The Fall of Jerusalem 

camp and thereafter begin the siege. This point is clear from the detailed description of events that Josephus 

gives before his mention of the start of Passover on Nisan 14.

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    In the usual chronology, Titus arrived at Jerusalem before the Passover of 

A.D.

 70, which began on began 

on Friday, April 13.

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 Titus could not have traveled from Alexandria to Caesarea, assembled his army, then 

traveled from Caesarea to Jerusalem, and arrived before the Passover in 

A.D.

 70, as the usual chronology 

asserts. Even if one compresses these events into the shortest imaginable time, the time required for Titus to 

travel from Alexandria to Caesarea, gather his forces at Caesarea, and then travel to Jerusalem with a vast and 

well prepared army is longer than can be fit into the usual chronology. The attempt to fit events into the 

shortest possible amount of time is a common error in Biblical chronology. Titus could not have left 

Alexandria in early 

A.D.

 70 and arrived at Jerusalem with his well prepared and vast army before Passover 

that same year. 

    In my revised chronology, Titus departed from Alexandria in March or April of 

A.D.

  55. That year the 

Passover could have begun either on March 30 or on April 29. The later date is only possible if the Jews added 

a leap month of AdarII in 

A.D.

 55 in order to avoid having to add a leap month during the Sabbatical year of 

A.D.

 56 (fall of 

A.D.

 55 to fall of 

A.D.

 56). Placing a leap year in the year prior to a Sabbatical year was 

commonly done to avoid having an extra month in a Sabbatical year, a year when Jews could neither plant 

nor harvest. But even with the latest possible date for the Passover, on April 29, the Roman army could not 

have arrived at Jerusalem before the Passover. At least a month is needed to account for the journey of Titus 

and two Roman legions from Alexandria to Caesarea. Two weeks more accounts for the journey of Titus (and 

the full army he had assembled) from Caesarea to Jerusalem. Titus arrived at Jerusalem perhaps 2 weeks or 

more in advance of the Passover and fought a number of battles outside the city walls before being able to 

make camp and begin the siege. A minimum of 8 weeks can account for these events. But add to those 8 weeks 

the length of time needed to assemble and prepare such a huge army while Titus was at Caesarea, and the 

length of time clearly cannot be fit into the same year. Therefore, Titus did not arrive at Jerusalem in spring of 

A.D.

 55, but the following year, in spring of 

A.D.

 56. 

    This revised chronology allows sufficient time for Titus to complete all of the following: to remain in 

Alexandria for a while assisting his father with his new government; to move two full Roman legions from 

Alexandria to Caesarea; to assemble many additional legions, troops, and equipment at Caesarea; to receive 

support from the Roman provinces; to prepare the engines of war, strategies, and information about the 

current condition of Jerusalem; to move this large army in a cautious and orderly fashion to Jerusalem; and to 

arrive at Jerusalem in advance of the Jewish Passover. 

The Length of the War 

    The usual chronology has the war between the Jews and the Romans beginning in the spring of Nero's 12th 

year (

A.D.

 66, usual) and ending in the summer of 

A.D.

 70. This length of time is just over 4 years. But, in this 

revised chronology, the length of the war is one year longer because Titus could not have besieged Jerusalem 

in the spring of the same year as he departed from Alexandria. See Appendix II, Section D, for a comparison 

of the revised and usual chronologies of the siege and destruction of Jerusalem. 

    How could a year's time be lost from the usual chronology of the fall of Jerusalem? The Roman historians 

did not write at length about the war with the Jews. Consequently, there are not enough chronological details 

in Dio or Tacitus to establish the length of the war as 4 years or 5 years. The Roman historians do not state the 

length of the war. Josephus also never states that the war lasted 4 years, nor does he state that it lasted 5 years. 

The length of the war is determined by various details given by the ancient historians, but it is never stated 

outright. 

    In my revised chronology of the war between the Jews and the Romans, there is one additional year than in 

the usual account of events. This additional year takes place, in the writings of Josephus, from the end of Book 

4 of The Wars of the Jews through the early part of Book 5. During that year Titus traveled to Caesarea and 

gathered a vast array of soldiers, weapons, and resources, in order to prepare to capture Jerusalem. Also 

during that year, there was an internal conflict, a near civil war, within Jerusalem. This last event occupies 

most of the interest and the words of Josephus for that period of time (early in Book 5).

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