A fart That Led to 10,000 Deaths in First Century Jerusalem

Yes, there is an ancient account of a fart leading to a deadly riot in Jerusalem, though the number of deaths and the details are likely exaggerated or mythologized over time. The story comes from the Roman-Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in his work The Jewish War. Josephus describes an incident during the Feast of Passover in the 1st century CE, around the year 44 CE, when a Roman soldier allegedly lifted his garments and made an obscene gesture (which reportedly included passing gas) toward the Jewish pilgrims in the Temple.

This act of disrespect led to outrage among the Jewish crowd, which escalated into a riot. Roman soldiers attempted to control the situation, but the crowd surged and many people were trampled or suffocated in the chaos. Josephus mentions that thousands died as a result of the stampede, though the exact number-10,000-is likely an embellishment.

While this event is remembered for its absurd starting point (a fart), it also reflects the underlying tensions between the Jewish population and their Roman occupiers, tensions that would later contribute to the Jewish-Roman wars.