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1. Now Lucilius Bassus was sent as legate into Judea, and there
he received the army from Cerealis Vitellianus, and took that
citadel which was in Herodium, together with the garrison that
was in it; after which he got together all the soldiery that was
there, (which was a large body, but dispersed into several
parties,) with the tenth legion, and resolved to make war upon
Macherus; for it was highly necessary that this citadel should be
demolished, lest it might be a means of drawing away many into a
rebellion, by reason of its strength; for the nature of the place
was very capable of affording the surest hopes of safety to
those that possessed it, as well as delay and fear to those that
should attack it; for what was walled in was itself a very rocky
hill, elevated to a very great height; which circumstance alone
made it very hard to he subdued. It was also so contrived by
nature, that it could not be easily ascended; for it is, as it
were, ditched about with such valleys on all sides, and to such a
depth, that the eye cannot reach their bottoms, and such as are
not easily to be passed over, and even such as it is impossible
to fill up with earth. For that valley which cuts it on the west
extends to threescore furlongs, and did not end till it came to
the lake Asphaltitis; on the same side it was also that Macherus
had the tallest top of its hill elevated above the rest. But then
for the valleys that lay on the north and south sides, although
they be not so large as that already described, yet it is in like
manner an impracticable thing to think of getting over them; and
for the valley that lies on the east side, its depth is found to
be no less than a hundred cubits. It extends as far as a mountain
that lies over against Macherus, with which it is bounded.
2. Now when Alexander [Janneus], the king of the Jews, observed
the nature of this place, he was the first who built a citadel
here, which afterwards was demolished by Gabinius, when he made
war against Aristobulus. But when Herod came to be king, he
thought the place to be worthy of the utmost regard, and of being
built upon in the firmest manner, and this especially because it
lay so near to Arabia; for it is seated in a convenient place on
that account, and hath a prospect toward that country; he
therefore surrounded a large space of ground with walls
and towers, and built a city there, out of which city there was a
way that led up to the very citadel itself on the top of the
mountain; nay, more than this, he built a wall round that top of
the hill, and erected towers at the corners, of a hundred and
sixty cubits high; in the middle of which place he built a
palace, after a magnificent manner, wherein were large and
beautiful edifices. He also made a great many reservoirs for the
reception of water, that there might be plenty of it ready for
all uses, and those in the properest places that were afforded
him there. Thus did he, as it were, contend with the nature of
the place, that he might exceed its natural strength and security
(which yet itself rendered it hard to be taken) by those
fortifications which were made by the hands of men. Moreover, he
put a large quantity of darts and other machines of war into it,
and contrived to get every thing thither that might any way
contribute to its inhabitants' security, under the longest siege
possible.
3. Now within this place there grew a sort of rue that
deserves our wonder on account of its largeness, for it was no
way inferior to any fig tree whatsoever, either in height or in
thickness; and the report is, that it had lasted ever since the
times of Herod, and would probably have lasted much longer, had
it not been cut down by those Jews who took possession of the
place afterward. But still in that valley which encompasses the
city on the north side there is a certain place called Baaras,
which produces a root of the same name with itself its color
is like to that of flame, and towards the evenings it sends out a
certain ray like lightning. It is not easily taken by such as
would do it, but recedes from their hands, nor will yield itself
to be taken quietly, until either the urine of a woman, or her
menstrual blood, be poured upon it; nay, even then it is certain
death to those that touch it, unless any one take and hang the
root itself down from his hand, and so carry it away. It may also
be taken another way, without danger, which is this: they dig a
trench quite round about it, till the hidden part of the root be
very small, they then tie a dog to it, and when the dog tries
hard to follow him that tied him, this root is easily plucked up,
but the dog dies immediately, as if it were instead of the man
that would take the plant away; nor after this need any one be
afraid of taking it into their hands. Yet, after all this pains
in getting, it is only valuable on account of one virtue it hath,
that if it be only brought to sick persons, it quickly drives
away those called demons, which are no other than the spirits of
the wicked, that enter into men that are alive and kill them,
unless they can obtain some help against them. Here are also
fountains of hot
water, that flow out of this place, which have a very different
taste one from the other; for some of them are bitter, and others
of them are plainly sweet. Here are also many eruptions of cold
waters, and this not only in the places that lie lower, and have
their fountains near one another, but, what is still more
wonderful, here is to be seen a certain cave hard by, whose
cavity is not deep, but it is covered over by a rock that is
prominent; above this rock there stand up two [hills or] breasts,
as it were, but a little distant one from another, the one of
which sends out a fountain that is very cold, and the other sends
out one that is very hot; which waters, when they are mingled
together, compose a most pleasant bath; they are medicinal indeed
for other maladies, but especially good for strengthening the
nerves. This place has in it also mines of sulfur and alum.
4. Now when Bassus had taken a full view of this place, he
resolved to besiege it, by filling up the valley that lay on the
east side; so he fell hard to work, and took great pains to raise
his banks as soon as possible, and by that means to render the
siege easy. As for the Jews that were caught in this place, they
separated themselves from the strangers that were with them, and
they forced those strangers, as an otherwise useless multitude,
to stay in the lower part of the city, and undergo the principal
dangers, while they themselves seized on the upper citadel, and
held it, and this both on account of its strength, and to provide
for their own safety. They also supposed they might obtain their
pardon, in case they should [at last] surrender the citadel.
However, they were willing to make trial, in the first place,
whether the hopes they had of avoiding a siege would come to any
thing; with which intention they made sallies every day, and
fought with those that met them; in which conflicts they were
many of them slain, as they therein slew many of the Romans. But
still it was the opportunities that presented themselves which
chiefly gained both sides their victories; these were gained by
the Jews, when they fell upon the Romans as they were off their
guard; but by the Romans, when, upon the others' sallies against
their banks, they foresaw their coming, and were upon their lard
when they received them. But the conclusion of this siege did not
depend upon these bickerings; but a certain surprising accident,
relating to what was done in this siege, forced the Jews to
surrender the citadel. There was a certain young man among the
besieged, of great boldness, and very active of his hand, his
name was Eleazar; he greatly signalized himself in those sallies,
and encouraged the Jews to go out in great numbers, in order to
hinder the raising of the banks, and did the Romans a vast deal
of mischief when they came to fighting; he so managed matters,
that those who sallied out made their attacks
easily, and returned back without danger, and this by still
bringing up the rear himself. Now it happened that, on a certain
time, when the fight was over, and both sides were parted, and
retired home, he, in way of contempt of the enemy, and thinking
that none of them would begin the fight again at that time, staid
without the gates, and talked with those that were upon the wall,
and his mind was wholly intent upon what they said. Now a certain
person belonging to the Roman camp, whose lame was Rufus, by
birth an Egyptian, ran upon him suddenly, when nobody expected
such a thing, and carried him off, with his armor itself; while,
in the mean time, those that saw it from the wall were under such
an amazement, that Rufus prevented their assistance, and carried
Eleazar to the Roman camp. So the general of the Romans ordered
that he should be taken up naked, set before the city to be seen,
and sorely whipped before their eyes. Upon this sad accident that
befell the young man, the Jews were terribly confounded, and the
city, with one voice, sorely lamented him, and the mourning
proved greater than could well be supposed upon the calamity of a
single person. When Bassus perceived that, he began to think of
using a stratagem against the enemy, and was desirous to
aggravate their grief, in order to prevail with them to surrender
the city for the preservation of that man. Nor did he fail of his
hope; for he commanded them to set up a cross, as if he were just
going to hang Eleazar upon it immediately; the sight of this
occasioned a sore grief among those that were in the citadel, and
they groaned vehemently, and cried out that they could not bear
to see him thus destroyed. Whereupon Eleazar besought them not to
disregard him, now he was going to suffer a
most miserable death, and exhorted them to save themselves, by
yielding to the Roman power and good fortune, since all other
people were now conquered by them. These men were greatly moved
with what he said, there being also many within the city that
interceded for him, because he was of an eminent and very
numerous family; so they now yielded to their passion of
commiseration, contrary to their usual custom. Accordingly, they
sent out immediately certain messengers, and treated with the
Romans, in order to a surrender of the citadel to them, and
desired that they might be permitted to go away, and take Eleazar
along with them. Then did the Romans and their general accept of
these terms; while the multitude of strangers that were in the
lower part of the city, hearing of the agreement that was made by
the Jews for themselves alone, were resolved to fly away
privately in the night time; but as soon as they had opened their
gates, those that had come to terms with Bassus told him of it;
whether it were that they envied the others' deliverance, or
whether it were done out of fear, lest an occasion should be
taken against them upon their escape, is uncertain. The most
courageous, therefore, of those men that went out prevented the
enemy, and got away, and fled for it; but for those men that were
caught within they
5. When Bassus had settled these affairs, he marched hastily to
the forest of Jarden, as it is called; for he had heard that a
great many of those that had fled from Jerusalem and Macherus
formerly were there gotten together. When he was therefore come
to the place, and understood that the former news was no mistake,
he, in the first place, surrounded the whole place with his
horsemen, that such of the Jews as had boldness enough to try to
break through might have no way possible for escaping, by reason
of the situation of these horsemen; and for the footmen, he
ordered them to cut down the trees that were in the wood whither
they were fled. So the Jews were under a necessity of performing
some glorious exploit, and of greatly exposing themselves in a
battle, since they might perhaps thereby escape. So they made a
general attack, and with a great shout fell upon those that
surrounded them, who received them with great courage; and so
while the one side fought desperately, and the others would not
yield, the fight was prolonged on that account. But the event of
the battle did not answer the expectation of the assailants; for
so it happened, that no more than twelve fell on the Roman side,
with a few that were wounded; but not one of the Jews escaped out
of this battle, but they were all killed, being in the whole not
fewer in number than three thousand, together with Judas, the son
of Jairus, their general, concerning whom we have before spoken,
that he had been a captain of a certain band at the siege of
Jerusalem, and by going down into a certain vault under ground,
had privately made his escape.
6. About the same time it was that Caesar sent a letter to
Bassus, and to Liberius Maximus, who was the procurator [of
Judea], and gave order that all Judea should be exposed to sale
for he did not found any city there, but reserved the
country for himself. However, he assigned a place for eight
hundred men only, whom he had dismissed from his army, which he
gave them for their habitation; it is called Emmaus, and is
distant from Jerusalem threescore furlongs. He also laid a
tribute upon the Jews wheresoever they were, and enjoined every
one of them to bring two drachmae every year into the Capitol, as
they used to pay the same to the temple at Jerusalem. And this
was the state of the Jewish affairs at this time.
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