| John of Gischala tries to usurp Josephus' authority in Galilee | ||||
38. But the hatred that John, the son of Levi, bore to me, grew now more violent, while he could not bear my prosperity with patience. So he proposed to himself, by all means possible, to make away with me; and built the walls of Gischala, which was the place of his nativity. He then sent his brother Simon and Jonathan, the son of Sisenna and about a hundred armed men, to Jerusalem, to Simon, the son of Gamaliel, in order to persuade him to induce the commonalty of Jerusalem to take from me the government over the Galileans and to give their votes for conferring that authority upon him. This Simon was of the city of Jerusalem and of a very noble family of the sect of the Pharisees, which are supposed to excel others in the accurate knowledge of the laws of their country. He was a man of great wisdom and reason and capable of restoring public affairs by his prudence, when they were in an ill posture. He was also an old friend and companion of John; but at that time he had a difference with me. When therefore he had received such an exhortation, he persuaded the high priests, Ananus and Jesus the son of Gamala and some others of the same seditious faction, to cut me down, now I was growing so great and not to overlook me while I was aggrandizing myself to the height of glory; and he said that it would be for the advantage of the Galileans, if I were deprived of my government there. Ananus also and his friends, asked them to make no delay about the matter, for fear that I should get the knowledge of what was doing too soon and should come and make an assault upon the city with a great army. This was the counsel of Simon; but Artanus the high priest demonstrated to them that this was not an easy thing to be done, because many of the high priests and of the rulers of the people bore witness that I had acted like an excellent general and that it was the work of ill men to accuse one against whom they had nothing to say. | ||||
39. When Simon heard Ananus say this, he asked that the messengers would conceal the thing and not let it come to the hearing of many; and said that he would take care to have Josephus removed out of Galilee very quickly. So he called for John's brother, [Simon,] and charged him that they should send presents to Ananus and his friends; for, as he said, they might probably by that means persuade them to change their minds. and indeed Simon did at length thus achieve what he aimed at; for Artanus and those with him, being corrupted by bribes, agreed to expel me out of Galilee, without making the rest of the citizens acquainted with what they were doing. Accordingly, they resolved to send men of distinction as to their families and of distinction as to their learning also. Two of these were of the populace, Jonathan and Ananias, by sect Pharisees; while the third, Jozar, was of the stock of the priests and a Pharisee also; and Simon, the last of them, was of the youngest of the high priests. These had it given them in charge, that, when they had come to the multitude of the Galileans, they should ask them, what was the reason of their love to me, and if they said that it was because I was born at Jerusalem, that they should reply, that they four were all born at the same place; and if they should say, it was because I was well versed in their law, they should reply, that neither were they unacquainted with the practices of their country; but if, besides these, they should say they loved me because I was a priest, they should reply, that two of these were priests also. | ||||
40. Now, when they had given Jonathan and his companions these instructions, they gave them forty thousand [drachmae] out of the public money: but when they heard that there was a certain Galilean then sojourning at Jerusalem, whose name was Jesus, who had about him a band of six hundred armed men, they sent for him and gave him three months pay and gave him orders to follow Jonathan and his companions and be obedient to them. They also gave money to three hundred men that were citizens of Jerusalem, to maintain them all and ordered them also to follow the ambassadors; and when they had complied and were gotten ready for the march, Jonathan and his companions went out with them, having along with them John's brother and a hundred armed men. The charge that was given them by those that sent them was this: That if I would voluntarily lay down my arms, they should send me alive to the city of Jerusalem; but that, in case I opposed them, they should kill me and fear nothing; for that it was their command for them so to do. They also wrote to John to make all ready for fighting me and gave orders to the inhabitants of Sepphoris and Gabara and Tiberins, to send auxiliaries to John. | ||||