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JOSEPHUS IN GALILEE.

his eye upon the empire, which he knew there was a possibility of obtaining through the favour of the legions under his command. Vespasian had two sons, Titus and Domitian, whose early dispositions and habits were equally unpromising. The former was trained to war by his father, and accompanied him into Judea as his lieutenant and at this period of life he was distinguished equally by his bravery and licentiousness, for in both he far exceeded all around him. Early in A.D. 67, Vespasian and Titus, with three of the strongest and bravest of the Roman legions, and all the forces they could collect in Syria or from the neighbouring tributary kings, came into Galilee, where Josephus had been appointed governor and was prepared to receive the first shock. This remarkable man, the historian of the Jews and of these memorable times in particular, was of high rank, as belonging to a priestly family; for the priests and their descendants were, in fact, the upper class or nobility among the Jews. He was a learned man, as well as a warrior, and had been to Rome for his own improvement; so that he was intimately acquainted with the language and military arts of those with whom he contended. He was therefore chosen, by a council of war held at Jerusalem, to take the important command of Galilee; as they hoped to gain time for the needed preparations in the capital and in the southern region, by detaining the enemy among the mountain passes, or before the fortified cities of the north. The Galileans were a bold and hardy people, but, as we have before noticed, a very fierce and wicked people also; and they were considered rather barbarous in manners and dialect by the inhabitants of the capital: they used the Syro-Chaldaic language, commonly spoken in Palestine, and gave it a peculiarly harsh and guttural sound. The young reader will remember that Peter was known as a Galilean from his manner of speaking.*

Josephus states that he raised an army of 100,000 men in Galilee, and it was certainly a populous district; for, besides the strong cities, there were numerous large open villages or towns that contained many thousands of inhabitants. But he had no idea of meeting a well disciplined Roman army in the open field; and at the approach of the enemy all took refuge

* The few words given us in the Gospels are in this dialect; so that it appears that the Lord himself used it, and not the pure Hebrew of the Scriptures, for that ceased to be commonly spoken after the captivity.

THE DEFENCE OF GALILEE.

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by his command, in the fortified places, except a few who tarried and were at once cut off by the Romans. Agrippa, with a powerful army, had joined Vespasian at Antioch in the spring; so that the last representative of that family which had so long struggled to maintain the independence of their nation was now on the side of the strangers; and the Jewish people were without a head. However, had their generals been firmly united in their purposes, or the whole people of one mind, there might have been, humanly speaking, some prospect of freedom; such was the strength of their cities, both by nature and art, and so strong and determined was the spirit of those who were bent on defending them. But the generals were jealous of each other; and the people were everywhere divided into two opposite parties, and weakened by the Syrian inhabitants who had no concern in their quarrel with Rome. John, one of the Galilean commanders, who defended and reigned over his own stronghold of Gischala, continually opposed Josephus, and would have willingly destroyed him that he might himself take the lead. But the approach of the Romans ended their strife; and Josephus, who had shut himself up in the fortified city of Jotapata, the strongest in Galilee, was the first to resist the whole force of Vespasian. As the first of the Roman generals, at the head of 60,000 regular fighting men, besides a great many who might be occasionally called to their aid, Vespasian himself was astonished at the obstinate and skilful defence of Jotapata, during forty-seven days, and alarmed at the great loss and suffering of his own army. But superior force, or rather the failure of food and water, at length made the besieged give way; and the city was taken. All the inhabitants, including the bravest of the Galilean warriors, fell by the sword, except the women and infants, who on this occasion were spared. It is at this point of our history that the artfulness and selfishness of the character of Josephus come to light. He had made some attempts to escape, under pretence of getting help from without, as soon as he saw a longer defence was hopeless : but the people, who suspected him of a design of falling to the Romans, would not suffer him to leave them. When the city was taken, he descended into a cavern with some of his companions; and there it was proposed they should kill each other to avoid the disgrace of falling into the hands of the conquerors; for self-murder was considered as honourable by these valiant

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JOSEPHUS AMONG THE ROMANS.

Jews as by the Stoics among the heathen. All consented to die, and drew their swords: but the cunning Josephus, who had determined to secure his own life, suggested that it would be better to draw lots, and to kill one another in turn. In this way, by some artful management, Josephus contrived to be left with only one other man, whom he persuaded to accompany him out of the cavern. The Romans soon crowded round them with delight; for the Galilean chief was considered a great prize, and his appearance attracted general admiration. When Josephus was brought before Vespasian, he, with great subtlety, assumed the tone of a prophet; and said he had only refused to die with his friends because he had a message from God to him, assuring him of future success and of elevation to imperial power. Josephus was well enough acquainted with the state of the Roman world to know that Nero would not be much longer tolerated by the impatient people: and he probably suspected the ambitious views of Vespasian, and saw that it was likely such a popular commander would sooner or later become the head of the empire.

It is said, Titus put in a plea that the life of the Galilean chief should be spared, out of admiration for his bravery; and Vespasian, flattered by the hope set before him, determined to keep the prophet near his person, and to make use of him in the war, proving his sincerity by his readiness to assist him against the Jews. From that hour Josephus was the steady friend of the Romans, and especially of Vespasian's house; but so impossible did this change appear to his countrymen, that at the news of the taking of Jotapata the greatest lamentations were made at Jerusalem on account of the supposed death of the governor of Galilee; all deploring this event as a common calamity. But when it was known that Josephus was not only safe but the honoured friend of Vespasian, nothing could exceed the rage and indignation of the people: they called him traitor and apostate; and his very name became a curse.

In tracing the progress of the Roman army, we see the most fearful calamities taking place in those scenes where the peaceful, gracious ministry of the Lord Jesus had been rejected. From Jotapata Vespasian proceeded to Tiberias, the chief city in Agrippa's dominions; as the king desired his aid in bringing his revolted capital to obedience. After some resistance the war-party was overcome; and out of respect for

CONQUEST OF GALILEE.

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Agrippa, the Roman soldiers were forbidden to plunder the city. Tarichea, another city on the sea of Tiberias, had been strongly fortified by Josephus, except on that side which was washed by the water, and which the Galilean boatmen were little capable of defending. The slaughter on this lake was terrible; for the Romans, making their way to the city, killed or drowned the Taricheans in their light fishing boats the waters were tinged with blood, and the corruption of six thousand bodies so tainted the air that the conquerors were glad to leave the neighbourhood.

Some of Vespasian's historians, endeavouring to prove the perfection of his character, throw the blame of the following circumstances on his counsellors. At Tarichea, he sat in judgment upon the inhabitants, and then promising them his protection, desired them to set off for Tiberias: there, however, his troops had orders to prevent their entrance; and Vespasian himself pursued them with a body of soldiers. Twelve hundred of the aged and helpless were slain on the road; six thousand able-bodied men were sent into Greece to assist in Nero's foolish scheme of digging through the isthmus of Corinth; and thirty thousand were sold as slaves.

The severity shown towards Tarichea led all the cities of Galilee to surrender, excepting Gamala, Gischala, and Itabyrium, all in mountainous situations, and strongly defended by art. Agrippa, in person, advanced to the walls of Gamala, hoping to persuade the inhabitants to submit; but a stone from a sling was the only reply, and he was hastily carried off by his followers, having received a slight injury from the blow.

A great many Romans perished in the siege; but at length Titus ascended the rocks with a chosen band of men, and got possession of the upper part of the city. It is said five thousand of the people threw themselves down the precipices to escape from the Romans; and the rest were killed without respect to age or sex, for even infants were flung from the rock. Among the curses for disobedience (Deut. xxviii.) to which your attention has often been called, I would here point out v. 49, as having its particular fulfilment, and being more descriptive of the scenes taking place at this time than any words in which they can be expressed by the historian.

John of Gischala has been already mentioned. long have defended his city with his desperate

He might company of

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PROGRESS OF THE ROMAN ARMY.

fearless robbers, but he thought it best to escape to Jerusalem : therefore when Titus offered them mercy if they would surrender, John promised to do so on condition of his withdrawing his troops till the sabbath was over. Titus consented, and retired to a neighbouring town till the morrow. At midnight the subtle John set off with his followers and their families: but at the end of a few miles the strength of the women and children failed, and they could not keep up with the rest. Regardless of their cries, the cruel John urged forwards his men and left them behind. The next morning the people of Gischala opened their gates to Titus as their deliverer, and told him joyfully of the departure of their tyrant. The Roman troops pursued him in vain, and only brought back to the city three thousand women and children, slaying all the rest of the fugitives. After this, the Romans made more rapid progress. In a battle fought near the Jordan, fifteen thousand Jews were killed and a multitude taken prisoners: that river and the Dead Sea also were almost choked by the bodies of the slain. As the conquerors passed on, the whole country was desolated by fire and sword; for Vespasian was in haste to finish his work, thinking his presence would be needed in Gaul where there had been a revolt. He sent forward a body of troops with directions to waste the whole neighbourhood of Jerusalem; and he was almost within sight of the city, at the head of his dreaded legions, when the news of Nero's death stopped his progress. Had Vespasian been nearer Italy, he might at this season have made some attempts to reign; and it appears that he forbore to weaken his troops by carrying on the Jewish war during the whole year A. D. 68-69, waiting for a favourable opportunity to obtain the empire. Thus, for nearly two years after the entrance of the Romans into Judea, Jerusalem was spared by them; yet this devoted city was suffering so terribly from enemies within, and from the sins of her own children, that waters of a full cup were now being wrung out to her. But before we enter into the details of the miseries of Jerusalem, we must consider the events at Rome that preceded its destruction.