The emperor also gave Agrippa additional territory, including part of Galilee
in 53. Like his father, the younger Agrippa made an effort in good faith to
understand Judaism and to diffuse the growing tensions in Judean society.
This became more difficult in 64, when the renovations of the Temple that
had begun under Herod were finally completed, leading to massive unem-
ployment of day laborers in Jerusalem. In retrospect, Judea teetered on the
verge of revolt by the mid 60s, awaiting a spark to ignite the entire situation.
The spark came in 65, when Greek inhabitants in Caesarea built a pagan
altar and temple on the grounds adjacent to a local synagogue, blocking the
entrance. Soon after, fighting broke out between local Jews and pagans.
When Emperor Nero sided with the Greeks in 66, the Zealots joined in and
the fighting spread from Caesarea throughout Galilee and Judea. By 67, the
majority of the Jewish population of Judea, Galilee, Idumea, and Samaria was
in open revolt against Rome.
Most Jewish leaders – including Agrippa II and leading Pharisees and
Sadducees – tried to end the conflict, with little success. The Zealots contin-
ued fighting, capturing several Herodian fortresses, including Masada, and
occupying the Temple. At this point, daily sacrifices in the Temple came to an
end. The Zealots aimed at driving the Romans out of Judea and Galilee, and
redistributing the land out of the hands of the Sadducees, especially in Galilee.
The leadership of the revolt wavered between the Zealots and the
Sanhedrin. The latter appointed Josephus Flavius as general of rebel troops,
and he scored some initial victories in 66. In 67, however, Nero sent Vespasian
to take charge of the Roman campaign against the revolt. By the end of 67,
Vespasian had conquered the whole of Galilee, and pinned Josephus’s forces
down to a last holdout at Jotapata, at which point Josephus surrendered.
Fighting in Jerusalem continued for nearly three more years. Signs of dis-
unity began to appear within the Jewish camp as the Zealots blamed the
Pharisees and Sadducees for being too accommodating to the Romans. By
the end of 68, Jerusalem was in the hands of the Zealots; surrender and nego-
tiation were no longer viable options. By 69, three groups of Zealots were
fighting in Jerusalem, one group in the lower city, one group in the upper
city, and one group in the Temple. The Temple cell eventually wiped out the
other two Zealot groups. In 69, when Vespasian became emperor of Rome,
he sent his son Titus to crush the rebels in Jerusalem. This Titus did in the
summer of 70, conquering Jerusalem and destroying the Temple.
The defeat of the revolt had profound consequences. First and foremost,
the destruction of the Temple brought an end to the sacrificial cult. The
Temple was also the political and economic center of the Jews in Judea and
elsewhere in the Land of Israel. Thousands of Jews, moreover, were carried off
into captivity to various parts of the Roman Empire.
It is useful to ask why the revolt against Rome failed while the Maccabean
revolt succeeded. During the Great Revolt, there was no Jewish military lead-
ership comparable to the Maccabees. In addition, whereas the Jews of Judea
The challenge of Hellenism 39