Destruction of Jerusalem
The siege and destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE, conducted by Titus with four legions, was the culmination of the Jewish-Roman War that had erupted four years earlier in response to Roman misgovernance and Jewish religious nationalism. After brutal street-by-street fighting through the city's three defensive walls, Roman soldiers entered the Temple precinct and the Second Temple was burned. The Arch of Titus in Rome depicts the triumphal procession with the Temple menorah and other sacred objects. The destruction of the Temple was the central catastrophe of Jewish history, ending the sacrificial cult, dispersing the priestly establishment, and making the synagogue and Torah-centered interpretation the basis of Jewish religious life. The site remained forbidden to Jews under Hadrian, who built the city of Aelia Capitolina on Jerusalem's ruins after crushing the Bar Kokhba revolt in 135 CE.
- Category: Military
