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[540]
It then happened that Cestius was not conscious either how the besieged
despaired of success, nor how courageous the people were for him; and so
he recalled his soldiers from the place, and by despairing of any expectation
of taking it, without having received any disgrace, he retired from the
city, without any reason in the world. But when the robbers perceived this
unexpected retreat of his, they resumed their courage, and ran after the
hinder parts of his army, and destroyed a considerable number of both their
horsemen and footmen; and now Cestius lay all night at the camp which was
at Scopus; and as he went off farther next day, he thereby invited the
enemy to follow him, who still fell upon the hindmost, and destroyed them;
they also fell upon the flank on each side of the army, and threw darts
upon them obliquely, nor durst those that were hindmost turn back upon
those who wounded them behind, as imagining that the multitude of those
that pursued them was immense; nor did they venture to drive away those
that pressed upon them on each side, because they were heavy with their
arms, and were afraid of breaking their ranks to pieces, and because they
saw the Jews were light, and ready for making incursions upon them. And
this was the reason why the Romans suffered greatly, without being able
to revenge themselves upon their enemies; so they were galled all the way,
and their ranks were put into disorder, and those that were thus put out
of their ranks were slain; among whom were Priscus, the commander of the
sixth legion, and Longinus, the tribune, and Emilius Secundus, the commander
of a troop of horsemen. So it was not without difficulty that they got
to Gabao, their former camp, and that not without the loss of a great part
of their baggage. There it was that Cestius staid two days, and was in
great distress to know what he should do in these circumstances; but when
on the third day he saw a still much greater number of enemies, and all
the parts round about him full of Jews, he understood that his delay was
to his own detriment, and that if he staid any longer there, he should
have still more enemies upon him.
Flavius Josephus. The Works of Flavius Josephus. Translated by. William Whiston, A.M. Auburn and Buffalo. John E. Beardsley. 1895.
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