THE WARS OF THE JEWS
OR
THE HISTORY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM
Book VII: Chapter 8
CONCERNING MASADA AND THOSE SICARII
WHO KEPT IT; AND HOW SILVA BETOOK HIMSELF TO FORM THE
SIEGE OF THAT CITADEL. ELEAZAR'S SPEECHES TO THE
BESIEGED.
1. WHEN Bassus was dead in Judea, Flavius Silva
succeeded him as procurator there; who, when he saw
that all the rest of the country was subdued in this
war, and that there was but one only strong hold that
was still in rebellion, he got all his army together
that lay in different places, and made an expedition
against it. This fortress was called Masada. It was
one Eleazar, a potent man, and the commander of these
Sicarii, that had seized upon it. He was a descendant
from that Judas who had persuaded abundance of the
Jews, as we have formerly related, not to submit to
the taxation when Cyrenius was sent into Judea to make
one; for then it was that the Sicarii got together
against those that were willing to submit to the
Romans, and treated them in all respects as if they
had been their enemies, both by plundering them of
what they had, by driving away their cattle, and by
setting fire to their houses; for they said that they
differed not at all from foreigners, by betraying, in
so cowardly a manner, that freedom which Jews thought
worthy to be contended for to the utmost, and by
owning that they preferred slavery under the Romans
before such a contention. Now this was in reality no
better than a pretense and a cloak for the barbarity
which was made use of by them, and to color over their
own avarice, which they afterwards made evident by
their own actions; for those that were partners with
them in their rebellion joined also with them in the
war against the Romans, and went further lengths with
them in their impudent undertakings against them; and
when they were again convicted of dissembling in such
their pretenses, they still more abused those that
justly reproached them for their wickedness. And
indeed that was a time most fertile in all manner of
wicked practices, insomuch that no kind of evil deeds
were then left undone; nor could any one so much as
devise any bad thing that was new, so deeply were they
all infected, and strove with one another in their
single capacity, and in their communities, who should
run the greatest lengths in impiety towards God, and
in unjust actions towards their neighbors; the men of
power oppressing the multitude, and the multitude
earnestly laboring to destroy the men of power. The
one part were desirous of tyrannizing over others, and
the rest of offering violence to others, and of
plundering such as were richer than themselves. They
were the Sicarii who first began these transgressions,
and first became barbarous towards those allied to
them, and left no words of reproach unsaid, and no
works of perdition untried, in order to destroy those
whom their contrivances affected. Yet did John
demonstrate by his actions that these Sicarii were
more moderate than he was himself, for he not only
slew all such as gave him good counsel to do what was
right, but treated them worst of all, as the most
bitter enemies that he had among all the Citizens;
nay, he filled his entire country with ten thousand
instances of wickedness, such as a man who was already
hardened sufficiently in his impiety towards God would
naturally do; for the food was unlawful that was set
upon his table, and he rejected those purifications
that the law of his country had ordained; so that it
was no longer a wonder if he, who was so mad in his
impiety towards God, did not observe any rules of
gentleness and common affection towards men. Again,
therefore, what mischief was there which Simon the son
of Gioras did not do? or what kind of abuses did he
abstain from as to those very free-men who had set him
up for a tyrant? What friendship or kindred were there
that did not make him more bold in his daily murders?
for they looked upon the doing of mischief to
strangers only as a work beneath their courage, but
thought their barbarity towards their nearest
relations would be a glorious demonstration thereof.
The Idumeans also strove with these men who should be
guilty of the greatest madness! for they [all], vile
wretches as they were, cut the throats of the high
priests, that so no part of a religious regard to God.
might be preserved; they thence proceeded to destroy
utterly the least remains of a political government,
and introduced the most complete scene of iniquity in
all instances that were practicable; under which scene
that sort of people that were called zealots grew up,
and who indeed corresponded to the name; for they
imitated every wicked work; nor, if their memory
suggested any evil thing that had formerly been done,
did they avoid zealously to pursue the same; and
although they gave themselves that name from their
zeal for what was good, yet did it agree to them only
by way of irony, on account of those they had unjustly
treated by their wild and brutish disposition, or as
thinking the greatest mischiefs to be the greatest
good. Accordingly, they all met with such ends as God
deservedly brought upon them in way of punishment; for
all such miseries have been sent upon them as man's
nature is capable of undergoing, till the utmost
period of their lives, and till death came upon them
in various ways of torment; yet might one say justly
that they suffered less than they had done, because it
was impossible they could be punished according to
their deserving. But to make a lamentation according
to the deserts of those who fell under these men's
barbarity, this is not a proper place for it; - I
therefore now return again to the remaining part of
the present narration.
2. For now it was that the Roman general came, and
led his army against Eleazar and those Sicarii who
held the fortress Masada together with him; and for
the whole country adjoining, he presently gained it,
and put garrisons into the most proper places of it;
he also built a wall quite round the entire fortress,
that none of the besieged might easily escape; he also
set his men to guard the several parts of it; he also
pitched his camp in such an agreeable place as he had
chosen for the siege, and at which place the rock
belonging to the fortress did make the nearest
approach to the neighboring mountain, which yet was a
place of difficulty for getting plenty of provisions;
for it was not only food that was to be brought from a
great distance [to the army], and this with a great
deal of pain to those Jews who were appointed for that
purpose, but water was also to be brought to the camp,
because the place afforded no fountain that was near
it. When therefore Silva had ordered these affairs
beforehand, he fell to besieging the place; which
siege was likely to stand in need of a great deal of
skill and pains, by reason of the strength of the
fortress, the nature of which I will now describe.
3. There was a rock, not small in circumference,
and very high. It was encompassed with valleys of such
vast depth downward, that the eye could not reach
their bottoms; they were abrupt, and such as no animal
could walk upon, excepting at two places of the rock,
where it subsides, in order to afford a passage for
ascent, though not without difficulty. Now, of the
ways that lead to it, one is that from the lake
Asphaltiris, towards the sun-rising, and another on
the west, where the ascent is easier: the one of these
ways is called the Serpent, as resembling that
animal in its narrowness and its perpetual windings;
for it is broken off at the prominent precipices of
the rock, and returns frequently into itself, and
lengthening again by little and little, hath much ado
to proceed forward; and he that would walk along it
must first go on one leg, and then on the other; there
is also nothing but destruction, in case your feet
slip; for on each side there is a vastly deep chasm
and precipice, sufficient to quell the courage of
every body by the terror it infuses into the mind.
When, therefore, a man hath gone along this way for
thirty furlongs, the rest is the top of the hill - not
ending at a small point, but is no other than a plain
upon the highest part of the mountain. Upon this top
of the hill, Jonathan the high priest first of all
built a fortress, and called it Masada: after which
the rebuilding of this place employed the care of king
Herod to a great degree; he also built a wall round
about the entire top of the hill, seven furlongs long;
it was composed of white stone; its height was twelve,
and its breadth eight cubits; there were also erected
upon that wall thirty-eight towers, each of them fifty
cubits high; out of which you might pass into lesser
edifices, which were built on the inside, round the
entire wall; for the king reserved the top of the
hill, which was of a fat soil, and better mould than
any valley for agriculture, that such as committed
themselves to this fortress for their preservation
might not even there be quite destitute of food, in
case they should ever be in want of it from abroad.
Moreover, he built a palace therein at the western
ascent; it was within and beneath the walls of the
citadel, but inclined to its north side. Now the wall
of this palace was very high and strong, and had at
its four corners towers sixty cubits high. The
furniture also of the edifices, and of the cloisters,
and of the baths, was of great variety, and very
costly; and these buildings were supported by pillars
of single stones on every side; the walls and also the
floors of the edifices were paved with stones of
several colors. He also had cut many and great pits,
as reservoirs for water, out of the rocks, at every
one of the places that were inhabited, both above and
round about the palace, and before the wall; and by
this contrivance he endeavored to have water for
several uses, as if there had been fountains there.
Here was also a road digged from the palace, and
leading to the very top of the mountain, which yet
could not be seen by such as were without [the walls];
nor indeed could enemies easily make use of the plain
roads; for the road on the east side, as we have
already taken notice, could not be walked upon, by
reason of its nature; and for the western road, he
built a large tower at its narrowest place, at no less
a distance from the top of the hill than a thousand
cubits; which tower could not possibly be passed by,
nor could it be easily taken; nor indeed could those
that walked along it without any fear (such was its
contrivance) easily get to the end of it; and after
such a manner was this citadel fortified, both by
nature and by the hands of men, in order to frustrate
the attacks of enemies.
4. As for the furniture that was within this
fortress, it was still more wonderful on account of
its splendor and long continuance; for here was laid
up corn in large quantities, and such as would subsist
men for a long time; here was also wine and oil in
abundance, with all kinds of pulse and dates heaped up
together; all which Eleazar found there, when he and
his Sicarii got possession of the fortress by
treachery. These fruits were also fresh and full ripe,
and no way inferior to such fruits newly laid in,
although they were little short of a hundred years
from the laying in these provisions [by Herod], till
the place was taken by the Romans; nay, indeed, when
the Romans got possession of those fruits that were
left, they found them not corrupted all that while;
nor should we be mistaken, if we supposed that the air
was here the cause of their enduring so long; this
fortress being so high, and so free from the mixture
of all terrain and muddy particles of matter. There
was also found here a large quantity of all sorts of
weapons of war, which had been treasured up by that
king, and were sufficient for ten thousand men; there
was east iron, and brass, and tin, which show that he
had taken much pains to have all things here ready for
the greatest occasions; for the report goes how Herod
thus prepared this fortress on his own account, as a
refuge against two kinds of danger; the one for fear
of the multitude of the Jews, lest they should depose
him, and restore their former kings to the government;
the other danger was greater and more terrible, which
arose from Cleopatra queen of Egypt, who did not
conceal her intentions, but spoke often to Antony, and
desired him to cut off Herod, and entreated him to
bestow the kingdom of Judea upon her. And certainly it
is a great wonder that Antony did never comply with
her commands in this point, as he was so miserably
enslaved to his passion for her; nor should any one
have been surprised if she had been gratified in such
her request. So the fear of these dangers made Herod
rebuild Masada, and thereby leave it for the finishing
stroke of the Romans in this Jewish war.
5. Since therefore the Roman commander Silva had
now built a wall on the outside, round about this
whole place, as we have said already, and had thereby
made a most accurate provision to prevent any one of
the besieged running away, he undertook the siege
itself, though he found but one single place that
would admit of the banks he was to raise; for behind
that tower which secured the road that led to the
palace, and to the top of the hill from the west;
there was a certain eminency of the rock, very broad
and very prominent, but three hundred cubits beneath
the highest part of Masada; it was called the White
Promontory. Accordingly, he got upon that part of the
rock, and ordered the army to bring earth; and when
they fell to that work with alacrity, and abundance of
them together, the bank was raised, and became solid
for two hundred cubits in height. Yet was not this
bank thought sufficiently high for the use of the
engines that were to be set upon it; but still another
elevated work of great stones compacted together was
raised upon that bank; this was fifty cubits, both in
breadth and height. The other machines that were now
got ready were like to those that had been first
devised by Vespasian, and afterwards by Titus, for
sieges. There was also a tower made of the height of
sixty cubits, and all over plated with iron, out of
which the Romans threw darts and stones from the
engines, and soon made those that fought from the
walls of the place to retire, and would not let them
lift up their heads above the works. At the same time
Silva ordered that great battering ram which he had
made to be brought thither, and to be set against the
wall, and to make frequent batteries against it, which
with some difficulty broke down a part of the wall,
and quite overthrew it. However, the Sicarii made
haste, and presently built another wall within that,
which should not be liable to the same misfortune from
the machines with the other; it was made soft and
yielding, and so was capable of avoiding the terrible
blows that affected the other. It was framed after the
following manner: They laid together great beams of
wood lengthways, one close to the end of another, and
the same way in which they were cut: there were two of
these rows parallel to one another, and laid at such a
distance from each other as the breadth of the wall
required, and earth was put into the space between
those rows. Now, that the earth might not fall away
upon the elevation of this bank to a greater height,
they further laid other beams over cross them, and
thereby bound those beams together that lay
lengthways. This work of theirs was like a real
edifice; and when the machines were applied, the blows
were weakened by its yielding; and as the materials by
such concussion were shaken closer together, the pile
by that means became firmer than before. When Silva
saw this, he thought it best to endeavor the taking of
this wall by setting fire to it; so he gave order that
the soldiers should throw a great number of burning
torches upon it: accordingly, as it was chiefly made
of wood, it soon took fire; and when it was once set
on fire, its hollowness made that fire spread to a
mighty flame. Now, at the very beginning of this fire,
a north wind that then blew proved terrible to the
Romans; for by bringing the flame downward, it drove
it upon them, and they were almost in despair of
success, as fearing their machines would be burnt: but
after this, on a sudden the wind changed into the
south, as if it were done by Divine Providence, and
blew strongly the contrary way, and carried the flame,
and drove it against the wall, which was now on fire
through its entire thickness. So the Romans, having
now assistance from God, returned to their camp with
joy, and resolved to attack their enemies the very
next day; on which occasion they set their watch more
carefully that night, lest any of the Jews should run
away from them without being discovered.
6. However, neither did Eleazar once think of
flying away, nor would he permit any one else to do
so; but when he saw their wall burned down by the
fire, and could devise no other way of escaping, or
room for their further courage, and setting before
their eyes what the Romans would do to them, their
children, and their wives, if they got them into their
power, he consulted about having them all slain. Now
as he judged this to be the best thing they could do
in their present circumstances, he gathered the most
courageous of his companions together, and encouraged
them to take that course by a speech which he made to
them in the manner following: "Since we, long ago, my
generous friends, resolved never to be servants to the
Romans, nor to any other than to God himself, who
alone is the true and just Lord of mankind, the time
is now come that obliges us to make that resolution
true in practice. And let us not at this time bring a
reproach upon ourselves for self-contradiction, while
we formerly would not undergo slavery, though it were
then without danger, but must now, together with
slavery, choose such punishments also as are
intolerable; I mean this, upon the supposition that
the Romans once reduce us under their power while we
are alive. We were the very first that revolted from
them, and we are the last that fight against them; and
I cannot but esteem it as a favor that God hath
granted us, that it is still in our power to die
bravely, and in a state of freedom, which hath not
been the case of others, who were conquered
unexpectedly. It is very plain that we shall be taken
within a day's time; but it is still an eligible thing
to die after a glorious manner, together with our
dearest friends. This is what our enemies themselves
cannot by any means hinder, although they be very
desirous to take us alive. Nor can we propose to
ourselves any more to fight them, and beat them. It
had been proper indeed for us to have conjectured at
the purpose of God much sooner, and at the very first,
when we were so desirous of defending our liberty, and
when we received such sore treatment from one another,
and worse treatment from our enemies, and to have been
sensible that the same God, who had of old taken the
Jewish nation into his favor, had now condemned them
to destruction; for had he either continued favorable,
or been but in a lesser degree displeased with us, he
had not overlooked the destruction of so many men, or
delivered his most holy city to be burnt and
demolished by our enemies. To be sure we weakly hoped
to have preserved ourselves, and ourselves alone,
still in a state of freedom, as if we had been guilty
of no sins ourselves against God, nor been partners
with those of others; we also taught other men to
preserve their liberty. Wherefore, consider how God
hath convinced us that our hopes were in vain, by
bringing such distress upon us in the desperate state
we are now in, and which is beyond all our
expectations; for the nature of this fortress which
was in itself unconquerable, hath not proved a means
of our deliverance; and even while we have still great
abundance of food, and a great quantity of arms, and
other necessaries more than we want, we are openly
deprived by God himself of all hope of deliverance;
for that fire which was driven upon our enemies did
not of its own accord turn back upon the wall which we
had built; this was the effect of God's anger against
us for our manifold sins, which we have been guilty of
in a most insolent and extravagant manner with regard
to our own countrymen; the punishments of which let us
not receive from the Romans, but from God himself, as
executed by our own hands; for these will be more
moderate than the other. Let our wives die before they
are abused, and our children before they have tasted
of slavery; and after we have slain them, let us
bestow that glorious benefit upon one another
mutually, and preserve ourselves in freedom, as an
excellent funeral monument for us. But first let us
destroy our money and the fortress by fire; for I am
well assured that this will be a great grief to the
Romans, that they shall not be able to seize upon our
bodies, and shall fall of our wealth also; and let us
spare nothing but our provisions; for they will be a
testimonial when we are dead that we were not subdued
for want of necessaries, but that, according to our
original resolution, we have preferred death before
slavery."
7. This was Eleazar's speech to them. Yet did not
the opinions of all the auditors acquiesce therein;
but although some of them were very zealous to put his
advice in practice, and were in a manner filled with
pleasure at it, and thought death to be a good thing,
yet had those that were most effeminate a
commiseration for their wives and families; and when
these men were especially moved by the prospect of
their own certain death, they looked wistfully at one
another, and by the tears that were in their eyes
declared their dissent from his opinion. When Eleazar
saw these people in such fear, and that their souls
were dejected at so prodigious a proposal, he was
afraid lest perhaps these effeminate persons should,
by their lamentations and tears, enfeeble those that
heard what he had said courageously; so he did not
leave off exhorting them, but stirred up himself, and
recollecting proper arguments for raising their
courage, he undertook to speak more briskly and fully
to them, and that concerning the immortality of the
soul. So he made a lamentable groan, and fixing his
eyes intently on those that wept, he spake thus:
"Truly, I was greatly mistaken when I thought to be
assisting to brave men who struggled hard for their
liberty, and to such as were resolved either to live
with honor, or else to die; but I find that you are
such people as are no better than others, either in
virtue or in courage, and are afraid of dying, though
you be delivered thereby from the greatest miseries,
while you ought to make no delay in this matter, nor
to await any one to give you good advice; for the laws
of our country, and of God himself, have from ancient
times, and as soon as ever we could use our reason,
continually taught us, and our forefathers have
corroborated the same doctrine by their actions, and
by their bravery of mind, that it is life that is a
calamity to men, and not death; for this last affords
our souls their liberty, and sends them by a removal
into their own place of purity, where they are to be
insensible of all sorts of misery; for while souls are
tied clown to a mortal body, they are partakers of its
miseries; and really, to speak the truth, they are
themselves dead; for the union of what is divine to
what is mortal is disagreeable. It is true, the power
of the soul is great, even when it is imprisoned in a
mortal body; for by moving it after a way that is
invisible, it makes the body a sensible instrument,
and causes it to advance further in its actions than
mortal nature could otherwise do. However, when it is
freed from that weight which draws it down to the
earth and is connected with it, it obtains its own
proper place, and does then become a partaker of that
blessed power, and those abilities, which are then
every way incapable of being hindered in their
operations. It continues invisible, indeed, to the
eyes of men, as does God himself; for certainly it is
not itself seen while it is in the body; for it is
there after an invisible manner, and when it is freed
from it, it is still not seen. It is this soul which
hath one nature, and that an incorruptible one also;
but yet it is the cause of the change that is made in
the body; for whatsoever it be which the soul touches,
that lives and flourishes; and from whatsoever it is
removed, that withers away and dies; such a degree is
there in it of immortality. Let me produce the state
of sleep as a most evident demonstration of the truth
of what I say; wherein souls, when the body does not
distract them, have the sweetest rest depending on
themselves, and conversing with God, by their alliance
to him; they then go every where, and foretell many
futurities beforehand. And why are we afraid of death,
while we are pleased with the rest that we have in
sleep? And how absurd a thing is it to pursue after
liberty while we are alive, and yet to envy it to
ourselves where it will be eternal! We, therefore, who
have been brought up in a discipline of our own, ought
to become an example to others of our readiness to
die. Yet, if we do stand in need of foreigners to
support us in this matter, let us regard those Indians
who profess the exercise of philosophy; for these good
men do but unwillingly undergo the time of life, and
look upon it as a necessary servitude, and make haste
to let their souls loose from their bodies; nay, when
no misfortune presses them to it, nor drives them upon
it, these have such a desire of a life of immortality,
that they tell other men beforehand that they are
about to depart; and nobody hinders them, but every
one thinks them happy men, and gives them letters to
be carried to their familiar friends [that are dead],
so firmly and certainly do they believe that souls
converse with one another [in the other world]. So
when these men have heard all such commands that were
to be given them, they deliver their body to the fire;
and, in order to their getting their soul a separation
from the body in the greatest purity, they die in the
midst of hymns of commendations made to them; for
their dearest friends conduct them to their death more
readily than do any of the rest of mankind conduct
their fellow-citizens when they are going a very long
journey, who at the same time weep on their own
account, but look upon the others as happy persons, as
so soon to be made partakers of the immortal order of
beings. Are not we, therefore, ashamed to have lower
notions than the Indians? and by our own cowardice to
lay a base reproach upon the laws of our country,
which are so much desired and imitated by all mankind?
But put the case that we had been brought up under
another persuasion, and taught that life is the
greatest good which men are capable of, and that death
is a calamity; however, the circumstances we are now
in ought to he an inducement to us to bear such
calamity courageously, since it is by the will of God,
and by necessity, that we are to die; for it now
appears that God hath made such a decree against the
whole Jewish nation, that we are to be deprived of
this life which [he knew] we would not make a due use
of. For do not you ascribe the occasion of our present
condition to yourselves, nor think the Romans are the
true occasion that this war we have had with them is
become so destructive to us all: these things have not
come to pass by their power, but a more powerful cause
hath intervened, and made us afford them an occasion
of their appearing to be conquerors over us. What
Roman weapons, I pray you, were those by which the
Jews at Cesarea were slain? On the contrary, when they
were no way disposed to rebel, but were all the while
keeping their seventh day festival, and did not so
much as lift up their hands against the citizens of
Cesarea, yet did those citizens run upon them in great
crowds, and cut their throats, and the throats of
their wives and children, and this without any regard
to the Romans themselves, who never took us for their
enemies till we revolted from them. But some may be
ready to say, that truly the people of Cesarea had
always a quarrel against those that lived among them,
and that when an opportunity offered itself, they only
satisfied the old rancor they had against them. What
then shall we say to those of Scythopolis, who
ventured to wage war with us on account of the Greeks?
Nor did they do it by way of revenge upon the Romans,
when they acted in concert with our countrymen.
Wherefore you see how little our good-will and
fidelity to them profiled us, while they were slain,
they and their whole families, after the most inhuman
manner, which was all the requital that was made them
for the assistance they had afforded the others; for
that very same destruction which they had prevented
from falling upon the others did they suffer
themselves from them, as if they had been ready to be
the actors against them. It would be too long for me
to speak at this time of every destruction brought
upon us; for you cannot but know that there was not
any one Syrian city which did not slay their Jewish
inhabitants, and were not more bitter enemies to us
than were the Romans themselves; nay, even those of
Damascus, when they were able to allege no tolerable
pretense against us, filled their city with the most
barbarous slaughters of our people, and cut the
throats of eighteen thousand Jews, with their wives
and children. And as to the multitude of those that
were slain in Egypt, and that with torments also, we
have been informed they were more than sixty thousand;
those indeed being in a foreign country, and so
naturally meeting with nothing to oppose against their
enemies, were killed in the manner forementioned. As
for all those of us who have waged war against the
Romans in our own country, had we not sufficient
reason to have sure hopes of victory? For we had arms,
and walls, and fortresses so prepared as not to be
easily taken, and courage not to be moved by any
dangers in the cause of liberty, which encouraged us
all to revolt from the Romans. But then these
advantages sufficed us but for a short time, and only
raised our hopes, while they really appeared to be the
origin of our miseries; for all we had hath been taken
from us, and all hath fallen under our enemies, as if
these advantages were only to render their victory
over us the more glorious, and were not disposed for
the preservation of those by whom these preparations
were made. And as for those that are already dead in
the war, it is reasonable we should esteem them
blessed, for they are dead in defending, and not in
betraying their liberty; but as to the multitude of
those that are now under the Romans, who would not
pity their condition? and who would not make haste to
die, before he would suffer the same miseries with
them? Some of them have been put upon the rack, and
tortured with fire and whippings, and so died. Some
have been half devoured by wild beasts, and yet have
been reserved alive to be devoured by them a second
time, in order to afford laughter and sport to our
enemies; and such of those as are alive still are to
be looked on as the most miserable, who, being so
desirous of death, could not come at it. And where is
now that great city, the metropolis of the Jewish
nation, which vas fortified by so many walls round
about, which had so many fortresses and large towers
to defend it, which could hardly contain the
instruments prepared for the war, and which had so
many ten thousands of men to fight for it? Where is
this city that was believed to have God himself
inhabiting therein? It is now demolished to the very
foundations, and hath nothing but that monument of it
preserved, I mean the camp of those that hath
destroyed it, which still dwells upon its ruins; some
unfortunate old men also lie upon the ashes of the
temple, and a few women are there preserved alive by
the enemy, for our bitter shame and reproach. Now who
is there that revolves these things in his mind, and
yet is able to bear the sight of the sun, though he
might live out of danger? Who is there so much his
country's enemy, or so unmanly, and so desirous of
living, as not to repent that he is still alive? And I
cannot but wish that we had all died before we had
seen that holy city demolished by the hands of our
enemies, or the foundations of our holy temple dug up
after so profane a manner. But since we had a generous
hope that deluded us, as if we might perhaps have been
able to avenge ourselves on our enemies on that
account, though it be now become vanity, and hath left
us alone in this distress, let us make haste to die
bravely. Let us pity ourselves, our children, and our
wives while it is in our own power to show pity to
them; for we were born to die, as well as those were
whom we have begotten; nor is it in the power of the
most happy of our race to avoid it. But for abuses,
and slavery, and the sight of our wives led away after
an ignominious manner, with their children, these are
not such evils as are natural and necessary among men;
although such as do not prefer death before those
miseries, when it is in their power so to do, must
undergo even them, on account of their own cowardice.
We revolted from the Romans with great pretensions to
courage; and when, at the very last, they invited us
to preserve ourselves, we would not comply with them.
Who will not, therefore, believe that they will
certainly be in a rage at us, in case they can take us
alive? Miserable will then be the young men who will
be strong enough in their bodies to sustain many
torments! miserable also will be those of elder years,
who will not be able to bear those calamities which
young men might sustain! One man will be obliged to
hear the voice of his son implore help of his father,
when his hands are bound. But certainly our hands are
still at liberty, and have a sword in them; let them
then be subservient to us in our glorious design; let
us die before we become slaves under our eneimies, and
let us go out of the world, together with our children
and our wives, in a state of freedom. This it is that
our laws command us to do this it is that our wives
and children crave at our hands; nay, God himself hath
brought this necessity upon us; while the Romans
desire the contrary, and are afraid lest any of us
should die before we are taken. Let us therefore make
haste, and instead of affording them so much pleasure,
as they hope for in getting us under their power, let
us leave them an example which shall at once cause
their astonishment at our death, and their admiration
of our hardiness therein."
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