| Author | : Bill Kochman |
| Publish | : Jun. 14, 2025 |
| Update | : Jun. 14, 2025 |
| Parts | : 25 |
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Reference
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Action
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Action Detail
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| 6.93 | Josephus argues with John to restore the sacrifices. | Josephus delivers a message from Titus to the rebels, within hearing of all the populace: John may leave the Temple so that it will be no longer polluted, and the sacrifices may be restored. John enters into a heated argument with Josephus, John stating the city was God's and so could not be captured, Josephus replying that John had driven the divine presence away by stopping the sacrifices. John is unmoved, but great numbers of upper-class citizens, especially priests, desert at this point to the Romans. |
| 6.130-149 | Battle for the Temple. | A major battle for the Temple between the Romans and Judeans ends in a draw. Josephus records the names of a number of Judean heroes. |
| 6.150-157 | Earthworks built around the First Wall. | The legions build several embankments to approach the First Wall: one at the northwest corner of the inner Temple, one at the northern hall between two gates, one opposite the west portico of the outer court, and one opposite the north portico. The work is exhausting, timber having to be carried from a great distance. |
| 6.158-163 | Assault on the Xth Legion. | The rebels attempt an assault on the Xth Legion on the Mount of Olives, but are repulsed after a sharp battle. |
| 6.165 |
August 10 Panemus/Tammuz 22 Rebels set fire to Temple porticoes. |
The rebels set fire to the northwest portico that is connected to Antonia, to begin to separate the Temple from the occupied fortress. |
| 6.166; 6.311 |
August 12 Panemus/Tammuz 24 Temple severed from Antonia. |
Romans set fire to the adjoining portico. The rebels cut away the rest. Antonia becomes completely disconnected from Temple. (This causes the Temple to become 'four-square', fulfilling an oracle predicting the city's fall.) Conflicts around the Temple rage incessantly. |
| 6.177-190 |
August 15 Panemus/Tammuz 27 Romans killed in west portico trap. |
When the rebels feign retreat, a number of Romans leap onto the west portico, but find it is a trap: the portico has been filled with incendiary materials. It is set ablaze, killing nearly all of the soldiers (except for one clever Artorius). The west portico is cut away by the rebels. The Romans destroy the north portico up to the Kidron ravine. |
| 6.193-219 | Horrible famine. The news of Mary provokes hatred and despair. | The victims of famine are dying in countless numbers. Hungry rebels like mad dogs stagger from house to house searching for food. Shoe leather and grass is gnawed on. Famine reaches its ultimate depth: the tale of Mary daughter of Eleazar shocks the rebels and Romans alike. "For fear of being regarded as fabricator, I would gladly have omitted this tragedy, had I not innumerable witnesses among my contemporaries." Titus vows to bury this abomination beneath the ruins of the city. |
| 6.220-228 |
August 27 Lous/Av 8 Romans fail to breach the wall of the Temple court. |
Two legions complete their earthworks. Titus orders rams opposite the western hall of the outer Temple court. Siege-engines and mines having little effect, Romans scale the porticoes with ladders, but suffer heavy losses. |
| 6.233-237 | Titus orders the Temple gates set on fire. | "Now that Titus saw that his endeavour to spare a foreign Temple led only to the injury and slaughter of his troops," he orders the gates set on fire. The silver melts and the fire enters the woodwork and spreads to the porticoes. After a day, Titus orders the fire extinguished and a road built to the gates for the ascent of the Legions, but fires continue to burn. Two important officers of Simon's desert to the Romans. |
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6.229-243 |
August 28 Lous/Av 9 War council on whether to destroy the Temple. Titus decides to save it. |
Titus holds a council to decide what to do with the Temple. This council consists of his six chief staff officers: Tiberius Alexander (prefect of the forces and of Jewish descent), the commanders of Legions V, X, and XV, the prefectof the two Alexandrian legions, and the procurator of Judea. The tribunes and procurators also are called in. Some commanders recommend it be destroyed, others that it be preserved unless the rebels used it as a fortress. Titus states he would preserve the Temple at all costs, even if used as a fortress, because its beauty should be preserved as a possession of Rome. |
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6.244-264; Jeremiah 52:12 (contra 2 Kings 25:8) |
August 29 Lous/Av 10 Roman soldier sets fire to the interior of the rooms surrounding the sanctuary. |
The Judeans attack the guards in the outer court through the east gate, are forced back to the inner court after a three hour battle. Titus withdraws to Antonia, resolving to attack the next day. But the rebels again attack and are routed back to the sanctuary. At that moment one of the soldiers, without orders "but moved by some supernatural impulse," snatches a burning timber from a fire and throws it through a golden door on the north side of the chambers surrounding the sanctuary. |
| 6.265 | Interior of the holy house set on fire. | Titus is given the news. He attempts to order the fire extinguished, but is either not heard or is ignored. Battle rages around the altar. Titus enters the sanctuary to view its contents. The interior is not yet on fire, and seeing that the building can still be saved, Titus makes a second attempt to have the fire put out. But when he exits the building, one who had entered with him thrusts a firebrand through the hinges of the gate. The interior of the sanctuary is now on fire. "Thus, against Caesar's wishes, was the Temple set on fire." |
| 6.271 ff | The Temple is consumed by fire. | Josephus provides an eyewitness account of the destruction, the fire and the noise. "You would indeed have thought that the Temple-hill was boiling over from its base, being everywhere one mass of flame, yet the stream of blood was more copious than the flames." He observes that this was on the very day and month that the First Temple had been burnt by the Babylonians. |
| 6.281-288 | Crowds of people burned alive on the porticoes following a false prophet. | The Romans burn all the buildings in the Temple complex, destroying the treasure chambers of the wealthy. The populace, especially poor women and children, are persuaded by a "false prophet" to go up to the Temple court to receive deliverance from the Deity. The crowd of about 6,000 climbs onto the porticoes, which are set on fire by the Romans. All perish. |
| 6.315 | Genuine signs had predicted the destruction. | There were many false prophets at the time, says Josephus, yet people had not paid attention to the genuine signs of destruction: a star resembling a sword standing over the city, a comet, a brilliant light around the altar, a vision of armed battalions in the sky, and voices in the Temple, along with the prophecies of a peasant crying 'Woe to Jerusalem.' "It is impossible for men to escape their fate, even though they foresee it." |
| 6.316-322 | Roman sacrifices performed in the Temple. | Romans carry standards into the sanctuary at the east gate and sacrifice to them. So much gold has been taken from Temple that the price of gold throughout Syria is halved. The priests are executed by Titus. |
| 6.323-355 | Rebels in the city refuse to surrender. | The rebels flee into the city and ask for council with Titus. Titus lectures them and offers to spare their lives if they surrender. The rebels reply they cannot accept his offer, having sworn never to do so. Instead the ask to be freed into the desert. An angry Titus ends the talks, orders troops to burn and sack the city. |
| 6.358-364 | Lower City burned. | The rebels gather all their plunder and flee to the Upper City. The entire Lower City is burned to the pool of Siloam. |
| 6.365 | Josephus negotiates. | Josephus still attempts to talk the rebels into surrendering, or at least to give up the holy relics. |
| 6.379 | Rebels in tunnels. | Rebel leaders hide in the underground passages. |
| 6.374 |
September 7 Lous/Av 19 Siege of the Upper City. |
Titus orders new earthworks built to attack the Upper City. Four legions work on the west side of the city opposite the royal palace. Syrian auxiliaries build embankments to the east of the Upper City. |
| 6.379-6.383 | Rebels and their families sold as slaves. | The chiefs of the Idumaeans send emissaries to surrender to Titus, but Simon discovers the plot and executes the conspirators. There are masses of deserters to the Romans, most of whoe lives are spared by Titus. Over 40,000 captured citizens are released by the Romans, but the rebels, including women and children, are sold as slaves. Due to the excess of supply, they are priced low. |
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6.387-391; 7.162 |
Temple treasures recovered. | Priest Jesus ben Thebuthi delivers some of the Temple treasures to Titus in exchange for protection. Included are two candelabra, solid gold and massive tables, bowls, and platters, the veils, the high-priests garments including the precious stones, and many other items. The Temple treasurer Phineas provides more, including priestly clothing and incense. The treasures are eventually displayed by Vespasian in Rome in the newly constructed Temple of Peace. |
| Life 418-421 | Josephus frees his brother and acquaintances, including taking down three who are crucified. | Josephus gains permission from Titus to release his brother and 50 friends. Josephus enters the Temple compound and liberates 190 captive women and children he knows, and receives sacred books (from the temple?). He recognizes three acquaintances who had been crucified, and Titus allows them to be taken down -- two die, one survives. |
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6.392-402; 6.409-413 |
September 25 Gorpiaeus/Elul 7 Romans take the Upper City. |
The earthworks against the Upper City are completed after 18 days. The rebels panic, fleeing or surrendering without a fight despite their superior position in the massive Herodian towers. Many hide in the ravine below Siloam and then in the underground passages. |
| 6.403-408 |
September 26 Gorpiaeus/Elul 8 Jerusalem is sacked and set ablaze. |
The Romans now command the whole city, plant standards on the walls, and loot the city. All Jerusalem is in flames. |
| 6.414-419 | All people in Jerusalem enslaved or killed. | Everyone in Jerusalem is made a prisoner; any that are armed are put to death, as are the old and feeble. Fronto is appointed to determine the fate of the rest: those under age seventeen are sold, the strong are sent to the work camps, others to the games. |
| 6.420-422 | 1,000,000 dead. | Number of prisoners taken in the entire war: 97,000. Died during siege: 1,100,000. This large number during the siege was due to the Passover celebration, as Jews from many countries had been in the city for the festival when the siege began. Josephus tells skeptical readers this number is consistent with Cestius' population estimate under Nero. |
| 6.430-43; 7.26-36 | Simon and John captured. | Simon hides in the underground passages with his close followers. He attempts to tunnel his way out, but eventually gives up and arises out of the ground at the site of the Temple wearing a royal purple robe. He surrenders quietly to General Terentius Rufus. This alerts the Romans to the passages, which are then searched; 2,000 bodies are found. John gives up from starvation. John is sentenced to life in prison, while Simon is to be executed at the triumph in Rome. |
| 6.434 | The walls of Jerusalem are razed. | Romans set fire to the outlying quarters of the city and tear the walls to the ground. |
| 7.1-4 | Jerusalem and the Temple demolished. | Titus orders the whole city and Temple to be razed to the ground, leaving only the tallest towers and a small portion of the wall on the west. The Xth legion is left to garrison Jerusalem. |
| 7.19 | Titus departs to Alexandria. | The XIIth Legion, which had been defeated by the Jews under Cestius, is banished to the Armenian border. The Vth and XVth legions accompany Titus to Caesarea and then to Alexandria. |