καὶ θώραξι, καὶ σαγάρεσι χαλκαῖς· ζῶναι δὲ αὐτοῖς εἰσι χρυσαῖ, καὶ διαδήματα ἐν ταῖς μάχαις· οἵ τε ἵπποι χρυσοχάλινοι, μασχαλισῆρες δὲ χρυσοί· ἄργυρος δ ̓ οὐ γίνεται παρ' αὐτοῖς, σίδηρος δ ̓ ὀλίγος· χαλκὸς δὲ καὶ χρυσὸς ἄφθονος.—Lib. xi. Plutarch, De Alexandri Magni Fortuna aut Virtute, imputes similar sentiments and practices respecting death to the Sogdiani, the neighbours of the Massagetæ : — Τὴν δὲ ̓Αλεξάνδρου παιδείαν ἂν ἐπιβλέπης, Υρκανοὺς γαμεῖν ἐπαίδευσε· καὶ γεωργεῖν ἐδίδαξεν ̓Αραχωσίους· καὶ Σογδιανούς ἔπεισε πατέρας τρέφειν, καὶ μὴ φονεύειν· καὶ Πέρσας σέβεσθαι μητέρας, ἀλλὰ μὴ γαμεῖν.—Λόγος ά. The religion of the Roman camp consisted almost entirely in worshipping and swearing by the ensigns. The Romans, accordingly, on the flight of the seditious into the city, and the burning of the holy house itself, brought their ensigns to the temple, and placed them opposite to its eastern gate. They offered sacrifices to them, received Titus with acclamations, and hailed him Imperator, as was their usual practice on any signal success, and the slaughter of many enemies. There were hiding-places, or secret chambers, about the holy house, the walls of which are supposed to be still traceable. On the fifth day after the above celebration, the priests found themselves compelled by hunger to abandon these retreats. They were brought to Titus by the guards, and pleaded for their lives: but he replied, that the period of pardon was past. It was only on the account of the temple that they could hope to be saved, and that was destroyed. It was part of the priestly office to perish with the house to which they were attached. He ordered them to be put to death. As for the Jewish tyrants, a bridge parted them from Titus. The multitude stood on each side those of the Jewish nation about Simon and John, in the hope of pardon; the Romans in curious expectation awaiting the reception of their prayer. Titus charged his soldiers to restrain their fury, and to let their darts alone. He then addressed a speech to them, through an interpreter appointed by himself, as a sign that he was the conqueror. He hoped that they were now satiated with the miseries of their country. They had no just notions either of the Roman power or of their own weakness; but with the rashness and violence of madmen, had brought their people, their city, and their temple to destruction by their attempts. He upbraided them with their ingratitude to the Romans, who had permitted the Jews by an especial privilege to collect their sacred tribute, and send it to Jerusalem. On the arrival of Titus in the city, he admired its various places of strength, and especially the strong towers which the tyrants had so imprudently relinquished. When he saw their height, the size and solidity of the stones, the exactness of their joints, their breadth and length, he acknowledged that the conquest of the city was to be ascribed to God, who was his assistant in this war. He conceived that only God could have ejected the Jews from their strong holds; and that neither human hands, nor machines, the work of such hands, could have overthrown such towers. This was his language to his friends. His conduct was consistent with his usual generosity: he gave their liberty to those who had been left in bondage by the tyrants in the prisons. He then thanked the army, and distributed rewards. The list of all who had performed great exploits in the war was read. He called them to him by their names, commended them publicly, and seemed to rejoice as much in their prowess, as in his own. But the celebration of his brother Domitian's birth-day, and that of his father, tarnished the honours of his usual clemency. He was at this time at Cæsarea; and considered the splendour of this solemnity as a fit occasion for inflicting the principal part of the punishment intended for the Jews. Some were slain in fighting with wild beasts, some in conflict with one another, and others were burnt. The number of those who perished in honour of this holiday exceeded two thousand five hundred. After this, he went to Berytus, a Roman colony, the coins of which are still extant. He next went to Antioch. The people were so delighted, that they could not keep within their walls; but advanced more than thirty furlongs to give him the meeting. They received him with acclamations, and besought him to expel the Jews from their city. He heard their petition patiently, but did not yield to their request. He did not stay at Antioch, but continued his progress immediately to Zeugma on the Euphrates, whither messengers came to him from Vologeses, king of Parthia, and brought him a crown of gold, on his victory over the Jews. He accepted this, entertained the messengers, and then returned to Antioch. He refused a second application against the Jews of Antioch, and permitted them to continue in the enjoyment of their former privileges. He then departed for Egypt. In the course of his progress he went to Jerusalem, and was greatly moved at the sight of the ruins, and the remembrance of its ancient splendour. So far was he from boasting of his conquest, that he grieved over the ravages he had made. He cursed the authors of the revolt, who had brought such a punishment on the city. Such a calamity he did not consider as necessary to establish his own character for martial courage. Josephus gives an account of his visit to the sabbatic river, in the course of his travels. It was once very famous: we need scarcely say it has disappeared. Instances of periodical fountains and rivers are not uncommon in modern geography; where they are generally found in such positions as to enable philosophy to account with some probability for their phenomena. But none of their periods are that of an exact week. They will probably for the most part depend either on ordinary tides, or on spring tides. According to Josephus, this river ran every seventh day, and rested on six according to Pliny, it ran six days successively, and rested on the seventh but it is to be observed, that in neither author is the seventh day of the river the sabbath of the Jews. After Titus's journey into Egypt, he passed over the desert very suddenly, and came to Alexandria. He then determined to go to Rome by sea. father met and received him. The citizens made a splendid appearance, and conceived the greatest joy on seeing Vespasian and his two sons, Titus and Domitian, reunited. After a few days, they determined to have but one triumph, common to both. The senate had, indeed, decreed a separate triumph to each; but as their exploits were directed to the same object, they chose to mingle : His glories, and present themselves conjointly to the eyes of the multitude. But Titus, with all his virtue, was no Joseph. He seems to have caught the contagion of pleasure from his father. We may suppose that the blood of the Absolutes was always impatient; as we have some reason to believe that it still continues to be. The passions of Titus broke forth without restraint in his youth. One can only wish that Queen Berenice, of whose beauty he was enamoured in Palestine, had been more worthy of his affection. Her birth, and marriage to Herod, have been already mentioned. After his death she was married again to Polemon. On this Josephus remarks: — Οὐ μὴν ἐπὶ πολὺ συνέμεινεν ὁ γάμος, ἀλλὰ Βερνίκη δι ̓ ἀκολασίαν, ὡς ἔφασαν, καταλείπει τὸν Πολέμωνα. Antiq. Jud. lib. xx. Ambition was evidently a considerable ingredient in her amours. She formed intrigues to set the crown on the head of Vespasian, from whom if he came to the empire, she had more to hope than from his competitors. We learn this from Tacitus. "Mox per occultos suorum nuntios excitus ab urbe Agrippa, ignaro adhuc Vitellio, celeri navigatione properaverat. Nec minore animo Regina Berenice partes juvabat, florens ætate formaque, et seni quoque Vespasiano magnificentia munerum grata." Hist. lib. ii. cap. 81. Agrippa and Berenice made their voyage to Rome in the fourth consulship of Vespasian, and in the 72d year of Christ. Josephus makes her to be sixteen when her father died, in the third year of the Emperor Claudius, and the 44th of Christ. She was therefore forty-four on her arrival. Xiphilinus, in the life of Vespasian, tells the story thus: |