[307]. The signa were actually worshiped by the soldiers. They are the propria legionum numina. Tac. Ann. ii. 17. Cf. Cagnat., op. cit. p. 1065. Domaszewski, op. cit. p. 115.
[308]. To the sense and tact of this typical Roman official the averting of a crisis in the history of Palestinian Jewry is due. The rebellion which Gaius would undoubtedly have provoked might have dragged other parts of the world with it, and at that time the conditions were less favorable for re-establishment of the empire than in 68 C.E.
[309]. Josephus, Ant. XVIII. vii. 2.
[310]. Josephus, Ant. XIX. vi.
[311]. That Tacitus shows a strong antipathy to the Jews can scarcely be questioned. It is in these chapters (Hist. v. 2. seq.) more than most others, that we are able to see the rhetorical historian of ancient times almost in the act of preparing his narrative. The sources of Tacitus are open to us. That he used Manetho and Apion instead of Josephus and Nicolaus is itself ample indication of the complete lack of conscience with which such a writer could select his evidence according to the thesis he meant to establish.
[312]. Cagnat. Inscr. Gr. ad res Rom. pertin. ii. n. 176.
[313]. Cf. for the Jewish feeling toward him, Jos. Ant. VI. i. 2; Ketub. 17a; Pes. 88b. He is represented as a rigidly observant and pious Jew. However, the boon companion of the young Gaius and the voluptuaries of the imperial court must have undergone an overwhelming change of heart if he was really worthy of the praise lavished upon him.
[314]. Josephus, Ant. XIX. vii.
[315]. Josephus, Ant. XX. i. One of the slain rioters is named Hannibal.
[316]. Josephus, Ant. XX. v.