164 Antiochus Eupator besieges the Temple at Jerusalem.

160 Jonathan succeeds his brother, Judas Maccabeus.

144 Jonathan undertakes to fortify Jerusalem.

143 Simon Maccabeus, general of the Jews, delivers his Nation from Macedonian servitude; takes the fortress commanding the Temple, which he razes to the ground, and destroys the hill upon which it was built.

135 Simon Maccabeus treacherously killed.

129 Antiochus Soter besieges Hyrca.n.u.s in Jerusalem. Hyrca.n.u.s causes the Sepulchre of David to be opened, and takes from it three thousand talents.

107 Aristobulus, the eldest son of Hyrca.n.u.s, prince of the Jews, causes himself to be crowned king. Death of his brother Antigonus in the subterranean pa.s.sages of Strato's Tower at Jerusalem.

79 Death of Alexander Janneus.

65 Aretas, king of Arabia, besieges Aristobulus in Jerusalem.

64-63 Pompey besieges the Temple of Jerusalem.

63 After a siege of three months Pompey carries the Temple by a.s.sault.

54 Cra.s.sus pillages the Temple of Jerusalem.

47 Caesar permits Hyrca.n.u.s to rebuild the Walls of Jerusalem.

44 Herod besieges Jerusalem.

43 Ca.s.sius in Judea.

40 Jerusalem taken by the Parthians; Phazaelus killed.

-- Herod besieges Jerusalem; is proclaimed king at Rome.

38 Herod, a.s.sisted by Sosius, takes Jerusalem by storm.

17 Herod rebuilds the Temple and the fortress of Baris, which he calls Antonia. In the upper town he builds the Caesarean and Agrippan palaces, and excavates a subterranean pa.s.sage from the Tower Antonia to the Eastern gate of the Temple.

12 Herod causes the Sepulchre of David to be opened.

7 Herod causes his sons, Alexander and Aristobulus, to be condemned in a large a.s.sembly at Berytus.

5 Sabinus at Jerusalem seizes the treasures left by Herod.

4 Birth of Jesus Christ. The Vulgar Era commences four years later.

4 Death of Herod, who is interred at Herodium, and succeeded by Archelaus.

A.D.

26 Death of Augustus, succeeded by Tiberius.

-- Pilate supplies Jerusalem with water by means of Aqueducts.

28 Jesus Christ keeps the second Pa.s.sover at Jerusalem.

31 Death of Jesus Christ.

37 Birth of Flavius Josephus at Jerusalem.

38 Agrippa named king of the Jews by Caius Caligula.

42 Claudius confirms Agrippa's t.i.tle as king.

44 King Agrippa begins to fortify Jerusalem, but is forbidden to continue the work by the emperor Claudius.

-- Izates, king of Adiabene, and queen Helena, his mother, embrace Judaism.

46 Death of Herod, king of Chalcis. The emperor Claudius gives his dominions to Agrippa, son of king Agrippa the Great.

47 The insolence of a Roman soldier causes the death of twenty thousand Jews at Jerusalem.

52 Death of the emperor Claudius. Nero succeeds him.

60 King Agrippa builds an apartment whence he can see all that goes on in the precincts of the Temple.

62 Ananias, the high-priest, puts S. James to death.

65 Albinus and Gessius Florus persecute the Jews.

66 Cestius Gallus enters Jerusalem, and would have taken the Temple, had he not imprudently raised the siege.

-- Cestius defeated at Gibeon by the Jews.

-- The Christian Jews, guided by their bishop, Simon, retire beyond the Jordan, to the town of Pella. (See Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. III. 5.)

-- The Jews prepare for war with the Romans. The emperor Nero confers the command of his Syrian armies upon Vespasian, to make war upon the Jews.

67 Vespasian and t.i.tus proceed to Ptolemais with an army of sixty thousand men.

-- Flavius Josephus made prisoner by Vespasian.

68 Vespasian begins to blockade Jerusalem.

-- Flavius Josephus set at liberty by Vespasian, who is now become emperor.

69 Vespasian despatches t.i.tus to Judea, to take Jerusalem.