First Jewish-Roman War
The Jewish revolt against Rome (66-73/74 CE): its causes, the siege of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Temple, Masada, and the Flavian response.
Category: Society
- 66The First Jewish-Roman War
From 66 to 73 or 74 CE Judea revolts against Rome, in what the sources call the War of Destruction. Corrupt governors, economic strain and religious zeal all play a part. It ends with Jerusalem and the Temple destroyed and the end of Jewish political independence.
- 66The revolt breaks out; Gallus is defeated
In 66 CE riots in Caesarea escalate after the governor Gessius Florus, who had plundered the Temple treasury, answers with force, and rebels kill the Roman garrison in Jerusalem. Syria's legate Cestius Gallus marches on the city but is defeated at Beth Horon.
- 67Josephus surrenders at Yodfat
After the fall of Yodfat in 67 CE, the Jewish commander Josephus surrenders to Vespasian and, by his own account, foretells that Vespasian will be emperor. Freed in 69, he serves Titus at Jerusalem and then writes the war's main history. Many Jews saw his claim as self-serving.
- 67Vespasian conquers Galilee
Nero sends Vespasian, who conquers Galilee in 67 CE, taking Yodfat, Tarichaea and Gamla. In Jerusalem rival factions, among them Zealots, John of Gischala and Simon bar Giora, fall into civil war.
- July 1, 69Vespasian is proclaimed emperor
On 1 July 69 CE Vespasian is acclaimed emperor at Alexandria, in the Year of the Four Emperors that followed Nero's suicide. He leaves for Rome and his son Titus finishes the war in Judea. Vespasian founds the Flavian dynasty.
- 70The Second Temple is destroyed
The Second Temple burns in the summer of 70 CE, on 10 Av in Josephus's account, the day Tisha B'Av recalls. Josephus says Titus tried to save it; later writers say he ordered it burned. Scholars are divided. Excavations show burn layers and fallen stones.
- 70Titus besieges Jerusalem
In spring 70 CE Titus surrounds Jerusalem, full of Passover pilgrims, while factions inside fight one another and burn food stores. The Romans breach the walls and the Antonia fortress, and the Upper City falls in late summer. Josephus's 1.1 million dead is thought exaggerated.
- c. 70Yohanan ben Zakkai and Yavneh
The Talmud says the sage Yohanan ben Zakkai left besieged Jerusalem in a coffin and asked Vespasian to spare Yavneh. At Yavneh he turned a school into a centre of learning, where prayer came to replace sacrifice. The tale is unconfirmed, but rabbinic Judaism took shape there.
- 71The Flavian triumph
In 71 CE Vespasian and Titus celebrate a triumph in Rome for the Jewish war, carrying spoils from the Temple, the menorah among them. Coins proclaim Judaea Capta, "Judea conquered".
- c. 73The siege of Masada
The Roman governor Flavius Silva besieges Masada, the last rebel stronghold, held by about 960 Sicarii and their families, traditionally in 72-73 CE, though some date it 73-74. Josephus says the defenders killed one another rather than surrender; several scholars doubt this.
- c. 75Josephus writes The Jewish War
About 75 CE Josephus begins The Jewish War, finished in Greek by 78, under Flavian patronage. It is the main source for the revolt and the Temple's fall, but he writes with political aims, and many of his figures are doubted.
- c. 81The Arch of Titus
About 81 CE Domitian builds the Arch of Titus on Rome's Via Sacra after his brother's death. Its reliefs show the triumph of 71, with the Temple menorah among the spoils, one of few contemporary images of Temple objects. It later becomes a symbol of the Jewish diaspora.