Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/608

 594 HEBREWS a grandson of Herod, and brother of Herodias, who, being unlawfully married by Herod An- tipas, caused the deposition of the latter, and the annexation of his tetrachy to the dominion of Agrippa, who even succeeded in reuniting for a short time, in the reign of Claudius, the whole of Palestine! After his death (44) his territory was again ruled by procurators, and only a small portion was afterward given to his son Agrippa II. (53). The condition of the country was dreadful. The emperors, at that time the vilest of men, demanded divine hon- ors, their statues were erected in the temple, the procurators grew rich by extortions, the petty Herodian courts shamelessly imitated the licentiousness of the imperial, robbers in- fested the mountainous regions, impostors and fanatics raised the standard of rebellion, and insurrections led to new oppression, both re- ligious and civil. Nero's rule, and the extor- tions of his procurator Gessius Florus, finally drove the people to despair. Death to the Romans or to themselves became the cry of the fanatics and the poor. The Sadducees and the rich opposed it in vain, though aided by the troops of Agrippa. The temple of Jerusalem, the ancient capital itself, and numerous strong- holds in the country were taken by the insur- gents (66). The Roman governor of Syria, Cestius Gallus, who hastened to Jerusalem, was routed near that city. The zealots now organized a general rising. The priest Jose- phus, the historian, was sent to arm and de- fend Galilee. But one of Nero's best gener- als, Vespasian, was already approaching from the north (67) ; and Titus, his son, brought new legions from Egypt. The Jews fought with Maccabean valor near Joppa, at Mount Gerizim, in the streets of Gamala, at Jotapata, and other places. But Josephus's army per- ished in the struggle about Jotapata, and he was made prisoner ; Galilee was lost, and civil carnage raged within the walls of Jerusalem between the moderates under the priest El- eazar, the terrorists under John of Giscala, and the volunteers commanded by Simon the Idumsean. Vespasian now advanced and took most of the strongholds (68). The events which followed the death of Nero, however, checked his progress. Vespasian himself be- ing proclaimed emperor by his legions (69), Ti- tus took the command. Jerusalem, Masada, Machaerus, and Ilerodium were still to be be- sieged. The northern part of Jerusalem, Be- zetha, was first taken by the Romans with the external wall. The middle wall, too, fell into their hands, but the defenders, now united and heroically fighting, drove them out. The Ro- man resolved upon conquering by hunger, and this brought pestilence to his assistance. Hay, leather, and insects were finally consumed ; the victims could no longer be buried, but were thrown over the wall. Deserters and fugitives were mutilated by the besiegers or driven back. The castle Antonia, and with it the second wall, were finally taken (June, 70). John and Simon still refused to hear of surrender. In August the temple was stormed, and Titus was unable to prevent its becoming a prey to the flames. The last defenders retired to the fortified upper city, which fell in September. Jerusalem was razed to the ground, its surviving inhabitants were slaughtered by thousands, sold into sla- very, or doomed to perish in public fights with wild beasts before Romans and Greeks, at the command of the future amor et delicice gene- ris humani. Herodium, Machaerus, and Ma- sada still defended themselves for a time. In the latter the conquerors found only a few chil- dren, the last men having died by their own hands. A million of Jews perished in this war, which found an eloquent but partial historian in the learned captive Josephus. The later and still more furious risings of the scattered people in the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian in Gyrene, Egypt, Cyprus, and Palestine, where Bar-Co- kheba for years victoriously maintained himself against the Roman generals until he fell with his last stronghold Bethar, are known only from scattered passages full of exaggerations, dictated by hatred on one side and patriotic admiration on the other. The last insurrection, and the bloody persecutions which followed it, finally broke the strength and spirit of the people. Their leaders prohibited every attempt at in- surrection in the name of religion, and were obeyed. Hadrian's ^Elia Capitolina rose on the sacred ground of Jerusalem, and his de- crees forbade the Jews to enter its precincts. Its environs were desolate. The land of Israel was no more ; the people scattered all over the world. The previous invasions and con- quests, civil strifes and oppression, persecution and famine, had carried hosts of Jewish cap- tives, slaves, fugitives, exiles, and emigrants, into the remotest provinces of the Medo-Per- sian empire, all over Asia Minor, into Armenia, Arabia, Egypt, Cyrene, Cyprus, Greece, and Italy. The Roman conquest and persecutions completed the work of dispersion, and we soon find Jews in every part of the empire, in the regions of Mt. Atlas, on both sides of the Py- renees, on the Rhine and Danube. Palestine, however, for some time continued to be a na- tional centre through its schools of religious science, which after the desolation of Jerusa- lem flourished at Jamnia, Lydda, Usha, Se- phoris, Tiberias, and other places, principally under the lead of the presidents of the sanhe- drim (patriarchs, nesiim) of the house of Hillel, of whom Gamaliel Hazzaken (the Elder), his son Simeon, his grandson Gamaliel, and great- grandson Simeon, with their celebrated fellow tanaim (teachers or scholars) Johanan ben Zakkai, Eliezer, Joshua, Eleazar, Ishmael, Tar- phon, the great Akiba, and others had been successfully active during the previous disas- trous period. The succeeding rabbis (rabbi, my master), Ben Azai, Ben Zoma, the five pu- pils of Akiba, Eliezer, Meir, Jose, Jehudah, Simeon, Nathan, and others, continued their work by public teaching, as well as by collect-