He  was  greatly  surprised  to  see  such  a  mixture  of
passions  in  his  looks  and  gestures,  and  began  to
fear  he  had  either  offended,  or  been  in  some  way
misrepresented  to  him  ;  when  Caius,  who  easily
perceived  his  disorder,  broke  the  secret  to  him  in
words  to  this  effect :  "Your  Jewish  subjects  are
strange  creatures,  to  refuse  to  acknowledge  me
for  a  god,  and  to  provoke  my  resentment
against  them  ;  I  had  commanded  the  statue  of
Jupiter  to  be  set  up  in  their  temple,  and  they
4G*


484


JEWISH  HISTORY.
have,  it  seems,  opposed  it,  and  raised  a  kind  of
universal  insurrection."

At  these  words,  Agrippa,  like  one  thunder-
struck, after  having  in  vain  tried  to  keep  himself
up,  fell  into  a  swoon,  and  was  carried  off  into  his
own  palace,  where  he  continued  in  that  condi-
tion till  the  third  day ;  w  hen,  having  taken  a  little
sustenance,  he  set  himself  about  writing  to  the
emperor  the  letter  which  the  reader  may  see  at
length  in  Josephus.  Caius,  instead  of  being
moved  at  the  king's  concern,  was  rather  the  more
exasperated  against  the  Jews,  and  against  him,
for  his  concern  for  such  an  ungrateful  race,  as  he
called  them,  whom  all  his  favours  could  not  work
into  a  compliance  to  his  will.  However,  he
began  to  relent  when  he  read  the  letter;  and
Agrippa,  who  drew  a  good  omen  even '  from  his
not  answering  it,  took  the  liberty  to  invite  him
to  a  sumptuous  entertainment,  w  hich  Caius,  who
really  loved  him,  easily  accepted.
