Destruction of Jerusalem
Titus took Jerusalem in September 70 and destroyed the Second Temple, ending the Jewish revolt that had begun four years earlier. The revolt had started in 66 over Roman corruption, a tax raid on the Temple treasury and communal violence in Caesarea, and had gone far better than anyone expected — the Judaean rebels destroyed a Roman legion under Cestius Gallus at Beth Horon that autumn and held the province for a year. Vespasian was sent with three legions in 67 and reconquered Galilee methodically, and then stopped when Nero died, leaving the empire without an emperor and himself a candidate for it. He was proclaimed in 69 and left the siege to his son. The city held four walls and a fortified Temple platform, and it was fighting itself. Three rebel factions under John of Gischala, Simon bar Giora and Eleazar ben Simon fought each other inside the walls and burned the grain stores that would have fed a long defence. Titus surrounded the city with a wall to prevent escape and crucified those caught leaving, up to five hundred a day. The Temple burned on the ninth of Av. Whether Titus ordered it is disputed — Josephus, writing under his patronage, says a soldier threw a brand against orders. The menorah and the table are carved on the Arch of Titus in Rome, being carried in the triumph. Masada fell in 73. Judaism reorganised around the synagogue and the text, which is what survived. The Western Wall is a retaining wall of the platform, and is the closest surviving structure to where the Temple stood.
- Category: Military
