ornamental dress; and even whose faces had hardly ever been exposed to the sight of men. This is always mentioned as the hardest part of the lot of captives. Nahum (iii. 5, 6.), denouncing the fate of Nineveh, paints it in very strong colours. Women and children were also exposed to treatment at which humanity shudders. (Zech. xiv. 2. Esth. iii. 13. 2 Kings viii. 12. Psal. cxxxvii. 9. Isa. xiii. 16. 18. 2 Kings xv. 16. Hos. xiii. 16. Amos i. 13.) And whole nations were carried into captivity, and transplanted to distant countries: this was the case with the Jews (2 Kings xxiv. 12-16. Jer. xxxix. 9, 10. xl. 7.), as Jeremiah had predicted (Jer. xx. 5.), and instances of similar conduct are not wanting in the modern history of the East.2 In some cases, indeed, the conquered nations were merely made tributaries, as the Moabites and Syrians were by David (2 Sam. viii. 4. 6.): but this was considered a great ignominy, and was a source of reproach to the idol deities of the countries which were thus subjected. (2 Kings xix. 12, 13.) Still further to show their absolute superiority, the victorious sovereigns used to change the names of the monarchs whom they subdued. Thus we find the king of Babylon changing the name of Mattaniah into Zedekiah, when he constituted him king of Judah. (2 Kings xxiv. 17.) Archbishop Usher remarks, that the king of Egypt gave to Eliakim the name of Jehoiakim (2 Chron. xxxvi. 4.), thereby to testify that he ascribed his victory over the Babylonians to Jehovah the God of Israel, by whose command, as he pretended (2 Chron. xxxv. 21, 22.), he undertook the expedition. Nebuchadnezzar also ordered his eunuch to change the name of Daniel, who afterwards was called Belteshazzar; and the three companions of Daniel, whose names formerly were Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, he called Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. (Dan. i. 7.) It was likewise a custom among the heathens to carry in triumph the images of the gods of such nations as they had vanquished: Isaiah prophesies of Cyrus, that in this manner he would treat the gods of Babylon, when he says, Belboweth, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle, and themselves have gone into captivity. (Isa. xlvi. 1, 2.) Daniel foretells that the gods of the Syrians, with their princes, should be carried captive into Egypt (Dan. xi. 8.); and similar predictions are to be met with in Jeremiah (xlviii. 7.) and in Amos. (i. 15.)

XI. On their return home, the VICTORS were received with every demonstration of joy. The women preceded them with instruments of music, singing and dancing. In this manner Miriam and the women of Israel joined in chorus with the men, in the song of victory which Moses composed on occasion of the overthrow of Pharaoh and his Egyptian host in the Red Sea, and which they accompanied with timbrels and dances. (Exod. xv. 1-21.) Thus, also, Jephthah was hailed by his daughter, on his return from discomfiting the children of Ammon (Judg. xi. 34.); and Saul and David were greeted, in like manner, on their return from the defeat of the Philistines. The women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music. And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands and David his ten thousands! (1 Sam. xviii. 7, 8.) The victorious army of Jehoshaphat, the pious king of Judah, long afterwards, returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem with the king at their head, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies. And they 1 Bp. Lowth's Isaiah, vol. ii. p. 45.

In the thirteenth century, when the Moguls or Tartars under Zinghis Kahn overran and conquered Asia, "the inhabitants who had submitted to their discretion, were ordered to evacuate their houses, and to assemble in some plain adjacent to the city, where a division was made of the vanquished into three parts. The first class consisted of the soldiers of the garrison, and of the young men capable of bearing arms; and their fate was instantly decided: they were either enlisted among the Moguls, or they were massacred on the spot by the troops, who with pointed spears and bended bows had formed a circle round the captive multitude. The second class, composed of the young and beautiful women, of the arti ficers of every rank and profession, and of the more wealthy or honourable citizens, from whom a private ransom might be expected, was distributed in equal or proportionable lots. The remainder, whose life or death was alike useless to the conquerors, were permitted to return to the city, which in the mean while had been stripped of its valuable furniture; and a tax was imposed on those wretched inhabitants for the indulgence of breath ing their native air." (Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. iii. pp. 367, 368. 4to., or vol. vi. p. 55. 8vo: edit.) Here we evidently see the distinction made by Jeremiah (xx. 5.) of the strength of the city (that is, the men of war who constitute the strength. of a city or state); its labours or industry (that is, the industrious artisans and mechanics); and all the precious things thereof, all that is valuable in it, or the honourable and respectable members of the community not included in the two former classes; and also those poorer and meaner citizens who, according to Jer. xxxix. 18. and xl. 7., were left in Judæa, but still tributary to the Chaldæans, first under Zedekiah, and next under Gedaliah. Dr. Blayney, on Jer. xx. 5.

came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps, and trumpets unto the house of the Lord. (2 Chron. xx. 27, 28.) The same custom still obtains in India and in Turkey. In further commemoration of signal victories, it was a common practice, both among the ancient heathen nations and the Jews, to hang up the arms that were taken from their enemies in their temples. Thus we find, that the sword with which David cut off Goliath's head, being dedicated to the Lord, was kept as a memorial of his victory, and of the Israelites' deliverance, and was deposited in the tabernacle; for we find that when David came to Abimelech at Nob, where the tabernacle was, Abimelech acknowledged it was there, and delivered it to David. (1 Sam. xxi. 8, 9.) For when occasions of state required it, it was no unusual thing to take such trophies down, and employ them in the public service. Thus when Joash was crowned king of Judah, Jehoiada, the high-priest (who had religiously educated him), delivered to the captains of hundreds spears, and bucklers, and shields, that had been king David's, which were in the house of God. (2 Chron. xxiii. 9.)

XII. By the law of Moses (Num. xxxi. 19-24.) the whole army that went out to war were to stay without, seven days before they were admitted into the camp, and such as had had their hands in blood, or had touched a dead body, though killed by another, were to be purified on the third and on the seventh day by the water of separation. All spoil of garments, or other things that they had taken, were to be purified in the same manner, or to be washed in running water, as the method was in other cases. All sorts of metals had, besides sprinkling with the water of separation, a purification by fire, and what would not bear the fire passed through the water before it could be applied to use.

In the DISTRIBUTION OF THE SPOIL, the king anciently had the tenth part of what was taken. Thus Abraham gave a tenth to Melchisedec king of Salem. (Gen. xiv. 20. Heb. vii. 4.) And if any article of peculiar beauty or value were found among the spoil, it seems to have been reserved for the commander-in-chief. To this Deborah alludes in her triumphal ode. (Judg. v. 30.) After the establishment of the monarchy, the rabbinical writers say (but upon what authority it is impossible now to ascertain) that the king had all the gold, silver, and other precious articles, besides one half of the rest of the spoil, which was divided between him and the people. In the case of the Midianitish war (Num. xxxi. 27.), the whole of the spoil was, by divine appointment, divided into two parts: the army that won the victory had one, and those that stayed at home had the other, because it was a common cause in which they engaged, and the rest were as ready to fight as those that went out to battle. This division was by a special direction, but was not the rule in after-ages; for, after the general had taken what he pleased for himself, the rest was divided among the soldiers, as well those who kept the baggage, or were disabled by wounds or weariness, as those who were engaged in the fight, but the people had no share; and this was ordained, as a statute to be observed throughout their generations (1 Sam. xxx. 24.): but in the time of the Maccabees the Jewish army thought fit to recede from the strictness of this military law, for when they had obtained a victory over Nicanor, under the conduct of Judas, they divided among themselves many spoils, and made the maimed, orphans, widows, yea, and the aged also, equal in spoils with themselves. (2 Macc. viii. 28. 30.) In the Midianitish war, after the distribution of the spoils among the army and the people, there was another division made for the service of the priesthood, and the Levitical ministry. (Num. xxxi. 28-30.) The priests, out of the share that fell to the army, were allotted one out of five hundred of all women and children, and cattle that were taken; and the Levites, from the part that fell to the people, received one out of fifty, so that the priest had just a tenth part of what was allowed to the Levites, as they had a tenth part of the Levitical tithes, which was paid them for their constant support: but whether this was the practice in future wars is uncertain. Sometimes all the spoils were, by divine appointment, ordered to be destroyed; and there is an instance in the siege of Jericho, when all the silver and the gold (except the gold and the silver of their images, which were to be consumed utterly), and vessels of brass and iron, were devoted to God, and appropriated to his service. They were to be brought into the treasury which was in the tabernacle, after they were purified by making them pass through the fire according to the law; the Jews conceive that these spoils

a Forbes's Oriental Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 295. Lady Mary Wortley Montague's Letters, vol. i. p. 197.

der the influence of similar devout affections, David consecrated the sword and other arms of Goliath in the tabernacle, and subsequently deposited in the sacred treasury the rich spoils won in battle, as Samuel and Saul had done before him (1 Chron. xxvi. 26-28.), and as several of his pious successors on the throne of Judah also did. Thus they gratefully acknowledged that they were indebted to the Lord of Hosts alone for all their strength and victories.

I.

SECTION II.

PLINE AND TRIUMPHS OF THE ROMANS.

From 2 Sam. xxiii. 8-39. it appears that the heroes or "mighty men," during the reign of David, were thirty-seven in number, including Joab, who was commander-in-chief of all his forces. These warriors were divided into three classes, the first and second of which consisted, each, of three men, Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah; Abishai, Benaiah, and Asahel; and the third class was composed of the remaining thirty, of whom Asahel appears to have been the head. Such is the list according to 2 Sam. xxiii.; but in 1 Chron. xi. 10 -47. the list is more numerous, and differs considerably from the preceding. The most probable solution of these variations is, that the first list contains the worthies who lived in the former part of David's reign, and that it underwent various changes in the course of his government of the kingdom of Israel. At the head of all these "mighty men" was Jashobeam the son of Hachmoni (1 Chron. xi. 11.), who from his office in 2 Sam. xxiii. 8. (Hebr. and marginal rendering) is termed Joseb-Bassebet, the Tachmonite, head of the three; and whose military appellation was Adino-He-Ezni (the lifting up-or striking with—a spear) because he lifted up his spear against, or encountered, three hundred soldiers at once. However extraordinary it may seem, we may here clearly perceive a distinct order of knighthood, similar to our modern orders, and presenting the same honorary degrees, and of which Jashobeam, according to modern parlance, was the grand-master. An institution of this kind was in every respect adapted to the reign, the character, and the policy of David.'

After the return of the Jewish armies to their several homes, their military dress was laid aside. The militia, which been raised for the occasion, were disbanded; their warlike instruments, with the exception of such as were private property, were delivered up as the property of the state, until some future war should call them forth; and the soldiers themselves returned (like Cincinnatus) to the plough, and the other avocations of private life. To this suspension of their arms, the prophet Ezekiel alludes (xxvii. 10, 11.) when he says, that they of Persia, and of Lud, and of Phut, and of Arvad, were in the Tyrian army as men of war, and hanged their shields upon the walls of Tyre. To the same custom also the bridegroom refers in the sacred idyls of Solomon (Song iv. 4.), when he compares the neck of his bride to the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.

XIII. It does not certainly appear from the Sacred Writings, that the Hebrews were accustomed to erect TROPHIES or monuments for commemorating their victories. In 1 Sam. xv. 12. Saul is said to have set him up a place on Mount Carmel; which some expositors understand to be a column, or other monument, while others imagine it to have been simply a hand, pointing out the place where he had obtained his decisive victory over the Amalekites. Far more devout was the conduct of Moses, who, after discomfiting Amalek, erected an altar to the Lord, with this inscription, Jehovah

1 Coquerel, Biographie Sacrée, tom. ii. p. 167.

Divisions of the Roman army, and Roman military officers mentioned in the New Testament.-II. Allusions to the armour of the Romans.-III. To their military discipline.Strict subordination.-Rewards to soldiers who had distinguished themselves.—IV. Allusions to the Roman triumphs.

I. Ar the time the evangelists and apostles wrote, the Romans had extended their empire almost to the utmost boundaries of the then known world, principally by their unparalleled military discipline and heroic valour. Judæa was at this time subject to their sway, and their troops were stationed in different parts of that country.

The Roman army was composed of Legions (Ascoves), each of which was divided into ten cohorts, each cohort into three maniples, and each maniple (Erupu) into two centuries. The number of men in a legion was different at different times. But besides the cohorts which were formed into legions, there were certain others separate and distinct from any legion; such were the Cohortes Urbana, and Prætoriæ, &c. Such appears to have been the Italian Band (Σupa Iran) mentioned in Acts x. 1., which was in attendance on the Roman governor, who at that time was residing at Cæsarea. It was probably called the Italian cohort, because most of the soldiers belonging to it were Italians, and also to distinguish it from the other troops which were drawn from Syria and the adjacent regions. The Italian legion was not in existence at this time. Of the same description also was the Augustan Band or Cohort (Acts xxvi. 1.), (Σrupa Zsaorn), which, most probably, derived its name from Sebaste, the capital of Samaria. The commanding officer of the Prætorian Cohorts at Rome (a body of troops instituted by Augustus to guard his person, and to whom the care of the city was subsequently committed) was termed Præfectus Prætorio. This last officer was the Captain of the Guard (Erparonsapxus), to whose custody Paul was committed, it being a part of his office to take the charge of accused persons. (Acts xxviii. 16.) The commanding officer of an ordinary cohort was called Tribunus Cohortis, if it was composed of Roman citizens; or Præfectus Cohortis, if composed of auxiliary troops. The officer intended by both these words is in the New Testament termed Xes, or Captain of a Thousand, most probably because each tribune had under him ten centuries of troops. This was the officer who commanded the legion of soldiers that garrisoned the tower of Antonia, which overlooked the temple at Jerusalem, in the porticoes of which a company kept guard (UT) to prevent any tumult at the great festivals.3 Claudius Lysias was the tribune or Roman captain of this fort, who rescued Paul from the tumultuous attack of the murderous Jews. (Acts xxi. 31. xxii. 34. xxiii. 26.) Under the command of the tribune was the centurion (Keupay or 'Exaтvraxos), who, as his name implies, had one hundred men under him.4

The Roman infantry were divided into three principal classes, the Hastati, the Principes, and the Triari, each of which was composed of thirty manipuli or companies, and each manipulus contained two centuries or hundreds of men: over every company were placed two centurions, who, however, were very far from being equal in rank and honour, though possessing the same office. The Triarii and Principes were esteemed the most honourable, and had their centurions elected first, and these took precedency of the centurions of the Hastati, who were elected last. The humble centurion, who in Matt.

2 Biscoe on the Acts, vol, i. pp. 328-332. Kuinöel on Acts x. 1. and xxvii. 1.

a Josephus, de Bell. Jud. lib. v. c. 5. § 8. Biscoe on the Acts, vol. i. pp. 328, 329. pp. 336, 339, 52. 1

Doddridge on Acts x. 1. and Ant. Jud. lib. xx. c. 4. § 3. Adam's Roman Antiquities,

ornamental dress; and even whose faces had hardly ever been exposed to the sight of men. This is always mentioned as the hardest part of the lot of captives. Nahum (iii. 5, 6.), denouncing the fate of Nineveh, paints it in very strong colours. Women and children were also exposed to treatment at which humanity shudders. (Zech. xiv. 2. Esth. iii. 13. 2 Kings viii. 12. Psal. cxxxvii. 9. Isa. xiii. 16. 18. 2 Kings xv. 16. Hos. xiii. 16. Amos i. 13.) And whole nations were carried into captivity, and transplanted to distant countries: this was the case with the Jews (2 Kings xxiv. 12-16. Jer. xxxix. 9, 10. xl. 7.), as Jeremiah had predicted (Jer. xx. 5.), and instances of similar conduct are not wanting in the modern history of the East. In some cases, indeed, the conquered nations were merely made tributaries, as the Moabites and Syrians were by David (2 Sam. viii. 4. 6.): but this was considered a great ignominy, and was a source of reproach to the idol deities of the countries which were thus subjected. (2 Kings xix. 12, 13.) Still further to show their absolute superiority, the victorious sovereigns used to change the names of the monarchs whom they subdued. Thus we find the king of Babylon changing the name of Mattaniah into Zedekiah, when he constituted him king of Judah. (2 Kings xxiv. 17.) Archbishop Usher remarks, that the king of Egypt gave to Eliakim the name of Jehoiakim (2 Chron. xxxvi. 4.), thereby to testify that he ascribed his victory over the Babylonians to Jehovah the God of Israel, by whose command, as he pretended (2 Chron. xxxv. 21, 22.), he undertook the expedition. Nebuchadnezzar also ordered his eunuch to change the name of Daniel, who afterwards was called Belteshazzar; and the three companions of Daniel, whose names formerly were Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, he called Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. (Dan. i. 7.) It was likewise a custom among the heathens to carry in triumph the images of the gods of such nations as they had vanquished: Isaiah prophesies of Cyrus, that in this manner he would treat the gods of Babylon, when he says, Bel boweth, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle, and themselves have gone into captivity. (Isa. xlvi. 1, 2.) Daniel foretells that the gods of the Syrians, with their princes, should be carried captive into Egypt (Dan. xi. 8.); and similar predictions are to be met with in Jeremiah (xlviii. 7.) and in Amos. (i. 15.)

XI. On their return home, the VICTORS were received with every demonstration of joy. The women preceded them with instruments of music, singing and dancing. In this manner Miriam and the women of Israel joined in chorus with the men, in the song of victory which Moses composed on occasion of the overthrow of Pharaoh and his Egyptian host in the Red Sea, and which they accompanied with timbrels and dances. (Exod. xv. 1-21.) Thus, also, Jephthah was hailed by his daughter, on his return from discomfiting the children of Ammon (Judg. xi. 34.); and Saul and David were greeted, in like manner, on their return from the defeat of the Philistines. The women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music. And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands and David his ten thousands! (1 Sam. xviii. 7, 8.) The victorious army of Jehoshaphat, the pious king of Judah, long afterwards, returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem with the king at their head, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies. And they 1 Bp. Lowth's Isaiah, vol. ii. p. 45.

In the thirteenth century, when the Moguls or Tartars under Zinghis Kahn overran and conquered Asia, "the inhabitants who had submitted to their discretion, were ordered to evacuate their houses, and to assemble in some plain adjacent to the city, where a division was made of the vanquished into three parts. The first class consisted of the soldiers of the garrison, and of the young men capable of bearing arms; and their fate was instantly decided: they were either enlisted among the Moguls, or they were massacred on the spot by the troops, who with pointed spears and bended bows had formed a circle round the captive multitude. The second class, composed of the young and beautiful women, of the arti ficers of every rank and profession, and of the more wealthy or honourable citizens, from whom a private ransom might be expected, was distributed in equal or proportionable lots. The remainder, whose life or death was alike useless to the conquerors, were permitted to return to the city, which in the mean while had been stripped of its valuable furniture; and a tax was imposed on those wretched inhabitants for the indulgence of breathing their native air." (Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. iii. pp. 367, 368. 4to., or vol. vi. p. 55. 8vo: edit.) Here we evidently see the distinction made by Jeremiah (xx. 5.) of the strength of the city (that is, the men of war who constitute the strength. of a city or state); its labours or industry (that is, the industrious artisans and mechanics); and all the precious things thereof, all that is valuable in it, or the honourable and respectable members of the community not included in the two former classes; and also those poorer and meaner citizens who, according to Jer. xxxix. 18. and xl. 7., were left in Judæa, but still tributary to the Chaldæans, first under Zedekiah, and next under Gedaliah. Dr. Blayney, on

Jer. xx. 5.

came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps, and trumpets unto the house of the Lord. (2 Chron. xx. 27, 28.) The same custom still obtains in India and in Turkey. In further commemoration of signal victories, it was a common practice, both among the ancient heathen nations and the Jews, to hang up the arms that were taken from their enemies in their temples. Thus we find, that the sword with which David cut off Goliath's head, being dedicated to the Lord, was kept as a memorial of his victory, and of the Israelites deliverance, and was deposited in the tabernacle; for we find that when David came to Abimelech at Nob, where the tabernacle was, Abimelech acknowledged it was there, and delivered it to David. (1 Sam. xxi. 8, 9.) For when occasions of state required it, it was no unusual thing to take such trophies down, and employ them in the public service. Thus when Joash was crowned king of Judah, Jehoiada, the high-priest (who had religiously educated him), delivered to the captains of hundreds spears, and bucklers, and shields, that had been king David's, which were in the house of God. (2 Chron. xxiii. 9.)

XII. By the law of Moses (Num. xxxi. 19-24.) the whole army that went out to war were to stay without, seven days before they were admitted into the camp, and such as had had their hands in blood, or had touched a dead body, though killed by another, were to be purified on the third and on the seventh day by the water of separation. All spoil of garments, or other things that they had taken, were to be purified in the same manner, or to be washed in running water, as the method was in other cases. All sorts of metals had, besides sprinkling with the water of separation, a purification by fire, and what would not bear the fire passed through the water before it could be applied to use.

In the DISTRIBUTION OF THE SPOIL, the king anciently had the tenth part of what was taken. Thus Abraham gave a tenth to Melchisedec king of Salem. (Gen. xiv. 20. Heb. vii. 4.) And if any article of peculiar beauty or value were found among the spoil, it seems to have been reserved for the commander-in-chief. To this Deborah alludes in her triumphal ode. (Judg. v. 30.) After the establishment of the monarchy, the rabbinical writers say (but upon what authority it is impossible now to ascertain) that the king had all the gold, silver, and other precious articles, besides one half of the rest of the spoil, which was divided between him and the people. In the case of the Midianitish war (Num. xxxi. 27.), the whole of the spoil was, by divine appointment, divided into two parts: the army that won the victory had one, and those that stayed at home had the other, because it was a common cause in which they engaged, and the rest were as ready to fight as those that went out to battle. This division was by a special direction, but was not the rule in after-ages; for, after the general had taken what he pleased for himself, the rest was divided among the soldiers, as well those who kept the baggage, or were disabled by wounds or weariness, as those who were engaged in the fight, but the people had no share; and this was ordained, as a statute to be observed throughout their generations (1 Sam. xxx. 24.): but in the time of the Maccabees the Jewish army thought fit to recede from the strictness of this military law, for when they had obtained a victory over Nicanor, under the conduct of Judas, they divided among themselves many spoils, and made the maimed, orphans, widows, yea, and the aged also, equal in spoils with themselves. (2 Macc. viii. 28. 30.) In the Midianitish war, after the distribution of the spoils among the army and the people, there was another division made for the service of the priesthood, and the Levitical ministry. (Num. xxxi. 28-30.) The priests, out of the share that fell to the army, were allotted one out of five hundred of all women and children, and cattle that were taken; and the Levites, from the part that fell to the people, received one out of fifty, so that the priest had just a tenth part of what was allowed to the Levites, as they had a tenth part of the Levitical tithes, which was paid them for their constant support: but whether this was the practice in future wars is uncertain. Sometimes all the spoils were, by divine appointment, ordered to be destroyed; and there is an instance in the siege of Jericho, when all the silver and the gold (except the gold and the silver of their images, which were to be consumed utterly), and vessels of brass and iron, were devoted to God, and appropriated to his service. They were to be brought into the treasury which was in the tabernacle, after they were purified by making them pass through the fire according to the law; the Jews conceive that these spoils Forbes's Oriental Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 295. Lady Mary Wortley Montague's Letters, vol. i. p. 197.

(called in the Scripture the accursed thing on the account of their being devoted. with a curse upon him who should take them for his own use) were given to God, because the city was taken upon the Sabbath-day. But in succeeding ages, it appears to be an established rule that the spoil was to be divided among the army actually engaged in battle; those who had the charge of the baggage (as already noticed) being considered entitled to an equal share with the rest. (1 Sam. xxx. 24.)

Besides a share of the spoil and the honours of a triumph, various military rewards were bestowed on those warriors who had pre-eminently distinguished themselves. Thus Saul promised to confer great riches on the man who should conquer Goliath, and further to give his daughter in marriage to him, and to exempt his father's house from all taxes in Israel. (1 Sam. xvii. 25.) How reluctantly the jealous monarch fulfilled his promise is well known. David promised the command in chief of all his forces to him who should first mount the walls of Jerusalem, and expel the Jebusites out of the city (2 Sam. v. 8. 1 Chron. xi. 6.); which honour was acquired by Joab. In the rebellion of Absalom against David, Joab replied to a man who told him that the prince was suspended in an oak,-Why didst thou not smite him to the ground, and I would have given thee ten shekels of silver and a girdle? (2 Sam. xviii. 11.) Jephthah was constituted head and captain over the Israelites beyond Jordan, for delivering them from the oppression of the Ammonites. (Judg. xi. 11. compared with xii. 7.).

From 2 Sam. xxiii. 8-39. it appears that the heroes or "mighty men," during the reign of David, were thirty-seven in number, including Joab, who was commander-in-chief of all his forces. These warriors were divided into three classes, the first and second of which consisted, each, of three men, Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah; Abishai, Benaiah, and Asahel; and the third class was composed of the remaining thirty, of whom Asahel appears to have been the head. Such is the list according to 2 Sam. xxiii.; but in 1 Chron. xi. 10 -47. the list is more numerous, and differs considerably from the preceding. The most probable solution of these variations is, that the first list contains the worthies who lived in the former part of David's reign, and that it underwent various changes in the course of his government of the kingdom of Israel. At the head of all these "mighty men" was Jashobeam the son of Hachmoni (1 Chron. xi. 11.), who from his office in 2 Sam. xxiii. 8. (Hebr. and marginal rendering) is termed Joseb-Bassebet, the Tachmonite, head of the three; and whose military appellation was Adino-He-Ezni (the lifting up-or striking with—a spear) because he lifted up his spear against, or encountered, three hundred soldiers at once. However extraordinary it may seem, we may here clearly perceive a distinct order of knighthood, similar to our modern orders, and presenting the same honorary degrees, and of which Jashobeam, according to modern parlance, was the grand-master. An institution of this kind was in every respect adapted to the reign, the character, and the policy of

David.'

After the return of the Jewish armies to their several homes, their military dress was laid aside. The militia, which been raised for the occasion, were disbanded; their warlike instruments, with the exception of such as were private property, were delivered up as the property of the state, until some future war should call them forth; and the soldiers themselves returned (like Cincinnatus) to the plough, and the other avocations of private life. To this suspension of their arms, the prophet Ezekiel alludes (xxvii. 10, 11.) when he says, that they of Persia, and of Lud, and of Phut, and of Arvad, were in the Tyrian army as men of war, and hanged their shields upon the walls of Tyre. To the same custom also the bridegroom refers in the sacred idyls of Solomon (Song iv. 4.), when he compares the neck of his bride to the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.

nissi, that is, The LORD is my banner. (Exod. xvii. 15.) Un der the influence of similar devout affections, David consecrated the sword and other arms of Goliath in the tabernacle, and subsequently deposited in the sacred treasury the rich spoils won in battle, as Samuel and Saul had done before him (1 Chron. xxvi. 26-28.), and as several of his pious successors on the throne of Judah also did. Thus they gratefully acknowledged that they were indebted to the Lord of Hosts alone for all their strength and victories.

SECTION II.

ALLUSIONS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT TO THE MILITARY DISCIPLINE AND TRIUMPHS OF THE ROMANS.

I.

Divisions of the Roman army, and Roman military officers mentioned in the New Testament.-II. Allusions to the armour of the Romans.-III. To their military discipline.Strict subordination.-Rewards to soldiers who had distinguished themselves.—IV. Allusions to the Roman triumphs.

I. Ar the time the evangelists and apostles wrote, the Romans had extended their empire almost to the utmost boundaries of the then known world, principally by their unparalleled military discipline and heroic valour. Judæa was at this time subject to their sway, and their troops were stationed in different parts of that country.

The Roman army was composed of Legions (Ascoves), each of which was divided into ten cohorts, each cohort into three maniples, and each maniple (up) into two centuries. The number of men in a legion was different at different times. But besides the cohorts which were formed into legions, there were certain others separate and distinct from any legion; such were the Cohortes Urbana, and Prætoriæ, &c. Such appears to have been the Italian Band (Eripa Iran) mentioned in Acts x. 1., which was in attendance on the Roman governor, who at that time was residing at Casarea. It was probably called the Italian cohort, because most of the soldiers belonging to it were Italians, and also to distinguish it from the other troops which were drawn from Syria and the adjacent regions. The Italian legion was not in existence at this time. Of the same description also was the Augustan Band or Cohort (Acts xxvi. 1.), (Σrupa Zebuorn), which, most probably, derived its name from Sebaste, the capital of Samaria. The commanding officer of the Prætorian Cohorts at Rome (a body of troops instituted by Augustus to guard his person, and to whom the care of the city was subsequently committed) was termed Præfectus Prætorio. This last officer was the Captain of the Guard (Erpaтondaрxns), to whose custody Paul was committed, it being a part of his office to take the charge of accused persons. (Acts xxviii. 16.) The commanding officer of an ordinary cohort was called Tribunus Cohortis, if it was composed of Roman citizens; or Præfectus Cohortis, if composed of auxiliary troops. The officer intended by both these words is in the New Testament termed Xes, or Captain of a Thousand, most probably because each tribune had under him ten centuries of troops. This was the officer who commanded the legion of soldiers that garrisoned the tower of Antonia, which overlooked the temple at Jerusalem, in the porticoes of which a company kept guard (v) to prevent any tumult at the great festivals.3 Claudius Lysias was the tribune or Roman captain of this fort, who rescued Paul from the tumultuous attack of the murderous Jews. (Acts xxi. 31. xxii. 34. xxiii. 26.) Under the command of the tribune was the centurion (Kerup or 'Exaтcrapxos), who, as his name implies, had one hundred men under him.4

The Roman infantry were divided into three principal classes, the Hastati, the Principes, and the Triarii, each of which was composed of thirty manipuli or companies, and each manipulus contained two centuries or hundreds of men: over every company were placed two centurions, who, however, were very far from being equal in rank and honour, though

1 Coquerel, Biographie Sacrée, tom. ii. p. 167.

esteemed the most honourable, and had their centurions elected first, and these took precedency of the centurions of the Hastati, who were elected last. The humble centurion, who in Matt. 2 Biscoe on the Acts, vol, i. pp. 328-332.

3 Josephus, de Bell. Jud. lib. v. c. 5. § 8. 4 Biscoe on the Acts, vol. i. pp. 328, 329. pp. 336, 339. 52.

Doddridge on Acts x. 1. and Ant. Jud. lib. xx. c. 4. § 3.

Adam's Roman Antiquities,