5. _The Roman Period_ (A.D. 70-637). For fifty years after its destruction Jerusalem is not mentioned, and probably remained uninhabited. But, after the attempt of the false Messiah Bar-cocheba to rebuild the city and Temple, and restore the independence of the Jews,--an attempt which was only quelled by calling forth all the power of the empire,--the emperor Hadrian resolved to establish a heathen city upon its site. He named it Ælia Capitolina, built on Moriah a temple to Jupiter, and allowed no Jews to enter the walls, a prohibition which remained until the empire became Christian. Constantine, the first Christian emperor, restored the ancient name; and his mother, Helena, made a pilgrimage to the city, A.D. 326, which now began to be regarded as a sacred place by Christians. At this time the first Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built, over the place where Helena discovered the tomb of Jesus. The emperor Julian, A.D. 362, out of hatred to the Christians, undertook to rebuild the Temple, and make it once more a Jewish centre; but was defeated in his plans by earthquakes and the leaping forth of subterranean fires, as is related by Ammianus Marcellinus, himself a heathen, the friend and companion in arms of the emperor. He states: "Horrible balls of fire, breaking out near the foundations, with frequent and reiterated attacks, rendered the place from time to time inaccessible to the scorched and blasted workmen; and, the victorious element continuing in this, obstinately and resolutely bent, as it were, to drive them to a distance, the undertaking was abandoned." In 529 A.D. the emperor Justinian founded a church upon the site where now is the Mosque el Aksa, and a tide of pilgrims, increasing with each generation, began to pour upon the holy places. In 614 A.D. the city was taken by the Persian king, Chosroes II., the churches were destroyed, and multitudes of priests and monks were slain; but 14 years afterward it was retaken by the emperor Heraclius, and held, though but for a short time, by the Christians. 6. _The Mediæval Period_ (A.D. 637-1517). In 637 Palestine and Jerusalem passed under the dominion of the Moslems, then ruled by the Caliph Omar; but the holy places were respected, and the Christians were allowed to retain their churches. Under the Fatimite caliphs of Cairo the Christians were persecuted, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was several times destroyed and rebuilt. The pilgrims from Europe brought trade and tribute, so that the city flourished, in spite of frequent pillagings and captures by various Arab and Turkish hordes. On July 15, 1099, it was taken by the Crusaders, after a terrible assault, and for 88 years was the seat of a Christian kingdom. Saladin reconquered it in 1187; and various changes in its government and several sieges followed, until 1517, when it finally passed under the rule of the Turks, who have since been its masters.