For the Temple: A Tale of the Fall of Jerusalem

by G. A. Henty

  Chapter 7: The Massacre On The Lake.

  John remained for three weeks at his uncle's. A messenger, with thenews of his safe arrival there, had been sent off to his father;who came up to see him, three days later. The formal act ofbetrothal between John and his cousin took place. Simon and Marthawould have been willing that the full ceremony of marriage shouldtake place, and the latter even urged this upon her son.

  "You are now more than seventeen, John, and have taken your placeamong men; and may well take to yourself a wife. Mary is nighfifteen, and many maidens marry earlier. You love each other. Why,then, should you not be married? It would cheer the old age of yourfather, and myself, to see our grandchildren growing up around us."

  "Had the times been different, mother, I would gladly have had itso; but with the land torn by war, with our brethren beingslaughtered everywhere, with Jerusalem and the Temple in danger, itis no time for marrying and giving in marriage. Besides, the lawsays that, for a year after marriage, a man shall not go to the waror journey upon business; but shall remain at home, quiet, with hiswife. I could not do that, now. Did the news come, tomorrow, thatthe Romans were marching upon Jerusalem, assuredly I should do myduty, and take up arms and go to the defense of the Holy City; andmaybe Mary would be left a widow, before the days of rejoicing forthe marriage were over.

  "No, mother; the life of no man who can wield a weapon is his own,at present. The defense of the Temple is the first, and greatest,of duties. If I fall there, you will adopt Mary as your child; andmarry her to someone who will take my place, and be a son to you.Mary will grieve for me, doubtless, for a time; but it will be thegrief of a sister for a brother, not that of a wife for her husbandand, in time, she will marry the man to whom you shall give her,and will be happy. Even for myself, I would rather that it were soleft. I shall feel more free from cares and responsibilities; andthough, if you and my father lay your orders upon me, I shall ofcourse obey them, I pray you that, in this matter, you will sufferme to have my way."

  Martha talked the matter over with her husband; and they agreedthat John's wishes should be carried out, and that the marriageshould be postponed until the troubles were over. Neither of thembelieved that John would fall in the struggle. They regarded hisescape from Jotapata as well-nigh miraculous, and felt assured thatGod, having specially protected him through such great danger,would continue to do so to the end.

  Contrary to expectation, Vespasian had not followed up his successat Jotapata by a march against Jerusalem. His army had sufferedvery heavy losses in the siege; and the desperate valor which thedefenders of the town had shown had, doubtless, impressed upon hismind the formidable nature of the task he had undertaken.

  If a little mountain town had cost him so dearly, what would not bethe loss which would be entailed by the capture of a city likeJerusalem, with its position of vast natural strength, its solidand massive fortifications; and defended, as it would be, by thewhole strength of the Jewish nation, fighting with the fury ofreligious fanaticism and despair! His army, strong as it was, woulddoubtless capture the city, but at such a cost that it might becrippled for further action; and Vespasian was keeping one eye uponRome, and wished to have his army complete, and in perfect order,in readiness for anything that might occur there.

  Therefore, after the fall of Jotapata he marched first to Caesareaand, after a short halt there, passed north to CaesareaPhilippi--where the climate, cooled by the breezes from themountains, was pleasant and healthful--and here he gave the armytwenty days to rest, and recover from their wounds and fatigues. Hethen marched south again to Scythopolis, or Bethsan, lying justwithin the borders of Samaria, and not far from the Jordan. HereTitus, with a detached force, joined him; and they prepared toreduce the cities near the lake.

  Simon had by this time returned home, accompanied by John andJonas. Simon tried to persuade his son to remain with his mother,but John had entreated that he might accompany him.

  "The war may last for a long time, father; and the land must betilled, else why should you yourself return home? We are in theprovince of King Agrippa and, after what has befallen Jotapata andJapha, it is not likely that the people of Hippos, or of othertowns, will venture to show disaffection--therefore there is noreason why the Romans should carry fire and sword through Agrippa'scountry, east of Jordan. It is well that my mother and Mary shouldnot return for, if evil days should come, they could not savethemselves by rapid flight; besides we risk but death, and deathwere a thousand times better than slavery among the Romans. If wefind that they are approaching, and are wasting the land, we canfly. The boats are close by; and we can take to the lake, and landwhere we will, and make our way back here."

  "And you will not seek, John, when the Romans approach, to enterTiberias or Gamala, or any other cities that may hold out againstthe Romans?"

  "No, father. I have had my share of defending a walled city and,save for Jerusalem, I will fight no more in cities. All theseplaces must fall, sooner or later, if the Romans sit down beforethem. I will not be cooped up again. If any leader arises, anddraws together a band in the mountains to harass and attack theRomans, I will join him--for it has always seemed to me that inthat way, only, can we successfully fight against them--but if not,I will aid you in the labors of the farm, until the Romans marchagainst Jerusalem."

  Simon yielded to his son's wishes, for the events of the last yearhad aged him much, and he felt the need of assistance on the farm.The men who had worked for him had--save Isaac, and one or two ofthe older men--gone away to Jerusalem, or to Gamala, or one orother of the fortified towns. The time for the harvest was at hand,and there would be few to gather it in.

  Martha would fain have accompanied them, but Simon would not hearof this.

  "You are in a safe refuge here, wife, and rather than that youshould leave it, I would abandon our farm, altogether. If you come,Mary and the women must come also and, even for us men, the dangerwould be greater than were we alone."

  Mary also tried her power of persuasion, but Simon was not to bemoved; and the three set off together--for Jonas, as a matter ofcourse, accompanied John wherever he went.

  The three weeks' kindness, rest, and good feeding had done wondersfor him. The wild, reckless expression, which John had noticed whenhe had first met him, had well-nigh disappeared; his bones hadbecome better covered, and his cheeks filled out and, comfortablyclothed as he now was, few would have recognized in him the wildgoatherd of Jotapata.

  Simon was mounted on a donkey, the others walked.

  "It is well that I am off again," Jonas said. "Another month there,and I should have got fat and lazy, and should have almostforgotten how to run and climb, and should have grown like thedwellers on the plains."

  "There will be plenty of work for you, on the farm, Jonas," Simonsaid. "You need not be afraid of growing fat and lazy, there."

  "I don't think I am fond of work," Jonas said, thoughtfully, "notof steady work, but I will work hard now, Simon; you have all beenso good to me that I would work till I dropped for you. I wouldn'thave worked before, not if they had beaten me ever so much; becausethey were always unkind to me, and why should one work, for thosewho do nothing for you but beat and ill-use you?"

  "You should always do your duty, Jonas," Simon said. "If others donot do their duty to you, so much the worse for them; but that isno excuse for your not doing your duty, as far as you can."

  Jonas, being a little behind Simon, made a little face expressiveof his disagreement with this opinion; but he said nothing.

  They followed the course of the river Hieromax down to Capitolias;where they slept, that night, in the house of some friends of Simonand, on the following evening, arrived at the farm. John received ahearty greeting, from Isaac and the other men; and several of thefishermen, when they heard of his return, came in to see him.

  For the next fortnight, John and Jonas worked from daylight tilldark and, by the end of that time, the greater part of the corn wasgathered in the granary. A portion was stored away i
n a deep pit,straw being laid over it when the hole was nearly full, and earthbeing thrown in level to the surface; so that, should the Romanscome and sack the granary, there should still remain a store whichwould carry them on until the next harvest.

  Then the news came, from across the lake, that the Romans werebreaking up their camp at Scythopolis, and were moving towardsTiberias. No resistance was expected to be offered there. Thegreater part of the inhabitants had, all along, been well affectedto the Romans; and had only been compelled, by a small faction inthe city and by the fear of the country people of Galilee, to joinin the insurrection. It was, too, the richest city in the dominionsof King Agrippa for, although these lay for the most part east ofJordan, the towns of Tiberias and Tarichea were included in them.

  Tiberias was, in fact, his chief city. Here he had his richestpalace; and the city, which greatly benefited by being the seat ofhis government, was Roman rather than Jewish in its hopes andfeelings. So confident was Vespasian that no resistance would beoffered that, when he arrived within half a mile of the town, hesent forward an officer, with fifty horse, to exhort the people toopen their gates.

  When he got near the town, the officer dismounted and went forwardto speak; when a party of the war faction, headed by Jesus the sonof Shaphat, charged out upon him. The officer, having had no ordersto fight the Jews, fled on foot; with five of his men, who had alsodismounted. Their assailants seized the horses, and carried them intriumph into the city.

  The senate of Tiberias at once issued out from the city, andhurried to the camp of Vespasian; and implored him not to visit thecrime of a small body of desperate men upon the whole city, whoseinhabitants had always been favorably disposed towards Rome.Agrippa added his entreaties to theirs; and Vespasian, who had justgiven orders for the troops to advance to storm and sack the city,recalled them. The insurgents under Jesus fled to Tarichea and, thegates being opened, the Romans entered Tiberias; Vespasian issuingstrict orders against plundering, and the ill treatment of theinhabitants.

  At Tarichea were assembled not only the insurgents from Tiberias,but fighting men from all the towns on the lake, and from thecountry on the east. The city had been carefully fortified byJosephus and, as the inhabitants had a very large number of vesselsin the port, they relied upon these for escape, in case the townshould be reduced to extremities. No sooner did the Romans appearbefore their walls, and begin to lay out their siege works, thanthe Tiberians and others, under the command of Jesus, sallied outand dispersed the workmen.

  When the Roman troops advanced, in regular order, some of the Jewsretired into the city. Others made for their boats, which wereranged along on the shore; and in these, putting out a littledistance, they cast anchor, and opened fire with their missilesupon the Romans.

  In the meantime, a large number of Jews had just arrived from thefarther side of Jordan. Vespasian sent Titus, with six hundredchosen horse, to disperse them. The number of the Jews was so largethat Titus sent for further succor, and was reinforced by Trajan,with four hundred horse; while Antonius Silo, with two thousandarchers, was sent by Vespasian to the side of a hill opposite thecity, to open fire thence upon the defenders of the walls, and thusprevent them from harassing the Roman horsemen as they advanced.

  The Jews resisted the first charge of the cavalry; but they could notlong withstand the long spears, and the weight and impetus of thehorses, and fled in disorder towards the town. The cavalry pursuedand tried to cut them off from it but, although great numbers wereslaughtered, the rest--by pure weight of numbers--broke through,and reached the city.

  A great dissension arose within the walls. The inhabitants of thetown--dismayed by the defeat inflicted, by a small number ofRomans, upon the multitude in the field--were unwilling to drawupon themselves the terrible fate which had befallen the townswhich had resisted the Romans, and therefore clamored for instantsurrender. The strangers--great numbers of whom were mountaineersfrom Peraea, Ammonitis, and the broken country of Mount Galaad andthe slopes of Hermon, who knew little of what had been passing inGalilee--were for resistance, and a fray arose in the town.

  The noise of the tumult reached Titus; who called upon his men toseize the moment, while the enemy were engaged in civil discord, toattack. Then, leading his men, he dashed on horseback into thelake, passed round the end of the wall, and entered the city.

  Consternation seized the besieged. The inhabitants attempted noresistance, still hoping that their peaceful character would savethem from ill treatment; and many allowed themselves to beslaughtered, unresistingly. Jesus and his followers, however,fought gallantly; striving, but in vain, to make their way down tothe ships in the port. Jesus himself, and many of his men, werekilled.

  Titus opened the gates, and sent word to his father that the citywas captured; and the Roman army at once entered. Vespasian placeda number of his troops in the large vessels in the port, and sentthem off to attack those who had first fled to the boats. Thesewere, for the most part, fishermen from the various towns on thelake. The cavalry were sent all round the lake, to cut off and slaythose who sought to gain the land.

  The battle--or rather the slaughter--went on for some time. Thefishermen, in their light boats, could do nothing against thesoldiers in the large vessels. These slew them with arrows orjavelins, from a distance; or ran them down, and killed them asthey struggled in the water. Many of the boats were run ashore; butthe occupants were slain, there, by the soldiers on the lookout forthem. Altogether, six thousand perished in the slaughter.

  In the meantime, Vespasian had set up a tribunal in Tarichea. Theinhabitants of the town were separated from the strangers.Vespasian himself was, as Josephus said, unwilling to shed moreblood--as he had promised, when he had entered the city, to sparethe lives of all--but he yielded to the arguments of those who saidthat the strangers were mountain robbers, the foes of every man.Accordingly, they were ordered to leave the city, by the road toTiberias.

  As soon as they had left the town, the troops surrounded them,headed by Vespasian in person. Twelve hundred of the aged andhelpless he ordered to be slain, at once; six thousand of the mostable-bodied he sent to Nero, to be employed on the canal he wasdigging across the isthmus of Corinth; thirty thousand four hundredwere sold as slaves; and a large number were bestowed upon Agrippa,who also sold them as slaves. This act, after the formal promise ofpardon, disgraces the memory of Vespasian even more than thewholesale massacres of the garrisons of the towns which resisted tothe last.

  The news of this act of wholesale vengeance spread such terrorthrough the land that the whole of the cities of Galilee at onceopened their gates; and sent deputations to Vespasian to offertheir submission, and ask for pardon. Gamala, Gischala, andItabyrium--a town on Mount Tabor, which had been strongly fortifiedby Josephus--alone held out. Itabyrium lay some ten miles to thewest of Tiberias.

  Standing back among the trees, at a short distance from the lake,Simon, John, and the workers on the farm watched with horror theslaughter of the fishermen on the lake. None of their neighborswere among those who had gone out to aid in the defense ofTarichea; for Simon had gone among them, to dissuade them fromlaunching their boats and joining the flotilla, as it proceededdown the lake in the morning. He urged upon them that, if they tookpart in the affair, they would only bring down vengeance uponthemselves and their families.

  "There is no lack of men," he said, "in Tiberias and Tarichea. Suchaid as you can give would be useless and, whether the cities fallat once, or whether they resist, the vengeance of the Romans willfall upon you. In a few hours, their horsemen can ride round theshores of the lake, and cut off all who are absent from returningto their homes, and give the villages to fire and sword. Those whocan point to their boats, drawn up at the side of the lake, will beable to give proof to the Romans that they have not taken partagainst them. So far, we have escaped the horrors of war on thisside of Jordan.

  "If the strong cities of Galilee cannot resist the Roman arms, whathope should we have on this side, where the population isc
omparatively scanty, and where there are few strong places? Do notlet us provoke the Romans, my friends. If they go up againstJerusalem, let those who will, go, and die in defense of theTemple; but it would be worse than folly to provoke the wrath ofthe Romans, by thrusting yourselves into the quarrel here."

  Warmly did the fishermen congratulate themselves, when they saw thecombat proceeding on the lake, and when a strong body of Romanhorse rode along the shore, leaving parties at regular intervals tocut off those who might try and land. A body of twenty were posteddown by the boats, and two came into the village and demanded foodfor the party. Simon, when he saw them coming, ordered all theable-bodied men to retire, and remain in the olive groves on theslopes, at a distance from the lake, until the Romans had gone;while he, and Isaac, and some other old men, went down and met thesoldiers.

  "Are any of the people of this place out there on the lake?" theofficer in command of the twenty men asked; as Simon and his party,bringing bread, fruit, and wine, came down to the waterside.

  "No, sir," Simon replied. "We have but eight boats belonging to thevillage, and they are all there. We are peaceable people, who tillthe soil and fish the lake, and take no part in the doings of thegreat towns. We are subjects of King Agrippa, and have no cause fordiscontent with him."

  "A great many other people have no cause for discontent, old man,"the officer said; "but they have, nevertheless, risen in rebellion.However, as your boats are here, and your people seem to have takenno part in this matter, I have naught to say against you;especially as your wine is good, and you have brought down plentyof it."

  Simon and his companions withdrew and, with aching hearts, watchedfrom a distance the massacre upon the lake. The fury, however,produced among the men in the towns and villages on the shore, atthe sight of the numerous corpses washed ashore, was so great thatmany of the young men left their avocations and started for Gamala;which, relying upon the strength of its position--which was evenstronger than that of Jotapata--was resolved to resist to the last.

  Several of the young men of the village, and many from the villagesnear, were determined to take this course, maddened by theslaughter of many friends and relations. John himself was asfurious as any, especially when the news came of the violation offaith at Tarichea, and of the selling of nigh forty thousand meninto slavery.

  "Father," he said, that evening, "I had thought to stay quietlywith you, until the Romans advanced against Jerusalem; but I find Icannot do so. The massacre at Jotapata was bad enough, but theslaughter of defenseless men, on the lake, is worse. I pray you,let me go."

  "Would you go into Gamala, and die there, John?" Simon asked."Better to die at the Temple, than to throw away your life here."

  "I do not intend to go into Gamala, father, nor to throw away mylife--though I care little for it, except for the sake of you andmy mother and Mary--but I would do something; and I would save thesons of our neighbors, and others, from the fate that assuredlywaits them if they enter Gamala. They know not, as I do, how surelythe walls will go down before the Roman engines; but even did theyknow it, so determined are they to fight these slayers of ourcountrymen that they would still go.

  "What I propose to do is to carry out what I have always believedto be the true way of fighting the Romans. I will collect a band,and take to the mountains, and harass them whenever we may findopportunity. I know the young men from our village will follow me,if I will lead them; and they will be able to get their friendsalong the shore to do the like. In that way the danger will not beso great for, in the mountains, the Romans would have no chance ofovertaking us while, if we are successful, many will gather roundus, and we may do good service."

  "I will not stay you, John, if you feel that the Lord has calledupon you to go; and indeed, you may save, as you say, the lives ofmany of our neighbors, by persuading them to take to the hills withyou, instead of shutting themselves up in Gamala. Go down, then, tothe village, and talk to them; and see what they say to your plan."

  John had little doubt as to his proposal being accepted by theyounger men of the village. The fact that he had been chosen as oneof the bodyguard of Josephus had, at once, given him importance inthe eyes of his neighbors; and that he should have passed throughthe siege of Jotapata, and had escaped, had caused them to regardhim not only as a valiant fighter, but as one under the specialprotection of God. Since his return, scarce an evening had passedwithout parties coming, from one or other of the villages along theshore, to hear from his lips the story of the siege.

  As soon, then, as he went down to the fishing village, and told theyoung men who had determined to leave for Gamala that he thoughtbadly of such action--but that he intended to raise a band, andtake to the mountains and harass the Romans--they eagerly agreed tofollow him, and to obey his orders. There were eight of them, andJohn at once made them take an oath of obedience and fellowship;swearing in all things to obey his orders, to be true to each otherto death, to be ready to give their lives, when called upon, forthe destruction of the Romans; and never, if they fell into thehands of the enemy, to betray the secrets of the band, whatevermight be the tortures to which they were exposed.

  John could have obtained more than eight men in the village, but hewould only take quite young men.

  "I want only men who can undergo fatigue and watching; who canclimb mountains, and run as fast as the Roman horse can gallop.Besides, for work like this it is necessary that there should beone leader, and that he should be promptly obeyed. If I take oldermen, they will naturally wish to have a voice in the ordering ofthings. I have seen enough of military matters to know that, forprompt decision and swift execution, one head--and one headonly--is necessary. Besides, we may find difficulties in the way ofgetting food and, at first, I wish for only a small band. Ifsuccess attends us, we shall increase rapidly. Twenty will be quiteenough, to begin with."

  As soon as the eight young men--of whom all but two were undertwenty years old--had taken the oath, they started at once to thevillages round.

  "Do each of you gather in two, but no more," John said; "and letthem be those whom you know to be strong and active. Do not bringmore; and if four of you bring but one, so much the better. If youfind many more eager to join, you can tell them that we will sendfor them, when the time comes, to increase our numbers; and praythem to abide here, and not to go into Gamala.

  "Let each bring his arms and a bag of meal; and meet me, tomorrowevening at sundown, on the Hieromax River, three miles belowCapitolias--that will be opposite to Abila, which lies on themountain side. Let all travel singly, for the Roman horse may beabout. However, as we shall be walking east, while Gamala lies tothe west of south, they will not take us--should we come uponthem--for men going thither to aid in the defense of the town."

  The young men started at once on their missions, full of confidencein John; and feeling certain that, under his leadership, theyshould soon come to blows with the Romans; being also, in theirhearts, well satisfied that their warfare would be in the opencountry, and they should not be called upon to fight pent up inwalls from which there was no escape.

  Having seen his followers off, John returned home, and told Simonthe progress he had made. The old man sighed.

  "I do not seek to keep you, John; for your duty to your countrystands, now, in the first rank of all; and it may be that the Lordpreserved you, at Jotapata, because he intends you to do greatdeeds for him, here. I do not say spare yourself, or avoid danger,for our sakes. I only say, do not throw away your life by rashness.Remember that, young as you are, you are a leader, and be prudentas well as brave.

  "After Gamala has fallen--as fall I fear it will--and the Romanshave moved away from these parts--as they will then do, for thereis no resistance to them, on this side of Jordan, save at thattown--I shall bring your mother and Mary back again; and you willfind us waiting here to welcome you, if you return. If not, my son,I shall mourn for you, as Jacob mourned for Joseph--and more,seeing that you are the only prop of my old age--but I shall havethe consola
tion of knowing that you died for your country."

  "You will find in Mary a daughter, father; and you must find ahusband for her, who will take my place. But it may be that if theRomans march not direct upon Jerusalem--and they say that Vespasianhas arranged that two of the legions shall winter on the sea coast,at Caesarea, and the third at Scythopolis--it is probable that hewill not move against Jerusalem till the spring. In that case I maybe often here, during the winter. For I will not go down toJerusalem until the last thing; for there all is turmoil anddisturbance and, until the time comes when they must lay asidetheir private feuds and unite to repel the invader, I will not godown."

  Father and son talked until late in the night. In the morning Johnmade his preparations for departure. He had told Jonas of hisintentions. The boy listened silently, only saying, "Wherever yougo, John, I am ready to go with you; it makes no difference to me;"and afterwards went down to the lake side, where he filled hispouch with smooth pebbles, each of which he selected with greatcare for, when herding his goats among the mountains, Jonas hadbeen always practicing with a sling, and many a cony had fallenbefore his unerring aim.

  All the lads in the mountains were accustomed to the use of thesling, but none in Jotapata had approached Jonas in their skillwith this weapon. During the siege he had often astonished John bythe accuracy of his aim; and had several times compelled the Romansto cease working one of their machines, which specially harassedthe defenders of the wall, by striking down one after another ofthose who directed it--his stones seldom failing to strike themfull in the face, the only spot unprotected by their armor.

  In the morning, John prepared to start. He and Jonas each carried asmall sack, supported by a strap passing over the shoulders, andcontaining some eight pounds of meal and a gourd of water. Jonascarried no weapon, save a long knife hidden under his garment, andhis sling and pouch of stones. John carried a sword and buckler,and a horn. Before they started, John knelt before his father andreceived his blessing; and Simon, as he bade him adieu, gave him asmall bag of money.

  "You will need to buy things in the mountains, lad; and I would notthat you should be driven, like the robber bands, to take food byforce. It is true that they who go not to the war should supportthose who risk their lives for their country; but there are manyaged men who, like myself, cannot fight, there are many women whosehusbands are away in Gamala or Jerusalem, and these may not be ableto afford to assist others. Therefore, it is well that you shouldhave means of paying for what you require; otherwise the curse ofthe widow and fatherless may fall upon you.

  "And now, farewell, my son! May God have you in his keeping, andsend you home safe to your mother and me!"