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were burned down with the temple. But the Romans, judging their 2.68 sparing of the areas around the temple to be in vain, now that it was burning, applied fire to everything; and it also took hold of the treasuries, in which was stored an immense quantity of money, and countless costly robes and other treasures. For all the wealth of the Jews from all quarters was piled up there, since the owners deposited these things there as in a safe treasury. And an immense multitude of common people perished, for whom the cause of their destruction was a certain false prophet, who had proclaimed to those in the city that God commanded them to go up to the temple to receive the signs of their salvation. Many such men were sent by the tyrants to say these things, so that they would be less likely to desert; by whom the wretched crowd, being deceived, did not believe the clear signs, as if thunderstruck. For many signs had occurred. For a star resembling a sword stood over the city, and a comet that appeared extended for a year. And once before the war a light shone round the temple and the altar, so that it seemed to be bright day, and it remained for half an hour. And a cow, being led up for sacrifice, gave birth to a lamb. And the eastern gate of the inner temple, being of bronze and massive, so that it was opened and closed with difficulty by twenty men, and having bolts and very deep bars, was seen at night to have opened of its own accord. It signified that the security of the temple was being dissolved, and that entry for the enemy would be easy. And another time a divine apparition was seen before sunset, chariots traversing the air over the whole country, and armed phalanxes darting through the clouds. And during the feast of Pentecost, the priests, having gone into the inner 2.69 temple, perceived a movement and a sound; then they heard a voice saying, "Let us depart from here." But four years before the war, at the feast of Tabernacles, a certain rustic man named Jesus came to the feast and began to cry out: "A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the temple, a voice against bridegrooms and brides, a voice against all the people." And he went about the city crying these things out day and night. And being beaten for his ill-omened words, he cried out nothing else but the same phrases. And being brought before the Roman who was then procurator of the country, and scourged with whips, he neither supplicated nor wept, but, modulating his voice mournfully at each blow, he cried out, "Woe to Jerusalem!" until Albinus, for he was procurator then, convicting him of madness, released him. And from that time until the war he lamented, "Woe to Jerusalem!" And especially at the feasts he cried out the gloomy omen. And he did this for seven years and five months, until during the siege, going about on the wall, he cried out piercingly again, "Woe to the city and to the temple and to the people!" And when he added at last, "Woe to me also!" a stone from a catapult struck and killed him. But the Romans, since the insurgents had fled into the city, and the temple and all its surroundings were burning, brought their standards into the temple and with the greatest acclamations proclaimed Titus emperor. And all the soldiers were so enriched by plunder that in Syria the weight of gold was sold for 2.70 half its former price. But the priests who had gone up onto the wall of the temple, as has been said, after holding out for five days and suffering from hunger, came down, begging to obtain salvation. But Titus said that the time for pardon was past, and saying that since the temple was gone, the priests must perish with it, he ordered the men to be punished. But those with the tyrants, being unable to escape, summoned Titus for a parley. And he came, and reproached them for their desperation, and promised to grant them their lives if they would throw down their arms and surrender their persons. And the bandits said that they could not receive a pledge from him, having sworn never to do so, but they asked for a passage with their wives

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συγκατεφλέγησαν τῷ ναῷ. ̔Ρωμαῖοι δὲ ματαίαν τὴν 2.68 ἐπὶ τοῖς πέριξ τοῦ ναοῦ φειδὼ κρίναντες, ηδη αὐτοῦ φλεγομένου, πᾶσιν ἐπῆγον τὸ πῦρ· τὸ δὲ καὶ τῶν γαζοφυλακίων ἐπιλαμβάνεται, ἐν οις απειρον μὲν πλῆθος τεθησαύριστο χρημάτων, απειροι δ' ἐσθῆτες πολυτελεῖς καὶ αλλα κειμήλια. απας γὰρ ὁ ̓Ιουδαίων πλοῦτος πανταχόθεν ἐκεῖ σεσώρευτο, τῶν κεκτημένων ἀποτιθεμένων ταῦτα ἐκεῖ ὡς ἐπ' ἀσφαλοῦς ταμιείου. Απειρον δέ τι πλῆθος διεφθάρη δημοτικόν, οις αιτιος ἀπωλείας ἐγένετό τις ψευδοπροφήτης, κηρύξας τοῖς ἐν τῇ πόλει ὡς ὁ θεὸς ἐπὶ τὸ ἱερὸν ἀναβῆναι κελεύει, δεξομένους τὰ σημεῖα τῆς σωτηρίας. πολλοὶ δὲ τοιοῦτοι παρὰ τῶν τυράννων ταῦτα λέγειν καθίεντο, ιν' ηττον αὐτομολοῖεν· δι' ων ὁ δείλαιος οχλος παραβουκολούμενος τοῖς ἐναργέσι σημείοις ὡς ἐμβρόντητοι οὐκ ἐπίστευον. πολλὰ δὲ σημεῖα γεγόνασιν. εστη μὲν γὰρ ὑπὲρ τὴν πόλιν αστρον ῥομφαίᾳ παραπλήσιον, καὶ κομήτης φανεὶς παρετάθη ἐπ' ἐνιαυτόν. καὶ φῶς πρὸ τοῦ πολέμου ποτὲ τὸν ναὸν καὶ τὸν βωμὸν περιέλαμψεν, ὡς δοκεῖν ἡμέραν ειναι λαμπράν, παραμεῖναν ἐπὶ ἡμίσειαν ωραν. καὶ βοῦς εἰς θυσίαν ἀναχθεῖσα ετεκεν αρνα. ἡ δὲ ἀνατολικὴ πύλη τοῦ ἐνδοτέρω ναοῦ χαλκῆ ουσα καὶ στιβαρά, ὡς μόλις ὑπὸ ἀνδρῶν εικοσιν ἀνοίγνυσθαί τε καὶ κλείεσθαι, καὶ μοχλοὺς καὶ καταπῆγας εχουσα βαθυτάτους, ωφθη νύκτωρ αὐτομάτως ἠνεῳγμένη. ἐδήλου δὲ λυομένην τὴν τοῦ ναοῦ ἀσφάλειαν, καὶ τοῖς πολεμίοις ἐσομένην τὴν εισοδον εὐμαρῆ. καὶ φάσμα τι δαιμόνιον αλλοτε ωφθη πρὸ ἡλίου δυσμῶν, αρματα κατὰ πᾶσαν τὴν χώραν διιόντα μετέωρα, καὶ φάλαγγες ενοπλοι διᾴττουσαι τῶν νεφῶν. κατὰ δὲ τὴν τῆς πεντηκοστῆς ἑορτὴν εἰς τὸ ενδον ἱερὸν οἱ ἱερεῖς παρ2.69 ελθόντες κινήσεως ῃσθοντο καὶ κτύπου· ειτα φωνῆς ηκουσαν λεγούσης Μεταβαίνωμεν ἐντεῦθεν. πρὸ δὲ τεσσάρων ἐνιαυτῶν τοῦ πολέμου, ἐν τῇ τῆς σκηνοπηγίας ἑορτῇ, ̓Ιησοῦς τις ἀγροῖκος ἀνὴρ ἐλθὼν εἰς τὴν ἑορτὴν βοᾶν ηρξατο Φωνὴ ἀπὸ ἀνατολῆς, φωνὴ ἀπὸ δύσεως, φωνὴ ἀπὸ τῶν τεσσάρων ἀνέμων, φωνὴ ἐπὶ ̔Ιεροσόλυμα καὶ τὸν ναόν, φωνὴ ἐπὶ νυμφίους καὶ νύμφας, φωνὴ ἐπὶ πάντα τὸν λαόν. καὶ περιῄει τὴν πόλιν ταῦτα κεκραγὼς μεθ' ἡμέραν καὶ νύκτωρ. παιόμενος δὲ διὰ τὸ κακόφημον, ὁ δὲ οὐδὲν ετερον η τὰς αὐτὰς ἐβόα φωνάς. ἀναχθεὶς δὲ καὶ πρὸς τὸν τῆς χώρας ἐπιτροπεύοντα τότε ̔Ρωμαῖον, καὶ καταξανθεὶς μάστιξιν, ουθ' ἱκέτευσεν ουτ' ἐδάκρυσεν, ἀλλὰ τὴν φωνὴν ὀλοφυρτικῶς παρακλίνων πρὸς ἑκάστην πληγὴν Αἰαῖ ̔Ιεροσολύμοις ἐβόα, μέχρι καταγνοὺς μανίαν αὐτοῦ ὁ ̓Αλβῖνος, ουτος γὰρ ἐπετρόπευε τότε, ἀπέλυσεν αὐτόν. ὁ δ' εκτοτε μέχρι τοῦ πολέμου Αἰαῖ ̔Ιεροσολύμοις ἐθρήνει. ἐν δὲ ταῖς ἑορταῖς μάλιστα τὴν σκυθρωπὴν ἐκεκράγει κληδόνα. καὶ τοῦτ' ἐποίει ἐπὶ ετη ἑπτὰ καὶ μῆνας πέντε, μέχρις ου κατὰ τὴν πολιορκίαν περιιὼν ἐπὶ τοῦ τείχους Αἰαῖ πάλιν τῇ πόλει καὶ τῷ ναῷ καὶ τῷ λαῷ διαπρυσίως ἐβόα. ὡς δὲ τελευταῖον προσέθηκεν Αἰαῖ κἀμοί, λίθος ἐκ τοῦ πετροβόλου πλήξας αὐτὸν εκτεινε. ̔Ρωμαῖοι δὲ τῶν μὲν στασιαστῶν καταπεφευγότων εἰς τὴν πόλιν, καιομένου δὲ τοῦ ναοῦ καὶ τῶν πέριξ ἁπάντων, κομίσαντες τὰς σημαίας εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν μετὰ μεγίστων εὐφημιῶν τὸν Τίτον ἀπέφηναν αὐτοκράτορα. ουτω δὲ ταῖς ἁρπαγαῖς οἱ στρατιῶται πάντες ἐχρηματίσαντο ωστε κατὰ τὴν Συρίαν πρὸς 2.70 ημισυ τῆς πάλαι τιμῆς τὸν σταθμὸν τοῦ χρυσίου πιπράσκεσθαι. Οἱ δὲ ἀνὰ τὸν τοῖχον τοῦ ναοῦ, ὡς ειρηται, ἀνελθόντες ἱερεῖς, ἐπὶ πέντε ἡμέραις προσκαρτερήσαντες καὶ λιμώξαντες, κατέβησαν ἱκετεύοντες τυχεῖν σωτηρίας. ὁ δὲ Τίτος καὶ τὸν τῆς συγγνώμης καιρὸν παρελθεῖν εφησε, καὶ τοῦ ναοῦ οἰχομένου καὶ τοὺς ἱερεῖς συναπολέσθαι αὐτῷ δεῖν εἰπὼν κολασθῆναι τοὺς ανδρας ἐκέλευσεν. Οἱ δὲ περὶ τοὺς τυράννους διαδρᾶναι μὴ ἰσχύοντες προσκαλοῦνται τὸν Τίτον εἰς λόγους. καὶ ος ηκε, καὶ τὴν ἀπόνοιαν αὐτοῖς ἐξωνείδισε, καὶ ῥίψασι τὰ οπλα καὶ παραδοῦσι τὰ σώματα χαρίζεσθαι τὴν ζωὴν ἐπηγγέλλετο. καὶ οἱ λῃσταὶ δεξιὰν μὲν μὴ δύνασθαι παρ' αὐτοῦ λαβεῖν εφησαν, ὀμωμοκότες μηδέποτε τοῦτο ποιήσειν, εξοδον δὲ ᾐτοῦντο μετὰ γυναικῶν