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ed upon, they put in practice sooner than any one could imagine. But their thirst was chiefly after the blood of valiant men, and men of good families; the one sort of which they destroyed out of envy, the other out of fear; for they thought their whole security lay in leaving no potent men alive, on which account they slew Gorion, a person eminent in dignity, and on account of his family also; he was also for democracy, and of as great boldness and freedom of spirit as were any of the Jews whosoever; the principal thing that ruined him, added to his other advantages, was his free speaking. Nor did Niger of Perea escape their hands; he had been a man of great valour in their war with the Romans, but was now drawn through the middle of the city, and, as he went, he frequently cried out, and shewed the scars of his wounds; and when he was drawn out of the gates, and despaired of his preservation, he besought them to grant him a burial; but as they had threatened him beforehand not to grant him any spot of earth for a grave, which he chiefly desired of them, so did they slay him [without permitting him to be buried.] Now when they were slaying him, he made this imprecation upon them, that they might undergo both famine and pestilence in this war, and besides all that, they might come to the mutual slaughter of one another; all which imprecations God confirmed against these impious men, and was what came most justly upon them, when not long afterwards they tasted of their own madness in their mutual seditions one against another. So when this Niger was killed, their fears of being overturned were diminished; and indeed there was no part of the people but they found out some pretence to destroy them; for some were therefore slain, because they had had differences with some of them; and as to those who had not opposed them in times of peace, they watched seasonable opportunities to gain some accusation against them; and if any one did not come near them at all, he was under their suspicion as a proud man; if any one came with boldness, he was esteemed a contemner of them; and if any one came as aiming to oblige them, he was supposed to have some treacherous plot against them; while the only punishment of crimes, whether they were of the greatest or smallest sort, was death. Nor could any one escape, unless he were very inconsiderable, either on account of the meanness of his birth, or on account of his fortune.

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2. And now all the rest of the commanders of the Romans deemed this sedition among their enemies to be of great advantage to them, and were very earnest to march to the city, and they urged Vespasian as their lord and general in all cases, to make haste, and said to him, that "the providence of "God is on our side, by setting our enemies at variance against one another; that still the change in such cases may be sudden, and the Jews may quickly be at one again, either "because they may be tired out with their civil miseries, or repent them of such doings." But Vespasian replied, that "they were greatly mistaken in what they thought fit to "be done, as those that, upon the theatre, love to make a "shew of their hands, and of their weapons, but do it to "their own hazard, without considering what was for their "advantage and for their security; for that if they now go and "attack the city immediately, they shall but occasion their "enemies to unite together, and shall convert their force, now "it is in its height, against themselves. But if they stay a "while they shall have fewer enemies, because they will be "consumed in this sedition: that God acts as a general of "the Romans better than he can do, and is giving the Jews <s up to them without any pains of their own, and granting "their army a victory, without any danger: that therefore it "is their best way while their enemies are destroying each "other with their own hands, and falling into the greatest "of misfortunes, which is of that sedition, to sit still as spec"tators of the dangers they run into, rather than to fight hand "to hand with men that love murdering, and are mad one "against another. But if any one imagines that the glory of victory, when it is gotten without fighting, will be more in"sipid, let him know this much that a glorious success quiet"ly obtained, is more profitable than the dangers of a battle: for we ought to esteem those that do what is agreeable to temperance and prudence, no less glorious than those that "have gained great reputation by their actions in war : that " he shall lead on his army with greater force, when their ene"mies are diminished, and his own army refreshed after the "continual labours he had undergone. However, that this "is not a proper time to propose to ourselves the glory of "victory; for that the Jews are not now employed in ma"king of armour or building of walls, nor indeed in getting "together auxiliaries, while the advantage will be on their side, who give them such opportunity of delay; but that

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"the Jews are vexed to pieces every day by their civil wars “and dissensions, and are under greater miseries than, if they "were once taken, could be inflicted on them by us. Whe"ther therefore any one hath regard to what is for our safe"ty, he ought to suffer these Jews to destroy one another, or "whether he hath regard to the greater glory of the action, "we ought by no means to meddle with those men, now they 66 are afflicted with a distemper at home; for should we now conquer them, it would be said the conquest was not owing "to our bravery, but to their sedition."

3. And now the commanders joined in their approbation of what Vespasian had said, and it was soon discovered how wise an opinion he had given. And indeed many there were of the Jews that deserted every day, and fled away from the zealots, although their flight was very difficult, since they had guarded every passage out of the city, and slew every one that was caught by them, as taking it for granted they were going over to the Romans; yet did he who gave them money get clear off, while he only that gave them none was voted a traitor. So the upshot was this, that the rich purchased their flight by money, while none but the poor were slain. Along all the roads also vast numbers of dead bodies lay on heaps, and even many of those that were so zealous in deserting, at length chose rather to perish within the city; for the hopes of burial made death in their own city appear of the two less terrible to them. But these zealots came at last to that degree of barbarity, as not to bestow a burial, either on those slain in the city, or on those that lay along the roads; but as if they had made an agreement to cancel both the laws of their country, and the laws of nature, and at the same time that they defiled men with their wicked actions, they would pollute the Divinity itself also, they left the dead bodies to putrify under the sun: and the same punishment was allotted to such as buried any, as to those that deserted, which was no other than death; while he that granted the favour of a grave to another would presently stand in need of a grave himself. To say all in a word, no other gentle passion was so entirely lost among them as mercy; for what were the greatest objects of pity did most of all irritate these wretches, and they transferred their rage from the living to those that had been slain, and from the dead to the living. Nay, the terror was so very great, that he who survived called them that were first dead

happy, as being at rest already; as did those that were under torture in the prisons declare, that, upon this comparison, those that lay unburied were the happiest. These men, therefore, trampled on all the laws of men, and laughed at the laws of God; and for the oracles of the prophets they ridiculed them as the tricks of jugglers; yet did these prophets foretel many things concerning [the rewards of] virtue, and punishments of] vice, which when these zealots violated, they occasioned the fulfilling of those very prophecies belonging to their own country; for there was a certain ancient oracle of those men, that "the city should then be "taken, and the sanctuary burnt, by right of war, when a sedition should invade the Jews, and their own hands should pollute the temple of God." Now while these zealots did not [quite] disbelieve these predictions, they made themselves the instruments of their accomplishment.

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CHAP VII.

How John tyrannized over the rest; and what mischiefs the zealots did at Masada. How also Vespasian took Gadara; and what ac-tions were performed by Placidus.

1. By this time John was beginning to tyrannize, and thought it beneath him to accept of barely the same honours that others had; and joining to himself by degrees a party of the wickedest of them all, he broke off from the rest of the faction. This was brought about by his still disagreeing with the opinions of others, and giving out injunctions of his own, in a very imperious manner, so that it was evident he was setting up a monarchical power. Now some submit

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This prediction, that "the city of Jerusalem should then be "taken, and the sanctuary burnt, by right of war, when a sedition "should invade the Jews, and their own hands should pollute that temple; or, as it is, B. vi. ch. ii. § 1. "When any one should begin to slay his countrymen in the city," is wanting in our present copies of the Old Testament. See Essay on the Old Test. p. 104-112. But this prediction, as Josephus well remarks here, though, with the other predictions of the prophets, it was now laughed at by the seditious, was by their very means soon exactly fulfilled. However, I cannot but here take notice of Grotius' posi-tive assertion upon Matt. xxvi 9. here quoted by Dr Hudson, that "it ought to be taken for granted, as a certain truth, that many "predictions of the Jewish prophets were preserved, not in writ ing, but by memory." Whereas, it seems to me so far from cer tain, that I think it has no evidence, nor probability at all.

ted to him out of their fear of him, and others out of their good-will to him; for he was a shrewd man to entice men to him, both by deluding them, and putting cheats upon them. Nay, many there were that thought they should be safer themselves, if the causes of their past insolent actions should now be reduced to one head, and not to a great many. His activity was so great, and that both in action and in counsel, that he had not a few guards about him; yet was there a great party of his antagonists that left him; among whom envy at him weighed a great deal, while they thought it a very heavy thing to be in subjection to one that was formerly their equal. But the main reason that moved men against him was the dread of monarchy, for they could not hope easily to put an end to his power, if he had once obtained it; and yet they knew that he would have this pretence always against them, that they had opposed him when he was first advanced; while every one chose rather to suffer any thing whatsoever in war, than that when they had been in a voluntary slavery for some time, they should afterward perish. So the sedition was divided into two parts, and John reigned in opposition to his adversaries over one of them: but for their leaders they watched one another, nor did they at all, or at least very little meddle with arms in their quarrels; but they fought carnestly against the people, and contended one with another which of them should bring home the greatest prey. But because the city had to struggle with three of the greatest misfortunes, war, and tyranny, aud sedition, it appeared upon the comparison, that the war was the least troublesome to the populace of them all. Accordingly they ran away from their own houses to foreigners, and obtained that preservation from the Romans, which they despaired to obtain among their own people.

2. And now a fourth misfortune arose, in order to bring our nation to destruction. There was a fortress of very great strength not far from Jerusalem, which had been built by our ancient kings, both as a repository for their effects in the hazards of war, and for the preservation of their bodies at the same time. It was called Masada. Those that were called Sicarii had taken possession of it formerly, but at this time they over-ran the neighbouring countries, aiming only to procure to themselves necessaries; for the fear they were then in prevented their further ravages. But when onee they were informed that the Roman army lay still, and

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