john of gischala

Vespasian bottled up the Jews in Jerusalem, so that he could fight them all together in one place in one big decisive battle. Then Nero died and Rome was plunged into civil war and external rebellions. The Zealots thought that would force the Roman army to make peace with them and leave Judea. Wrong! After a year-long suspension of warfare, Titus came back with a bigger force than ever. The Zealots seemed oblivious to the danger, and weakened themselves by factional in-fighting. John of Gischala and his soldiers committed abominable atrocities, torturing and killing their own people inside the city. Conditions inside the city grew unbearably worse by the day. And then Titus began the siege. If you wish to have the free PDF written lesson outline for this podcast, simply email us to request it (preterist1@preterist.org). Be sure to mention the date of this podcast when you contact us.Support the show

This time we dig a little deeper into the details of the Galilean campaign of Vespasian and Titus, as they began to subjugate all the fortified cities of Galilee (AD 67). Josephus had tried to unite all the cities of Galilee under his command, and get them fortified before the Romans attacked. But it simply did not work. Some of the Galilean cities were still allied to Rome, while others only wanted to participate in the Zealot rebellion if they could be in command. Josephus was only 29 years old at that time, so it is remarkable that he was able to do as well as he did. But they were no match for the well-equipped and well-trained Roman war engine. Vespasian took one city after another, pushing all the refugees ahead of him toward Jerusalem. If you wish to have the free PDF written lesson outline for this podcast, simply email us to request it (preterist1@preterist.org). Be sure to mention the date of this podcast when you contact us.Support the show

After Nero heard about the failure of Cestius Gallus to crush the Jewish rebellion, he dispatched his most able general Vespasian to do it right this time. Over the winter of 66-67, Vespasian and Titus assembled three legions and hordes of other auxiliaries and mercenaries to launch the attack in the Spring of AD 67. Vespasian was successful in destroying all the fortresses of all areas outside of Jerusalem (except for Herodium, Machaerus, and Masada). When he was ready to begin the assault on Jerusalem, he received the news that Nero died. The war effort was put on hold until affairs in Rome could be restabilized. If you wish to have the free PDF written lesson outline for this podcast, simply email us to request it (preterist1@preterist.org). Be sure to mention the date of this podcast when you email us.Support the show