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.

A Temple in Flames

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.

The Epic Story of the Final Battle for Jerusalem

Gershon Bar-Cochva | Ahron Horovitz

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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 AviYonah. The reconstruction provides the reader with a new view of
Jerusalem as the city emerges from the excavations and discoveries
of recent years.

www.korenpub.com

Gershon Bar-Cochva | Ahron Horovitz

32 | The Rebels Take Jerusalem

Antonia
Fortress

Mariamne
Tower

Hippicus
Tower

Phasael
Tower

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Upper City

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

Herods palace

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

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).

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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.

Reconstruction of Herods palace in the model of Second

Temple-period Jerusalem built by Michael Avi-Yonah (today
on display at the Israel Museum)

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.

42 | Victory! What Now?

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).

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.

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A bronze figurine from the first century BCE of a Roman soldier

holding a standard depicting an eagle, the symbol of Roman
might

The Temple in Flames | 43

Coins of the Revolt

A 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.

Coin from Year 2 of the

Great Revolt inscribed,
Freedom [of] Zion

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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 nonpagan 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.

Half-shekel coin from Year

5 of the Great Revolt with
the inscription, Jerusalem
the holy