Nadene Goldfoot
The siege of Jerusalem in the year 70 CE was the decisive event of the First Jewish–Roman War, in which the Roman army captured the city of Jerusalem and destroyed both the city and its Temple by fire. Before that, the people were starved to death during the previous months so as to weaken them.
It was General Pompey, born in Picenum (a region of Ancient Italy) to a local noble family, who first occupied Jerusalem. His father, Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, was the first of his branch of the gens Pompeia to achieve senatorial status in Rome, despite his provincial origins., who led the way there in 63 BCE when they occupied the land and Jerusalem. Jerusalem was attacked twice, first by Pompei and then 100 years later by General Titus who burned it down with the Temple.
During the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE), the population of Jerusalem was estimated at 600,000 persons by Roman historian Tacitus, while Josephus estimated that there were as many as 1,100,000 who were killed in the war. By comparison, as of 2020, Portland, Oregon had a population of 652,503, making it the 25th-most populated city in the United States, the sixth-most populous on the West Coast, and the second-most populous in the Pacific Northwest after Seattle.
Josephus also wrote that 97,000 Jews were sold as slaves. After the Roman victory over the Jews, as many as 115,880 dead bodies were carried out through one gate between the months of Nisan (April) and Tammuz (July-August). Imagine this happening to Santa Clara, CA whole population of 115,,468 people or even Forti, Italy with 118,000 people.
Modern estimates of Jerusalem's population during the final Roman Siege of Jerusalem in 70 (CE) are variously 70,398 by Wilkinson in 1974, 80,000 by Broshi in 1978, and 60,000–70,000 by Levine in 2002. According to Josephus, the populations of adult male scholarly sects were as follows: over 6,000 Pharisees, more than 4,000 Essenes and "a few" Sadducees. New Testament scholar Cousland notes that "recent estimates of the population of Jerusalem suggest something in the neighbourhood of a hundred thousand-100,000". A minimalist view is taken by Hillel Geva, who estimates from archaeological evidence that the population of Jerusalem before its 70 CE destruction was at most 20,000.
Jerusalem had been controlled by Judean rebel factions since 66 CE, following the Jerusalem riots of 66, when the Judean provisional government was formed in Jerusalem.
The siege of the city began on 14 April 70 CE, three days before the beginning of Passover that year. The Jews enjoyed some minor victories, one highpoint being when sappers from Adiabene managed to tunnel under the city and set bitumen fires in the tunnels, which collapsed with the Roman siege engines falling into the crevices. The siege lasted for about five months; it ended in August 70 CE on Tisha B'Av with the burning and destruction of the Second Temple. The Romans then entered and sacked the Lower City.
The Arch of Titus, celebrating the Roman sack of Jerusalem and the Temple, still stands in Rome. The conquest of the city was complete on approximately 8 September 70 CE. Josephus places the siege in the second year of Vespasian, which corresponds to year 70 of the Common Era.
Hillel, Famous Jewish scholar and teacher of the 1st century BCE, taught his students about the Torah in his school called THE HOUSE OF HILLEL, "Don't do to others that which you don't want to happen to you.", now remembered as the Golden Rule. He would have even granted a klug-a curse on the Romans for destroying his world with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, but he was born before this happened. He would have felt that they were trying to destroy Judaism as it was at that time. I say this being descended from Hillel, and knowing that my grandmother cursed a man in 1912 when my grandfather died, who died 2 years later in 1914. People did curse, but I'm sure some of Hillel's students were cursing who were caught in Jerusalem in 70 CE and died. Hillel was one of the rabbis of the Pre-Mishnaic (Tannaim) (Zugot) (ca. 515 BCE – 70 CE). Hillel the Elder, Nasi of the Sanhedrin during the reign of King Herod the Great, known for his tendency for leniency and his humility. In other words, Hillel was the head of the Sanhedrin during Herod's reign. Many heeded his words, including Jesus.
Nine years later, the city of Pompeii in Italy was covered with ashes from the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Mount Vesuvius destroyed the city of Pompeii, a city south of Rome, in 79 CE in about 25 hours, according to History. Because the city was buried so quickly by volcanic ash, the site is a well-preserved snapshot of life in a Roman city. There is also a detailed account of the disaster recorded by Pliny the Younger, who interviewed survivors and recorded events in a letter to his friend Tacitus.
Rich Romans used Pompeii as a vacation spot. We know this because of the expansive villas that were decorated in rich artwork, including mosaics and sculptures. The Roman emperor Nero even had a villa in Pompeii. People who planned Jerusalem's destruction would have vacationed here in Pompeii.
Of the many eruptions of Mount Vesuvius, a major stratovolcano in southern Italy, the most famous is its eruption in 79 CE, which was one of the deadliest in European history.
In the late summer of 79 CE, Mount Vesuvius violently spewed forth a deadly cloud of super-heated tephra and gases to a height of 33 km (21 mi), ejecting molten rock, pulverized pumice and hot ash at 1.5 million tons per second, ultimately releasing 100,000 times the thermal energy of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The event gives its name to the Vesuvian type of volcanic eruption, characterised by eruption columns of hot gases and ash exploding into the stratosphere, although the event also included pyroclastic flows associated with Pelean eruptions.
At the time, the region was a part of the Roman Empire, and several Roman cities were obliterated and buried underneath massive pyroclastic surges and ashfall deposits, the best known being Pompeii and Herculaneum.
The total population of both cities was over 20,000. Remains of over 1,500 people have been found at Pompeii and Herculaneum so far, although the total death toll from the eruption remains unknown. Those that died is the least amount of people that died in Jerusalem by the hand of the Romans.
Because seismic activity was so common in the area, citizens paid little attention in early August of 79 when several quakes shook the earth beneath Herculaneum and Pompeii. People were unprepared for the explosion that took place shortly after noon on the 24th of August. Around 2,000 residents survived the first blast.
Under Mount Vesuvius in Italy, scientists have detected a tear in the African plate. This "slab window" allows heat from the Earth's mantle layer to melt the rock of the African plate building up pressure that causes violent explosive eruptions.
There may not be a connection that we can see between Rome's destruction of Jerusalem and Pompeii's destruction by a volcano, except that in Genesis (12:3), it says: " I will make of you a great nation; I will bless you, and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and all the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you." It's food for thought. I hope Iran feasts on this fact. Like Rome, Iran has great ambition.
Resource:
Tanakh (Old Testament) Stone Edition
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Jerusalem_(70_CE)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic_history_of_Jerusalem
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOEBVWc8crI
https://www.livescience.com/27871-mount-vesuvius-pompeii.html#:
~:text=Under%20Vesuvius%2C%20scientists%20have%20detected,that%20causes%20violent
%20explosive%20eruptions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eruption_of_Mount_Vesuvius_in_79_AD
https://www.traveltrivia.com/7-things-about-pompeii/XqgZkXU1XQAGkiLT#:~:text=Pompeii%20
Was%20a%20Popular%20Vacation%20Spot%20for%20Wealthy%20Romans&text=Rich%20Romans
%20used%20Pompeii%20as,had%20a%20villa%20in%20Pompeii.
https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-near-eastern-world/the-destruction-of-pompeii-gods-revenge/
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