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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 themselves down the precipices, or put fire to their houses, and
burnt them, as 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 were 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 it was unlawful for any other men to see but only for the high priests.
There were in that temple the golden table, the holy candlestick, and the
pouring vessels, and a great quantity of spices; and besides these there
were among the treasures two thousand talents of sacred money: yet did
Pompey touch nothing of all this,
1
on account of his regard to religion; and in this point also he acted in
a manner that was worthy of his virtue. The next day he gave order to those
that had the charge of the temple to cleanse it, and to bring 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
hindered the Jews in the country from giving Aristobulus any assistance
in his war against him. He also cut off those 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 Celesyria which the inhabitants
of Judea had subdued, and put them under the government of the Roman president,
and confined the whole nation, which had elevated itself so high before,
within its own bounds. Moreover, he rebuilt Gadara,
2
which had been demolished a little before, to gratify Demetrius of Gadara,
who was his freedman, and restored the rest of the cities, Hippos, and
Scythopolis, and Pella, and Dios, and Samaria, 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 glorious manner, and adorned with havens and temples, and
changed its name to Caesarea. All these Pompey left in a state of freedom,
and joined them to the province of Syria.