the tower of Antonia and at
John's monument. Now his designs were to take the upper city at that
monument, and the temple at the tower of Antonia; for if the temple were
not taken, it would be dangerous to keep the city itself; so at each of
these parts he raised him banks, each legion raising one. As for those
that wrought at John's monument, the Idumeans, and those that were in
arms with Simon, made sallies upon them, and put some stop to them;
while John's party, and the multitude of zealots with them, did the like
to those that were before the tower of Antonia. These Jews were now too
hard for the Romans, not only in direct fighting, because they stood
upon the higher ground, but because they had now learned to use their
own engines; for their continual use of them one day after another did
by degrees improve their skill about them; for of one sort of engines
for darts they had three hundred, and forty for stones; by the means of
which they made it more tedious for the Romans to raise their banks. But
then Titus, knowing that the city would be either saved or destroyed for
himself, did not only proceed earnestly in the siege, but did not omit
to have the Jews exhorted to repentance; so he mixed good counsel
with his works for the siege. And being sensible that exhortations are
frequently more effectual than arms, he persuaded them to surrender the
city, now in a manner already taken, and thereby to save themselves, and
sent Josephus to speak to them in their own language; for he imagined
they might yield to the persuasion of a countryman of their own.

3. So Josephus went round about the wall, and tried to find a place that
was out of the reach of their darts, and yet within their hearing,
and besought them, in many words, to spare themselves, to spare their
country and their temple, and not to be more obdurate in these cases
than foreigners themselves; for that the Romans, who had no relation
to those things, had a reverence for their sacred rites and places,
although they belonged to their enemies, and had till now kept their
hands off from meddling with them; while such as were brought up under
them, and, if they be preserved, will be the only people that will reap
the benefit of them, hurry on to have them destroyed. That certainly
they have seen their strongest walls demolished, and that the wall still
remaining was weaker than those that were already taken. That they must
know the Roman power was invincible, a