THE WARS OF THE JEWS
OR
THE HISTORY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM
Book IV: Chapter 9
THAT VESPASIAN, AFTER HE HAD TAKEN
GADARA MADE PREPARATION FOR THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM;
BUT THAT, UPON HIS HEARING OF THE DEATH OF NERO, HE
CHANGED HIS INTENTIONS. AS ALSO CONCERNING SIMON OF
GERAS.
1. AND now Vespasian had fortified all the places
round about Jerusalem, and erected citadels at Jericho
and Adida, and placed 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 delivered to him a body of horsemen, and a
considerable 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 mountainous 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 such 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
deserted 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 soldiers 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 connexion of matters, and that my history
may not be incoherent, I have just touched upon every
thing 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. Upon 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 Divine 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 Jerusalem.
There was a son of Giora, one Simon, by birth of
Gerasa, a young man, not so cunning indeed as John [of
Gisehala], 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 seized
upon Masada. At the 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 undertake 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 tyrannize, and being fond of
greatness, when he had heard of the death of Ananus,
he left them, and went into the mountainous part of
the country. So he proclaimed liberty to those in
slavery, 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 overran the villages that lay in the
mountainous country, and when there were still more
and more that came to him, he ventured to go down into
the lower parts of the country, and since he was now
become formidable 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 to their
king. He then overran the Acrabattene 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 caves, and many others he found ready for
his purpose; these he made use of as repositories for
his treasures, and receptacles for his 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
exercising his men beforehand, and making preparations
for the assault of Jerusalem.
5. Whereupon the zealots, out of the dread they
were in of his attacking them, and being willing to
prevent one that 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 the
city, but durst not trust so much upon his 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 a 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. Nor 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 garrison at
Herodium, and in order to persuade them to surrender
that fortress to him. The garrison received this man
readily, while they knew nothing 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 that he had no place for flight, when he
threw himself down from the wall into the valley
beneath; so he died immediately: but the Idumeans, 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 them.
6. Now there was one of their commanders named
Jacob, who offered to serve them readily upon that
occasion, but had it in his mind to betray them. He
went therefore from the village Alurus, wherein the
army of the Idumeans were gotten together, and came to
Simon, and at the very first he 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 obliging 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 Simon, and said it
was manifold more in number than what it was; after
which, he dexterously persuaded the commanders, and by
degrees the whole multitude, to receive Simon, and to
surrender 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 fled, together with those whom he had
corrupted; hereupon a terror fell upon the whole
multitude; and before it came to a close fight, they
broke their ranks, and every one retired to his own
home.
7. Thus did Simon unexpectedly march into Idumea,
without bloodshed, and made a sudden attack upon the
city Hebron, and took 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 ancienter city, not only than any in
that country, but than Memphis in Egypt, and
accordingly its age is reckoned at two thousand and
three hundred years. They also relate that it had been
the habitation of Abram, the progenitor of the Jews,
after he had removed out of Mesopotamia; and they say
that his posterity descended from thence into Egypt,
whose monuments are to this very time showed 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 showed, at the
distance of six furlongs from the city, a very large
turpentine tree
and the report goes, that this tree has continued ever
since the creation of the world. Thence did Simon make
his progress over all Idumen, and did not only ravage
the cities and villages, but lay waste the whole
country; for, besides those that were completely
armed, he had forty thousand men that followed him,
insomuch that he had not provisions enough to suffice
such a multitude. Now, besides this want of provisions
that he was in, he was of a barbarous disposition, 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
demolished, and whatsoever 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 ambushes in
the passes, and seized upon 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
merciful affection, he grew very angry at them for
seizing his beloved wife; so he came to the wall of
Jerusalem, 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 universe, who sees all things, that 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 without making
any distinction between the guilty and the innocent.
These 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 Gaul, Otho gained the advantage on the first day,
but on the second day Vitellius'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
army. But in the mean time Vespasian removed from
Cesarea, on the fifth day of the month Deasius,
[Sivan,] and marched against those places of Judea
which were not yet overthrown. 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 Jerusalem, in which march he
took many prisoners, and many captives; but Cerealis,
one of his commanders, took a body of horsemen and
footmen, 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 Caphatabira,
and laid siege to it, for it had a very strong wall;
and when he expected to spend a 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 conquered
them, he went to Hebron, another very 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 as now all the places were taken,
excepting Herodlum, 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 remainders of Idumea, and driving the
nation all before him from all quarters, 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 laborers 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 Galileans; for these Galileans had advanced this
John, and made him very potent, who made them 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 insatiable, 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 they had taken,
together with their blood, and indulged themselves in
feminine wantonness, without any disturbance, 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 intolerable uncleanness, that
they invented unlawful 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 warriors, and drew their
swords from under their finely dyed cloaks, and ran
every body 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 destroyed by the other that
lay before the gates, so that all attempts of flying
and deserting to the Romans were cut off, as to those
that had a mind so to do.
11. Yet did the army that was under John raise a
sedition against him, and all the Idumeans 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 relation of Izates, the king of Adiabene; the
Idumeans fell in with them, and drove the zealots out
thence into the temple, and betook themselves 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 mean time, the
multitude of those zealots that were dispersed over
the city ran together to the temple unto those that
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 resolution they brought to perfection, and
sent Matthias, the high priest, to beseech this Simon
to come ill 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 protection, and came into the
city, in order to deliver it from the zealots. The
people also made joyful acclamations to him, as their
savior and their preserver; but when he was come in,
with his army, he took care to secure his own
authority, and looked upon those that had invited him
in to be no less his enemies than those against whom
the invitation was intended.
12. And thus did Simon get possession of Jerusalem,
in the third year of the war, in the month Xanthicus
[Nisan]; whereupon John, with his multitude of
zealots, as being both prohibited from coming out of
the temple, and having 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
enemies; 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 signal beforehand, with a trumpet
at the beginning of every seventh day, in the evening
twilight, as also at the evening when that 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 engines 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.
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