Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE) AD 70
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Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | AD 70 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Ancient (before 500) | derived from year |
| Location | Israel | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | First Jewish-Roman War | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 31.7781, 35.2358 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE was the decisive event of the First Jewish Revolt against the Roman Empire (66–73 CE). Roman forces led by Titus, son of the emperor Vespasian, besieged Jerusalem, the Jewish capital and the revolt's main stronghold. After months of fighting, they breached the defenses, destroyed the Second Temple, and razed the city. Much of its population was killed, enslaved, or displaced by the Romans. The city's fall marked the effective end of the revolt and a turning point in Jewish history.
In winter 69–70, following a respite in the revolt's suppression caused by a succession war in Rome, Titus led four legions and auxiliary forces, numbering at least 48,200 soldiers, back into Judaea. By spring, this army had encircled Jerusalem, whose population had swollen with refugees and Passover pilgrims. Inside the city, rival factions led by John of Gischala, Simon bar Giora, and Eleazar ben Simon fought each other, destroying the city's food supplies and weakening its defenses. The factions eventually united and mounted fierce resistance, but the Romans breached the walls and drove the defenders into the Temple precincts.
In the month of Av (July/August), the Romans captured the Temple Mount and destroyed the Second Temple—an event commemorated annually in Judaism on Tisha B'Av.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE) (revision 1380585180), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the First Jewish-Roman War
- Battle of Beth Horon (66) AD 66
- Siege of Gush Halav AD 67
- Siege of Yodfat AD 67
- Siege of Masada AD 72
All 5 battles of the First Jewish-Roman War →
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