To the Death (12 page)

“No, those chief priests loyal to Ananus are utterly against what Eleazar has done, but they are helpless. Eleazar is not only backed by the rank and file Temple priests and the Temple servants, he is also backed by a large secret army of freedom fighters. He is commander of the Zealots”.

“We must leave this city, but first we must warn the Roman authorities” said Agrippa turning to his sister. “Summon Nathan. I want two hundred of his best men, armed and mounted to go to the Antonia”.

She nodded her understanding, and spoke briefly to one of her personal slaves, who had been standing quietly to one side.

“While we are waiting for Nathan, Lord, we should consider what service we can render to Amal, who has risked much to bring us this news”.

“Of course.” Agrippa smiled thinly at Berenice and turned to Amal. “I understand you claim kinship with our family which may or may not be true. There is no way of knowing, but anything is possible given Herod's appetite for women. However, let us set aside the improbable and consider the possible. That which is within my gift is yours for the asking”.

Amal bowed her head and said, “I will not press my paternity, for I cannot prove it your majesty. But I can prove my loyalty to the house of Herod. I ask for my freedom and a place within Queen Berenice's household”.

“Your freedom is granted. As for your place within my sister's court,” he continued “that's not for me to say, but if she turns you down be assured of a place in mine”.

Berenice burst out laughing “I will gladly find you a place in my household. I have need of somebody with brains and diplomatic skills.

“Find Drucilla and tell her I will instruct her later about your position. Also your first task is to dictate your manumission to my scribe. The King will sign it later”.

Amal backed out of the room her heart singing. As she left she almost bumped into Nathan. The army commander nodded briefly to her, before stepping forward to salute the King.

10

T
he
tribune
Metilius, the commanding officer of the Antonia fortress, felt sick when he received the news of the attack on Masada. Nathan, who had brought the news, waited with the Antonia's staff officers who had been summoned by Metilius.

The garrison commander knew what he had to do, but how best to accomplish it? “Gentlemen, we need to act. Belated though it may be, we have to send a relief column to Masada. There is always the possibility that the Jews' treachery didn't work as well as expected. Then we arrest Menahem and as many of his followers as possible. If we can make an example of them, his supporters will think twice about what they do next. We must pull in Eleazar as well as the High Priest and the chief priests for questioning. That includes the principal citizens of this accursed city.

“Also, we must make contact with the procurator who has returned to Caesarea, and we must get word to the
Legate
, Cestius Gallus, who is somewhere in Galilee on his way to Syria. And finally – Rome - how do we get word to Rome? The nearest friendly port is, of course, Caesarea”.

Nathan cleared his throat, “Sir may I make a suggestion?” Metilius nodded. He wasn't about to turn anything down.

“King Agrippa has arrived with a considerable force. In addition there is Queen Berenice's personal guard and the palace guards. The King's loyalty to Caesar is unquestioned. He also has a large army in his own kingdom. The King can get your message to procurator Gessius Florus in Caesarea and, if Cestius Gallus is in Syria, reach him also. Equally as important, as the King marches northwards, messengers can be sent to every Roman garrison to warn them that the country is in rebellion. We can either retreat to Antioch and prepare to withstand a siege, or take to the field in support of those Jews in Jerusalem, who remain loyal to Rome”.

There was a murmur of general approval at this plan. Metilius thanked his gods that not only was Agrippa in the city, but he had a substantial army at his back.

“Agreed. Return to the King with a request that he carries news of this…” Metilius was almost lost for words and spluttered, “this insurrection. I will have a report prepared for the Emperor within the hour. I will also prepare reports for the procurator and the
Legate
, acquainting them of the situation”.

Nathan bowed in acknowledgement.

Nobody else ventured anything more. “Right let's get moving. Nathan is to report to Agrippa once the reports have been written. In the meantime, Crassus' two
cohorts
to be dispatched to force march to Masada”.

“Orders for Masada sir?” Metilius grimaced. “Officer in charge to send a report of what he finds, before doing anything. He can then proceed at his own discretion. I want no heroics. If Masada is in the hands of the rebels, he is not to attempt any kind of engagement but to return immediately”.

Crassus saluted and the meeting broke up. Only Nathan remained behind while Metilius dictated furiously to his scribes.

In spite of the heat the Centurion Marius and his legionaries force marched into the harsh desert wilderness of Judaea. Fortified by Herod the Great the isolated rocky height of Masada rises, seventeen hundred feet above the west coast line of the Dead Sea. Its half mile length is inaccessible, except by two inland tracks along which men can pass only in single file.

The first of these is a three and a half mile long path called the Snake, because of its constant twists and turns and its exceptional narrowness. It is broken as it rounds projecting cliffs and often turns back on itself. Walking along this path is like walking a tightrope. To slip is to die, for on either side are immensely deep canyons. The summit is a plateau measuring three quarters of a mile round. This is enclosed by a limestone wall twenty feet high and ten feet wide, along which are erected thirty seven towers each seventy five feet high. From these one can pass through a ring of chambers cut into the inside of the wall.

As Marius' sweating men approached the citadel, they became aware of the circling vultures. Hundreds of them sailed in lazy circles, before swooping down to the rocks at the base of the sheer cliff on which Masada stood. They were feasting on the corpses of the Roman soldiers who had garrisoned the fortress. Later, when Marius' men collected the dead to bury them, it became apparent that many had been flung alive from the cliff tops. Even worse, many were horribly mutilated having first been tortured.

As Marius and his men toiled they were subjected to taunts from the Sicarii, who lined the walls of the fortress, but Marius stuck grimly to his task. When he had finished he ordered a cross to be constructed from the camp materials he had brought with him. His last act before he retreated was to plant this in the middle of The Snake. A reminder of what the rebels could expect if they were ever taken alive.

11

W
hen
Eleazar discovered Amal had gone missing he was beside himself with rage. In the end he suspected she had been kidnapped by his enemies. But which ones? While the Zealots were a powerful nationalist group, they weren't the only one. There were a number of Zealot groups, each loyal to its own leader. But now wasn't the time to concern himself about a woman. The taking of Masada meant he had to make a move or be out of the game.

Without explanation he had bundled his family out of their house in the fashionable part of the Upper City and moved them to a property in the Lower City, ordering them on pain of death to stay indoors.

His next move was to mobilise his followers and put them on the streets as a citizen army, which the populace could either join or risk being accused of favouring the enemy. Thousands of Zealots answered the call to arms, pouring into the crowded streets. Under the orders of men appointed as his officers, they headed for the Temple chanting “Death to the Romans” and, ominously, “Death to the chief priests who have betrayed us”.

As mobs of armed men charged through the streets, citizens were knocked aside and the contents of shopkeepers' stalls sent flying in all directions. Shouts and curses filled the air.

Picking up reinforcements on the way, the Zealots' forces swept through the Jerusalem like water from a breached dam. Tens of thousands of men surged irresistibly through the warren of streets latticing the Lower City, the noise of their coming a continuous rumble that grew in volume with every passing minute. From the tops of both the Temple and the Antonia, it seemed as if the whole of the Lower City had somehow attained a life of its own.

The High Priest and the chief priests stared in disbelief at the river of people advancing relentlessly towards the Temple. The Roman soldiers on the walls, with more experience in such matters, retreated into the Antonia fortress at a dead run slamming the gates shut.

As trumpeters sounded the alarm, hundreds of soldiers inside the fortress quickly took up their stations on its walls. Metilius hurriedly pulled on his armour, shouting for his officers to attend him.

Slower to react, the High Priest Ananus nevertheless quickly realised that his own position was untenable. He had twenty thousand Levites, Temple policemen, available to defend the Temple and, of course, the people. The hundreds of thousands of pilgrims inside or camped just outside the city, would spring to the Temple's defence without question. But they had to be mobilised.

In the meantime the Temple was a trap. Bottled up, they could not appeal to the faithful for help. The High Priest turned to one of the priests who had joined him on the Temple walls. “We must flee to the Upper City. There we can appeal to the pilgrims and the peace loving responsible citizens of the Holy City”. The clutch of priests surrounding Ananus stared mesmerised at the advancing wall of nationalists. An unpleasant sound filled the air. Ananus frowned. It was like the bellowing of stampeding cattle. It was, he suddenly realised, coming from the densely packed mob advancing remorselessly towards the Temple.

Rapidly he dispensed orders. There was no time to take anything. “Surely”, he reasoned “the advancing mobs are Jews. They will stop short of violating the very house of God”.

“Then” asked Zacharius one of the chief priests, “why do we need to flee? They are all Jews; they will respect our office. Surely we are safer here then if we run”.

“Whoever they are”, snapped the High Priest, “they are the enemies of Rome. If we stay and collaborate with them, we are as guilty of treason as they are. The Romans will be as merciless with us as with them”.

“Now go, summon the Temple guards, send messages to the authorities in the Upper City, send messages to Agrippa, but do it speedily and when your duties are complete, make your way to the Upper City”.

As the chief priests ran to carry out the High Priest's instructions, the priest Zacharias asked “What of the Roman garrison? Surely they will defend the city. Will they not send messages to the procurator in Caesarea, and to the
Legate
who is on his way to Antioch?”

The High Priest shrugged. “You can see the Romans are manning the walls of the Antonia. For the moment they are spectators. In less than an hour they will be completely surrounded by half a million Jews whose passions, already inflamed, will kill anything or anybody that stands in their way, including”, he added grimly “us.”

“The Temple governor; I haven't seen him all day. I hope he is safe”. Zacharius' voice was filled with concern.

“Go” said the High Priest abruptly, the thought of the whereabouts of the Temple governor had also suddenly occurred to him - and with that thought a sudden suspicion. Recently Eleazor had been absent from many Temple duties. He had been seen in the company of known Zealots. When Ananus had casually questioned him, he had been evasive.

Staring across the rooftops the High Priest had a sudden premonition. He closed his eyes, his faced screwed up as though in pain. He groaned deeply. Eleazar was one of them. He knew it with absolute certainty. And he was coming to kill him. The same ruthless burning ambition that had taken him to the post of the High Priest was present in Eleazar. Ananus prayed and, for the first time in years, it was more than just ritual.

The High Priest raised his arms aloft, tears coursing down his cheeks. “Hear me O God of Israel. Let me be your instrument of vengeance, for I will destroy him without mercy”. With a final glance of pure hatred at the advancing mob, Ananus left the walls. He knew that only chaos lay ahead. If the Jews were to survive as a nation, the Romans must be made to see that it was the nationalists who were the rebels, not only against Rome but in starting a civil war against their own people.

What followed was a week-long bloodbath. Eleazar and his followers over-ran the Temple but were careful not to violate it. To do so would have caused the thousands of civilians who had taken up arms and joined their ranks to have turned on them, for they were religious men who revered the Temple. Their quarrel was with Rome and any Jew who supported it.

Day after day, Eleazar's men fought to enter the Upper City, which was defended bravely.

Ananus' makeshift pilgrim army had answered the call to arms, manning the barricades hastily thrown up, blocking the streets leading into the Upper City. More of the faithful were stationed on every rooftop. Using crowbars they prised stone blocks free, hurling them with devastating effect onto the heads of their attackers who were packed tightly between the high walls of the buildings approaching the Temple.