Antiquities of the Jews — Book 18, Chapter 3

1. But now Pilate, the procurator of Judea, removed the army from
Cæsarea to Jerusalem, to take their winter quarters there, in order to
abolish the Jewish laws. So he introduced Cæsar's effigies, which were
upon the ensigns, and brought them into the city; whereas our law
forbids us the very making of images; on which account the former
procurators were wont to make their entry into the city with such
ensigns as had not those ornaments. Pilate was the first who brought
those images to Jerusalem, and set them up there; which was done without
the knowledge of the people, because it was done in the night time; but
as soon as they knew it, they came in multitudes to Cæsarea, and
interceded with Pilate many days that he would remove the images; and
when he would not grant their requests, because it would tend to the
injury of Cæsar, while yet they persevered in their request, on the
sixth day he ordered his soldiers to have their weapons privately, while
he came and sat upon his judgment-seat, which seat was so prepared in
the open place of the city, that it concealed the army that lay ready to
oppress them; and when the Jews petitioned him again, he gave a signal
to the soldiers to encompass them routed, and threatened that their
punishment should be no less than immediate death, unless they would
leave off disturbing him, and go their ways home. But they threw
themselves upon the ground, and laid their necks bare, and said they
would take their death very willingly, rather than the wisdom of their
laws should be transgressed; upon which Pilate was deeply affected with
their firm resolution to keep their laws inviolable, and presently
commanded the images to be carried back from Jerusalem to Cæsarea.

2. But Pilate undertook to bring a current of water to Jerusalem, and
did it with the sacred money, and derived the origin of the stream from
the distance of two hundred furlongs. However, the Jews 8 were not
pleased with what had been done about this water; and many ten thousands
of the people got together, and made a clamor against him, and insisted
that he should leave off that design. Some of them also used reproaches,
and abused the man, as crowds of such people usually do. So he habited a
great number of his soldiers in their habit, who carried daggers under
their garments, and sent them to a place where they might surround them.
So he bid the Jews himself go away; but they boldly casting reproaches
upon him, he gave the soldiers that signal which had been beforehand
agreed on; who laid upon them much greater blows than Pilate had
commanded them, and equally punished those that were tumultuous, and
those that were not; nor did they spare them in the least: and since the
people were unarmed, and were caught by men prepared for what they were
about, there were a great number of them slain by this means, and others
of them ran away wounded. And thus an end was put to this sedition.

3. Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to
call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such
men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of
the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate,
at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to
the cross, 9 those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for
he appeared to them alive again the third day; 10 as the divine prophets
had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning
him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at
this day.

4. About the same time also another sad calamity put the Jews into
disorder, and certain shameful practices happened about the temple of
Isis that was at Rome. I will now first take notice of the wicked
attempt about the temple of Isis, and will then give an account of the
Jewish affairs. There was at Rome a woman whose name was Paulina; one
who, on account of the dignity of her ancestors, and by the regular
conduct of a virtuous life, had a great reputation: she was also very
rich; and although she was of a beautiful countenance, and in that
flower of her age wherein women are the most gay, yet did she lead a
life of great modesty. She was married to Saturninus, one that was every
way answerable to her in an excellent character. Decius Mundus fell in
love with this woman, who was a man very high in the equestrian order;
and as she was of too great dignity to be caught by presents, and had
already rejected them, though they had been sent in great abundance, he
was still more inflamed with love to her, insomuch that he promised to
give her two hundred thousand Attic drachmae for one night's lodging;
and when this would not prevail upon her, and he was not able to bear
this misfortune in his amours, he thought it the best way to famish
himself to death for want of food, on account of Paulina's sad refusal;
and he determined with himself to die after such a manner, and he went
on with his purpose accordingly. Now Mundus had a freed-woman, who had
been made free by his father, whose name was Ide, one skillful in all
sorts of mischief. This woman was very much grieved at the young man's
resolution to kill himself, [for he did not conceal his intentions to
destroy himself from others,] and came to him, and encouraged him by her
discourse, and made him to hope, by some promises she gave him, that he
might obtain a night's lodging with Paulina; and when he joyfully
hearkened to her entreaty, she said she wanted no more than fifty
thousand drachmae for the entrapping of the woman. So when she had
encouraged the young man, and gotten as much money as she required, she
did not take the same methods as had been taken before, because she
perceived that the woman was by no means to be tempted by money; but as
she knew that she was very much given to the worship of the goddess
Isis, she devised the following stratagem: She went to some of Isis's
priests, and upon the strongest assurances [of concealment], she
persuaded them by words, but chiefly by the offer of money, of twenty-
five thousand drachmae in hand, and as much more when the thing had
taken effect; and told them the passion of the young man, and persuaded
them to use all means possible to beguile the woman. So they were drawn
in to promise so to do, by that large sum of gold they were to have.
Accordingly, the oldest of them went immediately to Paulina; and upon
his admittance, he desired to speak with her by herself. When that was
granted him, he told her that he was sent by the god Anubis, who was
fallen in love with her, and enjoined her to come to him. Upon this she
took the message very kindly, and valued herself greatly upon this
condescension of Anubis, and told her husband that she had a message
sent her, and was to sup and lie with Anubis; so he agreed to her
acceptance of the offer, as fully satisfied with the chastity of his
wife. Accordingly, she went to the temple, and after she had supped
there, and it was the hour to go to sleep, the priest shut the doors of
the temple, when, in the holy part of it, the lights were also put out.
Then did Mundus leap out, [for he was hidden therein,] and did not fail
of enjoying her, who was at his service all the night long, as supposing
he was the god; and when he was gone away, which was before those
priests who knew nothing of this stratagem were stirring, Paulina came
early to her husband, and told him how the god Anubis had appeared to
her. Among her friends, also, she declared how great a value she put
upon this favor, who partly disbelieved the thing, when they reflected
on its nature, and partly were amazed at it, as having no pretense for
not believing it, when they considered the modesty and the dignity of
the person. But now, on the third day after what had been done, Mundus
met Paulina, and said, "Nay, Paulina, thou hast saved me two hundred
thousand drachmae, which sum thou mightest have added to thy own family;
yet hast thou not failed to be at my service in the manner I invited
thee. As for the reproaches thou hast laid upon Mundus, I value not the
business of names; but I rejoice in the pleasure I reaped by what I did,
while I took to myself the name of Anubis." When he had said this, he
went his way. But now she began to come to the sense of the grossness of
what she had done, and rent her garments, and told her husband of the
horrid nature of this wicked contrivance, and prayed him not to neglect
to assist her in this case. So he discovered the fact to the emperor;
whereupon Tiberius inquired into the matter thoroughly by examining the
priests about it, and ordered them to be crucified, as well as Ide, who
was the occasion of their perdition, and who had contrived the whole
matter, which was so injurious to the woman. He also demolished the
temple of Isis, and gave order that her statue should be thrown into the
river Tiber; while he only banished Mundus, but did no more to him,
because he supposed that what crime he had committed was done out of the
passion of love. And these were the circumstances which concerned the
temple of Isis, and the injuries occasioned by her priests. I now return
to the relation of what happened about this time to the Jews at Rome, as
I formerly told you I would.

5. There was a man who was a Jew, but had been driven away from his own
country by an accusation laid against him for transgressing their laws,
and by the fear he was under of punishment for the same; but in all
respects a wicked man. He, then living at Rome, professed to instruct
men in the wisdom of the laws of Moses. He procured also three other
men, entirely of the same character with himself, to be his partners.
These men persuaded Fulvia, a woman of great dignity, and one that had
embraced the Jewish religion, to send purple and gold to the temple at
Jerusalem; and when they had gotten them, they employed them for their
own uses, and spent the money themselves, on which account it was that
they at first required it of her. Whereupon Tiberius, who had been
informed of the thing by Saturninus, the husband of Fulvia, who desired
inquiry might be made about it, ordered all the Jews to be banished out
of Rome; at which time the consuls listed four thousand men out of them,
and sent them to the island Sardinia; but punished a greater number of
them, who were unwilling to become soldiers, on account of keeping the
laws of their forefathers. 11 Thus were these Jews banished out of the
city by the wickedness of four men.