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107-401: אראנו ולא עתה אשורנו ולא קרוב דרך כוכב מיעקב וקם שבט מישראל ומחץ פאתי מואב וקרקר כל־בני־שת ‎ Er’ennū wə-lō ‘attāh, ’ăšūrennū wə-lō qārōḇ; dāraḵ kōḵāḇ mî-Ya‘ăqōḇ, wəqām šêḇeṭ mî-Yiśrā’êl, ū-māḥaṣ pa’ăṯê Mō’āḇ, wə-qarqar kāl-bənê-Šêṯ. I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite

214-620: A protectorate of Rome, emigration intensified. Many Jews became citizens of other parts of the Roman Empire . Josephus , the book of Acts in the New Testament , as well as other Pauline texts , make frequent reference to the large populations of Hellenised Jews in the cities of the Roman world. It is commonly claimed that the diaspora began with Rome's twofold crushing of Jewish national aspirations. David Aberbach, for one, has argued that much of

321-420: A basket around to collect money as if Florus was poor. Florus reacted to the unrest by sending soldiers into Jerusalem the next day to raid the city and arrest a number of the city leaders, who were later whipped and crucified , despite many of them being Roman citizens . Shortly, outraged Judean nationalist factions took up arms and the Roman military garrison of Jerusalem was quickly overrun by rebels. Fearing

428-450: A despotic rule over the city. Simon bar Giora was invited into Jerusalem to stand against the Zealot faction of John and quickly took control of much of the city. Infighting between the factions of bar Giora and John followed through 69. The siege of Jerusalem turned into a stalemate. Unable to breach the city's defenses, Roman armies established a permanent camp just outside the city, digging

535-427: A large sum of money from Jerusalem's temple and put down any resistance by deploying a locally recruited auxiliary force. When he did seize 17 talents , he justified the measure as a matter of reclaiming unpaid back taxes. Both this measure and the subsequent upheavals it provoked were not unusual: similar incidents had occurred in the past. When rioting broke out, some Jerusalemites armed themselves in self-defense,

642-612: A leading role. Josephus Matthias (Yosef ben Matityahu) was appointed the commander in Galilee and Golan , while Josephus Simon (Yosef ben Shimon) was appointed commander of Jericho , John the Issene (Yohanan Issean) commander of Jaffa, Lydda, Ammeus-Nikopolis and the Tamna area. Elazar Ananias (Eliezar ben Hananiya) the joint commander in Edom together with Jesus ben Sapphas (Joshua ben Zafia), with Niger

749-680: A lesser extent, the Jewish world at large. With the influx of pilgrims and wealth from the Roman and Parthian Empires, which concentrated vast wealth in Jerusalem, the Second Temple had developed into a massive economy by the first century, but the destruction of the city and the temple brought this to an end. Additionally, according to Josephus and other scholars, the Romans confiscated and auctioned off all Jewish land or all land held by Jews who had participated in

856-555: A main theme of this text. The prophecy was also applied to Simon bar Kokhba , messianic leader of the Second Jewish Revolt of 132, whose adopted name bar Kokhba means "Son of a Star" in Aramaic . First Jewish%E2%80%93Roman War Judean provisional government Supported by: Radical factions: 10,000–20,000 Zealots and Idumeans killed Major conflicts The First Jewish–Roman War (66–74 CE), sometimes called

963-662: A major role also played by the peasantry led by bar Giora and a Zealot faction led by Eleazar ben Simon , as well as elements of the Sicarii. Victorious Judean troops then took an initiative and attempted to expand their control to the Hellenistic city of Ascalon , assembling an army commanded by Niger the Perean , Yohanan the Issean, and Shila the Babylonian and laying siege to the city. Despite

1070-472: A number of rights. Central privileges included the right to be exempted from polis religious rituals and the permission "to follow their ancestral laws, customs and religion". Jews were also exempted from military service and the provision of Roman troops. Contrary to what Josephus wants his readers to believe, the Jews did not have the status of religio licita (permitted religion) as this status did not exist in

1177-437: A trench around the circumference of its walls and building a wall as high as the city walls themselves around Jerusalem. Anyone caught in the trench attempting to flee the city would be captured and crucified in lines on top of the dirt wall facing into Jerusalem, with as many as 500 crucifixions occurring in a day. The two Zealot leaders, John of Gischala and Simon Bar Giora, only ceased hostilities and joined forces to defend

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1284-497: A weapon did, and that both sexes showed equal determination, preferring death to a life that involved expulsion from their country. Josephus puts the number of the besieged at nearly 1 million. Many pilgrims from the Jewish diaspora who, undeterred by the war, had trekked to Jerusalem to be present at the Temple during Passover became trapped in Jerusalem during the siege and perished. In

1391-498: A younger group of priests called for the expulsion of all foreigners from the city, while many elders spoke out for caution and diplomacy. In the end, charismatic insurgents accompanied by armed bands entered Jerusalem, initiating a period of revolt against Rome but also internecine fighting amongst themselves. Attempts were made to garner support from the governor of Syria at the time, Cestius . This plea for help failed to garner any support, however. The consequent riot which erupted

1498-440: Is unlikely that many Jews survived in Jerusalem or the surrounding area. Many of the Jewish rebels were scattered or sold into slavery. He refutes Josephus' estimates of a death toll of 1.1   million as implausible. According to his calculations, the total population of Judea at that time was around 1   million, with approximately half being Jews. Moreover, he points out that sizeable Jewish communities continued to exist in

1605-646: The Eastern Mediterranean dated from 63 BCE, following the end of the Third Mithridatic War , when Rome made Syria a province. After the defeat of Mithridates VI of Pontus , the proconsul Pompeius Magnus ( Pompey the Great ) remained to secure the area, including a visit to the Jerusalem Temple . The former king Hyrcanus II was confirmed as ethnarch of the Jews by Julius Caesar in 48 BC. In 37 BC,

1712-511: The Eastern Mediterranean , the initially semi-independent Herodian dynasty was officially merged into the Roman Empire in the year 6 CE. The transition of the client kingdom into a Roman province brought a great deal of tension, and a Jewish uprising by Judas of Galilee erupted as a response to the Census of Quirinius . After the death of Herod the Great and the deposition of Herod Archelaus ,

1819-680: The Great Jewish Revolt ( Hebrew : המרד הגדול , romanized :  ha-Mered Ha-Gadol ) or the Jewish War , was the first of three major rebellions by the Jews against the Roman Empire fought in the province of Judaea , resulting in the destruction of Jewish towns, the displacement of its people, and the appropriation of land for Roman military use, as well as the destruction of the Jewish Temple and polity. The revolt began in 66 CE, during

1926-527: The Herodian Kingdom was established as a Roman client kingdom and in 6 CE parts became a province of the Roman Empire , named Iudaea Province . In the Greek cities in the east of the Roman empire, tensions often arose between the Greek and Jewish populations. Writing around 90 CE, the Jewish author Josephus cited decrees by Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Augustus and Claudius, endowing Jewish communities with

2033-516: The Herodian tetrarchy . Another aspect of Herod's legacy was economic hardship. Labor workers, which had been employed at Herod's large-scale construction sites, became impoverished. After Herod's death, the poor economy led to riots. Herod's void of leadership made the region vulnerable to riots and can be considered an anticipatory cause of the Great Revolt. Following increasing Roman domination of

2140-804: The Isthmus of Corinth in Greece. He records that the Romans captured captives who were 17 years old and older and sent them to forced labor in Egypt. The youngest captives were sold into slavery. According to Moshe David Herr's estimation, one-third of the Jewish population in Judaea perished during the revolt. This figure encompasses those who died in battles with the Romans, during intra-Jewish civil strife, and in massacres perpetrated by gentiles in mixed cities. Additionally, victims succumbed to famine and epidemics, particularly in Jerusalem during its long siege. About another tenth of

2247-537: The Sadducees , who were primarily composed of members from the Jerusalem aristocracy, might have ceased to exist after the revolt. Nevertheless, there are no direct sources explicitly confirming their disappearance, and hints in later rabbinic and patristic literature suggest the possibility of continued Jewish sectarianism, including Sadducee and Essene-related groups, in the following centuries. The revolt affected Judaea's economic and social environment, as well as, to

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2354-493: The land of Israel between the Ptolemaic and Seleucid empires from the 4th to the 1st centuries BCE. In Rome, Jewish communities thrived economically. Jews became a significant part of the Roman Empire's population in the first century CE, with some estimates as high as 7 million people; however, this estimation has been questioned. Roman general Pompey conquered Jerusalem and its surroundings by 63 BCE. The Romans deposed

2461-522: The Babylonian destruction of Judah, the Roman destruction of Judea, and the subsequent rule of Christians and Muslims. After the revolt, the Jewish religious and cultural center shifted to the Babylonian Jewish community and its scholars. For the generations that followed, the destruction of the Second Temple event came to represent a fundamental insight about the Jews who had become a dispossessed and persecuted people for much of their history. Following

2568-482: The Bar Kokhba revolt Jews were reduced to a mainly diaspora people. Erich S. Gruen maintains that focusing on the destruction of the Temple misses the point that already before this, the diaspora was well established. Compulsory dislocation of people cannot explain more than a fraction of the eventual diaspora. Avrum Ehrlich also states that already well before the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, more Jews lived in

2675-729: The Diaspora than in Israel. Jonathan Adelman estimated that around 60% of Jews lived in the diaspora during the Second Temple period. Of critical importance to the reshaping of Jewish tradition from the Temple-based religion to the traditions of the Diaspora was the development of the interpretations of the Torah found in the Mishnah and Talmud . In spite of the failure of the Bar Kokhba revolt , Jews remained in

2782-513: The Eastern Roman realm and as far away as Merovingian France. Soon thereafter, 634, the Muslim conquests began, during which many Jews initially rose up again against their Eastern Roman rulers. Following the 1st-century Great Revolt and the 2nd-century Bar Kokhba revolt , the destruction of Judea exerted a decisive influence upon the dispersion of the Jewish people throughout the world, as

2889-536: The European Jewish diaspora, by which he means exile or voluntary migration, originated with the Jewish wars which occurred between 66 and 135 CE. Martin Goodman states that it is only after the destruction of Jerusalem that Jews are found in northern Europe and along the western Mediterranean coast. This widespread popular belief holds that there was a sudden expulsion of Jews from Judea/Syria Palaestina and that this

2996-449: The Greek population and Caligula by having statues of the emperor placed in Jewish synagogues . As a result, extensive religious riots broke out in the city. Caligula responded by removing Flaccus from his position and executing him. In 39, Agrippa accused Herod Antipas , the tetrarch of Galilee and Perea , of planning a rebellion against Roman rule with the help of Parthia . Herod Antipas confessed, and Caligula exiled him. Agrippa

3103-627: The Jewish oral law . A major catalyst in Judaism is Judah haNasi , who was a wealthy rabbi and one of the last tannaim, oral interpreters of the Law. He was in good standing with Roman authority figures, which aided in his ascent to being the Patriarch of the Jewish community in Palestine. The decisions of the tannaim are contained in the Mishnah , Beraita , Tosefta , and various Midrash compilations. The Mishnah

3210-462: The Jewish Temple clerks, Eleazar ben Hanania , ceased prayers and sacrifices for the Roman emperor at the Temple. Protests over taxation joined the list of grievances and random attacks on Roman citizens and perceived 'traitors' occurred in Jerusalem. When Florus removed the 17 talents from the treasury the city fell into unrest and some of the Jewish population began to openly mock Florus by passing

3317-430: The Jewish elite gave up without a fight, including Sepphoris and Tiberias, although others had to be taken by force. Of these, Josephus provides detailed accounts of the sieges of Tarichaea , Yodfat (Jotapata) and Gamla ; Gischala , the stronghold of Zealots, was also taken by force, as Zealot leaders abandoned it in the midst of the siege, heading with the bulk of their force for Jerusalem. By 68, Jewish resistance in

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3424-451: The Jewish people to the region . Though other explanations have also been proposed, and an alternative theory is that the renaming efforts preceded and helped precipitate the rebellion. In addition, after 70, Jews and Jewish Proselytes were only allowed to practice their religion if they paid the Jewish tax , and after 135 were barred from Jerusalem except for the day of Tisha B'Av . A Jewish diaspora existed for several centuries before

3531-539: The Jewish population in Judaea was captured by the Romans, and their fate was often tragic, with many enduring harsh treatment, execution, or forced labor. Strong young men were compelled to serve as gladiators in stadiums and circuses across the empire, while others were sent to brothels or sold as slaves . Vespasian settled 800 Roman veterans in Motza , which became a Roman settlement known as Colonia Amosa or Colonia Emmaus . He strengthened Roman control over

3638-599: The Jewish rebels slaughtered all the surrendered soldiers, except for Metilius who was forced to convert to Judaism. According to fourth-century church fathers Eusebius and Epiphanius of Salamis , Jerusalem's Christians fled to Pella before the beginning of the war. As a result of the unrest in Judaea, Gallus assembled the Syrian legion XII Fulminata , reinforced with units of III Gallica , IV Scythica , and VI Ferrata , plus auxiliaries and allies—a total of approximately 30,000–36,000 troops—in order to restore order in

3745-412: The Jews petitioned the governor of Syria to get the official removed, Roman Judea being essentially a "satellite of Syria". The years 7–26 CE were relatively calm, but after 37 the province again began to be a source of trouble, this time for Emperor Caligula . The cause of tensions in the east of the empire was complicated, involving the spread of Greek culture , Roman Law and the rights of Jews in

3852-407: The Jews who were in favour of rebellion, and those who were not. A huge loss of life occurred, including that of the former High Priest Ananias . The Roman garrison on Jerusalem's western border became besieged and was unable to assist those who opposed rebellion. Eventually, led by their commander Metilius, the garrison surrendered in exchange for unhindered passage from the city, but, led by Eliezar,

3959-469: The Judean and Samarian highlands. The Jews who were driven out of Galilee rebuilt Joppa (Jaffa) which had been destroyed by Gallus. Surrounded by the Romans, they rebuilt the city walls and used a light flotilla to demoralize commerce and interrupt the grain supply to Rome from Alexandria. In his The Jewish War , Josephus wrote: They also built themselves a great many piratical ships, and turned pirates upon

4066-570: The Legion's aquila lost. In 66, a Judean provisional government was formed in Jerusalem led by former High Priest Ananus ben Ananus , Joseph ben Gurion and Joshua ben Gamla . Yosef ben Matityahu ( Josephus ) was appointed as the rebel commander in Galilee and Eleazar ben Hanania as the commander in Edom . Later, in Jerusalem, an attempt by Menahem ben Yehuda , leader of the Sicarii , to take control of

4173-533: The Perean the war hero during the Gallus campaign under their command. Menasseh was appointed for Perea and John Ananias (Yohanan ben Hananiya) to Gophna and Acrabetta. An attempt by Menahem ben Yehuda , leader of the Sicarii, to take control of Jerusalem failed. He was executed, and the remaining Sicarii were ejected from the city to their stronghold Masada , previously taken from a Roman garrison. Headquartered in Masada,

4280-620: The Poor whom you have redeemed by Your Power and the peace of Your Mighty Wonders… by the hand of the Poor and those bent in the dust, You will deliver the enemies of all the lands and humble the mighty of the peoples to bring upon their heads the reward of the Wicked and justify the Judgement of Your Truth on all the sons of men . Some have speculated that the Romanized Jewish historian Josephus , applied

4387-459: The Roman empire, nor were all Roman decrees concerning the Jews positive. Instead, the regulations were made as a response to individual requests to the emperor. The decrees were deployed by Josephus "as instruments in an ongoing political struggle for status". Because of their one-sided viewpoint, the authenticity of the decrees has been questioned many times, but they are now thought to be largely authentic. Still, Josephus gave only one side of

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4494-539: The Romans instituted procurators (technically prefects before 41 CE) to rule the Judeans. In the beginning, the Roman procurators respected the laws and customs of the Jewish people, allowing them to rest on the Sabbath, granting them exemption from pagan rituals, and even minting coins without images despite the fact that elsewhere the coins bore images. When confronted with a procurator who disrespected their laws and customs,

4601-532: The Sicarii terrorized nearby Judean villages such as Ein Gedi . Simon bar Giora was also expelled from Jerusalem, and his faction took refuge in Masada and stayed there until the winter of 67–68. Emperor Nero sent General Vespasian to crush the rebellion. Vespasian, along with legions X Fretensis and V Macedonica , landed at Ptolemais in April 67. There he was joined by his son Titus , who arrived from Alexandria as

4708-726: The Temple. However Julian was killed in battle on 26 June 363 in his failed campaign against the Sassanid Empire , and the Third Temple was not rebuilt at that time. During the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 many Jews sided against the Eastern Roman Empire in the Jewish revolt against Heraclius , which successfully assisted the invading Persian Sassanids in conquering all of Roman Egypt and Syria. In reaction to this further anti-Jewish measures were enacted throughout

4815-635: The Zealots and thus, with Idumeans entering Jerusalem and fighting by the side of the Zealots, the heads of the Judean provisional government, Ananus ben Ananus and Joseph ben Gurion, were killed with severe civilian casualties in the notorious Zealot Temple Siege , where Josephus reports 12,000 dead. Receiving the news of the carnage in Jerusalem, Simon bar Giora left Masada and began pillaging Idumea, setting his headquarters in Na'an ; he met little resistance and joined forces with Idumean leaders, including Jacob ben Susa. In

4922-616: The capture of the Roman garrison by rebel forces as the pro-Roman King Herod Agrippa II and Roman officials fled. To quell the unrest, Cestius Gallus , the legate of Syria , brought in the Syrian army, consisting of the Legion XII Fulminata and auxiliary troops. Despite initial advances and the conquest of Jaffa , the Syrian Legion was ambushed and defeated by Jewish rebels at the Battle of Beth Horon with 6,000 Romans massacred and

5029-636: The center of worship shifted from the Second Temple to Rabbinic authority. Some Jews were sold as slaves or transported as captives after the fall of Judea, others joined the existing diaspora, while still others remained in Judea and began work on the Jerusalem Talmud . The Jews in the diaspora were generally accepted into the Roman Empire , but with the rise of Christianity , restrictions grew. Forced expulsions and persecution resulted in substantial shifts in

5136-553: The city failed. He was executed, and the remaining Sicarii were ejected from the city. Simon bar Giora , a peasant leader, was also expelled by the new government. The Roman general Vespasian was given four legions and tasked by Nero with crushing the rebellion. Assisted by forces of Agrippa, Vespasian invaded Galilee in 67 and within several months had claimed the major Jewish strongholds of Galilee, Jodapatha and Tarichaea . Driven from Galilee, Zealot rebels and thousands of refugees arrived in Jerusalem, creating tensions between

5243-491: The city was destroyed by fire and the Jewish community was thrown into turmoil by the devastation of its political and religious leadership. King Herod the Great ruled Jerusalem from 37 BCE – 4 BCE as a vassal king for the Roman Empire, having been appointed "King of the Jews" by the Roman Senate . Herod was known as a tyrant, mostly because of his campaign to kill anyone who could claim the throne. Herod had all relatives of

5350-569: The city when the Romans began to construct ramparts for the siege. During the infighting inside the city walls, a stockpiled supply of dry food was intentionally burned by the Zealots to induce the defenders to fight against the siege, instead of negotiating peace; as a result many city dwellers and soldiers died of starvation during the siege. Tacitus , a contemporary historian, notes that those who were besieged in Jerusalem amounted to no fewer than 600,000, that men and women alike and every age engaged in armed resistance, that everyone who could pick up

5457-512: The classes closely associated with Jerusalem and the Temple. The aristocratic oligarchy, consisting of the families of the High Priesthood and their affiliates , who wielded significant political, social, and economic influence and amassed great wealth, suffered a total collapse. The conventional understanding posits that the Essenes , whose settlement at Qumran was destroyed during the war, and

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5564-581: The coast, where it was ambushed and defeated at the Battle of Beth Horon , a result which shocked the imperial leadership. The defeat of the Romans in Beth Horon is considered one of the worst military defeats of the Roman Empire by a rebel province throughout its history. Some 6,000 Roman troops were killed and many more wounded in the battle, with Legio XII Fulminata losing its aquila , as Gallus abandoned his troops in disarray, fleeing to Syria. Judean militias included Sadducee and Pharisee factions, with

5671-630: The corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth. The prophecy was often employed during the troubled years that led up to the Jewish Revolt , the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem (70 CE) and the suicidal last stand of the Sicarii at Masada in 73 CE. The Star Prophecy appears in the Qumran texts called the Dead Sea scrolls . "This was the prophecy that was of such importance to all resistance groups in this period, including those responsible for

5778-503: The defeat of Gallus in Beth Horon, the People's Assembly was called under the spiritual guidance of Simeon ben Gamliel and thus the Judean provisional government was formed in Jerusalem. Former High Priest Ananus ben Ananus (Hanan ben Hanan) was appointed one of the government heads and began reinforcing the city, with other prominent figure of Joseph ben Gurion, with Joshua ben Gamla taking

5885-462: The documents at Qumran and the revolutionaries who triggered the war against Rome, not to mention the early Christians". The Star Prophecy was applied to the coming Messiah himself in contemporary radical Jewish documents, such as the apocalyptic War Scroll found at Qumran. In a pesher applied to the text from Numbers , the War Scroll's writer gives the following exegesis : …by the hand of

5992-442: The empire . Caligula did not trust the prefect of Egypt, Aulus Avilius Flaccus . Flaccus had been loyal to Tiberius, had conspired against Caligula's mother, and had connections with Egyptian separatists. In 38, Caligula sent Agrippa to Alexandria unannounced to check on Flaccus. According to Philo , the visit was met with jeers from the Greek population, who saw Agrippa as the king of the Jews. Flaccus tried to placate both

6099-553: The fall of the Second Temple , and their dwelling in other countries for the most part was not a result of compulsory dislocation. Before the middle of the first century CE, in addition to Judea, Syria and Babylonia, large Jewish communities existed in the Roman provinces of Egypt, Crete and Cyrenaica , and in Rome itself; after the Siege of Jerusalem in 63 BCE , when the Hasmonean kingdom became

6206-400: The fortress. According to Josephus, when the Romans finally broke through the walls of this citadel in 73, they discovered that 960 of the 967 defenders had committed suicide. The Roman suppression of the revolt had a significant demographic impact on the Jews of Judaea, as many perished in battle and from siege conditions, and multiple cities, towns and villages were destroyed. The destruction

6313-530: The head of Legio XV Apollinaris , as well as by the armies of various local allies including that of King Agrippa II . Fielding more than 60,000 soldiers, Vespasian began operations by subjugating Galilee. Judean rebels in Galilee were divided into two camps, with forces loyal to the central government in Jerusalem commanded by Josephus and representing the wealthy and priesthood classes, whereas local Zealot militias largely consisted of poor fishermen, farmers and refugees from Roman Syria. Many towns associated with

6420-401: The institution of the Jewish Tax in 70 (those who paid the tax were exempt from the obligation of making sacrifices to the Roman imperial cult ). In 313, Constantine and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan giving official recognition to Christianity as a legal religion. Constantine the Great moved the Roman capital from Rome to Constantinople ("New Rome") c. 330, sometimes considered

6527-463: The insurrection. History of the Jews in the Roman Empire The history of the Jews in the Roman Empire ( Latin : Iudaeorum Romanum ) traces the interaction of Jews and Romans during the period of the Roman Empire (27 BC – 476 AD). A Jewish diaspora had migrated to Rome and to the territories of Roman Europe from the land of Israel , Anatolia , Babylon and Alexandria in response to economic hardship and incessant warfare over

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6634-430: The intervention of Philo of Alexandria and Herod Agrippa to prevent, has been proposed as the "first open break between Rome and the Jews"; although problems were already evident during the Census of Quirinius in 6 CE and under Sejanus (before 31 CE). The emperor Tiberius rectified the latter by intervening and ultimately recalling Pontius Pilate to Rome. In 66 CE, the First Jewish–Roman War began. The revolt

6741-416: The land of Israel in significant numbers. The Jews who remained there went through numerous experiences and armed conflicts against consecutive occupiers of the Land. Some of the most famous and important Jewish texts were composed in Israeli cities at this time. The completion of the Mishnah is a prominent example. In this period the tannaim and amoraim were active rabbis who organized and debated

6848-445: The leadership of Judah ben Ari , whom he swiftly defeated. Because of illness, Bassus did not live to complete his mission. Lucius Flavius Silva replaced him and moved against the last Judean stronghold, Masada, in the autumn of 72. He used Legio X , auxiliary troops, and thousands of Jewish prisoners, for a total of 10,000 soldiers. After his orders for surrender were rejected, Silva established several base camps and circumvallated

6955-402: The lively commercial intercourse between those two cities. They may even have established a community there as early as the second pre-Christian century, for in the year 139 BCE, the pretor Hispanus issued a decree expelling all Jews who were not Roman citizens. The Jewish Encyclopedia connects the two civil wars raging during the last decades of the first century BCE, one in Judea between

7062-413: The mainly Sadducee Jerusalemites and the Zealot rebel factions that soon erupted into bitter infighting. In 69, Vespasian marched on Rome and crowned himself as emperor, leaving Titus to besiege Jerusalem in 70 CE . Following a brutal seven-month siege, during which Zealot infighting resulted in the burning of the entire food supplies of the city, the Romans finally succeeded in breaching the defenses in

7169-606: The more important second wall. During the final stages of the Roman attack, Zealots still held the Temple while the Sicarii held the upper city. The Second Temple , one of the last fortified bastions of the rebellion, was destroyed on Tisha B'Av (29 or 30 July 70). All three walls of Jerusalem were eventually destroyed as well as the Temple and the citadels; the city was burned, with most survivors taken into slavery; some of those overturned stones and their place of impact can still be seen. John of Giscala surrendered at Agrippa II's fortress of Jotapata while Simon Bar Giora surrendered at

7276-733: The neighbouring province. The Syrian legion captured Narbata and also took Sepphoris , which surrendered without a fight. The Judean rebels who withdrew from Sepphoris took refuge at Atzmon hill but were defeated following a short siege. Gallus later reached Acre in western Galilee and then marched on Caesarea and Jaffa , where he massacred some 8,400 people. Continuing his military campaign, Gallus took Lydda and Afek (Antipatris) and engaged Jerusalemite rebels in Geva , where he lost nearly 500 troops to Judean rebels led by Simon bar Giora , reinforced by allied volunteers from Adiabene . The Syrian legion then invested Jerusalem but for uncertain reasons and despite initial gains withdrew back towards

7383-470: The north had been crushed, and Vespasian made Caesarea Maritima his headquarters and methodically proceeded to cleanse the coastline of the country, avoiding direct confrontation with the rebels at Jerusalem. Based on questionable numbers from Josephus, it has been estimated that the Roman vanquishing of Galilee resulted in 100,000 Jews killed or sold into slavery. Vespasian remained camped at Caesarea Maritima until spring 68, preparing for another campaign in

7490-594: The order were carried out, delayed implementing it for nearly a year. Agrippa finally convinced Caligula to reverse the order. In 46 an insurrection by the Jews broke out in Judea province. The Jacob and Simon uprising was instigated by the two eponymous brothers and lasted between 46-48. The revolt, which concentrated in the Galilee, began as sporadic insurgency and in 48 was put down by Roman authorities, and both brothers were executed. The relatively conciliatory Roman policy in Judea changed when Gessius Florus became procurator in 64. Nero had ordered Florus to extract

7597-480: The participants in that sanction and the messengers who communicated their decisions to distant communities. As the religious persecutions continued, Hillel determined to provide an authorized calendar for all time to come that was not dependent on observation at Jerusalem. Julian , the only emperor to reject Christianity after the conversion of Constantine , allowed the Jews to return to "holy Jerusalem which you have for many years longed to see rebuilt" and to rebuild

7704-418: The pillage of Ascalon's countryside, the campaign was a disaster for the Judeans, who failed to take the city and lost some 8,000 militia men to the small defending Roman garrison. Many Jewish residents of Ascalon were butchered by their Greco-Syrian and Roman neighbours as well in the aftermath. The failure to take Ascalon changed the tactics of Judean forces from open engagement to fortified warfare. Following

7811-469: The previous Hasmonean dynasty executed. This included his wife Mariamne I , the daughter of a Hasmonean king, and all of her family members. Herod also created a new line of nobility that would have loyalties to only him, known as the Herodians . He appointed high priests from families that were not connected to the past dynasty. After Herod's death, several relatives made claims to the region, beginning with

7918-600: The prophecy to Vespasian , who was campaigning against the Jewish Zealots in Palestine, and "who was to come out of Israel and rule the world." According to Robert Karl Gnuse, it is not certain that Josephus was referring to the Star Prophecy: "In his history Josephus observes that Vespasian was destined to be the world ruler who would come out of Judea, and not a Jewish messiah, as the revolutionaries had erroneously anticipated (War 6.312-314). … Josephus may have drawn upon

8025-506: The province by giving Caesarea colony status and Neapolis city status, and by garrisoning Legio X Fretensis in Jerusalem permanently. Despite the heavy losses and the destruction of the Temple, Jewish life continued to thrive in Judea. However, continuing dissatisfaction with Roman rule eventually led to the Bar Kokhba revolt of 132–136, which appears to have resulted in the destruction and depopulation of Judea proper. According to historical sources and archaeological evidence, Jerusalem

8132-516: The radical Zealots taking control of large parts of the fortified city. A brutal civil war then erupted, with the Zealots and the Sicarii executing anyone advocating surrender. Following a false message that the Judean provisional government had come to terms with the Roman Army, delivered by the Zealots to the Idumeans, a major force of some 20,000 armed Idumeans arrived to Jerusalem. It was allowed in by

8239-484: The region even after the war, including in Judea, despite the severe damages incurred. According to Schwartz, the reported figure of 97,000 captives taken during the war is much more reliable. This would suggest that a sizeable segment of the population was either driven out of the country or, at the very least, displaced. The social ramifications of the war were profound, leading to the complete disappearance or loss of status of entire social strata. The most impacted were

8346-562: The regions, Judea proper experienced the most severe destruction, yet some cities, like Lod , Yavne , and their surroundings, remained relatively undamaged. The most severe devastation was concentrated in the Judaean Mountains , culminating in the complete destruction of Jerusalem, resulting in an estimated loss of more than 90% of its population. Josephus reports that the Romans took numerous slaves with them. He says that Vespasian sent 6,000 Jewish prisoners of war from Galilee to work on

8453-451: The right bank of the Tiber , and thus originated the Jewish quarter in Rome. Even before Rome annexed Judea as a province, the Romans had interacted with Jews from their diasporas settled in Rome for a century and a half. Many cities of the Roman provinces in the eastern Mediterranean contained very large Jewish communities, dispersed from the time of the sixth century BCE. Rome's involvement in

8560-558: The right to settle in Yavneh , which as a result would go on to become an important cultural center of Jewish life in the Empire. Jews continued to live in their land in significant numbers, the Kitos War of 115–117 notwithstanding, until Julius Severus ravaged Judea while putting down the Bar Kokhba revolt of 132–136. 985 villages were destroyed and most of the Jewish population of central Judaea

8667-463: The ruling Hasmonean dynasty of Judaea (in power from c. 140 BCE) and the Roman Senate declared Herod the Great "King of the Jews" in c. 40 BCE. Judea proper , Samaria and Idumea became the Roman province of Judaea in 6 CE. Jewish–Roman tensions resulted in several Jewish–Roman wars between the years 66 and 135 CE, which resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple and

8774-504: The seas near to Syria, and Phoenicia, and Egypt, and made those seas unnavigable to all men. Zealot leaders of the collapsed northern revolt, headed by John of Giscala , managed to escape from Galilee to Jerusalem with the bulk of their forces. Packed with militants of many factions, including remains of forces loyal to the Judean provisional government and significant Zealot militia headed by Eleazar ben Simon , and largely cut off by Roman forces, Jerusalem quickly descended into anarchy with

8881-422: The siege of Jerusalem, reports "We have heard that the total number of the besieged of every age and both sexes was six hundred thousand.   [...] Both men and women showed the same determination; and if they were to be forced to change their home , they feared life more than death", which indicates that the besieged believed that those who survived the siege would be displaced. Seth Schwartz writes that it

8988-612: The site where the Temple once stood. The Temple treasures, including the Menorah and the Table of the Bread of God's Presence , which had previously only ever been seen by the High Priest of the Temple, were paraded through the streets of Rome during Titus' triumphal procession , along with some 700 Judean prisoners who were paraded in chains, among them John of Giscala and Simon Bar Giora. John of Giscala

9095-415: The spring of 68, Vespasian began a systematic campaign to subdue various rebel-held strongholds in Judea proper, recapturing Afeq, Lydda, Javneh, and Jaffa that spring. He continued into Idumea and Perea and to the Judean and Samarian highlands, where Bar Giora's faction was causing major concern to the Romans. The Roman Army took Gophna, Akrabta, Bet-El, Ephraim, and Hebron by July 69. While the war in Judea

9202-607: The start of the Byzantine Empire , and with the Edict of Thessalonica in 380, Christianity became the state church of the Roman Empire . The Christian emperors persecuted their Jewish subjects and restricted their rights. According to the article on Rome in The Jewish Encyclopedia , Jews have lived in Rome for over 2,000 years, longer than in any other European city. They originally went there from Alexandria , drawn by

9309-422: The story by leaving out negative decisions and pretending that the rulings were universal. This way, he carried out an ideological message showing that the Romans allowed the Jews to carry out their own customs and rituals; the Jews were protected in the past and were still protected by these decisions in his own time. The efforts of Caligula to install a statue of himself in the Temple (37–41 CE), which required

9416-406: The summer of 70, following a seven-month siege, Titus used the collapse of several of the city walls to breach Jerusalem, ransacking and burning nearly the entire city. The Romans began by attacking the weakest spot: the third wall. It was built shortly before the siege so it did not have as much time invested in its protection. They succeeded towards the end of May and shortly afterwards broke through

9523-520: The summer of 70. Following the fall of Jerusalem, Titus departed for Rome, leaving the Legion X Fretensis to defeat the remaining Jewish strongholds, including Herodium and Machaerus . The Roman campaign ended with their success at the siege of Masada in 72–74. The Roman suppression of the revolt had a significant impact on the local population, with many rebels perishing in battle, displaced, or being sold into slavery. The temple of Jerusalem and much of

9630-569: The texts in Daniel 9:25-26 primarily and Genesis 49:10, Numbers 24:17, and Daniel 7:13-14 secondarily. He may have used an Essenic understanding of a messianic world ruler in addition." The star has been externalized as an actual star in the sky, the Star of Bethlehem , in the narration of the Gospel of Matthew . The fulfilled Star Prophecy is one of numerous instances of the asserted fulfillment of prophecies that are

9737-581: The twelfth year of the reign of Nero , originating in the oppressive rule of Roman governors , the widening gaps between the wealthy aristocracy and the downtrodden masses, and Roman and Jewish religious tensions . The crisis escalated because of anti-taxation protests and clashes between Jews and pagans in mixed cities. The Roman governor Gessius Florus seized money from the Second Temple 's treasury and arrested numerous senior Jewish figures. This prompted widespread rebellion in Jerusalem that culminated in

9844-489: The two Hasmonean brothers Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II , and one in the Roman republic between Julius Caesar and Pompey, and describes the evolution of the Jewish population in Rome: ... the Jewish community in Rome grew very rapidly. The Jews who were taken to Rome as prisoners were either ransomed by their coreligionists or set free by their Roman masters, who found their peculiar custom obnoxious. They settled as traders on

9951-421: The usurper Vitellius , who had already deposed Otho. Titus advanced his Roman legions on Jerusalem, conquering towns and creating a wave of Judean refugees. The rebels avoided direct confrontation and were mostly interested in their own control and survival. The Zealot factions were weakened by civil war within the city but could still field significant troops. John, a Zealot leader, assassinated Eleazar and began

10058-432: The worst, the pro-Roman King Herod Agrippa II and his sister Berenice fled Jerusalem to Galilee. Judaean militias later moved upon Roman citizens of Judaea and pro-Roman officials, cleansing the country of any Roman symbols. Among other events, the Sicarii rebel faction surprised the Roman garrison of Masada and took over the fortress. Initially, the outbreak of violence had been an internal factional conflict between

10165-561: Was completed shortly after 200 CE, probably by Judah haNasi. The commentaries of the amoraim upon the Mishnah are compiled in the Jerusalem Talmud , which was completed around 400 CE, probably in Tiberias . In 351, the Jewish population in Sepphoris , under the leadership of Patricius, started a revolt against the rule of Constantius Gallus , brother-in-law of Emperor Constantius II . The revolt

10272-517: Was completely destroyed during the war. Josephus claims that 1,100,000 people were killed during the siege of Jerusalem, 97,000 were captured and enslaved, and many others fled to areas around the Mediterranean . A significant portion of the deaths was from illnesses and hunger brought about by the Romans. "A pestilential destruction upon them, and soon afterward such a famine, as destroyed them more suddenly." Roman historian Tacitus , when describing

10379-471: Was crucial for the establishment of the diaspora. Israel Bartal contends that Shlomo Sand is incorrect in ascribing this view to most Jewish study scholars, instead arguing that this view is negligible among serious Jewish study scholars. These scholars argue that the growth of diaspora Jewish communities was a gradual process that occurred over the centuries, starting with the Assyrian destruction of Israel,

10486-461: Was essentially wiped out – killed, sold into slavery, or forced to flee. Banished from Jerusalem, which was renamed Aelia Capitolina , the Jewish population now centered on Galilee , initially at Yavneh . After the Jewish-Roman wars (66–135), Hadrian changed the name of Judaea province to Syria Palaestina and Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina in an attempt to erase the historical ties of

10593-537: Was eventually subdued by Gallus' general, Ursicinus . According to tradition, in 359 Hillel II created the Hebrew calendar , which is a lunisolar calendar based on math rather than observation. Until then, the entire Jewish community outside the land of Israel depended on the observational calendar sanctioned by the Sanhedrin ; this was necessary for the proper observance of the Jewish holy days. However, danger threatened

10700-530: Was in progress, great events were occurring in Rome. In the middle of 68, Nero's increasingly erratic behavior finally lost him all support for his position. The Roman Senate , the Praetorian Guard , and several prominent army commanders conspired for his removal. When the Senate declared Nero an enemy of the people , he fled Rome and committed suicide with the help of a secretary. The newly installed emperor Galba

10807-503: Was murdered after just a few months by his rival Otho , triggering a civil war that came to be known as the Year of the Four Emperors . In 69, though previously uninvolved, the popular Vespasian was also hailed emperor by the legions under his command. He decided, upon gaining further widespread support, to leave Titus to finish the war in Judea while he returned to Rome to claim the throne from

10914-520: Was not uniform across the country; certain areas suffered more extensive devastation than others. The Jewish population in several mixed cities was eliminated. In Galilee, according to Josephus, two of the four largest cities, Tarichaea (probably Magdala ) and Gabara , were destroyed, while Sepphoris and Tiberias reconciled with the Romans and experienced minimal harm. The scope of destruction also varied in Transjordan and in central Judaea. Among all

11021-556: Was put down by the future Roman emperors Vespasian and Titus . In the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE , the Romans destroyed much of the Temple in Jerusalem and, according to some accounts, plundered artifacts from the Temple, such as the Menorah . Yohanan ben Zakkai , who opposed the war, negotiated with Vespasian for the safety of him and his supporters. Impressed by Yohanan's bravery and (ultimately correct) prediction that Vespasian would one day be Emperor, he granted them safe passage to and

11128-547: Was rewarded with his territories. Riots again erupted in Alexandria in 40 between Jews and Greeks. Jews were accused of not honoring the emperor. Disputes occurred also in the city of Jamnia. Jews were angered by the erection of a clay altar and destroyed it. In response, Caligula ordered the erection of a statue of himself in the Jewish Temple of Jerusalem . The governor of Syria, Publius Petronius , fearing civil war if

11235-475: Was sentenced to life imprisonment while Simon Bar Giora was executed. The triumph was commemorated with the Arch of Titus , which depicts the Temple's treasures being paraded. With the fall of Jerusalem, some insurrection still continued in isolated locations in Judea, lasting as long as 73. During the spring of 71, Titus set sail for Rome. Sextus Lucilius Bassus was appointed as military governor, whose assigned task

11342-415: Was the first in a series of revolts and led to the formation of several revolutionary factions. The revolt was further intensified when Florus attempted to stop the riots, which actually incited more revolutionary zeal. According to Josephus , the violence which began at Caesarea in 66 was provoked by Greeks of a certain merchant house sacrificing birds in front of a local synagogue. In reaction, one of

11449-498: Was to undertake the "mopping-up" operations in Judea. He used X Fretensis to besiege and capture the few remaining fortresses that still resisted. Bassus took Herodium and then crossed the Jordan to capture the fortress of Machaerus on the shore of the Dead Sea and then continued into the forest of Jardus on the northern shore of the Dead Sea to pursue some 3,000 Judean rebels under

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