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them. But as still more Jews and more sallied out of the city, the Romans were at length brought into confusion, and put to flight, and ran away from their camp. Nay, things looked as though the entire legion would have been in danger, unless Titus had been informed of the case they were in, and had sent them succours immediately. So he reproached them for their cowardice; and brought those back that were running away; and fell himself upon the Jews on their flank, with those select troops that were with him; and slew a considerable number, and wounded more of them and put them all to flight, and made them run away hastily down the valley. Now as these Jews suffered greatly in the declivity of the valley, so when they were gotten over it, they turned about, and stood over against the Romans, having the valley between them, and there fought with them. Thus did they continue to fight till noon; but when it was already a little after noon, Titus set those that came to the assistance of the Romans with him, and those that belonged to the cohorts, to prevent the Jews from making any more sallies: and then sent the rest of the legion to the upper part of the mountain, to fortify their camp.

This march of the Romans seemed to the Jews to be a flight. And as the watchman, who was placed upon the wall, gave a signal, by shaking his garment, there came out a fresh multitude of Jews, and that with such mighty violence, that one might compare it to the running of the most terrible wild beasts. To say the truth, none of those that opposed them could sustain the fury with which they made their attacks: but, as if they had been cast out of an engine, they brake the enemies' ranks to pieces, who were put to flight, and ran away to the mountain: none but Titus himself, and a few others with him, being left in the midst of the acclivity. Now these others, who were his friends, despised the danger they were in, and were ashamed to leave their general, earnestly exhorting him, "to give way to these Jews, that are fond of dying; and not to run into such dangers before those that ought to stay before him to consider what his fortune was: and not, by supplying the place of a common soldier, to venture to turn back upon the enemy so suddenly. And this because he was a general in the war, and lord of the habitable earth, on whose preservation the public affairs do all depend." These persuasions

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himself put to flight.

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Titus seemed not so much as to hear: but opposed those that ran upon him, and smote them on the face; and when he had forced them to go back, he slew them. He also fell upon great numbers as they marched down the hill, and thrust them forward. While those men were so amazed at his courage, and his strength, that they could not flee directly to the city, but declined from him on both sides and pressed after those that fled up the hill. Yet did he still fall upon their flank, and put a stop to their fury. In the mean time a disorder and a terror fell again upon those that were fortifying their camp, at the top of the hill: upon their seeing those beneath them running away. Insomuch that the whole legion was dispersed: while they thought that the sallies of the Jews upon them were plainly insupportable, and that Titus was Because they took it for granted, that if he had staid, the rest would never have fled for it. Thus were they encompassed on every side, by a kind of panic fear and some dispersed themselves one way, and some another: till certain of them saw their general in the very midst of an action and being under great concern for him, they loudly proclaimed the danger he was in to the entire legion. And now shame made them turn back and they reproached one another, that they did worse than run away, by deserting Cæsar. So they used their utmost force against the Jews; and declining from the straight declivity, they drove them on heaps into the bottom of the valley. Then did the Jews turn about, and fight them: but as they were themselves retiring. And now because the Romans had the advantage of the ground, and were above the Jews, they drove them all into the valley. Titus also pressed upon those that were near; and sent the legion again to fortify their camp. While he, and those that were with him before, opposed the enemy, and kept them from doing farther mischief. Insomuch, that if I may be allowed neither to add any thing out of flattery, nor to diminish any thing out of envy, but to speak the plain truth, .Cæsar did twice deliver that entire legion, when it was in jeopardy; and gave them a quiet opportunity of fortifying their camp.

CHAP. III.

OF THE REVIVAL OF THE SEDITIOUS IN JERUSALEM; THE SNARES CONTRIVED FOR THE ROMANS; AND THE MEANS USED BY TITUS TO RESTRAIN THE UNGOVERNABLE RASHNESS OF HIS TROOPS.

AS now the war abroad ceased for a while, the sedition within was revived. And on the feast of unleavened bread, which was now come; it being the fourteenth day of the month Xanthicus, or Nisan,* when it is believed the Jews were first freed from the Egyptians; Eleazar and his party opened the gates of the inmost court of the temple, and admitted †such of the people as wwere desirous to worship God into it. But John made use of this festival as a cloak for his treacherous designs, and armed the most inconsiderable of his own party, the greater part of which were not purified, with weapons concealed under their garments, and sent them with great zeal into the temple, in order to seize upon it. Accordingly these men, when they were gotten in, threw their garments away, and presently appeared in their armour. Upon which there was a very great disorder and disturbance about the holy house while the people, who had no concern in the sedi

* A. D. 70.

+ Here we see the true occasion of these vast numbers of Jews that were in Jerusalem, during this siege by Titus, and perished therein; that the siege began at the feast of the passover : when such prodigious multitudes of Jews, and proselytes of the gates, were from all parts of Judea, and from other countries, in order to celebrate that great festival. See the note on VI. 9. Tacitus himself informs us, that the number of men, women, and children, in Jerusalem, when it was besieged by the Romans, as he had been informed, was 600,000. This information must have been taken from the Romans: for Josephus never mentions the numbers of those that were besieged. Only he lets us know that of the vulgar, carried dead out of the gates, and buried at the public charges, was the like number of 600,000. Chap. 13. However, when Cestius Gallus came first to the siege, that sum in Tacitus is no way disagreeable to Josephus's history: though they were become much more numerous, when Titus encompassed the city at the Passover. As to the number that perished, during this siege, Josephus assures us, as we shall see hereafter, they were 1,100,000; besides 97,000 captives. But Tacitus's History of the last part of this siege is not now extant. So we cannot compare his parallel numbers with those. in Josephus.

tion, supposed that this assault was made against all, without distinction: as the zealots thought it was made against themselves only. So these left off guarding the gates any longer, and leaped down from their battlements, before they came to an engagement, and fled away into the subterranean caverns of the temple: while the people that stood trembling at the altar, and about the holy house, were rolled on heaps together, and trampled upon; and were beaten both with wooden and with iron weapons, without mercy. Such also as had differences with others slew many persons that were quiet, out of their own private enmity and hatred; as if they were opposite to the *seditious. And all those that had formerly offended any of these plotters were now known, and led away to the slaughter. And when they had done abundance of horrid mischief to the guiltless, they granted a truce to the guilty; and let those go off that came out of the caverns. These followers of John also did now seize upon this inner temple, aud upon all the warlike engines therein; and then ventured to oppose Simon. And thus that sedition, which had been divided into three factions, was now reduced to two.

But Titus, intending to pitch his camp nearer to the city than Scopus, placed as many of his choice horsemen and footmen as he thought sufficient opposite to the Jews, to prevent their sallying out upon them; while he gave orders for the whole army to level the distance, as far as the wall of the city. So they threw down all the hedges and walls, which the inhabitants had made about their gardens and groves of trees; and cut down all the fruittrees, that lay between them and the wall of the city; and filled up all the hollow places, and the chasms; and demolished the rocky precipices with iron instruments: and thereby made all the place level from Scopus to Herod's monuments, which adjoined to the pool, called the Serpent's Pool.

Now at this very time, the Jews contrived the following strata

* John's party was now so called, as distinct from the zealots under Eleazar. + Devastation is the usual companion of war. Such destruction of private property is, in such cases, thought justifiable from necessity; and has accordingly ever been practised. The progress of an army over uneven ground being impossible, it has been usual to level the ground, so as to allow an uninterrupted and easy passage. Vid. Oriental Customs, Vol. 2. No. 1078.

B.

gem against the Romans. The bolder sort of the seditious went out at the towers, called the Women's towers, as if they had been ejected out of the city by those who were for peace and rambled about as if they were afraid of being assaulted by the Romans, and were in fear of one another: while those that stood upon the wall, and seemed to be of the people's side, cried out aloud for peace; and entreated they might have security for their lives given them; and called for the Romans: promising to open the gates to them. And as they cried out after that manner, they threw stones at their own people, as though they would drive them away from the gates. These also pretended that they were excluded by force; and that they petitioned those that were within to let them in: and rushing upon the Romans perpetually, with violence, they then came back, and seemed to be in great disorder. Now the Roman soldiers thought this cunning stratagem of theirs was to be believed real and thinking they had the one party under their power, and could punish them as they pleased and hoping that the other party would open their gates to them, set to the execution of their designs accordingly. But for Titus himself, he had this surprising conduct of the Jews in suspicion. For whereas he had invited them to come to terms of accommodation by Josephus, but one day before, he could then receive no civil answer from them. So he ordered the soldiers to stay where they were. However some of them that were set in front of the works prevented him and catching up their arms, ran to the gates. Whereupon those that seemed to have been ejected at the first retired: but as soon as the soldiers were gotten between the towers on each side of the gate, the Jews ran out, and encompassed round, and fell upon them behind while that multitude, which stood upon the wall, threw a heap of stones and darts of all kinds at them. Insomuch that they slew a considerable number, and wounded many more. For it was not easy for the Romans to escape; by reason those behind them pressed them forward. Besides which, the shame they were under for being mistaken, and the fear they were in of their commanders engaged them to persevere in their mistake. Whereupon they fought with their spears a great while, and received many blows from the Jews: though indeed they gave them as many blows again; and at last repelled those that

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