The city was razed to the ground--a few gates of Herod's palace and a piece of wall were alone left standing. The survivors were sent to labor in unwholesome mines to gather wealth for their despoilers. Some were reserved for Roman sport in the amphitheatre. John, discovered in a subterranean vault and begging like a craven for mercy, was imprisoned for life. Simon ben Giora graced the Roman triumph. Thus fell the city of Jerusalem--the religious capital of the world--in the year 70 C. E., on the same date it is said--the 9th of Ab--on which it had fallen nearly seven hundred years earlier under the attacks of the Babylonians. So the Fast of Ab commemorates the double tragedy. Masada, the Last Fortress. The final work of conquest and the barbaric rejoicings, consisting of forced gladiatorial combats between Jewish prisoners, together with games and triumphs, continued some two years longer. There were still three outlying strongholds to be conquered--Herodium, Macharus, on the other side of the Dead Sea, and Masada, far to the south. The first two soon fell, but Masada offered a stubborn resistance which its natural position favored. Under Eleazar ben Jair and some Sicarii the dauntless bravery of Jerusalem and Jotapata was repeated. They determined not to die by the swords of the Romans, so when the soldiers entered they found the little band all slain by their own hands. On the site of the old Temple there was subsequently built another, dedicated to Jupiter Capitolinus, and, with a refinement of cruelty, the Jews throughout the Roman dominions had to pay toward its maintenance the taxes they had hitherto paid to the support of their own beloved sanctuary. So ended the Israelitish nation that under varied fortunes had continued unbroken, except during the Babylonian captivity, since the days of Saul, i.e., for over a thousand years. Judea remained a separate Roman province, but was no longer a home for the people whose possession it once was. So completely was it levelled to the ground that there was nothing left to make those who came there believe it had once been inhabited. Rebuilt at a latter day, even the name was changed to Aelia Capitolina. But great names cannot so easily be erased by the ruthless hand of man. The Remnant Again. What was now to become of the remaining Jews? What was their status in the world? Nation, temple, independence were gone. Gone too were their arms, their means, their nobility, and all political power. Would it not seem that this must be the end, that their name and identity must be ultimately merged with their surroundings? Such had been the fate of other nations as completely conquered--Ammon, Moab, Assyria, Phoenicia. But Israel was made of different stuff. Its epitaph was not yet to be written. NOTE.