Today is August 4. On this day in history, in the year, 70, Herod's Temple, (the Second Temple,) in Jerusalem, was destroyed by fire leading to the eventual fall of the city, by seige, to the Romans under the command of the future emperor, Titus.

In Rome, the Arch of Titus still stands commemorating the fall of Jerusalem. You can see the Roman troops carrying a menorah and other sacred items on the arch.

Under the impetus of a group called the Zealots, the Jews had risen against Roman power. The Jews had early successes, but the methodical Romans slowly gathered their forces and finally overwhelmed the Zealots.

The Romans surrounded Jerusalem with four legions, an enormous force for those days when you consider that Rome had about twenty regular legions and as many auxiliary legions in the entire empire. The seige dragged on for several years.

The Romans stormed the Antonia Fortress, near the Mount of Olives, by subterfuge and this was the beginning of the end.

The Romans were able to set the nearby temple on fire on this day. The fire spread to the rest of the city and Jewish resistance melted away. Parts of the city, however, held out until September 7.

The city was devastated and hundreds of thousands of Jews were either massacred or enslaved and deported. Jerusalem lay in ruins although Jews were able to maintain a strong presence in the Province of Judaea until the Bar Kochba Revolt 70 years later.

After that revolt ended, Jewish religious services and political institutions were banned. The population was dispersed. The Roman Provice of Judaea was renamed Palestine.

Jewish institutions of learning, culture and discussion were transferred to Babylon and eventually Galilee. Judaea was no longer a center for the Jews until the modern era, although some Jews did persist in the area.