[30] He is said to have resorted to the expedient, already practised by pretenders before him, of filling his mouth with lighted tow, and so appearing to vomit flame.
[31] The Jews often confounded this man, who is the object of their special enmity, with the Terentius Rufus to whom Titus entrusted the final demolition of Jerusalem, and who is almost equally detested by them.
[32] It is a doubtful point whether Jerusalem was one of the places so taken. It appears most probable that it was; and that the work of demolition, which had been begun by Titus, was completed by Adrian, and every trace of old Jerusalem destroyed.
[33] There is evidence, however, that these successes were not obtained without severe reverses. The language of Adrian in his despatches to the Senate, in which he omits his usual assurance, that all is well with the army, is significant of this fact.
[34] The Talmud affirms that his cheerful demeanour, while subjected to the most agonizing tortures, amazed his executioners, and that he told them, that having the love of God in his heart, he could not but rejoice.
[35] August 9th. This was also the day of the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. One cannot but entertain suspicion of the accuracy of these statements.
[36] Their exclusion from Jerusalem is mentioned by many writers earlier than Jerome—Justin Martyr, Eusebius, and Tertullian, amongst others.
CHAPTER V.
A.D. 135-323.
THE JEWS UNDER THE ROMAN EMPERORS FROM ADRIAN TO CONSTANTINE.
Deplorable as had been the condition of the Jews after the war with Titus, that of their descendants appeared to be still worse, when their struggle for independence was closed by the fall of Bethor. The devastation of their lands, and the destruction of their cities, could not have been worse than it was on the former occasion. But they were not then forbidden by their conquerors to return to their ancient homes, or practise the initiatory rite of their religion. To all appearance, the total extinction of the nation, by the absorption of its scattered members among the various communities to which they had fled for shelter, must inevitably ensue. Nevertheless, this did not occur. On the contrary, a period of nearly two hundred years now elapsed, during which they continued, undisturbed by Imperial severity or intestine commotion, to recruit their numbers and increase their wealth and influence in almost every portion of the Roman Empire. This appears to have been due in the first instance to the favour of Antoninus, who succeeded to the Imperial purple on the death of Adrian. A story is told of a miraculous cure of the Emperor’s daughter by a Jew,[37] in requital of which the edict forbidding circumcision was repealed. But the story rests on no trustworthy authority. The prohibition was renewed by Aurelius, when the Eastern Jews offended him by joining the standard of the rebel Avidius Cassius. But it was soon repealed, if it was ever acted on.
It is evident, however, that, notwithstanding the toleration extended to the Jews, they were closely watched, and little trust was reposed in their good faith. At Jamnia (a town, according to Eusebius, between Diospolis and Azotus), where a great Rabbinical school had been established after the fall of Jerusalem, the jealousy of the Romans was roused by an imprudent speech made by the celebrated Simon (or Simeon) Jochaides, the reputed author of the Book of Zohar, and the person by whom (as the reader is informed in the note) the cure of Antoninus’s daughter is said to have been effected. On the occasion of some public debate, he denounced the rapacity and selfishness of the heathen rulers. For this expression of opinion he was condemned to death, which he only escaped by flight; and the school at Jamnia was suppressed. On another occasion the periodical sounding of the trumpet, in the month Tisri, was mistaken by the governor of the city for the signal of a general revolt.