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pointed them to be rulers of all Galilee, as he chose seven judges in every city to hear the leffer quarrels; for as to the greater caufes, and thofe wherein life and death were concerned, he enjoined they fhould be brought to him, and the seventy elders.

6. Jofephus alfo, when he had fettled thefe rules for determining caufes by the law, with regard to the people's dealings one with another, betook himself to make provifions for their fafety against external violence; and as he knew the Romans would fall upon Galilee, he built walls in proper places about Jatapata and Barfabee, and Selamis; and befides thefe about Caphareccho, and Japha, and Sigo, and what they call Mount Tabor, and Taricheæ, and Tiberias. Moreover, he built walls about the caves near the lake of Gennefar, which places lay in the lower Galilee; the fame he did to the places of Upper Galilee, as well to the rock called the Rock of the Achabari, and to Seph, and Jamneh, and Meroth; and in Gaulanitis he fortified Selucia, and Sogane, and Gamala ; but as to thofe of Sepphoris, they were the only people to whom he gave leave to build their own walls, and this because he perceived they were rich and wealthy, and ready to go to war, without ftanding in need of any injunctions for that purpose. The cafe was the fame with Gifchala, which had a wall built about it by John the fon of Levi himself, but with the confent of Jofephus: But for the building of the reft of the fortreffes, he laboured together with all the other builders, and was pref ent to give all the neceffary orders for that purpofe, He alfo got together an army out of Galilee, of more than an hundred thousand young men, all of which he armed with the old weapons, which he had collected together, and prepared for them.

7. And when he had confidered that the Roman power became invincible, chiefly by their readiness in obeying orders, and the conftant exercife of their arms, he defpaired of teaching these his men the use of their arms, which was to be obtained by experience; but obferving that their readiness in obeying orders, was owing to the multitude of their officers, he made his partitions in his army more after the Roman man

fubaltern officers of his army, as Exod. xviii 25. Deut i. 15.and in his charge against the offences common among foldiers, as Deut. xxiii. 9 in all which he shewed his great wisdom,and piety, and skilful conduct in martial affairs Yet may we difcern in his very high character of Anarus the high-prieft, B. IV. ch. v. feet. 2. who seems to have been the fame who conducted St. James, bishop of Jerufalem, to be stoned, under Al inus the procurator, that when he wrote these books of the war, he was not fo much as an Ebionite Chriftian; otherwife he would not have failed, according to his ufual cuftom, to have reckoned this his barbarous murder, as a juft punishment upon him for that his cruelty to the chief, or rather only Christian bishop of the circumcifion. Nor, had he been then a Chriftian, could he immediately have fpoke fo movingly of the causes of the destruction of Jerufalem, without one word of either the condemnation of James, or crucifiction of Chrift, as he did when he was become a Chriftian afterward.

ner, and appointed a great many fubalterns. He alfo diftributed the foldiers into various claffes, whom he put under captains of tens, and captains of hundreds, and then under captains of thousands; and befides these he had commanders of larger bodies of men. He also taught them to give the fignals one to another, and to call and recal the foldiers by the trumpets, how to expand the wings of an army, and make them wheel about, and when one wing hath had fuccefs, to turn again and aflift those that were hard fet, and to join in the defence of what had moft fuffered. He alfo continually inftructed them in what concerned the courage of the foul, and the hardinefs of the body; and above all he exercised them for war, by declaring to them diftin&tly the good order of the Ro-. mans, and that they were to fight with men who, both by the ftrength of their bodies, and courage of their fouls, had conquered in a manner the whole habitable earth. He told them that he fhould make trial of the good order they would obferve in war, even before it came to any battle, in case they would abstain from the crimes they used to indulge themselves in, fuch as theft, and robbery, and rapine, and from defrauding their own countrymen, and never to efteem the harm done to those that were fo near of kin to them, to be any advantage to themselves; for that wars are then managed the beft when the warriors preserve a good confcience; but that fuch as are ill men in private life, will not only have thofe for enemies which attack them, but God himself also for their antagonist.

8. And thus did he continue to admonish them. Now he chofe for the war fuch an army as was fufficient, i. e. fixty thousand footmen, and two hundred and fifty horsemen: And befides thefe, on which he put the greateft truft, there were about four thousand five hundred mercenaries; he had alfo fix hundred men as guards of his body. Now the cities eafily maintained the reff of his army, excepting the mercenaries, for every one of the cities enumerated above fent out half their men to the army, and retained the other half at home in order to get provisions for them; infomuch that the one part went to the war, and the other part to their work, and fo those that sent out their corn were paid for it by those that were in arms, by that fecurity which they enjoyed from them.

* i should think that an army of 60,000 footmen should require many more than 250 horsemen; and we find Jofephus had more horsemen under his command, than 250 in his future history. fuppofo the number of the thousands is dropt in

our prefent copies. .

CHAP. XXI.

Concerning John of Gifchala. Jofephus ufes ftratagems against the Plots John laid against him; and recovers certain cities which had revolted from him.

§ 1.

Now

WOW as Jofephus was thus engaged in the adminif tration of the affairs of Galilee, there arofe a treacherous perfon, a man of Gifchala, the fon of Levi, whose name was John. His character was that of a very cunning and very knavifh perfon, beyond the ordinary rate of the other men of eminence there, and for wicked practices he had not his fellow any where. Poor he was at firft, and for a long time his wants were an hinderance to him in his wicked defigns. He was a ready liar, and yet very fharp in gaining credit to his fictions; he thought it a point of virtue to delude people; and would delude even fuch as were the deareft to him. He was an hypocritical pretender to humanity, but where he had hopes of gain, he fpared not the fhedding of blood: His defires were ever carried to great things, and he encouraged his hopes from thofe mean wicked tricks which he was the author of. He had a peculiar knack at thieving; but in fome time he got certain companions in his impudent practices; at firft they were but few, but as he proceeded on in his evil courfe, they became ftill more and more numerous. He took care that none of his partners fhould be eafily caught in their rogueries, but chofe fuch out of the reft as had the frongeft conftitutions of body, and the greatest courage of foul, together with great fkill in martial affairs; fo he got together a band of tour hundred men, who came principally out of the country of Tyre, and were vagabonds that had run away from its villages; and by the means of thefe he laid waste all Galilee, and irritated a confiderable number, who were in great expectation of a war then fuddenly to arife among them.

2. However John's want of money had hitherto restrained him in his ambition after command, and in his attempts to advance himfelf. But when he faw that Jofephus was highly pleafed with the activity of his temper, he perfuaded him, in the first place, to intruft him with the repairing of the walls of his native city [Gifchala] in which work he got a great deal of money from the rich citizens. He after that contrived a very threwd trick, and pretending that the Jews who dwelt in Syria were obliged to make ufe of oil that was made by others than thofe of their own nation, he defired leave of Jofephus to fend oil to their borders: So he bought four amphore with fuch Tyrian money as was of the value of four Attic drachmæ, and fold every half amphora at the fame price. And as Galilee was very fruitful in oil, and was peculiar

ly fo at that time, by fending away great quantities, and having the fole privilege fo to do he gathered an immenfe fum of money together, which money he immediately used to the difadvantage of him who gave him that privilege; and, as he fuppofed, that if he could once overthrow Jofephus, he should himself obtain the government of Galilee, fo he gave order to the robbers that were under his command, to be more zealous in their thievith expeditions, that by the rife of many that defired innovations in the country, he might either catch their general in his fnares as he came to the country's affiftance, and then kill him; or if he fhould overlook the robbers, he might accufe him for his negligence to the people of the country. He also spread abroad a report far and near, that Jofephus was delivering up the adminiftration of affairs to the Romans; and many fuch plots did he lay in order to ruin him.

3. Now at the fame time that certain young men of the village Dabaritta, who kept guard in the great plain, laid fnares for Ptolemy, who was Agrippa's and Bernice's fteward, and took from him all that he had with him, among which things there were a great many coftly garments, and no fmall number of filver cups, and fix hundred pieces of gold, yet were they not able to conceal what they had ftolen, but brought it all to Jofephus, to Taricher. Hereupon he blamed them for the violence they had offered to the king and queen, and depofited what they brought to him with Eneas, the most potent man of Taricheæ, with an intention of fending the things back to the owners at a proper time; which act of Jofephus brought him into the greateft danger; for thofe that had ftolen the things had an indignation at him, both because they gained no fhare of it for themielves, and becaule they perceived before hand what was Jofephus's intention, and that he would freely deliver up what had colt them fo much pains to the king and queen. These ran away by night to their feveral villages, and declared to all men that Jofephus was going to betray them: They alfo raifed great diforders in all the neighbouring cities, infomuch that in the morning an hundred thousand armed men came running together; which multitude was crowded together in the hippodrome at Tarichea, and made a very peevish clamour against him; while fome cried out, that they fhould depofe the traitor;" and others, that" they fhould burn him." Now John irritated a great many, as did alfo one Jefus, the fon of Sapphias, who was then governor of Tiberias. Then it was that Jofephus's friends, and the guards of his body were fo affrighted at this violent affault of the multitude, that they all fled away but four; and as he was afleep, they awaked him, as the people were going to let fire to the house. And although thole four that remained with him perfuaded him to run away, he was neither surprised at his being himfelf deferted, nor at the great VOL. III. Z

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multitude that came against him. but leaped out to them with his clothes rent, and alhes fprinkled on his head, with his hands behind him, and his fword hanging at his neck. At this fight his friends, especially thofe of Taricheæ, commiferated his condition; but thofe that came out of the country, and thofe in their neighbourhood, to whom his government feemed burdeníome, reproached him, and bid him produce the money which belonged to them all immediately, and to confefs the agreement he had made to betray them; for they imagined, from the habit in which he appeared, that he would deny nothing of what they fufpected concerning him, and that it was in order to obtain pardon, that he had put himself entirely in. to fo pitiable a pofture. But this humble appearance was only defigned as preparatory to a ftratagem of his, who thereby contrived to fet thofe that were fo angry at him, at variance one with another about the things they were angry at. However, he promised he would confefs all: Hereupon he was permitted to fpeak, when he said, "I did neither intend to fend this money back to Agrippa, nor to gain it myself; for I did never efteem one that was your enemy to be my friend, nor did I look upon what would tend to your disadvantage, to be my advantage. But, O you people of Taricheæ, I faw that your city ftood in more need than others of tortifications for your fecurity, and that it wanted money in order for the building it a wall. I was alfo afraid left the people of Tiberias and other cities fhould lay a plot to feize upon these spoils, and therefore it was that L'intended to retain this money privately, that I might encompafs you with a wall. But it this does not please you, I will produce what was brought me, and leave it to you to plunder it; but if I have conducted my felf fo well as to please you, you may if you pleafe punith your benefactor."

4. Hereupon the people of Taricheæ loudly commended! him, but thofe of Tiberias, with the reft of the company, gave him hard names, and threatened what they would do to him; fo both fides left off quarrelling with Jofephus, and fell on quarrelling with one another. So he grew bold upon the dependence he had on his friends, which were the people of Taricheæ, and about forty thoufand in number, and fpake more freely to the whole multitude, and reproached them greatly for their rafhness, and told them, That" with this money he would build walls about Tarichea, and would put the other cities in a flate of fecurity alfo; for that they should not want money, if they would but agree for whofe benefit it was to be procured, and would not fuffer themselves to be irritated against him who procured it for them."

5. Hereupon the reft of the multitude that had been deluded retired; but yet fo that they went away angry, and two thoufand of them made an affault upon him in their armour; and as he was already gone to his own house, they flood with

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