Vespasian was also joined by large bodies of auxiliaries furnished by the Kings Antiochus, Agrippa, and Sohemus, and the Arabian monarch, Malchus. So that his army amounted to very nearly sixty thousand men, not counting the servants and camp-followers, who were trained to fight also when occasion demanded.
While Vespasian remained in Ptolemais, Placidus continued to overrun Galilee, and to put its inhabitants to the sword. But observing that the fighting men always fled to the fortified cities, he advanced against the strongest of them, Jotapata; for he thought that by a sudden assault he could carry it without difficulty, and that, this done, the weaker towns would immediately surrender through fear. But in this he was much deceived. For the people of Jotapata, aware of his approach, lay in wait for him in front of the towns; and, eager to fight for their city and their wives and children, they fell upon the Romans with great fury and quickly routed them, without, however, killing many. Placidus, finding that he was too weak to capture the town, gave up the attempt and retreated.
When Vespasian had organized his forces he marched from Ptolemais to the frontier of Galilee, where he encamped. He halted awhile, that he might, by displaying the greatness of his forces, strike terror into the hearts of the enemy, and, ere the sword was drawn, give them time for repentance and submission. Nor was the measure without effect; for a number of Josephus's army, who were encamped at a town called Garis, hearing of the host of Romans who were coming to attack them, became so frightened that they dispersed and fled, not only before a blow was struck, but even before they had seen their foes.
Josephus was left alone with a mere handful of men, and, perceiving that his forces were not sufficient to cope with the enemy, and that they were much dispirited, he deemed it prudent to remove as far as possible from danger, and so fled with his soldiers to Tiberias.
Vespasian advanced upon the city of Gadara, and carried it at the first assault. On entering the town he put to death all except the children. The city and all the villages and hamlets around it were burned to the ground. Thus was a terrible example made, and the defeat of Cestius avenged.
The retreat of Josephus to Tiberias filled its inhabitants with alarm, for they rightly judged that had he not despaired of the contest he would not have fled. Nor did they mistake his views, for the manner in which the war was conducted made him think resistance hopeless.
However, like a gallant commander, he determined not to give up the cause. So he dispatched messengers to Jerusalem, with letters to the party in power, in which he informed them of the exact state of affairs, and advised them either to surrender at once or to send him an army which would be able to cope with the Romans.
When Vespasian heard that a large body of the enemy had fled to Jotapata, and also that it was their strongest place of refuge, he determined to capture it. And so he sent a force to level the road leading to it, which was rocky and mountainous, and very difficult to travel upon, even for infantry, and was entirely too steep for cavalry.
In four days the work was completed, and a spacious highway opened for the troops. Josephus now went from Tiberias to Jotapata, in order to revive the drooping spirits of the Jews in that stronghold.
This news was brought to Vespasian, who became all the more eager to capture the place when he heard that the general-in-chief was within the walls. He therefore dispatched Placidus and Ebutius, a distinguished officer, with a thousand horse, to surround the town and cut off all means of escape. The next day Vespasian followed with his whole force, and in the evening encamped on a high hill about a mile from the town, in order that the defenders might see his entire army, and be struck with terror at its magnitude.
The Romans, wearied with their long march, did not make an immediate attack, but they entirely surrounded the city, and so cut off every hope of escape. This, however, infused into the Jews the valor of despair. For, as they were unable to flee, they had no course left but to fight to the very last.
The next day the attack began. The Jews sallied boldly forth to meet the enemy, and at first gallantly faced the Romans. Vespasian ordered the archers and slingers to charge, and he himself led the infantry up an acclivity which led to the least defensible part of the wall. Josephus, alarmed for the town, dashed forward with the entire garrison, and drove the Romans from the ramparts. Great feats of valor were performed by both sides until night parted the combatants.
The following morning and for five days the Romans continued to make their assaults, while the Jews sallied bravely forth, or fought from the ramparts with equal courage.
Jotapata stood on top of a lofty hill, on three sides surrounded by impassable ravines. On the north side only could it be approached, where the end of the ridge sloped more gradually down. On this declivity was the city built; and this part Josephus had encompassed with a wall, to prevent an enemy from occupying the summit above it.
Vespasian called a council of war, and it was decided to raise an embankment against the part of the wall that was easiest of access. The whole army was sent out to procure materials, and they stripped the surrounding mountains of timber and stone, and proceeded to build the embankment. In order to protect themselves from the missiles hurled at them by the garrison, the Romans built a kind of wickerwork roof, under the protection of which they worked with safety.
Vespasian brought out his military engines, of which he had one hundred and sixty, and brought them to bear upon the men stationed upon the ramparts. The catapults vomited forth whizzing storms of lances, and the stone-projectors hurled great rocks of enormous weight, while the archers and slingers threw their weapons, so that they soon cleared the ramparts of the enemy.
But the Jews now sallied out from below in parties. And every now and then they suddenly attacked the workmen, and pulled down the breastworks. And when they could beat back the workmen, they threw down the mound and set fire to the palisades and hurdles. Vespasian perceived that the spaces between the works afforded openings for attacks, so he united all the working parties, and thus closing his lines, prevented these destructive sallies.
The embankment was now finished, and was almost on a level with the battlements. Josephus, in order to offset this, commanded workmen to raise the height of the wall. The workmen said that it would be impossible to build whilst they were assailed with such showers of missiles. Josephus then ordered tall stakes to be driven on top of the wall, and on them stretched fresh raw hides of oxen. From this yielding curtain the stones fell back harmless, whilst the other missiles glanced off, and even the fire-darts were quenched by the moisture of the hides. The builders, thus screened, raise the wall thirty-five feet higher. They then erected a number of towers, and defended the whole by a strong breastwork.
The Romans, who already fancied themselves masters of the town, were struck with dismay as the ingenuity of Josephus and the bravery of the besieged.
Vespasian was very much put out by this cunning stratagem, as well as by the gallantry of the people of Jotapata. For, inspired with fresh confidence by their bulwark, they sallied out in small bands and continually harassed the Romans, pillaging everything that came in their way and burning the enemy's works.
At length Vespasian determined to turn the siege into a blockade, and to starve the city into a surrender. For the garrison, he reasoned, would either soon have to capitulate or perish with hunger. Or if later he should wish to continue the attack, he could more easily conquer the Jews when wasted by hunger. So he kept his troops in their quarters, and blockaded every avenue to the city.
The besieged were well supplied with corn and other provisions, except salt, and also suffered from a scarcity of water. There was no spring within the city, so the inhabitants were obliged to be content with rain-water. But in that country it rarely rains in summer-time, and as it was now that season, the inhabitants became very much dispirited, and looked forward with great anxiety to the time when their supply would fail.
As Josephus wished to protract the siege as long as possible, he measured out the water in small quantities to the people. When the Romans saw the besieged all flocking to one spot, and there receiving water by measure, they directed their missiles against that place, and slew a great many.
Vespasian now thought that the garrison would soon have to surrender, and so continued the blockade. Josephus, in order to crush this hope, ordered a number of people to steep their garments and hang them round the battlements, so that the whole wall suddenly steamed with moisture. The Roman general was dismayed when he saw so much water wasted. For he concluded that the Jew must have an abundant supply that they used it so freely. And so, despairing of reducing the city by want, he again ordered an attack. This was what the Jews desired; for they preferred to perish by the sword rather than by thirst and famine.
Josephus discovered a secret means for obtaining supplies. By the bed of a mountain-torrent which wound along the western side of the ravine, and which the Romans neglected to guard, he sent letters to the Jews outside, and received in return abundance of everything that was needed in the city. The messengers crept on all fours, covered with the skins of beasts, that they might look like dogs; but the guards at length detected the artifice, and secured the outlet.