labored to maintain peace. I had fought in the palace, by the side
of Ananias; and had left it only when the troops, and we of their
party, were permitted to march out when it surrendered. But, from
this time, I took another part. All hope of peace, of concessions,
or of conditions was at an end. There remained nothing now but to
fight and, as the vengeance of Rome would fall on the whole Jewish
people, it was for the whole Jewish people to unite in the struggle
for existence.

"On the very day and hour in which the Romans were put to death,
retribution began to fall upon the nation; for the Greeks of
Caesarea rose suddenly, and massacred the Jews. Twenty thousand
were slain, in a single day. The news of these two massacres drove
the whole people to madness. They rose throughout the land, laid
waste the country all round the cities of Syria--Philadelphia,
Sebonitis, Gerasa, Pella, and Scythopolis--and burned and destroyed
many places.

"The Syrians, in turn, fell upon the Jewish inhabitants of all
their towns; and a frightful carnage, everywhere, took place. Then,
our people made an inroad into the domains of Scythopolis but,
though the Jewish inhabitants there joined the Syrians in defending
their territory, the Syrians doubted their fidelity and, falling
upon them in the night, slew them all, and seized their property.
Thirteen thousand perished here. In many other cities, the same
things were done; in Ascalon, two thousand five hundred were put to
the sword; in Ptolemais, two thousand were killed. The land was
deluged with blood, and despair fell upon all.

"Even in Alexandria, our countrymen suffered. Breaking out into a
quarrel with the Greeks, a tumult arose; and Tiberias Alexander,
the governor--by faith a Jew--tried to pacify matters; but the
madness which had seized the people, here, had fallen also upon the
Jews of Alexandria. They heaped abuse upon Alexander, who was
forced to send the troops against them. The Jews fought, but
vainly; and fifty thousand men, women, and children fell.

"While blood was flowing over the land, Cestius Gallus--the
prefect--was preparing for invasion. He had with him the Twelfth
Legion, forty-two hundred strong; two thousand picked men, taken
from the other legions; six cohorts of foot, about twenty-five
hundred; and four troops of horse, twelve hundred. Of allies he
had, from Antiochus, two thousand horse and three thousand foot;
from Agrippa, one thousand horse and three