3

Gessius Florus loathed Palestine. A freedman of Rome who had been fortunate in his marriage to a senator’s daughter, Florus had hoped for better things than a posting as procurator to Judaea. The only bright spot on an otherwise gloomy horizon was that his immediate superior, Cestius Gallus, was Legate of Syria.

Gallus shared with Florus a contempt for all Jews and everything Jewish. Both men regarded their appointments as an opportunity to become very rich, providing they diligently stripped the Hebrew nation of everything it possessed, and selling as slaves those Jews that had nothing of value. While Florus was systematically looting the country, Gallus didn’t just look the other way, he openly supported his procurator, for which he was paid a percentage of every stolen shekel.

To add to their misery the people were harried by bands of outlaws who, taking advantage of Florus’ disregard of the people’s rights, stole anything that wasn’t nailed down. Inevitably nationalist movements began to exploit these unstable conditions. These so called freedom fighters comprised a number of movements and factions, usually at odds with one another, who frequently attacked each other’s villages.

The nationalists had competition from minor warlords and the criminal scum that were their followers. These bandits attacked villages stealing anything of value, raping the women and killing every living thing, before burning the place to the ground.

Florus did nothing about the warlords who roamed the country, providing they gave him a cut. As Florus’ compliance was cheap at half the price, they were happy to pay him off.

Florus’ attitude to the nationalists was different. It had to be. They were busy ambushing and killing Roman soldiers. They also murdered Jews who were Roman citizens of high standing who supported Rome. The procurator regarded the nationalists as a personal enemy as well as the enemy of Rome (they were raising funds through extortion - money which he regarded as being rightfully his and not even paying him tribute). Frustratingly, he found moving against them difficult.

They were an enemy who struck when least expected, and then vanished to merge with the general populace, proving to be an exasperatingly elusive opponent. They did, however, provide him with an excuse for his brutally oppressive treatment of the whole population.

Should a complaint be made to Rome about his behaviour, they would be his cover. He would defend his actions by simply claiming that it was necessary to contain the numerous resistance movements. After all, they constantly attacked his forces. It was his duty to deal ruthlessly with criminal acts of subversion and terror. Weren’t his soldiers, officials and Jewish citizens of influence being murdered because they were loyal subjects of the Emperor? Confident that his position was unassailable, Florus set about systematically looting the country.

Squeezed relentlessly from all sides, the Jews were becoming desperate as well as angry. Men who worked from sun-up to sun-down were worse off than slaves. Their families starved as the corn they had grown was bagged and carted away, either by tax collectors, freedom fighters, the so called nationalists, or outlaws.

When a band of outlaws raided a town or village, they were after food and money. If the luckless citizens claimed not to have any, they were tortured, often to death. Men and women were made to dig up the floors of their homes. If no money was found, the disgruntled bandits would frequently beat a man to death, first buggering his children and raping his wife in front of him.

Not even Jerusalem was safe. The Sicarii hunted in broad daylight, stalking their victims in the streets. People were struck down without mercy. Often the victims had refused demands to pay protection money. People were killed, maimed, blinded and turned into helpless cripples if they failed to pay up.

With the country in turmoil, Florus suddenly descended on the Holy City and stole seventeen talents of silver from the Corban, the Temple treasury, on the pretext he was claiming this vast sum for Rome in lieu of unpaid taxes. The high priests were outraged, accusing the Romans of theft.

The city erupted. The people, goaded beyond endurance and whipped to a frenzy by the nationalists, rioted. This created the opportunity Florus had long hoped for. He now had an excuse to legitimately use force against the civilian population of Jerusalem. His orders were to spare no-one. The troops were ordered to kill every Jew they encountered, irrespective of age or sex.

When the soldiers entered the city’s Upper Market area, they were met by a large crowd led by nationalists who exhorted the people to resist Florus’ men. Ordinary citizens armed with makeshift weapons, clubs, knives, iron bars, found themselves facing well-armed, well trained, seasoned troops who cut them to pieces.

There then followed a running battle, bitterly fought through the city’s twisting narrow streets. The Romans advanced in an orderly fashion, shields locked. Their short stabbing swords, designed for close quarter work, chopped and stabbed until the gutters were running with blood.

Behind Florus’ relentlessly advancing swordsmen, Roman soldiers skilled in the javelin hurled their shafts over the heads of their comrades. Thrown in unison, spears rained down onto the densely packed Jews with deadly effect. In the grim struggle people shouted, cursed and wept, as they fought to stay alive. Screams of agony pierced the air as weapons found their mark.

Women and children, who had taken refuge in the shops and houses lining these narrow lanes, were forced into the open. Like frightened hares flushed from cover, they ran about in panic, searching for a means of escape, children clinging to their skirts and babies clutched to their breasts. But the press of bodies was so great it was impossible to move in any specific direction. Sick with fear they struggled to stay on their feet and keep their children with them. The Romans remorselessly hacked their way forward. Terrified mothers, finding themselves at the front of the crowd, knelt holding their babies before them and begged for mercy.

They and their children were not just killed. They were butchered. Infants were speared and carried as trophies for a few yards before being contemptuously tossed into the mob. Soldiers wielding swords were carmined from helmet to hip with blood. It ran down their faces and dripped from their chins. They advanced on the terrified Jews struggling ineffectively to escape. Like a blood red hydra of a thousand arms and hands, each armed with a hacking and chopping blade, the Roman forces advanced remorselessly, a monstrous body bristling with spears and lances thrusting, twisting and stabbing in every direction.

When the slaughter burst out of the souk’s narrow alleys and tumbled the Jews into a large square, the Hebrews threw down their makeshift weapons and dropped to their knees. Arms raised in surrender, they begged for mercy.

Florus replied by sending in his cavalry. The effect was similar to that of a combine harvester being driven at speed through a wheat field. Heads, arms and legs were sheared from the defenceless people and tossed every which way.

Numb with shock they knelt, staring with unseeing eyes as the Roman cavalry charged them repeatedly. Eventually the Romans were forced to call a halt. The footing for their horses had become dangerous because of the soft going. Like a layer of mud, the plaza’s paving slabs were covered ankle deep with blood, faeces and human offal.

When the Roman commander brought the action to an end and declared order restored, he took stock of his losses. The Roman casualties numbered five dead and about one hundred wounded. On the Jewish side five thousand had been killed and a thousand more were wounded, many so seriously they would die later.