A SEDITION AGAINST SABINUS; AND HOW VARUS BROUGHT THE AUTHORS OF IT TO PUNISHMENT. FJAJ 17.55
1. BUT before these things could be brought to a settlement, Malthace,
Archelaus's mother, fell into a distemper, and died of it; and letters
came from Varus, the president of Syria, which informed Caesar of the revolt
of the Jews; for after Archlaus was sailed, the whole nation was in a tumult.
So Varus, since he was there himself, brought the authors of the disturbance
to punishment; and when he had restrained them for the most part from this
sedition, which was a great one, he took his journey to Antiocli, leaving
one legion of his army at Jerusalem to keep the Jews quiet, who were now
very fond of innovation
Yet did not this at all avail to put an end to
that their sedition; for after Varus was gone away, Sabinus, Caesar's procurator,
staid behind, and greatly distressed the Jews, relying on the forces that
were left there that they would by their multitude protect him; for he
made use of them, and armed them as his guards, thereby so oppressing the
Jews, and giving them so great disturbance, that at length they rebelled;
for he used force in seizing the citadels, and zealously pressed on the
search after the king's money, in order to seize upon it by force, on account
of his love of gain and his extraordinary covetousness. FJAJ 17.56
2. But on the approach of pentecost, which is a festival of ours, so
called from the days of our forefathers, a great many ten thousands of
men got together; nor did they come only to celebrate the festival, but
out of their indignation at the madness of Sabinus, and at the injuries
he offered them
A great number there was of Galileans, and Idumeans, and
many men from Jericho, and others who had passed over the river Jordan,
and inhabited those parts
This whole multitude joined themselves to all
the rest, and were more zealous than the others in making an assault on
Sabinus, in order to be avenged on him; so they parted themselves into
three bands, and encamped themselves in the places following: - some of
them seized on the hippodrome and of the other two bands, one pitched themselves
from the northern part of the temple to the southern, on the east quarter;
but the third band held the western part of the city, where the king's
palace was
Their work tended entirely to besiege the Romans, and to enclose
them on all sides
Now Sabinus was afraid of these men's number, and of
their resolution, who had little regard to their lives, but were very desirous
not to be overcome, while they thought it a point of puissance to overcome
their enemies; so he sent immediately a letter to Varus, and, as he used
to do, was very pressing with him, and entreated him to come quickly to
his assistance, because the forces he had left were in imminent danger,
and would probably, in no long time, be seized upon, and cut to pieces;
while he did himself get up to the highest tower of the fortress Phasaelus,
which had been built in honor of Phasaelus, king Herod's brother, and called
so when the Parthians had brought him to his death. FJAJ 17.57
(14)
See Antiq. B. XIV. ch. 13. sect. 10; and Of the War; B. II. ch. 12. sect.
9.
So Sabinus gave thence a signal to the Romans to fall upon the Jews, although
he did not himself venture so much as to come down to his friends, and
thought he might expect that the others should expose themselves first
to die on account of his avarice
However, the Romans ventured to make
a sally out of the place, and a terrible battle ensued; wherein, though
it is true the Romans beat their adversaries, yet were not the Jews daunted
in their resolutions, even when they had the sight of that terrible slaughter
that was made of them; but they went round about, and got upon those cloisters
which encompassed the outer court of the temple, where a great fight was
still continued, and they cast stones at the Romans, partly with their
hands, and partly with slings, as being much used to those exercises
All
the archers also in array did the Romans a great deal of mischief, because
they used their hands dexterously from a place superior to the others,
and because the others were at an utter loss what to do; for when they
tried to shoot their arrows against the Jews upwards, these arrows could
not reach them, insomuch that the Jews were easily too hard for their enemies.
And this sort of fight lasted a great while, till at last the Romans, who
were greatly distressed by what was done, set fire to the cloisters so
privately, that those that were gotten upon them did not perceive it
This
fire (15)
These great devastations made about the temple here, and Of the War, B.
II. ch. 3. sect. 3, seem not to have been full re-edified in the days of
Nero; till whose time there were eighteen thousand workmen continually
employed in rebuilding and repairing that temple, as Josephus informs us,
Antiq. B. XX. ch. 9. sect. 7. See the note on that place.
being fed by a great deal of combustible matter, caught hold immediately
on the roof of the cloisters; so the wood, which was full of pitch and
wax, and whose gold was laid on it with wax, yielded to the flame presently,
and those vast works, which were of the highest value and esteem, were
destroyed utterly, while those that were on the roof unexpectedly perished
at the same time; for as the roof tumbled down, some of these men tumbled
down with it, and others of them were killed by their enemies who encompassed
them
There was a great number more, who, out of despair of saving their
lives, and out of astonishment at the misery that surrounded them, did
either cast themselves into the fire, or threw themselves upon their swords,
and so got out of their misery
But as to those that retired behind the
same way by which they ascended, and thereby escaped, they were all killed
by the Romans, as being unarmed men, and their courage failing them; their
wild fury being now not able to help them, because they were destitute
of armor, insomuch that of those that went up to the top of the roof, not
one escaped
The Romans also rushed through the fire, where it gave them
room so to do, and seized on that treasure where the sacred money was reposited;
a great part of which was stolen by the soldiers, and Sabinus got openly
four hundred talents. FJAJ 17.58
3. But this calamity of the Jews' friends, who fell in this battle,
grieved them, as did also this plundering of the money dedicated to God
in the temple
Accordingly, that body of them which continued best together,
and was the most warlike, encompassed the palace, and threatened to set
fire to it, and kill all that were in it
Yet still they commanded them
to go out presently, and promised, that if they would do so, they would
not hurt them, nor Sabinus neither; at which time the greatest part of
the king's troops deserted to them, while Rufus and Gratus, who had three
thousand of the most warlike of Herod's army with them, who were men of
active bodies, went over to the Romans
There was also a band of horsemen
under the command of Ruffis, which itself went over to the Romans also.
However, the Jews went on with the siege, and dug mines under the palace
walls, and besought those that were gone over to the other side not to
be their hinderance, now they had such a proper opportunity for the recovery
of their country's ancient liberty; and for Sabinus, truly he was desirous
of going away with his soldiers, but was not able to trust himself with
the enemy, on account of what mischief he had already done them; and he
took this great [pretended] lenity of theirs for an argument why he should
not comply with them; and so, because he expected that Varus was coming,
he still bore the siege. FJAJ 17.59
4. Now at this time there were ten thousand other disorders in Judea,
which were like tumults, because a great number put themselves into a warlike
posture, either out of hopes of gain to themselves, or out of enmity to
the Jews
In particular, two thousand of Herod's old soldiers, who had
been already disbanded, got together in Judea itself, and fought against
the king's troops, although Achiabus, Herod's first cousin, opposed them;
but as he was driven out of the plains into the mountainous parts by the
military skill of those men, he kept himself in the fastnesses that were
there, and saved what he could. FJAJ 17.60
5. There was also Judas, (16) Unless this Judas, the son of Ezekias, be the same with that Theudas, mentioned Acts 5:36, Josephus must have omitted him; for that other Thoualas, whom he afterward mentions, under Fadus the Roman governor, B. XX. ch. 5. sect. 1, is much too late to correspond to him that is mentioned in the Acts. The names Theudas, Thaddeus, and Judas differ but little. See Archbishop Usher's Annals at A.M. 4001. However, since Josephus does not pretend to reckon up the heads of all those ten thousand disorders in Judea, which he tells us were then abroad, see sect. 4 and 8, the Theudas of the Acts might be at the head of one of those seditions, though not particularly named by him. Thus he informs us here, sect. 6, and Of the War, B. II. ch. 4. Sect. 2, that certain of the seditious came and burnt the royal palace at Amsthus, or Betharamphta, upon the river Jordan. Perhaps their leader, who is not named by Josephus, might be this Theudas. the son of that Ezekias who had been head of the robbers; which Ezekias was a very strong man, and had with great dificulty been caught by Herod. This Judas, having gotten together a multitude of men of a profligate character about Sepphoris in Galilee, made an assault upon the palace [there,] and seized upon all the weapons that were laid up in it, and with them armed every one of those that were with him, and carried away what money was left there; and he became terrible to all men, by tearing and rending those that came near him; and all this in order to raise himself, and out of an ambitious desire of the royal dignity; and he hoped to obtain that as the reward not of his virtuous skill in war, but of his extravagance in doing injuries. FJAJ 17.61
6. There was also Simon, who had been a slave of Herod the king, but
in other respects a comely person, of a tall and robust body; he was one
that was much superior to others of his order, and had had great things
committed to his care
This man was elevated at the disorderly state of
things, and was so bold as to put a diadem on his head, while a certain
number of the people stood by him, and by them he was declared to be a
king, and thought himself more worthy of that dignity than any one else.
He burnt down the royal palace at Jericho, and plundered what was left
in it
He also set fire to many other of the king's houses in several places
of the country, and utterly destroyed them, and permitted those that were
with him to take what was left in them for a prey; and he would have done
greater things, unless care had been taken to repress him immediately;
for Gratus, when he had joined himself to some Roman soldiers, took the
forces he had with him, and met Simon, and after a great and a long fight,
no small part of those that came from Perea, who were a disordered body
of men, and fought rather in a bold than in a skillful manner, were destroyed;
and although Simon had saved himself by flying away through a certain valley,
yet Gratus overtook him, and cut off his head
The royal palace also at
Amathus, by the river Jordan, was burnt down by a party of men that were
got together, as were those belonging to Simon
And thus did a great and
wild fury spread itself over the nation, because they had no king to keep
the multitude in good order, and because those foreigners who came to reduce
the seditious to sobriety did, on the contrary, set them more in a flame,
because of the injuries they offered them, and the avaricious management
of their affairs. FJAJ 17.62
7. But because Athronges, a person neither eminent by the dignity of
his progenitors, nor for any great wealth he was possessed of, but one
that had in all respects been a shepherd only, and was not known by any
body; yet because he was a tall man, and excelled others in the strength
of his hands, he was so bold as to set up for king
This man thought it
so sweet a thing to do more than ordinary injuries to others, that although
he should be killed, he did not much care if he lost his life in so great
a design
He had also four brethren, who were tall men themselves, and
were believed to be superior to others in the strength of their hands,
and thereby were encouraged to aim at great things, and thought that strength
of theirs would support them in retaining the kingdom
Each of these ruled
over a band of men of their own; for those that got together to them were
very numerous
They were every one of them also commanders; but when they
came to fight, they were subordinate to him, and fought for him, while
he put a diadem about his head, and assembled a council to debate about
what things should be done, and all things were done according to his pleasure.
And this man retained his power a great while; he was also called king,
and had nothing to hinder him from doing what he pleased
He also, as well
as his brethren, slew a great many both of the Romans and of the king's
forces, an managed matters with the like hatred to each of them
The king's
forces they fell upon, because of the licentious conduct they had been
allowed under Herod's government; and they fell upon the Romans, because
of the injuries they had so lately received from them
But in process of
time they grew more cruel to all sorts of men, nor could any one escape
from one or other of these seditions, since they slew some out of the hopes
of gain, and others from a mere custom of slaying men
They once attacked
a company of Romans at Emmaus, who were bringing corn and weapons to the
army, and fell upon Arius, the centurion, who commanded the company, and
shot forty of the best of his foot soldiers; but the rest of them were
aftrighted at their slaughter, and left their dead behind them, but saved
themselves by the means of Gratus, who came with the king's troops that
were about him to their assistance
Now these four brethren continued the
war a long while by such sort of expeditions, and much grieved the Romans;
but did their own nation also a great deal of mischief
Yet were they afterwards
subdued; one of them in a fight with Gratus, another with Ptolemy; Archelaus
also took the eldest of them prisoner; while the last of them was so dejected
at the other's misfortune, and saw so plainly that he had no way now left
to save himself, his army being worn away with sickness and continual labors,
that he also delivered himself up to Archclaus, upon his promise and oath
to God [to preserve his life.] But these things came to pass a good while
afterward. FJAJ 17.63
8. And now Judea was full of robberies; and as the several companies
of the seditious lighted upon any one to head them, he was created a king
immediately, in order to do mischief to the public
They were in some small
measure indeed, and in small matters, hurtful to the Romans; but the murders
they committed upon their own people lasted a long while. FJAJ 17.64
9. As soon as Varus was once informed of the state of Judea by Sabinus's
writing to him, he was afraid for the legion he had left there; so he took
the two other legions, (for there were three legions in all belonging to
Syria,) and four troops of horsemen, with the several auxiliary forces
which either the kings or certain of the tetrarchs afforded him, and made
what haste he could to assist those that were then besieged in Judea
He
also gave order that all that were sent out for this expedition, should
make haste to Ptolemais
The citizens of Berytus also gave him fifteen
hundred auxiliaries as he passed through their city
Aretas also, the king
of Arabia Petrea, out of his hatred to Herod, and in order to purchase
the favor of the Romans, sent him no small assistance, besides their footmen
and horsemen; and when he had now collected all his forces together, he
committed part of them to his son, and to a friend of his, and sent them
upon an expedition into Galilee, which lies in the neighborhood of Ptolemais;
who made an attack upon the enemy, and put them to flight, and took Sepphoris,
and made its inhabitants slaves, and burnt the city
But Varus himself
pursued his march for Samaria with his whole army; yet did not he meddle
with the city of that name, because it had not at all joined with the seditious;
but pitched his camp at a certain village that belonged to Ptolemy, whose
name was Arus, which the Arabians burnt, out of their hatred to Herod,
and out of the enmity they bore to his friends; whence they marched to
another village, whose name was Sampho, which the Arabians plundered and
burnt, although it was a fortified and a strong place; and all along this
march nothing escaped them, but all places were full of fire and of slaughter.
Emmaus was also burnt by Varus's order, after its inhabitants had deserted
it, that he might avenge those that had there been destroyed
From thence
he now marched to Jerusalem; whereupon those Jews whose camp lay there,
and who had besieged the Roman legion, not bearing the coming of this army,
left the siege imperfect: but as to the Jerusalem Jews, when Varus reproached
them bitterly for what had been done, they cleared themselves of the accusation,
and alleged that the conflux of the people was occasioned by the feast;
that the war was not made with their approbation, but by the rashness of
the strangers, while they were on the side of the Romans, and besieged
together with them, rather than having any inclination to besiege them.
There also came beforehand to meet Varus, Joseph, the cousin-german of
king Herod, as also Gratus and Rufus, who brought their soldiers along
with them, together with those Romans who had been besieged; but Sabinus
did not come into Varus's presence, but stole out of the city privately,
and went to the sea-side. FJAJ 17.65
10. Upon this, Varus sent a part of his army into the country, to seek
out those that had been the authors of the revolt; and when they were discovered,
he punished some of them that were most guilty, and some he dismissed:
now the number of those that were crucified on this account were two thousand.
After which he disbanded his army, which he found no way useful to him
in the affairs he came about; for they behaved themselves very disorderly,
and disobeyed his orders, and what Varus desired them to do, and this out
of regard to that gain which they made by the mischief they did
As for
himself, when he was informed that ten thousand Jews had gotten together,
he made haste to catch them; but they did not proceed so far as to fight
him, but, by the advice of Achiabus, they came together, and delivered
themselves up to him: hereupon Varus forgave the crime of revolting to
the multitude, but sent their several commanders to Caesar, many of whom
Caesar dismissed; but for the several relations of Herod who had been among
these men in this war, they were the only persons whom he punished, who,
without the least regard to justice, fought against their own kindred. FJAJ 17.66