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Author	: Bill Kochman
Publish	: Jun. 14, 2025
Update	: Jun. 14, 2025
Parts	: 25

Synopsis:




Continuing our discussion from part seven, as Publius Tacitus explains in the "Histories", having been chosen as the new emperor while still in Israel, general Vespasian was forced to abandon his war endeavors and return to Rome in order to begin his imperial reign, while at the same time, his son, Titus, continued the campaign against Jerusalem. That is why in the previous excerpt from chapter ten of the "Histories", Tacitus points out to his audience that "Peace having been established in Italy, foreign affairs were once more remembered".

In other words, now that the civil war was over, and a new emperor had been selected, it was time to once again turn their attention back to the ongoing war in Israel. Then he writes that is was "more expedient" for Vespasian to return to Rome, while Titus "should remain with the army." As he continues his description of the war, in Book 5 Chapter 1, Tacitus explains how General Titus gathered his forces and finally arrived at Jerusalem:

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Early in this year Titus Caesar, who had been selected by his father to complete the subjugation of Judaea, and who had gained distinction as a soldier while both were still subjects, began to rise in power and reputation, as armies and provinces emulated each other in their attachment to him . . . He found in Judaea three legions, the 5th, the 10th, and the 15th, all old troops of Vespasian's. To these he added the 12th from Syria, and some men belonging to the 18th and 3rd, whom he had withdrawn from Alexandria. This force was accompanied by twenty cohorts of allied troops and eight squadrons of cavalry, by the two kings Agrippa and Sohemus, by the auxiliary forces of king Antiochus, by a strong contingent of Arabs, who hated the Jews with the usual hatred of neighbours, and, lastly, by many persons brought from the capital and from Italy by private hopes of securing the yet unengaged affections of the Prince. With this force Titus entered the enemy's territory, preserving strict order on his march, reconnoitering every spot, and always ready to give battle. At last he encamped near Jerusalem.

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I find the previous excerpt a bit unusual, the reason being that Tacitus seems a little off with regard to his facts if we accept what Flavius Josephus wrote regarding these same events. As you may recall, Titus was sent to Alexandria with the specific task of retrieving the 5th and the 10th legions. His father already had the 15th legion with him, and they met up at Ptolemais. From there, as we have seen, they marched down through Israel, beginning in Galilee, and conquering as they went.

Yet Tacitus writes that Titus found both the 5th and the 10th legions in Israel, having been left there by his father. I do not quite understand why this discrepancy exists. Personally, I tend to accept what Josephus wrote, the reason being that he was actually on the field with both Vespasian and Titus. As such, he would be more familiar with what actually happened, while Tacitus wrote after the fact. Regarding the other kings and allies, Tacitus' account seems to agree with what Josephus also wrote.

After describing Titus' march to the outskirts of the city, Publius Tacitus then directs his attention to describing the history of the Jewish people according to his understanding -- which is quite flawed, as well as extremely negative -- and then he describes the geography and topography of Israel, as well as the corruption of its leaders. This is followed in the ninth chapter by a brief account of the Roman occupation of Israel beginning with Roman general Pompey years earlier.

In chapter nine, Tacitus also briefly describes how the Jews rebelled when Caligula declared himself a god, and attempted to have his statue set up in the temple in Jerusalem. He also mentions how Israel was divided into three provinces under the sons of Herod, as well as the excesses of Felix. As you may recall from the Scriptures, Felix -- who was appointed by Emperor Claudius, and who was married to Drusilla, who was the daughter of Herod Agrippa I -- is mentioned in the Book of Acts chapters twenty-three through twenty-four. Felix was responsible for keeping the Apostle Paul confined for two years, hoping that Paul would offer him money in order to secure his release from prison. Consider these excerpts that are taken from the "Histories" chapter nine:

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"The royal power, which had been bestowed by Antony on Herod, was augmented by the victorious Augustus. On Herod's death, one Simon, without waiting for the approbation of the Emperor, usurped the title of king. He was punished by Quintilius Varus then governor of Syria, and the nation, with its liberties curtailed, was divided into three provinces under the sons of Herod. Under Tiberius all was quiet. But when the Jews were ordered by Caligula to set up his statue in the temple, they preferred the alternative of war. The death of the Emperor put an end to the disturbance. The kings were either dead, or reduced to insignificance, when Claudius entrusted the province of Judaea to the Roman Knights or to his own freedmen, one of whom, Antonius Felix, indulging in every kind of barbarity and lust, exercised the power of a king in the spirit of a slave. He had married Drusilla, the granddaughter of Antony and Cleopatra, and so was the grandson-in-law, as Claudius was the grandson, of Antony."

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After delving into a few other topics, Tacitus returns to his account of General Titus and the battle for Jerusalem at the beginning of chapter eleven. After several attempts, the Romans finally forced the Jews to retreat inside the walls of Jerusalem. At this point, similar to the Babylonians hundreds of years earlier, Titus had two choices. Either he could let time and the siege takes its toll -- meaning slow starvation for the Jews -- or he could opt for an all-out assault. As Tacitus informs us, Titus chose the latter, as we see here:

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"Shortly afterwards the enemy retreated. During the following days they fought a series of engagements in front of the gates, till they were driven within the walls by continual defeats. The Romans then began to prepare for an assault. It seemed beneath them to await the result of famine. The army demanded the more perilous alternative, some prompted by courage, many by sheer ferocity and greed of gain. Titus himself had Rome with all its wealth and pleasures before his eyes. Jerusalem must fall at once, or it would delay his enjoyment of them."

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At this point, Tacitus describes how formidable of a task taking Jerusalem would be; not only because of the difficult topography of the land -- there were steep hills and cliffs -- but also due to the high, slanted walls which surrounded the city, and the maze of inner walls as well. In fact, he describes the temple itself as a citadel. That is to say, a great fortress.

In the twelfth chapter, Tacitus also explains how the forces in Jerusalem were divided into three factions. Each faction had their own general as well as their own army, and they all controlled different parts of the city. One faction consisted of Zealots who were led by John of Giscala, who as we learned in part seven fled like a coward with a large body of his men from the Galilean city of Gischala upon realizing that it was futile to try to fight against Titus and the Romans.

Thus, John's band of violent thugs now controlled a third of the city. As you will recall from part one, the most violent amongst the Zealots were the Sicarii -- or dagger men -- who would kill anyone for the sake of profit. That even included killing their own fellow Jews. Barabbas was probably a member of the Sicarii. Another faction which controlled one part of Jerusalem was led by Simon bar Giora, and a third faction was led by Eleazar. As we learned earlier in this series, as the Romans swooped down from the north conquering cities and villages as they advanced, all of the surviving radicals were forced into Jerusalem with its surrounding hills, cliffs and high walls.

Thus, as a result of these events, as Tacitus describes it in the quote below, the city of Jerusalem had indeed been filled with all manner of violent, wicked, murderous, seditious men who were constantly in competition with each other. Tacitus refers to these evil men as "a vast rabble collected from the overthrow of the other cities", meaning the cities of Galilee -- such as Gischala -- which the Romans had already conquered:

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"Their numbers were increased by a vast rabble collected from the overthrow of the other cities. All the most obstinate rebels had escaped into the place, and perpetual seditions were the consequence. There were three generals, and as many armies. Simon held the outer and larger circuit of walls. John, also called Bargioras, occupied the middle city. Eleazar had fortified the temple. John and Simon were strong in numbers and equipment, Eleazar in position. There were continual skirmishes, surprises, and incendiary fires, and a vast quantity of corn was burnt. Before long John sent some emissaries, who, under pretence of sacrificing, slaughtered Eleazar and his partisans, and gained possession of the temple. The city was thus divided between two factions, till, as the Romans approached, war with the foreigner brought about a reconciliation."

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As you can see, the three radical factions which had gained control of Jerusalem were not in unity by any means. In fact, they constantly clashed with each other, until John finally slaughtered Eleazar and his men, thus taking control of the temple compound. This then just left two factions defending the city of Jerusalem. Returning to the writings of Josephus, we discover that between these two historians, we are now at a confluence of events and historical accounts. In Chapter 3 of Book 4 of "The Wars of the Jews", Josephus describes the very same situation where Jerusalem has been run over by the Zealots. We begin with John's arrival in Jerusalem:

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"Now upon John's entry into Jerusalem the whole body of the people were in an uproar, and ten thousand of them crowded about every one of the fugitives that were come to them, and inquired of them what miseries had happened abroad, when their breath was so short, and hot, and quick, that of itself it declared the great distress they were in; yet did they talk big under their misfortunes, and pretended to say, that they had not fled away from the Romans, but came thither in order to fight them with less hazard; for that it would be an unreasonable and a fruitless thing for them to expose themselves to desperate hazards about Gischala, and such weak cities, whereas they ought to lay up their weapons and their zeal, and reserve it for their metropolis [meaning Jerusalem]."

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I find that absolutely mind-boggling! Cowards that they were, John and his band of killers and seditionists outright lied to the people of Jerusalem, and claimed that they thought it better to reserve their efforts so that they could come and defend Jerusalem. As if that wasn't already enough, while he wasn't able to convince the Jerusalemites that he and his men had left Gischala in a heroic manner, John continued to lie to the people of Jerusalem, and told them that not only were the Romans in a weakened state, but he convinced many of the young men of Jerusalem to join him in his revolt, by claiming that the Romans could never get over the walls of Jerusalem.

On the other hand, as you may recall, in part three we saw how King Herod Agrippa II gave a speech to the Jerusalemites in which he tried very hard to dissuade them from engaging in war against the Romans, only to find himself thrown out of the city by the radicals. It was at that point that Herod realized the utter futility of the situation, and chose to side with the Romans. But during that speech, we saw how the older and wiser people of Jerusalem clearly understood that their destruction was drawing closer. Sadly, the same thing happened with John of Gischala's speech. While John was able to radicalize the young men of Jerusalem, those who were of understanding again saw this as a sign that their doom was surely on its way. Thus, Josephus writes as follows:

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"But when they related to them the taking of Gischala, and their decent departure, as they pretended, from that place, many of the people understood it to be no better than a flight; and especially when the people were told of those that were made captives, they were in great confusion, and guessed those things to be plain indications that they should be taken also. But for John, he was very little concerned for those whom he had left behind him, but went about among all the people, and persuaded them to go to war, by the hopes he gave them. He affirmed that the affairs of the Romans were in a weak condition, and extolled his own power. He also jested upon the ignorance of the unskilful, as if those Romans, although they should take to themselves wings, could never fly over the wall of Jerusalem, who found such great difficulties in taking the villages of Galilee, and had broken their engines of war against their walls.

These harangues of John's corrupted a great part of the young men, and puffed them up for the war; but as to the more prudent part, and those in years, there was not a man of them but foresaw what was coming, and made lamentation on that account, as if the city was already undone: and in this confusion were the people."

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I have mentioned a few times now in this series regarding how the wiser people of Jerusalem truly understood the situation, and realized that they were doomed due to the actions of the insurrectionists, meaning the Zealots, sicarii and other evil men. It is interesting to note that in his Book, the Prophet Daniel mentions this very fact. Consider the following group of verses:

"And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength [meaning the temple], and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days. Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed."


After this, Josephus goes into a long description regarding how the entire Israelite nation was in a state of confusion and sedition; not just with the Romans, but with each other as well -- even within the same families -- because while some people wanted to make peace with the Romans, yet many others were intent on war. Besides all of this, there were the robbers, murderers and rapists who grew ever larger in number, and who finally left the countryside and crept into Jerusalem itself. Josephus notes that what occurred amongst the Jews themselves made them worse than the Romans. Thus, he writes as follows:

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"But then it must be observed, that the multitude that came out of the country were at discord before the Jerusalem SEDITION began; for Titus went from Gischala to Caesarea, and Vespasian from Caesarea to Jamnia and Azotus, and took them both; and when he had put garrisons into them he came back with a great number of the people, who were come over to him, upon his giving them his right hand for their preservation. There were besides disorders and civil wars in every city, and all these that were at quiet from the Romans turned their hands one against another. There was also a bitter contest between THOSE THAT WERE FOND OF WAR, and THOSE THAT WERE DESIROUS FOR PEACE. At the first this quarrelsome temper caught hold of private families, who could not agree among themselves; after which those people that were the dearest to one another brake through all restraints with regard to each other, and every one associated with those of his own opinion, and began already to stand in opposition one to another; so that SEDITIONS arose everywhere, while THOSE THAT WERE FOR INNOVATIONS [seditions], and were DESIROUS OF WAR, by their youth and boldness were too hard for the aged and the prudent men. And, in the first place, all the people of every place betook themselves to rapine; after which they got together in bodies, in order to rob the people of the country, insomuch that for barbarity and iniquity those of the same nation did no way differ from the Romans; nay, it seemed to be a much lighter thing to be ruined by the Romans than by themselves.

Now the Roman garrisons, which guarded the cities, partly out of their uneasiness to take such trouble upon them, and partly out of the hatred they bare to the Jewish nation, did little or nothing towards relieving the miserable, till the captains of these TROOPS OF ROBBERS being satiated with rapines in the country, got all together from all parts, and became a BAND OF WICKEDNESS, and all together CREPT INTO JERUSALEM, which was now become a city without a governor, and, as the ancient custom was, received without distinction all that belonged to their nation; and these they then received, because all men supposed that those who came so fast into the city, came out of kindness, and for their assistance, although these very men, besides the SEDITIONS they raised, WERE OTHERWISE THE DIRECT CAUSE OF THE CITY'S DESTRUCTION also; for as they were an unprofitable and a useless multitude, they spent these provisions before-hand which might otherwise have been sufficient for the fighting men. Moreover, besides the BRINGING ON THE WAR, they were the occasions of SEDITION and famine therein.

There were besides these other ROBBERS that came out of the country, and came into the city, and joining to them those that were worse than themselves, omitted no kind of barbarity; for they did not measure their courage by their rapines and plunderings only, but proceeded as far as murdering men; and this not in the night time or privately, or with regard to ordinary men, but did it openly in the day time, and began with the most eminent persons in the city;"

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So as you can plainly see, the entire nation was in a total mess with Jew turning against Jew, and rape, murder, robbery and betrayal occurring everywhere. Then that same violent mob of terrible people took over Jerusalem as well. In fact, Josephus writes that those wicked men began killing anyone in the city who opposed their wicked agenda, beginning with the noblemen of the city. As if that wasn't enough, Josephus informs his readers that those vile seditionists did away with the temple priesthood which was normally assigned to certain families, and they appointed their own high priests from amongst their wicked selves, as we read in this excerpt:

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"There were besides these other robbers that came out of the country, and came into the city, and joining to them those that were worse than themselves, omitted no kind of barbarity; for they did not measure their courage by their rapines and plunderings only, but proceeded as far as murdering men; and this not in the night time or privately, or with regard to ordinary men, but did it openly in the day time, and began with the most eminent persons in the city;

But these were not satisfied with the bonds into which they had put the men forementioned; nor did they think it safe for them to keep them thus in custody long, since they were men very powerful, and had numerous families of their own that were able to avenge them. Nay, they thought the very people would perhaps be so moved at these unjust proceedings, as to rise in a body against them: it was therefore resolved to have them slain. Accordingly, they sent one John, who was the most bloody-minded of them all, to do that execution: this man was also called the son of Dorcas, in the language of our country. Ten more men went along with him into the prison, with their swords drawn, and so they cut the throats of those that were in custody there.

Now the people were come to that degree of meanness and fear, and these robbers to that degree of madness, that THESE LAST TOOK UPON THEM TO APPOINT HIGH PRIESTS. So when THEY HAD DISANNULLED THE SUCCESSION, according to those families out of which the high priests used to be made, THEY ORDAINED CERTAIN UNKNOWN AND IGNOBLE PERSONS FOR THAT OFFICE, that they might have their assistance in their wicked undertakings; for such as obtained this highest of all honours, without any desert, were forced to comply with those that bestowed it on them. They also set the principal men at variance one with another, by several sorts of contrivances and tricks, and gained the opportunity of doing what they pleased, by the mutual quarrels of those who might have obstructed their measures; till at length, when they were satiated with the unjust actions they had done towards men, they transferred their contumelious [meaning scornful, insulting, insolent] behaviour to God himself, and CAME INTO THE SANCTUARY WITH POLLUTED FEET.

"Those men MADE THE TEMPLE OF GOD A STRONGHOLD FOR THEM, and a place whither they might resort, in order to avoid the troubles they feared from the people; THE SANCTUARY WAS NOW BECOME A REFUGE, and a SHOP OF TYRANNY. They also mixed jesting among the miseries they introduced, which was more intolerable than what they did; for in order to try what surprise the people would be under, and how far their own power extended, THEY UNDERTOOK TO DISPOSE OF THE HIGH PRIESTHOOD,"

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So as Josephus writes above, the insurrectionists "came into the sanctuary with polluted feet" -- meaning the temple -- just as Daniel had written centuries earlier. Eventually, the situation became so unbearable, that several of the real high priests finally spoke up. In particular, a high priest called Ananus gave a lengthy speech in which he strongly rebuked the inhabitants of Jerusalem due to their inaction against the seditionists, and for turning their heads and ignoring all of the violence which had been committed by those wicked men. In particular, Ananus emphasized how the insurrectionists had polluted the temple, and made a mockery of the priesthood by appointing their own false high priests.

Just as Josephus had written, Ananus likewise told them that what the seditionists were doing was worse than what even the Romans were doing to them. He pointed out their hypocrisy to them by telling them that while they complained and worried about oppression by the Romans, at the same time, they were willing to endure the same, and even worse oppression, under the Zealots, and yet do absolutely nothing about it. Ananus also told them that if they had acted sooner while the wicked men were smaller in number, maybe the Zealots might not have grown to such a large number to where they now controlled the city.

By means of this rousing speech, Ananus convinced the people to take up arms against the Zealots, and thus hopefully take back their city. However, sadly, the Zealots soon got wind of their plans, and they streamed out of the temple compound in murderous bands and began killing the Jerusalemites. Now even though they were not trained in warfare like the Zealots had been, nevertheless, Ananus and the multitude of Jerusalemites fought back, and it turned into one bloody mess, as we see by the following excerpt from Book 4 Chapter 3:

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Now while Ananus was choosing out his men, and putting those that were proper for his purpose in array for fighting, THE ZEALOTS got information of his undertaking (for there were some who went to them, and told them all that the people were doing,) and were irritated at it, and LEAPING OUT OF THE TEMPLE IN CROWDS, AND BY PARTIES, SPARED NONE WHOM THEY MET WITH. Upon this Ananus got the populace together on the sudden, who were MORE NUMEROUS indeed than THE ZEALOTS, but INFERIOR TO THEM IN ARMS, because they had not been regularly put into array for fighting, but the alacrity that everybody showed supplied all their defects on both sides, the citizens taking up so great a passion as was stronger than arms, and deriving a degree of courage from the temple, more forcible than any multitude whatsoever; and indeed these citizens thought it was not possible for them to dwell in the city, unless they could cut off THE ROBBERS that were in it. THE ZEALOTS also thought that unless they prevailed, there would be no punishment so bad, but it would be inflicted on them. So their conflicts were conducted by their passions, and at the first they only cast stones at each other in the city, and before the temple, and threw their javelins at a distance; but when either of them were too hard for the other, they made use of their swords; and GREAT SLAUGHTER WAS MADE ON BOTH SIDES, and a great number were wounded. As for the dead bodies of the people their relations carried them out to their own houses; but when any of THE ZEALOTS were wounded, he went up into the temple, and defiled that sacred floor with his blood, insomuch that one may say IT WAS THEIR BLOOD ALONE THAT POLLUTED OUR SANCTUARY,"

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Eventually, the Jerusalemites grew so angry at the Zealots, that not only did they become convinced that they could in fact defeat them and drive them out of the city, but their numbers grew in size as well so that the Zealots eventually became afraid of them, and the seditionists were forced to retreat back into the inner court of the temple, polluting it even more. Thus, Josephus writes as follows:

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"Now in these conflicts THE ROBBERS always sallied out of the temple, and were too hard for their enemies; but the populace grew very angry, and became more and more numerous, and reproached those that gave back, and those behind would not afford room to those that were going off, but forced them on again, till at length they made their whole body to turn against their adversaries, and THE ROBBERS could no longer oppose them, but were forced gradually to retire into the temple; when Ananus and his party fell into it at the same time together with them. THIS HORRIBLY AFFRIGHTED THE ROBBERS, because it deprived them of the first court; so THEY FLED INTO THE INNER COURT immediately, and shut the gates."

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Please go to part nine for the continuation of this series.


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