of Judea, that a certain magician, whose name was Theudas,* persuaded a great part of the people to take their ef fects with them, and follow him to the river Jordan; for he told them he was a prophet, and that he would, by his own command, divide the river, and afford them an easy passage over it; and many were deluded by his words. However, Fadus did not permit him to make any advantage of his wild attempt, and sent a troop of horsemen out against them; who, falling upon them unexpectedly, slew many of them, and took many of them alive. They also took Theudas alive, and cut off his head, and carried it to Jerusalem. This was what befell the Jews in the time of Cuspius Fa- | dus's government. 2. Then came Tiberius Alexander as successor to Fadus, he was the son of Alexander, the alabarch of Alexandria ; which Alexander was the principal person among all his contemporaries, both for his family and wealth: he was also more eminent for his piety than this his son Alexander, for he did not continue in the religion of his country. Under these procurators that great famine happened in Judea, in which queen Helena bought corn in Egypt, at a great expense, and distributed it to those that were in want, as have related already. And besides this, the sons of Judas of Galilee were now slain; I mean of that Judas who caused the people to revolt, when Cyrenius came to take an account of the estates of the Jews, as we have showed in a foregoing book. The names of those sons was James and Simon, whom Alexander commanded to be crucified. But now Herod, king of Chalcis, removed Joseph, the son of Camydus, from the high-priesthood, and made Ananias, the son of Nebedus, his successor. And now it was, that Cumanus came a successor to Tiberius Alexander: as also that Herod, brother of Agrippa the great king, departed this life, in the eighth year of the reign of Claudius Caesar. He left behind him three sons, Aristobulus, whom he had by his first wife, with Bernictanus, and Hircanus, both whom he had by Berenice, his brother's daughter. But Claudius Caesar bestowed his dominions on Agrippa, junior. 3. Now while the Jewish affairs were under the adminis *This Theudas, who arose under Fadus the procurator, about A. D. 45, or 46, could not be that Theudas who arose in the days of the taxing, under Cyrenius; or about A. D. 7. Acts, v. 36, S7. Who that earlier Theudas was, see the note on B. xvii, ch. x. § 5. Vol. V. K city of Jerusalem, and many of the Jews per But I shall first explain the occasion whence When that feast, which is called the Passover at which time our custom is to use unleavened great multitude was gathered together from a feast, Cumanus was afraid lest some attempt should then be made by them; so he ordered ment of the army should take their arms, and temple cloisters, to repress any attempts of perchance any such should begin: and this than what the former procurators of Judea di tivals. But on the fourth day of the feast, a let down his breeches, and exposed his priv the multitude, which put those that saw him rage, and made them cry out, that this impio not done to reproach them, but God himself; them reproached Cumanus, and pretended th was set on by him, which, while Cumanus hear himself not a little provoked at such reproach him; yet did he exhort them to leave off such tempts, and not to raise a tumult at the festiva he could not induce them to be quiet, for they in their reproaches to him, he gave order th army should take their entire armour, and com which was a fortress, as we have said already, looked the temple: but when the multitude say there, they were affrighted at them, and ran a but as the passages out were hut narrow, and as their enemies followed them, they were crow in their flight, and a great number was pressed those narrow passages; nor, indeed, was the n than twenty thousand that perished in this tum stead of a festival, they had at last a mournful da they all of them forgot their prayers and sacrifi took themselves to lamentation and weeping; affliction did the impudent obsceneness of a si bring upon them.* *This, and many more tumults and seditions, whic Jewish festivals. in Josephus, illustrate that cautious the Jewish governors, when they said, Matt. xxvi. 5, ing tumult, when they were travelling along the pubd, about an hundred furlongs from the city, robbed anus, a servant of Caesar, as he was journeying, and ered him of all that he had with him; which things Cumanus heard of, he sent soldiers immediately, and ed them to plunder the neighbouring villages, and to the most eminent persons among them in bonds to Now, as this devastation was making, one of the solseized the laws of Moses, that lay in one of those vil, and brought them out before the eyes of all present, tore them to pieces; and this was done with reproachanguage, and much scurrility: which things when the s heard of, they ran together, and that in great numbers, came down to Caesarea, where Cumanus then was, and ought him that he would avenge, not themselves, but God self, whose laws had been affronted; for that they could bear to live any longer if the laws of their forefathers st be affronted after this manner. Accordingly, Cuma, out of fear lest the multitude should go into a sedition, 1 by the advice of his friends also, took care that the solr, who had offered the affront to the laws, should be beaded, and thereby put a stop to sedition which was ready be kindled a second time. ow there happened a quarrel between the Jews and the Samaritans, and how Claudius put an end to their differences. 1. Now there arose a quarrel between the Samaritans nd the Jews, on the occasion following: it was the custom f the Galileans, when they came to the holy city at the fesivals, to take their journies through the country of the Samaritans; and at this time there lay, in the road they took, à village that was called Ginea, which was situated in the imits of Samaria and the great plain, where certain persons * This constant passage of the Galileans through the country of Samaria, as they went to Judea and Jerusalem, illustrates several passages in the gospels to the same purpose, as Dr. Hudson rightly observes. See Luke, xvii. 1. John, iv. 4. See also Josephus in his own life 150 where that journey is determined to three days thereto belonging fought with the Galileans, and killed a great many of them. But, when the principal of the Galileans were informed of what had been done, they came to Cumanus, and desired him to avenge the murder of those that were killed; but he was induced by the Samaritans, with money, to do nothing in the matter; upon which the Galileans were much displeased, and persuaded the multitude of the Jews to betake themselves to arms, and to regain their liberty, saying, that "slavery was in itself a bitter thing, but that, when it was joined with direct injuries, it was perfectly intolerable." And when their principal men endeavoured to pacify them, and promised to endeavour to persuade Cumanus to avenge those that were killed, they would not hearken to them, but took their weapons, and entreated the assistance of Eleazar, the son of Dineus, a robber, who had many years made his abode in the mountains, with which assistance they plundered many villages of the Samaritans. When Cumanus heard of this action of theirs, he took the band of Sebaste, with four regiments of footmen, and armed the Samaritans, and marched out against the Jews, and caught them, and slew many of them, and took a greater number of them alive: whereupon those that were the most eminent persons at Jerusalem, and that both in regard to the respect that was paid them, and the families they were of, as soon as they saw to what an height things were gone, put on sackcloth, and heaped ashes upon their heads, and by all possible means besought the seditious, and persuaded them that they would set before their eyes the utter subversion * of their country, the conflagration of their temple, and the slavery of themselves, their wives, and children, which would be the consequences of what they were doing, and would alter their minds, would cast away their weapons, and for the future be quiet, and return to their own homes. These persuasions of theirs prevailed upon them: so the people dispersed themselves, and the robbers went away again to their places of strength; and after this time all Judea was overrun with robberies. * Our Saviour had foretold, that the Jews' rejection of his gospel would bring upon them, among other miseries, these three, which they themselves here show they expected would be the consequences of their present tumults and seditions: the utter subversion of their country, the conflagration of their temple, and the slavery of themselves, their wives, and children. See Luke, xxii. 6-24. 2. But the principal of the Samaritans went to Ummidius Quadratus, the president of Syria, who at that time was at Tyre, and accused the Jews of setting their villages on fire, and plundering them; and said withall, that "they were not so much displeased at what they had suffered as they were at the contempt thereby showed the Romans; while, if they had received any injury, they ought to have made them the judges of what had been done, and not presently to make such devastation, as if they had not the Romans for their governors; on which account they came to him, in order to obtain that vengeance they wanted." This was the accusation which the Samaritans brought against the Jews. But the Jews affirmed that the Samaritans were the authors of this tumult and fighting, and that, in the first place, Cumanus had been corrupted by their gifts, and passed over the murder of those that were slain, in silence. Which allegations when Quadratus heard, he put off the hearing of the cause, and promised, that he would give sentence when he should come into Judea, and should have a more exact knowledge of the truth of that matter. So these men went away without success. Yet was it not long ere Quadratus came to Samaria, where, upon hearing the cause, he supposed, that the Samaritans were the authors of that disturbance. But, when he was informed that certain of the Jews were making innovations, he ordered those to be crucified whom Cumanus had taken captives. From whence he went to a certain village called Lydda, which was not less than a city in largeness, and there heard the Samaritan cause a second time before his tribunal, and there learned from a certain Samaritan, that one of the chief of the Jews, whose name was Dortus, and some other innovators with him, four in number, persuaded the multitude to a revolt from the Romans; whom Quadratus ordered to be put to death: but still he sent away Ananias the high-priest, and Ananus the commander [of the temple,] in bonds to Rome, to give an account of what they had done to Claudius Cae sar. He also ordered the principal men both of the Samaritans and of the Jews, as also Cumanus the procurator, and Celer the tribune, to go to Italy to the emperor, that he might hear their cause, and determine their differences one with another. But he came again to the city of Jerusalem, out of his fear that the multitude of the Jews should attempt some innovations; but he found the city in a peacea |