229. In the mean time, there deserted to him Ananus, who came from Emmaus, the most bloody of all Simon's guards, and Archelaus, the son of Magadatus, they hoping to be still forgiven, because they left the Jews at a time when they were the conquerors. Titus objected this to these men, as a cunning trick of theirs; and as he had been informed of their other barbarities towards the Jews, he was going in all haste to have them both slain. He told them that they were only driven to this desertion because of the utmost distress they were in, and did not come away of their own good disposition; and that those did not deserve to be preserved, by whom their own city was already set on fire, out of which fire they now hurried themselves away. However, the security he had promised deserters overcame his resentments, and he dismissed them accordingly, though he did not give them the same privileges that he had afforded to others. And now the soldiers had already put fire to the gates, and the silver that was over them quickly carried the flames to the wood that was within it, whence it spread itself all on the sudden, and caught hold on the cloisters. Upon the Jews seeing this fire all about them, their spirits sunk together with their bodies, and they were under such astonishment, that not one of them made any haste, either to defend himself or to quench the fire, but they stood as mute spectators of it only. However, they did not so grieve at the loss of what was now burning, as to grow wiser thereby for the time to come; but as though the holy house itself had been on fire already, they whetted their passions against the Romans. This fire prevailed during that day and the next also; for the soldiers were not able to burn all the cloisters that were round about together at one time, but only by pieces.
229. Ἐν δὲ τούτῳ πρὸς αὐτὸν αὐτομολοῦσιν Ἄνανός τε ὁ ἀφαμμαούς, τῶν Σίμωνος δορυφόρων ὁ φονικώτατος, καὶ Ἀρχέλαος υἱὸς Μαγαδδάτου, συγγνώμην ἐλπίσαντες ἐπειδὴ κρατούντων Ἰουδαίων ἀπεχώρουν. Τίτος δὲ καὶ τοῦτο τὸ πανούργημα προβάλλεται τῶν ἀνδρῶν, καὶ τὴν ἄλλην περὶ τοὺς ἰδίους ὠμότητα πεπυσμένος ὥρμητο κτείνειν ἑκατέρους, ὑπʼ ἀνάγκης ἦχθαι λέγων αὐτούς, οὐκ ἐκ προαιρέσεως παρεῖναι, καὶ σωτηρίας οὐκ ἀξίους εἶναι τοὺς φλεγομένης ἤδη διʼ αὐτοὺς τῆς πατρίδος ἐξαλλομένους. ἐκράτει δʼ ὅμως τοῦ θυμοῦ ἡ πίστις, καὶ ἀφίησι τοὺς ἄνδρας, οὐ μὴν ἐν ἴσῃ μοίρᾳ κατέτασσε τοῖς ἄλλοις. ἤδη δὲ ταῖς πύλαις οἱ στρατιῶται προσῆγον τὸ πῦρ, καὶ περιτηκόμενος ὁ ἄργυρος διεδίδου ταχέως εἰς τὴν ξυλείαν τὴν φλόγα, ἔνθεν ἀθρόως ἐκφερομένη τῶν στοῶν ἐπελαμβάνετο. τοῖς δὲ Ἰουδαίοις ὁρῶσι τὸ πῦρ ἐν κύκλῳ μετὰ τῶν σωμάτων παρείθησαν αἱ ψυχαί, καὶ διὰ τὴν κατάπληξιν ἀμύνειν μὲν ἢ σβεννύειν ὥρμησεν οὐδείς, αὖοι δʼ ἑστῶτες ἀφεώρων. οὐ μὴν πρὸς τὸ δαπανώμενον ἀθυμοῦντες εἰς γοῦν τὸ λοιπὸν ἐσωφρόνουν, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἤδη καὶ τοῦ ναοῦ καιομένου τοὺς θυμοὺς ἐπὶ Ῥωμαίους ἔθηγον. ἐκείνην μὲν οὖν τὴν ἡμέραν καὶ τὴν ἐπιοῦσαν νύκτα τὸ πῦρ ἐπεκράτει· κατὰ μέρος γάρ, οὐχ ὁμοῦ πάντοθεν ἴσχυσαν ὑφάψαι τὰς στοάς.
236. But then, on the next day, Titus commanded part of his army to quench the fire, and to make a road for the more easy marching up of the legions, while he himself gathered the commanders together. Of those there were assembled the six principal persons: Tiberius Alexander, the commander [under the general] of the whole army; with Sextus Cerealis, the commander of the fifth legion; and Larcius Lepidus, the commander of the tenth legion; and Titus Frigius, the commander of the fifteenth legion: there was also with them Eternius, the leader of the two legions that came from Alexandria; and Marcus Antonius Julianus, procurator of Judea: after these came together all the rest of the procurators and tribunes. Titus proposed to these that they should give him their advice what should be done about the holy house. Now some of these thought it would be the best way to act according to the rules of war, [and demolish it,] because the Jews would never leave off rebelling while that house was standing; at which house it was that they used to get all together. Others of them were of opinion, that in case the Jews would leave it, and none of them would lay their arms up in it, he might save it; but that in case they got upon it, and fought any more, he might burn it; because it must then be looked upon not as a holy house, but as a citadel; and that the impiety of burning it would then belong to those that forced this to be done, and not to them. But Titus said, that “although the Jews should get upon that holy house, and fight us thence, yet ought we not to revenge ourselves on things that are inanimate, instead of the men themselves;” and that he was not in any case for burning down so vast a work as that was, because this would be a mischief to the Romans themselves, as it would be an ornament to their government while it continued. So Fronto, and Alexander, and Cerealis grew bold upon that declaration, and agreed to the opinion of Titus. Then was this assembly dissolved, when Titus had given orders to the commanders that the rest of their forces should lie still; but that they should make use of such as were most courageous in this attack. So he commanded that the chosen men that were taken out of the cohorts should make their way through the ruins, and quench the fire.
236. Τῇ δʼ ἐπιούσῃ Τίτος μέρει τῆς δυνάμεως σβεννύειν τε καὶ τὰ παρὰ τὰς πύλας ὁδοποιεῖν εἰς εὐμαρεστέραν τῶν ταγμάτων ἄνοδον κελεύσας αὐτὸς συνῆγε τοὺς ἡγεμόνας. καὶ συνελθόντων ἓξ τῶν κορυφαιοτάτων, Τιβερίου τε Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ πάντων τῶν στρατευμάτων ἐπάρχοντος, καὶ Σέξτου Κερεαλίου τοῦ τὸ πέμπτον ἄγοντος τάγμα, καὶ Λαρκίου Λεπίδου τὸ δέκατον, καὶ Τίτου Φρυγίου τὸ πεντεκαιδέκατον, πρὸς οἷς Φρόντων ἦν Ἑτέριος στρατοπεδάρχης τῶν ἀπὸ Ἀλεξανδρείας δύο ταγμάτων, καὶ Μᾶρκος Ἀντώνιος Ἰουλιανὸς ὁ τῆς Ἰουδαίας ἐπίτροπος, καὶ μετὰ τούτους ἐπιτρόπων καὶ χιλιάρχων ἀθροισθέντων, βουλὴν περὶ τοῦ ναοῦ προυτίθει. τοῖς μὲν οὖν ἐδόκει χρῆσθαι τῷ τοῦ πολέμου νόμῳ· μὴ γὰρ ἄν ποτε Ἰουδαίους παύσασθαι νεωτερίζοντας τοῦ ναοῦ μένοντος, ἐφʼ ὃν οἱ πανταχόθεν συλλέγονται. τινὲς δὲ παρῄνουν, εἰ μὲν καταλίποιεν αὐτὸν Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ μηδεὶς ἐπʼ αὐτοῦ τὰ ὅπλα θείη, σώζειν, εἰ δὲ πολεμοῖεν ἐπιβάντες, καταφλέγειν· φρούριον γάρ, οὐκέτι ναὸν εἶναι, καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν ἔσεσθαι τῶν ἀναγκασάντων τὴν ἀσέβειαν, οὐκ αὐτῶν. ὁ δὲ Τίτος οὐδʼ ἂν ἐπιβάντες ἐπʼ αὐτοῦ πολεμῶσιν Ἰουδαῖοι φήσας ἀντὶ τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἀμυνεῖσθαι τὰ ἄψυχα οὐδὲ καταφλέξειν ποτὲ τηλικοῦτον ἔργον· Ῥωμαίων γὰρ ἔσεσθαι τὴν βλάβην, ὥσπερ καὶ κόσμον τῆς ἡγεμονίας αὐτοῦ μένοντος· θαρροῦντες δὲ ἤδη προσετίθεντο τῇ γνώμῃ Φρόντων τε καὶ Ἀλέξανδρος καὶ Κερεάλιος. τότε μὲν οὖν διαλύει τὸ συνέδριον καὶ τὰς ἄλλας δυνάμεις διαναπαῦσαι κελεύσας τοῖς ἡγεμόσιν, ὅπως ἐρρωμενεστέροις ἐν τῇ παρατάξει χρήσαιτο, τοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν σπειρῶν ἐπιλέκτοις ὁδοποιεῖν διὰ τῶν ἐρειπίων προσέταξε καὶ τὸ πῦρ σβεννύειν.
244. Now it is true that on this day the Jews were so weary, and under such consternation, that they refrained from any attacks. But on the next day they gathered their whole force together, and ran upon those that guarded the outward court of the temple very boldly, through the east gate, and this about the second hour of the day. These guards received that their attack with great bravery, and by covering themselves with their shields before, as if it were with a wall, they drew their squadron close together; yet was it evident that they could not abide there very long, but would be overborne by the multitude of those that sallied out upon them, and by the heat of their passion. However, Caesar seeing, from the tower of Antonia, that this squadron was likely to give way, he sent some chosen horsemen to support them. Hereupon the Jews found themselves not able to sustain their onset, and upon the slaughter of those in the forefront, many of the rest were put to flight. But as the Romans were going off, the Jews turned upon them, and fought them; and as those Romans came back upon them, they retreated again, until about the fifth hour of the day they were overborne, and shut themselves up in the inner [court of the] temple.
244. Κατʼ ἐκείνην μὲν δὴ τὴν ἡμέραν τῶν Ἰουδαίων κάματός τε καὶ κατάπληξις ἐκράτησε τὰς ὁρμάς· τῇ δʼ ἐπιούσῃ συλλεξάμενοί τε τὴν ἰσχὺν καὶ ἀναθαρσήσαντες ἐπεκθέουσι διὰ τῆς ἀνατολικῆς πύλης τοῖς φύλαξι τοῦ ἔξωθεν ἱεροῦ περὶ δευτέραν ὥραν. οἱ δὲ καρτερῶς μὲν ἐδέξαντο αὐτῶν τὴν ἐμβολὴν καὶ φραξάμενοι τοῖς θυρεοῖς κατὰ μέτωπον ὥσπερ τεῖχος ἐπύκνωσαν τὴν φάλαγγα, δῆλοι δʼ ἦσαν οὐκ ἐπὶ πολὺ συμμενοῦντες πλήθει τε τῶν ἐκτρεχόντων καὶ θυμοῖς ἡττώμενοι. φθάσας δὲ τῆς παρατάξεως τὴν ῥοπὴν Καῖσαρ, καθεώρα γὰρ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀντωνίας, ἐπήμυνε μετὰ τῶν ἐπιλέκτων ἱππέων. Ἰουδαῖοι δὲ τὴν ἔφοδον οὐχ ὑπέμειναν, ἀλλὰ τῶν πρώτων πεσόντων ἐτράπησαν οἱ πολλοί· καὶ ὑποχωροῦσι μὲν τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις ἐπιστρεφόμενοι προσέκειντο, μεταβαλλομένων δὲ ἀνέφευγον πάλιν, ἕως περὶ πέμπτην τῆς ἡμέρας ὥραν οἱ μὲν βιασθέντες εἰς τὸ ἔνδον συνεκλείσθησαν ἱερόν.
249. So Titus retired into the tower of Antonia, and resolved to storm the temple the next day, early in the morning, with his whole army, and to encamp round about the holy house. But as for that house, God had, for certain, long ago doomed it to the fire; and now that fatal day was come, according to the revolution of ages; it was the tenth day of the month Lous, [Ab,] upon which it was formerly burnt by the king of Babylon; although these flames took their rise from the Jews themselves, and were occasioned by them; for upon Titus's retiring, the seditious lay still for a little while, and then attacked the Romans again, when those that guarded the holy house fought with those that quenched the fire that was burning the inner [court of the] temple; but these Romans put the Jews to flight, and proceeded as far as the holy house itself. At which time one of the soldiers, without staying for any orders, and without any concern or dread upon him at so great an undertaking, and being hurried on by a certain divine fury, snatched somewhat out of the materials that were on fire, and being lifted up by another soldier, he set fire to a golden window, through which there was a passage to the rooms that were round about the holy house, on the north side of it. As the flames went upward, the Jews made a great clamor, such as so mighty an affliction required, and ran together to prevent it; and now they spared not their lives any longer, nor suffered any thing to restrain their force, since that holy house was perishing, for whose sake it was that they kept such a guard about it.
249. Τίτος δὲ ἀνεχώρησεν εἰς τὴν Ἀντωνίαν διεγνωκὼς τῆς ἐπιούσης ἡμέρας ὑπὸ τὴν ἕω μετὰ πάσης ἐμβαλεῖν τῆς δυνάμεως καὶ τὸν ναὸν περικατασχεῖν. τοῦ δʼ ἄρα κατεψήφιστο μὲν τὸ πῦρ ὁ θεὸς πάλαι, παρῆν δʼ ἡ εἱμαρμένη χρόνων περιόδοις ἡμέρα δεκάτη Λώου μηνός, καθʼ ἣν καὶ πρότερον ὑπὸ τοῦ τῶν Βαβυλωνίων βασιλέως ἐνεπρήσθη. λαμβάνουσι δʼ αἱ φλόγες ἐκ τῶν οἰκείων τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν· ὑποχωρήσαντος γὰρ τοῦ Τίτου πρὸς ὀλίγον λωφήσαντες οἱ στασιασταὶ πάλιν τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις ἐπιτίθενται, καὶ τῶν τοῦ ναοῦ φρουρῶν γίνεται συμβολὴ πρὸς τοὺς σβεννύντας τὸ πῦρ τοῦ ἔνδοθεν ἱεροῦ, οἳ τρεψάμενοι τοὺς Ἰουδαίους μέχρι τοῦ ναοῦ παρηκολούθουν. ἔνθα δὴ τῶν στρατιωτῶν τις οὔτε παράγγελμα περιμείνας οὔτʼ ἐπὶ τηλικούτῳ δείσας ἐγχειρήματι, δαιμονίῳ ὁρμῇ τινι χρώμενος ἁρπάζει μὲν ἐκ τῆς φλεγομένης † φλογός, ἀνακουφισθεὶς δὲ ὑπὸ συστρατιώτου τὸ πῦρ ἐνίησι θυρίδι χρυσῇ, καθʼ ἣν εἰς τοὺς περὶ τὸν ναὸν οἴκους εἰσιτὸν ἦν ἐκ τοῦ βορείου κλίματος. αἰρομένης δὲ τῆς φλογὸς Ἰουδαίων μὲν ἐγείρεται κραυγὴ τοῦ πάθους ἀξία, καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἄμυναν συνέθεον, οὔτε τοῦ ζῆν ἔτι φειδὼ λαμβάνοντες οὔτε ταμιευόμενοι τὴν ἰσχύν, διʼ ὃ φυλακτικοὶ πρότερον ἦσαν οἰχομένου.
254. And now a certain person came running to Titus, and told him of this fire, as he was resting himself in his tent after the last battle; whereupon he rose up in great haste, and, as he was, ran to the holy house, in order to have a stop put to the fire; after him followed all his commanders, and after them followed the several legions, in great astonishment; so there was a great clamor and tumult raised, as was natural upon the disorderly motion of so great an army. Then did Caesar, both by calling to the soldiers that were fighting, with a loud voice, and by giving a signal to them with his right hand, order them to quench the fire. But they did not hear what he said, though he spake so loud, having their ears already dimmed by a greater noise another way; nor did they attend to the signal he made with his hand neither, as still some of them were distracted with fighting, and others with passion. But as for the legions that came running thither, neither any persuasions nor any threatenings could restrain their violence, but each one's own passion was his commander at this time; and as they were crowding into the temple together, many of them were trampled on by one another, while a great number fell among the ruins of the cloisters, which were still hot and smoking, and were destroyed in the same miserable way with those whom they had conquered; and when they were come near the holy house, they made as if they did not so much as hear Caesar's orders to the contrary; but they encouraged those that were before them to set it on fire. As for the seditious, they were in too great distress already to afford their assistance [towards quenching the fire]; they were every where slain, and every where beaten; and as for a great part of the people, they were weak and without arms, and had their throats cut wherever they were caught. Now round about the altar lay dead bodies heaped one upon another, as at the steps going up to it ran a great quantity of their blood, whither also the dead bodies that were slain above [on the altar] fell down.
254. Δραμὼν δέ τις ἀγγέλλει Τίτῳ· κἀκεῖνος, ἔτυχεν δὲ κατὰ σκηνὴν ἀναπαυόμενος ἐκ τῆς μάχης, ὡς εἶχεν ἀναπηδήσας ἔθει πρὸς τὸν ναὸν εἴρξων τὸ πῦρ. κατόπιν δὲ οἵ τε ἡγεμόνες εἵποντο πάντες, καὶ πτοηθέντα τούτοις ἠκολούθει τὰ τάγματα· βοὴ δὲ ἦν καὶ θόρυβος ἅτε τηλικαύτης δυνάμεως ἀτάκτως κεκινημένης. ὁ μὲν οὖν Καῖσαρ τῇ τε φωνῇ καὶ τῇ δεξιᾷ διεσήμαινε τοῖς μαχομένοις τὸ πῦρ σβεννύειν, οὔτε δὲ βοῶντος ἤκουον μείζονι κραυγῇ τὰς ἀκοὰς προκατειλημμένοι καὶ τοῖς νεύμασι τῆς χειρὸς οὐ προσεῖχον, οἱ μὲν τῷ πολεμεῖν, οἱ δὲ ὀργῇ περισπώμενοι. τῶν δὲ ταγμάτων εἰσθεόντων οὔτε παραίνεσις οὔτʼ ἀπειλὴ κατεῖχεν τὰς ὁρμάς, ἀλλʼ ὁ θυμὸς ἁπάντων ἐστρατήγει· καὶ περὶ τὰς εἰσόδους συνωθούμενοι πολλοὶ μὲν ὑπʼ ἀλλήλων κατεπατοῦντο, πολλοὶ δὲ θερμοῖς ἔτι καὶ τυφομένοις τοῖς ἐρειπίοις τῶν στοῶν ἐμπίπτοντες ἡττωμένων συμφοραῖς ἐχρῶντο. πλησίον δὲ τοῦ ναοῦ γινόμενοι τῶν μὲν τοῦ Καίσαρος παραγγελμάτων προσεποιοῦντο μηδὲ κατακούειν, τοῖς πρὸ αὐτῶν δὲ τὸ πῦρ ἐνιέναι παρεκελεύοντο. τῶν δὲ στασιαστῶν ἀμηχανία μὲν ἦν ἤδη τοῦ βοηθεῖν, φόνος δὲ πανταχοῦ καὶ τροπή. τὸ δὲ πλέον ἀπὸ τοῦ δήμου λαὸς ἀσθενὴς καὶ ἄνοπλος ὅπου καταληφθείη τις ἀπεσφάττετο, καὶ περὶ μὲν τὸν βωμὸν πλῆθος ἐσωρεύετο νεκρῶν, κατὰ δὲ τῶν τοῦ ναοῦ βάθρων αἷμά τʼ ἔρρει πολὺ καὶ τὰ τῶν ἄνω φονευομένων σώματα κατωλίσθανε.
260. And now, since Caesar was no way able to restrain the enthusiastic fury of the soldiers, and the fire proceeded on more and more, he went into the holy place of the temple, with his commanders, and saw it, with what was in it, which he found to be far superior to what the relations of foreigners contained, and not inferior to what we ourselves boasted of and believed about it. But as the flame had not as yet reached to its inward parts, but was still consuming the rooms that were about the holy house, and Titus supposing what the fact was, that the house itself might yet he saved, he came in haste and endeavored to persuade the soldiers to quench the fire, and gave order to Liberalius the centurion, and one of those spearmen that were about him, to beat the soldiers that were refractory with their staves, and to restrain them; yet were their passions too hard for the regards they had for Caesar, and the dread they had of him who forbade them, as was their hatred of the Jews, and a certain vehement inclination to fight them, too hard for them also. Moreover, the hope of plunder induced many to go on, as having this opinion, that all the places within were full of money, and as seeing that all round about it was made of gold. And besides, one of those that went into the place prevented Caesar, when he ran so hastily out to restrain the soldiers, and threw the fire upon the hinges of the gate, in the dark; whereby the flame burst out from within the holy house itself immediately, when the commanders retired, and Caesar with them, and when nobody any longer forbade those that were without to set fire to it. And thus was the holy house burnt down, without Caesar's approbation.
260. Καῖσαρ δʼ ὡς οὔτε τὰς ὁρμὰς ἐνθουσιώντων τῶν στρατιωτῶν κατασχεῖν οἷός τε ἦν καὶ τὸ πῦρ ἐπεκράτει, παρελθὼν μετὰ τῶν ἡγεμόνων ἔνδον ἐθεάσατο τοῦ ναοῦ τὸ ἅγιον καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ, πολὺ μὲν τῆς παρὰ τοῖς ἀλλοφύλοις φήμης ἀμείνω, τοῦ δὲ κόμπου καὶ τῆς παρὰ τοῖς οἰκείοις δόξης οὐκ ἐλάττω. τῆς φλογὸς δὲ οὐδέπω διικνουμένης οὐδαμόθεν εἴσω, τοὺς δὲ περὶ τὸν ναὸν οἴκους νεμομένης, νομίσας, ὅπερ ἦν, ἔτι σώζεσθαι τὸ ἔργον δύνασθαι προπηδᾷ, καὶ αὐτός τε παρακαλεῖν τοὺς στρατιώτας ἐπειρᾶτο τὸ πῦρ σβεννύειν καὶ Λιβεράλιον ἑκατοντάρχην τῶν περὶ αὐτὸν λογχοφόρων ξύλοις παίοντα τοὺς ἀπειθοῦντας ἐκέλευσεν εἴργειν. τῶν δὲ καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὸν Καίσαρα αἰδῶ καὶ τὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ κωλύοντος φόβον ἐνίκων οἱ θυμοὶ καὶ τὸ πρὸς Ἰουδαίους μῖσος, καὶ πολεμική τις ὁρμὴ λαβροτέρα· τοὺς δὲ πολλοὺς ἐνῆγεν ἁρπαγῆς ἐλπίς, δόξαν τε ἔχοντας ὡς τὰ ἔνδον ἅπαντα χρημάτων μεστὰ εἴη, καὶ τὰ πέριξ ὁρῶντας χρυσοῦ πεποιημένα. φθάνει δέ τις καὶ τῶν εἴσω παρεληλυθότων ἐκπηδήσαντος τοῦ Καίσαρος πρὸς ἐποχὴν τῶν στρατιωτῶν πῦρ εἰς τοὺς στροφέας ἐμβαλὼν τῆς πύλης † ἐν σκότῳ· τότε γὰρ ἐξαπίνης ἔνδοθεν ἐκφανείσης φλογὸς οἵ τε ἡγεμόνες μετὰ τοῦ Καίσαρος ἀνεχώρουν, καὶ τοὺς ἔξωθεν οὐδεὶς ὑφάπτειν ἐκώλυεν. ὁ μὲν οὖν ναὸς οὕτως ἄκοντος Καίσαρος ἐμπίπραται.
267. Now although any one would justly lament the destruction of such a work as this was, since it was the most admirable of all the works that we have seen or heard of, both for its curious structure and its magnitude, and also for the vast wealth bestowed upon it, as well as for the glorious reputation it had for its holiness; yet might such a one comfort himself with this thought, that it was fate that decreed it so to be, which is inevitable, both as to living creatures, and as to works and places also. However, one cannot but wonder at the accuracy of this period thereto relating; for the same month and day were now observed, as I said before, wherein the holy house was burnt formerly by the Babylonians. Now the number of years that passed from its first foundation, which was laid by king Solomon, till this its destruction, which happened in the second year of the reign of Vespasian, are collected to be one thousand one hundred and thirty, besides seven months and fifteen days; and from the second building of it, which was done by Haggai, in the second year of Cyrus the king, till its destruction under Vespasian, there were six hundred and thirty-nine years and forty-five days.
267. Πολλὰ δʼ ἄν τις ἐπολοφυράμενος ἔργῳ πάντων ὧν ὄψει καὶ ἀκοῇ παρειλήφαμεν θαυμασιωτάτῳ κατασκευῆς τε ἕνεκα καὶ μεγέθους ἔτι τε τῆς καθʼ ἕκαστον πολυτελείας καὶ τῆς περὶ τὰ ἅγια δόξης, μεγίστην λάβοι παραμυθίαν τὴν εἱμαρμένην ἄφυκτον οὖσαν ὥσπερ ἐμψύχοις οὕτω καὶ ἔργοις καὶ τόποις. θαυμάσαι δʼ ἄν τις ἐν αὐτῇ τῆς περιόδου τὴν ἀκρίβειαν· καὶ μῆνα γοῦν, ὡς ἔφην, καὶ ἡμέραν ἐτήρησεν τὴν αὐτήν, ἐν ᾗ πρότερον ὑπὸ Βαβυλωνίων ὁ ναὸς ἐνεπρήσθη. καὶ ἀπὸ μὲν τῆς πρώτης αὐτοῦ κτίσεως, ἣν κατεβάλετο Σολομὼν ὁ βασιλεύς; μέχρι τῆς νῦν ἀναιρέσεως, ἣ γέγονεν ἔτει δευτέρῳ τῆς Οὐεσπασιανοῦ ἡγεμονίας, ἔτη συνάγεται χίλια ἑκατὸν τριάκοντα, πρὸς δὲ μῆνες ἑπτὰ καὶ πεντεκαίδεκα ἡμέραι· ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς ὕστερον, ἣν ἔτει δευτέρῳ Κύρου βασιλεύοντος ἐποιήσατο Ἀγγαῖος, ἔτη μέχρι τῆς ὑπὸ Οὐεσπασιανοῦ ἁλώσεως τριακονταεννέα πρὸς ἑξακοσίοις καὶ ἡμέραι τεσσαρακονταπέντε.
271. WHILE the holy house was on fire, every thing was plundered that came to hand, and ten thousand of those that were caught were slain; nor was there a commiseration of any age, or any reverence of gravity, but children, and old men, and profane persons, and priests were all slain in the same manner; so that this war went round all sorts of men, and brought them to destruction, and as well those that made supplication for their lives, as those that defended themselves by fighting. The flame was also carried a long way, and made an echo, together with the groans of those that were slain; and because this hill was high, and the works at the temple were very great, one would have thought the whole city had been on fire. Nor can one imagine any thing either greater or more terrible than this noise; for there was at once a shout of the Roman legions, who were marching all together, and a sad clamor of the seditious, who were now surrounded with fire and sword. The people also that were left above were beaten back upon the enemy, and under a great consternation, and made sad moans at the calamity they were under; the multitude also that was in the city joined in this outcry with those that were upon the hill. And besides, many of those that were worn away by the famine, and their mouths almost closed, when they saw the fire of the holy house, they exerted their utmost strength, and brake out into groans and outcries again: Pera did also return the echo, as well as the mountains round about [the city,] and augmented the force of the entire noise. Yet was the misery itself more terrible than this disorder; for one would have thought that the hill itself, on which the temple stood, was seething hot, as full of fire on every part of it, that the blood was larger in quantity than the fire, and those that were slain more in number than those that slew them; for the ground did no where appear visible, for the dead bodies that lay on it; but the soldiers went over heaps of those bodies, as they ran upon such as fled from them. And now it was that the multitude of the robbers were thrust out [of the inner court of the temple by the Romans,] and had much ado to get into the outward court, and from thence into the city, while the remainder of the populace fled into the cloister of that outer court. As for the priests, some of them plucked up from the holy house the spikes that were upon it, with their bases, which were made of lead, and shot them at the Romans instead of darts. But then as they gained nothing by so doing, and as the fire burst out upon them, they retired to the wall that was eight cubits broad, and there they tarried; yet did two of these of eminence among them, who might have saved themselves by going over to the Romans, or have borne up with courage, and taken their fortune with the others, throw themselves into the fire, and were burnt together with the holy house; their names were Meirus the son of Belgas, and Joseph the son of Daleus.
271. Καιομένου δὲ τοῦ ναοῦ τῶν μὲν προσπιπτόντων ἦν ἁρπαγή, φόνος δὲ τῶν καταλαμβανομένων μυρίος καὶ οὔτε ἡλικίας ἦν ἔλεος οὔτʼ ἐντροπὴ σεμνότητος, ἀλλὰ καὶ παιδία καὶ γέροντες καὶ βέβηλοι καὶ ἱερεῖς ὁμοίως ἀνῃροῦντο, καὶ πᾶν γένος ἐπεξῄει περισχὼν ὁ πόλεμος, ὁμοῦ τούς τε ἱκετεύοντας καὶ τοὺς ἀμυνομένους. συνήχει δὲ ἡ φλὸξ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἐκφερομένη τοῖς τῶν πιπτόντων στεναγμοῖς, καὶ διὰ μὲν τὸ ὕψος τοῦ λόφου καὶ τὸ τοῦ φλεγομένου μέγεθος ἔργου πᾶσαν ἄν τις ἔδοξε καίεσθαι τὴν πόλιν, τῆς δὲ βοῆς ἐκείνης οὐδὲν ἐπινοηθῆναι δύναιτʼ ἂν ἢ μεῖζον ἢ φοβερώτερον. τῶν τε γὰρ Ῥωμαϊκῶν ταγμάτων ἀλαλαγμὸς ἦν συμφερομένων, καὶ τῶν στασιαστῶν πυρὶ καὶ σιδήρῳ κεκυκλωμένων κραυγή, τοῦ τε ἀποληφθέντος ἄνω λαοῦ τροπή τε μετʼ ἐκπλήξεως εἰς τοὺς πολεμίους καὶ πρὸς τὸ πάθος οἰμωγαί. συνεβόα δὲ τοῖς ἐπὶ τοῦ λόφου τὸ κατὰ τὴν πόλιν πλῆθος· ἤδη δὲ πολλοὶ τῷ λιμῷ μαραινόμενοι καὶ μεμυκότες ὡς εἶδον τὸ τοῦ ναοῦ πῦρ, εἰς ὀδυρμοὺς πάλιν καὶ κραυγὴν εὐτόνησαν· συνήχει δὲ ἥ τε Περαία καὶ τὰ πέριξ ὄρη βαρυτέραν ποιοῦντα τὴν βοήν. ἦν δὲ τοῦ θορύβου τὰ πάθη φοβερώτερα· τὸν μέν γε τοῦ ἱεροῦ λόφον ἐκ ῥιζῶν ἄν τις ἔδοξε βράττεσθαι πάντοθεν τοῦ πυρὸς καταγέμοντα, δαψιλέστερον δὲ τὸ αἷμα τοῦ πυρὸς εἶναι καὶ τῶν φονευόντων πλείους τοὺς φονευομένους· οὐδαμοῦ γὰρ ἡ γῆ διεφαίνετο τῶν νεκρῶν, ἀλλὰ σωροῖς ἐπιβαίνοντες οἱ στρατιῶται σωμάτων ἐπὶ τοὺς διαφεύγοντας ἔθεον. τὸ μὲν οὖν λῃστρικὸν πλῆθος ὠσάμενοι τοὺς Ῥωμαίους μόλις εἰς τὸ ἔξω διεκπίπτουσιν ἱερὸν κἀκεῖθεν εἰς τὴν πόλιν, τοῦ δημοτικοῦ δὲ τὸ λειφθὲν ἐπὶ τὴν ἔξω στοὰν κατέφυγε. τῶν δὲ ἱερέων τινὲς τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἀπὸ τοῦ ναοῦ τούς τε ὀβελοὺς καὶ τὰς ἕδρας αὐτῶν μολίβου πεποιημένας ἀνασπῶντες εἰς τοὺς Ῥωμαίους ἠφίεσαν, αὖθις δὲ ὡς οὔτε ἤνυόν τι καὶ τὸ πῦρ ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς ἀνερρήγνυτο, ἐπὶ τὸν τοῖχον ἀναχωρήσαντες ὄντα ὀκτάπηχυν τὸ εὖρος ἔμενον. δύο γε μὴν τῶν ἐπισήμων, παρὸν σωθῆναι πρὸς Ῥωμαίους μεταστᾶσιν ἢ διακαρτερεῖν πρὸς τὴν μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων τύχην, ἑαυτοὺς ἔρριψαν εἰς τὸ πῦρ καὶ τῷ ναῷ συγκατεφλέγησαν, Μηϊρός τε υἱὸς Βελγᾶ καὶ Ἰώσηπος Δαλαίου.
281. And now the Romans, judging that it was in vain to spare what was round about the holy house, burnt all those places, as also the remains of the cloisters and the gates, two excepted; the one on the east side, and the other on the south; both which, however, they burnt afterward. They also burnt down the treasury chambers, in which was an immense quantity of money, and an immense number of garments, and other precious goods there reposited; and, to speak all in a few words, there it was that the entire riches of the Jews were heaped up together, while the rich people had there built themselves chambers [to contain such furniture]. The soldiers also came to the rest of the cloisters that were in the outer [court of the] temple, whither the women and children, and a great mixed multitude of the people, fled, in number about six thousand. But before Caesar had determined any thing about these people, or given the commanders any orders relating to them, the soldiers were in such a rage, that they set that cloister on fire; by which means it came to pass that some of these were destroyed by throwing themselves down headlong, and some were burnt in the cloisters themselves. Nor did any one of them escape with his life. A false prophet was the occasion of these people's destruction, who had made a public proclamation in the city that very day, that God commanded them to get upon the temple, and that there they should receive miraculous signs of their deliverance. Now there was then a great number of false prophets suborned by the tyrants to impose on the people, who denounced this to them, that they should wait for deliverance from God; and this was in order to keep them from deserting, and that they might be buoyed up above fear and care by such hopes. Now a man that is in adversity does easily comply with such promises; for when such a seducer makes him believe that he shall be delivered from those miseries which oppress him, then it is that the patient is full of hopes of such his deliverance.
281. Ῥωμαῖοι δὲ μάταιον τὴν ἐπὶ τοῖς πέριξ φειδὼ κρίναντες τοῦ ναοῦ φλεγομένου πάντα συνεπίμπρασαν, τά τε λείψανα τῶν στοῶν καὶ τὰς πύλας πλὴν δύο, τῆς μὲν ἐκ τῶν ἀνατολικῶν τῆς δὲ μεσημβρινῆς· καὶ ταύτας ὕστερον κατέσκαψαν. ἔκαιον δὲ καὶ τὰ γαζοφυλάκια, ἐν οἷς ἄπειρον μὲν χρημάτων πλῆθος ἄπειροι δʼ ἐσθῆτες καὶ ἄλλα κειμήλια, συνελόντι δʼ εἰπεῖν, πᾶς ὁ Ἰουδαίων σεσώρευτο πλοῦτος, ἀνεσκευασμένων ἐκεῖ τοὺς οἴκους τῶν εὐπόρων. ἧκον δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν λοιπὴν στοὰν τοῦ ἔξωθεν ἱεροῦ· καταφεύγει δʼ ἐπʼ αὐτὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ δήμου γύναια καὶ παιδία καὶ σύμμικτος ὄχλος εἰς ἑξακισχιλίους. πρὶν δὲ Καίσαρα κρῖναί τι περὶ αὐτῶν ἢ κελεῦσαι τοὺς ἡγεμόνας, φερόμενοι τοῖς θυμοῖς οἱ στρατιῶται τὴν στοὰν ὑφάπτουσι, καὶ συνέβη τοὺς μὲν ῥιπτοῦντας αὑτοὺς ἐκ τῆς φλογὸς διαφθαρῆναι, τοὺς δὲ ἐν αὐτῇ· περιεσώθη δὲ ἐκ τοσούτων οὐδείς. τούτοις αἴτιος τῆς ἀπωλείας ψευδοπροφήτης τις κατέστη κατʼ ἐκείνην κηρύξας τὴν ἡμέραν τοῖς ἐπὶ τῆς πόλεως, ὡς ὁ θεὸς ἐπὶ τὸ ἱερὸν ἀναβῆναι κελεύει δεξομένους τὰ σημεῖα τῆς σωτηρίας. πολλοὶ δʼ ἦσαν ἐγκάθετοι παρὰ τῶν τυράννων τότε πρὸς τὸν δῆμον προφῆται προσμένειν τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ βοήθειαν καταγγέλλοντες, ὡς ἧττον αὐτομολοῖεν καὶ τοὺς ἐπάνω δέους καὶ φυλακῆς γενομένους ἐλπὶς παρακροτοίη. πείθεται δὲ ταχέως ἄνθρωπος ἐν συμφοραῖς, ὅταν δʼ ἤδη καὶ τῶν κατεχόντων δεινῶν ἀπαλλαγὴν ὁ ἐξαπατῶν ὑπογράφῃ, τόθʼ ὁ πάσχων ὅλος γίνεται τῆς ἐλπίδος.
288. Thus were the miserable people persuaded by these deceivers, and such as belied God himself; while they did not attend nor give credit to the signs that were so evident, and did so plainly foretell their future desolation, but, like men infatuated, without either eyes to see or minds to consider, did not regard the denunciations that God made to them. Thus there was a star resembling a sword, which stood over the city, and a comet, that continued a whole year. Thus also before the Jews’ rebellion, and before those commotions which preceded the war, when the people were come in great crowds to the feast of unleavened bread, on the eighth day of the month Xanthicus, [Nisan,] and at the ninth hour of the night, so great a light shone round the altar and the holy house, that it appeared to be bright day time; which lasted for half an hour. This light seemed to be a good sign to the unskillful, but was so interpreted by the sacred scribes, as to portend those events that followed immediately upon it. At the same festival also, a heifer, as she was led by the high priest to be sacrificed, brought forth a lamb in the midst of the temple. Moreover, the eastern gate of the inner [court of the] temple, which was of brass, and vastly heavy, and had been with difficulty shut by twenty men, and rested upon a basis armed with iron, and had bolts fastened very deep into the firm floor, which was there made of one entire stone, was seen to be opened of its own accord about the sixth hour of the night. Now those that kept watch in the temple came hereupon running to the captain of the temple, and told him of it; who then came up thither, and not without great difficulty was able to shut the gate again. This also appeared to the vulgar to be a very happy prodigy, as if God did thereby open them the gate of happiness. But the men of learning understood it, that the security of their holy house was dissolved of its own accord, and that the gate was opened for the advantage of their enemies. So these publicly declared that the signal foreshowed the desolation that was coming upon them. Besides these, a few days after that feast, on the one and twentieth day of the month Artemisius, [Jyar,] a certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared: I suppose the account of it would seem to be a fable, were it not related by those that saw it, and were not the events that followed it of so considerable a nature as to deserve such signals; for, before sun-setting, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding of cities. Moreover, at that feast which we call Pentecost, as the priests were going by night into the inner [court of the temple,] as their custom was, to perform their sacred ministrations, they said that, in the first place, they felt a quaking, and heard a great noise, and after that they heard a sound as of a great multitude, saying, “Let us remove hence.” But, what is still more terrible, there was one Jesus, the son of Ananus, a plebeian and a husbandman, who, four years before the war began, and at a time when the city was in very great peace and prosperity, came to that feast whereon it is our custom for every one to make tabernacles to God in the temple, began on a sudden to cry aloud, “A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the holy house, a voice against the bridegrooms and the brides, and a voice against this whole people!” This was his cry, as he went about by day and by night, in all the lanes of the city. However, certain of the most eminent among the populace had great indignation at this dire cry of his, and took up the man, and gave him a great number of severe stripes; yet did not he either say any thing for himself, or any thing peculiar to those that chastised him, but still went on with the same words which he cried before. Hereupon our rulers, supposing, as the case proved to be, that this was a sort of divine fury in the man, brought him to the Roman procurator, where he was whipped till his bones were laid bare; yet he did not make any supplication for himself, nor shed any tears, but turning his voice to the most lamentable tone possible, at every stroke of the whip his answer was, “Woe, woe to Jerusalem!” And when Albinus (for he was then our procurator) asked him, Who he was? and whence he came? and why he uttered such words? he made no manner of reply to what he said, but still did not leave off his melancholy ditty, till Albinus took him to be a madman, and dismissed him. Now, during all the time that passed before the war began, this man did not go near any of the citizens, nor was seen by them while he said so; but he every day uttered these lamentable words, as if it were his premeditated vow, “Woe, woe to Jerusalem!” Nor did he give ill words to any of those that beat him every day, nor good words to those that gave him food; but this was his reply to all men, and indeed no other than a melancholy presage of what was to come. This cry of his was the loudest at the festivals; and he continued this ditty for seven years and five months, without growing hoarse, or being tired therewith, until the very time that he saw his presage in earnest fulfilled in our siege, when it ceased; for as he was going round upon the wall, he cried out with his utmost force, “Woe, woe to the city again, and to the people, and to the holy house!” And just as he added at the last, “Woe, woe to myself also!” there came a stone out of one of the engines, and smote him, and killed him immediately; and as he was uttering the very same presages he gave up the ghost.
288. Τὸν γοῦν ἄθλιον δῆμον οἱ μὲν ἀπατεῶνες καὶ καταψευδόμενοι τοῦ θεοῦ τηνικαῦτα παρέπειθον, τοῖς δʼ ἐναργέσι καὶ προσημαίνουσι τὴν μέλλουσαν ἐρημίαν τέρασιν οὔτε προσεῖχον οὔτʼ ἐπίστευον, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἐμβεβροντημένοι καὶ μήτε ὄμματα μήτε ψυχὴν ἔχοντες τῶν τοῦ θεοῦ κηρυγμάτων παρήκουσαν, τοῦτο μὲν ὅτε ὑπὲρ τὴν πόλιν ἄστρον ἔστη ῥομφαίᾳ παραπλήσιον καὶ παρατείνας ἐπʼ ἐνιαυτὸν κομήτης, τοῦτο δʼ ἡνίκα πρὸ τῆς ἀποστάσεως καὶ τοῦ πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον κινήματος ἀθροιζομένου τοῦ λαοῦ πρὸς τὴν τῶν ἀζύμων ἑορτήν, ὀγδόη δʼ ἦν Ξανθικοῦ μηνός, κατὰ νυκτὸς ἐνάτην ὥραν τοσοῦτο φῶς περιέλαμψε τὸν βωμὸν καὶ τὸν ναόν, ὡς δοκεῖν ἡμέραν εἶναι λαμπράν, καὶ τοῦτο παρέτεινεν ἐφʼ ἡμίσειαν ὥραν· ὃ τοῖς μὲν ἀπείροις ἀγαθὸν ἐδόκει, τοῖς δὲ ἱερογραμματεῦσι πρὸς τῶν ἀποβεβηκότων εὐθέως ἐκρίθη. καὶ κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν ἑορτὴν βοῦς μὲν ἀχθεῖσα ὑπό του πρὸς τὴν θυσίαν ἔτεκεν ἄρνα ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ μέσῳ, ἡ δʼ ἀνατολικὴ πύλη τοῦ ἐνδοτέρω ναοῦ χαλκῆ μὲν οὖσα καὶ στιβαρωτάτη, κλειομένη δὲ περὶ δείλην μόλις ὑπʼ ἀνθρώπων εἴκοσι, καὶ μοχλοῖς μὲν ἐπερειδομένη σιδηροδέτοις, κατάπηγας δὲ ἔχουσα βαθυτάτους εἰς τὸν οὐδὸν ὄντα διηνεκοῦς λίθου καθιεμένους, ὤφθη κατὰ νυκτὸς ὥραν ἕκτην αὐτομάτως ἠνοιγμένη. δραμόντες δὲ οἱ τοῦ ἱεροῦ φύλακες ἤγγειλαν τῷ στρατηγῷ, κἀκεῖνος ἀναβὰς μόλις αὐτὴν ἴσχυσεν κλεῖσαι. πάλιν τοῦτο τοῖς μὲν ἰδιώταις κάλλιστον ἐδόκει τέρας· ἀνοῖξαι γὰρ τὸν θεὸν αὐτοῖς τὴν τῶν ἀγαθῶν πύλην· οἱ λόγιοι δὲ λυομένην αὐτομάτως τοῦ ναοῦ τὴν ἀσφάλειαν ἐνενόουν, καὶ πολεμίοις δῶρον ἀνοίγεσθαι τὴν πύλην, δηλωτικόν τε ἐρημίας ἀπέφαινον ἐν αὑτοῖς τὸ σημεῖον. μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἑορτὴν οὐ πολλαῖς ἡμέραις ὕστερον, μιᾷ καὶ εἰκάδι Ἀρτεμισίου μηνός, φάσμα τι δαιμόνιον ὤφθη μεῖζον πίστεως· τερατεία δὲ ἂν ἔδοξεν οἶμαι τὸ ῥηθησόμενον, εἰ μὴ καὶ παρὰ τοῖς θεασαμένοις ἱστόρητο καὶ τὰ ἐπακολουθήσαντα πάθη τῶν σημείων ἦν ἄξια· πρὸ γὰρ ἡλίου δύσεως ὤφθη μετέωρα περὶ πᾶσαν τὴν χώραν ἅρματα καὶ φάλαγγες ἔνοπλοι διᾴττουσαι τῶν νεφῶν καὶ κυκλούμεναι τὰς πόλεις. κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἑορτήν, ἣ πεντηκοστὴ καλεῖται, νύκτωρ οἱ ἱερεῖς παρελθόντες εἰς τὸ ἔνδον ἱερόν, ὥσπερ αὐτοῖς ἔθος πρὸς τὰς λειτουργίας, πρῶτον μὲν κινήσεως ἔφασαν ἀντιλαβέσθαι καὶ κτύπου, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα φωνῆς ἀθρόας μεταβαίνομεν ἐντεῦθεν. τὸ δὲ τούτων φοβερώτερον, Ἰησοῦς γάρ τις υἱὸς Ἀνανίου τῶν ἰδιωτῶν ἄγροικος πρὸ τεσσάρων ἐτῶν τοῦ πολέμου τὰ μάλιστα τῆς πόλεως εἰρηνευομένης καὶ εὐθηνούσης, ἐλθὼν εἰς τὴν ἑορτήν, ἐν ᾗ σκηνοποιεῖσθαι πάντας ἔθος τῷ θεῷ, κατὰ τὸ ἱερὸν ἐξαπίνης ἀναβοᾶν ἤρξατο φωνὴ ἀπὸ ἀνατολῆς, φωνὴ ἀπὸ δύσεως, φωνὴ ἀπὸ τῶν τεσσάρων ἀνέμων, φωνὴ ἐπὶ Ἱεροσόλυμα καὶ τὸν ναόν, φωνὴ ἐπὶ νυμφίους καὶ νύμφας, φωνὴ ἐπὶ τὸν λαὸν πάντα. τοῦτο μεθʼ ἡμέραν καὶ νύκτωρ κατὰ πάντας τοὺς στενωποὺς περιῄει κεκραγώς. τῶν δὲ ἐπισήμων τινὲς δημοτῶν ἀγανακτήσαντες πρὸς τὸ κακόφημον συλλαμβάνουσι τὸν ἄνθρωπον καὶ πολλαῖς αἰκίζονται πληγαῖς. ὁ δὲ οὔθʼ ὑπὲρ αὑτοῦ φθεγξάμενος οὔτε ἰδίᾳ πρὸς τοὺς παίοντας, ἃς καὶ πρότερον φωνὰς βοῶν διετέλει. νομίσαντες δὲ οἱ ἄρχοντες, ὅπερ ἦν, δαιμονιώτερον τὸ κίνημα τἀνδρὸς ἀνάγουσιν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸν παρὰ Ῥωμαίοις ἔπαρχον. ἔνθα μάστιξι μέχρι ὀστέων ξαινόμενος οὔθʼ ἱκέτευσεν οὔτʼ ἐδάκρυσεν, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἐνῆν μάλιστα τὴν φωνὴν ὀλοφυρτικῶς παρεγκλίνων πρὸς ἑκάστην ἀπεκρίνατο πληγήν αἰαὶ Ἱεροσολύμοις. τοῦ δʼ Ἀλβίνου διερωτῶντος, οὗτος γὰρ ἔπαρχος ἦν, τίς εἴη καὶ πόθεν, καὶ διὰ τί ταῦτα φθέγγοιτο, πρὸς ταῦτα μὲν οὐδʼ ὁτιοῦν ἀπεκρίνατο, τὸν δὲ ἐπὶ τῇ πόλει θρῆνον εἴρων οὐ διέλειπεν, μέχρι καταγνοὺς μανίαν ὁ Ἀλβῖνος ἀπέλυσεν αὐτόν. ὁ δὲ τὸν μέχρι τοῦ πολέμου χρόνον οὔτε προσῄει τινὶ τῶν πολιτῶν οὔτε ὤφθη λαλῶν, ἀλλὰ καθʼ ἡμέραν ὥσπερ εὐχὴν μεμελετηκώς αἰαὶ Ἱεροσολύμοις ἐθρήνει. οὔτε δέ τινι τῶν τυπτόντων αὐτὸν ὁσημέραι κατηρᾶτο οὔτε τοὺς τροφῆς μεταδιδόντας εὐλόγει, μία δὲ πρὸς πάντας ἦν ἡ σκυθρωπὴ κλῃδὼν ἀπόκρισις. μάλιστα δʼ ἐν ταῖς ἑορταῖς ἐκεκράγει· καὶ τοῦτʼ ἐφʼ ἑπτὰ ἔτη καὶ μῆνας πέντε εἴρων οὔτʼ ἤμβλυνεν τὴν φωνὴν οὔτʼ ἔκαμεν, μέχρις οὗ κατὰ τὴν πολιορκίαν ἔργα τῆς κλῃδόνος ἰδὼν ἀνεπαύσατο. περιιὼν γὰρ ἀπὸ τοῦ τείχους αἰαὶ πάλιν τῇ πόλει καὶ τῷ λαῷ καὶ τῷ ναῷ διαπρύσιον ἐβόα, ὡς δὲ τελευταῖον προσέθηκεν αἰαὶ δὲ κἀμοί, λίθος ἐκ τοῦ πετροβόλου σχασθεὶς καὶ πλήξας αὐτὸν παραχρῆμα κτείνει, φθεγγομένην δʼ ἔτι τὰς κλῃδόνας ἐκείνας τὴν ψυχὴν ἀφῆκε.
310. Now if any one consider these things, he will find that God takes care of mankind, and by all ways possible foreshows to our race what is for their preservation; but that men perish by those miseries which they madly and voluntarily bring upon themselves; for the Jews, by demolishing the tower of Antonia, had made their temple four-square, while at the same time they had it written in their sacred oracles, “That then should their city be taken, as well as their holy house, when once their temple should become four-square.” But now, what did the most elevate them in undertaking this war, was an ambiguous oracle that was also found in their sacred writings, how, “about that time, one from their country should become governor of the habitable earth.” The Jews took this prediction to belong to themselves in particular, and many of the wise men were thereby deceived in their determination. Now this oracle certainly denoted the government of Vespasian, who was appointed emperor in Judea. However, it is not possible for men to avoid fate, although they see it beforehand. But these men interpreted some of these signals according to their own pleasure, and some of them they utterly despised, until their madness was demonstrated, both by the taking of their city and their own destruction.
310. Ταῦτά τις ἐννοῶν εὑρήσει τὸν μὲν θεὸν ἀνθρώπων κηδόμενον καὶ παντοίως προσημαίνοντα τῷ σφετέρῳ γένει τὰ σωτήρια, τοὺς δʼ ὑπʼ ἀνοίας καὶ κακῶν αὐθαιρέτων ἀπολλυμένους, ὅπου γε Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ τὸ ἱερὸν μετὰ τὴν καθαίρεσιν τῆς Ἀντωνίας τετράγωνον ἐποίησαν, ἀναγεγραμμένον ἐν τοῖς λογίοις ἔχοντες ἁλώσεσθαι τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὸν ναόν, ἐπειδὰν τὸ ἱερὸν γένηται τετράγωνον. τὸ δʼ ἐπᾶραν αὐτοὺς μάλιστα πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον ἦν χρησμὸς ἀμφίβολος ὁμοίως ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς εὑρημένος γράμμασιν, ὡς κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν ἐκεῖνον ἀπὸ τῆς χώρας αὐτῶν τις ἄρξει τῆς οἰκουμένης. τοῦθʼ οἱ μὲν ὡς οἰκεῖον ἐξέλαβον καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν σοφῶν ἐπλανήθησαν περὶ τὴν κρίσιν, ἐδήλου δʼ ἄρα τὴν Οὐεσπασιανοῦ τὸ λόγιον ἡγεμονίαν ἀποδειχθέντος ἐπὶ Ἰουδαίας αὐτοκράτορος. ἀλλὰ γὰρ οὐ δυνατὸν ἀνθρώποις τὸ χρεὼν διαφυγεῖν οὐδὲ προορωμένοις. οἱ δὲ καὶ τῶν σημείων ἃ μὲν ἔκριναν πρὸς ἡδονὴν ἃ δὲ ἐξουθένησαν, μέχρις οὗ τῇ τε ἁλώσει τῆς πατρίδος καὶ τῷ σφῶν αὐτῶν ὀλέθρῳ διηλέγχθησαν τὴν ἄνοιαν.
316. AND now the Romans, upon the flight of the seditious into the city, and upon the burning of the holy house itself, and of all the buildings round about it, brought their ensigns to the temple and set them over against its eastern gate; and there did they offer sacrifices to them, and there did they make Titus imperator with the greatest acclamations of joy. And now all the soldiers had such vast quantities of the spoils which they had gotten by plunder, that in Syria a pound weight of gold was sold for half its former value. But as for those priests that kept themselves still upon the wall of the holy house, there was a boy that, out of the thirst he was in, desired some of the Roman guards to give him their right hands as a security for his life, and confessed he was very thirsty. These guards commiserated his age, and the distress he was in, and gave him their right hands accordingly. So he came down himself, and drank some water, and filled the vessel he had with him when he came to them with water, and then went off, and fled away to his own friends; nor could any of those guards overtake him; but still they reproached him for his perfidiousness. To which he made this answer: “I have not broken the agreement; for the security I had given me was not in order to my staying with you, but only in order to my coming down safely, and taking up some water; both which things I have performed, and thereupon think myself to have been faithful to my engagement.” Hereupon those whom the child had imposed upon admired at his cunning, and that on account of his age. On the fifth day afterward, the priests that were pined with the famine came down, and when they were brought to Titus by the guards, they begged for their lives; but he replied, that the time of pardon was over as to them, and that this very holy house, on whose account only they could justly hope to be preserved, was destroyed; and that it was agreeable to their office that priests should perish with the house itself to which they belonged. So he ordered them to be put to death.
316. Ῥωμαῖοι δὲ τῶν μὲν στασιαστῶν καταπεφευγότων εἰς τὴν πόλιν, καιομένου δὲ αὐτοῦ τε τοῦ ναοῦ καὶ τῶν πέριξ ἁπάντων, κομίσαντες τὰς σημαίας εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν καὶ θέμενοι τῆς ἀνατολικῆς πύλης ἄντικρυς ἔθυσάν τε αὐταῖς αὐτόθι καὶ τὸν Τίτον μετὰ μεγίστων εὐφημιῶν ἀπέφηναν αὐτοκράτορα. ταῖς δὲ ἁρπαγαῖς οὕτως ἐνεπλήσθησαν οἱ στρατιῶται πάντες, ὥστε κατὰ τὴν Συρίαν πρὸς ἥμισυ τῆς πάλαι τιμῆς τὸν σταθμὸν τοῦ χρυσίου πιπράσκεσθαι. τῶν δʼ ἀνὰ τὸν τοῖχον τοῦ ναοῦ ἱερέων διακαρτερούντων παῖς διψήσας ἱκέτευε τοὺς φύλακας τῶν Ῥωμαίων δοῦναι δεξιὰν αὐτῷ καὶ τὸ δίψος ἐξωμολογεῖτο. τῶν δὲ τῆς ἡλικίας καὶ τῆς ἀνάγκης οἶκτον λαβόντων καὶ δόντων δεξιὰς καταβὰς αὐτός τε πίνει καὶ ὃ φέρων ἧκεν ἀγγεῖον πλήσας ὕδατος ᾤχετο φεύγων ἄνω πρὸς τοὺς σφετέρους. τῶν δὲ φυλάκων καταλαβεῖν μὲν οὐδεὶς ἴσχυσε, πρὸς δὲ τὴν ἀπιστίαν ἐβλασφήμουν. κἀκεῖνος οὐδὲν ἔφη παραβεβηκέναι τῶν συνθηκῶν· λαβεῖν γὰρ δεξιὰν οὐ τοῦ μένειν παρʼ αὐτοῖς ἀλλὰ τοῦ καταβῆναι μόνον καὶ λαβεῖν ὕδωρ, ἅπερ ἀμφότερα πεποιηκὼς πιστὸς ἔδοξεν εἶναι. τὸ μὲν δὴ πανούργημα διὰ τὴν ἡλικίαν μάλιστα τοῦ παιδὸς ἀπεθαύμαζον οἱ πλανηθέντες· πέμπτῃ δʼ ἡμέρᾳ λιμώττοντες οἱ ἱερεῖς καταβαίνουσι καὶ πρὸς Τίτον ἀναχθέντες ὑπὸ τῶν φυλάκων ἱκέτευον τυχεῖν σωτηρίας. ὁ δὲ τὸν μὲν τῆς συγγνώμης καιρὸν αὐτοῖς παρῳχηκέναι φήσας, οἴχεσθαι δὲ διʼ ὃν εὐλόγως ἂν αὐτοὺς ἔσωζε, πρέπειν δὲ τοῖς ἱερεῦσι τῷ ναῷ συναπολέσθαι, κελεύει κολάσαι τοὺς ἄνδρας.
323. But as for the tyrants themselves, and those that were with them, when they found that they were encompassed on every side, and, as it were, walled round, without any method of escaping, they desired to treat with Titus by word of mouth. Accordingly, such was the kindness of his nature, and his desire of preserving the city from destruction, joined to the advice of his friends, who now thought the robbers were come to a temper, that he placed himself on the western side of the outer [court of the] temple; for there were gates on that side above the Xystus, and a bridge that connected the upper city to the temple. This bridge it was that lay between the tyrants and Caesar, and parted them; while the multitude stood on each side; those of the Jewish nation about Sinran and John, with great hopes of pardon; and the Romans about Caesar, in great expectation how Titus would receive their supplication. So Titus charged his soldiers to restrain their rage, and to let their darts alone, and appointed an interpreter between them, which was a sign that he was the conqueror, and first began the discourse, and said, “I hope you, sirs, are now satiated with the miseries of your country, who have not bad any just notions, either of our great power, or of your own great weakness, but have, like madmen, after a violent and inconsiderate manner, made such attempts, as have brought your people, your city, and your holy house to destruction. You have been the men that have never left off rebelling since Pompey first conquered you, and have, since that time, made open war with the Romans. Have you depended on your multitude, while a very small part of the Roman soldiery have been strong enough for you? Have you relied on the fidelity of your confederates? And what nations are there, out of the limits of our dominion, that would choose to assist the Jews before the Romans? Are your bodies stronger than ours? nay, you know that the [strong] Germans themselves are our servants. Have you stronger walls than we have? Pray, what greater obstacle is there than the wall of the ocean, with which the Britons are encompassed, and yet do adore the arms of the Romans. Do you exceed us in courage of soul, and in the sagacity of your commanders? Nay, indeed, you cannot but know that the very Carthaginians have been conquered by us. It can therefore be nothing certainly but the kindness of us Romans which hath excited you against us; who, in the first place, have given you this land to possess; and, in the next place, have set over you kings of your own nation; and, in the third place, have preserved the laws of your forefathers to you, and have withal permitted you to live, either by yourselves, or among others, as it should please you: and, what is our chief favor of all we have given you leave to gather up that tribute which is paid to God with such other gifts that are dedicated to him; nor have we called those that carried these donations to account, nor prohibited them; till at length you became richer than we ourselves, even when you were our enemies; and you made preparations for war against us with our own money; nay, after all, when you were in the enjoyment of all these advantages, you turned your too great plenty against those that gave it you, and, like merciless serpents, have thrown out your poison against those that treated you kindly. I suppose, therefore, that you might despise the slothfulness of Nero, and, like limbs of the body that are broken or dislocated, you did then lie quiet, waiting for some other time, though still with a malicious intention, and have now showed your distemper to be greater than ever, and have extended your desires as far as your impudent and immense hopes would enable you to do it. At this time my father came into this country, not with a design to punish you for what you had done under Cestius, but to admonish you; for had he come to overthrow your nation, he had run directly to your fountain-head, and had immediately laid this city waste; whereas he went and burnt Galilee and the neighboring parts, and thereby gave you time for repentance; which instance of humanity you took for an argument of his weakness, and nourished up your impudence by our mildness. When Nero was gone out of the world, you did as the wickedest wretches would have done, and encouraged yourselves to act against us by our civil dissensions, and abused that time, when both I and my father were gone away to Egypt, to make preparations for this war. Nor were you ashamed to raise disturbances against us when we were made emperors, and this while you had experienced how mild we had been, when we were no more than generals of the army. But when the government was devolved upon us, and all other people did thereupon lie quiet, and even foreign nations sent embassies, and congratulated our access to the government, then did you Jews show yourselves to be our enemies. You sent embassies to those of your nation that are beyond Euphrates to assist you in your raising disturbances; new walls were built by you round your city, seditions arose, and one tyrant contended against another, and a civil war broke out among you; such indeed as became none but so wicked a people as you are. I then came to this city, as unwillingly sent by my father, and received melancholy injunctions from him. When I heard that the people were disposed to peace, I rejoiced at it; I exhorted you to leave off these proceedings before I began this war; I spared you even when you had fought against me a great while; I gave my right hand as security to the deserters; I observed what I had promised faithfully. When they fled to me, I had compassion on many of those that I had taken captive; I tortured those that were eager for war, in order to restrain them. It was unwillingly that I brought my engines of war against your walls; I always prohibited my soldiers, when they were set upon your slaughter, from their severity against you. After every victory I persuaded you to peace, as though I had been myself conquered. When I came near your temple, I again departed from the laws of war, and exhorted you to spare your own sanctuary, and to preserve your holy house to yourselves. I allowed you a quiet exit out of it, and security for your preservation; nay, if you had a mind, I gave you leave to fight in another place. Yet have you still despised every one of my proposals, and have set fire to your holy house with your own hands. And now, vile wretches, do you desire to treat with me by word of mouth? To what purpose is it that you would save such a holy house as this was, which is now destroyed? What preservation can you now desire after the destruction of your temple? Yet do you stand still at this very time in your armor; nor can you bring yourselves so much as to pretend to be supplicants even in this your utmost extremity. O miserable creatures! what is it you depend on? Are not your people dead? is not your holy house gone? is not your city in my power? and are not your own very lives in my hands? And do you still deem it a part of valor to die? However, I will not imitate your madness. If you throw down your arms, and deliver up your bodies to me, I grant you your lives; and I will act like a mild master of a family; what cannot be healed shall be punished, and the rest I will preserve for my own use.”
323. Οἱ δὲ περὶ τοὺς τυράννους ὡς τῷ τε πολέμῳ πάντοθεν ἐκρατοῦντο καὶ περιτετειχισμένοις διαφυγεῖν οὐδαμόθεν ἦν, προκαλοῦνται τὸν Τίτον εἰς λόγους. ὁ δὲ καὶ διὰ τὸ φιλάνθρωπον φύσει τὸ γοῦν ἄστυ περισῶσαι προαιρούμενος καὶ τῶν φίλων ἐναγόντων, ἤδη γὰρ μετριάζειν τοὺς λῃστὰς ὑπελάμβανεν, ἵσταται κατὰ τὸ πρὸς δύσιν μέρος τοῦ ἔξωθεν ἱεροῦ· ταύτῃ γὰρ ὑπὲρ τὸν ξυστὸν ἦσαν πύλαι, καὶ γέφυρα συνάπτουσα τῷ ἱερῷ τὴν ἄνω πόλιν· αὕτη τότε μέση τῶν τυράννων ἦν καὶ τοῦ Καίσαρος. τὸ δὲ πλῆθος ἑκατέροις βύζην ἐφεστήκει, Ἰουδαῖοι μὲν περὶ Σίμωνα καὶ Ἰωάννην μετέωροι συγγνώμης ἐλπίδι, Ῥωμαῖοι δὲ Καίσαρι καραδοκοῦντες αὐτῶν τὴν ἀξίωσιν. παραγγείλας δὲ τοῖς στρατιώταις Τίτος θυμοῦ τε καὶ βελῶν μένειν ἐγκρατεῖς, καὶ τὸν ἑρμηνέα παραστησάμενος, ὅπερ ἦν τεκμήριον τοῦ κρατεῖν, πρῶτος ἤρξατο λέγειν· ἆρά γε ἤδη κεκόρεσθε τῶν τῆς πατρίδος κακῶν, ὦ ἄνδρες, οἱ μήτε τῆς ἡμετέρας δυνάμεως μήτε τῆς ἑαυτῶν ἀσθενείας ἔννοιαν λαβόντες, ὁρμῇ δὲ ἀσκέπτῳ καὶ μανίᾳ τόν τε δῆμον καὶ τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὸν ναὸν ἀπολωλεκότες, ἀπολούμενοι δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ δικαίως, οἳ πρῶτον μὲν ἀφʼ οὗ Πομπήιος εἷλεν ὑμᾶς κατὰ κράτος οὐκ ἐπαύσασθε νεωτεροποιίας, ἔπειτα καὶ φανερὸν ἐξηνέγκατε πρὸς Ῥωμαίους πόλεμον; ἆρά γε πλήθει πεποιθότες; καὶ μὴν ἐλάχιστον ὑμῖν μέρος ἀντήρκεσεν τοῦ Ῥωμαίων στρατιωτικοῦ. πίστει τοιγαροῦν συμμάχων; καὶ τί τῶν ἔξω τῆς ἡμετέρας ἡγεμονίας ἐθνῶν ἔμελλεν αἱρήσεσθαι Ἰουδαίους πρὸ Ῥωμαίων; ἀλλʼ ἀλκῇ σωμάτων; καὶ μὴν ἴστε Γερμανοὺς δουλεύοντας ἡμῖν. ὀχυρότητι δὲ τειχῶν; καὶ τί μεῖζον ὠκεανοῦ τεῖχος κώλυμα, ὃν περιβεβλημένοι Βρεττανοὶ τὰ Ῥωμαίων ὅπλα προσκυνοῦσιν; καρτερίᾳ ψυχῆς καὶ πανουργίᾳ στρατηγῶν; ἀλλὰ μὴν ᾔδειτε καὶ Καρχηδονίους ἁλόντας. τοιγαροῦν ὑμᾶς ἐπήγειρε κατὰ Ῥωμαίων ἡ Ῥωμαίων φιλανθρωπία, οἳ πρῶτον μὲν ὑμῖν τήν τε χώραν ἔδομεν νέμεσθαι καὶ βασιλεῖς ὁμοφύλους ἐπεστήσαμεν, ἔπειτα τοὺς πατρίους νόμους ἐτηρήσαμεν, καὶ ζῆν οὐ μόνον καθʼ ἑαυτοὺς ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἄλλους ἐπετρέψαμεν ὡς ἐβούλεσθε· τὸ δὲ μέγιστον, δασμολογεῖν τε ὑμῖν ἐπὶ τῷ θεῷ καὶ ἀναθήματα συλλέγειν ἐπετρέψαμεν, καὶ τοὺς ταῦτα φέροντας οὔτε ἐνουθετήσαμεν οὔτε ἐκωλύσαμεν, ἵνʼ ἡμῖν γένησθε πλουσιώτεροι καὶ παρασκευάσησθε τοῖς ἡμετέροις χρήμασιν καθʼ ἡμῶν. ἔπειτα τηλικούτων ἀγαθῶν ἀπολαύοντες ἐπὶ τοὺς παρασχόντας ἠνέγκατε τὸν κόρον καὶ δίκην τῶν ἀτιθασεύτων ἑρπετῶν τοῖς σαίνουσι τὸν ἰὸν ἐναφήκατε. ἔστω γοῦν, κατεφρονήσατε τῆς Νέρωνος ῥᾳθυμίας, καὶ καθάπερ ῥήγματα ἢ σπάσματα τὸν ἄλλον χρόνον κακοήθως ἠρεμοῦντες ἐν τῇ μείζονι νόσῳ διεφάνητε καὶ πρὸς ἐλπίδας ἀναιδεῖς ἀμέτρους ἐξετείνατε τὰς ἐπιθυμίας. ἧκεν ὁ πατὴρ οὑμὸς εἰς τὴν χώραν, οὐ τιμωρησόμενος ὑμᾶς τῶν κατὰ Κέστιον, ἀλλὰ νουθετήσων· δέον γοῦν, εἴπερ ἐπʼ ἀναστάσει τοῦ ἔθνους παρῆν, ἐπὶ τὴν ῥίζαν ὑμῶν δραμεῖν καὶ ταύτην ἐκπορθεῖν τὴν πόλιν εὐθέως, ὁ δὲ Γαλιλαίαν ἐδῄου καὶ τὰ πέριξ ἐπιδιδοὺς ὑμῖν χρόνον εἰς μεταμέλειαν. ἀλλʼ ὑμῖν ἀσθένεια τὸ φιλάνθρωπον ἐδόκει κἀκ τῆς ἡμετέρας πρᾳότητος τὴν τόλμαν ἐπεθρέψατε. Νέρωνος οἰχομένου τοῦθʼ ὅπερ ἐχρῆν τοὺς πονηροτάτους ἐποιήσατε, ταῖς ἐμφυλίοις ἡμῶν ταραχαῖς ἐπεθαρρήσατε καὶ χωρισθέντων εἰς τὴν Αἴγυπτον ἐμοῦ τε καὶ τοῦ πατρὸς εἰς παρασκευὰς τοῦ πολέμου κατεχρήσασθε τοῖς καιροῖς, καὶ οὐκ ᾐδέσθητε ταράσσειν αὐτοκράτορας γεγενημένους οὓς καὶ στρατηγοὺς φιλανθρώπους ἐπειράσατε. προσφυγούσης γοῦν ἡμῖν τῆς ἡγεμονίας, καὶ τῶν μὲν κατὰ ταύτην ἠρεμούντων πάντων, πρεσβευομένων δὲ καὶ συνηδομένων τῶν ἔξωθεν ἐθνῶν, πάλιν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι πολέμιοι, καὶ πρεσβεῖαι μὲν ὑμῶν πρὸς τοὺς ὑπὲρ Εὐφράτην ἐπὶ νεωτερισμῷ, περίβολοι δὲ τειχῶν ἀνοικοδομούμενοι καινοί, στάσεις δὲ καὶ τυράννων φιλονεικίαι καὶ πόλεμος ἐμφύλιος, μόνα τοῖς οὕτω πονηροῖς πρέποντα. ἧκον ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν ἐγὼ παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς ἄκοντος λαβὼν σκυθρωπὰ παραγγέλματα. τὸν δῆμον ἀκούσας εἰρηνικὰ φρονεῖν ἥσθην. ὑμᾶς παύσασθαι πρὸ πολέμου παρεκάλουν, μέχρι πολλοῦ πολεμούντων ἐφειδόμην, δεξιὰς αὐτομόλοις ἔδωκα, καταφυγοῦσι πίστεις ἐτήρησα, πολλοὺς αἰχμαλώτους ἠλέησα, τοὺς ἐπείγοντας βασανίσας ἐκόλασα; τείχεσιν ὑμετέροις μηχανὰς ἄκων προσήγαγον, ἀεὶ φονῶντας τοὺς στρατιώτας ἐφʼ ὑμῖν κατέσχον, καθʼ ἑκάστην νίκην ὡς ἡττώμενος ὑμᾶς εἰς εἰρήνην προυκαλεσάμην. τοῦ ἱεροῦ πλησίον γενόμενος πάλιν ἑκὼν ἐξελαθόμην τῶν τοῦ πολέμου νόμων, φείσασθαι δὲ παρεκάλουν τῶν ἰδίων ὑμᾶς ἁγίων καὶ σῶσαι τὸν ναὸν ἑαυτοῖς, διδοὺς ἄδειάν τε ἐξόδου καὶ πίστιν σωτηρίας, εἰ δʼ ἐβούλεσθε, καὶ μάχης καιρὸν ἐν ἄλλῳ τόπῳ· πάντων ὑπερείδετε καὶ τὸν ναὸν ἰδίαις χερσὶν ἐνεπρήσατε. ἔπειτα, μιαρώτατοι, προκαλεῖσθέ με πρὸς λόγους νῦν; ἵνα τί σώσητε τοιοῦτον οἷον ἀπόλωλεν; ποίας ὑμᾶς αὐτοὺς ἀξιοῦτε μετὰ τὸν ναὸν σωτηρίας; ἀλλὰ καὶ νῦν μετὰ τῶν ὅπλων ἑστήκατε καὶ οὐδʼ ἐν ἐσχάτοις ὑποκρίνεσθε γοῦν ἱκέτας, ὦ ταλαίπωροι, τίνι πεποιθότες; οὐ νεκρὸς μὲν ὑμῶν ὁ δῆμος, οἴχεται δʼ ὁ ναός, ὑπʼ ἐμοὶ δὲ ἡ πόλις, ἐν χερσὶ δὲ ταῖς ἐμαῖς ἔχετε τὰς ψυχάς; εἶτα ὑπολαμβάνετε δόξαν ἀνδρείας τὸ δυσθανατᾶν; οὐ μὴν ἐγὼ φιλονεικήσω πρὸς τὴν ἀπόνοιαν ὑμῶν, ῥίψασι δὲ τὰ ὅπλα καὶ παραδοῦσι τὰ σώματα χαρίζομαι τὸ ζῆν, ὥσπερ ἐν οἰκίᾳ πρᾷος δεσπότης τὰ μὲν ἀνήκεστα κολάσας, τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ σώζων ἐμαυτῷ.