It is fairly certain, moreover, that Philo sojourned some time in
Jerusalem. He was there probably during the reign of Agrippa (_c._ 30
C.E.), who was an intimate friend of his family, and had found a
refuge at Alexandria when an exile from Palestine and Rome. In the
first book on the Mosaic laws[53] Philo speaks with enthusiasm of the
great temple, to which "vast assemblies of men from a countless
variety of cities, some by land, some by sea, from East, West, North,
and South, come at every festival as if to some common refuge and
harbor from the troubles of this harassed and anxious life, seeking to
find there tranquillity and gain a new hope in life by its joyous
festivities." These gatherings, at which, according to Josephus,[54]
over two million people assembled, must, indeed, have been a striking
symbol of the unity of the Jewish race, which was at once national and
international; magnificent embassies from Babylon and Persia, from
Egypt and Cyrene, from Rome and Greece, even from distant Spain and
Gaul, went in procession together through the gate of Xistus up the
temple-mount, which was crowned by the golden sanctuary, shining in
the full Eastern sun like a sea of light above the town. Philo
describes in detail the form of the edifice that moved the admiration
of all who beheld it, and for the Jew, moreover, was invested with the
most cherished associations. Its outer courts consisted of double
porticoes of marble columns burnished with gold, then came the inner
courts of simple columns, and "within these stood the temple itself,
beautiful beyond all possible description, as one may tell even from
what is seen in the outer court; for the innermost sanctuary is
invisible to every being except the high priest." The majesty of the
ceremonial within equalled the splendor without. The high priest, in
the words of Ben Sira (xlv), "beautified with comely ornament and
girded about with a robe of glory," seemed a high priest fit for the
whole world. Upon his head the mitre with a crown of gold engraved