Mass Exodus for the Festival
Josephus
ca. 75
From Antipatris Cestius advanced to Lydda, and found the city empty, as the whole population had gone up to Jerusalem for the feast of Tabernacles. [ . . . ] Seeing the war now coming close to the capital, the Jews abandoned the festival and went for their arms.
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Creator Bio
Josephus
Flavius Josephus was born into a prominent Jewish priestly family and served as a general stationed in the Galilee during the First Jewish Revolt (66–73 CE). He was captured by the Romans and eventually integrated into the Flavian imperial aristocracy, who commissioned him to compose chronicles of the Jewish–Roman war and the history of the Jews. Josephus’ works, all written in Greek, include The Jewish War, Jewish Antiquities, Against Apion, and his autobiography, Life of Josephus. These writings provide important insights into the Judaisms of the Second Temple period and include one of the few surviving accounts of the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE.