A.D. 71. THE ROMANS BESIEGE JERUSALEM. 151 did the Romans press upon them, but they themselves also afflicted one another by their domestic seditions. For they were busy hunting for extravagances of luxury, and rare perfumes ; they were curling their hair with curling-irons, and painting their eyes with antimony, and dressing themselves in female attire, and imitating their delicacy ; trying even to make their voices effeminate, to change their sex, to walk with a mincing pace, letting their hair grow, painting their faces white, pumieing their cheeks, plucking out their beards, and besides all these things,- they delighted in the practice of intolerable cruelty. Terrible sedition was let loose among them, peace was buried, faith was withered, avarice was dominant to such a degree, that nothing appeared to them to be honourable which was unconnected with money. They had two especial encouragera of this baseness ; one of whom was John, a fickle man, a pest of the people ; inferior tx no one in cunning, a man never free from a desire of doing injury, crafty and treacherous, learned in lies, he believed that deceitfulness was virtue, and would circumvent his dearest friends. The other was called Simon ; a man equal to the ether for cruelty ; of a harsh disposition, and savage, one who eould be moved by no impulse to pity. These men, under the pretext of preserving liberty, let loose their rage against the nobles, who were either attacked by false accusations and put down, or else thrown into prison and murdered. Also foreign priests, who had obtained the priesthood by the employment of bribes, dragged on the ignoble common people to every wickedness, at the pleasure of their iniquitous chiefs. Bnt while these things were being done by the Jews, the Romans were endeavouring to batter down the walls of Jerusalem, with machines and every sort of warlike instrument. Nor was there any intermission, nor was any respite given. Despair gave courage to the Jews, desire of glory mcreated the valour of the Romans. Numbers of men were slain, while the ramparts of the walls were loosened by continued blows. At length the Jews gave way, and the Romans entered the outer walls of the city, not without great injury and loss on their own side. Then the war was rekindled, because there still remained the walls to be won. Titos exhorte his