The victors had now gained the summit of the lofty temple-platform, a vast square open to the sky save at the sides which were adorned with cloisters. In the midst of this square towered the Sanctuary or temple proper, a structure 360 feet in length and 270 in breadth. Its exterior wall, formed of gigantic blocks of marble, and nearly 40 feet in height, was pierced by nine gateways, there being three upon each side save the western, that side being without gates. It was within this fortress--for such it was--that the defeated Jews had taken refuge, and here they prepared to make their final, and, as they believed, triumphal stand. Strange and incredible fact! In spite of their numerous defeats, hope was stronger than ever in the breast of the Jews, who still dreamed of seeing the scepter of empire transferred from the Capitol to Zion. They were fully convinced that the temple which God Himself had ordered to be built could never be trodden by the foot of pagan conqueror. The deity would be certain to work a miracle in their favor; at the least, something would happen to astonish and disperse the enemy. And they talked of Sennacherib and the burning simoon, but forgot Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans. And now the sacred precincts of the temple echoed with the clang of horse-hoofs. Roman cavalry clattered on the marble pavement of the Court of the Gentiles, and with leveled spears swept round and round the Sanctuary, driving in every sortie made from the gates, and acting as a cover to the Roman infantry, who, with tremendous toil and difficulty, were hauling along a train of battering-rams. The Sanctuary was surrounded by a low balustrade, bearing tablets--one has survived to the present time--inscribed in Greek and Latin letters with notices prohibiting the Gentiles on pain of death from entering the edifice--notices that evoked the mocking laughter of the Roman soldiery as they set their engines in array against the building. The “middle wall of partition,” which the Law had set up betwixt Jew and Gentile, was now breaking down in no figurative sense! The temple-platform had a circuit so ample as to contain within it a synagogue, and it was from the roof of this structure, as from a throne, that Titus directed the military operations against the Sanctuary. It was not without an expectant thrill that the Jews awaited Titus’ signal for the assault, there being a half belief among them that fire from heaven would descend upon the impious band that first ventured to swing a beam against the sacred wall of God’s house; and therefore something like a sigh of disappointment went up when nothing marvelous followed upon the first stroke of the ram. Relying upon the strength of the masonry the Jews did little fighting, content to watch amid laughter and gibes the futile labors of the enemy.