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Rome destroys the Temple (AD 70)
August AD 70· Event· Bible story & events
Historical recordConfirmed by archaeology, outside sources or contemporary records.
In AD 70 Titus's legions took Jerusalem after a siege of about five months, burning the Temple in August and ending its sacrifices.
See it on the Bible & Christianity map →What it is
A Jewish revolt against Rome broke out in 66. Vespasian, then his son Titus, crushed it. Titus besieged Jerusalem from spring 70; famine and fighting between rebel factions weakened the defenders. On the 9th or 10th of the Jewish month of Av (late August) the Temple burned, and the city was largely razed. Josephus gives 1.1 million dead, surely too high; estimates vary, and modern ones are far lower. Many survivors were enslaved. Masada fell in 73 or 74.
Why it matters
It ended Temple Judaism: priests and sacrifice gave way to rabbis, synagogue and Torah study. Christians, no longer tied to the Temple, increasingly went their own way.
Sources and history
Josephus's eyewitness Jewish War; the Arch of Titus in Rome (about AD 81), showing the Temple menorah carried in triumph; Rome's 'Judaea Capta' coins; and the 'Burnt House' in Jerusalem, destroyed by fire that year.
Questions and debates
Josephus says Titus wanted to spare the Temple; a later Roman writer (Sulpicius Severus, possibly using Tacitus) says he ordered it destroyed. Which is true is debated.
Inside this (2)
Connections (4)
▸The Second Temple was destroyed in Rome destroys the Temple (AD 70)Historical record
The connection
The Second Temple, rebuilt after the exile and lavishly enlarged by Herod the Great from about 20 BC, was the center of Jewish worship. When the revolt of 66 failed, Titus's legions stormed it in August 70 and it burned. It has never been rebuilt; part of Herod's retaining wall survives as the Western Wall.
When and where
Jerusalem's Temple Mount, August AD 70; the Jewish fast of Tisha B'Av still mourns the loss of both Temples.
Historical evidence
Josephus's eyewitness account, the Arch of Titus in Rome, and huge Temple Mount stones found toppled onto the street below by excavators since 1968.
Questions and debates
Because excavation on the Temple Mount itself is not permitted, the Temple's exact position on the platform is still debated; most place it where the Dome of the Rock now stands.
▸Josephus, Jewish historian witnessed and described Rome destroys the Temple (AD 70)Historical record
The connection
Captured in 67, Josephus served Titus as an interpreter during the siege, calling on the defenders to surrender. He watched the Temple burn, and described the famine, factional fighting and fall of the city in the Jewish War, written in Rome about AD 75 under imperial patronage.
When and where
Jerusalem, spring to September AD 70, from the Roman lines; Jewish War, books 5–6.
Historical evidence
He was an eyewitness, and his is the only detailed account; archaeology of the destroyed city broadly confirms it.
Questions and debates
He wrote for his Roman patrons, blaming the Jewish rebels and excusing Titus. His casualty figure of 1.1 million is thought greatly inflated, though estimates vary.
▸Rome destroys the Temple (AD 70) hastened Church and synagogue part waysMostly agreed by scholars
The connection
With the Temple gone, Judaism reorganized under the rabbis around Torah, prayer and synagogue. Christians, who already saw Jesus as the final sacrifice, read the destruction as the sign of a new era. Each group rebuilt its identity separately, and the overlap shrank.
When and where
Judea and the Jewish communities abroad, from AD 70; then the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–135), after which Jews were banned from Jerusalem.
How do we know?
Historians widely accept AD 70 as a turning point, though written evidence for the decades just after it is thin.
Questions and debates
Some scholars argue AD 70 mattered less than the Bar Kokhba revolt or the Christian empire of the 300s, when the lines finally hardened.
▸Rome destroys the Temple (AD 70) is reflected in the writing of The four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)Mostly agreed by scholars
The connection
The Gospels were written around or after AD 70, and the catastrophe shaped them. Mark 13 has Jesus predict the Temple's destruction; Luke 21:20 speaks of 'Jerusalem surrounded by armies'. Matthew's sharp conflict with the Pharisees probably mirrors rivalry with the rabbis after 70.
When and where
Mark about AD 70, perhaps in Rome; Matthew and Luke about 80–90; John about 90–100; all in churches around the eastern Mediterranean.
How do we know?
Most scholars date the Gospels partly by these echoes of the war; the link is inferred from the texts, not stated in them.
Questions and debates
Conservative scholars argue Jesus truly foresaw the fall and that some Gospels predate 70; others see the predictions as written after the event.