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This article on the Temple Mount
excavations in Jerusalem brings us a
look a t the city's little known, but impressive
Late Roman, Chris tian and Early Arabic remains.
by
Christopher
J.
Patton
ll
N THE
days of Jesus and the apostles,
Jerusalem was a city of remarkable
beauty. Its Herodian builders
im–
printed their architectural genius on
remains that can be seen to this day. But
Rome's devastating response to the Jewish
revolt brought a cruel and final end to this
glorious era.
In A.D. 70, Rome's soldiers leveled Jeru–
salem. Only the three massive towers
guarding the western entrance to the city
were spared - as a monument to her
former greatness and to the magnitude of
the Roman victory (Josephus,
Wars,
6:9: 1).
The base of those towers is the foundation
of what is today called David's Citadel, by
the Jaffa Gate.
Roman Military Occupation
After Jerusalem's fall, the city served as a
Roman garrison for the Tenth Legion Fre–
tensis for just over 60 years (A.D. 70-131 ).
At the end of that period, Emperor
Hadrian changed the city's status to that of
a Roman colony. At the same time, Jerusa–
lem's name was changed to Aelia Capito–
lina. As a final calamity, Hadrian dedicated
the site of the Temple to Jupiter
Capito–
linus. Little wonder the Jews revolted un–
der the leadership of Si!non Bar Kosiba
(Bar Kochba) and Rabbi Akiva. It took
three whole years for the Romans to sup–
press that revolt. I n A.D. 135, the Romans
expelled the Jews from Palestine, and a
new era began. Aelia Capitolina was built
and guarded by Roman legions until about
A.D. 300.
Jerusalem's written history from that
time on is, at best, sketchy. Happily, cur–
rent archaeological research is beginning to
fill
in
the gaps. I n particular, the excava–
tions a t the Southern WaU of the Temple
Mount, directed by Prof. Binyamin Mazar
of Hebrew University, are contributing sig–
nificantly toward a lively understanding of
Jerusalem's later history.
Jerusalem Under t he
Christians
We now pickup the history of Jerusalem
in
what archaeologists call tbe Byzantine
period.
~
Emperor Constantine the Great (306-
337) moved his capital from Rome to By–
zantium in A.D. 330. He renamed the city
"Constantinople," after himself. The di–
vided Roman Empire acquired a new
name for its eastern sphere - Byzantium,
after which the Byzantine period of over
three centuries is named.
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