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he died immediately: But the Idumeans who were already much afraid of Simon's power, thought fit to take a view of the enemy's army before they hazarded a battle with them.

6. Now there was one of their commanders named Jacob, who offered to ferve them readily upon that occafion 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 affurances upon oath from him, that he fhould always have him in efteem, and then promiled him that he would affift him in fubduing all Idumeaunder him; upon which account he was feafted after an o bliging manner by Simon, and elevated by his mighty promifes; and when he was returned to his own men, he at firft belied the army of Simon, and faid it was manifold more in number than what it was; after which he dexterously perfuaded the commanders, and by degrees the whole multitude, to receive Simon, and to furrender the whole government up to him, without fighting. And as he was doing this, he invited Simon by his meflengers, and promifed him to disperse the Idumeans, which he performed alfo, for as foon as their army was nigh them he first of all got upon his horse, and fled, together with those whom he had corrupted; hereupon a ter ror fell upon the whole multitude, and before it came to a clole fight, they broke their ranks, and every one retired to his own home.

7. Thus did Simon unexpectedly march into Idumea, with-out bloodshed, and made a fudden attack upon the city Heb ron and took it; wherein he got poffeffion of a great deal of prey, and plundered it of a vast quantity of fruit. Now the people of the country fay, 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 alfo relate, that it had been the habitation. of Abram, the progenitor of the Jews, after he had removed out of Mefopotamia; and they fay, that his pofterity descended from thence into Egypt, whofe monuments are to this very time fhewed in that fmall city; the fabric of which monuments are of the most excellent marble, and wrought after the moft elegant manner. There is alfo there fhewed, at the dif tance of fix furlongs from the city, a very large turpentine tree; and the report goes, that this tree has continued ever fince the creation of the world. Thence did Simon make his progrefs over all Idumea, and did not only ravage the citiesand villages, but lay wafte the whole country; for, befides thofe that were completely armed, he had forty thousand men

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

that followed him, infomuch that he had not provifions enough to fuffice fuch a multitude. Now, befides this want of provifions that he was in, he was of a barbarous difpofition, and bore great anger at this nation, by which means it came to pafs that Idumea was greatly depopulated; and as one may fee all the woods behind defpoiled of their leaves by locufts, after they have been there, fo was there nothing left behind Simon's army but a defert. Some places they burnt down, fome they utterly demolished, and whatfoever grew in the country they either trod it down or fed upon it, and by their marches they made the ground that was cultivated harder and more untractable than that which was barren. In short, there was no fign remaining of thofe places that had been laid wafte, that ever they had a being.

8. This fuccefs of Simon excited the Zelotes afrefh; and though they were afraid to fight him openly in a fair battle, yet did they lay ambushes in the paffes, and feized upon his wife, with a confiderable number of her attendants; whereupon they came back to the city rejoicing, as if they had taken Simon himfelf captive, and were in prefent expectation that he would lay down his arms, and make fupplication to them for his wife; but instead of indulging any merciful affection, he grew very angry at them for feizing his beloved wife; fo he came to the wall of Jerufalem, and, like wild beafts when they are wounded, and cannot overtake thofe that wounded them, he vented his fpleen upon all perfons that he met with. Accordingly he caught all thofe 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 deftroyed them, out of the immenfe rage he was in, and was almoft ready to tafte the very fleth of their dead bodies. He allo cut off the hands of a great many, and fent them into the city to aftonifh his enemies, and in order to make the people fall into a fedition, and defert those who had been the authors of his wife's feizure. He alfo enjoined them to tell the people, that Simon fwore by the God of the universe, who fees all things, that unless they will reftore him his wife, he will break down their wall, and inflict the like punishment upon all the citizens, without fparing any age, and without making any diftinction between the guilty and the innocent. Thefe threatenings fo greatly affrighted not the people only, but the Zelotes themselves alfo, that they fent his wife back to him, when he became a little milder, and left off his perpetual blood fhedding.

9. But now fedition and civil war prevailed, not only over Judea, but in Italy alfo; for now Galba was flain in the midft of the Roman market place; then was Otho made emperor, and fought against Vitellius, who fet up for emperor alfo, for the legions in Germany had chofen him. But when he gave battle to Valens and Cecinna, who were Vitellius's generals

at Betriacum in Gaul, Otho gained the advantage on the first day, but on the second day Vitellius's foldiers had the victory; and after much flaughter Otho flew himfelf, when he had heard of this defeat at Brixia, and after he had managed the public affairs three months and two days. Otho's army alfo came over to Vitellius's generals, and he came himself down to Rome with his army. But in the mean time Vefpafian removed from Cefarea, on the fifth day of the month Defius, [Sivan], and marched against thofe places of Judea which were not yet overthrown. So he went up to the mountainous country, and took thofe two toparchies that were called the Gophnitick and Acrabattene toparchies. After which he took Bethel and Ephraim, two fmall cities, and when he had put garrifons into them, he rode as far as Jerufalem, in which march he took many prifoners, and many captives; but Cerealis, one of his commanders, took a body of horfemen and footmen, and laid waite that part of Idumea which was called the Upper Idumea, and attacked Caphethra, which pretended to be a fmall city, and took it at the firft onfet, and burnt it down. He alfo attacked Capharabim, and laid fiege to it, for it had a very strong wall, and when he expected to spend a long time in that fiege, thofe that were within opened their gates on the fudden, and came to beg pardon, and furrendered themfelves up to him. When Cerealis had conquered them he went to Hebron, another very ancient city. I have told you already, that this city is fituated in a mountainous country not far off Jerufalem; and when he had broken into the city by force, what multitude and young men were left therein he flew, and burnt down the city; fo that as now all the places were taken, excepting Herodium, and Mafada, Macherus, which were in the poffeffion of the robbers, fo Jerufalem was what the Romans at prefent aimed at.

10. And now, as foon as Simon had fet his wife free, and recovered her from the Zelotes, he returned back to the remainders of Idumea, and driving the nation all before him, from all quarters, he compelled a great number of them to retire to Jerufalem; he followed them himfelt allo to the city, and encompaffed the wall all round again; and when he lighted upon any labourers that were coming thither out of the country he flew them. Now this Simon who was without the wall, was a greater terror to the people than the Romans themfelves, as were the Zelotes who were within it more heavy upon them than both of the other; and during this time did the mifchievous contrivances and courage [of John] corrupt the body of the Galileans; for thefe Galileans had advanced this John, and made him very potent, who made them fuitable requital from the authority he had obtained by their means;

Suetonius differs hardly three days from Jofephus, and says Otho perifhed on the 95th day of hĩa reign. ́ In Othon. See the note on chap. xi. § 457

for he permitted them to do all things that any of them defir ed to do, while their inclination to plunder was infatiable, as was their zeal in searching the houses of the rich; and for the murdering of the men, and abufing of the women, it was sport to them. They alfo devoured what fpoils they had taken, together with their blood, and indulged themselves in feminine wantonnefs, without any disturbance, till they were fatiated therewith: While they decked their hair and put on women's garments, and were befmeared over with ointments; and that they might appear very comely, they had paints under their eyes, and imitated, not only the ornaments but alfo the lufts of women, and were guilty of fuch intolerable uncleanness, that they invented unlawful pleasures of that fort; and thus did they roll themselves up and down the city, as in a brothel houfe, and defiled it entirely with their impure actions; nay, while their faces looked like the faces of women, they killed with their right hands, and when their gait was effeminate, they presently attacked men, and became warriors, and drew their fwords from under their finely dyed cloaks and ran every body through whom they alighted upon. However, Simon waited for fuch as ran away from John, and was the more bloody of the two; and he who had efcaped the tyrant within the wall was deftroyed by the other that lay before the gates, so that all attempts of flying and deferting to the Romans were cut off, as to those that had a mind fo to do.

11. Yet did the army that was under John raise a fedition against him, and all the Idumeans feparated themselves from the tyrant, and attempted to deftroy him, and this out of their envy at his power and hatred of his cruelty; fo they got together, and ilew many of the Zelotes, and drove the rest before them into that royal palace that was built by Grapte, who was a relation of Izates, the king of Adiabene; the Idumeans fell in with them, and drove the Zelotes out thence into the temple, and betook themselves to plunder John's effects; tor both he himself was in that palace, and therein had he laid up the fpoils he had acquired by his tyrants. In the mean time the multitude of those Zelotes that were difperfed over the city ran together to the temple, unto those that had fled thither, and John prepared to bring them down against the people, and the Idumeans, who were not fo much atraid of being attacked by them, because they were themselves better foldiers than they, as at their madness, left they fhould privately fally out of the temple and get among them, and not only destroy them, but fet the city on fire alfo. So they affembled themfelves together, and the high-priefts with them, and took counsel after what manner they thould avoid their affault. Now it was God who turned their opinions to the worst advice, and thence they deviled fuch a remedy to get themselves free as was worse than the difeafe itfelt. Accordingly, in order to overthrow John, they determined to admit Simon, and

earneftly to defire the introduction of a fecond tyrant into the city; which refolution they brought to perfection, and fent Matthias the high priest, to befeech this Simon to come in to them, of whom they had fo often been afraid. Those alfo that had fled from the Zelotes in Jerufalem, joined in this request to him, out of the defire they had of preferving their houses and their effects. Accordingly he, in an arrogant manner, granted them his lordly protection, and came into the city, in order to deliver it from the Zelotes. The people alfo made joyful acclamations to him, as their faviour, and their preferver: But when he was come in, with his army, he took care to fecure his own authority, and looked upon those that had invited him in to be no lefs his enemies, than those against whom the invitation was intended.

12. And thus did Simon get poffeffion of Jerufalem, in the third year of the war, in the month Xanthicus, [Nifan], whereupon John, with his multitude of Zelotes, as being both prohibited from coming out of the temple and having loft their power in the city, (tor Simon and his party had plundered them of what they had), were in defpair of deliverance. Simon alfo made an affault upon the temple, with the affiftance of the people, while the others flood upon the cloifters and the battlements, and defended themfelves from their affaults. However, a confiderable number of Simon's party tell, and many were carried off wounded; for the zealots threw their darts eafily from a luperior place, and seldom failed of hitting their enemies; but having the advantage of fituation, and having withal erected four very large towers aforehand, that their darts might come from higher places, one at the north east corner of the court, one above the Xyllus, the third at another corner, over against the lower city, and the lait was erected above the top of the Paftophoria, where one of the priests flood of courfe, and gave a fignal beforehand, with a trumpet, at the beginning of every feventh day, in the evening twilight, as allo at the evening when that day was finished, as giving notice to the people when they were to leave off work, and when they were to go to work again. These men alfo fet their engines to caft darts and ftones withal, upon those towers, with their archers and flingers, And now Simon made his affault upon the temple more faintly, by reason that the greatest part of his men grew weary of that work; yet did he not leave off his oppofition, becaule his army was fuperior to

*

This beginning and ending the obfervation of the Jewish feventh day, or Sabbath, with a prieft's blowing of a trumpet, is remarkable, and no where elle mentioned, that I know of. Nor is Reland's conjecture here improbable, that this was the very place that has puzzled our commentators fo long, called Mufach Sabbati," the Covert of the Sabbath," if that be the true reading, a Kings xvi. 18. because here the proper prieit itood dry, under a "covering," to proclaim the beginning and ending of every Jewish Sabbath.