Prev | Current Page 396 | Next

Huxley, Thomas Henry, 1825-1895

"Collected Essays, Volume V Science and Christian Tradition: Essays"

xiii. 4, in which section, I regret to
say, I can find no mention of Gadara. In "Antiquities," XVII. xi. 4,
however, there is a passage which would appear to be that Mr.
Gladstone means; and I will give it in full, although I have already
cited part of it:
There were also certain of the cities which paid tribute to
Archelaus; Strato's tower, and Sebaste, with Joppa and
Jerusalem; for, as to Gaza, Gadara, and Hippos, they were
Grecian cities, which Caesar separated from his government,
and added them to the province of Syria.
That is to say, Augustus simply restored the state of things which
existed before he gave Gadara, then certainly a Gentile city, lying
outside Judaea, to Herod as a mark of great personal favour. Yet Mr.
Gladstone can gravely tell those who are not in a position to check
his statements:
The sense seems to be, not that these cities were inhabited
by a Greek population, but that they had politically been
taken out of Judaea and added to Syria, which I presume was
classified as simply Hellenic, a portion of the great Greek
empire erected by Alexander. (Pp. 295-6.)
Mr. Gladstone's next reference is to the "Wars," III. vii. 1:
So Vespasian marched to the city Gadara, and took it upon
the first onset, because he found it destitute of a
considerable number of men grown up for war.


Pages:
384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408