Page:Selections. Translated by H. St. J. Thackeray (1919).djvu/99

 to the chief of the inhabitants of Jerusalem.—Ant. XX. 2. 4 f. (38-53). (35) The Fate of the Impostor Theudas, and of the Sons of Judas the Galilæan

For the relation of this passage to Acts v. 36 f., where Theudas and Judas occur in juxtaposition, see Appendix, Note IV.

Now when Fadus was procurator of Judæa, a certain impostor named Theudas persuaded the mass of the rabble to take their belongings with them and follow him to the river Jordan; for he said that he was a prophet and would by a word of command divide the river and afford them an easy passage; and by these words he deceived many. Fadus, however, did not allow them to reap the benefit of their folly. He despatched against them a troop of horse which fell upon them unexpectedly and slew many and took many of them prisoners. They caught Theudas himself alive, cut off his head and carried it to Jerusalem. This was what befell the Jews under the procuratorship of Cuspius Fadus.

Tiberius Alexander came as successor to Fadus. He was the son of that Alexander who was Alabarch in Alexandria, and was by birth and wealth the foremost man of his time in that city. The father excelled the son, moveover, in his pious worship of God; for the latter did not hold fast to his hereditary religion. It was under his governorship that the great famine befell Judæa, when Queen Helena purchased corn from Egypt at a great price and distributed it to the starving population, as I have already narrated.