<P> Overlooking the Temple compound , the fortress provided a perfect point from which to attack the Temple itself . Battering rams made little progress , but the fighting itself eventually set the walls on fire ; a Roman soldier threw a burning stick onto one of the Temple 's walls . Destroying the Temple was not among Titus ' goals , possibly due in large part to the massive expansions done by Herod the Great mere decades earlier . Titus had wanted to seize it and transform it into a temple dedicated to the Roman Emperor and the Roman pantheon . The fire spread quickly and was soon out of control . The Temple was captured and destroyed on 9 / 10 Tisha B'Av , at the end of August , and the flames spread into the residential sections of the city . Josephus described the scene : </P>
<P> Overlooking the Temple compound , the fortress provided a perfect point from which to attack the Temple itself . Battering rams made little progress , but the fighting itself eventually set the walls on fire ; a Roman soldier threw a burning stick onto one of the Temple 's walls . Destroying the Temple was not among Titus ' goals , possibly due in large part to the massive expansions done by Herod the Great mere decades earlier . Titus had wanted to seize it and transform it into a temple dedicated to the Roman Emperor and the Roman pantheon . The fire spread quickly and was soon out of control . The Temple was captured and destroyed on 9 / 10 Tisha B'Av , at the end of August , and the flames spread into the residential sections of the city . Josephus described the scene : </P>
who destroyed the temple in jerusalem in 70 ad
who destroyed the temple in jerusalem in 70 ad
a Roman soldier
a Roman soldier