Siege of Jerusalem 70 AD - Great Jewish Revolt DOCUMENTARY

[Music] Rome's polytheistic religious practices were remarkably tolerant for the time and throughout the centuries even incorporated many deities of their former enemies however the Romans always experienced problems with monotheism the most prominent monotheistic group in the early Roman Empire were the Jews this enduring people motivated by their religion would be a consistent thorn in the side of Roman leaders for centuries one of the most infamous episodes of violence between Rome and Judaism would be the Jewish revolt of 66 to 74 ad culminating in the capture of Jerusalem and the destruction of the second temple [Music]

after a rebellion against the declining Seleucid Empire the Hasmonean dynasty came to power in Judea during 146 BC in 67 BC two brothers Haqqanis and Arista Bullis drove the realm into civil war to the north Roman general Pompey had been finishing up the Mithra datak wars and in 63 BC thrust it south along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean upon his arrival in Damascus he intervened in the Civil War on behalf of Haqqanis captured Jerusalem and eventually made Judea a pliant Kingdom after a brief Parthian occupation Rome captured the city again in 37 BC and

installed their client Herod as king in 4 BC he perished and Judea became a Roman province Imperial Authority in the region leaned heavily on the local elites but they often lacked the confidence of the wider Jewish population resulting in near perpetual strife throughout the early 1st century Jewish frustration grew and they chafed under the Roman boot this resulted in increasingly violent actions perpetrated by sects such as the infamous Jewish Sakaki [Music] Judea was a powder keg a tangle of class ethnic and religious divisions in 66 rady a Greek mob profaned theses area synagogue and that

led to riots among the infuriated Jewish population meanwhile in Jerusalem Roman procurator gaseous Flores chose this inopportune moment to collect overdue taxes in an unwise move he did this by plundering 17 talents of silver and gold from the Treasury of the Second Temple reacting to this some young and bold Jews mocked Flores by begging for spare change in the name of the apparently poverty-stricken procurator infuriated Flores executed thousands when he moved to bring in reinforcements the Jews began to resist overwhelmed by the local population the Roman soldiers retreated to the citadel and the great Jewish

revolt began the members of the radical Jewish sect Sakaki then marched to the fortress of Masada where they proceeded to overwhelm and Massacre the seven hundred strong garrison meanwhile in Jerusalem the soldiers who had withdrawn to the palace sued for terms but were massacred when they tried to surrender their weapons the rival of Jewish factions united brutally capturing the fortress of Kip Rus and securing the surrender of Mackerras tensions among the disparate populations erupted as well Greek mobs would Massacre Jews in cities such as Ascalon Caesarea and tyre while Jewish proud the region and retaliated

the Roman Empire could not allow such defiance and the proconsul of Syria Hestia's galas marched south with 30,000 troops Gallus sought to seize Teru salam in order to restore order but the siege failed and the legions were subsequently ambushed at the beth horon pass as they retreated to the coast lightly armed Jewish rebels wildung javelins slings and bows in circles them and inflicted huge losses Leggio 12 for manator was annihilated the army siege weapons were captured and the legionary Aquila Eagle standard was lost Gallo says punitive campaign had been a complete catastrophe and emboldened the

rebels to the West Roman Emperor Nero received word of the revolt in Judea whilst on a concert tour of Greece requiring a competent general to take charge and crush the insurrection Nero appointed a veteran of the British campaign Titus Flavius Vespasian Asst otherwise known as force Bayesian to command to the army of Judea Vespasian immediately set off for Judea taking the overland route over the Hellespont and through the great Silesian gates after reaching the city of Antioch two legions and their associated auxilary units joined him Vespasian Marsh South to toll of mice while his son

Titus were sent to Alexandria in order to take command of another Legion and march in north to join the main army meanwhile reinforcements also arrived from the various local allies and clients in total the Empire mustered around 60,000 troops to crush the revolt no prisoners were taken and entire opposition villages were reduced to ash this proved to be effective as the 10,000 strong Jewish field army quickly scattered in all directions seeking haven in the fortified strong points in the subsequent campaign into Galilee during 67 ad Vespasian systematically moved through the region brutalizing any defiant settlement

and often allowing his rapacious legionaries free reign to loot burn murder and pillage as they pleased critical settlements defending the region were captured Joseph Potter fell to Vespasian first followed by Joppa Tiberias tera kya and Kamala before his army was finally billeted in its winter quarters leaving a subdued region in its wake [Music] the fall of Galilee to Vespasian's legionaries prompted more internal strife among the Jewish factions as the campaigning season of 68 ad began Vespasian was in no hurry to intervene stating that since our enemies are busy dying by their own hands the best

course of action would be to stay as spectators instead of taking on fanatics who welcomed death and are already busy murdering each other content to leave Jerusalem to its internal squabbling the Roman general marched across the mountainous province of Perea and Judea proper taking almost every settlement of note one by one laying waste to the countryside and slaughtering tens of thousands of civilians the campaigning season of 69 ad began similarly dispatching his subordinates to be peripheral regions Vespasian marched on Jerusalem itself he established Garrison's in the towns that anchored his supply lines to the coast

while the Roman horsemen rose down and destroyed any remaining hostile units in the vicinity of Jerusalem it seemed like only a miracle could save the rebels from Vespasian wrath they would get one very soon discontent with Emperor Nero's infamous excesses had been building throughout the sixties ad and now it finally came to a head back in March of 68 AD the provincial governor of Gallia luck Genesis findex rebelled against Nero his revolt was quickly crushed but it set the tone for the year of the Four Emperors as another pretender named Galba was declared emperor and

marched on Rome deserted by his Praetorian Guard Nero was forced to commit suicide Galba did not last long and a few months later he was usurped by a foe who subsequently was dethroned by Vitellius spiraling defiance of imperial authority also resulted in a battalion revolt on the Rhine River and grain suppliers to Rome from Africa being cut off with the Empire suddenly in the process of eating itself alive the campaign into Judea came to a halt as this Bayesian paused to consider his options finally on July 1st 69 AD Vespasian was proclaimed Caesar by the

prefect of Egypt in the presence of his legions the Flavian faction Vespasian his family and supporters then held a war council where their strategy was decided Vespasian would establish his headquarters in Egypt while Titus assisted by Tiberius Alexander would conclude the campaign of subduing the Jews Titus began the Jerusalem campaign in spring of 70 AD departing Alexandria and marching up the Mediterranean coast towards Caesarea the army assembled there was even larger than that commanded by Vespasian in the previous years at its core were four Roman legions Leggio 15 Apollinaris Leggio 5 macedonia Leggio 10 for

tenses and Leggio 12 for manator in addition 20 cohorts of auxiliary infantry a tally of cavalry and many thousands of native troops were present commanded by the Roman client Kings in the region this was a massive force totaling around 70 thousand troops using the network of Garrison's strong points his father had established Titus marched straight at the city of Jerusalem by the main road whilst sending some other legions on alternative routes to alleviate supply problems upon nearing the city Titus road ahead with 600 hand-picked horsemen to perform reconnaissance on the city however as this force

approached the cephalus tower a large force of Jews charged out of the city and cut down many of Titus's men the commander himself was almost captured but narrowly managed to escape advanced Roman units from legions 15 and 12 appeared on the hills to the north of the city on April 23rd during that night Leggio 5 arrived followed by Titus himself the next morning the Jews had been preparing for such a siege since the times of herod and they had managed to fortify the city considerably manning their stations behind Jerusalem's three formidable walls the garrison of

the city probably amounted to over 20,000 well-armed troops who still possessed the siege artillery captured at beth horon many of the jews defending the city had lost their families in the previous roman campaigns and wanted revenge despite its population being swollen by refugees water was not a problem as Jerusalem had many cisterns and pools that could be filled with rainwater however food stores had been burned in the inter Judaic strife months before and the situation was therefore tenuous this strife was still ongoing even with the Romans so close and the defending forces were split into

three sub factions realizing his newly arrived legions must be exhausted from the night march titus gave orders to construct two camps to the west of the city one joint camp for the 12th and 15th legions at a stop 3/4 of a mile west of the city walls and another camp 600 yards further back for the 5th Legion shortly after this the 10th Legion arrived and was ordered to encamped to the east of the city on the Mount of Olives the looming Roman siege temporarily United the squabbling Jewish factions and they agreed on an immediate attack

against the soldiers of the 10th Legion who were busy constructing their hilltop camp sallying out of the city a detachment of rebels rushed up the slope and cut down droves of Legionnaires encouraged by this initial success reinforcements were sent to press the attack and they managed to drive the men of the 10th Legion from their uncompleted camp hearing of their plight Titus arrived with his cavalry bodyguard and struck the Jews from the flank driving them back into the ravine between their camp and the city walls however they then attacked again instead of retreating under this

renewed assault the Romans broke and fled to the heights leaving their general ashamed and realizing Titus had not fled the legion regrouped charged and prompted the Jews to flee back to the city the camp on the hill was subsequently finished though now it was clear that the Jews would not meekly submit to them aiming to prevent this happening again Titus posted strong contingents of horse and footmen to the east of the city to deter further sorties and ordered that the ground between the Roman and the city was to be leveled this would both deny the

guerrilla fighters a favorable hiding place and allow siege engines to advance with this done Titus decided on concentrating his assault on the western flank of the third wall between cephalus tower and the western gate the three legions facing this section of the wall were each ordered to construct an earth and timber Ram the construction efforts were initially disrupted by sorties out of the city but the concentration of Roman artillery including large stone throwing devices and quick firing iron bolt throwing scorpions pinned the Jews down long enough for the works to be completed retaining a steady

rain of missiles on the walls Titus then ordered three battering ram to smash the western wall which were initially unsuccessful until three siege towers were brought up to reinforce them after a long period of pressure on the 15th day of the siege roman siege engines punched a hole through the wall with their entire force now at risk the defenders quickly withdrew to the second wall leaving Titus to occupy the new city unwilling to surrender their momentum the legions immediately moved their Rams up to the second wall where they began to batter the tower gate after

just four days of attacks one of the Rams brought it down and made a breach legionaries flooded through it into the eerily silent second city however as they advanced rebels sprung from ambush positions and bombarded the Romans with missile fire quickly forming into their tight shielded squares the legions fought their way back to the narrow breach where many died struggling to push through eventually auxilary arch has arrived and drove the Jews away allowing the bewildered legionaries to escape after the Jews resisted in this area for four more days the Romans finally broke through this time

Titus ordered the entire northern section of the second wall torn down the defensive front now narrowed and the Jews were able to bring more forces to bear on their enemy after advancing into the second city Titus now split his legions into two army groups which each constructed to siege ramps the 10th and 15th legions attacks the first wall opposite the tomb of John hick Anna's while the 5th and 12th legions besieged the Antonia fortress named by Herod the Great in honor of Mark Antony the ramps were eventually completed on May 29th followed by an all-out

assault during which Titus brought up additional battering rams and siege engines to assault the Antonia fortress they did this under constant artillery fire from bolt shooters and stone throwers which the Jews had taken from gallows in 66 as the assault began Jewish sappers dug under the Roman siege lines undermined the ramps and set fire to the tunnel this caused the ground to collapse in on itself in a clattering roar swallowing the Roman ramps and siege towers which demoralized the legions as they had spent weeks constructing these engines to improve security tighten the blockade and restore

morale Titus ordered that an 8 kilometer long wall of circumvallate was to be constructed cutting the besieged sections of Jerusalem off from the outside world this massive undertaking was typically finished in only three days by the Romans and had 13 fortresses along its circumference to strengthen it before it was made the Jewish rebels were able to quite easily venture out of the city to forage for food and supplies but this was now made impossible famine quickly descended on the city and its inhabitants slowly began to starve and die this done Titus now focused all his

efforts on conquering the Antonia fortress again a day of assaults initially yielded no results however the Romans had accomplished more than they had realized the foundations of the Antonia fortress undermined by heavy rain and the Jewish saboteurs tunnel which had destroyed the Roman siege engines collapsed during the night the first Romans who exploited this gap discovered to their horror that the Jews had built up a secondary wall behind the first which was eventually overcome when a contingent of brave legionaries attacked it during a night assault the first of several battles for the Temple Mount occurred

after this during which the Romans failed to break out onto the forecourt in its aftermath Titus ordered the Antonia fortress destroyed on July 17th the Romans attempted to seize the temples courtyard again which were again repulsed in close quarters fighting during which the Jews were often wearing captured Roman equipment this confused the combatants and made friendly fire incidents common neither side was able to gain an advantage under these conditions after the second failure Titus ordered that for siege ramps were to be constructed and used against the northwest corner of the Temple Mount at the same

time the Jews proved they were not beaten when a major sortie was launched against the siege wall protecting the Mount of Olives but was repelled the Jews also abandoned the area of the wall where the Roman siege ramps were mounted however they had rigged the area with a fire trap and this killed many soldiers as they advanced seemingly unhindered by August 9th with ring artillery fire and Roman offensives had maced the jewish defense of the courtyard untenable and they pulled back to the inner defenses of the temple itself on August 10th during the heavy fighting

a fire began in Apartments near the outer court which spread and famously set the Second Temple alight being spread due to the arid conditions and the flammable materials all around with Jewish attention divided between fighting the fires which blazed through their most holy place and defending against the Romans they were finally broken and their entire Temple Mount was seized in an orgy of butchery and looting with their bloodlust finally sated the Roman soldiers proclaimed Titus Imperator victorious general with this done the legions were unleashed on the lower city burning houses government buildings archives and anything

else the legions could get their hands on clearing this area of rebels took two days and after another short assault Herod's palace was taken by September 7th the slaughter during the fall of Jerusalem supposedly resulted in the death of at least hundreds of thousands of civilians pilgrims and soldiers Titus returned to Rome where his father Vespasian now the Roman Emperor after his victory in 70 AD granted him a triumph the arch of Titus was also dedicated to him which remains to this day while a few isolated rebel strongholds remained notably the Sicari Fortress of Masada

the Jewish revolt had been essentially crushed at Jerusalem but this was not the end of Jewish resistance and more Wars would be fought between them and the Empire new videos on Roman history are on the way so make sure you are subscribed to our channel and have pressed the bell button we would like to express our gratitude to our patreon supporters and channel members who make the creation of our videos possible now you can also support us by buying our merchandise via the link in the description this is the kings and Generals channel and we

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