DE BELLO JUDAICO LIBER SEPTIMUS THE JEWISH WAR BOOK SEVEN Liber ⇚  I   ⇚  II  ⇚  III ⇚  IV  ⇚  V   ⇚  VI  Capita — Chapters § 01 § 02 § 03 § 04 § 05 § 06 § 07 § 08 § 09 § 10 § 11 Book ⇚  I   ⇚  II  ⇚  III ⇚  IV  ⇚  V   ⇚  VI  Palæstina with locations mentioned by Josephus Book 7 From the Taking of Jerusalem by Titus to the Sedition of the Jews at Cyrene. ⇑ § I Quomodo tota Hierosolymorum urbs plane diruta est præter tres turres :  utque Titus in contione extollit milites, et præmia illis distribuit, multosque dimittit. How the Entire City of Jerusalem Was Demolished, Excepting Three Towers ;  and How Titus Commended His Soldiers in a Speech Made to Them, and Distributed Rewards to Them and Then Dismissed Many of Them. 1 POSTQUAM vero quos occideret quidve raperet, non habebat exercitus, quod iratis animis omnia deerant (nec enim parcendo si esset quod agerent, abstinuissent), jubet eos Cæsar totam funditus jam eruere civitatem ac templum :  relictis quidem turribus, quæ præter alias eminebant, Phasaëlo, et Hippico, et Mariamne, murique tanto, quantum civitatem ab Occidente cingebat — id quidem, ut esset castrum illic custodiæ causa relinquendis :  turres autem, ut posteris indicarent qualem civitatem, quamve munitissimam, Romanorum virtus obtinuisset. After the army did not have anyone to kill or anything to plunder, because everything was lacking for their enraged emotions (since indeed they would not have abstained by sparing anything if it there were something to go after), Cæsar ordered them to destroy completely the City and the Temple, leaving just the towers which stood higher than the others, Phasaël, and Hippicus, et Mariamne, and as much of the wall that surrounded the City on the west — which he ordered so that for the sake of the garrison there would be a camp for those to be left there;  and the towers so that they would show posterity what kind of or how greatly fortified a City the valor of the Romans had conquered. Alium vero totum ambitum civitatis ita complanavere diruentes, ut qui ad eam accessissent, habitatam aliquando esse vix crederent.  Hic quidem finis eorum dementia, qui novas res movere temptaverunt, Hierosolymis fuit, clarissimæ civitati, et apud omnes homines prædicatissimæ. Demolishing it, they leveled the other whole perimeter of the City to the point that whoever came there would hardly believe it ever to have been inhabited.  This, as a result of the madness of those who attempted to bring about a revolution, was indeed the end for Jerusalem, a most famous city and one greatly praised among all men. 2 — Caput G-19 — De præmio militum. Cæsar autem præsidio quidem illic statuit relinquere Decimam Legionem, nonnullasque alas equitum, ac peditum cohortes.  Omnibus autem belli partibus administratis, et laudare universum cupiebat exercitum pro rebus fortiter gestis, et debita viris fortibus præmia persolvere. But Cæsar decided to leave there the Tenth Legion and a few squadrons of cavalry and cohorts of infantry.  Then having administered all the issues of war, he wished to praise the entire army for its valiantly accomplished deeds and give out rewards to his brave men. Composito autem in medio ante castra magno tribunali, stans in eo cum procĕrum eminentissimis, unde ab omni milite posset audiri, magnam illis ait habere se gratiam, quod benevolentia erga se utendo perseverassent. After placing in the center in front of the camp a large stage, standing on it with the most distinguished of his officers where he could be heard by all the soldiers, he said he was greatly thankful to them for having persevered in showing their goodwill toward him. Laudabat autem, quod per omnia bella morigeri fuissent, quodque prœliando fortitudinem in multis magnisque periculis monstrassent, patriæ per se amplificantes imperium :  omnibusque planum facientes hominibus, quia neque hostium multitudo, neque munitiones regionum, neque magnitudines civitatum, vel audacia inconsulta, et immanitates efferæ adversantium, possint unquam Romaorum vires vel manus effugere, quamvis in multis rebus aliqui fortunam opitulantem habuerint. He next praised the fact that they had been compliant throughout the entire war, and that they had shown strength in fighting in many and great dangers — by themselves increasing the power of the fatherland, and making it clear to all men that neither the numbers of the enemy nor the fortifications of the locations nor the size of the cities or thoughtless audacity and the wild savagery of the adversaries could ever escape the power and grip of the Romans, even though in many cases some might have luck in their favor. Pulchrum quidem esse, ait, illos etiam bello finem imponere, quod multo tempore gestum sit.  Nec enim optasse his quicquam melius, quum id ingrederentur.  Hōc autem pulchrius atque præclarius, quod duces Romani et administratores imperii, ab his declaratos ac præmissos in imperium, cuncti libenter suscipiunt :  et his quæ ipsi decrevere, standum putant, agentes his gratias, qui legissent. It was indeed beautiful, he said, that they had put an end to a war that had been waged for a long time.  For he had not wished anything greater for them when they entered upon it.  More beautiful and excellent than that was the fact that all gladly accepted the leaders and administrators of the Roman Empire who had been declared and sent ahead to the throne by them, and that, thanking those who had made that choice, they all thought that there should be acquiescence to the things which they had decreed. Mirari autem se eos ac diligere omnes, quia nemo viribus alacritatem habuit tardiorem.  Et illis tamen, qui pro majore vi clarius decertassent, vitamque suam condecorassent fortibus factis, et re bene gesta militiam suam nobiliorem fecissent, dixit se et honores et præmia redditurum :  nec ullum eorum, qui plus alio laborare voluisset, justa vicissitudine cariturum magnamque sibi hujus rei fore diligentiam, quod magis vellet honorare virtutes eorum qui militiæ socii fuissent, quam punire peccata. But he marveled at them and loved them all, because no one had an eagerness slacker than his strength.  And nonetheless, he said, to those who, in line with their greater strength had fought more brilliantly and had distinguished their lives with brave deeds, and through well performed exploits had made his forces more famous, he was going to give both honors and rewards, and that none of those who had wanted to struggle more than others would be without his just recompense;  and that that would be a primary concern of his in this matter, because he preferred honoring the valor of those who had been his comrades in arms to punishing any failings. 3 Confestim ergo jussit eos quorum partes sunt, indicare, quosnam scirent fortiter aliquid in bello fecisse :  et nominatim singulos appellans, præsentes collaudabat, quasi qui domesticis recte gestis nimium lætaretur :  et coronas eis aureas imponebat, et torques longasque hastas, et signa ex argento facta donabat, et uniuscujusque ordinem mutabat in melius.  Quin et ex manubiis aurum et argentum, itemque vestes, aliamque prædam largiter distribuebat. He therefore immediately ordered those under whom the sections were to point out those they knew had accomplished something valiantly in the war;  and addressing the individual men by name, he praised them highly in their presence, like a man who was extravagantly rejoicing over his family’s properly performed deeds;  and he placed gold crowns on them and awarded necklaces and long spears and standards made of silver, and changed the rank of each one to a higher one.  Moreover from the spoils he lavishly distributed both gold and silver, and likewise garments and other booty. Omnibus autem ita donatis, ut quisque se meritum præbuerat, votisque cum universo exercitu factis, magno favore descendit vertitque se ad sacra pro victoria celebranda :  magnaque astante boum multitudine circum aras, immolatos omnes exercitui dedit ad epulas, ipse vero cum honoratis per triduum lætatus, milites quidem alios quo quenque conveniret, dimittit. After everyone had been thus rewarded in accordance with how each one had showed himself deserving, and having offered prayers with the entire army, amidst great applause he descended and turned to celebrating the rites for the victory.  With a great number of cattle standing around the altars, after sacrificing them all he gave them to the army for a banquet.  He himself, after celebrating with his officers for three days, discharged the other soldiers to where it suited each unit. Hierosolymorum autem custodiam Decimæ Legioni credidit :  neque ad Euphratem, ubi pridem fuerat, eam remisit.  Duodecimam vero Legionem, memor quod Cestio duce Judæis cesserat, totam Syria pepulit :  erat enim olim apud Raphanæas :  ad Meliten autem, quæ sic vocatur, misit :  hæc ad Euphratem in confinio Armeniæ et Cappadociæ sita est. He next entrusted the guarding of Jerusalem to the Tenth Legion and did not send it back to the Euphrates where it had formerly been.  But the Twelfth Legion, remembering that under the leadership of Cestius it had given way to the Jews, he drove out of all of Syria (for it was once at Raphaneai);  instead, he sent it to the so-called Melitene;  this is located on the Euphrates on the borders of Armenia and Cappadocia. Duas vero sibi obsequi satis esse duxit, donec ad Ægyptum perveniret, Quintam et Quintamdecimam Legiones.  Deinde quum ad maritimam Cæsaream cum exercitu descendisset, in eam manubiarum multitudinem reposuit, captivosque ibi asservari præcepit, quod ad Italiam navigare tempus hiemis prohibebat. But he considered it sufficient for two legions — the Fifth and the Fifteenth — to follow him until he arrived in Egypt.  Finally, when he had gotten down with the army to Maritime Cæsarea, he stored in it the mass of spoils and ordered the captives to be guarded there because the wintertime prevented sailing to Italy. ⇑ § II Quomodo Titus Cæsareæ Philippi varia edit spectacula. De Simone tyranno, quo modo captus erat et triumpho servatus. How Titus Exhibited All Sorts of Shows at Cæsarea Philippi.  Concerning Simon the Tyrant, How he Was Taken and Reserved for the Triumph. 1 — Caput G-20 — De navigatione Vespasiani, deque comprehenso Simone et spectaculo die natalicio exhibito. PER idem vero tempus, quo Titus Cæsar obsidionis causa apud Hierosolymam commorabatur, ascensa navi oneraria Vespasianus Rhodum transmittit.  Hinc autem vectus triremibus, postquam omnes quas præternavigavit civitates invisit, ab his cum votis exceptus, in Græciam ex Ïonia transit.  Egressus deinde Corcyra in Ïapygiam delatus est, unde jam terra iter agebat. But during the same time when Cæsar Titus was staying at Jerusalem because of the siege, Vespasian, boarding af freight ship, crossed over to Rhodes.  Then traveling from here via a trireme, after he visited all the cities he sailed past, having been received by them with congratulations, he crossed from Ionia to Greece.  Finally, leaving from Corcyra, he was taken to Iapygia, whence he made the journey by land. Titus autem ex maritima Cæsarea reversus in Cæsaream, quæ Philippi vocatur, advenit, diuque ibi commorabatur, celebrans omnia genera spectaculorum :  multique in ea captivi consumpti sunt, alii bestiis objecti, alii autem catervatim more hostium inter se depugnare coacti.  Hic Simonem etiam Gioræ filium comperit, hoc modo comprehensum. On the other hand, Titus, returning from Maritime Cæsarea, arrived in the Cæsarea called Philippi, and stayed there for quite a while, celebrating all kinds of shows;  in it, many captives perished — some thrown to the beasts, but others in groups, forced like enemies to fight against one another.  Here he learned that Simon, the son of Gioras, had been captured in the following way. 2 Iste Simon, quum Hierosolyma obsideretur in superiore civitate constitutus, postquam muros ingressus exercitus totam vastare civitatem cœperat, tunc fidelissimis amicorum ascitis, et lapidariis cum ferramentis eorum necessitati congruis, et alimentis quæ multis diebus sufficere possent, una cum illis omnibus in quandam occultiorem cloacam sese demittit. This Simon, located in the upper City when Jerusalem was being besieged, after the army, entering, had begun to lay waste to the entire City, then gathering his most loyal friends and stone masons with the tools appropriate for their needs and food which could suffice for many days, climbed down together with all of them into a certain more hidden sewer. Et quoad fossa patebat, illi progrediebantur :  ubi vero soliditas obstitisset, eam suffodiebant, sperantes posse ulterius progressos tuto emergere, atque ita servari.  Sed hanc exspectationem veram non esse, rei periculum refellebat.  Vix enim paululum fossores processerant, jamque alimenta, quamvis parce his uterentur, eos deficiebant. And they continued as far as the excavation was open.  But where solid earth blocked them, they dug under it, hoping to be able, having advanced, to emerge safely and thus be saved.  But the effort of the matter disproved this hope as not being correct.  For the diggers had hardly progressed a little when the food, even though they were using it sparingly, ran out on them. Tunc igitur velut stupore posset Romanos fallere, albis tunicis, innexaque fibula, ac chlamyde purpurea indutus, illo in loco ex terra editus ubi templum antea fuerat, apparuit.  Ac primo quidem obstupuere, qui eum viderunt, locisque suis manebant, deinde propius quum accessissent, quis esset, percontati sunt.  Et id quidem Simon non dicebat. So then, as though to deceive the Romans with shock, having donned white tunics and pinned with a broach, plus a crimson cloak, he appeared emerging from the earth on the spot where the Temple had formerely been.  And those who first saw him were dumbfounded and stayed in their places;  then when they had approached him more closely, they inquired as to who he was.  Simon, as it happened, did not tell them that. Jubebat autem ad se ducem vocari  ;  statimque accersitus ab his, qui ad eum cucurrerant, venit Terentius Rufus :  namque is rector militiæ relictus erat.  Omni autem ab eo veritate comperta, ipsum quidem vinctum custodiebat :  Cæsari vero quemadmodum esset comprehensus, indicavit. Rather, he ordered them to have their leader called to him;  and Terentius Rufus, having been immediately summoned by those who had run to him, came.  For Rufus had been left as the leader of the troops.  After the whole truth had been learned by him, he put him under guard in chains, then reported to Cæsar how he had been taken into custody. Simonem quidem in ultionem crudelitatis, qua in cives suos amarē ac tyrannice fuerat usus, in potestate hostium quibus maxime invisus erat, ita Deus posuit, non vi subditum eorum manibus, sed sua sponte ad supplicium adductum :  propterea quod plurimos ipse crudeliter interemerat falsis criminationibus insimulatos, defectionis scilicet ad Romanos. Thus indeed God placed Simon, as punishment for the cruelty that he bitterly and tyrannically practiced on his own citizens, into the power of enemies to whom he was intensely detestable — not subjected by the force of their hands, but delivered of his own accord to execution, because he had cruelly killed a great many accused on false charges — specifically, of defection to the Romans. Nec enim potest iram Dei effugere nequitia, nec invalida res est justitia ;  sed quandoque sui temeratores ulciscitur, et graviorem pœnam ingerit criminosis, quum jam se liberatos esse crediderint, eo quod non statim luere commissa.  Id etiam Simon didicit, postquam in iras Romanorum incidit. And evil cannot escape the wrath of God, nor is justice something weak;  rather, it eventually takes vengeance on its transgessors and inflicts a punishment all the graver when they think themselves to have been freed because they have not immediately paid for their crimes.  Simon too learned that after he fell into the wrath of the Romans. Illius autem ascensus e terra, magnam etiam aliorum seditiosorum multitudinem eisdem diebus fecit in cloacis deprehendi.  Cæsari autem maritimam Cæsaream reverso, vinctus Simon oblatus est.  Et illum quidem triumpho, quem Romæ acturus erat, servari jussit. But the emergence of that man from the earth also caused a large number of other insurgents to be caught in the same sewers.  Moreover after Cæsar had returned to Maritime Cæsarea, Simon, in chains, was presented to him.  And he ordered him kept for the triumphal procession which he was going to celebrate in Rome. 3 ⇑ § III Quomodo Titus, quum diem natalem fratris patrisque celebraret, multos Judæorum consumpsit. De Judæis in periculum apud Antiochiam adductis ex Antiochi Judæi iniqua legum violatione. How Titus upon the Celebration of his Brother’s and Father’s Birthdays Had Many of the Jews Slain.  Concerning the Danger the Jews Were in at Antioch, by Means of the Transgression and Impiety of one Antiochus, a Jew. 1 IBI autem moratus, fratris sui natalem diem clarissime celebrabat, multam partem damnatorum ejus honori attribuens.  Numerus enim eorum, qui cum bestiis depugnarunt, quique ignibus cremati sunt, et inter se digladiatores periere, duo milia quingentos excessit.  Omnia tamen Romanis videbantur hæc — licet mille modis illi consumerentur — minus esse supplicii. But while staying there, he celebrated his brother’s birthday splendidly, devoting a large part of the condemned to his honor.  For the number of those who fought with beasts and who were consumed with fire and perished as gladiators against one another exceeded two thousand five hundred.  Nonetheless — even though they were destroyed in a thousand ways — all these things seemed to the Romans to be too little a punishment. Postea Cæsar Berytum venit (hæc autem est civitas Phœnices provinciæ, colonia Romanorum) et in hac quoque diutius demoratus est, majore usus claritudine circa natalem patris diem, tam magnificentia spectaculorum, quam sumptibus aliis excogitatis, quum etiam captivorum multitudo eodem quo antea modo periret. After this Cæsar came to Beirut (this is a Roman colony, a city of the province of Phœnicia) and stayed for a longer time in it too, employing yet greater pomp around his father’s birthday, both in the magnificence of the shows and in other ingenious luxuries, while a mass of captives likewise perished in the same way as formerly. 2 — Caput G-21 — De calamitate Judæorum apud Antiochenses. Evenit autem per idem tempus, Judæos qui apud Antiochiam reliqui erant, acerba et exitiosa pericula perpeti, concitata in eos Antiochensium civitate, tam propter criminationes illatas eis in præsentia, quam propter ea quæ fuerant non multo ante commissa.  De quibus necessarium mihi videtur pauca prædicere, ut etiam quæ postea gesta sunt, consequenti narratione referamus. Moreover at the same time it happened that the Jews who were left at Antioch experienced bitter and deadly dangers due to the city of Antioch being roused against them both on account of accusations currently brought against them as well as because of things which had been committed not much earlier.  It seems necessary for me to say a few things about them so that in the subsequent narrative we can also relate what happened afterward. 3 Judæorum namque gens multum quidem totius orbis indigenis asseminata est.  Plurimum autem Syris vicinitate permixta, præcipue apud Antiochiam versabatur, propter magnitudinem civitatis, maxime vero his liberam domicilii facultatem reges, qui post Antiochum fuerant, præbuerunt.  Namque Antiochus quidem, qui Epiphanes dictus est, vastatis Hierosolymis templum spoliavit. For the people of the Jews is greatly seeded among the inhabitants of the entire world.  Above all being mixed in with the Syrians due to proximity, it is found especially at Antioch on account of the size of the city, but particularly because the kings who came after Antiochus granted them free permission of residence.  For indeed Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes, after laying waste to Jerusalem, plundered the Temple. Qui vero post eum regnum assecuti sunt, quicquid aēneum in donariis fuit, hoc Judæis apud Antiochiam degentibus reddidere, in eorum synagoga dedicatum :  concesseruntque, ut pari cum Græcis jure civitatis uterentur.  A secutis quoque postea regibus eodem modo tractati, et multitudine profecere, et exstructione, itemque magnificentia munerum templum clarius reddidere :  semperque religione sibi sociantes magnum paganorum multitudinem, etiam illos quodammodo sui partem fecere. But those who acquired the kingship after him gave whatever in bronze was among the donations back to the Jews living in Antioch, it being dedicated to their synagogue;  and they allowed them to enjoy equal citizenship rights with the Greeks.  Also treated afterwards by the following kings in the same way, they advanced both in numbers and in construction, and likewise with the magnificence of the gifts rendered their temple more splendid;  and in their religion constantly gaining a large multitude of pagans, they even made them a kind of part of themselves. Quo tempore autem bellum fuerat conclamatum, et recens in Syriam Vespasianus delatus est navigio, Judæorum vero odium apud omnes pullulabat, tunc unus eorum Antiochus quidam plurimum patris causa honorabilis (erat enim princeps apud Antiochiam Judæorum), quum Antiochensium populus contionaretur in theatro, progressus in medium, patrem suum et ceteros deferebat, insimulans eos, quod una nocte totam civitatem incendere statuissent :  et velut hujus consilii participes quosdam hospites Judæos tradidit. Now at the time when the war had been declared and Vespasian had recently arrived in Syria by ship, and moreover a hatred for Jews was brewing among everyone, one of them, a certain Antiochus, especially distinguished because of his father (for he was a chief of the Jews in Antioch), when the Antiochene populace was assembled in the amphitheater, he, proceeding into the center, accused his own father and others, charging that they had decided to burn down the entire city in a single night;  and he handed over some visiting Jews as participants in this plot. His autem auditis, populus iram cohibere non poterat :  sed in eos quidem, qui traditi fuerant, ignem jussit afferri :  statimque omnes in theatro concremati sunt.  In multitudinem vero Judæorum properabat irruere, si eos celeriter ulti essent, patriam suam servatum iri existimantes. Having heard this, the populace could not restrain its rage, but ordered that those who had been handed over be consigned to flames, and immediately they were all burnt to death in the amphitheater.  Next they rushed to charge against the mass of the Jews, thinking that if they swiftly avenged themselves against them, their fatherland would be saved. Antiochus autem iracundiam magis accendere, mutatæ voluntatis argumentum, quodque Judæorum mores odisset, exhibere se credens, si paganorum ritu sacrificaret, idemque jussit et ceteros compelli facere :  renuendo enim manifestos insidiatores fore.  Hujus autem rei periculo ab Antiochensibus facto, pauci quidem consenserunt :  alii vero qui noluerunt, perempti sunt. Moreover Antiochus enflamed their anger yet more, thinking he would show the proof of his changed attitude, and that he hated the customs of the Jews, if he sacrificed in the manner of the pagans;  and he ordered the others to be compelled to do the same as well, for, by refusing, the insurgents would be revealed.  When the experiment of this matter was then made by the Antiochenes, few indeed complied;  but those others who would not do so were slain. Antiochus autem acceptis a Romanorum duce militibus, sævius instabat suis civibus, nequaquam eos die septimo ab opere cessare permittens, sed omnia cogens facere, quæ diebus aliis agerent.  Tamque validam necessitatem imposuit, ut non modo apud Antiochiam septimi diei feriæ solverentur, sed ab hoc exordio in ceteris quoque civitatibus ad breve similiter tempus fieret. Moreover, receiving soldiers from the leader of the Romans, Antiochus went after his own fellow citizens savagely, not allowing them to desist at all from work on the seventh day, but forcing them to do everything that they did on other days.  And he imposed such a harsh compulsion, that the sabbatical of the seventh day was abolished not only at Antioch but, from this beginning, it also took place for a short time similarly in the other cities. 4 Judæis autem apud Antiochiam tunc ejusmodi mala perpessis, altera denuo calamitas accidit :  de qua narrare conati, hæc quoque persecuti fuimus. Now after the Jews had suffered problems of this kind, once again another calamity struck — in trying to give an account of which we have described these things as well. Namque quod quadratum forum exuri contigit, et archiva monumentorumque receptacula publicorum, itemque basilicas;  vixque ignis inhibitus est super omnem civitatem magna nimis vi ruens;  hujus facti Antiochus Judæos accusat :  et Antiochenses, quod scilicet si his infesti antea non fuissent, recenti tamen ex incendii tumultu facile calumnia perpulisset, multo magis ex anteactis fidem habere dictis suis persuasit, ut pæne se vidisse ignem a Judæis injici arbitrarentur :  et tanquam furore correpti, magno cum ardore cuncti adversus eos, qui accusabantur, impetus facerent. For it happened that the Square Marketplace was burnt down and the archives and the depository of public deeds, and likewise the malls.  And the fire, roaring over the entire city with enormous force, was barely contained.  Antiochus accused the Jews of this deed.  And because indeed even if they had not previously been hostile to the Jews, nonetheless with the current commotion over the fire, through a lie he could easily have compelled the Antiochenes, given the previous actions he all the more convinced them to give credence to his words, so that they almost thought that they themselves had seen the firebrands being thrown in by the Jews.  And as though seized by madness, with great furor they all made attacks on those who were being accused. Vix autem motus eorum potuit reprimere Collega adhuc juvenis legatus, postulans sibi permitti referre ad Cæsarem gesta.  Rectorem namque Syriæ Cæsennium Pætum jam quidem Vespasianus ad eam miserat, nondum autem ille pervenerat.  Habita vero diligenti quæstione, Collega repperit veritatem.  Et eorum quidem Judæorum quos Antiochus accusaverat, nemo conscius fuit. The still young legate, Collega, could barely stop their upheavals, demanding that it be permitted him to refer the happenings to Cæsar.  For Vespasian had already send Cæsennius Pætus to Syria as governor, though he had not yet arrived.  But by holding a careful investigation, Collega discovered the truth.  And indeed of those Jews whom Antiochus had accused, none was guilty. Omne autem facinus admisere homines quidam nocentissimi necessitate debitorum, rati quod si forum et scripta publica concremassent, exactione liberarentur.  Judæi quidem pro suspensis criminationibus futura exspectantes, magno timore fluctuabant. Rather, some very wicked men admitted the entire crime due to the pressure of their debts, thinking that if they burned down the marketplace and the public records they would be freed of the claims on them.  The Jews, concerned about the future due to the suspended accusations, hovered in great fear. ⇑ § IV Quomodo Vespasianum urbs Roma suscipiebat.  Et quo pacto Germani post defectionem a Romanis iterum subjugati erant, et Sarmatæ, post incursionem in Mœsiam, sedes suas repetere compulsi erant. How Vespasian Was Received at Rome ;  As Also How the Germans Revolted from the Romans but Were Subdued.  That the Sarmatians Overran Mœsia, But Were Compelled to Retire to their Own Country Again. 1 — Caput G-22 — Quomodo Vespasianus rediens a Romanis exceptus est. TITUS autem Cæsar, a patre sibi allato nuntio quod universis quidem Italiæ civitatibus desiderabilis pervenisset, maxime vero, quod urbs eum Roma summa cum alacritate et claritudine suscepisset, in maximam lætitiam voluptatemque translatus est, curis de eo ita ut sibi erat suavissimum liberatus. Now Cæsar Titus, with the news having been brought to him from his father that he had indeed arrived as longed-for by all the cities of Italy, but especially that the city of Rome had accepted him with the greatest eagerness and splendor, was transported into the greatest of happiness and pleasure, freed from concern about him so much that it was his greatest delight. Vespasianum enim etiam longe absentem, omnes homines Italiæ voluntatibus, ut præsentem colebant :  exspectationem suam, quod nimis eum venire cupiebant, pro ejus adventu ducentes, et omni habentes necessitate liberam erga illum benevolentiam. In their yearning all the people of Italy paid homage to Vespasian even while far off, as though he were present — considering their anticipation the same as his arrival, and showing good will toward him free of all compulsion, because they greatly desired him to come. Nam et senatus memor calamitatum, quæ mutatione principum contigissent, optabat imperatorem suscipere senectutis honore bellicorumque gestorum maturitate decoratum, cujus præsentiam sciebat soli saluti subjectorum commodaturam :  et populus malis intestinis sollicitus, magis eum venire cupiebat :  tunc se calamitatibus quidem pro certo absolvendum esse confidens, antiquam vero libertatem cum opulentia recepturum. For the Senate too, mindful of the calamities which had happened due to the change of emperors, chose to accept a general decorated with the distinction of age and the maturity of military accomplishments, one whose presence it knew would conduce only to the safety of the subjects;  and the people, worried about civil upheavals, even more wanted him to come, now confident indeed they would definitely be freed from disasters and would regain their old liberty with prosperity. Præcipue milites ad eum respiciebant.  Hi enim maxime bellorum per illum patratorum noverant magnitudinem.  Imperitiam vero aliorum ducum experti atque ignaviam, magna quidem se optabant turpitudine liberari.  Eum vero qui se et servare et honestare solus posset, recipere precabantur. The soldiers above all were looking toward him.  For they most of all knew the greatness of the wars waged by him.  Having experienced the inexperience and cowardice of the other leaders, they sought to be freed of their great disgrace.  They prayed to get one who alone could preserve them and give them dignity. Quum vero hac benevolentia diligeretur ab omnibus, honore quidem præcipuis viris ulterius exspectare intolerabile videbatur, sed eum longissime ab urbe Roma convenire ante properabant.  Nec tamen quisquam moras ejus conveniendi ferebat, sed ita simul omnes effundebantur, et universis facilius et promptius ire quam manere videbatur, ut etiam civitas ipsa tunc primum inter se jucundam sentiret hominum caritatem. Moreover, since he was loved with this goodwill by everyone, it seemed indeed unbearable to the leading men to wait any longer;  instead, they hastened to meet him far from the City of Rome.  And even so, no one would tolerate the delay in meeting him, but they poured out all together;  and to them all it seemed easier and more effortless to go than to remain, so that then for the first time the City itself enjoyed a pleasant dearness of people within itself. Erant autem pauciores abeuntibus remanentes.  Ubi vero eum appropinquare indicaretur, quamque mansuete singulos suscepisset, qui præcesserant, nuntiatum est, omnis jam reliqua multitudo per vias cum conjugibus et liberis præstolabantur :  et quo transiens advenisset, videndi ejus voluntatem, vultusque lenitatem omnium generum vocibus prosequebantur, benemeritum et salutis datorem, solumque dignum Romanorum principem appellantes. Those remaining, rather, were fewer than those leaving.  But when it was reported that he was approaching, and it was announced how graciously he had greeted individuals who had gone ahead, the entire remaining multitude waited in anticipation with their wives and children;  and where he arrived in passing by, they accompanied their pleasure at seeing him and the gentleness of his countenance with all sorts of cries, calling him benefactor, and giver of safety, and the only ruler worthy of the Romans. Tota vero civitas veluti templum erat, sertis atque odoribus plena.  Quum vero vix per circumstantem multitudinem in palatium venire potuisset, ipse quidem penatibus diis adventus sui gratulatoria sacra celebravit. Indeed the entire City was like a temple, filled with wreaths and fragrances.  But after he had barely gotten through the surrounding multitude to the Palace, he celebrated the rites of thanksgiving for his arrival to his household gods. Vertunt autem se ad epulas turbæ, perque tribus et cognationes et vicinias convivia exercentes, Deo libabant, et ab eo precabantur ipsum Vespasianum quamplurimum temporis in Romano imperio perseverare, et filium ejus, et qui ex his nascerentur servari inexpugnabilem principatum.  Urbs quidem Romana Vespasiano ita suscepto, statim maxima felicitate crescebat. The masses then turned to banquets and, enjoying parties by tribes and family groups and neighborhoods, sacrificed to God, and prayed of Him that Vespasian himself and his son would continue as long a time as possible on the Roman throne, and that an invincible reign would be preserved to those who were born of them.  Indeed, immediately after Vespasian had been received in this way, the City of Rome grew with tremendous prosperity. 2 — Caput G-23 — Domitiani gesta contra Germanos et Gallos. Ante hæc vero tempora, quibus Vespasianus quidem apud Alexandriam erat, Titus vero Hierosolymam obsidebat ;  magna pars Germanorum ad defectionem mota est :  quibus etiam Gallorum proximi conspirantes, magnam spem contulerant, quod etiam Romanorum dominio liberarentur. But before the time when Vespasian was at Alexandria while Titus was besieging Jerusalem, a large part of the Germans was stirred up to rebellion;  the neighboring Gauls, conspiring with them, developed the great hope that they might be freed from the domination of the Romans. Germanos autem deficere velle, bellumque inferre, sustulit primo natura bonis consiliis vacua, parva spe appetens periculorum, deinde odium principum, quoniam solis sciunt gentem suam vi coactam servire Romanis :  nec non equidem maximam tempus eis fiduciam dedit. On the other hand, the Germans were prompted to want to defect and start a war, firstly by a nature devoid of good forethought, seeking danger with little hope, then their hatred of their overlords, because they knew their people was forced to be slaves by the Romans alone;  plus, the times indeed instilled the greatest of confidence in them. Nam quum viderent Romanum imperium crebris imperatorum mutationibus intestina seditione turbari, omnemque his subditam orbis terræ partem pendēre ac nutare cognoscerent, hoc sibi optimum tempus ex illorum rebus adversis atque discordiis oblatum esse putaverunt. For when they saw the Roman empire being destabilized with internal rebellion through the frequent change of emperors, and they realized that every part of the world subject to them was hanging in suspense and tottering, they concluded that, out of the Romans’ misfortunes and discords, a prime opportunity had been offered to them. Id autem consilium dabant, et hac eos spe decipiebant, Classicus quidam et Civilis, ex eorum potentissimis :  qui olim quidem res novas cupiebant :  occasione autem inducti, suam sententiam prodidere. A certain Classicus and Civilis of their strongest men advanced the plan and deceived them with this hope;  certainly these men had been looking for a rebellion for a long time, but motivated by the occasion, they put their ideas forward. Jamque alacriter affectæ multitudinis periculum facturi erant :  verum maxima parte Germanorum defectionem pollicita, et ceteris fortasse non dissentientibus, veluti quadam divina providentia, Vespasianus ad Petilium Cerealem, qui pridem Germaniam rexerat, litteras mittit, quibus eum consulem declaravit, jussitque ad Britannias administrandas proficisci. And they were going to make a test of the already eagerly disposed multitude;  indeed, with a large part of the Germans having already promised their defection and with the rest perhaps not disagreeing, as though through a kind of divine providence, Vespasian sent a letter to Petilius Cerealis, who had earlier governed Germany, through which he appointed him consul and ordered him to proceed to administer the Britains. Igitur ille quo jussus erat abiens, audita rebellione Germanorum, eos jam congregatos aggressus magna clade affecit, depositaque amentia ad sobrietatem coëgit.  Sed etiam si ille ad ea loca non pervenisset, tamen haud multo post erant supplicia luituri. So he, going off to where he had been ordered, on hearing of the revolt of the Germans, by attacking them when they had already gathered together, inflicted a great defeat on them and forced them, after they set their madness aside, back to sobriety.  But even if he had not arrived at that place, they would nevertheless have paid the penalty not much later. Nam ut primum defectionis eorum nuntius allatus est Romam, Domitianus Cæsar hoc audito, non sicut alter in illa ætate fecisset (nam admodum adulescens erat) tantam rei magnitudinem suscipere non detrectavit :  sed a patre habens ingenitam fortitudinem et supra ætatem exercitatus, ilico tendebat in Barbaros. For as soon as the news of their defection was brought to Rome, Cæsar Domitian, hearing it — not as another would have done at that age (for he was still a young man) —, did not draw back from so immense a task but, having an innate fortitude from his father and being experienced beyond his years, immediately proceeded to the Barbarians. Illi autem expeditionis fame perculsi, ei se permiserunt, lucrum hoc ex ea re maximum nacti, ut sine clade pristino jugo subjicerentur.  Omnibus ergo circa Galliam, ut oportuit ordinatis, ne facile rursus unquam turbarentur, Domitianus clarus atque insignis, ætatem superantibus factis, et patrium decus afferentibus, Romam regreditur. The latter, however, terrified at the news of his campaign, surrendered to him, taking it as their best gain therefrom to submit to their original yoke without disaster.  Having therefore ordered everying around Gaul as it should be so that nothing would ever again be easily disturbed, the illustrious and remarkable Domitian, having accomplished things beyond his age — things contributing to his paternal distinctions —, returned to Rome. 3 Cum supradicta vero Germanorum defectione, eisdem diebus etiam Scytharum convenit audacia.  Nam qui appellantur Sarmatæ, maxima multitudine clam transgressi flumen Istrum, violenti atque sævissimi, propter inopinatum impetum multos Romanorum quos in præsidiis offendere, interficiunt :  et consularem legatum Fontejum Agrippam, qui fortiter his obvius pugnaverat, occidunt :  proximasque regiones totas ferendo atque agendo, omniaque incendendo pervagabantur. In those same days, the audacity of the Scythians coincided with the above-mentioned defection of the Germans.  For the violent and extremely savage men who are called Sarmatians, having crossed the Danube river in huge numbers, due to their unexpected attack, slaughtered many of the Romans whom they encountered in the guard posts;  they also killed the consular legate, Fontejus Agrippa, who had bravely fought against them;  and they ranged throughout the whole neighboring region, raiding and plundering and torching everything. Vespasianus autem hoc facto, et vastitate Mœsiæ cognita, Rubrium Gallum mittit pœnas de eis sumpturum.  A quo multi quidem in prœliis trucidati sunt.  Qui vero salvi esse potuere, cum timore domum refugere. However, learning of this event and of the devastation of Mœsia, Vespasian sent Rubrius Gallus to take vengeance on them.  Many indeed were slain in battle by him, while those who could save themselves fled home in fear. Hoc autem bello magister militum finito, etiam futuri temporis cautioni consuluit.  Pluribus enim et majoribus præsidiis loca circundedit, ut omnino Barbaris esset impossibilis transitus.  In Mœsia quidem ea celeritate debellatum est. Having finished this war however, the field commander also saw to precautions for the future.  For he surrounded the region with many and larger garrisons so that crossings would be utterly impossible for the barbarians.  Thus it was that with that speed the war in Mœsia was completed. ⇑ § V De fluvio Sabbatico, quem in itinere per Syriam conspicit Titus. Et quomodo Antiocheni, Tito supplicantes contra Judæos, repulsam passi sunt.  Deque triumpho Titi et Vespasiani. Concerning the Sabbatic River Which Titus Saw as He Was Journeying through Syria ;  And how the People of Antioch Came with a Petition to Titus against the Jews but Were Rejected by Him ;  as Also Concerning Titus’s and Vespasian’s Triumph. 1 — Caput G-24 — De amne Sabbatico et triumpho Vespasiani ac Titi celeberrimo. PRINCEPS vero Titus aliquandiu quidem Beryti commorabatur, ita ut diximus ;  inde autem reversus, et per omnes quas obiret Syriæ civitates magnificentissima celebrans spectacula, Judæorum captivis ad ostentationem cladis eorum abutebatur.  Conspicit autem in itinere fluvium cognitione dignissimum.  Is fluit medius inter Arcas et Raphanæas Agrippæ regni civitates. Now Prince Titus was indeed staying for a while at Beirut, as we have said.  But returning from there and celebrating extremely magnificent shows in all the cities of Syria which he passed through, he employed captives of the Jews as a display of their destruction.  But on the way he saw a river quite worthy of mention.  It flows between the cities of Arca and Agrippa’s Raphanæa. Habet autem quoddam peculiare miraculum.  Nam quum sit quando fluit plurimus, neque meatu segnis, tamen interpositis sex diebus a fontibus deficiens, siccum exhibet locum videre.  Deinde quasi nulla mutatione facta, septimo die similis exoritur :  atque hunc ordinem semper eum observare pro certo compertum est.  Unde etiam Sabbaticus appellatus est, a sacro Judæorum septimo die sic denominatus. But it has a unique marvel.  For although when it flows it is quite abundant and not slow in running, nonetheless, drying up from its sources for six intervening days, it displays a dry bed for the seeing.  Then as though making no change, on the seventh day it rises up like it was;  and it has been ascertained for certain that it always observes this pattern.  Hence it is also called the “Sabbatic,” being thus named after the holy seventh day of the Jews. 2 Civitatis autem Antiochensium populus, postquam Titum adventare cognovit, manere quidem intra mœnia præ gaudio non sustinebat.  Omnes autem obviam ei pergere properabant, et usque ad tricesimum vel eo amplius stadium progressi, non modo viri, sed etiam feminæ cum pueris exspectabant. Now after the people of the city of Antioch learned that Titus was coming, out of joy they could really not bear to stay within their walls.  Instead, they all rushed to go meet him and, having gone as far as the thirtieth or more stade, not just men but even women with their children awaited him. Et quum appropinquantem vidissent ;  ex utroque viæ latere stantes dextras cum salutatione tendebant :  multisque favoribus exsultantes, cum ipso revertebantur.  Crebro autem inter omnes alias laudes precabantur, ut Judæos expelleret civitate.  Titus quidem nihil precibus istis indulsit, sed otiose quæ dicebantur audiebat. And when they saw him approaching, standing on both sides of the road, they stretched out their right arms in greeting and, rejoicing with many felicitations to him, returned with him.  But among all of their other praises, they pled insistently for him to expel the Jews from their city.  Despite that, Titus did not give in to these pleas in the least, but did listen in a leisurely way to the things that were being said. Incerti autem quid sentiret, quidve facturus esset, Judæi magno et atroci metu tenebantur.  Nec enim commoratus est Antiochiæ Titus, sed continuo ad Zeugma Euphratem versus iter contendit.  Quo missi etiam ab rege Parthorum Vologeso venere, auream ei ferentes coronam, quod Judæos vicisset.  Eaque suscepta etiam convivium exhibuit regiis, atque ita Antiochiam remeavit. Uncertain now about what he was thinking and was about to do, the Jews were struck with great and terrible fear.  Yet Titus did not stay at Antioch, but immediately continued on the road toward the Euphrates, to Zeugma.  Emissaries from Vologeses, king of the Parthians, had come there bearing a golden crown for his having conquered the Jews.  After he had accepted it he also gave a banquet to the royal messengers and therewith returned to Antioch. Senatu vero et populo Antiochensi multum petentibus, ut in theatrum veniret, ubi omnis eum multitudo præstolabatur, humanissime paruit.  Rursus autem fortiter eisdem instantibus, et crebro postulantibus expelli civitate Judæos, ingeniose respondit, patriam eorum dicens quo expellendi fuerant interiisse, nullumque jam esse locum, qui eos reciperet. At the insistent request of the Antiochene senate and people to come to the theater where the entire multitude awaited him, he politely complied.  But while the same ones again strongly pressed him and repeatedly demanded that the Jews be expelled from the city, he replied appositely, saying that their fatherland — where they would have been expelled to — had been destroyed, and that there was now no place that would accept them. Unde ad aliam petitionem sese convertunt Antiochenses, quod priorem impetrare non potuerunt.  Æneas enim tabulas eum precabantur eximere, quibus incisa essent privilegia Judæorum.  Sed ne id quidem Titus annuit.  Verum in eodem statu relictis omnibus, quæ habebant apud Antiochiam Judæi, ad Ægyptum inde discessit. Hence the Antiochenes turned to another request, since they could not obtain their first one.  They pled for him to remove the bronze tables on which the privileges of the Jews were inscribed.  But Titus did not assent even to this.  Instead, leaving in the same state everything which the Jews had at Antioch, he left from there for Egypt. Iter autem agendo quum ad Hierosolymam venisset, tristemque solitudinem quam videbat, antiquæ civitatis claritudini compararet, disjectorum operum magnitudinem et veterem pulchritudinem recordatus, miserabatur excidium civitatis, non sicut alius fecisset exsultans, quod talem ac tantam funditus excidisset, verum multa imprecans seditionis auctoribus, et qui hanc pœnam ei inferre coëgere :  ita certus erat, quod nunquam virtutem suam voluisset punitorum calamitate clarescere. When, making his way, he had come to Jerusalem and compared the depressing desolation which he saw to the former splendor of the City, remembering the magnitude of the shattered works and their old beauty, he felt sorry for the destruction of the City, not, as someone else would have done, rejoicing over the fact that he had utterly annihilated such and so great a place, but oftentimes cursing the authors of the insurgency and those who had forced him to inflict that punishment on it;  thus it was clear that he would never have wanted his valor to shine through the destruction of those punished. Ex magnis enim divitiis non minima pars in ruinis adhuc inveniebatur.  Quædam enim eruebant Romani, plura vero captivis indicantibus auferebant, aurum atque argentum, aliaque instrumenta pretiosissima, quæ domini propter incertam belli fortunam terræ condidere. For out of the great riches, no small part was still being found in the ruins.  The Romans dug out some, while they carried away more after the captives pointed it out:  gold and silver and other extremely costly objects which their lords had buried on account of the uncertain fortunes of war. 3 Titus autem, propositum iter ad Ægyptum tendens, emensa velociter solitudine, pervenit Alexandriam :  decretoque ad Italiam navigare, quum se duæ legiones comitarentur, utramque unde venerant remisit :  Quintam quidem in Mœsiam, Quintam vero Decimam in Pannoniam. However Titus, proceeding on his intended way, after speedily crossing the desert, arrived at Alexandria;  and, having decided to sail to Italy, since two legions had been accompanying him, he sent them both back to where they had come from:  the Fifth to Mœsia and the Fifteenth to Pannonia. Captivorum autem duces Simonem et Joannem, et alios numero septingentos viros electos, tam magnitudine corporum quam pulchritudine præstantes, ilico ad Italiam portari præcepit, cupiens eos in triumpho traducere.  Peracta vero navigatione pro voto, similiter quidem Roma in eo suscipiendo erat affecta, et occursus exhibuit eos quos patri.  Claritudinem vero Tito pater attulit, qui venit obviam, eumque suscepit.  Multitudini autem civium divinam quandam lætitiam suggerebat, quod videbat in unum tres convenisse. On the spot he ordered the leaders of the captives, Simon and John, and other chosen men, seven hundred in number, outstanding in bodily size as well as handsomeness, to be transported to Italy, desiring to lead them in his triumphal procession.  After he had then made the voyage as desired, Rome in greeting him was in a mood, and showed a reception, similar to what it had displayed to his father.  But his father, who came to meet and greet him, added to Tito’s renown.  For it brought a kind of numinous joy to the mass of citizens to see the three come together as one. Non multis autem diebus post, unum communem triumphum ob res gestas agere statuere, quamvis utrique senatus proprium decrevisset.  Prædicto autem die, quo futura erat pompa victoriæ, nemo ex tam infinita civitatis multitudine domi remansit.  Omnes autem quum exissent, loca ubi tantum stare possent occupaverant, quantus spectandis imperatoribus modus sufficeret, concesso necessario transitu. Not many days later, they decided to celebrate a single common triumph for the deeds, even though the Senate had decreed one to each of the two.  On the pre-announced day, when the coming victory procession was to take place, no one out of such an innumerable multitude of the citizenry remained home.  Indeed, when they all came out, they took up positions wherever they could even only stand;  for the generals who were to be viewed there was only as much space as was necessarily allowed for the passage. 4 Cuncta vero turba militari ante lucem per turmas atque ordines progressa cum rectoribus suis, et circa ostia constituta non palatii superioris, sed prope Isidis templum (ibi enim principes nocte illa quiescebant), prima jam aurora incipiente procedunt Vespasianus et Titus lauro quidem coronati, amicti vero patria veste purpurea :  et ad Octavianas ambulationes transeunt. But with the entire military body having marched out by units and ranks with their leaders, and having been stationed around the doors, not of the upper palace, but near the temple of Isis (for the princes had rested there for that night), now at the first rays of dawn Vespasian and Titus came out, crowned, of course, with laurel, but dressed in their crimson national garments, and crossed over to the Walkways of Octavia. Ibi enim senatus, et ducum prŏcĕres, et honorati equites, eorum præstolabantur adventum.  Tribunal autem ante porticus factum erat, sellæque eburneæ in eo præparatæ.  Quo quum ascendissent, consederunt.  Statimque eos militaris favor excepit, multis virtutem testimoniis prædicans.  Illi autem inermes erant, in veste serica laureis coronati. For there the Senate and the foremost of the magistrates and the honored knights were awaiting their arrival.  Moreover a platform had been erected before the Colonnades, and ivory seats set up on it.  After climbing up on it, they sat down.  And immediately military acclamation greeted them, greatly commending their valor with many attestations.  Those men, as well, were unarmed, in silk garments, crowned with laurel. Perceptis autem laudibus eorum Vespasianus, quum dicere adhuc vellent, silentii signum dedit.  Magnaque omnium quiete facta surrexit, et amictu magnam partem capitis adopertus, sollemnia vota celebravit :  idemque Titus fecit.  Perfectis autem votis, Vespasianus in commune omnes breviter allocutus, milites quidem ad prandium, quod his ex more ab imperatore parari solet, dimittit. Then, receiving their praise, Vespasian, although they still wanted to speak, gave a sign for silence.  And after a great quiet of everyone came about, he rose and, covering a large part of his head with his garment, pronounced the traditional vows;  and Titus did the same.  With the vows finished, Vespasian spoke briefly to them all in common, then sent the soldiers off to the breakfast which is by custom normally prepared for them by the general. Ipse vero ad portam recedit, quæ ab eo quod per illam semper triumphorum pompa ducitur, nomen accepit.  Ibi et cibum prius capiebant, et triumphalibus vestibus amicti, diis ad portam collocatis cæsa hostia, inter spectacula transeuntes triumphum ducebant, ut multitudini facilior præberetur aspectus. But he himself went back to the gate which takes its name from the fact that a triumphal parade is always led through it.  There they first took their meal and, clothed in the triumphal garments, having sacrificed a victim to the gods located at the gate, led the procession while passing through the shows so that a better view would be granted to the multitudes. 5 Pro merito autem narrari multitudo eorum spectaculorum et magnificentia non potest, in omnibus quæ quisque cogitaverit, vel artium factis, vel divitiarum opibus, vel naturæ novitate.  Nam pæne quæcunque hominibus, qui usquam sunt, fortunatis paulatim quæsita sint — aliis alia mirabilia atque magnifica —, hæc universa illa die Romani imperii magnitudinem probavere. What cannot be described is the number of their shows and their magnificence in every way that anyone could imagine — whether made by skill, or through the power of riches, or by the creativeness of nature.  For almost whatever things had been slowly acquired by fortunate men who ever were — different things marvelous and magnificent among the different individuals —, on that day all these things demonstrated the immensity of the Roman empire. Etenim argenti aurique nec non eboris in omni specie operum multitudinem, non ut in pompa ferri cerneres, sed ut ita dixerim omnia fluere.  Et alias quidem vestes ex rarissimis generibus purpuræ portari, alias diligentissima pictura variatas arte Babylonia :  gemmæ autem clarissimæ tam multæ, aliæ coronis aureis, aliæ aliis operibus inclusæ traductæ sunt, ut appārēret frustra nos earum usquam rarum esse aliquid suspicari. For indeed, you could see a vast amount of silver and gold as well as ivory in every sort of elaboration, not being carried along as in a parade but, as I might say, all of it flowing, and some garments of the rarest types of crimson being carried, others variegated with the most careful paintings after the Babylonian manner;  whereas so many brilliant gems, some set into gold crowns, others into other works, were transported that it seemed mistaken for us to suspect them of ever being something rare. Ferebantur etiam simulacra, quæ illi deos habent, et magnitudine mirabili, et arte non defunctorie facta.  Horumque nihil non ex pretiosa materia.  Quin et animalium diversa genera producebantur, propriis ornamentis induta.  Erat autem etiam quæ singula portaret magna hominum multitudo, purpureis vestibus atque inauratis ornata. Borne along too were images which the Romans consider gods, both marvelous in size and made with a skill not careless.  Of them, nothing was not of precious material.  On top of that, different types of animals were drawn along, dressed in their own finery.  Moreover there was a large number of men, ornamented with scarlet and gold-interwoven garments, that carried the individual items. Ipsi etiam qui ad pompam fuerant ab alia turba discreti, præcipua et mirabili ornamentorum magnificentia culti erant.  Insuper his, ne captivorum quidem vulgus inornatum videres, sed varietas et pulchritudo quidem vestium natam ex fatigatione corporum deformitatem, oculis subtrahebat.  Maxime autem stupori erat, pegmatum quæ portabantur, fabricatio, pro cujus magnitudine timendum viribus portantium occurrentes putabant. Even the very ones who had been separated from the rest of the crowd for the parade were dressed with a spectacular and wonderful magnificence of ornamentation.  On top of that, you did not see even the mob of captives unadorned, but the variety and indeed the beauty of their garments hid the overfatigue-caused ugliness of their bodies from the eyes.  But most amazing of all was the construction of the floats that were carried along, on account of whose size those encountering them thought there should be worry about the strength of the carriers. Multa enim in tertium nidum quartumque surgebant :  et magnificentia fabricæ cum admiratione delectabat :  multis aurata veste circundatis, quum aurum præterea factum atque ebur omnibus esset affixum.  Multis autem imitationibus bellum aliter in alia divisum, certam sui faciem demonstrabat. For many rose up into a third and fourth tier, and the magnificence of construction provided delight with admiration, with many wrapped in gilded drapery, while wrought gold and ivory was besides attached to everything.  With many depictions the war, variously sectioned into various elements, showed a realistic portrait of itself. Erat enim cernere vastari quidem fortunatissimam terram, totas vero interfici acies hostium :  et alios fugere, alios captivos duci :  murosque excellentes magnitudine machinis dirui, et castellorum exscindi munimina, et populosarum civitatum mœnia disturbari, exercitumque intra muros infundi :  cædisque omnia loca plena, et eorum qui manu resistere non poterant preces :  ignemque templis immissum, ædiumque super dominos post multam vastationem eversiones :  atque amnis tristitiam, defluentis non in arva culta, neque ad hominum vel pecorum potum, sed per terram ex omni parte flagrantem. There was a view of an extremely prosperous land being laid waste, of entire divisions of the enemy being annihilated, and some fleeing, others being led captive, and of walls of towering size being demolished by machines, and the fortifications of strongholds being obliterated, and the walls of populous cities being destroyed, and an army being poured into the walls;  and of all areas filled with slaughter, and of the pleadings of those who could not resist with their hands, and of fire being thrown into the temples, and the collapses of buildings atop their owners after great devastation, and the sadness of a stream flowing, not into cultivated fields or for drink for men or cattle, but through a land burning on all sides. Hæc enim Judæi bello passi sunt :  ars autem et confectorum operum magnitudo, nescientibus adhuc facta tanquam præsentibus ostendebant.  Erat autem per singula pegmata captæ civitatis dux, ita ut captus fuerat ordinatus.  Multæ etiam naves sequebantur. For the Jews had suffered these things.  But the art and size of the finished works displayed the events to those still unaware as though they had been present at them.  Moreover on each of the individual floats was a leader of a captured city, arranged just as he had been captured.  Many ships followed as well. The Triumphal Procession of Titus (Digitally Restored and Colored by the Arch of Titus Project) Spolia vero alia quidem passim ferebantur.  Eminebant autem ea quæ apud Hierosolymam in templo reperta sunt, mensa aurea ponderis talenti magni, et candelabrum similiter quidem auro factum, sed opere commutato ab usus nostri consuetudine.  Nam media quidem columna basi hærebat, tenues autem ab ea cannulæ producebantur, formatæ ad similitudinem fuscinæ, ad summum quæque in lychni speciem fabricatæ. Indeed, other booty was being borne everywhere.  But the things which were found in the Temple in Jerusalem stood out:  a gold table of the weight of a mega-talent, and a candelabrum similarly made of gold, but with a structure altered from the conventions of our usage.  For, while the middle column was affixed to the base, thin pipes came out of it, formed in the likeness of a pitchfork, each fashioned at the top in the form of a lamp. Erant autem numero septem, septimi diei, qui apud Judeos est, indicantes honorem.  Post hæc autem portabatur lex Judæorum, novissima spoliorum.  Deinde transibant plurimi victoriæ simulacra portantes, omnia ex auro et ex ebore facta.  Post hæc Vespasianus prior ibat, et Titus deinde sequebatur.  Domitianus autem adequitabat, ipse quoque ornatus pulchritudine, dignumque spectari exhibens equum. Moreover, in number they were seven, symbolizing honor of what among Jews is the seventh day.  Then after that was borne the Law of the Jews, the last of the spoils.  Next, many men went past carrying effigies of Victory, all made of gold and ivory.  After them, Vespasian came first, and then Titus followed.  On the other hand, riding along on horseback was Domitian, himself also resplendently adorned and displaying a horse deserving to be seen. 6 Pompæ autem finis fuit Capitolini Jovis templum, quo postquam ventum est, constitere.  Erat autem vetus mos patrius, operiri donec ducis hostium mortem quispiam nuntiaret.  Is erat Simon Gioræ, tunc inter captivos in pompa traductus :  laqueo vero circundatus per forum trahebatur, quo eum simul cæderent qui ducebant. Now the end of the parade was the temple of Capitoline Jupiter where, after it arrived there, they stopped.  It was, however, an old national custom to wait until someone announced the death of the enemy leader.  That was Simon, son of Gioras, at that time drawn along in the parade among the captives;  he was dragged with a noose around him through the forum where those who were pulling him might simultaneously kill him. Lex autem Romanis est, ibi necare criminum reos morte damnatos.  Postquam igitur eum finem vitæ habere nuntiatum est, omniumque favor secutus est, tunc hostias incohavere.  Hisque secundo per vota sollemnia omine peractis, in palatium recessere. It is, moreover, a law among the Romans to execute at that place those condemned to death as guilty of crimes.  So after it was announced that he had had the end of his life, and everyone’s applause followed it, they then began with the sacrifices.  And having finished these under favorable auspices through the established prayers, they returned to the palace. Et alios quidem epulis ipsi excepere, aliis autem omnibus domi conviviorum instructi erant apparatus.  Hunc enim diem urbs Romana celebrabat, victoriæ quidem in hostes gratulatorium, finem vero malorum civilium, et spei bonæ pro felicitate principium. And they themselves invited some in to their banquets, while for all others preparations were made for feasts at home.  For the Roman city celebrated that day as one, certainly, of thanksgiving for victory over the enemy, but as the end of civil disorders and the beginning of good hope for prosperity. 7 Post triumphos vero, et Romani imperii firmissimum statum, Vespasianus Paci templum ædificari decrevit.  Itaque mira celeritate, et qua hominum cogitationem superaret, effectum est.  Magna enim divitiarum largitate usus, insuper perfectis id picturæ ac figmentorum operibus exornavit. But after the triumphal parades and the extremely firm stabilization of the Roman empire, Vespasian decreed that a temple be built to Peace.  And so it was constructed — with amazing speed, and such as would surpass human expectations.  For in addition, employing a great lavishness of riches, he adorned it with prefabricated works of painting and statuary. Omnia namque in illud fanum collecta ac deposita sunt, quorum visendorum studio per totum orbem, qui ante nos fuerunt, vagabantur, quomodo aliud apud alios situm esset, videre cupientes.  Hic autem reposuit etiam quæ Judæorum fuerant instrumenta, his se magnifice ferens.  Legem vero eorum, et penetralium vela purpurea in palatio condita servari præcepit. Indeed, in that sanctuary were collected and placed all the things, out of the desire of seeing which those who lived before us crisscrossed the entire world, desiring to see how a thing might be found among others.  Moreover he also placed here the instruments which had belonged to the Jews, being immensely proud of them.  But their Law and the crimson veil of the inner sanctum he ordered kept secreted in the Palace. ⇑ § VI De Machærunte ; et quomodo castellum aliaque loca capit Lucilius Bassus. Concerning Machærus, and How Lucilius Bassus Took That Citadel and Other Places. 1 — Caput G-25 — Herodium et Machærus a Basso capta. IN Judæam vero legatus missus Lucilius Bassus, suscepto a Cereali Vetiliano exercitu, castellum quidem Herodion cum præsidio deditione cepit.  Post autem omni manu militari collecta (multi autem in partes divisi erant), et Legione Decima bellum inferre Machærunti statuit.  Valde enim necessarium videbatur id exscindi castellum, ne multos sui munimine ad defectionem invitaret. On the other hand, Lucilius Bassus, sent as legate to Judæa, having taken over the army from Cerealis Vetilianus, captured the fortress Herodium with its garrison by surrender.  But after that, having gathered all the army groups together (given that many men had been divided up into sections), with the Tenth Legion he also decided to make war on Machærus.  For it seemed quite necessary to eradicate that fortress so that with its fortifications it would not invite a lot of men to defection. Nam et salutis spem habitatoribus certam, et aggredientibus hæsitationem atque formidinem, natura loci præstare maxime poterat.  Nam ipsum quidem quod muro cinctum est, saxosus est collis, in proceram altitudinem surgens, et ob hoc etiam capi difficilis videtur :  sed ne vel accedi posset eo natura excogitarat, quæ vallibus eum ex omni parte vallaverat, quarum altitudo oculis comprehendi non posset :  nec transire erat facile, nec aggestu ulla ratione compleri possibile. For the nature of the place was especially able to engender a firm hope of safety in its residents and fear and hesitation in attackers.  For indeed, the very thing that was surrounded by a wall is a rocky hill rising to a lofty height and, for that reason, appears difficult to capture;  but nature had contrived to make it impossible for it even to be approached at that place;  she had walled it on every side with valleys whose depth could not be plumbed with the eyes;  neither was it easy to cross them, nor in any way possible to stuff them up with fill. Machærus at sunset Nam ea quæ ab Occidente secat vallis LX• stadiis distenditur, unde Asphaltites lacus ei limitem facit.  Ex hoc vero tractu ipse Machærus altissimo vertice supereminet. For the valley which cuts in from the west extends seven miles {(Latin:  60 stades)} from where the Dead Sea forms its start.  In fact, from this region Machærus itself rises up with its extremely high summit. A Septentrione autem et Meridie, valles magnitudine quidem supradicta cingunt, similiter vero sunt inextricabiles ad oppugnationem.  Ejus vero vallis quæ ab Oriente est, altitudo non minor centum cubitis invenitur :  monte vero ex adverso Machærunti posito terminatur. Moreover, valleys of the aforementioned size surround it on the north and south;  they are, however, similarly impracticable for an attack.  Plus, of the valley that is on the east, the depth is found to be not less than a hundred fifty feet {(100 cubits)};  it in turn is bounded by a mountain located opposite Machærus. 2 Ea loci natura perspecta, rex Alexander primus in eo castellum communivit, quod postea Gabinius bello cum Aristobulo gesto deposuit.  Herodi autem regnanti, omnibus locis dignior quum visus est, et constructione tutissima, propter Arabum præcipue vicinitatem.  Namque opportune situs est, eorum fines prospectans. Having surveyed the nature of the place, King Alexander {(Jannæus, 104-78 B.C.)} was the first to construct on it a fortress, which Gabinius {(Pompey’s legate)} in the war with Aristobulus later destroyed.  But while Herod was reigning, it seemed more deserving of the strongest construction — including, than all other places —, especially on account of the proximity of the Arabs.  For it is opportunely situated, looking out on their territory. Magno ergo locum muro amplexus ac turribus, civitatem illic fecit incolis, unde in arcem ipsam ferebat ascensus.  Quin et circa ipsum verticem rursus murum ædificaverat, turresque in angulis sexagenorum cubitorum erexerat.  In medio autem ambitu regiam struxerat, magnitudine simul habitationum et pulchritudine locupletem. Hence, having surrounded the place with a large wall and towers, he made a city there for the inhabitants, whence an ascent led up to the citadel itself.  Additionally, he had also again built a wall around the summit and on its corners erected towers ninety feet {(60 cubits)} in height.  In the center of the roundabout he had constructed a palace, rich in both the size and beauty of its apartments. Multas vero cisternas recipiendis aquis abundeque suppeditandis, locis maxime idoneis fecerat :  veluti cum natura certaret, ut quod illa situ loci expugnabile fecerat, ipse manu structis munitionibus superaret.  Insuper enim et sagittarum multitudinem machinarumque reposuit :  et omnem apparatum excogitavit, qui habitatoribus posset magnæ obsidionis præstare contemptum. Further, at quite suitable points he had made cisterns for catching and abundantly supplying rainwater — as though he were competing with nature, so that what she, by the siting of the place, had made conquerable, he himself might overcome through fortifications made by hand.  For in addition he stored a large quantity of arrows and artillery, and invented every device which could allow the inhabitants to defy a long siege. 3 Erat autem in ipsa regia ruta mirabilis magnitudinis :  a nulla enim ficu vel celsitudine, vel magnitudine vincebatur.  Ferebant autem eam ex Herodis temporibus perseverasse :  mansissetque ulterius profecto, sed ab Judæis qui locum ceperant excisa est. Also, in the palace itself there was a rue plant of amazing size, for it was exceeded by no fig tree height or size.  Indeed, they say that it had endured from the times of Herod;  and it would certainly have lasted longer, but it was cut down by the Jews who had captured the place. Vallis autem, qua civitas a parte Septentrionali cingitur, quidam locus Baaras appellatur, ubi radix eodem nomine gignitur :  quæ flammæ quidem assimilis est colore, circa vesperam vero veluti jubare fulgurans, accedentibus eamque evellere cupientibus facilis non est :  sed tam diu refugit nec prius manet, quam si quis urinam muliebrem vel menstruum sanguinem super eam fuderit. Moreover the ravine by which the city is compassed on the northern side is a certain place called by the name of “Baäras,” whence a root of the same name is derived, one which, similar in color to a flame, flashing as though with a halo around evening, is not easy for those coming wanting to pull it out;  rather, it shrinks back and will not stay until one pours a woman’s urine or menstrual blood on it. Quinetiam tunc si quis eam tetigerit, mors certa est, nisi forte illam ipsam radicem ferat de manu pendentem.  Capitur autem alio quoque modo sine periculo, qui talis est :  totam enim circumfodiunt, ita ut minimum ex radice terra sit conditum.  Deinde ab ea religant canem :  illoque sequi eum a quo relegatus est cupiente ;  radix quidem facile evellitur :  canis vero continuo moritur, tanquam ejus vice a quo herba tollenda erat, traditus.  Nullus enim postea accipientibus metus est. And even then if one touches it, death is certain, unless perhaps he carries the root itself hanging from his hand.  It is, however, also taken without danger in another way, which is as follows:  they dig around the whole of it in such a way that a minimum of the root is covered by earth.  Then they tie a dog to it, one wanting to follow him by whom he is tied;  the root is then easily pulled out, but the dog dies immediately, as though handed over in the place of him by whom the plant was to be taken out.  For afterwards there is no fear for those handling it. Tantis autem periculis propter unam vim capi eam operæ pretium est.  Nam quae vocantur dæmonia, pessimorum hominum spiritus, vivis immersa, eosque necantia quibus subventum non fuerit, hæc cito, etiam si tantummodo admoveatur ægrotantibus, abigit.  Fluunt autem ex eo loco aquarum fontes etiam calidarum, multum inter se sapore diversi.  Alii namque amari sunt :  aliis nihil dulcedinis deest. However it is worthwhile for it to be taken under such dangers on account of one property:  for if it is only just touched on the sick, it quickly expels so-called demons, the spirits of extremely evil men infecting the living and killing those who are not given help.  But from that area also flow springs of hot water, differing greatly in taste from one another.  For while some are bitter, nothing of sweetness is lacking in others. Multi autem frigidæ aquæ ortus, non solum in humilioribus locis fontes alternos habent, sed quod amplius quis miretur, in proximo quædam spelunca cernitur, non quidem alte cava, saxo autem imminente protecta :  super hoc veluti duæ mammæ inter se paululum distantes eminent :  et altera quidem frigidissimum fontem, altera calidissimum fundit :  qui mixti lavacrum suavissimum præbent, multisque morbis ac vitiis salutare, maxime vero nervorum curationi conveniens :  habetque idem locus metalla, sulfuris et aluminis. However, many sources of cold water have springs sporadically alternating not only in lower places but, what one would find more surprising, a certain cave is found in the vicinity, certainly not deeply hollowed out, but protected by a projecting rock;  above this stand out as it were two breasts a little apart from one another;  and the one pours out an extremely cold spring, the other an extremely hot one.  Mixed together, these provide a most soothing bath, healthful for many sicknesses and deficiencies, but especially suitable for curing the muscles;  and the same place has mines of sulfur and alum. 4 Bassus autem contemplatus undique regionem, valle Orientali repleta accessum parare statuit :  opusque incohavit, properans aggerem quam plurimum extollere, facilemque per eum oppugnationem facere. Now Bassus, having reviewed the region from all sides, decided to construct his approach by filling the eastern ravine, and started on the work, hurrying to raise the bulwark as much as possible and thereby to make the siege easier. Qui vero intus fuerant deprehensi, ab externis segregati Judæi, illos quidem coëgere, inane vulgus esse existimantes, inferiorem observare civitatem, ac pericula priores excipere :  superius vero castellum ipsi occupatum tenebant, et propter munitionis firmitatem, et ut saluti suæ consulerent. But those Jews who had been caught inside, having been separated from the aliens, forced them — considering them worthless rabble — to keep to the lower city and be the first to meet the dangers;  they themselves held the upper fortress in their possession both on account of the solidity of its fortification and to look after their own safety. Impetraturos enim se veniam opinabantur, si locum tradidissent Romanis.  Prius autem volebunt spem declinandæ obsidionis experiendo convincere :  ideoque alacri animo in dies singulos excursus habebant, et cum his quos sors obtulisset consertis manibus, multi moriebantur, multosque Romanos interficiebant. For they thought they would obtain pardon if they were to surrender the place to the Romans.  But first they wanted by experimentation to try out their hope of deflecting the siege;  and so every day with vigorous spirits they made sallies, and with those whom chance presented them with in hand-to-hand combat, many died, and they slew many Romans. Semper autem utrisque ex tempore plus victoriæ captabatur :  Judæis quidem, si incautiores aggrederentur :  in aggere autem positis, si improvisum excursum eorum bene sæpti armis exciperent.  Sed non is erat finis obsidionis futurus.  Res autem quædam fortuito gesta, inopinatam castelli tradendi necessitatem Judæis imposuit. But on both sides more victory was always obtained from the moment:  for the Jews, if they attacked men off their guard;  on the other hand, for those stationed on the bulwark, if well surrounded with arms they took on the sudden onslaught.  But that was not to be the end of the siege.  Rather, a certain exploit occurring by chance imposed on the Jews the unexpected necessity of surrendering the fortress. Erat inter obsessos juvenis et audacia ferox, et manu strenuus, Eleazarus nomine.  Is autem fuerat excursibus nobilis, multos egredi aggestumque prohibere obsecrans, et in prœliis semper graviter Romanos afficiens :  audaciaque sua socios prosequens, impetum quidem facilem his, periculo autem vacuum discessum efficiebat novissimus recedendo. Among the besieged there was a young man fierce in audacity and strong of arm by the name of Eleazar.  He was distinguished in the sallies, urging many men to go out and stop the dirt-filling, and in battles always injuring the Romans severely;  accompanying his comrades with audacity, he truly made the attack easy for them while making their retreat danger-free by being the last in withdrawing. Itaque discreta quodam die pugna, et utraque parte digressa, ipse tanquam despiciens omnes, existimans neminem tunc hostium prœlium excepturum, extra portam remansit :  et in muro stantes alloquebatur tota mente illos attendens.  Hanc autem opportunitatem vidit quidam ex castris Romanorum Ægyptius, nomine Rufus :  et quod nemo sperasset, impetu facto cum ipsis eum armis repente correptum, quum hoc viso stantes in muro stupor teneret, in castra Romanorum traduxit. So one day, after a battle had been discontinued and both sides had separated, he himself, as though scorning them all, thinking none of the enemy would take up a fight, remained outside the gate and was talking to those standing on the wall, concentrating on them with his whole mind.  But a certain man in the camp of the Romans, an Egyptian by the name of Rufus, spied this opportunity and — what no one would have hoped —, making a dash, took him — suddenly seized with his weapons themselves — over to the camp of the Romans while stupefaction at seeing this immobilized those standing on the wall. Postquam vero dux nudum præcepit extendi, et in aperto constitutum, ut ex civitate conspiceretur, cædi verberibus, vehementer Judæos confudit casus juvenis, universaque civitas in fletu erat et questibus, unius viri clade percussa. Then after the general ordered him to be stretched out naked and, placed in the open so that he could be viewed from the city, to be flogged with whips, the plight of the young man deeply confused the Jews, and the entire city was in tears and lamentation, stricken by the downfall of a single man. Id ubi Bassus animadvertit, consiliorum adversus hostes hoc principium sumpsit :  eorumque miserationem augere cupiens, quatenus coacti pro ejus salute castelli traditionem facerent, quod speravit adeptus est.  Nam ipse quidem, velut mox Eleazarum suspensurus, crucem defigi jussit. When Bassus noticed this, he took it as the start of a strategy against the enemy;  and, desiring to increase their commiseration to the point that, forced, they would produce the surrender of the fortress in return for his safety, he achieved what he hoped.  For he himself, as though about to hang Eleazar right away, ordered a cross to be set up. Ea vero conspecta, major castellanos dolor invasit, et ululando querebantur, intolerabilem esse calamitatem vociferantes.  Tunc igitur Eleazarus eos orabat, ne vel se despicerent, mortem miserrimam subiturum, sibique ipsis salutem præberent, postquam jam subacti omnes Romanorum viribus ac fortunæ concederent. Indeed, at that sight, a greater pain overcame the fortress inmates, and they lamented wailing, crying that it was an intolerable disaster.  Then Eleazar prayed them not to look down on him as he was about to undergo a most wretched death, and to take measures for safety for themselves:  after all others had now been subjected, they should yield to the forces and Fortune of the Romans. Illi autem et ejus sermone fracti, et quod multi intus pro eo precabantur (ex magna enim et numerosa cognatione genus ducebat) et contra ingenium suum misericordia victi sunt :  et quibusdam celeriter missis colloquebantur, castelli traditionem facere petentes, ac reddito sibi Eleazaro, sine metu dimitti. They, in response, both broken by his words, and because many inside pled for him (for he took his lineage from a large and numerous kindred), were overcome with compassion even against their nature;  and having quickly sent certain men, they held a parley, asking to effect the surrender of the fortress and, with Eleazar given back to them, to be dismissed without fear. Quum autem his assensus esset dux Romanorum, multitudo civitatis inferioris, inita separatim cum Judæis cognita pactione, ipsi clam nocte aufugere statuere.  Quum vero portas aperuissent, ab his qui deditionem promiserant ad Bassum nuntius venit, sive invidia salutis eorum, sive formidine, ne eorum fugæ causam ipsi præstarent.  Sed fortissimi quidem fugientium, qui præcesserant, evasere. But after the general of the Romans had agreed to these things, the mass of the lower city, learning of the agreement made separately with the Jews, decided themselves to flee secretly by night.  But when they had opened the gates, a messenger from those who had promised the surrender went to Bassus — whether out of envy over their safety or out of fear, so that they themselves would not be enabling the cause of their flight.  However the strongest of the escapees who had gone ahead did escape. Reliquorum autem viri quidem mille septingenti perempti sunt, mulierculæ vero et pueri in servitium ducti.  Sponsiones autem cum his qui castellum dedidere habitas, Bassus conservandas esse ratus, et ipsos dimisit, et Eleazarum reddidit. Of the others, however, one thousand seven hundred men were slain and the women and children taken into slavery.  On the other hand, Bassus, thinking that the promises made with those who surrendered the fortress ought to be kept, both let them themselves go and returned Eleazar to them. 5 — Caput G-26 — De Judæis a Basso interemptis et Judæa divendita. His autem administratis, in saltum qui appellatur « Jardes » ducere properabat exercitum, multi enim illuc congregati esse nuntiabantur, qui pridem tempore obsidionis, ex Hierosolymis et Machærunte profugerant.  Ergo quum ad locum venisset, neque falsum fuisse nuntium reperisset, primo quidem omnem locum cum equitibus cingit :  ut si quis Judæorum conatus fuisset evadere, fugiendi per equites copiam non haberet. Having then taken care of these things, he hurried to lead the army to the pass which is called “Jardes,” for it was reported that many had gathered there who had previously, at the time of the siege, fled from Jerusalem and Machærus.  Thus, when he had come to the place and found that the report had not been false, he firstly surrounded the entire place with his cavalry, so that if any of the Jews should have tried to escape, he would not have the chance because of the cavalry. Pedites autem silvam jussit cædere, in quam confugerant.  Hoc modo ad necessitatem adducti sunt fortiter aliquid faciendi, velut ex audaci certamine fortasse fugam etiam reperirent.  Itaque simul universi, et cum clamore impetu facto, in eos a quibus cincti fuerant, irruunt. On the other hand, he ordered his infantry to cut down the forest into which they had fled.  In this way they were led to the need of doing something vigorously, as though through a bold struggle they might perhaps also find an escape.  And thus at the same time, all together and making an attack with shouting, they charged into those by whom they were surrounded. Illi autem fortiter excipiebant :  multaque his audacia, illis contentione usis, diu quidem prœlium tractum est, non autem similis evenit finis pugnæ certantibus.  Nam Romanorum quidem duodecim tantum contigit occumbere, neque multos sauciari :  Judæorum vero ex illo prœlio nullus evasit.  Sed quum non essent pauciores tribus milibus, prostrati sunt omnes :  eorumque dux, Judas Jairi filius, de quo supra meminimus, qui ordini cuidam præpositus quum Hierosolyma obsideretur, quibus demersus fuerat cloacis, latenter effugit. The others took them on courageously;  the battle was indeed drawn out for a long time, with these employing a great deal of boldness, those, fighting-zeal;  but the outcome of the battle did not turn out the same for the fighters.  For of the Romans it happened that only twelve died and not many were injured;  while of the Jews none escaped from that battle.  Rather, although there were not fewer than three thousand, they were all laid low;  including their leader, Judas the son of Jairus, of whom we made mention above, who, the leader of a certain division, secretly fled when Jerusalem was being besieged, into whose sewers he had gone down. 6 Eodem vero tempore, Cæsar etiam ad Liberium Maximum scripsit (erat autem procurator) ut omnem terram venderet Judæorum.  Nec enim civitatem in ea condidit proprium servans sibi eorum agrum.  Solis autem octingentis militibus illis relictis, locum dedit quem incolerent :  qui vocatur Ammaus.  Distat autem ab Hierosolymis triginta stadiis. Now at that same time, Cæsar also wrote to Liberius Maximum (for he was the governor) that he should sell all the lands of the Jews.  For, reserving their farmland to himself as his own, he did not found any city in it.  To those only eight hundred soldiers left he gave a place which they might cultivate called Emmaus.  It is three and a half miles {(30 stades)} from Jerusalem. Stipendium vero ubicunque degerent Judæis indixit :  binasque drachmas singulis annis deferre in Capitolium jussit, ita ut antehac Hierosolymorum templo pendebant.  Et res quidem Judæorum illo tempore hunc statum habebant. Next, he decreed a tax on the Jews wherever they lived:  and he ordered them to pay two drachmas in each year to the Capitol, in the same way that they had previously paid it to the Jerusalem Temple.  And so at that time the affairs of the Jews were in that state. ⇑ § VII De calamitate Antiochi regis Commagenorum, deque Alanis, qui mala multa Medis et Armenis intulerunt. Concerning the Calamity That Befell Antiochus, King of Commagene.  As also Concerning the Alans and What Great Mischiefs They Did to the Medes and Armenians. 1 — Caput G-27 — De clade Antiochi regis et eruptione Alanorum in Armeniam. JAM vero quarto anno Vespasiano administrante imperium, contigit Commagenes regem Antiochum in maximas clades cum tota domo incurrere, ex causa hujusmodi. Now in the fourth year of Vespasian administering the empire, it happened that the king of Commagene, Antiochus, with his entire house, experienced great disasters due to the following cause: Cæsennius Pætus, qui tunc Syriam administrabat, sive re vera, seu propter inimicitias Antiochi (certum non valde patefactum est) litteras ad Cæsarem misit, Antiochum dicens deficere ab Romanis cum Epiphane filio decrevisse, pactis habitis cum rege Parthorum :  proptereaque debere illos ante capere, ne, si priores novas res adorti essent, totum Romanorum imperium bello perturbarent. Cæsennius Pætus, who was administering Syria at that time, whether truthfully or out of enmity to Antiochus (the facts have not been made absolutely certain), sent a letter to Cæsar that Antiochus with his son Epiphanes, having made a pact with the king of the Parthians, had decided to defect from the Romans;  and therefore it was necessary to forestall them lest, if as the first ones they undertake a revolt, they should convulse the entire Roman empire with war. Non erat autem Cæsar hujusmodi nuntium ad se perlatum neglecturus.  Nam vicinitas regum majore negotium providentia dignum esse faciebat.  Samosata enim Commagenes maxima civitas juxta Euphratem sita est, ut esset Parthis (eo namque id cogitavere) facillimus transitus, tutum autem receptaculum. Moreover Cæsar was not about to neglect a message of this nature sent to him.  Because the proximity of the kings made the business deserving of greater precaution.  For Samosata, the largest city of Commagene, was located on the Euphrates, so that for the Parthians it would be (for they thought about it to that point) an extremely easy crossing as well as a safe retreat. Fide igitur habita, et potestate sibi permissa, ut ageret quod expedire videretur, neglegendum non putavit.  Subito tamen, Antiocho ejusque sociis nihil opinantibus, in Commagenem ingressus est, ex legionibus quidem sextam ducens, et insuper quasdam cohortes alasque equitum.  Habebat autem auxilio reges, Chalcidicæ Aristobulum, Emesæque Sohemum. Being therefore believed and entrusted with the power to do what seemed expedient, he did not think the matter should be neglected.  Instead, while Antiochus and his comrades were expecting nothing, he suddenly invaded Commagene, leading, of the legions, the Sixth, and in addition certain cohorts and squadrons of cavalry.  As auxiliaries he had kings Aristobulus of Chalcidica and Sohemus of Emesa. Introitus autem illis erat sine certamine, quod nemo indigenarum manus valebat opponere.  Antiochus enim insperato perculsus nuntio, bellum quidem contra Romanos nec cogitatione concepit. But their entrance was without resistance, because none of the natives was able to raise his hands against them.  For Antiochus, unnerved by the unexpected news, was not even conceiving a war against the Romans in his mind. Decrevit autem, toto regno in eo quo erat statu relicto, cum conjuge ac liberis egredi, hoc se Romanis purum ab ea suspicione quæ sibi ingereretur probaturum esse ratus :  progressusque de civitate centum triginta propemodum stadiis, in campo tabernaculum ponit. Rather, he decided, leaving his entire kingdom in the state it was in, to leave with his wife and children, thinking that this would exculpate him of the suspicion which was being brought against him;  and traveling nearly fifteen miles {(130 stades)} from the city, he pitched his tent on the plain. 2 Pætus autem in Samosatam qui eam capesserent mittit, et per eos civitatem tenebat.  Ipse vero cum alio milite in Antiochum ire tendebat.  Non tamen rex vel ipsa necessitate adductus est adversum Romanos aliquid bellicum gerere :  sed fortunam suam questus, quidvis pati sustinebat. Pætus, on the other hand, sent men to Samosata to capture it and through them held the city.  But he himself with the other military hastened to go after Antiochus.  Still, the king was not induced even by that crisis itself to wage anything warlike against the Romans;  rather, lamenting his own fortune, he resigned himself to suffer anything whatsoever. Adulescentibus autem, bellique peritis, vique corporis præstantibus filiis ejus non erat facile in calamitate sine pugna durare.  Itaque ad virtutem se conferunt Epiphanes et Callinicus.  Vehementi autem pugna per totam diem habita, insigni fortitudine demonstrati sunt :  nullaque parte suarum virium diminuta discedunt. But for his young sons, skilled in war and excelling in strength of body, it was not easy to persevere in those straits without a fight.  Thus Epiphanes and Callinicus resorted to militancy.  Having engaged in a savage battle for an entire day, they were proven to be of extraordinary valor, and finished with no part of their forces diminished. Antiocho vero neque pugna hoc modo peracta manere domi tolerabile videbatur :  sed abducta conjuge cum filiabus in Ciliciam fugit, atque hoc facto militum suorum animos fregit.  Nam veluti desperato ab eo regno defecere, et ad Romanos se transtulere, omniumque erat desperatio. Yet even with the fight ending in that way, it did not seem tolerable to Antiochus to stay home, but taking along his wife with his daughters, he fled to Cilicia and with that action broke the morale of his own soldiers.  For as though despairing of that kingdom, they defected and went over to the Romans, and for everyone there was despair. Ergo priusquam penitus destituerentur auxiliis, Epiphani cum ceteris servare se ex hostibus erat necessarium.  Fiuntque omnes equites decem, qui cum his una transgressi sunt flumen Euphratem.  Hinc jam sine metu profecti, quum ad Vologesem Parthorum regem venissent, non quasi profugi despecti sunt, sed ac si fortunam pristinam retinerent, omni honore dignati sunt. Therefore before he was completely stripped of troops, it was necessary for Epiphanes to save himself with the others from the enemy.  Ten cavalry men turned out to be all who, together with them, crossed the Euphrates river.  Progressing fearlessly from there, when they had arrived at Vologeses the king of the Parthians, they were not looked down on as refugees but, as though they retained their original fortune, they were considered worthy of all honor. 3 Antiochum vero, ubi Tarsum Ciliciæ venit, misso centurione Pætus vinctum Romam transmisit.  Vespasianus autem ita regem ad se deduci non passus est :  dignius esse ratus, veteris amicitiæ habere rationem, quam belli occasione inexorabilem iracundiam servare. But Pætus, sending a centurion, shipped Antiochus, after he had arrived in Tarsus of Cilicia, to Rome in chains.  However, Vespasian did not allow him to be brought before him in that condition, thinking it more dignified to take into account their old friendship rather than to hold to the inflexible wrath due to the occasion of war. Itaque jubet ei iter agenti auferri vincula, intermissaque interim profectione Romam, apud Lacedæmonem degere :  magnos vero ei pecuniæ reditus præbet, ut non modo copiose, sed etiam regie victum haberet.  His Epiphanes et ceteri cognitis, qui patri ante metuebant, magna cura et inextricabili animos relaxarunt, et ipsi quoque spem reconciliandi cum Cæsare concepere. And thus he ordered the chains to be removed from him as he was making the journey and, interrupting in the interim the journey to Rome, to stay in Lacedæmon;  moreover he provided him with an abundant income of money so that he could lead his life not just affluently but royally.  Learning of this, Epiphanes and the others who were fearing for his father, relaxed their minds from their great and inextricable anxiety, and themselves also took hope of reconciliating with Cæsar. Quum autem etiam Vologeses de his scripsisset ad Cæsarem (nec enim, quamvis feliciter agerent, extra Romanum vivere patiebantur imperium) et quum Cæsar his mansuete facultatem dedisset, Romam venerunt.  Patre autem ad eos ex Lacedæmone statim advecto, quum omnis honor eis haberetur, ibi mansere. Moreover, after Vologeses had also written about them to Cæsar (for no matter how successfully they were doing, they could not bear living outside of the Roman empire), and after Cæsar had clemently granted them permission, they went to Rome.  Then with their father having promptly traveled to them from Lacedæmon, while every honor was bestowed on them, they remained there. 4 Alanorum autem natio, quod quidem Scythæ sint, juxta flumen Tanain et Mæotides paludes sedes habentes, jam quodam loco memoravimus.  His vero temporibus inito consilio, ut terram Mediam, et ulterius prædandi causa pervaderent, cum rege Hyrcanorum colloquuntur.  Namque is est illius transitus dominus, quem rex Alexander ita fecerat, ut portis ferreis clauderetur. At some place we have already mentioned that the nation of the Alans are actually Scythians having their homeland alongside the Don River and the Sea of Asov.  At this period they conferred with the king of the Hyrcanians, developing a plan to invade the land of Media and beyond for the sake of plunder.  For he is the overlord of that passage which King Alexander made so that it could be closed with iron gates. Aditu autem sibi præbito, universi nihil suspicantibus Medis incumbunt :  eorumque fines populosos, omnigenumque pecorum plenos diripiebant, quum resistere nullus auderet.  Nam qui regnum ejus terræ obtinebat Pacorus, metu perculsus, in difficiliora loca refugiens, ceteris quidem bonis omnibus cesserat :  vix autem ab illis conjugem ac concubinas suas captas, datis centum talentis redemerat. After passage had been allowed them, they all fell on the completely unsuspecting Medes and pillaged their populous territory, full of all sorts of cattle, since no one dared to resist them.  For, stricken with fear, Pacorus, who ruled the kingdom of that land, had, fleeing into rougher areas, abandoned all his property to the others;  moreover he had barely redeemed from them his captured wife and concubines, paying a hundred talents. Summa ergo facultate sine pugna prædabundi, et usque ad Armeniam vastantes omnia processere.  Ejus autem Tyridates rex erat.  Qui quum his obvius bello conflixisset, non multum abfuit quin vivus in illa acie caperetur. So, plundering with the greatest of ease without a fight, they also went forth ravaging everything as far as Armenia.  But its king was Tyridates.  When, opposing them in a war, he fought, he was not far from being taken alive in that battle. Procul enim quidam misso in eum laqueo circumdatum tracturus fuerat, nisi celeriter gladio rupisset laqueum, atque ita fugisset.  Illi autem pugna multo magis efferati, terram quidem depopulati sunt :  magnam vero hominum multitudinem, aliamque ducentes prædam ex utroque regno, ad sua domicilia rediere. For someone would have dragged him, caught by throwing a lasso on him from a distance, if he had not quickly cut the lasso with his sword and thus escaped.  But they, driven much wilder by the battle, truly devastated the territory;  next, dragging along a large multitude of people and other prey from both kingdoms, they returned to their own lands. ⇑ § VIII De Masada et sicariis qui eam occupaverant ; et quomodo Silva ad castelli oppugnationem se convertebat. Eleazari contio. Concerning Masada and Those Sicarii Who Kept it ;  and How Silva Betook Himself to Form the Siege of That Citadel.  Eleazar’s Speeches to the Besieged. 1 — Caput G-28 — Excidium Massadæ castelli munitissimi. APUD Judæam vero mortuo Basso, Flavius Silva in administratione succedit.  Et aliam quidem terram bello subactam videns, unum autem adhuc rebelle superesse castellum, omni quæ in illis locis habebatur manu collecta, adversus id militem movit. But after the death of Bassus in Judæa, Flavius Silva {(Lucius Flavius Silva Nonius-Bassus)} succeeded him in office {(A.D. 72)}.  And seeing the rest of the land subjugated by war, but a single rebel fortress still remaining, after gathering the entire force which he had in those places, he moved his soldiers against it. Nomen est autem castello Massada.  Princeps vero sicariorum, a quibus fuerat occupatum, erat vir præpotens Eleazarus, ex origine Judæ, qui non paucis Judæis persuaserat, ut ante diximus, ne professionem facerent, quando censor Cyrenius in Judæam missus est.  Tunc enim sicarii conspiraverunt in eos, qui Romanis dicto audientes esse vellent :  omnique modo his quasi hostibus utebantur, diripiendo quidem et abigendo eorum bona, ignem vero domibus injiciendo. Moreover the name of the fortress was Masada.  On the other hand, the leader of the Daggermen, by whom it had been seized, was an extremely powerful man, Eleazar, of the line of Judas, who had persuaded not a few Jews, as we said before, not to make a property-declaration when the censor Quirinius was sent to Judæa.  At that time the Daggermen conspired against those who wanted to be obedient to the orders of the Romans, and in every way treated them as enemies, plundering and driving away their belongings and throwing fire into their houses. Nihil enim illos ab alienigenis differre dicebant, qui pugna etiam petendam Judæorum libertatem tanta ignavia prodidissent, magisque se optare sub Romanis servitium professi essent.  Erat autem id plane causatio, et crudelitatis atque avaritiæ dicebatur obtentu :  manifestum autem rebus effectum est. For they said they did not differ at all from foreigners who with such cowardice had betrayed the liberty of the Jews to be sought for even by fighting, and had acknowledged that they would rather choose slavery under the Romans.  But that was obviously a pretense, and was said by way of a cloak of their cruelty and greed;  it was made manifest by their affairs. Nam iidem illi et defectionis socii fuerunt, et bellum cum Romanis communiter suscepere.  Causa vero pejor illorum in eos facta est :  et quum mentita prior eorum refelleretur occasio, pejus tractabant eos, qui nequitiæ suæ justis assertionibus exprobrarent.  Fuit enim quodammodo illud tempus apud Judæos omnium generum malitiae fecundissimum :  ut nullum opus intermitteretur infectum, nec si quis excogitando fingere voluisset, haberet quo magis novum aliquid inveniret. For those very same people both were allies of the defection, and in common took up the war with the Romans.  Yet a worse accusation of theirs was made against them;  and when their original, falsified occasion was refuted, they treated worse those who with just statements were reproaching their wickedness.  For in some way among the Jews that period was extremely prolific in every category of evil, so that no act was left undone, nor, if someone had wanted to devise something through deliberation, would he any longer have the possibility of inventing anything new. Ita et privatim et communiter omnes unum erant, et exsuperare alium alius tam impietate quam iniquitate in proximos certabant, potentes quidem multitudinem male tractando, multitudo vero ad interitum potentium properando.  Illis autem erat dominandi cupiditas, his autem vim faciendi, bonaque locupletum diripiendi. Thus both privately and publicly everyone was united, and the one competed to surpass the other in impiety, and also in iniquity against his neighbors, the powerful by maltreating the multitude, while the multitude hastened to the destruction of the powerful.  Desire for domination was characteristic of the former;  of the latter, for doing violence and plundering the goods of the rich. Primi quidem sicarii fuere iniquitatis in propinquos et crudelitatis auctores, nullo neque verbo indicto ad injuriam, neque facto intentato ad exitium eorum quibus insidiarentur penitus prætermisso.  Verum et hos Joannes moderatiores esse demonstravit.  Non solum enim omnes interficiebat qui necessaria et profutura suaderent, tanquam inimicissimos maxime cives ejusmodi impetens, sed etiam patriam malis plurimis cumulavit :  qualia facturus fuerat qui Deum quoque jam esset ausus impietate contemnere. Indeed the Daggermen were the foremost ones in evil toward their neighbors and the authors of cruelty, omitting neither any word unsaid for harm nor deed untried for the destruction of those for whom they were lying in ambush.  But John actually showed them to be more moderate.  For he not only killed everyone who was recommending what was necessary and helpful, attacking especially citizens of that kind as the most hostile ones, but even loaded the fatherland down with innumerable woes, such as a man would have done who would also have already dared to despise God with his impiety. Nam et mensa nefaria vescebatur, et legitimam patriamque exterminaverat castimoniam :  ut jam sit minime mirum, si mansuetudinis communionem minime servabat hominibus, qui Dei pietatem furore contempserat.  Rursus Simon Gioræ, quid mali non commisit, quave liberorum corporum injuria temperavit, qui eum creavere tyrannum ? For he dined on impious fare and did away with lawful and patriarchal purity, so that now it is by no means any wonder if one who in insanity despised piety toward God did not maintain any relationship of gentleness toward men.  On the other hand, Simon of Gioras:  what evil did he not commit, or from what injury to the bodies of the free men who made him tyrant did he restrain himself? Quæ vero eos amicitia, quæve cognatio ad quotidianas cædes non ferociores effecit ?  Namque alienos quidem male tractare, inertis nequitiæ opus esse arbitrabantur :  clarissimam vero gloriam, părĕre crudelitatem in familiarissimos existimabant. What friendship, or what blood tie, did not make them more barbaric in their daily murders?  For indeed, they thought that maltreating foreigners was a work of indolent worthlessness;  instead, they believed that exercising cruelty toward their closest relations was the most brilliant glory. Horum furoris æmuli etiam Idumæi fuere :  illi enim sceleratissimi peremptis pontificibus, ne qua pars conservaretur pietatis in Deum, totum quod ex civitatis facie supererat, abscĭdēre, summamque per omnia injustitiam induxerunt :  in qua illud hominum genus, qui Zelotæ appellati sunt, viguit :  qui nomen factis verum probaverunt. Also rivals of this insane rage were the Idumæans;  for these worst of criminals, having murdered the pontiffs so that no part of piety toward God would be preserved, tore out everything that had remained of the appearance of civil government, and everywhere brought in peak lawlessness, in which that type of men called “Zealots” flourished, who with their deeds indeed proved their name {(i.e., Ζηλωταί, “rivals, admirers, zealous emulators.”  [Here =“fanatics”])}. Omne enim malitiæ facinus æmulati sunt, nullo inæmulato, quod ante commissum memoria tradidit, prætermisso :  quamvis nomen sibi ex bonorum æmulatione imposuissent, qui eos quos læderent, propter efferam sui naturam cavillando fallebant, qui malorum quæ maxima essent, bona ducebant. For they emulated every crime of evil, omitting nothing undeserving of emulation that memory has handed down as having been perpetrated before, even though they had taken their name from the emulation of the good — be it those who, on account of their barbarous nature, were deceiving with mockery those whom they were injuring, be it those who considered good what were the worst of evils. Itaque debitum vitæ finem invenere, merita illis omnibus pœna Dei voluntate decreta.  Cuncta enim quæ natura hominis posset ferre supplicia, in eos usque ad extremum vitæ terminum congesta sunt, quæ variis perempti cruciatibus pertulere.  Fortasse dixerit aliquis minora eos quam commisere perpessos, verum qua tandem digna tantis sceleribus pœna affici poterant ? And thus they found a deserved end of life, with a merited punishment for them all, one decreed by the will of God.  For all the torments which the nature of man is capable of suffering — which, dying under various tortures, they underwent —, were heaped on them up to the final end of their lives.  Perhaps someone may say that they suffered less than what they had committed;  but in the end, with what punishment equal to such great crimes could they possibly be penalized? De illis autem qui in eorum crudelitatem inciderunt, non est hujus temporis pro merito conqueri.  Rursum igitur ad eam narrationis partem redeo, unde digressus sum. But this is not the time to lament deservedly those who fell into their cruelty.  I therefore now return to that part of the narrative whence I digressed. 2 Masada ground plan Masada today Venit enim dux Romanorum contra Eleazarum, et qui cum eo Massadam tenebant, sicarios, exercitum ducens, et fines quidem statim omnes obtinuit, præsidiis ubique locis opportunissimis collocatis :  castellum autem muro circumdedit, ne quis obsessorum fugiendi facultatem haberet, utque custodes perseverarent. For the general of the Romans, leading his army against Eleazar and the Daggermen who held Masada with him, and immediately took possession of the entire area, stationing garrisons everywhere at the most suitable points.  He next surrounded the fortress with a wall so that none of the besieged would have a chance of fleeing, and so that the guards would stay put. Ipse vero castris locum occupat, ad obsidionem quidem idoneum, quem delegerat, qua parte castelli rupes monti proximo applicabantur, ceterum difficilem ad copias utensilium. With his camp he himself took over a place which he selected, certainly suitable for a siege — on a side where the rocks of the fortress abutted the nearby mountain —, but difficult for a supply of provisions.  {(i.e., “Lager F” in the northwest of the map above.)} Non solum enim commeatus ex longinquo, et cum labore Judæorum maximo portabantur, quibus hæc fuerat cura mandata, verum etiam potus aliunde in castra ducebatur, quoniam in eo loco nullus fons proximus nascebatur.  His autem dispositis, Silva obsidionem aggressus est, artis ac laboris egentem, propter castelli munitionem, cujus natura hujusmodi est. For not only provisions were carried in from afar and with much effort of the Jews to whom that job was given, but even drinking water was brought in from elsewhere into the camp, because no spring came up nearby in that place.  However, having organized these matters, Silva turned to the siege, one requiring skill and labor on account of the stronghold’s fortification, which had the following nature: 3 Saxum gyro non exiguum, et excelsum longitudine, undique abruptis atque altis vallibus cingitur invisibili super fundo habens scopulos :  ipsæque omnium sunt animalium gressibus inaccessæ, nisi quod duobus modis idem saxum in difficilem explicatur ascensum.  Est autem unum iter ab lacu Asphaltite ad Solis ortum, et alterum ab Occidente facilius ambulari. A rock, not small in circumference, and high throughout its length, is surrounded on all sides by abrupt and deep valleys, having cliffs overhanging an unseeable bottom, and they themselves are inaccessible to the steps of all living beings except that in two ways the same rock is unblocked into a difficult ascent.  Moreover one pathway is from the Dead Sea to the east, and the other one, from the West, is easier for marching. Vocatur autem unum « coluber », ex angustia crebrisque flexibus capta similitudine.  Quæ enim prominet rupes, frangitur, ac sæpe in se revertens, paulatim rursum producitur :  vixque illo itinere gradiens promovet pedem, namque mutanti vestigium, necesse est altero pede nītī. The one is called “the snake,” taken from its narrowness and similarity to its frequent windings.  For the rock which juts out is broken off and, frequently turning back on itself, is drawn backwards a little;  and someone walking on that path will barely move his feet forward, because for a person changing his direction, it is necessary to support oneself with the alternate foot. Est autem certa pernicies, si quis labatur, altitudo enim rupium utrinque dehiscit, ut quæ horrore quemvis terrere audacissimum possit.  Per ejusmodi viam quum XXX• stadiis ascenderis, quod restat verticis est non in acutum finem coacti, sed ut habeat in summo planitiem.  In hac primus quidem Jonathas pontifex castellum ædificavit, et appellavit « Massadam ». However if a person slips, there is certain doom;  for on both sides yawns the depth of the precipices, such that it can terrify with horror even the most daring.  When you have climbed three and a half miles {(Latin:  30 stades)} by this path, what remains of the peak is not of one shaped into a sharp tip, but so that it has a plain at the top.  As a matter of fact, the pontiff Jonathan first built a fortress on it and called it “Masada.”  {(Hebrew:  Metzada “Fortress”)} Post autem Herodi magno studio fuit loci illius structio.  Nam et murum per omnem ejus gyrum erexit, stadiorum spatio septem, e candido lapide factum, et duodecim altum, latumque octo cubitis :  et XXVII• turres quinquagenorum cubitorum in eo stabant :  ex quibus aditus erant in ædes circa omnem murum intus ædificatas. But afterwards the building of that place was an issue of great concern for Herod.  For he erected a wall along its entire periphery, three quarters of a mile {(Latin:  7 stades)} in length, made of white stone, and eighteen feet {(12 cubits)} high and twelve {(8 cubits)} wide;  and twenty-seven {(Greek text has 37)} towers of seventy-five feet {(50 cubits)} stood on it, towers from which there was access to apartments built inside, around the entire wall. Rex enim verticem, quod fecundus, omnique planitie mollior esset, culturæ destinaverat ut si quando externorum alimentorum penuria contigisset, ne hac quidem laborarent, qui salutem suam castello credidissent.  Quin et regiam sibi ædificaverat, ab Occidentalis partis ascensu, intra mœnia quidem arcis positam, vergentem autem ad Septentrionem. For the king had designated the top, which was fertile and softer than any plain, for agriculture, so that if at any time there might be a lack of an external food supply, those who had committed their safety to the fortress would not suffer from even that lack.  And he even had built a palace for himself, on the ascent of the west side, positioned, of course, inside the walls of the citadel, but facing northwards. Regiæ vero murus erat magnus, ac firmissimas quattuor celsitudine sexagenorum cubitorum in angulis turres habebat.  Membrorum autem intus, et porticuum, itemque balnearum varia erat et sumptuosa constructio, columnis quidem e singularibus saxis undique substitutis, parietibus autem membrisque solida compage lapidum variatis. The palace’s wall was large and had four extremely strong towers ninety feet {(Latin:  60 cubits)} in height at the corners.  Moreover the architecture of the compartments inside, and of the porticoes and likewise of the baths was diverse and expensive, with the columns on all sides substituted out of single rocks, plus the walls and rooms varicolored with a solid mosaic of stones. Model of western palace (North is to the left) Model of entire northern palace Model of lower sections of the north palace Ad singula vero habitacula, et in summo, et circa regiam, et ante turres multos magnosque puteos in scopulis excīderat, custodes aquarum, tantam molitus abundantiam, quantam qui fontibus uterentur haberent.  Fossæ vero iter ex regia in arcem summam ducebant, quas foris nemo cernebat.  Sed ne manifestæ quidem viæ facilem sui usum præbere hostibus poterant. At the individual dwellings, and on the top, and around the palace and in front of the towers he had cut large pits in the rock, receptacles of water, producing as much abundance of it as those who use springs would have.  Next, trenches which no one outside could see led a pathway from the palace to the highest citadel.  But not even the visible paths could provide an enemy with their easy utilization. Nam Orientalis quidem via natura est inaccessa, ut supra memoravimus.  Occidentalem vero magna in angustia posita turri conclusit, quæ non minore mille cubitorum spatio ab arce distaret :  quam neque transire posse, neque capi facile videbatur. For the eastern path is inaccessible by nature, as we have recalled above, while Herod closed off the western one with a large tower placed at the narrow spot, one which was not more than a space of five hundred yards {(Latin:  1,000 cubits)} from the citadel, and which was seen to be neither possible to pass nor easy to capture. Inextricabilis autem, quamvis licenter ambulantibus, fuerat fabricata.  Ita quidem adversus hostiles impetus natura simul et manu castellum erat communitum. Moreover it had been made hard to get up through, even to those walking up admissibly.  Thus, the fortress had indeed been fortified against enemy attacks simultaneously by nature and the human hand. 4 Intus autem repositi apparatus, magis et diuturnitatem et opulentiam juvere.  Nam et frumentum multum erat conditum, et quod in longum tempus sufficere posset :  vinumque multum et oleum :  insuper autem cujusque leguminis fructus, et palmulæ coacervatæ. However the supplies stored inside enhanced both the durability and abundance even more.  For a great deal of grain was stored, and such as could suffice for a long time:  and much wine and olive oil;  in addition, there was the fruit of every type of pulse, and piled-up dates. Cunctaque repperit Eleazarus, castello per dolum cum sicariis occupato, matura, nihilque recens depositis deteriora :  quanquam fere ex quo apparata sunt, ad excidium a Romanis illatum centum annorum tempus agebatur.  Quin etiam Romani fructuum reliquias incorruptas offendere. Eleazar, having seized the fortress with his Daggermen by treachery, found them all ripe and not at all worse than those stored recently, although from when they had been brought in, to the destruction wrought by the Romans, a timespan of almost a hundred years passed.  Rather, the Romans found the remains of the fruit undecayed. Si quis autem causam diuturnitatis auram esse existimet, non erraverit, quod arcis altitudine ab omni terrena ac fæculenta materia sit remota.  Inventa est autem omnigenum quoque armorum multitudo, ab rege condita, quæ decem milibus virorum sufficerent, ferrumque infectum, nec non æris et plumbi materia :  quippe ut magnis de causis factum crederes apparatum. But if a person should speculate that the cause of that long-lastingness is the air, he would not be wrong, because due to the height of the citadel it is distant from all earthy and sediment-full matter.  A mass of all types of arms was also found, stored by the king, which would be enough for ten thousand men, and unwrought iron, as well as material of bronze and led, such that you would believe it produced out of weighty reasons. Ajunt enim Herodem id ipsum castellum sibi ad refugium paravisse, duplex periculum suspicantem  ;  unum quidem ab Judæorum populo :  ne se deposito, illos qui antea reges fuerant, ad principatum reduceret :  alterum vero majus atque atrocius, ab regina Ægypti Cleopatra. For they say that Herod had prepared that very fortress as a refuge for himself, suspecting a double peril:  one, indeed, from the people of the Jews lest, deposing him, they should bring back to the throne those who had been kings aforetimes;  the other, however, greater and more terrible, from Queen Cleopatra of Egypt. Hæc enim suam sententiam non celabat, sed cum Antonio sæpe verba faciebat ;  postulans Herodem interfici, sibi autem obsecrans regnum Judæorum donari.  Et magis quis miraretur, nondum ejus imperio Antonium paruisse, male ejus amore mancipatum, quam non donaturum sperasset.  Propter ejusmodi metus Herodes conditam Massadam extremum belli contra Judæos Romanis opus reliquit. For she did not hide her idea, but often talked about it with Antony, demanding that Herod be killed, while beseeching him that the kingdom of the Jews be granted to her.  And one would more wonder that Antony, badly enslaved by her love, had not yet obeyed her command, than one would have expected him not to grant it.  On account of fear of this type, Herod left to the Romans the Masada he had founded as their last task of the war against the Jews. 5 Nam quia foris jam locum omnem muro cinxerat dux Romanorum, sicut supra diximus, ac ne quis effugeret diligentissime procuraverat, incipit oppugnationem, uno tantum loco reperto, qui aggerum jactum posset excipere. For because the general of the Romans had already ringed the entire place with a wall, as we said above, and had quite carefully arranged it so that no one would escape, he began the siege, having found only a single place which could take the throwing up of the bulwarks. Nam post eam turrim quæ iter ab Occidente, quod ad regiam summumque montem duceret, præcludebat, erat quædam continentia saxi vastior latitudine, multumque porrecta, celsitudine autem Massadæ trecentis cubitis inferior, quam « Leucen » appellabant.  Hanc igitur Silva ut ascendit ac tenuit, aggerem apportare militibus jussit :  illis autem alacri animo et magna manu operantibus, solidus ad ducentos cubitos erectus est tumulus. For in back of that tower which blocks off on the west the pathway that leads to the palace and the mountain top, there was a kind of spur of rock, broader in width and quite lengthy although in height four hundred fifty feet {(Latin:  300 cubits)} lower than Masada, which they called “Leukē” {(“the White Place”)}.  As Silva climbed and held it, he ordered his soldiers to bring fill up to it.  Through their working with an eager spirit and much manual labor, a solid mound was raised up to three hundred feet {(200 cubits)}. Verum neque firma neque sufficiens machinis ferendis hæc mensura videbatur :  sed super eum tribunal, constructis saxis ingentibus, factum est, altum itemque latum cubitis L•. But these dimensions were seen as neither firm nor adequate enough for bearing machines, so on it a platform was built made of enormous stones, seventy-five feet {(50 cubits)} high and just as wide. Erat autem et aliarum machinarum fabrica illis assimilis, quas primo quidem Vespasianus ad oppugnationes, postea vero Titus excogitaverat :  et turris LX• cubitorum effecta est, tota ferro consæpta, unde multis ballistarum tormentorumque jaculis Romani cito eos reppulere, qui de muro pugnabant, et caput exserere prohibuere. Now the structure of the other machines was also similar to those which Vespasian had first devised for sieges, and later Titus, and a tower of ninety feet {(60 cubits)} was constructed, completely encased in iron, from which, with many ballistas and catapults, the Romans swiftly repulsed those who were fighting from the wall, and kept them from poking their heads out. Simul autem ingenti etiam ariete fabricato, Silva crebro murum pulsari jubet :  ac vix quidem tamen aliquam ejus dejicit partem interruptam.  Cito autem prævenere sicarii muro intus altero constituto, qui ne machinis quidem simile aliquid pateretur :  mollis enim adhuc erat, et impetūs laxare violentiam poterat, hoc modo constructus. Having moreover at the same time built an immense ram, Silva ordered the wall to be pounded repeatedly;  and indeed with difficulty nonetheless, having breached it, broke up some part of it.  However the Daggermen quickly anticipated them by setting up another wall inside, one which would really not suffer anything similar from the machines, for it was still pliant and able to soften the force of the blows, made in the following manner: Trabes proceritate magnas, et qua sectæ sunt continentes composuere :  earum autem ordines erant duo similes, tantumque distantes quanta esset muri latitudo, et inter eos ambos replebant aggere spatium.  Ne vero crescente cumulo terra deflueret, aliis transversis trabibus quas in longitudinem posuerant colligabant. They put together beams huge in length, and connecting where they were cut;  moreover there were two similar rows of them, and spaced apart as much as the breadth of a wall, and between those two they filled the interspace with dirt.  While lest the earth should flow out as the pile grew, they fastened them together with other, cross beams, which they had placed along their length. Erat ergo illis opus quidem ædificio simile :  sed quod cedenti inferebantur, machinarum ictus evanescebant, lutoque subsidente strictiorem fabricam faciebant. Thus to the Romans, the work was indeed similar to a building;  but because the blows of the machines were driven into a yielding substance, they dissipated and, with the dirt subsiding, they made the structure more compact. Hoc ubi Silva consideravit, igni magis murum captum iri putans, multas quidem ardentes faces militibus intro jaculari præcepit :  murus autem, quippe ut magna ex parte lignis constructus, ignem cito comprehendit :  et usque ad imum sui laxitate calefactus, ingenti flamma colluxit. When Silva realized this, thinking that the wall would more likely be taken with fire, gave an order for many flaming torches to be thrown inside by his soldiers;  whereby the wall, given that it was in large part constructed of timbers, quickly caught fire and, due to its sponginess, heated up all the way down to the bottom, blazed up with an enormous flame. Incipiente quidem adhuc incendio, spirans Aquilo Romanis erat horribilis :  avertens enim desuper flammam in eos abigebat, et pæne machinas quasi jam conflagraturas desperaverant.  Deinde, flatu mutato, veluti divina providentia excitatus Auster, multa vi in adversum eum murum reppulit :  jamque totus ardebat ex alto.  Romani quidem, quum Dei uterentur auxilio, ad castra laeti digrediebantur, decreto hostes luce aggredi, et nocte vigilias accuratiores facere, ne quis eorum clam subterfugeret. With the blaze still starting, a northerly, blowing in, was frightening for the Romans because, redirecting the fire downward, it drove it off onto them, and they almost despaired as though their machines were now about to catch fire.  Then, with the changing of the wind, a southerly, as though stirred up by divine providence, with great force drove the wind backwards onto that wall;  and then everything burned from the top down.  With that, the Romans, happy since they were enjoying the help of God, departed to their camp, having made the decision to attack the enemy at daylight and at night to keep closer vigil so that none of them would secretly escape. 6 Sed neque ipse Eleazarus de fuga cogitabat, neque alii cuiquam permissurus erat ut faceret.  Videns autem murum igne consumptum, alium vero nullum salutis modum neque virtutis excogitans, sed his quæ Romani in se liberosque suos, et conjuges facturi essent si vicissent, ante oculos positis, de omnium morte consilium cepit :  idque ex præsentibus fortissimum ratus, validioris animi sociis vesperi congregatis, talibus eos verbis ad facinus invitabat : But Eleazar himself neither thought about flight nor was about to allow anyone else to do so.  Rather, seeing the wall destroyed by fire, while thinking of no other means of rescue or of force, but picturing before his eyes the things the Romans would do to them and their children and wives if they conquered, he devised a plan of the death of them all and, considering it the strongest of the present options, in the evening gathering his comrades of more resolute will, he invited them to the deed with words such as these: « Quum olim vobis decretum sit, viri fortes, neque Romanis, neque cuiquam alii servire, nisi Deo :  is enim solus est verus et justus Dominus hominum :  ecce nunc tempus adest, quod factis vestros probare animos jubeat. “Since it was decided long ago, my strong men, to be a slave neither to the Romans nor to anyone else except God — for He alone is the true and just Lord of men —, behold, now is the time that orders you to prove your commitments with actions. Ne igitur nos dehonestemus, ante quidem servitutem nec sine periculo passi, nunc autem cum servitute intolerabiles pœnas subituri, si vivos in Romanorum potestatem venire contingat.  Primi enim omnium ab his defecimus, et novissimi cum his bellum gerimus.  Puto autem et hanc nobis a Deo gratiam datam, ut bene ac libere possimus mori, quod aliis non evenit præter spem superatis. Let us therefore not disgrace ourselves, we who earlier did not suffer a slavery without danger, now with slavery are about to undergo intolerable punishments if it happens that we come alive into the power of the Romans.  For we were the first of all to defect from them, and the last to wage war with them.  I consider this also a favor given us by God that we are able to die well and freely, which did not happen to others who were conquered despite their hopes. Nobis autem certum est, orto die futurum excidium.  Libera est autem strenua mortis condicio cum affectibus :  nec enim prohibere id hostes possunt, qui profecto nos optant vivos abducere, neque nos illos jam possumus superare pugnando. For us it is certain that our doom will occur with the coming of daylight.  But an active pact of death with our dear ones is free, and the enemy cannot prohibit it, those who certainly want to take us alive, and we cannot overcome them by fighting. Nam fortasse quidem ab initio statim oportuit — quando libertatem defendere cupientibus omnia et a nobisipsis acerba pejoraque ab hostibus eveniebant — de Dei voluntate conjicere, et scire quod amica ei quondam Judæorum natio damnata esset interitu :  manens enim propitius, vel saltem nobis leviter infensus, nunquam tantorum quidem hominum perniciem neglexisset, sacratissimam vero urbem suam igni hostium excidioque prodidisset. For indeed, perhaps right at the beginning it was appropriate — when, to those wishing to defend liberty, everything was turning out bitter due to us ourselves, and worse, due to the enemy — to guess about the will of God and to know that the nation of the Jews, once dear to Him, had been damned to destruction;  for remaining propitious, or at least only slightly hostile to us, he would have never overlooked the annihilation of so many men and, moreover, given over his own most sacred City to the fires of the enemy and to devastation. Nos autem soli scilicet ex omni genere Judæorum speravimus servata libertate superare, tanquam nil in Deum deliquissemus, nulliusque culpæ participes fuissemus, qui alios quoque docuimus.  Itaque videtis quemadmodum nos vana exspectasse redarguit, fortiore nobis speratis rebus malorum necessitate illata. Indeed, we, alone of the entire race of Jews, hoped, preserving our freedom, to win, as though we had committed nothing against God and had been sharers in no guilt — we, who even taught the others.  And so you see how he convicts us of expecting vacuities, inflicting a compulsion of evils on us, one stronger than the things hoped for. Nec enim quicquam nobis castelli natura inexpugnabilis profuit ad salutem :  sed et alimentorum copiam, et armorum multitudinem, aliumque habentes abundantissimum apparatum, ipso Deo manifestissime auferente spem salutis perdidimus.  Ignis enim, qui ferebatur in hostes, in ædificatum a nobis murum non sponte reversus est. For the impregnable nature of the fortress has not availed us anything for our salvation;  instead, while having a supply of food, a mass of arms and other very abundant gear, we have lost the hope of safety, with God Himself manifestly taking it away.  For the fire which was being driven onto the enemies did not of its own accord return onto the wall built by us. Sed hæc multorum ira sunt criminum, qui furore capti contra gentiles ausi sumus :  pro quibus quæso ne Romanis invictissimis pœnas, sed, per nos ipsos, Deo præstemus.  Istæ autem illis moderatiores sunt.  Morientur enim conjuges injuria vacuæ, liberi servitutis expertes.  Post illos autem ipsi nobis honestam invicem gratiam præbeamus, libertate servata optima sepultura. But that is the wrath for the many crimes which we, in the grip of madness, dared against our countrymen;  for which I beseech you:  let us pay the penalty, not to the unconquerable Romans, but, through our very own selves, to God.  Moreover His punishments are more moderate than theirs.  For our wives will die free of dishonor, our children not having experienced slavery.  Then after them we ourselves will administer to one another that noble favor, preserving our freedom as the finest burial. Prius tamen et pecunias et castellum igne exuramus.  Mærebunt enim Romani, certe scio, si neque corpora nostra tenuerint, compendioque caruerint.  Aliments sola relinquamus.  Hæc enim nobis erunt testimonio mortuis, quod non penuria victi sumus :  sed ita, ut ab initio statueramus, mortem servituti prætulimus. » Nonetheless, beforehand let us burn the money and the fortress.  For the Romans, I know for certain, will grieve if they do not hold our bodies and they lack their profit.  Let us leave only the food.  For this will be a testimony from us dead men that we were not conquered by want, but, just as we had resolved at the start, we preferred death to slavery.” 7 Hæc dicebat Eleazarus :  sed non in eundem modum præsentium sententiæ congruebant.  Sed alii quidem ei obœdire properabant, et quasi voluptate replebantur, pulchram esse mortem existimantes.  Qui vero molliores erant conjugum ac familiarum suarum misericordia, vel etiam proprius quemque apertissimus deterrebat interitus, aliusque alium intuens, contrarium voluntatis suæ motum lacrimis designabant. Those were Eleazar’s words;  but the ideas of those present did not concur in the same manner.  Rather, some were indeed in haste to obey him and were as though filled with pleasure, considering death to be beautiful.  But those who were softer, out of pity for their wives and families — or even as a most open death more closely terrified each one —, looking at one another, with their tears they showed the contrary inclination of their wills. Quos quum vidisset Eleazarus formidare, ac magnitudinem consilii animis frangi, pertimuit ne etiam eos, qui fortiter dicta perceperunt, effeminarent flentes ipsi ac deplorantes. When Eleazar saw those men afraid, and the magnitude of his proposal be broken in their hearts, he feared that the weeping and crying men themselves would make effeminate even those who accepted his words bravely. Ergo exhortationem non intermisit :  sed erectior, multoque repletus spiritu, clariorem de immortalitate animæ orationem incipit ;  magnaque usus exclamatione, lacrimantes attentius aspectans :  « Plurimum », inquit, « opinione deceptus sum, qui putarem viros fortes pro libertate certantes, mori bene malle, quam vivere. So he did not pause his exhortation but, more erect and filled with great spiritedness, he began a more brilliant speech on the immortality of the soul;  and, employing a loud voice, looking more intently at those who were weeping, “I was greatly deceived,” he said, “in my opinion — I who thought that brave men, fighting for freedom, would prefer to die well rather than to live. Vos autem ne cuilibet quidem homini quicquam neque audacia neque virtute præstatis, qui etiam magna mala effugituri, mortem timetis :  quum oporteret vos super hoc neque cunctari, neque exspectare monitorem. But you are certainly no better at all than any man whosoever either in daring or in valor — you who, even about to flee from great evils, fear death, when it should behoove you in this case neither to hesitate nor to wait for a prompter. Olim enim et a primo sensu nos erudire sacræ patriæ orationes, majorum quoque nostrorum factis et animis confirmantibus, perseverabant :  quod vivere hominis est, non mori, calamitas.  Nam mors quidem libertatem animis præstans, ad proprium purumque locum eas dimittit, ab omni clade futuras intactas. For from of old and from our first sensations our sacred national speeches, together with the deeds and dispositions of our ancestors confirming it, have continued to teach us that living, not dying, is man’s disaster.  For indeed, death, conferring freedom on souls, releases them to their own and pure place, untouched by all future calamities. Donec autem mortali corpore vinctæ sunt, unaque malis ejus implentur, quod verisimile dicitur, mortuæ sunt.  Divino enim cum mortali societas turpis est.  Multum quidem potest anima juncta cum corpore :  instrumentum enim facit suum, latenter id movens, et ultra mortalem naturam gestis producens. As long as they are chained to the mortal body, and together with it filled with its evils — which is said plausibly:  they are dead.  For a union with the mortal is disgraceful for the divine.  Of course, the soul united with the body can do much;  for it makes it its own instrument, covertly moving it and with actions leading it beyond its mortal nature. Verumtamen quum, pondere quo in terram detrahitur, quodque ab ea pendet, absoluta, proprium locum receperit, tunc beatam et undique liberam participat fortitudinem, humanis oculis, ut ipse Deus, invisibilis manens :  nec enim quum est in corpore, conspicitur.  Nam et accedit occulta, neque rursus quum recedit, videtur, unam quidem ipsa habens incorruptam naturam, corpori autem causam præbens mutationis. Nonetheless when, released from the weight by which it is dragged down to earth and which hangs off of it, it regains its own place, then it shares the blessed and everywhere free strength, remaining, like God himself, invisible to human eyes;  because neither, while it is in the body, is it seen.  For it comes in hidden, and again when it leaves is it unseen — itself, namely, having a single incorrupt nature, conferring on the body, however, the cause of its changes. Nam quod anima attigerit, hoc vivit atque viget :  unde vero digressa fuerit, hoc marcidum moritur :  tantum immortalitatis ei superabat.  Et hujus orationis argumentum vobis sit somnus :  in quo in se collectæ animæ, nusquam eas distrahente corpore, jucundissimam quietem agunt :  cum Deo vero pro cognatione degentes, ubique assunt, ac multa futura prædicunt. For what the soul touches lives and thrives;  that, however, from which it has departed, dies wilting;  it surpasses it that much in immortality.  And let your proof of this speech be sleep, in which souls, gathering to themselves, with the body never distracting them, produce a most pleasant rest;  staying indeed with God in accordance with their kinship, they are present everywhere and predict many future things. Cur igitur mortem timere conveniat, qui somni diligimus quietem ?  Quemadmodum autem non sit dementissimum, brevitatem vitae sequentes, sibimet invidere perpetuam ?  Oportebat quidem nos domestica institutione meditatos, aliis esse exemplo promptæ voluntatis ad mortem.  Attamen si ab alienigenis etiam rei fides petenda est, Indorum videamus sapientiæ professores. So why is it right to fear death, we who love the quiet of sleep?  Moreover, how is it not most demented, pursuing the brevity of one’s life, to look askance at an eternal one for oneself?  Certainly it behooved us, instructed in our native teaching, to be to others an example of a will ready for death.  But nonetheless, if belief in the matter is to be sought from foreigners, let us look at the teachers of the wisdom of the Indians. Illi enim quum sint boni viri, vitae quidem tempus, quasi quoddam necessarium naturæ munus, inviti sustinent :  properant autem animos corporibus solvere :  nulloque urgente neque exagitante malo, propter immortalis conversationis desiderium, aliis quidem prædicunt se esse abituros;  nec est qui prohibeat quisquam, sed omnes, fortunatissimos appellantes eos, ad familiares suos mandata mittunt :  ita certam veramque animis esse inter se consuetudinem credidere :  ipsi autem quum mandata perceperint, igni traditis corporibus, ut immaculata puraque anima secernatur, laudati moriuntur. For while they are good men, they do endure the time of life unwillingly, as though a kind of necessary obligation of nature;  however they are in a hurry to release their spirits from their bodies and, with no evil urging or plaguing them, on account of their desire for immortal existence, indeed tell others beforehand that they are about to leave.  Nor is there anyone who stops them;  rather they all, calling them most fortunate, send messages to their own relatives, they have so believed that for souls a certain and true interrelationship exists amongst them;  they themselves, when they have learned the messages, after having consigned their bodies to the flames so that their immaculate and pure souls may be separated, being praised, die. Facilius enim ad mortem illos amicissimi prosequuntur, quam exterorum hominum quisquam suos cives, in longinquam peregrinationem ituros.  Et se quidem ipsos deflent :  illos autem beatos dicunt, quod immortalitatis ordinem jam recipiant.  Non ergo nos pudebit, si deterius Indis sapiamus, propriāque ignaviā leges patrias, quæ omnibus hominibus æmulandæ videntur, inhoneste despiciamus ? For their dearest ones see them off to death more readily than anyone of foreign men does his own countrymen about to go on a distant journey.  And they do weep for themselves, but they call those others blessed because they are already receiving the rank of immortality.  Will it therefore not be shameful for us if we should be less wise than the Indians, and through our own cowardice dishonorably despise our ancestral laws which appear to all men as enviable? Quanquam etsi contraria nos a principio instituisset eruditio, quod summum bonum est hominibus vivere, mors autem calamitas :  attamen tempus nos adhortatur eam bono animo et facile tolerare, Dei voluntate et necessario morituros.  Olim enim, quantum apparet, contra omne Judæorum genus hoc decretum posuit Deus, ut vita careremus, qui ea non eramus quemadmodum oportebat usuri. Although even if the contrary teaching had instructed us from the beginning that the highest good for men is to live, death on the other hand a disaster, nonetheless the situation exhorts us to endure it in good spirits and with ease, as men about to die by the will of God and necessarily.  For of old, as is manifest, God placed this decree against the entire race of the Jews:  that we should forgo life, who would not use it as we should. Non ausim enim nobismetipsis ascribere, neque Romanis gratificari, quod nos omnes eorum bellum absumpserit.  Non enim viribus illorum hæc accidēre :  sed causa fortior interveniens illis præstitit, ut vincere viderentur.  Quibus enim armis Romanorum perempti sunt, qui Cæsaream incolebant Judæi ? For I would not dare to ascribe to us ourselves — nor to gratify the Romans with — the fact that their war has destroyed us all.  For these things did not happen through their might, but an intervening stronger cause granted them that they should be seen to conquer.  For by what weapons of the Romans were the Jews who dwelt in Cæsarea killed? Ac ne defecturos quidem ab illis, dum diem septimum celebrarent, aggressa Cæsariensium multitudo, neque repugnantes cum conjugibus ac liberis mactaverunt :  nec vel ipsos erubuere Romanos, qui nos tantummodo hostes, quod defeceramus, putabant.  Sed dicet aliquis Cæsariensibus semper cum suæ civitatis Judæis fuisse discordiam, tempusque nactos vetus odium exsaturasse, quid ergo de Scythopolitanis dicemus ? But while they were celebrating the seventh day, a mob of Cæsareans attacked those who were not even about to defect from the Romans and slaughtered them, unresisting, with their wives and children;  nor did they respect even the Romans themselves, who considered as enemies only us, because we had defected.  But someone will say that for the Cæsareans there had always been discord with the Jews of their city and, having gained the opportunity, had satisfied their old hatreds:  what then shall we say of the Scythopolitan Jews? Nobiscum enim illi propter Græcos bellum gerere ausi sunt, ac non cum propinquis nostris Romanos ulcisci.  Multum igitur his fides illorum ac benevolentia profuit :  siquidem ab ipsis cum totis familiis acerbissime trucidati sunt, ac pro auxiliis gratias eis reddidere :  nam quæ illos a nobis pati prohibuere, hæc passi sunt, velut ea ipsi committere voluissent. They, namely, had the effrontery to wage war against us on behalf of the Greeks and not, with our own kin, to take vengeance against the Romans.  Greatly, thus, did their trust of them and their goodwill serve them, given that they with their entire families were most savagely slaughtered by them;  and the Greeks returned to them the favor for their help;  for the things which they prevented the Greeks from suffering from us — those very things they suffered as though they themselves had wanted to commit them. Longum fiet, si velim nunc separatim de singulis dicere.  Nostis enim, quod Syriæ civitatum nulla est, quæ non Judæos apud se habitantes occiderit, nobis quam Romanos plus inimicos.  Ubi etiam Damasceni, quum ne causam quidem probabilem confingere potuissent, civitatem suam cæde nefaria replevere, octodecim milibus Judæorum cum conjugibus ac familiis jugulatis. It would take a long time if I now wanted to talk about the details individually.  For you know that there is none of the cities of Syria which has not killed Jews living in it — Jews more hostile to us than are the Romans.  Where the Damascenes as well, after they had been unable to invent even a reason, filled their city with abominable slaughter, murdering eighteen thousand Jews with their wives and families. Eorum autem multitudinem plāgis in Ægypto peremptorum LX• milium numerum audiebamus excedere.  Illi quidem fortasse in aliena terra, quum nullum invenissent hostibus adversarium, ita sunt mortui.  At omnibus qui domi cum Romanis bellum suscepere, nihil deerat eorum, quæ spem totam possent præbere victoriæ. Moreover, we have heard that the multitude of those killed by blows in Egypt exceeds the number of sixty thousand.  Perhaps, indeed, they died in a foreign land after they found no match for their enemy.  But to all those who took up war with the Romans at home, nothing was lacking of the things which could offer them the entire hope of victory. Arma enim et muri, et castellorum inexpugnabiles fabricæ, atque interriti spiritus ad pericula pro libertate subeunda, cunctos ad defectionem reddunt fortiores :  sed hæc ad paucum tempus quum suffecissent, seque sustulissent, majorum malorum exstitere principium. For arms and walls, and the impregnable structures of fortresses, and undaunted spirits for undergoing dangers for freedom, rendered everyone more courageous for defection;  but after these things had sufficed for a short time, and they had risen up, the beginnings of greater evils emerged. Omnia enim capta sunt, omniaque hostibus succubuerunt, velut illorum nobilioris causa victoriæ, non ad eorum salutem, a quibus instructa fuerant, apparata sint.  Et in prœlio quidem mortuos beatos existimari oportet :  repugnantes enim et libertate non perdita periere. For everything was captured, and everything succumbed to the enemy, as though it had been created for the sake of a more renowned victory of theirs, not for the safety of those by whom it had all been built.  And it is proper that those who died in battle be considered blessed, for they perished fighting, and without freedom having been lost. Eorum vero multitudinis, qui a Romanis subjugati sunt, quis non misereatur ?  Quisve non antequam illa patiatur, mori properet ?  Quorum alii torti, tamque igne quam verberibus excruciati periere, alii semesi a bestiis ad secundum earum cibum vivi servati sunt :  illorum quidem miserrimi habendi sunt, qui adhuc vivunt, qui sæpe mortem optantes non accipiunt. But who would not pity the multitude of those who have been subjugated by the Romans?  Or who would not hasten to die before suffering those things?  Of those people, some, tortured, have died tormented by fire as well as flogging;  others, half-eaten by beasts, have been kept alive for a second meal for them;  of those who are still living, indeed, those who should be considered the most wretched are the ones who, frequently wishing for death, are not finding it. Ubi est autem illa magna civitas ?  Aut ubi est, quæ totius gentis Judææ metropolis fuit ?  Tantis quidem murorum sæptis munitissima, tot vero ante muros castellis turriumque objectis mœnibus tuta, bellique apparatum vix capiens, tot autem virorum pro se pugnantium multitudinem continens, quid nobis facta est, quæ Deum habere incolam credebatur ? Moreover, where is that great City?  Or where is what was the cult center of the whole people of Judea?  Indeed, most fortified with such great bulwarks of walls, secure due to so many fortresses before the ramparts and due to the outposted walls of towers, and holding only with difficulty the apparatus of war, as well as containing a multitude of so many men fighting for it — what happened to what was believed to have God as an inhabitant? Radicitus ex fundamentis erepta est, solaque ejus monumenta restant, eorum a quibus excisa est imposita reliquiis castra.  Senes vero infelices ad cineres templi assĭdent, et paucæ mulieres ad turpissimam pudoris injuriam ab hostibus reservatæ.  Hæc secum reputans quisquam nostrum, aspicere solem durabit etiam si vivere sine periculo possit ?  Quis inimicus adeo patriæ, quis tam imbellis, aut parcus animæ, ut eum non pæniteat hucusque vixisse ? It was torn out of its foundations by the roots, and only its tombstones are left:  the camp of those by whom it was wiped out imposed on its remains.  Unhappy old men, it is true, sit alongside the ashes of the Temple, and a few women kept for the most disgraceful outrage of shame by the enemy.  Thinking about these things, will any one of us endure looking at the sunlight, even if he could live danger-free?  Who is so much an enemy of his fatherland, who so cowardly or small-minded, that he would not regret having lived to this point? Atque utinam omnes fuissemus mortui, priusquam illam sacram civitatem hostium manibus videremus exscindi, priusquam templum sanctum tanta impietate funditus erui :  sed quoniam spes non instrenua nos illexit, quod forte poterīmus pro ea hostes ulcisci, nunc autem evanuit ac solos necessitati dereliquit, mori bene properemus ;  nostrimet ipsi misereamur et conjugum liberorumque, dum nobis licet a nobisipsis misericordiam capere. And would that we had all died before seeing that holy City destroyed by the hands of the enemy, before seeing the holy Temple be utterly uprooted with such impiety;  but because a not spiritless hope beguiled us that we might perhaps take vengeance on the enemy for it, but now has dissipated and left us alone to necessity, let us hasten to die well;  let us ourselves pity our wives and children while we are still allowed to dispense compassion by ourselves. Ad mortem namque ipsi nati sumus, et quos ex nobis genuimus, eamque fugere ne fortissimi quidem possunt ;  injuria vero et servitus, et videre conjuges ad turpitudinem duci cum liberis, non est malum hominibus ex naturæ necessitate profectum :  sed hæc sua timiditate perferunt qui ante mori quum licuit noluere. For we ourselves are born for death — as well as those whom we beget from ourselves —, and not even the strongest can escape it;  but injustice and slavery, and seeing our wives led to dishonor with their children, is not an evil befalling men out of the necessity of nature;  rather, they who will not die beforehand, when it was possible, suffer these things due to their own cravenness. Nos autem multum freti fortitudine, a Romanis defecimus :  et postremo nunc illis ad salutem hortantibus, non paruimus.  Cui igitur non est eorum iracundia manifesta, si nos vivos subjugare potuerint ?  Miserandi quidem adulescentes erunt, quorum vires corporis ad multos sufficient cruciatus :  miserandi autem provectiores, quorum ætas clades ferre non poterit. But we, greatly relying on our valor, have defected from the Romans;  and now, at the end, we have not obeyed them exhorting us to safety.  So to whom is their wrath not manifest, if they could subjugate us alive?  Indeed to be pitied are the young men whose strength of body will withstand many tortures;  on the other hand, the older ones are to be pitied, whose age will not be able to bear the injuries. Videbit alius conjugem abduci, alius manibus revinctis vocem filii patrem implorantis exaudiet.  Sed dum liberi sunt et gladios habent, pulchrum ministerium nobis præbeant, expertes servitutis hostium. The one will see his wife led off, the other, his hands chained, will hear the voice of his son calling in tears for his father.  But while the men are free and have swords, let them, having no part of the slavery of the enemy, confer on us the beautiful service. Moriamur liberi;  cum filiis et conjugibus vita decedamus.  Hæc nobis leges præcipiunt, hæc nos conjuges et filii deprecantur, horum necessitatem Deus misit, his contraria Romani volunt, et ne quis nostrum ante excidium pereat, timent.  Festinemus igitur eis, pro sperata potiundi nostri voluptate, stuporem mortis admirationemque relinquere audaciæ. » Let us die free;  let us depart from life with our children and wives.  Our laws command this;  our wives and children beg us for it;  God sends the necessity for it;  the Romans want the opposite, and fear that any of us should perish before their destruction.  Let us therefore hasten to leave to them, instead of the pleasure of taking us captive, stupefaction over our death and awe at our audacity.” ⇑ § IX Quomod ii, qui in castello erant, verbis Eleazari persuasi, omnes, præter duas mulieres et quinque pueros, sibi mortem conscivere. How the People That Were in the Fortress Were Prevailed On by the Words of Eleazar, Two Women and Five Children Only Excepted, and All Submitted to Be Killed by One Another. 1 ADHUC eum orare cupientem omnes interpellabant :  et effrenato quodam impetu pleni, ad opus incitabant :  ac veluti larvis exagitati, alius alium ante capere cupiebat, hoc specimen esse fortitudinis, rectique consilii existimantes, ne quis extremus remanere videretur :  tantus eos et conjugum et filiorum et propriæ cædis amor invasit. They all interrupted him as he was still wanting to speak and, filled with a kind of unbridled impulse, rushed to the deed;  and as though driven by demons, the one wanted to outstrip the other, thinking this to be proof of his courage and right thinking, lest anyone seem to remain as the last man — such a great love of the murder of their wives and children and themselves had possessed them. Sed nec, id quod aliquis putaverit, quum facinus accederent, obtusi sunt, verum eam servare sententiam, quam quum dicta perciperent, habuerunt :  proprium quidem carumque affectum retinentibus cunctis, rationi vero cedentibus, quia jam optime filiis consuluissent. But they were not, as one might have thought it, calmed down when they approached the deed, but rather kept that resolve which they had when they heard his words, everyone keeping his own and loving affection, but yielding to reason because they were then looking out for the best interests of their children. Simul enim valere uxoribus cum amplexu dicebant, ac liberos gremiis captos extremum lacrimantes osculabantur :  et simul tanquam manibus alienis jussa peragentes, volentes eos configebant, malorum, quæ subditi hostibus passuri fuerant, cogitationem habentes pro solacio necessitatis ad cædem.  Denique nemo hac audacia minor inventus est. For at one and the same time they said goodbye to their wives with an embrace and, weeping at the end, kissed their children held in their laps, and as though executing the orders with someone else’s hand, pierced them through with their agreement, keeping in mind, as a consolation of the need for the killing, the thought of the evils which, subjected to the enemy, they would undergo.  In the end no one was found to be inferior in this audacity. Cuncti autem conjunctissimos transfixere :  miseri, quibus id necesse fuit, quibusque filios atque uxores occīdĕre, malorum omnium videbatur esse levissimum.  Igitur neque horum jam factorum dolorem tolerantes, et interfectos læsos existimantes, si vel brevissimum tempus eis superviverent, cito quidem universis bonis in unum congestis ignem injiciunt, sorte vero ex numero suo decem lectis omnium percussoribus. Rather, they all ran their closest ones through;  wretched were they for whom that was necessary, and to whom killing their children and wives seemed to be the lightest of all evils.  Therefore, not bearing the pain of these deeds and viewing those murdered as offended if they should survive them by even the shortest time, they quickly threw fire onto all the goods heaped together, while choosing from their number by lot the ten killers of them all. Universi etiam propter liberos ac conjuges prostratos compositi, eosque complexi manibus, parato animo se mactandos præbebant infelicissimum illud exhibentibus ministerium.  Isti autem intrepide cunctis occisis, eandem sortis legem in sua quoque morte statuerunt, ut cui obtigisset, novem peremptis, semet super eos occideret. All of them, situated next to their prostrate children and wives, and embracing them with his arms, with a composed mind offered themselves to those performing that most unhappy service.  The latter, however, having fearlessly killed everyone, employed the same method of lots for their own deaths as well, so that the one to whom it fell, after killing the nine, would kill himself on top of them. Ita omnes sibi confidebant, quod neque in audendo, neque in sustinendo facinore, præstaret alius alii.  Et ad extremum ceteri quidem se neci supposuere :  unus vero atque novissimus, circunspecta multitudine mortuorum, ne quis forte in multa cæde superesset, qui suæ manus egeret, ubi cognovit omnes peremptos, ignem quidem immittit regiæ :  vehementi vero manu toto per se transacto gladio, juxta suos affectus occubuit. They all so trusted one another, that neither in perpetrating nor in sustaining the action did one outdo another.  And in the end, indeed, the rest subjected themselves to execution;  but the one and last, having looked around the mass of the dead lest someone in the great slaughter should be surviving who might be in need of his hand, when he discovered them all killed, set fire to the palace;  then, running his sword through himself with a powerful handthrust, he fell next to his loved ones. Et illi quidem perierant, nullam credentes animam ex numero suo Romanis subditam reliquisse.  Latuit autem una mulier senior, et alia quædam Eleazari cognata, plurimum doctrina sapientiaque mulieribus præstans, et quinque pueri per cuniculos qui aquam sub terra potui ducebant abditi, quum alii cædibus occupatas mentes haberent, qui erant nongenti numero et sexaginta, cum mulieribus simul ac pueris.  Hæc autem calamitas acta est Aprilis mensis quintodecimo die. And indeed, they died thinking to have left no soul of their number subject to the Romans.  But one older woman, and a certain other one related to Eleazar, greatly superior in education and wisdom to the women, and five boys lay hidden throughout the tunnels which led water underground for drinking while the others had their minds occupied with killing — those who in number were nine hundred and sixty, with women as well as children.  This disaster took place on the fifteenth day of the month of April {(= May 2, probably A.D. 74)}. 2 Romani autem adhuc pugnam exspectantes mane aggeribus scalarum pontibus junctis muros aggrediebantur.  Quum vero hostium neminem viderent, sed undique versum acerbam solitudinem, ignemque intus ac silentium, quid factum esset conjicere non poterant, et ad extremum velut impellentes ictum arietis, ululatum, si quem forte provocarent, dederunt. But the Romans, still expecting a fight, in the morning, with the ramp connected via bridges of ladders, attacked the walls.  But when they saw none of the enemy, but a harsh solitude in every direction, and fire inside, and silence, they were unable to guess what had happened;  and finally, as though urging on the blow of a ram, they gave a shout, to see whether they could perhaps call anyone out. Clamorem autem sensere mulieres, et ex cloacis emersæ, factum Romanis, ut erat, indicarunt, altera earum quemadmodum dicta vel gesta fuissent omnia narrante manifeste.  Non tamen Romani facile his verbis adducebantur, ausi magnitudinem verisimilem non credentes. But the women heard the shout and, emerging from the sewers, explained to the Romans the event as it was, the second of them clearly relating how everything had been said or done.  Nonetheless the Romans were not easily taken in by these words, disbelieving the probable magnitude of the audacious act. Ignem vero exstinguere conabantur, perque hunc viam sectantes cito in regiam pervenere :  conspectaque multitudine mortuorum, non ut in hostibus gavisi sunt, sed consilii fortitudinem, et obstinatum in tanto numero rebus ipsis contemptum mortis admirabantur. But they did try to extinguish the fire and, following through this path, quickly arrived inside the palace;  and discovering the mass of the dead, they did not exult over the enemy, but were in awe over the courage of resolve and, in the events themselves, the determined contempt of death in such a great number. ⇑ § X Quomodo apud Alexandriam multi sicariorum, qui eo confugerant, discrimen adierunt : proptereaque templum, illic olim conditum ab Onia pontifice, destructum erat. That Many of the Sicarii Fled to Alexandria Also and What Dangers They Were In There ;  On Which Account That Temple Which Had Formerly Been Built by Onias the High Priest Was Destroyed. 1 — Caput G-29 — Interitus sicariorum, qui in Alexandriam et Thebas profugerant. HUJUSMODI autem peracto excidio, in castello quidem præsidium dux reliquit, ipse vero cum exercitu ad Cæsarem profectus est.  Nec enim quisquam supererat in illis regionibus hostium, sed jam tota Judæa belli fuerat longinquitate subversa :  multisque suorum etiam procul incolentibus sensum perturbationis ac periculum exhibuerat. But with this kind of butchery over, the general of course left a garrison on the fortress, while he himself left with the army to Cæsar.  For there was no one left in those areas of the enemy, but now through the long duration of the war the whole of Judæa had been overthrown;  and it had produced a sense of turmoil and danger in many of its inhabitants even living far away. Nam et circum Alexandriam Ægypti civitatem postea contigit, multos Judæorum perire.  His enim qui ex factione sicariorum illuc effugere potuerunt, non satis erat salvos esse :  verum et illic novas res conabantur, ut libertatem defenderent, et Romanos quidem nihil se meliores putarent, Deum vero solum dominum dicerent. For afterward it also happened that around Alexandria, a city of Egypt, many of the Jews perished.  Because it was not enough for those of the faction of the Daggermen who had been able to flee there to be safe.  Instead, even there they were trying a revolution to defend their freedom, and indeed thought that the Romans were by no means better than they;  they said that God alone was their lord. Quum autem quidam eis Judæorum non ignobiles adversarentur, illos quidem mactavere, aliis vero instabant, ad defectionem eos hortantes. However when certain of the non-ignoble Jews opposed them, they simply murdered them and harassed others, urging them on to defection. Eorum autem videntes confidentiam principes seniorum, jam cohibere tutum sibi non esse arbitrabantur :  sed congregatis omnibus in congregationem Judæis, sicariorum temeritatem publicabant, illos omnium malorum causam esse demonstrantes :  et nunc ajebant illos, quod nec si fugissent certam spem salutis habituri viderentur :  a Romanis enim cognitos statim perituros esse, sibi debita calamitate replere eos, qui nullius fuissent delicti participes. So, seeing their boldness, the leaders of the elders believed that it was no longer safe for themselves to restrain them but, gathering all the Jews into an assembly, revealed the extremism of the Daggermen, pointing out that they were the cause of all the evils;  and they said that not even if the Daggermen had fled did they seem to be guaranteed a sure hope of safety, for those discovered by the Romans would immediately be killed:  they were now filling up with a disaster owed to them those who had been participants in no crime. Cavendum igitur ab eorum exitio multitudinem monebant, et ut pro se Romanis ipsorum traditione satisfacerent.  His dictis, prospecta periculi magnitudine paruere, multoque impetu sicarios aggressi corripuere. So they warned the multitude to beware of the bane of those men, and that for their own good they should make amends to the Romans by their surrender.  At these words, having foreseen the magnitude of the danger, they obeyed and, attacking the Daggermen with great force, they took them prisoner. Quorum sescenti quidem statim capti sunt :  qui vero in Agyptum Thebasque illius tractūs elapsi sunt, non multo post comprehensi reducti sunt :  quorum non est qui duritiam, sive confidentia sive pertinacia voluntatis sit dicenda, non obstupescat. Of them, six hundred were indeed immediately caught;  but those who escaped to Egypt and to Thebes of that region, being captured not much later, were brought back.  There is no one who, whether talking about boldness or obstinacy of will, was not amazed at their inflexibility. Omni enim genere tormentorum et vexatione corporum in eos excogitata, ob hoc solummodo, ut Cæsarem dominum faterentur, nemo cessit, neque dicere velle visus est :  sed omnes illa necessitate validiorem sententiam conservare, tanquam brutis corporibus non animis etiam cruciatus ignemque susciperent. For with every kind of torture and mistreatment of body devised for them solely for the purpose that they would acknowledge Cæsar as lord, none yielded, nor seemed to want to say so;  but they all maintained a resolve stronger than that duress, as though they would accept even tortures and fire with their unsensing bodies, not with their minds. Maxime vero puerorum ætas miraculo spectantium fuit.  Nec enim vel eorum quisquam commotus est, ut dominum Cæsarem nominaret :  usque adeo corporum infirmitatem vis audaciæ superabat. But the age of the boys was especially a wonder for the onlookers.  For not any of them was moved to call Cæsar lord;  it was to that extent that the power of their audacity prevailed over the weakness of their bodies. 2 — Caput G-30 — Oniæ templum clausum apud Alexandriam Lupus tunc Alexandriam rector administrabat, et de hoc ad Cæsarem motu velociter rettulit.  Ille autem inquietum Judæorum circa res novas studium cavendum esse existimans, ac veritus ne rursus in unum congregarentur, et quosdam sibi adjungerent, præcepit Lupo, ut templum Judæorum, quod esset apud Onion (quæ sic appellatur) civitatem, destrueret. At that time the governor {(Titus Julius)} Lupus was administering Alexandria, and he quickly gave a report of this disturbance to Cæsar.  In response, the latter, believing that the restless drive of the Jews for revolution needed to be guarded against, and in fear that they might again unite and attach certain types to themselves, ordered Lupus to destroy the temple of the Jews which was at the city of Onion (as it was called). Hæc autem est in Ægypto :  quæ ob hanc causam et coli cœpit, et nomen sumpsit.  Onias Simonis filius, unus ex pontificibus, ex Hierosolymis fugatus, Antiocho rege Syriæ cum Judæis bellum gerente, Alexandriam venit :  et a Ptolemæo suscipitur humanissime, propterea quod Antiocho erat inimicus :  ait se gentem Judæorum ejus auxilio sociaturum, si dictis suis obtemperasset. However this one was in Egypt;  it both began to be colonized, and took its name, for the following reason:  one of the pontiffs, Onias son of Simon, expelled from Jerusalem when Antiochus {(Epiphanes)} was waging war against the Jews, came to Alexandria;  and he was received most graciously by Ptolemy {(Philometor, 182-146 B.C.)} because he was an enemy of Antiochus;  Onias said he would ally the people of the Jews as his supporters if he would comply with his words. Quum autem rex ea quæ possent fieri annuisset, rogavit ut in aliqua parte Ægypti templum sibi ædificare permitteret, et more patrio Deum colere.  Ita enim et Antiochum magis odiosum Judæis, qui templum apud Hierosolymam vastavisset, ipsique benevolentiores eos fore, eoque multos ad eum religionis diligentia colligendos. When the king had agreed to the things that could be done, he asked that in some part of Egypt he permit him to build a temple for himself, and to worship God in his ancestral manner.  For thereby Antiochus, who had devasted the Temple in Jerusalem, would become more odious to the Jews, and they would be better disposed toward Onias himself, and many would gather to him there out of devotion for their religion. 3 Paruit his Ptolemlæus, eique locum dedit centum et octoginta stadiis a Memphi distantem :  « Heliopolitanus » autem ille tractus dicitur :  ubi castello fabricato, Onias templum quidem dissimile ei quod est in Hierosolymis, turrim autem similem exstruxit, ingentibus saxis sexaginta cubitis erectam. Ptolemy complied with these requests and gave him a place twenty-one miles {(a hundred and eighty stades)} distant from Memphis;  that section was called the “Sun City area” where, having constructed a stronghold, Onias built a temple admittedly different from the one that is in Jerusalem, but a similar tower, raised ninety feet {(sixty cubits)} high with enormous stones. Aræ autem fabricam secundum patriam imitatus est, et donariis similiter exornavit, præter candelabri confectionem.  Candelabrum enim non fecit, sed informatum aureum lychnum tanquam jubaris luce radiantem, de aurea catena suspendit.  Totum vero circa templum spatium cocto latere circundedit, saxeas portas habente. On the other hand, he modeled the structure of the altar after his ancestral one, and adorned it similarly with votive offerings except for the construction of a candelabrum.  For he did not make a candelabrum, but from a golden chain hung a gold lamp shaped as though radiating with the light of a blazing star.  Moreover he surrounded the entire space around the temple with baked brick having stone gates. Concessit autem rex etiam multum agri modum, ac pecuniæ reditūs :  ut et sacerdotibus esset copia ad multa quæ Dei cultus desideraret.  Non tamen hæc Onias sana voluntate faciebat, sed erat ei contentio cum Judæis apud Hierosolymam degentibus, propter fugæ memorem iracundiam :  et hoc templo aedificato, arbitrabatur ad id se omnem ab Hierosolymis multitudinem revocaturum. Moreover the king granted him a large measure of ground and its monetary revenues, so that there would also be enough for the priests, for the many things which the worship of God requires.  Nonetheless, Onias was not doing these things out of sound intentions;  rather, there was contention between him and the Jews living in Jerusalem due to his anger mindful of his exile.  And by building this temple, he thought he might call the entire population to it from Jerusalem. Fuerat autem olim prædictio quædam annis nongentis septuaginta :  Esaiasque prædixerat hujus templi futuram in Ægypto constructionem a quodam viro Judæo.  Templum quidem ita fuerat ædificatum. Moreover there had been a certain prediction nine hundred seventy years ago:  Isaiah had predicted that this temple’s construction would be in Egypt by some Jewish man.  The temple had indeed thus been built. 4 Lupus autem rector Alexandriæ, susceptis litteris Imperatoris, quum ad templum advenisset, nonnullis ablatis donariis, templum claudit. But Lupus, the governor of Alexandria, having received the Emperor’s letter, after he had arrived at the temple, removing some votive offerings, closed the temple. Postmodum Lupo mortuo Paulinus, qui ejus potestati successit, neque donariorum quicquam reliquit (vehementer enim sacerdotibus comminatus est, nisi omnia protulissent) neque ad templum religionis causa adire volentes admisit :  sed clausis foribus ita inaccessum fecit, ut ne vestigium quidem divini cultus in eo resideret.  Tempus autem fluxerat usque clausum templum, ex quo fuerat conditum, anni trecenti triginta tres. Lupus having died shortly thereafter, Paulinus, who succeeded him in power, neither left anything of the votive offerings (for he threatened the priests vehemently if they did not hand everything over), nor admitted those seeking to go to the temple for the sake of worship;  rather, having closed its gates, he thereby made it inaccessible so that not even a trace of divine rites remained in it.  Moreover, from when it had been founded until the closing of the temple, a time of three hundred thirty-three years had passed. ⇑ § XI De Jonatha, uno e sicariis, apud Cyrenen seditioni studente, et sycophantam agente improbissimum. Concerning Jonathan, one of the sicarii, that stirred up a sedition in Cyrene, and was a false accuser [of the innocent]. 1 — Caput G-31 — De interfectione Judæorum apud Cyrenem. AUDACIA vero sicariorum, veluti morbus quidam, etiam ea quæ circum Cyrenem oppida erant, contigerat.  Elapsus enim ad eam Jonathas homo nequissimus, artĕ textor, non paucis imperitorum ut se attenderent persuasit :  perduxitque eos in solitudines, quum signa et umbrarum imagines se polliceretur ostendere :  et alios quidem hæc agendo atque fallendo latebat, dignitate vero præstantes Cyrenensium Judæorum apparatum ejus et profectionem Pentapolitanæ Libyæ rectori Catullo prænuntiant. But the audacity of the Daggermen, like a kind of epidemic, infected even the towns that were around Cyrene.  Jonathan, an extremely evil man, a weaver by trade, having escaped to that area, persuaded not a few of the unschooled to heed him.  And he led them into the desert after promising to show them signs and the images of ghosts.  And he lay unnoticed to others in doing these things and in his deceiving;  but the foremost in dignity of the Cyrene Jews denounced his preparations and goings out to Catullus, the governor of Pentapolitan Libya. Ille autem equitibus ac peditibus missis, inermes facile comprehendit :  et magna quidem pars manibus interiit, nonnulli autem vivi capti, ad Catullum perducti sunt. He, in turn, sending out cavalry and infantry, easily caught them unarmed;  and a large part of them died in hand-to-hand fighting, while some, captured alive, were led to Catullus. Auctor autem consilii Jonathas tunc quidem potuit effugere :  multum vero ac diligenter per omnes quæsitus regiones captus est, adductusque ad Catullum, sibi quidem moram pœnæ moliebatur, Catullo autem iniquitatis præbuit occasionem.  Nam ipse quidem locupletissimos Judæorum falso insimulans, auctores sibi hujus consilii fuisse dicebat. However the author of the plot, Jonathan, was able to get away at that time;  but searched for intensively and carefully throughout the whole area, he was captured and, taken to Catullus, indeed worked on a delay of his punishment;  he next offered Catullus an occasion for injustice.  For as it happened, he himself, falsely accusing the richest of the Jews, said that they had been for him the instigators of this plot. 2 Catullus autem criminationes alacri animo suscipiebat, remque delatam multimode cumulabat, tragicis etiam verbis exaggerans, ut et ipse quoddam bellum Judæorum confecisse videretur :  quodque hōc atrocius est, præter credendi facilitatem, etiam doctor erat calumniandi sicariis. On the other hand, Catullus took up the accusations with a ready spirit and in many ways heaped up the reported matter, even exaggerating it with theatrical verbiage so that he himself too might seem to have finished off a kind of war of the Jews;  and what is worse than this, besides his ease of believing, he was even a teacher of calumniating to the Daggermen. Denique quum jussisset Judæum quendam Alexandrum nominare (cui jamdudum infensus, odium publicaverat), etiam uxore ejus Berenice criminationibus implicata, hos quidem priores occidit, deinde omnes simul pecuniarum copiis eximios, tria simul milia trucidavit.  Et hæc secure facere arbitrabatur, quod eorum patrimonia reditibus Cæsaris adjungebat. Finally, after he had ordered Jonathan to name a certain Alexander (his hatred towards whom he had made public, long being hostile to him), having also implicated his wife Berenice in the accusations, he killed them first, then at the same time slaughtered all those distinguished for their amounts of money — three thousand of them.  And he believed he was doing this with immunity, because he would add their fortunes to Cæsar’s revenue. 3 Ne vero vel alibi degentium quisquam Judæorum ejus injustitiam confutaret, etiam longius mendacium propagavit :  ac Jonathæ nonnullisque aliis qui comprehensi fuerant persuadet, novarum rerum accusationem viris inferre probatissimis Judæorum, apud Alexandriam Romamque degentium. But, lest even any of the Jews living elsewhere should refute his injustice, he spread the lie even further, and persuaded Jonathan and some others who had been seized to bring accusations of revolution to the most upright men of the Jews living in Alexandria and Rome. Horum autem, qui per insidias accusati sunt, unus erat Josephus, qui hæc scripsit.  Non tamen Catullo fictio ita ut speraverat cessit. Moreover of those who were accused by the treachery, one was Josephus, who has written these things.  But the machination did not come out for Catullus as he had hoped. Nam Romam quidem venit, Jonathan ceterosque vinctos ducens, finemque arbitrabatur esse quæstionis apud se ac per illum conflatam calumniam :  Vespasianus autem rem suspicatus, veritatem requirebat :  cognitoque non jure hominibus accusationem illatam, illos quidem Titi studio criminibus solvit, merito vero pœnam in Jonatham statuit :  prius enim verberatus, vivus exustus est. For he did come to Rome, bringing Jonathan and others in chains, and thought it would be the end of the investigation into himself and the calumny fabricated by him.  But Vespasian, suspecting the matter, inquired after the truth and, discovering that the accusation had not been brought justly, through Titus’s active intervention absolved them of the charges, but deservedly pronounced the punishment against Jonathan:  for after first having been flogged, he was burnt alive. 4 Catullo autem tunc quidem ob lenitatem principum obtigit, ne quid amplius castigationis experiretur :  non multo autem post, multiplici morbo et insanabili correptus, acerbissime tortus est, non corporis tantum cruciatum sustinens, sed erat ei major animi morbus et gravior :  terroribus enim expavescebat, et crebro videbat sibi instantes umbras eorum quos peremerat, et clamitabat. But it then happened to Catullus, due to the mildness of the emperors, that he experienced nothing more than a reprimand;  yet not long afterward, gripped by a complex and incurable disease, he was tortured most bitterly, enduring not just bodily agony;  rather, he had a greater and more serious illness of mind;  for he became exceedingly frightened with terrors, and frequently saw standing before him the ghosts of those whom he had killed, and would scream. Quumque se tenere non posset, exsiliebat stratis, tanquam tormentis sibi et flammis adhibitis.  Hōc autem semper multum proficiente malo, extisque defluentibus, ac intestinis exhaustis, ita est mortuus :  nulla re alia magis divinæ providentiæ facto indicio, quam quod nequissimos ulciscatur. And when he could not contain himself, he would jump out of his bed as though torments and flames had been applied to him.  And as this illness constantly progressed greatly, with his bowels coming out and drained intenstines, he died that way:  by no other way is the demonstration of divine providence more evidenced, than by the fact that it takes vengeance on the most evil men. 5 Hic nobis est finis historiæ, quam promisimus nos cum omni veritate tradituros, cognoscere cupientibus, quemadmodum hoc bellum Romanis gestum est cum Judæis, et qualiter sit quidem expositum lecturis, ut dicant, relinquatur :  de veritate autem confidenter dicere non pigebit, quod eam solam scopum mihi per omnia quæ scripsi proposuerim. This is the end of our history, which we promised we could deliver with all truth to those desiring to know how this war was waged by the Romans with the Jews;  and how, indeed, it has been set forth for those about to read it, let it be left for them to say;  but there will be no shame for confidently speaking about the truth, because I have aimed at it alone as my goal in everything I have written. IVDAEA CAPTA S[enatus] C[onsulto] Flavii Josephi de Bello Judaico Libri septimi et ultimi FINIS

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