With the Scripture References thereto.
Archelaus.
WE have already seen that Herod the Great altered his will just before his death. In that alteration he
appointed his son Archelaus to succeed him; and he gave Galilee and Peræa to Antipas, as tetrarch. The will had, however, to be submitted to Rome for ratification.
Herod's sons gave him a grand funeral, and then Archelaus made a solemn attendance at the temple. At the feast of the Passover a cry was made by the people for vengeance, because of those put to death for pulling down the golden eagle. The feast was broken off, and Archelaus sent his soldiers to quell the tumult, and 3000 were slain before peace could be restored. Archelaus with the other sons of Herod, and Salome the sister of Herod, hurried off to Rome to plead their claims.
Sabinus, the procurator of Syria, hastened to Jerusalem to seize the treasures left by Herod. At the feast of Pentecost, when many attended from surrounding districts, revenge was sought for the deaths at the Passover. The zealots encamped round the temple and besieged Sabinus and his soldiers. The Romans broke through, burned the cloisters of the outer court with its defenders, broke into the temple, and stole the treasures. The Jews were furious, and still besieged Sabinus. Varus, the prefect of Syria, came to his relief. The zealots laid down their arms at his approach. Two thousand of the leaders were crucified, and others sent to Rome for trial.
While the sons of Herod were pleading at Rome, a deputation of 500 Jews arrived there, praying for the suppression of royalty and the restoration of their privileges. They stated that 8000 Jews at Rome supported their claim.
The country was in a terrible state. Two thousand of Herod's troops had been disbanded, and were roaming about for plunder, and the Romans afforded but little protection to the peaceable inhabitants. One here and another there assumed the crown, and calling men around them plundered far and near.
Augustus confirmed the will of Herod in the main. Archelaus had Judæa, Idumæa, and Samaria as Ethnarch; and he was to have the title of " king " if he ruled well. He retained the cities of Jerusalem, Sebaste, Caesarea, and Joppa; but Gaza, Gadara, and Hippo were made Roman towns under the prefect of Syria. Archelaus was to pay a revenue of 600 talents.
Salome received Jamnia, Azotus, Phasaelis, and a palace in Ascalon. Herod Antipas had Galilee and Peræa as tetrarch; and Philip had Auranitis, Trachonitis, and Batanea.
In Matt. 2 as we find Joseph, on returning from Egypt with our Lord, having heard that Archelaus reigned in the room of his father, was afraid to go into his dominions, and was directed to go " into the parts of Galilee," which, as we have said, was under the rule of Herod Antipas.
Archelaus tried to please the people by making Eleazar high priest instead of his brother Joazar, who had been made priest when the eagle had been pulled down; but the more zealous Jews could not be reconciled to Archelaus, because he had married his brother's widow, and had divorced his wife in order to do so. His tyranny at length led his subjects to appeal to Augustus. He was summoned to Rome, and then banished to Vienne in Gaul (A.D. 6).
None of the other sons of Herod were appointed to succeed Archelaus, Judaea was now made a Roman province, which completely altered its civil state. Quirinus was prefect of Syria, and Coponius had the government of Judaea.
Quirinus had the unpopular task of again taking a census of the people and of their property for taxation; incorrectly called a " taxation " in the Authorized Version of Luke 2:22(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) (Luke 2:2) and Acts 5:3737After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed. (Acts 5:37). The wisdom of Joazar, now again high priest for a short time, led him to do what he could to induce the people to conform.
One named Judas raised the cry that no one was their master but God, and many joined him, some out of zeal for their religion, and others for the sake of opposition. He was slain, and his followers dispersed; but it seemed to have sown seeds that afterward bore much fruit, destructive of peace and integrity. Apparently this Judas is the one named in Acts 5:3737After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed. (Acts 5:37).
It was during the government of Coponius (A.D. 8) that our Lord was found in the temple with the doctors.
It is recorded that the Samaritans had permission to come and worship in the temple; but that by night they defiled the temple with dead men's bones, and because of this they were afterward excluded.
Coponius was succeeded by Ambivius, and Annius Rufus followed. When Tiberius became emperor (A.D. 14) he did not change the governors so frequently, well knowing that each would extort all he could to enrich himself, and if he knew that his time was short, he did it with greater exactions.
Valerius Gratus (A.D. 15) was the next governor of Judaea, and then Pontius Pilate succeeded (A.D. 26). Under Pilate the country was comparatively peaceful and prosperous. The Jews at Rome, however, were persecuted. Some of them had made a proselyte of Fulvia, a noble lady at Rome, and had obtained large sums from her, ostensibly for the temple, but they had used the money for themselves.
The Jews were banished from Rome. Four thousand were made soldiers and despatched to Sardinia, where many perished by the climate. Philo attributes this persecution to the jealousy of Sejanus, who feared the attachment of the Jews to the emperor would thwart his plans: after his death, the emperor issued an order in their favor.
Before Pilate the Roman troops had remained with the governor at Caesarea, and the prejudices of the Jews had thus been met by the absence of the Roman standards, which were regarded by the Jews as idolatrous. Pilate transferred the winter quarters of the troops to Jerusalem, and caused the standards to be brought into the city at night; there was, however, a great commotion in the morning when they were seen. A numerous deputation waited on Pilate at Caesarea. He treated it as an insult to the emperor, and had them surrounded with soldiers, in the hope that they would disperse; but they fell on the ground, saying they would rather die than sanction any breaking of the law, so Pilate withdrew the standards.
Pilate seized a part of the revenue of the temple in order to provide water for the city by an aqueduct extending twenty-five miles. This raised a tumult and his workmen were molested. Pilate had some soldiers dressed as civilians, with swords concealed, who were to mingle with the people and to fall upon those who obstructed the work. This was carried out beyond what Pilate intended and many were killed.
Scripture speaks of Pilate having mingled the blood of the Galileans with the sacrifices. (Luke 13 I.) This is not recorded in the histories of the Jews.
Pilate's government on the whole was peaceful. While the people were quiet he did not molest them; but when there was any appearance of revolt he was severe and reckless of human life.
That he was pliable and unjust is to be seen in the trial of the Lord. To deliver Him to be crucified after having declared that he found no fault in Him, was an act unworthy of a Roman governor. We find, too, that being warned by the dream of his wife, and by the words of the Lord Himself, he sought to release Him; hut to he reported as no friend of Cæsar was more to him than belying his conscience and violating the laws of justice. Scripture gives us all we have of the trial. Though the most important event that could ever happen on this earth, none of the historians name it; and to the Jewish rulers it was a relief-they could go on with their religion, holding a " high " sabbath the very next day, without any fear of a rebuke from that holy One who sought in His teaching to reach their conscience and turn them from darkness to light.
About A.D. 36 a new commotion arose. The Samaritans, except occasionally molesting Jewish pilgrims to Jerusalem, had lived in peace in submission to the Romans; but now an impostor gave out that certain vessels which had been buried by Moses were to be found on Mount Gerizim. There was 2 general excitement, and many in arms met at Tirabatha at the foot of the mountain. Why they were armed is not clear. Pilate ordered his troops to surround the place; the leaders were slain and the rest dispersed.
The Samaritan senate made complaints to Vitellius, the prefect of Syria, father of the emperor of that name. He ordered Pilate to proceed to Rome to answer the charge. Pilate was recalled and banished to Vienne in Gaul.
Vitellius then visited Jerusalem. He was received with all due honors, and was present at the Passover. He remitted the tax on the fruits of the earth. He also gave up to the Jews the charge of the robes of the high priest, which had strangely been held by the Romans, and only given out to the priests when required. They had been kept in the time of Hyrcanus in the Baris (afterward called Antonia), a castle near the temple, and when the Romans seized this place and used it as a fortress they retained the garments also.
Philip. Antipas.
Thus far as to Jerusalem and Samaria: we must now look at the other sons of Herod, who we saw reigned elsewhere. PHILIP had governed his dominions peacefully. He built Caesarea Philippi, which is apparently the most northern part of Palestine visited by the Lord Jesus. (Matt. 16:1313When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? (Matthew 16:13); Mark 8:2727And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am? (Mark 8:27).) Philip died A.D. 33 without children, and his dominions were added to the province of Syria.
HEROD ANTIPAS resided at Sepphoris, the capital of Galilee. His reign was also peaceful, but he disgraced himself in the matter of Herodias. Antipas had married the daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia; but divorced her to marry Herodias, his niece, the wife of Herod Philip (a son of Herod the Great), and this, too, while Herod Philip was living! It was for this that John the Baptist rebuked him, and which led to his death, as related in scripture, when the daughter of Herodias and Herod Philip danced before the king.
Aretas took up arms to avenge the insult to his daughter, and in a battle nearly the whole of Antipas' army was cut off. Vitellius was appealed to to punish Aretas. He collected his troops, but the death of Tiberius stopped his progress.
We shall see the fall of Antipas when Agrippa came into power.
CALIGULA was the next emperor, A.D. 37. He was the friend of Agrippa, the son of Aristobulus, the son of Herod the Great. Agrippa's course had been precarious. He soon spent what he had at his mother's death, and became in debt, and, was so miserable that he contemplated suicide. He went, however, to Herodias when she had joined Antipas. Antipas gave him the government of Tiberias and a yearly allowance; but at a banquet Antipas made some remarks offensive to Agrippa, and he vacated his office. Again he was in extreme poverty, and had great difficulty in borrowing money in order to reach Rome. He arrived at Anthedon, but was there arrested for a debt which he had contracted at Rome with the imperial exchequer. He escaped, and was received by Tiberius at Capreæ, till news arrived of his behavior at Anthedon, when he was discarded. By the aid of Antonia, a friend of his mother, he was able to pay the imperial debt, and was again received by Tiberius.
He was recommended to attach himself to the younger Tiberius, but he chose rather Caius Caligula. When riding with Caligula in a chariot, he was heard by the driver to express a desire that Providence would soon remove 'Tiberius and make way for a more worthy successor. The driver was soon after dismissed for theft; and he to revenge himself revealed what he had heard. The charge was examined and proved. Tiberius in a public circus gave the order, " Put that man in chains." Agrippa was arrested and, though wearing the purple, he was put in chains as a common malefactor. The day was very hot, and seeing a slave of Caligula passing with a vessel of water, he begged for a drink. This was given him and Agrippa promised him a reward when he should be at liberty, which promise he kept.
Antonia still befriended this man, and obtained some mitigation of his privations. Here he remained till one day a freed-slave ran in and said in Hebrew, " The lion is dead." The centurion inquired the cause of their joy, and being told that Tiberius was dead, he, foreseeing that Agrippa would soon be in favor, had his chains removed, and invited him to supper; but while at table a message arrived that Tiberius was not dead, and the centurion bitterly reproached Agrippa, and again the chains were put on. In the morning, however, the news of the death of Tiberius was confirmed, and Caligula entered Rome as his successor.
Agrippa.
AGRIPPA was soon after released, received into favor, and had the Tetrarchate of Philip given to him, with the title of king. The emperor also gave him a chain of gold as heavy as the chain of iron he had worn in prison!
He remained that year at Rome, but the next year he entered Palestine in royal pomp, and took possession of his dominions. This excited the greatest jealousy in the wicked Herodias: that the poor spendthrift should have a higher title given to him than her husband had obtained filled her with envy. She gave her husband no rest until he consented to go to Rome and solicit also the title of king. Herod, described in scripture as " that fox," was crafty: he set out for Rome.
But Agrippa, being informed of this, hastened to send also to Rome to forestall Herod, and to accuse him of giving secret information to the Parthians, and also with storing arms in his palace in case of a revolt. His messengers made such speed that they arrived at Bait before Herod, and on Herod making his appeal, he was asked if he had laid up a quantity of warlike stores (which of course might be used against the Romans); he, not being able to deny it, lost his dominions in Palestine and was banished to Lyons in Gaul.
Herodias, being a relative of Agrippa, was offered any of the dominions she could claim as her own; but, shameful woman though she was, she preferred to accompany her husband in his degradation than reign without him.
Caligula became a great enemy of the Jews. They had hitherto under the Romans been permitted to carry on their religion with but little annoyance or interruption; but now the almost insane emperor insisted that he should not only be counted by the heathen as a god, as other emperors had been, but he ordered his statue to be placed everywhere. Palestine was to be no exception.
Persecution also broke out at Alexandria. In this place there were many Jews-Philo estimates their number at a million-and many Greeks, and these were at all times liable to come into collision. Flaccus Aquilius was prefect, and had hitherto preserved order and justice; but on the death of Tiberius things were changed: he had supported the young Tiberius, and now, it is supposed, that as he expected disgrace from Caligula, he let things run riot. 'The Greeks were allowed to persecute the Jews, and Flaccus seemed to encourage it rather than stop it by force. The Jews had their own quarters of the city, but had not been strictly confined to them; now he ordered all to keep in their own quarters, which on account of their numbers compelled them to spread about on the sea shore and in the cemeteries. They were openly robbed, insulted, and put to death.
As we have seen, Agrippa had been made king, and on his way to Judaea he passed through Alexandria. Apparently he did not seek to be unduly noticed; but the Roman attendants in gilded armor could not he hid, and those who were persecuting the Jews made the greatest ridicule of a Jew being a king! They set up a poor idiot in imitation, and treated him as king, to turn the thing into ridicule and excite contempt.
Flaccus at first rather shut his eyes to the persecution of the Jews; but at length he sanctioned the most outrageous cruelties. He seized thirty-eight of the most distinguished of their senate, had them brought to the theater and scourged with such severity that many of them died. Some Jews were arrested and crucified. Others were seized by the people and burnt. At the theater it was the custom to see some Jews scourged, tortured, and then led to execution, before the usual entertainment began.
As to how far the Jews sought to retaliate on the Greeks or resist the officers of Flaccus is not shown by Philo, who has given us these descriptions. The Jews had drawn up a memorial, giving to Caligula all the honors they could agreeable to the law, and Flaccus had promised to forward it to the emperor, but had kept it back. Agrippa discovered this, and sent a copy of it to Rome.
At length a stop was put to the persecution by the arrest of Flaccus. A centurion arrived in Alexandria. He entered by night, and quietly sought for Flaccus. He was at a banquet attended by only a few of his slaves. The place was surrounded, and he was seized. His property was confiscated and he was banished to Gyara, an inhospitable island in the Ægean Sea, but afterward to Andros. Philo says he was filled with remorse for his cruelties to the Jews. He was soon after put to death by order of the emperor.
Deputations proceeded from Alexandria to Rome both from the Greeks and the Jews, to give an account of the late disturbances. The Jews seemed at first to be received with favor. They had to follow the emperor to Puteoli. One great object before them was to secure their proseuchœ*(which they had in every city) from the defilement of images. But a graver question at once arose among them, for suddenly a man rushed in among them in great dismay, to tell them that the emperor had ordered his statue to he placed within the temple at Jerusalem!
(*Places of prayer, held sacred by the Jews.)
A plot was also laid to damage the Jews in the eyes of the emperor by the persuasion of Capito, receiver of tribute, who feared he might be exposed by the Jews. In Jamnia some Greeks had raised a pretended altar to Caius, which the Jews at once threw down, and this was reported at Rome as sedition.
Caligula was not only half mad himself, but his advisers were contemptible. He had gone to Puteoli to inspect some villas, and instead of sitting in state to decide the petition of the Jews, it was while looking over one of the rooms that he gave them their final interview. The Jews saluted him as Augustus and emperor. He said, " You are then those enemies of the gods who alone refuse to acknowledge my divinity, but worship a deity whose name you dare not pronounce." He then uttered the awful name. The Greeks rejoiced at this, and an accuser said that the Jews were the only people who refused to sacrifice for the emperor. The Jews responded that this was untrue-they had offered sacrifice for the welfare of the emperor. " Be it so," said he "ye have sacrificed for me, but not to me." The Jews were dismayed.
The emperor suddenly rose and ran about the house giving orders for blinds, &c. The Jews had to follow him from room to room amid the jeers of the attendants. Suddenly he said, " Why is it that you do not eat pork? " The whole company burst into laughter. The Jews said that different nations had different usages: some did not eat lamb. "They are right," said the emperor; "it is an insipid meat." More seriously he asked them on what they based their right to citizenship. They began to reply, but he again rose up and ran about, ordering various things to be done to the windows. At last the emperor gave them their dismissal with " Well, after all they do not seem so bad ' but rather a poor foolish people, who cannot believe that I am a god."
Thus were God's chosen people made a jest of by a proud and half-witted emperor: surely they were under the judgment of that God whom they had dishonored, though they were still true enough to Him to refuse to own a mere man as a god, and especially such a man as Caius Caligula.
The question of placing the image of the emperor in the temple had still to be settled. Petronius was governor of Syria, and his orders were so clear that there was no evading them. The image was made. He told the Jews what his orders were. This was no sooner known than many thousands assembled, determined to lose their lives rather than suffer the profanation.
Petronius hesitated to put to the sword so many of the people, unarmed as they were. He, with some of his officers, went to Tiberias. Here again thousands crowded around him to petition against the image. They had no thought of war, but, falling on their faces, said they would be massacred rather than break their law. For forty days such scenes as these lasted; it was the time for sowing the seed; but everything was neglected in order to urge their petitions. A famine was feared, and the most distinguished of the nation entreated Petronius to ask the emperor to abandon his purpose. He at length resolved to do this, though he knew he ran a great risk of vengeance from such an emperor. The people were dismissed with this promise, and the danger for a time was averted. The week had been very hot, and the customary rains had not fallen; but the next day showers began to fall. Petronius was struck by the coincidence.
The application of Petronius was received by Caligula with the greatest exhibition of fury. Philo and Josephus differ as to the part that Agrippa played on this occasion, but both attribute the repeal of the edict to the respect the emperor had for him. Caligula would have vented his rage on Petronius, and the letter was written to bring him to punishment; but before this could take effect the dagger of Cassius Chærea had cut off the mad emperor (A.D. 41). Agrippa was at Rome at the time, and was the only one that shielded the dead body of the emperor from insult.
Agrippa was respected at Rome, and was useful in the choice of a new emperor by carrying messages from the camp to the senate, and in advising the senate not to oppose the army, and also in rallying the unambitious spirit of CLAUDIUS, the next emperor, and then in advising him not to take vengeance on the senate.
The emperor rewarded Agrippa by giving him the dominions of Herod the Great; so he returned to Judaea with great splendor, and hung up in the temple the golden chain given him by Caligula. He was zealous of the law, and offered sacrifice daily while in Jerusalem. He aimed at popularity by remitting the taxes on houses, &c.
The Jews in Alexandria now sought to recover their rights, and obtained what they petitioned for. Claudius gave freedom for religious worship to the Jews throughout the empire hut required their tolerance of the religion of others.
To the north of Jerusalem a new suburb was being formed, called Bezetha. Agrippa proceeded to build a wall round the same, and then to strengthen the fortifications generally; but hearing that this had been reported at Rome, he thought it prudent to leave the work unfinished.
Agrippa thought to gain favor with the Jews by persecuting the Christians. As scripture says, " he stretched forth his hand to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword; and because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also." (Acts 12:1, 21Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. 2And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. (Acts 12:1‑2).)
After reigning three years over the whole of Palestine, the king held a splendid festival at Caesarea in honor of the emperor. Scripture tells us that those of Tire and Sidon sought to he restored to the king on this occasion. History says on the second day at early dawn the king entered in a robe of silver, which glittered in the rays of the sun. This dazzled the eyes of the audience, and they set up a shout of " A present God." Scripture also adds that he made an oration to the people; but he did not rebuke the multitude. It is recorded that at that moment he looked up and saw an owl perched on a rope. An owl had before been a good omen to him when in chains at Rome. A fellow prisoner had then interpreted it as predicting his splendid future; hut had added, as a warning, that when in the height of his fortune he saw that bird again he would die within five days! The sight of this owl pierced his heart, and with a melancholy voice he said, " Your god will soon suffer the common lot of humanity." He was seized with violent internal pains, and carried to his palace, where he lingered five days in great agony, and died. The sacred historian explains that " the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost."
At the death of Herod Agrippa, his son being too young to succeed him, Judaea again became a Roman province. Various governors succeeded until Claudius Felix of the Acts of the Apostles. (Chaps. 23.-25.) He had been a slave, but now reigned as a king, and had three wives of royal blood. Instead of clearing the country of banditti, he made terms with some of the robbers. He was remonstrated with by Jonathan, the high priest, in a friendly way. At that time there were some desperate men called sicarii or assassins, who strangely advocated and practiced murder when they could do it, as they pretended, for their country and for God, though it really was for themselves. Felix could not bear the remonstrances. Some of these assassins were sent into the temple, and there stabbed Jonathan, and left him bleeding on the pavement deemed sacred. His murder was passed over unrevenged.
Made bold by this transaction, they carried on their murders with impunity. Any of their enemies, or those by whom they could enrich themselves, fell victims to their daggers, until no one was safe either in the city or in the temple.
Besides these, the country was infested by pretenders to magical powers, who drew numbers together, and urged that it was wrong to submit to the Romans. An Egyptian Jew drew after him as many as 30,000 followers. Felix marched against them, and put many to death, but the leader escaped.
Agrippa Ii.
The Emperor gave to Agrippa. II. (son of Agrippa I.) the kingdom of Chalcis (A.D. 50), vacant by the death of his uncle Herod, and this was afterward exchanged for Ituræa and Abilene, to which Nero afterward added certain cities of Decapolis. Besides these places he had various privileges in Judaea, as governing the temple, appointing the high priest, &c. He is called King Agrippa in Acts 25:1313And after certain days king Agrippa and Bernice came unto Caesarea to salute Festus. (Acts 25:13). He was, as Paul said, " expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews," and he it was who c persuadest me to be a Christian." His relations to Berenice (or Bernice) his sister and widow of his uncle Herod, were of a doubtful character. His sister Drusilla was married to Felix. Festus had succeeded Felix (A.D. 60) as procurator, agreeing with Acts 25
Agrippa II. is said to have appointed Ismael, son of Fabi, as high priest, which office had been vacant since the death of Jonathan; but doubtless some one had acted as high priest during the interval, though without imperial authority, and in Acts 23 we read of Ananias as high priest. He had been sent in chains to Rome, but had been released at the instance of Agrippa. It was this Ananias who ordered Paul to be smitten on the mouth, and of whom Paul said, " God will smite thee, thou whited wall." Paul knew not that he was the high priest, and it is doubtful whether he was really such; he is called ex-high priest. Though Paul's conduct on this occasion seems strange to us, history records that on the sicarii gaining possession of the city, Ananias sought refuge in an aqueduct, hut was dragged forth and killed.
Hitherto the high priests had been more or less men of integrity, but from this period there were disgraceful contentions over the priesthood, and even the assassins were in league with some of the priests.
That which led to the break up of the kingdom began at Cæsarea, though the country was ripe for it everywhere.
It had become a large and populous city, and was chiefly in-habited by Jews and Syrian Greeks. These both contended for pre-eminence. The Roman soldiers took part with the Greeks. At a riot Felix came to restore order, but was treated with contempt. He ordered his troops to charge the crowd Some were wounded, and others killed.
On the recall of Felix, deputations went to Rome to plead their cause, and to accuse Felix. Nero was now emperor. A large bribe from the Greeks to Burrhus, who had been the preceptor of Nero, secured his influence, and the Jews were deprived of equal citizenship.
As we have seen, Festus succeeded Felix. He ruled well. Agrippa added to the palace an apartment, from which he could see the courts of the temple; but the Jews built up a wall to intercept his view. Festus and Agrippa ordered it to he taken down; but the Jews declared it was now a part of the temple, and refused. Appeal was made to Rome. Nero allowed the wall to remain, but kept the high priest and treasurer as hostages.
Albinus succeeded Festus (A.D. 62), and used his energy in putting down robbers and the assassins, but was rapacious in the extreme. Two things added to the insecure state of society—Albinus set at liberty all the lesser criminals who were able to pay for their release; and the completion of repairs to the temple left a large number of workmen without employ.
Gessius Florus succeeded (A.D. 64), and was an intolerable ruler. He allowed the robbers to purchase their immunity from punishment. He next sought to obtain the treasures of the temple, but first demanded seventeen talents in the name of the emperor. This raised a riot. He entered the city with foot and horse soldiers, and demanded that the leaders of the riot should be given up. On refusal, he ordered his soldiers to plunder the upper city. Every house was entered and pillaged. Many were trodden under foot in the narrow streets. Others were brought before Florus, scourged and crucified. Queen Bernice, who was in Jerusalem at the time, besought Florus to stay the slaughter, but without effect, and she had indeed to run for her own life. Florus attempted to reach the Antonia where he would have been near the temple; but the Jews had broken down the cloisters that formed the communication, he had therefore to give up the attempt, and withdrew to Caesarea.
Agrippa returned from Alexandria and managed to somewhat appease the people, and the cloisters were rebuilt. The seditious, party in the temple, led by young Eleazar, son of Ananias, refused to receive any gift or sacrifice for any foreigner, and thus for the Roman emperor, which had been regularly made since the time of Julius Caesar. This has been taken as the first direct break with Rome, and which led to the destruction of the city. It will be seen that this was a voluntary act on the part of the leaders of the temple, and did not proceed from any order from Rome, which they could not conscientiously obey. It was the revolt of the Jews against their masters. Older and wiser people protested, but it was useless. Agrippa sent 3,000 horse to preserve order.
Destruction of Jerusalem.
Hostilities soon commenced. The peaceable part of the people with Agrippa's troops held the upper city; the insurgents held the temple and the lower city. A small Roman force was in the Antonia. The insurgents gained the mastery, took the upper city, and drove the 'people to seek refuge wherever they could, even in vaults and sewers; the soldiers found refuge in Herod's palace. The Antonia was taken, and the garrison slain. The soldiers in the palace were next attacked; and though very strong, it was taken, and all put to the sword. The insurgents thus became masters of the city and the temple.
Cestius Gallus, prefect of Syria, came with his army to the relief of the peace party. They entered the suburbs north of the temple, and passed through the wood market, burning everything. He encamped at the second wall. He assaulted the wall again and again, but without success: the Jews fought with great bravery from the tops of the cloisters. On the night of the sixth day he withdrew to his camp at Scopus. The people followed, and for three days fought with such fury that he was totally defeated. In a pass which the Romans had to traverse they could not maintain their ranks, and the Jews, who knew all the paths well, swarmed around them and killed right and left. The Romans threw away everything that impeded their movements and fled. They and their allies lost 5,300 foot and 380 horse. Cestius escaped with difficulty. His catapults and battering rams were taken, and used in the after siege. The Jews collected great spoil, and returned to Jerusalem with hymns of triumph. It was November, 66.
Nothing could stay the vengeance of Rome after such a defeat, or rather the judgment of heaven, as foretold in the scripture, though Rome was to be the instrument used.
Josephus relates that many warnings of coming judgments were given, and speaks of the testimony of eyewitnesses to some of the events. A comet in the form of a sword seemed to hang over the city for a whole year. A supernatural light also shone about the altar and the temple at the feast of unleavened bread. The inner gate of the temple, of such immense weight as to require twenty men to move it, flew open of itself, though it was also bolted. On another occasion, before sunset, chariots and armed squadrons were seen in the heavens. On the Pentecost, when the priests entered by night, they heard a noise, and a cry, as of a host, saying, " Let us depart hence! "
A countryman named Jesus traversed the streets of Jerusalem, crying with a loud voice: " A voice from the east! a voice from the west! a voice from the four winds! a voice against Jerusalem and against the temple! a voice against the bridegrooms and the brides! a voice against the whole people!" He was seized and beaten, but he did not complain. He went on his way as before: Woe, woe to Jerusalem! For four years this man continued his cries in every quarter of the city, varying the latter cry with: Woe, woe to the city, and to the people! During the siege, he suddenly exclaimed: Woe to myself! a stone struck him and he fell dead.
Nero committed the war to the able general, P. Flavius Vespasian, and he sent his son Titus before him. In the meantime all was energy in Jerusalem, under Ananias, high priest, to rebuild the walls, fortify the place, and provide munitions of war.
The north country was first subdued. At the siege of Gischala in Galilee, a crafty leader named John escaped in the night with others to Jerusalem, there to take a prominent position. Gischala surrendered.
Another leader against the zealots, and also against the Romans, was Joseph, better known as FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS, the noted historian. He skillfully defended Jotapata, where Vespasian was wounded, gained the Roman's esteem, and by a pretended prophecy that Vespasian would be the next emperor, was well treated by him. He became afterward a mediator between the Romans and the Jews, but without success. Eventually he obtained a pension, with a grant of land in Judaea, and the Roman franchise.
The Samaritans, no doubt suffering from former governors, made common cause with the Jews. They were besieged on Mount Gerizim, but were compelled by thirst to surrender; all were slain. And by degrees the whole country was conquered ready for the final siege of Jerusalem.
When Vespasian was at length ready to attack Jerusalem he received intelligence of Nero's death. A civil war succeeded in Italy, and Vespasian waited to see the issue of it. On July 1St, 69, the army declared Vespasian emperor, and his generals at Rome secured his succession by the death of Vitellius. Titus was left to subdue Jerusalem.
Two and a half years had elapsed since John of Gischala had taken refuge in Jerusalem before the siege began. During that time the country generally had been subdued, and Jerusalem had continued in the greatest disorder. Party spirit ran so high that the place was full of outrages and bloodshed.
When Titus appeared before the walls, those called Zealots were divided. John of Gischala with Eleazar held the temple and the Antonia with 8,400 men. Simon Bar-Gioras held part of the upper city, and part of the lower city with 10,000 men and 5,000 Idumæans. Besides these, who had to some extent been trained in warfare and recklessness, there was a multitude of inhabitants, increased by pilgrims and refugees from other towns. Tacitus puts the number as 600,000; and Josephus, still higher.
The north part was the first attacked, and in a short time a breach was made in the wall, though it was stoutly defended by Simon and his men. This allowed Titus to approach the second wall, and the tower of Antonia. In five days a breach was made in this wall, but as the lanes were narrow and tortuous, the Jews, who knew every turn, made a most determined resistance, and Titus lost many of his men. But Simon was obliged to retreat.
Attacks were now made against the Antonia and the town. Banks had been erected from which to attack the tower, and all was ready with engines placed on the banks to commence the battering of the walls. But John had undermined the place where the banks had been erected, and supported the roofs with timber. He then set the wood on fire, and down came the banks and engines of the Romans in a heap. Simon also had more successfully repelled the Romans at the wall by the use of the catapults he had; and when the Romans were ready with their rams he made a sortie and set them on fire.
Titus saw that the place was not to be taken easily, and held a council of war. The south and west of the city were unguarded, and this enabled provisions to be brought in, and allowed the people to escape. Josephus says 300 a day left the place. 'Titus resolved to build a wall round the entire city.
Its length was about five miles, and it had 13 guard-houses. The whole army worked at it, and completed it in three days!
The siege was now concentrated on the Antonia. New banks were erected, the wood for which had to be fetched eleven miles. A breach was soon made in the outer wall, hut only to find that John had erected another one inside it. But that was taken, and then in the passages and cloisters that led to the temple many a close encounter took place.
The Romans gradually gained ground, and on July 15th a soldier wantonly fired the temple itself, contrary to the wishes and orders of Titus. Efforts were made to stop the fire, but it was useless-the temple was consumed, except its solid masonry John, and the remnant of his party still alive, fled by a bridge to the upper city.
An appeal was now made to the leaders, both by Josephus and by Titus; but the offers were rejected, and nothing remained but to destroy the whole place. Titus was desirous of coming to terms, and saving the rest of the city, which was the old part; but, as we know, God had foretold its doom, nothing could save it.
The misery inside was at its height. The place was overcrowded, and famine became extreme. The Zealots would enter the houses and seize every particle of food they could find. If anyone spoke of surrender he was put to the sword. Some stole out of the gates to pick up any roots they could find outside. Some of these were seized and crucified, or driven back to starve within the walls.
The city was taken, and Simon and John escaped, but were stopped by the wall which surrounded the place.
They took refuge in the caves or sewers. John surrendered, and Simon was taken, and they both formed a part of the triumph of Titus at Rome.
The city and temple were demolished, except the west wall of the upper city, and Herod's towers on the north-west.
Josephus says, " the whole was so thoroughly leveled and dug up that no one visiting it would believe that it had ever been inhabited."
In taking the city enormous numbers were slain. The feeble and aged were killed; children under seventeen were sold as slaves; of the rest some were sent to work in the mines, others to the provincial amphitheaters to fight for their lives or to be devoured by wild beasts, and others were reserved for the triumph of the conqueror.
The well-known arch of Titus at Rome depicts a part of the procession, skewing the golden candlestick, table of shewbread, and silver trumpets, taken from the temple, forming a striking tableau of the judgment of God against the guilty city, and against that temple which should ever have been an undefiled place of prayer and worship of Jehovah.
It will be remembered that our Lord when he foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, told His disciples that when they saw the city encompassed with armies they were to flee to the mountains, and that none outside were to enter in. (Luke 21:2121Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. (Luke 21:21).) In accordance with this, history records that the Christians departed in a body to Pella, a village of Decapolis, beyond Jordan, where they remained until permitted to return to Jerusalem by Hadrian.