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Florus, and diverted him from that his attempt; and that was the occafion that this war lafted fo very long, and thereby the Jews were involved in fuch incurable calamities.

5. In the mean time many of the principal men of the city were perfuaded by Ananus, the fon of Jonathan, and invited Ceftius into the city, and were about to open the gates for him; but he overlooked this ffer, partly out of his anger at the Jews, and partly becaufe he did not thoroughly believe they were in earneft; whence it was that he delayed the matter fo long, that the feditious perceived the treachery, and threw Ananus and thofe of his party down from the wall, and pelting them with ftones, drove them into their houfes; but they food themfelves at proper diftances in the towers, and threw their darts at those that were getting over the wall. Thus did the Romans make their attack against the wall for five days, but to no purpose: But on the next day. Ceftius took a great many of his choiceft men, and with them the archers, and attempted to break into the temple at the northern quarter of it; but the Jews beat them off from the cloifters and repulfed them several times when they were gotten near to the wall, till at length the multitude of the darts cut them off, and made them retire: But the first rank of the Romans refted their (hields upon the wall, and fo did those that were behind them, and the like did thofe that were ftill more backward, and guarded themfelves with what they call Teftudo [the back of a tortoise, upon which the darts that were thrown fell, and flided off without doing them any harm; fo the foldiers undermined the wall, without being themselves hurt, and got all things ready for fetting fire to the gate of the temple.

6. And now it was that a horrible fear feized upon the feditious, infomuch, that many of them ran out of the city, as though it were to be taken immediately; but the people upon this took courage, and where the wicked part of the city gave ground, thither did they come, in order to let open the gates, and to admit Ceftius as their benefactor, who, had he but continued the fiege a little lenger. had certainly taken the city; but it was, I fuppofe, owing to the averfion God had already at the city and the fanctuary, that he was hindered from putting an end to the war that very day:

* There may another very important and very providential reafon be here af figned, for this strange and foolish retreat of Ceftius; which, if Jofephus had been t now a Chriftian, he might probably have taken notice of alfo; and that is, the affording the Jewish Chriflians in the city an opportunity of calling to mind the prediction and caution given them by Chrift about thirty-three and an half years before, that "when they fhould fee the abomination of defolation [the idolatrous Roman armies, with the images of their idols in their enfigns, ready to lay JerufaJem defolate] stand where it ought not" of, "in the holy place," or, "when thy fhould see Jerufalem compaffed with armies," they should then. "flee to the mountains." By complying with which those jewish Chriftians fled to the mountains of Perea, and efcaped this destruction. See Lit. Accompl. of Proph pag. 69, 70. Nor was there, perhaps, any one inftance of a more unpolitic, but VOL. III. Y

7. It then happened that Ceftius was not conícious either how the belieged defpaired of fu cefs, nor how courageous the people were for him; and fo he recalled his foldiers from the place, and by defpairing of any expectation of taking it, without having received any difgrace, he retired from the city, without any reafon in the world. But when the robbers perceived this unexpected retreat of his, they refumed their courage, and ran after the hinder parts of his army and deftroyed a confiderable number of both their horfemen and footmen; and now Ceftius lay all night at the camp which was at Scopus, and as he went off farther next day, he thereby invited the enemy to follow him, who ftill fell upon the hindmoft, and destroyed them; they alfo fell upon the flank on each fide of the army, and threw darts upon them obliquely, nor durft thofe that were hindmoft turn back upon those who wounded them behind, as imagining that the multitude of those that pursued them was immense; nor did they venture to drive away thofe that preffed upon them on each fide, because they were heavy with their arms, and were afraid of breaking their ranks to pieces, and because they faw the Jews were light, and ready for making incurfions upon them. And this was the reason why the Romans fuffered greatly, without being able to revenge themlelves upon their enemies; fo they were galled all the way, and their ranks were put into diforder, and thofe that were thus put out of their ranks were flain, among whom were Prifcus, the commander of the fixth legion, and Longinus the tribune, and Emilius Secundus, the commander of a troop of horsemen. So it was not without difficulty that they got to Gabao, their former camp, and that not without the lofs of a great part of their baggage. There it was that Ceftius ftaid two days, and was in great diftrefs to know what he fhould do in thefe circumftances; but when, on the third day, he faw a ftill much greater number of enemies, and all the parts round about him full of Jews, he understood that his delay was to his own detriment, and that if he stayed any longer there, he thould have ftill more enemies upon him. 8. That therefore he might fly the fafter, he gave orders to caft away what might hinder his army's march, fo they killed the mules, and other creatures, excepting thofe that carried their darts, and machines, which they retained for their own ufe, and this principally because they were afraid left the Jews fhould feize upon them. He then made his army march on as far as Bethoron. Now the Jews did not fo much prefs upon them when they were in large open places, but when they were penned up in their descent through narrow paflages, then

more providential conduct than this retreat of Ceftius vifible during this whole fege of Jerufalem; which yet was providentially such a "great tribulation, as had not been from the beginning of the world to that time; no, nor ever should be.” Ibid pag. 70, 71.

did fome of them get before, and hindered them from getting out of them, and others of them thrust the hindermoft down into the lower places, and the whole multitude extended themselves over against the neck of the paffage, and covered the Roman army with their darts. In which circumflances, as the footmen knew not how to defend themselves, fo the danger preffed the horsemen ftill more, for they were lo pelted, that they could not march along the road in their ranks, and the afcents were fo high, that the cavalry were not able to march against the enemy the precipices alfo, and valleys into which they frequently fell and tumbled down, were fuch on each fide of them, that there were neither place for their flight, nor any contrivance could be thought of for their defence; till the diftrefs they were at laft in was fo great, that they betook themselves to lamentations, and to fuch mournful cries as men ufe in the utmoft defpair; the joyful acclamations of the Jews alfo, as they encouraged one another, echoed the founds back again, thefe last compofing a noise of those that at once rejoiced, and were in a rage. Indeed things were come to fuch a pafs, that the Jews had almoft taken Ceftius's entire army prifoners, had not the night come on, when the Romans fled to Bethoron, and the Jews feized upon all the places round about them, and watched for their coming out in the morning.]

9. And then it was that Ceftius, defpairing of obtaining room for a public march, contrived how he might beft run away; and when he had felected four hundred of the moft courageous of his foldiers, he placed them at the strongest of their fortifications, and gave order, that when they went up to the morning guard, they should erect their enfigns, that the Jews might be made to believe that the entire army was there ftill, while he himself took the reft of his forces with him, and marched without any noife, thirty furlongs. But when the Jews perceived, in the morning, that the camp was empty, they ran upon those four hundred who had deluded them, and immediately threw their darts at them, and flew them, and they purfued after Ceftius. But he had already made ufe of a great part of the night in his flight, and ftill marched quicker when it was day. Infomuch that the foldiers, through the aftonishment and fear they were in, left behind them their engines for fieges, and for throwing of ftones, and a great part of the inftruments of war. So the Jews went on pursuing the Romans as far as Antipatris, after which, feeing they could not overtake them, they came back, and took the engines, and fpoiled the dead bodies, and gathering their prey together which the Romans had left behind them, and came back running and finging to their metropolis. While they had themfelves loft a few only, but had lain of the Romans five thou fand and three hundred footmen, and three hundred and eighty horsemen. This defeat happened on the eighth day of the month Dius, [Marhefvan], in the twelfth year of the reign of Nero.

СНАР. XX.

Ceftius fends Amballadors to Nero. The people of Damafcus May thofe Jews that lived with them. The people of Jerufalem, after they had [left off pursuing Ceftius, return to the City, and get things ready for its defence, and make a great many Generals for their Armies, and particularly Jofephus, the Writer of thefe Books. Some Account of his Adminif

tration.

§ I.

A

FTER this calamity had befallen Ceftius, many of the most eminent of the Jews Iwam away from the city, as from a fhip when it was going to fink, Coftobarus, therefore, and Saul, who were brethren, together with Philip, the fon of Jacimus, who was the commander of King Agrippa's forces, ran away from the city, and went to Ceftius. But then how Antipas, who had been befieged with them in the king's palace, he would not fly away with them, was afterward flain by the feditious, we fhall relate hereafter. However, Ceftius fent Saul and his friends, at their own defire to Achaia, to Nero, to inform him of the great diftrefs they were in, and to lay the blame of their kindling the war upon Florus, as hoping to alleviate his own danger, by provoking his indignation against Florus.

2. In the mean time, the people of Damafcus, when they were informed of the deftruction of the Romans, fet about the flaughter of thofe Jews that were among them; and as they had them already cooped up together in the place of public exercifes, which they had done out of the fufpicion they had of them, they thought they fhould meet with no difficulty in the attempt; yet did they diftruft their own wives, which were almost all of them addicted to the Jewith religion; on which account it was that their greateft concern was, how they' might conceal thefe things from them; fo they came upon the Jews, and cut their throats, as being in a narrow place, in number ten thoufand, and all of them unarmed, and this in one hour's time, without any body to disturb them.

3. But as to thofe who had purfued after Ceftius, when they were returned back to Jerufalem, they overbore fome of thofe that favoured the Ro mans by violence, and fome they perfuaded [by entreaties] to join with them, and got together in great numbers in the temple, and appointed a great many generals for the war. Jofeph alfo the fon of Gorion, and Anan

• From this name of Jofeph the fon of Gorion, or Gorion the (on of Jofeph, as B. IV. ch. iii. 9. Vol. III. one of the governors of Jerufalem, who was flain at the beginning of the tumults by the zealots, B IV. ch. vi. § 1. the much later Jewifh author of an hiftory of that nation takes his title, and yet perfonates our true Jofephus, the fon of Matthias: But the cheat is too grofs to be put upon the learn ed world.

the high-prieft, were chofen as governors of all affairs within the city, and with a particular charge to repair the walls of the city; for they did not ordain Eleazar the fon of Simon to that office, although he had gotten into his poffeffion the prey they had taken from the Romans, and the money they had taken from Ceftius, together with a great part of the public treasures, because they faw he was of a tyrannical temper, and that his followers were, in their behaviour, like guards about him. However, the want they were in of Eleazar's money, and the fubtile tricks ufed by him, brought all fo about, that the people were circumvented, and fubmitted themfelves to his authority in all public affairs.

4. They allo chofe other generals forIdumea, Jefus the son of Sapphias, one of the high-priests, and Eleazar the son of And nias, the high priest; they alfo enjoined Niger, the then gov ernor of Idumea, who was of a family that belonged to Perea, beyond Jordan, and was thence called the Peraite, that he fhould be obedient to those forenamed commanders. Nor did they neglect the care of other parts of the country, but Jofeph the fon of Simon, was fent as a general to Jericho, as was Manaffeh to Perea, and John, the Eflene, to the toparchy of Thamana; Lydda was also added to his portion, and Joppa, and Emmaus. But John, the fon of Matthias, was made governor of the toparchies of Gophnitica, and Acrabattene, as was Jofephus, the fon of Matthias of both the Galilees. Gamala allo, which was the ftrongest city in those parts, was put under his command.

5. So every one of the other commanders adminiftered the affairs of his portion with that alacrity and prudence they were mafters of; but as to Jofephus, when he came into Galilee, his first care was to gain the good-will of the people of that country, as fenfible that he thould thereby have in general good fuccefs, although he fhould fail in other points. And being conscious to himself that if he communicated part of his power to the great men, he fhould make them his faft friends; and that he should gain the fame fayour from the multitude, if he executed his commands by perfons of their own country, and with whom they were well acquainted; he choseout + feventy of the moft prudent men, and thofe elders in age, and ap

*We may obferve here, that the Idumeans, as having been profelytes of justice fince the days of john Hyrcanus, during about 195 years, were now efteemed as part of a Jewish nation, and here provided of a Jewish commander accordingly. See the note upon Antiq. B. XIII. ch. ix. § 1. Vol II.

+ We lee here, and in Jofephus's account of his own life14 Vol. II. how exactly he imitated his legiflator Moles, or perhaps only obeyed what he took to be his perpetual law, in appointing feven leffer judges, for (maller causes, in particular cities, and perhaps for the first hearing of greater caufes, with the liberty of an appeal to feventy-one fupreme judges, efpecially in thofe caufes where life and death were concerned; as Antiq. B IV. ch. vii. § 14 Vol. I and of his life, § 14. See alfo Of the War, B. IV. ch. v. 9 4 Vol. III. Moreover we find, fect 7. that he imitated Mofes, as well as the Romans, in the number and diftribution of the