7.08. A. The National Catastrophe
Chapter 3 A Summary of Jewish History A. The National Catastrophe NOT one stone remained upon another; the Temple and city lay in smoking ruins. The foundations of the Temple terraces alone withstood destruction, and of the great and glorious city Titus left standing only the three strong towers which bore the names of Hyppicus, Mariamne, and Phasael; all beside were ashes and heaps of ruins. During the course of the long siege more than a million of people had perished in the city; thousands had fallen in battles in the country. Those who fell into the hands of the Romans and were not slain were sold into slavery, the fate of all prisoners in the olden time. Many thousands went forth to the mines and quarries of Egypt; other thousands were bought by the slave dealers at absurd prices; all the markets were glutted with Jewish slaves. Thousands more were shared as spoil by the conquerors and sent as presents to their friends; the finest and most powerful of the men and youths were selected for conflicts with wild beasts, for gladiatorial games, and to grace the triumphal train of the Emperor and Cæsar; 900,000 of the sons and daughters of Zion thus witnessed in all the world to the destruction of the Jewish kingdom and nation.
“In every city through which Titus passed on his return to Rome splendid entertainments in honour of his victory were celebrated, at which hundreds of Jewish youths were compelled to fight with one another, and with wild beasts, till death. His triumphal car to Rome was drawn by seven hundred beautiful youths in chains, among whom were the two last bravest party leaders, John of Gischala and Simon bar-Giora, who had fallen alive into the hands of the Romans; after these were borne the most precious of the spoils from the Temple—vessels and treasure, the great golden candlesticks, the golden table, and the precious sacred Roll of the Law.
“Coins were struck memorialising the fall of Judah, and the splendid triumphal arch of Titus still shows the captive Jews in chains, and the sacred vessels of their sanctuary. While almost all other memorials of Rome’s victories have long since fallen into ruin, this monument of Jewish misery, like the Jewish people itself, remains today a wonderful coincidence in the history of the world! And which will endure the longest—the misery of the Jewish captivity or its memorial”1 1 Heman, Geschichte des Jüdischen Volkes.