Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)

Coordinates: 31°46′41″N 35°14′9″E

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The siege of Jerusalem of 70 CE was the

Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)
decisive event of the First Jewish–Roman War
(66–73 CE), in which the Roman army led by Part of the First Jewish–Roman War
future emperor Titus besieged Jerusalem, the
center of Jewish rebel resistance in the Roman
province of Judaea. Following a five-month siege,
the Romans destroyed the city and the Second
Jewish Temple.[1][2][3]

In April 70 CE, three days before Passover, the

Roman army started besieging Jerusalem.[4][5]
The city had been taken over by several rebel
Destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by Francesco
factions following a period of massive unrest and
Hayez. Oil on canvas, 1867.
the collapse of a short-lived provisional
government. Within three weeks, the Roman Date 14 April – 8 September 70 CE
army broke the first two walls of the city, but a (4 months, 3 weeks and 4 days)
stubborn rebel standoff prevented them from
Location Jerusalem, Judea
penetrating the thickest and third wall.[4][6]
31°46′41″N 35°14′9″E
According to Josephus, a contemporary historian
and the main source for the war, the city was Result Roman victory
ravaged by murder, famine and cannibalism.[7]
▪ Main rebel Judean forces subdued.
On Tisha B'Av, 70 CE (August 30),[8]
Roman ▪ City of Jerusalem and the Temple of
forces overwhelmed the defenders and set fire to Jerusalem destroyed.
the Temple.[9] Resistance continued for another ▪ Further Roman expansion into the
month, but eventually the upper and lower parts
Levant
of the city were taken as well, and the city was
burned to the ground. Titus spared only the three Territorial Roman rule of Jerusalem restored
towers of the Herodian citadel as a testimony to changes
the city's former might.[10][11] The siege had a
Belligerents
major toll on human life, with many people being
killed and enslaved, and large parts of the city Roman Zealots
destroyed. This victory gave the Flavian dynasty Empire Remnants of the
legitimacy to claim control over the empire. A Judean provisional
triumph was held in Rome to celebrate the fall of government
Jerusalem, and two triumphal arches were built
to commemorate it. The treasures looted from the ▪ Sadducees
Temple were put on display.[7] ▪ Pharisees

The destruction of Jerusalem and the Second

▪ Peasantry faction
Temple marked a major turning point in Jewish
history.[7][12][13] The loss of mother-city and ▪ Idumaeans
temple necessitated a reshaping of Jewish culture
to ensure its survival. Judaism's Temple-based Commanders and leaders
sects, including the priesthood and the
Sadducees, diminished in importance.[14] A new
form of Judaism that became known as Rabbinic Titus Simon bar Giora  John of
Judaism developed out of Pharisaic school and Julius Giscala (POW)
eventually became the mainstream form of the Alexander Eleazar ben
religion.[2][13][7][15] Many followers of Jesus of Simon †
Nazareth also survived the city's destruction. They
spread his teachings across the Roman Empire, Strength
giving rise to the new religion of Christianity. [7] 70,000 15,000–20,000 10,000
After the war had ended, a military camp of Legio Casualties and losses
X Fretensis was established on the city's ruins.
[16][17] Jerusalem was later re-founded as the Unknown 15,000–20,000 10,000
Roman colony of Aelia Capitolina. Foreign cults
were introduced and Jews were forbidden entry.[18][19][20] This event is often considered one of the
catalysts for the Bar Kokhba revolt.[21][22]

Background
During the Second Temple Period, Jerusalem was the center of religious and national life for Jews,
including those in the Diaspora.[23] The Second Temple attracted tens and maybe hundreds of
thousands during the Three Pilgrimage Festivals.[23] The city reached a peak in size and population
during the late Second Temple period, when the city covered two square kilometres (3⁄4 square mile)
and had an estimated population of 200,000.[19][24] In his Natural History, Pliny the Elder
celebrated it as "by far, the most famous of the cities of the East".[25]

In the early Roman period, Jerusalem had two distinct precincts. The first encompassed the regions
within the "first wall", the City of David and the Upper City, and was heavily built up, though less so
at its wealthy parts. The second, known as the "suburb" or "Bethesda", lay north of the first and was
sparsely populated. It contained that section of Jerusalem within the Herodian "second wall" (which
was still standing), though it was itself surrounded by the new "third wall", built by king Agrippa
I.[26]

Josephus stated that Agrippa wanted to build a wall at least 5 meters thick, literally impenetrable by
contemporary siege engines. Agrippa, however, never moved beyond the foundations, out of fear of
emperor Claudius "lest he should suspect that so strong a wall was built in order to make some
innovation in public affairs."[27] It was only completed later, to a lesser strength and in much haste,
when the First Jewish–Roman War broke out and the defenses of Jerusalem had to be bolstered.
Nine towers adorned the third wall.

Outbreak of rebellion

The First Jewish–Roman War, also known as the Great Jewish Revolt, broke following the
appointment of prefect Gessius Florus and his demand to receive Temple funds.[26] Nero entrusted
the job of crushing the rebellion in Judaea to Vespasian, a talented and unassuming general. In early
68 CE, Vespasian landed at Ptolemais and began suppression of the revolt with operations in the
Galilee. By July 69 all of Judea but Jerusalem had been pacified and the city, now hosting rebel
leaders from all over the country, came under Roman siege.[10]

A fortified stronghold, it may have held for a significant amount of time, if not for the intense civil
war that then broke out between moderates and Zealots.[10] In the summer of 69 CE, Vespasian
departed Judea for Rome and in December became Emperor, with command of the Roman legions
passing to his son Titus.

Siege
Josephus places the siege in the second year of Vespasian,[28] which corresponds to year 70 of the
Common Era. Titus began his siege a few days before Passover,[4] on 14 Xanthicus (April),[5]
surrounding the city with three legions (V Macedonica, XII Fulminata, XV Apollinaris) on the
western side and a fourth (X Fretensis) on the Mount of Olives, to the east.[29][30] If the reference in
his Jewish War at 6:421 is to Titus's siege, though difficulties exist with its interpretation, then at the
time, according to Josephus, Jerusalem was thronged with many people who had come to celebrate
Passover.[31]

The thrust of the siege began in the west at the Third Wall, north of the Jaffa Gate. By May, this was
breached and the Second Wall also was taken shortly afterwards, leaving the defenders in possession
of the Temple and the upper and lower city.

The Jewish defenders were split into factions. Simon Bar Giora and John of Giscala, the two
prominent Zealot leaders, placed all blame for the failure of the revolt on the shoulders of the
moderate leadership. John of Gischala's group murdered another faction leader, Eleazar ben Simon,
whose men were entrenched in the forecourts of the Temple.[4] The Zealots resolved to prevent the
city from falling into Roman hands by all means necessary, including the murder of political
opponents and anyone standing in their way.[32]

There were still those wishing to negotiate with the Romans and bring a peaceful end to the siege.
The most prominent of these was Yohanan ben Zakkai, whose students smuggled him out of the city
in a coffin in order to deal with Vespasian. This, however, was insufficient to deal with the madness
that had now gripped the Zealot leadership in Jerusalem and the reign of terror it unleashed upon
the population of the city.[32] Josephus describes various acts of savagery committed against the
people by its own leadership, including the torching of the city's food supply in an apparent bid to
force the defenders to fight for their lives.

The enmities between John of Gischala and Simon bar Giora were papered over only when the
Roman siege engineers began to erect ramparts. Titus then had a wall built to girdle the city in order
to starve out the population more effectively. After several failed attempts to breach or scale the walls
of the Fortress of Antonia, the Romans finally launched a secret attack.[4] Despite early successes in
repelling the Roman sieges, the Zealots fought amongst themselves, and they lacked proper
leadership, resulting in poor discipline, training, and preparation for the battles that were to follow.
At one point they destroyed the food stocks in the city, a drastic measure thought to have been
undertaken perhaps in order to enlist a merciful God's intervention on behalf of the besieged
Jews,[33] or as a stratagem to make the defenders more desperate, supposing that was necessary in
order to repel the Roman army.[34]

According to Josephus, when the Romans reached Antonia they tried to destroy the wall which
protected it. They removed four stones only, but during the night the wall collapsed. "That night the
wall was so shaken by the battering rams in that place where John had used his stratagem before,
and had undermined their banks, that the ground then gave way, and the wall fell down suddenly."
(v. 28) [35] Following this, Titus had raised banks beside the court of the Temple: on the north-west
corner, on the north side, and on the west side (v. 150). [36]

Josephus goes on to say that the Jews then attacked the Romans on the east, near the Mount of
Olives, but Titus drove them back to the valley. Zealots set the north-west colonnade on fire (v. 165).
The Romans set the next one on fire, and the Jews wanted it to burn (v. 166), and they also trapped
some Roman soldiers when they wanted to climb over the wall. They had burned wood under the wall
when Romans were trapped on it (v. 178–183).

After Jewish allies killed a number of Roman soldiers, Josephus claims that Titus sent him to
negotiate with the defenders; this ended with Jews wounding the negotiator with an arrow, and
another sally was launched shortly after. Titus was almost captured during this sudden attack, but
escaped.

Overlooking the Temple compound, the fortress provided a perfect point from which to attack the
Temple itself. Battering rams made little progress, but the fighting itself eventually set the walls on
fire; a Roman soldier threw a burning stick onto one of the Temple's walls. Destroying the Temple
was not among Titus's goals, possibly due in large part to the massive expansions done by Herod the
Great mere decades earlier. Titus had wanted to seize it and transform it into a temple dedicated to
the Roman Emperor and the Roman pantheon. However, the fire spread quickly and was soon out of
control. The Temple was captured and destroyed on 9/10 Tisha B'Av, sometime in August 70 CE, and
the flames spread into the residential sections of the city.[4][30] Josephus described the scene:

As the legions charged in, neither persuasion nor threat could check their impetuosity:
passion alone was in command. Crowded together around the entrances many were
trampled by their friends, many fell among the still hot and smoking ruins of the
colonnades and died as miserably as the defeated. As they neared the Sanctuary they
pretended not even to hear Caesar's commands and urged the men in front to throw in
more firebrands. The partisans were no longer in a position to help; everywhere was
slaughter and flight. Most of the victims were peaceful citizens, weak and unarmed,
butchered wherever they were caught. Round the Altar the heaps of corpses grew higher
and higher, while down the Sanctuary steps poured a river of blood and the bodies of
those killed at the top slithered to the bottom.[37]

Josephus's account absolves Titus of any culpability for the destruction of the Temple, but this may
merely reflect his desire to procure favor with the Flavian dynasty.[37][38]

The Roman legions quickly crushed the remaining Jewish resistance. Some of the remaining Jews
escaped through hidden tunnels and sewers, while others made a final stand in the Upper City.[39]
This defense halted the Roman advance as they had to construct siege towers to assail the remaining
Jews. Herod's Palace fell on 7 September, and the city was completely under Roman control by 8
September.[40][41] The Romans continued to pursue those who had fled the city.

Destruction
The account of Josephus described Titus as moderate in his
approach and, after conferring with others, ordering that the 500-
year-old Temple be spared. According to Josephus, it was the
Jews who first used fire in the Northwest approach to the Temple
to try and stop Roman advances. Only then did Roman soldiers
set fire to an apartment adjacent to the Temple, starting a
conflagration which the Jews subsequently made worse.[42]

Josephus had acted as a mediator for the Romans and, when

negotiations failed, witnessed the siege and aftermath. He wrote:

Now as soon as the army had no more people to slay Progress of the Roman army during
or to plunder, because there remained none to be the the siege
objects of their fury (for they would not have spared
any, had there remained any other work to be done),
[Titus] Caesar gave orders that they should now
demolish the entire city and Temple, but should leave
as many of the towers standing as they were of the
greatest eminence; that is, Phasaelus, and Hippicus,
and Mariamne; and so much of the wall enclosed the
city on the west side. This wall was spared, in order to
afford a camp for such as were to lie in garrison [in the
Upper City], as were the towers [the three forts] also
spared, in order to demonstrate to posterity what kind
 of city it was, and how well fortified, which the Roman valor had subdued; but for all the
rest of the wall [surrounding Jerusalem], it was so thoroughly laid even with the ground
by those that dug it up to the foundation, that there was left nothing to make those that
came thither believe it [Jerusalem] had ever been inhabited. This was the end which
Jerusalem came to by the madness of those that were for innovations; a city otherwise of
great magnificence, and of mighty fame among all mankind.[43]
And truly, the very view itself was a melancholy thing; for those places which were
adorned with trees and pleasant gardens, were now become desolate country every way,
and its trees were all cut down. Nor could any foreigner that had formerly seen Judaea
and the most beautiful suburbs of the city, and now saw it as a desert, but lament and
mourn sadly at so great a change. For the war had laid all signs of beauty quite waste. Nor
had anyone who had known the place before, had come on a sudden to it now, would he
have known it again. But though he [a foreigner] were at the city itself, yet would he have
inquired for it.[44]

Archeological evidence

Over the years, various remains that provide evidence of

Jerusalem's destruction have been discovered, leading scholars to
believe that Josephus' description is accurate.[1][45] Ronny Reich
wrote that "While remains relating to the destruction of the
Temple are scant, those pertaining to the Temple Mount walls
and their close vicinity, the Upper City, the western part of the
city, and the Tyropoeon Valley are considerable. [...] It was found
that in most cases the archaeological record coincides with the
historical description, pointing to Josephus' reliability".[45] A fresco showing signs of burning,
Wohl Archaeological Museum,
In the 1970s and 1980s, a team led by Nahman Avigad discovered Jewish Quarter
traces of great fire that damaged the Upper City's residential
buildings. The fires consumed all organic matter. In houses where
there was a beamed ceiling between the floors, the fire caused the top of the building to collapse with
the top rows of stone, along with the top rows of stone, and they buried everything that remained in
the home under them. There are buildings where traces remain only in part of the house, and there
are buildings that have been completely burned. Calcium oxides have been discovered in several
locations, indicating that a lengthy burning damaged the limestones. The Burnt House in the
Herodian Quarter, for example, shows signs of a fire that raged at the site during the city's
destruction.[45][46]

The fire left its mark even on household utensils and objects that were in the same buildings.
Limestone vessels were stained with ash or even burned and turned into lime, glass vessels exploded
and warped from the heat of the fire until they could not be recovered in the laboratory. In contrast,
pottery and basalt survived. The layer of ash and charred wood left over from the fires reached a
height of about an average meter, and the rock falls reached up to two meters and more.[45]

The great urban drainage channel and the Pool of Siloam in the Lower City silted up and stopped
working, and the city walls collapsed in numerous places.[47]

Massive stone collapses from the Temple Mount's walls were discovered laying over the Herodian
street that runs along the Western Wall.[48] Among these stones is the Trumpeting Place inscription,
a monumental Hebrew inscription which was thrown down by Roman legionnaires during the
destruction of the Temple.[49]

Deaths, enslavement and displacement

Josephus wrote that 1.1 million people, the majority of them
Jewish, were killed during the siege – a death toll he attributes to
the celebration of Passover.[50] Josephus goes on to report that
after the Romans killed the armed and elderly people, 97,000
were enslaved.[51] Josephus records that many people were sold
into slavery, and that of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 40,000
individuals survived, and the emperor let them to go wherever
they chose.[52] Before and during the siege, according to
Josephus' account, there were multiple waves of desertions from
the city.[53]

The Roman historian Tacitus later wrote: "... the total number of
the besieged of every age and both sexes was six hundred
thousand; there were arms for all who could use them, and the
number ready to fight was larger than could have been anticipated
from the total population. Both men and women showed the same
determination; and if they were to be forced to change their Stones from the Western Wall of the
home, they feared life more than death".[54] Temple Mount (Jerusalem) thrown
onto the street by Roman soldiers
Josephus' death toll figures have been rejected as impossible by on the Ninth of Av, 70
Seth Schwartz, who estimates that about a million people lived in
all of Palestine at the time, about half of them Jews, and that
sizable Jewish populations remained in the area after the war was over, even in the hard-hit region of
Judea.[55] Schwartz, however, believes that the captive number of 97,000 is more reliable.[53] It has
also been noted that the revolt had not deterred pilgrims from visiting Jerusalem, and a large number
became trapped in the city and perished during the siege.[56]

Many of the people of the surrounding area are also thought to have been driven from the land or
ensalved.[53]

Aftermath

Triumph

Titus and his soldiers celebrated victory upon their return to Rome by parading the Menorah and
Table of the Bread of God's Presence through the streets. Up until this parading, these items had only
ever been seen by the High Priest of the Temple. This event was memorialized in the Arch of
Titus.[50]

Some 700 Judean prisoners were paraded through the streets of Rome in chains during the triumph,
among them Simon bar Giora and John of Giscala.[51][57] Simon bar Giora was executed by being
thrown to his death from the Tarpeian Rock at the Temple of Jupiter after being judged a rebel and a
traitor,[58] while John of Giscala was sentenced to life imprisonment.[59][60]

Suppression of the revolt

After the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the city and its temple, there were still a few Judean
strongholds in which the rebels continued holding out, at Herodium, Machaerus, and Masada.[61]
Both Herodium and Machaerus fell to the Roman army within the next two years, with Masada
remaining as the final stronghold of the Judean rebels. In 73 CE, the Romans breached the walls of
Masada and captured the fortress, with Josephus claiming that nearly all of the Jewish defenders had
committed mass suicide prior to the entry of the Romans.[62] With the fall of Masada, the First
Jewish–Roman War came to an end.
Bar Kokhba revolt

Six decades after the suppression of the revolt, another revolt known as the Bar Kokhba revolt
erupted in Judaea in 132 CE.[63] The construction of a roman colony named Aelia Capitolina over the
ruins of Jerusalem and the construction of a temple to Jupiter on the Temple Mount, among other
things, are thought to have been major catalysts for the revolt.[64]

Supported by the Sanhedrin, Simon Bar Kosiba (later known as Bar Kokhba) established a short-
lived independent state that was conquered by the Romans in 135 CE. The revolt resulted in the
extensive depopulation of Judean communities, more so than during the First Jewish–Roman
War.[65] The Jewish communities of Judea were devastated to an extent which some scholars
describe as a genocide.[65][66] However, the Jewish population remained strong in other parts of
Palestine, thriving in Galilee, Golan, Bet Shean Valley, and the eastern, southern, and western edges
of Judea.[67] Emperor Hadrian wiped the name Judaea off the map and replaced it with Syria
Palaestina.[68][69][70]

Commemoration
The Flavian dynasty celebrated the fall of Jerusalem by building
two monumental triumphal arches. The Arch of Titus, which stills
stands today, was built c. 82 CE by the Roman Emperor Domitian
on Via Sacra, Rome, to commemorate the siege and fall of
Jerusalem.[71] The bas-relief on the arch depicts soldiers carrying
spoils from the Temple, including the Menorah, during a victory
procession. A second, less known Arch of Titus constructed at the
The victory was commemorated in
southeast entrance to the Circus Maximus was built by the Senate
Rome with the Arch of Titus, which
in 82 CE. Only a few traces of it remain today.[7] depicts the valuables seized from
the Temple, including the Temple
In 75 CE, the Temple of Peace, also known as the Forum of
menorah
Vespasian, was built under Emperor Vespasian in Rome. The
monument was built to celebrate the conquest of Jerusalem and it
is said to have housed the Temple Menorah from Herod's Temple.[72]

The Colosseum, otherwise known as the Flavian Amphitheater, built in Rome between 70 and 82 CE,
is believed to have been partially financed by the spoils of the Roman victory over the Jews.
Archaeological discoveries have found a block of travertine that bears dowel holes that show the
Jewish Wars financed the building of the amphitheater.[73]

Judaea Capta coinage: Judaea Capta coins were a series of commemorative coins originally issued by
Vespasian to celebrate the capture of Judaea and the destruction of the Temple by his son Titus.[74]

In Jewish tradition, the annual fast day of Tisha B'Av marks the destruction of the First and Second
Temples, which according to Jewish tradition, occurred on the same day on the Hebrew calendar.

In Jewish and Christian eschatology

The Jewish Amoraim attributed the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem as punishment from
God for the "baseless" hatred that pervaded Jewish society at the time.[75] Many Jews in despair are
thought to have abandoned Judaism for some version of paganism, many others sided with the
growing Christian sect within Judaism.[55]: 196–198 

The destruction was an important point in the separation of Christianity from its Jewish roots: many
Christians responded by distancing themselves from the rest of Judaism, as reflected in the Gospels,
which portray Jesus as anti-Temple and view the destruction of the temple as punishment for
rejection of Jesus.[55]: 30–31 
Jerusalem retained its importance in Jewish life and culture even after its destruction, and it became
a symbol of hope for return, rebuilding and renewal of national life.[23] The belief in a Third Temple
remains a cornerstone of Orthodox Judaism.[76]

In popular culture
The siege and destruction of Jerusalem has inspired writers and artists through the centuries.

Art
▪ The Franks Casket (8th century). The back side of the casket
depicts the siege.[77]
▪ The Destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem by Nicolas Poussin
(1637). Oil on canvas, 147 × 198.5 cm. Kunsthistorisches Museum,
Vienna. Depicts the destruction and looting of the Second Temple
by the Roman army led by Titus.[78]
▪ The Destruction of Jerusalem by Titus by Wilhelm von Kaulbach
(1846). Oil on canvas, 585 × 705 cm. Neue Pinakothek, Munich. An
allegorical depiction of the destruction of Jerusalem, dramatically
centered on the figure of the High Priest, with Titus entering from
the right.[79] 'Siege and destruction of
Jerusalem', La Passion de
▪ The Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans Under the
Command of Titus, 70 by David Roberts (1850). Oil on canvas, 136 Nostre Seigneur c.1504
× 197 cm. Private collection. Depicts the burning and looting of
Jerusalem by the Roman army under Titus.[80]
▪ The Destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem by Francesco Hayez (1867). Oil on canvas, 183 ×
252 cm. Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice. Depicts the destruction and looting of the Second
Temple by the Roman army.[81]

Literature
▪ Siege of Jerusalem, a Middle English poem (c.
1370–1390).[82]
▪ The Great Jewish Revolt, book series by James Mace
(2014–2016).
▪ The Lost Wisdom of the Magi, book by Susie Helme (2020). The Siege and Destruction of
▪ Rebel Daughter, book by Lori Banov Kaufmann (2021). Jerusalem, by David Roberts
(1850).

Film
▪ Legend of Destruction (2021), an Israeli animated historical drama film.

See also
History portal

▪ Council of Jamnia
▪ Fiscus Judaicus
▪ Flight to Pella
▪ Herod's Temple
▪ Holyland Model of Jerusalem
 ▪ Jesus ben Ananias
▪ Kamsa and Bar Kamsa
▪ Preterism

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Mount were exposed lying over the Herodian street running along the Western Wall of the Temple
Mount. The residential buildings of the Ophel and the Upper City were destroyed by great fire.
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approximations since the correspondence between the calendar Josephus used and modern
calendars is uncertain.
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=HsrGEFpW80UC&pg=PA212). Oxford University Press. p. 212. ISBN 978-0-19-510233-8.
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fast of Tisha B'Av.
10. Rocca (2008), pp. 51–52.
11. Goodman, Martin (2008). Rome and Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient Civilizations (http://worldca
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parts of the lower city already under Roman control were deliberately set on fire. The erection of
new towers to break down the walls of the upper city was completed on 7 Elul (in mid-August),
and the troops forced their way in. By 8 Elul the whole city was in Roman hands – and in ruins. In
recompense for the ferocious fighting they had been required to endure, the soldiers were given
free rein to loot and kill, until eventually Titus ordered that the city be razed to the ground, 'leaving
only the loftiest of the towers, Phasael, Hippicus and Mariamme, and the portion of the wall
enclosing the city on the west: the latter as an encampment for the garrison that was to remain,
and the towers to indicate to posterity the nature of the city and of the strong defences which had
yet yielded to Roman prowess. All the rest of the wall encompassing the city was so completely
levelled to the ground as to leave future visitors to the spot no ground for believing that it had
ever been inhabited.' "
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20), Neusner on Judaism, Routledge, pp. 399–413, doi:10.4324/9781351152761-20 (https://doi.o
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ISBN 978-1-78785-171-9. OCLC 1162305378 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1162305378). "Until
the modern period, the destruction of the Temple was the most cataclysmic moment in the history
of the Jewish people. Without the Temple, the Sadducees no longer had any claim to authority,
and they faded away. The sage Yochanan ben Zakkai, with permission from Rome, set up the
outpost of Yavneh to continue develop of Pharisaic, or rabbinic, Judaism."
14. Alföldy, Géza (1995). "Eine Bauinschrift aus dem Colosseum". Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und
Epigraphik. 109: 195–226. JSTOR 20189648 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/20189648).
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s://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/xlv.3.353). Journal of the American Academy of Religion. XLV (3):
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16. Weksler-Bdolah, Shlomit (9 December 2019), "The Camp of the Legion X Fretensis" (https://dx.d
oi.org/10.1163/9789004417076_003), Aelia Capitolina – Jerusalem in the Roman Period, Brill,
pp. 19–50, doi:10.1163/9789004417076_003 (https://doi.org/10.1163%2F9789004417076_003),
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Romans in 70 CE, a military camp of the Tenth Roman Legion was established on part of the
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17; Vita, 422); it can be understood from the text of a diploma of 93 CE: "(veterani) qui
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Reconsideration" (https://www.jstor.org/stable/27925952). Israel Exploration Journal. 34 (4):
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18. Peter Schäfer (2003). The Bar Kokhba war reconsidered: new perspectives on the second
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immensely increased the casualties. One horrendous example: In expectation of a Roman siege,
Jerusalem's Jews had stockpiled a supply of dry food that could have fed the city for many years.
But one of the warring Zealot factions burned the entire supply, apparently hoping that destroying
this "security blanket" would compel everyone to participate in the revolt. The starvation resulting
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s?id=XWIMFY4VnI4C&pg=PA243). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-955448-5. "These
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tells us a great deal. What is clear from the evidence of both skeletal remains and artefacts is that
the Roman assault on the Jewish population of the Dead Sea was so severe and comprehensive
that no one came to retrieve precious legal documents, or bury the dead. Up until this date the
Bar Kokhba documents indicate that towns, villages and ports where Jews lived were busy with
industry and activity. Afterwards there is an eerie silence, and the archaeological record testifies
to little Jewish presence until the Byzantine era, in En Gedi. This picture coheres with what we
have already determined in Part I of this study, that the crucial date for what can only be
described as genocide, and the devastation of Jews and Judaism within central Judea, was 135
CE and not, as usually assumed, 70 CE, despite the siege of Jerusalem and the Temple's
destruction"
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name that became common in non-Jewish literature."
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seems clear that by choosing a seemingly neutral name – one juxtaposing that of a neighboring
province with the revived name of an ancient geographical entity (Palestine), already known from
the writings of Herodotus – Hadrian was intending to suppress any connection between the
Jewish people and that land." ISBN 978-0-89236-800-6
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Schäfer, ISBN 978-3-16-148076-8
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Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications. Retrieved 28 August 2018.

External links
▪ The Temple Mount and Fort Antonia (https://web.archive.org/web/20050601073725/http://askelm.
com/temple/t980504.htm)
▪ Map of the siege of Jerusalem (http://preteristarchive.com/JewishWars/gs-siege.html) Archived (h
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110527153234/http://preteristarchive.com/JewishWars/gs-siege.htm
l) 27 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine

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