Antiquities Book 18, Chapter 1
How Cyrenius Was Sent By Cæsar To Make A Taxation Of Syria And Judea; And How Coponius Was Sent To Be Procurator Of Judea; Concerning Judas Of Galilee And Concerning The Sects That Were Among The Jews.
1. Now Cyrenius, a Roman senator, and one who had gone through other
magistracies, and had passed through them till he had been consul, and
one who, on other accounts, was of great dignity, came at this time into
Syria, with a few others, being sent by Cæsar to be a judge of that
nation, and to take an account of their substance. Coponius also, a man
of the equestrian order, was sent together with him, to have the supreme
power over the Jews. Moreover, Cyrenius came himself into Judea, which
was now added to the province of Syria, to take an account of their
substance, and to dispose of Archelaus's money; but the Jews, although
at the beginning they took the report of a taxation heinously, yet did
they leave off any further opposition to it, by the persuasion of
Joazar, who was the son of Beethus, and high priest; so they, being
over-persuaded by Joazar's words, gave an account of their estates,
without any dispute about it. Yet was there one Judas, a Gaulonite, 1 of
a city whose name was Gamala, who, taking with him Sadduc, 2 a Pharisee,
became zealous to draw them to a revolt, who both said that this
taxation was no better than an introduction to slavery, and exhorted the
nation to assert their liberty; as if they could procure them happiness
and security for what they possessed, and an assured enjoyment of a
still greater good, which was that of the honor and glory they would
thereby acquire for magnanimity. They also said that God would not
otherwise be assisting to them, than upon their joining with one another
in such councils as might be successful, and for their own advantage;
and this especially, if they would set about great exploits, and not
grow weary in executing the same; so men received what they said with
pleasure, and this bold attempt proceeded to a great height. All sorts
of misfortunes also sprang from these men, and the nation was infected
with this doctrine to an incredible degree; one violent war came upon us
after another, and we lost our friends which used to alleviate our
pains; there were also very great robberies and murder of our principal
men. This was done in pretense indeed for the public welfare, but in
reality for the hopes of gain to themselves; whence arose seditions, and
from them murders of men, which sometimes fell on those of their own
people, [by the madness of these men towards one another, while their
desire was that none of the adverse party might be left,] and sometimes
on their enemies; a famine also coming upon us, reduced us to the last
degree of despair, as did also the taking and demolishing of cities;
nay, the sedition at last increased so high, that the very temple of God
was burnt down by their enemies' fire. Such were the consequences of
this, that the customs of our fathers were altered, and such a change
was made, as added a mighty weight toward bringing all to destruction,
which these men occasioned by their thus conspiring together; for Judas
and Sadduc, who excited a fourth philosophic sect among us, and had a
great many followers therein, filled our civil government with tumults
at present, and laid the foundations of our future miseries, by this
system of philosophy, which we were before unacquainted withal,
concerning which I will discourse a little, and this the rather because
the infection which spread thence among the younger sort, who were
zealous for it, brought the public to destruction.
2. The Jews had for a great while had three sects of philosophy peculiar
to themselves; the sect of the Essens, and the sect of the Sadducees,
and the third sort of opinions was that of those called Pharisees; of
which sects, although I have already spoken in the second book of the
Jewish War, yet will I a little touch upon them now.
3. Now, for the Pharisees, they live meanly, and despise delicacies in
diet; and they follow the conduct of reason; and what that prescribes to
them as good for them they do; and they think they ought earnestly to
strive to observe reason's dictates for practice. They also pay a
respect to such as are in years; nor are they so bold as to contradict
them in any thing which they have introduced; and when they determine
that all things are done by fate, they do not take away the freedom from
men of acting as they think fit; since their notion is, that it hath
pleased God to make a temperament, whereby what he wills is done, but so
that the will of man can act virtuously or viciously. They also believe
that souls have an immortal rigor in them, and that under the earth
there will be rewards or punishments, according as they have lived
virtuously or viciously in this life; and the latter are to be detained
in an everlasting prison, but that the former shall have power to revive
and live again; on account of which doctrines they are able greatly to
persuade the body of the people; and whatsoever they do about Divine
worship, prayers, and sacrifices, they perform them according to their
direction; insomuch that the cities give great attestations to them on
account of their entire virtuous conduct, both in the actions of their
lives and their discourses also.
4. But the doctrine of the Sadducees is this: That souls die with the
bodies; nor do they regard the observation of any thing besides what the
law enjoins them; for they think it an instance of virtue to dispute
with those teachers of philosophy whom they frequent: but this doctrine
is received but by a few, yet by those still of the greatest dignity.
But they are able to do almost nothing of themselves; for when they
become magistrates, as they are unwillingly and by force sometimes
obliged to be, they addict themselves to the notions of the Pharisees,
because the multitude would not otherwise bear them.
5. The doctrine of the Essens is this: That all things are best ascribed
to God. They teach the immortality of souls, and esteem that the rewards
of righteousness are to be earnestly striven for; and when they send
what they have dedicated to God into the temple, they do not offer
sacrifices 3 because they have more pure lustrations of their own; on
which account they are excluded from the common court of the temple, but
offer their sacrifices themselves; yet is their course of life better
than that of other men; and they entirely addict themselves to
husbandry. It also deserves our admiration, how much they exceed all
other men that addict themselves to virtue, and this in righteousness;
and indeed to such a degree, that as it hath never appeared among any
other men, neither Greeks nor barbarians, no, not for a little time, so
hath it endured a long while among them. This is demonstrated by that
institution of theirs, which will not suffer any thing to hinder them
from having all things in common; so that a rich man enjoys no more of
his own wealth than he who hath nothing at all. There are about four
thousand men that live in this way, and neither marry wives, nor are
desirous to keep servants; as thinking the latter tempts men to be
unjust, and the former gives the handle to domestic quarrels; but as
they live by themselves, they minister one to another. They also appoint
certain stewards to receive the incomes of their revenues, and of the
fruits of the ground; such as are good men and priests, who are to get
their corn and their food ready for them. They none of them differ from
others of the Essens in their way of living, but do the most resemble
those Dacae who are called Polistae 4 [dwellers in cities].
6. But of the fourth sect of Jewish philosophy, Judas the Galilean was
the author. These men agree in all other things with the Pharisaic
notions; but they have an inviolable attachment to liberty, and say that
God is to be their only Ruler and Lord. They also do not value dying any
kinds of death, nor indeed do they heed the deaths of their relations
and friends, nor can any such fear make them call any man lord. And
since this immovable resolution of theirs is well known to a great many,
I shall speak no further about that matter; nor am I afraid that any
thing I have said of them should be disbelieved, but rather fear, that
what I have said is beneath the resolution they show when they undergo
pain. And it was in Gessius Florus's time that the nation began to grow
mad with this distemper, who was our procurator, and who occasioned the
Jews to go wild with it by the abuse of his authority, and to make them
revolt from the Romans. And these are the sects of Jewish philosophy.
magistracies, and had passed through them till he had been consul, and
one who, on other accounts, was of great dignity, came at this time into
Syria, with a few others, being sent by Cæsar to be a judge of that
nation, and to take an account of their substance. Coponius also, a man
of the equestrian order, was sent together with him, to have the supreme
power over the Jews. Moreover, Cyrenius came himself into Judea, which
was now added to the province of Syria, to take an account of their
substance, and to dispose of Archelaus's money; but the Jews, although
at the beginning they took the report of a taxation heinously, yet did
they leave off any further opposition to it, by the persuasion of
Joazar, who was the son of Beethus, and high priest; so they, being
over-persuaded by Joazar's words, gave an account of their estates,
without any dispute about it. Yet was there one Judas, a Gaulonite, 1 of
a city whose name was Gamala, who, taking with him Sadduc, 2 a Pharisee,
became zealous to draw them to a revolt, who both said that this
taxation was no better than an introduction to slavery, and exhorted the
nation to assert their liberty; as if they could procure them happiness
and security for what they possessed, and an assured enjoyment of a
still greater good, which was that of the honor and glory they would
thereby acquire for magnanimity. They also said that God would not
otherwise be assisting to them, than upon their joining with one another
in such councils as might be successful, and for their own advantage;
and this especially, if they would set about great exploits, and not
grow weary in executing the same; so men received what they said with
pleasure, and this bold attempt proceeded to a great height. All sorts
of misfortunes also sprang from these men, and the nation was infected
with this doctrine to an incredible degree; one violent war came upon us
after another, and we lost our friends which used to alleviate our
pains; there were also very great robberies and murder of our principal
men. This was done in pretense indeed for the public welfare, but in
reality for the hopes of gain to themselves; whence arose seditions, and
from them murders of men, which sometimes fell on those of their own
people, [by the madness of these men towards one another, while their
desire was that none of the adverse party might be left,] and sometimes
on their enemies; a famine also coming upon us, reduced us to the last
degree of despair, as did also the taking and demolishing of cities;
nay, the sedition at last increased so high, that the very temple of God
was burnt down by their enemies' fire. Such were the consequences of
this, that the customs of our fathers were altered, and such a change
was made, as added a mighty weight toward bringing all to destruction,
which these men occasioned by their thus conspiring together; for Judas
and Sadduc, who excited a fourth philosophic sect among us, and had a
great many followers therein, filled our civil government with tumults
at present, and laid the foundations of our future miseries, by this
system of philosophy, which we were before unacquainted withal,
concerning which I will discourse a little, and this the rather because
the infection which spread thence among the younger sort, who were
zealous for it, brought the public to destruction.
2. The Jews had for a great while had three sects of philosophy peculiar
to themselves; the sect of the Essens, and the sect of the Sadducees,
and the third sort of opinions was that of those called Pharisees; of
which sects, although I have already spoken in the second book of the
Jewish War, yet will I a little touch upon them now.
3. Now, for the Pharisees, they live meanly, and despise delicacies in
diet; and they follow the conduct of reason; and what that prescribes to
them as good for them they do; and they think they ought earnestly to
strive to observe reason's dictates for practice. They also pay a
respect to such as are in years; nor are they so bold as to contradict
them in any thing which they have introduced; and when they determine
that all things are done by fate, they do not take away the freedom from
men of acting as they think fit; since their notion is, that it hath
pleased God to make a temperament, whereby what he wills is done, but so
that the will of man can act virtuously or viciously. They also believe
that souls have an immortal rigor in them, and that under the earth
there will be rewards or punishments, according as they have lived
virtuously or viciously in this life; and the latter are to be detained
in an everlasting prison, but that the former shall have power to revive
and live again; on account of which doctrines they are able greatly to
persuade the body of the people; and whatsoever they do about Divine
worship, prayers, and sacrifices, they perform them according to their
direction; insomuch that the cities give great attestations to them on
account of their entire virtuous conduct, both in the actions of their
lives and their discourses also.
4. But the doctrine of the Sadducees is this: That souls die with the
bodies; nor do they regard the observation of any thing besides what the
law enjoins them; for they think it an instance of virtue to dispute
with those teachers of philosophy whom they frequent: but this doctrine
is received but by a few, yet by those still of the greatest dignity.
But they are able to do almost nothing of themselves; for when they
become magistrates, as they are unwillingly and by force sometimes
obliged to be, they addict themselves to the notions of the Pharisees,
because the multitude would not otherwise bear them.
5. The doctrine of the Essens is this: That all things are best ascribed
to God. They teach the immortality of souls, and esteem that the rewards
of righteousness are to be earnestly striven for; and when they send
what they have dedicated to God into the temple, they do not offer
sacrifices 3 because they have more pure lustrations of their own; on
which account they are excluded from the common court of the temple, but
offer their sacrifices themselves; yet is their course of life better
than that of other men; and they entirely addict themselves to
husbandry. It also deserves our admiration, how much they exceed all
other men that addict themselves to virtue, and this in righteousness;
and indeed to such a degree, that as it hath never appeared among any
other men, neither Greeks nor barbarians, no, not for a little time, so
hath it endured a long while among them. This is demonstrated by that
institution of theirs, which will not suffer any thing to hinder them
from having all things in common; so that a rich man enjoys no more of
his own wealth than he who hath nothing at all. There are about four
thousand men that live in this way, and neither marry wives, nor are
desirous to keep servants; as thinking the latter tempts men to be
unjust, and the former gives the handle to domestic quarrels; but as
they live by themselves, they minister one to another. They also appoint
certain stewards to receive the incomes of their revenues, and of the
fruits of the ground; such as are good men and priests, who are to get
their corn and their food ready for them. They none of them differ from
others of the Essens in their way of living, but do the most resemble
those Dacae who are called Polistae 4 [dwellers in cities].
6. But of the fourth sect of Jewish philosophy, Judas the Galilean was
the author. These men agree in all other things with the Pharisaic
notions; but they have an inviolable attachment to liberty, and say that
God is to be their only Ruler and Lord. They also do not value dying any
kinds of death, nor indeed do they heed the deaths of their relations
and friends, nor can any such fear make them call any man lord. And
since this immovable resolution of theirs is well known to a great many,
I shall speak no further about that matter; nor am I afraid that any
thing I have said of them should be disbelieved, but rather fear, that
what I have said is beneath the resolution they show when they undergo
pain. And it was in Gessius Florus's time that the nation began to grow
mad with this distemper, who was our procurator, and who occasioned the
Jews to go wild with it by the abuse of his authority, and to make them
revolt from the Romans. And these are the sects of Jewish philosophy.