After the whole of Galilee had been thus subdued, Titus joined his father at Cæsarea, and there their armies had a little rest.
The troubles in Rome after the death of Nero, a.d. 68, prevented Vespasian having the means of carrying on the war with vigour; and indeed he was in no hurry to begin the siege of Jerusalem, because the Jews were daily rendering his task more easy, by fighting amongst themselves, and so wasting that strength which should have been kept to resist the enemy.
The city of Jerusalem was at this time in a most dreadful state of confusion and tumult. The inhabitants were divided into two parties: one party, seeing that a continuance of war would totally ruin their country, wished to submit to the Romans; the other party, the Zealots, would not hear of submission; and as they were the worst of men, they committed the most horrid crimes, often under pretence of religion. No person's life was safe, and the whole city was distracted by acts of violence and cruelty. The leader of the party of Zealots within the city was a man named John; another man named Simon, of equally bad character, headed a party outside, and collecting a band of ruffians, encamped with them before the city. Some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who suffered severely from the tyranny of John, fearing that he would burn the city, unhappily determined to let Simon and his troops come in, by way of defending them against John. But this step only increased their miseries; for they now suffered from the violence and wickedness of two parties, instead of one. Thus a third party was formed in Jerusalem; and these three parties, instead of joining to defend themselves against the Romans, fought against each other, and many were killed, even in the temple, and before the very altar itself.
Chapter XXXV.—DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM.
We have said that after the death of Nero, a.d. 68, there were great troubles in Rome, where three different Emperors succeeded each other in the space of one year; but this state of things was put an end to in a.d. 69, when the Romans chose Vespasian to be their Emperor. The next year, the Emperor Vespasian sent his son Titus to force the rebellious Jews into obedience, and so put an end to this destructive war. Titus and his army marched towards Jerusalem, which to look at was a most magnificent and glorious city, though it had unhappily become the habitation of violence and all that is bad and wicked. The city was built upon two mountains, enclosed with walls, and surrounded by deep valleys. The walls were guarded by towers; and altogether the place was well able to resist the attacks of an enemy. But, instead of preparing to defend themselves, the Jews hurried on their own destruction; for at the very time when a formidable army was rapidly approaching the city, the contending parties within the walls were continually occupied in inventing new ways of destroying each other; and in their fury, they wasted and destroyed considerable quantities of provisions, of which they had afterwards great reason to repent.
Although danger and misery now threatened the city from the factions within and the enemy without, multitudes of people unwisely crowded into it to keep the Passover; thus adding sadly to the general confusion and distress. Miserable indeed was the state of Jerusalem when, in the year a.d. 70, Titus marched towards it with a formidable army. The actual approach of the Romans, put a stop for the time to the fighting amongst the Jews; and joining together, they left the city, and forced Titus and his soldiers to leave their camp and retire to the mountains: but no sooner had the Jews thus obtained an interval of quiet, than their quarrels began again. In the mean time the Romans were making every exertion to prepare for the siege of Jerusalem, which was surrounded by three walls, one within another, with a good space between them, filled with buildings.
Titus sent Josephus to speak to his countrymen, and offer them peace and safety if they would now submit and receive him into their city; but these offers were refused by the infatuated Jews. They were repeated with no better success; and after they had been several times rejected, the Romans made their first attack; and at length made a breach, or gap, in the first, or outermost, wall, and so entered into that part of the city, whilst the Jews retreated within the second wall.
The Romans having encamped within the first wall, now attacked the second wall, and forced their way through that also: and the Jews retired within the third wall, many of them taking refuge in the temple and in the Fort Antonia. The greater part of the wretched inhabitants would now have submitted to the Romans, and given up their city; but the Zealots murdered all who ventured to speak of such a thing. The great numbers of people now shut up within the walls of Jerusalem, soon devoured the provisions, and added the horrors of famine to the other terrible sufferings of the Jews. The Zealots forced their way into the houses of all whom they suspected of having any food, and carried away whatever they could find. The nearest relations snatched food from each other, in the extremity of their hunger. Many of the starving Jews, who during the night ventured to go beyond the city walls, to collect roots and herbs, were seized by the Roman soldiers, and crucified in the morning: so that several hundreds were frequently seen at a time, suffering the same agony of body which had been endured by our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. It is impossible to describe what the Jews went through at this time. We shall remember that when they insisted on the crucifixion of Jesus, contrary to the wishes of Pilate himself, they had cried out, "His blood be on us and on our children"; and fearfully were they now punished for having shed His blood. Josephus, in his history of all that happened in Jerusalem at this time, writes: "Never did any other city suffer such woes, nor was there ever a more wicked generation since the beginning of the world."
At length the Romans broke through the third, or inner, wall, and got possession of the Fort Antonia, and pursued the Jews into the temple. The Jews for a moment fled before their enemies; but the foremost soldier slipped upon the marble pavement and fell. Then the Jews turned, and killed him, and drove the rest of the soldiers back into the fort. Even now the Jews still refused to submit; and the temple, instead of being a place of worship, became a scene of battle and confusion.