Josephus · a new plain-English translation from the Greek
My family is not without distinction, but rather descends far back from a line of priests. Just as different peoples have different grounds for claiming nobility, so among us a share in the priesthood is proof of the brilliance of one's lineage. My family belongs not only to the priesthood but to the first of the twenty-four priestly courses — and there is considerable distinction even within that group — and to the noblest of the clans within that course.
I also belong, through my mother, to the royal family. For the descendants of Asamoneus (Hasmoneus), of whom she was a descendant, held both the high priesthood and the kingship of our nation for a very long time. Let me trace the succession. Our great-great-grandfather was Simon, called "Psellus" (the Stammerer). He lived at the time when the high priesthood was held by the son of Simon the high priest, who was the first to be named Hyrcanus among the high priests.
Psellus's son Simon had nine children. Among them was Matthias, called "the son of Ephaeus." He married the daughter of Jonathan the high priest, the first of the descendants of Asamoneus to hold the high priesthood, who was the brother of Simon the high priest; and a son was born to him, Matthias, surnamed "the Hunchback," in the first year of the rule of Hyrcanus. To this Matthias was born Joseph, in the ninth year of the reign of Alexandra;
and to Joseph was born Matthias, in the tenth year of the reign of Archelaus; and to this Matthias I myself was born, in the first year of the principate of Gaius Caesar. I have three sons: Hyrcanus, the eldest, born in the fourth year of the principate of Vespasian Caesar; Justus, born in the seventh year; and Agrippa, born in the ninth year. This, then, is the succession of our family, as I found it recorded in the public records, which I set down in this way for the benefit of those who attempt to slander us — wishing them well.
My father Matthias was distinguished not only for his noble birth but was praised even more for his righteousness, being very well known in Jerusalem, the greatest city among us. I myself, educated together with my brother, who was named Matthias — for he was my full brother by both parents — made great progress in my studies, being reputed to excel in memory and understanding. While still a boy, about fourteen years old, I was commended by everyone for my love of letters, so that the chief priests and the leading men of the city constantly came to me to learn something more precisely about our laws.
When I was about sixteen, I decided to gain experience of the several sects existing among us. There are three of these: the first is that of the Pharisees, the second that of the Sadducees, and the third that of the Essenes, as we have often said. I reasoned that in this way I would be able to choose the best, if I examined them all. So I submitted myself to hard training and great exertion and went through all three; and not even considering the experience I had gained through them sufficient, when I learned that a certain man named Bannus was living in the desert,
wearing only clothing that came from trees, eating only what grew of itself, and bathing frequently in cold water, day and night, for purity's sake, I became his devoted follower. Having spent three years with him and fulfilled my ambition, I returned to the city. At nineteen years of age, I began to conduct my public life following the sect of the Pharisees, which is very similar to what the Greeks call the Stoic school.
After I had completed my twenty-sixth year, it fell to me to go up to Rome for the following reason. At the time when Felix was procurator of Judea, he had certain priests of my acquaintance, good and honorable men, bound in chains and sent to Rome on a small and trivial charge, to give an account of themselves to Caesar. Wishing to find some way to secure their release — especially when I learned that even in their hardship they had not forgotten their piety toward the divine, but were sustaining themselves on figs and nuts —
I arrived in Rome, having faced many dangers at sea. For when our ship went down in the middle of the Adriatic, we who numbered about six hundred swam through the whole night, and around daybreak, by God's providence, a ship from Cyrene appeared to us; and I, along with some others — about eighty of us in all — outstripped the rest and were taken up into the ship.
Having been saved and brought to Dicaearchia, which the Italians call Puteoli, I became acquainted, through friendship, with Halityrus, an actor of mimes who was a great favorite of Nero's and a Jew by birth; and through him I was introduced to Poppaea, Caesar's wife, and lost no time in asking her to secure the release of the priests. Having received great gifts in addition to this favor from Poppaea, I returned to my own country.
There I found the beginnings of revolutionary movements already under way, and many people greatly elated at the prospect of revolt from Rome. I therefore tried to restrain those bent on rebellion and urged them to reconsider, setting before their eyes those against whom they would be fighting, and pointing out that the Romans were superior not only in military experience but also in good fortune; and that they should not, rashly and altogether senselessly, bring upon their homelands, their families, and themselves the risk of the worst calamities.
This is what I said, and I pressed the point urgently, trying to dissuade them, foreseeing that the outcome of the war would be most disastrous for us. But I did not persuade them; for the madness of those bent on ruin prevailed by far. Fearing, then, that by continually saying such things I might come to be hated and suspected of favoring the enemy's cause, and might run the risk of being seized and put to death by them —
since the Antonia, which was a fortress, was already in their hands — I withdrew into the inner court of the Temple. But after the killing of Manahem and the leaders of the band of brigands, I came out of the Temple again and associated with the chief priests and the leaders of the Pharisees. No little fear gripped us as we saw the populace under arms, while we ourselves were at a loss what to do,
being unable to stop the revolutionaries, and with the danger plainly confronting us. We said that we agreed with their views, but advised them to hold their position and let the enemy come on, so that they might gain credit for justly taking up arms in their own defense. In doing this we were hoping that before long Cestius would come up with a large force and put an end to the revolt.
But when he came and joined battle, he was defeated, with many of his men falling. And the defeat of Cestius became a disaster for our whole nation; for those who desired war were emboldened all the more by this, and, having defeated the Romans, hoped to prevail to the end — a hope reinforced by another circumstance of the following kind: the inhabitants of the cities surrounding Syria seized the Jews living among them, together with their wives and children, and killed them, though they had no charge to bring against them;
for these Jews had neither planned any revolutionary act against Roman rule nor shown any hostility or treachery toward those very people. The people of Scythopolis committed the most impious and lawless acts of all: for when Jews attacked them from outside as enemies, they forced the Jews living among them to take up arms against their own kinsmen — a thing forbidden among us — and, having joined battle with them against the invaders, they overcame those who attacked;
but once they had won, they forgot their pledge of good faith toward these residents and allies, and put them all to death, though they numbered many thousands. The Jews living in Damascus suffered the same fate. But I have set forth these matters more precisely in my books on the Jewish War; I have mentioned them here now because I wish to make clear to my readers that the war against the Romans was not the choice of the Jews, but was, for the most part, forced upon them.
So then, after Cestius had been defeated, as I have said, the leading men of Jerusalem, seeing that the brigands and revolutionaries were well supplied with weapons, and fearing that, being themselves unarmed, they might fall into the power of their enemies — as indeed later happened — and learning that all of Galilee had not yet revolted from Rome, but that part of it was still quiet, sent me,
together with two other priests, good and honorable men, Joazar and Judas, to persuade the troublemakers to lay down their arms, and to teach them that it would be better for the arms to be kept in the hands of the best men of the nation. It was decided that these men should always keep their weapons ready for what might come, but should wait to see what the Romans would do. Having received these instructions, I set out
for Galilee. I found the people of Sepphoris embroiled in no small struggle over their homeland, since the Galileans had decided to plunder it because of its friendship toward the Romans and because it had offered its right hand and pledge of loyalty to Cestius Gallus, governor of Syria. But I freed all of these from their fear, persuading the crowds on their behalf and permitting them to send
whatever messages they wished, on account of their relatives held as hostages by Cestius at Dor — Dor being a city of Phoenicia. As for the inhabitants of Tiberias, I found that they had already taken up arms, for the following reason. There were three factions in the city: one consisting of respectable men, led by Julius Capellus; this man, together with all those associated with him — Herod son of Miarus and
Herod son of Gamalus, and Compsus son of Compsus (for Crispus, brother of the latter, who had once been prefect under the great king, happened to be residing on his own estates across the Jordan) — all those named urged that at that time they should remain loyal to the Romans and to the king. This view was not shared by Pistus, who was led astray by his son Justus;
for Justus was by nature somewhat unstable. The second faction, made up of the most insignificant people, was determined on war. Justus, son of Pistus, the leader of the third group, pretended at first to hesitate about the war, but in fact desired a change of affairs, thinking he would gain power for himself through such upheaval. Coming forward into the assembly, he tried to persuade the people that their city had always
ruled over Galilee, even in the days of Herod the tetrarch, its founder, though Herod had wished the city of Sepphoris to be subject to Tiberias, and that they had not lost this primacy even under King Agrippa the father, and had retained it up to the time when Felix governed Judea. But now, he said, they had suffered misfortune in being given as a gift to the younger Agrippa by Nero; for as soon as
Sepphoris submitted to the Romans, it had at once taken the lead in Galilee, while the royal treasury and the archives had been removed from Tiberias to it. Saying this and much else besides against King Agrippa, in order to incite the populace to revolt, he added that now was the time to take up arms and, gaining the Galileans as allies, they would readily rule over them, on account of
the hatred the Galileans bore toward the people of Sepphoris for maintaining their loyalty to the Romans — and so, with a large force, to turn to vengeance against them. By saying this he roused the crowd; for he was a capable demagogue, able to get the better of those who opposed him through trickery and deceit in speech. Indeed, he was not without some education in Greek learning, relying on which he undertook to write
a history of these events, thinking that by this composition he would get the better of the truth. But concerning this man — how base his life was, and how he, together with his brother, came close to being the cause of our ruin — I will make clear as my account proceeds. At that time, then, Justus persuaded the citizens to take up arms, and forced many who were unwilling to do so as well; and setting out with all
these men, he burned the villages of the Gadarenes and Hippenians, which happened to lie on the borders of Tiberias and the territory of the Scythopolitans. Such, then, was the state of affairs at Tiberias. The situation at Gischala was as follows. John, son of Levi, seeing some of the citizens greatly elated over the revolt from Rome, tried to restrain them and urged them to maintain
their loyalty. He was not able to succeed, however hard he tried; for the surrounding peoples — the Gadarenes, the Baraganaeans, and the Tyrians — gathered a large force, fell upon the Gischalans, and took Gischala by storm; and after burning it and then razing it further, they withdrew to their own territory. John, provoked by this, armed all his followers and, engaging the peoples just mentioned,
recaptured Gischala, and afterward rebuilt it with stronger walls for its future security. Gamala, however, remained loyal to Rome for the following reason. Philip, son of Jacimus, prefect of King Agrippa, having unexpectedly escaped alive from the royal palace at Jerusalem while it was under siege, fell into another danger: he came close to being killed by Manahem and the brigands with him.
Certain Babylonian kinsmen of his who were in Jerusalem prevented the brigands from carrying out the deed. Philip, having remained there four days, fled on the fifth, using a wig so as not to be recognized, and, arriving at one of his own villages lying near the fortress of Gamala, sent to some of his men, ordering them to come to him.
But as he was considering this, providence, for his own good, prevented it; for had this happened, he would certainly have perished. For a fever suddenly seized him, and he wrote letters to Agrippa's children, Agrippa and Berenice, and gave them to one of his freedmen to carry to Varus. This man was at that time the administrator of the kingdom, appointed by the kings themselves, since they
had gone to Berytus, wishing to meet Cestius. Varus, then, on receiving Philip's letter and learning that he had survived, took it badly, thinking that he himself would henceforth appear useless to the kings once Philip arrived. So he brought the bearer of the letters before the crowd, accused him of forgery, and, claiming he was lying in reporting that Philip was in Jerusalem fighting the Romans alongside the Jews,
had him put to death. When the freedman did not return, Philip, at a loss to know the reason, sent out a second man with letters again, to report to him what had happened to the one sent before, and why he was delayed. And this man too, when he arrived, Varus falsely accused and killed; for he had been puffed up with pride by the Syrians of Caesarea, who told him that Agrippa would be put to death by the Romans on account of
the sins of the Jews, and that he himself would receive the kingdom, being of royal descent; for Varus was, admittedly, of royal lineage, a descendant of Soaemus, who had been tetrarch of the region around Lebanon. For this reason, then, Varus, puffed up with conceit, kept the letters to himself, contriving that the king should not learn of their contents, and kept careful watch over all the roads out, lest anyone report
...to the king what was being done. And so, to gratify the Syrians at Caesarea, he put many of the Jews to death. He also resolved to take up arms, together with the Trachonites of Batanea, and march against the Babylonian Jews at Ecbatana (for that is the name they bear). He therefore summoned twelve of the most eminent Jews of Caesarea and ordered them, once they arrived at Ecbatana, to tell
their kinsmen living there that Varus, having heard that they were about to rise up against the king and not believing it, had sent them to persuade them to lay down their arms; for this would be proof to him, and a good one, that he should not believe those who spoke against them. He also ordered them to send the seventy leading men among them to answer the charge that had been brought. The twelve accordingly went
to their kinsmen at Ecbatana, and finding them entertaining no thought of revolt, persuaded them to send the seventy as well. These men, suspecting nothing of what was in fact about to happen, sent them off. They came down together with the twelve envoys to Caesarea. There Varus met them with the royal army and killed them all, envoys and all, and then set out on his march against
the Jews at Ecbatana. But one of the seventy had escaped ahead and brought them word, and they took up arms and withdrew, with their wives and children, into the fortress of Gamala, abandoning their villages, which were full of good things and possessed many tens of thousands of head of cattle. When Philip learned of this, he too came to the fortress of Gamala. On his arrival the crowd shouted for
him to take command and make war on Varus and the Syrians of Caesarea, for they had become convinced that the king was dead. Philip, however, restrained their impulse, reminding them of the king's benefactions toward them, and describing how great the power of the Romans was; he said it was not to their advantage to raise war against them, and in the end he persuaded them. The king, learning that
Varus intended to destroy in a single day the Jews of Caesarea, with their wives and children, who numbered many tens of thousands, sent for him and dispatched a successor to him, Aequus Modius, as we have related elsewhere. Philip kept hold of the fortress of Gamala and the surrounding country, which remained loyal to Rome. Now when I arrived in Galilee and learned these things from
those who reported them, I wrote to the council of the people of Jerusalem about the matter and asked what they wished me to do. They urged me, along with my fellow envoys, to remain, if we were willing, and to take charge of and provide for Galilee. My fellow envoys, however, having become well supplied with money from the tithes given to them (which, being priests, they received as their due), decided to return home. But when I urged them
to stay until we had settled affairs, they were persuaded. Setting out with them from the city of Sepphoris, I came to a certain village called Bethmaus, four stades distant from Tiberias, and from there I sent to the council of Tiberias and to the leading men of the people, inviting them to come to me. When they arrived, Justus having come with them as well, I told them that I had been sent by the community of Jerusalem, together with these men,
as an envoy to them, in order to persuade them that the house built by Herod the tetrarch, which had representations of living creatures on it, ought to be torn down, since the law forbids the making of any such thing; and I urged them to allow us to do this as quickly as possible. For a long time Capella and the leading men among them were unwilling to permit it, but under compulsion from us they at last agreed. But
Jesus son of Sapphias, who we said was the first to start the uprising of the sailors and the destitute, got ahead of us, taking some Galileans with him, and set fire to the whole building, expecting to gain much money from it, since he had seen that some of the ceilings of the rooms were overlaid with gold. He and his men plundered a great deal, acting against our wishes; for we, after our
meeting with Capella and the leading men of Tiberias, had withdrawn to Upper Galilee from Bethmaus. Jesus and his men killed all the Greek inhabitants there, as well as all who had been their enemies before the war broke out. When I learned of this I was extremely angry, and going down to Tiberias I took measures to recover, so far as possible, the royal furnishings from those who had seized them; these were Corinthian lamp-stands and tables of the
royal household, and a considerable weight of uncoined silver. Everything I recovered I resolved to keep safe for the king. I therefore summoned the ten leading men of the council, together with Capella son of Antyllus, and handed the furnishings over to them, giving orders that they were to be given to no one but myself. From there, together with my fellow envoys, I went to Gischala to John, wishing to learn what he had in mind. I quickly perceived that he was reaching
for revolution and had a desire for power; for he asked me to grant him authority to carry off the grain of Caesar that was stored in the villages of Upper Galilee, saying that he wished to spend it on repairing the walls of his native city. When I understood his design, and what he was really scheming to do, I told him I would not permit it; for I intended to keep it either for the Romans or for
myself, since the authority over affairs there had likewise been entrusted to me by the community of Jerusalem. Failing to persuade me of this, he turned to my fellow envoys, who were heedless of what was to come and only too ready to take money; he corrupted them with bribes to vote that all the grain in his province should be handed over to him. I alone, overruled, gave way and kept
silent. And John brought in a second piece of trickery: he claimed that the Jews living in Caesarea Philippi, being shut in there by order of the king's deputy who administered that domain, had sent to him begging that, since they had no pure oil to use, he should provide for their supply of it, so that they would not be compelled to transgress their ancestral laws by using oil handled by Greeks. But
John said this not out of piety but out of the most transparent greed for gain; for knowing that in Caesarea two sextarii were sold for one drachma, while at Gischala eighty sextarii went for four drachmas, he sent off all the oil that was there, having obtained authority to do so, ostensibly with my approval as well; for I did not grant it willingly, but out of fear of the crowd,
lest, if I opposed him, I should be stoned by them. So, having yielded, I allowed John to profit greatly from this piece of villainy. Having dismissed my fellow envoys from Gischala to Jerusalem, I turned my attention to the manufacture of weapons and the fortification of the cities. Summoning the most courageous of the brigands, I saw that it was not possible to take their weapons away from them, but I persuaded the people
to provide them with pay, telling them it was better to give a little willingly than to stand by and watch their property plundered by these men. And having taken oaths from them that they would not enter the country unless summoned, or except when they had not received their pay, I dismissed them, with instructions to make war neither on the Romans nor on their neighbors; for my chief concern was that Galilee should be at peace. As for the
leading men of the Galileans, about seventy in number, wishing to have them, under the pretext of friendship, as hostages of good faith, I made them my companions and fellow travelers, and I took them along to hearings and gave my decisions with their concurrence, striving neither to err from justice through rashness nor to be tainted by any bribe in these matters. Being then about thirty years of age, at a time when, even if one abstains
from unlawful desires, it is difficult to escape the slanders that arise from envy, especially when one holds great power, I kept every woman free from insult, and I disdained all the gifts offered to me as if I had no need of them; indeed I did not even accept from those who brought them the tithes owed to me as a priest. From the spoils, however, I did take a share when I defeated the Syrians inhabiting the surrounding cities,
and this I confess I sent to my kinsmen in Jerusalem. Twice I took Sepphoris by force, Tiberias four times, and Gadara once; and although I had taken John captive many times when he plotted against me, I punished neither him nor any of the peoples just mentioned, as my narrative will show as it proceeds. On this account, I believe, God himself, for those who do what is right do not escape his notice,
delivered me out of their hands, and afterward, when I fell into many dangers, preserved me safe, as I shall relate later. So great was the goodwill and loyalty of the mass of the Galileans toward me that, when their cities were taken by force and their wives and children reduced to slavery, they did not so much lament their own misfortunes as show concern for my safety. Seeing this,
John grew envious, and wrote to me asking permission to go down and make use of the hot springs at Tiberias for the treatment of his body. Suspecting no wrongdoing on his part, I did not prevent him; moreover, I wrote by name to those to whom the administration of Tiberias had been entrusted by me, instructing them to prepare lodging for John and for those who would come with him, and to supply them with an abundance of
provisions. At that time I was staying in a village of Galilee called Cana. But John, on arriving in the city of Tiberias, tried to persuade the people to abandon their loyalty to me and attach themselves to him. Many gladly welcomed his appeal, since they were forever eager for revolution and disposed by nature to change and delighted in factional strife. Above all
Justus and his father Pistus had set out to abandon me and go over to John. But I forestalled and prevented them; for a messenger came to me from Silas, whom I had appointed commander of Tiberias, as I said before, reporting the disposition of the people of Tiberias and urging me to hasten, since if I delayed the city would fall under the power of others. So, upon reading Silas's letter,
I took two hundred men and marched the whole night through, sending ahead a messenger to announce my arrival to the people of Tiberias. In the morning, as I drew near the city, the crowd came out to meet me, John among them; and greeting me in great agitation, fearing that if his conduct came under scrutiny he might be in danger of destruction, he withdrew hastily to his own
lodging. As for me, on reaching the stadium, I dismissed my bodyguard except for one man, and keeping ten soldiers with him, I tried to address the crowd of Tiberians, standing on a high parapet, and urged them not to abandon their allegiance so quickly; for such a change would bring condemnation upon them, and their next leader would rightly come to view them with suspicion, on the ground that
they would not keep faith with him either. I had not yet finished speaking when I heard one of my own people calling to me to come down, saying that this was no time to worry about the goodwill of the Tiberians, but about my own safety and how I might escape my enemies. For John had sent, choosing out the most trustworthy of the soldiers around him, from the thousand he had,
and had ordered those sent to kill me, having learned that I was alone with my own men, isolated. Those sent did come, and would have carried it out, had I not leapt down from the parapet more quickly, together with my bodyguard James, and been helped up by a certain Herod of Tiberias, who led me to the lake, where I got hold of a boat, boarded it, and, against all expectation, escaped my enemies and arrived at Tarichaeae.
When the inhabitants of that city learned of the treachery of the Tiberians, they were greatly incensed. Seizing their arms, they begged to be led against them, saying they wished to exact justice from them on the general's behalf. They also spread the news of what had happened among all the people of Galilee, and these too, being eager to move against the Tiberians, urged that as many as possible
should gather and come to them, so that they might act with the general's approval on whatever course was decided. So the Galileans came in great numbers from every side, under arms, and urged me to attack Tiberias, take it by storm, raze it entirely to the ground, and enslave its inhabitants along with their wives and children. My friends who had escaped from Tiberias gave the same advice. But I
did not consent, thinking it a terrible thing to begin a civil war; I believed that the quarrel ought to go no further than words. Moreover, I told them it was not to their advantage to do this, since the Romans were hoping that they would destroy themselves through their mutual strife. By saying this I checked the anger of the Galileans. As for John, his plot having failed, he grew afraid for himself, and taking
the soldiers around him, he departed from Tiberias for Gischala, and wrote to me defending his conduct, claiming that what had happened was not done with his approval, and begging me not to entertain any suspicion of him, adding oaths and dreadful curses by which he thought he would be believed concerning what he had written. But the Galileans, since many others again had gathered from the whole country, under
arms, knowing the man to be wicked and false to his oaths, begged me to lead them against him, promising to obliterate him utterly, along with Gischala itself. I acknowledged that I was grateful for their zeal, and promised to outdo their goodwill, but I nevertheless urged them to hold back, asking them to bear with me and to forgive me, since I had chosen to quell disturbances without bloodshed. Having persuaded
the mass of the Galileans, I arrived at Sepphoris. The men who inhabited that city, having resolved to remain loyal to the Romans, and fearing my arrival, tried to distract me with another affair, so as to be free of anxiety about themselves. They accordingly sent to Jesus, the chief brigand, on the border of Ptolemais, and promised to give a great sum of money if he, with the force under
him, numbering eight hundred, would be willing to kindle war against us. He, giving heed to their promises, wished to fall upon us while we were unprepared and had no foreknowledge of it. He therefore sent to me asking permission to come and pay his respects. When I consented, since I had no prior knowledge of the plot, he took his band of brigands and hastened against me. He did not, however, succeed in accomplishing his
villainy come to anything: for while he was already drawing near, one of his men deserted and came to me, disclosing his undertaking. Learning this, I went out into the marketplace, pretending to know nothing of the plot, but I brought with me a large number of armed Galileans, and some men of Tiberias as well. Then, having ordered that all the roads be most securely guarded, I instructed the men at the gates to let only Jesus in, together with his chief men, whenever he should arrive, but to shut out the rest, and to strike them if they used force.
When they had done as instructed, Jesus came in with a few men. And when I ordered him to throw down his weapons at once, telling him he would be killed if he refused, he saw the armed men surrounding him on every side, took fright, and obeyed. Those of his followers who had been shut out, learning of his capture, fled. And I, calling Jesus aside privately,
told him that I was not ignorant of the plot that had been contrived against me, nor of who had sent him, but that I would nonetheless forgive him what he had done, if he were willing to repent and become loyal to me. When he promised to do everything I asked, I released him, allowing him to gather again the men he had had before. But I threatened the people of Sepphoris that, if they did not cease their unruly conduct, I would exact justice from them. At about this time two great men from among those under the authority of the king arrived, from the region of the Trachonites,
bringing with them their own horses and weapons, and also secretly bringing money. When the Jews tried to compel them to be circumcised, if they wished to live among them, I did not allow them to be forced, saying that each man ought to worship God according to his own choice, and not under compulsion, and that these men, having fled to us for safety,
ought not to be made to regret it. The people were persuaded, and provided the newcomers generously with everything needed for their accustomed way of life. Meanwhile King Agrippa sent a force, with Aequus Modius as its commander, to take the fortress of Gamala. But those who were sent were not strong enough to surround the fortress; instead, stationing themselves at the open approaches to the place, they kept up a siege of Gamala.
Now Ebutius, the cavalry commander who had been entrusted with the command of the Great Plain, hearing that I was present in the village of Simonias, which lay on the borders of Galilee, sixty stadia from his own position, took with him by night the hundred horsemen he had with him, and about two hundred foot soldiers, and, adding as allies the inhabitants of the town of Gaba, marched through the night and arrived at the village
where I was staying. I drew up my forces to meet him with a large body of men, and Ebutius tried to draw us down into the plain, for he had great confidence in his cavalry. We did not comply, however; for I saw the advantage his cavalry would gain if we came down into the plain, since we were all infantry, and so I decided to engage the enemy where we were. And for a while Ebutius
held his ground bravely with the men around him, but seeing that his cavalry force was of no use in that terrain, he withdrew, having achieved nothing, to the town of Gaba, having lost three men in the fighting. I followed close behind with two thousand armed men, and having come to the town of Besara, which lies on the border of Ptolemais, twenty stadia from Gaba,
where Ebutius was staying, I stationed my men outside the village and, having ordered them to guard the roads securely so that the enemy would not trouble us while we carried off the grain — for a great quantity belonging to Queen Berenice, gathered from the surrounding villages, was stored at Besara — I loaded the camels and the many donkeys I had brought with me, and sent the grain into Galilee.
Having done this, I challenged Ebutius to battle, but when he did not respond — for he had been thoroughly cowed by our readiness and boldness — I turned instead against Neapolitanus, having heard that he was ravaging the territory of Tiberias. Neapolitanus was the commander of a cavalry squadron, and had taken charge of Scythopolis to guard it against the enemy. Having thus stopped him from doing further harm to the people of Tiberias, I turned my attention
to the care of Galilee. Now John, the son of Levi, whom we said was residing at Gischala, on learning that everything was going according to my wishes, and that I enjoyed the goodwill of my subjects while striking fear into the enemy, was not pleased at heart, and, thinking that my success would bring about his own downfall, gave way to an envy that was anything but moderate.
Hoping to put an end to my good fortune by kindling hatred against me among my subjects, he tried to persuade the inhabitants of Tiberias and Sepphoris, and, in addition, those of Gabara — these being the greatest cities of Galilee — to abandon their loyalty to me and attach themselves to him instead, claiming that he would command them better than I could. The people of Sepphoris, however, since
they favored neither of us, having chosen the Romans as their masters, did not agree to his proposal; the people of Tiberias, though they did not accept the idea of revolt, did agree to become his friends; but the inhabitants of Gabara went over to John. Simon was the one who urged them to do so — he was the leading man of the city, and was on terms of friendship and companionship with John. Openly, then, they did not
admit to their defection, for they were exceedingly afraid of the Galileans, having had frequent experience of their goodwill toward us; but secretly they watched for a suitable opportunity and plotted against me. And indeed I came into the greatest danger, for the following reason. Some bold young men, natives of Dabaritta, having noticed the wife of Ptolemy, the king's steward, passing with a large equipage and some cavalry accompanying her for safety,
as she made her journey through the Great Plain from territory subject to the kings into the Roman-controlled territory, fell upon them suddenly. They forced the woman to flee, and plundered everything she was carrying, and came to Tarichaeae bringing to me four mules laden with clothing and other goods; there was also no small weight of silver, and five hundred gold pieces. This
I wished to preserve for Ptolemy, since he was in fact a fellow Jew, and our laws forbid us to rob even our enemies; so I told those who had brought the goods that they must be kept safe, so that from their sale the walls of Jerusalem might be repaired. The young men were angered at not receiving a share of the spoils, as they had expected, and went off to the surrounding
villages of Tiberias, saying that I intended to betray their country to the Romans; for, they said, I had used a clever pretense with them, claiming that I was keeping the goods taken in the raid for the repair of the walls of the city of Jerusalem, whereas in truth I had resolved to give the stolen goods back to their owner. And in this at least I was not mistaken in my judgment; for after they had left, I sent for the two leading men,
Dassion and Jannaeus the son of Levi, who were among the king's closest friends, and ordered them to take the vessels taken in the raid and send them on to him, threatening them with death as the penalty if they reported this to anyone else. But when a rumor spread through the whole of Galilee that their country was about to be betrayed by me to the Romans, and everyone was inflamed against me
in their rage, the inhabitants of Tarichaeae, themselves also supposing the young men to be telling the truth, persuaded my bodyguards and the armed men, leaving me asleep, to come quickly to the hippodrome, in order to deliberate there with everyone about their general. When they were persuaded and had assembled, a great crowd had already gathered, and they all raised a single cry, that the traitor who had done them such wrong ought to be punished. Above all
the one who incited them was Jesus, the son of Sapphias, at that time the ruler of Tiberias, a wicked man by nature and given to causing great disturbances, a factious troublemaker if ever there was one; and taking the laws of Moses in his hands and coming forward into their midst, he said, 'Fellow citizens, even if you cannot bring yourselves to hate Joseph for your own sakes, at least look to the ancestral laws, which
your own commander was about to betray, and out of hatred of wrongdoing on their account, punish the man who dared such things.' Having said this, and with the crowd shouting in agreement, he took some armed men and hastened to the house where I was lodging, intending to kill me. I, having no forewarning of this, was overcome with fatigue and was resting before the disturbance broke out. But Simon, who had been entrusted with the guarding of my person, and who alone
had remained with me, seeing the onrush of the citizens, woke me and told me of the danger threatening me, urging me to die nobly, as befitted a general, by his own hand, before the enemy should arrive to force me to it or to kill me themselves. He spoke thus, but I, committing my fate to God, resolved to go out and face the crowd. So I changed into black clothing and fastened my sword
about my neck, and went by another road, by which I thought none of my enemies would meet me, to the hippodrome. Appearing there suddenly, I fell face down, drenching the ground with my tears, and seemed to everyone a pitiable sight. Perceiving the change in the crowd's mood, I tried to divide their opinions before the armed men could return from the house. I conceded that I had done wrong, as
they themselves believed, but I asked to be allowed first to explain for what purpose I had kept the money taken in the raid, and then to die, if they so ordered. When the crowd bade me speak, the armed men arrived, and, catching sight of me, rushed forward intending to kill me. But when the crowd ordered them to hold back, they obeyed, expecting that, once I had confessed to them that I had kept the money for the king, they would then, on the strength of my having admitted the treachery,
put me to death. When silence had fallen over all of them, I said, 'Men, my kinsmen, if it is just that I should die, I do not beg to be spared. Yet I wish, before I die, to tell you the truth. I knew that this city was most hospitable to strangers, and was eagerly filled with so many men who had left their own homelands to come and share our fortune, and so I resolved to build walls from the money',
'about which your anger is directed, spending it on their construction.' At this, a voice arose from the people of Tarichaeae and the foreigners, acknowledging their gratitude and urging me to take courage, but the Galileans and the people of Tiberias persisted in their anger, and a dispute broke out among them, some threatening to punish me, others urging contempt for such threats. But when I promised to build walls for Tiberias as well
and for their other cities that needed them, they trusted me and each withdrew to his own home. And I, having escaped, beyond all hope, the danger just described, returned to my house with my friends and twenty armed men. But once again the bandits and those responsible for the sedition, fearing for themselves lest I exact justice from them for what they had done, took six hundred armed men and came against
the house where I was staying, intending to burn it down. When the attack was reported to me, I thought it unbecoming to flee, and decided instead to risk something and make use of some boldness. So I ordered the doors of the house to be shut, and going up myself to the upper room, I called out for some men to be sent in to receive the money; for I said that in this way they would cease from their anger. When they sent in the boldest of them, I had him whipped,
and ordered one of his hands to be cut off and hung about his neck, and had him thrown out in that state to those who had sent him. Terror and no small fear seized them, and, fearing that they too would suffer the same fate if they remained — for they supposed I had more men inside than they had — they took to flight. And I, by using such a stratagem, escaped this second plot as well. But again certain persons stirred up the crowd,
provoking it against the royal grandees who had come to me, saying that men who were unwilling to change over to their customs ought not to be allowed to live, when they had come there to be kept safe among them; and they also slandered the Romans as sorcerers, saying it was by this means that they prevailed. The crowd was quickly persuaded, deceived by the plausibility of things said merely to please them. But when I learned of this, I again tried to teach the people that it was not right
to persecute those who had taken refuge with them; and I ridiculed as nonsense the charge concerning sorcery, saying that the Romans would not maintain so many tens of thousands of soldiers if it were by sorcery that they defeated their enemies. While I was saying this, they were persuaded for a little while, but then, drawing back again, they were incited by wicked men against the grandees, and once, armed, they went off to attack their house
in Tarichaeae, intending to kill them. When I learned of it, I was afraid that, once this abomination had run its course, the city would become inaccessible to those wishing to take refuge there. So I went to the house of the grandees with some others, and, having shut it up and made a channel from it leading to the lake, I sent for a boat, and, embarking in it with them, crossed over to the borders of Hippos,
and, having given them the value of their horses — for I had not been able to bring the horses with me, given how the escape had happened — I sent them off, after urging them at length to bear the misfortune that had befallen them with courage. I myself was greatly distressed at being forced to send those who had taken refuge with me back again into enemy territory, though I judged it better for them to die at the hands of the Romans, should that happen, than in my own country. As it turned out, however, they were saved,
for King Agrippa forgave them their offenses. And that is how the affair concerning them ended. Meanwhile the inhabitants of the city of Tiberias wrote to the king, asking him to send a force to guard their territory, saying that they wished to attach themselves to him. That is what they wrote to him. But when I arrived among them, they asked me to build walls for them, as I had promised;
for they had heard that Tarichaeae was already walled. I agreed, then, and, having made all the preparations needed for the building, I ordered the master-builders to set to work. On the third day after this, as I was on my way to Tarichaeae, thirty stadia from Tiberias, it happened that some Roman cavalry were seen riding not far from the city, which gave the impression that the force sent by the king had arrived. At once, then,
they raised cries in praise of the king, but full of abuse against me. And someone came running to report their intention to me, that they had resolved to revolt from me. When I heard this I was greatly disturbed; for I had, as it happened, sent the armed men away from Tarichaeae to their own homes, since the next day was the Sabbath — for I was unwilling that the
...the crowd of soldiers to trouble the people of Tarichaeae. Indeed, whenever I spent time among them, I took no precaution at all for my own protection, having often had proof, from the inhabitants themselves, of their loyalty toward me. Having with me only seven of the men-at-arms and my friends, I was at a loss what to do. To send for my own force was not something I approved, since the present day was already coming to a close; for even if it arrived on the following day, the laws forbade us to take up arms, however great the necessity might seem to press. And if I allowed the people of Tarichaeae and the foreigners among them to plunder the city, I saw that they would not be sufficient for the task, and that any delay of mine would prove very long indeed; for I judged that the force from the king would arrive first, and that I would be driven out of the city.
So I resolved to employ a certain stratagem against them. At once I stationed the most trustworthy of my friends at the gates of Tarichaeae to keep watch, so as to let out safely any who wished to leave, and having summoned the leading men of the households, I ordered each of them to launch a boat, board it, take along its pilot, and follow me to the city of Tiberias. I myself, together with my friends and the men-at-arms — seven in number, as I said — boarded and sailed for Tiberias. When the people of Tiberias realized that the force from the king had not in fact come to them, but saw the whole lake full of boats, they were afraid for their city, and, terrified at the thought that the vessels were full of soldiers, they changed their minds. Throwing down their weapons, they came out with their wives and children to meet me, uttering many words of praise for me, since they supposed that I had not yet learned of their intentions, and they begged me to spare the city.
When I drew near, I ordered the pilots to cast anchor while still far from the shore, so that the people of Tiberias would not discover that the boats were empty of soldiers; and drawing close myself in one of the boats, I rebuked them for their folly and for being so ready, without any just cause, to abandon their loyalty to me. I promised, however, that I would grant them full pardon for the future, if they would send me ten of the leading men of the populace. When they readily obeyed and sent the men I had named, I put them aboard and sent them off to Tarichaeae, to be held under guard. By this stratagem I gradually got the whole council into my hands, a few at a time, and sent them off to the city just mentioned, together with the most prominent men of the common people, no fewer in number than the councillors. When the populace saw into what depth of trouble they had come, they begged me to punish the man responsible for the sedition. His name was Clitus, a bold and rash young man.
Since I considered it unholy to kill a man of my own people, yet was compelled to punish him, I ordered one of my bodyguards, Levi, to go forward and cut off one of Clitus's hands. But the man so ordered was afraid to go forward alone into so great a crowd, and, unwilling to let his cowardice become apparent to the Tiberians, I called Clitus himself and said, "Since you deserve to lose both your hands for having proved so ungrateful toward me, be your own executioner, lest by refusing you incur a worse punishment." When he begged repeatedly to be allowed to keep one hand, I scarcely consented; and he, glad not to lose both hands, took a sword and cut off his own left hand. And this put an end to the sedition. The people of Tiberias, once I had reached Tarichaeae and they learned of the stratagem I had used against them, marveled that I had put a stop to their disloyalty without any bloodshed.
As for myself, I sent for those of the Tiberian populace who were in prison — among them were Justus and his father Pistus — and made them my guests at dinner; and during the feast I told them that I myself was well aware that the power of Rome surpassed all others, but that I kept silent about this on account of the brigands. I advised them to do the same, waiting for a favorable opportunity, and not to be exasperated with me as their commander, since they would not easily find another so reasonably disposed toward them. And I reminded Justus that, before my arrival from Jerusalem, the Galileans had cut off the hands of his brother, charging him with the crime of having forged letters, even before the war; and that after the withdrawal of Philip, the people of Gamala, in their strife with the Babylonians,
had killed Chares, who was a kinsman of Philip, and how they had chastised — with moderation — Jesus, his brother, the husband of Justus's sister. Having said these things at the feast to Justus and his companions, I ordered at daybreak that they all be released from custody. Before these events it happened that Philip, son of Jacimus, departed from the fortress of Gamala for the following reason. Philip, having learned that Varus had been removed by King Agrippa, and that his successor, Modius Aequus, a man who was his friend and long acquainted with him, had arrived, wrote to him, reporting his own circumstances and asking him to forward the letters he sent on to the kings. Modius, having received the letters, was overjoyed to learn from them that Philip was safe, and sent the letters on to the kings, who were then near Berytus.
When King Agrippa learned that the report about Philip had been false — for a rumor had spread that he was commanding the Jews in the war against the Romans — he sent horsemen to escort Philip. When Philip arrived, Agrippa greeted him warmly, and pointed him out to the Roman commanders, showing them that this indeed was the Philip about whom the rumor had circulated, that he had revolted from Rome. He ordered him to take some horsemen and go as quickly as possible to the fortress of Gamala, to bring out from there all his household, and to restore the Babylonians once more to Batanea. He further charged him to take every precaution against any revolutionary movement arising among the subjects. Philip, then, upon receiving these instructions from the king, made haste to carry out what had been ordered. But Joseph, son of the midwife,
having incited many bold young men to join him, rose up against the leading men of Gamala and persuaded them to revolt from the king and take up arms, on the ground that through this they would recover their freedom. Some he compelled by force; those who did not agree with their views, they put to death. They also killed Chares, and along with him a kinsman of his, Jesus, and they also killed the husband of Justus of Tiberias's sister, as I have already said. They also wrote to me, asking me to send them a force of men-at-arms and men to rebuild the walls of their city. I refused neither of their requests. The region of Gaulanitis also revolted from the king, as far as the village of Solyma. At Seleucia and Sogane, villages naturally very strong, I built walls, and likewise I walled the villages of Upper Galilee
that were exceedingly rocky — their names being Jamnia, Ameroth, and Achabare. I also fortified the cities of Lower Galilee — Tarichaeae, Tiberias, and Sepphoris — and the villages of the cave of Arbela, Bersobe, Selame, Jotapata, Capharath, Comus, Sogane, Japha, and Mount Tabor. In these places I also stored up much grain and weapons for the security to come afterward. As for John, son of Levi, his hatred toward me grew ever more intense, since he bore my success with resentment. Having therefore resolved by all means to get me out of the way, he set about building walls for his own native city of Gischala, and sent his brother Simon, together with Jonathan, son of Sisenna, with about a hundred men-at-arms, to Jerusalem, to Simon son of Gamaliel, to urge him to persuade the community of the Jerusalemites
to take the command away from me and to vote him the authority over the Galileans instead. This Simon was a native of the city of Jerusalem, of very distinguished lineage, and of the sect of the Pharisees, who are reputed to surpass the others in strict observance of the ancestral laws. He was a man full of understanding and judgment, capable of setting right, by his own good sense, affairs that had fallen into a bad state; he was, moreover, an old friend and intimate of John, though at that time he was on unfriendly terms with me. Having received the request, he set about persuading the chief priests Ananus and Jesus, son of Gamalas, and some others of their party, that they should cut me down while I was still growing, and not allow me to increase to the utmost degree of reputation, saying that it would be to their advantage if I were removed from Galilee; and he urged those around Ananus not to delay,
lest, learning of it beforehand, I should march against the city with a large force. Such was the counsel Simon gave; but the chief priest Ananus declared that the matter was not easy to accomplish, for many of the chief priests and of the leading men of the populace testified that I commanded well; and to bring an accusation against a man against whom they could say nothing just would be the act of base men. When Simon heard this from Ananus, he asked them to keep silent and not spread their words abroad among many, saying that he himself would see to it that I should be removed from Galilee all the sooner; and, summoning John's brother, he instructed him to send gifts to Ananus and his associates, saying that in this way, perhaps, he would persuade them to change their minds. And in the end Simon accomplished what
he had set out to do; for Ananus and those with him, corrupted by the money, agreed to expel me from Galilee, without anyone else in the city knowing of it. And indeed they resolved to send men who differed in rank but were alike in education. Two of them were of the common people, Jonathan and Ananias, Pharisees by sect, while the third, Jozar, was of a priestly family, himself also a Pharisee; and Simon was the youngest of the group, from among the chief-priestly families. They instructed these men, upon arriving, to inquire of the Galilean populace the reason why they loved me; and if they said it was because I was of the city of Jerusalem, they too were to say that all four of them were from that city; and if it was because of my knowledge of the laws, they too were to claim that they themselves were not ignorant of
the ancestral customs; and if, further, they said they loved me because of my priesthood, then two of them were to reply that they too were priests. Having given these instructions to Jonathan and his companions, they gave them forty thousand pieces of silver out of the public funds. And when they heard that a certain Galilean named Jesus, who had about him a company of six hundred men-at-arms, was staying in Jerusalem, they then summoned him and, giving him three months' pay, ordered him to accompany Jonathan and his party in obedience to them; and to three hundred of the citizens also they gave money for provisions for the whole company and ordered them to follow the envoys. When these men had been persuaded and made ready for the expedition, Jonathan and his companions set out, taking with them also John's brother and a hundred men-at-arms, having received instructions from those who had sent them,
that if I laid down my arms willingly, they should send me alive to the city of Jerusalem, but if I resisted, they should kill me without any hesitation, for the order was theirs to give. They had also written to John, telling him to make ready for war against me, and they instructed the inhabitants of Sepphoris, Gabara, and Tiberias to send military support to John. When my father wrote to me of these things — for Jesus, son of Gamalas, one of those who had taken part in that very council, a man who was my friend and intimate, had disclosed them to him — I was deeply pained to learn that the citizens had proved so ungrateful toward me as to order my death out of envy, and also because my father, in his letters, earnestly begged me to come to him, saying that he longed to see his son before he died.
I told these things to my friends, and said that within three days I would leave their territory and set out for my own homeland. Grief seized all who heard this, and they begged me, weeping, not to abandon them to destruction, if they should be deprived of my command. When I did not yield to their entreaties, but was concerned for my own safety, the Galileans, fearing that if I departed they would become an easy prey for the brigands, sent messengers throughout the whole of Galilee to announce my intention of leaving. Many gathered together from every quarter, on hearing this, with their wives and children — not, I think, so much out of affection for me as out of fear for their own safety, since they supposed that as long as I remained they would suffer no harm. So they all came to the
great plain in which they were encamped; its name is Asochis. During that night I saw a wondrous dream. For when I had gone to bed, grieved and troubled over what had been written to me, I seemed to see someone standing over me and saying: "Cease, man, from your grief of soul, and rid yourself of all fear; for the very things that grieve you shall make you great, and most fortunate in all things, and you shall prosper
not only in this but in many other matters besides. Do not lose heart, but remember that you must also fight against the Romans." Having seen this dream, I rose, eager to go down to the plain. And at the sight of me the whole multitude of the Galileans — among them were women and children — threw themselves upon their faces and, weeping, begged me not to abandon them to their enemies, nor to depart and leave their country to become an object of outrage to their foes. When I would not be persuaded by their entreaties, they compelled me by oaths to remain among them, and reviled the people of Jerusalem bitterly for not allowing their country to be at peace. Hearing these things and seeing the dejection of the crowd, I was moved to pity, and judged it right, for the sake of so great a multitude, to face even manifest dangers.
So I consented to remain, and, having ordered five thousand of them to come as men-at-arms, provided with their own rations, I sent the rest away to their homes. When the five thousand had arrived, I took them, along with the three thousand soldiers who were with me, and eighty horsemen, and made my way to the village of Chabolo, on the border of Ptolemais, and there I kept my forces together, making ready, on the pretext of the war against Placidus. This man had arrived with two cohorts of infantry and one squadron of cavalry, sent by Cestius Gallus to burn the villages of the Galileans that lay near Ptolemais. While he was pitching a camp before the city of the Ptolemaeans, I too set up my camp about sixty stadia from that village. Time and again, then...
We led our forces out as if for battle, but nothing came of it beyond a few skirmishes; for Placidus, seeing how eager I was for a fight, took fright himself and held back, though he did not withdraw from Ptolemais. At this same time Jonathan arrived with his fellow envoys, whom we said had been sent from Jerusalem by Simon and Ananus the high priest, plotting to seize me by treachery, since he did not dare to make an open attempt.
He wrote me the following letter: “Jonathan and those sent with him by the people of Jerusalem, to Josephus, greetings. We have been sent many times, on the report of the leading men in Jerusalem that John of Gischala has repeatedly plotted against you, to rebuke him and to urge him to obey you from now on. Wishing to consult with you about our common business, we call on you to come to us quickly, and not with many men; for the village could not accommodate a large body of soldiers.” They wrote this expecting one of two things: either that I would come to them without weapons and so fall into their hands, or that if I brought many men with me they would judge me an enemy.
The letter was brought to me by a horseman, an insolent young fellow who had once served in the king's army. It was already the second hour of the night, at which time I happened to be feasting with my friends and the leading men of Galilee. When a servant announced to me that a Jewish horseman had come, he was called in at my order; he did not so much as offer a greeting, but simply held out the letter and said, "This is what the men who have come from Jerusalem have sent you. Write your reply quickly, for I am in a hurry to return to them."
Those reclining at table were amazed at the soldier's impudence, but I invited him to sit down and dine with us. When he refused, I kept the letter in my hands just as I had received it, and turned my conversation with my friends to other matters. After no great while I rose, and having dismissed the rest to their beds, I asked only four of my closest friends to remain, and having ordered my servant to prepare wine, I unfolded the letter without anyone watching, and quickly grasping from it the intent of what was written, I sealed it up again.
And as though I had not read it beforehand, but simply held it in my hands, I ordered that twenty drachmas be given the soldier for his journey. When he took the money and expressed his thanks, I saw that he was greedy for gain and that this was the way to catch him. "But," I said, "if you are willing to drink with us, you shall receive one drachma for every cup." He gladly agreed, and drinking a great deal of wine in order to get more money, and becoming drunk, he could no longer keep the secret, but blurted out unasked both the plot that had been laid and the fact that I had been condemned to death by them.
On hearing this I wrote back in the following terms: "Josephus to Jonathan and those with him, greetings. I am glad to learn that you have arrived safely in Galilee, especially since I shall now be able to hand over to you the charge of affairs here and go to my own country — something I have long wished to do. I ought indeed to have come to meet you not only at Xaloth but far beyond it, even without being asked, but I beg your pardon for not being able to do this, since I am keeping watch over Placidus at Chabolo, as he has it in mind to march up into Galilee. Come to me, then, once you have read this letter. Farewell."
Having written this, I gave it to the soldier to carry, and sent along with him thirty of the most reputable men of Galilee, instructing them to greet Jonathan and his companions but to say nothing else. I also assigned to each of them one trusted soldier to keep watch, so that none of those I sent should have any conversation with Jonathan's party. So they set out. But Jonathan and his men, having failed in their first attempt, sent me another letter of this kind: "Jonathan and those with him, to Josephus, greetings. We instruct you to come to us within three days, without soldiers, to the village of Gabaroth, so that we may hear the charges you have against John."
Having written this and taken leave of the Galileans whom I had sent, they arrived at Japha, the largest village in Galilee, very strongly fortified with walls and full of many inhabitants. The populace came out to meet them with their wives and children, shouting and calling on them to go away and not to begrudge them so good a governor. Jonathan and his companions were provoked by these shouts, and though they did not dare show their anger openly, since the people would not even grant them a hearing, they went on to the other villages. Similar outcries met them everywhere, the crowds shouting that nothing would persuade them to give up having Josephus as their governor. Failing in their purpose with these people, Jonathan and his men came to Sepphoris, the largest city in Galilee.
The people there, whose sympathies looked toward the Romans, welcomed Jonathan's party, but toward me they neither praised nor reviled. Going down from Sepphoris to Asochis, those there likewise raised outcries against them, just as the people of Japha had done. Jonathan's men, no longer able to contain their anger, ordered their soldiers to strike the shouting crowd with clubs. When they reached Gabara, John met them with three thousand armed men.
I, having already realized from the letter that they had determined to make war on me, set out from Chabolo with three thousand armed men, leaving the most trustworthy of my friends in charge of the camp, and came to Jotapata, wishing to be near them, at a distance of about forty stades, and I wrote to them as follows: "If you are altogether determined that I should come to you, there are two hundred and four cities and villages in Galilee.
I will come to whichever of these you wish, except Gabara and Gischala — the one being John's native place, the other his ally and friend." On receiving this letter, Jonathan and his men no longer wrote back; instead, sitting in council with their friends and bringing in John, they deliberated on how they might move against me. John's proposal was to write to all the cities and villages of Galilee — for in each of them, he said, there was certain to be at least one or two men opposed to me — and to summon these as if against an enemy, and to send this same decree to the city of Jerusalem too, so that its people, learning that I had been judged an enemy by the Galileans, might likewise vote against me; for once this was done, he said, even those Galileans well disposed toward me would abandon me out of fear.
John's advice pleased the others greatly, and they approved what he had said. About the third hour of the night this came to my knowledge, since a certain Sacchaeus, one of their party, deserted to me and reported their plan; there was no longer any need, I judged, to delay. Deeming it worth the effort, I ordered Jacob, a trusted soldier among my guard,
to take two hundred armed men and guard the roads leading from Gabara into Galilee, arresting any who passed and sending them to me, especially those caught carrying letters. Jeremiah too, one of my own friends, I sent with six hundred armed men to the border of Galilee to watch the roads leading from there to the city of Jerusalem, giving him the same order to arrest those traveling with letters,
to keep the men themselves in bonds on the spot, and to send the letters on to me. Having given these instructions to the men I sent, I announced to the Galileans that they should take up arms the next day and come to me at the village of Gabaroth with three days' provisions. I also divided my own bodyguard into four companies, assigning the most trustworthy of them to guard my person,
setting captains over them and ordering them to see to it that no soldier unknown to them should mingle among them. The next day, about the fifth hour, on arriving at Gabaroth, I found the whole plain before the village full of armed men from Galilee who had come to join me as I had ordered; and a great crowd besides came streaming in from the villages.
When I had taken my place and begun to address them, they all cried out, calling me the benefactor and savior of their country. And I, acknowledging my gratitude to them, counseled them neither to make war on anyone nor to defile their hands with plunder, but to encamp on the plain, content with their own provisions; for I said I wished to put down the disturbances without bloodshed. It happened that on that very day the men sent by Jonathan with the letters fell into the guard posts I had set on the roads.
The men themselves were kept under guard on the spot, as I had ordered, but when I read the letters, finding them full of slanders and lies, I decided to say nothing of this and to move against them at once. But Jonathan and his men, hearing of my approach, took all their own followers and John
and withdrew into the house of Jesus — a large mansion, in no way inferior to a fortress. Hiding a company of armed men inside it and locking all the other doors but one, they expected me to come to them straight from the road to pay my respects. And indeed they gave orders to the soldiers that, when I arrived, they should let me enter alone and keep the rest out; for in this way they thought
they would easily get me into their power. But they were disappointed in their hope; for I, having gotten wind of the plot beforehand, on arriving from the road took lodging directly opposite them and pretended to be going to sleep. Jonathan and his men, supposing that I really was resting and asleep, went down among the crowd to try to turn them against me, on the ground that I was a bad commander. But the opposite happened to them; for as soon as they were seen, a shout went up from the
Galileans in my favor as their commander, worthy of their goodwill, and they began to reproach Jonathan's party, saying that they had come though they had suffered no wrong themselves, only to overturn that man's affairs, and they urged them to leave, saying that nothing would ever persuade them to take another leader in my place. When this was reported to me, I did not hesitate to come forward among them. So I went down at once, wishing to hear for myself what Jonathan's men were saying.
As I came forward, applause at once arose from the whole crowd, with cheers and shouts of thanks acknowledging my generalship. Hearing this, Jonathan and his men were afraid that they might even be in danger of death if the Galileans should attack them out of gratitude toward me; so they began to think of flight. But unable to get away — for I asked them to remain —
they stood downcast at my words. I then ordered the crowd to hold their acclamations, and stationed the most trustworthy of my soldiers along the roads to guard against a sudden attack by John, and after urging the Galileans too to take up arms, not against the enemy's approach, but so that they should not be thrown into confusion should any sudden disturbance arise, I first reminded Jonathan's party
of the letter, in what terms they had written that they had been sent by the community of Jerusalem to settle my quarrels with John, and how they had invited me to come to them. And as I recounted this I held the letter out before the crowd, so that they could deny nothing, the document itself convicting them. "And indeed," I said, "Jonathan, and you his fellow envoys, if I, on trial before John concerning"
my own conduct, had brought forward two or three honest and good witnesses to establish my manner of life, it is clear you would have been bound, after first examining the lives of these men, to acquit me of the charges. So then, that you may know well that my administration of Galilee has been good, though I consider three witnesses too few for a man who has lived honorably, I give you all of these people as witnesses. Ask them, then,
in what manner I have lived, whether I have conducted my public affairs here with complete honor and complete virtue. And I adjure you, men of Galilee, to hide none of the truth, but to speak before these men as before judges, if anything has not been done rightly." While I was still speaking these words, cries arose from everyone together, calling me benefactor and savior, and while they testified concerning what had already been done,
they made requests concerning what was still to be done, and all swore that their wives had never been insulted, and that they had never once suffered any wrong at my hands. After this I had two of the letters read out to the Galileans — letters which the guards I had stationed had seized when they were sent by Jonathan's party and had forwarded to me — letters full of many slanders and falsehoods, alleging that I exercised over them tyranny rather than lawful command. Much else besides
was written in addition to this, omitting no shameless lie. I told the crowd that I had received the letters only because those who carried them had given them up willingly; for I did not want them to know about the guard posts, lest the enemy, taking fright, should give up writing such letters. On hearing this the crowd, greatly enraged, rushed at Jonathan and those present with him as though to destroy them; and they would have carried out the deed,
had I not restrained the Galileans' anger and told Jonathan's party that I would pardon what had already been done, if they were willing to repent and, going back to their own country, tell those who had sent them the truth about my administration. Having said this I let them go, though I knew well that they would do none of what they had promised. But the crowd's anger against them kept blazing up,
and they begged me to allow them to punish those who had dared such things. I did everything I could to persuade them to spare the men, for I knew that any faction was ruinous to the common good; but the crowd's anger against them remained unshaken, and they all rushed toward the house in which Jonathan's party was lodging. Seeing that their impulse
could not be checked, I leaped onto a horse and ordered the crowds to follow me to the village of Sogane, twenty stades from Gabara. By this stratagem I managed to avoid appearing to have started a civil war. When I reached the region of Sogane, I halted the crowd, and after urging them not to give way so hotly to their anger, especially in inflicting irreparable punishments, I ordered those already advanced in years and the foremost men among them, a hundred in all,
to prepare to go to the city of Jerusalem, to lay a complaint before the people against those who were stirring up factions in the country. "And if," I said, "they are moved by your words, ask the assembly to write to me ordering me to remain in Galilee, and ordering Jonathan's party to withdraw from there." Having given them these instructions,
Once I had given these instructions and they had quickly complied, I made the dispatch on the third day after the assembly, sending along five hundred armed men. I also wrote to my friends in Samaria asking them to see to it that the journey would be safe for them, since Samaria was already under Roman control and, in any case, those wishing to travel quickly had to go through it; for in three days one can get from Galilee to Jerusalem by that route.
I myself also escorted the envoys as far as the borders of Galilee, stationing guards along the roads so that no one could easily learn of their departure. Having done this, I spent some time at Iaphia. Meanwhile Jonathan and his companions, having failed in their scheme against me, sent John off to Gischala, while they themselves went to the city of Tiberias, expecting to gain control of it, since Jesus too had at this time written to them promising to persuade the populace to come and receive them, and to choose to join them. They set off, then, in such hopes, and Silas -- whom I said I had left behind as overseer of Tiberias -- reported this to me by letter and urged haste. I quickly obeyed him, and upon arriving I fell into mortal danger, for the following reason.
Jonathan and his party, once among the Tiberians, had persuaded many who were hostile to me to revolt from me; but when they heard of my arrival, they grew afraid for themselves and came to me, and after greeting me they began to congratulate me, saying how fortunate it was that I had conducted myself so well regarding Galilee, and that they rejoiced I was held in such honor -- for my reputation, they said, was an ornament to themselves, seeing that I had been their teacher and was a fellow citizen, and that my friendship toward them was more just than John's. They said they were eager to go home, but would wait until they had made John subject to me. And as they said this they swore the most fearsome oaths current among us, oaths which I thought it impious to disbelieve. They then asked me to make my lodging elsewhere, since the next day was the Sabbath, and they said the city of the Tiberians ought not to be troubled by their presence.
Suspecting nothing, I went off to Tarichaeae, though I left behind in the city men to find out carefully what was being said about me. All along the road leading from Tarichaeae to Tiberias I stationed a number of men, so that they might signal to one another whatever they learned from those left behind in the city. On the following day, then, everyone gathered in the synagogue, a very large building capable of holding a great crowd. Jonathan entered and, while not daring to speak openly about the revolt, said that their city needed a stronger commander. Jesus the ruler, holding nothing back, said openly, "It is better for us, fellow citizens, to obey four men rather than one, men distinguished both by birth and by no mean intelligence" -- and he pointed to Jonathan's party.
When Jesus had said this, Justus came forward and praised him, and won over some of the people. But the crowd was not pleased with what had been said, and would certainly have broken into faction, had not the sixth hour, on which it is customary for us to take our midday meal on the Sabbath, arrived and dissolved the assembly; and Jonathan's party, putting off their plan to the next day, departed having accomplished nothing. As soon as I was informed of this, early the next morning I decided to go to the city of Tiberias, and about that hour I arrived from Tarichaeae, and found the crowd already gathering at the synagogue -- though those assembling did not know for what purpose the meeting had been called.
Jonathan's party, seeing me present unexpectedly, were thrown into confusion. Then they contrived to circulate a report that Roman cavalry had been seen on the border, at a place called Homonoia, thirty stades from the city. When this news was passed around by way of a planted rumor, Jonathan's party urged that we should not allow their land to be plundered by the enemy. They said this with the intention of getting me removed on the pretext of urgent assistance being needed, so that they could render the city hostile to me on their own. I, though I knew their scheme, nevertheless complied, so as not to give the Tiberians the impression that I was neglecting their safety. So I went out, and on reaching the place, finding not even a trace of an enemy, I turned back and marched swiftly, and found the entire council assembled along with the common crowd, with Jonathan's party bringing many accusations against me, claiming that I was neglecting to lighten the war for them and was living in luxury.
As they said this they produced four letters, purporting to have been written to them by people on the border of Galilee, asking for help, saying that a Roman force of cavalry and infantry was about to plunder their territory within three days, and begging them to hurry and not overlook it. Hearing this, the Tiberians, thinking they spoke the truth, raised an outcry, saying that I ought not to sit still but should go and assist their countrymen. In response I -- for I understood the design of Jonathan's party -- said I was ready and promised to set out for the war without delay, but nevertheless I advised, since the letters indicated that the Romans were attacking at four places, that we should divide our forces into five divisions and place Jonathan and his companions in command of each of these; for it befitted good men not merely to give advice, but, when urgent need required it, to take the lead in helping. I myself, I said, could not undertake to lead more than one division.
This proposal pleased the crowd greatly, and so they compelled Jonathan's men to go out to the war. But their minds were thrown into considerable confusion at not having accomplished what they had intended, since I had countered their schemes with a strategy of my own. One of them, a man named Ananias, a wicked and villainous fellow, proposed to the crowds that they should all observe a fast to God on the following day, and ordered that at the same hour they should appear unarmed at the same place, to demonstrate to God that, unless they received help from him, they considered every weapon useless. He said this not out of piety, but in order to catch me and my men unarmed. I, out of necessity, complied, so as not to seem to disdain the counsel concerning piety.
So when we had withdrawn to our own quarters, Jonathan's party wrote to John telling him to come to them at dawn with as many soldiers as he could muster; for they would readily get me into their power and would do with me as he wished. He, on receiving the letter, intended to comply. The next day I took two of my bodyguards, the most tested for courage and most reliably loyal, and ordered them to hide daggers under their clothing and go out with me, so that if any attack should come from the enemy we might defend ourselves. I myself took a breastplate and girded on a sword, as inconspicuously as I could manage, and went to the synagogue.
Jesus the ruler ordered all who were with me to be shut out, for he himself stood at the doors, and allowed only me and my friends to enter. Already, as we were performing the customary rites and had turned to prayer, Jesus stood up and began asking me about the vessels of unminted silver taken from the burning of the royal palace, wanting to know with whom they happened to be lodged. He said this wanting to spend time until John should arrive. I said that Capella had all of it, along with the ten leading men of Tiberias -- "Question them yourself," I said, "I am not lying." But when they said that they had it among themselves, he said, "But the twenty gold pieces you got by selling a certain weight of unminted silver -- what has become of them?" I said I had given these to their envoys as travel money when they were sent to Jerusalem.
At this Jonathan's party said I had done wrong to give the envoys their pay from the common fund. When the crowd grew angry at this -- for they had perceived the wickedness of the men -- I, understanding that faction was about to break out, and wishing rather to provoke the people further against the men, said, "But even if I did not act rightly in giving the pay to your envoys from the common fund, do stop being angry; for I myself will repay the twenty gold pieces."
When I had said this, Jonathan's party fell silent, but the people grew still more incensed against them, seeing plainly their unjust hostility toward me. Jesus, perceiving this change in the people's mood, ordered the crowd to withdraw, but asked the council to remain, saying that an inquiry into such matters could not be conducted amid a disturbed crowd. But as the people shouted that they would not leave me alone among them, someone came secretly to report to Jesus' party that John was approaching with his armed men. And Jonathan's party, no longer able to restrain themselves -- perhaps also because God was providing for my safety, for had this not happened I would certainly have been destroyed by John -- said, "Tiberians, stop this inquiry over twenty gold pieces; for it is not on account of these that Josephus deserves to die, but because he has desired to be a tyrant, and by deceiving the Galilean crowds with words has secured the government for himself."
As he said this they laid hands on me at once and tried to kill me. But when my companions saw what was happening, they drew their swords and, threatening to strike if any violence were used, rescued me from the enemy's violence, just as the people had taken up stones and rushed to throw them at Jonathan.
When, having gone forward a little, I was about to meet John as he approached with his armed men, I grew afraid and turned aside from him, and, escaping through a narrow lane to the lake, and getting hold of a boat, I embarked and crossed over to Tarichaeae, having unexpectedly escaped the danger. I immediately sent for the leading men of the Galileans and told them the manner in which I had been treacherously attacked by Jonathan's party and the Tiberians and had very nearly been destroyed by them.
At this the crowd of Galileans grew angry and urged me to delay no longer in waging war against them, but to allow them to go and utterly destroy John and Jonathan's party. But I restrained them, angry as they were, telling them to wait until we learned what those they had sent to Jerusalem would report; for I said I would act as they thought fit, in accordance with the judgment of those men. And having said this I persuaded them. At that time, too, John, since his plot had not succeeded, withdrew to Gischala.
Not many days later, those we had sent returned again and reported that the populace was greatly incensed against Ananus and Simon the son of Gamaliel, because, without the consent of the assembly, they had sent men to Galilee and thereby brought about my expulsion from it. The envoys said that the people had even set out to burn down their houses. They also brought letters, by which the leading men of Jerusalem, at the people's urgent request, confirmed my command of Galilee and ordered Jonathan's party to return home as quickly as possible.
Having received these letters, I went to the village of Arbela, where, having assembled the Galileans, I ordered the envoys to relate the anger and hatred of wrongdoing on the part of the people over what had been done by Jonathan's party, and how they had confirmed to me the leadership of their country, and what had been written to Jonathan's party about their departure -- to whom I also immediately sent the letter, ordering the bearer to find out carefully what they intended to do.
They, on receiving the letter and being no little disturbed, summoned John and the members of the Tiberian council and the leading men of Gabara, and put before them the question of what they should do. The Tiberians decided rather to hold their ground, for they said they ought not to abandon their city, once it had joined that side, especially since I was not going to spare them either -- for they falsely claimed that I had threatened this. John not only agreed with them, but also advised that two of them should go and accuse me before the assembly of not administering the affairs of Galilee properly, saying that he would easily persuade them, both because of his own standing and because the whole crowd was readily disposed to it.
Since John's proposal seemed the best, it was decided that two men, Jonathan and Ananias, should go to the people of Jerusalem, while the other two should remain behind at Tiberias. They took with them, for their own protection, a hundred armed men. The Tiberians, for their part, saw to it that the walls were secured, and ordered the inhabitants to take up arms, and also sent to John for a good number of soldiers to assist them against me, if need arose. John was at Gischala. Jonathan's party, then, setting out from Tiberias, on reaching the village of Dabaritta, which lies on the edge of Galilee in the great plain, fell in about midnight with my guards, who ordered them to lay down their weapons and kept them under guard in chains on the spot, just as I had instructed them.
Levi, to whom I had entrusted the guard, wrote to inform me of this. I let two days pass, pretending to know nothing, then sent to the Tiberians advising them, once they had laid down their arms, to release the men to their own homes. But they -- for they supposed that Jonathan's party had already made their way to Jerusalem -- returned an abusive answer. Undismayed, I set about outmaneuvering them. I did not think it pious to kindle war against my own countrymen, but, wishing to draw them away from the Tiberians, I chose ten thousand of my best-armed men and divided them into three divisions.
These I ordered to lie in ambush unseen in some buildings and wait, while a thousand others I led into another village, likewise in the hill country but four stades from Tiberias, with orders that as soon as they received the signal they should come down at once. I myself went forward from the village and sat in plain view. The Tiberians, seeing me, kept running out and heaping abuse on me -- so great was...
such was the folly that possessed them that they even made ready a couch, set it out, and stood around it lamenting me, all in jest and laughter. I, for my part, was pleased at heart to watch their foolishness.
Wishing to catch Simon by a trick, along with Jozar, I sent to them and invited them to come a little way outside the city with many friends who would guard them, saying that I wished to come down and make a settlement with them and divide the leadership of Galilee between us. Simon, then, being young and deceived by the hope of gain, did not hesitate to come; but Jozar, suspecting a trap, stayed behind. When Simon had come up with the friends who were guarding him, I went to meet him, greeted him warmly, and professed my gratitude that he had come. Not long after, as we were walking together as though I wished to say something in private, I led him further away from his friends, then seized him bodily and handed him over to my own friends to take to the village, while I ordered the soldiers to go down and, together with them, attacked Tiberias.
A fierce battle developed on both sides, and the Tiberians were on the very point of winning — for our soldiers had fled — when I saw what was happening and, rallying those with me, drove the now-victorious Tiberians back into the city. I also sent another force in by way of the lake, with orders that whoever took the first house should set it on fire. When this was done, the Tiberians, believing that their city had been forcibly captured, threw down their arms in terror and, together with their wives and children, begged that their city be spared. Moved by their entreaties, I restrained the soldiers from their onset; and I myself — for evening had now come — withdrew with the soldiers from the siege and turned to attend to my body's needs. I invited Simon to the meal, comforted him about what had happened, and promised, giving him provisions for the journey, that I would send him and those with him to Jerusalem in full safety.
On the following day I came to Tiberias bringing ten thousand soldiers, and, summoning the leading men of the populace to the stadium, I ordered them to say who was responsible for the revolt. When they pointed out the men, I sent those men in chains to the city of Jotapata, but Jonathan and Ananias and their companions I released from their bonds and, giving them provisions, sent them off to Jerusalem with Simon and Jozar and five hundred soldiers to guard them. The Tiberians then came forward again asking pardon for what had been done, saying that they would make amends for their offenses by their future loyalty to me, and they begged that I save for those who had lost property whatever surplus remained from the plunder. So I ordered those who held such goods to bring everything into the open; and when they were slow to obey for a long while, I noticed one of the soldiers around me wearing a garment finer than usual and asked him where he had gotten it. When he said it was from the plunder of the city, I punished him with blows, and I threatened all the others with a heavier penalty if they did not bring into the open whatever they had plundered. Many things were then brought together, and I restored to each of the Tiberians what was recognized as his.
Having reached this point in my narrative, I wish to say a few things about Justus himself, who has written an account of these events, and against others as well who, while professing to write history, are careless of the truth and, out of either hostility or favor, are not ashamed to lie. Such men do something like those who forge documents of contract, but since they fear no punishment resembling that which forgers face, they hold the truth in contempt. Justus, at any rate, in attempting to write of these events and of the war, has lied about me — for the sake of seeming industrious — and he has not told the truth about his own homeland either. Since I am now compelled to defend myself against his false testimony, I will speak of matters until now passed over in silence. And let no one wonder that I did not disclose these things long ago; for although it is necessary for one writing history to speak the truth, he may nevertheless refrain from harshly exposing the wickedness of certain men — not out of favor toward them, but out of his own restraint.
How is it, then — to speak to him as though he were present — Justus, cleverest of historians (for that is what you boast of yourself), that I and the Galileans became the cause of your homeland's rebellion against the Romans and the king? For before I was appointed general of Galilee by the council of the Jerusalemites, you and all the Tiberians had not only taken up arms but were also making war on the ten cities of Syria; you at least burned their villages, and your own servant fell in that battle. And I do not say this alone, but it is written thus in the memoirs of the emperor Vespasian himself, and how the inhabitants of the ten cities cried out against you before Vespasian at Ptolemais, demanding that you, the guilty party, pay the penalty. And you would have paid the penalty at Vespasian's order, had not King Agrippa, who had been given authority to kill you, kept you bound for a long time instead of putting you to death, at the earnest entreaty of his sister Berenice. Your later political conduct, moreover, plainly reveals both the rest of your life and the fact that you brought your homeland to revolt from the Romans — the proofs of which I too shall soon set forth.
I wish also to say a little to the other Tiberians on your account, and to show those who will read these histories that you have proved yourselves neither friends of Rome nor friends of the king. Of the cities in Galilee, the greatest are Sepphoris and Tiberias, your own homeland, Justus. But Sepphoris, situated in the very middle of Galilee and having many villages around it, and quite capable of showing some boldness toward the Romans had it wished to do so easily, resolved instead to remain loyal to its masters, and shut me out of their city, and prevented any of its citizens from serving with the Jews. And, so that their position toward us might also be secure, they deceived me into urging them to fortify their city with walls, and they willingly received a garrison from Cestius Gallus, who commanded the Roman legions in Syria — thereby showing contempt for me, though I then held great power and was an object of everyone's dread. And while our greatest city, Jerusalem, was under siege, and the temple common to us all was in danger of falling into enemy hands, they sent no aid, unwilling to seem to be taking up arms against the Romans.
Your homeland, however, Justus, situated on the Lake of Gennesaret, and thirty stadia from Hippos, sixty from Gadara, and a hundred and twenty from Scythopolis — all subject to the king — with no city of the Jews adjoining it, could easily have kept its loyalty to the Romans had it wished; for you were a numerous population and well supplied with arms. But, as you say, I was to blame for you at that time. What came after that, Justus? For you know that before the siege of Jerusalem I had already come under Roman power, that Jotapata had been taken by storm along with many strongholds, and that a great multitude of Galileans had fallen in battle. At that time, then, freed from all fear on my account, you ought to have thrown down your arms and
submitted to the king and the Romans, showing that it was not willingly but under compulsion that you had rushed into war against them. Instead, you waited for Vespasian, until he himself arrived with his whole force and approached your walls, and only then, out of fear, did you lay down your arms; and your city would certainly have been taken by storm, had not Vespasian yielded to the king's entreaty and his pleading on behalf of your folly. It is not I, then, who am to blame, but you who were bent on war. Or do you not remember that, though I so often had you in my power, I destroyed no one, whereas you, quarreling among yourselves — not out of goodwill toward the Romans and the king, but out of your own wickedness toward one another — killed a hundred and eighty-five of your fellow citizens, at the very time when I was under siege
at Jotapata by the Romans? And why should I not mention that during the siege of Jerusalem two thousand of the Tiberians were destroyed, some falling in battle, others taken captive? But you will say that you were no enemy, because you fled to the king at that time. And this too, I say, you did out of fear of me. And I, according to you, am the wicked one, while King Agrippa —
who granted you your life when you had been condemned to die by Vespasian, who bestowed on you so much wealth — why did he later imprison you twice, and order you so many times to flee your homeland, and, having once ordered your death, grant you your safety only because his sister Berenice begged so earnestly for it? And after so many misdeeds of yours, when he entrusted you with a post of secretary and found you a rogue even in that, he banished you from
his presence. But I leave it to others to examine these matters closely. What amazes me is your shamelessness, in that you dare to say that you have described these events better than all those who have written this history, though you neither know what was done in Galilee — for you were then in Berytus with the king — nor followed what the Romans suffered at the siege of Jotapata or what they inflicted on us,
nor were you able to learn what I myself did while under siege; for all who could have reported it would have perished in that battle. But perhaps you will say that you have written with accuracy of the events at Jerusalem. And how could that be? For you were neither present at the war nor have you read Caesar's memoirs. Here is the greatest proof: you have written an account that contradicts Caesar's memoirs. And if
you are confident that you have written better than everyone else, why, while the emperors Vespasian and Titus, who brought the war to its conclusion, were still alive, and King Agrippa and all his kinsmen — men who had attained the highest degree of Greek culture — were still living, did you not bring your history forward? For you had had it written twenty years before, and you might have obtained from those who knew the events testimony to its accuracy;
but now, when those men are no longer among us and you think you cannot be refuted, you have grown bold. I, however, did not fear in the same way for my own account, but delivered the books to the emperors themselves while the events they described were almost still visible; for I was conscious in myself that I had preserved the tradition of truth, and, expecting to receive testimony to this, I was not disappointed.
I also gave the history at once to many others, some of whom had actually taken part in the war, such as King Agrippa and certain of his relatives. For the emperor Titus wished that knowledge of the events should be handed down to men from these alone, so much so that he gave orders, marking the books with his own hand, that they be published; and King Agrippa wrote sixty-two letters testifying to the
faithfulness of the account. I have appended two of these below, and anyone who wishes may learn from them what was written: "King Agrippa to Josephus, his dearest friend, greeting. I have gone through the book with the greatest pleasure, and you seem to me to have been far more accurate than those who have written on these matters before you. Send me the remaining volumes too. Farewell." "King Agrippa to Josephus, his dearest friend, greeting. From what you have written, you seem to need no
instruction to make us understand the whole matter from the beginning. Yet when you meet with me, I myself will tell you a great deal that you do not know." And when the history had been completed, Agrippa testified to its truth not out of flattery — for that would not have suited him — nor out of irony, as you will say, for he was far removed from such malice, but he bore witness to the truth, as all who read histories do. But let what has been said concerning
Justus, this necessary digression, suffice for us at this point. Having settled matters at Tiberias, I called together a council of my friends and deliberated about what should be done regarding John. It seemed good to all the Galileans that everyone should take up arms and go against John and exact punishment from him, as the one responsible for the whole revolt; but I did not approve of their
opinion, having a preference for putting down disturbances without bloodshed. For this reason I advised that every care be taken to learn the names of those under John's command. When this had been done and I knew who the men were, I put out a proclamation offering pledge and right hand to those with John who wished to receive pardon, and I gave a period of twenty days to those who wanted
to deliberate about what was to their advantage. I also threatened that, if they did not throw down their arms, I would burn their dwellings and confiscate their property. On hearing this, the men, thrown into no small confusion, abandoned John, and, throwing down their arms, came to me, four thousand in number. Only the citizens of his own town remained with John, along with some foreigners
from the mother-city of Tyre, about fifteen hundred in all. John, then, having been thus outmaneuvered by me, remained for the rest of the time fearfully in his own country. At this same time the people of Sepphoris, growing bold and relying both on the strength of their walls and on the fact that I was occupied elsewhere, took up arms. They sent to Cestius Gallus, who was governor of Syria,
asking either that he come himself quickly to take possession of their city or that he send men to garrison it. Gallus promised to come, but did not make clear when. When I learned of this, I took the soldiers with me and, marching against the people of Sepphoris, captured their city by storm. The Galileans, seizing the opportunity and unwilling to let the moment for their hatred pass — for they
bore ill will also toward this city — rushed to destroy everyone utterly, together with the settlers. Running in, they set fire to the houses, finding them empty, for the inhabitants in fear had taken refuge in the citadel; they plundered everything and left no form of pillage untried against their own countrymen. When I saw this I was deeply distressed and ordered them to stop, reminding them that
it was not lawful to treat fellow countrymen so. But since they listened neither to my appeals nor to my commands, and hatred overpowered my exhortations, I ordered my most trusted friends to spread word that the Romans had broken in with a large force on the other side of the city. I did this in order that, by the spread of this rumor, I might check the Galileans' onset and rescue
the city of the Sepphorites. And in the end the stratagem succeeded, for when they heard the report they were afraid for themselves, and abandoning their plunder they fled, especially since they saw that I, their general, was doing the same; for to lend credibility to the rumor I pretended to be affected in the same way as they were. So the people of Sepphoris, against their own expectation, were saved by my device. Tiberias too came close to being seized by the Galileans, for the following reason arose. The leading men of the council wrote to the king, urging him to come and take possession of the city. The king promised to come, and wrote back, and gave the letters to one of his chamberlains, Crispus by name, a Jew by birth, to carry to the people of Tiberias. But when this man brought the letter, the Galileans recognized him and seized him and brought him to me. The whole populace, when they heard of it, were roused to anger and took up arms. Gathering from many places, a great crowd came the next day to the town of Asochis, where I was then lodging, and they made a great outcry, calling Tiberias a traitor and a friend of the king, and demanding to be allowed to go down and utterly destroy it — for they were hostile to the people of Tiberias just as they were to the people of Sepphoris.
When I heard this I was at a loss as to how I might rescue Tiberias from the wrath of the Galileans; for I could not deny that the people of Tiberias had written inviting the king, since the letters he had written back to them proved the truth of the matter. So, after being deep in thought for a long while, I said: "I too know, men of Tiberias, that they have done wrong, and I will not prevent you from plundering their city. Yet such great actions ought to be carried out with due judgment. It is not the people of Tiberias alone who have become traitors to our freedom, but many also of the most eminent men in Galilee. Wait, then, until I have learned precisely who is responsible, and then you shall have them all in your power, as many as you can individually bring to account." By saying this I persuaded the crowd, and, their anger abating, they dispersed.
As for the man sent by the king, I ordered him bound; but not many days later, pretending some urgent business of my own required me to leave the kingdom, I secretly summoned Crispus and instructed him to make the soldier guarding him drunk and to flee to the king, telling him he would not be pursued. He, persuaded by this advice, made his escape; and Tiberias, though on the point of being destroyed a second time, escaped so sharp a danger through my strategy and my forethought concerning it.
About this same time Justus, son of Pistus, escaping my notice, ran off secretly to the king. I shall now relate the reason why he did this. When the war of the Jews against the Romans had begun, the people of Tiberias had resolved to obey the king and not to revolt from the Romans. But Justus persuaded them to take up arms, since he himself was reaching for power and had hopes of ruling over both the Galileans and his own native city. Yet he did not obtain what he hoped for; for the Galileans, being hostile to the people of Tiberias because of the resentment they bore them for what they had suffered at his hands before the war, would not tolerate his generalship over them. And I, having been entrusted by the common council of the people of Jerusalem with the leadership of Galilee, often came into so great a rage that I very nearly killed Justus, being unable to bear his wickedness. Fearing, then, that my anger might at last reach its end, he sent to King Agrippa Crispus, thinking he would live more safely with him. But the people of Sepphoris, having unexpectedly escaped the first danger, sent to Cestius Gallus, urging him either to come himself and take possession of their city more quickly, or to send a force that would beat back the enemy's raids against them; and in the end they persuaded Gallus to send them a force of both cavalry and infantry, which arrived by night and was received into the city.
Since the surrounding country was being harried by the Roman army, I took the soldiers under my command and went to the village of Garis. There I pitched camp twenty stades from the city of Sepphoris, and at night I advanced against it and assaulted its walls, and, bringing many of my soldiers up by ladders, I gained possession of the greater part of the city; but not long after, through ignorance of the terrain, we were compelled to withdraw, having killed two of the Roman cavalry and ten infantry, and a few of the Sepphorites, while we ourselves lost only one man. Later, in an engagement on the plain against the cavalry, after a fierce struggle prolonged for a good while, we were defeated; for when the Romans encircled us, those with me took fright and fled backward. In that battle there fell one of those entrusted with the guarding of my person, a man named Justus, who had once held the same office at the king's court. At this same time the force sent by the king arrived, both cavalry and infantry, with Sulla, the commander of the king's bodyguard, in charge of it.
He, having pitched camp five stades from Julias, set guards on the roads, both the one leading to Seleucia and the one leading to the fortress of Gamala, in order to cut off the inhabitants from the assistance the Galileans might give them. When I learned of this, I sent two thousand armed men and Jeremiah as their commander, who, having pitched camp a stade from Julias near the Jordan river, accomplished nothing beyond some skirmishing, until I myself took up three thousand soldiers and came to them. On the following day, having stationed an ambush in a certain ravine not far from their camp, I challenged the king's men to battle, having instructed my own soldiers to turn their backs, until they should draw the enemy on to advance — which indeed came to pass. For Sulla, supposing that our men were truly fleeing, went forward and was ready to pursue them, when those from the ambush took him from the rear and threw them all into great confusion. I myself, immediately wheeling about sharply with my force, met the king's men and put them to flight.
And I would have carried the day's action to a successful conclusion, had not some supernatural power intervened; for the horse on which I was fighting fell into a marshy spot and threw me to the ground. Having suffered a fracture of the bones of my wrist, I was carried to a village called Cepharnocus. When my men heard of this and were afraid that I might have suffered something still worse, they broke off the pursuit any further and turned back to me in great distress. So, having sent for physicians and been treated, I remained there that day with a fever, and on the physicians' advice I was carried by night to Tarichaeae. Sulla and his men, learning what had happened to me, took heart again, and, perceiving that the guarding of the camp was being neglected, stationed a troop of cavalry in ambush by night on the far side of the Jordan, and at daybreak challenged us to battle. When our men responded and advanced as far as the plain, the cavalry appeared from the ambush and, throwing them into confusion, put them to flight and killed six of our men; they did not, however, carry the victory through to the end, for on hearing that some armed men had sailed down from Tarichaeae to Julias, they withdrew in fear.
Not long after this, Vespasian arrived at Tyre, and with him King Agrippa. The people of Tyre began to abuse the king, calling him an enemy of the king of Tyre and of the Romans; for they said that his camp-commander Philip had betrayed the royal palace and the Roman forces stationed in Jerusalem, acting on his orders. When Vespasian heard this, he rebuked the Tyrians for insulting a man who was both a king and a friend of the Romans, but advised the king to send Philip to Rome to give account to Nero of what had been done. Philip, having been sent, did not come into Nero's presence; for finding him in extremity because of the disturbances that had broken out and the civil war, he returned to the king. When Vespasian arrived at Ptolemais, the leading men of the ten cities of Syria cried out against Justus of Tiberias, on the ground that he had burned their villages. Vespasian accordingly handed him over to the king to be punished by the subjects of his kingdom; but the king imprisoned him, concealing this from Vespasian, as I have shown above. The people of Sepphoris, meeting Vespasian and welcoming him, received a force and a commander, Placidus, and, going up with these troops, followed after me until Vespasian's arrival in Galilee.
As for how this came about, and how he fought his first battle against me near the village of Garis, and how I withdrew from there to Jotapata, and what happened to me during the siege of that city, and how, taken alive, I was bound, and how I was released, and all that befell me in the course of the Jewish war and the siege of Jerusalem — all this I have set forth with precision in my books on the Jewish war. But it is necessary, I think, now to add whatever events of my life I did not record in the account of the Jewish war. When the siege of Jotapata had come to its end, I was kept in custody among the Romans with every care, Vespasian holding me in great honor for the most part, and indeed, at his command, I took as wife a young woman from among the captives taken at Caesarea, a native of that region. She did not remain with me long, but was released when I was set free and Vespasian had gone to Alexandria; I took another wife at Alexandria. From there, sent along with Titus to the siege of Jerusalem, I was often in danger of death, since the Jews were eager to get me into their power for punishment, while the Romans, whenever they were defeated, supposed this happened because of my treachery, and there were constant outcries before the emperor demanding that I be punished, as being a traitor to them as well. But Titus Caesar, well aware of the fortunes of war, restrained by silence the soldiers' impulses against me. When the city of Jerusalem was already in the enemy's grip, Titus Caesar repeatedly urged me to take whatever I wished from the ruin of my homeland, saying that he himself gave permission for it. But I, having nothing more precious than my homeland now that it had fallen, which I might keep to take as consolation for my own misfortunes, made request of Titus for the freedom of some persons, and I also received sacred books, Titus granting them to me. Not long after, I also asked for my brother, together with fifty friends, and did not fail to obtain them.
And having gone into the temple, with Titus granting me the authority, where a great multitude of captive women and children had been shut up, as many as I recognized to be my friends and acquaintances I rescued, about one hundred and ninety in number, and I released them without their even paying ransom, restoring them to their former condition. Being sent by Titus Caesar together with Cerealius and a thousand cavalry to a village called Tekoa, to examine beforehand whether the place was suitable to receive a camp, as I was returning from there I saw many captives who had been crucified, and I recognized three of them as men who had been my acquaintances. I was pained at heart, and, coming to Titus with tears, told him of it. He at once ordered them to be taken down and to receive the most careful treatment; and two of them died while being treated, but the third survived.
When Titus had put an end to the disturbances in Judea, judging that the fields I had in Jerusalem would be of no use to me because of the Roman garrison that was to be stationed there, he gave me other land in the plain; and when he was about to set sail for Rome, he took me along as a fellow passenger, showing me every honor. When we arrived in Rome, I received much consideration from Vespasian; for he gave me lodging in the house he had occupied before his reign, honored me with Roman citizenship, and gave me an allowance of money, and he continued to honor me until the end of his life, never diminishing his kindness toward me — kindness which, because of envy, brought danger upon me. For a certain Jew named Jonathan, who had stirred up sedition in Cyrene and persuaded two thousand of the local inhabitants to join him, became responsible for their destruction; and he himself, having been bound by the governor of the region and sent to the emperor, claimed that I had sent him weapons and money. But his lie did not escape Vespasian's notice; rather, he condemned him to death, and he was handed over and executed. Often afterward too, when those who envied my good fortune brought accusations against me, by God's providence I escaped them all. I received from Vespasian, as a gift, no small amount of land in Judea. At about this time I also divorced my wife, not being pleased with her ways, though she had borne me three children, of whom two died and one survives, whom I named Hyrcanus. After this I married a woman who had been living in Crete, but was Jewish by birth, of parents most noble and among the most eminent in the region, one who surpassed many women in character, as her subsequent life showed. By her I had two children, the elder Justus, and after him Simonides, also called Agrippa. Such, then, are the affairs of my household. My relations with the emperors likewise continued unchanged; for when Vespasian died,
Titus, succeeding to the rule, kept up the same honor toward me as his father had, and though I was often accused, he did not believe it. When Domitian succeeded Titus, he further increased the honors paid to me; for he punished the Jews who had accused me, and ordered the punishment of a slave, a eunuch, the tutor of my son, who had brought an accusation, and he granted me exemption from taxation on my land in Judea, which is the greatest honor one can receive. And Domitia, the wife of Caesar, likewise never ceased to do me kindness. These, then, are the things done by me throughout the whole of my life; let others judge my character from them as they will. And to you, most excellent Epaphroditus, having rendered the whole record of my ancestry, I here bring this account to its end.