yet did he receive such as these also.
However, he set over them such as were to distinguish some from others,
in order to see if any of them deserved to be punished. And indeed the
number of those that were sold was immense; but of the populace above
forty thousand were saved, whom Cæsar let go whither every one of them
pleased.
But now at this time it was that one of the priests, the son of
Thebuthus, whose name was Jesus, upon his having security given him, by
the oath of Cæsar, that he should be preserved upon condition that he
should deliver to him certain of the precious things that had been
deposited in the Temple, came out of it and delivered him from the wall
of the holy house two candlesticks, like to those that lay in the holy
house, with tables, and cisterns, and vials, all made of solid gold and
very heavy. He also delivered to him the veils and the garments, with
the precious stones, and a great number of other precious vessels that
belonged to their sacred worship.
The treasurer of the Temple also, whose name was Phineas, was seized on,
and showed Titus the coats and girdles of the priests, with a great
quantity of purple and scarlet, which were there deposited for the uses
of the veil, as also a great deal of cinnamon and cassia, with a large
quantity of other sweet spices, which used to be mixed together and
offered as incense to God every day. A great many other treasures were
also delivered to him, with sacred ornaments of the Temple not a few,
which things thus delivered to Titus obtained of him for this man the
same pardon that he had allowed to such as deserted of their own accord.
And now were the banks finished on the seventh day of the month Gorpieus
(Elul) in eighteen days' time, when the Romans brought their machines
against the wall. But for the seditious, some of them, as despairing of
saving the city, retired from the wall to the citadel. Others of them
went down into the subterranean vaults, though still a great many of
them defended themselves against those that brought the engines for the
battery; yet did the Romans overcome them by their number and by their
strength; and, what was the principal thing of all, by going cheerfully
about their work, while the Jews were quite dejected and become weak.
Now as soon as a part of the wall was battered down, and certain of the
towers yielded to the impression of the battering rams, those that
opposed themselves fled away, and such a terror fell upon the tyrants as
was much greater than the occasion required, for before the enemy got
over the breach they were quite stunned, and were immediately for flying
away. And now one might see these men, who had hitherto been so insolent
and arrogant in their wicked practices, to be cast down and to tremble,
insomuch that it would pity one's heart to observe the change that was
made in those vile persons.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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