The Sicarii intentionally burn a stockpiled supply…
August 70 CE
The Sicarii intentionally burn a stockpiled supply of dry food during the infighting inside the city walls, in order to induce the defenders to fight against the siege instead of negotiating peace; as a result, many city dwellers and soldiers die of starvation during the siege.
Zealots under Eleazar ben Simon hold the Temple, Sicarii led by Simon Bar Giora hold the upper city.
Josephus fails in another attempt at negotiations, and Jewish attacks prevent the construction of siege towers at the Fortress of Antonia.
Food, water, and other provisions are dwindling inside the city, but small foraging parties manage to sneak supplies into the city, harrying Roman forces in the process.
To put an end to the foragers, orders are issued to build a new wall, and siege tower construction is restarted as well.
After several failed attempts to breach or scale the walls of the Antonia Fortress, the Romans finally launch a secret attack, overwhelming sleeping Zealot guards and taking the Fortress.
Overlooking the Temple compound, the fortress provides a perfect point from which to attack the Temple itself.
Battering rams make little progress, but the fighting itself eventually sets the walls on fire, when a Roman soldier throws a burning stick onto one of the Temple's walls.
Destroying the Temple is not among Titus' goals, possibly due in large part to the massive expansions done by Herod the Great mere decades earlier.
Titus most likely had wanted to seize it and transform it into a temple, dedicated to the Roman Emperor and to the Roman pantheon, but the fire spreads quickly and is soon out of control.
The Temple is destroyed in the beginning of August, and the flames spread into the residential sections of the city.
The account of Josephus describes Titus as moderate in his approach and, after conferring with others, ordering that the thousand-year-old (at this time) Temple be spared. (Solomon's Temple dated to the tenth century BCE, though the physical structure is Herod's Temple, about ninety years old at this time.)
The Roman soldiers according to Josephus had grown furious with Jewish attacks and tactics and, against Titus' orders, had set fire to an apartment adjacent to the Temple, which soon spread all throughout.
However, Josephus may have written this in order to appease his coreligionists.
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