History of the Jewish War. The Jewish War and the Destruction of Jerusalem

The Jewish War dates back to 6 AD. E. From that moment the Roman Empire stretched 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 powerful empire was a pagan power. Roman soldiers and officials were perceived in the eyes of "true coreligionists" by the governors of Satan. The Roman-Jewish war was only a matter of time.

The reasons for dissatisfaction

Perhaps, the conflict could be avoided. But the Roman administration constantly tried to "accustom" the rebellious Jews to their own order. For the sake of justice, it should be noted that these orders were constantly changing. This also caused a resonance in the conservative Eastern society. So, for example, Caligula tried to introduce the cult of the Roman emperor as a sacred post.

The situation was aggravated by social contradictions, which had a national character as well. The discontent of the Jews was caused by the nomination of the Greek and Hellenized population of the country for the leading positions in the country. They were the support 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 conflicts on religious grounds, should lead to revolutionary events.

The leaders of the uprising

The described events have few historical sources. The main source is Josephus' novel The Jewish War, based on the 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 Tsadok. They openly urged citizens to boycott all Roman laws and regulations, considering Israel's political freedom sacred. So the movement of the Zealots arose, which later became the main driving force of anti-Roman actions.

Reason for speaking

The reason for the armed uprising, which is classified in historical treatises as the first Jewish war, was an incident with prosecutor Flohr. He robbed one of the temple treasuries. Of course, religious Jews began to worry. Then Florus brought troops into Jerusalem and gave him to plunder his legionaries. Many residents were crucified as conspirators. After pacifying the citizens, an order was issued to meet two cohorts of legionnaires from the capital of Caesarea. The oil was poured into the fire by the fact that the soldiers did not react to the greetings of the residents, which was considered an insult to that time. Residents began to resent again, which was the reason to commit brutal violence in the city. The flywheel of the revolutionary events in Judea was launched. Seeing that the mass uprisings had begun, Flor hastily left the city, letting everything go on its own. 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 abolished all the obligatory sacrifices for the health 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 layers of society. They Roman power was profitable. Among the opponents of the uprising were those people who simply feared for their lives and the lives of their relatives. They were well aware that such insurrections in theory were doomed to failure. If you learn about it in Rome, then no walls will protect them from the legionaries.

So, the first batch of the 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. From Jerusalem, the uprising spread to all areas and was cruel. In those settlements where the Jewish population prevailed, the whole Hellenistic estate was cut out, and vice versa.

Cestius Galla, the governor of Syria, intervened in the process. He put forth considerable forces from Antioch. I took Akko, Caesarea, several other strongholds and stopped 15 km from Jerusalem. After an unsuccessful attempt, losing the main force, Cestius turned back. On the way back, near Beth-Heron, his army was surrounded and almost completely destroyed. After throwing all the provisions, Cestii escaped captivity with great losses and fled.

Preparation for the reflection of the main forces of Rome

The victory over the main Roman forces in the region inspired the insurgents. At the head stood representatives of the aristocracy and the higher clergy. They guessed that soon the great expeditionary forces of the Roman army would inevitably come to the region. Commanding all forces took upon himself the high priest Joseph ben Gorion. The defense of Galilee, which, for reasons of the insurgents, was the first to take the blow of the Roman troops, was entrusted to Joseph Ben Matthiyahu (Josephus Flavius). It is from his works that we know so much about these events. He strengthened 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 insurgents, it was necessary to fully consolidate all forces. But this was not among the separatists. Two parties opposed the society. Revolutionary zealots, who wanted to lead the war to the full independence of the region, fought with the party of peace. The latter considered the uprising to be an adventure and wanted only autonomy in religious affairs. Josephus himself was also a proponent of peace. But not because I was afraid. He was educated in Rome and believed that the Jews only benefit this state of affairs. The Romans, in his opinion, are much more developed in terms of military organization, attitudes toward law, in architecture, etc. The only thing where Jews have superiority is only in religion.

Naturally, Flavius, as a supporter of peace, could not with vehement zeal protect the area entrusted to him. This was noticed by one of the leaders of the Zealots in Galilee, Johanan Gisgalsky, who hated the Romans and was ready to fight with them until 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 the commander-in-chief.

The invasion of the main forces of Rome

Emperor Nero, while in Greece at the Olympics, learned about the uprising. In Judea, he sent one of his best generals - Vespasian. The commander collected all the Provisional forces in the East, including in his army and units of King Agrippa. In total, the Roman army numbered 60 thousand selected foreign players, not counting auxiliary units from local, loyal residents.

Galileo was seized by the horror of such an invasion of powerful forces. Despite the engineering facilities, the city was falling outside the city. Only the fortress of Iotapata, located on the rock, could temporarily stop the enemy. In the city sat down and Josephus Flavius with the remnants of the army. Several times the enemy stormed the city, but the besiegers competently defended, destroying all the instruments of the enemy ram. Only one of the night outings proved successful, and while the main strength of the fortress rested, the legionaries captured the gates and walls. Iotapata was subjected to a terrible slaughter. Flavia was recognized as a traitor and cursed among the people. In Jerusalem they declared mourning.

The Jewish War and the Destruction of Jerusalem

The news of the destruction of the main forces Flavia scattered throughout the region. The rebels were seized with terror, and they began to hide in the powerful fortress of Jerusalem. At that time in history, he was not inferior in the inaccessibility even to Rome. On three sides the city was surrounded by rocks. Besides them, Jerusalem was protected by artificial shafts. 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 lovers broke out with renewed vigor. A civil war broke out between them, which bleached the city. The top was taken by the Zealots, interrupting all political opponents. But soon they were divided into two warring factions. Instead of consolidating the forces of the Jews, they simply destroyed themselves from within, bleeding their strength, destroying supplies of provisions.

In 69, Vespasian went to Rome, becoming the new emperor, and commanded the son of 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 on this occasion the Roman monetary 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 one was the fortress of Masada.

Results of the war

Only about 600,000 people were killed by ancient historians. Palestine was divided into plots and sold to new owners. From Syria it was now separated, and it was ruled by the praetorian legate of the emperor. In Jerusalem, they announced the filing of a built temple of Jupiter Capitoline.

The Second Jewish War

It is dated 115-117 years and is associated with mass uprisings of the eastern Roman provinces against the center. The cause of the second uprising, as well as the first one, was religious oppression and exaltation of the cult of the Roman emperors. Taking advantage of the struggle of Rome with the Parthian kingdom, the Jews began to struggle. The center was Cyrene, 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 carved the insides of the Greeks, cut them into pieces, drank their blood. The regions of the insurgents were emptied to such an extent that after these events a resettlement policy was needed to revive them.

In 117, Quintus Marcus Turbonus crushed the rebellion, and the Emperor Troyan conquered the Parthians. In every city of the Parthian Kingdom there was a powerful Jewish community, which supported anti-Roman actions with all its might. The anti-Jewish cruel measures adopted by Troyan have forever pacified the rebellious Jews.