We have said that after the death of Nero, a.d. 68, there were great troubles in Rome, where three different Emperors succeeded each other in the space of one year; but this state of things was put an end to in a.d. 69, when the Romans chose Vespasian to be their Emperor. The next year, the Emperor Vespasian sent his son Titus to force the rebellious Jews into obedience, and so put an end to this destructive war. Titus and his army marched towards Jerusalem, which to look at was a most magnificent and glorious city, though it had unhappily become the habitation of violence and all that is bad and wicked. The city was built upon two mountains, enclosed with walls, and surrounded by deep valleys. The walls were guarded by towers; and altogether the place was well able to resist the attacks of an enemy. But, instead of preparing to defend themselves, the Jews hurried on their own destruction; for at the very time when a formidable army was rapidly approaching the city, the contending parties within the walls were continually occupied in inventing new ways of destroying each other; and in their fury, they wasted and destroyed considerable quantities of provisions, of which they had afterwards great reason to repent.

Although danger and misery now threatened the city from the factions within and the enemy without, multitudes of people unwisely crowded into it to keep the Passover; thus adding sadly to the general confusion and distress. Miserable indeed was the state of Jerusalem when, in the year a.d. 70, Titus marched towards it with a formidable army. The actual approach of the Romans, put a stop for the time to the fighting amongst the Jews; and joining together, they left the city, and forced Titus and his soldiers to leave their camp and retire to the mountains: but no sooner had the Jews thus obtained an interval of quiet, than their quarrels began again. In the mean time the Romans were making every exertion to prepare for the siege of Jerusalem, which was surrounded by three walls, one within another, with a good space between them, filled with buildings.

Titus sent Josephus to speak to his countrymen, and offer them peace and safety if they would now submit and receive him into their city; but these offers were refused by the infatuated Jews. They were repeated with no better success; and after they had been several times rejected, the Romans made their first attack; and at length made a breach, or gap, in the first, or outermost, wall, and so entered into that part of the city, whilst the Jews retreated within the second wall.

The Romans having encamped within the first wall, now attacked the second wall, and forced their way through that also: and the Jews retired within the third wall, many of them taking refuge in the temple and in the Fort Antonia. The greater part of the wretched inhabitants would now have submitted to the Romans, and given up their city; but the Zealots murdered all who ventured to speak of such a thing. The great numbers of people now shut up within the walls of Jerusalem, soon devoured the provisions, and added the horrors of famine to the other terrible sufferings of the Jews. The Zealots forced their way into the houses of all whom they suspected of having any food, and carried away whatever they could find. The nearest relations snatched food from each other, in the extremity of their hunger. Many of the starving Jews, who during the night ventured to go beyond the city walls, to collect roots and herbs, were seized by the Roman soldiers, and crucified in the morning: so that several hundreds were frequently seen at a time, suffering the same agony of body which had been endured by our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. It is impossible to describe what the Jews went through at this time. We shall remember that when they insisted on the crucifixion of Jesus, contrary to the wishes of Pilate himself, they had cried out, "His blood be on us and on our children"; and fearfully were they now punished for having shed His blood. Josephus, in his history of all that happened in Jerusalem at this time, writes: "Never did any other city suffer such woes, nor was there ever a more wicked generation since the beginning of the world."

At length the Romans broke through the third, or inner, wall, and got possession of the Fort Antonia, and pursued the Jews into the temple. The Jews for a moment fled before their enemies; but the foremost soldier slipped upon the marble pavement and fell. Then the Jews turned, and killed him, and drove the rest of the soldiers back into the fort. Even now the Jews still refused to submit; and the temple, instead of being a place of worship, became a scene of battle and confusion.

At this time, when the famine pressed sore upon all the people, a most horrible thing was done; for a mother killed her infant child, roasted it, and actually ate part of it! Titus was so shocked when he heard of this, that he declared that he would leave nothing but the ruins of a city, in which so horrible a crime had been committed. Again he attacked the temple, and got possession of the outer courts. He wished to preserve the temple itself, and gave orders for that purpose. But the Lord Himself had foretold the destruction of the temple, and a Roman soldier was the means of fulfilling this prophecy. Contrary to orders, this man threw a flaming brand, or stick, into one of the chambers: the flames quickly burst forth and spread on all sides: the Roman soldiers rushed into the sacred building, and all became a scene of plunder and murder.

The once glorious temple was soon nothing but a heap of smoking ruins, in spite of all the efforts made by the command of Titus to stop the conflagration. This sad destruction of the second temple took place on the anniversary of that day upon which the first temple, built by Solomon, was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, 587 years before Jesus Christ came upon earth.

Even whilst the temple was in flames, 6,000 people actually listened to an impostor, who led them to the roof of a part of the building, promising them a miraculous deliverance: they all of course perished in the flames. Thousands of Jews were now killed by the Romans, and every building in the city, excepting a few towers, was burned.

In this dreadful war, the greater part of the Jewish people perished: many of the rest were sold as slaves, and nothing could be more wretched than the state of all who were left. Jerusalem has ever since been "trodden down," or oppressed, by the Gentiles; and the Jews have remained in such a state as constantly to remind us of the prophecy of Moses (Deut. xxix.), where it is written, "Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land? What meaneth the heat of this great anger?" The answer is given to us, "Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God." Let us ever bear this in mind, and not provoke God by our sins, to punish us as He punished the descendants of His chosen people, the Children of Israel.

Titus commanded the whole city and its walls to be destroyed. This was done so completely, that not one stone was left upon another, as the Lord Himself had said.

When Titus saw how strong the walls and forts of the city were, he made a remark worthy of a Christian; saying, "We have fought with the assistance of God: it was God Who drove the Jews out of these fortifications; for what can the hands of men, or the force of machines, effect against these towers?"

After the destruction of Jerusalem, Titus went back to Rome, taking with him Josephus, to whom Vespasian gave the freedom of the city and a pension. Josephus immediately set to work to learn the Greek language, in which he wrote his History of the Wars of the Jews and of the Destruction of Jerusalem. He died a.d. 93, at the age of fifty-six: but we are now speaking of the year a.d. 70, when Titus took him to Rome.

The Roman Senate decreed a Triumph to Titus and Vespasian. "A Triumph" was a grand procession, in honour of a general who had gained some great victory. A magnificent car was provided to convey the person for whom the honour was intended: his army, partly before, partly behind the car, marched with flags and banners, to the sound of music: any prisoners who had been taken in the war were made to follow the car, chained two and two together; and if any valuable spoils had been taken from the enemy, they were carried in the procession. In short, everything was done to make the Triumph a very grand affair; and it was considered the greatest honour that could be bestowed upon a military leader: it often cost an immense sum of money. The Senate now decreed, that a Triumph should take place in honour of Titus and Vespasian, who were to share the chariot provided for the occasion. Amongst the beautiful things carried in this procession, the most remarkable were the golden candlestick, and other precious things saved from the temple at Jerusalem: also the volume, or Book of the Law of Moses, which was indeed deserving of the greatest respect, though the heathens did not know its real value.

In remembrance of the great deeds of Titus, a marble arch was erected at Rome, not far from the Forum. On the inside of the archway are carved representations of the golden candlestick, and of many other things brought from Jerusalem. This arch, called "The Arch of Titus," still stands in Rome; and not one of the Jews, of whom there are now many thousands living in Rome, will ever pass under this archway, because it reminds them of the destruction of their once glorious temple, and of the ruin of their nation.

When Jerusalem was destroyed, there still remained in the almost desolate land of JudÆa three strong castles, which resisted the Romans. Two were soon taken; but the third was so very strong both by nature and art, and was so well defended by a man of great courage, called Eleazer, that for some time the Romans could not succeed in getting possession of it. At last they built a high wall round it, so that no one could come out or go in: they then set fire to the gates, and prepared to storm, or attack, the castle the next day. The Jews now saw that there was no hope of defending the fortress, or of saving their own lives; and Eleazer therefore persuaded the garrison to burn all their valuable stores, kill the women and children that were with them, and then destroy themselves. Ten men were chosen to murder all the rest: after they had done this, they killed each other; and the last man who was left set fire to the place, and then killed himself. The next day, when the Romans were preparing to climb the walls, two of the women who had hid themselves, and so escaped being murdered, came forth, and told all that had happened.