making appeals for Titus.
Eleazar strokes his white beard and looks at me sideways. “Then you don’t believe him? About the liberality of terms?”
“Oh, I believe. That’s why it pains me to hear it. He’ll be generous with the civilians. And if I had my way, I’d open the gates and let anyone who wants, surrender.” It’s the first time I’ve admitted this.
Will Eleazar think me a traitor?
“Neither John nor Simon would allow that. They’d kill the people first.”
“Perhaps that’s why Titus can call upon heaven as a witness to his innocence. We are killing our own people, allowing them to starve to death rather than surrender.”
Eleazar touches my shoulder lightly. “You . . . would surrender?”
“Perhaps Titus will be kind to civilians, but no one believes he’ll be kind to us rebels. No, my friend, if we surrender, it means crucifixion. And since I have a choice, I choose death by the sword. I will fight.”
“Many of our citizens are escaping south, through the Essene Gate, rebels too, only to end up on crosses.” Eleazar sighs. “I too believe the time for surrender is past. The Romans have committed too many atrocities. There can be no forgiveness, no peace, no submission to their rule now.” He eyes me strangely. “Our path lies in revenge. We
must
avenge this devastation of our Holy City; this supreme insult to
Hashem
.” He clasps my shoulders between fingers that are thin and spindly but still strong. “Do you believe this?”
“Yes . . . I . . . suppose.”
“Of course you do, that’s why you and I will fight to the end.”
I feel strangely uncomfortable as I nod, and see, for the first time, something terrible in Eleazar’s eyes.
The Second Quarter has fallen. Its outer walls are rubble. We have been firing upon the Romans all day as they build a ramp toward Antonia. They’ve made great progress but it has cost dearly. Though they are covered in armor, and work beneath wicker screens and sheds, and transport their materials through leather covered passageways, hundreds lay dead. Our Benjaminites are weary from all the arrows they have fired, as are our spearmen and those who work the catapults. Still, the Romans refuse to quit or pull back. And they don’t shrink from our firebrands, either. Eleazar is sure Titus has promised them all a promotion if they survive, or the prized meed of valor if they perish. But I believe it’s something else altogether. I believe the 10 th Legion has inspired the others to partake in their revenge. After all, revenge works both ways.
But we have not been idle. We are planning our own subterfuge. Even now, John and his men are digging tunnels beneath the Antonia to collapse the Roman ramps. They are all congratulating themselves for thinking up this mischief, but I’m not so optimistic. I fear our tunnels won’t stop the legionaries for long. The Romans are as men possessed. They fight like demons and stand their ground even in the face of certain death. Their determination to defeat us is terrifying.
Everything is moving swiftly against us. Titus has completed his wall around the city, and has strategically installed watchtowers and small forts along its perimeter. This has effectively closed up thesouthern end, the last opening through which meager amounts of food and supplies, have, until now, been smuggled. We are completely cut off, sealed, as it were, in our own tomb. Titus has also captured Jerusalem’s aqueduct, effectively cutting off our water supply. And inside our city, things are more dire than ever. So dire that in spite of the risk, people are fleeing Jerusalem by the thousands. Even rebels. Simon’s Idumaeans left first. Now, even John’s men are escaping. Those who stay shout curses into the wind and promise vengeance, but for my part, I fear we are all doomed.
A new forest has sprung up. A forest of crosses. Nearly five hundred a day are being crucified. In the midst of this, Josephus has again urged us to
Eleazar strokes his white beard and looks at me sideways. “Then you don’t believe him? About the liberality of terms?”
“Oh, I believe. That’s why it pains me to hear it. He’ll be generous with the civilians. And if I had my way, I’d open the gates and let anyone who wants, surrender.” It’s the first time I’ve admitted this.
Will Eleazar think me a traitor?
“Neither John nor Simon would allow that. They’d kill the people first.”
“Perhaps that’s why Titus can call upon heaven as a witness to his innocence. We are killing our own people, allowing them to starve to death rather than surrender.”
Eleazar touches my shoulder lightly. “You . . . would surrender?”
“Perhaps Titus will be kind to civilians, but no one believes he’ll be kind to us rebels. No, my friend, if we surrender, it means crucifixion. And since I have a choice, I choose death by the sword. I will fight.”
“Many of our citizens are escaping south, through the Essene Gate, rebels too, only to end up on crosses.” Eleazar sighs. “I too believe the time for surrender is past. The Romans have committed too many atrocities. There can be no forgiveness, no peace, no submission to their rule now.” He eyes me strangely. “Our path lies in revenge. We
must
avenge this devastation of our Holy City; this supreme insult to
Hashem
.” He clasps my shoulders between fingers that are thin and spindly but still strong. “Do you believe this?”
“Yes . . . I . . . suppose.”
“Of course you do, that’s why you and I will fight to the end.”
I feel strangely uncomfortable as I nod, and see, for the first time, something terrible in Eleazar’s eyes.
The Second Quarter has fallen. Its outer walls are rubble. We have been firing upon the Romans all day as they build a ramp toward Antonia. They’ve made great progress but it has cost dearly. Though they are covered in armor, and work beneath wicker screens and sheds, and transport their materials through leather covered passageways, hundreds lay dead. Our Benjaminites are weary from all the arrows they have fired, as are our spearmen and those who work the catapults. Still, the Romans refuse to quit or pull back. And they don’t shrink from our firebrands, either. Eleazar is sure Titus has promised them all a promotion if they survive, or the prized meed of valor if they perish. But I believe it’s something else altogether. I believe the 10 th Legion has inspired the others to partake in their revenge. After all, revenge works both ways.
But we have not been idle. We are planning our own subterfuge. Even now, John and his men are digging tunnels beneath the Antonia to collapse the Roman ramps. They are all congratulating themselves for thinking up this mischief, but I’m not so optimistic. I fear our tunnels won’t stop the legionaries for long. The Romans are as men possessed. They fight like demons and stand their ground even in the face of certain death. Their determination to defeat us is terrifying.
Everything is moving swiftly against us. Titus has completed his wall around the city, and has strategically installed watchtowers and small forts along its perimeter. This has effectively closed up thesouthern end, the last opening through which meager amounts of food and supplies, have, until now, been smuggled. We are completely cut off, sealed, as it were, in our own tomb. Titus has also captured Jerusalem’s aqueduct, effectively cutting off our water supply. And inside our city, things are more dire than ever. So dire that in spite of the risk, people are fleeing Jerusalem by the thousands. Even rebels. Simon’s Idumaeans left first. Now, even John’s men are escaping. Those who stay shout curses into the wind and promise vengeance, but for my part, I fear we are all doomed.
A new forest has sprung up. A forest of crosses. Nearly five hundred a day are being crucified. In the midst of this, Josephus has again urged us to
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