is Leaving
Off The Siege For A While, Set Himself Again To Prosecute
The Same; But Soon Sent Josephus To Discourse With His Own
Countrymen About Peace.

1. A Resolution was now taken by Titus to relax the siege for a little
while, and to afford the seditious an interval for consideration, and to
see whether the demolishing of their second wall would not make them
a little more compliant, or whether they were not somewhat afraid of
a famine, because the spoils they had gotten by rapine would not be
sufficient for them long; so he made use of this relaxation in order to
compass his own designs. Accordingly, as the usual appointed time when
he must distribute subsistence money to the soldiers was now come, he
gave orders that the commanders should put the army into battle-array,
in the face of the enemy, and then give every one of the soldiers their
pay. So the soldiers, according to custom, opened the cases wherein
their arms before lay covered, and marched with their breastplates on,
as did the horsemen lead their horses in their fine trappings. Then did
the places that were before the city shine very splendidly for a great
way; nor was there any thing so grateful to Titus's own men, or so
terrible to the enemy, as that sight. For the whole old wall, and the
north side of the temple, were full of spectators, and one might see
the houses full of such as looked at them; nor was there any part of the
city which was not covered over with their multitudes; nay, a very great
consternation seized upon the hardiest of the Jews themselves, when they
saw all the army in the same place, together with the fineness of their
arms, and the good order of their men. And I cannot but think that
the seditious would have changed their minds at that sight, unless the
crimes they had committed against the people had been so horrid, that
they despaired of forgiveness from the Romans; but as they believed
death with torments must be their punishment, if they did not go on in
the defense of the city, they thought it much better to die in war. Fate
also prevailed so far over them, that the innocent were to perish with
the guilty, and the city was to be destroyed with the seditious that
were in it.

2. Thus did the Romans spend four days in bringing this
subsistence-money to the several legions. But on the fifth day, when
no signs of peace appeared to come from the Jews, Titus divided his
legions, and began to raise banks, both at