Destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D....taken from Josephus's eyewitness account quoted in Eusebius's History of the Church written approx. 300 A.D.
The Chritians of the first three centuries believed that the destruction of 70 A.D. fuflilled Jesus's words in Matt. 24
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Chapter V. The Last Siege of the Jews After Christ.
1 After Nero had held the power thirteen years,60 and Galba and Otho had ruled a year and
six months,61 Vespasian, who had become distinguished in the campaigns against the Jews,
was proclaimed sovereign in Judea and received the title of Emperor from the armies there.62
Setting out immediately, therefore, for Rome, he entrusted the conduct of the war against the
Jews to his son Titus.63
2 For the Jews after the ascension of our Saviour, in addition to their crime against him, had
been devising as many plots as they could against his apostles. First Stephen was stoned to
death by them,64 and after him James, the son of Zebedee and the brother of John, was
beheaded,65 and finally James, the first that had obtained the episcopal seat in Jerusalem after
the ascension of our Saviour, died in the manner already described.66 But the rest of the
apostles, who had been incessantly plotted against with a view to their destruction, and had
been driven out of the land of Judea, went unto all nations to preach the Gospel,67 relying upon
the power of Christ, who had said to them, "Go ye and make disciples of all the nations in my
name."68
3 But the people of the church in Jerusalem had been commanded by a revelation, vouchsafed
to approved men there before the war, to leave the city and to dwell in a certain town of Perea
called Pella.69 And when those that believed in Christ had come thither from Jerusalem, then,
as if the royal city of the Jews and the whole land of Judea were entirely destitute of holy men,
the judgment of God at length overtook those who had committed such outrages against Christ
and his apostles, and totally destroyed that generation of impious men.
4 But the number of calamities which everywhere fell upon the nation at that time; the extreme
misfortunes to which the inhabitants of Judea were especially subjected, the thousands of men,
as well as women and children, that perished by the sword, by famine, and by other forms of
death innumerable,-all these things, as well as the many great sieges which were carried on
against the cities of Judea, and the excessive. sufferings endured by those that fled to Jerusalem
itself, as to a city of perfect safety, and finally the general course of the whole war, as well as its
particular occurrences in detail, and how at last the abomination of desolation, proclaimed by
the prophets,70 stood in the very temple of God, so celebrated of old, the temple which was
now awaiting its total and final destruction by fire,- all these things any one that wishes may find
accurately described in the history written by Josephus.71
5 But it is necessary to state that this writer records that the multitude of those who were
assembled from all Judea at the time of the Passover, to the number of three million souls,72
were shut up in Jerusalem "as in a prison," to use his own words.
6 For it was right that in the very days in which they had inflicted suffering upon the Saviour
and the Benefactor of all, the Christ of God, that in those days, shut up "as in a prison," they
should meet with destruction at the hands of divine justice.
7 But passing by the particular calamities which they suffered from the attempts made upon
them by the sword and by other means, I think it necessary to relate only the misfortunes which
the famine caused, that those who read this work may have some means of knowing that God
was not long in executing vengeance upon them for their wickedness against the Christ of God.
Chapter VI. The Famine Which Oppressed Them.
1 Taking the fifth book of the History ofJosephus again in our hands, let us go through the
tragedy of events which then occurred.73
2 "For the wealthy," he says, "it was equally dangerous to remain. For under pretense that they
were going to desert men were put to death for their wealth. The madness of the seditions
increased with the famine and both the miseries were inflamed more and more day by day.
3 Nowhere was food to be seen; but, bursting into the houses men searched them thoroughly,
and whenever they found anything to eat they tormented the owners on the ground that they
had denied that they had anything; but if they found nothing, they tortured them on the ground
that they had more carefully concealed it.
4 The proof of their having or not having food was found in the bodies of the poor wretches.
Those of them who were still in good condition they assumed were well supplied with food,
while those who were already wasted away they passed by, for it seemed absurd to slay those
who were on the point of perishing for want.
5 Many, indeed, secretly sold their possessions for one measure of wheat, if they belonged to
the wealthier class, of barley if they were poorer. Then shutting themselves up in the innermost
parts of their houses, some ate the grain uncooked on account of their terrible want, while
others baked it according as necessity and6fear dictated.
6 Nowhere were tables set, but, snatching the yet uncooked food from the fire, they tore it in
pieces. Wretched was the fare, and a lamentable spectacle it was to see the more powerful
secure an abundance while the weaker mourned.
7 Of all evils, indeed, famine is the worst, and it destroys nothing so effectively as shame. For
that which under other circumstances is worthy of respect, in the midst of famine is despised.
Thus women snatched the food from the very mouths of their husbands and children, from their
fathers, and what was most pitiable of all, mothers from their babes, And while their dearest
ones were wasting away in their arms, they Were not ashamed to take away froth them the last
drops that supported life.
8 And even while they were eating thus they did not remain undiscovered. But everywhere the
rioters appeared, to rob them even of these portions of food. For whenever they saw a house
shut up, they regarded it as a sign that those inside were taking food. And immediately bursting
open the doors they rushed in and seized what they were eating, almost forcing it out of their
very throats.
9 Old men who clung to their food were beaten, and if the women concealed it in their hands,
their hair was torn for so doing. There was pity neither for gray hairs nor for infants, but, taking
up the babes that clung to their morsels of food, they dashed them to the ground. But to those
that anticipated their entrance and swallowed what they were about to seize, they were still
more cruel, just as if they had been wronged by them.
10 And they, devised the most terrible modes of torture to discover food, stopping up the
privy passages of the poor wretches with bitter herbs, and piercing their seats with sharp rods.
And men suffered things horrible even to hear of, for the sake of compelling them to confess to
the possession of one loaf of bread, or in order that they might be made to disclose a single
drachm of barley which they had concealed. But the tormentors themselves did not suffer
hunger.
11 Their conduct might indeed have seemed less barbarous if they had been driven to it by
necessity; but they did it for the sake of exercising their madness and of providing sustenance
for themselves for days to come.
12 And when any one crept out of the city by night as far as the outposts of the Romans to
collect wild herbs and grass, they went to meet him; and when he thought he had already
escaped the enemy, they seized what he had brought with him, and even though oftentimes the
man would entreat them, and, calling upon the most awful name of God, adjure them to give
him a portion of what he had obtained at the risk of his life, they would give him nothing back.
Indeed, it was fortunate if the one that was plundered was not also slain."
13 To this account Josephus, after relating other things, adds the following:74 "The possibility of
going out of the city being brought to an end,75 all hope of safety for the Jews was cut off. And
the famine increased and devoured the people by houses and families. And the rooms were
filled with dead women and children, the lanes of the city with the corpses of old men.
14 Children and youths, swollen with the famine, wandered about the market-places like
shadows, and fell down wherever the death agony overtook them. The sick were not strong
enough to bury even their own relatives, and those who had the strength hesitated because of
the multitude of the dead and the uncertainty as to their own fate. Many, indeed, died while
they were burying others, and many betook themselves to their graves before death came upon
them.
15 There was neither weeping nor lamentation under these misfortunes; but the famine stifled
the natural affections. Those that were dying a lingering death looked with dry eyes upon those
that had gone to their rest before them. Deep silence and death-laden night encircled the city.
16 But the robbers were more terrible than these miseries; for they broke open the houses,
which were now mere sepulchres, robbed the dead and stripped the covering from their
bodies, and went away with a laugh. They tried the points of their swords in the dead bodies,
and some that were lying on the ground still alive they thrust through in order to test their
weapons. But those that prayed that they would use their right hand and their sword upon
them, they contemptuously left to be destroyed by the famine. Every one of these died with
eyes fixed upon the temple; and they left the seditious alive.
17 These at first gave orders that thedead should be buried out of the public treasury, for they
could not endure the stench. But afterward, when they were not able to do this, they threw the
bodies from the walls into the trenches.
18 And as Titus went around and saw the trenches filled with the dead, and the thick blood
oozing out of the putrid bodies, he groaned aloud, and, raising his hands, called God to witness
that this was not his doing."
19 After speaking of some other things, Josephus proceeds as follows:76 "I cannot hesitate to
declare what my feelings compel me to. I suppose, if the Romans had longer delayed in coming
against these guilty wretches, the city would have been swallowed up by a chasm, or
overwhelmed with a flood, or struck with such thunderbolts as destroyed Sodom. For it had
brought forth a generation of men much more godless than were those that suffered such
punishment. By their madness indeed was the whole people brought to destruction."
20 And in the sixth book he writes as follows:77 "Of those that perished by famine in the city
the number was countless, and the miseries they underwent unspeakable. For if so much as the
shadow of food appeared in any house, there was war, and the dearest friends engaged in
hand-to-hand conflict with one another, and snatched from each other the most wretched
supports of life.
21 Nor would they believe that even the dying were without food; but the robbers would
search them while they were expiring, lest any one should feign death while concealing food in
his bosom. With mouths gaping for want of food, they stumbled and staggered along like mad
dogs, and beat the doors as if they were drunk, and in their impotence they would rush into the
same houses twice or thrice in one hour.
22 Necessity compelled them to eat anything they could find, and they gathered and devoured
things that were not fit even for the filthiest of irrational beasts. Finally they did not abstain even
from their girdles and shoes, and they stripped the hides off their shields and devoured them.
Some used even wisps of old hay for food, and others gathered stubble and sold the smallest
weight of it for four Attic drachmae.78
23 "But why should I speak of the shamelessness which was displayed during the famine
toward inanimate things? For I am going to relate a fact such as is recorded neither by Greeks
nor Barbarians; horrible to relate, incredible to hear. And indeed I should gladly have omitted
this calamity, that I might not seem to posterity to be a teller of fabulous tales, if I had not
innumerable witnesses to it in my own age. And besides, I should render my country poor
service if I suppressed the account of the sufferings which she endured.
24 "There was a certain woman named Mary that dwelt beyond Jordan, whose father was
Eleazer, of the village of Bathezor79 (which signifies the house of hyssop). She was
distinguished for her family and her wealth, and had fled with the rest of the multitude to
Jerusalem and was shut up there with them during the siege.
25 The tyrants had robbed her of the rest of the property which she had brought with her into
the city from Perea. And the remnants of her possessions and whatever food was to be seen
the guards rushed in daily and snatched away from her. This made the woman terribly angry,
and by her frequent reproaches and imprecations she aroused the anger of the rapacious
villains against herself.
26 But no one either through anger or pity would slay her; and she grew weary of finding food
for others to eat. The search, too, was already become everywhere difficult, and the famine
was piercing her bowels and marrow, and resentment was raging more violently than famine.
Taking, therefore, anger and necessity as her counsellors, she proceeded to do a most
unnatural thing.
27 Seizing her child, a boy which was sucking at her breast, she said, Oh, wretched child, in
war, in famine, in sedition, for what do I preserve thee? Slaves among the Romans we shall be
even if we are allowed to live by them. But even slavery is anticipated by the famine, and the
rioters are more cruel than both. Come, be food for me, a fury for these rioters,80 and a
byeword to the world, for this is all that is wanting to complete the calamities of the Jews.
28 And when she had said this she slew her son; and having roasted him, she ate one half
herself, and covering up the remainder, she kept it. Very soon the rioters appeared on the
scene, and, smelling the nefarious odor, they threatened to slay her immediately unless she
should show them what she had prepared. She replied that she had saved an excellent portion
for them, and with that she uncovered the remains of the child.
29 They were immediately seized with horror and amazement and stood transfixed at the sight.
But she said This is my own son, and the deed is mine. Eat for I too have eaten. Be not more
merciful than a woman, nor more compassionate than a mother. But if you are too pious and
shrink from my sacrifice, I have already81 eaten of it; let the rest also remain for me.
30 At these words the men went out trembling, in this one case being affrighted; yet with
difficulty did they yield that food to the mother. Forthwith the whole city was filled with the
awful crime, and as all pictured the terrible deed before their own eyes, they trembled as if they
had done it themselves.
31 Those that were suffering from the famine now longed for death; and blessed were they that
had died before hearing and seeing miseries like these."
32 Such was the reward which the Jews received for their wickedness and impiety, against the
Christ of God. |
