furiously
assailed the Romans. Some fought from the walls, others from the houses,
and such confusion prevailed that the Romans retired; then the Jews,
elated, manned the breach, making a wall of their own bodies.

Thus the fight continued for three days, till Titus a second time
entered the wall. He threw down all the northern part and strongly
garrisoned the towers on the south. The strong heights of Sion, the
citadel of the Antonia, and the fortified Temple still held out Titus,
eager to save so magnificent a place, resolved to refrain for a few days
from the attack, in order that the minds of the besieged might be
affected by their woes, and that the slow results of famine might
operate. He reviewed his army in full armour, and they received their
pay in view of the city, the battlements being thronged by spectators
during this splendid defiling, who looked on in terror and dismay. Then
Titus sent Josephus to address them and to persuade them to yield, but
the Zealots reviled him and hurled darts at him; but many began to
desert, Titus permitted them to come in unmolested. John and Simon in
their anger watched every outlet and executed any whom they suspected of
designing to follow.

The famine increased, and the misery of the weaker was aggravated by
seeing the stronger obtaining food. All natural affection was
extinguished, husbands and wives, parents and children snatching the
last morsel from each other. Many wretched men were caught by the Romans
prowling in the ravines by night to pick up food, and these were
scourged, tortured, and crucified. In the morning sometimes 500 of these
victims were seen on crosses before the walls. This was done to terrify
the rest, and it went on till there was not wood enough for crosses.
Terrible crimes were committed in the city. The aged high-priest,
Matthias, was accused of holding communication with the enemy. Three of
his sons were killed in his presence, and he was executed in sight of
the Romans, together with sixteen other members of the sanhedrin, and
the parents of Josephus were thrown into prison. The famine grew so
woeful that a woman devoured the body of her own child. At length, after
fierce fighting, the Antonia was scaled, and Titus ordered its
demolition.

Titus now promised that the Temple should be spared if the defenders
would come forth and fight in any other place, but John and the Zealots
refused to surrender it. For several days the outer cloisters and