Jewish–Roman wars facts for kids

Quick facts for kids

Jewish–Roman wars

This image on the Arch of Titus in Rome shows a Roman parade. It celebrates the capture of Jerusalem in 70 CE. The parade features the Menorah and other items taken from the Second Temple.

Date	66–135 CE (70 years)
Location	Roman Judea, Egypt, Cyprus, Cyrenaica, Mesopotamia
Result	Roman victory: Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed. Much of Judea was ruined. Many Jewish people were forced to leave their homes. Christianity became separate from Judaism. Non-messianic Jewish groups became Rabbinic Judaism. The Jewish center moved to Galilee.
Territorial changes	Roman Judea (Iudaea) stayed under Roman control. It was renamed and joined with Syria Palaestina.

Belligerents

Roman Empire

Judean government
Jewish Zealots

Jewish rebels

Judea under Bar Kokhba

Commanders and leaders

Titus

Vespasian

Marcus Lupus

Marcius Turbo

Lusius Quietus

Hadrian

Sextus Julius Severus

Hannan
Eleazar ben Hanania
Bar Giora
Eleazar
John

Artemion
Lukuas
Julian and Pappus

Simon bar Kokhba
Eleazar of Modi'im

Strength

Great revolt: 30,000 to 60,000 soldiers.

Kitos War: Eastern Roman legions.

Bar Kokhba revolt: 6–7 full legions plus other groups, about 120,000 total.

Great revolt: 25,000+ Jewish fighters, 20,000 Idumeans.

Kitos War: Tens of thousands of loosely organized fighters.

Bar Kokhba revolt: 200,000–400,000^b militiamen.

Casualties and losses

Great revolt: Legio XII Fulminata lost its eagle. About 20,000 Roman soldiers died. Thousands of Roman civilians were killed.

Kitos War: 240,000 civilians killed in Cyprus^a, 200,000 killed in Cyrenaica^a.

Bar Kokhba revolt: Legio XXII Deiotariana was destroyed. Legio IX Hispana might have been disbanded. Legio X Fretensis had many losses.

Great revolt: 1,356,460 civilians and fighters killed. Perhaps hundreds of thousands of non-Jewish visitors also died. 97,000–99,000^c people were enslaved.

Kitos War: 200,000 killed. Jewish communities in Cyprus, Cyrenaica, and Alexandria were wiped out.

Bar Kokhba revolt: 580,000^a killed. 985 Jewish strongholds and villages were destroyed^a.

350,000–1,400,000 deaths.

[a] from Cassius Dio
[b] from Rabbinic sources
[c] from Josephus

The Jewish–Roman wars were a series of big revolts by Jewish people against the Roman Empire. These wars happened between 66 and 135 CE. They took place in Judaea and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean.

The First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE) and the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–136 CE) were about Jewish people wanting their own independent state. The Kitos War (115–117 CE) was more about religious and ethnic differences. It mostly happened outside Judaea. Because of this, some people use "Jewish-Roman wars" to mean only the first and third wars. Others include the Kitos War too.

These wars had a terrible impact on the Jewish people. Before the wars, Jewish people were a large group in the Eastern Mediterranean. After the wars, they became a scattered and often persecuted minority. The First Jewish-Roman War ended with the destruction of Jerusalem and many other towns. Many people died or were forced to leave their homes. Those who stayed lost their ability to govern themselves.

The Bar Kokhba revolt was put down even more harshly. Many Jewish people were killed, forced out, or sold into slavery. Jewish people were not allowed to live near Jerusalem. The Romans rebuilt Jerusalem as a pagan city called Aelia Capitolina. The province of Judaea was renamed Syria Palaestina. These events made the Jewish diaspora (Jewish people living outside their homeland) much more important. Jewish culture and population centers moved to Galilee and later to Babylonia. Smaller communities spread across the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

The wars also greatly changed Judaism. The Second Temple in Jerusalem was the main place of worship for Second Temple Judaism. It was destroyed by Roman troops led by Titus in 70 CE. This destruction changed how Jewish people practiced their religion. They began to focus on prayer, studying the Torah, and meeting in synagogues. This big change led to Rabbinic Judaism, which has been the main form of Judaism ever since.

Major Conflicts
History of the Conflicts
What Happened After?
See also

Major Conflicts

The Jewish–Roman wars include these main conflicts:

First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE) — Also called the First Jewish Revolt or the Great Jewish Revolt. It started with an uprising in 66 CE. Then Galilee fell in 67 CE. Jerusalem and the Second Temple were destroyed in 70 CE. Finally, Masada fell in 73 CE.
Kitos War (115–117 CE) — This is sometimes called the Second Jewish–Roman War.
Bar Kokhba revolt (132–136 CE) — This is also called the Second Jewish–Roman War (if the Kitos War is not counted). Or it's called the Third Jewish–Roman War (if the Kitos War is counted).

History of the Conflicts

What Caused the Wars?

The Roman Empire slowly took control of the Eastern Mediterranean. In 6 CE, the kingdom of the Herodian dynasty officially became part of the Roman Empire. It was named the Roman province of Judaea. This change caused a lot of tension. A Jewish uprising led by Judas of Galilee happened right away. This was a response to a Roman census.

Things were mostly calm between 7 and 26 CE. But the province continued to be a source of trouble under Emperor Caligula (after 37 CE). Problems in the eastern part of the Empire were complex. They involved the spread of Greek culture, Roman laws, and the rights of Jewish people.

In 38 CE, Caligula sent Herod Agrippa to Alexandria. He wanted Agrippa to check on the Roman governor, Aulus Avilius Flaccus. When Agrippa arrived, Greek people in Alexandria made fun of him. Flaccus tried to calm both the Greeks and Caligula. He had statues of the emperor placed in Jewish synagogues. This led to big riots in the city. Caligula removed Flaccus from his job and had him executed.

In 39 CE, Agrippa accused Herod Antipas of planning a rebellion. Antipas was the ruler of Galilee and Peraea. He confessed, and Caligula sent him away. Agrippa was given Antipas's lands.

More riots happened in Alexandria in 40 CE between Jewish and Greek people. Jewish people were accused of not honoring the emperor. There were also problems in the city of Jamnia. Jewish people were angry when a clay altar was built and they destroyed it. In response, Caligula ordered a statue of himself to be placed in the Temple in Jerusalem. This went against the Jewish belief in one God.

The governor of Roman Syria, Publius Petronius, delayed this order for almost a year. He feared a civil war if he carried it out. Agrippa finally convinced Caligula to change his mind. However, Caligula's death in 41 CE stopped a full-scale war in Judaea.

Caligula's death did not end the tensions completely. In 46 CE, two brothers, Jacob and Simon, led an uprising in Judaea. This revolt was mainly in Galilee. It started small but grew. Roman authorities quickly stopped it in 48 CE. Both Simon and Jacob were executed.

The First Big War

The First Jewish–Roman War started in 66 CE. It began because of tensions between Greek and Jewish people. It grew worse due to protests against taxes and attacks on Roman citizens. Roman soldiers had also taken treasures from the Second Temple. Up to 6,000 Jewish people were killed in Jerusalem. This caused a full-scale rebellion.

Jewish rebels quickly took over the Roman military base in Judaea. The pro-Roman king Herod Agrippa II and Roman officials fled Jerusalem. The rebellion was getting out of control. So, Cestius Gallus, the Roman governor of Syria, brought his army. His army was based on Legio XII Fulminata and had extra troops. He wanted to restore order.

At first, the Syrian army advanced. But Jewish rebels ambushed and defeated them at the Battle of Beth Horon. About 6,000 Roman soldiers were killed. The Roman legionary eagle (a symbol of their army) was lost. This defeat shocked the Roman leaders.

The experienced general Vespasian was then given the job of crushing the rebellion. His son Titus became his second-in-command. Vespasian had four legions and help from King Agrippa II's forces. In 67 CE, he invaded Galilee. Titus's forces avoided a direct attack on Jerusalem. Instead, they worked to destroy rebel strongholds. Within months, Vespasian and Titus took over the main Jewish strongholds in Galilee. They finally captured Jotapata after a 47-day siege.

Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, a leader named Menahem tried to take control of the city. He failed and was executed. A peasant leader, Simon bar Giora, was forced out of the city. The new Jewish government, led by Ananus ben Ananus, began to strengthen Jerusalem's defenses.

Zealot rebels and thousands of refugees fled Galilee and arrived in Judaea. This caused political chaos in Jerusalem. The Zealots were first trapped in the Temple area. But soon, fighting broke out between the Jerusalemites (mostly Sadducees) and the Zealot groups from the North. These Zealots were led by John of Gischala and Eleazar ben Simon.

Fighters from Edom entered the city and joined the Zealots. Ananus ben Ananus was killed, and his forces suffered many losses. Simon bar Giora, with 15,000 troops, was then invited into Jerusalem. He was asked by the Sadducee leaders to fight against the Zealots. Simon quickly took control of much of the city. For a year, in 69 CE, there was bitter fighting between the groups of Simon, John, and Eleazar.

Military operations paused because of a civil war in Rome. Vespasian returned to Rome and became the new Emperor in 69 CE. After Vespasian left, Titus besieged Jerusalem in early 70 CE. The Romans broke through the first two walls of Jerusalem in three weeks. But the Jewish defenders fought hard and stopped them at the third, thickest wall.

The siege lasted seven months. The Zealots inside the city burned their own food supply. This was to make sure everyone fought until the very end. But in the summer of 70 CE, the Romans finally broke through. After Jerusalem fell, Titus went back to Rome. The Legion X Fretensis defeated the remaining Jewish strongholds. The Roman campaign ended with the fall of Masada in 73/74 CE.

The Kitos War

The Kitos War (115–117 CE) is also known as the "Rebellion of the Exile." It was the second of the Jewish–Roman wars. This war involved major revolts by Jewish people living outside Judaea. These revolts happened in Cyrenaica, Cyprus, Mesopotamia, and Egypt.

The revolts got out of control. Many Roman citizens and others were killed by Jewish rebels. For example, 200,000 people died in Cyrene and 240,000 in Cyprus, according to Cassius Dio. Roman armies finally crushed these rebellions. The main Roman general was Lusius Quietus. The war is named "Kitos War" because "Kitos" is a later, changed version of Quietus's name.

The Kitos War led to the disappearance of the important Jewish community in Alexandria and Egypt. Jewish people were also forced to leave Cyprus.

The Bar Kokhba Revolt

The Bar Kokhba revolt (132–136 CE) was the third major rebellion by Jewish people. It happened in Judaea and the Eastern Mediterranean against the Roman Empire. It was the last of the Jewish–Roman wars.

The Roman emperor Hadrian built a pagan city called Aelia Capitolina in Jerusalem. This is likely what started the uprising. Jewish people in Judaea secretly prepared for this rebellion for a long time. They dug hundreds of underground hideout systems under their villages. Simon bar Kokhba was seen as a Messiah. People believed he was a hero who could bring back an independent Israel.

The revolt created an independent state of Israel in parts of Judaea for over two years. But a large Roman army finally crushed it. This army had six full legions and other troops.

This rebellion is also known as The Third Jewish–Roman War. Some historians call it the Second Jewish Revolt if they don't count the Kitos War (115–117 CE).

What Happened After?

The rebels' failure was a disaster. The revolt was put down very harshly. Many people were killed or captured. Judaea's countryside was destroyed and had fewer people. Judaea was no longer the main center of Jewish life. The province's name was changed to Syria Palaestina.

The Romans banned Jewish people from Jerusalem. They could only visit on the fast day of Tisha B'Av. Even Jewish Christians, who believed Jesus was the Messiah and didn't support Bar Kokhba, were banned from Jerusalem. The war and its results helped Christianity become a religion separate from Judaism.

The First Jewish-Roman War and the destruction of the Second Temple caused big changes in Jewish religious leadership. Before, the Sadducees and Pharisees were the main ruling groups. They managed Judaism from the Temple. The Essenes and Zealots were mostly against them. When the Temple was destroyed, the Sadducees, who were priests, lost their power. Only the Pharisees, who were rabbis, were left with power.

The power of the rabbis did not come from the Temple or military strength. It spread to different communities through synagogues. This changed how Judaism was practiced every day. For example, instead of sacrificing animals, people prayed to worship God. Rabbinic Judaism became a religion centered around synagogues. Jewish people themselves spread throughout the Roman world and beyond.

After Jerusalem was destroyed, important centers of Jewish culture grew in Galilee and Babylonia. Work on the Talmud continued in these places. Before Vespasian left, a Pharisee wise man and Rabbi, Yohanan ben Zakkai, got his permission. He was allowed to start a Jewish school at Yavne. Zakkai was secretly taken out of Jerusalem in a coffin by his students. This school later became a major center for studying the Talmud.

Emperor Hadrian (117–138 CE) took harsh actions against the Jewish community. He banned them from entering Jerusalem, except on the fast day of Tisha B'Av. Jerusalem itself was rebuilt as the Roman city of Aelia Capitolina. The Province of Judaea was renamed Syria Palaestina. At the former Jewish holy site on the Temple Mount, he put up two statues. One was of Jupiter, and the other was of himself.

The Jewish–Roman wars had a huge impact on Jewish people. They changed from being a large population in the Eastern Mediterranean to a scattered and often persecuted minority. The defeat of the Jewish revolts changed where Jewish people lived. It made the Jewish diaspora more important. The main Jewish population center moved from Judea to Galilee and Babylon. Smaller communities were across the Mediterranean.

Jewish people had some self-rule in the Galilee until the 4th century. Later, they had limited success in creating a short-lived Jewish self-rule in Jerusalem from 614–617 CE. But Jewish control in parts of the Southern Levant was only fully regained in the mid-20th century. This happened with the founding of the modern state of Israel in 1948 CE.