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Titus orders the Temple fire out, per Josephus

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

Caesar shouted and signalled with his hand for the soldiers to put out the fire. But louder noise drowned him out and they did not hear.

Then did Caesar, both by calling to the soldiers that were fighting, with a loud voice, and by giving a signal to them with his right hand, order them to quench the fire. But they did not hear what he said, though he spake so loud, having their ears already dimmed by a greater noise another way;

Josephus, The Jewish War 6.254Translated by William Whiston (1737)Read the full passage (Josephus, The Jewish War 6.254, opens scaife.perseus.org)

What was going on, our summary

Jerusalem, 70 CE, at the end of a five-month siege. As Josephus tells it, fire has reached the Temple, and Titus, Vespasian's son, runs from his tent to stop it, his commanders and legions behind him. Josephus calls him Caesar.

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

Why it matters

Painting the scene in 1638, Nicolas Poussin drew on Josephus and showed Titus not as a triumphant conqueror but as a conflicted figure, distressed by the ruin of the Temple.

Based on Wikipedia: Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)

In his The Destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem (1638), French baroque painter Nicolas Poussin drew on Josephus to depict the siege as a scene of chaos and brutality.

Rather than portraying Titus as a triumphant conqueror, Poussin depicted him as a conflicted figure, distressed by the ruin of the temple.

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

In time order, with this one in its place. Each says why it is here.

  1. 68 CE2 years earlier Nero kills himself as the Senate declares him an enemy Same years
  2. set in 68 CE2 years earlier Nero's last hours, as Suetonius tells it Same years
  3. 69 CE1 year earlier Four emperors in one year Also about war and empire
  4. 70 CESame year Titus takes Jerusalem and the Temple burns The event behind itAlso in JerusalemAlso about war and empire
  5. set in 70 CEThis momentTitus orders the Temple fire out, per Josephus
  6. set in 70 CESame year Josephus on the burning of the Temple Same passageMore from Josephus
  7. set in 70 CESame year Josephus on the famine in besieged Jerusalem More from Josephus
  8. set in 70 CESame year Josephus mourns the Temple Same passageMore 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

As the flames went upward, the Jews made a great clamor, such as so mighty an affliction required, and ran together to prevent it; and now they spared not their lives any longer, nor suffered any thing to restrain their force, since that holy house was perishing, for whose sake it was that they kept such a guard about it. And now a certain person came running to Titus, and told him of this fire, as he was resting himself in his tent after the last battle; whereupon he rose up in great haste, and, as he was, ran to the holy house, in order to have a stop put to the fire; after him followed all his commanders, and after them followed the several legions, in great astonishment; so there was a great clamor and tumult raised, as was natural upon the disorderly motion of so great an army.

The quote: Then did Caesar, both by calling to the soldiers that were fighting, with a loud voice, and by giving a signal to them with his right hand, order them to quench the fire. But they did not hear what he said, though he spake so loud, having their ears already dimmed by a greater noise another way;

nor did they attend to the signal he made with his hand neither, as still some of them were distracted with fighting, and others with passion.

Josephus, The Jewish War 6.249–254Translated by William Whiston (1737)Read the full passage (opens scaife.perseus.org)

When, and whose words

Date
set in 70 CE. Set at the burning of the Temple in 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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