received, he sent their rulers,
together with their men of power, to Florus, to Cesarea, that he might
appoint whom he thought fit to collect the tribute in the country, while
he retired into his own kingdom.

2. And at this time it was that some of those that principally excited
the people to go to war made an assault upon a certain fortress called
Masada. They took it by treachery, and slew the Romans that were there,
and put others of their own party to keep it. At the same time Eleazar,
the son of Ananias the high priest, a very bold youth, who was at that
time governor of the temple, persuaded those that officiated in the
Divine service to receive no gift or sacrifice for any foreigner.
And this was the true beginning of our war with the Romans; for they
rejected the sacrifice of Caesar on this account; and when many of the
high priests and principal men besought them not to omit the sacrifice,
which it was customary for them to offer for their princes, they would
not be prevailed upon. These relied much upon their multitude, for the
most flourishing part of the innovators assisted them; but they had the
chief regard to Eleazar, the governor of the temple.

3. Hereupon the men of power got together, and conferred with the high
priests, as did also the principal of the Pharisees; and thinking all
was at stake, and that their calamities were becoming incurable, took
counsel what was to be done. Accordingly, they determined to try what
they could do with the seditious by words, and assembled the people
before the brazen gate, which was that gate of the inner temple [court
of the priests] which looked toward the sun-rising. And, in the first
place, they showed the great indignation they had at this attempt for a
revolt, and for their bringing so great a war upon their country; after
which they confuted their pretense as unjustifiable, and told them that
their forefathers had adorned their temple in great part with donations
bestowed on them by foreigners, and had always received what had been
presented to them from foreign nations; and that they had been so
far from rejecting any person's sacrifice [which would be the highest
instance of impiety,] that they had themselves placed those donation
about the temple which were still visible, and had remained there so
long a time; that they did now irritate the Romans to take arms against
them, and invited them to make war upon them, and brought up novel rules
of a strange