"That monarch, long intent on the enterprise, was prevailed on; and,pressing forward at the head of a formidable army, he took Jerusalem byassault, put to the sword vast numbers of those attached to theinterests of Ptolemy, allowed his troops unrestricted pillage, despoiledthe temple in person, and, during three years and six months,interrupted the course of the daily sacrifices." I. I. 1.
| Antiochus Epiphanes at Jerusalem. |
"In the ardour of victory Judas attacked the garrison in the city, whichhad not yet been reduced, and having expelled the troops from the uppertown, drove them into the lower, a quarter of the city called Acra.Being now master of the temple, he purified the place throughout, andwalled it round." I. I. 4.
| Judas attacks the garrison at Jerusalem. Purifies thetemple. |
"Antiochus, enraged by what he had endured at the hands of Simon, led anarmy into Judæa, and sitting down before Jerusalem, besieged Hyrcanus;who, opening the sepulchre of David, the richest of kings, and privatelytaking out upwards of three thousand talents in money, both inducedAntiochus, by the payment of three hundred, to raise the siege; andalso, from the remaining surplus, maintained—the first of the Jews todo so—a mercenary force." I. II. 5.
| Judas attacks the garrison at Jerusalem. Purifies thetemple. |
"Gradually, and with reluctance, Aristobulus credited theseinsinuations. Yet careful, at once, to avoid the semblance of suspicion,and to provide against any covert attempt, he stationed his body-guardsin a dark subterraneous passage—he was himself at the time confined tobed, in a tower formerly called Baris, but subsequently namedAntonia—with orders to allow Antigonus, if unarmed, to pass; but todespatch him, should he approach in arms." I. III. 3.
| Aristobulus. Antigonus. Tower of Baris. |
"But, on reaching the dark passage, known by the name of Strato's Tower,he [Antigonus] was killed by the body-guards." I. III. 4.
| Strato's Tower. |
"Incensed at this, Pompeius committed Aristobulus to custody; and havingadvanced to the city, he considered well on what point he should directhis attack. He found the walls, from their height, of almost impregnablestrength, with a frightful ravine in front of them: while within thisthe temple was so strongly fortified, that, even after the capture ofthe town, it would afford a second refuge to the enemy." I. VII. 1.
| Pompeius reconnoitres the city of Jerusalem. |
"The adherents of Aristobulus, being discomfited in the contest, retiredinto the temple, and, breaking down the bridge which connected it withthe city, prepared to hold out to the last." I. VII. 2.
| The bridge broken down by Aristobulus' party. |
"The Roman commander now filled up the fosse, and the whole of theravine, which lay on the north quarter, the troops collecting materials.This was an undertaking of difficulty, not only on account of theprodigious depth of the ravine, but from the impediments of every kindoffered by the Jews from above." I. VII. 3.
| Pompeius fills up the fosse of the town. |
"Herod, accordingly, at an incalculable expense, and in a style ofunsurpassed magnificence, in the fifteenth year of his reign, restoredthe Temple, and breasted up with a wall the area round it, so as toenlarge it to twice its former extent. An evidence of its sumptuousnesswere the ample colonnades around the holy place, and the fort on itsnorthern side. The colonnades he reared from the foundation; the fort,in nothing inferior to a palace, he repaired at an immense cost; andcalled it Antonia, in honour of Antonius. He also constructed aresidence for himself in the upper town, containing two very spacious,and not less beautiful buildings, with which the Temple itself bore nocomparison. These he designated after his friends, the one Cæsarium, theother Agrippium." I. XXI. 1.
| Herod rebuilds the temple.
Palaces of Cæsarium and Agrippium. |
"He subsequently occasioned another tumult, by expending the sacredtreasure, called Corban, in the construction of an aqueduct. He broughtthe water from a distance of four hundred furlongs. Indignant at thisprofanation, the populace, on his return to Jerusalem, collected withloud clamours about his tribunal." II. IX. 4.
| Pilate constructs acqueducts. |
"Cestius, seeing that these intestine dissensions afforded him afavourable opportunity for attack, led out his entire force, routed theJews, and pursued them to the gates of Jerusalem. Encamping at a placecalled The Scopus, distant seven furlongs from the city, he for threedays suspended his operations against it." II. XIX. 4.
| Cestius encamps on Mount Scopus. |
"Cestius, on entering, set fire to Bezetha, so named, the Cœnopolis,and the place called the Timber Market; and, proceeding to the uppertown, encamped opposite the royal residence." II. XIX. 4.
| Cestius encamps opposite the royal palace. |
"For Titus, having drawn together part of his troops to himself, andsent orders to the others to meet him at Jerusalem, broke up fromCæsarea. There were the three legions which, under the command of hisfather, had before ravaged Judæa, and the twelfth, that had formerlybeen defeated with Cestius, and which, remarkable at all times for itsvalour, on this occasion, from a recollection of what had befallen it,advanced with greater alacrity to revenge. Of these, he directed thefifth to join him by the route of Ammaus, and the tenth to go up by thatof Jericho; while he himself moved forward with the remainder, attended,beside these, by the contingents from the allied sovereigns, all inincreased force, and by a considerable body of Syrian auxiliaries.
| Number of the troops of Titus engaged in the siege ofJerusalem. |
"Detachments having been drafted by Vespasian from the four legions, andsent with Mucianus into Italy, their places were filled up from amongthe troops that had come with Titus. For two thousand men, selected fromamong the forces of Alexandria, and three thousand of the guards fromthe Euphrates, accompanied him; and with them, Tiberius Alexander." V.I. 6.
|
"Leading on his forces in orderly array, according to Roman usage, Titusmarched through Samaria to Gophna, which had been previously taken byhis father, and was then garrisoned. Here he rested for the night, and,setting forward early in the morning, advanced a day's march, andencamped in the valley, which is called by the Jews, in their nativetongue, 'The Valley of Thorns,' adjacent to a village named Gabath-Saul,which signifies 'Saul's Hill,' distant from Jerusalem about thirtyfurlongs. From hence, accompanied by about six hundred picked horsemen,he rode forward to reconnoitre the strength of the city, and ascertainthe disposition of the Jews, whether, on seeing him, they would beterrified into a surrender previous to any actual conflict." V. II. 1.
| Titus with 600 cavalry reconnoitres Jerusalem. |
"While he continued to ride along the direct route which led to thewall, no one appeared before the gates; but on his filing off from theroad towards the tower Psephinus, and taking an oblique direction withhis squadron, the Jews suddenly rushed out in immense numbers at a spotcalled 'The Women's Towers,' through the gate opposite the monuments ofHelena. They broke through his ranks, and placing themselves in front ofthe troops who were still advancing along the road, prevented them fromjoining their comrades, who had filed off, and thus intercepted Tituswith only a handful of men. For him to move forward was impossible; asthe entire space was intersected by transverse walls and numerousfences, and separated from the ramparts by dykes made for gardeningpurposes." V. II. 2.
| Titus attacked by the Jews by the monument of Helena.
The Women's Towers. |
"Cæsar, being joined during the night by the legion from Ammaus, movedthe next day from thence, and advanced to Scopus, as it is called, theplace from which the city first became visible, and the stately pile ofthe sanctuary shone forth; whence it is that this spot—a flat adjoiningthe northern quarter of the town—is appropriately called Scopus (theProspect). When at the distance of seven furlongs from the city, Titusordered a camp to be formed for two of the legions together; the fifthhe stationed three furlongs in rear of them: thinking that, as they hadbeen fatigued with their march during the night, they required to becovered, that they might throw up their entrenchments with lessapprehension. Scarcely had they commenced their operations, when thetenth legion arrived. It had advanced through Jericho, where a party ofsoldiers had lain to guard the pass formerly taken possession of byVespasian. These troops had received orders to encamp at the distance ofsix furlongs from Jerusalem, at the Mount of Olives, so called, whichlies over against the city on the east, and is separated from it by adeep intervening ravine, which bears the name of Kedron." V. II. 3.
| Titus encamps at Scopus, seven furlongs from Jerusalem.
The tenth legion upon the Mount of Olives. |
"Titus intending to break up from Scopus, and encamp nearer to the city,stationed a body of picked men, horse and foot, in such force as hedeemed sufficient to check the sallies of the enemy, and employed themain body of his army in levelling the intervening ground as far as thewalls. All the fences and hedges, with which the inhabitants hadenclosed their gardens and orchards, being accordingly swept away, andthe fruit trees in the whole of the intermediate distance felled, thehollows and chasms of the place were filled up, and the rocky eminencesremoved with iron implements; and thus the whole space from Scopus tothe monuments of Herod, adjacent to what is called 'The Serpents' Pool,'was reduced to a level." V. III. 2.
| Titus levels the ground between Scopus and Jerusalem.
Tomb of Herod. Serpents' Pool. |
"Accordingly, after maintaining a long contest with their spears, andreceiving many wounds from their opponents, but inflicting not fewer inreturn, they eventually drove back the party who had surrounded them.The Jews, however, as soon as they began to retire, pursued them as faras the monuments of Helena, annoying them with missiles." V. III. 3.
| Tomb of Helena. Sortie of the Jews. |
"In four days, the interval between his post and the walls having beenlevelled, Titus, anxious to forward in safety the baggage and thefollowers of the army, ranged the flower of his troops opposite the wallon the northern quarter of the city, and extending towards the west, thephalanx being drawn up seven deep. The infantry were disposed in front,and the cavalry in rear, each in three ranks; the archers, who formedthe seventh, being in the middle.
| Titus encamps opposite the Tower of Psephinus.
Another division opposite the Tower of Hippicus, and thetenth legion upon the Mount of Olives. |
| "The sallies of the Jews being checked by such an array, the beasts ofburthen belonging to the three legions, with the camp followers, passedon in safety. Titus himself encamped about two furlongs from theramparts, at the corner opposite the tower called Psephinus, where thecircuit of the wall, in its advance along the north side, bends with awestern aspect. The other division of the army was entrenched oppositeto the tower named Hippicus, distant, in like manner, two furlongs fromthe city. The tenth legion continued to occupy its position on the Mountof Olives, as it is called." V. III. 5. |
Description of the walls of Jerusalem.
|
"Jerusalem, fortified by three walls—except where it was encompassed byits impassable ravines, for there it had but a single rampart—wasbuilt, the one division fronting the other, on two hills, separated byan intervening valley, at which the rows of houses terminated. Of thesehills, that on which the upper town was situated is much higher andstraighter in its length. Accordingly, on account of its strength, itwas styled the Fortress by king David, the father of Solomon, by whomthe temple was originally erected; but by us the Upper Market-place. Theother, which bears the name of Acra, and supports the lower town, is ofa gibbous form. Opposite to this was a third hill, naturally lower thanAcra, and formerly severed from it by another broad ravine. Afterwards,however, the Asmonæans, during their reign, filled up the ravine, withthe intention of uniting the city to the temple; and, levelling thesummit of Acra, they reduced its elevation, so that the temple might beconspicuous above other objects in this quarter also. The Valley of theCheese-makers, as it was designated, which divided, as we have said, thehill of the upper town from that of the lower, extended as far asSiloam, as we call it, a fountain whose waters are at once sweet andcopious. On the exterior, the two hills on which the city stood wereskirted by deep ravines, so precipitous on either side that the town wasnowhere accessible." V. IV. 1.
|
"Of the three walls, the most ancient, as well from the ravines whichsurrounded it, as from the hill above them on which it was erected, wasalmost impregnable. But, besides the advantages of its situation, it wasalso strongly built; David and Solomon, as well as their successors onthe throne, having devoted much attention to the work.
|
"Beginning on the north at the tower called Hippicus, and extending towhat was termed the Xystus, it then formed a junction with thecouncil-house, and terminated at the western colonnade of the temple. Onthe other side, towards the west, beginning at the same tower, itstretched through Bethso, as it was styled, to the gate of the Essenes.It then turned, and advanced with a southern aspect above the fountainof Siloam, whence it again inclined, facing the east, towards Solomon'sreservoir, and extending to a certain spot, designated Ophla, it joinedthe eastern colonnade of the temple.
| First Wall. |
"The second had its beginning at the gate which they called Gennath,belonging to the first wall. It reached to the Antonia, and encircledonly the northern quarter of the town. The tower Hippicus formed thecommencement of the third wall, which stretched from thence towards thenorthern quarter, as far as the tower Psephinus, and then passingopposite the monuments of Helena, Queen of Adiabene, and mother of kingIzates, and extending through the royal caverns, was inflected at thecorner tower near to the spot known by the appellation of the Fuller'sTomb; and, connecting itself with the old wall, terminated at the valleycalled Kedron. This wall Agrippa had thrown round the new-built town,which was quite unprotected; for the city, overflowing with inhabitants,gradually crept beyond the ramparts; and the people, incorporating withthe city the quarter north of the temple close to the hill, made aconsiderable advance, insomuch that a fourth hill, which is calledBezetha, was also surrounded with habitations. It lay over against theAntonia, from which it was separated by a deep fosse, purposelyexcavated to cut off the communication between the foundations of theAntonia and the hill, that they might be at once less easy of access andmore elevated. Thus the depth of the trench materially increased thealtitude of the towers.
| Second Wall.
Third Wall.
King Agrippa commences the third Wall. |
"The quarter most recently built was called, in our language, Bezetha,which, if translated into the Greek tongue, would be Cænopolis(New-town). Those who resided there requiring defence, the father of thepresent sovereign, and of the same name, Agrippa, commenced the wall wehave mentioned. But, apprehending that Claudius Cæsar might suspect fromthe magnitude of the structure that he entertained some designs ofinnovation and insurrection, he desisted when he had merely laid thefoundations. For, indeed, had he completed that wall upon the scale onwhich it was begun, the city would have been impregnable. It wasconstructed of stones twenty cubits long and ten broad, fitted into eachother in such a manner that they could scarcely have been underminedwith iron, or shaken by engines. The wall itself was ten cubits inbreadth; and it would probably have attained a greater height than itdid, had not the enterprising spirit of its founder met with a check;but, subsequently, though the work was carried on with ardour by theJews, it only rose to the height of twenty cubits; while, crowning this,were battlements of two cubits, upon parapets of three cubits inaltitude, so that it attained in its entire elevation twenty-fivecubits." V. IV. 2.
|
"On this wall were erected towers, twenty cubits in breadth, and thesame in height, square, and solid as the wall itself. In the joining andbeauty of the stones, they were nowise inferior to the temple. Over thesolid altitude of the towers, which was twenty cubits, were sumptuousapartments; and above these, again, upper rooms, and numerous cisternstherein to receive the rain-water, and to each room wide staircases. Ofsuch towers the third wall had ninety, disposed at intervals of twohundred cubits.
| Description of the third Wall.
Ninety towers in the third Wall. |
"The middle wall was divided into fourteen towers, and the ancient oneinto sixty. Of the city the entire circuit was thirty-three furlongs.But admirable as was the third wall throughout, still more so was thetower Psephinus, which rose up at the north-west angle, and opposite towhich Titus encamped. Being seventy cubits high, it afforded at sunrisea prospect of Arabia, and of the limits of the Hebrew territories as faras the sea; it was octagonal in form.
| The middle Wall had fourteen towers, the ancient sixty.
The Psephinus tower. |
"Over against this was the tower Hippicus, and near to it two others,all erected by king Herod in the ancient wall, which in magnitude,beauty and strength, exceeded all that the world could produce." V. IV.3.
| Hippicus. |
"Hippicus, so called from his friend, was quadrangular, its length andbreadth being each twenty-five cubits, and to the height of thirtycubits it was solid throughout. Above this solid part, which wasconstructed of stones formed into one compact mass, was a reservoir toreceive the rain, twenty cubits deep, over which was a house of twostories, twenty-five cubits high, and divided into various apartments.Above this were battlements of two cubits in height, mounted uponparapets of three; so that the entire altitude amounted to eightycubits.
| Hippicus' Tower. |
"The second tower, which he named Phasaëlus, from his brother, was ofequal length and breadth, forty cubits each, and the same in solidheight. Over this, and embracing the whole of the structure, was agallery, ten cubits high, defended by breast-work and battlements....
| Phasaëlus. |
"The third tower, Mariamne—for such was the queen's name—was solid tothe height of twenty cubits; its breadth, also, being twenty cubits, andits length the same." V. IV. 3.
| Mariamne. |
| "Of this the entire elevation was fifty-five cubits." V. IV. 3. |
"But while such was the actual magnitude of these three towers, theirsite added much to their apparent dimensions. For the ancient wall inwhich they stood was itself built on a lofty hill; and higher still roseup in front, to the height of thirty cubits, a kind of crest of thehill; on this the towers rested, and thus acquired a much greateraltitude....
| Site of the three towers. |
"To these towers, which lay northward, was attached on the inner sidethe royal residence, which exceeded all description....
|
"The conflagration began at Antonia, passed onward to the palace, andconsumed the roofs of the three towers." V. IV. 4.
|
"The temple, as I have said, was seated on a strong hill. Originally,the level space on its summit scarcely sufficed for the sanctuary andthe altar, the ground about being abrupt and steep. But king Solomon,who built the sanctuary, having completely walled up the eastern side, acolonnade was built upon the embankment. On the other sides, thesanctuary remained exposed. In process of time, however, as the peoplewere constantly adding to the embankment, the hill became level andbroader. They also threw down the northern wall, and enclosed as muchground as the circuit of the temple at large subsequently occupied." V.V. 1.
| The Temple. |
"The colonnades were thirty cubits broad, and their entire circuit,including the Antonia, measured six furlongs." V. V. 2.
| Circuit of the Temple six furlongs. |
"Advancing within, the lower story of the sanctuary received you. Thiswas sixty cubits in height, and the same in length, while its breadthwas twenty cubits. These sixty cubits of length were again divided. Thefirst part partitioned off at forty cubits." V. V. 5.
| Dimensions of the Temple. |
"The innermost recess of the temple measured twenty cubits, and wasseparated in like manner from the outer by a veil. In this, nothingwhatever was deposited. Unapproachable, inviolable, and to be seen bynone, it was called the Holy of the Holy." V. V. 5.
| Dimensions relative to the Temple. |
"The Antonia lay at the angle formed by two colonnades, the western andthe northern, of the first court of the temple. It was built upon a rockfifty cubits high, and on every side precipitous. It was a work of kingHerod, in which he particularly evinced the natural greatness of hismind. For, first, the rock was covered from the base upwards with smoothstone flags, as well for ornament, as that any one who attempted toascend or descend might slip off. Next, and in front of the edificeitself, there was a wall of three cubits; and within this the entirespace occupied by the Antonia rose to an altitude of forty cubits.
| Position of the Antonia Tower. |
"... The upper town had its own fortress—Herod's palace. The hillBezetha was detached, as I have mentioned, from the Antonia. It was thehighest of the three, and was joined on to part of the new town formingnorthward the only obstruction to the view of the temple." V. V. 8.
| Citadel in the upper town. Bezetha, north of the Temple. |
"The whole number of fighting men and insurgents in the city was asfollows. Attached to Simon were ten thousand men, irrespective of theIdumæans. Over these were fifty officers, Simon himself acting asCommander-in-chief. The Idumæans who joined his ranks, five thousand innumber, had ten leaders, of whom James, the son of Sosas, and Simon, theson of Cathlas, were reputed to be the foremost. John, who had seized onthe temple, had under his orders six thousand men-at-arms, commanded bytwenty officers. The Zealots, also, had now laid aside their differencesand gone over to him, to the number of two thousand four hundred, led byEleazar, their former general, and Simon, son of Ari." V. VI. 1.
| Forces of the besieged in Jerusalem. |
"Simon occupied the upper town and the great wall, as far as the Kedron,with as much of the old wall as, bending eastward from Siloam, descendedto the palace of Monobazus, king of Adiabene, beyond the Euphrates. Heheld, likewise, the fountain and the Acra, which was the lower town,with the interval as far as the palace of Helena, the mother ofMonobazus. John occupied the temple, and the parts about it to aconsiderable distance, with Ophla, and the valley called Kedron." V. VI.1.
| Position occupied by Simon.
Position occupied by John. |
"While affairs in the city were in this posture, Titus, with a selectdetachment of horse, rode round the wall, in order to ascertain againstwhat quarter he should direct his attack. Utterly at a loss on what sideto assail them, there being no access at any point through the ravines,while on the other side, the first wall appeared too firm for theengines, he determined to make the assault opposite to the monument ofJohn, the high priest, for at this point the outer bulwark was lower,and the second was not connected, the builders having neglected tofortify those places where the new town was thinly inhabited; but therewas easy access to the third wall, through which he designed to capturethe upper town, and through the Antonia, the temple." V. VI. 2.
| Titus examines the Walls.
Monument of the high priest John. |
"He at once gave the legions permission to lay waste the suburbs, andordered them to collect the timber together for the construction ofmounds." V. VI. 2.
| Suburbs. |
".... The Romans having mounted where Nico had effected a breach, theyall abandoned their posts, and retreated to the second wall; when thosewho had scaled the ramparts opened the gates, and admitted the entirearmy. The Romans having thus, on the fifteenth day, which was theseventh of the month Artemisius, become masters of the first wall, laida great part of it in ruins, as they did the northern quarters of thecity, which Cestius had formerly demolished." V. VII. 2.
| Taking of the first Wall. |
"Titus now transferred his camp to a place within the wall, styled theCamp of the Assyrians, occupying the entire interval as far as theKedron, but keeping at such a distance from the second rampart as to beout of range of the missiles, and immediately commenced the attack. TheJews, dividing their forces, made a vigorous defence from the wall; Johnand his party fighting from the Antonia, from the north colonnade of thetemple, and in front of the monuments of king Alexander; while Simon'sband, intercepting the assault near John's monument, manned theintervening space as far as the gate through which the water wasintroduced to the tower Hippicus." V. VII. 3.
| Titus occupies the space between the camp of the Assyriansand the Kedron.
Gate of the aqueducts. |
"On the fifth day after the reduction of the first wall Cæsar stormedthe second at this point; and as the Jews fled from it, he entered witha thousand men, and the select band which he retained about his person,at that part of the new town where were the wool-marts, the braziers'shops, and the clothes market, and where the streets led obliquely tothe ramparts." V. VIII. 1.
| Titus makes himself master of the second Wall. |
"The cessation he employed for his own purposes. The stated day fordistributing pay among the troops having arrived, he directed theofficers to draw out the force, and count out the money to each man inview of the enemy." V. IX. 1.
| Titus exhibits his troops. |
"And nothing could be more gratifying to the Romans, or more terrifyingto the enemy than that spectacle. The whole of the ancient wall and thenorthern quarter of the temple were crowded with spectators, and thehouses were to be seen filled with people on the look-out; nor was therea spot in the city which was not covered with multitudes." V. IX. 1.
| The Jews see the review of the troops Titus. |
"Those at work beside the monument, the Idumæans, and the troops ofSimon, impeded by repeated sallies; while those before the Antonia wereobstructed by John and his associates, in conjunction with the Zealots."V. IX. 2.
| The Idumæans. |
"One of those at the Antonia was thrown up by the fifth legion, oppositeto the middle of the reservoir, called Struthios; and the other by thetwelfth legion at the distance of about twenty cubits. The tenth legion,which was considerably apart from these, was occupied on the northernquarter, and by the reservoir designated Amygdalon, and about thirtycubits from thence the fifteenth legion, at the high-priest's monument."V. XI. 4.
| Mounds and their positions.
Struthios reservoir.
Amygdalon. |
"Commencing at the camp of the Assyrians, where his own tent waspitched, he drew the wall to the lower Cænopolis, and thence through theKedron to the Mount of Olives. Then bending back towards the south, heencompassed the mount as far as the rock called Peristereon, and theadjoining hill, which overhangs the ravine near Siloam. Thence incliningtowards the west, he went down into the valley of the Fountain, beyondwhich he ascended by the monument of the high-priest Ananus, and, takingin the mount where Pompey encamped, turned to the north, proceeding asfar as a hamlet, called 'The house of Erebinths:' passing which, heenclosed Herod's monument, and on the east once more united it to hisown camp at the point whence it commenced.
| The assailants make the wall of circumvallation. |
"The wall was in length forty furlongs, wanting one. Attached to it onthe outside were thirteen forts, whose united circumferences measuredten furlongs." V. XII. 2.
|
"Mannæus, the son of Lazarus, who at this period took refuge with Titus,declared that, from the fourteenth of the month of Xanthicus, the day onwhich the Romans encamped before the walls, until the new moon ofPanemus, there were carried through that one gate which had beenentrusted to him, a hundred and fifteen thousand eight hundred andeighty corpses." V. XIII. 7.
| Number of the dead. |
"After him many of the higher ranks escaped; and they brought word thatfull six hundred thousand of the humbler classes had been thrown outthrough the gates. Of the others it was impossible to ascertain thenumber." V. XIII. 7.
| Number of the dead. |
"The Jews fled into the temple; the Romans also making their way inthrough the mine which John had excavated under their mounds." VI. I. 7.
| Excavations in Jerusalem. |
"Titus now ordered his troops to raze the foundations of the Antonia,and prepare an easy ascent for his whole force." VI. II. 1.
| Titus destroys the Tower Antonia. |
"In the meantime, the remainder of the Roman force, having in seven daysoverturned the foundation of the Antonia, had prepared a wide ascent asfar as the temple. The legions now approached the first wall, andcommenced their mounds—one opposite the north-west angle of the innertemple, a second at the northern chamber, which was between the twogates, and of the remaining two, one at the western colonnade of theouter court of the temple, the other without, at the northern." VI. II.7.
| Titus enters the outer court of the Temple. |
"Titus now withdrew into the Antonia, determined on the followingmorning about daybreak to attack with his whole force and invest thetemple. That edifice God had, indeed, long since destined to the flames;but now in revolving years had arrived the fated day, the tenth of themonth Lous, the very day on which the former temple had been burned bythe king of Babylon." VI. IV. 5.
| Titus takes the Temple. |
"Titus took his stand on the western side of the outer court of thetemple; there being a gate in that quarter beyond the Xystus, and abridge which connected the upper town with the temple, and which thenintervened between the tyrants and Cæsar." VI. VI. 2.
| Bridge of Xystus. |
"Orders were then issued to the troops to plunder and burn the city. Onthat day, however, nothing was done; but on the following day they setfire to the residence of the magistrates, the Acra, the council chamber,and the place called Ophla, the flames spreading as far as the palace ofqueen Helena, which was in the centre of the Acra. The streets also wereconsumed." VI. VI. 3.
| Titus gives up the city to pillage. |
"On the ensuing day the Romans, having driven the brigands from thelower town, burned all, as far as Siloam." VI. VII. 2.
| The Romans in the lower town. |
"The works of the four legions were raised on the western side of thecity, opposite to the royal palace, while the auxiliaries and the restof the force laboured in the region of the Xystus, the bridge, and thetower which Simon, during his contest with John, had built as a fortressfor himself." VI. VIII. 1.
| Titus attacks the upper city. |
"And when, at a later period, he destroyed the remainder of the city,and razed the walls, he allowed these towers to stand as a memorial ofthe favour of fortune, by whose cooperation he had become master ofthose strongholds, which could never have been reduced by force ofarms." VI. IX. 1.
| Destruction of the city. |
"The whole number of prisoners taken during the entire course of the warwas calculated at ninety-seven thousand; while those who perished in thesiege, from its commencement to its close, amounted to one million onehundred thousand. Of these the greater part were of Jewish blood, thoughnot natives of the place. Having assembled from the whole country forthe feast of unleavened bread, they were suddenly hemmed in by the war;so that their confined situation caused at first a pestilential disease,and afterwards famine also, still more rapid in its effects." VI. IX. 3.
| Number of Jews killed and taken prisoners. |
| "Cæsar ordered the whole of the city and the sanctuary to be razed tothe foundations, leaving the three loftiest towers, Phasaëlus, Hippicus,and Mariamne, and that portion of the wall which enclosed the town onthe west; the latter as an encampment for those who should remain therein garrison; the towers, to indicate to future times how splendid andhow strong a city had yielded to Roman valour. All the rest of the wallthat encompassed the city was so completely levelled with the groundthat there was no longer anything to lead those who visited the spot tobelieve that it had ever been inhabited. So fell Jerusalem, a victim ofrevolutionary frenzy: a magnificent city, and celebrated throughout theworld." VII. I. 1. | Final destruction of Jerusalem. |
|
"There are many strong places and villages in the country of Judæa, butone strong city there is, about fifty furlongs in circumference, whichis inhabited by a hundred and twenty thousand men or thereabout."(Against Apion, I. 22.)
| Population of Jerusalem indicated by Hecatæus of Abdera. |