1. UPON the death of king Agrippa, which we have related in the foregoing book, Claudius Caesar sent Cassius
Longinus as successor to Marcus, out of regard to the memory of king Agrippa, who had often desired of him by
letters, while be was alive, that he would not suffer Marcus to be any longer president of Syria. But Fadus, as soon
as he was come procurator into Judea, found quarrelsome doings between the Jews that dwelt in Perea, and the
people of Philadelphia, about their borders, at a village called Mia, that was filled with men of a warlike temper; for
the Jews of Perea had taken up arms without the consent of their principal men, and had destroyed many of the
Philadelphians. When Fadus was informed of this procedure, it provoked him very much that they had not left the
determination of the matter to him, if they thought that the Philadelphians had done them any wrong, but had rashly
taken up arms against them. So he seized upon three of their principal men, who were also the causes of this
sedition, and ordered them to be bound, and afterwards had one of them slain, whose name was Hannibal; and he
banished the other two, Areram and Eleazar. Tholomy also, the arch robber, was, after some time, brought to him
bound, and slain, but not till he had done a world of mischief to Idumea and the Arabians. And indeed, from that
time, Judea was cleared of robberies by the care and providence of Fadus. He also at this time sent for the high
priests and the principal citizens of Jerusalem, and this at the command of the emperor, and admonished them that
they should lay up the long garment and the sacred vestment, which it is customary for nobody but the high priest to
wear, in the tower of Antonia, that it might be under the power of the Romans, as it had been formerly. Now the
Jews durst not contradict what he had said, but desired Fadus, however, and Longinus, (which last was come to
Jerusalem, and had brought a great army with him, out of a fear that the [rigid] injunctions of Fadus should force
the Jews to rebel,) that they might, in the first place, have leave to send ambassadors to Caesar, to petition him
that they may have the holy vestments under their own power; and that, in the next place, they would tarry till they
knew what answer Claudius would give to that their request. So they replied, that they would give them leave to
send their ambassadors, provided they would give them their sons as pledges [for their peaceable behavior]. And
when they had agreed so to do, and had given them the pledges they desired, the ambassadors were sent
accordingly. But when, upon their coming to Rome, Agrippa, junior, the son of the deceased, understood the reason
why they came, (for he dwelt with Claudius Caesar, as we said before,) he besought Caesar to grant the Jews their
request about the holy vestments, and to send a message to Fadus accordingly.

2. Hereupon Claudius called for the ambassadors; and told them that he granted their request; and bade them to
return their thanks to Agrippa for this favor, which had been bestowed on them upon his entreaty. And besides
these answers of his, he sent the following letter by them: "Claudius Caesar Germanicus, tribune of the people the
fifth time, and designed consul the fourth time, and imperator the tenth time, the father of his country, to the
magistrates, senate, and people, and the whole nation of the Jews, sendeth greeting. Upon the presentation of your
ambassadors to me by Agrippa, my friend, whom I have brought up, and have now with me, and who is a person of
very great piety, who are come to give me thanks for the care I have taken of your nation, and to entreat me, in an
earnest and obliging manner, that they may have the holy vestments, with the crown belonging to them, under their
power, - I grant their request, as that excellent person Vitellius, who is very dear to me, had done before me. And I
have complied with your desire, in the first place, out of regard to that piety which I profess, and because I would
have every one worship God according to the laws of their own country; and this I do also because I shall hereby
highly gratify king Herod, and Agrippa, junior, whose sacred regards to me, and earnest good-will to you, I am well
acquainted with, and with whom I have the greatest friendship, and whom I highly esteem, and look on as persons
of the best character. Now I have written about these affairs to Cuspius Fadus, my procurator. The names of those
that brought me your letter are Cornelius, the son of Cero, Trypho, the son of Theudio, Dorotheus, the son of
Nathaniel, and John, the son of Jotre. This letter is dated before the fourth of the calends of July, when Ruffis and
Pompeius Sylvanus are consuls."

3. Herod also, the brother of the deceased Agrippa, who was then possessed of the royal authority over Chalcis,
petitioned Claudius Caesar for the authority over the temple, and the money of the sacred treasure, and the choice
of the high priests, and obtained all that he petitioned for. So that after that time this authority continued among all
his descendants till the end of the war (1) Accordingly, Herod removed the last high priest, called Cimtheras, and
bestowed that dignity on his successor Joseph, the son of Cantos.

1. ABOUT this time it was that Helena, queen of Adiabene, and her son Izates, changed their course of life, and
embraced the Jewish customs, and this on the occasion following: Monobazus, the king of Adiabene, who had also
the name of Bazeus, fell in love with his sister Helena, and took her to be his wife, and begat her with child. But as
he was in bed with her one night, he laid his hand upon his wife's belly, and fell asleep, and seemed to hear a voice,
which bid him take his hand off his wife's belly, and not hurt the infant that was therein, which, by God's providence,
would be safely born, and have a happy end. This voice put him into disorder; so he awaked immediately, and told
the story to his wife; and when his son was born, he called him Izates. He had indeed Monobazus, his elder brother,
by Helena also, as he had other sons by other wives besides. Yet did he openly place all his affections on this his
only begotten (2) son Izates, which was the origin of that envy which his other brethren, by the same father, bore to
him; while on this account they hated him more and more, and were all under great affliction that their father should
prefer Izates before them. Now although their father was very sensible of these their passions, yet did he forgive
them, as not indulging those passions out of an ill disposition, but out of a desire each of them had to be beloved by
their father. However, he sent Izates, with many presents, to Abennerig, the king of Charax-Spasini, and that out of
the great dread he was in about him, lest he should come to some misfortune by the hatred his brethren bore him;
and he committed his son's preservation to him. Upon which Abennerig gladly received the young man, and had a
great affection for him, and married him to his own daughter, whose name was Samacha: he also bestowed a
country upon him, from which he received large revenues.

2. But when Monobazus was grown old, and saw that he had but a little time to live, he had a mind to come to the
sight of his son before he died. So he sent for him, and embraced him after the most affectionate manner, and
bestowed on him the country called Carra; it was a soil that bare amomum in great plenty: there are also in it the
remains of that ark, wherein it is related that Noah escaped the deluge, and where they are still shown to such as
are desirous to see them. (3) Accordingly, Izates abode in that country until his father's death. But the very day
that Monobazus died, queen Helena sent for all the grandees, and governors of the kingdom, and for those that had
the armies committed to their command; and when they were come, she made the following speech to them: "I
believe you are not unacquainted that my husband was desirous Izates should succeed him in the government, and
thought him worthy so to do. However, I wait your determination; for happy is he who receives a kingdom, not from
a single person only, but from the willing suffrages of a great many." This she said, in order to try those that were
invited, and to discover their sentiments. Upon the hearing of which, they first of all paid their homage to the queen,
as their custom was, and then they said that they confirmed the king's determination, and would submit to it; and
they rejoiced that Izates's father had preferred him before the rest of his brethren, as being agreeable to all their
wishes: but that they were desirous first of all to slay his brethren and kinsmen, that so the government might come
securely to Izates; because if they were once destroyed, all that fear would be over which might arise from their
hatred and envy to him. Helena replied to this, that she returned them her thanks for their kindness to herself and
to Izates; but desired that they would however defer the execution of this slaughter of Izates's brethren till he
should be there himself, and give his approbation to it. So since these men had not prevailed with her, when they
advised her to slay them, they exhorted her at least to keep them in bonds till he should come, and that for their
own security; they also gave her counsel to set up some one whom she could put the greatest trust in, as a governor
of the kingdom in the mean time. So queen Helena complied with this counsel of theirs, and set up Monobazus, the
eldest son, to be king, and put the diadem upon his head, and gave him his father's ring, with its signet; as also the
ornament which they call Sampser, and exhorted him to administer the affairs of the kingdom till his brother should
come; who came suddenly upon hearing that his father was dead, and succeeded his brother Monobazus, who
resigned up the government to him.

3. Now, during the time Izates abode at Charax-Spasini, a certain Jewish merchant, whose name was Ananias, got
among the women that belonged to the king, and taught them to worship God according to the Jewish religion. He,
moreover, by their means, became known to Izates, and persuaded him, in like manner, to embrace that religion; he
also, at the earnest entreaty of Izates, accompanied him when he was sent for by his father to come to Adiabene; it
also happened that Helena, about the same time, was instructed by a certain other Jew and went over to them. But
when Izates had taken the kingdom, and was come to Adiabene, and there saw his brethren and other kinsmen in
bonds, he was displeased at it; and as he thought it an instance of impiety either to slay or imprison them, but still
thought it a hazardous thing for to let them have their liberty, with the remembrance of the injuries that had been
offered them, he sent some of them and their children for hostages to Rome, to Claudius Caesar, and sent the
others to Artabanus, the king of Parthia, with the like intentions.

4. And when he perceived that his mother was highly pleased with the Jewish customs, he made haste to change,
and to embrace them entirely; and as he supposed that he could not he thoroughly a Jew unless he were
circumcised, he was ready to have it done. But when his mother understood what he was about, she endeavored to
hinder him from doing it, and said to him that this thing would bring him into danger; and that, as he was a king, he
would thereby bring himself into great odium among his subjects, when they should understand that he was so fond
of rites that were to them strange and foreign; and that they would never bear to be ruled over by a Jew. This it was
that she said to him, and for the present persuaded him to forbear. And when he had related what she had said to
Ananias, he confirmed what his mother had said; and when he had also threatened to leave him, unless he complied
with him, he went away from him, and said that he was afraid lest such an action being once become public to all, he
should himself be in danger of punishment for having been the occasion of it, and having been the king's instructor
in actions that were of ill reputation; and he said that he might worship God without being circumcised, even though
he did resolve to follow the Jewish law entirely, which worship of God was of a superior nature to circumcision. He
added, that God would forgive him, though he did not perform the operation, while it was omitted out of necessity,
and for fear of his subjects. So the king at that time complied with these persuasions of Ananias. But afterwards, as
he had not quite left off his desire of doing this thing, a certain other Jew that came out of Galilee, whose name was
Eleazar, and who was esteemed very skillful in the learning of his country, persuaded him to do the thing; for as he
entered into his palace to salute him, and found him reading the law of Moses, he said to him, "Thou dost not
consider, O king! that thou unjustly breakest the principal of those laws, and art injurious to God himself, [by
omitting to be circumcised]; for thou oughtest not only to read them, but chiefly to practice what they enjoin thee.
How long wilt thou continue uncircumcised? But if thou hast not yet read the law about circumcision, and dost not
know how great impiety thou art guilty of by neglecting it, read it now." When the king had heard what he said, he
delayed the thing no longer, but retired to another room, and sent for a surgeon, and did what he was commanded to
do. He then sent for his mother, and Ananias his tutor, and informed them that he had done the thing; upon which
they were presently struck with astonishment and fear, and that to a great degree, lest the thing should be openly
discovered and censured, and the king should hazard the loss of his kingdom, while his subjects would not bear to
be governed by a man who was so zealous in another religion; and lest they should themselves run some hazard,
because they would be supposed the occasion of his so doing. But it was God himself who hindered what they
feared from taking effect; for he preserved both Izates himself and his sons when they fell into many dangers, and
procured their deliverance when it seemed to be impossible, and demonstrated thereby that the fruit of piety does
not perish as to those that have regard to him, and fix their faith upon him only. (4) But these events we shall relate
hereafter.

5. But as to Helena, the king's mother, when she saw that the affairs of Izates's kingdom were in peace, and that
her son was a happy man, and admired among all men, and even among foreigners, by the means of God's
providence over him, she had a mind to go to the city of Jerusalem, in order to worship at that temple of God which
was so very famous among all men, and to offer her thank-offerings there. So she desired her son to give her leave
to go thither; upon which he gave his consent to what she desired very willingly, and made great preparations for
her dismission, and gave her a great deal of money, and she went down to the city Jerusalem, her son conducting
her on her journey a great way. Now her coming was of very great advantage to the people of Jerusalem; for
whereas a famine did oppress them at that time, and many people died for want of what was necessary to procure
food withal, queen Helena sent some of her servants to Alexandria with money to buy a great quantity of corn, and
others of them to Cyprus, to bring a cargo of dried figs. And as soon as they were come back, and had brought
those provisions, which was done very quickly, she distributed food to those that were in want of it, and left a most
excellent memorial behind her of this benefaction, which she bestowed on our whole nation. And when her son
Izates was informed of this famine, (5) he sent great sums of money to the principal men in Jerusalem. However,
what favors this queen and king conferred upon our city Jerusalem shall be further related hereafter.

1. BUT now Artabanus, king of the Parthians perceiving that the governors of the provinces had framed a plot
against him, did not think it safe for him to continue among them; but resolved to go to Izates, in hopes of finding
some way for his preservation by his means, and, if possible, for his return to his own dominions. So he came to
Izates, and brought a thousand of his kindred and servants with him, and met him upon the road, while he well knew
Izates, but Izates did not know him. When Artabanus stood near him, and, in the first place, worshipped him,
according to the custom, he then said to him, "O king! do not thou overlook me thy servant, nor do thou proudly
reject the suit I make thee; for as I am reduced to a low estate, by the change of fortune, and of a king am become
a private man, I stand in need of thy assistance. Have regard, therefore, unto the uncertainty of fortune, and
esteem the care thou shalt take of me to he taken of thyself also; for if I be neglected, and my subjects go off
unpunished, many other subjects will become the more insolent towards other kings also." And this speech
Artabanus made with tears in his eyes, and with a dejected countenance. Now as soon as Izates heard Artabanus's
name, and saw him stand as a supplicant before him, he leaped down from his horse immediately, and said to him,
"Take courage, O king! nor be disturbed at thy present calamity, as if it were incurable; for the change of thy sad
condition shall be sudden; for thou shalt find me to be more thy friend and thy assistant than thy hopes can promise
thee; for I will either re-establish thee in the kingdom of Parthia, or lose my own."

2. When he had said this, he set Artabanus upon his horse, and followed him on foot, in honor of a king whom he
owned as greater than himself; which, when Artabanus saw, he was very uneasy at it, and sware by his present
fortune and honor that he would get down from his horse, unless Izates would get upon his horse again, and go
before him. So he complied with his desire, and leaped upon his horse; and when he had brought him to his royal
palace, he showed him all sorts of respect when they sat together, and he gave him the upper place at festivals also,
as regarding not his present fortune, but his former dignity, and that upon this consideration also, that the changes
of fortune are common to all men. He also wrote to the Parthians, to persuade them to receive Artabanus again;
and gave them his right hand and his faith, that he should forget what was past and done, and that he would
undertake for this as a mediator between them. Now the Parthians did not themselves refuse to receive him again,
but pleaded that it was not now in their power so to do, because they had committed the government to another
person, who had accepted of it, and whose name was Cinnamus; and that they were afraid lest a civil war should
arise on this account. When Cinnamus understood their intentions, he wrote to Artabanus himself, for he had been
brought up by him, and was of a nature good and gentle also, and desired him to put confidence in him, and to come
and take his own dominions again. Accordingly, Artabanus trusted him, and returned home; when Cinnamus met
him, worshipped him, and saluted him as a king, and took the diadem off his own head, and put it on the head of
Artabanus.

3. And thus was Artahanus restored to his kingdom again by the means of Izates, when he had lost it by the means
of the grandees of the kingdom. Nor was he unmindful of the benefits he had conferred upon him, but rewarded him
with such honors as were of the greatest esteem among them; for he gave him leave to wear his tiara upright, (6)
and to sleep upon a golden bed, which are privileges and marks of honor peculiar to the kings of Parthia. He also
cut off a large and fruitful country from the king of Armenia, and bestowed it upon him. The name of the country is
Nisibis, wherein the Macedonians had formerly built that city which they called Antioch of Mygodonla. And these
were the honors that were paid Izates by the king of the Parthians.

4. But in no long time Artabanus died, and left his kingdom to his son Bardanes. Now this Bardanes came to Izates,
and would have persuaded him to join him with his army, and to assist him in the war he was preparing to make with
the Romans; but he could not prevail with him. For Izates so well knew the strength and good fortune of the
Romans, that he took Bardanes to attempt what was impossible to be done; and having besides sent his sons, five
in number, and they but young also, to learn accurately the language of our nation, together with our learning, as
well as he had sent his mother to worship at our temple, as I have said already, was the more backward to a
compliance; and restrained Bardanes, telling him perpetually of the great armies and famous actions of the
Romans, and thought thereby to terrify him, and desired thereby to hinder him from that expedition. But the
Parthian king was provoked at this his behavior, and denounced war immediately against Izates. Yet did he gain no
advantage by this war, because God cut off all his hopes therein; for the Parthians perceiving Bardanes's
intentions, and how he had determined to make war with the Romans, slew him, and gave his kingdom to his
brother Gotarzes. He also, in no long time, perished by a plot made against him, and Vologases, his brother,
succeeded him, who committed two of his provinces to two of his brothers by the same father; that of the Medes to
the elder, Pacorus; and Armenia to the younger, Tiridates.

1. NOW when the king's brother, Monobazus, and his other kindred, saw how Izates, by his piety to God, was
become greatly esteemed by all men, they also had a desire to leave the religion of their country, and to embrace
the customs of the Jews; but that act of theirs was discovered by Izates's subjects. Whereupon the grandees were
much displeased, and could not contain their anger at them; but had an intention, when they should find a proper
opportunity, to inflict a punishment upon them. Accordingly, they wrote to Abia, king of the Arabians, and promised
him great sums of money, if he would make an expedition against their king; and they further promised him, that,
on the first onset, they would desert their king, because they were desirous to punish him, by reason of the hatred
he had to their religious worship; then they obliged themselves, by oaths, to be faithful to each other, and desired
that he would make haste in this design. The king of Arabia complied with their desires, and brought a great army
into the field, and marched against Izates; and, in the beginning of the first onset, and before they came to a close
fight, those Handees, as if they had a panic terror upon them, all deserted Izates, as they had agreed to do, and,
turning their backs upon their enemies, ran away. Yet was not Izates dismayed at this; but when he understood that
the grandees had betrayed him, he also retired into his camp, and made inquiry into the matter; and as soon as he
knew who they were that made this conspiracy with the king of Arabia, he cut off those that were found guilty; and
renewing the fight on the next day, he slew the greatest part of his enemies, and forced all the rest to betake
themselves to flight. He also pursued their king, and drove him into a fortress called Arsamus, and following on the
siege vigorously, he took that fortress. And when he had plundered it of all the prey that was in it, which was not
small, he returned to Adiabene; yet did not he take Abia alive, because, when he found himself encompassed on
every side, he slew himself.

2. But although the grandees of Adiabene had failed in their first attempt, as being delivered up by God into their
king's hands, yet would they not even then be quiet, but wrote again to Vologases, who was then king of Parthia,
and desired that he would kill Izates, and set over them some other potentate, who should be of a Parthian family;
for they said that they hated their own king for abrogating the laws of their forefathers, and embracing foreign
customs. When the king of Parthia heard this, he boldly made war upon Izates; and as he had no just pretense for
this war, he sent to him, and demanded back those honorable privileges which had been bestowed on him by his
father, and threatened, on his refusal, to make war upon him. Upon hearing of this, Izates was under no small
trouble of mind, as thinking it would be a reproach upon him to appear to resign those privileges that had been
bestowed upon him out of cowardice; yet because he knew, that though the king of Parthia should receive back
those honors, yet would he not be quiet, he resolved to commit himself to God, his Protector, in the present danger
he was in of his life; and as he esteemed him to be his principal assistant, he intrusted his children and his wives to
a very strong fortress, and laid up his corn in his citadels, and set the hay and the grass on fire. And when he had
thus put things in order, as well as he could, he awaited the coming of the enemy. And when the king of Parthia was
come, with a great army of footmen and horsemen, which he did sooner than was expected, (for he marched in great
haste,) and had cast up a bank at the river that parted Adiabene from Media, - Izates also pitched his camp not far
off, having with him six thousand horsemen. But there came a messenger to Izates, sent by the king of Parthia, who
told him how large his dominions were, as reaching from the river Euphrates to Bactria, and enumerated that king's
subjects; he also threatened him that he should be punished, as a person ungrateful to his lords; and said that the
God whom he worshipped could not deliver him out of the king's hands. When the messenger had delivered this his
message, Izates replied that he knew the king of Parthia's power was much greater than his own; but that he knew
also that God was much more powerful than all men. And when he had returned him this answer, he betook himself
to make supplication to God, and threw himself upon the ground, and put ashes upon his head, in testimony of his
confusion, and fasted, together with his wives and children. (7) Then he called upon God, and said, "O Lord and
Governor, if I have not in vain committed myself to thy goodness, but have justly determined that thou only art the
Lord and principal of all beings, come now to my assistance, and defend me from my enemies, not only on my own
account, but on account of their insolent behavior with regard to thy power, while they have not feared to lift up
their proud and arrogant tongue against thee." Thus did he lament and bemoan himself, with tears in his eyes;
whereupon God heard his prayer. And immediately that very night Vologases received letters, the contents of
which were these, that a great band of Dahe and Sacse, despising him, now he was gone so long a journey from
home, had made an expedition, and laid Parthis waste; so that he [was forced to] retire back, without doing any
thing. And thus it was that Izates escaped the threatenings of the Parthians, by the providence of God.

3. It was not long ere Izates died, when he had completed fifty-five years of his life, and had ruled his kingdom
twenty-four years. He left behind him twenty-four sons and twenty-four daughters. However, he gave order that his
brother Monobazus should succeed in the government, thereby requiting him, because, while he was himself absent
after their father's death, he had faithfully preserved the government for him. But when Helena, his mother, heard
of her son's death, she was in great heaviness, as was but natural, upon her loss of such a most dutiful son; yet was
it a comfort to her that she heard the succession came to her eldest son. Accordingly, she went to him in haste; and
when she was come into Adiabene, she did not long outlive her son Izates. But Monobazus sent her bones, as well
as those of Izates, his brother, to Jerusalem, and gave order that they should be buried at the pyramids (8) which
their mother had erected; they were three in number, and distant no more than three furlongs from the city
Jerusalem. But for the actions of Monobazus the king, which he did during the rest of his life. we will relate them
hereafter.-

1. NOW it came to pass, while Fadus was procurator of Judea, that a certain magician, whose name was Theudas,
(9) persuaded a great part of the people to take their effects with them, and follow him to the river Jordan; for he
told them he was a prophet, and that he would, by his own command, divide the river, and afford them an easy
passage over it; and many were deluded by his words. However, Fadus did not permit them to make any advantage
of his wild attempt, but sent a troop of horsemen out against them; who, falling upon them unexpectedly, slew many
of them, and took many of them alive. They also took Theudas alive, and cut off his head, and carried it to
Jerusalem. This was what befell the Jews in the time of Cuspius Fadus's government.

2. Then came Tiberius Alexander as successor to Fadus; he was the son of Alexander the alabarch of Alexandria,
which Alexander was a principal person among all his contemporaries, both for his family and wealth: he was also
more eminent for his piety than this his son Alexander, for he did not continue in the religion of his country. Under
these procurators that great famine happened in Judea, in which queen Helena bought corn in Egypt at a great
expense, and distributed it to those that were in want, as I have related already. And besides this, the sons of Judas
of Galilee were now slain; I mean of that Judas who caused the people to revolt, when Cyrenius came to take an
account of the estates of the Jews, as we have showed in a foregoing book. The names of those sons were James
and Simon, whom Alexander commanded to be crucified. But now Herod, king of Chalcis, removed Joseph, the son
of Camydus, from the high priesthood, and made Ananias, the son of Nebedeu, his successor. And now it was that
Cumanus came as successor to Tiberius Alexander; as also that Herod, brother of Agrippa the great king, departed
this life, in the eighth year of the reign of Claudius Caesar. He left behind him three sons; Aristobulus, whom he
had by his first wife, with Bernicianus, and Hyrcanus, both whom he had by Bernice his brother's daughter. But
Claudius Caesar bestowed his dominions on Agrippa, junior.

3. Now while the Jewish affairs were under the administration of Cureanus, there happened a great tumult at the
city of Jerusalem, and many of the Jews perished therein. But I shall first explain the occasion whence it was
derived. When that feast which is called the passover was at hand, at which time our custom is to use unleavened
bread, and a great multitude was gathered together from all parts to that feast, Cumanus was afraid lest some
attempt of innovation should then be made by them; so he ordered that one regiment of the army should take their
arms, and stand in the temple cloisters, to repress any attempts of innovation, if perchance any such should begin;
and this was no more than what the former procurators of Judea did at such festivals. But on the fourth day of the
feast, a certain soldier let down his breeches, and exposed his privy members to the multitude, which put those that
saw him into a furious rage, and made them cry out that this impious action was not done to approach them, but God
himself; nay, some of them reproached Cumanus, and pretended that the soldier was set on by him, which, when
Cumanus heard, he was also himself not a little provoked at such reproaches laid upon him; yet did he exhort them
to leave off such seditious attempts, and not to raise a tumult at the festival. But when he could not induce them to
be quiet for they still went on in their reproaches to him, he gave order that the whole army should take their entire
armor, and come to Antonia, which was a fortress, as we have said already, which overlooked the temple; but when
the multitude saw the soldiers there, they were affrighted at them, and ran away hastily; but as the passages out
were but narrow, and as they thought their enemies followed them, they were crowded together in their flight, and a
great number were pressed to death in those narrow passages; nor indeed was the number fewer than twenty
thousand that perished in this tumult. So instead of a festival, they had at last a mournful day of it; and they all of
them forgot their prayers and sacrifices, and betook themselves to lamentation and weeping; so great an affliction
did the impudent obsceneness of a single soldier bring upon them. (10)

4. Now before this their first mourning was over, another mischief befell them also; for some of those that raised
the foregoing tumult, when they were traveling along the public road, about a hundred furlongs from the city,
robbed Stephanus, a servant of Caesar, as he was journeying, and plundered him of all that he had with him; which
things when Cureanus heard of, he sent soldiers immediately, and ordered them to plunder the neighboring villages,
and to bring the most eminent persons among them in bonds to him. Now as this devastation was making, one of the
soldiers seized the laws of Moses that lay in one of those villages, and brought them out before the eyes of all
present, and tore them to pieces; and this was done with reproachful language, and much scurrility; which things
when the Jews heard of, they ran together, and that in great numbers, and came down to Cesarea, where Cumanus
then was, and besought him that he would avenge, not themselves, but God himself, whose laws had been affronted;
for that they could not bear to live any longer, if the laws of their forefathers must be affronted after this manner.
Accordingly Cumanus, out of fear lest the multitude should go into a sedition, and by the advice of his friends also,
took care that the soldier who had offered the affront to the laws should be beheaded, and thereby put a stop to the
sedition which was ready to be kindled a second time.

1. NOW there arose a quarrel between the Samaritans and the Jews on the occasion following: It was the custom of
the Galileans, when they came to the holy city at the festivals, to take their journeys through the country of the
Samaritans; (11) and at this time there lay, in the road they took, a village that was called Ginea, which was
situated in the limits of Samaria and the great plain, where certain persons thereto belonging fought with the
Galileans, and killed a great many of them. But when the principal of the Galileans were informed of what had been
done, they came to Cumanus, and desired him to avenge the murder of those that were killed; but he was induced
by the Samaritans, with money, to do nothing in the matter; upon which the Galileans were much displeased, and
persuaded the multitude of the Jews to betake themselves to arms, and to regain their liberty, saying that slavery
was in itself a bitter thing, but that when it was joined with direct injuries, it was perfectly intolerable, And when
their principal men endeavored to pacify them, and promised to endeavor to persuade Cureanus to avenge those
that were killed, they would not hearken to them, but took their weapons, and entreated the assistance of Eleazar,
the son of Dineus, a robber, who had many years made his abode in the mountains, with which assistance they
plundered many villages of the Samaritans. When Cumanus heard of this action of theirs, he took the band of
Sebaste, with four regiments of footmen, and armed the Samaritans, and marched out against the Jews, and caught
them, and slew many of them, and took a great number of them alive; whereupon those that were the most eminent
persons at Jerusalem, and that both in regard to the respect that was paid them, and the families they were of, as
soon as they saw to what a height things were gone, put on sackcloth, and heaped ashes upon their heads, and by
all possible means besought the seditious, and persuaded them that they would set before their eyes the utter
subversion of their country, the conflagration of their temple, and the slavery of themselves, their wives, and
children, (12) which would be the consequences of what they were doing; and would alter their minds, would cast
away their weapons, and for the future be quiet, and return to their own homes. These persuasions of theirs
prevailed upon them. So the people dispersed themselves, and the robbers went away again to their places of
strength; and after this time all Judea was overrun with robberies.

2. But the principal of the Samaritans went to Ummidius Quadratus, the president of Syria, who at that time was at
Tyre, and accused the Jews of setting their villages on fire, and plundering them; and said withal, that they were not
so much displeased at what they had suffered, as they were at the contempt thereby showed the Romans; while if
they had received any injury, they ought to have made them the judges of what had been done, and not presently to
make such devastation, as if they had not the Romans for their governors; on which account they came to him, in
order to obtain that vengeance they wanted. This was the accusation which the Samaritans brought against the
Jews. But the Jews affirmed that the Samaritans were the authors of this tumult and fighting, and that, in the first
place, Cumanus had been corrupted by their gifts, and passed over the murder of those that were slain in silence; -
which allegations when Quadratus heard, he put off the hearing of the cause, and promised that he would give
sentence when he should come into Judea, and should have a more exact knowledge of the truth of that matter. So
these men went away without success. Yet was it not long ere Quadratus came to Samaria, where, upon hearing the
cause, he supposed that the Samaritans were the authors of that disturbance. But when he was informed that
certain of the Jews were making innovations, he ordered those to be crucified whom Cumanus had taken captives.
From whence he came to a certain village called Lydda, which was not less than a city in largeness, and there heard
the Samaritan cause a second time before his tribunal, and there learned from a certain Samaritan that one of the
chief of the Jews, whose name was Dortus, and some other innovators with him, four in number, persuaded the
multitude to a revolt from the Romans; whom Quadratus ordered to be put to death: but still he sent away Ananias
the high priest, and Ananus the commander [of the temple], in bonds to Rome, to give an account of what they had
done to Claudius Caesar. He also ordered the principal men, both of the Samaritans and of the Jews, as also
Cumanus the procurator, and Ceier the tribune, to go to Italy to the emperor, that he might hear their cause, and
determine their differences one with another. But he came again to the city of Jerusalem, out of his fear that the
multitude of the Jews should attempt some innovations; but he found the city in a peaceable state, and celebrating
one of the usual festivals of their country to God. So he believed that they would not attempt any innovations, and
left them at the celebration of the festival, and returned to Antioch.

3. Now Cumanus, and the principal of the Samaritans, who were sent to Rome, had a day appointed them by the
emperor whereon they were to have pleaded their cause about the quarrels they had one with another. But now
Caesar's freed-men and his friends were very zealous on the behalf of Cumanus and the Samaritans; and they had
prevailed over the Jews, unless Agrippa, junior, who was then at Rome, had seen the principal of the Jews hard set,
and had earnestly entreated Agrippina, the emperor's wife, to persuade her husband to hear the cause, so as was
agreeable to his justice, and to condemn those to be punished who were really the authors of this revolt from the
Roman government: - whereupon Claudius was so well disposed beforehand, that when he had heard the cause, and
found that the Samaritans had been the ringleaders in those mischievous doings, he gave order that those who
came up to him should be slain, and that Cureanus should be banished. He also gave order that Celer the tribune
should be carried back to Jerusalem, and should be drawn through the city in the sight of all the people, and then
should be slain.

1. SO Claudius sent Felix, the brother of Pallas, to take care of the affairs of Judea; and when he had already
completed the twelfth year of his reign, he bestowed upon Agrippa the tetrarchy of Philip and Batanea, and added
thereto Trachonites, with Abila; which last had been the tetrarchy of Lysanias; but he took from him Chalcis, when
he had been governor thereof four years. And when Agrippa had received these countries as the gift of Caesar, he
gave his sister Drusilla in marriage to Azizus, king of Emesa, upon his consent to be circumcised; for Epiphanes,
the son of king Antiochus, had refused to marry her, because, after he had promised her father formerly to come
over to the Jewish religion, he would not now perform that promise. He also gave Mariamne in marriage to
Archelaus, the son of Helcias, to whom she had formerly been betrothed by Agrippa her father; from which
marriage was derived a daughter, whose name was Bernice.

2. But for the marriage of Drusilla with Azizus, it was in no long time afterward dissolved upon the following
occasion: While Felix was procurator of Judea, he saw this Drusilla, and fell in love with her; for she did indeed
exceed all other women in beauty; and he sent to her a person whose name was Simon (13) one of his friends; a Jew
he was, and by birth a Cypriot, and one who pretended to be a magician, and endeavored to persuade her to
forsake her present husband, and marry him; and promised, that if she would not refuse him, he would make her a
happy woman. Accordingly she acted ill, and because she was desirous to avoid her sister Bernice's envy, for she
was very ill treated by her on account of her beauty, was prevailed upon to transgress the laws of her forefathers,
and to marry Felix; and when he had had a son by her, he named him Agrippa. But after what manner that young
man, with his wife, perished at the conflagration of the mountain Vesuvius, (14) in the days of Titus Caesar, shall be
related hereafter. (15)

3. But as for Bernice, she lived a widow a long while after the death of Herod [king of Chalcis], who was both her
husband and her uncle; but when the report went that she had criminal conversation with her brother, [Agrippa,
junior,] she persuaded Poleme, who was king of Cilicia, to be circumcised, and to marry her, as supposing that by
this means she should prove those calumnies upon her to be false; and Poleme was prevailed upon, and that chiefly
on account of her riches. Yet did not this matrimony endure long; but Bernice left Poleme, and, as was said, with
impure intentions. So he forsook at once this matrimony, and the Jewish religion; and, at the same time, Mariamne
put away Archclaus, and was married to Demetrius, the principal man among the Alexandrian Jews, both for his
family and his wealth; and indeed he was then their alabarch. So she named her son whom she had by him
Agrippinus. But of all these particulars we shall hereafter treat more exactly. (16)

1. NOW Claudius Caesar died when he had reigned thirteen years, eight months, and twenty days; (17) and a
report went about that he was poisoned by his wife Agrippina. Her father was Germanicus, the brother of Caesar.
Her husband was Domitius Aenobarbus, one of the most illustrious persons that was in the city of Rome; after
whose death, and her long continuance in widowhood, Claudius took her to wife. She brought along with her a son,
Domtitus, of the same name with his father. He had before this slain his wife Messalina, out of jealousy, by whom
he had his children Britannicus and Octavia; their eldest sister was Antonia, whom he had by Pelina his first wife.
He also married Octavia to Nero; for that was the name that Caesar gave him afterward, upon his adopting him for
his son.

2. But now Agrippina was afraid, lest, when Britannicus should come to man's estate, he should succeed his father
in the government, and desired to seize upon the principality beforehand for her own son [Nero]; upon which the
report went that she thence compassed the death of Claudius. Accordingly, she sent Burrhus, the general of the
army, immediately, and with him the tribunes, and such also of the freed-men as were of the greatest authority, to
bring Nero away into the camp, and to salute him emperor. And when Nero had thus obtained the government, he
got Britannicus to be so poisoned, that the multitude should not perceive it; although he publicly put his own mother
to death not long afterward, making her this requital, not only for being born of her, but for bringing it so about by
her contrivances that he obtained the Roman empire. He also slew Octavia his own wife, and many other illustrious
persons, under this pretense, that they plotted against him.

3. But I omit any further discourse about these affairs; for there have been a great many who have composed the
history of Nero; some of which have departed from the truth of facts out of favor, as having received benefits from
him; while others, out of hatred to him, and the great ill-will which they bare him, have so impudently raved against
him with their lies, that they justly deserve to be condemned. Nor do I wonder at such as have told lies of Nero,
since they have not in their writings preserved the truth of history as to those facts that were earlier than his time,
even when the actors could have no way incurred their hatred, since those writers lived a long time after them. But
as to those that have no regard to truth, they may write as they please; for in that they take delight: but as to
ourselves, who have made truth our direct aim, we shall briefly touch upon what only belongs remotely to this
undertaking, but shall relate what hath happened to us Jews with great accuracy, and shall not grudge our pains in
giving an account both of the calamities we have suffered, and of the crimes we have been guilty of. I will now
therefore return to the relation of our own affairs.

4. For in the first year of the reign of Nero, upon the death of Azizus, king of Emesa, Soemus, his brother,
succeeded in his kingdom, and Aristobulus, the son of Herod, king of Chalcis, was intrusted by Nero with the
government of the Lesser Armenia. Caesar also bestowed on Agrippa a certain part of Galilee, Tiberias, and
Tarichae, (18) and ordered them to submit to his jurisdiction. He gave him also Julias, a city of Perea, with fourteen
villages that lay about it.

5. Now as for the affairs of the Jews, they grew worse and worse continually, for the country was again filled with
robbers and impostors, who deluded the multitude. Yet did Felix catch and put to death many of those impostors
every day, together with the robbers. He also caught Eleazar, the son of Dineas, who had gotten together a
company of robbers; and this he did by treachery; for he gave him assurance that he should suffer no harm, and
thereby persuaded him to come to him; but when he came, he bound him, and sent him to Rome. Felix also bore an
ill-will to Jonathan, the high priest, because he frequently gave him admonitions about governing the Jewish affairs
better than he did, lest he should himself have complaints made of him by the multitude, since he it was who had
desired Caesar to send him as procurator of Judea. So Felix contrived a method whereby he might get rid of him,
now he was become so continually troublesome to him; for such continual admonitions are grievous to those who
are disposed to act unjustly. Wherefore Felix persuaded one of Jonathan's most faithful friends, a citizen of
Jerusalem, whose name was Doras, to bring the robbers upon Jonathan, in order to kill him; and this he did by
promising to give him a great deal of money for so doing. Doras complied with the proposal, and contrived matters
so, that the robbers might murder him after the following manner: Certain of those robbers went up to the city, as if
they were going to worship God, while they had daggers under their garments, and by thus mingling themselves
among the multitude they slew Jonathan (19) and as this murder was never avenged, the robbers went up with the
greatest security at the festivals after this time; and having weapons concealed in like manner as before, and
mingling themselves among the multitude, they slew certain of their own enemies, and were subservient to other
men for money; and slew others, not only in remote parts of the city, but in the temple itself also; for they had the
boldness to murder men there, without thinking of the impiety of which they were guilty. And this seems to me to
have been the reason why God, out of his hatred of these men's wickedness, rejected our city; and as for the
temple, he no longer esteemed it sufficiently pure for him to inhabit therein, but brought the Romans upon us, and
threw a fire upon the city to purge it; and brought upon us, our wives, and children, slavery, as desirous to make us
wiser by our calamities.

6. These works, that were done by the robbers, filled the city with all sorts of impiety. And now these impostors and
deceivers persuaded the multitude to follow them into the wilderness, and pretended that they would exhibit
manifest wonders and signs, that should be performed by the providence of God. And many that were prevailed on
by them suffered the punishments of their folly; for Felix brought them back, and then punished them. Moreover,
there came out of Egypt (20) about this time to Jerusalem one that said he was a prophet, and advised the multitude
of the common people to go along with him to the Mount of Olives, as it was called, which lay over against the city,
and at the distance of five furlongs. He said further, that he would show them from hence how, at his command, the
walls of Jerusalem would fall down; and he promised them that he would procure them an entrance into the city
through those walls, when they were fallen down. Now when Felix was informed of these things, he ordered his
soldiers to take their weapons, and came against them with a great number of horsemen and footmen from
Jerusalem, and attacked the Egyptian and the people that were with him. He also slew four hundred of them, and
took two hundred alive. But the Egyptian himself escaped out of the fight, but did not appear any more. And again
the robbers stirred up the people to make war with the Romans, and said they ought not to obey them at all; and
when any persons would not comply with them, they set fire to their villages, and plundered them.

7. And now it was that a great sedition arose between the Jews that inhabited Cesarea, and the Syrians who dwelt
there also, concerning their equal right to the privileges belonging to citizens; for the Jews claimed the
pre-eminence, because Herod their king was the builder of Cesarea, and because he was by birth a Jew. Now the
Syrians did not deny what was alleged about Herod; but they said that Cesarea was formerly called Strato's Tower,
and that then there was not one Jewish inhabitant. When the presidents of that country heard of these disorders,
they caught the authors of them on both sides, and tormented them with stripes, and by that means put a stop to the
disturbance for a time. But the Jewish citizens depending on their wealth, and on that account despising the Syrians,
reproached them again, and hoped to provoke them by such reproaches. However, the Syrians, though they were
inferior in wealth, yet valuing themselves highly on this account, that the greatest part of the Roman soldiers that
were there were either of Cesarea or Sebaste, they also for some time used reproachful language to the Jews also;
and thus it was, till at length they came to throwing stones at one another, and several were wounded, and fell on
both sides, though still the Jews were the conquerors. But when Felix saw that this quarrel was become a kind of
war, he came upon them on the sudden, and desired the Jews to desist; and when they refused so to do, he armed
his soldiers, and sent them out upon them, and slew many of them, and took more of them alive, and permitted his
soldiers to plunder some of the houses of the citizens, which were full of riches. Now those Jews that were more
moderate, and of principal dignity among them, were afraid of themselves, and desired of Felix that he would sound
a retreat to his soldiers, and spare them for the future, and afford them room for repentance for what they had
done; and Felix was prevailed upon to do so.

8. About this time king Agrippa gave the high priesthood to Ismael, who was the son of Fabi. And now arose a
sedition between the high priests and the principal men of the multitude of Jerusalem; each of which got them a
company of the boldest sort of men, and of those that loved innovations about them, and became leaders to them;
and when they struggled together, they did it by casting reproachful words against one another, and by throwing
stones also. And there was nobody to reprove them; but these disorders were done after a licentious manner in the
city, as if it had no government over it. And such was the impudence (21) and boldness that had seized on the high
priests, that they had the hardiness to send their servants into the threshing-floors, to take away those tithes that
were due to the priests, insomuch that it so fell out that the poorest sort of the priests died for want. To this degree
did the violence of the seditious prevail over all right and justice.

9. Now when Porcius Festus was sent as successor to Felix by Nero, the principal of the Jewish inhabitants of
Cesarea went up to Rome to accuse Felix; and he had certainly been brought to punishment, unless Nero had
yielded to the importunate solicitations of his brother Pallas, who was at that time had in the greatest honor by him.
Two of the principal Syrians in Cesarea persuaded Burrhus, who was Nero's tutor, and secretary for his Greek
epistles, by giving him a great sum of money, to disannul that equality of the Jewish privileges of citizens which
they hitherto enjoyed. So Burrhus, by his solicitations, obtained leave of the emperor that an epistle should be
written to that purpose. This epistle became the occasion of the following miseries that befell our nation; for when
the Jews of Cesarea were informed of the contents of this epistle to the Syrians, they were more disorderly than
before, till a war was kindled.

10. Upon Festus's coming into Judea, it happened that Judea was afflicted by the robbers, while all the villages
were set on fire, and plundered by them. And then it was that the sicarii, as they were called, who were robbers,
grew numerous. They made use of small swords, not much different in length from the Persian acinacae, but
somewhat crooked, and like the Roman sicae, [or sickles,] as they were called; and from these weapons these
robbers got their denomination; and with these weapons they slew a great many; for they mingled themselves
among the multitude at their festivals, when they were come up in crowds from all parts to the city to worship God,
as we said before, and easily slew those that they had a mind to slay. They also came frequently upon the villages
belonging to their enemies, with their weapons, and plundered them, and set them on fire. So Festus sent forces,
both horsemen and footmen, to fall upon those that had been seduced by a certain impostor, who promised them
deliverance and freedom from the miseries they were under, if they would but follow him as far as the wilderness.
Accordingly, those forces that were sent destroyed both him that had deluded them, and those that were his
followers also.

11. About the same time king Agrippa built himself a very large dining-room in the royal palace at Jerusalem, near
to the portico. Now this palace had been erected of old by the children of Asamoneus. and was situate upon an
elevation, and afforded a most delightful prospect to those that had a mind to take a view of the city, which prospect
was desired by the king; and there he could lie down, and eat, and thence observe what was done in the temple;
which thing, when the chief men of Jerusalem saw they were very much displeased at it; for it was not agreeable to
the institutions of our country or law that what was done in the temple should be viewed by others, especially what
belonged to the sacrifices. They therefore erected a wall upon the uppermost building which belonged to the inner
court of the temple towards the west, which wall when it was built, did not only intercept the prospect of the
dining-room in the palace, but also of the western cloisters that belonged to the outer court of the temple also,
where it was that the Romans kept guards for the temple at the festivals. At these doings both king Agrippa, and
principally Festus the procurator, were much displeased; and Festus ordered them to pull the wall down again: but
the Jews petitioned him to give them leave to send an embassage about this matter to Nero; for they said they
could not endure to live if any part of the temple should be demolished; and when Festus had given them leave so to
do, they sent ten of their principal men to Nero, as also Ismael the high priest, and Helcias, the keeper of the
sacred treasure. And when Nero had heard what they had to say, he not only forgave (22) them what they had
already done, but also gave them leave to let the wall they had built stand. This was granted them in order to
gratify Poppea, Nero's wife, who was a religious woman, and had requested these favors of Nero, and who gave
order to the ten ambassadors to go their way home; but retained Helcias and Ismael as hostages with herself. As
soon as the king heard this news, he gave the high priesthood to Joseph, who was called Cabi, the son of Simon,
formerly high priest.

1. AND now Caesar, upon hearing the death of Festus, sent Albinus into Judea, as procurator. But the king
deprived Joseph of the high priesthood, and bestowed the succession to that dignity on the son of Ananus, who was
also himself called Ananus. Now the report goes that this eldest Ananus proved a most fortunate man; for he had
five sons who had all performed the office of a high priest to God, and who had himself enjoyed that dignity a long
time formerly, which had never happened to any other of our high priests. But this younger Ananus, who, as we
have told you already, took the high priesthood, was a bold man in his temper, and very insolent; he was also of the
sect of the Sadducees, (23) who are very rigid in judging offenders, above all the rest of the Jews, as we have
already observed; when, therefore, Ananus was of this disposition, he thought he had now a proper opportunity [to
exercise his authority]. Festus was now dead, and Albinus was but upon the road; so he assembled the sanhedrim of
judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some
others, [or, some of his companions]; and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law,
he delivered them to be stoned: but as for those who seemed the most equitable of the citizens, and such as were
the most uneasy at the breach of the laws, they disliked what was done; they also sent to the king [Agrippa],
desiring him to send to Ananus that he should act so no more, for that what he had already done was not to be
justified; nay, some of them went also to meet Albinus, as he was upon his journey from Alexandria, and informed
him that it was not lawful for Ananus to assemble a sanhedrim without his consent. (24) Whereupon Albinus
complied with what they said, and wrote in anger to Ananus, and threatened that he would bring him to punishment
for what he had done; on which king Agrippa took the high priesthood from him, when he had ruled but three
months, and made Jesus, the son of Damneus, high priest.

2. Now as soon as Albinus was come to the city of Jerusalem, he used all his endeavors and care that the country
might be kept in peace, and this by destroying many of the Sicarii. But as for the high priest, Ananias (25) he
increased in glory every day, and this to a great degree, and had obtained the favor and esteem of the citizens in a
signal manner; for he was a great hoarder up of money: he therefore cultivated the friendship of Albinus, and of the
high priest [Jesus], by making them presents; he also had servants who were very wicked, who joined themselves
to the boldest sort of the people, and went to the thrashing-floors, and took away the tithes that belonged to the
priests by violence, and did not refrain from beating such as would not give these tithes to them. So the other high
priests acted in the like manner, as did those his servants, without any one being able to prohibit them; so that
[some of the] priests, that of old were wont to be supported with those tithes, died for want of food.

3. But now the Sicarii went into the city by night, just before the festival, which was now at hand, and took the scribe
belonging to the governor of the temple, whose name was Eleazar, who was the son of Ananus [Ananias] the high
priest, and bound him, and carried him away with them; after which they sent to Ananias, and said that they would
send the scribe to him, if he would persuade Albinus to release ten of those prisoners which he had caught of their
party; so Ananias was plainly forced to persuade Albinus, and gained his request of him. This was the beginning of
greater calamities; for the robbers perpetually contrived to catch some of Ananias's servants; and when they had
taken them alive, they would not let them go, till they thereby recovered some of their own Sicarii. And as they
were again become no small number, they grew bold, and were a great affliction to the whole country.

4. About this time it was that king Agrippa built Cesarea Philippi larger than it was before, and, in honor of Nero,
named it Neronlas. And when he had built a theater at Berytus, with vast expenses, he bestowed on them shows, to
be exhibited every year, and spent therein many ten thousand [drachmae]; he also gave the people a largess of
corn, and distributed oil among them, and adorned the entire city with statues of his own donation, and with original
images made by ancient hands; nay, he almost transferred all that was most ornamental in his own kingdom thither.
This made him more than ordinarily hated by his subjects, because he took those things away that belonged to them
to adorn a foreign city. And now Jesus, the son of Gamaliel, became the successor of Jesus, the son of Damneus, in
the high priesthood, which the king had taken from the other; on which account a sedition arose between the high
priests, with regard to one another; for they got together bodies of the boldest sort of the people, and frequently
came, from reproaches, to throwing of stones at each other. But Ananias was too hard for the rest, by his riches,
which enabled him to gain those that were most ready to receive. Costobarus also, and Saulus, did themselves get
together a multitude of wicked wretches, and this because they were of the royal family; and so they obtained favor
among them, because of their kindred to Agrippa; but still they used violence with the people, and were very ready
to plunder those that were weaker than themselves. And from that time it principally came to pass that our city was
greatly disordered, and that all things grew worse and worse among us.

5. But when Albinus heard that Gessius Florus was coming to succeed him, he was desirous to appear to do
somewhat that might be grateful to the people of Jerusalem; so he brought out all those prisoners who seemed to
him to be most plainly worthy of death, and ordered them to be put to death accordingly. But as to those who had
been put into prison on some trifling occasions, he took money of them, and dismissed them; by which means the
prisons were indeed emptied, but the country was filled with robbers.

6. Now as many of the Levites, (26) which is a tribe of ours, as were singers of hymns, persuaded the king to
assemble a sanhedrim, and to give them leave to wear linen garments, as well as the priests for they said that this
would be a work worthy the times of his government, that he might have a memorial of such a novelty, as being his
doing. Nor did they fail of obtaining their desire; for the king, with the suffrages of those that came into the
sanhedrim, granted the singers of hymns this privilege, that they might lay aside their former garments, and wear
such a linen one as they desired; and as a part of this tribe ministered in the temple, he also permitted them to
learn those hymns as they had besought him for. Now all this was contrary to the laws of our country, which,
whenever they have been transgressed, we have never been able to avoid the punishment of such transgressions.

7. And now it was that the temple was finished. So when the people saw that the workmen were unemployed, who
were above eighteen thousand and that they, receiving no wages, were in want because they had earned their bread
by their labors about the temple; and while they were unwilling to keep by them the treasures that were there
deposited, out of fear of [their being carried away by] the Romans; and while they had a regard to the making
provision for the workmen; they had a mind to expend these treasures upon them; for if any one of them did but
labor for a single hour, he received his pay immediately; so they persuaded him to rebuild the eastern cloisters.
These cloisters belonged to the outer court, and were situated in a deep valley, and had walls that reached four
hundred cubits [in length], and were built of square and very white stones, the length of each of which stones was
twenty cubits, and their height six cubits. This was the work of king Solomon, (27) who first of all built the entire
temple. But king Agrippa, who had the care of the temple committed to him by Claudius Caesar, considering that it
is easy to demolish any building, but hard to build it up again, and that it was particularly hard to do it to these
cloisters, which would require a considerable time, and great sums of money, he denied the petitioners their request
about that matter; but he did not obstruct them when they desired the city might be paved with white stone. He also
deprived Jesus, the son of Gamaliel, of the high priesthood, and gave it to Matthias, the son of Theophilus, under
whom the Jews' war with the Romans took its beginning.

1. AND now I think it proper and agreeable to this history to give an account of our high priests; how they began,
who those are which are capable of that dignity, and how many of them there had been at the end of the war. In the
first place, therefore, history informs us that Aaron, the brother of Moses, officiated to God as a high priest, and
that, after his death, his sons succeeded him immediately; and that this dignity hath been continued down from them
all to their posterity. Whence it is a custom of our country, that no one should take the high priesthood of God but
he who is of the blood of Aaron, while every one that is of another stock, though he were a king, can never obtain
that high priesthood. Accordingly, the number of all the high priests from Aaron, of whom we have spoken already,
as of the first of them, until Phanas, who was made high priest during the war by the seditious, was eighty-three; of
whom thirteen officiated as high priests in the wilderness, from the days of Moses, while the tabernacle was
standing, until the people came into Judea, when king Solomon erected the temple to God; for at the first they held
the high priesthood till the end of their life, although afterward they had successors while they were alive. Now
these thirteen, who were the descendants of two of the sons of Aaron, received this dignity by succession, one after
another; for their form of government was an aristocracy, and after that a monarchy, and in the third place the
government was regal Now the number of years during the rule of these thirteen, from the day when our fathers
departed out of Egypt, under Moses their leader, until the building of that temple which king Solomon erected at
Jerusalem, were six hundred and twelve. After those thirteen high priests, eighteen took the high priesthood at
Jerusalem, one m succession to another, from the days of king Solomon, until Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
made an expedition against that city, and burnt the temple, and removed our nation into Babylon, and then took
Josadek, the high priest, captive; the times of these high priests were four hundred and sixty-six years, six months,
and ten days, while the Jews were still under the regal government. But after the term of seventy years' captivity
under the Babylonians, Cyrus, king of Persia, sent the Jews from Babylon to their own land again, and gave them
leave to rebuild their temple; at which time Jesus, the son of Josadek, took the high priesthood over the captives
when they were returned home. Now he and his posterity, who were in all fifteen, until king Antiochus Eupator,
were under a democratical government for four hundred and fourteen years; and then the forementioned Antiochus,
and Lysias the general of his army, deprived Onias, who was also called Menelaus, of the high priesthood, and slew
him at Berea; and driving away the son [of Onias the third], put Jaeimus into the place of the high priest, one that
was indeed of the stock of Aaron, but not of that family of Onias. On which account Onias, who was the nephew of
Onias that was dead, and bore the same name with his father, came into Egypt, and got into the friendship of
Ptolemy Philometor, and Cleopatra his wife, and persuaded them to make him the high priest of that temple which
he built to God in the prefecture of Heliopolis, and this in imitation of that at Jerusalem; but as for that temple
which was built in Egypt, we have spoken of it frequently already. Now when Jacimus had retained the priesthood
three years, he died, and there was no one that succeeded him, but the city continued seven years without a high
priest. But then the posterity of the sons of Asamoneus, who had the government of the nation conferred upon
them, when they had beaten the Macedonians in war, appointed Jonathan to be their high priest, who ruled over
them seven years. And when he had been slain by the treacherous contrivance of Trypho, as we have related some
where, Simon his brother took the high priesthood; and when he was destroyed at a feast by the treachery of his
son-in-law, his own son, whose name was Hyrcanus, succeeded him, after he had held the high priesthood one year
longer than his brother. This Hyrcanus enjoyed that dignity thirty years, and died an old man, leaving the
succession to Judas, who was also called Aristobulus, whose brother Alexander was his heir; which Judas died of a
sore distemper, after he had kept the priesthood, together with the royal authority; for this Judas was the first that
put on his head a diadem for one year. And when Alexander had been both king and high priest twenty-seven years,
he departed this life, and permitted his wife Alexandra to appoint him that should he high priest; so she gave the
high priesthood to Hyrcanus, but retained the kingdom herself nine years, and then departed this life. The like
duration [and no longer] did her son Hyrcanus enjoy the high priesthood; for after her death his brother Aristobulus
fought against him, and beat him, and deprived him of his principality; and he did himself both reign, and perform
the office of high priest to God. But when he had reigned three years, and as many months, Pompey came upon
him, and not only took the city of Jerusalem by force, but put him and his children in bonds, and sent them to Rome.
He also restored the high priesthood to Hyrcanus, and made him governor of the nation, but forbade him to wear a
diadem. This Hyrcanus ruled, besides his first nine years, twenty-four years more, when Barzapharnes and
Pacorus, the generals of the Parthians, passed over Euphrates, and fought with Hyrcanus, and took him alive, and
made Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus, king; and when he had reigned three years and three months, Sosius and
Herod besieged him, and took him, when Antony had him brought to Antioch, and slain there. Herod was then made
king by the Romans, but did no longer appoint high priests out of the family of Asamoneus; but made certain men
to be so that were of no eminent families, but barely of those that were priests, excepting that he gave that dignity
to Aristobulus; for when he had made this Aristobulus, the grandson of that Hyrcanus who was then taken by the
Parthians, and had taken his sister Mariarmne to wife, he thereby aimed to win the good-will of the people, who had
a kind remembrance of Hyrcanus [his grandfather]. Yet did he afterward, out of his fear lest they should all bend
their inclinations to Aristobulus, put him to death, and that by contriving how to have him suffocated as he was
swimming at Jericho, as we have already related that matter; but after this man he never intrusted the priesthood
to the posterity of the sons of Asamoneus. Archelaus also, Herod's son, did like his father in the appointment of the
high priests, as did the Romans also, who took the government over the Jews into their hands afterward.
Accordingly, the number of the high priests, from the days of Herod until the day when Titus took the temple and
the City, and burnt them, were in all twenty-eight; the time also that belonged to them was a hundred and seven
years. Some of these were the political governors of the people under the reign of Herod, and under the reign of
Archelaus his son, although, after their death, the government became an aristocracy, and the high priests were
intrusted with a dominion over the nation. And thus much may suffice to be said concerning our high priests.

1. NOW Gessius Florus, who was sent as successor to Albinus by Nero, filled Judea with abundance of miseries.
He was by birth of the city of Clazomene, and brought along with him his wife Cleopatra, (by whose friendship with
Poppea, Nero's wife, he obtained this government,) who was no way different from him in wickedness. This Florus
was so wicked, and so violent in the use of his authority, that the Jews took Albinus to have been [comparatively]
their benefactor; so excessive were the mischiefs that he brought upon them. For Albinus concealed his
wickedness, and was careful that it might not be discovered to all men; but Gessius Florus, as though he bad been
sent on purpose to show his crimes to every body, made a pompous ostentation of them to our nation, as never
omitting any sort of violence, nor any unjust sort of punishment; for he was not to be moved by pity, and never was
satisfied with any degree of gain that came in his way; nor had he any more regard to great than to small
acquisitions, but became a partner with the robbers themselves. For a great many fell then into that practice
without fear, as having him for their security, and depending on him, that he would save them harmless in their
particular robberies; so that there were no bounds set to the nation's miseries; but the unhappy Jews, when they
were not able to bear the devastations which the robbers made among them, were all under a necessity of leaving
their own habitations, and of flying away, as hoping to dwell more easily any where else in the world among
foreigners [than in their own country]. And what need I say any more upon this head? since it was this Florus who
necessitated us to take up arms against the Romans, while we thought it better to be destroyed at once, than by
little and little. Now this war began in the second year of the government of Florus, and the twelfth year of the reign
of Nero. But then what actions we were forced to do, or what miseries we were enabled to suffer, may be accurately
known by such as will peruse those books which I have written about the Jewish war.

2. I shall now, therefore, make an end here of my Antiquities; after the conclusion of which events, I began to write
that account of the war; and these Antiquities contain what hath been delivered down to us from the original
creation of man, until the twelfth year of the reign of Nero, as to what hath befallen the Jews, as well in Egypt as in
Syria and in Palestine, and what we have suffered from the Assyrians and Babylonians, and what afflictions the
Persians and Macedonians, and after them the Romans, have brought upon us; for I think I may say that I have
composed this history with sufficient accuracy in all things. I have attempted to enumerate those high priests that
we have had during the interval of two thousand years; I have also carried down the succession of our kings, and
related their actions, and political administration, without [considerable] errors, as also the power of our monarchs;
and all according to what is written in our sacred books; for this it was that I promised to do in the beginning of this
history. And I am so bold as to say, now I have so completely perfected the work I proposed to myself to do, that no
other person, whether he were a Jew or foreigner, had he ever so great an inclination to it, could so accurately
deliver these accounts to the Greeks as is done in these books. For those of my own nation freely acknowledge that
I far exceed them in the learning belonging to Jews; I have also taken a great deal of pains to obtain the learning of
the Greeks, and understand the elements of the Greek language, although I have so long accustomed myself to
speak our own tongue, that I cannot pronounce Greek with sufficient exactness; for our nation does not encourage
those that learn the languages of many nations, and so adorn their discourses with the smoothness of their periods;
because they look upon this sort of accomplishment as common, not only to all sorts of free-men, but to as many of
the servants as please to learn them. But they give him the testimony of being a wise man who is fully acquainted
with our laws, and is able to interpret their meaning; on which account, as there have been many who have done
their endeavors with great patience to obtain this learning, there have yet hardly been so many as two or three that
have succeeded therein, who were immediately well rewarded for their pains.

3. And now it will not be perhaps an invidious thing, if I treat briefly of my own family, and of the actions of my own
life (28) while there are still living such as can either prove what I say to be false, or can attest that it is true; with
which accounts I shall put an end to these Antiquities, which are contained in twenty books, and sixty thousand
verses. And if God permit me, I will briefly run over this war (29), and to add what befell them further to that very
day, the 13th of Domitian, or A.D. 03, is not, that I have observed, taken distinct notice of by any one; nor do we
ever again, with what befell us therein to this very day, which is the thirteenth year of the reign of Caesar Domitian,
and the fifty-sixth year of my own life. I have also an intention to write three books concerning our Jewish opinions
about God and his essence, and about our laws; why, according to them, some things are permitted us to do, and
others are prohibited.

(1) Here is some error in the copies, or mistake in Josephus; for the power of appointing high priests, alter Herod
king of Chalcis was dead, and Agrippa, junior, was made king of Chalcis in his room, belonged to him; and he
exercised the same all along till Jerusalem was destroyed, as Josephus elsewhere informs us, ch. 8. sect. , 11; ch. 9.
sect. 1, 4, 6, 7.

(2) Josephus here uses the word monogene, an only begotten son, for no other than one best beloved, as does both
the Old and New Testament, I mean where there were one or more sons besides, Genesis 22:2; Hebrew 11:17. See
the note on B. I. ch. 13. sect. 1.

(3) It is here very remarkable, that the remains of Noah's ark were believed to he still in being in the days of
Josephus. See the note on B. I. ch. 3. sect. 5.

(4) Josephus is very full and express in these three chapters, 3., 4., and 5., in observing how carefully Divine
Providence preserved this Izates, king of Adiabene, and his sons, while he did what he thought was his bounden
duty, notwithstanding the strongest political motives to the contrary.

(5) This further account of the benefactions of Izates and Helena to the Jerusalem Jews which Josephus here
promises is, I think, no where performed by him in his present works. But of this terrible famine itself in Judea,
take Dr. Hudson's note here: — "This ( says he ) is that famine foretold by Agabus, Acts 11:28, which happened
when Claudius was consul the fourth time; and not that other which happened when Claudius was consul the second
time, and Cesina was his colleague, as Scaliger says upon Eusebius, p. 174." Now when Josephus had said a little
afterward, ch. 5. sect. 2, that "Tiberius Alexander succeeded Cuspius Fadus as procurator," he immediately
subjoins, that" under these procurators there happened a great famine in Judea." Whence it is plain that this
famine continued for many years, on account of its duration under these two procurators. Now Fadus was not sent
into Judea till after the death of king Agrippa, i.e. towards the latter end of the 4th year of Claudius; so that this
famine foretold by Agabus happened upon the 5th, 6th, and 7th years of Claudius, as says Valesius on Euseb. II.
12. Of this famine also, and queen Helena's supplies, and her monument, see Moses Churenensis, p. 144, 145,
where it is observed in the notes that Pausanias mentions that her monument also.

(6) This privilege of wearing the tiara upright, or with the tip of the cone erect, is known to have been of old peculiar
to great kings, from Xenophon and others, as Dr. Hudson observes here.

(7) This conduct of Izates is a sign that he was become either a Jew, or an Ebionite Christian, who indeed differed
not much from proper Jews. See ch. 6. sect. 1. However, his supplications were heard, and he was providentially
delivered from that imminent danger he was in.

(8) These pyramids or pillars, erected by Helena, queen of Adiabene, near Jerusalem, three in number, are
mentioned by Eusebius, in his Eccles. Hist. B. II. ch. 12, for which Dr. Hudson refers us to Valesius's notes upon
that place.--They are also mentioned by Pausanias, as hath been already noted, ch. 2. sect. 6. Reland guesses that
that now called Absalom's Pillar may be one of them.

(9) This Theudas, who arose under Fadus the procurator, about A.D. 45 or 46, could not be that Thendas who arose
in the days of the taxing, under Cyrenius, or about A.D. 7, Acts v. 36, 37. Who that earlier Theudas was, see the
note on B. XVII. ch. 10. sect. 5.

(10) This and. many more tumults and seditions which arose at the Jewish festivals, in Josephus, illustrate the
cautious procedure of the Jewish governors, when they said, Matthew 26:5, "Let us not take Jesus on the
feast-day, lest there be an up roar among the people;" as Reland well observes on tins place. Josephus also takes
notice of the same thing, Of the War, B. I. ch. 4. sect. 3.

(11) This constant passage of the Galileans through the country of Samaria, as they went to Judea and Jerusalem,
illustrates several passages in the Gospels to the same purpose, as Dr. Hudson rightly observes. See Luke 17:11;
John 4:4. See also Josephus in his own Life, sect. 52, where that journey is determined to three days.

(12) Our Savior had foretold that the Jews' rejection of his gospel would bring upon them, among other miseries,
these three, which they themselves here show they expected would be the consequences of their present tumults
and seditions: the utter subversion of their country, the conflagration of their temple, and the slavery of
themselves, their wives, and children See Luke 21:6-24.

(13) This Simon, a friend of Felix, a Jew, born in Cyprus, though he pretended to be a magician, and seems to have
been wicked enough, could hardly be that famous Simon the magician, in the Acts of the Apostles, 8:9, etc., as some
are ready to suppose. This Simon mentioned in the Acts was not properly a Jew, but a Samaritan, of the town of
Gittae, in the country of Samaria, as the Apostolical Constitutions, VI. 7, the Recognitions of Clement, II. 6, and
Justin Martyr, himself born in the country of Samaria, Apology, I. 34, inform us. He was also the author, not of any
ancient Jewish, but of the first Gentile heresies, as the forementioned authors assure us. So I suppose him a
different person from the other. I mean this only upon the hypothesis that Josephus was not misinformed as to his
being a Cypriot Jew; for otherwise the time, the name, the profession, and the wickedness of them both would
strongly incline one to believe them the very same. As to that Drusilla, the sister of Agrippa, junior, as Josephus
informs us here, and a Jewess, as St. Luke informs us, Acts 24:24, whom this Simon mentioned by Josephus
persuaded to leave her former husband, Azizus, king of Emesa, a proselyte of justice, and to marry Felix, the
heathen procurator of Judea, Tacitus, Hist. V. 9, supposes her to be a heathen; and the grand-daughter of Antonius
and Cleopatra, contrary both to St. Luke and Josephus. Now Tacitus lived somewhat too remote, both as to time
and place, to be compared with either of those Jewish writers, in a matter concerning the Jews in Judea in their own
days, and concerning a sister of Agrippa, junior, with which Agrippa Josephus was himself so well acquainted. It is
probable that Tacitus may say true, when he informs us that this Felix (who had in all three wives, or queens, as
Suetonius in Claudius, sect. 28, assures us) did once marry such a grandchild of Antonius and Cleopatra; and
finding the name of one of them to have been Drusilla, he mistook her for that other wife, whose name he did not
know.

(14) This eruption of Vesuvius was one of the greatest we have in history. See Bianchini's curious and important
observations on this Vesuvius, and its seven several great eruptions, with their remains vitrified, and still existing,
in so many different strata under ground, till the diggers came to the antediluvian waters, with their proportionable
interstices, implying the deluge to have been above two thousand five hundred years before the Christian era,
according to our exactest chronology.

(15) This is now wanting.

(16) This also is now wanting.

(17) This duration of the reign of Claudius agrees with Dio, as Dr. Hudson here remarks; as he also remarks that
Nero's name, which was at first L. Domitius Aenobarbus, after Claudius had adopted him was Nero Claudius
Caesar Drusus Germanicus. This Soleus as [own Life, sect. 11, as also] by Dio Cassius andTaeims, as Dr. Hudson
informs us.

(18) This agrees with Josephus's frequent accounts elsewhere in his own Life, that Tibetans, and Taricheae, and
Gamala were under this Agrippa, junior, till Justus, the son of Pistus, seized for the Jews, upon the breaking out of
the war.

(19) This treacherous and barbarous murder of the good high priest Jonathan, by the contrivance of this wicked
procurator, Felix, was the immediate occasion of the ensuing murders by the Sicarii or ruffians, and one great cause
of the following horrid cruelties and miseries of the Jewish nation, as Josephus here supposes; whose excellent
reflection on the gross wickedness of that nation, as the direct cause of their terrible destruction, is well worthy the
attention of every Jewish and of every Christian reader. And since we are soon coming to the catalogue of the
Jewish high priests, it may not be amiss, with Reland, to insert this Jonathan among them, and to transcribe his
particular catalogue of the last twenty-eight high priests, taken out of Josephus, and begin with Ananelus, who was
made by Herod the Great. See Antiq. B. XV. ch. 2. sect. 4, and the note there.

   1.Ananelus.
   2.Aristobulus.
   3.Jesus, the son of Fabus.
   4.Simon, the son of Boethus.
   5.Marthias, the son of Theophiltu.
   6.Joazar, the son of Boethus.
   7.Eleazar, the son of Boethus.
   8.Jesus, the son of Sic.
   9.[Annas, or] Ananus, the son of Seth.
  10.Ismael, the son of Fabus.
  11.Eleazar, the son of Ananus.
  12.Simon, the son of Camithus.
  13.Josephus Caiaphas, the son-in-law to Ananus.
  14.Jonathan, the son of Ananus.
  15.Theophilus, his brother, and son of Ananus.
  16.Simon, the son of Boethus.
  17.Matthias, the brother of Jonathan, and son of Ananus.
  18.Aljoneus.
  19.Josephus, the son of Camydus.
  20.Ananias, the son of Nebedeus.
  21.Jonathas.
  22.Ismael, the son of Fabi.
  23.Joseph Cabi, the son of Simon.
  24.Ananus, the son of Artanus.
  25.Jesus, the son of Damnetas.
  26.Jesus, the son of Gamaliel.
  27.Matthias, the son of Theophilus.
  28.Phannias, the son of Samuel.

As for Ananus and Joseph Caiaphas, here mentioned about the middle of this catalogue, they are no other than
those Annas and Caiaphas so often mentioned in the four Gospels; and that Ananias, the son of Nebedeus, was that
high priest before whom St. Paul pleaded his own cause, Acts 24.

(20) Of these Jewish impostors and false prophets, with many other circumstances and miseries of the Jews, till
their utter destruction, foretold by our Savior, see Lit. Accompl. of Proph. p. 58-75. Of this Egyptian impostor, and
the number of his followers, in Josephus, see Acts 21:38.

(21) The wickedness here was very peculiar and extraordinary, that the high priests should so oppress their
brethren the priests, as to starve the poorest of them to death. See the like presently, ch. 9. sect. 2. Such fatal
crimes are covetousness and tyranny in the clergy, as well as in the laity, in all ages.

(22) We have here one eminent example of Nero's mildness and goodness in his government towards the Jews,
during the first five years of his reign, so famous in antiquity; we have perhaps another in Josephus's own Life,
sect. 3; and a third, though of a very different nature here, in sect. 9, just before. However, both the generous acts
of kindness were obtained of Nero by his queen Poppea, who was a religious lady, and perhaps privately a Jewish
proselyte, and so were not owing entirely to Nero's own goodness.

(23) It hence evidently appears that Sadducees might be high priests in the days of Josephus, and that these
Sadducees were usually very severe and inexorable judges, while the Pharisees were much milder, and more
merciful, as appears by Reland's instances in his note on this place, and on Josephus's Life, sect. 31, and those
taken from the New Testament, from Josephus himself, and from the Rabbins; nor do we meet with any Sadducees
later than this high priest in all Josephus.

(24) Of this condemnation of James the Just, and its causes, as also that he did not die till long afterwards, see
Prim. Christ. Revived, vol. III. ch. 43-46. The sanhedrim condemned our Savior, but could not put him to death
without the approbation of the Roman procurator; nor could therefore Ananias and his sanhedrim do more here,
since they never had Albinus's approbation for the putting this James to death.

(25) This Ananias was not the son of Nebedeus, as I take it, but he who was called Annas or Ananus the elder, the
ninth in the catalogue, and who had been esteemed high priest for a long time; and, besides Caiaphas, his
son-in-law, had five of his own sons high priests after him, which were those of numbers 11, 14, 15, 17, 24, in the
foregoing catalogue. Nor ought we to pass slightly over what Josephus here says of Annas, or Ananias, that he was
high priest a long time before his children were so; he was the son of Seth, and is set down first for high priest in the
foregoing catalogue, under number 9. He was made by Quirinus, and continued till Ismael, the 10th in number, for
about twenty-three years, which long duration of his high priesthood, joined to the successions of his son-in-law, and
five children of his own, made him a sort of perpetual high priest, and was perhaps the occasion that former high
priests kept their titles ever afterwards; for I believe it is hardly met with be fore him.

(26) This insolent petition of some of the Levites, to wear the sacerdotal garments when they sung hymns to God in
the temple, was very probably owing to the great depression and contempt the haughty high priests had now
brought their brethren the priests into; of which see ch. 8. sect. 8, and ch. 9, sect. 2.

(27) Of these cloisters of Solomon, see the description of the temple, ch. 13. They seem, by Josephus's words, to
have been built from the bottom of the valley.

(28) See the Life at the beginning of the volume.

(29) What Josephus here declares his intention to do, if God permitted, to give the public again an abridgement of
the Jewish War hear of it elsewhere, whether he performed what he now intended or not. Some of the reasons of
this design of his might possibly be, his observation of the many errors he had been guilty of in the two first of those
seven books of the War, which were written when he was comparatively young, and less acquainted with the Jewish
antiquities than he now was, and in which abridgement we might have hoped to find those many passages which
himself, as well as those several passages which others refer to, as written by him, but which are not extant in his
present works. However, since many of his own references to what he had written elsewhere, as well as most of his
own errors, belong to such early times as could not well come into this abridgement of the Jewish War; and since
none of those that quote things not now extant in his works, including himself as well as others, ever cite any such
abridgement; I am forced rather to suppose that he never did publish any such work at all; I mean, as distinct from
his own Life, written by himself, for an appendix to these Antiquities, and this at least seven years after these
Antiquities were finished. Nor indeed does it appear to me that Josephus ever published that other work here
mentioned, as intended by him for the public also: I mean the three or four books concerning God and his essence,
and concerning the Jewish laws; why, according to them, some things were permitted the Jews, and others
prohibited; which last seems to be the same work which Josephus had also promised, if God permitted, at the
conclusion of his preface to these Antiquities; nor do I suppose that he ever published any of them. The death of all
his friends at court, Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian, and the coming of those he had no acquaintance with to the
crown, I mean Nerva and Trajan, together with his removal from Rome to Judea, with what followed it, might easily
interrupt such his intentions, and prevent his publication of those works.

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