fluential. According to theHistoria Augusta,the revolt began because
Hadrian issued an edict prohibiting circumcision (14.2). The ban was part
of a wider, empire-wide prohibition on mutilation, including castration,
but Hadrian must have known how the Jews would respond. Dio suggests
that the emperor also had decided to turn Jerusalem into a new pagan city,
Aelia Capitolina (Dio 69.12.1-2), and perhaps this prohibition was con-
nected to that larger plan.
The rebellion’s territorial extent is also unclear, but most evidence sug-
gests a concentration in the part of Judea closest to Jerusalem and the
Dead Sea. The Jews seem to have had some success in the beginning, but it
is not clear if the Jewish rebels ever managed to seize Jerusalem. The rebel
letters found in the desert refer to Herodium and not Jerusalem as the in-
surgent headquarters, and their last stronghold was Bethar, not Jerusalem.
The Romans responded seriously to this new threat, and Hadrian sent
Gaius Julius Severus from Britain to take over command of Judea in 134
c.e.Dedicatory inscriptions indicate that legions from all over the empire
were sent to Judea, but otherwise there is no indication of troop size or
makeup. The paucity of evidence from Greco-Roman authors suggests
hesitancy on the part of the imperial government to mention a brutal sup-
pression of rebellion, which did not fit well with Hadrian’s image of benev-
olent patronage of the provinces.
According to Dio, the Romans killed more than 500,000 Jews and de-
stroyed 50 towns and 785 villages in the suppression of the revolt. He also
claims that they enslaved many of the survivors (Dio 69.14.3). Although
these numbers likely are inflated, the bones discovered in the Judean
Desert caves testify to Roman thoroughness and ruthlessness. Rabbinic
sources state that many sages were martyred, including Rabbi Aqiba, and a
period of strict persecution followed in which Jews could not practice
many facets of their religion, including studying Torah, observing the Sab-
bath, and circumcising their sons. Indeed, Jews did not receive permission
to circumcise their sons until after Hadrian’s death. Perhaps the most
long-lasting and devastating result of the war, however, was the expulsion
of the Jews from Jerusalem (now called Aelia Capitolina) and its territory
(Justin,Apology7.6). Hadrianic coins celebrated the new city with a Greek
figure representing it, and a temple dedicated to Hadrian was constructed
atop the Temple Mount itself. Thus, whatbegan as an attempt to liberate
the Jews of Judea ultimately led to their death and to their enslavement and
expulsion from the Holy City. With the failure of the Bar Kokhba Revolt, a
major period of Jewish history comes to an end.66chris seeman and adam kolman marshakEERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
Tuesday, October 09, 2012 12:03:53 PM