Another matter, “The advantage of land” – the Holy One blessed be He said to the prophets: ‘If you do not perform my mission, I have many messengers.’ That is, “the advantage of land”; I can accomplish My mission with anything. Rabbi Aḥa said: The Holy One blessed be He accomplishes His mission with anything, even by means of a snake, even by means of a frog, even by means of a scorpion, and even by means of a gnat.
The wicked Titus entered the chamber of the Holy of Holies with his sword drawn in his hand, and he stabbed the curtain. He took two prostitutes, spread a Torah scroll beneath them, and engaged in intercourse with them atop the altar. His sword came out [of the curtain] full of blood. There is one who says it was from the blood of offerings and there is one who says it was from the blood of the bull and the goat of Yom Kippur.7The blood of these offerings was sprinkled on the curtain that separated the Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies.
He began cursing and blaspheming the One On High. He said: ‘There is no comparison between one who wages war with a king in the wilderness and defeats him, and one who wages war with a king in his own palace and defeats him.’ What did he do? He gathered all the Temple vessels, placed themwithin a certain net and descended to the ship.
When he set sail, a wave struck him in the sea. He said: ‘It appears that this God has power only in the water. He exacted retribution against the generation of Enosh only with water,8See Bereshit Rabba 90:6. and likewise the generation of the Flood, and likewise Pharaoh and his army. I, too, when I was in His house, He was unable to stand against me; now, He has confronted me here.’
The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘Wicked one, as you live, with the smallest creature that I created during the six days of Creation, I will exact retribution from you.’ Immediately, the Holy One blessed be He intimated to the sea, and it calmed from its raging. When [Titus] reached Rome, all the residents of Rome emerged and lauded him as capturer of the barbarians. Immediately, they heated the bathhouse for him and he entered and bathed.
When he emerged, they blended him a cup of wine. The Holy One blessed be He sent a gnat for him; it entered into his nose and continued gnawing until it reached his brain. It began gnawing at its brain. [Titus] said: ‘Call doctors for him and they will split the brain of this man9Titus referred to himself in the third person. to ascertain with what the God of this nation exacted retribution from him.’
Immediately, they called the doctors, they split his brain, and found [a creature] like the fledgling of a dove, weighing two litra. Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Yosei said: I was there and they placed that dove on one side of the scale and two litra on one side and they balanced each other. They took it and placed it in a bowl; as the condition of this one changed, the condition of that one changed.10As the condition of the gnat improved, Titus’s condition worsened. The gnat flew away and the soul of the wicked Titus flew away.