ed them, sprang to the assault
with shouts of exultation. The Jews offered no resistance, until
the Romans reached the top of the wall but, as they leaped down on
to the roof of the cloister, they threw themselves upon them.
Numbers were slain, as they stepped off the ladders on to the wall;
and many of the ladders were hurled backward, crushing the soldiers
crowded upon them on the pavement beneath.

Then Titus ordered the standards of the legions to be carried up,
thinking that the soldiers would rally round these, the emblems of
military honour. The Jews, however, permitted the standards and
numbers of the legionaries to ascend on to the roof of the
cloisters; and then again fell upon them, with such fury that the
Romans were overpowered, the standards were taken, and their
defenders killed. Not one of the Romans who had mounted the wall
retired from it.

Titus could no longer resist the appeals of his infuriated soldiers
who, maddened by the losses they had suffered, and the disgrace of
the loss of the standards, could not understand why this loss was
entailed upon them--when such an easy way of destroying the gate,
and entering the Temple, was in their power. Most reluctantly,
Titus gave the permission they clamoured for, and allowed his
troops to set fire to the gate. The dry woodwork caught like
tinder, and the flames mounted instantly. The silver plates which
covered the woodwork melted, and ran down in streams; and the fire
at once communicated with the cloisters inside the wall.

Appalled at the sight of the inner court in flames, the Jews stood
despairing; while the shouts of triumph of the Romans rose high in
the air. During the rest of the day, and all through the night, the
conflagration continued and extended all round the cloisters. Thus
the Temple, itself, was surrounded by a ring of fire.

The next day, the 4th of August, Titus called a council of his
generals, to deliberate on the fate of the Temple. There were
present, besides Titus, Tiberias Alexander, the second in command;
the commanders of the Fifth, Tenth, and Fifteenth Legions; Fronto,
the commander of the Alexandrian troops; and Marcus Antonius
Julianus, the procurator of Judea.

Some were for levelling the Temple to the ground. Others advised
that, if abandoned by the Jews, it might be preserved; but if
defended as a citadel, it ought to be destroyed. Titus listened to
the opinions of the others; and then declared his own--which was
t