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In the spring of 70 CE Titus attacked Jerusalem with four well-equipped, battle-hungry Roman legions. He was determined to put an end to the Jewish revolt and exact a heavy price from the people who, for more than five years, played havoc with the greatest empire on earth. Facing him were the defenders of

Jerusalem, Jewish warriors and commanders who fought valiantly but suffered from a deep internal conflict that ignited a cruel and bloody civil war.

A Temple in Flames is the result of a collaboration between two authors: Dr. Gershon Bar-Cochva a military historian specializing in the study of the Roman army, particularly the war of the Jews against the Romans in the Great Revolt and Ahron Horovitz, director of Megalim, The Higher Institute of Jerusalem Studies, and the author of several popular books on ancient Jerusalem. In A Temple in Flames, Bar-Cochva presents for the first time a detailed and fascinating picture of the stages of the Roman siege on Jerusalem in a breathtaking saga that culminates with the breach of the city walls and the burning of the Temple. Alongside these depictions, Horovitz offers the reader a wealth of contemporaneous archaeological finds that have been uncovered in recent years in the City of David and ancient Jerusalem.

The events presented here are illustrated by a new and detailed reconstruction of Jerusalem in all its glory at the time of the Second Temple. This reconstruction, published here for the first time, was prepared especially for this book by historian Dr. Eyal Meiron; it updates the model built by the late Professor Michael Avi-Yonah. The reconstruction provides the reader with a new view of Jerusalem as the city emerges from the excavations and discoveries of recent years.

The Epic Story of the Final Battle for Jerusalem

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32 | The Rebels Take Jerusalem

soldiers who were in the palace fled to the great towers Hippicus, Phasael, and Mariamne. On 6 Elul, Menahem and his men returned to the fortress and killed the Roman soldiers who had not managed to flee to the towers that were still intact. The next day, Hananya the High Priest and his brother Hizkiya were caught and put to death. At this point, the leadership of the rebellion seemed to be in the hands of Menahem and his Sicarii. However, the leader of the Zealots in Jerusalem, Eleazar (the son of the murdered high priest, Hananya), who had previously

stopped the sacrifices for the emperor, claimed that the Jews had replaced a tyranny (Rome) with a tyrant (Menahem). When Menahem, dressed in royal robes, went with his men to worship in the Temple, the Jerusalem Zealots stoned him on Eleazars orders. Menahem fled to the Ophel but was caught, tortured, and executed. Some of the Sicarii, headed by Eleazar ben Yair, a relative of Menahem, managed to flee to their stronghold at Masada (War II.448).

Eleazar ben Hananya now set about lifting the siege

Antonia

Fortress

Mariamne

Tower

Phasael

Tower

Hippicus

Tower

Herods palaceUpper City

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The Temple in Flames | 33

from the towers. The Romans were in dire straits there; their commander Metilius pledged to hand over their weapons if only the besiegers would spare their lives, and Eleazars men gave their word. On the Sabbath, the Roman soldiers came down from the towers as agreed, but when they lay down their weapons, Eleazar and his men killed them all, except for Metilius himself, who begged for his life,

promising to convert to Judaism and even to undergo circumcision.

The takeover of Jerusalem was compete, but there was no dancing in the streets or cries of joy. The people feared for the future and a spirit of despair permeated the city (War II.455).

Herod's Palace Twelve years after Herod rose to power, he built himself a lavish palace. Herod chose the highest point in the Upper City, near the present-day Tower of David Museum. The western city wall protected the palace grounds from enemies without, and the eastern wall protected it from threats from his own people. The royal guard was stationed in the adjacent towers of Phasael, Hippicus, and Mariamne to ensure the unpopular king's safety.

The palace was a showcase of beauty and style, rivaling even the Temple built several years later (War I.402). It consisted of two wings: Caesarion, named after Emperor Augustus, and Agrippeon, after Marcus Agrippa, commander of the Roman army. The palace halls were exquisitely designed and the courtyards were paved with colorful stones. The grounds abounded with gardens and fountains streaming with water from the upper aqueduct.

During the rule of the procurators, a Roman garrison was stationed in the towers and the procurator stayed in the palace when visiting from Caesarea. On one such occasion, Florus sparked the revolt by setting up a tribunal to punish several Jews who had mocked him after he pilfered the Temple coffers. The Jewish retaliation for Florus's subsequent purge of the city included the massacre of the Roman garrison an open declaration of war. The palace and adjacent towers were the last of the rebels' strongholds to fall to the Romans in the month of Elul in 70CE. Remains of the foundations of Herod's palace were discovered in the courtyard of the Tower of David Museum and in the Ottoman prison complex.

Reconstruction of Herods palace in the model of Second Temple-period Jerusalem built by Michael Avi-Yonah (today on display at the Israel Museum)

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42 | Victory! What Now?

Autumn 66CE

Victory! What Now?After the defeat of Cestius Gallus, the rebels realized that the Roman invasion of Judea was only a matter of time and they had to establish a leadership in Jerusalem. At a large meeting on the Temple Mount, several commanders were appointed for various parts of the country in preparation for the war. Delegations were also dispatched to nations across the Euphrates River to incite them to revolt (War VI.343).

The leadership of the revolt in Jerusalem was placed in the hands of Joseph ben Gorion and Hanan ben Hanan the High Priest, who were given complete authority to handle the war and municipal matters. Their first task was to increase the height of the Third Wall (War II.563). It was also decided that coins would be minted as a symbol of the sovereignty of Judea. Historian Uriel Rappaport notes the fascinating fact that despite changes in the rebel leadership due to internal struggles, unified coinage was minted throughout the revolt. The coins date from Year 1 (66CE) to Year 5 (70CE). The designs on the coins represent the Land of Israel, centering on Jerusalem and the Temple. The inscriptions state the goal of the revolt: Freedom of Zion; For the redemption of Zion; Jerusalem the holy. The minting of coins had political and propagandist aims in addition to the obvious economic significance.

The legion standard: Every Roman legion had an ensign, or standard, in the image of an eagle (aquila), made of pure gold and placed in the safekeeping of the senior centurion of the legion. The ensign was considered a sacred religious item, and for it to be captured by the enemy would shame the entire legion. In describing the Roman campaign, Josephus wrote:

Next, the ensigns surrounding the eagle, which in the Roman army precedes every legion, because it is the king and the bravest of all birds; it is regarded by them as the symbol of empire, and whoever may be their adversaries, an omen of victory. These sacred emblems were followed by the trumpeters (War III.123).

A bronze figurine from the first century BCE of a Roman soldier holding a standard depicting an eagle, the symbol of Roman might

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Coins of the RevoltA large number of silver and bronze coins were minted in Jerusalem throughout the revolt against the Romans. Coins from every year of the revolt have been found in excavations, although first-year coins are rare and from the fifth year, only silver shekels have survived. Some of the coins bear signs of burning from the conflagration that destroyed Jerusalem in the year 70CE.

The coins from the second and third years of the revolt emblazon the rebels' battle cry Le-heirut Zion ("For the freedom of Zion"), proclaiming independence from the Roman yoke. In the fourth year, however, a different text appears: Li-ge'ulat Zion ("For the redemption of Zion"). Numismatic scholar Ya'akov Meshorer ascribes the change to a flagging optimism of the rebels. As the Roman siege tightened its stranglehold on the city and famine set in, the fighters sought divine intervention to save them.

The fact that the silver shekels minted by the rebels could be used for paying the half-shekel tax represented the Jews' spiritual break from the bonds of Rome; until then they had been forced to use the official shekels minted in Tyre, which bore foreign images. The Greek inscription on the Roman coin "The holy city of Tyre" was replaced on the Jewish shekels with the Hebrew words (in archaic Hebrew letters) Yerushalayim ha-kedoshah ("The holy [city of] Jerusalem") or Shekel Yisrael ("Shekel of Israel"). The image of the Phoenician god Melqart (Hercules) gave way on the Jewish coin to non-pagan motifs such as pomegranate clusters and the cup of plenty (possibly used for the Omer offering); the lulav (palm branch) and etrog (citron) appear here for the first time in Jewish art.

A bronze coin from Year 4 of the Great Revolt. It depicts a date palm and two baskets of fruit and reads, For the redemption of Zion. Israels present-day 10-shekel coin was inspired by this design.

Coin featuring a goblet from the Temple, above which is the Hebrew letter aleph, indicating the first year of the Great Revolt. Surrounding it are the words, Shekel [of] Israel. On the obverse are pomegranates surrounded by the words, Jerusalem the holy.

Coin from Year 2 of the Great Revolt inscribed, Freedom [of] Zion

Half-shekel coin from Year 5 of the Great Revolt with the inscription, Jerusalem the holy

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