The Wars of the Jews; Or, The History of the Destruction of JerusalemJosephus, Flavius
Religion
The Wars of the Jews; Or, The History of the Destruction of Jerusalem
Josephus, Flavius
Jews -- History
11. Yet did the army that was under John raise a sedition against him,
and all the Idumeans separated themselves from the tyrant, and attempted
to destroy him, and this out of their envy at his power, and hatred of
his cruelty; so they got together, and slew many of the zealots, and
drove the rest before them into that royal palace that was built by
Grapte, who was a relation of Izates, the king of Adiabene; the Idumeans
fell in with them, and drove the zealots out thence into the temple, and
betook themselves to plunder John's effects; for both he himself was in
that palace, and therein had he laid up the spoils he had acquired by
his tyranny. In the mean time, the multitude of those zealots that were
dispersed over the city ran together to the temple unto those that fled
thither, and John prepared to bring them down against the people and the
Idumeans, who were not so much afraid of being attacked by them [because
they were themselves better soldiers than they] as at their madness,
lest they should privately sally out of the temple and get among them,
and not only destroy them, but set the city on fire also. So they
assembled themselves together, and the high priests with them, and took
counsel after what manner they should avoid their assault. Now it was
God who turned their opinions to the worst advice, and thence they
devised such a remedy to get themselves free as was worse than the
disease itself. Accordingly, in order to overthrow John, they determined
to admit Simon, and earnestly to desire the introduction of a second
tyrant into the city; which resolution they brought to perfection, and
sent Matthias, the high priest, to beseech this Simon to come in to
them, of whom they had so often been afraid. Those also that had fled
from the zealots in Jerusalem joined in this request to him, out of
the desire they had of preserving their houses and their effects.
Accordingly he, in an arrogant manner, granted them his lordly
protection, and came into the city, in order to deliver it from the
zealots. The people also made joyful acclamations to him, as their
savior and their preserver; but when he was come in, with his army, he
took care to secure his own authority, and looked upon those that had
invited him in to be no less his enemies than those against whom the
invitation was intended.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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