CONQUEST OF JUDEA.

Y way of completing the task we have set before ourselves in the preparation of this little volume, we have now only to record the final stages of the subjugation of Judæa.

Of the stately Jerusalem-" the populous streets, the palaces of the Jewish kings, the fortresses of her warriors, the temple of her God"-no ruins remained, except the tall towers of Hippicus, Mariamne, and Phasaelis, and a portion of the western wall which served as a defence for the Roman camp.

Leaving the conduct of the military operations still required for the pacification of Palestine to his lieutenants, the victorious Titus proceeded to lavish rewards upon his soldiers; and at Berytus, and afterwards at Cæsarea, to entertain them with shows in the circus,

celebrating the birth-days of his father and brother by the slaughter of thousands of Jewish captives. In due time he repaired to Rome, where that magnificent welcome awaited him which the Roman people never failed

to give to the heroes who won their victories. And well might they accord it to the captor of Jerusalem! The wealth which he poured into the treasuries of the State was enormous; the trophies which he had brought from the destroyed city were splendid and mysterious. In conjunction with his father Vespasian, Titus obtained the

honour of a triumph, and, clothed in gorgeous robes, his head crowned with laurel, his complexion stained with vermilion, he passed in his chariot through the crowded streets of the imperial city, amid the shouts and acclamations of thousands and tens of thousands. Before the two Imperators were borne on high, to be deposited in the Capitol, the sacred vessels of the Holy House-the seven-branched candlestick, the golden table, the chest in which the Book of the Law was kept, and the two silver trumpets which were used to announce the year of jubilee. In their rear tottered the weeping sons and daughters of Zion, loaded with chains, and bowed to the ground with the weight of desolation which was upon them; while the long line of the sumptuous procession was closed with the bronzed veterans to whose intrepidity the capture of Jerusalem was mainly due.

Shortly afterwards, in commemoration of this signal event, the Senate decreed the erection of a Triumphal Arch. Built of white marble, and embellished on either side with fluted columns of the Composite order, it remains to this day one of the principal ornaments of fallen Rome. Almost the whole of its surface is covered with elaborate sculptures. Those of the frieze represent a procession of warriors leading oxen to the sacrifice; on the keystone is the figure of a Roman soldier, nearly perfect.

The bas-reliefs on the piers under the arch are of the

highest interest. On the one side you may see a procession of Roman veterans carrying the precious spoils from the Temple of Jerusalem; on the other, the Emperor appears crowned by Victory, seated in his triumphal car drawn by four horses, and surrounded by lictors carrying the fasces, and by soldiers and citizens waving boughs of laurel. The vault of the arch is enriched with sunk

panels and roses; a bas-relief in the centre depicts the apotheosis of Titus.

After the departure of Titus, Lucilius Bassus took the command of the Roman army. He found his progress arrested by three formidable fortresses- Herodium, Masada, and Machærus. On his appearance before the first of these, it immediately capitulated; but Macharus, beyond the Jordan, trusted to its impregnability, and treated the Roman general with defiance. Assuredly, its