Page:Works Translated by William Whiston.djvu/27

13 they loved me because I was a priest, they should reply, that two of these were priests also.

40. NOW, WHEN they had given Jonathan and his companions these instructions, they gave them forty thousand [drachma] out of the public money: but when they heard that there was a certain Galilean that then sojourned at Jerusalem, whose name was Jesus, who had about him a band

of six hundred armed men, they sent for him, and gave him three months' pay, and gave him orders to follow Jonathan and his companions, and be obedient to them. They also gave money to three hundred men that were citizens of Jerusalem, to maintain them all, and ordered them also to follow the ambassadors; and when they had complied, and were gotten ready for the march, Jonathan and his companions went out with them, having along with them John's brother and a hundred armed men. The charge that was given them by those that sent them was this: That if I would voluntarily lay down my arms, they should send me alive to the city of Jerusalem; but that, in case I opposed them, they should kill me, and fear nothing; for that it was their command for them so to do. They also wrote to John to make all ready for fighting me, and gave order to the inhabitants of Sepphoris, and Gabara, and Tiberias, to send auxiliaries to John.

41. NOW, AS my father wrote me an account of this (for Jesus the son of Gamala, who was present in that council, a friend and companion of mine, told him of it), I was very much troubled,

as discovering thereby that my fellow-citizens proved so ungrateful to me, as, out of envy, to give order that I should be slain; my father earnestly pressed me also in his letter to come to him, for that he longed to see his son before he died. I informed my friends of these things, and that in three days' time I should leave the country and go home. Upon hearing this, they were all very sorry, and desired me, with tears in their eyes, not to leave them to be destroyed; for so they thought they should be, if I were deprived of the command over them: but as I did not grant their request, but was taking care of my own safety, the Galileans, out of the dread of the consequence of my departure, that they should then be at the mercy of the robbers, sent messengers over all Galilee to inform them of my resolution to leave them. Whereupon, as soon as they heard it, they got together in great numbers, from all parts, with their wives and children; and this they did, as appeared to me, not more out of their affection to me, than out of their fear on their own account; for, while I stayed with them, they supposed that they should suffer no harm. So they all came into the great plain, wherein I lived, the name of which was Asochis.

42. BUT WONDERFUL it was what a dream I saw that very night; for when I had betaken myself to my bed, as grieved and disturbed at the news that had been written to me, it seemed to me, that a certain person stood by me, and said "O Josephus! leave off to afflict thy soul, and put away all fear; for

what now grieves thee will render thee very considerable, and in all respects most happy; for thou shall get over not only these difficulties, but many others, with great success. However, be not cast down, but remember that thou art to fight with the Romans. When I had seen this dream, I had got up with an intention of going down to the plain. Now, when the whole multitude of the Galileans, among whom were the women and children, saw me, they threw themselves down upon their faces, and, with tears in their eyes, besought me not to leave them exposed to their enemies, nor to go away and permit their country to be injured by them; but, when I did not comply with their entreaties, they compelled me to take an oath, that I would stay with them: they also cast abundance of reproaches upon the people of Jerusalem, that they would not let their country enjoy peace.

43. WHEN I heard this, and saw what sorrow the people were in, I was moved with compassion to them, and thought it became me to undergo the most manifest hazards for the sake of so great a multitude; so I let

them know I would stay with them; and when I had given order that five thousand of them should come to me armed, and with provisions for their maintenance, I sent the rest away to their own homes; and, when those five thousand were come, I took them, together with three thousand of the soldiers that were with me before, and eighty horsemen, and marched to the village of Chabolo, situated in the confines of Ptolemais, and there kept my forces together, pretending to get ready to fight with Placidus, who was come with two cohorts of footmen, and one troop of horsemen; and was sent thither by Cestius Callus to burn those villages of Galilee that were near Ptolemais. Upon whose casting up a bank before the city Ptolemais, I also pitched my camp at about the distance of sixty furlongs from that village; and now we frequently brought out our forces as if we would fight, but proceeded no farther than skirmishes at a distance; for when Placidus perceived that I was earnest to come to battle, he was afraid, and avoided it; yet he did not remove from the neighbourhood of Ptolemais.

44. ABOUT THIS time it was that Jonathan and his fellow-legates came. They were sent, as we have said already, by Simon, and Ananus, the high priest; and Jonathan contrived how he might catch me by treachery; for he durst not make any attempt upon me openly. So he wrote me the following epistle:—"Jonathan and those that are with him, and are sent by the people of Jerusalem to Josephus, send greeting.—We are