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But when Titus had composed the troubles in Judea, and
conjectured that the lands which I had in Judea would bring me no
profit, because a garrison to guard the country was afterward to
pitch there, he gave me another country in the plain. And when he
was going away to Rome, he made choice of me to sail along with
him, and paid me great respect: and when we were come to Rome, I
had great care taken of me by Vespasian; for he gave me an
apartment in his own house, which he lived in before he came to
the empire. He also honored me with the privilege of a Roman
citizen, and gave me an annual pension; and continued to respect
me to the end of his life, without any abatement of his kindness
to me; which very thing made me envied, and brought me into
danger; for a certain Jew, whose name was Jonathan, who had
raised a tumult in Cyrene, and had persuaded two thousand men of
that country to join with him, was the occasion of their ruin.
But when he was bound by the governor of that country, and sent
to the emperor, he told him that I had sent him both weapons and
money. However, he could not conceal his being a liar from
Vespasian, who condemned him to die; according to which sentence
he was put to death. Nay, after that, when those that envied my
good fortune did frequently bring accusations against me, by
God's providence I escaped them all. I also received from
Vespasian no small quantity of land, as a free gift, in Judea;
about which time I divorced my wife also, as not pleased with her
behavior, though not till she had been the mother of three
children, two of whom are dead, and one whom I named Hyrcanus, is
alive. After this I married a wife who had lived at Crete, but a
Jewess by birth: a woman she was of eminent parents, and such as
were the most illustrious in all the country, and whose character
was beyond that of most other women, as her future life did
demonstrate. By her I had two sons; the elder's name was Justus,
and the next Simonides, who was also named Agrippa. And these
were the circumstances of my domestic affairs. However, the
kindness of the emperor to me continued still the same; for when
Vespasian was dead, Titus, who succeeded him in the government,
kept up the same respect for me which I had from his father; and
when I had frequent accusations laid against me, he would not
believe them. And Domitian, who succeeded, still augmented his
respects to me; for he punished those Jews that were my accusers,
and gave command that a servant of mine, who was a eunuch, and my
accuser, should be punished. He also made that country I had in
Judea tax free, which is a mark of the greatest honor to him who
hath it; nay, Domitia, the wife of Caesar, continued to do me
kindnesses. And this is the account of the actions of my whole
life; and let others judge of my character by them as they
please. But to thee, O Epaphroditus, thou most excellent of
men! do I dedicate all this treatise of our Antiquities; and so,
for the present, I here conclude the whole.
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