e Galilee, to take a city
(which, moreover, had just tried to abolish its Jewish population) on
the other side of the Jordan; and then marched back again to a place
fourteen miles off his starting-point.[105] One would think that the
most careless of readers must be startled by this incongruity into
inquiring whether there might not be something wrong with the text;
and, if he had done so, he would have easily discovered that since the
time of Reland, a century and a half ago, careful scholars have read
Ga_b_ara for Ga_d_ara.[106]

Once more, I venture to point out that training in the use of the
weapons of precision of science may have its value in historical
studies, if only in preventing the occurrence of droll blunders in
geography.

In the third citation ("Wars," IV. vii.) Josephus tells us that
Vespasian marched against "Gadara," which he calls the metropolis of
Peraea (it was possibly the seat of a common festival of the
Decapolitan cities), and entered it, without opposition, the wealthy
and powerful citizens having opened negotiations with him without the
knowledge of an opposite party, who, "as being inferior in number to
their enemies, who were within the city, and seeing the Romans very
near the city," resolved to fly. Before doing so, however, they, after
a fashion unfortunately too common among the Zealots, murdered and
shockingly mutilated Dolesus, a man of the first rank, who had
promoted the embassy to Vespasian; and then "ran out of the city."
Hereupon, "the people of Gadara" (surely not this time "Hebrews bound
by the Mosaic law") received Vespasian with joyful acclamations,
voluntarily pulled down their wall, so that the city could not in
future be used as a fortress by the Jews, and accepted a Roman
garrison for their future protection. Granting that this Gadara really
is the city of the Gadarenes, the reference, without citation, to the
passage, in support of Mr. Gladstone's contention seems rather
remarkable. Taken in conjunction with the shortly antecedent ravaging
of the Gadarene territory by the Jews, in fact, better proof could
hardly be expected of the real state of the case; namely, that the
population of Gadara (and notably the wealthy and respectable part of
it) was thoroughly Hellenic; though, as in Caesarea and elsewhere among
the Palestinian cities, the rabble contained a considerable body of
fanatical Jews, whose reckless ferocity made them, even though a mere
minority of the popula