THE WARS OF THE JEWS
OR
THE HISTORY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM
Book III: Chapter 10
HOW TARICHEAE WAS TAKEN. A DESCRIPTION OF THE RIVER
JORDAN, AND OF THE COUNTRY OF GENNESARETH.
1. AND now
Vespasian pitched his camp between this city and Taricheae, but fortified his camp more strongly, as
suspecting that he should be forced to stay there, and
have a long war; for all the innovators had gotten
together at Taricheae, as relying upon the strength of
the city, and on the lake that lay by it. This lake is
called by the people of the country the Lake of
Gennesareth. The city itself is situated like Tiberias,
at the bottom of a mountain, and on those sides which
are not washed by the sea, had been strongly fortified
by Josephus, though not so strongly as Tiberias; for
the wall of Tiberias had been built at the beginning
of the Jews’ revolt, when he had great plenty of
money, and great power, but Tarichese partook only the
remains of that liberality, Yet had they a great
number of ships gotten ready upon the lake, that, in
case they were beaten at land, they might retire to
them; and they were so fitted up, that they might
undertake a Sea-fight also. But as the Romans were
building a wall about their camp, Jesu and his party
were neither affrighted at their number, nor at the
good order they were in, but made a sally upon them;
and at the very first onset the builders of the wall
were dispersed; and these pulled what little they had
before built to pieces; but as soon as they saw the
armed men getting together, and before they had
suffered any thing themselves, they retired to their
own men. But then the Romans pursued them, and drove
them into their ships, where they launched out as far
as might give them the opportunity of reaching the
Romans with what they threw at them, and then cast
anchor, and brought their ships close, as in a line of
battle, and thence fought the enemy from the sea, who
were themselves at land. But Vespasian hearing that a
great multitude of them were gotten together in the
plain that was before the city, he thereupon sent his
son, with six hundred chosen horsemen, to disperse
them.
2. But when Titus perceived that the enemy was very
numerous, he sent to his father, and informed him that
he should want more forces. But as he saw a great many
of the horsemen eager to fight, and that before any
succors could come to them, and that yet some of them
were privately under a sort of consternation at the
multitude of the Jews, he stood in a place whence he
might be heard, and said to them, “My brave Romans!
for it is right for me to put you in mind of what
nation you are, in the beginning of my speech, that so
you may not be ignorant who you are, and who they are
against whom we are going to fight. For as to us,
Romans, no part of the habitable earth hath been able
to escape our hands hitherto; but as for the Jews,
that I may speak of them too, though they have been
already beaten, yet do they not give up the cause; and
a sad thing it would be for us to grow wealthy under
good success, when they bear up under their
misfortunes. As to the alacrity which you show
publicly, I see it, and rejoice at it; yet am I afraid
lest the multitude of the enemy should bring a
concealed fright upon some of you: let such a one
consider again, who we are that are to fight, and who
those are against whom we are to fight. Now these
Jews, though they be very bold and great despisers of
death, are but a disorderly body, and unskillful in
war, and may rather be called a rout than an army;
while I need say nothing of our skill and our good
order; for this is the reason why we Romans alone are
exercised for war in time of peace, that we may not
think of number for number when we come to fight with
our enemies: for what advantage should we reap by our
continual sort of warfare, if we must still be equal
in number to such as have not been used to war.
Consider further, that you are to have a conflict with
men in effect unarmed, while you are well armed; with
footmen, while you are horsemen; with those that have
no good general, while you have one; and as these
advantages make you in effect manifold more than you
are, so do their disadvantages mightily diminish their
number. Now it is not the multitude of men, though
they be soldiers, that manages wars with success, but
it is their bravery that does it, though they be but a
few; for a few are easily set in battle-array, and can
easily assist one another, while over-numerous armies
are more hurt by themselves than by their enemies. It
is boldness and rashness, the effects of madness, that
conduct the Jews. Those passions indeed make a great
figure when they succeed, but are quite extinguished
upon the least ill success; but we are led on by
courage, and obedience, and fortitude, which shows
itself indeed in our good fortune, but still does not for ever desert us
in our ill fortune. Nay, indeed, your fighting is to
be on greater motives than those of the Jews; for
although they run the hazard of war for liberty, and
for their country, yet what can be a greater motive to
us than glory? and that. it may never be said, that
after we have got dominion of the habitable earth, the
Jews are able to confront us. We must also reflect
upon this, that there is no fear of our suffering any
incurable disaster in the present case; for those that
are ready to assist us are many, and at hand also; yet
it is in our power to seize upon this victory
ourselves; and I think we ought to prevent the coming
of those my father is sending to us for our
assistance, that our success may be peculiar to
ourselves, and of greater reputation to us. And I
cannot but think this an opportunity wherein my
father, and I, and you shall be all put to the trial,
whether he be worthy of his former glorious
performances, whether I be his son in reality, and
whether you be really my soldiers; for it is usual for
my father to conquer; and for myself, I should not
bear the thoughts of returning to him if I were once
taken by the enemy. And how will you be able to avoid
being ashamed, if you do not show equal courage with
your commander, when he goes before you into danger?
For you know very well that I shall go into the danger
first, and make the first attack upon the enemy. Do
not you therefore desert me, but persuade yourselves
that God will be assisting to my onset. Know this also
before we begin, that we shall now have better success
than we should have, if we were to fight at a
distance.”
3. As Titus was saying this, an extraordinary fury
fell upon the men; and as Trajan was already come
before the fight began, with four hundred horsemen,
they were uneasy at it, because the reputation of the
victory would be diminished by being common to so
many. Vespasian had also sent both Antonius and Silo,
with two thousand archers, and had given it them in
charge to seize upon the mountain that was over
against the city, and repel those that were upon the
wall; which archers did as they were commanded, and
prevented those that attempted to assist them that
way; And now Titus made his own horse march first
against the enemy, as did the others with a great
noise after him, and extended themselves upon the
plain as wide as the enemy which confronted them; by
which means they appeared much more numerous than they
really were. Now the Jews, although they were
surprised at their onset, and at their good order,
made
resistance against their attacks for a little
while; but when they were pricked with their long
poles, and overborne by the violent noise of the
horsemen, they came to be trampled under their feet;
many also of them were slain on every side, which made
them disperse themselves, and run to the city, as fast
as every one of them were able. So Titus pressed upon
the hindmost, and slew them; and of the rest, some he
fell upon as they stood on heaps, and some he
prevented, and met them in the mouth, and run them
through; many also he leaped upon as they fell one
upon another, and trod them down, and cut off all the
retreat they had to the wall, and turned them back
into the plain, till at last they forced a passage by
their multitude, and got away, and ran into the city.
4. But now there fell out a terrible sedition among
them within the city; for the inhabitants themselves,
who had possessions there, and to whom the city
belonged, were not disposed to fight from the very
beginning; and now the less so, because they had been
beaten; but the foreigners, which were very numerous,
would force them to fight so much the more, insomuch
that there was a clamor and a tumult among them, as
all mutually angry one at another. And when Titus
heard this tumult, for he was not far from the wall,
he cried out,” Fellow soldiers, now is the time; and
why do we make any delay, when God is giving up the
Jews to us? Take the victory which is given you: do
not you hear what a noise they make? Those that have
escaped our hands are ill an uproar against one
another. We have the city if we make haste; but
besides haste, we must undergo some labor, and use
some courage; for no great thing uses to be
accomplished without danger: accordingly, we must not
only prevent their uniting again, which necessity will
soon compel them to do, but we must also prevent the
coming of our own men to our assistance,
that, as few
as we are, we may conquer so great a multitude, and
may ourselves alone take the city:”
5. As soon as ever Titus had said this, he leaped
upon his horse, and rode a pace down to the lake; by
which lake he marched, and entered into the city the
first of them all, as did the others soon after him.
Hereupon those that were upon the walls were seized
with a terror at the boldness of the attempt, nor
durst any one venture to fight with him, or to hinder
him; so they left guarding the city, and some of those
that were about Jesus fled over the country, while
others of them ran down to the lake, and met the
enemy in the teeth, and some were slain as they
were getting up into the ships, but others of them as
they attempted to overtake those that were already
gone aboard. There was also a great slaughter made in
the city, while those foreigners that had not fled
away already made opposition; but the natural
inhabitants were killed without fighting: for in hopes
of Titus’s giving them his right hand for their
security, and out of a consciousness that they had not
given any consent to the war, they avoided fighting,
till Titus had slain the authors of this revolt, and
then put a stop to any further slaughters, out of
commiseration of these inhabitants of the place. But
for those that had fled to the lake, upon seeing the
city taken, they sailed as far as they possibly could
from the enemy.
6. Hereupon Titus sent one of his horsemen to his
father, and let him know the good news of what he had
done; at which, as was natural, he was very joyful,
both on account of the courage and glorious actions of
his son; for he thought that now the greatest part of
the war was over. He then came thither himself, and
set men to guard the city, and gave them command to
take care that nobody got privately out of it, but to
kill such as attempted so to do. And on the next day
he went down to the lake, and commanded that vessels
should be fitted up, in order to pursue those that had
escaped in the ships. These vessels were quickly
gotten ready accordingly, because there was great
plenty of materials, and a great number of artificers
also.
7. Now this lake of Gennesareth is so called from
the country adjoining toit. Its breadth is forty
furlongs, and its length one hundred and forty; its
waters are sweet, and very agreeable for drinking, for
they are finer than the thick waters of other fens;
the lake is also pure, and on every side ends directly
at the shores, and at the sand; it is also of a
temperate nature when you draw it up, and of a more
gentle nature than river or fountain water, and yet
always cooler than one could expect in so diffuse a
place as this is. Now when this water is kept in the
open air, it is as cold as that snow which the country
people are accustomed to make by night in summer.
There are several kinds of fish in it, different both
to the taste and the sight from those elsewhere. It is
divided into two parts by the river Jordan. Now Panium
is thought to be the fountain of Jordan, but in
reality it is carried thither after an occult manner
from the place called Phiala: this place lies as you
go up to Trachonitis, and is a hundred and twenty
furlongs from Cesarea, and is not far out of the
road on the right hand; and indeed it hath its name of
Phiala [vial or bowl] very justly, from the roundness
of its circumference, as being round like a wheel; its
water continues always up to its edges, without either
sinking or running over. And as this origin of Jordan
was formerly not known, it was discovered so to be
when Philip was tetrarch of Trachonitis; for he had
chaff thrown into Phiala, and it was found at Paninto,
where the ancients thought the fountain-head of the
river was, whither it had been therefore carried [by
the waters]. As for Panium itself, its natural beauty
had been improved by the royal liberality of Agrippa,
and adorned at his expenses. Now Jordan’s visible
stream arises from this cavern, and divides the
marshes and fens of the lake Semechonitis; when it
hath run another hundred and twenty furlongs, it first
passes by the city Julias, and then passes through the
middle of the lake Gennesareth; after which it runs a
long way over a desert, and then makes its exit into
the lake Asphaltitis.
8. The country also that lies over against this
lake hath the same name of Gennesareth; its nature is
wonderful as well as its beauty; its soil is so
fruitful that all sorts of trees can grow upon it, and
the inhabitants accordingly plant all sorts of trees
there; for the temper of the air is so well mixed,
that it agrees very well with those several sorts,
particularly walnuts, which require the coldest air,
flourish there in vast plenty; there are palm trees
also, which grow best in hot air; fig trees also and
olives grow near them, which yet require an air that
is more temperate. One may call this place the
ambition of nature, where it forces those plants that
are naturally enemies to one another to agree
together; it is a happy contention of the seasons, as
if every one of them laid claim to this country; for
it not only nourishes different sorts of autumnal
fruit beyond men’s expectation, but preserves them a
great while; it supplies men with the principal
fruits,with grapes and figs continually, during ten
months of the year 7 and the rest of the fruits as
they become ripe together through the whole year; for
besides the good temperature of the air, it is also
watered from a most fertile fountain. The people of
the country call it Capharnaum. Some have thought it
to be a vein of the Nile, because it produces the
Coracin fish as well as that lake does which is near
to Alexandria. The length of this country extends
itself along the banks of this lake that bears the
same
name for thirty furlongs, and is in breadth twenty,
And this is the nature of that place.
9. But now, when the vessels were gotten ready,
Vespasian put upon ship-board as many of his forces as
he thought sufficient to be too hard for those that
were upon the lake, and set sail after them. Now these
which were driven into the lake could neither fly to
the land, where all was in their enemies’ hand, and in
war against them; nor could they fight upon the level
by sea, for their ships were small and fitted only for
piracy; they were too weak to fight with Vespasian’s
vessels, and the mariners that were in them were so
few, that they were afraid to come near the Romans,
who attacked them in great numbers. However, as they
sailed round about the vessels, and sometimes as they
came near them, they threw stones at the Romans when
they were a good way off, or came closer and fought
them; yet did they receive the greatest harm
themselves in both cases. As for the stones they threw
at the Romans, they only made a sound one after
another, for they threw them against such as were in
their armor, while the Roman darts could reach the
Jews themselves; and when they ventured to come near
the Romans, they became sufferers themselves before
they could do any harm to the ether, and were drowned,
they and their ships together. As for those that
endeavored to come to an actual fight, the Romans ran
many of them through with their long poles. Sometimes
the Romans leaped into their ships, with swords in
their hands, and slew them; but when some of them met
the vessels, the Romans caught them by the middle, and
destroyed at once their ships and themselves who were
taken in them. And for such as were drowning in the
sea, if they lifted their heads up above the water,
they were either killed by darts, or caught by the
vessels; but if, in the desperate case they were in,
they attempted to swim to their enemies, the Romans
cut off either their heads or their hands; and indeed
they were destroyed after various manners every where,
till the rest being put to flight, were forced to get
upon the land, while the vessels encompassed them
about [on the sea]: but as many of these were repulsed
when they were getting ashore, they were killed by the
darts upon the lake; and the Romans leaped out of
their vessels, and destroyed a great many more upon
the land: one might then see the lake all bloody, and
full of dead bodies, for not one of them escaped. And
a terrible stink, and a very sad sight there was on
the
following days over that country; for as for the
shores, they were full of shipwrecks, and of dead
bodies all swelled; and as the dead bodies were
inflamed by the sun, and putrefied, they corrupted the
air, insomuch that the misery was not only the object
of commiseration to the Jews, but to those that hated
them, and had been the authors of that misery. This
was the upshot of the sea-fight. The number of the
slain, including those that were killed in the city
before, was six thousand and five hundred.
10. After this fight was over, Vespasian sat upon
his tribunal at Taricheae,in order to distinguish the
foreigners from the old inhabitants; for those
foreigners appear to have begun the war. So he
deliberated with the other commanders, whether he
ought to save those old inhabitants or not. And when
those commanders alleged that the dismission of them
would be to his own disadvantage, because, when they
were once set at liberty, they would not be at rest,
since they would be people destitute of proper
habitations, and would he able to compel such as they
fled to fight against us, Vespasian acknowledged that
they did not deserve to be saved, and that if they had
leave given them to fly away, they would make use of
it against those that gave them that leave. But still
he considered with himself after what manner they
should be slain 8 for if he had them slain there, he
suspected the people of the country would thereby
become his enemies; for that to be sure they would
never bear it, that so many that had been supplicants
to him should be killed; and to offer violence to
them, after he had given them assurances of their
lives, he could not himself bear to do it. However,
his friends were too hard for him, and pretended that
nothing against Jews could be any impiety, and that he
ought to prefer what was profitable before what was
fit to be done, where both could not be made
consistent. So he gave them an ambiguous liberty to do
as they advised, and permitted the prisoners to go
along no other road than that which led to Tiberias
only. So they readily believed what they desired to be
true, and went along securely, with their effects, the
way which was allowed them, while the Romans seized
upon all the road that led to Tiberias, that none of
them might go out of it, and shut them up in the city.
Then came Vespasian, and ordered them all to stand in
the stadium, and commanded them to kill the old men,
together with the others that were useless, which were
in number a thousand and two hundred. Out of the young
men he chose six thousand of the strongest, and sent
them to Nero, to dig through
the Isthmus, and sold the remainder for slaves,
being thirty thousand and four hundred, besides such
as he made a present of to Agrippa; for as to those
that belonged to his kingdom, he gave him leave to do
what he pleased with them; however, the king sold
these also for slaves; but for the rest of the
multitude, who were Trachonites, and Gaulanites, and
of Hippos, and some of Gadara, the greatest part of
them were seditious persons and fugitives, who were of
such shameful characters, that they preferred war
before peace. These prisoners were taken on the eighth
day of the month Gorpiaeus [Elul].
|
