Quanta fuerit calamitas obsessorum, ohstinatae
The Just Judgment of God
The author introduces the historical tragedy of Jerusalem as a divine judgment for the rejection of Christ.
What the malice of the Jews was, and what the piety of Titus. But so that the signs of God's indignation against the impenitence of the Jews—which were neither few nor small, nor merely a passing or perfunctory punishment—don't seem to have occurred without cause, let this account cover the intolerable calamity, the irreparable destruction, and the unheard-of slavery of that rejected and blinded people, a slavery unknown to all previous ages. If anyone wants to know more fully how many evils the whole land suffered; how Judea itself was devastated by war, famine, fire, and slaughter; how many thousands of people—fathers along with their wives and little children—were killed without number and without distinction; what the sieges of various cities were like; what great devastation and slaughter occurred in the magnificent and most famous city of Jerusalem; what the nature of these wars was; how (just as the prophets had said) the abomination of desolation was placed in that once-famous temple of God; and how, in the end, fire ravaged everything and flames consumed it—let him read the history of Josephus. We, however, will take from these only what is sufficient to explain the work we have undertaken; in it, he reports that the people from all of Judea had gathered in Jerusalem on the solemn day of the Passover, as if driven by some destructive hand. He says there were three million people, gathered by the just judgment of God, choosing this time of vengeance, so that those who had violated their Savior and the Savior Christ the Lord during the days of the Passover with bloody hands and sacrilegious voices might, in those very days, as if shut up in a single prison, receive the destruction of the deadly punishment they deserved. I will certainly pass over explaining what was inflicted upon them by the slaughter of the sword or other engines of war; I will only bring forward from the words of the aforementioned historian what they suffered from the dire famine and starvation, so that those who read these things may understand how great a sin it is to dare anything against Christ, and how grave the punishments are by which such deeds are expiated. Come then, let the fifth book of Josephus's history be placed in the middle, from which their entire mournful tragedy may be examined. For the rich, he says, to remain or to perish was one and the same thing.
The Desperation of Famine
The siege of Jerusalem leads to a total collapse of social order and humanity as starvation turns neighbor against neighbor.
If they had stayed in the city, they were killed on the pretext of their wealth, as if they were planning to defect. The necessity of hunger, however, only fueled the arrogance of the factions; starvation and recklessness grew together. There was no grain to be found anywhere in public, but the city’s marauders would break into houses, and if they found anything, they would punish the occupants as if they were people who had been hiding it; if they found nothing, they would torture them anyway, as if they were people who had hidden it more secretly and carefully. The marauders took the fact that people were still alive and appeared to have some physical strength as proof that they were hiding food, assuming they would have died by then if they weren't stashing it away. If they saw anyone who was clearly wasting away from starvation, they would pass them by with a kind of mercy. They thought it was a waste to kill those whom hunger would consume shortly anyway. Many, however, would trade all their wealth in secret for a single measure of grain—or barley if they were of lower status—and, shutting themselves in the innermost corners of their houses, some wouldn't even bake the grain into bread before eating it. Others, however, would cook it as much as necessity or fear allowed. No one expected a table to be set; instead, they snatched half-cooked food from the fire and devoured it as if it were stolen. The sight of the food itself was miserable, as the strong would tear away whatever they found, while the weak were left with nothing but grief and tears. And though hunger surpassed all other hardships, nothing broke and overturned people quite like the loss of shame. Whatever is considered decent and honorable in normal times is cast aside in this necessity. Finally, wives snatched food from their husbands' hands, children from their parents', and—most wretched of all—mothers took food from the very hands and mouths of their little ones. Even as their beloved children lay wasting away in their arms and before their eyes, no one spared them the meager scraps of life. Yet not even those who were hiding their meager food were safe. A looter would constantly be nearby, and the moment he saw someone’s door closed, he took it as a sign that they were eating inside. He would suddenly kick the door in, rush in, and—if I may put it this way—wrest the food from their very throats, reclaiming whatever they had managed to consume. Old men were beaten if they tried to defend their food, and women were dragged by their hair if they were caught trying to hide anything they had in their hands. There was no respect for the elderly and no pity for the little ones; instead, they would tear children away from the meager crust of bread they were clinging to, throwing them to the ground even while they were still holding onto the food. They treated anyone who had managed to eat before the looters arrived with savage cruelty, devising horrific tortures: they would block the natural passages of the body in some, while in others they drove sharpened stakes through their private parts. I shudder to recount what was done.
The Loss of Human Dignity
As the famine intensifies, the city descends into a silent, death-filled nightmare where even the dead are mocked and denied burial.
After that, they would force the wretched people to prepare a single loaf of bread or a cup of flour. For the plunderers themselves were not suffering from hunger. It would have been somewhat more tolerable if they had seemed to do these things out of starvation. But whether to prepare food for themselves for the next day, or to let their cruelty grow through practice, they would even waylay those who had managed to sneak past the enemy lines to gather herbs; and they would tear away whatever those people had brought back, even though they were rejoicing at having escaped the hands of the enemy. When people begged them, invoking the terrible name of God so they might at least grant them some portion of what they had sought at the risk of their lives, they would offer absolutely nothing; instead, it was considered a favor if one were allowed to escape alive after being caught. After a while, he adds: 'For the Jews, as they left the city, every hope of safety was likewise cut off, and the growing bitterness of the famine was devastating homes, families, and the entire nation alike; so much so that the corpses of women and children lay scattered in the inner rooms, while the bodies of the wretched elderly lay in the streets, consumed more by hunger than by age.' The young and all those in the prime of life wandered the streets and exits like ghosts, collapsing wherever hunger happened to strike them down. The sheer number of the dead, along with their own failing strength, made it impossible to bury their neighbors' bodies; at the same time, everyone was afraid for their own uncertain life. Finally, some breathed their last right over the people they were burying; many even died while following funeral processions, before they could reach the grave. But there was no mourning or weeping for the dead as was the custom, because famine had claimed everything for itself. The dry, hollow ache of starvation had left no one with any tears to shed. A profound silence had settled over the city, and a night full of death had covered everything. Worse than all these evils, however, were the looters who thrived; they didn't even think it wrong to tear open graves and strip the corpses, not so much looking for plunder as piling up wickedness with mockery and testing the sharpness of their swords by hacking at the dead. Sometimes they even tested their blades on those still breathing; when others who were half-dead saw this, they would hold out their hands in supplication, begging them to turn their cruelty on them as a favor, so they might be released from the torments of hunger more quickly. But the looters, with a new kind of cruelty, would refuse to grant the death they were so ready to inflict if asked. Yet every one of the dying would turn their eyes toward the temple with a groan, grieving not for their own death, but for the impunity of the looters they were leaving behind. At first, they had ordered the dead to be buried at public expense because the stench was unbearable; but when the number of the dying began to overwhelm all resources, they started throwing the corpses over the wall.
The Witness of Titus and the Depths of Depravity
Titus laments the carnage, while the inhabitants are reduced to consuming anything, even leather and refuse, in their final agony.
But when Titus, while making his rounds, saw the valleys filled with the corpses of the dead and the native soil soaked in the rot of human bodies, he raised his hands to heaven and with a great groan called God to witness that this was not happening because of him, and that he was enduring these things against his will. And after a short while, Joseph continues with these words: "I won't hesitate to say what I think." For I believe that even if the Roman weapons had ceased for a little while against the impious citizens, the city would have met its punishment through a chasm in the earth, a flood, or the fires and lightning of Sodom; for it had brought forth a generation of people far more unfortunate and wicked than those who suffered these things—a generation for which the whole nation deserved to be wiped out together. And in the sixth book, he writes similar things about them. And he says, "The number of those being destroyed by starvation throughout the entire city was countless, and their misery cannot be described." For in every house, if any food was found, wars and slaughters immediately broke out between loved ones—even between parents and children—as they struggled to snatch food from one another, not only from their hands but even from their very throats. There was no trust even for the dead; and even as they were breathing their last, they were searched by robbers, lest anyone happen to have some food hidden inside their clothing. Others, gasping from starvation, wandered here and there like rabid dogs, and driven by a kind of madness, they would break into the same houses again and again in a single moment. Necessity, however, turned everything into food—even things that were not used as food even by dumb animals. In the end, they didn't even spare leather straps, belts, or their own shoes. They even stripped the leather off their shields and chewed on it. Some ate stalks of old hay, and they would sell a tiny handful of gathered refuse for four drachmas.
Read the original Latin
malitiae quis fuerit Jlnis, et quae pietas Titi. At ne tot et tanta mediocris plagae aut perfunctoriae indignationis Dei aduersus impenitentiam ludeorum signorum praecessisse uideantur indicia, calamitatem intolerabilem, excidium irreparabile, reprobatae et excecatae gentis inauditam et cunctis saeculis incognitam seruitutem sucd cinctus sermo percurrat. Quantis ergo malis tunc uniuersa multata sit, utque ipsa ludeae terra bello, fame, igni, caedibusque uastata sit, quanta populorum milia, patres simul cum coniugibus ac paruulis liberis absque numero et absque discretione trucidati sint, quae etiam diuersarum urbium obsidiones, sed et ipsius magnificae et famosissimae ciuitatis Hierusalem quanta uastitas et quanta fuerit diuersarum mortium strages, quis per haec singula bellorum extiterit modus, et ut (secundum id quod prophetae dixerant) abominatio desolationis in ipso quondam Dei famosissimo colloeata sit templo, utque ad ultimum cuncta ignis populatus sit et flamma consumpserit, si quis plenius nosse uult, historiam losephi relegat. Nos uero ex his ea tantum, a quae ad explanationem suscepti operis sufficiunt, assumemus; in quibus refert, quod ex omni ludea popuH in die solenni Paschae lerosolimam, uelut exitiaH quadam manu cogente, conuenerant. Quos tricies centena milia dicit hominum fuisse, iusto sciUcet Dei iudicio, tempore hoc ultionis electo, ut qui in diebus Paschae saluatorem suum et saluatorem Christum Domini cruentis manibus et sacrilegis uocibus uiolarunt, in ipsis diebus uelut in unum carcerem omnis multitudo conclusa feralis penae exitium, quod merebatur, exciperet. Praeteribo sane quae in eos uel gladii caede uel aliis belli machinis collata sunt, explicare; ea tantummodo, quae dirae famis inedia pertulerunt, supradicti historiographi sermonibus proferam, quo legentes haec intelligant quantum piaculi sit audere aliquid in Christum et quam grauibus ausa suppliciis expientur. Age itaque, quintus losephi historianim liber ponatur in medio, ex quo omnis eorum luctuosa tragedia pemoscatur. Diuitibus autem permanere, inquit, aut perire imum atque idem erat.
Si enim in urbe permansissent, facultatum suarum causa crimine obiecto, quasi qui de transfugiendo cogitarent, perimebantur. Necessitas uero famis factiosorum extollebat arrogantiam; et utrumque simul inedia cum temeritate crescebat. Publice quidem frumentum nusquam omnino erat, sed irruentes urbis praedones perscrutabantur domus, et si quid inuenissent, tamquam de his qui fefellerant, penas simiebant; si uero non inuenissent, nichilominus tamquam eos, qui occultius et diligentius absconderint, cruciabant. Indicium uero haberi ab eis pabula capiebant hoc ipso, quod adhuc uiuerent, et subsistere corporibus uidebantur, tamquam qui profecto iam interissent, nisi absconditos uspiam tegerent cibos. Si quos sane tabescentes macie uidissent, hos cum uenia praeteribant. superfluum putantes perimere, quos paulo post absumeret fames. Multi tamen in occultis omni censu suo mercati sunt unum metrum, si diuites frumenti, hordei si inferiores fuerunt, et concludentes se in interiorila bus quibusque penetraHbus domus, nonnulli nec in panes confectas fruges edebant. Alii uero, in quantum uel necessitas uel metus permitteret, excoquebant.
Et mensam quidem nullus expectabat apponi, sed ex ipso semiusta igni rapientes propria uelut furtiua deuorabant; et erat infelicis ipsius cibi spectaculum miserabile, cum ualidiores quique inuenta diriperent; imbecillibus uero nichil praeter luctum superesset ac lacrimas; et omnium licet acerbitates rerum superaret fames, nichil tamen ita subruit atque subuertit sicut uerecundiam. Quicquid enim saluis rebus pudore dignum est, id in hac necessitate contempnitur. Denique et uxores de uirorum manibus et filii de parentum, et (quod est infelicius) matres cibos de paruulorum manibus atque ore rapiebant, et cum dulcissimi liberi in manibus atque ante ora positi tabescerent, exigua uitae subsidia a dentibus ipsis eximere nemo parcebat. Verum a ne ipsos quidem infelices et perexiguos sumentes latebant cibos; sed continuo aderat praedonum quis, et statim ut clausas cuiuspiam conspexisset fores, indicium credebat hoc esse, quod intrinsecus positi ederent; et repente despicatis foribus praecipites irruebant, atque ab ipsis, ut ita dicam, faucibus exprimentes, si quid forte insumptum iam fuerat, reuocabant. Verberantur senes, si cibum uendicare temptassent, sparsis etiam crinibus mulieres trahebantur, occultare nitentes si qnid forte deprehensum fuisset in manibus. Nulla senibus reuerentia, nuUa erga paraulos miseratio, sed in exiguo panis fragmento paraulos inherentes et ex ipso cui inheserant suspensos elidebant in terram. In eum uero, qui raptores cibo praeuenisset absumpto, cradeliua seuiebant, et excogitabant dira supplicia, obturantes infelicibus naturales digestionum meatus, aliis uero praeacutas sudes per eadem uerenda adigentes. Horresco quae gesta sunt referens.
Ad confectionem post haec unius panis aut ciathi farinae miseros perargebant. Nam ipsi toi-tores non patiebantur famem. Esset enim quodammodo tolerabilius si haec compulsi inedia facere uiderentur. Sed ut uel praepararent sibi in posteram cibos, uel ut cradelitas exercitio conualesceret, in his etiam si qui forte furtim per stationes hostium pro colligendis herbis erapissent, occurrentes eis qui se hostium manus effugisse gauderent, diripiebant quicquid attulerant. Supplicantibus autem et terribile sibi quoddam nomen Dei inuocantibus ut uel partem aliquam ex his, quae secum mortis periculo quaesiuerant, indulgerent, nichil prorsus praebebant; sed hoc beneficii loco cesserat, si comprehensum uiuum licuisset euadere. His autem post aliquanta adiungit, dicens: ludeis uero cum egressu urbis omnis pariter spes excludebatur salutis, et inualescens acerbitas famis, domos simul et familias gentemque uastabat; ita ut in penetraKbus strata iacerent mulieram paruulorumque cadauera, per plateas uero infehcium senum corpora fame magis quam etate consumpta. luuenes uero atque omnis etas robustior uelut simulachra quaedam in uiis et egressibus oberrabant, corruentes quocumque loci gressum surripuisset inedia. Sepelire autem cadauera proximorum nec defunctd orum multitudo nec uirium debilitas permittebat; simul et pro suae uitae incerto unusquisque uerebatur.
Denique aliquanti super eos, quos sepeliebant, animas emisere; multi etiam dum prosequuntur funera, priusquam ad sepulchrum ueniretur, efflabant. Sed nec planctus ex more defunctis exhibebatur aut luctus, quia hoc sibi totum uendicauerat fames. Sed nec ariditas inediae humorem cuiquam reliquerat lacrimarum. Obsederant ciuitatem profunda silentia, et nox plena mortis cuncta contexerat. Quibus malis omnibus grauiores soli uigebant praedones, qui ne sepulchra quidem diripere et spoliare cadauera illicitum ducebant, non tam praedam petentes quam scelus a irrisione cumulantes et aciem gladiorum suorum in cadauerum obtruncatione probantes. Interdum etiam in nonnuUos adhuc spirantes mucro examinandus agebatur, quod alii semineces cum uiderent, supplices dexteras praetendebant, ut in se quoque beneficii loco conuerterent scelus, quo scilicet cruciatibus famis uelocius absoluerentur; sed nouo crudelitatis genere necem quam sponte inferebant, si rogarentur, negabant. Cum tamen unusquisque deficientium cum gemitu retorqueret oculos ad templum, non de morte propria dolens, sed de impunitate praedonum, quos superstites relinquebant. Et primo quidem sumptu publico sepelire mortuos iusserant fetoris intolerantia; ut uero omnem sumptum coepit uincere multitudo morib entium, de muro cadauera praecipitabant.
At cum Titus circumiens peruidisset repletas cadaueribus mortuorum ualles et humani corporis tabo patriam terram rigari, cum ingenti gemitu, eleuatis ad celum manibus, Deum inuocat testem hoc sui causa non prouenire sed se ista sustinere inuitum. Et post aliquanta iterum losephus talia quaedam prosequitur: Non cunctabor, inquit, proferre quod sentio. Arbitror enim quod etiam, si aduersus impios ciues Romanorum paulisper arma cessassent, aut hiatu terrae aut aquae diluuio aut Sodomitanis ignibus et fulminibus Qglijajs tortis supplicium ciuitas dependisset, quae multo infaustiorem illis, qui haec perpessi sunt, et nequiorem uirorum praesentem hanc protulisset etatem, pro quibus omnis gens pariter mereretur extingui. Sed et in sexto libro de eisdem talia scribit. Et eorum, inquit, qui per totam eiuitatem famis inedia corrumpebantur, multitudo innumerabilis erat, quorum nec explicari miseria potest. Per singulas namque domos, sieubi aliquid fuisset cibi repertum, bella continuo et cedes inter caros ipsosque parentes ac liberos nascebantur, dum non solum e manibus sed ex ipsis etiam faucibus inuicem cibum rapere certabant. Fides autem nec mortuis erat; sed et ipsi, cmn iam spiritum exhalarent, perscrutabantur a praedonibus, ne cui forte intra gremium cibi aliquid resideret. Alii autem per inediam hiantes uelut rabidi canes huc atque huc ferebantur, et quasi insania quadam exagitati in easdem domos sub momento temporis iterum ac saepius imiebant.
Omnia tamen necessitas uertebat in cibum, etiam illa, quae ne mutis quidem animalibus edere usus fuit. Ad ultimum ne loris quidem uel cingulis aut ipsis calciamentis abstinuere. Scutorum quoque indumentai detrahentes conficienda dentibus ingerebant. Nonnullil et feni ueteris festucas edebant, sed et de quisquiliia collectis paruissimum pondus dragmis quattuor distra-f hebant.
Policraticus companion
Study the argument weekly; pray the tradition daily
Pair the outline with the Chosen Portion app, which serves short daily portions from the same royal devotional tradition — free on iOS.
John of Salisbury argued that rulers must keep the law of God before their eyes daily; Chosen Portion gives modern readers that same daily discipline in five minutes a morning.
- 8 weeks, one book per week, with the 3-4 key chapters flagged in each
- Discussion questions usable for a reading group from week one
- A daily 5-minute companion portion in the app alongside your weekly study