The Jewish War begins in 6 CE. e. From that moment on, the Roman Empire extended to Judea. This event led to a series of conflicts on religious, social and national grounds. Rome in the eyes of the Jews was perceived as a state with a low spiritual and cultural level. In the words of Aristotle, the Romans were barbarians. It's all about the Jewish religion. As you know, before the reform of Constantine, a mighty empire was a pagan power. Roman soldiers and officials were perceived in the eyes of the "true co-religionists" by the representatives of Satan. The Roman-Jewish War was only a matter of time.
Reasons for dissatisfaction
Perhaps the conflict could have been avoided. But the Roman administration constantly tried to "accustom" the recalcitrant Jews to their order. In fairness, I would like to note that these orders are constantly changing. It also caused a resonance in conservative Eastern society. So, for example, Caligula tried to introduce the cult of the Roman emperor as a sacred position.
The state of affairs was aggravated by social contradictions, which also had a national character. The dissatisfaction of the Jews was caused by the nominations of the Greek and Hellenized population of the country toleadership positions in the country. They were the backbone of Rome in place and unquestioningly carried out all orders from the center. All this, together with the growth of taxes and duties, as well as religious conflicts, should have led to revolutionary events.
Rebellion Leaders
The events described have few historical sources. The main source is the novel by Josephus Flavius "Jewish War", based on real events of that time. According to the author, the first ideological inspirers of the anti-Roman movement were Yehuda of Gamla and the Pharisee Zadok. They openly called on citizens to boycott all Roman laws and regulations, considering Israel's political freedom sacred. This is how the movement of the Zealots arose, which later became the main driving force behind the anti-Roman uprisings.
Reason to speak
The reason for the armed uprising, which is classified in historical treatises as the first Jewish war, was the incident with the procurator Flor. He robbed one of the temple treasuries. Of course, religious Jews began to worry. Then Flor brought troops into Jerusalem and gave it to his legionaries to plunder. Many residents were crucified as participants in the conspiracy. After the pacification of the citizens, the order was given to meet two cohorts of legionnaires from the capital of Caesarea. Fuel to the fire was added by the fact that the soldiers did not respond to the greetings of the inhabitants, which was considered an insult at that time. Residents began to resent again, which servedan excuse to inflict a brutal massacre in the city. The flywheel of revolutionary events in Judea was launched. Seeing that mass uprisings had begun, Flor hastily left the city, letting everything take its course. The Jewish war after the crucifixion of civilians became inevitable.
The first victories of the rebels
Local authorities wanted to resolve the incident without resorting to the center. For this, King Agrippa II arrived in Jerusalem and tried to pacify the townspeople. But to no avail. In the city, spiritual leaders canceled all obligatory sacrifices for the he alth of the Roman emperor. This emphasized the aggressive rhetoric of the Jews. But Jewish society was not so homogeneous. There were also opponents who did not need the so-called Jewish war. These are the richest, mostly Hellenized sections of society. Roman power was beneficial to them. Among the opponents of the uprising were those people who simply feared for their lives and the lives of their loved ones. They knew well that such uprisings were theoretically doomed to defeat. If they find out about him in Rome, then no walls will protect them from legionnaires.
So, the first batch of rebels captured the Upper City of Jerusalem. But then they were knocked out, and the houses of the leaders of the so-called peace party were burned down. From Jerusalem, the uprising spread to all regions and was of a cruel nature. In those settlements where the Jewish population predominated, the entire Hellenistic estate was slaughtered, and vice versa.
Cestia Gallus, governor of Syria, intervened in the process. He advanced a sizable force from Antioch. TookAcre, Caesarea, a few other stronghold settlements and stopped 15 km from Jerusalem. After an unsuccessful attempt, having lost his main forces, Cestius turned back. On the way back, near Beth Heron, his army was surrounded and almost completely destroyed. Leaving all provisions, Cestius escaped captivity with heavy losses and fled.
Preparing to repel the main forces of Rome
The victory over the main Roman forces in the region inspired the rebels. At the head stood representatives of the aristocracy and the higher clergy. They guessed that a large expeditionary force of the Roman army would inevitably arrive in the region soon. High priest Joseph ben Gorionu assumed command of all the forces. The defense of Galilee, which, according to the rebels, was the first to take the blow of the Roman troops, was entrusted to Joseph ben Mattitiahu (Joseph Flavius). It is from his writings that we know in such detail about these events. He fortified the main cities of the area and formed an army of one hundred thousand people.
But in order for the Jewish war to end with the victory of the rebels, a complete consolidation of all forces was needed. But this was not the case among the separatists. The society was opposed by two parties. Zealot revolutionaries, who wanted to wage war until the region was completely independent, fought the peace party. The latter considered the uprising a gamble and wanted only autonomy in religious affairs. Flavius Josephus himself also belonged to the supporters of peace. But not because I was afraid. He was educated in Rome and believed that the Jews would only benefit from this state of affairs. The Romans, in his opinion, are much more advanced in terms of military organization, attitude to law, architecture, etc. The only place where the Jews have superiority is only in religion.
Naturally, Flavius, as a supporter of peace, could not defend the area entrusted to him with fierce zeal. This was noticed by one of the leaders of the Zealots in Galilee, Jochanan of Gischal, who hated the Romans and was ready to fight them to the last drop of blood. He reported the strange behavior of Flavius to the Jerusalem Sanhedrin. But Flavius convinced everyone that he can be trusted as commander in chief.
Invasion of the main forces of Rome
Emperor Nero, while in Greece at the Olympic Games, learned about the uprising. He sent one of his best generals, Vespasian, to Judea. The commander gathered all the pro-Roman forces in the East, including in his army and the detachments of King Agrippa. In total, the Roman army numbered 60 thousand selected legionnaires, not counting auxiliary detachments from local, loyal residents.
Galilee was terrified of such an invasion of powerful forces. Despite engineering structures, city after city fell. Only the fortress of Jotapata, located on a rock, was able to briefly stop the enemy. Flavius Josephus also settled in the city with the remnants of the army. Several times the enemy stormed the city, but the besiegers competently defended themselves, destroying all the weapons of the enemy's ramming. Only one of the night attacks turned out to be successful, and while the main forces of the fortress were resting, the legionnaires captured the gates and walls. Iotapata was subjected to a terrible massacre. Flavius recognizedtraitor and cursed by the people. Mourning declared in Jerusalem.
The Jewish War and the Destruction of Jerusalem
The news of the destruction of the main forces of Flavius spread throughout the region. The rebels were seized with horror, and they began to take refuge in the powerful fortress of Jerusalem. In that period of history, it was not inferior in impregnability even to Rome. Rocks surrounded the city on three sides. In addition to them, Jerusalem was protected by artificial ramparts. The only side that could be stormed was surrounded by three rows of walls with powerful towers. But the main struggle was not concentrated on the walls, but in the minds of the besieged. The conflict between the Zealots and the peace-loving people flared up with renewed vigor. A civil war began between them, which bled the city. The Zealots took over, killing all political opponents. But soon they were divided into two warring factions. Instead of consolidating forces, the Jews simply destroyed themselves from the inside, bleeding their forces, destroying their provisions.
In 69, Vespasian left for Rome, becoming the new emperor, and entrusted command to his son Titus. In 70 AD, Jerusalem was taken with huge losses. The city was sacked and destroyed. The fact that the victory of the Roman troops was difficult is evidenced by a specially issued Roman cash coin.
After the fall of Jerusalem, the history of the Jewish war did not end. In other cities, the remnants of the Zealots still resisted. Masada was the last to fall.
Results of the war
Ancient historians counted about 600 thousand people killed alone. Palestine was divided into sectionsand sold to new owners. She was now separated from Syria, and she was ruled by the praetorian legate of the emperor. In Jerusalem, announced the filing of the built temple of Jupiter Capitolinus.
Second Jewish War
Dated 115-117 and is associated with mass uprisings of the Eastern Roman provinces against the center. The reason for the second uprising, like the first, was religious oppression and the ex altation of the cult of the Roman emperors. Taking advantage of the struggle between Rome and the Parthian kingdom, the Jews began the struggle. Cyrene became the center, where all the religious pagan temples were destroyed. The uprising swept Egypt, Cyprus. More than 220 thousand Greeks were killed with unprecedented cruelty in Cyrene and more than 240 thousand in Egypt. According to the historian Gibbon, the Jews cut out the entrails of the Greeks, cut them into pieces, and drank their blood. The areas of the rebels were desolate to such an extent that after these events a resettlement policy was needed to revive them.
In 117, Quintus Mark Turbon crushed the rebellion, and Emperor Trojan conquered the Parthians. In every city of the Parthian kingdom there was a powerful Jewish community, which with all its might supported the anti-Roman uprisings. The anti-Jewish brutal measures taken by Troyan pacified the recalcitrant Jews forever.
