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sed by the soldiers as a pusillanimous person, and slain by treachery in the middle of the market-place at Rome, and Otho was made emperor; with his expedition against the commanders of Vitellius, and his destruction thereupon; and besides what troubles there were under Vitellius, and the fight that was about the Capitol; as also how Antonius Pri mus and Mucianus slew Vitellius, and his German legions, and thereby put an end to that civil war; I have omitted to give an exact account of them because they are well known by all, and they are described by a great number of Greek and Roman authors; yet for the sake of the connexion of matters, and that my history may not be incoherent, I have just touched upon every thing briefly. Wherefore Vespasian put off at first his expedition against Jerusalem, and stood waiting whether the empire would be transferred after the death of Nero. Moreover, when he heard that Galba was made emperor, he attempted nothing, till he also should send him some directions about the war; however he sent his son Titus to him, to salute him; and to receive his commands about the Jews. Upon the very same errand did king Agrippa sail along with Titus to Galba: but as they were sailing in their long ships by the coasts of Achaia, for it was winter time, they heard that Galba was slain, before they could get to him, after he had reigned seven months and as many days. After whom Otho took the government, and undertook the management of public affairs. So Agrippa resolved to go on to Rome, without any terror on account of the change in the government; but Titus, by a divine impulse; sailed back from Greece to Syria and came in great haste to Cæsarea to his father. And now they were both in suspense about the public affairs, the Roman empire being then in a fluctuating condition, and did not go on with their expedition against the Jews, but thought that to make any attack upon foreigners was now unseasonable, on account of the solicitude they were in for their own country.

2. And now there arose another war at Jerusalem. There was a son of Giora, one Simon, by birth of Gerasa, a young man, not so cunning indeed as John [of Gischala] who had already seized upon the city, but superior in strength of body

tonius, and Dio more largely. However, we may observe with OtLias; that Josephus writes the name of the second of them not Ot. to, with many others, but Otho, with the coins. See also the note on cho ai. Ổ đ

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and courage: on which account, when he had been driven away from that Acrabattene toparchy which he once had, by Ananus the high-priest, he came to those robbers who had seized upon Masada. At the first they suspected him, aud only permitted him to come with the women he brought with him, into the lower part of the fortress, while they dwelt in the upper part of it themselves. However his manners so well agreed with theirs, and he seemed so trusty a man, that he went out with them, and ravaged and destroyed the country with them about Masada; yet when he persuaded them to undertake greater things, he could not prevail with them so to do; for as they were accustomed to dwell in that citadel, they were afraid of going far from that which was their hiding place but he affecting to tyrannize, and being fond of greatness, when he had heard of the death of Ananus he left them, and went into the mountainous part of the country. So he proclaimed liberty to those in slavery, and a reward to those already free, and got together a set of wicked men from all quarters.

4. And as he had now a strong body of men about him, he over ran the villages that lay in the mountainous country, and when there were still more and more that came to him, he ventured to go down into the lower parts of the country, and since he was now become formidable to the cities, many of the men of power were corrupted by him; so that his army was no longer composed of slaves and robbers, but a great many of the populace were obedient to him as to their king. He then over-ran the Acrabatene toparchy and the places that reached as far as the great Idumea; for he built a wall at a certain village called Nain, and made use of that as a fortress of his own party's security; and at the valley called Pharan he enlarged many of the caves, and many others he found ready for his purpose; these he made use of as repositories for his treasures, and receptacles for his prey, and therein he laid up the fruits that he had got by rapine; and many of his partisans had their dwelling in them, and he made no secret of it that he was exercising his men beforehand, and making preperations for the assault of Jerusalem.

5. Whereupon the zealots, out of the dread they were in of his attacking them, and being willing to prevent one that was growing up to oppose them, went out against him with their weapons. Simon met them, and joining battle with them, slew a considerable number of them, and drove

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the rest before him into the city, but durst not trust so much upon his forces, as to make an assault upon the walls; but he resolved first to subdue Idumea, and, as he had now twenty thousand armed men, he marched to the borders of their country. Hereupon the rulers of the Idumeans got together on the sudden the most warlike part of their people, about twenty-five thousand in number, and permitted the rest to be a guard to their own country, by reason of the incursions that were made by the Sicarii that were at Masada. Thus they they received Simon at their borders, where they fought him, and continued the battle all that day, and the dispute lay whether they had conquered him, or been conquered by him. So he went back to Nain, as did the Idumeans return home. Nor was it long ere Simon came violently again upon their country; when he pitched his camp at a certain village called Thecoe, and sent Eleazer, one of his companions to those that kept garrison at Herodium, and in order to persuade them to surrender that fortress to him. The garrison received this man readily, while they knew nothing of what he came about, but as soon as he talked of the surrender of the place, they fell upon him with their drawn swords, till he found that he had no place for flight, when he threw himself down from the wall into the valley beneath so he died immediately but the Idumeans, who were already much afraid of Simon's power, thought it fit to take a view of the enemy's army before they hazarded a battle with them.

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6. Now there was one of their commanders named Jacob, who offered to serve them readily upon that occasion, but had it in his mind to betray them. He went therefore from the village Alurus, wherein the army of the Idumeans were gotten together, and came to Simon, and at the very first he agreed to betray his country to him, and took assurances upon oath from him that he should always have him in esteem, and then promised him that he would assist him in subduing all Idumea under him; upon which account he was feasted after an obliging manner by Simon, and elevated by his mighty promises: and when he was returned to his own men he at first belied the army of Simon, and said it was manifold more in number than it was; after which he dextrously persuaded the commanders, and by degrees the whole multitude, to receive Simon, and to surrender the whole governors up to him, without fighting. And as he

was doing this, he invited Simon by his messengers, and promised him to disperse the Idumeans, which he performed also: for as soon as their army was nigh them he first of all got upon his horse, and fled, together with those whom he had corrupted; bereupon a terror fell upon the whole multitude, and before it came to a close fight, they broke their ranks, and every one retired to his own home.

*

7. Thus did Simon unexpectedly march into Idumea, without bloodshed, and made a sudden attack upon the city Hebron and took it; wherein he got possession of a great deal of prey, and plundered it of a vast quantity of fruit. Now the people of the country say, that it is an ancienter city, not only than any in that country, but than Memphis in Egypt, and accordingly its age is reckoned at two thousand and three hundred years. They also relate, that it had been the hab itation of Abram, the progenitor of the Jews, after he had removed out of Mesopotamia; and they say, that his posterity descended from thence into Egypt, whose monuments are at this very time shewed in that small city; the fabric of which monuments are of the most excellent marble, and wrought after the most elegant manner. There is also there shewed, at the distance of six furlongs from the city, a very large turpentine tree; and the report goes, that this tree has continued ever since the creation of the world. Thence did Simon make his progress over all Idumea, and did not only ravage the cities and villages, but laid waste the whole country: for besides those that were completely armed, he had forty thousand men that followed him, insomuch that he had not provisions enough to suffice such a multitude. Now, besides this want of provisions that he was in, he was of a barbarous disposition, and bore great anger at this nation, by which means it came to pass, that Idumea was greatly depopulated; and as one may see all the woods behind despoiled of their leaves by locust, after they have been there, so was there nothing left behind Simon's army but a desert. Some places they burnt down, some they utterly demolished, and whatsoever grew in the country they either trode it down or fed upon it, and by their marches they made the ground that

* Some of the ancients call this famous tree, or grove, an oak, others a turpentine tree, or grove. It has been very famous in all the past age, and is so, I suppose, at this day, and particularly for an eminent mart or meeting of merchants there every year, as the trayellers inform us.

was cultivated harder and more untractable than that which was barren. In short there was no sign remainining of those places that had been laid waste that ever they had had a being.

8. This success of Simon excited the zealots afresh; and though they were afraid to fight him openly, in a fair battle, yet did they lay ambushes in the passes, and seized upon his wife, with a considerable number of her attendants; whereupon they came back to the city rejoicing, as if they had taken Simon himself captive, and were in present expectation that he would lay down his arms, and make supplication to them for his wife; but instead of indulging any merciful affection, he grew very angry at them for seizing his beloved wife; so he came to the wall of Jerusalem, and, like wild beasts when they are wounded, and cannot overtake those that wounded them, he vented his spleen upon all persons that he met with. Accordingly he caught all those that were come out of the city gates, either to gather herbs or sticks, who were unarmed, and in years; he then tormented them and destroyed them, out of the immense rage he was in, and was almost ready to taste the very flesh of their dead bodies. He also cut off the hands of a great many, and sent them in the city to astonish his enemies, and in order to make the people fall into a sedition, and desert those that had been the authors of his wife's seizure. He also enjoined them to tell the people, that Simon swore by the God of the universe, who sees all things, that unless they will restore him his wife, he will break down their wall, and inflict the like punishment upon all the citizens, without sparing any age, and without making any distinction between the guilty. and the innocent. These threatnings so greatly affrighted, not the people only, but the zealots themselves also, that they sent his wife back to him, when he became a little milder, and left off his perpetual blood shedding.

9. But now sedition and civil war prevailed, not only over Judea, but in Italy also; for now Galba was slain in the midst of the Roman market place; then was Otho made emperor, and fought against Vitellius; who set up for emperor also, for the legions in Germany had chosen him. But when he gave battle to Valens and Cecinna, who were Vitellius' generals at Betriacum in Gaul. Otho gained the advantage on the first day, but on the second day Vitellius' soldiers had the victory; and, after much slaughter, Othe

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