sent by the principal men of Jerusalem, who have
heard that John of Gischala hath
Jonathan's
treacherous
letter.
laid many snares for thee, to
rebuke him, and to exhort him
to be subject to thee hereafter.
We are also desirous to consult
with thee about our common concerns, and what
is fit to be done. We, therefore, desire thee to
come to us quickly, and to bring only a few men
with thee; for this village will not contain a great
number of soldiers." Thus it was that they wrote,
as expecting one of these two things: either that
I should come without armed men, and then they
should have me under their power; or, if I came
with a great number, they should judge me to be
a public enemy. Now it was a horseman who
brought the letter, a man at other times bold, and
one that had served in the army under the king.
It was the second hour of the night that he came,
when I was feasting with my friends and the
principal of the Galileans. This man, upon my
servant's telling me that a certain horseman of the
Jewish nation was come, was called in at my
command, but did not so much as salute me at all,
but held out a letter, and said, "This letter is
sent thee by those that are come from Jerusalem;
do thou write an answer to it quickly, for I am
obliged to return to them very soon." Now my
guests could not but wonder at the boldness of
the soldier; but I desired him to sit down and
sup with us; but when he refused so to do, I held
the letter in my hands as I received it, and fell
talking with my guests about other
matters: but a few hours afterward
Stratagem of
Josephus.
I got up, and, when I had
dismissed the rest to go to their beds,
I bid only four of my intimate friends to stay;
and ordered my servant to get some wine ready.
I also opened the letter so that nobody could
perceive it; and understanding thereby presently
the purport of the writing, I sealed it up again,
and appeared as if I had not yet read it, but
only held it in my hands. I ordered twenty
drachmæ should be given the soldier for the
charges of his journey; and when he took the
money, and said he thanked me for it, I perceived
that he loved money, and that he was to be
caught chiefly by that means; and I said to him,
"If thou wilt but drink with us, thou shall have
a drachma for every glass thou drinkest." So he
gladly embraced the proposal, and drank a great
deal of wine, in order to get the more money, and
was so drunk that at last he could not keep the
secrets he was entrusted with, but discovered
them without my putting questions to him, viz.,
That a treacherous design was contrived against
me, and that I was doomed to die by those that
sent him. When I heard this, I wrote back this
answer:—"Josephus to Jonathan,
and those that are with him, sendeth
His answer
to Jonathan.
greeting.—Upon the information
that you are come in health into
Galilee I rejoice, and this especially, because I
can now resign the care of public affairs here into
your hands, and return into my native country,
which is what I have desired to do a great while:
and I confess I ought not only to come to you as
far as Xaloth, but farther, and this without your
commands: but I desire you to excuse me,
because I cannot do it now, since I watch the
motions of Placidus, who hath a mind to go up
into Galilee; and this I do here at Chabolo.
Do you, therefore, on the receipt of this epistle,
come hither to me. Fare you well."
45. WHEN I had written thus, and given
the letter to be carried by the soldier, I sent
along with him thirty of the Galileans of the best
characters, and gave them instructions to salute
those ambassadors, but to say nothing else to
them. I also gave orders to as many of those
armed men, whom I esteemed
most faithful to me, to go along
with the others, every one with
An armed
force
despatched.
him whom he was to guard, lest
some conversation might pass
between those whom I sent and those who were
with Jonathan. So those went [to Jonathan].
But when Jonathan and his partners had failed
in this their first attempt, they sent me another
letter, the contents whereof were as
follow:—"Jonathan and those with him, to Josephus,
send greeting.—We require thee to come to us to
the village Gabaroth, on the third day, without
any armed men, that we may hear what thou
hast to lay to the charge of John [of Gischala]."
When they had written this letter, they saluted
the Galileans whom I sent, and came to Japha,
which was the largest village of all Galilee, and
encompassed with very strong walls, and had a
great number of inhabitants in it. There the
multitude of men, with their wives and children,
met them, and exclaimed loudly
against them, and desired them
to be gone, and not to envy them
the advantage of an excellent
Jonathan's
enterprise
fails.
commander. With these clamours
Jonathan and his partners were greatly provoked,
although they durst not shew their anger openly:
so they made no answer, but went to other
villages. But still the same clamours met them
from all the people, who said, "Nobody should
persuade them to have any other commander
besides Josephus." So Jonathan and his partners
went away from them without success, and came
to Sepphoris, the greatest city of all Galilee.
Now the men of that city, who inclined to the
Romans in their sentiments, met them indeed,
but neither praised nor reproached me; and when
they were gone down from Sepphoris to Asochis,
the people of that place made a clamour against
them, as those of Japha had done: whereupon
they were able to contain themselves no longer;
but ordered the armed men that were with them
to beat those that made the clamour with their
clubs; and when they came to Gabara, John
met them with three thousand armed men; but,
as I understood by their letter they had resolved
to fight against me, I arose from Chabolo, with
three thousand armed men also; but left in my
camp one of my fastest friends, and came to
Jotapata, as desirous to be near them, the
distance being no more than forty furlongs. Whence
I wrote thus to them:—"If you are very desirous
that I should come to you, you know there are
two hundred and forty cities and villages in
Galilee; I will come to any of them which you