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of them, and whatever had been gifted to some, he kept, taking nothing from anyone; and he neither demanded the contributions that were owed nor confiscated anyone's property, having killed very few of those who had acted for Otho, without, however, depriving their relatives of their property. And to the relatives of those who had previously been put to death, he gifted all that was still found in the public treasury. Nor did he contest the wills of those who had fought against him and had fallen in the battles. And he forbade both senators and knights from fighting as gladiators or providing any spectacle in the orchestra. And for these things he was praised. Following these events, the revolt against him in Judaea was announced to him. And he was terribly afraid because of it, as other signs had occurred and the moon seemed to have been eclipsed twice contrary to its established course; for it was darkened on the fourth and seventh day. And they saw two suns at the same time then, both from the east and from the west, the one faint and pale, but the one from the east strong. 3.49 The events of the revolt happened thus. Vespasian, while spending time in Judaea, for as has already been related, had been sent there by Nero because of the apostasy of the Jews, sent his son Titus to Galba when he became emperor to greet him; but when Titus returned, since on the way he had learned of the revolt of Vitellius and Otho, he himself also was moved toward monarchy, according to Dio. But as Josephus says in his history of the capture, the soldiers with him, having learned that the Gauls in Europe had revolted and appointed Galba as emperor, and that those serving in Germany had chosen Vitellius instead, and those in Rome had appointed Otho, they themselves also voted for the monarchy for their own general, and encouraging one another, they proclaimed Vespasian emperor and called upon him to save the Roman leadership, which was in danger. But when he refused, the leaders insisted, and the soldiers, surrounding him with drawn swords, threatened to kill him. He was persuaded, therefore, and first wrote to the one governing Egypt about his situation; and he immediately proclaimed him emperor. Vespasian, learning this, sent Mucianus, the governor of Syria, to Italy against Vitellius. at which time also the Hebrew Josephus, who had dared to address him as emperor while Nero was still alive, who was still a prisoner with him and a cap3.50 tive, he, the ruler, having called him to himself, as one who had prophesied for him, ordered to be released. And when Titus told his father Vespasian that it was just also for the disgrace to be removed from Josephus along with the iron, and that this would happen if the bonds were not untied but cut, which is done in the case of those unjustly bound, Vespasian also consented, and someone came forward and cut the chain with an axe. For Josephus, as he himself related, having found a certain oracle in the sacred writings indicating that someone from their country would rule the inhabited world, because of the seditions in Rome and the successive changes of rulers there, supposed that the oracle pointed to Vespasian, and prophesied his power to him. Appian also mentions this oracle in the twenty-second book of his Roman History. But it might be considered more just or especially true for the oracle to be taken as referring to the savior of the human race, the Lord Jesus Christ; for Vespasian did not rule the entire inhabited world, according to the oracle, but only that under the Romans; and much of the inhabited world was that which was outside the Roman empire; but the Lord both ruled and rules over the entire inhabited world, to whom it was said by the Father, "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." 3.51 And Vespasian set out for Alexandria, where good tidings also came to him from Rome, that Vitellius had been slain, and he himself had been proclaimed emperor by both the people and the senate, and his son Domitian had been advanced to the leadership until his own

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αὐτῶν, καὶ οσα τισὶν ἐδεδώρηντο ἐφύλαξε, μηδένα μηδὲν ἀφελόμενος· καὶ ουτε τὰ ἐκ τῶν συντελειῶν ἐποφληθέντα ἀπῄτησεν ουτε οὐσίαν τινὸς ἐδήμευσεν, ὀλίγους μὲν πάνυ τῶν τὰ Οθωνος πραξάντων ἀποκτείνας, μηδὲ τὰς ἐκείνων μέντοι οὐσίας τοὺς προσήκοντας σφῶν ἀποστερήσας. καὶ τοῖς οἰκείοις δὲ τῶν πρότερόν ποτε θανατωθέντων ἐδωρήσατο πάντα οσα ετι ἐν τῷ δημοσίῳ ευρηντο. ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τὰς διαθήκας τῶν ἀντιπολεμησάντων αὐτῷ καὶ ἐν ταῖς μάχαις πεσόντων ᾐτιάσατο. ἀπηγόρευσε δὲ καὶ τοῖς βουλευταῖς καὶ τοῖς ἱππεῦσι μονομαχεῖν η ἐν ὀρχήστρᾳ θέαν τινὰ παρέχειν. καὶ διὰ ταῦτα ἐπῃνεῖτο. ̓Επὶ τούτοις ἠγγέλθη αὐτῷ ἡ ἐν ̓Ιουδαίᾳ κατ' αὐτοῦ ἐπανάστασις. καὶ δεινῶς κατέδεισε δι' αὐτήν, αλλων τε συμβάντων σημείων καὶ τῆς σελήνης παρὰ τὸ καθεστηκὸς δὶς ἐκλελοιπέναι δοξάσης· καὶ γὰρ τεταρταία καὶ ἑβδομαία ἐσκιάσθη. ἡλίους τε δύο αμα τότε ειδον εκ τε τῶν ἀνατολῶν καὶ ἐκ τῶν δυσμῶν, τὸν μὲν ἀσθενῆ καὶ ὠχρόν, τὸν δ' ἐξ ἀνατολῶν ἰσχυρόν. 3.49 ̓Επράχθη δὲ τὰ τῆς ἐπαναστάσεως ωδε. Οὐεσπασιανὸς ἐν ̓Ιουδαίᾳ διατρίβων, ὡς γὰρ ηδη ἱστόρηται, παρὰ Νέρωνος ην ἐκεῖσε σταλεὶς διὰ τὴν τῶν ̓Ιουδαίων ἀποστασίαν, τῷ μὲν Γάλβᾳ αὐταρχήσαντι τὸν υἱὸν επεμψε Τίτον προσεροῦντα αὐτόν· ἐπανελθόντος δὲ τοῦ Τίτου, ἐπεὶ καθ' ὁδὸν ἐμεμαθήκει τὴν τοῦ Οὐιτελλίου καὶ τοῦ Οθωνος ἐπανάστασιν, πρὸς μοναρχίαν καὶ αὐτὸς ὡρμήθη, κατὰ τὸν ∆ίωνα. ὡς δ' ὁ ̔Ιώσηπος ἐν τῇ τῆς ἁλώσεως ἱστορία φησίν, οἱ μετ' αὐτοῦ στρατιῶται μαθόντες τοὺς μὲν ἐν τῇ Εὐρώπῃ Γαλάτας στασιάσαντας Γάλβαν προχειρίσασθαι αὐτοκράτορα, τοὺς δ' ἐν Γερμανίᾳ στρατευομένους ἀνθελέσθαι τὸν Οὐιτέλλιον, τοὺς δ' ἐν τῇ ̔Ρώμῃ προχειρίσασθαι Οθωνα, καὶ αὐτοὶ τὴν μοναρχίαν τῷ σφετέρῳ ἐψηφίσαντο στρατηγῷ, καὶ παρακροτήσαντες ἀλλήλους ἀνηγόρευσαν τὸν Οὐεσπασιανὸν αὐτοκράτορα καὶ σώζειν τὴν τῶν ̔Ρωμαίων ἡγεμονίαν κινδυνεύουσαν παρεκάλουν. ἀρνουμένου δ' ἐκείνου οἱ μὲν ἡγεμόνες προσέκειντο, οἱ δὲ στρατιῶται περιχυθέντες ξιφήρεις ἀνελεῖν ἠπείλουν αὐτόν. πείθεται ουν, καὶ πρῶτον τῷ τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς Αἰγύπτου ἰθύνοντι ἐπιστέλλει περὶ τῶν κατ' αὐτόν· καὶ ος εὐθὺς ἀνηγόρευσεν αὐτὸν αὐτοκράτορα. Οὐεσπασιανὸς δὲ τοῦτο μαθὼν τὸν μὲν τῆς Συρίας ἡγούμενον Μουκιανὸν εἰς τὴν ̓Ιταλίαν ἐπὶ τὸν Οὐιτέλλιον επεμψαν. οτε καὶ τὸν ̔Εβραῖον ̓Ιώσηπον, ος αὐτὸν ετι ζῶντος τοῦ Νέρωνος αὐτοκράτορα προσειπεῖν ἐθάρρησε, δεσμώτην ετι οντα παρ' αὑτῷ καὶ αἰχμά3.50 λωτον, τὴν ἀρχὴν καλέσας πρὸς ἑαυτόν, οια προμαντευσάμενον αὐτῷ, λυθῆναι κελεύει. τοῦ δὲ Τίτου τῷ πατρὶ Οὐεσπασιανῷ δίκαιον εἰπόντος ειναι καὶ τὸ ονειδος ἐξ ̓Ιωσήπου ἀφαιρεθῆναι σὺν τῷ σιδήρῳ, τοῦτο δ' εσεσθαι, εἰ μὴ λυθῶσι τὰ δεσμά, ἀλλὰ διακοπῶσιν, ο ἐπὶ τῶν μὴ δεόντως δεθέντων πράττεται, συνευδοκεῖ καὶ ὁ Οὐεσπασιανός, καὶ παρελθών τις διέκοψε πελέκει τὴν αλυσιν. ̔Ο γὰρ ̓Ιώσηπος, ὡς αὐτὸς ἐκεῖνος ἱστόρησε, χρησμόν τινα ἐν γράμμασιν ἱεροῖς εὑρηκὼς δηλοῦντα ὡς αρξει τις ἀπὸ τῆς χώρας αὐτῶν τῆς οἰκουμένης, διὰ τὰς ἐν τῇ ̔Ρώμῃ στάσεις καὶ τῶν ἐκεῖ βασιλέων τὰς συνεχεῖς ἀλλαγὰς εἰς τὸν Οὐεσπασιανὸν τείνειν ὑπείληφε τὸν χρησμόν, καί οἱ τὸ κράτος προεμαντεύσατο. τούτου δὲ τοῦ χρησμοῦ μέμνηται καὶ ̓Αππιανὸς ἐν τῷ εἰκοστῷ δευτέρῳ λόγῳ τῆς ̔Ρωμαϊκῆς ἱστορίας αὐτοῦ. δικαιότερον δ' αν η ἀληθὲς μάλιστα νομισθείη τὸ ἐπὶ τὸν σωτῆρα τοῦ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένους τὸν κύριον ̓Ιησοῦν Χριστὸν τὸν χρησμὸν ἐκληφθῆναι· οὐ γὰρ τῆς οἰκουμένης πάσης Οὐεσπασιανὸς ἐβασίλευσε, κατὰ τὸν χρησμόν, ἀλλὰ τῆς ὑπὸ ̔Ρωμαίους μόνης· πολὺ δὲ τῆς οἰκουμένης ην ο τῆς ̔Ρωμαϊκῆς ἀρχῆς ην ἐκτός· ὁ δὲ κύριος συμπάσης τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐβασίλευσέ τε καὶ βασιλεύει, ῳ παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς ἐρρήθη "αιτησαι παρ' ἐμοῦ, καὶ δώσω σοι εθνη τὴν κληρονομίαν σου καὶ τὴν κατάσχεσίν σου τὰ πέρατα τῆς γῆς." 3.51 Οὐεσπασιανὸς δὲ πρὸς ̓Αλεξάνδρειαν ωρμησεν, ενθα καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ̔Ρώμης εὐαγγέλια ηκεν αὐτῷ, ὡς Οὐιτέλλιος μὲν ἀπεσφάγη, αὐτὸς δὲ αὐτοκράτωρ τῷ τε δήμῳ καὶ τῇ συγκλήτῳ ἀνηγορεύθη, καὶ ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ∆ομετιανὸς εἰς ἡγεμονίαν προήχθη μέχρι τῆς αὐτοῦ