Josephus work is not Scripture. It is one mans account of watching his God destroy his nation
Alex Ezrati
Josephus' Jewish War
"Josephus' work is not Scripture. It is one man's account of watching his God destroy his nation."
The legendary historian and scholar Flavius Josephus was born Joseph Ben-Mattathias in 37 CE. Around this time, the Romans had already taken control of Palestine, and the Jews in that area were under Roman occupation. Not long after his birth, the Jewish nation began to revolt against the Roman rule. Being a talented diplomat and scholar, Josephus knew that their cause was hopeless, but he joined the new Galilee forces and became a commander. The Galilee army didn't last long, and after a while, Josephus' supporters joined a suicidal pact and took their own lives in a cave south of Jotapata. Having been captured by the acclaimed Roman general Vespasian in July 67 CE, Josephus pretended to be a prophet. He prophesied, under threat of death, that Vespasian was destined to become Emperor of Rome, as stated by an ancient Oracle. Intrigued by this, the general spared Josephus' life and took him prisoner. Less than 3 years later, when Nero had committed suicide and Vespasian had become Emperor, he granted Josephus his freedom, rewarded him greatly, and gave him his family name of Flavius. Joseph Ben-Mattathias had now become Flavius Josephus.
War of the Jews, Book 3, Ch 8
"Thou, O Vespasian, thinkest no more than that thou hast taken Josephus himself captive; but I come to thee as a messenger of greater tidings; for had not I been sent by God to thee, I knew what was the law of the Jews in this case? And how it becomes generals to die. Dost thou send me to Nero? For why? Are Nero's successors till they come to thee still alive? Thou, O Vespasian, art Caesar and emperor, thou, and this thy son. Bind me now still faster, and keep me for thyself, for thou, O Caesar, are not only lord over me, but over the land and the sea, and all mankind; and certainly I deserve to be kept in closer custody than I now am in, in order to be punished, if I rashly affirm any thing of God."
For the rest of the war, Josephus became an advisor to Titus, Vespasian's son, and helped him understand the Jewish nation and talk to their leaders. However, Josephus was called a traitor throughout the Jewish ranks, and therefore he could do nothing but watch as his nation was destroyed. In April 70, during Passover, the Roman army, led by Titus, laid siege to the city of Jerusalem. Two legions shared a large camp on Mount Scopus, another legion camped a short distance away, and when the Legion X Fretensis arrived back from fighting in Syria, it set up camp on the Mount of Olives, in front of the Temple. As well as the Emperor's legions, many adventurers had come from Italy to help with the siege. All in all, the Jews didn't stand a chance against the attacking army.
The attack on Jerusalem
* Simon, new leader of Jewish and Idumean forces, was in charge in the Old Town. He commanded 10,000 Jewish warriors and 5,000 Idumeans. The walls of the Old Town were old, but almost impossible to climb.
* In the east was the Temple area, occupied by 2,400 Zealots. The temple was next to a ravine, which stopped anyone from attacking. There was also a large castle in the Temple area, called Antonia.
* Then there was the New Town, built in the forties. It was occupied by 6,000 militiamen of ...
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The attack on Jerusalem
* Simon, new leader of Jewish and Idumean forces, was in charge in the Old Town. He commanded 10,000 Jewish warriors and 5,000 Idumeans. The walls of the Old Town were old, but almost impossible to climb.
* In the east was the Temple area, occupied by 2,400 Zealots. The temple was next to a ravine, which stopped anyone from attacking. There was also a large castle in the Temple area, called Antonia.
* Then there was the New Town, built in the forties. It was occupied by 6,000 militiamen of the almost king-like Jewish commander, John of Gischala. It was known that Josephus and John were life-long enemies.
* To the north was a relatively new area called Bezetha. Its walls were high, and adorned with a series of 60 ft high towers, but luckily for the Romans, there was no valley in front of Bezetha. This was the best place to strike.
At the outbreak of the battle, Roman legions were camped all around the city. John, commander of the militia, planned to make a pre-emptive strike on the Romans, who were building new camps, but he was scared that Simon would close Jerusalem's gates behind his back, and so he stayed and the camps were built unhindered. The legions sent their catapults to bombard the city with heavy stones. While the catapults were firing away, Roman soldiers started to bash the northern wall with their huge battering rams.
Under pressure, the Jewish clans united, and began to make skirmishes outside the city walls, capturing catapults and attacking groups of Roman soldiers, but couldn't destroy the Roman's new weapon ~ siege towers. These were higher than Jerusalem's walls, and so legionaries could throw missiles over the walls to kill defenders. When the defenders were out of the way, the battering rams could do their work. After 15 days of attacking, the wall collapsed, and the Jewish forces retreated behind their second wall. Titus immediately ordered a full-on attack. John and Simon's men kept the attackers at bay for 4 days, but on the fifth day this wall fell, too.
Fighting continues in the streets of the New Town, and here the Jews were able to cause a lot of damage to the Roman forces, forcing them to retreat back through the second wall. After another four days, the Roman legions finally overcame the Jews and pushed them back into the city, totally destroying the second wall. Now in control of most of the city, Titus sent Flavius Josephus to talk to the men on the walls, trying to persuade them to surrender, but the Jews would have none of it. Roman soldiers then built five large siege dams, aimed at the Antonia fortress, however this attack failed ~ John's mercenaries undermined one of the dams and set fire to the other, while Simon's troops destroyed the other 3 smaller dams 2 days later.
Seeing that the Jews would never surrender, Titus decided to go for different tactics, and starve the Jews by building an eight kilometre long palisade around the whole city. All the trees were cut down, and the camped legions advanced into Jerusalem. The death rate was enormous, and Roman soldiers were crucifying some 500 escapees every day. Since there was no new wood, the construction of new siege dams to attack the Antonia took 3 weeks. After a while, legionaries managed to destroy one wall of the fortress, but they discovered that a new wall had been built. The fortress had to be attacked by other means.
In a night at the beginning of August, 24 Roman soldiers climbed the walls of the Antonia, killed the guard, and sounded a trumpet. The Jewish garrison in Antonia didn't think there would be so many enemies, and fled to the Temple. The Antonia was demolished, and the stones were used to build a new dam, this time facing the Temple. The dam was used to set fire to the Temple area, and soon the Temple itself was set alight and Jewish worship was banned, on an illegal order of Titus.
On the next day, John and Simon ask Titus' permission to leave the city with their remaining troops, but Titus refused. During the next few days, Roman soldiers mopped up the rest of the area south of the Temple, destroying the building where the Sanhedrin, Jewish government, met. Roman forces then moved into the Old Town, and captured the temple. However, in this time, John and Simon and the remains of their men took refuge in the sewer system, but after a while they came out one by one, and accepted capture. John was the first to surrender. On September 26, the birthday of his daughter Julia, Titus became ruler of what was left of Jerusalem.
War of the Jews, Book 5, Ch 1
"And now, as the city was engaged in a war on all sides, from these treacherous crowds of wicked men, the people of the city, between them, were like a great body torn in pieces. The aged men and the women were in such distress by their internal calamities, that they wished for the Romans, and earnestly hoped for an external war, in order to their delivery from their domestical miseries. The citizens themselves were under a terrible consternation and fear; nor had they any opportunity of taking counsel, and of changing their conduct; nor were there any hopes of coming to an agreement with their enemies; nor could such as had a mind flee away; for guards were set at all places, and the heads of the robbers, although they were seditious one against another in other respects, yet did they agree in killing those that were for peace with the Romans, or were suspected of an inclination to desert them, as their common enemies."
The fall of Masada
After the four-year battle over Jerusalem, the Sicarians, an army of bandits and assassins, occupied Masada, a fortress standing on a single rock plateau, with steep cliffs on all sides, overlooking the Dead Sea. There were 966 people on the rock altogether, mostly women and children, and the Romans didn't think these people were a threat. Masada was miles away from anywhere, the towns were all guarded by Roman patrols, the bandits couldn't really do anything. The Sicarians were seen as an easy target, and the Romans decided to attack in 74 CE. The governor of Judea, Lucius Flavius Silva, ordered the legion X Fretensis to build camps around the fortress, a siege tower and a large siege dam. The famed story of Masada is a tale of long days and nights of conflict, and fierce fighting between the defenders of Masada and the advancing Romans. The Sicarians were said to have rolled huge stones down the steep sides of the fortress, crushing the enemy, and the Romans were know to have fired rallies of flaming arrows up over the fortress's massive walls from even higher siege towers. However the truth, according to Josephus, is far different. When the huge siege tower had been rolled forward towards the walls and legionaries entered the citadel, they discovered that almost all the defenders were dead. Searching the derelict buildings, they found a woman and five children, who told them many had decided to commit mass suicide to avoid capture.
This is the story that Josephus had to tell, and is the last tragedy in his seven books of the Jewish War. In his view, the Sicarians were religious fanatics, who belonged to the Zealot movement that he held responsible for the start of the Jewish war, and the destruction of Jerusalem. It seems, however, the dull truth is different. The people who occupied Masada were no religious warriors or fanatical soldiers. We have found bones of pigs on the plateau, which doesn't point to people who were deeply attached to the Jewish faith. The Romans also found bodies of people who tried to run away from the violence. So, all in all, it's not true that the heroic Jews at Masada were the last to fight for the freedom of Judea; they were just the bandits that Rome had to kill to reinforce its 'invincibility'.
Encyclopaedia entry for Josephus
Josephus, Flavius , A.D. 37-c. A.D. 100, Jewish historian and soldier, b. Jerusalem. Josephus' historical works are among the most valuable sources for the study of early Judaism and early Christianity. Having studied the tenets of the three main sects of Judaism-Essenes, Sadducees, and Pharisees-he became a Pharisee. At the beginning of the war between the Romans and Jews, he was made commander of Galilee, despite the fact that he had opposed the uprising. He surrendered to the Romans instead of committing suicide when the stronghold was taken. He won the favour of the Roman general Vespasian (Titus Flavius Vespasianus) and took his name, Flavius. He lived in Rome under imperial patronage, where he wrote the Greek-language historical works for which he is renowned. He wrote The Jewish War; the famous Antiquities of the Jews, a history of the Jews from creation to the war with Rome; Against Apion, an exalted defence of the Jews; and his autobiography, or apologia.
Masada
Jerusalem Temple
Bibliography
Information taken from Encyclopaedia Britannica , http://www.livius.org , Flavius Josephus' The Jewish War , and pictures taken from Arkia Jerusalem Travel Agency. All references are copyright, The Jewish War is from the Penguin range.