"In AD 66, the biggest rebellion ever against the power of Rome broke out in the remote province of Judaea." "The fear was it could destabilise the whole empire." "To stamp this out, Rome turned to the outcast General Vespasian and his son, Titus." "If they want war, then that's what they'll get." "This is the story of how they rose from disgrace and obscurity to crush the rebellion." "Their reward would be that both would become Emperor." "Their legacy survives even to this day for they would build one of the greatest symbols of the power of Rome." "In the spring of AD 66, Josephus Ben Mattatiyahu witnessed one of the greatest rebellions in the history of the Roman Empire." "This film is based on his written accounts of those events." "Less taxation, less taxation." "The rebellion began because of the Roman Governor of Judaea, what's now modern day Israel." "The Jews hated him for his corruption, embezzlement and extortionate taxes." "You think I'm going to stand here and be shouted at by this rabble?" "I thought it was your job to collect the taxes!" "Isn't that why we support you?" "Get on with it, or you can make up the shortfall yourselves!" "Quiet, please, please be quiet." "We will speak for you." "Quiet." "Governor, please." "What is it, Hanan?" "You and your friends not doing well enough out of us?" "Find the money or we'll come and get it." "From you!" "Roman thieves!" "Within weeks, the Governor carried out his threat." "He sent his troops into the holiest shrine in the Jewish world." " This is an outrage!" " How dare you?" "Stop now!" "Yes!" "The Romans were driven out of Judaea." "The rebellion was now unstoppable." "Six months later, 30,000 Roman troops were sent to put down the revolt." "The massacre of Beth Horon was the Roman army's worst defeat by a rebelling province." "Rome now feared that revolt would break out in other parts of the empire." "Titus Flavius was a young officer in the Roman army and the son of the veteran General, Vespasian." "Father!" "Titus!" "How are you, my boy?" "Come on over." "No, thanks." "I don't want any of those getting under my armour." "Ah, he's afraid of the little bees." "Vespasian had been dismissed from the Emperor Nero's court." "He had fallen asleep during one of his interminable poetry readings." "What brings you all the way down here?" " Well, to see you, Father." " Yes, and?" " Well, the Emperor..." " The Emperor?" "It's not that poetry business, is it?" "I thought he might have forgotten about that." "No." "No, it's not that." " It's the revolt in Judaea." " Judaea?" "Who gives a damn about Judaea?" " Can't the Governor there deal with it?" " Well, apparently not." " The Jews have killed around 6,000 of our men." " What?" "The 12th Legion was cut to pieces." "They lost their eagle, too." "Emperor's in a complete fury, wants the revolt put down immediately" " before anyone else gets the same idea." " And what does he want me to do?" "Well, he wants you to take command in Judaea." "Does he, now?" " Father?" " What?" "What is it?" "When you're getting your orders from the Emperor..." "Ask him to give you command of a legion?" "Well, that would be nice, but no." "Try not to fall asleep this time." "This is a new beginning, a new beginning for us all!" "We have driven the Romans from our holy land." "We have our own Jewish state." "Back in Jerusalem, the Jewish leader Hanan Ben Hanan was filling the power vacuum left by the Romans." "But the Romans will return, and when they do, we must be ready for them!" "We must raise an army to fight them." " Are you with us?" "Yes!" "Right, gentlemen, Judaea." "First thing, these Jews are tough bastards." "Remember what they did to the 12th?" "This will not be easy." "Second, their main army and their government are based in Jerusalem." " They will..." " Let's go straight at 'em." "Take Jerusalem and cut the whole damn rebellion off at its head." "Nice and clean." " Placidus, that's the one thing we shouldn't do." " Why, sir?" "Why not?" "Jerusalem is built like a fortress." "They're armed to the teeth." "We'd lose a lot of good Roman lives for no reason." "No, we need to be cleverer than that." "What these people understand is fear." " Too damn right." " So we burn every village, slaughter every man of fighting age, kill their cattle, drive their women and children into slavery." "We will unleash a reign of terror so brutal on these people they'll come to us begging for mercy." " When do we start?" " At once." "Titus, I want you to go to Egypt to bring back the 15th Legion from Alexandria." "Vettulenus and Trajan with the 5th and 10th, you'll come with me." "We'll rendezvous in southern Syria, Ptolemais." "Then starting with Galilee in the north, we send hell into Judaea." "I want you up north in Galilee, Josephus." "I need someone in command there I can trust." " You know you can trust me." " You've got a lot of work to do." "When the Romans come back, you'll be up against the best trained troops in the world." "We've beaten them once." "We'll do it again." "We have to!" "No, they're far too strong." "We'd never defeat them in a long war." " Surely you're clever enough to see that." " Then what's the point in fighting?" " To force them to negotiate." " What?" "Look, they don't want to throw away lives any more than we do." "If we show them it'll be tough, we'll be able to squeeze some concessions" " from them in exchange for peace." " Like what?" " No more corrupt governors, for a start." " Some sort of independence?" "Maybe even that." " There's no alternative?" " Other than a long war?" "No." "And if it did come to that, we'd lose everything." "Everything, Josephus." "Even the Temple." "Come on, Placidus!" "You're playing like an old tortoise!" " When are you leaving?" " Any moment." "I should be in Egypt in about a week." "This could be good for us, Titus." "Nothing like a bit of warfare to make some real money." "Won't do the family name any harm, either." "Could really put us on the map." "Could be our big chance." "So long as we don't mess it up." "I'll see you in Ptolemais, Father." "In the winter of AD 66, Josephus took up his position as commander of the Jewish forces in Galilee." "His orders, to prepare the resistance for the coming Roman onslaught." "Meanwhile, the Roman pincer began to tighten." "Vespasian brought his troops down from the North." "And Titus began the long march up from Egypt." "A quarter of the entire Roman army was now converging on Galilee." "It's time to show these Jews what happens if you violate the peace of Rome." "Placidus, you know what to do." "Break them." "Tens of thousands of Jews were killed or tortured in Vespasian's campaign of terror." "Many more were sold into slavery." "But still, the Jewish resistance would not break." "Refugees began to flood into cities like Jotapata, seeking the protection of Josephus and his forces." "Should just about last us." "Let's hope it rains." "Levi, take two men and check the other wells." "Shimon, take your men and put guards on the grain stores." "I want to know exactly how much wheat we have in reserve." "Understood?" "Okay." " General." " Titus." "All well?" "The 15th Legion, sir." "Arrived Ptolemais from Egypt." "All present and correct." " Ready for further orders." " You made good time." "Yeah, well, a lot of forced marches." " Didn't want to miss anything, eh?" " No." "Why, have I?" "Placidus has done rather well." " Has he?" " Yes, captured thousands of slaves." "They're fetching a lot of money." "Good." "Well, I hope I shall be successful." " I hope you will, too." " I don't want to let the family down." "Don't you worry, my boy." "There's plenty left to do." "There's a town, Jotapata." "About a day's march east of here." "A lot of Jews escaped there." "Placidus had a crack at it, didn't have enough men." "Now it's our turn." "Some interesting intelligence, General." "The commander of the Jewish forces in Galilee is in Jotapata." " Tell him, Jew." " It's true." " What's his name, this commander?" " Josephus, Your Honour." " We can trap him there." " He's a clever devil, is Josephus." " You know him, Nicanor?" " We were friends when I was stationed in Jerusalem." "Before the war, sir." "Well, if he's that clever, he's not going to let himself get trapped inside Jotapata." "As soon as he hears that we're coming, he'll disappear somewhere else." "You're right, Titus." "We must surprise him." "Placidus." " Sir?" " Take your men and surround Jotapata." "No one must get in or out of the city until we arrive with the legions." "General Josephus." "Excellent, excellent." "How long do you think we can hold out?" "Longer than they can." "They're going to have to bring everything up here." "Water, food, everything." "Imagine how much water they're going to need." "So how long then?" "How long do you reckon it'll last?" " A month, month and a half." "50 days?" "Let's not be too pessimistic." "Say 47." "Look." " Close the gate!" "Close the gate!" "Close the gate!" "Stand towards!" "Aim!" "Loose!" "Vespasian's attack on Jotapata is remembered as a classic of Roman siege tactics." "Get ready, here they come!" "Wait!" "Wait!" "Now!" "But for three weeks, every attack was repulsed." "We'll have to try something different." "Vespasian's next tactic used the testudo or tortoise." "His men began undermining the walls where they had been weakened by the catapults." " Bring up the oil!" "Bring up the oil!" "Steady!" "Now!" "What's going on, Titus?" "Well, they're tough, General." "We're running low on water, supplies." "The men are tired." "If we can't beat this bunch, we might as well give up." " It's been 47 days now, damn it!" " That's how long their general said it would last." " We got it from one of the prisoners." " I heard." "If it goes on much longer, the Emperor will have my guts." "I'll be right back to where I was before, in exile, keeping bees." "I don't know what you're laughing at." "You'll be right alongside me." "I need you to turn this around, Titus." "Trust me, Father, I will." "Who's there?" "Come on!" "The Romans are in!" "Find the Jewish General!" "Find Josephus!" "Bring him back to me alive!" "Follow me." "Back this way!" " Come on!" "Quick!" " We'll be trapped." "It's our only hope, come on." " All they have to do is look in." " General." "No one down there, sir." " How's the foot?" " Foot's fine, a lot better than General Josephus will feel when we catch him." " He put up a good fight." " I'll give him that, the bastard." " You did well." "Very well." " Yeah." "Well, I never did like bees." "Sir, this bitch knows where their General's hiding." "She hasn't told us yet, but she will." "Josephus." "We know you're in there." "Josephus, it's Nicanor." "Do you remember?" "Nicanor?" " How are you?" " What do you think?" " General Vespasian wants to see you." " Why?" "So he can put us on display?" "Nail us to crosses?" "I think he admires you." "Thinks you fought well." " Does he?" " And you really impressed him with your prediction of how long the siege would last." "He heard about that, did he?" "Told Titus he had to take the town on the 47th day, no matter what." " What about the others down here?" " What about them?" "Can you guarantee their safe conduct?" " I'll see what I can do." " Let me talk to them." " They're giving us a chance..." "No!" "No!" "...a chance to live." "No!" "No!" "We've fought bravely." "We can surrender with honour." "No!" " The Romans'll make us slaves." "If we can't be free, I'd rather be dead." "Kill ourselves!" " It's madness!" "It's madness." "And it's so cowardly." "God gave us life, it's not for us to just throw it away." "Shut up, traitor!" "All right, all right, we don't have to fight, but we can help each other." "Help each other to die with dignity." "Form a circle." " Form a circle." " Go." "We'll decide who goes first by drawing lots." "Who'll do the killing?" " Everyone kills themselves." "Yes." "No!" "Suicide is an offence against God." "Let's just say..." "I don't know." "Every third man is killed by the man nearest him." " At least it'll be quick." "Every third..." "No, Yaakov, don't stand next to me." "I can't kill a friend." "Josephus was a scholar, and it is possible that he constructed the count in such a way that he would always be one of the last two to die." "Josephus himself would later put his survival down to the will of God." " Just you and me, Yaakov." " Then you'll have to kill me." "How can I?" "I can't." "No, please, Yaakov." "Don't." "It's me they want." "I'll talk to them." "They'll listen to me." "I'll only surrender if they let you go free." "Please." "Go ahead, kill me." "God will forgive you." "But then what?" "Will you have to kill yourself?" "Come on out." "Placidus!" "Take him away." "Pointless, isn't it?" "You rebel against Rome and look what happens." "You give up a nice, easy, civilised way of life and for what?" "Imprisonment." "Torture." "Death." " You must be mad." " I did my duty as a Jew." "Judaea is Roman!" "Your duty was to Rome and to the Emperor, and to the Emperor you shall go." "And we all know what he'll do with you." "Chain him." "But why send me to the Emperor, when you'll be emperor yourself before long?" "You are mad." "Since when did an emperor come from outside the imperial family?" "Never, that's when." "Don't try and flatter me." " Nevertheless..." " You are talking treason, Jew." "Wait, Father." "Why did you say that?" "Rome needs a strong leader." "General Vespasian is the strongest of the strong." " The Emperor Nero..." " This is nonsense." "Dangerous nonsense." "I was right about how long the siege would last, and I'm right about this." " You will be Emperor." " Get him out of here." "Wait, wait!" "If we treat him with clemency, the others might be more willing to surrender." "And he was right about the siege." "Who knows?" "He might be right again." "He could be very useful to us." "Town after town fell to the Romans as Titus and Vespasian continued their terror tactics over the next two years." "But they didn't work." "They only succeeded in driving the rebel groups of zealots, guerrillas and militia back towards Jerusalem, ready for one final stand." "Among the rebels, an uncompromising guerrilla leader from Galilee," "Yohanan of Gischala." "This is going to cause us a lot of problems, a lot of problems." "The arrival of such fanatics was a disaster for the leader of the Jewish government." "Hanan was still hoping to bring the Romans to the negotiating table." "Stand to arms, men!" "Stand firm!" "What are you doing here?" "This is a holy place!" "Yes!" "For all the Jews, not just you." "It's not a place of war." "Even the Romans respected that." "Oh no, they didn't." "Not when it didn't suit them." " Have you no sense of decency?" " You talk to me about decency?" "The Romans are murdering people in their thousands!" "They're burning and raping and killing, while you sit here waiting to do a deal with them!" "You stupid fool." "It's our only hope." " There is no dealing with the Romans!" "No!" "We must beat them!" "Is this what you wanted?" "Is this what you're fighting the Romans for?" "So that scum like this can desecrate your holy places and bring us all to ruin?" "No!" " Surround the temple." " You traitor!" "We must send a deputation to the Romans now." "Now, before it's too late." "Before these fanatics drag us all down with them." "It must be now." "It must, while we still have these fools trapped in the Temple." "With the death of Hanan," "Jerusalem fell into the hands of the different rebel factions." "For two years, they fought savagely with each other, before finally uniting against the Romans." "At the same time, volcanic changes rocked the empire." "The Emperor Nero was overthrown, plunging Rome into civil war." "Three Roman generals then declared themselves emperor and tried to seize power." "All the while, Vespasian stayed outside the fray, in Judaea." "Then, after a year of chaos, the Roman armies in the east turned to him to restore order." "Emperor!" "And so Vespasian became Emperor and Josephus's prediction came true." "When you came down to the country to bring me back from exile, who'd have thought three years later, I'd be off to Rome as Emperor." "Enough." "Well, everyone's heard of us now." "Yes, but one whiff of failure, who knows what could happen?" "We need a quick victory." "A prize for Rome." " Jerusalem?" " Yes." "But whatever you do, you must try to avoid a direct assault." "A siege would take forever." "You just said it yourself, you want a quick victory." "That's right." "But if we lose thousands of men getting it," " it will tarnish the prize a little, won't it?" " Better than no prize at all." "And what if you fail?" "You know what their defences are like." "Three huge walls, 60 foot high, one inside the other." "Thousands dead and nothing to show for it." "It'll be the end of us both, literally." "How can I take Jerusalem quickly without a fight?" "Find a way, Titus." "A less risky way, for me and for the family." "We don't have much time." "And I need Jerusalem." "You'll never do it." "It's much too strong." "Oh, we'll do it." "One way or another." "Our holy city?" "They'll fight to the death." "So be it." "If we must." "What's the point?" "All you have left is a city in ruins." "No." "All you'll have left is a city in ruins." "I'll be in Rome." "If Hanan were still alive, he'd know what to do." "Yes, but he's not, Josephus." "And you are." "Well?" "He wanted the best for our people." "He wanted to protect them." "To protect the Temple and the holy places." "Don't you?" "He wanted some concessions." "Well, I'm sure we could have come to some terms." "No more corrupt governors?" "A guarantee for the sanctity of the Temple?" "Some sort of independence under Rome?" "Yes, maybe even that." " That's just what Hanan said." " Well, he was a wise man." "He was the only person who could have persuaded the people it was for the best." "Now there's no one left." "No one, Josephus?" "Jerusalem." "And now you have a chance to help us save your holy city." "This is the man who was supposed to defend Galilee!" "Look at him!" "Couldn't join the Romans fast enough, could you?" "Did you give them the keys to Jotapata?" "Levi, you were there!" "Tell them what happened." "Don't listen to him!" "He's a Roman slave!" "You must surrender!" "If you don't surrender now, there'll be no mercy." "Remember what happened to our friends, Levi?" "To the women and children?" " Tell them, Levi!" "You tell them!" "You're the one who thought you could do a deal with the Romans!" "Ask him, Levi!" "He's working for the murderers who did it." "It'll happen here, too." " Lf you carry on with this, everyone..." " Traitor!" "Nicanor?" "If they want war, then that's what they'll get." "And so Titus began what his father had avoided for two years." "A direct assault on Jerusalem." "I thought this was just what your father didn't want." "What my father wants..." "What my father must have is a quick victory." "The time for talking is over." "The Romans broke the first wall after fifteen days." "The second took another eight." "But there the attack foundered." "The Romans could not get past the massive third wall." "It wasn't Just tall." "It was also 15 feet deep." "Titus now ordered the area around Jerusalem to be scoured for timber." "Every tree for ten miles was cut down for siege platforms and towers." "When this is finished, the Jews will be finished." "Not much further, men." "We can do it." "They may be stronger than us, but they don't have our brains." "The towers were vast." "Seventy five feet high and weighing many tons, teams of men were needed to move them into position." " We'll never do it." " Yes, we will!" "We must!" "There's still time." "If we can just keep going, we'll win." " It's hopeless." " Come on!" "We're nearly there!" "Fight." "Fight for it!" "Fight for what you believe in!" "This is what it means to be free!" "Each tower could carry dozens of assault troops." "It was now the Romans who could attack from above." "Let's have the straw and the pitch first." "Then the timber." "Good work." "Stand the legions to at dawn." "Well done, all of you." "Now get out of here." "Quickly!" "Look out!" "Keep going!" "Stand clear!" "Stand clear!" "We should have beaten them into the ground by now!" "They should be on their knees, begging for mercy!" "Sir, we could launch an all out frontal attack." "Throw everyone into it." "I mean, they might be able hold us up for a while, but we'll smash our way through in the end." "Placidus, no!" "It's not working!" "We have to change our plans." "Damn, we'll have to starve them out." " But they still have some supplies coming in." " Well, then, stop them!" "It's almost impossible, General." "Not if we build a wall." "In Just three days, Titus' troops built a wall four and a half miles long, with 13 forts, right around the city." "It is one of the most remarkable feats of Roman military engineering." "Jerusalem was now completely cut off." "Over the next three months, the people in the city began to starve." "Please..." "This is pitiful." "Thousands?" "Thousands are starving to death?" "Good, it's working." "And not before time." "What are you looking so sad about?" "It's working!" "Please, let me talk to them." "Just once more." "Maybe there's a chance, one last chance." "There's no point now." "Soon they'll all be dead and we can just walk in." "My mother and father are in the city." "All right, Josephus." "But this..." "This is your final chance." "I beg you." "Stop now and surrender." " Traitor!" "Traitor!" "We know how many of you are dying." "Look what you're doing to the city and the Temple." "It's not us doing it!" "It's you!" "You and your Roman friends!" "You call me a traitor, but I am still a Jew." "I can't bear this any longer." "Kill me if you want." "I don't care." "But release our people from this agony." "Give up now and I swear to you as a fellow Jew, you and the city and the Temple will be spared." "The city and the Temple are God's." "He will decide!" "Then if the Temple is destroyed, it will be because God has decided to punish you!" "In the end, the siege was broken not through Roman ingenuity or force, but because of the tunnel the Jews had built to attack the siege towers." "The Romans have broken through, fall back to the Temple!" "Fall back!" "The Romans had reached the Temple precincts and there they paused." "Now they had to decide what to do with the Temple itself." "Well, we all know what Placidus would do." "You'd raze it to the ground, wouldn't you?" "If we don't, General, they're only gonna use it as a rallying point in the future." "It's going to be hard enough to capture as it is." "We don't want to do that all over again." "The Temple is a place of great holiness, of great significance to us." " All the more reason to burn it down." " No, don't you see?" "If you spare the Temple, the people will see that God has used you as His instrument." "The rebels have desecrated it, but you have preserved it." "You can't attack Rome and expect to get away with it." "Please." "I beg you, don't destroy the Temple." "Lf, for no other reason, because it's so beautiful." "It would be a great ornament for Rome." "After all, it is a work of art." "A great work of art." "No." "It'll be our gift to the Emperor and the people of Rome." "Charge!" "Hold them here!" "They mustn't get through." "Fight!" "Fight them!" "No!" "Don't fall back!" "Don't give up!" "Fight them!" "Yohanan, fall back!" "We're surrounded!" "Protect the sanctuary!" "Fight!" "Fight them!" "We must protect the sanctuary!" " The temple's on fire!" " Idiots!" "Fools!" "Centurion, make them stop!" "Centurion, get water!" "Get this fire out now!" "Get them to stop!" "Put it down, put it down!" "Centurion!" "Centurion, get water, make these men stop!" "Fools!" "Titus!" "We surrender." "We just want to go, to live in the desert." "Us and our families." "How dare you?" "We've beaten you!" "Can't you see?" "Did you really think you could take on the might of Rome?" "We let you use your own laws, your own religion!" "We respected your culture, your way of life!" "We protected you and you prospered!" "But you mistook that generosity for weakness!" "Well, now, you'll find out what happens to those who break the peace of Rome." "You Jews." "You don't know when you're beaten." "The Legions!" "Let them loose!" "Hundreds of thousands of Jews were killed or sold into slavery." "The Temple would never rise again." "Back!" "Get back!" "We fought well, brothers." "For something we believed in." "Someday, we'll be free." "Yohanan was imprisoned for life." "The other leaders of the revolt were enslaved or executed." "Rome had learnt its lesson." "From now on, it made it very clear what would happen to anyone who rebelled against its rule." "Titus returned to Rome and succeeded his father as Emperor, part of a new dynasty from more humble origins, the first with no grand aristocratic connections." "Josephus also settled in Rome." "There he wrote an account ofthe Jewish Revolt, a record we still have today." "And the treasure that was stolen by the Romans from Jerusalem's temple?" "It helped pay for that great symbol of the power of Rome, the Coliseum of Vespasian." "Next on Ancient Rome..." "Revolution." "A story of epic battles, mob violence, greed and slaughter." "How one man's dream of honour was shattered, and how he brought anarchy to the heart of the empire."