But not one of the revolutionary party would listen to their words,[251] which met with no better response even from the officiating ministers, who thus helped to sow the seeds of war. Thereupon, the leading men, perceiving that it was now beyond their power to suppress the insurrection and that they would be the first to suffer from the Roman peril, took steps to exonerate themselves from blame. They accordingly despatched two deputations, one to Florus, headed by Simon son of Ananias, and another to Agrippa, of which the most eminent members were the king’s relatives, Saul, Antipas and Costobar. They besought them both to come up to the city with an armed force and to nip the rebellion in the bud before repression became impossible. To Florus the news was a wonderful godsend,[252] and, determined as he was to fan the flame of war, he gave the emissaries no reply. Agrippa, on the other hand, was solicitous alike for the rebels and for the nation against which their hostilities were directed; he was anxious that the Romans should not lose the Jews nor the Jews their Temple and mother city; and was, moreover, aware that the disturbance would not conduce to his own interests. He accordingly despatched to the aid of the people three thousand horse from Auranitis, Batanæa and Trachonitis, under Darius as cavalry commander and Philip, son of Jacimus, as general. Encouraged by these reinforcements, the leading men with the chief priests and all such of the populace as were in favour of peace occupied the upper city. The lower city and the Temple were in the hands of the insurgents.—_B.J._ II. 17. 2-5 (408-422). Footnote 247: On the west coast of the Dead Sea. Footnote 248: _i. e._ “captain of the Temple”; cf. Acts iv. 1, etc. Footnote 249: Other MSS, omitting “and” (καὶ, which would easily drop out before Καίσαρος), read “the sacrifice of Cæsar on behalf of that nation.” Footnote 250: Or, possibly, “were making an innovation in the worship of foreigners.” Footnote 251: The text of this clause is doubtful. I read προσῇσαν, “chimed in” (with Naber; MSS προσίεσαν or προσήεσαν) and λειτουργοὶ (other MSS ληστρικοὶ, “the brigands”). Footnote 252: Or (reading τὸ before δεινὸν) “the dire news was a godsend.” (41) Initial Jewish success. Rout of a Roman Army in the Defiles of Beth-Horon The humiliating Roman defeat in this first stage of the war here described recalls a rather similar incident at the Caudine Forks in the early wars with the Samnites. Cestius Advances from Antioch [Sidenote: A.D. 66]