Page 44 - 00 Introduction

insatiable hope of plunder. The soldiers saw

everything around them radiant with gold,

which shone dazzlingly in the wild light of the

flames; they supposed that incalculable

treasures were laid up in the sanctuary. A

soldier, unperceived, thrust a lighted torch

between the hinges of the door: the whole

building was in flames in an instant. The

blinding smoke and fire forced the officers to

retreat, and the noble edifice was left to its

fate.

“It was an appalling spectacle to the Roman—

what was it to the Jew? The whole summit of

the hill which commanded the city, blazed like

a volcano. One after another the buildings fell

in, with a tremendous crash, and were

swallowed up in the fiery abyss. The roofs of

cedar were like sheets of flame; the gilded

pinnacles shone like spikes of red light; the