During this time Marcellus had been obliged to remain at Cæsarea with his regiment, and had vainly sought permission to venture to Jerusalem, and try to gain an entrance, and visit his betrothed Naomi. The strict discipline of the Roman army forbade his running so great a personal risk when it was not called for in the service of the Emperor; and he passed these long months in anxiety and hope, waiting for the renewal of the war as the only event which could lead to the accomplishment of his wishes. He did not doubt that the capital would speedily yield to the efforts of the army, when its combined force should be collected beneath its walls; and then he trusted that no obstacle would remain to his marriage with Naomi. It was therefore with great joy that he hailed the arrival of his friend and commander, Titus, as generalissimo of the Roman forces, and heard the orders for an immediate march towards the capital, as soon as the army could be organized and prepared for the siege. The news of Titus having assumed the command soon reached the miserable city, and filled the greater part of the inhabitant with dismay. They knew his prompt and warlike character, and the devotion which the whole army entertained for him; and they feared that, at the head of such a force, he would never be repulsed from their walls by the divided and seditious troops who now wasted their strength in useless conflicts with each other. No events could have occurred more favourable to the success of the Romans than those which were taking place at this time in Jerusalem. The city was now divided into three distinct factions, and the streets ran with the blood which was shed in their fierce and continual encounters. Instead of endeavouring to organize a regular and efficient defence against the common enemy, each party was engaged in strengthening its own position, or attacking that of its antagonists. Eleazar, who had been the first to set himself at the head of the Zealots, and seize on the temple as a garrison, beheld the superiority which was assumed by John of Gischala, with rage and jealousy. He affected a holy indignation at the sanguinary outrages daily committed by his rival; and at length he succeeded in drawing off from his party several of the most powerful and influential of his adherents. With these men and their followers he openly abandoned his former associates who remained faithful to John, and retired into the inner court of the temple, where, on the sacred gates facing the Holy of Holies, these savage men suspended their arms, yet reeking with the blood of their fellow-citizens.