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The Antonia Fortress was a military barracks built by Herod the Great
Herod the Great

Herod , also known as Herod I or Herod the Great , was a Roman Empire client state of Israel. Herod is known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and other parts of the ancient world, including the rebuilding of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, sometimes referred to as Herod's Temple....
 in Jerusalem
Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and its List of Israeli cities in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if Positions on Jerusalem East Jerusalem is included....
 on the site of an earlier Hasmonean
Hasmonean

The Hasmoneans were the ruling dynasty of the Hasmonean Kingdom of Israel , an independent Jewish state. The Hasmonean dynasty was established under the leadership of Simon Maccabaeus, two decades after his brother Judas Maccabeus defeated the Seleucid army during the Maccabean Revolt in 165 BCE....
 stronghold, named after Herod's patron Mark Antony
Mark Antony

Marcus Antonius , known in English as Marc Antony, was a Roman Republic politician and General. He was an important supporter and the best friend of Julius Caesar as a military commander and administrator, being Caesar's second cousin, once removed, by his mother Julia Antonia....
. The fortress was built at the eastern end of the great wall of the city (the second wall), on the northeastern side of the city, near the temple and Pool of Bethesda
Pool of Bethesda

For the various places named after the Pool of Bethesda, see Bethesda.File:Jerusalem Bethesda BW 1.JPGBethesda was originally the name of a pool in Jerusalem, on the path of the Beth Zeta Valley, and is also known as the Sheep Pool....
. It is thought that the area where the Antonia Fortress was located possibly later became the site of the Praetorium
Praetorium

Praetorium was originally the name of the headquarters of a Ancient Rome army. The praetorium was the commander's tent or building in a Roman fortification, a castra or castellum....
.






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The Antonia Fortress was a military barracks built by Herod the Great
Herod the Great

Herod , also known as Herod I or Herod the Great , was a Roman Empire client state of Israel. Herod is known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and other parts of the ancient world, including the rebuilding of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, sometimes referred to as Herod's Temple....
 in Jerusalem
Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and its List of Israeli cities in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if Positions on Jerusalem East Jerusalem is included....
 on the site of an earlier Hasmonean
Hasmonean

The Hasmoneans were the ruling dynasty of the Hasmonean Kingdom of Israel , an independent Jewish state. The Hasmonean dynasty was established under the leadership of Simon Maccabaeus, two decades after his brother Judas Maccabeus defeated the Seleucid army during the Maccabean Revolt in 165 BCE....
 stronghold, named after Herod's patron Mark Antony
Mark Antony

Marcus Antonius , known in English as Marc Antony, was a Roman Republic politician and General. He was an important supporter and the best friend of Julius Caesar as a military commander and administrator, being Caesar's second cousin, once removed, by his mother Julia Antonia....
. The fortress was built at the eastern end of the great wall of the city (the second wall), on the northeastern side of the city, near the temple and Pool of Bethesda
Pool of Bethesda

For the various places named after the Pool of Bethesda, see Bethesda.File:Jerusalem Bethesda BW 1.JPGBethesda was originally the name of a pool in Jerusalem, on the path of the Beth Zeta Valley, and is also known as the Sheep Pool....
. It is thought that the area where the Antonia Fortress was located possibly later became the site of the Praetorium
Praetorium

Praetorium was originally the name of the headquarters of a Ancient Rome army. The praetorium was the commander's tent or building in a Roman fortification, a castra or castellum....
. The Praetorium, or Pretorium, is thought to be the place where Jesus
Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , also known as Jesus Christ, is the central figure of Christianity and is revered by most Christian churches as the Son of God and the Incarnation ....
 was taken to stand before Pilate.

The historian Josephus
Josephus

Josephus , also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu and, after he became a Roman citizenship, as Titus Flavius Josephus, was a first-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and royal ancestry who survived and recorded the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70....
 described the Antonia as being a tower with four towers at each corner. He placed the Antonia at the Northwest corner of the colonnades surrounding the Temple. Modern depictions often show the Antonia as being located along the North side of the temple enclosure. However, Josephus' description of the siege of Jerusalem suggests that it was separated from the temple enclosure itself and probably connected by two colonnades with a narrow space between them. Josephus' measurements suggest about a 600 foot separation between the two complexes.

Prior to the Jewish War
Jewish War

Jewish War can relate to:*A shorter title of the work by the Jewish historian Josephus, also known as The Wars of the Jews or The Wars of the Jews....
, the Antonia housed some part of the Roman garrison of Jerusalem. The Romans also stored the high priest's vestments within the Fortress.

The Antonia was destroyed in 70
70

Year 70 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar....
 by Titus' army during the siege of Jerusalem
Siege of Jerusalem (70)

The Siege of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD was a decisive event in the First Jewish-Roman War. It was followed by the Masada#History in 73 AD. The Roman Empire army, led by the future Emperor Titus, with Tiberius Julius Alexander as his second-in-command, besieged and conquered the city of Jerusalem, which had been occupied by its Jewish defend...
. Titus
Titus

Titus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Titus , was a Roman Emperor who briefly reigned from 79 until his death in 81. Titus was the second emperor of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Titus's father Vespasian , Titus himself and his younger brother Domitian ....
 captured the fortress as a precursor to attacking the Temple complex. He had the Antonia leveled to allow passage of siege materials to the temple.

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