The Jewish war dates back to 6 BC e. From that moment, the Roman Empire spread 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, the powerful empire was a pagan power. Roman soldiers and officials were perceived in the eyes of "true co-religionists" by the governors of Satan. The Roman-Jewish war was only a matter of time.
Reasons for dissatisfaction
Perhaps conflict could have been avoided. But the Roman administration constantly tried to "accustom" the rebellious Jews to their orders. In fairness, I want to note that these orders are constantly changing. It also resonated in a conservative eastern society. So, for example, Caligula tried to introduce the cult of the Roman emperor as a sacred office.
The situation was aggravated by social contradictions, which also had a national character. Jewish discontent was caused by the nomination of the Greek and Hellenized population of the country to leadership positions in the country. They were the pillar of Rome on the spot and unquestioningly carried out all orders from the center. All this, together with the growth of taxes and duties, as well as conflicts on religious grounds, should have led to revolutionary events.
Leaders of the uprising
The described events have few historical sources. The main source is Josephus Flavius’s novel The Jewish War, based on real events of that time. According to the author, the first ideological inspirers of the anti-Roman movement were Yehuda from Gamla and the Pharisee Zadok. They openly called on citizens to boycott all Roman laws and orders, considering the political freedom of Israel sacred. So the Zealots movement arose, which subsequently became the main driving force of anti-Roman actions.
Occasion 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 treasures. Of course, religious Jews began to worry. Then Flor brought troops into Jerusalem and gave it to be plundered to his legionaries. Many residents were crucified as participants in the conspiracy. After pacifying the citizens, an order was given to meet two cohorts of legionnaires from the capital of Kessaria. Oil added to the fire that the soldiers did not respond to the greetings of the inhabitants, which was considered an insult to that time. Residents again began to resent, which served as an occasion to inflict brutal reprisal in the city. The flywheel of revolutionary events in Judea was launched. Seeing that mass uprisings had begun, Flor hastily left the city, leaving everything to chance. The Jewish war after the crucifixion of civilians became inevitable.
The first victories of the rebels
Local authorities wanted to solve the incident without resorting to the help of 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 health of the Roman emperor. This emphasized the aggressive rhetoric of the Jews. But Jewish society was not so uniform. There were also opponents who did not need the so-called Jewish war. These are the richest, mostly Hellenized strata 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 relatives. They well knew that such uprisings in theory are doomed to defeat. If they learn about him in Rome, then no walls will protect them from the 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 peaceful party were burned down. From Jerusalem, the uprising spread to all areas and was cruel. In those settlements where the Jewish population prevailed, the entire Hellenistic estate was slaughtered, and vice versa.
Cestius Galla, governor of Syria, intervened in the process. He advanced significant forces from Antioch. He took Acre, Caesarea, several more strong settlements and stopped 15 km from Jerusalem. After an unsuccessful attempt, having lost his main strength, Cestius turned back. On the way back, near Beth-Heron, his army was surrounded and almost completely destroyed. Throwing all the provisions, Cestius with great losses escaped captivity and fled.
Preparation for the reflection of the main forces of Rome
The victory over the main Roman forces in the region inspired the rebels. At the head stood the representatives of the aristocracy and the higher clergy. They suspected that in the near future large expeditionary forces of the Roman army would inevitably arrive in the region. High Priest Joseph Bin Gorion took command over all the forces. The defense of Galilee, which, for the reasons of the rebels, was the first to take the blow of the Roman troops, was entrusted to Joseph ben Mattiah (Josephus Flavius). It is from his works that we know so much about these events. He fortified the main cities of the region 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 among the separatists. Two parties opposed the society. The Zealot revolutionaries, who wanted to wage war until the region was completely independent, fought with the peace party. The latter considered the uprising a gamble and wanted only autonomy in religious affairs. Josephus himself was also a supporter of the world. But not because he was afraid. He was educated in Rome and believed that the Jews only benefit from this state of affairs. The Romans, in his opinion, are much more developed in terms of military organization, attitudes to law, architecture, etc. The only thing where Jews have superiority is only in religion.
Naturally, Flavius, as a supporter of the world, could not defend the area entrusted to him with fierce zeal. This was noticed by one of the leaders of the Zealots in Galilee, Johanan of Gishal, 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 could be trusted as commander in chief.
The invasion of the main forces of Rome
Emperor Nero, being in Greece at the Olympics, found out 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 King Agrippa in his army. In total, the Roman army numbered 60 thousand selected legionnaires, not counting auxiliary units from local, loyal inhabitants.
The horror of such an invasion of powerful forces gripped Galilee. Despite the engineering facilities, city after city was falling. Only the fortress of Jotapath, located on a rock, was able to briefly stop the enemy. Joseph Flavius 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 ram. Only one of the night attacks was successful, and while the main forces of the fortress were resting, the legionnaires seized the gates and walls. Jotapata was massacred. Flavius was recognized as a traitor and cursed among the people. Jerusalem declared mourning.
Jewish war and the destruction of Jerusalem
The news of the destruction of the main forces of Flavius scattered throughout the area. Horror seized the rebels, and they began to take refuge in the powerful fortress of Jerusalem. In that period of history, he 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 focused not on the walls, but in the minds of the besieged. The conflict between the Zealots and the peace lords broke out with renewed vigor. A civil war broke out between them, which bled the city. Zealots took over, killing all political opponents. But soon they divided into two warring factions. Instead of consolidating their forces, the Jews simply destroyed themselves from within, bleeding their forces, destroying their supplies.
In 69, Vespasian left for Rome, becoming the new emperor, and commanded his son Titus. In the year 70, Jerusalem was taken with huge losses. The city was plundered and destroyed. The fact that the victory of the Roman troops was given with difficulty, says a specially issued Roman 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. The last fell Masada fortress.
War Results
Ancient historians counted about 600 thousand people alone. Palestine was divided into sections and sold to new owners. She was now separated from Syria, and she was ruled by the praetorian legate of the emperor. In Jerusalem, announced to submit to the constructed temple of Jupiter of Capitoline.
Second jewish war
Dated 115-117 years and is associated with massive uprisings of the eastern Roman provinces against the center. The cause of the second uprising, as well as the first, was the religious oppression and exaltation of the cult of the Roman emperors. Using the struggle of Rome with the Parthian kingdom, the Jews began the struggle. Cyrene became the center, where all 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 historian Gibbon, Jews carved the guts of the Greeks, cut them into pieces, drank their blood. The areas of the rebels were emptied to such an extent that after these events a resettlement policy was needed to revive them.
In 117, Quint Mark Turbo put down a rebellion, and the emperor Troyan conquered the Parthians. In each city of the Parthian kingdom there was a powerful Jewish community, which supported the anti-Roman actions with all its might. The anti-Jewish brutal measures taken by the Troyan pacified forever the rebellious Jews.