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and having regulated affairs for the space of two days, ravaged the country to the borders of the toparchy of Thamna, and received the submission of Lydda and Jamnia. He likewise took the towns of Bethabri and Caphartoba, situated in the centre of Idumea; and, in this enterprize, killed more than ten thousand men, made slaves of another thousand, and compelled the rest to seek their safety in flight. At length, having determined to attack Jerusalem on every side, Vespasian erected a fort at Jericho, and another at Adida, in each of which he placed garrisons consisting of Romans and auxiliary forces. This being done, he dispatched Lucius Annius to Gerasa with a party of cavalry and infantry; and, on the first attack, that place was reduced by A thousand young men who were intercepted in their flight were destroyed by the sword: great numbers of families were made prisoners, and the plunder was given to the soldiers; after which the place was burnt, and the commander proceeded in his depredations. Persons of property fled; but many were killed in the attempt to escape. The ravage was universal: those on the mountains and in the valleys felt equally the effects of the war. With regard to those who were in Jerusalem, it was impossible that they should quit it; for they who were friends to the Romans were strictly watched by the zealots; nor did the zealots themselves dare to venture out, lest they should fall into the hands of the enemy, who surrounded the town on every side.

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The death of Nero, and the revolutions which rapidly succeeded it, occasioned a mighty change in the state of public affairs, and endangered the very existence of the Roman empire. The Jewish war was therefore now esteemed an object of but trifling consideration, and the several factions which divided the Hebrew nation were left for some time at liberty, to tyrannize over the people, and to persecute each other with relentless fury.

A fresh war now broke forth at Jerusalem. At this time there was a man born at Gerasa, who was named Simon, who had taken possession of the city. This man was in the prime of his life, less artful and contriving than John of Gischala; but he had the advantage of him in youth, strength, and intrepidity. Now Simon was deemed so dangerous a person, that the high-priest Ananus routed him from his government in the toparchy of Acrabetana, and compelled him to take refuge among the Sicarii at Massada. These abandoned people were at first so suspicious of him, that they, for a time, compelled him to remain with the women he had brought with him on the first floor of the fortress, while the rest of the people remained above. But when they caine to be better acquainted with him, and found how admirably he was adapted for their purposes, they changed their opinion of him, and deputed him to command the parties they sent out to rifle, and join the other troops in the plunder and depopulation of the district of Massada. In the mean time, Simon endeavoured to inspire them with more ambitious views (for his own thoughts were bent on obtaining the sovereign authority); but this was in vain till he received advice of the death of Ananus. This obstacle to the dignity, after which he aspired, being removed, he repaired to the woods, where be issued proclamations, offering bounties to all free-meu, and freedom to all slaves, who would enlist under his banners. Great numbers of abandoned and desperate people were induced to join him on this occasion; and, by the assistance of these miscreants, he assailed and pillaged the villages on the hills, the number of his people daily increasing, till at length he descended into the lower countries, and spread terror through all the cities within the limits of his expedition. His credit for courage and success was such, that many persons of power and rank now came over to his interest, and the people of distinction in general made application to him, and paid him the reverence and respect due to sovereign princes; so that he no longer appeared to be a commander

were applauding themselves for their late advantage, which they vainly interpreted as a good omen of their future success. His legion which had come by way of Jericho being arrived, he ordered it to encamp on the mount of Olives, which was parted from the town on the east by the brook Cedron; and where they were on a sudden so furiously assaulted, that they were in danger of being cut in pieces, had not Titus arrived for their rescue.

It was now that the three factions, seeing themselves besieged by so powerful an army under so brave a general, began to think of laying aside all private disputes, and uniting to oppose the enemy. This union, however, proved but short-lived; for, on the eve of the passover, when Eleazar had opened the avenues of his court to admit the great concourse who came thither to sacrifice, John found means to introduce some of his men with swords concealed under their cloaks, who immediately drew their weapons, fell upon the party of Eleazar and the rest of the people, filled the court of the priests with blood and dead bodies, and thus impiously took possession of the place. By this cruel and perfidious stratagem, the three factions were reduced to two, Eleazar's men being all either cut off, or, after their flight, returned with their chief, and had submitted themselves to John, who had now no enemy but Simon within the walls. From that time, this last leader renewed his hostilities against John with greater vigour. The whole city became one field of battle, from which they sallied forth against the enemy as occasion required, and then returned to as rancorous hostilities against each other as before. The Romans, in the mean time, were drawing nearer the walls, having levelled, with great labour, all the surrounding space for many furlongs, pulling down the houses and hedges, cutting down the trees, and even cleaving the rocks, a work which, however arduous, they accomplished in four days. We shall here insert a brief description of Jerusalem as given by Josephus.

Three celebrated walls surrounded the city of Jerusalem on every side, except on that part which was deemed inaccessible on account of the valley beneath; and, in this place, there was only one wall. This city was built on two hills, the one situated opposite to the other; and a deep valley laid between them, the whole of which was likewise built on. In regard to the strength of its situation, it originally received the name of the Fortress, or Castle, from king David, the father of Solomon, who erected it; but the Upper Market was the name by which it was distinguished in more

modern times.

The situation of the lower town was on the other hill, which was called by the name of Acra, round about which there was a declivity remarkably steep. Opposite to this there was formerly another hill not so high as the Acra, from which it was separated by an extensive valley; but, during the power of the Asmonean princes, they caused this valley to be filled up, and, detaching a part of the hill Acra, they united the town with the temple, in consequence of which it commanded and overlooked the adjacent parts.

Tyropæon was the name given to the above-mentioned valley, which divided the upper from the lower town: this valley extended even to the fountain of Siloe, the waters of which were equally distinguished by their great abundance and the excellence of their flavour.

Without the city there were two other towns which were rendered almost inaccessible by the crags and precipices which surrounded them on every side.

The most antient of the three walls was remarkable for its extraordinary strength, being erected on a hanging rock, and protected by the depth of the valley beneath it. Exclusive of the advantages of its natural situation, it was repeatedly strengthened at an immense expence, and by all the arts of industry, by David, Solomon, and a number

of other princes. Its commencement on one side was at the tower named Hippocos; and it continued to another place named the Galleries, stretching away by the Townhouse to the western porch of the temple. On the other side, reckoning from the same spot, it extended by Bethso down to the Essene-gate; and thence, bending southwards by the fountain of Siloe, at which place it turned eastward towards the pool of Solomon, and was from thence continued to the east porch of the temple by the way of Ophilas.

At the gate called Genatha, which belonged to the former wall, the second wall commenced, and was carried on by the north side of the city to the fort Antonia.

The beginning of the third wall being at the tower Hippocos, it extended northward to that named Psephinos, opposite to the sepulchre of Helena, mother of king Izates, and queen of the Adiabenians; and hence it continued by the Royal Caves, from the tower at the corner, towards the place which is denominated the Fuller's monument ; after which it met the old wall in the valley of Cedron. This was the extent of the third wall, which was built by Agrippa as a protection to that part of the city which he had erected, which, before this wall was built, had been totally undefended. About this period, the city had so far increased in the number of its inhabitants, that it was unable to contain them; in consequence of which, a sort of suburbs were by degrees erected; and the buildings increased to a very great degree on the north side of the temple next the hill.

Opposite to the fort Antonia, there was a fourth mountain; but between this mountain and the fort, ditches of an amazing depth had been cut, so that it was impossible to come at the foundation of the fort so as to undermine it; and, exclusive of this advantage, the sinking of the ditches apparently added to the height of the tower. This fourth mountain received the name of Bezeth on the New Town, being, in fact, nothing more than an addition to the former buildings. No sooner was this place well peopled, than the inhabitants requested that it might be fortified whereupon Agrippa, the father of king Agrippa, adjusted his plan, and laid the foundation of the wall about it but afterwards, on more mature deliberation, he thought that Claudius Cæsar might possibly be offended at his undertaking a work of such importance and magnificence; wherefore Agrippa dropped the farther prosecution of his plan after he had laid the foundations: but if he had proceeded to have completed it, the capture of Jerusalem would have been rendered totally impracticable.

Titus now took a survey of the walls, to see where they might be approached with the greatest probability of success. He found that neither horse nor foot could make any penetration by way of the vallies; and he found that it would be equally fruitless to attempt an attack by battery on the other side, owing to the strength of the wall: wherefore, after some deliberation, he concluded that the part of the line towards the sepulchre of John, the high-priest, would be best exposed to an attack, for the following reasons: the first wall was lower in that place than any other, and detached from the second wall; the fortifying of it had been also neglected, the inhabitants of the new city not being yet sufficiently numerous to have attended to it; wherefore, it would not be a difficult enterprize to pass from this place to the third wall, and thence to the upper town; and, through these means, possessing themselves of Antonia, even to the temple.

While Titus was debating these things in his mind, aud Josephus was executing all his oratory to prevail on the Jews to solicit a peace, an arrow was shot from a wall, which wounded Nicanor (an intimate friend of Titus) in the left shoulder. This instance of the ingratitude of these people towards their friends, who would have advised them to peaceable measures, incensed Titus to such a degree, that he instantly

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resolved to make a formal attack on the town, and reduce it by force. Hereupon he ordered his soldiers to plunder the suburbs without loss of time, and to use the rubbish and ruins of what they should destroy for platforms and other works. His army he separated into three divisions, assigning to each its proper duty. On the mounts in the midst of the main body, he stationed his archers and slingers, who were provided with engines to throw stones, and other missive annoyances, which answered the double purpose of keeping the enemy engaged on the walls, and of repelling their attacks. No time was lost in felling the trees, and laying the suburbs bare; and the fortifica tions were made good with the timber thus obtained. In fact, on the part of the Romans, every hand was engaged, nor did the Jews lose their time in idleness.

The inhabitants, who had been heretofore so much exposed to the calamities of robbery and murder, finding the insurgents so earnestly engaged in defending themselves, began to conceive a hope that they should at length be at ease; flattering themselves, that if the Romans should be successful, they would enable them to do themselves justice by revenging their own quarrel. The forces under the command of John opposed the besiegers vigorously; while himself, in fear of Simon, dreaded to quit the temple. In the mean time, Simon, being stationed near the temple, was constantly in action. The shot and engines which he had heretofore taken from Cestius, and out of the fort Antonia, he placed along the wall; but his troops, being unskilled in the use and management of these engines, made very little advantage of them; and this little arose from the knowledge they occasionally acquired from deserters. However, the Jews used their engines to assail the enemy from the ramparts with arrows andstones; and occasionally they sallied forth aud fought hand and hand with the Romans, who, on the contrary, defended their agents by jabions and hurdles. Each of the Roman legions, was provided with extraordinary machines for repelling an attack of the enemy, particularly the tenth legion, which could throw larger stones, and farther than any other. Each stone weighed a talent, and not only did execution on the spot, but even to the top of the ramparts. They would destroy at a furlong's distance, and a whole file fell before them wherever they came. The Jews had three opportunities of being informed of the approach of these stones: the first by their colour, which, being white, they were seen at a distance; the second by the noise they made in passing through the air; and the third by an intimation that was constantly given by persons that were appointed to watch them: for a number of people being stationed on the towers to observe when the engines were played, whenever they observed this operation, they constantly cried out, "A stone is coming," by which every man had an opportunity of retreating, and securing himself from the impending danger. This becoming known to the Romans, they coloured the stones, so that they might not be seen in their passage; and, by this device, a number of Jews were frequently killed at a stroke. All this, however, did not deter the Jews from making an opposition to the Romans in the erecting of their fortifications; for they still endeavoured equally, by the exertions of courage and policy, to do every thing within their power to retard their proceedings.

The works of the Romans were no sooner completed; than they took the distance between the mount and wall by a line and plummet; for this could not be effected in any other manner, owing to the shot and darts which were thrown down in abundance. When the place was found to be properly adapted for the battering rams, Titus directed that they might play with the greater convenience. In obedience to these orders, three batteries began to play at the same time on three different parts of the wall. The noise occasioned by these engines was heard in all parts of the city, and appeared not to be less dreaded eyen by the faction than it was by the citizens

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At length, the insurgents, though divided among themselves, finding that their danger was general, thought it might not be improper to unite in the defence of each other. Their argument was, that while thus disputing among themselves, they were only advancing the interest of the enemy; and that if they could not agree for a continuance, it would at least be proper for the present to make a joint opposition to the Romans. Hereupon Simon dispatched a herald to inform those who had inclosed themselves within the temple, that as many as were disposed to quit it and approach to the wall, had full permission so to do. The purport of this embassy did not strike John as a circumstance that could be relied on; but he permitted his people to act as their own inclinations might direct them.

Hereupon the different factions united, and, forgetting their old animosities, marched immediately in a body to the walls, where they had no sooner taken their stations, than they co-operated with their fires and other torches on the Roman engines, plying darts and other weapons, without intermission, on those who had the conducting of them. During the violence of this determined rage, great numbers of the Jews adventurously descended from the walls on the engines, the covers of which they tore off, and attacked the guards who were appointed to their defence. At this juncture, Titus, who was never deficient in aiding his friends at a time of necessity, appointed a party of horse and archers to guard the machines, and find employment for the Jews on the walls, while the engineers should carry on their operations. This attack, however, had, for the present, very little effect: indeed the battering-ram of the fifth legion shook the corner of a tower, which, being placed higher than the wall, the tower fell to the ground without bringing any of the wall with it.

Some time having passed since the Jews had made any sally, the Romans thought they were either tired or disheartened, and thereupon wandered about carelessly as in a state of security. This inattention on the part of the Romans being noticed by the Jews who were in the town, they rushed violently from a sally-port belonging to the tower Hippocos, set fire to the Roman works, and, during the heat of ths action, drove the Romans back to their own camp. An alarm being immediately spread through the whole army, the Romans assembled from all parts to the assistance of their associates; so that the courage of the Jews was unequally matched with the admirable discipline of the Romans. The former, indeed, were for awhile vigorous, making an attack on every combined company they found: but the greatest struggle was near the engines, one party seeking to burn, and the other to preserve them. The outcries of the contending parties rent the air, and many a gallant man fell a sacrifice in the encounter. The Jews behaved with the most determined courage and intrepidity. By this time, the fire had taken hold of the machines; and there is not a doubt but that they would all have been destroyed, with all those who attended on them, but for the critical arrival of a select party of Alexandrian troops, whose behaviour on the occasion cannot be sufficiently applauded, since it contributed in a great degree to the honour of the day. The proceedings of the Jews were impeded by these troops, till the arrival of Titus with a body of cavalry. He killed twelve men with his own hands, and drove the remainder of the party into the city; and, by this enterprize, the engines were saved from destruction.

Nothing had hitherto been found so effectual for the harassing of the Jews as the turrets which the Romans had erected.. On these they placed archers and slingers, and planted various sorts of machines; while the Jews could neither carry their platforms to a level with these towers, nor pull them down by reason of their solid construction, nor burn them because they were plated with iron. All, therefore, that remained in the power of the Jews, was to keep at such a distance as not to be wounded by the

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