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Josephus on the famine in besieged Jerusalem

set in 70 CE, Jerusalem. His own words.

Where and when

set in 70 CEJerusalem

1,956 years ago

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Josephus

, JerusalemHis own words

In plain words, ours

No one mourned or complained. Hunger numbed every feeling: the dying stared dry-eyed at the dead. A deep silence, like a deadly night, lay over the city.

Nor was there any lamentations made under these calamities, nor were heard any mournful complaints; but the famine confounded all natural passions; for those who were just going to die looked upon those that were gone to rest before them with dry eyes and open mouths. A deep silence also, and a kind of deadly night, had seized upon the city;

Josephus, The Jewish War 5.512Translated by William Whiston (1737)Read the full passage (Josephus, The Jewish War 5.512, opens scaife.perseus.org)

What was going on, our summary

Jerusalem, 70 CE, during the Roman siege that ended with Titus taking the city. Josephus writes that all hope of escape was gone and famine was killing whole families. The dead lay in the lanes, and the living were too weak or too afraid to bury them.

Checked claim by claim against: Titus takes Jerusalem and the Temple burns, the passage around the quote.

Why it matters

About the event it belongs to: Titus takes Jerusalem and the Temple burns

The city's fall effectively ended the revolt and marked a turning point in Jewish history: with sacrifice no longer possible, Judaism gradually reoriented around Torah study and prayer.

Based on Wikipedia: Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)

The city's fall marked the effective end of the revolt and a turning point in Jewish history.

With sacrificial worship no longer possible, Judaism gradually reoriented around Torah study, acts of loving-kindness, and synagogue prayer, a development that culminated in Rabbinic Judaism.

Wikipedia, Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE) (opens en.wikipedia.org), as of 2026-09-25. Text CC BY-SA 4.0. Our line is checked against these sentences only.

Related moments

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  1. 68 CE2 years earlier Nero kills himself as the Senate declares him an enemy Also about death
  2. set in 68 CE2 years earlier Nero's last hours, as Suetonius tells it Also about death
  3. 69 CE1 year earlier Four emperors in one year Same years
  4. 70 CESame year Titus takes Jerusalem and the Temple burns The event behind itAlso in Jerusalem
  5. set in 70 CEThis momentJosephus on the famine in besieged Jerusalem
  6. set in 70 CESame year Josephus on the burning of the Temple More from Josephus
  7. set in 70 CESame year Josephus mourns the Temple More from Josephus
  8. set in 70 CESame year Titus orders the Temple fire out, per Josephus More from Josephus
  9. c. 73–74 CEabout 3 years later Masada falls, ending the Jewish revolt Same years

Just before and after

The text around the quote, word for word from the same translation.

Show the passageHide the passage

So all hope of escaping was now cut off from the Jews, together with their liberty of going out of the city. Then did the famine widen its progress, and devoured the people by whole houses and families; the upper rooms were full of women and children that were dying by famine, and the lanes of the city were full of the dead bodies of the aged; the children also and the young men wandered about the market-places like shadows, all swelled with the famine, and fell down dead, wheresoever their misery seized them. As for burying them, those that were sick themselves were not able to do it; and those that were hearty and well were deterred from doing it by the great multitude of those dead bodies, and by the uncertainty there was how soon they should die themselves; for many died as they were burying others, and many went to their coffins before that fatal hour was come.

The quote: Nor was there any lamentations made under these calamities, nor were heard any mournful complaints; but the famine confounded all natural passions; for those who were just going to die looked upon those that were gone to rest before them with dry eyes and open mouths. A deep silence also, and a kind of deadly night, had seized upon the city;

Josephus, The Jewish War 5.512Translated by William Whiston (1737)Read the full passage (opens scaife.perseus.org)

When, and whose words

Date
set in 70 CE. Set during the siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE; he wrote it in the 70s CE.
Whose words
His own words.
How this post was checked
  • The plain-words line was read against the quote alone by a second, independent pass, which found it adds no claim the quote does not make (2026-10-03).
  • Each claim in the summary was checked by an independent pass against only the material it cites.
  • The quote itself is checked by the build: word for word, once, at the cited section of the stored translation.

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