Flavius Josephus, answered from the texts and cited to the page.
The Jewish War — seven books covering the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple under Vespasian and Titus, from the rise of the Maccabees to the fall of Masada — is the first work I published, and I wrote it because those who had set their hands to the subject before me had done it neither honestly nor well; some flattered the Romans, others abused them, and neither party troubled itself with the truth.1
My aim was to do neither. I would not extol the Romans beyond measure, nor would I raise the actions of my countrymen too high; I would prosecute the actions of both parties with accuracy, and suit my language to the passions I was under as to the affairs I described.2 That last concession matters: the lamentations are mine, and a reader who finds them excessive is free to attribute the facts to the historical part and the grief to the writer himself.3
The argument of the whole work is this — that it was a seditious temper of our own that destroyed us, and that the tyrants among the Jews brought the Roman power upon us, who attacked us unwillingly and occasioned the burning of the holy temple.4 Titus himself, who destroyed it, is my witness for that: during the entire siege he pitied the people kept under by the seditious, and repeatedly delayed the assault to allow the authors of the tumult opportunity for repentance.5
The city was not taken because Rome was irresistible; it was taken because three factions — war, tyranny, and sedition — tore it open from within, and of these three the war itself was the least troublesome to the common people.6 The Sicarii at Masada are the final chapter of that catastrophe. When the Roman army lay still and the Jews were divided among themselves, those men descended on Engaddi by night, killed more than seven hundred women and children, stripped every house, and carried the plunder back to the fortress; and from all parts, day by day, men as corrupt as themselves came to join them.7
It is as it is in a human body: when the principal part is inflamed, all the members are subject to the same distemper, and by means of the sedition in the metropolis, the wicked in the country found their opportunity.8 I composed the whole in seven books, and I wrote it for those who love truth, not for those who please themselves with fictitious relations.9
I will not go to the other extreme, out of opposition to those men who extol the Romans nor will I determine to raise the actions of my countrymen too high; but I will prosecute the actions of both parties with accuracy.The Wars of the Jews
Yet shall I suit my language to the passions I am under, as to the affairs I describe, and must be allowed to indulge some lamentations upon the miseries undergone by my own country.The Wars of the Jews
But if any one be inflexible in his censures of me, let him attribute the facts themselves to the historical part, and the lamentations to the writer himself only.The Wars of the Jews
For that it was a seditious temper of our own that destroyed it, and that they were the tyrants among the Jews who brought the Roman power upon us, who unwillingly attacked us, and occasioned the burning of our holy temple.The Wars of the Jews
Titus Caesar, who destroyed it, is himself a witness, who, during the entire war, pitied the people who were kept under by the seditious, and did often voluntarily delay the taking of the city, and allowed time to the siege, in order to let the authors have opportunity for repentance.The Wars of the Jews
because the city had to struggle with three of the greatest misfortunes, war, and tyranny, and sedition, it appeared, upon the comparison, that the war was the least troublesome to the populace of them all.The Wars of the Jews
they came down by night, without being discovered by those that could have prevented them, and overran a certain small city called Engaddi...As for such as could not run away, being women and children, they slew of them above seven hundred.The Wars of the Jews
Now as it is in a human body, if the principal part be inflamed, all the members are subject to the same distemper; so, by means of the sedition and disorder that was in the metropolis, had the wicked men that were in the country opportunity to ravage the same.The Wars of the Jews
I have written it down for the sake of those that love truth, but not for those that please themselves [with fictitious relations].The Wars of the Jews