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1. So Vespasian marched to the city Gadara, and took it upon the
first onset, because he found it destitute of any considerable
number of men grown up and fit for war. He came then into it, and
slew all the youth, the Romans having no mercy on any age
whatsoever; and this was done out of the hatred they bore the
nation, and because of the iniquity they had been guilty of in
the affair of Cestius. He also set fire not only to the city
itself, but to all the villas and small cities that were round
about it; some of them were quite destitute of inhabitants, and
out of some of them he carried the inhabitants as slaves into
captivity.
2. As to Josephus, his retiring to that city which he chose as
the most fit for his security, put it into great fear; for the
people of Tiberias did not imagine that he would have run away,
unless he had entirely despaired of the success of the war. And
indeed, as to that point, they were not mistaken about his
opinion; for he saw whither the affairs of the Jews would tend at
last, and was sensible that they had but one way of escaping, and
that was by repentance. However, although he expected that the
Romans would forgive him, yet did he chose to die many times
over, rather than to betray his country, and to dishonor that
supreme command of the army which had been intrusted with him, or
to live happily under those against whom he was sent to fight. He
determined, therefore, to give an exact account of affairs to the
principal men at Jerusalem by a letter, that he might not, by too
much aggrandizing the power of the enemy, make them too timorous;
nor, by relating that their power beneath the truth, might
encourage them to stand out when they were perhaps disposed to
repentance. He also sent them word, that if they thought of
coming to terms, they must suddenly write him an answer; or if
they resolved upon war, they must send him an army sufficient to
fight the Romans. Accordingly, he wrote these things, and sent
messengers immediately to carry his letter to Jerusalem.
3. Now Vespasian was very desirous of demolishing Jotapata, for
he had gotten intelligence that the greatest part of the enemy
had retired thither, and that it was, on other accounts, a place
of great security to them. Accordingly, he sent both foot-men and
horsemen to level the road, which was mountainous and rocky, not
without difficulty to be traveled over by footmen, but absolutely
impracticable for horsemen. Now these workmen accomplished what
they were about in four days' time, and opened a broad way for
the army. On the fifth day, which was the twenty-first of the
month Artemisius, (Jyar,) Josephus prevented him, and came from
Tiberias, and went into Jotapata, and raised the drooping spirits
of the Jews. And a certain deserter told this good news to
Vespasian, that Josephus had removed himself thither, which made
him make haste to the city, as supposing that with taking that he
should take all Judea, in case he could but withal get Josephus
under his power. So he took this news to be of the vastest
advantage to him, and believed it to be brought about by the
providence of God, that he who appeared to be the most prudent
man of all their enemies, had, of his own accord, shut himself up
in a place of sure custody. Accordingly, he sent Placidus with a
thousand horsemen, and Ebutius a decurion, a person that was of
eminency both in council and in action, to encompass the city
round, that Josephus might not escape away privately.
4. Vespasian also, the very next day, took his whole army and
followed them, and by marching till late in the evening, arrived
then at Jotapata; and bringing his army to the northern side of
the city, he pitched his camp on a certain small hill which was
seven furlongs from the city, and still greatly endeavored to be
well seen by the enemy, to put them into a consternation; which
was indeed so terrible to the Jews immediately, that no one of
them durst go out beyond the wall. Yet did the Romans put off the
attack at that time, because they had marched all the day,
although they placed a double row of battalions round the city,
with a third row beyond them round the whole, which consisted of
cavalry, in order to stop up every way for an exit; which thing
making the Jews despair of escaping, excited them to act more
boldly; for nothing makes men fight so desperately in war as
necessity.
5. Now when the next day an assault was made by the Romans, the
Jews at first staid out of the walls and opposed them, and met
them, as having formed themselves a camp before the city walls.
But when Vespasian had set against them the archers and slingers,
and the whole multitude that could throw to a great distance, he
permitted them to go to work, while he himself, with the footmen,
got upon an acclivity, whence the city might easily be taken.
Josephus was then in fear for the city, and leaped out, and all
the Jewish multitude with him; these fell together upon the
Romans in great numbers, and drove them away from the wall, and
performed a great many glorious and bold actions. Yet did they
suffer as much as they made the enemy suffer; for as despair of
deliverance encouraged the Jews, so did a sense of shame equally
encourage the Romans. These last had skill as well as strength;
the other had only courage, which armed them, and made them fight
furiously. And when the fight had lasted all day, it was put an
end to by the coming on of the night. They had wounded a great
many of the Romans, and killed of them thirteen men; of the Jews'
side seventeen were slain, and six hundred wounded.
6. On the next day the Jews made another attack upon the Romans,
and went out of the walls and fought a much more desperate battle
with them titan before. For they were now become more courageous
than formerly, and that on account of the unexpected good
opposition they had made the day before, as they found the Romans
also to fight more desperately; for a sense of shame inflamed
these into a passion, as esteeming their failure of a sudden
victory to be a kind of defeat. Thus did the Romans try to make
an impression upon the Jews till the fifth day continually, while
the people of Jotapata made sallies out, and fought at the walls
most desperately; nor were the Jews affrighted at the strength of
the enemy, nor were the Romans discouraged at the difficulties
they met with in taking the city.
7. Now Jotapata is almost all of it built on a precipice, having
on all the other sides of it every way valleys immensely deep and
steep, insomuch that those who would look down would have their
sight fail them before it reaches to the bottom. It is only to be
come at on the north side, where the utmost part of the city is
built on the mountain, as it ends obliquely at a plain. This
mountain Josephus had encompassed with a wall when he fortified
the city, that its top might not be capable of being seized upon
by the enemies. The city is covered all round with other
mountains, and can no way be seen till a man comes just upon it.
And this was the strong situation of Jotapata.
8. Vespasian, therefore, in order to try how he might overcome
the natural strength of the place, as well as the bold defense of
the Jews, made a resolution to prosecute the siege with vigor. To
that end he called the commanders that were under him to a
council of war, and consulted with them which way the assault
might be managed to the best advantage. And when the resolution
was there taken to raise a bank against that part of the wall
which was practicable, he sent his whole army abroad to get the
materials together. So when they had cut down all the trees on
the mountains that adjoined to the city, and had gotten together
a vast heap of stones, besides the wood they had cut down, some
of them brought hurdles, in order to avoid the effects of the
darts that were shot from above them. These hurdles they spread
over their banks, under cover whereof they formed their bank, and
so were little or nothing hurt by the darts that were thrown upon
them from the wall, while others pulled the neighboring hillocks
to pieces, and perpetually brought earth to them; so that while
they were busy three sorts of ways, nobody was idle. However, the
Jews cast great stones from the walls upon the hurdles which
protected the men, with all sorts of darts also; and the noise of
what could not reach them was yet so terrible, that it was some
impediment to the workmen.
9. Vespasian then set the engines for throwing stones and darts
round about the city. The number of the engines was in all a
hundred and sixty, and bid them fall to work, and dislodge those
that were upon the wall. At the same time such engines as were
intended for that purpose threw at once lances upon them with a
great noise, and stones of the weight of a talent were thrown by
the engines that were prepared for that purpose, together with
fire, and a vast multitude of arrows, which made the wall so
dangerous, that the Jews durst not only not come upon it, but
durst not come to those parts within the walls which were reached
by the engines; for the multitude of the Arabian archers, as well
also as all those that threw darts and slung stones, fell to work
at the same time with the engines. Yet did not the otters lie
still, when they could not throw at the Romans from a higher
place; for they then made sallies out of the city, like private
robbers, by parties, and pulled away the hurdles that covered the
workmen, and killed them when they were thus naked; and when
those workmen gave way, these cast away the earth that composed
the bank, and burnt the wooden parts of it, together with the
hurdles, till at length Vespasian perceived that the intervals
there were between the works were of disadvantage to him; for
those spaces of ground afforded the Jews a place for assaulting
the Romans. So he united the hurdles, and at the same time joined
one part of the army to the other, which prevented the private
excursions of the Jews.
10. And when the bank was now raised, and brought nearer than
ever to the battlements that belonged to the walls, Josephus
thought it would be entirely wrong in him if he could make no
contrivances in opposition to theirs, and that might be for the
city's preservation; so he got together his workmen, and ordered
them to build the wall higher; and while they said that this was
impossible to be done while so many darts were thrown at them, he
invented this sort of cover for them: He bid them fix piles, and
expand before them the raw hides of oxen newly killed, that these
hides by yielding and hollowing themselves when the stones were
thrown at them might receive them, for that the other darts would
slide off them, and the fire that was thrown would be quenched by
the moisture that was in them. And these he set before the
workmen, and under them these workmen went on with their works in
safety, and raised the wall higher, and that both by day and by
night, fill it was twenty cubits high. He also built a good
number of towers upon the wall, and fitted it to strong
battlements. This greatly discouraged the Romans, who in their
own opinions were already gotten within the walls, while they
were now at once astonished at Josephus's contrivance, and at the
fortitude of the citizens that were in the city.
11. And now Vespasian was plainly irritated at the great subtlety
of this stratagem, and at the boldness of the citizens of
Jotapata; for taking heart again upon the building of this wall,
they made fresh sallies upon the Romans, and had every day
conflicts with them by parties, together with all such
contrivances, as robbers make use of, and with the plundering of
all that came to hand, as also with the setting fire to all the
other works; and this till Vespasian made his army leave off
fighting them, and resolved to lie round the city, and to starve
them into a surrender, as supposing that either they would be
forced to petition him for mercy by want of provisions, or if
they should have the courage to hold out till the last, they
should perish by famine: and he concluded he should conquer them
the more easily in fighting, if he gave them an interval, and
then fell upon them when they were weakened by famine; but still
he gave orders that they should guard against their coming out of
the city.
12. Now the besieged had plenty of corn within the city, and
indeed of all necessaries, but they wanted water, because there
was no fountain in the city, the people being there usually
satisfied with rain water; yet is it a rare thing in that country
to have rain in summer, and at this season, during the siege,
they were in great distress for some contrivance to satisfy their
thirst; and they were very sad at this time particularly, as if
they were already in want of water entirely, for Josephus seeing
that the city abounded with other necessaries, and that the men
were of good courage, and being desirous to protract the siege to
the Romans longer than they expected, ordered their drink to be
given them by measure; but this scanty distribution of water by
measure was deemed by them as a thing more hard upon them than
the want of it; and their not being able to drink as much as they
would made them more desirous of drinking than they otherwise had
been; nay, they were as much disheartened hereby as if they were
come to the last degree of thirst. Nor were the Romans
unacquainted with the state they were in, for when they stood
over against them, beyond the wall, they could see them running
together, and taking their water by measure, which made them
throw their javelins thither the place being within their reach,
and kill a great many of them.
13. Hereupon Vespasian hoped that their receptacles of water
would in no long time be emptied, and that they would be forced
to deliver up the city to him; but Josephus being minded to break
such his hope, gave command that they should wet a great many of
their clothes, and hang them out about the battlements, till the
entire wall was of a sudden all wet with the running down of the
water. At this sight the Romans were discouraged, and under
consternation, when they saw them able to throw away in sport so
much water, when they supposed them not to have enough to drink
themselves. This made the Roman general despair of taking the
city by their want of necessaries, and to betake himself again to
arms, and to try to force them to surrender, which was what the
Jews greatly desired; for as they despaired of either themselves
or their city being able to escape, they preferred a death in
battle before one by hunger and thirst.
14. However, Josephus contrived another stratagem besides the
foregoing, to get plenty of what they wanted. There was a certain
rough and uneven place that could hardly be ascended, and on that
account was not guarded by the soldiers; so Josephus sent out
certain persons along the western parts of the valley, and by
them sent letters to whom he pleased of the Jews that were out of
the city, and procured from them what necessaries soever they
wanted in the city in abundance; he enjoined them also to creep
generally along by the watch as they came into the city, and to
cover their backs with such sheep-skins as had their wool upon
them, that if any one should spy them out in the night time, they
might be believed to be dogs. This was done till the watch
perceived their contrivance, and encompassed that rough place
about themselves.
15. And now it was that Josephus perceived that the city could
not hold out long, and that his own life would be in doubt if he
continued in it; so he consulted how he and the most potent men
of the city might fly out of it. When the multitude understood
this, they came all round about him, and begged of him not to
overlook them while they entirely depended on him, and him alone;
for that there was still hope of the city's deliverance, if he
would stay with them, because every body would undertake any
pains with great cheerfulness on his account, and in that case
there would be some comfort for them also, though they should be
taken: that it became him neither to fly from his enemies, nor to
desert his friends, nor to leap out of that city, as out of a
ship that was sinking in a storm, into which he came when it was
quiet and in a calm; for that by going away he would be the cause
of drowning the city, because nobody would then venture to oppose
the enemy when he was once gone, upon whom they wholly confided.
16. Hereupon Josephus avoided letting them know that he was to go
away to provide for his own safety, but told them that he would
go out of the city for their sakes; for that if he staid with
them, he should be able to do them little good while they were in
a safe condition; and that if they were once taken, he should
only perish with them to no purpose; but that if he were once
gotten free from this siege, he should be able to bring them very
great relief; for that he would then immediately get the
Galileans together, out of the country, in great multitudes, and
draw the Romans off their city by another war. That he did not
see what advantge he could bring to them now, by staying among
them, but only provoke the Romans to besiege them more closely,
as esteeming it a most valuable thing to take him; but that if
they were once informed that he was fled out of the city, they
would greatly remit of their eagerness against it. Yet did not
this plea move the people, but inflamed them the more to hang
about him. Accordingly, both the children and the old men, and
the women with their infants, came mourning to him, and fell down
before him, and all of them caught hold of his feet, and held him
fast, and besought him, with great lamentations, that he would
take his share with them in their fortune; and I think they did
this, not that they envied his deliverance, but that they hoped
for their own; for they could not think they should suffer any
great misfortune, provided Josephus would but stay with them.
17. Now Josephus thought, that if he resolved to stay, it would
be ascribed to their entreaties; and if he resolved to go away by
force, he should be put into custody. His commiseration also of
the people under their lamentations had much broken that his
eagerness to leave them; so he resolved to stay, and arming
himself with the common despair of the citizens, he said to them,
"Now is the time to begin to fight in earnest, when there is no
hope of deliverance left. It is a brave thing to prefer glory
before life, and to set about some such noble undertaking as may
be remembered by late posterity." Having said this, he fell to
work immediately, and made a sally, and dispersed the enemies'
out-guards, and ran as far as the Roman camp itself, and pulled
the coverings of their tents to pieces, that were upon their
banks, and set fire to their works. And this was the manner in
which he never left off fighting, neither the next day, nor the
day after it, but went on with it for a considerable number of
both days and nights.
18. Upon this, Vespasian, when he saw the Romans distressed by
these sallies, (though they were ashamed to be made to run away
by the Jews; and when at any time they made the Jews run away,
their heavy armor would not let them pursue them far; while the
Jews, when they had performed any action, and before they could
be hurt themselves, still retired into the city,) ordered his
armed men to avoid their onset, and not fight it out with men
under desperation, while nothing is more courageous than despair;
but that their violence would be quenched when they saw they
failed of their purposes, as fire is quenched when it wants fuel;
and that it was proper for the Romans to gain their victories as
cheap as they could, since they are not forced to fight, but only
to enlarge their own dominions. So he repelled the Jews in great
measure by the Arabian archers, and the Syrian slingers, and by
those that threw stones at them, nor was there any intermission
of the great number of their offensive engines. Now the Jews
suffered greatly by these engines, without being able to escape
from them; and when these engines threw their stones or javelins
a great way, and the Jews were within their reach, they pressed
hard upon the Romans, and fought desperately, without sparing
either soul or body, one part succoring another by turns, when it
was tired down.
19. When, therefore, Vespasian looked upon himself as in a manner
besieged by these sallies of the Jews, and when his banks were
now not far from the walls, he determined to make use of his
battering ram. This battering ram is a vast beam of wood like the
mast of a ship, its forepart is armed with a thick piece of iron
at the head of it, which is so carved as to be like the head of a
ram, whence its name is taken. This ram is slung in the air by
ropes passing over its middle, and is hung like the balance in a
pair of scales from another beam, and braced by strong beams that
pass on both sides of it, in the nature of a cross. When this ram
is pulled backward by a great number of men with united force,
and then thrust forward by the same men, with a mighty noise, it
batters the walls with that iron part which is prominent. Nor is
there any tower so strong, or walls so broad, that can resist any
more than its first batteries, but all are forced to yield to it
at last. This was the experiment which the Roman general betook
himself to, when he was eagerly bent upon taking the city; but
found lying in the field so long to be to his disadvantage,
because the Jews would never let him be quiet. So these Romans
brought the several engines for galling an enemy nearer to the
walls, that they might reach such as were upon the wall, and
endeavored to frustrate their attempts; these threw stones and
javelins at them; in the like manner did the archers and slingers
come both together closer to the wall. This brought matters to
such a pass that none of the Jews durst mount the walls, and then
it was that the other Romans brought the battering ram that was
cased with hurdles all over, and in the tipper part was secured
by skins that covered it, and this both for the security of
themselves and of the engine. Now, at the very first stroke of
this engine, the wall was shaken, and a terrible clamor was
raised by the people within the city, as if they were already
taken.
20. And now, when Josephus saw this ram still battering the same
place, and that the wall would quickly be thrown down by it, he
resolved to elude for a while the force of the engine. With this
design he gave orders to fill sacks with chaff, and to hang them
down before that place where they saw the ram always battering,
that the stroke might be turned aside, or that the place might
feel less of the strokes by the yielding nature of the chaff.
This contrivance very much delayed the attempts of the Romans,
because, let them remove their engine to what part they pleased,
those that were above it removed their sacks, and placed them
over against the strokes it made, insomuch that the wall was no
way hurt, and this by diversion of the strokes, till the Romans
made an opposite contrivance of long poles, and by tying hooks at
their ends, cut off the sacks. Now when the battering ram thus
recovered its force, and the wall having been but newly built,
was giving way, Josephus and those about him had afterward
immediate recourse to fire, to defend themselves withal;
whereupon they took what materials soever they had that were but
dry, and made a sally three ways, and set fire to the machines,
and the hurdles, and the banks of the Romans themselves; nor did
the Romans well know how to come to their assistance, being at
once under a consternation at the Jews' boldness, and being
prevented by the flames from coming to their assistance; for the
materials being dry with the bitumen and pitch that were among
them, as was brimstone also, the fire caught hold of every thing
immediately, and what cost the Romans a great deal of pains was
in one hour consumed.
21. And here a certain Jew appeared worthy of our relation and
commendation; he was the son of Sameas, and was called Eleazar,
and was born at Saab, in Galilee. This man took up a stone of a
vast bigness, and threw it down from the wall upon the ram, and
this with so great a force, that it broke off the head of the
engine. He also leaped down, and took up the head of the ram from
the midst of them, and without any concern carried it to the top
of the wall, and this while he stood as a fit mark to he pelted
by all his enemies. Accordingly, he received the strokes upon his
naked body, and was wounded with five darts; nor did he mind any
of them while he went up to the top of the wall, where he stood
in the sight of them all, as an instance of the greatest
boldness; after which he drew himself on a heap with his wounds
upon him, and fell down together with the head of the ram. Next
to him, two brothers showed their courage; their names were Netir
and Philip, both of them of the village Ruma, and both of them
Galileans also; these men leaped upon the soldiers of the tenth
legion, and fell upon the Romans with such a noise and force as
to disorder their ranks, and to put to flight all upon whomsoever
they made their assaults.
22. After these men's performances, Josephus, and the rest of the
multitude with him, took a great deal of fire, and burnt both the
machines and their coverings, with the works belonging to the
fifth and to the tenth legion, which they put to flight; when
others followed them immediately, and buried those instruments
and all their materials under ground. However, about the evening,
the Romans erected the battering ram again, against that part of
the wall which had suffered before; where a certain Jew that
defended the city from the Romans hit Vespasian with a dart in
his foot, and wounded him a little, the distance being so great,
that no mighty impression could be made by the dart thrown so far
off. However, this caused the greatest disorder among the Romans;
for when those who stood near him saw his blood, they were
disturbed at it, and a report went abroad, through the whole
army, that the general was wounded, while the greatest part left
the siege, and came running together with surprise and fear to
the general; and before them all came Titus, out of the concern
he had for his father, insomuch that the multitude were in great
confusion, and this out of the regard they had for their general,
and by reason of the agony that the son was in. Yet did the
father soon put an end to the son's fear, and to the disorder the
army was under, for being superior to his pains, and endeavoring
soon to be seen by all that had been in a fright about him, he
excited them to fight the Jews more briskly; for now every body
was willing to expose himself to danger immediately, in order to
avenge their general; and then they encouraged one another with
loud voices, and ran hastily to the walls.
23. But still Josephus and those with him, although they fell
down dead one upon another by the darts and stones which the
engines threw upon them, yet did not they desert the wall, but
fell upon those who managed the ram, under the protection of the
hurdles, with fire, and iron weapons, and stones; and these could
do little or nothing, but fell themselves perpetually, while they
were seen by those whom they could not see, for the light of
their own flame shone about them, and made them a most visible
mark to the enemy, as they were in the day time, while the
engines could not be seen at a great distance, and so what was
thrown at them was hard to be avoided; for the force with which
these engines threw stones and darts made them hurt several at a
time, and the violent noise of the stones that were cast by the
engines was so great, that they carried away the pinnacles of the
wall, and broke off the corners of the towers; for no body of men
could be so strong as not to be overthrown to the last rank by
the largeness of the stones. And any one may learn the force of
the engines by what happened this very night; for as one of those
that stood round about Josephus was near the wall, his head was
carried away by such a stone, and his skull was flung as far as
three furlongs. In the day time also, a woman with child had her
belly so violently struck, as she was just come out of her house,
that the infant was carried to the distance of half a furlong, so
great was the force of that engine. The noise of the instruments
themselves was very terrible, the sound of the darts and stones
that were thrown by them was so also; of the same sort was that
noise the dead bodies made, when they were dashed against the
wall; and indeed dreadful was the clamor which these things
raised in the women within the city, which was echoed back at the
same time by the cries of such as were slain; while the whole
space of ground whereon they fought ran with blood, and the wall
might have been ascended over by the bodies of the dead
carcasses; the mountains also contributed to increase the noise
by their echoes; nor was there on that night any thing of terror
wanting that could either affect the hearing or the sight: yet
did a great part of those that fought so hard for Jotapata fall
manfully, as were a great part of them wounded. However, the
morning watch was come ere the wall yielded to the machines
employed against it, though it had been battered without
intermission. However, those within covered their bodies with
their armor, and raised works over against that part which was
thrown down, before those machines were laid by which the Romans
were to ascend into the city.
24. In the morning Vespasian got his army together, in order to
take the city [by storm], after a little recreation upon the hard
pains they had been at the night before; and as he was desirous
to draw off those that opposed him from the places where the wall
had been thrown down, he made the most courageous of the horsemen
get off their horses, and placed them in three ranks over against
those ruins of the wall, but covered with their armor on every
side, and with poles in their hands, that so these might begin
their ascent as soon as the instruments for such ascent were
laid; behind them he placed the flower of the footmen; but for
the rest of the horse, he ordered them to extend themselves over
against the wall, upon the whole hilly country, in order to
prevent any from escaping out of the city when it should be
taken; and behind these he placed the archers round about, and
commanded them to have their darts ready to shoot. The same
command he gave to the slingers, and to those that managed the
engines, and bid them to take up other ladders, and have them
ready to lay upon those parts of the wall which were yet
untouched, that the besieged might be engaged in trying to hinder
their ascent by them, and leave the guard of the parts that were
thrown down, while the rest of them should be overborne by the
darts cast at them, and might afford his men an entrance into the
city.
25. But Josephus, understanding the meaning of Vespasian's
contrivance, set the old men, together with those that were tired
out, at the sound parts of the wall, as expecting no harm from
those quarters, but set the strongest of his men at the place
where the wall was broken down, and before them all six men by
themselves, among whom he took his share of the first and
greatest danger. He also gave orders, that when the legions made
a shout, they should stop their ears, that they might not be
affrighted at it, and that, to avoid the multitude of the enemy's
darts, they should bend down on their knees, and cover themselves
with their shields, and that they should retreat a little
backward for a while, till the archers should have emptied their
quivers; but that When the Romans should lay their instruments
for ascending the walls, they should leap out on the sudden, and
with their own instruments should meet the enemy, and that every
one should strive to do his best, in order not to defend his own
city, as if it were possible to be preserved, but in order to
revenge it, when it was already destroyed; and that they should
set before their eyes how their old men were to be slain, and
their children and wives were to be killed immediately by the
enemy; and that they would beforehand spend all their fury, on
account of the calamities just coming upon them, and pour it out
on the actors.
26. And thus did Josephus dispose of both his bodies of men; but
then for the useless part of the citizens, the women and
children, when they saw their city encompassed by a threefold
army, (for none of the usual guards that had been fighting before
were removed,) when they also saw, not only the walls thrown
down, but their enemies with swords in their hands, as also the
hilly country above them shining with their weapons, d the darts
in the hands of the Arabian archers, they made a final and
lamentable outcry of the destruction, as if the misery were not
only threatened, but actually come upon them already. But
Josephus ordered the women to be shut up in their houses, lest
they should render the warlike actions of the men too effeminate,
by making them commiserate their condition, and commanded them to
hold their peace, and threatened them if they did not, while he
came himself before the breach, where his allotment was; for all
those who brought ladders to the other places, he took no notice
of them, but earnestly waited for the shower of arrows that was
coming.
27. And now the trumpeters of the several Roman legions sounded
together, and the army made a terrible shout; and the darts, as
by order, flew so last, that they intercepted the light. However,
Josephus's men remembered the charges he had given them, they
stopped their ears at the sounds, and covered their bodies
against the darts; and as to the engines that were set ready to
go to work, the Jews ran out upon them, before those that should
have used them were gotten upon them. And now, on the ascending
of the soldiers, there was a great conflict, and many actions of
the hands and of the soul were exhibited; while the Jews did
earnestly endeavor, in the extreme danger they were in, not to
show less courage than those who, without being in danger, fought
so stoutly against them; nor did they leave struggling with the
Romans till they either fell down dead themselves, or killed
their antagonists. But the Jews grew weary with defending
themselves continually, and had not enough to come in their
places, and succor them; while, on the side of the Romans, fresh
men still succeeded those that were tired; and still new men soon
got upon the machines for ascent, in the room of those that were
thrust down; those encouraging one another, and joining side to
side with their shields, which were a protection to them, they
became a body of men not to be broken; and as this band thrust
away the Jews, as though they were themselves but one body, they
began already to get upon the wall.
28. Then did Josephus take necessity for his counselor in this
utmost distress, (which necessity is very sagacious in invention
when it is irritated by despair,) and gave orders to pour
scalding oil upon those whose shields protected them. Whereupon
they soon got it ready, being many that brought it, and what they
brought being a great quantity also, and poured it on all sides
upon the Romans, and threw down upon them their vessels as they
were still hissing from the heat of the fire: this so burnt the
Romans, that it dispersed that united band, who now tumbled clown
from the wall with horrid pains, for the oil did easily run down
the whole body from head to foot, under their entire armor, and
fed upon their flesh like flame itself, its fat and unctuous
nature rendering it soon heated and slowly cooled; and as the men
were cooped up in their head-pieces and breastplates, they could
no way get free from this burning oil; they could only leap and
roll about in their pains, as they fell down from the bridges
they had laid. And as they thus were beaten back, and retired to
their own party, who still pressed them forward, they were easily
wounded by those that were behind them.
29. However, in this ill success of the Romans, their courage did
not fail them, nor did the Jews want prudence to oppose them; for
the Romans, although they saw their own men thrown down, and in a
miserable condition, yet were they vehemently bent against those
that poured the oil upon them; while every one reproached the man
before him as a coward, and one that hindered him from exerting
himself; and while the Jews made use of another stratagem to
prevent their ascent, and poured boiling fenugreek upon the
boards, in order to make them slip and fall down; by which means
neither could those that were coming up, nor those that were
going down, stand on their feet; but some of them fell backward
upon the machines on which they ascended, and were trodden upon;
many of them fell down upon the bank they had raised, and when
they were fallen upon it were slain by the Jews; for when the
Romans could not keep their feet, the Jews being freed from
fighting hand to hand, had leisure to throw their darts at them.
So the general called off those soldiers in the evening that had
suffered so sorely, of whom the number of the slain was not a
few, while that of the wounded was still greater; but of the
people of Jotapata no more than six men were killed, although
more than three hundred were carried off wounded. This fight
happened on the twentieth day of the month Desius [Sivan].
30. Hereupon Vespasian comforted his army on occasion of what
happened, and as he found them angry indeed, but rather wanting
somewhat to do than any further exhortations, he gave orders to
raise the banks still higher, and to erect three towers, each
fifty feet high, and that they should cover them with plates of
iron on every side, that they might be both firm by their weight,
and not easily liable to be set on fire. These towers he set upon
the banks, and placed upon them such as could shoot darts and
arrows, with the lighter engines for throwing stones and darts
also; and besides these, he set upon them the stoutest men among
the slingers, who not being to be seen by reason of the height
they stood upon, and the battlements that protected them, might
throw their weapons at those that were upon the wall, and were
easily seen by them. Hereupon the Jews, not being easily able to
escape those darts that were thrown down upon their heads, nor to
avenge themselves on those whom they could not see, and
perceiving that the height of the towers was so great, that a
dart which they threw with their hand could hardly reach it, and
that the iron plates about them made it very hard to come at them
by fire, they ran away from the walls, and fled hastily out of
the city, and fell upon those that shot at them. And thus did the
people of Jotapata resist the Romans, while a great number of
them were every day killed, without their being able to retort
the evil upon their enemies; nor could they keep them out of the
city without danger to themselves.
31. About this time it was that Vespasian sent out Trajan against
a city called Japha, that lay near to Jotapata, and that desired
innovations, and was puffed up with the unexpected length of the
opposition of Jotapata. This Trajan was the commander of the
tenth legion, and to him Vespasian committed one thousand
horsemen, and two thousand footmen. When Trajan came to the city,
he found it hard to be taken, for besides the natural strength of
its situation, it was also secured by a double wall; but when he
saw the people of this city coming out of it, and ready to fight
him, he joined battle with them, and after a short resistance
which they made, he pursued after them; and as they fled to their
first wall, the Romans followed them so closely, that they fell
in together with them: but when the Jews were endeavoring to get
again within their second wall, their fellow citizens shut them
out, as being afraid that the Romans would force themselves in
with them. It was certainly God therefore who brought the Romans
to punish the Galileans, and did then expose the people of the
city every one of them manifestly to be destroyed by their bloody
enemies; for they fell upon the gates in great crowds, and
earnestly calling to those that kept them, and that by their
names also, yet had they their throats cut in the very midst of
their supplications; for the enemy shut the gates of the first
wall, and their own citizens shut the gates of the second, so
they were enclosed between two walls, and were slain in great
numbers together; many of them were run through by swords of
their own men, and many by their own swords, besides an immense
number that were slain by the Romans. Nor had they any courage to
revenge themselves; for there was added to the consternation they
were in from the enemy, their being betrayed by their own
friends, which quite broke their spirits; and at last they died,
cursing not the Romans, but their own citizens, till they were
all destroyed, being in number twelve thousand. So Trajan
gathered that the city was empty of people that could fight, and
although there should a few of them be therein, he supposed that
they would be too timorous to venture upon any opposition; so he
reserved the taking of the city to the general. Accordingly, he
sent messengers to Vespasian, and desired him to send his son
Titus to finish the victory he had gained. Vespasian hereupon
imagining there might be some pains still necessary, sent his son
with an army of five hundred horsemen, and one thousand footmen.
So he came quickly to the city, and put his army in order, and
set Trajan over the left wing, while he had the right himself,
and led them to the siege: and when the soldiers brought ladders
to be laid against the wall on every side, the Galileans opposed
them from above for a while; but soon afterward they left the
walls. Then did Titus's men leap into the city, and seized upon
it presently; but when those that were in it were gotten
together, there was a fierce battle between them; for the men of
power fell upon the Romans in the narrow streets, and the women
threw whatsoever came next to hand at them, and sustained a fight
with them for six hours' time; but when the fighting men were
spent, the rest of the multitude had their throats cut, partly in
the open air, and partly in their own houses, both young and old
together. So there were no males now remaining, besides infants,
which, with the women, were carried as slaves into captivity; so
that the number of the slain, both now in the city and at the
former fight, was fifteen thousand, and the captives were two
thousand one hundred and thirty. This calamity befell the
Galileans on the twenty-fifth day of the month Desius [Sivan.]
32. Nor did the Samaritans escape their share of misfortunes at
this time; for they assembled themselves together upon file
mountain called Gerizzim, which is with them a holy mountain, and
there they remained; which collection of theirs, as well as the
courageous minds they showed, could not but threaten somewhat of
war; nor were they rendered wiser by the miseries that had come
upon their neighboring cities. They also, notwithstanding the
great success the Romans had, marched on in an unreasonable
manner, depending on their own weakness, and were disposed for
any tumult upon its first appearance. Vespasian therefore thought
it best to prevent their motions, and to cut off the foundation
of their attempts. For although all Samaria had ever garrisons
settled among them, yet did the number of those that were come to
Mount Gerizzim, and their conspiracy together, give ground for
fear what they would be at; he therefore sent I thither Cerealis,
the commander of the fifth legion, with six hundred horsemen, and
three thousand footmen, who did not think it safe to go up to the
mountain, and give them battle, because many of the enemy were on
the higher part of the ground; so he encompassed all the lower
part of the mountain with his army, and watched them all that
day. Now it happened that the Samaritans, who were now destitute
of water, were inflamed with a violent heat, (for it was summer
time, and the multitude had not provided themselves with
necessaries,) insomuch that some of them died that very day with
heat, while others of them preferred slavery before such a death
as that was, and fled to the Romans; by whom Cerealis understood
that those which still staid there were very much broken by their
misfortunes. So he went up to the mountain, and having placed his
forces round about the enemy, he, in the first place, exhorted
them to take the security of his right hand, and come to terms
with him, and thereby save themselves; and assured them, that if
they would lay down their arms, he would secure them from any
harm; but when he could not prevail with them, he fell upon them
and slew them all, being in number eleven thousand and six
hundred. This was done on the twenty-seventh day of the month
Desius [Sivan]. And these were the calamities that befell the
Samaritans at this time.
33. But as the people of Jotapata still held out manfully, and
bore up tinder their miseries beyond all that could be hoped for,
on the forty-seventh day [of the siege] the banks cast up by the
Romans were become higher than the wall; on which day a certain
deserter went to Vespasian, and told him how few were left in the
city, and how weak they were, and that they had been so worn out
with perpetual watching, and as perpetual fighting, that they
could not now oppose any force that came against them, and that
they might he taken by stratagem, if any one would attack them;
for that about the last watch of the night, when they thought
they might have some rest from the hardships they were under, and
when a morning sleep used to come upon them, as they were
thoroughly weary, he said the watch used to fall asleep;
accordingly his advice was, that they should make their attack at
that hour. But Vespasian had a suspicion about this deserter, as
knowing how faithful the Jews were to one another, and how much
they despised any punishments that could be inflicted on them;
this last because one of the people of Jotapata had undergone all
sorts of torments, and though they made him pass through a fiery
trial of his enemies in his examination, yet would he inform them
nothing of the affairs within the city, and as he was crucified,
smiled at them. However, the probability there was in the
relation itself did partly confirm the truth of what the deserter
told them, and they thought he might probably speak truth.
However, Vespasian thought they should be no great sufferers if
the report was a sham; so he commanded them to keep the man in
custody, and prepared the army for taking the city.
34. According to which resolution they marched without noise, at
the hour that had been told them, to the wall; and it was Titus
himself that first got upon it, with one of his tribunes,
Domitius Sabinus, and had a few of the fifteenth legion along
with him. So they cut the throats of the watch, and entered the
city very quietly. After these came Cerealis the tribune, and
Placidus, and led on those that were tinder them. Now when the
citadel was taken, and the enemy were in the very midst of the
city, and when it was already day, yet was not the taking of the
city known by those that held it; for a great many of them were
fast asleep, and a great mist, which then by chance fell upon the
city, hindered those that got up from distinctly seeing the case
they were in, till the whole Roman army was gotten in, and they
were raised up only to find the miseries they were under; and as
they were slaying, they perceived the city was taken. And for the
Romans, they so well remembered what they had suffered during the
siege, that they spared none, nor pitied any, but drove the
people down the precipice from the citadel, and slew them as they
drove them down; at which time the difficulties of the place
hindered those that were still able to fight from defending
themselves; for as they were distressed in the narrow streets,
and could not keep their feet sure along the precipice, they were
overpowered with the crowd of those that came fighting them down
from the citadel. This provoked a great many, even of those
chosen men that were about Josephus, to kill themselves with
their own hands; for when they saw that they could kill none of
the Romans, they resolved to prevent being killed by the Romans,
and got together in great numbers in the utmost parts of the
city, and killed themselves.
35. However, such of the watch as at the first perceived they
were taken, and ran away as fast as they could, went up into one
of the towers on the north side of the city, and for a while
defended themselves there; but as they were encompassed with a
multitude of enemies, they tried to use their right hands when it
was too late, and at length they cheerfully offered their necks
to be cut off by those that stood over them. And the Romans might
have boasted that the conclusion of that siege was without blood
[on their side] if there had not been a centurion, Antonius, who
was slain at the taking of the city. His death was occasioned by
the following treachery; for there was one of those that were
fled into the caverns, which were a great number, who desired
that this Antonius would reach him his right hand for his
security, and would assure him that he would preserve him, and
give him his assistance in getting up out of the cavern;
accordingly, he incautiously reached him his right hand, when the
other man prevented him, and stabbed him under his loins with a
spear, and killed him immediately.
36. And on this day it was that the Romans slew all the multitude
that appeared openly; but on the following days they searched the
hiding-places, and fell upon those that were under ground, and in
the caverns, and went thus through every age, excepting the
infants and the women, and of these there were gathered together
as captives twelve hundred; and as for those that were slain at
the taking of the city, and in the former fights, they were
numbered to be forty thousand. So Vespasian gave order that the
city should be entirely demolished, and all the fortifications
burnt down. And thus was Jotapata taken, in the thirteenth year
of the reign of Nero, on the first day of the month Panemus
[Tamuz].
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