Page 157 - Quintessential Gospel of Jesus Christ 1

Chapter 7

A Brief History

Vespasian and Son Titus

The experienced and unassuming general Vespasian was given the task of
crushing the Jewish rebellion in Judea province. His son Titus was appointed as
second-in-command. Given four legions and assisted by forces of King Agrippa
II, Vespasian invaded Galilee in 67. Avoiding a direct attack on the reinforced city
of Jerusalem which was defended by the main rebel force the Romans launched
a persistent campaign to eradicate rebel strongholds and punish the population.
Within several months Vespasian and Titus took over the major Jewish
strongholds of Galilee and finally overran Jodapatha after a 47 day siege.
After a lull in the military operations owing to civil war and political turmoil in
Rome, Vespasian was called to Rome and appointed as Emperor in 69. With
Vespasian's departure Titus moved to besiege the center of rebel resistance in
Jerusalem in early 70. The first two walls of Jerusalem were breached within
three weeks but a stubborn rebel standoff prevented the Roman Army from
breaking the third and thickest wall. Following a brutal seven-month siege during
which Zealot infighting resulted in burning of the entire food supplies of the city
the Romans finally succeeded in breaching the defenses of the weakened
Jewish forces in the summer of 70. Following the fall of Jerusalem Titus left for
Rome leaving Legion X Fretensis to defeat the remaining Jewish strongholds
finalizing the Roman campaign in Masada in 73–74.

Emperor Hadrian
The outbreak and initial success of the Jewish rebellion took the Romans by
surprise. Hadrian called his general Sextus Julius Severus from Britain and
troops were brought from as far as the Danube. The size of the Roman army
amassed against the rebels was much larger than that commanded by Titus sixty
years earlier. By that time there were 12 army legions from Egypt, Britain, Syria
and other areas in Judea. Due to the large number of Jewish rebels instead of
waging open war, Severus besieged Jewish fortresses and held back food until
the Jews grew weak. Only then did his attack escalate into outright war.
The Romans demolished all 50 Jewish fortresses and 985 villages razed to the
ground. 580,000 Jews were killed in the overall operations, the main conflicts
took place in Judea, the Shephela, the mountains and the Judean desert, though
fighting also spread to Northern Israel. After losing many of their strongholds, Bar
Kokhba and the remnants of his army withdrew to the fortress of Bethar which
also subsequently came under siege.The final battle of the war took place in
Bethar, Bar-Kokhba’s headquarters which housed both the Sanhedrin (Jewish
High Court) and the home of the Nazi (leader). Bethar was a vital military
stronghold because of its strategic location on a mountain ridge overlooking both