to command in the city, and to repair the walls; Eleazar being rather put aside on account of his tyrannical temper, though he managed to keep a good deal of power by means of his wealth and adroit and politic conduct.

"Then there were generals for Idumea and Perea, and some for certain towns too, and for the two Galilees, one of whom was Josephus, our historian, who, like some of the others, was a priest.

"Of course, he very naturally tells us a great deal about his own administration; how he first made a point of gaining the good-will of the people; how he appointed some of themselves rulers and judges, and endeavoured to discipline the forces which he raised, and to impress on them that it was by strict discipline that the Romans effected such wonders; and so on. He tells us also a great deal about a certain John of Gischala, whom he at first had in his service, but who turned out a rogue, and revolted against him. This man afterwards became very famous. Josephus seems to have been a very active man in war, as well as with his pen, and had plenty of ideas of his own, which enabled him to get out of many dangers, and overcome his enemies, this John among the rest. You see, his government included part of the dominions of Agrippa, and therefore very naturally the cities which he conquered revolted from time to time, and wanted their old king back. Tiberias was one of these; and Josephus had a very clever trick for recovering that city. He sent for their chief men to come to him, at first ten, then fifty more, then others, and still others, until he had got all their senate, which consisted of 600 people, besides about 2,000 of the populace; and as they kept coming, so he shipped them off, and had them conveyed to prisons, and kept in custody.

"Then the rest of the people, being quite overawed, laid all the blame of the revolt on a man named Clitus; so

Josephus sentenced him to have both his hands cut off. The poor man begged hard to have one left him; and this was granted on condition that he should himself cut off the other, which he did without hesitation.

"Josephus thus quieted Galilee; and the people there, as well as in Jerusalem, set to work to make ready for the war with Rome.

66

"Now the Emperor Nero, though he pretended to treat this rebellion with contempt, began to be uneasy at the bad success of his troops, and to look about for a more efficient general, who would be able to put it down. He found one at last in Vespasian, a man who from his youth had been used to arms, and who had already done good service in the west, in Germany, and even in Britain. He was in disgrace just then, for not having sufficiently admired the emperor's fine voice and acting; but Nero had to get over this feeling, because he really felt that he needed all his skill to put down these troublesome Jews. So Vespasian, with his usual decision, at once sent his son Titus to Alexandria, to conduct over two legions which were there, while he travelled by land into Syria, to collect the Roman troops and to get the help of tributary kings. He reached Antioch early in the spring, and there Agrippa met and joined him with his army. But meantime the Jews, puffed up with their late successes, had risen and made an attack on Escalon, under their leaders, Niger of Perea, Silas the Babylonian, and John the Essene. But they were an undisciplined multitude; and the Romans, who were commanded by Antonius, with a comparatively small force soon broke their van, and then threw their whole army into confusion. A terrible slaughter of some 10,000 men ensued, some of the leaders fell; and yet the desperate people were completely undaunted, and as full of fury as before."

285

CHAPTER XXXII.

DIVIDED COUNSELS.

"Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels."-ISA. xlvii. 13.

"THE campaign was opened in Galilee, and Josephus

was one of the first who had to contend with that powerful host; and he gave them a little check at Jotapata.

66

Nevertheless, he already felt that the cause was hopeless; and though he would not yet abandon it, he sent warning to Jerusalem, that they must make their choice at once, and either send a strong army into the field, or capitulate on the spot.

"And no wonder, for Gadara was already taken, all the males put to the sword, and every neighbouring village burned. Then Vespasian turned back on Jotapata, and with his whole army he sat down before it on the 15th of May, A.D. 67.

"The poor people had relied on their forests for security; but they soon saw them gradually fall beneath the Roman axes; and then despair seized them.

"But desperation succeeded: they fought like lions, and day after day sallied forth to repulse the assailants, giving them a great deal more trouble than they expected to have found. Josephus now shewed himself full of resources. He raised the city walls, defending the workmen while at their labour by hides of newly killed oxen

suspended on stakes; he destroyed the Roman embankments; he built many towers; and so baffled the Romans at every point, that they had to turn the siege into a blockade. The city was well provisioned, but short of water; and the Romans soon perceived that it was being doled out day by day to the inhabitants, and began to anticipate a speedy surrender, when Josephus ordered his men to steep their clothes in water and hang them to drip over the city walls. Thus confounded, the Romans believed themselves mistaken, and went back to the assault, which was exactly what the Jews wished.

"But I must say that at last Josephus contemplated a very mean step. He himself confesses that after a time he began to think of his own safety, and meditate how he and other leaders could leave the city. This was like a captain deserting a sinking ship; and it was no wonder that when the poor people discovered it they were very indignant, and came round him with reproaches and entreaties.

"So, finding, I believe, that he would perhaps be detained by force, he yielded to their importunity, and crying aloud, 'If then there is no hope of safety, let us die nobly,' he led them out again in such desperate sallies on the enemy, that they were almost in their turn besieged in their camp.

"Then the Romans brought forward a battering-ram, but this Josephus parried by means of sacks of straw let down to meet the hard blows wherever it struck.

"The Romans with scythes fixed to long poles cut the cords which held the sacks; and then the Jews rushed out again, and with all the lighted combustibles which they could find, set fire to the engines, and blinded the Romans with the flames and smoke. So they destroyed all the timbers of the embankments.

And one man was very daring. He took an immense

stone from the walls, and flung it with such a steady aim at the battering-ram, that he broke off the iron head of it. Then leaping down, he secured the prize, and bore it to the city. But he had been a mark for the enemy all the while; and just as he reached the walls he fell, transfixed by five arrows.

"It would be a long story to tell you all about this extraordinary siege. Vespasian himself was slightly wounded about this stage of it; and his troops, who at first left their work to crowd around him, soon returned more furiously to the assault, in order to avenge his injury. Still the desperate conflict went on day after day, and Jaffa, which also had closed its gates against the Romans, fell before Jotapata was taken.

"It was done by surprise at last. A deserter had urged an assault in the early morning, when the sentinels were apt to be sleeping. And so one day, when a thick mist enveloped the city, the enemy silently approached. Titus was the first to mount with a few soldiers. They killed the sentinels, and then descended into the city, followed by the whole army. Nor did the sleeping, starving, worn-out people know of their horrible position until the slaughter began. The Romans were furious, and the carnage fearful. Altogether in that siege 40,000 men fell, and only infants and women, who were made captives, were spared.

"As for Josephus, after for some time contemplating self-destruction, he escaped by jumping down the shaft of a dry well, at the bottom of which he found a cavern, where lay hid some forty of the principal men of the city, who had brought there provisions which might have lasted long enough to save them; but the hiding-place was discovered; and on a promise of life several times repeated, Josephus was at last induced to surrender.

"It seems that he had had a dream, which now he