Pilgrim Numbers on Passover

Josephus describes a Passover visit to the Temple by the Syrian governor Cestius Gallus, during which Gallus is accosted by a large group of pilgrims complaining about his subordinate Florus, the Roman procurator over Judaea (r. 64–66 CE). The figure that Josephus gives for the number of pilgrims—“at least three million”—is clearly exaggerated but gives a sense of the enormous crowd that descended on the Temple for the festival. For the larger context of this episode, see “Roman Corruption.”