2.20.1
XX. Κατὰ δὲ Νέρωνα, ῥήλικος τῆς Ἰουδαίας ἐπιτροπεύοντος, αὐτοῖς ῥήμασιν αὖθις ὁ Ἰώσηπος τὴν εἰς ἀλλήλους τῶν ἱερέων στάσιν ὧδέ πως ἐν εἰκοστῷ τῆς Ἀρχαιολογίας γράφει·
AI English cleanup, gpt-5.4-mini, 2026-05-23
XX. In the time of Nero, while Felix was Procurator of Judaea, Josephus again relates the quarrel of the priests with one another in the following words in a passage in the twentieth book of the Antiquities: “Now a quarrel arose between the High Priests and the priests and leaders of the people of Jerusalem. Each of them made for himself a band of the boldest revolutionaries, of which he was the leader, and when they met they used to abuse each other and throw stones. There was not a single one to rebuke this, but it was done with licence as though in a city without government. Such shamelessness and audacity seized the High Priests that they ventured to send slaves to the threshing-floors to take the tithes owed to the priests, and it was a common occurrence to see destitute priests perishing of want. Thus the violence of the factions conquered all justice.”
2.20.2
“ Ἐξάπτεται δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἀρχιερεῦσι στάσις πρὸς τοὺς ἱερεῖς καὶ τοὺς πρώτους τοῦ πλήθους τῶν Ἱεροσολύμων, ἕκαστός τε αὐτῶν στῖφος ἀνθρώπων τῶν θρααυτάτων καὶ νεωτεριστῶν ἐαυτῷ ποιήαας, ἡγεμὼν ἦν, καὶ συρράσσοντες ἐκακο- λόγουν τε ἀλλήλους καὶ λίθοις ἔβαλλον· ὁ δ’ ἐπιπλήξων ἢν οὐδὲ εἷς, ἀλλ’ ὡς ἐν ἀπροατατήτῳ πόλει ταῦτ’ ἐπράααετο μετ’ ἐξουσίας. τοσαύτη δὲ τοὺς ἀρχιερεῖς κατέλαβεν ἀναίδεια καὶ τόλμα, ὥστε ἐκπέμπειν δούλους ἐτόλμων ἐπὶ τὰς ἅλωνας τοὺς ληφομένους τὰς τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν ὀφειλομένας δεκάτας. καὶ συνέβαινε τοὺς ἀπορουμένους ἱερέων ὑπ’ ἐνδείας ἀπολλυμένους θεωρεῖν· οὕτως ἐκράτει τοῦ δικαίου παντὸς ἡ τῶν στασιαζόντων βία.”
AI English cleanup, gpt-5.4-mini, 2026-05-23
The same writer again relates that at the same time a certain kind of bandits arose in Jerusalem, who, as he says, murdered daily those whom they met, even in the midst of the city. In particular, at the feasts they used to mingle with the crowd and, concealing short daggers in their clothes, used to stab distinguished people with them; then, when they had fallen, the murderers themselves shared in the indignation. In this way they evaded discovery through the confidence generally placed in them. Jonathan the High Priest was the first to be slain by them, but after him many were murdered daily, and fear was worse than the disasters, for, as if in war, every man was hourly expecting death.
2.20.3
Πάλιν δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς συγγραφεὺς κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοὺς χρόνους ἐν Ἱεροαολύμοις ὑποφυῆναι λῃστῶν τι εἶδος ἱατορεῖ, οἳ μεθ’ ἡμέραν, ὥς φησιν, καὶ ἐν μέσῃ τῆ πόλει ἐφόνευον τοὺς συναντῶντας. μάΛιστα γὰρ ἐν ταῖς ἑορταῖς μιγνυμένους τῷ πλήθει καὶ ταῖς ἐαθήαεαιν ὑποκρύπτοντας μικρὰ ξιφίδια, τούτοις νύττειν τοὺς διαφόρους· ἔπειτα πεαόντων, μέρος γίνεαθαι τῶν ἐπαγανακτούντων αὐτοὺς τοὺς πεφονευκότας· διὸ καὶ παντάπααιν ὑπ’ ἀξιοπιατίας ἀνευρέτους γενέσθαι. πρῶτον μὲν οὖν ὑπ’ αὐτῶν Ἰωνάθην τὸν ἀρχιερέα κατασφαγῆναι, μετὰ δ’ αὐτὸν καθ’ ἡμέραν ἀναιρεῖαθαι πολλούς, καὶ τῶν συμφορῶν τὸν φόβον χαλεπώτερον, ἑκάστου καθάπερ ἐν πολέμῳ καθ’ ὥραν τὸν θάνατον προαδεχομένου.
No clean AI English text has been generated for this passage yet.