Bar Kokhba revolt
The Bar Kokhba revolt, also known as the Bar Kokhba war, the War of Betar, and the Third Jewish–Roman War,'' was the last and most devastating of three major Jewish rebellions against the Roman Empire. The rebels, led by Simon bar Kokhba, succeeded in establishing an independent Jewish state in Judaea that lasted several years. The revolt was ultimately crushed by the Romans, resulting in the near depopulation of Judea through mass killings, widespread enslavement, and the displacement of much of its Jewish population.
Resentment toward Roman rule in Judaea and nationalistic aspirations remained high following the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple during the First Jewish Revolt in 70 CE. The immediate triggers of the Bar Kokhba revolt included Emperor Hadrian's decision to rebuild Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina, a Roman colony dedicated to Jupiter, extinguishing hopes for the Temple's reconstruction, as well as a possible ban on circumcision. The rebels used guerrilla tactics and underground hideouts embedded in their villages. Simon bar Kokhba was declared "nasi" of Israel, and the rebels established a full administration, issuing their own weights and coinage. Contemporary documents celebrated a new era of "the redemption of Israel".
The tide turned when Hadrian appointed one of Rome's most skilled generals, Sextus Julius Severus, to suppress the rebellion. Severus was supported by an unusually large concentration of forces, including six full legions, auxiliary and reinforcements from up to six additional legions. Hadrian himself also directed operations for a time. The Romans systematically devastated towns, villages, and the countryside. In 135 AD, the fortified stronghold of Betar, the rebels' center of resistance, was captured and destroyed, and Simon bar Kokhba was killed. Many rebels and refugees sought shelter in caves, particularly in the Judaean Desert, but Roman troops besieged these hideouts, cutting off supplies and killing, starving, or capturing those inside.
The consequences of the revolt were disastrous. Ancient and contemporary sources estimate that hundreds of thousands were killed, with many others enslaved or exiled. The historical heart of Judea was largely depopulated, and the spiritual center of Jewish life shifted to Galilee and the growing diaspora. Messianic hopes became more abstract, and rabbinic Judaism adopted a cautious, non-revolutionary stance. The divide between Judaism and early Christianity also deepened. The Romans imposed harsh religious prohibitions, including bans on circumcision and Sabbath observance, expelled Jews from the vicinity of Jerusalem, limited their entry to one annual visit, and repopulated the city with foreigners.
Ante bellum
Judaea between the two revolts
Between 66 and 73 CE, Judaea was the epicenter of the First Jewish Revolt. The Roman suppression campaign—led first by Vespasian and then by his son, Titus—culminated in the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 and the devastation of Jerusalem, the spiritual and national heart of the Jewish people. Large numbers of Jews died from war, famine, disease, and massacres, while many others were captured or displaced. Yet communal life gradually recovered in Judaea, and the Jewish population continued to form a relative majority. Meanwhile, the trauma of Jerusalem's destruction left a profound mark on Jewish thought. Messianic and apocalyptic expectations endured, with works such as 4 Ezra ''and 2 Baruch expressing hopes that Rome would soon be overthrown by divine action.In the aftermath of the revolt, Judaea underwent administrative restructuring: a senatorial-rank official was appointed governor, and Legio X Fretensis, which had participated in the conquest of Jerusalem, was permanently stationed there, establishing its base amidst the city's ruins. The central and southern regions of Judaea, namely Judea and Idumaea, were designated as a military zone, administered by officers of the legion. Former soldiers, along with other Roman citizens, settled in the province.
In 115 CE, during the reign of Emperor Trajan, Jewish diaspora communities in Egypt, Cyrenaica, Cyprus, and Mesopotamia launched a series of uprisings known as the Diaspora Revolt, which lasted until 117. Epigraphic and later literary notices also indicate that Judaea itself saw a Roman campaign at this time, remembered in rabbinic tradition as the "Kitos War"—a designation drawn from the name of the Moorish general Lusius Quietus, whom Trajan placed in charge of the province to enforce order. Hostilities may have been provoked by Roman cult practices in Jerusalem: Hippolytus reports that a legion under Trajan erected an idol of Kore, while an inscription records soldiers of Legio III Cyrenaica dedicating an altar or statue to Serapis in Trajan's final year. Nevertheless, because the sources mentioning serious hostilities in Judaea are scarce and primarily late, and because the main primary accounts of the Diaspora Revolt do not refer to such events there, the nature of what occurred remains contested.
With Hadrian's accession to the throne following Trajan's death in 117, Quietus was dismissed from his role in Judaea and replaced by Marcus Titius Lustricus Bruttianus. Around this time, a second legion, Legio II Traiana Fortis'', was stationed in the province. This brought the garrison to two legions and elevated Judaea's status to that of a proconsular province, placing it under a proconsul, a higher-ranking official. Soldiers of the new legion were quickly set to work on infrastructure: by around 120, milestones indicate the construction of a road from Acre to Sepphoris and Caparcotna, establishing the latter as a northern base and securing the key corridor between Judea, Galilee, Egypt, and Syria. Efforts to secure the region by settling loyal settlers, such as retired Roman soldiers, resulted in the alienation of its Jewish population.
Causes
Ancient sources identify two triggers for the outbreak of the revolt. Cassius Dio attributes it to Jewish anger over Emperor Hadrian's decision to rebuild Jerusalem as a Roman colony named Aelia Capitolina. The Historia Augusta cites a Roman ban on circumcision, a central Jewish practice, as the immediate cause. Modern scholarship generally supports the view that both factors likely contributed to the revolt's eruption.Establishment of Aelia Capitolina
In 129–130, Hadrian toured the eastern provinces, promoting Hellenistic culture. The region's non-Jewish population honored him with new city names and festivals. During his visit of Judaea, he decided to rebuild the destroyed Jerusalem as a colony named Aelia Capitolina, after his family name and in honor of Capitoline Jupiter. This decision enraged the Jews, extinguishing their hopes of rebuilding Jerusalem and the Temple.Classicist historian Mary E. Smallwood writes that the foundation of Aelia Capitolina was likely "an attempt to combat resurgent Jewish nationalism" by secularizing the Jewish holy capital. According to historian Martin Goodman, Hadrian established the colony as a "final solution for Jewish rebelliousness," aiming to permanently erase the city and prevent future uprisings among Jews in Judaea or the diaspora. The foundation of a Roman colony—rather than a Hellenistic polis—was designed to transplant foreign populations and impose Roman religious practices. While Hadrian founded many cities, this case was unique in that it was "not to flatter but to suppress the natives."
A rabbinic story found in Genesis Rabbah, seemingly set during Hadrian's reign, recounts that the Romans initially intended to rebuild the Temple, but a Samaritan dissuaded them by warning that the Jews would rebel once their city was restored. According to the story, Joshua ben Hananiah, a Jewish sage who died shortly before the revolt, prevented the situation from escalating into armed conflict. The historicity of this account has been questioned, as the motif of a malevolent Samaritan is common in Jewish literature from this period; it may instead reflect Jewish disappointment that the Romans did not rebuild the Temple.
The question of whether the founding of Aelia Capitolina led to the Bar Kokhba revolt or was a later punitive act has long been debated by historians. This debate arose from conflicting accounts in ancient sources. Cassius Dio wrote that Hadrian established Aelia Capitolina on Jerusalem's ruins and erected a temple to Jupiter on the Temple Mount. According to his account, this provoked "a long and serious war, since the Jews objected to having gentiles settled in their city and foreign cults established." In contrast, Eusebius described the colony as a punitive measure, writing: "when the city had been emptied of the Jewish nation and had suffered the total destruction of its ancient inhabitants, it was colonized by a different race, and the Roman city which subsequently arose changed its name." The debate was resolved when coins minted in Aelia Capitolina were found in hoards, hidden before 135, alongside Bar Kokhba coins. This discovery supports Dio's account that the colony was established prior to the revolt.
Ban on circumcision
Another often-cited cause for the revolt is a possible ban on the Jewish practice of circumcision. The Historia Augusta states, "In their impetuosity the Jews also began a war, as they had been forbidden to mutilate their genitals," which is interpreted as a reference to the prohibition of circumcision. However, the reliability of this account is questionable, as the Historia Augusta was written centuries after the events and is prone to anecdote and error.Scholars have long debated whether the ban occurred before the revolt, as suggested by the Historia Augusta, or as a punishment afterward, as indicated by rabbinic literature. Previous emperors like Domitian and Nerva had enacted restrictions on bodily mutilation, including castration. It is also recorded that in the 140s, before 155 AD, Antoninus Pius, Hadrian's successor, granted Jews permission to circumcise their sons, suggesting a prior prohibition.
If Hadrian had indeed banned circumcision before the revolt, some scholars suggest it may have been driven by his view of the practice as barbaric, consistent with his admiration for Hellenistic cultural norms. E. Mary Smallwood proposes that Hadrian imposed a universal ban, which was later lifted by Antoninus Pius, who allowed exceptions for Jews. She cites Talmudic passages implying the ban preceded the revolt, including one where Rabbi Eliezer ben Hurcanus permitted hiding circumcision knives in peril. However, historian Peter Schäfer argues that Hadrian, being a political pragmatist, would likely have avoided such a measure, as it would have provoked unrest among the Jewish population.