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The Destruction of the Second Temple

On August 30th, 70 CE, after one of the many rebellions of the Jewish people, Roman legions under Titus retook and destroyed much of Jerusalem and the Second Temple. This marked the beginning of the Jewish diaspora. After this, the Jewish population—scattered into every province and beyond, condemned to poverty and humiliation, unbefriended even by philosophers and saints—retired from public affairs into private study and worship, passionately preserving the words of their scholars. Without their Holy City, Judaism hid in fear an obscurity while its offspring, Christianity, went out to conquer the world.

Source: Durant, Will, The Story of Civilization, Vol. 3: Caesar and Christ Simon and Schuster, 1944.

Destruction of the Jerusalem Temple by Francesco Hayez
Destruction of the Jerusalem Temple by Francesco Hayez
Public Domain

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Full disclosure, I may occasionally borrow a sentence from Will Durant's Story of Civilization. I absolutely love that collection!