Their other customs are impious and abominable, and owe
their prevalence to their depravity.
their prevalence to their depravity.
Tacitus
Henderson, _Civil War_, &c.
, p.
291).
[421] Great St. Bernard and Mt. Genèvre.
[422] Little St. Bernard.
[423] See iii. 5.
[424] i. e. not raised in any one locality.
[425] Cp. ii. 22.
[426] The Triboci were in Lower Alsace; the Vangiones north of
them in the district of Worms; the Caeracates probably to the
north again, in the district between Mainz and the Nahe
(Nava).
[427] Bingen.
[428] Chap. 62.
[429] Round Metz.
[430] See chap. 59.
[431] The other detachments of legions IV and XXII.
[432] Riol.
[433] Hordeonius Flaccus, Vocula, Herennius, and Numisius.
[434] Legions I and XVI.
[435] They had, as a matter of fact, changed their allegiance
no less than six times since the outbreak of the civil war.
[436] Ariovistus, king of the Suebi, summoned to aid one
Gallic confederacy against another, formed the ambition of
conquering Gaul, but was defeated by Julius Caesar near
Besançon (Vesontio) in 58 B. C.
[437] See chap. 68.
[438] Tutor erred. Cerialis had also the Twenty-first from
Vindonissa, Felix's auxiliary cohorts, and the troops he had
found at Mainz (see chaps. 70 and 71).
[439] He suppresses his own defeat at Bingen (chap. 70).
[440] The town lay on the right bank of the Moselle; the Roman
camp on the left bank between the river and the hills. There
was only one bridge.
[441] The Sixteenth had its permanent camp at Novaesium, the
First at Bonn. Both surrendered at Novaesium (cp. chap. 59).
[442] See chaps. 59 and 70.
[443] The Frisii occupied part of Friesland; the Chauci lay
east of them, between the Ems and Weser.
[444] Zülpich.
[445] A small flotilla on guard in the Channel. It probably
now transported the Fourteenth and landed them at Boulogne.
[446] Cp. chap. 15.
[447] The narrative is resumed from this point in v. 14.
EVENTS IN ROME AND IN THE EAST
It was about this time that Mucianus gave orders for the murder of 80
Vitellius' son,[448] on the plea that dissension would continue until
all the seeds of war were stamped out. He also refused to allow
Antonius Primus to go out on Domitian's staff, being alarmed at his
popularity among the troops and at the man's own vanity, which would
brook no equal, much less a superior. Antonius accordingly went to
join Vespasian, whose reception, though not hostile, proved a
disappointment. The emperor was drawn two ways. On the one side were
Antonius' services: it was undeniable that his generalship had ended
the war. In the other scale were Mucianus' letters. Besides which,
every one else seemed ready to rake up the scandals of his past life
and inveigh against his vanity and bad temper. Antonius himself did
his best to provoke hostility by expatiating to excess on his
services, decrying the other generals as incompetent cowards, and
stigmatizing Caecina as a prisoner who had surrendered. Thus without
any open breach of friendship he gradually declined lower and lower in
the emperor's favour.
During the months which Vespasian spent at Alexandria waiting for 81
the regular season of the summer winds[449] to ensure a safe voyage,
there occurred many miraculous events manifesting the goodwill of
Heaven and the special favour of Providence towards him. At Alexandria
a poor workman who was well known to have a disease of the eye, acting
on the advice of Serapis, whom this superstitious people worship as
their chief god, fell at Vespasian's feet demanding with sobs a cure
for his blindness, and imploring that the emperor would deign to
moisten his eyes and eyeballs with the spittle from his mouth. Another
man with a maimed hand, also inspired by Serapis, besought Vespasian
to imprint his footmark on it. At first Vespasian laughed at them and
refused. But they insisted. Half fearing to be thought a fool, half
stirred to hopes by their petition and by the flattery of his
courtiers, he eventually told the doctors to form an opinion whether
such cases of blindness and deformity could be remedied by human aid.
The doctors talked round the question, saying that in the one case the
power of sight was not extinct and would return, if certain
impediments were removed; in the other case the limbs were distorted
and could be set right again by the application of an effective
remedy: this might be the will of Heaven and the emperor had perhaps
been chosen as the divine instrument. They added that he would gain
all the credit, if the cure were successful, while, if it failed, the
ridicule would fall on the unfortunate patients. This convinced
Vespasian that there were no limits to his destiny: nothing now seemed
incredible. To the great excitement of the bystanders, he stepped
forward with a smile on his face and did as the men desired him.
Immediately the hand recovered its functions and daylight shone once
more in the blind man's eyes. Those who were present still attest both
miracles to-day,[450] when there is nothing to gain by lying.
This occurrence deepened Vespasian's desire to visit the 82
holy-place and consult Serapis about the fortunes of the empire. He
gave orders that no one else was to be allowed in the temple, and then
went in. While absorbed in his devotions, he suddenly saw behind him
an Egyptian noble, named Basilides, whom he knew to be lying ill
several days' journey from Alexandria. He inquired of the priests
whether Basilides had entered the temple that day. He inquired of
every one he met whether he had been seen in the city. Eventually he
sent some horsemen, who discovered that at the time Basilides was
eighty miles away. Vespasian therefore took what he had seen for a
divine apparition, and guessed the meaning of the oracle from the name
'Basilides'. [451]
The origins of the god Serapis are not given in any Roman 83
authorities. The high-priests of Egypt give the following account:
King Ptolemy, who was the first of the Macedonians to put the power of
Egypt on a firm footing,[452] was engaged in building walls and
temples, and instituting religious cults for his newly founded city of
Alexandria, when there appeared to him in his sleep a young man of
striking beauty and supernatural stature, who warned him to send his
most faithful friends to Pontus to fetch his image. After adding that
this would bring luck to the kingdom, and that its resting-place would
grow great and famous, he appeared to be taken up into heaven in a
sheet of flame. Impressed by this miraculous prophecy, Ptolemy
revealed his vision to the priests of Egypt, who are used to
interpreting such things. As they had but little knowledge of Pontus
or of foreign cults, he consulted an Athenian named Timotheus, a
member of the Eumolpid clan,[453] whom he had brought over from
Eleusis to be overseer of religious ceremonies, and asked him what
worship and what god could possibly be meant. Timotheus found some
people who had travelled in Pontus and learnt from them, that near a
town called Sinope there was a temple, which had long been famous in
the neighbourhood as the seat of Jupiter-Pluto,[454] and near it there
also stood a female figure, which was commonly called Proserpine.
Ptolemy was like most despots, easily terrified at first, but liable,
when his panic was over, to think more of his pleasures than of his
religious duties. The incident was gradually forgotten, and other
thoughts occupied his mind until the vision was repeated in a more
terrible and impressive form than before, and he was threatened with
death and the destruction of his kingdom if he failed to fulfil his
instructions. He at once gave orders that representatives should be
sent with presents to King Scydrothemis, who was then reigning at
Sinope, and on their departure he instructed them to consult the
oracle of Apollo at Delphi. They made a successful voyage and received
a clear answer from the oracle: they were to go and bring back the
image of Apollo's father but leave his sister's behind.
On their arrival at Sinope they laid their presents, their 84
petition, and their king's instructions before Scydrothemis. He was in
some perplexity. He was afraid of the god and yet alarmed by the
threats of his subjects, who opposed the project: then, again, he
often felt tempted by the envoys' presents and promises. Three years
passed. Ptolemy's zeal never abated for a moment. He persisted in his
petition, and kept sending more and more distinguished envoys, more
ships, more gold. Then a threatening vision appeared to Scydrothemis,
bidding him no longer thwart the god's design. When he still
hesitated, he was beset by every kind of disease and disaster: the
gods were plainly angry and their hand was heavier upon him every day.
He summoned an assembly and laid before it the divine commands, his
own and Ptolemy's visions, and the troubles with which they were
visited. The king found the people unfavourable. They were jealous of
Egypt and fearful of their own future. So they surged angrily round
the temple. The story now grows stranger still. The god himself, it
says, embarked unaided on one of the ships that lay beached on the
shore, and by a miracle accomplished the long sea-journey and landed
at Alexandria within three days. A temple worthy of so important a
city was then built in the quarter called Rhacotis, on the site of an
ancient temple of Serapis and Isis. [455] This is the most widely
accepted account of the god's origin and arrival. Some people, I am
well aware, maintain that the god was brought from the Syrian town of
Seleucia during the reign of Ptolemy, the third of that name. [456]
Others, again, say it was this same Ptolemy, but make the place of
origin the famous town of Memphis,[457] once the bulwark of ancient
Egypt. Many take the god for Aesculapius, because he cures disease:
others for Osiris, the oldest of the local gods; some, again, for
Jupiter, as being the sovereign lord of the world. But the majority of
people, either judging by what are clearly attributes of the god or by
an ingenious process of conjecture, identify him with Pluto.
Domitian and Mucianus were now on their way to the Alps. [458] 85
Before reaching the mountains they received the good news of the
victory over the Treviri, the truth of which was fully attested by the
presence of their leader Valentinus. His courage was in no way crushed
and his face still bore witness to the proud spirit he had shown. He
was allowed a hearing, merely to see what he was made of, and
condemned to death. At his execution some one cast it in his teeth
that his country was conquered, to which he replied, 'Then I am
reconciled to death. '
Mucianus now gave utterance to an idea which he had long cherished,
though he pretended it was a sudden inspiration. This was that, since
by Heaven's grace the forces of the enemy had been broken, it would
ill befit Domitian, now that the war was practically over, to stand
in the way of the other generals to whom the credit belonged. Were the
fortunes of the empire or the safety of Gaul at stake, it would be
right that a Caesar should take the field; the Canninefates and Batavi
might be left to minor generals. So Domitian was to stay at Lugdunum
and there show them the power and majesty of the throne at close
quarters. By abstaining from trifling risks he would be ready to cope
with any greater crisis.
The ruse was detected, but it could not be unmasked. That was part 86
of the courtier's policy. [459] Thus they proceeded to Lugdunum. From
there Domitian is supposed to have sent messengers to Cerialis to test
his loyalty, and to ask whether the general would transfer his army
and his allegiance to him, should he present himself in person.
Whether Domitian's idea was to plan war against his father or to
acquire support against his brother, cannot be decided, for Cerialis
parried his proposal with a salutary snub and treated it as a boy's
day-dream. Realizing that older men despised his youth, Domitian gave
up even those functions of government which he had hitherto performed.
Aping bashfulness and simple tastes, he hid his feelings under a cloak
of impenetrable reserve, professing literary tastes and a passion for
poetry. Thus he concealed his real self and withdrew from all rivalry
with his brother, whose gentler and altogether different nature he
perversely misconstrued.
FOOTNOTES:
[448] Cp. ii. 59.
[449] During June and July before the Etesian winds (cp. ii. 98)
began to blow from the north-west.
[450] Circa A. D. 108.
[451] Meaning 'king's son', and therefore portending sovereignty.
[452] i. e. Ptolemy Soter, who founded the dynasty of the
Lagidae, and reigned 306-283 B. C.
[453] They inherited the priesthood of Demeter at Eleusis and
supplied the hierophants who conducted the mysteries.
[454] i. e. the sovereign god of the underworld.
[455] It is evident from these words that the worship of
Serapis was ancient in Egypt. It seems to be suggested that
the arrival of this statue from Pontus did not originate but
invigorated the cult of Serapis. Pluto, Dis, Serapis, are all
names for a god of the underworld. Jupiter seems added vaguely
to give more power to the title. We cannot expect accurate
theology from an amateur antiquarian.
[456] Ptolemy Euergetes, 247-222 B. C.
[457] According to Eustathius there was a Mount Sinopium near
Memphis. This suggests an origin for the title Sinopitis,
applied to Serapis, and a cause for the invention of the
romantic story about Sinope in Pontus.
[458] Cp. chap. 68.
[459] i. e. Mucianus was too cunning to give Domitian any
excuse for declaring his suspicions.
BOOK V
THE CONQUEST OF JUDAEA
Early in this same year[460] Titus Caesar had been entrusted by his 1
father with the task of completing the reduction of Judaea. [461] While
he and his father were both still private citizens, Titus had
distinguished himself as a soldier, and his reputation for efficiency
was steadily increasing, while the provinces and armies vied with one
another in their enthusiasm for him. Wishing to seem independent of
his good fortune, he always showed dignity and energy in the field.
His affability called forth devotion. He constantly helped in the
trenches and could mingle with his soldiers on the march without
compromising his dignity as general. Three legions awaited him in
Judaea, the Fifth, Tenth, and Fifteenth, all veterans from his
father's army. These were reinforced by the Twelfth from Syria and by
detachments of the Twenty-second and the Third,[462] brought over from
Alexandria. This force was accompanied by twenty auxiliary cohorts and
eight regiments of auxiliary cavalry besides the Kings Agrippa and
Sohaemus, King Antiochus' irregulars,[463] a strong force of Arabs,
who had a neighbourly hatred for the Jews, and a crowd of persons who
had come from Rome and the rest of Italy, each tempted by the hope of
securing the first place in the prince's still unoccupied affections.
With this force Titus entered the enemy's country at the head of his
column, sending out scouts in all directions, and holding himself
ready to fight. He pitched his camp not far from Jerusalem.
Since I am coming now to describe the last days of this famous 2
city, it may not seem out of place to recount here its early history.
It is said that the Jews are refugees from Crete,[464] who settled on
the confines of Libya at the time when Saturn was forcibly deposed by
Jupiter. The evidence for this is sought in the name. Ida is a famous
mountain in Crete inhabited by the Idaei,[465] whose name became
lengthened into the foreign form Judaei. Others say that in the reign
of Isis the superfluous population of Egypt, under the leadership of
Hierosolymus and Juda, discharged itself upon the neighbouring
districts, while there are many who think the Jews an Ethiopian stock,
driven to migrate by their fear and dislike of King Cepheus. [466]
Another tradition makes them Assyrian refugees,[467] who, lacking
lands of their own, occupied a district of Egypt, and later took to
building cities of their own and tilling Hebrew territory and the
frontier-land of Syria. Yet another version assigns to the Jews an
illustrious origin as the descendants of the Solymi--a tribe famous in
Homer[468]--who founded the city and called it Hiero_solyma_ after
their own name. [469]
Most authorities agree that a foul and disfiguring disease once 3
broke out in Egypt, and that King Bocchoris,[470] on approaching the
oracle of Ammon and inquiring for a remedy, was told to purge his
kingdom of the plague and to transport all who suffered from it into
some other country, for they had earned the disfavour of Heaven. A
motley crowd was thus collected and abandoned in the desert. While all
the other outcasts lay idly lamenting, one of them, named Moses,
advised them not to look for help to gods or men, since both had
deserted them, but to trust rather in themselves and accept as divine
the guidance of the first being by whose aid they should get out of
their present plight. They agreed, and set out blindly to march
wherever chance might lead them. Their worst distress came from lack
of water. When they were already at death's door and lying prostrate
all over the plain, it so happened that a drove of wild asses moved
away from their pasture to a rock densely covered with trees. Guessing
the truth from the grassy nature of the ground, Moses followed and
disclosed an ample flow of water. [471] This saved them. Continuing
their march for six successive days, on the seventh they routed the
natives and gained possession of the country. There they consecrated
their city and their temple.
To ensure his future hold over the people, Moses introduced a new 4
cult, which was the opposite of all other religions. All that we hold
sacred they held profane, and allowed practices which we abominate.
They dedicated in a shrine an image of the animal[472] whose guidance
had put an end to their wandering and thirst. They killed a ram,
apparently as an insult to Ammon, and also sacrificed a bull, because
the Egyptians worship the bull Apis. [473] Pigs are subject to leprosy;
so they abstain from pork in memory of their misfortune and the foul
plague with which they were once infected. Their frequent fasts[474]
bear witness to the long famine they once endured, and, in token of
the corn they carried off, Jewish bread is to this day made without
leaven. They are said to have devoted the seventh day to rest, because
that day brought an end to their troubles. [475] Later, finding
idleness alluring, they gave up the seventh year as well to
sloth. [476] Others maintain that they do this in honour of
Saturn;[477] either because their religious principles are derived
from the Idaei, who are supposed to have been driven out with Saturn
and become the ancestors of the Jewish people; or else because, of the
seven constellations which govern the lives of men, the star of Saturn
moves in the topmost orbit and exercises peculiar influence, and also
because most of the heavenly bodies move round[478] their courses in
multiples of seven.
Whatever their origin, these rites are sanctioned by their 5
antiquity.
Their other customs are impious and abominable, and owe
their prevalence to their depravity. For all the most worthless
rascals, renouncing their national cults, were always sending money to
swell the sum of offerings and tribute. [479] This is one cause of
Jewish prosperity. Another is that they are obstinately loyal to each
other, and always ready to show compassion, whereas they feel nothing
but hatred and enmity for the rest of the world. [480] They eat and
sleep separately. Though immoderate in sexual indulgence, they refrain
from all intercourse with foreign women: among themselves anything is
allowed. [481] They have introduced circumcision to distinguish
themselves from other people. Those who are converted to their customs
adopt the same practice, and the first lessons they learn are to
despise the gods,[482] to renounce their country, and to think nothing
of their parents, children, and brethren. However, they take steps to
increase their numbers. They count it a crime to kill any of their
later-born children,[483] and they believe that the souls of those who
die in battle or under persecution are immortal. [484] Thus they think
much of having children and nothing of facing death. They prefer to
bury and not burn their dead. [485] In this, as in their burial rites,
and in their belief in an underworld, they conform to Egyptian custom.
Their ideas of heaven are quite different. The Egyptians worship most
of their gods as animals, or in shapes half animal and half human. The
Jews acknowledge one god only, of whom they have a purely spiritual
conception. They think it impious to make images of gods in human
shape out of perishable materials. Their god is almighty and
inimitable, without beginning and without end. They therefore set up
no statues in their temples, nor even in their cities, refusing this
homage both to their own kings and to the Roman emperors. However, the
fact that their priests intoned to the flute and cymbals and wore
wreaths of ivy, and that a golden vine was found in their temple[486]
has led some people to think that they worship Bacchus,[487] who has
so enthralled the East. But their cult would be most inappropriate.
Bacchus instituted gay and cheerful rites, but the Jewish ritual is
preposterous and morbid.
The country of the Jews is bounded by Arabia on the east, by Egypt 6
on the south, and on the west by Phoenicia and the sea. On the Syrian
frontier they have a distant view towards the north. [488] Physically
they are healthy and hardy. Rain is rare; the soil infertile; its
products are of the same kind as ours with the addition of balsam and
palms. The palm is a tall and beautiful tree, the balsam a mere shrub.
When its branches are swollen with sap they open them with a sharp
piece of stone or crockery, for the sap-vessels shrink up at the touch
of iron. The sap is used in medicine. Lebanon, their chief mountain,
stands always deep in its eternal snow, a strange phenomenon in such a
burning climate. Here, too, the river Jordan has its source[489] and
comes pouring down, to find a home in the sea. It flows undiminished
through first one lake, then another, and loses itself in a
third. [490] This last is a lake of immense size, like a sea, though
its water has a foul taste and a most unhealthy smell, which poisons
the surrounding inhabitants. No wind can stir waves in it: no fish or
sea-birds can live there. The sluggish water supports whatever is
thrown on to it, as if its surface were solid, while those who cannot
swim float on it as easily as those who can. Every year at the same
time the lake yields asphalt. As with other arts, it is experience
which shows how to collect it. It is a black liquid which, when
congealed with a sprinkling of vinegar, floats on the surface of the
water. The men who collect it take it in this state into their hands
and haul it on deck. Then without further aid it trickles in and loads
the boat until you cut off the stream. But this you cannot do with
iron or brass: the current is turned by applying blood or a garment
stained with a woman's menstrual discharge. That is what the old
authorities say, but those who know the district aver that floating
blocks of asphalt are driven landwards by the wind and dragged to
shore by hand. The steam out of the earth and the heat of the sun
dries them, and they are then split up with axes and wedges, like logs
or blocks of stone.
Not far from this lake are the Plains, which they say were once 7
fertile and covered with large and populous cities which were
destroyed by lightning. [491] Traces of the cities are said to remain,
and the ground, which looks scorched, has lost all power of
production. The plants, whether wild or artificially cultivated, are
blighted and sterile and wither into dust and ashes, either when in
leaf or flower, or when they have attained their full growth. Without
denying that at some date famous cities were there burnt up by
lightning, I am yet inclined to think that it is the exhalation from
the lake which infects the soil and poisons the surrounding
atmosphere. Soil and climate being equally deleterious, the crops and
fruits all rot away.
The river Belus also falls into this Jewish sea. Round its mouth is
found a peculiar kind of sand which is mixed with native soda and
smelted into glass. Small though the beach is, its product is
inexhaustible.
The greater part of the population live in scattered villages, but 8
they also have towns. Jerusalem is the Jewish capital, and contained
the temple, which was enormously wealthy. A first line of
fortifications guarded the city, another the palace, and an innermost
line enclosed the temple. [492] None but a Jew was allowed as far as
the doors: none but the priests might cross the threshold. [493] When
the East was in the hands of the Assyrians, Medes and Persians, they
regarded the Jews as the meanest of their slaves. During the
Macedonian ascendancy[494] King Antiochus[495] endeavoured to abolish
their superstitions and to introduce Greek manners and customs. But
Arsaces at that moment rebelled,[496] and the Parthian war prevented
him from effecting any improvement in the character of this grim
people. Then, when Macedon waned, as the Parthian power was not yet
ripe and Rome was still far away, they took kings of their own. [497]
The mob were fickle and drove them out. However, they recovered their
throne by force; banished their countrymen, sacked cities, slew their
brothers, wives, and parents, and committed all the usual kingly
crimes. But this only fostered the hold of the Jewish religion, since
the kings had strengthened their authority by assuming the priesthood.
Cnaeus Pompeius was the first Roman to subdue the Jews and set foot 9
in their temple by right of conquest. [498] It was then first realized
that the temple contained no image of any god: their sanctuary was
empty, their mysteries meaningless. The walls of Jerusalem were
destroyed, but the temple was left standing. Later, during the Roman
civil wars, when the eastern provinces had come under the control of
Mark Antony, the Parthian Prince Pacorus seized Judaea,[499] and was
killed by Publius Ventidius. The Parthians were driven back over the
Euphrates, and Caius Sosius[500] subdued the Jews. Antony gave the
kingdom to Herod,[501] and Augustus, after his victory, enlarged it.
After Herod's death, somebody called Simon,[502] without awaiting the
emperor's decision, forcibly assumed the title of king. He was
executed by Quintilius Varus, who was Governor of Syria; the Jews were
repressed and the kingdom divided between three of Herod's sons. [503]
Under Tiberius all was quiet. Caligula ordered them to put up his
statue in the temple. They preferred war to that. But Caligula's death
put an end to the rising. [504] In Claudius' reign the kings had all
either died or lost most of their territory. The emperor therefore
made Judaea a province to be governed by Roman knights or freedmen.
One of these, Antonius Felix,[505] indulged in every kind of cruelty
and immorality, wielding a king's authority with all the instincts of
a slave. He had married Drusilla, a granddaughter of Antony and
Cleopatra, so that he was Antony's grandson-in-law, while Claudius was
Antony's grandson. [506]
The Jews endured such oppression patiently until the time of 10
Gessius Florus,[507] under whom war broke out. Cestius Gallus, the
Governor of Syria, tried to crush it, but met with more reverses than
victories. He died, either in the natural course or perhaps of
disgust, and Nero sent out Vespasian, who, in a couple of
campaigns,[508] thanks to his reputation, good fortune, and able
subordinates, had the whole of the country districts and all the
towns except Jerusalem under the heel of his victorious army. The next
year[509] was taken up with civil war, and passed quietly enough as
far as the Jews were concerned. But peace once restored in Italy,
foreign troubles began again with feelings embittered on our side by
the thought that the Jews were the only people who had not given in.
At the same time it seemed best to leave Titus at the head of the army
to meet the eventualities of the new reign, whether good or bad.
Thus, as we have already seen,[510] Titus pitched his camp before 11
the walls of Jerusalem and proceeded to display his legions in battle
order. The Jews formed up at the foot of their own walls, ready, if
successful, to venture further, but assured of their retreat in case
of reverse. A body of cavalry and some light-armed foot were sent
forward, and fought an indecisive engagement, from which the enemy
eventually retired. During the next few days a series of skirmishes
took place in front of the gates, and at last continual losses drove
the Jews behind their walls. The Romans then determined to take it by
storm. It seemed undignified to sit and wait for the enemy to starve,
and the men all clamoured for the risks, some being really brave,
while many others were wild and greedy for plunder. Titus himself had
the vision of Rome with all her wealth and pleasures before his eyes,
and felt that their enjoyment was postponed unless Jerusalem fell at
once. The city, however, stands high and is fortified with works
strong enough to protect a city standing on the plain. Two enormous
hills[511] were surrounded by walls ingeniously built so as to project
or slope inwards and thus leave the flanks of an attacking party
exposed to fire. The rocks were jagged at the top. The towers, where
the rising ground helped, were sixty feet high, and in the hollows as
much as a hundred and twenty. They are a wonderful sight and seem from
a distance to be all of equal height. Within this runs another line of
fortification surrounding the palace, and on a conspicuous height
stands the Antonia, a castle named by Herod in honour of Mark Antony.
The temple was built like a citadel with walls of its own, on 12
which more care and labour had been spent than on any of the others.
Even the cloisters surrounding the temple formed a splendid rampart.
There was a never-failing spring of water,[512] catacombs hollowed out
of the hills, and pools or cisterns for holding the rain-water. Its
original builders had foreseen that the peculiarities of Jewish life
would lead to frequent wars, consequently everything was ready for the
longest of sieges. Besides this, when Pompey took the city, bitter
experience taught them several lessons, and in the days of Claudius
they had taken advantage of his avarice to buy rights of
fortification, and built walls in peace-time as though war were
imminent. Their numbers were now swelled by floods of human refuse and
unfortunate refugees from other towns. [513] All the most desperate
characters in the country had taken refuge there, which did not
conduce to unity. They had three armies, each with its own general.
The outermost and largest line of wall was held by Simon; the central
city by John, and the temple by Eleazar. [514] John and Simon were
stronger than Eleazar in numbers and equipment, but he had the
advantage of a strong position. Their relations mainly consisted of
fighting, treachery, and arson: a large quantity of corn was burnt.
Eventually, under pretext of offering a sacrifice, John sent a party
of men to massacre Eleazar and his troops, and by this means gained
possession of the temple. [515] Thus Jerusalem was divided into two
hostile parties, but on the approach of the Romans the necessities of
foreign warfare reconciled their differences.
Various portents had occurred at this time, but so sunk in 13
superstition are the Jews and so opposed to all religious practices
that they think it wicked to avert the threatened evil by
sacrifices[516] or vows. Embattled armies were seen to meet in the sky
with flashing arms, and the temple shone with sudden fire from heaven.
The doors of the shrine suddenly opened, a supernatural voice was
heard calling the gods out, and at once there began a mighty movement
of departure. Few took alarm at all this. Most people held the belief
that, according to the ancient priestly writings, this was the moment
at which the East was fated to prevail: they would now start forth
from Judaea and conquer the world. [517] This enigmatic prophecy really
applied to Vespasian and Titus. But men are blinded by their hopes.
The Jews took to themselves the promised destiny, and even defeat
could not convince them of the truth. The number of the besieged, men
and women of every age, is stated to have reached six hundred
thousand. There were arms for all who could carry them, and far more
were ready to fight than would be expected from their total numbers.
The women were as determined as the men: if they were forced to leave
their homes they had more to fear in life than in death.
Such was the city and such the people with which Titus was faced. As
the nature of the ground forbade a sudden assault, he determined to
employ siege-works and penthouse shelters. The work was accordingly
divided among the legions, and there was a truce to fighting until
they had got ready every means of storming a town that had ever been
devised by experience or inventive ingenuity.
FOOTNOTES:
[460] A. D. 70.
[461] See ii. 4; iv. 51.
[462] XXII Deiotariana and III Cyrenaica.
[463] Cp. ii. 4.
[464] There seems little to recommend Tacitus' theory of the
identity of the Idaei and Judaei, though it has been suggested
that the Cherethites of 2. Sam. viii. 18 and Ezek. xxv. 16 are
Cretans, migrated into the neighbourhood of the Philistines.
The Jewish Sabbath (Saturn's day) seems also to have suggested
connexion with Saturn and Crete.
[465] Elsewhere the Idaei figure as supernatural genii in
attendance on either Jupiter or Saturn.
[466] Ethiopian here means Phoenician. Tradition made Cepheus,
the father of Andromeda, king of Joppa.
[467] From Damascus, said Justin, where Abraham was one of
their kings, and Trogus Pompeius adds that the name of Abraham
was honourably remembered at Damascus. These are variants of
the Biblical migration of Abraham.
[468] _Il. _ vi. 184; _Od. _ v. 282.
[469] Another piece of fanciful philology, based on a
misinterpretation of a Greek transliteration of the name
Jerusalem. The Solymi are traditionally placed in Lycia. Both
Juvenal and Martial use Solymus as equivalent to Judaeus.
[470] The only known King Bocchoris belongs to the eighth
century B. C. , whereas the Exodus is traditionally placed not
later than the sixteenth.
[471] See Exod. xvii.
[472] i. e. an ass. The idea that this animal was sacred to the
Jews was so prevalent among 'the Gentiles' that Josephus takes
the trouble to refute it.
[473] Cp. Lev. xvi. 3, 'a young bullock for a sin offering,
and a ram for a burnt offering. ' Tacitus' reasons are of
course errors due to the prevalent confusion of Jewish and
Egyptian history.
[474] Cp. Luke xviii. 12, 'I fast twice a week. '
[475] Cp. Deut. v. 15.
[476] Cp. Lev. xxv. 4, '. . . in the seventh year shall be a
sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath unto the Lord:
thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. '
[477] The seventh day being named after Cronos or Saturn (cp.
chap. 2, note 464).
[478] Reading _commeent_ (Wölfflin).
[479] This refers to proselytes, who, like Jews resident
abroad, contributed annually to the Temple treasury. They
numbered at this time about four millions. Romans naturally
regarded this diversion of funds with disfavour.
[480] Jewish exclusiveness always roused Roman indignation,
and 'hatred of the human race' was the usual charge against
Christians (see _Ann. _ xv. 44).
[481] The strict regulations of Deut. xxii. &c. give a strange
irony to this slander. Most of these libels originated in
Alexandria.
[482] 'A people,' says the elder Pliny, 'distinguished by
their contemptuous atheism. '
[483] _Agnati_, as used here and in _Germ. _ 19 means a child
born after the father has made his will and therein specified
the number of his children. The mere birth of such a child
invalidated any earlier will that the father had made, but the
fact of its birth might be concealed by making away with the
baby.
[421] Great St. Bernard and Mt. Genèvre.
[422] Little St. Bernard.
[423] See iii. 5.
[424] i. e. not raised in any one locality.
[425] Cp. ii. 22.
[426] The Triboci were in Lower Alsace; the Vangiones north of
them in the district of Worms; the Caeracates probably to the
north again, in the district between Mainz and the Nahe
(Nava).
[427] Bingen.
[428] Chap. 62.
[429] Round Metz.
[430] See chap. 59.
[431] The other detachments of legions IV and XXII.
[432] Riol.
[433] Hordeonius Flaccus, Vocula, Herennius, and Numisius.
[434] Legions I and XVI.
[435] They had, as a matter of fact, changed their allegiance
no less than six times since the outbreak of the civil war.
[436] Ariovistus, king of the Suebi, summoned to aid one
Gallic confederacy against another, formed the ambition of
conquering Gaul, but was defeated by Julius Caesar near
Besançon (Vesontio) in 58 B. C.
[437] See chap. 68.
[438] Tutor erred. Cerialis had also the Twenty-first from
Vindonissa, Felix's auxiliary cohorts, and the troops he had
found at Mainz (see chaps. 70 and 71).
[439] He suppresses his own defeat at Bingen (chap. 70).
[440] The town lay on the right bank of the Moselle; the Roman
camp on the left bank between the river and the hills. There
was only one bridge.
[441] The Sixteenth had its permanent camp at Novaesium, the
First at Bonn. Both surrendered at Novaesium (cp. chap. 59).
[442] See chaps. 59 and 70.
[443] The Frisii occupied part of Friesland; the Chauci lay
east of them, between the Ems and Weser.
[444] Zülpich.
[445] A small flotilla on guard in the Channel. It probably
now transported the Fourteenth and landed them at Boulogne.
[446] Cp. chap. 15.
[447] The narrative is resumed from this point in v. 14.
EVENTS IN ROME AND IN THE EAST
It was about this time that Mucianus gave orders for the murder of 80
Vitellius' son,[448] on the plea that dissension would continue until
all the seeds of war were stamped out. He also refused to allow
Antonius Primus to go out on Domitian's staff, being alarmed at his
popularity among the troops and at the man's own vanity, which would
brook no equal, much less a superior. Antonius accordingly went to
join Vespasian, whose reception, though not hostile, proved a
disappointment. The emperor was drawn two ways. On the one side were
Antonius' services: it was undeniable that his generalship had ended
the war. In the other scale were Mucianus' letters. Besides which,
every one else seemed ready to rake up the scandals of his past life
and inveigh against his vanity and bad temper. Antonius himself did
his best to provoke hostility by expatiating to excess on his
services, decrying the other generals as incompetent cowards, and
stigmatizing Caecina as a prisoner who had surrendered. Thus without
any open breach of friendship he gradually declined lower and lower in
the emperor's favour.
During the months which Vespasian spent at Alexandria waiting for 81
the regular season of the summer winds[449] to ensure a safe voyage,
there occurred many miraculous events manifesting the goodwill of
Heaven and the special favour of Providence towards him. At Alexandria
a poor workman who was well known to have a disease of the eye, acting
on the advice of Serapis, whom this superstitious people worship as
their chief god, fell at Vespasian's feet demanding with sobs a cure
for his blindness, and imploring that the emperor would deign to
moisten his eyes and eyeballs with the spittle from his mouth. Another
man with a maimed hand, also inspired by Serapis, besought Vespasian
to imprint his footmark on it. At first Vespasian laughed at them and
refused. But they insisted. Half fearing to be thought a fool, half
stirred to hopes by their petition and by the flattery of his
courtiers, he eventually told the doctors to form an opinion whether
such cases of blindness and deformity could be remedied by human aid.
The doctors talked round the question, saying that in the one case the
power of sight was not extinct and would return, if certain
impediments were removed; in the other case the limbs were distorted
and could be set right again by the application of an effective
remedy: this might be the will of Heaven and the emperor had perhaps
been chosen as the divine instrument. They added that he would gain
all the credit, if the cure were successful, while, if it failed, the
ridicule would fall on the unfortunate patients. This convinced
Vespasian that there were no limits to his destiny: nothing now seemed
incredible. To the great excitement of the bystanders, he stepped
forward with a smile on his face and did as the men desired him.
Immediately the hand recovered its functions and daylight shone once
more in the blind man's eyes. Those who were present still attest both
miracles to-day,[450] when there is nothing to gain by lying.
This occurrence deepened Vespasian's desire to visit the 82
holy-place and consult Serapis about the fortunes of the empire. He
gave orders that no one else was to be allowed in the temple, and then
went in. While absorbed in his devotions, he suddenly saw behind him
an Egyptian noble, named Basilides, whom he knew to be lying ill
several days' journey from Alexandria. He inquired of the priests
whether Basilides had entered the temple that day. He inquired of
every one he met whether he had been seen in the city. Eventually he
sent some horsemen, who discovered that at the time Basilides was
eighty miles away. Vespasian therefore took what he had seen for a
divine apparition, and guessed the meaning of the oracle from the name
'Basilides'. [451]
The origins of the god Serapis are not given in any Roman 83
authorities. The high-priests of Egypt give the following account:
King Ptolemy, who was the first of the Macedonians to put the power of
Egypt on a firm footing,[452] was engaged in building walls and
temples, and instituting religious cults for his newly founded city of
Alexandria, when there appeared to him in his sleep a young man of
striking beauty and supernatural stature, who warned him to send his
most faithful friends to Pontus to fetch his image. After adding that
this would bring luck to the kingdom, and that its resting-place would
grow great and famous, he appeared to be taken up into heaven in a
sheet of flame. Impressed by this miraculous prophecy, Ptolemy
revealed his vision to the priests of Egypt, who are used to
interpreting such things. As they had but little knowledge of Pontus
or of foreign cults, he consulted an Athenian named Timotheus, a
member of the Eumolpid clan,[453] whom he had brought over from
Eleusis to be overseer of religious ceremonies, and asked him what
worship and what god could possibly be meant. Timotheus found some
people who had travelled in Pontus and learnt from them, that near a
town called Sinope there was a temple, which had long been famous in
the neighbourhood as the seat of Jupiter-Pluto,[454] and near it there
also stood a female figure, which was commonly called Proserpine.
Ptolemy was like most despots, easily terrified at first, but liable,
when his panic was over, to think more of his pleasures than of his
religious duties. The incident was gradually forgotten, and other
thoughts occupied his mind until the vision was repeated in a more
terrible and impressive form than before, and he was threatened with
death and the destruction of his kingdom if he failed to fulfil his
instructions. He at once gave orders that representatives should be
sent with presents to King Scydrothemis, who was then reigning at
Sinope, and on their departure he instructed them to consult the
oracle of Apollo at Delphi. They made a successful voyage and received
a clear answer from the oracle: they were to go and bring back the
image of Apollo's father but leave his sister's behind.
On their arrival at Sinope they laid their presents, their 84
petition, and their king's instructions before Scydrothemis. He was in
some perplexity. He was afraid of the god and yet alarmed by the
threats of his subjects, who opposed the project: then, again, he
often felt tempted by the envoys' presents and promises. Three years
passed. Ptolemy's zeal never abated for a moment. He persisted in his
petition, and kept sending more and more distinguished envoys, more
ships, more gold. Then a threatening vision appeared to Scydrothemis,
bidding him no longer thwart the god's design. When he still
hesitated, he was beset by every kind of disease and disaster: the
gods were plainly angry and their hand was heavier upon him every day.
He summoned an assembly and laid before it the divine commands, his
own and Ptolemy's visions, and the troubles with which they were
visited. The king found the people unfavourable. They were jealous of
Egypt and fearful of their own future. So they surged angrily round
the temple. The story now grows stranger still. The god himself, it
says, embarked unaided on one of the ships that lay beached on the
shore, and by a miracle accomplished the long sea-journey and landed
at Alexandria within three days. A temple worthy of so important a
city was then built in the quarter called Rhacotis, on the site of an
ancient temple of Serapis and Isis. [455] This is the most widely
accepted account of the god's origin and arrival. Some people, I am
well aware, maintain that the god was brought from the Syrian town of
Seleucia during the reign of Ptolemy, the third of that name. [456]
Others, again, say it was this same Ptolemy, but make the place of
origin the famous town of Memphis,[457] once the bulwark of ancient
Egypt. Many take the god for Aesculapius, because he cures disease:
others for Osiris, the oldest of the local gods; some, again, for
Jupiter, as being the sovereign lord of the world. But the majority of
people, either judging by what are clearly attributes of the god or by
an ingenious process of conjecture, identify him with Pluto.
Domitian and Mucianus were now on their way to the Alps. [458] 85
Before reaching the mountains they received the good news of the
victory over the Treviri, the truth of which was fully attested by the
presence of their leader Valentinus. His courage was in no way crushed
and his face still bore witness to the proud spirit he had shown. He
was allowed a hearing, merely to see what he was made of, and
condemned to death. At his execution some one cast it in his teeth
that his country was conquered, to which he replied, 'Then I am
reconciled to death. '
Mucianus now gave utterance to an idea which he had long cherished,
though he pretended it was a sudden inspiration. This was that, since
by Heaven's grace the forces of the enemy had been broken, it would
ill befit Domitian, now that the war was practically over, to stand
in the way of the other generals to whom the credit belonged. Were the
fortunes of the empire or the safety of Gaul at stake, it would be
right that a Caesar should take the field; the Canninefates and Batavi
might be left to minor generals. So Domitian was to stay at Lugdunum
and there show them the power and majesty of the throne at close
quarters. By abstaining from trifling risks he would be ready to cope
with any greater crisis.
The ruse was detected, but it could not be unmasked. That was part 86
of the courtier's policy. [459] Thus they proceeded to Lugdunum. From
there Domitian is supposed to have sent messengers to Cerialis to test
his loyalty, and to ask whether the general would transfer his army
and his allegiance to him, should he present himself in person.
Whether Domitian's idea was to plan war against his father or to
acquire support against his brother, cannot be decided, for Cerialis
parried his proposal with a salutary snub and treated it as a boy's
day-dream. Realizing that older men despised his youth, Domitian gave
up even those functions of government which he had hitherto performed.
Aping bashfulness and simple tastes, he hid his feelings under a cloak
of impenetrable reserve, professing literary tastes and a passion for
poetry. Thus he concealed his real self and withdrew from all rivalry
with his brother, whose gentler and altogether different nature he
perversely misconstrued.
FOOTNOTES:
[448] Cp. ii. 59.
[449] During June and July before the Etesian winds (cp. ii. 98)
began to blow from the north-west.
[450] Circa A. D. 108.
[451] Meaning 'king's son', and therefore portending sovereignty.
[452] i. e. Ptolemy Soter, who founded the dynasty of the
Lagidae, and reigned 306-283 B. C.
[453] They inherited the priesthood of Demeter at Eleusis and
supplied the hierophants who conducted the mysteries.
[454] i. e. the sovereign god of the underworld.
[455] It is evident from these words that the worship of
Serapis was ancient in Egypt. It seems to be suggested that
the arrival of this statue from Pontus did not originate but
invigorated the cult of Serapis. Pluto, Dis, Serapis, are all
names for a god of the underworld. Jupiter seems added vaguely
to give more power to the title. We cannot expect accurate
theology from an amateur antiquarian.
[456] Ptolemy Euergetes, 247-222 B. C.
[457] According to Eustathius there was a Mount Sinopium near
Memphis. This suggests an origin for the title Sinopitis,
applied to Serapis, and a cause for the invention of the
romantic story about Sinope in Pontus.
[458] Cp. chap. 68.
[459] i. e. Mucianus was too cunning to give Domitian any
excuse for declaring his suspicions.
BOOK V
THE CONQUEST OF JUDAEA
Early in this same year[460] Titus Caesar had been entrusted by his 1
father with the task of completing the reduction of Judaea. [461] While
he and his father were both still private citizens, Titus had
distinguished himself as a soldier, and his reputation for efficiency
was steadily increasing, while the provinces and armies vied with one
another in their enthusiasm for him. Wishing to seem independent of
his good fortune, he always showed dignity and energy in the field.
His affability called forth devotion. He constantly helped in the
trenches and could mingle with his soldiers on the march without
compromising his dignity as general. Three legions awaited him in
Judaea, the Fifth, Tenth, and Fifteenth, all veterans from his
father's army. These were reinforced by the Twelfth from Syria and by
detachments of the Twenty-second and the Third,[462] brought over from
Alexandria. This force was accompanied by twenty auxiliary cohorts and
eight regiments of auxiliary cavalry besides the Kings Agrippa and
Sohaemus, King Antiochus' irregulars,[463] a strong force of Arabs,
who had a neighbourly hatred for the Jews, and a crowd of persons who
had come from Rome and the rest of Italy, each tempted by the hope of
securing the first place in the prince's still unoccupied affections.
With this force Titus entered the enemy's country at the head of his
column, sending out scouts in all directions, and holding himself
ready to fight. He pitched his camp not far from Jerusalem.
Since I am coming now to describe the last days of this famous 2
city, it may not seem out of place to recount here its early history.
It is said that the Jews are refugees from Crete,[464] who settled on
the confines of Libya at the time when Saturn was forcibly deposed by
Jupiter. The evidence for this is sought in the name. Ida is a famous
mountain in Crete inhabited by the Idaei,[465] whose name became
lengthened into the foreign form Judaei. Others say that in the reign
of Isis the superfluous population of Egypt, under the leadership of
Hierosolymus and Juda, discharged itself upon the neighbouring
districts, while there are many who think the Jews an Ethiopian stock,
driven to migrate by their fear and dislike of King Cepheus. [466]
Another tradition makes them Assyrian refugees,[467] who, lacking
lands of their own, occupied a district of Egypt, and later took to
building cities of their own and tilling Hebrew territory and the
frontier-land of Syria. Yet another version assigns to the Jews an
illustrious origin as the descendants of the Solymi--a tribe famous in
Homer[468]--who founded the city and called it Hiero_solyma_ after
their own name. [469]
Most authorities agree that a foul and disfiguring disease once 3
broke out in Egypt, and that King Bocchoris,[470] on approaching the
oracle of Ammon and inquiring for a remedy, was told to purge his
kingdom of the plague and to transport all who suffered from it into
some other country, for they had earned the disfavour of Heaven. A
motley crowd was thus collected and abandoned in the desert. While all
the other outcasts lay idly lamenting, one of them, named Moses,
advised them not to look for help to gods or men, since both had
deserted them, but to trust rather in themselves and accept as divine
the guidance of the first being by whose aid they should get out of
their present plight. They agreed, and set out blindly to march
wherever chance might lead them. Their worst distress came from lack
of water. When they were already at death's door and lying prostrate
all over the plain, it so happened that a drove of wild asses moved
away from their pasture to a rock densely covered with trees. Guessing
the truth from the grassy nature of the ground, Moses followed and
disclosed an ample flow of water. [471] This saved them. Continuing
their march for six successive days, on the seventh they routed the
natives and gained possession of the country. There they consecrated
their city and their temple.
To ensure his future hold over the people, Moses introduced a new 4
cult, which was the opposite of all other religions. All that we hold
sacred they held profane, and allowed practices which we abominate.
They dedicated in a shrine an image of the animal[472] whose guidance
had put an end to their wandering and thirst. They killed a ram,
apparently as an insult to Ammon, and also sacrificed a bull, because
the Egyptians worship the bull Apis. [473] Pigs are subject to leprosy;
so they abstain from pork in memory of their misfortune and the foul
plague with which they were once infected. Their frequent fasts[474]
bear witness to the long famine they once endured, and, in token of
the corn they carried off, Jewish bread is to this day made without
leaven. They are said to have devoted the seventh day to rest, because
that day brought an end to their troubles. [475] Later, finding
idleness alluring, they gave up the seventh year as well to
sloth. [476] Others maintain that they do this in honour of
Saturn;[477] either because their religious principles are derived
from the Idaei, who are supposed to have been driven out with Saturn
and become the ancestors of the Jewish people; or else because, of the
seven constellations which govern the lives of men, the star of Saturn
moves in the topmost orbit and exercises peculiar influence, and also
because most of the heavenly bodies move round[478] their courses in
multiples of seven.
Whatever their origin, these rites are sanctioned by their 5
antiquity.
Their other customs are impious and abominable, and owe
their prevalence to their depravity. For all the most worthless
rascals, renouncing their national cults, were always sending money to
swell the sum of offerings and tribute. [479] This is one cause of
Jewish prosperity. Another is that they are obstinately loyal to each
other, and always ready to show compassion, whereas they feel nothing
but hatred and enmity for the rest of the world. [480] They eat and
sleep separately. Though immoderate in sexual indulgence, they refrain
from all intercourse with foreign women: among themselves anything is
allowed. [481] They have introduced circumcision to distinguish
themselves from other people. Those who are converted to their customs
adopt the same practice, and the first lessons they learn are to
despise the gods,[482] to renounce their country, and to think nothing
of their parents, children, and brethren. However, they take steps to
increase their numbers. They count it a crime to kill any of their
later-born children,[483] and they believe that the souls of those who
die in battle or under persecution are immortal. [484] Thus they think
much of having children and nothing of facing death. They prefer to
bury and not burn their dead. [485] In this, as in their burial rites,
and in their belief in an underworld, they conform to Egyptian custom.
Their ideas of heaven are quite different. The Egyptians worship most
of their gods as animals, or in shapes half animal and half human. The
Jews acknowledge one god only, of whom they have a purely spiritual
conception. They think it impious to make images of gods in human
shape out of perishable materials. Their god is almighty and
inimitable, without beginning and without end. They therefore set up
no statues in their temples, nor even in their cities, refusing this
homage both to their own kings and to the Roman emperors. However, the
fact that their priests intoned to the flute and cymbals and wore
wreaths of ivy, and that a golden vine was found in their temple[486]
has led some people to think that they worship Bacchus,[487] who has
so enthralled the East. But their cult would be most inappropriate.
Bacchus instituted gay and cheerful rites, but the Jewish ritual is
preposterous and morbid.
The country of the Jews is bounded by Arabia on the east, by Egypt 6
on the south, and on the west by Phoenicia and the sea. On the Syrian
frontier they have a distant view towards the north. [488] Physically
they are healthy and hardy. Rain is rare; the soil infertile; its
products are of the same kind as ours with the addition of balsam and
palms. The palm is a tall and beautiful tree, the balsam a mere shrub.
When its branches are swollen with sap they open them with a sharp
piece of stone or crockery, for the sap-vessels shrink up at the touch
of iron. The sap is used in medicine. Lebanon, their chief mountain,
stands always deep in its eternal snow, a strange phenomenon in such a
burning climate. Here, too, the river Jordan has its source[489] and
comes pouring down, to find a home in the sea. It flows undiminished
through first one lake, then another, and loses itself in a
third. [490] This last is a lake of immense size, like a sea, though
its water has a foul taste and a most unhealthy smell, which poisons
the surrounding inhabitants. No wind can stir waves in it: no fish or
sea-birds can live there. The sluggish water supports whatever is
thrown on to it, as if its surface were solid, while those who cannot
swim float on it as easily as those who can. Every year at the same
time the lake yields asphalt. As with other arts, it is experience
which shows how to collect it. It is a black liquid which, when
congealed with a sprinkling of vinegar, floats on the surface of the
water. The men who collect it take it in this state into their hands
and haul it on deck. Then without further aid it trickles in and loads
the boat until you cut off the stream. But this you cannot do with
iron or brass: the current is turned by applying blood or a garment
stained with a woman's menstrual discharge. That is what the old
authorities say, but those who know the district aver that floating
blocks of asphalt are driven landwards by the wind and dragged to
shore by hand. The steam out of the earth and the heat of the sun
dries them, and they are then split up with axes and wedges, like logs
or blocks of stone.
Not far from this lake are the Plains, which they say were once 7
fertile and covered with large and populous cities which were
destroyed by lightning. [491] Traces of the cities are said to remain,
and the ground, which looks scorched, has lost all power of
production. The plants, whether wild or artificially cultivated, are
blighted and sterile and wither into dust and ashes, either when in
leaf or flower, or when they have attained their full growth. Without
denying that at some date famous cities were there burnt up by
lightning, I am yet inclined to think that it is the exhalation from
the lake which infects the soil and poisons the surrounding
atmosphere. Soil and climate being equally deleterious, the crops and
fruits all rot away.
The river Belus also falls into this Jewish sea. Round its mouth is
found a peculiar kind of sand which is mixed with native soda and
smelted into glass. Small though the beach is, its product is
inexhaustible.
The greater part of the population live in scattered villages, but 8
they also have towns. Jerusalem is the Jewish capital, and contained
the temple, which was enormously wealthy. A first line of
fortifications guarded the city, another the palace, and an innermost
line enclosed the temple. [492] None but a Jew was allowed as far as
the doors: none but the priests might cross the threshold. [493] When
the East was in the hands of the Assyrians, Medes and Persians, they
regarded the Jews as the meanest of their slaves. During the
Macedonian ascendancy[494] King Antiochus[495] endeavoured to abolish
their superstitions and to introduce Greek manners and customs. But
Arsaces at that moment rebelled,[496] and the Parthian war prevented
him from effecting any improvement in the character of this grim
people. Then, when Macedon waned, as the Parthian power was not yet
ripe and Rome was still far away, they took kings of their own. [497]
The mob were fickle and drove them out. However, they recovered their
throne by force; banished their countrymen, sacked cities, slew their
brothers, wives, and parents, and committed all the usual kingly
crimes. But this only fostered the hold of the Jewish religion, since
the kings had strengthened their authority by assuming the priesthood.
Cnaeus Pompeius was the first Roman to subdue the Jews and set foot 9
in their temple by right of conquest. [498] It was then first realized
that the temple contained no image of any god: their sanctuary was
empty, their mysteries meaningless. The walls of Jerusalem were
destroyed, but the temple was left standing. Later, during the Roman
civil wars, when the eastern provinces had come under the control of
Mark Antony, the Parthian Prince Pacorus seized Judaea,[499] and was
killed by Publius Ventidius. The Parthians were driven back over the
Euphrates, and Caius Sosius[500] subdued the Jews. Antony gave the
kingdom to Herod,[501] and Augustus, after his victory, enlarged it.
After Herod's death, somebody called Simon,[502] without awaiting the
emperor's decision, forcibly assumed the title of king. He was
executed by Quintilius Varus, who was Governor of Syria; the Jews were
repressed and the kingdom divided between three of Herod's sons. [503]
Under Tiberius all was quiet. Caligula ordered them to put up his
statue in the temple. They preferred war to that. But Caligula's death
put an end to the rising. [504] In Claudius' reign the kings had all
either died or lost most of their territory. The emperor therefore
made Judaea a province to be governed by Roman knights or freedmen.
One of these, Antonius Felix,[505] indulged in every kind of cruelty
and immorality, wielding a king's authority with all the instincts of
a slave. He had married Drusilla, a granddaughter of Antony and
Cleopatra, so that he was Antony's grandson-in-law, while Claudius was
Antony's grandson. [506]
The Jews endured such oppression patiently until the time of 10
Gessius Florus,[507] under whom war broke out. Cestius Gallus, the
Governor of Syria, tried to crush it, but met with more reverses than
victories. He died, either in the natural course or perhaps of
disgust, and Nero sent out Vespasian, who, in a couple of
campaigns,[508] thanks to his reputation, good fortune, and able
subordinates, had the whole of the country districts and all the
towns except Jerusalem under the heel of his victorious army. The next
year[509] was taken up with civil war, and passed quietly enough as
far as the Jews were concerned. But peace once restored in Italy,
foreign troubles began again with feelings embittered on our side by
the thought that the Jews were the only people who had not given in.
At the same time it seemed best to leave Titus at the head of the army
to meet the eventualities of the new reign, whether good or bad.
Thus, as we have already seen,[510] Titus pitched his camp before 11
the walls of Jerusalem and proceeded to display his legions in battle
order. The Jews formed up at the foot of their own walls, ready, if
successful, to venture further, but assured of their retreat in case
of reverse. A body of cavalry and some light-armed foot were sent
forward, and fought an indecisive engagement, from which the enemy
eventually retired. During the next few days a series of skirmishes
took place in front of the gates, and at last continual losses drove
the Jews behind their walls. The Romans then determined to take it by
storm. It seemed undignified to sit and wait for the enemy to starve,
and the men all clamoured for the risks, some being really brave,
while many others were wild and greedy for plunder. Titus himself had
the vision of Rome with all her wealth and pleasures before his eyes,
and felt that their enjoyment was postponed unless Jerusalem fell at
once. The city, however, stands high and is fortified with works
strong enough to protect a city standing on the plain. Two enormous
hills[511] were surrounded by walls ingeniously built so as to project
or slope inwards and thus leave the flanks of an attacking party
exposed to fire. The rocks were jagged at the top. The towers, where
the rising ground helped, were sixty feet high, and in the hollows as
much as a hundred and twenty. They are a wonderful sight and seem from
a distance to be all of equal height. Within this runs another line of
fortification surrounding the palace, and on a conspicuous height
stands the Antonia, a castle named by Herod in honour of Mark Antony.
The temple was built like a citadel with walls of its own, on 12
which more care and labour had been spent than on any of the others.
Even the cloisters surrounding the temple formed a splendid rampart.
There was a never-failing spring of water,[512] catacombs hollowed out
of the hills, and pools or cisterns for holding the rain-water. Its
original builders had foreseen that the peculiarities of Jewish life
would lead to frequent wars, consequently everything was ready for the
longest of sieges. Besides this, when Pompey took the city, bitter
experience taught them several lessons, and in the days of Claudius
they had taken advantage of his avarice to buy rights of
fortification, and built walls in peace-time as though war were
imminent. Their numbers were now swelled by floods of human refuse and
unfortunate refugees from other towns. [513] All the most desperate
characters in the country had taken refuge there, which did not
conduce to unity. They had three armies, each with its own general.
The outermost and largest line of wall was held by Simon; the central
city by John, and the temple by Eleazar. [514] John and Simon were
stronger than Eleazar in numbers and equipment, but he had the
advantage of a strong position. Their relations mainly consisted of
fighting, treachery, and arson: a large quantity of corn was burnt.
Eventually, under pretext of offering a sacrifice, John sent a party
of men to massacre Eleazar and his troops, and by this means gained
possession of the temple. [515] Thus Jerusalem was divided into two
hostile parties, but on the approach of the Romans the necessities of
foreign warfare reconciled their differences.
Various portents had occurred at this time, but so sunk in 13
superstition are the Jews and so opposed to all religious practices
that they think it wicked to avert the threatened evil by
sacrifices[516] or vows. Embattled armies were seen to meet in the sky
with flashing arms, and the temple shone with sudden fire from heaven.
The doors of the shrine suddenly opened, a supernatural voice was
heard calling the gods out, and at once there began a mighty movement
of departure. Few took alarm at all this. Most people held the belief
that, according to the ancient priestly writings, this was the moment
at which the East was fated to prevail: they would now start forth
from Judaea and conquer the world. [517] This enigmatic prophecy really
applied to Vespasian and Titus. But men are blinded by their hopes.
The Jews took to themselves the promised destiny, and even defeat
could not convince them of the truth. The number of the besieged, men
and women of every age, is stated to have reached six hundred
thousand. There were arms for all who could carry them, and far more
were ready to fight than would be expected from their total numbers.
The women were as determined as the men: if they were forced to leave
their homes they had more to fear in life than in death.
Such was the city and such the people with which Titus was faced. As
the nature of the ground forbade a sudden assault, he determined to
employ siege-works and penthouse shelters. The work was accordingly
divided among the legions, and there was a truce to fighting until
they had got ready every means of storming a town that had ever been
devised by experience or inventive ingenuity.
FOOTNOTES:
[460] A. D. 70.
[461] See ii. 4; iv. 51.
[462] XXII Deiotariana and III Cyrenaica.
[463] Cp. ii. 4.
[464] There seems little to recommend Tacitus' theory of the
identity of the Idaei and Judaei, though it has been suggested
that the Cherethites of 2. Sam. viii. 18 and Ezek. xxv. 16 are
Cretans, migrated into the neighbourhood of the Philistines.
The Jewish Sabbath (Saturn's day) seems also to have suggested
connexion with Saturn and Crete.
[465] Elsewhere the Idaei figure as supernatural genii in
attendance on either Jupiter or Saturn.
[466] Ethiopian here means Phoenician. Tradition made Cepheus,
the father of Andromeda, king of Joppa.
[467] From Damascus, said Justin, where Abraham was one of
their kings, and Trogus Pompeius adds that the name of Abraham
was honourably remembered at Damascus. These are variants of
the Biblical migration of Abraham.
[468] _Il. _ vi. 184; _Od. _ v. 282.
[469] Another piece of fanciful philology, based on a
misinterpretation of a Greek transliteration of the name
Jerusalem. The Solymi are traditionally placed in Lycia. Both
Juvenal and Martial use Solymus as equivalent to Judaeus.
[470] The only known King Bocchoris belongs to the eighth
century B. C. , whereas the Exodus is traditionally placed not
later than the sixteenth.
[471] See Exod. xvii.
[472] i. e. an ass. The idea that this animal was sacred to the
Jews was so prevalent among 'the Gentiles' that Josephus takes
the trouble to refute it.
[473] Cp. Lev. xvi. 3, 'a young bullock for a sin offering,
and a ram for a burnt offering. ' Tacitus' reasons are of
course errors due to the prevalent confusion of Jewish and
Egyptian history.
[474] Cp. Luke xviii. 12, 'I fast twice a week. '
[475] Cp. Deut. v. 15.
[476] Cp. Lev. xxv. 4, '. . . in the seventh year shall be a
sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath unto the Lord:
thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. '
[477] The seventh day being named after Cronos or Saturn (cp.
chap. 2, note 464).
[478] Reading _commeent_ (Wölfflin).
[479] This refers to proselytes, who, like Jews resident
abroad, contributed annually to the Temple treasury. They
numbered at this time about four millions. Romans naturally
regarded this diversion of funds with disfavour.
[480] Jewish exclusiveness always roused Roman indignation,
and 'hatred of the human race' was the usual charge against
Christians (see _Ann. _ xv. 44).
[481] The strict regulations of Deut. xxii. &c. give a strange
irony to this slander. Most of these libels originated in
Alexandria.
[482] 'A people,' says the elder Pliny, 'distinguished by
their contemptuous atheism. '
[483] _Agnati_, as used here and in _Germ. _ 19 means a child
born after the father has made his will and therein specified
the number of his children. The mere birth of such a child
invalidated any earlier will that the father had made, but the
fact of its birth might be concealed by making away with the
baby.
