The Cost of Intolerance
The Roman historian Tacitus estimated that a staggering 600,000 Judeans were put to the sword over the course of the First Jewish-Roman War – while Josephus estimates an even more astronomical figure of 1.1 million Judean casualties. The Jewish leaders were taken back to Rome for execution, but not before being paraded through the streets along with the menorah and other temple artifacts which were brought to Rome bundled in the curtains which separated the Tabernacle from the Holy of Holies. The thronging masses of the Imperial Capital may have been given their fill of bread & circuses in the Triumphal procession of Titus which followed, thus legitimizing the Flavian dynasty. Back in Judea, however, the masses who were not taken back to Rome were scattered to the few remaining pockets of resistance which managed to hold out until 73 CE when the Romans ultimately defeated the Judeans and the First Jewish-Roman War was ended.
Several more Jewish-Roman wars would follow in the centuries leading up to Rome’s own gradual decline and eventual collapse in the fifth century CE. Just as the Jews never truly recovered from the loss of the Second Temple, so too came a reckoning for the Romans. Even as Scipio Africanus is said to have shed a tear when he looked out upon the flames engulfing Carthage and said, “A day will come when sacred Troy shall perish, And Priam and his people shall be slain,” so too can we imagine Titus and his commanders standing upon the Temple Mount watching Jerusalem burn below and knowing, on some level, that Rome too might one day meet a similar fate. So much, for the glory of Rome.
For every historical layer of skirmishes followed by reprisals, the ability to irrefutably point to a single linchpin which led to the eventual destruction of Jerusalem will forever remain out of reach. While it can be endlessly argued who the worst actors of the Second Temple period actually were, I would argue that such a question ignores the important through line in each of the three major crises: intolerance. Be it intolerance toward a neighbor, intolerance toward a people, or intolerance toward a different way of life; each only ever resulted in resentment and hatred. How many countless cities have been razed throughout history? Can their demises not be traced back to acts of intolerance? If I had learned nothing from this six-month project other than this important lesson, I truly believe I could call this piece a success. In the end, each person will see something different in viewing this diorama of First Century Jerusalem. Here, after more than 900 hours of design and build – and countless more dedicated to its research – I present this commissioned work in the hope that it will serve as a reminder of the cost of intolerance, and its inexorable erasure of world heritage.
The Cost of Intolerance
The Roman historian Tacitus estimated that a staggering 600,000 Judeans were put to the sword over the course of the First Jewish-Roman War – while Josephus estimates an even more astronomical figure of 1.1 million Judean casualties. The Jewish leaders were taken back to Rome for execution, but not before being paraded through the streets along with the menorah and other temple artifacts which were brought to Rome bundled in the curtains which separated the Tabernacle from the Holy of Holies. The thronging masses of the Imperial Capital may have been given their fill of bread & circuses in the Triumphal procession of Titus which followed, thus legitimizing the Flavian dynasty. Back in Judea, however, the masses who were not taken back to Rome were scattered to the few remaining pockets of resistance which managed to hold out until 73 CE when the Romans ultimately defeated the Judeans and the First Jewish-Roman War was ended.
Several more Jewish-Roman wars would follow in the centuries leading up to Rome’s own gradual decline and eventual collapse in the fifth century CE. Just as the Jews never truly recovered from the loss of the Second Temple, so too came a reckoning for the Romans. Even as Scipio Africanus is said to have shed a tear when he looked out upon the flames engulfing Carthage and said, “A day will come when sacred Troy shall perish, And Priam and his people shall be slain,” so too can we imagine Titus and his commanders standing upon the Temple Mount watching Jerusalem burn below and knowing, on some level, that Rome too might one day meet a similar fate. So much, for the glory of Rome.
For every historical layer of skirmishes followed by reprisals, the ability to irrefutably point to a single linchpin which led to the eventual destruction of Jerusalem will forever remain out of reach. While it can be endlessly argued who the worst actors of the Second Temple period actually were, I would argue that such a question ignores the important through line in each of the three major crises: intolerance. Be it intolerance toward a neighbor, intolerance toward a people, or intolerance toward a different way of life; each only ever resulted in resentment and hatred. How many countless cities have been razed throughout history? Can their demises not be traced back to acts of intolerance? If I had learned nothing from this six-month project other than this important lesson, I truly believe I could call this piece a success. In the end, each person will see something different in viewing this diorama of First Century Jerusalem. Here, after more than 900 hours of design and build – and countless more dedicated to its research – I present this commissioned work in the hope that it will serve as a reminder of the cost of intolerance, and its inexorable erasure of world heritage.