(41) Initial Jewish success. Rout of a Roman Army in the Defiles of Beth-Horon
The humiliating Roman defeat in this first stage of the war here described recalls a rather similar incident at the Caudine Forks in the early wars with the Samnites.
Cestius Advances from Antioch
A.D. 66
The Jews being now everywhere up in arms, Cestius[[253]] decided to remain inactive no longer. He accordingly left Antioch and advanced upon Ptolemais. His force consisted of the twelfth legion in full strength, two thousand picked men from each of the other legions, six cohorts of infantry and four squadrons of cavalry, besides the allied forces furnished by the kings; of these Antiochus supplied two thousand horse and three thousand foot, all archers, Agrippa an equal number of foot and rather less than two thousand horse, Sohemus following with four thousand, of which a third part were cavalry and the rest archers. In addition, numerous auxiliaries were collected from the towns; they lacked the training of the regulars, but made good any deficiency in technical skill by their zeal and their detestation of the Jews. Agrippa himself accompanied Cestius on the route as guide and adviser....
Galilee surrenders to Cestius, almost without a blow; Joppa, attacked by land and sea, is captured and burnt; and the Roman arms are everywhere successful.
From Antipatris Cestius advanced to Lydda and found the city deserted, for the population had gone up en masse to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles |October A.D. 66|. Fifty persons who showed themselves he put to the sword, and after burning down the town resumed his march; and, ascending through Beth-Horon, pitched his camp at a place called Gibeon,[[254]] fifty furlongs[[255]] distant from Jerusalem.
A Jewish Successful Charge outside Jerusalem
The Jews, seeing the war at length approaching their mother city, abandoned the feast and rushed to arms; and, relying largely on their numbers, sprang in disorder and with loud cries into the fray. It was the Sabbath which they regarded with peculiar reverence,[[256]] but they paid no thought to that seventh day of rest. But the same passion which shook them out of their piety brought them victory in the battle. With such fury, at any rate, did they fall upon the Romans that they broke and passed through their ranks, killing as they went; and had not the cavalry, with a body of infantry which was not so hard pressed as the rest, disengaged and wheeled round to the relief of the broken line,[[257]] Cestius and his whole army would have been in jeopardy. The Roman killed were five hundred and fifteen (four hundred infantry and the rest cavalry); the Jews lost but two and twenty.... When their frontal attack was thus held up, the Jews retired to the city. But Simon, son of Gioras, fell upon the rear of the Romans as they withdrew to Beth-Horon, and cut up a large part of their rear-guard, carrying off many of the baggage mules, which he brought with him into the city. Cestius continuing to hold his ground for three days, the Jews seized the heights and kept guard on the passes, clearly not intending to remain inactive, should the Romans begin to move.
Fruitless Attempt to Parley with the Jews
At this juncture, Agrippa, perceiving that, with the enemy in such countless numbers in possession of the surrounding mountains, even a Roman army was in a perilous position, decided to try the effect of parley with the Jews. He hoped either to prevail on all to abandon hostilities, or at least to detach from their opponents those who did not share the views of the war party. So he sent the two of his men who were best known to them, Borcæus[[258]] and Phœbus, with an offer of a treaty on the part of Cestius and of free pardon from the Romans for their misdoings, on condition that they would lay down their arms and go over to them. The insurgents, fearing that the prospect of an amnesty would induce the whole multitude to go over to Agrippa, made a murderous assault upon his emissaries. Phœbus they slew before he had uttered a syllable; Borcæus was wounded but succeeded in escaping. Such of the people as indignantly protested at their action they assailed with stones and clubs and drove into the town.
Cestius Occupies the Suburb Bezetha
Cestius, seeing that these internal dissensions offered a favourable opportunity for attack, brought up his whole force, routed the enemy, and pursued them to Jerusalem. Encamping on the (hill) called Scopus, distant seven furlongs[[259]] from the city, for three days he made no attempt upon it, expecting that the inhabitants might possibly show signs of surrender; in the meantime he sent out many of his soldiers to the surrounding villages for foraging purposes. On the fourth day, |October A.D. 66| the thirtieth of the month Hyperberetæus, he deployed his forces and led them within[[260]] the city.
The people were under the thumb of the revolutionary party, and the latter, overawed by the orderly discipline of the Romans, abandoned some of the suburbs and retired into the inner city and the Temple. Cestius, on gaining entry, set fire to the district known as Bezetha[[261]] and the New City and the so-called Timber Market; he then proceeded to the upper city and encamped opposite the royal palace. Had he, at that particular moment, chosen to force his way within the walls, he would have captured the city forthwith, and the war would have been over. But Tyrannius Priscus, the camp-commander, with most of the cavalry officers, being bribed by Florus, diverted him from the attempt. Hence it came about that the war was so long protracted and the Jews drained the cup of irretrievable disaster.
Attack on Jerusalem
Meanwhile many of the notable citizens, at the instance of Ananus, son of Jonathan, sent an invitation to Cestius, promising to open the gates to him. These overtures, however, partly in scorn and resentment, partly because he did not wholly credit them, he hesitated to accept, until the insurgents, discovering the treason, dragged down Ananus and his confederates from the wall and drove them, with showers of stones, into their houses. Then, taking up their stations in detachments, they hurled their missiles from the towers upon the enemy who were assailing the wall. So for five days the Romans pressed their attack on all sides without success, till on the sixth Cestius led a large force of picked men with the archers to an assault on the north side of the Temple. The Jews from the portico warded it off, and time after time repulsed those who had reached the wall, but at length, overpowered by the hail of missiles, gave way. The front rank of the Romans then planted their shields against the wall, those behind them planted other shields upon the first, and the rest did in like manner, forming a screen which they call “the tortoise,”[[262]] from which the missiles, as they fell, glanced off harmlessly, while the soldiers with immunity undermined the wall and prepared to set fire to the gate of the Temple.
A terrible panic now seized the insurgents, many of whom were already slinking out of the city in the belief that it was on the verge of capture. The populace thereupon took heart again, and the more the miscreants gave ground, the nearer did the others approach the gates, ready to open them and welcome Cestius as a benefactor. Had he but persisted for a while with the siege, he would have forthwith taken the city. But I suppose that on account of those wicked men God, already regarding even the sanctuary with aversion, ordained that that day should not see the end of the war.
Unexpected Withdrawal of Cestius, Pursued by the Jews
At any rate, Cestius, perceiving neither the desperate condition of the besieged nor the temper of the populace, suddenly recalled his troops, and, without having sustained any reverse, abandoned his hopes[[263]] and, contrary to all calculation, retired from the city. On this unexpected retreat, the brigands, plucking up courage, sallied out upon his rear and killed a considerable number both of horse and foot.
That night Cestius passed at his camp on (Mount) Scopus. The following day, continuing his retreat he provoked the enemy to further pursuit; hanging upon his heels they cut up his rear, and getting round him on either side of his route poured their missiles on his flanks. The rear ranks did not dare to round upon their assailants behind them, supposing that they were pursued by an innumerable host; nor did they attempt to beat off those who were pressing their flanks, being heavily armed themselves and afraid of opening out their ranks, while the Jews, as they saw, were light armed and could readily dash in among them. The result was that they suffered heavily, without any retaliation upon the enemy. So all along the route the blows rained upon them and they kept dropping out of the ranks and falling, until at length, after numerous casualties, including Priscus, the general of the sixth legion, and Longinus a tribune,[[264]] and Æmilius Jucundus, a squadron commander, and with the loss of most of their baggage, with difficulty they reached their former camp at Gibeon.[[265]] Here Cestius halted for two days, uncertain what course to pursue; but, on the third, seeing the enemy’s strength greatly increased and all the surrounding country swarming with Jews, he decided that the delay had been detrimental to him and, if further prolonged, would but increase the number of his foes.
Scene in the Pass of Beth-Horon
To accelerate the retreat, he issued orders to abandon all impedimenta. So the mules, asses and all the beasts of burthen were killed, excepting those that carried missiles and engines of war; these they clung to, both for their own use and especially from fear that they might fall into Jewish hands and be employed against themselves. He then led his army on towards Beth-Horon. In the open their movements were less harassed by the Jews, but, once the Romans became involved in the defiles on the descent, one contingent of the enemy went ahead of them and blocked their exit, another drove the rearmost down into the ravine, while the main body lined up in extended order above the gorge and covered the phalanx with their missiles. Here, powerless as were the infantry to protect themselves, the cavalry were in even greater jeopardy. To advance in order down the road under the hail of darts was impossible, while the charge up the steep slopes was impracticable for horse. On either side were precipices and ravines, down which they slipped and were hurled headlong. None had room for flight, none had any plan of defence. In their utter helplessness they gave vent to groans and the wailings of despair, which were answered by the war-whoop and shouts of the Jews, exultant and mad with rage. Cestius and his whole army would have been well-nigh annihilated[[266]] had not night intervened, under cover of which the Romans escaped to Beth-Horon.[[267]] The Jews meanwhile occupied all the surrounding district and kept guard against their egress.
Flight of Cestius
Cestius, now despairing of open retreat, took measures for flight; and, selecting about four hundred of his bravest men, stationed them upon the roofs, with orders to shout out the watchwords[[268]] of the camp-sentinels, that the Jews might think that the whole army was still on the spot. He himself with the remainder then stealthily advanced another thirty furlongs. At daybreak the Jews, discovering that the enemy’s night quarters were deserted, charged the four hundred who had deluded them, quickly shot them down with their spears, and started in pursuit of Cestius.
He had gained much upon them during the night, and, when day came, quickened the pace still more; the men in consternation and terror abandoning the siege engines, catapults and most of the other machines, which the Jews then captured and afterwards employed against those who had relinquished them. The Jews continued the pursuit as far as Antipatris, and then, failing to overtake the Romans, turned and carried off the machines, plundered the corpses, collected the booty which had been left behind, and, with songs of triumph, retraced their steps to the capital. Their own losses had been quite inconsiderable; of the Romans and their allies they had slain five thousand three hundred infantry and of cavalry four hundred and four score.[[269]] This action took place on the eighth of the month Dius in the twelfth year of Nero’s reign |November A.D. 66|.
Cestius Reports to Nero
After this catastrophe of Cestius many distinguished Jews left the city as swimmers desert a sinking ship. For example, the brothers Costobar and Saul with Philip, son of Jacimus, King Agrippa’s camp-commander, escaped from the city and joined Cestius.... Cestius, at their request, despatched Saul and his party to Nero in Achaia, to inform him of their own difficulties and also to lay the blame for the war on Florus. For he hoped by exciting resentment against Florus to lessen the danger to himself....
Jewish Preparations for War
The Jews who had pursued Cestius, on their return to Jerusalem, partly by force, partly by persuasion, brought over to their side such pro-Romans as still remained; and, assembling in the Temple, appointed several generals to conduct the war. Joseph, son of Gorion, and Ananus the high priest were elected to the supreme control of affairs in the city, with a special charge to repair the city walls. As for Eleazar, son of Simon, notwithstanding that he had in his hands the Roman spoils with the money taken from Cestius, as well as much of the public treasure, they did not entrust him with office, because they saw him to be aiming at despotic power, and that his subordinate Zealots acted the part of his bodyguard. Gradually, however, financial needs and the intrigues of Eleazar so far prevailed upon the people that they ended by submitting in all matters to his authority.—B.J. II. 18. 9-20. 3 (499-565).