History of the Jews (Vol. 1-6). Graetz Heinrich

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СКАЧАТЬ offered him their thanks, and made him leader of the people (about 230). From that moment, Joseph displayed so much decision that it was evident a plan had long been ripening in his brain. He was well aware of the weakness of the Greeks, and knew that they were not indifferent to flattery and to the luxuries of the table. So he prepared tempting banquets for Athenion, fascinating him by his charm of manner, making him costly presents, and assuring him that he might return to Egypt, secure of the tribute money, which he promised should be paid to the king. As soon as the envoy had left Jerusalem, Joseph entered into negotiations with some Samaritan friends, or money-lenders, to obtain a loan for his necessary expenses. In order to appear with dignity at the Egyptian court, he required splendid apparel, brilliant equipages, and money to defray the cost of his entertainments. Joseph had no means of his own, and in all Judæa there was no one who could advance him large sums of money. The people, at that time, supporting themselves by agriculture, and not being engaged in commerce, had had no opportunity of amassing wealth.

      Furnished with the means of making a great display at court, Joseph hurried to Alexandria, where the envoy Athenion had already prepared a favourable reception for him. Ptolemy Euergetes was anxiously expecting him, and was not disappointed when he arrived. He was enchanted with Joseph's bearing and address, and invited him to be his guest at the royal table. The envoys from the Palestinean and Phœnician cities, who formerly had derided his simple appearance, now remarked with envy upon his presence at court. He soon gave them occasion not only to envy but also to hate him. For by a crafty stroke, he managed to obtain a position of great trust, that of head tax-gatherer of Cœlesyria and Phœnicia. The king gave him a force of two thousand soldiers, who were, if necessary, to lend their aid in the fulfilment of his duties, and Joseph became in reality the governor of all the districts that went by the name of Palestine. He was respected and feared as a favourite of the king, and he therefore did not hesitate to use extreme severity in levying taxes. In the cities of Gaza and Beth-Shean (Scythopolis), the Greek inhabitants ventured to load him with insults, and to offer resistance. In return he beheaded the noblest and richest of the citizens, and confiscated their possessions for the Egyptian crown. For twenty-two years, Joseph held the post of satrap, and spent that time in amassing extraordinary wealth and attaining great power.

      After the death of Euergetes (223), his successor, Ptolemy VI., Philopator (222–206), retained him in office. He continued to act in the same heartless way, causing the following remark to be made in the presence of Philopator:—"Joseph is stripping the flesh from Syria, and is leaving only the bones."

      At one time, his lucky star seemed to wane; for the Seleucidæan king, Antiochus, called by his flatterers The Great (223–187), attempted to wrest the province of Cœlesyria from Egypt (218). The commencement of the attack augured success. The Egyptian commanders were treacherous, they went over to the enemy, and betrayed the garrisons into their hands. Judæa and Jerusalem, under the control of Joseph, remained true to Egypt. But how long would they be able to resist an attack of the Seleucidæan army? And, if such an attack was made, which side should Joseph take? He must have lived through that time in the most painful anxiety. At last the decisive hour struck. In the spring of 217, Antiochus appeared on the sea-coast near Gaza. He was at the head of a large army, composed of various nationalities. His route lay to the south, towards Egypt. Meanwhile, Philopator had roused himself from his life of ease and self-indulgence, and was advancing to Raphia to meet his enemy. Antiochus, over-confident of success, sustained a severe defeat, and was obliged to return to Antioch, and give up the possession of Cœlesyria. All the cities and communities that had been under his rule outbade one another in flattery and adulation of the conqueror, Philopator. Joseph remained in his position of trust, and continued to be the favourite of the Egyptian king. Through him, and through his connection with the court life of Philopator, a complete change had taken place in the Judæan nation, hardly visible indeed in the provinces, but most striking in the capital.

      By means of the immense riches that Joseph had accumulated, a veritable shower of gold fell upon the country; "he raised the people out of poverty and needy circumstances into ease and comfort." In order to collect the taxes of so many different towns, he was obliged to have responsible agents, and he preferred choosing them from amongst his own people. These agents enriched themselves in their own way, and bore themselves proudly. The consideration which Joseph enjoyed at the Egyptian court, his quickly-gained wealth, and the troop of soldiers always at his command, by whose help he held in check the people of various nationalities in Palestine, the remnant of the Philistines, the Phœnicians, Idumæans, and even the Greco-Macedonian colonists—all this had the effect not only of lending him and his surroundings a certain air of self-importance, but also of raising the people in general from the abject, submissive position they had occupied towards the neighbouring nations. The horizon of the Judæans, particularly of those who lived in Jerusalem, widened as they came into contact with the Greeks. Their taste became more refined, their dwellings more beautiful, and they began to introduce the art of painting. The Judæans of Alexandria, who had been for a century under Greek influence, and had, to a certain extent, become Hellenised, now brought their influence to bear upon their fellow-countrymen, but the simplicity of the Judæan habits and customs suffered in consequence.

      A shower of gold not only fails to have a fructifying effect, it often causes desolation and ruin; and so it was in this case. The rich upstarts lost their balance; they attached undue importance to the possession of riches, and preferred money-making to every other occupation, but the most unfortunate feature was that they became blind admirers of the Greeks, whose extravagant habits and frivolous customs they soon acquired, to the deterioration of their own national virtues. The Greeks loved conviviality, gave public banquets, and indulged in most unruly merrymaking at their repasts. The Judæans imported the custom of dining in company, reclining on couches whilst they ate and drank, and indulging in wine, music, and song at their entertainments. All this was innocent enough; but unfortunately it led to more than merely making life brighter. Greek frivolity and extravagance drew their imitators rapidly into a vortex of dissipation.

      Joseph was constantly at the court of Ptolemy Philopator, when business took him to Alexandria. This court was a hot-bed of depravity. The days were spent in revelry, and the nights in shameless debauchery; the prevailing depravity led astray both the people and the army.

      Philopator entertained the absurd belief that his ancestors were descended from the God of Wine, Dionysus (Bacchus); and he considered himself obliged to introduce bacchanalian revelries into his kingdom. Any one wishing to ingratiate himself with the king and his boon companions was forced to belong to the fraternity of Dionysus. Whenever Joseph was called to Alexandria, he enjoyed the doubtful honour of being invited to the king's orgies, and of being received by the followers of the God of Wine. It was at such a feast that he contracted a violent passion for one of those dissolute dancing-women who never failed to be present upon these occasions.

      Jerusalem did not long remain untainted by this social impurity. Joseph, from friendship, let us suppose, for his royal patron, introduced Dionysian festivals into Judæa. At the turning-point of the year, when winter makes way for spring, when the vine bursts into blossom, and the wine in the barrels ferments a second time, then the Greeks held their great festival in honour of Dionysus: "the festival of the barrel-openings." Two days were devoted to intoxicating orgies, when friends interchanged pitchers of wine as presents. He who drank most was most honoured. This festival of the "barrel-opening" was now to be celebrated in much the same way in Judæa. But, in order to clothe this festival in a Judæan garb, the rich made it an occasion for dispensing alms to the poor. Revelry is always the attendant of excessive indulgence in wine. The rich Judæans soon copied the Greek customs, and, callous to the promptings of shame and honour, they introduced singers, dancers, and dissolute women at these festivals. A poetical writer raises a warning voice against the growing unchastity of the age:—

      "Meet not with an harlot, lest thou fall into her snares. Use not much the company of the songstress, lest thou be taken with her attempts.... Give not thy soul unto harlots, that thou lose not thine inheritance." (Ecclus. ix. 3, seq.)

      The love of art and beauty which Joseph introduced СКАЧАТЬ