sides. Now Sabinus was afraid of these men's number, and of their resolution, who had little regard to their lives, but were very desirous not to be overcome, while they thought it a point of puissance to overcome their enemies. So he sent immediately a letter to Varus; and, as he used to do, was very pressing with him, and entreated him to come quickly to his assistance, because the forces he had left were in imminent danger, and would probably, in no long time, be seized upon and cut to pieces; while he did himself get up to the highest tower of the fortress Phasaelus, which had been built in honour of Phasaelus, king Herod's brother, and called so when the Parthians* had brought him to his death. So Sabinus gave thence a signal to the Romans to fall upon the Jews, although he did not himself venture so much as to come down to his friends, and thought he might expect that the others should expose themselves first to die on account of his avarice. However, the Romans ventured to make a sally out of the place, and a terrible battle ensued; wherein, though it is true the Romans beat their adversaries, yet were not the Jews daunted in their resolutions, even when they had the sight of that terrible slaughter that was made of them; but they went round about, and got upon those cloisters which encompassed the outer court of the temple, where a great fight was still continued, and they cast stones at the Romans, partly with their hands, and partly with slings, as being much used to those exercises. All the archers also in array did the Romans a great deal of mischief; because they used their hands dexterously from a place superior to the others, and because the others were at an utter loss what to do; for when they tried to shoot their arrows against the Jews upwards, these arrows could not reach them, insomuch that the Jews were easily too hard for their enemies. And this sort of fight lasted a great while, till at last the Romans, who were greatly dis. tressed by what was done, set fire to the cloisters so privately, that those who were gotten upon them did not perceive it. This fire,† being fed by a great deal of combustible matter, caught hold immediately on the roof of the cloisters; so the wood, which was full of pitch and wax, and whose gold was laid on it with wax, yielded to the flame presently, and those vast works, which were of the highest value and esteem, were destroyed utterly; while those that were on the roof unexpectedly perished at the same time; for as the roof tumbled down, some of these men tumbled down with it, and others of them were killed by their enemies who encompassed them. There was a great number more, who, out of despair of saving their lives, and out of astonishment at the misery that surrounded them, did either cast themselves into the fire, or threw themselves upon their own swords and so got out of their misery. But as to those that retired behind the same way by which they ascended, and thereby escaped, they were all killed by the Romans, as being unarmed men, and their courage failing them; their wild fury being now not able to help them, because they were destitute of armour, insomuch, that, of those that went up to the top of the roof, not one escaped. The Romans also rushed through the fire, where it gave them room so to do, and seized on that treasure where the sacred money was reposited; a great part of which was stolen by the soldiers, and Sabinus got openly four hundred talents.

3. But this calamity of the Jews' friends, who fell in this battle, grieved them, as did also this plundering of the money dedicated to God in the temple. Ac、 cordingly that body of them which continued best together, and was the most warlike, encompassed the palace, and threatened to set fire to it, and to kill all that were in it. Yet still they commanded them to go out presently, and promised that, if they would do so, they would not hurt them, nor Sabinus neither; at which time the greatest part of the king's troops deserted to them, while Rufus and Gratus, who had three thousand of the most warlike of Herod's army with

See Antiq. B. xiv. ch. xiii. sect. 10, and Of the War, B. i. ch. xxi. sect. 9.

These great devastations made about the temple here, and Of the War, B. ii. ch. iii. sect. 3, seem not to have been fully reedified in the days of Nero; till whose time there were 18000 workmen continually employed in rebuilding and repairing that temple, as Josephus informs us, Antiq. B. xx. eb. ix. sect. 2. See the note on that place.

them, who were men of active bodies, went over to the Romans. There was also a band of horsemen under the command of Rufus, which itself went over to the Romans also. However, the Jews went on with the siege, and dug mines under the palace walls, and besought those that were gone over to the other side not to be their hinderance, now they had such a proper opportunity for the recovery of their country's ancient liberty; and for Sabinus, truly, he was desirous of going away with his soldiers, but was not able to trust himself with the enemy, on account of what mischief he had already done them; and he took this great [pretended] lenity of theirs for an argument why he should not comply with them, and so, because he expected that Varus was coming, he still bore this siege.

4. Now at this time there were ten thousand other disorders in Judea, which were like tumults; because a great number put themselves into a warlike posture, either out of hopes of gain to themselves, or out of enmity to the Jews. In par. ticular, two thousand of Herod's old soldiers, who had been already disbanded, got together in Judea itself, and fought against the king's troops; although Achiabus, Herod's first cousin, opposed them; but as he was driven out of the plains into the mountainous parts by the military skill of those men, he kept hinself in the fastnesses that were there, and saved what he could.

5. There was also Judas,* the son of that Ezekias who had been head of the robbers; which Ezekias was a very strong man, and had with great difficulty been caught by Herod. This Judas, having gotten together a multitude of men of a profligate character about Sepphoris in Galilee, made an assault upon the palace [there,] and seized upon all the weapons that were laid up in it, and with them armed every one of those that were with him, and carried away what money was left there; and he became terrible to all men, by tearing and rending those that came near him; and all this in order to raise himself, and out of an ambitious desire of the royal dignity; and he hoped to obtain that as the reward, not of his virtuous skill in war, but of his extravagance in doing injuries.

6. There was also Simon, who had been a slave of Herod the king, but in other respects a comely person, of a tall and robust body; he was one that was much superior to others of his order, and had had great things committed to his care. This man was elevated at the disorderly state of things, and was so bold as to put a diadem on his head, while a certain number of the people stood by him, and by them he was declared to be a king, and thought himself more worthy of that dig nity than any one else. He burned down the royal palace at Jericho, and plun. dered what was left in it. He also set fire to many others of the king's houses in several places of the country, and utterly destroyed them, and permitted those that were with him to take what was left in them for a prey; and he would have done greater things unless care had been taken to repress him immediately; for Gratus, when he had joined himself to some Roman soldiers, took the forces he had with him, and met Simon, and after a great and long fight, no small part of those that came from Perea, who were a disordered body of men, and fought rather in a bold than in a skilful manner, were destroyed: and although Simon had saved himself by flying away through a certain valley, yet Gratus overtook him, and cut off his head. The royal palace also at Amathus, by the river Jordan, was burned down by a party of men that were got together, as were those be. longing to Simon. And thus did a great and wild fury spread itself over the nation, because they had no king to keep the multitude in good order, and because * Unless this Judas, the son of Ezekias, be the same with that Theudas mentioned Acts, v. 36, Josephus must have omitted him; for that other Theudas, whom he afterwards mentions under Fados, the Roman governor, B. xx. ch. v. sect. 1, is much too late to correspond to him that is mentioned in the Acts. The names Theudas, Thadeus, and Judas, differ but little. See Archbishop Usher's annals at A. M. 4001. However, since Josephus does not pretend to reckon up the heads of all those ten thousand disorders in Judea, which he tells us were then abroad, see sect. 4 and 8, the Theudas of the Acts might be at the head of one of those seditions, though not particularly named by him. Thus he informs us here, sect. 6, and Of the War, B. ii. ch. iv. sect. 2, that certain of the seditious came and burned the royal palace at Amathus, or Betharamphta, upon the river Jordan. Perhaps their leader, who is not named by Josephus, might be this Theudas

those foreigners, who came to reduce the seditious to sobriety, did on the con trary set them more in a flame, because of the injuries they offered them, and the avaricious management of their affairs.

7. But because Athronges, a person neither eminent by the dignity of his progenitors, nor for any great wealth he was possessed of, but one that had in all respects been a shepherd only, and was not known by any body; yet because he was a tall man, and excelled others in the strength of his hands, he was so bold as to set up for king. This man thought it so sweet a thing to do more than ordinary injuries to others, that although he should be killed, he did not much care if he lost his life in so great a design. He had also four brethren, who were tall men themselves, and were believed to be superior to others in the strength of their hands, and thereby were encouraged to aim at great things, and thought that strength of theirs would support them in retaining the kingdom. Each of these ruled over a band of men of their own; for those that got together to them were very numerous. They were every one of them also commanders; but, when they came to fight, they were subordinate to him, and fought for him, while he put a diadem about his head, and assembled a council to debate about what things should be done, and all things were done according to his pleasure. And this man retained his power a great while; he was also called king, and had no. thing to hinder him from doing what he pleased. He also, as well as his bre thren, slew a great many both of the Romans and of the king's forces, and ma naged matters with the like hatred to each of them. The king's forces they fell upon, because of the licentious conduct they had been allowed under Herod's go. vernment; and they fell upon the Romans, because of the injuries they had so lately received from them. But in process of time they grew more cruel to all sorts of men; nor could any one escape from one or other of these seditions, since they slew some out of the hopes of gain, and others from a mere custom of slaying men. They once attacked a company of Romans at Emmaus, who were bringing corn and weapons to the army, and fell upon Arius, the centurion, who commanded the company, and shot forty of the best of his foot soldiers; but the rest of them were affrighted at their slaughter, and left their dead behind them, but saved themselves by the means of Gratus, who came with the king's troops that were about him to their assistance. Now these four brethren continued the war a long while by such sort of expeditions, and much grieved the Romans; but did their own nation also a great deal of mischief. Yet were they afterward subdued; one of them in a fight with Gratus, another with Ptolemy; Archelaus also took the eldest of them prisoner; while the last of them was so dejected at the other's misfortune, and saw so plainly that he had no way now left to save himself, his army being worn away with sickness and continual labours, that he also delivered himself up to Archelaus, upon his promise and oath to God [to preserve his life.] But these things came to pass a good while afterwards.

8. And now Judea was full of robberies; and, as the several companies of the seditious light upon any one to head them, he was created a king immediately, in order to do mischief to the public. They were in some small measure, indeed, and in small matters, hurtful to the Romans; but the murders they committed upon their own people lasted a long while.

9. As soon as Varus was once informed of the state of Judea by Sabinus's writing to him, he was afraid for the legion he had left there; so he took the two other legions (for there were three legions in all belonging to Syria,) and four troops of horsemen, with the several auxiliary forces which either the kings or certain of the tetrarchs afforded him, and made what haste he could to assist those that were then besieged in Judea. He also gave order, that all that were sent out for this expedition should make haste to Ptolemais. The citizens of Berytus also gave him one thousand five hundred auxiliaries, as he passed through their city. Aretus also, the king of Arabia Petrea, out of his hatred to Herod, and in order to purchase the favour of the Romans, sent him no small assistance,

besides their footmen and horsemen : and, when he had now collected all his forces together, he committed a part of them to his son, and to a friend of his, and sent them upon an expedition into Galilee, which lies in the neighbourhood of Ptolemais; who made an attack upon the enemy, and put them to flight, and took Sepphoris, and made its inhabitants slaves, and burned the city. But Varus himself pursued his march for Samaria with his whole army; yet did not he meddle with the city of that name, because it had not at all joined with the seditious; but pitched his camp at a certain village, that belonged to Ptolemy, whose name was Arus, which the Arabians burned, cut of their hatred to Herod, and out of the enmity they bore to his friends; whence they marched to another village, whose name was Sampho, which the Arabians plundered and burned, although it was a fortified and a strong place; and all along this march nothing escaped them, but all places were full of fire and slaughter. Emmaus was also burned by Varus's order, after its inhabitants had deserted it, that he might avenge those that had there been destroyed. From thence he now marched to Jerusalem; whereupon those Jews whose camp lay there, and who had besieged the Roman legion, not bearing the coming of his army, left the siege imperfect. But as to the Jerusalem Jews, when Varus reproached them bitterly for what had been done, they cleared themselves of the accusation, and alleged, that the conflux of the people was occasioned by the feast; that the war was not made with their approbation, but by the rashness of the strangers, while they were on the side of the Romans, and besieged together with them, rather than having any inclination to besiege them. There also came beforehand to meet Varus, Joseph, the cousin. german of king Herod, as also Gratus and Rufus, who brought their soldiers along with them, together with those Romans who had been besieged: but Sabinus did not come into Varus's presence, but stole out of the city privately, and went to the seaside.

10. Upon this Varus sent a party of his army into the country, to seek out those that had been the authors of the revolt; and when they were discovered, he punished some of them that were most guilty, and some he dismissed: now the number of those that were crucified on this account were two thousand. After which he disbanded his army, which he found noways useful to him in the affairs he came about for they behaved themselves very disorderly, and disobeyed his orders, and what Varus desired them to do, and this out of regard to that gain which they made by the mischief they did. As for himself, when he was informed that ten thousand Jews had gotten together, he made haste to catch them; but they did not proceed so far as to fight him, but by the advice of Achiabus, they came together, and delivered themselves up to him; hereupon Varus forgave the crime of revolting to the multitude, but sent their several commanders to Cæsar, many of whom Cæsar dismissed; but for the several relations of Herod, who had been among these men in this war, they were the only persons whom he punished; who, without the least regard to justice, fought against their own kindred.

CHAP. XI.

An Embassage of the Jews to Cæsar; and how Cæsar confirmed Herod's

Testament.

1. So when Varus had settled these affairs, and had placed the former legion at Jerusalem, he returned back to Antioch; but as for Archelaus, he had new sources of trouble coming upon him at Rome, on the occasions following; for an embassage of the Jews was come to Rome, Varus having permitted the nation to send it, that they might petition for the liberty of living by their own laws.* Now

* See Of the War, B. ii, ch. ii. sect. 3.

the number of the ambassadors that were sent by the authority of the nation was fifty, to which they joined above eight thousand of the Jews that were at Rome already. Hereupon Cæsar assembled his friends, and the chief men among the Romans, in the temple of Apollo,* which he had built at a vast charge; whither the ambassadors came, and a multitude of the Jews that were there already, came with them, as did also Archelaus and his friends; but as for the several kinsmen which Archelaus had, they would not join themselves with him, out of their hatred to him; and yet they thought it too gross a thing for them to assist the ambassadors [against him,] as supposing it would be a disgrace to them in Cæsar's opinion to think of thus acting in opposition to a man of their own kin ared. Philipt also was come hither out of Syria, by the persuasion of Varus, with this principal intention to assist his brother [Archelaus;] for Varus was his great friend; but still so, that if there should any change happen in the form of government (which Varus suspected there would,) and if any distribution should be made on account of the number that desired the liberty of living by their own laws, that he might not be disappointed, but might have his share in it.

2. Now, upon the liberty that was given to the Jewish ambassadors to speak, they who hoped to obtain a dissolution of kingly government betook themselves to accuse Herod of his iniquities; and they declared, "That he was indeed in • name a king, but that he had taken to himself that uncontrolable authority which tyrants exercise over their subjects; and had made use of that authority for the destruction of the Jews; and did not abstain from making many innovations among them besides, according to his own inclinations; and that whereas there were a great many who perished by that destruction he brought upon them; so many indeed as no other history relates: they that survived were far more mise rable than those that suffered under him; not only by the anxiety they were in from his looks and disposition towards them, but from the danger their estates were in of being taken away by him. That he did never leave off adorning those cities that lay in their neighbourhood, but were inhabited by foreigners; but so that the cities belonging to his own government were ruined, and utterly destroyed: that whereas, when he took the kingdom, it was in an extraordinary flourishing condition, he had filled the nation with the utmost degree of poverty; and when, upon unjust pretences, he had slain any of the nobility, he took away their es. tates; and when he permitted any of them to live, he condemned them to the for. feiture of what they possessed. And besides the annual impositions which he had laid upon every one of them, they were to make liberal presents to himself, to his domestics and friends, and to such of his slaves as were vouchsafed the favour of being his tax-gatherers; because there was no way of obtaining a free. dom from unjust violence, without giving either gold or silver for it. That they would say nothing of the corruption of the chastity of their virgins, and the re. proach laid on their wives for incontinency, and those things acted after an inso lent and inhuman manner; because it was not a smaller pleasure to the sufferers to have such things concealed, than it would have been not to have suffered them That Herod had put such abuses upon them as a wild beast would not have put on them, if he had power given him to rule over us; and that although their nation had passed through many subversions and alterations of government, their his. tory gave no account of any calamity they had ever been under, that could be compared with this which Herod had brought upon their nation; that it was for this reason that they thought they might justly and gladly salute Archelaus as king, upon this supposition, that whosoever should be set over their kingdom, he would appear more mild to them than Herod had been: and that they had joined with him in the mourning for his father, in order to gratify him; and were ready to oblige him in other points also, if they could meet with any degree of modera tion from him; but that he seemed to be afraid lest he should not be deemed * See the note, Of the War, B. ii. ch. vi. sect. 1.

He was tetrarch afterward