The Assassins of Rome :: Historical Background

The historical background to
The Assassins of Rome

In the spring of 70AD, nine and a half years before this story takes place, four Roman legions surrounded the rebellious city of Jerusalem.

The commander was Titus, son of Rome's new Emperor, Vespasian. Jerusalem should have withstood the siege for years, but weakened by the fighting of those inside it fell in months. Those few months were among the most terrible in the history of the Jewish people.

Thousands were crucified as they tried to escape. Those who remained in the city suffered terrible famine. Finally, the Temple of God was destroyed, Jerusalem razed to the ground, and the survivors killed or enslaved.

Titus returned to Rome in triumph with thousands of Jewish slaves. It is probable that many of them were put to work building Vespasian's new amphitheatre. This monument came to be known as the Colosseum, after the colossal statue of Nero which stood nearby.

Nero had died a year before the fall of Jerusalem. His opulent Golden House only survived another thirty-five years before it became the site of Trajan's baths. Nobody knows exactly what it was used for during those years. Today, if you visit Rome, you can still visit part of the Golden House. There you will see painted rooms, a long cryptoporticus, an octagonal pavilion and a 'Cyclop's cave'.

Simeon, Susannah and Rizpah were not real people. Titus, Domitian, Josephus and Berenice were. You can read more about them in history books.

Assassins of Rome Golden House Model of Rome Flavius Josephus

below: the colossal statue of Nero as the 'sun god'.