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[522]
But now, when the vessels were gotten ready, Vespasian put upon ship-board
as many of his forces as he thought sufficient to be too hard for those
that were upon the lake, and set sail after them. Now these which were
driven into the lake could neither fly to the land, where all was in their
enemies' hand, and in war against them; nor could they fight upon the level
by sea, for their ships were small and fitted only for piracy; they were
too weak to fight with Vespasian's vessels, and the mariners that were
in them were so few, that they were afraid to come near the Romans, who
attacked them in great numbers. However, as they sailed round about the
vessels, and sometimes as they came near them, they threw stones at the
Romans when they were a good way off, or came closer and fought them; yet
did they receive the greatest harm themselves in both cases. As for the
stones they threw at the Romans, they only made a sound one after another,
for they threw them against such as were in their armor, while the Roman
darts could reach the Jews themselves; and when they ventured to come near
the Romans, they became sufferers themselves before they could do any harm
to the ether, and were drowned, they and their ships together. As for those
that endeavored to come to an actual fight, the Romans ran many of them
through with their long poles. Sometimes the Romans leaped into their ships,
with swords in their hands, and slew them; but when some of them met the
vessels, the Romans caught them by the middle, and destroyed at once their
ships and themselves who were taken in them. And for such as were drowning
in the sea, if they lifted their heads up above the water, they were either
killed by darts, or caught by the vessels; but if, in the desperate case
they were in, they attempted to swim to their enemies, the Romans cut off
either their heads or their hands; and indeed they were destroyed after
various manners every where, till the rest being put to flight, were forced
to get upon the land, while the vessels encompassed them about [on the
sea]: but as many of these were repulsed when they were getting ashore,
they were killed by the darts upon the lake; and the Romans leaped out
of their vessels, and destroyed a great many more upon the land: one might
then see the lake all bloody, and full of dead bodies, for not one of them
escaped. And a terrible stink, and a very sad sight there was on the following
days over that country; for as for the shores, they were full of shipwrecks,
and of dead bodies all swelled; and as the dead bodies were inflamed by
the sun, and putrefied, they corrupted the air, insomuch that the misery
was not only the object of commiseration to the Jews, but to those that
hated them, and had been the authors of that misery. This was the upshot
of the sea-fight. The number of the slain, including those that were killed
in the city before, was six thousand and five hundred.
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