Antiquities of the
Jews - Book XX
CONTAINING THE INTERVAL OF TWENTY-TWO YEARS.
FROM FADUS THE PROCURATOR TO FLORUS.
CHAPTER 1.
A SEDITION OF THE PHILADELPHIANS AGAINST THE JEWS; AND ALSO
CONCERNING THE VESTMENTS OF THE HIGH PRIEST.
1. UPON the death of king Agrippa, which we have related in the foregoing
book, Claudius Caesar sent Cassius Longinus as successor to Marcus, out
of regard to the memory of king Agrippa, who had often desired of him by
letters, while be was alive, that he would not suffer Marcus to be any
longer president of Syria. But Fadus, as soon as he was come procurator
into Judea, found quarrelsome doings between the Jews that dwelt in Perea,
and the people of Philadelphia, about their borders, at a village called
Mia, that was filled with men of a warlike temper; for the Jews of Perea
had taken up arms without the consent of their principal men, and had destroyed
many of the Philadelphians. When Fadus was informed of this procedure,
it provoked him very much that they had not left the determination of the
matter to him, if they thought that the Philadelphians had done them any
wrong, but had rashly taken up arms against them. So he seized upon three
of their principal men, who were also the causes of this sedition, and
ordered them to be bound, and afterwards had one of them slain, whose name
was Hannibal; and he banished the other two, Areram and Eleazar. Tholomy
also, the arch robber, was, after some time, brought to him bound, and
slain, but not till he had done a world of mischief to Idumea and the Arabians.
And indeed, from that time, Judea was cleared of robberies by the care
and providence of Fadus. He also at this time sent for the high priests
and the principal citizens of Jerusalem, and this at the command of the
emperor, and admonished them that they should lay up the long garment and
the sacred vestment, which it is customary for nobody but the high priest
to wear, in the tower of Antonia, that it might be under the power of the
Romans, as it had been formerly. Now the Jews durst not contradict what
he had said, but desired Fadus, however, and Longinus, (which last was
come to Jerusalem, and had brought a great army with him, out of a fear
that the [rigid] injunctions of Fadus should force the Jews to rebel,)
that they might, in the first place, have leave to send ambassadors to
Caesar, to petition him that they may have the holy vestments under their
own power; and that, in the next place, they would tarry till they knew
what answer Claudius would give to that their request. So they replied,
that they would give them leave to send their ambassadors, provided they
would give them their sons as pledges [for their peaceable behavior]. And
when they had agreed so to do, and had given them the pledges they desired,
the ambassadors were sent accordingly. But when, upon their coming to Rome,
Agrippa, junior, the son of the deceased, understood the reason why they
came, (for he dwelt with Claudius Caesar, as we said before,) he besought
Caesar to grant the Jews their request about the holy vestments, and to
send a message to Fadus accordingly.
2. Hereupon Claudius called for the ambassadors; and told them that
he granted their request; and bade them to return their thanks to Agrippa
for this favor, which had been bestowed on them upon his entreaty. And
besides these answers of his, he sent the following letter by them: "Claudius
Caesar Germanicus, tribune of the people the fifth time, and designed consul
the fourth time, and imperator the tenth time, the father of his country,
to the magistrates, senate, and people, and the whole nation of the Jews,
sendeth greeting. Upon the presentation of your ambassadors to me by Agrippa,
my friend, whom I have brought up, and have now with me, and who is a person
of very great piety, who are come to give me thanks for the care I have
taken of your nation, and to entreat me, in an earnest and obliging manner,
that they may have the holy vestments, with the crown belonging to them,
under their power, - I grant their request, as that excellent person Vitellius,
who is very dear to me, had done before me. And I have complied with your
desire, in the first place, out of regard to that piety which I profess,
and because I would have every one worship God according to the laws of
their own country; and this I do also because I shall hereby highly gratify
king Herod, and Agrippa, junior, whose sacred regards to me, and earnest
good-will to you, I am well acquainted with, and with whom I have the greatest
friendship, and whom I highly esteem, and look on as persons of the best
character. Now I have written about these affairs to Cuspius Fadus, my
procurator. The names of those that brought me your letter are Cornelius,
the son of Cero, Trypho, the son of Theudio, Dorotheus, the son of Nathaniel,
and John, the son of Jotre. This letter is dated before the fourth of the
calends of July, when Ruffis and Pompeius Sylvanus are consuls."
3. Herod also, the brother of the deceased Agrippa, who was then possessed
of the royal authority over Chalcis, petitioned Claudius Caesar for the
authority over the temple, and the money of the sacred treasure, and the
choice of the high priests, and obtained all that he petitioned for. So
that after that time this authority continued among all his descendants
till the end of the war (1)
Accordingly, Herod removed the last high priest, called Cimtheras, and
bestowed that dignity on his successor Joseph, the son of Cantos.
CHAPTER 2.
HOW HELENA THE QUEEN OF ADIABENE AND HER SON IZATES, EMBRACED
THE JEWISH RELIGION; AND HOW HELENA SUPPLIED THE POOR WITH CORN, WHEN THERE
WAS A GREAT FAMINE AT JERUSALEM.
1. ABOUT this time it was that Helena, queen of Adiabene, and her son
Izates, changed their course of life, and embraced the Jewish customs,
and this on the occasion following: Monobazus, the king of Adiabene, who
had also the name of Bazeus, fell in love with his sister Helena, and took
her to be his wife, and begat her with child. But as he was in bed with
her one night, he laid his hand upon his wife's belly, and fell asleep,
and seemed to hear a voice, which bid him take his hand off his wife's
belly, and not hurt the infant that was therein, which, by God's providence,
would be safely born, and have a happy end. This voice put him into disorder;
so he awaked immediately, and told the story to his wife; and when his
son was born, he called him Izates. He had indeed Monobazus, his elder
brother, by Helena also, as he had other sons by other wives besides. Yet
did he openly place all his affections on this his only begotten (2)
son Izates, which was the origin of that envy which his other brethren,
by the same father, bore to him; while on this account they hated him more
and more, and were all under great affliction that their father should
prefer Izates before them. Now although their father was very sensible
of these their passions, yet did he forgive them, as not indulging those
passions out of an ill disposition, but out of a desire each of them had
to be beloved by their father. However, he sent Izates, with many presents,
to Abennerig, the king of Charax-Spasini, and that out of the great dread
he was in about him, lest he should come to some misfortune by the hatred
his brethren bore him; and he committed his son's preservation to him.
Upon which Abennerig gladly received the young man, and had a great affection
for him, and married him to his own daughter, whose name was Samacha: he
also bestowed a country upon him, from which he received large revenues.
2. But when Monobazus was grown old, and saw that he had but a little
time to live, he had a mind to come to the sight of his son before he died.
So he sent for him, and embraced him after the most affectionate manner,
and bestowed on him the country called Carra; it was a soil that bare amomum
in great plenty: there are also in it the remains of that ark, wherein
it is related that Noah escaped the deluge, and where they are still shown
to such as are desirous to see them. (3)
Accordingly, Izates abode in that country until his father's death. But
the very day that Monobazus died, queen Helena sent for all the grandees,
and governors of the kingdom, and for those that had the armies committed
to their command; and when they were come, she made the following speech
to them: "I believe you are not unacquainted that my husband was desirous
Izates should succeed him in the government, and thought him worthy so
to do. However, I wait your determination; for happy is he who receives
a kingdom, not from a single person only, but from the willing suffrages
of a great many." This she said, in order to try those that were invited,
and to discover their sentiments. Upon the hearing of which, they first
of all paid their homage to the queen, as their custom was, and then they
said that they confirmed the king's determination, and would submit to
it; and they rejoiced that Izates's father had preferred him before the
rest of his brethren, as being agreeable to all their wishes: but that
they were desirous first of all to slay his brethren and kinsmen, that
so the government might come securely to Izates; because if they were once
destroyed, all that fear would be over which might arise from their hatred
and envy to him. Helena replied to this, that she returned them her thanks
for their kindness to herself and to Izates; but desired that they would
however defer the execution of this slaughter of Izates's brethren till
he should be there himself, and give his approbation to it. So since these
men had not prevailed with her, when they advised her to slay them, they
exhorted her at least to keep them in bonds till he should come, and that
for their own security; they also gave her counsel to set up some one whom
she could put the greatest trust in, as a governor of the kingdom in the
mean time. So queen Helena complied with this counsel of theirs, and set
up Monobazus, the eldest son, to be king, and put the diadem upon his head,
and gave him his father's ring, with its signet; as also the ornament which
they call Sampser, and exhorted him to administer the affairs of the kingdom
till his brother should come; who came suddenly upon hearing that his father
was dead, and succeeded his brother Monobazus, who resigned up the government
to him.
3. Now, during the time Izates abode at Charax-Spasini, a certain Jewish
merchant, whose name was Ananias, got among the women that belonged to
the king, and taught them to worship God according to the Jewish religion.
He, moreover, by their means, became known to Izates, and persuaded him,
in like manner, to embrace that religion; he also, at the earnest entreaty
of Izates, accompanied him when he was sent for by his father to come to
Adiabene; it also happened that Helena, about the same time, was instructed
by a certain other Jew and went over to them. But when Izates had taken
the kingdom, and was come to Adiabene, and there saw his brethren and other
kinsmen in bonds, he was displeased at it; and as he thought it an instance
of impiety either to slay or imprison them, but still thought it a hazardous
thing for to let them have their liberty, with the remembrance of the injuries
that had been offered them, he sent some of them and their children for
hostages to Rome, to Claudius Caesar, and sent the others to Artabanus,
the king of Parthia, with the like intentions.
4. And when he perceived that his mother was highly pleased with the
Jewish customs, he made haste to change, and to embrace them entirely;
and as he supposed that he could not he thoroughly a Jew unless he were
circumcised, he was ready to have it done. But when his mother understood
what he was about, she endeavored to hinder him from doing it, and said
to him that this thing would bring him into danger; and that, as he was
a king, he would thereby bring himself into great odium among his subjects,
when they should understand that he was so fond of rites that were to them
strange and foreign; and that they would never bear to be ruled over by
a Jew. This it was that she said to him, and for the present persuaded
him to forbear. And when he had related what she had said to Ananias, he
confirmed what his mother had said; and when he had also threatened to
leave him, unless he complied with him, he went away from him, and said
that he was afraid lest such an action being once become public to all,
he should himself be in danger of punishment for having been the occasion
of it, and having been the king's instructor in actions that were of ill
reputation; and he said that he might worship God without being circumcised,
even though he did resolve to follow the Jewish law entirely, which worship
of God was of a superior nature to circumcision. He added, that God would
forgive him, though he did not perform the operation, while it was omitted
out of necessity, and for fear of his subjects. So the king at that time
complied with these persuasions of Ananias. But afterwards, as he had not
quite left off his desire of doing this thing, a certain other Jew that
came out of Galilee, whose name was Eleazar, and who was esteemed very
skillful in the learning of his country, persuaded him to do the thing;
for as he entered into his palace to salute him, and found him reading
the law of Moses, he said to him, "Thou dost not consider, O king!
that thou unjustly breakest the principal of those laws, and art injurious
to God himself, [by omitting to be circumcised]; for thou oughtest not
only to read them, but chiefly to practice what they enjoin thee. How long
wilt thou continue uncircumcised? But if thou hast not yet read the law
about circumcision, and dost not know how great impiety thou art guilty
of by neglecting it, read it now." When the king had heard what he
said, he delayed the thing no longer, but retired to another room, and
sent for a surgeon, and did what he was commanded to do. He then sent for
his mother, and Ananias his tutor, and informed them that he had done the
thing; upon which they were presently struck with astonishment and fear,
and that to a great degree, lest the thing should be openly discovered
and censured, and the king should hazard the loss of his kingdom, while
his subjects would not bear to be governed by a man who was so zealous
in another religion; and lest they should themselves run some hazard, because
they would be supposed the occasion of his so doing. But it was God himself
who hindered what they feared from taking effect; for he preserved both
Izates himself and his sons when they fell into many dangers, and procured
their deliverance when it seemed to be impossible, and demonstrated thereby
that the fruit of piety does not perish as to those that have regard to
him, and fix their faith upon him only. (4)
But these events we shall relate hereafter.
5. But as to Helena, the king's mother, when she saw that the affairs
of Izates's kingdom were in peace, and that her son was a happy man, and
admired among all men, and even among foreigners, by the means of God's
providence over him, she had a mind to go to the city of Jerusalem, in
order to worship at that temple of God which was so very famous among all
men, and to offer her thank-offerings there. So she desired her son to
give her leave to go thither; upon which he gave his consent to what she
desired very willingly, and made great preparations for her dismission,
and gave her a great deal of money, and she went down to the city Jerusalem,
her son conducting her on her journey a great way. Now her coming was of
very great advantage to the people of Jerusalem; for whereas a famine did
oppress them at that time, and many people died for want of what was necessary
to procure food withal, queen Helena sent some of her servants to Alexandria
with money to buy a great quantity of corn, and others of them to Cyprus,
to bring a cargo of dried figs. And as soon as they were come back, and
had brought those provisions, which was done very quickly, she distributed
food to those that were in want of it, and left a most excellent memorial
behind her of this benefaction, which she bestowed on our whole nation.
And when her son Izates was informed of this famine, (5)
he sent great sums of money to the principal men in Jerusalem. However,
what favors this queen and king conferred upon our city Jerusalem shall
be further related hereafter.
CHAPTER 3.
HOW ARTABANUS, THE KING OF PARTHIA OUT OF FEAR OF THE SECRET
CONTRIVANCES OF HIS SUBJECTS AGAINST HIM, WENT TO IZATES, AND WAS BY HIM
REINSTATED IN HIS GOVERNMENT; AS ALSO HOW BARDANES HIS SON DENOUNCED WAR
AGAINST IZATES.
1. BUT now Artabanus, king of the Parthians perceiving that the governors
of the provinces had framed a plot against him, did not think it safe for
him to continue among them; but resolved to go to Izates, in hopes of finding
some way for his preservation by his means, and, if possible, for his return
to his own dominions. So he came to Izates, and brought a thousand of his
kindred and servants with him, and met him upon the road, while he well
knew Izates, but Izates did not know him. When Artabanus stood near him,
and, in the first place, worshipped him, according to the custom, he then
said to him, "O king! do not thou overlook me thy servant, nor do
thou proudly reject the suit I make thee; for as I am reduced to a low
estate, by the change of fortune, and of a king am become a private man,
I stand in need of thy assistance. Have regard, therefore, unto the uncertainty
of fortune, and esteem the care thou shalt take of me to he taken of thyself
also; for if I be neglected, and my subjects go off unpunished, many other
subjects will become the more insolent towards other kings also."
And this speech Artabanus made with tears in his eyes, and with a dejected
countenance. Now as soon as Izates heard Artabanus's name, and saw him
stand as a supplicant before him, he leaped down from his horse immediately,
and said to him, "Take courage, O king! nor be disturbed at thy present
calamity, as if it were incurable; for the change of thy sad condition
shall be sudden; for thou shalt find me to be more thy friend and thy assistant
than thy hopes can promise thee; for I will either re-establish thee in
the kingdom of Parthia, or lose my own."
2. When he had said this, he set Artabanus upon his horse, and followed
him on foot, in honor of a king whom he owned as greater than himself;
which, when Artabanus saw, he was very uneasy at it, and sware by his present
fortune and honor that he would get down from his horse, unless Izates
would get upon his horse again, and go before him. So he complied with
his desire, and leaped upon his horse; and when he had brought him to his
royal palace, he showed him all sorts of respect when they sat together,
and he gave him the upper place at festivals also, as regarding not his
present fortune, but his former dignity, and that upon this consideration
also, that the changes of fortune are common to all men. He also wrote
to the Parthians, to persuade them to receive Artabanus again; and gave
them his right hand and his faith, that he should forget what was past
and done, and that he would undertake for this as a mediator between them.
Now the Parthians did not themselves refuse to receive him again, but pleaded
that it was not now in their power so to do, because they had committed
the government to another person, who had accepted of it, and whose name
was Cinnamus; and that they were afraid lest a civil war should arise on
this account. When Cinnamus understood their intentions, he wrote to Artabanus
himself, for he had been brought up by him, and was of a nature good and
gentle also, and desired him to put confidence in him, and to come and
take his own dominions again. Accordingly, Artabanus trusted him, and returned
home; when Cinnamus met him, worshipped him, and saluted him as a king,
and took the diadem off his own head, and put it on the head of Artabanus.
3. And thus was Artahanus restored to his kingdom again by the means
of Izates, when he had lost it by the means of the grandees of the kingdom.
Nor was he unmindful of the benefits he had conferred upon him, but rewarded
him with such honors as were of the greatest esteem among them; for he
gave him leave to wear his tiara upright, (6)
and to sleep upon a golden bed, which are privileges and marks of honor
peculiar to the kings of Parthia. He also cut off a large and fruitful
country from the king of Armenia, and bestowed it upon him. The name of
the country is Nisibis, wherein the Macedonians had formerly built that
city which they called Antioch of Mygodonla. And these were the honors
that were paid Izates by the king of the Parthians.
4. But in no long time Artabanus died, and left his kingdom to his son
Bardanes. Now this Bardanes came to Izates, and would have persuaded him
to join him with his army, and to assist him in the war he was preparing
to make with the Romans; but he could not prevail with him. For Izates
so well knew the strength and good fortune of the Romans, that he took
Bardanes to attempt what was impossible to be done; and having besides
sent his sons, five in number, and they but young also, to learn accurately
the language of our nation, together with our learning, as well as he had
sent his mother to worship at our temple, as I have said already, was the
more backward to a compliance; and restrained Bardanes, telling him perpetually
of the great armies and famous actions of the Romans, and thought thereby
to terrify him, and desired thereby to hinder him from that expedition.
But the Parthian king was provoked at this his behavior, and denounced
war immediately against Izates. Yet did he gain no advantage by this war,
because God cut off all his hopes therein; for the Parthians perceiving
Bardanes's intentions, and how he had determined to make war with the Romans,
slew him, and gave his kingdom to his brother Gotarzes. He also, in no
long time, perished by a plot made against him, and Vologases, his brother,
succeeded him, who committed two of his provinces to two of his brothers
by the same father; that of the Medes to the elder, Pacorus; and Armenia
to the younger, Tiridates.
CHAPTER 4.
HOW IZATES WAS BETRAYED BY HIS OWN SUBJECTS, AND FOUGHT AGAINST
BY THE ARABIANS AND HOW IZATES, BY THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD, WAS DELIVERED
OUT OF THEIR HANDS.
1. NOW when the king's brother, Monobazus, and his other kindred, saw
how Izates, by his piety to God, was become greatly esteemed by all men,
they also had a desire to leave the religion of their country, and to embrace
the customs of the Jews; but that act of theirs was discovered by Izates's
subjects. Whereupon the grandees were much displeased, and could not contain
their anger at them; but had an intention, when they should find a proper
opportunity, to inflict a punishment upon them. Accordingly, they wrote
to Abia, king of the Arabians, and promised him great sums of money, if
he would make an expedition against their king; and they further promised
him, that, on the first onset, they would desert their king, because they
were desirous to punish him, by reason of the hatred he had to their religious
worship; then they obliged themselves, by oaths, to be faithful to each
other, and desired that he would make haste in this design. The king of
Arabia complied with their desires, and brought a great army into the field,
and marched against Izates; and, in the beginning of the first onset, and
before they came to a close fight, those Handees, as if they had a panic
terror upon them, all deserted Izates, as they had agreed to do, and, turning
their backs upon their enemies, ran away. Yet was not Izates dismayed at
this; but when he understood that the grandees had betrayed him, he also
retired into his camp, and made inquiry into the matter; and as soon as
he knew who they were that made this conspiracy with the king of Arabia,
he cut off those that were found guilty; and renewing the fight on the
next day, he slew the greatest part of his enemies, and forced all the
rest to betake themselves to flight. He also pursued their king, and drove
him into a fortress called Arsamus, and following on the siege vigorously,
he took that fortress. And when he had plundered it of all the prey that
was in it, which was not small, he returned to Adiabene; yet did not he
take Abia alive, because, when he found himself encompassed on every side,
he slew himself.
2. But although the grandees of Adiabene had failed in their first attempt,
as being delivered up by God into their king's hands, yet would they not
even then be quiet, but wrote again to Vologases, who was then king of
Parthia, and desired that he would kill Izates, and set over them some
other potentate, who should be of a Parthian family; for they said that
they hated their own king for abrogating the laws of their forefathers,
and embracing foreign customs. When the king of Parthia heard this, he
boldly made war upon Izates; and as he had no just pretense for this war,
he sent to him, and demanded back those honorable privileges which had
been bestowed on him by his father, and threatened, on his refusal, to
make war upon him. Upon hearing of this, Izates was under no small trouble
of mind, as thinking it would be a reproach upon him to appear to resign
those privileges that had been bestowed upon him out of cowardice; yet
because he knew, that though the king of Parthia should receive back those
honors, yet would he not be quiet, he resolved to commit himself to God,
his Protector, in the present danger he was in of his life; and as he esteemed
him to be his principal assistant, he intrusted his children and his wives
to a very strong fortress, and laid up his corn in his citadels, and set
the hay and the grass on fire. And when he had thus put things in order,
as well as he could, he awaited the coming of the enemy. And when the king
of Parthia was come, with a great army of footmen and horsemen, which he
did sooner than was expected, (for he marched in great haste,) and had
cast up a bank at the river that parted Adiabene from Media, - Izates also
pitched his camp not far off, having with him six thousand horsemen. But
there came a messenger to Izates, sent by the king of Parthia, who told
him how large his dominions were, as reaching from the river Euphrates
to Bactria, and enumerated that king's subjects; he also threatened him
that he should be punished, as a person ungrateful to his lords; and said
that the God whom he worshipped could not deliver him out of the king's
hands. When the messenger had delivered this his message, Izates replied
that he knew the king of Parthia's power was much greater than his own;
but that he knew also that God was much more powerful than all men. And
when he had returned him this answer, he betook himself to make supplication
to God, and threw himself upon the ground, and put ashes upon his head,
in testimony of his confusion, and fasted, together with his wives and
children. (7)
Then he called upon God, and said, "O Lord and Governor, if I have
not in vain committed myself to thy goodness, but have justly determined
that thou only art the Lord and principal of all beings, come now to my
assistance, and defend me from my enemies, not only on my own account,
but on account of their insolent behavior with regard to thy power, while
they have not feared to lift up their proud and arrogant tongue against
thee." Thus did he lament and bemoan himself, with tears in his eyes;
whereupon God heard his prayer. And immediately that very night Vologases
received letters, the contents of which were these, that a great band of
Dahe and Sacse, despising him, now he was gone so long a journey from home,
had made an expedition, and laid Parthis waste; so that he [was forced
to] retire back, without doing any thing. And thus it was that Izates escaped
the threatenings of the Parthians, by the providence of God.
3. It was not long ere Izates died, when he had completed fifty-five
years of his life, and had ruled his kingdom twenty-four years. He left
behind him twenty-four sons and twenty-four daughters. However, he gave
order that his brother Monobazus should succeed in the government, thereby
requiting him, because, while he was himself absent after their father's
death, he had faithfully preserved the government for him. But when Helena,
his mother, heard of her son's death, she was in great heaviness, as was
but natural, upon her loss of such a most dutiful son; yet was it a comfort
to her that she heard the succession came to her eldest son. Accordingly,
she went to him in haste; and when she was come into Adiabene, she did
not long outlive her son Izates. But Monobazus sent her bones, as well
as those of Izates, his brother, to Jerusalem, and gave order that they
should be buried at the pyramids (8)
which their mother had erected; they were three in number, and distant
no more than three furlongs from the city Jerusalem. But for the actions
of Monobazus the king, which he did during the rest of his life. we will
relate them hereafter.-
CHAPTER 5.
CONCERNING THEUDAS AND THE SONS OF JUDAS THE GALILEAN; AS
ALSO WHAT CALAMITY FELL UPON THE JEWS ON THE DAY OF THE PASSOVER.
1. NOW it came to pass, while Fadus was procurator of Judea, that a
certain magician, whose name was Theudas, (9)
persuaded a great part of the people to take their effects with them, and
follow him to the river Jordan; for he told them he was a prophet, and
that he would, by his own command, divide the river, and afford them an
easy passage over it; and many were deluded by his words. However, Fadus
did not permit them to make any advantage of his wild attempt, but sent
a troop of horsemen out against them; who, falling upon them unexpectedly,
slew many of them, and took many of them alive. They also took Theudas
alive, and cut off his head, and carried it to Jerusalem. This was what
befell the Jews in the time of Cuspius Fadus's government.
2. Then came Tiberius Alexander as successor to Fadus; he was the son
of Alexander the alabarch of Alexandria, which Alexander was a principal
person among all his contemporaries, both for his family and wealth: he
was also more eminent for his piety than this his son Alexander, for he
did not continue in the religion of his country. Under these procurators
that great famine happened in Judea, in which queen Helena bought corn
in Egypt at a great expense, and distributed it to those that were in want,
as I have related already. And besides this, the sons of Judas of Galilee
were now slain; I mean of that Judas who caused the people to revolt, when
Cyrenius came to take an account of the estates of the Jews, as we have
showed in a foregoing book. The names of those sons were James and Simon,
whom Alexander commanded to be crucified. But now Herod, king of Chalcis,
removed Joseph, the son of Camydus, from the high priesthood, and made
Ananias, the son of Nebedeu, his successor. And now it was that Cumanus
came as successor to Tiberius Alexander; as also that Herod, brother of
Agrippa the great king, departed this life, in the eighth year of the reign
of Claudius Caesar. He left behind him three sons; Aristobulus, whom he
had by his first wife, with Bernicianus, and Hyrcanus, both whom he had
by Bernice his brother's daughter. But Claudius Caesar bestowed his dominions
on Agrippa, junior.
3. Now while the Jewish affairs were under the administration of Cureanus,
there happened a great tumult at the city of Jerusalem, and many of the
Jews perished therein. But I shall first explain the occasion whence it
was derived. When that feast which is called the passover was at hand,
at which time our custom is to use unleavened bread, and a great multitude
was gathered together from all parts to that feast, Cumanus was afraid
lest some attempt of innovation should then be made by them; so he ordered
that one regiment of the army should take their arms, and stand in the
temple cloisters, to repress any attempts of innovation, if perchance any
such should begin; and this was no more than what the former procurators
of Judea did at such festivals. But on the fourth day of the feast, a certain
soldier let down his breeches, and exposed his privy members to the multitude,
which put those that saw him into a furious rage, and made them cry out
that this impious action was not done to approach them, but God himself;
nay, some of them reproached Cumanus, and pretended that the soldier was
set on by him, which, when Cumanus heard, he was also himself not a little
provoked at such reproaches laid upon him; yet did he exhort them to leave
off such seditious attempts, and not to raise a tumult at the festival.
But when he could not induce them to be quiet for they still went on in
their reproaches to him, he gave order that the whole army should take
their entire armor, and come to Antonia, which was a fortress, as we have
said already, which overlooked the temple; but when the multitude saw the
soldiers there, they were affrighted at them, and ran away hastily; but
as the passages out were but narrow, and as they thought their enemies
followed them, they were crowded together in their flight, and a great
number were pressed to death in those narrow passages; nor indeed was the
number fewer than twenty thousand that perished in this tumult. So instead
of a festival, they had at last a mournful day of it; and they all of them
forgot their prayers and sacrifices, and betook themselves to lamentation
and weeping; so great an affliction did the impudent obsceneness of a single
soldier bring upon them. (10)
4. Now before this their first mourning was over, another mischief befell
them also; for some of those that raised the foregoing tumult, when they
were traveling along the public road, about a hundred furlongs from the
city, robbed Stephanus, a servant of Caesar, as he was journeying, and
plundered him of all that he had with him; which things when Cureanus heard
of, he sent soldiers immediately, and ordered them to plunder the neighboring
villages, and to bring the most eminent persons among them in bonds to
him. Now as this devastation was making, one of the soldiers seized the
laws of Moses that lay in one of those villages, and brought them out before
the eyes of all present, and tore them to pieces; and this was done with
reproachful language, and much scurrility; which things when the Jews heard
of, they ran together, and that in great numbers, and came down to Cesarea,
where Cumanus then was, and besought him that he would avenge, not themselves,
but God himself, whose laws had been affronted; for that they could not
bear to live any longer, if the laws of their forefathers must be affronted
after this manner. Accordingly Cumanus, out of fear lest the multitude
should go into a sedition, and by the advice of his friends also, took
care that the soldier who had offered the affront to the laws should be
beheaded, and thereby put a stop to the sedition which was ready to be
kindled a second time.
CHAPTER 6.
HOW THERE HAPPENED A QUARREL BETWEEN THE JEWS AND THE SAMARITANS;
AND HOW CLAUDIUS PUT AN END TO THEIR DIFFERENCES.
1. NOW there arose a quarrel between the Samaritans and the Jews on
the occasion following: It was the custom of the Galileans, when they came
to the holy city at the festivals, to take their journeys through the country
of the Samaritans; (11)
and at this time there lay, in the road they took, a village that was called
Ginea, which was situated in the limits of Samaria and the great plain,
where certain persons thereto belonging fought with the Galileans, and
killed a great many of them. But when the principal of the Galileans were
informed of what had been done, they came to Cumanus, and desired him to
avenge the murder of those that were killed; but he was induced by the
Samaritans, with money, to do nothing in the matter; upon which the Galileans
were much displeased, and persuaded the multitude of the Jews to betake
themselves to arms, and to regain their liberty, saying that slavery was
in itself a bitter thing, but that when it was joined with direct injuries,
it was perfectly intolerable, And when their principal men endeavored to
pacify them, and promised to endeavor to persuade Cureanus to avenge those
that were killed, they would not hearken to them, but took their weapons,
and entreated the assistance of Eleazar, the son of Dineus, a robber, who
had many years made his abode in the mountains, with which assistance they
plundered many villages of the Samaritans. When Cumanus heard of this action
of theirs, he took the band of Sebaste, with four regiments of footmen,
and armed the Samaritans, and marched out against the Jews, and caught
them, and slew many of them, and took a great number of them alive; whereupon
those that were the most eminent persons at Jerusalem, and that both in
regard to the respect that was paid them, and the families they were of,
as soon as they saw to what a height things were gone, put on sackcloth,
and heaped ashes upon their heads, and by all possible means besought the
seditious, and persuaded them that they would set before their eyes the
utter subversion of their country, the conflagration of their temple, and
the slavery of themselves, their wives, and children, (12)
which would be the consequences of what they were doing; and would alter
their minds, would cast away their weapons, and for the future be quiet,
and return to their own homes. These persuasions of theirs prevailed upon
them. So the people dispersed themselves, and the robbers went away again
to their places of strength; and after this time all Judea was overrun
with robberies.
2. But the principal of the Samaritans went to Ummidius Quadratus, the
president of Syria, who at that time was at Tyre, and accused the Jews
of setting their villages on fire, and plundering them; and said withal,
that they were not so much displeased at what they had suffered, as they
were at the contempt thereby showed the Romans; while if they had received
any injury, they ought to have made them the judges of what had been done,
and not presently to make such devastation, as if they had not the Romans
for their governors; on which account they came to him, in order to obtain
that vengeance they wanted. This was the accusation which the Samaritans
brought against the Jews. But the Jews affirmed that the Samaritans were
the authors of this tumult and fighting, and that, in the first place,
Cumanus had been corrupted by their gifts, and passed over the murder of
those that were slain in silence; - which allegations when Quadratus heard,
he put off the hearing of the cause, and promised that he would give sentence
when he should come into Judea, and should have a more exact knowledge
of the truth of that matter. So these men went away without success. Yet
was it not long ere Quadratus came to Samaria, where, upon hearing the
cause, he supposed that the Samaritans were the authors of that disturbance.
But when he was informed that certain of the Jews were making innovations,
he ordered those to be crucified whom Cumanus had taken captives. From
whence he came to a certain village called Lydda, which was not less than
a city in largeness, and there heard the Samaritan cause a second time
before his tribunal, and there learned from a certain Samaritan that one
of the chief of the Jews, whose name was Dortus, and some other innovators
with him, four in number, persuaded the multitude to a revolt from the
Romans; whom Quadratus ordered to be put to death: but still he sent away
Ananias the high priest, and Ananus the commander [of the temple], in bonds
to Rome, to give an account of what they had done to Claudius Caesar. He
also ordered the principal men, both of the Samaritans and of the Jews,
as also Cumanus the procurator, and Ceier the tribune, to go to Italy to
the emperor, that he might hear their cause, and determine their differences
one with another. But he came again to the city of Jerusalem, out of his
fear that the multitude of the Jews should attempt some innovations; but
he found the city in a peaceable state, and celebrating one of the usual
festivals of their country to God. So he believed that they would not attempt
any innovations, and left them at the celebration of the festival, and
returned to Antioch.
3. Now Cumanus, and the principal of the Samaritans, who were sent to
Rome, had a day appointed them by the emperor whereon they were to have
pleaded their cause about the quarrels they had one with another. But now
Caesar's freed-men and his friends were very zealous on the behalf of Cumanus
and the Samaritans; and they had prevailed over the Jews, unless Agrippa,
junior, who was then at Rome, had seen the principal of the Jews hard set,
and had earnestly entreated Agrippina, the emperor's wife, to persuade
her husband to hear the cause, so as was agreeable to his justice, and
to condemn those to be punished who were really the authors of this revolt
from the Roman government: - whereupon Claudius was so well disposed beforehand,
that when he had heard the cause, and found that the Samaritans had been
the ringleaders in those mischievous doings, he gave order that those who
came up to him should be slain, and that Cureanus should be banished. He
also gave order that Celer the tribune should be carried back to Jerusalem,
and should be drawn through the city in the sight of all the people, and
then should be slain.
CHAPTER 7.
FELIX IS MADE PROCURATOR OF JUDEA; AS ALSO CONCERNING AGRIPPA,
JUNIOR AND HIS SISTERS.
1. SO Claudius sent Felix, the brother of Pallas, to take care of the
affairs of Judea; and when he had already completed the twelfth year of
his reign, he bestowed upon Agrippa the tetrarchy of Philip and Batanea,
and added thereto Trachonites, with Abila; which last had been the tetrarchy
of Lysanias; but he took from him Chalcis, when he had been governor thereof
four years. And when Agrippa had received these countries as the gift of
Caesar, he gave his sister Drusilla in marriage to Azizus, king of Emesa,
upon his consent to be circumcised; for Epiphanes, the son of king Antiochus,
had refused to marry her, because, after he had promised her father formerly
to come over to the Jewish religion, he would not now perform that promise.
He also gave Mariamne in marriage to Archelaus, the son of Helcias, to
whom she had formerly been betrothed by Agrippa her father; from which
marriage was derived a daughter, whose name was Bernice.
2. But for the marriage of Drusilla with Azizus, it was in no long time
afterward dissolved upon the following occasion: While Felix was procurator
of Judea, he saw this Drusilla, and fell in love with her; for she did
indeed exceed all other women in beauty; and he sent to her a person whose
name was Simon (13)
one of his friends; a Jew he was, and by birth a Cypriot, and one who pretended
to be a magician, and endeavored to persuade her to forsake her present
husband, and marry him; and promised, that if she would not refuse him,
he would make her a happy woman. Accordingly she acted ill, and because
she was desirous to avoid her sister Bernice's envy, for she was very ill
treated by her on account of her beauty, was prevailed upon to transgress
the laws of her forefathers, and to marry Felix; and when he had had a
son by her, he named him Agrippa. But after what manner that young man,
with his wife, perished at the conflagration of the mountain Vesuvius,
(14)
in the days of Titus Caesar, shall be related hereafter. (15)
3. But as for Bernice, she lived a widow a long while after the death
of Herod [king of Chalcis], who was both her husband and her uncle; but
when the report went that she had criminal conversation with her brother,
[Agrippa, junior,] she persuaded Poleme, who was king of Cilicia, to be
circumcised, and to marry her, as supposing that by this means she should
prove those calumnies upon her to be false; and Poleme was prevailed upon,
and that chiefly on account of her riches. Yet did not this matrimony endure
long; but Bernice left Poleme, and, as was said, with impure intentions.
So he forsook at once this matrimony, and the Jewish religion; and, at
the same time, Mariamne put away Archclaus, and was married to Demetrius,
the principal man among the Alexandrian Jews, both for his family and his
wealth; and indeed he was then their alabarch. So she named her son whom
she had by him Agrippinus. But of all these particulars we shall hereafter
treat more exactly. (16)
CHAPTER 8.
AFTER WHAT MANNER UPON THE DEATH OF CLAUDIUS, NERO SUCCEEDED
IN THE GOVERNMENT; AS ALSO WHAT BARBAROUS THINGS HE DID. CONCERNING THE
ROBBERS, MURDERERS AND IMPOSTORS, THAT AROSE WHILE FELIX AND FESTUS WERE
PROCURATORS OF JUDEA.
1. NOW Claudius Caesar died when he had reigned thirteen years, eight
months, and twenty days; (17)
and a report went about that he was poisoned by his wife Agrippina. Her
father was Germanicus, the brother of Caesar. Her husband was Domitius
Aenobarbus, one of the most illustrious persons that was in the city of
Rome; after whose death, and her long continuance in widowhood, Claudius
took her to wife. She brought along with her a son, Domtitus, of the same
name with his father. He had before this slain his wife Messalina, out
of jealousy, by whom he had his children Britannicus and Octavia; their
eldest sister was Antonia, whom he had by Pelina his first wife. He also
married Octavia to Nero; for that was the name that Caesar gave him afterward,
upon his adopting him for his son.
2. But now Agrippina was afraid, lest, when Britannicus should come
to man's estate, he should succeed his father in the government, and desired
to seize upon the principality beforehand for her own son [Nero]; upon
which the report went that she thence compassed the death of Claudius.
Accordingly, she sent Burrhus, the general of the army, immediately, and
with him the tribunes, and such also of the freed-men as were of the greatest
authority, to bring Nero away into the camp, and to salute him emperor.
And when Nero had thus obtained the government, he got Britannicus to be
so poisoned, that the multitude should not perceive it; although he publicly
put his own mother to death not long afterward, making her this requital,
not only for being born of her, but for bringing it so about by her contrivances
that he obtained the Roman empire. He also slew Octavia his own wife, and
many other illustrious persons, under this pretense, that they plotted
against him.
3. But I omit any further discourse about these affairs; for there have
been a great many who have composed the history of Nero; some of which
have departed from the truth of facts out of favor, as having received
benefits from him; while others, out of hatred to him, and the great ill-will
which they bare him, have so impudently raved against him with their lies,
that they justly deserve to be condemned. Nor do I wonder at such as have
told lies of Nero, since they have not in their writings preserved the
truth of history as to those facts that were earlier than his time, even
when the actors could have no way incurred their hatred, since those writers
lived a long time after them. But as to those that have no regard to truth,
they may write as they please; for in that they take delight: but as to
ourselves, who have made truth our direct aim, we shall briefly touch upon
what only belongs remotely to this undertaking, but shall relate what hath
happened to us Jews with great accuracy, and shall not grudge our pains
in giving an account both of the calamities we have suffered, and of the
crimes we have been guilty of. I will now therefore return to the relation
of our own affairs.
4. For in the first year of the reign of Nero, upon the death of Azizus,
king of Emesa, Soemus, his brother, succeeded in his kingdom, and Aristobulus,
the son of Herod, king of Chalcis, was intrusted by Nero with the government
of the Lesser Armenia. Caesar also bestowed on Agrippa a certain part of
Galilee, Tiberias, and Tarichae, (18)
and ordered them to submit to his jurisdiction. He gave him also Julias,
a city of Perea, with fourteen villages that lay about it.
5. Now as for the affairs of the Jews, they grew worse and worse continually,
for the country was again filled with robbers and impostors, who deluded
the multitude. Yet did Felix catch and put to death many of those impostors
every day, together with the robbers. He also caught Eleazar, the son of
Dineas, who had gotten together a company of robbers; and this he did by
treachery; for he gave him assurance that he should suffer no harm, and
thereby persuaded him to come to him; but when he came, he bound him, and
sent him to Rome. Felix also bore an ill-will to Jonathan, the high priest,
because he frequently gave him admonitions about governing the Jewish affairs
better than he did, lest he should himself have complaints made of him
by the multitude, since he it was who had desired Caesar to send him as
procurator of Judea. So Felix contrived a method whereby he might get rid
of him, now he was become so continually troublesome to him; for such continual
admonitions are grievous to those who are disposed to act unjustly. Wherefore
Felix persuaded one of Jonathan's most faithful friends, a citizen of Jerusalem,
whose name was Doras, to bring the robbers upon Jonathan, in order to kill
him; and this he did by promising to give him a great deal of money for
so doing. Doras complied with the proposal, and contrived matters so, that
the robbers might murder him after the following manner: Certain of those
robbers went up to the city, as if they were going to worship God, while
they had daggers under their garments, and by thus mingling themselves
among the multitude they slew Jonathan (19)
and as this murder was never avenged, the robbers went up with the greatest
security at the festivals after this time; and having weapons concealed
in like manner as before, and mingling themselves among the multitude,
they slew certain of their own enemies, and were subservient to other men
for money; and slew others, not only in remote parts of the city, but in
the temple itself also; for they had the boldness to murder men there,
without thinking of the impiety of which they were guilty. And this seems
to me to have been the reason why God, out of his hatred of these men's
wickedness, rejected our city; and as for the temple, he no longer esteemed
it sufficiently pure for him to inhabit therein, but brought the Romans
upon us, and threw a fire upon the city to purge it; and brought upon us,
our wives, and children, slavery, as desirous to make us wiser by our calamities.
6. These works, that were done by the robbers, filled the city with
all sorts of impiety. And now these impostors and deceivers persuaded the
multitude to follow them into the wilderness, and pretended that they would
exhibit manifest wonders and signs, that should be performed by the providence
of God. And many that were prevailed on by them suffered the punishments
of their folly; for Felix brought them back, and then punished them. Moreover,
there came out of Egypt (20)
about this time to Jerusalem one that said he was a prophet, and advised
the multitude of the common people to go along with him to the Mount of
Olives, as it was called, which lay over against the city, and at the distance
of five furlongs. He said further, that he would show them from hence how,
at his command, the walls of Jerusalem would fall down; and he promised
them that he would procure them an entrance into the city through those
walls, when they were fallen down. Now when Felix was informed of these
things, he ordered his soldiers to take their weapons, and came against
them with a great number of horsemen and footmen from Jerusalem, and attacked
the Egyptian and the people that were with him. He also slew four hundred
of them, and took two hundred alive. But the Egyptian himself escaped out
of the fight, but did not appear any more. And again the robbers stirred
up the people to make war with the Romans, and said they ought not to obey
them at all; and when any persons would not comply with them, they set
fire to their villages, and plundered them.
7. And now it was that a great sedition arose between the Jews that
inhabited Cesarea, and the Syrians who dwelt there also, concerning their
equal right to the privileges belonging to citizens; for the Jews claimed
the pre-eminence, because Herod their king was the builder of Cesarea,
and because he was by birth a Jew. Now the Syrians did not deny what was
alleged about Herod; but they said that Cesarea was formerly called Strato's
Tower, and that then there was not one Jewish inhabitant. When the presidents
of that country heard of these disorders, they caught the authors of them
on both sides, and tormented them with stripes, and by that means put a
stop to the disturbance for a time. But the Jewish citizens depending on
their wealth, and on that account despising the Syrians, reproached them
again, and hoped to provoke them by such reproaches. However, the Syrians,
though they were inferior in wealth, yet valuing themselves highly on this
account, that the greatest part of the Roman soldiers that were there were
either of Cesarea or Sebaste, they also for some time used reproachful
language to the Jews also; and thus it was, till at length they came to
throwing stones at one another, and several were wounded, and fell on both
sides, though still the Jews were the conquerors. But when Felix saw that
this quarrel was become a kind of war, he came upon them on the sudden,
and desired the Jews to desist; and when they refused so to do, he armed
his soldiers, and sent them out upon them, and slew many of them, and took
more of them alive, and permitted his soldiers to plunder some of the houses
of the citizens, which were full of riches. Now those Jews that were more
moderate, and of principal dignity among them, were afraid of themselves,
and desired of Felix that he would sound a retreat to his soldiers, and
spare them for the future, and afford them room for repentance for what
they had done; and Felix was prevailed upon to do so.
8. About this time king Agrippa gave the high priesthood to Ismael,
who was the son of Fabi. And now arose a sedition between the high priests
and the principal men of the multitude of Jerusalem; each of which got
them a company of the boldest sort of men, and of those that loved innovations
about them, and became leaders to them; and when they struggled together,
they did it by casting reproachful words against one another, and by throwing
stones also. And there was nobody to reprove them; but these disorders
were done after a licentious manner in the city, as if it had no government
over it. And such was the impudence (21)
and boldness that had seized on the high priests, that they had the hardiness
to send their servants into the threshing-floors, to take away those tithes
that were due to the priests, insomuch that it so fell out that the poorest
sort of the priests died for want. To this degree did the violence of the
seditious prevail over all right and justice.
9. Now when Porcius Festus was sent as successor to Felix by Nero, the
principal of the Jewish inhabitants of Cesarea went up to Rome to accuse
Felix; and he had certainly been brought to punishment, unless Nero had
yielded to the importunate solicitations of his brother Pallas, who was
at that time had in the greatest honor by him. Two of the principal Syrians
in Cesarea persuaded Burrhus, who was Nero's tutor, and secretary for his
Greek epistles, by giving him a great sum of money, to disannul that equality
of the Jewish privileges of citizens which they hitherto enjoyed. So Burrhus,
by his solicitations, obtained leave of the emperor that an epistle should
be written to that purpose. This epistle became the occasion of the following
miseries that befell our nation; for when the Jews of Cesarea were informed
of the contents of this epistle to the Syrians, they were more disorderly
than before, till a war was kindled.
10. Upon Festus's coming into Judea, it happened that Judea was afflicted
by the robbers, while all the villages were set on fire, and plundered
by them. And then it was that the sicarii, as they were called,
who were robbers, grew numerous. They made use of small swords, not much
different in length from the Persian acinacae, but somewhat crooked,
and like the Roman sicae, [or sickles,] as they were called; and
from these weapons these robbers got their denomination; and with these
weapons they slew a great many; for they mingled themselves among the multitude
at their festivals, when they were come up in crowds from all parts to
the city to worship God, as we said before, and easily slew those that
they had a mind to slay. They also came frequently upon the villages belonging
to their enemies, with their weapons, and plundered them, and set them
on fire. So Festus sent forces, both horsemen and footmen, to fall upon
those that had been seduced by a certain impostor, who promised them deliverance
and freedom from the miseries they were under, if they would but follow
him as far as the wilderness. Accordingly, those forces that were sent
destroyed both him that had deluded them, and those that were his followers
also.
11. About the same time king Agrippa built himself a very large dining-room
in the royal palace at Jerusalem, near to the portico. Now this palace
had been erected of old by the children of Asamoneus. and was situate upon
an elevation, and afforded a most delightful prospect to those that had
a mind to take a view of the city, which prospect was desired by the king;
and there he could lie down, and eat, and thence observe what was done
in the temple; which thing, when the chief men of Jerusalem saw they were
very much displeased at it; for it was not agreeable to the institutions
of our country or law that what was done in the temple should be viewed
by others, especially what belonged to the sacrifices. They therefore erected
a wall upon the uppermost building which belonged to the inner court of
the temple towards the west, which wall when it was built, did not only
intercept the prospect of the dining-room in the palace, but also of the
western cloisters that belonged to the outer court of the temple also,
where it was that the Romans kept guards for the temple at the festivals.
At these doings both king Agrippa, and principally Festus the procurator,
were much displeased; and Festus ordered them to pull the wall down again:
but the Jews petitioned him to give them leave to send an embassage about
this matter to Nero; for they said they could not endure to live if any
part of the temple should be demolished; and when Festus had given them
leave so to do, they sent ten of their principal men to Nero, as also Ismael
the high priest, and Helcias, the keeper of the sacred treasure. And when
Nero had heard what they had to say, he not only forgave (22)
them what they had already done, but also gave them leave to let the wall
they had built stand. This was granted them in order to gratify Poppea,
Nero's wife, who was a religious woman, and had requested these favors
of Nero, and who gave order to the ten ambassadors to go their way home;
but retained Helcias and Ismael as hostages with herself. As soon as the
king heard this news, he gave the high priesthood to Joseph, who was called
Cabi, the son of Simon, formerly high priest.
CHAPTER 9.
CONCERNING ALBINUS UNDER WHOSE PROCURATORSHIP JAMES WAS SLAIN;
AS ALSO WHAT EDIFICES WERE BUILT BY AGRIPPA.
1. AND now Caesar, upon hearing the death of Festus, sent Albinus into
Judea, as procurator. But the king deprived Joseph of the high priesthood,
and bestowed the succession to that dignity on the son of Ananus, who was
also himself called Ananus. Now the report goes that this eldest Ananus
proved a most fortunate man; for he had five sons who had all performed
the office of a high priest to God, and who had himself enjoyed that dignity
a long time formerly, which had never happened to any other of our high
priests. But this younger Ananus, who, as we have told you already, took
the high priesthood, was a bold man in his temper, and very insolent; he
was also of the sect of the Sadducees, (23)
who are very rigid in judging offenders, above all the rest of the Jews,
as we have already observed; when, therefore, Ananus was of this disposition,
he thought he had now a proper opportunity [to exercise his authority].
Festus was now dead, and Albinus was but upon the road; so he assembled
the sanhedrim of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus,
who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others, [or, some
of his companions]; and when he had formed an accusation against them as
breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned: but as for those who
seemed the most equitable of the citizens, and such as were the most uneasy
at the breach of the laws, they disliked what was done; they also sent
to the king [Agrippa], desiring him to send to Ananus that he should act
so no more, for that what he had already done was not to be justified;
nay, some of them went also to meet Albinus, as he was upon his journey
from Alexandria, and informed him that it was not lawful for Ananus to
assemble a sanhedrim without his consent. (24)
Whereupon Albinus complied with what they said, and wrote in anger to Ananus,
and threatened that he would bring him to punishment for what he had done;
on which king Agrippa took the high priesthood from him, when he had ruled
but three months, and made Jesus, the son of Damneus, high priest.
2. Now as soon as Albinus was come to the city of Jerusalem, he used
all his endeavors and care that the country might be kept in peace, and
this by destroying many of the Sicarii. But as for the high priest,
Ananias (25)
he increased in glory every day, and this to a great degree, and had obtained
the favor and esteem of the citizens in a signal manner; for he was a great
hoarder up of money: he therefore cultivated the friendship of Albinus,
and of the high priest [Jesus], by making them presents; he also had servants
who were very wicked, who joined themselves to the boldest sort of the
people, and went to the thrashing-floors, and took away the tithes that
belonged to the priests by violence, and did not refrain from beating such
as would not give these tithes to them. So the other high priests acted
in the like manner, as did those his servants, without any one being able
to prohibit them; so that [some of the] priests, that of old were wont
to be supported with those tithes, died for want of food.
3. But now the Sicarii went into the city by night, just before
the festival, which was now at hand, and took the scribe belonging to the
governor of the temple, whose name was Eleazar, who was the son of Ananus
[Ananias] the high priest, and bound him, and carried him away with them;
after which they sent to Ananias, and said that they would send the scribe
to him, if he would persuade Albinus to release ten of those prisoners
which he had caught of their party; so Ananias was plainly forced to persuade
Albinus, and gained his request of him. This was the beginning of greater
calamities; for the robbers perpetually contrived to catch some of Ananias's
servants; and when they had taken them alive, they would not let them go,
till they thereby recovered some of their own Sicarii. And as they
were again become no small number, they grew bold, and were a great affliction
to the whole country.
4. About this time it was that king Agrippa built Cesarea Philippi larger
than it was before, and, in honor of Nero, named it Neronlas. And when
he had built a theater at Berytus, with vast expenses, he bestowed on them
shows, to be exhibited every year, and spent therein many ten thousand
[drachmae]; he also gave the people a largess of corn, and distributed
oil among them, and adorned the entire city with statues of his own donation,
and with original images made by ancient hands; nay, he almost transferred
all that was most ornamental in his own kingdom thither. This made him
more than ordinarily hated by his subjects, because he took those things
away that belonged to them to adorn a foreign city. And now Jesus, the
son of Gamaliel, became the successor of Jesus, the son of Damneus, in
the high priesthood, which the king had taken from the other; on which
account a sedition arose between the high priests, with regard to one another;
for they got together bodies of the boldest sort of the people, and frequently
came, from reproaches, to throwing of stones at each other. But Ananias
was too hard for the rest, by his riches, which enabled him to gain those
that were most ready to receive. Costobarus also, and Saulus, did themselves
get together a multitude of wicked wretches, and this because they were
of the royal family; and so they obtained favor among them, because of
their kindred to Agrippa; but still they used violence with the people,
and were very ready to plunder those that were weaker than themselves.
And from that time it principally came to pass that our city was greatly
disordered, and that all things grew worse and worse among us.
5. But when Albinus heard that Gessius Florus was coming to succeed
him, he was desirous to appear to do somewhat that might be grateful to
the people of Jerusalem; so he brought out all those prisoners who seemed
to him to be most plainly worthy of death, and ordered them to be put to
death accordingly. But as to those who had been put into prison on some
trifling occasions, he took money of them, and dismissed them; by which
means the prisons were indeed emptied, but the country was filled with
robbers.
6. Now as many of the Levites, (26)
which is a tribe of ours, as were singers of hymns, persuaded the king
to assemble a sanhedrim, and to give them leave to wear linen garments,
as well as the priests for they said that this would be a work worthy the
times of his government, that he might have a memorial of such a novelty,
as being his doing. Nor did they fail of obtaining their desire; for the
king, with the suffrages of those that came into the sanhedrim, granted
the singers of hymns this privilege, that they might lay aside their former
garments, and wear such a linen one as they desired; and as a part of this
tribe ministered in the temple, he also permitted them to learn those hymns
as they had besought him for. Now all this was contrary to the laws of
our country, which, whenever they have been transgressed, we have never
been able to avoid the punishment of such transgressions.
7. And now it was that the temple was finished. So when the people saw
that the workmen were unemployed, who were above eighteen thousand and
that they, receiving no wages, were in want because they had earned their
bread by their labors about the temple; and while they were unwilling to
keep by them the treasures that were there deposited, out of fear of [their
being carried away by] the Romans; and while they had a regard to the making
provision for the workmen; they had a mind to expend these treasures upon
them; for if any one of them did but labor for a single hour, he received
his pay immediately; so they persuaded him to rebuild the eastern cloisters.
These cloisters belonged to the outer court, and were situated in a deep
valley, and had walls that reached four hundred cubits [in length], and
were built of square and very white stones, the length of each of which
stones was twenty cubits, and their height six cubits. This was the work
of king Solomon, (27)
who first of all built the entire temple. But king Agrippa, who had the
care of the temple committed to him by Claudius Caesar, considering that
it is easy to demolish any building, but hard to build it up again, and
that it was particularly hard to do it to these cloisters, which would
require a considerable time, and great sums of money, he denied the petitioners
their request about that matter; but he did not obstruct them when they
desired the city might be paved with white stone. He also deprived Jesus,
the son of Gamaliel, of the high priesthood, and gave it to Matthias, the
son of Theophilus, under whom the Jews' war with the Romans took its beginning.
CHAPTER 10.
AN ENUMERATION OF THE HIGH PRIESTS.
1. AND now I think it proper and agreeable to this history to give an
account of our high priests; how they began, who those are which are capable
of that dignity, and how many of them there had been at the end of the
war. In the first place, therefore, history informs us that Aaron, the
brother of Moses, officiated to God as a high priest, and that, after his
death, his sons succeeded him immediately; and that this dignity hath been
continued down from them all to their posterity. Whence it is a custom
of our country, that no one should take the high priesthood of God but
he who is of the blood of Aaron, while every one that is of another stock,
though he were a king, can never obtain that high priesthood. Accordingly,
the number of all the high priests from Aaron, of whom we have spoken already,
as of the first of them, until Phanas, who was made high priest during
the war by the seditious, was eighty-three; of whom thirteen officiated
as high priests in the wilderness, from the days of Moses, while the tabernacle
was standing, until the people came into Judea, when king Solomon erected
the temple to God; for at the first they held the high priesthood till
the end of their life, although afterward they had successors while they
were alive. Now these thirteen, who were the descendants of two of the
sons of Aaron, received this dignity by succession, one after another;
for their form of government was an aristocracy, and after that a monarchy,
and in the third place the government was regal Now the number of years
during the rule of these thirteen, from the day when our fathers departed
out of Egypt, under Moses their leader, until the building of that temple
which king Solomon erected at Jerusalem, were six hundred and twelve. After
those thirteen high priests, eighteen took the high priesthood at Jerusalem,
one m succession to another, from the days of king Solomon, until Nebuchadnezzar,
king of Babylon, made an expedition against that city, and burnt the temple,
and removed our nation into Babylon, and then took Josadek, the high priest,
captive; the times of these high priests were four hundred and sixty-six
years, six months, and ten days, while the Jews were still under the regal
government. But after the term of seventy years' captivity under the Babylonians,
Cyrus, king of Persia, sent the Jews from Babylon to their own land again,
and gave them leave to rebuild their temple; at which time Jesus, the son
of Josadek, took the high priesthood over the captives when they were returned
home. Now he and his posterity, who were in all fifteen, until king Antiochus
Eupator, were under a democratical government for four hundred and fourteen
years; and then the forementioned Antiochus, and Lysias the general of
his army, deprived Onias, who was also called Menelaus, of the high priesthood,
and slew him at Berea; and driving away the son [of Onias the third], put
Jaeimus into the place of the high priest, one that was indeed of the stock
of Aaron, but not of that family of Onias. On which account Onias, who
was the nephew of Onias that was dead, and bore the same name with his
father, came into Egypt, and got into the friendship of Ptolemy Philometor,
and Cleopatra his wife, and persuaded them to make him the high priest
of that temple which he built to God in the prefecture of Heliopolis, and
this in imitation of that at Jerusalem; but as for that temple which was
built in Egypt, we have spoken of it frequently already. Now when Jacimus
had retained the priesthood three years, he died, and there was no one
that succeeded him, but the city continued seven years without a high priest.
But then the posterity of the sons of Asamoneus, who had the government
of the nation conferred upon them, when they had beaten the Macedonians
in war, appointed Jonathan to be their high priest, who ruled over them
seven years. And when he had been slain by the treacherous contrivance
of Trypho, as we have related some where, Simon his brother took the high
priesthood; and when he was destroyed at a feast by the treachery of his
son-in-law, his own son, whose name was Hyrcanus, succeeded him, after
he had held the high priesthood one year longer than his brother. This
Hyrcanus enjoyed that dignity thirty years, and died an old man, leaving
the succession to Judas, who was also called Aristobulus, whose brother
Alexander was his heir; which Judas died of a sore distemper, after he
had kept the priesthood, together with the royal authority; for this Judas
was the first that put on his head a diadem for one year. And when Alexander
had been both king and high priest twenty-seven years, he departed this
life, and permitted his wife Alexandra to appoint him that should he high
priest; so she gave the high priesthood to Hyrcanus, but retained the kingdom
herself nine years, and then departed this life. The like duration [and
no longer] did her son Hyrcanus enjoy the high priesthood; for after her
death his brother Aristobulus fought against him, and beat him, and deprived
him of his principality; and he did himself both reign, and perform the
office of high priest to God. But when he had reigned three years, and
as many months, Pompey came upon him, and not only took the city of Jerusalem
by force, but put him and his children in bonds, and sent them to Rome.
He also restored the high priesthood to Hyrcanus, and made him governor
of the nation, but forbade him to wear a diadem. This Hyrcanus ruled, besides
his first nine years, twenty-four years more, when Barzapharnes and Pacorus,
the generals of the Parthians, passed over Euphrates, and fought with Hyrcanus,
and took him alive, and made Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus, king; and
when he had reigned three years and three months, Sosius and Herod besieged
him, and took him, when Antony had him brought to Antioch, and slain there.
Herod was then made king by the Romans, but did no longer appoint high
priests out of the family of Asamoneus; but made certain men to be so that
were of no eminent families, but barely of those that were priests, excepting
that he gave that dignity to Aristobulus; for when he had made this Aristobulus,
the grandson of that Hyrcanus who was then taken by the Parthians, and
had taken his sister Mariarmne to wife, he thereby aimed to win the good-will
of the people, who had a kind remembrance of Hyrcanus [his grandfather].
Yet did he afterward, out of his fear lest they should all bend their inclinations
to Aristobulus, put him to death, and that by contriving how to have him
suffocated as he was swimming at Jericho, as we have already related that
matter; but after this man he never intrusted the priesthood to the posterity
of the sons of Asamoneus. Archelaus also, Herod's son, did like his father
in the appointment of the high priests, as did the Romans also, who took
the government over the Jews into their hands afterward. Accordingly, the
number of the high priests, from the days of Herod until the day when Titus
took the temple and the City, and burnt them, were in all twenty-eight;
the time also that belonged to them was a hundred and seven years. Some
of these were the political governors of the people under the reign of
Herod, and under the reign of Archelaus his son, although, after their
death, the government became an aristocracy, and the high priests were
intrusted with a dominion over the nation. And thus much may suffice to
be said concerning our high priests.
CHAPTER 11.
CONCERNING FLORUS THE PROCURATOR, WHO NECESSITATED THE JEWS
TO TAKE UP ARMS AGAINST THE ROMANS. THE CONCLUSION.
1. NOW Gessius Florus, who was sent as successor to Albinus by Nero,
filled Judea with abundance of miseries. He was by birth of the city of
Clazomene, and brought along with him his wife Cleopatra, (by whose friendship
with Poppea, Nero's wife, he obtained this government,) who was no way
different from him in wickedness. This Florus was so wicked, and so violent
in the use of his authority, that the Jews took Albinus to have been [comparatively]
their benefactor; so excessive were the mischiefs that he brought upon
them. For Albinus concealed his wickedness, and was careful that it might
not be discovered to all men; but Gessius Florus, as though he bad been
sent on purpose to show his crimes to every body, made a pompous ostentation
of them to our nation, as never omitting any sort of violence, nor any
unjust sort of punishment; for he was not to be moved by pity, and never
was satisfied with any degree of gain that came in his way; nor had he
any more regard to great than to small acquisitions, but became a partner
with the robbers themselves. For a great many fell then into that practice
without fear, as having him for their security, and depending on him, that
he would save them harmless in their particular robberies; so that there
were no bounds set to the nation's miseries; but the unhappy Jews, when
they were not able to bear the devastations which the robbers made among
them, were all under a necessity of leaving their own habitations, and
of flying away, as hoping to dwell more easily any where else in the world
among foreigners [than in their own country]. And what need I say any more
upon this head? since it was this Florus who necessitated us to take up
arms against the Romans, while we thought it better to be destroyed at
once, than by little and little. Now this war began in the second year
of the government of Florus, and the twelfth year of the reign of Nero.
But then what actions we were forced to do, or what miseries we were enabled
to suffer, may be accurately known by such as will peruse those books which
I have written about the Jewish war.
2. I shall now, therefore, make an end here of my Antiquities; after
the conclusion of which events, I began to write that account of the war;
and these Antiquities contain what hath been delivered down to us from
the original creation of man, until the twelfth year of the reign of Nero,
as to what hath befallen the Jews, as well in Egypt as in Syria and in
Palestine, and what we have suffered from the Assyrians and Babylonians,
and what afflictions the Persians and Macedonians, and after them the Romans,
have brought upon us; for I think I may say that I have composed this history
with sufficient accuracy in all things. I have attempted to enumerate those
high priests that we have had during the interval of two thousand years;
I have also carried down the succession of our kings, and related their
actions, and political administration, without [considerable] errors, as
also the power of our monarchs; and all according to what is written in
our sacred books; for this it was that I promised to do in the beginning
of this history. And I am so bold as to say, now I have so completely perfected
the work I proposed to myself to do, that no other person, whether he were
a Jew or foreigner, had he ever so great an inclination to it, could so
accurately deliver these accounts to the Greeks as is done in these books.
For those of my own nation freely acknowledge that I far exceed them in
the learning belonging to Jews; I have also taken a great deal of pains
to obtain the learning of the Greeks, and understand the elements of the
Greek language, although I have so long accustomed myself to speak our
own tongue, that I cannot pronounce Greek with sufficient exactness; for
our nation does not encourage those that learn the languages of many nations,
and so adorn their discourses with the smoothness of their periods; because
they look upon this sort of accomplishment as common, not only to all sorts
of free-men, but to as many of the servants as please to learn them. But
they give him the testimony of being a wise man who is fully acquainted
with our laws, and is able to interpret their meaning; on which account,
as there have been many who have done their endeavors with great patience
to obtain this learning, there have yet hardly been so many as two or three
that have succeeded therein, who were immediately well rewarded for their
pains.
3. And now it will not be perhaps an invidious thing, if I treat briefly
of my own family, and of the actions of my own life (28)
while there are still living such as can either prove what I say to be
false, or can attest that it is true; with which accounts I shall put an
end to these Antiquities, which are contained in twenty books, and sixty
thousand verses. And if God permit me, I will briefly run over this war
(29),
and to add what befell them further to that very day, the 13th of Domitian,
or A.D. 03, is not, that I have observed, taken distinct notice of by any
one; nor do we ever again, with what befell us therein to this very day,
which is the thirteenth year of the reign of Caesar Domitian, and the fifty-sixth
year of my own life. I have also an intention to write three books concerning
our Jewish opinions about God and his essence, and about our laws; why,
according to them, some things are permitted us to do, and others are prohibited.
ENDNOTE
(1)
Here is some error in the copies, or mistake in Josephus; for the power
of appointing high priests, alter Herod king of Chalcis was dead, and Agrippa,
junior, was made king of Chalcis in his room, belonged to him; and he exercised
the same all along till Jerusalem was destroyed, as Josephus elsewhere
informs us, ch. 8. sect. , 11; ch. 9. sect. 1, 4, 6, 7.
(2)
Josephus here uses the word monogene, an only begotten son, for no other
than one best beloved, as does both the Old and New Testament, I mean where
there were one or more sons besides, Genesis 22:2; Hebrew 11:17. See the
note on B. I. ch. 13. sect. 1.
(3)
It is here very remarkable, that the remains of Noah's ark were believed
to he still in being in the days of Josephus. See the note on B. I. ch.
3. sect. 5.
(4)
Josephus is very full and express in these three chapters, 3., 4., and
5., in observing how carefully Divine Providence preserved this Izates,
king of Adiabene, and his sons, while he did what he thought was his bounden
duty, notwithstanding the strongest political motives to the contrary.
(5)
This further account of the benefactions of Izates and Helena to the Jerusalem
Jews which Josephus here promises is, I think, no where performed by him
in his present works. But of this terrible famine itself in Judea, take
Dr. Hudson's note here: — "This ( says he ) is that famine foretold
by Agabus, Acts 11:28, which happened when Claudius was consul the fourth
time; and not that other which happened when Claudius was consul the second
time, and Cesina was his colleague, as Scaliger says upon Eusebius, p.
174." Now when Josephus had said a little afterward, ch. 5. sect.
2, that "Tiberius Alexander succeeded Cuspius Fadus as procurator,"
he immediately subjoins, that" under these procurators there happened
a great famine in Judea." Whence it is plain that this famine continued
for many years, on account of its duration under these two procurators.
Now Fadus was not sent into Judea till after the death of king Agrippa,
i.e. towards the latter end of the 4th year of Claudius; so that this famine
foretold by Agabus happened upon the 5th, 6th, and 7th years of Claudius,
as says Valesius on Euseb. II. 12. Of this famine also, and queen Helena's
supplies, and her monument, see Moses Churenensis, p. 144, 145, where it
is observed in the notes that Pausanias mentions that her monument also.
(6)
This privilege of wearing the tiara upright, or with the tip of the cone
erect, is known to have been of old peculiar to great kings, from Xenophon
and others, as Dr. Hudson observes here.
(7)
This conduct of Izates is a sign that he was become either a Jew, or an
Ebionite Christian, who indeed differed not much from proper Jews. See
ch. 6. sect. 1. However, his supplications were heard, and he was providentially
delivered from that imminent danger he was in.
(8)
These pyramids or pillars, erected by Helena, queen of Adiabene, near Jerusalem,
three in number, are mentioned by Eusebius, in his Eccles. Hist. B. II.
ch. 12, for which Dr. Hudson refers us to Valesius's notes upon that place.--They
are also mentioned by Pausanias, as hath been already noted, ch. 2. sect.
6. Reland guesses that that now called Absalom's Pillar may be one of them.
(9)
This Theudas, who arose under Fadus the procurator, about A.D. 45 or 46,
could not be that Thendas who arose in the days of the taxing, under Cyrenius,
or about A.D. 7, Acts v. 36, 37. Who that earlier Theudas was, see the
note on B. XVII. ch. 10. sect. 5.
(10)
This and. many more tumults and seditions which arose at the Jewish festivals,
in Josephus, illustrate the cautious procedure of the Jewish governors,
when they said, Matthew 26:5, "Let us not take Jesus on the feast-day,
lest there be an up roar among the people;" as Reland well observes
on tins place. Josephus also takes notice of the same thing, Of the War,
B. I. ch. 4. sect. 3.
(11)
This constant passage of the Galileans through the country of Samaria,
as they went to Judea and Jerusalem, illustrates several passages in the
Gospels to the same purpose, as Dr. Hudson rightly observes. See Luke 17:11;
John 4:4. See also Josephus in his own Life, sect. 52, where that journey
is determined to three days.
(12)
Our Savior had foretold that the Jews' rejection of his gospel would bring
upon them, among other miseries, these three, which they themselves here
show they expected would be the consequences of their present tumults and
seditions: the utter subversion of their country, the conflagration of
their temple, and the slavery of themselves, their wives, and children
See Luke 21:6-24.
(13)
This Simon, a friend of Felix, a Jew, born in Cyprus, though he pretended
to be a magician, and seems to have been wicked enough, could hardly be
that famous Simon the magician, in the Acts of the Apostles, 8:9, etc.,
as some are ready to suppose. This Simon mentioned in the Acts was not
properly a Jew, but a Samaritan, of the town of Gittae, in the country
of Samaria, as the Apostolical Constitutions, VI. 7, the Recognitions of
Clement, II. 6, and Justin Martyr, himself born in the country of Samaria,
Apology, I. 34, inform us. He was also the author, not of any ancient Jewish,
but of the first Gentile heresies, as the forementioned authors assure
us. So I suppose him a different person from the other. I mean this only
upon the hypothesis that Josephus was not misinformed as to his being a
Cypriot Jew; for otherwise the time, the name, the profession, and the
wickedness of them both would strongly incline one to believe them the
very same. As to that Drusilla, the sister of Agrippa, junior, as Josephus
informs us here, and a Jewess, as St. Luke informs us, Acts 24:24, whom
this Simon mentioned by Josephus persuaded to leave her former husband,
Azizus, king of Emesa, a proselyte of justice, and to marry Felix, the
heathen procurator of Judea, Tacitus, Hist. V. 9, supposes her to be a
heathen; and the grand-daughter of Antonius and Cleopatra, contrary both
to St. Luke and Josephus. Now Tacitus lived somewhat too remote, both as
to time and place, to be compared with either of those Jewish writers,
in a matter concerning the Jews in Judea in their own days, and concerning
a sister of Agrippa, junior, with which Agrippa Josephus was himself so
well acquainted. It is probable that Tacitus may say true, when he informs
us that this Felix (who had in all three wives, or queens, as Suetonius
in Claudius, sect. 28, assures us) did once marry such a grandchild of
Antonius and Cleopatra; and finding the name of one of them to have been
Drusilla, he mistook her for that other wife, whose name he did not know.
(14)
This eruption of Vesuvius was one of the greatest we have in history. See
Bianchini's curious and important observations on this Vesuvius, and its
seven several great eruptions, with their remains vitrified, and still
existing, in so many different strata under ground, till the diggers came
to the antediluvian waters, with their proportionable interstices, implying
the deluge to have been above two thousand five hundred years before the
Christian era, according to our exactest chronology.
(15)
This is now wanting.
(16)
This also is now wanting.
(17)
This duration of the reign of Claudius agrees with Dio, as Dr. Hudson here
remarks; as he also remarks that Nero's name, which was at first L. Domitius
Aenobarbus, after Claudius had adopted him was Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus
Germanicus. This Soleus as [own Life, sect. 11, as also] by Dio Cassius
andTaeims, as Dr. Hudson informs us.
(18)
This agrees with Josephus's frequent accounts elsewhere in his own Life,
that Tibetans, and Taricheae, and Gamala were under this Agrippa, junior,
till Justus, the son of Pistus, seized for the Jews, upon the breaking
out of the war.
(19)
This treacherous and barbarous murder of the good high priest Jonathan,
by the contrivance of this wicked procurator, Felix, was the immediate
occasion of the ensuing murders by the Sicarii or ruffians, and one great
cause of the following horrid cruelties and miseries of the Jewish nation,
as Josephus here supposes; whose excellent reflection on the gross wickedness
of that nation, as the direct cause of their terrible destruction, is well
worthy the attention of every Jewish and of every Christian reader. And
since we are soon coming to the catalogue of the Jewish high priests, it
may not be amiss, with Reland, to insert this Jonathan among them, and
to transcribe his particular catalogue of the last twenty-eight high priests,
taken out of Josephus, and begin with Ananelus, who was made by Herod the
Great. See Antiq. B. XV. ch. 2. sect. 4, and the note there.
- Ananelus.
- Aristobulus.
- Jesus, the son of Fabus.
- Simon, the son of Boethus.
- Marthias, the son of Theophiltu.
- Joazar, the son of Boethus.
- Eleazar, the son of Boethus.
- Jesus, the son of Sic.
- [Annas, or] Ananus, the son of Seth.
- Ismael, the son of Fabus.
- Eleazar, the son of Ananus.
- Simon, the son of Camithus.
- Josephus Caiaphas,
the son-in-law to Ananus.
- Jonathan, the son of Ananus.
- Theophilus, his brother, and son of Ananus.
- Simon, the son of Boethus.
- Matthias, the brother of Jonathan, and son of
Ananus.
- Aljoneus.
- Josephus, the son of Camydus.
- Ananias, the son of Nebedeus.
- Jonathas.
- Ismael, the son of Fabi.
- Joseph Cabi, the son of Simon.
- Ananus, the son of Artanus.
- Jesus, the son of Damnetas.
- Jesus, the son of Gamaliel.
- Matthias, the son of Theophilus.
- Phannias, the son of Samuel.
As for Ananus and Joseph Caiaphas, here mentioned about the middle of
this catalogue, they are no other than those Annas and Caiaphas so often
mentioned in the four Gospels; and that Ananias, the son of Nebedeus, was
that high priest before whom St. Paul pleaded his own cause, Acts 24.
(20)
Of these Jewish impostors and false prophets, with many other circumstances
and miseries of the Jews, till their utter destruction, foretold by our
Savior, see Lit. Accompl. of Proph. p. 58-75. Of this Egyptian impostor,
and the number of his followers, in Josephus, see Acts 21:38.
(21)
The wickedness here was very peculiar and extraordinary, that the high
priests should so oppress their brethren the priests, as to starve the
poorest of them to death. See the like presently, ch. 9. sect. 2. Such
fatal crimes are covetousness and tyranny in the clergy, as well as in
the laity, in all ages.
(22)
We have here one eminent example of Nero's mildness and goodness in his
government towards the Jews, during the first five years of his reign,
so famous in antiquity; we have perhaps another in Josephus's own Life,
sect. 3; and a third, though of a very different nature here, in sect.
9, just before. However, both the generous acts of kindness were obtained
of Nero by his queen Poppea, who was a religious lady, and perhaps privately
a Jewish proselyte, and so were not owing entirely to Nero's own goodness.
(23)
It hence evidently appears that Sadducees might be high priests in the
days of Josephus, and that these Sadducees were usually very severe and
inexorable judges, while the Pharisees were much milder, and more merciful,
as appears by Reland's instances in his note on this place, and on Josephus's
Life, sect. 31, and those taken from the New Testament, from Josephus himself,
and from the Rabbins; nor do we meet with any Sadducees later than this
high priest in all Josephus.
(24)
Of this condemnation of James the Just, and its causes, as also that he
did not die till long afterwards, see Prim. Christ. Revived, vol. III.
ch. 43-46. The sanhedrim condemned our Savior, but could not put him to
death without the approbation of the Roman procurator; nor could therefore
Ananias and his sanhedrim do more here, since they never had Albinus's
approbation for the putting this James to death.
(25)
This Ananias was not the son of Nebedeus, as I take it, but he who was
called Annas or Ananus the elder, the ninth in the catalogue, and who had
been esteemed high priest for a long time; and, besides Caiaphas, his son-in-law,
had five of his own sons high priests after him, which were those of numbers
11, 14, 15, 17, 24, in the foregoing catalogue. Nor ought we to pass slightly
over what Josephus here says of Annas, or Ananias, that he was high priest
a long time before his children were so; he was the son of Seth, and is
set down first for high priest in the foregoing catalogue, under number
9. He was made by Quirinus, and continued till Ismael, the 10th in number,
for about twenty-three years, which long duration of his high priesthood,
joined to the successions of his son-in-law, and five children of his own,
made him a sort of perpetual high priest, and was perhaps the occasion
that former high priests kept their titles ever afterwards; for I believe
it is hardly met with be fore him.
(26)
This insolent petition of some of the Levites, to wear the sacerdotal garments
when they sung hymns to God in the temple, was very probably owing to the
great depression and contempt the haughty high priests had now brought
their brethren the priests into; of which see ch. 8. sect. 8, and ch. 9,
sect. 2.
(27)
Of these cloisters of Solomon, see the description of the temple, ch. 13.
They seem, by Josephus's words, to have been built from the bottom of the
valley.
(28)
See the Life at the beginning of the volume.
(29)
What Josephus here declares his intention to do, if God permitted, to give
the public again an abridgement of the Jewish War hear of it elsewhere,
whether he performed what he now intended or not. Some of the reasons of
this design of his might possibly be, his observation of the many errors
he had been guilty of in the two first of those seven books of the War,
which were written when he was comparatively young, and less acquainted
with the Jewish antiquities than he now was, and in which abridgement we
might have hoped to find those many passages which himself, as well as
those several passages which others refer to, as written by him, but which
are not extant in his present works. However, since many of his own references
to what he had written elsewhere, as well as most of his own errors, belong
to such early times as could not well come into this abridgement of the
Jewish War; and since none of those that quote things not now extant in
his works, including himself as well as others, ever cite any such abridgement;
I am forced rather to suppose that he never did publish any such work at
all; I mean, as distinct from his own Life, written by himself, for an
appendix to these Antiquities, and this at least seven years after these
Antiquities were finished. Nor indeed does it appear to me that Josephus
ever published that other work here mentioned, as intended by him for the
public also: I mean the three or four books concerning God and his essence,
and concerning the Jewish laws; why, according to them, some things were
permitted the Jews, and others prohibited; which last seems to be the same
work which Josephus had also promised, if God permitted, at the conclusion
of his preface to these Antiquities; nor do I suppose that he ever published
any of them. The death of all his friends at court, Vespasian, Titus, and
Domitian, and the coming of those he had no acquaintance with to the crown,
I mean Nerva and Trajan, together with his removal from Rome to Judea,
with what followed it, might easily interrupt such his intentions, and
prevent his publication of those works.
Antiquities of the Jews
War of the Jews
Autobiography
Hades
Against Apion