138 A History of Judaism
arrangement serves two purposes; the modesty becoming to the female sex
is preserved, while the women sitting within ear- shot can easily follow
what is said since there is nothing to obstruct the voice of the speaker.More probably the product of ascetic invention is Philo’s note that most
of the women are ‘aged virgins, who have kept their chastity not under
compulsion, like some of the Greek priestesses, but of their own free will
in their ardent yearning for wisdom. Eager to have her [wisdom] for
their life mate they have spurned the pleasures of the body and desire no
mortal offspring but those immortal children which only the soul that is
dear to God can bring to birth unaided because the Father has sown in
her spiritual rays, enabling her to behold the verities of wisdom.’^46
Philo noted that the contemplative life was to be found ‘in many
parts of the world’, and that it is ‘abundant in Egypt ... and most of all
in the neighbourhood of Alexandria’ (his home city), but whether he
meant that communities of Therapeutae were to be found in these places
as well as by the Mareotic lake is unclear. From his description it is in
any case evident that religious groups like, but not identical to, the Ess-
enes in Judaea were to be found elsewhere in the Jewish world in the
first century ce, and we shall have more to say about other such Jews
when we look at the communities who produced the Dead Sea scrolls.
Communal living was the essence of each of these groups, and we hear
little about individual Essenes in Jewish society except as prophets (see
above). One notable exception was a certain John the Essene who in
October 66 ce was appointed by the revolutionary government in Jeru-
salem to take command of the defence of areas in the north and west of
Judaea. Described by Josephus as a man ‘of exceptional strength and
intelligence’, John will have found himself in alliance with the Sadducee
Ananus and the Pharisee Simon son of Gamaliel, as well as with Jos-
ephus himself. John died in an assault on Ascalon in early 67,^ and
Josephus notes explicitly the involvement of Essenes in the war and
their willingness to face martyrdom:
The war against the Romans proved their souls in every way: during it,
while being twisted and also bent, burned and also broken, and passing
through all the torture- chamber instruments, with the aim that they might
insult the lawgiver or eat something not customary, they did not put up
with suffering either one: not once gratifying those who were tormenting
[them], or crying. But smiling in their agonies and making fun of those
who were inflicting their tortures, they would cheerfully dismiss their
souls, [knowing] that they would get them back again.^47