calumniated Ananus, that he was about a piece of barbarity, and
did in a special manner threaten them. These leaders were
Eleazar, the son of Simon, who seemed the
most plausible man of them all, both in considering what was
fit to be done, and in the execution of what he had
determined upon, and Zacharias, the son of Phalek; both of whom
derived their families from the priests. Now when
these two men had heard, not only the common threatenings which
belonged to them all, but those peculiarly leveled against
themselves; and besides, how Artanus and his party, in order to
secure their own dominion, had invited the
Romans to come to them, for that also was part of John's lie;
they hesitated a great while what they should do, considering the
shortness of the time by which they were straitened; because the
people were prepared to attack them very soon, and because the
suddenness of the plot laid against them had almost cut off all
their hopes of getting any foreign
assistance; for they might be under the height of their
afflictions before any of their confederates could be informed
of it. However, it was resolved to call in the Idumeans; so they
wrote a short letter to this effect: That Ananus had imposed on
the people, and was betraying their metropolis to the Romans;
that they themselves had revolted from the rest, and were in
custody in the temple, on account of the
preservation of their liberty; that there was but a small time
left wherein they might hope for their deliverance; and that
unless they would come immediately to their assistance, they
should themselves be soon in the power of Artanus, and the city
would be in the power of the Romans. They also charged the
messengers to tell many more circumstances to the rulers of the