The proportions of the battle I’m about to describe are beyond the strength of arms or in the mastery of tactics.

It was a cosmic conflict behind the scenes at work.

Ancient lore says that the gold plate of its walls melted in the heat of the fires, running down into the cracks between the paved stones, and that Roman soldiers in search of that gold, used iron bars to pry up the stones, forever destroying that source of national pride.

The measured pounding against the weakening walls never slackened. Day and night the steady rhythm announced the coming end of their lives, and the very culture they had sought in vain to defend

It was 67 AD when the Roman general Vespasian arrived in the Holy Land. The Jewish population in high rebellion had virtually assured the coming of the Roman legions.