erected upon that wall thirty-eight towers, each of them fifty cubits high out of which you might pass into lesser edifices, which were built on the inside round the entire wall; for the king reserved the top of the hill, which was of a fat soil and better mould than any valley, for agriculture, that such as committed themselves to this fortress for their preservation might not even there be quite destitute of food, in case they should ever be in want of it from abroad. Moreover, he built a palace therein at the western ascent: it was within and be. neath the walls of the citidel, but inclined to its north side. Now the wall of this palace was very high and strong, and had at its four corners towers sixty cubits high. The furniture also of the edifices, and of the cloisters, and of the baths, was of great variety and very costly; and these buildings were supported by pillars of single stones on every side the walls also and the floors of the edifices were paved with stones of several colours. He also had cut many and great pits, as reservoirs for water, out of the rocks, at every one of the places that were inhabited, both above and round about the palace and before the wall; and by this contrivance he endeavoured to have water for several uses, as if there had been fountains there. Here was also a road digged from the palace, and leading to the very top of the mountain, which yet could not be seen by such as were without [the walls;] nor, indeed, could enemies easily make use of the plain roads; for the road on the east side, as we have already taken notice, could not be walked upon by reason of its nature; and for the western road, he built a large tower at its narrowest place, at no less a distance from the top of the hill than a thousand cubits; which tower could not pos sibly be passed by, nor could it be easily taken; nor, indeed, could those that walked along it, without any fear, such was its contrivance, easily get to the end of it and after such a manner was this citadel fortified both by nature and bv the hands of men, in order to frustrate the attacks of enemies.

4. As for the furniture that was within this fortress, it was still more wonderful or account of its splendour and long continuance; for here was laid up corn ir. large quantities, and such as would subsist men for a long time: here was also wine and oil in abundance, with all kinds of pulse and dates heaped up together: all which Eleazar found there when he and his Sicarii got possession of the fortress by treachery. These fruits were also fresh and full ripe, and no way inferior to such fruits newly laid in, although they were little short of a hundred years* from the laying in these provisions [by Herod] till the place was taken by the Romans; nay, indeed, when the Romans got possession of those fruits that were left, they found them not corrupted all that while; nor should we be mistaken if we supposed that the air was here the cause of their enduring so long, this fortress being so high, and so free from the mixture of all terrene and muddy particles of matter. There was also found here a large quantity of all sorts of weapons of war, which had been treasured up by that king, and were sufficient for ten thousand men : there was cast iron, and brass, and tin, which show that he had taken much pains to have all things here ready for the greatest occasions: for the report goes how Herod thus prepared this fortress on his own account, as a refuge against two kinds of danger; the one, for fear of the multitude of the Jews, lest they should depose him, and restore their former kings to the government: the other danger was greater and more terrible, which arose from Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, who did not conceal her intentions, but spake often to Antony, and desired him to cut off Herod, and entreated him to bestow the kingdom of Judea upon her. And certainly it is a great wonder that Antony did never comply with her commands n this point, as he was so miserably enslaved to his passion for her; not should any one have been surprised if she had been gratified in such her request. So the fear of these dangers made Herod rebuild Masada, and thereby leave it for the finishing stroke of the Romans in this Jewish war.

• Pliny and others confirm this strange paradox, that provisions laid up against sieges will continue good a hundred years, as Spanheim notes upon this place.

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5. Since, therefore, the Roman commander Silva had now built a wall on the outside round about this whole place, as we have said already, and had thereby made a most accurate provision to prevent any one of the besieged running away, he undertook the siege itself, though he found but one single place that would ad. mit of the banks he was to raise: for behind that tower which secured the road that led to the palace and to the top of the hill, from the west, there was a certain eminency of the rock, very broad and very prominent, but three hundred cubiis beneath the highest part of Masada; it was called the white promontory. cordingly, he got upon that part of the rock, and ordered the army to bring earth; and when they fell to that work with alacrity, and abundance of them together, the bank was raised, and became solid, for two hundred cubits in height. Yet was not this bank thought sufficiently high for the use of the engines that were to be set upon it; but still another elevated work of great stones compacted together was raised upon that bank: this was fifty cubits both in breadth and height. The other machines that were now got ready were like to those that had been first devised by Vespasian, and afterwards by Titus, for sieges. There was also a tower made of the height of sixty cubits, and all over plated with iron, out of which the Romans threw darts and stones from the engines, and soon made those that fought from the walls of the place to retire, and would not let them lift up their heads above the works. At the same time Silva ordered that great battering. ram which he had made to be brought thither, and to be set against the wall, and to make frequent batteries against it, which, with some difficulty, broke down a part of the wall, and quite overthrew it. However, the Sicarii made haste, and presently built another wall within that, which should not be liable to the same misfortune from the machines with the other: it was made soft and yielding, and so was capable of avoiding the terrible blows that affected the other. It was framed after the following manner :-They laid together great beams of wood Lengthways, one close to the end of another, and the same way in which they were cut there were two of these rows parallel to one another, and laid at such a distance from each other as the breadth of the wall required, and earth was put into the space between those rows. Now, that the earth might not fall away upon the elevation of this bank to a greater height, they farther laid other beams over across them, and thereby bound those beams together that lay lengthways. This work of theirs was like a real edifice; and when the machines were applied, the blows were weakened by its yielding, and as the materials, by such concus. sion, were shaken closer together, the pile by that means became firmer than before. When Silva saw this, he thought it best to endeavour the taking of this wall by setting fire to it; so he gave order that the soldiers should throw a great number of burning torches upon it: accordingly, as it was chiefly made of wood, it soon took fire; and, when it was once set on fire, its hollowness made that fire spread to a mighty flame. Now, at the very beginning of this fire a north wind that then blew proved terrible to the Romans; for, by bringing the flame downward, it drove it upon them, and they were almost in despair of success, as fearing their machines would be burnt: but after this, on a sudden, the wind changed into the south, as if it were done by divine providence, and blew strongly the con. trary way, and carried the flame, and drove it against the wall, which was now on fire through its entire thickness. So the Romans, having now assistance from God, returned to their camp with joy, and resolved to attack their enemy the very next day, on which occasion they set their watch more carefully that night, lest any of the Jews should run away from them without being discovered.

6. However, neither did Eleazar once think of flying away, nor would he per mit any one else to do so: but when he saw their wall burnt down by the fire, and could devise no other way of escaping, or room for their farther courage, and setting before their eyes what the Romans would do to them, their children, and their wives, if they got them in their power, he consulted about having them all alain. Now, as he judged this to be the best thing they could do in their presen

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circumstances, he gathered the most courageous of his companions together, and encouraged them to take that course by a speech which he made to them in the manner following "Since we long ago, my generous friends, resolved never to be servants to the Romans, nor to any other than to God himself, who alone is the true and just Lord of mankind, the time is now come that obliges us to make that resolution true in practice: and let us not at this time bring a reproach upon ourselves for self-contradiction, while we formerly would not undergo sla very, though it were then without danger, but must now, together with slavery, choose such punishments also as are intolerable: I mean this upon the supposition that the Romans once reduce us under their power while we are alive. were the very first that revolted from them, and we are the last that fight against them; and I cannot but esteem it as a favour that God hath granted us, that it is still in our ower tɔ die bravely and in a state of freedom, which hath not been the case of thers who were conquered unexpectedly. It is very plain that we shall be taken within a day's time; but it is still an eligible thing to die after a glorious manzer, together with our dearest friends. This is what our enemies themselves cannot by any means hinder, although they be very desirous to take us alive. Nor can we propose to ourselves any more to fight them and beat them It had been proper, indeed, for us to have conjectured at the purpose of God much sooner, and at the very first, when we were so very desirous of defending our liberty, and when we received such sore treatment from one another, and worse treatment from our enemies, and to have been sensible that the same God who had of old taken the Jewish nation into his favour had now condemned them to destruction; for had he either continued favourable, or been but in a lesser degree displeased with us, he had not overlooked the destruction of so many inen, or delivered his most holy city to be burnt and demolished by our enemies. To be sure we weakly hoped to have preserved ourselves, and ourselves alone, still .n a state of freedom, as if we had been guilty of no sins ourselves against God, nor been partners with those of others; we also taught other men to preserve their liberty. Wherefore, consider how God hath convinced us that our hopes were in vain, by bringing such distress upon us in the desperate state we are now in, and which is beyond all our expectations; for the nature of this fortress which was in itself unconquerable, hath not proved a means of our deliverance. and even while we have still great abundance of food, and a great quantity of arms, and other necessaries more than we want, we are openly deprived by God himself of all hope of deliverance; for that fire which was driven upon our enemies did not of its own accord turn back upon the wall which we had built: this was the effect of God's anger against us for our manifold sins which we have been guilty of in a most insolent and extravagant manner with regard to our own countrymen; the punishments of which let us not receive from the Romans, but from God himself, as executed by our own hands; for these will be more moderate than the other. Let our wives die before they are abused, and our children before they have tasted of slavery; and after we have slain them, let us bestow that glorious benefit upon one another mutually, and preserve ourselves in freedom as an excellent funeral monument for us. But first let us destroy our money and the fortress by fire; for I am well assured that this will be a great grief to the Romans, that they shall not be able to seize upon our bodies, and shall fail of our wealth also: and let us spare nothing but our provisions; for they will be a tes

The speeches in this and the next section, as introduced under the person of this Eleazar, are exeeding remarkable, and on the noblest subjects, the contempt of death, and the dignity and immortality of the soul; and that not only among the Jews, but among the Indians themselves also, and are highly worthy the perusal of all the curious. It seems as if that philosophic lady who survived, ch. ix. sect. I , remembered the substance of these discourses, as spoken by Eleazar, and so Josephus clothed them his own words; at the lowest, they contain the Jewish notions on these heads as understood then by our Josephus, and cannot but deserve a suitable regard from us.

timonial when we are dead, that we were not subdued for want of necessaries, but that, according to our original resolution, we have preferred death before slavery.

7. This was Eleazar's speech to them. Yet did not the opinions of all the auditors acquiesce therein; but although some of them were very zealous to put his advice in practice, and were in a manner filled with pleasure at it, and thought death to be a good thing, yet had those that were most effeminate a commisera. tion for their wives and families; and when these men were especially moved by the prospect of their own certain death, they looked wistfully at one another, and by the tears that were in their eyes declared their dissent from his opinion. When Eleazar saw these people in such fear, and that their souls were dejected at so prodigious a proposal, he was afraid lest, perhaps, these effeminate persons should by their lamentations and tears enfeeble those that heard what he had said courageously; so he did not leave off exhorting them, but stirred up himself; and recollecting proper arguments for raising their courage, he undertook to speak more briskly and fully to them, and that concerning the immortality of the soul. made a lamentable groan, and fixing his eyes intently on those that wept, he spake thus:"Truly I was greatly mistaken when I thought to be assisting to brave men who struggled hard for their liberty, and to such as were resolved either to live with honour or else to die but I find that you are such people as are no better than others, either in virtue or in courage, and are afraid of dying, though you be delivered thereby from the greatest miseries, while you ought ic make no delay in this matter, nor to await any one to give you good advice; for the laws of our country, and of God himself, have, from ancient times, and as soon as ever we could use our reason, continually taught us, and our forefathers have corroborated the same doctrine by their actions and by their bravery of mind, that it is life that is a calamity to men, and not death; for this last afforda our souls their liberty, and sends them by a removal into their own place of pu. rity, where they are to be insensible of all sorts of misery; for while souls are tied down to a mortal body, they are partakers of its miseries; and really, to speak the truth, they are themselves dead; for the union of what is divine to what is mortal is disagreeable. It is true, the power of the soul is great, even when it is imprisoned in a mortal body; for by moving it after a way that is invisible, it makes the body a sensible instrument, and causes it to advance farther in its actions than moral nature could otherwise do. However, when it is freed from that weight which draws it down to the earth, and is connected with it, it obtains its own proper place, and does then become a partaker of that blessed power and those abilities which are then every way incapable of being hindered in then operations. It continues invisible, indeed, to the eyes of men, as does God himself; for certainly it is not itself seen while it is in the body; for it is there after an invisible manner, and, when it is freed from it, it is still not seen. It is this soul which hath one nature, and that an incorrrptible one also; but yet is it the cause of the change that is made in the body; for whatsoever it be which the soui touches, that lives and flourishes, and from whatsoever it is removed that withers away and dies; such a degree is there in it of immortality. Let me produce the state of sleep as a most evident demonstration of the truth of what I say, wherein souls, when the body does not distract them, have the sweetest rest de pending on themselves, and conversing with God, by their alliance to him; they then go everywhere, and foretell many futurities beforehand. And why are we afraid of death, while we are pleased with the rest we have in sleep? and how absurd a thing is it to pursue after liberty while we are alive, and yet to envy it to ourselves where it will be eternal? We, therefore, who have been brough up in a discipline of our own, ought to become an example to others of our readi ness to die. Yet, if we do stand in need of foreigners to support us in this matter

Let us regard those Indians who profess the exercise of philosophy; for these good men do but unwillingly undergo the time of life, and look upon it as a ne. cessary servitude, and make haste to let their souls loose from their bodies: nay when no misfortune presses them to it, nor drives them upon it, these have such a desire of a life of immortality that they tell other men beforehand that they are about to depart; and nobody hinders them, but every one thinks them happy men, and gives them letters to be carried to their familiar friends [that are dead ;] so firmly and certainly do they believe that souls converse with one another [in the other world.] So when these men have heard all such commands that were to be given them, they deliver their body to the fire; and in order to their getting their soul a separation from the body in the greatest purity, they die in the midst of hymns of commendations made to them; for their dearest friends conduct them to their death more readily than do any of the rest of mankind conduct their fel low-citizens when they are going a very long journey, who at the same time weep on their own account, but look upon the others as happy persons, as so soon to De made partakers of the immortal order of beings. Are not we, therefore, ashamed to have lower notions than the Indians? and by our own cowardice to lay a base reproach upon the laws of our country, which are so much desired and mitated by all mankind? But put the case that we had been brought up under another persuasion, and thought that life is the greatest good which men are capable of, and that death is a calamity; however, the circumstances we are now in ought to be an inducement to us to bear such calamity courageously, since it is by the will of God and by necessity that we are to die; for it now appears that God hath made such a decree against the whole Jewish nation, that we are to be deprived of this life which [he knew] we would not make a due use of: for do not you ascribe the occasion of your present condition to yourselves, nor think the Romans are the true occasion that this war we have had with them is become so destructive to us all these things have not come to pass by their power, but a more powerful cause hath intervened, and made us afford them an occasion of their appearing to be conquerors over us. What Roman weapons, I pray you, were those by which the Jews of Cæsarea were slain? On the contrary, when hey were no way disposed to rebel, but were all the while keeping their seventh lay festival, and did not so much as lift up their hands against the citizens of Cæsarea, yet did those citizens run upon them in great crowds, and cut their throats and the throats of their wives and children, and this without any regard to the Romans themselves, who never took us for their enemies till we revolted from them. But some may be ready to say, that truly the people of Cæsarea had always a quarrel against those that lived among them, and that, when an opportunity offered itself, they satisfied the old rancour they had against them. What, then, shall we say to those of Scythopolis, who ventured to wage war with us on account of the Greeks? Nor did they do it by way of revenge upon the Romans, when they acted in concert with our countrymen. Wherefore, you see how little our good will and fidelity to them profited us, while they were slain, they and their whole families, after the most inhuman manner, which was all the requital that was made them for the assistance they had afforded the others: for that very same destruction which they had prevented from falling upon the others did they suffer themselves from them, as if they had been ready to be the actors against them. It would be toc long for me to speak at this time of every destruction brought upon us: for you cannot but know, that there was not any one Syrian city which did not slay their Jewish inhabitants, and were not more bitter enemies to us than were the Romans themselves: nay, even those of Damascus, when they were able to allege no tolerable pretence against us, filled their city with the most barbarous slaughters of our people, and cut the throats of eighteen thousand* Jews with their wives and children. And as to the multitude of those that were slain in Egypt, and

VOL. II.

* See B. ii. ch. xx. sect. 2, where the number of the slain is but 10,000.

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