The End: Bar Kokhba
Last time, I had just gotten us through the disastrous Diaspora Revolt, which led to the destruction of most of the Jewish population in the Roman Empire, at least outside of Judea proper. It was a tragic, and horrible, story.
This time...it’s going to be even worse. But it will be the last such story for a while.
About the image: This is a statue of Bar Kokhba by Errich Glicenstein (1870–1942). The photo is by Ehud Halperin. Simon bar Kokhba (1905) by Enrico Glicenstein. Photo by Ehud Halperin (אהוד הלפרין), via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
There was still an extensive Jewish population in Judea itself, even though the city of Jerusalem was in ruins. Thus, there was a chance that Judeans might have even been reconciled with Rome. That sort of thing has happened before.
But, this time it was the Romans who were clumsy. They passed a series of laws which were humiliating, imposed taxes that were too heavy to bear, and, finally, announced that Jerusalem would be rebuilt as a Greco-Roman City. No Jews allowed. Meaning there would be no Third Temple.
And...sure enough...for their efforts, they got another revolution-- The Bar Kokhba revolt (132–136 CE), named after (of course), Simon Bar Kokhba.
We don’t know much about Kokhba. We know he was a radical Jewish nationalist, maybe a Zealot, maybe from a rural setting (there being no more Jerusalem), and probably from an aristocratic background. He was literate--we have copies of his letters--and the fact that he proved such a brilliant tactician suggests he had some sort of military background.
Whoever he was, he was charismatic and commanding, demanding and receiving the unquestioning support of his followers. He also bewildered the Romans with his talents. Quoting the very useful Wikipedia, under his direction “...the rebels launched a highly organized resistance, initially achieving substantial military success. Unlike previous revolts, Jewish forces were well-prepared, employing guerrilla tactics, fortified hideouts, and an extensive network of underground... systems and tunnels.(1)
For a time, he and his soldiers were successful. The Romans were thrown out of Judea. He established a short-lived but viable state under his rule. He was even acclaimed as the Messiah. But, sadly enough, it was not to last. The Emperor Hadrian put together an enormous army, put it under the command of his very best generals, and sent them forth. In 135 CE, at the siege of Betar (his stronghold), Kokhba was killed...and that was the end of the revolt.
The Romans then proceeded to do to Judea what had been done to the Diaspora. It was, once again, a scorched earth policy. The Jews were, for the most part, killed or driven out of the country.
It would be the last of the Jewish-Roman Wars. For all of their efforts, the Jewish People had gained nothing. In fact, they had lost nearly everything. To quote Wikipedia again, “The Jewish-Roman wars profoundly transformed the Jewish people, converting a once-prominent population in the Eastern Mediterranean into a dispersed and persecuted minority.”(2)
Though, of course, Jews did survive. In the areas of the Diaspora where Jews had declined to join the Diaspora Revolt--like the city of Rome--Jewish populations remained.(3) Also, many fled the Roman Empire for safer climes--notably Babylon, then under the rule of the Parthian Empire. In fact, Babylon became an important center Jewish learning and life. It was in that that city that one of greatest texts of Rabbinic Judaism was compiled, The Babylonian Talmud (Talmud Bavli).(4)
And...there was more. In the Jewish world, and out of it, the horrors of the Jewish-Roman Wars inspired literary brilliance among all sorts of different peoples.
And guess who...go on, guess...would benefit from that?
You got it.
Michael.
More to come.
Footnotes:
1. “Jewish Roman Wars,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish%E2%80%93Roman_wars#Bar_Kokhba_revolt
2. “Jewish Roman Wars, Aftermath,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish%E2%80%93Roman_wars#Bar_Kokhba_revolt
3. One interesting genetic aside. To this day, most European Jews--Ashkenazi--show the genetic markers of an Italian ancestry. I am guessing that’s because about the only surviving Jews after the Jewish-Roman Wars were in Rome and its general neighborhood. See “Genetic Studies of Jews,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_studies_of_Jews.
4. See “The Talmud,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talmud
Copyright©2026 Michael Jay Tucker
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