Wikipedia's first sentence called it “military barracks built by herod the great in jerusalem on the site of earlier ptolemaic and hasmonean strongho”. Today it says “citadel built by herod the great and named for herod's patron mark antony”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2010 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2010
Antonia Fortress - currently in the Israel Museum .1The fortress and Teddy's Gate.2The Antonia Fortress was a military barracks built by Herod the Great in Jerusalem on the site of earlier Ptolemaic and Hasmonean strongholds, named after Herod's patron Mark Antony . 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 .3Traditionally, it has been thought that the vicinity of the Antonia Fortress later became the site of the Praetorium , and that this latter building was the place where Jesus was taken to stand before Pilate . However, this tradition was based on the mistaken assumption that an area of roman flagstones, discovered beneath the Church of the Condemnation and Imposition of the Cross and the Convent of the Sisters of Zion , was the pavement (Greek: lithostratos ) which the Bible describes as the location of Pontius Pilate 's judgment of Jesus ; archaeological investigation now indicates that these slabs are the paving of the eastern of two 2nd century Forums , built by Hadrian as part of the construction of Aelia Capitolina . The site of the Forum had previously been a large open-air pool, the Strouthion Pool , which was constructed by the Hasmoneans , is mentioned by Josephus as being adjacent to the Fortress in the first century , and is still present beneath Hadrian's flagstones; the traditional scene would require that everyone was walking on water. Like Philo , Josephus testifies that the Roman governors stayed in Herod's palace while they were in Jerusalem , and carrying out their judgements on the pavement immediately outside it ; Josephus indicates that Herod's palace is on the western hill , and it has recently (2001) been rediscovered under a corner of the Jaffa Gate citadel . Archaeologists now therefore conclude that in the first century, the Praetorium - the residence of the governor ( Praetor ) - was on the western hill, rather than the Antonia Fortress, on the diametrically opposite side of the city .4
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 370127554.
The opening as it stood in 2015 6 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
A model of the Antonia Fortress – currently in the Israel Museum The fortress and the Lions Gate The Antonia Fortress was a military barracks built around 19 BC by Herod the Great in Jerusalem on the site of earlier Ptolemaic and Hasmonean strongholds, named after Herod's patron Mark Antony . 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 Mount and the Pool of Bethesda .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 666519383.
The opening as it stood in 2020 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Fortress first built by the Hasmoneans and renovated later by Herod the Great c. 37–35 BC A model of the Antonia Fortress—currently in the Israel Museum Model of the fortress and the Tedi Gate (small gate with triangular top) The Antonia Fortress ( Aramaic :קצטרא דאנטוניה) was a citadel built by Herod the Great and named for Herod's patron Mark Antony , as a fortress whose chief function was to protect the Second Temple .It was built in Jerusalem at the eastern end of the so-called Second Wall, at the north-western corner of the Temple Mount .There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 965329733.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Ancient hill-top citadel in Jerusalem A model of the Antonia Fortress—currently in the Israel Museum Model of the fortress and the Tedi Gate (small gate with triangular top) The Antonia Fortress ( Aramaic : קצטרא דאנטוניה) was a citadel built by Herod the Great and named for Herod's patron Mark Antony , as a fortress whose chief function was to protect the Second Temple . It was built in Jerusalem at the eastern end of the so-called Second Wall, at the north-western corner of the Temple Mount . There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1166266202.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Ancient hill-top citadel in Jerusalem The Antonia Fortress ( Aramaic : קצטרא דאנטוניה) was a citadel built by Herod the Great and named for Herod's patron Mark Antony , as a fortress whose chief function was to protect the Second Temple . It was built in Jerusalem at the eastern end of the Second Wall, at the north-western corner of the Temple Mount , and was connected to the Temple by porticoes . There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1297482966. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “military barracks built by herod the great in jerusalem on the site of earlier ptolemaic and hasmonean strongho”. Today it says “citadel built by herod the great and named for herod's patron mark antony”. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2010, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
military barracks built by herod the great in jerusalem on the site of earlier ptolemaic and hasmonean strongho
Now
citadel built by herod the great and named for herod's patron mark antony
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
