The Idumeans were a warlike people, and as soon as they knew the contents of the letters they flew to arms, and marched towards Jerusalem with an army of twenty thousand men. Ananus heard of their coming, and closed the gates. He was however, to warlike measures, and so determined to try persuasion before recourse was had to arms. Accordingly, Joshua, the chief priest next in age to Ananus, addressed the Idumeans from a high tower. He endeavored to persuade them to do one of three things, either to unite with them in the chastisement of the robbers, to enter the city unarmed and act as judges between the two parties, or to depart and leave the city to settle its own affairs.

But the Idumeans would not listen to the proposals of Joshua, and were greatly irritated because they were not allowed to enter the city at once. Simon, one of their leaders, sternly answered Joshua that they had come as true patriots and defenders of their country against men who were in a conspiracy to sell the liberties of the land to the Romans. "Here before these walls," he said, "we will remain in arms until the Romans grow weary of listening to your proposals, of a change of sentiment leads you to espouse the cause of freedom."

The Idumeans loudly applauded these words, and Joshua withdrew in dejection, finding them opposed to all moderate measures, and anxious on account of the city, now threatened with war from two quarters. The Idumeans on their part began to grow uneasy; they were greatly irritated at being shut out of the city. But when they perceived no aid at hand from the Zealot party, whom they supposed to be in considerable strength, they became perplexed, and many repented that they had come. Still they were ashamed to return without having accomplished their purpose, so they encamped before the walls. With night came on a terrific storm of wind and rain, lightning and terrible thunder. The Idumeans huddled up together in order to keep each other warm, and locked their shields over their heads to keep off the rain. The Zealots became greatly concerned about their allies exposed to this terrible storm, and held a consultation to devise means for their relief. The most impetuous wished to force the sentries, sword in hand, and boldly rush forth and open the gates to the Idumeans. But the more prudent restrained them from making this attempt, because the sentries had been doubled, and they expected Ananus would be going the rounds at all hours. This had been his practice every night, but this night alone, trusting to the strength of his doubled sentries, Ananus neglected all precaution. As the night advanced, a great many of the sentries in the cloisters about the inner court fell asleep. The watchful Zealots perceived this, and, taking a lot of saws belonging to the temple, they severed the bars of the gates, the noise of the tempest aiding their purpose by preventing them from being heard.

A few of them stole out secretly from the temple, and when they reached the walls, they sawed open the gate nearest to the Idumeans. They, supposing themselves attacked by Ananus and his party, were at first seized with alarm, and every man drew his sword for defence, but quickly recognizing their visitors, they entered the city with them. Had they turned immediately upon the city, so ungovernable was their rage that nothing could have prevented the entire destruction of the people; but they hastened first to liberate all the Zealots from custody, at the request of those who had let them into the city. These men besought them not to neglect those for whose sake they had come, surrounded as they were with difficulties, nor yet to put them in still more serious danger. Were the guards mastered, they said, it would be easy to conquer the city; but if they first attacked the people, the citizens would rally around the guards, and would form and irresistible force to keep the invaders from the temple, wherein the Zealots were shut up.

In obedience to these requests, the Idumeans marched to the temple. As they were entering, the Zealots inside took courage and attacked the sentries from the rear. Some of them who lay in from they killed in their sleep, till the entire force, roused by the cries of those who were awake, snatched up their arms and hastened to the defence. So long as they supposed themselves assailed only by the Zealots, the guards fought with spirit, hoping to overcome them by numbers, but when they discovered that the Idumeans were in the city, most of them threw down their arms and gave way to lamentations. A few of the younger ones, however, fencing themselves in, gallantly fought the Idumeans, and for a time protected the feebler crowd, who by their cries informed the people in the city of the calamities that had befallen them. But the people were too frightened to venture to their assistance. All the houses resounded with lamentations and the piercing shrieks of women. The Zealots joined in the battle cry of the Idumeans, and the shouting on all sides was rendered still more fearful by the howling of the storm.

The Idumeans gave no quarter. They slaughtered all the guards, and when day dawned the sun shone on over eight thousand corpses. Then the invaders rushed upon the city, pillaging all the houses and killing all who came in their way. The high priests, Ananus and Joshua, were killed, and their bodies denied the rite of burial, although the Jews were so attentive to the rites of sepulture that even malefactors who had been crucified were interred before sunset.

The bloody work went on for days. The Zealots and their cruel allies butchered the people as if they were a herd of beasts. A great many youths of noble birth they threw into prison, hoping to induce them to join their party. Not one, however, listened to their proposals, all preferring to die rather than array themselves with the wicked against their country. Twelve thousand young men were thus doomed to destruction.

At length, weary of slaughter, the Zealots began to affect the forms of law, and set up mock tribunals and courts of justice. There was a certain distinguished man, called Zacharias, whom they wished to get rid of, because they dreaded his influence with the people and wished to possess themselves of his wealth.

They therefore formed a court composed of seventy of the leading men in the character of judges, but really without authority, and before them charged Zacharias with treasonable correspondence with Vespasian in order to betray the state to the Romans. They brought forth neither proof nor witnesses, but insisted that he should be convicted upon their charges alone.

Zacharias boldly ridiculed their accusations, and in a few words refuted the charges brought against him, and then rebuked the wickedness of his accusers. Stung by his taunts, the Zealots with difficulty restrained themselves from killing him then and there. But they were anxious to see if the judges would obey their will. The seventy, however, preferred to die with the accused rather then be guilty of condemning an innocent man, and so brought in a verdict of acquittal.

The Zealots raised a cry of indignation, and two of the most daring rushed upon Zacharias and slew him in the midst of the temple, crying out in derision as he fell, "You have now our verdict, and a more effective acquittal." They then threw him headlong from the temple into the ravine below. The judges they beat with the flat blades of their swords, and drove them in disgrace back to the city.

The Idumeans, dissatisfied with these proceedings, now began to regret that they had given aid to such a band of murderers as the Zealots. A man attached to the Zealot party called them together privately and pointed out to them the lawless acts of those who had invited them, and set forth in detail the injuries they had inflicted upon the city. He urged them to return home and no longer give countenance by their presence to the murders and atrocities of the Zealots, who had deceived them into becoming their accomplices by representing Ananus and his party as guilty of treason, a groundless charge, since no treason was feared, and the Roman army had not appeared before the city.

Induced by these arguments, the Idumeans returned home from Jerusalem; but first they liberated about two thousand prisoners, who fled from the city to Simon, the son of Gioras, of whom we shall hear more presently.

The people, ignorant of the repentance of the Idumeans, supposed themselves relieved from enemies, and began to feel more easy. The Zealots, on the other hand, as if released from control rather than deprived of assistance, became all the more audacious, and continued in their wicked courses. They put to death all the brave and noble men, the leaders of the people. For they thought that their own safety depended on leaving none of those in authority alive. No one escaped death but those whose safety lay in the utter meanness of their birth or fortune.

Hearing of the dissensions in Jerusalem, many of the Roman officers urged Vespasian to march immediately upon the city, thinking it a good time for an attack. But the politic general replied that an attack from the Romans would instantly extinguish these internal dissensions and unite the Jews against the common enemy; while if they were let alone, they would go on destroying each other and give the Romans later an easy victory.

Every day people fled from the tyranny of the Zealots in Jerusalem, although flight was difficult, because all the outlets were guarded, and every one caught in them was instantly put to death unless he could pay a certain sum for his freedom, in which case he was allowed to go. Hence it followed that, as the rich purchased escape, the poor alone were slaughtered. In the city and in the roads they lay dead in heaps. For to such an excess of cruelty and impiety did the Zealots proceed that they forbade the rites of burial. He who interred a relative was put to death. But the living under so awful a rule deemed themselves less blessed than the unburied dead.

The Zealots laughed at every human law, and scoffed at the oracles of the prophets as the fables of mountebanks. Yet did these very men bring down upon their country the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy, which declared that when civil war should break out in the city and native hands defile God's hallowed temple the city would be taken and the sanctuary burned to the ground.