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The Life of Flavius Josephus -
Autobiography
Page 10 — Chapter 60-65
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60. Now, in a few days, those
ambassadors whom he had sent, came
back again and informed us, that the people were greatly provoked
at Ananus, and Simon the son of Gamaliel, and their friends;
that, without any public determination, they had sent to Galilee,
and had done their endeavors that I might be turned out of the
government. The ambassadors said further, that the people were
ready to burn their houses. They also brought letters, whereby
the chief men of Jerusalem, at the earnest petition of the
people, confirmed me in the government of Galilee, and enjoined
Jonathan and his colleagues to return home quickly. When I had
gotten these letters, I came to the village Arbela, where I
procured an assembly of the Galileans to meet, and bid the
ambassadors declare to them the anger of the people of Jerusalem
at what had been done by Jonathan and his colleagues, and how
much they hated their wicked doings, and how they had confirmed
me in the government of their country, as also what related to
the order they had in writing for Jonathan and his colleagues to
return home. So I immediately sent them the letter, and bid him
that carried it to inquire, as well as he could, how they
intended to act [on this occasion.]
61. Now, when they had received that letter, and were thereby
greatly disturbed, they sent for John, and for the senators of
Tiberias, and for the principal men of the Gabarens, and proposed
to hold a council, and desired them to consider what was to be
done by them. However, the governors of Tiberias were greatly
disposed to keep the government to themselves; for they said it
was not fit to desert their city, now it was committed to their
trust, and that otherwise I should not delay to fall upon them;
for they pretended falsely that so I had threatened to do.
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Now John was not only of their opinion, but advised them, that two
of them should go to accuse me before the multitude [at Jerusalem],
that I do not manage the affairs of Galilee as I ought to do; and
that they would easily persuade the people, because of their
dignity, and because the whole multitude are very mutable. When,
therefore, it appeared that John had suggested the wisest advice to
them, they resolved that two of them, Jonathan and Ananias, should
go to the people of Jerusalem, and the other two [Simon and Joazar] should be left behind to tarry at Tiberins. They also
took along with them a hundred soldiers for their guard.
62. However, the governors of Tiberias took care to have their
city secured with walls, and commanded their inhabitants to take
their arms. They also sent for a great many soldiers from John,
to assist them against me, if there should be occasion for them.
Now John was at Gischala. Jonathan, therefore, and those that
were with him, when they were departed from Tiberias, and as soon
as they were come to Dabaritta, a village that lay in the utmost
parts of Galilee, in the great plain, they, about midnight, fell
among the guards I had set, who both commanded them to lay aside
their weapons, and kept them in bonds upon the place, as I had
charged them to do. This news was written to me by Levi, who had
the command of that guard committed to him by me. Hereupon I said
nothing of it for two days; and, pretending to know nothing about
it, I sent a message to the people of Tiberias, and advised them
to lay their arms aside, and to dismiss their men, that they
might go home. But, supposing that Jonathan, and those that were
with him, were already arrived at Jerusalem, they made
reproachful answers to me; yet was I not terrified thereby, but
contrived another stratagem against them, for I did not think it
agreeable with piety to kindle the fire of war against the
citizens. As I was desirous to draw those men away from Tiberias,
I chose out ten thousand of the best of my armed men, and divided
them into three bodies, and ordered them to go privately, and lie
still as an ambush, in the villages. I also led a thousand into
another village, which lay indeed in the mountains, as did the
others, but only four furlongs distant from Tiberias; and gave
orders, that when they saw my signal, they should come down
immediately, while I myself lay with my soldiers in the sight of
every body. Hereupon the people of Tiberias, at the sight of me,
came running out of the city perpetually, and abused me greatly.
Nay, their madness was come to that height, that they made a
decent bier for me, and, standing about it, they mourned over me
in the way of jest and sport; and I could not but be myself in a
pleasant humor upon the sight of this madness of theirs.
63. And now being desirous to catch Simon by a wile, and Joazar
with him, I sent a message to them, and desired them to come a
little way out of the city, and many of their friends to guard
them; for I said I would come down to them, and make a league
with them, and divide the government of Galilee with them.
Accordingly, Simon was deluded on account of his imprudence, and
out of the hopes of gain, and did not delay to come; but Joazar,
suspecting snares were laid for him, staid behind. So when Simon
was come out, and his friends with him, for his guard, I met him,
and saluted him with great civility, and professed that I was
obliged to him for his coming up to me; but a little while
afterward I walked along with him as though I would say something
to him by myself; and when I had drawn him a good way from his
friends, I took him about the middle, and gave him to my friends
that were with me, to carry him into a village; and, commanding
my armed men to come down, I with them made an assault upon
Tiberias. Now, as the fight grew hot on both sides, and the
soldiers belonging to Tiberias were in a fair way to conquer me,
(for my armed men were already fled away,) I saw the posture of
my affairs; and encouraging those that were with me, I pursued
those of Tiberias, even when they were already conquerors, into
the city. I also sent another band of soldiers into the city by
the lake, and gave them orders to set on fire the first house
they could seize upon. When this was done, the people of
Tiberinas thought that their city was taken by force, and so
threw down their arms for fear, and implored, they, their wives,
and children, that I would spare their city. So I was
over-persuaded by their entreaties, and restrained the soldiers
from the vehemency with which they pursued them; while I myself,
upon the coming on of the evening, returned back with my
soldiers, and went to refresh myself. I also invited Simon to sup
with me, and comforted him on occasion of what had happened; and
I promised that I would send him safe and secure to Jerusalem,
and withal would give him provisions for his journey thither.
64. But on the next day, I brought ten thousand armed men with
me, and came to Tiberias. I then sent for the principal men of
the multitude into the public place, and enjoined them to tell me
who were the authors of the revolt; and when they told me who the
men were, I sent them bound to the city Jotapata. But as to
Jonathan and Ananias, I freed them from their bonds, and gave
them provisions for their journey, together with Simon and
Joazar, and five hundred armed men who should guard them; and so
I sent them to Jerusalem. The people of Tiberias also came to me
again, and desired that I would forgive them for what they had
done; and they said they would amend what they had done amiss
with regard to me, by their fidelity for the time to come; and
they besought me to preserve what spoils remained upon the
plunder of the city, for those that had lost them. Accordingly, I
enjoined those that had got them, to bring them all before us;
and when they did not comply for a great while, and I saw one of
the soldiers that were about me with a garment on that was more
splendid than ordinary, I asked him whence he had it; and when he
replied that he had it out of the plunder of the city, I had him
punished with stripes; and I threatened all the rest to inflict a
severer punishment upon them, unless they produced before us
whatsoever they had plundered; and when a great many spoils were
brought together, I restored to every one of Tiberias what they
claimed to be their own.
65. And now I am come to this part of my narration, I have a mind
to say a few things to Justus, who hath himself written a history
concerning these affairs, as also to others who profess to write
history, but have little regard to truth, and are not afraid,
either out of ill-will or good-will to some persons, to relate
falsehoods. These men do like those who compose forged deeds and
conveyances; and because they are not brought to the like
punishment with them, they have no regard to truth. When,
therefore, Justus undertook to write about these facts, and about
the Jewish war, that he might appear to have been an industrious
man, he falsified in what he related about me, and could not
speak truth even about his own country; whence it is that, being
belied by him, I am under a necessity to make my defense; and so
I shall say what I have concealed till now. And let no one wonder
that I have not told the world these things a great while ago.
For although it be necessary for an historian to write the truth,
yet is such a one not bound severely to animadvert on the
wickedness of certain men; not out of any favor to them, but out
of an author's own moderation. How then comes it to pass, O
Justus! thou most sagacious of writers, (that I may address
myself to him as if he were here present,) for so thou boastest
of thyself, that I and the Galileans have been the authors of
that sedition which thy country engaged in, both against the
Romans and against the king [Agrippa, junior] For before ever I
was appointed governor of Galilee by the community of Jerusalem,
both thou and all the people of Tiberias had not only taken up
arms, but had made war with Decapolis of Syria. Accordingly, thou
hadst ordered their villages to be burnt, and a domestic servant
of thine fell in the battle. Nor is it I only who say this; but
so it is written in the Commentaries of Vespasian, the emperor;
as also how the inhabitants of Decapolis came clamoring to
Vespasian at Ptolemais, and desired that thou, who wast the
author [of that war], mightest be brought to punishment. And thou
hadst certainly been punished at the command of Vespasian, had
not king Agrippa, who had power given him to have thee put to
death, at the earnest entreaty of his sister Bernice, changed the
punishment from death into a long imprisonment. Thy political
administration of affairs afterward doth also clearly discover
both thy other behavior in life, and that thou wast the occasion
of thy country's revolt from the Romans; plain signs of which I
shall produce presently. I have also a mind to say a few things
to the rest of the people of Tiberias on thy account, and to
demonstrate to those that light upon this history, that you bare
no good-will, neither to the Romans, nor to the king. To be sure,
the greatest cities of Galilee, O Justus! were Sepphoris, and thy
country Tiberias. But Sepphoris, situated in the very midst of
Galilee, and having many villages about it, and able with ease to
have been bold and troublesome to the Romans, if they had so
pleased, yet did it resolve to continue faithful to those their
masters, and at the same time excluded me out of their city, and
prohibited all their citizens from joining with the Jews in the
war; and, that they might be out of danger from me, they, by a
wile, got leave of me to fortify their city with walls: they
also, of their own accord, admitted of a garrison of Roman
legions, sent them by Cestlus Gallus, who was then president of
Syria, and so had me in contempt, though I was then very
powerful, and all were greatly afraid of me; and at the same time
that the greatest of our cities, Jerusalem, was besieged, and
that temple of ours, which belonged to us all, was in danger of
falling under the enemy's power, they sent no assistance thither,
as not willing to have it thought they would bear arms against
the Romans. But as for thy country, O Justus: situated upon the
lake of Gennesareth, and distance from Hippos thirty furlongs,
from Gadara sixty, and from Scythopolis, which was under the
king's jurisdiction, a hundred and twenty; when there was no
Jewish city near, it might easily have preserved its fidelity [to
the Romans,] if it had so pleased them to do, for the city and
its people had plenty of weapons. But, as thou sayest, I was then
the author [of their revolts]. And pray, O Justus! who was that
author afterwards? For thou knowest that I was in the power of
the Romans before Jerusalem was besieged, and before the same
time Jotapata was taker by force, as well as many other
fortresses, and a great many of the Galileans fell in the war. It
was therefore then a proper time, when you were certainly freed
from any fear on my account, to throw away your weapons, and to
demonstrate to the king and to the Romans, that it was not of
choice, but as forced by necessity, that you fell into the war
against them; but you staid till Vespasian came himself as far as
your walls, with his whole army; and then you did indeed lay
aside your weapons out of fear, and your city had for certain
been taken by force, unless Vespasian had complied with the
king's supplication for you, and had excused your madness. It was
not I, therefore, who was the author of this, but your own
inclinations to war. Do not you remember how often I got you
under my power, and yet put none of you to death? Nay, you once
fell into a tumult one against another, and slew one hundred and
eighty-five of your citizens, not on account of your good-will to
the king and to the Romans, but on account of your own
wickedness, and this while I was besieged by the Romans in
Jotapata. Nay, indeed, were there not reckoned up two thousand of
the people of Tiberias during the siege of Jerusalem, some of
whom were slain, and the rest caught and carried captives? But
thou wilt pretend that thou didst not engage in the war, since
thou didst flee to the king. Yes, indeed, thou didst flee to him;
but I say it was out of fear of me. Thou sayest, indeed, that it
is I who am a wicked man. But then, for what reason was it that
king Agrippa, who procured thee thy life when thou wast condemned
to die by Vespian, and who bestowed so much riches upon thee, did
twice afterward put thee in bonds, and as often obliged thee to
run away from thy country, and, when he had once ordered thee to
be put to death, he granted thee a pardon at the earnest desire
of Bernice? And when (after so many of thy wicked pranks) he made
thee his secretary, he caught thee falsifying his epistles, and
drove thee away from his sight. But I shall not inquire
accurately into these matters of scandal against thee. Yet cannot
I but wonder at thy impudence, when thou hast the assurance to
say, that thou hast better related these affairs [of the war]
than have all the others that have written about them, whilst
thou didst not know what was done in Galilee; for thou wast then
at Berytus with the king; nor didst thou know how much the Romans
suffered at the siege of Jotapata, or what miseries they brought
upon us; nor couldst thou learn by inquiry what I did during that
siege myself; for all those that might afford such information
were quite destroyed in that siege. But perhaps thou wilt say,
thou hast written of what was done against the people of
Jerusalem exactly. But how should that be? for neither wast thou
concerned in that war, nor hast thou read the commentaries of
Caesar; of which we have evident proof, because thou hast
contradicted those commentaries of Caesar in thy history. But if
thou art so hardy as to affirm, that thou hast written that
history better than all the rest, why didst thou not publish thy
history while the emperors Vespasian and Titus, the generals in
that war, as well as king Agrippa and his family, who were men
very well skilled in the learning of the Greeks, were all alive?
for thou hast had it written these twenty years, and then
mightest thou have had the testimony of thy accuracy. But now
when these men are no longer with us, and thou thinkest thou
canst not be contradicted, thou venturest to publish it. But then
I was not in like manner afraid of my own writing, but I offered
my books to the emperors themselves, when the facts were almost
under men's eyes; for I was conscious to myself, that I had
observed the truth of the facts; and as I expected to have their
attestation to them, so I was not deceived in such expectation.
Moreover, I immediately presented my history to many other
persons, some of whom were concerned in the war, as was king
Agrippa and some of his kindred. Now the emperor Titus was so
desirous that the knowledge of these affairs should be taken from
these books alone, that he subscribed his own hand to them, and
ordered that they should be published; and for king Agrippa, he
wrote me sixty-two letters, and attested to the truth of what I
had therein delivered; two of which letters I have here
subjoined, and thou mayst thereby know their contents: - "King
Agrippa to Josephus, however, when thou comest to me, I will
inform thee of a great many things which thou dost not know." So
when this history was perfected, Agrippa, neither by way of
flattery, which was not agreeable to him, nor by way of irony, as
thou wilt say, (for he was entirely a stranger to such an evil
disposition of mind,) but he wrote this by way of attestation to
what was true, as all that read histories may do. And so much
shall be said concerning Justus (24) which I am obliged to add by
way of digression.
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