1
[
93]
AND now Titus gave orders to his soldiers that were with him to dig
up the foundations of the tower of Antonia, and make him a ready passage
for his army to come up; while he himself had Josephus brought to him,
(for he had been informed that on that very day, which was the seventeenth
day
2 of
Panemus, [Tamuz,] the sacrifice called "the Daily Sacrifice"
had failed, and had not been offered to God, for want of men to offer it,
and that the people were grievously troubled at it,) and commanded him
to say the same things to John that he had said before, that if he had
any malicious inclination for fighting, he might come out with as many
of his men as he pleased, in order to fight, without the danger of destroying
either his city or temple; but that he desired he would not defile the
temple, nor thereby offend against God. That he might, if he pleased, offer
the sacrifices which were now discontinuned by any of the Jews whom he
should pitch upon. Upon this Josephus stood in such a place where he might
be heard, not by John only, but by many more, and then declared to them
what Caesar had given him in charge, and this in the Hebrew language.
3
So he earnestly prayed them to spare their own city, and to prevent that
fire which was just ready to seize upon the temple, and to offer their
usual sacrifices to God therein. At these words of his a great sadness
and silence were observed among the people. But the tyrant himself cast
many reproaches upon Josephus, with imprecations besides; and at last added
this withal, that he did never fear the taking of the city, because it
was God's own city. In answer to which Josephus said thus with a loud voice:
"To be sure thou hast kept this city wonderfully pure for God's sake;
the temple also continues entirely unpolluted! Nor hast thou been guilty
of ally impiety against him for whose assistance thou hopest! He still
receives his accustomed sacrifices! Vile wretch that thou art! if any one
should deprive thee of thy daily food, thou wouldst esteem him to be an
enemy to thee; but thou hopest to have that God for thy supporter in this
war whom thou hast deprived of his everlasting worship; and thou imputest
those sins to the Romans, who to this very time take care to have our laws
observed, and almost compel these sacrifices to be still offered to God,
which have by thy means been intermitted! Who is there that can avoid groans
and lamentations at the amazing change that is made in this city? since
very foreigners and enemies do now correct that impiety which thou hast
occasioned; while thou, who art a Jew, and wast educated in our laws, art
become a greater enemy to them than the others. But still, John, it is
never dishonorable to repent, and amend what hath been done amiss, even
at the last extremity. Thou hast an instance before thee in Jechoniah,
4 the king
of the Jews, if thou hast a mind to save the city, who, when the king of
Babylon made war against him, did of his own accord go out of this city
before it was taken, and did undergo a voluntary captivity with his family,
that the sanctuary might not be delivered up to the enemy, and that he
might not see the house of God set on fire; on which account he is celebrated
among all the Jews, in their sacred memorials, and his memory is become
immortal, and will be conveyed fresh down to our posterity through all
ages. This, John, is an excellent example in such a time of danger, and
I dare venture to promise that the Romans shall still forgive thee. And
take notice that I, who make this exhortation to thee, am one of thine
own nation; I, who am a Jew, do make this promise to thee. And it will
become thee to consider who I am that give thee this counsel, and whence
I am derived; for while I am alive I shall never be in such slavery, as
to forego my own kindred, or forget the laws of our forefathers. Thou hast
indignation at me again, and makest a clamor at me, and reproachest me;
indeed I cannot deny but I am worthy of worse treatment than all this amounts
to, because, in opposition to fate, I make this kind invitation to thee,
and endeavor to force deliverance upon those whom God hath condemned. And
who is there that does not know what the writings of the ancient prophets
contain in them, - and particularly that oracle which is just now going
to be fulfilled upon this miserable city? For they foretold that this city
should be then taken when somebody shall begin the slaughter of his own
countrymen. And are not both the city and the entire temple now full of
the dead bodies of your countrymen? It is God, therefore, it is God himself
who is bringing on this fire, to purge that city and temple by means of
the Romans,
5
and is going to pluck up this city, which is full of your pollutions."
[
111]
As Josephus spoke these words, with groans and tears in his eyes,
his voice was intercepted by sobs. However, the Romans could not but pity
the affliction he was under, and wonder at his conduct. But for John, and
those that were with him, they were but the more exasperated against the
Romans on this account, and were desirous to get Josephus also into their
power: yet did that discourse influence a great many of the better sort;
and truly some of them were so afraid of the guards set by the seditious,
that they tarried where they were, but still were satisfied that both they
and the city were doomed to destruction. Some also there were who, watching
a proper opportunity when they might quietly get away, fled to the Romans,
of whom were the high priests Joseph and Jesus, and of the sons of high
priests three, whose father was Ishmael, who was beheaded in Cyrene, and
four sons of Matthias, as also one son of the other Matthias, who ran away
after his father's death,
6
and whose father was slain by Simon the son of Gioras, with three of his
sons, as I have already related; many also of the other nobility went over
to the Romans, together with the high priests. Now Caesar not only received
these men very kindly in other respects, but, knowing they would not willingly
live after the customs of other nations, he sent them to Gophna, and desired
them to remain there for the present, and told them, that when he was gotten
clear of this war, he would restore each of them to their possessions again;
so they cheerfully retired to that small city which was allotted them,
without fear of any danger. But as they did not appear, the seditious gave
out again that these deserters were slain by the Romans, which was done
in order to deter the rest from running away, by fear of the like treatment.
This trick of theirs succeeded now for a while, as did the like trick before;
for the rest were hereby deterred from deserting, by fear of the like treatment.
[
118]
However, when Titus had recalled those men from Gophna, he gave orders
that they should go round the wall, together with Josephus, and show themselves
to the people; upon which a great many fled to the Romans. These men also
got in a great number together, and stood before the Romans, and besought
the seditious, with groans and tears in their eyes, in the first place
to receive the Romans entirely into the city, and save that their own place
of residence again; but that, if they would not agree to such a proposal,
they would at least depart out of the temple, and save the holy house for
their own use; for that the Romans would not venture to set the sanctuary
on fire but under the most pressing necessity. Yet did the seditious still
more and more contradict them; and while they cast loud and bitter reproaches
upon these deserters, they also set their engines for throwing of darts,
and javelins, and stones upon the sacred gates of the temple, at due distances
from one another, insomuch that all the space round about within the temple
might be compared to a burying-ground, so great was the number of the dead
bodies therein; as might the holy house itself be compared to a citadel.
Accordingly, these men rushed upon these holy places in their armor, that
were otherwise unapproachable, and that while their hands were yet warm
with the blood of their own people which they had shed; nay, they proceeded
to such great transgressions, that the very same indignation which Jews
would naturally have against Romans, had they been guilty of such abuses
against them, the Romans now had against Jews, for their impiety in regard
to their own religious customs. Nay, indeed, there were none of the Roman
soldiers who did not look with a sacred horror upon the holy house, and
adored it, and wished that the robbers would repent before their miseries
became incurable.
[
124]
Now Titus was deeply affected with this state of things, and reproached
John and his party, and said to them, "Have not you, vile wretches
that you are, by our permission, put up this partition-wall before your
sanctuary? Have not you been allowed to put up the pillars thereto belonging,
at due distances, and on it to engrave in Greek, and in your own letters,
this prohibition, that no foreigner should go beyond that wall.
7
Have not we given you leave to kill such as go beyond it, though he were
a Roman? And what do you do now, you pernicious villains? Why do you trample
upon dead bodies in this temple? and why do you pollute this holy house
with the blood of both foreigners and Jews themselves? I appeal to the
gods of my own country, and to every god that ever had any regard to this
place; (for I do not suppose it to be now regarded by any of them;) I also
appeal to my own army, and to those Jews that are now with me, and even
to yourselves, that I do not force you to defile this your sanctuary; and
if you will but change the place whereon you will fight, no Roman shall
either come near your sanctuary, or offer any affront to it; nay, I will
endeavor to preserve you your holy house, whether you will or not."
8
[
129]
As Josephus explained these things from the mouth of Caesar, both
the robbers and the tyrant thought that these exhortations proceeded from
Titus's fear, and not from his good-will to them, and grew insolent upon
it. But when Titus saw that these men were neither to be moved by commiseration
towards themselves, nor had any concern upon them to have the holy house
spared, he proceeded unwillingly to go on again with the war against them.
He could not indeed bring all his army against them, the place was so narrow;
but choosing thirty soldiers of the most valiant out of every hundred,
and committing a thousand to each tribune, and making Cerealis their commander-in-chief,
he gave orders that they should attack the guards of the temple about the
ninth hour of that night. But as he was now in his armor, and preparing
to go down with them, his friends would not let him go, by reason of the
greatness of the danger, and what the commanders suggested to them; for
they said that he would do more by sitting above in the tower of Antonia,
as a dispenser of rewards to those soldiers that signalized themselves
in the fight, than by coming down and hazarding his own person in the forefront
of them; for that they would all fight stoutly while Caesar looked upon
them. With this advice Caesar complied, and said that the only reason he
had for such compliance with the soldiers was this, that he might be able
to judge of their courageous actions, and that no valiant soldier might
lie concealed, and miss of his reward, and no cowardly soldier might go
unpunished; but that he might himself be an eye-witness, and able to give
evidence of all that was done, who was to be the disposer of punishments
and rewards to them. So he sent the soldiers about their work at the hour
forementioned, while he went out himself to a higher place in the tower
of Antonia, whence he might see what was done, and there waited with impatience
to see the event.
[
136]
However, the soldiers that were sent did not find the guards of the
temple asleep, as they hoped to have done; but were obliged to fight with
them immediately hand to hand, as they rushed with violence upon them with
a great shout. Now as soon as the rest within the temple heard that shout
of those that were upon the watch, they ran out in troops upon them. Then
did the Romans receive the onset of those that came first upon them; but
those that followed them fell upon their own troops, and many of them treated
their own soldiers as if they had been enemies; for the great confused
noise that was made on both sides hindered them from distinguishing one
another's voices, as did the darkness of the night hinder them from the
like distinction by the sight, besides that blindness which arose otherwise
also from the passion and the fear they were in at the same time; for which
reason it was all one to the soldiers who it was they struck at. However,
this ignorance did less harm to the Romans than to the Jews, because they
were joined together under their shields, and made their sallies more regularly
than the others did, and each of them remembered their watch-word; while
the Jews were perpetually dispersed abroad, and made their attacks and
retreats at random, and so did frequently seem to one another to be enemies;
for every one of them received those of their own men that came back in
the dark as Romans, and made an assault upon them; so that more of them
were wounded by their own men than by the enemy, till, upon the coming
on of the day, the nature of the right was discerned by the eye afterward.
Then did they stand in battle-array in distinct bodies, and cast their
darts regularly, and regularly defended themselves; nor did either side
yield or grow weary. The Romans contended with each other who should fight
the most strenuously, both single men and entire regiments, as being under
the eye of Titus; and every one concluded that this day would begin his
promotion if he fought bravely. What were the great encouragements of the
Jews to act vigorously were, their fear for themselves and for the temple,
and the presence of their tyrant, who exhorted some, and beat and threatened
others, to act courageously. Now, it so happened, that this fight was for
the most part a stationary one, wherein the soldiers went on and came back
in a short time, and suddenly; for there was no long space of ground for
either of their flights or pursuits. But still there was a tumultuous noise
among the Romans from the tower of Antonia, who loudly cried out upon all
occasions to their own men to press on courageously, when they were too
hard for the Jews, and to stay when they were retiring backward; so that
here was a kind of theater of war; for what was done in this fight could
not be concealed either from Titus, or from those that were about him.
At length it appeared that this fight, which began at the ninth hour of
the night, was not over till past the fifth hour of the day; and that,
in the same place where the battle began, neither party could say they
had made the other to retire; but both the armies left the victory almost
in uncertainty between them; wherein those that signalized themselves on
the Roman side were a great many, but on the Jewish side, and of those
that were with Simon, Judas the son of Merto, and Simon the son of Josas;
of the Idumeans, James and Simon, the latter of whom was the son of Cathlas,
and James was the son of Sosas; of those that were with John, Gyphtheus
and Alexas; and of the zealots, Simon the son of Jairus.
[
149]
In the mean time, the rest of the Roman army had, in seven days'
time, overthrown [some] foundations of the tower of Antonia, and had made
a ready and broad way to the temple. Then did the legions come near the
first court,
9
and began to raise their banks. The one bank was over against the north-west
corner of the inner temple
10
another was at that northern edifice which was between the two gates; and
of the other two, one was at the western cloister of the outer court of
the temple; the other against its northern cloister. However, these works
were thus far advanced by the Romans, not without great pains and difficulty,
and particularly by being obliged to bring their materials from the distance
of a hundred furlongs. They had further difficulties also upon them; sometimes
by their over-great security they were in that they should overcome the
Jewish snares laid for them, and by that boldness of the Jews which their
despair of escaping had inspired them withal; for some of their horsemen,
when they went out to gather wood or hay, let their horses feed without
having their bridles on during the time of foraging; upon which horses
the Jews sallied out in whole bodies, and seized them. And when this was
continually done, and Caesar believed what the truth was, that the horses
were stolen more by the negligence of his own men than by the valor of
the Jews, he determined to use greater severity to oblige the rest to take
care of their horses; so he commanded that one of those soldiers who had
lost their horses should be capitally punished; whereby he so terrified
the rest, that they preserved their horses for the time to come; for they
did not any longer let them go from them to feed by themselves, but, as
if they had grown to them, they went always along with them when they wanted
necessaries. Thus did the Romans still continue to make war against the
temple, and to raise their banks against it.
[
157]
Now after one day had been interposed since the Romans ascended the
breach, many of the seditious were so pressed by the famine, upon the present
failure of their ravages, that they got together, and made an attack on
those Roman guards that were upon the Mount of Olives, and this about the
eleventh hour of the day, as supposing, first, that they would not expect
such an onset, and, in the next place, that they were then taking care
of their bodies, and that therefore they should easily beat them. But the
Romans were apprized of their coming to attack them beforehand, and, running
together from the neighboring camps on the sudden, prevented them from
getting over their fortification, or forcing the wall that was built about
them. Upon this came on a sharp fight, and here many great actions were
performed on both sides; while the Romans showed both their courage and
their skill in war, as did the Jews come on them with immoderate violence
and intolerable passion. The one part were urged on by shame, and the other
by necessity; for it seemed a very shameful thing to the Romans to let
the Jews go, now they were taken in a kind of net; while the Jews had but
one hope of saving themselves, and that was in case they could by violence
break through the Roman wall; and one whose name was Pedanius, belonging
to a party of horsemen, when the Jews were already beaten and forced down
into the valley together, spurred his horse on their flank with great vehemence,
and caught up a certain young man belonging to the enemy by his ankle,
as he was running away; the man was, however, of a robust body, and in
his armor; so low did Pedanius bend himself downward from his horse, even
as he was galloping away, and so great was the strength of his right hand,
and of the rest of his body, as also such skill had he in horsemanship.
So this man seized upon that his prey, as upon a precious treasure, and
carried him as his captive to Caesar; whereupon Titus admired the man that
had seized the other for his great strength, and ordered the man that was
caught to be punished [with death] for his attempt against the Roman wall,
but betook himself to the siege of the temple, and to pressing on the raising
of the banks.
[
164]
In the mean time, the Jews were so distressed by the fights they
had been in, as the war advanced higher and higher, and creeping up to
the holy house itself, that they, as it were, cut off those limbs of their
body which were infected, in order to prevent the distemper's spreading
further; for they set the north-west cloister, which was joined to the
tower of Antonia, on fire, and after that brake off about twenty cubits
of that cloister, and thereby made a beginning in burning the sanctuary;
two days after which, or on the twenty-fourth day of the forenamed month,
[Panemus or Tamuz,] the Romans set fire to the cloister that joined to
the other, when the fire went fifteen cubits farther. The Jews, in like
manner, cut off its roof; nor did they entirely leave off what they were
about till the tower of Antonia was parted from the temple, even when it
was in their power to have stopped the fire; nay, they lay still while
the temple was first set on fire, and deemed this spreading of the fire
to be for their own advantage. However, the armies were still fighting
one against another about the temple, and the war was managed by continual
sallies of particular parties against one another.
[
169]
Now there was at this time a man among the Jews, low of stature
he was, and of a despicable appearance; of no character either as to his
family, or in other respects: his flame was Jonathan. He went out at the
high priest John's monument, and uttered many other insolent things to
the Romans, a challenged the best of them all to a single combat.But many
of those that stood there in the army huffed him, and many of them (as
they might well be) were afraid of him. Some of them also reasoned thus,
and that justly enough: that it was not fit to fight with a man that desired
to die, because those that utterly despaired of deliverance had, besides
other passions, a violence in attacking men that could not be opposed,
and had no regard to God himself; and that to hazard oneself with a person,
whom, if you overcome, you do no great matter, and by whom it is hazardous
that you may be taken prisoner, would be an instance, not of manly courage,
but of unmanly rashness. So there being nobody that came out to accept
the man's challenge, and the Jew cutting them with a great number of reproaches,
as cowards, (for he was a very haughty man in himself, and a great despiser
of the Romans,) one whose name was Pudens, of the body of horsemen, out
of his abomination of the other's words, and of his impudence withal, and
perhaps out of an inconsiderate arrogance, on account of the other's lowness
of stature, ran out to him, and was too hard for him in other respects,
but was betrayed by his ill fortune; for he fell down, and as he was down,
Jonathan came running to him, and cut his throat, and then, standing upon
his dead body, he brandished his sword, bloody as it was, and shook his
shield with his left hand, and made many acclamations to the Roman army,
and exulted over the dead man, and jested upon the Romans; till at length
one Priscus, a centurion, shot a dart at him as he was leaping and playing
the fool with himself, and thereby pierced him through; upon which a shout
was set up both by the Jews and the Romans, though on different accounts.
So Jonathan grew giddy by the pain of his wounds, and fell down upon the
body of his adversary, as a plain instance how suddenly vengeance may come
upon men that have success in war, without any just deserving the same.