pelled the excurfions of the Jews, but drove thofe away that were upon the walls allo. Now, the ftones that were caft were of the weight of a talent, and were carried two furlongs and farther. The blow they gave was no way to be fuftained, not only by thofe that flood firft in the way, but by those that were beyond them for a great space. As for the Jews, they of a white at first watched the coming of the ftone, for it was colour, and could therefore not only be perceived by the great noife it made, but could be feen alfo before it came by his brightness; accordingly the watchmen that fat upon the tow ers gave them notice when the engine was let go, and the ftone came from it, and cried out aloud, in their own country language, THE SON COMETH : So thofe that were in its way tood off, and threw themfelves down upon the ground; by which means, and by their thus guarding themselves, the stone fell down and did them no harm. But the Romans contrived how to prevent that by blacking the ftone, who then could aim at them with fuccefs, when the ftone was not difcerned beforehand, as it had been till then; and fo they deftroyed many of them at one blow. Yet did not the Jews under all this diftrefs, permit the Romans to raise their banks in quiet but they fhrewdly and boldly exerted themselves, and repelled them both by night and by day. 4. And now, upon the finishing the Roman works, the workmen measured the distance there was from the wall, and this by lead and a line, which they threw to it from their banks ;. * What should be the meaning of this signal or watchword, when the watchmen saw a ftone coming from the engine, THE SON COMETH, or what mistake there is in the reading, I cannot tell. The MSS. both Greek and Latin, all agree in this reading: And I cannot approve of any groundless conjectural alteration of the text from usos to 105, that not the fón or a stone, but that the arrow or dart cometh ; as hath been made by Dr. Hudson, and not corrected by Havercamp. Had Jofephus written even his first edition of these books of the war in pure Hebrew, or had the Jews theu ufed the pure Hebrew at Jerufalém, the Hebrew word for a fon is fo like that for a ftone, Bar and Eben, that such a correction might have been more eafily admitted. But Jofephus wrote his former edition for the use of the Jewsbeyond Euphrates, and fo in the Chaldee language, as he did this fecond edition in the Greek language; and Ben was the Chaldee word for fon, instead of the Hebrew Ben, and was ufed not only in the Chaldea, &c. but in Judea alf, as the New Teftament informs us. Dio alfo lets us know, that the very Romans at Rome pronounced the name of Simon, the son of Giora, Bar Poras for Bar Gioras, as we learn from Xiphiline, p. 217. Reland takes notice, "That many will here look for a myflery, as though the meaning were, that the son of God came now to take vengeance on the fins of the Jewish nation;" which is indeed the truth of the fact, but hardly what the Jews could now mean; unless poffibly by the way of derifion of Chrift's threatening fo often made, that he would come at the head of the Roman army for their destruction. But even this interpretation has but a very small degree of probability. If I were to make an emendation, by mere conjecture, I would read werpos instead of vios, though the likenefs be not fo great as in 105; Because that is the word ufed by Jofephus juft before, as have already noted, on this very occafion, while 95, an arrow or dart, is only a poetical word, and never ufed by Jolephus eliewhere, and is indeed no way fuitable to the occafion, this engine not throwing arrows er darts, but great ftones, at this time. for they could not measure it any otherwife, ecause the Jews would fhoot at them, if they came to measure it themselves; and when they found that the engines could reach the wall they brought them thither. Then did Titus fet his engines at proper diftances, fo much nearer to the wall, that the Jews might not be able to repel them, and gave orders they fhould go to work; and when thereupon a prodigious noife echoed round about from three places, and that on the fudden, there was a great noife made by the citizens that were within the city, and no lefs a terror tell upon the feditious themselves; whereupon both forts feeing the common danger they were in, contrived to make a like detence. So thole of different factions cried out one to another, that they acted entirely as in concert with their enemies; whereas they ought however, notwithstanding God did not grant them a lafting concord, in their prefent circumftances to lay afide their enmities one against another, and to unite together against the Romans. Accordingly Simon gave thofe that came from the temple leave, by proclamation; to go upon the wall; John alio himfelf, though he could not believe Simon was in earneft, gave them the fame leave. So on both fides they laid afide their hatred and their peculiar quarrels, and formed themfelves into one body; they then ran round the walls, and having a vaft number of torches with them, they threw them at the machines, and fhot darts perpetually upon thofe that impelled those engines which battered the wall; nay, the bolder fort leaped out by troops upon the hurdles that covered the machines, and pulled them to pieces, and fell upon those that belonged to them, and beat them, not fo much by any skill they had, as principally by the boldness of their attacks. However, Titus himfell ftill fent affiftance to those that were the hardeit let, and placed both horsemen and archers on the feveral fides of the engines, and thereby beat off those that brought the fire to them; he allo thereby repelled thofe that fhot itones or darts from the towers, and then fet the engines to work in good earnest; yet did not the wall yield to thefe blows, excepting where the battering ram of the fifteenth legion moved the corner of a tower, while the wall itfelt continued unhurt; for the wall was not prefently in the fame dan.ger with the tower, which was extant far above it; nor could the fall of that part of the tower easily break down any part of the wall itfelf together with it. 6. And now the Jews intermitted their fallies for a while; but when they obferved the Romans difperfed all abroad at their works, and in their several camps, (for they thought the Jews had retired out of wearinefs and fear), they all at once made a fally at the tower Hippicus, through an obfcure gate, and at the fame time brought fire to burn the works, and went boldly up to the Romans, and to their very fortifications themielves, where at the cry they made, thofe that came near came prefently to their affiftance, and thofe farther off came running after them; and here the boldness of the Jews was too hard for the good order of the Romans; and as they beat those whom they first fell upon, fo they preffed upon those that were now gotten together. So this fight about the machines was very hot, while the one fide tried hard to fet them on fire, and the other fide to prevent it; on both fides there was a contufed cry made, and many of thofe in the forefront of the battle were lain. However, the Jews were now too hard for the Romans, by the furious affaults they made like madmen; and the fire caught hold of the works, and both all those works, and the engines themselves had been in danger of being burnt, had not many of thefe felett foldiers that came from Alexandria opposed themselves to prevent it; and had they not behaved themselves with greater courage than they themselves fuppofed they could have done; for they outdid those in this fight that had greater reputation than themfelves before. This was the ftate of things till Cæfar took the floutest of his horsemen, and attacked the enemy, when he himfelt flew twelve of those that were in the forefront of the Jews; which death of these men when the reft of the multitude faw they gave way, and he purfued them, and drove them all into the city, and faved the works from the fire. Now it happened at this fight, that a certain Jew was taken alive, who, by Titus's order, was crucified before the wall, to fee whether the refit of them would be affrighted, and abate of their obftinacy. But after the Jews were retired, John, who was commander of the Idumeans, and was talking to a certain foldier of his acquaintance before the wall, was wounded by a dart fhot at him by an Arabian, and died immediately, leaving the greatest lamentation to the Jews, and forrow to the feditious. For he was a man of great eminence, both for his actions and his conduct also. CHAP. VII. How one of the Towers erected by the Romans fell down of its own accord; and how the Romans, after great Slaughter had been made, got Poffeffion of the firft Wall. How alfo Titus made his Alfaults upon the Jecond Wall: As alfo Concerning Longinus the Roman, and Caflor the Jew. NOW OW on the next night, a furprising difturbance fell upon the Romans; for whereas Titus had given orders for the erection of three towers, of fifty cubits high, that by fetting men upon them at every bank he might from thence drive thofe away who were upon the wall, it fo happened that one of thefe towers fell down about midnight; and as its fall made a very great noise, fear fell upon the army, and they, fuppofing that the enemy was coming to attack them, ran all to their arms. Whereupon a disturbance and a tumult arofe among the legions, and as nobody could tell what had happened, they went on after a difconfolate manner; and feeing no enemy appeared, they were afraid one of another, and every one demanded of his neighbour the watchword with great earneftness, as though the Jews had invaded their camp. And now were they like people under a panic fear, till Titus was informed of what had happened, and gave orders that all fhould be acquainted with it; and then, though with fome difficulty, they got clear of the difturbance they had been under. 2. Now these towers were very troublesome to the Jews, who otherwise oppofed the Romans very courageously; for they shot at them out of their lighter engines from thofe towers, as they did alfo by thofe that threw darts, and the archers, and thofe that flung ftones. For neither could the Jews reach those that were over them, by reason of their height, and it was not practicable to take them, nor to overturn them, they were fo heavy, nor to fet them on fire, because they were covered with plates of iron. So they retired out of the reach of the darts, and did no longer endeavour to hinder the impres fion of their rams, which, by continually beating upon the wall, did gradually prevail againft it; fo that the wall already gave way to the Nico, for by that name did the Jews themfelves call the greatest of their engines, because it conquered all things. And now they were for a long while grown wea ry of fighting, and of keeping guards, and were retired to lodge on the night-times at a diftance from the wall. It was on other accounts alio thought by them to be fuperfluous to guard the wall, there being befides that two other fortifica tions ftill remaining, and they being flothful, and their counfels having been ill concerted on all occafions; so a great many grew lazy and retired. Then the Romans mounted the breach, where Nico had made one, and all the Jews left the guarding that wall, and retreated to the fecond wall; fo those that had gotten over that wall opened the gates, and received all the army within it. And thus did the Romans get poffeffion of this first wall, on the 15th day of the fiege, which was the feventh day of the month Artemifius, [Jyar], when they demolished a greater part of it, as well as they did of the northern parts of the city; which had been demolished alfo by Ceftius formerly. 3. And now Titus pitched his camp within the city, at that place which was called the Camp of the Affyrians, having feized upon all that lay as far as Cedron, but took care to be out of the reach of the Jew's darts. He then prefently began his attacks, upon which the Jews divided themselves into leveral bodies, and courageously defended that wall; while John, and his faction, did it from the tower of Antonia, and from the northern cloifter of the temple, and fought the Romans before the monuments of king Alexander; and Simon's army alfo took for their share the spot of ground that was near John's monument, and fortified it as far as to that gate where water was brought into the tower Hippicus. However the Jews made violent fallies, and that frequently alfo, and in bodies together, out of the gates, and there fought the Romans; and when they were pursued all together to the wall, they were beaten in thefe fights, as wanting the fkill of the Romans. But when they fought them from the walls, they were too hard for them; the Romans being encouraged by their power, joined to their skill, as were the Jews by their boldnefs, which was nourished by the fear they were in, and that hardinefs which is natural to our nation under calamities; they were allo encouraged ftill by the hope of deliverance, as were the Romans by their hopes of fubduing them in a little time. Nor did either fide grow weary; but attacks and fightings upon the wall, and perpetual fallies out in bodies were there all the day long; nor were there any fort of warlike engagements that were not then put in use. And the night itself had much ado to part them, when they began to fight in the morning; nay, the night itfelf was paffed without fleep on both fides, and was more uneafy than the day to them, while the one was afraid left the wall fhould be taken, and the other left the Jews fhould make fallies upon their camps: Both fides alfo lay in their armour during the night time, and thereby were ready at the first appearance of light to go to the battle. Now among the Jews the ambition was who fhould undergo the firft dangers, and there. by gratify their commanders. Above all, they had a great veneration and dread of Simon; and to that degree was he regarded by every one of those that were under him that at his command they were very ready to kill themfelves with theirown hands. What made the Romans to courageous was their ufual cuftom of conquering and difufe of being defeated, their conftant wars, and perpetual warlike exercites, and the grandeur of their dominion. And what was now their chief encouragement, Titus, who was prefent every where with them all; for it appeared a terrible thing to grow weary while Cæfar was there, and fought bravely as well as they did, and was himself at once an eye-witnefs of fuch as behaved themselves valiantly, and he who was to reward them allo. It was befides efteemed an advantage at prefent to have any one's valour known by Cæfar, on which account many of them appeared to have more alacrity than ftrength to answer it. And now as the Jews were about this time ftanding in array before the wall and that in a strong body, and while both parties were throwing their darts at each other, Longinus, one of the equeftrian order, leaped out of the army of the Romans, and leaped into the very midst of the army of the Jews; and as they difperfed themselves upon this attack, he flew two of their men of the greatest courage; one of them he ftruck in his mouth, as hé |