Model of the Temple Mount and Jerusalem ca. 70 CE, Israel Museum. View to the west. Photo © David Gurevich, 2016
Why Did Vespasian and Titus Destroy Jerusalem?
What brought Rome to present a military campaign against the small and distant province of Judaea as a great victory? Why did such a small rebellion succeed for so many years? What brought Titus to raze the most important metropolis of Judaea when much less would have put down the rebellion? Finally, why did the Flavian emperors actively publicize the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple? The answer to these questions should be sought not in Jerusalem, but in Rome and its political climate.
Published August 10, 2016
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Last Updated September 7, 2026
This article is based in its large part on the researches of Martin Goodman, Gil Gambash and J.Andrew Overman on the Roman politics and its influence of the First Jewish-Roman war. The reader may be interested to find further information in the following sources: J.Andrew Overman, “The First Revolt and Flavian Politics,” in The First Jewish Revolt: Archaeology, History and Ideology (eds., Andrea M. Berlin and J.Andrew Overman; London 2002), 213-220; Martin Goodman, Rome and Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient Civilizations, New York: Vintage, 2007); Gil Gambash, “Foreign Enemies of the Empire: The Great Jewish Revolt and the Roman Perception of the Jews’” Scripta Classica Israelica 32 (2013): 173-194
Goodman “Rome and Jerusalem,” 417.
Nero put the blame on the Christian community in Rome, and many Christians were caught and executed. According to Christian tradition, St. Peter, considered to be the first bishop of Rome, was among them.
Suetonius, Vesp., 4. http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Vespasian*.html
For the analysis of the Roman religious approach towards the Jewish Temple see: James Rives, “Flavian religious policy and the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple,” in Flavius Josephus and Flavian Rome (eds. J. Edmondson, S. Mason, and J. Rives; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 145-166.
Josephus, War, 7.139-145. [Thackeray, LCL]
For the discussion on reflection of the First Jewish-Roman War in the Flavian architecture in Rome see: Fergus Millar, “Last year in Jerusalem: Monuments of the Jewish War in Rome,” in Flavius Josephus and Flavian Rome (eds. J. Edmondson, S. Mason, and J. Rives; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 101-128
Josephus, War, 7.158-162.
The inscription was removed in ancient times and is no longer extant. The reconstruction is based on the marks left by the letters on the stone. See: Millar, “Last Year,” 118.
Translated by F. Millar (“Last Year,” 120).
For the discussion on Iudaea Capta coinage see: David Hendin, Guide to Biblical Coins (5th ed.; New York: Amphora, 2010), 409-455.
Dio Cassius, 66.7.2. http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/65*.html
