To the Death (34 page)

“In what way?” asked Titus.

Josephus grimaced and shrugged. “A new prophet named Jesus claimed that God does not need blood sacrifices, nor does He need a Temple. Most interestingly of all, Jesus told men to pray to God – who is their father – directly.
No priests are required
”.

A stunned Titus said “How do you feel about that?”

Josephus smiled thinly. “The Essenes would agree with him. As for me, I can see his point. But I wonder if the common man doesn't need the focal point of ritual to find his way to God. Maybe the furore caused by these so-called Christians and their Christ are like stirred mud clouding bright water. Leave them alone and eventually they will settle into the sediment of history. I believe the answer”, Josephus continued, “probably lies in two things. Firstly, in holy men who down the centuries claim God has revealed Himself to them. To prescribe how men should live and how men should behave to each other. To explain what the relationship between mankind and God should be. These holy men, the prophets, had unique powers given to them by God. These powers allowed them to perform wonders as proof that God was working through them”.

“And the second?”

“The second lies in logic. The gift of reasoning the Greeks have brought to humanity. You Romans are the military masters of the world, but the Greeks reign supreme intellectually.”

Titus shook his head ruefully, acknowledging with a grin his companion's reasoning. “I accept the point you make, but where in philosophy will I find the God of the Jews?”

“By examining Greek thought on the origins of not just existence, but
why
there is anything at all. And” continued Josephus, “
who
was the creator? And most importantly,
how was it created
?” Titus would have interrupted but Josephus, holding up a hand, continued “There are brilliant speculations to all of these questions. In some cases, so-called proofs are offered, but for every question answered, not just two new ones are revealed but a dozen. That, of course, is the nature of philosophy”.

A surprised Titus asked, “This is accepted by Judaism, by the Temple priests?”

Josephus replied dryly “Virtually every word would be regarded as blasphemy. If I were to air such thoughts within the Temple precincts I would be put on trial”.

“Rome has many gods”, said Titus, more to himself than to Josephus, who said, “Why don't we set aside the question of gods and look at what philosophy has to offer us on the question of creation”.

Titus brightened at this suggestion. “
Zeus
, that's a good idea, but let me re-charge our cups, for I think better with a good wine to lubricate my mind”. With that he refilled both their glasses. “Where do we start?”

It never occurred to the Roman that he had just served a man who was, in all but name, his slave. Josephus nodded and said “Let us start with nothing”. Titus lifted an eyebrow but remained silent. “Nothing”, continued Josephus “came before something; in fact, everything in creation, the sun, the moon and the stars. Before earth, mankind, animals, plants, Aristotle's atoms – before any form of life. No matter who, or what, or how they were made,
before
they were made there was nothing! And”, he concluded, “it is, of course, absolutely impossible to get something from nothing”.

Titus remained silent, frowning in concentration. Josephus waited patiently. The Roman, a trained lawyer, could find no fault in the statement. He was also surprised. The clarity of logic was undeniable; the profoundness of the thinking at the very heart of man's search for the answer to the most important question of all ‘Who or what created not just man but everything?'

Titus sipped his wine, turning this over in his mind, in no hurry to make what might prove to be an ill-judged opinion.

Josephus, pleased that his pupil had accepted the concept of creation as being necessary to existence, said smoothly “Let us leave God out of the discussion. Instead, let us refer to him as the Creator”.

“Agreed” beamed Titus “but I must go. One last question. Who made the Creator?”

Josephus had to smile at his guest's perception.

“The Creator”, the Jew answered, “is
unmade
. He is
without substance
, existing as nothing within nothingness. All powerful. Unknowable. That we humans have the ability to
vaguely
comprehend
his existence; that we know of Him – is His gift to humanity”.

“This belief you accept on trust, as a matter of faith?”

“Yes. But remember this belief is founded on revelation. The one God - ineffable, unknowable, all powerful, the first cause, creator of everything – revealed himself to man through his prophets. We Jews believe we are a people chosen to be the living proof of that revelation; to be as a light to the world”.

Titus studied the wine in his glass, his mind in turmoil. With a smile he rose to leave. “Next time, you can tell me
why
”.

With a smile, Josephus asked the question, “Why, what?”

The Roman said softly, “Why should there be anything instead of nothing?”

Josephus slapped his leg in delight, grinning hugely. “Make certain you have plenty of time and bring some decent wine with you. The question of
why
, like
how
, is beyond human reason and comprehension. Nevertheless, the giants of Greek philosophy have speculated on both. Before we next meet arm yourself with their wisdom, for in our debate we will venture into the realm of the supernatural and the divine; many would say unknowable.

“Agreed”, said Titus. “I look forward to our debate, for which I will prepare by consulting Aristotle, the father of the inductive method, for he teaches us to observe and verify facts in order to discover the laws that control them”. With a smile and a lift of the hand in farewell, he was gone, leaving a surprised Josephus who had not expected the young Roman to evince such erudition.

32

U
nder
a cloudless Judaean sky, a sweating Titus sipped from his water bottle and considered his objective. He knew that the key to the city was the Antonia, and that taking it would be difficult. To have any chance, he had to bring up the rams and put them to work. Knowing this would be fiercely resisted, he ordered that one hundred ballistas be brought forward, with a vast quantity of ammunition. His intention was to set up a constant fusillade of stone balls against the men manning the section of wall he intended to attack with the rams.

In spite of this, when the attack started the rebels, shielding themselves as best they could, began dropping blocks of stone on the rams. Fortunately for the legionaries operating them, they were partially protected by a mobile covered tunnel that deflected most of the chunks of stone dropped from the wall. As the engagement gathered momentum, both sides began launching fire arrows which on the Romans side caused Titus to order shields of wet ox hide to be deployed.

When night fell both sides stood down and rested. Just before dawn, an area where John had dug his tunnel to try and get underneath the wall suddenly collapsed, the noise of which brought the Romans to full alert. Sentries, not knowing what it was, sounded the general alarm while the Romans cautiously advanced on what was apparently a breach in the wall they had been ineffectually battering. They were, however, disappointed. John had anticipated this might happen and built a second wall behind it.

Two days later, a Syrian
tribune
in charge of the advanced camp guarding the platforms, decided to take action on his own initiative. He picked twenty of his toughest soldiers and ordered the standard bearer of the Fifth Legion to join them, plus a trumpeter. Fully armed, with all metal fitments bound with strips of cloth to avoid accidental noise, they crawled through the ruins surrounding the Antonia. Using a muffled scaling ladder, they climbed the wall and garrotted the first sentries they encountered. Then, with his soldiers ready to charge, he ordered the trumpeter to sound the advance. With the trumpet braying non-stop, the twenty legionaries, roaring their battle cry, charged along the wall swords at the ready. The other Jewish guards, many of whom had been dozing, were either pitched headlong over the parapet or stabbed. The screams of the dying guards and the roaring of the berserking Romans, coupled with the manic blaring of the trumpet, panicked the remaining sentries who fled convinced the enemy had climbed the walls in numbers

When Titus heard the trumpet, he flung himself out of his tent and without a second's hesitation, ordered the call to arms to be sounded. As the trumpet blasted, men poured out of their tents, grabbing the weapons stacked on a tripod immediately outside before running to a designated place. Within three minutes, six thousand fully armed men stood in their ranks awaiting their orders. In the adjacent camps, which had responded in the same way, another twenty four thousand legionaries were ready to march. Ordering a thousand elite troops and twenty officers to join him, Titus left the camp at the trot heading straight for the point where the wall had collapsed.

Equally startled and confused, the rebels ran to the Temple. While the Romans poured into the tunnel John had dug to undermine the Roman platforms. John and Simon, realising that they were on the edge of disaster, rushed with their followers to meet this threat, knowing that if the Romans gained entry to the sanctuary it would be the beginning of the end. The two sides met at the entrance to the Outer Court, clashing in a struggle, where neither side could win the advantage. The Romans pushed forward relentlessly in an attempt to capture the Temple; the Jews desperately trying to drive them back to the Antonia.

Archers and spearmen were of no use to either party. Locked together in hand to hand combat, the carnage on both sides was appalling. As men fell, dead or dying, they were trampled underfoot. The Romans, used to this kind of close quarter work, stamped in unison on the fallen. Their iron shod sandals and powerful leg muscles, developed by constant marching, crushed ribs and snapped arms and legs as they stamped down. In the increasing confusion of battle, with no room to manoeuvre, there was no question of retreat. On both sides, the men at the front were relentlessly pushed forward by the men at the back.

With the seething mass of screaming men hacking at each other in mindless fury, something had to give and it was the Romans. Under the desperate suicidal pressure of the Jews, the Roman line began to buckle. Heavily outnumbered, Titus' men had fought non-stop for nine hours and desperately needed reinforcements, which had not arrived. The legions had not followed Titus, having received no orders to do so. In spite of their own exhaustion, the Jews, who were at full strength having committed their reserves, pushed forward relentlessly. Inch by inch, the Jews forced the Romans back to the Antonia, where at last Titus' men received reinforcements and the Jewish advance was halted. Vitally, Titus was able to start pulling exhausted troops out of the front line, and replace them with fresh men. With his position secured and reinforcements arriving, Titus ordered Josephus to address the Jews. He was to make John the same offer as before. If John was determined to fight it out, let him leave the city and meet the Romans in a place of his choice. It was in no-one's interest that the city be destroyed. To continue polluting the Holy City, Titus argued, was an offence against the God of the Jews.

Josephus mounted the wall at a point where he could not only be seen and heard by the combatants, but also by the civilians who were huddled in the ruins. He delivered Titus' offer in Aramaic, using all his skill as a trained orator in an effort to persuade the rebels to lay down their arms. The people listened in silence but John screamed abuse at him. Josephus' answer was damming. “You lay the fault of your sins on the Romans. Have they not always observed our religious laws? They now offer to assist you, in restoring the daily sacrifices you no longer make to God.

“It is the Romans, whom you call enemy, that demand you atone for your crimes against God. Even now, John, it is not too late to repent. It is you, a Jew, born in the very centre of Judaism that the Romans ask to save the heart of our nation. Remember Jehoiachin, King of the Jews who, before the Babylonians captured the city, exchanged his own freedom to save the Temple. His sacrifice is remembered eternally, immortal to all generations. With this example before you, I beg you, for the sake of God's chosen people, to choose peace. The Romans have given their word, sworn by their gods, to pardon you and your men.

“That you revile me is of no concern, but remember who I am. I am a Jew of noble birth. I am trying to bring peace; I am trying to spare men who have earned God's anger. Who amongst you does not remember the prophecy, the written word of our Holy oracles, passed down through the centuries, pronounced against this city that is now being fulfilled? Is it not prophesied that the day will come when Jew will kill Jew? When the living will envy the dead?

“That Jews will pollute the House of God

Are not the city and the Temple filled with corpses?

Who killed them? Not the Romans.

Who allowed the sacred ever-lasting fire to go out? Not the Romans.