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The Arch of Titus in Rome
This painting of the Arch of Titus reveals a triumphal monument with scenes in history depicting Titus as the Roman conqueror of the Jews, who some believe are seen here carrying the Roman spoils of the Jewish Wars under the view of their cruel conquerors. Most scholars believe that it was actually soldiers carrying the ornaments of the Jerusalem Temple. The destruction of Jerusalem happened in 70 AD when the Roman legions sacked Jerusalem and returned to Rome with the booty of the Jerusalem Temple. The Arch of Titus was only completed and dedicated by Domitian after his brother's death (a. d. 81).
The Arch of Titus is one of Rome's most famous monuments. It was built to commemorate the victories of Titus and Vespasian in the war against the Jews and their complete destruction in 70 AD. One wall relief inside the arch shows the spoils of the great Temple in Jerusalem before its annihilation. Another relief depicts the apotheosis of Titus who is carried to heaven on the wings of an eagle. Title: Arch of Titus The relief on the south side of the Arch of Titus reveals one of the most troubling scenes in all history, Roman soldiers carrying spoils from the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. The Temple Menorah* and the Table** of the Shewbread shown at an angle, both of solid gold, and the silver trumpets which called the Jews to the festivals. The Romans are in triumphal procession wearing laurel crowns and the ones carrying the Menorah have pillows on their shoulders. The soldiers carry signs commemorating the victories which Titus had won. This group of soldiers is just a few of the hundreds in the actual triumphal procession down Rome's Sacred Way. The whole procession is about to enter the carved arch on the right which reveals the quadriga at the top, Titus on his 4-horsed chariot with soldiers. The Arch of Titus with its Menorah Relief are high on the list of importance in the study of Biblical Archaeology because it stands today as a testimony that the words of Jesus miraculously came true. * When the temple was plundered by Antiochus Epiphanes, the candlestick was taken away (1 Macc 1:21); after the cleansing, a new one was made by Judas Maccabeus (1 Macc 4:49,50). * * The 'table' originally provided for the second Temple had been taken away by Antiochus Epiphanes (about 170 BC); but another was supplied by the Maccabees. The second scene on the north side of the Arch of Titus reveals the actual triumphal procession of Roman soldiers who conquered Jerusalem in 70 AD. Titus is in his chariot with the winged Victory riding beside him who places a wreathe on his head, the goddess Roma or Virtus is leading the horses, along with the semi-nude Genius of the People. Because the reliefs were carved so deeply, some of the heads have broken off. The Arch of Titus with its reliefs are high on the list of importance in the study of Biblical Archaeology because it reveals a scene in history that testifies to the events predicted by Jesus regarding Jerusalem.
The inscription in Roman square capitals reads: Jesus said: "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation." - Luke 19:41-44 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'" - Matthew 23:37-39
The arch of Titus still spans the ancient Sacra Via at Rome, at the top of the Velian ridge. Its beautiful proportions make it one of the most interesting monuments of the eternal city. Its noble sculptures, unfortunately, have not been well preserved, but still within the vault can be traced the sevenbranched candlestick, the golden table, and the sorrowful train of Jews, as the captives bear the desecrated relics of the destroyed Temple beneath the cruel eyes of their conquerors. So, after eighteen hundred years, the solemn marble commemorates a tragedy than which calamity was never more complete! [The Story of the Jews]
Luke 19:41-44 "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation." Matthew 23:37-39 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'"
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Arch of Titus in Wikipedia
The Arch of Titus is a 1st-century honorific arch located on the Via
Sacra, Rome, just to the south-east of the Roman Forum. It was
constructed in c.82 AD by the Roman Emperor Domitian shortly after
the death of his older brother Titus to commemorate Titus'
victories, including the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD...
Significance. The Arch provides one of the few contemporary
depictions of Temple period artifacts. The seven-branched menorah
and trumpets are clearly depicted. It became a symbol of the Jewish
diaspora. In a later era, Pope Paul IV made it the place of a yearly
oath of submission. Roman Jews refused to walk under it. The menorah
depicted on the Arch served as the model for the menorah used on the
emblem of the state of Israel... THE ARCH
OF TITUS. It was erected in commemoration of the capture and
destruction of Jerusalem, and in honour of the successful general,
by the Senate and Roman people. Crowning the highest point of the
Sacred Way, the Summa Sacra Via, not only is it the most elegant of
all the triumphal arches, but also, as from its connection with
Scripture history it has been justly styled, " one of the most
interesting ruins in Rome." It consists of a single arch of white
marble, flanked by a fluted Composke column. During the pontificate
of Pius VII it was rescued from impending ruin by extensive and
judicious restorations; which, however, unlike the ancient portions,
were executed in travertine. The sculptures with which it is
embellished are of a very elaborate character. Those of the frieze
represent a procession of warriors conducting white bulls or oxen to
the sacrificial altar ; the keystone of the arch is adorned with a
spirited figure of a Roman warrior. On the attic, he who runs may
read the original inscription ; which, it is evident, from the use
of the word divo ("divine"), was recorded after the death of Titus,
the "delight of the human race," and, probably, by his successor
Domitian. It runs thus: The piers, under the arch, are covered with bas-reliefs of remarkable interest. On the one side may be seen a body of Roman soldiers bearing the precious spoils from the Temple of Jerusalem ; among which conspicuously shine the golden table, the silver trumpets, and the seven- ranched candlestick of massive gold, which afterwards fell into the Tiber from the Milvian Bridge, during the flight of the Emperor Maxentius before the victorious arms of Constantine." The size of this candlestick, as here represented, appears to be nearly a man's height : so that both in size and form these bas- reliefs perfectly correspond with the description of Josephus, and are the only authentic representations of these sacred objects." On the other side we see the Imperator himself, crowned by the goddess Victory, seated in his triumphal quadriga, or chariot drawn by four horses, with the lictors bearing their laurel-wreathed fasces before him, and around him soldiers and citizens, cheering tumultuously, and waving boughs of laurel. The vaulted roof of the arch is richly ornamented with sunk panels and roses, while a central bas- relief is devoted to the apotheosis of Titus. The length of the arch is 49 feet; its breadth, 16 feet 6 inches ; its height is equal to its length. The width of its passage, or opening, is 19 feet. Above the entablature rises an attic, 12 feet in height. The arch is semicircular, and springs from a horizontal moulding, called the impost which crosses the front of the building at about 22 feet from the ground. The height of the Composite marble columns on either side of the opening is 22,065 feet, and they stand upon pedestals 9 feet high. [Roman Architecture] The Arch of Titus. The arch of Titus is the most celebrated as well as the oldest now standing and the smallest of the so-called triumphal arches in Rome. It was erected in summa Sacra via by Domitian, in honor of the deified Titus and in commemoration of his siege of Jerusalem. It suffered serious damage in the middle ages, especially during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when it formed part of the city stronghold of the Frangipani family. In 1822 it was taken down and rebuilt. The central portion alone, of Pentelic marble, is original, the two ends being restorations in travertine. The archway is 8.30 metres high and 5.35 metres wide. Above it is a simple entablature, and an attic 4.40 metres in height, on which is the inscription. On each side is an engaged and fluted Corinthian column, standing on a square pedestal. The capital of these columns are the earliest examples of Composite style. On the inner jambs of the arch are the two famous reliefs, that on the south representing the spoils from the temple at Jerusalem, the table of shewbread, the seven-branched candlestick, and the silver trumpets, which are being carried in triumph into the city ; and that on the north representing Titus standing in a quadriga, the horses of which are led by Eoma, while Victory crowns the emperor with laurel as he passes through a triumphal arch. In the centre of the ceiling of the archway, which is finished in soffits (lacunaria), is a relief of the apotheosis of Titus, representing him as being carried up to heaven by an eagle. The frieze is ornamented with small figures representing sacrificial scenes, and in the spandrels are the usual winged Victories. On the keystones are figures of Roma and the Genius Populi Romani (or Fortuna) with a cornucopia. Since the foundations of the arch rest upon the pavement of the clivus Palatinus (cf. p. 312), it has been supposed by some that the arch stood originally farther north and was moved when the temple of Venus and Roma was built, a rather doubtful hypothesis. [Topography of Ancient Rome] The Arch of Titus. The Arch of Titus, the most ancient, and perhaps the most faultless, of the Triumphal Arches was the work of an age when the arts, which, in the reign of Domitian, had degenerated from their ancient simplicity into a style of false and meretricious ornament, had revived in their fullest purity and vigour, beneath the patronage of Trajan. But we now see it to great disadvantage. The hand of time has robbed it of much of its ancient beauty ; his "effacing fingers" have obliterated much of the expression and grace, and even outline of the bas reliefs, the design and composition of which we can yet admire. It consists of a single arch; of eight marble columns that once adorned it, four have entirely disappeared, and two only are entire. The interior of the arch is decorated with two fine bas reliefs, representing, on one side, Titus in his car of triumph, conducted by the Genius of Eome, and crowned by the hand of Victory; on the other, the spoils of the Temple of Jerusalem, the seven branched candlesticks, the trumpets, the golden table with the shew-bread, and the captive Jews. On the roof is the apotheosis of Titus ; for this arch of his triumph was not erected till the victor was cold in the grave. But this beautiful monument, raised by the taste and generosity of one emperor to the virtues and glory of another, now totters to its fall; and no distant generation may perhaps see even its ruins only in description. Yet, mutilated and mouldered as it is, it affords the earliest, and perhaps the most faultless, specimen of the composite order which ancient taste has bequeathed to modern times. [Triumphal Arches - 1852] The Arch of Titus. THE ARCH OF TITUS. It was erected in commemoration of the capture and destruction of Jerusalem, and in honour of the successful general, by the Senate and Roman people. Crowning the highest point of the Sacred Way, the Summa Sacra Via, not only is it the most elegant of all the triumphal arches, but also, as from its connection with Scripture history it has been justly styled, "one of the most interesting ruins in Rome." It consists of a single arch of white marble, flanked by a fluted Composite column. During the pontificate of Pius VII, it was rescued from impending ruin by extensive and judicious restorations ; which, however, unlike the ancient portions, were executed in travertine. The sculptures with which it is embellished are of a very elaborate character. Those of the frieze represent a procession of warriors conducting white bulls or oxen to the sacrificial altar; the keystone of the arch is adorned with a spirited figure of a Roman warrior. On the attic, he who runs may read the original inscription; which, it is evident, from the use of the word divo ("divine"), was recorded after the death of Titus, the "delight of the human race," and, probably, by his successor Domitian. It runs thus: SENATVS POPVLVSQVE ROMANVS DIVO TITO DIVI VESPASIANI F VESPASIANO AVGVSTO. The piers, under the arch, are covered with bas-reliefs of remarkable interest. On the one side may be seen a body of Roman soldiers bearing the precious spoils from the Temple of Jerusalem; among which conspicuously shine the golden table, the silver trumpets, and the seven-branched candlestick of massive gold, which afterwards fell into the Tiber from the Milvian Bridge, during the flight of the Emperor Maxentius before the victorious arms of Constantine." The size of this candlestick, as here represented, appears to be nearly a man's height: so that both in size and form these bas- reliefs perfectly correspond with the description of Josephus, and are the only authentic representations of these sacred objects." On the other side we see the Imperator himself, crowned by the goddess Victory, seated in his triumphal quadriga, or chariot drawn by four horses, with the lictors bearing their laurel-wreathed fasces before him, and around him soldiers and citizens, cheering tumultuously, and waving boughs of laurel. The vaulted roof of the arch is richly ornamented with sunk panels and roses, while a central bas-relief is devoted to the apotheosis of Titus. The length of the arch is 49 feet; its breadth, 16 feet 6 inches ; its height is equal to its length. The width of its passage, or opening, is 19 feet. Above the entablature rises an attic, 12 feet in height. The arch is semicircular, and springs from a horizontal moulding, called the impost which crosses the front of the building at about 22 feet from the ground. The height of the Composite marble columns on either side of the opening is 22,065 feet, and they stand upon pedestals 9 feet high. [The Summa Sacra Via, 1871] The Arch of Titus. The arch of Titus is the most celebrated as well as the oldest now standing and the smallest of the so-called triumphal arches in Rome. It was erected in summa Sacra via by Domitian, in honor of the deified Titus and in commemoration of his siege of Jerusalem. It suffered serious damage in the middle ages, especially during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when it formed part of the city stronghold of the Frangipani family. In 1822 it was taken down and rebuilt. The central portion alone, of Pentelic marble, is original, the two ends being restorations in travertine. The archway is 8.30 metres high and 5.35 metres wide.1 Above it is a simple entablature, and an attic 4.40 metres in height, on which is the inscription. 2 On each side is an engaged and fluted Corinthian column, standing on a square pedestal. The capital of these columns are the earliest examples of Composite style. On the inner jambs of the arch are the two famous reliefs, 1 that on the south representing the spoils from the temple at Jerusalem, the table of shewbread, the seven-branched candlestick, and the silver trumpets, which are being carried in triumph into the city ; and that on the north representing Titus standing in a quadriga, the horses of which are led by Eoma, while Victory crowns the emperor with laurel as he passes through a triumphal arch. In the centre of the ceiling of the archway, which is finished in soffits (lacunaria), is a relief of the apotheosis of Titus, representing him as being carried up to heaven by an eagle. The frieze is ornamented with small figures representing sacrificial scenes, and in the spandrels are the usual winged Victories. On the keystones are figures of Roma and the Genius Populi Romani (or Fortuna) with a cornucopia. [Monuments of Ancient Rome 1911] The Arch of Titus. It is also reported that the 74 THE SACK OF THE VANDALS IN 455 75 trophies of the Jewish war, represented in the basreliefs of the arch of Titus and deposited by him in the temple of Peace, fell into the hands of the barbarians. [THE SACK OF THE VANDALS IN 455] THE SACRA VIA AND THE VELIA. The Sacra via, the oldest and most famous street in Rome, began at the sacellum Streniae a shrine mentioned only in this connection, and undoubtedly near the lucus Streniae in the Colosseum valley, and ran northwest to the summit of the Velia, which it crossed near the arch of Titus. This was the summa Sacra via, and from here the street curved toward the north and entered the Forum at the fornix Fabianus. Its course from this point to the Capitol has been described . Originally the name Sacra via was given only to that part of the street which was between the Velia and the Forum, but it was soon made to include the whole extent from the Colosseum to the Forum, and in modern times even the part within the Forum. The part from the Forum to the Velia was also called the Sacer clivus. [Topography of Ancient Rome 1911] Vespasian (69 a. d.) was made emperor by his army in Judea. An old-fashioned Roman, he sought to revive the ancient virtues of honesty and frugality. His son Titus, after capturing Jerusalem (pp. 85, 284), shared the throne with his father, and finally succeeded to the empire. His generosity and kindness won him the name of the Delight of Mankind. He refused to sign a death-warrant, and pronounced any day lost in which he had not done some one a favor. During this happy period, Agricola conquered nearly all Britain, making it a Roman province; the famous Colosseum at Rome was finished ; but Pompeii and Herculaneum were destroyed by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius. [Political History of Rome] TITUS Vespasian, son of Vespasian and Flavia Domitilla, became known by his valor in the Roman armies, particularly at the siege of Jerusalem. In the 79th year of the Christian era, he was invested with the imperial purple, and the Roman people had every reason to expect in him the barbarities of a Tiberius, and the debaucheries of a Nero. When raised to the throne, he thought himself bound to be the father of his people, the guardian of virtue, and the patron of liberty ; and Titus is, perhaps, the only monarch who, when invested with uncontrollable power, bade adieu to those vices, those luxuries, and indulgences, which, as a private man, he never ceased to gratify. All informers were banished from his presence, and even severely punished. A reform was made in the judicial proceedings, and trials were no longer permitted to be postponed for years. To do good to his subjects was the ambition of Titus ; and it was at the recollection that he had done no service, or granted no favor one day, that he exclaimed in the memorable words of, "My friends, I have lost a day" Two of the senators conspired against his life, but the emperor disregarded their attempts. He made them his friends by kindness, and, like another Nerva, presented them with a sword to destroy him. During his reign, Rome was three days on fire ; the towns of Campania were destroyed by an eruption of Vesuvius ; and the empire was visited by a pestilence, which carried off an infinite number of inhabitants. In this time of public calamity, the emperor's benevolence and philanthrophy were conspicuous. The Romans, however, had not long to enjoy the favors of this magnificent prince. Titus was taken ill; and as he retired into the country of the Sabines, to his father's house, his indisposition was increased by a burning fever. He died the 13th of September, A.D. 81, in the 41st year of his age, after a reign of two years, two months, and twenty days. [Historical and Biographical]
Vespasian (a.d. 69-79). A short troublous period followed the
reign of Nero and then the imperial purple was assumed by Flavius
Vespasian, the old and beloved commander of the legions in
Palestine. One of the most memorable events of Vespasian's reign was
the capture and destruction of Jerusalem. After one of the most
harassing sieges recorded in history, the city was taken by Titus,
son of Vespasian. A vast multitude of Jews who had crowded into the
city—it was the season of the Passover — perished. In imitation of
Nebuchadnezzar, Titus robbed the temple of its sacred utensils and
bore them away as trophies. Upon the triumphal arch at Rome that
bears his name may be seen at the present day the sculptured
representation of the seven-branched golden candlestick, which was
one of the memorials of the war. After a most prosperous reign of
ten years Vespasian died a.d. 70, the first Emperor after Augustus
who had not met with a violent death. [From Tiberius to the
Accession of Diocletian] REIGN OF
T. FLAVIUS VESPASIANUS, A.D. 69-79.--Vespasian, the founder of
the first Flavian family of emperors, was a soldier of fortune, who
had risen from a low station to high command in the army. He was
brave, active, free from vice, and, although fond of money, was
never charged with extortion or rapacity. Toward the close of the
summer, A.D. 70, he arrived in Rome, and received the imperium from
the Senate. He began at once to restore discipline in the army, and
raised to the rank of Senators and Equites illustrious men from the
provinces, as well as from Italy and Rome, thus giving to the
provincials a certain share in the government. The courts of justice
were purified, the _Delatores_, or spies, were discountenanced, and
trials for treason ceased. To increase his revenues, Vespasian
renewed the taxes in several provinces which had been exempted by
Nero, and he introduced economy and good order into the
administration of the finances. Yet he expended large sums in
rebuilding the Capitoline Temple, and also in completing the
Colosseum, whose immense ruins form one of the most remarkable
features in the modern scenery of Rome. He built, too, the Temple of
Peace and a public library. He appointed lecturers upon rhetoric,
with a salary of 100 sesterces, but was possessed himself of little
mental cultivation. He is even said to have disliked literary men,
and, in the year A.D. 74, expelled the Stoic and Cynic philosophers
from Rome. In A.D. 70, September 2, his son Titus took the city of
Jerusalem, after a brave defense by the Jews, who were finally
betrayed by their own factions. The city was totally destroyed, and
nearly half a million of the Jews perished in the siege. Those who
survived, being forbidden to rebuild their city, were scattered over
the empire, and each Jew was compelled to pay a yearly tax of two
drachmae, which was appropriated to rebuilding the Capitoline
Temple. The Arch of Titus, which still exists at Rome, was erected
in commemoration of the fall of Jerusalem. Vespasian's generals
repressed an insurrection of the Germans, and in A.D. 71 C. Julius
Agricola, father-in-law of the historian Tacitus, entered Britain as
legate to Petilius Cerialis. He was made governor of the province in
A.D. 77, and led his victorious armies as far north as the Highlands
of Scotland. This excellent character, by his justice and
moderation, reconciled the Britons to the Roman yoke. By his first
wife, Flavia Domatilla, Vespasian had three children--Titus,
Domitian, and Domatilla. When she died he formed an inferior kind of
marriage with Coenis, a woman of low station, who, however, seems to
have deserved his esteem. He died 23d of June, A.D. 79, at the age
of seventy. Although never a refined or cultivated man, Vespasian,
by his hardy virtues, restored the vigor of the Roman government,
and gave peace and prosperity to his subjects; while he who founded
a library and established schools of rhetoric can not have been so
wholly illiterate as some writers have imagined. [SM History of
Rome] Titus (a.d. 79-81 ). In a short reign of two years Titus won the title of "the Friend and the Delight of Mankind." He was unwearied in acts of benevolence and in bestowal of favors. His reign was signalized by two great disasters. The first was a conflagration at Rome, which was almost as calamitous as the Great Fire in the reign of Nero. The second was the destruction, by an eruption of Vesuvius, of the Campanian cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The cities were buried beneath showers of cinders, ashes, and streams of volcanic mud. Pliny the Elder, the great naturalist, venturing too near the mountain to investigate the phenomenon, lost his life. [From Tiberius to the Accession of Diocletian] REIGN OF TITUS, A.D. 79-81. Titus was one of the most accomplished and benevolent of men. Eloquent, warlike, moderate in his desires, he was called _Amor et deliciae humani generis_, "The love and the delight of the human race." In early life he had been thought inclined to severity, and his treatment of the Jews, at the fall of their city, does not seem in accordance with his character for humanity. But no sooner had he ascended the throne than he won a general affection. Such was the mildness of his government that no one was punished at Rome for political offenses. Those who conspired against him he not only pardoned, but took into his familiarity. He was so generous that he could refuse no request for aid. He was resolved, he said, that no one should leave his presence sorrowful; and he thought that day lost in which he had done no good deed. Titus wrote poems and tragedies in Greek, and was familiar with his native literature. During his reign, A.D. 79, occurred a violent eruption of Vesuvius, together with an earthquake, by which Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Pompeii, three towns on the Bay of Naples, were destroyed. The emperor was so touched by the sufferings of the inhabitants that he expended nearly his whole private fortune in relieving their wants. Pompeii and Herculaneum, which were covered by lava or ashes, were thus preserved from farther decay, and, having been partially excavated and restored, enable us to form a truthful conception of the domestic life of the Roman cities in the age of Titus. We here enter the villas of the rich or the humble homes of the poor, and find every where traces of comfort, elegance, and taste. The next year after the destruction of these cities, a fire broke out in Rome, which raged for three days, desolating the finest regions of the city. The Capitoline Temple was again destroyed, together with many buildings in the Campus Martius. A pestilence followed soon after, which ravaged Rome and all Italy. In A.D. 81 Titus dedicated the Colosseum, which was now completed, and also his famous baths, the ruins of which may still be visited at Rome. Splendid games and spectacles were exhibited in honor of these events. Few military events occurred during this reign, the empire being perfectly quiet, except where the active Agricola was subduing the wandering tribes of Scotland. At length Titus, having gone to the Sabine villa where his father Vespasian died, was himself suddenly arrested by death. It was believed that his brother Domitian was the cause of this unhappy event, and all the people lamented their emperor as if they had lost a father or a friend. Titus died September 13, A.D. [SM History of Rome] The Destruction of Jerusalem. Vespasian committed the care of the war against the Jews to his son Titus ; for after the ascension of our Saviour, the Jews, in addition to their wickedness against him, were now incessantly plotting mischief against his apostles. First they slew Stephen by stoning him, next James, who first obtained the episcopal seat at Jerusalem, after the ascension of our Saviour. . . . But the rest of the apostles they harassed in many ways with a view to destroying them, and they drove them from the land of Judea. These apostles accordingly went to preach the gospel to all nations, relying upon the aid of Christ, when he said, " Go and teach all nations in my name." The whole body of the church at Jerusalem, however,— when commanded by a divine revelation given to men of approved piety there before the war, — removed from the city, and dwelt at a certain town called Pella beyond the Jordan. The Jews formed their line close under their walls, whence if successful they might venture to advance, and where if repulsed they had a refuge at hand. . . . The Romans then began to prepare for an assault. It seemed beneath them to await the result of famine. . . . But the commanding situation of the city the Jews had strengthened by enormous works which would have been a thorough defense even for level ground. Two hills of great height they fenced in with walls skillfully bent inward in such a manner that the flank of an assailant was exposed to missiles. The work ended in a precipice ; the towers they had raised to a height of sixty feet where the hill lent its aid to the fortification ; where the ground fell, they were a hundred and twenty feet high. These towers presented a marvelous appearance, and to a distant spectator seemed to be of uniform height. There had been prodigies, which this nation, prone to superstition but hating all religious rites, did not deem it lawful to expiate by offerings and sacrifice. They had seen hosts joining battle in the skies, the fiery gleam of arms, the temple illuminated by a sudden radiance from the clouds. The doors of the inner shrine suddenly opened, and a voice of more than mortal tone was heard to cry that the Gods were going away. At the same instant there was a mighty stir as of departure. A few put a fearful meaning on these events, but in most people was a firm persuasion that the ancient records of their priests contained a prediction that at this very time the East was to grow powerful, and rulers from Judea were to acquire universal empire. These mysterious prophecies had pointed to Vespasian and Titus ; but the common people, with the usual blindness of ambition, had interpreted these mighty omens in their own favor, and could not be brought even by disasters to believe the truth. In computing the whole number of the slain, the historian says, that eleven hundred thousand perished by famine, and that the rest, including factions and robbers, mutually informing against each other after the capture, were put to death. Of the young men the tallest and those distinguished for beauty were kept for the triumph. Of the remaining multitude all above seventeen were sent as prisoners to labor in the mines of Egypt. Great numbers, however, were distributed among the provinces, to be destroyed by the sword or by wild beasts in the theatres. Those under seventeen were carried away to be sold as slaves. In the last named class alone were as many as ninety thousand. Vespasian died on the eighth of the calends of July at the age of sixty-nine years. [Story of Rome] The First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE), sometimes called The Great Revolt (Hebrew: המרד הגדול, ha-Mered Ha-Gadol), was the first of three major rebellions by the Jews of Judaea Province (Iudaea), against the Roman Empire. The second was the Kitos War in 115–117 CE; the third was Bar Kokhba's revolt of 132–135 CE). The Great Revolt began in the year 66 CE, initially due to Greek and Jewish religious tensions, but later escalated due to anti-taxation protests and attacks upon Roman citizens.[2] The Roman military garrison of Judaea was quickly overrun by rebels and the pro-Roman king Agrippa II fled Jerusalem, together with Roman officials to Galilee. Cestius Gallus, the legate of Syria, brought the Syrian army, based on XII Fulminata, reinforced by auxiliary troops, to restore order and quell the revolt. The legion, however, was ambushed and defeated by Jewish rebels at the Battle of Beth Horon, a result that shocked the Roman leadership. The Roman command of the revolt's suppression was then handed to general Vespasian and his son Titus, who assembled four legions and began cleansing the country, starting with Galilee, in the year 67 CE. The revolt ended when legions under Titus besieged and destroyed the center of rebel resistance in Jerusalem in the year 70 CE, and defeated the remaining Jewish strongholds later on. [Wikipedia] The Fall of Jerusalem. The siege of Jerusalem, the capital city, had begun early in the war, but had turned into a stalemate. Unable to breach the city's defences, the Roman armies established a permanent camp just outside the city, digging a trench around the circumference of its walls and building a wall as high as the city walls themselves around Jerusalem. Anyone caught in the trench attempting to flee the city would be captured, crucified, and placed in lines on top of the dirt wall facing into Jerusalem. The two Zealot leaders, John of Gischala and Simon Bar Giora, only ceased hostilities and joined forces to defend the city when the Romans began to construct ramparts for the siege. Those attempting to escape the city were crucified, with as many as five hundred crucifixions occurring in a day. Titus Flavius, Vespasian's son, led the final assault and siege of Jerusalem. During the infighting inside the city walls, a stockpiled supply of dry food was intentionally burned by Sicarii to induce the defenders to fight against the siege instead of negotiating peace; as a result many city dwellers and soldiers died of starvation during the siege. Zealots under Eleazar ben Simon held the Temple, Sicarii led by Simon Bar Giora held the upper city. Titus eventually wiped out the last remnants of Jewish resistance. By the summer of 70, the Romans had breached the walls of Jerusalem, ransacking and burning nearly the entire city. The Romans began by attacking the weakest spot: the third wall. It was built shortly before the siege so it did not have as much time invested in its protection. They succeeded towards the end of May and shortly afterwards broke through the more important second wall. The Second Temple (the renovated Herod's Temple) was destroyed on Tisha B'Av (29 or 30 July 70). Tacitus, a historian of the time, notes that those who were besieged in Jerusalem amounted to no fewer than six hundred thousand, that men and women alike and every age engaged in armed resistance, everyone who could pick up a weapon did, both sexes showed equal determination, preferring death to a life that involved expulsion from their country. All three walls were destroyed and in turn so was the Temple, some of whose overturned stones and their place of impact can still be seen. John of Giscala surrendered at Agrippa II's fortress of Jotapata and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The famous Arch of Titus still stands in Rome: it depicts Roman legionaries carrying the Temple of Jerusalem's treasuries, including the Menorah, during Titus's triumphal procession in Rome... The defeat of the Jewish revolt altered the Jewish diaspora, as many of the Jewish rebels were scattered or sold into slavery. Josephus claims that 1,100,000 people were killed during the siege, a sizeable portion of these were at Jewish hands and due to illnesses brought about by hunger. "A pestilential destruction upon them, and soon afterward such a famine, as destroyed them more suddenly." 97,000 were captured and enslaved and many others fled to areas around the Mediterranean. The Jewish Encyclopedia article on the Hebrew Alphabet states: "Not until the revolts against Nero and against Hadrian did the Jews return to the use of the old Hebrew script on their coins, which they did from motives similar to those which had governed them two or three centuries previously; both times, it is true, only for a brief period." Titus reportedly refused to accept a wreath of victory, claiming that he had "lent his arms to God". [Wikipedia] Josephus Describes the Siege. "Now as soon as the army had no more people to slay or to plunder, because there remained none to be the objects of their fury (for they would not have spared any, had there remained any other work to be done), [Titus] Caesar gave orders that they should now demolish the entire city and Temple, but should leave as many of the towers standing as they were of the greatest eminence; that is, Phasaelus, and Hippicus, and Mariamne; and so much of the wall enclosed the city on the west side. This wall was spared, in order to afford a camp for such as were to lie in garrison [in the Upper City], as were the towers [the three forts] also spared, in order to demonstrate to posterity what kind of city it was, and how well fortified, which the Roman valor had subdued; but for all the rest of the wall [surrounding Jerusalem], it was so thoroughly laid even with the ground by those that dug it up to the foundation, that there was left nothing to make those that came thither believe it [Jerusalem] had ever been inhabited. This was the end which Jerusalem came to by the madness of those that were for innovations; a city otherwise of great magnificence, and of mighty fame among all mankind... And truly, the very view itself was a melancholy thing; for those places which were adorned with trees and pleasant gardens, were now become desolate country every way, and its trees were all cut down. Nor could any foreigner that had formerly seen Judaea and the most beautiful suburbs of the city, and now saw it as a desert, but lament and mourn sadly at so great a change. For the war had laid all signs of beauty quite waste. Nor had anyone who had known the place before, had come on a sudden to it now, would he have known it again. But though he [a foreigner] were at the city itself, yet would he have inquired for it... The slaughter within was even more dreadful than the spectacle from without. Men and women, old and young, insurgents and priests, those who fought and those who entreated mercy, were hewn down in indiscriminate carnage. The number of the slain exceeded that of the slayers. The legionaries had to clamber over heaps of dead to carry on the work of extermination." [Josephus]
Judaea Capta coins were originally issued by the Roman Emperor Vespasian to commemorate the capture of Judaea and the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem by his son Titus in 70 AD during the First Jewish Revolt. Josephus. The main account of the revolt comes from Josephus, the former Jewish commander of Galilee who, after capture by the Romans after the Siege of Yodfat, attempted to end the rebellion by negotiating with the Judeans on Titus's behalf. Josephus and Titus became close friends, and later Josephus was granted Roman citizenship and a pension. He never returned to his homeland after the fall of Jerusalem, living in Rome as a historian under the patronage of Vespasian and Titus. He wrote two works, The Jewish War (c. 75) and Jewish Antiquities (c. 94) which, on occasion, are contradictory. These are the only surviving source materials containing information on specific events occurring during the fighting. But the material has been questioned because of claims that cannot be verified by secondary sources and because of Josephus' potential bias as a client of the Romans and defender of the Roman cause. Only since the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls has some solid confirmation been given to the events he describes. [Wikipedia]
The Word "Caesar" is Mentioned many Times
in the Bible Luke 3:1 - Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene.
Matthew 22:21 - They
say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them,
Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are
Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. Some Scriptures mentioning the word "Rome"
Acts 23:11
- And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of
good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so
must thou bear witness also at Rome.
Daniel 2:40 - "And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all [things]: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise." Acts 23:11 - And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.
Related Pages:
Bible History Online - Arch of Titus Menorah Relief - 1 - This wall relief on the Arch of Titus reveals one of the most troubling scenes in all history, Roman soldiers carrying
spoils from the destruction of the Temple of ...
More Images of Rome's Emperors Also see Roman Emperors - Photos, information , coins
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