X KEEPERS OF THE HERD OF SWINE 387 



with the shortly antecedent ravaging of the 

 Gadarene territory by the Jews, in fact, better 

 proof could hardly be expected of the real state of 

 the case ; namely, that the population of Gadara 

 (and notably the wealthy and respectable part 

 of it) was thoroughly Hellenic; though, as in 

 Ca3sarea and elsewhere among the Palestinian 

 cities, the rabble contained a considerable body of 

 fanatical Jews, whose reckless ferocity made them, 

 even though a mere minority of the population, a 

 standing danger to the city. 



Thus Mr. Gladstone's conclusion from his study 

 of Josephus, that the population of Gadara were 

 " Hebrews bound by the Mosaic law," turns out to 

 depend upon nothing better than a marvellously 

 complete misinterpretation of what that author 

 says, combined with equally marvellous geogra- 

 phical misunderstandings, long since exposed 

 and rectified ; while the positive evidence that 

 Gadara, like other cities of the Decapolis, was 

 thoroughly Hellenic in organisation, and essenti- 

 ally Gentile in population, is overwhelming. 



And, that being the fact of the matter, patent 

 to all who will take the trouble to enquire about 

 what has been said about it, however obscure to 

 those who merely talk of so doing, the thesis that 

 the Gadarene swineherds, or owners, were Jews 

 violating the Mosaic law shows itself to be an 

 empty and most unfortunate guess. But really, 

 whether they that kept the swine were Jews, or 



