(392) And now were the banks finished on the seventh day of the month Gorpieus, [Elul] in eighteen days time, when the Romans brought their machines against the wall. But for the rebellious, some of them, as despairing of saving the city, retired from the wall to the citadel; others of them went down into the subterranean vaults, (393) though still a great many of them defended themselves against those that brought the engines for the battery; yet did the Romans overcome them by their number and by their strength; and, what was the principal thing of all, by going cheerfully about their work, while the Jews were quite defected, and become weak.

(407) And truly so it happened, that though the slayers left off at the evening, yet did the fire greatly prevail in the night; and as all was burning, came that eighth day of the month Gorpieus [Elul] upon Jerusalem, (408) a city that had been liable to so many miseries during this siege, that, had it always enjoyed as much happiness from its first foundation, it would certainly have been the envy of the world. Nor did it on any other account so much deserve these sore misfortunes, as by producing such a generation of men as were the occasions of this its overthrow.