To the Death (19 page)

When he was in the field, Agrippa's pavilion served as headquarters and personal accommodation. It was here with his officers that he received Nathan and one of his scouts returning from the city. That Berenice, attended by Amal, was invited to the meeting was unusual, but Agrippa's men were used to Berenice's presence and that her brother treated her as an equal. Often the King would turn to her for an opinion, for he valued her advice.

Nathan and his scout prostrated themselves and assumed a kneeling position. “Make your report”.

Nathan touched his fingers to his forehead. When he spoke, he addressed Philip. He would not speak to the King directly unless Agrippa addressed him directly. “Sir, the Greeks have risen against the Jews who live in the city. The city fathers agreed a policy of cleansing the city of its Jews. Orders were given to the city police and the Jewish quarter sealed”.

Berenice and Amal exchanged glances, but didn't say anything. “What about the procurator, is he in the city? Did he intervene?”

“Yes sir, he sent a message to the Greeks asking if they needed any help”. A startled Agrippa drew his breath in sharply.

“And the city fathers?” the King asked.

Nathan turned his head to face his King. “Lord, they asked the procurator to assist in surrounding the Jewish quarter, to ensure none could escape”.

“What happened?”

“Lord, the Greeks outnumbered the Jews ten to one. Caesarea,” he continued “is as you know, Majesty, a Greek city. They killed twenty thousand Jews within the space of an hour. They spared no one”.

“And Florus sanctioned this?”

Berenice could contain herself no longer. “This man is supposed to represent Roman law - to ensure the safety of its citizens, not collaborate in their murder”.

“Survivors?” the King continued.

“A few hundred, Majesty. The procurator rounded them up and sorted through them. The slave transports in the harbour had been commissioned by him”. Nobody had to ask what happened to those unfortunate prisoners who didn't pass muster at the sorting stage.

Agrippa stood up and began to pace angrily. He knew only too well that what had happened in Caesarea would reverberate round the region. “We must turn away from this place and the lunatic who rules it. We will, however, stay long enough to send a message to Rome. Caesar must be told of the mad dog who rules in his name”.

Agrippa had been right about the knock-on effects of the Jewish massacre at Caesarea.

As he and his column made its way to Antioch, they passed through a land on fire. Jews, wild with anger, left their villages and attacked their gentile neighbours. Time and again on his march to Antioch Agrippa was attacked, but his well-trained men successfully beat off the marauding bands.

In the following weeks the King's army marched past more and more cities that had become embroiled in the civil war.

The Syrians had also started killing Jews, not only through hatred, but to avert their own peril. The border with Syria was filled with confusion. Every city was divided into two camps, the survival of one depending on the destruction of the other. The days were spent in bloodshed, the nights in fear. The Syrians, having rid themselves of their Jews, remained suspicious of Jewish sympathisers. Syrians, overcome by avarice, looted the property of their victims with impunity. The dead lay unburied. Worse was to come, as the unreasoning monsters of racial hatred and religious intolerance, slipped their chains.

The Syrians of Scythopolis had turned on their Jewish citizens, slaughtering thirteen thousands of them; an act which caused all the cities in the region to take up arms against their Jewish colonies. In Escalon two and a half thousand were put to death and in Ptolemais two thousand were slaughtered in a morning. At Tyre even larger numbers were killed and at Hippus and Gadra the same thing happened.

Emboldened, the rebels seized a fortress called Cypros overlooking Jericho. After exterminating the Roman garrison they razed the defences to the ground. Soon afterwards, the Jews at Machaerus persuaded the Roman garrison to leave the fort and hand it over to them in return for a safe passage. The Romans, afraid it would be taken away by force, agreed to withdraw under a truce. Accepting the guarantees provided, they handed over the stronghold, which was promptly occupied and garrisoned by the Jews who had always lived outside its gates.

17

A
ntioch,
the queen of the east, was the third largest city in the world, second only to Rome and Alexandria and the official residence of Rome's imperial
Legate
of Syria, Cestius Gallus. A Greek city of five hundred thousand inhabitants, it had been endowed and enlarged by the Romans when they conquered Syria. From this metropolis the Romans controlled the trade routes to the Levant and beyond. It was in this city that St Paul took the momentous decision to baptise gentiles; they were the first to be called Christians.

This was the city Cestius Gallus ruled, in all but name, as a king. The court of the Roman
Legate
was every bit as splendid as that of the emperor in Rome, attracting to its glittering circle a multitude of rapacious and self-serving officials.

Surprisingly, Cestius tolerated a large Jewish community because they were more than useful to him; they were indispensable. The fabled wealth of the Levant was brought to the city by Jewish merchants and hence to Rome, whose citizens had an insatiable appetite for luxury goods and were dazzled by the unusual and eye-wateringly expensive jewels and silks from India and China.

More importantly, the world's banking system had been set up by Jews and run by them. It had major branches in Antioch, Alexandria and Caesarea, all linked not just to Rome but anywhere in the Roman world and the Levant. Money that needed transferring between cities need only be deposited in one. Payment in another city did not require the physical transfer of coin. A slip of paper carrying the seal, signature, and secret code of a Jewish banker, was all that was required, making money available anywhere in the Roman Empire.

It was in this city, the first in the world to have street lighting, that Cestius Gallus learned of the uprising in Jerusalem and the annihilation of its Roman Garrison. The shock of what was deemed impossible had made him feel physically sick. When he had learned of the taking of Masada, he was.

Gallus knew he had to respond, and quickly, to the situation in Jerusalem. Delay would encourage the rebellious Jews and cause the deepest suspicion in Rome. Two reports were hurriedly despatched – the first to the Emperor, and the second to Gessius Florus in Caesarea. The first acquainted Nero of the facts, the blame spread evenly between the Jewish ruling classes and the Procurator of Judaea, Gessius Florus. It stated that Gallus, at the head of the forces available to him, was marching on Jerusalem with the intent of punishing the rebels. It concluded that he was outnumbered fifty to one and would appreciate any support the Emperor cared to send. The letter to Florus ordered him to assemble all his forces and to wait for Gallus to arrive in Caesarea. In the meantime Florus was to hold himself ready to explain how and why two calamitous events had occurred within his area of responsibility.

He then summoned his banker for an urgent meeting. When Moses ben Jacob arrived, Gallus was in the garden, sitting in the shade and studying his accounts. After greeting Moses, Gallus said “There is serious trouble in Judaea – some sort of uprising in Jerusalem. The civil authorities are being challenged by rebel factions. The city – indeed the whole country – is on the verge of civil war”.

Moses was so shocked by this bald statement that he was rendered speechless, although he was very much aware of the fact that rural Jews were balanced on the knife edge of poverty. Roman taxes had pushed Jewish farmers to the point where they were one bad harvest from starvation.

A grim faced Gallus continued “There is more than one faction involved in the insurrection. Rebels have taken Masada and its garrison has been murdered – don't ask me how! And”, he went on remorselessly, “the Antonia is now in the hands of criminal scum who call themselves zealots”.

Finally, Moses found his voice. “What”, he croaked, “of the Procurator, Gessius Florus?”

Gallus grimaced and shrugged. “Florus has much to answer for, not just to me but to the Emperor. He and he alone is responsible for maintaining law and order in Judaea”. The banker noted that the
Legate
had distanced himself from his subordinate, but said nothing.

Gallus flicked nervously at the document in front of him before continuing “I am blameless, of course, but will have to clean up the mess. Who knows what the final outcome of this madness will be”. Before Moses could comment he continued, “Close my accounts in Antioch and transfer the funds to Gaul”.

A deeply disturbed Moses, his face expressionless, asked, “What of your land holdings here?”

“Put them on the market but don't hold a fire sale. There will be buyers here in Antioch as well as Rome”.

Moses cleared his throat. “Is there”, he asked diffidently, “anything else I can assist your Excellency with?”

For a moment he thought the sweating Gallus wasn't going to reply, but he handed him a parchment. “This is a list of my most valuable artworks. I am making arrangements for them to be crated. You”, he paused before asking, “can arrange secure storage?” Without waiting for a reply he continued, “Find buyers for them, but slowly. They are priceless. Realising their worth will take time”.

Moses accepted the scroll without comment. He was fully aware of Gallus' valuable collection of bronzes and marble statues. Some, of immense antiquity, were of so fine a workmanship as to be beyond price.

“You will excuse me Excellency. You have given me much to attend to”.

As Moses rose to take his leave Gallus pursed his lips and nodded, saying, “Yes I have, and I value your discretion. You may double your usual commission”.

Moses bowed his thanks before hurrying away.

Gallus, who had four legions under his command, chose the Twelfth, adding six thousand men drawn from the other three. As they marched from Antioch they picked up five thousand archers, five thousand cavalry and six thousand infantry from client Arab kings who had sworn allegiance to Rome.

Eventually Gallus arrived in Galilee with thirty thousand men under his command. King Agrippa, with a sizable portion of his army, also joined Gallus (whom he privately detested) ostensibly as an advisor. His real purpose was to act as a mediator between the two sides, if he ever got the chance.

The two forces, his and Agrippa's, met outside Joppa. Gallus divided his forces and attacked the city on two sides. The inhabitants had no time to escape; neither did they have any military experience. Having few weapons they put up little resistance, seeking to hide or flee from the killing machine that had suddenly descended upon them. The Legionaries and their mercenary allies rampaged through the town slaughtering the defenceless population of eight and a half thousand souls. After stealing everything that had the remotest value, the Romans celebrated their victory by setting fire to the town.

Standing in the town's smouldering ruins, a tight lipped Agrippa learned from Gallus how the unrest had spread to Alexandria in Egypt. Later, alone with Berenice, he recounted what had taken place. “There was a minor disturbance between Greek and Jew at a meeting the Greeks were holding among themselves. Three Jews who were secretly at that meeting were discovered, accused of being spies and burnt alive”.

“Without trial?” Berenice was outraged.

“Since when”, replied Agrippa bitterly, “did Greeks allow Jews civil liberties?” After a brief pause he continued, “The Jewish community rushed out and threatened to torch the amphitheatre where the Greeks were meeting”.

“And the Governor?” asked Berenice. “What was he doing? Sitting on his hands as usual?”

Agrippa sighed. His sister had always been headstrong. “After the usual bull-frogging in the council chamber, the governor ordered the city fathers, the most respected men in the community, to go to the Jews and appeal to them not to provoke the Romans garrisoned in the city”.

“Hmmm. And then?”

“The Jews marched on the Governor's villa shouting abuse and hurling rubbish at his guards”.

There was a long silence. Berenice hardly dared to ask, “Tiberius punished them?”

“He had ordered the two legions at his disposal to be on battle-ready standby, along with two thousand infantry recently returned from duty in Libya and en route for Rome”.

“Oh no”.

“He ordered them to attack – not simply drive them away – break a few heads – scare them shitless – but a full scale attack”.

Berenice stood up. She suddenly felt sick. She wrapped her arms around her body to stop herself shivering. “It's out of control”. She spoke more to herself than her brother. “It's like a forest fire jumping across open ground to start more and more fires”.

“And it will get worse”. Agrippa said softly.

Berenice leaned against her brother, holding him fiercely. She was only too aware of Egypt's importance to the Empire. Without her corn Rome would literally starve, relying on the corn ships which arrived daily from Alexandria to feed the capital. For anybody to threaten Rome was to invite the full force of Roman retribution.