 598 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK vn. 
 
 father, was informed of this, their minds were 
 freed from that great and almost incurable con- 
 cern they had been under. He also hoped that 
 Ciesar would be reconciled to them, upon the 
 intercession of Vologoses ; for although he lived 
 in plenty, he knew not how to bear living out of 
 the Roman empire. So Caesar gave him leave, 
 after an obliging manner, and he came to Rome ; 
 and as his father came quickly to him from 
 Lacedemon, he had all sorts of respect paid him 
 there, and there he remained. 
 
 4. Now, there was a nation of the Alans in- 
 habiting at the lake Meotis. This nation about 
 this time laid a design of falling upon Media and 
 the parts beyond it, in order to plunder them ; 
 with which intention they treated with the king 
 of Hyrcania ; for he was master of that passage 
 which king Alexander [the Great] shut up with 
 iron gates. This king gave them leave to come 
 through them ; so they came in great multi- 
 tudes, and fell upon the Medes unexpectedly, 
 and plundered their country, which they found 
 full of people, and replenished with abundance 
 of cattle, while nobody durst make any resist- 
 ance against them ; for Pacorus, the king of the 
 country, had fled away for fear, into places 
 where they could not easily come at him, and 
 had yielded up everything he had to them, and 
 had only saved his wife and his concubines from 
 them, and that with difficulty also, after they 
 had been made captives, by giving them a hun- 
 dred talents for their ransom. These Alans 
 therefore plundered the country without oppo- 
 sition, and with great ease, and then proceeded 
 as far as Armenia, laying all waste before them. 
 Now, Tiridates was king of that country, who 
 met them, and fought them, but had like to 
 have been taken alive in the battle ; for a certain 
 man threw a net over him from a great distance, 
 and had soon drawn him to him, unless he had 
 immediately cut the cord with his sword, and 
 ran away and prevented it. So the Alans, being 
 still more provoked by this sight, laid waste the 
 country, and drove a great multitude of the 
 men, and a great quantity of the other prey they 
 had gotten out of both kingdoms, along with 
 them, and then retreated back to their own 
 country. 
 
 CHAPTER VHI. 
 
 CONCERNING MASADA AND THOSE SICARH WHO 
 KEPT IT ; AND HOW SILVA BETOOK HIM8ELP TO 
 FORM THE SIEGE OF THAT CITADEL. KLEAZAR'S 
 SPEECHES TO THE BESIEGED. 
 
 1. WHEN Bassus was dead in Judea, Flavitw 
 Silva succeeded him as a procurator there ; who 
 when he saw that all the rest of the country 
 was subdued in this war, and that there was but 
 one only stronghold that was still in rebellion, 
 he got all his army together that lay in different 
 places, and made an expedition against it. This 
 fortress was called Masada. It was one Ele- 
 azar, a potent man, and the commander of these 
 Sicarii, that had seized upon it. He was a 
 descendant from that Judas who had persuaded 
 abundance of the Jews, as we have formerly 
 related, not to submit to the taxation, when 
 Cyrenius was sent into Judea to make one ; for 
 then it was that the Sicarii got together against 
 those that were willing to submit to the Romans, 
 and treated them in all respects as if they had 
 been their enemies, both by plundering them of 
 what they had, by driving away their cattle, and 
 by setting fire to their houses : for they said, 
 that they differed not at all from foreigners, 
 
 by betraying, in so cowardly a manner, that 
 freedom which Jews thought worthy to be con- 
 tended for to the utmost, and by owning that 
 they preferred slavery under the Romans before 
 such a contention. Now, this was in reality no 
 better than a pretence, and a cloak for the bar- 
 barity which was made use of by them, and to 
 colour over their own avarice, which they after- 
 wards made evident by their own actions ; for 
 those that were partners with them in their re- 
 bellion, joined also with them in the war against 
 the Romans, and went further lengths with them 
 in their impudent undertakings against them ; 
 and when they were again convicted of dis- 
 sembling in such their pretences, they still more 
 abused those that justly reproached them for 
 their wickedness ; and indeed that was a time 
 most fertile in all manner of wicked practices, in- 
 somuch that no kind of evil deeds were then left 
 undone ; nor could any one so much as devise any 
 bad thing that was new, so deeply were they all 
 infected, and strove with one another in their 
 single capacity, and in their communities, who 
 should run the greatest lengths in impiety to- 
 wards God, and in unjust actions towards their 
 neighbours ; the men of power oppressing the 
 multitude, and the multitude earnestly labouring 
 to destroy the men of power. The one part were 
 desirous of tyrannizing over others ; and the rest 
 of offering violence to others, and of plundering 
 such as were richer than themselves. They were 
 the Sicarii who first began these transgressions, 
 and first became barbarous towards those allied to 
 them, and left no words of reproach unsaid, and 
 no works of perdition untried, in order to destroy 
 those whom their contrivances affected. Yet 
 did John demonstrate by his actions, that these 
 Sicarii were more moderate than he was himself, 
 for he not only slew such as gave him good coun- 
 sel to what was right, but treated them worst of 
 all, as the most bitter enemies that he had 
 among all the citizens ; nay, he tilled his entire 
 country with ten thousand instances of wicked- 
 ness, such as a man who was already hardened 
 sufficiently in his impiety towards God, would 
 naturally do ; for the food was unlawful that 
 was set upon his table, and he rejected those 
 purifications that the law of his country had or- 
 dained ; so that it was no longer a wonder if he, 
 who was so mad in his impiety towards God did, 
 not observe any rules of gentleness and common 
 affection towards men. Again, therefore, what 
 mischief was there which Simon the son of Gio- 
 ras did not do ? or what kind of abuses did he 
 abstain from as to those very free men who had 
 set him up for a tyrant? What friendship or 
 kindred were there that did not make him more 
 bold in his daily murders ? for they looked upon 
 the doing of mischief to strangers as only a work 
 beneath their courage, but thought their bar- 
 barity towards their nearest relations would be 
 a glorious demonstration thereof. The Idumeans 
 also strove with these men who should be guilty 
 of the greatest madness; for they [all,] vile 
 wretches as they were, cut the throats of the 
 high priests, that so no part of a religious re- 
 gard to God might be preserved ; they thence 
 proceeded to destroy utterly the least remains 
 of a political government, and introduced the 
 most complete scene of iniquity in all instances 
 that were practicable ; under which scene, that 
 sort of people that were called Zealots grew up, 
 and who indeed corresponded to the name ; for 
 they imitated every wicked work ; nor, if their 
 memory suggested atiy evil thing that had for- 
 merly been done, did they avoid zealously to 
 pursue the same ; and although they gave them- 
 selves that name from their zeal for what waa
 
 JHAP. VIII.] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 599 
 
 good, yet did it agree to them only by way of 
 irony, on account of those they had unjustly 
 treated by their wild and brutish disposition, 
 or as thinking the greatest mischiefs to be the 
 greatest good. Accordingly, they all met with 
 such ends as Gad deservedly brought upon them 
 in way of punishment; for all such miseries have 
 been sent upon them as man's nature is capable 
 of undergoing, till the utmost period of their 
 lives, and till death came upon them in various 
 ways of torment : yet might one say justly that 
 they suffered less than they had done, because 
 it was impossible they could be punished accord- 
 ing to their deserving : but to make a lamenta- 
 tion according to the deserts of those who fell 
 under these men's barbarity, this is not a proper 
 place for it: I therefore now return again to 
 the remaining part of the present narration. 
 
 2. For now it was that the Roman general 
 came, and led his army against Eleazar and 
 those Sicarii who held the fortress Masada toge- 
 ther with him; and for the whole country ad- 
 joining, he presently gained it, and put garrisons 
 into the most proper places of it ; he also built 
 a wall quite round the entire fortress, that none 
 of the besieged might easily escape : he also set 
 his men to guard the several parts of it : he also 
 pitched his camp in such an agreeable place as 
 he had chosen for the siege, and at which place 
 the rock belonging to the fortress did make the 
 nearest approach to the neighbouring mountain, 
 which yet was a place of difficulty for getting 
 plenty of provisions; for it was not only food 
 that was to be brought from a great distance [to 
 the army,] and this with a great deal of pain to 
 those Jews who were appointed for that purpose, 
 but water was also to be brought to the camp, 
 because the place afforded no fountain that was 
 near it. When therefore Silva had ordered 
 these affairs beforehand, he fell to besieging the 
 place ; which siege was likely to stand in need 
 of a great deal of skill and pains, by reason of 
 the strength of the fortress, the nature of which 
 I will now describe. 
 
 3. There was a rock not small in circumfer- 
 ence, and very high. It was encompassed with 
 valleys of such vast depth downward, that the 
 eye could not reach their bottoms ; they were 
 abrupt, and such as no animal could walk upon, 
 excepting at two places of the rock, where it 
 subsides, in order to afford a passage for ascent, 
 though not without difficulty, Now, of the 
 ways that lead to it, one is that from the lake 
 Asphaltitis, towards the sun-rising, and another 
 on the west, where the ascent is easier : the one 
 of these ways is called the Serpent, as resembling 
 that animal in. its narrowness, and its perpetual 
 windings ; for it is broken off at the prominent 
 precipices of the rock, and returns frequently 
 into itself, and lengthening again by little and 
 little, hath much ado to proceed forward ; and 
 he that would walk along it must first go on one 
 leg, and then on the other ; there is also no- 
 thing but destruction, in case your feet slip ; for 
 on each side there was a vastly deep chasm and 
 precipice, sufficient to quell the courage of every- 
 body by the terror it infuses into the mind. 
 When, therefore, a man hath gone along this 
 way for thirty furlongs, the rest is the top of the 
 hill, not ending at a small point, but is no 
 other than a plain upon the highest part of the 
 mountain. Upon this top of the hill Jonathan 
 the higl. priest first of all built a fortress and 
 called it Masada ; after which the rebuilding of 
 this place employed the care of king Herod to a 
 great degree ; he also built a wall round about 
 the entire top of the hill, seven furlongs long ; 
 it was composed of white stone : its height was 
 
 twelve, and its breadth eight cubits ; there was 
 also erected upon that wall thirty-eight towers, 
 each of them fifty cubits high ; out of which 
 you might pass into lesser edifices, which were 
 built on the inside, round the entire wall ; for 
 the king reserved the top of the hill, which was 
 of a fat soil and better mould than any valley 
 for agriculture, that such as committed them- 
 selves to this fortress for their preservation, 
 might not even there be quite destitute of food, 
 in case they should ever be in want of it from 
 abroad. Moreover, he built a palace therein at 
 the western ascent : it was within and beneath 
 the walls of the citadel, but inclined to its nor; n 
 side. Now, the wall of this palace was very high 
 and strong, and had at its four corners towers 
 sixty cubits high. The furniture also of the 
 edifices, and of the cloisters, and of the baths, 
 was of great variety, and very costly ; and these 
 buildings were supported by pillars of single 
 stones on every side : the wall also and the 
 floors of the edifices were paved with stones of 
 several colours. He also had cut many and great 
 pits, as reservoirs for water out of the rocks, at 
 every one of the places that were inhabited, both 
 above and around about the palace, and before 
 the wall ; and by this contrivance he endea- 
 voured to have water for several uses, as if there 
 had been fountains there. Here was also a road 
 digged from the palace, and leading to the very 
 top of the mountain, which yet could not be 
 seen by such as were without [the walls ;] nor 
 indeed could enemies easily make use of the 
 plain roads ; for the road on the east side, as we 
 have already taken notice, could not be walked 
 upon, by reason of its nature ; and for the wes- 
 tern road, he built a large tower at its narrowest 
 place, at no less a distance from the top of the 
 hill than a thousand cubits ; which tower could 
 not possibly be passed by, nor could it be easily 
 taken ; nor indeed could those that walked along 
 it without any fear (such was its contrivance) 
 easily get to the end of it ; and after such a 
 manner was this citadel fortified, both by na- 
 ture and by the hands of men, in order to frus- 
 trate the attacks of enemies. 
 
 4. As for the furniture that was within this 
 fortress, it was still more wonderful on account 
 of its splendour and long continuance ; for here 
 was laid up corn in large quantities, and such as 
 would subsist men for a long time ; here was 
 also wine and oil in abundance, with all kinds of 
 pulse and dates heaped up together ; all which 
 Eleazar found there, when he and his Sicarii got 
 possession of the fortress by treachery. These 
 fruits were also fresh and full ripe, and no way 
 inferior to such fruits newly laid in, although 
 they were little short of a hundred years from 
 the laying in these provisions [by Herod,] till 
 the place was taken by the Romans; nay, in- 
 deed, when the Romans got possession of those 
 fruits that were left, they found them not 
 corrupted all that while : nor should we be 
 mistaken, if we supposed that the air was 
 here the cause of their enduring so long, this 
 fortress bein<* so high, and so free from the 
 mixture of an terrene and muddy particles of 
 matter There was also found here a largo 
 quantity of all sorts of weapons of war, which 
 had been treasured up by that king, and were 
 sufficient for ten thousand men; there was 
 cast iron, and brass, and tin, which shew that 
 he had taken much pains to have all things here 
 ready for the greatest occasions ; for the report 
 goes how Herod thus prepared this fortress on 
 his own account, as a refuge against two kinds 
 of danger ; the one for fear of the multitude of 
 the Jews, lest they should depose him and re-
 
 600 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK VII. 
 
 tore their former kings to the government ; the 
 other danger was greater and more terrible, 
 which arose from Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, 
 who did not conceal her intentions, but spoke 
 often to Antony, and desired him to cut off 
 Herod, and entreated him to bestow the king- 
 dom of Judea upon her. And certainly it is a 
 great wonder that An bony did never comply 
 with her commands in this point, as he was so 
 miserably enslaved to his passion for her; nor 
 should any one have been surprised if she had 
 been gratified in such her request. So the fear 
 of these dangers made Herod rebuild Masada, 
 and thereby leave it for the finishing stroke of 
 the Romans in this Jewish war. 
 
 5. Since therefore the Roman commander 
 Silva had now built a wall on the outside, round 
 about this whole place, as we have said already, 
 and had thereby made a most accurate provision 
 to prevent any one of the besieged running 
 away, he undertook the siege itself, though he 
 found but one single place that would admit of 
 the banks he was to raise ; for behind that 
 tower which secured the road that led to the 
 palace, and to the top of the hill from the west, 
 there was a certain eminency of the rock, very 
 broad and very prominent, but three hundred 
 cubits beneath the highest part of Masada; it 
 was called the White Promontory. Accord- 
 ingly, he got upon that part of the rock, and 
 ordered the army to bring earth ; and when 
 they fell to that work with alacrity, and abun- 
 dance of them together, the bank was raised, 
 and became solid for two hundred cubits in 
 height. Yet was not this bank thought suffi- 
 ciently high for the use of the engines that were 
 to be set upon it; but still another elevated 
 work of great stones compacted together was 
 raised upon that bank : this was fifty cubits, 
 both in breadth and height. The other ma- 
 chines that were now got ready were like to 
 those that had been first devised by Vespasian, 
 and afterwards by Titus, for sieges. There was 
 also a tower made of the height of sixty cubits, 
 and all over plated with iron, out of which the 
 Romans threw darts and stones from the en- 
 gines, and soon made those that fought from the 
 walls of the place to retire, and would not let 
 them lift up their heads above the works. At 
 the same time, Silva ordered that great batter- 
 ing-ram which he had made, to be brought 
 thither, and to be set against the wall, and to 
 make frequent batteries against it, which with 
 some difficulty, broke down a part of the wall, 
 and quite overthrew it. However, the Sicarii 
 made haste, and presently built another wall 
 within that, which should not be liable to the 
 same misfortune from the machines with the 
 other: it was made soft and yielding, and so 
 was capable of avoiding the terrible blows that 
 affected the othei It was framed after the 
 following manner : They laid together great 
 beams of wood lengthways, one close to the end 
 of another, and the same way in which they 
 were cut : there were two of these rows parallel 
 to one another, and laid at such a distance from 
 each other as the breadth of the wall required, 
 and earth was put into the space between those 
 rows. Now, that the earth might not fall away 
 upon the elevation of this bank to a greater 
 height, they farther laid other beams over across 
 them, and thereby bound those beams together 
 that lay lengthways. This work of theirs was 
 like a real edifice ; and when the machines were 
 applied, the blows were weakened by its yield- 
 ing ; and as the materials by such concussion 
 were shaken closer together, the pile by that 
 means became firmer than before. When Silva 
 
 saw this, he thought it best to endeavour the 
 taking of this wall by setting fire to it ; so he 
 gave orders that the soldiers should throw a 
 great number of burning torches upon it : ac- 
 cordingly, as it was chiefly made of wood, it 
 soon took fire ; and when it was once set on fire, 
 its hollowness made that fire spread to a mighty 
 flame. Now, at the very beginning of this fire, 
 a north wind that then blew proved terrible to 
 the Romans ; for by bringing the flame down- 
 ward, it drove it upon them, and they were al- 
 most in despair of success, as fearing their 
 machines would be burnt : but after this, on a 
 sudden the wind changed into the south, as if it 
 were done by divine providence : and blew 
 strongly the contrary way, and carried the 
 flame, and drove it against the wall, which was 
 now on fire through its entire thickness. So 
 the Romans, having now assistance from God, 
 returned to their camp with joy, and resolved 
 to attack their enemies the very next day ; on 
 which occasion they set their watch more care- 
 fully that night, lest any of the Jews should 
 irun away from them without being discovered. 
 
 6. However, neither did Eleazar once think 
 of flying away, nor would he permit any one 
 else to do so ; but when he saw their wall burnt 
 down by the fire, and could devise no other way 
 of escaping, or room for their farther courage, 
 and setting before their eyes what the Romans 
 would do to them, their children, and their 
 wives, if they got them into their power, he 
 consulted about having them all slain. Now, as 
 he judged this to be the best thing they could 
 do in their present circumstances, he gathered 
 the most courageous of his companions together, 
 and encouraged them to take that course by a 
 speech, which he made to them in the manner 
 following : " Since we, long ago, my generous 
 friends, resolved never to be servants to the 
 Romans, nor to any other than to God himself, 
 who alone is the true and just Lord of mankind, 
 the time is now come that obliges us to make 
 that resolution true in practice. And let us not 
 at this time bring a reproach upon ourselves for 
 self-contradiction, while we formerly would not 
 undergo slavery, though it were then without 
 danger, but must now, together with slavery, 
 choose such punishments also as are intolerable ; 
 I mean this, upon the supposition that the Ro- 
 mans once reduce us under their power while 
 we are alive. We were the very first that re- 
 volted from them, and we are the last that fight 
 against them ; and I cannot but esteem it as a 
 favour that God hath granted us, that it is still 
 in our power to die bravely, and in a state of 
 freedom, which hath not been the case with others 
 who were conquered unexpectedly. It is very 
 plain that we shall be taken within a day's 
 time ; but it is still an eligible thing to die after 
 a glorious manner, together with our deare.st 
 friends. This is what our enemies themselves 
 cannot by any means hinder, although they be 
 very desirous to take us alive. Nor can we 
 propose to ourselves any more to fight them and 
 beat them. It had been proper indeed for us to 
 have conjectured at the purpose of God much 
 sooner, and at the very first, when we were so 
 desirous of defending our liberty, and when we 
 received such sore treatment from one another, 
 and worse treatment from our enemies, and to 
 have been sensible that the same God, who had 
 of old taken the Jewish nation into his favour, 
 had now condemned them to destruction; for 
 had he either continued favourable, or been but 
 in a lesser degree displeased with us, he had not 
 overlooked the destruction of so many men, or 
 delivered his most holy city to be burnt and
 
 CHAP. VIII.] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 601 
 
 demolshed by our enemies. Tc be sure, we 
 weakly hoped to have preserved ourselves, and 
 ourselves alone, still in a state of freedom, as we 
 had been guilty of no sins ourselves against 
 God, nor been partners with those of others ; we 
 also taught other men to preserve their liberty. 
 Wherefore, consider how God hath convinced 
 us that our hopes were in vain, by bringing such 
 distress upon us in the desperate state we are 
 now in, and which is beyond all our expecta- 
 tions ; for the nature of this fortress, which was 
 in itself unconquerable, hath not proved a means 
 of our deliverance ; and even while we have still 
 great abundance of food, and a great quantity of 
 arms and other necessaries more than we want, 
 we are openly deprived by God himself of all 
 hope of deliverance ; for that fire which was 
 driven upon our enemies did not, of its own 
 accord, turn back upon the wall which we had 
 built : this was the effect of God's anger against 
 us for our manifold sins, which we have been 
 guilty of in a most insolent and extravagant 
 manner with regard to our own countrymen ; 
 the punishments of which let us not receive 
 from the Romans, but from God himself, as 
 executed by our own hands, for these will be 
 more moderate than the other. Let our wives 
 die before they are abused, and our children 
 before they have tasted of slavery ; and after we 
 have slain them, let us bestow that glorious 
 benefit upon one another mutually, and pre- 
 serve ourselves in freedom, as an excellent 
 funeral monument for us. But first let us de- 
 stroy our money and the fortress by fire ; for I 
 am well assured that this will be a great grief 
 to the Romans, that they shall not be able to 
 seize upon our bodies, and shall fail of our 
 wealth also : and let us spare nothing but our 
 provisions ; for they will be a testimonial when 
 we are dead that we were not subdued for want 
 of necessaries ; but that, according to r<ir origi- 
 nal resolution, we have preferred death before 
 slavery." 
 
 7. This was Eleazar*s speech to them. Yet 
 did not the opinions of all the soldiers acquiesce 
 therein ; but although some of them were very 
 zealous to put his advice in practice, and were in 
 a manner filled with pleasure at it, and thought 
 death to be a good thing, yet had those that 
 were most effeminate a commiseration for their 
 wives and families ; and when these men were 
 especially moved by the prospect of their own 
 certain death, they looked wistfully at one an- 
 other, and by the tears that were in their eyes, 
 declared their dissent from his opinion. When 
 Eleazar saw these people in such fear, and that 
 their souls were dejected at so prodigious a pro- 
 posal, he was afraid lest perhaps these effemi- 
 nate persons should, by their lamentations and 
 tears, enfeeble those that heard what he had said 
 courageously ; so he did not leave off exhorting 
 them, but stirred up himself, and recollecting 
 proper arguments for raising their courage, he 
 undertook to speak more briskly and fully to 
 them, and that concerning the immortality of 
 the soul. So he made a lamentable groan, and 
 fixing his eyes intently on those that wept, he 
 spake thus: "Truly, I was greatly mistaken 
 when I thought to be assisting to brave men who 
 struggled hard for their liberty, and to such as 
 were resolved either to live with honour, or else 
 to die ; but I find that you are such people as 
 are no better than others, either in virtue or in 
 courage, and are afraid of dying, though you be 
 delivered thereby from the greatest miseries, 
 while you ought to make no delay in this matter, 
 nor to await any one to give you good advice ; 
 for the laws of our country, and of God himseLT, 
 
 have, from ancient times, and as scon as ever we 
 could use our reason, continually taught us, and 
 our forefathers have corroborated the same doc- 
 trine, by their actions, and by then- bravery of 
 mind, that it is life that is a calamity to men, 
 and not death; for this last affords our souls 
 their liberty, and sends them by a removal into 
 then- own place of purity, where they are to be 
 insensible to all sorts of misery ; for while souU 
 are tied down to a mortal body, they are par- 
 takers of its miseries ; and really, to speak the 
 truth, they are themselves dead ; for the union 
 of what is divine to what is mortal is disagree- 
 able. It is true, the power of the soul is great, 
 even when it is imprisoned in a mortal body; for 
 by moving it after a way that is invisible, it 
 makes the body a sensible instrument, and causes 
 it to advance further in its actions than mortal 
 nature could otherwise do. However, when it 
 is freed from that weight which draws it down 
 to the earth, and is connected with it, it obtains 
 its own proper place, and does then become a 
 partaker of that blessed power, and those abili- 
 ties, which are then every way incapable of being 
 hindered in their operations. It continues in- 
 visible, indeed, to the eyes of men, as does God 
 himself ; for certainly it is not itself seen, while 
 it is in the body ; for it is thereafter an invisible 
 matter, and when it is freed from it, it is still 
 not seen. It is this soul which hath one nature, 
 and that an incorruptible one also ; but yet is it 
 the cause of the change that is made in the body 
 for whatsoever it be which the soul touches, that 
 lives and flourishes ; and from whatsoever it is 
 removed, that withers away and dies ; such a 
 degree is there in it of immortality. Let me pro- 
 duce the state of sleep as a most evident demon- 
 stration of the truth of what I say ; wherein 
 souls, when the body does not distract them, 
 have the sweetest rest depending on themselves, 
 and conversing with God, by their alliance to 
 him ; they then go everywhere, and foretell 
 many futurities beforehand ; and why are we 
 afraid of death, while we are pleased with the 
 rest that we have in sleep? and how absurd a thing 
 is it to pursue after liberty while we are alive, 
 and yet to envy it to ourselves where it will be 
 eternal ! We, therefore, who have been brought 
 up in a discipline of our own, ought to become 
 an example to others of our readiness to die ; yet 
 if we do not stand in need of foreigners to sup- 
 port us in this matter, let us regard those 
 Indians who profess the exercise of philosophy ; 
 for these good men do but unwillingly undergo 
 the time of life, and look upon it as a necessary 
 servitude, and make haste to let their souls loose 
 from their bodies; nay, when no misfortune 
 presses them to it, nor drives them upon it, 
 these have such a desire of a life of immortal- 
 ity, that they tell other men beforehand that 
 they are about to depart ; and nobody hinders 
 them, but every one thinks them happy men, 
 and gives them letters to be carried to their fa- 
 miliar friends [that are dead;] so firmly and cer- 
 ! tainly do they believe that souls converse with 
 | one another [in the other world.] So when these 
 i men have heard all such commands that were to 
 1 be given them, they deliver their body to the 
 ; fire ; and, in order to their getting their soul a 
 i separation from the body, in the greatest purity, 
 < they die in the midst of hymns of commenda- 
 i tions made to them ; for their dearest friends 
 ! conduct them to their death more readily than 
 do any of the rest of mankind conduct their 
 fellow-citizens when they are going a very long 
 journey, who, at the same time, weep on their 
 own account, but look upon the others as happy 
 persons, as so soon to be made partakers of the
 
 602 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK VIL 
 
 immortal order of beings. Are not we, there- 
 fore, ashamed to have lower notions than the 
 Indians ? and by our own cowardice to lay a base 
 reproach upon the laws of our country, which 
 are so much desired and imitated by all mankind? 
 But put the case that we had been brought up 
 under another persuasion, and taught that life 
 is the greatest good which men are capable of, 
 and that death is a calamity : however, the cir- 
 cumstances we are now in, ought to be an induce- 
 ment to us to bear such calamity courageously, 
 since it is by the will of God, and by necessity, 
 that we are to die : for it now appears that God 
 hath made such a decree against the whole 
 Jewish nation, that we are to be deprived of this 
 life which [he knew] we would not make a due 
 use of; for do not you ascribe the occasion of 
 your present condition to yourselves, nor think 
 the Romans are the true occasion that this war 
 we have had with them is become so destructive 
 to us all : these things have not come to pass by 
 their power, but a more powerful cause hath in- 
 tervened, and made us afford them an occasion 
 of their appearing to be conquerors over us. 
 What Roman weapons, I pray you, were those, 
 by which the Jews of Cesarea were slain ? On 
 the contrary, when they were no way disposed 
 to rebel, but were all the while keeping their 
 seventh day festival, and did not so much as lift 
 up their hands against the citizens of Cesarea, 
 yet did those citizens run upon them in great 
 crowds, and cut their throats, and the throats of 
 their wives and children, and this without any 
 regard to the Romans themselves, who never 
 took us for their enemies, till we revolted from 
 them. But some may be ready to say, that 
 truly the people of Cesarea had always a quarrel 
 against those that lived among them, and that 
 when an opportunity off ereditself, they only satis- 
 fied the old rancour they had against them. What 
 then shall we say to those of Scythopolis, who 
 ventured to wage war with us on account of the 
 Greeks ? Nor did they do it by way of revenge 
 upon the Romans, when they acted in concert 
 with our countrymen. Wherefore you see how 
 little our good-will and fidelity to them that pro- 
 fited us, while they were slain, they and their 
 whole families after the most inhuman manner ; 
 which was all the requital that was made them 
 for the assistance they had afforded to the 
 others; for that very same destruction which 
 they had prevented from falling upon the others, 
 did they suffer themselves from them, as if they 
 had been ready to be the actors against them. It 
 would be too long for me to speak at this time 
 of every destruction brought upon us : for you 
 cannot but know, that there was not any one 
 Syrian city which did not slay their Jewish in- 
 habitants, and were not more bitter enemies to 
 us than were the Romans themselves : nay, even 
 those of Damascus, when they were able to allege 
 no tolerable pretence against us, filled their city 
 with the most barbarous slaughter of our people, 
 and cut the throats of eighteen thousand Jews, 
 with their wives and children, And as to the 
 multitude of those that were slain in Egypt, and 
 that with torments also, we have been informed 
 there were more than sixty thousand ; those in- 
 deed being in a foreign country, and so naturally 
 meeting with nothing to oppose against their 
 enernw were killed in the manner foremen- 
 tioned As for all those of us who have waged 
 war against the Romans in our country, had we 
 not sufficient reason to have sure hopes of victory? 
 For we had arms, and walls, and fortresses so 
 prepared as not to be easily taken, and courage 
 not to be moved by any dangers in the cause of 
 liberty, which encouraged us all to revolt from 
 
 the Romans. But then, these advantages suf- 
 ficed us but for a short time, and only raised our 
 hopes, while they really appeared to be the origin 
 of our miseries ; for aU we had, hath been taken 
 from us, and all hath fallen under our enemies, 
 as if these advantages were only to render their 
 victory over us the more glorious, and were not 
 disposed for the preservation of those by whom 
 these preparations were made. And as for those 
 that were already dead in the war, it is reason- 
 able we should esteem them blessed, for they 
 are dead in defending, and not in betraying their 
 liberty ; but as to the multitude of those that 
 are now under the Romans, who would not pity 
 their condition? and who would not make haste 
 to die, befor^ lie would suffer the same miseries 
 with them . Some of them have been put upon 
 the rack, ana tortured with fire and whippings, 
 and so died. Some have been half -devoured by 
 wild beasts, and yet have been reserved alive to 
 be devoured by them a second time, in order to 
 afford laughter and sport to our enemies ; and 
 such of those as are alive still, are to be looked on 
 as the most miserable, who, being so desirous of 
 death, could not come at it. And where is now 
 that great city, the metropolis of the Jewish 
 nation, which was fortified by so many walls 
 round about, which had so many fortresses and 
 large towers to defend it, which could hardly 
 contain the instruments prepared for the war, and 
 which had so many ten thousands of men to fight 
 for it ? Where is this city that was believed to 
 have God himself inhabiting therein ? It is now 
 demolished to the very foundations ; and hath 
 nothing but that monument of it preserved, I 
 mean the camp of those that have destroyed it, 
 which still dwells upon its ruins ; some unfor- 
 tunate old men also lie upon the ashes of the 
 temple, and a few women are there preserved 
 alive by the enemy, for our bitter shame and re- 
 proach. Now, who is there that revolves these 
 things in his mind, and yet is able to bear the 
 sight of the sun, though he might live out of 
 danger? Who is there so much his country's 
 enemy, or so unmanly, and so desirous of living, 
 as not to repent that he is still alive ? And I 
 cannot but wish that we had all died before we 
 had seen that holy city demolished by the hands 
 of our enemies, or the foundations of our holy 
 temple dug up after so profane a manner. But 
 since we had a generous hope that deluded us, 
 as if we might perhaps have been able to avenge 
 ourselves on our enemies on that account, though 
 it be now become vanity, and hath left us alone 
 in this distress, let us make haste to die 
 bravely. Let us pity ourselves, our children, 
 and our wives, while it is in our power to shew 
 pity to them ; for we are born to die, as well as 
 those were whom we have begotten ; nor is it in 
 the power of the most happy of our race to avoid 
 it. But for abuses and slavery, and the sight of 
 our wives led away after an ignominious manner, 
 with their children, these are not such evils as 
 are natural and necessary among men ; although 
 such as do not prefer death before those miseries, 
 when it is in their power so to do, must undergo 
 even them, on account of their own cowardice. 
 We revolted from the Romans with great pre- 
 tensions to courage ; and when at the vsry last 
 they invited us to preserve ourselves, we would 
 not comply with them. Who will not, there- 
 fore, believe that they will certainly be in a rage 
 at us, in case they can take us alive ? Miserable 
 will then be the young men, who will be strong 
 enough in their bodies to sustain many torrents ! 
 miserable also will be those of elder years, who 
 will not be able to bear those calamities which 
 young men might sustain ! One man will be
 
 CHAP. X.] 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 603 
 
 obliged to hear the voice of his son imploring help 
 of his father, when his hands are bound : But 
 certainly our hands are still at liberty, and have 
 a sword in them : let them then be subservient to 
 us in our glorious design ; let us die before we be- 
 come slaves under our enemies, and let us go out 
 of the world, together with our children and our 
 wives, in a state of freedom. This it is that our 
 laws command us to do ; this it is that our wives 
 and children crave at our hands ; nay, God him- 
 self hath brought this necessity upon us ; while 
 the Romans desire the contrary, and are afraid 
 lest any man should die before we are taken. 
 Let us therefore make haste, and instead of 
 affording them so much pleasure, as they hope 
 for in getting us under their power, let us leave 
 them an example which shall at once cause their 
 astonishment at our death, and their admiration 
 of our hardiness therein." 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 FOW THE PEOPLE THAT WERB IN THE FORTKE88 
 WERE PREVAILED ON BY THE WORDS OP ELEA- 
 ZAB, TWO WOMEN AND FIVE CHILDREN ONLY 
 EXOEPTED, A>T) ALL SUBMITTED TO BE KILLED 
 BY ONE ANOTHER. 
 
 S 1. Now as Eleazar was proceeding on in this 
 exhortation, tliey all cut him off short, and made 
 haste to do the work, as full of an unconquerable 
 ardour of mind, and moved with a demoniacal 
 fury. So they went their ways, as one still en- 
 deavouring to be before another, and as thinking 
 that this eagerness would be a demonstration of 
 their courage and good conduct, if they could 
 avoid appearing in the last class : so great was 
 the zeal they were in to slay their wives and 
 children, and themselves also ! Nor indeed, 
 when they came to the work itself, did their 
 courage fail them as one might imagine it would 
 have done ; but they then held fast the same re- 
 solution, without wavering, which they had upon 
 the hearing of Eleazar's speech, while yet every 
 one of them still retained the natural passion of 
 love to themselves and their families, because 
 the reasoning they went upon, appeared to them 
 to be very just, even with regard to those that 
 were dearest to them ; for the husbands tenderly 
 embraced their wives and took their children into 
 their arms, and gave the longest parting kisses to 
 them, with tears in their eyes. Yet at the same 
 time did they complete what they had resolved 
 on, as if they had been executed by the hands of 
 strangers, and they had nothing else for tL-ir 
 comfort but the necessity they were in of doing 
 this execution, to avoid that prospect they had 
 of the miseries they were to suffer from their 
 enemies. Nor was there at length any one of 
 these men found that scrupled to act their part 
 in this terrible execution, but every one of them 
 despatched his dearest relations. Miserable men 
 indeed were they ! whose distress forced them to 
 slay their own wives and children with their own 
 hands, as the lightest of those evils that were 
 before them. So they not being able to bear the 
 grief they were under for what they had done, any 
 longer, and esteeming it an injury to those they 
 had slain, to live even the shortest space of time 
 after them they presently laid all they had in a 
 heap, and set fire to it. They then chose ten men 
 by lot out of them, to slay all the rest ; every 
 one of whom laid himself down by his wife and 
 children on the ground, and threw his arms about 
 them, and they offered their necks to the stroke 
 of those who by lot executed that melancholy 
 
 office; and when these ten had, without few, 
 slain them all, they made the same rule for cast- 
 ing lots for themselves, that he whose lot it was 
 should first kill the other nine, and after all, 
 should kill himself. Accordingly, all those had 
 courage sufficient to be no way behind one an 
 other, in doing or suffering ; so, for a conclusion, 
 the nine offered their necks to the executioner, 
 and he who was the last of all, took a view of all 
 the other bodies, lest perchance some or other 
 among so many that were slain should want his 
 assistance to be quite despatched ; and when he 
 perceived that they were all slain, he set fire to 
 the palace, and with the great force of his hand 
 ran his sword entirely through himself, and fell 
 down dead new to his own relations. So these peo- 
 ple died with this intention, that they would not 
 have so much as one soul among them all alive 
 to be subject to the Romans. Yet was there 
 MI aiunent woman, and another who was of kin 
 to Eleazar, and superior to most women in pru- 
 dence and learning, with five children, who had 
 concealed themselves in caverns under ground, 
 and had carried water thither for their drink, 
 and were hidden there when the rest were intent 
 upon the slaughter of one another. These others 
 were nine hundred and sixty in number, the 
 women and children being withal included in 
 that computation. This calamitous slaughter 
 was made on the fifteenth day of the month [Xan- 
 thicus] Nisan. 
 
 2. Now for the Romans, they expected that they 
 should be fought in the morning, when accord- 
 ingly they put on their armour, and laid bridges 
 of planks upon their ladders from their banks, bo 
 make an assault upon the fortress, which they 
 did ; but saw nobody as an enemy, but a terrible 
 solitude on every side, with a fire within the 
 place, as well as a perfect silence. So they were 
 at a loss to guess at what had happened. At 
 length they made a shoiit, as if it had been at a 
 blow given by a battering-ram, to try whether 
 they could bring any one out that was within ; 
 the women heard this noise and came out of 
 their underground cavern, and informed the Ro- 
 mans what had been done, as it was done ; and 
 the second of them clearly described all both 
 what was said and what was done, and the man- 
 ner of it; yet did they not easily give their at- 
 tention to such a desperate undertaking, and did 
 not believe it could be as they said ; they also 
 attempted to put the fire out, and quickly cut- 
 ting themselves a way through it, they came 
 within the palace, and so met with the multi- 
 tude of the slain, but could take no pleasure in 
 the fact, though it were don* to their enemies. 
 Nor could they do other than wonder at the 
 courage of their resolution, and at the immov- 
 able contempt of death which so great a number 
 of them had shown, when they went through with 
 such aa action aa that was. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THAT SLANT OF THE 8ICARTI FLED TO ALEXANDRIA 
 ALSO, A1TD WHAT DANGERS THEY WERB IN 
 THERE; ON WHICH ACCOUNT THAT TEMPLE, 
 WHICH HAD FORMERLY BEEN BUILT BY ONIAS, 
 THE HIGH PRIEST, WAS DESTROYED. 
 
 1. WHEN Masada was thus taken, the general 
 left a garrison in the fortress to keep it, and he 
 himself went away to Cesarea ; for there were 
 now no enemies left in the country, it being all 
 overthrown by so long a war. Yet did this war 
 afford disturbances and dangerous disorders even
 
 004 
 
 WARS OF THE JEWS. 
 
 [BOOK vn. 
 
 in places very far remote from Judea ; for still 
 it came to pass that many Jews were slain at 
 Alexandria in Egypt ; for as many of the Sicarii 
 as were able to fly thither, out of the seditious 
 wars in Judea, were not content to have saved 
 themselves, but must needs be undertaking to 
 make new disturbances, and persuaded many of 
 those that entertained them to assert their 
 liberty, to esteem the Romans to be no better 
 than themselves, and to look upon God as their 
 only Lord and Master. But when part of the 
 Jews of reputation opposed them, they slew 
 some of them, and with the others they were 
 very pressing in their exhortations to revolt 
 from the Romans ; but when the principal men 
 of the senate saw what madness they were como 
 to, they thought it no longer safe for themselves 
 to overlook them. So they got all the Jews 
 together to an assembly, and accused the mad- 
 ness of the Sicarii, and demonstrated that thay 
 had been the authors of all the evils that had 
 come upon them. They said also, that " these 
 men, now they were run away from Judea, hav- 
 ing no sure hope of escaping, because as soon as 
 ever they shall be known, they will be soon 
 destroyed by the Romans, they come hither and 
 fill us full of those calamities which belong to 
 them, while we have not been partakers with 
 them in any of their sins." Accordingly they 
 exhorted the multitude to have a care, lest they 
 should be brought to destruction by their means, 
 and to make their apology to the Romans for 
 what had been done, by delivering these men up 
 to them ; who being thus apprized of the great- 
 ness of the danger they were in, complied with 
 what was proposed, and ran with great violence 
 upon the Sicarii, and seized upon them ; and, 
 indeed, six hundred of them were caught imme- 
 diately : but as to all those that fled into Egypt, 
 and to the Egyptian Thebes, it was not long ere 
 they were caught also, and brought back, 
 whose courage, or whether we ought to call it 
 madness, or hardiness in their opinions, every- 
 body was amazed at ; for when all sorts of tor- 
 ments and vexations of their bodies that could 
 be devised were made use of to them, they 
 could not get any one of them to comply so far 
 as to confess, or seem to confess, that Caesar was 
 their lord ; but they preserved their own opinion, 
 in spite of all the distress they were brought to, 
 as if they received these torments and the fire it- 
 self with bodies insensible of pain, and with a soul 
 that in a manner rejoiced under them. But what 
 was most of all astonishing to the beholders, 
 was the courage of the children ; for not one of 
 these children was so far overcome by these tor- 
 ments, as to name Caesar for their lord. So far 
 does the strength of the courage [of the soul] pre- 
 vail over the weakness of the body. 
 
 2. Now, Lupus did then govern Alexandria, 
 who presently sent Caesar woid of this commo- 
 tion ; who having in suspicion the restless 
 temper of the Jews for innovation, and being 
 afraid lest they should get together and persuade 
 some others to join with them, gave orders to 
 Lupus to demolish that Jewish temple which 
 was in the region called Onion, and was in 
 Egypt, which was built and had its denomina- 
 tion from the occasion following : Onias, the 
 non of Simon, one of the Jewish high priests, 
 fled from Antiochus, the king of Syria, when he 
 made war with the Jews, and came to Alex- 
 andria ; and as Ptolemy received him very kindly 
 on account of his hatred to Antiochus, he 
 assured him, that if he would comply with his 
 proposal, he would bring all the Jews to his 
 assistance ; and when the king agreed to do it 
 o far as he was able, he desired him to give 
 
 him leave to build a temple somewhere hi Egypt, 
 and to worship God according to the customs of 
 his own country ; for that the Jews would then 
 be so much readier to fight against Antiochos, 
 who had laid waste the temple at Jerusalem, 
 and that they would then come to him with 
 greater good-will ; and that, by granting them 
 liberty of conscience, very many of them would 
 come over to him. 
 
 3. So Ptolemy complied with his proposals, 
 and gave him a place one hundred and eighty 
 furlongs distant frem Memphis. That Nomos 
 was called the Nomos of Hellopolis, where Onias 
 built a fortress and a temple, not like to that at 
 Jerusalem, but such as resembled a tower. He 
 built it of large stones to the height of sixty 
 cubits ; he made the structure of the altar an 
 imitation of that in our own country, and in like 
 manner adorned with gifts, excepting the make 
 of the candlestick, for he did not make a candle- 
 stick, but had a [single] lamp hammered out of 
 a piece of gold, which illuminated the place with 
 its rays, and which he hung by a chain of gold ; 
 but the entire temple was encompassed with a 
 wall of burnt brick, though it had gates of stone. 
 The king also gave him a large country for a 
 revenue in money, that both the priests might 
 have a plentiful provision made for them, and 
 that God might have great abundance of what 
 things were necessary for his worship. Yet did 
 not Onias do this out of a sober disposition, but 
 he had a mind to contend with the Jews at 
 Jerusalem, and could not forget the indignation 
 he had for being banished thence. Accordingly, 
 he thought by building this temple he should 
 draw away a great number from them to him- 
 self. There had been also a certain ancient pre- 
 diction made by a [prophet] whose name was 
 Isaiah, about six hundred years before, that this 
 temple should be built by a man that was a Jew 
 in Egypt, (Isa. xix. 18-23.) And this is the 
 history of the building of that temple. 
 
 4. And now Lupus, the governor of Alexan- 
 dria, upon the receipt of Caesar's letter, came to 
 the temple and carried out of it some of the do- 
 nations dedicated thereto, and shut up the 
 temple itself ; and as Lupus died a little after- 
 ward, Paulinus succeeded him. This man left 
 none of these donations there, and threatened 
 the priests geverely if they did not bring them 
 all out ; nor did he permit any who were desir- 
 ous of worshipping God there, so much as to 
 come near the whole sacred place ; but when he 
 had shut up the gates, he made it entirely inac- 
 cessible, insomuch that there remained no longer 
 the least footsteps of any divine worship that had 
 been in that place. Now, the duration of the 
 time from the building of this temple till it was 
 shut up again, was three hundred and forty- 
 three years. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 COSCIKBTRG JONATHAN, ONE OP THE SIOARII, 
 THAT STIRRED UP A SEDITION 1H CYRENE, AND 
 WAS A FALSE ACCUSER [OF THE INNOCENT.] 
 
 1. AND now did the madness of the Sicarii, 
 like a disease, reach as far as the cities of Cy- 
 rene ; for one Jonathan, a vile person, and by 
 trade a weaver, came thither, and prevailed 
 with no small number of the poorer sort to give 
 ear to him ; he also led them into the desert, 
 upon promising them that he would shew them 
 signs and apparitions ; and as for the other Jews 
 at Gyrene, he concealed his knavery from them,
 
 CHAP. XL] 
 
 V/AES OF THE JEVTS. 
 
 605 
 
 and put tricks upon them ; but those of the 
 greatest dignity among them informed Catullus, 
 the governor of the Libyan Pentapolis, of his 
 march into the desert, and of the preparations 
 he had made for it. So he sent out after him 
 both horsemen and footmen, and easily over- 
 came them, because they were unarmed men : 
 of these, many were slain in the fight, but some 
 were taken alive, and brought to Catullus. As 
 for Jonathan, the head of this plot, he fled away 
 at this time ; but, upon a great and very dili- 
 gent search which was made all the country over 
 for him, he was at last taken ; and when he was 
 brought to Catullus, he devised a way whereby 
 he both escaped punishment himself and afforded 
 an occasion to Catullus of doing much mischief ; 
 for he falsely accused the richest men among the 
 Jews, and said that they had put him upon 
 what he did. 
 
 2. Now, Catullus easily admitted of tht* his 
 calumnies ; and aggravated matters greatly, and 
 made tragical exclamations that he might also 
 be supposed to have had a hand in the finishing 
 of the Jewish war ; but what was still harder, 
 he did not only give a too easy belief to his 
 stories, but he taught the Sicarii to accuse men 
 falsely. He bade this Jonathan, therefore, 
 name one Alexander, a Jew, (with whom he 
 had formerly had a quarrel, and openly pro- 
 fessed that he hated him ;) he also got him to 
 name his wife Bernice, as concerned with him. 
 These two, Catullus ordered to be slain in the 
 first place ; nay, after them he caused all the 
 rich and wealthy Jews to be slain, being no 
 fewer in all than three thousand. This, he 
 thought, he might do safely, because he confis- 
 cated their effects, and added them to Caesar's 
 revenues. 
 
 3. Nay, indeed, lest any J ews that lived else- 
 where, should convict him of his villainy, he ex- 
 tended his false accusations farther, and per- 
 suaded Jonathan, and certain others that were 
 caught with him, to bring an accusation of at- 
 tempts for innovation against the Jews that 
 were of the best character both at Alexandria 
 and at Rome. One of these, against whom this 
 treacherous accusation was laid, WM Josephus, 
 
 the writer of these books. However, this plot, 
 thus contrived by Catullus, did not succeed ac- 
 cording to his hopes : for though he came him- 
 self to Rome, and brought Jonathan and his 
 companions along with him in bonds, and thought 
 he should have no farther inquisition made as to 
 those lies that were forged under his government, 
 or by his means, yet did Vespasian suspect the 
 matter, and make an inquiry how far it was 
 true ; and when he understood that the accusa- 
 tion laid against the Jews was an unjust one, he 
 clijared them of the crimes charged upon them ; 
 ami this, on account of Titus's concern about 
 the matter, and brought a deserved punishment 
 upon Jonathan ; for he w<is first tormented, and 
 then burnt alive. 
 
 4. But as to Catullus, the emperors were so 
 gentle to him, that he underwent no severe con- 
 demnation at this time : yet was it not long be- 
 fore he fell into a complicated and almost incur- 
 able distemper, and died miserably. He was 
 not only afflicted in body, but the distemper in 
 his mind was more heavy upon him than the 
 other ; for he was terribly disturbed, and con- 
 tinually cried out, that he saw the ghosts of 
 those whom he had slain, standing before him. 
 Whereupon he was not able to contain himself, 
 but leaped out of his bed, as if both torments 
 and fire were brought to him. This his dis- 
 temper grew still a great deal worse and worse 
 continually, and his very entrails were so cor- 
 roded, that they fell out of his body, and in that 
 condition he died. Thus he became as great 
 an instance of divine providence as ever was, 
 and demonstrated that God punishes wicked 
 men. 
 
 5. And here we shall put an end to this our 
 history ; wherein we formerly promised to de- 
 liver the same with all accuracy, to such as 
 should be desirous of understanding after what 
 manner this war of the Romans with the Jews 
 was managed. Of which history, how good the 
 style is, must be left to the determination of the 
 readers ; but for the agreement with the facts, 
 I shall not scruple to say, and that boldly, that 
 truth hath been what I have alone aimed at 
 through its entire composition.
 
 ANTIQUITY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 FLAVITJS JOSEPHUS AGAINST APION.* 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 L I SUPPOSE that, by my books of the Antiqui- 
 ties of the Jews, most excellent Epaphroditus, + 
 I have made it evident to those who peruse 
 them, that our Jewish nation is of very great 
 antiquity, and had a distinct subsistence of its 
 own originally ; as also, I have therein declared 
 how we came to inhabit this country wherein we 
 now live. Those Antiquities contain the history 
 of five thousand years, and are taken out of our 
 sacred books ; but are translated by me into the 
 Greek tongue. However, since I observe a 
 considerable number of people giving ear to the 
 reproaches that are laid against us by those who 
 bear ill-will to us, and will not believe what I 
 have written concerning the antiquity of our 
 nation, while they take it for a plain sign that 
 our nation is of a late date, because they are 
 not so much as vouchsafed a bare mention by 
 the most famous historiographers among the 
 Grecians, I therefore have thought myself under 
 an obligation to write somewhat briefly about 
 these subjects, in order to convict those that re- 
 proach us, of spite and voluntary falsehood, and 
 to correct the ignorance of others, and withal to 
 instruct all those who are desirous of knowing 
 the truth of what great antiquity we really are. 
 As for the witnesses whom I shall produce for 
 the proof of what I say, they shall be such as are 
 esteemed to be of the greatest reputation for 
 truth, and the most skilful m the knowledge of 
 all antiquity, by the Greeks themselves. I will 
 also shew that those who have written so re- 
 proachfully and falsely about us, are to be con- 
 victed by what they have written themselves to 
 the contrary. I shall also endeavour to give an 
 account of the reasons why it hath so happened, 
 that there hath not been a great number of 
 Greeks who have made mention of our nation in 
 their histories. I will, however, bring those 
 Grecians to light who have not omitted such 
 
 * This first book has a wrong title. It is not written 
 against Apion, as is the first part of the second book, 
 but against those Greeks in general who would not 
 believe Josephus's former accounts of the very ancient 
 state of the Jewish nation, in his Twenty Books of 
 Antiquities ; and particularly against Agatharchides, 
 Manetho, Cheremon, and Lysimachus. 
 
 t Take Dr Hudson's note here : " Since Flavius 
 Josephus wrote [or finished] his books of Antiquities 
 on the thirteenth of Uomitian, [A. D. 93,] and after that 
 wrote the Memoirs of his own Life as an appendix to 
 the books of Antiquities, and at last his two books 
 against Apion, and yet dedicated all those writings to 
 Epaphroditus, he can hardly be that Epaphroditus who 
 was formerly secretary to Nero, and was slain on the 
 fourteenth [or fifteenth] of Domitian, after he had been 
 for a good while in banishment ; bnt another Epaph- 
 roditus, a freed-man, and procurator of Trajan, as 
 ays Grotius in Luke i. 3." 
 
 our bJBtory, for the sake of those that either do 
 not know them, or pretend not to know them 
 already. 
 
 2. And now, in the first place, I cannot but 
 greatly wonder at those men who suppose that 
 we must attend to none but Grecians when we 
 are inquiring about the most ancient facts, and 
 must inform ourselves of their truth from them 
 only, while we must not believe ourselves nor 
 other men ; for I am convinced that the very 
 reverse is the truth of the case. I mean this, 
 if we will not be led by vain opinions, but will 
 make inquiry after truth from facts themselves ; 
 for they will find, that almost all which concern* 
 the Greeks happened not long ago ; nay, one 
 may say, is of yesterday only. I speak of the 
 building of their cities, the invention of their 
 arts, and the description of their laws ; and as 
 for their care about the writing down of their 
 histories, it is very near the last thing they set 
 about. However, they acknowledge themselves 
 so far, that they were the Egyptians, the Chal- 
 deans and Phoenicians, (for I will not now reckon 
 ourselves among them, ) that have preserved the 
 memorials of the most ancient and most lasting 
 traditions of mankind ; for almost all these 
 nations inhabit such countries as are least sub- 
 ject to destruction from the world about them ; 
 and these also have taken especial care to have 
 nothing omitted of what was [remarkably] done 
 among them; but their history was esteemed 
 sacred, and put into public tables, as written by 
 men of the greatest wisdom they had among 
 them ; but as for the place where the Grecians 
 inhabit, ten thousand destructions have over- 
 taken it and blotted out the memory of former 
 actions ; so that they were ever beginning a new 
 way of living, and supposed that every one of 
 them was the origin of thfiir new state. It was 
 also late, and with doait,aii./i- Xu* th "" came to 
 know the letters they now use ; for tn'oat, *ho 
 would advance their use of these letters to the 
 greatest antiquity, pretend that they learned 
 them from the Phoenicians and from Cadmus ; 
 yet is nobody able to demonstrate that they have 
 any writing preserved from that tune, neither in 
 their temples, nor in any other public monu- 
 ments. This appears, because the time when 
 those lived who went to the Trojan war, so many 
 years afterward, is in great doubt, and great 
 inquiry is made whether the Greeks used their 
 letters at that lime ; and the most prevailing 
 opinion, and that nearest the truth, is, that their 
 present way of using those letters was unknown 
 at that time. However, there is not any writing 
 which the Greeks agree to be genuine among 
 them ancienter than Homer's poems, who moat
 
 608 
 
 FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS AGAINST APION. 
 
 [BOOK L 
 
 plainly be confessed later than the siege of Troy; 
 nay, the report goes, that even he did not leave 
 his poems in writing, but that their memory was 
 preserved in songs, and they were put together 
 afterward; and this is the reason of such a 
 number of variations as are found in them. As 
 or those who set themselves about writing their 
 histories, I mean such as Cadmus of Miletus, and 
 Acusilaus of Argos, and any others that may be 
 mentioned as succeeding Acusilaus, they lived 
 But a little while before the Persian expedition 
 into Greece. But then for those that first in- 
 troduced philosophy, and the consideration of 
 tilings celestial and divine among them, such aa 
 Pherecydes the Syrian, and Pythagoras, and 
 Thales, all with one consent agree, that they 
 learned what they knew of the Egyptians and 
 Chaldeans, and wrote but little. And these are 
 the things which are supposed to be the oldest 
 of all among the Greeks ; and they have much 
 ado to believe that the writings ascribed to those 
 men are genuine. 
 
 3. How can it then be other than an absurd 
 thing for the Greeks to be so proud, and to 
 vaunt themselves to be the only people that are 
 acquainted with antiquity, and that have de- 
 livered the true account? of those early times 
 after an accurate manner ! Nay, who is there 
 
 ; that cannot easily gather from the Greek writers 
 j themselves, that they knew but little on any 
 good foundation when they set to write, but 
 I rather wrote their histories from their own con- 
 jectures t Accordingly, they confute one another 
 in their own books to purpose, and are not 
 ashamed to give us the most contradictory ac- 
 counts of the same things : and I should spend 
 my time to little purpose, if I should pretend to 
 teach the Greeks that which they know better 
 than I already, what a great disagreement there 
 is between Hellanicus and Acusilaus about their 
 genealogies ; in how many cases Acusilaus cor- 
 rects Hesiod: or after what manner Ephorus 
 demonstrates Hellanicus to have told lies in the 
 greatest part of his history : as does Timeus in 
 like manner as to Ephorus, and the succeeding 
 writers do to Timeus, and all the later writers do 
 to Herodotus; nor could Timeus agree with 
 Antiochus and Philistius, or with Callias, about 
 the Sicilian History, no more than do the several 
 writers of the Atthidse follow one another about 
 the Athenian affairs ; nor do the historians the 
 like, that wrote the Argolics, about the affairs 
 of the Argives. And now what need I say any 
 more about particular cities and smaller places, 
 while in the most approved writers of the ex- 
 pedition of the Persians, and of the actions which 
 were therein performed, there are so great dif- 
 ferences ! Nay, Thucydides himself is accused 
 by some as writing what is false, although he 
 seems to have ^- " ... : exactest hUtory of 
 the aff al of his own time. 
 
 4. As for the occasions of this so great dis- 
 agreement of theirs, there may he assigned many 
 that are very probable, if any have a mind to 
 make an inquiry about them ; but I ascribe 
 these contradictions chiefly to two causes, which 
 I will now mention, and still think what I shall 
 mention in the first place, to be the principal of 
 
 | all ; for if we remember, that in the beginning 
 ihe Greeks had taken no care to have public 
 i"ecords of their several transactions preserved, 
 his must for certain have afforded those that 
 
 ! would afterward write about those ancient tran- 
 sactions the opportunity of making mistakes, 
 and the power of making lies also ; for this ori- 
 ginal recording of such ancient transactions hath 
 not only been neglected by the other states of 
 
 j Greece, but even among the Athenians them- 
 
 selves also, who pretend to be Aborigines, and 
 to have applied themselves to learning, there 
 are no such records extant ; nay, they say them- 
 selves, that the laws of Draco concerning mur- 
 ders, which are now extant in writing, are the 
 most ancient of their public records; which 
 Draco yet lived but a little time before the ty- 
 rant Pisistratus.* For as to the Arcadians, who 
 make such boasts of their antiquity, what need 
 I speak of them in particular, since it was still 
 later before they got their letters, and learned 
 them, and that with difficulty also. 
 
 5. There must therefore naturally arise great 
 differences among writers, when they had no 
 original records to lay for their foundation, 
 which might at once inform those who had an 
 inclination to learn, and contradict those that 
 would tell lies. However, we are to suppose a 
 second occasion besides the former of these con- 
 tradictions ; it is this : That those who were 
 the most zealous to write history, were not so- 
 licitous for the discovery of truth, although it 
 was very easy for them always to make such a 
 profession; but their business was to demon- 
 strate that they could write well, and make an 
 impression upon mankind thereby ; and in what 
 manner of writing they {-bought they were able 
 to exceed others, to that did they apply them- 
 selves. Some of them betook themselves to the 
 writing of fabulous narrations ; some of them 
 endeavoured to please the cities or the kings, 
 by writing in their commendation ; others of 
 them fell to finding faults with transactions, or 
 with the writers of such transactions, and 
 thought to make a great figure by so doing; and 
 indeed these do what is of all things the most 
 contrary to true history ; for it is the great char- 
 acter of true history that all concerned therein 
 both speak and write the same things ; while 
 these men, by writing differently about the 
 same things, think they shall be believed to 
 write with the greatest regard to truth. We 
 therefore [who are Jews] must yield to the 
 Grecian writers as to language and eloquence of 
 composition ; but then we shall give them no 
 such preference as to the verity of ancient his- 
 tory ; and least of all as to that part which con- 
 cerns the affairs of our own several countries. 
 
 6. As to the care of writing down the records 
 from the earliest antiquity among the Egyptians 
 and Babylonians; that the priests were intrusted 
 therewith, and employed a philosophical concern 
 about it ; that they were the Chaldean priests 
 that did so among the Babylonians ; and that 
 the Phoenicians, who were mingled among the 
 Greeks, did especially make use of theii letters, 
 both for the common affairs of life, and for the 
 delivering down the history of common transac- 
 tions, I think I may omit any proof, because all 
 men allow it so to be : but now as to our fore- 
 fathers, that they took no less care about writing 
 such records (for I will not say they took greater 
 care than the others I spoke of) and that they 
 committed that matter to their high priests and 
 to their prophets, and that these records have 
 been written all along down to our own times 
 with the utmost accuracy ; nay, if it be not too 
 bold for me to say it, our history will be so 
 written hereafter ; I shall endeavour briefly to 
 inform you. 
 
 7. For our forefathers did not only appoint 
 the best of these priests, and those that attended 
 upon the divine worship, for that design from 
 the beginning, but made profession that the 
 stock of the priests should continue unmixed 
 and pure ; for he who is partaker of -the priest- 
 
 * About the day of Cyrus and Daniel.
 
 BOOS L] 
 
 FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS AGAINST APION. 
 
 609 
 
 hood, must propagate of a wife of the same na- 
 tion, without having any regard to money, or 
 any other dignities ; but he is to make, a scrutiny, 
 and take his wife's genealogy from the ancient 
 tables, and procure many witnesses to it ;* and 
 this is our practice, not only in Judea, but 
 wheresoever any body of men of our nation do 
 live ; and even there, an exact catalogue of our 
 priests' marriages is kept : I mean at Egypt and 
 at Babylon, or in Jiny other place of the rest of 
 the habitable eanh, whithersoever our priests 
 are scattered ; for they send to Jerusalem the 
 ancient names if their parents in writing, as 
 well as those of their remoter ancestors, and sig- 
 nify who are the witnesses also ; but if any war 
 falls out, such as have fallen out a great many 
 of them already, when Antiochus Epiphanes 
 made an invasion upon our country, as also when 
 Fompey the Great and Quintilius Varus did so 
 also, and principally in the wars that have hap- 
 pened in our own times, those priests that sur- 
 vive them, compose new tables of genealogy out 
 ol the old records, and examine the circumstan- 
 ces of the women that remain ; for still they do 
 not admit of those that have been captives, as 
 suspecting that they had conversation with some 
 foreigners ; but what is the strongest argument 
 of our exact management in this matter is what 
 I am now going to say, that we have the names 
 of our high priests, from father to son, set down 
 in our records, for the interval of two thousand 
 years ; and if any one of these have been trans- 
 gressors of these rules, they are prohibited to 
 present themselves at the altar, or to be partak- 
 ers of any other of our purifications ; and this is 
 justly, or rather necessarily done, because every 
 one is not permitted of his own accord to be a 
 writer, nor is there any disagreement in what is 
 written ; they being only prophets that have 
 written the original and earliest accounts of 
 things as they learned them of God himself by 
 inspiration ; and others have written what hath 
 happened in their own times, and that in a very 
 distinct manner also. 
 
 8. For we have not an innumerable multitude 
 of books among us, disagreeing from and con- 
 tradicting one another [as the Greeks have,] but 
 only twenty-two books, which contain the re- 
 cords of all the past times; which are justly 
 believed to be divine; and of them, five belong 
 to Moses, which contain his laws, and the tra- 
 ditions of the origin of mankind till his death. 
 This interval of time was little short of three 
 thousand years; but as to the time from the 
 death of Moses till the reign of Artaxerxes king 
 of Persia, who reigned after Xerxes, the pro- 
 phets, who were after Moses, wrote down what 
 was done in their times in thirteen books. The 
 remaining four books contain hymns to God, and 
 precepts for the conduct of haman life. It is 
 true, our history hath been written since Artax- 
 erxes, very particularly, but hath not been 
 esteemed of the like authority with the former 
 by our forefathers, because there hath not beeu 
 an exact succession of prophets since that time ; 
 and how firmly we have given credit to those 
 books of our own nation is evident by what we 
 do; for during so many ages as have already 
 passed, no one has been so bold as either to add 
 anything to them or take anything from them, 
 or to make any change in them ; but it becomes 
 natural to all Jews, immediately and from their 
 very birth, to esteem those books to contain 
 divine doctrines, and to persist in them, and, if 
 
 Of this accuracy of the Jews, before and in our 
 Saviour's time, in carefully preserving the genealogies 
 all along, particularly those of the priesU, see Jose- 
 phus'a Life, ct. I. 
 
 occasion be, willingly to die for them. For it it 
 no new thing for our captives, many of them in 
 number, and frequently in time, to be seen to 
 endure racks and deaths of all kinds upon the 
 theatres, that they may not be obliged to say 
 one word against our laws, and the records that 
 contain them; whereas, there are none at all 
 among the Greeks who would undergo the least 
 harm on that account, no, nor in case all the 
 writings that are among them were to be de- 
 stroyed ; for they take them to be such dis- 
 courses as are framed agreeably to the inclina- 
 tions of those that write them ; and they have 
 justly the same opinion of the ancient writers, 
 since they see some of the present generation 
 bold enough to write about such affairs, wherein 
 they were not present, nor had concern enough 
 to inform themselves about them from those 
 that knew them ; examples of which may be 
 had in this late war of ours, where some persons 
 have written histories, and published them, 
 without having been in the place concerned, or 
 having been near them when the actions were 
 done ; but these men put a few things together 
 by hearsay, and insolently abuse the world, and 
 call these writings by the name of Histories. 
 
 9. As for myself, I have composed a true his- 
 tory of that whole war, and all the particulars 
 that occurred therein, as having been concerned 
 in all its transactions ; for I acted as general of 
 those among us that are named Galileans, as long 
 as it was possible for us to make any opposition. 
 I was then seized on by the Romans, and became 
 a captive. Vespasian also and Titus had kept 
 me under a guard, and forced me to attend them 
 continually. At the first I was put into bonds ; 
 but was set at liberty afterward, and sent to 
 accompany Titus when he came from Alexandria 
 to the siege of Jerusalem ; during which time 
 there was nothing done which escaped my know- 
 ledge ; for what happened in the Roman camp 
 I saw, and wrote down carefully ; and what in- 
 formations the deserters brought [out of the city] 
 I was the only man that understood them. 
 Afterward I got leisure at Rome ; and when all 
 my materials were prepared for that work, I 
 made use of some persons to assist me in learning 
 the Greek tongue, and by these means I com- 
 posed the history of those transactions ; and I 
 was so well assured of the truth of what I re- 
 lated, that I first of all appealed to those that 
 had the supreme command in that war, Vespa- 
 sian and Titus, as witnesses for me, for to them 
 I presented those books first of all, and after 
 them to many of the Romans who had been in 
 that war. I also told them to many of our own 
 men wno understood the Greek philosophy ; 
 among whom were Julius Archelaus, Herod 
 [King of Chalcis,] a person of great gravity, and 
 king Agrinpa himself, a person that deserved the 
 greatest admiration. Now all these men bore 
 their testimony to me, that I had the strictest 
 regard to truth ; who yet would not have dis- 
 sembled the matter, nor been silent, if I, out of 
 ignorance, or out of favour to any side, either 
 had given false colours to actions, or omitted any 
 of them. 
 
 10. There have been indeed some bad men, 
 who have attempted to calumniate my history, 
 and took it to be a kind of scholastic performance 
 for the exercise of young men. A strange sort 
 of accusation and calumny this ! since every one 
 that undertakes to deliver the history of actions 
 truly, ought to know them accurately himself 
 in the first place, as either having been concerned 
 in them himself, or been informed of them by 
 such as knew them. Now, both these method* 
 cf knowledge I may very properlv pretend to ir 
 
 2 Q
 
 610 
 
 FLA VI US JOSEPHUS AGAINST APION. 
 
 [BOOK L 
 
 the composition of both my works ; for, as I 
 said, I have translated the Antiquities out of 
 our sacred books ; which I easily could do, since 
 I was a priest by my birth, and have studied that 
 philosophy which is contained in those writings : 
 and as for the History of the War, I wrote it as 
 having been an actor myself in many of its trans- 
 actions, an eye-witness in the greatest part of 
 the rest, and was not unacquainted with any- 
 thing whatsoever that was either said or done in 
 it. How impudent, then, must those deserve to 
 be esteemed who undertake to contradict me 
 about the true state of those affairs ! who, 
 although they pretend to have made use of both 
 the emperors' own memoirs, yet they could not 
 be acquainted with our affairs who fought against 
 them. 
 
 11. This digression I have been obliged to 
 make out of necessity, as being desirous to ex- 
 pose the vanity of those that profess to write 
 histories ; and I suppose I have sufficiently de- 
 clared that this custom of transmitting down 
 the histories of ancient times, hath been better 
 
 Cierved by those nations which are called Bar- 
 ans, than by the Greeks themselves. I am 
 now willing, in the next place, to say a few things 
 to those who endeavour to prove that our con- 
 stitution is but of late time, for this reason, as 
 they pretend that the Greek writers have said 
 nothing about us : after which I shall produce 
 testimonies for our antiquity out of the writings 
 of foreigners : I shall also demonstrate, that such 
 as cast reproaches upon our nation do it very 
 unjustly. 
 
 12. As for ourselves, therefore, we neither in- 
 habit a maritime country, nor do we delight in 
 merchandise, nor in such a mixture with other 
 men as arises from it ; but the cities we dwell 
 in are remote from the sea, and having a fruitful 
 country for our habitation, we take pains in cul- 
 tivating that only. Our principle care of all is 
 this, to educate our children well ; and we think 
 it to be the most necessary business of our 
 whole life, to observe the laws that have been 
 given us, and to keep those rules of piety that 
 have been delivered down to us. Since, there- 
 fore, besides what we have already taken notice 
 of, we have had a peculiar way of living of our 
 own, there was no occasion offered us in ancient 
 ages for intermixing among the Greeks, as they 
 had for mixing among the Egyptians, by their 
 intercourse of exporting and importing their 
 several goods ; as they also mixed with the 
 Phoenicians, who lived by the sea-side, by means 
 of their love of lucre in trade and merchandise. 
 Nor did our forefathers betake themselves, as 
 did some others, to robbery ; nor did they, in 
 order to gain more wealth, fall into foreign wars, 
 although our country contained many ten thou- 
 sands of men of courage sufficient for that pur- 
 pose ; for this reason it was that the Phoenicians 
 themselves came soon by trading and navigation 
 to be known to the Grecians, and by their means 
 the Egyptians became known to the Grecians 
 also, as did all those people whence the Phoeni- 
 cians in long voyages over the seas carried wares 
 to the Grecians. The Medes also and the Per- 
 sians, when they were lords of Asia, became well 
 known to them ; and this was especially true of 
 the Persians, who led their armies as far as the 
 other continent, [Europe.] The Thracians were 
 also known to them by the nearness of their 
 countries, and Scythians by the means of those 
 that sailed to Pontus ; for it was so in general 
 that all maritime nations, and those that in- 
 habited near the eastern or western seas, became 
 most known to those that were desirous to be 
 writers : but such as had their ImbitnHoiis further 
 
 from the sea, were for the most part unknown 
 to them ; which things appear to have happened 
 as to Europe also, where the city of Rome, tht 
 hath this long time been possessed of so much 
 power, and hath performed such great actions 
 in war, is never yet mentioned by Herodotus, 
 ' nor by Thucydides, nor by any one of their con- 
 temporaries ; and it was very late, and with 
 great difficulty, that the Romans became known 
 to the Greeks. Nay, those that were reckoned 
 the most exact historians (and Ephorus for one) 
 were so very ignorant of the Gauls and the 
 S; laniards, that he supposed the Spaniards, who 
 inhabited so great a part of the western regions 
 of the earth, to be no more than one city. Those 
 historians also have ventured to describe such 
 customs as were made use of by them, which 
 they never had either done or said ; and the 
 reason why these writers did not know the truth 
 of their affairs, was this, that they had not any 
 commerce together ; but the reason why they 
 wrote such falsities was this, that they had a 
 mind to appear to know things which others had 
 not known. How can it then be any wonder, 
 if our nation was no more known to many of the 
 Greeks, nor had given them any occasion to 
 mention them in their writings, while they were 
 so remote from the sea, and had a conduct of 
 life so peculiar to themselves ? 
 
 13. Let us now put the case, therefore, that 
 we made use of this argument concerning the 
 Grecians, in order to prove that their nation was 
 not ancient, because nothing is said of them in 
 our records ; would they not laugh at us all, and 
 probably give the same reasons for our silence 
 that I have now alleged, and would produce 
 their neighbouring nations as witnesses to their 
 own antiquity ? Now, the very same thing will 
 I endeavour to do ; for I will bring the Egyptians 
 and Phoenicians as my principal witnesses, be- 
 cause nobody can complain of their testimony as 
 false, on account that they are known to have 
 borne the greatest ill-will towards us; I mean 
 this as to the Egyptians, in general all of them, 
 while of the Phoenicians, it is known the Tynans 
 have been most of all in the same ill dispositions 
 towards us : yet do I confess that I cannot say 
 the same of the Chaldeans, since our first leaders 
 and ancestors were derived from them ; and they 
 do make mention of us Jews In their records, 
 on account of the kindred there is between us. 
 Now, when I shall have made my assertions 
 good, so far as concerns the others. I will de- 
 monstrate that some of the Greek writers have 
 made mention of us Jews also, that those who 
 envy us may not have even this pretence for con- 
 tradicting what I have said about our nation. 
 
 14. I shall begin with the writings of the 
 Egyptians ; not indeed of those that have writ- 
 ten in the Egyptian language, which it is impos- 
 sible for me to do. But Manetho was a mar 
 who was by birth an Egyptian, yet had he made 
 himself master of the Greek learning, as is very 
 evident ; for he wrote the history of his own 
 country in the Greek tongue, by translating it, 
 as he saith himself, out of their sacred records : 
 he also finds great fault with Herodotus for his 
 ignorance and false relations of Egyptian affairs. 
 Now, this Manetho, in the second book of his 
 Egyptian History, writes concerning us in the 
 following manner. I will set down his very 
 words, as if I were to bring the very man him- 
 self into a court for a witness : " There was a 
 king of ours, whose name was Timaus. Under 
 him it came to pass, I know not how, that God 
 was averse to us, and there came, after a sur- 
 prising manner, men of ignoble birth out of the 
 p.ietern parts, and had boldness enough to rnnke
 
 BOOK I. j 
 
 FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS AGAINST APION. 
 
 611 
 
 ,n expedition into our country, and with ease 
 subdued it by force, yet without our hazarding 
 battle with them. So when they had gotten 
 hose that governed us under their power, they 
 afterwards burnt down our cities, and demol- 
 shed the temples of the gods, and used all the 
 nhabitants after a most barbarous manner: nay, 
 ome they slew, and led their children and their 
 wives into slavery. At length they made one 
 >f themselves kin^ whose name was Salatis; 
 le also lived at Memphis, and made both the 
 upper and lower regions pay tribute, and left 
 garrisons in places that were the most proper 
 or them. He chiefly aimed to secure the east- 
 ern parts, as foreseeing that the Assyrians, who 
 lad then the greatest power, would be desir- 
 ous of that kingdom and invade them ; and as 
 ic found in the Saite Nomos [Seth-roito] a city 
 cry proper for his purpose, and which lay upon 
 ;he Bubastic channel, but with regard to a cer- 
 a.in theologic notion was called Avaris, this he 
 rebuilt, and made very strong by the walls he 
 luilt about it, and by a most numerous garri- 
 son of two hundred and forty thousand armed 
 men whom he put into it to keep it. Thither j 
 Balatis came in summer-time, partly to gather 
 bis corn, and pay his soldiers their wages, and 
 partly to exercise his armed men, and thereby to 
 terrify foreigners. When this man had reigned 
 thirteen years, after him reigned another, whose 
 name was Beon, for forty -four years ; after him 
 reigned another, called Apachnas, thirty-six years 
 and seven months : after him Apophis reigned 
 sixty-one years, and then Jonias fifty years and 
 one month ; after all these reigned Assia forty- 
 nine years and two months. And these six were 
 the first rulers among them, who were all along 
 making war with the Egyptians, and were very 
 desirous gradually to destroy them to the very 
 roots. This whole nation was styled HYCSOS, 
 that is, Shepherd -kings; for the first syllable 
 HYC, according to the sacred dialect denotes 
 a king, as is Sos, a shepherd but this according 
 to the ordinary dialect ; and of these is com- 
 pounded HYCSOS : but some say that these peo- 
 ple were Arabians." Now, in another copy it is 
 said, that this word does not denote Kings, but, 
 on the contrary, denotes Captive Shepherds, and 
 this on account of the particle HYC ; for that 
 HYC, with the aspiration, in the Egyptian tongue 
 again denotes Shepherds, and that expressly 
 also; and this to me seems the more probable 
 opinion, and more agreeable to ancient history. 
 [But Manetho goes on] : " These people, whom 
 we have before named kings, and called s/tep- 
 hcrds also, and their descendants," as he says, 
 " kept possession of Egypt five hundred and 
 eleven years." After these, he says, " That the 
 kings of Thebais and of the other parts of Egypt 
 made an insurrection against the shepherds, and 
 that there a terrible and long war was made be- 
 tween them." He says further, " That under a 
 king, whose name was Alisphragmuthosis, the 
 shepherds were subdued by him, and were in- 
 deed driven out of other parts of Egypt, but 
 were shut up in a place that contained ten 
 thousand acres : this place was named Avaris." 
 Manetho says, " That the shepherds built a 
 wall round all this place, which was a large and 
 strong wall, and this in order to keep all their 
 possessions and their prey within a place of 
 strength, but that Thummosis the son of Alis- 
 phragmuthosis made an attempt to take them 
 by force and by siege with four hundred and 
 eighty thousand men to lie round about them ; 
 but that, upon his despair of taking the place 
 by that siege, they came to a composition with 
 them, that they should leave Egypt, and go 
 
 without any harm to be done them, whitherso- 
 ever they would ; and that, after this composi- 
 tion was made, they went away with theii 
 whole families and effects, not fewer in num- 
 ber than two hundred and forty thousand, and 
 took their journey from Egypt, through the wil- 
 derness, for Syria: but that, as they were in 
 fear of the Assyrians, who had then the do- 
 minion over Asia, they built a city in that coun- 
 try which is now called Judea, and that large 
 enough to contain this great number of men, 
 and called it Jerusalem."* Now Manetho, in 
 another book of his, says, "That this nation-, 
 thus called Shepherds, was also called Captives, 
 in their sacred books." And this account of his 
 is the truth ; for feeding of sheep was the em- 
 ployment of our forefathers in the most ancient 
 ages ; and as they led such a wandering life i:i 
 feeding sheep, they were called Shepherds. Nor 
 was it without reason that they were called Cap- 
 tives by the Egyptians, since one of our ances- 
 tors, Joseph, told the king of Egypt that he was 
 a captive, and afterwards sent for his brethren 
 into Egypt by the king's permission. 
 
 15. But now I shall produce the Egyptians as 
 witnesses to the antiquity of our nation. I shall 
 therefore here bring in Manetho again, and what 
 he writes as to the order of the times in this 
 case, and thus he speaks : "When this people 
 or shepherds were gone out of Egypt to Jeru- 
 salem, Tethmosis the king of Egypt, who drove 
 them out, reigned afterward twenty-five years 
 and four months, and then died ; after him his 
 son Chebron took the kingdom for thirteen 
 years ; after whom came Amenophis, for twenty 
 years and seven months : then came his sister 
 Amesses, for twenty -one years and nine months ; 
 after her came Mephres, for twelve years and 
 nine months; after him was Mephraruuthosis, 
 for twenty-five years and ten months ; after 
 him was Tethmosis, for nine years and eight 
 months ; after him came Amenophis, for thirty 
 years and ten months ; after him came Orus, 
 for thirty -six years and five months ; then came 
 his daughter Acenchres, for twelve years and 
 one month ; then was her brother Kathotis, for 
 nine years; then was Acencheres, for twelve 
 years and five months ; then came another 
 Acencheres, for twelve years and three months ; 
 after him Armais, for four years and one month ; 
 after him was Rameeses, for one year and foui 
 months : after him came Armesses Miammoun, 
 for sixty years and two months ; after him 
 Amenophis, for nineteen years and six months ; 
 after him came Sethosis, and Ramesses, who 
 had an army of horse, and naval force. This 
 king appointed his brother Armais, to be bis 
 deputy over Egypt." [In another copy it stood 
 thus : After him came Sethosis, and Harnesses, 
 two brethren, the former of whom had a naval 
 force, and in a hostile manner destroyed those 
 that met him upon the sea : but as he slew 
 Harnesses in no long time afterward, so he ap- 
 pointed another of his brethren to be his deputy 
 over Egypt " He also gave him all the othei 
 authority of a King, but with these only injunc- 
 tions, that he should not wear the diadem, nor 
 be injurious to the queen, the mother of his 
 children, and that he should not meddle with 
 the other concubines of the king; while he made 
 an expedition against Cyprus, and Phoenicia, 
 and besides against the Assyrians and the Medes. 
 He then subdued them all, some by his arms, 
 some without fighting.^nd some by the terror 
 
 * Here we have an acconnt of the first building o 
 the city of Jerusalem, according to Manetho, when th 
 Phoenician shepherds were expelled outof Egypt abou: 
 thirty-seven years before Abraham came out of HaraN
 
 812 
 
 FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS AGAINST APION. 
 
 [BOOK i. 
 
 of his great army ; and being puffed up by the 
 great successes he had had, he went on still the 
 more boldly, and overthrew the cities and coun- 
 tries that lay in the eastern parts; but after 
 some considerable time, Arinais, who was left 
 in Egypt, did all those very tilings, by way of 
 opposition, which his brother had forbidden 
 him to do, without fear ; for he used violence to 
 the queen, and continued to make use of the 
 rest of the concubines, without sparing any of 
 them ; nay, at the persuasion of his friends he 
 put on the diadem, and set up to oppose his 
 brother; but then, he who was set over the 
 priests of Egypt, wrote letters to Sethosis, and 
 informed him of all that had happened, and 
 how his brother had set up to oppose him : he 
 therefore returned back to Pelusium imme- 
 diately, and recovered his kingdom again. The 
 country also was called from his name Egypt : 
 for Manetho says that Sethosis himself was 
 called Egyptus, as was his brother Armais 
 called Danaus." 
 
 16. This is Manetho's account ; nd evident it 
 is from the number of years by him set down 
 belonging to this interval, if they be summed 
 up together, that these shepherds, as they are 
 here culled, who were no others than our fore- 
 fathers, were delivered out of Egypt, and came 
 thence, and inhabited this country three hun- 
 dred and ninety-three years before Danaus came 
 to Argos ; although the Argives look upon him 
 as their most ancient king. Manetho, therefore, 
 bears this testimony to two points of the greatest 
 consequence to our purpose, and those from the 
 Egyptian records themselves. In the first place, 
 that we came out of another country into Egypt ; 
 and that withal our deliverance out of it was so 
 ancient in time, as to have preceded the siege of 
 Troy almost a thousand years ; but then, as to 
 those things which Manetho adds, not from the 
 Egyptian records, but, as he confesses himself, 
 from some stories of an uncertain original, I will 
 disprove them hereafter particularly, and shall 
 demonstrate that they are no better than incre- 
 dible fables. 
 
 17. I will now, therefore, pass from these re- 
 cords, and come to those that belong to the 
 Phoenicians, and concern our nation, and shall 
 produce attestations to what I have said out of 
 them. There are then records among the 
 Tyrians that take in the history of many years, 
 and these are public writings, and are kept with 
 great exactness, and include accounts of the 
 facts done among them, and such as concern 
 their transactions with other nations also, those 
 I mean which were worthy of remembering. 
 Therein it was recorded that the temple was 
 built by king Solomon at Jerusalem, one hun- 
 dred forty-three years and eight months before 
 the Tyrians built Carthage ; and in their annals 
 the building of our temple is related : for 
 Hirom, the king of Tyre, was the friend of 
 Solomon our king, and had such friendship 
 transmitted down to him from his forefathers. 
 He thereupon was ambitious to contribute to 
 the splendour of this edifice of Solomon, and 
 made him a present of one hundred and twenty 
 talents of gold. He also cut down the most 
 exce lent timber out of that mountain which is 
 so called Libanus, and sent it to him for adorn- 
 ing its roof. Solomon also not only made him 
 many other presents, by way of requital, but 
 gave him a country in Galilee also, that was 
 called Chabulon ; * but there was another pas- 
 sion, a philosophic inclination of theirs, which 
 cemented the friendship that was betwixt them; 
 
 1 Kings tx. 13 
 
 for they sent mutual problems to one another, 
 with a desire to have them unriddled by each 
 other ; wherein Solomon was superior to Hirom, 
 as he was wiser than he in other respects ; and 
 many of the epistles that passed between them 
 are still preserved among the Tyrians. Now, 
 that this may not depend on my bare word, I 
 will produce for a witness, Dius, one that is be- 
 lieved to have written the Phoenician History 
 after an accurate manner. This Dius, therefore, 
 writes thus, in his Histories of the Phoenicians : 
 " Upon the death of Abibalus, his son Hironi 
 took the kingdom. This king raised banks at 
 the eastern parts of the city, and enlarged it : 
 he also joined the temple of Jupiter Olympius, 
 which stood before in an island by itself, to the 
 city, by raising a causey between them, and 
 adorned that temple with donations of gold. 
 He moreover went up to Libanus, and had 
 timber cut down for the building of temples. 
 They say farther, that Solomon, when he was 
 king of Jerusalem, sent problems to Hirom to 
 be solved, and desired he would send others back 
 for him to solve, and that he who could not 
 solve the problems proposed to him, should pay 
 money to him that solved them ; and when 
 Hirom had agreed to the proposals, but was not 
 able to solve the problems, he was obliged to pay 
 a great deal of money, as a penalty for the same. 
 As also they relate, that one Abdemon, a man 
 of Tyre, did solve the problems, and proposed 
 others which Solomon could not solve, upon 
 which he was obliged to repay a great deal of 
 money to Hirom." These things are attested to 
 by Dius, and confirm what we have said upon 
 the same subjects before. 
 
 18. And now I shall add Meua^der the Ephe- 
 sian, as an additional witness. This Menander 
 wrote the Acts that were done both by the 
 Greeks and Barbarians, under every one of the 
 Tyrian kings ; and had taken much pains to 
 learn their history out of their own records. 
 Now, when he was writing about those kings 
 that had reigned at Tyre, he came to Hirom, and 
 says thus : " Upon the death of Abibalus, his 
 son Hirom took the kingdom ; he lived fifty- 
 three years, and reigned thirty-four. He raised 
 a bank on that called the Broad place, and dedi- 
 cated that golden pillar which is in Jupiter's 
 tiimple ; he also went and cut down timber from 
 the mountain called Libanus, and got timber of 
 cedar for the roofs of the temples. He also 
 pulled down the old temples, and built new 
 ones : besides this, he consecrated the temples 
 ft Heresies and Astarte. He first built Her- 
 cules's temple, in the month Peritus, and that of 
 Astarte when he made his expedition against 
 the Tityans, who would not pay him their tri- 
 bute ; and when he had subdued them to him- 
 self, he returned home. Under this king there 
 was a younger son of Abdemon, who mastered 
 the problems which Solomon, kii> of Jerusalem, 
 had recommended to be solved.* Now the time 
 from this king to the building of Carthage, is 
 thus calculated : " Upon the death of Hirom, 
 Beleazarus his son took the kingdom ; he lived 
 forty -three years, and reigned seven years : after 
 him succeeded his son Abdastartus ; he lived 
 twenty-nine years, and reigned nine years. Now 
 four sons of his nurse plotted against him and 
 slew him, the eldest of whom reigned twelve 
 years ; after them came Astartus the son of De- 
 leastartus : he lived fifty-four years, and reigned 
 twelve years ; after him came his brother Asery- 
 mus ; he lived fifty-four years, and reigned nine 
 years : he was slain by his brother Pheles, who 
 took the kingdom and reigned but eight months, 
 thoutrh he lived fif+v \-<*r<* 1<" w slain hv
 
 BOOK I.] 
 
 FLAVIUS JOSEPHTJS AGAINST APTON. 
 
 613 
 
 [thobalus, the priest of Astarte, who reigned 
 thirty-two years, and lived sixty-eight years ; 
 be was succeeded by his son Badezorus, who 
 lived forty-five years, and reigned six years ; he 
 was succeeded by Matgenus his son : he lived 
 thirty-two years, and reigned nine years : Pyg- 
 malion succeeded him : he lived fifty-six years, 
 and reigned forty-seven years. Now, in the 
 seventh year of his reign, his sister fled away 
 From him, and built the city of Carthage in 
 Libya." So the whole time from the reign of 
 Hirom till the building of Carthage, amounts to 
 the sum of one hundred and fifty-five years and 
 eight months. Since then the temple was built 
 at Jerusalem in the twelfth year of the reign of 
 Hirom, there were from the building of the 
 temple until the building of Carthage, one 
 hundred forty-three years and eight months. 
 Wherefore, what occasion is there for alleging 
 any more testimonies out of the Phoenician his- 
 tories [on behalf of our nation,] since what I 
 have said is so thoroughly confirmed already? 
 and to be sure our ancestors came into this 
 country long before the building of the temple ; 
 for it was not till we had gotten possession of 
 the whole land by war that we built our temple. 
 And this is the point that I have clearly proved 
 out of our sacred writings in my Antiquities. 
 
 19. I will now relate what hath been written 
 concerning us in the Chaldean histories ; which 
 records have a great agreement with our books 
 in other things also. Berosus shall be witness 
 to what I say ; he was by birth a Chaldean, well 
 known by the learned, on account of his publi- 
 cation of the Chaldean books of astronomy and 
 philosophy among the Greeks. This Berosus, 
 therefore, following the most ancient records of 
 that nation, gives us a history of the deluge of 
 waters that then happened, and of the destruc- 
 tion of mankind thereby, and agrees with Moses's 
 narration thereof. He also gives us an account 
 of that ark wherein Noah, the origin of our race, 
 was preserved, when it was brought to the high- 
 est part of the Armenian mountains : alter 
 which he gives us a catalogue of the posterity of 
 Noah, and adds the years of their chronology, 
 and at length comes down to Nabolassar, who 
 was king of Babylon, and of the Chaldeans. 
 And when he was relating the acts of this king, 
 he describes to us how he sent his son Nabucho- 
 donosor against Egypt, and against our land, 
 with a great army, upon his being informed that 
 they had revolted from him ; and how, by that 
 means, he subdued them all, and set our temple 
 that was at Jerusalem on fire ; nay, and removed 
 our people entirely out of their own country, and 
 transferred them to Babylon ; when it so hap- 
 pened that our city was desolate during the in- 
 terval of seventy years, until the days of Cyrus 
 king of Persia. He then says, z 'That this 
 Babylonian king conquered Egypt, and Syria, 
 and Phoenicia, and Arabia ; and exceeded in his 
 exploits all that had reigned before him in Baby- 
 lon and Chaldea," A little after which Berosus 
 subjoins what follows in his History of Ancient 
 Times. I will set down Berosus's own accounts, 
 which are these : " When Nabolassar, father 
 of Nabuchodonosor, heard that the governor whom 
 he had set over Egypt and over the parts of Cc- 
 lesyria and Phoenicia, had revolted from him, he 
 was not able to bear it any longer ; but com- 
 mitting certain parts of his army to his son Na- 
 buchodonosor, who was then but young, he sent 
 hin against the rebel : Nabuchodonosor joined 
 battle with him, and conquered him, and re- 
 duced the country under his dominion again. 
 Now it so fell out, that his father Nabolassar fell 
 into a distemper at this time, and died in the 
 
 city of Babylon, after he had reigned twenty- 
 nine years. But as he understood, in a little 
 time, that this father Nabolassar was dead, he 
 set the affairs of Egypt and the other countries 
 in order, and committed the captives he hud 
 taken from the Jews, and Phoenicians, and 
 Syrians, and of the nations belonging to Egypt, 
 to some of his friends, that they might conduct 
 that part of the forces that had on heavy ar- 
 mour, with the rest of the baggage, to Babylo- 
 nia ; whils he went in haste, having but a few 
 with him, over the desert to Babylon ; whither 
 when he' was come, he found the public affairs 
 had been managed by the Chaldeans, and that 
 the principal persons among them had preserved 
 the kingdom for him. Accordingly he now en- 
 tirely obtained all his father's dominions. He 
 then came, and ordered the captives to be placed 
 as colonies in the most proper places of Baby- 
 lonia : but for himself, he adorned the temple 
 of Belus, and the other temples, after an elegant 
 manner, out of the spoils he had taken in this 
 war. He also rebuilt the old city, and added 
 another to it on the outside, and so far restored 
 Babylon, that none who should besiege it after- 
 wards might have it in their power to divert the 
 river, so as to facilitate an entrance into it ; and 
 this he did by building three walls about the 
 inner city, and three about the outer. Some of 
 these walls he built of burnt brick and bitumen, 
 and some of brick only. So when he had thus 
 fortified the city with walls, after an excellent 
 manner, and had adorned the gates magnifi- 
 cently, he added a new palace to that which his 
 father had dwelt in, and this close by it also, 
 and that more eminent in its height, and in its 
 great splendour. It would perhaps require too 
 long a narration, if any one were to describe it. 
 However, as prodigiously large and magnificent 
 as it was, it was finished in fifteen days. Now 
 in this palace he erected very high walks, sup- 
 ported by stone pillars, and by planting what 
 was called a pensile paradise, and replenishing 
 it with all sorts of trees, he rendered the pros- 
 pect of an exact resemblance of a mountainous 
 country. This he did to please his queen, be- 
 cause she had been brought up in Media, and 
 was fond of a mountainous situation," 
 
 20. This is what Berosus relates concerning 
 the forementioned king, as he relates many other 
 things about him also in the third book of his 
 Chaldean History ; wherein he complains of the 
 Grecian writers fcr supposing, without any 
 foundation, that Babylon was built by Semira- 
 mis, queen of Assyria, and for her false pretence 
 to those wonderful edifices thereto relating, as if 
 they were her own workmanship ; as indeed in 
 these affairs the Chaldean History cannot but be 
 the most creditable. Moreover, we meet with a 
 confirmation of what Berosus says, in the ar- 
 chives of the Phoenicians, concerning this king 
 Nabuchodonosor, that he conquered all Syria 
 and Phoenicia ; in which case Philostratus agrees 
 with the others in that history which he com- 
 posed, where he mentions the siege of Tyre ; so 
 does Megasthenes also, in the fourth book of his 
 Indian History, wherein he pretends to prove 
 that the forementioned king of the Babylonians 
 was superior to Hercules in strength and the 
 greatness of his exploits ; for he says that he 
 conquered a treat part of Libya, and conquered 
 Iberia also Now, as to what I have said be- 
 fore, about the temple at Jerusalem, that it was 
 fought against by the Babylonians, and burnt by 
 them, but was op-iied again when Cyrus had 
 taken the kingdom of Asia, shall now be demon- 
 strated from what Berosus adds further upon 
 that head ; for thus he says in his third >>ook:
 
 614 
 
 FLAVIUS JOSEPHTJS AGAINST APION. 
 
 [BOOK L 
 
 "Nabuchodonosor, after he had begun to build 
 the forementioned wall, fell sick, and departed 
 this life, when he had reigned forty-three years ; 
 whereupon his son Evilmerodach obtained the 
 kingdom. He governed public affairs after an 
 illegal and impure manner, and had a plot laid 
 against him by Neriglissoor, his sister's husband, 
 and was slain by him when he had reigned but 
 two years. After he was slain, Neriglissoor, the 
 person who plotted against him, succeeded 
 him in the kingdom, and reigned four years ; 
 his son Laborosoarchod obtained the kingdom, 
 though he was but a child, and kept it nine 
 months ; but by reason of the very ill-temper 
 and ill practices he exliibited to the world, a 
 plot was laid against him also by his friends, and 
 he was tormented to death. After his death, 
 the conspirators got together, and by common 
 consent put the crown upon the head of Nabon- 
 nedus, a man of Babylon, and one who belonged 
 to that insurrection. In his reign it was that 
 the walls of the city of Babylon were curiously 
 built with burnt brick and bitumen ; but when 
 he was come to the seventeenth year of his 
 reign, Cyrus came out of Persia with a great 
 army ; and having already conquered all the rest 
 of Asia, he came hastily to Babylonia. When 
 Nabonnedus perceived he was coming to attack 
 him, he met him with his forces, and joining 
 battle with him, was beaten ; and fled away with 
 a few of his troops with him, and was shut up 
 within the city Borsippus. Hereupon Cyrus 
 took Babylon, and gave order that the outer 
 walls of the city should be demolished, because 
 the city had proved very troublesome to him, 
 find cost him a great deal of pains to take it. 
 He then marched away to Borsippus, to besiege 
 Nabonnedus ; but as Nabonnedus did not sustain 
 the siege, but delivered himself into his hands, 
 he was at first kindly used by Cyrus, who gave 
 him Carmania, as a place for him to inhabit in, 
 but sent him out of Babylonia. Accordingly 
 Nabonnedus spent the rest of his time in that 
 country, and there died." 
 
 21. These accounts agree with true history in 
 our books ; for in them it is written that Nebu- 
 chadnezzar, in the nineteenth year of his reign, 
 laid our temple desolate, and so it lay in that 
 state of obscurity for fifty years ; but that in the 
 second year of the reign of Cyrus, its founda- 
 tions were laid and it was finished again in the 
 second year of Darius. I will now add the re- 
 cords of the Phoenicians ; for it will not be alto- 
 gether superfluous to give the reader demonstra- 
 tions more than enow on this occasion. In them 
 we have this enumeration of the times of their 
 several kings : " Nabuchodonosor besieged Tyre 
 for thirteen years in the days of Ithobal, their 
 king ; after him reigned Baal, ten years ; after 
 him were judges appointed, who judged the 
 people : Ecnibalus, the son of Balsacus, two 
 months ; Chelbes, the son of Abdeus, ten 
 months ; Abhar, the high priest, three months ; 
 Mitgonus Gerastratus, the sons of Abdelemus, 
 were judges six years ; after whom P>alatorus 
 reigned one year ; after his death, they sent and 
 fetched Merbalus from Babylon, who reigned 
 four years ; after his death, they sent for his 
 brother Hirom, who reigned twenty years. 
 Under his reign Cyrus became king of Persia." 
 So that the whole interval is fifty-four years be- 
 sides three months ; for in the seventh year of 
 the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, he began to besiege 
 Tyre ; and Cyrus the Persian, took the kingdom 
 iu the fourteenth year of Hirom. So that the 
 records of the Chaldeans and Tynans, agree with 
 our writings about this temple; and the testi- 
 monies here produced are an indisputable and 
 
 undeniable attestation to the antiquity of our 
 nation : and I suppose that what I have already 
 said, may be sufficient to such as are not very 
 contentious. 
 
 22. But now it is proper to satisfy the inquiry 
 of those that disbelieve the records of barbarians, 
 and think none but Greeks to be worthy oi 
 credit, and to produce many of these very 
 Greeks who were acquainted with our nation, 
 and to set before them such as upon occasion 
 have made mention of us in their own writings. 
 Pythagoras, therefore, of Samos, lived in very 
 ancient times, and was esteemed a person su- 
 perior to all philosophers, in wisdom and piety 
 towards God. Now it is plain that he did not 
 only know our doctrines, but was in very great 
 measure a follower and admirer of them. There 
 is not indeed extant any writing that is owned 
 for his ; * but many there are who have written 
 his history, of whom Hermippus is the most 
 celebrated, who was a person very inquisitive in 
 all sorts of history. Now, this Hermippus, in 
 his first book concerning Pythagoras, speaks 
 thus: "That Pythagoras, upon the death of 
 one of his associates, whose name was Calliphon, 
 a Crotoniate by birth, affirmed that this man's 
 soul conversed with him both night and day, and 
 enjoined him not to pass over a place where an 
 ass had fallen down ; as also not to drink of such 
 waters as caused thirst again ; and to abstain 
 from all sorts of reproaches. " After which he 
 adds thus : " This he said in imitation of the 
 doctrines of the Jews and Thracians, which he 
 transferred into his own philosophy." For it is 
 very truly affirmed of this Pythagoras, that he 
 took a great many of the laws of the Jews into 
 his own philosophy. Nor was our nation un- 
 known of old to several of the Grecian cities, and 
 indeed was thought worthy of imitation by some 
 of them. This is declared by Th eophrastus, in his 
 writings concerning laws ; for he says that " the 
 laws of the Tyrians forbid men to swear foreign 
 oaths." Among which he enumerates some 
 others, and particularly that called Corban ; 
 which oath can only be found among the Jews, 
 and declares what a man may call "a thing 
 devoteil to God." Nor indeed was Herodotus 
 of Hallicarnassus unacquainted with our nation, 
 but mentions it after a way of his own, when he 
 saith thus, in the second book concerning the 
 Colchians. His words are these: "The only 
 people who were circumcised in their privy 
 members originally, were the Colchians, the 
 Egyptians, and the Ethiopians ; but the Phoe- 
 nicians and those Syrians that are in Palestine, 
 confess that they learned it from the Egyptians ; 
 and as for those Syrians who live about the 
 rivers Thermodon and Parthenius, and their 
 neighbours the Macroues, they say they have 
 already learned it from the Colchians ; for theso 
 are the only people that are circumcised among 
 mankind, and appear to have done the very 
 same thing with the Egyptians ; but as for the 
 Egyptians and Ethiopians themselves, I am not 
 able to say which of them received it from the 
 other." This therefore is what Herodotus says, 
 that " the Syrians that are in Palestine are cir- 
 cumcised." But there are ne inhabitants of 
 Palestine tnat are circumcised, excepting the 
 Jews ; and therefore it must be his knowledge of 
 them that enabled him to speak so much con- 
 cerning them. Cherilus also, a still ancienter 
 writer, and a poet, makes mention of our nation, 
 
 * It is well known by the learned, that we are not 
 secure that we have any genuine writings of Pytha- 
 goras ; those Golden Verses, which are his best remains, 
 being generally supposed to have been written not by 
 himself but by some of his scholars only.
 
 BOOK I.] 
 
 FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS AGAINST APION. 
 
 and informs us that it came to the assistance of 
 king Xerxes, in his expedition against Greece ; 
 for in his enumeration of all those nations, he 
 last of all inserts ours among the rest, when he 
 says : " At the last there passed over a people, 
 wonderful to be beheld ; for they spake the Phoe- 
 nician tongue with their mouths ; they dwelt in 
 the Solymean mountains, near a broad lake : 
 their heads were sooty ; they had round rasures 
 on them : their heads and faces were like uasty 
 horse-heads also, that had been hardened in the 
 smoke." I think, therefore, that it is evident to 
 everybody that Cherilus means us, because the 
 Solymean mountains are in our country, wherein 
 we inhabit, as is also the lake Asphaltitis ; for 
 this is a broader and larger lake than any other 
 that is in Syria : and thus does Cherilus make 
 mention of us. But now that not only the lowest 
 sort of the Grecians, but those that are held in 
 the greatest admiration for their philosophic 
 improvements among them, did not only know 
 the Jews, but, when they lighted upon any of 
 them, admired them also, it is easy for any one 
 to know ; for Clearchus, who was the scholar of 
 Aristotle, and inferior to no one of the Peripa- 
 tetics whomsoever, in his first book concerning 
 sleep, says that " Aristotle, his master, related 
 what follows of a Jew," and sets down Aristotle's 
 own discourse with him. The account is this, 
 as written down by him : " Now, for a great part 
 of what this Jew said, it would be too long to 
 recite it ; but what includes in it both wonder 
 and philosophy, it may not be amiss to dis- 
 course of. Now, that I may be plain with tb.ee, 
 Hyperochides, I shall herein seem to thee to 
 relate wonders, and what will resemble dreams 
 themselves. Hereupon Hyperochides answered 
 modestly, and said, For that very reason it 
 is that all of us are very desirous of hearing 
 what thou art going to say. Then replied 
 Aristotle, For this cause it will be the best way 
 to imitate that rule of the Rhetoricians, which 
 requires us first to give an account of the man 
 and of what nation he was, that so we may not 
 contradict our master's directions. Then said 
 Hyperochides, Go on, if it so pleases thee. This 
 man then [answered Aristotle,] was by birth 
 a Jew, and came from Celesyria ; these Jews 
 are derived from the Indian philosophers ; they 
 are named by the Indians Calami, and by the 
 Syrians Judcei, and took their name from the 
 country they inhabit, which is called Judea ; 
 but for the name of their city it is a very 
 awkward one, for they call it Jerusalem. Now, 
 this man, when he was hospitably treated by a 
 great many, came down from the upper country 
 to the places near the sea, and became a Grecian, 
 not only in his language, but in his soul also ; 
 insomuch that when we ourselves happened to 
 be in Asia about the same places whither he 
 came, he conversed with us and with all other 
 philosophical persons, and made a trial of our 
 skill in philosophy; and as he had lived with 
 many learned men, he communicated to us more 
 information than he received from us." This is 
 Aristotle's account of the matter, as given us by 
 Clearchus : which Aristotle discoursed also par- 
 ticularly of the great and wonderful fortitude 
 of this Jew in his diet, and continent way of 
 living, as those that please may learn more about 
 him from Clearchus's book itself; for I avoid 
 setting down any more than is sufficient for my 
 purpose. Now Clearchus said this by way of 
 digression, for his main design was of another na- 
 ture ; but for Hecateus of Abdera, who was both 
 a philosopher, and one very useful in an active 
 life, he was contemporary with king Alexander 
 In his youth, and afterward was with Ptolemy. 
 
 the son of Lagus : he did not write about the 
 Jewish affairs by the by only, but composed an 
 entire book concerning the Jews themselves ; 
 out of which book I am willing to run over a few 
 things, of which I have been treating by way of 
 epitome. And in the first place, I will demon- 
 strate the time when this Hecateus lived ; for 
 he mentions the fight that was between Ptolemy 
 and Demetrius about Gaza, which was fought 
 in the eleventh year after the death of Alex- 
 ander, and in the hundred and seventeenth 
 Olympiad, as Castor says in his histoiy. For 
 when he had set down this olympiad, he says fur- 
 ther, that " on this olympiad Ptolemy the son of 
 Lagus, beat in battle Demetrius the son of An- 
 tigonus, who was named Poliocretes, at Gaza." 
 Now, it is agreed by all, that Alexander died in 
 the hundred and fourteenth olympiad ; it is there- 
 fore evident that our nation flourished in his time, 
 and in the time of Alexander. Again, Hecateus 
 says to the same purpose as follows : " Ptolemy 
 got possession of the places in Syria after the 
 battle at Gaza; and many, when they heard of 
 Ptolemy's moderation and humanity, went along 
 with him to Egypt, aud were willing to assist 
 him in his affairs ; one of whom (Hecateus says) 
 was Hezekiah, * the high priest of the Jews ; a 
 man of about sixty-six years of age, and in great 
 dignity among his own people. He was a very 
 sensible man, and could speak very movingly, 
 and was very skilful in the management of 
 affairs, if any other man ever was so ; although, 
 as he says, all the priests of the Jews took tithes 
 of the products of the earth, and managed public 
 affairs, and were in number not above fifteen 
 hundred at the most." Hecateus mentions this 
 Hezekiah a second time, and says, that "as he was 
 possessed of so great a dignity, and was become 
 familiar with us, so did he take certain of those 
 that were with him, and explained to them all 
 the circumstances of their people , for he had all 
 their habitations and polity down in writing." 
 Moreover, Hecateus declares again, " what re- 
 gard we have for our laws, and that we resolve 
 to endure anything rather than transgress them, 
 because we think it right for us to do so. Where- 
 upon he adds that, although they are in a bad 
 reputation among their neighbours, and among 
 all those that come to them, and have been often 
 treated injuriously by the kings and governors of 
 Persia, yet can they not be dissuaded from act- 
 ing what they think best; but that when they 
 are stripped on this account, and have torments 
 inflicted upon them, and they are brought to the 
 most terrible kinds of death, they meet them 
 after a most extraordinary manner, beyond all 
 other people, and will not renounce the religion 
 of their forefathers." Hecateus also produces 
 demonstrations not a few of this their resolute 
 tenaciousness of their laws, when he speaks thus : 
 "Alexander was once at Babylon, and had an 
 intention to rebuild the temple of Belus that was 
 fallen to decay, and in order thereto, he com- 
 manded all his soldiers in general to bring earth 
 thither. But the Jews, and they only, would 
 not comply with that command ; nay, they 
 underwent stripes and great losses of what they 
 had on thi account, till the king forgave them, 
 and permitted them to live in quiet. He adds 
 farther, that "when the Macedonians came to 
 them into that country, and demolished the [old] 
 temples and the altars, they assisted them in de- 
 molishing them all; but [for not assisting them in 
 
 This Hezekiah is not named in Josephus's catalogue ; 
 the real high-priest at that time being rather Onias, as 
 Archbishop Usher supposes. However, Jowpboa often 
 uses the word high priests in the plural number, as il 
 there were many living at the same time.
 
 816 
 
 FLAVITTS JOSEPHUS AGAINST APION. 
 
 | bOtl.. 
 
 rebuilding them] tliey either underwent losses, 
 or sometimes obtained forgiveness." He adds far- 
 ther, that "these men deserve to be admired on 
 that account. " He also speaks of the mighty popu- 
 lousness of our nation, and says, that "the Per- 
 sians formerly carried away many ten thousands 
 of our people to Babylon, as also that not a few 
 ten thousands were removed after Alexander's 
 death into Egypt and Phoenicia, by reason of the 
 sedition that was arisen in Syria." The same per- 
 son takes notice in his history, how large the 
 country is which we inhabit, as well as of ita 
 excellent character, and says, that "the land in 
 which the Jews inhabit contains three millions 
 of aroura?,* and is generally of a moat excellent 
 and most fruitful soil ; nor is Judea of lesser 
 dimensions." The same man describes our city 
 of Jerusalem also itself aa of a most excellent 
 structure, and very large, and inhabited from 
 the most ancient times. He also discourses ot 
 the multitude of men in it, and of the construc- 
 tion of our temple, after the following manner : 
 " There are many strong places and villages 
 (says he) in the country of Judea ; but one 
 strong city there is, about fifty furlongs in 
 circumference, which is inhabited by a hundred 
 and twenty thousand men, or thereabouts : they 
 call it Jerusalem. There is about the middle of 
 the city, a wall of stone, the length of which is 
 five hundred feet, and the breadth a hundred 
 cubits, with double cloisters ; wherein there is 
 a square altar, not made of hewn stone, but 
 composed of white stones gathered together, 
 having each side twenty cubits long, and its alti- 
 tude ten cubits. Hard by it is a large edifice, 
 wherein there is an altar and a candlestick, both 
 of gold, and in weight two talents ; upon these 
 there is a light that is never extinguished, 
 neither by night nor by day. There is no image, 
 nor anything, nor any donations therein ; nothing 
 at all is there planted, neither grove nor any 
 thing of that sort. The priests abide therein 
 both nights and days, performing certain puri- 
 fications, and drinking not the least drop of wine 
 while they are in the temple." Moreover, he 
 attests that we Jews went as auxiliaries along 
 with king Alexander ; after him with his suc- 
 cessors. I will add further what he says he 
 learned when he was himself with the same 
 army, concerning the actions of a man that was 
 a Jew His words are these : " As I was my- 
 self going to the Red Sea, there followed us a 
 man, whose name was Mosollam ; he was one of 
 the Jewish horsemen who conducted us ; he was 
 a person of great courage, of a strong body, and 
 by all allowed to be the most skilful archer that 
 was either among the Greeks or barbarians. 
 Now, this man, as people were in great numbers 
 passing along the road, and a certain augur was 
 observing an augury by a bird, and requiring 
 
 * This number of aroune or Egyptian acres, as con- 
 tained in the country of Judea. will be about onc-Uiird 
 of the entire number of arouras in the whole land of 
 Judea ; supposing it one hundred and sixty miles long, 
 and seventy miles broad ; which estimation, fer the 
 fruitful parts of it, as perhaps here in Hecateus, is not 
 therefore very wide from the truth. The fifty furlongs 
 in compass for the city of Jerusalem presently are not 
 very wide from the truth also, as Josephus himself 
 makes its wall thirty-three furlongs, besides the suburbs 
 and gardens ; nay, he says that Titus's wall about it at 
 some small distance, after the gardens and suburbs 
 were destroyed, was not less than thirty-nine furlongs. 
 Nor perhaps were its constant inhabitants, in the days 
 of Hecateus, many more than these 120,000, because 
 room was always to be left for vastly greater numbers 
 which came up at the three great festivals ; to say 
 nothing of the probable increase in their number be- 
 tween the days of Hecateus anrl .Tosephus, which was 
 it least three hnnriml Tears. 
 
 them all to stand still, inquired what they stayed 
 for. Hereupon the augur shewed him the bird 
 from whence he took his augury, and told him 
 that if the bird stayed where he was, they ought 
 all to stand still ; but that if he got up. and flew 
 onward, they must go forward ; but that if he 
 flew backward, they must retire again. Mosol- 
 lam made no reply, but drew his bow, and shot 
 at the bird, and hit him, and killed him ; and as 
 the augur and some others were very angry, and 
 wished imprecations upon him, he answered 
 them thus : Why are you so mad as to take 
 this most unhappy bird into your hands? for 
 how can this bird give us any true information 
 concerning our march, which could not foresee 
 to save himself ? for bad he been able to fore- 
 know what was future, he would not have come 
 to this place, but would have been afraid lest 
 Mosollam the Jew would shoot at him, and kill 
 him." But of Hecateus's testimonies we have 
 said enough ; for as to such as desire to know 
 more of them, they may easily obtain them from 
 his book itself. However, I shall not think it 
 too much for me to name Agatharchides, as hav- 
 ing made mention of us Jews, though in way of 
 derision at our simplicity, as he supposes it to 
 be ; for when he was discoursing of the affairs 
 of Stratonice, " how she came out of Macedonia 
 into Syria, and left her husband Demetrius, 
 while yet Seleucus would not marry her as she 
 expected, but during the time of his raising an 
 army at Babylon, stirred up a sedition about 
 Antioch ; and how after that the king came 
 back, and upon his taking of Antioch, she fled 
 to Seleucia, and had it in her power to sail away 
 immediately, yet did she comply with a dream 
 which forbade her so to do, and so was caught 
 and put to death." When Agatharchides had 
 premised this story, and had jested upon Stra- 
 tonice for her superstition, he gives & like 
 example of what was reported concerning us, 
 and writes thus : " There are a people called 
 Jews, who dwell in a city the strongest of all 
 other cities, which the inhabitants call Jerusa- 
 lem, and are accustomed to rest on every seventh 
 day ; t at which times they make no use of 
 their arms, nor meddle with husbandry, nor 
 take care of any affairs of life, but spread out 
 their hands in their holy places, and pray till 
 the evening. Now it came to pass, that when 
 Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, came into this city 
 with his army, these men, in observing this 
 mad custom of theirs, instead of guarding the 
 city, suffered their country to submit itself to a 
 bitter lord ; and their lav/ was openly proved to 
 have commanded a foolish practice. + This acci- 
 dent taught all other men but the Jews to disre- 
 gard such dreams as these were, and not to 
 follow the like idle suggestions delivered as a 
 law, when, in such uncertainty of human 
 reasonings, they are at a loss what they should 
 do." Now this our procedure seems a ridiculoiu 
 thing to Agatharchides, but will appear to such 
 as consider it without prejudice a great thing, 
 and what deserved a great many encomiums ; 
 I mean, when certain men constantly prefer the 
 observation of their laws, and their" religion to- 
 wards God, before the preservation of them- 
 selves and their country. 
 
 23. Now, that some writers have omitted to 
 mention our nation, not because they knew 
 nothing of us, but because they envied us, or 
 for some other unjustifiable reasons, I think 
 
 t A glorious testimony this of the observation of the 
 Sabbath by the Jews. 
 
 J N'ot their law, but the superstitious interpretation 
 of their leaders, which neither the Maccabees nor oui 
 blessed Saviour did ever approve of.
 
 FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS AGAINST AP1ON. 
 
 oiJ 
 
 can demonstrate by particular instances ; 
 or Hieronymus, who wrote the History of 
 Alexander's] Successors, lived at the same time 
 with Hecateus, and was a friend of king An- 
 igonus, and president of Syria. Now, it is plain 
 hat Hecateus wrote an entire hook concerning 
 us, while Hieronymus never mentions us in his 
 listory, although he was bred up very near to 
 he places where we live. Thus different from 
 ne another are the inclinations of men ; while 
 he one thought we deserved to be carefully re- 
 membered, so some ill-disposed passion blinded 
 he other's mind so entirely, that he could not 
 liscern the truth. And now certainly the fore- 
 ;oing records of the Egyptians, and Chaldeans, 
 and Phoenicians, together with so many of the 
 reek writers, will be sufficient for the demon- 
 stration of our antiquity. Moreover, besides 
 ,hose forementioned, Theophilus, andTheodotus, 
 and Mnaseas, and Aristophanes, and Hermo- 
 jenes, Euhemerus also, and Conon, and Zopy- 
 ion, and perhaps many others (for I have not 
 ighted upon all the Greek books) have made 
 distinct mention of us. It is true, many of the 
 men beforementioned have made great mistakes 
 about the true accounts of our nation in the 
 earliest times, because they had not perused our 
 sacred books ; yet have they all of them afforded 
 ;heir testimony to our antiquity, concerning 
 which I am now treating. However, Demetrius 
 Phalereus, and the elder Philo, with Eupolemus, 
 lave not greatly missed the truth about our 
 affairs ; whose lesser mistakes ought therefore 
 x> be forgiven them ; for it was not in their 
 power to understand our writings with the 
 itmost accuracy. 
 
 24. One particular there is still remaining 
 behind of what I at first proposed to speak to, 
 and that is to demonstrate that those calumnies 
 and reproaches, which some have thrown upon 
 our nation, are lies, and to make use of those 
 writers' own testimonies against themselves : 
 and that in general this self-contradiction hath 
 happened to many other authors by reason of 
 their ill-will to some people, I conclude, is not 
 unknown to such as have read histories with 
 sufficient care ; for some of them have endeav- 
 oured to disgrace the nobility of certain nations, 
 and of some of the most glorious cities, and have 
 cast reproaches upon certain forms of govern- 
 ment Thus hath Theopompus abused the city 
 of Athena, Polycrates that of Lacedemon, as hath 
 he that wrote the Tripoliticus (for he is not Theo- 
 pompu*, as is supposed by some) done by the 
 city of Thebes. Timeus also hath greatly abused 
 the foregoing people and others also ; and this 
 ill-treatment they use chiefly when they have a 
 contest with men of the greatest reputation : 
 some, out of envy and malice, and others as 
 supposing that by this foolish talking of theirs 
 they may be thought worthy if being remem- 
 bered themselves ; and indeed they do by no 
 means fail of their hopes, with regard to the 
 foolish part of mankind, but men of sober judst- 
 ment still condemn them of great malignity. 
 
 25. Now the Egyptians were the first that 
 cast reproaches upon us; in order to please 
 which nation, some others undertook to pervert 
 the truth, while they would neither own that 
 our forefathers came into Egypt from another 
 country, as the fact was, nor give a true account 
 of our departure thence ; and indeed the Egyp- 
 tians took many occasions to hate us and envy us: 
 in the first place, because our ancestors had had 
 the dominion over their country, and when they 
 were delivered from them, and gone to their 
 own country -again, they lived there in prosper- 
 ity In the next place, the difference of our 
 
 religion from theirs hath occasioned great en- 
 mity between us, while our way of divine wor- 
 ship did as much exceed that which their laws 
 appointed, as does the uature of God exceed 
 that of brute beasts ; for so far they all agree 
 through the whole country, to esteem such ani- 
 mals as gods, although they differ from one an- 
 other in the peculiar worship they severally pay 
 to them ; and certainly men they are entirely of 
 vain and foolish minds, who have thus accus- 
 tomed themselves from the beginning to have 
 such bad notions concerning their gods, and 
 could not think of imitating that decent form of 
 divine worship which we made use of, though, 
 when they saw our institutions approved of by 
 many others, they could not but envy us on that 
 account ; for some of them have proceeded to 
 that degree of folly and meanness in their con- 
 duct, as not to scruple to contradict their own 
 ancient records, nay, to contradict themselves 
 also in their writings, and yet were so blinded 
 by their passions as not to discern it. 
 
 26. And now I will turn my discourse to one 
 of their principal writers, whom I have a little 
 before made use of as a witness to our antiquity ; 
 I mean Manetho.* He promised to interpret 
 the Egyptian history out of their sacred writings, 
 and premised thus : that " our people had come 
 into Egypt, many ten thousands in number, and 
 subdued its inhabitants ;" and when he had fur- 
 ther confessed, that " we went out of that 
 country afterward, and settled in that country 
 which is now called Judea, and there built Je- 
 rusalem and its temple." Now, thus far he fol- 
 lowed his ancient records ; but after this he per- 
 mits himself, in order to appear to have written 
 what rumours and reports passed abroad about 
 the Jews, and introduces incredible narrations, 
 as if he would have the Egyptian multitude, 
 that had the leprosy and other distempers to 
 have been mixed with us, as he says they were, 
 and that they were condemned to fly out of Egypt 
 together; for he mentions Amenophis, a fictitious 
 king's name, though on that account he durst 
 not set down the number of years of his reign, 
 which yet he had accurately done as to the other 
 kings he mentions ; he then ascribes certain 
 fabulous stories to this king, as having in a man- 
 ner forgotten how he had already related that 
 the departure of the shepherds for Jerusalem 
 had been five hundred and eighteen years before; 
 for Tethmosis was king when they went away. 
 Now, from his days, the reigns of the intermedi- 
 ate kings, according to Manetho, amounted to 
 three hundred and ninety -three years, as he say* 
 himself, till the two brothers Sethos and Her- 
 meus ; the one of whom, Sethos, was called by 
 that other name of Egyptus; and the other, 
 Hermeus, by that of Danaus. He also says thai 
 Sethos cast the other out of Egypt, and reigned 
 fifty-nine years, as did his eldest son Khampses 
 reign after him sixty-six years. When Manetho 
 therefore acknowledged that our forefathers were 
 gone out of Egypt so many years ago, he intro- 
 duces his fictitious king Amenophis, and says 
 thus: "This king was desirous to become a 
 spectator of the gods, as had Orus, one of h 
 predecessors in that kingdom, desired the same 
 before him ; he also communicated that his d< 
 sire to his namesake Amenophis, who was the 
 * luTeading this and the remaining section! of this 
 book, and some parts of the next, one may ea sily per 
 ceive that our usually cool and candid author, Jose 
 t.hus was too highly offended with the imprudent ca 
 lumn'ies of Manetho, and the other bitter enemies oi 
 the Jews with whom he had now to deal, and wa 
 thereby betrayed into a greater heat d passion ha* 
 ordinary, and that by consequence he doos not bear 
 reason with his usual fairness and imi.ar a, IT-
 
 (18 
 
 FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS AGAINST APION. 
 
 [BOOK i. 
 
 on of Papis, and one that seemed to partake of 
 a divine nature, both as to wisdom and the 
 knowledge of futuries." Manetho adds "how 
 this namesake of his told him that he might see 
 the gods, if he would clear the whole country of 
 the lepers and of the other impure people ; that 
 the king was pleased with this injunction, and 
 got together all that had any defects in their 
 bodies out of Egypt. And that their number 
 was eighty thousand ; whom he sent to those 
 ciuarries which are on the east side of the Nile, 
 that they might work in them, and might be 
 separated from the rest of the Egyptians." He 
 says farther, that " there were some of the 
 learned priests that were polluted with the 
 leprosy ; but that still this Amenophis, the wise 
 man and the prophet, was afraid that the gods 
 would be angry at him and at the king, if there 
 should appear to have been violence offered 
 them ; who also added this farther [out of his 
 sagacity about futuries,] that certain people 
 would come to the assistance of these polluted 
 wretclres, and would conquer Egypt, and keep 
 it in their possession thirteen years : that, how- 
 ever, he durst not tell the king of these things, 
 but that he left a writing behind him about all 
 those matters, and then slew himself, which 
 made the king disconsolate." After which he 
 writes thus, verbatim : " After those that were 
 sent to work in the quarries had continued in 
 that miserable state for a long while, the king 
 was desired that he would set apart the city 
 Avaris, which was then left desolate of the shep- 
 herds, for their habitation and protection ; which 
 desire he granted them. Now this city, accord- 
 ing to the ancient theology, was Trypho's city. 
 But when these men were gotten into it, and 
 found the place fit for a revolt, they appointed 
 themselves a ruler out of the priests of Helio- 
 polis, whose name was Osarsiph, and they took 
 their oaths that they would be obedient, to him 
 in all things. He then, in the first place, made 
 this law for them, That they should neither 
 worship the Egyptian gods, nor should abstain 
 from any one of those sacred animals which they 
 have in the highest esteem, but kill and destroy 
 them all ; that they should join themselves to 
 nobody but to those that were of this confede- 
 racy. When he had made such laws as these, 
 and many more such as were mainly opposite to 
 the customs of the Egyptians,* he gave order 
 that they should use the multitude of the hands 
 they had in building walls about their city, and 
 make themselves ready for a war with king 
 Amenophis, while he did himself take into his 
 friendship the other priests and those that were 
 polluted with them, and sent ambassadors to 
 those shepherds who had been driven out of the 
 land by Tethmosis to the city called Jerusalem ; 
 whereby he informed them of his own affairs, 
 and of the state of those others that had been 
 treated after such an ignominious manner, and 
 desired that they would come with one consent 
 to his assistance in this war against Egypt. He 
 also promised that he would, in the first place, 
 bring them back to their ancient city and coun- 
 try Avaris, and provide a plentiful maintenance 
 for their multitude ; that he would protect them 
 and fight for them as occasion should require, 
 and would easily reduce the country under their 
 dominion. These shepherds were all very glad 
 of this message, and came away with alacrity all 
 together, being in number two hundred thou- 
 sand men; and in a little time they came to 
 * This is a very valuable testimony of Manetho, that 
 the laws of Osarsijih, or Moses, were not made in com- 
 pliance with, but in opposition to the customs of the 
 Egyptians. 
 
 Avai-is. And now Amenophis the king of 
 Egypt, upon his being informed of their inva- 
 sion, was in great confusion, as calling to mind 
 what Amenophis, the son of Papis, had foretold 
 him; and, in the first place, he assembled the 
 multitude of the Egyptians, and took counsel 
 with their leaders, and sent for their sacred 
 animals to him, especially the priests distinctly, 
 that they should hide for those that were prin- 
 cipally worshipped in the temples, and gave a 
 particular charge to the images of their gods 
 with the utmost care. He also sent his son 
 Sethos, who was also named Harnesses from his 
 father Rhampses, being but five years old, to a 
 friend of his. He then passed on with the rest 
 of the Egyptians, being three hundred thousand 
 of the most warlike of them, against the enemy, 
 who met them. Yet did he not join battle with 
 them ; but thinking that would be to fight 
 against the gods, he returned back and came to 
 Memphis, where he took Apis and the other 
 sacred animals which he had sent for to him, 
 and presently marched into Ethiopia, together 
 with his whole army and multitude of Egyp- 
 tians ; for the king of Ethiopia was under an 
 obligation to him, on which account he received 
 him, and took care of all the multitude that was 
 with him, while the country supplied all that 
 was necessary for the food of the men. He also 
 allotted cities and villages for this exile, that 
 was to be from its beginning during those fatally 
 determined thirteen years. Moreover, he pitched 
 a camp for his Ethiopian army, as a guard to 
 king Amenophis, upon the borders of Egypt. 
 And this was the state of things in Ethiopia, 
 But for the people of Jerusalem, when they 
 came down' together with the polluted Egyp- 
 tians, they treated the men in such a barbarous 
 manner, that those who saw how they subdued 
 the forementioned country, and the horrid wick- 
 edness they were guilty of, thought it a most 
 dreadful thing ; for they did not only set the 
 cities and villages on fire, but were not satisfied 
 till they had been guilty of sacrilege, and de- 
 stroyed the images of the gods, and used them 
 in roasting those sacred animals that used to be 
 worshipped, and forced the priests and prophets 
 to be the executioners and murderers of those 
 animals, and then ejected them naked out of the 
 country. It was also reported that the priest, 
 who ordained their polity and their laws, was 
 by birth of Heliopolis ; and his name Osarsiph 
 from Osiris, who was the god of Heliopolis ; 
 but that when he was gone over to these people, 
 his name was changed, and he was called 
 Moses." 
 
 27. This is what the Egyptians relate about 
 the Jews, with much more, which I omit for the 
 sake of brevity. But still Manetho goes on 
 that " After this, Amenophis returned from 
 Ethiopia with a great army, as did his son 
 Rhampses with another army also, and that 
 both f them joined battle with the shepherds 
 and the polluted people, and beat them and 
 slew a great many of them, and pursued them to 
 the bounds of Syria." These and the like ac- 
 counts are written by Manetho. But I will 
 demonstrate that he trifles, and tells arrant lies, 
 after I have made a distinction which will relatu 
 to what I am going to say about him ; for this 
 Manetho had granted and confessed that this 
 nation was not originally Egyptian, but that 
 they had come from another country, and sub- 
 dued Egypt, and went away again out of it. 
 But that those Egyptians who were thus dis- 
 eased in their bodies were not mingled with us 
 afterward, and that Moses who brought the 
 people out was not one of that companv. but
 
 BOOK I. j 
 
 FLAVIUS JOSEPHTJS AGAINST APTON. 
 
 619 
 
 lived many generations earlier, I shall endea- 
 vour to demonstrate from Manetho's own ac- 
 counts themselves. 
 
 28. Now, for the first occasion of this fiction, 
 Manetho supposes what is no better than a ridi- 
 culous thing ; for he says that " King Ameno- 
 phis desired to see the gods." What gods, I 
 pray, did he desire to see? If he meant the 
 gods whom their laws ordained to be worshipped, 
 the ox, the goat, the crocodile, and the baboon, 
 he saw them already ; but for the heavenly gods, 
 how could he see them, and what should occa- 
 sion this his desire ? To be sure, it was because 
 another king before him had already seen them. 
 He had then been informed what sort of gods 
 they were, and after what manner they had 
 been seen, insomuch that he did not stand in 
 need of any new artifice for obtaining this sight. 
 However, the prophet by whose means the king 
 thought to compass his design was a wise man. 
 If so, how came he not to know that such his 
 desire was impossible to be accomplished? for 
 the event did not succeed. And what pretence 
 could there be to suppose that the gods would 
 not be seen by reason of the people's maims in 
 their bodies, or leprosy? for the gods are not 
 angry at the imperfection of bodies but at wicked 
 practices ; and as to eighty thousand lepers, and 
 those in an ill state also, how is it possible to 
 have them gathered together in one day ? nay, 
 how came the king not to comply with the pro- 
 phet? for his injunction was, that those that 
 were maimed should be expelled out of Egypt, 
 while the king only sent them to work in the 
 quarries, as if he were rather in want of la- 
 bourers, than intended to purge his country. 
 He says farther, that "this prophet slew him- 
 self, as foreseeing the anger of the gods, and 
 those events which were to come upon Egypt 
 afterward ; and that he left this prediction for 
 the king in writing." Besides, how came it to 
 pass that this prophet did not foreknow his own 
 death at the first ? nay, how came he not to con- 
 tradict the king in his desire to see the gods im- 
 mediately? how came that unreasonable dread 
 upon him of judgments that were not to happen 
 in his life-time ; or what worse thing could he 
 suffer, out of the fear of which he made haste to 
 kill himself? But now let us see the silliest 
 thing of all : the king, although he had been 
 informed of these things, and terrified with the 
 fear of what was to come, yet did not he even 
 then eject these maimed people out of his 
 country, when it had been foretold him that 
 he was to clear Egypt of them ; but, as Manetho 
 says, "He then, upon their request, gave them 
 that city to inhabit, which had formerly belonged 
 to the shepherds, and was called Avaris ; whi- 
 ther when they were gone in crowds (he says) 
 they chose one that had formerly been priest of 
 Heliopolis ; and that this priest first ordained 
 that they should neither worship the gods, nor 
 abstain from those animals that were worshipped 
 by the Egyptians, but should kill and eat them 
 all, and should associate with nobody but those 
 that had conspired with them ; and that he 
 bound the multitude by oaths to be sure to con- 
 tinue in those laws ; and that when he had built 
 a wall sbout Avaris, he made war against the 
 king." Manetho adds also, that "this priest 
 sent to Jerusalem to invite that people to come 
 to his assistance, and promised to give them 
 Avaris; for that it had belonged to the fore- 
 fathers of those that were coming from Jerusa- 
 lem, and that when they were come, they made 
 a war immediately against the king, and got pos- 
 session of all Egypt." He says also, that ' the 
 Egyptians came with an armv of t wo hundred 
 
 thousand men, and that Amenophis, the king of 
 Egypt, not thinking that he ought to fight against 
 the gods, ran away presently iuto Ethiopia, and 
 committed Apis and certain others of their sacred 
 animals to the priests, and commanded them to 
 take care of preserving them." He says further, 
 that "the people of Jerusalem came accordingly 
 upon the Egyptians, and overthrew their cities, 
 and burnt their temples, and slew their horse- 
 men, and in short abstained from no sort of 
 wickedness nor barbarity : and for that priest 
 who settled their polity and their laws," ha 
 says, "he was by birth of Heliopolis, and his 
 name was Osarsiph, from Osiris the god of He- 
 liopolis ; but that he changed his name, and 
 called himself Moses." He then says, that "on 
 the thirteenth year afterward, Amenophis, ac- 
 cording to the fatal time of the duration of his 
 misfortunes, came upon them out of Ethiopia 
 with a great army, and joining battle with the 
 shepherds and with the polluted people, over- 
 came them in battle, and slew a great many of 
 them, and pursued them as far as the bounds of 
 Syria." 
 
 29. Now Manetho does not reflect upon the 
 improbability of his lie ; for the leprous people, 
 and the multitude that was with them, alth-ugh 
 they might formerly have been angry at the 
 king, and at those that had treated them so 
 coarsely, and this according to the prediction of 
 the prophet ; yet certainly, when they were 
 come out of the mines, and had received of the 
 king a city, and a country, they would have 
 grown milder towards him. However, had they 
 ever so mxich hated him in particular, they 
 might have laid a private plot against himself, 
 but would hardly have made war against all the 
 Egyptians ; I mean this on the account of the 
 great kindred they who were so numerous must 
 have had among them. Nay, still, if they had 
 resolved to fight with the iueu, they would not 
 have had impudence enough to fight with their 
 gods ; nor would they have ordained laws quite 
 contrary to those of their own country, and to 
 those in which they had been bred up them- 
 selves. Yet are we beholden to Manetho, that 
 he does not lay the principal charge of those 
 horrid transgressions upon those that came from 
 Jerusalem, but says that the Egyptians them- 
 selves were the most guilty, and that they were 
 their priests that contrived these things, and 
 made the multitude take their oaths for doing 
 so; but still how absurd is it to suppose that 
 none of these people's own relations or friends 
 should be prevailed with to revolt, nor to 
 undergo the hazards of war with them ; while 
 these polluted people were forced to send to Je- 
 rusalem, and bring their auxiliaries from thence ! 
 What friendship, I pray, or what relation was 
 there formerly, between them that required this 
 assistance ? On the contrary, these people were 
 enemies, and greatly differed from them in their 
 customs. He says, indeed, that they complied 
 immediately, upon their promising them that 
 they should conquer Egypt ; as if they did not 
 themselves very well know that courtr"- out of 
 which they ha'd been driven by force. Now, 
 had these men been in want, or lived miserably, 
 perhaps they might have undertaken so hazard- 
 ous an enterprise ; but as they dwelt in a happy 
 city, and had a large country, and one better 
 than Egypt itself, how came it about, that for 
 the sake of those that had of old been their ene- 
 mies, of those that were maimed in their bodies, 
 and of those whom none of their own relations 
 would endure, they should run such hazards in 
 assisting them ? For they could not foresee that 
 the king would run away from them on th*
 
 FLAVTUS JOSEPHTTS AGAINST APION. 
 
 [BOOK i 
 
 eontrary, he saith himself, that "Amenophis's 
 son had" three hundred thousand men with him, 
 and met them at Pelusium." Now, to be sure, 
 those that came could not be ignorant of this ; 
 but for the king's repentance and flight, how 
 could they possibly guess at it ? He then says, 
 that " those who came from Jerusalem, and 
 made this invasion, got the granaries of Egypt 
 into their possession, and perpetrated many of 
 the most horrid actions there." And thence he 
 reproaches them, as though he had not himself 
 introduced them as enemies, or as though he 
 might accuse such as were invited from another 
 place, for so doing, when the natural Egyptians 
 themselves had done the same things before their 
 coming, and had taken oaths so to do. However, 
 "Amenophis, some time afterward, came upon 
 them, and x>nquered them in a battle, and slew 
 his enemies, and drove them before him as far 
 as Syria." As if Egypt were so easily taken by 
 people that came from any place whatsoever; 
 and as if those that had conquered it by war, 
 when they were informed that Amenophis was 
 alive, did neither fortify the avenues of Ethiopia 
 into it, although they had great advantages for 
 doing it, nor did get their other forces ready for 
 their defence ! but that he followed them over 
 the sandy desert, and slew them as far as 
 Syria ; while yet it is not an easy thing for an 
 army to pass over that country, even without 
 fighting. 
 
 30. Our nation, therefore, according to Mane- 
 tho, was not derived from Egypt, nor were any 
 of the Egyptians mingled with us ; for it is to be 
 supposed that many of the leprous and distem- 
 pered people were dead in the mines, since they 
 had been there a long time, and in so ill a condi- 
 tion ; many others must be dead in the battles 
 that happened afterward, and more stilJ in the 
 last battle and flight after it. 
 
 31. It now remains that I debate with Manetho 
 about Moses. Now the Egyptians acknowledge 
 him to have been a wonderful, and a divine per- 
 son ; nay, they would willingly lay claim to him 
 themselves, though after a most abusive and in- 
 credible manner : and pretend that lie was of 
 Heliopolis, and one of the priests of that place, 
 and was ejected out of it among the rest, on 
 account of his leprosy ; although it had been de- 
 monstrated out of their records, that he lived 
 five hundred and eighteen years earlier, and then 
 brought our forefathers out of Egypt into the 
 countiy that is now inhabited by us. But now 
 that he was not subject in his body to any such 
 calamity, is evident from what he himself tells 
 us : for he forbade those that had the leprosy 
 either to continue in a city or to inhabit a 
 village, but commanded that they should go 
 about by themselves with their clothes rent ; and 
 declares that such as either touch them, or 
 iive under the same roof with them, should )>e 
 esteemed unclean ; nay more, if any one of their 
 diseases be healed, and he recover his natural 
 constitution again, he appointed them certain 
 purifications and washings with spring-water, 
 and the shaving of all their hair, and enjoins 
 that they shall offer many sacrifices, and those of 
 several kinds, and then at length admitted into 
 the holy city ; although it were to be expected 
 that, on the contrary, if he had been under the 
 same calamity, he should have taken care of such 
 persons beforehand, and have had them treated 
 after a kinder manner, as affected with a concern 
 for those that were to be under the like misfor- 
 tunes with himself. Nor was it only those lep- 
 rous people for whose sake he made these laws, 
 but also for such as should be maimed in the 
 mallefit part, of their body, who yet are not per- 
 
 mitted by him to officiate as priests ; nay, al- 
 though any priest already initiated, should have 
 such a calamity fall upon him afterward, he 
 ordered him to be deprived of his honour of offi- 
 ciating. How can it then be supposed that Moses 
 should ordain such laws against himself, to his 
 own reproach and damage who so ordained them? 
 Nor indeed is that other notion of Manetho at 
 all probable, wherein he relates the change of his 
 name, and says, that "he was formerly called 
 Osarsiph ; " and this a name no way agreeable to 
 the other, while his true name was Mouses, and 
 signifies a person who is preserved out of the 
 water, for the Egyptians call water Moil. I 
 think, therefore, I have made it sufficiently evi- 
 dent that Manetho, while he followed his ancient 
 records, did not much mistake the truth of the 
 history ; but that when he had recourse to fabu- 
 lous stories, without any certain author, he either 
 forged them himself without any probability, or 
 else gave credit to some men who spake so, out 
 of their ill-will to us. 
 
 32. And now I have done with Manetho, I will 
 inquire into what Cheremon says ; for he also, 
 when he pretended to write the Egyptian history, 
 sets down the same name for this king that Ma- 
 netho did, Amenophis, as also of his son Ram- 
 esses, and then goes on thus: "The goddess 
 Isis appeared to Amenophis in his sleep, and 
 blamed him that her temple had been demolished 
 in the war ; but that Phritiphantes, the sacred 
 scribe, said to him, that in case he would purge 
 Egypt of the men that had pollutions upon them, 
 he should be no longer troubled with such fright- 
 ful apparitions. That Amenophis accordingly 
 chose out two hundred and fifty thousand of 
 those that were thus diseased, and cast them out 
 of the country : that Moses and Joseph were 
 scribes, and Joseph was a sacred scribe ; that 
 their names were Egyptian originally ; that of 
 Moses had been Tisithene, and that of Joseph 
 Peteseph : that these two came to Pelusium, and 
 lighted upon three hundred and eighty thousand 
 that had been left there by Amenophis, he no1 
 being willing to carry them into Egypt ; that 
 these scribes made a league of friendship, with 
 them and made with them an expedition against 
 Egypt : that Amenophis could not sustain theii 
 attacks, but immediately fled into Ethiopia, and 
 left his wife with child behind him, who lay con- 
 cealed in certain caverns, and there brought 
 forth a son, whose name was Messene, and who, 
 when he was grown up to man's estate, pursued 
 the Jews into Syria, being about two hundred 
 thousand men, and then received his father 
 Amenophis out of Ethiopia." 
 
 33. This is the account Cheremon gives us. 
 Now, I take it for granted, that what I have 
 said already hath plainly proved the falsity of 
 both these narrations ; for had there been any 
 real truth at the bottom, it was impossible that 
 they should so greatly disagree about the par- 
 ticulars ; but for those that invent lies, what 
 they write will easily give us very different ac- 
 coiiuts, while they forge what they please out of 
 their own heads. Now, Manetho says that the 
 king's desire of seeing the gods was the origin of 
 the ejection of the polluted people ; but Chere- 
 mon feigns that it was a dream of his own, sent 
 upon him by Isis, that was the occasion of it. 
 Msiuetho says that the person who foreshewed 
 this purgation of Egypt to the king, was Ameno- 
 phis ; but this man says it was Phritiphantes. 
 As to the numbers of the multitude that wert 
 expelled, they agree exceedingly well, * the for- 
 mer reckoning them eighty thousand, and t'x- 
 
 * By way of irony, I (uippose
 
 i.] 
 
 FLAVIUS JO^EPHUS AGAINST APION. 
 
 latter about two hundred and tifty thousand ' 
 Now, for Manetho, he describes these polluted 
 persons as sent first to work in the quarries, and 
 says, that after that the city Avaris was given 
 them for their habitation. As also, he relates 
 that it was not till after they had made war with 
 the rest of the Egyptians, that they invited the 
 people of Jerusalem to come to their assistance ; 
 while Cheremon says only, that they were gone 
 out of Egypt, and lighted upon three hundred 
 and eighty thousand men about Pelusium, who 
 had been left there by Amenophis, and so they 
 invaded Egypt with them again ; that thereupon 
 Amenophis fled into Ethiopia ; but then, this 
 Cheremon commits a most ridiculous blunder in 
 not informing us who this army of so many ten 
 thousands were, or whence they came ; whether 
 they were native Egyptians, or whether they 
 came from a foreign country. Nor indeed has 
 this man, who forged a dream from Isis about 
 the leprous people, assigned the reason why the 
 king would not bring them into Egypt. More- 
 over, Cheremon set* down Joseph as driven 
 away at the same time with Moses, who yet died 
 four generations * before Moses ; which four 
 generations make almost one hundred and seventy 
 years. Besides all this, Harnesses, the son of 
 Amenophis, by Manetho's account, was a young 
 man, and assisted his father in his war, and left 
 the country at the same time with him, and fled 
 into Ethiopia : but Cheremon makes him to have 
 been born in a certain cave, after his father was 
 dead, and that he had then overcame the Jews 
 in battle, and drove them into Syria, being in 
 number about two hundred thousand. O the 
 levity of the man ! for he neither told us who 
 these three hundred and eighty thousand were, 
 nor how the four hundred and thirty thousand 
 perished ; whether they fell in war, or went over 
 to Harnesses ; and, what is strangest of all, it is 
 not possible to learn out of him, who they were 
 whom he calls Jews, or to which of these two 
 parties he applies that denomination, whether to 
 the two hundred and fifty thousand leprous 
 people, or to the three hundred and eighty 
 thousand that were about Pelusium. But per- 
 haps it will be looked upon as a silly thing in 
 me to make any larger confutation of such 
 writers as sufficiently confute themselves ; for 
 had they been only confuted by other men, it 
 had been more tolerable. 
 
 34. I shall now add to these accounts about 
 Manetho and Cheremon, somewhat about Lysi- 
 machus, who hath taken the same topic of 
 falsehood, with those forementioned, but hath 
 gone far beyond them in the incredible nature of 
 his forgeries ; which plainly demonstrates that 
 he contrived them out of his virulent hatred of 
 our nation. His words are these : " The people 
 of the Jews being leprous and scabby, ana 
 subject to certain other kinds of distemper, in 
 the days of Bocchoris, king of Egypt, they fled to 
 the temples, and got their food there by begging; 
 and as the numbers were very great that were 
 fallen under these diseases, there arose a scarcity 
 in Egypt. Hereupon, Bocchoris, the king of 
 E^yi't' sent some to consult the oracle of [Jupi 
 ter] Hammon about this scarcity. The god t 
 answer was this, that he must purge his temples 
 of impure and impious men, by expelling them 
 out of those temples into desert places ; but as 
 to the scabby and leprous people, he must drown 
 them, and purge his temples, the sun having an 
 indignation at these men being suffered to live 
 
 Here we see that Josephus esteemed a generation 
 wtweon Joseph and Moses to be about 42 or 43 years 
 whirl, if taken between the earlier ch.ldren, well 
 ' ' with the duration of human life in those ag-s. 
 
 nd by this means the land will bring forth its 
 ruits. Upon Bocchoris's having received these 
 racles, he called for their priests, and the atten- 
 .ants upon their altars, and ordered them to 
 nake a collection of tlie impure people, and to 
 leliver them to the soldiers, to carry them away 
 into the desert ; but to take the leprous people, 
 and wrap them in sheets of lead, and let them 
 lown into the sea. Hereupon the scabby and 
 eprous people were drowned, and the rest were 
 gotten together, and sent into desert places, in 
 order to be exposed to destruction. In this case 
 ;hey assembled themselves together, and took 
 uuusel what they should do ; and determined 
 ;hat, as the night was coming on, they should 
 dndle fires and lamps, and keep watch ; that 
 ;hey also should fast the next night, and pro- 
 pitiate the gods, in order to obtain deliverance 
 Tom them. That on the next day there was 
 one Moses, who advised them that they should 
 venture upon a journey, and go along one road 
 ;ill they should come to places fit for habitation ; 
 ;hat he charged them to have no kind regards 
 'or any man, nor give good counsel to any, but 
 always to advise them for the worst ; and to 
 overturn all those temples and altars of the gods 
 they should meet with : that the rest commended 
 what he had said with one consent, and did what 
 they had resolved on, and so travelled over the 
 desert. But that the difficulties of the journey 
 being over, they came to a country inhabited, 
 and that there they abused the men, and plun- 
 dered and burnt their temples, and then came 
 into that land which is called Judea, and there 
 they built a city and dwelt thereto, and that 
 their city was named Hierosyla, from this their 
 robbing of the temples ; but that still, upon the 
 success they had afterwards, they through course 
 of time, changed its denomination, that it might 
 not be a reproach to them, and called the city 
 Hierosolyma, and themselves Hicrosolymites." 
 
 35. Now this man did not discover and men- 
 tion the same king with the others, but feigned 
 a newer name, and passing by the dream and the 
 Egyptian prophet, he brings to him [Jupiter] 
 Hammon, in order to gain oracles about the 
 scabby and leprous people ; for he says that the 
 multitude of Jews were gathered together at 
 the temples. Now, it is uncertain whether he 
 ascribes this name to these lepers, or to those 
 that were subject to such diseases among the 
 Jews only ; for he describes them as a people of 
 the Jews. What people does he mean ? foreign- 
 ers, or those of that country ? Why, then, dost 
 thou call them Jews, if they were Egyptians? 
 But if they were foreigners, why dost thou not 
 tell us whence they came? And how could it be 
 that, after the king had thrown many of them 
 into the sea, and ejected the rest into desert 
 places, there should be still so great a multitude 
 remaining? Or after wn:it manner did they pass 
 over the desert, and get the land which we now 
 dwell in, and build our city, and that temple 
 which hath been so famous among all mankind? 
 And besides, he ought to have spoken more 
 about our legislator than by giving us his bare 
 name ; and to have informed us of what natwn 
 he was and what parents he was denved i: 
 and to have assign ed the reasons why he under- 
 took to make such laws concerning the gods, and 
 concerning matters of injustice with regard to 
 men during that journey. For, in case the peo- 
 ple were by birth Egyptians they would not on 
 the sudden have so easily changed the custom, 
 of their country ; and in case they had been 
 foreigners, they had for certain some laws or 
 other which had been kept by them from long 
 custom. It is true, that with regard to tho*,
 
 922 
 
 FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS AGAINST APION. 
 
 (.BOOK II. 
 
 who had ejected them, they might have sworn 
 never to bear good-will to them, and might have 
 had a plausible reason for so doing. But if these 
 men resolved to wage an implacable war against 
 all men, in case they had acted as wickedly as he 
 relates of them, and this while they wanted the 
 assistance of all men, this demonstrates a kind 
 of mad conduct indeed; but not of the men 
 themselves, but very greatly so of- him that tells 
 such lies about them. He hath also impudence 
 enough to say that a name, implying "Robbers 
 of the temples,"* was given to their city, but 
 that this name was afterwards changed. The 
 
 * That is the meaning of Hierosyla in Greek, not in 
 Hebrew. 
 
 reason of which is plain, that the former name 
 brought reproach and hatred upon them in the 
 times of their prosperity, while it seems those 
 that built the city thought they did honour to 
 the city by giving it such a name. So we see 
 that this fine fellow had such an unbounded 
 inclination to reproa'ch us, that he did not under- 
 stand that robbery of temples is not expressed 
 by the same word and name among the Jews as 
 it is among the Greeks. But why should a man 
 say any more to a person who tells such im- 
 pudent lies ! However, since this book is arisen 
 to a competent length, I will make another 
 beginning, and endeavour to add what still re- 
 mains to perfect my design, in the following 
 book. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 1. IN the former book, most honoured Epaph- 
 roditus, I have demonstrated our antiquity, 
 and confirmed the truth of what I have said, 
 from the writings of the Phoenicians, and Chal- 
 deans, and Egyptians. I have, moreover, pro- 
 duced many of the Grecian writers, as witnesses 
 thereto. I have also made a refutation of 
 Manetho and Cheremon, and of certain others 
 of our enemies. I shall now* therefore begin 
 a confutation of the remaining authors who hav,> 
 written anything against us ; although I confess 
 I have had a doubt upon me about Apion,"f the 
 grammarian, whether I ought to take the trouble 
 of confuting him or not ; for some of his writ- 
 ings contain much the same accusations which 
 the others have laid against us, some things that 
 he hath added are very frigid and contemptible, 
 and for the greatest part of what he says, it is 
 very scurrilous ; and, to speak no more than the 
 plain truth, it shews him to be a very unlearned 
 person ; and what he lays together looks like the 
 work of a, man of very bad morals, and of one no 
 better in his whole life than a mountebank. 
 Yet, because there are a great many men so very 
 foolish that they are rather caught by such 
 orations than by what is written with care, and 
 take pleasure in reproaching other men, and can- 
 not abide to hear them commended, I thought 
 it to be necessary not to let this man go off 
 without examination, who had written such an 
 accusation against us, as if he would bring us to 
 make an answer in open court. For I also have 
 obsen ed, that many men are very much de- 
 lightei \ when they see a man who first began to 
 reproa )h another, to be himself exposed to con- 
 tempt on account of the vices he hath himself 
 been guilty of. However, it is not a very easy 
 thing to go over this man's discourse, nor to 
 know plainly what he means ; yet does he seem 
 amidst great confusion and disorder in his false- 
 hoods, to produce, in the first place, such things 
 as resemble what we have examined already, 
 and relate to the departure of our forefathers 
 out of Egypt ; and, in the second place, he 
 accuses those Jews that are inhabitants of Alex- 
 
 * The former part of this book is written against the 
 calumnies of Apion, and then more briefly against the 
 like calumnies of Apollonius Molo. But after that, 
 Josephus leaves off any more particular reply to those 
 adversaries of the Jews, and gives us a large and ex- 
 cellent description and vindication of that theocracy 
 which was settled for the Jewish nation by Moses, their 
 great legislator. 
 
 1 Called by Tiberius Cymbalum Mundittte drum 
 of the world. 
 
 ondria; as, in the third place, he mixes with 
 these things such accusations as concern the 
 sacred purifications, with the other legal rites 
 used in the temple. 
 
 2. Now, although I cannot but think that I 
 have already demonstrated, and that abundantly, 
 more than was necessary, that our fathers were 
 not originally Egyptians, nor were thence ex- 
 pelled, either on account of bodily diseases, or 
 any other calamities of that sort, yet will I 
 briefly take notice of what Apion adds upon 
 that subject ; for in his third book, which re- 
 lates to the affairs of Egypt, he speaks thus : 
 " I have heard of the ancient men of Egypt, that 
 Moses was of Heliopolis, and that he thought 
 himself obliged to follow the customs of his fore- 
 fathers, and offered his prayers in the open air, 
 towards the city walls; but that he reduced 
 them all to be directed towards the sun-rising, 
 which was agreeable to the situation of Helio- 
 polis ; that he also set up pillars instead of 
 gnomons, Bunder which was represented a cavity 
 like that of a boat, arid the shadow that fell 
 from their tops fell down upon that cavity, that 
 it might go round about the like course as the 
 sun itself goes round in the other." This is 
 that wonderful relation which we have given us 
 by this great grammarian. But that it is a false 
 one is so plain, that it stands in need of few 
 words to prove it, but is manifest from the works 
 of Moses ; for when he erected the first taber- 
 nacle to God, he did himself neither give order 
 for any such kind of representation to be made 
 at it, nor ordain that those who came after him 
 should make such a one. Moreover, when in a 
 future age Solomon built his temple in Jerusa- 
 lem, he avoided all such needless decorations as 
 Apion hath here devised. He says farther, 
 ' ' how he had heard of the ancient men that 
 Moses was of Heliopolis." To be sure that 
 was because, being a younger man himself, he 
 believed those that by their elder age were ac- 
 quainted and conversed with him. Now, this 
 [man,] grammarian as he was, could not cer- 
 tainly tell which was the poet Homer's country, 
 no more than he could which was the country of 
 Pythagoras, who lived comparatively but a little 
 while ago ; yet does he thus easily determine 
 
 J This seems to have been the first dial that had 
 been made in Egypt, and was a little before the time 
 that Ahaz made his [first] dial in Judea, and about 
 anno 755, in the first year of the seventh olympaid, 
 as we shall see presently. See 2 Kings xx. 11 ; Isa. 
 xxxviii. 8.
 
 BOOK. II.] 
 
 7LAVIUS JOSEPHUS AGAINST APION. 
 
 623 
 
 the age of Moses, who preceded them such a 
 vast number of years, as depending on his 
 ancient men's relation, which shews how notori- 
 ous a liar he was. But then as to this chrono- 
 logical determination of the time when he says 
 he brought the leprous people, the blind, and the 
 lame, out of Egypt, see how well this most accu- 
 rate grammarian of ours agrees with those that 
 have, written before him! Manetho says that 
 the Jews departed out of Egypt in the reign of 
 Tethmosia, three hundred and ninety -three 
 years before Danaus fled to Argos ; Lysimachus 
 says it was under king Bocchoris, that is, one 
 thousand seven hundred years ago ; Molo and 
 some others determined it as every one pleased : 
 but this Apion of ours, as deserving to be be- 
 lieved before them, hath determined it exactly 
 to have been in the seventh olympiad, and the 
 first year of that olympiad ; the very same year 
 in which he says that Carthage was built by the 
 Phoenicians. The reason why he added this 
 building of Carthage was, to be sure, in order, as 
 he thought, to strengthen his assertion by so 
 evident a character of Chronology. But he was 
 not aware that this character confutes his asser- 
 tion ; for if we may give credit to the Phoenician 
 records as to the time of the first coming of their 
 colony to Carthage, they relate that Hirom their 
 king was above one hundred and fifty years 
 earlier than the building of Carthage ; concerning 
 whom I have formerly produced testimonials 
 out of those Phoenician records, as also that this 
 Hirom was a friend of Solomon when he was 
 building the temple of Jerusalem, and gave him 
 great assistance in his building that temple ; 
 while still Solomon himself built that temple six 
 hundred and twelve years after the Jews came 
 out of Egypt. As for the number of those that 
 were expelled out of Egypt, he hath contrived 
 to have the very same number with Lysimachus, 
 and says they were a hundred and ten thousand. 
 He then assigns a certain wonderful and plau- 
 sible occasion for the name of Sabbath ; for he 
 says, that " when the Jews had travelled a. six 
 days' journey, they had buboes in their groins : 
 and that on this account it was that they rested 
 on the seventh day, as having got safely to that 
 country which is called Judea ; that then they 
 preserved the language of the Egyptians, and 
 called that day the Sabbath, for that malady of 
 buboes in their groin, was, named Sabbatosis by 
 the Egyptians." And would not a man now 
 laugh at this fellow's trifling, or rather hate his 
 impudence in writing thus? We must, it seems, 
 take it for granted, that all these hundred 
 and ten thousand men must have had these 
 buboes ! But, for certain, if those men had 
 been blind and lame, and had all sorts of distem- 
 pers upon them, as Apion says they had, they 
 could not have gone one single day's journey; 
 but if they had been all able to travel over a 
 large desert, and, besides that, to fight and con- 
 quer those that opposed them, they had not all 
 of them had buboes in their groins after the 
 sixth day was over ; for no such distemper 
 comes naturally and of necessity upon those that 
 travel; but still, when there are many ten 
 thousands in a camp together, they constantly 
 march a settled space [in a day.] Nor is it at all 
 probable that such a thing should happen by 
 chance ; this would be prodigiously absurd to be 
 supposed. However, our admirable author 
 Apion hath before told us, that " they came to 
 1 Judea in six days' time;" and again, that 
 I "Moses went up to a mountain that lay be- 
 ! tween Egypt and Arabia, which was called 
 Sinai, and was concealed there forty days, and 
 , that when he came down from thence, he gave 
 
 laws to the Jews." But then, how is it possible 
 for them to tarry forty days in a desert placo, 
 where there was no water, and at the same time 
 to pass all over the country between that and 
 Judea in the six days ? And as for this grammati- 
 cal translation of the word Sabbath, it either con- 
 tains an instance of his great impudence or gross 
 ignorance; for the words Salbo and Sabbath are 
 widely different from one another ; for the word 
 Sabbath in the Jewish language denotes rest from 
 all sorts of work; but the word Sabbo, as he 
 affirms, denotes among the Egyptians, the malady 
 of a bubo in the groin. 
 
 3. This is that novel account which the Egyp- 
 tian Apion gives us concerning the Jews' de- 
 parture out of Egypt, and is no better than a 
 contrivance of his own. But why should we 
 wonder at the lies he tella us about our fore- 
 fathers, when he affirms them to be of Egyptian 
 original, when he lies about himself? for al- 
 though he was born at Oasis in Egypt, he pre- 
 tends to be, as a man may say, the top man of 
 all the Egyptians ; yet does he forswear his real 
 country and progenitors, and by falsely pretend- 
 ing to be born at Alexandria, cannot deny the 
 pravity of his family ; for you see how justly he 
 calls those Egyptians whom he hates, and en- 
 deavours to reproach; for had he not deemed 
 Egyptians to be a name of great reproach, he 
 would not have avoided the name of an Egyp- 
 tian himself ; as we know that those who brag 
 of their own countries, value themselves upon 
 the denomination they acquire thereby, and re- 
 prove such as unjustly lay claim thereto. M 
 for the Egyptians' claim to be of our kindred, 
 they do it on one of the folio whig accounts : I 
 mean, either as they value themselves upon it, 
 and pretend to bear that relation to us ; or else 
 as they would draw us in to be partakers of 
 their own infamy. But this fine fellow, Apion, 
 seems to broach this reproachful appellation 
 against us [that we were originally Egyptians] 
 in order to bestow it on the Alexandrians as a 
 reward for the privilege they had given him of 
 being a fellow-citizen with them ; he also i* ap- 
 prised of the ill-will the Alexandrians bear to 
 those Jews who are their fellow-citizens, and sc 
 proposes to himself to reproach them, although 
 he must thereby include all the other Egyptians 
 also ; while in botl- sases he is no better than an 
 impudent liar. 
 
 4. But let us ti' v r see what those heavy and 
 wicked crimes are, which Apion charges upon 
 the Alexandrian Jews. " They came " (says he) 
 " out of Syria, and inhabited near the tempest- 
 uous sea, and were in the neighbourhood of the 
 dashing of the waves." Now, if the place of 
 habitation includes anything that is reproach- 
 ful, this man reproaches not his own real coun- 
 try, [Egypt,] but what he pretends to be of his 
 own country, Alexandria ; for all are agreed in 
 thin, that the part of that city which is near tu 
 the sea, is the best part of all for habitation. 
 Now if the Jews gained that part of the city 
 by force, and have kept it hitherto without im- 
 peachment, this is a mark of their valour ; but 
 in reality it was Alexander himself that gave 
 them that place for their habitation, when they 
 obtained equal privileges there with the Mace- 
 donians. Nor can I devise what Apion woulri 
 have said, had their habitation been at fcecro- 
 polis and not been fixed hard by the royal 
 palace [ag it is ;] nor had their nation had the de- 
 nomination of Macedonians given them till this 
 very day [as they have.] Had this man now 
 read the epistles of king Alexander, or those 
 of Ptolemy the son of Lagus, or met with the 
 urinno-s of the succeeding kings, or that, pill"
 
 61"* 
 
 FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS AGAINST APION. 
 
 [BOOK ii. 
 
 which is still standing at Alexandria, and con- 
 tains the privileges which the great [Julius] 
 Caesar bestowed upon the Jews ; had this man, 
 I say, known these records, and yet hath the 
 impudence to write in contradiction to them, 
 he hath shewn himself to be a wicked man : 
 but if he knew nothing of these records, he 
 hath shewn himself to be a man very ignorant : 
 nay, when he appears to wonder how Jews 
 could be called Alexandrians, this is another 
 like instance of his ignorance; for all such as 
 are called out to be colonists, although they be 
 ever so far remote from one another in their 
 original, receive their names from those that 
 bring them to their new habitations. And what 
 occasion is there to speak of others, when those 
 of us Jews that dwell at Antioch, are named 
 Antiochians, because Seleucus, the founder of 
 that city, gave them the privileges belonging 
 thereto ? After the like manner do those Jews 
 that inhabit Ephesus and the other cities of 
 Ionia enjoy the same name with those that 
 were originally born there, by the grant of the 
 succeeding princes ; nay, the kindness and hu- 
 manity of the Romans hath been so great, that 
 it hath granted leave to almost all others to 
 take the same name of Romans upon them ; I 
 mean not particularly men only, but entire and 
 large nations themselves also ; for those anciently 
 named Iberi, and Tyrrheni, and Sobini, are now 
 called Romani : and if Apion reject this way of 
 obtaining the privilege of a citizen of Alex- 
 andria, let him abstain from calling himself an 
 Alexandrian hereafter ; for otherwise, how can 
 he who was born in the very heart of Egypt be 
 an Alexandrian, if this way of accepting such a 
 privilege, of which he would have us deprived, 
 be once abrogated ? Although indeed these Ro- 
 mans, who are now the lords of the habitable 
 earth, have forbidden the Egyptians to have the 
 privileges of any city whatsoever, while this 
 fine fellow, who is willing to partake of such a 
 privilege himself as he is fobidden to make use 
 of, endeavours by calumnies to deprive those of 
 it that have justly received it : for Alexander 
 did not therefore get some of our nation to 
 Alexandria because he wanted inhabitants for 
 this his city, on whose building he hud bestowed 
 so much pains ; but this was given to our people 
 as a reward ; because he had, upon a careful 
 trial, found them all to have been men of virtue 
 and fidelity to him ; for, as Hecateus says con- 
 cerning us, " Alexander honoured our nation to 
 such a degree, that, for the equity and the 
 fidelity which the Jews exhibited to him, he 
 permitted them to hold the country of Samaria 
 free from tribute. Of the same mind was 
 Ptolemy the son of Lagus, as to those Jews 
 who dwelt at Alexandria," For he intrusted 
 the fortresses of Egypt into their hands, as be- 
 lieving they would keep them faithfully and 
 valiantly fey them ; and when he was desirous 
 to secure the government of Cyrene, and the 
 other cities of Libya to himself, he sent a party 
 of Jews to inhabit them. And as for his suc- 
 cessor Ptolemy, who was called Philadelphus, 
 he did not only set all those of our nation free, 
 who were captives under him, but did give a 
 great deal of money [for their ransom] ; and, 
 what was his greatest work of all, he had a 
 great desire of knowing our laws, and of obtain- 
 ing the books of our sacred scriptures : accord- 
 ingly he desired that such men might be sent 
 him as might interpret our law to him ; and in 
 order to have them well compiled, he com- 
 mitted that care to no ordinary persons, but or- 
 dained that Demetrius Phalereus, and Andreas, 
 and Aristea-s ; the first. Demetrius, the most 
 
 learned person of his age, and the others, such 
 as were intrusted with the guard of his body, 
 should take the care of this matter : nor would 
 he certainly have been so desirous of learning 
 our law and the philosophy of our nation, had 
 he despised the men that made use of it, or had 
 he not indeed had them in great admiration. 
 
 5. Now, this Apion was unacquainted with 
 almost all the kings of those Macedonians whom 
 he pretends to have been his progenitors, who 
 were yet veiy well affected towards us ; for the 
 third of those Ptolemies, who were called Euer- 
 getes, when he had gotten possession of all Syria 
 by force, did not offer his thank-offerings to the 
 Egyptian gods for his victory, but came to Jeru- 
 salem, and, according to our own laws, offered 
 many sacrifices to God, and dedicated to Him 
 such gifts as were suitable to such a victory ; 
 and as for Ptolemy Philometer and his wife 
 Cleopatra, they committed their whole kingdom 
 to Jews, when Onias and Dositheus, both Jews, 
 whose names are laughed at by Apion, were the 
 generals of their whole army ; out certainly, 
 instead of reproaching them, he ought to admire 
 their actions, and return them thanks for saving 
 Alexandria, whose citizen he pretends to be ; for 
 when these Alexandrians were making war with 
 Cleopatra the queen, and were in danger of being 
 utterly ruined, these Jews brought them to terms 
 of agreement, and freed them from the miseries 
 of a civil war. "But then (says Apion) Onias 
 brought a small army afterward upon the city, 
 at the time when Thermus the Roman ambas- 
 sador, was there present." Yes, do I venture 
 to say, and that he did rightly and very justly 
 in so doing ; for that Ptolemy who was called 
 Physco, upon the death of his brother Philo- 
 meter, came from Cyrene, and would have 
 ejected Cleopatra as well as her sons out of her 
 kingdom, that he might obtain it for himself 
 unjustly. For this cause then it was that Onias 
 undertook a war against him on Cleopatra's 
 account; nor would he desert that trust the 
 royal family had reposed in him in their distress. 
 Accordingly, God gave a remarkable attestation 
 to his righteous procedure ; for when Ptolemy 
 Physco had the presumption to fight against 
 Onias's army, and had caught all the Jews that 
 were in the city, [Alexandria,] with their chil- 
 dren and wives, and exposed them naked and 
 in bonds to his elephants, that they might be 
 trodden upon and destroyed, and when he had 
 made those elephants drunk for that purpose, 
 the event proved contrary to his preparations ; 
 for these elephants left the Jews who were ex- 
 posed to them, and fell violently upon Physco's 
 friends, and slew a great number of them ; nay, 
 after this, Ptolemy saw a terrible ghost, which 
 prohibited his hurting those men ; his very con- 
 cubine, whom he loved so well (some call her 
 Ithaca, and others Irene), making supplication 
 to him, that he would not perpetrate so great a 
 wickedness. So he complied with her request, 
 and repented of what he either had already 
 done, or was about to do ; whence it is well 
 known that the Alexandrian Jews do with good 
 reason celebrate this day, on the account that 
 they had thereon been vouchsafed such an evi- 
 dent deliverance from God. However, Apion, 
 the common calumniator of men, hath the pre- 
 sumption to accuse the Jews for making this 
 war against Physco, when he ought to have 
 commended them for the same. This man also 
 makes mention of Cleopatra, the last Queen of 
 Alexandria, and abuses us, because she was un- 
 grateful to us ; whereas he ought to have re- 
 proved her, who indulged herself in all kinds of 
 iniuatice and wicked p7-;i<^ic.ps. both with retrtwrl
 
 BOOK II.] 
 
 FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS AGAINST APION. 
 
 625 
 
 to her nearest relations, and husbands who had 
 loved her, and indeed in general with regard 
 to all the Romans, and those emperors that 
 were her benefactors ; who also had her sister 
 Arstnoe slain in a temple, when she had done 
 ber no harm : moreover, she had her brother 
 slain by private treachery, and she destroyed the 
 gods of her country, and the sepulchres of her 
 progenitors ; and while she had received her 
 kingdom from the first Caesar, she had the im- 
 pudence to rebel against his son * and successor ; 
 nay, she corrupted Antony with her love-tricks, 
 and rendered him an enemy to his country, and 
 made him treacherous to his friends, and [by 
 his means] despoiled some of their royal author- 
 ity, and forced others in her madness to act 
 wickedly ; but what need I enlarge upon this 
 head any farther, when she left Antony in his 
 fight at sea, though he were her husband, and 
 the father of their common children, and com- 
 pelled him to resign up his government, with 
 the army, and to follow her [into Egypt ;] nay, 
 when last of all, Caesar had taken Alexandria, 
 she came to that pitch of cruelty, that she de- 
 clared she had some hope of preserving her 
 affairs still, in case she could kill the Jews, 
 though it were with her own hand ; to such a 
 degree of barbarity and perfidiousness had she 
 arrived ; and doth any one think that we cannot 
 boast ourselves of anything, if, as Apion says, 
 this queen did not at a time of famine, distribute 
 wheat among us ? However, she at length met 
 with the punishment she deserved. AS for us 
 Jews, we appeal to the great Caesar what assist- 
 ance we brought him, and what fidelity we 
 shewed to him against the Egyptians ; as also 
 to the senate and its decrees, and the epistles of 
 Augustus Caesar, whereby our merits [to the 
 Romans] are justified. Apion ought to have 
 looked upon those epistles, and in particular to 
 have examined the testimonies given on our 
 behalf under Alexander and all the Ptolemies, 
 and the decrees of the senate and of the greatest 
 Roman emperors ; and if Germanicus was not 
 able to make a distribution of corn to all the 
 inhabitants of Alexandria, that only shews what 
 a barren time it was, and how great a want there 
 was then of corn, but tends nothing to the accu- 
 sation of the Jews ; for what all the emperors 
 have thought of the Alexandrian Jews is well 
 known, for this distribution of wheat was no 
 otherwise omitted with regard to the Jews, than 
 it was with regard to the other inhabitants of 
 Alexandria ; but they still were desirous to pre- 
 serve what the kings had formerly intrusted to 
 their care, I mean the custody of the river : nor 
 did those kings think them unworthy of having 
 the entire custody thereof upon all occasions. 
 
 6. But besides this, Apion objects to us thas : 
 " If the Jews (says he) be citizens of Alexan- 
 dria, why do not they worship the same gods with 
 the Alexandrians?" To which I give this an- 
 swer : Since you are yourselves Egyptians, why 
 do you fight one against another, and have 
 implacabk wars about your religion? At this 
 rate we must not call you all Egyptians, nor in- 
 deed, in general, men, because you breed up with 
 great care beasts of a nature quite contrary to 
 that of men, although the nature of all men 
 seems to be one and the same. Now, if their be 
 such differences in opinion among you Egyptians, 
 why are you surprised that those who came to 
 Alexandria from another country, and had ori- 
 ginal laws of their own before, should persevere 
 in the observance of those laws? But still he 
 tharges us with being the authors of sedition : 
 
 Sister's ton, and adopted son. 
 
 which accusation if it be a just one, why is it not 
 laid against us all, since we are known to be all 
 of one mind ? Moreover, those that search into 
 such matters will soon discover that the authors 
 of sedition have been such citizens of Alexandria 
 as Apion is; for while they were the Grecians 
 and Macedonians who were in possession of this 
 city, there was no sedition raised against us, and 
 we were permitted to observe our ancient solem- 
 nities ; but when the number of the Egyptians 
 therein, came to be considerable, the times grew 
 confused, and then these seditions brake out still 
 more and more, while our people continued un- 
 corrupted. These Egyptians, therefore, were tin 
 authors of these troubles, who not having the 
 constancy of Macedonians, nor the prudence of 
 Grecians, indulged all of them the evil manners 
 of the Egyptians, and continued their ancient 
 hatred against us ; for what is here so presump- 
 tuously charged upon us, is owing to the differ- 
 ences that are amongst themselves ; while many 
 of them have not obtained the privileges of citi- 
 zens in proper times, but style those who are 
 well known to have had that privilege extended 
 to them all, no other than foreigners ; for it does 
 not appear that any of the kings have ever for- 
 merly bestowed those privileges of citizens upon 
 Egyptians, no more than have the emperors done 
 it more lately ; while it was Alexander who 
 introduced us into this city at first, the kings 
 augmented our privileges therein, and the Ro- 
 mans have been pleased to preserve them always 
 inviolable, Moreover, Apion would lay a blot 
 upoii us, because we do not erect images to our 
 emperors, as if those emperors did not know tliis 
 before, or stood in need of Apion as their defender : 
 whereas he ought rather to have admired the 
 magnanimity and modesty of the Romans, where- 
 by they do not compel those that are subject to 
 them to transgress the laws of their countries, 
 but are willing to receive the honours due to 
 them after such a manner as those who are to 
 pay them esteem consistent with piety and with 
 their own laws; for they do not thank people 
 for conferring honours upon them, when they 
 are compelled by violence so to do. Accordingly, 
 since the Grecians and some other nations think 
 it a right thing to make images, nay, when they 
 have painted the pictures of their parents, and 
 wives, and children, they exult for joy ; and 
 some there are who take pictures for themselves 
 of such persons as were no way related to them : 
 nay, some take the pictures of such servants as 
 they were fond of. What wonder is it then if such 
 as these appear willing to pay the same respect to 
 their princes and lords ? But then our legislator 
 had forbidden us to make images, not by way of 
 denunciation beforehand, that the Roman_ au- 
 thority was not to be honoured, but as despising 
 a thing that was neither necessary nor useful for 
 either G<od or man ; and he forbade them, as we 
 shall prove hereafter, to make these images for 
 any part of the animal creation, and much les? 
 for God himself, who is no part of such animal 
 creation. Yet hath our legislator nowhere for- 
 bidden us to pay hononrs to worthy men, pro- 
 vided they be of another kind, and inferior to 
 those we pay to God ; with which honours we 
 willingly testify our respect to our emperors, and 
 to the people of Rome ; we also offer perpetual 
 sacrifices for them ; nor do we only offer them 
 every day at the common expenses of all the Jews ; 
 but although we offer no other such sacrifices out 
 of our common expenses, no not for our own 
 children, yet do we this as a peculiar honour to 
 the emperors, and to them alone, while we do 
 the same t.o no other person whomsoever. And 
 let this suffice for an answer ir. general, to Apion.
 
 FLAVITTS JOSEPHUS AGATNST APION. 
 
 [BOOK ii 
 
 u to what he says with relation to the Alexan- 
 drian Jews. 
 
 7. However, I csanot but admire those other 
 authors who furnished this man with such his 
 materials; I mean Posidonious and Apolloniua 
 Molo, who, while they accuse us for not wor- 
 shipping the same gods whom others worship, 
 they think themselves not guilty of impiety 
 when they tell lies of us, and frame absurd and 
 reproachful stories about our temple ; whereas 
 it is a most shameful thing for freemen to forge 
 lies on any occasion, and much more so to forge 
 them about our temple, which was so famous 
 over all the world, and was preserved so sacred 
 by us ; for Apion hath the impudence to pre- 
 tend, that "the Jews placed an ass's head in 
 their holy place ; " and he affirms that this was 
 discovered when Antiochus Epiphanes spoiled 
 our temple, and found that ass's head there 
 made of gold, and worth a great deal of money. 
 To this my first answer shall be this, that had 
 there been any such thing among us, an Egyp- 
 tian ought by no means to have thrown it in our 
 teeth, since an ass is not a more contemptible 
 
 animal than ,* and goats, and other such 
 
 creatures which among them are gods. But be- 
 sides this answer, I say further, how comes it 
 about that Apion does not understand this to be 
 no other than a palpable lie, and to be confuted 
 by the thing itself as utterly incredible ? For 
 we Jews are always governed by the same laws, 
 in which we constantly persevere; and although 
 many misfortunes have befallen our city, as the 
 like have befallen others, and although Theos 
 [Epiphanes,] andPompey the Great, andLicinius 
 Crassus, and last of all Titus Caesar, have con- 
 quered us in war, and gotten possession of our 
 temple, yet has none of them found any such 
 thing there, nor indeed anything but what was 
 agreeable to the strictest piety ; although what 
 they found we are not at liberty to reveal to 
 other nations. But for Antiochus [Epiphanes,] 
 he had no just cause for that ravage in our 
 temple that he made ; he only came to it when 
 he wanted money, without declaring himself our 
 enemy, and attacked us while we were his asso- 
 ciates and his friends ; nor did he find anything 
 there that was ridiculous. This is ;it tested by 
 many worthy writers ; Polybius of Megalopolis, 
 Strabo of Cappadocia, Nicolaus of Damascus, 
 Timagenes, Castor the chronologer, and Apollo- 
 dorus,t who all say that it was out of Antio- 
 chus's want of money that he broke his league 
 with the Jews, and despoiled their temple when 
 it was full of gold and silver. Apion ought to 
 have had a regard to these facts, unless he had 
 himself \jad either an ass's heart or a dog's im- 
 pudence ; of such a dog I mean as they worship ; 
 tor he had no other external reasons for the lies 
 he tells of us. As for us Jews, we ascribe no 
 honour or power to asses, as do the Egyptians to 
 crocodiles and asps, when they esteem such as 
 are seized upon- by the former, or bitten by the 
 latter, to be happy persons, and persons worthy 
 of God. Asses are the same with us which 
 they are with other wise men, viz., creatures 
 that bear the burdens which we lay upon them ; 
 but if they come to our threshing-floors and eat 
 our corn, or do not perform what we impose 
 upon them, we beat them with a great many 
 
 * Furinna in the Latin, which, what animal it de- 
 notes, does not now appear. 
 
 t These six Pagan authors, here mentioned to have 
 described the famous profanation of the Jewish temple 
 by Antiochus Epiphanes are all lost ; I mean so far of 
 their writings as contained that description ; though 
 it is plain Josephus perused them all, as extant in his 
 time 
 
 stripes : because it is their business to minister 
 to us in our husbandry affairs. But this Apion 
 of ours was either perfectly unskilful in the 
 composition of such fallacious discourses. 01 
 however, when he began [somewhat better,] he 
 was not able to persevere in what he had under- 
 taken, since he hath no manner of success in 
 f hese reproaches he casts upon us. 
 
 ?. He adds another Grecian fable, in order to 
 t jproach us. In reply to which, it would be 
 enough to say that we who presume to speak 
 about divine worship ought not to be ignorant 
 of this plain truth, that it is a degree of less 
 impurity to pass through temples, than to forge 
 wicked calumnies of its priests. Now, such 
 men as he are more zealous to justify a sacrile- 
 gious king than to write what is just and what 
 is true about us, and about our temple ; for 
 when they are desirous of gratifying Antiochus, 
 and of concealing that perfidiousness and sacri- 
 lege which he was guilty of, with regard to our 
 nation, when he wanted money, they endeavour 
 to disgrace us, and tell lies even relating to 
 futurities. Apion becomes other men's prophet 
 upon this occasion, and says, that "Antiochus 
 found in our temple a bed and a man lying upon 
 it, with a small table before him, full of dain- 
 ties, from the [fishes of the] sea, and the fowls of 
 the dry land ; that this man was amazed at 
 these dainties thus set before him ; that he 
 immediately adored the king, upon the coming 
 in, as hoping that he would afford him all pos- 
 sible assistance ; that he fell down upon his 
 knens, and stretched out to him his right hand, 
 and begged to be released ; and that when the 
 king bade him sit down, and tell him who he 
 was, and why he dwelt there, and what was the 
 meaning of those various sorts of food that were 
 set before him, the man made a lamentable 
 complaint, and with sighs, and tears in his eyes, 
 gave him this account of the distress he was in ; 
 and said that he was a Greek, and that as he 
 went over this province, in order to get his 
 living, he was seized upon by foreigners, on 
 a sudden, and brought to this temple, and shut 
 up therein, and was seen by nobody, but was 
 fattened by these curious provisions thus set be- 
 fore him : and that truly at the first such unex- 
 pected advantages seemed to him matter of great 
 joy ; that, after a while they brought a suspicion 
 upon him, and at length astonishment, what 
 their meaning should be ; that at last he inquired 
 of the servants that came to him, and was by 
 them informed that it was in order to the ful- 
 filling a law of the Jews, which they must not 
 tell him, that he was thus fed; and that they 
 did the same at a set time every year : that they 
 used to catch a Greek foreigner, and fatten him 
 thus up every year, and then lead him to a cer- 
 tain wood, and kill him, and sacrifice with their 
 accustomed solemnities, and taste of his entrails, 
 and take an oath upon this sacrificing a Greek, 
 that they would ever be at enmity with the 
 Greeks ; and that then they threw the remain- 
 ing parts of the miserable wretch into a certain 
 pit.' Apion adds further, that "the man said 
 there were but a few days to come ere he was t<> 
 be slain, and implored Antiochus that, out of the 
 reverence he bore to the Grecian gods, he would 
 disappoint the snares the Jews laid for his blood, 
 and would deliver him from the miseries with 
 which he was encompassed.* Now, this is such 
 a most tragical fable, as is full of nothing but 
 cruelty and impudence ; yet does it not excuse 
 Antiochus of his sacrilegious attempts, as those 
 who wrote it in his vindication are willing tc 
 suppose ; for he could not presume beforehand 
 that h should meet with any such thing in com-
 
 BOOK II.] 
 
 FLAVITTS JOSETHTTS AGAINST APION. 
 
 (27 
 
 ing to the temple, but must have found it unex- 
 pectedly. He was therefore still an impious 
 person, that was given to unlawful pleasures, iind 
 had no regard to God in his actions. But [as 
 for Apion] he hath done whatever his extrava- 
 gant love of lying hath dictated to him, as it is 
 most easy to discover by a consideration of his 
 writings ; for the difference of our laws is known 
 not to regard the Grecians only, but they are 
 principally opposite to the Egyptians, and to 
 some other nations also : for while it so falls out, 
 that men of all countries come sometimes and 
 sojourn among us, how comes it about that we 
 take an oath, and conspire only against the Gre- 
 cians, and that by the effusion of their blood 
 also? Or how is it possible that all the Jews 
 should get together to these sacrifices, and the 
 entrails of one man should be sufficient for so 
 many thousands to taste of them, as Apipn pre- 
 tends ? Or why did not the king carry this man, 
 whosoever he was, 'and whatsoever was his name, 
 (which is not set down in Apion's book,) with 
 great pomp back into his own country? when he 
 might thereby have been esteemed a religious per- 
 son himself, and a mighty lover of the Greeks, and 
 might thereby have procured himself great assist- 
 ance from all men against that hatred the Jews 
 bore to him. But I leave this matter; for the 
 proper way of confuting fools is not to use bare 
 words, but to appeal to the things themselves 
 that make against them. Now, then, all such as 
 ever saw the construction of our temple, of what 
 nature it was, know well enough how the purity 
 of it was never to be profaned ; for it had four 
 several courts, encompassed with cloisters round 
 about, every one of which had by our law a pe- 
 culiar degree of separation from the rest. Into 
 the first court everybody was allowed to go, 
 even foreigners ; and none but women, during 
 their courses, were prohibited to pass through 
 it ; all the Jews went into the second court, as 
 well as their wives, when they were free from 
 all uncleanness ; into the third went the Jewish 
 men when they were clean and purified ; into 
 the fourth went the priests, having on their 
 sacerdotal garments ; but for the most sacred 
 place, none went in but the high priests, clothed 
 in their peculiar garments. Now, there is so 
 great caution used about these offices of religion, 
 that the priests are appointed to go into the 
 temple but at certain hours : for, on the morn- 
 ing, at the opening of the inner temple, those 
 that are to officiate receive the sacrifices, as they 
 do again at noon, till the doors are shut. Lastly, 
 it is not so much as lawful to carry any vessel 
 into the holy house ; nor is there anything there- 
 in, but the altar [of incense,] the table of [shew 
 bread,] the censer, and the candlestick, which 
 are all written in the law : for there is nothing 
 further there, nor are there any mysteries per- 
 formed that may not be spoken of ; nor is there 
 any feasting within the place. For what I have 
 now said is publicly known, and supported by 
 the testimony of the whole people, and their 
 operations are very manifest ; for although there 
 be four covjses of the priests, and every one of 
 them have above five thousand men in them, 
 yet do they officiate on certain days only ; and 
 when those days are over, other priests succeed 
 in the performance of their sacrifices, and as- 
 semble together at mid-day, and receive the keys 
 of the temple, and the vessels by tale, without 
 anything relating to food or drink being carried 
 into the temple; nay, we are not allowed to 
 offer such things at the altar, excepting what is 
 prepared for the sacrifices. 
 
 9. What then can we say of Apion, but that 
 he examined nothing that concerned these things. 
 
 while still he uttered incredible things about 
 them ! But it is a great shame for a gramma- 
 rian not to be able to write true history. Now, 
 if he knew the purity of our temple, he hath 
 entirely omitted to take notice of it; but he 
 forges a story about the seizing of a Grecian, 
 about ineffable food, and the most delicious pre- 
 paration of dainties ; and pretends that strangers 
 could go into a place whereinto the noblest men 
 among the Jews are not allowed to enter, unless 
 they be priests. This, therefore, is the utmost 
 degree of impiety, and a voluntary lie, in order 
 to the delusion of those who will not examine 
 into the truth of matters. Whereas, such un- 
 speakable mischiefs as are above related have 
 been occasioned by such calumnies that are raised 
 upon us. 
 
 10. Nay, this miracle of piety derides us fur- 
 ther, and adds the following pretended facts to 
 his former fable ; for he says that this man re- 
 lated how, " while the Jews were once in a long 
 war with the Idumeans, there came a man out 
 of one of the cities of the Idumeans, who there 
 had worshipped Apollo. This man, whose name 
 is said to have been Zabidus, came to the Jews, 
 and promised that he would deliver Apollo, the 
 god of Dora, into their hands, and that he would 
 come to our temple, if they would all come up 
 with him, and bring the whole multitude of the 
 Jews with them ; that Zaliidus made him a cer- 
 tain wooden instrument, and put it round about 
 him, and set three rows of lamps therein, and 
 walked after such a manner, that he appeared 
 to those that stood a great way off him to be a 
 kind of star walking upon the earth : that the 
 Jews were terribly frighted at so surprising an 
 appearance, and stood very quiet at a distance ; 
 and that Zabidus, while they continued so very 
 quiet, went into the holy house, and carried off 
 that golden head of an ass, (for so facetiously 
 does he write, ) and then went his way back again 
 to Dora in great haste." And say you so, sir ! 
 as I may reply ; then does Apion load the ass, 
 that is himself, uud lays on him a burden of 
 fooleries and lies ; for he writes of places that 
 have no being; and not knowing the cities he 
 speaks of, he changes their situation ; for Idumea 
 borders upon our country, and is near to Gaza, 
 in which there is no such city as Dora, although 
 there be, it is true, a city named Dora in Phoe- 
 nicia, near Mount Carmel, but it is four days' 
 journey from Idumea. Now, then, why does 
 this man accuse us, because we have not gods 
 in common like other nations? If our fore- 
 fathers were so easily persuaded upon to have 
 Apollo come to them, and thought they saw him 
 walking upon the earth, and the stars with him 
 for certainly those who have so many festivals, 
 wherein they light lamps, must yet, at this rate, 
 have never seen a candlestick! But still it seems 
 that while Zabidus took his journey over the 
 country, where were so many ten thousands of 
 people, nobody met him. He also, it seems, 
 even in a time of war, found the walls of Jeru- 
 salem destitute of guards. I omit the rest. 
 Now the doors of the holy house were seventy 
 cubits high, and twenty cubits broad ; they were 
 all plated over with gold, and almost of solid 
 gold itself; and there were no fewer than twenty 
 men required to shut them every day ; nor was it 
 lawful ever to leave them open, though it seems 
 this lamp-bearer of ours opened them easily, or 
 thought he opened them, as he thought he had 
 the ass's head in his hand. Whether, therefore, 
 he returned it to us again, or whether Apion took 
 it and brought it into the temple again, that 
 Antiochus might find it, and afford a handle 
 tor a second fable of Apion, is uncertain.
 
 628 
 
 FLA VI US JOSEPHUS AGAINST APION. 
 
 [BOOK if. 
 
 1L Apion also tells a false story, when he 
 mentions an oath of ours, as if we "swore by 
 God, the maker of the heaven, and earth, and 
 sea, to bear no good-will to any fi,;ngner, and 
 particularly to none of the Greeks." Now this 
 liar ought to have said directly tha* " ire would 
 hear no good-will to any foreigner, and particu- 
 larly to none of the Egyptians." For then his 
 story about the oath would have squared with 
 the rest of his original forgeries, in case our 
 forefathers had been driven away by their kins- 
 men the Egyptians, not on account of any 
 wickedness they had been guilty of, but on 
 account of the calamities they were under ; for 
 as to the Grecians, we are rather remote from 
 them in place than different from them in our 
 institutions, insomuch that we have no enmity 
 with them, nor any jealousy of them. On the 
 contrary, it hath so happened, that many of 
 them have come over to our laws, and some of 
 them have continued in their observation, al- 
 though others of them had not courage enough 
 to persevere, and so departed from them again ; 
 nor did ever anybody hear this oath sworn by 
 us : Apion, it seems, was the only person that 
 heard it, for he indeed was the first composer of it. 
 
 12. However, Apion deserves to be admired 
 for his great prudence as to what I am going to 
 gay, which is this, " That there is a plain mark 
 among us that we neither have just laws, nor 
 worship God as we ought to do, because we are 
 not governors, but are rather in subjection to 
 Gentiles, sometimes to one nation, and some- 
 times to another ; and that our city hath been 
 liable to several calamities, while their city 
 [Alexandria] hath been of old time an imperial 
 city, and not used to be in subjection to the 
 Romans." But now this man had better leave 
 off. his bragging; for everybody but himself 
 would think that Apion said what he hath said 
 against himself ; for there are very few nations 
 that have had the good fortune to continue 
 many generations in the principality, but still 
 the mutations in human affairs have put them 
 into subjection under others ; and most nations 
 have been often subdued, and brought into sub- 
 jection by others. Now, for the Egyptians, 
 perhaps they are the only nation that have had 
 this extraordinary privilege, to have never 
 served any of those monarchs who subdued Asia 
 and Europe, and this on account, as they pre- 
 tend, that the gods fled into their country and 
 saved themselves, by being changed into the 
 shapes of wild beasts. Whereas these Egyptians* 
 are the very people that appear to have never, 
 in all the past ages, had one day of freedom, no 
 not so much as from their own lords. For I will 
 not reproach them with relating the manner 
 how the Persians used them, and this not once 
 only, but many times, when they laid their 
 cities waste, demolished their temples, and cut 
 the throats of those animals whom they esteemed 
 to be gods ; for it is not reasonable to imitate 
 the clownish ignorance of Apion, who hath no 
 regard to the misfortunes of the Athenians, or 
 of the Lacedemonians, the latter of whom were 
 atyled by all men the most courageous, and the 
 former the most religious, of the Grecians. I 
 gay nothing of such kings as have been famous 
 
 * This notorious disgrace boionginjr peculiarly to the 
 people of Egypt, ever since the times of the old pro- 
 phets of the Jews, may be confirmed by the testimony 
 of Isidorus, an Egyptian of Pelusium, (Epist. lib. i. Ep. 
 489 ) And this in a remarkable completion of the 
 ancient prediction of God, by Ezekiel, (xxix. 14, 15,) 
 that the Egyptians should " be a base Kingdom, the 
 basest of the kingdoms," and that "it should not exalt 
 lUelf any more above the nations." 
 
 for piety, particularly of one of them whose 
 name was Cresus, nor what calamities he niet 
 with in his life ; I say nothing of the citadel of 
 Athens, of the temple at Ephesus, of that at 
 Delphi, nor of ten thousand others which have 
 been burnt down, while nobody casts reproaches 
 on those that were the sufferers, but on those 
 that were the actors therein. But now we have 
 met with Apion, an accuser of our nation, 
 though one that still forgets the miseries of his 
 own people, the Egyptians ; but it is that 
 Sesostris, who was once so celebrated a king of 
 Egypt, that hath blinded him. Now, we will 
 not boast of our kings, David and Solomon, 
 though they conquered many nations ; accord- 
 ingly we will let them alone. However, Apion 
 is ignorant of what everybody knows, that the 
 Egyptians were servants to the Persians, and 
 afterwards to the Macedonians, when they were 
 lords of Asia, and were no better than slaves, 
 while we have enjoyed liberty formerly ; nay, 
 more than that, have had the dominion of the 
 cities that lie round about us, and this nearly 
 for a hundred and twenty years together, until 
 Pompeius Magnus. And when all the kings 
 everywhere were conquered by the Romans, our 
 ancestors were the only people who continued to 
 be esteemed their confederates and friends, on 
 account of their fidelity to them. 
 
 13. " But," says Apion, " we Jews have not 
 had any wonderful men amongst us, not any 
 inventors of arts, nor any eminent for wisdom." 
 He then enumerates Socrates, and Zeno, and 
 Cleanthes, and some others of the same sort ; 
 and after all, he adds himself to them, which is 
 the most wonderful thing of all that he says, 
 and pronounces Alexandria to be happy, because 
 it hath such a citizen as he is in it ; for he was 
 the fittest man to be a witness to his own deserts, 
 although he hath appeared to all others no better 
 than a wicked mountebank, of a corrupt life, 
 and ill discourses ; on which account one may 
 justly pity Alexandria, if it should value itself 
 upon such a citizen as he is. But as to our own 
 men, we have had those who have been as 
 deserving of commendation as any other whatso- 
 ever ; and such as have perujwd our Antiquities 
 cannot be ignorant of them. 
 
 14. As to the other things which he sets down 
 as blameworthy, it may perhaps be the best way 
 to let them pass without apology, that he may 
 be allowed to be his own accuser, and the accuser 
 of the rest of the Egyptians. However, he ac- 
 cuses us for sacrificing animals, and for abstain- 
 ing from swine's flesh, and laughs at us for the 
 circumcision of our privy members. Now, as 
 for our slaughter of tame animals for sacrifices, 
 it is common to us and to all other men ; but 
 this Apion, by making it a crime to sacrifice 
 them, demonstrates himself to be an Egyptian ; 
 for had he been either a Grecian or a Macedo- 
 nian, [as he pretends to be,] he had not shewn an 
 uneasiness at it ; for those people glory in sacri- 
 ficing whole hecatombs to the gods, and make 
 use of those sacrifices for feasting ; and yet is not 
 the world thereby rendered destitute of cattle, 
 as Apion was afraid would come to pass. Yet, 
 if all men had followed the manners of the. 
 Egyptians, the world had certainly been made 
 desolate as to mankind, but had been filled full 
 of the wildest sort of brute beasts, which, be- 
 cause they suppose them to be gods, they care- 
 fully nourish. However, if any one should ask 
 Apion which of the Egyptians he thinks to bo 
 the most wise, and most pious of them all, ho 
 would certainly acknowledge the priests to !>e 
 so ; for the histories say that two things were 
 originally committed to their care bv their kinds' /
 
 BOOK II. J 
 
 FJ.AVIUS JOSEPHUS AGAINST Al'iON. 
 
 injunctions, the worship of the gods, and the 
 support of wisdom and philosophy. Accord- 
 ingly, these priests are all circumcised, and ab- 
 tain from swine's flesh ; nor does any one of the 
 other Egyptians assist them in slaying those sac- 
 rifices they offer to the gods. Apion was there- 
 tore quite blinded in his mind when, for the sake 
 of the Egyptians, he contrived to reproach us, 
 and to accuse such others as not only make use 
 of that conduct of life which he so much abuses, 
 but have also taught other men to be circum- 
 :ised, as says Herodotus ; which makes me think 
 that Apion is hereby justly punished for his 
 casting such reproaches on the laws of his own 
 country ; for he was circumcised himself of ne- 
 cessity, on account of an ulcer in his privy mem- 
 ber ; and when he received no benefit by such 
 circumcision, but his member became putrid, he 
 died in great torment. Now, men of good tem- 
 pers ought to observe their own laws concerning 
 religion accurately, and to persevere therein, 
 but not presently to abuse the laws of other na- 
 tions, while this Apion deserted his own laws, 
 and told lies about ours ; and this was the end 
 of Apion's life, and this shall be the conclusion 
 of our discourse about him. 
 
 15. But now, since Apollonius Molo, and 
 Lysimachus, and some others write treatises 
 about our lawgiver Moses and about our laws 
 which are neither just nor true, and this partly 
 out of ignorance, but chiefly out of ill-will to us, 
 while they calumniate Moses as an impostor and 
 deceiver, and pretend that our laws teac.h us 
 wickedness, but nothing that is virtuous, I have 
 a mind to discourse briefly, according to my 
 ability, about our whole constitution of govern- 
 ment, and about the particular branches of it; 
 for I suppose it will thence become evident that 
 the laws we have given us are disposed after the 
 best manner for the advancement of piety, for 
 mutual communion with one another, for a gene- 
 ral love of mankind, as also for justice, and for 
 sustaining labours with fortitude, and for a con- 
 tempt of death ; and I beg of those that shall 
 peruse this writing of mine to read it without 
 partiality ; for it is not my purpose to write an 
 encomium upon ourselves, but I shall esteem 
 this as a most just apology for us, and taken 
 from those our laws, according to which we lead 
 our lives, against the nmny and the lying objec- 
 tions that have been made against us. More- 
 over, since this Apollonius does not do like 
 Apion, and lay a continued accusation against 
 ns, but does ib only by starts, and up and down 
 his discourse, while he sometimes reproaches us 
 as atheists, a ad man-haters, and sometimes hits 
 us in the teeth with our want of courage, and 
 yet sometimes, on the contrary, accuses us of 
 too great boldness, and madness in our conduct ; 
 nay, he says that we are the weakest of all the 
 barbarians, and this is the reason why we are 
 the only people who have made no improvements 
 in human life ; now I think I shall have then 
 sufficiently disproved all these his allegations, 
 when it shall appear that our laws enjoin the 
 very reverse of what he says, and that we very 
 carefully observe those laws ourselves ; and if I 
 be compelled to make mention of the laws of 
 other nations, that are contrary to ours, those 
 ought deservedly to thank themselves for it, who 
 have pretended to depreciate our laws in compa- 
 rison of their own ; nor will there, I think, be 
 any room after that for them to pretend either 
 that we have no such laws ourselves, an epitome 
 of which I will present to the reader, or that we 
 do not, above all men, continue in the observa- 
 tion of them. 
 16. To begin then a good way backward, 1 
 
 would advance this, in the first place, that those 
 who have been admirers of good order, and of 
 living under common laws, and who began to in- 
 troduce them, may well have this testimony, 
 that they are better than other men, both for 
 moderation and such virtue as is agreeable to 
 nature. Indeed, their endeavour was to have 
 everything they ordained believed to be very 
 ancient, that they might not be thought to imi- 
 tate others, but might appear to have delivered 
 a regular way of living to others after them. 
 Since then this is the case, the excellency of a 
 legislator is seen in providing for the people's 
 living after the best manner, and in prevailing 
 with those that are to use the laws he ordains 
 for them, to have a good opinion of them, and 
 in obliging the multitude to persevere in them, 
 and to make no changes in them, neither in 
 prosperity nor adversity. Now, I venture to 
 say, that our legislator is the most ancient of all 
 the legislators whom we have anywhere heard 
 of ; for as for the Lycurguses, and Solons, and 
 Zaleucus Locrenses, and all those legislators who 
 are so admired by the Greeks, they seem to b 
 of yesterday, if compared with our legislator, in. 
 somuch as the very name of a law was not s% 
 much as known in old times among the Gre- 
 cians. Homer is a witness to the truth of this 
 observation, who never uses that term in all his 
 poems, for indeed there was then no such thing 
 among them, but the multitude was governed 
 by wise maxims, and by the injunctions of their 
 king. It was also a long time that they con- 
 tinued in the use of these unwritten customs, 
 although they were always changing them upon 
 several occasions ; but for our legislator, who 
 was of so much greater antiquity than the rest, 
 (as even those that speak against us upon all 
 occasions do always confess,) he exhibited him- 
 self to the people as their best governor and 
 counsellor, and included in his legislation the en- 
 tire conduct of their lives, and prevailed with 
 them to receive it, and brought it so to pass, that 
 I those that were made acquainted with his laws 
 (lid most carefully observe them. 
 
 17. But let us consider his first and greatest 
 work ; for when it was resolved on by our fore- 
 fathers to leave Egypt and return to their own 
 country, this Moses took the many ten thousands 
 that were of the people, and saved them out of 
 many desperate distresses, and brought them 
 home in safety. And certainly it was here ne- 
 cessary to travel over a country without water, 
 and full of sand, to overcome their enemies, and, 
 during these battles, to preserve their children 
 and their wives, and their prey; on all which 
 occasions he became an excellent general of an 
 army, and a most prudent counsellor, and one 
 that took the truest care of them all : he also so 
 brought it about that the whole multitude de- 
 pended upon him ; and while he had them al- 
 ways obedient to what he enjoined, he made no 
 manner of use of his authority for his own pri- 
 vate advantage, which is the usual time when 
 governors gain great powers to themselves, and 
 pave the way for tyranny, and accustom the 
 multitude to live very dissolutely ; whereas, 
 when our legislator was in so great authority, 
 he, on the contrary, thought he ought to have 
 regard to piety, and to shew his great good-will 
 to the people ; and by this means he thought he 
 might shew the great degree of virtue that was in 
 him, and might procure the most lasting security 
 to those who had made him their governor. 
 When he had therefore come to such a good re- 
 solution, and had performed such wonderful ex- 
 ploits, we had just reason to look upon ourselves 
 as having him for a Jiviue governor and counsel-
 
 fttt) 
 
 FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS AGAINST APION. 
 
 [BOOK IL. 
 
 lor ; and when lie had at first persuaded him- 
 self* that his actious and designs were agreeable 
 to God's will, he thought it his duty to impress, 
 above all things, that notion upon the multi- 
 tude; for those who have once believed that 
 God is the inspector of their lives will not per- 
 mit themselves in any sin ; and this is the char- 
 acter of our legislator : he was no impostor, no 
 deceiver, as his revilers say, though unjustly, 
 but such a one as they brag Minost to have been 
 among the Greeks, and other legislators after 
 him ; for some of them suppose that they had 
 their laws from Jupiter, while Minos said that 
 the revelation of his laws was to be referred to 
 Apollo, and his oracle at Delphi, whether they 
 really thought they were so derived, or supposed, 
 however, that they could persuade the people 
 easily that so it was ; but which of these it was 
 who made the best laws, and which had the 
 greatest reason to believe that God was their 
 author, it will be easy, upon comparing those 
 laws themselves together, to determine; for it 
 is time that we came to that point Now there 
 are innumerable differences hi the particular cus- 
 toms and laws that are among all mankind, 
 which a man may briefly reduce under the fol- 
 lowing heads : Some legislators have permitted 
 their governments to be under monarchies, others 
 put them under oligarchies, and others under a 
 republican form ; but our legislator had no re- 
 gard to any of these forms, but he ordained our 
 government to be what, by a strained expression, 
 may be termed a Theocracy, J by ascribing the 
 authority and the power to God, and by per- 
 suading all the people to have a regard to him, 
 as the author of all the good things enjoyed 
 either in common by all mankind, or by each 
 one in particular, and of all that they themselves 
 obtained by praying to him in their greatest dif- 
 ficulties. He informed them that it was impos- 
 sible to escape God's observation, either in any 
 of our outward actions, or in any of our in- 
 ward thoughts. Moreover, he represented God 
 as unbegotten, and immutable, through all eter- 
 nity, superior to all mortal conceptions in pul- 
 chritude ; and though known to us by his power, 
 yet unknown to us as to his essence. I do not 
 now explain how these notions of God are the 
 sentiments of the wisest among the Grecians, 
 and how they were taught them upon the prin- 
 
 * This language, that Moses "persuaded himself" 
 that what he did was according to God's will can 
 mean no more than that he was "firmly persuaded," 
 that he had "fully satisfied himself," that so it was 
 viz., by the many revelations he had received from God, 
 and the numerous miracles God had enabled him to 
 work. 
 
 t That is, Moses really was what the heathen legis- 
 lators pretended to be, under a divine direction. 
 
 J This expression itself, that "Mosea ordained the 
 Jewish government to be a Theocracy," may be illus- 
 trated by that parallel expression in the Antiq. b. ill. 
 ch. viii. sect. 9, that "Moses left it to God to be pre- 
 sent at his sacrifices when he pleased ; and when he 
 pleased, to be absent." Both ways of speaking sound 
 harsh in the ears of Jews and Christians, but still they 
 were not very improper in him, when he thought fit to 
 accommodate himself to the notions and language of 
 the Greeks and Romans, and this as far as ever truth 
 would give him leave. 
 
 { These excellent accounts of the divine attributes, 
 and that God is not to be at all known in his essence, 
 as also some other clear expressions about the resur- 
 rection of the dead, and the state of departed souls, 
 Ac., look more like the exalted notions of the Essenes, 
 or rather Ebionite Christians, than those of a mere 
 Jew or Pharisee. The following large accounts also of 
 the laws of Moses seem to shew a regard to the higher 
 interpretations and improvements of Moses's laws, de- 
 rived from Jesus Christ, than to the bare letter of them 
 in the Old Testament 
 
 ciples that he afforded them. However, they 
 testify with great assurance that these notions 
 are just, and agreeable to the nature of God, and 
 to his majesty ; for Pythagoras, and Anaxagoras, 
 and Plato, and the Stoic philosophers that suc- 
 ceeded them, and almost all the rest, are of the 
 same sentiments, and had the same notions of 
 the nature of God ; yet durst not these men dis- 
 close those true notions to more than a few, be- 
 cause the body of the people were prejudiced 
 with other opinions beforehand. But our legis- 
 lator, who made his actions agree to his laws, 
 did not only prevail with those that were his 
 contemporaries to agree with these his notions, 
 but so firmly imprinted this faith in God upon 
 all thoir posterity, that it could never be re- 
 moved. The reason why the constitution of this 
 legislation was ever better directed to the utility 
 of all than oiher legislations were is this, that 
 Moses did not make religion a part of virtue, 
 but he saw and he ordained other virtues to be 
 a part of religion I mean justice, and fortitude, 
 and temperance, and a universal agreement of 
 the members of the community with one an- 
 other ; for all our actions and studies, and all oui 
 words, [in Moses's settlement,] have a reference 
 to piety towards God ; for he hath left none of 
 these in suspense, or undetermined ; for there 
 are two ways of coming at any sort of learning, 
 and a moral conduct of life : the one is by in- 
 struction in words, the other by practical exer- 
 cises. Now, other lawgivers have separated 
 these two ways in their opinions, and choosing 
 one of those ways of instruction, or that whiot 
 best pleased every one of them, neglected the 
 other. Thus did the Lacedemonians and the 
 Cretans teach by practical exercises, but not by 
 words ; while the Athenians, and almost all the 
 other Grecians, made laws about what was to be 
 done, or left undone, but had no regard to the 
 exercising them thereto in practice. 
 
 18. But for our legislator, he very carefully 
 joined these two methods of instruction toge- 
 ther ; for he neither left these practical exercises 
 to go on without verbid instruction, nor did he 
 permit the hearing of the law to proceed without 
 the exercises for practice ; but beginning im- 
 mediately from the earliest infancy, and the ap- 
 pointment of every one's diet, he left nothing of 
 the very smallest consequence to be done at the 
 pleasure and disposal of the person himself. Ac- 
 cordingly, he made a fixed rule of law, what 
 sorts of food they should abstain from, and what 
 sorts they should use ; as also, what communion 
 they should have with others, what great dili- 
 gence they should use in their occupations, and 
 what times of rest should be interposed, that, 
 by living under that law as under a father and 
 a master, we might be guilty of no sin, neither 
 voluntary nor out of ignorance ; tor he did not 
 suffer the guilt of ignorance to go on without 
 punishment, but demonstrated the law to be the 
 best and the most necessary instruction of all 
 others, permitting the people to leave off their 
 other employments, and to assemble together for 
 the hearing of the law, and learning it exactly, 
 and this not once or twice, or oftener, but every 
 week ; which thing all the other legislators seem 
 to have neglected. 
 
 19. And indeed the greatest part of mankind 
 are so far from living according to their own 
 laws that they hardly know them ; but when 
 they have sinned they learn from others that 
 they have transgressed the law. Those also who 
 are in the highest and principal posts of the 
 government confess they are not acquainted 
 with those laws, and are obliged to take sue.', 
 rjersons for their assessors in public admiuiatru-
 
 WOK. II. J 
 
 FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS AGAINST APION. 
 
 ions as profess to have skill in those laws ; but 
 or our people, if anybody do but ask any one 
 f them about our laws, he will more readily 
 ell them all than he will tell his own name, 
 and this in consequence of our having learned 
 ;hem immediately as soon as ever we became 
 sensible of anything, and of our having them, as 
 t were, engraven on our souls. Our transgres- 
 ors of them are but few ; and it is impossible 
 when any do offend, to escape punishment. 
 
 20. And this very thing it is that principally 
 reates such a wonderful agreement of minds 
 amongst us all ; for this entire agreement of 
 ours in all our notions concerning God, and our 
 laving no difference in our course of life and 
 manners, procures among us the most excellent 
 concord of these our manners that is anywhere 
 among mankind ; for no other people but we 
 Tews have avoided all discourses about God 
 hat any way contradict one another, which yet 
 are frequent among other nations ; and this is 
 .rue not only among ordinary persons, according 
 as every one is affected, but some of the philoso- 
 )hers have been insolent enough to indulge such 
 jontradictions, while some of them have under- 
 ;aken to use such words as entirely take away 
 ,he nature of God, as others of them have taken 
 away his providence over mankind. Nor can 
 any one perceive amongst us any difference in 
 ;he conduct of our lives ; but all our works are 
 common to us all. We have one sort o* dis- 
 course concerning God, which is conformable to 
 our law, and affirms that he sees all things ; as 
 also, we have but one way of speaking concern- 
 ing the conduct of our lives, that all other 
 bhings ought to have piety for their end ; and 
 bhis anybody may hear from our women and ser- 
 vants themselves. 
 
 21. Hence hath arisen that accusation which 
 some make against us, that we have not pro- 
 duced men that have been the inventors of new 
 operations, or of new ways of speaking _; for 
 others think it a fine thing to persevere in no- 
 thing that has been delivered down from their 
 forefathers, and these testify it to be an instance 
 of the sharpest wisdom when these men venture 
 to transgress those traditions ; whereas we, on 
 the contrary, suppose it to be our only wisdom 
 and virtue to admit no actions nor supposals 
 that are contrary to our original laws ; which 
 procedure of ours is a just and sure sign that 
 our law is admirably constituted ; for such laws 
 as are not thus well made are convicted upon 
 trial to want amendment. 
 
 22. But while we are ourselves persuaded that 
 our law was made agreeably to the will of God, 
 it would be impious for us not to observe the 
 same ; for what is there in it that anybody 
 would change? and what can be invented 
 better? or what can we take out of other 
 people's laws that will exceed it? Perhaps 
 some would have the entire settlement of our 
 government altered. And where shall we find 
 a better or more righteous constitution than 
 ours, while this makes us esteem God to be the 
 governor cf the universe, and permits the 
 priests in general to be the administrators of the 
 principal affairs, and withal intrusts the govern- 
 ment over the other priests to the chief high 
 priest himself ! which priests our legislator, at 
 their first appointment, did not advance to that 
 dignity for their riches, or any abundance of 
 other possessions, or any plenty they had as the 
 gifts of fortune ; but he intrusted the principal 
 management of divine worship to those that ex- 
 ceeded others in an ability to persuade men, 
 and in prudence of conduct. These men had tl 
 main eire of the law and of the other part- 
 
 the people's conduct committed to them ; foi 
 they were the priests who were ordained to be 
 the inspectors of all, and the judges in doubtful 
 cases, and the punishers of thaae that were con 
 demned to suffer punishment. 
 
 23. What form of government then can bt 
 more holy than this ? what more worthy kind of 
 worship can be paid to God than we pay, where 
 the entire body of the people are prepared for 
 religion, where an extraordinary degree of care 
 is required in the priests, and where the whole 
 polity is so ordered as if it were a certain reli- 
 gious solemnity? For what things foreigner, 
 when they solemnise such festivals, are not abli- 
 to observe for a few days' time, and call them 
 Mysteries and Sacred Ceremonies, we observe 
 with great pleasure and an unshaken resolution 
 during our whole lives. What are the things, 
 then, that we are commanded or forbidden! 
 They are simply and easily known. The first 
 command is concerning God, and affirms that 
 God contains all things, and is a being every 
 way perfect and happy, self-sufficient, and 
 supplying all other beings ; the beginning, the 
 middle, and the end of all things. He is mani- 
 fest in his works and benefits, and more con- 
 spicuous than any other being whatsoever ; but 
 as to his form and magnitude, he is most obscure. 
 All materials, let them be ever so costly, are un- 
 worthy to compose an image for him ; and all 
 arts are unartful to express the notion we ought 
 to have of him. We can neither see nor think 
 of anything like him, nor is it agreeable to piety 
 to form a resemblance of him. We see his works, 
 the light, the heaven, the earth, the sun and the 
 moon, the waters, the generations of animals, 
 the productions of fruits. These things hath 
 God made, not with hands, not with labour, nor 
 as wanting the assistance of any to co-operate 
 with him ; but as his will resolved they should 
 be made, and be good also, they were made, and 
 became good immediately. All men ought to 
 follow this Being, and to worship him in the 
 exercise of virtue ; for this way of worship of 
 God is the most holy of all others. 
 
 24. There ought also to be but one temple for 
 one God ; for likeness is the constant foundation 
 of agreement. This temple ought to be common 
 to all men, because he is the common God of all 
 men. His priests are to be continually about 
 his worship, over whom he that is the first by 
 his birth is to be their ruler perpetually. His 
 business must be to offer sacrifices to God, 
 together with those priests that are joined with 
 him, to see that the laws be observed, to deter- 
 mine controversies, and to punish those that are 
 convicted of injustice ; while he that does not 
 submit to him shall be subject to the same 
 punishment as if he had been guilty of impiety 
 towards God himself. When we offer sacrifice* 
 to him, we do it not in order to surfeit ourselves, 
 or to be drunken; for such excesses are against 
 the will of God, and would be an occasion of in- 
 juries and of luxury ; but by keeping ourselves 
 sober, orderly, and ready for our other occupa- 
 tions, and being more temperate than others. 
 And for our duty at the sacrifices themselves, 
 we ought in the first place to pray for the 
 common welfare of all, and after that our own; 
 for we are made for fellowship one with another ; 
 and he who prefers the common good before 
 what is peculiar to himself is above all accept- 
 able to God. And let our prayers and supplica- 
 tions be made humbly to God, not [so much 
 that he would give us what is good, (for he hath 
 already given that of his own accord, and hath 
 propos'ed the same publicly to' all,) as that we 
 mav rinlv receive it. and when we have received
 
 632 
 
 FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS AGAINST APION. 
 
 [BOOK ii. 
 
 it, may pieserve it. Now, the law has appointed 
 several purifications at our sacrifices, whereby 
 we are cleansed after a funeral, after what some- 
 times happens to us in bed, and after accompany- 
 big with our wives, and upon many other occa- 
 sions, too long now to set down. And this is 
 our doctrine concerning God and his worship, 
 and is the same that the law appoints for our 
 practice. 
 
 25. But, then, what are our laws about mar- 
 riage? That law owns no other mixture of sexes 
 but that which nature hath appointed, of a man 
 with his wife, and that this be used only for the 
 procreation of ehiklren. But it abhors the mix- 
 ture of a male with a male ; and if any one do 
 that, death is his punishment. It commands us 
 also, when we marry, not to have regard to 
 portion, nor to take a woman by violence, nor to 
 persuade her deceitfully and knavishly ; but de- 
 "jand her in marriage of him who hath power to 
 dispose of her, and is fit to give her away by the 
 nearness of his kindred ; for, saith the Scripture, 
 " A woman is inferior to her husband in all 
 things."* Let her, therefore, be obedient to 
 him ; not so that he should abuse her, but that 
 she may acknowledge her duty to her husband ; 
 for God hath given the authority to the husband. 
 A husband, therefore, is to He only with his 
 wife whom he hath married ; but to have to do 
 with another man's wife is a wicked thing ; 
 which, if any one venture upon, death is inevit- 
 ably his punishment : no more can he avoid the 
 same who forces a virgin betrothed to another 
 man, or entices another man's wife. The law, 
 moreover, enjoins us to bring up all our offspring, 
 and forbids women to cause abortion of what is 
 begotten, or to destroy it afterward ; and if any 
 woman appears to have done so, she will be a 
 murderer of her child, by destroying a living 
 creature, and diminishing human kind ; if any 
 one, therefore, proceeds to such fornication, or 
 murder, he cannot be clean. Moreover, the law 
 enjoins that after the man and wife have lain 
 together in a regular way the^ shall bathe 
 themselves ; for there is a defilement contracted 
 thereby, both in soul and body, as if they had 
 gone into another country ; for indeed the soul, 
 by being united to the body, is subject to 
 miseries, and is not freed therefrom again but by 
 death ; on which account, the law requires this 
 purification to be entirely performed. 
 
 26. Nay, indeed, the law does not permit us 
 to make festivals at the births of our children, 
 and thereby afford occasion of drinking to 
 excess ; but it ordains that the very beginning 
 of our education should be immediately directed 
 to sobriety. It also commands us to bring those 
 children up in learning, and to exercise them in 
 the laws, and make them acquainted with the 
 acts of their predecessors, in order to their imi- 
 tation of them, and that they may be nourished 
 up in the laws from their infancy, and might 
 neither transgress them nor yet have any pre- 
 tence for their ignorance of them. 
 
 27. Our law has also taken care of the de- 
 cent burial of the dead, but without any extra- 
 vagant expenses for their funerals, and without 
 the erection of any illustrious monuments for 
 them ; but hath ordered that their nearest rela- 
 tions should perform their obsequies ; and hath 
 shewn it to be regular, that all who pass by when 
 any one is buried should accompany the funeral, 
 and join in the lamentation. It also ordains, 
 that the house and its inhabitants should be 
 purified after the funeral is over, that eveiy one 
 
 * This text is nowhere in our present copies of the 
 Old Testament 
 
 may thence learn to keep at a great distance 
 from the thoughts of being pure, if he hath 
 been once guilty of murder. 
 
 28. The law ordains also, that parents should 
 be honoured immediately after God himself, and 
 delivers that son who does not requite them for 
 the benefits he hath received from them, but is 
 deficient on any such occasion, to be stoned. It 
 also says, that the young men should pay due re- 
 spect to every elder, since God is the eldest of all 
 beings. It does not give leave to conceal any- 
 thing from our friends, because that is not true 
 friendship which will not commit all things to 
 their fidelity : it also forbids the revelation of se- 
 crets, even though an enmity arise between 
 them. If any judge takes bribes, his punishment 
 is death : he that overlooks one that offers him 
 a petition, and this when lie is able to relieve him, 
 he is a guilty person. What is not by any oue 
 intrusted to another ought not to be required 
 back again. No one is to touch another's goods. 
 He that lends money must not demand usury for 
 its loan. These, and many more of the like sort, 
 are the rules that unite us in the bands of society 
 one with another. 
 
 29. It will also be worth our while to see what 
 equity our legislator would have us to exercise hi 
 our intercourse with strangers ; for it will thence 
 appear that he made the best provision he could 
 possibly, both that we should not dissolve our 
 own constitution, nor shew an envious mind to- 
 wards those that would cultivate a friendship 
 with us. Accordingly, our legislator admits all 
 those that have a mind to observe our laws so to 
 do ; and this after a friendly manner, as esteem- 
 ing that a true union which not only extends to 
 our own stock, but to those that would live after 
 the same manner with us ; yet does he not allow 
 those that come to us by accident only to be ad- 
 mitted into communion with us. 
 
 30. However, there are other things which our 
 legislator ordained for us beforehand, which of 
 necessity we ought to do in common to all men ; 
 as to afford fire, and water, and food to all such 
 as want it ; to shew them the roads ; and not to 
 let any one lie unburied. He also would have us 
 treat those that are esteemed our enemies with 
 moderation ; for he doth not allow us to set their 
 country on fire, nor permit us to cut down those 
 trees that bear fruit : nay, farther, he forbids us 
 to spoil those that have been slain in war. He 
 hath also provided for such as are taken captive 
 that they may not be injured, and especially that 
 the women may not be abused. Indeed he hath 
 taught us gentleness and humanity so effectually, 
 that he hath not despised the care of brute beasts, 
 by permitting no other than a regular use of 
 them, and forbidding any other ; and if any of 
 them come to our houses, like suppliants, we are 
 forbidden to slay them : nor may we kill the 
 dams together with their young ones ; but we are 
 obliged, even in an enemy's country, to spare and 
 not to kill those creatures that labour for man- 
 kind. Thus hath our lawgiver contrived to teach 
 us an equitable conduct every way, by using us 
 to such laws as instruct us therein ; while at the 
 same time ba hath ordained that such as break 
 these laws should be punished, without the 
 allowance of any excuse whatsover. 
 
 31. Now, the greatest part of offences with us 
 are capital as if any one be guilty of adultery ; 
 if any one force a virgin ; if any one be so impu- 
 dent as to attempt sodomy with a male ; or if, 
 upon another's making an attempt upon him, he 
 submits to be so used. There is also a law for 
 slaves of the like nature, that can never b 
 avoided. Moreover, if any one cheats another in 
 measures or weights, or luukcs a knavish bargain
 
 FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS AGAINST APION. 
 
 633 
 
 and sale, in order to cheat another ; if any one 
 steal what belongs to another, and takes what he 
 never deposited ; all these have punishments 
 allotted them, not such aa are met with among 
 other nations, but more severe ones. And as for 
 attempts of unjust behaviour towards parents, or 
 impiety against God, though they be not actually 
 accomplished, the offenders are destroyed imme- 
 diately. However, th reward for such as live 
 exactly according to the laws, is not silver or 
 gold ; it is not a garland of olive-branches or of 
 smallage, nor anj such public sign of commenda- 
 tion : but every good man hath his own con- 
 science bearing witness to himself, and by virtue 
 of our legislator's prophetic spirit, and of the firm 
 security God himself affords such a one, he be- 
 lieves that God hath made this grant to those that 
 observe these laws, even though they be obliged 
 readily to die for them, that they shall come into 
 being again, and at a certain re volution of things, 
 receive better life than they had enjoyed be- 
 fore. Nor would I venture to write thus at this 
 time, were it not well known to all by our actions 
 that many of our people have many a time 
 bravely resolved to endure any sufferings, rather t 
 than speak one word against our law. 
 
 32. Nay, indeed, in case it bad so fallen out, 
 that our nation had not been so thoroughly 
 known among all men as they are, and our vo- 
 luntary submission to our laws had not beeu so 
 open and manifest as it is, but that somebody 
 had pretended to have written these laws him- 
 self, and had read them to the Greeks, or had 
 pretended that he had met with them out of the 
 limits of the known world, that had such reve- 
 rend notions of God, and had continued for a long 
 time in the firm observance of such laws as ours, 
 I cannot but suppose that all men would admire 
 them on a reflection upon the frequent changes 
 they had therein been themselves subject to ; 
 and this while those that have attempted to 
 write somewhat of the same kind for politic 
 government, and for laws, are accused as coin- 
 posing monstrous things, and are said to have 
 undertaken an impossible task upon them. And 
 here I will say nothing of those other philoso- 
 phers who have undertaken anything of this 
 nature in their writings. But even Plato him- 
 self, who is so admired by the Greeks on account 
 of that gravity in his manner and force in his 
 words, and that ability he had to persuade men 
 beyond all other philosophers, is little better 
 than laughed at, and exposed to ridicule on that 
 account, by those that pretend to sagacity in 
 political affairs ; although he that shall diligently 
 peruse his writings, will find his precepts to be 
 somewhat gentle, and pretty near to the customs 
 of the generality of mankind. Nay, Plato him- 
 self confesseth that it is not safe to publish the 
 true notion concerning God among the ignorant 
 multitude. Yet do some men look upon Plato s 
 discourses as no better than certain idle words 
 set off with great artifice. However, they ad- 
 mire Lycurgus as the principal lawgiver; and 
 all men celebrate Sparta for having continued in 
 the firm observance of his laws for a very long 
 time. So far then we have gained, that it is to 
 be confessed a mark of virtue to submit to laws. 
 But then let such as admire this in the Lacede- 
 monians compare that duration of theirs with 
 
 It may not be amiss to set down here a very re- 
 markable testimony of the great philosopher, Cicero, 
 as to the preference of " laws to philosophy : 
 will boldly declare my opinion, though the whole world 
 be offended at it. I prefer this little book of the Twelve 
 Tables alone to all the volumes of the philosophers. I 
 find it to be not only of more weight, but also much 
 more useful. "-De Orator*. 
 
 more than two thousand years, which our politi- 
 cal government hath continued; and let them 
 further consider, that though the Lacedemonians 
 did seem to observe their laws exactly while 
 they enjoyed their liberty, yet that when they 
 underwent a change in their fortune, they for- 
 got almost all those laws; while we, having 
 been under ten thousand changes in our fortune 
 by the changes that happened among the kings 
 of Asia, have never betrayed our laws under the 
 most pressing distresses we have been in ; nor 
 have we neglected them either out of sloth or 
 for a livelihood, t Nay, if any one will consider 
 it, the difficulties and labours laid upon us have 
 been greater than what appears to have been 
 borne by the Lacedemonian fortitude, while they 
 neither ploughed their hind, nor exercised any 
 trades, but lived in their own city, free from all 
 such pains-taking, in the enjoyment of plenty, 
 and using such exercises as might improve their 
 bodies, while they made use of other men as 
 their servants for all the necessaries of life, and 
 had their food prepared for them by the others : 
 and these good and humane actions they do for 
 no other purpose but this, that by their actions 
 and their sufferings, they may be able to con- 
 quer all those against whom they make war. I 
 need not add this, that they have not been fully 
 able to observe their laws ; for not only a few 
 single persons, but multitudes of them, have in 
 heaps neglected those laws, and have delivered 
 themselves, together with their arms, into the 
 hands of their enemies. 
 
 33. Now as for ourselves, I venture to say, 
 that no one can tell of so many ; nay, not of 
 more than one or two that have betrayed our 
 laws, no not out of fear of death itself ; I do not 
 mean such an easy death as happens in battles, 
 but that which comes with bodily torments, and 
 seems to be the severest kind of death of all 
 others. Now I think, those that have conquered 
 us have put us to such deaths, not out of their 
 hatred to us when they had subdued us, but 
 rather out of their desire of seeing a surprising 
 sight, which is this, whether there be such men 
 in the world who believe that no evil is to them 
 so great as to be compelled to do or to speak 
 anything contrary to their own laws. Nor 
 ought men to wonder at us, if we are more 
 courageous in dying for our laws than all other 
 men are ; for other men do not easily submit to 
 the easier things in which we are instituted ; I 
 mean working with our hands, and eating but 
 little, and being contented to eat and drink, not 
 at random, or at every one's pleasure, or being 
 under inviolable rules in lying with our wives, 
 in magnificent furniture, and again in the obser- 
 vation of our times of rest ; while those that can 
 use their swords in war, and can put their 
 enemies to flight when they attack them, cannot 
 bear to submit to such laws about their way of 
 living : whereas our being accustomed willingly 
 to submit to laws in these instances, renders us 
 fit to shew our fortitude upon other occasions 
 also. 
 
 34. Yet do the Lysimachi and the Molones, 
 and some other writers (unskilful sophists as 
 I they are, and the deceivers of young men) re- 
 proach us as the vilest of all mankind. Now I 
 have no mind to make an inquiry into the laws 
 of other nations ; for the custom of our country 
 is to keep our own laws, but not to accuse the 
 laws of others. And indeed, our legislator hath 
 expressly forbidden us to laugh at and revile 
 those that are esteemed gods by other people, 
 
 f Or, We have observed our times of rest, and w>rt 
 of food' allowed us [during our distresses. 1
 
 634 
 
 FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS AGAINST APION. 
 
 [BOOK 11. 
 
 on account of the very name of God ascribed to 
 them. But since our antagonists think to run 
 us down upon the comparison of their religion 
 Knd ours, it is not possible to keep silence here, 
 especially while what I shall say to confute 
 these men will not be now first said, but hath 
 been already said by many, and these of the 
 highest reputation also ; for who is there among 
 those that have been admired among the Greeks 
 for wisdom, who hath not greatly blamed both 
 the most famous poets and most celebrated legis- 
 lators, for spreading such notions originally 
 among the body of the people concerning the 
 gods ? such as these, that they may be allowed 
 to be as numerous as they have a mind to have 
 them ; that they are begotten one by another, 
 and that after all the kinds of generation you 
 can imagine. They also distinguish them in 
 their places and ways of living, as they would 
 distinguish several sorts of animals : as some to 
 be under the earth ; some to be in the sea ; and 
 the ancientest of them all to be bound in hell ; 
 arid for those to whom they have allotted heaven, 
 they have set over them one, who in title is 
 their father, but in his actions a tyrant and a 
 lord ; whence it came to pass that his wife, and 
 brother, and (daughter, which daughter he 
 brought forth from his own head,) made a con- 
 spiracy against* him to seize upon him and con- 
 fine him, as he had himself seized upon and ".on- 
 fined his own father before. 
 
 35. And justly have the wisest men th ight 
 these notions deserved severe rebukes ; they also 
 laugh at them for determining that we ought to 
 believe some of the gods to be beardless and 
 young, and others of them to be old, and to have 
 beards accordingly ; that some are set to trades ; 
 that one god is a smith, and another goddess is 
 a weaver ; that one god is a warrior, and fights 
 with men ; that some of them are harpers, or 
 delight in archery; and besides, that mutual 
 seditions arise among them, and that they 
 quarrel about men, and this so far, that they 
 not only lay hands upon one another, but that 
 they are wounded by men, and lament, and take 
 on for such their afflictions ; but what is the 
 grossest of all in point of lasciviousness, are those 
 unbounded lusts ascribed to almost all of them, 
 and their amours ; which how can it be other 
 than a most absurd supposal, especially when it 
 reaches to the male Gods, and to the female 
 goddesses also ? Moreover, the chief of all their 
 gods, and their first father himself, overlooks 
 those goddesses whom he hath deluded and be- 
 gotten with child, and suffers them to be kept in 
 prison, or drowned in the sea. He is also so 
 bound up by fate, that he cannot save his own 
 offspring, nor can he bear their deaths vrthout 
 shedding of tears. These are tine things indeed ! 
 as are the rest that follow. Adulteries truly are 
 so impudently looked on in heaven by the gods, 
 that some of them have confessed they envied 
 those that were found in the very act ; and why 
 should they not do so, when the eldest of them, 
 who is their king also, hath not been able to re- 
 strain himself, in the violence of his lust, from 
 lying with is wife so long as they might get into 
 their bed-chamber? .Now, some of the gods are 
 servants to men, and will sometimes be builders 
 for a reward, and sometimes will be shepherds ; 
 while others of them, like malefactors, are bound 
 in a prison of brass ; and what sober person is 
 there who would not be provoked at such stories, 
 nd rebuke those that forged them, and condemn 
 the great silliness of those that admit them for 
 true ! Nay, others there are that have advanced 
 a certain timoruusness and fear, as also mad- 
 nesa and fraud, and any other of the vilest pas- 
 
 sions, into the nature and form of gods, and have 
 persuaded whole cities to offer sacrifices to the 
 better sort of them ; on which account they have 
 been absolutely forced to esteem some gods aa 
 the givers of good things, and to call others of 
 them averters of evil. They also endeavour to 
 move them, as they would the vilest of men, by 
 gifts and presents, as looking for nothing else 
 than to receive some great mischief from them, 
 unless they pay them such wages. 
 
 36. Wherefore it deserves our inquiry what 
 should be the occasion of this unjust manage- 
 ment, and of these scandals about the Deity. 
 And truly I suppose it to be derived from the 
 imperfect knowledge the heathen legislators had 
 at first of the true nature of God. Nor did they 
 explain to the people even so far as they did 
 comprehend of it; nor did they compose the 
 other parts of their political settlements accord- 
 ing to it, but omitted it as a tiling of very little 
 consequence, and gave leave both to the poets to 
 introduce what gods they pleased, and those 
 subject to all sorts of passions, and to the ora- 
 tors to procure political decrees from the people 
 for the admission of such foreign gods as they 
 thought proper. The painters also, and statu- 
 aries of Greece, had herein great power, as each 
 of them could contrive a shape [proper for a 
 god ;] the one to be formed out of clay, aad the 
 other by making a bare picture of such a one ,- 
 but those workmen that were principally ad- 
 mired, had the use of ivory and of gold as thu 
 constant materials for their new statues v 
 [whereby it comes to pass that some temples are 
 quite deserted, while others are In great esteem, 
 and adorned with all the rites of all kinds of 
 purification.] Besides this, the first gods, who 
 have long flourished in the honours done them, 
 are now grown old, [while those that flourished 
 after them are come in their room as a second 
 rank, that I may speak the most honourably of 
 them that I can :] nay, certain other gods there 
 are who are newly introduced, and newly wor- 
 shipped [as we, by way of digression, have said 
 already, and yet have left their places of worship 
 desolate ;] and for their temples, some of them 
 are already left desolate, and others are built 
 anew, accor.ling to the pleasure of men ; whereas 
 they ought to have preserved their opinion about 
 God and that worship which is due to him, al- 
 ways and immutably the same. 
 
 37. But now, this Apollonius Molo was one uf 
 these foolish and proud men.* However, nothing 
 that I have said was unknown to those that were 
 real philosophers among the Greeks ; nor were 
 they unacquainted with those frigid pretences of 
 allegories [which had been alleged for such 
 things :] on which account they justly despised 
 them, but have still agreed with us as to the 
 true and becoming notions of God ; whence it 
 was that Plato would not have political settle- 
 ments to admit of any one of the other poets, 
 and dismisses even Homer himself, with a gar- 
 land on his head, and with ointment poured 
 upon him, and this because he should not destroy 
 the right notions of God with his fables. Nay, 
 Plato principally imitated our legislator in this 
 point, that he enjoined his citizens to have the 
 main regard to this precept, " That every one of 
 them should learn their laws accurately." He 
 also ordained, that they should not admit of fo- 
 reigners intermixing with their own people at 
 random, and provided that the commonwealth 
 should keep itself pure, and consist of such only 
 as persevered in their own laws. Apolloniui 
 Molo did no way consider this, when he made it 
 one branch of his accusation against us, that we 
 do not admit of such as have different notions
 
 FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS AGAINST AP1ON. 
 
 635 
 
 bout God, nor will we have fellowship with 
 those that choose to observe a way of living 
 different from ourselves ; yet is not this method 
 peculiar to us, but common to all other men ; 
 not among the ordinary Grecians only, but 
 among such of those Grecians as are of the great- 
 est reputation ^mong them- Moreover, the 
 Lacedemonians continued in their way of expel- 
 ling foreigners and would not, indeed, give leave 
 to their own people, to travel abroad, as suspect- 
 ing that those two things would introduce a dis- 
 solution of their own laws : and perhaps there 
 may be some reason to blame the rigid severity 
 of the Lacedemonians ; for they bestowed the pri- 
 vilege of their city on no foreigners, nor would 
 give leave to them to stay among them : whereas 
 we, though we do not think fit to imitate other 
 institutions, yet do we willingly admit of those 
 that desire to partake of ours, which I think I 
 may reckon to be a plain indication of our hu- 
 manity, and at the same time of our magnani- 
 mity also. 
 
 38. But I shall say no more of the Lacede- 
 monians. As for the Athenians, who glory in 
 having made their city to be common to all men, 
 what their behaviour was, Apollonius did not 
 know, while they punished those that spoke 
 contrary to their laws about the gods, without 
 mercy; for on what other account was it tLat 
 Socrates was put to death by them ? Certainly, 
 he neither betrayed their city to its enemies, nor 
 was he guilty of sacrilege with regard to their 
 temples; but on this account, that he swore 
 certain new oaths, and that he affirmed, either 
 in earnest, or, as some say, only in jest, that a 
 certain demon used to make signs to him [what 
 he should not do]. For these reasons he was 
 condemned to drink poison, and kill himself. 
 His accuser also complained that he corrupted 
 the young men, by inducing them to despise the 
 political settlement and laws of their city : and 
 thus was Socrates, the citizen of Athens, pun- 
 ished. There was also Anaxagoras, who, al- 
 though he was of Clazomenae, was within a few 
 suffrages of being condemned to die, because he 
 aid the sun, which the Athenians thought to be 
 a god, was a ball of fire. They also made this 
 public proclamation, " That they would give a 
 talent to any one who would kill Diagoras of 
 Melos," because it was reported that he laughed 
 at their mysteries: Protagoras also, who was 
 thought to have written somewhat that was not 
 owned for truth by the Athenians about the 
 gods, had been seized upon, and put to death, 
 if he had not fled immediately. Nor need we 
 wonder that they thus treated such considerable 
 men, when they did not even spare women ; for 
 they very lately slew a certain priestess, because 
 she was accused by somebody that she initiated 
 people into the worship of strange gods, it hav- 
 ing been forbidden so to do by one of their laws ; 
 and a capital punishment had been decreed to 
 such as introduced a strange god ; it being mani- 
 fest, that they who make use of such a law, do 
 not believe those of other nations to be really 
 gods, otherwise they had not envied themselves 
 the advantage of more gods than they already 
 had ; and this was the happy administration of 
 the affairs of the Athenians! Now, as to the 
 Scythians, they take a pleasure in killing men, 
 and differ little from brute beaats ; yet do they 
 think it reasonable to have their institutions 
 observed They also slew Anacharsis, a person 
 greatly admired for his wisdom among the 
 Greeks, when he returned to them, because he 
 appeared to come fraught with Grecian customs. 
 \Ve find many punished among the Persians, on 
 the same account. Apollonius was greatly 
 
 pleased with the laws of the Persians, and was 
 an admirer of them, because the Greeks enjoyed 
 the advantage of their courage, and had the very 
 same opinion about the gods which they hai 
 This last was exemplified in the temples they 
 burnt, and their courage in coining and almost 
 entirely enslaving the Grecians However, 
 Apollonius had imitated all the Persian institu- 
 tions, and that by his offering violence to other 
 men's wives, and castrating his own sons. Now, 
 with us, it is a capital crime, if any one does 
 thus abuse even a brute beast ; and as for us, 
 neither hath the fear of our governors, nor a 
 desire of following what other nations have in 
 so great esteem, been able to withdraw us from 
 our laws; nor have we exerted our courage in 
 raising up wars to increase our wealth, but only 
 for the observation of our laws ; and when we 
 with patience bear other losses, yet when any 
 persons would compel us to break our laws, 
 then it is that we choose to go to war, though it 
 be beyond our ability to pursue it, and bear the 
 greatest calamities to the last with much forti 
 tude ; and indeed, what reason can there be why 
 we should desire to imitate the laws of othei 
 nations, while we see they are not observed by 
 their own legislators? And why do not the 
 Lacedemonians think of abolishing that form of 
 their government which suffers them not to as- 
 sociate with any others, as well as their contempt 
 of matrimony ? And why do not the Eleans and 
 Thebans abolish that unnatural and impudent 
 lust, which makes them lie with males? For 
 they will not shew a sufficient sign of their re- 
 pentance of what they of old thought to be very 
 excellent, and very advantageous in their prac- 
 tices, unless they entirely avoid all such actions 
 for the time to come : nay, such things are in- 
 serted into the body of their laws, and had once 
 such a power among the Greeks, that they 
 ascribed these sodonatical practices to the godi 
 themselves, as part of their good character ; 
 and indeed it was according to the same manner 
 that the gods married their own sisters. This 
 the Greeks contrived as an apology for their own 
 ftbsurd and unnatur;vl pleasures. 
 
 39. I omit to speak concerning punishments, 
 and how many ways of escaping them the great- 
 est part of legislators have afforded malefactors, 
 by ordaining that, for adulteries, fines in money 
 should be allowed, and for corrupting [virgins] 
 they need only marry them ; as also what ex- 
 cuses they may have in denying the fasts, if any 
 one should attempt to inquire into them; for 
 amongst most other nations it is a studied art 
 how men may transgress their laws ! but no such 
 thing is permitted amongst us ; for though we 
 be deprived of our wealth, of our cities, or of 
 other advantages we have, our law continues 
 immortal ; nor can any Jew go so far from his 
 own country, nor be so affrighted at the severest 
 lord, as not to be more affrighted at the law 
 than at him. If, therefore, this be the disposi- 
 tion we are under, with regard to the excellency 
 of our laws, let our enemies make use of this 
 concession, that our laws are most excellent ; 
 and if still they imagine that though we so 
 firmly adhere to them, yet are they bad laws 
 notwithstanding, what penalties then do they 
 deserve to undergo who do not observe their 
 own laws, which they esteem superior ? Where- 
 as, therefore, length of time is esteemed to be 
 the truest touchstone in all cases, I would make 
 that a testimonial of the excellency of our law*, 
 and of that belief thereby delivered to us con- 
 cerning God ; for as there hath been a very long 
 time for this comparison, if any one will but 
 compare its duration with the duration of tb*
 
 636 
 
 FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS AGAINST APION. 
 
 [BOOK it. 
 
 laws made by other legislators, he will find our 
 legislator to have been the most ancient of 
 them all. 
 
 40. We have already demonstrated that our 
 laws have been such as have always inspired 
 admiration and imitation into all other men : 
 nay, the earliest Grecian philosophers, though 
 in appearance they observed the laws of their 
 own countries, yet did they, in their actions and 
 their philosophic doctrines, follow our legislator, 
 and instructed men to live sparingly, and to 
 have friendly communication one with another. 
 Nay, farther, the multitude of mankind itself 
 have had a great inclination for a long time to 
 follow our religious observances ; for there is 
 not any city of the Grecians, nor any of the bar- 
 barians, nor any nation whatsoever, whither our 
 custom of resting on the seventh day hath not 
 come, and by which our fasts and lighting up 
 lamps, and many of our prohibitions as to our 
 food, are not observed ; they also endeavour to 
 imitate our mutual concord with one another, 
 and the charitable distribution of our goods, and 
 our diligence in our trades, and our fortitude in 
 undergoing the distresses we are in, on account 
 of our laws ; and, what is here matter of the 
 greatest admiration, our law hath no bait of 
 pleasure to allure men to it, but it prevails by 
 its own force ; and as God himself pervad2S all 
 the world, so hath our law passed through all 
 the world also. So that if any one will but re- 
 flect on his own country, and his own family, he 
 will have reason to give credit to what I say. It 
 is therefore but just, either to condemn all man- 
 kind of indulging a wicked disposition, when 
 they have been so desirous of imitating laws that 
 are to them foreign and evil in themselves, rather 
 than following laws of their own that are of a 
 better character, or else our accusers must leave 
 off their spite against us ; nor are we guilty of 
 any envious behaviour towards them, when we 
 honour our own legislator, and believe what he, 
 by his prophetic authority, hath taught us con- 
 cerning God ; for though we should not be able 
 ourselveg to understand the excellency of our 
 own laws, yet would the great multitude of 
 those that desire to imitate them justify *."} in 
 greatly valuing ourselves upon them. 
 
 4L But as for the [distinct] political lavs by 
 which we are governed, I have delivered them 
 accurately in my books of Antiquities ; and have 
 only mentioned them now, so far as was neces- 
 sary to my present purpose, without proposing 
 to myself either to blame the laws of other 
 nations, or to make an encomium upon our own, 
 but in order to convict those that have written 
 about us unjustly, and in an impudent affecta- 
 tion of disguising the truth. And now I think I 
 have sufficiently completed what I proposed in 
 writing these books ; for whereas our accusers 
 have pretended that our nation are a people of 
 very late original, I have demonstrated that they 
 are exceeding ancient ; for 1 have product*! as 
 
 witnesses thereto, many ancient writers, who 
 have made mention of us in their books, whil 
 they had said no such writer had so done. More- 
 over, they had said that we were sprung from 
 the Egyptians, while I have proved that we 
 came from another country into Egypt; while 
 they had told lies of us, as if we were expelled 
 thence on account of diseases on our bodies, it 
 has appeared on the contrary, that we returned 
 to our country by our own choice, and with 
 sound and strong bodies. Those accusers re- 
 proached our legislator as a vile fellow ; where- 
 as God in old time bare witness to his virtuous 
 conduct ; and since that testimony of God, time 
 itself hath been discovered to have borne witnesi 
 to the same thing. 
 
 42. As to the laws themselves, more words 
 are unnecessary, for they are visible in their own 
 nature, and appear to teach not impiety, but the 
 truest piety in the world. They do not make 
 men hate one another, but encourage people to 
 communicate what they have to one another 
 freely ; they are enemies to injustice, they take 
 care of righteousness, they banish idleness and 
 expensive living, and instruct men to be content 
 with what they have, and to be laborious in 
 their callings ; thy forbid men to make war 
 from a desire of getting more, but make men 
 courageous in defending the laws ; they are in- 
 exorable in punishing malefactors ; they admit 
 no sophistry of words, but are always established 
 by actions themselves, which actions we ever 
 propose as surer demonstrations than what is 
 contained in writing only ; on which account I 
 am so bold as to say that we are become the 
 teachers of other men, in the greatest number of 
 things, and those of the most excellent nature 
 only ; for what is more excellent than inviolable 
 piety ? what is more just than submission to 
 laws? and what is more advantageous than 
 mutual love and concord 1 and this so far that 
 w are to be neither divided by calamities, nor 
 to become injurious and seditious in prosperity, 
 bat to contemn death when we are in war, and 
 in peace to apply ourselves to our mechanical 
 occupations, or to our tillage of the ground ; 
 while we in all things, and in all ways, are satis- 
 fied that God is the inspector and governor of 
 our actions. If these precepts had either been 
 written at first, or more exactly kept by any 
 others before us, we should have owed them 
 thanks as disciples owe to their masters ; but if 
 it be visible that we have made use of them 
 more than any other men, and if we have de- 
 monstrated that the orignal invention of them 
 is our own, let the Apions, and the Molones, 
 with all the rest of those that delight in lies and 
 reproaches, stand confuted ; but let this and the 
 foregoing book be dedicated to thee, Epaphrodi- 
 tus, who art so great a lover of truth, and by 
 thy means to those that have been in like mannez 
 desirous to be acquainted with th> atfairi of our 
 imliou.
 
 AN EXTRACT 
 
 OUTOtf 
 
 JOSEPHUS'S DISCOURSE TO THE GREEKS CONCERNING HADES 
 
 1. Now as to Hades, wherein the souls of the 
 righteous and unrighteous are detained, it is ne- 
 cessary to speak of it. Hades is a place in the 
 world not regularly finished; a subterraneous 
 region, where the light of this world doea not 
 shine ; from which circumstance, that in this 
 place the light does not shine, it cannot be but 
 there must be in it perpetual darkness. This 
 region is allowed as a place of custody for souls, 
 in which angels are appointed as guardians to 
 them, who distribute to them temporary punish- 
 ments, agreeable to every one's behaviour and 
 manners. 
 
 2. In this region there is a certain place set 
 apart, as a lake of unquenchable fire, wherein we 
 suppose no one hath hitherto been cast ; but it 
 is prepared for a day afore-determined by God, 
 in which one righteous sentence shall deservedly 
 be passed upon all men ; when the unjust and 
 those that have been disobedient to God, and 
 have given honour to such idols as have been 
 the vain operations of the hands of men, as to 
 God himself, shall be adjudged to this everlast- 
 ing punishment, as having been the causes of 
 defilement ; while the just shall obtain an incor- 
 ruptible and never-fading kingdom. These are 
 now indeed confined in Hades, but not in the 
 same place wherein the unjust are confined. 
 
 3. For there is one descent into this region, at 
 whose gate we believe there stands an archangel 
 with an host ; which gate when those pass through 
 that are conducted down by the angels appointed 
 over souls, they do not go the same way; but the 
 just are guided to the right hand, and are led 
 with hymns sung by the anyels appointed over 
 that place, unto a region of light, in which the 
 just have dwelt from the beginning o* the world ; 
 not constrained by necessity, but evtt enjoying 
 the prospect of the good things they BOO, and re- 
 joice in the expectation of those new enioyments 
 which will be peculiar to every one of them, and 
 esteeming those things beyond what we have 
 here; with whom their is no place of toil, no 
 burning heat, no piercing cold, nor are any briers 
 there ; but the countenance of the fathers and 
 of the just, which they see, always smiles upon 
 them, while they wait for that rest and eternal 
 new life in heaven, which is to succeed this 
 region." This place we call The -Bosom of Abra- 
 ham. 
 
 4. But as to the unjust, they are dragged by 
 force to the left hand, by the angels allotted for 
 punishment, no longer goiug with a good-will, 
 but as prisoners driven by violence ; to whom 
 M-e senf the angels appointed over them to re- 
 
 proach them and to threaten them with thei/ 
 terrible looks, and to thrust them still down- 
 wards. Now those angels that are set over these 
 fouls, drag them into the neighbourhood of hell 
 itseli ; who, when they are hard by it, continu- 
 ally hear the noise of it, and do not stand clear 
 of tlie hot vapour itself ; but when they have a 
 nearer view of this spectacle, as of a terrible and 
 exceeding great prospect of fire, they are struck 
 with a fearful expectation of a future judgment, 
 and in effect punished thereby ; and not only so, 
 but where they see the place [or choir] of the 
 fathers and of the just, even hereby are they 
 punished ; for a chaos deep and large is fixed 
 between them ; insomuch that a just man that 
 hath compassion upon them, cannot be admitted, 
 nor can one that is unjust, if he were bold enough 
 to attempt it, pass over it. 
 
 5. This is the discourse concerning Hades, 
 wherein the souls of all men are confined until 
 a proper season, which God hath determined, 
 when he will make a resurrection of all men 
 from the dead, not procuring a transmigration of 
 souls from one body to another, but raising again 
 those very bodies, which you Greeks, seeing to 
 be dissolved, do not believe [their resurrection :] 
 but learn not to disbelieve it ; for while you be- 
 lieve that the soul is created, and yet is made 
 immortal by God, according to the doctrine of 
 Plato, and this in time, be not incredulous, but 
 believe that God is able, when he hath raised to 
 life that body which was made as a compound 
 of the same elements, to make it immortal ; for 
 it must never be said of God that he is able to 
 do some things, and unal-le to do others. We 
 have therefore believed *hat the body will be 
 raised again ; for although it be dissolved, it is 
 not perished ; for the earl h receives its remains, 
 and preserves them ; and while they are like 
 seed, and are mixed among the more fruitful 
 soil, they flourish, and what is gown is indeed 
 sown bare grain ; but at the mighty sound of 
 God the Creator, it will sprout up, and be raised 
 in a clothed and glorious condition, though not 
 before it has been dissolved, and mixed [with 
 the earth.] So that we have not rashly believed 
 the resurrection of the body ; for although it be 
 dissolved for a time on account of the original 
 transgression, it exists still, and is cast into the 
 earth as into a potter's furnace, in order to be 
 formed again, not in order to rise again such as 
 it was before, but in a state of purity, and so as 
 never fro be destroyed any more : and to every 
 body shall its own soul be restored ; and when 
 it hath clothed itself with that body, it will not
 
 638 
 
 JOSEPHUS'S DISCOURSE CONUKKWLNG 
 
 be subject to misery, but, being itself pure, it 
 will continue with its pure body, and rejoice 
 with it, with which it having walked righteously 
 now In this world, and never having had it as a 
 snare, it will receive it again with great gkvlness ; 
 but as for the unjust, they will receive their 
 bodies not changed, not freed from diseases or 
 distempers, nor made glorious, but with the same 
 diseases wherein they died ; and such as they 
 were in their unbelief, the same shall they be 
 when they shall be faithfully judged. 
 
 6. For all men, the just as well as the unjust, 
 shall be brought before God the word; for to 
 him hath the Father committed all judgment ; 
 and he, in order to fulfil the will of his Father, 
 shall come as judge, whom we call Christ. For 
 Minos and Rhadamanthus are not judges, as 
 you Greeks do suppose, but he whom God even 
 the Father hath glorified; CONCERNING WHOM WE 
 
 HAVE ELSEWHERE GIVEN A MORE PARTICULAR 
 ACCOUNT, FOR THE SAKE OP THOSE WHO SEEK 
 
 AFTER TROTH. This person, exercising the 
 righteous judgment of the Father towards all 
 men, hath prepared a just sentence for every 
 one, according to his works ; at whose judg- 
 ment-seat when all men, and angels, and de- 
 mons shall stand, they will send forth one voice, 
 and say, JUST is THY JUDGMENT ; the rejoinder 
 to which will bring a just sentence upon both par- 
 ties, by giving justly to those that have done 
 well an everlasting fruition ; but allotting to the 
 lovers of wicked works eternal punishment. To 
 these belong the unquenchable fire, and that 
 without end, and a certain fiery worm never 
 dying, and not destroying the body, but con- 
 tinuing its eruption out of the body with never- 
 ceasing grief ; neither will sleep give ease to 
 these men, nor will the night afford them com- 
 fort ; death will not free them from their rmn- 
 ishment, nor will the interceding prayers of their 
 kindred profit them ; for the just are no longer 
 seen by them, nor are they thought worthy of 
 remembrance. ; but the just shall remember only 
 their righteous actions, whereby they have at- 
 tained the heavenly kingdom, in which there is 
 no sleep, no sorrow, no corruption, no care, no 
 night, no day measured by time, no sun driven 
 in his course along the circle of heaven by ne- 
 cessity, and measuring out the bounds and con- 
 versions of the seasons, for the better illumina- 
 tion of the life of men ; no moon decreasing and 
 increasing, or introducing a variety of seasons, 
 nor will she then moisten the earth ; no burning 
 sun, no Bear turning round [the pole,] no Orion 
 to rise, no wandering of innumerable stars. The 
 earth will not then be difficult to be passed over, 
 nor will it be hard to find out the court of Para- 
 dise, nor will there be any fearful roaring of the 
 sea, forbidding the passengers to walk on it : 
 even that will be made easily passable to the 
 jxist, though it will not be void of moisture. 
 Heaven will not then be uninhabitable by men ; 
 and it will not be impossible to discover the way 
 of ascending thither. The earth will not be 
 , nor require too much labour of 
 
 men, but will bring forth its fruits of its own 
 accord, and will be well adorned with them. 
 There will be no more generations of wild 
 beasts, nor will the substance of the rest of the 
 animals shoot out any more ; for it will not pro- 
 duce men, but the number of the righteous will 
 continue, and never fail, together with righte- 
 ous angels, and spirits [of God,] and with his 
 word, as a choir of righteous men and women 
 that never grow old, and continue in an incor- 
 ruptible state, singing hymns to God, who hath 
 advanced them to that happiness, by the means 
 of a regular institution of life ; with whom the 
 whole creation also will lift up a perpetual 
 hymn from corruption to incorruption, as glori- 
 fied by a splendid and pure spirit. It will not 
 then be restrained by a bond of necessity, but 
 with a lively freedom shall offer up a voluntary 
 hymn, and shall praise him that made them, to- 
 gether with the angels, and spirits, and men now 
 freed from ail bondage. 
 
 7. And now, if you Gentiles will be persuaded 
 by these motives, and leave your vain imagina- 
 tions about your pedigrees, and gaining of riches 
 and philosophy, and will not spend your time 
 about subtleties of words, and thereby lead youi 
 minds into error, and if you will apply your ears 
 to the hearing of the inspired prophets, the in- 
 terpreters, both of God and of his word, and 
 will believe in God, you shall both be partakers 
 of these things, and obtain the good things that 
 are to come ; you shall see the ascent into the 
 immense heaven plainly, and that kingdom 
 which ia there ; for what God hath now con- 
 cealed in silence [will be then made manifest,] 
 what neither eye hath seen, nor ear hath heard, 
 nor hath it entered into the heart of man, the 
 things that God hath prepared for them that love 
 him. 
 
 8. In whatsoever ways I shall find you, in 
 them shall I judge you entirely ; so cries the END 
 of all things. And he who hath at first lived a 
 virtuous life, but towards the latter end falls 
 into vice, these labours by him before endured, 
 shall be altogether vain and unprofitable, even 
 as in a play, brought to an ill catastrophe. 
 Whosoever shall have lived wickedly and luxu- 
 riously may repent ; however, there will be need 
 of much time to conquer an evil habit, and even 
 after repentance his whole life must be guarded 
 
 ' with great care and diligence, after the manner 
 of a body, which, after it hath been a long time 
 afflicted with a distemper, requires a stricter 
 diet and method of living ; for though it may be 
 possible, perhaps, to break off the chain of our 
 irregular affections at once, yet our amendment 
 cannot be secured without the grace of God, the 
 prayers of good men, the help of the brethren, 
 and our own sincere repentance and constant 
 care. It is a good thing not to sin at all ; it ia 
 also good, having sinned, to repent, as it is 
 best to have health always ; but it ia a good 
 thing to recover from a distemper. To God bi 
 glory an* Dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 DISSERTATION I. 
 
 THE TESTIMONIES OF JOSEPHUS CONCERNING JESUS CHRIST, JOHN THE 
 BAPTIST, AND JAMES THE JUST, VINDICATED. 
 
 SINCE we meet with several important testi- 
 monies in Josephus, the Jewish historian, con- 
 cerning John the Baptist, the forerunner of 
 Jesus of Nazareth, concerning Jesus of Nazareth 
 himself, and concerning James the Just, the 
 brother of Jesus of Nazareth ; and since the 
 principal testimony, which is that concerning 
 Jesus of Nazareth himself, has of late been 
 greatly questioned by many, and rejected by 
 some of the learned as spurious, it will be fit for 
 me, who have ever declared my firm belief that 
 these testimonies v/ere genuine, to set down 
 fairly some of the original evidence and citations 
 I have met with in t tie first fifteen centuries con- 
 cerning them ; an<l then to make proper obser- 
 vations upon that evidence, for the reader's more 
 complete satisfaction. 
 
 But before I produce the citations themselves, 
 out of Josephus, give me leave to prepare the 
 reader's attention, by settibg down the senti- 
 ments of perhaps the most learned person, and 
 the most c-pmpetent judge that ever was, as to 
 the authority of Josephus, I mean of Joseph 
 jcaliger, in the Prolegomena to his book De 
 Emendations Temporum, p. 17. " Josephus is 
 the most diligent and the greatest lover of truth 
 of all writers : nor are we afraid to affirm of him, 
 that it is more safe to believe him, not only as 
 to the affairs of the Jews, but also as to those 
 that aie foreign to them, than all the Greek and 
 Latin writers ; and this, because his fidelity and 
 his compass of learning are everywhere con- 
 spicuous." 
 
 THE ANCIENT CITATIONS OP THB TESTIMONIES OF 
 JOSEPHDS, FROM HIS OWN TIME TILL THB END 
 OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 About A.D. 110. Tacit. Annal. lib. xv. cap. 
 44. Nero, in order to stifle the rumour, [as if 
 he himself had set Rome on fire,] ascribed it to 
 those people who were hated for their wicked 
 practices, and called by the vulgar, Christians : 
 these he punished exquisitely. The author of 
 this name was Christ, who, in the reign of Tibe- 
 rius, was brought to punishment by Pontius 
 Pilate the procurator. 
 
 About A.D. 147. Just. Mart. Dialog, cum 
 Tryph. p. 230 You [Jews] knew that Jesus was 
 risen from the dead, and ascended into heaven, 
 as the prophecies did foretell was to happen. 
 
 About A.D. 230. Origen. Comment. inMatth. 
 p. 234. This James was of so shiring a character 
 .vinong the people, in account of his righteous- 
 
 ness, that Flavins Josephus, when, in hit 
 twentieth book of the Jewish Antiquities, he 
 had a mind to set down what was the cause why 
 the people suffered such miseries, till the very 
 holy house was demolished, he said, that these 
 things befell them by the anger of God, on ac- 
 count of what they had dared to do to James, 
 the brother of Jesus, who wa called Christ; 
 and wonderful it is, that while he did not re- 
 ceive Jesus for Christ, he did nevertheless bear 
 witness that James was so righteous a man. He 
 says farther, that the people thought they had 
 suffered these things for the sake of James. 
 
 About. A.D. 250. Id. Contr. Gels. lib. i. p. 35, 
 36. 1 would say to Celsus, who personates a 
 Jew, that admitted of John the Baptist and how 
 he baptized Jesus, that one who lived but a 
 little while after John and Jesus, wrote, how 
 that John was a baptizer unto the remission of 
 sins ; for Josephus testifies in the eighteenth 
 book of hifl Jewish Antiquities, that John was 
 the Baptist, and that he promised purification 
 to those that were baptized. The same Jose- 
 phus, also, although he did not believe hi Jesus 
 as Christ, when he waa inquiring after the cause 
 of the destruction of Jerusalem, and of the de- 
 molition of the temple, and ought to have said 
 that their machinations against Jesus were the 
 cause of those miseries coming on the people, 
 because they had slain that Christ who was fore- 
 told by the prophets, he, though as it were un- 
 willingly, and vet as one not remote from the 
 truth, says, " these miseries befell the Jews by 
 way of revenge for James the Just, who was the 
 brother of Jesus that was called Christ ; because 
 they had slain him who was a most righteous 
 person." Now this James was he whom that 
 genuine disciple of Jesus, Paul, said he had seen 
 as the Lord's brother [GaL L. 19 ;] which relation 
 implies not so much nearness of blood, or the 
 sameness of education, as it does the agreement 
 of manners and preaching. If, therefore, he says 
 the desolation of Jerusalem befell the Jews for 
 the sake of James, with how much greater 
 reason might he have said that it happened for 
 the sake of Jesus ? &c. 
 
 About A.D. 324. Euteb. Demonstr. Evan. lib. 
 iii. p. 124. Certainly, the attestation of those I 
 have already produced concerning our Saviour 
 may be sufficient. However, it may not be 
 amiss, if, over and above, we make use of Jose- 
 phus the Jew for a farther witness ; who, in the 
 eighteenth book of his Antiquities, when he was 
 writing the history of what happened Tinder
 
 640 
 
 DISSERTATION I. 
 
 Pilate, makes mention of our Saviour in these 
 words : " Now there was about this time, Jesus, 
 a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man ; 
 for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher 
 of such men as had a veneration for truth. He 
 drew over to him both many of the Jews and 
 many of the Gentiles : he was the Christ. And 
 when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal 
 men among us, had condemned him to the cross, 
 those that loved him at first did not forsake 
 him ; for he appeared unto them alive again the 
 third day, as the divine prophets had spoken of 
 these and ten thousand other wonderful things 
 concerning him : whence the tribe of Christians, 
 so named from him, are not extinct at this day." 
 If, therefore, we have this historian's testimony, 
 that he not only brought over to himself the 
 twelve apostles, with the seventy disciples, but 
 many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles 
 also, he must manifestly have had somewhat in 
 him extraordinary, above the rest of mankind ; 
 for how otherwise could he draw over so many 
 of the Jews and of the Gentiles, unless he per- 
 formed admirable and amazing works, and used 
 a method of teaching that was not common ? 
 Moreover, the scripture of the Acts of the 
 Apostles (xxi. 20.) bears witness, that there were 
 many ten thousands of Jews, who were persuaded 
 that he was the Christ of God, who was foretold 
 by the prophets. 
 
 About A.D. 330. Id. Hist. Eccles. lib. i. cap. 
 11. Now the divine scripture of the Gospels 
 makes mention of John the Baptist as having 
 his head cut off by the younger Herod. Jose- 
 phus also concurs in this history, and makes 
 mention of Herodias by name, as the wife of his 
 brother, whom Herod had married, upon divor- 
 cing his former lawful wife. She was the 
 daughter of Aretas, king of the Petrean Ara- 
 bians ; and which Herodias he had parted from 
 her husband while he was alive ; on which 
 account also, when he had slain John, he made 
 war with Aretas [Aretas made war with him,] 
 because his daughter had been used dishonour- 
 ably : in which war, when it came to a battle, 
 he says, that all Herod's army was destroyed, 
 and that he suffered this because of his wicked 
 contrivance against John. Moreover, the same 
 Josephus, by acknowledging John to have been 
 a most righteous man, and the Baptist, conspires 
 in his testimony with what is written in the 
 Gospels. He also relates, that Herod lost his 
 kingdom for the sake of the same Herodias, to- 
 gether with whom he was himself condemned to 
 be banished to Vienna, a city of Gaul ; and this 
 is his account in the eighteenth book of the An- 
 tiquities, where he writes this of John verbatim : 
 " Some of the Jews thought that the destruc- 
 tion of Herod's army came from God, and that 
 very justly, as a punishment for what he did 
 against John that was called the Baptist; for 
 Herod slew him, who was a good man, and one 
 that commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, 
 both as to righteousness towards one another, 
 and piety towards God, and so to come to bap- 
 tism, for that by this means, the washing [with 
 water] would appear acceptable to him, when 
 they made use of it, not in order to the putting 
 away [or the remission] of some sins [only,] but 
 for the purification of the body, supposing still 
 that the soul was thoroughly purified beforehand 
 by righteousness. Now, when [many] others 
 came in crowds about him, for they were greatly 
 delighted in hearing his words, Herod was afraid 
 that this so great power of persuading men mi^ht 
 tend to some sedition or other ; for they seemed 
 to be disposed to do every thing he should advise 
 them to ; so he supposed it better to prevent 
 
 any attempt for a mutatkm from him, by cutting 
 him off, than after any such mutation should be 
 brought about, and the public should suffer, to 
 repent [of such negligence.] Accordingly, lie 
 was sent a prisoner, out of Herod's suspicious 
 temper, to Macherus, the castle I before men- 
 tioned, and was there put to death." When 
 Josephs had said this of John, he makes men- 
 tion also of our Saviour, in the same history, after 
 this manner : " Now there was about this time, 
 one Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him 
 a man ; for he was a doer of wonderful works, 
 a teacher of such men as receive the truth with 
 pleasure. He drew over to him both many of 
 the Jews and many of the Gentiles also : he was 
 the Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion 
 of the principal men among us, had condemned 
 him to the cross, those that loved him at the first 
 did not forsake him ; for he appeared to them 
 alive again the third day, as the divine prophets 
 had foretold these and ten thousand other 
 wonderful things concerning him : and still the 
 tribe of Christians, so named from him, arenot ex- 
 tinct at this day." And since this writer, sprung 
 from the Hebrews themselves, hath delivered 
 these things above, in his own work, concerning 
 John the Baptist and our Saviour, what room i* 
 there for any further evasion ? &c. 
 
 Now James was so wonderful a person, and 
 was so celebrated by all others for righteousness, 
 that the judicious Jews thought this to have been 
 the occasion of that siege of Jerusalem, which 
 came on presently after his martyrdom ; and 
 that it befell them for no other reason than that 
 impious fact they were guilty of against him, 
 Josephus, therefore, did not refuse to attest 
 thereto in writing, by the words following : 
 " These miseries befell the Jews by way of re- 
 venge for James the Just, who was the brother of 
 Jesus that was called Christ, on account that 
 they had slain him who was a most righteous 
 person." 
 
 The same Josephus declares the manner of his 
 death in the twentieth book of the Antiquities, 
 hi these words : " Cfesar sent Albinus into 
 /udea to be procurator, when he had heard that 
 Festus was dead. Now Ananus, junior, who, as 
 we said, had been admitted to the high priest- 
 hood, was in his temper bold and daring in an 
 extraordinary manner. He was also of the sect 
 of the Sadducees, who are more savage in judg- 
 ment than any of the other Jews, as we have 
 already signified. Since therefore this was the 
 character of Ananus, he thought he had now a 
 proper opportunity [to exercise his authority,] 
 because Festus was dead, and Albinus was but 
 upon the road ; so lie assembles the sanhedrim 
 of judges, and brings before them James, the 
 brother of Jesus who was called Christ, and 
 some others [of his companions ;] and when he 
 had formed an accusation against them, as break- 
 ers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned : 
 but as for those who seemed the most equitable 
 of the citizens, and those who were the most un- 
 easy at the breach of the laws, they disliked 
 what was done. They also sent to the king 
 [Agrippa,] desiring him to send to Ananus that 
 he should act so no more, for that what he had 
 already done could not be justified," &c. 
 
 About A.D, 300. Ambrose, or Hegesippus de 
 Excid. Urb. Hicrosolym, lib. ii. cap. 12. "We 
 have discovered that it was the opinion and be- 
 lief of the Jews, as Josephus affirms (who is an 
 author not to be rejected, when he writes against 
 himself,) that Herod lost his army, not by the 
 deceit of men, but by t5,u anger of God and that 
 justly, as an erfe:/u of revenge for what he di<! 
 to John the Jiaptist, a just roan, who bad
 
 DISSERTATION L 
 
 041 
 
 said to him, It is not lawful for thee to have thy 
 brother's wife. 
 
 The Jews themselves also bear witness to 
 Christ, as appears by Josephus, the writer of 
 their history, who says thus : " That there was 
 at that time a wise man, if (says he) it be lawful 
 to have him called a man, a doer of wonderful 
 works, who appeared to his disciples after the 
 third day from his death, alive again, according 
 to the writings of the prophets, who foretold 
 these and innumerable other miraculous events 
 concerning him : from whom began the congre- 
 gation of Christians, and hath penetrated among 
 all sorts of men : nor does there remain any 
 nation in the Roman world which continues 
 strangers to his religion." If the Jews do not 
 believe us, let them at least believe their own 
 writers. Josephus, whom they esteem a very 
 great man, hath said this, and yet hath he 
 spoken truth after such a manner ; and so far 
 was his mind wandered from the right way, that 
 even he was not a believer as to what he himself 
 said ; but thus he spake, in order to deliver his- 
 torical truth, because he thought it was not law- 
 ful for him to deceive, while yet he was no be- 
 liever, because of the hardness of his heart and hia 
 perfidious intention. However, itwas no prejudice 
 to the truth that he was net a believer ; but this 
 adds more weight to his testimony, that while 
 ic was an unbeliever, and unwilling this should 
 >e true, he has not denied it to be so. 
 
 About A.D. 400. Hieronym. de Vir. 7Wtw*r. in 
 Josepho. Josephus, in the eighteenth book of 
 Antiquities most expressly acknowledges that 
 Dhrist was ilain by the Pharisees, on account of 
 ;he greatness of his miracles ; and that John the 
 Baptist was truly a prophet ; and that Jerusalem 
 was demolished on account of the slaughter of 
 James the apostle. Now, he wrote concerning 
 our Lord after this manner: "At the same 
 bime there was Jesus, a wise man, if yet it be 
 Lawful to call him a man ; for he was a doer of 
 wonderful works, a teacher of those who willing 1 
 ly receive the truth. He had many followers, 
 both of the Jews and of the Gentiles : be was 
 believed to be Christ. And when by the envy 
 of our principal men, Pilate had condemned him 
 to the cross, yet notwithstanding those who hac 
 loved him at first persevered, for he appeared to 
 them alive on the third day, as the oracles oi 
 the prophets had foretold many of these anc 
 other wonderful things concerning him : and the 
 sect of Christians, so named from him, are not 
 extinct at this day." 
 
 About A.D. 410. Isidorus Pelusiota, the Scho 
 tar uf Ghrysostom, lib. iv. epist. 225. There was 
 one Josephus, a Jew of the greatest reputation 
 and one that was zealous of the law ; one also 
 that paraphrased the Old Testament with truth, 
 aud acted valiantly for the Jews, and had showe< 
 that their settlement was nobler than can be 
 described by words. Now since he made their 
 interest give place to truth, for he would no 
 support the opinion of impious men, I think i 
 necessary to set down his words. "What thei 
 does he say? " Now there was about that tim 
 Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him 
 man ; for he was a doer of wonderful works, 
 teacher of such men as receive the truth wit 
 pleasure. He drew over to him both many o 
 the Jews and many of the Gentiles : he was 
 the Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestioi 
 of the principal men among us, had condemned 
 him to the cross, those that loved him at first 
 <lid not forsake him; for he appeared to them 
 the third day alive again, as the divine prophets 
 had said these and a vast number of other won- 
 derful thi:'.?s concerning him: and the tribe of 
 
 Christians, so named from him, are not extinct 
 t this day." Now I cannot but wonder greatly 
 t this great man's love of truth in many re- 
 pects, but chiefly where he says, "Jesus was 
 teacher of men who received the truth with 
 Measure." 
 
 About A.D. 440. Sozomen. Hist. Ecdes. lib. L 
 ap. 1. Now Josephus, the son of Matthias, a 
 >riest, a man of very great note, both among 
 he Jews and the Romans, may well be a wit- 
 ness of credit as to the truth of Christ's history ; 
 or he scruples to call him a man, as being a doer 
 of wonderful works, and a teacher of the wordg 
 of truth. He names him Christ openly, and is 
 not ignorant that he was condemned to the cross, / 
 and appeared on the third day alive, and that 
 ;en thousand other wonderful things were fore- 
 ;old of him by the divine prophets. He testifies 
 also, that those whom he drew over to him, be- 
 ng many of the Gentiles, as well as of the Jews, 
 continued to love him, and that the tribe named 
 :rom him was not then extinct. Now he seem- 
 ;o me by this relation almost to proclaim that 
 Christ is God. However, he appears to have 
 oeen so affected with the strangeness of the 
 thing, as to run, as it were, in a sort of middle 
 way, so as not to put any indignity upon believ- 
 ers in him, but rather to afford his suffrage to 
 them. 
 
 About A.D. 510. Ccusiodorus Hist. Tripartit. 
 eSozomeno. Now Josephus, the son of Matthias, 
 and a priest, a man of great nobility among the 
 Jews, and of great dignity among the Romans, 
 shall be a truth of Christ's history : for he dares 
 not call him a man, as a doer of famous works, 
 and a teacher of true doctrines : he names him 
 Christ openly, and is not ignorant that he was 
 condemned to the cross, and appeared on the 
 third day alive, and that an infinite number of 
 other wonderful things were foretold of him by 
 the holy prophets. Moreover, he testifies also, 
 that there were then alive many whom he had 
 chosen, both Greeks and Jews, and that they 
 continued to love him, and that the sect which 
 was named from him was by no means extinct 
 at that time. 
 
 About A.D. 640. Citron. Alex. p. 514. Now 
 Josephus also relates in his eighteenth book of 
 the Antiquities, how John the Baptist, that 
 holy man, was beheaded, on account of Hero- 
 dias, the wife of Philip, the brother of Herod 
 himself ; for Herod had divorced his former wife, 
 who was still alive, and had been his lawful 
 wife : she was the daughter of Aretas, king of 
 the Petreans. When therefore Herod had taken 
 Herodias away from her husband, while he was 
 yet alive (on whose account he slew John also,] 
 Aretas made war against Herod, because his 
 daughter had been dishonourably treated. In 
 which war, he says, that all Herod's army was 
 destroyed, and that he suffered that calamity 
 because of the wickedness he had been guilty of 
 against John. The same Josephus relates, that 
 Herod lost his kingdon on account of Herodias, 
 and that with her he was banished to Lyons, &c. 
 P. 526, 527.] Now that our Saviour taught 
 his preaching three years, is demonstrated both 
 by other necessary reasonings, as also out of the 
 holy Gospels, and out of Josephus's writings, 
 who was a wise man among the Hebrews, &c, 
 
 P. 584, 586.] Josephus relates, in the fifth 
 book of the [Jewish] war, that Jerusalem was 
 taken in the third [second] year of Vespasian, as 
 after forty years since they had dared to put Je- 
 sus to death : in which time he says, that James 
 the brother of our Lord, and bishop of Jerusa- 
 lem, was thrown down [from the temple,] and 
 glain ot them, by stoning. 
 
 2 8
 
 642 
 
 DISSERTATION I. 
 
 About A.D. 740. Anattasius Abbas contr. 
 Jud. Now Josephus, an author and writer of 
 your own, says of Christ, that he was a just and 
 good man, shewed and declared so to be by 
 divine grace, who gave aid to many by signs 
 and miracles. 
 
 About A.D. 790. Jeorgius Syncellus Chron. p. 
 339. These miseries befell the Jews by way of 
 revenge for James the Just, who was the bro- 
 ther of Jesus that was called Christ, on the ac- 
 count that they had slain him who was a most 
 righteous person. Now as Ananus, a person of 
 that character, thought he had a proper oppor- 
 tunity, because Festus was dead, and Albinus 
 was but upon the road, so he assembles the san- 
 hedrim of judges, and brings before them James, 
 the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, and 
 some of his companions ; and when he had 
 formed an accusation against them, as breakers 
 of the law, he delivered them to be stoned ; but 
 as for those that seemed the most equitable of 
 the citizens, and those that were the most uneasy 
 at the breach of the laws, they disliked what 
 was done. They also sent to the king [Agrippa,] 
 desiring him to send to Ananus that he should 
 act BO no more, for that what he had already 
 done could not be justified, &c. 
 
 About A.D. 850. Johan. Malela Chron, lib. x. 
 From that time began the destruction of the 
 Jews, as Josephus, the philosopher of the Jews, 
 hath written ; who also said this, that from 
 the time the Jews crucified Christ, who was a 
 good and a righteous man (that is, if it be fit to 
 call such a one a man, and not God,) the land of 
 Judea was never free from trouble. These things 
 the same Josephus 'tie Jew has related in hu 
 writings. 
 
 About A.D. 860. Photius Cod. lib. xlviii. I 
 have read the treatise of Josephus About the 
 Universe, whose title I have elsewhere read to 
 be, Of the Substance of the Universe. It is con- 
 tamed in two very small treatises. He treats, 
 of the origin of the world in a brief manner. 
 However, he speaks of the divinity of Christ, 
 who is our true God, in a way very like to what 
 we use, declaring that the same name of Christ 
 oelpngs to him, and writes of his ineffable gene- 
 ration of the Father after such a manner as can- 
 not be blamed ; which thing may perhaps raise 
 a doubt in some, whether Josephus was the 
 author of the work, though the phraseology does 
 not at all differ from this man's other works. 
 However, I have found in some papers that this 
 discourse was not written by Josephus, but by 
 one Caius, a presbyter. 
 
 Cod. ccxxxviii.] Herod, the tetrarch of Gali- 
 lee and of Perea, the son of Herod the Great, 
 fell in love, as Josephua says, with the wife of 
 his brother Philip, whose name was Herodias, 
 who was the grand-daughter of Herod the Great, 
 by his son Aristobulus, whom he had slain. 
 Agrippa was also her brother. Now Herod took 
 her away from her husband, and married her. 
 This is he that slew John the Baptist, that great 
 man, the forerunner [of Christ,] Doing afraid (as 
 Josephus says) lest he should raise a sedition 
 among his people ; for they all followed the di- 
 rections of John, on account of the excellency of 
 his virtue. In his time was the passion of oar 
 Saviour. 
 
 Corf, xxxiii.j I have read the Chronicle of 
 Justus of Tiberias. He omits the greatest part 
 of what was necessary to be related ; but, as in- 
 fected with Jewish prejudices, being also him- 
 elf a Jew by birth, lie makes uo mention at all 
 of tho advent, or of the acts done, or of the 
 miracles wrought, by Christ. 
 
 The time uncertain. Mttrnrtont in Actit tbincto. 
 
 rum, torn. v. p. 149. ap. Fabric. Joseph, p. 61. 
 Josephus, a priest of Jerusalem, and one that 
 wrote with truth the history of the Jewish af- 
 fairs, bears witness that Christ, the true God, 
 was incarnate, and crucified, and the third day 
 rose again ; whose writings are reposited in the 
 public library. Thus he says : Now there was 
 about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be law- 
 ful to call him a man ; for he was a doer of 
 wonderful works, a teacher of such men as re- 
 ceive the truth with pleasure, He drew over to 
 him both many of the Jews and many of the 
 Gentiles also : this was the Christ. And when 
 Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men 
 among us, had condemned him to the cross, 
 those that loved him at the first did not forsake 
 him ; for he appeared to them alive again on the 
 third day, as the divine prophets had foretold 
 these and ten thousand other wonderful things 
 concerning him : and still the tribe of Chris- 
 tians, so named from him, are not extinct at 
 this day." Sinoe, therefore, the writer of the 
 Hebrews has engraven this testimony concern- 
 ing our Lord and Saviour in his own books, 
 what defence can there remain for the unbe- 
 lievers ? 
 
 About A.D. 980. Suidas in voce 'lycrous. 
 We have found Josephus, who hath written 
 about the taking of Jerusalem (of whom Euse- 
 bius Pamphilii makes frequent mention hi his 
 Ecclesiastical History,) saying openly in his 
 Memoirs of the Captivity, that Jesus offici- 
 ated in the temple with the priests. Thus 
 have we found Josephus saying a man of an- 
 cient times, and not very long after the apostles, 
 && 
 
 About A.D. 1060. Cedrenus. Compend. Histor. 
 p. 196. Josephus does indeed write concerning 
 John the Baptist as follows : Some of the Jews 
 thought that the destruction of Herod's army 
 came from God, and that he was punished very 
 justly for what punishment he had inflicted on 
 John, that was called the Baptist ; for Herod 
 slew him, who was a good man, and commanded 
 ihe Jews to exercise virtue, both by righteous- 
 ness towards one another and piety towards 
 God, and so to come to baptism. But as con- 
 cerning Christ, the same Josephus says, that 
 about that time there was Jesus, a wise man, if 
 it be lawful to call him a man ; for he was a doer 
 of wonderful works, and a teacher of such men 
 as receive the truth with pleasure : for that 
 Christ drew over many even from the Gentiles ; 
 whom when Pilate had crucified, those who at 
 first had loved him did not leave off to preach 
 concerning him, for he appeared to them the 
 third day alive again, as the divine prophets had 
 testified, and spoke these and other wonderful 
 things concerning him. 
 
 About A.D. 1080. Theophylact. in Joan. lib. 
 xiii. The city of the Jews was taken, and the 
 wrath of God was kindled against them : as also 
 Josephus witnesses, that this came upou them 
 on account of the death of Jesus. 
 
 About A.D. 1120. Zonaras Annal. torn. L p. 
 267. Josephus in the eighteenth book of Anti- 
 quities, writes thus concerning our Lord and 
 God Jesus Christ : Now, there was about this 
 time Jesus, a wis man, if it be lawful to call 
 him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful 
 works, a teacher of such men as receive the 
 truth with pleasure. He drew over to him 
 many of the Jews, and many of the Gentile* : 
 he was the Christ. And when Pilate, at the 
 suggestion of the principal men among us, had 
 condemned him to the cross, those that loved 
 him at first did not forsake him; for he ap- 
 neared to them the third day alive again, as tf'
 
 DISSERTATION L 
 
 643 
 
 [vine prophets had said these and ten thousand 
 ther wonderful things concerning him : and the 
 ribe of Christians, BO named from him, are not 
 xtinct at this day. 
 
 About A.D. 1120. Glycus Annal. p. 234 
 
 "hen did Pbilo, that wise man, and Josephus, 
 
 ourish. This last was styled The Lover of 
 
 'ruth, because he commended John, who bap- 
 
 ized our Lord ; and because he bore witness 
 
 hat Christ, in like#manner, was a wise man, 
 
 and the doer of great miracles ; and that, when 
 
 " .e was crucified, he appeared the third day. 
 
 About A.D. 1170. Gotfridus Viterbiensis 
 Thron. p. 366. e Vers. Mufini. Josephus re- 
 ates that a very great war arose between 
 Aretas, king of the Arabians, and Herod, on 
 ccount of the sin which Herod had committed 
 against John. Moreover, the same Josephus 
 writes thus concerning Christ : There was at 
 his time Jesus, a wise man, if at least it be law- 
 ul to call him a man ; for he was a doer of won- 
 Lerful works, a teacher of such men as willingly 
 icar truth. He also drew over to him many of 
 he Jews and many of the Gentiles : he was 
 hrist. And when Pilate, at the accusation of 
 e principal men of our nation, had decreed 
 ;hat he should be crucified, those that had loved 
 tim from the beginning did not forsake him ; 
 ! or he appeared to them the third day alive 
 again, according to what the divinely inspired 
 wophets had foretold, that these and innume- 
 rable other miracles should come to pass about 
 lim. Moreover, both the name and sect of 
 Christians, who were named from him, con- 
 tinue in being unto this day. 
 
 About A.D. 1360. Nitephorts Calliotus Hist. 
 Eccles. lib. i. p. 90, 91. Now this [concerning 
 Herod the tetrarch] is attested to, not only by 
 the book of the Holy Gospels, but by Josephus, 
 that lover of truth : who also makes mention of 
 Herodias his brother's wife, whom Herod had 
 taken away from him while he was alive, and 
 married her ; having divorced his former lawful 
 wife, who was the daughter of Aretas, king of 
 the Petrean Arabians. This Herodias he had 
 married, and lived with her : on which account 
 also, when he had slain John, he made war with 
 Aretas, becauie his daughter had been dishon- 
 ourably used ; in which war he relates that all 
 Herod's army was destroyed, and that he suffered 
 this on account of the most unjust slaughter of 
 John. He also adds, that John was a most 
 righteous man. Moreover, he makes mention of 
 his baptism, agreeing in all points thereto relat- 
 ing with the gospel. He also informs us, that 
 Herod lost his kingdom on account of Herodias, 
 with whom also he was condemned to be banished 
 to Vienna, which was their place of exile, and a 
 city bordering upon Gaul, and lying near the 
 utmost bounds of the weut. 
 
 About A.D. 1450. Hardmannus Schedelius 
 Chron. p. 110. Josephus the Jew, who was 
 called Flavius, a priest, and the son of Matthias, 
 a priest of that nation, a most celebrated histo- 
 rian, and very skilful in many things ; he was 
 certainly a good man, and of an excellent cha- 
 racter, who had the highest opinion of Christ. 
 
 About A.D. 1480. Platiua de Vitu Pontificum, 
 in Christo. I shall avoid mentioning what Christ 
 did until the 30th year of his age, when he was 
 baptized by John, the soa o? 'iacharias, because 
 not only the Gospels and Epistles are full of those 
 acts of his, which he did in the most excellent 
 and most holy manner, but the books of such as 
 were quite remote from his way of living, and 
 acting, and ordaining, are also full of the same. 
 Flavius Josephus himself, who wrote twenty 
 books of Jewish Antiquities in the Greek tongue, 
 
 when he had proceeded as far as the government 
 of the emperor Tiberius, says, There was in those 
 days Jesus, a certain wise man, if at least it be 
 lawful to call him a man ; for he was a doer of 
 wonderful works, and a teacher of men, of such 
 especially as willingly hear the truth. On this 
 account he drew over to him many, both of the 
 Jews and Gentiles : he was Christ. But when 
 Pilate, instigated by the principal men of our 
 nation, had decreed that he should be crucified, 
 yet did not those that had loved him from the 
 beginning forsake him ; and besides, he appeared 
 to them the third day after his death alive, as 
 the divinely inspired prophets had foretold, that 
 these and innumerable other miracles should 
 come to pass about him : and the famous name 
 of Christians, taken from him, as well as their 
 sect, do still continue in being. 
 
 The same Josephus also affirms, That John 
 the Baptist, a true prophet, and on that account 
 one that was had in esteem by all men, was slain 
 by Herod, the son of Herod the Great, a little 
 before the death of Christ, in the castle of 
 Macherus, not because he was afraid for him- 
 self and his kingdom, as the same author says, 
 bnt because he had incestuously married Hero- 
 dias, the sister of Agrippa, and the wife of that 
 excellent person his brother Philip. 
 
 About A.D. 1480. Trithemius Albas de Scrip- 
 tor. Eccles. Josephus the Jew, although he con- 
 tinued to be a Jew, did frequently commend the 
 Christians; and in the eighteenth book of bis 
 Antiquities, wrote down an eminent testimony 
 concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 OBSERVATIONS FROM THE 70KKOOINQ EVTDENCK 
 AND CITATIONS. 
 
 L THE style of all these original testimonies 
 belonging to Josephns, is exactly the style of the 
 same Josephns, and especially the style about 
 those parts of his Antiquities wherein we find 
 these testimonies. This is denied by nobody, a 
 to the other concerning John the Baptist and 
 James the Just, and is now become equally un- 
 deniable as to that concerning Christ. 
 
 IL These testimonies therefore being con- 
 fessedly and undeniably written by Josephus 
 himself, it is next to impossible that he should 
 wholly omit some testimony concerning Jesus 
 Christ ; nay, while his testimonies of John the 
 Baptist and of James the Just are so honourable, 
 and gave them so great characters, it is also ini- 
 possible that this testimony concerning Chri.s- 
 should be other than very honourable, or such :..i 
 afforded him a still greater character also. Could 
 the very same author who gave such a full and ad- 
 vantageous character of John the Baptist, the fore- 
 runner of Jejus of Nazareth, all whose disciples 
 were by him directed to Jesus of Nazareth as to 
 the true Messias, and all whose disciples became 
 afterwards the disciples of Jesus of Nazaretli, 
 say nothing honourable of that Jesus of Nazareth 
 himself? and this in a history of those very 
 tunes in which he was born and lived and died, 
 and that while the writer lived but a little after 
 him in the same country in which he was born, 
 and lived, and died. This is almost incredible. 
 And further, could the very same author, who 
 gave such an advantageous character of Jamei 
 the Just, and this under the very appellation 01 
 Jamei, the brother of Jesus, who was callec 
 Christ, which James was one of the pnncipa 
 disciples or apostles of this Jesus Christ, and hac 
 been many years the only Christian bishop of 
 the believing Jews of Judea and Jerusalem, ii 
 the very days and in the very country of thu 
 writer ; could he, I say, wholly omit any, nay
 
 0*4 
 
 DISSERTATION L 
 
 very honourable account of Jesus Christ him- 
 self, whose disciple and bishop this James most 
 certainly was ? This is almost incredible. Hear 
 what Ittigius, one of the wisest and leaniedest 
 of all those who have lately inclined to give up 
 the testimony concerning Christ, as it stands in 
 our copies, for spurious, says upon this occasion : 
 " If any one object to me, that Josephus hath 
 not omitted John the Baptist, the forerunner 
 of Christ, nor James the disciple of Christ, and 
 that therefore he could not have done the part of 
 a good historian, if he had been entirely silent 
 concerning Christ, I shall freely grant that Jo- 
 sephus was not entirely silent concerning Christ ; 
 nay, I shall further grant, that when Josephu* 
 was speaking of Chris b, he did not abstain from 
 his commendation ; for we are not to determine 
 from that inveterate hatred which the modern 
 Jews bear to Christ, what was the behaviour of 
 those Jews, upon whom the miracles that were 
 daily wrought by the apostles in the name of 
 Christ imprinted a sacred horror." 
 
 III. The famous clause in this testimony of 
 Josephus concerning Christ, This was Christ, or 
 the Christ, does not mean that this Jesus was 
 the Christ of God, or the true Messiah of the 
 Jews; but that this Jesus was distinguished 
 from all others of that name, of which there 
 were not a few, as mentioned by Josephus him- 
 self, by the addition of the other name of Christ ; 
 or that this person was no other than he whom 
 all the world knew by the name of Jesus Chr'ut, 
 and his followers by the name of Christians. 
 This I esteem to be a clear case, and that from 
 the arguments following : 
 
 (1.) The Greeks and Romans, for Tirhose use 
 Josephus wrote his Antiquities, could no other- 
 wise understand these words. The Jews indeed, 
 and afterwards the Christians, who knew that a 
 great Messias, a person that was to be Christ, 
 the annointed of God, and that was to perform 
 the office of a King, a Priest, and a Prophet, to 
 God's people, might readily so understand this 
 expression ; but Josephus, ag I have already 
 noted, wrote here not to Jews or Christians, but 
 to Greeks and Romans, who knew nothing of 
 this : but knew very well that an eminent per- 
 son, living in Judea, whose name was Jesus 
 Chrest, or Jesus Christ, had founded a new and 
 numerous sect, which took the latter of those 
 names, and were everywhere, from him, called 
 Chrestians, or Christians ; in which sense alone 
 they could understand these words of Josephus, 
 and in which sense I believe he desired they 
 should understand them; nor does Josephus 
 ever use the Hebrew term Messiah in any of his 
 writings, nor the Greek term Christ, in any such 
 acceptation elsewhere. 
 
 (2. ) Josephus himself as good as exlpains his 
 own meaning, and that by the last clause of 
 this very passage, where he says the Christians 
 were named from this Christ, without a syllable 
 as though he really meant he was the true Mes- 
 siah, or Christ of God. He farther seems to me 
 to explain this his meaning in that other place 
 where alone he elsewhere mentions this name of 
 Christ ; that is, when upon occasion of the men- 
 tion of James, when he was condemned by 
 Ananus, he calls him the Brother of Jesus, not 
 that was the true Messiah, or the true Christ, 
 but only that was called Christ. 
 
 (3. ) It was quite beside the purpose of Jose- 
 phus to declare Idmself here to be a Christian, 
 or a believer in Jesus as the true Messiah. Had 
 he intended so to do, he would surely have ex- 
 plained the meaning of the word Christ to his 
 Greek and Roman readers ; he would surely have 
 been a great deal fuller and Larger in his accounts 
 
 of Christ, and of the Christian religion ; noi 
 would such a declaration at that time have re- 
 commended him, or his nation, or his writings, 
 to either the Greeks or the Romans ; of his re- 
 putation with both which people he is known to 
 have been, in the writing of these Antiquities, 
 very greatly solicitous. 
 
 (4.) Josephus's usual way of writing is his- 
 torical and declarative of facts, and of the 
 opinions of others, and but rarely such as di- 
 rectly informs us of his own opinion, unless we 
 prudently gather it from what he says histori- 
 cally, or as the opinions of others. This is very 
 observable in the writings of Josephus, and in 
 particular as to what he says of John the Bap- 
 tist, and of James the Just ; so that this inter- 
 pretation is most probable, as most agreeable to 
 Josephus's way of writing in parallel cases. 
 
 (5. ) This seems to be the universal sense of all 
 the ancients, without exception, who cite this 
 testimony from him; and though they almost 
 everywhere own this to be the true reading, yet 
 do they everywhere suppose Josephus to be still 
 an unbelieving Jew, and not a believing Chris- 
 tian ; nay, Jerome appears so well assured of 
 this interpretation, and that Josephus did not 
 mean to declare any more by these words, than a 
 common opinion that, according to his usual way 
 of interpreting authors, not to the words but to 
 the sense (of which we have, I think, two more 
 instances in his accounts out of Josephus now 
 before us,) he renders this clause, Credebatur 
 esse Christus, i.e. He was believed to be Christ. 
 Nor is the parallel expression of Pilate to be 
 otherwise understood, when he made that in- 
 scription upon the cross, This is Jesus, the King 
 of the Jews (Matt, xxvii. 31 ;) which is well ex- 
 plained by himself elsewhere, and corresponds 
 to the import of the present clause, What shall 
 I do with Jesus, who is called Christ ? (Matt, xxvii, 
 17, 22.) And we may full as well prove from 
 Pilate's inscription upon the cross, that he here- 
 by declared himself a believer in Christ, for the 
 real king of the Jews, as we can from these words 
 of Josephus, that he thereby declared himself to 
 be a real believer in him, as the true Messiah. 
 
 IV. Though Josephus did not design here to 
 declare himself openly to be a Christian, yet 
 could he not possibly believe all that he here 
 asserts concerning Jesus Christ, unless he were 
 so far a Christian as the Jewish Nazarenes or 
 Ebionites then were, who believed Jesus of 
 Nazareth to be the true Messiah, without be- 
 lieving he was more than a man : who also be- 
 lieved the necessity of the observation of the 
 ceremonial law of Moses in order to salvation for 
 all mankind, which were the two main articles 
 of those Jewish Christians' faith, though in oppo- 
 sition to all the thirteen apostles of Jesus Christ, 
 in the first century, and in opposition to the 
 whole Catholic Church of Christ in the following 
 centuries also. Accordingly, I have elsewhere 
 proved, that Josephus was no other in his own 
 mind and conscience than a Nazarene or Ebiori- 
 ite Jewish Christian; and have observed, thai, 
 this entire testimony, and all that Josephus says 
 of John the Baptist and of James, as well as his 
 absolute silence about all the rest of the apostles 
 and their companions, exactly agree to him under 
 that character and no other ; and indeed to me 
 it is most astonishing, that all our learned men, 
 who have of late considered these testimonies of 
 Josephus, except the converted Jew Galatinus, 
 should miss such an obvious and natural obsei - 
 vation. We all know this from St James's own 
 words, (Acts xxL 20,) that so many ten thousand* 
 of Jews as believed in Christ, in the first century, 
 were all zealous of the ceremonial law, or wer*
 
 DISSERTATION 1. 
 
 645 
 
 no other than Xaz^rene or Ebionite Christians ; 
 and, by consequence, if there were any reason to 
 think our Josephus to be in any sense a believer 
 or a Christian, as from all these testimonies there 
 were very great ones, all those and many other 
 reasons could not but conspire to assure us, he 
 was no other than a Nazarene or Ebionite Chris- 
 tian ; and this I take to be th plain and evident 
 key of this whole matter. 
 
 V, Since therefore Joseplius appears to have 
 been, in his own heart and conscience, no other 
 than a Nazarene or Ebionite Christian, and, by 
 consequence, with them rejected all our Greek 
 Gospels and Greek books of the New Testament, 
 and received only the Hebrew Gospels of the 
 Nazarenes or Ebionites, styled by them, the 
 Gospel according to the Hebrews, or according 
 to the Twelve Apostles, or even according to 
 Matthew, we ought always to have that Naza- 
 rene or Ebionite Gospel, with the other Naza- 
 rene or Ebionite fragments, in view, when we 
 consider any passages of Josephus relating to 
 Christ or to Christianity. Thus, since that 
 Gospel omitted all that is in the beginning of 
 our St Matthew's and St Luke's Gospels, and 
 began with the ministry of John the Baptist, in 
 which first parts of the Gospel History are the 
 accounts of the slaughter of the infants, and of 
 the enrolment or taxation under Augustus Caesar 
 and Herod, it is no great wonder that Josephus 
 has not taken care particularly and clearly to 
 preserve those histories to us. Thus, when we 
 find that Josephus calls James the brother of 
 Christ, by the name of James the Just, and de- 
 scribes him as a most just or righteous man. ::i 
 an especial manner, we are to remember tiint 
 such is his name and character in the Gospel ac- 
 cording to the Hebrews, and the other Ebionite 
 remains of Hegesippus, but nowhere eke, that I 
 remember, in the earliest antiquity ; nor are we 
 to suppose they herein referred to any other 
 than that righteousness which was by the Jewish 
 law, wherein St Paul (Philip, iii. 4, 5, 6,) before 
 he embraced Christianity, professed himself to 
 have been blamelets. Thus when Josephus, with 
 other Jews, ascribed the miseries of that nation 
 under Vespasian and Titus, with the destruc- 
 tion of Jerusalem, to the barbarous murder of 
 James the Just, we must remember what we 
 learn from the Ebionite fragments of Hegesip- 
 pus, that these Ebionites interpreted a pro- 
 phecy of Isaiah as foretelling this very murder, 
 and those consequent miseries : Let us take 
 away the just one, for he is unprofitable to us : 
 therefore shall they eat the fruit of their own 
 ways (Isaiah iii. 10. ) Thus when Josephus says, 
 as we have seen, that the most equitable citi- 
 zens of Jerusalem, and those that were most 
 zealous of the law, were very uneasy at the con- 
 demnation of this James, and some of his friends 
 and fellow-Christians, by the high priest and 
 sanhedrim, about A.D. 62, and declares that he 
 himself was one of those Jews who thought the 
 terrible miseries of that nation effects of the 
 vengeance of God for their murder of this James, 
 about A.D. 68, we ma)' easily see those opinions 
 could only be the opinions of converted Jews or 
 Ebionites. The high priest and sanhedrim, who 
 always persecuted the Christians, and now con- 
 demned these Christians, and the body of these 
 unbelieving Jews, who are supposed to suffer for 
 murdering this James, the head of the Nazarene 
 or Ebionite Christians in Judea, could not, to be 
 sure, be of that opinion ; nor could Josephus 
 himself be of the same opinion, as he declares he 
 was, without the strongest inclinations to the 
 Christian religion, or without bning secretly a 
 Christian Jew i. . a Nazarene or Ebionite ; 
 
 which thing is, by the way, a very great addi- 
 tional argument that such he was, and no other. 
 Thus, lastly, when Josephus is cited in Suidas, 
 as affirming that Jesus officiated with the priesti 
 in the temple, this account is by no means dis- 
 agreeable to the pretensions of the Ebionites. 
 Hegesippus affirms the very same of James the 
 Just also. 
 
 VI. In the first citation ot the famous testi- 
 mony concerning our Saviour, from Tacitus, 
 almost all that was true of the Jews is directly 
 taken by him out of Josephus, as will be demon- 
 strated under the Third Dissertation hereafter. 
 
 VII. The second author I have alleged for it 
 is Justin Martyr, one so nearly coeval with Jo- 
 sephus, that he might be born about the time 
 when he wrote his Antiquities : he appeals to the 
 same Antiquities by that very name ; and though 
 he does not here directly quote them, yet does he 
 seem to me to allude to this very testimony in 
 them concerning our Saviour, when he affirms, 
 in this place, to Trypho the Jew, that his na- 
 tion originally knew that Jesus was risen from 
 the dead, and ascended into heaven, as the pro- 
 phecies did foretell was to happen. Since there 
 neither now is, nor probably in the days of Jus- 
 tin was, any other Jewish testimony extant 
 which is so agreeable to what Justin here affirms 
 of those Jews, as is this of Josephus the Jew be- 
 fore us ; nor indeed does he seem to me to have 
 had anything else particularly in his view here, 
 but this very testimony, where Josephus says, 
 " That Jesus appeared to his followers alive the 
 third day after his crucifixion, as the- divine pro- 
 phets had foretold these and ten thousand othei 
 wonderful things roncerning him.'* 
 
 VIII. The third author I have quoted for Je- 
 sephus's testimonies of John the Baptist, of 
 Jesus of Nazareth, and of James the Just, is 
 Origen, who is indeed allowed on all hands to 
 have quoted him for the excellent character of 
 John the Baptist, and of James the Just ; but 
 whose supposed entire silence about this testi- 
 mony concerning Christ is usually alleged as the 
 principal argument against its being genuine, 
 and particularly as to the clause, This was the 
 Christ : and that, as we have seen, because he 
 twice assures us that, in his opinion, Josephut 
 himself did not acknowledge Jesus for Christ. 
 Now, as to this latter clause, I have already 
 shewn that Josephus did not here, in writing to 
 Greeks and Romans, mean any such thing by 
 those words, as Jews and Christians naturally 
 understand by them : I have also observed, that 
 all the ancients allow still, with Origen, that 
 Josephus did not, in the Jewish and Christian 
 sense, acknowledge Jesus for the true Messiah, 
 or the true Christ of God, notwithstanding 
 their express quotation of that clause in Jose- 
 phus as genuine ; so that unless we suppose 
 Origen to have had a different notion of these 
 words from all the other ancients, we cannot 
 conclude from this assertion of Origen, that he 
 had not those words in his copy, not to say that 
 it is, after all, much more likely that his copy a 
 little differed from the other copies in this 
 clause, or indeed omitted it entirely, than that 
 he, on its account, must be supposed not to have 
 had the rest of this testimony therein, though 
 indeed I see no necessity of making any such 
 supposal at all. However, it seems to me that 
 Origen affords us four several indications that 
 the main parts at least of this testimony itself 
 were in his copy : 
 
 (1,) When Origen introduces Josephus's testi- 
 mony concerning James the Just, that he 
 thought the miseries of the Jews were an in- 
 stance of the divine vengeance on that nation fo
 
 DISSERTATION I. 
 
 putting James to death instead of Jesus, he uses 
 n expression no way necessary to his purpose, 
 nor occasioned by any words of Josephus there, 
 that they had slain that Christ which was fore- 
 told in the prophecies. Whence could this ex- 
 pression comb here into Origen's mind, when he 
 was quoting a testimony of Josephus concerning 
 the brother of Christ, but from bis remembrance 
 of a clause in the testimony of the same Jose- 
 phus concerning Christ himself, that the prophets 
 had foretold his death and resurrection, and 
 ten thousand other -wonderful things concerning 
 him 
 
 (2) How came Origen to be so surprised at Jo- 
 sephus's ascribing the destruction of Jerusalem 
 to the Jews' murdering of James the Just, and 
 not to their murdering of Jesus, as we have seen 
 he was, if he had not known that Josephus had 
 spoken of Jesus and his death before, and that 
 he had a very good opinion of Jesus, which yet 
 he could learn no way so authentically as from 
 this testimony? Nor do the words he here uses, 
 that Josephus was not remote from the truth, 
 perhaps allude to anything else but to this very 
 testimony before us. 
 
 (3.) How can the same Origen, upon another 
 slight occasion, when he had just set down that 
 testimony of Josephus concerning James the 
 Just, the brother of Jesus, who was called 
 Christ, say that, " it may be questioned whether 
 the Jews thought Jesus to be a man, or whether 
 they did not suppose him to be a being of a di- 
 viner kind?" This looks so very like the fifth 
 and sixth clauses of this testimony in Josephus, 
 that Jesus was a wise man, if it be laioful to call 
 him a, man, that it is highly probable Origen 
 thereby alluded to them ; and this is the more 
 to be depended on, because all the unbelieving 
 Jews, and all the rest of the Nazareno Jews, 
 esteemed Jesus, with one consent, as \ mere 
 nan, the son of Joseph and Mary ; and it is not, 
 I think, possible to produce any one Jew but 
 Josephus, who in a sort of compliance with the 
 Romans and the Catholic Christians, who thought 
 him a God, would say anything like his being a 
 God. 
 
 (4.) How came Origen to affirm twice, so ex- 
 pressly, that Josephus did not himself own, in 
 the Jewish and Christian sense, that Jesus was 
 Christ, notwithstanding his quotations of such 
 eminent testimonies out of him for John the 
 Baptist his forerunner, and for James the Just, 
 his brother, and one of his principal disciples? 
 There is no passage in all Josephus so likely to 
 persuade Origen of this, as is the famous testi- 
 mony before us, wherein, as he and all the an- 
 cients understood it, he was generally called 
 Christ indeed, but not any otherwise than as the 
 common name whence the sect of Christians was 
 derived, and where he all along speaks of those 
 Christians as a sect then in being, whose author 
 was a wonderful person, and his followers great 
 lovers of him and of the truth, yet as such a 
 sect as he had not joined himself to ; which ex- 
 position, as it is a very natural one, so was it, I 
 doubt, but too true of our Josephus at that 
 time; nor can I devise any other reason but 
 this, and the parallel language of Josephus else- 
 where, when he speaks of James as the brother, 
 not of Jesus who was Christ, but of Jesus who 
 was called Christ, that could so naturally induce 
 Origen and others to be of that opinion. 
 
 IX. There are two remarkable passages in Sui- 
 das and Theophylact, already set down as citing 
 Josephus ; the former, that Jesus officiated with 
 the priests in the temple ; and the latter, that the 
 destruction of Jerusalem, and miseries of the 
 Jews, were owing to their putting Jesus to death. 
 
 which are in none of our present copies, nor cited 
 thence by any ancienter authors, nor indeed do 
 they seem altogether consistent with the othel 
 most authentic testimonies. However, since Sui- 
 das cites his passage from a treatise of Josephus, 
 called " Memoirs of the Jews' Captivity," a book 
 never heard of elsewhere, and since both cita- 
 tions are not at all disagreeable to Josephus'a 
 character as a Nazarene or Ebionite, I dare not 
 positively conclude they are spurious, bui must 
 leave them in suspense, for the further consider- 
 ation of the learned. 
 
 X. As to that great critic Photius, in the ninth 
 century, who is supposed not to have had this 
 testimony in his copy of Josephus, or else to 
 have esteemed it spurious ; because in his ex- 
 tracts out of Jpsephus's Antiquities, it is not 
 expressly mentioned, this is a strange thing 
 indeed ! that a section, which had been cited 
 out of Josephus's copies all along before the days 
 of Photius, as well as tt has been all along cited 
 out of them since his days, should be supposed 
 not to be in his copy, because he does not di* 
 rectly mention it in certain short and imperfect 
 extracts, no way particularly relating to such 
 matters. Those who lay a stress on this silence 
 of Photius, seem little to have attended to the 
 nature and brevity of those extracts. They con- 
 tain little or nothing, as he in effect professes at 
 their entrance, but what concerns Antipater, 
 Herod the Great, and his brethren and family, 
 with their exploits, till the days of Agrippa 
 junior, and Cumanus, the governor of Judea, 
 fifteen years after the death of our Saviour, 
 without one word of Pilate, or what happened 
 under his government, which yet was the only 
 proper place in which this testimony could come 
 to be mentioned. However, since Photius seems 
 therefore, as we have seen, to respect the treatise 
 ascribed by some to Josephu^, Of the Universe, 
 because it speaks very high things of the eternal 
 generation and divinity of Christ, this looks very 
 like his knowledge and belief of somewhat really 
 in the same Josephus, which spake in a lower 
 manner of him, which could be hardly any other 
 passage than this testimony before us ; and since, 
 as we have also seen, when he speaks of the 
 Jewish History of Justus of Tiberias, as infected 
 with the prejudices of the Jews in taking no 
 manner of notice of the advent, of the acts, and 
 of the miracles .of Jesus Christ, while yet he 
 never speaks so of Josephus himself, this most 
 naturally implies also, that there was not the 
 like occasion here as there ; but that Josephua 
 had not wholly omitted that advent, those acts, 
 or miracles which yet he has done everywhere 
 else, in the books seen by Photius, as well as 
 Justus of Tiberias, but in this famous testimony 
 before us, so that it is most probable Photius 
 not only had this testimony in his copy, but be- 
 lieved it to be genuine also. 
 
 XL As to the silence of Clement of Alex- 
 andria, who cites the Antiquities of Josephus, 
 but never cites any of the testimonies now before 
 us, it is no strange thing at all, since he never 
 cites Josephus but once, and that for a point of 
 chronology only, to determine how many years 
 Ijad passed from the days of Moses to the days 
 of Josephus, so that his silence may almost as 
 well be alleged against a hundred other remark- 
 able passages in Josephus's works as against 
 these before us. 
 
 XIL Nor does the like silence of Tertnllian 
 imply that these testimonies, or any of them, 
 were not in the copies of his age. Tertullian 
 never once hints at any treatises of Josephus but 
 those against Apion, and that in general only, 
 for a point of chronology ; nor does it any waj
 
 DISSERTATION II. 
 
 647 
 
 appear that Tertullian ever saw any of Josephun's 
 writings besides, and far from being certain that 
 e saw even those. He had particular occasion 
 n his dispute against the Jews to quote Jose- 
 >hus, above any other writer, to prove the com- 
 pletion of the prophecies of the Old Testament 
 n the destruction of Jerusalem and miseries of 
 he Jews at that time, of which he there dis- 
 courses, yet does he never once quote him upon 
 hat solemn occasion ; so that it seems to me 
 
 that Tertullian never read either the Greek An- 
 tiquities of Josephus, or his Greek boolr* of the 
 Jewish wars : nor is this at all strang in Ter- 
 tullian, a Latin writer, that lived in Africa, by 
 none of which African writers is there any one 
 clause, that I know of, cited out of any of 
 Josephus's writings ; nor is it worth my while 
 in such numbers of positive citations of these 
 clauses, to mention the silence of other later 
 writers as being here of very small consequence. 
 
 DISSERTATION II. 
 
 SINCE this command of God to Abraham (Gen. 
 xxii. ) has of late been greatly mistaken by some 
 who venture to reason about very ancient facts 
 From very modern notions, and this without a 
 due regard to either the customs, or opinions, or 
 circumstances of the times whereto those facts 
 belong, or indeed to the true reasons of the facts 
 themselves ; since the mistakes about those cus- 
 toms, opinions, circumstances and reasons, have 
 of late so far prevailed, that the very same action 
 of Abraham, which was so celebrated by St Paul 
 (Rom. iv. 16-25,) St James (chap. iL 21, 22,) the 
 author to the Hebrews (chap. xi. 17-19,) Philo 
 and Josephus, in the first century, and by in- 
 numerable others since, as an uncommon instance 
 of signal virtue, of heroic faith in God, and piety 
 towards him ; nay, is in the sacred history (Gen. 
 xxii. 15-18) highly commended by the divine 
 Angel of the Covenant, in the name of God him- 
 self, and promised to be plentifully rewarded ; 
 since this command, I say, is now at last, in the 
 eighteenth century, become a stone of stumbling 
 and a rock of offence among us, and that some- 
 times to persons of otherwise good sense, and of 
 a religious disposition of mind also, I shall en- 
 deavour to set this matter in its true, t. e. in its 
 ancient and original light, for the satisfaction of 
 the inquisitive. In order whereto we ai to 
 consider, 
 
 1. That till this very profane age, it has been, 
 I think, universally allowed by all sober persons, 
 who owned themselves the creatures of God, 
 that the Creator has a just right over all his 
 rational creatures, to protract their lives to what 
 length he pleases, to cut them off when and 
 by what instruments he pleases, to afflict them 
 with what sicknesses he pleases, and to remove 
 them from one state or place in this his great 
 palace of the universe to another, as he pleases ; 
 and that all those rational creatures are bound 
 in duty and interest to acquiesce under the 
 divine disposal, and to resign themselves up to 
 the good providence of God in all such his dis- 
 pensations towards them. I do not mean to in- 
 timate that God may, or ever does, act in these 
 cases after a mere arbitrary manner, or without 
 sufficient reason, believing, according to the 
 whole tenor of natural and revealed religion, 
 that he hateth nothing that he hath made (Wis- 
 dom xL 14); that whatsoever he does, how 
 melancholy soever it may appear at first sight 
 to us, is really intended for the good of his crea- 
 tures, and at the upshot of things, will fully 
 appear BO to be : but that still he is not obliged, 
 nor does in general give his creatures an account 
 
 of the particular reasons of snch his dispensa- 
 tions towards them immediately, but usually 
 tries and exercises their faith and patience, their 
 resignation and obedience, in their present state 
 of probation, and reserves those reasons to the 
 last day, the day of the revelation of the righteous 
 judgment of God. (Rom. iL 5. ) 
 
 2. That the entire histories of the past agea, 
 from the days of Adam till now. shew that Al- 
 mighty God has ever exercised his power over 
 mankind, and that without giving them an im- 
 mediate account of the reasons of such his con- 
 duct ; and that withal, the best and wisest men 
 of all ages, Heathens as well as Jews and Chris- 
 tians, Marcus Antoninus as well as the patri- 
 arch Abraham and St Paul, have ever humbly 
 submitted themselves to this conduct of the 
 Divine Providence, and always confessed that 
 they were obliged to the undeserved goodness 
 and mercy of God for every enjoyment, but 
 could not demand any of them of his justice ; 
 no, not so much as the continuance of that life 
 whereto those enjoyments do appertain. When 
 God was pleased to sweep the wicked race of 
 men away by a flood, the young innocent infants, 
 as well as the guilty old sinners ; when he was 
 pleased to shorten the lives of men after the 
 Flood, and still downward till the days of David 
 and Solomon ; when he was pleased to destroy 
 impure Sodom and Gomorrah by fire and brim- 
 stone from heaven, and to extirpate the main 
 body of the Amorites out of the land of Canaan, 
 as soon as their iniquities were frtll, (Gen. xv. 16,] 
 and in these instances included the young inno- 
 cent infants, together with the old hardened 
 sinners ; when God was pleased to send an angel, 
 and by him to destroy 185,000 Assyrians (the 
 number attested to by Berosus the Chaldean, as 
 well as by our own Bibles) in the days of Eeze- 
 kiah, most of whom seem to have had no other 
 peculiar pruilt upon them than that common to 
 soldiers in war, of obeying without reserve their 
 king Sennacherib, his generals and captains ; and, 
 when, at the plague of Athens, London, Mar- 
 seilles, &c., so many thousand righteous men 
 and women, with innocent babes, were swepl 
 away on a sudden, by a fatal contagion, I do 
 not remember that sober men have complained 
 that God dealt unjustly with such his creatures, 
 in those to us seemingly severe dispensations. 
 Nor are we certain when any such seemingly 
 severe dispensations are really snch, nor do w 
 know but shortening the lives of men may some- 
 times be the greatest blessing to them, and pre- 
 vent or put a stop to those courses of jrrosi
 
 648 
 
 DISSERTATION TL 
 
 wickedness which might bring them to a greater 
 misery in the world to come ; nor is it fit for 
 such poor, weak, and ignorant creatures as we 
 are, in the present state, to call our almighty, 
 and all-wise, and all-good Creator and Benefac- 
 tor to an account upon any such occasions, 
 since we cannot but acknowledge that it is He 
 that hath made us, and not we ourselves (Psalm 
 c. 3,) that we are nothing, and have nothing of 
 ourselves independent of him, but that all we are, 
 all we have, and all we hope for, is derived from 
 him, from his free and undeserved bounty, which 
 therefore he may justly take from us in what 
 way soever and whensoever he pleases ; all wise 
 and good men still saying in such cases with the 
 pious Psalmist (Ps. xxxix. 9,) I was dumb, 1 
 opened not my mouth, becaust tkou didst it; and 
 with patient Job (ch. L 21 ; ii. 10,) Shall we re- 
 ceive good at the hand of God, &nd shall not we 
 receive evil? The Lord gave, aiid the Lord hath 
 taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord. If 
 therefore this shortening or taking away the lives 
 of men be an objection against any divine com- 
 mand for that purpose, it is full as strong against 
 the present system of the world, against the 
 conduct of Divine Providence in general, and 
 against natural religion, which is founded on the 
 justice of that Providence, and is no way peculiar 
 to revealed religion, or to the fact of Abraham 
 now before us ; nor in this case much different 
 from what was soon after the days of Abraham 
 thoroughly settled, after Job's and his friends' 
 debates, by the inspiration of Elihu, and the de- 
 termination of God himself, where the Divine 
 Providence was at length thoroughly cleared and 
 justified before all the world, as it will be, 110 
 question, more generally cleared and justified at 
 the final judgment. 
 
 3. That till this profane age, it has also, I 
 think, been universally allowed by all sober 
 men, that a command of God, when suffisiently 
 made known to be so, is abundant authority for 
 the taking away the life of any person whomso- 
 ever. I doubt both ancient and modern princes, 
 generals of armies, and judges, even those of the 
 best reputation also, have ventured to take many 
 men's lives away upon much less authority ; nor 
 indeed do the most sceptical of the moderns 
 care to deny this authority directly ; they rather 
 take a method of objecting somewhat more 
 plausible, though it amounts to much the same : 
 they say that the apparent disagreement of any 
 command to the moral attributes of God, such as 
 this of the slaughter of an only child seems 
 plainly to be, will be a greater evidence that 
 such a command does not come from God, than 
 any pretended revelation can be that it does ; 
 but as to this matter, although divine revelations 
 have now so long ceased, that we are not well 
 acquainted with the manner of conveying such 
 revelations with certainty to men, and by conse- 
 quence the apparent disagreement of a command 
 with the moral attributes of God, ought at pre- 
 sent, generally, if not constantly, to deter men 
 from acting upon such a pretended revelation, 
 yet was there no such uncertainty in the days of 
 the old prophets of God, or of Abraham, the 
 friend of God (Isa. xli. 8,) who are ever found to 
 have had an entire certainty of those their revela- 
 tions ; and what evidently shews they were not 
 deceived, is this, that the events and conse- 
 quences of things afterwards always corres- 
 ponded, and secured them of the truth of such 
 divine revelations. Ihus the first miraculous 
 voice from heaven (Gen. xxii. 11, 12,) calling to 
 Abraham not to execute this command, and the 
 performance of those eminent promises made by 
 the second voice (Gen. xxii 17, 18.) on account 
 
 of his obedience to that command, are demon- 
 
 atrations that Abraham's commission for what he 
 did was truly divine, and are an entire justifica- 
 cation of his conduct in this matter. The wordi 
 of the first voice from heaven will come hereafter 
 to be set down in a fitter place; but the glorious 
 promises made to Abraham's obedience by the 
 second voice, must here be produced from verse 
 15 18. "And the angel of the Lord called 
 unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, 
 and said, By myself have I sworn, saith the 
 Lord ; for because thou hast done this thing, and 
 hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from 
 me, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in 
 multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars 
 of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the 
 sea-shore ; and thy seed shall possess the gate of 
 his enemies ; and in thy seed shall all the nations 
 of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed 
 my voice." Every one of which promises have 
 been eminently fulfilled ; and, what is chiefly 
 remarkable, the last and principal of them, that 
 in Abraham's SEED all the nations of the earth 
 should be blessed, was never promised till this 
 time. It had been twice promised him (chap, 
 xii. 3; and xviii. 18,) that in himself should all 
 the families of the earth be blessed ; but that this 
 blessing was to belong to future times, and to be 
 bestowed by the means of one of his late pos- 
 terity, the Messias, that great son and seed of 
 Abraham only, was never revealed before, but 
 on such an amazing instance of his faith and 
 obedience as was this his readiness to offer up 
 his only-begotten son Isaac, was now first pro- 
 mised, and has been long ago performed in the 
 birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the son of David, the 
 son of Abraham, (Matt. i. 1,) which highly de- 
 serves our observation in this place ; nor can we 
 suppose that anything else than clear conviction 
 that this command came from God could induce 
 so good a man and so tender a father as Abraham 
 was, to sacrifice his own beloved son, and to lose 
 thereby all the comfort he received from him at 
 present, and all the expectation he had of a 
 numerous and happy posterity from him here- 
 after. 
 
 4. That long before the days of Abraham, the 
 demons or heathen gods had required and re- 
 ceived human sacrifices, and particularly that of 
 the offerer's own children, and this both before 
 and after the Deluge. This practice had been 
 indeed so long left off in Egypt, and the custom 
 of sacrificing animals there, was confined to so 
 few kinds in the days of Herodotus, that he 
 would not believe they had ever offered human 
 sacrifices at all : for he says, that " the fable, as 
 if Hercules was sacrificed to Jupiter in Egypt, 
 was feigned by the Greeks, who were entirely 
 unacquainted with the nature of the Egyptians 
 and their laws ; for how should they sacrifice 
 men, with whom it is unlawful to sacrifice any 
 brute beast, boars and bulls, and pure calves and 
 ganders only excepted ? " However, it is evident 
 from Sanchoniathp, Manetho, Pausanias, Dio- 
 dorus Siculus, Philo, Plutarch, and Porphyry, 
 that such sacrifices were frequent both in 
 Phoenicia and Egypt, and that long before the 
 days of Abraham, as Sir John Marsham and 
 Bishop Cumberland have fully proved ; nay, that 
 in other places (though not in Egypt) this cruel 
 practice continued long after Abraham, and this 
 till the very third, if not also to the fifth century 
 of Christianity, before it was quite abolished. 
 Take the words of the original authors in English, 
 as most of them occur in their originals, in Sir 
 John Marsham's Chronicon, p. 76-78, 30(1 
 -304. 
 
 "ChrcnuB offered up his only-begotten sen a*
 
 DISSERTATION IL 
 
 649 
 
 burnt-offering, to his father Uranus, when 
 there w:is a famine and a pestilence." 
 
 " Chronus, -whom the Phoenicians name Israel 
 [it should be /?,] and who was, after his deati, 
 jonsecrated into the star Saturn, when he was 
 king of the country, and had by a nymph of thafe 
 country, named Anobret, an only begotten son, 
 whom, ^on that account, they called Jeud, (the 
 Phoenicians to this day calling an only begotten 
 son by that name,) he in his dread of very great 
 dangers that lay upon the country from war, 
 adorned his son with royal apparel, and built an 
 altar, and offered him in sacrifice." 
 
 " The Phoenicians, when they wtre hi great 
 dangers by war, by famine, or by pestilence, 
 sacrificed to Saturn one of the dearest of their 
 people, whom they chose by public suffrage for 
 that purpose ; and Sanchoniatho's Phoenician 
 history is full of such sacrifices." [These 
 hitherto I take to have been before the Flood. ] 
 
 " In Arabia, the Dumatii sacrificed a child 
 every year." 
 
 "They relate, that of old the [Egyptian] 
 kings sacrificed such men as were of the 
 same colour with Typho, at the sepulchre of 
 Osiris." 
 
 " Manetho relates, that they burnt Typhonean 
 men alive in the city Idit'.iyia [or Ilithyia,] and 
 scattered their ashes like chaff that is winnowed ; 
 and this was done publicly, and at an appointed 
 season in the dog-days." 
 
 " The barbarous nations did a longtime admit 
 of the slaughter of children, as of a holy practice, 
 and acceptable to the gods ; and this thing, 
 both private persons, and kings, and entire 
 nations, practise at proper seasons." 
 
 " The human sacrifices that were enjoined by 
 the Dodonean oracle, mentioned in Pausaniae'a 
 Achaics, in the tragical story of Coresus and 
 Calirrhoe, sufficiently intimate that the Phoe- 
 nician and the Egyptian priests had set up this 
 Dodonean oracle before the time of Amosis, 
 who destroyed that barbarous practice in 
 Egypt." 
 
 Itque adytif Juec tristia dicta repartat : 
 
 Sanguine placastit ventns, et virgine c&sa, 
 Cum, primum Iliacas Danai venistit ad orcu ; 
 Sanguine qucertndi reditus, animaque litanditm 
 Argolica 
 
 VIRO. Xn. ii. 115. 
 
 He from the gods this dreadful answer brought ; 
 Grecians, when the Trojau shores you sought. 
 Tour passage with a virgin's blood was bought 1 
 So must your safe return be bought again, 
 And Grecian blood once more atone the main. 
 
 DMMK 
 
 These bloody sacrifices were, for certain, in- 
 stances of the greatest degree of impiety, 
 tyranny, and cruelty in the world : that either 
 wicked demons or wicked men, who neither 
 made nor preserved mankind, who had therefore 
 no right over them, nor were they able to make 
 them amends in the next world for what they 
 thus lost or suffered in this, should, after so in- 
 human a manner, command the taking away the 
 lives of men, and particularly of the offerer's 
 own children, without the commission of any 
 crime ; this was, I think, an abomination de- 
 rived from him who was a murderer from the be- 
 ginning, (John viii. 44;) a crime truly and 
 properly diabolical, 
 
 5. That accordingly Almighty God himself, 
 under the Jewish dispensation, vehemently con- 
 demned the Pagans, and sometimes the Jews 
 themselves, for this crime ; and for this, among 
 other heinous sins, cast the idolatrous nations 
 (nay, sometimes the Jews too) out of Palestine. 
 Take the principal texts hereto relating, as they 
 lie in order in the Old testament : 
 
 Thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass 
 through the fire to Molech. Defile not your- 
 selves in any of these things, for in all these the 
 nations are defiled, which I oast out before you," 
 &c. (Lev. xviii. 21.) 
 
 "Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, 
 or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that 
 giveth any of his seed unto Molech, he shall 
 surely be put to death ; the people of the land 
 shall stone him with stones." (Lev. xx. 2.) 
 
 " Take heed to thyseif, that thou be not snared 
 by following the nations, after that they be de- 
 stroyed from before thee ; and that thou inquire 
 not after their gods, saying, How did these na- 
 tions serve their gods, even so will 1 do likewise. 
 Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God ; 
 for every abomination of the Lord, which he 
 hateth, have they done unto their gods ; for 
 even their sons and their daughters have they 
 burnt in the fire to their gods. Deut. xii. 30, 
 31. See chap. xviiL 10, and 2 Kings xvii. 17. 
 
 "And Ahaz made his son to pass through the 
 fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, 
 whom the Lord cast out before the children of 
 Israel." (2 Kings xvi 3.) 
 
 "Moreover, Ahaz burnt incense in the valley 
 of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children 
 (his son, in Josephus) in the fire, after the abo- 
 minations of the heathen, whom the Lord had 
 cast out before the children of Israel." (2 Chron. 
 xxviii. 3.) 
 
 "And the Sepharvites burnt their children In 
 the fire to Adrammelech and Anamelech, the 
 gods of Sepharvaim," &c. (2 Kings xvii. 3L) 
 
 "And Josiah defiled Tophet, which is in the 
 valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man 
 might make his son or his daughter to pass 
 through the fire unto Molech." (2 Kings Tiiii. 
 10.) 
 
 "Yea they sacrificed their sons and their 
 daughters unto demons; and shed innocent 
 blood, the blood of their sons and of their daugh- 
 ters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of 
 Canaan ; and the land was polluted with blood." 
 (Ps. cvu 37, 38. See Isa. Ivii. 5.) 
 
 " The children of Judah have done evil in my 
 sight, saith the Lord ; they have set their abomi- 
 nations in the house which is called by my name 
 to pollute it ; and they have built the high 
 places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the 
 son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their 
 daughters in the fire, which I commanded them 
 not, nor came it into my heart." (Jer. vii. 30- 
 32.) 
 
 " Thus saith the Lord of Hosts.the God of Is- 
 rael, Behold I will bring evil upon this place, 
 the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall 
 tingle, because they have forsaken me, and have 
 estranged this place, and have burnt incense 
 unto other gods, whom neither they nor their 
 fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, 
 and have filled this place with the blood of inno- 
 cents. They have built also the high places of 
 Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offer- 
 ings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor 
 spake it, neither cams ''t into my mind," &c. (Jer. 
 xix. 3-5.) 
 
 " They built the high places of Baal, which are 
 in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause 
 their sons and their daughters to pass through 
 the fire unto Molech, which I commanded them 
 not, neither came it into my mind that they 
 should do this abomination, to cause Judah to 
 sin." (Jer. xxxii. 35.) 
 
 " Moreover, thou hast taken thy sons and thy 
 daughters, whom thou hast born unto me, and 
 these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be de- 
 voured, la this of thy whoredoms a smilJ
 
 650 
 
 DISSERTATION' IL 
 
 matter, that thou hast slain my children, and 
 delivered them to cause them to pass through 
 the fire for them ?" (Ezek. xvi. 20, 21. See chap. 
 ix. 26; ICor x. 20.) 
 
 "Thou hatest the old inhabitants of thy holy 
 land, for doing most odious works of witchcraft 
 and wicked sacrifices ; and also those merciless 
 murderers of children, and devourers of man's 
 flesh, and feasts of blood, with their priests, out 
 of the midst of their idolatrous crew, and the 
 parents that killed with their own hands souls 
 destitute of help." (Wisd. xii. 4-6.) 
 
 6. That Almighty God never permitted, in any 
 one instance, that such a human sacrifice should 
 actually be offered to himself (though he had a 
 right to have required it, if he had so pleased) 
 under the whole Jewish dispensation, which yet 
 was full of many other kinds of sacrifices, and 
 this at a time when mankind generally thought 
 such sacrifices of the greatest virtue for the pro- 
 curing pardon of sin and the divine favour. This 
 the ancient records of the heathen world attest. 
 Take their notion, in the words of Philo Biblius, 
 the translator of Sanchoniatho : "It was the 
 custom of the ancients, in the greatest calamities 
 and dangers, for the governors of the city or na- 
 tion, in order to avert the destruction of all, to 
 devote their beloved son to be slain, as a price of 
 redemption to the punishing [or avenging] de- 
 mons ; and those so devoted were killed after a 
 mystical manner." This the history of the king 
 of Moab (2 Kings iii. 27,) when he was in great 
 distress in his war against Israel and Judah, in- 
 forms us of ; who then " took his eldest son, 
 that should have reigned in hia stead, and of- 
 fered him for a burnt-offering upon the city- 
 wall." This also the Jewish prophet Micah 
 fchap. vi. 6-8) implies, when he inquires, 
 
 Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and 
 bow myself before the High God ? Shall I come 
 before him with burnt-offerings, with calves of 
 a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with 
 thousands of rams, and ten thousands of fat 
 kids of the goats? Shall I give my first born 
 for my transgression, the fruit of my body for 
 the sin of my soul ? " No, certainly ; " For he 
 hath shewed thee, O man, what is good ; and 
 what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do 
 justly, and to love mercy, and to humble thy- 
 self to walk with thy God ? " 
 
 It is true, God did here try the faith and obe- 
 dience of Abraham to himself, whether they 
 were as strong as the Pagans exhibited to their 
 demons or idols, yet did he withal take effectual 
 care, and that by a miraculous interposition also, 
 to prevent the execution, and provided himself 
 a ram, as a vicarious substitute, to supply the 
 place of Isaac immediately : " And the angel 
 of the Lord called unto Abraham, and said, 
 Abraham, Abraham ! and he said, Here am I : 
 and he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, 
 neither do thou any thing nnto him ; for now I 
 know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast 
 not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. 
 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, 
 and behold a ram caught in a thicket by his 
 horns ; and Abraham went and took the ram, 
 and offered him up for a burnt-offering in the 
 stead of his son." (Gen. xxiL 11-13.) Thus 
 though Jephtha (Judg. xi. 36-39,) has, by many, 
 been thought to have vowed to offer up his 
 daughter and only child for a sacrifice, and that 
 as bound on him, upon supposition of his vow, 
 by a divine law (Lev. xxvii. 28, 29,) of which I 
 was once myself ; yet upon more mature consi- 
 deration, I have, for some time, thought this to 
 be a mistake, and that his vow extended only to 
 her being devoted to serve God at the tabernacle. 
 
 or elsewhere, in a state of perpetual virginity j 
 and that neither that law did enjoin any human 
 sacrifices, nor do we meet with any example of 
 its execution in this sense afterwards. Philo 
 never mentions any such law, no more than Jo- 
 sephus ; and when Josephus thought that Jeph- 
 tha had made such a vow, and executed it, he is 
 so far from hinting at its being done in compli- 
 ance with any law of God, that he expressly con- 
 demns him for it, as having acted contrary 
 thereto ; or, in his own words, " as having of- 
 fered an oblation neither conformable to the law, 
 nor acceptable to God, nor weighing with him- 
 self what opinion the hearers would have of such 
 a practice. 
 
 7. That Isaac being at this time, according to 
 Josephus, who is herein justly followed by Arch- 
 bishop Usher, no less than twenty -five years of 
 age, and Abraham being, by consequence, one 
 hundred and twenty-five, it is not to be supposed 
 that Abraham could bind Isaac, in order to offer 
 him in sacrifice, but by his own free consent; 
 which free consent of the party who is to suffer, 
 seems absolutely necessary in all such cases ; 
 and which free consent St Clement, as well as 
 Josephus, distinctly takes notice of on this occa- 
 sion. St Clement describes it thus : " Isaac 
 being fully persuaded of what he knew was to 
 come, cheerfully yielded himself up for a sacri- 
 fice." And for Josephus, after introducing 
 Abraham in a pathetic speech laying before 
 Isaac the divine command, and exhorting him 
 patiently and joyfully to submit to it, he tells 
 us that "Isaac very cheerfully consented ;" and 
 then introduces him in a short, but very pious 
 answer, acquiescing in the proposal ; and adds, 
 that " he then immediately, and readily, went 
 to the altar to be sacrificed." Nor did Jephtha 
 (Judges xi. 36, 37) perform his rash vow, what- 
 ever it were, till his daughter had given her con- 
 sent to it. 
 
 8. It appears to me that Abraham never de- 
 spaired entirely of the interposition of Provi- 
 dence for the preservation of Isaac, although in 
 obedience to the command he prepared to sacri- 
 fice him to God. This seems to me intimated in 
 Abraham's words to his servants on the third 
 day, when he was in sight of the mountain on 
 which he was to offer his son Isaac : " We will 
 go and worship, and we will come again to you." 
 As also in his answer to his son, when he in- 
 quired, " Behold, the fire and the wood ; but 
 where is the lamb for a burnt-offering? and 
 Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself 
 a lamb for a burnt-offering." (Gen. xxii. 5-7.) 
 Both these passages look to me somewhat like 
 such an expectation. However, 
 
 9. It appears most evident that Abraham, and 
 I suppose Isaac also, firmly believed, that if God 
 should permit Isaac to be actually slain as a sac- 
 rifice, he would certainly and speedily raise him 
 again from the dead. This, to be sure, is sup- 
 posed in the words already quoted, that both 
 " he and his son would go and worship, and 
 come again to the servants ; " and is clearly and 
 justly collected from this history by the author 
 to the Hebrews (chap. xi. 17, 18, 19 :) " By faith, 
 Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac ; 
 and he that had received the promises offered 
 up his only begotten, of whom it was said, That 
 in Isaac shall thy seed be called, accounting [or 
 reasoning] that God was able to raise him from 
 the dead. And this reasoning was at once very 
 obvious and wholly undeniable, that since God 
 was truth itself, and had over and over promised 
 that he would "multiply Abraham exceedingly ; 
 that he should be a father of many nations ; that 
 his Dime should be no longer Abram but Abra-
 
 DISSERTATION II. 
 
 651 
 
 ham because a father of many nations God had 
 made him," &c. ; that " Sarai his wife should be 
 called Sarah ; that he would bless her, and give 
 Abraham a son also of her ;" and that " he 
 would bless him ; and she should become na- 
 tions ; and kings of people should be of her," 
 &c. (Gen. xvii. 2, 4, 5, 6, 16;) and that "in 
 Isaac should his seed be called," (Gen. xxi 12 :) 
 and since withal it is here supposed that Isaac 
 was to be slain as a sacrifice before he was mar- 
 ried, or had any seed, God was, for certain, 
 obliged by his promises, in these circumstances, 
 to raise Isaac again from the dead ; and this was 
 an eminent instance of that faith whereby 
 "Abraham believed God, and it was imputed to 
 him for righteousness," (Gen. xv. 6,) viz. that if 
 God should permit Isaac to be sacrificed, he 
 would certainly and quickly raise him up again 
 from the dead, "from whence also he received 
 him in a figure," as the author to the Hebrews 
 (chap. xi. 19) here justly observes. 
 
 10. That the firm and just foundation of Abra- 
 ham's faith and assurance in God for such a re- 
 surrection was this, besides the general conside- 
 ration of the divine veracity, that during the 
 whole time of his sojourning in strange countries, 
 in Canaan and Egypt, ever since he had been 
 called out of Chaldea or Mesopotamia at seventy- 
 five years of age (Gen. xii. 4,) he had had con- 
 stant experience of a special, of an over-ruling, 
 of a kind and gracious Providence over him, till 
 his 125th year, which, against all human views, 
 had continually blessed him and enriched him, 
 and, in his elder age, had given him first Ish- 
 mael by Hagar, and afterward promised him 
 Isaac to " spring from his own body now dead, 
 and from the deadness of Sarah's womb (Rom. 
 iv. 19,) when she was past age (Heb. xi. 11,) and 
 when it ceased to be with Sarah after the man- 
 ner of women (Gen. xviii. 11,) and had actually 
 performed that and every other promise, how 
 improbable soever that performance had ap- 
 peared, he had ever made to him, and this 
 during fifty entire years together ; so that al- 
 though, at his first exit out of Chaldea or Meso- 
 potamia, he might have been tempted to stagger 
 at such a promise of God, through unbelief, yet 
 might he now, after fifty years' constant experi- 
 ence, be justly strong in faith, giving glory 
 to God, as being fully persuaded that what God 
 had promised, (the resurrection of Isaac) he was 
 loth able and willing to perform, (Rom. iv. 
 20, 21.) 
 
 11. That this assurance therefore, that God, if 
 he permitted Isaac to be slain, would infallibly 
 raise him again from the dead, entirely alters 
 the state of the case of Abraham's sacrificing 
 Isaac to the true God, from that of all other 
 human sacrifices whatsoever off ered to false ones, 
 all those others being done without the least pro- 
 mise or prospect of such a resurrection; and this 
 indeed takes away all pretence of injustice in 
 the divine command, as well as of all inhuma- 
 nity or cruelty in Abraham's obedience to it. 
 
 12. That upon the whole, this command to 
 Abraham and what followed upon it, looks so 
 very like an intention of God to typify or repre- 
 sent beforehand, in Isaac, a beloved or only be- 
 gotten son, what was to happen long afterwards 
 to the great Son and seed of Abraham, the Mes- 
 siah, the beloved and the only begotten cf the 
 Father, whose day Abraham saw byjaith before- 
 hand, and rejoiced to see it, (John viii. 56,) viz., 
 that he, by the determinate counsel and fore- 
 knowledge of God, should be crucified and slain, 
 as a sacrifice, and should be raised again the 
 third day, (Acts ii. 22-32,) and this at Jerusalem 
 alto; and that in the meantime, God would 
 
 accept of the sacrifices of rams and the like 
 animals, at the same city, Jerusalem, that one 
 cannot easily avoid the application. This seems 
 the reason why Abraham was obliged to go to 
 the land of Moriah, or Jerusalem, and why it is 
 noted that it was the third day, (Gen. xxii. 2, 4,) 
 that he came to the place, which implies th ,t the 
 return back, after the slaying of the sac-iJSce, 
 would naturally be the third day also; and why 
 this sacrifice was not Ishmael the son after the 
 flesh only, but Isaac the son by promise, the be- 
 loved son of Abraham ; and why Isaac was 
 styled the only son, or only begotten son of Abra- 
 ham, (Heb. xi. 17,) though he had Ishmael be- 
 sides; and why Isaac himself was to bear the 
 wood on which he was to be sacrificed, (Gen. 
 xxii. 6 ; John xix. 17 ;) and why the place wag 
 no other than the land of Moriah or vision, i.e. 
 most probably a place where the Shechinah or 
 Messiah had been seen, and God by him wor- 
 shipped, even before the days of Abraham, and 
 where lately lived, and perhaps now lived, Mel- 
 chisedeck, the grand type of the Messiah, (who 
 might then possibly be present at the sacrifice;) 
 and why this sacrifice was to be offered either 
 on the mountain called afterwards disti ictly 
 Moriah, where the temple stood, and whe -e all 
 the Mosaic sacrifices were afterwards to oe of- 
 fered, as Josephus and the generality suppose, 
 or perhaps, as others suppose, that wheie the 
 Messiah himself was to be offered, its leigh- 
 bour Mount Calvary. This seems also the rea- 
 son why the ram was substituted as a vicarious 
 sacrifice instead of Isaac. These circumstances 
 seem to me very peculiar and extraor Unary, 
 and to render the present hypothesis extremely 
 probable. Nor perhaps did St Clement mean 
 anything else, when, in his fore-cited passage, 
 he says, that "Isaac was fully persuaded of what 
 he knew was to come," and therefore "cheer- 
 fully yielded himself up for a sacrifice." Nor 
 indeed does that name of this place, . ehovah- 
 Jireh, which continued till the days of Moses, 
 and signified God will see, or rather God will 
 provide, seem to be given it by Abraham, on any 
 other account, than that God would there, in 
 the fulness of time, provide himself a lamb, (that 
 J,amb of God, (John i. 29,) which was to take 
 iica't the sin of the world,) for a burnt-offering. 
 
 But now, if after all it be objected, that how- 
 peculiar and how typical soever the _circum- 
 stances of Abraham and Isaac might be in them- 
 selves, of which the heathens about the n could 
 have little notion, yet such a divine com nand to 
 Abraham for slaying his beloved son Isaac, must 
 however be of very ill example to the Gentile 
 world, and that it probably did either^ first oc- 
 casion, or atleast greatly encourage, their wicked 
 practices, in offering their children for sacrifices 
 to their idols, I answer by the next considera- 
 tion : 
 
 13. That this objection is so far from truth, 
 that God's public and miraculous prohibition of 
 the execution and this command to Abraham 
 (which command itself the Gentiles would not 
 then at all be surprised at, because it was so like 
 to their own usual practices,) as well as God s 
 substitution of a vicarious oblation, seems to 
 have been the very occasion of the immediate 
 abolition of those impious sacrifices by Teth- 
 mosis or Amosis, among the neighbouring Egyp- 
 tians, and of the substitution of more inoffensive 
 ones there instead of them. Take the a count 
 of this abolition.Jwhich we shall presently prove 
 was about the time of Abraham's offering p his 
 son Isaac, as it is preserved by Porphyry, from 
 Manetho, the famous Egyptian historian and 
 ohmnolo^r, wh'ch is nlso cited from Porphyry
 
 652 
 
 DISSERTATION III. 
 
 by Eusebius and Theodoret : "Amosis," says 
 ^orphyry, "abolished the laws for slaying of 
 men at Heliopolis in Egypt, as Manetho bears 
 witness in his book of Antiquity and Piety. 
 They were sacrificed to Juno, and were examined, 
 as were the pure calves, that were also sealed 
 with them : they were sacrificed three in a day. 
 In whose stead Amosis commanded that men 
 of wax of the same number, should be substi- 
 tuted." 
 
 Now, I have lately shewn iiat these Egyptians 
 had Abraham in grest veneration, and that all 
 the wisdom of those Egyptians, in which Moses 
 was afterwards learned, was derived from no 
 other than Abraham. Now, it appears evidently 
 by the forecited passage, that the first abolition 
 of these human sacrifices, and the substitution 
 of waxen images in their stead, and particularly 
 at Heliopolis, in the north-east of Egypt, in the 
 neighbourhood of Beersheba, in the south of 
 Palestine, where Abraham now lived, at the 
 distance of about a hundred and twenty miles 
 only, was in the days, and by the order of Teth- 
 mosis or Amosis, who was the first of the Egyp- 
 
 tian kings, after the expulsion of the Phosnician 
 shepherds. Now, therefore, we are to inquire 
 when this Tethmosis or Amosis lived, and com- 
 pare his time with the time of the sacrifice of 
 Isaac. Now, if we look into my Chronological 
 Table, published A.D. 1721, we shall find that 
 the hundred and twenty-fifth year of Abraham, 
 or, which is all one, the twenty-fifth year of 
 Isaac, falls into A.M. 257S, or into the thirteenth 
 year of Tethmosis or Amok's, which is the very 
 middle of his twenty-five yuars' reign ; so that 
 this abolition of human sacrifices in Egypt, and 
 substitution of others in their room, seems to 
 have been occasioned by the solemn prohibition 
 of such a sacrifice in the case of Abraham, and 
 by the following substitution of a ram in its 
 stead : which account of this matter not only 
 takes away the groundless suspicions of the mo- 
 derns, but shews the great seasonablenes of the 
 divine prohibition of the execution of this com- 
 mand to Abraham, as probably the direct oc- 
 casion of putting a stop to the barbarity of the 
 Egyptians in offering human sacrifices, and that 
 for many, if not for all, generations afterwards. 
 
 DISSERTATION III. 
 
 TACITUS'S ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGIN OF THE JEWISH NATION, AND OF THJi 
 PARTICULARS OF THE LAST JEWISH WAR; THAT THE FORMER WAS PRO 
 BABLY WRITTEN IN OPPOSITION TO JOSEPHUS'S ANTIQUITIES, AND THAT 
 THE LATTER WAS CERTAIN ALMOST ALL DIRECTLY TAKEN FROM JOSE- 
 PHUS'S HISTORY OF THE JEWISH WAR. 
 
 SINCE Tacitus, the famous Roman historian, who 
 has written more largely and professedly about 
 the origin of the Jewish nation, about the 
 chorography of Judea, and the last Jewish war 
 under Cestius, Vespasian, and Titus, than any 
 other old Roman historian ; and since both Jose- 
 phus and Tacitus were in favour with the same 
 Roman emperors, Vespasian, Titus, and Domi- 
 tian ; and since Tacitus was an eminent pleader 
 and miter of history at Rome during the time, 
 or not long after, our Josephus had been there 
 studying the Greek language, reading the Greek 
 books, and writing his own works in the same 
 Greek language, which language was almost 
 universally known at Rome in that age; and 
 since therefore it is next to impossible to suppose 
 that Tacitus could be unacquainted with the 
 writings of Josephus, it cannot but be highly 
 proper to compare their accounts of Judea, of 
 the Jews, and Jewish affairs, together. Nor is 
 it other than a very surprising paradox to me, 
 how it has been possible for learned men, parti- 
 cularly for the several learned editors of Jose- 
 phus and Tacitus, to be so very silent about this 
 matter as they have hitherto been, especially 
 when not only the correspondence of the authors 
 as to time and place, but the likeness of the sub- 
 ject matter and circumstances, is so of ten so very 
 remarkable ; nay, indeed, since many of the par- 
 ticular facts belonged peculiarly to the region of 
 Judea, and to the Jewish ns tion, and are such as 
 could hardly be taken by a foreigner from any 
 other author than from our Josephus, this 
 strange silence is almost unaccountable, if not 
 inexcusable. The two only other writers whom 
 we know of. whence such Jewish affairs might be 
 
 suppcesd. to be taken by Tacitus, who nevet 
 appears to have been in Judea himself, are Jus- 
 rus of Tiberias, a Jewish historian, contemporary 
 with Josephus, and one Antonius Julianus, once 
 mentioned by Minutius Felix, in his Octavius 
 (sect. 33,) as having written on the same subject 
 with Josephus, and both already mentioned by 
 me on another occasion (Dissert. I.) As to Jus- 
 tus of Tiberias, he could not be the historian 
 whence Tacitus took his Jewish affairs ; because, 
 as we have seen in the place just cited, the 
 principal passage in Tacitus of that nature, con- 
 cerning Christ and his sufferings under the 
 emperor Tiberius, and by his procurator Pontius 
 Pilate, was not there, as we know from the testi- 
 mony of Photius (Cod. xxx.;} and as to An- 
 tonius Julianus, his very name shews him to 
 have been not a Jew, but a Roman. He is never 
 mentioned by Josephus ; and so probably knew 
 no more of the country or affairs of Judea than 
 Tacitus himself. He was, I suppose, rather an 
 epitomizer of Josephus, and not so early as Taci- 
 tus, than an original historian himself before 
 him. Nor could so exact a writer as Tacitus 
 ever take up with such poor and almost unknown 
 historians as these were, while Josephus's seven 
 books of the Jewish War were then so common ; 
 were in such great reputation at Rome ; were 
 attested to, and recommended by Vespasian and 
 Titus, the emperors, by king Agrippa, and king 
 Archelaun, and Herod, king of Chalcis ; and he 
 was thero honoured with a statue; and these 
 his books were reposited in the public library at 
 Rome, as we know from Josephus himself, from 
 Eusebius, and Jerome, while we never hear of 
 any other history of the Jews, that had thei
 
 DISSERTATION IIL 
 
 6*3 
 
 <id there any uch attestations or recommenda- 
 tions. Some things indeed Tacitus might take 
 from the Roman records of this war. I mean 
 from the Commentaries of Vespasian, which are 
 mentioned by Josephus himself, in his own Life 
 (sect. 65,) and some others from the relations of 
 Roman people, where the affairs of Rome were 
 concerned : as also other affairs might be re- 
 membered by old officers and soldiers that had 
 been in the Jewish war. Accordingly I still 
 suppose that Tacitus had some part of his infor- 
 mation these ways, and particularly where he a 
 little differs from or makes additions to Jose- 
 phus : but then, as this will all reach no farther 
 than three or four years during this war, so will 
 it by no means account for that abridgment of 
 the geography of the country, and entire series 
 of the principal facts of history thereto relating, 
 which are in Tacitus, from the days of Antio- 
 chus Epiphanes, two hundred and forty years 
 before that war, with which Antiochus both 
 Josephus and Tacitus begin their distinct his- 
 tories of the Jews, preparatory to the history of 
 this last war. Nor could Tacitus take the great- 
 est part of those earlier facts belonging to the 
 Jewish nation from the days of Moses, or to 
 Christ and the Christians in the days of Tiberius, 
 from Roman authors ; of which Jewish and 
 Christian affairs those authors had usually very 
 little knowledge, and which the heathens 
 generally did grossly pervert and shamefully 
 falsify ; and this is so true as to Tacitus's own 
 accounts of the origin of the Jewish nation, that 
 the reader may almost take it for a constant rule, 
 that when Tacitus contradicts Josephus's Jewish 
 Antiquities, he either tells direct falsehoods, or 
 truths so miserably disguised, as renders them 
 little better than falsehoods, and hardly ever 
 lights upon any thing relating to them that is 
 true and solid, but when the same is in those 
 Antiquities at this day : of which matters more 
 will be said in the notes on this histery immedi- 
 ately following. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 BOOK V. CHAP. n. 
 
 SINCE we are now going to relate the final period 
 of this famous city [Jerusalem,] it seems proper 
 to give an account of its original. The tradition 
 is, that the Jews ran away from the island of 
 Crete, and settled themselves on the coast of 
 Libya, and this at the time when Saturn was 
 driven out of his kingdom by the power of Jupi- 
 ter : an argument for it is fetched from their 
 name. The mountain Ida is famous in Crete ; 
 fcnd the neighbouring inhabitants are named 
 Idcei, which, with a barbarous argument, be- 
 comes the name of Judcei [Jews.] Some say 
 they were a people that were very numerous in 
 Egypt, under the reign of Isis ; and that the 
 Egyptians got free from that burden, by sending 
 them into the adjacent countries, under their 
 captains Hierosolymus and Judas. The greatest 
 part say they were those Ethiopians whom fear 
 and hatred obliged to change their habitations, 
 in the reign of king Cepheus. There are those 
 who report that they were Assyrians, who, want- 
 in"' lands, got together, and obtained part of 
 E^Tpt and soon afterward settled themselves in 
 cities of their own, hi the land of the Hebrews, 
 and the parts of Syria that lay nearest to them. 
 Others pretend their origin to be more eminent, 
 and that the Solymi, a people celebrated in 
 Homer's poems, were the founders of this 
 nation, and gave this their own name Hierosoly- 
 m to the city which they built there. 
 
 CHAP. III.] Many authors agree, that when 
 once an infectious distemper was arisen in Egypt, 
 and made men's bodies impure, Bocchoris, their 
 king, went to the oracle of [Jupiter] Hammon, 
 and begged he would grant him some relief 
 against this evil, and that he was enjoined to 
 purge his nation of them, and to banish this 
 kind of men into other countries, as hateful to 
 the gods. That when he had sought for, and 
 gotten them all together, they were left in a 
 vast desert : that hereupon the rest devoted 
 themselves to weeping and inactivity ; but one 
 of those exiles, Moses by name, advised them to 
 look for no assistance from any of the gods, or 
 from any of mankind, since they had been 
 abandoned by both, but made them believe in 
 him, as in a celestial leader, by whose help they 
 had already gotten clear of their present miseries. 
 They agreed to it ; and though they were unac- 
 quainted with every thing, they began their 
 journey at random ; but nothing tired them so 
 much as the want of water ; and now they laid 
 themselves down on the ground to a great extent, 
 as just ready to perish, when a herd of wild 
 asses came from feeding, and went to a rock 
 overshadowed by a grove of trees. Moses 
 followed them, as conjecturing that there was 
 [thereabouts] some grassy soil, and so he opened 
 large sources of water for them. That was an 
 ease to them; and when they had journeyed 
 continually six entire days, on the seventh_day 
 they drove out the inhabitants, and obtained 
 those lands wherein their city and temple were 
 dedicated . 
 
 CHAP. IV.] As for Moses, in order to secure 
 the nation firmly to himself, he ordained new 
 rites, and such as were contrary to those of other 
 men. All things are with them profane which 
 with us are sacred : and again, those practices 
 are allowed among them which are by us esteemed 
 most abominable. 
 
 They place the image of that animal in their 
 most holy place, by whose indication it was that 
 they had escaped their wandering condition and 
 their thirst. 
 
 They sacrifice rams by way of reproach to 
 [Jupiter] Hammon. An ox is also sacrificed, 
 which the Egyptians worship under the name of 
 Apis. 
 
 They abstain from swine's flesh, as a memo- 
 rial of that miserable destruction which the 
 mange, to which that creature is liable, brought 
 on them, and with which they had been de- 
 
 That they had endured a long famine, they at- 
 test still by their frequent fastings : and that 
 they itole the fruits of the earth, we have 
 an argument from the bread of the Jews, which 
 is unleavened. , 
 
 It is generally supposed that they rest on the 
 seventh day ; because that day gave them [the 
 first] rest from their labours. Besides which, 
 they are idle on every seventh year, as b 
 pleased with a lazy life. Others say that they 
 do honour thereby to Saturn ; or perhaps the 
 Idaei gave them this part of their religion, who 
 [as we%aid above] were expelled together with 
 Saturn, and who, as we have been informed, 
 were the founders of this nation ; or else it was 
 because the star Saturn moves in the 1 
 orb, and of the seven planets exerts the prmc> 
 pal part of that energy whereby rnankiE 
 governed ; and indeed the most of the heavenlj 
 bodies exert their power and perform tneir 
 courses according to the number Seven. 
 
 CHAP V.I These rites, by what manner soever 
 ^re first begun, are supported by their 
 ity The rest of their institutions are awlf
 
 6M 
 
 DISSERTATION HL 
 
 ward, impure, and got ground by their pravity ; 
 for every vile fellow, despising the rites of his 
 forefathers, brought thither their tribute and 
 contributions, by which means the Jewish com- 
 monwealth was augmented ; and because among 
 themselves there is an unalterable fidelity and 
 kindness always ready at hand, but bitter en- 
 mity towards all others ; they are a people sepa- 
 rated from all others in their food and in their 
 beds ; though they be the lewdest nation upon 
 earth, yet will they not corrupt foreign women, 
 though nothing be esteemed unlawful among 
 themselves. 
 
 They have ordained circumcision of the part 
 used in generation, that they may thereby be 
 distinguished from other people. The proselytes 
 to their religion have the same usage. 
 
 They are taught nothing sooner than to de- 
 spise the gods, to renounce their country, and to 
 have their parents, children, and brethren iu 
 the utmost contempt ; but still they take care 
 to increase and multiply, for it is esteemed ut- 
 terly unlawful to kill any of their children. 
 
 They also look on the souls of those that die 
 in battle, or are put to death for their crimes, as 
 eternal. Hence comes their love of posterity 
 and contempt of death. 
 
 They derive their custom of burying, instead 
 of burning their dead, from the Egyptians ; they 
 have also the same care of the dead with them, 
 and the same persuasion about the invisible 
 world below ; but of the gods above their 
 opinion is contrary to theirs. The Egyptians 
 worship abundance of animals, and images of 
 various sorts. 
 
 The Jews have no notion of any more than 
 one Divine Being ; and that known only by the 
 mind. They esteem such to be profane who 
 frame images of gods out of perishable matter, 
 and in the shape of men ; that this Being is 
 supreme and eternal, immutable and unperish- 
 able, is their doctrine. Accordingly, they have 
 no images in their cities, much less in their tem- 
 ples ; they never grant this piece of flattery to 
 kings, or this kind of honour to emperors. But 
 because their priests, when they play on the 
 
 Eipe and the timbrels, wear ivy round their 
 ead, and a golden vine has been found iu their 
 temple, some have thought that they worshipped 
 oar father Bacchus, the conqueror of the East ; 
 whereas the ceremonies of the Jews do not *t 
 all agree with those of Bacchus, for he appointed 
 vites that were of a jovial nature, and fit for fes- 
 tivals, while the practices of the Jews are absurd 
 and sordid. 
 
 CHAP. VI.] The limits of Judea easterly are 
 bounded by Arabia ; Egypt lies on the south ; 
 on the west are Phoenicia and the [Great] Sea. 
 They have a prospect of Syria on their north 
 quarter, as at some distance from them. 
 
 The bodies of the men are healthy, and such 
 as will bear great labours. 
 
 They have not many showers of rain : their 
 soil is very fruitful ; the produce of their Lmd 
 is like ours, in great plenty. 
 
 They have also, besides ours, two trees pecu- 
 liar to themselves, the balsam-tree, and the 
 p;> Jin -tree. Their groves of palms are tall and 
 beautiful. The balsam-tree is not very large. 
 As soon as any branch is swelled, the veins 
 quake as for fear, if you bring an iron knife to 
 cut them. They are to be opened with the 
 broken piece of a stone, or with the shell of a 
 fish. The juice is useful in physic. 
 
 Libauus is their principal mountain, and is 
 very high ; and yet, what is very strange to be 
 related, it is always shadowed with trees, and 
 never free from snow. The same mountain sup- 
 
 plies the river Jordan with water, and affords ii 
 its fountains also. Nor is this Jordan carried 
 into the sea : it passes through one and a second 
 lake undiminished ; but it is stopped by the 
 third. 
 
 This third lake is vastly great in circmnfer- 
 ence, as if it were a sea. It is of an ill taste ; 
 and is pernicious to the adjoining inhabitants by 
 its strong smell. The wind raises no waves 
 there, nor will it maintain either fishes or such 
 birds as use the water. The reason is uncertain, 
 but the fact is thus, that bodies cast into it are 
 borne up as by somewhat solid. Those who can, 
 and those who cannot swim, are equally borne 
 up by it. At a certain time of the year it casts 
 out bitumen ; the manner of gathering it, like 
 other arts, has been taught by experience. The 
 liquor is of its own nature, of a black colour; 
 and, if you pour vinegar upon it, it clings toge- 
 ther, and swims on the top. Those whose 
 business it is, take it in their hands, and pull it 
 into the upper parts of the ship, after which it 
 follows, without farther attraction, and fills the 
 ship full, till you cut it oif, nor can you cut it 
 off either with a brass or an iron instrument ; 
 but it cannot bear the touch of blood, or of a 
 cloth wet with the menstrual purgations of 
 women, as the ancient authors say; but those 
 that are acquainted with the place assure us, 
 that these waves of bitumen are driven along, 
 and by the hand drawn to the shore, and that 
 when they are dried by the warm steams from 
 the earth, and the force of the sun, they are cut 
 in pieces with axes and wedges, as timber and 
 stones are cut in pieces. 
 
 CHAP. VII.] Not far from this lake are those 
 
 Eleins, which are related to have been of old 
 jrtile, and to have had many cities full of 
 people, but to have been burnt up by a stroke 
 of lightning : it is also said that the footsteps of 
 that destruction still remain ; and that the earth 
 itself appears as burnt earth, and has lost its na- 
 tural fertility ; and that as an argument thereof, 
 all the plants that grow of their own accord, or 
 are planted by the hand, whether they arrive at 
 the degree of an herb, or of a flower, or at com- 
 plete maturity, become black and empty, and, 
 as it were, vanish into ashes. As for myself, as 
 I am willing to allow that these once famous 
 cities were burnt by fire from heaven, so would 
 I suppose that the earth is infected with the 
 vapour of the lake, and the spirit [or air] that is 
 over it thereby corrupted, and that by this 
 means the fruits of the earth, both corn and 
 grapes, rot away, both the soil and the air being 
 equally unwholesome. 
 
 The river Belus does also run into the sea of 
 Judea ; and the sands that are collected about 
 its mouth, when you mix nitre with them, are 
 melted into glass ; this port of shore is but 
 small, but its sand, for the use of those that 
 carry it off, is inexhaustible. 
 
 CHAP. VIII.] A great part of Judea is com- 
 posed of scattered villages; it also has larger 
 towns ; Jerusalem is the capital city of the 
 whole nation. In that city there was a temple of 
 immense wealth ; in the first parts that are for- 
 tified is the city itself ; next it the royal palace. 
 The temple is inclosed in its most inward re- 
 cesses. A Jew can come no farther than the 
 gates ; all but the priests are excluded by their 
 threshold. While the East was under the 
 dominion of the Assyrians, the Modes, and the 
 Persians, the Jews were of all slaves the most 
 despicable. 
 
 After the dominion of the Macedonians pre- 
 vailed, King Antiochus tried to conquer their 
 superstition, and to introduce the customs vi
 
 DISSERTATION III. 
 
 655 
 
 the Greeks ; but he was disappointed of his de- 
 rign, which was to give this most profligate na- 
 tion a change for the better ; and that was by 
 bis war with the Parthians, for at this time Ar- 
 saces had fallen off [from the Macedonians.] 
 Then it was that the Jews set kings over them, 
 because the Macedonians were become weak, 
 the Parthians were not yet very powerful, and 
 the Romans were very remote; which kings, 
 when they had been expelled by the mobility of 
 the vulgar, and had recovered their dominion by 
 war, attempted the same things that kings used 
 to do, I mean they introduced the destruction 
 of cities, the slaughter of brethren, of wives, 
 and parents, but still went on hi their supersti- 
 tion: for they took upon them withal the 
 honourable dignity of the high priesthood, as a 
 firm security to their power and authority. 
 
 CHAP. IX. ] The first of the Romans that con- 
 quered the Jews was Cneius Pompeius, who en- j 
 tered the temple by right of victory. Thence 
 the report was everywhere divulged, that therein 
 was no image of a god, but an empty place, 
 and mysteries, most secret places that have no- 
 thing "in them. The walls of Jerusalem were 
 then destroyed, but the temple continued still. 
 Soon afterward arose a civil war among us ; and 
 when therein these provinces were reduced under 
 Marcus Antonius, Pacorus, king of the Parthi- 
 ans, got possession of Judea, but was himself 
 lain by Paulus Ventidius, and the Parthiaus 
 were driven beyond Euphrates ; and for the 
 Jews, Caius Sosius subdued them. Antonius 
 gave the kingdom to Herod ; and when Augustus 
 conquered Antonius he still augmented it. 
 
 After Herod's death, one Simon, without wait- 
 ing for the disposition of Caesar, took upon him 
 the title of King, who was brought to punish- 
 ment by [or under] Quinctilius Varus, when he 
 was president of Syria. Afterward the nation 
 was reduced, and the children of Herod go- 
 verned it in three partitions. 
 
 Under Tiberius the Jews had rest. After 
 some time, they were enjoined to place Caius 
 Cwsar's statue in the temple ; but rather than 
 permit that they took up anns ; which sedition 
 was put an end to by the death of Cwsar. 
 
 Claudius, after the kings were either dead or 
 reduced to smaller dominions, gave the province 
 of Judea to Roman knights, or to freed men, to be 
 governed by them ; among whom was Antonius 
 Felix, one that exercised all kinds of barbarity 
 and extravagance, as if he had royal authority, 
 but with the disposition of a slave. He had 
 married Brasilia, the grand-daughter of Anto- 
 nius : so that Felix was the grand-daughters 
 husband, and Claudius the O rand-son of the 
 same Antonius. 
 
 ANNALS, BOOK in. 
 
 Bur he that was the brother of Pallas, whose 
 surname was Felix, did not act with the same 
 moderation [as did Pallas himself.] He had 
 been a good while ago set over Judea, and 
 thought he might be guilty of all sorts of wicked- 
 ness with impunity while he relied on so sure *n 
 authority. 
 
 The Jews had almost given a specimen of sedi- 
 tion : and even after the death of Caius was 
 known, and they had not obeyed his command, 
 there remained a degree of fear lest some future 
 prince should renew that command [for the set- 
 tine up the prince's statue iii their temple ;] and 
 in the meantime, Felix, by the use of unseason- 
 able remedies, blew up the coals of sedition into 
 H name and was imitated by his partner in the 
 government, Ventidius Cumamut, the country 
 
 being thus divided between them ; that the 
 nation of the Galileans were under Cumanus, 
 and, the Samaritans under Felix; which two 
 nations were of old at variance, but now, out of 
 contempt of their governors, did less restrain 
 their hatred : they then began to plunder one 
 another, to send in parties of robbers to lie in 
 wait, and sometimes to fight battles, and withal 
 to bring spoils and prey to the procurators 
 [Cumanus and Felix.] Whereupon these pro- 
 curators began to rejoice ; yet when the mischief 
 grew considerable, soldiers were sent to quiet 
 them, but the soldiers were killed ; and the pro- 
 vince had been in a flame of war, had not Quad- 
 rat us, the president of Syria, afforded his assis- 
 tance. Nor was it long in dispute whether the 
 Jews, who had killed the soldiers in the mutiny, 
 should be put to death : it was agreed they 
 should die, only Cumauus and Felix occasioned 
 a delay ; for Claudius, upon hearing the causes 
 as to this rebellion, had given [Quadratua] 
 authority to determine the case, even as to the 
 procurators themselves ; but Quadratus shewed 
 Felix among the judges, and took him into his 
 tieat of judgment, on purpose that he might dis- 
 courage his accusers. So Cumanus was con- 
 demned for those flagitious actions, of which 
 both he and Felix had been guilty, and peace 
 was restored to the province. 
 
 HISTOR. BOOK v. CHAP. X, 
 
 HOWEVER, the Jews had patience till Gessiui 
 Floras was made procurator. Under him it was 
 that the war began. Then Cestius Gallus, the 
 president of Syria, attempted to appease it, and 
 tried several battles, but generally with ill 
 success. 
 
 Upon his death, whether it came by fate, or 
 that he was weary of his life, is uncertain, Ves- 
 pasian had the good fortune, by boa reputation, 
 and excellent officers, and a victorious army, in 
 the space of two summers, to make himself 
 master of all the open country and of all the 
 cities, Jerusalem excepted. 
 
 [Flavius Vespasianns, whom Nero had chosen 
 for his general, managed the Jewish war with 
 three legions. Histor. b. L ch. x.] 
 
 The next year, which was employed in a civil 
 war [at home,] so far as the Jews were concerned, 
 passed over in peace. When Italy was pacified, 
 the care of foreign parts was revived. The Jews 
 were the only people that stood 'out ; which in- 
 creased the rage of [the Romans.] It was also 
 thought most proper that Titus should stay with 
 the army, to prevent any accident or misfor- 
 tune which the new government might be 
 liable to. 
 
 [Vespasian had put end to the Jewish war; 
 the siege of Jerusalem was the only enterprise 
 remaining, which was a work hard and difficult ; 
 but rather from the nature of the mountain and 
 the obstinacy of the Jewish superstition, than 
 because the besieged had strength enough to 
 undergo the distresses [of a siege.] We have 
 already informed [the reader] that Vespasian 
 had with him three legions well exercised in war. 
 Histor. b, iL ch. v.] 
 
 When Vespasian was a very young man, it 
 was promised him that he should arrive at the 
 very highest pitch of fame : but what did first of 
 all seem to confirm the omen, was his triumphs, 
 and consulship, and the glory of his victories 
 over the Jews. When he had once obtained 
 these, he believed it was portended that he 
 should come to the empire. 
 
 There is between Judea and Syria a mountaiii 
 and a "od, both called by the same name of C
 
 636 
 
 DISSERTATION III. 
 
 mel, though our predecessors have informed us 
 that this god had no image, and no temple, and 
 indeed no more than an altar and solemn wor- 
 ship. Vespasian was once offering a sacrifice 
 there, at a time when he had some secret thought 
 in his mind ; the priest, whose name was Basili- 
 des, when he, over and over, looked at the en- 
 trails, said, " Vespasian, whatever thou art 
 about, whether the building of thy house or en- 
 largement of thy lands, or augmentation of thy 
 slaves, thou art granted a mighty seat, very 
 large bounds, and a huge number of men." 
 These doubtful answers were soon spread abroad 
 by fame, and at the time were explained ; nor 
 was anything so much in public vogue, and very 
 many discourses of that nature were made be- 
 fore him, and the more, because they foretold 
 what he expected. 
 
 Mucianus and Vespaslanus went away, hav- 
 ing fully agreed on their designs ; the former to 
 Antioch, the latter to Cesarea. Antioch is the 
 capital of Syria, and Cesarea the capital of 
 Judea. The commencement of Vespasian's ad- 
 vancement to the empire was at Alexandria, 
 where Tiberius Alexander made such haste, that 
 he obliged the legions to take the oath of fidelity 
 to him on the kalends of July, which was ever 
 after celebrated as the day of his inauguration, 
 although the army in Judea had taken that oath 
 on the fifth of the Nones of July, with that 
 eagerness, that they would not stay for his son 
 Titus, who was then on the road, returning out 
 of Syria, ch. Ixxix. Vespasian delivered over the 
 strongest part of his forces to Titus, to enable 
 him to finish what remained of the Jewish war. 
 Histor. b. iv. ch. 1L 
 
 During these months in which Vespasian con- 
 tinued at Alexandria, waiting for the usual set 
 time of the summer-gales of wind, and stayed 
 for settled fair weather at sea, many miraculous 
 events happened ; by which the good-will of 
 Heaven, and a kind of inclination of the Deity 
 in his favour, was declared. 
 
 A certain man of the vulgar sort at Alexandria, 
 well known for the decay of his eyes, kneeled 
 down by him and groaned, and begged of him 
 the cure of his blindness, as by the admonition 
 of Serapis, the god which this superstitious 
 nation worships above others. He also desired 
 that the emperor would be pleased to put some 
 of his spittle upon the balls of his eyes. Another 
 infirm man there, who was lame of his hand, 
 prayed Caesar, as by the same god's suggestion, 
 to tread upon him with his foot. Vespasian at 
 first began to laugh at them, and to reject them ; 
 and when they were instant with him, he some- 
 times feared he should have the reputation of a 
 train person, and sometimes, upon the solicitation 
 jf the infirm, he flattered himself, and others 
 flattered him, with the hopes of succeeding. At 
 last he ordered the physicians to give their 
 opinion, whether this sort of blindness and lame- 
 ness were curable by the art of man or not ? The 
 physicians answered uncertainly, that the one 
 hud not the visual faculty utterly destroyed, 
 and that it might be restored, if the obstacles 
 were removed : that the other's limbs wore dis- 
 ordered, but if a healing virtue were made use 
 of, they were capable of being made whole. 
 Perhaps, said they, the gods are willing to assist, 
 and that the emperor is chosen by divine inter- 
 position. However, they said at last, that if the 
 cures succeeded, Csesar would have the glory ; 
 if not, the poor miserable objects would only be 
 laughed at. Whereupon Vespasian imagined 
 that his good fortune would be universal, and 
 that nothing on that account could be incredible ; 
 so he looked cheerfully, and in the sight of the 
 
 multitude, who stood in great expectation, he 
 did what they desired him; upon which the 
 lame hand was recovered, and the blind man 
 saw immediately. Both these cures are related 
 to this day by those that were present, and when 
 speaking falsely will get no reward. 
 
 BOOK V. CHAP. I. 
 
 AT the beginning of the same year, Titus Caesar, 
 who was pitched upon by his father to finish the 
 conquest of Judea, and, while both he and his 
 father were private persons, was celebrated for 
 his martial conduct, acted now with greater 
 vigour and hopes of reputation, the kind inclina- 
 tions both of the provinces and of the armies 
 striving one with another who should most en- 
 courage him. He was also himself in a disposi- 
 tion to shew that he was more than equal to his 
 fortune ; and when he appeared in arms, he did 
 all things after such a ready and graceful way, 
 treating all after such an affable manner, and 
 with such kind words, as invited the good-will 
 and good wishes of alL He appeared also in his 
 actions and in his place hi the troops ; he mixed 
 with the common soldiers, yet without any stain 
 to his honour as a general. He was received 
 in Judea by three legions, the fifth, and the 
 tenth, and the fifteenth, who were Vespasian's 
 old soldiers. Syria also afforded him the twelfth, 
 and Alexandria soldiers out of the twenty-second 
 and twenty-third legions. Twenty cohorts of 
 auxiliaries accompanied, as also eight troops of 
 horse. 
 
 King Agrippa also was there, and king So- 
 hemus, and the auxiliaries of king Antiochus, 
 and a strong body of Arabians, who, as is usual 
 in nations that are neighbours to one another, 
 went with their accustomed hatred against the 
 Jews, with many others out of the city of Rome, 
 as every one's hopes led him, of getting early 
 into the general's favour, before others should 
 prevent them. 
 
 He entered into the borders of the enemy's 
 country with these forces, in exact order of war ; 
 and looking carefully about him, and being ready 
 for battle, he pitched his camp not far from 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 CHAP. X.] When therefore he had pitched his 
 camp, as we said just now, before the walls of 
 Jerusalem, he pompously shewed his legions 
 ready for an engagement. 
 
 CHAP. XL] The Jews formed their camp 
 under the very wall [of the city ;] and if they 
 succeeded, they resolved to venture farther; but 
 if they were beaten back, that was their place of 
 refuge. When a body of cavalry were sent 
 against them, and with them cohorts that were 
 expedite and nimble, the fight was doubtful ; 
 but soon afterwards the enemies gave ground, and 
 on the following days there were frequent skir- 
 mishes before the gateg, till after many losses 
 they were driven into the city. The Romans 
 then betook themselves to the siege, for it did 
 not seem honourable to stay till the enemies 
 were reduced by famine, 'Ihe soldiers were very 
 eager to expose themselves to dangers ; part of 
 them out of true valour, and many out of a 
 brutish fierceness, and out of a desire of reward. 
 
 Titus had Rome, and the riches and pleasures 
 of it, before his eyes ; all which seemed to be 
 too long delayed, unless Jerusalem could be soon 
 destroyed. 
 
 The city stood on a high elevation, and it had 
 great works and ramparts to secure it, such in- 
 deed as were sufficient for its fortification, had it 
 been on plain ground ; for there were two hiile 
 of a vast height, which were enclosed by walk
 
 DISSERTATION IIL 
 
 made crooked by art, or [naturally] bendin" in- 
 wards, that they might flank the "besiegers, and 
 oast darts on them sideways. The extreme parts 
 of the rock were craggy, and the towers, when 
 they had the advantage of the ground, were 
 sixty feet high ; when they were built on the 
 plain ground they were not lower than one hun- 
 dred and twenty feet : they were of uncommon 
 beauty, and to those who looked at them at a 
 great distance, they seemed equal. Other walls 
 there were beneath the royal palace, besides the 
 tower of Antonia. with its top particularly con- 
 spicuous. It was called so bv Herod, in honour 
 of Marcus Antonius. 
 
 CHAP. XII.] The tempic vas like a citadel, 
 having walls of its own, which had more labour 
 and pains bestowed on them than the rest. The 
 cloisters wherewith the temple was enclosed 
 were an excellent fortification. 
 
 They had a fountain of water that ran perpetu- 
 ally, and the mountains were hollowed under 
 ground ; they had moreover pools and cisterns 
 for the preservation of the rain-water. 
 
 They that built this city foresaw, that from the 
 difference of their conduct of life from their 
 neighbours, they should have frequent wars ; 
 thence it came to pass that they had provision 
 for a long siege. After Pompey's conquest also, 
 their fear and experience had taught them gene- 
 rally what they should want. 
 
 Moreover, the covetous temper that prevailed 
 under Claudius, gave the Jews an opportunity 
 of purchasing for money leave to fortify Jerusa- 
 lem ; so they built walls in time of peace, as if 
 they were going to war, they being augmented 
 in number by those rude multitudes of people 
 that retired thither on the ruin of the other 
 cities ; for every obstinate fellow ran away 
 thither, and there became more seditious than 
 before. 
 
 There were three captains, and as many ar- 
 mies. Simon had the remotest and largest parts 
 of the walls under him. John, who was also 
 called Bar Gioras (the son of Gioras,) had the 
 middle parts of the city under him ; and Eleazar 
 had fortified the temple itself. John and Simon 
 were superior in multitude and strength of 
 arms, Eleazar was superior by his situation, but 
 battles, factions, and burnings, were common to 
 them all ; and a great quantity of corn was con- 
 sumed by fire. After a while, John sent some, 
 who, under the pretence of offering sacrifices, 
 might slay Eleazar and his body of troops, which 
 they did, and got the temple under their power. 
 So the city was now parted into two factions, 
 until, upon the coming of the Romans, this war 
 abroad produced peace between these that were 
 at home. 
 
 CHAP. XIII.] Such prodigies had happened, 
 as this nation, which is superstitious enough in 
 its own way, would not agree to expiate by the 
 ceremonies of the Roman religion, nor would 
 ;hey atone the gods by sacrifices and vows, as 
 ;hese used to do on the like occasions. Armies 
 were seen to fight in the sky, and their armour 
 .ooked of a bright light colour, and the temple 
 shone with sudden flashes of fire out of the 
 clouds. The doors of the temple were opened 
 on a sudden, and a voice greater than human 
 was heard, that the gods were retiring, and at 
 ,he same time there was a great motion per- 
 ceived, as if they were going out of it, which 
 some esteemed to be causes of terror. The 
 greater part had a firm belief that it was con- 
 fined in the old sacerdotal books, that at this 
 very time the East would prevail, and that some 
 ,hat came out of Judea, should obtain the em- 
 )'re of the world, which obscure oracle foretold 
 
 65J 
 
 Vespasian and Titus ; but the generality of the 
 common people, as usual, indulged their own in- 
 c hnations, and when they had once interpreted 
 all to forbode grandeur to themselves, adversity 
 itself could not persuade them to change thai 
 minds though it were from falsehood to truth. 
 
 We have been informed, that the number of 
 the besieged, of every age and of both sezs, 
 male and female, was six hundred thousand! 
 Ihere were weapons for all that could carry 
 tliem : and more than could be expected for 
 their number, were bold enough to do so. The 
 men and the women were equally obstinate- 
 and when they supposed they were to be carried 
 away captive, they were more afraid of life than 
 of death. 
 
 Against this city and nation Titus Cajsar iD - 
 solved to fight, by ramparts and ditches, since 
 the situation of the place did not admit of tak- 
 ing it by storm or surprise. He parted the dut 
 among the legions; and there were no farther 
 engagements, until whatever had been invented 
 for the taking of cities by the ancients, or by the 
 ingenuity of the moderns, was got ready. ' 
 
 ANNALS, BOOK xv. 
 
 NEKO, in order to stifle the rumour [as if he had 
 himself set Rome on fire,] ascribed it to those 
 people who were hated for their wicked prac- 
 tices, and called by the vulgar Christians; these 
 he punished exquisitely. The author of this 
 name wa C/irist, who in the reign of Tiberius 
 was brought to punishment by Pontius Pilate, 
 the procurator. For the present this pernicious 
 superstition was in part suppressed ; but it brake 
 out again, not only over Judea, whence this 
 mischief first sprang, but in the city of Rome 
 also, whither do run from every quarter and 
 make a noise, all the flagrant and shameful enor- 
 mities. At first, therefore, those were seized 
 who confessed ; afterward a vast multitude were 
 detected by them, and were convicted, not so 
 mush as really guilty of setting the city on firo, 
 but as hating all mankind ; nay, they made A 
 mock of them as they perished, and destroyed 
 them by putting them into the skins of wild 
 beasts, and setting dogs upon them to tear them 
 to pieces : some were nailed to crosses, and 
 others flamed to death : they were also used iu 
 the night-time instead of torches for illumina- 
 tion. Nero had offered his own gardens for 
 this spectacle. He also gave them Circencian 
 games, and dressed himself like the driver of a 
 chariot, sometimes appearing among the commop 
 people, sometimes in the circle itself ; whence 
 commiseration arose, though the punishments 
 were levelled at guilty persons, and such as de- 
 served to be made the most flagrant examples, 
 as if these people wAre' destroyed, not for the 
 public advantiige, bat to satisfy the barbarous 
 humour of one man. 
 
 ** Since I have set aown all the vile calum- 
 nies of Tacitus upon the Christians as well as the 
 Jews, it will be proper, before I come to my Ob- 
 servations, to set down two heathen records in 
 their favour, and those hardly inferior in an- 
 tiquity, and of much greater authority than 
 Tacitus ; I mean Pliny's Epistle to Trajan when 
 he was proconsul of Bithynia ; Tnth TrajanV 
 Answer or rescript to Pliny, cited by Tertullian 
 Eusebius, and Jerome. These arc records of St, 
 great esteem with Havercamp, the lust editor o< 
 Josephus, that he thinks they not only deserve 
 to be read, but almost to be learned by hear: 
 aisc. 
 
 2 T
 
 658 
 
 DISSERTATION ILL 
 
 PLINY'S EPISTLE TO TRAJAN. 
 
 SIB, 
 
 ABODT A.D. 112. 
 
 IT is my constant method to apply myself 
 to you for the resolution of all my doubts ; for 
 who can better govern my dilatory way of pro- 
 ceeding or instruct my ignorance ? I have never 
 been present at the examination of the Chris- 
 tians jljy others,] on which account I am un- 
 acquainted with what usea to be inquired into, 
 and what, and how far they used to be punished; 
 nor are my doubts small, whether there be not a 
 distinction to be made between the ages [of the 
 accused?] and whether tender youth ought to 
 have the same puni^aient with strong men ? 
 Whether there be not room for pardon upon re- 
 pentance? or whether it may not be an advantage 
 to one that had been a Christian, that he has for- 
 saken Christianity? Whether the bare name, 
 without any crimes 'besides, or the crimes ad- 
 hering to that name, be to be punished ? In the 
 meantime I have taken this course about those 
 who have been brought before me as Christians. 
 I asked them whether they were Christians or 
 not , * e they confessed that they were Chris- 
 tian^ I asked them again, and a third time, 
 intermixing threatenings with the questions. If 
 they persevered in their co fessions, I ordered 
 them to be executed ; for I did not doubt but, 
 let their confessions be of any sort whatsoever, 
 this positiveness and inflexible obstinacy de- 
 served to be punished. There have been some 
 of this mad sect who_m I took notice of in p - 
 ticular as Roman citizens, that they might be 
 sent to that city. After some time, as is usual in 
 such examinations, the crime spread itself, and 
 many more cases came before me. A libel was 
 sent to me, though without an author, contain- 
 ing many names [of persons accused.] These 
 denied that they were Christians now, or ever 
 had been. They called upon the gods, and sup- 
 plicated to your image, which I caused to be 
 brought to me for that purpose, with frankin- 
 cense and wine ; they also cursed Christ ; none 
 of which things, it is said, can any of those that 
 ore really Christians be compelled to do : so I 
 thought fit to let them go. Others of them that 
 were named in the libel, said they were Chris- 
 tians, but presently denied it again; that indeed 
 they had been Christians, but had ceased to be 
 so, some three years, some many more ; and one 
 there was that said he had not been so these 
 twenty years. All these worshipped your image, 
 ind the images of our gods ; these also cursed 
 Christ. However, they assured me that the 
 main of their fault, or of their mistake, was 
 this : That they were wont, on a stated day, to 
 meet together before it was light, and to sing a 
 hymn to Christ, as to a god, alternately ; and to 
 oblige themselves by a sacrament [or oath,] not 
 to do anything that was ill ; but that they would 
 commit no theft, or pilfering, or adultery ; that 
 they would not break their promises, or deny 
 what was deposited with them, when it was 
 required hack again ; after which it was their 
 custom to depart, and to meet again at a common 
 but innocent meal, which they had left off upon 
 that edict which I published at your command, 
 and wherein I had forbidden any such conven- 
 ticles. These examinations made me think it 
 necessary to inquire by torments what the truth 
 was ; which I did of two servant-maids, who 
 were called Deaconesses : but still 1 discovered 
 no more than that they were addicted to a bad 
 au d to an extravagant superstition. Hereupon 
 I have put off any further examinations, and 
 have recourse to vou, for the affair seems to be 
 
 well worth consultation, especially on account 
 of the number of those that are in danger ; for 
 there are many of every age, of eveiy rank, and 
 of both sexes, who are now and hereafter likely 
 to be called to account, and to be in danger ; foi 
 this superstition is spread like a contagion, not 
 only into cities and towns, but into country vil- 
 lages also, which yet there is reason to hope may 
 be stopped and corrected. To be sure, the 
 temples, which were almost f orsaken,begin already 
 to be frequented ; and the holy solemnities, 
 which were long intermitted, begin to be re- 
 vived. The sacrifices begin to sell well every- 
 where, of which very few purchasers had of late 
 appeared; whereby it is easy to suppose how 
 great a multitude of men may be amended, if 
 place for repentance be admitted. 
 
 TRAJAN'S EPISTLE TO PLINY. 
 
 MY PUNY, You have taken the method which 
 vou ought in examining the causes of those that 
 had been accused as Christians, for indeed no 
 certain and general form of judging can be 
 ordained in this case. These people are not to 
 be sought for ; but if they be accused and con- 
 victed, they are to be punished ; but with this 
 caution, that he who denies himself to be a 
 Christian, and makes it plain that he is not so by 
 supplicating to our gods, although he had been 
 so formerly, may be allowed pardon, upon his 
 repentance. As for libels sent without an 
 author, they ought to have no place in any ac- 
 cusation whatsoever, for that would be a thing 
 of very ill example, and not agreeable to my 
 reign. 
 
 OBSERVATIONS 
 
 UJEVN THE PASSAGES TAKEN OUT OF TACITUS. 
 
 I. WE see here what a great regard the best of 
 the Roman historians of that age, Tacitus, had 
 to the history of Josephus, while though he 
 never names him, as he very rarely names any of 
 those Roman authors whence he derives other 
 parts of his history, yet -loes it appear that he 
 refers to his seven books of the Jewish Wars 
 several times in a very few p wes, and almost 
 always depends on his accounts o the affairs of 
 the Romans and Parthians, as well as of the 
 Jews, during no fewer than 240 years, t. which 
 those books extend. 
 
 II. Yet does it appear that when he now aii. 
 then followed other historians, or reports con 
 corning the Romans, the Parthians, or the Jews, 
 during that long interval, he was commonly mis- 
 taken in them, and had better have kept close tc 
 Josephus than hearken to any of his othei 
 authors or informers. 
 
 III. It also appeal's highly probable that Taci- 
 tus had seen the Antiquities of Josephus, and 
 knew that the most part of the accounts he pro- 
 duced of the origin of the Jewish nation entirely 
 contradicted those Antiquities. He also could 
 hardly avoid seeing that those accounts contra- 
 dicted one another also, and were childish, ab- 
 surd, and supported by no good evidence what- 
 soever : as also, he could hardly avoid seeing 
 that Josephus's accounts in those Antiquities 
 were authentic, substantial, and thoroughly 
 attested to by the ancient records of that nation, 
 and of the neighbouring nations also, which in- 
 deed no one can now avoid seeing, that carefully 
 peruses and considers them. 
 
 IV. Tacitus therefore, in concealing the great- 
 est part of the true ancient history of the Jewish 
 nation, which lay before him in Josephus, and 
 producing such fabulous, ill-grounded, and par*
 
 DISSERTATION IIL 
 
 659 
 
 tial histories, which he had from the heathens, 
 acted a most unfair part ; and this procedure of 
 his is here the more gross, in regard he professes 
 such great impartiality (Hist. b. i. ch. i.,) and is 
 allowedindeedto have observed that impartiality 
 as to the Roman affairs. 
 
 V. Tacitus's hatred and contempt of God's 
 peculiar people, the Jews, and his attachment to 
 the grossest idolatry, superstition, and astral 
 fatality of the Romans, were therefore so strong 
 in him, as to overbear all restraints of sober 
 reason and equity in the case of those Jews, 
 though he be allowed so exactly to have followed 
 them on other occasions relating to the Ro- 
 mans. 
 
 VI. Since therefore Tacitus was so bitter 
 against the Jews, and since he knew that Christ 
 was a Jew himself, and that his apostles and 
 first followers were Jews, and also knew that the 
 Christian religion was derived into the Roman 
 provinces from Judea, it is- no wonder that his 
 hatred and contempt of the Jews extended itself 
 to the Christians also, whom the Romans usually 
 confounded with the Jews; as therefore his 
 hard words of the Jews appear to have been 
 generally groundless, and hurt his own reputa- 
 tion instead of theirs, so ought we to esteem his 
 alike hard words of the Christians to be blots 
 upon his own character, and not upon theirs 
 
 VII. Since therefore Tacitus, soon after the 
 publication of Josephus's Antiquities, and in 
 contradiction to them, was determined to pro- 
 duce such idle stories about the Jews, and since 
 one of those idle stories is much the same with 
 that published in Josephus, against Apion, from 
 Manetho and Lysimachus, and nowhere else met 
 with so fully in all antiquity, it is most probable 
 that those Antiquities of Josephus were _the 
 very occasion of Tacitus giving us these stories ; 
 as we know from Josephus himself, against 
 Apion. b. i. sect. 1, that the same Antiquities 
 wen toe very occasion of Apion's publication of 
 
 his equally scandalous stories about them, and 
 which Josephus so thoroughly confuted in these 
 two books, written against him ; and if Tacitus, 
 as I suppose, had also read these two books, his 
 procedure in publishing such stories after he had 
 seen so thorough a confutation of them, was still 
 more highly criminal. Nor will Tacitus's fault 
 be much less, though we suppose he neither saw 
 the Antiquities, nor the books against Apion : 
 because it was very easy for him, then at Rome, 
 to have had more authentic accounts of the 
 origin of the Jewish nation, and of the nature of 
 the Jewish and Christian religions, from the 
 Jews and Christians themselves, who he own* 
 were very numerous there in his days ; BO that 
 his publication of such idle stories is still utterly 
 inexcusable. 
 
 VIII. It is therefore very plain, after all, that 
 notwithstanding the encomiums of several of our 
 learned critics upon Tacitus, and hard suspicions 
 upon Josephus, all the (involuntary) mistakes of 
 Josephus, in all his large works put together, 
 their quality as well as quantity considered, 
 do not amount to near so great a sum as do these 
 gross errors and misrepresentations of Tacitus 
 about the Jews amount to in a few pages ; so 
 little reason have some of our later and lesser 
 critics to prefer the Greek and Roman historians 
 and writers to the Jewish, and particularly to 
 Josephus. Such later and lesser critics should 
 have learned more judgment a_nd modesty from 
 their great father Joseph Scaliger, when, as we 
 have seen, after all his deeper inquiries, he so- 
 lemnly pronounces (De Emend. Temp. Prokgom. 
 p. 17,) that " Josephus was the most diligent 
 and the greatest lover of truth of all writers;" 
 and is not afraid to affirm, that "it is more safe 
 to believe him, not only as to the affairs of the 
 Jews, but also as to those that are foreign to them, 
 than all the Greek and Latin writers ; and this 
 because his fidelity and compass of learning are 
 everywhere conspicuous."
 
 TABLE 
 
 OF THE JEWISH WEIGHTS A.ND MEASURES, PARTICULARLY OF THOSB 
 MENTIONED IN JOSEPHUS'S WORKS. 
 
 OF THE JEWISH MEASURES OF LENGTH. 
 
 Inches Jet. Inch-*. 
 
 Cubit, the standard 21 1 9 
 
 Zereth or large span. 10.5 10 
 
 Small Span. 7 7 
 
 Palm or Land's breadth , 35 3J 
 
 Inch or thumb's breadth 1.16 1.16 
 
 Digit or finger's breadth .875 .87E 
 
 Orgya or fathom 84 7 
 
 Ezekiel's Canneh or reed 126 10 6 
 
 Arabian Cannah or Pole 168 14 
 
 Schoenus, line or chain 1680 140 
 
 Sabbath-day's journey 42000 3500 
 
 Jewish mile 84000. 7000 
 
 Stadium or furlong 8400. "00 
 
 Parasang. 252000 210CX. 
 
 OF THE JEWISH MEASURES OF CAPACITY. 
 
 Cub. Inches. Pints or Pounds. 
 
 Bath or Epha, 807.274 27.83 
 
 Corus or Chomer 8072.74 278.3 
 
 SeahorSaton 269.091 9.266 
 
 Ditto according to Josephus 828.28 28.3 
 
 Hin 134.54 4.4633 
 
 Ditto according to Josephus 414.12 14.3 
 
 Omer or Assaron 80.722 2.78 
 
 Cab 44.859 1.544 
 
 Log 11.21 39 
 
 Metretes or Syrian firkin. 207 7.125 
 
 OF THE JEWISH WEIGHTS AND COINS. 
 
 . *. d. 
 
 Stater, Siclus, or shekel of the sanctuary, the standard 026 
 
 Tyrian coin, equal to the shekel 026 
 
 Bekah, half of the shekel 013 
 
 Drachma Attica, one-fourth 007^ 
 
 Drachma Alexandrina, or Darchon, or Adarchon, one-half 013 
 
 Gerah, or Obolus, one-twentieth li) 
 
 Maneh, or Mna 100 shekels in weight 21,900 grains Troy. 
 
 Maneh, or Mna, or Mina, as a coin, 60 shekels 7 10 
 
 Talent of silver, 3000 shekels 375 
 
 Drachma of gold, not more than Oil 
 
 Shekel of gold, not more than, 044 
 
 Daric of gold 104 
 
 Talent of gold, not more than. 648 
 
 TABLE OF THE JEWISH MONTHS IN JOSEPHUS AND OTHERS, 
 
 WITH THE STBO-MACEDONIAN NAMES JOSEPHUS GIVES THEM, AND THE NAMES OF THE JULIAN OB 
 BOMAN MONTHS CORRESPONDING TO THEM. 
 
 Hebrew Name*. Syro-Macedonian Names. Roman Name*. 
 
 (1. Nisan Xanthicus March and April 
 
 (2. Jyar Artemisiua April and May 
 
 (3. Sivan Daesius May and June 
 
 (4. Tamoi Panemua June and July 
 
 (5. Ab Lous July and August 
 
 (6. Elul Gorpiaeus August and September 
 
 (7. Tisri Hyperberebetw September and October 
 
 (8. Marchesvan Dius October and November 
 
 (9. Casleu Apellaeus November and Decembei 
 
 MO. Tebeth Audynaeus December and January 
 
 (1L ) Shebat Peritius January and February 
 
 (12.) Adar Dystrus February and March 
 Veadar, or the Second A dor, intercalated. 
 
 f
 
 INDEX. 
 
 .VB. THJ PIKST SUMBEB IN OEDEE IS THAT OF THE BOOK ; THE SECOITO, OF TES OHAPTKH 
 AND THE THIBD, OF THE SECTION, OB SECTIONS. 
 
 AARON, Antiq. b. ii, ch. xiii, Beet 1 ; b. xx, eh. x ; U 
 made high priest, b. iii, ch. viii, sect. 1 ; his sons, 
 ib. ; his death, b. iv, ch. iv, sect 7. 
 
 A.bassar, or Sanabassar, Antiq. b. xi, c. iv, sect. 6. 
 
 Abbaros, king of the Tyrians, Against Apion, b. i, 
 sect. 21. 
 
 Abdastartus, king of the Tyrians, Against Apion, b. 
 i, sect 18. 
 
 Abdemon, a Tyrian, Antiq. b. viii, c. v, 3 ; Against 
 Apion, b. i, sect. 17, 18. 
 
 Ab lenago, or Abednego, Antiq. b. x, c. x, 1. 
 
 Abdon succeeds Elon as judge, Antiq. b. v, c. Tii, 15. 
 
 Abel, Antiq. b. i, c. ii, 1 ; his sacrifice, ib. 
 
 Abenarig, king of Charax Spasni, Antiq. b. xx, c. 
 ii, 1. 
 
 Abia, or Abrjah, the ion of Rehoboam, Antiq. b. vii, 
 c. x, 3 ; b. viii, c. x, 1 ; succeeds his father, sect. 4; 
 conquers the ten tribes, b. viii, c. xi, 2, 3. 
 
 Abia, king of the Arabians, Antiq. b. xx, c. iv, 1. 
 
 Abiathar, the son of Abimelech, Antiq. b. vi, ch. xiv, 
 ; saves his life, and flies to David, sect. 8 ; is high 
 priest, b. vi, c. xiv, 6 ; and b. vii, c. v, 4 ; and c. ix, 
 2 ; and c. xi, 8 ; and c. xiv, 4 ; is deprived of the 
 h'gh priesthood, b. viii, c. i, 3. 
 
 Abil ^ilus, king of the Tyrians, Against Apion, b. i, 
 sect, 17. 
 
 Abigail, Antiq. b. vi, c. xiii, 7; married to David, 
 sect. 8. 
 
 Abigail, Amasa's mother, Antiq. b. vii, c. x, 1. 
 
 Abihu, the son of Aaron, Antiq. b. iii, c. viii, 1. 
 
 Abijah, or Abia, the son of Rehoboam, Antiq. b. vii, c. 
 x, 3 ; and b. viii, c. x, 1 ; succeeds his father, sect. 
 4 ; conquers the ten tribes, b. vii, c. xi, 2, 3. 
 
 Abilamaradochus, or Evil Herodach, Antiq. b. x, 
 c. xi. 
 
 Abima* 1, Antiq. b. i, c. vi, 4. 
 
 Abimelech, tyrannises over the Shechemites, Antiq. 
 b. v, c. vii, 1 ; is expelled, sect. 3 ; he destroys 
 them all, sect 4 ; is killed by a piece of a mill- 
 stone, sect. 5. 
 
 Abinadab, Antiq. b. vi, c. i, 4 ; b. viii, c. ii, 3. 
 
 Abiram, Antiq. b. iv, c. ii, 2. 
 
 Abishag, a virgin, David's nurse, Antiq. b. >il, c. 
 xiv, 3. 
 
 Abishai, Antiq. b. vi, c. xiii, 9. 
 
 Abner, Antiq. b. vii, c. i, 4 ; son of Ner, c. xiii, sect. 
 1 ; Saul's kinsman, b. vi, c. iv, 3 ; general of his 
 army, b. vii, c. i, 3; reconciles the Israelites to 
 David, b. vii, c. i, 4 ; is killed, sect 5. 
 
 Abram, or Abraham, the son of Terah, Antiq. b. 1, c. 
 vi, 5 ; leaves Chaldea, and goes to Canaan, c. vii, 
 sect 1 ; lives at Damascus, sect. 2 ; advises his sons 
 to plant colonies, c. xv ; instructs the Egyptians in 
 the mathematical sciences, c. viii, sect. 2 ; divides 
 the country between himself and Lot, sect. 3 ; God 
 praises him a son, c. x, sect. 3 ; he beats the Af 
 Syrians, c. x ; dies, c. xvii. 
 
 Absalom, Antiq. b. vii, c. iii, 3 ; flies to Geshur, o. 
 viii, sect. 3 ; is recalled by a stratagem of Joab, .-ect. 
 4. 5; rebels against David, b. vii, c. ix ; pursues 
 after him, c. x, sect 1 ; his ariny is put to flight, 
 sect. 2 ; bangs on a tree by his hair, ib. ; is stabbed 
 by Joab, and dies, ib. 
 
 Acencheres, king of Egypt, Against Apion, b. I, 
 Beet. 15. 
 
 Aceuchres, queen of Egypt, ib. 
 
 Achar, or Achan, is guilty of theft, Antiq. b. T, 10* is 
 punished, sect. 14. 
 
 Achifopuel, or Ahithophel, AbwUoin's favourite. 
 
 Antiq. b. vii, c. ix, 2; gives evil counsel, sect 5; 
 
 hangs himself, sect 8. 
 Achonius, Antiq. b. xi, c. v, 4. 
 Acme, War, b. i, c. xxxii, 6 ; her letters to Antii>at 
 
 and Herod, Antiq. b. xvii, c. v, 7 ; her death, c. Tii. 
 Acmon, son of Araph, or Ishbi, the son of Ob, of tht 
 
 race of the giants, attacks David, Antiq. b. vii, o. 
 
 xii, 1 ; is killed by Abishai, ib. 
 Acratheus, or Hatach, Antiq. b. xi, c. vi, 7. 
 Actium, battle at, Antiq. b. xv, c. v, 1 ; and c. ri, 1 ; 
 
 War, b. i, c. xix, 1 ; in tbn seventh year of Her. 4'* 
 
 reign, Antiq. b. xv, c. v, 2. 
 Ada, the wife of Lamech, Antiq. b. i, c. ii, 2. 
 Adad, a king of Damascus, Antiq. b. vii, c. r, 2, 4c. 
 Adam created, Antiq. b. i, c. i, 2 ; his fall, ib. 
 Ader, or Hadad, an Idumean, Antiq. b. viii, c. vii, <J. 
 Adonias, or Adonijah, pretends to the crown, Antiq. 
 
 b. vii, c. xiv, 4 ; takes sanctuary at the altar, sect 
 6, 9 ; demands Abishag to wife, b. viii, c. i, 1, 2 ; is 
 refused, sect. 8. 
 
 Adonibezek, king of Jerusalem, Antiq, b. T, c. ii, 2 ; 
 is made a prisoner, and has his hands and feet cut 
 off, and dies at Jerusalem, ib. 
 
 Adoram, Antiq. b. vii, c. v, 4 ; and b. viii, c. ii, 9. 
 
 Adrammelech, Antiq. b. x,*c i, 5. 
 
 Adrasar, or Hadadezer, king of Sopheno, or Zoba, 
 Antiq. b. viii, c. v, 1 ; b. xiii, c. vii, 6. 
 
 Ebutius, a decurion, Life, sect. 24. 
 
 "Egypt, named from a king, Against Apion, b. L 
 sect. 15. 
 
 Egyptian kings called Pharaohs for 1300 years- tffl 
 the reign of Solomon, Antiq. b. viii, c. vi, 2. 
 
 Egyptians, famous before all other nations for wis- 
 dom, Antiq. b. viii, c. ii, 5 ; learned mthcmatice 
 of Abraham, Antiq. b. i, c. viii, 2 ; UueJr sacred 
 scribes or priests, b. ii, c. ix, 2 ; they heUlft uaLiw- 
 ful to feed cattle, b. ii, c. vii, 5. 
 
 Egyptians' false prophet tmt to flight by /elix, 
 Antiq. b. xx, c. viii, 6 ; War, b. ii, c. xiii, 5. 
 
 Ehus Callus, Antiq. b. xv, c. ix, 3. 
 
 ^Etiiiuus Regulus, Antiq. b. xix, c. i, 8. 
 
 Eneas, suruamed Aretas, succeeds Obodas in Arabia, 
 .nntiq. b. xvi, c. ix, 4. 
 
 Esopus, a servant, Antiq. b. xv, c. iii, 2. 
 
 Ethiopian commodities were slaves and monkeys, 
 Antiq. b. viii, c. yi, 5, Ac. ; and c. vii, 2. 
 
 Ethiopians bordering on the Arabians, Antiq. b. ix, 
 
 c. v, 3. 
 
 Agag, king of the Amalekites, Antiq. b. vi, c. vii, 2 ; 
 is killed, sect. 5. 
 
 Agar, or Aagar, and Tshmael, are sent away by Abra- 
 ham, Antiq. b. i, c. xiii, 3. 
 
 Aggeus, or Haggai, the prophet, Antiq. b. xi, c. iv, 5, 
 7 ; he prophecies at the rebuilding of the temple, ib. 
 
 Agones, or games every fifth year, in honour ol 
 Caesar, instituted by Herod, Antiq. b. xv, c. viii, 1 ; 
 War, b. i, c. xxi, 8 ; at the finishing Cesarea, Antiq. 
 b. xvi, c. v, 1. 
 
 Agrippa's (Marcus the Roman) bounty towards the 
 Jews, Antiq. b. xii, iii, 2 ; is splendidly entertained 
 by Herod, xvi, ii, 1 ; makes equal returns to him 
 at Synope, sect. 2 ; his expedition to the Bosphorus, 
 ib. ; his speech to the Jews at Jerusalem, War, ii, 
 xvi, 8, 4 ; he confirms their privileges, Autiq. xvi, 
 ii, 5 ; his letters to the Ephesians, in favour of th 
 Jews, c. vi, sect iv ; and to those of Cyrwne, sect. &, 
 
 Agrippa the Great or Elder, Herod's grandson, 
 Antiq. b. xvii, ii, 2 ; and xviii, v, 4 ; War, i, xxvi.i, 
 1 ; bis var ous adventures, Antiq. xviii, 3 4, Ac. ;
 
 6f>2 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 is manacled and imprisoned, c. vi, sect. 6; his fu- 
 ture liberty and happiness foretold, sect 7; is re- 
 ieased and made lord of two tetrarchies, with the 
 title of king, sect. 10 ; gives Caius a sumptuous en- 
 tertainment at Rome, c. xviii, sect. 7 ; is sezt by 
 the,senate to Claudius, xix, iv, 1, 2 ; his advice to 
 Claudius, ib. &c. ; is sent back to the kingdom, c. 
 iv, sect. 1 ; Claudius bestows on him almost all the 
 dominions of his grandfather, c. v, sect. 1 ; his eu- 
 logium, c. vii, sect 3 ; his bounty towards those of 
 Beiytus, sect. 5 ; he treats several kings splendidly, 
 c. viii, sect 1 ; entertains Cesarea with shows, and 
 appears himself upon the stage in a magnificent 
 dress, and is applauded as a god, sect. 2 ; dies soon 
 after an unnatural death, ib ; his death and chil- 
 dren, War, ii, xi, 5, 6. 
 
 igrippa, his son by Cypros, War, ii, xi, 6 ; did not 
 immediately succeed in his father's kingdom, 
 Antiq. xix, ix, 2 ; Claudius gave him that of his 
 uncle Herod [of Chalcis,] xx, v, 2 ; War, ii, xii, 1 ; 
 to which he added the tetrarchies of Philip and 
 Lysanias, c. vii, sect 1 ; he is hurt by a sling-stone 
 at the siego of Gamala, iv, i, 3 ; his letters to Jose- 
 phus, Life, sect. 64; his famous speech to the Jews, 
 to dissuade them from a war with the Romans, 
 War. ii, xvi, 4, 5. 
 
 Igrippa, son of Felix and DrusiUa, Antiq. xx, vii, 3. 
 igrippa Ponteus slain, War, vii, iv, 3. 
 
 Ahab. king of Israel, Antiq. vii, xiii, 1 ; is reproved 
 by Elijah, sect. 8 ; fights with Benhadad, and beats 
 him, c. xiv, sect. 1, &c. ; pardons him, sect. 4 ; is 
 afterwards killed himself by the Syrians, c. xv, 
 sect. 5 ; his sons, ix, 6, 5. 
 
 i haziah, his son, Antiq. viii, xv, 6 ; and ix, ii, 2 ; vi, 
 sect. 3. 
 
 Ahaziah, king of Judah, Antiq. ix, vi, 3. 
 
 Ahaz, king of Judah, Antiq. ix, xii, 2. 
 
 Ahijah, the prophet, Antiq. viii, vii, 7 ; his prophecy, 
 x, iv, 4. 
 
 Ahikam, Antiq. x, ix, 1. 
 
 Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, Antiq. vii, ix, 2 ; c. x, 
 sect 4, 5 ; high priest, x, viii, 6. 
 
 Ahimelech, or Achimelech, the priest or high priest, 
 slain by the order of Saul, Antiq. vi, xiii, 4, tic. 
 
 Ahitub, Antiq. viii, i, 3. 
 
 Ahitophel, or Achitophol, Antiq. vii, ix ; givet> evil 
 counsel, sect 5 ; hangs himself, sect. S. 
 
 Ai beeieged, Antiq. v, i, 12 ; taken, sect 15. 
 
 Aizel, or Uzal, Antiq. i, vi, 4. 
 
 AtauB, War, vii, vii, 4. 
 
 Albinos, procurator of Judea, Antiq. xx, ix, 1. 
 
 Alcimus, or Jacimus, the wicked high priest, Antiq. 
 xiii, ix, 7 ; calumniates Judas before Demetrius, c. 
 x, sect 1 ; dies, sect. 6. 
 
 Alcyon, a physician, Antiq. xix, i, 20. 
 
 Alexander Lysimachus, the alabarch, Antiq. xviii, vi, 
 3 ; and xix, v, 1 ; and xx, v, 2. 
 
 Alexander, the son of Alexander, by Glaphyra, War, 
 i, xxviii, 1. 
 
 Alexander, the son of Antiochus Epiphanes, Antiq. 
 xiii, ii, 1 ; surnamed Balas, ib. in note; king of 
 Syria, sect 2 ; his letter to Jonathan, ib. ; engages 
 in a battle with Demetrius, sect. 4 ; demands Pto- 
 lemy Philometer's daughter in marriage, c. iv, sect 
 1 ; is killed in Arabia, and his head sent to Ptolemy, 
 sect 8. 
 
 Alexander and Aristobulus, Herod's sons, put in pri- 
 son, Antiq. xvi, x, 5 ; strangled by their father's 
 order, c. xi, sect 6 ; War, i, xxvii, 6. 
 
 Alexander, the son of Aristobulus, Antiq. xiv, iv, 5 ; 
 War, i, viii, 7 ; troubles Syria, Antiq. xiv, iv, 2 ; 
 makes war upon the Romans, War, i, viii, 5 ; is con- 
 quered by Gabinus, ib. ; killed by Pompey's order, 
 Antiq. xiv, vii, 4 ; War, i, ix, 2. 
 
 Vlexander Janneus succeeds his brother Aristobulus, 
 War, i, iv, 1 ; a sedition raised against him, Antiq. 
 xiii, xiv, 2, &c. ; his expedition against Ptolemais, 
 a. xii, sect. 2 ; he is called Thracidas, for his barba- 
 ;.^as cruelty, c. xiv, sect. 2 ; dies of a quartan ague, 
 after three years' sickness, c. xv, sect. 5 ; War, i, 
 iv, 8 ; his sons, Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, Antiq. 
 xiii, xvi ; War, i, v, 1. 
 
 Alexander the Great, succeeds nis father Philip, 
 Antiq. xi, xiii, 13 ; conquers Darius, sect. 3 ; pur- 
 sues his victories through Asia, ib. &c. ; sends a 
 letter to the high priest at Jerusalem, ib. ; goes 
 himself to Jerusalem, sect 5 ; his dream, ib. ; he 
 adores the name of God on the high priest's fore- 
 head, ib. ; enters the temple, ib. ; grants privileges 
 to the Jews, ib. ; the Pamphylian sea gives way t< > 
 bis winy. Antiq. ii, xvi, 5; his arms and annou 
 
 kept in the temple of Diana, at Elymais, xii, ix, 1 5 
 his empire divided after his death, c. 1. 
 
 Alexander, the son of Phasaelus and Salampiio, Antiq. 
 xviii, v, 4. 
 
 Alexander (Tiberius) succeeds Caspius Fadus as pro- 
 curator of Judea, Antiq. xx, v, 2 ; War, ii, xi, 6 ; is 
 made procurator of Egypt, ii, xv, 1 ; c. xviii, sect. 
 7; is made chief commander cf 'he Roman arm; 
 under Vespasian, iv, x, 6 ; and vi, iv, 3. 
 
 Alexander Zebina, king of Syria, is conquered by An- 
 tiochus Grypus, and dies, Antiq. xiii, ix, 3. 
 
 Alexandra, Alexander Janneus's widow, holds the 
 administration after his death, Antiq. xiii, xvi, 1 ; 
 falls sick and dies, sect 5, 6 ; her eulogium, ib. 
 
 Alexandra, daughter of Hyrcanus, wife of Alexander, 
 the son of Aristobulus, Hyrcanus's brother, and 
 mother of another Aristobulus and Mariamne, 
 Antiq. xv, ii, 5 ; writes a letter to Cleopatra, ib. ; 
 sends the pictures of her son and daughter to Anto- 
 nius, by the advice of Dellius, sect. 6 ; is feignedly 
 reconciled to Herod, sect 7 ; is suspected by Herod, 
 c. iii, sect 2 ; prepares to fly into Egypt, ib ; be- 
 moans the death of Aristobulus, sect. 4 ; acquaints 
 Cleopatra with the snares of Herod, and the death 
 of her son, sect 5 ; is put into prison, sect. 9 ; her 
 indecent behaviour towards her daughter Mari- 
 amne, c. vii, sect 4 ; is killed by Herod's order, 
 sect 8. 
 
 lexandra, daughter of Phasaelu* and Salampsio, 
 Antiq. xviii, v, 4 ; is married to Timius Cyprius, ib. 
 
 Alexandria's causeway to the island Pharos, seven 
 furlongs long, Antiq. xii, ii, 12 ; a great part of that 
 city assigned to the Jews, xiv, vii, 2 ; the Jews de- 
 clared its citizens on a brazen pillar by Julius 
 Caesar, c. x, sect. 1, 2. 
 
 Alexas, Salome's husband, Antiq, xvii, i, 1 ; War, i, 
 xxviii, 6. 
 
 Alexas Selcias, Alexas's son, Antiq. xviii, v, 4. 
 
 Alisphragmuthosis, or Halisphragmu'iosis, king of 
 Egypt, Against Apion, i. sect. 14. 
 
 Aliturus, a Jew, Life, sect. 3. 
 
 Alliance between Ptolemy and Antiochus, Antiq. xii 
 iv, 1. 
 
 altar of incense, Antiq. iii, vi, 8 ; of burnt-offering-, 
 made of unhewn stone, War, T, v, 6 ; Against 
 Apion, i, sect. 22. 
 
 Amadetha, or Hammadetha, Antiq. xi, vi, 5, 12. 
 
 Anialekites attack the Israelites, Antiq. iii, ii, 1 ; are 
 conquered and plundered, sect. 4, 5. 
 
 Amaii, or Haman, the enemy of the Jews, Antiq. xi, 
 vi, 15 ; his edict against the Jews, sect 6 ; he orders 
 a gallows to be erected for Mordecai, sect. 10 ; is 
 obliged to honour Mordecai, ib. ; his malicious de- 
 sign is laid before the king, sect 11 ; his edict 
 countermanded, sect 12 ; he is himself hanged on 
 the gallows, sect. 13. 
 
 Amariuus, or Omri, king of the Israelites, Antiq. 
 viii, xii, 5. 
 
 Amasa, general of the army, Antiq. vi, x, 1 ; and xi, 
 1 ; the son of Jether, c. xv, sect 1 ; killed by Joab, 
 ib. c. xi, sect 7. 
 
 Arcasias, or Amaziah, king of Judah, Antiq. ix, viii, 
 4 ; c. ix, sect 1 ; makes war on Jehoash, king of 
 Israel, sect 3 ; is beatea, and murdered in a con- 
 spiracy, ib. 
 
 Vrnasias, or Maaseiah, king Ahaz's son, slain in battle, 
 Antiq. ix, xii, 1. 
 
 imasias, or Maaseiah, governor of the city, Antiq. x, 
 iv, 1. 
 
 Amathius, Antiq. i, vi, 1. 
 
 Ambassadors sent with presents to Hezekiah, Antiq. 
 x, ii, 2 ; ambassadors of the Jews, slain by tba 
 Arabs, xv, v, 2 ; this a violation of the law of na- 
 tions, sect. 3, c. vii, sect 9; ambassadors had a 
 right to sit among the Koman senators in tks 
 theatre, xiv, x, 6. 
 
 Ambassage sent by Jonathan to the Lacedemonians, 
 Antiq. xiii, v, 8 ; sent by the Jews to Rome, z, 
 xii, 6. 
 
 Ambition and avarice causes of many mischiefs, 
 Antiq. vii, 1, 5. 
 
 Ambivius, (Marcus) procurator of Judea, Antiq 
 xviii, ii, 2. 
 
 Amenophis, king of Egypt, Against Apion, i, seel . 15, 
 2J5, 32. 
 
 Amesees, queen of Egypt, Against Apion, i, sect. 16. 
 
 Aminadab, Antiq. vi, i, 4 ; and xi, iv, 1. 
 
 Ammonius, Antiq. xiii, iv, 6 ; killed, ib. 
 
 Amnon, David's son, Antiq. vii, iii, 3 ; falls in lovr 
 with his sister Tamar, c. viii, sect 1 ; is slnin by 
 Absalom's order, sect 2.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 663 
 
 tlJl te f ?'^f n ^} be tribe of Reuben and Gad, and 
 the half tribe of Manasseh, Antiq. iv, vii 3 
 
 Amphitheatre built at Jerusalem, and another in the 
 adjoining plain, by Herod the Great, Antiq. xv 
 Vlii, 1 ; another at Jericho, xvii, viii 2. 
 
 Arm-am, Moses's father, Antiq. ii, ix 3 
 
 Amram, Antiq. xx, i, 1. 
 
 Amraphel, Antiq. i, ix. 
 
 Amutal, or Hamutal, Antiq. x, v 2 
 
 Anacharias, or Rabsaris, a general of Sennacherib, 
 
 AUfcKJ. X, 1, 1. 
 
 Ananclus made high priest, Antiq. xv, ii, 4 ; deprived 
 of it, c. in, sect 1 ; restored to it, sect. 3 
 
 Ananias, son of Nebedius, made high priest, Antiq. 
 xx, v, 2 ; War, 11, xii, 6 ; c. xvii, sect. 2 ; his son 
 Ananus, c. xii, sect. 6 ; both sent in fetters t 
 Rome, Antiq. xx, vi, 2; slain, together with hi 
 brother Ezekias, War, ii. xvii, 9 
 
 Ananias, (different from the former,) Antiq xi iv 2 
 son of Onias, xiii, x, 4 ; c. xii, sect 2 
 
 Ananias, the son of Masambalus, high priest, Wa 
 
 Ananus senior, made high priest, Antiq. xx, ix 1 
 
 his eulogium, War, iv, iii, 7. 
 Ananus junior, the son of Ananus, made high priest 
 
 Antiq. xx, ix, 1 ; Life, sect. 38 ; War, iv, iii, 9 ; hii 
 
 speech to the people, sect. 10; accused of thi 
 
 murder of James the Bishop, Antiq. xx, ix, 1 ; de 
 
 prived of the high priesthood, ib. ; his death, War 
 
 iv, v, 2. 
 Ananus, [or Annas,] son of Seth, made high priest 
 
 Antiq. xviii, ii, 1 ; deposed, sect. 2. 
 Ananus, son of Bamadus, one of Simon's life-guards 
 
 War, v, xiii, 1 ; flies to Titus, vi, iv, 2. 
 Ananus, governor of the temple, Antiq. xx, vi, 2. 
 Ananus, son of Jonathan, War, ii, xix, 5. 
 Anchus, or Achish, king of Gath, Antiq. vi, xiv, 1. 
 Andreus, captain of Philadelphus's life-guard, Antiq. 
 
 xii, ii, 2, 3, 4; Against Apion, ii, sect. 4. 
 Andromachus expelled the court of Herod, Antiq. 
 
 xvi, viii, 3. 
 
 Andronicus, son of Messalamus, Antiq. xiii, iii, 4. 
 Aner, Abraham's confederate, Antiq. i, v, 2. 
 
 , or forcible pressure taken off the Jews 
 by Demetrius, Antiq. xiii, ii, S. 
 
 Angels of God become familiar with women, Antiq 
 i, iii, 1. 
 
 Anelius, Antiq. xviii, ix, 1, 4, 5 ; killed by the Baby- 
 lonians, sect. 7. 
 
 Anna, or Hannah, the wife of Elcanah, Antiq. v, x, 2. 
 
 Annibus, put to death by Fadus, for a mutiny, Antiq. 
 xx, 1,1. 
 
 Annius (Lucius) takes Cerasa, War, iv, ix, 1. 
 
 Annius Minucianus, Antiq. xix, 1, 3. 
 
 Annius Rufus, procurator of Judea, Antiq. xviii, ii, 2. 
 
 Anoch, or Enoch, Antiq. i, ii, 2. 
 
 Anteius killed, Antiq. xix, i, 15. 
 
 Antigonus governs Asia, after Alexander's death, 
 Antiq. xii, 1 ; his fleet beaten by Ptolemy, c. xi, 
 sect. 10. 
 
 Antigonus, son of Aristobulus, Antiq. xiv, iv, 5 ; c. 
 vii, sect. 1 ; impeaches Hyrcanus and Antipater, c. 
 viii, sect. 4 ; War, i, x, 1 ; is conquered by Herod, 
 Antiq. xiv, xii, 1 ; invades Judea, by the help of 
 the Parthians, c. xiii, sect. 3 ; is re-established in 
 the government, sect. 10 ; War, i, xiii, 9 ; cuts off 
 Hyrcanus's ears, and causes the death of Phasaelus, 
 ib. ; surrenders himself to Sosius, Antiq. xiv, xvi, 
 2 ; War, i, xviii, 2 ; is sent in fetters to Marcus 
 Antonius, ib. ; was the first king whose head was 
 cut off by the Romans, Antiq. xv, i, 2 ; reigned 
 before Herod, xvii, v, 2. 
 
 Antigonus, son of Hyrcanus L, and brother of king 
 Aristobulus, made commander of the siege of Sa- 
 maria, Antiq. xiii, x, 2 ; is beloved by his brother, 
 c. xi, sect. 1 ; is watched by the queen and her 
 favourites, and by their calumnies slain, sect. 2 ; 
 War, i, iii, 2, 3, 4. 
 
 Antioch is the chief city in Syria, and the third city 
 in the Roman empire, War, iii, ii, 4 ; the Jews made 
 citizens thereof by Seleucus Nicator, Antiq. xii, iii, 
 1 ; it is burnt down, War, viii, iii, 4. 
 
 Lutiochus rebels against Demetrius, Antiq. xiii, iv, 
 7 ; their envy against the Jews, xii, iii, 1. 
 
 Antiochus, king of Cpmmagene, Antiq. xviii, ii, 5 ; 
 and xix, v, 1 ; c. viii, sect. 1 ; War, v, xi, 3 ; and 
 vii, vii, 1 ; a part of Cilicia, together with Comma- 
 gene, granted him by Claudius, Antiq. xix, v, 1. 
 
 kntiochus Cyzicenus, Antiq. xiii, x, 1 ; assists the 
 Samaritans, but is put to .flight, sect. 2 ; War, i, ii, 
 
 rS T^ and P* t death by Seleucu^ 
 Antiochus Dionysius, fourth son of Antiochus Grypus, 
 
 ****** 
 
 , . J .. WIIK> MUVU 1JJ9 1CLUTU, If) I 
 
 his answers to the Samaritans, c. v, sect 5- his 
 >iety xiii, viii, 2; he dies, and leaves the ad- 
 ministration to Philip, xii ix 1 > 
 Antiochus Eupator, his son, invades Judea Antiq 
 xn, ix, 4 ; fights with Judas, ib. ; War, i, i 5 
 makes peace with the Jews, Antiq. xiii, 'ix', J 
 breaks it, ib. ; is killed by Demetrius, c. x, sect 1 
 Antiochus Grypus, son of Demetrius Soter, Antiq. 
 
 xin. x, 1 ; his death, c. xiii, sect. 4. 
 Antiochus Philometer, Antiq. xiii, xii 2 
 Antiochus Pius, son of Antiochus Cyzicenus, ma es 
 war with Seleucus, Antiq. xiii, xiii, 4; is slain in 
 battle, ib. 
 
 Antiochus Eusebius, or Pius, the brother of Deme- 
 trius, besieges Jerusalem, Antiq. xiii, viii, 2; raises 
 the siege, sect. 4 ; makes an expedition against the 
 Parthians, is defeated and killed, ib. 
 Antiochus, the grandson of Seleucus, and son of Alex- 
 ander, is commonly called The God, Antiq. xii, 
 in, 2; is crowned in his youth, xiii, v, 3; enters 
 into alliance with Jonathan the high priest, sect. 
 4; is slain by Tryphon, his tutor, c. vii, sect 1: 
 War, i, ii, i. 
 Antiochus, the brother of Seleucus, slain in battle, 
 
 Antiq. xiii, xiii, 4. 
 
 Antiochus Soter, brother of Demetrius, father of 
 Grypus, Antiq. xiii, x, 1; makes war with Trypho, 
 c. viii, sect 2. 
 
 Antipas, Herod's son by Malthace, a Samaritan. 
 Anliq. xvii, i, 3; War, i, xxviii, 4; is tetraroh of 
 Galilee, c. viii, sect. 1; c. xi, sect. 4; and i, xxxiil, 
 7 ; goes to Rome to get to be king, Antiq. xvii, ix, 
 4, War, ii, ii, 3; what was left him by Herod, 
 Antiq. xvii, viii, 1 ; what was given him by Caesar, 
 c. xi, sect. 4 ; once declared king by Herod, War, i, 
 xxxii, 7. ., 
 
 Antipas, one of the royal lineage, is put in prison 
 
 and slain, War. iv, iii, 4, 6. 
 
 Antipater, the Idumean, Herod's father, called Anti- 
 pas, excites troubles, Antiq. xiv, i, 3; is sent am- 
 bassador to Aretas, by Scaurus, c. v, sect. 1 ; his 
 wife Cyprus, the Arabian, and his children, c. yii, 
 sect. 3 ; his valour, a viii, sect. 1 ; he advises Hyr- 
 canus to put himself under the protection of Aretas, 
 War, i, vi, 2 ; makes his son Phasaelus governor of 
 Jerusalem, and Herod of Galilee, Antiq. xiv, ix, 2 ; 
 War, i, x, 4 ; endeavours to deser% - e Caesar's favour, 
 c. viii, sect. 1 ; and i, xi, 3 ; is honoured by Csesar, 
 and made citizen of Rome, Antiq. xiv, viii, 3; 
 War, i, ix, 5 ; his defence against Antigonus, Antiq. 
 xiv, viii, 4 ; War, i, x, 2; is made governor of 
 Judea, Antiq. xiv, viii, 3 ; War, i, x, 3 ; is greatly 
 esteemed among the Jews, Antiq. xiv, ix, 2; is 
 poisoned, c. xi, sect, iv ; War, i, xi, 4. 
 Antipater, son of Phasaelus and SaUmpsio, grandson 
 
 of Herod the Great, Antiq. xviii, v, 4. 
 Antipater, son of Salome, impeaches Archelaus before 
 
 Caesar, Antiq. xvii, ix, 5. 
 
 Antipater, son of Herod, Antiq. xiv, xii, 1 ; is sent to 
 Rome to Caesar, xvi, iii, 3 ; War, i, xxix, 2 ; c. xxxi, 
 sect. 2 ; while he is there, he, by letters, sets his 
 father against his brethren, Antiq. xvi, iv, 1 ; War 
 i, xxiii, l;c. xxiv, sect. 1; his subtUty, Antiq. xvi, 
 vii, 2 ; is recalled by Herod, c. iii, sect. 3 ; and xvii, 
 v, 1 ; he reigns jointly with his father, a i, sect. 1 ; 
 is hated by everybody after the slaughter of his 
 brethren, ib.; attempts his father's life, ib.; is con- 
 cerned for himself, ib.; War, i, xxxi, 3; appears 
 before Varus's tribunal, Antiq. xvii, v, 3; War, i, 
 xxxii, 1 ; his plea for himself, ib. ; is put in irons, 
 Antiq. xvii, v, 7 ; War, i, xxxii, 6 ; is put to death, 
 Antiq. xvii, vii ; Wnr, i, xxxiii, 7 ; 
 Vntipater, a Samaritan, Antiq. xvii, iv, 2; War, i, 
 xxx, 5. 
 
 .ntipater, Herod's sister's son, Antiq. xvii, i, 8. 
 Antipatris, taken by Vespasian, War, iv, vii, 1. 
 Antiphilus, Antiq. xvii, iv, 2 ; War i, xxx, 6 ; hw
 
 664 
 
 letter to Antipater, Herod's son, Antiq. xvii f 
 
 Antonia, Claudius's daughter by Petina, War, ii, xii. g. 
 
 Antonia, Claudius's mother, and Drusus's^wife, len ds 
 
 money to Agrippa the elder, Antiq xviii, vi, 4 ; er 
 
 ulogium, sect. 6. 
 
 Antonia, the towar, called Baris before, War, I, H 1) 3 ; 
 
 is Uken by Titus, vi, i, 7, &c. 
 Antony, a captain, War, iii, iii, 1, &o. 
 Antony, a centurion, c. vii, sect. 35. 
 Antony (Mark,) his valour, Antiq. xiv, v, & ; War, i, 
 viii, 4 ; his and Dolabella's decree in favour of the 
 jews, Antiq. xiv, x, 9, &c. ; he marches into Asia 
 after Cassius's defeat, c. xii, sect. 2 ; his letter to 
 Hyrcanus, sect. 3 ; to the Tyrians, sect. 4 ; h e falls 
 in love with Cleopatra, c. xiii, sect. 4 ; makes 
 Phasaelus and Herod tetrarchs, ib. ; order their 
 accusers to be put to death, sect. 5 ; confers signal 
 favours on Herod, c. xiv, sect. 4, 5; sojourns at 
 Athens, c. xv, sect. 5 ; War, i, xvi, 4 ; his luxury, 
 Antiq. xv, 2, 6. 
 
 intonius (Lucius,) Mark Antony's son, sends a letter 
 to the Sardians, in favour of the Jews, Antiq. xiY, 
 x, 17. 
 
 Autonius Primus, War, iv, xi, 2. 
 Anubis, a god, Antiq. xviii, iii, 4. 
 Apachnas, king of Egypt, Against Apion, i, sect. 14. 
 Apame, Darius's concubine, Antiq. xi, iii, 5. 
 Apion, ambassador for the Alexandrians to Caius, 
 
 Antiq. xviii, viii, 1. 
 
 Apollo's temple at Gaza, Antiq. xiii, xiii, 3. 
 Apollo's temple in the palace at Rome, War, i, ii, 6. 
 Apollodotus, captain of the Gazeans, Antiq. xi i, xiii, 
 
 3 ; killed, ib. 
 
 Apollonius, son of Alexander, Antiq. xiii, ix, 2. 
 Apollonius Daus, governor of Coelesyria, Antiq. xiii, 
 iv. 3 ; challenges Jonathan to an engagemen t, and 
 is defeated, ib. 
 Apollonius, governor of Samaria, Antiq. xii, , 5 ; c. 
 
 vii, sect. 1. 
 
 Aponius, Antiq. xix, iv, 5. 
 
 Apophis, king of Egypt, Against Apion, i, sect. 14. 
 Ansiilom, War ii, xvii, 9. 
 Apsam, or Ibzan, judge after Jephtha, Antiq. v, vii, 
 
 13, 14, 
 
 Aquila, tho murderer of Caius, Antiq. xix, i, 14. 
 Arabians circumcise their children when thirteen 
 years old, Autiq. i, x, 2 ; ten towns taken from 
 them by Alexander, king of the Jews, xiv, i, 4 ; 
 Ethiopians are their neighbours, ix, v, 3. 
 Arabia borders on Judea, Antiq. xiv, 1, 4 ; Petra the 
 king's residence, ib. ; Zabdiel their lord, c. iv, sect. 
 8; Arabians are defeated, xv, v, 5; their women 
 are great poisoners, xvii, iv, 1. 
 Arram, Antiq. i, vi, 4. 
 
 Arn, or Haran, the father of Lot, Antiq. i, vi, 5. 
 Arasca, or Nisroch, a temple, Antiq. x, i, 5. 
 Arases, or Resin, king of the Syrians, Antiq. ix, 
 
 xii, 1, 
 
 Aranna, or Orona, the Jebusite, Antiq. viii, xiii, 4; 
 his thrashing-floor, ib. ; the place where Isaac was 
 to have been sacrificed, and where the temple was 
 afterwards built, ib. 
 
 Archelaus, king of Cappadocia, comes to Herod, 
 Antiq. xvi, viii, 6 ; c. x, sect. 7 ; War, i, xxv, 1, 
 <fec. ; goes with him to Aiitioch, ib. ; reconciles 
 Herod to his son Alexander, and to his brother 
 Pheroras, ib. ; War, i, xxv, 3, 4. 
 Archelaus, son of Herod the Great, Antiq. xvii, i, 3 ; 
 c. iv, sect. 3 ; War, i, xxvii. 4 ; c. xxxi, sect. 1 ; is 
 made ethnarch, Antiq. xvi'i, xi, 4 ; War, ii, vii, 3 ; 
 marries Glaphyra, Antiq. xvii, xiii, 1 ; War, ii, vii, 
 4; is proclaimed king after Herod's death, Antiq. 
 xvii, viii, 2; War, i, xxxiii, 9; his speech to the 
 people, Antiq. xvii, viii, 4 ; War, ii, i, 1 ; he en- 
 deavours to appease the people, Antiq. xvii. ix, 1, 
 &c. ; goes to Rome, sect. 3 ; War, ii, ii, 1 ; is accused 
 there by the deputies of the people, Antiq. xvii, xi, 
 2 ; War, ii, vi, 1, <fcc. ; is banished to Vienna ia 
 Gaul, c. vii, sect. 3 ; his dreams and Glaph>>fi's, 
 Antiq. xvii, xiii, Z, 4 ; War, ii, vii, 3, 4. 
 Archelaus, son of Cheicis, Antiq. xix, ix, 1. 
 Archelaus. son of Magadutus, War, vi, iv, 2. 
 Aremmantus, Antiq. x. viii, 2. 
 
 Aretas, king of the Arabians, Antiq. xiii, xiii, 3 ; and 
 xiv, i, 4 ; and xvi, x, 9 ; War, i, vi, 2 ; c. xxix, sect. 
 3 j makes an expedition against Aristobulus, Antiq. 
 xiv, ii, 1 ; succeeds Obodas, xvi, ix, 4 ; affords 
 succours to Hyrcanus, War, i, vi, 2; impeaches 
 Sylleus, jointly with Autipater, before Cassar, Antiq. 
 xvii, iii, 2. 
 
 Aretas, king of Coelesyria, makes an expedition Intn 
 
 Judea, Antiq. xiii, xv. 3. 
 
 Aretas, of Petra, Antiq. xvii, x, 9 ; and xviii, v, 1. 
 Arioch, captain of Nebuchadnezzar's life-guards, 
 
 Antiq. x, x, 3. 
 
 Arion, treasurer of Alexandria, Antiq. xii, iv, 7, &c. 
 Aristras, or Aristseus, one of Ptolemy Philadelphia's 
 life-guards, Antiq. xii, ii, 4; Against Apion, ii, 
 2, 4. 
 
 Aristobulus, son of Hyrcanus I., Antiq. xlli, x, 2 ; 
 the first high priest who assumed the title of King 
 of the Jews, c. xi, sect. 1 ; called Phillelen, or lovtr 
 of the Greeks, sect. 3. 
 
 Aristobulus, son of Alexander Janneas, an enterpris- 
 ing and bold man, Antiq. xiii, xvi, 1 ; complains of 
 the Pharisees, sect. 2 ; reproaches his mother Alex- 
 andra, sect. 8 ; endeavours to take possession of the 
 kingdom during his mother's life, sect. 5 ; fights 
 with his elder brother Hyrcanus for the crown, 
 xiv, i, 2 ; brings him to an accommodation, ib. ; 
 War, i, vi, 1 ; sends a golden vine to Pompey, 
 Antiq. xiv, iii, 1 ; is, with his children, brought 
 captive to Rome, by Pompey, c. iv, sect. 5; escapes 
 out of prison, but is retaken and sent back again 
 to Rome by Gabinus, c. vi, sect. 1 ; War, i, vii, 7 ; 
 c. viii, sect. 6 ; his firmness in adversity, Antiq. 
 xiv, vi, sect. 1 ; is poisoned by th : partizans of 
 Pompey, c. vii, sect. 4 ; his children, ib. 
 
 Aristobulus, sou of Herod the Great, Antiq. XT, x, 1 ; 
 marries Bernice, Salome's daughter, xvi, t, 2 ; is 
 put in prison, e. x, sect. 5 ; is accused by his father 
 in an assembly at Berytus, and condemned, c. xi, 
 sect. 2 ; is strangled, sect. 6 ; War, i, xxvii, 6 ; his 
 children, Antiq. xvii, 1, 2 ; War, i. xxvii, 1. 
 
 Aristobulus, son of Herod, king of Chalcis, Antiq. xx, 
 viii, 4 ; War, vii, vii, 4. 
 
 Aristobulus, son of Joseph and Mariamne, Antiq. 
 xviii, v, 4. 
 
 Aristobulus, son of Aristobulus, and brother to the 
 famous Mariamue, a beautiful youth, is made high 
 priest by Herod, Antiq. xv, iii, 1, 3 ; is drowned by 
 the secret order of the same Herod, ib. ; War, i, 
 xxii, 2. 
 
 Aristobulus, son of Aristobulus and Bernice, and 
 granddaughter of Herod the Great, Antiq. xviii, 
 v, 4. 
 
 Aristocracy, the best form of government, Antiq. iv, 
 viii, 17. 
 
 Aristocracy instituted in Judea by Gabinus, War, i, 
 viii, 3. 
 
 Arithmetic and Astronomy came from Chaldea to 
 Egypt, and thence into Greec';, Antiq. i, viii, 2. 
 
 Arius, king of the Lacedemonians, sends a letter to 
 Onias the high priest, Antiq. xii, iv, 10; c. v, sect. 8. 
 
 Ark of God, its description, Antiq. iii, vi, 5 ; taken 
 by the Philistines, vi, i, 1 ; restored to the Israelites, 
 sect. 2, &c. ; carried to Jerusalem, and lodged in 
 the house of Obed-edom, after it had been with 
 Amiiiadab, Antiq. vii, iv, 2. 
 
 Ark of Noah, where it rested, Antiq. i, iii, 0; men- 
 tioned by all barbarian historians, ib. ; its remains 
 long preserved, xx, ii, 3. 
 
 Armais, king of Egypt, Against Apion, i, sect. 15. 
 
 Armenia, conquered by Antonius, Antiq. xv, iv, 3 ; 
 Cotys, king of the Lesser Armenia, Antiq. xix, 
 viii, 1. 
 
 Armesses, kin? of Egypt, Against Apion, i, sect. 15. 
 
 Armory of David in the temple, Antiq. ix, vii, 2. 
 
 Aropheus, or Armariah, Antiq. viii, i, 8. 
 
 Arphaxed, Antiq. i, vi, 4. 
 
 Aruntius (Euaristus,) Antiq. xix, i, 18. 
 
 Arsaces, king of the Parthians, Antiq. xiii, v, 11 ; o. 
 viii, sect. 4. 
 
 Artabanus, king of Media, Antiq. xviii, 2, 4. 
 
 Artabanus, king of the Parthians, Antiq. xvii, IT, 4, 
 5 ; c. ix, sect. 3, 4 ; he flies to Izates, xx, iii, 1 ; ia 
 kindly received by him, and restored to his king- 
 dom, sect. 1, 2 ; dies, sect. 3. 
 
 Artabazes, or Artavasdes, son of Tigranes, is given as 
 a present to Cleopatra by Antonius, War, i, xviii, 5. 
 
 Artaxerxes, king of the Persians, Antiq. xi, vi, 1; hia 
 edict against the Jews, sect, 6 ; contradicted, sect. 
 12. 
 
 Artaxias, king of Armenia, Antiq. xv, v, 3. 
 
 Artorius cunningly saves bis own life, War, vi, iii, 2. 
 
 Arucas, Antiq. i, vi, 2. 
 
 Arudeus, Antiq. i, vi, 2. 
 
 Asa, king of Jerusalem, Antiq. viii, xii, 1 ; makes oil 
 alliance with the king of Damascus, sect. 4. 
 
 Asahel, killed by Abner, Antiq. vii, i, 3. 
 
 Asamoneus, Antiq. xii. v> I.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 665 
 
 Asamoneaus, the end of their reign, Antiq. xiv, xvi, 4. 
 Ascalonites, punished for their stubbornness, Antiq. 
 
 xii, iv, 5. 
 
 Asermoth, or Hazermaveth, Antiq. i, vi, 14. 
 Aserymus, king of the Tyrians, Against Apion, i. 
 
 sect. 18. 
 
 Ashdod, or Azotus, taken by Jonathan, Antiq. xiii, 
 iv ; its inhabitants plagued on account of the ark of 
 God, vi, i, 1. 
 
 Ashkenaz, Antiq. i, vi, 1. 
 Ashpenaz, a eunuch, Antiq. x, x, 2. 
 Ashur, Antiq. i, vi, 4. 
 
 Asia, its convention at Ancyra, Antiq. xvi, vi, t ; 
 Valerius, proconsul of Asia, xix, i, 20 ; five hundred 
 towns of Asia, War, ii, xvi, 4. 
 Asineus and Anileus, two brethren, Antiq. xviii, ix, 
 
 1, &c. 
 
 Asocheus or Shishek, king of Egypt, War, vi, x. 
 Asprenas, Antiq. xix, i, 13 ; cut in pieces, sec. 15. 
 Assemblies forbidden to all at Rome, but to the Jews 
 
 only, by Julius Caesar, Antiq. xiv, x, 3. 
 Ass's head falsely reported by Apion as an object of 
 worship among the Jews, Against Apion, ii, sect. 7. 
 Assi, king of Egypt, Against Apion, i, sect. 14. 
 Assyrian empire overthrown, Antiq. x, ii, 2. 
 istarte's temple, Antiq. vi, xvi, 8 ; Against Apion, i, 
 
 sect. 18. 
 Astartus, king of the Tyrians, Against Apion, i, sect 
 
 18. 
 
 Astronomy ; for its improvement the first men lived 
 
 near a thousand years, Antiq. i, iii, 2 ; came out of 
 
 Chaldea into Egypt, and t jence into Greece, i, vii, 2. 
 
 Asylum, or right of sanctuary, belonging to some 
 
 towns in Judea, Autiq. iv, vii, 4. 
 Athenians decree honours to Hyrcanus, Antiq. xiv, 
 
 vii, 6. 
 
 Athenio, Antiq. xii, iv, 3. 
 Athenio, a general of Cleopatra, War, i, xix, 2 ; his 
 
 perfidiousness, Antiq. xv, v, 1. 
 
 Athronges, a shepherd, crowns himself king of Judea, 
 Antiq. xvii, x, 7 ; War, ii, iv, 3 ; is conquered with 
 his brethren, ib. 
 
 Atratinus, Herod's advocate, Antiq. xiv, xiv, 4. 
 Augustus's arrival in Syria, Antiq. xv, x, 3 ; his letter 
 to Herod, xvi, xi, 1 ; holds a council about the 
 affairs of Judea, xvii, ix, 5 ; his edict and letter in 
 favour of the Jews, xvi, vi, 1, c. ; is angry with 
 Herod, c. ix, sect. 3 ; is reconciled to him by the 
 means of Xicolaus of Damascus, c. x, sect. 8; 
 divides Herod's dominions, War, ii, vi, 3; his death, 
 Antiq. xviii, iii, 2 ; War, ii, ix, 1. 
 axioramus, high priest, Antiq. x, vu, 6. 
 Azariah, the prophet, Antiq. viii, xii, 2. 
 Azarias, high priest, Antiq. x, viii, 6. 
 Azarias, one of David's companions, Antiq. x, *.* 
 Azarias, a commander under Judas, is defeated by 
 
 Gogias at Jamnia, Antiq. xii, viii, 6. 
 Azau, or Hazo, Antiq. i, vi, 5. 
 
 Azizus, king of Emesa, Antiq. xx, vu, 1 ; is circum- 
 cised, and marries Drusilla, the sister of Agnppa 
 junior, ib. ; dies, c. viii, sect. 4. 
 
 Azotus, or Ashdod, its inhabitants plagued on ac- 
 count of the ark of God, Antiq. xi, i, 1 ; taken by 
 Jonathan, xiii, iv, 4. 
 Azricam, Antiq. ix, xii, 1. 
 
 Baal king of the Tyrians, Agaicet Apion, vi, sect. 21. 
 Baal, god of the Tyrians, Antiq. ix, y>, 
 Baalis, king of the Ammonites, Antiq. x, ix, L, A. 
 Baanah the son of Rimmon, Antiq. viii, 12, 1. 
 Haaras, a place and a plant there growing, War, vu, 
 
 Broha, king of Israel, Antiq. viii xii, 3 ; kills Nadab 
 his predecessor, c. xi, sect. 4 ; dies, c. xn sect. 4. 
 
 Baba's children preserved by Costobarus, Antiq. xv, 
 vii 10 : afterwards killed by Herod, ib 
 
 Babvlon derived from Babel, (confusion of languages,) 
 Antiq. i, iv, 3; taken by Cyrus under the reign of 
 Baltakr, x, xi, 4; the great number of Jews who 
 lived there xv, ii, 2 ; and xvm, ix, 1. Nebuchad- 
 nllzar's balding at Babylon, x, xi 1 ; its walls 
 were not built by Semiramis ; but by Nebuchad- 
 nezzar according to the testimony of Berosus, 
 Against Apion, i ! sect. 19, 20; its walls curiously 
 built by Nabonnedus, of brick and bitumen, accord- 
 tag to the same Berosus, ib. ;. its pensile gardens 
 erlcted by Nebuchadnezzar, m imitation of the 
 mountains of Media, ib. ; Antiq. x, a, 1. 
 
 Badezorus, king of the Tyrians, Against Apion, i, 
 
 sect. 18. 
 
 Badus, or Bath, a Jewish measure, Antiq. viii, ii, 9. 
 Bagoas, a eunuch, Antiq. xvii, 2, 4. 
 Bagoses, an enemy of the Jews, Antiq. xi, vii, 1. 
 Balaam, the prophet, Antiq. iv, vi, 2, <tc. ; his SM 
 
 speaks, ib. 
 
 Baladan, king of Babylon, Antiq. x, ii, 2. 
 Balak, king of Moab, Antiq. iv, vi, 2, &C. 
 Balas, or Barea, king of Sodom, Antiq. i, Ix, 1. 
 Balatorus, king of the Tyrians, Against Apion, i, 
 
 sect. 21. 
 Baleazarus, king of the Tyrians, Against Apion, i, 
 
 sect. 18. 
 Balm, or Balsam, near Jericho, Antiq. xiv, iv, 1 ; and 
 
 xv, iv, 2 ; War, i, vi, 6. 
 
 Baltasar, [Belshazzar, or Naboandel, or Nabonadius,] 
 king of Babylon, Antiq. x, xi, 2 ; his terrible vision, 
 and its interpretation, ib. ; his death, ib. 
 Balthasar, [Belteshazaar,] Daniel's name, Antiq. x, 
 
 x, 1. 
 
 Banacates, Antiq. viii, ii, 4. 
 
 Banus, a hermit, Josephus's master, Life, sect. 2. 
 Barachias, Antiq. ix, xii, 1 
 Barak, excited by Deborah, encounters Sisera, Antiq. 
 
 v, v, 2, &c. 
 Barbarians, their riches formerly consisted in cattle, 
 
 Antiq. ii, xi, 2. 
 Bardaues, king of the Parthians, Antiq. xx, iii, 3 ; 
 
 be is slain, ib. 
 Baris, a tower built at Ecbatana, by Daniel, Antiq. 
 
 x, xi, 7. 
 
 Barnabazus, Antiq. xi, vi, 4. 
 Barsas, king of Gomorrah, Antiq. i, ix, 1. 
 Baruch, well skilled in the Hebrew tongue, and left 
 with Jeremiah the prophet in Judea at the Baby- 
 lonian Captivity, Antiq. x, ix, 1, 2. 
 Barzaphernes, governor in Parthia, War, i, xia, 1. 
 Barzillai, Antiq. vii, ix, 5. 
 Hasan, or Baasha, king of Israel, Antiq. viii, xu, 3 ; 
 
 slays Nadab his predecessor, c. xi, sect. 4. 
 Basima, or Basmath, Solomon's daughter, Antiq. via, 
 
 Baskets carried upon the head, Antiq. ii, v, 3, 
 
 Bassus, (Ventidius.) See Ventidius. 
 
 Bassus, (Cecilius, murderer of Sextus Caesar,) Antiq. 
 
 xiv, xi, 1 ; War, i, x, 10. 
 Bassus, (Lucillius,) is sent with an army into Judea; 
 
 he besieges and takes Macherus, War, vu, vi, l-. 
 Bath or Badus, a Jewish measure, Antiq. TO, u, 9. 
 Baths, hot baths at Callirrhoe beyond Jordan, Autiq. 
 
 xvii, vi, 5. 
 Bathsheba, Antiq. vu, vu, 1, 2, 4. 
 
 lathy llus,' AnUpater's freed-man, Antiq. xvii, iv, 8. 
 
 Battering-ram, its description, War, ui viii, 19. 
 
 Battle at Tarricheae, upon the Lake of Genuesareth, 
 War, iii, x, i. 
 
 Beeltethmus, Antiq. xi, ii, 2. ..... 
 
 Bela, or Zoar, the king of it, Antaq. i, ix, L 
 
 Belsliazzar (or Baltasar, or Naboandel, or Nabon*. 
 dius )knV of Babylon, Antiq. x. ***Sfi?* 
 vision and its interpretation, ib. ; his d^ath, ib. 
 
 Belteshazzar, Daniel's name, Antiq. x, x, 1. 
 
 Belus, the god of the Tynans, Antiq. viii, xui, 1. 
 
 Belus! the god of the Babylonians, Antiq. x, xi, 1, 
 
 Benaia^a priest by birth, a man of valour, Antiq. 
 vii xii 4- son ot Jehoiada, c. v, sect 4; made 
 commander of some troops of Solomon, YHi, i, 4 i 
 
 Beneficence, its commendation and reward, Antiq. 
 
 vi, xiv, 4. 
 Benhadad, (or the son of H 
 
 ^tef kr b e y aSed S for ttir enormous crime* 
 atSa, and at last terribly defeated and cut oS, 
 Antiq. v, ii, 8-11 : their tribe restored, sect 12. 
 pon Against Apion, i. sect. 14. 
 
 Beraic^'the widow of Herod, marries Polemon,
 
 666 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Bernice, Agrippa senior's daughter, and junior's sis- 
 ter, in danger of her life, War, ii, xv, 2. 
 
 Bernicianus, Herod of Chalcis' son by Bernice, his 
 brother Agrippa's daughter, War, ii, xi, 6. 
 
 Berytns, where the cause between Herod and his sons 
 was debated in a council or court, Antiq. xvi, xi, 2, 
 &c. ; Romans living at Berytus, xvi, x, 8. 
 
 Bethuel, Antiq. i, vi, 6. 
 
 Bezaleel and Aholiah, sacred architects, Antiq. iii, 
 vi, 1. 
 
 Bigthan, Antiq. xi, vi, 4. 
 
 Birthday of Ptolemy's son kept by the Syrians, 
 Antiq. xii, iv, 7 ; presents made thereupon, sect. 9. 
 
 Bobelo, Antiq. xi, iv, 9. 
 
 Bocchorus, king of Egypt, Against Apion, i, S3. 
 
 Book of the law found, Antiq. x, iv, 2. 
 
 Books composed by Solomon, Antiq. viii, ii, 5 ; 
 twenty-two most sacred books among the Jews, 
 Against Apion, i, 8. 
 
 Booz, of Elhnslech's family, Antiq. v, x, 2 ; his kind- 
 ness towards Ruth, ib. ; he marries her, sect. 4. 
 
 Brazen vessels more valuable than gold, Antiq. xi, v, 2. 
 
 Bride, how she was to part from one that refused to 
 marry her, according to the law of Moses, Antiq. v, 
 ix, 4. 
 
 Britanicus, son of Claudius by Messalina, War, ii, 
 xii, 8. 
 
 Britons, War, yi, vi, 2. 
 
 Brocchus, a tribune, Antiq. xix, iii, 4. 
 
 Brother, a title which Alexander Balas gave to Jona- 
 than the high priest, Antiq. xiii, ii, 2 ; the same 
 title was also given him by Demetrius Soter, c. iv, 9. 
 
 Buckle, or Button (a golden one) sent to Jonathan 
 by Alexander, king of Syria, Antiq. xiii, iv, 4 ; 
 and by Demetrius, c. v, 4. 
 
 Bukki, son of Abishua, high priest, Antiq. viii, i, 3. 
 
 Burthus, Nero's Greek secretary, Antiq. xx, viii, 9. 
 
 Buz, Nahor's son, Antiq. i, vi, 5. 
 
 Caesar, (Julius,) makes war in Egypt, Antiq. xiv, viii, 
 1; his decrees in favour of the Jews, c. x, sect. 2, 
 &c. ; is murdered by Brutus and Cassius, c. xi, 
 sect. 1. 
 
 Csesarea built by Herod, Antiq. xv, ix, 6 ; it was 600 
 furlongs from Jerusalem, xiii, xi, 2 ; War, i, iii, 5. 
 
 Csesarean games instituted by Herod, Antiq. xv, viii, 
 1 ; War, i, xxi, 1 ; begun at the finishing of Csesarea 
 Augusta, Antiq. xvi, v, 1. 
 
 Caesennius Fetus, president of Syria, War, vii, vii, 1. 
 
 Csesonia, wife of Caius, killed by Lupos, Antiq. xix, 
 ii, 4. 
 
 Cain murders his brother Abel, Antiq. i, ii, 1 ; his 
 punishment, ib. ; he peoples the land of Nod, sect. 2. 
 
 Caius, the son of Gennanicus, is made Emperor, 
 Antiq, xviii, vi, 9 ; War, ii, ix, 5, 6 ; puts Tiberias, 
 the grandson of Tiberias the emperor, to death, 
 Antiq. xviii, vi, 9 ; his cruelty, c. vii ; his behaviour 
 in the government, c. vii, sect. 2; he orders his 
 statue to be erected in the temple at Jerusalem, c. 
 viii, sect. 2 ; gratifies Agrippa, and forbids its erec- 
 tion, sect. 8 ; his letter to Petronius, ib. ; he rages 
 rinst the Jews, xix, i, 1 ; calls himself the brother 
 Jupiter ib. ; a conspiracy formed against him, 
 sect. 2 ; the conspirators increase in number, sect. 
 10 ; his death, c. i, sect. 14 ; his threatening letter 
 to Petronius retarded till he was dead, xviii, viii, 9 ; 
 War, x, 5 ; his character, Antiq. xix, ii, 5. 
 
 Caleb, one that searched the land of Canaan, Antiq. 
 iii, xiv, 4 ; and v, ii, 3. 
 
 Calf (golden) near Daphane, or Dan, War, , i. 
 
 Calleas, Antiq. xvii, 1. 
 
 Callimander, Antiq. xiii, x, 2, 3. 
 
 Callinicus, son of Antiochus, king of Commagene 
 War, vii. vii. 2. 
 
 Callistus, a freed man of Caius, Antiq. xix, i, 10. 
 
 Cambyses succeeds Cyrus, Antiq. xi, ii, 2 ; dies after 
 a reign of six years, seot. 2. 
 
 Camp of the Jews, Antiq, iii, xii, 6 ; of the Assyrians, 
 War, v, vii, 3 ; c. xii, sect. 2. 
 
 Camuel or Kemuel, Nahor's son, Antiq. i, vi, 5. 
 
 Canaan, land of, its description and division, Antiq. 
 V, i, 21, 22 ; Canaanites distress the tribe of Dan. c. 
 iii, sect. 1 ; are spared contrary to the command of 
 God, c. vii, sect. 5; war denounced against them 
 by the tribes of Judea and Simeon, sect. 1. 
 
 Candlestick in the tabernacle, Antiq. iii, vi, 7. 
 
 Cantheras removed from the high priesthood, Antiq. 
 xx, i, 3. 
 
 Capellus, son of Antyllus, Life, sect. 13. 
 
 Capito, a centurion, or captain of a hundred soldiers, 
 War, vii, v, 6. 
 
 Capitol, the end of the triumphant shows, War, viL 
 v, 6. 
 
 Captives of the Jews, how many killed, and how 
 many kept alive, War, vi, ix, 2, 3; captives carried 
 in the triumph, c. v, sect. 3. 
 
 Captives of the ten, and of the two tribes, Antiq. x, 
 ix, 7. 
 
 Careas, (Kareah,) Antiq. x, ix, 2. 
 
 Carus, Herod's Catamite, Antiq. xvii, ii, 4. 
 
 Cassander governs Macedonia, after Alexander's death, 
 Antiq. xii, i, 1. 
 
 Cassius Longinus, president of Syria, Antiq. xiv, xi, 
 2 ; and xv, xi, 4 ; and xx, i, 1 ; favours Antipater 
 and Herod, xiv, xi, 2, &c. ; repels the Parthians, 
 and then retires to Judea, c. vii, sect. 3 ; War, i, 
 viii, 9 ; is defeated at Philippi, Antiq. xiv, xii, 2. 
 
 Castles, or citadels, two at Jerusalem, one in the city, 
 and the other by the temple, Antiq. xii, i, 3 ; and 
 xv, vii, 1 ; c. viii, sect. 5. 
 
 Castor, the Jew, his cunning trick, War, v, vii, 4. 
 
 Castration of man or beast forbidden by the law of 
 Moses, Antiq. iv, viii, 40 ; young men of royal blood 
 castrated by Nebuchadnezzar's order, and among 
 others Daniel the prophet, x, x, 1. 
 
 Catullus, governor of Lybia, Pentapolitana, War, vii, 
 xi, 1 ; his calumny against the Jews, sect. 2 ; hia 
 death and the divine vengeance on him, sect. 3, 4. 
 
 Cecilius Bassus, the murderer of Sextus Caesar, Antiq. 
 xiv, xi, 1 ; War, i, x, 9. 
 
 Celadus, Antiq. xvii, xii, 2 ; War, vii, ii, 2. 
 
 Cclenderis, War, i, xxxi, 3. 
 
 Celer, a tribune, Antiq. xx, vi, 2 ; he is put to death, 
 sect. 3. 
 
 Celtic legion, Antiq. xix, i, 15. 
 
 Cendebeus, commander of Antiochus's troops, Antiq. 
 xiii, vii, 3 ; War, i, ii, 2. 
 
 Cerealis, (Petelius,) sent against the Samaritans, War, 
 iii, vii, 32 ; marches towards Hebron, iv, ix, 2 ; is 
 ordered to attack the temple, vi, ii, 6 ; called to a 
 council of war about the temple, c. iv, sect. 3. 
 
 Cesinna, War, iv, xi, 3 ; sent to Vespasian, ib. 
 
 Cestius Callus, president of Syria, Life, sect. 43 ; War, 
 ii, xiv, 3 ; he gathers an army against the Jews, 
 War, ii, xviii, 9 ; enters Jerusalem, c. xix, sect. 4 ; 
 is beaten, sect. 7, &c. 
 
 Chagiras, son of Nabateus, War, v, xi, 5. 
 
 Chalaman, king of the Syrians, Antiq. vii, xi, 3. 
 
 Chalool, Antiq. viii, ii, 5. 
 
 Cham, or Ham, the son of Noah, Antiq. i, iv, 1 ; his 
 posterity, c. vi, sect. 2. 
 
 Chanaan, or Canaan, the son of Ham, Antiq. i, vi, 2 ; 
 his posterity, ib. 
 
 Charan, or Haran, Antiq. i, vi, 6. 
 
 Chares, War, iv, i, 4 ; dies, sect. 9. 
 
 Chatura, or Keturah, Abraham's last wife, Antiq. i, 
 xi, 1. 
 
 Chebron, king of Egypt, Against Apion, i, sect 16. 
 
 Chebron, or Hebron, older than Memphis, (Tanis,) 
 War, iv, ix, 7 ; taken by the Israelites, Antiq. r, ii, 3. 
 
 Chedorlaomer, Antiq. i, iv. 
 
 Chelbes, king of the Tyrians, Against Apion, i, sect. 21. 
 
 Chelcias, Antiq. xiii, x, 4 ; c. xiii, sect. 1. 
 
 Chellio, or Chilio, Antiq. v, ix, 1. 
 
 Chereas, (Cassius,) is stirred up against Caius, Antiq. 
 xix, i, 3, 4; draws others into the conspiracy, sect. 
 5 ; gives Caius the first blow, sect. 14 ; is beheaded, 
 c. xiv, sect. 5. 
 
 Cherubim, their shape not known, Antiq. viii, iii, 3. 
 
 Chesed, Nahor's son, Antiq. i, vi, 5. 
 
 Chetim, or Kittim, Antiq. i, vi, 1. 
 
 Children not always like their parents, Antiq. vi, iii, 2. 
 
 Christ and Christians, Antiq. xviii, iii, 3. 
 
 Chusarthes, or Chusan, the king of Assyria, oppresses 
 the Israelites, Antiq. v, iii, 2. 
 
 Chusi, or Hushai, Antiq. vii, ix, 2. 
 
 Chutheans, (people of Cutha,) who they were and 
 whence they came, Antiq. ix, xiv, 3 ; go to Sama- 
 ria, x, ix, 7 ; hinder the rebuilding of the temple, 
 xi, ii, 1. 
 
 Cinnamus, Antiq. xx, iii, 2. 
 
 Circumcision is received in Palestine by the Jews, 
 Against Apion, i, sect. 22 ; its institution, Antiq. i, 
 x. The Arabians circumcise their children after 
 the thirteenth year of their age, c. xii, sect. 3 ; the 
 Syrians in Palestine received circumcision from the 
 Egyptians, according to Herodotus, viii, x, 3; not 
 to be forced upon anybody, in the opinion of Jose- 
 phus, Life, sect. 23 ; the Idumeans forced to be 
 circumcised, or leave their country, by John 
 Hyrcanus, xiii, ix, 1 ; the Itureans forced to be 
 circumcised by Aristobulus, c. xi, sect. 3.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 (567 
 
 Classicus, War, vii, iv, 2. 
 
 Claudius Caesar, Antiq. xix, ii, 1 ; c. ill, sect. 1 ; he fa 
 dragged out of a corner to the imperial dignity, ib. ; 
 War, ii, xi, 1 ; he is favoured by the army, Antiq. 
 xix, Iv, 5 ; his liberality to Agrippa, c. v, sect. 1 ; 
 his edict in favour of the Jews, sect. 3; his letter 
 to the Jaws, Antiq. xx, i, 2 ; he dies, c. viii. sent 
 * ; War, ii, xii, 8 ; his wife and children, ib. 
 r lement, Antiq. xix, i, 6. 
 < 1 ropatra, daughter of Antiochus, married to Ptolemy, 
 
 Antiq. xii, iv, 1. 
 
 C <sopatra, wife of Philometer, Antiq. xiii, iii, 1, 2 ; 
 
 Against Apion, ii, sect. 5 ; she takes up arms against 
 
 Ptolemy Lathyrus, Antiq. xiii, xiii, 1 ; makes an 
 
 alliance with Alexander, sect. 2; takes Ptolemais, ib. 
 
 jleopatra, wife of Demetrius II., Antiq. xiii, vii, 1 ; 
 
 married to Antiochus Soter, sect. 2. 
 Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, meets Antony i:i Cilicia, 
 Antiq. xiv, xiii, 1 ; her cruelty and avarice, XT, iv, 
 1 ; War, i, xviii, 4 ; kills her sister Arsinoe, Antiq. 
 xv, iv, 1 ; obtains from Antony a part of Arabia and 
 Judea, ib. ; tempts Herod to lie with her, sect. 2 ; 
 Herod conducts her towards Egypt, ib. 
 Cleopatra, (Selene) besieged by Tigranes, Antiq. xiii, 
 
 xvi, 4 ; War, i, v, 3. 
 Cieopatra of Jerusalem, the wife of Herod, Antiq. 
 
 xvii, i, 3 ; War, i. xxviii, 1. 
 Cleopatra, wife of Flonis, Antiq. xx, xi, 1. 
 Clitus, author of a rebellion at Tiberias, Life, sect. 34 ; 
 cuts off his left hand by the order of Josephus, ib. ; 
 War, ii, xxi, 10. 
 '.Jlevius, Antiq. xix, i 
 Ooligna (Cneus, ar, vii, iii, 4. 
 Colonies w'thin and without Italy, Antiq. xix, v, 3. 
 Columns, or pillars in the land of Siriad, Antiq. i, H, 
 3; of the Corinthian order in Solomon's palace, 
 viii, v, 2 ; in Herod's temple, War, v, v, 2. 
 Commandments written upon two tables, Antiq. iii, 
 v, 4 ; written by the hand of God, sect. 8 ; not to 
 have their very words published, sect 4. 
 Conquests easier gotten than maintained, Antiq. viii, 
 
 Iv. 
 
 Conscience of good actions safer to be relied on, 
 than on the concealment of evi. nes, Antiq. ii, iv, 4. 
 Conspiracy against Herod, Antiq. xv, viii, 3, &c. 
 Convention of Asia at Ancyra, Antiq. xv, vi, 2 ; con- 
 vention at Jerusalem, Life, sect. 13. 
 Coponius, procurator of Judea, Antiq. xviii, f, 1 \ c. 
 
 ii, sect. 2 ; War, ii, viii, 1. 
 Coracinus, a fish, War, iii, x, 8. 
 Corban, or secret treasure, War, ii, ix, 4. 
 Cores, or Korah, raises a sedition against Moses, 
 Antiq. iv, ii, 2 ; perishes with his faction c. iii, 
 sect. 3. 
 Oorinthus, one of Herod's life-guards, Antiq. xvii, 
 
 iii, 2 ; an Arabian by birth, War, i, xxix, 3. 
 Cornelius Faustus, son of Sylla, Antiq. xiv, iv, 4; 
 
 War, i, vii, 5. 
 
 Cornelius the brother of Longus, War, vi, iii, 2. 
 Corus, a Jewish measure of 10 Attic medimni, Antiq. 
 
 iii, xv, 3. 
 Costobarus, an Idumean, Salome's husband, Antiq. 
 
 xv, viii, 9. 
 Oostobarus, a ringleader of the robbers, Antiq. xx, 
 
 ix, 4. 
 
 "Jotylas, or Zeno, Antiq. xiii, viii, 1 ; War, i, ii, 4. 
 ^otys, king of Lesser Armenia, Antiq. xix, viii, 1. 
 3ow, the red cow for purification, Antiq iv, iv, 6. 
 Cozbi, a Midianitish woman, Antiq. iv, vi, 10. 
 Coze, or Koze, an idol of the Idumeans before they 
 
 turned Jews, Antiq. xv, vii, 9. 
 Trassus, governor of the east, succeeds Gabiims, 
 Antiq. xiv, vi, 4; arrives In Judea and plunders 
 the temple of its treasures, c. vii, sect. 1 ; War, i, 
 viii, 8 ; perishes in an expedition against the Par- 
 thians, ib. 
 
 Creation of the world, Antiq. i, ii, 1. 
 Crimes are encouraged by indulgence to those that 
 
 commit them, Antiq. vi, vii, 4. 
 >own, or mitre of the high priest, Antiq. iii, <rii, 7. 
 jomanus, procurator of Judea, Antiq. xx, v, 2 ; War, 
 
 ii, xii, 1. 
 Curses denounced from mount Ebal, Antiq. iv, viii, 
 
 44 ; and v, i, 19. 
 duspius Fadus, procurator of Judea, Antiq. xv, xi, 4 ; 
 
 and xix, iv, 2 ; xx, 1, &c. ; War, ii, xi, 6. 
 Customs, or taxes of Syria, Phoenicia, Judea, and 
 
 Cypros, Antipater*s daughter by Cypros, Antiq. x-Tttl, 
 v, 4 ; married to Alexas Selcias. ib, 
 
 Cypros, Herod's daughter, married to Antipater, Sa- 
 lome's son, Antiq. xviii, v, 5. 
 
 Cypros, daughter of Phasaelus and Salampsio, mar- 
 ried to Agrippa senior, Antiq. xviii, v, 4; c. vi. 
 sect. 2, 3. 
 
 Cyreneus, or Quirinlus, Antiq. xvii, xliL 5 : and xviii. 
 i, 1 ; War, vii, viii, i. 
 
 Cyreneans derived from the Lacedemonians, War, 11, 
 xvi, 4. 
 
 Cyprus, king of Persia, Antiq. x, xi, 2, &c. ; purposes 
 to rebuild the Jewish temple, xi, i, 1, Ac. ; releases 
 the Jews from their captivity by an edict, sect. 2, 
 8 ; his death, c. ii, sect. 1. 
 
 Cyrus, the son of Xerxes, called by the Greeks Ar- 
 taxerxes, made king, Antiq. xi, vl, 1, &c. ; his 
 letter rescinding the edict of Hainan, sect. 12. 
 
 Demons, War, vi, vi, 3. 
 
 Dagon, the god of Ashdod, Antiq. vl, 1 ; his temple 
 burnt, xiii, iv, 4. 
 
 Damascene colonies transported into Higher Media, 
 Antiq. ix, xii, 3. 
 
 Damascus taken by Tiglathphileser, Antiq. ix, xii, S ; 
 taken by the Romans, xiv, ii, 3. 
 
 Dan built by the Danites, Antiq. v, iii, 1. 
 
 Danans, or Hermeus, king of Egypt, Against Apion, 
 i, sect. 26. 
 
 Daniel the prophet Antiq. x, x, 1, &c. ; is castrated 
 with his companions, ib. : their austerity of life, 
 sect. 2 ; Daniel foretells the times of future events, 
 ib. ; tells Nebuchadnezzar his dream, and Inter- 
 prets it to him, sect. 3, 4 ; is honoured for it, sect. 
 5 ; his companions are cast into a fiery furnace, ib. ; 
 Daniel explains the hand-writing upon the wall, c. 
 xi, sect 2 ; is carried into Media by Darius, sect 4 ; 
 is made one of the presidents of the kingdom, ib. ; 
 a conspiracy against him, sect. 5, 6 ; is thrown into 
 the lion's den, sect. 6 ; builds a tower at Ecbat.-ma, 
 sect. 7 ; the manner and certainty of his prophe- 
 cies, ib. ; his vision of the ram and the he-goat, 
 ib. ; his prophecy of the destruction of the Jews by 
 the Romans, ib. ; of the profanation of the temple 
 by Antiochus Epiphanes, xii, vii, 6. 
 
 Danda, Antiq. viii, ii, 5. 
 
 Darius, the son of Astyges, called by another name 
 among the Greeks, Antiq. x, xi, 2, 4. 
 
 Darius, the son of Hystaspes, made king, Antiq. xi, 
 iii, 1 ; makes a splendid entertainment, sect 2 ; 
 proposes questions to be resolved, Ib. ; his letters 
 In favour of Zerobabel, for rebuilding the temple, 
 sect. 8 ; has Cyrus's records searched about that 
 temple, Antiq. xi, iv, 6; gives orders about it* 
 rebuilding, ib. ; his edict against the Samaritans, 
 sect. 9. 
 
 Dathan, Antiq. iv, ii, 1. 
 
 David's genealogy, Antiq. v, Ix, 4 ; Is anointed by 
 Samuel, vi, viii, 1 ; plays upon the harp before 
 Saul, sect 2 ; fights Goliath, vi, ix, 10 ; o. xi, sect 
 4 ; his and Jonathan's friendship, c. xl, sect 1, 6 
 &c. ; is reconciled to Saul by Jonathan, sect 2 ; is 
 in danger of beina killed by Saul, sect 3 ; his flight, 
 vi, xii, 1 ; c. xiii, sect. 10 ; he spares Saul's life 
 twice, c. xiii, sect. 4, 2; promises to assist the 
 king of Gath, c. xiv, sect. 1 ; pursues after the 
 Arnalekites. and puts them to flight, sect 6; 
 makes a funeral oration for Saul and Jonathan, vli, 
 i, 1 ; is made king of Judah, sect. 2 ; and of the 
 Israelites, vii, ii, 2 ; takes Jerusalem, c. iii sect 1 ; 
 casts the Jebusites out of it, sect 2 ; marries seve- 
 ral wives, and begets eleven children, sect 8 ; con- 
 quers the Philistines, c. iv, sect. 1 ; has the ark 
 carried to Jerusalem, sect 2 ; is reproached by 
 Mlchal, sect. 3 ; purposes to build the temple, sect 
 4 ; his victories, c. v, sect. 1 ; his liberality to Me- 
 
 Jypros, Antipater senior's wife, by whom he had fou 
 children, Antiq. xiv, vii. 3 ; War. i. viii, a. 
 
 bv Nathan the prophet, c. vii, sect. 8 ; his son by 
 Bathsheba dies, sect * ; h mourns foi Absalom a 
 death, c. x, sect. 5 ; orders the people to be num- 
 bered, c. xiii, sect 1 ; chooses the pestilence rathe 
 than famine or the sword, sect 2 ; makes great 
 preparations for the building of the temple, c. xiv, 
 sect. 1 ; exhorts Solomon to build it, sect 2, 9 ; di- 
 vides the priests into twenty-four courses, sect 7 ; 
 he dies, c. xv, sect. 2 ; is buried with great P"nip, 
 sect. 3 ; the treasures hidden in his monument, w 
 xiii, viii, 4 ; and xvi, vii, 1 ; War, i, ii, 5. 
 Dav unusually lengthened, Antia. v, i. 17.
 
 068 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 licbora, Antiq. v, v, 3. 
 
 I it-ceased, what care was taken of them by the Jews, 
 
 Asrainst Apion, ii, sect. 26. 
 
 I 1 Tees of the Romans, &c., in favour of the Jews, 
 Antiq. xiv, viii, 5 ; c. x, sect. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, S, 10, 
 12, IS, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26. 
 
 I '.dan, Antiq. i, vi, 2. 
 
 Dullius the wicked, Antio. xiv, XT, 1 ; and XT, ii, 6 ; 
 War, i, xv, 3. 
 
 Deluge, Antiq. i, iii, 3, (to. 
 
 Demetrius, alabarch at Alexandria, Antiq. xx, vii, 3. 
 
 Demetrius, the son of Demetrius, joins with Jonathan 
 and Ptolemy his father-in-law, and conquers Alex- 
 ander, Antiq. xiii, iv, 7, 8 ; called Nicator, sect. 9 ; 
 his letter in favour of the Jews, ib. ; is hated by 
 Antiochus, c. v, sect. 3 ; breaks friendship with 
 Jonathan, ib. ; is conquered by Antiochus, and flies 
 into Cilicia, sect. 4 ; is made prisoner by Arsaces, 
 and released, sect. 11 ; Trypho rebels against him, 
 e. vii, sect. 1 ; is hated by the army, c. ix, sect. 3 ; 
 is defeated, and flies in vain to Cleopatra his wife, 
 ib. ; goes thence to Tyre, is made prisoner and 
 dies, ib. 
 
 Demetrius Eurerus, fourth son of Antiochus Grypus, 
 is made king of Syria, Damascena, Antiq. xiii, xiii, 
 4 ; his assistance desired by the Jews, sect. 5 ; he 
 makes war upon Alexander, and conquers him, c. 
 xiv, sect. 1 ; War, i, iv, 4, 5 ; he makes war with 
 his brother Philip, is carried prisoner into Parthia, 
 and dies there, Antiq. xiii, xiv, 3. 
 
 Demetrius of Gadara, Pompe.v's freed-man, obtains 
 the rebuilding of that city, Antiq. xiv, 4. 
 
 Demetrius Phalereus, keeper of the Alexandrian li- 
 brary, Antiq. xii, ii, 1 ; Against Apion, ii, sect. 4 ; 
 his petition to king Philadelphus, Antiq. xii, ii, 3 ; 
 he places the seventy-two interpreters near the 
 sea-side, sect. 2. 
 
 Demetrius Soter, son of Seleucus, made king of Syria, 
 Antiq. xii, x, 1 ; puts king Antiochus to death, ib. ; 
 sends Bacchides and Nicanor against the Jews, 
 sect. 2, 4 ; his character, xiii, ii, 1 ; his letter to 
 Jonathan, sect. 3 ; is killed in the war against 
 Alexander, sect. 4. 
 
 Demoteless, Antiq. xiii, v, 8. 
 
 Diana's temple at Elymais and Persia, Antiq. xii, ix, 
 1 ; Diana's temple "in Egypt, xiii, iii, 1. 
 
 DiJo, queen of the Tynans, Against Apion, i, sect. 18. 
 
 Diklath, Antiq. i, vi, 4. 
 
 Dinah, Jacob's daughter, Antiq. i, xxi, 1. 
 
 Dioclerug, Antiq. viii, ii, 3. 
 
 Diodorus, son of Jason, Antiq. xiii, ix, 2. 
 
 Diodorus, or Trypho, Antiq. xiii, v, 1. 
 
 Dionysius, tyrant of Tripoli, Antiq. xiv, iii, 2. 
 
 Diophantus, a forger of letters, Antiq. xvi, x, 4. 
 
 Divorce, what are the causes of it, Antiq. iv, viii, XS ; 
 whether it be lawful for a wife to send a bill of di- 
 vorce to her husband, Antiq. xv, viii, 10. 
 
 Doeg, the Syrian, Antiq. vi, xii, 4. 
 
 Dogs, it is not natural for them to devour the bones 
 with the flesh, Antiq. xi, iv, 9. 
 
 Dolabella's letter to the Ephesians in favour of the 
 Jews, Antiq. xiv, x, 12. 
 
 Dolesus, War, iv, vii, 2. 
 
 Domitia kind to Josephus, Life, sect. 75. 
 
 Domitian, the son of Vespasian, is made regent in his 
 father's absence, War, iv, xi, 4 ; is kind to Jose- 
 phus, Life, sect. 75 ; his expedition against the 
 Germans, War, vii, iv, 2. 
 
 Domitius Sabinus, War, v, viii, 1. 
 
 Doris, Herod's first wife, Antiq. xiv, xii, 1 ; is mother 
 of Antipater, ib. xvii, i, 3 ; War, i, xxviii, 4 ; is ex- 
 pelled the court, i, xxx, 4. 
 
 Dorians erect Caesar's statue in a Jewish synagogue, 
 Antiq. xix, vi, 3 ; Petronius's edict against them, ib. 
 
 Dorotheas, Antiq, xii. ii, 11. 
 
 Dortus, Antiq. xx, vi, 2. 
 
 Dositheus, a Jew, his perfidiousness, Antiq. xv, vi, 3. 
 
 Dositheus, a general of the Jews, Against Apion, ii, 
 sect. 5. 
 
 Dove sent out of the ark, Antiq. i, iii, 5. 
 
 Draco's laws, Against Apion, i, sect. 4. 
 
 Drusilla, daughter of Agrippa senior, by Cyproa, 
 Antiq. xxiii, v, 4 ; married to Azizus, king of 
 Ernesa, xx, vii, 1 ; afterwards to Felix, procurator 
 of Judea, sect 2. 
 
 Drusus her brother, Antiq. xviii, v, 4. 
 
 Drusus, brother of Tiberius, Antiq. xviii, vi, 8. 
 
 Duration of the Jewish law, Against Apion, ii, 
 sect. 81. 
 
 Eagle, golden eagle pulled down from the front of 
 
 the temple, Antiq. xvii, vi, 3 ; holding a dragon in 
 
 his claws in the seal of the Lacedemonians, xii, iv, 10. 
 Earthquake, wherein the followers of Dathan and 
 
 Abiram were swallowed up, Antiq. iv, iii, 1. 
 Earthquake, a very great one in Judea, Antiq. xv, 
 
 v, 2. 
 Eating the sinew upon the hip, wLy refused by the 
 
 Jews, Antiq. i, xx, 2. 
 Ebal, Antiq. i, vi, 4. 
 Eben, David's son, Antiq. vii, iii, S. 
 Ebutius, a decurion, War, iii, vii, 3 : slain in battle, 
 
 iv, i, 5. 
 
 Eclipse of the moon, Antiq. xvii, vi, 4. 
 Ecnibalus, king of Tyre, Against Apion, i, sect. 21. 
 Eglon, king of Moab, oppresses the Israelites, Antiq 
 
 v, iv, 1 ; is made a judge, ib. 
 Elab succeeds Baa-sha in the kingdom of Israel, Antiq. 
 
 viii, xii, 4. 
 
 Elam, Autiq. i, vi, 4. 
 Elcanah, or Elkanah, Antiq. ix, xii, 1. 
 Elcanah, or Elkanah, Samuel's father, Antiq. y, x, 2, 
 Elcias, the high priest, Antiq. x, viii, 6. 
 Eleazar's house, Antiq. vii, xv, 7. 
 Kleazar's commendation, War, v, vi, 1. 
 Eleazar, the son of Aaron, Antiq. iii, viii, L 
 Eleazar, the son of Ananias, high priest, Antiq. xviii, 
 
 ii, 2 ; War, ii, xvii, 2. 
 Eleazar, the son of Dineus, Antiq. xx, vi, 1 ; c. viii, 
 
 sect. 5 ; War, ii, xii, 4. 
 Eleazar, the son of Dodo, Antiq. vii, xii, 4. 
 Eleazar cast out a demon, Antiq. viii, ii, 4. 
 Eleazar, brother of Joazar, made high priest, Antiq. 
 
 xviii, xiii, 1 ; deprived, ib. 
 Eleazar, brother of Judas Maccabeus, called Auran, 
 
 Antiq. xii, vi, 1 ; c. ix, sect. 4; is crushed to death 
 
 by an elephant, ib. ; War, i, i, 5. 
 Eleazar, a ringleader of the robbers, Antiq. 3.x, i, 1 ; 
 
 War, vii, viii, 1 ; is taken prisoner and sent to 
 
 Rome, Antiq. xx, viii, 5 ; War, ii, xiii, 2. 
 Eleazar, of Masada's speech to his garrison, War, vii, 
 
 viii, 6. 
 
 Eleazar, the son of Moses, Antiq. ii, xiii, 1. 
 Eleazar, the high priest in the days of Joshua, Antiq. 
 
 iv, iv, 7 ; lie dies, v, i, 29. 
 Eleazar, the high priest in the days of Philadelphus, 
 
 Antiq. Pref. sect. 3 ; and xii, ii, 4 ; and xvii, xiii, 
 
 1; his letter to Philadelphus, xii, ii, 7; he dies, c. 
 
 iv, sect. 1. 
 
 Eleazar, treasurer of the temple, Antiq. xiv, vii, 1. 
 Eleazar, the son of Sameas' valour, War, iii, vii, 21. 
 Eleazar, the son of Simon, War, ii, xx, 3 ; and IT, 
 
 iv, 1 ; and v, i, 2 ; c. iii, sect. 1 ; and vi, iv, 1. 
 Eleazar, the companion of Simon, dies, War, iv, ix, 5. 
 Eleazar, commander of the temple, Antiq. xx, ix, 3 ; 
 
 War, ii, xvii, 2. 
 
 Eleazar taken prisoner by Rufus, War, vii, vi, 4. 
 1 Ueutheri, horsemen so called, War, i, xiii, 3. 
 Klhanan, Antiq vii, xii, 2. 
 Eli the high priest, Antiq. viii, i, 3 ; is judge in Israel 
 
 after Samson, Antiq. v, ix, 1 ; his profligate sons, 
 
 c. x, sect. 1. 
 F.liakim, Antiq. x, i, 2. 
 Eliashib the high priest, Antiq. xi, v, 4, &o ; diet, e. 
 
 vii, sect. 1. 
 
 Eiien, David's son, Antiq. vii, iii, 3. 
 Elijah the prophet, Antiq. viii, xiii, 2, &c. ; his mira- 
 cles wrought for the widow of Serepta, ib. ; he pre- 
 sents himself to Ahab, sect. 4 ; foretells rain, ib. ; 
 
 the false prophets are killed by his order, sect. 6 ; 
 
 calls fur fire from heaven, ix, ii, 1 ; is taken up, sect 
 
 2 ; his letter to king Jehoram, c. v, sect 2. 
 Elimelech, Antiq. v, ix, 1. 
 Elioneus, the son of Cautharus, is made high priest, 
 
 Antiq. xix, viii, 1. 
 
 Eliphale, or Eliphelet, David's son, Antiq. vii, iii, 8. 
 Elisa, Antiq. i, vi, 1. 
 Elisha, the prophet, the son of Shaphat, Antiq. viii, 
 
 xiii, 7 ; and ix, ii, 2 ; c. iii, sect. 1 ; his miracles, i, 
 
 x, iv, 1, <fcc. ; his death and eulogium, c. viii, sect 
 
 6 ; his cure of the barren fountain, War, iv, viii, 3. 
 Elkanah, or Elcanah, Antiq. ix, xii, 1. 
 Elkanah, or Elcanah, Samuel's father, Antiq. v, x, 3. 
 Elmodad, Antiq. i, vi, 4. 
 
 Elon succeeds Ibson as judge, Antiq. v, vii, 14. 
 Elpis, Herod's wife, Antiq. xvii, i, S; War, 1, 
 
 xxviii, 4. 
 
 Eluleus, king of the T3 - rians, Antiq. i, xrv, 2. 
 Emmos, David's son, Antiq. vii, iii. 
 Ennaphen, David's son, Antiq. vii, iii, 3. 
 Enemies, when conquered, may be lawfully killed, 
 
 Antiq. ix. iv. 3.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 669 
 
 noch, Antiq. i, ii, 2 ; c. iii, sect. 2. 
 noch and Elijah translated, Antiq. ix, ii, 2. 
 "nos, the son of Seth, Antiq. i, iii, 2. 
 'nsigns of the Romans, with Caesar's Image, Antiq. 
 xviii, iii, 2; sacrifices offered to them. War, vi. 
 lil 
 
 Cpaphroditus, his character, Antiq. Pref. sect. 2; a 
 great friend of Josephus, Life, sect. 75. 
 iphesians, their decree in favour of the Jews, Antiq 
 xiv, x, 25. 
 
 Iphod, Antiq. iii, vii, 3. 
 Cpicrates, Antiq. xiii, x, 2, 3. 
 
 picureans, their error concerning providence con- 
 futed, Antiq. x, xi, 7. 
 
 Ipiphanes, tn"e son of Antiochus, king of Comma- 
 gena, Antiq. xix, ix, 1. 
 
 Ipistle of Jonathan the bigh priest to the Lacedemo- 
 nians, Antiq. xiii, v, 8 ; of Philadelphia for freeing 
 the captive Jews, Antiq. xii, ii, 3; to Eleazar the 
 high priest, sect. 4 ; of Solomon, and Hiram king 
 of the Tyvians, viii, ii, 6, 7 ; of Xerxes to Edras, xi, 
 T, 1 ; of Artaxerxes to the governors near Judea, 
 c. vi, sect. 12; of Antioclius the Great, to Ptolemy 
 Epiphanes, xii. iii, 8 ; of the Samaritans to Antio- 
 chus Theus, c. v, sect. 5 ; of Alexander Balas to Jo- 
 nathan, xiii, ii, 2 ; of Onias to Ptolemy and Cleo- 
 patra, c. iii, sect. 1 ; of Demetrius to Jonathan and 
 the Jews, c. iii, sect. 1 ; of Demetrius to Jonathan 
 and the Jews, c. iv, sect. 9 ; of Julius Caesar to the 
 Roman magistrates, xiv, x, 2, &c. ; of Mark Antony 
 to the Tyrians, c. xii, sect. 4. 
 
 Esaiah the prophet, Antiq. in, xiii, 3 ; and x, i, 3, 4 ; 
 c. ii, sect 1, 2 ; his eulogium, sect. 2 ; his prophecy 
 concerning the Assyrians, x, xiv ; concerning 
 Cyrus, 210 years before his reign, xi, i, 2 ; the 
 same read by Cyrus, ib. ; his prophecy concerning 
 the temple of Onias, War, vii, x, 3. 
 Esau, or Edom, Antiq. ii, i, 1 ; his birth, i, xviii, 1. 
 Escol, Antiq. i, x, 2. 
 
 Esdras, Antiq. vi, v, 1, &c. ; his grief for the foreign 
 marriages, sect. 3 ; he reads the law of Moses to the 
 people, sect. 5 ; he dies, ib. 
 Essen, or high priest's breastplate, Antiq. iii, viii, 5 ; 
 
 when iis shining ceased, sect. 9. 
 Essens honoured by Herod, Antiq. xv, x, 5 ; are 
 against swearing, War, ii, viii, 6 ; their manners, 
 rites, and doctrines described, Antiq. xiii, v, 9 ; and 
 xviii, i, 5 ; War, ii, viii, 2, &c. ; they abstain from 
 anointing themselves with oil, sect. 3 ; their dili- 
 gence in reading their sacred books, sect. 6 ; Simon 
 the Essen an interpreter of dreams, Antiq. xvii, 
 xiii, 3. 
 
 Bather, Antiq. xi, vi, 2 ; is married to the king, ib. ; 
 
 is concerned for the Jews, sect. 7, &c ; invites the 
 
 king and Haman to an entertainment, sect. 9. 
 
 Ethan, Antiq. viii, ii, 5. 
 
 Ethbaal, or Ithobalus, king of Tyre, Antiq. viii, xiii, 
 
 1, 2 ; Against Apion, i, sect 18, H. 
 Ethemus, general ot the Arabians, War, i, xix, 5. 
 Ethi, or Ittai the Gittitp, Antiq. vii, ix, 2. 
 Ethnarch, (Simon,) Antiq. xiii, vi, 6 ; contracts thence 
 
 dated, ib. 
 Ethnarch, (Archelaus,) Antiq. xvii, xi, 4; War, ii, 
 
 vi,3. 
 
 Euartus Cous, Antiq. xvi, x, 2 ; War, i, xxvi, 5. 
 Euaristis Aruntius, Antiq. xix, i, 10. 
 Eve created, Antiq. i, i, 2 ; her fall, sect. 4. 
 i?vi, king of the Midianites, Antiq. iv, vii, 1. 
 Evil-Merodach, Antiq. x, xi, 2 ; Against Apion, i 
 
 sect. 20. 
 
 Euodus. freed-man of Tiberias, Antiq. xviii, vi, 8. 
 Eupolemus" son John, Antiq. xii, x, 6. 
 Eurycles slanders the sons of Herod, Antiq. xii, x, 6 
 War, i, xxvi, 1, &c ; he returns to his own country 
 sect. 4. 
 Eutychus, Agrippa's freed-man and charioteer, Antiq 
 
 xviii, vi, 5. 
 
 Eutychus, Caius Caesar's coachman, Antiq. xix, iv, 4 
 Exempt from military service, who, Antiq. iv, viii, 41 
 Exorcisms, or forms of casting out demons, compose 
 
 by Solomon, Antiq. viii, 2, 5. 
 Ezechias, a ringleader for the robbers, Antiq. xiv 
 
 ix, 2. 
 
 Ezekiel the prophet, Antiq. x, v, 1 ; c. viii, sect 2 
 is carried captive into Babylon, c. vi, sect. 3 ; hie 
 prophecy concerning the destruction of the Jews 
 c. vii, sect. 2 ; his prophecy reconciled to that o 
 Jeremiah, ib. 
 
 Fabatus, Caesar's eervant, Antiq. xvii, iii, 2 ; Herod 
 steward. War. i. xxix. S. 
 
 'abius, governor of Damascus, Antiq. xiv, xi, 7; War 
 i, xii, 1. 
 
 'abinus, a centurion, Antiq. xiv, iv, 4 ; War, i, xii, 1. 
 
 'actions, three in Jerusalem, Antiq. v, i, 4. 
 Fadus, (Cuspius,) procurator of Judea, Antiq. xv, xi, 
 4 ; and xix, ix, 2 ; and xx, 1, tc. ; War, ii, xi, 6. 
 
 famine in Judea in the thirteenth year of Herod s 
 reign, Antiq. xv, ix, 1 ; another in the reign of 
 Claudius, iii, xv, 3 ; and xx, ii. 6 ; c. v, sect 2 ; a 
 dismal famine in Jerusalem, War, v, x, 2 ; c. xii, 
 sect. 3, vi, 3 ; for Saul's cruelty to the Gibeonites, 
 Antiq. viii, xii, 1 ; at Samaria, xiii, x, 2 ; famine and 
 pestilence, two of the greatest evils, x, vii, 4. 
 Fannius, the consul's decree in favour of the Jews, 
 Antiq. xiv, x, 15. 
 
 Fannius, a Homan praetor, Antiq. xiii, ix, 10. 
 
 ?ast, observed at Jerusalem, Antiq. xiv, xvi ; on the 
 day on which Pompey took Jerusalem, ib. c. iv, 
 sect. 4. 
 
 Fate unavoidable, Antiq. viii, XT, 6 ; War, v, xiii, 7 ; 
 and vi, i, 8 ; c. ii, sect. 1, c. iv, sect. 8, aud c. v, 
 sect. 4. 
 
 Feast of unleavened bread. See passover. Guests 
 placed at feasts according to their condition, Antiq. 
 xii, iv, 9 ; funeral feasts among the Jews, War, ii, 
 
 Felicity too great, the cause of many evils, Antiq. viii, 
 
 x, 7. 
 
 Felix, Antiq. xiv, xi, 7 ; War, i, xii, 1 ; brother of 
 Pallas, and procurator of Judea, Antiq. xx, vii, 1 ; 
 c. viii, sect. 5 ; War, ii, xii, 8 ; c. xiii, sect. 7 ; he 
 punishes the mutineers, Antiq. xx, viii, 7 ; is ac- 
 cused at Rome, sect. 9. 
 
 Festivals of the Hebrews, Antiq. iii, x, 1, &c. ; three 
 greatones, ib. xxiii, iv, 3 ; at those festivals Roman 
 guards were posted at the temple, War, ii, xii, 1 ; 
 immunity granted them at those festivals by De- 
 metrius Soter, Antiq. xiii, ii, 3 ; celebrated by the 
 Jews in shining garments, c. xi, sect. 1 ; and on 
 them did no manner of work, iii, x, 6 ; celebrated 
 by the Gentiles in idleness and pleasure, i, xxi, 1 ; 
 no mourning among the Jews at such times, xi, v, 
 5 ; nor did they then travel far, xiii, viii, 4 ; Egyp- 
 tian women appeared at such times in public, ii, 
 iv, 8 ; wood carried on a festival day for the altar, 
 War, ii, xvii, 6 ; festival at dedication of the templa 
 by Judas Maccabeus, Antiq. xii, vii, 7. 
 Festus (Portius), procurator of Judea, Antiq. xx, 
 
 viii, 9; he dies, c. ix. sect 1. 
 
 Flaccus (Norbanus), proconsul, Antiq. rvi, Ti; presi- 
 dent of Syria, xviii, vi, 2. 
 Flesh of horses, mules, &c. forbidden to be brought 
 
 within the walls of Jerusalem, Antiq. xii, iii, 4. 
 Flies (the god of), i. e. Beelzebub, the god of Ekron, 
 
 Antiq. ix, ii, 1. 
 
 Floras (Gessius), procurator of Judea, Antiq. xviii, 
 1, 6 ; and xi, xix, 2 ; and xx, ix, 5 ; is the cause pi 
 the Jewish war, c. xi, sect. 1, Life, sect 6; War, ii, 
 xiv, 3, 6; c. xv, sect 1, <tc. ; he is derided by the 
 people, ii, xiv, 6; he plunders tbe city, sect 9; 
 he calumniates the Jews before Cestius, War, ii, 
 xvi, 1. 
 Fonteius Agrippa, killed by the Scythians, War, vu, 
 
 iv, 3. 
 Fountain near Jericho, War, iv, viii, 3 ; is cured by 
 
 Elisha, ib. ; its wonderful virtue, ib. 
 Friends never free from envy, Antiq. vi, iv, 3. 
 Frigius (Titus), War, vi, iv, 3. 
 Fronto, War, vi, iv, 3. 
 Fnlvia, a lady defrauded of her money by a Jew, An- 
 tiq. xviii, iii, 5. 
 Furius, a centurion, Antiq. xiv. iv, 4 ; War, i, vu, 4. 
 
 Gaal, protects the Shechemites against Abimelech 
 
 Antiq. v, vii, 3. 
 Gaam, Antiq. i, vi, 5. 
 Gabris, or Gabares, Antiq. vui, ii, S. 
 Gabinus, Antiq. xiv, iii, 2 ; c. iv, sect. 1, War, i, TI, 
 
 6 ; is made president of Syria, Antiq. xiv, v, 3 
 
 War, i, viii, 2. 
 
 Gad, the prophet, Antiq. vii, xin, 2, &c. 
 Gadara, tak.n by Vespasian, War, iv, vu, 3; the Ga- 
 
 diirens made prisoners, ana killed, in, vu, l. 
 Gaddis (John), Antiq. xiii, i, 2. 
 Galadens, their queen Laodice, Antiq. xui. xlii, 4 
 Galba, Antiq. xviii, 6, 9; succeeds Nero, War, iv. >.z 
 
 2 is murdered in a conspiracy, ib. 
 Galilee, comes all under the Roman dominion, Wur 
 
 iv, i, 1 ; c. 2, sect. 3. 
 
 Galli, eunuchs so cnlled, Antiq. 4, vlii, 40. 
 Gallicanus. War. Hi. viii. 1.
 
 670 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Qallus (.JSlius), Antiq. xv, is, S. 
 
 Callus (Cestius), president of Syria, Life, sect 4; War, 
 
 ii, xiv, 3. 
 
 Callus- a centurion, War, iv, 1, 5. 
 rallus fRubrius), War, vii, iv, 8. 
 ..amain besieged, War, iv, i, 1, &c. 
 Games of the circus, Antiq. xix, i, 4 ; Olympic games 
 restored by Herod, xvi, v, 3 ; Caesarean games in- 
 stituted by Herod, xv, viii, 1 ; and xvi, v, i, 1 ; 
 War, i, xxi, 8 ; ordained by Titus on the birth-days 
 of his father and brother, vii, iii, 1. 
 3orizzim, its temple demolished, Antiq. xiii, xiii, S. 
 Sauls, War, il, xvi, 4; possess at home the source of 
 happiness, ib. ; became Herod's life-guards, i, xx, 
 3. 
 
 Gaza, taken and demolished, Antiq. xifl, xiii, 8. 
 azeaus grievously punished by Jonathan, Antiq. 
 xiii, v, 5. 
 
 Qamellus (Tiberius), Antiq. xviii, vi, 8. 
 ramellus, "erod's friend, expelled his court, Antiq. 
 xvi, viii, 3. 
 
 Gentile gods, not to be derided, in the opinion of 
 Josephus, Antiq. iv, viii, 10 ; Against Apion, ii, 
 sect. 34. 
 Geometry, invented by the long-lived patriarchs, 
 
 Antiq. i, ill, 9. 
 
 Jera, the father of Ehud, Antiq. v, iv, 2. 
 Gerastratus, kiug of the Tyrian*, Against Apion, i, 
 
 sect. 21. 
 
 Germanicus' house, Antiq. xix, 1, 15 ; the father of 
 Caius, xvii, vi, 8 ; is sent into the east, c. ii, sect. 
 5 ; is poisoned by Piso, ib. 
 
 Germans described, War, ii, xvi, 4 ; are enslaved by 
 
 the Romans, vi, vi, 2; they mutiny, vii, iv, 2; a 
 
 German's predictions concerning Agrippa, Antiq. 
 
 xviii, vi, 7 ; German guard, xix, i, 1. 
 
 Gessius Floras, procurator of Judea. See Florua 
 
 above. 
 
 Gether, Antiq, i, vi, 4. 
 
 Giants, Antiq. v, ii, 8 ; and vii, xii, 1, <fec. ; their re- 
 mains in Hebron, Antiq. iii, xiv, 3 ; and v, ii. 
 Gibeah, its inhabitants guilty of a rape, Antiq. v, ii, 
 8 ; Antiq. v, i, 16 ; their fraud detected and punished, 
 ib. ; they are satisfied for the attempt of Saul to slay 
 them, vii, xii, 1. 
 
 Gibeon's stratagem, Antiq. v, vi, 5 ; he dies, sect. 7. 
 Glaphyra, daughter of Archelaus, king of Cappadocia, 
 is married to Alexander the son of Herod, Antiq. 
 xvi, i, 2 ; c. vii, sect. 2 ; her enmity with SUome, 
 c. i, sect. 2, &c. ; War, i, xxiv, 2, &c. ; her pride, 
 ib. ; her lamentation when her husband was put in 
 chains, Antiq. xvi, x, 7 ; she is sent back a widow 
 to her father, xvn, i, 1 ; she la alterwards married 
 to Juba, king of Libya, and afterwards to Archelaus, 
 ethnarch of Judea, c. xiii, sect 4 ; her dream and 
 death, ib. 
 
 3od, (the true God), his presence in the tabernacle, 
 Antiq. iii, viii, 5 ; his wisdom, and that he cannot 
 be bribed, c. xi, sect. 3 ; his mercy only obtained 
 by religion, v, i, 28 ; his foreknowledge, and that 
 tiia decrees cannot be avoided, iv, iii, 2 ; his will is 
 irresistible, ii, ix, 2 ; without his will nothing can 
 happen, c. vi, sect. 5 ; his providence asserted 
 against the Epicureans, x, xi, 7 ; that nothing is 
 concealed from him, ii, iii, 1 ; it is dangerous to 
 disobey him, vi, vii, 2 ; whether it is easier to serve 
 God or man t viii, x, 3 ; he uses beasts to punish 
 the wicked, x, xi, 6 ; judged to be only the god of 
 the hills by the Syrians, viii, xiv, 3 ; is not to be 
 imposed on by the wicked, iv, vhi, 38 ; delights 
 not in sacrifices, but in good men, vi, vii, 4 ; is 
 called on in time of danger, by even bad men, 
 xvii, v, 6 ; fortells futurities, that men may pro- 
 vide against them, ii, v, 6 ; affords assistance only 
 when the case is desperate, c. xv, sect. 5 ; delights 
 in those that promote his worship, xvi, ii, 4 ; dis- 
 covers his ineffable name to Moses, U, xii, 4 ; is by 
 nature merciful to the poor, iv, viii, 26 ; is omni- 
 present, ii, iii, 1 ; and vi, xi, 1 ; his bounty the 
 cause of all men's happiness, iv, viii, 2. 
 jtods, (false gods,) of Labau stolen, Autiq. i, xix, 9, 
 &c. ; of Cutha in Persia, brought to Samaria, ix, 
 xiv, 8 ; of the conquered Amalekites, worshipped 
 by Amaziah, c. ix, sect. 2 ; of the heathen not to be 
 cursed or blasphemed, in the opinion of Josephus, 
 iT, viii, 10 ; Against Apion, ii, sect. 24 ; Beelzebub, 
 the god of flies at Ekron, Antiq. ix, ii, 1. 
 Goliath of Gath, a giant, Antiq. vi, ix, 1, &c.; chal- 
 lenges the Jews to a single combat, ib. ; is slain by 
 David, sect. 5. 
 Gvjmer. and Gomeritee, Antiq. vi, i. 
 
 Gorgias, governor of Jamnia, is put to flight, Antiq 
 xii, vii, 4; has better success afterwards, c. vlili 
 sect. . 
 
 Gorion the son of Josephus, and Simeon the son of 
 Gamaliel, exhort tbe people to attack the mu- 
 tineers, Autiq. iv, iii, 9 ; is put to death, c. vi, 
 sect 1. 
 
 Gratus, procurator of Judea, Antiq. xviii, vr, 5 ; putt 
 Simon, Herod's old slave, to death, xvii, iv, 6 ; 
 meets Varus coming to Jerusalem, War, ii, v, 2 ; one 
 Gratus discovers Claudius, and brings him out to 
 be emperor, Antiq. xix, iii, 1. 
 
 Greeks called old nations by names of their own, 
 Antiq. i, v, and put the Hebrew names into their 
 own form, c. vi. 
 
 Guards placed about the temple by the Romano, An- 
 tiq. xx, v, 3. 
 
 Hadad, king of Syria, Antiq. vii, v, 2, ftc. 
 
 Hadad, or Hadar, an Edomite, becomes Solomon's 
 enemy, Antiq. viii, vii, 6. 
 
 Hadadezer, or Hadarezer, king of Sophane, or Zobab. 
 Autiq. viii, vii, 6. 
 
 Hagar, and Ishmael, are sent away by Abraham, An- 
 tiq. i, xiii, 3. 
 
 Haggai, a prophet after the captivity, Antiq. xi, iv, 
 5, 7; he and Zechariah encouraged the Jews to re- 
 build their temple, ib. 
 
 Haggith, David's wife, Antiq. vii, xiv, 4. 
 
 Halicarnasseans' decree in favour of the Jews, Antiq. 
 xiv, x, 23. 
 
 Haman, an enemy of the Jews, Antiq. xi, vi, 5 ; hia 
 edict against the Jews, ii; the name of Artaxerxes, 
 sect, 6 ; he orders a gibbet to be erected for Mor- 
 decai, sect. 10 ; is obliged to honour Mordecai, ib. ; 
 the edict is contradicted, sect 12 ; he is hanged OD 
 his own gibbet, sect. 13. 
 
 Hannah the wife of Elkanah, Antiq. v, x, 2. 
 
 Haran, the father of Lot, Antiq. i, vi, 5. 
 
 Haran, or Charran, a city of Mesopotamia, Antiq. 1, 
 vi, 5, 
 
 Harlots, (common ones,) excluded from marriage, 
 Antiq. iv, viii, 23. 
 
 Hatach, or Acratheus, Antiq. xi, vi, 7. 
 
 Havilah, the son of Cush, Antiq. i, vi, 2 ; his country 
 Havilah, sect. iv. 
 
 Hazael, king of Syria, Antiq. viii, xiii, 7 ; and ix, 
 iv, 6 ; he plunders Judea, c. viii, sect. 4 ; he dies, 
 sect. 7. 
 
 Hazermaveth, Antiq. i, vi, 4. 
 
 Hazo, or Azau, Antiq. i, vi, 5. 
 
 Heber, Antiq. i, vi, 4. 
 
 Hebrews, twice carried captives beyond Euphrates, 
 Antiq. x, ix, 7; thought by some to have come 
 originally from Egypt, and not from Chaldea, ii, vii, 
 4; not put to servile labour, in the days of Solo- 
 mon, viii, vi, 3 ; of those Hebrews that came to offer 
 their sacrifices from beyond Euphrates, iii, xiv, 3; 
 they have peculiar rules about meats and drinks, 
 iv, vi, 8; they fight the Canaanites against Moset 
 order, c. i, sect. 1 ; ten tribes lived beyond Eup:. ra- 
 tes, and out of the bounds of the Roman empire, 
 xi, v, 2 ; their language and character came near to 
 tin- Syriac, xii, ii, 1; their nouns have all the same 
 formation and termination, i, vi, 2 ; they have but 
 one temple and altar, iv, viii, 5 ; met at Shiloh 
 thrice in a year, v, ii, 12 ; only the two tribes undet 
 the dominion of the Romans, xi, v, 2 ; an unex. 
 ampled sedition among them, iv, ii, 1 ; their wise 
 men in the days of Solomon, viii, ii, 6. 
 
 Hecatontomachi, Antiq. xiii, xii, 5. 
 
 Helcias the Great, Antiq. xviii, viii, 4. 
 
 Helcias, treasu er of the temple, Antiq. xx, viii, 11. 
 
 Helena, queen of Adiabene, embraces the Jewish, 
 religion, Antiq. xx, ii, 1 ; goes to Jerusalem, sect. 
 6 ; is buried there, c. iv, sect 3. 
 
 Hepflizbah, Antiq. x, iii, 1. 
 
 Hercules' temple, Against Apion, i, sect. 18. 
 
 Herennius Capito, governor of Jai.iina, Antiq. xviii, 
 vi, 3. 
 
 Hernieus, or Danaus, king of Egypt, Against Apion, 
 i, sect 26. 
 
 Herod, the son of Antipater, Antiq. xiy, vii, 3 ; War ? 
 i, viii, 9 ; began to rule in Galilee in the 15th anu 
 [25th] year of his age, Antiq. xiv, ix, 2 ; puts Ezekia* 
 aud other robbers to death, ib. ; War, i, x, 5 ; being 
 accused for it, he takes his trial, Antiq. xiv, ix, 8 '. 
 makes his escape, sect. 4 ; goes to Sextus Caesar, anc 
 is by him made governor of Coalesyria, sect. 5 ; i 
 in favour with Cassius, and the Roman*, e. xi 
 wet. 2. 1 i made a governor of Syria by him, see
 
 671 
 
 ; War, i, xi, 4, puts Malichus to death, sect. 6 ; 
 beats Antigonus out of Judea, Antiq. xiv, xii, 1; 
 bribes Mark Antony, sect. 2 ; is impeached by the 
 Jews, but is notwithstanding made a tetrarch by 
 Antony, c. xiii sect. 1 ; gets the better of the Jews 
 that oppose him, sect. 2 ; escapes the snares of the 
 Parthians, sect. C, 7 ; the accidents of his flight, 
 sect. 8; War, i, xiii, 7; goes to Egypt, and thence 
 to Rhodes, and thence to Rome, Antiq. xiv, xiv, 2, 
 3 ; War, i, xiv, 2, 3 ; made king by the Roman 
 senate, at the desire of Antony, Antiq. xiv, xiv, 4 ; 
 War, ii, xiv, 4 ; sails back to Judea, and fights 
 against Antigouus, Antiq. xiv, xv, 1 ; takes Joppa 
 and besieges Jerusalem, sect. 1, 2 ; War, i, xv, 4 ; 
 takes Sepphoris, Antiq. xiv, xv, 4; conquers his 
 enemies, and the robbers of Judea, sect. 4, 5 ; joins 
 his troops with Antony's at the siege of Samosata, 
 and is received there with great honour, sect. 8. 
 9 ; is providentially delivered from great dangers, 
 sect. 11, 13 ; defeats Pappus, sect. 12 ; besieges 
 Jerusalem, takes it, makes Autigonus prisoner, 
 and sends him in chains to Antony, xiv, xvi, 1,4; 
 War. i, xvii, 9, &c. ; promotes his friends, and de- 
 stroys those of Antigonus, Antiq. xv, i ; marries 
 the famous Mariamne, the daughter of Alexandra, 
 c. ii, sect. 5 ; War, i, xvii, S ; complains of Alex- 
 andra his mother-in-law, Antiq. xv, ii, 7; causes 
 his wife's brother, Aristobulus, to be cunningly 
 drowned at Jericho, c. iii, sect. 3 ; is summoned by 
 Antony to take his trial for it, sect. 5 ; brings An- 
 tony over to his interest by bribes, sect. 8 ; puta 
 Joseph to death, sect. 9 ; is solicited to adultery by 
 Cleopatra, c. iv, sect. 2 ; makes war against the 
 Arabians by Antony's order, c. v, sect. 1 ; War, i, 
 xix, 1, &c. ; his speech to the army in distress, 
 after he had been beaten, Antiq. xv 3 ; War, i, 
 xix, 7 ; he beats the Arabians in battle, Antiq. xv, 
 v, 4 ; War, i, xix, 6 ; he puts Hyrcanus to death, 
 Antiq. xv, vi, 2 ; Herod's commentaries, sect. 3 ; 
 orders Mariamne to be put to death, if he hunsell 
 come to an ill end, sect. 5 ; his presence of mind 
 before Augustus Caesar, sect. 6 ; he is confirmed in 
 his kingdom by Cassar, sect. 7 ; War, i, xx, 2. &c. ; 
 he entertains Caesar magnificently, ib. ; he receives 
 more favours from Caesar, and ha.s his dominions 
 enlarged, Antiq. xv, xi 3 ; War, i, xx, 3 ; he puts 
 Mariamne his wife to death, Antiq. xv, vii, 4, 5 
 War, i, xxii, 5 ; he is very uneasy at her death, 
 Antiq. xv, vii, 7; War, i, xxii, 5; he is afflicted 
 with a kind of madness by divine vengeance, Antiq. 
 xvii, vi, 5; War, i, xxxiii, 5; departs from the 
 manners and customs of the Jews, Antiq. xv, viii,' 
 1; builds theatres and exhibits shows to the 
 people, ib. ; a conspirac}- against him, sect. 3, &c. ; 
 builds a temple at Samaria, sect. 5; a palace at 
 Jerusalem, c. ix, sect. 3 ; and a citadel six furlongs 
 from Jerusalem, sect. 4; relieves the people in a 
 great famine, sect. 2; marries Simon's daughter, 
 sect. 3 ; his policy, sect. 5 ; he builds Cesarea, sect. 
 6 ; he sends his sons to Rome, c. x, sect. 1 ; builds 
 a temple to Caesar, sect. 3; eases the people of 
 third part of their taxes, sect. 4 ; forbids the people 
 to meet together privately, ib. ; keeps his spies, 
 and becomes one himself, ib. ; honours the Essens, 
 sect. 5; rebuilds the temple at Jerusalem, c. xi, 
 sect. 1 ; War, i, xxi, 1 ; makes a new law concern- 
 ing thieves, Antiq. xvi, i, 1, &c. ; goes to Caesar, 
 brings home his sons, and marries them, sect. 2; 
 entertains Marcus Agrippa, c. ii, sect. 1 ; is in great 
 favour with Agrippa, c. ii, sect. 1 ; eases his sub- 
 jects of the fourth part of their taxes, sect. 5 ; the 
 quarrels in his family, c. iii, sect. 1 ; he favours 
 Autipater in opposition to the sons of Mariamne, 
 sect. 3 ; goes to Aquiela, and impeaches his sons, at 
 Rome, before Caesar, c. iv, sect. 1 ; is reconciled to 
 them, sect. 4 ; War, i, xxiii, 3 ; celebrates games in 
 honour of Caesar, Antiq. xvi, v, 1; builds towns 
 
 Antipater to Caesar, Antiq. xvii, ill, 2 ; War, i, xxix, 
 2 ; is made to believe that his brother Pheroraa 
 was poisoned, Antiq. xvii, iv, 1 ; War, i, xxx, 1 ; 
 finds the poison was for himself, Antiq. xvii, Iv, 2 ; 
 War, i, xxx, 2 ; tries Antipater, and puts him in 
 chains, Antiq. xvii, v, 7 ; his bitterness in hia old 
 age, c. vi, sect. 1 ; he makes his will, ib. ; hia 
 terrible sickness, sect 5 ; War, i, xxxiii, 1, 5 ; hia 
 barbarous order for murdering the principal of the 
 Jews, Antiq. xvii, vi, 5 ; he attempts to murder 
 himself, sect. 7 ; he alters his will, c. viii, sect. 1 ; 
 
 his character, ib. ; bis death and burial, sect. 1, 8 ; 
 
 War, i, xxxiii, 8,9; his \viUopeuedaudread, Antiq. 
 
 xvii, viii, 2 ; not to take ulace till confirmed by 
 
 Caesar, c. xi, sect. 4. 
 Herod, the son of Herod, made tetrarch, Anirq. ^rviii, 
 
 ii, 1 ; c. vii, sect. 1 ; War, ii, ix, 1 ; he builds towns 
 
 in honour of Caesar, ib. ; sends a letter to Cjesar, 
 
 Antiq. xviii, iv, 5 ; makes war upon Aretas king ol 
 
 Arabia, c. v, sect. 1, <fcc. ; is bauiohed, ib. ; War, ii, 
 
 ix, 6. 
 Herod, half brother to the tetrarch, Antiq. xviii, 
 
 v, 1. 
 
 Herod, the son of Aristobulus, by Salome, sect. 4. 
 Herod, son of Aristobulus, by Beruice, Salome's 
 
 daughter, Antiq. xvii, i, 2 ; War, i, xxviii, 1. 
 Herod, Herod's son by Mariamue, Simon's daughter, 
 
 Antiq. xvii, i, 2; c. iii, sect 2; and xviii, v, 1; 
 
 War, i, xxviii, 4 ; e. xxix, sect. 2 ; he is blotted out 
 
 of Herod's will, War, i, xxx, 7. 
 Herod, Herod's son by Cleopatra of Jerusalem, Antiq. 
 
 xvii, i, 3 ; War, i, xxviii, 4. 
 Herod. Agrippa senior's brother, king of Chalcli, 
 
 Antiq. xix, v, 1 ; he marries Mariamne, daughter 
 
 of Josephus by Olympias, king Herod's daughter, 
 
 xviii, v, 4 ; he has the power over the temple given 
 
 him by Claudius, xx, i, 3 ; his death and children, 
 
 c. v, sect. 2; War, ii, xi, 6. 
 Herod, son of Phasaelus and Salampsio, Antiq. xviii, 
 
 T, 4. 
 
 Herod, Polemo's brother, king of Chalcis, Antiq. xix, 
 
 Uerodias, daughter of Aristobulus, by Bernioe, 
 Salome's daughter, Antiq. xviii, v, 1 ; War, i, 
 xxviii, 1 ; Agrippa senior's sister, and wife of Herod 
 me tetrarch, and envies Agrippa the royal dignity, 
 Antiq. xviii, viii, 2, War, ii, ix, 6; follows her 
 husband in his banishment Autiq. xvui, vii, 2 ; 
 married to Herod, son of Herod the Great, by 
 Mariamne, Simon's daughter, c. v, sect 2; o. vi, 
 sect. 2 ; afterward married to Herod the former 
 nusband's brother while her former husband wai 
 alive, c. v, sect. 4. 
 
 Bezekiah, king of Judah, Antiq. ix, xiii, 2; his reli- 
 gious speech to the people, ib. ; his lustration ol 
 the temple and solemn celebration of the passover, 
 sect 2, 3 ; he makes war upon the Philistines, sect. 
 8 defends himself from Sennacherib, x, i, 1 ; re- 
 covers from sickness, c. ii. sect 1; dies, o. m, 
 
 Hilkiah, the high priest, Antiq. x, ?, 1 ; o. Till, 
 
 sect. 6. 
 
 Hin, a Hebrew measure, Antiq. in, vni, o. 
 Hiram, king of Tyre, David's friend, Antiq. Til, 
 
 Hiram', king of Tyre, sends ambassadors to Solomon, 
 Antiq. vii, ii, 6. ,, 
 
 Hiram, king of Tyre, Against Aplon, i, ect Ii, 
 18 21 
 
 Historians, their duty, Antiq. i, 1. 
 
 Hophni, son of Eli, Antiq. v, x, 1 ; he is slain jn 
 
 Hostea,' kinj rf&, Antiq. Ix, xiii, 1 ; h. to m-d. 
 
 a prisoner, a xiv, sect. 1. 
 
 House of the forest of Lebanon, Antiq viii, rt, 6. 
 lluldah, the prophetess, Antiq. x, iv, 2. 
 
 and castles, sect. 2; builds Apollo's temple, and 
 renews the Olympic games, sect. 3; War, i, xxi, 
 12 ; his temper described, Antiq. xvi, v, 4 ; he openi 
 David's sepulchre, c. vii, sect. 1 ; he suspects his 
 kindred, sect. 3; he is accused by Sylleus before 
 Caesar, c. ix, sect. 3 ; his cruelty to his sons, c. xi, 
 feet. 1; he accuses them in a counsel at Berytus, 
 ^ect 2; inquires, of Nicolaus of Damascus, what 
 they think of him and his sons at Rome, sect. 3 ; 
 he orders them both to be strangled, sect. 6 ; pro- 
 vides for their children, xvii, i, 2; his wives and 
 children, sect. 3; xviii, v, 4; he contracts marri- 
 a"es for Mariamne's children, xvii, i, 2; War, i, 
 xxviii, 6; alters those contracts, sect 6; sends 
 
 Antiq. iv, vii. 1 ; . 
 head of the Ephraimitss, viii, 11, 3. 
 Hushai, Antiq. vii, ix, 2, 6, 7 ; o. x, sect 4, 5. 
 
 David.mTariou.sorU of metre. 
 xiiit'viH. I! War. 1. . 9: la beslwed by
 
 872 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Antiochua, Antiq. xiii, viii, 2 ; buys a peace with 
 300 talents taken out of David's sepulchre, sect. 3, 
 4, 5 ; marches into Syria and recovers the towns 
 that had been taken away, and renews the alliance 
 with the Romans, Antiq. xiii, ix, 1, 2; besieges 
 Samaria, takes it and demolishes it, c. x, sect. 2, 
 8 ; his intercourse with God, ib. ; his dream con- 
 cerning his sous, c. xii, sect. 1 ; he was ethnarch, 
 high priest, aud prophet, War, i, ii, 8 ; his death 
 and eulogium, Antiq. xiii, x, 7, 8. 
 
 Hyrcanus II, son of Alexander Janneus, made high 
 priest, Antiq. xiii, xvi, i, 2 ; War, i, v, 1 ; agrees to 
 leave the civil government to his brother, Antiq. 
 xiv, i, 2 ; his inactive genius, and why he fled to 
 Aretas, ib. ; he in vain tries to bribe Scaurus to be 
 for him, c. ii, sect. 3 ; pleads against his brother 
 before Pompey, c. iii, sect. 2 : recovers the high 
 priesthood, c. iv, sect. 4 ; is confirmed therein by 
 Csesar, c. viii, sect. 5 ; War, i, x, 3 ; is honoured by 
 the Romans and Athenians, Antiq. xiv, viii, 5; and 
 by Julius Caesar, x, ii ; is taken prisoner, and has 
 his ears cut off by Antigonus, c. xiii, sect. 10 ; is 
 released by the Partisans, and returns to Herod, 
 xv, ii, 2 ; he is perfidiously treated, and put to 
 death by him, ib. ; the various adventures of bis 
 life, sect. 4. 
 
 Hystapes, father of Darius, Antiq. xi. iii, 1. 
 
 Jabal, Antiq. i, i, 2. 
 
 Jabesh, father of Shallum, Antiq. ix, xi, L 
 
 Jabesh Gilead demolished, Antiq. v, ii, 11. 
 
 Jabin, king of Canaan, enslaves the Israelites, Antiq. 
 v, ii, 11. 
 
 Jacimus, or Alcimus, the wicked high priest, Antiq. 
 xii, ix, 7. 
 
 Jacob born, Antiq. i, xviii. 1 ; contracts with Laban 
 for Rachel, c. xix, sect. 7: he wrestles with an 
 angel, c. xx, sect. 2 ; his sons, sect. 8, c. xx, sect. 
 8; he privately departs from Laban, sect. 9; his 
 posterity, when they went down into Egypt, ii, vii, 
 4 ; he wei-ps upon sending away his son Benjamin 
 into Egypt, c. vi, sect. 5 ; he meets with his brother 
 Esau, i, xx, 3. 
 
 Jacob, son of Sosas, War, iv, iv, 2 ; and v. vi, 1 ; and 
 vi, viii, 2. 
 
 Jacob, an Idumean, betrays his country, War, iv, 
 ix, 6. 
 
 Jadius, or Jaddua, son of John, high priest, Antiq. xi, 
 vii, 2 ; he meets Alexander in his pontifical gar- 
 ments, c. viii, sect. 5 ; he dies, sect. 7. 
 
 Jadon, the prophet, Antiq. viii, viii, 5 ; ij killed by 
 a lion, c. ix, sect. 3. 
 
 Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, kills Sisera, Antiq. v, 
 v, 4. 
 
 Jamblicus, the Syrian ruler, Antiq. xiv, viii, 1 ; War, 
 i,ix, 3. 
 
 James, the brother of Jesus Christ, stoned, Antiq. 
 xx, ix, 1. 
 
 Janius, king of Egypt, Against Apion, i, sect. 24. 
 
 Japhet, Antiq. i, iv, 1; what countries his sons 
 possessed, c. vi, sect. 1. 
 
 Jarden, a woodland, surrounded by B&ssus, War vii, 
 vi, 5. 
 
 Jared, Autiq. i, i, 2 ; c. iii, sect. 2. 
 
 Tasou, or Jesus, Antiq. xii, v, 1. 
 lason, son of Eleazar, Antiq. xii. x, 6. 
 
 javan, Antiq. i, vi, 1. 
 
 Ibhar, or Jeban, son of David, Antiq. vii, iii, ! 
 
 Ibis, an animal in Egypt that destroys serpents, 
 Antiq. ii, x, 2. 
 
 Ibzan, a judge of Israel, after Jephtha, Antiq. v, vii, 
 13, 14. 
 
 Ide, a freed- woman, Antiq. xviii, iii, 4; she is 
 hanged, ib, 
 
 Idumeans, Antiq. xii, viii, 1 ; War, iv, iv, 1, 4, 5, 6, 
 7 ; and vii, viii, 1 ; refuse to give the Israelites pas- 
 sage, Antiq. iv, iv, 5 ; turn Jews, xiii, ix, 1 ; are 
 but half Jews, xiv, xv, 2 ; Coze, their former idol, 
 xv, vii, 9; celebrate the Jewish festivals, xvii, 
 x,2- 
 
 Jeban, or Ibhar, David's son, Antiq. vii, iii, 8. 
 
 Jebosthus, or Ishbosheth, Saul's son, is made king, 
 Antiq. vii, i, 3 ; he is treacherously murdered, c. 
 ii, sect. 1. 
 
 Jecoliah, Antiq. ix, x, 3. 
 
 Jedidiah, king Josiah's mother, Antiq. x, iv, 4. 
 
 Jehaziel the prophet, Antiq. ix, i, 2. 
 
 Jehiel, one of tha posterity of Moses, Antiq. vii, xiv, 
 10, 11. 
 
 Jehoahaz, kim; of Judah, Antiq. x, v, 2 ; he die.- ta 
 
 Jehoash, son of Ahaziah, saved, Antiq. ix, vii, I ; t 
 made king, eect. 2 ; murdered, c. viii, sect. 4. 
 
 Jehoaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, Antiq. ix. "iii, 1. 
 
 Johoiachin, or Jecouiah, king of Judah, Anti<4 x, 
 v, 3. 
 
 Jehoiada, Antiq. vii, ii, 2. 
 
 Jehoiada, the high priest, Antiq. x, viii, 6. 
 
 Jehoiakim, king of Judah, Autiq. x, v, 2; o. vi; he 
 rebels against the Babylonians, c. vi, sect. 2 ; he is 
 slain by Nebuchadnezzar, and cast out of the gate 
 of Jerusalem, sect. 3. 
 
 Jehonadab, an old friend of Jehu, Antiq. ix, vi, 5. 
 
 Jehoram, king of Judah, Antiq. ix, iv, 1, &o. 
 
 Jehoram, king of Israel, Antiq. ix, ii, 2; his expedi- 
 tion against the Moabites, c. iii, sect. 1 ; his dis- 
 temper and death, c. v, sect. 2, 3 ; c. vi, sect. 1. 
 
 Jehosaphat, the son of Ahitub, Antiq. vii, v, 4. 
 
 Jehosaphat, a pious king of Judah, Antiq. viii, xv, 
 1 ; and ix, i, 1 ; pardoned for making an alliance 
 with Ahab, ib. ; his neet broken to pieces, c. i, 
 sect. 4 ; his death, c. iii, sect. 2. 
 
 Jehoshebah, sister of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Antiq. 
 ix, vii, 1. 
 
 Jehu, son of Nimshi, Antiq. viii, xiii, 7; is made king 
 of Israel, ix, vi, 1, <fcc. ; his actions, sect. 3, &c. ; he 
 puts Baal's priests to death, sect. 6; he dies, c. viii, 
 sect. 1. 
 
 Jehu, the prophet, the son of Hannai, Antiq. riii, 
 xii, 3. 
 
 Jenae, David's son, Antiq. vii, iii, 8. 
 
 Jephtha puts the Ammonites to flight, Antiq. v, vii, 9, 
 10 ; sacrifices his daughter, (according to the opinion 
 of Josephus,) ib. ; makes a great slaughter among 
 the Ephraimites, sect. 11. 
 
 Jeremiah the prophet, Antiq. x, v, 1 ; his lamentatio r 
 upon the death of Josiah, ib. ; his prophecy againsX 
 Jerusalem, c. vi, sect. 2 ; c. vii, sect. 2, 3, 6 ; his 
 scribe Baruch, c. vi, sect. 2 ; he is accused and dis 
 charged, ib. ; his prophecy read in the temple, and 
 his roll burnt, ib. ; his prophecy of the Jews' release 
 from captivity, c. vii, sect. 3 ; he is put in prison, 
 and thrown into the dungeon, sect. 8, 5; is left 
 with Baruch, in Judea, after Zedekiah's captivity, 
 Antiq. x, ix, 1. 
 
 Jericho taken, Antiq. v, i, 5 ; its rebuilder cursed, 
 sect. 8; it is plundered by the Romans, xiv, 
 xv, 3. 
 
 Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, conspires against Solo- 
 mon, Antiq. viii, vii, 7 ; he is made king of the ten 
 tribes, c. viii, sect. 3, <fec. ; erects golden calves, 
 sect. 4 ; his hand withered, sect. 5 ; his expedition 
 against Abijah, c. xi, sect. 2 ; he dies, sect. 4. 
 
 Jeroboam II., the son of Joash king of Israel, Antiq. 
 ix, x, 1 ; he makes war against the Syrians, ib. ; 
 he dies, sect. 3. 
 
 Jerusalem taken by David, Antiq. vii, iii, 1, &c. ; 
 whence that name was derived, sect. 2; besieged 
 and taken by the Babylonians, x, xii, 4, &c. ; c. 
 viii, sect. 2 ; besieged and taken by Pompey, xiv, 
 iv, 2, &c. ; by Herod, and Sosius, c. xvi, sect. 2, 4 ; 
 by Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, xii, 1 ; how many 
 times taken, War, vi, x, ; made tributary to the 
 Romans, Antiq. xiv, iv, 4 ; levelled with the 
 ground, War, vii, i, 1 ; declared holy, inviolable, 
 and free, by Demetrius, king of Syria, Antiq. xiii, ii, 
 3; two citadels therein, xv, vii, 3; who first built 
 it, War, vi, x ; situated in the middle of Judea, iii, 
 iii, 5 ; set on fire by the Romans, vi, viii, 5 ; a fa^t 
 kept there yearly, Antiq. xiv, xvi, 4 ; as also when 
 it was taken by Pompey, and by Herod, and 
 Sosius, c. iv, sect. 5; c. iv, sect. 3; c. xvi, sect. 4; 
 a Jebusite king of Jerusalem, with four others 
 make war on the Gibeonhes, v, i, 27 ; they are pui 
 to flight by Joshua, ib. ; Jerusalem described, Y\';.r. 
 v, iv ; Against Apion, i, sect. 22. 
 
 Jernshah, Jotham's mother, Antx*. ix, xi, 8. 
 
 Jessai, the son of Achimaaz, Antiq. vii, xii, 2. 
 
 Jesse, the son of Obed, and father of David, Ant'.q 
 vi, viii, 1. 
 
 Jeous Christ, a testimony to him, Antiq. xviii, iii. 
 
 Jesus the son of Phabet deprived of the high-priesl 
 hood, Antiq. vi, v, 3. 
 
 Jesus, son of Ananus, his ominous clamour, anu 
 death, War, vi, v, 3. 
 
 Jesus, or Jason, Antiq. xii, v, 1. 
 
 Jesu: the son of Sapphias, governor of Tiberias, Life, 
 sect. 12, 27 ; War, ii, xx, 4. 
 
 Jesus, brother of Onias, deprived of the high priest- 
 hood by Antiochus Epiphanes, Antiq. xv, iii, 1 
 
 Jesus, son of Gamaliel, made high priest, Antiq. xx, 
 ix, 4.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 673 
 
 e eldest priest after Ananus, War, iv, iv, 8 ; 
 c. v, sect. 2 ; his speech to the Idumeans, c. iv, 
 sect 8. 
 
 Jesus, son of Damneus, made high priest, Antiq. xx, 
 ix,l. 
 
 Jesus, son of Gamala, Life, sect. 38, 41. 
 
 Jesus, or Joshua, the son of Nun, Antiq. iii, xiv, 4 ; 
 becomes the successor of Moses, iv, vii, 2; com- 
 mands the Israelites against the Amalekites, iii, ii, 
 3 ; prophesies in the lifetime of Moses, iv, viii, 46 ; 
 leads the Israelites to the river Jordan, v, i, 1 ; 
 consults about the partition of the land, sect. 20, 
 ic. ; his speech to the two tribes and half, sect. 25 ; 
 his death, sect. 29. 
 
 Jesus, the son of Saphat, ringleader of the robbers, 
 Life, sect. 22 ; War, iii, ix, 7. 
 
 Jesus, son of Thebuthus, a priest, War, vi, viii, 8. 
 
 Jesus, son of Josedek, Antiq. xi, iii, 10. 
 
 Jethro, the Midianite, Antiq. v, ii, 3. 
 
 Jews governed of old by an aristocracy, Antiq. xiv, v, 
 4 ; War, i, xiii, 5 ; Jewish priesta careful to marry 
 according to their law, Against Apion, i, sect 7; at 
 Alexandria had equal privileges with the Greeks, 
 War, ii, xviii, 7; are in great danger at Antioch, 
 vii, iii, 3 ; at Ecbatana, near Galilee, Life, sect. 11 ; 
 are cut off at Cesarea, War, ii, xviii, 1 ; at Scytho- 
 pplis, sect. 3; are in factions on account of the 
 high priesthood, Antiq. xii, v, 1 ; are killed on the 
 Sabbath-day, c. vi, sect. 2 ; Jews beyond Euphra- 
 tes, TV, iii, 1 ; at Alexandria in Egypt, and Cyprus, 
 xiii, x, 4 ; go to war under Alexander the Great, xi, 
 viii, 6 ; are carried into Egypt by Ptolemy Lagi, 
 xii, i, 1 ; are banished Rome, xviii, iii, 5 ; desire to 
 be a Roman province, xvii, xi, 2 ; are favoured by 
 Seleucus Nicator, xii, iii, 1 ; by Vespasian and 
 Titus, sect. 1, 2; by Marcus Agrippa, sect. 2; by 
 Antiochus the Great, ib. ; are shut up in the Hippo- 
 drome, but afterwards released, xvii, viii, 2 ; pray 
 for the welfare of the Spartans, xiii, v, 8 ; Anti- 
 ochus, a Jew, accuses his own father at Antioch, 
 War, vii, iii, 3 ; Jews have privileges granted them 
 by the kings o_f Asia, Antiq. xv, vi, 1 ; Egyptians 
 and Tyrians chiefly hated the Jews, Against Apion, 
 i, sect. 13 ; Demetrius remits them part of their 
 tribute, Antiq. xiii, ii, 8 ; Jews at Alexandria are 
 allowed an ethnarch or alabarch, xiv, vii, 2 ; are 
 allowed to gather their sacred collections at Rome, c. 
 x, sect 8 ; enjoyed their liberty under the Romans, 
 only are to pay their taxes, xviii, ii, 2 ; are derived 
 from the same origin with the Spartans, xii, iv, 10 ; 
 have their own laws under Alexander the Great, 
 xi, viii, 5 ; are prohibited to meddle with foreign 
 women, xii, iv, 6 ; are very tenacious of their own 
 laws, Against Apion, i, sect. 22 ; their ambassadors' 
 place at Rome in the theatre, Antiq. xiv, x, 6 ; are 
 numerous at Alexandria, c. vii, sect. 2 ; at Babylon, 
 xv, Ii, 2 ; the form of their government, xi, iv, 8 ; 
 their quarrel with the Syrians at Cpesarea about 
 their privileges, xx, viii, 9 ; their marriages, Against 
 Apion, ii, sect. 24 ; they had a synagogue at Anti- 
 och, War, vii, iii, 3 ; their privileges under the 
 Romans, Antiq. xvi, ii, 4 ; they send an embassy 
 to Caesar against Archelaus, xvii, xi, 1 ; the Asiatic 
 Jews send an embassy to Caesar, xvi, vi, 1 ; a great 
 slaughter of Jews, xviii, ix, 9; War, i, xviii, 3, &c. ; 
 and vii, viii, 6; their calamities in Mesopotamia 
 and Babylonia, Antiq. xviii, ix, 1 ; beginning of 
 the Jewish war, xx, xi, 1 ; antiquity of the Jewish 
 rites, xv, ii, 4; towns in Syria, Phoenicia, and 
 Idumea, belonging to the Jews, xiii, xv, 4, 
 Jezebel, Ahab's wife, Antiq. viii, TJii, 4 ; is torn to 
 
 pieces by dogs, ix, vi, 4, 
 Jezaniah, Antiq. x, ix, 2. 
 Jidlaph, Antiq. i, vi, 5. 
 
 Images, or brazen oxen, were not lawful to be made 
 by Solomon, in the opinion of Josephus, Antiq. 
 viii, vii, 5 ; images of animals are against the Jew- 
 ish law, xv, viii ; c. ix, sect 5 ; War, i, xxxiii, 2 ; to 
 set them up, or consecrate them, was forbidden 
 the Jews, Antiq. iii, vi, 2 ; and xvi, vi, 2. 
 Impostors throughout Judea, Antiq. xx, viii, 5. 
 Incense only to be offered by the posterity of Aaron, 
 
 Antiq. ix, x, 4. 
 
 Infants murdered in Egypt, Antiq. ii, ix, 2. _ 
 Innocence makes men courageous, Antiq. xii, vii, 1. 
 Joab, general of David's army, Antiq. vii, i, 3 ; takes 
 the citadel of Jerusalem, c. iii, sect. 1 ; conspires 
 with Adonijah, c. xiv, sect 4, <tc. 
 Joathan, or Jotham, high priest, Antiq. vui, i, 8 ; 
 
 and x, Tiii, 6. 
 Joazor. son of Boethus, high priest, Antiq. xvn, vi, 
 
 4 ; and xviii, i, 1 ; c. 8, sect 1 ; is deprived by 
 Archelaus, xvii, xiii, 1 ; and xviii, 2, L 
 Johanan, the son of Kareah, Antiq. x, ix, J ; he pur- 
 sues after Ishmael, sect. 5. 
 John Hyrcanus. See Hyrcanus. 
 John the Baptist, put to death by Herod, Antiq 
 
 xviii, v, 2. 
 
 John, the son of Dorcas, War, iv, iii, 5. 
 John, called Gaddis, Jonathan's brother, is killed, 
 
 Antiq. xiii, i, 2. 
 
 John, son of Levi, rebuilds Gischala, Life, sect. 10 ; 
 War, ii, xx, 6 ; and vii, viii, 1 ; an enemy to Jose- 
 phus, Life, sect. 13, &c. ; sect. 25, War, ii, xxi, 1 ; 
 aims at absolute dominion, iv, Iii, 13, c. vii, sect 1. 
 John, son of Sosas, War, iv, iv, 2. 
 John the Essen, War, ii, xx, 4 ; and iii, ii, 1. 
 John, son of Judas, high priest, Antiq. xi, vi, 1 ; 
 
 murders his brother in the temple, sect 2. 
 John, captain of the Idumeans, killed, War, v, vi, <J. 
 John, son of Eliasib, Antiq. xi, v, 4. 
 John, or Johannan, son of Kareah, Antiq. x, xi, 2 ; 
 
 pursues after Ishmael, sect 5. 
 Joktan, Antiq. i, vi, 4. 
 Jonadab, Ammon's kinsman, Antiq. vii, viii, 1 ; son 
 
 of Sameas, sect. 3 ; he kill.* a giant, c. xii, sect 2. 
 Jonas the prophet, Antiq. ix, x, 1, &C, 
 Jonathan, son of Ananus, Antiq. xix, vi, 4 ; refuses 
 the high priesthood, ib. ; his actions, War, ii, xii, 
 5, <fcc. ; he is murdered by the Sicarii, c. xiii, sect. 3. 
 Jonathan, called Apphus, the Maccabee, Antiq. xii, 
 vi, 1 ; he makes a league with Antiochus Eupator, 
 War, i, ii ; is surprised by Trypho, and killed, ib. 
 Jonathan, son of Saul, beats a garrison of the Philis- 
 tines, Antiq. vi, vi, 2; reconciles Saul to David, 
 c. xi, sect 2 ; his conference with David, sect 27 ; 
 is slam in battle by the Philistines, Antiq. vi, 
 xiv, 7. 
 Jonathan, a Sadducee, provokes Hyrcanus against 
 
 the Pharisees, Antiq. xiii, x, 6. 
 Jonathan, a Jew, challenges the Romans to a] single 
 
 combat, War. vi, ii, 1 ; he is killed by Priscus, ib. 
 Jonathan, the son of Abiathar, Antiq. vii, ix, 2. 
 Jonathan, ringleader of the Sicarii, War, vii, xi, 1. 
 Jonathan, the high priest, murdered by the order of 
 
 Felix, Antiq. xx, viii, 5. 
 
 Jonathan, the Maccabee, made commander of the 
 Jews after Judas, Antiq. xiii,,!, 1 ; with his brother 
 Simon defeats the Nabateans, sect 4; makes 
 peace with Bacchides, sect 6 ; restores the divine 
 worship, c. ii, sect 1, &c. ; defeats Demetrius's 
 captains, sect 7 ; renews the league with the Ro- 
 mans and Spartans, c. v, sect 8 ; Lis letter to the 
 Spartans, ib. ; he is killed by Trypho, c. yi, sect. 5. 
 Joppa, taken by the Romans, War, ii, xviii, 10 ; de- 
 molished, iii, ix, 2. 
 Joram, high priest, Antiq. x, viii, 6. 
 Jordan, the Israelites pass over it, Antiq. I, 3. 
 Josedek, high priest at the captivity, Antiq. x, Tiii, fl. 
 Joseph, son of Zacharias, Antiq. xii, viii, 8. 
 Joseph, son of Antipater, Antiq. xiv, vii, 2 ; War, i, 
 
 viii, 9. 
 Joseph Cabi, son of Simon the high priest, Antiq. xx. 
 
 viii, 11 ; he is deprived, c. ix, sect 1. 
 Joseph, son of Gamus, is made high priest, Antiq. 
 
 xx, i, 8 ; he is deprived, c. v, sect 8. 
 Joseph, called Caiaphas, is made high priest, Antiq. 
 
 xviii, ii, 2 ; c. iv, sect. 6. 
 
 Joseph, the son of a female physician, stirs up a se- 
 dition at Gamala, Life, sect 37. 
 Joseph, son of Daleus, War, vi, v, 1. 
 Joseph, the son of Elemus, officiates, for Matthias 
 
 the high priest, Antiq. xvii, vi, 4. 
 Joseph, a relation of Archelaus, War, ii, T, 1. 
 Joseph, a treasurer, Antiq. xv, vi, 6. 
 Joseph, son of Gorion, War, ii, xx, 8. 
 Joseph, Herod'* uncle, Antiq. xv, iii, 5 ; he mam s 
 Salome, Herod's sister, War, i, xx, 4 ; he discovers 
 his injunction to kill Mariamne, and is put to death, 
 Antiq. xv, iii, 5 ; War, i, xxii, 4. 
 
 Joseph, son of Joseph, Herod's brother, Antiq. xviiL 
 
 v, 4. 
 
 Joseph, son of Tobias, reproaches his uncle Omas. 
 Antiq. xii, iv, 2 ; goes on an embassy to Ptolemy 
 ib becomes his tax-gatherer, sect. 4 ; goes tc 
 Syria to gather the taxes, sect. 5 ; his wealth and 
 children, sect. 6 ; begets Hyrcanus on his brother 1 ! 
 daughter, ib. ; dies, sect 10. 
 
 2 U
 
 674 
 
 USD X. 
 
 Joseph, ion of Jacob, his dreams, Antiq. ii, 11, 1, Arc. ; 
 be IB sold to the Ishmaelites, o. iii, sect. 3 ; his chas- 
 tity, c. iv, sect. 4 ; he is put in prison, c. v, sect. 1 ; 
 he is released, sect. 4 ; he discovers his brethren, 
 C. vi, sect. 2 ; he tries thorn, c. v, sect. 7 ; he dis- 
 COTers himself to them, sect 10 ; bis death, c. viii, 
 Beet. 1. 
 
 Josephus, son of Jiatthias, made governor of Galilee, 
 War, ii, xx, 3 ; his danger at Taricheas, c. xxi, sect. 
 8; he reduces Tiberias by a stratagem, sect. 8, 9; 
 Is in great danger again, v, xiii, 3 ; his mother 
 laments him as dead, ib. ; his speech to the Tariche- 
 ans, Life, seot 22 ; his stratagems, sect. SO, 32, 44, 
 45, 51, 58, 63 ; War, iii, vii, 13 ; he escapes a great 
 danger, sect. 29, 30 ; he goes to Tiberias, sect. 83 ; 
 bia wonderful dream, sect. 42 ; he goes to Tarichese, 
 Beet. 54, 59 ; his father put in chains, v, xiii, 1 ; his 
 love to his country, vi, vii, 2 ; he is betrayed by a 
 woman, iii, vii, 1 ; he surrenders himself to Nicanor, 
 Beet. 4 ; his speech to his companions, sect. 5 ; he is 
 in danger of his life, sect. 6 ; he advises the casting 
 of lots, sect. 7 ; he is carried to Vespasian, sect. 8 ; 
 his speech to Vespasian, sect. 9 ; he is honoured by 
 Vespasian and Titus, ib. ; Life, sect. 75 ; by Domi- 
 tian and Dpmitia, sect 75 ; he is set at liberty, War, 
 iv, z, 7 ; his speeches to the Jews, advising them to 
 surrender, v, ix, 2 ; and vi, ii, 1 ; he is accused of a 
 conspiracy, vii, xi, 1 ; Titus gives him lands in 
 Judea, Life, sect. 75 ; ho had in all three wives, 
 sect. 75 ; his children, sect. 75 ; he was greatly 
 skilled in Hebrew and Greek learning, Antiq. xx, 
 xi, 2 j of the sect of the Pharisees, Life, sect. 2 ; 
 be goes to Rome, sect. 3 ; he is made governor of 
 Galilee, sect. 7 ; frees the Sepphorites from fear, 
 sect. 8 ; stays in Galilee, sect. 12 ; his moderation, 
 sect. 15 ; his design in writing the Antiquities, 
 Antiq. xiv, I, 1 ; his diligence in writing history, 
 ib. ; he promises other works, Antiq. Prof. sect. 4 ; 
 and xx, xi ; and a book of Jewish customs and 
 their reasons, iv, viii, 4 ; when he finished the An- 
 tiquities, xx, xi, 2 ; when he was born, Life, sect. 
 1 ; his conduct to Galilee, sect. 8, <Ssc. ; he appeals 
 to Vespasian, Titus, and others, for the truth of 
 bis history, Against Apion, i, sect. 9. 
 
 Joshua, the son of Nun. See Jesus. 
 
 Joshua, the ion of Sie, high priest, Antiq. xvii, xiii, 
 
 Josiah, king of Judah, bia piety, Antiq. x, iv, 1 ; his 
 
 death, c. v, sect 1. 
 Jotapata besieged, taken, and demolished, War, iii, 
 
 Yil,S-6. 
 Jotham, son of Gideon, hi* parable to the Sheche- 
 
 mites, Antiq. v, vii, 2. 
 Jotham, king of Judah, Antiq. ix, xi, 2 ; his death, 
 
 a xii, sect. 1. 
 
 Ireneus, the pleader, Antiq. xvii, ix, 4. 
 Iron harder than gold, or silver, or braes, Antiq. x, 
 
 x, 4 ; blunted by slaughter, xiii, xii, 5. 
 Isaac, Antiq. i, x, 5. 
 Isaiah. See Esaiah. 
 Ishbosheth, son of Saul, is made king, Antiq. vii, i, 
 
 3 ; he is murdered by treachery, c. ii, sect. 1. 
 IshmaeL Antiq. i, x, 4. 
 Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, murders Gedaliab, the 
 
 son of Ahikam, Antiq. x, ix. 3, 4. 
 Isis, her temple polluted and demolished, Antiq. 
 
 xviii, iii, 4. 
 Israel See Jacob. 
 Israelites, numbered, Antiq. iii, xii, 4 ; and vii, xiii, 
 
 1 ; their religious zeal slackened, v, ii, 7 ; they are 
 
 carried captive into Media and Persia, Antiq. ix, 
 
 xiv, 1. 
 
 Istob, or Ishtob, king, Antiq. vii, vi, 1. 
 Isus, high priest, Antiq. x, viii, 6. 
 Ithamar, son of Aaron, Antiq. iii, viii, 1 ; his family, 
 
 vii. xiv, 7 ; it loses the high priesthood, Antiq. viii, 
 
 i, 8. 
 Ithobalus, or Ethbaal, king of Tyre, Antiq. viii, xiii, 
 
 1, 2 ; Against Apion, i, sect. 8, 21. 
 Juba, king of Lybia, Autiq. xvii, xiii, 4. 
 Jubal, Antiq. i, ii, 2. 
 Jubilee, Antiq. iii, xii, 3. 
 Jucundus, one of Herod's life-guards, raises a calumny 
 
 against Alexander, Antiq. xvi, x, 3. 
 Jucundus, (JSmillus,) War, ii, xix, 7. 
 J ucundus, captain of horse, War, ii, xiv, 5. 
 Judadas, or Dedan, Antiq. i, vi, 2. 
 Judea, it begins at Coreae, Antiq. xiv, iii, 4 ; a great 
 
 earthquake in Judea, xv, v, 2 ; its fertility, Against 
 
 Apion, i, sect. 22 ; contains 3,000,000 of acres of 
 
 cood land, ib. : its description. War, iii. iii : lonsrth. 
 
 breadth, and limits, sect, 6; but Lately known te 
 the Greeks, Against Apion, 1, sect. 12 ; when first 
 so called, Antiq. ix, v, 7 ; abounding with pasture, 
 xv, v, i ; War, iii, iii, 2 ; taken from Archelaus, and 
 annexed to Syria, Antiq. xviil, i, 1; parted by Ga- 
 bmius into five jurisdictions, xtr, v, 4; entirely 
 subdued and pacified by Titus, War, vii, x, 1 ; made 
 tributary to the Romans, Antiq. xiv, iv, 5. 
 
 Judas, the Essen, a prophet, Antiq. xiii, xi, 2 ; War 
 i, iii, 4. 
 
 Judas, a Galilean or Gaulonite, the author of a fourth 
 sect among the Jews, Antiq. xvii, i, 1, 2, 6 ; nd 
 xx, v, 2 ; War, ii, viii, 1. 
 
 Judas, son of Jairus, is slain, War, vii, vi, 5. 
 
 Judas, son of Aminadab, Antiq. xi, Iv, 2. 
 
 Judas the Maccabee, Antiq. xii, vi, 1 ; succeeds Mat- 
 thias his father, sect. 4 ; War, i, 1, 3 ; his speech to 
 his men before a battle, Antiq. xii, vii, 8 ; he is 
 victor, sect. 4 ; he comes to Jerusalem, and restores 
 the tern pie- worship, sect. 6, &o. ; takes vengeance 
 on the Idumeans and others, xii, viii, 1 ; besieges 
 the citadel at Jerusalem, c. ix, sect. 8; is made 
 high priest, c. x, sect. 6 ; makes an alliance with 
 the Romans, ib. ; fights Bacohides, c. xi, sect. 1 ; is 
 killed in the battle, sect. 2. 
 
 Judas, son of Chapseus, Antiq. xiii, v, 7. 
 
 Judas, son of Sariphus, or Sepphoreus, Antiq. xviil, 
 x, 5 ; War, i, xxxiii, 2. 
 
 Judas, son of Eliasib, high priest, Antiq. xi, vii, 1. 
 
 Judas, son of Ezechias, ringleader of the robbers, 
 Antiq. xvii, x, 4 ; War, ii, iv, 1. 
 
 Judges of the Hebrews, single governors, Antiq. Ix 
 iv, 8. 
 
 Judges at Jerusalem, the Sanhedrim, Antiq. xi, i, 1. 
 
 Judges of the council in Syria and Phoenicia, Antiq. 
 xi, ii, 1 ; seven inferior judges in every city, but 
 an appeal from them to the great Sanhedrim at 
 Jerusalem, Antiq. iv, viii, 14. 
 
 Juelus, high priest, Antiq. x, viii, 6. 
 
 Julia, or Livia, Augustus Caesar'* wife, Antiq. xri, v, 
 1 ; and xvii, i, 1. 
 
 Julia, Cams' sister, Antiq. xix, iv, 8. 
 
 Julian of Bithynia, a valiant captain, War, vi, i, 1. 
 
 Julias, commander of a Roman legion, Antiq. xv 
 
 Julius Caesar's letter to the Sidonians, with his and 
 other decrees in favour of the Jews. See Decrees. 
 
 Julius Lupus, Antiq. xix, ii, 4. 
 
 Jupiter Hellenius's temple upon Mount Geriedm, 
 Antiq. xii, v, 6. 
 
 Jupiter the conqueror's temple, Antiq. xiv, iv, 3. 
 
 Jupiter Olympius's temple, Against Apion, i, sect. 
 17 ; his statue, Antiq. xiv, 1, 1. 
 
 Justus, son of Josephus, Life, 75. 
 
 Justus, of Tiberias, the historian, Life, sect 66 ; whon 
 they published his history, ib. ; he is condemned 
 by Vespasian, but saved by king Agrippa, Life, 
 sect. 74. 
 
 Justus, son of Pistus, stirs up sedition. Life, sect 9 ; 
 his character, ib. 
 
 Izates, son of Queen Helena, embraces the Jewish re- 
 ligion, Antiq. xx, ii, 1, 4 ; is circumcised, sect. 5 ; 
 conquers his enemies, o. iv, sect 1, 2 ; succeeds 
 Monobazus, e. ii, sect. 3 ; he dies, c. iv, sect. 3 ; bis 
 children and brethren are besieged in Jerusalem, 
 War, vi, vi, 8. 
 
 Kareah, Antiq. x, ix, 1. 
 
 Kemuel, son of Nahor, Antiq. i, vi, 5. 
 
 Keturah, Abraham's last wife, Antiq. i, XT, 1. 
 
 King, his principal qualifications, Antiq. viL xv. 2 
 three duties of a good king, piety towards God, jus- 
 tice towards his subjects, and care of the public 
 welfare, ix, xi, 2 ; need not give an account of his 
 actions in the opinion of Antony, xv, iii, 8 ; should 
 be eminently good, vi, xiv, 4. 
 
 King Solomon's palace, Antiq. vii, v, 1. 
 
 Kings of David's race, how many, Antiq. x, viii, 4. 
 
 Kingdom, a reward of virtue, Antiq. v, viii, 1. 
 
 Kitim, Antiq. i, vi, 1. 
 
 Korah, raises a sedition, Antiq. iv, ii, 2; perishes 
 with his followers, c. iii, sect 3. 
 
 Laban, son of Bethuel, Antiq. t, vl, 5 ; his fraud, a 
 
 xix, sect. 7. 
 Laborosoarchod, or Labosordacus, Antiq. x, xi, 2; 
 
 Against Apion, i, sect. 20. 
 
 Labour, nothing gotten without it, Antiq. iiL U, 4, 
 Lacedemonians derived from Abraham, as well as ttus 
 
 Jews, Antiq. xii, iv, and xiii, v, 8. 
 Tjamech, Autiq. i, ii. 2.
 
 INDEX 
 
 675 
 
 Language (abusive) not to be punished with death, 
 Antiq. xiii, x, 6. 
 
 Languages confounded, Antiq. i, iv, 3. 
 
 Laodice, queen of the Gileadites, Antiq. xiii, xiii, 4. 
 
 Laodicean*, their letter to Caius Rubilius, in favour of 
 the Jews, Antiq. xiv, x, 20. 
 
 Laathenes, a Cretan, Antiq. xiii; iv, 8, 9. 
 
 Laws given the Israelites by Moses upon mount 
 Sinai, Antiq. iii, &c. ; and iT, viii, 2, <tc. ; to be read 
 on the feast of tabernacles, iv, viii, 12; to be 
 learned by children before all things, ib. ; to be 
 written in the mind and memory, ib. ; forbid the 
 punishment of children for their parents' crimes, 
 ix, ix, 1 ; for a rebellious son to be stoned, xvi, xi, 
 9 ; martial laws, Against Apion, ii, sect. 29 ; the 
 tablet of the law, or ten commandments, Antiq. iii, 
 v, 4 ; law of Moses translated into Greek under 
 Ptolemy Philadelphus, Antiq. Pref. sect 8; and 
 xii, ii, 2, &C. ; law made by Herod to sell thieves to 
 foreigners, xvi, i, 1; law carried in triumph at 
 Rome, War, vii, v, 5. 
 
 Laws among the Persians left t the interpretation 
 of seven persons, Antiq. xi, vi, 1. 
 
 Lentulus's decree in favour of the Jews, Antiq. xiv, 
 x, 13. 
 
 Lepidus, killed by Caius, Antiq. xix, i,6. 
 
 Lepidus, (Larcius,) War, vi, iv, 3. 
 
 Leprous persons, obtain places of honour among 
 several nations, Antiq. iii, xi, 4 ; are to live out of 
 cities, by the Samaritan and Jewish laws, ix, iv, 5 ; 
 they resolve in a famine to go over to the enemy, ib. 
 
 Letters of the alphabet, whether brought into Greece 
 by Cadmus and the Phoenicians, Against Apion, i. 
 sect. 2. 
 
 Letters of Solomon, and Hiram and the Tynans, 
 Antiq. viii, ii, 6, 7 ; of Xerxes king of the Persians 
 to Ezra, xi, v, 1 ; of Artaxerxes to the governors 
 near Judea, c. vi, sect. 12 ; of Antiochus the Great 
 to Ptolemy Epiphanes, xii, iii, 3 ; of the Samaritans 
 to Antiochus Theos, c, v, sect. 6; of Alexander 
 Balas to Jonathan, xiii, ii, S; of Onias to Ptolemy 
 and Cleopatra, c. iii, sect 1 ; of Ptolemy and Cleo- 
 patra to Onias, sect. 2 ; of Demetrius to Jonathan 
 and the Jews, c. iv, sect. 9 ; of Julius Cxsai to the 
 Roman magistrates, xiv, x, 2, <tc. ; and to the Si- 
 donians, ib. ; of Mark Antony to the Tynans, c. 
 xii, sect 4, 5. 
 
 Levites, exempted from military functions, Antiq. iii, 
 xii, 4. 
 
 'evite's concubine abused by the Inhabitants of Gi- 
 beah, Antiq. v, ii, 8. 
 
 Levitical tribe consecrated by Moses, Antiq. iii, xi, 
 1 ; their allowance, iv, iv, 5, etc. ; how many cities 
 belonged to them, ib. 
 
 Libertus Maximus, governor of Judea, War, vi, vi, 6. 
 
 Liberty granted the Jews by Demetrius, Antiq, xiii, 
 ii,3. 
 
 Longinus, a tribune, War, ii, xix, 7. 
 
 Longinus's bravery. War, v, vii, 3. 
 
 Longus, a violent Roman, kills himself, Wax, vi, 
 Hi, 2. 
 
 Lot, Antiq, i, vi, 6 ; c. ix. 
 
 Lot's wife, Antiq. i, xi, 4. 
 
 Lucillius Bassus takes Macherus, War, vii, vl, 1-fi. 
 
 Lucullus, Antiq. xiii, xv, 4. 
 
 Lupus, governor of Alexandria, War, Til, x 8. 
 
 Lupus, Julius, a conspirator, is put to death, Antiq. 
 xix, ii, 4, 5. 
 
 Lybyos, Antiq. 1, vi, 2. 
 
 Lycurgus, Against Apion, ii, soot 31. 
 
 Lydda burnt, War, ii, xix, 1. 
 
 Lysanias, son of Ptolemy, is put to death, Antiq. xv, 
 iv, 1 ; War, i, xiii, 1. 
 
 Lyslas, commander of Antiochus's army, Antiq. xii, 
 vii, 2, &c. 
 
 Lysimachus obtains the government of the Helles- 
 pont, after the death of Alexander, Antiq. xii, 1. 
 
 Maaca, son of Nal*or, by his concubine Reuma, 
 
 Antiq. i, vi, 5. 
 
 Maaoah, Rehoboam's wife, Antiq. Tiii, x, L 
 Miaseiah, son of Abas, slain in battle, Antiq. ix, 
 
 xii.l. 
 
 Maaseiah, governor of the city, Antiq. x, iv, j. 
 Maccabees, their history, Antiq. xii, vi, 1, Ac. 
 Macedonians, governed by a Roman proconsul, War, 
 
 Macheras, Antiq. xiv, xv, 7, 10 ; War, i, xri, , 7 ; c, 
 
 xvii, sect 1, &<x 
 Slacherus, surrenders to Bassus, in order to set 
 
 Eleazar at liberty, War, vii, vi. 4. 
 
 Machines, or engines of the Romans, War, . vi, ; 
 for casting stones, of how gisat force, War, in, 
 vii, 23. 
 
 Machir, Antiq. vii, v, 5. 
 
 Madai, or Medes, Antiq. i, vi, 1. 
 
 M.idianites, or Midianites, bring Israel into subjec- 
 tion, Antiq. v, vi, 1 ; Moses makes war upon thei 
 and beats them, iv, vii, 1 ; their women seduce the 
 Israelites, o. vii, sect. 6. 
 
 Magician, War, ii, xiit, &. 
 
 Magog, Antiq. i, vi, 1. 
 
 Mahalaleel, Antiq. i, iii, 2. 
 
 Mahlon, son of Elirnelech, Antiq. T, ix, i. 
 
 Malaleel, Antiq. i, iii, 4. 
 
 Malchishua, son of Saul, Antiq. vi, xiv, 7. 
 
 Jlalchus, or Malichus, king of the Arabians, Antiq. 
 xiii, v, 1 ; xiv, xiv, 1, &c. ; War, i, xiv, 1. 
 
 Malichus, a Jewish commander, Antiq. xir, v, S; 
 War, i, viii, 3 ; o. xi, sect. 2, &c. ; he poisons Anti- 
 pater, Antiq. xiv, xi, 4 ; he is a great dissembler, 
 sect 4, 8; he ia killed by a device of Herod, 
 sect 6. 
 
 Malthace, Archelaus's mother dies, Antiq. xvii, x. 1 ; 
 she was a Samaritan, and Herod's wife, War 
 xxviii, 4. 
 
 Mambres, or Harare, Antiq. i, x, 8. 
 
 Manaem, or Manahem, Autiq. ix, xi, L 
 
 Manahem, an Essen, Antiq. xv, x, 5. 
 
 Manahem, son of Judas the Galilean, Life, sect. 6 , 
 War, ii, xvii, 8, 4c. 
 
 Manasses, king of Judah, Antiq. x, iii, 4, Ac. ; he ie 
 carried into captivity, sect. 2; he is sent back to 
 his kingdom, and dies, ib. 
 
 Manasses, brother of Jaddus, marries the daughter of 
 Sanballat, Antiq. xi, vii, 2, <fec. ; he is made high 
 priest among the Samaritans, xii, iv, L 
 
 Manlius (Lucius,) son of Lucius, Antiq. xiii, ix, 2. 
 
 Manna rained from heaven, Antiq. iii, i, < ; the signi- 
 fication of the word, ib. ; a sort of """ fell in 
 Arabia in the days of Josephus, ib. 
 
 Manneus, son of Lazarus, War, v, xiii, 7. 
 
 Manoah, Antiq. v, viii, 2. 
 
 Manslaughter, suspected, how purged iting U* 
 Jews, Antiq. iv, viii, 16. 
 
 Marcellus, Antiq. xviii, iv, 2. 
 
 Marcus, or Murcus, president of Syria after Sextu* 
 Cajsar, Antiq. xiv, xi, 1, <tc. ; War, i, x, &c. 
 
 Maria, a noble woman, eats her own child, War, vi, 
 iii,iv. 
 
 Mariamne, Agrippa senior's daughter by Cypros, 
 Antiq. xviii, v, 4 ; War, ii, xi, fl. 
 
 Mariamne or Miriam, Moses's sister, dies, Autiq. iv, 
 iv, 6. 
 
 Mariamne, is married to Herod, War, I, xii, 3; she 
 grows angry with Herod, Antiq. xv, vii, 1, Ac. ; 
 War, i, xxii, 2; her temper, Antiq. xv, vii, 4 ; she 
 is put to death, sect. 4, 5 ; her eulogium, sect 6 ; 
 her sons strangled. War, i, xxvii, 6. 
 
 Mariamne, daughter of Josephus and Olympus, 
 Antiq. xviii, v, 4. 
 
 Mariamne, daughter of Simon the high priest, War, 
 i, xxviii, 4. 
 
 Mariamne, daughter of Agrippa senior, mamea to 
 Archelaus, Antiq. xx, vii, 1 ; divorced. War, ii, vii, 
 4; afterwards married to Demetrius, Antiq. xx, 
 vii, 8. 
 
 Marion, tyrant of the Tynans, Antiq.. xiv, xii, 1. 
 
 Marriage of free men with slaves unlawful among the 
 Jews, Antiq. iv, viii, 23. 
 
 Marriage contracts altered by Herod at Anup*te;'a 
 desire, Antiq. xvii, i, 2. 
 
 Marcus, president of Syria, Antiq. xix, vi, 4 ; e. vii, 
 sect. 2 ; and c. viii, sect 1. 
 
 Marsyas, freed-man of Agrippa, Antiq. xviii, vi,S, 7, 10. 
 
 Marullus, master of the horse, Antiq. xvii, vi, 10. 
 
 Margenus, king of the Tyrians, Against Apion, i, 
 sect 13. 
 
 Mattathias, great grandson of Asmoneus, the lathe 
 of the Maccabees, Antiq. xii, vi, 1 ; refuses to offer 
 sacrifice to an idol, sect 2 ; persuades the Jews to 
 fr'ht on the Sabbath day, ib. ; exhorts his sons to 
 defend the law, sect. 8 ; he dies, sect 4. 
 
 Mattathias, son of Absalom, Antiq. xiii, v, 7. 
 
 Matthias, made high priest, Antiq. xix, vi, 4. 
 
 Matthias Curtus, one of Josephus's ancestors, Lue, 
 
 Matthias, sou of Margalothus or Margalus, Antiq. 
 
 xvii, vi, 2 ; War, i, xxxiii, 2; he and his partners 
 
 are burnt alive, Antiq. xvii, vi 4. 
 Matthias, son of Theophilus, made high priest, Anuq. 
 
 xvii iv, 2 ; and xx, ix, 7 ; he is deprived, xvii. vi.
 
 676 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Matthias, Josephus's father, Life, sect. 1. 
 
 Matthias, son of Boethius, .calls in Simon to his 
 assistance, and is afterwards put to death by him, 
 War, v, xiii, 1. 
 
 Mathusela, Arvjtiq. t, in, 4. 
 
 Maximus, (Liberius,) governor of Judea, War, vii,vi, 6. 
 
 Maximus Trebellius, Antiq. xix, ii, 3. 
 
 Meal, the purest used in the Jewish oblations, Antiq. 
 iii. ix, 4. 
 
 Megassarus, War, v, xi, 5. 
 
 Meirus, son of Belgas, War, vi, v, 1. 
 
 Mel*, an ambassador of Archelaus, Antiq, xvi, x, 6. 
 
 MelcUisedec, entertains Abram, Antiq. i, x, 2. 
 
 Memucan, one of the seven princes of Persia, Antiq. 
 ix, vi. 1. 
 
 Menedemus, the philosopher, Antiq. xii, ii, 12. 
 
 Menelaus, or Onias, Antiq. xi, vi, 1. 
 
 Menes, or Mineus, built Memphis, Antiq. viii, yi, 2. 
 
 Men's lives had been happy, if Adam had not sinned, 
 Antiq. i, i, 4. 
 
 Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, is highly favoured 
 by David, Antiq. vii, v, 5 ; c. xi, sect. 3. 
 
 Mephramuthosis, king of Egypt, Against Apion, i, 
 sect 21. 
 
 Mephres, king of Egypt, Against Apion, i, sect. 15. 
 
 Meraioth, son of Joatham, Antiq. viii, i, 8. 
 
 Merbalus, king of the Tyrians, Against Apion, i, 
 sect. 21. 
 
 Mesa, or Mash, Antiq. i, vi, 4. 
 
 Mesha, king of Moab, Antiq. ix, iii, 1. 
 
 Meshech, or Mosoch, Antiq. i, vi, 1. 
 
 Meshech, one of the three holy children, Antiq. x, x, 1. 
 
 Messalas, Antiq. xiv, xiv, 4. 
 
 Messalina, Wife of Claudius, Antiq. xx, viii, 1 ; War, 
 ii, xii, 8. 
 
 Mestraei, or Mitzraim, Egyptians, Antiq. i, yi, 2. 
 
 Metilius, a Roman commander, War, ii, xvii, 10. 
 
 Mica, son of Mephibosheth, Antiq. viii, v, 5. 
 
 Micah the prophet, quoted in Jeremiah, Antiq. 
 x, vi, 2. 
 
 Micaiah the prophet, Antiq. viii, xiv, 5 ; he is put in 
 prison, ib. 
 
 Mice, spoil the country of Ashdod, Antiq. vi, i, 1 ; 
 five golden mice, sect. 2. 
 
 Michal, Saul's daughter, married to David, Antiq. vi, 
 x, 3 ; she saves David's life, c. xi, sect. 4. 
 
 Midianites. See Madianites. 
 
 Milcah, wife of Nahor, Antiq. i, vi, 5. 
 
 Milk, with the firstlings of the flock, offered by Abel, 
 Antiq. i, ii, 1. 
 
 Minucianus, (Annius,) Antiq. xix, i, iii, 8, ftc. 
 
 Minucianus, (Marcus,) Antiq. xix, iv, 3. 
 
 Miracles, a foundation of credibility, Antiq. x, 11, 1. 
 
 51 isuel, one of the three holy children, Antiq. x, x, 1. 
 
 Mithridates, Antiq. xi, i, 3. 
 
 Mithridates, king of Pergamus, Antiq. xiv, viii, 1 ; 
 brings succours to Caesar in Egypt, ib. ; War, i, 
 ix, 3. 
 
 Mithridates Binax, king of Farthia, Antiq. xiii, 
 xiv, 3. 
 
 Mithridates, king of Pontus, dies, Antiq. xiv, iii, 4. 
 
 Mithridates, a Parthian, marries king Artabanus's 
 daughter, Antiq. xviii, 6 ; he is taken prisoner by 
 Anileus, ib. ; and set at liberty, ib. ; his expedi- 
 tion against the Jews, sect. 7 ; ne routs Anileus, ib. 
 
 Mitzraim, Antiq. i, vi, 2. 
 
 Modius, .aSquiculus, Life, sect. 11, 24, 36. 
 
 Monobazus, king of Adiabene, Antiq, xx, ii, 1 ; War, 
 ii, xix, 2 ; his death, Antiq. xx, ii, 3. 
 
 Moon, eclipsed, Antiq. xvii, vi, 4. 
 
 Moses, his character, Antiq. Pref. sect. 4 ; hit birth 
 foretold, ii, ix, 2, 8 ; how born, and saved alive, 
 sect. 5; why called Mouses, or Moits, sect. 6; 
 Against Apion, i, sect. 81 ; adopted by Thennuthis, 
 Antiq. ii, ix, 7 ; brought up to succeed her father, 
 ib. ; tramples the crown under his feet, Ib. ; he is 
 made general of the Egyptian army, and beats the 
 Ethiopians, c. x, sect. 1, &c. ; he marries Tharbis, 
 the king of Ethiopia's daughter, sect. 2; he flies 
 out of Egypt, c. xi, sect. 1 ; he assists Raguel's 
 daughters against the shepherds, sect. 2 ; sees the 
 burning bush of Sinai, c. xii, sect. 1 ; is appointed 
 to be the deliverer of the Israelites, sect. 3 ; he does 
 miracles, and hears the most sacred name of God, 
 sect. 3, 4 ; he returns to Egypt, c. xiii, sect. 1 ; he 
 works miracles before Pharaoh, sect. 2, &c. ; he 
 leads the Israelites out of Egypt, c. xv, sect. 1 ; 
 how many was their numbers, ib. ; how old he was 
 at that time, sect. 2; his prayer to God, c. xvi, 
 sect. 1 ; he leads the Israelites through the Red 
 Ssa, sect. 2 ; he mt&oi. the bitter water sweet, iii,. 
 
 i, 2 ; he procures the Israelites quails and manna, 
 sect. 5, 6, c. xiii ; he brings water out of the rock, 
 c. i, sect. 7 ; he beats the Amalekites, c, iii, sect. 4 ; 
 he brings to the people the tables of th covenant, 
 c. v, sect. 8 ; he stays forty days upon mount 
 Sinai, ib. ; his so long stay causes great doubts and 
 uneasiness among the people, sect. 7 ; he confers 
 the priesthood on Aaron, c. viii, sect. 1 ; offers 
 sacrifices at the tabernacle, sect. 6, 10 ; receives 
 laws and commands at the tabernacle, sect. 10; 
 consecrates to God the tribe of Levi, c. xi, sect 1, 
 &c. ; numbers the people, c. xii, sect. 4 ; gives 
 orders for their marching, ib. &c. ; sends apies to 
 search the land of Canaan, c. xiv, sect 1, &c. ; 
 quells the faction of Korah, iv, ii, 3, &c. ; his justice, 
 c. iii, sect 1 ; his prayer to God, sect. 2 ; he cleanses 
 the people, c. iv, sect. 6 ; he destroyes Bihon and 
 Ogv c. v, sect. 8 ; he defeats the kings of Midian, 
 c. vii, sect. 1 ; he appoints Joshua to be his succes- 
 sor, sect. 2 ; his predictions before his death, c. viii, 
 sect 2; his song in hexameter verse, sect. 44 ; a re- 
 capitulation of his laws, c. vii ; he binds the Israel- 
 lites by an oath to observe them, sect. 45 ; he blesses 
 Joshua, and exhorts him to lead the Israelites 
 courageously into the land of Canaan, sect. 47 ; ho 
 is surrounded with a cloud, and disappears, sect. 
 48 ; his death greatly lamented by the people for 
 thirty days, sect. 49 ; he is scandalised, as afflicted 
 with the leprosy, iii, ix, 4 ; his great authority, c. 
 xv, sect. 8 ; his books kid up in the temple, x, iv, 
 2 ; what they contain, Against Apion, 1, sect 8 ; 
 called by Manetho, Oiarsiph, priest of Osiris of 
 Heliopolis, sect. 26 ; allowed by the Egyptians to 
 be a divine man, sect 51 ; the ages in which he 
 lived, ii, sect 15 ; his virtue and great actions, seek. 
 15, 16 ; his posterity honoured by David, Antiq. 
 vii, xv, 7. 
 
 Mosoch, or Mesech, 1, vi, 1. 
 
 Mucianus, president of Syria, Antiq. xii, iii, 1; War, 
 iv, i, 5 ; c. ix, sect. 2 ; c, x, sect 6, 7 ; and c. xi, 
 Beet. 1 . 
 
 Mule, the klng|s mule, Antiq. vii, xiv, 5. 
 
 Mundus, (Decius,) ravishes Paulina, the wife ol 
 Saturninus, Antiq. xviii, iii, 4. 
 
 Murcus. See Marcus. 
 
 Musical instruments of the Jews, the Cynara Naola, 
 and Cymbalum, described, Antiq. vii, xii, 3. 
 
 Mysian war, War, vii, iv, 8. 
 
 Mytgonus, king of Tyre, Against Apion, 1, sect 21. 
 
 Naamah, an Ammonitess, the mother of Rehobo&m, 
 
 Antiq. viii, viii, 1. 
 
 Kaamah, daughter of Lamech, Antiq. i, ii, 2. 
 Naash, or Nahash, king of the Ammonites, Antiq. 
 
 vii, vi, 1 ; his war against the Israelites, vi, v, 1. 
 Nabal, a foolish man, Antiq. vi, xiii, 6. 
 Naboandelus, or Nabonadius, or Baltasar, king of 
 
 Babylon, Antiq. x, xi, 2; Against Apion, i, sect. 
 
 20. 
 Nabolassar or Nabopollassar, king of Babylon, Against 
 
 Apion, i, sect. 19. 
 Naboth, Antiq. viii, xiii, 8. 
 Nebuchodonosor, or Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, 
 
 Against Apion, i, sect. 19; he conquers a great part 
 
 of Syria, Antiq. x, vi, 1 ; he lays a tax upon the 
 
 Jews, ib. ; he takes and sacks Jerusalem, c. vi, 
 
 sect. 3 ; and c. viii, sect. 1, &c. ; his famous dream 
 
 or vision, c. x, sect. 3, &c. ; his golden image, sect. 
 
 5 ; he lives among the beasts of the field, sect 6 ; 
 
 he dies, c. xi, sect 1. 
 Nabuzardan, or Nebuzurdan, plunders and burns the 
 
 temple, Antiq. x, viii, 5: his other memorable 
 
 actions, c. xi, sect. 1. 
 Nacebus, captain of the Arabians, Antiq. xvi, ix, 2 ; 
 
 c. x, sect. 8. 
 
 Nachor, or Nahor, Antiq. i, vi, 3. - 
 Nadab, on of Aaron, Autiq. iii, viii, i, 7. 
 Nadab, king of Israel after Jeroboam, Antiq. Tiii, 
 
 xi, 4. 
 Nahum the prophet, Antiq. ix, xi, 3 ; bis prophecy 
 
 concerning Nineveh, ib. 
 Naomi, Elimelech's wife, Antiq. v, ix, 1. 
 Nathan, David's son, Antiq. vii, iii, 3. 
 Nathan the prophet, Antiq. vii, iv, 4 ; c. \ii sect 8 ; 
 
 c. xiv, sect 4. 
 Nations dispersed, Antiq. i, v, 1 ; called by new 
 
 names by the Greeks, ib. 
 Nazarites, Antiq. iv, iv, 4 ; and xix, vi, 1. 
 Neapolitans, Life, sct. 24 ; War, ii, xvi, 2. 
 Nechao, or Necho, king of Egypt, Antiq. x. vi, 1 ; he 
 
 is conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, ib.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Nehemiah, Antiq. xl, v, 6 ; his love to his country 
 ib. ; he exhorts the people to rebuild the walls of 
 Jerusalem, sect. 7 ; his death and euloeium 
 sect. 8. 
 
 Nehushta, mother of Jehoiachin, Antiq r vi, 8 
 
 Nephan, or Elhanan, Antiq. vii, xii, 2. 
 
 Nergal-sharezer, Antiq. x, viii, 2. 
 
 Neriah, high priest, Antiq. x, viii, 6. 
 
 Neriglissor, king of Babylon, Against Apion, L sect. 
 20. 
 
 Nero, made emperor, Antiq. xx, viii, 2 ; War, ii, xii, 
 8; a most cruel tyrant, Antiq. xx, viii, 2 his vio- 
 lent death, War, iv, ix, 2. 
 
 Netir, a Galilean, War, iii, vii, 21. 
 
 Nicanor, Antiq. xii, ii, 11 ; c. v, sect. 5 ; War, iii, viii, 
 2, &e. ; sent by Demetrius, against Judas, Antiq 
 xii, x, 4 ; defeated and killed, sect. 5. 
 
 Nicanor, a friend of Titus, wounded with an arrow, 
 War, v, vi, 2. 
 
 Nicaso, married to Manasses, Antiq. xi, vii, 2. 
 
 Nteause, or Nitocris, queen of Egypt, Antiq. viii, vi, 
 
 NIceteria, or festival for the victory over Nicanor, 
 
 Antiq. xii, x, 5. 
 Nico, (the conqueror,) the name of the principal 
 
 Roman battering-ram, War, v, vii, 2. 
 Nicolaus of Damascus, the Jews' advocate, Antiq. xii, 
 
 iii, 2 ; and xvi, ii, 2 ; he is sent to Herod by 
 
 Augustus, c. ix, sect. 4 ; his speech before Augustus 
 
 in favour of Archelaus, xvii, ix, 6 ; c. xi, sect. S ; 
 
 War, ii, ii, 8 ; he exaggerates Antipater's crimes, 
 
 XTii, v, 4 ; War, i, xxxii, 4 ; his brother Ptolemy, 
 
 ii.il, 3. 
 Niger of Perea, War, II, xix, 2 ; c. xx, sect. 4; and ill, 
 
 ii, 1 ; and iv, vi, 5 ; his wonderful escape, iii, ii, 8. 
 Niglassar, Antiq. x, xi, 2. 
 Nimrod, or Nebrodes, Antiq. i, Iv, 2, &c. 
 Nisroch, or Araske, a temple at Nineveh, Antiq. x, 
 
 i, 5. 
 Noe, or Noah, Antiq. I, iii, 1 ; he Is saved in the ark, 
 
 sect. 2 ; invocates God after the deluge, sect. 7 ; 
 
 God answers his prayer, sect. 8 ; laws given to him, 
 
 ib. ; he is overtaken with wine, c. vi, sect. 3 ; his 
 
 genealogy, c. iii, sect 2 ; his death, sect. 9. 
 Nomus, of Heliopolis, 180 furlongs from Memphis, 
 
 War, vii, x, 8. 
 Norbanus Flaccus's letter to the Sardinians, in behalf 
 
 of the Jews, Antiq. xvi, vi, 6. 
 Norbanus (another person) slain, Antiq. xix, I, 15. 
 Numenius, son of Antiochus, Antiq. xiii, v, 8. 
 
 Oaths prevail with Saul above natural affection, Antiq. 
 vi, vi, 4. 
 
 Obadiah, a protector of the true prophets, Antiq. viii, 
 xiii, 4, <tc. 
 
 Obedience to be learned before men undertake govern- 
 ment, Antiq. iv, viii, 2. 
 
 Obodas, king of the Arabians, Antiq. xiii, xiii, 5. 
 
 Octavlo, daughter of Claudius, War, ii, xii, 8. 
 
 Odeas, high priest, Antiq. x, viii, 3. 
 
 Oded the prophet, Antiq. ix, xii, 2. 
 
 Og, king of Bashan, Antiq. iv, v, 3 ; his iron bed, ib. 
 
 Oil used in the Jewish oblations, Antiq. iii, ix, 4 ; oil 
 consumed by the seditious, War, ii, xiii, 6 ; oil pre- 
 pared by foreigners not used by the Jews, Antiq. 
 xii, iii, 1 ; War, Ii, xxi, 2. 
 
 Olympias, Herod's daughter by Malthace, a Samari- 
 tan, Antiq. xvii, i, 3 ; she is married to Joseph, the 
 son of Herod's brother, War, I, xxviii, 1. 
 
 Olympius Jupiter's image, Antiq. xix, i, I, 2. 
 
 Olympus sent to Rome, Antiq. xvi, x, 7, 9 ; War, i, 
 xxvii, 1. 
 
 Omri, king of Israel, Antiq. viii, xii, 5. 
 
 On, the son of Peleth, Antiq. iv, ii, 1. 
 
 Onias, son of Jaddus, succeeds in the high priesthood, 
 Antiq. xi, viii, 7. 
 
 Onias, the son of Simon, made high priest, Antiq. xii, 
 iv, 1 : causes great troubles, sect. 11. 
 
 Onias, brother of Jesus, or Jason, made high priest, 
 Antiq. xii, iv, 1. 
 
 Onias and Dositheus, two Jewish captains, saved 
 Egypt from ruin, Against Apion, ii, sect. 5. 
 
 Onias, son of Onias, flies into Egypt, and there desires 
 to build a Jewish temple, Antiq. xiii, iii, 1, 3 ; War, 
 i, i, 1 ; and vii, x, 3 ; his letter to Ptolemy and 
 Cleopatra, Antiq. xiii, iii, 1 ; their answer, sect. 2 ; 
 he builds the temple Onion, sect. 3 ; that temple is 
 hut up, War, vii, x, 4. 
 
 Onias, a just man, procures rain In a famine by his 
 prayers, Antiq. xiv, ii, 1 ; he is stoned to death, ib. 
 
 Ophellius, Antiq. xiv, xiii, }; War i, xiii, 5. 
 
 677 
 
 Ophir, Antiq. i, vi, 4. 
 
 Opobalsanum, Antiq. viii, vi, 6 ; and xiv iv 1 
 
 Oracles of the prophets, concerning the destruction 
 of Jerusalem, War, iv, vi, 3; c. x, sect. 7 ; and vi, 
 ii, 1 ; concerning a great prince to arise in Judea. 
 c. v, sect. 4. 
 
 Oreb, a king of Midian, Antiq. v, vi, 5 
 
 Orius, king of Egypt, Against Apion, i, sect. 15. 
 
 Orodes, Antiq. xviii, ii, 4. 
 
 Oronna, or Aruanah, the Jebusite, Antiq. vii, iii, 3 ; 
 his thrashing floor, c. xiii, sect. 4 ; where Isaac was 
 to be offered, and the temple was afterwards built. 
 
 ID. 
 
 Orpah, Antiq. v, ix, 1. 
 
 Osarsiph, (for Moses,) a priest at Heliopolis. Against 
 
 Apion, i, sect. 21, 31. 
 Otho made emperor, War, iv, Ix, 2 ; he kills himself. 
 
 sect. 9. 
 Oxen, brazen, the Jews forbidden to make them, 
 
 Antiq. vii, 5. 
 
 Pacorus, king of Media, Antiq. xx, iii, 4; redeems his 
 wife and concubines from the Alans, War, vii, vii, 
 
 Pacorus, the king of Partita's son gets possession of 
 Syria, Antiq. xiv, xiii, 3; lays a plot to catch 
 Hyrcanus and Phasaelus, sect. 6 ; marches against 
 the Jews, War, i, xiii, 1 ; he is admitted iuto Jeru- 
 salem, sect. 3 ; is slain in battle, Antiq. xiv, xv, 7. 
 
 Psetus, (Csesennius,) president of Syria, War, vii, vii, 
 1 ; his expedition into Commagena, ib. 
 
 Pageants, or Pegmata, at Titus's triumph, War, vii, v, 
 5. 
 
 Palace at Rome, Antiq. xix, iii, 2. 
 
 Pallas, Herod's wife, Antiq. xvii, i, 8 ; War, 1, xxviii, 
 
 Pallas, Felix's brother, Antiq. xx, viii, 9 ; War, ii, 
 xii, 8. 
 
 Palm-trees at Jericho, very famous, Antiq. ix, i, 2 ; 
 and xiv iv, 1. 
 
 Pannychis, the concubine of Archelaus, War, I, xxv, 6. 
 
 Papiuius, Antiq. xix, i, 6, 4. 
 
 Pappus is sent into Samaria by Antigonus, Antiq. 
 xiv, xv, 12 ; War, i, xvii, 5. 
 
 Paradise described, Antiq. i, i, 3 ; a pensile paradise, 
 or garden at Babylon, Against Apion, i, sect. 19. 
 
 Parents' good deeds are advantageous to their chil- 
 dren, Antiq. viii, xi, 2; how to be honoured by the 
 law of Moses, Against Apion, i, sect. 27. 
 
 Parthians possess themselves of Syria, and endeavoui 
 to settle Antigonus in Judea, War, i, xiii, 1, Ac. ; 
 their expedition into Judea, Antiq. xiv, xiii, 3 ; they 
 besieged Jerusalem, ib. ; they take the city and 
 temple, sect. 4 ; their perfidiousness, sect. 4, 6 ; 
 War, i, xiii, 8, <tc. 
 
 Passover, a Jewish festival, Antiq. il, xly, 6 ; and ill, 
 x, 5 ; and xiv, ii, 1 ; and xiv, ix, 3 ; the manner of 
 ifs celebration, War, vi, ix, 3 ; called the feast of 
 unleavened bread, Antiq. xiv, ii, 1 ; and xvii, ix, 
 3 ; War, v, iii, 1 ; on the fourteenth day of Nisan, 
 Antiq. xi, iv, 8; War, v, iii, 1; very numerous 
 sacrifices then offered, and vast numbers come up to 
 it, Antiq. xvii, ix, 3 ; War, ii, i, 2 ; from the ninth 
 hour to the eleventh, and not lees than ten to one 
 paschal lamb, vi, ix, 3 ; number of paschal lambs in 
 the days of Cestius, 250, 500, ib. 
 
 Paulina ravished by Mundus, Antiq. xviii, Iii, 4. 
 
 Paulinus, a tribune, War, iii, viii, 1. 
 
 Puuliuus succeeds Lupus as governor of Alexandria, 
 War, vil, x, 5 ; he plunders and shuts up the templi 
 Onion, ib. 
 
 Pausanias, son of Cerastes, murders Philip, king ov 
 Macedon, Antiq. i, viii, 1. 
 
 Peace and good laws the greatest blessings, Antiq 
 vii, xiv, 2. 
 
 Peace, as a goddess, has a temple at Rome, War, vii 
 v, 7, 3 ; c. vi, sect. 24. 
 
 Pedanius, War, i, xxvii, 2 ; and vi, ii, 8. 
 
 Pekah slays Pekahiah, and succeeds him, Antiq. ix. 
 xi, 1 ; he defeats the king of Judah, c. xii, sect. 1 ; 
 he is slain by Hoshea, c. xiii, sect 1. 
 
 Pekaiah, king of Israel, Antiq. ix, xi, L 
 
 Peleg, Antiq. i, vi, 4. 
 
 Peninnah, Antiq. v, x, 2. 
 
 Pentecost, a Jewish festival, Antic,, ill, x, 8 ; and xvli, 
 x, 2 ; whence it liad that name, War, ii, iii, 1 ; vast 
 numbers came to it, Ib. ; 'the priests then attended 
 the temple in the night, vi, v, 3 ; the Jews did not 
 then take journeys, An'dq. xUi, viii, 4. 
 
 Perea, entirely subdued oy the Romans, War, iv, vii, 
 3,5.
 
 t>y 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Pergamen's decree in favour of the Jews, Antiq. xiv, 
 x, 22. 
 
 Perjury supposed by some not dangerous, if done by 
 necessity, Antiq. v, ii, 12 ; dreaded by Joshua and 
 the elders, c. i, sect. 16; dreaded also by the people, 
 c. il, sect. 12. 
 
 Persians, their seven principal families, Antiq. xl, iii, 
 1 ; their king is watched during hia sleep, sect. 4; 
 their law forbade strangers to see their king's wives, 
 c. vi, sect. 1 ; seven men wore the interpreters of 
 their laws, ib. ; their royal robes, sect. 9. 
 
 Pestilence. See Plague. 
 
 Pestilius Cerealis, the proconsul, reduces the Germans, 
 War, vii, iv, 2. 
 
 Petina, the wife of Claudius, Antiq. xx, viii, 1 ; War, 
 ii, xil, 8. 
 
 Petrouius, governor of Egypt, Antiq. xv, ix, 2 ; he 
 supplies Herod with corn in time of famine, ib. 
 
 Petronius, (Publius,) is made president of Syria, Antiq. 
 xviii, vii, 2 ; is sent with an army to Jerusalem by 
 Caius, to set up bis statues in the temple, c. ix, 
 sect. 2, c. ; War, ii, x, 1 ; his endeavours to pre- 
 vent it, and save the Jews, with his and their 
 wonderful deliverance, ib. ; his edict against the 
 Dorites, Antiq. xix, vi, S. 
 
 Phdra, Herod's wife, Antiq. xvil, i, 8. 
 
 Phalan, David's son, Antiq. vii, iii, 3. [i, vi, 8. 
 
 Phalian, Antipater's brother, Antiq. xiv, It, 8 ; War, 
 
 Phalti, son of Laish, Antiq. vi, xiii, 8 ; and vii, i, 3. 
 
 Phannius, son of Samuel, made high priest, War, iv, 
 iii, 8. 
 
 Pharaoh, denoted king in the Kgyptlan tongue, Antiq. 
 vi, viii, 2. 
 
 Pharisees, a sect among the Jews, Antiq. xiii, x, 5 ; 
 and xviii, i, 2 ; War, i, v, 2 ; they envy Hyrcanus, 
 Antiq. xiii, x, 6 ; were opposite to the Sadducees in 
 their principles, sect. 6 ; their great authority, 
 xvii, ii, 4 ; especially in the reign of queen Alex- 
 andra, xiii, xvi, 2 ; War, i, v, 2 ; which lasted nine 
 years, sect. 4 ; they refuse the oaths of allegiance to 
 Caesar and Herod, -Antiq. xvii, ii, 4 ; they are fined 
 for it, ib. ; their unwritten traditions, xiii, v, 9 ; c. 
 x, sect. 6 ; their moderation in inflicting punish- 
 ments, the common people side with them, ib. ; 
 they are most skilful in the knowledge of the Law, 
 Life, sect. 38. 
 
 Pharnaces, son of Mithridates, Antiq. xiv, iii, 4. 
 
 yhasaelus, son of Antipater, Antiq. xiv, vii, 8 ; and 
 xvii, i, 8 ; War, i, viii, 8 ; his death, Antiq. xiv, 
 xiii, 10 ; and xv, ii, 1 ; War, i, xiii, 10. 
 
 Phasaelus, son of Herod, Antiq. xvii, i, 3. 
 
 Piieldas, Antiq. i, vi, 5. 
 
 Pheles, king of the Tyrians, Against Apion, 1, sect, 18. 
 
 Pheroras, Antipater's son by Cypros, Antiq. xiv, vii, 
 3 ; War i, viii, 9 ; hates Salome's children, Antiq. 
 xvi, vii, 3 ; War, i, xxiv, 6 ; makes Alexander 
 jealous of his wife Glaphyra, with Herod his father, 
 Antiq. xvi, vii, 4 ; provokes Herod to anger, o. vii, 
 sect. 3 ; lays the blame upon Salome, c. vii, sect. 5 ; 
 enters into friendship with Antipater, xvii, ii, 4 ; 
 is hated by Herod, c. iii, sect. 1 ; is ordered to retire 
 to his tetrarchy, sect. 8. 
 
 Pheroras's wife pays the fine laid upon the Pharisees, 
 Antiq. xvii, ii, 4 ; she associates with the other 
 court ladies, ib. ; War, i, xxix, 1 ; Pheroras's freed- 
 men charge her with getting poison, Antiq. xvii, 
 iv, 1 ; she throws herself down-stairs, sect. 2 ; War, 
 i, xxx, 5 ; her confession, Antiq. xvii, iv, 2. 
 
 Phideas, the high priest, Antiq. x, viii, 6. 
 Philadelphus, (Ptolemy,) his skill and industry about 
 mechanic arts, Antiq. xiii, ii, 7 ; he proposes pro- 
 blems to the seventy-two interpreters, sect 11 ; he 
 procures the seventy-two interpreters to translate 
 the law, o. ii, sect. 1-14. 
 
 Philip, Herod's son by Cleopatra, Antiq. xvil, i, 3 ; o. 
 ii, sect 2 ; c. iv, sect. 3 ; War, i, xxviii, 4 ; c. xxxii, 
 sect. 1 ; brother of Archelaus, ii, vi, 5 ; what Herod 
 left him by his will, Antiq. xvii, viii, 1 ; what 
 Caesar gave him, c. xi, sect. 4 ; tetrarch of Gaulo- 
 nitis, and Trachonitis, and Paneas, c. viii, sect. 1 ; 
 a ix, sect. 1 ; he dies, xviii, iv, 6 ; bis aulogium, ib. 
 
 Philip, a Galilean, War, iii, vii, 21. 
 Philip, son of Jacimus, Antiq. xvii, ii, 8 ; Life. sect. 
 11, 36 ; War, ii, xvii, 4 ; o. xx, sect 1. 
 
 Philip, made regent of Syria during the minority of 
 Eupator, Antiq. xii, ix, 2. 
 
 Philip, king of Syria, Antiq. xiii, ill, 4 ; o. xiv, sect. 8. 
 
 Philip, king of Macedon, is slain, Antiq. xi, viii, 1. 
 Philipion, son of Ptolemy, marries Alexandra, the 
 daughter of Aristobulus, Antiq. xiv, vii, 4 ; he is 
 killed by his father, ib. ; War, ix, 2. 
 
 Philistines, their chief towns Gaza, Accaron, or Ekron, 
 Askelon, Gath, and Azotus, or Ashdod, Antiq. Ti, 
 i, 2 ; c. xiii, sect. 10. 
 
 Philo, chief deputy of the Jews, to Caius, Antiq. 
 xviii, viii, 1. 
 
 Philosophy of the Jews, contained In the book* o! 
 their law, Against Apion, ii, sect. 4. 
 
 Philostephanus, Antiq. xiii, xii, 5. 
 
 Phineas, son of Clusothus, War, iv, Iv, J. 
 
 Pkineas, son of Eleazar, slays Zimri and Cosbi, Antiq. 
 iv, vi, 12 ; leads the Israelites against the Midian- 
 ites, o. vii, sect. 1 ; his speech to the Jews beyond 
 Jordan, v, i, 26 ; he is made high priest, sect. 29 ; 
 the high priesthood returns to his family, Antiq. 
 viii, i, 3. 
 
 Phineas, son of Eli, Antiq. v, x, 1 ; he officiates as 
 high priest, c. xi, sect. 2 ; he is slain, ib. 
 
 Phraataces, the son of Phvaates, Antiq. xviii, ii, 4, 
 
 Phraates, king of the Parthians, Antiq. rv, il, 3 ; his 
 death, zviii, ii, 4. 
 
 Phul, or Pul, king of Assyria, Antiq. Ix, xl, 1. 
 
 Phurim, or Purim, a Jewish festival, Antiq. xl, vi, IS. 
 
 Phut the planter of Libya, Antiq. i, vi, 2. 
 
 Pilate, (Pontius,) the procurator of Judea, occasions 
 tumults among the Jews, Antiq. xviii, iii, 1 ; causes 
 a great slaughter of them, sect 1, War, ii, ix, 4 ; 
 and of the Samaritans, Antiq. xviii, iv, 1 ; he It ac- 
 cused for it, and sent to Rome, sect. J. 
 
 Pildash, Antiq. i, vi, 5. 
 
 Pillars, erected by the children of Seth, in the land 
 of Seriad, Antiq. i, ii, 3 ; pillars of the Corinthian 
 order in Solomon's palace, viii, v, 2; in Herod's 
 temple, War, v, v, 2. 
 
 Piso, governor of Rome, Antiq. xviii, vi, 8. 
 
 Pitholaus, Antiq. xiv, vi, 1 ; c. vii, sect 8; War, L 
 viii, 3, 6, 9. 
 
 Plaoidus' skirmishes with Josephus, Life, Beet. 48 
 74 ; his other actions, War, iii, vi, 1 ; c. vii, sect. 8 
 34, and iv, 1, 8 ; e. vii, sect. 4. 
 
 Plague, or pestilence, rages among the Israelites, 
 Antiq. xii, xi, 3; it ceases upon David's repent* 
 ance, c. xiii, sect 4 ; another pestilence in Judea, 
 xv, vii, 7. 
 
 Plato, Against Apion, ii, sect. SI ; he excludes tha 
 poets from his commonwealth, sect. 88. 
 
 Polemo, king of Cilicia, Antiq. xx, vii, 5. 
 
 Polemo, king of Pontus, Antiq. xix, viii, 1. 
 
 Polity of the Jews after the captivity, Antiq. xi, IT, & 
 
 Pollio, a Pharisee, Antiq. xv, i, 1. 
 
 Pollio, a Roman, Antiq. xv, x, 1. 
 
 Pompedius, Antiq. xix, i, 5. 
 
 Pompey the Great, goes through Syria, to Damascus, 
 Antiq. xiv, iii, 1 ; War, i, vi, 4 ; and to Jerusalem. 
 Antiq. xiv, iv, 1 ; War, i, vii, 1 ; the city delivered 
 up to him, Antiq. xiv, iv, 2 ; he takes the temple 
 by force, and kills abundance of the Jews, c. iv, 
 sect 2, 8; 4 ; War, i, vii, 4, Ac. ; tho Jews send him 
 a golueu vine, Antiq. xiv, 3, 1 ; he goes into tho 
 holy of holies, c. iv, sect. 4 ; War, 1, vii, 6 ; meddles 
 with nothing in the temple, ib. ; he hears the causa 
 between Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, Antiq. xiv, 
 iii, 2 ; determines in favour of Hyrcanus, and 
 makes war npon Aristobulua, sect. 8, Ac. ; he flies 
 into Epirus, c. viii, sect. 4. 
 
 Pontius Pilate, See Pilate. 
 
 Fopea, Nero's wife, Antiq. xx, vii, 11 : e. xi, sect. 1 ; 
 Life, sect 3 ; a religious lady, end wvourer of the 
 Jews, Antiq. xx, viii, 11. 
 
 Poplas, War, ii, ii, 1. 
 
 Porcius Festus. Set Pestus. 
 
 Present things, queen Alexandra's care, more than 
 future, Antiq. xiii, xvi, 6. 
 
 Presents sent to Joseph in Egypt, Antiq. li, vi, 5. 
 
 Priests, if maimed, are excluded from the altar and 
 temple, Antiq. iii, xii, 2; Against Apion, i, sect. 
 81 ; are not to marry several sorts of women, Antiq. 
 iii, xii, 2 ; Against Apion, i, sect. 7 ; washed their 
 hands and feet before they went to minister, iii, 0, 
 2 ; succeed one another according to their courses, 
 Against Apion, ii, sect. 8 : their allowances, Antiq. 
 Iii, ix ; and iv, iv, 8 ; their courses in number 
 twenty-four, vii, xiv, 7 ; Against Apion, ii, sect 7 ; 
 are very numerous, ib. ; two families from Aaron's 
 two sons, Antiq. v, vi, 5 ; their offices and employ- 
 ments, Against Apion, li, sect. 7, 21, 22, 23 ; their 
 sacred garments, Antiq. iii, vii, 1, &c. ; War, v, v, 
 7; priests and Levites exempted from taxes by 
 Xerxes, Antiq. xi, v, 1 ; have places of the greatest 
 trust committed to them, Against Apion, ii, sect 
 18 ; none but priesta of the posterity of Aaron, 
 might burn incense at the temple, Antiq. ix, x, 4 ;
 
 INDEX. 
 
 CT9 
 
 not to drink wins In their sacred garments, Hi, Tii, 
 2 ; priesthood a mark of nobility among the Jews, 
 Life, sect. 1. 
 
 Priests among the Egyptians, only kept their land* 
 in the days of Joseph, Antiq. ii, vii, 1. 
 
 Priesthood, high, translated from one family to an- 
 other, Antiq. v, xi, 5 ; of Onias, at Heliopolis, xii, 
 ix, 7 ; and xiii, x, 4 ; and xx, x, 1 ; vacant at Jeru- 
 salem for four years, xiii, ii, 8 ; during life, except- 
 ing under Autiochus Bpiphanes, Aristobulus and 
 Herod, xv, iii, 1 ; taken from Jesus, and given to 
 Simon by Herod, c. ix, sect. 5 ; settled upon the 
 family of Aaron originally, xx,.x, 1. 
 
 Priest high, not to be the eon of a captive woman, 
 Antiq. xiii, x, 5 ; high priests went into the temple 
 to officiate on Sabbath-days, new moons, and festi- 
 vals, War, xii, vii, 3 ; were to marry a virgin, and 
 not to touch a dead body, Antiq. iii, xii, 2 ; the 
 high priest desired by Saul to prophecy for him, vi, 
 vi, 4 ; high priests, with the prophets and sanhe- 
 drim, were to determine difficult causes, iv, viii, 
 14 ; several high priests at the same time in latter 
 ages, War, iv, iii, 7 ; and v, xiii, 1 ; and vi, ii, 2 ; to 
 succeed by birth, Against Apion, ii, sect. 23 ; elected 
 by lot among the seditious, Antiq. Iv, iii, 8 ; they 
 abolish the regular succession, sect. 6 ; Herod, 
 king of Chalcis, made the high priest till his death, 
 xx, i, 3 ; a series of the high priests from Aaron to 
 the destruction of the temple by Titus, xx, x ; an- 
 other series from the building of the temple to the 
 captivity, x, viii, 6 ; high priest's robes kept by the 
 Romans, xx, i, 1 ; where they were laid up, xv, xi, 
 5 ; and xviii, iv, 3 ; and xx, i, 1 ; high priest's or- 
 naments described, iii, vii, 4 ; War, v, v, 7. 
 Primogeniture, its privileges sold by Esau, Antiq. 
 
 Primus, (Antonius,) War, iv, ix, 8; he marches 
 
 against Vitellius, a xi, sect. 2. 
 Priscus, (Tyranius.) War, ii, xix, 4. 
 Priscus shoots Jonathan dead with a dart. War, vl, 
 
 ii, 10. 
 Privileges granted the Jews by Alexander the Great, 
 
 Against Apion, ii, sect. 4. 
 
 Problems, or riddles, proposed by Samson at hw wed- 
 ding, Antiq. v, viii, 8. 
 Proculus, (Vitellius,) Antiq. xtx, vl 3. 
 Prophecies concerning the destruction of Jerusalem 
 
 War, iv, vi, 3 ; and vi, v, 4. 
 
 Prophecies of Isaiah accomplished, Antiq. xm, m, i. 
 Prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel reconciled, Antiq. 
 
 x v 1. 
 Prophecies could not agree to the events, if the work 
 
 were governed by chance, Antiq. x, xl, i 
 Prophets, excepting Daniel, chiefly foretold calami 
 
 ties, Antiq. x, xi, 7 ; how greatly to be esteemed. 
 
 Prophets' (falso ones,) suborned by the Jewish ty- 
 rants, War, vi, v, 2. 
 
 Proseuchas, or houses of prayer, among the Jews 
 Life, sect. 54. . ,. 
 
 Prostitution of the body a most heinous crime, Antiq. 
 
 Providence' asserted against the Epicureans, Antiq. 
 
 Prudence' requires us to prevent the growing powe- 
 
 of an enemy, Antiq. iii, ii, 1. .. 
 
 Pseudalexander, Antiq. xvii, xii, 1, Ac. ; War, U, vii 
 
 Ptolen^y, the administrator of Herod's kingdom, 
 Antiq. xvi, vii, 2, &c. ; o. viii, sect 5 ; c. x, sect 
 
 Ptolemy?" the brother of Cleopatra poisoned by her, 
 Ptolemy, ttJ brother of Nicolaus of Damascus, Antiq 
 
 Pt 
 
 tulerny Philadelphus, the second king of Egypt of 
 that race, Antiq. Pref. sect. 3 ; Antiq. xii,' ii, 1 ; 
 Against Apion, ii, sect. 4 ; he procures a translation 
 Of the law of Moses, by the advice of Demetrius 
 Phalerius, Antiq. xii, ii, 1, &c. ; sets a vast number 
 of Jews free, sect. 3 ; sends a letter to Eleazar the 
 high priest, sect. 4; his liberal oblations and pre- 
 sent's sect. 7, 14. 
 
 P tolenjy Philometer, Antiq. xii, it, 11 ; c. v, sect 2 ; 
 xiii, iii, 1 ; Against Apion, ii, sect. 5 ; he and his 
 queen Cleopatra permit Onias to build the temple 
 Union, Antiq. xiii, iii, 1, <tc. ; he makes an expedi- 
 tion into Syria, c. iv, sect. 5 ; discovers Alexander 
 and Ammonius's plot against him, sect. 8 ; takes 
 bis daughter from Alexander, and gives her to De- 
 metrius, sect 7 ; he might have put two crowns 
 upon his head, that of Asia and that of Egypt, ib. ; 
 he is wounded, and dies of his wounds, sect 8. 
 
 i.'tolemy, son of Menneus, Antiq. xiii, xvi, 8 ; and 
 xiv, iii, 2 ; c. xii, sect. 1 ; War, i, iv, 8 ; c. xtil, sect 
 1 ; prince of Chalcis, Antiq. xiv, vii, 4 ; he marries 
 Alexandra, ib. 
 
 Ptolemy, the murderer of Simon, the Maccaboe, 
 Antiq. xiii, vii, 4 ; he murders John Hyrcanus's 
 mother, and brother, c. vii, sect 1 ; War, i, ii, 4. 
 
 Ptolemy Physcon, Antiq. xii, iv, 11 ; and xiii, Ix; 
 Against Apion, ii, sect. 5. 
 
 Ptolemy, War, i, i, 1. 
 
 Pudens engages in a duel with Jonathan, and is killed, 
 War vi, ii, 10. 
 
 Punishment of the wicked, a Joyful sight to good 
 men, Antiq. ix, vi 0. 
 
 Purple robes worn by the Chaldean kings, Antiq. x, 
 xl, 2 ; by the Persian kings, xi, iii, 2 ; c. vi, sect 
 10 ; Joseph is clothed in purple by Pharaoh, 11, v, 7. 
 
 Pygmalion, king of Tyro, Against Apion, i, sect 18. 
 
 Pythian, or Apollo's temple, built by Herod, Antiq. 
 xvi, v, 8. 
 
 Quadratua, (Ummldius,) president of Syria, Antiq. 
 xx, vi, 2. 
 
 Chiails are numerous in the Arabian Gulf, and tail 
 * upon the camp of Israel, Antiq. iii, i, 5, is, 
 fVieen ol Egypt and Ethiopia, comes to "dng Solo- 
 mon, Antiq. viii, vi, 5 ; she returns to her owe 
 country, ?ect 6. 
 
 Cjuintillius Varus, president of Syria. See Varca 
 ijuiriniiis. or Cyrenius, sent by Csesar to tax Syria, 
 &ntiq, xvii. 
 
 Antiq. xii, In, 8 ; he dies, c. iv, 
 
 Ptolemy^'Euergetes, Philopator, or Eupator, An9 
 
 rii, iU, 3; c. iv, sect. 1 ; Against Apion, ii, sect 
 Ptolemy, the son of Jamblicus, Anti4. v, tffl, 1 , 
 
 Ptolemy Lathyrus, Antiq. xiii, x, S ; War, i, *r. jj 
 is driven out of his kingdom, Antiq. xui, x 1, to . , 
 no makes an alliance with Alexander, and breaK* 
 "u sort. 4; his bold soldiers called Hecaton- 
 sect 5 1 he defeats Alexander's army, ib. ; 
 
 , r; 
 
 away, and conceal! her father's idols, sect 9, U. 
 Ragau; or Reu, son of Phaleg, Antiq. i, vl, 5. 
 Ragmus, or Raamah, Antiq. i, vi, 2. 
 Safuel, Moses's father-in-law, Antiq. ill. Id, 1; < 
 ^dvice to Moses for the government of the Israel- 
 
 Rahab, C an T innkeeper at Jerloho, Antiq. v, i, 4 7 : her 
 
 , Antiq. x, i, 1 ; his speech to the people o* 
 ^nst Apion, I, sect 16. 
 
 gter, obtain, Egypt, 
 h ofllexander the Great Antiq. ^ 
 1 takes Jerusalem, and carries many Jew 
 
 priest, Antiq. iii, v, 7 ; - --> ... . 
 Raven sent out of the ark, Antiq. i, in. 6. 
 
 '' king of the Midlanltes, Antiq. tv. 
 Records' of the Tyrians, Against Apion, i, sect 17. 
 
 BSSsfeaSSSSS 
 
 SftSK* t i ; *? eI "T **"+ 
 
 , ; he dies, sect 4. 
 past crimes, Antiq. U, 
 
 'r Ragau, the son of Phaleg, or Peleg, Antiq. I. 
 
 v 5, 7. 
 
 Revenues of Coelesyria, 
 r i ai amount 

 
 680 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Rezen, king of Syria, Antiq. ix, xii, 1. 
 
 Reaon, Solomon's enemy, Antiq. viii, vii, <5. 
 
 Rhodes, relieved by Herod, Antiq. xiv, xiv, 3. 
 
 Riches, great riches laid up in David's monument, 
 Antiq. vii, xv, 8. 
 
 Riddles, or problems between Solomon and Hiram, 
 Antiq. viii, v, 3 ; a riddle proposed by Samson at 
 hia wedding, v, viii, 6. 
 
 Riphath, Antiq. i, vi, 1. 
 
 Rod of Aaron, Antiq. iv, iv, 2. 
 
 Roman army described, War, Ml, v. 
 
 Roman senate's decree In favour of the Jews, Antiq. 
 xili, Ix, 2 ; and xiv, viii, 5. 
 
 Roxana, Herod's daughter by Phaedra, Antiq. xvii, i, 
 3 ; War, x xviii, 4. 
 
 Rubrius Gallus, Antiq. vii, IT, 3. 
 
 Rue of prodigious magnitude ; War, vii, vl, 3. 
 
 Rufus, Antiq. xvii, x, 3 : War, ii, iii, 4 ; c. v, sect. 2. 
 
 Rufus, (an Egyptian,) takes Eleazar prisoner, War, 
 vii, vl, 4. 
 
 Rufus, (Terentlus, or Turnus,) takes Simon the son et 
 Gioras, War, vii, il ; he is left with an army at Je- 
 rusalem after it was taken, ib. 
 
 Rumah, or Reumah, Nahor's concubine, Antiq. 1, 
 Ti.5. 
 
 Ruth gleans In Boaz's field, Antiq. v, ix, 2 ; Is mar- 
 ried by BOSJI, and becomes the mother of Obed, the 
 father of Jesse, sect. 4. 
 
 Sabactas, or Subtecha, Antiq. i, vi, 2. 
 
 Sabas, or Seba, Antiq. i, vi, 2. 
 
 Sabathes, or Sabra, Antiq. i, vi, 2. 
 
 Sabbath-day kept very strictly by the Essens, War, 
 11, viii, 9 ; Sabbath according to Apion, so called 
 from the Egyptian word Sabo, Against Apion, ii, 
 sect. 2 ; Sabbath-day so superstitiously observed 
 by the Jews, that they came to great mischiefs 
 the*eby, Antiq. xii, vi, 2 ; War, i, vii, 3 ; and ii, 
 xvi, 4 ; they are advised by Matthias to defend 
 themselves on the Sabbath-day, Antiq. xii, vi, 2 ; 
 and by Jonathan, x iii, 1, 3 ; allowed to repel, but 
 not to attack an enemy on that day, xiv, vi, 2 ; and 
 xviii, ix, 2 ; War, ii, xvi, 4 ; Antiochus a Jew, forces 
 the Jews to break the Sabbath-day at Antioch, vii, 
 .11, 8 ; Sabbath-day spent in reading the law, Antiq. 
 xvi, ii, 4 ; ushered in, and ended with the sound of 
 a trumpet, War, iv, ix, 12; Jews, on the Sabbath- 
 day, dined at the sixth hour, Life, sect. 54 ; the se- 
 ditious kill the Romans on the Sabbath-day, War, 
 ii, xvii, 10 ; unlawful to travel fer on the Sabbath- 
 day, Antiq. xiii, viii, 4 ; pretended to be unlawful 
 either to make war or peace on the Sabbath-day, 
 War, iv, ii, 3 ; not allowed by some even in case of 
 necessity, to take up arms either on the Sabbath- 
 day, or the evening before, Life, sect. 32. 
 
 Sabbatic river, War, vii, v, 1. 
 
 Sabbeus, Antiq. xiii, iii, 4. 
 
 Sabbion, discovers Alexander's designs to Herod, 
 Antiq. xv, iii, 2. 
 
 Sabec, or Shobach, captain of the Syrians, Antiq. vii, 
 vi, 3. 
 
 Sabinus, Caesar's steward In Judea, Antiq. xvii, ix, 
 8 ; War, 11, iii, 2 ; he accuses Archelaus, Antiq. xvii, 
 ix, 4 ; falls heavy upon the Jews, c. x, sect. 1. 
 
 Sabinus, one of the murderers of Caius, Antiq. xlx, 
 iv, 3 ; he kills himself, sect. 6. 
 
 Sabinus, the brother of Vespasian, takes the capitol, 
 War, iv, xi, 4 ; is killed by Vitellius, ib. 
 
 Sabinus, by birth a Syrian, a man of great valour, 
 War, vi, 1, 6. 
 
 Sabinus, (Uomitian,) one of the tribunes, War, iii, vii, 
 34. 
 
 Sabtah, or Sabathes, Antiq. 1, vi, 2. 
 
 Sabtecha, or Sabactas, Antiq. 1, vl, 2. 
 
 Sacrifice of Abel was milk, and the firstlings of the 
 flock, Antiq. i, il, 1 ; sacrifices were either private 
 or public, iii, Ix, 1 ; either all, or part only burnt, 
 ib. ; how the former were offered, ib. ; how the 
 latter, sect. 2 ; how sin-offerings were offered, sect. 
 8 ; those of swine forbidden, xii, v, 4 ; of those that 
 were for recovering health, iii, ix, 4 ; Titus desires 
 John not to leave off the Jewish sacrifices, War, 
 vi, ii, 1 ; daily sacrifice, Antiq. xi, iv, 1 ; War, i, i, 
 1 ; and vi, ii, 1 ; sacrifices every day for Caesar's 
 prosperity, ii, x, 4 ; Aga'nst Apion, ii, sect. 5 ; 
 omission thereof the beginning of the Jewish war, 
 War, ii, xvii, 2 ; offerings of foreigners usually re- 
 ceived by the Jews, sect. 3 ; the same prohibited by 
 the seditious, sect. 2 ; what parts of sacrifice were 
 due to the priests, Antiq. iv, iv, 4 ; none but Jews 
 to overlook the sacrifices in the temple, xx, viii, 
 
 11 ; sacrifices not to be tasted till the oblation is 
 over, xii, iv, 8 ; not to be brought by the hire of a 
 harlot, iv, viii, 9; meat offerings joined to bloody 
 sacrifices, iii, ix, 4 ; not to be abused to luxury, 
 Against Apion, ii, sect. 25 ; ought to be entire and 
 without blemish, Antiq. iii, xii, 2; of what were 
 burnt-offerings, c. viii, sect. 10 ; animals not offered 
 till the eighth day after their birth, c. ix, sect. 4 ; 
 wine and oil reserved for sacrifices consumed by 
 the seditious, War, v, xiii, 6. 
 Sadduc, a Pharisee, stirs up a sedition, Antiq. xviii, 
 
 Sadducees deny fate, Antiq. xiii, v, 9 ; are contrary to 
 tho Pharisees, c. x, sect. 6 ; observe only the pre- 
 cepts of the written law, ib. ; their opinions, Autiq. 
 xviii, 1, 3 ; War, il, viii, 14 ; have the rich men of 
 their side, Antiq. xiii, x, 6. 
 
 Sadoc, or Zadok, high priest, Antiq. vii, ii, 2 ; c. v, 
 sect. 4 ; c. x, sect. 4 ; c. xi, sect 8 ; c. xiv, sect. 4 ; 
 and viii, i, 8 ; and x, viii, 6. 
 
 Sadrach, or Shadrach, Antiq. xi, iv, 9. 
 
 Sages, or wise men among the Israelites, Antiq. viii, 
 ii, 5. 
 
 Salampsio, daughter of Herod, married to Phaaael, 
 Antiq. xviii, v, 4. 
 
 Salathiel, Zerobabel's father, Antiq. xi, iii, 10. 
 
 Salatis, king of Egypt, Against Apion, i, sect. 14. 
 
 Saleph, Antiq. i, vi, 4. 
 
 Salmana, or Zalmana, captain of the Midianites, 
 Antiq. v, vi, 5. 
 
 Salmanasser, or Shalmanezzer, king of Assyria, 
 Antiq. ix, xiv, 1 ; invades Syria, and Phoenicia, 
 ib. ; carries the ten tribes away into Media and 
 Persia, ib. 
 
 Salome, Antipater'a daughter, Herod's sister, Antiq. 
 xiv, vii, 3 ; War, i, viii, 9 ; charges her husband 
 Joseph with adultery, Antiq. xv, iii, 9 ; and xvi, 
 vii, 3 ; sends a bill of divorce to her second hug- 
 band Costobarus, xv, vii, 10 ; envies Herod's sons 
 and their wives, xvi, i, 2 ; c. iii, sect. 1, &c. ; she 
 clears herself, ib. ; Herod forces her to be married 
 to Alexas, xvii, i, 1 ; she discovers to Herod the 
 conspiracy of Antinater and Pheroras, o. ii, sect. 
 4 ; War, i, xxix, 1 ; what Herod left her by hta 
 will, Antiq. xvii, viii, 1 ; what Csesar gave her, o. 
 xi, sect. 5. 
 
 Salome, Herod's daughter by Elpis, Antiq. xvii, i, 3. 
 
 Salome, granddaughter of Herod the Great, and 
 daughter of Herod Philip, by Herodius, Antiq. 
 xviii, v, 4 ; she is married to Philip the tetrarch, 
 and afterwards to Aristobulus, the grandson of 
 Herod, and brother of Agrippa, senior, ib. 
 
 Salt, sown upon the ruins of a demolished town, 
 Antiq. v, vii, 4. 
 
 Salt- tax, and crown- tax, remitted to the Jews by 
 Demetrius, Antiq. xiii, ii, 8. 
 
 Samacha, ^.oennerig's daughter, Antiq. xx, ii, 1. 
 
 Samaralla, Antiq. xiv, xiii, 5 ; War, i, xiii, 5. 
 
 Samaria built, Antiq. viii, xii, 5; whence its name 
 was derived, ib. ; it is besieged by the Syrians, and 
 wonderfully relieved, ix, iv, 5 ; a mother there eats 
 her own son in a famine, sect 4 ; is besieged again 
 by Hyrcanus, suffers famine, is taken, and levelled 
 with the ground, Antiq. xiii, x, 2, 3 ; War, i, ii, 7. 
 
 Samaritans, a colony from Cutha in Persia, Antiq. ix, 
 xiv, 3 ; and x, ix, 7 ; pretended to be the posterity 
 of Joseph, xi, viii, 6 ; they sometimes deny, and 
 sometimes profess themselves Jews, Ix, xiv, 3 ; and 
 xi, viii, 6 ; and xii, v, 5 ; they harass the Jews 
 under Onias, the high priest, c. iv, sect. 1 ; pretend 
 to be Sidonians, c. v, sect. 5 ; their temple upon 
 Mount Gerizim, xl, viii, 7; they pollute the tem- 
 ple of Jerusalem, xviii, ii, 2 ; they are enemies to 
 the Jews, xi, iv, 9 ; and xx, vi, 1 ; they dispute with 
 the Jews in Egypt about their temple, xiii, iii, 4 ; 
 they gave Antiochus the title of a god, xii, v, 6. 
 
 Sambabas, Antiq. xi, iv, 9. 
 
 Sameas, Pollio's disciple, Antiq. xiv, ix, 3 ; and xv, 
 i, 1 ; c. x, sect 4 ; his speech against Herod, xiv, 
 ix, 4 ; he Is honoured by Herod, ib. 
 
 Samgar, or Semegar, Antiq. x, viii, 2. 
 
 Sampsigeramus, king of Emesa, Antiq. xviii, v, 4. 
 
 Samson's birth, Antiq. v, viii, iv ; he marries a woman 
 of the Philistines, sect 5 ; kills a lion, ib. ; pro- 
 poses a riddle at his wedding, sect. 6 ; burns the 
 Philistines' corn, sect. 7 ; he is delivered up to the 
 Philistines, sect. 8 ; he slays them with the jaw- 
 bone of an ass, ib. ; he carries the gate of Gaza 
 away upon his shoulders, sect. 10 ; he falls In love 
 with Dalilah, sect 11 ; he is betrayed by her ; he 
 is bound, and his eyes put out, ib. ; he >ulls
 
 INDEX. 
 
 681 
 
 house down upon the Philistines, and slays three 
 thousand of them, sect. 12. 
 
 Samuel is born and consecrated to God, Antiq. v, x, 
 3 ; God calls to him, sect 4 ; he conquers the Philis- 
 tines, vi, ii, 2 ; his sons prove very bad judges, c. iii, 
 sect. 2 ; he is offended at the people's demanding a 
 king, sect. 3 ; he tells the people the manners of a 
 king, sect. 5 ; c. iv, sect. 4 ; threatens Saul with 
 the loss of his kingdom, c. vi, sect. 2 ; anoints 
 David to be king, c. viii, sect. 2 ; he dies, c. xiii, 
 sect 5 ; is raised out of Hades, and foretells Saul's 
 death, c. xiv, sect. 2. 
 
 Sanctum sanctorum, or holy of holies, Antiq. iii, vi, 4. 
 Sanhedrim at Jerusalem, Life, sect. 12; none could 
 be put to death but by the sanhedrim, Antiq. xiv, 
 ix, 3. 
 
 Saphan, or Shaphan, the scribe, Antiq. x, iv, 1. 
 Sapinnius, Antiq. xvi, viii, 5. 
 
 Bapphora, or Zippora, Moses's wife, Antiq. iii, iii, 1. 
 
 Sarai, or Sarah, Abraham's wife, Antiq. i, viii, 1 ; she 
 
 goes with him into Egypt, c. viii, sect. 1 ; the king 
 
 falls in love with her, ib. ; her death, c. xiv, sect. 1. 
 
 Sardians, their decree in favour of the Jews, Antiq. 
 
 xiv, x, 24. 
 
 Sareas, or Seraiah, high priest, Antiq. x, viii, 5, 6. 
 Sarepta, or Zarephath, its widow, Antiq. viii, xiii, 2. 
 Sarmatians invade Mysia, War, vii, iv, 3. 
 Sathrabuzans, Antiq. xi, i, 3 ; c. iv, sect. 4, 7. 
 Saturnius, (Sentius,) president of Syria, Antiq. xvi, 
 x, 8 ; c. xi, sect. 3 ; xvii, i, 1 ; c. iii, sect 2 ; and c. 
 v, sect. 2 ; War, i, xxvii, 2. 
 
 Raul, son of Kish, Antiq. vi, iv, 1 ; seeks hia father's 
 asses, and comes to Samuel, ib. ; dines with Sam- 
 uel, and seventy others, ib. ; Samuel anoints him 
 for king, ib. ; he is actually made king, sect. 5 ; he 
 promises to assist the Gileadites, c. v, sect. 2 ; is 
 inaugurated again, sect. 4 ; conquers the Philistines, 
 c. vi, sect. 3 ; his wars and family, sect. 6 ; he 
 makes war on the Amalekites, c. vii, sect 1 ; spares 
 Agag against God's command, sect. 2 ; for which 
 Samuel foretells him the loss of his kingdom, sect. 
 4 ; his cruel order for murdering Ahimelech and the 
 priests, c. xii, sect. 5, &c. ; being forsaken of God, 
 he consults with a necromantic woman, c. xiv, sect 
 2 ; his death, sect. 7. 
 
 Saul, a ringleader of the robbers, Antiq. xx, ix. 4. 
 Scams, president of Syria, War, i, vi, 3, &c. ; c. vii, 
 sect 7 ; and c. viii, sect. 1 ; he returns into Syria, 
 Antiq. xiv, ii, 3 ; he raises the siege of Jerusa- 
 lem, ib. ; his expedition into Arabia, c. v, sect 1 
 Scopas, general of Ptolemy's army, defeated by Aflti- 
 
 ochus the Great, Antiq. xii, iii, 1. 
 Sea. The seventy interpreters wash the!' hands in 
 the sea before they begin their translation, Antiq. 
 xii, ii, 12. 
 
 Sea, divided for the Israelites, .* ^q. ii, xvi, 1. 
 Seba, Antiq. i, vi, 2. 
 
 Sebas, the son of Illus, Antiq. T ii > x ii, 4. 
 Sects of the Jews, Antiq. xiii, v, 9 ; and xviii, i, 2, 
 
 .fee. ; Life, sect. 2 War, ii, viii, 2, <fec. 
 Sedecias, or Zedekiah, a false prophet, Antiq. viii, 
 
 xv, 4. 
 
 Sedecias, Zedekiah, a king of Judea, Antiq. x, vii, 
 1, f~e. ; revolts from the Babylonians, sect. 3 ; calls 
 for Jeremiah's advice, sect 6 ; is carried captive to 
 Babylon, c. viii, sect. 2 ; his death, sect. 7. 
 Sedition among the priests, Antiq. xx, viii, 8 ; sedi- 
 tion of Corah and his followers, iv, ii, 1, Ac. ; of the 
 Israelites, Antiq. iii, xiv, 3 ; is quelled by Joshua, 
 sect. 4 ; sedition at Cesarea between the Jews and 
 Syrians, xx, viii, 7. 
 BeissaH, the scribe, Antiq. vii, iv, 4. 
 Sejanus put to death, Antiq. xviii, vi, 6. 
 Selene, queen of Syria, otherwise called Cleopatra, 
 
 Antiq. xiii, xvi, 4. 
 
 Seleucus possesses Syria after the death of Alexander 
 
 the Great, Antiq. xii, 1 ; he is called Nicator, (the 
 
 conqueror,) c. iii, sect. 1 ; his bounty towards the 
 
 *ews, ib. 
 
 Beleucus Soter, or Philopater, son of Antaochus the 
 
 Great Antiq. xii, iv, 10. 
 Seleucus, son of Antiochus Grypus, Antiq. xiii, xiii, 
 
 4 ; his death, ib. 
 
 Bella, or Zillah, Lamech's wife, Antiq. i, ii, 2. 
 Bellum, or Shallum, Antiq. xi, ix, 1. 
 Bern, or Shem, Antiq. i, iv, 1 ; his posterity, c. vi, 
 
 sect. 4. 
 
 Semegar, or Samgar, Antiq. x, vni, 2. 
 Semei, or Shimei, the son of Gera, Antiq. TO, Ix, 4 ; 
 c. xi, sect. 2 ; and c. XT, sect. 1 ; he is put to death 
 hy Solomon, viii, i, 5. 
 
 Semelius, Antiq. xl, ii, 2. 
 
 Sempronius, (Caius,) son of Caius, Antiq. *<, u, j. 
 
 Senebar, or Shemebar, Antiq. i, ix, 1. 
 
 Senate of Rome's decree concerning the Jews, Antiq. 
 
 xii, x, 6 ; they renew then: league with the Jews, 
 
 xiv, viii, 5 ; another decree of theirs concerning the 
 
 Jews, c. x, sect. 19. 
 Sennacherib makes war on Hezekiah, Antiq. x, 1, 1 ; 
 
 his death, sect. 5. 
 Sepphoris burnt, Antiq. xvii, x, 9 ; taken by Jose- 
 
 phus, Life, sect. 67. 
 Serebaeus, Antiq. xi, iii, 10. 
 Seriah, high priest, Antiq. x, viii, 5, 6. 
 Seron, general of the army of Coslesyria, Antiq. xii, 
 
 vii, 1. 
 Serpent deprived both of speech and feet, Antiq. I, 
 
 Serug, Antiq, i, 'ti, 5. 
 
 Servilus, (PiVlius,) his letter to the Mlleslan/i in 
 
 favour of tne Jews, Antiq. xiv, x, 21. 
 Sesac. See Shisak. 
 Seth, son of Adam, Autiq. i, ii, 8 ; his posterity's 
 
 pillars tli the land of Siriad, ib. 
 Sethon, king of Egypt, Against Apion, i, sect 20. 
 Sethosis, or Sesosti is, king of Egypt, Against Apion, 
 
 i, sect 15 
 
 Seventh day. See Sabbath. 
 
 Seventy-two interpreters sent by Eleazar, the high 
 priest, with the books of the law, Antiq. xii, ii, 10 ; 
 their arrival at Alexandria, ib. ; they bring with 
 them thb law written upon parchment in golden 
 letters, ib. ; they wash in the sea before they fall to 
 their work, sect. 12 ; they finish the translation in 
 seventy-two days, ib. 
 
 Sextus Casar, president of Syria, Antiq. xiv, ix, 3, 4; 
 War, i, x, 7, &c. ; he is slain by Cecilius Bassui, o. 
 xi, sect 1. 
 
 Shadrach, Antiq. x, x, 1. 
 Shallum, Antiq. ix, ix, 1. 
 Shalmaneser. See Salm' Areer. 
 Shamegar, son of A*- th, s;icceod Ehud as Judge, 
 
 Antiq. v, iv, 3. 
 Sharezer, Antiq. x, 1, 5. 
 Sheba, Antiq. uvl, 2. 
 Shechem fee place of Joshua's habitation, Antiq. v, 
 
 i, 19 . 
 
 She -hemites meet Alexander the Great, Antiq. xl, 
 viii, 6 ; their kindred with Raguel, Moses's father- 
 in-law, vi, vii, 3. 
 Shekel, a coin equal to fonr Attio drachmae, Antiq. 
 
 iii, viii, 2. 
 
 Shem, Antiq. i, iv, 1 ; his posterity, c. vl, sect *. 
 Shemeber, king of Zeboim, Antiq. i, ix, 1. 
 Shield covered the left eye in war, Antiq. vi, v, 1. 
 Shield, a token of league between the Jews and Ro- 
 mans, Antiq. xiv, viii, 5. 
 Shimei, son of Gera, Antiq. vii, Ix, 4 ; e. xi, sect S; 
 
 c. xv, sect 1 ; put to death by Solomon, viii, i, 6. 
 Ships sent to Pontus and Thrace under Ahaziah, son 
 
 of Ahab, Antiq. xi, i, 4. 
 Shishak, or Sesac, king of Egypt, Antiq. vii, v, 8 ; 
 
 and viu, vii, 8 ; c. x, sect 8. 
 Sibas, or Zibah, Antiq. vli, v, 5 ; e. ix, sect. 3 ; Saul i 
 
 freedman, c. xi, sect. 3. 
 Sibbechai, the Hittite, Antiq. vi, xii, 2. 
 Sicarii, or banditti, flee to Alexandria, War, vit, x, 1 ; 
 
 cannot be forced to own Caesar for their lord, ib. 
 Sichon, or Sihon, king of the Amorites, conquered, 
 
 Antiq. iv, v, 1, &c. 
 Sidon, Antiq. i, vi, 2. 
 Signs appearing before the destruction of Jerusalmn, 
 
 War, vi, v, 3. 
 
 Silanus, president of Syria, Antiq. xviii, Ii, 4. 
 
 Silas, governor of Tiberias, Life, sect. 17, 63. 
 
 Silas, tyrant of Lysias, Antiq. xiv, ill, 2. 
 
 Silas, an attendant on king Agrippa, senior, in hii 
 
 adversities, Antiq. xviii, vi, 7; and xix. v4 Ishl 
 
 becomes troublesome to the king, ID. ; he is killed, 
 
 c. viii, sect. 8. 
 
 Silo, the Roman captain, Antiq. xiv, xx, 1-5. 
 Silo or Shiloh, a town where the tabernacle 
 
 fixed, Antiq. v, i, 19, 20. 
 Bilus, a Babylonian, War, Ii, xix 2; and ill, ii, ,4. 
 Silva, (Flavius,) governor of Judea, War, vii, viii, 1 ; 
 
 he besieges Masada, sect. 2, 5. 
 Silver, of little value in the days of Solomon, Antiq 
 
 Simeon, son of Gamaliel, War, iv iii, . 
 
 Simon, son of Bothus, made high priest Apq- *J- 
 
 ix, 3 ; his daughter married to Herod, ib. ; b fa 
 
 deprived, xvii, iv, 2.
 
 682 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Simon, son of Camithi, made high priest, Antiq. xviii, 
 ii, 2. 
 
 Bimon, eon of Boethus, aurnamed Cantheras, made 
 high priest, Antiq. xix, vi, 2 ; he is deprived, sect. 4. 
 
 Bimon, son of Cathlas, War, iv, iv, 2. 
 
 Simon the Just, Eleazar's brother, high priest, Antiq. 
 xii, ii, 4 ; c. 4, sect 1. 
 
 Simon, son of Ouias the high priest, dies, Antiq. xii, 
 iv, 10. 
 
 Bimon, the Essen, a prophet, Antiq. xvii, xiii, 3. 
 
 Bimon, son of Giora-s, War, ii, xix, 2 ; and iv, ix, 3 ; 
 fights with the Zealots, iv, ix, 5 ; conquers Idumea, 
 sect. 7 ; is made prisoner, and reserved for tLe 
 triumph, War, vii, 2 ; is put to death at the triumph, 
 c. v, sect. 8. 
 
 Bimon, brother of Judas and Jonathan, the Macca- 
 bees, beats the enemy in Galilee, Antiq. xii, viii, 2 ; 
 is made captain of the Jews, c. x, sect. 6 ; he makes 
 a speech to them, xiii, vi, 3 ; is made their prince, 
 sect. 8, 4 ; is made high priest, sect. 6 ; War, i, ii, 
 2; is killed by Ptolemy his son-in-law, sect. 3. 
 
 Simon, son of Arinus, War, v, vi, 1. 
 
 Bimon, son of Dositheus, Antiq. xiii, ix, 2. 
 
 Bimon, captain of the Idumeans at Jerusalem, War, 
 iv, IT, 4. 
 
 Bimon, a lifeguard-man to Josephus, Life, sect 28. 
 
 Bimon, of Jerusalem, Antiq. xix, vii, 4. 
 
 Bimon, a magician, Antiq. xx, vii, 2. 
 
 Bimon, a Pharisee, Life, sect. 88. 
 
 Bimon Psellus, Josephus's grandfather, Life, sect. 1. 
 
 Bimon, a servant of Herod, assumes the crown, Antiq. 
 xvii, x, 6. 
 
 Bimon, son of Saul, War, ii, xviii, 4. 
 
 Simon persuades the people to exclude Agrippb from 
 the temple, Antiq. xix, vii, 4. 
 
 Simonides Agrippa, Josephus's son, Life, sect. 76. 
 
 Siphar, the Ammonite, Antiq. vii, ix, 8. 
 
 Sisera, oppresses the Israelites, Antiq. v, v, 1; is 
 killed by Jael, sect. 4. 
 
 Sisines, Antiq. xi, i, 3 ; governor of Syria and 
 Phoenicia, o. iv, sect. 4, 7. 
 
 Slaughter, the greatest that ever waa in one battle, 
 Antiq. viii, xi, 3. 
 
 Sodomites and their associates, conquered by the 
 Assyrians, Antiq. i, ix. 
 
 Sodomites so wicked, that they are burned with fire 
 from heaven, Antiq. i, ix. 
 
 Bohemus, tetrarch, Antiq. xvii, iii, 2 ; Life, sect. 11. 
 
 Bo'nemus, king of Einesa, succeeds his brother Azizus, 
 Antiq. xx, viii, 4 ; War, vii, vii, 1. 
 
 Bohemus of Iturea, Antiq. xv, vi, 6 ; betrays Herod's 
 secret order for killing Hariamne, c. vii, sect 1 ; 
 is put to death by Herod, sect. 4. 
 
 Solomon, son of David, Autiq. vii, iii, 3 ; promised to 
 David, c. iy, sect. 4 ; born, c. vii, sect. 4 ; anointed 
 and proclaimed king, c. xiv, sect 6 ; anointed 
 and proclaimed a second time, sect 11 ; marries 
 Pharaoh's daughter, Antiq. viii, ii, 1 ; determines 
 the case of two harlots, sect 2 ; his power, grandeur, 
 and wisdom, sect. 3, &c. ; the books he wrote, sect. 
 5; his letter to Hiram, lung of Tyre, sect. 6 ; he 
 builds the temple, sect 9 ; and c. iii ; his addresses 
 to God and the people after it was built, c. iv, sect. 
 2, &c. ; be offers abundance of sacrifices, sect 4 ; 
 he builds himself a royal palace, c. v, sect. 1, &c. ; 
 solves the pro rubles proposed by the king of Tyre, 
 sect. 3 ; Dius s&ys Solomon could not solve them aU, 
 ib. ; he fortifies Jerusalem, and builds several 
 towns, c. vi, sect 1 ; lays a tax on the remaining 
 Canaanites,, sect 3; fits out a fleet, sect 4; hit; 
 great riches, c. vii, sect 2 ; his immoderate love of 
 women, sect 5 ; his death, sect 8. 
 
 Solymas, or Salem, the old name of Jerusalem. Antiq 
 Tii,iii, 2. 
 
 Sophonius, or Zephaniah, the second priest, Antiq. x, 
 viii, 6. 
 
 Sosibhu, of Tarentum, Antiq. xii, ii, 2. 
 
 Sosius, a Roman captain in Judea, Antiq. xiv, xv, 9 ; 
 c. xvi, sect. 1; joins with Herod against Antigonus, 
 ib. ; War, i, xvii, 2; he takes Antigonus prisoner, 
 and carries him to Anthony, Antiq. xiv, xvi, 4 ; 
 War, i, xviii, 2, 3. 
 
 Souls of heroes, slain in war, supposed to be placed 
 among the stars, War, vi, i, 5. 
 
 Speech of Herod to his army, Antiq. xv, v, 8 ; to the 
 people, c. xi, sect 1 ; speech of Moses to Corah and 
 the people, iv, ii, 4, &c. ; to the people before his 
 death, c. viii, sect. 1. 
 
 Spies sent by Moses, to view the land of Canaan, 
 Antiq. iii, xiv, 1, Ac. ; by Joshua to Jericho, v, i, 
 1 they briDtf back a faithful account sect. 2. 
 
 Spoils of barbarians reposited in Herod's temple* 
 
 Antiq. xv, xi, 3. 
 Spoils in war to be equally divided between those 
 
 that fight and those that guard the baggage, Antiq. 
 
 vi, xiv, 6. 
 Stars, supposed to have their virtue from the sun and 
 
 moon, Antiq. ii, ii, 3. 
 Stechus, Antiq xviii, vi, 7. 
 Stephanus, Caesar's servant, Antiq. xx, v, 4 ; War, ii, 
 
 xii, 2. 
 Sterility of the country Is one of the punishments for 
 
 the king's doing ill, Antiq. vii, iv, 4. 
 Strato tyrannises over Berea, Antiq. xiii, xiv, 3. 
 Subjects follow the manners of their princes, Antiq. 
 
 viii, x, 2. 
 Sumober, or Shemeber, king of Zeboim, Antiq. i, Ix, 
 
 Supplicants in Syria, used to come with a halter 
 
 about their heads, Antiq. viii, xiv, 4. 
 Sur, or Zur, a king of the ilidianitaa, Antiq. Iv, vii. 
 
 Sylla, a captain of king Agrippa's life-guards, Life, 
 sect. 71. 
 
 Sylleus, an Arabian, first minister to king Obodus, 
 Antiq. xvi, vii, 6 ; War, i, xxiv, 6 ; c. xxvii, sect. 
 1 ; he goes to Rome, xvi, ix, 2 ; accuses Herod 
 before Augustus, sect. 8 ; demands Salome in mar- 
 riage, c. vii, sect. 6 ; is refused, because he would not 
 turn Jew, ib. ; is charged with several murders, 
 xvii, iii, 2 ; War, i, x, ix, 3 ; is accused before Augus- 
 tus by Nicholaus of Damascus, Antiq. xvi, x, 8 ; 
 received sentence of death, sect. 9. 
 
 Synedrion, or Sanhedrim. See Sanhedrim. 
 
 Syrian commodities, Antiq. ii, iii, 3. 
 
 Syrians' hatred to the Jews, War, i, iv, 3. 
 
 Syrian king of Mesopotamia, Antiq. vii, vi, 1. 
 
 Tabernacle built, Antiq. iii, vi, 1 ; its description, sect. 
 2 ; ita purification, o. viii, sect 3. 
 
 Tabernacles, Feast of, a great festival of the Jews, 
 Antiq. viii, iv, 1 ; and xv, iii, 3 ; celebrated in war 
 by the leave of king Antiochus, xiii, viii, 2 ; cele- 
 brated for fourteen days upon the dedication o( 
 Solomon's temple, viii, iv, 5 ; Jews then carry 
 boughs with fruit, whereby Alexander the high 
 priest was pelted, xiii, xiii 5; Jews then fixed 
 tabernacles in the temple, War, vi, v, 8 ; it is cele- 
 brated after the Babylonian captivity, Antiq. xi, 
 iv, 1 ; c. v, sect. 5. 
 
 Table (of shew bread,) golden, made by Ptolemy, 
 Antiq. xii, ii, 7, &c. ; with his cups, and rials, sect 
 9. 
 
 Table, Delphic, Antiq. iii, vi, 7. 
 
 Table in the court of the priests, Antiq. iii, Ti, 7 
 
 Tachas, Antiq. i, vi, 5. 
 
 Tanganas, Antiq. xi, iv, 9. 
 
 Tartan, a captain of the Assyrians, Antiq. x, i, 1. 
 
 Tears, natural signs of great joy or sorrow, Antiq. xii, 
 ii, 10. 
 
 Teba, Antiq. i, vi, 5. 
 
 Temple built upon Mount Gerizim, Antiq. x, viii, 7 ; 
 and xiii, iii, 4 ; like to that at Jerusalem, xi, viii, 1. 
 
 Temple built by Herod near Paneas, in honour ol 
 Augustus, Antiq. xv, x, 3 ; War, i, xxi, 3. 
 
 Temple of the golden calf, War, iv, i, 1. 
 
 Temple of Hercules and Astarte, at Tyre, Antiq. viii, 
 v, 3. 
 
 Temple of Demus and the Graces at Athens, Antiq. 
 xiv, viii, 5. 
 
 Temple of Belus, at Babylon, Antiq. x, ix, 1. 
 
 Temple built by Herod at Samaria, Antiq. xv, viii, 5. 
 
 Temple (Herod's) at Jerusalem described, Antiq. xv, 
 ix, 3, 5. 
 
 Temple Onion in Egypt, built like that at Jerusalem, 
 Antiq. xii, x,'7 ; and xiii, iii, 1, 3 ; c. x, sect. 4 ; and 
 
 XX, X. 
 
 Temple of Diana, at Elemais, Antiq. xii, ix, 1 ; of 
 Dagon, at Ashdod or Azotus, xiii, iv, 4 ; of Apollo, 
 at Gaza, e. xiii, sect 3. 
 
 Temple of Jerusalem rebuilt by Zorababel, Antiq. xi, 
 i, c. iv, sect. 3, &c. ; xx, x ; the Jews hindered in 
 building it, xi, 2; they go on by order of Darius, 
 c. iv, sect. 1, &c. ; it is finished in seven years, sect. 
 7; sixty cubits lower than Solomon's temple, xv, 
 xi, 1 ; it is plundered by Antiochus Epiphanes, xii, 
 v, 4 ; taken by Pompey, and its most holy place 
 seen by him, but without detriment thereto, xiv, 
 iv, 4 ; War, i, vii, 6 ; new built by Herod, Antiq. 
 xv, xi, 3 ; burnt by Titus, War, vi, iv, 6, &c. ; Titus 
 goes into the most holy place, sect 7. 
 
 Teiuple of Solomon described. Antiq. viii, iii, 2, Ac. :
 
 INDEX. 
 
 683 
 
 dedicated by Solomon, sect. 4 ; foreigners could go 
 but to a certain partition wall 'in Herod's temple, 
 xv, xi, 5 ; women excluded tb e two inner courts, 
 ib. ; open to Samaritan* and other nations for prayer, 
 x i, iv, 3 ; David's armoury "in the temple, ix, vii, 2 ; 
 tax out of the temple treasure remitted by Deme- 
 trius, xiii, ii, S ; Danif'i's prophecy of Antiochus' 
 profanation of the terjple fulfilled, xii, vii, 6. 
 Temples in Egypt, v aiiy and different Aiitiq. xiii, 
 
 iii,l. 
 Temples of the Canafcnites were to be demolished, 
 
 Antiq. iv, viii, 2. 
 Temples of foreign nations not to be plundered, nor 
 
 their donations taken away, An tiq. iv, viii, 10. 
 Tephetus of Garsis, War, v, xi, 5. 
 Terah, Abraham's father, Aiitiq. i, vi, 5. 
 Teribinth, or turpentine tree, near Hebron, supposed 
 
 as old as the world, War, iv, ix, 7. 
 Terentius, or Turnus Kufus, War, vii, ii. 
 Teresh, Antiq. xi, vi, 4. 
 Teridiites, or Tiridates, king of Armenia, Antiq. xx, 
 
 iu, 8 ; War, vii, vii, 7. 
 
 lero, an old soldier, Antiq. xvi, ix, 4, &c. ; War, i, 
 xxvii, 4, &c. ; charged with treason by Trypko, 
 Herod's barber, sect. 5. 
 Tethmosis, or Thumosis, king of Egypt, Against 
 
 Apion, i, 14, 15, 26. 
 Tetrarchies, Antiq. xiii, iv, 9. 
 Thamar, David's daughter, Antiq. vii, iii, 3. 
 Thamar, Absalom's daughter, married to Bohoboam, 
 
 Antiq. vii, x, 3. 
 
 Thaumastus, Antiq. xviii, vi, ft. 
 
 Theatres erected at Jerusalem, by Herod, Antiq. xv, 
 
 viii, 1 ; War, i, xxi, 8 ; at Cesarea, Antiq. xv, ix, 6. 
 
 Theft, how punished by the law of Moses, Antiq. iv, 
 
 viii, 27, Ac. 
 
 ThemausiuB, Antiq. xiii, iii, 4. 
 Theodoras, son of Zeno, Antiq. xiii, xiii, 3 ; War, i, 
 
 iv, 2. 
 
 Theodosius, Antiq. xiii, iii, 4. 
 
 Theophilus, son of Ananus, deprivedof the high priest- 
 hood, Antiq. xix, vi, 2. 
 Theophilus, brother of Jonathan, made high priest, 
 
 Antiq. xviii, v, 8. 
 Thennus, a Boman ambassador, Against Apion, ii, 
 
 Thermusa, Phrsataces's concubine, and then wife, 
 Antiq. xviii, ii, 4, 
 
 Theudas, an impostor, Antiq. xx, v, i. 
 
 Theudion, brother of Doris, Antipater's mother, An- 
 tiq. xvii, iv, 2. 
 
 Thobel, or Tubal Cain, Antiq. 1, ii, 1. 
 
 Inolomy, son of Sohemus, Antiq. xiv, viii, 1. 
 
 Thumosis, or Tethmosis, king of Egypt, Against 
 Apion, i, sect. 14, 15, 26. 
 
 Thrygammes, or Togarmah, Antiq. i, vi, 1. 
 
 Tiberius Alexander, procurator of Judea, Antiq. xx, 
 
 Tiberius Alexander, governor of Alexandria, War, ii, 
 xviii, 7; and v, i, ; he brings Egypt over to Ves- 
 pasian, iv, x, 6. 
 
 Tiberius the emperor, Antiq. xviii, ii, 4 ; War, i^ ix, 
 2 6; his dilatory proceedings, Antiq. xviii, vi, 6; 
 his skill in astrology, sect 9 ; his prognostic of a 
 successor, ib. ; his death, ib. 
 
 Tibni, Antiq. vUi, xii, 6. 
 
 Tidal, Antiq. i, ix. 
 
 Tielathpileser, king of Assyria, Antiq. ix, xi, i. 
 
 Tiaranes, king of Armenia, Antiq. xiii, xvi, 4 ; and 
 xvTiv, 3; and xviii, v, 4; War, i, v,3;o. xxvui, 
 
 Tigranes, son of Alexander and Glaphyra, Antiq. 
 
 Timausjriag f Egypt, Against Apion, i, sect. 14. 
 
 Timidius, Antiq. xix, i. 6. 
 
 fimius. a Cypriot, Antiq. xviii, x, 4. 
 
 TimSheus, Antiq: xii, viii, 1, 3; he is put to flight by 
 Judas, sect. 4. 
 
 Tiras, Antiq. i, vi, 1. 
 "'-idates. king of Armenia, Antiq. xx, ill, . 
 
 IttoMMBd to* fruits, given to the Levites, Antiq. IT 
 iv 3; their tithes or tenth parts given i to the 
 priests, sect 4 ; this law restored by Heekiah, ix, 
 
 Titiui president of Syria, Antiq, xvi, viii, 6. 
 
 Titus (Sesar, son of Vespasian sent to Alexandria 
 War iii, i, 3 ; he brings a great number of troops it 
 VeTpasian, c. iv, sect. 2 ; his piety towards hia 
 f atiS TVii, sect. 22 ; he and Vespasian take Jo- 
 aratal sect 31 ; his mildness to Josephus, c. vu 
 sect 8 9 -he is sent against Tarichew. c. x. sect 1 
 
 his valour in this expedition, sect 3 ; his speech tc 
 the soldiers, sect 4 ; he takes Taricheaa, sect 6 ; he 
 is sent to Rome, with king Agrippa, to compliment 
 Galba, iv, ix, 2; the order of his army, v, ii, 1; he 
 arrives at Jerusalem, and is exposed to great dan- 
 ger, sect. 1, 2 ; his great valour, sect 2, 5 ; his great 
 concern to save Jerusalem, c. ix, sect. 2 ; and the 
 temple, vi, ii, 4 ; c. iv, sect 3 ; his speech to his 
 soldiers, .c. i, sect. 5 ; he receives acclamations from 
 the army, c. vi, sect 1 ; his speeches to the Jewish 
 tyrants, sect. 2 ; he ascribes the conquest of the 
 city to God, c. ix, sect. 1 ; he thanks the army and 
 distributes rewards, vii, ii, 3 ; celebrates his father 'b 
 and brother's birth-days, c. iii, sect 1 ; is greatly 
 moved at the sight of the ruins of Jerusalem, o. v, 
 sect. 2 ; he makes great shows, c. v, sect. 1 ; cornea 
 to Antioch, sect 2; and to Home, sect. 8; what 
 persons he carried with him for the triumph, ib. ; 
 his Approbation of Josephus' history, Life, seat. 65 ; 
 his generosity to Josephus, sect 75. 
 Tobias' sons expelled Jerusalem, War, i, 1, 2. 
 Togarmah, Antiq. i, vi, 1. 
 Toparchies (three) or prefectures, added to Judea, 
 
 Antiq. xiii, iv, 9. 
 Tower of Babel, and the Sibyl's testimony concerning 
 
 it, Antiq. i, iv. 
 
 Trachonites rebel, Antiq. xvi, ix, 1. 
 Traditions, of the Pharisees, unwritten, Antiq. viii, 
 
 x, 6. 
 
 Trajan, captain of the tenth legion, War, ill, vii, 81. 
 Translation of the law made by seventy-two elders, 
 
 Antiq. xii, ii, 12 ; Against Apion, ii, sect 4. 
 Treasure (secret) kept in the temple by some of the 
 
 priests, Antiq. xi, v, 2. 
 Tribes of Israel, and their portions of land determined 
 
 by lot, Antiq. v, i, 22. 
 
 Tribute paid out of Judea to Antiochus Pius, Antiq. 
 xiii, viii, 3 ; great men farm such tributes, xii, iv, 
 3 ; poll-money paid the kings of Syria by the Jews, 
 xiii, ii, 3 ; ten tuuiioand drachm *> paid out of the 
 temple to them, ib. ; thrtt hundred talents paid by 
 Jonathan to Demetrius .'->r tribute, a iv, sect 9 ; 
 Jews freed from paying such tribute by Simon the 
 Maccabee, o. vi, sect, e ; high priests used to pay 
 twenty talents tribute to the kings of Egypt, out of 
 their own revenues, xii, iv, 1; poll-money and 
 crown-tax, &c., forgiven the principal orders of 
 the Jews by Antiochus the great, o. iii, sect 5. 
 Triumphal gate at Borne, War, vii, v, 4. 
 Triumphal pomp described, War, vii, v, 4, 6, <tc. 
 Trophies give offence to the Jews, Antiq. xv, viii, 1. 
 Trumpet, its invention and form, Antiq. iii, xii, 9. 
 Truth and justice complained to be gone out of the 
 
 world, Antiq. xvi, xi, 4. 
 
 Truth and accuracy to be observed by an historian, 
 Antiq. xiv, i, 1 ; observed accordingly by Josephus, 
 
 Trypho B the tyrant, brings young Antiochus back to 
 Syria, Antiq. xiii, v, 3 ; his perfidious behaviour to 
 the same Antiochus, c. vi, sect 1 ; he draws Jona- 
 than into a snare, sect 1, 2; he makes an irruption 
 into Judea, sect. 4 ; imposes upon Simon, ib. ; kills 
 Jonathan, sect. 5; he causes Antiochus, whose 
 jraurdian he was, to be killed, o. vii, sect 1; he is 
 made king by the army, ib. ; he is killed at Apamia, 
 
 Trypho, king Herod's barber, Antiq. xvi, ix, 6, *o. ; 
 
 y's darling, Antiq. xii, iv, 9. 
 Tubal-Cain, Antiq. i, U, 2. 
 
 gSE Sion ^nsWexander. AnUq. **. 
 x, 3 ; War, I, xxvi, 3. 
 
 ,, when buUt, Antiq. viii, iu, 1. 
 oppressed by Marion, Antiq. xiv, xii, 1. 
 Sieged seven months by Alexander tl 
 
 Tyr 
 
 of "a castle built by Hyrcanus, Aatoq. 
 
 ^ 
 Valerius Asiaticus Antiq. xix, i, 14, 20.
 
 684 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 2, 6 ; a ix, sect. 3 ; Life, sect. 11 ; War, 1, xxxi, 5 ; 
 
 and ii, iii, 1 ; he comes to succour Sabinus, Antiq. 
 
 xvii, x, 9 ; War, ii, v, 1 ; he punishes the mutineers, 
 
 Antiq. xvil, x, i, 9, 10. 
 
 Vashti, wife of king Artaxerxes, Antiq. xi, -vi, 1. 
 Valiiiius, Antiq. xix, i, 13. 
 Veils of the tabernacle, Antiq. iii, yii, 7. 
 Ventidius Bassus, bribed by Antigonus, Antiq. xiv, 
 
 xiv, 6 ; c. xv, sect. 1 ; sent to repel the Parthians, 
 
 War, 1, xv, 2 ; he kills Pacoras in battle, and defeats 
 
 the Parthiana, Antiq. xiv, xv, 7. 
 Veranius, Antiq. xix, iii, 4. 
 Vespasian and Titus's generosity towards the Jews, 
 
 Antiq. xii, iii, 2 ; bis wars in Judea, War, book iii 
 
 and iv, at large. 
 Victory does not depend on numbers, but on valour, 
 
 Antiq. i, x, 1 ; and on piety towards God, Antiq. 
 
 xii, vii, 1. 
 
 Vindex rebels against Nero, War, iv, viii, 1. . 
 Vine (golden) in Herod's temple, Antiq. xv, xiii, S ; 
 
 another sent to Rome, xiv, iii, 1. 
 Vinicius (Marcus,) Antiq. xix, i, 14. 
 Virtue, its own reward, Antiq. iv, viii, 1 
 Virtues (royal,) Antiq. vii, xv, 2. 
 Vitellius, president of Syria, Antiq. xv, xi, 4 ; War, 
 
 vii, iv, 2 ; he is highly treated by the Jews, Antiq. 
 
 xTiii, Iii, 3 ; c. v, sect. 3 ; his expedition against 
 
 Aretas, ib. ; is ordered by Tiberius to enter into an 
 
 alliance with Artabanus, c. iv, sect. 4. 
 Vitellius is made emperor after Otho, War, Iv, ix, 9 ; 
 
 he is slain, e. xi, sect. 4. 
 Vitellius Proculus, Antiq. xix, vi, 8. 
 Ummidius (Quadratus,) president of Syria, Antiq. xx, 
 
 vi, 2. 
 Unexpected events the most shocking, Antiq. v, ix, 
 
 3. 
 
 Unleavened bread. Bee Passover. 
 Voice heard in the temple, War, vi, v, 8. 
 Vologeses, king of Parthia, Antiq. xx, iv, 2 ; War, vii, 
 
 v, 2 ; c. vii, sect. 3 ; he declares war against Izates, 
 
 Antiq. xx, iv, 2. 
 Volumnius, procurator of Syria, Antiq. xvi, ix, 1 ; c. 
 
 xi, sect 3 ; War, i, xxvii, i, 2. 
 Vonones, Antiq. xviii, ii, 4. 
 
 Vow of Jephtha to sacrifice his daughter, neither law- 
 ful nor acceptable to Qod, Antiq. v, vii, 10. 
 Ures, Antiq. viii, ii, 8. 
 Uriah slain, Antiq. vii, vii, 1. 
 Urias, high priest, Antiq. x, viii, 6. 
 Uz, Antiq. i, vi, 4, 5. 
 Uzzah, smitten by God for touching the ark, Antiq, 
 
 Yii, iv, 2. 
 Uzziah, or Azariah, king of Judah, Antiq. ix, xi, 3 ; 
 
 his acts and encomium, c. ix, sect. 3 ; he burns 
 
 incense in the temple, sect 4 ; he is smitten with 
 
 the leprosy for usurping the priest's office, ib. 
 
 War not begun with foreign nations till ambassadors 
 
 are sent, Antiq. iv, viii, 41 ; and v, ii, 9. 
 War (laws of) among the Jews, Antiq. iv, viii, 41, &c. ; 
 
 Against Apion, ii, sect. 30. 
 War (Jewish) whence begun, War, ii, xiil ; c. xiv, 
 
 sect 4; c. xv, sect. 5 ; c. xvii, sect. 1, &c. 
 Water of Bethlehem, offered to God by David, Antiq. 
 
 vii, xii, 4. 
 
 Water (sea.) See Sea. 
 Witch, or necromantic woman of Endor, comforts 
 
 Saul, Antiq. vi, xiv, 3 ; her eulogium, sect 4. 
 Women's power, Antiq. xi, iii, 5 ; their cunning in 
 
 preventing accusations, ii, v, 6 ; their dress forbid- 
 
 den men, iv, viii, 43; foreign women not to be 
 meddled with by Jews, xii, iv, 6 ; when divorced, 
 cannot marry another without their former hus- 
 band's consent, xv, vii, 10 ; Persian women, 01 
 wives, not to be seen by strangers, x, ri, 1 ; not 
 allowed to be witnesses, iv, viii, 15. 
 
 Xanthicus, the Syro-Macedpnian name of the Jewish 
 month Nisan, Antiq. i, iii, 3 ; and so elsewhere. 
 
 Xerxes succeeds Darius, Antiq. xi, v, 1 ; his letter to 
 Ezra, ib. 
 
 Xylophoria, a Jewish festival, when they carried wood 
 to the temple for the sacrifices, War, ii, xvii, 6. 
 
 Year, two beginnings of Jewish years, Antiq. i, i, 8. 
 Year (Great,) a period of six hundred common yean 
 Antiq. i, iii, 9. 
 
 Zabdiel, a prince of the Arabians, Antiq. xiii, iv, 8. 
 Zabidus, an Idumean, Against Apion, ii, sect 10. 
 Zacharkih, king of Israel, Antiq. ix, x, 3 ; bis death, 
 
 c. xi, sect. 1. 
 
 Zacbariah, son of Jehoiada, a prophet, is stoned, An- 
 tiq. ix, viii, 3. 
 
 Zachariah the prophet, Antiq. xi, Iv, 5, 7. 
 Zachariah, son of A bar., is slain by Maaseiah, Antiq. 
 
 ix, xii, 1. 
 Zacharias, son of Baruch, War, Iv, v. 4 ; he is murdered 
 
 in the temple, ib. 
 
 Zacharias, son of Phalek, War, Iv, iv, 1. 
 Zadoc, or Sadoc, high priest, Antiq. vii, il ; c. v, sect. 
 
 4 ; c. x, sect. 4 ; c. xi, sect 8 ; c. xiv, sect 4 ; and 
 
 viii, i, 3 ; and x, viii, 6. 
 Zalmunna, a captain of the Midianites, Antiq. v, vi, 
 
 5. 
 
 Zamaris, a Babylonian Jew, Antiq. xvil, ii, 3. 
 Zarepheth, or Sarepta, the widow's habitation, Antiq. 
 
 viii, xiii, 2. 
 Zealots, War, iv, iii, 9, 13, 14 ; c. Iv, sect. 5, &c. ; o. v, 
 
 sect i, 5 ; and vii, viii, 1. 
 Zeb, or Zeeb, captain of the Midianites, Antiq. v, vl, 
 
 5. 
 
 Zebudah, mother of Jehoiakim, Antiq. x, v, 1 
 Zedekiah, a false prophet, Antiq. viii, xv, 4. 
 Zedekiah, king of Judah, Antiq. x, vii, 4, &C. ; he 
 
 revolts from the Babylonians, sect. 2 ; calls for 
 
 Jeremiah's advice, sect. 6 ; he is carried captive to 
 
 Babylon, c. viii, sect. 2 ; his death, sect. 7. 
 Zebina (Alexander,) king of Syria, is conquered by 
 
 Autiochus Grypus, and dies, Antiq. T"<, ix, S. 
 Zebul, Antiq. v, vii, 4. 
 Zeno, styled Cotylas, tyrant of Philadelphia, Antiq. 
 
 xiii, vii, 1. 
 Zonodoras, Antiq. xv, x, 1, &c. ; War, i. xx, iv ; hia 
 
 death, Antiq. xv, x, 3. 
 Zerah, an Ethiopian king, Antiq. viii, xii, 1 ; defeptdd 
 
 by Asa, sect. 1, 2. 
 Zeruiah, Antiq. vi, xiii, 9. 
 Zuxis, Antiq. xii, iii, 4. 
 Ziba, Saul's freedman, Antiq. vii, v, 2. 
 Zillah, Lamech's wife, Antiq, 1, il, 2. 
 Zimri, prince of the Simeonites, Antiq. iv, vi, 10; hil 
 
 speech against Moses, sect 11. 
 Zimri kills EUih, Antiq. viii, xii, 4, 5 ; his death, Ib. 
 Zipporah, Moses's wife, Antiq. iii, ii, 1. 
 Zizus, an Arabian, Antiq. xiii, xiv, 3. 
 Zoba, (king of,) Antiq. vii, vi, 1. 
 Zoilus, a tyrant, Antiq. xiii, xii, 2. 
 Zorobabel, Antiq. xi, i, 3 ; c. iii, sect, t, Ac. 
 Zur. king of the Midianites, Antiq. iv, vii. I.