CHAP. II.

How Titus gave order to demolish the tower of Antonia, and then persuaded Josephus to exhort the Jews again [to a surrender.]

§ 1. And now Titus gave order to his soldiers that were with him to dig up the foundations of the tower of Antonia, and make him a ready passage for his army to come up; while he himself had Josephus brought to him, (for he had been informed that on that very day, which was the seventeenth day of Panemus, [Tamuz,] the sacrifice called the daily sacrifice had failed, and had not been offered to God, for want of men to offer it, and that the people were grievously troubled at it,) and commanded him to say the same things to John that he had said before, That, "if he had any malicious inclination for fighting, he might come out with as many of his men as he pleased, in order to fight, without the danger of destroying either his city or temple; but that he desired he would not defile the temple, nor thereby offend against God. That he might, if he pleased, offer the sacrifices which were now discontinued, by any of the Jews whom he should pitch upon." Upon this, Josephus stood in such a place where he might be heard, not by John only, but by many more, and then declared to them what Cæsar had given him in charge, and this in the Hebrew language. So he earnestly prayed them, "To spare their own city, and to prevent that fire which was just ready to seize upon the temple, and to offer their usual sacrifices to God therein.' At these words of his a great sadness and silence were observed among the people. But the tyrant himself cast many reproaches upon Josephus, with imprecations besides; and, at last added this withal, "That he did never fear the taking of the city, because it was God's own city." In answer to which, Jose

* This was a remarkable day indeed, the 17th of Panemus, [Tamuz] A. D. 70, when, according to Daniel's prediction, 606 years before, the Romans, in half a week caused the sacrifice and oblation to cease, Dan. ix. 27. For, from the month of February, A. D. 66, about which time Vespasian entered on this war, to this very time was just three years and a half: see Bp. Lloyd's Tables of Chronology, published by Mr. Marshall, on this year. Nor is it to be omitted what very nearly confirms this duration of the war, that four years before the war began, was somewhat above seven years five months before the destruction of Jerusalem, ch. 5. 3.

†The same that in the New Testament is always so called, and was then the common language of the Jews in Judea, which was the Syriac dialect.

phus said thus with a loud voice," To be sure thou hast kept this city wonderful pure for God's sake; the temple also continues entirely unpolluted! Nor hast thou been guilty of an impiety against him for whose assistance thou hopest! He still receives his accustomed sacrifices! Vile wretch that thou art! If any one should deprive thee of thy daily food, thou wouldst esteem him to be an enemy to thee; but thou hopest to have that God for thy supporter in this war, whom thou hast deprived of his everlasting worship: and thou imputest those sins to the Romans, who, to this very time, take care to have our laws observed, and almost compel these sacrifices to be still offered to God, which have by thy means been intermitted. Who is there that can avoid groans and lamentations, at the amazing change that is made in this city? since very foreigners and enemies do now correct that impiety which thou hast occasioned; while thou who art a Jew, and wast educated in our laws, art become a greater enemy to them than the others. But still, John, it is never dishonourable to repent, and amend what hath been done amiss even at the last extremity. Thou hast an instance before thee in Jeconiah, * the king of the Jews, if thou hast a mind to save the city, who, when the king of Babylon made war against him, did, of his own accord, go out of this city before it was taken, and did undergo a voluntary captivity, with his fami ly, that the sanctuary might not be delivered up to the enemy, and that he might not see the house of God set on fire; on which account he is celebrated among all the Jews, in their sacred memorials, and his memory is become immortal, and will be conveyed fresh down to our posterity through all ages. This, John, is an excellent example in such a time of danger; and I dare venture to promise, that the Romans shall still forgive thee. And take notice, that I who make this exhortation to thee, am one of thine own nation; I, who am a Jew, do make this promise to thee. And it will become thee to consider who I am that give thee this counsel, and whence I am derived: for while I am alive I shall never be in such slavery, as to forego my own kindred, or forget the laws of our forefathers. Thou hast indignation at me again, and makest a clamour at me, and reproachest me; indeed I cannot deny but I am worthy of worse treatment than all this amounts to, because in opposition to fate, I make this kind invitation to thee, and endeavour to force deliverance upon those whom God hath condemned. And who is there that does not know what the writings of the ancient prophets

Our present copies of the Old Testament want this encomium upon king Jechoniah or Jehoiachin, which it seems was in Josephus's copy.

contain in them? and particularly that oracle * which is just now going to be fulfilled upon this miserable city? For they foretold that this city should be then taken, when somebody shall begin the slaughter of his own countrymen. And are not both the city and the entire temple now full of the dead bodies of your countrymen? It is God, † therefore, it is God himself who is bringing on this fire to purge that city and temple by means of the Romans, and is going to pluck up this city, which is full of your pollutions.'

2. As Josephus spake these words, with groans and tears in his eyes, his voice was intercepted by sobs. However, the Romans could not but pity the affliction he was under, and wonder at his conduct. But, for John, and those that were with him, they were but the more exasperated against the Romans on this account, and were desirous to get Josephus also into their power: yet did that discourse influence a great many of the better sort; and truly some of them were so afraid of the guards set by the seditious, that they tarried where they were, but still were satisfied, that both they and their city were doomed to destruction. Some also there were, who, watching a proper opportunity, when they might quietly get away, fled to the Romans, of whom were the high priests, Joseph and Jesus. and of the sons of high priests three, whose father was Ishmael, who was beheaded in Cyrene, and four sons of Matthias, as also one son of the other Matthias, who ran away after his father's death, whose father was slain by Simon the son of Gioras, with three of his sons, as I have already related; many also of the other nobility went over to the Romans together with the high priests. Now Cæsar not only received these men very kindly in other respects, but, knowing they would not willingly live after the customs of other nations, he sent them to Gophna and desired them to remain there for the present, and told them, that when he was gotten clear of this * Of this oracle, see the note on B. iv. ch. vi. § 3.

+ Josephus both here and in many places elsewhere, speaks so, that it is most evident he was fully satisfied, that God was on the Romans' side, and made use of them now for the destruction of that wicked nation of the Jews, which was for certain the true state of this matter, as the prophet Daniel first, and our Saviour himself afterwards, had clearly foretold. See Lit. Accompl. of Proph. p. 64, &c.

Josephus had before told us, B. v. ch. xiii. § 1. vol. vi. that this fourth son of Matthias ran away to the Romans before his father's and brethren's slaughter, and not after it, as here. The former account is, in all probability, the truest; for had not that fourth son escaped before the others were caught and put to death, he had been caught and put to death with them. This last account, therefore, looks like an instance of a small inadvertence of Josephus in the place before us.

war, he would restore each of them to their possessions again; so they cheerfully retired to that small city which was allotted them, without fear of any danger. But as they did not appear, the seditious gave out again, that these deserters were slain by the Romans, which was done in order to deter the rest from running away, by fear of the like treatment. This trick of theirs succeeded now for a while, as did the like trick before; for the rest were hereby deterred from deserting, by fear of the like treatment.

3. However, when Titus had recalled those men from Gophna, he gave orders that they should go round the wall together with Josephus, and show themselves to the people ; upon which a great many fled to the Romans. These men also got in a great number together, and stood before the Romans, and besought the seditious, with groans, and tears in their eyes, in the first place, to receive the Romans entirely into the city, and save that their own place of residence again; but that, if they would not agree to such a proposal, they would at least depart out of the temple, and save the holy house for their own use; for that the Romans would not venture to set the sanctuary on fire but under the most pressing necessity. Yet did the seditious still more and more contradict them; and while they cast loud and bitter reproaches upon these deserters, they also set their engines for throwing of darts, and javelins, and stones, upon the sacred gates of the temple, at due distances from one another, insomuch, that all the space round about, within the temple, might be compared to a burying-ground, so great was the number of the dead bodies therein as might the holy house itself be compared to a citadel. Accordingly, these men rushed upon these holy places in their armour, that were otherwise unapproachable, and that while their hands were yet warm with the blood of their own people, which they had shed: nay, they proceeded to such great transgressions that the very same indignation which Jews would naturally have against Romans, had they been guilty of such abuses against them, the Romans had now against Jews, for their impiety in regard to their own religious customs. Nay, indeed, there were none of the Roman soldiers who did not look with a sacred horror upon the holy house, and adored it, and wished that the robbers would repent before their miseries became incurable.

4. Now, Titus was deeply affected with this state of things, and reproached John and his party, and said to them, "Have not you, vile wretches that you are, by our permission put up this partition-wall before your sanctuary? Have not

* Of this partition-wall, separating Jews and Gentiles, with its pil lars and inscription, see the description of the temples, ch. xv.

you been allowed to put up the pillars thereto belonging, at due distances, and on it to engrave in Greek and in your own letters, this prohibition, "That no foreigner should go beyond that wall?" Have not we given you leave to kill such as go beyond it, though he were a Roman ? And what do you do now, you pernicious villains? Why do you trample upon dead bodies in this temple? and why do you pollute this holy house with the blood of both foreigners and Jews themselves? I appeal to the gods of my own country, and to every god that ever had any regard to this place; (for I do not suppose it to be now regarded by any of them ;) I also appeal to my own army, and to those Jews that are now with me, and even to you yourselves, that I do not force you to defile this your sanctuary; and if you will but change the place whereon you will fight, no Roman shall either come near your sanctuary, or offer any affront to it; nay, I will endeavour to preserve you your holy house whether you will or no."*

5. As Josephus explained these things from the mouth of Cæsar, both the robbers and the tyrant thought that these exhortations proceeded from Titus' fear, and not from his good will to them, and grew insolent upon it. But when Titus saw that these men were neither to be moved by commiseration toward themselves, nor had any concern upon them to have the holy house spared, he proceeded unwillingly to go on with the war again against them. He could not indeed bring all his army against them, the place was so narrow; but choosing thirty soldiers of the most valiant out of every hundred, and committing a thousand to each tribune, and making Cerealis their commander in chief, he gave orders that they should attack the guards of the temple about the ninth hour of that night. But as he was now in his armour, and preparing to go down with them, his friends would not let him go, by reason of the greatness of the danger, and what the commanders suggested to them; for they said, that "he would do more by sitting above in the tower of Antonia, as a dispenser of rewards to those soldiers that signalized themselves in the fight, than by coming down, and hazarding his own person in the forefront of them; for that they would all fight stoutly, while Cæsar looked upon them." With this advice Cæsar complied, and said, That "the only reason he had for such compliance with the soldiers was this,

That these seditious Jews were the direct occasions of their own destruction, and of the conflagration of their city and temple, and that Titus earnestly and constantly laboured to save both, is here and every where most evident in Josephus.