THE WARS OF THE JEWS
OR
THE HISTORY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM
Book V: Chapter 7
HOW ONE OF THE TOWERS ERECTED BY
THE ROMANS FELL DOWN OF ITS 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 CONCERNING
LONGINUS THE ROMAN, AND CASTOR THE JEW.
1. NOW, on the next night, a 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 disturbance and a
tumult arose among the legions, and as nobody could
tell what had happened, they went on after a
disconsolate manner; and seeing no enemy appear, they
were afraid one of another, and every one demanded of
his neighbor the watchword with great earnestness, as
though the Jews had invaded their camp. And now were
they 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 from those towers, as they did also by
those that threw darts, and the archers, and those
that flung stones. For neither could the Jews reach
those that were over them, by reason of their height;
and it was not practicable 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 endeavor 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 accounts also
thought by them to be superfluous to guard the wall,
there being besides that two other fortifications
still remaining, and they being slothful, and their
counsels having been ill concerted on all occasions;
so a great many grew lazy and retired. Then the Romans
mounted the breach, where Nico had made one, and all
the Jews left the guarding that wall, and retreated to
the second wall; so those that had gotten over that
wall opened the gates, and received all the army
within it. And thus did the Romans 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 demolished a great part of it, as well as
they did of the northern parts of the city, which had
been 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
Romans before the monuments of king Alexander; and
Sireoh's army also took for their share the spot 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 Hippicus. However, the Jews made violent
sallies, and that frequently also, and in bodies
together out of the gates, and there fought the
Romans; and when they were pursued all together to the
wall, they were beaten in those fights, 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 encouraged still by the hope of deliverance,
as were the Romans by their hopes of subduing them in
a little time. Nor did either side grow weary; but
attacks and rightings upon the wall, and perpetual
sallies out in bodies, were there all the day long;
nor were there any sort of warlike engagements that
were not then put in use. And the night itself had
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 was afraid lest the wall should
be taken, and the other lest the Jews should make
sallies upon their camps; both sides also lay in their
armor during the night time, and thereby were ready at
the first 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 command they
were very ready to kill themselves with their own
hands. What made the Romans so courageous was their
usual custom of conquering and disuse of being
defeated, their constant wars, and perpetual warlike
exercises, and the grandeur of their dominion; and
what was now their chief encouragement -Titus who was
present every where with them all; for it appeared a
terrible thing to grow weary while Caesar 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 valor known by Caesar; on
which account many of them appeared to have more
alacrity than strength to answer it. And now, as the
Jews were about this time standing in array before the
wall, and that in a strong body, and while both
parties were throwing their darts at each other,
Longinus, 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 upon the attack, 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
slain by him by that very dart which 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 valor, 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 solicitous
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 commanded his men to
take care, when they fought their enemies, that they
received no harm from them at the same time, and
thereby show themselves 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 in
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
breastplates; but when the tower was shaken, they
arose, and Castor did then stretch out his hand, as a
petitioner, and called for Caesar, 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 repent, stopped the working of the
battering ram, and forbade them to shoot at the
petitioners, and bid 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 his mind, and that he was
ready to give the like security to the city. Now five
of the ten dissembled 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 time for
consultation about what was to be done, because he
would elude the powe
r of the Romans for a considerable
time. And at the same time that he sent thus to him,
he appeared openly to exhort those that were obstinate
to accept of Titus's hand for their security; but they
seemed very angry at it, and brandished their naked
swords upon the breast-works, and struck themselves
upon their breast, and fell down as if they had been
slain. Hereupon Titus, and those with him, 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 at Castor,
and wounded him in his nose; whereupon he presently
pulled out the dart, and showed it to Titus, and
complained that this was unfair treatment; so Caesar
reproved him that shot 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 nothing that
was good; he also restrained those friends of his who
were zealous to go to him. But still there was one
Eneas, 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
Eneas 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 coining to him. When Caesar
understood that this was a delusion, he perceived that
mercy in war is a pernicious thing, because such
cunning tricks have 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.
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