Editing Titus (section)

====Siege of Jerusalem====
{{Main|Siege of Jerusalem (AD 70)}}
[[File:04 2022 Roma (Arco di Trionfo di Tito- Bassorilievi) FO228683 bis Photo by Paolo Villa.jpg|thumb|[[Arch of Titus]]: North inner panel, relief of Titus as ''triumphator'']]
[[File:04 2022 Roma (Arco di Trionfo di Tito- Bassorilievi) FO228685 bis Photo by Paolo Villa.jpg|thumb|[[Arch of Titus]]: South inner panel, close-up of [[relief]] showing spoils from the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)|fall of Jerusalem]]]]
[[File:Nicolas Poussin - The Conquest of Jerusalem by Emperor Titus - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''Conquest of Jerusalem by Emperor Titus'', by [[Nicolas Poussin]] (1638), depicts the destruction and looting of the Second Temple]]
Meanwhile, the Jews had become embroiled in a civil war of their own by splitting the resistance in Jerusalem among several factions. The [[Sicarii]], led by [[Menahem ben Judah]], could hold on for long; the [[Zealots]], led by [[Eleazar ben Simon]], eventually fell under the command of the Galilean leader [[John of Gischala|John of Gush Halav]]; and the other northern rebel commander, [[Simon Bar Giora]], managed to gain leadership over the [[Edom|Idumeans]].<ref>[[Josephus]], ''[[The Wars of the Jews]]'' [[s:The War of the Jews/Book V#Chapter 1|V.1.4]]</ref> Titus [[Siege of Jerusalem (70)|besieged Jerusalem]]. The Roman Army was joined by the [[Legio XII Fulminata|Twelfth Legion]], which had been previously defeated under [[Cestius Gallus]], and from Alexandria, Vespasian sent [[Tiberius Julius Alexander]], governor of Egypt, to act as Titus' second in command.<ref>[[Josephus]], ''[[The Wars of the Jews]]'' [[s:The War of the Jews/Book V#Chapter 1|V.1.6]]</ref>

Titus surrounded the city with three legions (Vth, XIIth and XVth) on the western side and one (Xth) on the [[Mount of Olives]] to the east. He put pressure on the food and water supplies of the inhabitants by allowing pilgrims to enter the city to celebrate [[Passover]] and then refusing them egress. Jewish raids continuously harassed the Roman Army, one of which nearly resulted in Titus being captured.<ref>[[Josephus]], ''[[The Wars of the Jews]]'' [[s:The War of the Jews/Book V#Chapter 2|V.2.2]]</ref>

After attempts by Josephus to negotiate a surrender had failed, the Romans resumed hostilities and quickly breached the first and second walls of the city.<ref>[[Josephus]], ''[[The Wars of the Jews]]'' [[s:The War of the Jews/Book V#Chapter 6|V.6–V.9]]</ref> To intimidate the resistance, Titus ordered deserters from the Jewish side to be [[crucified]] around the city wall.<ref>[[Josephus]], ''[[The Wars of the Jews]]'' [[s:The War of the Jews/Book V#Chapter 11|V.11.1]]</ref> By that time the Jews had been exhausted by famine, and when the weak third wall was breached, bitter street fighting ensued.<ref>[[Josephus]], ''[[The Wars of the Jews]]'' [[s:The War of the Jews/Book VI#Chapter 2|VI.2–VI.3]]</ref>

The Romans finally captured the [[Antonia Fortress]] and began a frontal assault on the gates of the [[Second Temple]].<ref>[[Josephus]], ''[[The Wars of the Jews]]'' [[s:The War of the Jews/Book VI#Chapter 4|VI.4.1]]</ref> As they breached the gate, the Romans set the upper and lower city aflame, culminating with the destruction of the Temple. When the fires subsided, Titus gave the order to destroy the remainder of the city, allegedly intending that no one would remember the name Jerusalem.<ref>[[Sulpicius Severus]], ''Chronicles'' [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/sulpiciusseveruschron2.html II].30.6–7. For [[Tacitus]] as the source, see {{Cite journal|author=T.D. Barnes |date=July 1977 |title=The Fragments of Tacitus' ''Histories'' |journal=Classical Philology |volume=72 |issue=3 |pages=224–231, pp. 226–228 | doi = 10.1086/366355|s2cid=161875316 }}</ref> The Temple was demolished, Titus's soldiers proclaimed him ''[[imperator]]'' in honour of the victory.<ref>[[Josephus]], ''[[The Wars of the Jews]]'' [[s:The War of the Jews/Book VI#Chapter 6|VI.6.1]]</ref>

[[Destruction of Jerusalem|Jerusalem was sacked]] and much of the population killed or dispersed. Josephus claims that 1,100,000 people were killed during the siege, most of whom were Jewish.<ref name="josephus-wars-vi-9">[[Josephus]], ''[[The Wars of the Jews]]'' [[s:The War of the Jews/Book VI#Chapter 9|VI.9.3]]</ref> Josephus's death toll assumptions are rejected as impossible by modern scholarship since about a million people then lived in the Land of Israel, half of them Jewish, and sizable Jewish populations remained in the area after the war was over, even in the hard-hit region of Judea.<ref name="Schwartz">{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=The Cambridge History of Judaism: Volume 4, The Late Roman-Rabbinic Period |editor-first1=William David |editor-last1=Davies |editor-first2=Louis |editor-last2=Finkelstein |editor-first3=Steven T. |editor-last3=Katz |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=1984 |first=Seth |last=Schwartz |title=Political, social and economic life in the land of Israel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BjtWLZhhMoYC |page=24|isbn=978-0521772488 }}</ref> However, 97,000 were captured and enslaved, including Simon Bar-Giora and John of [[Gischala]].<ref name="josephus-wars-vi-9"/> Many fled to areas around the [[Mediterranean Sea]]. Titus reportedly refused to accept a [[wreath of victory]], as he claimed that he had not won the victory on his own but had been the vehicle through which their God had manifested his wrath against his people.<ref>[[Philostratus]], ''The Life of Apollonius of Tyana'' [https://www.livius.org/ap-ark/apollonius/life/va_6_26.html#%A729 6.29] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315005913/http://www.livius.org/ap-ark/apollonius/life/va_6_26.html#%A729 |date=15 March 2016 }}</ref>

The [[Jewish diaspora]] during the Temple's destruction, according to [[Josephus]], was in [[Parthia]] (Persia), [[Babylonia]] (Iraq), and [[Arabia]], and some were beyond the [[Euphrates]] and in [[Adiabene]] (Kurdistan).<ref>{{PACEJ|text=JW|bookno=1|chap=1|sec=5|show-translator=no|show-source=no|abbr=yes}}</ref>