The Classical WorldWar & Conflict Second Temple destroyed 70 CEMajor Rome destroys Jerusalem's Temple. Judaism reorganizes around rabbis, synagogues and texts. ▲ MattersSaveShareTrace roots Longest chain: The Big Bang → First stars ignite → Supernovae seed heavy elements → The Sun forms → Earth forms → First oceans → First life → Photosynthesis evolves → Great Oxidation Event → Complex cells (eukaryotes) → Multicellular life → First animals → Cambrian Explosion → First vertebrates → Jawed fish → Fish walk onto land → The amniotic egg → The Great Dying → Dinosaurs appear → Asteroid ends the dinosaurs → Early primates → Apes split from monkeys → Human line splits from chimpanzees → Walking upright → First stone tools → Genus Homo appears → Homo erectus → Control of fire → First fired clay figures → First pottery → Potter's wheel → The wheel → Spoke-wheeled chariot → Hittite Empire → Iron Age begins → Rome founded (traditional date) → Roman Republic founded → Caesar crosses the Rubicon → Roman Empire begins → Second Temple destroyed Community notesLoading notes… Learn more ranked by votesDocumentbritannica.comSiege of Jerusalem, 70 CE (Britannica) ↗Editor's pickDocumentgutenberg.orgThe Wars of the Jews, Flavius Josephus, trans. William Whiston (Project Gutenberg) ↗Editor's pickBookMartin GoodmanRome and Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient Civilizations ↗Editor's pickVideoSearch on YouTubedestruction of the Second Temple 70 CE ↗Editor's pick