The Fall of Jerusalem 

attack on the Sabbath.

1134

 So the Romans took advantage of the Jews refusal to attack on the Sabbath by 

building their embankments, battering rams, and other devices of war on that day.

1135

 On Loos 8 two full 

Roman legions (3,000 to 6,000 troops per legion) were used on that day to work on the banks  (artificial 

embankments constructed in warfare to scale walls). Furthermore, Dio states that the destruction of Jerusalem 

coincided with a Jewish Sabbath.

1136

 The day he refers to was Loos 8, the day the Roman soldiers first entered 

the Temple's outer courts and the day the fire began. In 

A.D.

 56, Loos 8 coincided with Saturday, August 7.

1137

    The generally accepted year for the destruction of the Second Temple is 

A.D.

 70. In that year, Loos 8 [Av 8] 

would fall on the Sabbath if the Jewish calendar months were determined by observation, rather than 

calculation. My revised year of the destruction of the Temple is 

A.D.

 56. In that year, Loos 8 [Elul 8] coincides 

with the Sabbath if the calendar months were determined by calculation, not observation. Support for the idea 

that the Jewish calendar was determined by calculation, not observation, during this time period is found in 

chapter 17. 

    The Rabbinic tradition that the Temple was destroyed in the year immediately after the Sabbatical year can 

be interpreted two ways. Sabbatical years begin and end in the fall (and so any Sabbatical year will overlap 

with two Christian calendar years). According to Zuckermann, 

A.D.

 68/69 was a Sabbatical year; but, 

according to Wacholder, 

A.D.

 69/70 was the Sabbatical year.

1138

 Thus, if one follows Zuckermann, the month 

of Av in the summer of 

A.D.

 70 falls in the 11th month after the end of the Sabbatical year (

A.D.

 68/69). But, if 

one agrees with Wacholder, the month of Av in 

A.D.

 70 was near the end of the Sabbatical year (

A.D.

 69/70). 

Both theories could be argued as fitting the Rabbinical tradition. The above considerations also apply to the 

year 

A.D.

 56. Wacholder has 

A.D.

 55/56 as the Sabbatical year, whereas Zuckermann has 

A.D.

 54/55. 

    My revised chronology generally follows Wacholder for the Sabbatical years, with some modifications (see 

chapter 16). The expression  immediately after the Sabbatical year  fits Wacholder best, since the month of 

Av is the 11th month of the Sabbatical year and falls after the largest part of that time. On the other hand, the 

month of Av falls 11 months after the end of the Sabbatical year according to Zuckermann, which is rather 

long after the end of the Sabbatical year to fit well the expression  immediately after the Sabbatical year.  

Also,  Zuckermann's chronology of the Sabbatical years conflicts with Josephus' assertion that the Jews 

intended to till and plant seed in the winter before the death of the emperor Gaius (see section 16 in chapter 

13). 

The Second Year of Vespasian 

    Josephus places the fall of Jerusalem in Vespasian's second year.  And thus was Jerusalem taken, in the 

second year of the reign of Vespasian, on the eighth day of the month of Gorpieus. 

1139

 According to the 

Roman method of counting the years of an emperor's reign, the first full calendar year of that emperor's reign 

was counted as year one.

1140

 Vespasian antedated his reign to July 1 of the year after Nero's death (

A.D.

 54). At 

that time, Vitellius was still in power and Vespasian first began his attempt to become emperor. However, even 

with this antedating, the first full calendar year of Vespasian's reign was the calendar year beginning after that 

July 1, 

A.D.

 54, starting point. This makes 

A.D.

 55 the first year of Vespasian's reign. The second year of 

Vespasian's reign was therefore 

A.D.

 56. 

    Josephus places the start of the war in Nero's 12th year.

1141

 This 12th year is always counted from the first 

full calendar year after Nero became emperor. Josephus uses this method of counting the years of Nero's reign 

when giving us the date for the start of the war. Therefore, when he gives us the date for the end of the same 

war, Vespasian's second year, he would not suddenly switch to a different method of counting the years. 

    The usual chronology places the fall of Jerusalem in 

A.D.

 70, which is the first full calendar year of 

Vespasian's reign in that chronology. That year is interpreted as Vespasian's second by counting the previous 

year as his first year. But the Roman custom was to count the first full calendar year as the first year of any 

emperor's reign. And Vespasian only antedated his reign to July 1, not January 1, of the year before he 

actually obtained the power and role of emperor. By comparison, my revised chronology places the fall of 

Jerusalem in the second full calendar year of Vespasian's reign. 

225