And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings [are here]!

And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. Mark 13: 1-2



The siege of Jerusalem by four Legions under the command of Titus, son of the Emperor Vespasian, which had begun in April, ended on this day A.D. 70. As part of the destruction then visited on the city, the Temple was put to the torch and destroyed. The Babylonians had destroyed the Temple on the same day of the calendar, 9 Av, in 586 B.C.



Saint Jerome wrote in 392:



On the anniversary of the day when the city fell and was destroyed by the Romans, there are crowds who mourn, old women and old men dressed in tatters and rags, and from the Top of the Mount of Olives this throng laments over the destruction of its Sanctuary. Still their eyes flow with tears, still their hands tremble and their hair is disheveled, but already the guards demand pay for their right to weep.