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92

SUCCESS OF THE ROMANS.

The destruction of the cloisters made Titus master of the court of the Gentiles; and, on the eighth of August the engines began to batter against the eastern chambers of the inner court. The strength of the wall resisted every assault, and the Jews threw down headlong all who had the boldness to mount to the top; even ladders, loaded with armed men, were thrown backwards and dashed upon the pavement.

Other methods failing, Titus ordered fire to be applied to the gates; the flames soon spread along the second range of cloisters, and the defenders of the Temple saw themselves surrounded by a circle of fire the whole night and the next day.

It was now that Titus called a council of war, to decide whether the magnificent building within should be preserved or destroyed. The council was divided; some were willing to spare it on account of its beauty, and because it was not the custom of the Romans to destroy the temples of conquered nations; but others said it was no longer a temple, but the citadel of a rebellious people, and as such ought not to be suffered to stand. But Cæsar's opinion at length decided the point; and it was resolved that every thing should be done to preserve it, as one of the wonders of the Roman empire.

On the tenth of August, a day marked in the Jewish calendar as the anniversary of the destruction of the first Temple by the king of Babylon, Titus, who had retired to rest in the Antonia, was awakened by a cry of alarm that the Temple was on fire. A soldier, without orders, had mounted on the shoulders of another, on purpose to throw a lighted torch into a small gilded door in the outer building or porch, and the flames were rapidly spreading. Titus immediately hastened to the spot and shouted to the soldiers to quench the fire, but, in the general confusion, they could not, or would not hear. Each encouraged the other in the work of slaughter, and many were trampled down in their furious haste. Thousands of Jews were heaped like sacrifices round the altar, and the steps of the Temple streamed with blood. When Titus and his chief officers entered they were filled with wonder at the beauty and splendour of the interior, and a last effort was made to save the holiest which was still untouched by the flames. But even respect for the Cæsar's authority could not stop the soldiers,

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who were excited as much by their thorough hatred of the Jews, as by the gold that glittered everywhere. A soldier, unperceived by those who were trying to enforce the commands of Titus, thrust a lighted torch between the hinges of the door; and the blinding smoke and fire soon forced them all to retire.

The burning of the Temple was a terrible sight to the crowds in the upper city, and their loud wailings answered to the dreadful howlings of those who were perishing in the flames. In the meantime, legionaries clambered over heaps of dead bodies to pursue their work of destruction, till, it is said, the slain exceeded the number of the slayers. Men and women, old and young, rebels and priests, those who fought and those who only asked for mercy, alike perished by the sword. The plunder was immense; and such was the quantity of gold obtained at this time, that this metal soon fell, in Syria, to half its common value.

The Roman standards were now set up amidst the smoking ruins of the Temple; sacrifices were offered to celebrate the victory, and Titus was saluted as Augustus by the whole army.

The destruction of the Temple may teach us how vain is that zeal which is not according to knowledge. The Jews had rejected Moses, crucified Christ, and resisted the Holy Ghost; they would not hearken to the law, nor to that prophet, neither would they believe and be saved. They went on in their own way, adding sin to sin, contending for the form and letter when they were without the spirit of the law of God; and, trusting in lying words, they continued to cry, "The Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord!" after He had left it desolate, and the things which belonged to their peace were hid from their eyes. Let us not forget that religion is a vain thing, if it does not occupy the heart with God, and so produce subjection to His will.

CHAP. XVI.

TAKING OF JERUSALEM.-TREATMENT OF THE JEWS.-BEHAVIOUR OF TITUS.-WORKS OF JOSephus.

THE victory of the Romans was not yet complete; for John, at the head of his boldest men, had cut his way through the besiegers, and, escaping both fire and sword, rejoined Simon in the upper city; but both these leaders were so dispirited by the destruction of the Temple, that they sought to make terms with Titus. He agreed to spare their lives if they would instantly surrender; but when they proudly asked to go free into the wilderness with their wives and children, the Cæsar declared that he would root out the whole people. On the seventh of September, the last wall was attacked, and the exhausted Jews were so little able to defend it, that, when a breach was made, they fled on all sides, whilst John and Simon, with many others, descended into the vaults and subterraneous passages that led to the lower city. Nothing but

famine could have compelled these leaders to desert the strong towers where they might have resisted every assault; and when Titus entered and perceived the strength of the fortifications, he was surprised at the easy termination of this long and violent struggle. The legionaries spread through the city, burning and slaying as they went, till they were weary of their work and night put an end to it. In many houses they found nothing but heaps of putrid bodies; for whole families had died of hunger. On the day following, orders were given not to kill any who made no resistance; and some of the tallest and finest of the rebels, or those best known among them, were saved to adorn the triumphal procession which Titus expected on his return to Rome. The rest were publicly executed, and the old and infirm were generally killed, as unsaleable.

During the siege, one million, one hundred thousand were killed, and ninety-seven thousand were made prisoners. Of the latter, all above the age of seventeen were sent to Egypt to work in the mines, or dispersed through the provinces to be exhibited as gladiators: the rest were sold as slaves. Twelve thousand of the prisoners died of hunger; some not being properly supplied, others absolutely refusing food.

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John of Gischala and most of his companions were forced by famine to come out of the underground caverns; and the life of this rebel leader was spared on account of his extraordinary bravery, which in the opinion of the Romans counterbalanced the greatest crimes. Simon continued in concealment, as he had a store of provisions, and some miners and hewers of stone were with him by whose aid he hoped to dig his way out beyond the Roman entrenchment. When Titus left the city, he committed the charge of the ruins to one of his officers, Terentius or Turnus Rufus; and he executed the work of destruction so faithfully that nothing remained of this great city but the three towers, Phasaelis, Mariamne, and Hippicus, which were considered worthy monuments of the victories of Titus, and a part of the western wall which was left as a defence of the Roman camp. Towards the end of October Simon's provisions failed; and, despairing of any other mode of escape, he resolved to appear suddenly among the Roman soldiers, clothed in white with a purple robe, hoping to save his life by exciting their terror. The news of the capture of this extraordinary person was sent to Titus, and he desired to have him preserved for the day of his triumph.

Wherever the Cæsar went, his miserable captives were dragged after him. At Cæsarea more than two thousand perished as gladiators, or fighting with wild beasts in honour of Domitian's birthday; and Vespasian's birthday was kept at Berytus in a similar manner!

During this war, Josephus reckons that 1,356,460 men were killed by the Romans, and 101,700 taken prisoners: but he only gives the number of prisoners from two places besides Jerusalem, and among the dead does not include the immense waste of life from massacre, famine, and disease. After the taking of Jerusalem, Josephus rose high in the favour of Titus ; and the conqueror promised to grant him any request he should make. He asked for the sacred books, and the lives of his brother and fifty friends. He obtained these favours and much more; for he was allowed to take nearly two hundred of his relatives and friends from among the multitudes shut up to be sold as slaves; and a little time after Titus allowed him to take down from the crosses on which they were suffering with many others, three of his most intimate friends. Two of them expired; but the third survived, though he had been hanging on the cross for many hours.

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THE TRIUMPH OF TITUS.

After Titus had subdued the remaining rebels in Judea, he went to Alexandria, and there assisted at the foolish ceremony of installing the god Apis; that is, putting a new ox in the place of one that was just dead. On this occasion of public rejoicing he wore a diadem; and this, together with the honour put upon him in Judea, was the origin of a report sent to Rome that the Cæsar was about to usurp his father's authority. Upon hearing this, Titus immediately set off for the capital, to show that he had no such intention. He was warmly received there; and the splendour of the triumphal show, by which his victories and those of Vespasian were celebrated, could scarcely be exceeded.

In the midst of the most extraordinary exhibitions and a vast display of treasures, the eye of a Christian, familiar with the prophecies concerning the destruction of the city and Temple, would naturally rest upon the golden table, the seven-branched candlestick, and the book of the law, seen among the Jewish spoils with the long train of captives. Simon was scourged and publicly executed as soon as the procession reached the capitol; and thus ended that memorable day, which marked the low estate into which Judah had fallen, before the whole world. The ruins of the triumphal arch, called the arch of Titus, may still be seen at Rome; and the curious examiner can trace upon it the representation of the Jewish spoils, and even the procession of captives.

Coins struck at this period have also been discovered; a mourning woman, sitting under a palm-tree, with a Roman soldier standing by, is the emblem of the captivity of Judea. The inscription is "JUDEA CAPTA."

The land was sold by an imperial edict; and the money passed into the public treasury. Eight hundred veteran soldiers received a portion as the reward of their services, and were settled at Emmaus, seven and a half miles from Jerusalem. Vespasian also made some addition to the dominions of Agrippa, his faithful ally: but that king chiefly resided at Rome; and seemed, in his own prosperity and luxury, to forget the calamities of his country and people. His sister Berenice so much attracted the admiration and love of Titus, that the Romans were afraid he would make her his wife; and it is probable they would never have consented to his succession to the empire, if he had not sacrificed his own wishes to their's by sending away the

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