Their worst
distress
came from lack
of water.
of water.
Tacitus
These were reinforced by the Twelfth from Syria and by
detachments of the Twenty-second and the Third,[462] brought over from
Alexandria. This force was accompanied by twenty auxiliary cohorts and
eight regiments of auxiliary cavalry besides the Kings Agrippa and
Sohaemus, King Antiochus' irregulars,[463] a strong force of Arabs,
who had a neighbourly hatred for the Jews, and a crowd of persons who
had come from Rome and the rest of Italy, each tempted by the hope of
securing the first place in the prince's still unoccupied affections.
With this force Titus entered the enemy's country at the head of his
column, sending out scouts in all directions, and holding himself
ready to fight. He pitched his camp not far from Jerusalem.
Since I am coming now to describe the last days of this famous 2
city, it may not seem out of place to recount here its early history.
It is said that the Jews are refugees from Crete,[464] who settled on
the confines of Libya at the time when Saturn was forcibly deposed by
Jupiter. The evidence for this is sought in the name. Ida is a famous
mountain in Crete inhabited by the Idaei,[465] whose name became
lengthened into the foreign form Judaei. Others say that in the reign
of Isis the superfluous population of Egypt, under the leadership of
Hierosolymus and Juda, discharged itself upon the neighbouring
districts, while there are many who think the Jews an Ethiopian stock,
driven to migrate by their fear and dislike of King Cepheus. [466]
Another tradition makes them Assyrian refugees,[467] who, lacking
lands of their own, occupied a district of Egypt, and later took to
building cities of their own and tilling Hebrew territory and the
frontier-land of Syria. Yet another version assigns to the Jews an
illustrious origin as the descendants of the Solymi--a tribe famous in
Homer[468]--who founded the city and called it Hiero_solyma_ after
their own name. [469]
Most authorities agree that a foul and disfiguring disease once 3
broke out in Egypt, and that King Bocchoris,[470] on approaching the
oracle of Ammon and inquiring for a remedy, was told to purge his
kingdom of the plague and to transport all who suffered from it into
some other country, for they had earned the disfavour of Heaven. A
motley crowd was thus collected and abandoned in the desert. While all
the other outcasts lay idly lamenting, one of them, named Moses,
advised them not to look for help to gods or men, since both had
deserted them, but to trust rather in themselves and accept as divine
the guidance of the first being by whose aid they should get out of
their present plight. They agreed, and set out blindly to march
wherever chance might lead them.
Their worst distress came from lack
of water. When they were already at death's door and lying prostrate
all over the plain, it so happened that a drove of wild asses moved
away from their pasture to a rock densely covered with trees. Guessing
the truth from the grassy nature of the ground, Moses followed and
disclosed an ample flow of water. [471] This saved them. Continuing
their march for six successive days, on the seventh they routed the
natives and gained possession of the country. There they consecrated
their city and their temple.
To ensure his future hold over the people, Moses introduced a new 4
cult, which was the opposite of all other religions. All that we hold
sacred they held profane, and allowed practices which we abominate.
They dedicated in a shrine an image of the animal[472] whose guidance
had put an end to their wandering and thirst. They killed a ram,
apparently as an insult to Ammon, and also sacrificed a bull, because
the Egyptians worship the bull Apis. [473] Pigs are subject to leprosy;
so they abstain from pork in memory of their misfortune and the foul
plague with which they were once infected. Their frequent fasts[474]
bear witness to the long famine they once endured, and, in token of
the corn they carried off, Jewish bread is to this day made without
leaven. They are said to have devoted the seventh day to rest, because
that day brought an end to their troubles. [475] Later, finding
idleness alluring, they gave up the seventh year as well to
sloth. [476] Others maintain that they do this in honour of
Saturn;[477] either because their religious principles are derived
from the Idaei, who are supposed to have been driven out with Saturn
and become the ancestors of the Jewish people; or else because, of the
seven constellations which govern the lives of men, the star of Saturn
moves in the topmost orbit and exercises peculiar influence, and also
because most of the heavenly bodies move round[478] their courses in
multiples of seven.
Whatever their origin, these rites are sanctioned by their 5
antiquity.
detachments of the Twenty-second and the Third,[462] brought over from
Alexandria. This force was accompanied by twenty auxiliary cohorts and
eight regiments of auxiliary cavalry besides the Kings Agrippa and
Sohaemus, King Antiochus' irregulars,[463] a strong force of Arabs,
who had a neighbourly hatred for the Jews, and a crowd of persons who
had come from Rome and the rest of Italy, each tempted by the hope of
securing the first place in the prince's still unoccupied affections.
With this force Titus entered the enemy's country at the head of his
column, sending out scouts in all directions, and holding himself
ready to fight. He pitched his camp not far from Jerusalem.
Since I am coming now to describe the last days of this famous 2
city, it may not seem out of place to recount here its early history.
It is said that the Jews are refugees from Crete,[464] who settled on
the confines of Libya at the time when Saturn was forcibly deposed by
Jupiter. The evidence for this is sought in the name. Ida is a famous
mountain in Crete inhabited by the Idaei,[465] whose name became
lengthened into the foreign form Judaei. Others say that in the reign
of Isis the superfluous population of Egypt, under the leadership of
Hierosolymus and Juda, discharged itself upon the neighbouring
districts, while there are many who think the Jews an Ethiopian stock,
driven to migrate by their fear and dislike of King Cepheus. [466]
Another tradition makes them Assyrian refugees,[467] who, lacking
lands of their own, occupied a district of Egypt, and later took to
building cities of their own and tilling Hebrew territory and the
frontier-land of Syria. Yet another version assigns to the Jews an
illustrious origin as the descendants of the Solymi--a tribe famous in
Homer[468]--who founded the city and called it Hiero_solyma_ after
their own name. [469]
Most authorities agree that a foul and disfiguring disease once 3
broke out in Egypt, and that King Bocchoris,[470] on approaching the
oracle of Ammon and inquiring for a remedy, was told to purge his
kingdom of the plague and to transport all who suffered from it into
some other country, for they had earned the disfavour of Heaven. A
motley crowd was thus collected and abandoned in the desert. While all
the other outcasts lay idly lamenting, one of them, named Moses,
advised them not to look for help to gods or men, since both had
deserted them, but to trust rather in themselves and accept as divine
the guidance of the first being by whose aid they should get out of
their present plight. They agreed, and set out blindly to march
wherever chance might lead them.
Their worst distress came from lack
of water. When they were already at death's door and lying prostrate
all over the plain, it so happened that a drove of wild asses moved
away from their pasture to a rock densely covered with trees. Guessing
the truth from the grassy nature of the ground, Moses followed and
disclosed an ample flow of water. [471] This saved them. Continuing
their march for six successive days, on the seventh they routed the
natives and gained possession of the country. There they consecrated
their city and their temple.
To ensure his future hold over the people, Moses introduced a new 4
cult, which was the opposite of all other religions. All that we hold
sacred they held profane, and allowed practices which we abominate.
They dedicated in a shrine an image of the animal[472] whose guidance
had put an end to their wandering and thirst. They killed a ram,
apparently as an insult to Ammon, and also sacrificed a bull, because
the Egyptians worship the bull Apis. [473] Pigs are subject to leprosy;
so they abstain from pork in memory of their misfortune and the foul
plague with which they were once infected. Their frequent fasts[474]
bear witness to the long famine they once endured, and, in token of
the corn they carried off, Jewish bread is to this day made without
leaven. They are said to have devoted the seventh day to rest, because
that day brought an end to their troubles. [475] Later, finding
idleness alluring, they gave up the seventh year as well to
sloth. [476] Others maintain that they do this in honour of
Saturn;[477] either because their religious principles are derived
from the Idaei, who are supposed to have been driven out with Saturn
and become the ancestors of the Jewish people; or else because, of the
seven constellations which govern the lives of men, the star of Saturn
moves in the topmost orbit and exercises peculiar influence, and also
because most of the heavenly bodies move round[478] their courses in
multiples of seven.
Whatever their origin, these rites are sanctioned by their 5
antiquity.
