us,
the general of his army.

5. Upon this the men of power, with the high priests, as also all the
part of the multitude that were desirous of peace, took courage, and
seized upon the upper city [Mount Sion;] for the seditious part had the
lower city and the temple in their power; so they made use of stones and
slings perpetually against one another, and threw darts continually
on both sides; and sometimes it happened that they made incursions
by troops, and fought it out hand to hand, while the seditious were
superior in boldness, but the king's soldiers in skill. These last
strove chiefly to gain the temple, and to drive those out of it who
profaned it; as did the seditious, with Eleazar, besides what they
had already, labor to gain the upper city. Thus were there perpetual
slaughters on both sides for seven days' time; but neither side would
yield up the parts they had seized on.

6. Now the next day was the festival of Xylophory; upon which the custom
was for every one to bring wood for the altar [that there might never be
a want of fuel for that fire which was unquenchable and always burning].
Upon that day they excluded the opposite party from the observation of
this part of religion. And when they had joined to themselves many of
the Sicarii, who crowded in among the weaker people, [that was the name
for such robbers as had under their bosoms swords called Sicae,] they
grew bolder, and carried their undertaking further; insomuch that the
king's soldiers were overpowered by their multitude and boldness; and
so they gave way, and were driven out of the upper city by force. The
others then set fire to the house of Ananias the high priest, and to the
palaces of Agrippa and Bernice; after which they carried the fire to
the place where the archives were reposited, and made haste to burn the
contracts belonging to their creditors, and thereby to dissolve their
obligations for paying their debts; and this was done in order to
gain the multitude of those who had been debtors, and that they might
persuade the poorer sort to join in their insurrection with safety
against the more wealthy; so the keepers of the records fled away, and
the rest set fire to them. And when they had thus burnt down the nerves
of the city, they fell upon their enemies; at which time some of the men
of power, and of the high priests, went into the vaults under ground,
and concealed themselves, while others fled with the king's soldiers
to the up