Now, if you will, follow me."
So they went up and up, till at last they reached the topmost gallery,
where the wall was pierced with loopholes and overhanging platforms,
whence stones and other missiles could be hurled upon an attacking
force. Miriam looked out eagerly, walking round the gallery from
aperture to aperture.
To the south lay the marble courts and glittering buildings of the
Temple, whence, although men fought daily in them, the smoke of
sacrifice still curled up to heaven. Behind these were the Upper and the
Lower City, crowded with thousands of houses, packed, every one of them,
with human beings who had fled hither for refuge, or, notwithstanding
the dangers of the time, to celebrate the Passover. To the east was the
rugged valley of Jehoshaphat, and beyond it the Mount of Olives, green
with trees soon to be laid low by the Romans. To the north the new city
of Bezetha, bordered by the third wall and the rocky lands beyond. Not
far away, also, but somewhat in front of them and to the left, rose the
mighty tower of Antonia, now one of the strongholds of John of Gischala
and the Zealots, while also to the west, across the width of the city,
were the towers of Hippicus, Phasael and Mariamne, backed by the splendid
palace of Herod.
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