They discussed whether they had the right to commit suicide: Josephus, ultimately the sole survivor, proposed that each kill the other in turn. He came out last in the drawing of lots and negotiated his fate with the Romans. He then turned his back, to a certain extent, on his own people, and was appointed Vespasian’s interpreter. When Vespasian became emperor two years later, he freed his Jewish protégé, who promptly adopted Roman citizenship.
