183

hoped for the rest. But the seditionists, dragging the relatives of the deserters to the wall, and those of the people who were rushing to inquire, were showing what those who fled to the Romans suffer, lying about both their enemies and their own people. And when the earthworks were already completed, the siege engines were brought up. But the Jews, having dug a mine from within, from the Antonia to the extent of the earthworks, and having supported the mines with timbers, made the earthworks suspended. Then, having filled the mine with flammable material, they set fire to the material, and when the supporting timbers were burned, the tunnel suddenly gave way and the earthworks collapsed; and amazement and despondency came upon the Romans at this contrivance. But in the remaining parts, the Romans, bringing up the siege engines, were battering the wall. But some, rushing out recklessly, set fire to them and burned them all down. And as the earthworks were destroyed, the Romans were despondent, but Titus consulted with his commanders. And some ordered to raise other earthworks again, while others said to besiege them without earthworks and to guard their exits and the bringing in of provisions, and thus they said the city would be taken by famine, but to others it seemed best to bring up their whole force and make an attempt on the wall; for the Jews would not withstand the assault. But to Titus, none of these things was pleasing, but it seemed best to encircle the city with a wall of circumvallation, in order to block every exit for those inside. And he divided the 2.60 work among the army. And a certain rivalry fell upon them for the work and some divine impulse, and the work was quickly built. And having enclosed the city with the wall, he himself went around and inspected the first watch of the night, but entrusted the remaining watches to others; and the guards took turns sleeping. But for the Jews, with their exits, all hope of salvation was cut off, and the famine fed upon the people house by house and family by family, and the rooftops were filled with exhausted women and infants, and the narrow streets with the corpses of old men; and boys and young men, swollen like shadows, wandered about the marketplaces, and fell down wherever each one happened to faint. And those still living were not strong enough to bury their relatives; and many, attempting to bury them, died upon those being buried. But the seditionists became even harsher than the evils of the famine, robbing tombs and plundering houses. And at first they ordered the dead to be buried from the public treasury, not being able to bear the stench, but then they threw them from the walls into the ravines. And Titus, going around and seeing them filled with corpses and the deep gore flowing from the decaying bodies, groaned and raising his hands called God to witness that this work was not of his own will. And again he took up the earthworks, though timber was procured for him with difficulty; for it was brought from ninety stades away. And many of the people deserted, some throwing themselves from the walls, others going forth as if for battle with stones and fleeing to the Romans. And in this way most of them perished; for being famished and encountering an abundance of food, and being insatiably 2.61 filled, they burst apart. And something else happened that destroyed the deserters. For some of them, possessing gold coins, when they were about to desert to the Romans, swallowed them, so that if caught they would not be deprived of them. And when they were among the Romans, they would excrete the gold coins along with the refuse of their stomachs, and picking them out, they would take them. Therefore one of the deserters was caught doing this; and when a report spread through the camp that the deserters were coming full of gold, they would cut open the bellies of the wretched men, so that from this there was a great slaughter of the Jews; for in one night it happened that over three thousand were ripped open. When Titus learned this, he threatened the army; but the anger of Titus helped the deserters little or not at all. And the silver coins were found in few of them, but hope alone destroyed the rest. And it is said that the corpses carried out of the city through the gates and thrown away of the

183

τοὺς λοιποὺς ηλπιζεν. οἱ στασιασταὶ δὲ τοὺς τῶν αὐτομόλων οἰκείους ἐπὶ τὸ τεῖχος ελκοντες, καὶ τῶν δημοτῶν τοὺς ἐπὶ πύστιν ὡρμημένους, οια πάσχουσιν οἱ ̔Ρωμαίοις προσφεύγοντες ἐπεδείκνυον, καταψευδόμενοι καὶ τῶν πολεμίων καὶ τῶν οἰκείων. Ηδη δὲ τῶν χωμάτων συντελεσθέντων αἱ ἑλεπόλεις προσήγοντο. ὑπορύξαντες δ' ενδοθεν ̓Ιουδαῖοι τὸ κατὰ τὴν ̓Αντωνίαν μέχρι τῶν χωμάτων διάστημα, καὶ τοὺς ὑπονόμους ξύλοις ὑποστηρίξαντες, μετέωρα τὰ χώματα πεποιήκασιν. ειτα υλης τὸ ορυγμα πλήσαντες, πῦρ τῇ υλῃ ἐνέβαλον, καὶ τῶν ὑποστηριζόντων ξύλων καυθέντων ἡ διῶρυξ ἀθρόον ἐνέδωκε καὶ κατεσείσθη τὰ χώματα· καὶ τοῖς ̔Ρωμαίοις εκπληξις καὶ ἀθυμία πρὸς τὴν ἐπίνοιαν γίνεται. κατὰ δὲ τὰ λοιπὰ τὰς ἑλεπόλεις οἱ ̔Ρωμαῖοι προσάγοντες διέσειον τὸ τεῖχος. ἀλλά τινες παραβόλως ὁρμήσαντες πῦρ κατ' αὐτῶν ἐνῆκαν καὶ πάντα κατέπρησαν. διεφθαρμένων δὲ τῶν χωμάτων ̔Ρωμαῖοι μὲν ἠθύμουν, Τίτος δὲ μετὰ τῶν ἡγεμόνων ἐβουλεύετο. καὶ οἱ μὲν αυθις ετερα ἐγείρειν ἐκέλευον, οἱ δὲ χωμάτων ανευ προσκαθέζεσθαι καὶ φυλάττειν τὰς ἐξόδους αὐτῶν καὶ τὰς τῶν ἐπιτηδείων εἰσαγωγάς, καὶ ουτως ελεγον λιμῷ τὴν πόλιν εσεσθαι ἁλωτήν, τοῖς δὲ πᾶσαν ἐδόκει προσάγειν τὴν δύναμιν καὶ ἀποπειρᾶσθαι τοῦ τείχους· μηδὲ γὰρ οισειν ̓Ιουδαίους τὴν εφοδον. τῷ γε μὴν Τίτῳ τούτων οὐδὲν ηρεσκεν, ἐδόκει δὲ περιβόλῳ τὴν πόλιν κυκλῶσαι, ιν' ουτω πᾶσαν ἐμφράξῃ τοῖς ενδον διέξοδον. καὶ τὸ 2.60 εργον τῇ στρατιᾷ κατεμέρισε. τοῖς δέ τις ερις ἐμπίπτει ἐπὶ τὴν ἐργασίαν καὶ ὁρμή τις δαιμόνιος, ταχύ τε τὸ εργον ἐξῳκοδόμητο. περικλείσας δὲ τῷ τείχει τὴν πόλιν, τὴν μὲν πρώτην φυλακὴν τῆς νυκτὸς περιιὼν αὐτὸς ἐπεσκέπτετο, τὰς δὲ λοιπὰς ἑτέροις ἐπέτρεψε· διεκληροῦντο δὲ τὸν υπνον οἱ φύλακες. ̓Ιουδαίοις δὲ μετὰ τῶν ἐξόδων ἀπεκλείσθη πᾶσα σωτηρίας ἐλπίς, καὶ ὁ λιμὸς κατ' οικους καὶ γενεὰς τὸν δῆμον ἐβόσκετο, καὶ τὰ μὲν τέγη γυναικῶν καὶ βρεφῶν ἐκλελυμένων πεπλήρωτο, οἱ στενωποὶ δὲ γερόντων νεκρῶν· παῖδες δὲ καὶ νεανίαι διῳδηκότες ὡς ειδωλα κατὰ τὰς ἀγορὰς περιῄεσαν, καὶ κατέπιπτον οπῃ εκαστος ἀτονήσας ετυχε. θάπτειν δὲ τοὺς προσήκοντας οἱ ετι ζῶντες οὐκ ισχυον· πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ θάπτειν ὁρμήσαντες τοῖς θαπτομένοις ἐπαπέθνησκον. οἱ δὲ στασιασταὶ καὶ τῶν ἐκ τοῦ λιμοῦ κακῶν ἐγίνοντο χαλεπώτεροι, τυμβωρυχοῦντες καὶ τὰς οἰκίας συλῶντες. καὶ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἐκ τοῦ δημοσίου θησαυροῦ θάπτειν ἐκέλευον τοὺς νεκρούς, τὴν δυσωδίαν μὴ φέροντες, ειτ' ἐρρίπτουν αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῶν τειχῶν εἰς τὰς φάραγγας. περιιὼν δ' ὁ Τίτος καὶ θεασάμενος νεκρῶν πεπληρωμένας αὐτὰς καὶ βαθὺν ἰχῶρα μυδώντων σωμάτων ἐκρέοντα, ἐστέναξε καὶ τὰς χεῖρας ἀνατείνας ἐμαρτύρετο τὸν θεὸν ὡς οὐκ ειη τὸ εργον αὐτῷ πρὸς βουλῆς. καὶ πάλιν ηπτετο χωμάτων, χαλεπῶς αὐτῷ τῆς υλης ποριζομένης· πρὸ γὰρ σταδίων κεκόμιστο ἐνενήκοντα. Πολλοὶ δ' ηὐτομόλουν τοῦ δήμου, οἱ μὲν ἐκ τῶν τειχῶν κρημνίζοντες ἑαυτούς, οἱ δὲ προϊόντες ὡς ἐπὶ μάχην μετὰ χερμάδων πρὸς ̔Ρωμαίους κατέφευγον. καὶ ουτω δ' οἱ πλείους ἀπώλλυντο· λιμώττοντες γὰρ καὶ ἀφθονίᾳ τροφῶν ἐντυγχάνοντες ἀπλήστως τε κο2.61 ρεννύμενοι διερρήγνυντο. συνέβη δέ τι καὶ ετερον τοὺς αὐτομόλους φθεῖρον. τινὲς γὰρ αὐτῶν κεκτημένοι χρυσοῦς ἐν τῷ μέλλειν πρὸς ̔Ρωμαίους αὐτομολεῖν κατέπινον σφᾶς, ινα μὴ ἁλόντες ἀφαιρεθῶσιν αὐτούς. παρὰ δὲ τοῖς ̔Ρωμαίοις γενόμενοι τοῖς τῆς γαστρὸς σκυβάλοις τοὺς χρυσοῦς συνεξέκρινον, καὶ ἐκλέγοντες αὐτοὺς ἐλάμβανον. φωρᾶται τοίνυν τῶν αὐτομόλων τις τοῦτο ποιῶν· καὶ φήμης γεγονυίας εἰς τὸ στρατόπεδον ὡς μεστοὶ χρυσίου προσίασιν οἱ αὐτόμολοι, ἀνετέμνοντο τὰς γαστέρας οἱ αθλιοι, ὡς ἐντεῦθεν πολλὴν γενέσθαι τῶν ̓Ιουδαίων φθοράν· μιᾷ γὰρ νυκτὶ ὑπὲρ τρισχιλίους ἀνασχισθῆναι συνέβη. ο γνοὺς ὁ Τίτος ἠπείλησε τῷ στρατεύματι· ἀλλὰ μικρὸν η οὐδὲν τοῖς αὐτομόλοις ἐπήμυνεν ἡ τοῦ Τίτου ὀργή. ἐν ὀλίγοις δ' εὑρίσκετο τὰ ἀργύρια, τοὺς δὲ λοιποὺς ἐλπίδες μόναι ἀπώλλυον. λέγεται δὲ τοὺς ἐκ τῆς πόλεως διὰ τῶν πυλῶν ἐκκομισθέντας καὶ ῥιφέντας νεκροὺς τῶν