ather excite the Romans yet more against the people. Yet more
would they march through the land, burning, destroying, and
slaying. They would turn the country into a desert; and either
slay, or carry away all the people captives. We should irritate
without seriously injuring the Romans; and the very people, whose
sufferings we should heighten by our work, would turn against us.

"Now that the whole country has been scoured, all the towns which
have resisted destroyed, and all the men who defended them put to
the sword, there may be breathing space for the land, until the
Romans advance against Jerusalem. It may be that those in Jerusalem
may come to terms with the Romans, in which case there need not be
any more bloodshed. Therefore, I say that it seems to me that it
would be wrong to continue the war, so long as the Romans rest
peacefully in their camps; but should Jerusalem have need of us in
her defense, every one of us will again take the field."

John's counsel was finally adopted. Many of the men were longing to
return to their homes, where they knew that they would be welcomed,
and honored, for the deeds they had performed; for although they
had achieved no grand successes, they had done much by compelling
the Romans to keep together, and had thus saved many towns from
plunder and destruction. Their operations, too, had created a fresh
sensation of hope, and had aroused the people from the dull despair
in which they were sinking.

Had messengers been now sent out on all sides, a great multitude of
men would have collected; but John knew well that numbers would be
of no avail, and that in a pitched battle the Romans could defeat
many times their number of the undisciplined and ill-armed Jews.

John himself stood even higher, in the estimation of his followers,
than he did at the commencement of the campaign. His own band had
been particularly successful, and had several times encountered
parties of the Romans almost equal to themselves in numbers. His
plans had been always well laid, and on no occasion had the Romans
cut off and killed any numerous parties. Altogether, the justness
of his views had been established by experience, the men had gained
confidence in themselves and in him, and now only regretted that
they had had no opportunity of attacking the Romans in anything
like equal numbers.

Therefore, when the news spread that John was of opinion that the
wisest course was for them to return to their ho