same time Florus sallied out
from his palace, with his troops, and both parties pressed forward
to gain the Castle of Antonia, whose possession would lay the
Temple open to them, and enable Florus to gain the sacred treasures
deposited there.

"But, as soon as the people perceived their object, they ran
together in such vast crowds that the Roman soldiers could not cut
their way through the mass which blocked up the streets; while the
more active men, going up on to the roofs, hurled down stones and
missiles upon the troops.

"What a scene was that, John! I was on the portico near Antonia,
and saw it all. It was terrible to hear the shouts of the soldiers,
as they strove to hew their way through the defenseless people; the
war cries of our own youths, the shrieks and wailings of the women.
While the Romans were still striving, our people broke down the
galleries connecting Antonia with the Temple; and Florus, seeing
that he could not carry out his object, ordered his troops to
retire to their quarters and, calling the chief priests and the
rulers, proposed to leave the city, leaving behind him one cohort
to preserve the peace.

"As soon as he had done so, he sent to Cestius Gallus lying
accounts of the tumults, laying all the blame upon us; while we and
Bernice, the sister of King Agrippa--who had tried, in vain, to
obtain mercy for the people from Florus--sent complaints against
him. Cestius was moving to Jerusalem--to inquire into the matter,
as he said, but really to restore Florus--when, fortunately, King
Agrippa arrived from Egypt.

"While he was yet seven miles from the city, a procession of the
people met him, headed by the women whose husbands had been slain.
These, with cries and wailings, called on Agrippa for protection;
and related to a centurion, whom Cestius had sent forward, and who
met Agrippa on the way, the cruelty of Florus. When the king and
the centurion arrived in the city, they were taken to the
marketplace and shown the houses where the inhabitants had been
massacred.

"Agrippa called the people together and, taking his seat on a lofty
dais, with Bernice by his side, harangued them. He assured them
that, when the emperor heard what had been done, he would send a
better governor to them, in the place of Florus. He told them that
it was vain to hope for independence, for that the Romans had
conquered all the nations in the world; and that the Jews could not
contend against them, and that w