Siege of Jerusalem.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 19 September 1910, Page 4

Siege of Jerusalem.

VALUABLE RECORD FOUND

A record of very great interest concerning the celebrated siege of Jerusalem by Vespasian's army, under the command of Titus, has been discovered, says the Egyptian Gazette, in Upper Egypt. It consists of a wooden panel, with raised- 'borders, or frame, bearing a Latin inscription of some fifty lines, of which thirty-seven are still 'perfectly legible. Apart from its historical importance, this relic, with the exception of the tablets found at Pompeii containing some accounts of a hanker there, is the most valuable specimen of Roman ealigiraphy extant. The contents o>f the text, however, are what will be considered the chief result of this acquisition, because they embody the formal registration of the discbarge, after long active service under the eagles, of a veteran who, as one of the Tenth. Fretensis Legion, had taken a distinguished part in the JEWISH CAMPAIGN, and was present at the investment and sack of Jerusalem, that city, Hiersolyma. being specially mentioned. The name of the old warrior was M. Valerius Quadiratus, and in the newly-recovered document he formally attests that it is a duplicate in Jils favour, and in that of some other comrades in the legion, by the Emperor Do initial), by the hands of the Imperial Sextus Ilormctidiiis Campanus, in December, A.D. 93. One copy ol this honourable discharge was, tlie tablet states, deposited in the proper temple for containing such archives at Rome, as was the custom with • all such military deede> registering completion of service, whilst the other had been forwarded from Rome to the Governor of Egypt, M. Junius Mettius Rufus, and was kept in the Chancery at Alexandria. It is of this Egyptian edition of his discharge that Quadra tus, on his panel reeord, gives us a copy, which he had made upon -July 2nd, A.i>. 94, at Alexandria. The old soldier has probably been recruited IN EGYPT because it is known that before the Jewish war the Fretensis Legion was stationod there. He retiree with his three children to end his days at the little town of Philadelphia., in the Fayoum. There amid the ruins of his house, among a number of papyrus documents ol the second century, the panel he doubtless prized was found. This would seem to show that tlie residence was occupied' by his children after his decease. Many 'Roman military diplomas, somewhat similai to this one, have been found, but. for some special reason the new document is more lengthy, contiining many names of consuls and ofliciils, and a fuller tert, and is a'so attested by the names of ni'ie witnesses. 'Moreover, it describes that the three children of Qi:adratus, who were all born during his

MILITARY SERVICE, and therefore at a time wliyen he cm.ld not he legally marriil, were aie<rcied the valued right >f Roman citizenship as if >~: , rn in iudI'K'l Other memorial n icriptn.'is havo beon found of officers «vho took part in the famous Palestine campaign, usually styled therein the "Helium Judaicitm," hut this is the first authentic contemporary document emanating from a soldier actually engaged in the siege of Jerusalem and referring to that event, thus confirming the statements of Josephus and the classic historians.