66 AD
“But for the seditious, they were afraid lest Florus should come again, and get possession of the temple, through Antonia; so they got immediately upon those cloisters of the temple that joined to Antonia, and cut them down.”
Flavius Josephus, The Jewish Wars, Book II, Chapter 15, Section 6
Agrippa II, Herod’s great grandson, is in Alexandria at the time of the massacre and therefore unable to intervene. His sister, Berenice, futilely sends numerous envoys to appease Florus. When the governor’s men try to attack her one night, she locks herself in her palace. The next morning, the leaders of Jerusalem calm the people down. Florus then summons them to the camp he has set up outside the city. When they arrive, he orders his cavalry men to stomp them to death. Fearing that Florus’ next step will be to sack the Temple, the people hastily tear down the chambers connecting the Antonia fortress to Temple Mount, which it overlooks – effectively cutting the Roman soldiers off from the sanctuary. Florus and his guards leave Jerusalem, leaving only a small contingent behind. This incident is widely regarded as the formal beginning of the First Jewish-Roman War.
The Jews initially take relatively moderate steps, contenting themselves with destroying only the corridors linking the Antonia fortress to Temple Mount. They hope to shed as little blood as possible, protect the sanctuary, and keep the people united.
“But for the seditious, they were afraid lest Florus should come again, and get possession of the temple, through Antonia; so they got immediately upon those cloisters of the temple that joined to Antonia, and cut them down” (Josephus Flavius, The Jewish Wars, Book 2, Chapter 15, paragraph 6)
Oneness is the guiding principle of our existence; unity is the source, as well as the goal.
