that had furrendered the citadel, he let them go, and reftored Eleazar to them. 5. When Baffus had fettled thefe affairs, he marched haftily. to the foreft of Jarden, as it is called; for he had heard that a great many of those that had fled from Jerufalem and Macherus formerly, were there gotten together. When he was therefore come to the place, and understood that the former news was no mistake, he, in the first place, furrounded the whole place with his horsemen, that fuch of the Jews as had boldness enough to try to break through, might have no way poffible for efcaping, by reafon of the fituation of their horlemen; and for the footmen, he ordered them to cut down the trees that were in the wood whither they were fled. So the Jews were under a neceffity of performing fome glorious exploit, and of greatly expofing themfelves in a battle, fince they might perhaps thereby escape. So they made a general attack, and with a great fhout fell upon thofe that furrounded them, who received them with great courage; and fo while the one fide fought defperately, and the others would not yield, the fight was prolonged on that account. But the event of the battle did not anfwer the expectation of the affailants; for fo it happened, that no more than twelve fell on the Roman fide, with a few that were wounded; but not one of the Jews escaped out of this battle, but they were all killed, being in the whole not fewer in number than three thoufand, together with Judas, the fon of Jairus, their general, concerning whom we have before spoken, that he had been a captain of a certain band at the fiege of Jerufalem, and by going down into a cer tain vault under ground, had privately made his escape.. 6. About the fame time it was that Cæfar fent a letter to Ballus, and to Tiberius Maximus who was the procurator [of Judea], and gave order that all Judea should be expofed to fale*: For he did not found any city there, but reserved the country for himfelf. However, he affigned a place for eight hundred men only whom he had difmiffed from his army, which he gave them for their habitation; it is called Emma. us t, and is diftant from Jerufalem threefcore furlongs. He *It is very remarkable that Titus did not people this now defolate country of Judea, but ordered it to be all fold; nor indeed is it properly peopled at this day, but lies ready for its old inhabitants the jews, at their future reftoration. See Lit eral Accomplishment of Prophecies, page 77. + That the city Emmaus or Ammaus in Jofephus and others, which was the place of the government of Julius Africanus, in the beginning of the third century, and which he then procured to be rebuilt, and after which rebuilding it was called Nicopolis, is entirely different from that Emmaus which is mentioned by St Luke xxiv. 17. fee Reland's Palæstina, lib. II. page 429, and under the name Ammaus allo. But he justly thinks that that in St. Luke may well be the fame with his Ammaus betore us, especially fince the Greek copies here ufually make it 60 furlongs diftant from Jerufalem, as does St Luke, though the Latin copies fay only 30. The place alfo allotted for thefe 800 foldiers, as for a Roman garrison, in this place, would most raturally be not to remote from Jerufalem, as was the other Emmaus or Nicopolis. alfo laid a tribute upon the Jews wherefoever they were, and - enjoined every one of them to bring two drachmæ every year into the capitol, as they ufed to pay the fame to the temple at Jerufalem. And this was the ftate of the Jewish affairs at this time. CHAP. VII. Concerning the Calamity that befel Antiochus King of Com:nagene. As alfo concerning the Alans, and what great Mifchiefs they did to the Medes and Armenians. §1. AND now, in the fourth year of the reign of Vespa it came to pafs that Antiochus, the king of Commagene, with all his family, fell into very great calamities. The occafion was this: Cefennius Petus, who was prefident of Syria, at this time, whether it were done out of regard to truth, or whether out of hatred to Antiochus (for which was the real motive was never thoroughly difcovered, fent an epiftle to Cæfar, and therein told him that " Antiochus, with his fon Epiphanes, had refolved to rebel against the Romans, and had made a league with the king of Parthia to that purpofe: That it was therefore fit to prevent them. left they prevent us, and begin luch a war as may caufe a general difturbance in the Roman empire.' Now Cæfar was disposed to take fome care about the matter, fince this discovery was made; for the neighbourhood of the kingdoms made this affair wor thy of a greater regard:. For Samofata, the capital of Commagene, lies upon Euphrates, and upon any fuch defign could afford an eafy paffage over it to the Parthians, and could allo afford them a fecure reception. Petus was accordingly believed, and had authority given him of doing what he should think proper in the cafe; fo he fet about it without delay, and fell upon Commagene, before Antiochus, and his people had the least expectation of his coming: He had with him the tenth legion, as alfo fome cohorts and troops of horsemen. These kings alfo came to his affiftance, Ariftobulus, king of the country called Chalcidene, and Sohemus, who was called King of Emela. Nor was there any oppofition made to his forces when they entered the kingdom; for no one of that country would fo much as lift up his hand against them. When Antiochus heard this unexpected news, he could not think in the leaft of making war with the Romans, but determined to leave his whole kingdom in the state wherein it now was and to retire privately, with his wife and children, as thinking thereby to demonftrate himself to the Romans to be innocent as to the accufation. laid against him. So he went away from that city as far as an hundred and twenty furlongs, into a plain, and there pitched his tents. 2. Petus then fent fome of his men to feize upon Samofata, and by their means took poffeffion of that city, while he went himfelt to attack Antiochus with the rest of his army. HowLever, the king was not prevailed upon by the diftrefs he was in to do any thing in the way of war against the Romans, but bemoaned his own hard fate, and endured with patience what he was not able to prevent. But his fons who were young, and unexperienced in war, but of ftrong bodies, were not ea fily induced to bear this calamity without fighting. Epiphanes, therefore, and Callinicus betook themselves to military force, and as the battle was a fore one, and lafted all the day long, they fhewed their own valour in a remarkable manner, and nothing but the approach of night put a period thereto, and that without any diminution of their forces: Yet would not Antiochus, upon this conclufion of the fight, continue there by any means, but took his wife and his daughters, and fled away with them to Cilicia and by fo doing quite difcouraged the minds of his own foldiers. Accordingly they revolted, and went over to the Romans, out of the defpair they were in of his keeping the kingdom; and his cafe was looked upon by all as quite defperate. It was therefore neceffary that Epiphanes and his foldiers fhould get clear of their enemies before they came entirely deftitute of any confederates: Nor were there any more than ten horsemen with him, who, paffed with him over Euphrates, whence they went undisturbed to Vologefes, the king of Parthia, where they were not difregarded as fugitives, but had the fame refpect paid them as it they had retained their ancient profperity. 3. Now when Antiochus was come to Turfus in Cilicia, Petus ordered a centurian to go to him, and fend him in bonds. to Rome. However, Vefpafian could not endure to have a king brought to him in that manner, but thought it fit rather to have a regard to the ancient friendfhip that had been be tween them, than to preserve an inexorable anger upon pretence of this war. Accordingly he gave orders that they fhould take off his bonds, while he was ftill upon the road, and that he fhould not come to Rome, but should now go and live at Lacedemon: He alfo gave him large revenues, that he might not only live in plenty, but like a king alfo. When Epiphanes, who before was in great fear for his father, was informed of this, their minds were freed from all that great and almost incurable concern they had been under. He allo hoped that Cæfar would be reconciled to them, upon the interceffion of Vologefes; for although he lived in plenty, he knew not how to bear living out of the Roman empire. So Cæfar gave him leave, after an obliging manner, and he came to Rome; and as his father came quickly to him from Lacedemon, he had all forts of respects paid him there, and there he remained. 4. Now there was a nation of the Alans, which we have formerly mentioned fomewhere as being Scythians, and inhabiting at the Lake Meotis. This nation about this time laid a defign of falling upon Media and the parts beyond it, in order This is now wanting, 429 to plunder them; with which intention they treated with the king of Hyrcania; for he was mafter of that paffage which king Alexander [the great] fhut up with iron gates. This king gave them leave to come through them: So they came in great multitudes, and fell upon the Medes unexpectedly, and plundered their country, which they found full of people, and replenished with abundance of cattle, while nobody durft make any refiftance against them; for Pacorus, the king of the country, had fled away for fear into places where they could not easily come at him, and had yielded up every thing he had to them, and had only faved his wife and his concubines from them, and that with difficulty alfo, after they had been made captives, by giving them an hundred talents for their ranfom. Thefe Alans therefore plundered the country without oppofition, and with great eale, and proceeded as far as Armenia, laying all wafte before them. Now Tiridates was king of that country, who met them, and fought them, but had like to have been taken alive in the battle; for a certain man threw a net over him from a great diftance, and had foon drawn him to him, unless he had immediately cut the cord with his fword, and ran away, and prevented it. So the Alans, being ftill more provoked by this fight, laid wafte the country, and drove a great multitude of the men, and a great, quantity of the other prey they had gotten out of both kingdoms along with them, and then retreated back to their own country. CHAP. VIII. Concerning Mafada and thofe Sicarii who kept it; and how Silva betook himself to form the Siege of that Citadel. Eleazar's Speeches to the Befieged. 11. THEN Baffus was dead in Judea, Flavius Silva fucceeded him that all the ref of the country was fubdued in this war, and as procurator there; who when he faw that there was but one only ftrong hold that was ftill in rebellion, he got all his army together that lay in different places, and made an expedition against it. This fortress was called Malada. It was one Eleazar a potent man, and the commander of these Sicarii, that had feized upon it. He was a defcendent from that Judas who had perluaded abundance of the Jews, as we have formerly related, not to fubmit to the taxation when Syrenius was fent into Judea to make one; for then it was that the Sicarii got together against thofe that were willing to fubmit to the Romans, and treated them in all refpe&ts as if they had been their enemies, both by plundering them of what they had, by driving away their cattle, and by fetting fire to the houses; for they faid, that they differed not at all from foreigners, by betraying, in fo cowardly a manner, that freedom which Jews thought worthy to be contended for to the utmost, and by owning that they preferred flavery under the Romans before fuch a contention. Now this was in reality no better than a pretence, and a cloak for the barbarity which was made ufe of by them, and to colour over their own avarice, which they afterward made evident by their own action; for those that were partners with them in their rebellion, joined alfo with them in the war against the Romans, and went farther lengths with them in their impudent undertakings a gainst them; and when they were again convicted of diffembling in fuch their pretences, they ftill more abufed those that justly reproached them for their wickednefs. And indeed that was a time moft fertile in all manner of wicked practices, infomuch that no kind of evil deeds were then left undone; nor could any one fo much as devife any bad thing that was new, fo deeply were they all infected, and ftrove with one another in their fingle capacity and in their communities, who fhould run the greatest lengths in impiety towards God, and in unjust actions towards their neighbours, the men of power oppreffing the multitude, and the multitude earneftiy labouring to deffroy the men of power. The one part were defirous of tyrannizing over others, and the reft of offering violence to others, and of plundering fuch as were richer than themselves. They were the Sicarii who first began thefe tranfgreffions, and firft became barbarous towards thofe allied to them, and left no words of reproach unfaid, and no works of perdition untried, in order to deftroy those whom their contrivances affected. Yet did John demonftrate by his actions, that these Sicarii were more moderate than he was himself; for he not only flew all fuch as gave him good counsel to do what was right, but treated them worst of all. as the most bitter enemies that he had among all the citizens: Nay, he filled his entire country with ten thousand inftances of wickednefs, fuch as a man, who was already hardened fufficiently in his impiety towards God, would naturally do: For the food was unlawful that was fet upon his table, and he rejected thofe purifications that the law of his country had ordained: So that it was no longer a wonder if he, who was fo mad in his impiety towards God, did not obferve any rules of gentlenefs and common affection towards men. Again, therefore, what mischief was there which Simon the fon of Gioras did not do? or what kind of abuses did he abftain from as to thofe very free men who had fet him up for a tyrant? What friendthip or kindred were there that did not make him more bold in his daily murders? for they looked upon the doing of mischief to strangers only, as a work beneath their courage, but thought their barbarity towards their nearest relations would be a glorious demonflration thereof. The Idumeans alfo ftrove with thefe men, which fhould be guilty of the greatest madness; for they [all] vile wretches as they were, cut the throats of the high priests, that so no part of a religious regard to God might be preferved: They thence proceeded to destroy utterly the leaft remains of a political |