With the Temple destroyed, the Romans looked to quickly complete the conquest of Yerushalayim. The lower city, defended by Yochanan, fell shortly after, on 11 Av. No house within it was spared the Romans’ bloody wrath; each was set aflame.
Remaining was the well-fortified upper city, under the command of Shimon. Again, Titus was forced to bring out the battering rams. Eventually, on 8 Elul, the Romans broke into the upper city, leaving behind a path of fire, blood and tears. In a last act of spiteful vengeance, Titus ordered the destruction of the entire city and its walls. Only three towers were left as a reminder of past glory.
Thousands of additional Jews were killed or died of starvation. Countless others were taken captive, including the two Jewish defense leaders, Yochanan and Shimon.
In all, an estimated 1,100,000 Jews died during the period of the siege. Another 97,000 were taken captive. A handful of fighters managed to escape Yerushalayim and make their way to a few scattered fortresses in the Judean countryside, including Masada and Herodium.
Perhaps the saddest aspect of this tragic episode was the underlying strife that framed it. The internal warring was far from a new phenomenon, an outgrowth of a few hateful leaders. Rather, it was the very characteristic that defined the people of the time, and sealed their inglorious, painful fate.
[The Jews living at the time of the churban] were righteous, pious people, fully engrossed in Torah study. Yet they were not straight in their dealings with others. Due to the baseless hatred in their hearts, they came to suspect those who did not live up to their standards as God-fearing men of being Sadducees and heretics. This brought about bloodshed and social strife, until the Temple was destroyed. [Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin, Introduction to Emek Davar, Bereishis]
