10. Historical Details of the Seige

Titus arrived outside Jerusalem with four legions in April of AD 70, just as Passover preparations were beginning. The Jewish factions that had been fighting each other inside the city temporarily united in the face of this external threat, but it was too late. The pilgrims who had entered for Passover found themselves trapped. The gates were sealed. Roman forces established a complete blockade. No one could get in or out.

Josephus was there with the Roman forces, serving as an interpreter and intermediary. He provides detailed accounts of what happened next, and his descriptions are harrowing.

The siege began with the Romans establishing camps around the city and starting construction of siege works. The defenders made several sorties to disrupt this work, sometimes successfully destroying Roman siege equipment. But the Romans had superior numbers and engineering capabilities. They kept building. They kept advancing.  In Luke, Jesus told his followers that when see the city surrounded to flee. When the city was surrounded by the Romans, they fled. 

By May, the Romans had breached the third (outer) wall. By the end of May, they'd taken the second wall. The defenders retreated to the Temple Mount and the upper city, where the siege entered its most desperate phase.  Those in the city were dying of starvation and some were driven to cannibalism.