Antiquities of the Jews — Book 20, Chapter 5

1. Now it came to pass, while Fadus was procurator of Judea, that a
certain magician, whose name was Theudas, 9 persuaded a great part of
the people to take their effects with them, and follow him to the river
Jordan; for he told them he was a prophet, and that he would, by his own
command, divide the river, and afford them an easy passage over it; and
many were deluded by his words. However, Fadus did not permit them to
make any advantage of his wild attempt, but sent a troop of horsemen out
against them; who, falling upon them unexpectedly, slew many of them,
and took many of them alive. They also took Theudas alive, and cut off
his head, and carried it to Jerusalem. This was what befell the Jews in
the time of Cuspius Fadus's government.

2. Then came Tiberius Alexander as successor to Fadus; he was the son of
Alexander the alabarch of Alexandria, which Alexander was a principal
person among all his contemporaries, both for his family and wealth: he
was also more eminent for his piety than this his son Alexander, for he
did not continue in the religion of his country. Under these procurators
that great famine happened in Judea, in which queen Helena bought corn
in Egypt at a great expense, and distributed it to those that were in
want, as I have related already. And besides this, the sons of Judas of
Galilee were now slain; I mean of that Judas who caused the people to
revolt, when Cyrenius came to take an account of the estates of the
Jews, as we have showed in a foregoing book. The names of those sons
were James and Simon, whom Alexander commanded to be crucified. But now
Herod, king of Chalcis, removed Joseph, the son of Camydus, from the
high priesthood, and made Ananias, the son of Nebedeu, his successor.
And now it was that Cumanus came as successor to Tiberius Alexander; as
also that Herod, brother of Agrippa the great king, departed this life,
in the eighth year of the reign of Claudius Cæsar. He left behind him
three sons; Aristobulus, whom he had by his first wife, with
Bernicianus, and Hyrcanus, both whom he had by Bernice his brother's
daughter. But Claudius Cæsar bestowed his dominions on Agrippa, junior.

3. Now while the Jewish affairs were under the administration of
Cumanus, there happened a great tumult at the city of Jerusalem, and
many of the Jews perished therein. But I shall first explain the
occasion whence it was derived. When that feast which is called the
passover was at hand, at which time our custom is to use unleavened
bread, and a great multitude was gathered together from all parts to
that feast, Cumanus was afraid lest some attempt of innovation should
then be made by them; so he ordered that one regiment of the army should
take their arms, and stand in the temple cloisters, to repress any
attempts of innovation, if perchance any such should begin; and this was
no more than what the former procurators of Judea did at such festivals.
But on the fourth day of the feast, a certain soldier let down his
breeches, and exposed his privy members to the multitude, which put
those that saw him into a furious rage, and made them cry out that this
impious action was not done to approach them, but God himself; nay, some
of them reproached Cumanus, and pretended that the soldier was set on by
him, which, when Cumanus heard, he was also himself not a little
provoked at such reproaches laid upon him; yet did he exhort them to
leave off such seditious attempts, and not to raise a tumult at the
festival. But when he could not induce them to be quiet for they still
went on in their reproaches to him, he gave order that the whole army
should take their entire armor, and come to Antonia, which was a
fortress, as we have said already, which overlooked the temple; but when
the multitude saw the soldiers there, they were affrighted at them, and
ran away hastily; but as the passages out were but narrow, and as they
thought their enemies followed them, they were crowded together in their
flight, and a great number were pressed to death in those narrow
passages; nor indeed was the number fewer than twenty thousand that
perished in this tumult. So instead of a festival, they had at last a
mournful day of it; and they all of them forgot their prayers and
sacrifices, and betook themselves to lamentation and weeping; so great
an affliction did the impudent obsceneness of a single soldier bring
upon them. 10

4. Now before this their first mourning was over, another mischief
befell them also; for some of those that raised the foregoing tumult,
when they were traveling along the public road, about a hundred furlongs
from the city, robbed Stephanus, a servant of Cæsar, as he was
journeying, and plundered him of all that he had with him; which things
when Cumanus heard of, he sent soldiers immediately, and ordered them to
plunder the neighboring villages, and to bring the most eminent persons
among them in bonds to him. Now as this devastation was making, one of
the soldiers seized the laws of Moses that lay in one of those villages,
and brought them out before the eyes of all present, and tore them to
pieces; and this was done with reproachful language, and much
scurrility; which things when the Jews heard of, they ran together, and
that in great numbers, and came down to Cæsarea, where Cumanus then was,
and besought him that he would avenge, not themselves, but God himself,
whose laws had been affronted; for that they could not bear to live any
longer, if the laws of their forefathers must be affronted after this
manner. Accordingly Cumanus, out of fear lest the multitude should go
into a sedition, and by the advice of his friends also, took care that
the soldier who had offered the affront to the laws should be beheaded,
and thereby put a stop to the sedition which was ready to be kindled a
second time.