Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 20.113-20.124
https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/14
Text
Οὔπω δ᾽ αὐτῶν τὸ πρῶτον πένθος ἐπέπαυτο καὶ κακὸν ἄλλο προσέπιπτεν: τῶν γὰρ ἀφεστώτων ἐπὶ νεωτερισμῷ τινες κατὰ τὴν δημοσίαν ὁδὸν ὡς ἑκατὸν σταδίων ἄπωθεν τῆς πόλεως Στέφανον Καίσαρος δοῦλον ὁδοιποροῦντα λῃστεύσαντες ἅπασαν αὐτοῦ τὴν κτῆσιν διαρπάζουσιν. ἀκούσας δὲ τὸ πραχθὲν ὁ Κουμανὸς εὐθὺς πέμπει στρατιώτας, κελεύσας αὐτοῖς τὰς πλησίον κώμας διαρπάσαι, τοὺς δ᾽ ἐπιφανεστάτους αὐτῶν δήσαντας ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν ἄγειν. τῆς δὲ πορθήσεως γενομένης τῶν στρατιωτῶν τις τοὺς Μωυσέως νόμους ἔν τινι κώμῃ λαβὼν κειμένους προκομίσας εἰς τὴν πάντων ὄψιν διέσχισεν ἐπιβλασφημῶν καὶ πολλὰ κατακερτομῶν. Ἰουδαῖοι δὲ ταῦτα ἀκούσαντες καὶ πολλοὶ συνδραμόντες καταβαίνουσιν εἰς Καισάρειαν, ἐκεῖ γὰρ ἐτύγχανεν ὁ Κουμανὸς ὤν, ἱκετεύοντες μὴ αὐτοὺς ἀλλὰ τὸν θεὸν οὗπερ οἱ νόμοι καθυβρίσθησαν ἐκδικῆσαι: ζῆν γὰρ οὐχ ὑπομένειν τῶν πατρίων αὐτοῖς οὕτως περιυβρισμένων. καὶ Κουμανὸς δείσας, μὴ πάλιν νεωτερίσειεν τὸ πλῆθος, συμβουλευσάντων καὶ τῶν φίλων τὸν ἐνυβρίσαντα τοῖς νόμοις στρατιώτην πελεκίσας ἔπαυσεν τὴν στάσιν ἐκ δευτέρου μέλλουσαν ἐξάπτεσθαι. Γίνεται δὲ καὶ Σαμαρείταις πρὸς Ἰουδαίους ἔχθρα δι᾽ αἰτίαν τοιαύτην: ἔθος ἦν τοῖς Γαλιλαίοις ἐν ταῖς ἑορταῖς εἰς τὴν ἱερὰν πόλιν παραγινομένοις ὁδεύειν διὰ τῆς Σαμαρέων χώρας. καὶ τότε καθ᾽ ὁδὸν αὐτοῖς κώμης Γιναῆς λεγομένης τῆς ἐν μεθορίῳ κειμένης Σαμαρείας τε καὶ τοῦ μεγάλου πεδίου τινὲς συνάψαντες μάχην πολλοὺς αὐτῶν ἀναιροῦσιν. πυθόμενοι δὲ τὰ πραχθέντα τῶν Γαλιλαίων οἱ πρῶτοι πρὸς Κουμανὸν ἀφίκοντο καὶ παρεκάλουν αὐτὸν μετιέναι τῶν ἀνῃρημένων τὸν φόνον. ὁ δὲ χρήμασι πεισθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν Σαμαρέων ὠλιγώρησεν. ἀγανακτήσαντες δὲ ἐπὶ τούτῳ Γαλιλαῖοι τὸ πλῆθος τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἔπειθον ἐφ᾽ ὅπλα χωρῆσαι καὶ τῆς ἐλευθερίας ἀντέχεσθαι: δουλείαν γὰρ καὶ καθ᾽ αὑτὴν μὲν πικρὰν ἔλεγον εἶναι, τὴν ἐφ᾽ ὕβρει δὲ παντάπασιν ἀφόρητον. τῶν δ᾽ ἐν τέλει καταπραΰνειν αὐτοὺς πειρωμένων καὶ πείσειν τὸν Κουμανὸν ἐπαγγελλομένων δίκας εἰσπράξασθαι παρὰ τῶν ἀνῃρηκότων, ἐκείνοις μὲν οὐ προσέσχον, ἀναλαβόντες δὲ τὰ ὅπλα καὶ βοηθεῖν Ἐλεάζαρον τὸν τοῦ Δειναίου παρακαλέσαντες, λῃστὴς δ᾽ οὗτος ἦν ἔτη πολλὰ τὴν διατριβὴν ἐν ὄρει πεποιημένος, κώμας τινὰς τῶν Σαμαρέων ἐμπρήσαντες διαρπάζουσι. Κουμανὸς δὲ τῆς πράξεως εἰς αὐτὸν ἀφικομένης ἀναλαβὼν τὴν τῶν Σεβαστηνῶν ἴλην καὶ πεζῶν τέσσαρα τάγματα τούς τε Σαμαρεῖς καθοπλίσας ἐξῆλθεν ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους, καὶ συμβαλὼν πολλοὺς μὲν αὐτῶν ἀπέκτεινεν πλείους δὲ ζῶντας ἔλαβεν. οἱ δὲ πρῶτοι κατὰ τιμὴν καὶ γένος τῶν Ἱεροσολυμιτῶν, ὡς εἶδον εἰς οἷον κακῶν μέγεθος ἥκουσιν, μετενδυσάμενοι σάκκους καὶ σποδοῦ τὰς κεφαλὰς ἀναπλήσαντες παντοῖοι τοὺς ἀφεστῶτας παρακαλοῦντες ἦσαν καὶ πείθοντες πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν θεμένους κατασκαφησομένην μὲν αὐτῶν τὴν πατρίδα, τὸ δὲ ἱερὸν πυρποληθησόμενον, αὐτῶν δὲ καὶ γυναικῶν σὺν τέκνοις ἀνδραποδισμοὺς ἐσομένους, μεταθέσθαι τὸν λογισμὸν καὶ τὰ ὅπλα ῥίψαντας ἠρεμεῖν εἰς τὸ λοιπὸν ἀποχωρήσαντας εἰς τὰ αὑτῶν. ταῦτα δὲ εἰπόντες ἔπεισαν. καὶ οἱ μὲν διελύθησαν, οἱ λῃσταὶ δὲ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐχυροὺς τόπους πάλιν ἀπῆλθον. ἐξ ἐκείνου τε ἡ σύμπασα Ἰουδαία λῃστηρίων ἐπληρώθη.1
Translation
Now before this their first mourning was over, another mischief befell them also; for some of those that raised the foregoing tumult, when they were traveling along the public road, about a hundred furlongs from the city, robbed Stephanus, a servant of Caesar, as he was journeying, and plundered him of all that he had with him; which things when Cureanus heard of, he sent soldiers immediately, and ordered them to plunder the neighboring villages, and to bring the most eminent persons among them in bonds to him. Now as this devastation was making, one of the soldiers seized the laws of Moses that lay in one of those villages, and brought them out before the eyes of all present, and tore them to pieces; and this was done with reproachful language, and much scurrility; which things when the Jews heard of, they ran together, and that in great numbers, and came down to Cesarea, where Cumanus then was, and besought him that he would avenge, not themselves, but God himself, whose laws had been affronted; for that they could not bear to live any longer, if the laws of their forefathers must be affronted after this manner. Accordingly Cumanus, out of fear lest the multitude should go into a sedition, and by the advice of his friends also, took care that the soldier who had offered the affront to the laws should be beheaded, and thereby put a stop to the sedition which was ready to be kindled a second time. NOW there arose a quarrel between the Samaritans and the Jews on the occasion following: It was the custom of the Galileans, when they came to the holy city at the festivals, to take their journeys through the country of the Samaritans; 1 and at this time there lay, in the road they took, a village that was called Ginea, which was situated in the limits of Samaria and the great plain, where certain persons thereto belonging fought with the Galileans, and killed a great many of them. But when the principal of the Galileans were informed of what had been done, they came to Cumanus, and desired him to avenge the murder of those that were killed; but he was induced by the Samaritans, with money, to do nothing in the matter; upon which the Galileans were much displeased, and persuaded the multitude of the Jews to betake themselves to arms, and to regain their liberty, saying that slavery was in itself a bitter thing, but that when it was joined with direct injuries, it was perfectly intolerable, And when their principal men endeavored to pacify them, and promised to endeavor to persuade Cureanus to avenge those that were killed, they would not hearken to them, but took their weapons, and entreated the assistance of Eleazar, the son of Dineus, a robber, who had many years made his abode in the mountains, with which assistance they plundered many villages of the Samaritans. When Cumanus heard of this action of theirs, he took the band of Sebaste, with four regiments of footmen, and armed the Samaritans, and marched out against the Jews, and caught them, and slew many of them, and took a great number of them alive; whereupon those that were the most eminent persons at Jerusalem, and that both in regard to the respect that was paid them, and the families they were of, as soon as they saw to what a height things were gone, put on sackcloth, and heaped ashes upon their heads, and by all possible means besought the seditious, and persuaded them that they would set before their eyes the utter subversion of their country, the conflagration of their temple, and the slavery of themselves, their wives, and children, 2 which would be the consequences of what they were doing; and would alter their minds, would cast away their weapons, and for the future be quiet, and return to their own homes. These persuasions of theirs prevailed upon them. So the people dispersed themselves, and the robbers went away again to their places of strength; and 2
after this time all Judea was overrun with robberies.
Works Cited
- 1 Flavius Josephus, Antiquitates Judaicae: Machine Readable Text, ed. Benedict Niese (Medford, MA: Trustees of Tufts University, 2013), section: 20.113-20.124.
- 2 Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews: Machine Readable Text, trans. William Whiston (Medford, MA: Trustees of Tufts University, 2011), section: 20.113-20.124.
Additional Bibliography
- Josephus, Flavii Iosephi opera III: Antiquitatum iudaicarum libri XI-XV, ed. Benedict Niese (Berlin: Weidmann, 1892), section: 20.113-20.124.
- Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, in The Complete Works of Flavius Josephus: The Celebrated Jewish Historian. Comprising the History and Antiquities of the Jews, with the Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and Dissertations Concerning Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, James the Just, and the Sacrifice of Isaac, Together with a Discourse on Hades, or Hell ; With His Autobiography, trans. William Whiston (Chicago: Donohue, Henneberry & Co., 1895), 27–498, section: 20.113-20.124.
How to Cite This Entry
Bianca Gardner et al., “Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 20.113-20.124,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published March 30, 2020, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/14.
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Bibliography:
Bianca Gardner et al., “Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 20.113-20.124.” In Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, edited by Joseph L. Rife., edited by Joseph L. Rife. Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project, 2020. Entry published March 30, 2020. https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/14.About this Entry
Entry Title: Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 20.113-20.124
Authorial and Editorial Responsibility:
- Joseph L. Rife, general editor, Vanderbilt University
- Joseph L. Rife, editor, Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia
- David A. Michelson, Daniel L. Schwartz, and William L. Potter, technical editors, “Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 20.113-20.124”
- Bianca Gardner and Joseph L. Rife, entry contributors, “Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 20.113-20.124”
Additional Credit:
- TEI encoding by William L. Potter
- Electronic text added by Bianca Gardner
- Testimonia identified by Joseph L. Rife