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[8]
At these clamors Archelaus was provoked, but restrained himself from
taking vengeance on the authors, on account of the haste he was in of going
to Rome, as fearing lest, upon his making war on the multitude, such an
action might detain him at home. Accordingly, he made trial to quiet the
innovators by persuasion, rather than by force, and sent his general in
a private way to them, and by him exhorted them to be quiet. But the seditious
threw stones at him, and drove him away, as he came into the temple, and
before he could say any thing to them. The like treatment they showed to
others, who came to them after him, many of which were sent by Archelaus,
in order to reduce them to sobriety, and these answered still on all occasions
after a passionate manner; and it openly appeared that they would not be
quiet, if their numbers were but considerable. And indeed, at the feast
of unleavened bread, which was now at hand, and is by the Jews called the
Passover, and used to he celebrated with a great number of sacrifices,
an innumerable multitude of the people came out of the country to worship;
some of these stood in the temple bewailing the Rabbins [that had been
put to death], and procured their sustenance by begging, in order to support
their sedition. At this Archclaus was aftrighted, and privately sent a
tribune, with his cohort of soldiers, upon them, before the disease should
spread over the whole multitude, and gave orders that they should constrain
those that began the tumult, by force, to be quiet. At these the whole
multitude were irritated, and threw stones at many of the soldiers, and
killed them; but the tribune fled away wounded, and had much ado to escape
so. After which they betook themselves to their sacrifices, as if they
had done no mischief; nor did it appear to Archelaus that the multitude
could be restrained without bloodshed; so he sent his whole army upon them,
the footmen in great multitudes, by the way of the city, and the horsemen
by the way of the plain, who, falling upon them on the sudden, as they
were offering their sacrifices, destroyed about three thousand of them;
but the rest of the multitude were dispersed upon the adjoining mountains:
these were followed by Archelaus's heralds, who commanded every one to
retire to their own homes, whither they all went, and left the festival.
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