Siege of Jerusalem
Titus besieged and stormed Jerusalem, the centre of the Jewish revolt against Rome; the Second Temple was burned and the city destroyed.
- Date
- April 70 – 8 September 70start: month known; end: exact date · duration: ≈ 5 months
- Place
- Jerusalemtoday: Jerusalem, Israel · Middle East and Egypt
- Participants
- Roman Empire, Titus, Vespasian
- Threads
- Europe in the Roman age (1st–5th c.)
- Also known as
- Destruction of the Second Temple; Разрушение Второго Храма
The siege was the decisive episode of the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73/74). Titus, left in command when his father Vespasian went to claim the throne, invested the city in the spring of 70 with four legions, while rival rebel factions under John of Gischala and Simon bar Giora held it. After months of fighting and famine the Romans broke through; the Temple burned on the 10th of Av by the account of Josephus — its loss is still mourned on Tisha B’Av — and the upper city fell in September.
Josephus’s figure of 1.1 million dead is considered exaggerated, but the destruction was immense. The spoils of the Temple, depicted on the Arch of Titus in Rome, were carried in the triumph of 71; the loss of the Temple transformed Judaism, and the last rebel stronghold, Masada, fell in 73 or 74.
Connections
Related events
- Inauguration of the Colosseum80 · Western and Central Europea reconstructed inscription suggests the Colosseum was financed from the spoils of the Jewish War
- Vandal sack of Rome2–16 June 455 · Western and Central Europethe Temple treasures brought to Rome by Titus were taken to Carthage
Same participants
- Great Fire of Rome19 July 64 – c. 27 July 64 · Western and Central Europevia Roman Empire
- Eruption of Vesuviusbetween 24 August and 1 November 79 · Western and Central Europevia Roman Empire
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within 25 years of this event
Western and Central Europe
- Great Fire of Rome19 July 64 – c. 27 July 64
- Roman conquest of Britain43 – between 83 and 84
- Eruption of Vesuviusbetween 24 August and 1 November 79
- Boudica’s revoltbetween 60 and 61
- Inauguration of the Colosseum80
Eastern Europe
- Roman–Bosporan War45–49
- Zarubintsy culturec. 200 BC – c. 200
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)
- Wikipedia (Russian): Осада Иерусалима (70)
- Goodman M. Rome and Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient Civilizations. — London: Allen Lane, 2007.
- Wikidata: Q844886