§115τῶν μὲν οὖν συνδειπνούντων ἕκαστος ἀναστὰς ὑπὸ δέους ἐπεφρίκει καὶ ἐπεπήγει, μή τις ὥρισται καὶ τοῦ συνεστιαθῆναι δίκη· φεύγειν γὰρ οὔτ’ ἀσφαλὲς ἦν οὔτ’ ἄλλως ἐνεδέχετο, προκατεχομένων τῶν εἰσόδων.
Therefore, each of those feasting together, having stood up, shuddered and froze with fear, lest some punishment had been decreed even for dining together; for to flee was neither safe nor otherwise possible, as the entrances had been occupied beforehand.
ὁ δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν στρατιωτῶν τοῦ Βάσσου κελεύσαντος ἀπάγεται, τελευταίαν ταύτην ἀνάλυσιν ἐκ συμποσίου ποιησάμενος· ἔδει γὰρ ἀφ’ ἑστίας ἄρξασθαι τὴν δίκην κατὰ τοῦ μυρίους ἀνεστίους οἴκους οὐδὲν ἠδικηκότων ἀνθρώπων ἐργασαμένου.
And he, on the order of Bassus, was led away by the soldiers, having made this his last departure from a banquet; for it was fitting that the punishment should begin from the hearth against him who had made the countless houses of people who had done no wrong hearthless.
§116Τοῦτο καινότατον ὑπέμεινε Φλάκκος ἐν χώρᾳ, ἧς ἀφηγεῖτο, πολεμίου τρόπον ζωγρηθεὶς ἕνεκά μοι δοκῶ τῶν Ἰουδαίων, οὓς ἄρδην ἀφανίσαι διεγνώκει λιμοδοξῶν.
This most extraordinary thing Flaccus endured in the land of which he was governor, being taken alive in the manner of an enemy, on account, as I think, of the Jews, whom, in his hunger for fame, he had resolved utterly to destroy.
ἐναργὴς δὲ πίστις καὶ ὁ χρόνος τῆς συλλήψεως· ἑορτὴ μὲν γὰρ ἦν πάνδημος τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις κατὰ τὴν μετοπωρινὴν ἰσημερίαν, ἐν ᾗ διάγειν Ἰουδαίοις ἔθος ἐν σκηναῖς.
And a clear proof of this was also the time of his arrest; for there was a national festival for the Jews at the autumnal equinox, during which it is the custom for the Jews to dwell in booths.
§117οὐδὲν δὲ τῶν ἐν ἑορτῇ συνόλως ἀπετελεῖτο, τῶν μὲν ἀρχόντων ἔτι καθειργμένων μετὰ τὰς ἀνηκέστους καὶ ἀφορήτους αἰκίας καὶ ὕβρεις, τῶν δὲ ἰδιωτῶν τάς τε ἐκείνων συμφορὰς ἅπαντος τοῦ ἔθνους κοινὰς νομιζόντων καὶ ἐπὶ ταῖς ἐξαιρέτοις, ἃς ἰδίᾳ ἕκαστος ὑπέμεινεν, οὐ μετρίως κατηφούντων.
But absolutely none of the festival rites were performed, while the rulers were still imprisoned after suffering incurable and unbearable outrages and insults, and the common people regarded their misfortunes as common to the whole nation and were exceedingly dejected over the particular sufferings which each had endured individually.
§118τὰ γὰρ ἀνιαρὰ διπλασιάζεσθαι φιλεῖ μάλιστα ἐν ἑορταῖς τοῖς μὴ δυναμένοις ἑορτάζειν, στερήσει τε ἱλαρᾶς εὐθυμίας, ἣν πανήγυρις ἐπιζητεῖ, καὶ μετουσίᾳ λύπης, ὑφ’ ἧς ἐξετραχηλίζοντο, μηδὲν ἄκος τῶν τοσούτων κακοπραγιῶν ἀνευρεῖν δυνάμενοι.
For painful things are naturally doubled especially during festivals for those who are unable to celebrate, both by the deprivation of the cheerful gladness which a public assembly requires and by the participation in grief, by which they were utterly overwhelmed, being unable to find any remedy for such great misfortunes.
§119σφόδρα δ’ ἔχουσιν ὀδυνηρῶς καὶ πεπιεσμένοις ἄχθει βαρυτάτῳ — συνείληντο δ’ ἐν ταῖς οἰκίαις, ἅτε νυκτὸς ἐπεχούσης — ἧκόν τινες ἀπαγγέλλοντες τὴν γενομένην σύλληψιν.
While they were in extreme pain and oppressed by a most heavy burden—and they were crowded together in their houses, since night was drawing on—some people arrived announcing the arrest that had taken place.
οἱ δ’ ἀπόπειραν εἶναι νομίσαντες, οὐκ ἀλήθειαν, ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐπὶ τῷ κατακερτομεῖσθαι καὶ ἐνεδρεύεσθαι δοκεῖν ὠδυνῶντο.
But they, supposing it to be a test and not the truth, were grieved even more at the thought of being mocked and entrapped.
§120θορύβου δ’ ὄντος κατὰ τὴν πόλιν καὶ τῶν νυκτοφυλάκων ἄνω κάτω διαθεόντων καί τινων ἱππέων εἰς τὸ στρατόπεδον καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ στρατοπέδου τάχει συντόνῳ μετὰ σπουδῆς ἀντεξελαυνόντων, τῷ τοῦ πράγματος ἀήθει κινηθέντες τινὲς προῆλθον ἐκ τῶν οἰκιῶν κατὰ πύστιν τοῦ συμβεβηκότος· ἐφαίνετο γὰρ εἶναί τι νεώτερον.
Since there was a disturbance throughout the city, and the night-guards were running up and down, and some horsemen were riding at full speed with haste to and from the camp, some people, moved by the unusual nature of the event, came out of their houses to inquire about what had happened; for it seemed that some revolution was taking place.
§121ὡς δ’ ᾔσθοντο τὴν ἀπαγωγὴν καὶ τὸν Φλάκκον ἐντὸς ἀρκύων ἤδη γεγενημένον, προτείνοντες τὰς χεῖρας εἰς οὐρανὸν ὕμνουν καὶ παιᾶνας ἐξῆρχον εἰς τὸν ἔφορον θεὸν τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων πραγμάτων, „οὐκ ἐφηδόμεθα", λέγοντες „ὦ δέσποτα, τιμωρίαις ἐχθροῦ, δεδιδαγμένοι πρὸς τῶν ἱερῶν νόμων ἀνθρωποπαθεῖν· ἀλλὰ σοὶ δικαίως εὐχαριστοῦμεν οἶκτον καὶ ἔλεον ἡμῶν λαβόντι καὶ τὰς συνεχεῖς καὶ ἐπαλλήλους κακώσεις ἐπικουφίσαντι. “ §122πάννυχοι δὲ διατελέσαντες ἐν ὕμνοις καὶ ᾠδαῖς καὶ ἅμα τῇ ἕῳ διὰ πυλῶν ἐκχυθέντες ἐπὶ τοὺς πλησίον αἰγιαλοὺς ἀφικνοῦνται — τὰς γὰρ προσευχὰς ἀφῄρηντο — κἀν τῷ καθαρωτάτῳ στάντες ἀνεβόησαν ὁμοθυμαδόν· §123„γῆν καὶ θάλατταν, ἀέρα τε καὶ οὐρανόν, τὰ μέρη τοῦ παντὸς καὶ σύμπαντα τὸν κόσμον, ὦ μέγιστε βασιλεῦ θνητῶν καὶ ἀθανάτων, παρακαλέσοντες εἰς εὐχαριστίαν τὴν σὴν ἥκομεν, οἷς μόνοις ἐνδιαιτώμεθα, τῶν ἄλλων ὅσα δημιουργεῖται πρὸς ἀνθρώπων ἐληλαμένοι καὶ στερόμενοι πόλεως καὶ τῶν ἐν πόλει δημοσίων καὶ ἰδιωτικῶν περιβόλων, ἀπόλιδες καὶ ἀνέστιοι μόνοι τῶν ὑφ’ ἥλιον ἐξ ἐπιβουλῆς ἄρχοντος γενόμενοι.
When they perceived the arrest and that Flaccus was already within the nets, stretching out their hands to heaven, they sang hymns and led paeans to the God who watches over human affairs, saying, "We do not rejoice, O Master, over the punishments of an enemy, having been taught by the sacred laws to have human sympathy; but we justly give thanks to You who have taken pity and mercy on us, and have alleviated our continuous and successive sufferings." Having spent the whole night in hymns and songs, at dawn, pouring out through the gates, they arrived at the nearby shores—for they had been deprived of their houses of prayer—and standing in the cleanest place, they cried out with one accord: "O greatest King of mortals and immortals, we have come to summon the earth and sea, the air and heaven, the parts of the universe and the whole world, to witness your thanksgiving, as these are the only things in which we dwell, having been driven out from everything else that is fashioned by humans, and deprived of our city and of the public and private enclosures within the city, becoming, through the plot of the governor, the only ones under the sun without a city and without a home.
§124χρηστὰς ὑπογράφεις ἡμῖν ἐλπίδας καὶ περὶ τῆς τῶν λειπομένων ἐπανορθώσεως, ἤδη ταῖς ἡμετέραις λιταῖς ἀρξάμενος συνεπινεύειν, εἴ γε τὸν κοινὸν ἐχθρὸν τοῦ ἔθνους καὶ τῶν ἐπ’ αὐτῷ συμφορῶν ὑφηγητὴν καὶ διδάσκαλον μέγα πνέοντα καὶ οἰηθέντα διὰ ταῦτα εὐδοκιμήσειν ἐξαίφνης καθεῖλες, οὐ πορρωτάτω γενόμενον, ἵν’ αἰσθόμενοι δι’ ἀκοῆς οἱ κακῶς πεπονθότες ἀμβλύτερον ἡσθῶσιν, ἀλλ’ ἐγγὺς οὑτωσί, μόνον οὐκ ἐν ὄψει τῶν ἠδικημένων, πρὸς τρανοτέραν φαντασίαν τῆς ἐν βραχεῖ καὶ παρ’ ἐλπίδας ἐπεξόδου. “
You trace out for us good hopes also concerning the restoration of the remaining things, having already begun to assent to our prayers, since You have suddenly cast down the common enemy of our nation, and the guide and teacher of the calamities brought upon it, who was full of arrogance and thought that he would win fame through these things, not in some far distant place, so that those who suffered ill, learning of it by hearsay, might rejoice less intensely, but thus close at hand, all but in the sight of those who had been wronged, for a clearer visualization of the swift and unexpected vengeance."