Naomi

by Mrs. J. B. Webb

CHAPTER IV.

From the lofty battlements of Jotapata, Josephus and his officers watched the close and endless files of the Roman army slowly advancing along the straight and level road that led to the city walls, and which had been formed by the pioneers of Vespasian. It was a fearful array of tried and valiant troops, led on by the most celebrated general of the time. The Jews had relied on their inaccessible position, their steep and rugged mountains, and the deep forests that surrounded their fortress, for security. What, therefore, was their astonishment and consternation when they saw the lofty trees falling around them, the rocks removed, the mountains cut through, and Vespasian with his whole army stationed on a hill within a mile of the city! The garrison were terror-struck, and retired behind their walls; while the Romans, though weary with their long march, and unprepared for an immediate assault, employed themselves in drawing a triple line of circumvallation round the city; so that every chance of escape for the cowardly, who might wish to attempt it, was effectually cut off. Finding that retreat was hopeless, the whole garrison recovered their wonted valour, and resolved to hold out to the uttermost, and fight while life remained. Their fierce resistance and stubborn resolution have seldom been equalled.

The following day they boldly left the shelter of their walls, and, pitching their camp before the trenches, advanced to meet the foe; and though galled by the archers and slingers of the Roman army, they made so vigorous a sally, that the assailants were driven down the hill. The battle was continued with desperation, until the darkness of night compelled them to separate, when Josephus led his troops back to their stations. Young Javan and his companions distinguished themselves by their determined bravery, which was not unobserved by the Jewish commander; and henceforth he stationed them near his own person, and employed Javan on many important occasions.

The city was built on the summit of a lofty hill, and on three sides was surrounded by ravines, so deep and rugged as to be quite impassable. It is said that the depth of the chasm was in some parts so profound, that, when looking from the summit of the walls, the eye could not reach the bottom. On these three sides, therefore, Vespasian could not hope to gain an entrance; but, on the north side, the city was more accessible, as the hill sloped gradually down from the walls; and here he resolved to raise a great embankment, from the top of which his men could discharge their missiles into the thickest ranks of the besieged. The whole army laboured at this work, defending themselves from the javelins and arrows of the Jews by a roof of wicker-work that was stretched over the workmen, and was strong enough even to resist the great stones that were hurled down by their enemies. To clear the walls of these assailants, Vespasian brought his military engines to bear on that point; and soon the stones and javelins discharged by the balistæ and catapults, and the yet more fearful balls of fire and flaming arrows, fell among the garrison in showers. The battlements were deserted in that quarter, but the Jews were not disheartened. They descended from the walls, and stole out in small parties on the workmen, destroying their breastworks, and wounding many of those who had laid aside their armour. But notwithstanding all their efforts to prevent it, the embankment was at length completed, and brought almost to a level with the height of their own walls, and their only resource was to raise the battlements so as to command the works of the enemy. To effect this, Josephus ordered strong poles to be fixed on the top of the walls, and on these a sort of curtain was fixed, of the hides of cattle, behind which the soldiers could work in safety; and they succeeded in raising the walls upwards of thirty feet. He also erected several towers, and otherwise strengthened the fortifications, to the astonishment and dismay of the Romans, who had flattered themselves that they should soon be masters of the city.

They knew not yet the courage and obstinacy of the Jews, or the ability and cunning of Josephus and his officers. Numerous were the sallies by which they annoyed their besiegers, sometimes even setting fire to the works they had but just erected, and destroying them. On one of these occasions, Javan led forth a small party of chosen men, and rushing upon the breastworks that concealed the enemy, they succeeded in tearing down a considerable portion, and wounding several Roman soldiers, without themselves receiving any injury; when the centurion who held the command of that band of men, hearing the conflict, hastened to their assistance and quickly restored order. He marshalled his men, and led them forward from the breastworks with so much impetuosity, as entirely to check the assailants; and directing his attack towards the young Jewish leader, Javan recognised his old friend Rufus. The centurion remembered him, and for his father's sake he forbore to press his advantage. He would not take the son of Zadok prisoner, or willingly injure him, though now an enemy; and he allowed him and his followers to escape unhurt to the walls. Javan did not imitate his generous forbearance; but as he fled he turned back, and cast a javelin at his former friend with such strength and fury as to shiver a portion of the armour in which he was encased, and inflict a slight wound in his side.

"Ha!" cried Rufus, "my mercy was ill-bestowed. I see that the same cruel and ungenerous spirit yet lives in that young fanatic. Forward, my brave men, and teach him that it was not because we feared him that we drew back." The Romans swiftly obeyed the word of their commander, and overtook the retreating party as they reached the foot of the wall. The portal from whence they had sallied forth was closed; and ere it could be opened by those within, a fierce struggle had begun. Several of the combatants on either side fell dead, or severely wounded; and Javan received a serious injury in his right arm, that left him defenceless, and exposed to the sword of his antagonist. The Roman who had inflicted the wound was about to strike at him with his short, double-edged blade, and his fierce spirit would have been quenched for ever; but at that moment a party of the garrison who had ascended the walls hurled down a massive stone that struck the uplifted arm of his assailant, and threw him with violence to the ground.

"The Lord strikes for his people!" shouted Javan; and snatching up the sword which had fallen to the earth, he with his left hand plunged it to the heart of his foe. Then turning away, he rushed through the now open door, leaving his party to follow him as they could. Similar skirmishes were often repeated, but they led to no important results; and Vespasian determined at length to blockade the city, and endeavour to reduce it by famine, since all his assaults proved ineffectual. He therefore ordered his troops to remain quiet in their quarters, and await the time when, reduced to starvation, the garrison would either surrender, or fall a more easy conquest to their renewed attacks.

The city contained a large supply of every necessary except water; but there was no spring within the walls, and the small quantity of rain-water that could be obtained was quite inadequate to the wants of the garrison and the rest of the inhabitants. This was measured out in very scanty portions, and after the blockade had been continued for some days, many began to faint beneath the severe privation, added to the fatigue they endured, and the fever that parched up the wounded and the sick. The Romans discovered their distress, and hoped for a speedy surrender; but the wily Josephus resolved to baffle their calculations, and he ordered a number of his men to dip their clothes in water, and then hang them over the walls, so that the moisture ran down; and the besiegers could no longer believe that the garrison were in want of water, when they could waste so much unnecessarily. Vespasian therefore resolved to renew the assault, which was exactly what the Jews desired, for it was better to perish by the sword than to die of thirst or famine.

Notwithstanding the close blockade kept up by the Romans, Josephus still contrived to keep up a communication with his friends without the city, by means of a narrow and rugged path down the bed of a torrent. It was so precipitous and dangerous that the Romans left it unguarded; and by this difficult way the messengers of the Jewish commander crept forth on their hands and knees, covered with skins of animals, and thus bearing letters to other towns, and bringing back many articles of great service to the besieged. But at length this was discovered, and all further exit by this passage was prevented. Josephus now began to despair of success, and even held a council with the chief persons in the city as to the possibility of effecting their own escape. This was discovered by the inhabitants, and they hastened to throw themselves at his feet, imploring him not to abandon them to the Roman vengeance. He was moved with pity at the sight of the terrified multitude of men, women, and children kneeling before him, and consented to relinquish his selfish purpose; and seizing the moment when they were filled with gratitude, he exclaimed. "Now is the time, then; if there is no hope of safety let us exert our utmost courage, and let us at least die nobly, and leave behind us a glorious example!" The most courageous of his soldiers gathered round him, and they rushed forth, carrying fire and sword into the enemy's lines. For three days these fierce sallies were repeated, and kept up a constant state of watchfulness and alarm in the Roman camp.

Vespasian, weary of this desultory warfare, now ordered the battering-ram to be brought against the walls. This tremendous engine was composed of an enormous beam of wood, terminating in the head of a ram, cast in iron; this was hung by ropes from another strong beam, supported by four tall posts. When it was required to exert its terrible force, it was drawn backwards by a number of men, and then driven forward with a shock, against which scarcely any wall could resist. This dreadful machine now slowly advanced against the walls of Jotapata, and the smaller engines commenced a quick discharge of stones and darts, to drive the Jews from the walls. Then began the thundering blows of the battering-ram, and the walls shook to their foundation. A cry rose from the city, for all the inhabitants believed that the Romans were even now entering their streets. Still was Josephus able to parry this new danger. He ordered a great number of bags to be stuffed with chaff, and suspended on the face of the wall, so as to meet and break the force of the ram; and this scheme entirely succeeded, to the great astonishment of the Romans. They however continued to sever the ropes to which the bags were tied, by means of sickles fastened to long poles, and then they recommenced their work of destruction. But the Jews rushed forth from their gates in three bodies, armed with flaming torches and every combustible they could seize. They set fire to the engines and the palisades, and drove back their assailants, who were confounded by the fire and smoke. Among the foremost was the fierce Javan, brandishing a flaming brand in his left hand, and carrying destruction and dismay wherever he turned. All the endeavours of the Romans to save their works were ineffectual; they suffered a great loss of men in the engagement, and all that had cost them such labour and ingenuity to erect was in less than one hour reduced to ashes.

One man among the Jews distinguished himself by an act of desperate courage, that has made his name memorable even to the present time. This was Eleazer, the son of Samæas, a Galilean, who standing on the wall at the time of the furious sally made by Josephus, took up an enormous stone, and hurled it at the head of the battering-ram with such force, that it broke off, and fell to the ground. He then descended from the wall and rushed forth into the midst of the enemy, and seizing on the ram's head, carried it off in triumph. The Romans, filled with indignation, cast at him a shower of darts and arrows, five or six of which entered his body: he nevertheless still bore off his prize, and carried it to the top of the wall, where he undauntedly showed himself and his trophy to the infuriated foe. But the wounds he had received were mortal, and sinking beneath them, he fell from the wall with the head of the ram still grasped in his dying hands. His heroic example animated his comrades with fresh courage, and they succeeded in destroying all the engines, and coverings, and breastworks of the fifth and tenth legions, which, notwithstanding their high reputation for bravery and discipline, had fled, confounded by the fierce desperation of their assailants, and blinded by the smoke and flame.

Still the Romans were not discouraged; and in the dusk of the evening they once more erected their terrible battering-ram against that part of the fortifications that was already shaken by its force; but during this operation one of the besieged cast a javelin from the wall, and pierced the neck of Vespasian. The Romans seeing their general wounded, were greatly discouraged, and his son Titus betrayed the deepest concern and alarm; but his father quickly removed their fears, and reappearing among his troops, those who had fled in dismay returned to their duty with fresh animation, and showed a determination to brave every danger in the hope of revenging the insult offered to their beloved general; and with a unanimous shout of defiance, they rushed upon the wall. The stones, darts, and arrows flew in showers upon the besieged, and many fell beneath the deadly strokes; yet others pressed forward to take their places, and in their turn poured fire and stones and pieces of iron upon the besiegers, who worked beneath their hurdles. The fires that burnt around shed a lurid light on this work of death, and guided the aim of the Jews on the walls; but the Romans were unable to distinguish their enemies above them. Nevertheless they continued to pour forth their missiles; and so vast were the stones that were thrown by the balistæ, and so resistless was their force, that they broke through the thickest ranks of the defenders, and striking against the towers and inner walls, brought down heavy pieces of masonry upon the crowds around. One man who stood between Javan and the Jewish commander had his head torn from his shoulders, and carried away to the distance of three furlongs. That was indeed a fearful night. The terrible and continued noise of the engines, the shouts of the soldiers, the screams of the women and children in the city, the groans of the wounded and dying, and the heavy crash of armour on the wall as the slain fell one upon another, formed a deafening and discordant sound that can hardly be conceived, and which was echoed back from the surrounding mountains; while the blood ran in streams from the walls, and stood in pools around their base. Until the morning watch the walls stood firm; but then they yielded before the battering-ram, and a breach was formed. Vespasian gave his wearied men a short respite before he led them on to storm the breach; then posting a strong body of cavalry entirely covered with armour at the foot of the wall, he commanded the infantry to apply the scaling-ladders. Josephus was not idle within; he stationed the least efficient of the garrison on those parts of the walls that were not immediately threatened; but all the best and bravest he disposed in front of the breach; and in the most perilous situation of all he stationed himself and Javan and four others, with directions to stop their ears against the noise of the legionaries, and receive their darts on their bended knees, with their shields locked together over their heads, until their quivers were exhausted, and then to sally forth and fall upon them with all their collected rage, and fight for their lives and their liberties, and those of their wives and children and aged parents. The women seeing the dreadful preparations on either side, gave themselves up for lost, and one wild dismal cry of anguish and despair burst from the crowded streets; but Josephus dreading the effect of their grief and consternation on the soldiers, ordered them all to be locked up in the houses, and with severe threats commanded them to be still.

Now the trumpets sounded for the charge, and the Romans gave a mighty shout, at the same moment sending upon the besieged such a cloud of arrows and darts that the air was darkened. Josephus's brave companions followed his directions, and stopped their ears to the sound, and defended their bodies from the darts. But as soon as the engines had played, and ere the engineers could renew the charge, they sallied forth upon them resolving to slay or be slain, and were followed by many other parties animated with the same desperate resolution. But the Romans at length drove them back, and succeeded in getting a footing on the wall. Josephus had now recourse to stratagem in this extremity, and ordered a quantity of oil to be heated, which, being quickly prepared, was poured in a boiling state on their assailants, and penetrating through the joints of their armour, burnt through their flesh, and maddened them with agony, so that, being unable to tear off their armour, they turned back and fled away, carrying confusion among their comrades; and many of them fell headlong from the narrow bridges by which they had passed to the walls from their embankment. The Jews also poured boiled fenugreek, a kind of herb, on the planks and bridges by which their enemies ascended, and thus made them so slippery that it was impossible for them to stand upright, and many fell with violence to the ground, and in that situation were struck at by those on the walls.

In the evening, Vespasian was forced to call off his discomfited men, of whom a great number were wounded, besides those who lay dead on the field. The loss of the Jotapateans was considerably less, and they were greatly encouraged by the result of that day. The Romans now commenced raising their mounds to a greater height, and also erected three strong and lofty towers, in which were placed bowmen and slingers to keep up a perpetual annoyance of the garrison; and they in their turn made frequent sallies, with no decisive effect, until, on the forty-seventh day of the siege, the enemy raised their works above the level of the walls, and looked down upon the devoted inhabitants. On that same fatal day, treachery effected what force and valour had so long failed to accomplish. One dastardly man was found mean enough to creep out of the city and desert to Vespasian, and inform him of the weak and distressed state of the garrison and the inhabitants of Jotapata. He urged him to make a sudden attack upon the place during the last watch of the night, when, worn out with fighting and watching, the garrison would be in a profound sleep, and even the sentinels would probably be slumbering also, so weary and faint were they now become. At first Vespasian doubted the traitor's story, and thought it was only a stratagem of Josephus to ensnare him; and this suspicion was strengthened by the fidelity and constancy which had hitherto been displayed by the Jotapateans who had fallen into their hands. One man had even endured the sharpest torments by fire, which had been applied by the Romans to induce him to disclose the secrets of the garrison; and, smiling at their cruel efforts, had afterwards patiently sustained the tortures of crucifixion. Vespasian, however, believed that the consequences to his mighty army could be but trifling, even if he were deceived; he therefore kept the deserter in close custody, and gave orders for attacking the city.

At the hour mentioned by the traitor, his troops advanced silently to the walls, and Titus led a small party of the fifth legion to the summit. Here they instantly slew the sentinels before an alarm could be raised, and then quietly entered the city, followed by Placidus and Sextus Cerialis, with Rufus the centurion, and the men under their command. They seized upon the citadel, and, favoured by a thick mist and the drowsiness of the inhabitants, they were in the very heart of the city before the garrison had been aroused to their danger. The entrance of the whole Roman army then showed them the extent of their misfortune, and the furious and indiscriminate slaughter which commenced proved that their enemies remembered all they had suffered in the siege, and were determined to revenge it. They charged down from the citadel, hewing down all who opposed them, and driving the terrified inhabitants into the narrow streets and lanes, where they fell an unresisting prey to their enemies, while many were pushed over the steep precipices by the force of the crowd behind them, and dashed to pieces. A few of the most resolute gathered round Josephus, and several of them, seeing the hopelessness of their situation, died by their own and by each other's hands, rather than be slain by the enemy. A party of the guard fled to a tower, and there made some resistance; but they were soon surrounded and forced to surrender; and the Romans became entire masters of the celebrated city of Jotapata, with the loss of but one of their men. This was a centurion named Antonius, who was slain by an act of cunning. One of the Jews, who had taken refuge in a cave, held out his hand to him, promising to surrender if he would assist him to clamber out. Antonius took his hand, and at that moment the other struck him through the throat with his spear and killed him instantly.

The city was given up that day to a general slaughter, and all who were seen in the houses and streets were put to the sword. The following day a strict search was made in the caves and hiding-places, where multitudes had taken refuge, and of these the men were slain, and the women and children reserved as prisoners. About twelve hundred were collected to be carried away into captivity, and it is supposed that nearly forty thousand were slain from the commencement of the attack on the city. Vespasian then ordered the city to be burnt to the ground, and all its boasted towers and walls were quickly reduced to ashes.

Josephus had been sought for in vain during the carnage; no pains were spared to discover and capture him, who was the chief object of the siege, and who had excited the resentment of the Romans and their general by the obstinacy of his resistance. On the taking of the city, when he saw that all other hope of safety was gone, he had leaped down a dry well, from the bottom of which he knew that a long passage led to a subterranean cave, entirely concealed from the view of those above. Here he found forty men of consequence and note, and among them his young friend Javan, who had all sought refuge in this secure retreat, and with them was one woman, the wife of a citizen of the party. These persons had hastily collected, and carried down to the cave, a sufficient quantity of provisions to sustain them for several days; and Javan being separated from his general, and hopeless of any success by further resistance, had joined them, and shared their place of concealment. Josephus remained in the cave during the day, but at night he ascended, accompanied by Javan, and sought to effect his escape; but finding every avenue strictly guarded, he was compelled to return to the cave. The third night he was attended by the citizen's wife, who promised to point out to him a secret way by which he could escape; but she had deceived him, and as soon as she had conducted him within hearing of the sentinels, she fled from him, and betrayed to the soldiers where he made his hiding-place. This was immediately made known to Vespasian, who sent two tribunes, named Paulinus and Gallicanus, to persuade him to surrender. He had returned to the cave, and was startled by hearing his own name loudly called from the top of the well; and the tribunes proceeded to deliver to him their general's offer of mercy. But Josephus had no dependence on the mercy of the Romans, and refused to come up, till Vespasian sent another tribune, named Nicanor, with whom he was well acquainted, and who, by various arguments and promises, at length induced him to consent.

But the Jews, who were in the cave with him now opposed this resolution, and reproached him severely for his cowardice and fear of death, which could induce him to give himself up voluntarily to the Romans. They reminded him how often he had exhorted them to die rather than submit to their enemies, and how many of their fellow-citizens and soldiers had already done so; and they declared that if he could forget his own honour, they would take care that he did not disgrace their country. They therefore gave him his choice, whether he would die nobly and voluntarily by their hands, and be for ever remembered with honour as the valiant general of the Jews, or persist in his intention and be slain as a traitor, which they declared should be his fate the moment he attempted to go forth to the tribunes. And, saying this, they surrounded him with their naked swords, and awaited his reply.

Josephus now exerted all his wonted eloquence, in the effort to save his own life, and to persuade his companions to join him in surrendering to the conquerors. But however ingenious his arguments and powerful his appeals, they failed to move his auditors, who were only the more enraged at him, and rushed against him with their swords. He stood like a wild beast at bay, parrying the strokes of some, calling on others by name, entreating, commanding, imploring.

"Javan!" he cried, "do you join to murder your general? you, who have fought so bravely by my side, and gloried in my approbation. If these Galileans would take away my life, will you, a true-born Jew, desert me?"

Javan regarded him at that moment with a feeling of pity and contempt. He dropped his sword, and his example was followed by the rest, some of whom still entertained a regard for the general, who had hitherto displayed such wisdom and courage in the defence of their town. He seized the favourable moment, and exclaimed, "If you are resolved to die, let us cast lots who shall first be slain. Thus each will suffer death in turn; and yet none incur the guilt of dying by his own hand. It would be dishonourable in me to survive, if all the rest are determined to perish." This proposal was readily acceded to, for all believed that Josephus would share the same fate with themselves. The lots were cast, and one by one these undaunted men offered their breasts to the sword of him who was doomed to be his executioner. Whether by chance, or, which is more probable, by artifice, so it was that the lot fell not on Josephus, until all were slain except himself and one other. That other was young Javan; and his fierce spirit did not shrink from enduring the death which he had just inflicted on the last of his companions. But his general felt equally repugnant thus in cold blood either to slay a fellow-creature, or to submit to the stroke of death from him; and promising him his future friendship, he at length so worked on the young man's feelings and natural love of life, that he agreed to ascend with him and submit to the promised clemency of Vespasian.

Nicanor immediately led them to the general, while all the Romans crowded round to obtain a sight of this distinguished man. Many from a distance cried out that he should be punished with death; but those who stood near, and regarded his fallen countenance, were touched with pity for his misfortunes, and admiration of his great and noble exploits; and Titus, above all the rest, was filled with sympathy for the captive. He persuaded his father to grant Josephus his life; but he was kept closely guarded, and it was supposed he would be sent immediately to Rome to the Emperor Nero. Josephus dreaded this event, and in the hope of avoiding it, he entreated a private interview with Vespasian; and all having withdrawn, except Titus and two other friends, he declared that it was not from a love of life that he had given himself up to the Romans, but because he was commissioned to announce to Vespasian and his son that they were appointed to succeed to the imperial dignity. He then implored that he might not be sent to Nero, but be kept in chains, if it was thought necessary, until his prediction was fulfilled; for he acknowledged, that if he should be found guilty of having deceived his conqueror in the name of the God of Israel, he should deserve a worse punishment than captivity.

Vespasian was struck with the prophetic promises of the captive; yet suspecting his sincerity, he asked him how it was that if he could foretell future events, he had not foreseen the fall of Jotapata and his own captivity, and sought to avert the calamity. Josephus replied that he had repeatedly warned the Jotapateans of their coming fate, and told them that they would hold out the siege for forty-seven days, when they would be conquered, and he himself taken prisoner. On this declaration the Roman general caused inquiry to be made among the prisoners as to its truth; when they asserted that such prophecies had actually been pronounced by their leader. Whether this was really the case or not, we cannot now determine; but it had the effect of impressing on Vespasian's mind the prediction of his own future greatness; and though he did not set the prophet at liberty, he treated him with great kindness, and made him several valuable presents. Javan also was kept in strict captivity with the other prisoners who were reserved either for sale or as domestic slaves to their conquerors. The rough but kind-hearted Rufus visited him frequently, and took many opportunities of adding to his comforts, and enlivening his spirits by his conversation and encouragement. But he could not resist reminding Javan of the unworthy return he had once made to his forbearance and friendship, when he wounded him so ungratefully after his sally from the walls. "Methinks," he said, "that the generosity and virtue of one whom you call a heathen, has shown itself to be superior to the boasted religion of the Jews; for I forgive you, and come to your relief, and you sought to slay me at the moment when I forbore to injure you."

This reproach cut the proud self-righteous Pharisee to the heart, but he could not reply to it; and Rufus changed the subject, to talk to him of their mutual friends at Jerusalem.

Would to God there were among ourselves no nominal Christians, who by their cruel and vindictive, or otherwise unchristian spirit, give occasion to the enemies of our holy religion to speak evil of that which they profess, but do not follow. But even as they were not true children of Abraham, who trusted to themselves that they were righteous,—and, while indulging pride and cruelty, and revenge, yet despised others,—neither are we all Christians who are called by the name of Christ, if we seek not to imitate the charity, and meekness, and holiness, and love that shone forth in the life of our Master and Redeemer.

Interior of the Golden Gate