“Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the heavens; they pursued us on the mountains, they ambushed us in the wilderness” (Lamentations 4:19).“Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the heavens.” The wife of Trajan, may his bones be crushed, gave birth on the night of the Ninth of Av and all Israel was mourning. The baby died on Hanukkah. The Israelites said: ‘Shall we kindle or shall we not kindle?’ They said: ‘We shall kindle, and anything that he seeks to inflict upon us, let him inflict.’ They kindled.[People] went and slandered them to Trajan’s wife: ‘These Jews, when you gave birth they were mourning, and when the baby died they kindled lights.’ She sent a letter to her husband: ‘Instead of subduing the barbarians, come and subdue these Jews who have rebelled against you.’ He boarded the ship and calculated that he would arrive in ten days, but the wind brought him in five days. He arrived and found them engaged in this verse: “The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle will swoop” (Deuteronomy 28:49). He said to them: ‘I am the eagle, as I calculated that I would arrive in ten days and the wind brought me in five days.’ His legions surrounded them and killed them.He said to the women: ‘Submit to my legions, and if not, I will do to you what I did to the men.’53He threatened to have them killed if they would not submit to intercourse with his legions. They said: ‘Do to the inferiors what you did to the superiors.’54Do to us as you did to the men. Immediately, his legions surrounded them and killed them and the blood of these and the blood of those intermingled, and their blood was bursting forth like a river until it reached Cyprus.“They pursued us [delakunu] on the mountains.” Rabbi Aivu said: They would ignite [dolkin] the thickets.55Israelites would hide in the forests and the enemies would light the forests on fire. Rabbi Yaakov of Kefar Ḥanin said: These are those who ignited the fire in Jerusalem.56The mountain is a reference to the Temple Mount. The Rabbis say: These are the pursuers of Israel. That is why it says: “They pursued us on the mountains.”