70 C.E.

The Road to Masada and the Great Show-Down started on this day in 70 C.E.

The armies of Titus attacked the walls of Jerusalem after a six-month siege. Three days later they breach the walls, which enabled the army to destroy the Second Temple.

Josephus claims that 1.1 million people were killed during the siege, of which a majority were Jewish. He attributed this to the celebration of Passover which had brought many to the city.

Titus and Rome celebrated this victory. Some 700 Judean prisoners were paraded through the streets of Rome in chains during the triumph.

A group pf survivors fled to Masada, near the Dead Sea, which was the final stronghold of the Judean rebels.

In 73 CE, the Romans breached the walls of Masada and captured the fortress, with Josephus claiming that nearly all of the Jewish defenders had committed mass suicide prior to the entry of the Romans.