The First Jewish–Roman War, sometimes called the Great Jewish Revolt 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 Zealots were a political movement in 1st-century Second Temple Judaism which sought to incite the people of Judaea Province to rebel against the Roman Empire and expel it from the Holy Land by force of arms, most notably during the First Jewish–Roman War (66–70). Zealotry was the term used by Josephus for a "fourth sect" or "fourth Jewish philosophy" during this period.
The Jewish–Roman wars were a series of large-scale revolts by Jewish subjects against the Roman Empire between 66 and 135 CE. The term primarily applies to the First Jewish–Roman War and the Bar Kokhba revolt, nationalist rebellions striving to restore an independent Jewish state. Some sources also include the Diaspora revolt, an ethno-religious conflict fought across the Eastern Mediterranean and including the Kitos War in Judaea.
The siege of Jerusalem of 70 CE was the decisive event of the First Jewish–Roman War, in which the Roman army led by future emperor Titus besieged Jerusalem, the center of Jewish rebel resistance in the Roman province of Judaea. Following a five-month siege, the Romans destroyed the city, including the Second Jewish Temple.
Simon bar Giora was the leader of one of the major Judean rebel factions during the First Jewish–Roman War in 1st-century Roman Judea, who vied for control of the Jewish polity while attempting to expel the Roman army, but incited a bitter internecine war in the process.
John of Gischala was a leader of the first Jewish revolt against the Romans.
Eleazar ben Simon was a Zealot leader during the First Jewish-Roman War who fought against the armies of Cestius Gallus, Vespasian, and Titus Flavius. From the onset of the war in 66 CE until the destruction of the temple in 70 CE, he fought vehemently against the Roman garrisons in Judea and against his fellow Jewish political opponents in order to establish an independent Jewish state at Jerusalem. Although the Jewish defeat at Jerusalem cannot be entirely attributed to Eleazar ben Simon, his inability to establish unity with John of Gischala and Simon bar Giora resulted in a bitter civil war that weakened the Jewish resistance against Rome. Eleazar ben Simon and his Zealots' radical anti-Roman policies and eradication of the moderate temple aristocracy from Jerusalem in 67 CE also prevented any peaceful agreement with Rome to avoid the death and destruction which ensued in 70 CE.
Simeon ben Gamliel (I) (Hebrew: שמעון בן גמליאל or רשב"ג הראשון; c. 10 BCE – 70 CE) was a Tanna (sage) and leader of the Jewish people. He served as nasi of the Great Sanhedrin at Jerusalem during the outbreak of the First Jewish–Roman War, succeeding his father in the same office after his father's death in 50 CE and just before the destruction of the Second Temple.
Joshua ben Gamla, also called Jesus the son of Gamala, was a Jewish high priest in about 64-65 CE. He was killed during the First Jewish–Roman War. While the Talmud refers to Joshua ben Gamla, the earlier Greek works of Josephus Flavius call him Γαμάλα μὲν υἱὸς Ἰησοῦς a semitism for: The son of Gamala, Jesus.
Ananus ben Ananus was a Herodian-era High Priest of Israel in Jerusalem, Judea Province. He was the High Priest who ordered the execution by stoning of James, the brother of Jesus, according to the Antiquities of the Jews of Josephus. A delegation sent by citizens upset over the perceived breach of justice met Lucceius Albinus before he reached Judea, and Albinus responded with a letter informing Ananus that it was illegal to convene the Sanhedrin without Albinus' permission and threatening to punish the priest. Ananus was therefore deposed by King Herod Agrippa II before Albinus's arrival and replaced with Jesus ben Damneus.
The Battle of Beth Horon was a military engagement fought in 66 CE between the Roman army and Jewish rebels in the early phase of the First Jewish–Roman War. During the event, the Syrian Legion Legio XII Fulminata with auxiliary support headed by Legate of Syria Cestius Gallus was ambushed by a large force of Judean rebel infantry at the passage of Beth Horon, on their retreat from Jerusalem towards the coastal plain. The rebel Judean forces headed by Simon Bar Giora, Eleazar ben Simon and other rebel generals succeeded in inflicting a humiliating defeat, killing some 6,000 Roman troops and capturing the Legion's aquila, with much of the Roman Army fleeing in disarray from the battle field. The defeat of the Roman Army had major implications in prolonging the rebellion, leading to the short-lived Judean self-governorship in Judea and Galilee.
First Jewish Revolt coinage was issued by the Jews after the Zealots captured Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple from the Romans in 66 CE at the beginning of the First Jewish Revolt. The Jewish leaders of the revolt minted their own coins to emphasize their newly obtained independence from Rome.
The Second Temple period or post-exilic period in Jewish history denotes the approximately 600 years during which the Second Temple stood in the city of Jerusalem. It began with the return to Zion and subsequent reconstruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, and ended with the First Jewish–Roman War and the Roman siege of Jerusalem.
Edom was an ancient kingdom that stretched across areas in the south of present-day Jordan and Israel. Edom and the Edomites appear in several written sources relating to the late Bronze Age and to the Iron Age in the Levant, including the list of the Egyptian pharaoh Seti I from c. 1215 BC as well as in the chronicle of a campaign by Ramesses III, and the Tanakh.
Jerusalem during the Second Temple period describes the history of the city during the existence there of the Second Temple, from the return to Zion under Cyrus the Great to the siege and destruction the city by Titus during the First Jewish–Roman War in 70 CE. During this period, which saw the region and city change hands several times, Jerusalem was the center of religious life for all Jews; even those who lived in the diaspora prayed towards Jerusalem on a daily basis and went there on pilgrimage during three annual religious festivals. Under Hasmonean and Herodian rule, Jerusalem served as a royal capital and the seat of all major national institutions. In Jerusalem, the Pharisees of Second Temple Judaism developed into the Tannaim and Judaism's post-Exilic religious identity as it continues today, and the Hebrew Bible was perhaps canonized, although exactly when this occurred remains disputed. It was also in Jerusalem during the later stages of this period that Christianity was born.
The Zealot Temple siege was a short siege of the Temple in Jerusalem fought between Jewish factions during the First Jewish–Roman War. According to the historian Josephus, the forces of Ananus ben Ananus, one of the heads of the Judean provisional government and former High Priest of Israel, besieged the Zealots who held the Temple. When John of Gischala led the Zealots to believe that Ananus had contacted the Roman general Vespasian for assistance in retaking control of all Jerusalem, the Zealots, driven to desperation, asked the Edomites (Idumeans) for assistance in preventing the delivery of the city to the Romans. When the Edomites arrived, the Zealots opened the gates of Jerusalem to them, and the Edomites slaughtered ben Hanan's forces, killing him as well.
Eleazar ben Hanania was a Jewish leader during the Great Revolt of Judea. Eleazar was the son of the High Priest Hanania ben Nedebai and hence a political figure of the 1st century Judaea Province. Eleazar was the governor of the temple at the outbreak of the rebellion in 66 CE and following the initial outbreak of the violence in Jerusalem convinced the priests of the Jewish Temple to stop service of sacrifice for the Emperor. The action, though largely symbolic, was one of the main milestones to bring a full-scale rebellion in Judea.
Jerusalem riots of 66 refer to the massive unrest in the center of Roman Judea, which became the catalyst of the First Jewish–Roman War.
Joseph ben Gurion was according to Josephus one of the chief leaders of the First Jewish–Roman War, which erupted in the year 66 in Roman Judea. Along with Ananus ben Ananus, ben Gurion was heading the Judean provisional government (66–68), formed in the aftermath of the Battle of Beth Horon (66). Ben Gurion was killed in the year 68 during the carnage of the Zealot Temple Siege.
Legend of Destruction is a 2021 animated historical drama film, directed by director Gidi Dar, who wrote the screenplay in collaboration with Shuli Rand. It is an interpretation of Talmudic stories of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple.
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