not free to every one, but those who sought entrance paid daily a small admission fee of one and a half tropaïka; that is, about twelve cents. This was no doubt to prevent overcrowding by the people, or for some reasons stated by the Shammaites. The traditional tombs of Shmaiah and Abtalion are located in Jish, a Maronite Christian village in the Galilee. In Josephus Josephus twice refers to a Pollion, who may be identical to Abtalion, along with a Sameas () who may be identical to Shemaya. Linguistically, the original form of Pollion is presumably Ptollion, which explains both the prefixed A in the Talmud and the omission of the t in Josephus. In the first source, Abtalion used his influence with the people in persuading the men of Jerusalem, in the year 37 BCE, to open the gates of their city to Herod the Great. Herod was not ungrateful, and rewarded Pollion and Pollion's student Sameas (Shemaiah) with great honors. In the second source, Herod exacted the oath of allegiance under penalty of death, and continues: "He desired also to compel Pollion, the Pharisee, and Sameas, together with the many who followed them, to take this oath; they, however, refused to do this, but nevertheless were not punished as were others who had refused to take it, and this indeed out of consideration for Pollion." This episode took place in the eighteenth year of Herod's reign (20 or 19 BCE). Some modern scholars believe that both of these sources refer to Abtalyon and Shemaiah;Louis H. Feldman, "The Identity of Pollio, the Pharisee, in Josephus", The Jewish Quarterly Review, vol. 49, no. 1 [Jul., 1958], p. 53 others, that the first source refers to Avtalyon and Shemaya and the second source to Hillel (who became leader in 30 BCE according to the Talmud) and Shammai; still others, that both sources refer to Hillel and Shammai. According to the latter opinions, Josephus was misled by the similarity of the names Shemaiah and Shammai, and so wrote "Pollion and Sameas" instead of "Hillel and Shammai." References It has the following bibliography:Monatsschrift, i. 118-120 Heinrich Grätz, Gesch. d. Juden, 2d ed., iii. 187 et seq., 617-618 Landau, in Monatsschrift, vii, 317-329 Levi Herzfeld, ibid. iii. 227; idem, Geschichte des Volkes Israel, ii. 253 Joseph Derenbourg, Essai, pp. 116, 117, 149, 463 Isaac Hirsch Weiss, Dor, i. 148 et seq., 152, 153 Nehemiah