Death
Days prior to the siege of Jerusalem, Eleazar ben Simon was betrayed by John of Gischala and killed. According to Josephus, John sent a party to the Zealot stronghold in the Temple to offer a sacrifice before the coming festival of Passover. Yet when Eleazar and his Zealots opened the gates to permit entry, John's forces slaughtered Eleazar and his officials in order to regain the support of the Zealots. Shortly after Eleazar's death in the summer of 70 AD, Titus Flavius crushed the armies of Simon, John, and Eleazar, crucifying thousands of rebels outside the city. Josephus estimates that approximately one million Jews were killed in the siege, not to mention the destruction of the sacred Temple.
Read more about this topic: Eleazar Ben Simon
Famous quotes containing the word death:
“Within the hollow crown
That rounds the mortal temples of a king
Keeps Death his court, and there the antic sits,
Scoffing his state and mocking at his pomp,
Allowing him a breath, a little scene,
To monarchize, be feared, and kill with looks.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“If it be aught toward the general good,
Set honor in one eye, and death i’th’ other,
And I will look on both indifferently;
For let the gods so speed me as I love
The name of honor more than I fear death.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Now they heap the funeral pyre,
And the torch of death they light;
Ah! ‘tis hard to die by fire!”
—William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–1863)