Harry Thomas Frank

Excerpts from "Discovering the Biblical World"

To many the breach between the Roman state and the Jews may have been unexpected. For years the Herodian family had had close and important ties with Rome. Since Herod the Great's time the Jewish royal family, as we have seen, had enjoyed an intimacy and occasional influence with Roman emperors that was extraordinary. And the Jewish people had benefited from the edicts and desires of Caesar, Anton)' and Octavian however politically motivated. If from time to time there was friction it did not affect the toleration shown the Jews by the Romans. Even the expulsion of the Jews from Rome under Claudius seems to have been more for the purpose of maintaining order than religious persecution. However, the present situation in Judea required a different reaction. An entire province was passing out of control and the Roman East was in jeopardy. If the Jewish Revolt succeeded, Parthia, Rome's enemy in the east, was ready to pick up the pieces. Once the Romans were sufficiently alerted to the danger, past associations and toleration would be quickly forgotten in suppressing the rebellion. The Roman response was in evitable; only the time it took those in authority to react was surprising.

Gallus, legate of Syria, receiving mess ages from Florus blaming the Jews and also confronted by a Jewish delegation complaining to Florus, acted in his normal way. He sent an officer to investigate. And that was that. Other legates had reacted far stronger to less serious situations. Gallus, however, was enjoying Antioch, and his legions would stay there to enjoy it with him.

Agrippa II, who had worked so hard to prevent hostilities, counseled moderation but his people threw stones at him. Florus had passed the mobs over to the extremists. Roman brutality and greed were to be met measure for measure by Jewish fanaticism and intransigence. There was nothing for it now but war. With sorrow Agrippa withdrew from Judea to his own realm north of the Sea of Galilee, from which he watched his beloved, long-suffering and completely furious people throw themselves before the Roman juggernaut. Only Agrippa seemed to comprehend the intensity of the fury that was about to overwhelm the land. Gallus did not recognize the seriousness of the situation. Florus either did not see or did not care about the implications of his actions.
Strangest of all, the officers of some of the military garrisons in Judea were also caught completely off guard by events. Seemingly impregnable Masada fell to a group of rebels with ease, and with it an enormous armory Herod had prepared for use against Cleopatra more than a century earlier. And the Antonia, that massive monument to military mentality, fell after only two days of siege by a mob. Both fortresses were self-contained and should have held out for years. But the storm broke over the somehow unsuspecting garrisons before they could deploy their potential might. The signs of the times were everywhere and had been clear for a long time. The Romans seemed totally unable to read them.

When word of hostilities in Judea was brought to Nero, he too seemed bored with the whole thing and resented such an intrusion upon other affairs. For over a century Judea had been vital to Roman interests. It is difficult to see how, when the supreme crisis came, no one in the chain of command took the initial events seriously. All of this, of course, only gave the rebels much needed time to consolidate. Had Gallus moved in the spring of 66 with the speed and determination Varus had shown earlier, the whole thing might have been over in a matter of weeks. As it was, the war went on for seven years.
The Revolt itself falls into four stages: the rebel success, the appearance of Vespasian and his Galilee campaign, the siege and fall of Jerusalem and the mopping-up of the desert fortresses.

The rebel success at Masada surprised everyone They had induced the garrison there to surrender and then slaughtered the lot in cold blood. Oddly nough. not even this steeled the sinew and strengthened the nerve of other garrisons Jerusalem was in chaos and shortly the scene at Masada was reeated at the Antonia - a wholesale butchery of the surrendered soldiers. The focus now fell upon troops holding out in Herod's new palace. These men abandoned the royal apartment complex and barricaded themselves in the hree towers. Agrippa, who had striven mightily to prevent this war, now sided wholly with the Romans Some of his forces were sent to reinforce the besieged fortress. But the situation was hopeless, and they too soon found themselves in desperate straits. The "Roman" soldiers who were no\v shut up in this splendid edifice were not, of course, from Italy. Apart from Agrippa's men they were, like those who fell at the Antonia, from Caesarea and Sebaste, mostly Caesarcans. Rebel hatred for these men knew no bounds. They agreed to allow Agrippa's troops to leave the city, but no Caesareans could be allowed to escape. In smart files the reprieved marched away while the doomed watched from the towers. Those left behind may have held the hope that the rebels' lust for blood had been satisfied at the Antonia, but unknown to these men the rebels had been conducting a blood purge of their fellow Jews in the Holy City. All who opposed the uprising or who had counseled moderation were sought out. Ananias, the high priest, was dragged from a tunnel under the Temple and slain. Others followed him. Then it was the turn of the hated Caesareans who unwisely surrendered the virtually impregnable towers. None were assaulted with more senseless brutality than were these men.

There was no need to exaggerate the details of this wanton slaughter of these Gentile soldiers; the truth was horrible enough. The Jews may with some justification have felt that they were merely getting even. But the results were predictable when word of events in Jerusalem reached Caesarea and other predominantly Gentile cities. As one candle passes flame to another in the darkness, so the cities around the eastern Mediterranean blazed one after another with anti-Jewish feelings and actions. Caesarea was first. The whole place literally exploded. In a little over an hour the entire Jewish population was massacred-20,000 people! The few hapless Jewish survivors were chained to galleys, there to end their miserable days.

The reaction in Caesarea produced a counterreaction. Jewish terrorist gangs were organized by extremists and sent to various nearby Gentile cities, especially those of the Decapolis. Both Gaza and Asealon were attacked and burned. as was magnificent Sebaste, long a focus for Jewish hatred. The Jewish terrorists did their work as far north as Tyre and even sought to infiltrate now watchful Caesarea.

Events at Scythopolis illustrate the awful plight in which some sections of the Jewish community found themselves. When the terrorists struck there, local Jews joined their Gentile neighbors in driving away the rebels. But the action, as we might well expect, had been a confusing one, and the fearful.

Gentiles drove 13,000 Jews from their homes lest they have a change of heart and join the rebels. These Jews had nowhere to go and feared for their lives lest the rebels come and take vengeance upon them. They should have looked in the other direction, for it was the Gentiles of their own city who attacked them. These poor Jews, caught in the middle, had not moved far enough away from the city in time to satisfy the security needs of their pan- icked and terrified former neighbors. Gerasa was the singular example of an entirely different situation. There Jew and Gentile alike realized that it would not long be safe for the Jewish community of Gerasa to remain in this important city on the road to Damascus. With lovine care and sorrow Gentiles helped their neighbors pack, supplied them with what they could and bid them Godspeed and safe journey. Later in the course of the war Gerasa paid dearly for "ailing the enemy' in this manner.

Not even Caesarea Philippi, Agrippa's capital, escaped the madness. Agrippa had dashed north to urge Gallus to move. The troubles were now spreading beyond the borders of Judea. Tyre had been attacked. There was fierce fighting in Egypt. While Agrippa appealed to the incompetent Gallus the Gentiles of his own city turned murderously on the Jews there, eliminating them. Agrippa returned to find himself one of the few Jews left in Caesarea Philippi.

What was Florus doing all this time? The primary duties of a Roman governor were two: to see that his province was not invaded from without and to maintain order within. Florus had not only the authority and the duty to act, but also every possible motivation of self-preservation. He would be held responsible for all this. Yet there is reason to think that he was involved with some of the terrorists. Although he probably did not share their treasonable intent, hc did find it possible to make money by dealing with them. It would not have been the first time in Roman provincial history that a corrupt governor schemed to make enough money to bribe the jury that he knew was to try him in Rome. For a certain mentality this was standard practice, and in Neronian Rome it was more or less expected.

Perhaps Gallus was waiting for Florus to request intervention by the legions Gal us, however, had the authority and duty to intervene without such action on the part of the governor. And finally he did. It was not too late. but with the situation, too little. marched south with only the XLIth Legion (about 4.200 men) plus six cohorts of infantry and four units of cavalry (another 2.520 men) picked from other legions under his command. Like also had auxiliaries (some 15,000 men) sent by Rome's client kings. The uprising began to collapse at the sight of the spears and short swords, of the standards and flashing armor. Almost at a stroke and much to my surprise Gallus soon held the coast. In October he moved from Caesarea to retake Jerusalem and proved that he was as incompetent as a field commander as he was as an administrator. Passing through Beth-horon where Jonathan had routed the Philistines so many years before. Gallus. Having failed to take the most elementary precautions in unfamiliar hill country. saw his train set upon by swift guerrillas who hit and ran. The lesson was lost on the Roman commander. Gallus temporized before the walls of Jerusalem. apparently not knowing exactly what to do. When he did finally assault Agrippas wall, its defenders fled almost at the sight of the waves of approaching soldiers. Gallus occupied the New City and burned it. The advantage lay with him. Jerusalem's rebels were in panic and were, moreover. among themselves . Again Gal-Ins hesitated, this time for almost a week. Then he tried to take what remained of the Antonia, which the rebels had partially burned. While a "tortoise" (soldiers holding shields over their heads) approached the walls, others undermined a large section of the defensive barricade. A path lay open for an attack on the Temple ;hich, we should recall, was also a fortress and the center of rebel operations. But gain Gallus did not follow his opportunity, not even one he had made for himself.

Gallus had lost his chance. Winter was almost upon him. He decided to retreat. The defenders of Jerusalem, many of whom thought their days were tumbered, could hardly believe it. Yet it was true; the camps were being broken up, supplies that had to be left were in flames, and the road to the northwest had a cloud of dust over it. They were marching toward Beth-horon.

Gallus had learned nothing from his earlier experience on that road. The Fews had counted on this and in the hills around Beth-horon attacked the lemoralized column. Gallus withdrew to the town of Beth-horon and fortiied it through a sleepless night. By morning he had decided to get out of those tills as quickly as possible, so he ordered the soldiers onto the road once more. rhey were to leave behind everything that would slow them down. No time :o burn it, just go! It was thus that vast amounts of Roman siege machines ncluding catapults fell into Jewish hands. This artillery would prove extremely valuable in the defense of Jerusalem against Vespasian and Titus.

Even without encumbering weight Gallus' army did not make it. The XIIth Legion was cut to pieces between Beth-horon and Antipatris. Over 6,OOO lost their lives. It was one of Rome's more ignominious military disasters. In the interval following Gallus' retreat, efforts were being made to ,repare for the assault to come. But who would lead it? Certainly not Gallus.

The first phase of the war had come to an end. The rebels held most of Judea and a Jerusalem vastly strengthened by captured Roman equipment. They had even been able to spread the rebellion across the Jordan and had invested Machaerus.

What now was to happen? The Jews knew that the Romans would be back. They set about to organize the country into military districts following, as it turned out, the administrative arrangement by which Albinus had milked the land. At the same time internal strife among Jewish groups continued and in the flush of first success even intensified. When Agrippa had earlier urged upon the Jerusalemites the futility of opposing Roman arms, he had been right. The rebellion was doomed from the beginning. But its character was in large measure determined by a virtual state of war which existed among various Jewish factions. The first split was between those who supported the Revolt and those who did not. As the war dragged on some of those who did not support the cause were able to extract themselves. Large numbers of Pharisees withdrew from Jerusalem to Jamnia, while some Gentile Christians fled across the Jordan Valley to Pella. This did not, however, leave a unified front against the Romans. Some of the most savage fighting of the war took place between Jewish groups supporting the war.

News of Gallus' military affairs came to Nero in Greece. The emperor looked around for someone who could save the situation and make an end to it. Among his party was an old general, Flavius Vespasian, past fifty-eight. His parentage was undistinguished, and indeed his military career was hardly outstanding. But he had fought well in Britain under Claudius and he had served as consul in Rome. He had also been a provincial governor in Africa, where he had shown himself scrupulously honest. He was also bored with this whole Greek trip. Perhaps Nero could get rid of a dampening spirit and also find a competent man to deal with the Judean mess. So Vespasian was appointed military commander of Judea with the rank of legate. In addition to the four legions under Gallus (the XIIth was being reconstituted), he was given two others, the Vth Macedonians and the famous Xth, Fretensis, "the Free Legion." It was also decided that he should have the XVth, Apollonaris, which was in Alexandria. Tiberius Julius now had that city under control and the legion could be spared. Titus, Vespasian's son, was dispatched to Egypt to bring that legion into Judea. Furthermore, all of the client kings of the east were required by Nero to supply auxiliary forces to Vespasian.

The Judeans had seen legions before. Hut they had never seen an entire Roman army with seven legions acting in concert. The mere appearance of this vast array of might had an extraordinary effect, weakening the rebel cause by defections. But there were others who recalled the XIIth bleeding to death in the Judean hills and were willing to see what this new bunch were made of. Gallus had had upwards of 30,000 men, most of them untried auxiliaries. Vespasian commanded something like 60,000 men, most of them battle-hardened veterans. It was going to be different.

If any one quality characterized Vespasian it was prudence. He did everything with care, step by step. Neither impetuosity nor temporizing was in him. He might have temporary setbacks in the field, but the next day his plan just continued to unfold. He was thorough, he was careful; in the end he was successful. His first action was to move against Galilee. He strengthened Sepphoris and made it the nerve center for northern operations. Villages that gave support to the rebels were to be burned and their inhabitants massacred without exception. Horrors and human tragedy of every kind occurred since, if we are to believe Tacitus, the Roman veterans were determined to avenge the dishonor heaped upon Gallus and the XIIth Legion.

The Jewish forces in Galilee were concentrated in Jotapata, a site blessed by nature with natural defenses. To these Josephus, rebel commander in the north, had added massive walls. This is the same Josephus who as a historian recorded many of these events. The siege took forty-seven days, and in his account of the war Josephus gives us an almost moment-by-moment account of the Roman siege operations, the bravery of the defenders, the tenacity of the Romans and the suffering which was endured by the town's inhabitants. In the end, it was Roman rams, ramps and assault, towers that brought victory.

During the fighting for Jotapata, other cities and towns, heartened by the gallant Jewish defense, declared for the rebels. The fact that Vespasian could calmly detach units and send them to put down these risings shows both the care with which he had made his plans and the confidence he had in his work.

In Galilee Vespasian showed other qualities which distinguished him when he later became emperor. He did not seem to share the feeling of many of his troops that the defeat of a legion had to be revenged by bloodshed. The reputation of Roman arms did not, in his view, lie in their success or failure on a given occasion. It was the overall plan that mattered. He also wished to avoid harsh measures and bloodshed where possible.

In seeking to avoid unnecessary fighting the Roman general and his son Titus were sometimes taken in by their opponents. Vespasian's treatment of the town of Tiberias was one such case. He had no wish to destroy Tiberias, which after all, belonged to Agrippa. So he sent officers to parley with some of the leaders of the town. While this meeting was going on the officers were attacked and, although they escaped with their lives, they lost their horses and personal weapons. A normal military response would have been to attack the city. But Vespasian restrained himself and his troops and, determining that the treacherous assault had been made by rebels seeking to provoke the Romans into just such an attack, arranged to have the leaders of Tiberias demolish part of the wall as a sign of good faith. Then he entered without further incident.

At Gischala, the last town in Galilee remaining in rebel hands, the Romans again were deceived. This time it was John of Gischala, the rebel leader, who tricked Vespasian's son Titus into withdrawing from the outskirts of the town so that they could parley without being "under the gun," as it were. As the next day was the Sabbath, John wanted to know if the Roman commander would honor Jewish law and wait until Sunday to talk. Titus agreed. John seized the opportunity and, taking women and children as hostages, fled south toward Jerusalem. By the end of the year 67 all of Galilee was in Roman hands.

Vespasian and Titus had leamed a few things in the north. They never again responded to rebel pleas or promises, not even when tbese ostensibly involved missions of mercy. They also were not prepared to offer quarter once the rebels had rejected their offers. To parley with these people was, on the basis of their Galilean experience, to offer the enemy new opportunities.


In the spring of 68 Vespasian moved east of the Jordan to secure Perea. Suffice it to say that Vespasian was successful, except in the case of Machaerus which he was unable to subdue. A second Roman campaign that year in Judca and western Idumea added to the toll of Jewish losses. As before in Galilee Vespasian sent hordes of slaves to man galleys or cut away at the Isthmus of Corinth in a vain attempt to build Nero's Corinthian canal.
As the second phase of the war moved slowly to completion our focus can shift to Jerusalem and the ever interesting John of Giscbala. He is a type known to many ages. Having failed in Galilee and escaped only at the expense of the people he was supposed to be defending, be set himself up in Jerusalem as a hero. If he had not succeeded, be had at least-so he said- done much better than anyone else could have done under the circumstances. John also brought with him a faithful body of brigands. Religious extremists as well as plain bandits and ruffians were being squeezed out of the countryside by the Roman operations and poured into the heights above the Kidron. To say that Jerusalem became lawless is to suggest an order which it did not have. John gathered many of these people to himself. He was just like them, and they shared common purposes. They styled themselves "zealots," and it is from this self-designation that the name was applied to others.

It would be wrong, of course, to say that John and his followers were merely thieves and murderers. It was much more complicated than that. Brigands who had come or been driven into the city strengthened a religious movement which was already present and had existed long before the Revolt, as we have seen. The land must be purified, which meant that the foreigners - Romans, Greeks, Syrians, no matter which - must be driven out. And this could only be done by force, since thcse defilers of sacred soil obviously bad no intention of leaving on their own. Such a religious call to violence suited John and his Zealots admirably. They began with a purge of the priesthood. They accomplished several things at once by their actions. They appeased the religious, who longed for a purified Temple; they satisfied the ultranationalists, who hated the priests, many of whom had either openly cooperated with the Romans or had refused to support the revolt; they rallied the poor, who had been downtrodden partly-so they thought-by these rich Sadducees and last, but by no means least, they helped themselves to the fortunes of their victims.

So John brought a new reign of terror to Jerusalem. The Zealots next cast lots to select a new high priest. Phannias Hen Samuel was chosen. He was a provincial stonecutter from a minor priestly family who was now consecrated, adorned in the sacred vestments and quickly told what he was supposed to do. This somewhat bewildered man was the last in the line of Jewish high priests which traced its origin to Aaron, who had stood with his brother Moses defying the pharaoh and bad been at sacred Sinai when the Law was given.

Other citizens of Jerusalem did not quietly acquiesce to all this-the bloodshed, looting and mockery of the highest holy office. Many may well have cast anxious eyes upward to the damaged heights of the Antonia, hoping to see Roman helmets, which previously had kept some semblance of order in the city. But they were not there now, and if order tbere was to be, the more conservative Jews would have to provide it. The Sanhedrin led the people in an attack on the Zealots, who fell back on the Temple and barricaded themselves there.

John of Gischala learned of the plan of the Sanbedrin and spread the word that it was but a ruse to betray the city to the Romans. He schemed to bring a huge force of Idumeans into the city to finish off the population opposing him. But the plan was momentarily thwarted when the gates were shut against the howling mass which had come up from Hebron. Eventually, however, the Zealots managed to open one of the gates and with their newfound allies from the south they murdered, raped and pillaged at will. Nothing was sacred to these people. Even the attendants in the Temple were killed. Jew slashed away at Sew, and the overall slaughter was greater than the Romans had yet inflicted in any single place. Over 8,500 lives were lost. Anyone, rich or noble or suspected of being either, was hunted down. Leading Sadducees including the former high priest, were murdered, their bodies disgraced and left unburied. The Zealots bad begun to "democratize" Jeerusalem society in a manner not unknown in recent times.

This appalling butchery was ended only when the Idumeans grew tired of killing and bad gathered all the loot they could safely haul back to Hebron. Only then did they leave the city. As they withdrew from the moans of the dying and wails of the survivors they cast about, wary lest the Romans attack them. But Vespasian bad no intention of attacking them. He and his army were northwest, at Jamnia and Azotus, which they had just reduced. Why should be attack anyone? The Zealots were doing his job for him. All he bad to do was wait, or so it seemed at that juncture. There were still a few unfinished tasks in the Jordan Valley. Among these was the destniction of any sites that might prove useful to the rebels when be did mount his attack on Jerusalem. It was in this part of Vespasian's plan that Qumran was overrun by the Xth Legion. Gadara, chief city of Perea, was surrendered to Vespasian by the rich and powerful men of the city without the knowledge of the rebels. Those who were able to flee were overtaken and slain at the Jordan.

Following the destruction of so many of his opponents John of Gischala tried to unite all of the people under his aegis. More than likely the attempt would have failed anyway, but the appearance of a rival leader changed the situation. Simon Bar Gioras, bead of the extremist Sicarii who held Masada, made an appearance in Jerusalem challenging John. He was a genuine hero, having led the group that laid waste to the XIIth Legion earlier. It was, incidentally, partly because Simon was from Gerasa and also because Gerasa had been "soft" on the enemy that Vespasian ordered a thousand of its young men killed and the city looted.

Disquieting rumors from across the sea now drifted to Vespasian's ears. It was said that the army in Gaul had revolted against Nero. Further, Rome itself had bad enough of this insufferable degenerate. Vespasian could not confirm these rumors, but they had the ring of truth about them. He knew Galba, commanding in the west, and also Nero. The reports just migbt be tine. He had been at this business in Judea for three years. His, careful plan may have moved a bit slowly, but it bad succeeded brilliantly. Galilee, Perea, Judea had each in turn been subdued. A few desert fortresses held out- Machaerus, Herodium, Masada-but these were of little moment. The problem was Jerusalem. It was time to assault the city. It was time because of the chaos within its walls, and it was time because of those rumors.

Having carefully deployed his army Vespasian now began preparations to leave Caesarea for the attack on Jerusalem. On June 9, 69, Vespasian heard officially that Nero was dead. Plans to take Jerusalem were abandoned while Vespasian awaited developments in Rome. Once more in this curious war the rebels, on the verge of self-destruction, were given an interval in which to get hold of themselves and prepare for the coming onslaught.


The year 69 became the year of the four emperors. Galba bad indeed revolted against Nero and had been hailed by the army as imperator. But he was murdered by a member of his staff, Otho, who in turn lost the crown to Vitellius, a complete bore whose ruffian soldiers found it difficult to distinguish between Italians and enemies. His march to Rome with his troops made it certain that he would never hold the imperial dignity. Rome was learning a bitter lesson: the army could not be trusted with its newfound power.

Vespasian was in the field with almost half of the Roman army. On his staff was Tiberius Julius Alexander, who held sway in Egypt. With this military might plus control over the eastern grain supply he just might become emperor. Vespasian's hand was being forced as officials and military units declared for him. Nevertheless be was as careful as ever. He was, after all, sixty. Was it worth it to throw the empire into another civil war? Vitellius would not last under any circumstances. Then maybe the Senate would restore sanity. But three things turned this old soldier's steps toward the royal diadem. First, he was popular with the army and if the army were to choose an emperor it was increasingly evident that most of it would choose him. Second, Vespasian was superstitious, and as early as the Galilee campaign Josephus had prophesied that he would come out of the war as emperor. Other priests and prophetesses of various cults in the east had said the same thing. It weighed on his mind. Maybe this was the will of the gods. Third, on July 1, 69, Tiberius Julius openly declared for Vespasian and stopped the Egyptian grain ships from sailing.

Vespasian was never indecisive. It just took a long time for him to decide upon the right course. Now be had made up his mind. He would go to Egypt. Titus, his son, would finish the war in Judea. Mucianus, commander of the Syrian legions, would march to Italy and attack Vitellius on native soil in hopes that the offended citizenry would rise up in support of Vespasian. Before Mucianus had a chance to carry out this plan, the seven Danubian legions smashed Vitellius' army and dashed his imperial ambitions. The Danubians moved quickly down the Italian boot and right into Rome, where they did a good deal of damage. They were looking for Vitellius, and when they found him they literally tore him limb from limb. Less than six months alter Tiberius Julius' avowal of Vespasian the old soldier was an his way to Rome and triumph.

Enter Titus as commander; the decisive phase of the war could begin after almost a year of inactivity. His preparations were as careful as his father's, but Titus had a good deal more personal daring than his sire. He was, after all, barely thirty. Titus thus combined his father's plodding good sense with personal courage, a courage which often placed him in the very front Lines of the fight. He now assembled his legions and advanced toward Jerusalem It was the spring of the year 70.

Basically, Titus followed Vespasian's battle plan. The north and west walls were the most vulnerable, especially the northwest corner, even if it did contain the massive Psephinus Tower. The entire city was surrounded, with the major strength concentrated from the Mount of Olives around the north to Mount Scopus and westward from the Tomb of Queen Helena. Titus de:ided not to assault the Third Wall, that massive structure which had fallen so easily to Gallus. Agrippa I had died before completing the wall on its western end. Here Titus would mount his attack. He flung the full force of his army into battle.

It may be worth noting some of the Roman siege machines and techniques employed against the walls of Jerusalem. Cumbersome assault Lowers, some over seventy-five feet high were brought up. These towers were plated outside with armor and/or skins. A battering ram suspended at the base was capable of smashing through heavy masonry. At the critical moment a drawbridge could be let down from the tower so that soldiers could scamper onto the battlements. Sometimes siege machines were used in conjunction with an earthen ramp thrown up before the enemy wall. Before Titus could employ any of these things he had to clear away obstructions and fill up the moat in front of the wall. The moat did not contain water, its purpose being merely to keep the siege machines from making contact. All the while catapults within and without the city kept up a constant fire, filling the air with murderous iron darts and huge stones. The Jewish machines were those taken from Gallus at Beth-horon. From the top of the walls the Jews were throwing down what they could on the Romans working below.

At the same time Roman archers tested their marksmanship. Add to this confused scene the work underground. It was common practice in a siege of that day to seek to undermine a section of wall. A large tunnel would be constructed and then the supporting timbers burned away, bringing down the roof and hopefully the foundations of the wall above. Also used in ancient times was the countertunnel. The defenders would hollow a cavern underneath an emerging assault ramp. Just as the siege machines, usually towers, were being drawn up the incline the substructure would collapse toppling the tower. At Jerusalem the defenders used this with great effectiveness. They also organized desperate sallies outside the walls to try to destroy the Roman machines. Once it was Titus himself who led his men in repulsing a Jewish attempt to burn the machines. One of the towers did collapse, either from hostile action or the constant shock of the ram suspended at its base. Another proved ineffective, but the third succeeded in breaching the wall. It happened in the dead of night, and perhaps it was the absence of the constant thud, thud, thud over the Judean hills which awoke the defenders to the danger. It was already too late. Romans were pouring through the breach and it was a matter of little time before the New City was theirs.

At once Titus put thu part of the city to the torch and began to tear down Agrippa's Wall. Before him lay the Second Wall, anchored on one end by the Antonia and on the other by Herod's new palace towers. In the middle was a massive tower, only a few remnants of which now remain near the Polisi Hospice. Titus planned to hit the wall squarely at this tower and brought hi machines into place. Then the defenders of the tower offered to surrender Titus, suspicious, decided to wait and see. It was, in fact, a trick to allow Jerusalem defenders time to withdraw behind the First Wall. In street fighting in this part of the city the Romans were thrown back; they were not very good at this sort of thing. But they came on relentlessly, and nine days after the had breached the Third Wall they possessed fully half of the city.
 
Titus now tried a little ruse of his own. He held a full-scale military review within full sight of the defenders who crowded the remaining walls bu remained discreetly out of range of their catapults. Endless scarlet tunics passed before their commander, erect on his horse and clad in white. Palishe armor gleamed in the bright June sun, and dust rose drifting slowly over the city. It was an old trick: show the opposition that you have not been hurt by requirements of recent days. Roman losses were, everything considered, minimal. Maybe this display would induce surrender of the remainder of the city.

But the people crowded together in the Temple area and Upper City were tarrying on a murderous war between rival groups; anyone who even whispered that it might be a good idea to give up to the clearly superior forces beyond the walls was sure to have his throat cut. The Romans may have bought it was just about over but it had hardly begun.
Now Titus made a fundamental mistake. He assaulted both the wall and the Antonia simultaneously. Counter funneling at the Antonia brought disaster to his efforts just as they seemed to be on the verge of success. At the wall, too, the defenders successfully set fire to some machines. He then rezalled one of his father's chief military principles: never divide your strength. Titus paused to study the entire operation. His intelligence units reported that Jerusalem was well watered by the Pool of Siloam, which Hezekiab had built to withstand Sennacherib. Furthermore, food supplies were coming into the city through various means.

Several decisions were made. First, a siege wall was to be thrown up around the city. Only thus could supplies be kept out of the city, and only thus could defenders be kept from escaping through Roman lines. This would require a construction five miles in circumference. Titus also ordered thirteen towers spaced along the circuit, each 200 feet around! There was certainly enough rubble available for such a wall, and there were many captured hands. Within three days Jerusalem was encircled! Traces of the wall are still to be seen at various places in the city.

This wall had a psychological impact on the defenders, many of whom now threw down their weapons. But this was only temporary. The full and long-range psychological effect of Titus' wall may well have been to stiffen the defense of the city, since the people now knew that their choices bad narrowed to two: death or slavery. There was from this point forward no escape. Titus may thus have unwittingly increased his difficulties. But from a purely military point of view the wall was the right move. The city began to starve.

Those who tried to escape were captured and crucified, about 500 every night. There were so many that the Romans literally had people waiting for an empty cross.

Next, Titus concentrated his forces on the Antonia. This was the key to the Temple area, and that was the key to the city's defense. Much hard fighting lay ahead, and through the heat of summer the unspeakable horror continued, with the stench of rotting bodies offering a nauseating perfume to the crumbling city. The Romans worked away with efficiency on the northern wall. The rams kept up their relentless, sinister pounding. Each night people who would rather brave crucifixion than face starvation slipped out of the city. Word passed that these people were swallowing gold before they came out of the city. Crucifixions lessened as hundreds of people were ripped open by soldiers seeking the precious metal.

On July 22nd the Antonia fell to Titus. He was now faced with assaulting the Temple, that fortress-like structure, stronghold of the Zealots. It is clear that he had no desire to attack this sanctuary. Perhaps on hard military grounds the projected cost in terms of his own men was too great. Perhaps he genuinely wanted to preserve the structure for its sanctity. If so, Bernice, Agrippa's sister who was now in Titus' camp as his mistress, may have had some influence. Whatever the reason, for once Titus temporized. He kept pressure on the defenders, but he did not move to take the sacred bastion. Meanwhile his engineers were demolishing the Antonia, save for a tower left for him to observe events in the Temple courts.

On August 7th Josephus told Titus that the Zealots had allowed the sacred flame to be extinguished in the Temple and that the daily sacrifices had ceased. Titus responded by sending a message to John of Giscbala offering to pull back Roman troops if John would abandon the Temple and fight him elsewhere. John's reply was an abortive attempt to break out by Solomon Porch on the eastern side. Titus' engineers continued to clear, a wide path through the rubble of the Antonia so that the siege machines could be brought into the Court of the Gentiles. Clearly the Temple area was going to be the scene of the decisive struggle.

Now Titus tried something else. He brought forth a number of leading Jews who had gone over to the Romans and bade them plead with their countrymen not to force this terrible issue. This partly accomplished what Titus wanted because previously the Zealot leaders had told of the awful fate of these men in Roman bands and bad hailed them as martyrs. Their health appearance at this point caused many disillusioned Zealots to abandon their posts and surrender. But the core held fast. The gates of the inner wall were shut tight. Titus ordered the battering rams forward. They had virtually no effect on the solid Herodian masonry. At the same time the fanatical bade of the Zealots ordered catapults set up on the roof of the Temple and from there began to pelt the assaulting troops. They also burned a portion of the cloisters over the heads of some unfortunate Romans whom they trapped there.

Titus ordered scaling ladders forward. This effort failed. They tried to force open the massive gates by the use of levers. This also failed. Finally the gates were set on fire. Through the night flames licked at the wood and silver reliefs that decorated the entrances. Perhaps taken aback, the defenders made no attempt to extinguish the fires, fly morning the entrances to the inner court were open, and Titus ordered a path cleared so that legionnaires could pass through. While a detail was putting out the fires and pushing debris aside the Zealots attacked them from the sanctuary. There was a furious fight as other Romans rushed forward to aid their outnumbered comrades. At the time Titus was resting in preparation for the all-out assault which according plan would come in a few hours. But his carefully prepared timetable was set by events. Slowly the legionnaires gained the upper hand. At some point one of the soldiers picked up a still-burning beam and rushed toward the Temple proper. Other soldiers were with him as he dashed across the northem side of the Court of Israel. Above him was a window. Climbing on the back of a comrade, he threw the flaming wood inside. We do not know what was in the storeroom but it immediately went up. Titus, roused from his rest, came running to the scene. Fighting was everywhere. Smoke was beginning to pour from the entire northern side of the sanctuary. More and moz Romans were coming into the courtyards. There was hand-to-hand combat at every turn. The roof was burning. Everything was confusion.

It was five days before the Romans completely secured the Temple courts-thirty-five acres! But the morning after fire had ignited the House of the Lord it was completely gutted, a massive smoldering ruin. It was August 29, 70, A heavy pall hung over Zion and drifted with the prevailing breeze out over the Judean wilderness down toward Jericho and the Jordan. At the remnants of the eastern gate of the Temple, Roman soldiers set up their standards and made sacrifices. They hailed Titus as imperator. The gold taken by the soldiers later glutted the Syrian market and the price plummted by a half.

The siege was not over, however. John and Simon, finally united, held the Upper City across the then deep Tyropocon Valley west of the Temple. They asked Titus for a parley. He agreed and they faced each other at opposite ends of the bridge which Herod had built to join the Temple courts with the Upper City. If recent archaeological work in Jerusalem is correct, the meeting took place at Wilson's Arch, immediate!y north of the old Wailing Wall. And what a scene it was. At one end of the bridge stood the young, confident Roman, son of the emperor and heir-apparent, flushed with victory. Surrounding him were his victorious legions, eager at that very moment to rush across the bridge and finish the job. Their backdrop was the ruinous mass that once was Herod's Temple, one of the marvels of the Roman world. At the other end of the bridge were the ragged, desperate rebels, tired of this thing they had done so much to bring about, seeking a way out for themselves and their families. Behind them lay the ruins of a city: smoke, stench, rubble.

Titus addressed this ragtag group across the bridge. They, he said, had brought on this disaster by their rebellious nature, which had been in evidence since Pompey's time. He rehearsed the leniencies of the Romans and the perversity of the people of Judea. As to the matter of the burning of the Temple, he blamed the rebels for it.

When I came near your temple (Titus said), I again departed from the laws of war, and exhorted you to spare your own sanctuary, and to preserve your holy house to yourselves. I allowed you a quiet exit out of it, and security for your preservation; nay, if you had a mind, I gave you leave to fight in another place. Yet have you still despised every one of my proposals, and have set fire to your holy house with your own hands.
(Josephus, Wars VI 6:2)

Titus may not have known how the Temple was set alight or may have viewed these people before him as responsible for its destruction. He ended his speech by offering to spare the lives of those who surrendered, but they would be his and he would act "like a mild master of a family. That is, they would be sold or end up in galleys or Egyptian mines. But they and their families would have their lives.

The rebels dismissed the offer out-of-hand, countering with their offer that they would quit the city if they were allowed safe passage into the desert with their families. Titus became furious. Who were these beaten dogs to dictate terms to him? He ordered a proclamation read. Henceforth no prisoners would be taken by the Romans. Any deserters who came forth would be slain. Let those who would dictate to the victor prepare to defend themselves against his entire army.

He ordered further that all of the city in Roman hands be put to the torch, even down Ophel to the Pool of Siloam. This may not have been, as it seems to appear, a spiteful response to the rebels. There were, as Josephus never tires of telling his readers, hundreds of rotting bodies in the ruins. Houses, he says, were crammed full of corpses which had been cleared from the streets. Disease lurked down every alley. It was normal Roman military procedure to burn bodies after a battle. This may well be what Titus now ordered.

Titus also began to pound away at the walls down by the Tyropocon Valley. Through the day and by moonlight the Romans smashed at the walls. Some rebels, knowing that it was a matter of time before the walls gave way crowded into the many subterranean passages of the city; others tried to slip away undetected. A few, not many, manned the walls and did what they could to slow the martial work below. The hard core of defenders took refuge in 6 three towers of Herod's palace. Here they would make a memorable stand, the last act of the drama. Their brave boasts supported each other in a conviction to endure to the death. Titus was more than ready to grant their wish.

Then the rams breached the walls, and assault towers disgorged legionaires along the ramparts. The eager Romans had expected a hot receptio But the walls were empty, unmanned. They raced along the heights, their red capes floating from their shoulders. Peering down into the streets and alley they saw thousands of bodies; some torn by knives, others bloated by starvation. Hurrying footsteps dashed down steps from the tops of the walls. The soldiers came across a few people whom they killed at once. But in hou after house they found piles of corpses. These hardened veterans, who had seen death so many times and who were even now spoiling for a fight, stood in horror as they gazed upon the carnage.

And now occurred a very strange thing. Those of the defenders who had shut themselves up in Herod's impregnable towers threw open the doors, came running out, abandoning their safety. They ran toward Siloam, perhaps hoping to escape by means of the Kidron Valley into open country. But they, like so many others, fell victim to the encircling wall and the Roman soldiers who awaited them there. From the top of the three weste towers Roman standards fluttered.

When Titus bad moved his men out of the Upper City he put it to the torch. Josephus tells us that it burned brightly through the night and into the next day. He does not tell us what became of all those people in the subterranean chambers in this holocaust. Doubtless, if we are to believe the figure he gives us of the prisoners taken in the siege (90,000), the Romans found many of them. But probably not all. It was September 26, 70.
 
The sequel to the siege was as horrible as those awful five months. All the prisoners were herded into the Court of the Women; thousands upon thousands of people. Aged and infirm were separated and slaughtered. The tallest and most handsome of the youth were set aside to be sent to Rome to grace the victor's triumph through the streets of the imperial city. Eleven thousand others died of various causes right there where once the priests had offered sacrifices to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Many starved, either because they had offended their guards and then were denied food, or because they refused food, preferring to starve to death rather than live in slavery. And many were destined for slavery, some in the galleys, others in Egyptian mines. And Titus had not forgotten about the masses in the other cities of the east. From Jerusalem men and women were shipped to virtually every large city in the Roman East, there to die in the arenas. Titus himself held games at Caesarea, Beirut and even Caesarea Philippi.

There now remained the final phase of Titus' plan. The first step was to catch the few rebel leaders who had managed to hide in the subterranean passages of Jerusalem. John gave himself up and was spared. Word of the capture of Simon Bar Gioras came to Titus at Caesarea Philippi. He was put to death. No one else of very much importance was at large.

Second, it was necessary to rout the last three pockets of rebels who were holed up in the desert fortresses of Herodium, Machacrus and Masada. The Herodium fell with ease. It was not large, and was in any case more of a signal post than a fortress built to withstand a long siege. The wonder is the Romans allowed it to remain in rebel hands for so long, considering how close it was to Jerusalem. Machaerus proved something of a problem. This natural defense in extremely desolate country east of the Dead Sea could not be taken by direct assault. The Romans settled in for a long siege, and then by a stroke of luck they captured Eleazer, hero of the Machaerus garrison. Feigning the intention to crucify Eleazer in full sight of his friends within the fort, the Roman military governor, Bassus (Titus having long ago started on his way to Rome), gladly accepted an offer to trade Eleazer for the fortress citadel.

That left Masada, where this whole business had started. This extraordinary bastion presented a formidable challenge to Silva, the field commander. He decided to besiege it, since there was no natural way it could be taken by storm. But a siege meant little at Masada. Herod had a century earlier placed quantities of dried food there. It was still edible. There were, moreover, abundant sources of water from the winter rains, which were trapped in mammoth cisterns. And to top it off, it was possible to grow crops on the summit. The Romans could build their camps and their siege walls and stay as long as they wished. There was just one way for the Romans to take Masada; that was to build an enormous earthen assault ramp. The ramp had to span a ravine to reach the fortress wall and when finished was over 200 feet high and some 645 feet long. At the top of the ramp a huge siege tower was placed. From the tower the Romans were able to fire down upon the defenders of the walls while the battering ram was at work in thc lower parts of the tower. This wondrous tower, standing such a vast height above the valley floor far below, also had catapults for throwing stones, many of which have been recovered by the archaeologist who worked at Masada in the early 1960s. Excavation has revealed that a portion of the casemate wall directly above the assault ramp is missing, presumably carried away by the as it was made of wood and earth, the Romans soon fired it. The final assault was put off for the next day.

Throughout the night the Romans were watchful lest any of the defenders of this citadel escape. Hut another Eleazer, leader of the rebels at Masada, neither intended to sneak away himself nor allow anyone else to try it. He had in mind something else. He assembled the besieged, reminding them of the fate that awaited them with the coming of day. He warned them of imminent slaughter in the fighting to come and the abuse of their wives and enslavement of their children. It was time to die as they had professed to live in freedom. Each man was to kill his wife and children and in his turn to be slain. All their belongings were to be burned. The food stores alone were tc be left intact to show the Romans that they chose to die this way.

We were the very first that revolted from them (said Eleazer), and we arc the last that fight against them; and I cannot but esteem it as a favor that God hath granted us, that it is still in our power to die bravely, and in a state of freedom, which bath not been the case with others who were conquered unexpectedly.
(Josephus, Wars VII 8:6)

This was the burden of Eleazer's speech. It was greeted with mixed re actions. In the end, however, all agreed and each man bid his wife anc children farewell with embraces and fond kisses. And the sad deed was done Then ten were selected by lot to kill the rest. Another lot was cast, and cm of thc ten dispatched the rest. He then set fire to the palace and ran bimseli through with a sword.

At dawn on the second day of May in 73 the Romans poured through th wall and spread out over the summit. Fires were still burning. There was deathly silence. The soldiers gave a great shout; two aid women and fiv children emerged from hiding and told what had transpired. The Romam could hardly believe this talc. They then moved to put out the fire, and whet they came within the palace they saw the mass of bodies which had been placed there. Nine hundred and sixty people, including the women and children, lay dead.

The Revolt had come to an end.

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