The Roman world was not likely to prosper under an emperor like Nero, who would not trouble himself with its more serious affairs, and Gessius Florus was a bad procurator under an evil master. Cestius Gallus, governor of Syria,[339] in vain attempted to restore order when he visited Jerusalem, and received the appeal of the Jews against their tyrant, who was accused of appropriating the sacred treasures. Florus entered Jerusalem in wrath, and allowed his soldiers to pillage the upper market. He is said to have crucified many Jews, and to have ordered a massacre, in spite of the entreaties of Berenice, while a procession of priests preceded by harpers and singers strove to pacify the insurgents. The Romans drove the mob with clubs to the Bezetha quarter, but failed to gain entry into Antonia, and Florus withdrew to the citadel of the upper city. The Jews appear to have barricaded the approach to the Temple by cutting down the cloisters on the north. The citizens, supported by Berenice, appealed to Cestius, and Florus retreated to Cæsarea. [Sidenote: THE REVOLT] Agrippa II. now returned from Egypt to Jamnia, near Joppa, and to him the Jews also appealed. Cestius sent his envoy Neapolitanus, who was received at Siloam, escorted round the walls, and after worshipping in the Temple returned to Syria. Agrippa from his palace addressed the crowd, and Berenice wept before them. But when he attempted to collect the arrears of taxation he was stoned, and left Jerusalem in disgust. The fanatical spirit of the rioters was fanned by Eleazar, son of the high-priest, and the more moderate and peaceful party were forced to seek refuge with the Romans in the upper city fortress. The fierce “siccarii,” or “dagger men,” drove the soldiers of Agrippa into this citadel. They burned the house of the high-priest, the palaces of Agrippa and Berenice, and the place of the “archives” where the legal contracts were stored: they thus destroyed any records of their debts or agreements. Some of the priests were forced to hide in underground vaults, while others fled to the “upper palace” built by Herod the Great. The rebels attacked Antonia, which fell into their hands after two days, and was set on fire; they then attacked the western citadel, driving the Romans to the three towers Hippicus, Phasaelus, and Mariamne. They were led by a certain Menahem, who for the moment eclipsed Eleazar: he was the son of Judas the Galilean, and assumed royal state. The high-priest was found hidden in the aqueduct tunnel and was killed, which roused his son Eleazar to attack Menahem, who fled to Ophel. Metellius, the Roman commander, reduced to extremities when one of the towers of the western fortress had been undermined, at length was forced to treat with Eleazar. The Romans laid down their shields and swords, but some were then slain, and others compelled to become Jews. There seems to have been no more than a single cohort