Chapter 13

The Battle for Jerusalem

Zealots and Idumeans

Artist depiction of John of Gischala bolstering the spirits of the Jewish rebels in Jerusalem

John of Gischala, the other rebel commander in Galilee—who had sent the report to Jerusalem, leading to their unsuccessful decree recalling Ben-Matityahu—was among those who escaped to Jerusalem. There he bolstered the people’s fighting spirit with his enthusiasm. Each day more Jews came to the holy city to fight or take shelter. In order to maintain an economy within the closed-off city, revolutionary coins were minted. Those rebels most religiously motivated to fight had begun to refer to themselves as the Zealots, and they controlled the city from their headquarters inside the walled Temple complex. Many of the aristocratic Jews who were being held captive inside the city were now executed on suspicion of collaboration with the Romans.¹

Artist depiction of the Zealots drawing lots to assign the high priesthood to Phannias Ben-Samuel

Following Essene (and earliest Christian) practice, the Zealots selected a new high priest by casting lots among those eligible for the office—perhaps intending a restoration of the ancient Zadokite priestly line at the End Times. The lot fell upon a man with little priestly training named Phannias Ben-Samuel. This selection was utterly unacceptable to the former high priest Ananus—the same man who hated James the Just and caused him to be stoned and thrown from the Temple walls five years earlier. Ananus gathered supporters and attacked the Zealots, igniting a civil war within the city in which many were killed.²

Artist depiction of John of Gischala infiltrating the high priesthood faction

John of Gischala decided to disguise himself and join Ananus’s supporters undetected, successfully befriending the former high priest while learning of all their plans. He was even selected as their emissary in negotiating with his own faction, the Zealots. Reporting back his intelligence to the rebels holed up in the Temple complex, John gave them dire news: Ananus had gathered a large number of supporters and had sent word to Vespasian to attack the city now while there was dissension among the people.³ Either a divine miracle or outside help was the only way the rebels might now be saved.

Artist depiction of the Zealot’s fastest messengers riding to Idumaea

So the Zealots sent two of their fastest messengers to the rebel forces in Idumea led by Eleazar Ben-Simon. Upon hearing the grim circumstances at Jerusalem, many thousands of Idumeans were riled to come to the defense of the holy city. When they arrived, however, they found the city gates closed to them, as Ananus and his supporters controlled the outer city. The former high priest harangued the Idumeans and insulted the Zealots. The Idumeans responded by calling Ananus and his men treasonous traitors in league with the Romans, saying the Zealots should have executed them when they had the chance.⁴

Artist depiction of Idumaeans entering the city under cover of the storm

Shut out from the city, the Idumeans were forced to camp outside the walls. A terrible storm arose that night, and Ananus and his supporters took it as a sign that God was on their side. But the Zealots used the great noise of the storm as cover. While most of the collaborators were sleeping indoors to protect themselves from the weather, two Zealots took a pair of saws and snuck their way to the city gates and cut through the large wooden bar holding it shut. Outside, the Idumeans awoke at the sound of the gate being opened and assumed they were about to be attacked. But the men with saws beckoned them inside. Though they wanted immediate revenge against Ananus’s men, their leaders directed them to first rescue the Zealots holed up in the Temple in order to combine their strength.⁵

Artist depiction of Idumeans taking vengeance on the collaborators once inside the walls of Jerusalem

Once their rescue mission was completed, the Zealots and Idumeans moved throughout the city rooting out the former high priest’s supporters and slaughtering them. Ananus and the leaders of his movement were captured and immediately executed, and their bodies tossed over the city wall naked, left to be eaten by beasts of prey.⁶ If it is the case that the latest writings found among the Dead Sea Scrolls date from this time, they may contain a reference to this act in their description of “the Violent Ones” who inflict “the judgments on the evil” of the “Wicked Priest” and “took vengeance upon the flesh of his corpse” for the death of “the Righteous Teacher”.⁷ The scroll writer’s policy of using monikers instead of proper names obscures matters, of course, but if James the Just was seen as the Teacher of Righteousness by the Essenes, the case becomes compelling.

Artist depiction of the heavenly Jesus coming on the clouds with an army of angels to vanquish the forces of darkness and all the enemies of Israel

We can’t know what percent of the Zealots, rebel fighters, Idumeans, or their supporters identified as Essenes (as John the Baptist, James, and Peter likely had), but the sect’s writings demonstrate them to have been religious fanatics who long anticipated a world-ending war with Rome. While most aristocratic Sadducees and many accommodationist Pharisees fled the capital, Essenes across Judah and beyond would likely have flocked to Jerusalem to take part. And if the first Christians truly were Essenes, then it’s possible that at the start of the year 68 CE, the majority of the world’s Christian believers were inside the holy city, waiting for that world-ending war, and the arrival of the Lord Christ whom the apostles had seen in visions.

The Year of Four Emperors

The purge of suspected collaborators in Jerusalem now grew more intense. Zealots accused any remaining rich men in the city, confiscating their money for the rebels after their executions. For Niger of Perea, even having been a hero of the early battles of the revolution was not enough to spare his life from the paranoid and bloody atmosphere in the city as the Jews awaited the inevitable Roman attack.⁸

Artist depiction of Jewish rebels driven into the Jordan River by the advancing Roman army

Vespasian led his army across Samaria in the north, avoiding the dangerous mountain passes near Jerusalem where Gallus’s legion had taken many losses at the start of the revolt. Along the way he routed villages and any city that did not make an immediate show of submission by welcoming his troops. Marching south they reached Jericho where a battle occurred outside the city in which the advancing Romans forced the rebel fighters backward into the Jordan River where thousands were cut down or drowned with the rest being captured. The bodies in the river are said to have seemed uncountable as they flowed downstream and into the Dead Sea. The whole region to the east of the river, known as Perea, now fell under Roman control.⁹

Artist depiction of Rabbi Yochanan Ben-Zakkai being carried out of Jerusalem in a coffin

After this, Vespasian was finally ready to begin his assault on Jerusalem. Inside the city, a leading Pharisee known as Rabbi Yochanan Ben-Zakkai, who had been in favor of accommodation with the Romans, was now urged by his devoted followers to flee the city. So he wouldn’t be caught by rebels purging the city of collaborators, they placed him inside a coffin and carried him out the city gate. The coffin was carried all the way to the Roman camp where the Ben-Zakkai revealed himself and sought an audience with the general. Like Joseph Ben-Matityahu, Ben-Zakkai is also said to have flattered Vespasian in predicting that he would soon become emperor. The survival of these two pro-Roman Jews would, as we will see, have profound effects on the future of Judaism and Christianity.¹⁰

As fate would have it, during his preparations to assault the holy city, a messenger arrived from Rome to inform Vespasian that the emperor was dead. Nero had been facing another revolt in Spain where the Roman governor Galba declared himself emperor with support from many, including the legions in Germany. As his supporters and friends rapidly began to abandon him, Nero considered various options including fleeing to the East where he still had some support, or even throwing himself at the mercy of Rome’s most powerful enemy, the Parthians. But as he was traveling to the coast to sail away from Rome he learned he had been declared a public enemy by Galba and realized he would soon be killed. With only those closest to him present, including his spouse Sporus and his secretary Epaphroditus, the 30-year-old Nero resolved to kill himself. Unable to commit the deed himself, he ordered Epaphroditus—the friend of the apostle Paul—to carry out the task, which he obediently did.¹¹

Artist depiction of the death of Emperor Nero

Vespasian put the attack on Jerusalem on hold until it was determined who would be the new emperor and what his orders would be concerning the Jewish revolt. The elderly Galba took the throne but was killed after only six months by his own guardsmen at the behest of Otho—the first husband of Nero’s wife Poppea, and governor of what is today Portugal. To honor his fallen friend, and win popular support, Otho added the name “Nero” to his own name—for, although the Senate, aristocrats, and military loathed Nero, he was popular among the common people who had benefited by several of his actions. Even Nero’s spouse Sporus was given a position of honor by Otho. But the legions in Germany disliked this latest usurper and instead supported their commander, general Vitellius. So these two contenders for the throne led armies into battle against each other in Northern Italy. When Vitellius seemed to have a secure—if not decisive—upper hand, Otho chose to commit suicide at age 36, hoping to preserve the empire from another drawn-out calamitous civil war. He had reigned for only three months.¹²

Artist depiction of Vespasian’s brother held at knife point by a mob

The 53-year-old Vitellius now took the throne, but Otho’s supporters refused to back him and thought that general Vespasian would make a far better ruler. Now hailed as emperor by his own legions preparing to attack Jerusalem, General Vespasian was also backed by the governors of most of the eastern provinces as well. Seeing that it would soon be his fate to return to Rome to stake his claim to the throne, Vespasian decided to first leave Judah for Alexandria in Egypt where he increased his power by securing control of their vital supply of wheat—the lifeblood of the empire. While he remained there, armies in Italy fighting on his behalf defeated those of Vitellius and entered the capital. In the chaos and confusion, Vespasian’s brother was killed by a mob. Meanwhile, after having reigned for 8 months, Vitellius was executed by soldiers fighting for general Vespasian.¹³

Soon after his capture by the Romans, the Jewish defector Joseph Ben-Matityahu had told Vespasian that the entire population of Jews was motivated by an ancient prophecy foretelling that one day a man would come forth from Judah and rule the world. While the Jews had always assumed it would be one of their own—an End Times messiah from the line of the ancient King David—Ben-Matityahu professed to the man who had just slaughtered tens of thousands of his fellow countrymen, that this holy prophecy from the Jewish God actually applied to him. In Alexandria, Vespasian now furthered his reputation as being blessed by gods, visiting the Temple of Serapis (a Graeco-Egyptian god) where he had a religious vision.¹⁴

Artist depiction of Vespasian performing a miracle in Alexandria

The general then appeared at the city’s hippodrome where the people proclaimed him the son of the creator god Zeus-Amun. Vespasian publicly demonstrated his divine election by performing a healing miracle, using his own spittle to cure a blind, crippled man. Thus came an end to 69 CE, known as the Year of Four Emperors. Vespasian stayed in Egypt another six months before returning to Rome with massive amounts of grain and supplies to a grateful city.¹⁵

Titus Prepares to Assault Jerusalem

Artist depiction of Simon Bar-Giora leading his army of liberators

During the lull in the Romans’ campaign, the strong and courageous man known as Simon Bar-Giora rose to become the leader of devoted rebel fighters stationed at the Masada fortress. Seeing himself as a messianic king, he traveled through the villages and mountains of Judah proclaiming that all slaves were now free. A great many people gathered to him as followers, and over time a significant amount of the general population hailed him as their leader. They used the caves of the Judean highlands for their homes, but eventually were welcomed into Jerusalem. Meanwhile, those inside had kept busy shoring up the city’s defenses and constructing war engines.¹⁶

Artist depiction of General Titus and Tiberius Alexander

Vespasian’s son Titus now rose to the rank of general and was entrusted with swiftly ending the Jewish revolt with the long-delayed assault on Jerusalem. His second-in-command was Tiberius Alexander, who, having been born into a Jewish noble family, had become an apostate. He was also the nephew of the famous Philo Judaeus of Alexandria whose writings had posited the existence of an intermediary Son of God just before the dawn of Christianity. An additional Roman legion was added to the army with which Galilee had been subdued, plus many auxiliary fighters, bringing the total number of fighting men to about 70,000. Many thousands more joined them in support roles. They gathered at Caesarea on the coast, then crossed Samaria, and marched south to approach the holy city.¹⁷

Artist depiction of Titus on horseback, charging through the surrounding rebels just outside the walls of Jerusalem

Titus himself joined an advance party on horseback that was to inspect the condition of the walls, towers, and the city itself. As they approached they met no resistance, so they ventured closer to inspect one of the towers, when suddenly a great crowd of Jews burst out of the city gate next to the monument to Queen Helena of Adiabene. Titus and those with him were quickly surrounded, so he took the only action available to him and beckoned his men to charge full speed through the crowd. As they crashed into and trampled those before them, missiles and darts rained down on them. One Roman scout and his horse were brought down, and another died while leaping off his steed. Though Titus escaped without harm, the encounter lifted the spirits of the rebels in the city, and a captured Roman horse was brought back inside.¹⁸

Artist depiction of hewn trees that will be constructed into a wooden palisade around the Roman camp

The Roman army established its main camps on an elevated plain overlooking the city from less than a mile away, though one legion was ordered to set up camp even closer on the Mount of Olives. Eager to fight, the rebels rushed out of the city again and attacked the Romans as they were constructing their closest camp. Caught off guard by their boldness, many legionaries were cut down as they ran for their weapons. The Romans began to retreat, and the entire legion was now in danger as a second wave of Jewish fighters bolted out of the city and up to the Roman camp. Alerted to this assault, however, Titus led a counter-attack of horsemen that drove the rebels back down the hill and into the city. To prevent further such damaging rebel attacks, the general decided to move the farther Roman camps much closer so that his cavalry could quickly fall upon any bands of rebels sallying out of the city gates.¹⁹

Artist depiction of Jews panicking outside the Jerusalem city gate

Joseph Ben-Matityahu had told Titus that many inside Jerusalem did not wish to fight the Romans, but were at the mercy of the Zealots. Indeed, at this time a large band of Jews was thrown out of the city while those on top of the city wall threw rocks at them and insulted them. These outcasts were panicked, standing defenseless where Titus’s men might set upon them at any moment, and they screamed to be let back inside. Observing this, the Romans waited until it seemed as though the gate might be opened to allow the outcasts back inside, then sent a detachment of soldiers to attack. But it had been a ruse. Those on top of the parapets showered stones and darts down on the Roman soldiers while those pretending to be outcasts turned out to be armed rebels who swiftly moved to block their escape.²⁰

Romans Enter the Holy City

Artist depiction of a rebel-controlled catapult on the city wall of Jerusalem

Irked by such chicanery, Titus now determined to begin his assault on Jerusalem in earnest. Since the walls surrounding the upper city were so massive as to render a battering ram useless, the general ordered his men to build earthen ramps against the walls of the lower city which were not nearly as thick. Amongst the rebels inside, John of Gischala was the commander of the Temple and upper city area while Simon Bar-Giora was in charge of the defense of the lower city. As construction of the ramps began, the rebels sporadically sallied out to attack the workers. They also attempted to drive them away with their limited number of catapults and ballistas, but they were not skilled in their use. Meanwhile, the Romans hurled volleys of darts and stones from their larger and more powerful war engines, clearing the tops of the walls of any defenders. Every time one of the bright white 70 lb stones was hurled toward the rebels, a lookout would shout “Incoming stone!” and all would lie flat. Taking note of this, the Romans blackened their stones before launching them. Now they could not be seen at a distance, and each launched stone would pulverize several victims at once.²¹

The Romans brought their war engines closer now and caused one of the towers on the city wall to collapse. Growing more desperate to stop their advance, the rebels snuck out of the city from a smaller side gate and then rushed upon the ballistas and catapults with torches, setting many ablaze before cavalry could arrive to drive them away. One of the rebels who sallied out was captured alive, and Titus had him crucified, planting his cross in full view of the city.²²

Artist depiction of Roman war engines brought to bear against the city walls as rebels attempt to set them on fire

Titus ordered his men to construct three 75-foot tall iron-plated towers to protect those constructing the earthen ramps against the lower city’s walls. One night at midnight an enormous racket was heard and the Roman soldiers woke up and strapped on their swords believing their camp was infiltrated by the Jews. In a panic, they nearly set upon each other until finally it was discovered that one of the tall towers had collapsed of its own accord. The two other towers did their job, however, and the archers, slingers, and even ballistas firing down at the rebels from the tops of the towers could not even be reached by the weapons of the Jewish defenders. Once a battering ram was brought against the wall of the lower city, it was not long until a breach was made.²³

Artist depiction of Roman soldiers entering Jerusalem through its partly-demolished walls

On the fifteenth day of the siege of the city, the Romans broke through the outer wall of Jerusalem. All its defenders now fled inside the second wall surrounding the more urban areas of the city while Titus’s men demolished a large section of the breached wall to allow all his soldiers, equipment, and machinery to move into the city where he established a new Roman camp.²⁴

Artist depiction of the Roman army at Jerusalem’s second wall, protecting the upper city

The rebels, increasingly backed into a corner, now fought harder than ever as they burst out from the second wall to make valiant attacks on the Romans, causing whatever damage they could. They are said to have shown no fear of death, as their minds were fixated on their ultimate salvation more than their continued existence in the mortal world. As noted, Simon Bar-Giora was looked up to by his followers as a messiah figure, and he inspired them and held their fierce loyalty and he guided the defense efforts. But the Roman assault was relentless, and their battering ram was now set against the second wall, and it now began its deafening, earth-shaking work.²⁵

Artist depiction of Jewish rebels shouting at Castor and his men to never surrender to Rome

At this time a Jew named Castor stood on a tower along the second wall and repeatedly and urgently called out to Titus who halted the ram and other attacks to hear him. He said he would come down to speak to the general if his safety was guaranteed. Titus allowed this, and five other men with him began begging for mercy while another five shouted at them from a distance to never submit to the Romans and to fight them until their last breath. As these Jews were bickering back and forth, Simon Bar-Giora sent a message to them, encouraging them to stretch out their ruse as long as possible to give the rebels more time to establish better defenses. After continuously arguing that death was preferable to surrender, the five staunch rebels brandished knives and dramatically appeared to stab themselves in the chest, collapsing to the ground. Moved, Titus sent a Jewish deserter named Eneas to meet Castor and bring him to the Roman front line. But as Eneas got close, Castor hurled a large stone at him and ran back inside the tower.²⁶

Artist depiction of the first Roman soldiers clambering through a breach in the wall

Aggravated by such continued hoaxes, Titus resolved not to show any further mercy to the Jews of the city, and brought the ram against the damaged tower which Castor then set ablaze just before it fell. Only five days after breaching the first city wall, the ram collapsed a section of the inner wall as well, and the Roman troops were so eager to enter the innermost city that they did not pause to widen the breach.²⁷

When the retreating Jews saw that the soldiers were streaming in single file, they turned around to attack them viciously among the narrow streets, houses, and markets whose every twist and turn they knew by heart.²⁸

Artist depiction of Romans briefly forced into retreat

Overwhelmed, the Romans were driven back to the breach they had just come through, with some forced to clamber over the wall, back to their camp. But many were cut to pieces as the mass of Roman soldiers attempted to squeeze en masse through the narrow breach. Encouraged by this victory, the Zealots believed that God was protecting his holy city.²⁹

But just three days later, the Romans had fully regrouped and took back control of the second wall, now fully destroying it to make way for the whole of the army to advance toward the Temple complex stronghold. Titus, at this point, gave his men a few days rest with the fall of the city now looking inevitable.³⁰

The Revelation of John

Of the various dates and circumstances that have been suggested by scholars for the composition of The Revelation of John, the most likely seems to be this very moment in 70 CE as the Romans had the Jewish rebels surrounded in the holy city. Scholars have argued that apocalyptic works are most often written in times of acute crisis. The book of Daniel and the multiple Enoch apocalypses were written at the height of the Maccabean Revolt, and there is no greater candidate for crisis in this period than the all-out war with Rome.

Artist depiction of the heavenly Jesus with a sword coming from his mouth as described in Revelation

Though later dates have more commonly been suggested,³¹ there are other compelling reasons pointing to this “early” date, the most convincing of which is its portrayal of Jesus. Matching the theology of the earliest believers like James and Paul, in the book of Revelation, Jesus is here purely a heavenly being. There is, still at 70 CE, no knowledge of any human Jesus who recently lived on earth, taught disciples, cast out demons, healed the sick, preached at the Temple and in Galilee, walked on water, fed the multitudes, etc. As in all of Paul’s letters and other earliest Christian writings, there is no mention of any of the people or place names that would later be found in the gospel, like Mary, Joseph, the disciples, Mary Magdalene, Pontius Pilate, Nazareth, Bethlehem, Capernaum, Cana, the Garden of Gethsemane, Calvary, etc. If one were to read Revelation without any prior knowledge of Jesus, there would be no reason to view him as anything other than a being who always existed in heaven with God, and who would only visit earth vengefully at the End Time.

Artist depiction of the four horsemen bringing catastrophic pain, suffering, and death to those on Earth

Jesus is mentioned by name only twelve times in the book, but it is presumed that he is equivalent to two other characters the author refers to as “The Lamb” and the “Son of Man”. Despite this, the text of Revelation has a strong Jewish focus and concerns that align with the Essene worldview. The whole of the work reads like an over-the-top revenge fantasy in which supernatural forces relentlessly torture Romans, other Gentile nations, and insufficiently pious Jews at length in the most twisted ways imaginable.

Artist depiction of the 144,000 male virgins who will be saved

Amid all this End Time suffering, one scene is perhaps most telling. The Lamb comes to earth to stand on Mount Zion—the traditional name of the hill on which the Jerusalem Temple was built—amid 144,000 Jews who are “first among men”, who “have never had sex with a woman”, and so are “clean”.³² This sounds very much like the Essene vision of their holiest men who kept themselves in the highest level of purity at all times. It further provides strong evidence that a great number of the Jews defending the holy city at this time were Essene Jews who believed in Lord Christ and his imminent arrival.

Artist depiction of people worshiping the red dragon beast

Like the Enoch apocalypses and the writings of the Essenes, the book of Revelation describes a cosmology that is a constant struggle between forces of pure good and those of pure evil, and this apocalypse too presents a leader among the demons it refers to as Satan.³³ Famously it also describes “the number of the beast” who the vast majority of the world submits to and worships. This has long been seen as an obvious cipher for the Roman empire.³⁴

Artist depiction of the Beast from the Sea from the Revelation of John

For many years after he died, rumors persisted that the emperor Nero had actually successfully fled to the Parthian Empire in the east and would one day return with an army to reclaim the throne. Several scholars have suggested that this myth is what stands behind Revelation’s curious description of the beast with seven heads (the seven Roman emperors to date), one of which “appeared to have a mortal wound, yet lived”.³⁵ Having ordered the all-out war against their people, it is easy to see why Nero would be a symbol to the Jews of ultimate evil who might yet return for the final battle between evil and good.

Artist depiction of a woman, having just given birth, handing off the baby to an angel in heaven before it can be devoured by the dragon beast

As remarked, Revelation betrays no knowledge of the earthly Jesus who would later feature in the Gospels. But it does contain an intriguing passage that seems to relate a story of the birth of the messiah into flesh. In the firmament, a pregnant woman with a crown of twelve stars screams in labor pains. A red seven-headed dragon wearing seven crowns appears before her, waiting to devour the baby as soon as it is born. She gives birth to a son “who will rule over all the nations with an iron rod”. The baby is immediately caught up to heaven, while the mother flees to the wilderness.³⁶ Later this “one who will rule them with an iron rod”³⁷ is called the Word (“logos”) of God,³⁸ and messiah (“christ”) as he leads the armies of heaven on horseback and strikes down thousands and thousands with the sword of his mouth.³⁹

Artist depiction of the heavenly Jesus leading an army of angels against the forces of darkness

The archangel Michael and this messiah team up and bloodily defeat all the forces of evil, locking up the dragon for a period of 1,000 years while the messiah rules over Earth. Then, for reasons never explained, the dragon, who is apparently Satan, is set free to gather the forces of darkness for another final battle. In a situation strikingly similar to that in 70 CE, all the forces of good are locked up behind the walls of the holy city. The forces of darkness then surround the city, but they are soon annihilated by fire sent from heaven.⁴⁰

In its twisted and distinctive way, the apocalypse seems to attempt to offer hope of impending divine intervention to those currently under siege by the Romans. The book ends with a scene of the resurrection and judgment in which people’s names and deeds during life are said to be recorded in a Book of Life. Following the judgment, most of the humans who ever lived are thrown into Hell to be tortured for eternity in a lake of fire.⁴¹ The last few lines contain a direct plea to Jesus by the author for him to come to Earth soon to exact all this vengeance.⁴² As ever, no sign of knowledge can be found here that the messiah had already been to Earth in recent history. The very idea of a Second Coming simply wasn’t a thing until after the popularization of the gospels which had not yet been written.

Artist depiction of the majority of the world’s population suffering the eternal torments of hell

The Battle of the Temple of Yahweh

Artist depiction of Ben-Matityahu attempting to berate the Rebels into surrendering

With the defeat of the rebels now appearing certain, Titus made one last offer of terms of their surrender. He had the turncoat Joseph Ben-Matityahu address the people from a spot just out of range of their projectile weapons. The disgraced former rebel commander implored them to give up in the face of the Roman army which had time and again proven itself invincible. It was now evident, he explained, that God had abandoned the Jews completely and he surely now resides in Italy instead. He claimed that even their Jewish forefathers, who were far superior to them, recognized that God was with Rome. Ben-Matityahu then compared himself to the revered prophet Jeremiah who in ancient times had also told the people of Jerusalem of their coming destruction. While he was urging them to surrender, many of the Jews laughed at Ben-Matityahu, and shouted insults, some even throwing their darts. His words convinced no one.⁴³

Artist depiction of men crucified in full view of the city

While resolve remained strong among the rebels, their food supply was running out. Titus had patrols of horsemen who captured any of the desperate souls who ventured out of the city to forage wild herbs and plants to ward off starvation. Once caught, the Romans whipped and tortured them before crucifying them. Before long, hundreds of such victims were nailed up and slowly dying on crosses in view of the rebels. They continued adding to this grisly spectacle until they ran out of wood. Then Titus began having the hands of any captured prisoners cut off before sending them back to the rebels.⁴⁴

When the Roman general came near to the wall to encourage his men to hurry completion of the embankment they were constructing, he was in earshot of the rebels who shouted insults at him and proclaimed their readiness to die rather than become slaves. They would fight him to their last breaths, they said, and expressed their unshakable faith that God was on their side, and that He would protect his Temple. ⁴⁵

Artist depiction of the Roman assault on the Temple of Jerusalem

Four embankments were being constructed by the Romans at four spots surrounding the Temple complex. Titus now had several of his war engines brought up to the embankment next to the Antonia fortress. But the rebel leader John of Gischala had anticipated their strategy and had overseen the digging of tunnels underneath this area. He now had his men use highly flammable pitch and bitumen to set the tunnel’s wooden supports ablaze. A tremendous noise then shook the earth as fire and huge amounts of smoke appeared. The Romans, confused at first, then ran toward the scene, but determined there was no way to save their collapsed embankment and burning equipment.⁴⁶

Artist depiction of Jewish rebels setting a Roman siege tower ablaze

At another location where a battering ram on an embankment was already starting to be used against the wall, a band of fearless Jews wearing no protective armor at all sprinted with their torches to the battering ram and its protective covering of animal hides. Though they were the targets of darts and missiles from all directions, they did not stop or acknowledge any injuries until the ram and its covering were blazing, turning its iron head red hot. Upon their success, more rebels sallied out to fend off the Romans who attempted to douse the fires which now spread down the embankment to other war engines nearby. In their zealousness, they drove back the Roman attackers to their camp before returning to the Temple.⁴⁷

Modern recreation of a typical Roman siege wall entirely surrounding a city

Upset by these setbacks, Titus became eager to further weaken the spirits of the rebels. To ensure their starvation he ordered his men to construct a wall that completely surrounded the city, thereby putting a decisive end to any food or supplies being smuggled in. Citizens of Jerusalem now began dying of hunger. They soon lacked the strength to bury the dead. The Roman army, meanwhile, had plentiful food and supplies freshly arriving from Syria. Soldiers would stand in front of the walls and taunt the Jews by stuffing themselves in their full view.⁴⁸

Artist depiction of Roman soldiers enjoying plentiful food while the Jews in Jerusalem starve

The rebels became too weakened to sally out from the walls. Despite all the trees within miles of the city having already been cut down for wood, the Romans began building new, larger embankments against the walls using materials sourced from up to eleven miles away. At one point while Ben-Matityahu was on his way around the outside of the city, a stone hit him in the head, knocking him to the ground. A great cheer went up among the rebels, who thought they had killed their most hated enemy. Several Jews rushed toward him, but Roman soldiers came to his aid before they could reach him. When he recovered his senses, Ben-Matityahu shouted to his countrymen that they would all soon be punished for wounding him.⁴⁹

Artist depiction of soldier cutting open a crucified Jew, hoping for swallowed gold coins

The tortures of starvation finally caused some of those in the city to use their last strength to come and surrender themselves before the Romans. Many didn’t even make it to their camp. At one point a Syrian deserter was discovered to be picking gold pieces from the excrement of dead Jews who, leaving the city with nothing else, had swallowed bits of treasure to offer in exchange for their lives. When word of this got around to all the soldiers fighting for Rome, they began routinely cutting open the stomachs of those who sought mercy, leaving hundreds of them disemboweled and left for dead.⁵⁰

With what little strength they could still summon, the rebels attempted to harm the latest Roman battering ram as it was put in place atop their completed embankment and began its work undermining the integrity of the Temple complex’s wall. But the Romans had learned by now to protect their war machine and the embankment at all costs, for by now the resources that would be needed to replace them had run out. With great effort, the Roman workers managed to dislodge four large stones from the wall. The ram continued to pound its way into the weakened wall all day and all evening, and then at some point during the night, a section of the Temple wall collapsed.⁵¹

Enemy at the Gates

Artist depiction of the breached Temple wall revealing another hastily constructed wall behind it

The Romans’ elation at breaching the Temple complex wall was immediately followed by dismay upon seeing that the rebels had constructed another wall right behind it. To boost their fighting spirits, Titus now made promises of extravagant rewards to the first soldier over the wall, and he waxed poetic to his troops about the great glory of dying in combat rather than, for instance, meeting one’s death by succumbing to disease at home.⁵²

Artist depiction of Sabinus making his charge against the Jews defending the Temple

A gangly dark skinned soldier born in Assyria named Sabinus volunteered to begin the assault, and was followed by eleven others. With great energy he ran to the second wall as Jewish archers took repeated aim at him. He leapt up and clambered over the wall as those with him succumbed to projectiles or were crushed by boulders rolled down on them. The sight of the fearless soldier jumping down into the Temple complex stunned the rebels, who assumed it was the start of the inevitable Roman onslaught. But when they realized it was a single man, they stood their ground. Sabinus moved forward to engage them, but tripped over a large piece of stone and came crashing to the ground. He rose up on one knee, but now having been pierced by several arrows and darts, he collapsed dead.⁵³

Artist depiction of the battle in the narrow alley between the Temple and Antonia Fortress

Two nights later, seeking another avenue of attack, four Roman soldiers scaled a tower of the Antonia fortress. Finding a single guard asleep inside, they slit his throat. With a trumpet they had taken with them, they now sounded a loud blare, waking all the Jewish defenders who thought the fortress had been overrun by the Roman army. At the same time, Titus ordered his men over the same wall Sabinus had climbed. Most of the Jews were running toward the sound of the trumpet in the fortress, and were set upon by the Romans coming from an unexpected direction. A fierce close-quarters battle broke out in the narrow corridor between the fortress and the Temple—made even more difficult to navigate due to the accumulating bodies underfoot. After hours of bloody mayhem, the Jews were driven back into the Temple complex.⁵⁴

Artist depiction of Joseph Ben-Matityahu hectoring the angry crowd of rebels in the Temple

Up to this point, the revolutionaries throughout the war had scrupulously maintained the twice daily sacrifices to God in front of the Temple, but now they grieved that no more priests with sufficient credentials were alive to carry on the sacred rituals. Since the rebels had fought at all costs to protect the house of God and yet now it had ceased its primary function, Titus summoned Ben-Matityahu as his translator to make one last appeal to those inside the Temple. He stood where the rebels could hear his voice and addressed them, imploring them to surrender before their holy Temple was burned to the ground. Rebel leader John of Gischala immediately shouted a barrage of insults and hatred at the man who he had tried to remove from command even before he became an open traitor at the siege of Jotapata. John indignantly told him that he had no fear of the Romans attempting to take the Temple because it belonged to God alone to do with as He saw fit. Ben-Matityahu shot back that the coming destruction by fire would be God’s act of judgment against the rebels and would be a cleansing of Jerusalem and the Temple.⁵⁵

Artist depiction of Jonanthan standing momentarily victorious

A zealous rebel named Jonathan then approached the enemy lines outside the Temple. Though short of stature, his hatred of Romans was great, and he boldly insulted the foreigners who deigned to attack God’s house, and issued a challenge for them to send their best fighter to go against him in personal combat. Many of the legionaries laughed at him. When no one came forward, he berated the Romans as cowards. Finally, enraged by his words, a Roman cavalryman named Pudens ran toward Jonathan to assault him, but in his enthusiasm he tripped and fell to the ground. Jonathan cut his throat, put his foot on his body, held up his bloody sword and screamed at the Romans. A centurion named Priscus then shot an arrow that pierced Jonathan who twisted in anguish and fell dead over Pudens’s body.⁵⁶

Fire in the House of God

Artist depiction of Titus’s widened embankment allowing his full forces to advance into the Temple

The size of Antonia fortress and the corridor separating it from the Temple complex limited how many troops the Romans could use against the Jews in the Temple, so Titus held off their final attack until his workers could widen the embankment enough to allow some of his war engines to be put in place to keep the rebels from attacking his men from on top of the walls surrounding the Temple. Additional soldiers could then also stand ready and ascend the ramp in formation.⁵⁷

Artist depiction of Jesus Ben-Ananias remaining silent when questioned by the Sanhedrin

There was a Jewish man in the Temple complex named Jesus Ben-Ananias who had been a peasant farmer. For years before the war, he would come to the Festival of Tabernacles and walk among the streets of the city, shouting to the crowds in the manner of a prophet, “A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from the four winds! A voice against Jerusalem and the holy house! A voice against the grooms and brides! A voice against this entire people!” Some aristocrats who did not like his message had him seized and beaten. Jesus would make no attempt to defend himself or say anything to his attackers, and would then resume crying out his same words. He was taken to the Roman governor Albinus who asked him who he was, where he came from, and why he shouted these words. Jesus gave him no reply other than to repeat his same prophecy.⁵⁸

Artist depiction of Jesus Ben-Ananias shouting on top of the Temple wall

In the remaining years before the outbreak of war, he spoke to no one except to repeat one phrase: “Woe, woe to Jerusalem.” Though frequently beaten, he continued to attend the major Jewish festivals for seven years, crying out his same refrain. Now with the inhabitants of the city under siege in the House of God, he took to the ramparts, his body frail from starvation, and cried out with all his remaining energy, “Woe, woe to the city again! And woe to the people and the holy house!” He then added “Woe, woe to me also!” and at that moment a large rock launched by a Roman war engine killed him instantly.⁵⁹

Artist depiction of close quarters fighting in the outer courtyards of the Temple

Now ready for the final assault, Titus signaled for his men to set fire to the gates of the Temple complex, destroying them. The fire spread to the nearby porticoes of the outer courtyard and burned for more than a day. A great battle began in these outer courts and the ground became thick with corpses that each soldier had to continuously step over lest he stumble and become a tripping hazard himself. The Roman resolve to finish the long siege equally matched the zeal and desperation of the fanatical Jews making their final defense, still expecting that a heavenly messiah and army of angels would appear just as things seemed at their most hopeless, bringing swift destruction to the invaders and victory to the faithful. Just that morning a would-be messiah and prophet had proclaimed to the citizens that God had commanded them to gather at the Temple building itself, and there they would receive miraculous signs of their salvation.⁶⁰

Artist depiction of Romans advancing up the Temple stairs as the structure catches fire

The fight moved from the outer to the inner courts where a sign had long stood warning Gentiles not to enter on pain of execution. The spikes on the Temple’s roof that were used to keep away birds were now torn out by members of the lower priesthood and hurled down at the attackers. The rebels were still managing to maintain their defense, but now Roman troops were able to throw torches into the windows of the very Temple building itself which quickly caught fire. At the sight of this, the shocked revolutionaries broke off their fighting and ran to douse the flames.⁶¹

Artist depiction of starving Jews cut down on the Temple stairs

The Romans turned their swords on any and all of the thousands of starved citizens they came across, slitting the throats of children and adults, female and male. Some avoided death at the hands of the hated foreigners by leaping off the walls to the valley far below or throwing themselves into the raging fires. Dead bodies now covered every part of the Temple including the holy altar itself. Corpses could be seen sliding down the Temple stairs on rivers of blood.⁶²

Artist depiction of General Titus coming to the Temple of Yahweh just before its destruction by fire

Watching the battle progress from a window of the Antonia fortress, Titus saw when the sacred building began to go up in flames. He then came down and made his way to the Temple itself and entered it with his troops. He saw the great golden treasures and beautiful decoration of the enormous chamber just inside its doors and viewed the inner rooms and Holy of Holies.⁶³

Artist depiction of masses of Jews seeking refuge on the holy altar, but being slaughtered and pushed to their deaths

His men looted all the treasures they could carry until the flames entered the interior and eventually became too powerful for anyone to remain inside.⁶⁴ Only a few years after its completion, after decades of construction work that had been launched by King Herod to grandly rebuild the entire Temple complex, the entire structure—renowned across the empire and beyond—was utterly destroyed in flames. It would never be rebuilt again. The Judaism centered on the Temple was no more.

Continue Reading:

Chapter 14: Vespasian and Josephus

Footnotes

1
Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
2
Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
3
Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
4
Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
5
Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
6
Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
7
Eisenman, R.H. (1998). James the Brother of Jesus: The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Penguin.
8
Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
9
Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
10
Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
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Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
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Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
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Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
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Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
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Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
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Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
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Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
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Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
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Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
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Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
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Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
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Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
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Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
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Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
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Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
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Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
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31
Perkins, P.(2012). Reading the New Testament: An Introduction. Paulist Press.
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Revelation 14:1-5. The Bible. New International Version.
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Revelation 12:9. The Bible. New International Version.
34
Stuckenbruck, Loren T. (2003). “Revelation”. In Dunn, J.D.G.; Rogerson, J.W. (eds.). Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible. Eerdmans.
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Collins, A.Y. (1984). Crisis and Catharsis: The Power of the Apocalypse. Westminster John Knox Press.
36
Revelation 12:1-14. The Bible. New International Version.
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Revelation 12:5. The Bible. New International Version.
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Revelation 19:13. The Bible. New International Version.
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Revelation 19:14-15. The Bible. New International Version.
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Revelation 20:1-10. The Bible. New International Version.
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Revelation 20:11-15. The Bible. New International Version.
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Revelation 22:20. The Bible. New International Version.
43
Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
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Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
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Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
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Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
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Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
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Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
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Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
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Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
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Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
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Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
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Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.
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Beasley, B. (2015). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish Wars. Living Stone Books.