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I : The First Revolt, A.D. 66–74
On June 18, Simon matched John’s achievement at his, the northern, sector. Not having the benefit of the mining experts to hand, Simon made a raid towards the Roman engineering crews as they were rolling the tower up the ramps and managed to throw blazing torches onto the towers, setting them on fire. His men were able to hold off the counterattacking Romans long enough for the collapsing towers to set the timber façade of the ramp ablaze, ruining it as well. In the confusion of the fire and the melee, another detachment of Jews made a daring attack on the Roman forward military compound, which was barely held in check by the Roman artillery mounted atop the debris of the third and second walls. This double parry, combined with the fact that the weeks-long construction projects were laid waste and it was at the height of a brutally hot summer with water supplies running low, discouraged Titus’s men. Since the Jews controlled the one native spring, in the Siloam depression, the Romans were obliged to bring in water from distant springs, and these convoys were frequently ambushed by murderous Jewish raiding parties. Not only were the Jews amply supplied with water, but they were able to bring in supplies through the labyrinth of tunnels running beneath Jerusalem. In desperation, Titus convinced his staff that their only recourse was to construct a ridge wall, a circumvallation, to totally enclose the city — a last resort that had usually given the Romans victory in the toughest of siege operations. Amazingly, within three days’ time, the Romans had constructed a wall about eight feet high neatly enclosing the entire remaining Jewish defensive complex, a circuit of roughly five miles embracing some 13 watchtowers within its structure, each 200 feet in circumference. From these towers the Romans could observe all points of access and egress in the Jewish defense works, while waiting beyond the range of the increasingly effective Jewish artillery. Titus, Tiberius Alexander and the regimental commanders split the threenight watches, apportioning them by drawing lots. The key to this part of the siege was a waiting game pure and simple. They were going to starve the Jews out and had plenty of time with which to do it. The rest of the country had been pacified, so there was no worry of other Jews coming to their relief. Those who could bear arms had flocked towards Jerusalem as the Roman noose tightened. The Jews in Machaerus, Herodium and Masada were themselves isolated and in any event showed no signs of venturing beyond their own secure walls. It is here that Josephus delineates, with dramatic intensity, the wretched effects of the siege on the Jewish populace. Of course, he took poetic license,