After the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE, the Romans ruled the city, and the Tenth Legion was apparently stationed near the present-day Jaffa Gate. Only during the time of Hadrian (the early second century CE) did the Romans begin to build Jerusalem as a pagan city, called Aelia Capitolina, with a network of streets and pagan temples.
The ruined City of David was quarried by the Romans for building stones for the Roman city. In 132 CE, the Bar Kokhba Revolt broke out, perhaps in response to the transformation of Jerusalem into a pagan city, and was brutally suppressed by the Romans. Officially, Jews were banned from residing in the city, but there is evidence that Jews lived there as well as visited.