Book 3
Containing the Interval of About One Year. From Vespasian's Coming To Subdue the Jews To the Taking of Gamala.
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Chapter 1[/FONT]
Vespasian Is Sent Into Syria By Nero In Order To Make War With the Jews.
Upon the whole, he [Nero] sent this man [Vespasian] to take upon him the command
of the armies that were in Syria...
So Vespasian sent his son Titus from Achaia, where he had been with Nero, to Alexandria, to bring back with him from thence the fifth and. the tenth legions,
while he himself, when he had passed over the Hellespont, came by land into Syria, where he gathered together the Roman forces, with a considerable number of auxiliaries from the kings in that neighborhood.
And now Vespasian took along with him his army from Antioch, (which is the metropolis of Syria, and without dispute deserves the place of the third city in the habitable earth that was under the Roman empire, both in magnitude, and other marks of prosperity,) where he found king Agrippa, with all his forces, waiting for his coming, and marched to Ptolemais.
At this city also the inhabitants of Sepphoris of Galilee met him, who were for peace with the Romans. These citizens had beforehand taken care of their own safety, and being sensible of the power of the Romans, they had been with Cestius Gallus before Vespasian came, and had given their faith to him, and received the security of his right hand, and had received a Roman garrison; and at this time withal they received Vespasian, the Roman general, very kindly, and readily promised that they would assist him against their own countrymen.
Now the general delivered them, at their desire, as many horsemen and footmen as he thought sufficient to oppose the incursions of the Jews, if they should come against them.
And indeed the danger of losing Sepphoris would be no small one, in this war that was now beginning, seeing it was the largest city of Galilee, and built in a place by nature very strong, and might be a security of the whole nation's [fidelity to the Romans].
But as Vespasian had a great mind to fall upon Galilee, he marched out of Ptolemais, having put his army into that order wherein the Romans used to march.
And thus did Vespasian march with his army, and
came to the bounds of Galilee, where he pitched his camp and restrained his soldiers, who were eager for war; he also showed his army to the enemy, in order to affright them, and to afford them a season for repentance, to see whether they would change their minds before it came to a battle, and at the same time he got things ready for besieging their strong minds.
(Vespasian marched his legions into Galilee from the north (Antioch) and took the cities of Gadara, Sepphoris, Jotapata, Joppa, Tiberias, and Gischala, among others.)
And thus was all Galilee taken, but this not till after it had cost the Romans much pains before it could be taken by them.
Flavius Josephus, Wars of the Jews
Here is a map of the Roman conquest of Israel, beginning with Vespasian's march out of Antioch:
http://www.preteristarchive.com/JewishWars/images/assault_maps/assault-map_israel_01.jpg
Irvin Baxter is wrong. Vespasian and Titus marched their forces through Armageddon on their way to Jerusalem, encamping there along the way, thus fulfilling this prophecy:
And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.
Revelation 16:16 (NASB)
Don't be misled by so-called Bible scholars who make money from other people's ignorance.
And here is a map of Israel highlighting Antioch, from which Vespasian marched his armies into Judea:
http://tinyurl.com/6qvocet
Sure looks like his armies came out of the north to me!