Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1871-04-28

The Siege Of JcrusaIcm, ny Titus.

horrors ot such contests, forming, as it were,
the last crown;ng scene Of a nations tragedy,
was the siege Cf Jerusalem by Titus, A. y.
~ The cltyaElia, contained, according to
racius, O,OSJinbubtants. Josephus has
well narrated hhe suflcrings of his country
men; not merely from the Romans but also
from the savage fnctions Of rival chiefs,
Simon and John---thc former Of whom held
the upper city, the latter the temple. Their
followers tore each other to pieces up to the very
moment Tat the Romans broke through the
| walls. The mode in which Titus conducted
this memorable siege furnishes good exam
pie of the manner in which the Romans con-
Quoted such operations. His lcgonarics
having established their camps on Scopas and
the Mount of Olives, began to burn the SUB.
urbs of Jerusalem, cut down the trees, aud
raised banks Of earth and timber against the
walls On these works were placed archcrs
and hurlers of javclins, and before them the
catapluts and balistas threw darts and hugo
stones. The Jews replied from the engines
which they had taken from Roman dctach
mcnts, but they used them awkwardly aud
Intellectually. They however, were very dar-
ing in thcir softlcs, endeavoring to burn the
Roman military engines and the hurdles with
| which the Roman pioneers covered thcmscl.
YES when at work. The Romans also built
towers fifty cubits high placed archers and
singers, to drive the Jews from the walls
At last, about the fifteenth day of the siege,
the greatest of the Roman batterlng rams BE-.
gan to shake the outer wall, and the Jews
| yielded up the first line of defense Five
days after, Titus broke through the second
wall, into place full of narrow streets crowd
cd with braziers', clothing aud wool ncr.
chants shops; but the Jews rallying, drove
ont the Romans, who, not having mndc the
breach sufficiently large, were with difficulty
rescued by their archcrs -Four days later,
however, Titus retook the second wall, and
then waited for famine to do it's work within
! the city. Tho Jews now began to desert to
the enemy in great numbers, and all these
wrctchcs tho 2gplans tortured and crucliied
before the &s.tf9Sy; tf9Sy one tune five hundred II
dny) 81 tliHfH as JJuscphus says, room was
wanting for the crosses, aud crosses wanting
for the bodies"
| AT this crisis of the siege, the Jews, uu
drrmining one of the Roman towers, set it on
fire. and did their best to destroy all the be
sirgcrS' works. Titus now determined to
slowly starve out hi: sui burn enemies, and
h"gan to bnld II wall round the whole citv
This wall, with thirteen forts, the Roman
| soldiers completed in three days. Famine
III the nenntine was ravaging the unhappy
city. Whole families pcrished daily. aud the
streets were strcwn with dead bodies that no
one cared TO bury. Thieves plundercd the
half deserted homes, and murdered any who
showed signs of resistance, 0; who still In
ecrcd in the last agonics Of starvation. The
dead the Jews threw down from the walls in
to the valleys below. In the meantime the |
Roman soldiers, ahundantly supplied with
corn from Syria, mockcd the starving men
on the walls. by shaving them fnnd The
palm trees and olive trees round Jerusalem
had been all destroyed, but Titus sending to
the jordan for timber, again raised banks
around the castle Antonio Inside the city |
the Sedtlons grow more violent, the patsans
of John and Simon numbering each other
daily, and plundering the temple of the sa.
cred vessels. a rumor spreading in the Ro
man camp that the Jewish desertcrs swallowed
their money before they left Jerusalem, led |
to the murder. in one night, Josephus says,
of nearly two thousand of these unhappy crea
lures Again part Of tie wall fell before
the battering ram, but only to discover to the
Romans, a fresh rampant built behind it
In one attack brave SYRIAN soldier of the |
cohorts, with eleven other men. succeeded in
reaching the top of the wall, but they were
there ovcrpowcrcd by the Jews. a few DAYS
after, twelve Roman soldiers climbed up by |
night through breach in the tower of Anto.
MO, killed the gaurds, and sounding trumpcts,
summoned the rest of the army to their aid.
The tower once carried, the Romans tried to
force their way into the temple, and hand
to-hand fight ensucd, which terminated in the
Romans being driven back to tho tower of
Antonio The Jews now seeing the temple
in danger, and the assault recommending set
fire to the cloister that joined the temple and
the castle of Antonio, and prepared for des.
peratc resistance in their last stronghold In
this conflagraiion many of tho Romans, ad
vancng too eagerly. pershcd
During all this fighting, the famine in the
city grew worse and worse. The wretched
people ate their shoes, b.. >, and even the
leather thongs of their shield Friends
fought for food, and robbers broke into every
house where it was known that corn was hid
den. Josephus even mentions well known
case of woman of wealth from beyond Jor.
dan who ate her own child The walls of
the temple were so massive as to resist the
battcring rams for six days, so Titus at last
gave orders, to burn down tho gates At
last, after desperate resistance, the Jews
wero driven into the inner court and the tom.
pie was Sc on fire and destroyed, in spite of
all tho efforts of Titus to save it, When the
Jews frat saw the flames spring up, Joscphus
says they raised a great shoutof despair, and
aixtepn thousnnA nf tha dofon3 ,or;,lol