Chapter 1.
A SEDITION OF THE PHILADELPHIANS AGAINST THE JEWS; AND ALSO
CONCERNING THE VESTMENTS OF THE HIGH PRIEST.FJAJ 20.3
1. UPON the death of king Agrippa, which we have related in the foregoing
book, Claudius Caesar sent Cassius Longinus as successor to Marcus, out
of regard to the memory of king Agrippa, who had often desired of him by
letters, while be was alive, that he would not suffer Marcus to be any
longer president of Syria
But Fadus, as soon as he was come procurator
into Judea, found quarrelsome doings between the Jews that dwelt in Perea,
and the people of Philadelphia, about their borders, at a village called
Mia, that was filled with men of a warlike temper; for the Jews of Perea
had taken up arms without the consent of their principal men, and had destroyed
many of the Philadelphians
When Fadus was informed of this procedure,
it provoked him very much that they had not left the determination of the
matter to him, if they thought that the Philadelphians had done them any
wrong, but had rashly taken up arms against them
So he seized upon three
of their principal men, who were also the causes of this sedition, and
ordered them to be bound, and afterwards had one of them slain, whose name
was Hannibal; and he banished the other two, Areram and Eleazar
Tholomy
also, the arch robber, was, after some time, brought to him bound, and
slain, but not till he had done a world of mischief to Idumea and the Arabians.
And indeed, from that time, Judea was cleared of robberies by the care
and providence of Fadus
He also at this time sent for the high priests
and the principal citizens of Jerusalem, and this at the command of the
emperor, and admonished them that they should lay up the long garment and
the sacred vestment, which it is customary for nobody but the high priest
to wear, in the tower of Antonia, that it might be under the power of the
Romans, as it had been formerly
Now the Jews durst not contradict what
he had said, but desired Fadus, however, and Longinus, (which last was
come to Jerusalem, and had brought a great army with him, out of a fear
that the [rigid] injunctions of Fadus should force the Jews to rebel,)
that they might, in the first place, have leave to send ambassadors to
Caesar, to petition him that they may have the holy vestments under their
own power; and that, in the next place, they would tarry till they knew
what answer Claudius would give to that their request
So they replied,
that they would give them leave to send their ambassadors, provided they
would give them their sons as pledges [for their peaceable behavior]
And
when they had agreed so to do, and had given them the pledges they desired,
the ambassadors were sent accordingly
But when, upon their coming to Rome,
Agrippa, junior, the son of the deceased, understood the reason why they
came, (for he dwelt with Claudius Caesar, as we said before,) he besought
Caesar to grant the Jews their request about the holy vestments, and to
send a message to Fadus accordingly.FJAJ 20.4
2. Hereupon Claudius called for the ambassadors; and told them that
he granted their request; and bade them to return their thanks to Agrippa
for this favor, which had been bestowed on them upon his entreaty
And
besides these answers of his, he sent the following letter by them: "Claudius
Caesar Germanicus, tribune of the people the fifth time, and designed consul
the fourth time, and imperator the tenth time, the father of his country,
to the magistrates, senate, and people, and the whole nation of the Jews,
sendeth greeting
Upon the presentation of your ambassadors to me by Agrippa,
my friend, whom I have brought up, and have now with me, and who is a person
of very great piety, who are come to give me thanks for the care I have
taken of your nation, and to entreat me, in an earnest and obliging manner,
that they may have the holy vestments, with the crown belonging to them,
under their power, - I grant their request, as that excellent person Vitellius,
who is very dear to me, had done before me
And I have complied with your
desire, in the first place, out of regard to that piety which I profess,
and because I would have every one worship God according to the laws of
their own country; and this I do also because I shall hereby highly gratify
king Herod, and Agrippa, junior, whose sacred regards to me, and earnest
good-will to you, I am well acquainted with, and with whom I have the greatest
friendship, and whom I highly esteem, and look on as persons of the best
character
Now I have written about these affairs to Cuspius Fadus, my
procurator
The names of those that brought me your letter are Cornelius,
the son of Cero, Trypho, the son of Theudio, Dorotheus, the son of Nathaniel,
and John, the son of Jotre
This letter is dated before the fourth of the
calends of July, when Ruffis and Pompeius Sylvanus are consuls."FJAJ 20.5
3. Herod also, the brother of the deceased Agrippa, who was then possessed
of the royal authority over Chalcis, petitioned Claudius Caesar for the
authority over the temple, and the money of the sacred treasure, and the
choice of the high priests, and obtained all that he petitioned for
So
that after that time this authority continued among all his descendants
till the end of the war (1)
Here is some error in the copies, or mistake in Josephus; for the power
of appointing high priests, alter Herod king of Chalcis was dead, and Agrippa,
junior, was made king of Chalcis in his room, belonged to him; and he exercised
the same all along till Jerusalem was destroyed, as Josephus elsewhere
informs us, ch. 8. sect. , 11; ch. 9. sect. 1, 4, 6, 7.
Accordingly, Herod removed the last high priest, called Cimtheras, and
bestowed that dignity on his successor Joseph, the son of Cantos.FJAJ 20.6