After a six month siege the Romans under the direction of Titus destroy
Jerusalem killing one and a half million Jews. The gold taken from the
the Temple finances the Colosseum back in Rome.
Romans destroy Jerusalem and Temple
n 70 AD, the Roman Army, under Titus, destroyed Jerusalem and the
Temple, to suppress an uprising of the Jews. According to the historian
Josephus, about 1.1 million Jews were killed. Others were taken as
slaves
he following is a description of the destruction of Jerusalem by the
Romans, according to Josephus, who witnessed the destruction:
" And as for those that are already dead in the war, it
is reasonable we should esteem them blessed, for they are dead in
defending, and not in betraying their liberty; but as to the multitude
of those that are now under the Romans, who would not pity their
condition? and who would not make haste to die, before he would suffer
the same miseries with them? Some of them have been put upon the rack,
and tortured with fire and whippings, and so died. Some have been half
devoured by wild beasts, and yet have been reserved alive to be devoured
by them a second time, in order to afford laughter and sport to our
enemies; and such of those as are alive still are to be looked on as the
most miserable, who, being so desirous of death, could not come at it.
And where is now that great city, the metropolis of the Jewish nation,
which vas fortified by so many walls round about, which had so many
fortresses and large towers to defend it, which could hardly contain the
instruments prepared for the war, and which had so many ten thousands
of men to fight for it? Where is this city that was believed to have God
himself inhabiting therein? It is now demolished to the very
foundations, and hath nothing but that monument of it preserved, I mean
the camp of those that hath destroyed it, which still dwells upon its
ruins; some unfortunate old men also lie upon the ashes of the temple,
and a few women are there preserved alive by the enemy, for our bitter
shame and reproach. Now who is there that revolves these things in his
mind, and yet is able to bear the sight of the sun, though he might live
out of danger? Who is there so much his country's enemy, or so unmanly,
and so desirous of living, as not to repent that he is still alive? And
I cannot but wish that we had all died before we had seen that holy
city demolished by the hands of our enemies, or the foundations of our
holy temple dug up after so profane a manner. " - Josephus, The Wars Of The Jews, Book VII, Chapter 8, Section 7. The text is quoted from the The Works of Flavius Josephus, translated by William Whiston.
No comments:
Post a Comment