THE WARS OF THE JEWS
OR
THE HISTORY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM
Book VII: Chapter 2
HOW TITUS EXHIBITED ALL SORTS OF
SHOWS AT CESAREA PHILIPPI. CONCERNING SIMON THE TYRANT
HOW HE WAS TAKEN, AND RESERVED FOR THE TRIUMPH.
1. NOW at the same time that Titus Caesar lay at
the siege of Jerusalem, did Vespasian go on board a
merchantship and sailed from Alexandria 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 joyfully received by them all, and so
passed over from Ionia into Greece; whence he set sail
from Corcyra to the promontory of Iapyx, whence he
took his journey by land. But as for Titus, he marched
from that Cesarea which lay by the sea-side, and came
to that which is named Cesarea Philippi, and staid
there a considerable time, and exhibited all sorts of
shows there. And here a great number of the captives
were destroyed, some being thrown to wild beasts, and
others in multitudes forced to kill one another, as if
they were their enemies. And here it was that Titus
was informed of the seizure of Simon the son of Gioras,
which was made after the manner following: This Simon,
during the siege of Jerusalem, was in the upper city;
but when the Roman army was 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 which
belonged to their occupation, and as great a quantity
of provisions as would suffice them for a long time,
and let himself and all them 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 as to rise from under ground in a safe
place, and by that means escape. But when they came to
make the experiment, they were disappointed of their
hope; for 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 elude the Romans, put on a
white frock, and buttoned upon him a purple cloak, and
appeared 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 came nearer to
him, and asked him who he was. Now Simon would not
tell them, but bid them call for their captain; and
when they ran to call him, Terentius 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 Caesar 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 subdued by violence, but voluntarily delivered
himself up to them to be punished, and that on the
very same account that he had laid false accusations
against many Jews, as if they were falling away to the
Romans, and had barbarously slain them for wicked
actions do not escape the Divine anger, nor is justice
too weak to punish offenders, but in time overtakes
those that transgress 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. Simon was
made sensible of this by falling under the indignation
of the Romans. This rise of his out of the ground did
also occasion the discovery of a great number of
others Of the seditious at that time, who had hidden
themselves under ground. But for Simon, he was brought
to Caesar in bonds, when he was come back to that
Cesarea which was on the seaside, who gave orders that
he should be kept against that triumph which he was to
celebrate at Rome upon this occasion.
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