The bloody battle of Jerusalem: 3 layers of walls broke one after another, more than 1.1 million people died

The Jews lived for a long time under the yoke of the Roman Empire, until a revolt in 66, forced the Roman emperor to send the most battle-hardened legions to Jerusalem.

In 64 AD, Gessius Florus became governor of the Roman region of Judea (now Israel). Known for being hostile to the native population, Florus showed little interest in the religious life of the Jews.

The siege of Jerusalem in 70 is considered the bloodiest tragedy in ancient history.

When tax revenues fell sharply, Florus ordered the possessions of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. This led to a wave of indignation among the population.

The Holy Temple worships God, the supreme deity in the Jewish religion. The first Holy Temple was built by King Solomon in 1,000 BC, later destroyed by the Babylonians. The Second Temple, built in 516 BC, lasted until the Roman attack on Jerusalem in 70.

In 66, the Roman army entered Jerusalem, slaughtering 3,600 people. Florus' actions set off a Jewish revolt, also known as the First Judeo-Roman War.

The Jewish Revolt

The revolt originated in Jerusalem. The people prevented the tribute from being moved into the temple to offer to Caesar. Before long, the whole city of Jerusalem was boiling, expelling or killing Roman soldiers. The revolt spread throughout Judea.

In 67, Cestius Callus, the governor of neighboring Syria, brought 20,000 troops to Judea to quell the rebellion. After six months of besieging Jerusalem, Callus failed. 6,000 Roman soldiers died, including 5,300 infantry and 380 cavalry. Roman weapons were recovered by the Jews for use in future defenses.

Nero, the 5th emperor of Rome, sent Vespasian, a famous and very influential general at that time, to Judea to quell the rebellion.

Vespasian defeated the Jewish insurgency in Galilee (now northern Israel) and surrounding areas. The Roman army led by Vespasian besieged Jerusalem.

Reconstruction of part of the wall of Jerusalem.

But before the siege, Vespasian received bad news from Rome. Emperor Nero died suddenly, Vespasian fell into a power struggle when the Roman armies in the eastern provinces all considered him emperor.

Vespasian was crowned emperor in 70, returning to Rome. He entrusted his son Titus to continue his conquest of Judea.

After 4 years of gaining autonomy from the Romans, the Jewish community in Jerusalem did not set a specific strategic direction, even internal friction occurred, leading to poor discipline of the army, no Get ready for the battles to come.

The bloodiest siege in ancient history

Titus brought 70,000 Roman troops, including 4 warlike legions, began besieging Jerusalem on April 14, 70. That was also the time when many Jewish pilgrims from far away came to participate in the Passover.

At the time of the siege, Jerusalem was defended by nearly 40,000 well-equipped troops. The wall is extremely solid, divided into 3 layers, with the last ring layer protecting the Holy Temple.

Titus applied the classic siege strategy of the time, which was to block all supplies from outside.

As noted by the famous Jewish historian Josephus (37-100), Titus was extremely careful in formulating a siege strategy. The Roman legions were grouped in positions along the northern and western walls, soldiers in seven rows, cavalry in three rows behind and archers in the middle.

After about a month, waiting for the inhabitants of the city to fall into starvation, Titus began to act. Titus brought to Jerusalem a siege weapon that the Jews had never seen before, a chariot dedicated to breaking the wall.

In 3 different locations, siege vehicles simultaneously attacked. The Jews fought bravely by day, trying to fortify the increasingly weakened walls by night.

The Roman road to Jerusalem in 70.

At one point, the first wall collapsed, Titus and his elite army rushed inside.

'The Jews were forced to retreat to the defensive line behind the second wall. Titus continued to command the siege. In 5 days, the fighting became fiercer than ever. The Jews fought as if they were willing to sacrifice themselves to defeat the enemy,' writes historian Josephus.

The second siege was easier, and it took Titus only five days to force the Jews to withdraw from the second wall.

Titus initially ordered the Roman soldiers not to burn houses, not to slaughter civilians. But the Jewish warlords still wanted to fight, and they managed to overwhelm the Romans from everywhere.

After the next 3 days, the Jews were pushed to the last line of defense, defending the Holy Temple. Titus was in no hurry, resting his soldiers, re-checking their armor, and paying their soldiers in full.

'The situation at that time was very bad, there was famine everywhere. Many people have to eat their own kind to survive. Those who snuck out in search of instant food were captured alive, tortured, and crucified by Roman soldiers,' writes historian Joephus.

In this bloody siege, Joephus was sent by Titus as a negotiating messenger, but the Jews refused to surrender.

The battle turned into a massacre of the Jews.

After many attempts to break the 3rd wall but failed, Titus switched to the strategy of night attack. Fighting on a section of the wall took place from night to day, but the Romans controlled part of the wall, thereby gradually pushing back the Jewish defenses.

Having lost control of the 3rd wall, all defense efforts have failed. Josephus records that Titus wanted to preserve the Temple, but the soldiers were so angry at the enemy's stubbornness that they burned the temple. On September 8, 70, Jerusalem officially belonged to Roman control.

Josephus records that more than 1.1 million people died in the bloodiest battle of the city in ancient history . The Jewish historian explains the unusually large death toll due to the inclusion of pilgrims who arrived in Jerusalem during the Passover. A large number of pilgrims were trapped in the city and perished.

The rebels, the elderly, and the sick were all murdered by Roman soldiers, with only 97,000 enslaved.

American historian Seth Schwartz stated in 1984 that Josephus may have overstated the death toll, as well as his accounts being biased towards the Roman empire.

After the fall of Jerusalem, Josephus followed the Roman army back to Rome, becoming a Roman citizen. He spent the rest of his life chronicling the history of the Jewish people.