breadthways to the lake of Tiberias; and in length is extended
from a village called Arpha, as far as Julias. Its inhabitants
are a mixture of Jews and Syrians. And thus have I, with all
possible brevity, described the country of Judea, and those that
lie round about it.

CHAPTER 4.

Josephus Makes An Attempt Upon Sepphoris But Is Repelled. Titus
Comes With A Great Army To Ptolemais.

1. Now the auxiliaries which were sent to assist the people of
Sepphoris, being a thousand horsemen, and six thousand footmen,
under Placidus the tribune, pitched their camp in two bodies in
the great plain. The foot were put into the city to be a guard to
it, but the horse lodged abroad in the camp. These last, by
marching continually one way or other, and overrunning the parts
of the adjoining country, were very troublesome to Josephus and
his men; they also plundered all the places that were out of the
city's liberty, and intercepted such as durst go abroad. On this
account it was that Josephus marched against the city, as hoping
to take what he had lately encompassed with so strong a wall,
before they revolted from the rest of the Galileans, that the
Romans would have much ado to take it; by which means he proved
too weak, and failed of his hopes, both as to the forcing the
place, and as to his prevailing with the people of Sepphoris to
deliver it up to him. By this means he provoked the Romans to
treat the country according to the law of war; nor did the
Romans, out of the anger they bore at this attempt, leave off,
either by night or by day, burning the places in the plain, and