rrounded and cut off, John, with three or four others, made their
way through to him, and brought him off.

When it became dark, both parties drew off; the Romans sullenly,
for they felt it a disgrace to have been thus driven back, by foes
they despised; the Jews with shouts of triumph, for they had proved
themselves a match for the first soldiers in the world, and the
dread with which the glittering column had inspired them had passed
away.

The following day, the Jews again sallied out and attacked the
Romans as they advanced and, for five days in succession, the
combat raged--the Jews fighting with desperate valor, the Romans
with steady resolution. At the end of that time, the Jews had been
forced back behind their wall, and the Romans established
themselves in front of it.

Vespasian, seeing that the wall could not be carried by assault, as
he had expected, called a council of war; and it was determined to
proceed by the regular process of a siege, and to erect a bank
against that part of the wall which offered the greatest facility
for attack. Accordingly the whole army, with the exception of the
troops who guarded the banks of circumvallation, went into the
mountains to get materials. Stone and timber, in vast quantities,
were brought down and, when these were in readiness, the work
commenced.

A sort of penthouse roofing, constructed of wattles covered with
earth, was first raised, to protect the workers from the missiles
of the enemy upon the wall; and here the working parties labored
securely, while the rest of the troops brought up earth, stone, and
wood for their use. The Jews did their best to interfere with the
work, hurling down huge stones upon the penthouse; sometimes
breaking down the supports of the roof and causing gaps, through
which they poured a storm of arrows and javelins, until the damage
had been repaired.

To protect his workmen, Vespasian brought up his siege engines--of
which he had a hundred and sixty--and, from these, vast quantities
of missiles were discharged at the Jews upon the walls. The
catapults threw javelins, balls of fire, and blazing arrows; while
the ballistae hurled huge stones, which swept lanes through the
ranks of the defenders. At the same time the light-armed troops,
the Arab archers, and those of Agrippa and Antiochus kept up a rain
of arrows, so that it became impossible for the Jews to remain on
the walls.

But they were not inactive. Sallying out in small p