have read over thy book with great pleasure, and it appears to me, that thou hast done it much more accurately, "and with greater care, than have the other writers. Send me the rest of these books. Farewell, my dear friend." "King Agrippa to Josephus, his dear friend, sendeth greet"ing. It seems by what thou hast written, that thou stand"est in need of no instruction, in order to our information "from the beginning. However, when thou comest to me, "I will inform thee of a great many things which thou dost "not know." So when this history was perfected, Agrippa, neither by way of flattery, which was not agreeable to him, nor by way of irony, as thou wilt say, (for he was entirely a stranger to such an evil disposition of mind,) but he wrote this by way of attestation to what was true, as all that read histories may do. And so much shall be said concerning Justus,* which I am obliged to add by way of digression.

66. Now when I had settled the affairs of Tiberias, and had assembled my friends as a Sanhedrim, I consulted what I should do as to John. Whereupon it appeared to be the opinion of all the Galileans, that I should arm them all, and march against John, and punish him as the author of all the disorders that had happened. Yet was not I pleased with their determination; as purposing to compose these troubles without bloodshed. Upon this I exhorted them to use the utmost care to learn the names of all that were under John; which when they had done, and I thereby was apprised who the men were, I published an edict, wherein I offered security and my right-hand to such of John's party as had a mind to repent; and I allowed twenty days time to such as would take this most

The character of this history of Justus of Tiberias, the rival of our Josephus, which is now lost, with its only remaining fragment, are given us by a very able critic, Photius, who read that history. It is in the 33d code of his Bibliotha, and runs thus. "I have read (says Photius) the chronology of Justus of "Tiberias, whose title is this, [The chronology of] the Kings of Judah, which succeed"ed one another. This [Justus] came out of the city Tiberias in Galilee. He "begins his history from Moses, and ends it not till the death of Agrippa the se"venth [ruler] of the family of Herod, and the last king of the Jews; who "took the government under Claudius, had it augmented under Nero, and still "more augmented by Vespasian. He died in the third year of Trajan, where "also his history ends. He is very concise in his language, and slightly passes "over those affairs that were most necessary to be insisted on; and being un"der the Jewish prejudices, as indeed he was himself also a Jew by birth, he "makes not the least mention of the appearance of Christ, or of what things "happened to him, or of the wonderful works that he did.

He was the son of

a certain Jew whose name was Pistus. He was a man, as he is described by "Josephus, of a most profligate character; a slave both to money and to plea"sures. In public affairs he was opposite to Josephus; and it is related, that “he laid many plots against him, but that Josephus, though he had his enemy "frequently under his power, did only reproach him in words, and so let him go without farther punishment. He says also, that the history which this man "wrote, is, for the main, fabulous, and chiefly as to those parts where he de"scribes the Roman war with the Jews, and the taking of Jerusalem."

advantageous course for themselves. I also threatened, that unless they threw down their arms, I would burn their houses, and expose their goods to public sale. When the men heard of this, they were in no small disorder, and deserted John; and, to the number of four thousand, threw down their arms, and came to me. So that no others staid with John but his own citizens, and about fifteen hundred strangers that came from the metropolis of Tyre; and, when John saw that he had been outwitted by my stratagem, he continued afterward in his own country, and was in great fear of me.

67. But about this time it was that the people of Sepphoris grew insolent, and took up arms, out of a confidence they had in the strength of their walls, and because they saw me engaged in other affairs also. So they sent to Cestius Gallus, who was president of Syria, and desired that he would either come quickly to them, and take their city under his protection, or send them a garrison. Accordingly Gallus promised them to come, but did not send word when he would come: and, when I had learned so much, I took the soldiers that were with me, and made an assault upon the people of Sepphoris, and took the city by force. The Galileans took this opportunity, as thinking they had now a proper time for shewing their hatred to them, since they bore ill-will to that city also. They then exerted themselves, as if they would destroy them all utterly, with those that sojourned there also. So they ran upon them, and set their houses on fire, as finding them without inhabitants; for the men out of fear ran together to the citadel. So the Galileans carried off every thing, and omitted no kind of desolation which they could bring upon their countrymen. When I saw this, I was exceedingly troubled at it, and commanded them to leave off, and put them in mind that it was not agreeable to piety to do such things to their countrymen: but since they neither would hearken to what I exhorted, nor to what I commanded them to do (for the hatred they bore to the people there was too hard for my exhortations to them,) I bid those my friends, who were most faithful to me, and were about me, to give out reports, as if the Romans were falling upon the other part of the city with a great army; and this I did, that, by such a report's being spread abroad, I might restrain the violence of the Galileans, and preserve the city of Sepphoris. And at length this stratagem had its effect; for, upon hearing this report, they were in fear for themselves, and so they left off plundering, and ran away; and this more especially, because they saw me, their general, do the same also; for, that I might cause this report to be believed, I pretended to be in fear as well as they. Thus were the

inhabitants of Sepphoris unexpectedly preserved by this contrivance of mine.

68. Nay indeed Tiberias had like to have been plundered by the Galileans also upon the following occasion: The chief men of the senate wrote to the king, and desired that he would come to them, and take possession of their city. The king promised to come, and wrote a letter in answer to theirs, and gave it to one of his bed-chamber, whose name was Crispus, and who was by birth a Jew, to carry it to Tiberias. When the Galileans knew that this man carried such a letter, they caught him, and brought him to me; but as soon as the whole multitude heard of it, they were enraged, and betook themselves to their arms. So a great many of them got together from all quarters the next day, and came to the city Asochis, where I then lodged, and made heavy clamours, and called the city of Tiberias a traitor to them, and a friend to the king; and desired leave of me to go down, and utterly destroy it; for they bore the like ill-will to the people of Tiberias, as they did to those of Sepphoris.

69. When I heard this, I was in doubt what to do, and hesitated by what means I might deliver Tiberias from the rage of the Galileans; for I could not deny that those of Tiberias had written to the king, and invited him to come to them; for his letters to them in answer thereto, would fully prove the truth of that. So I sat a long while musing with myself, and then said to them, "I know well enough that "the people of Tiberias have offended; nor shall I forbid "you to plunder the city. However, such things ought to "be done with discretion; for they of Tiberias have not "been the only betrayers of our liberty, but many of the "most eminent patriots of the Galileans, as they pretended "to be, have done the same. Tarry therefore till I shall thoroughly find out those authors of our danger, and then you shall have them all at once under your power, with all "such as you shall yourselves bring in also." Upon my saying this, I pacified the multitude, and they left off their anger, and went their ways; and I gave orders that he who brought the king's letters should be put into bonds; but in a few days I pretended that I was obliged, by a necessary affair of my own, to go out of the kingdom. I then called Crispus privately, and ordered him to make the soldier that kept him drunk, and to run away to the king. So when Tiberias was in danger of being utterly destroyed a second time, it escaped the danger by my skilful management, and the care that I had for its preservation.

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70. About this time it was that Justus, the son of Pistus, without my knowledge, ran away to the king; the occasion

of which I will here relate. Upon the beginning of the war between the Jews and the Romans, the people of Tiberias resolved to submit to the king, and not to revolt from the Romans; while Justus tried to persuade them to betake themselves to their arms, as being himself desirous of innovations, and having hopes of obtaining the government of Galilee, as well as of his own country [Tiberias] also. Yet did he not obtain what he hoped for; because the Galileans bore ill-will to those of Tiberias, and on this account of their anger at what miseries they had suffered from them before the war; thence it was, that they would not endure that Justus should be their governor. I myself also, who had been entrusted by the community of Jerusalem with the government of Galilee, did frequently come to that degree of rage at Justus, that I had almost resolved to kill him, as not able to bear his mischievous disposition. He was therefore much afraid of me, lest at length my passion should come to extremity; so he went to the king, as supposing that he should dwell better, and more safely with him.

71. Now when the people of Sepphoris had, in so surprising a manner, escaped their first danger, they sent to Cestius Gallus, and desired him to come to them immediately, and take possession of their city, or else to send forces sufficient to repress all their enemies' incursions upon them; and at the last they did prevail with Gallus to send them a considerable army, both of horse and foot, which came in the nighttime, and which they admitted into the city, But when the country round about it was harrassed by the Roman army, I took those soldiers that were about me, and came to Garisme, where I cast up a bank, a good way off the city Sepphoris; and when I was at twenty furlongs distance, I came upon it by night, and made an assault upon its walls with my forces; and when I had ordered a considerable number of my soldiers to scale them with ladders, I became master of the greatest part of the city. But soon after, our unacquaintedness with the places forced us to retire, after we had killed twelve of the Roman footmen, and two horsemen, and a few of the people of Sepphoris, with the loss of only a single man of our own. And when it afterward came to a battle in the plain against the horsemen, and we had undergone the dangers of it courageously for a long time, we were beaten; for upon the Romans encompassing me about, my soldiers were afraid, and fled back. There fell in that battle one of those that had been intrusted to guard my body, his name was Justus, who at this time had the same post with the king. At the same time also there came forces, both horsemen and footmen, from the king, and Sylla their commander, who was the cap

VOL. IH.

tain of this guard; this Sylla pitched his camp at five furlongs distance from Julias, and set a guard upon the roads, both that which led to Cana, and that which led to the fortress Gamala, that he might hinder their inhabitants from getting provisions out of Galilee.

72. As soon as I had gotten intelligence of this, I sent two thousand armed men, and a captain over them, whose name was Jeremiah, who raised a bank a furlong off Julias, near to the river Jordan, and did no more than skirmish with the enemy; till I took three thousand soldiers myself, and came to them. But on the next day, when I had laid an ambush in a certain valley, not far from the banks, I provoked those that belonged to the king to come to a battle, and gave orders to my own soldiers to turn their backs upon them, until they should have drawn the enemy away from their camp, and brought them out into the field, which was done accordingly; for Sylla, supposing that our party did really run away, was ready to pursue them, when our soldiers that lay in ambush took them on their backs, and put them all into great disorder. I also immediately made a sudden túrn with my own forces, and met those of the king's party, and put them to flight. And I had performed great things that day, if a certain fate had not been my hindrance; for the horse on which I rode, and upon whose back I fought, fell into aquagmire, and threw me on the ground, and I was bruised on my wrist, and carried into a village named Cepharnome, or Capernaum. When my soldiers heard of this, they were afraid I had been worse hurt than I was: and so they did not go on with their pursuit any farther, but returned in very great concern for me. I therefore sent for the physicians, and while I was under their hand, I continued feverish that day; and, as the physicians directed, I was at night removed to Tariche.

73. When Sylla and his party were informed what had happened to me, they took courage again; and understanding that the watch was negligently kept in our camp, they by night placed a body of horsemen in ambush beyond Jordan, and when it was day they provoked us to fight; and as we did not refuse it, but came into the plain, their horsemen appeared out of that ambush in which they had lain, and put our men into disorder, and made them run away; so they slew six men of our side. Yet did they not go off with the victory at last; for when they heard that some armed men were sailed from Tariches to Julias, they were afraid, and retired.

74. It was not now long before Vespasian came to Tyre, and king Agrippa with him; but the Tyrians began to speak reproachfully of the king, and called him an enemy to the