The Temple Falls

Josephus insists that it is only as a last resort, after all alternatives are exhausted, that Titus orders the gates of the Temple to be burned. He reports that even at a war council, which coincides with the evening before the anniversary of the Babylonian destruction of the First Temple in 587 BCE, Titus announces his intention to preserve the Temple intact. Alas, “God had long since condemned the temple to flames,” and it was out of Titus’ hands. Those Romans who set the Temple aflame do so in their “fury” and “detestation of the Jews.” Titus—we are told—does everything in his power to stop his soldiers and the flames from destroying the Temple.