laid siege to the Holy City, where the Zealots had established what can only be termed a reign of terror.
In the following year, A.D. 68, the violent death of the Emperor Nero, and the state of confusion that followed his death throughout the Empire, determined Vespasian to pause in his operations, and for a short period Jerusalem was left in the hands of the Zealots. The brief reigns of the Emperors Galba, Otho, and Vitellius were followed by the sudden election of Vespasian to the Empire in the year 69, the electors being for the most part his own devoted and disciplined legions in Syria.
Vespasian soon after his election returned to Rome, and the Empire, now under his strong rule, was once more united and quiet. He left behind him in Palestine as supreme commander his eldest son Titus, a general of great power and ability.
The siege of the revolted Jerusalem was once more pressed on; an iron circle now encircled the doomed city, which, in addition to its wonderful memories of an historic past, was one of the strong fortresses of the world.
The history of the siege and the eventual fall and ruin of the famous Jewish capital, with all its nameless horrors, has been often told and retold; but the sad episode of the burning of the Temple, with all its eventful consequences, must be briefly touched on.
Why was this world-famous sanctuary—then standing in all its marvellous beauty, with its matchless treasures, some of them environed with an aureole of sanctity simply unequalled in the story of the nations in the sphere of Roman influence—ruthlessly destroyed, and its wondrous treasures swept out? This was not the usual policy of far-seeing Rome.
According to Josephus, the burning of the Temple was the result of accident, and was not owing to any premeditated plan or order issuing from the Roman commander-in-chief.
Modern scholars,[1] however, believe that a passage from the lost Histories of Tacitus has been discovered which describes how a council of war was held by Titus after the capture of
- ↑ Mommsen, Renan, and Ramsay without hesitation ascribe the statement quoted here as taken by Sulpicius Severus (fourth century) from the lost portion of the Histories of Tacitus.
