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[273]
There was also Simon, who had been a slave of Herod the king, but
in other respects a comely person, of a tall and robust body; he was one
that was much superior to others of his order, and had had great things
committed to his care. This man was elevated at the disorderly state of
things, and was so bold as to put a diadem on his head, while a certain
number of the people stood by him, and by them he was declared to be a
king, and thought himself more worthy of that dignity than any one else.
He burnt down the royal palace at Jericho, and plundered what was left
in it. He also set fire to many other of the king's houses in several places
of the country, and utterly destroyed them, and permitted those that were
with him to take what was left in them for a prey; and he would have done
greater things, unless care had been taken to repress him immediately;
for Gratus, when he had joined himself to some Roman soldiers, took the
forces he had with him, and met Simon, and after a great and a long fight,
no small part of those that came from Perea, who were a disordered body
of men, and fought rather in a bold than in a skillful manner, were destroyed;
and although Simon had saved himself by flying away through a certain valley,
yet Gratus overtook him, and cut off his head. The royal palace also at
Amathus, by the river Jordan, was burnt down by a party of men that were
got together, as were those belonging to Simon. And thus did a great and
wild fury spread itself over the nation, because they had no king to keep
the multitude in good order, and because those foreigners who came to reduce
the seditious to sobriety did, on the contrary, set them more in a flame,
because of the injuries they offered them, and the avaricious management
of their affairs.
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