Skip to main content

This Day in History- Destruction of the Antonia Tower

August 8th, 70 A.D. the forces of Titus' Roman army destroyed the Antonia Fortess (aka the Tower of Antonia) during the Siege of Jerusalem.

The fortress was built by Herod the Great, (the one who is depicted in the Bible as ordering the Massacre of the Innocents) and named for Herod's patron, Mark Antony (yes, that Mark Antony). It was located at the Eastern end of the city of Jerusalem and mainly used to house part of the Roman garrison, as well as some of the High Priests Vestments. It is interesting to think of a Jewish High Priest having to enter the home of the Roman soldiers in order to procure his necessary garments, it seems like a move calculated to remind him who was in charge. Perhaps he sent a servant, but still it is, I think, notable.

In 66 A.D. the Jewish defenders had gained control of the city and in 70 A.D. the Romans answered with an army led by Emperor Titus himself, supported by Tiberius Julius Alexander as his second-in-command. The fortress was captured after one of the walls of the city was breached via battering ram, and once the Romans were in command of the fortress they built siege equipment with which to attack the Temple where many of the Jews had entrenched themselves. The Tower of Antonia was leveled in the process, and finally the Temple itself succumbed to fire signalling victory for the Romans who depicted their success on coins and architecture.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Italian Renaissance Hairstyles

In keeping with my last post on Italian Renaissance costume I thought we would take a look at something we didn't touch much on; hairstyles. They were extremely varying; up and down, braided, netted, entwined with silks and ribbons, even pearls, and, of course, dyed, bleached, and curled. The only thing in somewhat short supply seems to be hats, and really who would want to cover up what you had spent so much time constructing? "Do you have any idea how long it took me to get the curls placed?!" 1544 Portrait of Laura da Pola by Lotto Occasionally a small cap, or scuffia, was worn either with side curls, or with most of the hair stuffed up underneathe:- 1490 portrait by Ghirlandaio 1502 Betrothal 1510 Portrait by Araldi Another notable hair decoration was the reta, or hairnet. Some of these were beaded, some woven in decorative patterns, and some left very simple. 1505-1508 Siena 1545 Lavinia Under and around these ornamentations, o

How Our Ancestors Slept

As someone who wakes up during the night feeling frustratingly refreshed...and then struggles to rise in the morning, I found this article to be a kind of vindication. Apparently the way we sleep has changed. For more information you can visit the link here .

The De Berry Project- The Fabric and shoes

As I mentioned last time I am working on a version of the outfit to the left for an event coming up soon in July. I wanted something with a hat to shade my face, and not too hot since we are going to be outside in the middle of a Virginian summer. The fabric gods were not kind, when I went to my local fabric stores. There was really nothing in the right weight, color, pattern, fiber, or amount; especially the amount since I need about 8 yards for the undergown and 10 yards for the overdress. Part of the problem is that there are no waist seams, so each piece has to be cut from a long continuous length of material. Also, those sleeves are about four yards by themselves. I resigned myself to ordering online, which I hate doing because it's so hard to be sure of the color etc without seeing it in person, and by the time the fabric arrives often there just isn't time to send it back and get something else. I went first to an oldie, but a goodie; Thai silks. I knew they would