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1. And now Gallus, seeing nothing more that looked towards an
innovation in Galilee, returned with his army to Cesarea: but
Cestius removed with his whole army, and marched to Antipatris;
and when he was informed that there was a great body of Jewish
forces gotten together in a certain tower called Aphek, he sent a
party before to fight them; but this party dispersed the Jews by
affrighting them before it came to a battle: so they came, and
finding their camp deserted, they burnt it, as well as the
villages that lay about it. But when Cestius had marched from
Antipatris to Lydda, he found the city empty of its men, for the
whole multitude were gone up to Jerusalem to the feast of
tabernacles; yet did he destroy fifty of those that showed
themselves, and burnt the city, and so marched forwards; and
ascending by Betboron, he pitched his camp at a certain place
called Gabao, fifty furlongs distant from Jerusalem.
2. But as for the Jews, when they saw the war approaching to
their metropolis, they left the feast, and betook themselves to
their arms; and taking courage greatly from their multitude, went
in a sudden and disorderly manner to the fight, with a great
noise, and without any consideration had of the rest of the
seventh day, although the Sabbath was the day to which they
had the greatest regard; but that rage which made them forget the
religious observation [of the sabbath] made them too hard for
their enemies in the fight: with such violence therefore did they
fall upon the Romans, as to break into their ranks, and to march
through the midst of them, making a great slaughter as they went,
insomuch that unless the horsemen, and such part of the footmen
as were not yet tired in the action, had wheeled round, and
succored that part of the army which was not yet broken, Cestius,
with his whole army, had been in danger: however, five hundred
and fifteen of the Romans were slain, of which number four
hundred were footmen, and the rest horsemen, while the Jews lost
only twenty-two, of whom the most valiant were the kinsmen of
Monobazus, king of Adiabene, and their names were Monobazus and
Kenedeus; and next to them were Niger of Perea, and Silas of
Babylon, who had deserted from king Agrippa to the Jews; for he
had formerly served in his army. When the front of the Jewish
army had been cut off, the Jews retired into the city; but still
Simon, the son of Giora, fell upon the backs of the Romans, as
they were ascending up Bethoron, and put the hindmost of the army
into disorder, and carried off many of the beasts that carded the
weapons of war, and led Shem into the city. But as Cestius
tarried there three days, the Jews seized upon the elevated parts
of the city, and set watches at the entrances into the city, and
appeared openly resolved not to rest when once the Romans should
begin to march.
3. And now when Agrippa observed that even the affairs of the
Romans were likely to be in danger, while such an immense
multitude of their enemies had seized upon the mountains round
about, he determined to try what the Jews would agree to by
words, as thinking that he should either persuade them all to
desist from fighting, or, however, that he should cause the sober
part of them to separate themselves from the opposite party. So
he sent Borceus and Phebus, the persons of his party that were
the best known to them, and promised them that Cestius should
give them his right hand, to secure them of the Romans' entire
forgiveness of what they had done amiss, if they would throw away
their arms, and come over to them; but the seditious, fearing
lest the whole multitude, in hopes of security to themselves,
should go over to Agrippa, resolved immediately to fall upon and
kill the ambassadors; accordingly they slew Phebus before he said
a word, but Borceus was only wounded, and so prevented his fate
by flying away. And when the people were very angry at this, they
had the seditious beaten with stones and clubs, and drove them
before them into the city.
4. But now Cestius, observing that the disturbances that were
begun among the Jews afforded him a proper opportunity to attack
them, took his whole army along with him, and put the Jews to
flight, and pursued them to Jerusalem. He then pitched his camp
upon the elevation called Scopus, [or watch-tower,] which was
distant seven furlongs from the city; yet did not he assault them
in three days' time, out of expectation that those within might
perhaps yield a little; and in the mean time he sent out a great
many of his soldiers into neighboring villages, to seize upon
their corn. And on the fourth day, which was the thirtieth of the
month Hyperbereteus, [Tisri,] when he had put his army in array,
he brought it into the city. Now for the people, they were kept
under by the seditious; but the seditious themselves were greatly
affrighted at the good order of the Romans, and retired from the
suburbs, and retreated into the inner part of the city, and into
the temple. But when Cestius was come into the city, he set the
part called Bezetha, which is called Cenopolis, [or the new
city,] on fire; as he did also to the timber market; after which
he came into the upper city, and pitched his camp over against
the royal palace; and had he but at this very time attempted to
get within the walls by force, he had won the city presently, and
the war had been put an end to at once; but Tyrannius Priseus,
the muster-master of the army, and a great number of the officers
of the horse, had been corrupted by Florus, and diverted him from
that his attempt; and that was the occasion that this war lasted
so very long, and thereby the Jews were involved in such
incurable calamities.
5. In the mean time, many of the principal men of the city were
persuaded by Ananus, the son of Jonathan, and invited Cestius
into the city, and were about to open the gates for him; but he
overlooked this offer, partly out of his anger at the Jews, and
partly because he did not thoroughly believe they were in
earnest; whence it was that he delayed the matter so long, that
the seditious perceived the treachery, and threw Ananus and those
of his party down from the wall, and, pelting them with stones,
drove them into their houses; but they stood themselves at proper
distances in the towers, and threw their darts at those that were
getting over the wall. Thus did the Romans make their attack
against the wall for five days, but to no purpose. But on the
next day Cestius took a great many of his choicest men, and with
them the archers, and attempted to break into the temple at the
northern quarter of it; but the Jews beat them off from the
cloisters, and repulsed them several times when they were gotten
near to the wall, till at length the multitude of the darts cut
them off, and made them retire; but the first rank of the Romans
rested their shields upon the wall, and so did those that were
behind them, and the like did those that were still more
backward, and guarded themselves with what they call Testudo,
[the back of] a tortoise, upon which the darts that were thrown
fell, and slided off without doing them any harm; so the soldiers
undermined the wall, without being themselves hurt, and got all
things ready for setting fire to the gate of the temple.
6. And now it was that a horrible fear seized upon the seditious,
insomuch that many of them ran out of the city, as though it were
to be taken immediately; but the people upon this took courage,
and where the wicked part of the city gave ground, thither did
they come, in order to set open the gates, and to admit Cestius
as their benefactor, who, had he but continued the siege a
little longer, had certainly taken the city; but it was, I
suppose, owing to the aversion God had already at the city and
the sanctuary, that he was hindered from putting an end to the
war that very day.
7. It then happened that Cestius was not conscious either how the
besieged despaired of success, nor how courageous the people were
for him; and so he recalled his soldiers from the place, and by
despairing of any expectation of taking it, without having
received any disgrace, he retired from the city, without any
reason in the world. But when the robbers perceived this
unexpected retreat of his, they resumed their courage, and ran
after the hinder parts of his army, and destroyed a considerable
number of both their horsemen and footmen; and now Cestius lay
all night at the camp which was at Scopus; and as he went off
farther next day, he thereby invited the enemy to follow him, who
still fell upon the hindmost, and destroyed them; they also fell
upon the flank on each side of the army, and threw darts upon
them obliquely, nor durst those that were hindmost turn back upon
those who wounded them behind, as imagining that the multitude of
those that pursued them was immense; nor did they venture to
drive away those that pressed upon them on each side, because
they were heavy with their arms, and were afraid of breaking
their ranks to pieces, and because they saw the Jews were light,
and ready for making incursions upon them. And this was the
reason why the Romans suffered greatly, without being able to
revenge themselves upon their enemies; so they were galled all
the way, and their ranks were put into disorder, and those that
were thus put out of their ranks were slain; among whom were
Priscus, the commander of the sixth legion, and Longinus, the
tribune, and Emilius Secundus, the commander of a troop of
horsemen. So it was not without difficulty that they got to
Gabao, their former camp, and that not without the loss of a
great part of their baggage. There it was that Cestius staid two
days, and was in great distress to know what he should do in
these circumstances; but when on the third day he saw a still
much greater number of enemies, and all the parts round about him
full of Jews, he understood that his delay was to his own
detriment, and that if he staid any longer there, he should have
still more enemies upon him.
8. That therefore he might fly the faster, he gave orders to cast
away what might hinder his army's march; so they killed the mules
and other creatures, excepting those that carried their darts and
machines, which they retained for their own use, and this
principally because they were afraid lest the Jews should seize
upon them. He then made his army march on as far as Bethoron. Now
the Jews did not so much press upon them when they were in large
open places; but when they were penned up in their descent
through narrow passages, then did some of them get before, and
hindered them from getting out of them; and others of them thrust
the hinder-most down into the lower places; and the whole
multitude extended themselves over against the neck of the
passage, and covered the Roman army with their darts. In which
circumstances, as the footmen knew not how to defend themselves,
so the danger pressed the horsemen still more, for they were so
pelted, that they could not march along the road in their ranks,
and the ascents were so high, that the cavalry were not able to
march against the enemy; the precipices also and valleys into
which they frequently fell, and tumbled down, were such on each
side of them, that there was neither place for their flight, nor
any contrivance could be thought of for their defense; till the
distress they were at last in was so great, that they betook
themselves to lamentations, and to such mournful cries as men use
in the utmost despair: the joyful acclamations of the Jews also,
as they encouraged one another, echoed the sounds back again,
these last composing a noise of those that at once rejoiced and
were in a rage. Indeed, things were come to such a pass, that the
Jews had almost taken Cestius's entire army prisoners, had not
the night come on, when the Romans fled to Bethoron, and the Jews
seized upon all the places round about them, and watched for
their coming out [in the morning].
9. And then it was that Cestius, despairing of obtaining room for
a public march, contrived how he might best run away; and when he
had selected four hundred of the most courageous of his soldiers,
he placed them at the strongest of their fortifications, and gave
order, that when they went up to the morning guard, they should
erect their ensigns, that the Jews might be made to believe that
the entire army was there still, while he himself took the rest
of his forces with him, and marched, without any noise, thirty
furlongs. But when the Jews perceived, in the morning, that the
camp was empty, they ran upon those four hundred who had deluded
them, and immediately threw their darts at them, and slew them;
and then pursued after Cestius. But he had already made use of a
great part of the night in his flight, and still marched quicker
when it was day; insomuch that the soldiers, through the
astonishment and fear they were in, left behind them their
engines for sieges, and for throwing of stones, and a great part
of the instruments of war. So the Jews went on pursuing the
Romans as far as Antipatris; after which, seeing they could not
overtake them, they came back, and took the engines, and spoiled
the dead bodies, and gathered the prey together which the Romans
had left behind them, and came back running and singing to their
metropolis; while they had themselves lost a few only, but had
slain of the Romans five thousand and three hundred footmen, and
three hundred and eighty horsemen. This defeat happened on the
eighth day of the month Dius, [Marchesvan,] in the twelfth year
of the reign of Nero.
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